Castles and Princesses:

Originally posted on April 12

Shell and I went out to Target last night after making wedding favors to get more candy for the wedding favors (who knew these things were going to take so many bags of candy? We've done 25 bags of candy and we still have more to make!) and we ended up walking through the baby clothes. I don't think I needed to do that. Everyone I know (within reason) is getting married, or having kids (even though some of them haven't told their parents about said kids ... you know who you are) and I feel like I'm just sitting here, stagnant. I think I'm becoming resentful, and I don't know what to do about that. I'm really happy, most of the time. We have a great relationship, we have a house and a dog and stable jobs (although we'd really like him to find a better job) and everything generally is wonderful. But I long for my life to move on.

I've stopped talking about marriage with him. We used to talk about it all the time, and make plans and decisions and everything in everyday conversation. We'd walk by a fancy car and he'd say, "Do you want to use one of those instead of a limo?" or we'd be talking over lunch about Shelley's wedding colors and he'd say, "What colors did you want to use?" We'd be in Wal-Mart and I'd say, "I think I want [these people] in the wedding party instead of [this person]," and he'd talk about who could be on his side.

I thought maybe it was the money. His cousin got a big ring, and I know he feels the pressure to upstage that (the husband is his best friend), but really I don't care as much about that. I'd like a big ring, of course, just like any girl. But it doesn't have to be right now. Right now it's more important to me that we get married and move on with our lives. The ring can always come later, right? So I told him so. And he was not receptive. I actually found the conversation stilted, one-sided and hostile. So I dropped that conversation too.

But there's all this talking and no movement. I can't do it anymore. So I've resolved to not talk about our wedding. Period. I'll talk with my girlfriends at work, and with Shelley, but he's cut off from conversation about it. Until it actually happens I've given up hoping it will. Maybe then I won't be so resentful.

Product Placement:

Originally posted April 12:

I've decided to use this forum for good: I'm promoting my new favorite personal hygiene product: the Crest Spin Brush. It's fantastic! Like going to the dentist every day, but without the drilling or the scraping or the guilt for not flossing. Seriously! I've converted all of my friends who weren't already addicted (except Suzanne; she likes the Oral B one because the head is smaller and she has sensitive gums ... now don't read anything dirty into that). But for $5 you get a fantabulous experience! Try one today!

Reflective like a carnival mirror:

Originally posted April 12:

So you know how most people say, "when you look back you'll forget all the bad and just remember the good?" Well, I have to say in hindsight I'm pessimistic as hell. I don't remember the good times right away. The fights, the loneliness, the break-ups, the anger, the daydreams of freedom -- I have a firm grasp on those memories. ... it's not until I find pictures, or letters crammed between the pages of a forgotten book that I am reminded that not everything about my past was black. There were flashes of good in there too, even happiness. I need to be reminded of this every now and again.

Slap my sweet ass and call me Sally:

Originally posted April 10:

So it is a long running idea that I hate hot sauces. Hate em. And it stems from the fact that I hate spicy foods. I just cant eat them they make my mouth uncomfortable. So Ive been going to Tiajuana Flats with the folks from work (Chuck calls it Fiesta time) and then Christen and I go every once in awhile, and I have started trying the hot sauces. Now, Im still a complete wuss at them; I have to let you know that up front. I tried Endorphine Rush (and ate all my tomatoes trying to get rid of the burn) and Don't be a Chicken Shit (not too bad) and one with pecans it it (terrible). But my favorite, and the one I get every time is Slap my Sweet Ass and Call Me Sally. It reminds me of Thai sweet chili sauce. Mmmm. So let it be known that, although a wuss, I have tried and liked a few hot sauces. Dont say I never attempted to branch out.

I'm a pusher, but not a drug pusher

Originally posted April 10:

I seem to have a lot of blogs backed up in my journal, so I thought Id mass drop them onto the server (woohoo! server crash!) and give my readers (of which there are two) my random ramblings. Today and tomorrow it is my intention to catch up on all my emails from the past week or so that I havent gotten to (so if youve written me and I havent written you back, never fear time is here!) that being said, if I havent written you back from Wednesday, Ive forgotten that I didnt reply to your email and you should probably write me again. :) I apologize in advance.

I am in need of book and music recommendations as of late. Books I dont read supernatural, or books with a lot of foreign names (its my quirk I get lost in the names unless I can substitute Bob or Harry or Soren the Bunny-slayer this is why I never got very far in The Battle Royale). Or comic books, unless they are just fantabulous (and I can find it in Barnes and Noble so I dont have to purchase it). These are my only stipulations. I like normal, wonderful language in novel form. As for music, I like anything except for rap and r&b. I just cant get into it, and youll be wasting your time trying to get me into it. I hear it at my moms house; its not like Im not exposed to it. But I love swing, rockabilly, classic rock, jazz, nerd rock (see the next entry on that), and anything thats well done or even catchy. Sometimes I get hooked on pop music like the rest of you (even you that say you hate pop music its a guilty pleasure because you can always sing along!) although Ill rarely buy these albums. I do need more music for the iPod. Its getting a little redundant lately.

Im entering the home stretch for the next month and a half: After the next 2 weekends, where Im not really required to do too much, I have: Christens cousins wedding, the TMBG show, Shelleys bridal shower, Shelleys bachelorette party, the band reunion, Shelleys wedding (noticing a trend here?) and the trip to Dallas for GeoWoodstock IV. If the weddings dont break the bank, Dallas will do it, Im sure. Im thinking about getting a small loan just to make sure theres money in my account when Im trying to do all this. :)

Im listening to Ben Folds sing Tiny Dancer right now. How do you put that in the listening to category? Hehe.

A tad more sane:

Originally posted April 6:

So I made ribs and smashed cauliflower for dinner, did the dishes, and got a life, so I'm a bit more sane than earlier. Well, for me anyhow. Decided to subscribe to a bunch of people's blogs ... yay for me, right? And I wrote a few more first sentences in my journal. One of these days I suppose I'll write more. I wrote a short story that Autumn asked me to write, and it was so torturous! And I wasn't thrilled with it once I finished -- it was too obscure. What I wanted to show through didn't come out at all. Don't you hate when that happens? But I'm working on it -- it'll all come together.

Regrets, Writer's Block and Petty Thoughts

Originally posted April 6:

Can you regret the way things came to pass and not regret the things you've done? The long drive home has given way to too many thoughts, too many memories rising to the surface like cream to be scraped off and discarded and yet they cannot be forgotten. I made my decisions and I'm sticking to them because they made me a better person, stronger and more whole. My entire list of friends on this thing are people I once knew, someone I was friends with, someone I was intimate with, someone I loved, someone I envied, someone I played with in the orange tree in the front yard. These things cannot be buried or changed; they just are.

I've been spending my time for the last six months planning. Planning for other people's lives -- their weddings, their children ... planning planning but not for my life, my wedding, my children. I feel so petty to think, when is it going to be me? I don't mean to sound bitter -- all I mean is, if you say you love me and want to spend the rest of our lives together, why can't the rest of our lives begin relatively soon?

I've not been able to write lately. And by lately, I mean the last two years. I have notebooks and notebooks of this and that. Scraps of ideas wadded in my purse. What can a lifetime of first lines get you though?

525,600 minutes

Originally posted April 1st:

I was watching Rent today and, of course, I was waxing nostalgic. So sue me.

How do you measure a year?

Just so you know

I'm not dead. I've actually been doing my blogging on MySpace. I'll forward those blogs to here ... eventually :) Otherwise, let me know if you're on myspace!

awesome :)

Pure Nerd 73 % Nerd, 43% Geek, 17% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd. The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful. Congratulations! Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 83% on nerdiness You scored higher than 60% on geekosity You scored higher than 17% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

One thousand million tons of bananas.

Monday, bloody Monday -- I think that my weekends have to be good as overcompensation of terrible weeks. It was one of those weeks where I kept getting serious injury after serious injury at work: pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcycles, golf carts, lost pregnancies ... I was so happy to be out of work when Friday came about. But .... my weekend was a blast (again ... hehe).

Saturday I had yoga for only the second time since I started -- Other April and I took 2 weeks off after our first class for drinking/vacation reasons. It was so much better than the first time. We did more stretch yoga, like pigeon pose (let me tell you how much I love "doing the uh uh pigeon" ... as Bert from Sesame Street would say). I love the stretching, but I'm no good at the balancing -- I have no balance. I think that I'm going to set up the spare television in that weird room off the deck in the house to do yoga through the week to see if I can get better at the balancing. The only yoga tape I have is abs yoga, but I'll start working with that and see how I do.

Other April brought purses back from Chinatown and I got a small tan and brown Coach and a large black Prada. I'm so excited about the Prada one -- it's really nice. The insides don't look like a real one, but who but me sees the inside? The Coach wasn't really that well-made, but it's good in a pinch when I need a brown one for the club or something.

Saturday night the girls and I had a sleepover at Stacy's house -- the first sleepover I've been to since high school (well, besides sleeping over at boys' houses or them sleeping over mine ...). We had such an awesome time! Other April and I brought booze and board games, Suzanne brought mixers and penis straws, penis stirs and margarita glasses that had our names and "Girl's Night 2006" on them, and Stacy provided the venue and the food. It was so fabulous! We drank like crazy and stayed up until 5am, and talked about boys and sex and everything else you're supposed to talk about at a sleepover (all those secrets you end up revealing that aren't allowed to leave the party). There were suggestive pictures taken with the penis straws and everything :)

Sunday I took Other April home and then Christen and I went to the driving range for a few hours -- I realized I'm not as terrible at golf as I thought I would be. It was a lot of fun; I'll definitely be going back. I have a set of left-handed golf clubs that my dad gave me, and I'm only missing a club or two (I know I'm missing a 1 iron; that might be it). We hit about 350 balls between the two of us -- I hurt my middle finger from swinging -- and whiffing -- and it still hurts a little bit. We went to his parents' house for a little bit after that and I discussed this wedding that we are going to at the end of April with his mom. We've decided that since it's a spring wedding on a Saturday afternoon that it was acceptable for me to wear one of my cute little sundresses, which makes me happy because that means I don't have to go out and get another new dress. All my other dresses are black and pretty fancy. Maybe I can get Christen a lighter color dress shirt, like a light green, so I won't be the only less dressy person. My sundresses are way cute though. I have a blue striped one from the Loft (I love that store) and a white one with little flowers that I got at a great sale at Macy's. As a matter of fact, if it would warm up I would wear them to work -- it's 60 degrees all of a sudden! What happened the high 70s/low 80s of last month????

Last night we decided to hit Mama's pizza for dinner. They have the best breadsticks anywhere -- a little bit of heaven in your mouth. I only had one piece of pizza and a few breadsticks, but it definitely was worth it to go -- so yummy :) Saturday we hit a little seafood restaurant on Clearwater beach called Frenchy's for lunch, and I will tell you they had the best she crab soup I have ever had. Ever. And I get she crab soup anytime I see it on the menu, so I can say I'm a bit of a connoisseur. It had a lot of crab instead of just a little lump on top, and it was smooth and creamy with the sherry and a little kick of cayenne pepper or something. Way tasty.

Prayers.

My aunt is in the hospital. And no one bothered to tell me or my mom. I think it's a heart attack; I had to email my grandma to find out and I haven't heard back yet. Grandma said in her follow up email (no prior email to start with) that they took 5 veins from her leg to patch up her heart and it's beating on its own now.

Please, if you believe or don't. Please keep her in your thoughts or prayers. She's such a wonderful woman.

Holy Weekender, Batman!

So this weekend was a total blast, as weekends tend to be in my family (evidently, since I just noticed that last weekend's post started the same way... hehe). Here's the gist in bullets:

--bought a darling pair of Mia wooden heels with Stacy at DSW (shoe mecca)
--went to dinner on St. Patty's day with Stacy's family for her dad's birthday. Wow, to be in close proximity with that many Atlanta transplants ... hehe. We went to Timpano's Italian Chophouse in Hyde Park and it was marvelous. I had mussels for the first time (I've had oysters and clams, but never mussels) and we stood near the band and talked at great length with the pianist. They had a guitarist, sax and pianist and they were lovely. All old and lovely. Stacy's uncle made me, Stacy and her aunt pose with the sax player sans sax ... if I see the picture I'll post it here :)
--left there to meet with Christen and his friend Jesse at Hooters for more late night drinks while the boys smoked their cigars. The waitress liked to "perch" on the edge of the table like she was an owl too. I was told to hook she and Jesse up, but I'm no good at that so I just drank.
--Saturday, went to Ellenton Outlets with Christen as we hadn't been there in a really long time and just hung out and shopped all day. I bought a cute pink shirt at Gap (I know, I know, but it's a cute pink shirt) and a book about books (you know how I love those) and was talked out of another Coach purse (I was told I have enough purses, like that's possible). We also got a baby ice cream scoop for my new obsession with Rice Dream non-dairy ice cream, and onion cutter to make onion blooms (although I'm going to try to bake it).
--drove down to Anna Maria island and ate at the Waterfront Restaurant - he had the seafood platter and I had the snow crab (I cut my thumb on the sucker). Washed it down with a delightful piece of key lime pie and a cup of tea. It was a beautiful night and we ate on the porch.
--Sunday ventured to Orlando to mill about town; I was talked out of another Coach purse (this one was way cuter) and bought another book.
--dinner at Jungle Jim's for a Peanutbutter Bet (you don't know what you're missing).
--a late-night drive home playing the Penis and Vagina game (substitute one word in a tv show title with penis; substitute one word in a movie title with vagina). It was great fun.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend. Christen is now snoring on the couch next to me and it's distracting. I keep trying to hold his nose -- any suggestions on how to stop it? Well, taking him to bed will cure it and I think that's my next stop. Toodles!

Wild and Craziness

So this weekend has been a blast! Friday was Stacy's last day with the company, which is a sad sad thing, but we had a hell of a party at Bar Louie to mark the occasion. Ridiculous amounts of liquor were imbibed by everyone -- I think the bar could have catered to our group exclusively and had a great night. I was trashed on a lovely wine, and the pictures were exceptional.



This is me, Stacy, and Other April at the bar.

A wonderful time was had by all, and I found out that I know the bar manager! He's a friend of mine from high school, and I dated his best friend in high school. We caught up; it was fantastic to see him. You know how sometimes you run into people from school and you don't really know what to say to them? This didn't really turn out that way, and we weren't really that close in high school. You know, I did date his best friend in high school ... But it was really pretty neat.

The next morning Other April came to pick me up and take me back to my car (Christen drove me home; I was too intoxicated to do so) and it was a unanimous decision that we skip yoga this week. So the Brother and I went to the Antiquarian Book Fair in St. Pete. So Fun! So many books! The only problem with it was that, as they were all antique book dealers (115 venders) everything was highly overpriced. There were a few books I wanted but I didn't get, and Ian drooled over the copy of Fahrenheit 451 illustrated by Ralph Steadman. Alas, I did not have a grand to part with to get it for him, and if I couldn't pay the $800 for the Tender is the Night first edition, well then. He's just going to have to deal. The most expensive book we saw was $6500 for a first edition of The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.

There were purchases made, though. I came away with a autographed copy of Pat Conroy's Beach Music, and a copy of Drink: A Social History of America, which, in light of Friday night's bash I thought was appropriate. I also appropriated a well-spent $3 on Letters from a Nut by Ted Nancy for a bit of fun. The Brother picked up a copy of an autographed Orsen Scott Card novel.

Saturday night we went to the State Theatre to see The Spill Canvas, The Plain White T's, OkGo, and Motion City Soundtrack. I do have to say that I think I'm getting too old for such crowds. The average age was around 16. The show was pretty good; I went for OkGo and the Brother for they and MCS. I liked Spill Canvas best when it was just the lead singer; the drummer was out for a wedding and he sang a few songs acoustically by himself and I thought it was great; then he was joined by his band and it drowned him out.

Today has been a lazy day. I brushed the dog and watched Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I have the book, and I thought they did well with the interpretation. It was pretty good. One of these days I'm going to have to get up and get dressed, but I may laze for a little longer. This weekend has gone by so quickly! Toodles!

RIP Jacob the Snacob

The snake formerly known as "The Cliff Burton Experience" has left the building. Please erect a monument in his name. Thank you.

ADCTD 2U

It's been a strange day. For starters, I went to yoga this morning with Other April, realized I am decidedly NOT bendy and signed up for another 9 courses ("I'm sticking with it until I don't start to black out in the middle"). While we were at yoga Christen plugged April's flat (don't think it that way ... she was with me, I tell you) and we came home and decided ... to go to the beach! The people beach, no less! We had planned on meeting Stacy there because she marathon beaches, but she had decided not to go so we laid out for an hour before making up our minds to go to the Ruby Tuesday salad bar. It's a beautiful day -- absolutely gorgeous :) So we go to RT and our waiter is this really young kid -- maybe 20? And that's a maybe. And he's decided we're his bestest friends, so he keeps telling us about his new "Mr. Roboto" ringtone (It's that old song, you know? Yeah, sure kid ...) and about his house parties where the cokeheads cleaned up his house while he was passed out, and coming back to sit next to either of us at our 2-seater booth -- or on the carpet next to us when he asked if minded if he took a 5-minute smoke break ... it was crazy. I didn't understand any of it, but it did make for a good laugh!
Then we went over for a smoothie at Jamba Juice (mmm ... Orange Dream Machine with a Femme Boost) and to stop at Borders so that I could buy The Town That Forgot to Breathe. Now, about this book. I bought it because Autumn told me to read it. But really I bought it because the other day I got an email from the author thanking me for mentioning it on my blog! And although I hadn't mentioned it, Autumn did, I felt obliged to read it. I thought that was really neat. However, Now that I've bought it and read the inside cover, it doesn't seem really like the type of book I'm too into reading. It does seem like the type of book Autumn would like. But I'll give it a shot, and I'm also perfectly content to say that I can recognize that it's good writing without actually caring for the content. We'll see; I'll keep you all and Kenneth Harvey posted.

So I think I might go for a bike ride, because that sounds like me, right? :) I don't want to sit home because I'm afraid I'll start eating, but usually I just go shopping and I can't afford to do that. So I'll ride my bike to my mom's house, and if she's not home I'll just ride around back home. It's uphill all the way home from her house, so that'll be interesting.

I'm listening to Amber's radio show. I've listened before, and I'm actually really impressed for reasons twofold. Eins, she doesn't sound anything like what she seems like she seems on her blog, and Zwei, it's such an eclectic show and I hear a lot of things I don't hear that often. It's her last show, but maybe she'll get back into it when she moves to the Twin Cities? That's a hope and a prayer.

So adios; I'm off to sweat some more. Catch you later, aligator!

I swear I'm alive -- the elliptical says so!

Well, it’s been a busy week (or two) so I guess I haven’t been around as much as I’d like to have been. I didn’t actually remember that it had been a full two weeks since I updated until I started to write this post. I guess I’ll bullet what’s been going on to save your eyes from my rambling:



* 2.20.2006: The brother and I spent all of President’s Day book shopping – it was marvelous! I got an Umberto Eco book (because L loves him so much), a Capote novel, A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot, A Clockwork Orange for Christen, The Pearl by Steinbeck and a Fitzgerald novel. At this point I don’t remember what the brother got, but they were good books. He’s such a brain.
* 2.21.2006: Mom’s birthday, I got her dark chocolates and a rubber ducky with tattoos and piercings all over it – just her taste! :)
* This weekend: My friend Bill called to tell me that he and my friend Alicia got engaged after dating for a little less than 4 months. I’m thrilled to death for them – they’re both fabulous people – but a little mopey for me. It was way sweet the way he popped the question. I told him to write the story for the magazine, so if he does and it gets published on the online issue I’ll set a link to it here. That makes … 5 marriages now? Then comes the babies, I’m sure. First were Shea/Kyle, then Londa/Jim, then Shelley/Richard, Theresa/Andrew, and now Bill/Alicia. Who else is getting married? Is it in the water? I swear I drink 96 oz of water a day!
* Sunday: Christen and I went to the exotic car show at Vinoy Park – so many pretty cars. I don’t like traditional exotics, like Porsche and Lamborghini, but I love old cars and they had tons of old Bentleys and Rolls Royces and such. No Cruel Intentions jaguars, but you can’t win them all :)



Monday started my new workout – I decided to start working out at work (there’s a small gym there) 4 days a week after work. Saturdays are yoga. I’ve stuck to it all week, so here’s to making a turn around! I’m really excited about yoga. We (Other April and I) were going to do pilates and yoga, but the lady at the fitness center said that it would be better if we worked up to both. So I’ll let you know how it goes.



I’ve also gotten addicted to fitday.com. It’s so great! You put your foods in and it tallies your calories and protein and carbs etc and gives you a little pie chart to see how balanced your diet is and stuff. You can pick things off the list of what they have or make custom foods if they don’t have it. I went to Boston Market last night and had 1/4 white meal and today I went on their Web site and got the nutritional info and put it into fitday. I don’t really count calories per se because that just doesn’t work for me, but this kind of makes me make better choices for my diet. I have a target calorie count, but mostly I just try to balance my pie chart and that keeps me where I want to be. I’m very serious in wanting to lose 45 pounds. I don’t think that’s unreasonable – I’m not trying to get to a size 2, I just know that I felt my healthiest when I weighed 45 lbs less, so I’m going to try to get there.


So homebound schooling is not working for The Brother. He can't stay in a fetal position for long, Alex. (Sorry, I'm watching Jeopardy.) I think he just needs to get his GED. Any thoughts on that?

Beaching is hard work

The beach was so fun ... which is amazing for reasons threefold. Eins, I hate the beach. Zwei, my brother hates the beach. Drei, we were all there. But it was really fun, and as long as the weather holds I think I'll be going back. Wow, huh? So I took my camera but only took one picture and now I can't find the plug to upload that one picture so you are instead getting this picture of crazy boys at the beach. Great, eh? I did get mildly burned, but it didn't show up until later. I wore a hat and sunglasses so my face didn't get it, but my upper back and shoulders are a pretty crimson color. Ian is a beautiful shade of scarlet, as he is never ever in the sun -- but only the bridge of his nose and his forearms, since he refuses to take off his shirt and reveal the translucence that is his chest. The dogs had a marvelous time, but I didn't realize how much of a workout I was getting toting around a 45lb and 60lb dog for 2 1/2 hours while they tried to meet every other dog on the beach and fight to get in the water and then fight to get back out of the water .... Late last night my muscles all started to tighten up and now my back and shoulders and arms are in so much pain!

I made spinach chicken manicotti last night for dinner, and for once I followed the recipe -- no good. I know better than to follow recipes exept in baking, but I figured the picture looked so good that it should be, right? The problem with recipes is that they don't allow for specific tastes. Usually I look at a recipe to get an idea of what types of things go in, but then I change it to fit our tastes -- it ends up completely different from the recipe, but by reading it first I know what kind of base to work with. This one had cayenne pepper (and I am completely anti-spicy) and a lot of lemon juice in the sauce. So we ended up with lemony spicy manicotti ... I didn't eat it, but Christen thought it was okay; he ate his and mine. He agreed that, while he thought it was good, it was not something that we would care to make again.

The reading is not going well this month. I finished From Our House, but I haven't been able to get into anything else. Any suggestions?

Beach Day!

Lola and I are going to the beach with my brother and sister and my mom's dog Jazzy. In February! It's such a gorgeous day, too. Monday it'll probably be 35 degrees again, so we may as well take advantage of it! Toodles!

Doggy sick

I think I might have the worst "healthy person" immune system. It's down for the count again. Toodles for now!

Pick My Spot

at this Web site, you can find out what community fits you best. Here are my Top 6:

Hickory, NC
Tulsa, OK
Clarksville, TN
Greenville, SC
Oklahoma City, OK
Athens, GA

Sound like me? Yeah, to me too ...

My love is everlasting

Your love is... by ChibiMarronchan
Your name is...
Your kiss is...	breath taking
Your hugs are...	warm
Your eyes...	light up a day
Your touch is...	awakening my heart
Your smell is...	amazing
Your smile is...	entrancing
Your love is...	everlasting
Quiz created with MemeGen!

question Numero Dos:

What's your favorite quote? Mine changes day to day, but currently this is it:

I don't know yet what I am capable of doing, but, by God, I have genius -- I know it too well to blush behing it.
--Thomas Wolfe

Very inspirational to me right now.

that bowl is just super!

So we had a Superbowl party of sorts yesterday. It was fun, sort of half-assed, and I had a lovely time. I hope a lovely time was had by all. I kept forgetting to invite people, so if I left you out I am monumentally sorry -- can I plead drunkeness? Shea, Kyle and Mike came, some of the girls from work, Shellbell and her Monkey boy, my beautiful friend from college -- Tree, and her fiance. Food and drink was had by all, and the entire room was rooting for the Seahawks except for Kyle's lone voice.

So I'm now relaxing on my couch with a glass of Copolla Red Zin and the computer. I'm almost through Lee Martin's From Our House, at which time I'm going back to Look Homeward, Angel. On the book agenda for this month are the above two books, Crime and Punishment and to finish As I Lay Dying. Should be fun!

Question: what Web sites (other than blogs) are you addicted to?

Hey! I have personality!

Advanced Global Personality Test Results Extraversion |||||||||||||||| 70% Stability |||||||||||| 46% Orderliness |||||||||||||||||| 73% Accommodation |||||||||||||||||| 76% Interdependence |||||||||||||||||| 76% Intellectual |||||||||||||| 56% Mystical |||| 16% Artistic |||||||||||||||||||| 83% Religious |||||||||||| 43% Hedonism |||||||||||||||| 70% Materialism |||||||||| 36% Narcissism |||||||||||| 43% Adventurousness |||||||||||| 43% Work ethic |||||||||||| 43% Self absorbed |||||| 23% Conflict seeking |||||| 30% Need to dominate |||||| 30% Romantic |||||||||||||| 56% Avoidant |||||| 23% Anti-authority |||||| 30% Wealth |||| 16% Dependency |||||||||||||||| 63% Change averse |||||||||||||||| 70% Cautiousness |||||||||||||||| 70% Individuality |||||||||||| 43% Sexuality |||||||||||||||||||| 90% Peter pan complex |||| 16% Physical security |||||||||||||||||| 76% Physical Fitness |||||||||| 37% Histrionic |||||||||||| 50% Paranoia |||||||||| 36% Vanity |||||||||||| 43% Hypersensitivity |||||||||||||||| 63% Female cliche |||||||||||||||| 70%

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personality tests by similarminds.com

Lexiconal Orgy, Month One

In the spirit of The Polysyllabic Spree my first month of 100 books/year will be documented much like the book:

Books Bought:
The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Benjamin Franklin & Polly Baker A History of Literary Deception by Max Hall
The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
Don't Tell the Grown-ups -- The Subversive Power of Children's Literature by Alison Lurie

Books Read:
The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Dogfight and other stories by Michael Knight
As I Lay Dying by Faulkner (abandoned)

Ask about them if you want, I'll be honest!

How to deal with a dog who's dealing with an opossum:

A Follow-up:

Grab tail
pull into house
barracade doggy door.

how to dispose of an opossum:

take shovel.
use your imagination.

She bangs

There's this strip club that I drive by everyday on my way to work and they have the greatest billboards. Last year around Christmas it said, "Have yourself some Mary for Christmas" and this year after New Years it said, "Break your resolutions here". This week's is "We play well with others." I find myself looking forward to the new one every week. I want to know who comes up with these things. Probably not the people who work there (not to knock strippers, Autumn I know you tried it for 3 weeks) ... is there a stripper net (not fishnet) where they can get these? So funny.

There was a bicycle place in Tampa that did the same thing. But the story about that isn't as funny as a strip club.

Courtesy of NPRJunkie

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Aprilbapryll!

1. To check whether aprilbapryll is safe to eat, drop her in a bowl of water; rotten aprilbapryll will sink, and fresh aprilbapryll will float.
2. Antarctica is the only continent without aprilbapryll!
3. It takes 17 muscles to smile, and 43 to frown at aprilbapryll!
4. India tested its first nuclear aprilbapryll in 1974!
5. The book of Esther in the Bible is the only book which does not mention aprilbapryll.
6. Aprilbapryll has a memory span of three seconds.
7. Aprilbapryll will give a higher yield if milked when listening to music.
8. Aprilbapryll is the world's smallest mammal.
9. Aprilbapryll will often glow under UV light.
10. Aprilbapryll is often used in place of milk in food photography, because milk goes soggy more quickly than aprilbapryll!

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

To breathe or not to breathe

So I've gotten myself out of that little funk I seemed to have been in earlier, but I have neglected to do a single thing except waste away the day on MySpace. The funny thing is, I've been a member for months but I've never actually done anything on it. Today I decided to update my pictures and profile and search and do all those things I never cared to do before. I've actually been catching up with a couple old friends I hadn't spoken to since high school. Creepy, eh? It's been nice; a very relaxing day. See, I guess I do that every once in awhile.

News flash: Chicken & Dumplings from a can are no good. Hear me? No good. Ick. I decided on a bologna & cheese sandwich for dinner after the great dumpling debacle, mostly because I didn't feel like defrosting and cooking for just one person. See, I get it. It just doesn't make sense to cook that much as a single person. I'm so glad that's not usually me. Not that's bad for you single people, it's just ... well, it sucks for me. I'm a (hold on while I look up the phobias) monophobic. Or autophobic. You choose. This is why I go to Barnes & Noble to read books I have at home.

Speaking of books, I'm finishing up In Cold Blood by Capote. L, you bought this last time we went shopping -- you should make sure you read it; I liked it a lot.

Anywhos, I think I'm going to go paste myself to a book. It's been fun, fellas (don't ask me, I don't know where that just came from).

relaxing? wha?

It's been a lonely busy weekend for me. Christen's working, so I should be hanging out or having fun or something, but somehow I decided that wasn't for me, so I've been brooding about doing all the housework myself while in fact doing all the housework. I changed bulbs I've been waiting for him to change, installed the doorknob I figured he'd do, did four loads of laundry that I hoped he'd start on his last day off which didn't happen. I know I should just tell him that I'm unhappy that I seem to be doing all the work, but somehow it doesn't come out of my mouth. Today I plan on alphabetizing the cds and set up the nintendo and phone system that he's been saying he'd do, and maybe I'll clean my car (that's another one). This morning I read the paper and had a mini quiche out on the deck while Lola laid at my feet.

She's decided to use the doggie door. I was so happy I kept going in and out the regular door so that she'd follow me through her door. It's like my new favorite toy!

I have nothing else to say, really. I'm going to go on about my brooding. Happy trails!

relaxing? wha?

It's been a lonely busy weekend for me. I could have been relaxing, as Christen works all weekend and tonight is playing poker with the boys (I was invited but I'm not driving all the way out there to drive all the way back)

relaxing? wha?

It's been a lonely busy weekend for me. I could have been relaxing, as Christen works all weekend and tonight is playing poker with the boys (I was invited but I'm not driving all the way out there to drive all the way back)

Life as we know it?

Sadly, I am writing this one at work, as the system has been down for nearly two hours and I've run out of non-computer related busy work. It has been an interesting week, and I have the stories to prove it!

Here's my favorite:
Saturday Christen and I got a doggy door for the sliding glass door and decided to install it. As he was putting it in, he thought he'd clean out the tracks, so he took one of the doors off and leaned it up against the wall outside on the deck. Now, you people not in Tampa need to know that it was very blustery and windy that day. Christen was cleaning out the track, Lola was milling around on the deck and the wind was blowing, when all of a sudden the wind picks up behind the glass door and flips it onto the deck! The dog yelped and ran, and I went to go check on her when Christen picked the door back up -- not broken, but there was a streak of dirt spots all down the front. At first he thought it was dirt from the deck. He looked at it, then he stuck his finger in it and sniffed ...

... you know the phrase, "scared the shit out of her" ?? ... yep, that's what it was -- all over the sliding door. I caught up with her in the yard -- cowering by the corner of the house, and it was all over her backside too, so I cleaned her up, and thankfully she wasn't hurt. But she didn't venture back onto the deck for about a half hour, and she still won't go through the doggy door unless we hold the flap open for her. Anybody know how to teach her to go through it?

***

The other thing is that I found out that my foot problem is dyshidrotic eczema. And it's a really bad case of it. This is why I'm having issues walking. I was given a cream and a foot regiment and a derm appt. I really can't wait for the derm appointment, because I have other patches of light eczema and I really want something to fix that too -- yay! Hopefully I'll be able to wear heels again in 4 weeks! I'm so sick of wearing loafers.

***

So did you watch American Idol last night? I couldn't really get into it at all. I DVR'd Scrubs and Love Monkey for Christen and watched AI, but I just wasn't that impressed by anyone yet. I know it's early -- but I was much more into it even from the beginning last season -- and that was the only season I cared at all. I think they were delirious letting the last guy on though. They were just looking for comic relief for Hollywood.

***

So I've been on facebook for a while but I'm really not that into it -- I don't care one way or the other. Every once in awhile I get into it and search or update stuff, but whatever. And I never got into MySpace at all. Well, my friend at work (Other April) has been talking about it lately so I went on this morning, and goodness gracious. There are a lot of people I know. So maybe I'll get a little more into it (right now I have 3 friends: Rese, L, and Jamie) ... maybe, we'll see.

Anyhow, I'm going to go read while I wait for the system to come back up. I've been a really good reader this month -- probably because it's the first month. I'll give an end-of-the month synopsis in a couple weeks, probably phrased like the Polysyllabic Spree: books I've bought, books I've read. See you!

Being driven a little crazy

So I had this dream last night. About this guy at work. And when I woke up I threw up a little in my mouth.

He had a multicolor penis. Black and shiny on the outside and florescent pink and yellow all over. That's really all I have to say, right?

Thought so.

It happened one Tuesday

After an aborted effort to wake me up this morning, Lola decided to pee inside the house. On. My. Laptop.

I have to explain where it was and why. Although I don't keep it in the oven, I do generally leave it on the sofa. Last night we decided to move the sofa and the television to the new house, leaving the laptop to nap on the floor. Rather, I found that it is a very good thing that since the fans are on the bottom, we use it on a lapdesk to keep it cool, because when I picked it up it was the computer this morning to check my email I found the bottom of the lapdesk to be wet, and then my robe to be ... wet. So I checked the area where my computer was laying and lo and behold! A puddle.

Now she doesn't mess in the house that often, generally just when she didn't go out late enough at night and I neglect to wake up when she paws at my back in the morning. So I couldn't punish her. But why next to my computer? Why? Damn dog.

I'm not telling Christen. He. Would. Murder. Her.

Laptop still works. Robe needs to be washed.

In other news, tonight the bed is to be moved and then we will be staying in the new house fulltime. Christen closes on Wednesday so I'll be able to clean up and organize. Organize, organize, organize! Thursday the cable dudes give me internet at the new house and voila! Then it is home. I'm having a superbowl/housewarming/birthday party for friends on, well, Superbowl Sunday, so that gives me a little over 2 weeks for it to be perfect. Anybody have a pool table or fooseball table I can buy? Cheap? And a spare bed for the spare room?

Heaven is where the books are.

Yesterday I spent 4 hours arranging my library in the new house. And I still have books piled everywhere. The problem is that I have one more 5 shelf bookscase left here at the old house that needs to be brought over and I left all the pegs at home for the two that are currently sitting in the living room of the new place because I'm unable to fill them without the shelves. And I can't put the shelves in them without the pegs. Of the two unfilled bookcases at the new house, the big one will stay in the living room and house our DVD collection because I haven't found anything better to hold that monstrosity, and the thinner 5-shelf bookcase will hold my cookbooks and wineglasses. I've filled 4 3-shelfers and 2 2-shelfers (4 shelves are double-packed) with books, and once the last 5-shelf case gets over there I might not have books stacked all over the floors anymore. Maybe. hehehe ...

The day was wonderful, all that book arranging and then my siblings decided to ride their bikes to the new house to hang out and help a little bit -- we built a media case for the cds. Later the Brother and I went to Barnes & Nobles to spend our gift cards (Thank you, L ... I got F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and Damned, Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree -- A hilarious and true account of one man's struggle with the monthly tide of books he's bought and the books he's been meaning to read (sound familiar? yeah, to me too) and an Encyclopedia of Wine, because I really need someone to tell me what the different kinds of wine are and what the flavors are and where it's good from, without giving me a wine guide that tells me that this $50 bottle has a rating of 98 ... What the hell is that? I need a book explaining the ratings to me. And I need a wine guide that focuses solely on bottles of wine $15 and less. Because I will "try" a $10-12 bottle of wine and if it's no good, oh well. But I don't spend more than that ... ever on a bottle. And I never branch out in my wine buying, because I'm scared of what I don't know. I'm a doofus about wine. And I'd like to know more without being one of those wine-os (not to be confused with winos, the ones on the street with the $3 jug of wine). The Brother bought Hunter S. Thompson's Rum Diary and Sarah Vowell's Partly Cloudy Patriot, which I read and is fabulous. I love that boy.

Did I tell you they medicated him? They started him on liquid Paxil, but two-three weeks into it and he's having trouble with it. He says it quashes his creativity and he can't puzzle like he used to. Which is a common complaint with austic kids, I've heard. So mom is going to change his psychiatrist (the school forced her to take him to a psychiatrist because they can't figure out how to deal with him ... stupid school) because the shrink says he's not autistic, just clinically depressed (so evidently he's been depressed since he was in second grade). She hopes a new shrink will understand him better and change his script to a different anti-anxiety ... anyone out there know anything about Asberger's and what's good to treat it? And does it come in liquid form? He can't take pills, even vitamins ...

But I'm able to spend more time with the Sibs, and I missed that. I told them they can come over any time, they just have to call first and make sure I'm not busy and I'm home. Today I'll be going back over to do some more cleaning and to take everything else I possible can. Wish me luck! It'll be a home before you know it!

I swore I'd buy an elliptical

Driving to the new house last night, I realized that there's a gym within walking distance. I pointed this out to Christen, but I know neither of us will join. However, in the area that I'm moving it promises to be full of housewives, I'm sure. I wonder if any of them are desperate ...

It's early, and it's cold. My computer tells me it's 47 degrees outside. I know, you people in the upper parts of the world are saying, "Bloody hell, we could only wish for 47-degree weather." You know what? Suck it. I live in Florida for a reason -- the only reason, mind you. I'm cold-blooded. I can't take the cold. I can't really take the heat either, but unfortunately I haven't found a place that evens out at 74 degrees (72 is still a little chilly). Do you know of one? Can I find an editing job there?

I was evaluating my yearning to read 150 books this year. I know I made the rule, but can it include books I've already read? Because I'm thinking it might be hard to hit that number, since I'm going to have to start studying for my insurance license. I'm reading Simon Winchester's The Professor and the Madman about an editor and a contributor (2 people) of the Oxford English Dictionary, and I have to say, it's not organized very well. And it rambles. But I'm moving along through it, except that I left it at work so I can't read it over the weekend. Perhaps I'll read We Need to Talk about Kevin since I've been hearing such good things about it. It's been sitting in my bookshelves for nearly a year while I read Hornby, Palhanuik, Worrall, and Steinbeck.

Here are goals that I can't control but wish I could: Janet Fitch and Alice Sebold need to come out with more books. I can't take it anymore. They need to start writing at a faster pace.

Today is the day I go to the new house and organize it. And I organize my books. Wish me luck! It may take me all day :) I love that.

I missed out on the rule of threes

Things come in threes, right? When my friends got pregnant, 3 friends at a time had children (there were actually 6 people who had children in 1 1/2 years). And deaths ... deaths always come in threes ...


Well, if everything comes in threes, then I have just missed out on this round of marriages too -- first was Shea, then came Shellbell (May 21) and now Rese is getting married!

Maybe I'll get in on the next round :)

Oh happy tea day!

I love this tea:

-- and I really don't like green tea, so I only drink the black. Well I just found out that black teas are just as good for you as green teas, so now i'm totally psyched (dude... ). Not that I cared that much before as I mainly drink it for flavor rather than health benefits anyhow, but every little bit helps, right?

It's been a crazy few days with moving -- we've been moving a little bit every night because we both work every day, so all that's really left at the old house is the tv system and the couch in the livingroom and 1 bookcase and all the stuff in the bedroom. Tonight we move the last of the library and this weekend I'm going to try to organize as much as I can. Christen bought me another bookcase (hoorah!) so I'll put that together and decide where it goes too. This way I get to decide how everything is set up (see, I'm sneaky like that). Plus that way the dog can run around to her heart's content.

Speaking of Lola, she's driving me crazy! I've decided that she thinks that if she doesn't get enough attention (and she hasn't during the move) that she can start chewing on whatever she can find. That dog finds more socks to chew up than I thought I had! Last night she chewed one of my old purses from under the bed, which meant that she had to wiggle under the bed and go fishing for stuff to chew ... Damn dog. We're giving my snake to my mom because I don't really take him out of the cage that much now and he really needs to be socialized, and Christen goes (after she chewed up my most expensive pair of shoes), "Why are we giving the snake away? He doesn't chew anything but mice?"

I'd have to agree. But she's much better when she gets attention and has stuff to do. Being locked up while we move isn't the best for her. We'll have to see after we move to see if she needs obedience training or something. She used to be fine; I think she'll get better. If I don't murder her first for chewing up my shoes and socks. ....

Four feathers, four rooms, four things ...

I’m generally hit or miss on memes, but Lucky White Girl tagged me for this one and I thought it was a good way to start 2006:

Four jobs I've had in my past:

• Copy Chief for my college newspaper
• Cashier at Kash ‘n’ Karry (yes, I still remember produce codes)
• Sandwich maker at Einstein’s bagels
• Orientation Leader for the college

Four things I want to do before 2006 is over

• Send out at least one of my short stories to attempt to get published (I need a starting-off point)
• Try my hand at painting
• Start walking again (I can’t say how far or how often though)
• Read 150 books (that’s less than one every other day; I think I can do it! I’m on #3 now!)

Four things I say a lot

• Dern it (I’m hardcore, you see)
• “way” (as in, that’s way cool, I’m way tired …) (thanks, Shea)
• fabulous (thanks, Stacy)
• Yo yo yo … (but usually just to people who talk too much slang, and it’s my way to poke fun at them)

Four things I don't trust:

• Georgie Porgie (that guy that some people voted for)
• Polyester (you have to have at least one inside joke on these things)
• My brain
• Dunedin beer

Four things I do trust:

• Good wine
• My friends
• My heart
• A good book

Four people from history I'd like to meet:

• Audrey Hepburn
• Fred Astaire
• My grandfather on my dad’s side (I’ve been told that I met him, but I was too young to remember)
• F. Scott Fitzgerald

Four best movies of 2005: (everything I thought I saw in 2005 I actually saw in 2004, so this is actually both)

• Paperclips
• A Very Long Engagement
• Broken Flowers (besides the lack of an ending)
• Walk the Line
  

Four best books I read in 2005:

• The Poet and the Murderer by Simon Winchester
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• Speaking with the Angel by Nick Hornby
• Goodnight, Nebraska by Tom McNeal

Four people I'm tagging, if they're into it (I've no idea):

• L from Random_Speak
• Glomgold from God has Wheels
• VegasGustan of Home but Far From It
• Autumn of Autumn in New York

What the heck?

While attempting to post on a fellow Tampa blogger's site, my comment was rejected for "objectionable content." Now, given my lack of a predisposition for objectionable content, aren't you curious to know what my comment was? Well, they had been writing about how this might be Alstott's last year in the NFL, and my comment was (are you ready?):

"Did you read in Sunday's Trib that someone wants him to run for mayor? How obnoxious. I love Alstott just like the rest of the town, but I don't know about politics. It's like when Bubba ran for Sheriff. ... except Alstott's got more class."

I think that some of these sites are getting a little crazy with the comment filtering. I had the word verification on, but I even took that off (well, because I kept failing the dern thing). Don't like a comment? Delete the damn thing.

What are your thoughts on severe comment filtering?

You say up, I say down.

It's been a holiday season to forget, but likely one we will never forget. There have been surgeries, stitches, homes to be kicked out of, trucks to be totaled, cancers, bug problems, stove issues (those last two were related) ... etc, etc etc. But it is a new year, and Christen finally got a new truck, we have a new house (moving this month, you'll get updated pix once complete) and if we can get over the money crises that come with every holiday season, this year has to be better than last.

Our NYE I think was the best it's ever been, I think. No pictures, but we went to the new Green Iguana and ate outside and watched the patio fill up with drunk ugly skanks (Christen and Kyle picked out the ugliest "woman" there, and I'd have to say, she definitely fit the bill). We got there about 7:30 and left around 11:30, in time to see King Kong for midnight. It ran until 3am, but was really good (I didn't even fall asleep!) but I'd have to say GI was the best idea of the night. And it was mine! :) And I never make decisions ... hehe.

We all got drunk, and I spilled red wine down the front of me, and secrets were spilled and it was a grand way to ring in the New Year. I made resolutions I think I can make: to be on time more to work (I'm always 15-20 minutes late), to let less things bother me and therefore have a less stressful year, and just on average for this year to be better than last. I think it will be. I've got the inside scoop.

NYD was calm and quiet -- we watched the Bucs game (woohoo! Go Bucs!) and went to the bank to deposit Christmas monies and grocery shopping before returning for the late football game during which I fell asleep. This morning I took the dog for a walk to drop off our 30-day notice to the realty and sat here with you for a short time. I'm going book shopping with L, and my sister is going to help me do some moving a little later. Perhaps there will be more pictures (and maybe I'll even show you the front of the house this time!)

Toodles!

Have a good one!

Happy New Year's!

moving again (the pix)

This lizard evidently did not see the "Lizard Loft" perched next to the birdhouse.



Lola explores the backyard



The main room -- living room? family room? dining room? you decide!



Ze kitchen



Where I shall be sleeping. (We shall be "sleeping")



Meeting the new neighbors

Just Lovely

My holiday was marvelous, I must say. Christmas Eve was magical, as Christen and I decided to exchange our gifts then, so while he was at work I ran errands to get dinner prepared, and made cheeseburgers and baked macaroni & cheese to bring him at work since retail is the scrooge of Christmas and makes people work. Or at least makes Christen work. I'd have probably been out of luck if everyone was out of work on Christmas Eve, as I didn't plan dinner until late on Friday. He got home and we laid around doing nothing for a short time before grilling teriyaki bacon-wrapped shrimp kabobs with rice and eating them with a fantastic bottle of wine on our wonderful front porch that will no longer be ours after next month. After dinner we made our woozy way down for a walk downtown, since shortly we won't be able to do that, and saw the lights that the town put up. When we came home we sat under the tree and exchanged gifts. I already told you what I got him, but he got me a big terrycloth robe, a jewelry box, and pearl earrings and necklace. They are all beautiful. I loved getting things that I really wanted and were girly and sweet. :) He said he never had any intention on getting me stuff for my car but just wanted to throw me off track. I don't know that I believe it, but it's nice to think so.

Christmas was a production, as usual. That's why I wanted us to do our Christmas on the eve. We went to my mom's, where she gave me the desk she was going to will me that I love so much. It's a beautiful antique rolltop, but very small -- more of a bill desk. It was my great-grandfather's, and she got it when he died. I'm so excited; I'm not going to take it until we move so I don't have to move it twice. From there we went to his parents' house and opened more, had breakfast, and moved on to Nana's house for lunch and to watch the little ones open their gifts. Later we went back to his mom's house to do a gift exchange with Shea etc. It was a grand time; I got a Coach purse and Christen a "Rolex" both bought in Chinatown while they were honeymooning. Later we went back to Shea and Kyle's home and we girls hung out inside while the boys smoked cigars on the back porch. It was the perfect end to a lovely day.

How was your holiday?

Merry Christmas!

and Happy Holidays! I'll be back after the weekend. Now to go gorge myself on Christmas fare. Have a magical time!

Not dead yet!

Hey! every once in awhile I think I should let y'all know I'm not dead; just resting. I've almost finished my Christmas shopping -- rather, I've finished mine and all that's left is some of Christen's shopping. We still need stuff for his dad and cousin & her husband, but I've already decided what we're getting everyone but his dad, so he can just go pick it up. And of course he hasn't done any shopping at all for me yet, but that's okay. I got him (he doesn't read this so it's okay) 2 books, a pajama set (really comfy pants), 2 dress shirts, a Peanuts Christmas puzzle, a couple little stocking stuffer games, and a pinky ring (he steals my thumb ring all the time, and I've bought him a pinky ring before and he lost it). I couldn't find anything to be his "main" gift so I just ended up getting a bunch of little gifts. I hope he likes them. I'm excited about my best friend's gift: I got her a chocolate fountain, but I ordered it off Amazon so I got the stainless steel one like what they use at conventions (it's supposed to come today!).

Tonight we're going to see Cirque du Soliel's Varekai
and I haven't decided if I'm excited or not. I heard it was fabulous, but I've never been. I hated the regular circus -- all that buildup to something that's not all that fab. But we'll see. Today we have Secret Santa at work, and I got my friend Stacy, so I got her an Indian tea box with different teas in it (the box is really pretty red & gold fabric), a bottle of Cosmo mix and a bottle of gingerbread syrup from Starbucks. And for everyone else I got cards -- I really wish I had a scanner so I could show you what the cards look like -- they're really funny. Maybe I'll take a picture instead :)

Anywho, I'm all set for Christmas so I don't even have to finish up on Christmas Eve -- yay! Oh, and later I'll post the picture of what I got my best friend's fiance, because we let him open it at the party on Saturday so that everyone could see it :) Toodles!

close

Jamie posted her avatar and since I really like mine I thought I'd post mine too :)

We're gonna make it after all.

I wish I had time to talk.

But I don't.

So I won't.

Sufficed to say, Christen's truck is finally getting taken care of; he got his settlement check today, got a rental car today so I don't have to take him to work at night and go pick him up before I go to work in the morning anymore (I volunteered, but I tell you; it really sucked). Now we just have to suck it up until this weekend when we can go shopping for a new truck.

And we looked at a house today that was gorgeous, but a little higher than we planned on paying. Still not out of our price range, but just more than we planned on. So he's going to see a different one tomorrow and if he doesn't like that one (he's pickier than I) then we'll put in for that house and deal with it. And it'll be beautiful.

And Nana is doing fine, and Lola's stitches come out this week, and the world is still spinning. Amazing how that works, eh?

What more could go wrong?

This holiday season sucks. Big monkey balls (sorry Shin Shin).

Here's the drama:
--kicked out of our house and forced to find a new one
--Christen's nana had surgery
--Lola had to get stitches

and now the most recent development:
--Christen got in an accident and totalled his truck.

More later when I'm not working off so little sleep, but I don't think we can take much more of this. Someone out there is trying to break us.

wedding pix

The Wedding (I'm the 3rd from left in the Bridesmaids)




The newly married couple coming down the staircase for the reception



Christen and I entering the reception (he was the best man, I a bridesmaid)



The happy couple during their first dance



The cake eating contest (they made a pact not to smash it on eachother's faces)

afterward

The wedding was gorgeous, and the hotel was even more beautiful. I forgot my camera, so you guys are going to have to wait for pictures.

However, I got the flu Thursday and have been fighting it ever since.

See y'all after I either die or get better. Whichever comes first.

Goin' to the chapel

I won't be around for the next few days -- Christen's cousin is getting married and today's the rehearsal dinner, tomorrow the wedding, and Saturday the aftermath. I'm a bridesmaid and Christen's the best man. Maybe this will give him a kickstart toward our wedding -- after all, we will be walking down the aisle together :)

See you soon, and maybe I'll post pictures!

Please explain.

cock·a·trice n. Mythology

A serpent hatched from a cock's egg and having the power to kill by its glance.



Please explain how a cock lays an egg?

Space dog, from log to bog.

Okay, so I couldn't come up with anything funny. But doesn't she look ridiculous? I had to take her back to the vet today because she ripped off her bandages and they put her in this:

My poor lame puppy

Lola had to get stitches today. She ripped open the pad of her foot trying to mess with her crate while we went shopping today. I don't know what to do with her -- she hates her crate so much I feel bad everytime I leave the house, but I can't leave her loose in the house -- it's not mine, and if she messes something up I'm the one who pays. She scratched up the doorjamb one day when we left her loose while we went grocery shopping and I'm going to have to sand it and repaint it before I move now.

But in happier and less dry news, I went shopping today! Yes, I braved the crowds and went to get a few things. I didn't get up until almost 9am, but when we went there was still plenty of what I did want, and anything that they were out of I've decided I didn't need anyhow. So here are my and Christen's purchases for today:
-- Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture 2 (I'm obsessed with Trivial Pursuit, even though I'm terrible at it)
-- DVDs: Robots, Kingdom of Heaven, About Schmidt and Friday Night Lights
-- ATI Radion X800 video card (something about 16 pixel pipelines, but don't ask me -- I just use the stuff)
-- a Cranberry Chutney Yankee Candle
-- iPod Clock Radio
-- the Garden State soundtrack
-- Sims 2 Nightlife Expansion Pack

I tried to do some Christmas shopping, but I just couldn't find anything that appealled to me for anyone else. I'll have to do some more shopping over the next week to see if I can jump start myself to the holiday spirit. With the whole house-thing, I'm just not feeling it yet. Is anyone else feeling the holiday spirit?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope your turkey day is a blast!

there goes home sweet home.

So Sunday my landlord calls me. She wants to know if they've fixed the stove yet. I tell her not yet, because even though she told me last week that they were authorized to fix it they haven't called yet. Then she tells me the news. Her daughter is pregnant. She needs the house.

My house.

She's due in March. Looks like I'm homeless again. I sobbed most of the day. And then I went to get my alterations done for the wedding and on the way home I hit a raccoon. And it messed up my bumper.

How was your weekend?