courtesy of NPR Junkie

Have you ever:

(x) snuck out of the house – 9th grade and I was grounded for 7 months (1 month for sneaking out and 6 months for lying about it)
(x) gotten lost in your city – sometimes that's the best part
(x) seen a shooting star
( ) been to any other countries besides the united states
( ) had a serious surgery
(x) gone out in public in your pajamas - all the time, and i still do it
(x) kissed a stranger
(x) hugged a stranger
(x) been in a fist fight – with an ex-boyfriend's girlfriend, but not over him ... she was a bitch.
( ) been arrested – nope, can’t say as I’ve been caught….
(X) laughed and had milk/coke come out of your nose
(x) pushed all the buttons on an elevator
(x) swore at your parents
(x) been in love
(x) been close to love - i've felt like i should have been in love but wasn't
(x) been to a casino – Hard Rock casino is just down the street
( ) been skydiving - no, but i've done that windtunnel sky diving (fake skydiving)
(x) skinny-dipped
(x) skipped school – not enough to put a dent in my education
(x) seen a therapist – didn't help in the least ... y'all know i'm still nuts
(x) done the splits - is this gymnastics or splitting your pants? i've done both!
(x) played spin the bottle
( ) gotten stitches
( ) drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour – isn’t that something they do for fun out in the midwest?
(x) bitten someone – that's my only defense when people tickle me!
( ) been to Niagara Falls
(x) gotten the chicken pox – so bad I had boils in my throat ... it was icky
(x) kissed a member of the opposite sex – this should come as no surprise…
( ) crashed into a friend's car
( ) been to Japan - but i have a friend who's been there for 3 years
(x) ridden in a taxi
(x) been dumped - i didn't know how to break up with one guy so i just stopped talking to him until he broke up with me --- in a note! gotta love high school
(x) shoplifted - don't wanna talk about (never was caught though!)
(x) been fired - but not for a very good reason
( ) had a crush on someone of the same sex
(x) had feelings for someone who didn't have them back
(x) gone on a blind date
(x) lied to a friend – sometimes it’s better to NOT tell the truth
(x) had a crush on a teacher
( ) celebrated Mardi-Gras in new Orleans
( ) been to Europe-
(x) slept with a co-worker sort of, since i met my boyfriend at work, but we worked for different stores and very rarely had to work together
( ) been married
( ) gotten divorced
( ) had children- oh god no!
( ) seen someone die
(x) had a close friend die - my 16 year old neighbor committed suicide when i was in grade school and a high school friend died of leukemia right after graduation
( ) been to Africa
(x) driven over 400 miles in one day – tampa fl to asheville, nc in 12 hours!
( ) been to Canada
( ) been to Mexico –
(x) been on a plane - to Indianapolis for a band trip in high school
(x) seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show but not till after college
( ) thrown up in a bar –
( ) purposely set a part of myself on fire - WTF?!
(x) eaten sushi
( ) been skiing/snowboarding
(x) met someone in person from the internet- yep, L and a couple ex boyfriends ...
( ) lost a child
(x) gone to college-although sometimes it’s hard to believe.
(x) graduated college-again, sometimes hard to believe
(x) fired a gun – well, a bebe gun at one of those huge grasshoppers when i was about 8, and never again..
(x) purposely hurt yourself -- high school was a little trecherous sometimes
(x) taken painkillers-

just so you know ....

You are

What Rejected Crayon Are You?

Attention IDOL fans (look away Mrs. Mogul)

CARRIE WON! HURRAH!

Jacskonville -- city of cache.

So I've decided to go to GeoWoodstock III next weekend in Jacksonville. It's about a 4-hour drive and my sister has agreed to come too, probably in hopes of meeting cute 12-year-old boys ... but that's besides the point (yes, she's 12). But now I have to find a cheap hotel and I don't know where the okay spots are and where the not so good places are. Any help? Looking for something in the 50-60 dollar range, considering I just dropped a buttload of money on the intial rental of the house (first last and sizable deposit). Then we can bring Cheerios and pb&j sandwiches and make it the cheapest stay-over EVAR. Last time I went to Jacksonville was for a band trip and they paid for the room, so I really don't even know where we stayed. Anywho, off to pick up the coffee table we bought at the RTG clearance store. Fun fun!

and meet jacob the snacob too ...

Jacob isn't happy that I didn't feed him today, but he's seemingly happy reading my blog. Perhaps he's spell-checking for me!

let me introduce you to my new house

Isn't it beautiful? This is where I'll be living as of June 1st in the heart of downtown Safety Harbor. I'm so thrilled. I'll take more pictures when I move in. Who wants to do a dinner party? Thus endeth the bitch-blogging about looking for houses. Hallellujah. Now we shall have to name it. I think she's a girl -- she's just so cute and pretty. Any ideas?

it's really not that I've been lazy

but more that I just haven't had the time for you. I know, I'm so sorry. I've missed you all terribly. And just so you know, I'm still reading your posts even though I haven't been much for posting or even commenting. Last week was a week of overtime, mental breakdowns, losing houses, losing minds, crying hysterically and being pissed at the chick at the bowling alley.

You'll excuse me if I go sit on my butt for a little while. Dinner's in the oven and I've got books to read. L and I went book shopping at Wilson's in St. Pete on our lunch break and it occurs to me that I bought 3 books that I'd like to read, but I'm still in the middle of one that I've been reading for weeks and have one in-waiting for when I finish this one. So now I'm 4 behind. And one behind when it's as big as mine is quite enough, thank you!

a la Becky ...

Your Linguistic Profile:

70% General American English

20% Dixie

10% Yankee

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

quick choice: to read or blog?

I felt like blogging this weekend but it was the first time I've actually had the time to read so I've had to choose: to blog or read. Reading won out for a little bit, and after this post I'll pick up the house (yes I'm compulsive about cleaning) and go back to the book. I told my brother he could borrow the book when I'm done and he's getting rather impatient (You only read 35 pages? I could have done that in one period at school!!) so I've resolved to finish it and get it to him before he makes me spend the 20 bucks to get his own copy. Good book, Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell (I know I've mentioned it before as I've been carrying it around with me for two weeks or so). We'll see if I can consume it today.

I celebrated Mother's Day with my mom last night -- I made lasagna and brought it over in a Pyrex dish and played with snakes (she's got two boas and a corn snake) and tickle-tortured my little sister. Great fun, eh? Today was the day to visit Christen's grandmothers and we had lunch with his parents at Fridays. It's been a lazy day so now I'm sitting here with my eyes half closed while I type. Who's up for a Sunday nap?

On another note, I was up for a nap but someone just placed a travel bug about 5 miles from home that I've been waiting for so I guess I'm going geocaching. Wish me happy hunting!

a purse, a book and a bit of traffic.

So it's only 9:30 and I've been home for less than an hour but I'm already thinking of going to bed. I stayed late at work until nearly 7pm wrapping up some work and went to dinner with a coworker at the new Cracker Barrel down the street from work. It only opened Sunday and it was swamped! And there was a geocache there so I signed without knowing the coordinates. The Cracker Barrel caches are so easy usually. I've only not found one, in Fort Myers. It was harder to find the cache online than it was at the place. I'm thinking about writing an article about that series for the magazine. It's an interesting series.

Sunday was great fun. Sadly, I bowled better in the morning than I did in the evening. But such is life, right? My high score for the whole day was 137, but low score was 86. Not so great. Midday warranted a bookstore hike, and though my favorite used bookstore was closed we made due with the local B&N for amusement. I bought David Foster Wallace's A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again. I wanted Sarah Vowell's Radio On: A Listener's Diary, but alas they did not carry it. I suppose I'll have to submit to order it. Blegch. At DSW I found an adorable green tweed purse that begged me to take it home with me and stray from my old black and brown favorites. Which I not only did, but bought a red wallet to go inside instead of my usual Scooby Doo wallet that has seen too many years. Scooby Doo was usually more like Scooby Doo-I-Have-To? when I took him out of my purse. Perhaps time to retire, my dear. Plus it fixed the whole problem with hurting my wallet at the bookstore. This new one is mainly just for cards, so they're always longing to come out and play!

So let me tell you about this traffic jam I was in. Do you want to hear? So Friday night I'm driving home and I leave work at 5:02pm. I always have to drive over this huge bridge to get home and the traffic is usually murderous, but I never worry so much about traffic so whatever. But I'm pulling out of the parking lot and I see an ambulance fly by toward the bridge. It was the only one I saw though, so I'm still not worried. I'm not suppose to pick up my friend to go have drinks until 6pm. So I'm tooling down the highway over the bridge, get over the hump (yes, I said "hump" so giggle away) and traffic stops. Dead. There's no movement whatsoever. I put the car in neutral, pull the parking brake and start reading. 20 pages in there's still no movemet. The guy in the minivan behind me has gotten out of his car. People have tried to tool down the shoulder of the bridge and are now getting tickets. I put the book down and get out of my car to go talk to the dude from the minivan. We were there for 45 minutes. 45 MINUTES! I've never ever been in traffic that you can get out of your car for. That's for in the movies, you know? Thankfully by the time I got OFF the bridge rush hour traffic was out of downtown so it only took 20 minutes to get to Scott's house and I was only 10 minutes late. But holy by golly gee wiz, man. Have you ever seen such traffic?

who needs sleep?

I don't know what 's with me lately but on the weekends it's not possible for me to sleep past 8:30. I realize that my body is used to waking up at six every morning, but during the week I also go to bed at 10 and the past few nights at after one and still I'm up at 8:30. Body, let me sleep! Arg!

But the good thing about getting up that early is that the day goes on forever. Well, it's probably not a good thing if your days suck, but mine -- not so bad, really. :D Yesterday I got all the cleaning done except the bathroom mirror which I'll probably do before I take a shower so it steams all nice. Anyone who's been to my place knows that the phrase "My house is such a mess" is a subjective phrase. My house is rarely a mess. However I hate to deal with papers, so I do have a bit of clutter. My usual dealing with paperwork and receipts is to throw them in the nearest grocery, Target or NY & Co. bag and stack them next to my desk. If no bag is available they get stacked (neatly, mind you) on the inside corner of the kitchen bar. Or on the desk. Or the other desk. This is how I lose so many bills. So yesterday I got all the bags and stacks and threw them on the dining room table and cleaned the apt. Then I went back and dropped all the clutter in the middle of the living room floor and went through ALL of it. I'm now down to a small stack that has my receipt for my car (to go back into the glove box) this month's bills and my 401K stuff from my new job that I don't understand and therefore have yet to sign up. Woohoo! Tomorrow I'll probably pay all my bills and the stack will diminish. I'm so happy to see the floor next to my desk, can I tell you?

Last night I was on a rant about this box of pens I have. It's one of those five-ream paper boxes and it's full of pens. Well, it's gone. I can't find it anywhere, and it's really not like it can hide too much. There's one closet and under the bed that aren't organized to some degree. Yeah, it's not there; it's not anywhere. I have the distinct feeling that Christen made off with it. I don't know why he would have, but who else would have taken it? And I wouldn't have really cared but for two things: It was my box and I wasn't able to go through it for the ones I really wanted. But he says he had nothing to do with it and it'll surface when we move, but we'll see.

And I also went through all my old tapes. Cassette tapes, you remember those? Yeah, well I still have a ton of them so I went through looking for my single of Grateful Dead's Touch of Grey because I wanted to listen to My Brother Esau, which is the B-side. Wow, I have a lot of crap on those tapes. Would you like to listen to Gloria Estefan's greatist hits or the soundtrack to Wayne's World with me? hehe.

I'm going bowling with Ivan and L today, so I think that'll be loads of fun. L and I (hehe, that looks funny) are going book shopping later, so wish my wallet luck!

I'm a posting machine!

Yeah, I know I'm shirking the responsibility of cleaning the house, but read this! Evidently that's what I do, according to this:

Your Birthdate: July 5

With a birthday on the 5th of the month you are inclined to work well with people and enjoy them. You are talented and versatile, very good at presenting ideas. You may have a tendency to get itchy feet at times and need change and travel. You tend to be very progressive, imaginative and adaptable. Your mind is quick, clever and analytical. A restlessness in your nature may make you a bit impatient and easily bored with routine. You may have a tendency to shirk responsibility

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Suprise suprise

Your Life Path Number Is 3

3 Your Life Path is one that emphasizes expression, sociability, and creativity as the lesson to be learned in this life. You are among the entertainers of the world, bright, effervescent, sparkling people with very optimistic attitudes. You possess the most exceptional creative skills: normally in the verbal realm, writing, speaking, acting, or similar endeavors. The lesson to be learned with a 3 life path is that of achievement through expression. The bright side of this path stresses harmony, beauty and pleasures; of sharing your creative talents with the world. Capturing your capability in creative self-expression is the highest level of attainment for this life path. You are warm and friendly, a good conversationalist, social and open. A good conversationalist both from the standpoint of being a delight to listen to, but even more importantly, one who has the ability to listen to others. You are always a welcome addition to any social situation and know how to make others feel at home. Your reative imagination is present, if sometimes latent, as the you may not be moved to develop you talent. Your approach to life tends to be exceedingly positive, and your disposition is almost surely sunny and open-hearted. You effectively cope with all of the many setbacks that occur in life and readily bounce back for more. It is usually easy for you to deal with problems because you can freely admit the existence of problems without letting them get you down. You have good manners and seem to be very conscious of other people's feelings and emotions. Life is generally lived to the fullest, often without much worry about tomorrow. You are not very good at handling money because of a general lack of concern about it. You spend it when you have it and don't when you don't. On the negative side, a 3 may be so delighted with the joy of living that the life becomes frivolous and superficial. You may scatter your abilities and express little sense of purpose. You can be an enigma, for no apparent reason you may become moody and tend to retreat. Escapist tendencies are not uncommon with the 3 life path, and you find it very hard to settle into one place or one position. Guard against being critical of others, impatient, intolerant, or overly optimistic. Typically, the life path 3 gives an above-average ability in some art form. This can encompass painting, interior decorating, landscaping, crafts, writing, music, or the stage, or all of the above. You are apt to be a happy, inspired person, constantly seeking the stimuli of similar people. Your exuberant nature can take you far, especially if you are ever able to focus your energies and talents.

What Is Your Life Path Number?

a sigh of relief.

So I think I'm done with the magazine for this month. I've been up since 8:30 and working since 10:30 and I wrote my article and finished all I'm capable of doing. There are just some things that aren't possible. At least I know my limits, right? It's been a relaxing day with a break for a tuna sandwich. I could be cleaning, but I don't think so.

We found a house in Safety Harbor that we're pretty set on. We really wanted one in South Tampa but we couldn't find anything we liked within our budget. The one we found in SH is a 2/2 1920s house a block from downtown and across the brick road from a cafe that has a live band that plays James Taylor and other nifty music. And it's quiet and the common rooms are really roomy and I'll have plenty of room for my office. And dark hardwood floors. Now we need more furniture. The landlord seems pretty cool too, which is nice. He'll pretty much let us do anything we want as long as it doesn't hurt the house. So I can paint and stuff. Woohoo! Let's just cross our fingers that we get it.

Last night I got together with some of the old fiction crew -- not enough of them, mind you, but it'll have to do. Scott was in town so we all went to Bennigan's and then retired to Brad's. I drank too much. I had four Bass ales at Bennigan's and 3/4 a bottle of wine (2003 Schmitt Soehne Riesling Spaetlese) at Brad's. I was swimmy -- it was delightful. The wine was not bad -- sweet but not White Zin sweet and very smooth. Not something I'd drink all the time but doable. It was a late night -- I didn't get home until after 1 a.m. (yes, that's late for me). Thankfully Brad lives in my apartment complex so I was able to walk home.

Wednesday night I went to a wine tasting in downtown Dunedin and saw an old friend there that I hadn't seen in ages (since her graduation party two years ago). And one of the girls I was with saw friends of hers from high school that she hadn't seen in 10 years. How odd is that? I had a lovely glass of wine there -- a Pinot Frigio, which I had never had but is pretty much like a Grigio, perhaps a little smoother. I wish I remembered the brand though. It started with a P. Any takers? Suzanne and I went to Alley Cat Cafe for dinner afterward and I didn't get home until after 12 a.m. on a work night -- I was so sleepy the next morning. My bedtime is around 10 now. But my weekends are long because I wake up by 8:30 without the alarm.

Anywhos, I think I may get some cleaning done while I still have the motivation. But I'll actually be around and not zipping around to get things done!

I feel like a spinning top or a dreidel ...

So life has been a little strenuous as of late. Not really that I'm complaining, but ... I haven't read a single book since last Wednesday! That's saying something. I've been carrying around Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell and I've read 20 pages or so, but most of the time it's sitting on my desk at work or on the table at home waiting for me, patiently. It's such a good friend for that. Sarah knows I'm busy, but she's so accommodating. I love her.

The managing editor for the mag I work for quit last week so I've been doing the majority of the posting for next month's issue (which comes out on Sunday) and I still have to write an article on bookcrossing meets geocaching (going to try to do it tonight after the meeting) and copy edit four more things so the new managing editor can post those (bless her heart) and fix all the links on the articles I've already posted and figure out how to post the pictures to those articles ...

So I'm sitting down to post here first, lazing about with a glass of Cab Sauv and the rain falling outside, typing on our brand new laptop and watching the beginning of Law & Order: SVU. I'll get to all the other work, eventually. I just really need a few minutes to sit and do nothing. Ya got me?

50 lashes with a wet noodle.

I know, I know. It's been awhile. I tried to write a bunch of times but everytime I logged into Blogger and got to this page I didn't know what I wanted to say. Work is doing alright. We still don't have desks, which is really quite ridiculous but what can you do? I'm still getting paid, and I'm alright with that. My brother spent the weekend with me and we went on a book spree. I bought 11 books. Woohoo, 11 books! Plus two for him, and I let him borrow Sarah Vowell's Take the Cannoli because he was mad I didn't give him Assassination Vacation (hey, I just bought it!) but he gave it back today already finished. Mom's thinking of letting him get his GED next year when he turns 16 because he's not cutting it in school. She had a meeting with the teachers yesterday and they accused him of being like the Columbine kids. They don't know him at all. He doesn't have anymore anger than any other kids and he's really sweet. He just doesn't have social skills. It's not his fault they don't understand him at school. At least he gets the understanding at home that he deserves. Plus he thinks it's hilarious that they think he's going to kill them. Stupid teachers.

We've been looking for houses for the past couple of weeks in South Tampa. It's ... going. I've found one I like but it's still not everything we want, and another one we both really like from the outside but the I keep trying to get ahold of the guy he doesn't answer his cell phone and he called me one time and I couldn't get to the phone in time but I called him right back and he didn't answer then either, and hasn't answered yet. And I'm not leaving 6 million messages.

Anywho, don't have anything else to say; you know how when you haven't said anything in awhile everything bubbles up too quickly? Yeah, that's how I feel. Night!

hey!

You're Betty Grable!


What Classic Pin-Up Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Black Monday, blue Tuesday.

Monday was wretched. Yes, that's my favorite word for such a day. I found out that my dad's girlfriend has cancer. They've been together for nearly 20 years, so she's as much a part of my life as anyone he could have married (he's allergic to marriage; he found out when he married my mom) and she's a sweet wonderful person. The only reason I found out is that I went to get my car insurance fixed up (she's my agent) and she was wearing a wig like the one I wore when I was Velma for Halloween. So she told me (and said she wouldn't tell anyone but family) but that she's going to chemo 3 days every 10, and she came in on a chemo day to help me. I felt so bad. Dad says it's worse than she lets on, that the chemo is more to prolong life than to save it. I told him I wouldn't tell Mom, but when I left after dinner I called her crying and went over. That's what her brother died of about two months ago -- liver cancer. I was slightly hysterical when I went to my mom's, but she made me feel a little better. I didn't get home until after 12a.m. and was supposed to get up at 6 to go to work.

But, at 4 a.m. I was wracked with horrible pains and spent hours in the bathroom. I think I'm better now; I can't tell if it's a stomach flu or just stress of the situation -- my body reacts differently to stress I can't handle. I was breaking out in sweats and my legs were going numb as well as the sickness -- it was like a slightly lighter version of this day. I'm going to go in for the second half of work because I do feel better and I don't want to miss a full day in the last week of training before we take our test and get thrown out in the real world of adjusting. Hopefully I don't spend the time in the bathroom there.

so far from done.

I've finished cataloguing 368 books (and thanks to MS Excel they're already in alphabetical order) with only 188 left to go. I probably won't add these books into the list because they're cookbooks, crimes & punishment books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, stylebooks, graphic novels (I have the entire series of Bone), reference supplies (like Gardner's Art Through the Ages) and antique books. But I'm surprised I got it done as quickly as I did. I'm proud of myself. It only took the entirety of High Fidelity and Adaptation. to finish.

There will be no bowling tonight, as Kyle of the Kyle/Shea couple is sick and Christen has inventory. I sit alone with my books. So I'm not really alone. I cleaned the house top to bottom yesterday morning (woke up at 7:45 for no good reason) so I haven't that to do. Perhaps another look 'round Michele since I'm now obsessed. Of course, I could be studying my work stuff, but I'm sure I can come up with something better than that :D

What came first, the music or the misery?

I was planning a trip to the bookstore, but when I walk into my library/dining room I am overcome by the books that I own but haven't read yet, so I may stay home instead. Plus maybe I can save the money towards a new laptop. I've begun a list of the books I own in MS Excel so I can alphabetize them later, but I think I'm in for a rough afternoon since I've only listed the books on one of my endtables and I'm up to 37. If I finish the books I may write up my DVDs too because we were at Best Buy the other day and I could not remember if we owned High Fidelity (we did). The collections are starting to get a little out of hand. Not that I mind, mind you, just an observation.

When I do end up at the bookstore I'm getting the book Sideways and a better copy of Prince of Tides. While I go over my books I'm going to take a few out that I have no interest in owning anymore (like that crappy version of PoT) and enter them into Bookcrossing.com. Then I'm gonna make a geocache with all of them in it and let them go. You know that this will be like ripping chunks of skin from my nether regions, but that's besides the point.

Toodles!