Grossiosity & Sadness. (OR: Rant? Don't mind if I do!)

Inexplicably, I'm a mess this week...Melancholy and Feeling all sorts of sorry for myself and all that Bad stuff. And it's such a long, long week. And it's not supposed to be!


I don't know what I want. I tend to create drama when there isn't any, and I wonder if that's what I'm doing now. Because generally, I like isolation--I often crave it. So why am I suddenly so depressed at taking a step back and seeing how often I'm alone these days?


It just seems like everything is setting me off these days.

• The prospect of such a busy June is making me stressed.
• Knowing that however much I like to be in control of the home & monetary situation, I really have nothing to do with the getting of said money.
• Wondering what's going to happen to a certain friend who I strongly feel should have much more professional help than anyone around him is willing to even consider.
• Worrying that if I can't do this new diet, I'll never have a handle on my weight again.
• Not getting enough sleep.
• Not exercising because I'm too tired from the no sleep.
• Really wanting to read Twilight again but feeling like I should read all those blocked library books &/or backlog of magazines.
• Not being productive at all.
• Not having much alone-time with my Neil lately.
• I have another blog tracking my menu/food intake/exercise, and they suddenly imposed a "you-can-only-post-once-a-day" policy, and they won't let me do anything, now well over 24 hours since my last update. That ticks me off.
• I forgot to re-queue Netflix, so instead of another juicy 90210 DVD, we'll be backlogged with unwatched "Undeclared" episodes. Seriously, seriously not as good, nearly, as "Freaks & Geeks." And I can now relax with 90210, 'cause Scott kicked it in "The Next Fifty Years" I just watched. And I don't remember any more deaths, at least for awhile.
• I don't want to have cake tomorrow. To get through the first couple days and then be obligated to eat the cake someone made for my birthday? How do I do this without ruining the entire day of dieting?

I don't think I'm a hypochondriac. But I might be a hypo-drama-diac. I hate it.

This looks good:

I'm going to try and cheer myself up for the rest of the day.

9:50 AM...

This sounds neat...in the Saricks Readers' Advisory book we [were supposed to] read last Spring for the class, which I am now cataloging for Stephens, she issues "The Five-Book Challenge" to librarians. Every year, she challenges us to read five books of a new genre she lists, to become more comfortable with them. I loved doing this in the class (one book from each genre, there) and think it's a great idea. Saricks' genres are:

• Adventure (I read Casino Royale)
• Fantasy (I read an updated fairy tale book)
• Gentle Reads (Hello, Mitford!)
• Historical Fiction (I read...um, I think I skipped this week. We could skip one week. I dislike history.)
• Horror (Interview with the Vampire)
• Literary Fiction (We had Muticultural Fiction week, and I read Life of Pi...incredible, except the Horrible ending.)
• Mysteries (I read a really bad one I found in the Weinberg collection at work)
• Psychological suspense (we didn't have a separate week for this one)
• Romance (Another bad one--Love @ First Site)
• Romantic Suspense (again, no separate week. But I finished Derailed last year. That was creepy!)
• Science Fiction (What did I read here? Did I skip this week? Oh yea, I remember--we could also skip the week before our week leading the discussion--in my case, Gentle Reads week. I must have skipped this too. I'm not a fan.)
• Suspense (eh, same as mystery)
• Thriller (Horror/mystery weeks)
• Westerns (I went for Shane. Very pleasant read.)
• Women's Lives and Relationships (no separate week. But I read plenty of these.)

I should take this challenge on.

12:17 PM...

I'm leaving in a few minutes.

Neil wants to come home for lunch so I'm picking him up.

Then I'm going to make chicken gizzards, which make me happy no matter what.

And I think this afternoon I'll watch the Bachelorette.

Either that, or read a romance novel. "Confessions of a Pioneer Woman" put me way in the mood for those.

If I feel like napping, I'll nap.

And then we'll go to the ARC when Neil gets back home.

...I'm determined not to make this day as bad as I've been feeling for the past 24 hours!

My last days!

Four more left! I'll soon be posting about my specific goals for the summer, but for now, I'm still doing the little things.

What I hope to do this week...

1. Grocery store/Sam's
2. Finish Usher EW/Organize
3. Install a long ethernet cord (If found. Change this to "FIND 30-ft ethernet cord" if Wal-Mart fails me)
4. Online: Desperate pt. 2, Ugly Betty, Bachelorette 5/19 & 5/26 (IF ethernet cord works)
5. Read all papers in Star Clipper bag (see below...)
6. Read more of Julia? (I really haven't been in the mood to read lately)
7. Pickle eggs (if I don't find any to buy. I know, sounds gross, right? But I LOVE them.)
8. Get started on manuscript, when it arrives (won't have any more weekends past the upcoming one, if I don't start now)
9. Watch "Undeclared" commentary (& another episode with Neil)
10. Work out 4 times this week, at least (done: Thursday)
    
11. Work on wedding timeline
12. Tape card decks (done: 4)
13. Make devilled eggs
14. Write K, S, & B
    

Memorial weekending

Internet access has been a little spotty, so blogging has too. After a long weekend (I don't remember when a 3-day weekend has been so pleasantly long-lasting), I'm back at Stephens for four days, then off for the summer. June will be nuts, but in a good way.



It's still raining, and our air-conditioning won't go below 80 degrees, so when we keep the windows open at night, we wake up to a very heavily-humid home. I'd love to get home today and it be alllll better!



This weekend was fantab-u-lous, after a rotten beginning on Friday. On Saturday, we worked all day on getting the house visitor-friendly since some of Neil's work-friends were coming over that night for the UFC fight on this big TV of ours. Neil kept saying "They're guys--they won't care if we don't have napkins. We can use paper towels!" But, as always, I tend to over-do. The house needed it, though--I vacuumed, changed the bedding, cleaned the bathroom/kitchen, and Neil worked on the animal cages , the new futon cover, and installing all new decor. We'd gone on a very successful Hobby Lobby run and wanted to get up all the new stuff we got that day. Saturday night, the men arrived, and I squirreled myself away in our bedroom with the old-TV-setup, Hidden Object games on the laptop, pita & hummus, the Sunday NYTX, and my cell phone to call Emz. I was in there for almost 4 hours, and I felt like I was on vacation!



Sunday was lazy and sort of uneventful, during the day. I had decided I wanted to start on a more effective diet plan, so I asked Neil if instead of getting me the Dansko shoes I'd wanted for my birthday, if I could instead spend the money on some new dietary needs. I know, it's a weird trade-off, but I'm excited--I'm shopping this afternoon at Sam's/Wal-Mart, and will officially begin tomorrow. I know it's going to be really hard, but I want to do this. The first week is always the roughest, and that'll be over with in 8 days! Sunday evening we stopped by Michael's, then Target, and I bought some on-clearance new Dove GoFresh body wash I'd been wanting to try (I used it last night, and I will tell you, that was in-VIG-orating! There were parts of my body tingling I didn't even know I had!) and Oreos for my darling Emily, who I was seeing later that evening. I also got a spray bottle, because I always get overheated on the treadmill at the ARC what with the ONLY ONE ceiling fan they have in the middle of a very long room, nowhere near the treadmills, and it was the aforementioned Emily who told me that in her un-air-conditioned car, she used to keep a spray bottle of water nearby to mist her skin when she got really hot.



Sunday evening I drove, under heavily-clouded skies, to Em's family house, where scores of Lambsons/Southerlands were visiting. It was just one of the most pleasant evenings I'd had in such a long time, chatting with Mr. & Mrs. Lambson, Tamara, Elise, Juli, Joe, and of course, my Emily. We were all bone-tired by 11:30, but it was still hard to leave. :) I don't know why I tend to shy away from other family-homes (Millers, Dubinskis back in the day, even my to-be in-laws!) when I know they'll be crowded--it's always been intimidating to me. Even though I've never been made to feel this way, I get the sense that I'd be intruding upon some family bonding time, or some people will secretly think "Why is she here? This is family only." I know, it's ridiculous! Whenever we all gather at the Dawsons, it's the more the merrier, and that's been the case for every gathering I can think of, from holiday dinners to informal spur-of-the-moment game nights. Maybe I just need to remind myself of that the next time I descend upon a family gathering.



Anyway--Sunday night was so, so wonderful, and I'm blessed to be so welcomed into the Lambson home. I missed Noah, but I'll be in St. Louis before too long.





Monday, we had a plan. First, Taco Bell was in order (because there will be no Taco Bell for me anymore!), and then we drove to Arrow Rock. I'd recently had the idea to show Neil around that sleepy little town, and Monday seemed the perfect day for it. He brought his camera and binoculars (and I should have brought my book list of what Thornton Burgess books I need, because by GOLLY did the Country Store have a full stock of them, at only a buck. Dang it!), and we stopped at that little fishing area right after you get on the rural highway leading to Arrow Rock. Neil found one basking turtle, but as the day was cloudy, wasn't surprised at the lack of reptilian presence.

We arrived to town shortly thereafter, parked the car, and got out to walk. We crossed the most gorgeous wooden plank bridge to the visitor's center (my mind is so focused on weddings these days I couldn't help but think how awesome it would be to take photos there), and Neil stocked up on state park brochures and a camping one for his parents. We went back to the downtown area, and walked along the boardwalk to the aforementioned Country Store (I got a delightfully bright orange Crush, in a glass bottle, and Green Apple Mentos--yum, but I'll have to eat them TODAY!), then sat on a couple of Adirondack chairs facing the street. It was so still and calm, and cool underneath the roof--it felt like we were in another era. Any craziness in life just melted away.



Soon, Quin drove up, got out of his car, and deposited something very familiar on the other side of the road, in the expanse of green grass there. We figured it was a turtle, and waited a few minutes. Sure enough, it came booking it to the road again within minutes, and Neil went over to check it out. To his delight, it was an ornate box turtle--something he'd only ever seen once in person (er...in...turtle?). He brought it over, and set it down on the boardwalk to take some photos. It was so cutely hilarious watching it clump along the boards with its old-man legs, its round shell bobbing side to side. Neil took it back to the woods after a few minutes, and got some great pictures of the little guy in the grass.



I texted Steve: "We're in Arrow Rock, and Quin just put a turtle in the grass that was gonna get run over. Go Quin!"
His response: "Ha ha, that's great. Good ole Quin."



After our drinks were done, we took a walk around the rest of the main part of town, past the theatre and down the hill by the one-man jail. We went to look at this landmark I hadn't ever seen, which turned out to be the most beautiful bluff I had ever seen in the Midwest. It was seriously breathtaking. And would be, of course, another grand wedding photo!
We stepped in the old Saline County schoolhouse, a little more authentic-seeming than the MFA Gardens one because it wasn't immaculate, and included a little bedroom in the back for the schoolteacher.



Though the temps weren't terribly high, after 45 minutes or so of walking, we were pretty sweaty from all the humidity (95%!). We trekked back to the car, and Neil drove us home.

Shortly after we got back, we went to Dad's for a Memorial Day dinner, with homemade italian sausage lasagna, sweet mini bread, and his delectable salad, and made-from-scratch chocolate mousse in the new dessert cups I got him. We had a nice front-porch sit, as always, and it felt so nice and summery--a terrific, terrific ending to a holiday weekend. (And I made PB cookies when we got home, because those aren't on a low-carb menu either!!)


(Dang this blogger spacing! I had many more paragraph spaces in this, but after I added the photo, it screwed everything all to heck. Hey--maybe it worked. In which case, ignore me...no, seriously, I can take it. Don't worry about me. These aren't tears, I swear....*sniff*)

There's a lot to talk about.

1. Remember how I said it wasn't going to happen?

It did.

2. Why didn't anyone else hug Cook when Ryan said his name instead of the highly-anticipated Archuleta win? Archie just went to the side immediately after the cursory hug, looking like he was dying to get away. Is this the drawback of a double-male finale? No affection between the contestants? Cook seems to be all touchy-feely, in a good way, but Archie just looks stiff and awkward.

3. Two words: George EFFING Michael. Oh man. The medley, which began with the girls singing "Faith," segueing into the boys singing an awesome version of "Father Figure" (with added bonus of David Hernandez whispering the "naked" line all sexy and strippery), then a rousing rendition of "Freedom '90," would have been enough. But I freaked the heeze out when they said "Ladies and gentlemen, George Michael..." Oh LORD what I wouldn't give to go to that concert. (Would give? Wouldn't give? Whichever one means I'd give a lot. July 9th at the United Center, in case anyone wants to throw a few hundred bones my way.) He sounded a bit iffy at first with "Praying for Time," but then it got beautiful. And he explained to Ryan that he had a cold. Oh, I love him. Love love love love him. The hair, the teeth, the legs...it is allllll still working for him.

(P.S. Just realized that every song in the George-medley begins with an "F"! In one case, that's a double Scattergories score! Coincidence? I doubt it. [Because George, as aforementioned, is F'ING awesome!!!])

4. What was Carrie Underwood wearing? Just a white bedazzled suit jacket with no formal shorts, and a hand-cape attached to both wrists? She was going to trip on that thing. I did not hate her song.

5. For the first time, the group medley between the remaining contestants didn't suck! Cook and Archie did "Heroes," from my favorite ugly/sexy man, the Kroger dude from Nickelback. Their harmony was gorgioso.

6. I really, really liked the two finalists' "songs-with-existing-rock-stars" (though putting OneRepublic in the same category as ZZ Top doesn't exactly match up...)--Cook singing "Sharp Dressed Man" with the trio of bearded men, and Archie singing a very surprisingly nice version of "Too Late to Apologize" or whatever with the new folks.

7. Who are the Jonas Brothers and why are they so popular? Is it because the lead guy can pull off a shiny silver suit? Because I just don't get it.

8. Seal is hot. Not with Syesha--I wanted her to shut it. But Seal in a t-shirt, I can do. (In a lot of ways.)

9. The "Gladys-Knight-auditions-Pips" scene could have been hi-larious. Ben Stiller? Jack Black? Robert Downey Jr.? But it went way too long, and they didn't do enough. Jack tried his hardest to ham it up, but why were the other two going through the moves with such a lack of pizazz? (I want that to be spelled "pizzazz.")

10. Jimmy Kimmel bombed, I think. Why do people think he's funny? (see also Ray Romano)

11. Ryan dancing with the Donna Summer people was cute. And I don't generally think Seacrest is cute.

12. Melinda Doolittle in the audience! Still so perfectly, shyly adorable.

13. So was Janice Dickinson! Stephen, your cougar is waiting...

14. Awesome contrast of Guitar Hero commercials, one Cook re-enacting Tom Cruise's "Risky Business" scene in tighty whiteys; the other, Archie attempting to do the same, but in more modest boxers and wayy less leg action. One was sexy, one was uncomfortable. I'll let you guess who was smokin'.

15. Watching Amanda Overmyer, The Rocker Nurse, try to work up enthusiasm for the group performances, was a show in and of itself. This summer is going to be mi-ser-able for her. I almost want to get a ticket just to see her roll her eyes for two hours.

(Dang. I just found out only the top ten go on the tour. Never mind. That would have been one hot mess, though.)

16. When they announced that Michael Johns & Carly Smithson were going to sing "The Letter" together, I groaned, expecting them to massacre the perfect Krauss/Plant song. But no, they sung the one that I always remember from, like, Casey Kasem's top 40 countdown in junior high, when they would sing a parody that went "Oh Vanna, turn me a letter." That's all I hear whenever that song is within listening distance. Carly was shrieky, as usual.

17. Mike Myers is BACK! We may even go see "The Love Guru" now. Although the Davids' date...alone...to an empty theatre...to watch it was Everything Awkward.

18. I heart when boys cry. In fact, the book "Men Crying," a series of photographs of actors told to cry, is on my wish list.

19. Castro sing "Allelujah" again (I thought it was "Hallelujah" before, but I felt the "A" was stressed during the intro tonight so I doubted myself), all nervously and shaky, but it worked. I'd buy his album. (Ok, let's be honest. I'd illegally download it off our Torrent program.)

20. Simon should apologize to everyone he's mean to, every week!

21. NO CALLS from giggly fans tonight! Maybe they'll take a cue from all the recaps saying it's severely dreaded...though the call from the girl who was Simon's first kiss was admittedly FREAKING adorable. And Simon got all blushy and cute.

22. I wish they would have given more attention to the charming/memorable auditioners, rather than give that Renaldo dude an entire segment for his song, complete with USC cheerleaders and their (apparently) entire marching band.

23. But, I really don't, do not do not like when they show the "bad" auditions and are mean to the singers. Like the "Go Down Moses" guy. They laughed for like two minutes in his face, and he seemed so nice in his interview package. I mean, I understand wanting to show funny clips, but there's a line between that and just being mean, and they crossed it.

24. Was Chikeze even in that opening number?


And? The Cards are winning. A SUPER end to a SUPER night in TV-Land!

Why,

when I finish something in Blogger, does this pop up:

Blog in your native Indic script

Why do they think I am Indic? What is Indic? Did I inadvertently fill out something in my registration that told them I may be? (Does anyone else really, really want to spell it "inadvertAntly"?) Is it the same as Indian? I'm like an eighth Native American, but I don't remember revealing that during the beginning process.



It would be awesome if Cook wins tonight. A miracle.

It won't happen.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

I'd been hearing about this one for awhile, and it was sort of in the back of my mind as a must-read. When Stephens got it a week ago, I looked at the spine and figured I could wait a little longer--this sucker was over 500 pages, y'all! Sure, the Twilight books are on the long side, but they're sexy and delicious. This kids' book could never be as fast a read, I thought.

I glanced at the back cover material (the front was too gorgeous to ignore, see?)...




...and knew I couldn't wait:

"A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery. With 284 pages of original drawings, and combining elements of picture book, graphic novel, and film, Brian Selznick breaks open the novel form to create an entirely new reading experience."

I began reading yesterday afternoon, blowing through the first hundred pages in well under an hour. It was hard to put down, but if I don't start a book during the weekend, I have to force myself to let it wait rather than depriving myself of too much sleep. I just finished today, and have such a warm, happy feeling. It's breathtaking, and you're free to linger on each drawing as long as you want, or go through them quickly--they further the story, so it's not just supplementary, and the artist makes even the drawings suspenseful as they follow, for example, Hugo running from the Station Master so his secrets aren't discovered.

It'll make you want to go take apart a clock and see if you can put it back together--or better yet, build a little man out of the gears.




Seriously, I want an Erector set now, and I curse that I sold my brand-new Eiffel Tower and Big Ben sets on eBay last year.

If you read this book, let me know what you thought!

The week's-beginning has changed.

I have been realizing more and more that although I still despise Sunday nights, the Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday segment of the week goes by super fast nowadays. Part of this has to do with the bulk of my favorite shows broadcasting during those days (Desperate Housewives, The Hills, Rock of Love, The Bachelor/ette, both Idols), but another, more cultured reason is that crosswords are easier in every publication earlier in the week. I dread the Friday/Saturday NYTX, but look so forward to the break of M-T-W puzzles that it trumps many of the bad beginning-of-the-week feelings.


Also, can I just say what awesome apartment maintenance people we have? It never fails that Neil will call to get something fixed, and by the time I get home four hours later, it's done with a note on our door saying what they fixed and how they did it. I really should bake them cookies or something, only I don't want to give them to the office, because the office people won't acknowledge that I live here, so THEY are not getting any cookies. Today, our A/C was dripping water and our bathroom switch was weirdly sensitive, and it was all taken care of when I lugged the groceries in.

I saved a whole bunch at Gerbes today--like well over $50.00. That's always super satisfying. I'm going to try and go with Neil to the ARC tonight, but I am soooo sleepy.....maybe I'll lay down in a few minutes and try to nap. But there are crosswords and Hidden Objects game just sitting here waiting to be done, so patiently!

A Nice, Nothing Weekend

I don't feel I did much. Although, I really did.

I guess I just feel lazy, and am getting things done in such a leisurely fashion that it seems like a non-productive weekend.

Neil & I worked out this morning, for the first time ever together! I showed him the Lazy River (and he seriously jogged through it. Sigh. I can never never go that fast) and he showed me how to do the Butterfly stroke--they were just beginning to teach it when I stopped taking lessons. We went to get more rocks for our reptiles' aquariums, and then home for naps (him) and 90210 eps (me). I'm worried about getting to the episode where that dorky friend of David's kills himself. I'm always scanning the intro credits (which lists the guest stars) to see if Doug Emerson is there. There was an ep from the 1st season, that I'd never seen, with Chandler Bing as a kid who wanted to kill his Dad. I watched it at night while Neil slept and I was f-r-e-a-k-i-n-g out. Also, I always was pissed that Joe E. Tata never got a segment in the opening credits (where the screen says "Luke Perry" with shots of him tooling up in his motorcycle taking his helmet off all apparently 'sexy' or whatever, then a shot of him in the photography studio smiling as 'Luke Perry' instead of Dylan Walsh. You know. Just like, the credits) and Nat from the Peach Pit was always always a guest star. Even though he was in every episode. I think he eventually got a part in the official 'regulars' credits, but that was way, way after I stopped watching.

I'm going to Dad's in a few minutes to watch his student Joel in "Everybody Hates Chris" and for taco eating. I know they should be an easy meal, but for me that's too much cutting and too many plates and PLUS, you have to brown the meat!

The SATC girls are on the cover of EW this week, a movie I'm very excited for--except I've heard talk of it going to 'a dark place' and somebody dying, and holy hell do I not want that to happen. I think there were, like, three deaths in the entire run of the show (Miranda's mom, that guy who stood Miranda up because he was busy kicking the bucket, and that party girl from "3rd Rock" falling out the window--oh, and Charlotte's miscarriage...); why do they gotta bum down the movie with death? I don't go to movies to see sad things.

A few dresses are coming today (Monday, now)--the ones Lily approved from Igigi. I just feel good about having them so that just in case they look perfect, I have something, and in case they don't, they're returnable.

This weekend was also a time for decision-making and planning. June's going to be crazy. I go to a conference at the Lake on the 4th; the 5th is, of course, terribly important (I want Dansko shoes like Em's Utah BF Katie and dinner at the Jeff City winery, possibly with Sarah if she can make it); the 7th is Art in the Park, and we leave right after that to drive down to Springfield to see Ben, Candace, and Kristy for a couple days. Then we're back home for four days, and leave the next Saturday for Ohio--a 12-hour trip. We're staying in Poland, which Stacy says is nice. Mark is giving a talk about his addiction recovery at Paul's church, and we're surprising Meme & Papa with the visit...don't you love doing that? It makes the trip much less...well, awful, for me, since I really dislike road trips (but not as much as I hate flying).

(I never used to hate flying. I grew more and more annoyed at it after 9/11 and all the extra ridiculous security measures, and it seemed like any trip took a full day to get there with all the waiting, but I never feared it. But a year ago, I flew to England alone, and I was surprised at how terrified I was, particularly during the routine turbulence over Canada. Mom was always scared of it after air-traffic controlling and seeing the empty place on the hangar where an acquaintance's plane used to be, after it crashed, but I never was--it was like her fear became mine after she left us!)

Anyhoose, I'm really glad I'm not working in June with all this other stuff going on. We have our hotels booked, and Joe said he's happy to take care of Sean while we're gone, and the week after we get back, Lily will be here (and maybe Steve too)!

To-Dos for the week:

• Finish a few more chapters of My Life in France
• Finish 90210 Netflix
• Watch Undeclared eps & extra features (Done: 2nd ep)
• Work out at least four times (Done: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday)
• Process tubs (Done:)
• Watch Desperate (pts 1 & 2) & Bachelorette online
• Tape card decks (Done: 1)
• Grocery shop
• Finish SATC EW
• Get crickets
• Start Figure mag/Organize
• Begin wedding timeline
• Eat up Dad's soup
• Empty newspaper bag
• Menu: Pasta/biscuits (or bread); Chicken sausages/salad; Boca & salmon burgers/Potatoes; Jambalaya/potatoes; Sloppy joes or Hamburger Helper w/ground turkey; Entree salad/jalapeno bread
• Financials
• TV set up (including cable) by Friday night
• Cut out crosswords for Dad (or just get started) [Done: 4/18-5/9, Chronicle]
• Read/Return 2 Stephens books this week (Wednesday & Thursday)
  

What a mundane title...

I was looking through our digital guide tonight after a super-duper kick-ass "Office" season finale, and had to look twice at the very....calm program title on PBS. The Food Network would never stoop to such bland phraseology:


Gimme a break. "Sandwiches That You Will Like"?? Where's the "You'll Go Nuts Over These Hoagies"...""Sandwiches So Good You'll Cry"..."May I Interest You In A Filet Mignon, Monsieur? No Thanks, I'll Just Take A Meatball Sub"....you know?

Anyway, a survey, because I like 'em. And I hope to make a really killer one someday. And it was really fun to find my sociology homework from senior year at HHS and see about a million personal surveys Ms. Hechler had us fill out.

1. Are you wearing a hat?

No, pretty much never. Baseball cap on a rare occasion.

2. Bottled water: yes or no?

Aw hell yeah! No tap for me.

3. Do you have a crush on someone right now?

Nah. After Keith Urban married Nicole, his appeal was never the same. And I love my Neil too much to have a crush on him (Neil), you know?--although I did have one on him, when I first saw his photo.

4. What kind of laptop do you have?

It is an iBook G4.

5. Do you prefer writing in pen or pencil?

Oh, pen. I am not too much a pencil girl. Way too many junior high notes were lost forever that way.

6. Who was the last text message in your phone from?

Neil telling me he was heading home.

7. What’s your favorite season?

Autumn. Fall. Whichever. April/May comes in a close second.

8. Does your best friend have a boyfriend or girlfriend?

Well....she has a husband. Does that count?

9. Do you like them?

Yes, the minute I met him.

10. Favorite radio station?

I guess BXR, 102.3. But I mainly listen to books in the car.

11. Type your name into Google. What’s the first link that pops up?

I typed in "Genevieve Dawson"....aw, boring. An ad for "Classmates.com." The first one that lists a site that actually refers to me (in a more interesting way) is...the 8th listing. A quote I gave to the Columbia Missourian about an exhibit I put together in Ellis featuring all our miniature books.

12. What’s your favorite song at the moment?

Hm. Well, "And So It Goes."

13. Coke or Pepsi?

Pepsi, but I like Coke too. But Pepsi with Lime...mmmm.

14. Favorite subject in school?

In library school--reader's advisory or cataloging. In regular school--theatre tech.

15. Last concert?

Oh jeebus. Um. The Dr. Zhivegas? Summer or fall 2006? Wow.

16. Next concert?

We're seeing POISON in StL in August! WOO WOOOOOOO!

17. Last magazine you bought?

I bought "Figure" at B&N this past...Friday? Saturday? Something. Neil bought "Wired."

18. Last book you read?

Just finished We Thought You Would Be Prettier by Laurie Notaro. Currently listening to A Light in the Window by Jan Karon (#2 in the Mitford Years series--got hooked during reader's advisory last year) and reading My Life in France by Julia Child.

19. Do you prefer cats or dogs?

Dogs dogs dogs. Not only am I allergic to cats, but they're too mean. And they smell. Dogs do too, but they generally like to be outside where their smell dissipates.

20. Is there someone you want to punch right now?

Kinda. But I'll settle for her just leaving me be.

21. Favorite sports team?

StL Cardinals.

22. State you most want to visit?

My answer is twofold.

That I've been to before: New York. To see Cooperstown and, of course, see new & old things I love in the city.

Never been to: Hawaii. Cliche, yeah.

23. Are you a MySpace addict?

No, I Facebook. And I'm much less of an addict than I was even two weeks ago. It bothers me that people add you as their friends even if you would Not Say Hello To Them On The Street.

24. When do you shower?

It used to be mornings, but now it's nights, because I get up with Neil now and I get to sleep in more, and we don't have to prearrange our shower times.

25. What’s your dream job?

Mm, I pretty much have it. I'd like to freelance copyedit on the side, though.

26. What kind of car do you drive?

It's a 2007 Toyota Corolla. Cactus Pearl. (NOT the color I ordered.)

27. What word in the dictionary best describes you?

Brent W. called me mellow once, and I was all "Yeah! I WANT to be MELLOW!" It's probably more like "difficult," though. I'm trying to be better.

28. What’s your blog address?

Well, you're here, so just look up.

29. Worst TV show at the moment?

Ooh, good one. Next. Parental Control. Flavor of Love. Anything on TLC. Stuff about guys drinking their own pee. Adult cartoons, except Family Guy. (King of the Hill, I'm talking to you.)

30. Are you a better talker or better listener?

Probably talker. But I like to listen, too.

31. Do you care about who wins the election?

Definitely. But I can't promise I'll vote, so I'm a hypocrite.

32. Who was the most popular kid in your 7th grade class?

Oh, her name was Jennifer. She had long crunchy brown hair. She was bitchy, with perfectly curled bangs, tight-rolled Outback jeans, Ralph Lauren preppy shirts, and sterling white Keds. I can find my junior high yearbook to get her last name, later. I'll know her immediately. She wasn't really even that pretty.

Boy-wise, Jamie Scholten, probably. We were partners in art class and we painted each other, and I thought mine of him was good.

33. Are you afraid of ghosts?

Sort of. I am in movies, yes. And I could psych myself out easily if I set my mind to it.

34. Is there something lacking in your life right now?

No more than a good credit history! (I didn't put 'mom,' because she's never lacking from my life in an emotional sense.)

35. What do you miss most about childhood?

Going outside to play on a summer's evening, knowing there would be neighborhood kids everywhere to frolic with.

36. How many times did it take you to pass your drivers test?

TWICE. Ugh. The second time, I pulled into the church parking lot, and the lady said "You passed, but you almost failed." I got like a 71 or something, and I was all "I DON'T CARE, WOOOOOOOO!" Emily came with me and we drove all over town and got breakfast sandwiches when I was done.

37. How many kids do you want?

I don't know if we'll have any. I love my friends' kids, but we want many years of alone-together-ness. It's not a decision that can't be reconsidered, but that's where we are now.

38. Are you a good liar?

I don't think I am. I try not to lie at all anymore.

39. Can you cook?

I'm learning. I don't generally try things I don't know will work out.

40. Are you a cheapskate?

In a good way, yes. I virtually never pay full retail price for anything. But I don't skimp on gifts or eating out or anything like that either.

41. What would you do with a million dollars?

Pay off debt, to creditors, loans, and Dad. Buy a house for us, and pay off Dad's. Furnish our home exactly how we've dreamed. Buy extravagant gifts for everyone we love. Book a trip to Hawaii in February. Every February.

42. Have you been to Disney World?

No. Doubt I ever will. No appeal. And I do not do roller coasters.

43. How much time do you spend online a week?

I'm not obsessed, but it's certainly hours a day.

44. Last time you went bowling?

The 14th of never? I bet the last time I went, and actually bowled, was....maybe at Grinnell, junior year? Before that, Girl Scouts, 6th grade?

45. Hot or cold weather?

Sigh. Neither. I would have always said "cold," but lately that's becoming so, so, so tiresome.

46. How many pairs of shoes do you have?

I don't know, 40-50? I get a lot of flip-flops.

47. Are you a shop-a-holic?

In some ways, but as we both become more responsible with money it's easier to resist.

48. Where were you yesterday morning at 10:30?

Working at Stephens, on our bindery project. Picking out old magazines to take home.

49. Are you afraid of the dentist?

Yeah. I have a very sensitive gag reflex. Also, I have these calcium deposits in the bottom of my mouth, under my tongue, so those x-ray strips they make you bite into cuts into my skin and makes me bleed. And I always forget and wear my hair up when I go, so I'm laying on this big mound of ponytailed hair the whole time.

50. Were you bored or entertained by this survey?

I think I made it more entertaining than it was. If I'm honest. :)

What to do, what to do.

1. Watch 5/11 Desperate & 5/12 Hills/Aftershow online
2. Watch more 90210 Netflix
3. Watch another Undeclared & commentary/deleted scenes for first ep
4. E-mail SarahM & AmyZ
5. Swim 4 times this week (Done: Tuesday, Wednesday)
6. Financials at end of week
7. Process tubs (# Done:)
8. Empty Star Clipper bag (finally!)
9. Finish Grey's EW & get a good start on Bush EW
10. Start Figure mag
11. Finish Notaro book:

Finished, finally. I've been slogging away at this one, We Thought You Would Be Prettier, forever. I started it well before Spring Break. I had always wanted to read Laurie Notaro (Autobiography of a Fat Bride; The Idiot Girls' Action Adventure Club) based on titles and cover artwork alone. But after reading this collection of short autobiographical vignettes....eh, not so much ever again. She's one of these authors who calls herself unassuming and undeserving of her fame and "published" status, but she also assumes anyone reading her later books has read her prior publications. I don't like that attitude; Stephen King has it, too, and I've only ever read two of his books. She tells us little inside jokes and how she's sure we're all waiting in line for her to autograph our copy of the book, and I resent being lumped into that category. I guess she thinks she's funny, too, but I was counting pages in every story willing for them to be finished. Notaro is not as entertaining or foulmouthed as she likes to believe, and I bet this collection never would have been published had she not found success already. I should have stopped reading it long ago.

12. Menu:
-->Boca burgers & Potatoes o'brien (Tuesday?)
-->Chicken Helper
-->Skillet Bertolli meal
-->Radiatore pasta w/ pouch sauce/garlic biscuits
13. Sam's trip
14. Tape card decks (# Done: 4)
15. Order Igigi dresses? (Just to have something...)
16. Work on cutting out NYTX for Dad (& print more Chronicles)

Whee! I just finished the Tuesday NYTX in under 7 minutes! This wasn't really a goal of mine, but I was excited to find it came so smoothly.

Less than five minutes!

I didn't have good internet access until now, so I didn't do the Monday NYTX last night. And for the first time, I got under five minutes today! There are people out there who can do it in 2-3, which I don't even know how their fingers can even type that fast even if you were just holding down the "T" key the whole time--but I don't bother with those lofty goals.


It's been a weird weekend/day. Really Good, but also kind of tiring and I don't feel I ever really caught up on sleep.

Saturday, Dad drove Neil & I to the Botanical Gardens, where Neil hadn't been before. I hope he really loved it--the place was more crowded than I had ever seen it, without any apparent events going on. I took photos of the best-named plants, and this was my favorite:



...well, second only to BladderNut. Seriously, plant-namers, were you expecting folks to look at the name "Diarrhena" and not think of intestinal problems?

It was a glorious day--high 60s, gray skies with the occasional hint of sun, and the rain hit just as soon as we got in the car to drive home.

Sarah Miller was in town on an impromptu Mother's Day visit, and offered to go dress shopping with me (after I whined in an e-mail to her--I swear, it wasn't to get her to make time for me! I was exaggerating, as I am wont to do...); I had called the bridal shops in town, and much to my disappointment, they didn't have sample bridesmaid dresses in my size to try on, just fancy wedding gowns. Not going out shopping worked out because of our Gardens trip, but it made me really depressed. I really don't want to order a sight-unseen dress from the internet, since most are nonreturnable and can't even be exchanged. On such a tight budget, I can't afford to buy a dress with only the slim hope that it will work. I'm getting so sad about it that I may wait until July or so to look again.

But anyway, I drove out to the Millers' new house Saturday night after we got home, and spent many happy hours there chatting, taking a tour of this gorgeous home of theirs, eating strawberry cake, looking at the dresses I'd picked out with Kaye and Sarah, and delighting in Sarah's enthusiasm. She is in her element and is so excited to help me with the little wedding things, and knows about how to keep it within budget but still classy. Her mama offered up their home for the informal reception/gathering the week after the wedding, and I was thrilled...what a load off that would be! Sarah talked about showers and luncheons and how to recognize Mom in the ceremony and just all around knew what she was doing. Which is, like, 180 degrees from my own approach. I vaguely know what things should be done, but I don't really want to deal with it, and all I have to go on is some wedding-magazine checklist, which is of course full of things they really want you to buy from their sponsors.

So I'm pretty comfortable with the details now. I have my Emily, helping me with all the stationery needs (and I get many excuses to see her during the summer as a bonus!), cupcakes, photography, and by extension her lovely family with the music; Amanda's a local source to help with dresses and to get excited with looking at various wedding photos; Sarah and her mom with the reception and many of the preparations (when Sarah asked if I wanted to get ready for the wedding at her house, I was totally excited; now Lily won't have to stand in the tub behind me to do my hair! They have such huge bathrooms there!)...it's just such a big relief. The dress is the only thing that bothers me, and I'll probably feel a lot better about it after I shed a few pounds and don't feel so icky about my appearance. I hate that something that should be so princessy and is supposed to make me feel pretty is just making me sad. What I'd love is to find a seamstress who's worked with plus-size clients before, and can help me for just a few hundred dollars. It's a tall order though.

Enough wedding stuff for now, though.

Mother's Day was yesterday, and we went to papa's for homemade chicken enchiladas verde (OhmyGOSH, so good! Neil had three) and Scattergories. It was such a nice evening. Dad even made me some split-pea soup to take home so I can have a nice home-cooked substitute meal when I make Neil something not so healthy!

Today started busy, because bossie & I are doing serials binding this week so she's always working by my side. I really wanted to make a to-do list for the week, but work will be way too busy to do so from there. I made the dumb decision not to swim, so I'll make up for that the rest of this week. This was neat--I was lying down, and my hand was resting on my other upper arm, and when I moved, I felt a muscle flex that I swear hadn't been there before. Could my water-weight-lifting be paying off??

I finally finished listening to Lipstick Jungle this weekend. I've said it before--it's not great. I didn't love Sex & the City though, either, but the show was very different. Maybe I'd actually like the TV show...?

Two other nice things about today--the final Lemony Snicket book came in on PBS for me, which I snatched up, to make our bookshelf totally complete (and we only paid money for two of them!), and I got a really great long message from Betsy. I'm so happy to be in touch with her again.







P.S. One more ending: The Bachelor season finale is on later tonight. Goooooooo, Chelsea!

What a Long, Wet Week It's Been.

...and only Thursday yet. Blargh! Why is it even with my abbreviated schedule that the work week seems so long? It's not like four hours a day is torture; most of the time it's almost noon before I know it and I can head out. I don't know; I think I just don't like routine; getting up every morning at the same time, going to work, going to swim, coming home and catching up on little things. Even though it's very low-stress, I'm restless for the summer to begin so I can really get my hands into the big projects around the house.

And I'm probably also getting tired of the gray rainy skies. I do generally like rain, especially gray mornings, but I think I need a little sunlight to see that everything's pretty and green and sparkly, then go back to the gray for a little bit. I saw the end of this TV movie once when I was really little, at the Diggs' house. All these kids were living on some planet where the sun never shone and it was always gray, and at the end, the sun came out and everyone was happy or whatever. It was sooooo depressing--I think because even at that young age (5 or 6) I hated the sun shining over a wet environment (like when the sun comes out after a quick rain). And maybe I realized that however soothing I found gray weather, I didn't want it all the time. Ugh, that movie sucked. And whenever we have constant rain for days like this, it reminds me of how it was for most of the time I spent in England last year--when you have to walk outside everywhere, even for meals, you are never fully dry. Ever. It got so bad in Bath that Neil & I were stuck inside our B&B room for almost a whole day. I guess the English don't really have the same de-humidifying systems inside that we must have, because every time I put on my fleece, it was damp. Even if I hadn't worn it for hours and hours.

I did okay on today's NYTX. These days, I'm often getting the long themed clues (for all but Friday-Saturday puzzles), but not the little fill, which isn't as satisfying as I thought. I hate when I can't get the big long clues (and usually the most clever parts of the puzzle), but I've found that when I have everything but one or two squares, I'm even more irate. Like, I'm almost there, guys. Come on.

I can't swim today because the urchins are infiltrating the pool with their pee and shouting, so it's Wal-Mart after work, with my FitFlops. I still don't know if these shoes are just a big scam. I wish someone would cut them open to see if there really is a WobbleBoard inside.

I hope I get a lot done this afternoon.

P.S. I just saw a headline that read, at first glance, "Former pedestrian struck and killed on Loop." And I thought "Hm. Well, yeah."

(Then I looked again and read "Report: Pedestrian struck and killed on Loop.")

Not a bad day...

I mean, it wasn't spectacular, but it was definitely pleasant.

Things I liked about today:

• The Cardinals are kicking some butt once again, with Ankiel continuing his reign as New Hero. We're currently at 6-2 with two men on, top of the ninth. Ankiel might be my Eckstein-substitute.
  
• I finished the Wednesday NYTX with absolutely no help--possibly a first for a Wednesday. I may finish most of it, but usually have one or two squares to either google or look at someone's blog/screenshot for. It was certainly fortunate that I was able to rattle off "Town in Central Missouri" with only the "L-I" in place--I'm betting not a lot of NYTX workers know about Sedalia. The rest was baseball themed, with another Missouri reference: Musial's 6 and Gibson's 45 (Cardinal numbers). That felt awesome!
• Neil & I took another twilight pet-store trip, to get crickets and look for backgrounds. I love warm nights so.
• I swam/walked against the river for 51 minutes in my new black suit
• Work flew by, as it is wont to do these days. Only 3.5 weeks until I'm free for the summer! (Not that my job is hard-core.)
• I knocked out several to-do list items today, and plan to complete one or two more before bed tonight.
• I'm on the second-to-last disc of this confounded Lipstick Jungle. I just don't love it at all. One could say it's told in flashback, but not in a lateral way like Life of Pi. It goes "Wendy sat in her office and blah blah blah movie business is hard and blah blah thought about what happened last week when she and Shane decided to get a divorce." Then the narrative flashes back to the events in question, and flashes forward within the flashback to a subsequent event, but still not back to Wendy in her office. When it eventually does get back to her, I'm so confused as to what time it actually is. And it isn't just once in awhile. I swear, every scene has some sort of flashback, and it's gotten to the point where I sigh and force myself to remember where we actually are in the present, so I can try not to lose track again. I'm also not enjoying We Thought You Would be Prettier, which I've been trying to finish for more than a month. After such a run of great reads, it's disappointing to be in the middle of two that I really don't care about--though I'm enjoying them enough to finish them off after getting through this much of them. And next I'm obligated to read the Julia Child book, because this book club wants to meet soon to discuss it.
• BUT, I am loving the Virtual Bookshelf on my Facebook page. I get a kick out of the leaderboards.
• I totes just found that song in the commercial that's so lovely: "Daydream" by Wallace Collection. It's like that old "Little April Showers" Disney tune crossed with a romantic Lawrence Welk number mixed with a touch of cheese. If you can imagine.
  

P.S. Why can't blogger underline? Or offer better fonts? Or larger letters? Other blog companies do.
P.P.S. Why is the Colorado Rockies mascot a cartoony Triceratops?

Exciting Odometer News

Today, as I was driving home from the pool, I gave a cursory glance to my dashboard to check my speed, only to discover my awesome mileage:

11111

Wheeee!

What I've done, and what I'd like to do...

This week is always odd around a university town. It's finals week for both the college in which I'm employed, so students are either working madly or in a total state of relief and relaxation, and much of the population is packing up for their imminent move to wherever they'll spend their summers. Even though I'm not really a part of it anymore, that bittersweet mood lingers in the air--made even more poignant by the gorgeous buds springing up everywhere and the lands turning bright green.

Plus, there are more parking spots.

This past weekend was really nice. I woke up fairly early on Saturday morning, and drove over to Em's place to spend the day. Noah was so incredibly joyous all day long; the happiest I'd ever seen him (and I wouldn't call him an unhappy kid by any means). We giggled and sang and played and got cupcakes (the carrot ones were okay, but nowhere near the PB Cup or Grasshopper or the Elvis banana one) and took a walk down Em's beautifully-gardened Westminster, looked at photos and wedding things, chatted and vented and played with her little boy some more.

I called Neil to say I was on the way home, at about 9, and asked what he'd been doing. "Napping. Moving things around, watching TV, things like that," he said. He's been planning to get a big HD TV soon, with profits from this concert fossil he sold on eBay for a ginormous amount of cash, and when he told me he wanted our living room to be completely clear along one wall for the new TV and a new, bigger cage for Sean, I couldn't envision it. Our second bedroom was overflowing with stored tubs already, and every wall in our living room was occupied by shelving, our desk, wall art, etc. I didn't want to completely clog our second bedroom, making it impossible to navigate, just for the sake of a TV. Neil said to trust him, that he'd handle it, and I warily said he could try.

So when I opened the door late Saturday night, I couldn't believe my eyes. That boy had done it! Our living room is now beautifully uncluttered, with a whole free wall and an empty coffee table to use as our TV stand. And to boot? The second bedroom was completely rearranged, and he'd made it so it was even more efficient and, somehow, had more space to use! I have no idea how he did it. He even amazed me further Sunday morning, when I was catching up on sleep, by moving my scrapbook shelves in their entirety to the second bedroom and Phoenix's cage where they used to be in the living room.

We were chatting Monday during lunch about Sean's new bigger cage (he was living in a 10-gallon and an adult beardie needs at least a 40-gallon), and how we were planning on going to Osage Beach this weekend to a big pet store (since Columbia in its infinite stupidity has no big pet store) to get him one. I remembered vaguely that Jeff City had a large PetSmart or something in the strip mall with Old Navy, TJ Maxx, and Goody's, and I suggested we first try there. Not only that, we decided, but we wanted to go that night--what's a trip to Jeff City on a Monday night when there's no TV to watch?

We left at 6:30, and Neil drove us to the [what turned out to be] Petco. We meandered around for awhile, getting excited about the various accessories we could add to our planned desert environment. We found a 40-gallon reptile cage exactly like the 10-gallon one we already had, for about half the price we expected, so we splurged on other accessories (like cacti, colored sand, a bigger hide object, a fancy day/night timer, a pooper scooper, and an infrared night heating bulb). Petco also had adorable little feisty gray beardie hatchlings, teenier than I had ever seen Sean.

We couldn't wait to set it all up, so we began as soon as we got home with the Cardinals game on in the background. The sand is orange and white, and Neil structured our two driftwood pieces together so Sean can perch at his usual height. We'll get a new, bigger driftwood piece when the reptile convention comes again in June (and hopefully catch the Cards/Phillies game live and in person on that day too). We were planning on introducing Sean to his new cage this morning, after his cricket feeding, but we couldn't wait. I woke him up on a fake schedule by turning on his light, and moved him over and plunked him in the new sand.

He was really confused, but curious, and went around licking the cacti and the driftwood for awhile, until settling into his usual perch position. This morning, he ate his crickets like an old pro, so we're hoping he's pretty acclimated.


I hope to be productive this week, as I always aim to be. I didn't swim yesterday after getting about 4 hours of sleep Sunday night, but I'm anxious to go today as long as the storms hold off.

So, this week:

1. Finish Undeclared Netflix
2. Finish Notaro book
3. Watch Betty (3 eps), Desperate (4/27 & 5/4), Bachelor, Hills & Aftershow online
4. Write AmyZ & Betsy
5. Swim 4 times this week (Thursday's unavailable lap swim may make that impossible. Swam: Tuesday, Wednesday)
6. Finish clementines
7. Go to Wal-Mart for small shopping trip
8. Dinner menu:
-Pasta w/ fresh mozz & garlic marinara / Deli bread
-Chicken fried rice (Chicken Helper) [--marinate chicken?]/ biscuits
-Boca burgers / Potatoes o'Brien
-Pierogies
-Bertolli skillet meal/biscuits
9. Get bread & sandwiches from Dad's freezer/sew on buttons/talk to him about gardens this weekend
10. Get rid of some newspapers
11. Call The Gown House to see what they have to try on
12. Visit Lane Bryant/Cacique
13. Start Julia Child book
14. Finish Grey's EW & Figure magazines
15. Tape another deck of cards (Done: 3)
16. Clean up dining room area
17. Petco to see about Sean's background/more crickets
18. Financials, & pay all upcoming bills when Neil's paid
19. Look for back issue: Figure weddings? Or, try to find the next issue @ B&N
20. Fill in Wedding Info into wedding planner
21. Send Neil's MO tax
22. Enter PBS books/send Clean PBS book
23. Start Fry & Laurie or 90210 Netflix

oooh, this one looks NEAT!

As I was doing my semi-regular Blog-Stalk, I came across this survey on a friend's brother's wife's page (the shorter version: Tamara's). I LOVE that you can only use one word for answers. I tend to ramble on and on with survey answers, so this one will pose a fun challenge:

1. Where is your cell phone?
*purse

2. Your hair?
*wet

3. Work?
*librarian

4. Your father?
*dazzling

5. Your favorite thing?
*Neil

6. Your dream last night?
*horrible

7. Your favorite drink?
*lemonade

8. Your dream car?
*convertible?

9. The room you're in?
*living

10. Your fears?
*cancer

11. What do you want to be in 10 years?
*wife

12. Who did you hang out with last night?
*EMILY!

13. What you're not good at?
*makeup

14. Muffin?
*fruitless

15. One of your wish list items?
*Dyson

16. Where you grew up?
*BoCoMo

17. Last thing you did?
*shower

18. What are you wearing?
*robe

19. What aren't you wearing?
*panties!

20. Your pet?
*beardie

21. Your computer?
*iBook

22. Your life?
*fantabulous

23. Your mood?
*excited

24. Missing?
*mama

25. What are you thinking about right now?
*wedding

26. Your car/truck?
*greeny

27. Your summer?
*free!

28. Your relationship status?
*engaged

29. Your favorite color?
*green

30. When is the last time you really laughed with meaning?
*Noah

31. Last time you cried?
*Morning

32. School?
*NO!

33. Least favorite weather?
*February

34. Soup?
*Cheesy

35. Movie?
*Wary


Phweeeesh, that was tough! I had to restrain myself from typing justifications and clarifications for almost every entry. Em, I hope you try this one! You'd be awesome at it. The movie one was especially hard. One word to describe my favorite movie? I didn't want to resort to the genre, but I had to for awhile--then thought of a better one later. Also, I'd suggest trying not to look at the original answers. I think they swayed me or made me go towards their path, and I don't think my instincts would have gone that way if I hadn't seen the prior answers.

Toodle-oo, work-week!

...and it's on to the weekend. Who knows if I'll feel like doing any of this. Lately I haven't been very productive. But I sure do love lists.

1. Finish Undeclared Netflix DVD (just the 2 commentaries to go!)
2. Finish 1st "Fry & Laurie" DVD (& take to Dad's)--2 eps to go!
3. Work out with Bun Roller
4. Finish Notaro library book
5. Fill in wedding information into planner
6. Look at Figure magazine/Real Weddings
7. Finish taping at least one deck of cards (Two decks finished)
8. Have at least 3 clementines daily (Eaten: Friday)
9. Send (or just wrap) Neil's fossil (paid. E-check needs to clear.)
10. Lane Bryant to look at dresses
11. Get rid of more newspapers
12. Watch "Rushmore" Netflix
13. Find new energy drink option--Wal-Mart?
14. Visit shop on Delmar this weekend?
15. Watch "Desperate" online
16. Watch "Bachelor" online
17. Read recaps on EW & TWoP
18. Look through Bearded Dragon book for info on cage switching times, when to graduate to large crickets, etc.
19. Look for bigger cages online
20. Move dining room table & put cubby-holed Oz things on it
21. If check clears: MO tax payment; Wireless router order; Sean's cage
22. Check on next reptile show for driftwood?
23. Look online for Figure wedding issues


I finished a cute, funny book this week about scrapbooking--of all things. I mean, I've perused many scrapbooking books & magazines, but they're usually not humorous. Wendy Bagley's Scraps, though, was kind of astonishing. She remains self-effacing throughout, while still managing to poke fun at everything scrappers hold dear (making it clear that she's involved in everything herself). It's not a how-to book (unless you think using dry pasta for a new embellishment idea is a worthy piece of advice), nor short stories. Just a series of short chapters about her observations and experiences--what it's like to have sisters and friends much better than her at the craft; the fruitlessness of trying to sign up for a scrapbooking class; anecdotes about her utter failure in trying to call herself a successful scrapbooker. I wasn't expecting anything out of this book; I just like to read about my hobby. But it was so anti-cutesy and entertaining--purely a delight. I might purchase this one, or at least swap for it.

This used to be May Day!

...I guess it still is. But I haven't celebrated it since elementary school.

At Children's House, we used to get up a big May Pole, streamers and all, and walk round and round til they were all wound up. I can't remember if we then went backwards to unwind it, or were just left with sad little ends to drop at the bottom.

And then! Then we made little cute paper baskets, with either real or paper flowers inside, and were instructed to take it home with us, choose a specially wonderful neighbor, then go to their house, ring their doorbell, leave the basket on the porch for them, and run away.

How cute is that? Why don't we do more of that? What better way to celebrate Spring's awakening?

Dammit!