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!