My Guitar

So I finally busted out my guitar. I got this guitar from my Uncle last year when I said "Uncle, I'm thinking about taking up the guitar. How do you suggest I proceed?" and he said "how 'bout with the guitar in my attic?" :) Which I totally took him up on. He took me to breakfast and presented me with said guitar, which I started to learn to play. Then I went to California, and left the guitar in the living room. When I got home, the lid was open and some strings were popped and the damned thing was completely out of tune. Needless to say I was pissed. Damned cats. ANYWAY, last year was a year of Chem, Bio, and misery, so I never had a chance to continue my practice. Well now that I have a lighter load, and actual TIME, you already know I have a plan to learn to play the damned thing. So here it is, nestled in its furry little case, with the packet of strings. I went to Kennelly Keys on Sunday, and a nice girl showed me how to put one string on, then I went home and did the rest myself. It took forever but it was a very nice experience that left me feeling very accomplished, proud of myself, and in a new relationship with this instrument, as well as starting to be "part of the club;" that club that my family belongs to when they play their instruments and read their music and scat and harmonize and gig and all those wonderful things they do that I never got to be a part of. So that's my story and I'm stickin to it. I love the richness of the wood, the luster, the beauty of it all. This is going to be a very neat experience and I'm really looking forward to this process.

Oh this is a good quote from my quote of the day link: "Friends should be weighed, not told; who boasts to have won a multitude of friends has never had one. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)"

It Lives!

It is weak and tired, but it lives. I spent the entire day in bed yesterday, but I did manage to finish most of my homework both in calculus and in german; I just did it in my jammies, lying on my stomach. :)

Today is a beautiful day, and I have worn myself out already. I got up around 11:30, and met a classmate for a study date and to return the books she graciously let me copy until I could get mine in the mail. We spent about 2 hours practicing German, and it was really really good. I am going to go over my vocab some more today, maybe copying it down or something, and then I should be aces for my quiz on Tuesday. I have a shitload of homework to turn in.

Afterward, I scooped the litterbox and ran a wet washcloth over the Blue-by; she needs a real bath but I have to get her running first. I figure if I see her looking a little more presentable, I might be more inclined to get her going. So I rinsed her off a little, and she looks a little better.

Now I am getting ready to go up to Kennelly Keys and get some strings for the old guitar, providing I don't drop dead first. What little I've done has worn me out pretty well. But it's a short bus trip and not much walking so I should just suck it up and go. I need some food though. I think I'll have some scalped taters before my little trip.

I have more to report, I'm sure, but will sign off for now.

Quote of the day

I'm putting this INTO the blog since it will disappear tomorrow; it's so good:

"Here is a golden Rule...Write legibly. The average temper of the human race would be perceptibly sweetened, if everybody obeyed this Rule!

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)"

Short Days

I forgot the joy of working only 'til 4:00. :) It's so very nice.

Oh yes and I have something else to add to my goals. This is not for this year, this is just a life goal: Someday, in the not TOO distant future, I would REALLY like to learn how to throw pizza dough. :) THAT is a skill I want to learn.

Night 1!!!

OK so I made it through my first night of calculus. That frickin room was PACKED. We have room for 32 and overloaded 4!!! The teacher is an aging hippie with a long, gray ponytail and one of the most impressive guts that I have ever seen. I mean HUGE. It makes me curious about what "type" of person is drawn to math. I guess I would THINK that it would be someone who is uptight, and very attracted to rules and established procedures, but the 3 math teachers I have had in my college career have been very cool people. My algebra/college math teacher was wound a little more tightly than these last 2 guys, but she was still very cool. My pre-calc teacher was an old hippie with a long gray ponytail and a big gut, as well. Not as big as this guy's though.

So after class it was kind of weird walking to the transit center in the dark, but I made it in 15 minutes, which is about what I thought it would take. For some reason at the end of last year I was taking a bit longer than that; guess I went from a brisk walk to an amble or something. But it works out PERFECTLY because my class gets out at 8:15 and my 41 gets to the Transit Center at 8:30, so if I can leave on time or a couple of minutes early I an be home before 9 on Mondays and Wednesdays at least, and watch Heroes, which is my new favorite TV show.

Milestone: getting over my phone phobia and calling the OMA this morning "just because." And not freaking out when he didn't answer. And then being excited when he called back. And then being disappointed when the Boss-Lady came in because I couldn't talk anymore. :) This is progress people. I know that I shouldn't have this fear, but I do, and it's a basic Fear of Rejection. I may come across as all tough and stough, but I'm not.

Have a great day!

T-Shirt of the day

Best T-shirt of the day said "The opposite of irony is wrinkly."

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love it.

Have a Great Week

Well here it is, Sunday night, and it's pissing rain outside, which I find very comforting. The coziness of my place, the protection from the elements.... Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is on, which is one of my favorite movies of all time, even though I only discovered it within the past few years. So here I am in my flannel pj's, with the dear, sweet Henri having gotten over her recent bout of neediness now nestled snugly into the armpit of my sweatshirt, one of my favoritest movies on, preparing my vittles for the morrow, and just having the nicest, calmest, sweetest evening EVER. It makes me happy. And tomorrow I pick up my financial aid AND start calculus. In preparation I have been working on the first section of the book, and am now doing problems like "find f(2 + h) given f(x) = x - x^2." Good times! The frightening thing to realize is that this is probably the EASY stuff. Holy Crap. Well I guess I really have nothing to say except that I've been laying around like a bum, and I cleaned my bathroom, and I was lucky enough to score a ride home from QFC with Andy tonight so I picked up kitty litter and 2 half-cases of sparkling water so I'm a happy woman. And I will leave you with this thought:

"Vogon poetry is the third worst in the Universe. The second worst is that of the Azgoths of Kria. During a recitation by their Poet Master Grunthos the Flatulent of his poem "Ode to a Small Lump of Green Putty I Found in My Armpit One Midsummer Morning" four of his audience members died of internal hemorrhaging, and the President of the Mid-Galactic Arts Nobbling Council survived by gnawing one of his own legs off. The very worst poetry in the universe was written by Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings of Sussex. Thankfully it was destroyed when the earth was."

Goals for '08 - '09

Oh yeah. So I have some things I want to do this year, and what better place to set those goals than here on a blog for everyone to see!!!

• Take Better Care of Myself
• make home-made cheese (doesn't that sound like fun?)
• Get a lower-powered objective for my microscope
  
• Take some time to draw
  
• paint my bedroom (I'm actually planning on having this done by the end of October)
• figure out how to make an extension from my bedroom windowsill to hold an assortment of plants; I'd like to have a shelf extending out about 12 inches, but can't figure out how to attach it (suggestions welcome).
• get my guitar strung and tuned and spend 15 minutes/day 3x/week learning how to play (effective 9/27/08)
• schedule workouts at least twice/week during the work day (already have boss' permission) starting 9/22/08 (part of the "Take Better Care of Myself" bit)
• Practice swimming once/week become more proficient at it
• Get my car running (by the end of November)

I think those are good enough goals for now! :)

Being an Adult

So this is what it means to be an adult. Having "issues" with co-workers, and rather than steaming, stewing, and being passive-aggressive, recognizing them, vocalizing, and meeting to discuss. I was having increasing frustration with what felt like a lack of confidence on my boss' part, as well as her not listening to me. So instead of being pissy and letting it come to a head, I suggested we meet, citing those very reasons. So we just got done meeting, and discussed the issues, and went over workloads and upcoming projects, and how we are going to communicate with each other in the future. It was amicable, a lot was explained, there were no tears, no blows, no repercussions. There WAS a feeling of clearing the air, of recognizing each other, of cooperation and teamwork and I am just so pleased. :) Hooray!

Now this burgeoning adult is going to take herself for pho, aka a "hot steamer," aka "hot ball soup."

Palin and stuff

I found this awesome sign montage on a new site I'm planning to follow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dStP_ouJYHg

Abe Lincoln Quote

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."

Abe Lincoln

Can it Be?

Oh my god;

I do believe I'm feeling better! Like, I'm mildly, MILDLY nauseated but not so miserable as I have been! I slept a little late and came in at 10, had some Top Ramen, and I don't feel like I want to die. Hooray! :)

6:03 p.m. - I just had a huge salad. No nausea, no vomitous feeling, NOTHING. I'm satisfied, and it was tasty, and I'm happy as a clam. Speaking of clams, I got some at Trader Joe's last night. Clams in butter sauce. Perhaps I should have some when I get home! :) Speaking of which, 12 minutes left and I can go home. Maybe I should put my shoes on.

My New Friend

So I got well enough to do laundry after another day in bed. That's right, I'm a wuss. I went to work, felt like HELL, and sat at my desk. Boss-lady comes in and smiling exclaims something like "there you are! How are you?" and I broke down into tears, cause I felt so bad and I was tired of feeling bad. So she sent me home. :) I came home, got out of my clothes and straight into bed. I was awoken by a text from the OMA, much to my delight. He is winging his way to L.A. as we speak.

Anyway, about my new friend. There is this spectacular web in the corner of the door to my laundry room. This is REALLY where I wish I had a camera with better close-up capability, and given my proclivity toward the smaller things in life, maybe I should seriously look into getting one. Anyway, as you can see I got a picture of her, she is quite spectacular with splendid striping. She's smack dab in the middle of her web, patiently, patiently waiting for her next meal, I assume.

It Lives!

So I ventured out to the store for some hummus fixins and enchilada sauce makin's. It was a very questionable trip with me feeling frequently weak and dizzy, but I made it. Came home, made the hummus, and snacked on some pita chips that I also made (YUM). Suddenly I'm feeling much stronger and must just be conscientious about feeding myself enough food, I think. I realized I'm finally feeling better when I started singing to my food. :) And FOOD!!!! Lord above, my kitchen is just singin'. I've got a pork chop gravy going, enchilada sauce, and am about to clean and chop some lettuce for salads. Hallelujah people, I am on the mend! :)

Good Times All Around

OK I started this day out with the joyous knowledge that as I was waking up, the OMA was on a train for Kiev, starting the first leg of his journey back to the same continent. I'm so excited. To be able to talk to him whenever I want again, for however long I want, and not have it cost me a small fortune every time....YAY!!! To be able to text throughout the day. Sigh. I can't wait. So here's the breakdown; I wasted $20 the first week cause the phone cards I got were crap. Then I called on my cell phone; $32 for 12 minutes. I got 2 more phone cards and spent $20 for 50 minutes. Ridiculous, no? YES!

So right after I woke up I figured I'd follow the James Herriot principle and drug myself back up so I could sleep, sleep, sleep and heal myself. Took some cough syrup and went back to bed until around 2 p.m. Woke up feeling good but as I tootled around I became shaky and nauseated again. I'm like, WTF do I have to be SICK about??? Then I thought about my food habits of the past few days, example, yesterday's menu:

• a nectarine
  
• 1/2 fried potato w/chili & cheese; took me 1/2 the day to eat it, too
• a few bites of ham (probably 10 diced chunks)
• 1-1/2 cups zesty zucchini soup (SOOOOOOOOO good)
• 1/2 bowl (perhaps 2/3 cup) of chili
• about a cup of shrimp and mushrooms pasta with basil

Now that's not a lot of food, and I had about that much if not less the day before. I had to write it in my journal to make sure I wasn't making it up! Now if you know me at all, you know that I don't lose my appetite, even when I'm sick. So this is really something for me. And it's been like this all week. I'm calling it the flu diet and looking forward to getting on the scale in the morning! :)

So anyway I was getting ready to blog about my fun project last night, and I started feeling sick to my stomach again, which really pissed me off cause I had a nice pot of txdsajumpsk on the stove, and it smelled so good. Discussion with Michelle on the phone let me to conclude that perhaps my lack of nourishment might have something to do with it, as all I've had to eat today is a peach, and it IS almost 4 p.m. So I sucked it up, made myself a small bowl of soup, and am already feeling loads better.

So onto the project! I got myself an attachment for my Dremel last night, with the goal of taking my cast iron skillet down to the metal cause it's been in really bad shape for awhile (BAD Carey). So I got a 3/8" Flaphwheel, 80 Grit, and went to town. Thanks to Science, I have safety glasses, which I donned, and used a cloth napkin for a face guard against the dust I generated. So what do you think I look like? A bandit? About to rob a bank? Hold up a liquor store? A complete loon?

So I laid down old newspapers to catch up the mess. I checked my e-mail before starting and was startled by Henri zooming across the room and attacking the papers. I yelled 'what the hell are you doing????' which startled her, and I was bummed that I did cause she was at the start of Something Big. Felis Catus Interruptus. Not good. So she stopped her antics and sat, princess-like under a piece of newspaper for a good while. I laughed out loud then got my pan and tools. I started with the Dremel, but it was taking forever. So I took a screwdriver to the mess and discovered that most of that shit came off that way. Of course a screwdriver is awfully small, so I found an old paint scraper and went to town with THAT. Boy oh boy. I had a pile of crap on there that was truly fantastic. Black shit all over the living room, iron dust in the air (super good for the old lungs).

Unfortunately, being a black, cast iron skillet kind of precludes you getting a good look at how dirty it was and how clean it IS, but here are the before, during and after. I think I finished somewhere around 12:30 a.m. after working on it probably an hour, maybe a little longer. I washed it down with soap and water and then seasoned that sucker in the oven for an hour, and now it's good to go! Of course it's a little sticky since it's not completely seasoned yet, but that will come with time. And that was my "God I'm going out of my mind with boredom after 3 days of being sick on my Death Couch and I've GOT to do something" project. :)

Politics and You....well, me

OK so it is not a secret that all my life I have remained blissfully and willfully ignorant of politics. This year, with advent of Barack Obama, who is not spouting the Same Old Shit I turned a deaf ear to, and the desperate feeling that we CAN'T have 4 more years of a Republican Regime, have caused me to try to pay attention to what is going on.

So to inform myself, I listened to the Democratic AND Republican conventions, and have been paying rapt attention to the whole Sarah Palin business. I didn't want to jump on any Palin-bashing bandwagon, but Holy Mother of God that woman makes me CRINGE!!! I watched her interview with Charlie Gibson the other night, and I was actually embarrassed for her when she didn't know what the Bush Doctrine was. Of course, neither did I, but then I'm not running for Vice President and have never claimed to have paid attention to politics. For those of you who may not know (and I'm betting that number is VERY low), the Bush Doctrine, in the words of Charlie Gibson: "...is we have the right to self-defense, pre-emptive strike against any country we think is going to attack us." So she hemmed and hawed and tried to cover but was obviously ignorant of it. Also, when asked if she'd met heads of state, she seemed almost proud that she hadn't, and said that she bet a lot of other VPs hadn't either (further research found that this was not true; all VPs had had some experience with foreign heads of state). I think the other embarrassing thing about her interview was this:

"GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions does the proximity of the state give you?

PALIN: They're our next door neighbors. And you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska."

For fuck's sake. The woman is 44. I am 39 years old, have no experience in any kind of government, but even I wouldn't say something so ridiculously, retardedly stupid.

So the point of this post, is that in my politial awakening, I have to give Sara Palin 2 thumbs down, and this opinion has been formed from a conglomeration of Bonetti's input, a bunch of Alaska blogs, and just watching her on TV and listening to her speak. ESPECIALLY listening to her speak. A pitt bull with lipstick? How embarrassing.

Name Generator

from the blog of http://mudflats.wordpress.com/

"Palin Friday Frivolity!

12 09 2008

Once in a while, in the middle of all this insanity, we all just need to sit back and have a good laugh. I’ve been compulsively chuckling over this one for the last 10 minutes. We know that Sarah and Todd Palin like to name their children with sports/Alaskan theme names.

Track, who was born in Track and Field season. Bristol, after Bristol Bay. Willow, after the town north of Wasilla, or the Willow Ptarmigan (Alaska State Bird). Piper Indy, after the Piper Cub airplane, and the Polaris Indy snowmachine (snowmobile for you ‘outsiders’). And an interesting quote from Palin has her saying Indy could also refer to “Independence”…. Hmmm. Trig Paxson, after the town of Paxson, north of Wasilla.

So haven’t you ever wondered what your name would be if the fates had made Sarah and Todd Palin your parents? Now you can find out. Behold the Palin baby name generator! Just type your name and find your Palin name instantly. Get ready! Find YOUR Palin name HERE!"

My name would be Chap Poach Palin. :)

http://www.personal-space.com/palin/index.php

Drugs Rule

Happy Friday! I am home again today on the Death Couch.

Started on the hacking cough last night, the one that makes you lose your lunch. Woke up to a hacking cough this morning, the kind that makes your head pound. I also had no voice, but still managed to get in to the doc at 9:30...she was pretty sassy and fun, looked in all my cranial orifices and declared a virus combined with allergies based on my "screamin'-red sinuses". So I'll be spending my time on an Allegra/Tussin-Codeine cocktail. But boy, when I took that first dose and slept the deep, deep nurturing sleep...there IS a god. :) I fell asleep so hard I twitched. :) I woke up relaxed and refreshed at 3:00 and got some good productive work done so I didn't have to take a whole sick day.

Now I've gone banking, shopping, and gone to retrieve a phone card with which to call OMA in Belarus even though I'm feeling less than inspired. Head. Throat. Sore. Ouch. Hurt. Sleepy.
Turning in. Goodnight.

Bacteria vs. Pollen

OK so it wasn't allergies, it was a cold. Luckily a short, sweet, cold, but I felt like poo this morning. Stayed home and in bed most of the day, getting up only to drink tons and tons of tea and eat aspirin. I couldn't sleep because I had so much pressure in my head, so I took the opportunity to darn my favorite old shorts that are ripped out in the crotch. They're holy and too big, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE them so I'm going to eke out one more season. :)

And now I've been up for a whole hour and a half, so I think I'll go back to bed.

The Curse

Lordy lordy who ever knew that pollen and dander and shit could cause so much trouble! It feels like there is a vice being applied to either side of my head, right behind my eyes, and it is starting to squuuuuueeeeeze. I woke up feeling like I had a monster cold, but it's not getting worse so that tells me it's "just" bad allergies. sigh Oh well, I'll go home early and lay in my cozy bed with my cozy blue cotton sheets. I don't know why they make me feel so cozy but they do. :)

Not much to post today. Got the royal Palin ribbing from bossman yesterday:
- so do you KNOW Sarah Palin? All you Alaskans know each other don't you?
- are you closely related? Aren't all Alaskans closely related?
- is it true that all Alaskans shoot moose?

He was just having the grandest time with it. So I gave him this cartoon from AlaskaReal's blog and forwarded it around.

And now I am cleaning like a fiend. From my house, to my desk; it's all a little frightening. Organization abounds! I'll have to post a picture tomorrow when I have my camera.

Happy Monday

Happy freakin Monday. It's hot as blazes in my office already and it's making me a little sick to my stomach. I was planning on having another productive day at the apartment yesterday, but instead I spent my time watching cooking shows and westerns, and playing Lego Star Wars. It was great. In the evening I went up to the store and got some ingredients so I could make Greek dressing and blue cheese dressing which reminds me I forgot to put olives in my Greek salad. Oh well.

I've had a fairly productive morning but I just realized I forgot to get the mail so I'm going to go do that now.

Republicans

As my archnemesis Justin says, the Republican party may be lacking in minority representation, "but they got tits on the ticket"! :) That's all you need, I guess!

TOO CUTE

OH MY GOD, Goldfish snack crackers now have little starfishies in them! I'm in love. :) I'm going to have to pick up some more while they're still on sale.

There is this woman across the street in her car, talking on her cellphone. Excuse me, YELLING into her cellphone. I could actually hear her over my TV, which is cranked way up so I can hear it in the kitchen. I'm trying to eavesdrop but am having trouble focusing.

So this morning I woke up and looked at my watch. It was 8:00. I panicked! I was like, oh shit, how am I going to explain this to Bev? I've been late to work a lot lately. So I was trying to figure out what I was going to say, and I noticed that Hour of Power was on and with great relief I realized it was Sunday. Whew!!! :)

Then I watched Hour of Power for a little bit cause I remember my Nana used to watch. I was especially taken with the hymn:

"We walk by faith and not by sight;
we trust in God and not in might;
For in our darkness He is light"

which pretty much encapsulates what people find objectionable about religion, doesn't it? Faith without sight, blind faith, based on nothing; not only believed, but loudly proclaimed. It was an interesting observation.

NIGGER!!!!

That's right, I said "nigger." It's 12:51 a.m. and I was rousted from my musings over Stargate Atlantis by the undoubtedly drunken shouting of a white guy walking down my street. He said "NIGGER!!! NIGGER!!!" followed by some other thing about a smell that I can't remember already and "you black sonofabitch!" :(

It is September 7, 2008, and this shit still happens. It makes me very, very sad. :(

Progress

The old abode is coming along nicely. Here's a little picture of my room. Not too bad! The rest is still in a bit of a shambles, but for the most part it's coming along quite nicely.

Anxiety Dream?

OK so apparently I had an anxiety dream last night, even though I have absolutely nothing to be anxious about as far as I can reckon. But I dreamed that I had my math take-home final, and that I took it home, and then got to talking to friends. The final was due at 8:00; I did one problem, got distracted, and then the next time I looked at it it was 7:52 and I wasn't even near the school nor had I worked on the test, so I was good and screwed. Isn't that weird? I guess I AM feeling a little nervous about calculus, but I still have time. Who knows.

But it was followed up by a nice dream in which OMA and I were on vacation together. We had grand times (I don't know where we were or what we were doing, just that someone else was there and we were all taking pictures) and then I got home and started looking through the pix. I saw all these pix of me and him together and realized someone else had taken pix of us and it was neat to see us through someone else's eyes because we were obviously very into each other and that person captured it quite nicely.

Then I had another dream about hanging out with some girl and wearing weird clothes like some sarong that was a little too small, and just having silly fun, and then I woke up, and it was 10, and I'd missed all the good cartoons. So I guess I will devote this day to cleaning, although I DO feel like there's something I'm supposed to do today; I think it might just be going up to Walgreens to get a phone card. I should probably go to Target and get some kitty litter too.

In other news, I finally have some activity next weekend; tennis, squash, and a hike. Woo Hoo! What a way to celebrate my last weekend before school. :) Speaking of celebrate, I got a very cute belated birthday card from a chat friend today. What a nice thing! :)

What I Saw This Morning

So we're coming up Pend Orielle (that's the road up the hill to campus) when I saw a cute little red Mini-Cooper getting ready to take a left onto 25th. I felt so bad for the girl driving, because I also noticed that she had left her I-Pod on top of it, headphones, leather case and all. Poor girl. She is going to be PISSED when she realizes she has no i-Pod. I wonder if she'll just always wonder what happened to it, or if she'll realize that "oh my god, last time I had it, it was on top of my car!!!! It's probably laying in the street somewhere!"

Out on a WEEKNIGHT?

OK so it's not a big deal to most, but I went out with #1 Cuz last night to see our Uncle Play at Tula's Jazz Cafe. Kind of on a whim. He e-mailed me this weekend and said that they were playing, said a prodigal aunt might be there (she wasn't), and that I should come out. So I took the bait. And I went home after work, changed, napped briefly, then met Shawn down there. On a lark. On a breeze. On a whim. She got there before me and got a table, she shared her tatziki with me and bought me a beer (SO sweet), we watched the big brass be brassy and bold, and then we caught the slow boat to home at 10:06. It was a perfect evening, and I am so pleased that I got to do it. It's like, I am savoring, drinking up all this blessed free time because it's only for another 3 weeks or so before my evenings are occupied again. Oh blessed free time.

Afterward I learned the joy of buttermilk chicken. You see, I never realized that you actually soak the chicken in the buttermilk overnight; I thought it was a quick dip'n'dredge situation going on, so I never understood the significance of using buttermilk. But I learned that you are supposed to soak the chicken in b-milk and spices, so I did. THEN you shake it in flour mixed with MORE spices. Holy mother of cluckers, that was some DAMNED fine chicken! I definitely plan on doing it again. My only regret is that the gravy was bland. But some chili salt made it palatable.

I'm a little sleepy today, but Anne took me for a walk in the sunshine and it at least got my blood flowing. We went on a nice, winding little walk through campus, the sun shining down, a nice cool breeze blowing, just chatting and canoodling. Now this is one of the seven highly successful habits of thin people. They get up. They move. The DO stuff. And they feel bad when they don't!!!

This is a goal for my life. I would like to be the kind of person that when I feel like a snack, I reach for fruits and veggies more than I reach for chips and cheese. I want to be the kind of person who, when I'm feeling fatigued or cranky at work, decides to get up an MOVE instead of just sitting on my ass. I'm definitely closer than I used to be, but have a ways to go. Oh well, practice makes perfect. I'm getting better at the fruits and veggies; one thing at a time, I guess. I want to be HOT at 50. :)

Oh yeah, one last thing; after over a week of futile dialing, and being sad and lonely, I FINALLY GOT THROUGH TO BELARUS!!! :) :) :) The Object of My Affection (heretofore referred to as OMA) giggled when he heard my voice and exclaimed "FINALLY!!!!" :) :) :) So I about the happiest camper there is. Hooray for my side! He said gas station cards are crap. As is evidenced by the $20 I wasted this week. Time for a trip to Walgreens. :)

I Can't Stay Away!

Things I've done and seen this weekend:

* On my way home from the store the other night, a very drunk man who obviously had pissed his pants at some point was on the sidewalk outside the Backdoor Tavern, pissing into the street. Right into Lake City Way. As I walked by, the guy who owns one of the shops came popping out the door saying "stop! stop! shit!" and cursing in some Arabic language cause apparently this man was pissing on his car. :( I could NOT believe it. And then I explained to the lady outside the Rimrock , and I turned back to point out what was going on, and got a nice, clear shot of this guy squeezing his dick; an image I really, really, wish I didn't have in my mind, and one that won't go away.

* Thanks to the cozy nest of Michelle and the nesting instincts of MaryPod, I did some serious cleaning/nesting this weekend. I took many before and after pictures, which I will not post here because of the shame of it all, but I am tremendously pleased with my progress. I have regained floorspace in my bedroom, my dried good shelf and my tea shelf are neat and orderly and aesthetically pleasing.

I mounted some powerstrips onto my file cabinet instead of leaving them lying on the floor, where between the dried flower petals and dustbunnies were a raging inferno waiting to happen. Now they are not only less hazardous, they are more easily accessible, albeit a bit unsightly. But with the amount of mounting tape I used, they are totally stuck there for a good while.

Well that's all the news that isn't. I plan to continue with the cleaning and getting rid of things for the rest of my break, hopefully winding up with an apartment that has some hint that an adult lives there rather than a frat boy in his underwear.

Happy Labor Day

"Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country."

Happy Labor Day, fellow workers! I woke up this morning and relished the fact that I don't have to work today. :) I absolutely had to force myself to stay in bed til 10:00. Actually I didn't quite make it. But I'm hanging out at home. Had some miso soup, and am having a burger for brunch. Might do some more work on the old bedroom. It needs a lot.

And that's all I have for today. Guess I'd better let people know that this is my new blog, or I'm just writing for Shawn and Michelle, who already know what's going on. :)