Grace, Grace

1. Seeing sparrows peek over the edge of the window in the bedroom.
2. More quilt completed in addition to more kinds of fabric washed and cut.
3. The boy wanting to make a "home" for the hedgehog...out of paper maché.
4. Slow-cooker soup.
5. Getting to bed early.

The dining room table..."craft area."

Pieces of the quilt.

Ahh...Saturdays...

It's been chock-full of going ons!
Got up early to the sound of knocking on our door at 930. We had forgotten that we were getting a new furnace!
So apparently, my cat is utterly afraid of unfamiliar people now. Once the repair guy had started work I had to go rescue the cat from his hiding spot...in a little nook in the ceiling of the basement. How he gets up there, I'm sure I'll never know. He mainly stayed upstairs the whole time....things got a bit, uh, tense when it had been over 5 hours he hadn't been downstairs. Old man cat had to go. It wasn't pretty. He wouldn't go downstairs so we ended up picking up all the carpets and locking him in the bathroom. Poor guy.

But we have a new efficient furnace that doesn't belch carbon monoxide into our house! yay! Ha. Yeah, the exhaust pipe had disconnected and was quietly trying to kill us. Thank goodness code requires CO dectedors in apartments! It's all good now, just means we get to havelower heating bills now!

Went to JoAnn's for more fabric for the quilt I have started. I miscounted the number of pieces I needed to cut. I like that part, picking out and touching everything. Yes. I know it's just fabric, but I have a tactile sense of things. I touch everything. And have been known to smell cards and books. So, I hope you're not OCD about that sorta thing. Sorry.

(Photo from: http://freerangeliving.blogspot.com/)

I finally made the Moosewood Cookbook's Apple Cottage Cheese Pancakes. I had been eying that recipe for years. Then, like a fool, I started the recipe and attempted to "beat the egg whites 'til stiff" by hand. Fool. My wrists are killin me. The taste was...interesting. I may have needed more apple, less cheese. But it was AWESOME with the NYS maple syrup we just restocked on.

The Boy bought the street fighters game for xbox. And, I must say, I can hold my own against Mr. Video-Game-Guru. It's fun. :oD Plus he says things like "you're the best girlfriend ever" after I do a Super combination and laugh like villain.

Now, I'm considering more Chinese food and more violent video games..."TIGER KNEE!"

who's got some??

Well. I have been at work one hour and have glanced at a project folder.

Stupid internet.

1. I sewed three strips of my quilt last night!
2. Leftover bean dip for lunch.
3. More sewing tonight, three more rows perhaps?
4. New bath rugs....cause my ancient cat pooed on the others....
5. um...sewing.

I actually don't want to do anything other than make that quilt. It's my first one and I am sensing a dangerous spiral into a new hobby. A new, time consuming, expensive hobby.

Also....I sound like a cat lady, approximately 68.4 years old in this post. Sewing, quilts and cats.
Awesome.

Grace in Small Things

1. These heels don't make my feet hurt!
2. Getting a report off my desk.
3. A hummus, cucumber and cheese sandwich for lunch.
4. Taco night!
5. Snuggles with The Boy.

Sage advice from....

Work hard, play hard. - My dad on the college experience.



Even if you chose not to decide, you still have made a choice. - Geddy Lee (Actually, this quote might have been in the same card from my dad when I went away to college. He's an awesome dad.)



Remember who you are and what you represent or written: RWYAAWYR. - My mother when I would leave the house...and to my friends. I think she realized it was good advice early on. I don't think anyone minded the reminder either.

Watch "The Secret of NIMH" next time you're home sick!

Cause it's a cute cartoon, fun to watch, a tiny bit of action, nothing too emotional though, and slightly thought provoking. What IF animals really do communicate?! I love it.

When I started using the Internet

The very FIRST memory I have of using the internet was when my dad showed us we could track santa's trip around the world.When I regularly started using it it was to talk to my friends through AIM. Screw the telephone, I was on the computer until 1130 or 12 when I was in 9th grade. Then in 11th grade, the internet became my main pathway of communication to my computer-savvy college boyfriend. He showed me how friggin limitless it was. He still does actually. Thanks internet!!! lol

Random

Feeling wired.
Although, only on one cup of coffee and about 24 oz. of water.
Trying to drink more water...my skin and lips were VRY dry...and I was feeling, in the words of a friend - "cellulite-y." She says she is drinking a GALLON a day. Do you know how much water that is??? SIXTEEN cups. If I push myself, I get about nine cups. I think my brain would drown.

A 14-year old is suspected of shooting a cop in the head here. That's younger than my youngest brother. WTF.
Everyone keeps saying how "psycotic" he must be because despite all the programs available to assist youth and keep them out of gangs and drugs in the area, he still "slipped thru the cracks."

My 17-year old cousin is in chemo. WTF. I think of her a lot.

Three weddings for my cousins within the next year. Whoa.

I'll sing these songs at a karaoke bar if..

you blindfold me, give me many many drinks and tell me I am sitting in my car.

Inside out by Eve 6

The embarrassing part of the song comes when I would try to sing two people's parts at the same time.

Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer

I'm slightly tone-deaf and this song is slightly tedious. Double whammy.

I love Rock and Roll by Joan Jett

I would need a lot of whiskey for this one because I really don't have a rock and roll voice.

If I were a superhero, I would certainly wear tights

The Optimator - bringing cheers and beers to the down around the world.

Blue

Man, I have got the winter blues bad.
All I keep thinking about it family and how much I just want to chill out and veg.

I started my "new years" cleaning yesterday. I haven't cleaned since my parents were here at the beginning of November. It's lookin pretty grody.

My friends mother will be up here for a training seminar in two weeks, so I figured I better start now. It's just so annoying cause in order to do one thing you have to do another that needs something else done first. augh. Like rearranging the living room. It's such an awkward rectangle and the incoming traffic flow goes right thru the middle. Not to mention the outlets in weird places.

SO: for my sanity (and because I love procrastinating)
1) Living Room
- pick up dishes, misc,
- find a way to store electronic stuff (metal rack from office?)
-vaccum
-hang pictures
2) Dining Room
- pick up stuff from table and buffet
- Hang curtains
- find table cloth?
3) Kitchen
- Find a kitchen cart to reorganize for more counter space
- clean pots and pans
- clean spice jars
4)Office
- find storage options
- bring stuff up to attic
- neaten desks
- space for crafts?
5)Spare Room
- wash floor
6) Bedroom
- wash sheets
- wash comforters (laundromat)
7) Basement
- clean cat doo and misc.

See? it's a little overwhelming.

Plus today is like -6354 degress (not really, it's 11) and everything in my body aches. Except maybe my belly.

::sigh:: one more day of work before the weekend...

Vacations

I think -- I work purely for vacations. I can't wait to plan them, to travel to them...yep.

I's like to plan out my FOUR weeks of awesome non-working time, however I do have to narrow my list down a tad:
- New Orleans to visit my cousin
- the beach
- camping (multiple times)
- Virginia (for a wedding)
- the Northwest (Seattle/Oregon and the like)
- Florida
- the mid-west? I'd like to see my best friend again.

Hm..plus I have to take time off for my mouth surgery. Boo.

Monday

I had a falling out of sorts with music since college.
I remember in high school, I would always say that I "couldn't live without it."
When I moved home halfway through college, I don't remember being that compelled to turn on music every time there was silence.
I still don't get that persistent itch to have music on all the time, but once in a while, I just wanna turn some up loud.

So now I am on a quest to find some awesome tunes to keep me occupied. It's tough, because it's going to have to be an honest-to-goodness search. I'm pretty tired of most of the music I have in my library. Mostly because it is pretty angsty.

I'm over angsty.

I'm also over slowly getting chubby. I'm going to dance class twice a week starting tomorrow. Yes, that includes the gym I already belong to. No, I'm not rich. I just realize I can't be lazy and sometimes have to "sacrifice." I say that in quotes because I don't really care about money (shh...don't tell the Boy). I miss being creative, so hopefully it will help me relax and enjoy the year. So now, I'm off to work on my lazy butt.

P.S. Smelly cat is on my lap. pe-yew.

Easy Sunday

Here I am, again.
On the computer with my little old man cat keeping each other warm.
We have to kinda cut back on our energy, we have been using a BIT too much.

I have to call my neighbor today to let him know that he needs to get in touch with his buddy at the auto repair place. I have to bring my car in and he has to pay cause his wife broke my car door. Oops. Anyway, I hope they can work it out. I don't want to get all nasty and mean to have it paid for.

Listening to the Robert Plant and Allison Krauss album. It's pretty awesome. Very nice.

::sigh:: I need to clean, but it's probably not going to happen. Bummer.

Some Pig!

Or in my case...some year! Actually I have no idea. I'm terrible at tracking time, and therefore terrible at giving a re-cap of stuff that happened this year. But I can tell you what I did yesterday (amazingly).

I cooked.

Minestrone soup, Chocolate Orange Cupcakes and Artichoke dip.

Here's my messy kitchen:

I actually was just finishing the soup and started the cupcakes.
Oranges are awesome, and don't you forget it.

Minestrone Soup:
Cupcakes:

Ohhh yeah. super tasty. Then I went over to my aunts for New Years. Nothin like costumes on New Years:
Have a fantastic year!!!

not fair!

--Inspired by:http://belgianwaffling.blogspot.com/2008/10/its-not-faaaaiiiiiiir.html--

When I was a kid I was not allowed:

-To watch over a PG rating
-To have toy guns
-watch Rosanne (dad let us tho)
-to skip doing the dishes (I STILL despise doing dishes)
-go to the mall with just friends until I was 13
-get multiple piercings (prolly would still not be allowed to if i asked..lol)
-no boy girl sleepovers (um. that was probably a good thing)

That's pretty much it. I don't really remember a curfew. I must have had one, but we never really hung out at my house, so it didn't matter. I could go to dances and have boyfriends. But it just bugged me when the littlest brother was allowed to stay up and had toy guns and watch whatever was on TV. *tsk*

Rules I definitely am imposing on my children:
-dishes (muahaha, can't wait for this)
-chores before they leave the house on Saturday.
(why I feel the need for my house to be clean? I dunno)
- no boy girl sleepovers
- no eating on the couch (we don't even do it ourselves!)
- no excessive body mutilations (your father didn't need tattoos to be bad-ass)
- not sure on the swearing....prolly no s or f words. if it is allowed, no swearing AT anyone (no damn you, etc).

otherwise, everything else seems fine.

Right now, it's not fair I have to leave the house when it's super chilly out. bummer.

Scrooge, but not by choice

Well. I just fell off the map, huh?

Meh. It was just the craziest month. I couldn't keep up with myself!

Right now I'm "sneak" posting. (at work, shh) It's crazy dead at work. There is NO ONE here from my division. I want to play hookey. I hear that my aunt (who is a teacher) has a snow day. I MISS SNOW DAYS. dang it.

Tonight me and my #1 are going to shop. Yaaay x-mas season. I have stuff set up for everyone else but him. He would be easy to buy for if he did not have such EXPENSIVE TASTE. Sheesh. Maybe he'll be really obvious tonite and point out stuff he wants.

Next week is kind of going to be hell on wheels. I have to leave the area THREE times next week and write THREE reports. Hopefully two reports if I can get my act together today (not likely). Plus, I haven't driven my car since Tuesday because I have ZERO money to get it fixed. The check engine light came on during a marathon site visit so I ignored it and continued to drive, oh, about 100 miles. If at the very worst case scenario (i.e., it's going to cost a billion dollars to fix) I'll have to rent a car to get where I'm goin for work. They will pay me back for it. Then if it's STILL not fixed by the time I have x-mas vacay, I'll have to take a bus back home. Oi. I hope it doesn't come to that. I'm just not ready to go thru all the jazz to get a new car. Thank goodness I'm getting a decent bonus this year. It's too bad I can't use it all up on x-mas gifts. I could easily spend 900 dollars on everyone. :oD

Happy December!

But I don't wanna get up.....

I am totally up at 8 to go to the gym.
I think I'm nuts. It's the perfect day for bed.

My alarm went off at 630 (normal time for workday) and I didn't see the boy. I panicked because I had no idea where he was..."is he in the bathroom? no, I would have heard him..sleeping downstairs? no he never does that...unless he's mad, is he mad at me?"
Seriously, all these things went thru my foggy head before I remember, "oh right, he's at his mothers."

Sometimes, mornings are not my thing.

SO off I go, froggy morning voice and all to "totally condition" my body.
Yeah, right. That will take some time.

But I did do some belly dancing last night.

In my life

Here I am.
Typing away.
I have cookies setting up in the fridge.
Two loads of laundry in the cellar.
Neil Young is playing on Pandora and making me feel relaxed, nostalgic, emotional. (Cortez the Killer)

They have been playing a lot of Native American documentaries on public television this week.
They keep making me weepy. Why do we suck? Sometimes I am not so happy I am American.
Most of the time I live in my happy little world, where I just float along, make money spend money, nothing is destroyed...When my naive vision clears, it's a shock every time.

And here I am.
Planning for the weekend.
And that's about it.

My Life seems silly at times.

FAIL

Dah. I'm so ticked-off at myself.

All I had to do was post a little blurb or two. But nooooo....
Obama had to go and make history and all, and then I had to stay up way past my bedtime.

And the second day? Well, I was just so depressed about the whole "I forgot to post" thing (you think I'm kidding...) that I just didn't even turn on my computer.

Tragedy.

Anyhow, I'm trying to move on here. I'm still feeling a little sluggish. Life sucks when your whole body hurts.

Looking forward to the weekend! The madness that will ensue with 8 ladies shopping for wedding dresses. I am only meeting them at the store, and they are having brunch pre-shopping excursion. I'm sure more then one of them will have had plenty of mimosa to make it pretty amusing. :oD And then I will follow them home and have my share of beverages. woo!