I know this isn't going to seem funny to everyone, but it kind of is, in a sad kind of way. This lady called me on Saturday and was like, did you ever find the cat on the flyers? Then she proceeded to tell me about a cat that had been living in her woodpile. She was like, she's a pretty good size cat (most of the people who have called have been talking about cats that are smaller in stature and under 8 pounds), she's been out there a while. She tells me she's pretty sure it's my cat and then says, "It's dead and I put it in the garbage." She said there's a parking lot for the apartments next door that backs up to her yard and it looks like a kid hit it and then threw it in her yard. She said she put it in some garbage bags and threw it away because she couldn't bury it, as she broke some of her fingers. Then she asks her husband how long it had been living in their woodpile and he says three months. She was like, well he says three, but I think it's only been two and the flyer says missing since September 4th, so that's two months. Yeah, two months. Her husband is talking steadily in the background but I can't make it out and she starts arguing with him, but maintains that it has been two months since September 4th and that she thinks it was my cat and she just wanted to let me know if I never find it, that that's what happened. I thanked her and got off the phone.

I started telling Shannon and when I mentioned living in a woodpile, Shannon emphatically stated that Fuzzy Tail would not deign to live in a woodpile. I think she's right. She's probably in someone's house, being cool. At any rate, I don't think the cat that lady had living in her woodpile for two or three months was my cat. It's still sad that it died, but it was most likely not mine. I kind of felt like she should have lead off with the dead part, so as not to get my hopes up. But what do I know? I've only told two people that a cat was dead and Marie was not lost before that. Anyway, Grace has been gone almost a month, so, short of her new owners losing her, I don't think I'll ever find her. I keep dreaming that she shows up on the porch, talking loudly and being adorable. But unless she slips out the door at her new house unexpectedly, that's not likely to happen. The first couple of times I had that dream, it made me really sad when I woke up. I've stopped reading on the porch, hoping she'll wander by, instead of reading inside. I've stopped walking around the neighborhood, peering closely at all bushes and under porches. The lack of walks also means that Kazoo has gained back all the weight he lost when the search was fresh. Oops.

The price we pay...

You know what's bad about generally being right? That when you are wrong, people seem to get more upset about it than if you were just wrong all the time. Same goes for being mostly nice and occasionally somewhat vituperative or generally being good and doing something naughty every once in a while. I'm not trying to say I'm nice, or always right or good; I try not to lie. :) I'm just saying, it seems to be unfair. I know, I know, life's not fair and no one ever said it was. But still. You can't make a small mistake without people getting all in a tizzy about it. I think we all know that humor in the Benz family tends to be rather mordant, but that doesn't mean we are actually intentionally cruel (most of the time). I'm not entirely sure what one thing has to do with the other now...

Oh Kentucky, part vingt-et-un

I walked into my kitchen earlier and nearly burst into tears. There's a corner cabinet that Grace would always open (because the door doesn't hang quite straight, it never is completely closed) and go sit in(there were no real dishes in there-only stuff we never use). It was open and the Stygian recesses of my mind decided to throw that little gem at me. I'm adjusting to her not being there and that makes me sad too. People keep offering me kittens, to which piece of news Rachel was like, if you lost a child would they offer you a new one? Which is doubtful. At any rate, it is definitely too soon for kittens, if ever I will get one.

Anyway, this is very disturbing. Rachel and I had a rather long and alarmingly detailed conversation about it this morning. Loss of enjoyment of life, indeed. Also, Kentucky again! If we keep this up, I may have to make an 'oh, Kentucky' tag.

Scientists explain why people vote right...except not

I know that pretty much everyone who reads this is fairly conservative, with a few notable exceptions, because they are family. And boy is my family conservative. Anyway, regardless of your political leanings, you should find this funny. I am still giggling. And I showed both my uber-conservative dad and my uber-liberal roommate and they both found it funny. Just do me a favor and read the first two paragraphs. Everything after "...as Newsweek puts it.." cracks me up. I haven't read Newsweek in years, but "illegal immigrants may = spiders"...?? Wow. I read Newsweek when I was a kid, until we stopped getting it when I was like 15. I can't tell you how much I learned from Newsweek and Reader's Digest when I was small. Anyway, we need more science!

I don't know how many people I kept trying to make watch Heroes, but it came back this week and I haven't even watched it yet. I'm not all that excited about it. I'm excited that Kristen Bell is getting work beyond her Gossip Girl narrating and that Francis Capra (Weevil, Rach.)is getting work too. I miss Veronica Mars. Apparently I did not convince enough people that that show was totally awesome in time. That show had the single coolest first season ever. You do not understand unless you watched it. Anyway, Heroes is back (and also had a pretty cool first season) and is not receiving accolades. In fact, everything I've read thus far has been far less than complimentary. I think I will watch the season premiere and if it does suck like last season, I will take it off my series recordings list. There is so much crap sitting on my DVR and I just keep not watching any of it because I'm still reading a book a day. That cuts into my non-essential TV watching time. So far this week I've only watched Gossip Girl and How I Met Your Mother. I guess tonight will be House and America's Next Top Model. The only show I watched this weekend was The Secret Life of the American Teenager. I had a huge chunk of the marathon left to watch, so I got some of that done. It's kind of funny, and kind of sweet, and the kid who is not Molly Ringwald's daughter's babydaddy, but is her boyfriend, is so Randall Batinkoff-lite(Molly Ringwald's babydaddy from For Keeps). Some of the acting is truly terrible, as is some of the writing, but you kind of have to love a show that has a fifteen year old kid indignantly telling the guidance counselor, "They're talking about my woman!" Heh.

Fun with learning

Yesterday Shannon had a project for her old people class. She had to walk around with cotton balls in her ears to simulate hearing loss and petroleum jelly over her glasses to simulate cataracts. I wanted to just go all out and tie a scarf over her eyes, but no. It was funny because I was trying to revise her English paper at the time and I kept going, "That sentence doesn't look right, don't you think...?" And Shannon would be like, "I don't know. There's a cloud over half the words!" Oops. I eventually remembered to just read it to her instead of telling her to look at things. But some of it I really felt needed looking at, because it was all convoluted. We muddled through it and she managed to finish both the assignments.

Oh, also, I felt really not old because I got carded buying cigarettes on Friday. I know, I'm such an enabler, but I felt bad because she was all sickly. And then I felt just a little bit good about getting carded. But today I bought some snuff for a guy at work who is also sickly right now and requested it, and I did not get carded. I am apparently a sucker for sick people.

Kazoo is evil

I bought Kazoo some shiny bat wings at Target the other day and I have to say they were totally worth $10 in entertainment. They reminded me of these capes Dave and I had when we were little and were devils one Halloween. We already discovered the most fun part is to throw a toy to the otehr end of the house so that he runs and then they kind of flap. It was awesome. My parents came over to bring me a bookcase and we put the wings on because when I told my dad about it, he didn't think it was funny. When he saw it in person, he said we were sad. I did not manage to take a good photo with my phone, but you get the idea.

Speaking of things that are evil...every
time that I try to open Google Reader on the computer at home, it locks up Internet Explorer and I have to close it all. I can't help but think this is Vista related problem because I never had that problem before. And it doesn't happen to me at work. It will let me do Gmail and Blogger and whatnot, just no Reader. Any thoughts, Dave?

I wrote this post last Monday, but failed to finish it. It still holds true.

Church was good last Sunday. I cried, as per usual lately. At the beginning of the sermon, Jason was talking about hope. He said that, by virtue of the fact that we were present, we had hope. Because people who don't have hope don't get out of bed because they can't face the world. And there I was thinking that I didn't have any hope left. Apparently I had enough to get up and shower and go to church. Yeah, I teared up when he said that, in addition to during the singing and then again at the invitational. I haven't been at my church without being on camera or graphics in at least a couple months. I don't even know what to do with myself anymore. I sat down front near where people I know sit, but I rarely see them and I am so socially awkward that I just sat on the end of a row behind them. Way to join in. It would seem that I like to hide behind tech crew stuff. Which I totally wrote a rant about a couple weeks ago, but I don't think I ever actually posted it. The rant was about the tech crew, not about me hiding behind it. I don't even know why I went to church because I knew I would be alone. I don't know why I wouldn't go with my parents to Louisville Saturday, because I knew I would be home alone until Shannon got back Sunday evening. When you're sad about being alone and, well, a plethora of other reasons, scant few of which I have attempted to articulate here, apparently my cure is to stay home alone for a day and a half. Good thinking, slick. Although I did clean the house something fierce. That was good. And I had lunch with Jennie and Chad after church. It was nice and distracting. I just wish I knew what I should be doing. And I think church keeps making me cry lately because God is trying to tell me something that I don't want to hear. And we all know I deal with things that are unpleasant or scary by ignoring them. I am so mature. Although, I cried like, all the way through the invitational and the closing prayer and final song and when I went to the bathroom to wipe my face, I had no mascara running down my face. It stayed put-so at least I have some awesome mascara.
New this week: So...in the interest of facing some things, I had a discussion with Shannon last night and I feel a little better. No crying at church this Sunday. Although I still don't want to hear what God has been trying tell me, I admitted it to someone and I think I might do something. If I can work up some courage. I am just so afraid of failing that I have always just not even tried. And that's really worked out well for me...

Oh dear

I was driving home for lunch today and saw a sign at the SuperAmerica that nearly gave me a panic attack. It said their gas was $9.85. Fortunately the light was red and after I sat there for a second, it flicked to $3.85 and then back to nine, but the gas stations behind it all said $3.85, so I assume they were having a slight issue. But it scared the crap out of me for a second. So when I got home I told Shannon and she was like, so at what point does gas get so expensive that, even though we need it, we stop buying it because it is prohibitively expensive to purchase? I'm not sure where my line is, but I think that $9.85 is definitely past the point where I would be like, this car is a nice driveway decoration, but where's my bicycle?

no good

Shannon called me earlier and asked me to come pick her up from work and take her to Urgent Care (her car is jacked up). She has a kidney stone (she had on before, but said this feels so much worse), but because of her lack of insurance, we wound up not going to Urgent Care. The eye doctor she works for called her husband, a regular doctor, and he sent a nurse down to tell her to drink a lot of water and take over the counter meds. She had already taken 800mgs of ibuprofen and it did not help. I was kind of mystified that the nurse could stand there and tell her that and Shannon's face was white and drawn and the nurse was like, well, obviously it's not too bad because you're sitting here talking to me. Shannon's doctor was like, look at her face. It was bad. So they didn't give her anything and I took her home and gave her some water and put a bunch in the fridge and did something mildly illegal. So she's supposed to call me if she starts throwing up or anything and then, fiscal consequences be damned, we will be going to Urgent Care. So, poor Shannon. Let's pray that she passes it soon and doesn't get a kidney infection to go with it.

Question:

Rachel was trying to tell me that Dave, Zoe and my eyes are hazel. I call foul on that because I think of hazel as having some brown. I don't think we have brown. My license says grey, but I generally think of my(and Dave's and Zoe's and my dad's) eyes as blue-green, sometimes leaning more towards green, sometimes toward blue, depending on what color my(their) shirt is. So, do you think of hazel as blue-green, or brown? Am I just way off?

Important Days

I told Dave this the other day, and some of you watch the news so you may already know, but KY is now going to have a "Nappy Roots Day." I heard it on the news like, last week and nearly choked. Possibly because I don't recall hearing anything about them since 2000, when they played(?)(sang?) at the Sweetheart dance at BGHS. It was really funny. But in the ensuing eight years, nada. And now they have their own day. Sure, why not? The only celebration day coming up that I am excited about is Friday; International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Oops.

Saturday evening I took Kazoo for a walk because that is my cats' favorite time of day. I have the only cats in the world that won't go outside when it's sunny. My dad was like, hey, just like you! Thanks Dad. Anyway, so I've been wandering around the neighborhood in the evenings, just in case I happen by the perfect spot. I didn't take my phone because I was wearing gym pants with no pockets. When I got back to the house I had a missed call on my cell phone from the 502 area code. I assumed it was some member of my family, as my parents were up in Louisville with my grandparents that day. It turned out to be a girl who lived a street over who saw a cat matching that description. She said she would go outside and see if she could find it again and told me to meet her over there. I hopped in Shannon's car because it was parked behind mine and the girl said the cat was like four blocks away, so the car seemed more expedient. It turned out not to be my cat, but the girl said she would keep an eye out. Then I figured out that she was my cousin's roommate. She lives a block and a half away(I knew she lived on that street, I just didn't know which part of it.). So that was random. And then I broke Shannon's car. I was trying to do a turnabout so I could turn the car back towards my house when it suddenly decided not to go. It wouldn't go forward or backwards and was making this awful grinding noise and it was mid-turnabout, so I was in the middle of the road. I got out and walked around the car and couldn't see anything that seemed to be a cause of that, but for several minutes I sat in the middle of the road because it really would not go anywhere. I put it in neutral and let it roll until the wheels were straight and then put in drive and it went, although it was still making a weird grinding noise. It scared the crap out of me! I called Shannon and told her and she said it wasn't my fault, but I feel really bad. And it wasn't even my cat!

"They weren't yours to take."

There's this website I read regularly, written by a woman who lives in New York, and she wrote a beautiful piece about what happened to her on September 11, 2001. She always writes something about it on 9/11 because she is still looking for the man who helped her that day. The original piece is simply fantastic, as are all the follow-ups, but the one from yesterday is different, but still good. I didn't go there and read it yesterday because I was having a hard enough time not crying as it was(what with the missing cat and my complete insanity). So, Rachel, unless you want to cry on your birthday, don't read this today. But you should read it sometime. I know sometimes I recommend weird stuff that no one else likes, but read this one.

Reading rates are down, but libraries are womblike, comfortable memory rooms

So, I was reading Gawker this morning and this article about libraries being the new cool thing to have in your house (but not for reading!) made me feel sad, even though it's also a little funny. I mean, buying cases of books in German just because they look good and are cheap? So wrong, unless you happen to read German, which she admits her clients did not. Aside: one time when I was a kid, I was trying to find The Neverending Story at the library and the card catalog (I am so old) led me to The Neverending Story in the original German. I eventually managed to find it in English and checked that one out. Anyway, one of the comments on this story cracked me up. Like ten comments down someone said, "Sometimes, to comfort myself in a sensual way, I lie down on a big pile of books and ask my lover to rip pages from his favorite book and cover me with them. It is a wonderful sensation to be blanketed in great literature that means so much to my lover, and I do enjoy the outstanding bookishness of our foreplay." I think I want to be friends with that girl. She seems awesomely witty. Seriously, I am still giggling.

Also, there is one bookcase in my house. There are stacks of books on the dining table, under my nightstand, on the desk in the dining room, next to a comfy chair, and of course, in various boxes in my closet. Also, I feel like Mark will be the only person to get this, but lately Shannon and I keep saying, "And this is where we keep the (fill in random object found in weird place)." You know, like how our bathmat is on the front porch because the dog peed on it and we were letting it dry out before we washed it, but then we forgot to move it. And how I found the dog's leash in a bin of stuff for Goodwill. Seriously, now we're just leaving the bathmat on the porch so when her mom and step-dad come to get her on Saturday she can point to it and be like, "And this is where we keep the bathmat."

Oh, Kentucky...

I don't know if you heard about the Bed, Bath and Beyond employees in Lexington who would not allow some people to use their phone to call the police about a toddler they saw locked in a hot car in the parking lot. But now it turns out that the manager of the store is being charged with a misdemeanor. And back in August, a woman in Lancaster, KY was sent to jail by a judge for coming to her court dates more than once (after being warned!) wearing short shorts. Apparently the judge did not want to see her business. I like the part at the end of the article where they're like, if she is still an inmate at the time of her next court date, she will wear a bright yellow uniform. Why can't Kentucky ever be in the news for doing something awesome?

“She’s in for a surprise when unlikely suitor high-concept high jinks unnecessary obstacle true love happy ending!”

I was reminded of this by something Rachel said. I think it's an entertaining look at birth control and the way it is marketed.

And if you like that one, then there is this good one about chick flicks. There are a bunch more Target: Women segments at Current.com.

Still no cat. Although this morning a guy who lives a couple streets away called because he saw a cat at about midnight last night that looked like the one on the flyers. He said he was going to talk to the people who live around him and see if they had seen it or if it belonged to anyone, and also put out a bowl of food on his porch. I thought that was very kind of him and it makes me feel a little better that people are noticing the flyers. I am trying to remain hopeful. Last night Shannon and I were watching America's Next Top Model and the other cat jumped up on the back of my chair, which is something only her sister usually does, and for a second I forgot and then I started crying. And Shannon heard me make a strangled noise and she thought I injured myself and came running over to shove the dog out of my lap and see if I was ok. So then I was a little hysterical for a second, with the laughing while I was crying. If anyone could manage to injure themselves while sitting still in a chair, it would be me.

Cry me a river

I think we all know that I'm a crier. I used to cry at the drop of a hat. Then I got medicated, and not so much. Then I unmedicated myself and I was what I think was normal about crying for a while. Now I'm a crier again, even though I am medicated. I don't think my crying has anything to do with depression, because I'm not depressed (I'm only on a tricyclic antidepressant because they help make migraine attacks less frequent and less severe). I think it's about how much I allow myself to care or feel. I watch the people at church go down to the altar and pray every Sunday and I cry, sometimes all the way through the invitation(my dad, or whoever is on sound that day, which is usually my dad, generally doesn't mention it, although he gives me concerned looks once church is over). Because, despite the large size of my church, I almost always know someone who is at the altar. And I know why they are there and it makes me cry. I pray with them from my post behind the camera in the balcony, and I cry. Lately I keep thinking that our pastor is watching me cry. He usually stands right in the middle and he keeps looking up, and I think he is looking at me. I don't think he even knows who I am, so I'm just being weird and paranoid. I don't know why it matters if people see me cry. When I was a sophomore in high school, I don't think there was a single person in any of my classes who didn't see me cry. My family was falling apart, and I felt like the only person who realized that in the big picture, because my parents were focused on the individual things my brothers were doing. And my brothers were both focused on what they were doing, so I didn't think they even realized that the other one was in trouble too. It was bad and I cried a lot. Throughout the day, because I was trying to hold it together at home because I knew my parents thought they already had enough problems. I would cry when I saw Dave in band, or when I didn't see Dave in band because he was skipping school again. Anyway, suffice to say, I have cried in public before(like the only time I ever went down to the altar, to pray for/about Dave that year-I love you Dave and I'm so glad that things worked out eventually.). I cry when other people cry, I cry when I watch the news and terrible things are happening. I try not to watch too much of the news when big things are happening because then I cry too much. I cry when great things happen to other people, because I am happy for them(even fictional people-I cried all the way through the last Harry Potter book every time someone was nice to Harry). I keep trying not to cry right now, because it won't do any good. I had a moment Saturday night and another one last night, but mostly I'm ok. I keep trying to believe Shannon when she says that we're going to find Grace. I know, she's just a cat, but how would you feel if your pet were missing? I'm getting discouraged and overwhelmed and I don't know what else I should be doing. And Rachel, I think Dave left me three comments because he doesn't want to call me because I might start crying. I don't think I will ever forget how horrified he sounded on the phone that day when my tire exploded and he realized I was crying. And I know how he feels, because when other people cry, I'm never sure what to do and I'm all awkward and can't say the right things. I read this article this morning and now I'm all weepy. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by all my fears and I cry seemingly out of nowhere like the author. Also, like the author's mom, I call small children and animals 'baby doll' fairly regularly. I have no idea where I picked it up, but I've been doing it for many years. Anyway, I'm glad work is so quiet today, because I keep tearing up, but no one is walking past my office, so it doesn't matter.

Still no cat. Shannon and I did flyers yesterday and there should be an ad in the paper today. Like anyone even gets or reads the paper. I am sad...

Distractions. This commercial for a local bedding company is completely heinous, not to mention approximately ten years behind.


Seriously, I cringe every time I see it. Which is a lot lately since there is not much on TV, so I have to watch live TV instead of DVR'd stuff. Although stuff is coming back. I cannot even tell you how excited Shannon and I were when Gossip Girl came back after the strike and the ads for it were like, OMFG and whatnot. It was pretty much like that, but without the F part. And this morning I read that Leighton Meester and Blake Lively are going to show up on an episode of 30 Rock as classmates of Tina Fey's in the '80s and I was all, OMG, I can't wait until 30 Rock is back. Although last week when I saw those photos of Fey and Krakowski on set I got all excited. But it's not coming back until like October. It is such an awesome show.

Fuzzy Tail is still missing. Shannon had to go help her grandma in Indiana, but her sister Amanda came and helped me search. I knocked on doors (which, I must be concerned, since I'm afraid of people) and no one had seen her, but many promised to keep an eye out. I'm trying not to freak out. I called the paper because they put lost pet ads in for free, so that will run Monday. I left work early Friday to go to the Humane Society and look at a tabby that had been brought in and they called me a little while later to see if it was her and then they told me I should use the copier to make flyers if I need to. So tomorrow I may do that and Shannon said she'd be back in the afternoon and would help me put them around our block. I was going to go to the ABF open house thing at church, but now I'm not sure because I might wander around the neighborhood more, peeking in bushes and peering under porches. A lady who lives a couple houses down told me a few minutes ago that she saw a dark tabby in the alley a block away. So, genius that I am, I took Kazoo for a walk down a tiny, dark alley (seriously, this alley is creepy even in the daytime, so I almost never take him on walks that way) to check for her. No such luck, although Kazoo managed not to start barking at the angry dogs chained up back there. Small favors. I just gave him a Benadryl, since I'm sure he chewed on a lot of things he's allergic to today on our numerous searching forays. Also, do you think it's ok to wear chocolate brown and black together?

Fuzzy Tail, a.k.a. Grace, is missing. She darted outside unexpectedly Thursday night and we couldn't find her by bedtime, so I figured she would be in her spot behind the garbage can by morning. She was not. It rained that night and all day Friday and Shannon and I both wandered all around the neighborhood at various times throughout the day. She was not wearing her collar when she got out, as I generally only put it on her when she is going out (I can tell that she doesn't like how it jingles). So I called the Humane Society and left a lot report with them in case someone brings her in. And I guess shortly I will go start knocking on the doors of my neighbors to ask if they've seen her. None of the ones we ran into yesterday had seen her. Poor Skinny Tail is super confused. She's being extra cuddly, including even sleeping with me all night. She usually just starts out on the bed so I'll pet her and then she leaves when I stop. But she was super attentive last night-every time I would switch sides she would hop over me to be on the new side too. Kazoo is being weirder than usual and I'm getting really worried. I did go get Layla a tag for her collar in case she ever get lost.

I was glad it was Friday until now

So, Shannon told me my e-mail was pretentious and that I am not allowed to call anyone pretentious for at least a week. My bad, person I e-mailed! I am totally apologetic. I am seeing spots right now and that really worries me for later. My head doesn't hurt too badly yet, but anytime I see spots, I know I am in for a textbook migraine shortly. Yesterday, I was worrying over something and I actually felt me bringing a migraine on myself in the span of about a half hour. Good job, self. But at least yesterday I knew why I had one. Argh!

Shortcomings

So, those of you who have been to my office may recall that there was a pretty good size sign on the side of the building, above the doors to the downstairs offices. There is no longer a sign. It fell this afternoon, landing on one of our VP's car and breaking into pieces. It was a very startling occurrence, particularly for the guy who just went in the door below it not 60 seconds before it happened.

Also, yesterday I sent an e-mail containing the phrase "never approached apologetic attitudinally." Was that a completely nonsensical thing for me to say, or does it make sense? It made sense to me, but now I'm quadruple-guessing myself and wondering if someone is going to be looking at me like I'm insane for phrasing my sentences strangely. Not that that doesn't happen to me from time to time anyway...

Musings in the key of G(randma!)

I think it goes without saying that my grandmas are awesome. I look like the one (trust me-my grandfather gave me a picture of my grandma at 14 when I was 15, and I finally knew that I looked something like someone in my family!), and think like the other(although my grandma told me when I was born my mom was like, she has your knees!-but not in a good way). Five summers ago, tragedy struck and my grandma needed some help, so I was fortunate enough to be able to stay with her. We talked a lot and I learned many things about her and my mom's whole family (and also some of her baking secrets). And I realized she understood me, which was cool because I am kind of all over the place sometimes. So I like to think that we're pretty close. She lends me books and we talk about all manner of things. Anyway, today I was working on Christmas presents, because I want to be like Rachel when I grow up and I was looking at my gift ideas for her on Amazon and realized that several of the books I put on her list, or those recommended by Amazon because of other things I have bought her or put on her list, are also on either my Amazon wish list or my shopping list. It's cool to learn stuff. Ask my grandma! Also, someone should purchase a grammar book for me posthaste, as that sentence earlier was incredibly convoluted. I've been reading a ton this summer, just not any literature. I've read no fewer than 45 books since July, but none of them are worth mentioning. I think I'm going to continue the reading, but up the ante on quality. I've bought several reasonably decent books at the second-hand bookstore here because I took a ton of crap in there and got $30 of credit. Yay, books! So now I just need to get around to reading them. I've decided that to further my efforts to better myself, I will read instead of watching boatloads of crappy TV, even though it's now time for new seasons and new shows. So I'm only going to watch shows that I really enjoy this season, instead of continuing to watch shows that I find only mildly interesting. I will watch the pilot episode of new shows that sound interesting and if I'm not hooked, I'm not going to watch the whole first season to give it a chance. I always do that because I keep thinking things have to improve. But anyway, that's my vow to myself, which is silly because now that Shannon has class four nights a week, I could watch crappy TV every day and no one would know.

Ummm, so today Amazon is recommending that I purchase ABBA's Gold album and some tape for a label maker. Random! I suppose it's possible that I was pricing label makers and tape on Amazon as compared to Staples. But still. I can honestly say I've never searched for anything ABBA related on Amazon. I'm inspired to start putting really dense tomes on history or language in my Wish List.

Oh, a note on the facials. They were lovely and relaxing and a decent way to spend a morning on a holiday. But neither Shannon nor I was aware that they had you remove your clothing for a facial. I mean, it might've just been the place we went to, but it was surprising.

True Confessions, Numero Tres

If I had a special gift, it would be my superb hearing. Really. Ask Mark. I used to freak him out with it (combined with my extra light sleeping skills). The other day, my phone volume was on one out of seven and I heard it ring in time to get to it even though I was two rooms away. That was a little freaky even to me. Also the fact that it was on one to begin with, which I'm still not sure how that happened.

It would seem that I cannot seem to stop injuring my feet. Shannon and I went to the mall looking for pants on Friday and wound up at Gap. I was trying on pants when I put a pair on and stepped backwards right onto what I assume was some sort of clothing pin. It was embedded in the arch of my foot. Awesome. It was no shorter than an inch and a half. I can't decide if I should get a tetanus booster or not. I have been exceedingly accident-prone lately.