Beaucoup de livres!

Even though I'm ridiculously swamped at work for the next few days, like to the point I should not even take five minutes to write this and I am probably not going to go to lunch, I am doing it anyway because I'm very excited. I ordered some books last week and I got them just now! One of them is an actual book that I think is going to be quite an undertaking. And I got books from Dave and Rachel for my birthday. So now I have two real books to read and several frivolous ones. Thanks guys! I had fun this weekend. Your dog is really sweet and has the silkiest fur ever. You and your kids crack me up.

Lagniappe!

This is the funniest movie review I have ever read. Awesome. And it's not like I'm harboring some secret hatred of Madonna, either. It' s just amusing. Also, this is very entertaining. I love how the reporter got on board with all the chicken puns. Fowl!

I can feel my latent patriotism disappearing...

I got an e-mail about this last night. I had not heard anything about it until I Googled it. And when I did so, as Shannon can attest, I gasped out loud I was so horrified. Now, let me be clear. I am not excited about abortion or anything. It's something I would never do, but I know that it's something that happens. (Sidenote: It drives me crazy when people say they don't believe in something, like divorce or abortion. Obviously divorce and abortion both exist. What you mean is that you don't approve of them! Urgh.) I just don't think that making someone who has already made up their mind to have an abortion look at their ultrasound would really be kind or helpful in any way. Well, here. This girl mostly says what I mean. As we all know, I can't write for shit. Anyway, what I mean is, I don't think that this is something that the government should be legislating.

Yay!

The writer's strike is over! For real. And we even know what's coming back. And it's even snowing here right now, even though Chris Allen said there was nothing on the radar. I like snow enough that I don't really care that it took me a few minutes to get my car door open this morning because it was icy. Awesome day.

Three posts in one day?!

I would like to preface this by saying I think this was written by an adolescent. But there is nothing on TV tonight.

1. Has anyone seen you in your underwear lately? No.

2. Is it awkward when you run into your exes? I don't run into them, so whatever

3. Have you kissed someone this past week? No

4. When did you last talk to your brother or sister? I actually spoke with Dave, then Rachel, then Mark yesterday. Hat trick!

5. What did you do the last time you were home alone? Dumped stuff from the DVR to DVD and took Kazoo for a walk. I'm not home alone very often.

6. Do you ever wanna know who you are going to marry? What kind of weird question is this? This survey seems to be exceptionally strange, Christina.

7. Have you ever watched the Real World? Not lately.

8. How much cash do you have on you? I actually have like $35 dollars. Bonus!

9. Who are the 3rd and 7th texts in your phone? They are from Jennie and Mark, but this question is worded all wrong.

10. Are you tanned? Never

11. Are you upset with anyone? Just myself...

12. who are you not talking to? Uhh, no one that I can think of.

13. Have you ever seen your best friend cry? Yes.

14. Did you get any compliments today? Yes.

15. Have you ever gone to court? I've been to the courthouse.

16. Are you friends with your neighbors? No...but they were the jerks who moved and abandoned their puppy, so I don't feel bad about it.

17. Have you ever punched a guy? Not really.

18. Do you get jealous easily? Don't think so.

19. Have you ever played Spin the Bottle? No

20. Bricked someones house? No

21. Have you ever had a crush on your brother or sisters friends? I'm embarrassed to admit that once upon a time, I did. But it's not like I was ever good at hiding anything, so I think you peeps already knew that.

22. Have you ever gone to the beach? Yes, several times.

23. What are you listening to? LA Ink. I'm afraid to get a tattoo, but I'm fascinated by the tattoos of others.

25. How good is your eyesight? Not good at all. About 20/400. I love my dad, but the only genetic gift he gave me is bad eyesight!

26. Would you ever want to swim with the sharks? No, that sounds like a bad idea.

27. Have you ever been out of your country? Yes.

28. Would your parents be mad if you got arrested for fighting? Let's think about who my parents are for a minute...aaaand the answer is yes! Although it is highly unlikely that I would get in a physical fight.

29. Do you have a Honda, Toyota or Nissan? Yes, a Nissan.

30. What time did you wake up this morning? 6:50 am.

31. What are you doing Saturday? Hanging out with some awesome Benzes!

32. What is in your back pocket? I'm wearing pajama pants-no back pocket. Although that reminds me I need to get the two dollars out of the pants I wore to work.

33. What were you doing at 3am this morning? Sleeping.

34. What do you usually do first in the morning? Brush my hair and then shower.

35. Ever went in a car with people you just met? Not that I recall.

36. Made out for more than 3 minutes? Probably.

37. Slept in a different bed? Yes.

38. Made out in a cinema? No. If I actually go see a movie, then it's a movie I really want to see and also I want to get my money's worth.

39. drove in a car with people you just met? I think this is a repeat

40. Thought your cousin was hot? No. So inappropriate.

Sports are dangerous...

This is insane. I can't believe that guy is ok. This is why I have always maintained that hockey is way more hardcore than other sports. Dudes are flying around the ice and getting into fights with what amount to weapons strapped to their feet. And I was reading about this and learned about this business, which is even crazier. It almost made me cry. Because I'm just like that. And then I remembered that dude who was skateboarding and lost his board and fell really far and hit so hard that his shoes flew off. Sports are crazy.

Take back your free advice - I don't accept.

I went to the eye doctor this morning. Getting old stinks. My right eye moved three steps and my left eye moved two. I didn't even realize how much I wasn't seeing until I put the contacts in the new prescription in. I mean, I knew my eyes had changed because the words on the screen at church have been fuzzy for a while. But that wasn't a huge deal because I know all the songs. And the last couple times we've actually had new songs, they have been ones I had just learned at Dave and Rachel's church (where the screens are easier to read). But that's neither here nor there. The point is, my eyes are screwed by genetics and the fact that I do a lot of computer work. At least Dr. Love gave me some more stuff to keep my eyes from peeling. Yay for eyelids that aren't falling off! Also, she was very impressed by my eyelashes. So I told her it was just that I have good mascara. She didn't think that $25 was too much for mascara. And I guess since it is the best mascara I've ever used, it's not too bad. Thanks, Rachel!

You're crazy for thinking I'm above this

I've been having a lot of problems with my head lately. So today I got to just sit around and do nothing and it was awesome. My head actually feels better and I hope that maybe it will stay that way for a few days, at least. I saw The Namesake, which I liked. And A Mighty Heart, which was very good. Both of them made me cry, but I totally knew it was coming with the latter, seeing as how we all know how that one ends.

I think I am ready to cut part of my hair. I don't want to lose the length, but it's time to do something. I can't do anything with it and it takes forever to dry. So...a real haircut is coming up soon! As you know, I haven't had a real hairstyle in many, many years. In fact, it's been so long, it's making me feel old. I guess it's because my birthday is coming up and I am about to be in my upper middle twenties that everything is making me feel old lately.

cool blue reason wraps around my throat

So last night, Shannon and I realized that while we thought our neighbors had moved out this weekend, we both saw their dog yesterday. We went to investigate further and it would appear that they did move out and the jerks left their puppy on the screened-in-porch. The dog is, we believe, under six months old and he is a pit mix. He's really sweet and really skinny. So we gave him some food and water and talked to him and Shannon was going to feed him again this morning. We are trying to find someone who wants him, rather than taking him to the Humane Society. We both got all riled up about the situation, and then more so when we realized how skinny he is. We saw the dog outside a lot before, but he wouldn't ever come near us because he was scared of Kazoo.

One more thing. We were watching the returns last night and CNN kept "projecting" that so and so won such and such state. Which, like, fine. But they were projecting when only one percent of the returns were in! Really, CNN? One percent? That is ridiculous. Shut up, Wolf Blitzer. Get back to me when you have more than one percent. Also, how surprising were the GOP results? Insanity. Anyway, I have work to do.

Happy Mardi Gras and Super Tuesday!

It's Super Tuesday! I am also very excited by this, Christina. On a note unrelated to things I am excited by, I actually watched the Superbowl this year. We found it pretty dull until like the last two minutes. Shannon got so bored she forgot to cheer when something finally did happen. We got internet at the house this weekend, so that was cool. I saw The Descent this weekend, which if you're into horror movies, is worth it. I know it came out like a year and a half ago here, but I am slow. I jumped a couple times and, as Shannon said, we are never going cave diving! Not that that was something I planned to do before, but still. It's a little slow at the beginning, but once things start happening, they don't stop until the bitter end. Which I read was different here in the U.S. because we weren't satisfied by the unambiguous U.K. ending. Whatever. Not all movies have to end happily. And even with the altered ending, I came to the conclusion that the U.K. ending made readily apparent. Anyway, I liked it. I also watched A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, which was one of the free movies on the On Demand thing. It was worth it, since it was free. It was strange and I am not prepared to say it was bad, but I'm also not going to tell you it was good. Also, did any of you guys watch Eli Stone last week? I watched because I love Greg Berlanti shows, but I have mixed feelings about it. The pilot didn't grab me.

You're crazy for thinking I'm below you

So I've been really busy at work for the past couple weeks, which you may have deduced from the dearth of posts. But I'm not swamped today, so yay! It's been all cold again, so I'm glad that my mom bought Shannon and I blankets. I actually had to put extras on my bed. As Shannon pointed out, I could just bring in the other space heater my dad bought us, but that would be a hassle. I would be afraid that the cats would knock it over and start a fire or something.

Last night Kazoo told me he likes Bush and that he wants to vote for Hillary. I was quizzing him about politics and I could tell because he got all excited and tried to lick my face when I mentioned those two names (not in the same sentence or anything, because...no). Anyway, I was reading an item today about how the lady on A Daily Show last night mispronounced Obama's first name. Which I noticed while watching it, but what they failed to note was that the lady he had on Wednesday night also mispronounced Obama's first name. It seems very strange that two people who are going on a show to talk about politics would not know how to pronounce a candidate's name.

From Rachel

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:00 AM

2. Diamonds or pearls? Yes

3. What was the last film you saw at the movies? Atonement. I am conflicted about it...

4. What is your favorite TV show? I'm not sure.

5. What do you eat for breakfast? Water

6. What is your middle name? Rachel

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Jack's Mannequin-Everything in Transit

9. What kind of car do you drive? Sentra

10. Favorite sandwich? I guess peanut butter and jelly

12. Favorite item of clothing? Pajama pants!

13. If you could go anywhere in the world for a vacation, where would you go? Europe

14. What color is your bathroom? White

15. Favorite brand of clothing? Rachel got me hooked on Gap

16. Where would you retire? I don't know...that is a really long way off

17. Most memorable birthday? Eighth. I got to have a party at the CLC and when we had my family party at our house, my grandfather had to take my dad to the hospital because he had a kidney stone.

18. Favorite sport to watch? Basketball

19. Furthest place you are sending this? The World Wide Web

Deleted by blog author... haha

22. Favorite saying? No se.

23. When is your birthday? February

24. Are you a morning person or a night person? Depends on what I'm going to be doing at those times.

25. What is your shoe size? 7 1/2

26. Favorite food for dinner? Spaghetti

27. What did you want to be when you were little? A teacher

28. What are you doing today? Working...

29. What is your favorite candy? I love Skittles, but I can only a few before my jaw starts to hurt.

30. What is your favorite flower? The kind that blooms

31. What day are you looking forward to most on your calendar? Whatever day I get my tax return

32. What church do you attend? Living Hope

33. What are you listening to right now? People talking down the hall

34. What was the last thing you ate? Potato soup

35. Do you wish on stars? No.

36. Do you believe in angels? Yes

37. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Green?

38. What is your pet peeve? When people mispronounce words that are clearly spelled the way they should be said. E.g. nuclear, realtor, supposedly, library, ask, across. You know...

39. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My dad

40. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Not even a little...

41. Favorite soft drink? Dr. Pepper, right now

42. Favorite restaurant? Kyoto, right now

43. Favorite movie? I don't know

44. Siblings? Yes

45. Favorite day of the year? Thanksgiving Day

46. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

47. Spring or fall? Fall

48. Hugs or kisses? Hugs

49. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate

Deleted because it has nothing to do with my blog

51. What is under your bed? Nothing

52. Who is the friend you've had longest? Christina

53. What did you do last night? Made dinner and watched House

54. Favorite smell? Clean laundry

55. What are you afraid of? Bugs, especially ones that fly

56. How many keys on your key ring? I am going to guess 7

57. How many years at your current job? In two months it'll be three years

58. Favorite city to visit? Washington D.C.

59. How many towns have you lived in? Two

60. Do you make friends easily? No. I don't make good first impressions, or second. But I, too, tend to keep the friends I do manage to make for a long time.

Some people suck...

This is despicable. Those people are so disgusting. I would link to their actual site, but just reading about them on Wikipedia made me cry. So, no. I didn't visit their site, even though it is on that press release. That much vitriol directed at everyone and everything makes me sad. It's "Christians" who behave like that that give the rest of us a bad name. This is the same group who picketed Matthew Shepard's funeral and the funerals of soldiers who died in Iraq. Picketing a funeral...nauseating.

TV Talk, mostly

I know Rachel mentioned coming in fourth when we went bowling, but guess who came in third...that's right, me! I beat my previous personal best by about 30 points when I bowled a 110. I was shocked. And so was everyone else. Including the guy bowling next to us. Anyway, I finished My So-Called Life and lent it to Rachel. It was just as awesome as I remembered. I really like that the kids wear the same clothes repeatedly. I'm not sure if they did that for the realism or simply because they had a small budget, but either way, I like it. And it inspired discussions of when everyone wore flannel and clothes that were way too large, rather than way too fitted.
Yesterday I had a nice relaxing day off and finally got to watch the last two episodes of Heroes that had been sitting on my DVR since 11/26 and 12/03, respectively. I know a lot of viewers were less than thrilled with the first volume of the second season, but I didn't hate it. I must admit, I am glad they killed off at least part of the annoying twins and possibly Niki, too. I found her character kind of silly all along. I am also so thrilled that they didn't kill Kristen Bell. I was worried for her character when I saw the promos about two heroes giving their lives. So, yay. But none of you clowns even watch Heroes, so I don't know why I'm detailing it for you. I should be working.

I seem to have lost my mind...

I have been obsessing about my teeth lately. I know that if you dream about your teeth falling out it can mean you feel a loss of control (and sometimes I do dream that my teeth are loose and start falling out, but not lately). I have been worrying over my teeth while I am awake. And also, I don't think I have ever felt in control and it's hard to lose something you've never had. Anyway, I think they are moving and getting crooked, which is possible, I suppose, since I got my braces off 12 years ago. Although I didn't stop wearing my retainer until about 5 years ago. I think one of my front teeth isn't as far forward as the rest and it is really irritating me. I keep catching myself pushing it forward with my tongue, like that would really help. It really bothers me when things are uneven. Like if I break one nail, then I file all the rest of them down too so that they are all even, my eyebrows not matching drives me insane and the fact that one side of my nose is bigger than the other kills me. I am rather OCD about certain things. More things than I realized, apparently. I was already aware that I wash my hands rather obsessively. I wash them after I pet any animals, after I let the dog out, before I get a drink, before I wash dishes, after I wash dishes, after any cleaning activity, before I eat, after I eat, sometimes more than once while I am eating, after I put on or touch shoes, after I get out of the shower, but before I put in my contacts. And if I am cooking anything, forget it. It gets absurd. I wash my hands before and after I even stir anything, which seems silly because I'm not even touching the actual food, just the utensil handle. It's no wonder my knuckles get so dry that they sometimes crack and bleed. Wow, this post makes me sounds really manic. I think I will quit while I'm behind by ending with a slightly modified cliche.

Get behind Jesus

Today I found the thing that cracks me up early in the day. I mean, it basically says click here to see the miracle of this dog's butt. Awesome.

Fish 'n Flush has nothing to do with giving your pet a lousy funeral

This weekend was pretty nice. I worked part of the day with my dad on Saturday, but I didn't have to do anything on Sunday, so that was relaxing. I saw The Bourne Ultimatum, which was good despite having a dearth of dialogue. But what really has a dearth of dialogue is Shoot 'Em Up. I enjoyed it because it was completely ridiculous (fortunately that was what it was going for).
Yesterday someone called and needed me to explain some TV stuff for them. Now, I could understand me maybe being the person to ask about television programming, but if I am the person you know who you would go to with questions about televisual devices, that is scary. One day my dad called me and said he had a TV question for me and I was like, uh, have you lost your memory? But no, it was about TV programmes. Anyway, this TV and movie themed post has been spectacularly boring. Sorry.

Something that cracked me up today. Also, on the distributors page-it makes me sad for Canada that there is only one place in the whole country where you can go look at them.

Yay, Winter!

It is totally snowing here right now! I'm sure it won't really stick or amount to anything, but it's still pretty. It's making my car look less ghetto. ;)

Watch out, y'all, she'll chew you up

Since I came dangerously close to talking about politics yesterday, I am now going to bring this blog back to the usual superficial level. I don't know if you watch America's Next Top Model, but in any given week, there is a ninety percent chance that there will be a marathon of it on MTV or VH1. The other day, during a marathon of Cycle 5, in which the judges repeatedly discuss their lack of comprehension of Danielle's speech, I wondered what their problem was. Then I realized that I could understand her clearly only because I, too, am from the south. Although, when I had car trouble this summer and had to call the Alabama Highway Patrol, I actually could not understand the guy who answered the phone. I only caught about four words. It was bad, y'all. ;)

Can I express how thrilled I am that McCain came out on top in New Hampshire yesterday? He and Romney thrashing Huckabee=awesome. And Hillary's surprise win means things are going to be even more interesting than we thought. Here's the thing about my political leanings-not that many people even know what they are. As Shannon told me yesterday, I don't make a lot of declarative statements. I don't like to upset people and people always get all worked up when you don't agree with their political beliefs. But I did go off the other day about voting in general. If you don't vote, you suck. Anyway, I think I'm going to start actually disagreeing with people when I disagree with them, consequences be damned.

Also, I was looking at the classifieds yesterday and there was an ad for a Speed Language Pathologist. Our paper is about as absurd as our local television.

I'm still here...

Despite what this may look like, I am not turning into Mark with regards to blogging. I've just been really busy at work and whatnot. So Christmas was fine, New Year's was fun. I learned that I can do things to hair, just not my own. I even learned to use hot rollers and a flat iron. I know, I used to fix my hair every day, but I did it with a curling iron. So now I know more. But I still can't do anything with mine. I'm thinking about cutting it off again. It's driving me crazy. And all the people I know with short hair look so adorable. So I could cut it and then it wouldn't take as long to dry, but I would have to fix it every day. I'm weighing my options.

Anyway, last week was very exciting, what with the caucuses and all. Super Tuesday is less than a month away. And while we watched the returns, Chuck Norris was very amusing to watch bobbling around behind Huckabee while grinning like an idiot(Chuck Norris being the one who was grinning like an idiot. I think it goes without saying that Huckabee always grins like an idiot. Oops, I just said it.). But we are not going to talk about my political views because then people get all upset. And of course, Stewart and Colbert returned to late night last night, so that was interesting. I was wondering how they were going to pull it off since they are both WGA members and so cannot write even for themselves, but it wasn't bad. It wasn't the same, but since it's an election year, having them back in any form is better than nothing. I like politics, but I also like watching the professionals make fun of politics. Although, since they didn't want to be there, it wasn't the same for more reasons than just the lack of writers. And I'm trying to understand where the line is between preparation and actual writing because some of the bits had obviously been set up ahead of time. If you know, please explain it to me.

Shannon and I never got our washer fixed, so all through the holidays I took my dirty laundry with me wherever I went. Which, since it was me and all, no one even seemed to think was strange. But last night her aunt brought us a new used one that works, so that was really cool. And I received two bills from Atmos for the apartment I haven't lived in in more than two months. So I called and apparently the just turned off the gas over there in my name in December. But they aren't charging me for anything because they went back and listened to the recording they made of my call and I did request that they turn it off back in October. The agent just failed to do so. So I get credit back from Atmos for the credit I already had with them that they had been using to pay that bill and we still got a month and a half of free gas from them since they set up the meter wrong at the new place. Bonus!

I can't believe they taking Warren's wealth!

I totally filled this out several days ago and my title went along with Rachel's but then I forgot to finish it and now it's like a week later. I'm slow...
1. When you're home alone, do you still close the door when you shower? Yes. If I didn't there would be all manner of animals coming in to harass me.

2.Has a friendship ended recently that you wish hadn't? Maybe

3. Do you like your music loud or at a reasonable level? Reasonably loud?

4. Would you rather talk on the phone or chat in person?In person. I hate talking on the phone unless that's the only way I can speak with the peeps. Like Rachel and Dave.

5. If you had one whole day to yourself, what would you do? Watch trashy TV and sleep.

Can you watch scary movies alone? Yes.

6. Is anything bothering you? Lots of things are bothering me.

7.Would you rather stay home all day, or be out and about? Depends on the day.

8. Do you like to keep the peace or be confrontational? Keep the peace. But I have been known to confront when it becomes a necessity.

9. Are you more likely to be with a large group of people or a few close friends? A few close friends.

10. What are your plans for October? Like I know. That's almost a year away.

11. Are you listening to music right now? Only the music on the movie my grandma is watching.

12. What is your ideal profession? I do not know

13. Cutest moment this week? All the moments I saw Zoe and Addie?

14. What are you doing this weekend? I will be traveling to AL to celebrate ten years of marriage with the peeps.

15. What is one fear that you can't seem to overcome? Yeah, I am with you on the bugs, Rach.

16. Are you in a good mood? I guess so.

17. What's stashed under your bed? Nothing.

18. Is there anyone you regret ever meeting? Absolutely.

19. On the opposite sex where do you like them to have piercings? No place.

20. Would you rather have roommate or live alone? I think Shannon and I are doing pretty well as roommates...

21. Do you like to drive? Not especially, but it's really a necessity in the BG.

22. What is your favorite thing to wear? Pajamas!

23. If you found out that you were going to be a parent, what would you do? Wonder how that happened. And then call Rachel.

24. Are you talking to anyone while doing this? Nah.

25. When were you the saddest in your whole life? I'm going to have to say my sophomore year of high school. All kinds of hell broke loose at our house that year and everything made me cry. Seeing Dave in band made me cry and seeing Dave's empty chair in band when he didn't show made me cry. It was just bad...

26. Ever had ugly thoughts about someone you love? Well who hasn't?

27. Have you ever made someone so mad that they broke something? I don't think so...

28. You have 3 months left to live, what do you do? Hang out with my peeps as much as possible?

29. You're having a bad day, what's one thing that can make your day better? Hugs. Barring that, ranting.

30. What makes you mad? Bad drivers, stupidity.

31.What do you hate the most about yourself? Yeah, I'm not getting into that right now.

32. Do you remember when you lost your innocence? Yes, I was nine. We are talking about mental innocence, yes?

33. Is there anything you would change about your body if you could? Yeah, I'm not getting into that either.

34. You wake up in an unfamiliar place, what is your first reaction? Try to reorient.

35. Is there anything that you should be doing right now? Probably.

36. Do you hide who you really are to keep your family happy? No, I suck at hiding. Unless I really want to...

37. If there was a way to know when and how you're going to die, would you like to find out? Not particularly.

38. Your phone rings at 4am, who do you expect it to be? Some family member telling me that someone has died.

39. Do you hate anyone? Not usually.

40. Would you ever give your number out over the internet? No.

41. Do you go to school? No.

42. Who are your top friends and why are they there? I don't remember.

43. If you could go back and change one thing from your past, what would it be? I would have to really think about that, because as we all know, I remember everything and there are a lot of things I don't like about it.

44. Do you ever lie to make someone happy? Not really.

45. Do you believe your dreams/nightmares hold truth? Sometimes.

46. Do you think human life is too short? Why or why not? Sometimes it seems that way. But I think we are here for the time God wants us to be. And I wouldn't want to live forever. Ditto

47. What is your worst death you can imagine for yourself? I would have to think about that for a while too and I mostly want to go to bed now. So, no answers.

48. What person are you most afraid of and why? Yeah, don't want to get into that either.

Awesomeness

I went home yesterday and we had received what should have been our first real gas bill. The first bill was just the meter set fee. But this new one was also a meter set fee. We had been waiting for this so we could find out if we should jack our heat down because our heater, stove, and water heater are all gas and we weren't sure how much winter was going to cost us. Also, the stove is being used more than you might think. So I called the gas company and it turns out that they made an error in our favor. When they set up the meter the first time, it wasn't right, so even though we've been using gas for a month and a half, we don't have to pay for that gas because they had to come back out and redo the meter. Bonus!

What kind of soap is in your bathtub? Dove Cucumber and Green Tea. It smells clean. And Shannon uses Oil of Olay.

Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? No

What would you change about your living room? Have it not be paneled.

Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty? Shannon is my dishwasher. The dishes in the sink are dirty

What is in your refrigerator? Milk, Dr. Pepper, fruit, Cherry Kool-Aid, water, turkey, cheese, mayo, yogurt, leftover chicken and rice, sweet tea in a jug, eggs, jelly, mashed potatoes

What is on top of your refrigerator? A little plastic gingerbread man and some red dust. I don't know if you know this, but when you make red Kool-Aid, the fine red dust gets on all the surfaces in the kitchen.

What color or design is on your shower curtain? Pink flowers.

How many plants are in your home? Well none, but I have a plant I need to bring over there. We also have bulbs in the dungeon.

Is your bed made right now? No.

Comet or Soft Scrub? If those are my choices, I guess Soft Scrub.

Is your closet organized? Sort of.

Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home? Plastic.

Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now? Eww. There is some tea in a jug though.

If you have a garage, is it cluttered? Don't have one. Only a dungeon.

Curtains or blinds? Both.

How many pillows do you sleep with? There are four on the bed, but I only use two at a time.

Do you sleep with any lights on at night? No. Sometimes I put the TV on sleep timer though. And then I wake up in the middle of the night still wearing my glasses.

How often do you vacuum? Every couple of days.

Standard toothbrush or electric? Standard.

What color is your toothbrush? Pink and white.

Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch? Yes.

What is in your oven right now? Nothing. It would be foolish of me to be baking while I'm not at home.

Is there anything under your bed? No.

Chore you hate doing the most? I do not like doing dishes. I don't mind the pots and pans, it's just the actual dishes that are gross to me.

What retro items are in your home? My kitchen table and chairs (thanks, Balls!), our stove, a cookie jar shaped like a mushroom, some of Shannon's dishes, a pitcher and glass set and probably some other stuff.

Do you have a separate room that you use as an office? We don't do office things at home.

How many mirrors are in your home? Thirteen. But many of them are just small and decorative.

What color are your walls? Some of them are paneled and some of them are white.

Do you keep any kind of protection weapons in your home? Kazoo barks like crazy when people he doesn't know come to the door.

What does your home smell like right now? Like a house?

Favorite candle scent? I like ones that smell like clean laundry or the kind from K-mart that smell like tuberose or the ones from Wal-mart that smell like honeysuckle. Ones that smell good.

What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now? No pickles.

Ever been on your roof? No, it's very slanted so that would be difficult.

Do you have a stereo? Yes.

How many house phones? None.

Do you have a housekeeper? Nope.

What style do you decorate in? Cheap and pretty?

Is there a smoke detector in your house? Two, but I recently checked and they have no batteries. So we should get on that.

In case of fire, what are the items in your house which you'd grab if you could make only one trip? Shannon, since she would sleep right through a fire, my purse, the animals?

I am ridiculously old and tired today

I'm no Rachel, so my Christmas shopping is not quite finished. But it's close. Anyway, last week I was speaking to Mark and asked him what he wanted for Christmas. He was really not at all helpful, but that's alright because later that day I remembered that I had ordered and received Mark's Christmas present three months ago. I got so far ahead of myself on that one that I completely forgot. So one less left. I just noticed that I seem to be a fan of ellipses. And I just suddenly got so tired that my head started tipping forward. Wow. I am very sleepy. I think it's probably because I took a nap yesterday and thus had difficulty sleeping last night. Shannon wanted to watch The Matrix because it happened to be on and while I haven't seen the first one in a while, I have seen it more than once. So...the nap happened. And because of that I missed the awesome part with all the shooting.

Christmas songs...

So I totally did not do that Christmas thing everyone else did, but I was thinking about what my favorite Christmas song might be. I think I'm going to have to go with Mark on Angels We Have Heard on High. Or maybe Go Tell It On the Mountain. But we only ever sing the chorus of that one. And I too, like Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella and Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming, but we really never sing those at my church. And another one I love is In the Bleak Midwinter, but I'm pretty sure the last time I heard that one sung was about ten years ago. Sad, because it's a good song. I jacked some Christmas cds from my parents' house, but I don't think Bring a Torch or In the Bleak Midwinter are on any of them. The frosty wind made my house moan the other night. I do love to be able to lie in bed and be cozy and listen to wind or rain.

Ta-dah! Now featuring the Paneled Palace!

These three are of the front room. Very exciting stuff, I know. This one has our non-functional fireplace in it. Fuzzy tail likes to use the bricks as a scratching post. I don't have a problem with this. Even though the actual scratching post is right next to it (pictured-scratching post with skinny tail sitting on it).

This is the living room. Where we watch tv and complain about things. I lead a thrilling life.

Here is our lovely bathroom. We like pink and purple, did you know?

Here is the door to the bathroom in our little hallway.
This is our hardworking floor unit. I couldn't get a picture of the flame in the middle without getting my shoes in the picture. Oh well.
This is Kazoo, wearing a sweater that is a little too big, so he wouldn't get up until we took it off of him. He's very particular.
This is fuzzy tail. She was walking by. Skinny tail was hiding under the table. No photos today, please.
And this is our brass monkey who lives on the stove. He is really made of brass. And makes me start singing that song.

Any questions, comments, snide remarks?

Family House

We got a new refrigerator whatever day the other one broke, but I'm a little sad because it's not Harvest Gold like our old one. I mean, it keeps our food cold, so yay. But it's just off-white. That just ruins the 70s theme we had going in the kitchen, what with the old refrigerator and my (Dave and Rachel's) kitchen table and chairs and Shannon's grandma's cookie jar that looks like a mushroom and the cool orange pitcher and glasses that we use only for decorative purposes. Ok, I just googled harvest gold appliances and could only come up with an old advertisement for a stove. That makes me sad that I didn't take a picture of the fridge so I could put it out there. And as far as 70s decor goes, who could forget the paneling once they've seen it? Oh, Rachel, you had posed the question-paneling or panelling. It is either or both. I hate words like that because then neither looks correct. Worshipping or worshiping? Traveling or travelling? Urgh. I like to deal in absolutes.
Anyway, I took some pictures of the main rooms. Shannon's mom and stepdad came last weekend and put up curtains for us. I forgot to take a picture of the kitchen. Maybe after we get curtains in there. I'm going to go somewhere later and load the pictures into a puter so I can post them in case you care. No pictures of my room though. It's very bland so far. I did take a picture of Kazoo wearing a silly sweater and whichever cat was wandering past me at the time. Shannon had me about ready to change their names to nice one and mean one, but then the mean one started being nice to Shannon again, so now she's skinny tail. And the other one is fuzzy tail. By the way, mean one/skinny tail was never mean to me. But fuzzy tail stopped coming out of my room earlier this week and I was getting worried. It seemed as though she was scared of something, but I don't have a clue what. She started coming out again yesterday, so I guess she got over it. It was just strange.

Arrr, ye scurvy dogs!

My Thanksgiving was kind of depressing. What with the funeral on Sunday and my grandma telling me in detail all about the wreck that killed my grandfather and all the discussion of my aunt Rachel's terminal illness. Although I learned that my grandma has a ridiculously good memory. Not just about terrible things in recent years, but also things from her own childhood. It's pretty impressive.

The trip to Pensacola was long. We decided not to stop Saturday night, so we got there about 2:30 am. And the we got back to BG about 1:00 am last night. I overslept a bit this morning and I have the beginnings of a migraine. I went home at lunch and Shannon told me our refrigerator was broken. Apparently instead of blowing cold air, it now blows hot air on our food. Awesome. Add to that our washer refusing to drain so that it has some really gross water in it now that smells like butt. Our landlord has to fix the refrigerator, but it's not his washer, so it's not his problem.

Enough whining for today. An awesome thing happened on the trip. Before I left, I was at my parents' house because they wanted me to come help them decorate for Christmas. My mom asked me if I had any cash for the trip, which, no. I don't generally carry cash other than a few dollars in quarters. My dad gave me a few gold dollar coins to take because they thought I should have dollars. We stopped to eat along the way and I handed the cashier five dollar coins. He looked at me and said, "You're kidding, right?" I was like, no, those are totally real money. And then my friends were like, don't you see, she's a pirate and so she's paying with gold doubloons (I happened to be wearing a t-shirt with a Jolly Roger on it)! The kid behind the counter was not as amused as we were. And then he kept wandering around eavesdropping on us while we ate. Apparently we were exceedingly entertaining. I'm a pirate!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My computer at work was acting weird Monday, so our computer dude came and took it away. Turns out my harddrive was shot. So I got another new used computer Tuesday afternoon. At least he updated my Office so I can use all the applications on our bookkeeping program. Yay.

So the thing is, I love buying people presents and I get all excited about the holidays, but spending so much time with my family gives me migraines. I have been having a lot of trouble with them lately. And I love my family, but they stress me out. I went to Birmingham with my parents over the weekend because, hey, free ride. My dad doesn't like the way music sounds on the speakers in his van, so we listened to talk radio. And I discovered that although I may be very conservative compared to some of my friends, I am extremely liberal compared to all the people in my family over 40. I can't win.

Some things I am thankful for-

A gas stove. I had never used one before, but they heat your food up so quickly.

A floor unit heater. I discovered the best part about this last week when it was actually cold outside and I wore a sweater dress to work (I also really love that dress). I went home and let the dog out and then stood over the grate for a minute and it warmed up my legs immediately.

Tights. I love cold weather because then you get to wear tights. I love tights.

DVR. The most incredible device ever. Except I saw this thing on GMA that is kind of like an ipod, but for books. That seemed really awesome. I have spent every trip I've taken since I could read dragging tons of books around with me on trips. That thing seems so much more efficient. But I digress.

My family and friends, of course. I found out just how great most of them are when I was sick.

Being able to eat regular food again! I feel much, much better. I was even going to go to the gym yesterday, but then Shannon and I both got sidetracked.

The worst part about holidays (other than the migraines) is all the traveling. It won't be so bad this year because we're just going to Owensboro after work today and then leaving there for Louisville Friday and coming home Friday night. But I think I am going to Pensacola Saturday. I think we're going to stop at the halfway point in Birmingham on Saturday night because we're not leaving until about 5 since one girl has to work Saturday. And then we will get up and head on to Pensacola, go to a funeral and then come straight home because most of us have to work Monday morning. My friend Kristine's mom died on Sunday and the funeral is this Sunday afternoon. Please pray for Kristine and her family.

Random

Rules:

1- Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

2- Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.

3- Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

4- Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.



1. I keep crying when I read about the writers strike. It's just so awesome how much support they are getting from their showrunners and actors and higher-ups. Conversely, the way they are being treated by the AMPTP is egregious.

2. I am really excited to be living with Shannon again because she is the only close friend I've ever had who wears the same size shoe as I do. And she has some really cute shoes.

3. I went to Europe for two weeks when I was sixteen.

4. I love to read and will read pretty much anything anyone gives to me. Except Cold Mountain-I've started that book three times because it was supposed ot be good. But each time I was so incredibly bored that I couldn't even get into it.

5. The sheets I want really badly are $160, so I won't be getting them anytime soon.

6. I prefer dogs that don't try to lick people all the time. That's the part about dogs that makes me wash my hands frequently when I'm around them.

7. You wouldn't know it from the way I write here, because I suck at writing, but I kicked both my brothers' butts as far as vocaulary levels on the Free Rice thing.



Tagging: I'm not going to tag anyone, because anyone I might've tagged has already done this or wouldn't do it anyway. Except I could tag Christina. Whatever.

Word Nerd

I've been doing this thing called Free Rice for like 10 minutes now and I can't stop. Which, as far as addictions go, is fairly benign. It's charitable and sort of educational. Like, why do I know the word nadir? Where did I learn it and why do I never use it? It's reminding me of all sorts of words that I don't use. No wonder I feel like I'm losing my words sometimes. I probably am. Also, is this just me, or does anyone else associate bloviating with blogs? And I mean in a free association kind of way, not like I think that's what it means. Cause I know it doesn't. I guess people often bloviate on blogs. I might be leaning toward bloviating right now. My bad. Anyway, you should do the free rice vocab game. It's fun if you're a huge nerd like me. Just don't cheat. That's no fun. And I'll punch you in the neck if you cheat. Also, some of the words are medically related, so you would probably be awesome at it, Rachel.

name that film!

Whilst on my lunch break, I was watching TV and several questions occurred to me. How hard would it be to load a shotgun while driving a semi? I know nothing about guns, except for cap and bb guns. It seems like it would be difficult. If you are standing behind a car and people on the other side of said car start shooting at you, why would you not duck behind the car? Wouldn't it be extremely difficult to hold on to the top of a speeding car as it ran off the road? Not to mention how prohibitively difficult it would be to jump from a speeding car onto a speeding semi and then not fall off the semi. Also, how likely is it that you could drive straight while taking over both the pedals and the wheel while speeding? And if you can guess what movie I was watching on TV from these questions, then you too watch terrible movies. What is even worse it that I had even seen this movie before, so I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was a bad movie. And I watched the last hour of it anyway. What does that say about me?

Anyway, other than refusing to suspend my disbelief to enjoy the magic of movies, I am doing pretty well. I feel so much better. Yesterday I felt so much better that I finally made my bed at the Paneled Palace and started staying there. I even managed to sleep reasonably well. I had not been sleeping well because I could only lay on my back and I do not generally sleep on my back. Last night I managed to sleep for a while on one side. Fabulous! Now I can lie on my side! Drinks all around! I swear I am not taking any medication. Just excited about that development.

This is something I never thought I would say, but I am getting seriously tired of eating chicken and spaghetti. Not together. My diet is seriously limited right now and apparently both my parents (who've been feeding me all week) and myself can think of nothing else that's very low fat that I can eat. Strangely, you are not supposed to eat leafy greens or fresh fruit when you have gallbladder issues. So I've been eating a lot of jello. Last time I ate this much jello, I had just had my tonsils out. Fortunately, I feel better now than I did when that happened. Anyway, I am wishing that I could think of something good to eat. Also, I am wishing that I had taken a picture of my left arm earlier this week when it was totally purple in the crook of my elbow. And also a perfectly round spot on my mid forearm. They took my blood five times between noon Friday and 5 o'clock Saturday morning. It was really pretty. I also have this strange, yellow bruise creeping in from where my IV was on my right (mid) forearm all the way to my elbow. That elbow is still tender and sore when I move it. So, really looking forward to Monday, when I get a new IV. Anyway, then I would be able to gross you out.

I need a thesaurus...anon!

Not to make this a love letter to all the awesome people I know, but I know a lot of awesome people! I'm having my gallbladder out on Monday and I should be fine within a few days. Hopefully I will not have any issues this time. I had to stay in the hospital overnight Friday after the ERCP because I was having severe pain when I woke up. It was less than fun, but I'm fine and hopefully nothing unexpected will happen with the laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Today was my first day back at work since last Wednesday. I have to say, it wasn't bad, but I am exhausted. Work has been really nice and they all keep offering to help and seeing if I'm ok. Which, yay, I am. Just tired.

Shannon and Jack and Shannon's family awesomely moved all of my belongings to the new place over the weekend. We moved my felines over Monday night. They are still kind of freaked out, but adjusting to the paneled palace and to Kazoo (Shannon's dog). Now I just need to unpack. Rachel (and Dave) sent me some really pretty pink flowers and my mom doesn't want me to leave before the last Stargazer lily blooms. I'm going to stay with them again for a day or two after surgery, but I plan to unpack this weekend so I can really stay at the paneled palace. Does that need capitalization? I feel like maybe it does. I shall ruminate on this. Paneled Palace or paneled palace? Choose your own adventure, mateys. I will post pictures after I unpack my room. The main rooms are unpacked and Shannon's mom is making us curtains. Lots of curtains. We have many, many windows. Including one in the shower, which needs a curtain posthaste. It is not one of those weird windows you can't actually see out of that my grandparents have in their bathrooms. It's a real window. Anyway, all you awesome people out there know who you are. You are still awesome.

I forgot how much I liked hydrocodone...

So, I've actually been using some of my two weeks of sick days this week. I am having an ERCP at 11:45 this morning. Supposedly there is a gallstone blocking my bile duct, which is why I've been having so much pain and why I am getting jaundiced. I ate last night for the first time since Tuesday. I've scheduled my gallbladder surgery for November 5th. Although I kind of wish it were sooner so I could just get it over with. But they said I should feel a lot better after this procedure. It's just really bad timing, since Shannon and I are moving Saturday. But she's been awesome and has been moving my boxes and stuff over to the new house this week. I don't know what I would do if she and Jack weren't so awesome. Other awesome people-Rachel, Dave, my parents, work. My dad booked it back from Scottsville the other day when Dr. G said I should go see a surgeon right now. He knew I was scared, so he met me there. In that he got there like 5 minutes after I did. Rachel and Dave have been checking on me a lot via phone and even offered to come help move me. Work has checked on me every day that I left early and yesterday when I just didn't go and they offered to drive me around and even to come help pack my stuff (it's been a slow week). And Rachel, proactive as she is, called the doctor for me the other day. Thanks dude, I couldn't think straight to remember what I wanted to say. I feel better now that I have hydrocodone and have eaten. But if my sedation is anything like my dad's was last year, I will mostly be sleeping the rest of today. I'm staying at my parents for a day or two since my place is all crazy right now. So to sum up, I am still sickly, just in a different way than I used to be. And every one of you is awesome. Thanks for everything and I'll probably blog again sometime this weekend.

pain

Perk of having the same GP for 15 years-they totally know that when you say you're having severe abdominal pain, you're not kidding. I called mine yesterday and told them this and while they didn't call me back until 6:30 at night, they said to come in at 7:50 this morning. So I went and tomorrow I am to go have an ultrasound. Dr. G. said my symptoms are textbook for gallbladder problems. I told my dad this and he said that's not like me at all, so it's probably something completely different. I like to think I can take a little pain (after all, I am prone to migraines), but it was very not fun. I got so flustered after I threw up that I couldn't decide what to do, so I tried to call Rachel, but she was at the hospital. Also, she totally told me it was probably my gallbladder when I was having pain the evening after Dad's party. I trust her, since she's a medical professional. Anyway, then I called my dad, who was like, uh, yes if you have pain so bad it makes you throw up, you should do something about it. What can I say? I'm not good in a crisis. But I figured it out enough to know that there was no way I was going to the emergency room, since it wouldn't really help me to sit in a waiting room for 3 hours while still being in pain. So I called Dr. G. and squirmed around on my couch. Work was really nice about it and sent me home again when I returned after taking a three hour lunch trying to wait it out. So I got to stay home and listen to it rain. I do love rain.
Also, Shannon and I got our keys on Sunday and started moving some of her stuff into the house. I really don't have time for a medical condition this week. Maybe next week, when we're finished moving.

good times

Christina just reminded me that I haven't posted in a while. Sorry about that. I know my legions of adoring fans have been sad. Anyway, the surprise birthday party we threw my dad went very well. I was worried, but about 50 people showed up. And he didn't know until we told him, which surprised me because he kept looking at me like I was up to something. We wound up having to tell him to get him there because of the UK game. But I think he was pleased and he felt the love.

Also, these gems from my awesome nieces-Addie, running away from where my dad and Zoe were removing pumpkin goop from the pumpkins he was carving, "Tha's nasty! Tha's a nasty punkin' patch!" Apparently she didn't realize pumpkins were stinky and goopy. Zoe, after listening to Rachel and I discuss how she thought the girls needed an easel, "Yeah, we need a weasel for Christmas, Mommy." And then we laughed at her. She took it well. And Addie can totally say my name with all the consonants that are on my birth certificate. I was excited. No more Anea or Aura. I can't believe how much they've changed every time I see them.

glee-inspiring

I think Shannon and I are going to get the place with all the paneling. As adorable as the other place is, the 70s porn dungeon makes more fiscal sense. Also it's funnier. It'll be fun and we'll have an interesting time working around the paneling. I think we might try to cover part with fabric. Or there is removable wallpaper or wall decals, but they are expensive. We'll see. We're meeting the guy at 6 tonight and I guess we'll give him some money. I don't think we can get anything a whole lot better for the price. Plus, his pet deposits are absurdly low. He wants $25 for the cats and $40 for Shannon's dog. Isn't that awesome? It should be an interesting place to live.

I have been laughing so much lately. I think I'm way too easily amused. I've also been talking to the AL Benzes a lot and that's always entertaining. Not to mention the fact that some of the homes Shannon and I looked at inspired laughter. Also, 30 Rock started again last night and it was good. And I am loving some of the new shows that started recently. Gossip Girl is awesomely trashy fun and Pushing Daisies was so bright and absurdly weird that it seemed cartoonish. Which is actually what they were going for, I think. And I am so thrilled that David Anders is on Heroes and back to being a fake European mastermind type. I did not like him at all when he was on Grey's Anatomy. Apparently he's only awesome when he is channeling Sark. Or at least Sark's accent. Speaking of Grey's Nads, I did watch the premiere, even though I said I wasn't going to. It wasn't great. And I've not watched last night's, but I've got it, so I may. You should all be really proud of me, because I am. No, really, because yesterday I hooked the DVD recorder up to the TV and the DVR so I could dump stuff from the DVR onto DVD. And it worked. I didn't need to make any calls or anything. Color me skilled.

Also, this website that I love, so I'm not sure why it's not on my links here, has been having a Donors Choose challenge and since it started at midnight on October 1st, the readers of Tomato Nation have raised more than $50,000. Now, I totally think you should be reading Tomato Nation, but now is not a very good time to start, for since the crazy awesome success of the challenge, the posts since Monday have been all congratulatory(click on leaderboards on the donors choose website to see more on why). One of the things that has been making me laugh is listening to the audio version of this in my car all week. I think the Girls' Bike Club stories probably make a little more sense if you start at the first one rather than the most recent. But they are freaking funny. And she does an advice column type thing where she advises people more like an actual friend would advise them, rather than the way Ann Landers would. And also just writes general stuff about odds and ends. So anyway, maybe later I will put a link up. Shut up, I am way too busy right now! Obviously! :-D

As promised...more on the living space search!

Last night Shannon and I looked at only one place, but we loved it. It is adorable and reasonably priced and there are no dragons on the walls. It even has a fenced in backyard, which is cool since Shannon has a dog. So now we just have to wait for the dude to call us back. I hope he does. If he doesn't, we'll be tempted to take the $350 a month attic. It is sooo cheap. And the guy who owns it called me yesterday and said he wants to rent it to us and asked what he could do to make that happen. So apparently we are awesome. Which, duh. Like, more than once he asked if there was anything he could change or fix to make us take it. And he said if we think of anything we should call and let him know. Which makes it tempting, but really, I think we are too old to be living in a crack den. We didn't even fill out an application, so he couldn't have checked up on us yet. I think he must like us simply because we are not crackheads. So pray that the guy with the adorable house calls us today.

Also, I just wanted to say that even though Shannon and I spent two days painting in my parents' not well ventilated family room, I did not get sick. Allergy shots and having my tonsils removed are totally the two best things to happen to me in my adult life. Other than maybe going to DisneyWorld those times with my people. I totally don't get sick much now. And last time I got sick was, I am fairly certain, simply because I kept crying. I think the crying made me get sick. It might not sound logical, but it's my theory, so suck it.

75% less whining, guaranteed

So I started to say this ealier, but I got sidetracked because I was talking to Rachel and Dave while I was typing. Yeah, whatever, I've been down lately, but the other day Shannon was driving us down Smallhouse Road to look at a place and I simply said, "Dude." She looked at me and went, "What? Oh, mailbox!" And we both started cracking up. Probably for a little too long, but when we were in high school and she would drive me home it always seemed like she was about to hit the mailboxes on Smallhouse because it's a narrow road and she was pretty far over. As of yet, she has never knocked one over, but I swear everyone who rode with her back then knows what I'm talking about. And I realized that despite feeling stupid and restless and lonely, I am lucky to have some really great friends. And even luckier to have some really great relatives who are friends. So thanks for being so awesome.

parade of janky homes

I guess I haven't had much to say lately. I got my hair cut-somewhere between two and three inches. I feel so much better without that weird layer left over from when it was short. Shannon and I painted my parents' family room. It's just lovely now. Or something. I've been down for a while now, feeling sad and kind of restless, like I should be doing something (not painting).

So Shannon and I are looking at apartments, because I would save so much money if I lived with her and also because it wuld be fun and she spends a lot of time at my apartment anyway. We lived together before and while it didn't end well, we decided our only problems were...extraneous. And we don't have those problems anymore, so we'll be fine. The first place we looked at was so awesomely funky. It was huge and it had a yard, but it was paneled. All but the bedrooms and bathroom. And it had one of those dungeon things and a floor unit for heat and three window units for air. So, not practical and also disturbing with all the paneling. But way cheap and really big for a rental house. Yesterday we saw this apartment that was only $350 a month and it really had two bedrooms, but it was...weird. Like it was an attic apartment so all the ceilings sloped and made it seem very small. And then we looked at one that had two bedrooms, but you had to go through one bedroom to get to the other one. That seemed less than ideal. But it had this awesome breakfast nook that was all windows. It was so cool. And there was a fabulous chandelier thing that had Mason jars over the bulbs. It might sound strnage but I really liked it. We tried to figure out if we could live with one of us sleeping in the living room and the other in the back bedroom and using the middle bedroom as a living room. But I don't know. Lest you think I am way too picky, the last two were leaning towards trashy. So we called a ton of places that had signs out front and hopefully someone will call us today and let us come look. We found one place that we both completely loved, but it was $750 a month. That would be the same as what I pay now. But it was an awesome house that had just been renovated. The bathroom and kitchen were awesome, but it had three bedrooms, and since we don't know anyone else we like enough to live with, it would be too much. More on the search later, I'm sure.

Arrr, mateys!

Avast, today is Talk Like A Pirate Day! Don't forget to confuse your friends and loved ones with some random pirate jargon! And, whenever possible, tell terrible pirate jokes. I have found that they are so cheesy, people almost always laugh.

1.Who was your first prom date? Peewee Herman (most of you know what I'm talking about) :-D

2. Who was your first roommate? Dave

3. What was your first alcoholic drink? Screwdriver

4. What was your first job? Babysitting

5. What was your first car? 1989 Honda Accord-I miss you, Snake Eyes...

6. Who was the first person you texted today? I haven't texted anyone yet today.

7. Who is the first person you thought of this morning? The people who beat me to work?

8. Who was your first grade teacher? Ms. Downey

9. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane? Boston

10. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was with you? I never really snuck out of the house. I went out my window once, but it was the middle of the day and I was just seeing if I could do it without breaking my legs. My window was pretty far off the ground.

11. Who was your first best friend and are you still friends with them? Kathi and not really. She e-mailed me when she got engaged.

12. Where was your first sleep over? Either Kathi's or Haley's

13. First Kiss? What about it?

14. Whose wedding were you in the first time? Mark's

15. What is the first thing you do in the morning? Pet Grace so she'll lay down and stop meowing in my face and let me sleep a few more minutes

16. What was the first concert you ever went to? Sharon, Lois, and Bram from the Elephant Show at Freedom Hall

17. First tattoo or piercing? Ears at 10 and I still have no tattoos

18. First foreign country you went to? Germany

19. First crush? Steve in the second grade.

20. When was your first detention? Freshman year of high school I got my only detention because Dave was always running late and my first period teacher sucked. I only went for 15 minutes and then I got to leave and I didn't have to come back to serve the rest.

21. What was the first state you lived in? Kentucky

22. Who was your first love? Marie. She was our only real pet.

23. Who was the first person to break your heart? Me

24. Who will be the first to repost this? No one. Even Christina got to it before me. Maybe Mark will do it and make a blog.

Awesome!

My weekend just got really busy because a dude from church called and asked me to do graphics for him on Sunday morning. And he was also supposed to be helping my dad out this weekend in Leitchfield, but he's going to be out of town all weekend. So I told him I would cover for him Saturday too. So there's that. But what is really awesome is that apparently at some point this week one of my remaining three hubcaps fell off, but I didn't notice because it was on the passenger side and I never wind up on that side of my car. Our UPS guy at work noticed and told me the other day and I was like, nuts. But then a few minutes ago, he brought it to me! Apparently it was by a road right near work that he also delivers on so he picked it up for me. That was really nice of him. I just put it back on and I figured out why they must be falling off. The little plastic pieces that attach the big plastic part to the metal ring around the inside are mostly broken. Or maybe that's just my theory. I put it back on and it seemed stuck on well, but we'll see. I have no idea what I could be doing to make them fall off.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Rachel! You are totally awesome and not old at all, busty.

fence-riding

I was talking to Shannon the other day about politics, which she loves to do, but I don't. I just don't like to share my opinions about incendiary matters because I know people get all riled up when you don't agree with them. I prefer to just stay quiet rather than cause unnecessary conflicts. But we were talking about it anyway, and I said something to the effect that I wouldn't vote for Romney because he is Mormon. I didn't mean it, but sometimes people have a hard time telling with me. Shannon was like, dude, is believing what they believe really that much crazier than believing that Jesus died and came back three days later smelling like roses? That's not exactly how she put it, but you get the gist. And you know, I'm glad I have her to give me a reality check sometimes because that is a good point. If you are not religious, you would think that both of them sound crazy. I guess it's just that I am sometimes intolerant of things that don't make sense to me. And I'm not saying Mormons are stupid, because that's not true, it's just that they believe something different than I do. I know that a lot of people have problems with tolerance about morals and religion and well, pretty much anything there is to fight about. But it makes me really mad when people won't listen to both sides. It's great to have convictions, but sometimes you need to think about why people who disagree with you might do so. They probably have reasons just as valid as yours for believing what they do about politics, religion, family, and life. Just because you're sure about your stance doesn't mean you are right. Maybe you need a reality check too.

what a waste of airtime

When I got home Sunday night, Shannon came over and we were eating dinner and the plan was to watch one of our Netflix movies. But while we were eating, the MTV Awards started and we wound up watching that. God only knows why. It was terrible. I was so bored pretty much the entire time. The only time I wasn't bored, I was mildly offended. Sarah Silverman said some pretty rude things about Britney and her kids. I was also almost entertained when Ludacris left poor Shia LaBoeuf hanging up there and you could tell he was freaked about it. And then again when Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner were on stage, but that was only because Jamie Foxx chose not to read off the teleprompter and said whatever he felt like saying. I guess he knew MTV's lines sucked. But all in all, it was the most boring awards show I have ever seen. We kept thinking something might happen, but it never did. Apparently MTV completely retooled the format and made it more toolish. The article I read on CNN said they loved the new formula and they thought it was great except for Britney's performance, but honestly, while her performance wasn't good, it certainly wasn't the worst thing I've ever seen. The new format was just bizarre, with random cuts to these different parties they had going on hosted by different groups and they would show bits and pieces of the performances happening in those parties. It was so strange to me. Like Rachel and I concluded last month, we are just too old for MTV. Oh, Chris Brown's performance was also mostly entertaining. Anyway, so that was a big bust. A waste of two hours, but the show used to be three hours, so at least it was shorter.

Good Trip

I made it home yesterday without incident. But last time I was driving home from Birmingham, I happened to be on the phone with Mark when my bumper fell off and I ran over it (correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't it be nearly impossible to avoid hitting your front bumper if it were to make a break for it?). I told him I thought I blew a tire (it was very confusing. It seemed I had hit something, but I didn't see anything, so I thought it must have been a tire issue). Mark told me that I would know if I had blown a tire. So about an hour later when I really did blow a tire, I thought, huh, Mark was right. It is very different.

Yesterday's trip was infinitely better than that one. We celebrated Rachel's birthday and watched all the episodes of Ty Murray's Celebrity Bull-Riding Challenge that have aired so far. It was entertaining. And I just want to say that Rachel looks great. She is standing almost completely straight and her swelling has gone way down. She looks very svelte. I am going to have to kick my butt into gear so I can keep up with her. Well, I have work to do, so I'd better look into that. I think I have to call Sacramento some more today and it's after 8 there now, so maybe I can actually find the people I need now.

Nothing

This weekend was pretty fun. My cousin Beth Ann (or cousin-in-law or something) taught me to crochet, which is awesome because I did not understand the second step in the book I had. She was like, don't use books, they're no good for this. And I totally get it now and can do two different stitches. So that was quite exciting for me! And we all ate way too much all weekend and worked all day yesterday preparing for the party. But I think it went pretty well. I got sick while they were cutting the cake and I had to go lie down before I threw up. Apparently I should not eat shrimp and steak when I never eat shrimp and I rarely eat red meat. So now I know. It was nice to see everyone and we had really good food, as always. But I am really glad my parents wanted to come home tonight so we could all have tomorrow to do nothing. It should be fantastic!

Disjointed

I got my car fixed and it was ridiculous. I got sick the day after I got home from Birmingham and it has taken me until now to feel good again. Which is also ridiculous. I went to Louisville last weekend and saw my grandparents and Mark. That was pretty fun, except we're all worried about them. Tonight after work I'm going to Owensboro because we're having a shower on Saturday for my cousin who is getting married soon. My cousin from FL who rarely comes will be there and the cousins from KY who rarely come are making an appearance. So that should be nice. They're fun. Fortunately I think we're coming back on Sunday, so at least I have one day of the weekend to do something useful. I feel like I've been really busy lately, but I don't think I have. I was just really tired for about a week because I was sick. I think tomorrow is going to be kind of crazy, since my grandma's house will be full of people and we're in charge of food. At least we'll be having good food.

Also, last night I was at a friend's apartment and I glanced at her calendar and exclaimed in dismay, "Did you mark the date of High School Musical on your calendar?!" The answer was yes, but it's worse than you think. Apparently, the people at the Capitol here did it. How awful is that? I was horrified. Because as I told Dave and Rachel while Zoe was making us watch part of High School Musical 2, the worst part about it is that it's available to do as a musical for your school or whatever. Think about that-watching High School Musical, but worse. Remind me not to encourage any children I may have in the arts. Also, I ranted at Mark last week because Zac Efron was on the cover of Rolling Stone. I really can't figure out why. I mean, he's been in like five movies, three of which were made for television. I realize that two of those movies are part of like an insane children's pop culture thing, but dude. He's like the only person in that cast who does not have a record deal. Anyway, apparently crappy movies offend me now. But I love crappy movies! I guess even I have standards. Yay me.

Breakdown

So, I am home. Most of you already know about my travel troubles, but suffice to say, I blew a tire and many thanks go to those of you who talked to me on the phone and then kept checking on me. Thanks guys, you're all awesome and I'm sorry I cried at most of you. It was almost ten by the time I got home, but it could have been worse. And, no Rachel, I have the best sister! You are too cool and extremely hardcore. I hope you keep staying ahead of schedule. Be careful and don't try to drive anytime soon, no matter how good you feel.

I love you dudes

This is me and Dave inspecting Mark when he was new. I am also apparently inspecting the contents of my nose. What can I say? I was only two.

After further inspection, we decided that he was okay and he could stay. We love you Mark, even if we don't get to see you enough. And even though you and Dave wouldn't dance with me and Rachel the night of this picture. We had fun dancing with Zoe.

I think this picture is adorable and so it took me a bit to figure out why it also made me sad. I guess because my parents are not close to their siblings, even though at one time, they obviously were. My mom's little sister was her maid of honor and my dad's younger brother was his best man. The rest of the wedding party was not family, so I don't think it was influenced by that. It just makes me sad that by the time Rachel died and Dick got really sick, we didn't see them much and I know my parents didn't talk to them a lot in between holidays. And they don't talk much to their remaining siblings now. I don't ever want to be that way with my dudes. I love that we're close and talk quite frequently. I love that they're easy to shop for because I know them. I love that Rachel and I laughed at Dave for like 10 minutes yesterday for talking about Hugh Downs when he meant Hugh Grant. And that I told them yesterday that I hit their car once when I was 16 and didn't tell anyone and they were like, dude, we never noticed (I was really scared and I had only tapped it. I would have told on myself if anyone had even asked what happened).

Anyway, I have had a pretty fun week down here and I am sad about leaving, but I have to work and see all the other people I love and stuff at home. Shannon said my cats stopped throwing up, which is awesome! Work only called me once, so I hope everything is good there. We went to the mall today, which was a trip. It kind of makes me appreciate how small BG is, even though Scottsville Road always sucks. Also, Addie saw a picture of me from kindergarten and said, "Your were little?" Yes, indeed I was once little. Right now I kind of wish I still were so I wouldn't have to work and stuff. She is still skipping all the consonants in my name most of the time, which is funny. Sometimes she says Ura instead. Andrea is a hard name for little kids.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

So Rachel and I decided we must be too old to watch MTV because we were baffled by even the commercials. Seriously, if you understand the ones with the people talking to the stuffed bear, please explain it to me. And explain to me if those people are the same people who are in a weird band in other commericals where at least one dude just sits around and watches while the others play instruments and sing. On a semi-related note, we finished the really long Pride and Prejudice today. It was still good. Addie made everyone watch Ernest Scared Stupid again yesterday, except she calls it the "punkin patch" movie (there's a picture of Ernest in a giant pumpkin on the front). Today we watched part of Ghostbusters. Addie said ghosts are also not allowed in the house. Dave had somehow forgotten about the awesome red phone we had when we were kids that said "Who Ya Gonna Call?" on it. It was totally a real phone and he got excited once he remembered. But the funniest thing so far is when Zoe came home from school Wednesday and announced that the air conditioner in her classroom caught fire. She kept telling the story to different people and gesturing wildly and reenacting what they had to do to get their backpacks out. She's very dramatic. :)

I most certainly can do dishes!

Anyone who cares already knows that I'm spending the week in Birmingham with the peeps. It's been pretty quiet. Rachel and I spent yesterday watching Jason movies on the Monsters HD channel. Just so you know, putting crappy special effects in HD does not really help. It was awesome. I haven't watched an old school Jason movie in years. Sadly, laughing really hurts for Rachel right now, so we are mostly not watching things that are funny. Although we adults all burst out laughing more than once during Ernest Scared Stupid today. Rachel is pretty hardcore about her pain. She has the some of the most vivid bruises I've seen in years. We've spent some time reading the seventh Harry Potter book, which is good. Rachel's dad lent me a copy. I finished it tonight and it was good.

Addie had some words of wisdom for me earlier. We were watching Ernest Scared Stupid and she told me, "No bad guys in the house. Bad guys have to stay outside." Keep that in mind always. Also, the troll in that movie needs a tissue. Addie also keeps telling me that I'm a girl, which is good knowledge to have.

Random old stuff

Shannon and I were gearing up for Halloween our freshman year of college. We were fairies with these lovely pink wigs, short blue dresses, pink tights (which we could only find in the children's department) and our awesome fuzzy pink wings and silver wands. I may someday show those pictures. Here we were just excited about the wig part.

Do you remember this little boy? We were all surprised when we found this picture recently. My parents and I guesstimated that Mark was not quite 15 here.

What I love about this is that we are all wearing cardigans over tank tops. It was very cold at our school. Also, I'm pretty sure that Amanda and I are wearing the exact same cardigan. I think it was from American Eagle and I had it in white and navy. I forgot about that headband phase when I was growing out my bangs. Better than the barrette phase...

Do you know these people? They look like they're having fun.

This is the source of my excitement...

Ok, since the two people who read this asked-I am excited because I get to go here on September 7th. I'm going to spend the weekend being quiet. That will be new and different for me. These nuns don't take a vow of silence, but they are cloistered, so they do not interact with you unless you're a nun. They have a water channel down the middle of their chapel so that the nuns will always be separated from the world. The nuns sit on one side of the water and all visitors sit on the other. I just thought that was cool. And no, I am not going to become a nun.
Anyway, I wanted to go here, but they didn't have any openings until the end of December. That's crazy far away. So I kept looking and found this one. I didn't even know there was a monastery just outside of Owensboro. And then I had to figure out what Passionist Nuns were. They are not Benedictine and they are not an offshoot of Benedictine like the Trappists. Apparently they devote their lives to constant prayer. They don't make things to support themselves like the Trappists. So I haven't even gone yet and it's already a learning experience! Of course, the goal for the weekend is not to learn new words.

Oh, right

This weekend Shannon and I finally got around to watching one of our movies from Netflix that have been sitting around at my house for forever. We watched The Aviator, which was okay. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't whatever I thought and it was a little slow. Also a little slow are Annie Hall and Shopgirl. I wanted to like Annie Hall because it's supposed to be so good, but I really had trouble getting past the fact that I find Woody Allen so irritating. It's really hard to figure out why Diane Keaton's character would have ever been with him. And I do mean him, because the only character he ever plays is himself. Shopgirl seemed kind of promising, but I had trouble getting past the fact that she was trying to get it on with Steve Martin. It's just that he's Steve Martin and he's old. But it wasn't a bad movie. What else did I watch this weekend? Oh, 21 Grams. It was interesting and it only started dragging towards the end. I didn't even hate Sean Penn. Shannon and I tried to guess what weighed 21 grams. We were both wrong. They do actually tell you towards the end. Wow, it totally sounds like all I did this weekend was watch movies. That's so not true, but whatever.

odds and ends

I'm really happy today because something I'm very excited about is in the works. I'll tell you later if you care to hear. I'm also excited about going to Birmingham on Sunday. I know Rachel won't be at her best, but I'm looking forward to hanging out with her regardless. Racho always provides laughs. And I haven't spent a week with the Birmingham Benzes in about a year and a half. I also think our dear father will be excited about his birthday present, even if he is confused as to why we are insisting on giving it to him two months early. If I ever manage to go over to my parents' house, I have some stuff to scan and post because it amuses me. I recently found quite a few things that I hadn't seen in some years. They weren't lost, although there is one picture I have been looking for for about two years. I think I figured out who stole it from me. So I'm pretty sure I'll never see it again, which is a shame because it was an awesome picture. Also, how cool does a cloister water channel sound? Nothing really big happening right now, just the usual junk.