Me, myself, and I

I found this over at Kori's place and thought it looked like fun. I haven't done a meme in a while.


I live: in one of the most - if not the most - economically depressed states in the Union.

I work: at a non-profit. But, fingers crossed, not for much longer.

I smell: the jasmine hibiscus candle on my desk.

I listen: to the local PBS classical station during the day - but not at night when they switch to jazz. I don't listen to jazz.

I hide: S's gifts. S plays hide-and-seek with his dog.

I walk: too little. And drive too much.

I write: emails that are too short, no letters on paper, and blog entries that could be more entertaining.

I see: a colorful wall map of the United States and it makes me want to travel. Route 66, anyone?

I sing: "I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas" loud and proud when it comes on the radio.

I can: print very neatly.

I watch: mostly PBS but especially Antiques Roadshow and the BritComs (which? they don't show enough of. Just sayin'). Also? CSI: New York. I've got a little crush on Gary Sinese.

I daydream: all the friggin' time. Especially when doing data entry at work.

I want: to live in Europe at some point. I need to start taking steps to make this happen.

I cry: when I'm alone. Or when I'm pissed off.

I read: as much as I possibly can.

I love: things that make me laugh, dogs, and S.

I rode: a horse in the Cowboy Capital of the World, The Chunnel Train from Paris to London, and the Southwest Chief from Flagstaff, AZ, to Ann Arbor, MI. But, damnit, I missed out on the Concorde.

I sometimes: need to have time to myself.

I fear: not experiencing life fully.

I hope: to find a friggin' job!

I eat: no red meat and too many fried foods.

I drink: iced tea without lemon or sugar, no sodas, and a ton of water.

I play: too few board games (S doesn't enjoy them). And I LOVE trivia games.

I miss: being thin. (So why don't I do something about that, huh?)

I forgive: and forget quite easily.

I drive: S crazy with my bouts of road rage, myself crazy when I can't forgive and forget, and a 1985 Volkswagen GTI (zoom, zoom!).

I lost: my aversion to wine last year. My favorite? Dogajolo.

I dream: of mountains, my dog Scully, and of one day learning to ride a motorcycle.

I kiss: my dad's cheek at the end of each visit with my folks.

I hug: too few people.

I have: tattoos, a body piercing, and a burning desire to help fix the prison system.

I remember: my 5th birthday party. My mom made me a butterfly cake.

I don't: want to have regrets. Or children.

I believe: that I can make a difference in the lives of others.

I owe: it to myself to make a difference in the lives of others.

I know: that I'm finally on the right path.

I hate: citrus fruit (except for the limes in my margarita).

I wish: I didn't have a house with termites.

I wear: no makeup, usually.

My ex: is a good man. He's remarried and is a father now.

Maybe I should: start planning my vegetable garden now.

People would say that I'm: silly? not the sharpest tool in the shed? Hell, I don't know. It's THEIR opinion. Ask them.

I don't understand: how people can be mean to each other and to animals.

Life is full of: busywork. If I'm not careful, it'll take over and I won't get anything important accomplished.

My past is: just that. Past.

I get annoyed when: people talk to me when I'm reading. Or concentrating. Or when my boss answers his office line on my phone - because he has to stand BEHIND me to reach the phone. I can't move my chair when he does that and it pisses me off. One of these days, I'll tell him.

Parties are: something to look forward to.

Tomorrow: is Friday.

Never in my life have I: been baptized.

When I was younger, I: wanted to have three kids and live in California.

When I'm nervous: I smile too much and sweat (gross, I know).

When I was 5: we built an addition on the back of our house. I was playing on the foundation cinder blocks, fell and cut my knee. Thirty one years later I can still see the scar (though it's very faint). It's name is Spot (the scar, not the addition).

My life is not complete without: books, a dog or two, and something cool to drink.

If you visit my hometown: try to get to the bakery for an apple fritter. They're delicious. Also? Come in the fall so you can visit the Dexter Cider Mill. It's Michigan's oldest continuously operating cider mill.

The world could do without: violence, fear, and greedy people.

If I ever go back to school: Ha! I already DID this! In case you missed the memo? I graduate in April.

And, by the way: I'm not sure if I'll be going back for a Master's or not.

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There you have it. It's yours to steal if you want it.

In which I lock the world out and run away with Suzanne.

Look what was on my doorstep when I went home to let Russ out after class today:


As soon as I get home tonight, I'm pulling the shades, turning off the phones, pouring myself a glass of something nice, and curling up on the couch under my Grandma's hand-sewn quilt to read it.

I have a tendency to devour Suz's books in two evening-long reading binges. Then, in a month or two, I'll sit down and read it more slowly. Catch the little things I missed in my haste to FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.

So even though I've got three books going right now (WHY do I do that? I never used to.) they're all on the back burner until Dark of Night gets read.

Happy Reading!

S's 45th

Today is S's 45th birthday.

Dinner with friends and the Plymouth Ice Festival are his activities of choice.

Maybe I'll finally get a picture of F to post on my blog.

30 Books

I was reading a blog the other day (and for the life of me, I can't remember which one) that talked about books. What they're reading, what they've read in the past. I think this blogger had even set a goal for themselves - 50 books in a year, or something like that. (If this was your blog, I'm sorry I forgot it was yours.)

That got me thinking that maybe I'd like to do that, too. Set a reading goal, I mean. I don't know if could hit 50 - that's almost a book a week and this should be a very busy year for me (graduation + job hunt + starting a new job [hopefully!] + normal life stuff = busy).

I'm going to aim for 30 this year. The hard part of this is going to be remembering to WRITE THEM DOWN and post them here.

BOOK The First:
The first book I finished this year was Twilight. I finished it in a couple of days. The teenage girl that lives in my heart? She gets this book. (Hell, the adult woman that lives in my heart gets it, too.) It was a fast read, and I really enjoyed it.

That's it. That's all I've finished so far.

But I've currently got 3 others going. I'm almost finished with New Moon. It wasn't my intention to read that one right now. I had started The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb (so far? LOVE!) but Bella and her troubles kept creeping in. So I gave in as I was obsessing about what happens at her 18th birthday party. (There was a sneak-peek preview in Twilight - they gave us the first chapter. If there is a preview chapter in New Moon, I'm going to try to NOT read it.) The third book I've got going is Just After Sunset by Stephen King. Since it's a bunch of short stories, this one is easier to read slowly. A story every few days and I get my SK fix.

Coming up:

• I've got a Suzanne Brockmann book, Dark of Night, on order.
• The Jane Austen novels (seriously. It's about damn time I read these.)
• The other Twilight books.

What are your suggestions for must-reads? Help me build my list, people!

Kudos to my Dad (and to S, too!)

My 71 year old father - who has bowled on the Thursday night Men's Senior league my entire life (until last winter when he opted to become the alternate/substitute team member) - bowled a 704 series last night. He had a 210, a 278 (!!), and a 216.

The 278? Was one pin shy of 100-over-average.

I hope that I can carry a 179 average when I'm 71. I guess that means that I need to join a league, doesn't it?

Speaking of bowling, S and I went the other night and S bowled a 200! His first ever!

The View out my OTHER office window

It's one of those perfect winter days. New snowfall last night, cold weather, no wind, and sunshine.

And I've got my puffy coat to keep me warm.

In which I take fashion advice from a fellow blogger

The zipper broke on my Columbia winter coat. I love this coat -- it's warm and comfy and my favorite color.

But when the zipper broke I realized it was time for a new coat. My Columbia served me well for five Michigan winters.

I went to the mall in search of a new Columbia coat -- stick with what ya know, ya know?. Holy heck, y'all. I loathe me some mall.

I hit JCPenney's. And Sears. And Lands' End inside Sears. And Macy's. And all the little stores in between. Including Eddie Bauer.

I didn't find another Columbia coat.

I found an Eddie Bauer puffy coat.

And I wouldn't have had the balls to buy it if it weren't for blackbird, sitting on my shoulder and whispering in my ear "it's OK to buy a puffy coat. I bought one. My puffy coat is the warmest thing I've ever worn," she said.

I am now the proud owner of a puffy coat - in chocolate brown (which EB doesn't show on their website). The fur trim? Gone. Because yuck, fur trim. But the coat! She's warm! And I love her!

Thank you, blackbird, for posting about your puffy coat!

(Because I love my puffy coat so much, I'm going to get the zipper fixed on my Columbia coat and keep it for dog walks in the woods. I'd hate for a branch to snag my puffy coat. That would make me very sad.)

This post brought to you by the letter F.

S claims I am one of the most even-tempered people he knows. It takes a lot to ruffle my feathers.

But get me behind the wheel of a car and all bets are off.

It takes me 1.2 seconds to go from calm, orderly driver to Pissed Off Bitch Behind The Wheel. I YELL at other drivers. I make rude hand gestures (but I keep these below the dash- I'm not a complete idiot). I LAY on the horn. I speed up and glare. I slow down and glare.

The other day, S and I were going somewhere and this VAN started merging into my lane. By the time I figured out they were trying to get over for an ambulance (we were side-by-side on a 5-lane road, the ambulance was coming TOWARDS us ), I had laid on the horn and called them every sort of bad name beginning with the letter F. What scares me most is that S swears I swerved towards the idiot next to me. I don't remember this. What I don't understand, and what I yelled at the idiot next to me, through my rolled-up window and his was, "why in the HELL didn't you SLOW DOWN and merge in BEHIND ME instead of gettin' all up in my lane and making me honk your dumb ass?"

Really. I know you're supposed to try to merge over for emergency vehicles. But we were on a 5-lane road and the need for him to get into my lane (when I was already in the space he was trying to occupy!) was unnecessary when he could've tapped his brakes and merged in. We were on a BRIDGE, ffs, and I had nowhere to go.

It was not a pretty site, this bout of Road Rage. Scared the shit out of S, too.

So. I tell you this deep, dark, ugly secret because this is what I'm going to work on this year. It's not a resolution, exactly, because I never keep those, it's an acknowledgment of bad behavior I'm going to try to halt. Because one of these days, somebody with super-hearing is going to HEAR me yelling at them and then they'll stop their car and beat the ever-lovin' crap out of me.

And I really don't want THAT to happen.

Happy New Year, everyone!