When I Have My Whole Lunch To Myself...

... I find things like this. And I know, JON, that you'll hate it. So just don't play it. Everyone else, I'm SURE, will enjoy it... because, except for Jon who has simply made a joke about how many times I'll watch the movie just because it's on, who DOESN'T love Dirty Dancing?!



Oh geez, that makes me laugh. I love it.

Can You Be Distracted By the Weather?

YAY! There's a date! Now, we (Jon) can stop stressing about that part and move on to the next stressor. Woohoo! Next stressor = 1 month of prep and then 2 hours in a room with the monkey on his back then however long it takes to jump through the last few hoops in SCE. THEN... free and clear... hopefully. Good Lord, could we just graduate this boy?!

On The Class this week, funniest line ever (talking about a piece of cheesecake... which I would substitute a chocolate cake for): "It's like sugar and fat making love on a plate." Whoever wrote that line, kudos. LOL

So, as much as I'd love to come visit NC soon (I already told this whole thing to Mom, so Vick, you can skip this last paragraph), these are the BEST DAYS IN THE WORLD to live in Southeastern Georgia. I cut 45 minutes out of my work day today (which I made up, times like 7, tonight) to take the kids for a walk this afternoon around 4. We could not have asked for better weather. It feels like summer in the NC Mountains. It was 74 (when I glanced at the thermometer), the breeze was warm (think Aruba), and the sun was brilliant. We enjoyed immensely. I welcome any of y'all to come on down/over (I don't think any of my readers... at least not the regular ones... are anywhere south of me) any afternoon for a walk. We do it pretty religiously these days. In fact, I may need to change it up a bit just so Coop & Kona will stop getting all antsy at 4:00 pm. But if you come to visit, we'll walk with you any darn time you want. I miss having company, y'all. You should ALL feel free to come use our guest room any old time. And Mel... you wouldn't even have to use the guest room to visit. Get over here and help me walk these dogs, silly working girl.

Wishing you sunshine and quiet time (for peaceful reflection). ♥

Mom, We Got Another One Off the Road for You

No matter how many times I talked to Haley today about writing a quick note of sympathy to Elanor & Elanor's pop, I always found a way to forget. Over and over and over again. So, MC, please allow me to very publicly say that I'm very sorry about your beautiful Elanor. As I'm sure Haley has told you, Mom is the one with the experience in this department. But, she's provided all of us with substantial reason to commiserate (personally, one shattered windshield on one gleaming white Maxima and a similar-to-your-morning-conversation "oh shit" moment with me in San Fran and the ability to do nothing to help).

For the rest of you who are lost... DEER SUCK. And Elanor's a car. Well, a truck.

Lessons I've Learned About Laundry

Tonight, I decided I would change the sheets. The ones that were on the bed weren't particularly dirty... well, except for down at the bottom where Cooper had a little upchuck incident that bled through the comforter... ick. Sorry for that visual; this was supposed to be a pick-me-upper, not a make-me-hurler (the Hurler, btw, is a fun roller coaster at Carowinds, which I love, and which I hope Haley & I can visit once again very soon... well, when they re-open). Anyway, I decided to change the sheets...

Even though I paid more for the just-taken-off higher threadcount white Linens 'n Things "hotel" sheets than my formerly favorite Egyptian Cotton JC Penney green ones, these just-put-on ones are much much softer. Why did I give those others so much of a chance to be my faves? Well, because they cost more, I guess. And because everyone says higher threadcount is better. I say... Egyptian Cotton is better. So there.

And the best thing about these new, clean, green sheets? They've been awaiting use in my armoire with an open container of Bounce dryer sheets. They couldn't smell better than if they'd just come out of the laundry! Learned that little trick from a buddy a while back. Can't wait to snuggle down in my little coccoon for a wonderfully-smelling, über-comfortable night's rest. It's been too long.

I Thought I Told Ya... Hey

It's been a few weeks since this little trip over to the SAV, but I liked the shots... well, kinda. And since I don't have anything else that I particularly want to share tonight (but I didn't want to leave the page completely silent), I figured this would do. Just don't feel like talking much tonight. I'm tired... and grumpy. Maybe I'll share more another time. Maybe not. Guess you'll just have to wait & see. :)

Anyway, these were from the "other side of the river" the day we went to Savannah for the home show. You're looking back at River Street from the Convention Center side. Really pretty day this day... but still with a nip in the air. Kinda like today... I sat out on my front porch for a while this afternoon just to enjoy the sunshine. It was 70! Love the weather. Anyway, without further ado (don't mean to make 8 paragraphs of nothing):

Just a Few I Thought Were Funny

As cute as Coop is in his little jersey, I'm still kinda mad at him. He bit a chunk out of my arm on Sunday. No metaphor... he straight up bit me. We're working out our differences; but I'm still very hurt by him.

Tonight... headache and no game at my house. Bah, as Lis would say. Must chase away this I-miss-DC headache. Going to sleep ... now. Nighty night.

Oily Marks on These Walls

My away message tonight... with appropriate attribution to Jon (because I stole the whole thing from him):
Reading a dissertation... literally. Could be a long night. :) But one that has been well worth the wait. Finally, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel... or is that the train coming?

Could it possibly be that these seven years of work are finally coming to an actual tangible end? Is there a stupid little piece of paper somewhere in his future? Stay tuned... there MUST be something about to happen.


And the truth about this picture...? Either A) the light at the end of the tunnel/train a-coming OR B) the guys at the house behind us still working WELL into the evening tonight. (Go with B.) They actually scared the pants off of me until I realized the rhythmic banging sound wasn't really aliens or the end of the world. LOL

In other news, Happy Fat Tuesday. Enjoy your Ash Wednesday. Lent begins... right now. Oh, Diet Coke (DC), how I already miss you... even though I just took my last sip a mere minutes ago. The moments are longer when you are actively withholding from yourself something you love, don't you think? Will forty days seem like four hundred? Probably. Go figure.

Hello? Can You Hear Me? Am I Getting Through To You?

The cynic (according to www.m-w.com, a faultfinding captious critic; especially : one who believes that human conduct is motivated wholly by self-interest... what a great definition!) in me gets a real kick out of this:

5.8 planets! That's freakin' hilarious! And, not true, by the way. NO WAY would my lifestyle for every person necessitate FIVE planets. Maybe four, but definitely not five.


Anyway, one more then I'm heading to bed. I'll leave profound for another day.

Your Brain is Purple

Of all the brain types, yours is the most idealistic. You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense. Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life for yourself.

What Color Is Your Brain?

So, go figure after I mention April here yesterday, I hear news about her dad tonight. Troubling news. Many, many positive thoughts & prayers for Larry.

Love is Just Love, After All

For a second, I thought about being all Valentine-y on the blog tonight. I even found a pic from The Cloud Appreciation Society that I thought would be sweet:

I almost got inspired by Monsieur AZ who spoke of the four Greek words for "love" (eros, philia, storge, and agape). How poetic it would be to wax on about beautiful love tonight. And I definitely would've stolen his wrap-up statement: "I came to row my boat gently down the stream, merrily. And learn that Life is but a dream."

Okay, over that. My true speed today is more in the anti-valentine vein. Well, actually being "anti"/hating isn't really my thing either. I just get a little overly hate-y on V-Day. Why am I so anti? I've always had such fun Valentine's Days! But my heart is definitely back in the Anti-V-Day Club back in my H.S. junior year. Jill, April, Tracy, and I had such a fun afternoon that day. I guess it just always stuck with me. I miss those guys. I miss a lot of things.

Three-Fold Angelic Utopian Dreams

So, I'm probably one of the safest, most don't-rock-the-boat conservatives you know, right? I don't know why, but tonight, it hit me that perhaps I'm a bit self-destructive as well. Not really really... but behind the green curtain, a little bit.

I don't make up the bed a lot. I do it basically once every two weeks before the cleaning ladies are scheduled to come on Monday mornings. (I hate paying them to do things that I don't mind doing. Their time is reserved for cleaning the floors and the bathrooms. And yes, I have cleaning ladies. Shut up.) Anyway, when I do actually make up the bed, I like the bedroom a lot more. I seriously enjoy things that are clean and organized... I just don't enjoy being the one doing the cleaning/organizing. So, this morning (Tuesday, one day post-cleaning ladies), I decided to make up the bed again. Who knows... maybe I'll make a habit of it. Anyway, this morning I notice (once again... because really, I notice it all the time) the angel that sits on my nightstand. I look at this angel all the time... first of all, because I love her. She reminds me of all things beautiful and happy and meaningful. Secondly, I look at her often because she sits on the edge of my nightstand right next to where I stack the pillows. There's a corner of the bedroom, between my nightstand and a bookshelf, that is ultra-convenient for pillow-storage. If I don't get around to making up the bed in the morning, the pillows can hang out there, nicely packed away, without being obtrusive.

So, every time I make up (or unmake) the bed, I stack (or unstack) the pillows in this corner. And every time I think, "I need to be extra careful not to drag these pillows across my beautiful sweet fragile little angel. I really should think about moving her to a less precarious post." But I don't. I leave her right in harm's way. And I think about how very very upset I would be if I accidentally knocked her over and, God forbid, broke her.

I don't want to be broken. I don't want her to be broken, I mean. Why don't I just move her or stop putting the pillows there? Am I just tempting fate every time I go through this? Is it a foregone conclusion that she will, eventually, be broken (especially considering my track record with breaking things that are important to me) or will I be able to protect her simply by being extra extra careful and loving her as much as I can (without, of course, actually protecting her by proactively moving her to a safer locale)?

Oh, the drama.

Sad Faces All Around

Gilmore Girls: (In the spirit of tonight's ep... which I had to watch instead of b-ball... what the hell?!) You're the show I WANT to love. But I DON'T. Stupid David R. You definitely need Amy S-P. She NEVER would've turned Christopher into such a whiny, low-self-esteem'd baby.

That's it. All I had to say about that.

The Dad In Me

Okay, first and foremost, if this is your dog, COME GET HIM RIGHT NOW. Cooper & Kona have had just about all the excitement they're allowed with this little fella.


So, this weekend, I found a big old Dad streak in myself. (Both Mom & Dad are just about the most industrious peeps I know. I wonder if that's why I'm so lazy and would prefer to do nothing? Dad says "the apple doesn't fall far...", but what about the tree that stands up on top of a hill with steep sides? Does its fruit roll waaaaaay off the hilltop into the bottom-feeding bliss of amotivation?) Anyway, this weekend, I hopped up on the industrious hilltop with Moms & Pops.

• I washed both cars (VERY, VERY, VERY well... including inside and out, including cleaning out the pine straw, plants, dirt, and MUD that were in the truck bed, including Armor All, including true window washing... only not including vaccuuming, just got tired after everything else). I believe Jon owes me at least $30 for the detail. That's what it cost the last time I paid somebody to do it for me... of course, that was way back when I had the Montero Sport, and the detail-er was a buddy I knew from the NCGA. Man, that car was sweet. I've had some sweet rides in my day. I seriously just typed "sweet rides". LOL... I'm sooo leaving it just so y'all can see some of the funny-ness that sometimes comes out of my head/mouth.


• The kids and I walked the long route. The day was actually rather incredible. I think I saw nearly all of our neighbors outside on Sunday. It was 70+ and gorgeous. A typical mid-February weekend in Southeast Georgia. And that's why I like Statesboro. :) Anyway, our community is growing by leaps and bounds again (did it ever really stop?). There are eleven houses (that I can think of right off the top of my head) that are in some stage of building (from foundation poured today to final touches going in tomorrow). One of those houses is my next door neighbor's. Landscaping's done, outside (except for final screen on screened-in porch) is completed, inside is nearly there. Actually, the only things left to finish in there: the floors.


• I weeded (and this was a different type of the weeding you may have experienced, L) & engaged in various other landscaping tasks. The weeds are getting kinda bad, especially around some of our newer backyard landscaping. I've let them go now for a few months, and I didn't want to get the Round-Up out (just yet), so I got down & dirty with those bad boys. I enjoy weeding by hand. It is quite gratifying to actually immediately see the fruits of your labor... or, in this case, stop seeing the fruits of the big bad weeds. Oh, I also put some plant food/fertilizer around a few of the scraggly-ass why-won't-you-grow front yard plants. Hopefully, the dwarf nandina and the stupid short Cingular bar will kick it into high gear with the nice weather we've been having... coupled, of course, with my careful mixing of the plant food with the soil around their bases.


• My mom inspired my inside-worker-bee, and I did three loads of laundry... including the sheets, which Jon tells me he spilled milk & cereal on while I was gone. (Of course, he tells me this after I've already spent one night on them. Thanks babe.)


• Work work. I spent (off-and-on) all day Saturday trying to get caught up on e-mail... which is a neverending battle. I answered as many requests as I could, but I still failed to do the one that I knew needed to be done ASAP for my boss. I still thought I had time, but she surprised me with a haven't-you-done-this-yet e-mail on Sunday night. DANG IT! I love heading off her reminder e-mails... and I failed this time. Oh well... I'm sure I was the only one on that distribution (which happened to go to all of the HR management team, because we all still owed her stuff from last week's meeting wrap-up) who actually received the e-mail on Sunday night and had the owed materials in the boss's e-mail inbox a couple of hours later. So there... yes, I have no life. But I'm a kick-ass employee (while also being a terrible one... quite the paradox I've created in myself here).


• Finally, I got the tire patched today... Yes, I know I mentioned this on Saturday... and one would think that was the only time I'd have to write about it. But no. Mike, the tire guy, sees me today and says... what are you doing back here? He's a Dook fan, so I told him I was back to give him a hard time about Maryland. And then I asked him what he thought the chance was that he patched the wrong hole on Saturday. After he said zero/nada/zilch, I said... guess again, DOOKIE. Actually, he told me that they patched the wrong hole the first time on purpose so that I'd come back again; but he was being a silly flirt. I like silly flirts... they make me feel good about myself. And, seriously, what does that say about ME?! Anyway, two holes patched for real this time. The 35 psi should (hopefully) still be 35 psi in the morning.

Cooper, yet another silly flirt in my life, says g'night. ♥

Resolution of all the Fruitless Searches

I love finishing something. There's such pleasure to be had from crossing something off the old to-do list (or adding something to the completed list). And there's always so much to be learned from reading.

√  Flat tire fixed... well, I think.
√  Lord of the Flies

So, what is the true natural condition of man? Pleasure-seeking, fighter, rule-abiding, anarchist, selfless, selfish, ethical, logical, meaningful, playful, serious, lover, follower, leader, hater... When we're one, I'd almost guarantee that there's a nearly equal part opposite. And which ultimately wins out? The good, the bad, or the ugly? But then when one wins out, is it over or just the beginning? Are we destined to continually repeat ourselves -- cycle, one might say -- until the end of time? When left to their own devices, the boys prove that there's initially order, then anarchy. Would order have returned? Would any one of them have grown a conscience?

Golding is much better at intimating his own theme:

The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable.

Anyway, very interesting, engaging, and fun read. And one of the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council's "30 Books Every Adult Should Read Before They Die", Random House Modern Library's "100 Best Books of the 20th Century: Fiction", and The Modern Library's 100 Best Novels. Just FYI... in case you were interested.

Returned from the ATL yesterday; lounged around the house today (cleaning, taking TWO walks -- Cooper was in heaven, playing around online, working, reading, watching b-ball, talking, etc.); plan to do the same tomorrow. Before I start (tomorrow), here are a couple more of the Chateau Elan from my week o' meetings:

Clarity in Columbia... And the Search (Down the Interstate) for Illumination (of What I Know is True)

Everyone believes in how they think it ought to be
Everyone believes and they're not going easily

Belief is a beautiful armor but makes for the heaviest sword
Like punching under water, you never can hit who you're trying for



Yes... all, indeed well.

HATE: An R-Rated Post-ie

Okay, so I usually try to be so PG here. But tonight, tonight I'm pissed. ESPN... what in the hell?! I HATE YOU. (But really, I love you... except for between 9 and 11 tonight.) SERIOUSLY, what is UP with black outs of a big game (that you've been hyping the hell out of) in ACC country?!?! That is RIDICULOUS!!! Some of us have very few options, stupid jerks.

Thank goodness for Chili's @ Mall of Georgia and Mark & Robert who let me hang out & watch the end of the game even after last call and closing time.

Also on the not-my-favorite-things list tonight:
- A sports lounge with a big TV & a POSSIBLE opportunity to watch the game in-hotel that's booked for a "private affair".
- Dookies who have no reason to be Dookies
- ESPN black outs... did I mention that already? Well... it deserves to be mentioned over and over again. DO NOT HYPE THE DAMN GAME IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO SHOW IT!!!

Thank goodness the Heels pulled it out! I can't imagine how not-suitable-for-general-consumption I'd be if they had LOST! So, let's calm down & be positive... the things that make it all better:
- Car-o-lina victory (when cross the field our foe has fled...)
- Free drinks
- Very funny and very sweet boys (at the bar & elsewhere)
- JC's team losing... ha ha... you should've come with me all those years ago when I picked the RIGHT SCHOOL!
- Lack of coppers on I-85 between Chateau Elan and Mall of Georgia... I mean, between Mall of Georgia and Chateau Elan
- Chutzpah

So Tired

I stayed up too late last night... or got up too early this morning. I miss my lazy mornings of awaking at 8 and 8:30, answering e-mail and doing virtual things from the prone position until 10:00-something. How will I ever return my sorry butt to the world of the truly-working?!

I must get to bed. Maybe that will help... or at least help ease the split screen nature of things.

A few quotes (the 11 most important philosophical questions?!):

1. “The unexamined life is not worth living”
    – Socrates (470-399 BCE)
2. “Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily”
    – William of Ockham (1285 - 1349?)
3. “The life of man [is] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
    – Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679)
4. “I think therefore I am”
    – René Descartes (1596 – 1650)
5. “To be is to be perceived (Esse est percipi).” Or, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?”
    – Bishop George Berkeley (1685 – 1753)
6. “We live in the best of all possible worlds.”
    – Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646 – 1716)
7. “The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk.”
    – G.W.F. Hegel (1770 – 1831)
8. “Who is also aware of the tremendous risk involved in faith – when he nevertheless makes the leap of faith – this [is] subjectivity … at its height.”
    – Søren Kierkegaard (1813 – 1855)
9. “God is dead.”
    – Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 – 1900)
10. “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.”
    – Albert Camus (1913 – 1960)
11. “One cannot step twice in the same river.”
    – Heraclitus (ca. 540 – ca. 480 BCE)

You Oxymoronic Antonym, You

From one end of the state to the other... Savannah yesterday for the really really dumb Home & Garden Show (that I won't even tell you how much we paid to get into... b/c it was a bunch of crap)... and Atlanta today for the quarterly HR managers' meeting (which is always fun). What driving I've been doing! But it gives me lots and lots of time to listen to some fave tunes. Do you realize that your iPod puts 99 songs on its auto-created Recently Added playlist? If each song averaged 3 minutes (which is actually pretty short, right?), that would be 5 hours of listening. No wonder I only got through 35! The trip over to the ATL was smooth... until I hit a little bit of rush hour on the north side of the city. All in all, though, it was A-OK.

So, tomorrow is an oddity for me... get up, shower & get ready (including putting on real clothes that aren't PJs or sweats), go to work by 8am. I guess I should go to bed, huh? Perhaps I should review the agenda first. How did today get here already without me having reviewed the agenda yet??!! Gosh.. I really am a bad employee... but 'cept not really. I'm gonna finish with the black nailpolish first. :) I like it... I don't care what the rest of y'all think.

Finally, Dickie V and Stacey Dales picked Dook. Ugh. Okay, so maybe Dickie V didn't pick 'em outright... but he talked about how great they are and how much he loves Krzyzewski before saying that he thinks Carolina will probably pull it out in the end... so I consider that picking Dook. Stacey D., on the other hand, picked the Devils. I  ♥  Dook.

Don't look for much from me this week here. Now that you're warned, don't be hurt if I accidentally miss a few nights. :) I'll be busy... with work, yeah, that's it... with work.

Later silly gaters. (l)

Part II

Oh yeah... I DID have something to write about today... I just forgot about it until now (you know how that happens... when you read a story in the morning that you WANT to remember later, but you forget it anyway?!). So, did any of y'all happen to hear about Senator Joseph Biden throwing his hat into the '08 Presidential Race ring? Really, it's not so surprising that he wants in the race... what's interesting, and SAD really, is the one quote the NY Times (and every other media outlet, I'm sure) grabbed & ran with. Sen. Biden called Obama "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” Oops. Typical old white man mistake, I think. Then he tried to say he meant "clean" as in FRESH (as in ... Obama has fresh ideas). Interested? Here's the NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/us/politics/01biden.html. Not really interested? Well, at least learn one thing... don't insinuate that an entire race of people is unclean. They're not. And you just prove your ignorance.

Sans the Burden of Me

And one of Haley's... b/c she's a much better photographer: