i love you, reading

So here's the situation.

There are people around me who are just now getting into Twilight, which is great. Add that in with all the movie buzz, and the award show appearances of Bella and Edward (no, they do not have real names) and I have myself a problem. I am itching to read the books again. I own all four, so this shouldn't be too hard a goal to conquer, however, I have like 8 million books in line to be read before them. My bright and shiny new library card is just calling out to be used. I have two library books in my possession presently and two on hold. Not to mention the other 8 or 9 books sitting on my bookshelf at home that burned a hole in my pocket which still have not been opened.

I'm weighing my options. Do I put all other books on hold and pick up the Twilight series again, only to have it rip my life away like it did last time? Or, do I tuck them away - a prize to be reached only when finishing all other books in line before them? Ugh, the torture. Please, feel free to stop and point and call me a nerd as you pass by.

I know not everyone holds Twilight in such high regard. And I admit it might not be the best piece of work ever written, but I won't lie that it doesn't suck me in like a fat kid wearing spandex. The books are like cocaine. (I decided against comparing it to Edwards desire for Bella's blood, citing good taste. No pun intended.) And I also know once I pick the books back up my tone with Bryan will turn condescending for the simple fact that he is not Edward Cullen.

Can my relationship sustain such a thing?

omg why isn't the tivo recording?!

I like to watch tv. A lot of tv. So much so that B and I had a minor panic attack awhile back when we realized we still had time slots open on a Monday night to record shows. I realized then we had a problem - but it was an addiction I was willing to feed. We even invested in a dual tuner Tivo - so we could record two shows at once. Tivo has both helped and hurt us. Because of it we are no longer slaves to the TV in the usual sense. We don't have to be home at a certain time to catch our shows. But it's because of this feature we end up having 8 hours of TV to catch up on later in the evening. I've caught myself saying "Let's not go out, we have 4 episodes of The Office to watch still," and saying it begrudgingly.

TV has slowly taken over my life. It's the first thing I do in the morning, and the last thing I do at night. I plan my nightly routine by how much time it takes me to shower and get in bed to catch Chelsea Lately and Conan. I wake up in time to get ready and catch the first 15 minutes of the Today Show.

I started thinking yesterday about how hard it would be to not watch tv. I've been trying to write more lately but my words all come out jumbled and screen-play esque. Well, I'm not writing a screenplay nor do I want to. I cannot describe things the way I should because I expect the reader to know what I'm talking about. I mean, they can see it on the screen, can't they? It really occured to me that in order to write sentences that do not sound like the newest episode of 90210 I would have to do something drastic.

So, how hard could it possibly be? And to what lengths would I go? Cut TV out completely? Well... I figure I could still watch the news. That means the Today Show still counts. Chelsea Lately really isn't a fictional show so that shouldn't matter... Conan, sure why cut him out? But then there are shows like The Office. 30 Rock. Roseanne?! How could I cut out Roseanne? Greek? So you Think you Can Dance? My breathing gets heavier just thinking about it.

So I thought about catching a few select shows only on Hulu. But what's the difference? All I'm doing is giving myself excuses. I just don't know if I can live my life without Family Guy. I really don't.

I wouldn't be honest with myself if I said I wasn't a technology-driven person. I enjoy having constant access to everything. Full cable, 24/7 internet, my friends socially networked at my fingertips. I'm not sure I could cut out such a huge part of my life.

How does the saying go? Anything hard is worth doing? Or, if something is hard to do it's not worth doing? Wait. I think I'm channeling my inner Homer Simpson.

oh, it's go time

I think I'm being attacked.

It started yesterday as I peacefully sat at my desk minding my own business working on work related work stuff. I was type type typing away when I saw it out of the corner of my eye. A tiny little minuscule insignificant gnat. It flew at me from the left and then continued its buzz buzz buzzing right around me as I type type typed.

I flailed at it. I tried shooing it away with my hand, clapping my hands together in an attempt to squash it, slapping my computer screen when it landed for a rest. Nothing worked. This little gnat kept narrowly escaping my attempts at its demise. Finally after a few more flails and claps it flew away. Relief washed over me. I looked around. Had anyone seen me flailing about? Nobody seemed to be giving me the old crazy eye so I let out a sigh of relief and went back to my typing.

Today, it was back. It waited until I was completely unsuspecting, taking a sip of coffee when it planned its air strike. This time it came at me from above. The little bugger flew right into my face. In my attempt to flail I narrowly escaped spilling coffee down my shirt. I went into cat mode and started grabbing at it with my paw but again, every time I missed. Again I clapped my hands together as it swan-dived in front of me, slapped my desk each time it thought about landing and every time I missed.

I don't know what this gnat is on, or why he's targeting me. I don't have any food at my desk. I checked for pungent body odor and was pleased to find myself smelling of fresh soap. I checked the mirror. I don't have a sign on my forehead that says "Gnats fly here." The only two things that could possibly be gnat attractors are Mimi the fish and my small pokey cactus but even so I'm not too quick to pass blame on either two.

All I know is this gnat is out to get me and the game is on.

live long and prosper

Distance is a crappy thing.

I had a brief pang of sadness as I pulled out of the driveway on Dunstone Drive this past weekend. 5 days of vacation time spent with the parents is usually enough to have me wishing for Madison but this time I found it harder to leave.

Saturday was spent bouncing around town with my sister and then meeting up with some of her grade school friends at St. Norbert's school picnic. It was crazy listening to them talk about the kids they went to school with. "So and so has 5 kids." "I just ran into whats her face last weekend!" Listening to the back and forth of the who's who and who's where made me a little jealous of how far away I am from my best friends. If you had asked my 17 year-old self I would've scoffed at the idea of staying in the same town, having kids and socializing with the same people I went school with. Yet, there I sat feeling jealous of the experiences these people spoke of. What I wouldn't give to live in the same town as my best friends. Be a part of each others day to day lives.

I have to be careful not to discount the experiences I've had because of our choices to move around the country; the friends I've made because I was out of my comfort zone and knew no one else. I am thankful for where I am and the friends I have now. I am also thankful for how close my friends and I are despite our physical distances, and the appreciation we have for each other because of it, too.

On a slightly more nerd-tastic note, I must share my new crush. I saw Star Trek this weekend and was given heart-palpitations by one, Spock. I definitely recommend it. In fact, I'm gonna make B take me to see it again this weekend! MmmZacharyQuinto.

i'll take a Cook brother, please

It was 6am. My alarm had just gone off for the first time. Like usual, I hit the snooze button; the first time of many. It was then, in my last 20 minutes of sweet, sweet sleep that I had the oddest dream.

I was in soon-to-be Mrs. Holladay's wedding. Front row and center. Jenny was sitting next to me, and next to her was Nicholas. Being that Nicholas, apparently, was a bridesmaid - I'm not sure who Holly was marrying but it surely wasn't her husband. Across from us was a gentleman who looked like he had walked in from the street holding a bouquet of hair. Yes, hair. He was eating it.

The Wedding March started to play and we all proceeded to hold our flowers up in the air like we were hailing Hitler. Even the hair-holder held his high for Holly. (Holy alliteration.) Holly marched her way up the aisle and was wearing a beautiful white wedding dress that, turned out was just a bit see-through when she turned around. Her bright blue underwear shone through the back. I remember thinking, "That's unfortunate."

9 minutes later, my alarm when off again and again I hit the snooze button. This time when I fell back asleep Holly was telling me how she was sorry that David Cook couldn't stay for the reception, but "don't worry!" she had a surprise. It was then she pulled me around the corner into VOILA - David Cook's brother "Adam," who in my dream was really his brother Andrew. I then proceeded to freak out and get all sweaty. So sweaty in fact, my makeup started dripping down my face. I quickly excused myself to the ladies room. I tried feverishly to stop the steady downpour that was my sweat. No matter what I did, I couldn't stop the makeup from dripping off my face. I hoped Andrew wouldn't notice and made my way back to him where he was suddenly in a recording studio attached to the reception.

That's about when I woke up. I mean, WHAT THE H?! What did I eat before I went to bed? Did those chocolate chip cookies have something in them? And why do I suddenly have a crush on Andrew Cook?

i'm an impostor

This weekend B's parents were up to help us with the yard. We ripped up most of the backyard and spots in the front that needed to be re-planted. Our yard was a hot mess when we bought it. In place of grass were mostly violets and we had hoards of ant hills.

I don't think I've ever worked outside that much in my life. We were outside from morning until dark ripping out grass and flowers, and planting fresh greenery. Now I don't mind planting a few flowers. It's fun for awhile. And I'm sure I'll feel good about all the work we did when I see my flowers start to really blossom...but, I realized something this weekend. I am definitely an indoor kitty. Or, a kitty that likes to relax, rather. I can't wait until the deck is put back on so I can chill out in the backyard with a summery drink and a good book. I'm looking forward to seeing all the flowers but I will always be reminded of how much work it was to put them in. I guess a little hard work never hurt anyone but I just don't get how B finds all the laboring work relaxing. I was actually looking forward to coming back to work this week for a break.

I got down and dirty in the mud. Used my bare hands to spread soil and mulch. Planted flowers. It felt good to work but I have to admit I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to planting flowers. Lucky for me my mother in law is a flower crazy-person so she was able to help me pick out flowers that would be good for certain areas of the yard.

It was fun to learn and plant but I don't think gardening will become a huge hobby for me... The flowers I planted will be lucky if I get out there to weed and water them.

These are Geraniums I put in a little green pot out on our front step.

A little Jacob's Ladder accents our split rail fence down on the corner.

This is the said split rail fence along with the flowers. Jacobs Ladder, Forget-Me-Nots, Creeping Plox, and some grasses in the back.

Forget-Me-Not!

The boys had fun digging up the yard. Here is B riding behind his Dad's tractor.

panic! ...at the disco?

I am not a hypochondriac. The constant swine flu coverage, emails from HR with "helpful hints" about hand-washing, and recent Wisconsin school-closings gets two "Gahs," and a "Pfffft," from me. Okay, you get my point. But here's what I'm getting at - while I do not typically worry when flu season rolls around, I still do my part to stave off little microbes entering my orifices.

While at Chipotle yesterday 3 of my pet peeves regarding the containment of microbes were met.

Firstly, there were two children running around in their pajamas - making laps around the halfwall dividing the checkout line from the dining area. Please, ma'am. Keep your children near you or on leashes if they can't handle standing still. I'm not above leashes. I'll do it.

Secondly, said woman was blatantly poking her head OVER the sneeze guard protecting the food from any gross spittles flying from her overly lipsticked mouth. She then proceeded to reach over the sneeze guard to point at what salsa she wanted. Last time I checked the fine gentlemen working at Chipotle all have working ears and are able to hear when you say "Corn Salsa." They do not need to you to point. Stay behind the sneeze guard.

And thirdly, the stupid bald man sitting next to us kept coughing. And not just coughing, either, coughing without covering his mouth. This is a food establishment sir, cover your mouth when you cough. I do not need your swine flu dancing its way over to my burrito.

The combination of these three things made me put down the last 1/4 of my steak burrito (1/4!) and tell B I had lost my appetite and was ready to leave. This never happens. I always finish my burrito. Always. You can hardly get a word out of me while I'm devouring the deliciousness that is Chipotle.

Again, I am not a hypochondriac. Far from it. I am married to one, however. With this whole swine flu business going around it was only a matter of time before B mentioned an irritating cough and a "kind of upset stomach." Just a little background; B's tummy has a very low tolerance for well, anything. He gets an upset stomach a few times a week. We pledge our loyalty to TUMS. Do I think he has anything other than a little lactose intolerance? Absolutely not.

My point is this - while I might not believe that this whole swine flu business has enough merit to cause the panic it seems to be causing - the more people worry about it and not cover their mouth when they cough, the more I can feel my throat start to hurt. I am a firm believer I can stave off illness with a few capsules of Airborne and a good attitude. So if I'm starting to worry about dancing swine flu particles, there's a problem.

That being said, the next person who coughs near my burrito w/o doing into into the bend in their elbow is going to get a few strong words from me and maybe even a spritz of Lysol in their general direction.

Do your part people. Cover your mouth. Wash your hands. Keep your children away from me. Obey the laws of the sneeze guard.