RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) Good grief. I woke up with another case of pink eye and I am furious about it! Granted, being furious about getting an eye infection is not very productive, but it makes me feel better about the utter injustice of it! Yuck. Luckily, I knew what was going on this time, so I grabbed the very last of the bottle of eye drops that I saved from last time, put them in and waited an hour. My eye seemed to get a little better, but I wasn't taking any chances. I went back to the Doc-in-a-Box and got another prescription for the eye drops. I felt kind of bad going to the doc when my eye didn't seem that bad, but I couldn't face the idea of my eye being as bad as it was last time. *shudder* A nurse practitioner and a doctor came and checked me out, so I was well taken care of. The doctor told me to come back in 5 days or sooner if my eye got worse, but the N.P told me to come back on Thursday to be rechecked. I have no idea if I should go back or not. Who's directions should I follow? I'd rather not pay the co-pay again unless I have to, but... Any ideas?

2) I found a neato heath food store nearby. Well, actually I found it a while back, and I probably have already talked about it on this blog, but I've only recently been going back on a regular basis. When I went the other day, I briefly talked to the lady who runs the store and she gave me a promotional calender that she had gotten from one of her vendors. About 15 minutes later, she came around a corner and asked if I needed any help, but I declined. Right before I checked out, she looked at me and said "I thought I saw you come in here! I just didn't know where you went." Huh...O.K. I'm not so sure she knew I was the same person each time she saw me. Weirdness. The store sells a lot of unusual things, and I'm fairly sure Harry Potter could find all of his potion ingredients there. Need a bundle of sage to clean a negative room? You can find it there too. I'm guessing it's the local Wicca Superstore. I found a few interesting things to try, including a shake mix that is supposed to be good for you. I got a few different packets (different flavors) but so far I'm not impressed. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great, either. It kind of tasted like it had chalk in it. It also had algae in it, so maybe I'm just mentally unprepared for drinking it in the first place. I'll let you know.

3) It finally rained in our neck of the woods, and our ornamental peach tree lost a big chunk during the high winds. Now it looks all lopsided. :( Our grass suddenly had a resurrection and now it's way too high. I need to mow it, I know, but it's just too hot and I'm procrastinating in hopes of a freak snowstorm that will just kill it all. What? It's not unheard of!

4) I'm working on a few new things, craft wise. I'm going to be putting a bigger variety of my things in the shop the lady at my church owns, so hopefully I'll be able to sell some more stuff! Fingers crossed!

TABELLE'S JEEPUS* ADVENTURE!

- - Note: This is long. I warn you now. - -

I've got to be honest with you guys. I'm an adventurer at heart, but I very rarely put my adventures into practice. There are probably actual good reasons for this but mostly it's because I'm lazy, or scared to go places on my own, or because - lately, anyways- I have had this sneaky feeling that people who do not have jobs should not have too much fun.

Yeah, I know that's dumb. Trust me on that one. However, it followed the same thought pattern I once had that if I called into work for being sick, even if I wound up feeling 100% better halfway through the day, I shouldn't do anything that a sick person couldn't do. You know, like vacuum or run marathons. :)

At any rate, there was a part of me that figured that if I wasn't contributing something useful to the world, then I shouldn't go out and enjoy said world. Only recently did it occur to me that that was SUPREMELY STUPID. I have these bursts of realizations from time to time. Saves a bundle on therapy.

At any rate, I explain all of that to tell you that yesterday I was determined to leave my house for a while and have an adventure, even of the most benign variety. I decided I would find something interesting that I had never done before, grab the G.P.S., plug in the address, and just go. That probably doesn't sound very adventurous to you, but for me? Oh, my yes. Heehee. See, I don't go many out of the way places on my own, and I have only used the G.P.S. once, so I figured that I could go someplace completely unknown and kind of do a trial by fire thing with the Garmin. If a magic box with a voice and a satellite beaming down a map from space can't help me find a place, then there is no hope for me at all. Am I right?

So, I picked out a place that looked interesting and I went! I am SO glad I did!

I decided to visit Jerry Brown Pottery, in Hamilton, AL. I only recently found out that this place - and this man - existed, despite the fact that I'd seen his work on some Alabama tourism brochures. Please read this guy's website for the in depth stuff, because it is fascinating, but in short he is a 9th (!) generation potter from North Alabama who uses local clay to make beautiful, hand-thrown pottery at his own shop.

The drive down was surprisingly non-eventful, except for the fact that I somehow missed a turn in Decatur and wound up driving through quite a bit of residential area before finding my way back to the road I needed. Do you want to know what lies between Decatur and Hamilton, AL? Not an awful lot. I drove roughly two and a half hours down a stretch of highway that seemed to have no end. It wasn't a bad drive, just...empty. I had my Neil Gaiman novel playing on my iPod to keep me company and Sandy the robotic, Australian G.P.S. voice to talk to me, and I was good. Just past Russellville, I got hit with a rainstorm of epic proportions that actually scared me so badly that I probably should have pulled over, but there was no place to stop. I was on a twisty road running through some woods and the shoulder wasn't wide enough to pull over without getting hit my someone coming around a curve, so I soldiered on. Luckily, I got through it and found my way. At the last minute Sandy told me to turn right instead of left, and I literally wound up in someone's barn. I'm not kidding, I had to turn around in this person's barn and go the other way. Thanks, Sandy! At any rate, I found Mr. Brown's pottery place at last.

At first I wasn't sure it was open because there were no other cars around and an older-ish couple sitting on the porch. I pulled over to the side of the road and asked if they were open, and indeed they were (phew). It turned out that I was in the presence of Mr. and Mrs. Brown themselves! I was their first (I think they said) customer of the day and Mrs. Brown led me inside the shop. I don't know how many people get the same feeling I do when faced with art - good stuff, I mean, not like Damien Hurst and the giant, wooden bottle nipples favored by some of my college classmates- but that feeling struck me while I walked around the modest little room lined with shelves. Canisters, pots, plates, bowls and all kinds of things crammed the walls as well as tables that ran down the center of the room and I was just in awe of it all. That probably seems a bit of a grand statement, but it's an honest one, I was in awe.

I didn't take many pictures inside the store itself because I was just too interested in the pottery! This stuff isn't that pansy slip-molded stuff I learned how to make at community college. This was gorgeously hand-crafted, heavy duty, hand thrown pottery. I was cool at first, walking around and talking with Mrs. Brown, who takes care of the sales. She was a delightful woman and was so very sweet. Mr. Brown came in, because it had started to storm and he didn't want to get wet, and he was just a righteous dude. We talked a bit, I picked out a bowl to take home, and Mrs. Brown said that if I wanted, she would show me the pottery shed and Mr. Brown would do a demonstration for me.

Of course I said I'd love to see it all and she took me around and showed me the kilns and the pottery wheel. She explained the process and told me where the clay came from and how it all worked. Unfortunately, the donkey wasn't anywhere around, but I'll catch up with him next time, I guess. I know that she didn't treat me any differently than she would treat anyone else that come by, but I thought it was nice that she still gave me the whole tour even though it was just me. Then she put on her apron and started making the clay balls that Mr. Brown turned into things. The way she threw the clay made it very obvious that she would be able to beat someone to death easily with her bare hands, so don't piss that lady off. :)

She handed over the clay balls to Mr. Brown, and that is where I completely geeked out.

This man took a plop of clay and made it dance. I know that probably sounds silly, but I have no other way to explain it. He had these giant, beautiful, gnarly hands that just...I don't know, just made magic.

I have a deep, deep respect for anyone who can make things. Not just make things, but MAKE things. There is a difference, trust me. I was literally open-mouthed hypnotized when he began spinning the clay. I've seen videos of people doing this, but I've never seen it done it in person and to watch the clay grow into these beautiful things was just, almost overwhelming. I got a little light headed watching him. I'm sure if you asked him, he would just tell you he was doing his thing, but he has to love what he does to be able to do it so effortlessly.

I asked questions and he answered them all. He told me jokes and asked questions of his own. He finished this one bowl (he made 8 or 9 while I watched) and asked me what the problem with it was. I couldn't see anything, but I guessed that maybe he didn't like the divot at the bottom - nope, he could fix that. Was it the fingerprints at the top? Nope, he could fix that. I asked what was wrong with it and he said "It doesn't have any 'nanner puddin' in it!" Seriously, he was a righteous dude.


I don't know how long I actually stood there and watched him, but I could have done it all day. I'm glad he didn't mind me taking pictures, because I wanted very badly to remember what he was doing. It was fascinating. While I was watching him work, I realized that THAT was what I wanted to do when I grow up. Not pottery, necessarily, although I would love to know how to do it. No, I realized that what I wanted to do is MAKE things. I'll give you a moment to roll your eyes at me. Go ahead, I know you want to.

........

OK, are you done? Good. We can proceed.

I realize that a person can't just decide to be an actual artist and expect to do it as a job, but watching him work made me realize that I'm really only happy when I'm creating things. I think that's why I liked my former job so much, because even though I was making signs, I was making them with my brain and with my hands. I'm not especially good at any one thing, but I want to be good at something. I want to be good enough that I can make things and people can take them and use them, and keep them and pass them down. That's what I want to do. Now I know. Anyone know how I can make it happen? :)

It had been raining very hard the whole time he was working, but when the rain let up, I realized I needed to head back home. I apologized for staying so long, but they seemed to enjoy having someone there. I got my bowl, got back in the car, and found my way back home.

It was a great day.

*I overheard someone talking about a "jeepus" the other day and couldn't figure out what they were talking about. It wasn't until they said "The jeepus couldn't find the way" that I realized they were talking about a G.P.S. I don't know if they really thought that's what it was called, or if it was just what THEY called it, but now I can't think of them as anything else!

OY VEY

While we were hanging out at the motel in Hattiesburg on our way back from Grandma's house, Steve and I were watching "The Fifth Element" on the crappy television set in our room. We probably wouldn't have stopped on that channel except that it was one of the few channels that worked and didn't dissolve into a fizz of snow and what sounded like microphone feedback.

During one of the commercial breaks, the longest and - I swear - most graphic "Male Enhancement Supplement" commercial came on and would not. Go. Off. It was only mildly embarrassing at first, because let's face it, I am uncomfortable watching a commercial of that kind with my father-in-law. As you know, I like to pretend that parents don't know about that kind of stuff, and no one can make me feel differently. Shut up! Don't even try, because I won't listen!!! Had it even been one of the less... descriptive commercials, I probably wouldn't have cared, but it was awful. I looked at Steve and we both made awkward face and waited for the commercial to just be over.

However, the commercial kept on going. It also just got more descriptive. Mr. Lee was on his laptop, so there was hope he wasn't hearing it, but we knew he could hear the TV because he had asked a question about the movie we were watching. The commercial had gone on long enough for me to begin to worry that somehow the dodgy cable had switched channels on us and we had landed in the middle of an infomercial or one of those "Real Sex" documentary shows. Steve and I left awkward behind and cracked up, only we were trying hard not to laugh out loud so that Mr. Lee wouldn't know we were laughing about the commercial.

In reality, the commercial probably didn't last more than 2 minutes, but from my point of view, we might as well have switched on one of the bad, late night Cinemax movies. I'm not kidding, that commercial was...too much.

I'm so glad my father-in-law had enough class not to make a joke. I might have simply died on the spot.

BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: FAMILY REUNION 2010

SUNDAY/MONDAY - AUGUST 1 & 2

CONROE, TX - HUNTSVILLE, AL

I decided to consolidate these entries because mostly we just drove.

When we were getting ready to leave Grandma's house yesterday, after another giant breakfast, she kept telling us she didn't want us to go. Actually, she said she would keep Mr. Lee and Steve, so I guess I was free to go. :P She cried, which made us all feel bad. :(

We got back on the road and I plugged back into my iPod and got out my yarn. Unfortunately, though, my wrists and hands were sore from all of the crocheting I had done earlier in the week, so I basically just sat and stared out of the window. We didn't make many stops this time, because I suppose we were just trying to get as far as possible before we had to stop for the night.

We did stop at the Louisiana welcome station, which is on another swamp, but the ramp through the area was closed.


I was walking around the side of the building to get some pictures of the lake, when something bumped my foot. I looked down and saw a locust that I'm sure would rival anything that flew during the plagues of Egypt.

And lo, God did smite the Louisiana Welcome Station
with a plague of big-assed bugs. Yea, verily.

Holy cow, ya'll, it was huge and it had come within an inch of jumping up my pants leg. I'm very grateful that it didn't, because I wasn't in the mood to freak out and strip down to my unmentionables in a public place. Ugh. I also kept running into a creepy janitor guy at the welcome station. I don't know if he was actually following me, or if I just kept getting in his way, but I was very glad Mr. Lee was nearby after Steve walked off without saying anything, because the guy kept talking to me. I now know three different uses for cattails, two of which could save my life during active combat, and that he was in Vietnam. I was glad to leave that place.

We probably could have made it all the way home, but we were very tired by the time we'd been on the road for a while and so we turned into a group of motels in Hattiesburg, MS to find a place to stay. Luckily, we found a decent place, but this is the same area we stayed in last year, and I get some bad juju vibes from this place. I don't know why, because I'm sure Hattiesburg is a lovely city, and I have no idea why I get so unsettled while I'm there, but that's the way it always is. It always makes me feel nervous when we stop there. At least we stayed in a motel that was decent and had indoor hallways. My biggest concern was that the room reeked of ammonia. It almost knocked me over when I stepped inside, although neither Steve nor his dad seemed to find it overpowering. Ugh.

We went out to dinner at a local Mexican place "Rio Grande" which was very good. I recommend it if you're ever in the area! We happened to see what was either a prostitute or a very badly dressed prom date while we were in the place, which caused quite a stir. I've seen a lot of things, but I've never seen that much ass on display in a family restaurant before...eeeesh. After that excitement, we came back to the hotel to get some rest. The ammonia smell was still thick, but there was nothing I could do about it. What was I going to do, call the front desk and complain that the room smelled too clean? I did happen to see some weird stains on the carpeting right outside the door that concerned me, but they stopped at our door. I fell asleep with the smell of ammonia in my nose and the sincere hope that no one had recently died in our room and the cleaner was just there to cover up the smell.

The next morning we got back on the road and made it home by about 3:00! I was glad to be home, but it had been a good trip!

BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: FAMILY REUNION 2010

SATURDAY - JULY 31

CONROE, TX - WILLIS, TX

**I am a swollen bag of food. My ruse didn't work and Grandma kept feeding us. I think I'm going to explode. Help Me.**

This morning I awoke with a lovely rash all over my face. Great. I see these people once a year, at most, and I wake up looking like I have some kind of flesh eating bacteria nomming on my face. At first I thought my skin was just having a bad day, but I didn't have pimples like this on even my worst adolescent moments, so I have no idea what is going on. I can only imagine what was said about me while we were at the reunion:

"Mommy, what's that?"
"It's called a leper, dear. In polite society, we shun them. Run along and play. DON'T LOOK IT IN THE EYES!"

Nice, huh?

After breakfast, (ugh) we got all dressed up and headed over to the big house where we had our family reunion!


For once it didn't come a flood while we were there, but the temperature got to be over 100. Needless to say, I stayed indoors almost the whole time. I spent most of my time talking to some lovely cousins about different places I could travel. They were older than me, so they've traveled more and I got some good advice. Now I have a few more places to add to my wish list! Yay!

After those cousins left, I sat in the living room and watched "The Adventures of Milo and Otis" with another cousin, who is 11 years old. His mom is either a vet or a vet's assistant, so he knows a lot about animals and told me all about the different kinds of animals on the movie and also about the animals that he has at home. I had to control my laughter when he happened to notice that neither the cat nor the dog in the movie had been neutered. He kept pointing testicles out to me! It wouldn't have been funny if he were doing it to be gross, but he was very matter of fact about it, almost as if he didn't think I knew what they were! :) I didn't laugh, though. Heehee!

After the reunion, we took a rather cheerful detour to look at Steve's grandpa's grave. Whee?

Then Grandma took us to this gigantic supermarket called H.E.B and it had a lot of interesting things in it.


We got a bunch of weird Mexican and Jamaican drinks. That should be interesting. Once we arrived back home, we had dinner, I did a load of laundry and now I'm writing this! We leave tomorrow morning, and so the adventure will then run in reverse. Onward!

BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: FAMILY REUNION 2010

FRIDAY - JULY 30

CONROE, TX

Today is going to be a rather lazy day, thank goodness. This will also be kind of random because nothing of real note happened today.

We started out with another giant breakfast. It simply does no good to tell Grandma we don't need that much food. She wants us to be stuffed at all times. It doesn't even do any good to put just a little on your plate and tell her you don't want any more, because she will literally hold the serving plate in your face until you take something. I'm going to try an experiment at our next meal to see if I can fake her out, but she's a wiley old bird... She will probably see right through me. I'm going to gain 15 pounds this weekend if she doesn't stop feeding us so much. She loves us, so I'll keep eating. I'd never hurt her feelings.

I've spent the last 3 days with the song "Me & Mrs. Jones" stuck in my head because someone planted it there on purpose. It's driving me nuts! I thought I had it on my iPod and if I listened to it, it would go away, but apparently I took it out of my play list. I used to think that person was my friend, but I'm not so sure of that anymore. :P

We didn't do a great deal (besides eat) today, but we went to Grandma's favorite Mexican restaurant and to a bookstore named Hastings. We don't have a place like it in Huntsville, as far as the range of stuff they carry, so we always try and visit while we are here.

Poor Mr. Lee! While we were out this afternoon, Steve, Grandma and I were sitting in the van waiting for him to come out of a store when a similar blue van parked next to us. The lady left her two kids inside while she ran in, so there was a girl in the front seat and a baby strapped into one of the middle seats. Mr. Lee came out of the store and headed right for the other van! Steve said "He's going to the wrong van." So I started banging on my window and yelling "MR. LEE! MR. LEE!" He got as far as opening the door to the other van before he realized it wasn't his. I'm sure the kids in the van weren't pleased, but he finally came back over to us and got in. Bless his heart! :)

After that, we've just been relaxing. I've been crocheting while everyone else watches TV. Steve put his leg over on me while I was trying to do a stitch and he kept bumping my arm, which irritated me, so I grabbed my scissors and cut a big bald spot out of his leg hair while he wasn't paying attention. I don't know how he didn't notice what I was doing, but it looks hilarious! What makes it even funnier, is that all he brought to wear is shorts! That'll learn him.

BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: FAMILY REUNION 2010

THURSDAY - JULY 29

METRAIE, LA to CONROE, TX

The first thing I did this morning was wake myself up by ripping my starfish necklace off of my body and screaming a curse word.

I was dreaming that I was being choked by a chain (for once, I'd like to be Slave Leia in this dream) and so I grabbed it and pulled as hard as I could, only to wake up and realize that I had ruined the beautiful silver necklace that Steve had gotten me from Tiffany's for my birthday several years ago. I didn't break the chain, exactly, but I stretched it over three inches and now I'm too afraid to wear it in case one of the links gives way. I started crying because I felt so bad! I hardly ever took the necklace off and I've never done anything like that to it, and now it's ruined. I also now have a "rope burn" across the back of my neck where I pulled the chain so hard. I don't know how I got it off without breaking it, but the clasp still worked when I hooked it back together. On the bright side, I can honestly say that Tiffany's Peretti collection has wonderful craftsmanship, so in case you were thinking about getting anything there, at least you know it won't break! Silver lining. :(

After we partook of the complimentary breakfast, I bullied the guys into taking me to the French Quarter of New Orleans! Well, I didn't actually bully them, but I did ask. I kind of felt bad because it was out of our way and in the opposite direction of where we were going, but they took me anyways! We didn't get to see much because A) It was a million degrees. I'm not sure that's even an exaggeration, it was grossly hot, and B) we still had a long way to go to get to Grandma's house. We walked down the south part of Jefferson Square and a short way down Decatur Street (I think). That was the first time I actually remembered to take a foot picture in New Orleans!

WHEE!

After that, we drove and drove and drove some more. We made a stop at a Store Outlet shopping center so that Steve could get some shoes and so we could have lunch, and then we went back out on the road.


I must really go into some kind of Zen place while crocheting, because before I knew it, we had crossed over into Texas. We stopped at the welcome center, per our usual, and I went out on the walkway over Blue Elbow swamp to take some pictures.


Mr. Lee joined me, but we didn't stay out long because it was really, very hot and humid out there. We didn't see any snakes this year, but we did see a big turtle! Amazingly, that was it for wildlife. When we went back inside, I SWEAR I saw George Lucas picking up maps. It looked too much like him not to be, but Steve said it wasn't. Oh, well, I'm going to pretend it was him. It makes a much more interesting story, doesn't it? :) On our way out, we got hit up for money from a man who "ran out of gas" and as usual, we gave him a bit. He probably didn't need it for gas, but it never hurts, I guess. Maybe it'll give us some good karma, right?

We got back on the road, and after a couple of hours, we finally made it to Grandmas house! She immediately fed us. I had to warn her before we actually made the trip that she didn't need to feed us so much, but she never listens. Oh well... After we visited a bit longer, I finally had to give up and go to bed. It had been a long, butt-numbing drive and I was just glad to be in bed.

BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: FAMILY REUNION 2010

WEDNESDAY - JULY 28

HUNTSVILLE, AL - METARIE, LA

This morning, Mr. Lee came and picked us up at the crack of dawn so that we could, once again, drive across the dirty south to visit Grandma!

The first leg wasn't exactly eventful, really. We stopped for breakfast at Mr. Lee's favorite breakfast spot, Hardee's, and made our way to Metarie, Louisiana, where we would be spending the night. I spent most of my time plugged into my iPod and crocheting, which really made the time fly by. I didn't realize we were already in Louisiana until right before we stopped at the welcome station. That place is strange! Well, the place isn't strange, but the ladies behind the counter all but tackle you to get you to sign their book. Creepy! I was also chagrined to see that they had repositioned the state-shaped sign to face the parking lot because it meant that I had to practically lay in the street to take my foot picture. Yeah, I got some strange looks for that this time.

It wasn't far to our hotel, which I'm sure is lovely most of the time, but right now it's next to an overpass under construction, and it sounds like it's in a war zone. Not to mention the torn up roads made it difficult for us to get around at first.

We had gotten to Metarie early in the afternoon so that Steve could go by one of the branches of his company and install some equipment for their network, so after we dropped off our luggage, Mr. Lee and I dropped Steve off at his building and went shopping together. It was kind of weird, because A) we didn't know our way around the town and B) he and I don't tend to spend a lot of time shopping together without Steve. It was fun, though! We stopped by a couple of stores that we don't have in Huntsville. I almost got him to stop at a Whole Foods, which I'm curious about, but we didn't need groceries - so we passed it by. : ) Then we went to a mall we found and walked around. THAT really was kind of weird. Malls are very women focused, which I've never really thought of before, so trying to find stores that we could go into together was difficult. It was fun, though. We walked around, I bought some Godiva, and he and I had dinner at P.F. Chang's, where our waitress was juuuuuuuust on this side of ignoring us. I'm going to chose to believe that she was just really busy, though!

It was after seven by the time we got back to the hotel, and Steve wasn't meant to be done until later, so Mr. Lee and I hung around the hotel and watched TV. Steve didn't actually get done with his work until after 10, so by the time Mr. Lee went and picked him up and they got back, the day was over.

Today I had to run an errand across town, and since it wasn't so darn hot I decided to pull the top down on my car. I also wanted to pull the top down, because I figured that it would help get some of the dog hair out.

I keep forgetting to take Lois to the car wash place and use one of their vacuums, and our upright is not conducive for vacuuming out a vehicle, so needless to say, the inside of my car is a grassy, furry mess.

As I'm driving, the dog hair starts to levitate and fly all around me. It wasn't so bad at first, since I wasn't going very fast, but as soon as I hit the highway, dog hair starts pelting me all over the face and sticking into my lip gloss. Also, my hair has begun to fly all over the place (I had forgotten my hat, you see.) By the time I made it to my destination, I looked like this -

- but with furry lips. It was very attractive. Luckily, I had a fold away brush in my purse that tamed the 'do before I went inside the store.

Unfortunately, I didn't have anything to help with the furry lips.

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) I think I may have a very weird problem. I'm afraid I'm checking my mail multiple times a day without realizing it. What I mean by that is when I go out and check the mailbox, I get the feeling that I might have already been out there to check it that day. That in itself isn't weird, I guess, because lots of people go to the mailbox more than one time a day if they didn't find anything in there the first time they checked, but I'm starting to get the suspicion that I've checked the mail, actually GOTTEN the mail in some instances, and yet still go out there to check again later. You'd think I'd remember, especially if I've actually already taken the mail to the house, but almost every time I go out there now I get the feeling that I've been out there already. The only proof I ever get that I haven't checked the mail is when there is something in the mailbox, but I wish I didn't have a brain block when it comes to whether or not I've been out there already. What if I'm actually doing this? What if the neighbors see me walking to the mailbox and say "Wow, there's that woman again, looking in her mailbox. What is that, like, the 8th time today?" They probably think I've got some kind of crippling OCD and if I don't check the mailbox multiple times a day, I think the world will explode.

2) The other day Steve and I were heading home from church when we noticed a trashed up truck riding beside us in the other lane. There is nothing too weird about that, since we have to drive through a kind of skeezy area to get from church to home, but this truck was purposefully keeping up with us. Steve said "Uh, oh..." and I looked over to see the driver of the truck had the window down, his overly tattooed arm out pointing at the car and was staring in at us. I quickly turned my head forward, not knowing what the proper etiquette is for a situation like that and said to Steve "What do they want?" Because, of course, Steve would know, right? Anyways, I gathered up my courage to look back at the driver (because, if nothing else, I'd like to be able to give the police an accurate description of the man who drove us off the road and killed Steve with a pick-axe if it became necessary) and the guy smiled at me and yelled "NICE CAR!" and gave me the thumbs up, then they drove off. I simultaneously felt relieved and embarrassed for judging the guy in the truck. Obviously I didn't learn much in church that day. :(

3) There is another cat in our neighborhood, a giant Maine Coon, and it has begun creeping around our place. It won't let me pet him/her, and I don't know where it comes from, but I feel really sorry for it. I don't feel sorry for it like I did for Garry and Spot, because it obviously belongs to someone. I feel sorry for it because it is constantly, and I do mean constantly, being chased by 3 blue jays. I've never seen anything like it! The first time I noticed it, I thought that maybe the cat was near the jay's nest or something. But I can't imagine that is the case anymore, because I've seen that cat in three or four different places and the jays are always swooping down and chasing it! Steve's even seen it, so I know it isn't just me. It's so bizarre. What would cause three birds to constantly chase after a cat? What's even sadder, is that the cat is now so used to the birds that it doesn't even try and protect itself anymore. It just walks and lets the jays attack it. It's both funny and sad.

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) I did a little forensic investigating the other day and think I've figured out why so much of my neighbor's trash ends up in our yard! I happened to pass by their SUV the other day, and I saw that there was a trail of papers and things going from the back of it into our yard. Since I'm fairly certain they don't just sit in their vehicle and toss things out of the window, I am led to believe that they just have a junky car and they leave the doors open long enough for cross breezes to blow their crap into out of their car and into our yard! I mean, it doesn't account for everything we've ever found, but at least it explains some of it. They've moved down a few notches on my "List." Elementary, my dear Watson! (Just in case you are wondering, no, I'm not obsessed with the trash thing. I promise.)

2) Sara and I had a nice, girly day yesterday while she was hanging out on my side of town. We had lunch at Lynn's (which I recommend if you get a chance to go in. Yummy stuff!) We also went to the local farmer's market - which wasn't anything like I imagined it would be, and I forced her to go to Gigi's for cupcakes. Forced her, I say! :) Good times, noodle salad.

3) Steve and I recently bought a Sodastream. Basically, it's this gadget that allows you to make your own soda at home. It's been a lot of fun so far, and hopefully it will replace some of the bottles and cans we end up throwing away. Seriously, we have been a tree-hugger's worst nightmare with all of the glass and aluminum we throw away. The thing came with a sampler pack of soda syrups to try out, but most of them are kind of gross. They are made with Splenda, and I don't care what anyone says, that stuff is nasty. I don't like artificial sweeteners at all, and you can really taste it. However, some of them aren't that bad at all. My future plans involve learning how to make my own syrups and just use the machine to charge the water with CO2. If nothing else, it'll make soda water with no sodium in it, which is awesome. My favorite part of using the thing is the sound you get when you pull the bottle forward to unscrew it from the machine. It sounds like the space shuttle unhooking from the external tank! Very scientific. I am soon going to need a new kitchen just to store my gadgets, I think.

4) Speaking of impulse buys... I bought something the other day that is both sad and embarrassing. There was a night last week where I couldn't sleep at all and I spent hours on the computer just aimlessly browsing around. I was reading an article on Listverse (I think), and I followed a link to an "As Seen On TV" website. I promise you I wasn't looking to spend money on anything, and if I hadn't gotten to the point that I was getting kind of punchy and floopy because of lack of sleep, I wouldn't have even thought about ordering anything. Also, if the credit card hadn't been nearby, I probably wouldn't have used it either. It was like the universe pooled all of it's forces and tricked me into making this order. I ordered a pair of Pajama Jeans. *SHAME* It was like I was hypnotized! I opened up the link, and the video started playing, and my brain just, I don't know, took a leave of absence. I was like "Wow, they do look comfortable! They look like jeans, but they are made of DormiSoft (TM) fabric! Contrasting top stitching! They DO look like they were designed by some European designer! I need these! I need them now!" So I ordered them. Now that I've had sleep, I'm deeply ashamed of my lack of purchasing control. I have no doubt that they will be kind of cheesy, and probably end up being yoga pants with screen printed yellow stitching down each side, but darn it, I'm going to own my mistake. They haven't gotten to me yet, so I have to reserve complete judgment, but...Pajama Jeans? My hopes aren't that high.

5) I want to send out a request for prayers for my Aunt Brenda, if you please. She had a small accident and broke & dislocated her shoulder. From what I understand, she is doing OK, but I'm sure having a broken shoulder isn't pleasant. Also, we hope she doesn't have to have surgery to fix anything! Get well soon, Aunt Brenda!

6) I recently sent in a request to ITT Technical Institute for information on their Drafting program. It was the only place I could find in town that offers classes in AutoCAD, and I just wanted to see what was involved. Now the stupid recruiter keeps calling the house and I wish he'd stop until I get my brochure. You'd think that ITT Tech was more of some kind of cult than a school by the way they keep calling. Seriously, three times a day every day. Since I don't know what kind of questions to ask about the program yet, hence the request for a brochure, I don't answer the phone when they call, but it's getting really old. If they are this desperate for students, they are going about getting them in the WRONG way.

MY LAWN. GET OFF IT. NO SERIOUSLY. GET OFF IT.

This is a public service message: I am within an inch of becoming the crotchety old lady who wants the neighborhood kids to stay off her lawn. One day soon, I'm going to find myself out there, resplendent in a yellow rayon mumu, sitting on a ratty old lawn chair, and threatening children with a fly swatter while screaming unintelligible obscenities at them. This is my destiny. I can feel it.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to become that person, but I'm beginning to believe that I live around some of the most disrespectful people on earth and they are MAKING ME THIS WAY! See, I don't usually try to hold a lot of importance on material things. I mean, I don't want people trashing my home, of course. Stuff is just stuff and if something got damaged I might be irritated, but I don't think I'd unravel. I say all of that to you so that you realize that the way I feel now isn't a knee jerk thing. I'm simply and totally done with the jerkfaces next door treating my property without respect.

This has been going on a while. It was bad enough when we had the people next door who were obsessive about their own yard. When I say obsessive, I mean it. The dude had this fancy mower with the leaf bags attached that I swear he used every three days. He mowed his lawn in a plaid pattern! PLAID! Like a golf course is plaid. I wouldn't have been surprised to see the man down on his hands and knees measuring each blade of grass to make sure they were all the same size. He had no problem destroying our grass by letting the company who sodded his yard drive through our back yard, but he once asked Steve to sweep off his yard after Steve accidentally drove the lawnmower the wrong way and blew some grass onto his property. When that guy moved, and the new folks moved in, I was so glad to see that they were just normal yard people. However, I soon came to realize that while they weren't obsessive about their yard, that also meant that they didn't give a rat's ass about our yard either.

I'm sure I've mentioned before how when their kids were little, they'd throw toys over the fence to our dogs. That was irritating, but not a huge deal. I like to think they were just sharing with our boys. Of course, stuffed animals led to toy cars (and I swear Butler actually ate one) then to hand tools that our dogs would destroy, all the way to really large things like the netting that went around the sides of their trampoline and blankets. That's when I realized that they weren't giving things to our dogs to play with, they had turned our back yard into their personal dump. However, they were kids and kids do dumb things. I could dig that. We threw away all of the stuff they put in our backyard, didn't say anything and soon the large objects stopped getting thrown into our backyard. The junk stopped, but the trash soon appeared in our front yard. At first it wasn't a big deal, just a candy wrapper or something like that, but it got worse. I probably wouldn't have ever noticed at all, if I hadn't started accidentally hitting things with the lawn mower. It's one thing to pick up a random ice cream wrapper or the occasional chip bag. It's another thing altogether to pick up a million scraps of paper that have shot out from under the LawnBoy! I probably should have checked the side yard for debris before mowing, but I swear, I'd never see the stuff in our yard until I was right on top of it.

Here is an illustration of the problem: Please excuse the crudity of this model,
I didn't have time to build it to scale or to paint it.

You can click on that to make it bigger, but that is the gist of what I'm talking about. I never see trash in their yard, only ours. I know it isn't our trash, because A) we don't eat or drink things in our side yard and B) it's just freaking THEIRS. Of course, there isn't that much stuff in our yard at a time, at least not unless I don't see the trash before I hit it with the lawn mower, and then it goes everywhere. I've also been hitting some pretty large limbs in our yard, and those are almost impossible to see if they are buried in the grass. As you can see in my drawing, we don't have a tree in that part of our yard anymore.

I know how I sound, and honestly, I realize that I shouldn't be as irritated as I am about all of this. I mean, kids are kids and they don't always think. However, it isn't just the kids, and I know this because I happened to look out of the window while the dad was mowing his lawn the other day. I kept hearing this terrible sound, but I didn't know what it was. I looked out and saw the dad pushing a lawn mower on the strip of grass next to our yard. Their giant tree (labeled Happy Tree) drops limbs and sticks like crazy and he was running over them with his push mower. I watched him as he walked around his lawn mower, picked up a big stick and tossed it into our yard. I was kind of like "What?" I know they are just sticks, but that is the base of the problem. Neighbor guy throws things he doesn't want in his own yard into ours, so I'm guessing that the kids think it's acceptable behavior. It isn't even really the sticks and the trash that make me mad. It's the fact that they seem to have no respect for our property. I'd no more throw a stick in someone's yard to get it out of my own than I would knock over someone's garbage cans. It's just trashy behavior, and that is what bothers me. I don't care if the kids come into our yard. Heck, they could have picnics and pony rides there if they wanted, as long as they clean up after themselves (and the pony) when they are done.

Of course, I'm not going to say anything because when it all boils down, it isn't a big enough deal to either embarrass or anger our neighbors. We don't really know them at all, and I don't want their opinion of me colored by a bout of hysterical weepings and raving about trash. I will continue to return the hastared soccer balls that wind up almost weekly in our back yard, and we will just keep picking up (or running over) trash that winds up in our front yard. Why? Because I'd rather not have some petty neighborhood Hatfield and McCoy type thing happen because our neighbors are slobs. I'm just going to "do unto others" on this and just complain about them on my blog! I'm allowed to do that here, right? :)

Now, I've just got to find a yellow rayon mumu and I'll be all set.

MORE RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) The lights went out in our church sanctuary today. At first I thought that the lights were off for some actual reason, but apparently it was just a problem with the lights themselves. We had sound, we had video, we had air conditioning (thank goodness) but no lights. We had church services in the dark! It was difficult not to fall asleep like that, though. Two people actually had to leave before preaching started because it was making them sleepy. I didn't fall asleep, but it was touch and go there for a while. My mind kind of wondered off, I guess. It isn't as if our preacher is boring or anything like that, but I must have the attention span of a rubber band or something, because my brain goes off on tangents while he's talking. It isn't just when he preaches, though. A couple of weeks ago we had a guest speaker during the night services. He had arranged for a sort of worksheet type thing to be printed on the back of the bulletin so that we could fill in blanks and take notes while he was speaking. I thought that was great, because I figured that if I had something to follow along with, I probably wouldn't get lost and start day dreaming. Unfortunately, I somehow got behind whatever he was saying, and by the time the service was over, I had a quite respectable stick figure "Pirates vs. Ninjas" battle going on at the bottom of the page. :( That kind of thing is what happens when I'm required to sit still and quiet for too long. Someones going to have to put me on Ritalin before it's all said and done.

2) I have a Tumblr site brewing called White Owl Treasures. I haven't done anything with it yet except pick a template. I've got an idea that I think might be somewhat interesting, but it will be kind of tedious putting it all together. I have come into possession of a lot of really awesome antique things. Things I never bothered to look at closely until I wasn't working. My mom gave me a stack of old postcards that she had stored in an old White Owl cigar box. I have always known that she had them, but had never bothered to read them. They are all from early 20Th century (between 1904 and 1907) and they all belonged to someone named Eleanor Clements from someplace in New Jersey. This person wasn't a member of my family, so I have no idea why we have the cards, but they are interesting. I want to scan them and put them up for people to see! I also have a few other things I found in other cigar boxes, so it'll just be a curio site for people who like old stuff, I guess. I don't know, maybe it will be boring, but I'm going to try it out and see how it goes!

3) I finally learned how to pronounce "vuvuzela!" I kept reading the word in articles about the world cup and hearing the God forsaken sound, but never heard anyone actually pronounce the word until last week. Unfortunately, by the second or third day of knowing the word, my pronunciation of it had degraded to "vuvuzilla." After that, all I could picture was a giant, plastic horn trampling on Tokyo.

4) I can't sleep. I had a headache before church tonight and took some Excedrin. That was at 4:45 and I'm still wide awake! My body is tired, but my brain is not. I'd go to bed anyway, but I'd just end up tossing and turning and probably annoying Steve. Sigh.

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) I hate going to the gym. I hate it SO much...it's like flames, on the side of my face, FLAMES... I only go so that my doctor can say "Oh look, your cholesterol level isn't currently at DEFCON 1! Congratulations!" My cholesterol level is one of those hereditary things that diet won't do much to control, so exercise is my only option unless I want to take meds for it. Granted, swallowing a pill everyday is less daunting than going to the gym, but probably less damaging for my liver. My knees, my feet, my back and everything else will implode, but darn it, my liver will be pristine! If that is the case, at least the liver will be able to go to a good home after the rest of me is dead from exhaustion. Silver Linings!

2) Steve and I got the Lego Harry Potter video game and we are having a lot of fun with it. I don't play a lot of video games, but I love the Lego ones for some reason. They are just so silly! I guess we must be playing a bit too much of it, though, because the other night all of the people in my dreams were Lego people. It was weird.

3) Yesterday I found a corset I bought a couple of years ago and thought I might have finally found the first piece for my Steampunk costume! I was in the process of trying it on when I encountered a problem. I couldn't figure out how to close it. It wasn't an actual corset, like one you'd wear as underwear, it was one that I suppose is supposed to be worn as a shirt (gotten during a shopping spree of questionable taste at Hot Topic.) It doesn't lace up, it zips up. So I'm standing in my bedroom for a long time all but cursing at the stupid thing trying to figure out how to hook the thing together so that the zipper could be closed. Turned out that I had the stupid thing on upside down. :( This doesn't bode well for my Steampunk career, does it? Back to the drawing board!

4)This video makes me happy!

Hello, Sweetings!

I am getting ready to hit the gym for the first time in about a month (don't judge me) and I thought that while I was indulging in my pre-workout hydration routine, i.e. drinking a bottle of water, I'd tell you about our glorious long weekend!

Part of our wonderful Georgia family, the McGee faction (Hi, guys!), came to visit for the Independence Day holiday this year. They haven't been to our home in 3 years, as I've mentioned before, but it's been even longer since they brought the kids. In fact, their son had never even come to visit us, although their daughter came once when she was 1 (she is 9 now and almost as tall as I am.) They got here on Friday night and we spent a while visiting, but after a few hours of driving they were tired and needed some sleep, so after talking their ears off for a while Steve and I let them finally go to bed.

Saturday was set aside for the fam to visit the Sprocket and see the infamous Star Wars exhibit. I declined to join them, for reasons we all know and appreciate. However, I had some errands to run and Steve wanted to go and see it again, so they weren't bereft of a Pratt for the day. They said they had a lot of fun and enjoyed everything a great deal, and I'm glad. Sean got to first-bump Darth Vadar, which he was very excited about, and Katie (Kat, Kate) managed to construct a magnetic Lego car that completed the path without stopping. Steve and I had tried that when we were there together, but couldn't figure it out. Yay, Katie (Kat, Kate). Once they returned, we finished out the day with a cookout. Steve did us all proud. I think even the cows would have thought the steaks were delicious. :)

Sunday we took the McGees to Bridge Street, our local frewfraw shopping center. We knew that they would be having fireworks that night, so we planned to spend the day walking about and shopping. Unfortunately, we realized a bit late that we were way to early to stay until the fireworks, and there is only so much looking around and shopping that people can do! We had lunch, and after an unfortunate blue sno-cone incident, we went home for a bit so that Amy could change clothes and so I could fall asleep in my comfy chair. We finally headed back out closer to the time of the fireworks show and went to Steve's work, which had a great view of the fireworks. I LOVE watching fireworks! The bigger the better! :) The show was great and we ended the day at Waffle House, which is the way good evenings with friends should end.

Monday was the McGee's last day with us, so we went to lunch with Mr. Lee so they could visit a while and then they headed home. Steve and I went home and fell asleep! It was a great weekend and we were glad they could come and visit.

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) The house; she is clean. Well, relatively clean, anyways! I've been preparing for a visit from Amy, Jon and their kiddos, and I decided I didn't want to subject them to the layer of filth that Steve and I live in on a daily basis. Ok, it isn't so much a layer of filth as it is a layer of dog fur, but still...it's gone now. However, I want to apologize in advance just in case one of the kids gets lost in an avalanche of art supplies in my office. We will be spending our long weekend with the McGees, finding adventures in exotic Huntsvegas! Amy and Jon haven't been here since 2007, when they came to my college graduation, so we're excited! Hopefully it will be a lot of fun for everyone! :)

2) I'd like to thank all of my friends for not making me go and see Eclipse. I just don't think I would be able to endure it. I know, I know. I have no room to judge since I've neither read the books nor seen any of the movies other than the first one, but I'm going to do it anyways. BOO! Also, I've volunteered to read the books so I can make fun with authority! My sister is supposed to lend me her copies. However, I've begun to regret that decision. Life is too short to read bad books. Am I right? No offense to those out there who liked the books, but the little bit I read of the first one made it clear it just wasn't my cuppa.

3) The job search is still not going anywhere. I'm still looking, though. I'm hoping that I'll see a listing and a light will just go on in my head and I'll hear angels go "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh" but I don't really expect that to happen. I've decided that I must have gotten the most useless degree on the face of the earth, or I just didn't learn anything I can use in this town. I'm an artist in a technical town. Oh, well. There was a job opening down in Montgomery that sounded good, but I don't think I can commute that far! I suppose I should have just become a doctor. Everyone needs one of those, right? You guys would trust me to do surgery on you, wouldn't you?

NOT SO LONG AGO, IN A MUSEUM NOT SO FAR AWAY...

Last night, Steve and I attended the premier event of the new exhibit at the Sprocket. It wasn't open to the public yet, but we bought special tickets back in February so that we could get a look at it early.

I'm not going to lie to you fine people, I really wasn't sure I wanted to go. If the tickets hadn't been so expensive, I wouldn't have gone.

I suppose that to some of you it just seems kind of dumb and cowardly for me to feel that way. However, I beg of you to please realize that I don't have a great deal of confidence in myself on the best of days, but I especially don't have any when it comes to situations where I've endured stress. I kind of just internally crumple into a heap, stick my fingers in my ears, and sing "LALALALALALALALALALA" until the moment passes. It's not a great way to deal with things, but sometimes it's the only way. Don't judge me.

One reason I was worried about going back to the Sprocket was because I was afraid of how people would react to seeing me there after the mess of me getting fired. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting to be thrown out or to be spit on. I guess I was more worried that people would just be painfully awkward if I walked up and talked to them (horrors, because I hate the awkward) or even worse, just not care at all. I know how that sounds, but I can't think of anything worse in this type of situation than realizing that I was way more invested in friendships or acquaintances than the other people were. You know, thinking "Oh, there is my friend! I've missed them so much! It will be so good to see them and catch up! They are so awesome!" and then rushing to see them, or even just trying to keep in touch with them, only to realize they are pretty much indifferent. I've had that happen to me before and it's kind of horrible. I tend to take my friendships to heart, and it's always painful when I realize that other person doesn't feel the same way. I usually end up trying too hard, emailing or calling too much or whatever, and I don't realize until it's too late that I'm pretty much just sort of a chore to the other person. It's sad. I'd rather not be be friends with someone at all, if that were the case.

I was worried that I'd get there, all excited to see people I'd worked with and liked a great deal and they'd be all "Oh, you were gone? I never noticed. I'd love to seem interested in your life, but I've got no desire to do so. Tell you what, I'll give you a call when I can take the time to care, OK? Um, well, see you later!"

I was also worried that I'd run across my former bosses, the ones who were so unfair to me (and whatever else happened, they WERE unfair to me) and I'd have to deal with that. I wouldn't want to be nice to them, but I also wouldn't want to be rude either. I can do the whole fake polite thing if I have to, but I don't like it. It makes me feel reddish-brown inside. Trust me, that is not a pleasant feeling. I think I was more worried about seeing them than anything else. It's kind of an offshoot of what I explained above. It's what happens after you find out that someone you liked and respected didn't feel the same way at all. There is embarrassment and awkwardness, and in this case, wanting to beat them with a stick and tell them how much they suck.

To take everything I have just written and put it in a nutshell: I was being a coward.

I recognized that I was being a coward about 5 minutes before we left for the event. I actually had to take a moment to sit down and talk to myself about it. Stupid, I know, but I did it. I had to remind myself that whatever happened, however the people treated me, I would just go and have a good time, and smile. If people I thought were my friends didn't care I was standing in front of them, then I could forget those guys. I don't work with them anymore, after all, right? If people acted awkwardly, I would just be anti-awkward. I'd be so anti-awkward that it would only make them more awkward! It is my belief that you can't help who you love or care about, when it all comes down to it, and if someone doesn't feel the same way...it's their loss. If I came across my former bosses, I'd be just as nice as I could be. I'd already let them completely pull the rug out from under me once, but I wouldn't show it. It was a truly rare moment of self possession for myself and I have no idea where it came from. I felt 100% better after that.

In the end, everything turned out fine! The exhibit was very cool, I never once came across my former bosses, I got hugged by several people I wouldn't have expected it from and I got to talk to a lot of people who seemed genuinely glad to see me! There were some awkward people who didn't look me in the eyes at first, but I stood there and made them talk to me until they loosened up. Not bad at all. Steve and I had a wonderful time, and everything turned out great. Now, if could just figure out where that well of self-confidence came from so that I could use it again, that would be awesome.

I had no idea how tense I had been about going back to the Sprocket until I woke up this morning. I mean, I knew I was worried about it inside my head, but I felt like I'd been carrying around a weight that I finally got to put down. Closure can do that, I suppose. Closure is wonderful.

I also think that, after last night, I may have reached a zen point about losing my job. I don't know where that came from, either. I'm still sad I lost it, because I have a lot of friends there and I loved doing the job, but I finally feel like there might have been some kind of universal reason I was let go. Now that I know I still have my friends there, and they haven't disowned me or forgotten me yet, I feel so much better. I'm sure they'll forget about me sooner or later, but hopefully something about me will stick with them. I know they'll stick with me. I don't mean to sound all "Self-Help Book" about it or anything like that, but there was a part of me that felt like I had my skirt caught in a car door. I could twist and pull, but it wasn't going to get free until I opened the door and pulled it out. I feel like I did that. Now I've just got to figure out where to go next.

So, now you know what kind of insecure and neurotic little beastie I am. I hope you can still love me anyways. If you can't, it's your loss, right? ; )

PS: You want to know the funniest thing? We got there well after the ribbon cutting ceremony had ended, so I didn't get to see Carrie Fisher. I was hoping I'd at least get to see her, or hoping that she might have been signing books or something somewhere, so I asked Anthony if she was still around. Turns out, she never showed up! The damned reason I was fired was because I told people she was going to be there and she didn't even come! I have no idea why she wasn't there or anything, though. maybe it was scheduling, maybe it was some kind of family thing, but oh, y'all...that was just the icing on the cake. That, if nothing else, helped me find my zen. I hope Ms. Fisher and her loved ones are OK, but I'd like to publicly thank her for not coming. She probably won't read this herself, but if the same tattle-tale bastards from LucasArts who got me in trouble to begin with find this blog again, maybe they'll pass on my message to her.

Me and my homeboy, Chewbacca. Steve also found a mistake in this part of the exhibit. The little sign next to Han Solo's costume said it was worn in "A New Hope" but apparently Han Solo wore blue pants with red stripes in that movie. These were brown with yellow stripes. Leave it to Steve to catch that. Also, I'd like to thank the high intensity halogen light for making me look like a person molded out of cottage cheese.

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) Well, tomorrow night I will be heading back to the Sprocket to see the special exhibit we bought tickets for back in February. Unfortunately, flash photography is a no-no, so I won't be able to get a picture of my foot with anything. Boo. I'll be glad to see some of my friends, though. I can't believe how much I've missed them! Of course, they are going to be busy, but hopefully I'll get a chance to wave at them at least. Also, this isn't going to be awkward at all. No...not at all. Yep. Oh, don't get me wrong, I have no illusions that anyone I once worked for will give a rat's ass if I'm there or not, but I'm going to certainly be uncomfortable. However, I promise to be on my best behavior. I won't even give anyone the bird when their backs are turned, you have my word. :)

2) I'm sure you'll be relieved to hear that my eye is all better. Even if you don't care a bit about my eye, I'm sure you'll be happy that I won't be talking about it anymore! My main issue at the moment is that I still have a vial of eye drops, but I have no idea when I'm supposed to stop taking them. Most medicine tells you how long to use it, but this didn't have it on the packaging. I realize I could call the doc-in-the-box and ask, but I think I'll just use it till it's gone, to be on the safe side. Also, I had to throw away a brand new pair of contact lenses, all of my eye makeup, and two very nice makeup brushes just to be safe. Now I have to replace them! Dangit. I realize I could just stop wearing eye makeup or something, but...*sniff* I like being girly! Also, without eye makeup, I look like a turtle. That may not make sense to any one of you, but that is only because you've never seen me without eye makeup.

3) Sometimes I think about the really crappy things that have been happening in my life over the past three years and wonder if it is all a part of some kind of test of character. If so, I sometimes wonder if I'll pass it. I hope so.

4) Yesterday I had to drive across town. I needed to go to Best Buy to get a new iPod case because the one I have been using disintegrated a while back. I even patched it up with Duct Tape and it's still falling apart! I decided to make a run to the mall to return something while I was out that way, and when I walked outside, it was so hot that I completely forgot about going to Best Buy. No, I'm not kidding, the whole reason I was out that way was to go to Best Buy, but the heat made me forget about it. It wasn't till I got home and pulled out my iPod that I remembered. Stupid heat. Stupid summer!

5) Steve actually killed a spider, all by himself. We should be proud of him! Go Steve!

PARTY DOWN!

I've spent today (Friday) and I'll spend most of tomorrow at my mom's house taking care of my brother while mom and her husband go on an anniversary trip. They were married two years ago on June 20th. That seems to be a popular day to get married! It has been really quiet here most of the day. I mean, Tommy doesn't say much after all, you know. Heehee. We spent most of the day just watching cartoons! :)

Being here is creepy because her neighborhood is really quiet, I'm not familiar with her neighbors, and the property backs up on some woods. When the dog barks, I don't know if she's barking at someone who lives around here, or a bear. Honestly, I hope it's a bear. I think I can handle a bear. I believe I've lost my edge when it comes to living out in the country! I used to not be bothered with all of the quiet and even though I live in the suburbs now, there are still more lights and sounds than there are out here. Thank goodness this house isn't as isolated as the one I grew up in, though! I really would be freaked out right now.

Owing to the quietness, I have been extra goofy online today, so if I've emailed you, written something odd on Twitter, or commented on your Facebook status or photos with some kind of weirdness, I apologize. I'm just trying to stay sane. I'm not quite to the point of cabin fever just yet, but I do what I have to do to keep myself occupied.

My eyes are doing much better, and thank you to everyone who was concerned about me! I appreciate it! My right eye is still swollen a bit, but I don't look like I went a couple of rounds with Muhammad Ali anymore. The drops I've been using make my eyes itch like crazy, though, so I have to be careful not to scratch or rub them. If I do, I have to immediately clean my hands. I am not contagious anymore, but I think I now have a germ phobia and it just makes me feel better if I disinfect myself on a regular basis.

Other than that, things have been a bit lonely. I'm tough, though. :)

This is what I look like right now. Very attractive, I must say.


Also, looking at stuff hurts. I had no idea the sense of sight could actually hurt, but it does.

Now, if you will excuse me, I've got some disinfecting to do. Do you think it's possible to boil the couch?

EYE EYE, CAP'N!

I woke up this morning and one of my eyes was acting weird. I couldn't open it at first, and when I finally managed to get it open, I couldn't see clearly at all. I thought I might have forgotten to take out my contacts before going to bed and one of them was folded or something, but after I thought about it for a second, I remembered taking them out.

As the day went on, my eye got weirder and weirder. Tears were running out of it like crazy and I would have spells where I simply couldn't see out of my right eye. It was irritating. I finally decided that I would head to the doc-in-the-box and see (heh) what was wrong with me.

It didn't take long for me to get called back, thank goodness, but I sat in the room for nearly two freaking hours waiting on the doctor. She was in there with me for less than three minutes! AHHH! I know she was probably busy with people much worse off than me, but come on...less than three minutes? After waiting two hours, I deserved at least five.

At any rate, she told me that my eye was infected and that I had pink eye. Yay. I have no idea if she meant that my eye was infected AND I had pink eye, or if pink eye is just another name for having an eye infection. Gross. She put me on 2 different antibiotics and now I feel like a walking petri dish. Seriously, I've never had pink eye before, but I know it's contagious, and now I feel like everything I've touched today needs to be boiled. I feel germy, even though I've been as careful as possible about using hand sanitizer and washing my hands. My eye is bruised looking and pretty much swollen shut, so it looks like I have a black eye, too!

The fun never ends.

NOT EVEN ONE FOOL

Last night, Steve and I decided to go see "The A-Team" on the fly. He had mentioned wanting to see it before it came out and I was kind of just humoring him by going, since almost everything I had heard about the movie was bad. Don't get me wrong, I'm not snobbing it up here. I'm not above seeing a movie based on a TV show that I wasn't really crazy about as a kid, I just mean that I was kind of indifferent about this movie & could have waited to get it from Netflix or something.

I'm SO glad I didn't wait. It was actually a really good movie and I think seeing it in the theater was part of the charm of the thing.

Movies like this, the ones that trade mainly on nostalgia, are usually unsuccessful for two reasons:

1) New actors usually can't recapture whatever elusive quality it is that made the original character so endearing. Any fictional person from television or movies is usually 10% what the writers put in the script and 90% what the actor themselves does with it. Any beloved character from a television show usually become beloved because something about the way they are played strikes a chord with the watchers. If you doubt me, try putting Scarlett Johannsen in the role of Lucy Ricardo. Bless her heart, I don't care if she won a Tony or not, she'd never be able to BE Lucy Ricardo the way Lucille Ball was. Plus, she'd be upstaged by her boobs before she uttered one sentence of dialogue. In the case of this movie the same thing applies, but amazingly the new actors pulled it off better than most. By that I don't mean they successfully mimicked the old actors, but that they took the characters and made them likable on their own terms. You will never be able to replace Mr. T as B.A. Barrakas (?), but Rampage Johnson played B.A. in a way that makes you not mind so much that they share the character. The same goes for the other three guys and though I will never understand in a million years how Liam freaking Neeson was put in the role of Hannibal, I can't say he didn't do a good job at BEING Hannibal.

2) Remakes of well known and well loved television shows, especially ones with rather far fetched premises, usually become caricatures of whatever they were originally. The movie makers tend to amp up whatever it was that made the show unique and WAY overdo it, either making it ridiculous or too campy. In this instance, the movie was neither. I don't know if it was smart writing or what, but they could have really overplayed everything and it would have ruined both the movie and the memory of the show. Surprisingly, they didn't rely too heavily on any one thing about the show that could have made the movie overdone. Don't get me wrong, they added in things from the original show and made references, but it didn't shout into your face "HEY! HEY! I'M REFERENCING THE TV SHOW YOU LIKED SO MUCH! SEE?! SEE?!" I mean, they had explosions, chases, and disguises but they were necessary in the context of the story. There was even a montage, but it was a subtle montage. In this day of practically everything being a remake of some kind, and usually not great ones, I'm impressed at the restraint.

Now, these things don't mean the movie was perfect in any way, or would replace the idea of the original. The movie had it's weak points, too. Jessica Beal, who plays pretty much the only female character of importance in the film was...well... I mean, she's so pretty. Not so great with the acting, maybe, but very pretty. One of the bad guys was just irritating. I think maybe he was supposed to be, but the actor who played him made me decidedly stabby. I don't know what it was about him, but if I could have personally beaten him with a pipe wrench, I would have. Also, and this was my biggest disappointment, B.A. Barraccas didn't even pity one fool. Not one. The line was referenced, but never said. I'm sure that had something to do with not making it campy and overly referential, but still. I wanted him to pity a fool.

So there you go. This movie will definitely not win any Academy Awards and will probably be a movie you can find in the Wal-Mart movie bin for cheap, but I recommend it. It is probably one of the few remakes that successfully captures the idea and tone of the original, without also completely urinating on your fond memories of sitting in front of the TV watching it. If you need to turn off your mind and watch some good, explody action, you could definitely do worse.

EDIT: I realize that I just wrote a rather long and wordy review of The A-Team movie. I apologize. Seriously, I need to get a job.

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) Wow, bible school made me tired. I'm not kidding! All I did was work the sound system and take pictures, but just being around those children was exhausting. I would go home at noon with full intentions of doing something productive and wind up falling asleep. Kids are tiny energy vampires, that's the only explanation I have. :) I feel kind of bad about this, but I believe that some people I go to church with think I actually hate children, which is completely untrue. I like kids fine, but I'm not patient with them. I'm also not a great teacher or babysitter because of the patience thing (I've tried), and I don't want kids of my own, so I think people pull that together and believe I can't stand them. Hopefully I dispelled a bit of that this week. I even held a baby, which everyone knows terrifies me. Babies are so...squishy and floppy and I'm so clumsy and gooey stuff shoots out of them and they scream and cry when I try to hold them. They can smell fear. I wouldn't have agreed to hold this one, but I decided that if I didn't go ahead and do it, the mother of this child would ask me every week until I broke down and held it. He didn't scream, but I didn't hold him long.

Actually, it all wound up being kind of fun. I got to know some of the youth kids better, which is nice. One of them called me "ma'am" though, so he is automatically dead to me. I know that technically I am old enough to be a ma'am, but it is still jarring to be reminded of that fact! Some of them thought I wouldn't know the music they liked and disapprove of the places they shopped, which threw me. One of them said that they liked Hot Topic, and then said "You probably think that is some kind of devil store or something." Hello? Why would I think that? How old do they actually think I am? I mean, these kids and their rock and roll and their high top sneakers...geez.

2) The student pastor lent me his fancy DSLR camera and now I want one. I don't need one and it certainly isn't a convenient camera for me since I didn't know what most of the little knobs and switches do, but still. I took some pretty good photos with it for not knowing how much of it worked! I will not buy one. I will not buy one. I will not buy one. I do not need one. I will not buy one.

Maybe.

3) Two Saturdays ago Butler and Bear got into another one of their "Lets see how many pieces we can bite off of each other" fights outside. It was really, really nasty this time though. We heard a huge "WHAM!" against the back of the house and I had no idea what it was. I thought something outside had exploded, because it shook the house. I don't know how they did it, but it was the dogs fighting and they somehow hit our windows. I guess you won't understand why that is difficult to believe unless you know what are windows are like, but suffice it to say, they had to be airborne to do it. Steve ran outside to separate them, but he couldn't do it alone. Anthony happened to be over, so he and I ran out to help. I grabbed the water bucket and poured it over them, because that usually works, but it didn't this time. That scared me, and so I did the only thing I could think of and I whapped them with the bucket. That also didn't do a thing (except crack the bucket down one side.) It took all 3 of us to pull them apart, and it wasn't easy. By the time we had them separated, they were wet, bloody and edgy. It was scary. We brought them inside so we could assess the damage. Butler was covered in blood, but none of it seemed to be actually coming from him. He had a few bites on his ears and one on his front leg, but otherwise seemed OK. Bear had bites on his front legs (Butler's first attack zone) but they didn't seem to be very bad. We had managed to pull them apart fairly quickly, although it all seemed longer than it really was, so they didn't have much time to do a lot of damage. After feeding them and putting them to bed, we knew we'd have to keep a watch on them to make sure they weren't hurt worse than we thought. The next day we kept them inside in their kennels for most of the day, just to make sure. They seemed OK, except for the bites. During the following week, we noticed that Bear seemed to be fine, but Butler seemed to be acting strangely. He wasn't limping or bleeding, but he seemed...depressed or something. I know how dumb that sounds, but it was a noticeable change in his demeanor. We got worried that something might had gotten hurt internally, so we took him to the vet on Friday afternoon to make sure he was OK.

Now, our vet irritates me to no end. She's competent, but she's condescending as hell. I don't even think she realizes that she talks to us as if she was addressing a couple of mentally challenged 3 year olds, but she does. Every. Stinking. Time. We. Are. There. We waited in the lobby while they took him back (and of course by this time he seemed perfectly OK, so we seemed dumb when we said he'd been apathetic all week.) After a few minutes she came out to talk to us, or at us, rather. She said she couldn't find anything wrong except for the few bites he had and that he seemed fine to her. We tried explaining that he had been acting weird and she just kind of looked at us like she was thinking "Awww, isn't that cute. They didn't go to vet school and yet they think something is wrong wiff their widdle doggy." I'm sure she wasn't thinking that, but that was what her expression said. It made me want to punch her in the neck. Anyways, she said "Well, we can run a bunch of tests if you want, but he still seems fine to me. Let me take another look at him before we send him home, just to make sure." She went back to check him out and came back about three minutes later saying "I found out what is wrong with him!" Apparently during the fight, one of Butler's top canine teeth had been pulled out BY THE ROOT.

Gross.

Steve and I were kind of shocked, but it made sense. There was so much blood and we couldn't figure out where it had all come from. The reason he had been acting so strangely was that he was probably in a lot of pain! Poor Butler! A dog's canine teeth are deeply embedded in their gum with a very large root, so having one pulled out is kind of horrible. She said it didn't even seem to be broken off, simply pulled out. She said otherwise he seemed fine, so she gave us some antibiotics just as a preventative measure and we took him home.

I'm not going to lie. I really hate that Butler got hurt, I mean I really, really hate that. I also hate that he was probably in pain for most of a week and we didn't know it. However, there is an evil part of me that is glad the smarmy vet actually found something wrong with him which wiped that look off of her face.

Of course, now Butler is missing a lower left canine (product of breaking it while biting a rock) and an upper right canine (product of pulling it out while biting Bear.) He is now a full fledged hillbilly mutt! :)

AYE-AYE, CAP'N!

Greetings, dear friends! I'm currently writing to you from the sound box of my church where I will be spending the week as the Music Pirate (heh) for vacation bible school. :)

Yeah, I know what you're thinking: You and a bunch of screaming kids? Well, sort of. Basically I was asked to come for the week and work the sound and video system for the assembles. It's been kind of fun so far! I sit back here and try to keep up with our student pastor while he does the bible verses and sings with the kids. I'm also supposed to take pictures of the kids, but I forgot to take any before mid morning yesterday. Oops. I thought someone else was doing it, but I got a few pictures, thank goodness.

It's all very, very loud.

Everything looks great! The theme for this year is "High Seas" and I got a nifty t-shirt and a sailor hat to wear while I'm here. I'm quite adorable.

This morning I feel like utter yuck, though, because I had a major sinus malfunction after sitting outside and brushing Butler for a while. Brushing leads to breathing in fur, breathing in fur leads to allergy attacks, allergy attacks lead to suffering. Kind of like the dark side. In all honestly, I feel like I've been snorting broken glass and drain cleaner. Fun!

I mostly hung out with the youth kids yesterday since we were all in the same place waiting for the kids, and I was forcibly reminded of two things: #1. Teenagers make me feel old. #2. I pretty much have the mental level of these teenagers. It's like I'm in one of those bad 80's switching-bodies movies where a teenager switches bodies with their parents. It's all very disorienting. :)

Anyways, thing are about to start.

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) Wow. Do you remember several years ago when I did the experiment to decide which chocolate would give me the worst nightmares? I still say Godiva is #1, but I found a new #2: Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chunk cookies. Specifically the kind that you break apart and bake yourself. We had some last night for dessert and I guess I didn't realize how close to bedtime it was when I ate them. The nightmare I had was...horrifying. It wasn't about monsters or serial killers, but it was terrible just the same. I woke up in the fetal position and shivering. Ugh, I don't want to talk about it. Just don't eat those cookies before bed. That's my advice to you guys.

2) Sunday afternoon, Steve and I went to Sam's to pick up some drinks and stuff for church and I think I scared a sample guy. I don't tend to graze at the sample stands when I go there, but it seems as if I've got people all but tossing food at me the entire time I shop. Usually I just smile and wave them off, but at least wait until they are done talking before I walk away. However, this guy was persistent. See, I wasn't feeling well on Sunday, so I wasn't hungry and didn't want to eat anything that might make it worse. I didn't even know what he wanted me to try, but when he asked if I wanted some I just shook my head and walked a few steps past him. He said "Are you sure, it's 98 percent fat free?" I decided that there was only one thing I could do at this point, so I turned around and said "Why? Are you calling me fat?" I have never seen panic dawn on a person's face so quickly or completely as it did with this guy. He tried to back-step and his words were all stuttering and falling all over each other, so I felt bad! I told him I was just kidding and that I would take whatever he was giving out because I scared him. I'm just glad it was ice cream and not something disgusting.

I have no social skills.

3) Our weekend was lovely, thank you for asking. We had planned on taking a road trip on Friday, but realized that with the holiday weekend and the fact that school was out would make it unpleasant, so we nixed those plans and stayed at home. It was nice, though. We mostly relaxed, but we also worked on clearing out the closet in the guest room. It hadn't been cleared out since I've lived here, I think. Well, the top part of it anyways. We got quite a few things cleared out of the way, so now we have more room to store other things that we have no room for otherwise! Apparently, we straighten up by redistributing our filth. Oh well, at least our Hannah House/ King's Ranch donation bags are getting filled up faster this way. At least we aren't saving EVERYTHING!

4) Still no joy on the job front, but I am still looking. Right now, the biggest roadblock I'm finding is that most graphics jobs insist that you also know how to build websites and databases. I wish I had known that before I changed my minor. Of course, had I not changed my minor, I'd still be in school. I know I'll find something eventually, but is it weird that I feel completely guilty for not working? Steve isn't pressuring me to find anything right away and people haven't been bugging me about it like they did after I lost my secretarial job, but I still feel guilty. I mean, I have a college degree and I'm not doing anything with it! It don't have/want kids to stay home and take care of, so I guess I feel like staying home is cheating somehow. That's dumb, I know. Oh well, anyways, I'll keep you posted. :)

5) I'm redecorating the bathroom! It used to be decorated with dragonflies, but I'm switching it over to ocean stuff and mermaids. I weirdly excited about tying it all together. Most of the things I'm doing is just switching out nik-knacks and adding in a few DIY things, but it's fun. I'll post pictures when I get more of it done.

6) My sea monkeys are still alive and doing fine so far. Just FYI.