Bigger and Better

Sitting in my living room with my puppies (and one of my kitties) and enjoying the season premiere of Project Runway. It looks like it could be a good season. I just took an hour and a half nap somewhat inadvertently, I was supposed to be reading Middlemarch. Middlemarch is a 19th century novel by George Eliot (who is actually a woman, by the way). I really do like the book, but am just not getting through it fast enough for my book club. I need to press a bit more.

We got some great news at work today. I have mentioned here before we have lost a few people, and gone from a 9 person unit (1 supervisor, 2 helpers, and 6 newbies like me), to a 6 person unit by losing three newbies. As this happened it became more and more clear that something would have to give- no way the organization would let those three (actually four, since one was already empty) cubicles just stand empty. I was pretty worried the unit would get broken up, which would be bad mainly because it would mean losing my awesome supervisor. Well - today we found out that instead of getting broken up, we are getting three new members, also from my probationary class, and they are all people I like. They move in about three weeks and we will go on our way a full and theoretically secure unit for awhile!! The only bad part about this is that it complicates the gifts I was planning to give in about 6 weeks at the end of our probation. I was going to make blankets for everyone in our unit, because they have all commented that they like mine. But - while making five blankets seemed feasible, making 8 seems a bit over the top.

Anyways - thats my life here, its not bad. I am pretty relaxed at the moment which is always nice.

Eat it, Clean it, Dread i.

Good weekend here in Columbus. Relaxing, social, nice. Friday - Rented Shutter Island. This is a movie I wanted to see because I read the book about a year ago and thought "hey, this could make a really good movie." As it is, the movie is pretty good but not as great as it could have been. My main complaint is the music - very heavy handed 1970s style horror music pervades the film. It sort of throws the rhythm off, and to me destroys the very suspense it is trying to create.

SPOILER ALERT The biggest issue is that the movie puts you in the mind set that this is a horrow movie and there is something strange going on. The beauty of the book is that it appears to be a normal detective story for quite a while before strange things gradually work there way in and demand that it is more. The music basically takes away any aspect of surprise in the surprise ending. And now I need to type one more sentence so the last sentence does not jump out at people and spoil them anyways. SPOILER OVER

Anyways, it was a decent movie. Saturday morning I headed to the Worthington Farmer's Market with my friend M. I have not been to the farmers market or seen M in about 6 weeks, so it was a nice thing to get back to (we had been doing it regularly in May/June). It is certainly time for the farmers market, delicious produce abound. I got cherry tomatos (yellow and red), little yellow plumbs, and fresh cherries. After that it was a trip to the regular grocery store where I bought even more fruit- berries and mangos, so much goodness on sale.

Back at home I did some hardcore cleaning. I started by the TV in our family room - decluttering, dusting, vaccuming, and pushed my way south across the room with great effort. It took me three hours to thoroughly clean the family room. I moved into the kitchen with slightly less success, but still did a decent job cleaning up the kitchen.

After a day of cleaning, guests arrived for a game of Dread- a role playing game using Jenga as the decision mechanism (the tension grows as the game goes on...). We enjoyed the game, and then also added on some Rock Band.

Sunday morning it was time to sleep in! When I did get up, I baked a delicious Banana - Chocolate Chip cake (see Facebook), and then took a nice nap, spoke with my friend O who is living in England, and then headed up to my Grandma's where I spent hte evening with my Grandma, uncle, aunt, cousin, and two little second cousins. Good times!
Goals for the coming week? ENJOY not having anything planned, maybe get a little more cleaning done, and give the Dogs a bit of extra exercise. Hope everyone has a good week.

Four Years Ago Today

Four years ago today I was marrying DH, the love of my life, at Kiener Plaza in St Louis. I cannot believe it has been four years. This weekend in NJ we were totally "the old married couple", even though many of our friends there are roughly the same age. Even though many of our friends there have been with their significant others for the same time (8 yrs as of October). I don't mind being the old married couple. Its actually kind of of cool. Other people come to us for advice.

Over the past four years I have read and heard multiple ideas about what marriage is or what marriage does. I have read that married people are happier than singles. I have read that married people are no happier than singles. I have been told marriage is a warzone. I have been told we are too young to be married. I have been told that marriage is just a certificate. I have been told we are not married because we did not get married in a church or by a pastor. I have read that married people are healthier than singles. I have been told that married people are fatter than singles. I think I will pretty much ignore everything I have heard and go based on experience.

So, a quick (very quick as my break is almost over!) idea of what I think of marriage. Marriage is a promise followed by a daily choice to keep that promise. It is two people deciding to live in unity with each other so as to accomplish things, both material and immaterial, that they cannot do alone. Human's are social by nature, and good companionship brings great happiness. Here are my three rules for a good marriage (1) Be Honest (2) Don't take yourselves too seriously and (3) Admit it when you have been or are being an idiot/jerk.

This evening (no longer at work clearly, this is a multi-phase post), we decided to hit the high class and the low class. First we got all dressed up and went to dinner at Hyde Park, where we tried Japanese beef. Good good, good atmosphere, great service. Then, to counteract that a bit apparently, we went to see the A-Team. It was better than I expected, and we laughed a lot. Its been a great four years - here is to 46 more (good golly thats a long time!!!)

Jersey Lake Shore

I would really like to post an in-depth description of the past four or five days. It was a wonderful weekend. However, given the week I am returning to, I just don't think that is going to happen any time soon, so I want to get something down before it disapears into the rapidly receeding past. So here is the speedy posting:

Friday - left work just before noon, went home and packed, headed out, drove accros PA on I-80, it was very beautiful, got into NJ and remembered how crazy their traffic patterns are, found a hotel and crashed for the night.

Saturday - got up at a leisurely 9:30AM, just in time to hit the end of the hotel's breakfast. Checked out and headed for Lake Hopatcong. Some confusion surrounding meeting up with our friends, but ended up finding them at the marina where w would be staying and getting on our friend J's 18' boat w/seven other people around 1pm. Headed over to "Aquapalooza", ate burgers and hotdogs for free and then anchored the boat and spent the afternoon listening to music, swimming, and laughing a lot. When the lake had quieted (less people) we did some tubing, I was pretty good at it. DH and I went together and had the best two-person run (held on the longest), mostly because neither of us wanted to "lose" to the other. Had dinner at a resteraunt we could park the boat at, then headed back to find our rented condo and crashed for the night.

Sunday - got up early (everyone moving before 8am) and headed out on the boat, tried wake-boarding. Not so successful as tubing, neither DH nor I could stand up. Got pulled over by the lake cops for being in the wrong place, but they gave us a warning instead of a ticket, went back to the condo, went grocery shopping and made sandwiches for lunch, spent the afternoon floating around the small beach area at the condo. Headed back out onto the boat when the lake quieted down so a couple more people could try wake boarding. Friend J, clearly the most skilled, had pretty bad crash trying to do a jump, but no permanent damage. Back to the Condo, grilled a late dinner, ate, drank margarita's, and laughed a lot.

Monday - slept in, headed out on the boat to some rope swings, swam and tried out the ropes, ate a late lunch, got some snacks, toured the lake, headed back to the condo, showered and got cleaned up, went for pizza, then headed to Camp Marcella, used to be NJ state camp for the blind when we worked there, now run by Easter Seals for adults with MR and other developmental delays, with one week devoted to kids with visual impairments. Watched their talent show and took a walk around camp, then headed out to the diner then to the bar w/ a bunch of the staff members that are still there (or back) from 2005 when we worked there. Fun night. I DDed, but it was still a blast to see everyone. We got back to the condo at 2:45 AM and did not make it into bed until 4ish.

Tuesday - Got up at 8:30 (WAY to early), said farewell and thanks to J and his GF and headed out, Took a different route home and stopped by New Holland PA to see Aunt ML and Uncle K for lunch. It was great seeing them and they live in a beautiful part of the country, the view from their apartment is really neat. After lunch we headed out again and spend the rest of the day driving across the bottom of PA, then top of WV, then up through Ohio to Columbus. I drove the entire way, making me the ROAD WARRIOR QUEEN and, of course, ALL TIME CHAMPION. It is so beautiful driving through PA in general, it might be the most beautiful state to drive through, and most interesting, with its varied landscape, mountains, tunnels, scenic overlooks.

Got back to CBUS at 9pm.

Conclusions from this weekend (AKA, other things I wish I could elaborate on but don't have the time): NJ traffic sucks but its not a bad place, seeing old friends rocks, I really like boats, I really like water. good seeing family.

Upcoming this week - today, drs appt. Tomorrow, lots of training at work and our anniversary. I need to catch up at work and at home.


Looking at the length of this, maybe its good you got the short version...

Essay on a New Car

My husband, and his car-buying ways, has entirely corrupted me.
Two months ago, if you had asked me what I thought about priorities while car buying, and the importance of engine type and size, speed, acceleration, and general mechanical power, I would have said that these things were entirely unimportant. I would have told you that my #1 priority in choosing a car was practicality – things like price, gas mileage, safety, and reliability, with a secondary priority of appearance and image.

This has changed drastically. Depending on your perspective, the purchase of the Chrysler 300C has either corrupted me or enlightened me. That “C” of 300C is the important part. Our new car, besides looking awesome and having loads of little luxuries (like a six-disk CD changer, borderline illegal tinting on the side windows, and a computer system that tells us how many miles until empty and what average gas mileage is), has a V8 engine and excellent acceleration. I did not think I cared about this. I did not think I would even be able to feel the difference between it and my little Mercury Tracer w/its 4-cylinder engine. How wrong I was. Pushing down that gas pedal and feeling the V8 jump to life and smoothly accelerate up to any speed I so desire is one of the more thrilling daily pleasures I have experienced. The car has turned little errands that used to be annoying, like returning, into an excuse to drive the 300C (especially since I don’t get to drive it on a daily basis, to work and back etc).

The interesting part about this is not that I like driving it. That is a minor change. The really change has come in my perspective on, well, pretty much everything mechanical. All of the sudden, as I think ahead to what car I want to purchase when it is my turn for a new vehicle in 2-3 yrs, the engine seems much more important. The idea of purchasing a new car that is not as fun to drive as the 300C is almost painful. I have been investigating whether many of the cars I am interested in come with a bigger engine. On top of that, my interest in other motorized activities has done a 180. All of the sudden, I see a sport motorcycle zooming down the highway, leaning back and forth to change lanes, and think of how fun it looks instead of how dangerous it looks. I see ski-doo ads and wonder how well the brakes work and if they are as fun to ride as they look, or as painful to ride as my friend has mentioned. I think about moving to Minnesota and wonder why I have never been on a snowmobile. In short, I have become a minor acceleration junkie.

My brother would be proud.

In many ways, this new way of thinking about the mechanical, as thrill and joy providing rather than mere transportation, feels like a betrayal of past ways of thinking – a betrayal of the lifestyle that I have claimed to want for the last several years. I have always alleged that I am highly concerned about the environment, interested in spending my money only wisely and practically, and put safety before almost every other concern in life. I say “alleged” because in honest reflection I am not entirely sure how well I stuck to any of these priorities. That is not entirely true – I am a stickler for safety. It is the other two that are more questionable. I have been struggling for months, unsuccessful, to even remotely kick my growing Starbucks addiction. That is not exactly a practical or productive use of money. We often favor convenience over practicality or environment. While I do insist upon recycling every can or bottle that enters my house, I also use more paper towels now then my family of six ever did when I was growing up. The point is, maybe my priorities have not been what I thought, and while that is not exactly a good thing, I do not think it is the end of the world either. In other words – while this newfound love of speed is a “shock” to my system, it is probably more a shock because the way I have been perceiving myself than a shock to the way I actually have acted.

Then there is safety, which is an entirely different beast. I have, not just allegedly, but actually, placed a high premium on safety throughout my life. It is a trait that was installed and reinforced by my parents. When I was little, I would feel horribly guilty if I rode a bike without a helmet or ended up riding in a car without a seatbelt (activities that usually occurred at friend’s houses whose parents were less concerned). I have told DH multiple times that he is banned from sky diving, from riding a motorcycle, and from various other activities he has mentioned that have presented some significant risk. This attitude has been under transformation for about ten months now. You should note that that is exactly how long I have been working at the Bureau of Disability, and it is not mere correlation.

Working for disability changes the way you view the world, but not in the way I would have expected. If I had been asked to guess how it would change me, I would have guessed that it would make me more concerned about my own health, as I would be more informed about what could go wrong. While this is true to some extent (rather than just thinking “my back hurts”, I think “my back hurts, I wonder if I will have degenerative disc disease? Am I getting arthritis in my spine? I hope its muscular”), the larger change has moved the opposite direction. Dealing with disabled people on a day-to-day basis, or people who feel like they are disabled, as is more often the case, makes you realize just how fleeting life can be. There are so many things that can go wrong, and you have no control over that. Some people would respond to this realization with more fear and attempts to avoid the dangerous, but to me the key part of this new knowledge is the lack of control. Ride a motorcycle, don’t ride a motorcycle, you still might turn out to have multiple sclerosis or be in a car accident or get cancer at the age of 30. Go sky-diving, don’t go sky diving, you still may have early onset arthritis and the retirement you have been looking forward to your entire life may be spent at home on pain killers. While activities like riding a motorcycle certainly carry their own risks, if they bring you joy, they are worth doing, because you do not know if you will be able to do things that make you feel happy or good ten years from now, or even a year from now. My point is, it’s good to live life in the moment a bit more than I have been doing, a bit more that I have ever expected to do, and this is a new attitude I am embracing fully. Perhaps the Chrysler 300C is just helping me move deeper into that.

As a final note, I am not going to run off putting convenience or thrill or luxuery before everything else in the world. There are a number of things I would trade my Chrylser 300C for without a second thought. However, these are all things that I have no control over. So, instead I will drive my 300C, and I will like it. I may even get a motorcycle someday, if that is the direction life takes me.

And that, my friends, is why and how my husband’s car-buying ways have corrupted me. I think this may be a good thing.

Quotations in my Cubicle

When things are not to crazy, I read at work. (When I am caught up of course). When I am reading at work and stumble upon an interesting or memorable line, I jot it on a post-it and hang it in my cubicle. Here are the quotations I have compiled in this way in the past 6 months. I love every one of them.

“The man who is contented to be only himself, and therefore less a self, is in prison. My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through those of others. I will see what others have invented. Even the eyes of all humanity are not enough. I regret that brutes cannot write books. In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet I remain myself… I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.” – CS Lewis

“The terror of the unforeseen is what the study of history hides. It turns disaster into epic” – Philip Roth The Plot Against America

“Normal humans run away from monsters… I never claimed to be normal, just human” – Stephenie Meyer, Eclipse

“The ocean is tolerant, except a couple of times a day it gives up in disgust and goes off by itself and hides, And that my dear accounts for the tides” – Ogden Nash

“Lost, there, struggling against death, it was hard to accept the presence of another, even more insidious enemy: men like you” – Alessandro Baricco Ocean Sea

“Near and Far, near and far, I’m happy where you are” - Ogden Nash

“A conscious, rational animal proceeding syllogistically from the known to the unknown” – James Joyce, Ulysses

"There is a man sleeping in the grass. And over him is gathering the greatest storm of all his days. Such lightning and thunder will come there has never been seen before, bringing death and destruction. People hurry home past him, to places safe from danger. And whether they do not see him there in the grass, or whether they fear to halt even a moment, but they do not wake him, they let him be” – Alan Paton Cry, the Beloved Country

“Catastrophic cataclysms which make terror the basis of human mentality” – James Joyce Ulysses

“A clattered milk can, a postman’s double knock, a paper read, reread while lathering, re-lathering the same spot, a shock, a shoot, with thought of aught he sought thought fraught with naught. Might cause a faster rate of shaving and a nick” – James Joyce Ulysses

“In every space there is a hint of more” – Gertrude Stein

“The enemy was within her, not before her, and all of her strength was as nothing against an enemy like that. U have seen many lives wrecked in that absurd way. But a ship, never” – Alessandro Baricco Ocean Sea

"Show the choice and make no more mistakes than yesterday" - Gertrude Stein

Good Books but Bad Moods

I really need to choose my Audiobooks better. Its not that what I have "read" via audiobook lately has been bad, the problem is that it is becoming more and more clear that the audiobook in my car significantly impacts my mood. Before we bought the Chrysler 300C, when I was driving my old POS Mercury Tracer, I listed to Harry Potter on audio tape all of the time, and getting in the car was a treat that would generally raise my mood. Now, with no tape player my tapes are useless and I have been "expanding my horizons" so to speak and getting a variety of books on CD from the library - pretty much anything that is on my reading list that is readily available in audiobook. Since we got the Chrysler I have listened to Blindness by Jose Saramongo, The Fairy-Tale Detectives, and am currently listening to The Plot Against America by Philip Roth. Blindness is an incredibly depressing book and this was reflected in my mood frequently in the two weeks I listened to it. The Fairy-Tale Detectives was sort of neutral - it was a children's book, and not to serious, but it did nothing to cheer me either. This morning is a textbook example of why I need to be more careful though. The Plot Against America is an alternative history. That means the author changes something about a key point in history and writes a book about what could have happened (fictional, clearly). In The Plot Against America, instead of Roosevelt winning a third term in the run-up to WWII, Charles Lindbergh (yes, the pilot), who was a known isolationist and anti-semite, runs and wins the presidency. The book follows a Jewish family from NJ. In the section I listened to on the way to work this morning they were visiting Washington DC and were victims of multiple acts of anti-semitism. When I left the house I was in a decent mood, ready to face the day, thinking about not much and looking forward to Trivia tonight. After ten minutes with the book, I arrived at work angry and stressed, pissed at the world, and brooding over how people are so rotten to each other.

I think its time to switch audiobooks and finish reading The Plot Against America in book form. Actually a reading a book also affects my mood, but not nearly as much as the audiobooks, I think mainly because they are not interwoven through my day as much. The next audiobook I have is The Lightning Thief, which, as it is constantly compared to Harry Potter, seems like a safe bet.

Burning Out

This past weekend our former roomate Ben visited and brought his girlfriend A to meet us. It was a quiet weekend. We spent the vast majority of it on the couches - playing video games or watching movies that A had somehow managed to not see (Down Periscope, Snatch). We watched the soccer games. Saturday's game was highly enjoyable, Germany beating Uruguay and high scoring game. Sunday's game, the World Cup Final, was probably the least enjoyable game I saw in the entire tournament. Depending on your point of view, either there was horrible diving and a ref who bought every scam sold to him, or a crazy violent game with loads of deserved penalties and yellow cards, smashing the previous record for such things. I tend to side with the first. Either way, the game was painfully slow without much good continuous play. Spain ended up winning 1-0. We also all went to see Eclipse (A wanted to go and taking Ben with us would make it more fun for DH to go). I enjoyed it again, but Ben, DH, and A all thought it was hilariously bad. Oh well.

I have been feeling very drained the last few days, burnt out, but I am not entirely sure "of what". I have a feeling its just the whole work-life balance thing. I feel like I am not doing anything well at the moment (except perhaps work). I am not a good housekeeper, I am not eating well, not training my dog well, not seeing my friends enough, not seeing DH enough, not doing any of the projects I want to do. I don't feel like its going to get better anytime soon. I think the feeling this weekend was accentuated by our dog's bad behavior. River still has some behavioral issues that seem to flare big time when we have house guests. The biggest problem is her desire to dominate Grim whenever other people are around. We need to get back to some sort of training routine, as we were seeing improvements when we had her in the obedience class. The problem is its hard to get into a training routine when we don't really have any sort of routine in our lives. OK. I know thats not entirely true. We get up, DH walks the dogs in the morning, I walk the dogs in the evening. Thats the extent of our routing. I have been gone so much and there is more craziness to come for another few weeks. I say another few weeks but really I am not sure there is an end. I almost just want to take a month off of activities outside the house. You know? Slow it down big time, establish some sort of routine, and then add stuff back in. The problem with that idea is I am pretty sure that it would end up driving us batty. Who knows. I don't think this is a problem that just gets fixed, its probably just a part of life.

In the News

Gay Marriage gets a Boost -- Glad to see someone in the federal government is finally recognizing what is obviously a case of government discrimination. I really hope this holds up in appeal.

Squirrels are Smart Cookies -- who knew how creative these guys could get? PS: I have some great squirrel photos that I will post ASAP. Yesterday was too hot even for the Squirrels.

Rich Default on Mortgages Most -- so stop blaming the little people for the mortgage crisis

Wandering's of an Observant Mind

The big news here in Columbus, and extending out to the east coast, is the heat. Joy of joys, my least favorite part of being in Ohio. Not that northern Minnesota isn't also suffering a heatwave at the moment, but their version of a heatwave is slightly more tolerable and does not involve air quality warnings.

Air quality warnings. Another reason to move to Duluth. We are racking up a lot of those recently. I should make a list.

As I have mentioned, on breaks I walk around the building a bit. Its a loop, so it works out well. Today I managed to walk past a certain spot 4 times without noticing a change, only to have a coworker come back to the unit after her break pointing out they sort of put a new wall up. I walked by a new wall at least four times without noticing it. Call me Ms. Observant.

Not much else going on here. Tonight, Trivia. Tomorrow, guests arrive in town. I went shopping last night to outfit myself for our upcoming adventure to New Jersey. We are going to pretend to be on Jersey Shore for a weekend (for those of you with some remaining morals and brain cells, that is a reality show about crazy Italians who reinforce every possible stereotype about the beach life). I have actually never seen the show, but I know the people who are on it from other media. We actually are going to NJ's shore to see friends from blind camp and generally hang out. That is still 2 weeks away, but with our packed schedule I thought I better get the gear now or I would be heading out on a boat in my work close and looking like a complete loser. I have not owned shorts I liked in quite awhile, but found three good pairs yesterday, a bikini/tankini (one bottom, two tops), a pretty cover-up, and the requisite flip flops. I am all set.

Illinois Getaway

Good times in Illinois for the fourth of July this weekend. Got there at dinner time on Friday, grabbed some BBQ then played games and watched Sports Night (anyone remember this Sports- TV themed dramedy that played briefly?) - not as good as I remembered it being, but it was a pleasant evening. We played trivial pursuit, and while I did not win, I did beat DH, which is a big accomplishment for me, being trivia-challenged.

Saturday morning we watched Germany beat up on Argentina in world cup soccer, then headed out to see the library (and get some movies), and grab lunch. For dessert we went to this really cool Frozen yogurt place by University of Illinois. Its called Coco Mero, and was delicious. It is self serve - you go in with a bowl and mix and match frozen yogurt flavors and toppings as desired, and then it is weighed and you pay by the ounce. I had Tart and Rasberry yogurt (tart tastes like an Indian Lassi, if you have had one of those), and then put blueberries, kiwi, mango, and walnuts on top. It was delicious. We spent the afternoon watching more soccer, then went and through a football around for awhile. As tradition dictated this concluded with me throwing the ball for a game of 500 between B and DH. Back when we were in undergrads this always would end up being the activity. It was usually me and 2-4 guys playing catch, and I had no desire to wrestle them for the ball, so I would be the thrower. Not to mention my general inaccuracy makes it hard for me to "cheat" and favor someone. Saturday evening we grilled steak and had a real sit down dinner, very nice. The evening was filled with Zombieland, which is hilarious and if you have not seen it, and you like that sort of thing, should definitely try it!! (By that sort of thing I mean zombie comedy, like Shaun of the Dead). Remember -- Limber Up.

Sunday morning we went rollerblading -- three miles! It was great, but very hot and sweaty. We grabbed some mexican for lunch (I know, mexican on the fouth of july? But hey, hispanics are largest growing US population and most of them are American's too, so its fitting perhaps). We wiled away the afternoon on Scrabble (ALL TIME CHAMPION!!), a funny kids movie that I subjected them to (the hobbit), and napping. I didn't nap, but the boys did. I read half of Into the Wild, which is interesting but somewhat disturbing. After leftovers for dinner we headed out to claim our spot for the Champaign Fireworks. We got a good seat and enjoyed waiting by playing Beggar Thy Neighbor (also called Egyption War or Egyption Rat Screw). Eventually the fireworks came, and they were quite good. We sat closer than I have ever sat and it was really cool. After the fireworks we hung out a while to wait for some traffic to disipate. DH and I passed the time by throwing around an imaginary football, imitating nearby children that were rolling down a small hill, and generally harrassing B. We made it out of there after not to long and headed to bed.

This morning we got up nice and early and headed to Springfield to visit the Lincoln Library and Museum. It was pretty interesting. They had some cool videos and some cool artifacts. We also had a chance to drive by the Illinois state capital, which was pretty cool. I would rank it second only to the Minnesota State Capital, but I may be bias. It certainly is way cooler than the Ohio one!! After that we drove back to Urbana/Champaign, grabbed lunch, and headed out.

It was a great weekend. Very relaxing. It was also interspersed with Skype conversations and updates from R, B's wife who is currently doing pre-PhD research in Germany. Fun to hear her adventures as well. Very worthwhile trip. Hope everyone else had a good fourth as well!

The Promised Review, and other randomness

I have not been blogging as much as I would like to lately. I feel like my recreational computer time just keeps decreasing. Of course, some of the reasons are good - because I have been going out so much, because I have started walking at my breaks to get a little extra exertion into my day, and other similar thinga. When I am home, I just don't want to be on a computer all that much. So, I apologize if my blog has grown somewhat tedious, but since its my blog, I won't apologize too much.

My review of Eclipse? (the third Twilight Movie), pretty much loved it. I think it is the strongest of the three movies, and really captures why the books are so addictive, captures the emotion of the books better than the others. I enjoyed it immensely and expect to see it at least one more time in first run (have to take DH!). Also, I think its a more complete movie, more entertaining to those non-addicts who are dragged to it. I am hoping DH actually even likes it instead of just tolerates it!

Other things going on? Time for me to slow down a bit! As previous posts have suggested, I have been go go go non stop. In the 30 days of June, there were 7 days that I did not have some sort of activity going on. Thats just too much. Granted, my July weeknights are already pretty much booked, but I can do something about the weeknights!

Did you ever notice how weeknights could be wee knights? Ah, little people running around with swords and armor. Is that offensive? If so, I apologize. To me it is amusing.

Tonight we leave for Illinois to celebrate the 4th of July (and moreso, the long weeked), with our friend B from undergraduate. Should be good times. If I am a good girl, I will report back to you on how it goes. Otherwise, until my next random thoughts....