pass the zyrtec

Or something? I feel like it's allergy season, officially. Or else I'm tired from camping, or allergic to DST, or... We tried to release the butterflies today, but they wouldn't go. We got all four out, but then they just looked sad and unmoving and basically cold. Butterflysicles, and I didn't want to chance their death. So we packed them back up. I did however hold one on my finger for quite awhile. And they're way prettier as butterflies! no longer in their gremlin state.

So here are my pictures from the weekend. The good parts. Puppies are photographically inspiring, of course, as are lakes and docks and abandoned houses/tobacco barns/lonely chimneys in the woods. 

Six days until 35! And two days until the anniversary of my first date with J.Lo. What! Amazing AND true. For birthday, there will be fish tacos for dinner (they are the best EVER) and turtle cupcakes. (Flavor, not form.) Chocolate, caramel, oh my. 

Tell me how you're faring over there! after that long long bus ride to the next place. Without an ipod. But also without DST. Or, I hope, seasonal allergies! You'll also have to expound again on allergies because I feel like I missed a thread - I know you can't eat pork, but you can eat biscuits again?! Does that mean you could eat fish tacos, I ponder...  

a brief morning song for m,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday… dear mendacious!

Happy Birthday to YOU!

hope it’s a beautiful day,

pen

dear m,

I’m beginning to understand what you mean about sailing through the levels of FarmTown. And then sometimes it’s like you don’t have a penny until next harvest and other times, like post-pineapple harvest over at m’s jungle, you have so much money you don’t know what to do with it. I mean, I could save up for a 300,000-coin manor house, OR… I could create a meditation space along one side of my farm with the help of hedges, park benches, a fountain, and animal-shaped topiaries. I mean, whichever. And then maybe I’ll upgrade my lot size—yet again—and build a stone wall flanking the meditation garden, just because I can. In anticipation of what I really want, which is a river. Which will eventually flank two sides of the farm. I have to wait until level 27, really? Really. All riiiiight. I only have 3 more to go.

And I guess they’ll just have to keep adding stuff to buy or whatever because I notice some of my friends are getting so far along in the game, they’re just plowing and cutting their losses, starting over again at Farmville, because there’s like, nothing else to do. No pimped-out palace left to buy. Although don’t we all aspire to the mansion. And the greenhouse. I’m just saying.

Oh, and although I’ve already told you about it, let me mention for our readers the series of death threats I encountered the other day during a harvest. Never again will I hire someone with a name like eVILin or whatever that crazy person’s name was. I mean honestly. You see someone on the news who does something completely unhinged-whacko like go off in a parking lot with a machine gun, and you think, what kind of person DOES that. Well, I met her, in cartoon farmer person. “I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, etc.” Completely unprovoked! And going on and on until I asked her to leave. And reported her. Because, ick. I mean, maybe in a game like Mafia Wars, if there was an opportunity? But I usually associate FT with happy-go-lucky types. Sheesh.

In the meantime, I await the posting of Grey’s online, so I can actually WATCH it. Though I soaked up every spoiler I could possibly read over the summer, I’m now feeling anxious at any and all FB status allusions to watching and crying one’s face off. Because, um, I wanna watch it immediately! Me too me too. Although frankly it will probably have to wait until tomorrow night at least. Tonight and tomorrow will feature the last of September’s birthday celebrations. Tonight I must dress like a hippie and sing my heart out, and tomorrow possibly some tasty appetizers of the Asian fusion variety. Cheers.

Good day to you madam.

love,

penelope

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Please note that this place did NOT cost us that much. It happens to be the Off Season, and oh, probably the nicest place I stayed at, like, EVER. That would be a FULL kitchen you see there, with granite countertops, and a ginormous bathroom, and a little deck, and and and--

slippers

electric fireplace

plasma TV

bedroom slippers put out on each side of the bed at turn-down

birthday balloons!

super-fast Wi-Fi

pretty lighting

wooden tea box filled with lovely selection

cheap snack bar service

washer/dryer?!

spa-type bathrobe

I guess I don't get out much. But it means I'm easily thrilled and impressed. I feel like whirling around in happy circles and singing "I think I'm gonna like it here" from Annie.

Happy 30 to meeeeeeee!

suggestions:

• carousel:11 months past due. what does 31 look like? (suggestions, commentary, where do you turn in the blinking red chip?)


• at work snacks?


• stuck in traffic suggestions?


• state taxes?


• how much of you do you put on your desk? like maybe a big piece of artwork
• or?do you flaunt your good looking badge pic?


• how long should the new adjustment period be exactly?

i will have this cake, thanks

Purchased for b-day (tomorrow), thanks to Mom, Dad, and amazon.com:

The Brat Pack collection, featuring
1. The Breakfast Club
2. Sixteen Candles
3. Weird Science

The Too Cool for School collection, featuring,
4. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
5. Pretty in Pink
6. Some Kind of Wonderful

As well as
7. Better Off Dead
8. Real Genius
9. French Kiss
10. While You Were Sleeping
11. Clueless
12. You've Got Mail
13. Runaway Bride

Oh, and!
14. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
15. KT Tunstall, Eye to the Telescope

Woohoo!

today's pluses

1. K.Lo's birthday party (the first one, the friends one), is done. Managed to get through with only mild to moderate social retardation. Even though only three people and their babies (out of... a lot more than that) came, it was a nice little group. Tasty food was eaten. Good times were had by all.

2. I paid $2.00 a gallon for gas today. Go, Costco!

3. I'm reading Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants IV, and it's so good. Got it from the library, oh yes. And, friend E just purchased Princess Diaries: Princess on the Brink, and says I can borrow it.

4. Our taxes are done. And, our refund (yes, a refund) will *gasp* almost cover last year's horrifying debacle, months before interest even kicks in. Credit card debt: instantly sliced in half. Only thousands more to go. (But really, it does feel good.)

5. Tomorrow's K.Lo's real b-day, which--wow! And yay! I can't even believe it...

Currently: gray skies
cold
quiet
with a peacefully sleeping Bug

pre-spree

It's like, just 40 days until my 29th birthday (yay!), and it's not very often that I get to go nuts and just BUY MYSELF STUFF, so in preparation and pre-celebration, here is my tentative of list of pen purchases.

1. Pre-order Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, to be delivered to my door July 21, 2007.

2. Replace favorite movies that I never watch anymore because they're VHS, and watching VHS is, like, so lame. I'm thinking I'll start with the 80s and toss in a few more if they're as cheap as I've seen them before: The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller, Real Genius, Better off Dead, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles... Maybe While You Were Sleeping and You've Got Mail. And Uncle Buck. And The Wedding Planner, even though I don't have the VHS, but it's always el cheapo at Target, and it'll be my birthday, so why not.

3. A new shower caddy, because it will make me calmer.

4. A shirt that fits. Or maybe two. Or three.

5. Grey's Anatomy Season 2? Hmmm, kinda pricey.

6. Some cushions for the dining room chairs. Jumbo-sized, with grippy bottoms instead of ties. I'm thinking taupe.

7. Ceramic snack-sized bowls from Pier1 or similar.

And and and...

By now, I have of course completely exceeded my allotted Birthday Budget, but whatever. In reality, purchases will most likely be limited to a handful of movies, a shirt, and the bowls. What is the point if you can't dream.

Hooray for birthdays! List subject to future revision.

Five (Obviously Weird) Facts About Pen

Thanks, megs, for the tag. So here goes:

1. I used to get really inspired ideas for writing in the shower. Now whenever I take a shower, all I can think about is how much I hate our shower caddy for rusting, and how I hate shower caddies in general. Metal rusts; plastic mildews. It seems there is no good solution for shower product storage. And it's such an eyesore. The last time I purchased a shower caddy, I actually applied white rustoleum to the rod prior to installation, which worked--but I failed to spray the baskets. I'm wondering if I could keep up with mildew, and/or if a plastic caddy would be aesthetically pleasing enough? Or maybe I should just buy yet another (though final??) metal caddy, rustoleum the whole thing five times over, and call it a day.

2. Whenever I pull down the attic door, I get really scared and kind of wince because I'm afraid it's going to hit me in the face a la Chevy Chase in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Even though attic doors typically aren't on rollers like Clark's in the movie. Ours isn't. (I can't, by the way, remember if I've blogged about this before, but there it is.)

3. When I cut things with scissors, my jaw opens and closes in time to the cutting. I didn't realize this until last night when J.Lo kindly mocked me for it. So I tried to cut with my jaw sealed shut, and it was really hard. I wonder if this is similar to the Mouth Open While Applying Mascara phenomena, as detailed by Bridget Jones.

4. I mispronounce words on a regular basis, which only compounds my Fear of Talking. Most often, it's a word that I've previously pronounced correctly, but there's some sort of synapse misfiring that happens (which I watch in my brain like an unstoppable traffic accident), and it just comes out all wrong. Sometimes it's a word I've read but have never spoken, or heard spoken out loud, so I give it a whirl and fall right on my verbal ass. It's particularly embarassing considering that my degrees relate to language. Also, this is something that has been on my List of Things to Blog About for over a week now, so coming soon: Vocab Lessons by Pen. It will be a treat.

5. Even though I'm socially retarded and parties and hosting make me super-anxious, I love throwing them (parties), anyway. I've already started decorating for K.Lo's birthday bashes later this week, and it's totally off the hook. Out of control. It's like we're living day to day in a kid's birthday party, and I love it. It is a madness I embrace. Everyone's birthday, regardless of age, should be a week-long celebration.

Back to hosting, though--I love the prep, I love planning and list-making. I love shopping for all the food and putting it out in bowls and on little plates. And I love seeing people have a good time, it's like I'm giving a gift on a mass scale. The downside and nervousness creeps in, though, because as always it's a risk: they may not like it. And then it's like you're a Party Pariah. But it's worth it all, I think.