and then sometimes

You buy a bag of mini powdered donuts and they're all wet. Ew.

Or you spend hours sorting through a bunch of outgrown clothes to consign online, at this place that seems really cool, and came recommended, and after setting your expectations super low (maybe I'll get a buck apiece - $20+? that'd be okay), they only give you $6.41. Man that pissed me off.

I am however SO EXCITED that Michael Kors will be judging the ProRun finale. In which I'm rooting for Michelle.

And excited to have picked up two delicious-looking YA books at the library yesterday evening. Maybe I'll even settle down enough read them.

I'm in desperate need of yoga for my ridiculous limbs. Aging is sooo overrated.

Last night of bells practice! Until the fall. Last Wed. night dinner, too. A small, only-handbells potluck.

Here are the vegetables.

And here is the puppy.

I love them both, but in different ways.

discuss

I always, always misspell apocalypse and yesterday when I posted, I right-clicked on the word to spell check, which brings up this long mini-window of options. So then when I chose the correct spelling, this "apocalypse" remained. Nothing else. And it's on my screen, just like that, in every single program, window and tab. So imagine looking at a given Facebook post and seeing "apocalypse" plastered over it. Or any spot on our blog. On an email. On the draft of this very post! It's part oddball, part creepy-wha?-prophetic? and also HILARIOUS. Eventually, I'll restart the computer to get rid of it, but not just yet. 

Birthday Recap,

Pen,

Enclosed please find photographs for what turned out (according to the pictures) a very strange and winsome January. With each photo see explanation. I am loathe to analyze what such pictures might say in total as with the blog for instance one can only wonder what one gathers about the two of us. Though only brave and determined voyeurs, moms and best of friends read such a thing as letters back and forth between friends.

And unless otherwise noted there was a trip to Gardens of the World which was really quite ordinary but nice, some thorne/danica outings, walks, laying out, walks through the church basement, and of course camping, and camping while sick is just awful, though mom persists she had a good time despite my dead weight. both financial and otherwise.

Note that Marley is actually tucked into my sweatshirt. I am convinced he would rest quite well in a baby sling.



joanna sent me a christian calendar in which to mark my days, and following is my lions share of the holy day collection.



here we are finally covering the dumpster up in the lot next door to church. the morning glories are actually not at all visually assulting as i previously had feared. carole is the awesome greenteam director.

these are a couple of pictionary attempts: firing squad and moustache.

oh and do note the friendly old man in my ceiling.

after this we finally got some safe traps so that we can release them into the garden. 3 survived marley and it seems we've gotten them all.
coots!

notes

• planning 1st family vacay, woohoo! have much packing to do.
• still love yoga.
• am ravenous @ the moment.
• it’s like, so hot outside i can barely stand it.
• it reminds me of why exactly i want to move to the mountains. will be able to garden all summer for instance, without feeling imminent death?
• my garden goes along. i should take pictures. one of my tomatoes is turning red. i’m not sure the okra will ever produce. i have one very tiny pepper. the beans are done. the roses have exploded! lovely. some of the zucchini have died and so i pulled part of it, but some continues to grow. but should i have planted them next to the cucumbers? it remains to be seen. the leaves are healthy, but again, production seems iffy.
• downgraded netflix subscription as experiment. am renting some newer flicks from library, which can be obtained by reserving them first online.
• quit twitter after a brief affair. clutter.
• was recently given flowers just because it had been awhile. happiness!
• projects upon return: rent twilight from library, revise fish tank, with possible new background scenery and new fish? re-fabric some backyard chairs. and um, blog more. :)

weekend odds & ends

• My favorite, only-pair-that-fits-right jeans now have a big old hole in the knee. I guess they were getting a little raggedy, so thin they wore clean through. But in the meantime, I am jeans-less, and a little sad.
• While at my friend J’s, someone EGGED my car. People still egg cars? The best part is that the shells were brown. I like picturing the hoodlum in question thieving his parents’ expensive brown eggs to go throw around the neighborhood.
• I really like my wreath (below). I might have mentioned that. It cost under $10 to make. Even the bird makes me  happy.
• Our deck is now all gone, courtesy of badass, crowbar-wielding J.Lo. Plans for spring include a new, lower deck, possibly with a tin roof. I like the way they sound in the rain. Not to mention I’d love some shade, without breaking the bank.
• I *accidentally* forgot my computer at my parents’ house this weekend, which meant I *couldn’t* do any work during Craft Weekend. *Oops.* I’m kind of sick of work. I find it highly over-rated, especially during the holidays. However, being sick of work doesn’t make the need for it go away. Profound, I know.
• Susie nearly won Survivor: Gabon last night. While I’m sure she’s a lovely person in real life, she did nothing of note the entire season, save for creating fire in a challenge where no one else could. I would have DIED if she won. Sugar didn’t really try for votes, which is why she didn’t get any… but the contest should have been down to her and Bob. Susie was the recipient of three “I don’t know who else to vote for” votes, but that doesn’t make them okay. Also, Corinne is Evil Personified.
• I now officially drink my coffee black. It only took a few days to get used to it. It’s tasty.
• I’ve no idea what to make for J.Lo’s work potluck. Something savory. Any suggestions?

M's 7x7

Hmm, clearly am intimidated by pen's fine list of random but i will try...

1. i like cleaning my nails with drink straws... now that i have them. as an expression of total nervous energy i used to bite and tear at my nails to a hideous and destructive degree. When i was 19 i finally broke myself of the habit and have been looking longingly at my beautiful long nails ever since... straws are gentle to the nail and thorough cleaners. now if i can only do that with my fastfood habit.
   
2. i also had a wart on the left inner elbow as a kid. i don't remember blood but only my obsessive need to have it gone and the actual weird and amazing texture of the wart itself, which left me fairly disgusted. i do NOT suggest googling wart and clicking images. it will make you ill. bcs i really had no idea what comprised a wart at all and now i really don't want to know anything about it.
3. i learned to tie my shoes in kindergarten. it was a specific learning moment in which i remember a couple kids sitting on their desks and on the floor, in half-light- all trying to figure it out. at the time i probably knew there was a difference btw the bunny ear method and the loop method but over time i forgot and it seemed odd that not everyone tied their shoes using the bunny ear method. which i have since cultivated and never swayed from.
   
4. i collect matches. or at least i used to: i have like a giant box in the closet full of them. and surprisingly inherited a small box of matches from my grandma too from hotels and restaurants around the world. i figured what with the anti-smoking thing they'll be obsolete soon and thus lends credence to them taking up so much space in my closet... until i make an art installation out of them. one day...
5. having recently gone thru my yearbooks i can attest to the fact that they leave alot out but also, the things that you forget... for instance i was in a missions prayer club in 9th grade, that i might've not played volleyball in 11th grade? as previously thought. odd. or that i cut my 6th grade picture out of my yearbook? i don't know why. and what that guy wrote is still as dirty as i thought it was. also since we're on the subject i chose theatre over softball bcs of the mass levels of anxiety softball caused me. the anticipation of waiting for the ball to come to you, when to run... it was too much. but being on stage... bah. what was i thinking!?
   
6. oddly one of the best gifts my mom ever gave me is my AAA membership. i really like it and it makes me smile when i remember that she bought it.
   
7. i like putting potato chips on coldcut sandwiches. specifically roastbeef- my favorite assemblage would be wheat or sourdough, with light mustard/mayo, greenleaf lettuce, red onions, homegrown tomato, white cheese of somekind, salt/pepper, crunchy lays/ruffles... oh with a diet pepsi. i'm totally going to get lunch now...

i tag... todd, tarzaan, grainofsand, tom!!!, nosleeptricia, kara, amyt.

my brain just thinks in pieces

• Why do so many of the bills start with the letter "c?" Credit card, car insurance, cell phone, cable, chiropractor.
• I can't keep a bookmark. They fall out, they get stuck in the couch, I never see them again. This one's too heavy, this one (a receipt) is aesthetically displeasing. Or else I find one I like but am not in the mood at the moment to finish the book, and so it sits there, holding a place to which I will probably never return. My husband, on the other hand, has had his one bookmark (that I made him) for a few years now.
• The satanic chili turned out tasty, and not in fact evil.
• New candy on counter, what kind is it? It's the fucking delicious kind, that's what.
• James on Survivor, sadly, deserved his fate. Those two hidden Immunity Idols were a target on his back from the get-go and he should have known better. Why didn't he play them? Why did he have to get voted off? But at least he wasn't mad, I hate when they get mad, like it's all personal. Now, who to root for? Todd, and possibly Amanda, who is subversively crafty and becoming more interesting, even though it's annoying how the sensors always have to blur out her ass. What the hell is she wearing in the swamp, a thong?
• Today: finish tree? Start wrapping? What grand aspirations.
• Tomorrow: Movie!! With Ash!!
• Must remember to: put on socks. Feet are freezing.

parade highlights from the 30th annual lake isabella christmas parade

i suppose people have had enough of my random holiday pictures but i can't stop myself. so i hope some of you out there enjoy. i think the people passing by knew we were from out of town, but still shouted merry christmas and thank you for coming! and threw us candy! as they scooted on by. i'm used to this sort of terrain as a local southern CA girl, but in the context of "christmas" which has been hijacked by the northern snowy climbs- i found the juxtaposition to be awesome... bleak summits of the mojave desert and the whole northpole vibe...