"where are the light switches, and where are the liquor stores?"

that was anna's complaint about coming home for christmas this year. and it was funny. let me explain.

all the kids are out of the house and on our own, anna in texas particularly. and ever since i was old enough to drink, my parents just absolutely quit caring if my underage sisters drank. they also stopped censoring themselves as well. mom came home from italy carrying cases of wine, and that christmas, or maybe the one after it, i got 2 wine bottle openers, a wine carrying box with wine in it, and a cocktails recipe book. so when we come home from our various new towns to visit, alcohol invariably plays a part in the reunion. but we no longer remember how to easily get to a convenient liquor store. well, one without bars on it anyway.

speaking of "home," mom has a new one. really cute, close to downtown, but not completely familiar. we're still not sure where everything is, even if it's in plain sight, whereas we could cook a meal, shower, and retire to bed upstairs in the dark in our old house. this house also has an alarm system, thankfully. sort of. it's great for when people try to break into your mother's house in the wee morning hours, but not so great when you fail to remember the alarm code and have the police show up. twice. (it was twice, wasn't it, becca?) or on christmas morning at 7 am letting your dog out (or was it 6, anna?). like i said, a bit unfamiliar, hence the hunt for light switches in the middle of the night. because, according to anna, they are never in the right place. if you were a light switch, where would you be? right next to the door? well--light switch FAIL.

so, we're at dinner on the 23rd, and becca is leaving for a party and has to bring a bottle of wine. mom refuses to give her red and offers up white, which she refuses, saying she'll just go to the liquor store. and then the confusion ensues about where to go. so anna, at the height of the discussion (that didn't even involve her), announces, "that's what i hate about coming home now! i don't know where the liquor stores are! where are the light switches, and where are the liquor stores?!" and that's all about that.

home is a funny thing. we've only really lived in one house growing up. we all went to the same university, right down the road. that's where "home" really is for us girls. but now dad lives in that house, and it's just...different. and mom lives in another house, and even though it's less familiar, i feel more at home there now. weird.

birthday post--edited, because i've lost all track of time

today is my birthday! 23 with 4 years of experience, as i like to say. the law student gave me my birthday present last night. so now, a birthday present comparison post.

here's not-last year's present:roxy hart lang, affectionately known as
roxyface
foxy roxy
roxycontin
roxymoron
roxygirl
the rox

here's this year's present:

the humidifier

ok, so it's not the sexiest present ever. or the snuggliest (like the previous). but it's kind of awesome, in its own way. i did actually want one. it adds moisture to the air, which really helps with the law student's sinuses/allergies and our collective dry skin. it's programmable and can detect your room's humidity, and has a permanent filter (that necessitates washing, but it seems lately like that's all i ever do, so what's another?). and it makes that beautiful white noise. i also got an xm radio, but i got one for christmas from my dad (gonna have to start asking for different things from different people), so that's going back. all in all, the law student kind of rocks (rox! ha! sorry.) at birthdays.

so, happy birthday to me! and, in true fashion, it's not without its incident. i have managed to "follow" myself on my own blog. i have no idea how i did it or even how to undo it. and thank you, joeli, for becoming my 7th follower. it was a nice birthday present.

edited to add: the rox was not last year's present. i actually can't remember last year's birthday present (shhhhhh). but the comparison still stands.

new celebrity crush

the law student and i watch a bunch of crime drama. by "bunch," i mean specifically law & order: svu, law & order: ci and most recently, criminal minds. and while this guy is super hot,

shemar moore as derek morgan

this guy is my new celebrity crush:matthew gray gubler as dr. spencer reid

yes, he's skinny. his character is a bit awkward on the show. he has long hair (that i adore). and he really really reminds me of the law student when we first met. but total celebrity crush on this guy. almost, if not equally, as big as the one i have on jim halpert, not to be confused with john krasinski, although they look exactly alike.

i just feel like i know jim halpert a little better, you know?

christmas post #1--my christmas favorites

in no particular order, the things i love about the christmas season:

• 24 hours of a christmas story on tbs. my favorite!
  
• mom's cinnamon rolls
  
• grandma ann's dream cookies (i have the recipe!)
• the annual christmas photo cards and making fun of that one braggy newsletter mom used to get from a college friend
• sending out christmas cards to friends
• getting to see my far-flung friends!
• christmas music--carol of the bells, oh holy night, baby it's cold outside, just to name a few.
• wrapping up gifts in brown paper and tying with yarn, just like the song says
• smell of christmas trees
• driving around looking at lights
• candles in windows
• watching old christmas movies from when i was a kid
  
• christmas day steaks
• waking up at 4 am because i still can't sleep through christmas eve
• downtown all lit up
• when we were little, watching the weatherman "track" santa's sleigh on tv
• finding that perfect present
• avoiding all malls by shopping online
  
• matching pajamas
• learning more about the advent season
  
• remembering christmas is not about gifts, or santa, or reindeer. it is a reminder about our Gift, Savior to the world, He who was sent to redeem. so often that story is lost in the story of santa and the worldy christmas of spending money on empty present promises. it is a reminder that there is a Hope and a Future, and for us to live accordingly.
  

honey do lists

the law student is great. case in point: i can send him honey-do lists from work and come home to find a clean house, washed dishes, halfway-made or prepped dinners, clean laundry, et cetera. you get the idea. i usually get a response and a crossed-off update email as well.

here, the latest. keep in mind law exams were over on friday and the weekend consisted of the law student sleeping til noon, passing out after only 1 sip of alcohol, and yelling at the tv when his games were on.

from kissey to law student

you knew it was coming, you sexy beast. (yes, i really called him that)

1. clean up dishes in sink. put away the ones on the left.
2. clean up counters (i.e., wipe down with spray, etc.)
3. lint roll couch and roxy (yes, i lint roll my dog. who are you to judge me?)
4. walk roxy.
5. start laundry--separate our clothes (i have 2 frilly thongs in my bag--white and striped)
6. clean up your desk (watch out for my charts)
7. clean your car.
8. there are clean purple and green towels on the dryer. please put up.
9. we have dirty towels in our hamper
10. wash roxy's bedding
11. i have not sent a check yet to tim and sara.
12. not sure what else. have fun. check back soon.

from law student to kissey:

1. Look at honey-do list with antipathy and wonder where was my wife when I said no honey do list til Tuesday.

because, apparently, 2 days of doing nothing really wore him out.

long overdue update

hello, laura. are you happy now?

so, update. here are a few photos of thanksgiving (also known as the christmas card outtakes):

sweet sisters

kissey, law student and the roxy

family at the egg bowl

thanksgiving successes: i brought wine and made a dish, so i felt grown up. my 5-year-old cousin jay is the cutest thing ever. my grandmother gave me her dream cookies recipe, so i will let you know how they turn out. msu won the egg bowl and i got to see tons of friends.
thanksgiving fails: dad being a jerk and the law student's cowbell was confiscated at the game. boo.

next up: nfp. we are successfully in month 2. no babies yet, thank you jesus. hopefully, this will get easier and more predictable, because right now i really miss birth control.

third: visiting friends. i got to do a lot of it this year! here are a few (more) photos of me most recently at jessica and chet's christmas sweater party, and a few others:

yay for pictures! now if i can just find my camera charger...

and lastly, christmas. can y'all believe it is already the middle of december? where did it go? and i still have so much to do. well, mostly just painting and wrapping gifts that come in the mail. yes, it is another amazon christmas for the langs. i love it--no shopping, no lines, no headaches (that i always get from shopping). just a click to ship and they are dropped off on my doorstep. i even have my tree up already--last week, in fact! this time last year, there was still 1 more week of law exams and the tree did not go up until the week of christmas. soon it will be flanked by brown paper packages tied up with string. i've probably spent too much again this year (more on that later), but am pretty satisfied. this week and next will be made up of parties, wrapping paper and packing, and best of all, JULES and MANDI!

haven't seen this girl in MONTHS

or this one.

we won't all be together this year for the first time EVER. so i'll finish this post (finally!) with a photo of what happens when we get together...


see y'all tomorrow. i'm just BURSTING with blog posts.

she's baaaaaaaaack

and a bit depressed.

i privatized ole blogger here because i was applying for a new job with a GREAT company and thought it would be prudent to keep these random thoughts hidden.

i found out this morning i did not make it to the second round of interviews. suck. so back to blogging it is. small consolation. le sigh. well, i did get what i asked for. i asked for clarification and for the job to open up if it was right, and He didn't, so there. it's still not any fun though. i really wanted that job.

moving on to my next disaster....it's not really a disaster. it is a decision with great risks. and the law student and i are ready for it.

natural family planning.

um, eeeeeeeek.

not to be confused with the less-than-reliable rhythm method.

we (well, i, and the law student went along with it more than willingly, which is a bit (but not really) surprising. ooooh, parentheses within parentheses! squeeee!) have embarked into uncharted (ha! pun.) territory. i feel a bit like i've dived into the deep end of a cold, cold pool. so, i'll finish this post with how we got started down this path.

it really all started with food. as you all know, dear readers, i like organic food. i am down with dirt. grass-fed cattle, chickens and pigs, free-range eggs, milk straight from the dairy, no pesticides on our veggies....aaahhh. i miss summer. so, before i digress into my trip to the dairy, let me get back. the principle is really the same--being careful and intentional about what you put in your body. i have been on the birth control pill for several years now. i have never really had a problem with them--they usually work like a charm and didn't whack me out or anything--but was getting concerned about being medicated with hormones for such an extended period of time. i had read a little about natural family planning and decided i wanted to try it. i really like the "natural" aspect of it.

a little crash-course in nfp--it's just biology. and that kills me. women are not taught how to interpret their bodies, which i think has profound implications as far as personal health. seriously though, it's biology, and it's amazing. a woman's body gives off natural cues relating to her fertility, controlled by the rise and fall of hormones estrogen and progestin. natural family planning (a blanket term for several different methods and just the general idea of it) teaches you the signs to look for and how to interpret those signs to be able to, with more than reasonable accuracy, determine the status of your fertility and use that information to avoid pregnancy (my goal) or obtain pregnancy (not my goal). it's a lot more involved and is backed by a life perspective as well, but this is what i am focusing on here.

and, well, biology is confusing. currently, i am most interested in billings/creighton model, which charts cervical mucus. you can also chart your temperature (in three different places) and the position and feel of your cervix. (um, what?) you could chart one, two or even all three. but that involves more work. cervical mucus is charted by its presence and consistency and color. you have to take your temperature first thing in the morning before you get out of bed or even roll over, or it's off. and if you are sick or take medicine or something like that, it affects your temperature. and the cervix charting has a higher "ick" factor than i am willing to deal with. also, per my conversation with my very knowledgeable friend (and courtney's sister) katie, charting lots of symptoms seems good but can cause confusion if one sign says "fertile" while another says "infertile." so mucus it is. i have a little chart and everything. hopefully i can get the coordinating stickers soon.

also, here's the kicker. if i were catholic, i would have been charting since i got engaged. i'd be a charting pro right now. but i'm not catholic and have been on the pill, so i really have no idea what my body's "normal" is. so abstinence for the first cycle charting is recommended just to get a grip on things. the law student seemed to take this recommendation to heart, as in it does not seem to bother him in the least. i'm a little pissed. and we're on day 6.

so, that's our new adventure. pray we don't get pregnant. i'll keep you posted.

psalm 139:14 - i praise you because i am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, i know that full well.

willby....

right back!

ok, total childhood saturday morning cartoon flashback right there. maybe you "got" it, maybe you didn't. but, i have an issue that needs to be addressed, and in order to cover bases, i'll be going private, and be back soon! no worries, kids.

secrets uncovered

after being sick and home-bound for 3 straight days, i now know what the roxy does when we are away.

nothing.

she slept on the couch with me from saturday to monday, curled up between and over my legs. she didn't whine, didn't play with her food bowl (and by play i mean tear off the rubber bottom into pieces all over the rug, couch and floor) and didn't have a fit to go on a w-a-l-k, even when the law student came home. she was content to be warm next to me as i slept and channel-surfed. she is such a couch potato.

proof:

this is a photo my sister took when she was staying with us.

sneaky sneaky sneaky.

choose

what an inspiration! i pray i have an ounce of faith like this. visit katie's post for words from our Father. it's true--we choose every day.

also, for those of you who have christmas on your mind, i encourage you to look at this site, advent conspiracy. what a great way to celebrate our Gift. just something to think about.

p.s. i hope this is the end of the flu. blah.

um, scratch that

1. new eating-and-exercise plan= FAIL. please disregard post below. i know i did. thanks.

2. i need a personal shopper. (anna, i know you have good intentions but you don't always stay focused.) i hate shopping. i invariably get a headache about 2 hours in and become completely disinterested and unmanageable, incapable of any decision-making and usually adverse to even trying on clothes. at this point, i either end up not buying something i love or coming home with crap that i just have to return, like the polo turtleneck, yoga pants and kate spade heels from t. j. maxx sitting in my bedroom. or, like today, i see something i love, like this j. crew donegal shawl collar sweater in rosewood heather, only to discover it is unavailable. it's a lose-lose situation.


3. i'm sick. it's the law student's fault, and i hate him. sore throat, headache, fever, blah. i'm on the couch for the 3rd afternoon in a row. but it's not all bad--watching golden girls, the rox is snuggled up with me and snoring, pizza is in the oven and the dolphins are set to play today.

4. happy hallow-WIN! dawgs vs. kats, 31-24. thank you, anthony dixon. it's amazing how a bulldog win can temporarily alleviate flu symptoms.


5. here is #5, courtney!


6. can you believe it is november already? the temperatures have dropped to football weather, thanksgiving is in 3 weeks, and my christmas lists have begun. yay! also, november is national adoption awareness month! i am a big advocate of adoption, even though i have no personal experience in the area. but check out these sites: amazima, emily's blog, katie's blog, the oatsvall blog, and joining the journey.



7. i cannot get enough of baby names. i really do have a huge list of names and meanings for boys and girls. disclaimer: the law student and i are in no way ready to have kids. (sorry, sisters) i mean, not ready right now. we are getting more comfortable talking about the idea of kids and having kids in a year or so, but we really want to wait until after the law student passes the law bar and finds a law job. so many of my friends have babies and our new niece is precious (the law student and i have ceased to exist), so i think it's a bit natural i have this twinge of baby fever. it's really annoying.

pizza is almost done. hopefully this flu is too. happy november!

here we go, again

let me start with a disclaimer.

this post is in no way to be interpreted as saying i am fat or unattractive. i am not one of those outrageously skinny girls who picks at her food, eats sunshine instead of food and constantly comments/obsesses over her weight. i realize in several years i will remember my figure with fondness and jealousy. i do not diet or view food as the enemy. i'm just short.


i am now going to live at the gym and eat vegetables. since tailgating football season began, i have put on about 3 pounds. well, maybe just 1 from tailgating, and 2 from elsewheres unknown. i hear you all groaning in disgust, but let's remember: i am 5 feet, 1 inch tall (thank you, terri), and 120 lbs. does not look good on me. it's got nowhere to hide! if i were 5 feet, 6 inches tall, we wouldn't be having this conversation. but on me, it just all kind of hangs out (literally) around my hips. which, might i add, is a new hangout and apparently a sign of aging. i guess the old ones (thighs) are no longer cool. i'm also very muscular, much like an out-of-shape gymnast, and i put on fat and muscle fairly quickly. and since pilates doesn't do that much for cardio, and neither does sitting under a tent at a football game eating yummy tailgate food and drinking beer, all those yummy little calories end up partying on my tummy.

you think i jest. you think wrong. jeans are tight on the hips. i was wearing my corduroy pants the other day (the cute ones from abercrombie kids before they changed the leg cut and that only cost $30) and when i got home, i just left them unbuttoned because they were tight. the law student actually noticed that they were unfastened. i find myself wanting to wear tshirts because they are loose where most of my clothes are fitted because i'm small and don't want my shape to get lost in big clothes. and i'm terrified to try to put on my french connection size 2 cute black pants that baby sis got for me on the cheap, because they're tight enough when i'm feeling skinny. as a result, i am wearing one of several planned dresses this week. high-waisted (you know, at the natural waist) dresses and skirts do make one look slim.

i'm debating a pregnancy test, soley to make myself feel better, because pregnancy would not be good news right now, and for motivation to stop munching all afternoon.

and so it begins. i will now walk the rox more and attend cardio classes in addition to the regular pilates classes, try to paint instead of eat aimlessly, and try to do my version of "vegan until dinner." simply, it is not a diet, but a rearranging of food groups on the plate. the theory is if you can eat vegan until dinner, you eat more nutrient-dense, more-filling, less-fat veggies and fruit instead of filling up on meat all day (because really, no one needs meat 3 times a day), and you eat whatever you want for dinner. the law student and i tried this once. i hated it because it's "vegan," which means no dairy. i have to have heavy cream in my coffee in the morning. non-dairy creamer is nasty and not a real food. so i incorporate a little dairy in my version so i can make it through the day. this does not affect ben, as he drinks his black.

so you see, i am taking a healthy approach by increasing my exercise and eating healthier food in smaller portions. i know i will never again see 105 lbs. on the scale, and my thighs will always touch (they're very close), but maybe after a few weeks they won't be a fire hazard any more.

uncle ben and aunt lauren

we have a niece!

olivia amy l.
7 pounds, 1 ounce
october 10, 2009



welcome to the world, sweet girl!

serious WTFery

the u.s. is bombing the moon tomorrow? to find ice? seriously, kids, there are bigger problems on the ball of water and dirt we live on. let's focus on those, ok? you know, instead of bombing natural satellites that provide soft light in the dark, control the ocean tides on said ball of water and dirt, and inspire weird goings-on and romantic notions. african children don't have clean water, and nasa wants to blow a hole in the moon for ice.

the bathroom--a world of discovery

so, i went to the bathroom this morning. i know, i'm unpredictable that way. and i discovered i have my underwear on inside out. oh, the perils of getting dressed in the dark. and i remember specifically trying (apparently unsuccessfully) to determine the position of said underwear this morning to avoid this exact scenario. so, as i sit there on the toilet, staring at the outside of the panties, the inevitable thought crosses my mind: "should i turn them right-side-out?" i imagine i am not the only one this happens to, and you have all probably been faced with the same dilemma--to turn or not to turn right-side-out. so what do you do? i did not rearrange, as i am at work and just plain didn't feel like it. but i seriously thought about it.

another joy of office life? the office bathroom. it's right next to our (my) office. a single, unisex bathroom. spacious, comfortable, well-stocked with toilet paper, spray and a fan. however, the fan is not loud enough to drown out the sound one's flowing stream. i hate hearing people pee. and apparently (insert eww here) skid marks don't bother my office mates as much as they bother me, because they don't even go for the courtesy second flush. you see, i have bathroom "issues," let's say, and am entirely phobic of anyone being able to hear/smell/see any evidence of said issues, and take above-and-beyond measures to ensure my sense of bathroom privacy. now, i have not encountered these moments today, but i did sit down on a warm toilet seat. thankfully, there were no tell-tale spots or not-so-mysterious stray hairs to disturb my visit. maybe i should wait longer before entering the bathroom after a coworker.
enjoy.

it's wedding weekend for holly jo! i'll be heading down home tonight to eat dinner, drink champagne, and toast the bride and groom with friends. then back up to the hills to hang out with baby sister and middle sister (who hasn't come to see me in forever), and try and keep my parents separated since they are both coming to my house visit their far-flung dallas daughter. hopefully i'll have nothing to blog about sunday evening.

bad day

it's already a bad day. 3 hours into monday, and it's a bad day.

i feel like i keep screwing up at work. yes, it's early, and yes, we are human and make errors, but i should be able to know and see someone does NOT get paid over 500 hours. and that these are third quarter reports and payments, not fourth.

i feel burdened by not always being a good friend. i have the best friends anyone could ask for, and i miss them dearly, but sometimes i fail them. and that sucks.

i get annoyed too easily, and i betray my Lord with my tongue DAILY. and that is my greatest struggle--not using my tongue to speak praise and love and truth and instead allowing it to be used for destruction by satan. i am crushed thinking about being held accountable for every word and thought i have uttered. ugh.

so, there is my gloomy mood to match this gloomy monday.

oh well. at least i didn't drop my phone into the toilet i had just used and had to fish out so i could call and tell everyone i had a $116 bar tab. like someone i know.

wedding shout out to my friend holly jo eidson soon-to-be english! can't wait to see you this weekend in your white dress and toast your happiness with all our friends.

secrets

i have secrets. i bet you do too.

i created this blog basically to provide an outlet for my thoughts when the law student tires of hearing them over and over. i let you in on my mishaps and things i (and sometimes only i) find funny, usually at my expense. things like:
-when i manage to back into someone in a parking lot. twice.
-or when i called that guy at wal-greens crazy loud enough for him to hear (according to the law student) because 1) he is a little crazy and 2) we were buying a pregnancy test and i was in no mood for him to know about it and offer his 2 cents. (it was negative and we celebrated with beers.)
-that my parents have a divorce story lifetime would die for.
-i lint-roll the rox instead of bathing her more often.
-or that once, coming back from ben in los angeles, i hitchhiked from the airport with a random family to my friend's parents' house and basically broke in to crash there, then called another friend to take me home to starkville, instead of calling second friend in the first place.
-that i secretly fear the rapture has happened and left me when i can't find anyone and no one will pick up the phone. this has happened since i was a kid and couldn't find mom at a given moment.

and those are all little funny, embarrassing things about me and my life that i choose to reveal and laugh at with you. but they are not my whole life. you can look at any blog and see pieces, images, projections of people's selves, but never the whole picture, because we are complicated and have been trying to hide unsightly parts of ourselves since adam and eve. and so i think about all the things that don't make it onto blogs, namely my own. like all those things i did in college i didn't get arrested for but could have am ashamed of. or the people i stalk on facebook, etc., for no good reason. or fights, disagreements, etc., that i have with the law student on bad days. things i have said about friends and strangers that i shouldn't, or my fears that surface when i dwell on my faults and my past, saying i am not really a good person and how i have failed as a follower of the King. those are my real secrets.

the bad news? they are not totally secret. Someone knows them all, and i cannot hide them.
the good news? Someone knows them all, and i am free. mercy, forgiveness and grace are available to me through my repentance.

adam and eve "hid" from God after their sin. but even though He called for them, He knew where they were, and He knew their sin. they felt shame and nakedness and the eternal breadth of their sin, but He provided a way. He shed the blood of an innocent animal and clothed them, and then He punished them, with banishment, pain in childbirth and other consequences. He could have scrapped the whole project (which, in fact, He did, with the flood), but He didn't. this is still true today. God still knows our sin, still knows what we keep locked in the dark, and still longs for us. He still provides a Way to remove our sin. there is nothing we can do to "earn" it, no secret that can keep us outside its redemption. and when we accept this extravagant gift, when we repent, and turn to God's love with obedience, we are free from our sin, and our secrets hold us no more.

monday magic and weekend recap

somehow, it is not raining right now. praise the LORD. poor farmers--some are about to lose their crops. it is so gross outside. to describe using a 9th-grade english vocabulary word, the general atmosphere is saturnine: heavy, gray, gloomy, dull. thank you, george hazard.

weekend in review

i didn't do a damn thing all weekend. well, that is actually a lie. i did some things. friday night, the law student and i had over-priced and under-qualified mexican food and margaritas with a friend.

saturday, i got up at 7 am and miraculously it wasn't raining (and didn't rain all day). i bought meat at the market, walked and bathed the rox (finally! our poor pup has really missed her exercise. i have the scratches to prove it.), managed to shower (but only once) and start, and almost finish, the laundry. i napped for 3 hours before heading to the grove to see some more friends. and joy of joys, i got my black yoga pants and nude bra from my mama! and horror of horrors, i became that person i make fun of and talk bad about at work. we are delinquent tax payers. we have managed to not pay our MS state income tax. how, you ask? good question! when i received our 2008 tax return from my CPA boss, neither of us looked at it and assumed that, like last year, we were getting refunds. turns out we only got a refund. whoops. so when i opened our nice little notice from the state tax commission, i was sure they were wrong (and they often are), but in our tax return folder, plain as day, there was our tax payment coupon. only now, we owe $4 in interest. damn. after this and our air compressor expenses, i am not to ask to do or buy anything fun. again i say, damn.

sunday was full of thunderous downpours and dramatic displays of all that is wet, so the law student and i stayed in bed when we should have been in church. the laundry got folded, golden girls dvds got watched, mr. david (father-in-law) got wished happy birthday, and the law student got talked into (begged and threatened, really) going to town not once, but twice to get necessities like baking soda, worcestershire and birth control. but the homemade spagehtti and meatballs made up for it, i'm sure. shower did not make it into the mix. but the laundry is mostly put up.

i also cried. this is a bit more personal that what i usually post. if you know me, you know my parents are bitterly divorced and everyone still dealing with the four-years-and-still-going fallout. and it's really tiring, trying, anxiety-inducing, anger-creating, and all the rest. it is so hard to see His hand at work. i know this is not true. i know God loves my family relentlessly, and that He does not forsake us. but after 4 years and what looks like will be 5 christmases, it is becoming very hard. so prayer over my parents would be greatly appreciated.

this week will be busy like all the others: small group, pilates, painting, chores, dinner creations, roxy snuggling and traveling to starkville for bulldog bash 2009 (third eye blind, i love you) tailgating and birthday celebrations for both of my in-laws. i hope you all had a great weekend and that today is bright, or at least not rainy. if you've got a boat, come visit. you'll need it.

rain, rain, go away. i need coffee.

today was a coffee-free morning. FAIL.
i asked the law student to make the coffee last night, but he refused. so i didn't either. i mean, how long does it take to prepare the coffee maker and turn it on? yeah, thought so. my coffee maker has a programmed feature: i can set it to brew anytime (usually 6:45 am). why, oh why, do i not take complete advantage of this? i assure you, fumbling for the coffee scoop and pouring the water into the brewer is neither fun nor attractive to watch in the early morning hours.

so, this morning, late as usual. wet hair (i refuse to blow dry when it rains). i didn't even take the rox for a potty. i just threw her in bed with the law student. and i didn't make the coffee. le sigh.

yes, there is coffee here at the office. but it's mostly just jet fuel and crude oil--very little coffee, and there is no cream, only non-dairy powder (read: fake) creamer, hazlenut flavor, which i detest. plus, i prefer to make mine at home, in my little curvy coffee mug with 1.5 spoonfuls of sugar (the real stuff, people. that splenda/aspartame/etc. can kill ya, or at least make you fat.) and a generous helping of heavy cream from the brown family dairy. i drink it on the way to work, and sometimes bring the rest of the cup in with me if i haven't finished it. i think the worst feeling in the morning is reaching for that last sip of coffee and realizing, cup in mid-air and throat dry, that you drank the last sip last time.

random: i have journey's "don't stop believing" in my head. now you do too. must be the lack of coffee. i never sing power ballads in the morning when i've had coffee.

plea: please check out the link at the top of my blog for amazima.org. it just pulls my heart to pieces and really challenges me. pray for this sweet family knit together by our God.

have a fabulous weekend! i'm sure ours will be wet, cause apparently we're now in monsoon season and slated for another 10 days of rain.

not me

it's not me monday, according to mckmama (see the link on my blog list). so, let's see what i didn't do these past few days, hmmm?

well, i know for sure i wasn't a douchebag at the VMA's and didn't upstage some sweet little rookie VMA winner. kanye is so immature he needs a pacifier, if only to keep his mouth shut. and thank you, beyonce, for being so classy and gracious.

i did not eat 2 huge plates, one right after the other, of laura's chicken spaghetti when i got to tampa thursday night at 11 pm. i would never gorge myself after-hours like that.

i also did most certainly not eat junk for dinner sunday night instead of cooking something or actually going to the grocery store. i would never sit on the couch watching tv and finishing off two bags of lays (regular and baked, respectively), complemented by fritos with french onion dip and topped off with a bowl of cheerios. i always eat healthy with plenty of greens and wouldn't be that lazy.

there is no laundry on my floor. i always put away my clean laundry in a timely fashion, and always unpack as soon as i return home.

that scale did not say 121.2 pounds today. i swear on all that is hol(e)y. like cheerios.

i did not forget i have to cook dinner tonight for small group. something like that would never slip up on me. i have the memory of an elephant and am always very organized and on top of it all.

why, oh why, do all (well, most) of my "not me" entries pertain to food? well, after that scale and last night's dinner, we're all having salads. with no croutons or dressing. deal with it, small group.

wussy wednesday wussy

first, my apologies for being a wednesday wussy wussy. i let you down 2 whole weeks in a row! le sigh.

my current wussy wednesday diwemma? i've wost my bra. my favorite bra.

it's not as bad as it sounds. i did not lose said underpinning in a wild display of alcohol over-indulgence or frenzied passionate clothes-shedding (but that would make for great stories). i discovered this morning my nude-colored, slightly push-up, everyday bra was nowhere to be found. this is very upsetting in hazy early-morning hours. so now i have to call parentals on both sides to see if they have found my underthing hanging around.

the law student and i had so much fun in starkvegas this past weekend! mostly, it involved a lot of packing, unpacking and re-packing, but fun nonetheless. we even got a cute picture of the both of us--no small feat. i promise to edit this post later and add the photos. we got soaked--well, the law student got soaked. this smarty-pants had enough common sense to not go sit in the rain to watch the game and waited until the rain had come to an acceptable cease-fire (for the most part). we tailgated with lindsey and the mayor and ate too much food.
too much food as in too many oatmeal cookies, ham and cheese sandwiches, and fritos with french onion dip. hello! mcfly! this fly honey has to be in a swimsuit SATURDAY. the prospect is disheartening.

so, in honor of my pudge, i will give you 2 pudge-friendly recipes. these recipes just LOVE your pudge.
poppyseed sandwiches

you'll need: butter, mayo, poppyseeds, sister schubert (or kroger brand!) yeast rolls in the tin, ham, provolone and sugar. you'll use: a bread knife, the oven, the metal tin, and a little basting brush if you have one, or a spoon.

take your frozen uncooked rolls out of the tin. mom swears there are some at kroger in a small rectangular tin (about 8-10 rolls), but i've never seen them. you can try to cut across the entire rolls so you have top and bottom halves, or you can cut up the individual rolls and then rearrange them back in the pan after. this way is easier to start, but a little annoying to remember how they go back in the tin. place the bottom halves back in the tin.

preheat your oven to around 350, or according to the directions for the rolls. melt about half a stick of butter in the microwave in a medium bowl. once completely melted (don't burn), add about half a cup or more of mayo, some sugar to taste (you want it kind of sweet) and lots of poppyseeds, and stir into a not-too-thick, not-too-runny, about-the-consistency-of-mayo sauce. the sauce should be savory (butter) and sweet (sugar), so adjust accordingly to taste. brush or spoon the sauce on the bottom half of the rolls, pretty thickly. add the ham and provolone and put the roll tops on top. heat the sandwiches in the oven for 20 minutes or so, according to package directions. a tailgate hit!!!

oatmeal cookies

cream well in a mixer: 3/4 cup shortening (crisco), 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1/4 cup water

mix well in a large bowl: 3 cups oats (regular, not instant), 1 cup flour (all-purpose, i guess--i just use what's in my little canister, and i promise you i bought the stuff years ago), 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. baking soda.

add oat mix to cream mix. spoon onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 12 minutes. they're best when still warm and gooey.

tampa in T-33 hours.

thief

saw this on another blog and LOVED it. thought i'd post it here. thanks allison.


"Incline thine heart unto Me, and let thine ear be attuned to My voice. For lo, I would speak to thee, and I have an urgent message to give thee.

Go not about to establish thine own designs. Lo, I have already set in motion My divine will and purpose and I would not have thee interfere. I am jealous about My children: Lo, they are Mine, saith the Lord; and ye shall not intrude in any way such as would hinder My plans from working out. Yea, ye may do many things, but only that which I direct thee to do can have My blessing upon it.

Resign all into My hands -- thy loved ones as well as thine own self. Be obedient to the still small voice. Thine own imaginings may speak more loudly, but wait upon Me always. Ye shall see the wisdom and the glory in this in due time. Fret not about carnal things, but concern thyself first and always about spiritual values. Truly, My promise is still: 'Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all the other needful things shall be added unto thee.'"

september 1st

i have not abandoned my blog (again). just been busy. i've been painting a lot, and a few old friends and i threw a wedding shower for our friend holly. i'll have pictures hopefully soon. maybe i should actually upload my memory card. it'll be interesting to see what's on there.

so, until i can actually formulate a post, please visit this site about this girl and her kids. her name is katie davis. she is 20 years old and mom to about 18 ugandan kids. her story is inspiring and humbling. it has really spoken to me and i have committed myself to helping her. i am not sure how just yet, though. this is someone who is truly the hands and feet of Jesus and it has challenged me more than anything else ever has. i hope it touches your heart too.

wednesday wussy

today is sooooo pretty outside. i long to be in the out-of-doors in the warming sunshine, maybe walking the roxy or reading in the park.

as if. too many bugs for me to be lying down in the grass and such, namely those horrifying eight-legged terrorists commonly known as spiders. blech!

(this is the only image i could stomach. if you want to see a nasty spider, click here.)


call me an arachnophobic if you will. i call it careful. i HATE those things. i know they serve a purpose and i really try not to kill them (or have them killed, as is usually the case) in their natural habitat, but heaven help them if they get anywhere near me. my house, my car, my office are all out-of-bounds. when i spot them, i tend to immediately scream. i do this at home, in the car and at the office. in front of clients. i have clients kill them for me. everyone in the office knows what that scream means now. and those little horrors know how to find me too. i am the only one who is continuously assaulted by their presence. they don't crawl across anyone else's keyboard, or water glass, or doorway. just mine. they can smell my fear.

today, i am a wednesday spider-wussy. i'll share some of my incidents with you now.

-i was driving to the gym one afternoon and on the phone with my friend amanda. a hidden spider dropped down from my rearview mirror and got caught in the air conditioner's breeze and flew at my face. i screamed, dropped the phone, swerved a bit and almost wrecked and pulled over into a driveway and got out screaming and hitting my face.

-a spider once crawled up my water glass at work. just climbed up and peeped over at me. this was not the same one that ran across my keyboard.

-i was driving somewhere in my car, with the roxy in the back. i saw a spider on my car, freaked that i couldn't kill it and just knew it was going to jump onto me (you know, cause spiders can jump through glass and all at 30 mph), pulled over in a liquor store parking lot and asked the guy working to come kill it with a broom. he obliged and killed the spider. the down side? the rox got scared and sprayed. in my car. on the seat. nasty.

-too many times to count, spiders darken my doorway and refuse to let me pass. this happened just yesterday. a big green spider stood guard at my door and i had to get ben to come kill him. i clearly remember one morning at work there were not one but two spiders (one big and ugly, one small and sneaky) hanging out on the brick doorway of our office. i really almost called someone upstairs to come get them.

-i tend to scream and usually fly backwards when i see a spider in the office. as i mentioned, my co-workers are now adjusted to this behavior. so one day, i bend down below my desk to look assess some cpu malfunction, only to discover a HUGE black tarantula-esque creature at my feet. i scream lounder than usual and literally fly backwards across the room in my chair, scaring my two co-workers (we share an office) to death. and then they start laughing. hysterically. knowing my fear of spiders and having seen it in action too many times, they thought it was a good idea to plant a fake spider by my desk. it had been there for about a week.

so, there you have it. i am a wussy when it comes to spiders. ugh. *shudder* happy wednesday y'all. thank the lord in heaven above it's almost over.

tuesday dinner

as i munch on my shipley's chocolate-covered donuts of the deep-fried-goodness variety, i'll share with you the recipe for the turkey cutlets i made for dinner last night, which was much healthier than my breakfast of choice. at least i got 2% instead of whole milk this time.


i found this recipe for turkey turnovers from my rachael ray magazine.

you'll need: one pack (about 3-4) turkey cutlets, available in the butcher section of your local kroger usually next to the pre-made kebabs, one can of fire-roasted tomatoes (or a lot of little cherry tomatoes, halved, whichever you prefer, but you might have to add some water in the recipe), one pack chopped frozen spinach (or fresh spinach), one package soft herbed cheese, like boursin, (you can use the regular or the light, but take a look at that calorie/fat content first!), some extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and fennel (which i don't use, cause i usually don't have any).

-defrost the pack of chopped spinach.
-heat the olive oil (a turn of the pan or so) in a large skillet.
-give the cutlets a good pounding to flatten them out and season with salt and pepper.
-place a mound of the spinach and cheese on one side of each cutlet and fold over the other side to make the turnover. secure with toothpicks.
-place turnovers in the heated oil, on medium high, and cook for a few minutes on each side until slightly browned. this can get tricky, so use tongs and don't worry if the stuffing falls out a bit.
-after both sides have cooked, pour in the can of tomatoes and juice (or your little cherry tomatoes and some water).
-bring to a quick boil, then cover and turn down the heat and cook for about 8-10 minutes, or until the turkey is done.

hope you like it!

wondering if i should spring for chocolate donut #3?

friday

a friday hit list.

combine these:

1. one sam adams summer ale, one lazy magnolia indian summer, and another summer ale.
2. no dinner.
3. staying out til midnight with the law student's friends.

and this is what you get:

1. a tired girl.
2. who needs a pillow.
3. who's hungry and bumming cheese puffs off her coworker.
4. who brushed her teeth,
5. but forgot deodorant.
6. and didn't shower cause her hair looks ok from last night.
7. and is wearing makeup over last night's makeup.

the luck of the irish

i like to fancy myself as being of irish ancestry, however far removed. my maiden name, mckissack (i miss it), is obviously from the emerald isle. i have an obsession with green, irish poems and claddaghs. according to my maternal grandmother, we are not cherokee, as we have always been told, but actually black irish--now that was an interesting incident. supplemental post to follow. either way, i have some sort of ancestry that has been furiously oppressed at some point in time. my in-laws traveled to ireland a few years ago (so jealous). her grandmother was actually from ireland, and my mother-in-law actually found her cousin on the streets of ireland. she said he looked like her dead father and i think it kind of freaked her out.

this post is about a sweet story i heard yesterday.

i was in belk here in smalltown, mississippi, and was looking for a birthday present for steve, the life professional. a sweet lady helped me and somehow we got on the subject of ireland. she said her husband was from ireland. i told her how much i loved ireland, etc., just like i did above. then she told me how she and her husband met. they met on the internet (she in mississippi, he in ireland), he came over for a visit to officially meet her face-to-face, and he stayed and they got married. just up and left his homeland and never went back! she also said they save their pennies all year so they can visit his family. i thought it was so cute.


************
supplemental post regarding my up-for-grabs ancestry.

for as long as i can remember, i have always been told i was cherokee indian (native american, whatever) on my maternal grandfather's side. my mom always told me this, pointing out that my grandfather was always red and that my great-great-grandmother had been cherokee or married a cherokee (or looked at a cherokee once, whatever). naturally, as a small, trusting child, i took her at her word. little did i know that this was wrong. i remember the incident clearly. we were at my grandmother's house, in the kitchen, maybe putting up some leftover mcclard's barbecue (or getting it out of the fridge, who knows). i mention something about being cherokee. immediately, my mom (who is behind grandma) starts making the cease-and-desist motion with her hands and mouthing no while my grandmother simultaneously launches into a swift and final explanation that we are not cherokee. we are black irish. and since i can't take a hint to save my life (almost got me arrested once, thankyouverymuchmrduiofficer), i argue with her. at this point mom gives up, grandma talks without caring if we are listening because she is right and that's all there is to it, and i am very sorry i asked.

yawn

hello, it's your favorite wednesday wussy again! i cannot stay awake to save my life. well, that's actually an exaggeration, obviously. i mean, i'm good, but i'm not that good.

let's get to it, shall we? i have a headache and don't feel much like being witty and charming. i feel like being a wednesday wussy.

i have a headache, cause i'm tired, cause i stay up too late because the law student is underemployed and likes to stay up too late too. got that? which means i so do not want to finish these payrolls and get them off my desk. or add up the subtotal, taxes, shipping and handling and then grand total for my two-year-old wedding photos that i have not ordered yet but told my mom i did. seriously. should it take me three whole evenings to fill out 2 order forms from a pile of pre-sorted, pre-picked-out pictures (that i had to get mom to help with anyway)? didn't think so.

i love (not) that the law student can't make his own salad for dinner and will instead wait for me to do it (which i didn't) and then decide that driving to burger doodle is much more time- and money-efficient. he is just as capable as i to chop vegetables, undo the cap on dressing, fluff his lettuce in a bowl and cut off bits of roasted chicken, but apparently does not know this.

my dog stinks. i've threatened to bathe her since friday, but i think she's on to me.

speaking of stinky, i am mad at dove brand deodorant. let's just walk through my relationships with deodorant, hmmm? i'm like a 6-month dater. i'll use a brand (usually lady mitchum cool dry soft solid) for a length of time and we're GREAT together. then, the magic fades, as does the odor-masking, perspiration-reducing effectiveness, so i'll go and get a new brand, but i always come back to lady mitchum. well, this girl has learned her lesson. in one of my many flings with a new brand, i bought dove (citrus lemongrass scent, i believe) but it did not do it for me. it was still too early to go back to my lady, so i found dove clinical prescription strength (cool cucumber scent) and thought for sure it would work and then some. i'd probably be able to skip days, even. this is not the case. not only does this deodorant instruct you to put it on at night (pshhuh! as if!), it does not work. every time i wave or even type too fast, my nose crinkles.

i'd really like to skip pilates tonight because i'm so tired and my shoulders hurt from yoga. wish i hadn't eaten that burger from handy andy's for lunch. and that sausage egg and cheese mcbiscuit this morning. call me mcgut.

well, it's 3 pm and my timesheet is missing about 2 hours on it. guess i'd better get to making it up.

post with pictures from the weekend coming soon. i miss my friends.

have a wussy wednesday, y'all!

shower power

it's wussy wednesday again. guess what i'm doing? at work, blogging, wishing i was somewhere out in the sunshine, waiting on a lunch/farmer's market date with the law student. i really don't want to work today.

*sigh*

so, my wussy wednesday post--here you go. i do not want to clean my shower. it has a live black mold on it that has crept from the shower curtain to the wall of the tub. i mean, isn't that nasty?! eck. and for the past 4 days, i've looked at it, sneered, and stepped out of the shower and away from all motivation to clean it up. well, i broke down today and half-as-cleaned it at 6:40 this morning after my shower. i found a bottle of scrub free spray and half-heartedly, then whole-heartedly, then frustratedly, sprayed the mold and the other suspect pink areas near the drain of my shower and using (ruining) a perfectly good washcloth not immune to bleach to clean it up. you see, that scrub-free spray doesn't spray so well. so after i had showered, i had bleach all over my hands that needed to be cleaned. you know, again. i hope the law student appreciates all that i go through to make his life more clean and comfortable.

food for thought

i love food. i harbor an impressive body of knowledge and opinions on the subject. i am not one of those girls who views food as sustenance, or even the enemy and will only pick at dinner. food is one of my top 3 favorite things. i managed to inherit my mother's stature, sassiness and thank the lord in heaven above, her cooking talents.

dinner on this particularly comfortable saturday night? prosciutto and melon (cantaloupe) pasta. i don't even like melon. not even watermelon. isn't that just the most un-southern thing ever? i'll share the recipe with you below, or you can look it up on rachael ray's website. but beware: i rarely measure anything. it annoys me. which is why i do not bake.

ingredients for 2 large bowls of pasta and a little leftover:

-about 2/3 box of wide flat noodle pasta, such as fettucine (that i used tonight) or pappardelle (called for in the recipe).
-half a cantaloupe (we got two especially fragrant ones at our farmer's market this week), cubed
-about 1/2 pound prosciutto, cut into strips (as best as you can anyway--i had issues, but it did not take away from the integrity of the dish at all). you could sub bacon here if you wanted, but why would you want to?
-one spoonful of tomato paste. tomato sauce would do in a pinch, but not ketchup.
-heavy cream, about 1/2 cup or more to taste/desired consistency/amount.
-zest and juice of one lemon
-olive oil
-salt
-cheese--parmesan, parmigiano reggiano, whatever. this is optional

instructions: toss your pasta into salted boiling water to al dente (to the tooth, or in english, not slimy). drain, set aside. while pasta is working, heat olive oil (turn of the pan or so) on medium high heat in a large saucepan and toss in the prosciutto strips to brown, for about 5 minutes. remove and drain on a paper towel. add some more olive oil, melon and salt to taste, and cook for about 7 minutes into a nice chunky sauce. once you get this going, add the spoonful of tomato paste, lemon juice, cheese and heavy cream and stir in for a few more minutes and remove from heat. add the sauce, lemon zest and most of the prosciutto to the pasta and toss to coat. top your servings with additional prosciutto and cheese. enjoy as your guests marvel at your culinary creation that only took you about 30 minutes or so. looks fancy, tastes great, so easy.


a few menu items for the week: eggplant parmesan neopolitan, garlic lime dijon chicken, pesto grilled chicken, orange balsalmic chicken thighs with sage butter pasta, steak with peppers, and some salmon and tilapia dishes, all with veggies from the farmer's market. another one of my favorite things! oh man--just remembered i bought ground beef and a whole chicken, killed yesterday, at the market. these will have to be incorporated. mmm, fresh chicken.

oxford's mid-town farmer's market is one of my favorite things about this town. i am very interested in the politcal power structure of the food industry, buying local and helping out the farmers, and american food culture. i'd love to get really involved, actually. lots of really interesting, oppressive and outrageous things happening now to the laws that govern farmers and food. personally, this is the best-tasting chicken i've ever eaten. it doesn't taste like a bland white alternative to beef--it tastes like chicken, with its own distinct flavor. he (nameless bearded vendor of zion farms of pontotoc, ms) offers grass-fed chicken, beef and pork (and holiday turkeys!), and of course eggs, that he raises and harvests himself, hence the was-alive-yesterday chicken in my freezer begging for a juicy marinade, fresh herbs and a hot oven. i try to buy all my meat for the week from him, and will try to continue to do so even after the market season ends. then there is the brown dairy farm of oxford, with fresh grass-fed, twice-daily-milked-jersey-cow milk that is home-pasteurized. they are now offering whole milk and reduced-fat milk (they are unsure of the percentage, but i don't care), and toying with cream and butter. i can't wait for that. then there is the produce: corn, zucchini galore, tomatoes as big as softballs, okra, peaches, cantaloupes, watermelons, peppers, green beans, purple hull peas (if you like those--i don't), squash, eggplant, cucumbers, onions, garlic, et cetera, et al. i saw about 15 varieties of heirloom tomatoes today, all with descriptions of flavor, texture, color and origin, down to the family farmers! some were as big as a toddler's face, no lie. there is so much at our market. we even got a teeny tiny jalapeño.

and then there is the breakfast. the primo breakfast joint in town--bbb's. the law student's mom came in town last night for dinner, market trip and breakfast. we had the dear american airlines, law student had the pain perdue--breakfast in a cup and french toast, respectively. company is always a good excuse to enjoy the most expensive breakfast in town.

currently re-reading wicked--the back story of the wicked witch of the west. it's a great, but mature, read. the law student and i celebrated our 2nd year of holy matrimony by seeing the play at the opheum in memphis. it was pretty fantastical, and i loved galinda's role, but the story line was a bit changed. saw public enemies in the theater on thursday, which reaffirmed my major crush on johnny depp. hottest actor ever.

both of my sisters start their real-world jobs as teachers of the american youth in these next few weeks. i imagine they will begin to realize just how awesome college life is. it's not always a fun realization, but necessary. i miss college so much--i miss my friends, being able to see my friends whenever i wanted, bar hopping, no real life pressures other than not getting arrested and keeping up my grades, road trips, bookbags. but i am very proud of my sisters (all my friends, actually) and can't wait to hear about their precious students and their new life chapters.

this past weekend, dad the life professional took me and the law student to chicago. fabulous city, and we barely scratched the surface. we stayed on michigan avenue, ate some fabulous food at harry caray's and volare, i got my first designer purse, and caught a reds vs. cubs game at wrigley field. a guy i went to college with, craig tatum, got called up to the reds the week before and i got to see him catch the entire game and hang out with his fun wife daniele. dad's on a kick of seeing all the old ballparks before they disappear. he's seen shea and yankee, and wrigley was next on the list. maybe i can get him to take us to the hopefully-to-occur dodgers vs. red sox at fenway. the law student's dad is a huge red sox fan, and i went to college with jonathan papelbon, but don't know him personally or anything.

time to fold towels and read some wicked. good evening to you all!

decatur county - world's largest coon hunt

that was the bumper sticker i saw this morning at 7:07 a.m.

yes, it was early. do you want to know why i was on the road that early?

here's the story of how i actually got to work on time for the first time this summer.

i went running yesterday afternoon, and decided to get in a run this thursday morning to compensate for not doing anything all week and going out of town tomorrow for the weekend. so i set my alarm for 5 a.m. now, for those of you who know me well (or even just know me a little bit), you know i do not do mornings. so this 5 a.m. run thing was pure paving-the-way-to-hell good intention. anyhoo, i did not get an uninterrupted night of sleep due to a unsleepy husband who does not like the air conditioning as much as i do. so i naturally turned off my alarm at 5 and reset it for 6 a.m. like a good employee.

woke up from a crazy heat-induced dream at 7:21 a.m. panic ensues. my teeth are probably not as clean as they should be, and definitely are not flossed. coffee the law student was supposed to make is not made. makeup is not on. oh well, i'm more late than usual, so i forego the coffee and makeup. as i dash to the car, i look at my phone to calculate my ETA. it says 6:53 a.m. i do a double take, walk in the door to check the dvr clock, and realize it is not a dream. i am on time.

when i reset my alarm, i inadvertently set my clock forward an hour. so i put on makeup, make the coffee, water the plants, potty the dog and put her in bed with the law student and wake him up to tell him the story. i arrived at work at 7:10 a.m. this morning. model employee.

told you i was incident-prone.

giveaway

i totally did it.

i totally signed up for a blog giveaway. and signed up a lot. like, did all the little extra stuff to get extra entries. i'm not really sure why, as i'm not that big on intials, and i hope to god they are not pink. but hey, who doesn't need a new pair of free shoes?

i've never won a contest in my life. well, that may not be true. at least the contests like the radio/tv/website entry stuff where you have to call or send something in. so, this is my little experiment. i'll let you know if i win these from her.


***************

just in case you forgot, wednesdays are for wussies. everyone acts like wednesday is the big weekly benchmark, but this is simply not true.

this is me being a wednesday wussy: it's rainy here, and i don't want to work. at all. i'm ready to be at home with the law student (and his new haircut). it's cold in our office and i had to steal a co-worker's fleece (yes, fleece in mississippi in july) to ward off the artic blasts from the ceiling vents. i have several art projects i need to finish, and now i'm afraid one may not work like i want it to. not good. and i had to totally abandon one last poor glass of pinot noir last night because it was too late, and i can't chug wine. wine waster wednesday wussy. that's me.

best sunday ever

did that post title make anyone think of jessica simpson and her terrible song "you're my sunday?" just me? ok then. moving on.


today is a fantastic sunday, for a few reasons.

1. um, hdnet concert sundays are awesome. ben folds with guster was concert numero uno, and i'm currently rocking out to o.a.r. with a paintbrush in hand. 'cause that's how i roll. not really--i just like painting to music. more on this. (i fear, dear readers, this will be a lengthy post, as it's been unattended for too long)

2. breakfast at bbb's (big bad breakfast--overpriced and crowded, but so worth it) with the law student after a wonderful lounge-y morning in bed, of which there have been too few. my personal favorites: the with signs following, which i enjoyed today, and the dear american airlines, which features all your breakfast stars--eggs, ham, cheese and bread--cooked together, eaten with a spoon out of a little tin cup. and the fresh-squeezed o.j. is a must.

3. i'm still in my pajama pants.

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just want to share a few thoughts and goings-on with you on this lovely, 75-degree-july-in-mississippi-what? day. heck, it's been like this all weekend. first we get an actual spring, and now breezes in july. i must bring this up with those in charge of such things.

-there is no decent place in this forsaken little college town to get a decent hair cut, which, with all its vanity plate citizens and undergrads, annoys and confuses me. so i have to drive all the way home just for a wash and a trim. vegas, possum town, or bust. it's true. i'm so tired of hairstylists here who are able to mess up a hairstyle that consists of long layers and bangs that hit my cheekbone at an angle, and a husband who ends up looking like lloyd from dumb and dumber. seriously. the law student deserves better, don't you think?



(aaaand there's my attempt at uploading a photo into blogger. thanks for all your kind praise.)

-so, on my way home from possum town last night for above-mentioned ear-lowering, i pass the golden triangle's little gem and favorite strip bar, the pink pony. and i noticed there were a lot of minivans in the parking lot. we all know who drives those. gag me with a spoon.

-ever wonder what it is about the united states post office that drives all those female workers to get the mullet haircut? is this in their manual? take a look around next time you wander into that time trap.

-the song "whip it" is now playing on hdnet. whip it good! (ha, now it's in your head too.)

-the law student had a birthday! he's 29. i'm still 23, with a few years of experience. neither of us look even 25. so on his birthday, i promised to paint him a few canvases of his favorite sports teams and gave him a card (it was really a sweet card). on this card i write a few things, one of them being, "enjoy your last birthday in your twenties!" poor thing. he's handling it well though. i tell you that to tell you this: my mom wrote him the same thing. it's true--i am becoming my mother, and at a young age too. this is not the first occurance. once last winter, i tucked my camisole into my pantyhose (man, i hate those things. a man must have invented them). two thoughts went through my head: now, that looks better, nice and smooth, followed immediately by oh my GOD my mother does that! i also now listen to NPR programming and enjoy it, and a little AFR (american family radio) just to agitate me.

speaking of...on AFR last night on my way home, stephen baldwin and some other dude (ken mccullough or something) were duking it out over the religious conflicts of harry potter. really? harry potter? please. it's children's literature, not the paperback handbook of satan. ken doll took his wife to see it, posted it on facebook, and received assaults and judgements over his faith. and everytime a caller called in with a comment, mr. not-alec-but-stephen baldwin put words in his mouth and took it five steps to the right. no, stephen, that guy did NOT say parents could use harry potter books as a substitute for the Bible. he just simply said parents can use this, as they can use other situations with their kids, to teach them about God and what is real versus what is not. this debate issue was preceded by the topic of racism. racism and harry potter in the same conversation. which is more important? the more you fear something, the more power it has, and as christians, we do not have a spirit of fear. Christ has defeated all.

*disclaimer: i have not read the books (simply because i did not want to give in to trends or sensationalism--same goes with that whole twilight series, which seems far more sinister for a few different reasons) but have seen the movies and talked with others who have read the books, and seriously doubt these stories are evil/the gateway to the occult. i also do not have problem with parents being careful of what their children see/read.

(ahem...stepping down from soapbox now)

-it's 4:37 p.m. and i am still in pajamas. aaaaaahh.....

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hobbies

two current hobbies are pilates and the mid-town farmer's market on wednesdays and saturdays.

pilates is my new exercise of choice. it's fantastic for toning. you should see my arms, and i have abs again. my sisters are jealous. and i'm totally into it and would love to get certified. i'm teaching a class this summer, along with a dance class, so i always have to give the disclaimer and ask the class to please not hurt themselves. i hurt myself. i have a jammed sacral-iliac joint on my left side, which will now involve a few weeks of hydroelectric therapy (feels awesome) and some stretching to get me back on track, literally. dad (steve, the life professional) took me to his "bare-bones" chiropractic (fitting description) after my hair cut for a second opinion. i got adjusted all over the place--my back, my sides, and worst of all my neck-i'm always afraid of getting paralyzed. cowboy chiropractor literally had his knee on top of mine and jerking me back and forth. and then i got buffed. he had this large hand-held vibrating massager that he rubbed all the way up my back to my head. it all felt nice, and that little spot doesn't hurt when i bend over anymore, but i'll take that heated massaging water bed any day, thanks.

i try to go to the farmer's market every week. i'm really into eating locally grown food and eating healthy, non-hormoned, non-pesticided, non-processed foods, after reading animal vegetable miracle (see post here). at the market there is a large selection of fresh vegetables (way fresher than anything you'll find at the grocery store), pasture-fed beef, pork and poultry, free-range eggs (free-range as in chickens running around the yard, not free-range the legal definition which only allows for a door to the outside), herbs and now straight-from-the-cow, home-pastuerized sweet jersey cow milk. whole milk, with cream on top. it's like drinking a milkshake. it is sooooooooo good. a bit expensive ($5 for a half-gallon) but very comparable to organic milk* at the grocery store.

*which, by the way, is only called organic because they feed the cows organic feed, not because they let those cows roam around and eat grass like they are supposed to.

well, it's 5 o'clock here, which means i need to get on with a few things: canvases, cleaning up a bit after the law student and myself, and maybe dinner. dad always sends me home with meat and yesterday it was steaks and jumbo shrimp. i'll try to eat us out of house and home until friday, when we head to chicago with dad to see wrigley field. maybe i'll finally give him his father's day present.


hope you enjoyed catching up! now you can go rest your eyes.