feeling the burn

today is not my day. let me count the ways.

slept in too late to go running. i also didn't run yesterday. it's going to rain all day, which means no running today and no jackson trip with dad to see becca.

while making breakfast, i managed to burn black plastic into my palm. i left some tongs too close to a still-red stove eye and grabbed them without thinking.

then, i set the same tongs back onto the same eye and burned more black plastic onto the stove.

my coffee got cold during all of this. more proof that i should drink coffee before doing anything else, always. so i heated it up, apparently far too long, and coffee erupted all in my microwave.

i'm not sure i should get out of my pajamas, much less out of the house.

carolina in my mind

once again, i'm back from vacation with a big case of wanderlust and general dissatisfaction with my current geographical standing. however, every time i bring up the subject, the job-searching law graduate ever-so-kindly reminds me that 1) it is more realistic to get a job in our home state, 2) bar exams are expensive and not exactly in our budget, and 3) no one is going to hire him and pay for him to take the bar in a new state. sigh. but not really the point of my post. the real point of my post is to update you on our lastest cross-continential trip.

after a late night and an even later start, we arrived in carolina for a weekend visit with tim, sara and olivia. after about 9 hours in the car, we arrived to a home-cooked dinner and fabulous dessert (i'll post the recipe once i get it) and just hung out. saturday morning was a bit rainy, but nonetheless we drove up a big blue mountain (with limited visibility due to fog and rain) to pick blueberries. we were soaked in a matter of minutes, but the berries were delicious. we did have to abandon our trip out to sliding rock though. we went back home for fabulous italian takeout and a walk downtown. sunday began with church and lunch out. miss olivia did fantastically--hardly got upset at all! we drove to jump off rock to get a view of 5 different states over the mountains. you don't actually jump off though. there's a railing preventing people from being too literal. we went to park to walk around and let olivia watch the skater kids, then came home and cooked out. can i just tell you my fabulous sister-in-law cooked us not only dinner and desserts, but breakfast? i never cook breakfast, unless it's 9 am on a saturday and i have nothing to do. we had such a great time visiting with tim and sara and playing with olivia, we just hated to leave. she's so fun now! she's starting to crawl and has 4 teeth. she's starting to eat table food and will constantly talk to you. she especially likes to walk with you. she's so sweet i could eat her with a spoon! i'll leave you with pictures of the cutest family member:

olivia

2 brothers and a baby

weekend recap

krista, kissey and mandi

i am so glad to be home. but not because i didn't have fun.

i went to nashville this past weekend to visit one of my best and first friends from college, since she's now so much closer than new york. we had a blast! i don't really go out much at home unless there's something major going on (like the north mississippi allstars last week), or i drag the law student out of the house because, contrary to popular belief, there is only so much criminal minds one can watch.

friday night we went out to hear a band, then on to a local favorite. mandi decided on tequila shots at the end of the night, and we all thought it was a great idea. at first, it was--those things made us giggle. everything for the next 45 minutes was absolutely hilarious. but after that, things weren't so funny and nobody felt really awesome saturday morning until after heath made breakfast (pancakes from scratch!). we shopped a bit and then dropped by a bachelorette party, followed by sushi for dinner. then, krista and mandi decided to take me to a lesbian bar to see my reactions, since i'd never been to one before. we listened to lots of karaoke, and i think we got hit on by 2 swinger couples, but you can't go by me. we did not end the night with tequila shots, and everyone was ok with that. sunday brought us the sweetest stray pit bull mix that mandi named "lady." she had mange, but not too bad, and was skinny, but not too skinny. we called a pit rescue service, since the humane society would have put her down immediately. she was super sweet, only wanted to be petted, and obviously had been someone's pet and then recently abandoned. i hated to leave her!

and now, the bad part. i absolutely hate driving in the rain. i hydroplaned a few years ago, then had a few more bad experiences, and have been terrified ever since. it reduces me to tears, and last night was no exception. i drove head-on into a huge band of storms around jackson, tennessee (after fighting terrible and uncharacteristic traffic out of nashville). but i handled it well, for me. then there was memphis. by this time it was pouring rain so hard i couldn't see the road, it was dark, and i was scared stiff. i made it through memphis and breathed a sigh of relief, only to have it start pouring again in southaven all the way to holly springs. i was going 45 miles an hour, couldn't see the road to save my life, and cars are just flying past me. i have no idea how they made it. by the time i pulled off on my exit, i was starting to lose it. i pulled into a gas station and sat and squalled for 20 minutes by myself. i called ben and mom and cried to them too (scared them to death, i'm sure). i collected myself finally and waited out the storm per weather reports. but when i finally decided to drive the last 28 miles home, my car wouldn't start. battery=DEAD. apparently, i had left my car turned on while having my come-apart in the car. great. i started crying all over again. so i went into the gas station, with wet hair and puffy eyes, and the sweet man working had jumper cables and gave me coffee while he waited for someone he knew to come jump me off. someone finally walked in and agreed to jump off my car. so i walked out into the rain and popped the hood of my car (rather unsuccessfully). there was a truck next to me, and i thought this was the nice man who was going to get me home and end my awful night. but it wasn't. it was another guy (who finally got my hood up) and he ended up getting me going while the original guy looked on. my battery is super corroded, and the law student is actually getting me a new one right now. so, i made it home at 9 o'clock, physically and emotionally drained, but grateful.

p.s. while the 2 men were jumping off my car, popping my hood and examining my battery, etc., one of them made a comment about where i live. "oh, does your daddy or your boyfriend live there?" "yeah, my husband is in law school there." apparently i look barely old enough to drive.

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.