1. Have you been called annoying? If so, were you offended? I was a junior high girl. I’m quite sure I was called that and it was true and deserved. And I’m sure I was offended, being the highly sensitive, emotional girl that I was. And I think that some youth group kids have referred to things I’ve done as annoying (as in, won’t tell them what games we’re playing, won’t let them tell each other to “shut up,” that sort of thing).
2. Have you ever insulted someone? If so, did you feel guilty later? Hasn’t everyone? But at the same time, not really very much to someone’s face. In my first elementary school, there was this boy with red hair who was covered with freckles, and we called him “Freckle Face,” which I’m sure sounds especially cruel coming from me, but it was eat or be eaten in second grade. And in junior high, girls are particularly mean to each other. I don’t know if I felt guilty about any of it at the time, but I sure don’t now. All things considered, I think in terms of face-to-face interaction, I’ve dished out far less than I’ve received.
3. What is more important to you, someone who looks great or who has a great personality? Why? Personality. A great personality and character (which is really more important than both of them) makes someone much more attractive. Likewise, a beautiful person can become really unattractive just by opening their mouth.
4. When was the last date you went on and how did it go? Um… do I have official dates anymore? I just spend lots of time with . If they’re assumed, maybe they’re not dates. But suffice it to say, it went well, whenever it was (seeing as how we’re still dating).
5. What is more embarrassing, food stuck in your teeth or food spilled on your clothes? Stuck in teeth, definitely. I’m quite used to having food spilled on my clothes, and am rarely embarrassed about it anymore. Most of high school had me spilling coffee down the front of my shirt before lunchtime anyways, and it’s just far too easy. Of course, it’s pretty easy to get food stuck in my teeth, since they’re all wedged in there pretty tight, but I try to be… diligent about not letting that happen. Depending on the meal, it’s definitely a fear of mine.

popularity: 20%

If you haven’t heard about them, visit the link briefly first.

Restless legs run in ’s family. Specifically and myself. I don’t get them all that often anymore. Lately, the few times that I have noticed it, I’ve been super-tired but making myself stay awake anyways, and if I either go to bed or take a quick nap or just intentionally rest, they seem to go away.

I’m sure that’s not a very good solution for most people, but it’s worked for me. One of my staff in Arizona got them and her doctor gave her stretches to do before bedtime that were supposed to relieve it. I was surprised that she even had restless legs, since she was a runner, and I seem to be more prone to having them when I’m less active than I normally am (like when switching to a full-time office job). I didn’t have a single problem with them when I was in Arizona, probably because we worked 18-20 hour days and were dog-tired all the time.

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I have these plates with my Christmas/winter dishes set I’m starting to acquire. I got them at last year’s staff Christmas gift exchange. Which mugs go best?

• These by the same manufacturer? [link removed]
• Or these at Cost Plus World Market? [link removed]

I also have these plates that I bought this year to go with my almost-complete collection of red & white snowflake mugs (I’ve got 3, all different, 2 Starbucks, 1 Hallmark, one empty peg just waiting for me to find the perfect partner).

Of course, several years ago I bought these really cute wintery-snowy placemats that are white and blue and silver, with matching blue napkins that have silver snowflakes embroidered on them. They don’t match at all. What’s a girl to do with that? I never did find the silver snowflake napkin rings I thought would be perfect with them.

And then Field’s has some cute heart-shaped plates that might go well with the heart-shaped espresso mugs I bought while home over Christmas. They might not be cute enough for the mugs, though.

No pictures - can’t find them, even on ebay.

Did I mention I have no money (because I have the worst common sense when it comes to money, which is probably why [take this as you will] God’s never granted me a job where I make lots of it, because I’m sure I’d just f* that up too)? That’s when ebay is the most fun. Can’t buy anything, so I can browse to my heart’s content. Can’t even really put it on a watch list or a wish list (I mean, you can) because the auctions end usually before I’m ready to part with my money.

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Found a benefit of having lost that weight this fall (don’t yell - it wasn’t on purpose, and I’m perfectly healthy, and yes, I know that there were probably several benefits, but the negative side effect was that none of my pants fit anymore, and the daunting task of replacing an entire wardrobe is just… insurmountable at this juncture): I can now borrow clothes from again. Now, not many, because I still just have a bigger bone structure than she does, and am taller. But she pulled out some black dresses that she has to see if any fit me, for ’s company shindig in February, and lo and behold, one of them did. Oddly enough (or maybe not, depending on how you look at it), I don’t actually own a little black dress. She does, from her college days when she went out salsa dancing with friends and dated guys that required dressing up like that. Lucky me. I’m not opposed to finding one myself, since it seems like something every girl should own. I technically do, but mine is more part of my job interview wardrobe, and definitely not described by the word “cute.” “Unremarkable” is more like it.

tells me I might be able to get my site back up in the next few days. Yay!

Have I mentioned my language has been just atrocious lately? I mean, compared to those around me, I’m still Disney-approved, but really. Friday night I actually said, well, something that on second thought I shouldn’t put on my blog lest it brings readers here via search engines looking for something that they’re just not going to find. I was shocked. The fun part is that usually others are too, and look at me in this incredulous way. Always found it helpful in high school to be the only one who didn’t swear, because then when I did, people stopped and took notice, and listened to what I was saying because clearly it was that important.

Back to avoiding work….

popularity: 12%

I just had this nice long post I was nearing the completion of when Firefox crashed. I blame Yahoo! mail beta. I really like it, but it’s got some glitches that just bite me in the butt sometimes. Plus Firefox has taken to crashing when new windows pop up (I never get popups anymore - these are intentional new windows, like descriptors of services or definitions of terms or whatever).

As I was saying… (Well, now you get the less melodramatic version, since I’m feeling less attached to this conversation the second time around. Lucky you.)

Life has felt rough lately. Do you have times like that? I know life isn’t any harder than it was two weeks or two months ago. I just feels that way. And life isn’t bad, in any way. In many respects, compared to six months or a year ago, my life is much better and less stressful. I’ve got more job security, I no longer have the job that stressed me out to no end with staff relationships, I have more free time and am able to spend it with friends, am more relaxed and calm and happy, I have plans for a career change that I feel good about, and then there’s always . So really, there’s no reason for complaints. It hasn’t even been a terribly cold winter. But I’ve just felt worn down lately. Like all my coping mechanisms up and went on vacation, leaving me with… nothing. “A little raw around the edges” is perhaps a good way to describe it.

It’s sunny today - warm on my skin in the Skyway.

and I got together last night to color each other’s hair and catch up on life without boys around. All is well. My grandma (’s mom) emailed me and asked (yet again) when I’m coming to visit her - in Florida. This spring my excuse (don’t get me wrong - I’d love to go visit her, and have wanted to for a few years, but there are complications) is that hopefully and I will take a trip to Chicago to visit my parents (and do some touristy Chicago things, since he’s never been), and I only have a week of vacation time saved up right now. And then next fall I’ll [hopefully] start grad school, and won’t have any money for… years. Or free time. It’s a good thing she’s young-ish and healthy (OK, so she’s like 75, but considering ’s dad is 92, 75 seems like a spring chicken) - I haven’t seen her since… ’s wedding, I think. She doesn’t come up and visit over Christmas because the cold weather doesn’t agree with her (which is why she moved to Florida 9 years ago), and then when she does come up and visit her 4 daughters in the summer, I’m usually up here in Minnesota and unable to make it down there, or don’t find out in time to make such plans. And there’s been a time or two that I’ve been down there… within days of her visit, but never overlapping.

I had a good weekend. and came over on Friday night to exchange Christmas gifts (it’s not February yet - last year we did some of that in June, so we’re way ahead of schedule!). We had pizza fondue ( was a great help in the kitchen) and played dominoes and Trivial Pursuit and told stories. Saturday and I went out for dim sum with his friends, wandered around Grand Avenue for a while, at some point ended up at Ikea to continue furnishing his dining room…. The one thing on the “list” we didn’t get to was ice cream, because by the time we were done with dinner, we were stuffed and even though ice cream always sounds like a good idea, sometimes you just know it’s not.

Maybe this afternoon I’ll get around to figuring out how to get the Access database to communicate with the Excel spreadsheet. That would make my life easier. Movie tonight with and friends. Hopefully ’s hat that I made her for Christmas will be finished tonight or tomorrow evening. Then I think I’ll have enough pictures to have a page on my site dedicated to my new hobby (that, despite what they might say about it being all the rage, knitting will always be slightly dorky to me because has done it for 30 years and that’s what I associate it with). Isn’t that exciting.

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1. Long distance :: relationships
2. Meant to be :: fated
3. Here :: without you
4. Endless :: Love
5. Resentment :: —?
6. Insipid :: little wench!
7. Bunny :: hop
8. Slogan :: ad
9. Naked :: as the day I was born (not right now)
10. Sarcasm :: makes the world go ’round

popularity: 12%

1. First time you cooked for someone else? made and I each make a meal every week since we were in junior high.
2. First time you threw up in someone else’s toilet? I don’t think I’ve ever done that. Wait. Yep. Never.
3. First time you did anything illegal? I shoplifted a pen from an office supply store in junior high. Even in my “wild rebelliousness” I was a geek. Wow, that’s a sad story.
4. First time you saw snow/the ocean (whichever is more exotic)? I saw the ocean for the first time on a family vacation to North Carolina when I was 15. It was the last family vacation we ever took, too, so it’s special for a lot of reasons. I love the ocean. If I could figure out a way to live between the
5. First thought when I say “crumple-horned snorcack”? alsk;d 8q5il2; fjal;sd 8;lw ???

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1. What is the most expensive item in your closet? At ’s house, I’ve got two bridesmaids dresses, which total about $300. But at my house… I’ve got a pair of navy pants I bought several years ago from the Limited for what was an exorbitant amount of money (considering how little I was making at the time), probably $70. I’ve been thinking I need to take them to a tailor because they’re still good pants, but about 2 sizes too big, and now just look ridiculous on me.
2. What is the cheapest item in your closet? I haven’t shopped at Goodwill for a while, but I’m thinking that there are a few items in my closet from there. Let’s see…. My last great buy was at Kohls, a shirt for $2.50. Makes me like it even more.
3. How many times do you wear your jeans between washes? However many times I have to.
4. What is your favorite clothing brand? I don’t really do favorites. I like Express and Limited, though haven’t been overjoyed the last few seasons. Old Navy is great for cheap clothing (especially when trying to buy clothes in a size you might not always be).
5. What color rules your wardrobe? Beige. I love beige clothing. Love it, love it, love it. I consistently have to tell my self I can’t buy a sweater or something that I appreciate at Field’s because I already have four beige sweaters.

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1. Do you have a favorite hobby you do during your free time? My new favorite hobby is knitting. I’m not sure how long that’ll last, but it’s a nice hobby because there continues to be more for me to learn and more challenging projects, and that can go on for a while.
2. Do you get much free time or is it usually just grabbed where you can get it? Well, with the addition of SNB to my weekly schedule, I’m feeling like I get less free time than I did this fall. But I still have a lot more than when I was working at the , or than I will when I go back to school. So no complaints.
3. Is there any kind of hobby you would like to learn? Well, what was on my list was knitting, so…. If I have to add a new one, I think I’ll say painting, because I have absolutely no talent for the fine arts and have always been jealous of because she does.

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1. Age? 27. Shut up.
2. Sex? Female. And no. (Just to re-iterate.)
3. Location? Twin Cities, Minnesota, US
4. Single? Not married. Boyfriend of 5 months. Would say no if I got asked out, so I guess the answer is no.
5. How long have you been doing the fridayfiver? I have no idea. A year or so? Give or take 6 months?

popularity: 16%

1. Moving: According to a recent report on American Public Media’s ‘Marketplace,’ in New York City, landlords and developers are paying big money (in some cases upwards of six figures and more) to convince renters to vacate their rent-controlled apartments. The practice, which makes way for property owners to then raise rents or build luxury condos, is now commonplace in many cities where rent-controlled housing still exists. Do you like your home or apartment? If so, what would it take to get you to agree to move? I think no, if only to maintain the idea of rent-control. I think it’s good (though I’ve not lived in a situation like that, and am not even sure if we have that in Minnesota).
2. You Choose: Which is more important to you… Liberty or Security? I saved this one for last, because, well, it’s deep. I’m really a fan of liberty and freedom, and would find it very hard to live in some parts of this world that don’t have that. And there’s a sort of security in freedom. But I also really like that I feel safe, where I live, where I work (I don’t think I was meant to live in New York City), and truly treasure that as well. And honestly, if I have to pick one over the other, I’m going with security, because I think that I could secretly practice or at least still hold in my mind and heart those things where my freedoms could be taken away (religion comes to mind), but would find it very hard to cope in a war zone or always under terrorist attack or anything like that where my security was never guaranteed.
3. Drinking: If you could drink anything right now–alcoholic or otherwise–what and how much of it would you drink? Well, I’ve got a homemade mocha sitting here that’s pretty good. A nice glass of ice water or really cold milk could be good too.
4. Counting: How many light bulbs are in your home, and when was the last time you had to change one? Ooh…. OK, so this is only an estimate, and I’m counting light fixtures, not individual bulbs. Ten. Some of those have multiple bulbs in them (like the kitchen lights). Christmas Eve Eve, replaced the one in the front room so we could exchange gifts by the tree.

popularity: 18%

Get Your Drink On

1. What is your favorite beverage? Why? We’ve done this here before. White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks. And Coke original in a glass with ice. And really good milk (but I’m very picky about it).
2. Your preference: Tea, coffee, or hot cocoa? Truthfully, hot cocoa, then coffee, then tea.
3. Favorite thing to drink in the heat of summer? Lemonade-Iced-Tea.
4. Worst beverage you’ve ever tasted? Beer.
5. How do you take your water: flavored, bottled, carbonated, or straight from the tap? Tap, with ice.

popularity: 10%

I was just checking the newly redesigned template and got sad for a moment - I miss my blog (or at least, the fact that the posts I write actually get… posted)! I’m glad it’ll be back up soon. It’s like this running conversation, stream of consciousness really, with myself and y’all and I just miss that. I know has good-naturedly complained that once it does get back up, he’s going to have a lot of work to do (as in, two months of posts to read). I hope y’all comment even on the older stuff - I look forward to continuing those conversations that I started back in December, even if I kinda did forget about them soon.

Now my only real fear in getting the blog back up is that I’ll accidentally publish some posts marked “non-posting.” Oh, the terror. (If you ever see one - don’t read it, and let me know right away!!!!!)

Much calmer now than I was earlier this afternoon. gave me tomorrow afternoon off, so I’ve hopefully got plenty of time to get everything done then. I was just way too stressed before, until I realized I could give myself permission to spend some vacation hours. I got a lot of good work done today, all things considered (especially a 2 1/2 hour staff meeting that sucked productivity out of my day) - all caught up on filing for the last… six months. Threw lots of stuff away, too. Love that. Now only if I could get my home as organized as my cube, life would be great.

I’m going home now!

popularity: 11%

I just wrote January 2008 on something. And it’s not a typo. I mean, I know I’ve got file folders set up through 2010 for the council, but that’s because it was just easier to do… six years at once. But 2008? I shudder. Do you know how old I’ll be in 2008?

[Editor's Note: the author has fainted. Resuscitation is being attempted. Please stand by.]

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I woke up an hour and a half early yesterday for that stupid meeting, and then was up until 2 am. I am very tired. And I think tonight will be a late night too. It’s all my own fault, really (well, mostly). I was up working on a gift for someone (that’s nowhere near finished, hence the late night tonight). Of course, I want to blame the ill-fated trip to Cub. It took waaaaay too long to do that little bit of shopping. They didn’t have the yogurt I liked. I forgot to get fondue fuel (can’t find mine to save my life - I can picture the bottle in my mind, but who knows where it’s living these days). I bought the wrong kind of dip. And the pudding box I bought was partially open and spilling dust over everything. The last… two I realized while standing in line to check out. But I’d already unloaded my basket, and had been waiting for 20 minutes and wasn’t about to get out of line then. It wasn’t until later that I realized I’d forgotten the fondue fuel. Needless to say, my mood by the time I got home at 9:30 was less than stellar.

I’m not technically grumpy today (yet). I’ve got a Nutty Bar for breakfast (yum!), and am thinking that a Mocha Frappuccino would fix just about everything. Maybe a nice backrub (unfortunately, my IcyHot is at home, and I forgot to put some on my shoulder last night). I don’t think that the two-hour motivational speaker we’ve got to listen to this afternoon will improve my mood.

So tonight’s list of things to do is incredibly long, and I really shouldn’t whine because it’s self-imposed. Maybe I’ll just label my room as off-limits tomorrow when and and come over. That way I don’t have to clean my closet (which is piled 3 feet deep with crap). I really need to change the cat litter though. And finish both gifts. The place mats for can wait, I suppose, but I think it will take less time to just do them tonight while I’ve got the sewing machine out, and really, we’re talking about a 10-minute task. Make the cake - absolutely necessary, since I don’t want to be trying to do that after work tomorrow before fondue. Fondue can be done tomorrow, thankfully, so there’s no prep work involved there. And of course, I should change the sheets on my bed, shower at some point, unload the dishwasher, and so forth. And there’s good TV on tonight (or there usually is on Thursday - I haven’t checked the schedule for today). I’d like to talk to on the phone, but he’s got to make chili and I’ve got to finish gifts, and I can’t figure out how to knit while on my cell (or any phone, really, without getting a huge cramp in my neck). You know how sometimes you just feel out of touch with someone? It’s been a long week, that’s all. Not bad so much as long. I think I’m going to see if will let me leave a little early today and tomorrow - the extra half hour should help, even if just a tiny bit.

Firmed up a time to do hair with on Sunday, so that’s exciting. I was worried we’d never find time we were both free, but she’s got parent-teacher conferences next week and wants to look her best, so she’s motivated. And willing to drive me all the way home (since the bus doesn’t run after 6 on Sundays). My hair will be happy. And then I can go get a cut without being too embarrassed about the nasty roots (especially since the girl complimented me on the good job and I do in the first place).

The really good news is that the clerical here who answers phones, who fell ill Tuesday and was taken to the hospital with stroke-like symptoms, is back at work today and seems to be fine. I just couldn’t handle any more. Neither could . Someone was looking out for us.

I’m so glad I’m switching hosts - Dreamweaver loses the connection with my current one all the time and then has to re-connect, and it’s been tying up my computer for the last 15 minutes. I think I’m going to have to shut it down, which means lost work. I hate that. Hopefully the new host will be much more reliable, or at least less annoying. At this point the bar’s set a little low.

Oh yeah. People are just going to annoy the crap outta me today. Maybe I should change my Yahoo! status to “don’t poke the bear.”

popularity: 11%

1. How many pets do you have? What species? Ages? Two obese cats, and , though the former may just be re-named “The One Who Pees In Inappropriate Places Like My Shoes,” though that’s a bit long. Two fish, Milton Waddams and Sir Poops-A-Lot, both goldfish and huge. And a placastamus (totally spelled that wrong and I don’t care today) that has no name. The fish are all… 2-ish.
2. Do you know anyone who has a creepy/odd pet, like a spider or a hog? No, though I think if she could, would own a bat.
3. What do pets mean to you? Something to love, take care of, nurture, be responsible for.

popularity: 16%