No, this isn’t the number for free money from Western Union.

Didn’t have the heart/time/energy to tell him that there’s really no such thing (as free money, that is), and that it’s probably a scam of some sort. There was too strong a language barrier, and he wasn’t actually listening to me anyways (I had to repeat myself several times so that he knew I’d even answered the phone).

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I may have gone slightly overboard at the Farmer’s Market today. It’s so easy to do, even if one is limited by the bag they brought (that’s right, Farmer’s Market and avoiding all those plastic bags by bringing my own! I conquered … something very earth-friendly today, don’t you think?). On the list: potatoes for Thursday’s dinner and lettuce for BLTs on the weekend. Purchased: potatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini, dill, cauliflower, peas, and a lovely bouquet of flowers (I’ll have to post a picture tomorrow - they’re so colorful and summery, so much so that I just accidentally desribed them as colorfully). Well, it was all still just $20, so as long as we actually consume a large portion of it, we’re doing good, I think.

Of course, now I have to get it all home, which means wrangling it on the bus (only a task when they give us the crappy tiny bus, or worse the less-crappy-but-tinier bus), which if this morning’s commute into the city and yesterday’s home are any indicators, will be chock-a-block full of people. Oh well. Hope no one’s allergic to flowers. Also, I hope the driver does not crank up the heat, or whatever the issue was yesterday. That was unpleasant.

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when it hits my tongue, it tastes almost salty, then it disappears

arriving instantaneously in my nose

searing pain and heat and spice

always lingering a bit longer than i think i can bear

because i keep using more and more

it’s never enough, i love it so

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Mind if I just lay my head down on my desk for awhile? Kthx.

I was doing fine today, despite my lack of sleep, until about 10 minutes ago. Now I’m pretty sure it’s naptime. That must mean it’s time to change tasks and do something else.

Slept horribly last night. I had a Diet Coke for dinner (I wasn’t really all that hungry) before class, and then on the way home got some T-Bell. Good stuff. Thought I was tired, but when I went to bed I just laid there. Couldn’t sleep. Barely tired. Drifted in and out of sleep-like states every 5 minutes until about 2 am, when I realized I was impossibly hot and couldn’t take it anymore. The addition of the fan near my side of the bed helped immensely, and then I spent the rest of the night drifting in and out of more-like-sleep states for longer periods of time.

Too much to do tonight. Last night I got the last of the long-strip sewing done on ’s quilt. By this I mean that I had already taken all the individual strips and sewn them together, folded it in half and sewn it together again, and last night I did the final fold, so I now have one still rather long strip that is 4-strips wide, if that makes any sense. I think it’s going to look OK. The next step is to measure it and then cut out squares (the measuring is so that I know how much excess I have and how much I can afford to be generous in my cutting / placement of squares). After that, I’ll lay it out and figure out if I can just sew it together or if I need sashing. I’m hoping for no sashing, but it might pull it together better. We’ll see. If you don’t know what sashing is, be glad. Looking at the work done so far, it might end up looking alright. I was worried for a while that my fabrics didn’t go well enough together and it would just look like crap. I think, however, I may have entered some weird area where I have enough chaos and mismatching that it’s no longer relevant. And, as pointed out, it’s a little boy’s quilt. Like it really matters. I’m sure it matters to , however, who always looks wonderful and whose house is decorated quite tastefully.

Of course, sewing doesn’t need to be done on ’s quilt any time soon. It’s just that, well, of the other things that I could have done in the hour between class and “bed,” it’s the one that didn’t require too much thought.

Tonight, I have to study for my final exam in my afternoon class, which is tomorrow. I haven’t started, of course, because I had a ton of papers to write this weekend. I also have to contact someone about getting my 10 volunteer hours in, because summer school ends Thursday. Hmm. Could be interesting. I may not be at work the next few days.

I was kind of hoping that I might dye my hair tonight. You know, there’s a lot of just waiting around during that process, and I’m sure I could study then. Right? And get laundry done. And maybe try that jogging thing again. And, and, and…. All I really want to do is go home, go to bed, and wake up (magically 15 pounds lighter, while we’re asking for the moon). (Slimquick update: I have not gained nor lost any weight, as of this morning’s official weigh-in.)

Shall I spend the afternoon coding in an attempt to stay awake? I think so. Also, there will be wasabi for lunch. Because the Easy Mac just didn’t cut it.

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Meme, “borrowed” from Typical Momma

What is your salad dressing of choice? Ranch

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?Today I’m craving Japanese - I don’t really do favorites.

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? Pizza

What are your pizza toppings of choice? Pepperoni and mushrooms and extra cheese and red pepper flakes and sometimes garlic and/or Parmesan (the cheap stuff)

What do you like to put on your toast? Margarine

What is your wallpaper on your computer? Right now, a Cozumel Wren provided by the Nature Conservatory

What color cell phone do you have? Red

Are you right-handed or left-handed? Right

Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Nope

What is the last heavy item you lifted? Something from my car into the storage unit. Probably a box of something.

Have you ever been knocked unconscious? Nope

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? No

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?Well, now that I got that pesky all-too-common last name taken care of, I care much less about the ordinariness of my first name. I would prefer at least, however, for it to be spelled interestingly. Like Kelley. I’d settle for that. But nothing original like that for my parents.

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? No. Breaking a 23-year no-vomiting streak is worth more than $1000.

How many pairs of flip flops do you own? One, and they need to be replaced.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Who wants to grow up?

Favorite Season? Fall

Favorite Holiday? Christmas

Favorite Day of the week? Any that don’t involve waking up before 7 am.

Favorite Month? May (I think). The trees are blooming and things can be planted and school gets out.

Missing someone? If I think about it hard enough, definitely.

What can you not wait to do? For this semester to be over! I am not enjoying it very much.

What’s the last movie you saw? Independence Day in HD (we bought the DVD over the weekend since I hadn’t seen it before - quality sci-fi entertainment with some good humor and great actor selection).

Do you smile often? Probably not, but I’m getting good at scowling at other drivers.

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…today is my last day to wear these pants (that I don’t, I am sad to say, have a photo of to share with you). It’s not very often that, as I wear an item of clothing, I know it’s the last time, and even less often that I’m actually sad about that. More often, if I know it’s the last time, it’s because it fits wrong or I end up feeling frumpy in it or decide it’s ugly or I have nothing proper to wear with it (or, in the case of shoes, decide that they were created by Satan himself because they hurt that bad, as only women’s shoes can do).

Well, it’s true that my pants no longer exactly fit. I bought them… back when I lived by the Fairgrounds, from Vicky’s (some of the only clothing ever purchased from them, this pair of pants in 2 colors, one that was more of a stone and quickly stained, and this pair, which is a darker, more camel-y khaki), and was until recently the correct size. They’re not as bad as some of my other pants which actually went into storage, so poorly did they fit, but they still don’t look the best. I have to wear them higher up on my waist than I’d prefer (because parts of me are still slightly more slender than others, as I have not yet turned completely into a peach), which means that the crotch rides up high (rather uncomfortable), and that the legs are a tad shorter than they should be. So, not exactly the fashionista icon I’d like to be today. Whatever.

That’s not why it’s their last day, though. I’d keep them around, in storage of course, if that were it. No, truth be told, I have worn these pants too much, and there are big frayed spots and the hems. Were I still 19, it would be totally acceptable. But more than 10 years later, it no longer is. Not exactly workplace appropriate, and that’s what khakis are for (the workplace).

So, tonight I will say farewell to these pants, which have stayed with me longer than many other pairs of khakis (I seem to own quite a few, and go through them often - can we say “wardrobe staple” ?). They will most likely find their way into the Goodwill pile, unless I find a really wicked website that tells me how to turn them into a skirt that doesn’t look like… a skirt made out of a pair of pants. So, Goodwill it is, then.

I did spend some time at Goodwill on Friday while I waited for a prospective buyer to look at our house (haven’t heard anything, but it’s much too soon), and got some neat stuff. It still has to be washed, and I still haven’t ironed and photographed my last Goodwill/thrifting haul, so it looks like I’ve got a lot to do this week.

I’ve been bored at work for … well, all summer long, and a co-worker discovered today that his website (which I “broke” last winter) looks wonky and he asked me to fix it. Fine, though truth be told I didn’t know how (I would have fixed it when I broke it if I could have), so I got a little technical support from everyone’s favorite computer guy, . It’s mostly fixed, though there was quite a bit of frustration on my part directed at the guy who designed it (who has since left our department, and then retired a few weeks ago). One stupid detail involves my needing to go into every single page on the site and move the </div> to before the footer tag instead of after it (it’s the only way I can get the footer to center), which is ridiculous that I should have to do that. Then, while I was still trying to fix that problem, I discovered that the menu doesn’t work unless you’re in the main (parent) directory. That’s stupid, and while I know how to fix it, with the site design the way it is, I can’t figure out where exactly to put the code to default the links. Grr.

As I was sitting there trying to figure it out, I nearly put my head down on my desk and cried, I was so frustrated with it all (I have spared you the most boring and yet absolutely annoying details because you really don’t care that much). It was at that point that I realized it was after 1:30 and I hadn’t eaten lunch, and had only some yogurt for breakfast, and perhaps my overly emotional state was due to that and not html coding?

It seems I may have been on to something there, as when I got up to go find some lunch, I felt a little sick, I was so hungry. Fixed that right up, though, with some soup (yes, 90* weather is not exactly soup weather, but it sounded good) and a bagel. Also while I was out, I got a perfume sample of Sensuous by Estee Lauder. The lady at the counter was nice enough to spray it on the card for me (my hands were a bit full) and mist my wrist, so that I can find out if I’m allergic. She was truly horrified that I was allergic to Beyond Paradise after wearing it for nearly 5 years. Yeah, yeah, old hat by now. I’ve been itchy for the last week or so, and was especially itchy yesterday (all over, no kidding, head to toe without exception), for no reason (OK, yesterday’s itching I can possibly attribute to our trip to the cabin this weekend, so it was either the well water - unlikely - or the towel I used on Sunday morning after my shower - laundry detergent, a likely culprit - so I’ve learned my lesson and will bring my own towels from now on washed in some safe detergent, when I find some).

Also, (man, I’ve been talkative today, huh) I have decided that I don’t actually like our “new” co-worker (the one who’s supposed to answer the phones, but doesn’t). I’m OK with this, and realize that often we have to deal with co-workers who are less than ideal. I just finally gave up on trying to like her despite her obvious flaws.

And with the hating of my job today came (at a very appropriate time) a renewed commitment to getting good grades and finishing my schooling, because there are very few escapes from this job, and I’m not really on board with getting knocked up (which is only a temporary solution at that, and a rather poor reason to bring a child into the world, don’t you think?).

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Is it worth pointing out that, specifically for the last post, recipes and ideas that can either be done the night before or take less than half an hour are important? I’m seriously short on time these days and while I’d love to cook fancy meals, I just don’t have the time and doesn’t really care about presentation (he actually eschews it a bit).

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There are plenty of people in this world who think that I am a very picky eater. And, I have been blessed that at least some of these people have been willing to be forgiving of that and work with it (including my MIL, who made me my own potatoes on the grill this weekend without onions, so sweet!). Without arguing that too much, I like to think that in some respects I’m not that picky. I just have a few ingredients I don’t like (OK, “few” might be an understatement to some of you). Whatever.

read the rest »

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I’ve been avoiding (so far, successfully) purchasing this mug at Starbucks (images totally stolen from ebay and Pottery Barn, though I didn’t hotlink them so I’m not totally evil):

It makes me want to decorate entirely in semi-sheer, flowy, white fabric and look for a house like this:

They have some others that I’m briefly tempted to purchase:

Except that then I’d have to decorate entirely in blue and white and live in a beach house, which is not really my thing:

Do you ever see very small household items that make you want to entirely redecorate?

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Hours spent doing homework: four billion (OK, it’s actually more like 10-12, but it was a lot: two papers, five chapters read, 3 outlines written, four hours of CNN documentary watched, and no studying for Wednesday’s exam)

Miles driven: approximately 280, give or take

House showings: at least 2

Hours spent thinking keys were lost: 12

Number of times bobbin had to be re-threaded because it was empty: 3

New commenters on this blog: 1

Pictures from the weekend (some taken by , some by me):

(a few more in my Flickr photostream, if you’re interested)

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Much, much too funny to pass up…. I’m reordering them so that the best is saved for last….

What’s your favorite thing to do on a rainy day? Stay in my pjs all day and watch movies.

Are you a window person or an aisle person? Why? Um, window. It’s easier to sleep, plus I like the view of flying into the city, whichever city it is.

Every person you have ever slept with is invited to a banquet where you are the guest of honor. No one will be in attendance except you, the collection of your former lovers, and the catering service. After the meal, you are asked to give a fifteen-minute speech to the assembly. What do you talk about? I’m sure and I would have a lovely conversation about books or television or stuff that had gone on that day. Because he’d be the only one there. OK, so my answer wasn’t that funny, but thinking about the question was….

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1. Memory :: Restored
2. Original :: CD Track
3. Exclusively :: Yours
4. Listings :: House
5. Bucket :: List
6. Knight :: -s of the Round Table
7. Dusty :: Malone
8. Choice :: Free
9. Sunlight :: Bathe
10. Change of plans :: There’s been a…

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OK, how totally awesome is this - we already have two showings of our house scheduled for this weekend!!! I am thrilled, tickled pink, and… anything else you can come up with to describe how excited one might be about such a development.

Plus, I just got the green light from a fashion-conscious young co-worker for the new pair of pants that I bought. I was afraid they might be too soccer-mom-minivan-summertime, but she said they’re OK.

Oh, and I’m having ice cream for lunch. Frozen yogurt, actually, with granola. It’s almost healthy. Shut up, I don’t care.

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Unofficially, I have managed to gain weight. I say unofficially because I weighed myself yesterday, but it wasn’t under the usual circumstances, so it doesn’t count.

Secondly, as an update from yesterday, I started wondering if perhaps it wasn’t the pills I was taking that was making me nauseous, but the multivitamin. I have problems with those suckers, you know. I thought about it this morning because I took the Slimquick at 7:30 and felt fine until about 9:15 (and I took my multivitamin and its friends at 9:00). This seemed suspicious and familiar. I looked around the internet and it seems that quite a few people have had this nausea problem with the One A Day Weight Smart. So, I think I will stop taking that sucker. I’m glad I only bought the 2 month supply instead of the almost-a-year supply. I will see if I can find a different (normal) multivitamin today at the store. Not the One A Day brand, since I continue to have problems with them, and have to religiously take the women’s formula with food in order to avoid the nausea, and nothing seems to help with this weight smart version. Oh, I did find something that helped. Not the water that I was drinking, not the hunk of bread I had leftover from yesterday’s dinner at Panera (that I conveniently forgot about attempting to eat until long after I’d eaten it - that cat really likes her bread!). No, the solution was the Special K Protein Water mix I’ve got sitting here in my drawer. It won’t stop you from needing lunch, but if you’re starving it will help a bit, and it has seemed to (finally) stop the nausea. Yay!

Plus, unfortunately, the nausea didn’t actually stop me from eating (that would be one way to lose weight - just feel nauseous all the time!). In fact, I probably ate more, and crappier stuff, because I was trying to find something to add to my system that would make me feel better (to no avail).

Well, that’s all for now. I’m pondering writnig up something about babies and infertility and so forth, but maybe not. Maybe not publicly, at least. Maybe I just want to forget about that subject for a while (which means stopping reading certain blogs, so I need to find some other way to occupy my day while I wait for the phone to ring about once every hour - boring!).

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It has been a very long week at work, accentuated by my tiredness, homework pressures, and not having anything to do (or at least nothing that requires the use of my brain). Today, thankfully, is Friday. But, one of the other girls who answers the phones is gone, as is my boss, so I am stuck here (with one backup). Of course, this makes me want to leave, which I can’t.

Secondly, I didn’t get to shower today because the alarm clock won today’s battle (or maybe I did? I sure don’t feel like I won though). Just to prove I’m not the only person who feels this way about our alarm clock, here’s an article on This Is Broken about the poor button placement on our Bose radio. And here is a picture. Now, listen to me carefully. I realize that the Snooze button is larger than the Off button. I realize that in an ideal world we would all be born morning people and just pop out of bed every day at 5:30 without any alarm clock at all. However, some of us are not those people and are never gonna be those people. Some of us are the kind of people who can sleep through half an hour of blaring buzzing alarms, who can turn off quite complicated alarm clock systems in our sleep, and who could easily sleep until 9:30 every day and not feel guilty about it if we didn’t have to talk to morning people.

I’m a little tired of the holier-than-thou comments by people who happen to be born early risers, as if they are genetically superior but also that they somehow choose to be that way, and I am choosing to be a disgusting, lazy person. The comments on that This Is Broken post got me all riled up, and since I have nothing else to think about or do at the moment, I’ll stop being bored for 5 minutes and deal with that.

Last night, we went to Home Depot and, for $17, made it possible for me to use my cutting mat on the table instead of the floor, which was a wonderful idea (that I didn’t have or suggest, strangely). Amazing what two 3×3 squares of pressboard can do (that, by the way, is how big my cutting mat is, 3′x6′). So after dinner, I cut out 350+ inches of the black polka dot fabric in 4-inch-wide strips (wait, that’s unclear… 4″ by 350″ is what I cut out, in 7 segments), on the bias. Sewn all together, and then ironed a lot to make it double-fold bias tape, I plan on sewing it onto the edge of the mock quilt, perhaps this weekend on the car ride to the cabin. (It’s either that or work on knitting this baby blanket, which I haven’t worked on in at least 7 months.) I’d love to machine-stitch it on, but without the proper $40 foot, there’s no way that’s going to happen, and I’m actually a bit skeptical that my machine will be able to handle quilting at all. So, hand stitching it is. I’m sure, if I work on it this weekend, I’ll complain about it Monday. But maybe I’ll have a nice photo for you too.

We emailed our Realtor to tell him that we pre-approve any house tours that might want to happen this weekend, since we will be basically without cell service or email. The cabin is like that. Thankfully, I don’t need any of that for the homework I have, which is studying for a test, writing a reflection paper or two (I’m a little unclear on what my homework is now that the second teacher for my night class showed up on Wednesday, totally changed the syllabus, and doubled our homework load), and doing a lot of reading.

I just realized that I don’t think we actually have any luggage in the house to pack for the weekend. I think it’s all in storage. Hmm. That could be fun.

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