1. You do your thing; I do mine and sometimes we’ll end up doing stuff together that we both enjoy.
2. The tightness factor of Gap jeans is what’s been on my mind on and off all day.
3. Remember when you could eat whatever you wanted and stay a size 2? Good times.
4. Fabric, chocolate, and school supplies are three of my favorite obsessions
5. During the last year we did a whole lot of work on our house.
6. Seeing one of our cats happy puts a smile on my face.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to making significant progress on DQS9, tomorrow my plans include going to the state fair and Sunday, I want to be able to plan out this semester (homework-wise)! I had hoped to do this last bit tonight, but I still have not received a copy of the syllabus, despite the professor’s promise to mail it. Grr. Hope we don’t have homework.

via Friday Fill-Ins

1. Life is good.
2. Sometimes you’ve got to just keep going.
3. My last text message (or IM) ended in these three words: See you later.
4. Corn on the cob is what I’m thinking about for dinner sometime soon always.
5. On the 1st day of August I finished a project that I still haven’t shown you. Sorry.
6. I don’t think I’ve ever been described as lively and energetic. I did get “perky” once. That was weird.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to assembling our latest Craigslist purchase (oh, just wait until you see it!), tomorrow my plans include lots of digging (boo) and a final paper to write and Sunday, I want to do something outside, but I fear the weather will not cooperate (predicted hot and sticky)!

I missed out on FF last week because I was keeping my giveaway open. Bummer. But, I’m back!

1. I feel pretty, oh so pretty, I feel pretty and witty, and gay~~~~. (This song gets stuck in my head easily. Maybe I can share it with you.)
2. I don’t like to play to catch up.
3. Do finish your memes before you hit publish. Duh.
4. I am completely unique.
5. It’s hard to know how much is too much sometimes.
6. [I got nothin'] follows suit.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to doing homework (maybe finishing the book I’m reading for class, which is really good), tomorrow my plans include car shopping (I finally know exactly* what I want!) and Sunday, I want to (I don’t know! I haven’t planned this far ahead yet)!

via Friday Fill-Ins

*I can now confidently say, “I want this make and model, these years are acceptable, this transmission, 4WD**, and these specific colors, please.” It feels really good to make a decision like that. That is, for someone like me, who often has trouble deciding what to have for lunch or what to watch on TV. Big decisions are sometimes easier, because there’s a lot more research you can do, and they naturally take a bit more time anyway. We started looking in early June, so it hasn’t been too long. (By “started looking,” I mean “we went to two dealerships on a rainy Saturday afternoon and haven’t been back since and have been ignoring phone calls from the nice salesman who’s just trying to do his job well.”)

**It’s not really 4WD. It’s 2WD, and it switches over to 4WD when things get dicey, like driving  on icy Minnesota roads in September December. Just thought I’d clear that up. It is in no way an off-road vehicle or anything really requiring 4WD (don’t really see myself off-roading anyway).

1. Layers of clothing almost always make me happy. (Exception: summer dresses.)
2. What shouldn’t you be coming to my blog for: deep insight. Let’s just be honest about that.
3. I’d be willing to bet it will be hot this weekend. It’s the only “sure thing” I could think of.
4. I don’t really care what scares the dog. I don’t have a dog. I hear they don’t like thunderstorms. Our cats could care less.
5. I’m fond of cookies and chocolate and cake and ice cream and caramel. Can I get those all together please?
6. In regards to ice cream, it is possible to say, however improbable, “too much!” Just you see what happens at Coldstone when they “accidentally” make your “Like it” size a “Love it.” Cue nausea (and very sated tastebuds).
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to buying new piano books at Groth, tomorrow my plans include gardening (do I say that every weekend in the summer?) and Sunday, I want to finish my most recent sewing project!

via Friday Fill-Ins

1. When it’s quiet I feel at peace.
2. [can't think of anything] in what seems like a month.
3. My heart is content.
4. I don’t know how it came to be that we’re in July.
5. In the town where I was born lies the two houses I grew up in, the two elementary schools I went to, my junior high, and my high school.
6. A willingness to kill spiders for me is something I really love about my significant other / friend.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to hammock time!, tomorrow my plans include writing a paper and yard work and Sunday, I want to enjoy more hammock time before going to see the fireworks!

via Friday Fill-Ins

1. Ideally I’d get to the bus station before 6:58.
2. It was the reason, of course, that mattered most.
3. Hiding my geekiness is something I no longer feel the need to do.
4. I have another errand to run, then we can play more Super Mario Brothers Galaxy 2.
5. Don’t look to others for happiness… just go find it.
6. What were once vices will always be vices (just under-control vices).
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to nothing (I have no plans), tomorrow my plans include attempting to grasp the main concepts of a book so I can write a paper on it and Sunday, I want to wake up to a house that is magically clean (so I don’t have to vacuum – hey, a girl can dream)!

Via Friday Fill-Ins

1. I would like to say that my back feels great. However, I woke up with a crick in my neck yesterday, and cannot get it to go away. I’ve tried Advil, IcyHot, stretching, and a heating pad, all to no avail. The only options left are time and a massage.
2. The solution is often simple.
3. I love listening to the rain as I fall asleep.
4. How about spending the next few weeks watching the World Cup? Yes, thank you, that’s a lovely idea.
5. Reading books for pleasure is something I highly recommend!
6. Imagine what you would do if you had a week off work (with pay, but you can’t leave town).
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to taking my sewing machine in for its check-up (gasp, but it needs to be done), tomorrow my plans include something that will probably be thwarted by rain and Sunday, I want to write a paper (OK, I know that’s not exciting, but it would be over a week early*, and sometimes it’s easier to procrastinate than do what you know you should do)!

From Friday Fill-Ins

*That’s early, even for me! But, I’m trying something new with my writing. I’m going to write the paper, and then let it sit for a week without looking at it. Then I’ll go back and edit or rewrite as needed. It worked really well for my strategy log last semester, and I think the paper I turned in this week would have benefited from this treatment. I’m going to give it a try. I almost never edit my papers. Wait, no, I never edit my papers. After the fact, that is. I edit as I go, but when I get to the end, I’m done. It’s worked for me (remember my 3.96 GPA and multiple requests from teachers for copies of my work?), but I think it’s time to try something new. [Editor's note: how will I know if this new strategy is effective? I already get As on my papers. Maybe I will feel better about them, instead of thinking, "this paper is terrible, and I know it will get an A anyway." It would be nice to turn in something thinking, "this is a darn good paper, and I don't care what grade I get because I know that it's good." OK, I probably wouldn't say that last part, but you get the idea.]

1. Cold fried chicken — the best food to take on a picnic.
2. Summer showed up early this year.
3. I adore my flip flops.
4. To love someone is to share your chocolate with them.
5. Something I like to do while camping is to go on a long hike.
6. When I crave food, it’s usually chocolate. Is there any other answer?
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to dinner? (I don’t know what we’re having, but I don’t have any plans for tonight other than homework, so it’s the only thing I could think of), tomorrow my plans include gardening, cleaning and getting the house ready for guests and Sunday, I want to revel in the joy that is a three-day weekend!

Courtesy of Friday Fill-Ins

1. Old men neighbors never fails to make me smile. My neighborhood has quite a few, and they are delightful. There’s the one who’s always walking his dog as I come home from work, the one who was mowing his lawn yesterday (I swear the lawn mower weighed more than he did), the one who likes to bend over (from the waist) to garden (butt facing the street, of course), and the one who walks around shirtless (he’s not old, but should definitely not be going shirtless, and probably could use a bigger support bra than I will ever require).
2. I’m looking forward to wedding. Two weeks to go!
3. The white noise of my [totally not allowed] space heater (that is under my desk) is what I’m listening to right now. It’s been quite cold in the office lately. I don’t think there’s been a single day this week when I haven’t had to run the space heater at least once.
4. Potato salad must have potatoes in it! I’ve never met a potato salad I liked, so I don’t really have strong opinions on style/ingredients.
5. Teeccino with 1/2 hazelnut Coffeemate, 1/2 Sweet Italian Cream Coffeemate was the best thing I ate today. It’s early. The only other thing I’ve had is Carnation Instant Breakfast – dark chocolate, which I’m not a huge fan of (but after a year of milk chocolate, I thought I’d give myself a 2-week break of “something different”).
6. Today was boring. Or, at least, I expect it will be. It’s a Friday. The phones don’t ring much, lots of people are out of the office this week, and my only project involves a database that keeps breaking on me (so I’ve been avoiding it).
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep (it has not been a good sleep week for me), tomorrow my plans include going to the Richfield Farmer’s Market, checking out garage sales as part of the city-wide garage sale, digging around in the garden, getting some plants in the ground, and hopefully setting up my hammock* and Sunday, I want to finish a project (pick one, any one)!

Via Friday Fill-Ins

*I really wanted to get my hammock up this week, so I decided I had to get the dining room table cleared (of the Christmas decorations that were still hanging out there waiting to go into storage – yes, I’m aware that it’s mid-May) and get all the plants from ‘s grandma into the ground. Those have both been done since Tuesday, but I have not yet set up the hammock. I wasn’t feeling it on Wednesday, and last night we took the time to measure and chart out the garden area (with graph paper and a tape measure), and that was the extent of my gardening. It should get up this weekend though. It needs to be up before next Thursday, when I have more reading homework to do.

1. I just had a dark chocolate Raisinet.
2. It is what it is.
3. The third sentence on the 7th page of the book I’m reading: too boring to post (the non-fiction one I carry with me, not the fiction one, which would be interesting, but is sitting at home).
4. When people use phrases like “I’m in a pickle!” it tickles my fancy.
5. I was walking from the parking ramp to the bus stop today and had to restrain myself from walking up to the light rail platform to punch a woman. (Yes, there’s a story. No, it’s not worth telling.)
6. 30 Rock makes me laugh!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to laying low and being a homebody (one of my favorite things to do!), tomorrow my plans include helping ‘s fiance move into her (soon to be their) house and Sunday, I want to get started on homework for the semester, which includes reading a book* that I think will be interesting!

*The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir by Kao Kalia Yang, for the Social Studies Capstone, my only class this summer.

1. Salsa and chips, and guacamole please.
2. Look inside most refrigerators and you will find ketchup, mayonnaise, and and [most likely] you’ve even got mustard.
3. By the time I get home I will have accidentally fallen asleep at least twice (on the bus – don’t worry).
4. Not going to the grocery store is what I look forward to most when grocery shopping.
5. And I was dreaming all these scary things about not making it to my flight on time (and not being prepared), and it turned out I had nothing to worry about.
6. A really long weekend… is there anything else better?!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to [I have not thought this far in advance - I don't even know what we're having for dinner], tomorrow my plans include a bridal “tea” for MOM and Sunday, I want to enjoy all the yard work we have planned (we’ve got three kinds of grass seed, we’ve got top soil, we’ve got two different kinds of fertilizer, we even bought a rain gauge)!

1. Where are my headphones? Sometimes the noises here at work drive me CRAZY.
2. If wishes were horses I probably wouldn’t like them very much.
3. I’d like to see more of my projects to completion. I know I’m not the only one who struggles with this.
4. When I was a teen, I thought everyone else was stupid, and I knew everything. Ah, the arrogance of youth.
5. One of my mother’s favorite sayings was _?_. I honestly can’t think of something. I could give you habits and mannerisms, but specific things she says? Clearly my memory is not that good. All I’m coming up with is “tsk,” which she doesn’t do [much] anymore.
6. I’d have a hard time doing without my sleep.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to finishing up a project (pictures next week), tomorrow my plans include getting together with MOM to make jewelry for her wedding and Sunday, I want to have a corn pancake at Maria’s and not feel a single drop of guilt about that!