Blah Blah Blah

Oh I've got the blah's today a little bit.  Nothing to pinpoint specifically.  Woke up in a great mood.  Still in a pretty great mood - got an episode of "Mad Men" to watch in a few minutes (borrowed from the local library).  Husband's out at Men's Group (eating pizza and drinking beer) so the house is quiet.  And I just got in from P's wake, which was really a very lovely affair (for a wake).  I was even asked to sing in the choir for a few minutes.  I love to sing.

But I think I actually do know what's bothering me today.  And it's so silly.  It's YouTube.  I had a free hour (or so) at work today after the boss left, so my fellow worker & I decided to search for interesting hair and make-up videos on YT.  We were saddened by what we found....

Why is it that seemingly all of the hair tutorials are done by non-white girls?  I don't mean to be racist, but knowing how to style the hair of a woman of color is not going to help me style my hair.  Where are all the videos of pasty white girls with frizzy hair?  Same goes for make-up tutorials.  Although, to be fair, I did find a lot of drag queens on those.  And they were fun to watch.  But I'm hardly going to show up for my job looking like a drag queen.  I think I'd give my boss a stroke.  I'd also like to say that the selection of videos for fashion geared towards plus-sized girls is fairly dominated with women of color.  Again, pasty white girls:  Where are you?

Clearly all of us PWGs with medium-length semi-curly hair, big hips and severely limited make-up skills need to unite and for a cooperative.  Or maybe a union.  Can I get an Amen?

P.S. I know I changed the font on my blog again.... I'm sorry if this one is difficult to read.  But today it's striking my fancy.

Hello? Is This Thing On?

Happy Wednesday everyone.  Anyone?  Helloooooo?

I've decided that blogging is a bit (for me) like talking to God.  I *hope* and *pray* that someone is reading (listening).  And *sometimes* I get a response (from God or bloggers, alike).  But blogging for me is like praying: it lets me just get everything off my chest, to not feel bad about how I feel, and to just let things be.  Does that make sense?  I *know* God can take care of me and my problems.  I *know* He's always listening.  It's just a *hope* that bloggers are reading.  And blog-reader (and writers) can perhaps relate to my problems... or at least empathize.

So if you have been reading my blog and are generally disgusted with the recent tone and turn events, I apologize.  If it makes you feel any better, I'm disgusted too.  And while I'm trying to put in OOTDs everyday, that's easier said then done.  Especially on Wednesdays, as I have about 20 minutes between getting home from work and leaving for rehearsal.  And I don't get home again until it's all dark and cold outside.

Joys & Sorrows Go Hand-in-Hand

Seems when there is a day of joy here in my house it is quickly followed by a day of sorrow.  And while I know that yesterdays post didn't come across as cheerful, I did have a good day and I was feeling happy. 

No such luck today.  A few bad things happened.

1. My friend P died.  She'd been sick for a while, and I know she's in a better place.  We weren't close, as she was actually a friend of my parents' but I did see her weekly and I liked her very much.

2. M's job offer was revoked.  Turns out the company had a hiring freeze on  new hires and he found out at 4:45 this evening.  So he is, again, unemployed.

So I'm writing this post while feeling quite frozen inside.  Realizing that I have a box of things on my ironing board (odd place, I know) that I just ordered from one of my favorite stores.... I think I'll be returning them on Friday.  And realizing that M probably feels like he's the worst provider in the universe.  And I'm feeling completely helpless.  And I really want to call the cable company and cancel our TV service.  The only part of my brain that's working is the part that is trying, frantically, to make some kind of plan.  It's just going around and around in circles. 

But this too shall pass.  God will open a window for this door that has just slammed in our faces.  We won't starve.  We won't loose our house.  I'll just shop less.

Violet, You're Turning Violet! OOTD (Willy Wonka Style)

Wow - are Monday's ever hectic for me!  Overall, it was a fantastic day.  And I wanted to share why....

First, my pictures were taken this morning.  It was around 20 degrees, and so I was freezing.  And the ground is really soft so my heels were sinking in!  But when I bought this dress, the first thing I said to myself was "Violet, you're turning violet!" as quoted from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory".  I love the color, the pleating and general awesome-ness of this dress.  And it's way out of my comfort zone.

Details: 

Dress: Apt 9, Kohls

Cardigan: Thrifted, Gap

Belt: Hijacked from a different dress

Stockings: Target on clearance

Shoes: DSW clearance

The second awesome thing today turned out to be the luncheon meeting I had with the boss and the office manager (whom is the bosses wife).  I was very anxious about this, as my boss has a history of pumping us employees for negative feedback about each other.  Turned out to be a luncheon where they both told me how fabulous I am for 1.5 hours.  Awesome! That was the BEST confidence booster ever.  Sadly my stomach is still a little upset from the anxiety I was carrying around, but I'll get over it.

After work, I had dance class which usually helps to pick me up if I'm feeling down.  But I did have the quirky stomach issue so I wasn't feeling particularly like I even wanted to go.  And, my friend KC wasn't coming with me today because she had to work late.  But, thankfully, the teacher took it easy on us and we went nice and slow.  And added arm movements to go with our routine.  Of course, my feet promptly forgot what they were doing when we added the arms!

Lastly, I just really wanted to add this funny pic.  My hubby loves to play with the photo shop (or whatever program he uses) and this was his result today.  Which, he tells me, was actually very easy to do.  I think it looks like I just took a hit of morning acid and stepped out of the cover of The Beatles "St. Pepper" album.  

Happy Monday.  I'm happy.  I had a great day.  I'm going to have cheese and wine and relax.  And I managed to stretch myself by wearing a dress extremely far removed from my comfort zone.  :)  Have a great evening everyone!

P.S. I just read my post and realized it doesn't sound like A) I'm happy at all or B) that I had a great day today.  I am happy and I did have a great day!  Just pooped, I guess.

Friday's OOTD, Woo Hoo For The Weekend

Hello my lovelies.... here are a few snaps of my outfit from Friday.  And a quickie post just to say I'm excited about the weekend. :)  I've got a women's Bible group this morning, then I'll be working on a few projects in the afternoon - one of which might involve my sewing machine!  And Sunday will bring a craft show event with my mom - I can't wait to see all of the different crafts that are on display!  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I really love this outfit!  Sadly these jeans have a history of sagging as the day goes on.  And it was 5:00 when these snaps were taken.  And I'm sad you can't see it, but I was rockin' a really cute side bun all day!

Details: 

Crushed Black Velvet Blazer: thrifted

Olive Green Tank: NY&Co

White Tank:?

Jeans: LaneyBryant

Shoes: thrifted

Pin: handcrafted in Ireland

Necklace: Kohl's

Bracelet: Claire's

All About Me From A to Z

Stole this little 'game' from Sara at "You, Me & Anthropologie".  I did this once when I was on Facebook... thought I'd try it again. And I needed to take a break from regular work activities anyway.

A. Age: 28, but turning 29 in a few weeks

B. Bed size: Queen - thank the Lord.  We are too big for a full bed.  And our room is too small for a King.

C. Chore you dislike: Cleaning the bathtub & raking

D. Dogs: 2 - Shirley the pit bull and Bailey the Shepard/hound cross

E. Essential start to your day: Check e-mail/blogs, shower, eggs

F. Favorite color: I love all things that are bright.  But I also enjoy various shades of 'twig' and olive drab.

G. Gold or silver: Why not both?

H. Height: 5 foot 6 inches

I. Instruments you play(ed): Well, I started on trumpet & piano, went to music school for French horn and learned a variety of other instruments while I was there.  Current passion - ukulele and Irish lap harp

J. Jelly bean flavor: pear & cinnamon

K. Kids: Hmm... no real thoughts there.  I like kids.  I think I'd be a good mom.  If God wants me to have kids that'll be fabulous.  If not, that'll be fabulous too.

L. Lucky number: 11

M. Month: My favorite month would be September

N. Nicknames: Mags, Maggie, Magpie, Mugwhump, and the really unfortunate childhood nickname of Harriet

O. Overnight hospital stays: none

P. Pet peeves: Oh... I have a lot of these.  But mostly it's stupid & ignorant people

Q. Quote from a movie: "Come Back! Come Back!" from Titanic.  Why couldn't she have shared the floating door with Jack?

R. Righty or lefty: Righty

S. Siblings: 2 - brother and sister. We are nothing alike in any way.

T. Time you wake up: Between 6:15 and 6:30

U. Underwear: Yes I wear them.  Under my pants even.

V. Vegetables you don't like: okra, turnips

W. What makes you run late: My husband

X. X-rays you've had: lots, unfortunately

Y. Yummy food you make: Lots and lots - I love to cook!

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Hippo, giraffes, wolves

Bad Mood Banished

Quickie post this morning... thanks to M and Tara B from "Little Girl Big Closet" my bad mood has officially been banished.  I'm feeling GREAT this morning.  Rockin' some awesome animal print flats and a crushed velvet blazer.  OOTD pics to come late tonight.

And... M drove me to work this morning.  I got a fab breakfast from my favorite little coffee shop.  I'm having lunch out with my dad this afternoon and dinner with two of my favorite girlies N&H.  Total turn-around from yesterday!  Going to stay positive all day! :)  Promise.

Lusting After....

I don't normally do this, especially since this will be my 3rd post today, but I was cruising the Anthro website and I found these sweet little measuring cups and spoons. I'm seriously lusting after these.  Maybe little fairies or elves will magically make them appear at my house?  Please. God.

I can't generally shop at Anthro because nothing much comes in my size, but housewares fit everyone!

SHOPPING BAG

	Austin's Flora Measuring Cups style #073106 color: MULTI size: ONE SIZE qty:  update unit price: $28.00 item total: $28.00 save for later move to wish list remove
	Primary Confection Measuring Spoons style #974438 color: MULTI size: ONE SIZE qty:  update unit price: $14.00 item total: $14.00 save for later move to wish list remove

OOTD, Can This Day Get Any Worse?

So my mood has gone steadily downhill today.  I can't really even figure out why. :(  But here are some snaps of my outfit today... nothing really special.  We were supposed to get up to 6 inches of snow upon waking this morning, so I had planned accordingly.  No dresses/stockings/heels when there's a blizzard.  But there was only a scant 1/4 inch and I didn't have time to change my clothes.  So here it is:

I promise this sweater is really really RED, not so much the orange the snap is making it look like.

Not the greatest snap here either: the necklace is all reds and oranges with gold hardware

That's better. :)

Details:

Sweater: Target

White Blouse: LaneByrant

Black Trousers: JCPenny

Black Flats: ?

Necklace: ?

Watch: Relic

Hope your day is going better then mine! :)

Wednesday OOTD, 2nd Post Today

First I'd like to do a little shout-out to (insert name of your favorite deity): Thanks for the many, many, many blessings in my life.  But most especially, THANK YOU for the job offer today for M.  This couldn't have come at a better time.  While not quite at the crisis stage, I was certainly quite anxious about where our lives were going.

Second I'd like to tell Mother Nature the following: It's Spring.  Please stop snowing.  Thanks.

Third - here's today OOTD.  I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with how it came out... something about navy, purple and brown that isn't quite meshing for me.  But the jacket is my fav and the umbrella is just plain awesome.

Details: 

Umbrella: target

Green Jacket: thrifted (and it was designed for a little boy)

Purple Cardi: thrifted

Blue Tunic: daisy fuentes

Brown Belt: target

Brown Trousers: jcpenny

Bronze Shoes: walmart

Perfume: Inis (ireland)

Silver & Turquoise Cross: gift (mexico)

Wedding Rings

Hip Hip Hooray!

Just a brief post this afternoon... an OOTD post will come tonight, I promise.  But I just had to share the news...

M accepted a job offer today!! Hip Hip Hooray!

He won't start for a few weeks, and he has to get his drug test done (tomorrow) and wait for the background check to come back.  But we are soooooo excited.

Some quick back story, in case you hadn't heard this before:
M got laid off from his construction job on October 23, 2009.  He's been able (thankfully) to collect unemployment since then.  In November of 2009 I found out that the office I was working in would be shutting down.  We stayed open until March.  So by April 1, we were both collecting unemployment and living off of PB&J.  In May 2010, I picked up the job I have now.  And it's pretty damn good.  And hopefully in April 2011 M will start working! :) 

Just felt the need to share!

Tuesdays Are Made For Bright Colors

Tuesday.... I woke up being bummed that it was *only* Tuesday.  And the day dragged at work.  But, I've got a 2nd OOTD lined up and the bright pink tank top made me smile!  On a side note, I came home to find a coupon from one of my favorite stores.... 30% off you're entire purchase.  But when I looked online, the Vera Wang purse I have been lusting after was already on sale.  And cheaper then it would be with the coupon (which doesn't go in effect until Friday, at which point the sale will go away).  So I bought it.  And a pencil skirt.  And a dress.  Oops...  at least the shipping was free. :)

Here's the 1st snap of today.... 

Black trousers (jcpenny)

Pink beaded tank top (lanebryant)

Grey cardigan (kohls)

Grey wool swing jacket (old navy)

Tan shoes (payless)

Here's my 2nd snap... all the better to see the gorgeous color of that tank top.  

And you can almost see the beading on the neckline.

My car is named Cornelia.

What's a girl to do without some lovely accessories?

Shoes: payless (so comfortable!)

Ring: City Rox, I've named it Veronica

Clutch: Vera Wang

Taken in my car,

an experiment in eye-liner, a new found love

i did manage to not poke myself in the eye this morning

Manic Monday, 1st ever Outfit Of The Day!!

Today is Monday. Monday's are manic for me.... up early for work, off the tap class right after work, and a quickie bite of awesome Mexican food with one of my friends after that. And always home around 9pm. Makes for a long day. But *squee* here is my first ever OOTD. Be kind... the pics are taken from my phone. And the lighting in my house is terrible. And please ignore the junk in the 1st picture.

This outfit is: line grey-wool wide-leg trousers (talbots) - size 18

Black Cherry Ice Cream colored sweater with scarf (kohls) - love the puffy sleeve! - size 1X

Belt (hijacked from a dressbarn dress) and held together with a decorative flower paperclip

Black Camisole (walmart)

Black shoes (target) - sorry you can't see them better :(

This is a vintage ring that was my grandmother's
it makes me think of feathers
if it was bigger, it could be a tribal shield
it always makes me happy
(yes this was taken in my car, en route to work, happily rockin' out to BPM on the sirius radio - but i was stopped at a traffic light, safety first!)

Saturday - my one true love

To my love,
I love how you let me be me today. How I can be silly or sassy, or both in the span of a few hours. I love how you hold no obligations nor responsibilities. And I love how, each time you come around, it's a little different.

Sometimes I spend my time with you doing chores. Making sure the laundry is done, the toilet is scrubbed and the groceries are bought and put away. But other times... I go shopping, I spend time with my other love (the sewing room) - and you never get jealous! How'd a girl get so lucky?

I especially love you when it's bright and sunny and satisfying outside. Where I feel that I need to go outside and frolic and play. And I even love you when it's rainy and cold, because that means I can curl up with a book and pretend I'm somewhere else.

So I wanted to say thank-you to you, dear Saturday, because without you my life wouldn't be so sweet, the work week would seem even longer, and there would never be time for me to just be me. And while your sister, Sunday, is very nice indeed, she's not you.

But you and me, Saturday, we've got some big plans. So I won't keep you waiting anymore.

Love,
Mysterious M

Perfect Day

Today is a perfect day. It's sunshiny. There's a breeze. It's probably close to 70 degrees. Well hey, I just made a rhyme.

The fly in the ointment? I'm a work. :( But my sense of responsibility means I have to stay at work until 4:30, even though the boss didn't come in today and I'm (cue music) "lonely.... so lonely..." But I did take a nearly 20 minute walk around the mini-mall (all upscale shops) that I work at.

During my walk I had to take my cardigan off because it was too warm! :) Oh yes, spring in New England. My favorite. And another way you can tell spring is coming (although not officially here yet) is that I'm wearing flip flops today. Yup. Not quite spring and I'm in flip-flops. Love it!

To add to the excitement of today: M has another job interview (this will make like 3for the same company - but maybe they will finally make a decision) and we are going to see a Spanish Guitar concert tonight. And... I've gotten a ton of work done here at the office.

So it's a perfect day. It would be more perfect if I was at the beach... but we can't have it all, everyday!!

A Satisfied Life

This evening M & I spent a few hours at church for our Lenten Soup Supper with Discussion meeting. I always find them enjoyable, but M - not so much. At any rate, we started talking about what makes for living a satisfied life. And we broke up into groups and each group had a different question to discuss.

The question my group discussed was, roughly: if you were just told you only had 6 more months to live what would you do differently? What would you get rid of? Etc. It was really about six questions in one.

And there were a lot of answers. Some of them were to be expected: spend more time with my family, sail across the world, tell everyone what I really think about them, etc. And then the group asked me, and I was the youngest (by probably a good 20 years at least) in my group so my answer was a little different then most. I went through the basics: have a baby, open up my dream bookstore, etc. But then I really thought about it and this is what I came up with:

If I could really be aware of my mortality, I'd really like to have an attitude of willingness and joyfulness in my service to others.

It struck me as profound. Especially for me, as I am neither willing nor joyful (generally speaking) in serving others. And I'm as likely to tell you to go to hell as I am to actually answer a question you ask me. But this is an attitude I'd really like to cultivate - to be happy in my service to others. Because I think I will never really live a truly satisfying life until I can do what is asked of me with a lightness in my heart.

So what would you do different now, knowing your mortality is inevitable?

Inspriations & Aspirations

Mr. BadMood has left the building, thanks to a heaping bowl of Cheeseburger Royale soup from Zoup. When did I go back to eating meat??

So, I wanted to write a little bit about some of the people that inspire me and some of the aspirations I have for myself. Mostly because I was thinking about it in the car on the way to work. And since I'm in a better mood then this morning, I figured I do another post. Here goes:

Inspirational People:
1. My mother - sober two years.
2. My father - hardest working man I know.
3. My sister - not dependent on anyone for anything.
4. My brother - never complains about anything, no matter how bad his life-situation is.
5. KC&J - two of the kindest people I know.
6. M - because he's always happy, always helpful and will love me no matter how crabby I get.

Aspirations:
1. To someday have a beautiful photo blog like Tara B. in "Little Girl Big Closet". But I'll have to learn to use a camera first. :)
2. To look (and feel) like a WWII-era pin-up girl. Can you say Victory Curls?
3. To own a used bookstore in some little town near the ocean.
4. To believe it everyday when I tell myself that I am exactly the way God has made me, and that I am perfect the way I am.

Bad Mood

Oh you struck me today, Mr. Bad Mood. And why? Is it the rain? Did I wake up on the wrong side of the bed? What?

Could it be that it's because my hair won't cooperate? Or that I'm unsure of my outfit today (grey & black plaid full length skirt, garnet colored long-sleep blouse, knit black vest and black low-heeled pumps)?

Because I know it can't be from the homemade waffles M made me this morning. :)

Just got to keep telling myself that today will get better. I hope.

Daylight Savings Time... what time is it again?

Clearly I'm not the only one having a mixed up day today, Confucius was too!

"Where thers is will, there is way."

When my husband says we can have Chinese take-out for dinner, it always makes me smile. Always. In fact, I've been known to tell him that my three favorite words aren't "I love you" but are, instead, "Chinese take-out". So after I enjoyed my boneless spare ribs (vegetarian? eh...) and M enjoyed his general tsao's, I closed my eyes briefly before I tore off the wrapper to my fortune cookie. And wasn't I shocked to see what was on the little slip of paper. Seems like Day 2 of DST is worse then Day 1. The only bad thing that happens on Day 1, usually, is that you're an hour late for church.

So, because today was full of mildly amusing tales and foibles, I thought I'd share. Least of all the misspelled fortune cookie. :)

1. My boss made sure to tell me, not once but twice, that I could not have caught the flu from him as he A) didn't have a fever, B) actually has bronchitis and C) didn't start feeling bad until Sunday and he hadn't seen me since last Thursday. Ordinarily it would have annoyed me that we would have had this conversation, but today it just made me giggle.

2. That the clock on my phone at work never changed for DST. So I scared myself silly thinking I got to work 1 hour early, and then I relished in the thought that I was leaving 1 hour early at the end of the day.

3. Snow flurries. 45 degrees out with snow flurries.

4. Being really bummed that M forgot to pack my yogurt in my lunch this morning. And then realizing that I wasn't so much mad that he forgot to pack it, as peeved that I couldn't just eat it right then.

5. Realizing that I had a pretty amazing day at work today, even though I missed 2 days last week. And my boss so wasn't a jerk to me today!

Guess there were more tales and foibles in my head then on paper here. But it was a quirky kind of a day. Made no less quirkier from the DST change. And while it's only 9:00 pm right now, for some reason it feels like it's about midnight. But it's really only 8 (pre DST). Go figure.

Temptation

The sermon at church today focused a little bit about temptation, by way of the Adam and Eve story. And this was brought about by a question from one of our young parishioners, an 8 year old boy. He asked, if the story of Adam and Eve is true then what about cave men and dinosaurs? What about them, indeed.

So the priest started explaining his view on the creation story, and we got to thinking about the serpent and the tree of Good and Evil (which, incidentally in my opinion, was likely not an apple tree) and how the temptation for E was not, maybe, to be like God but to KNOW what God knows. And I think that's a temptation we can all relate to.

What if, during this season of Lent, we started giving up our desire to KNOW? Our decision to have to feel like we are in control of our lives. What if God's Grace was enough?

So, can we live by focusing on God's Grace? Can we have enough faith to let go and let God? Admittedly that is harder to do then to say. It is hard, especially I think in this society, to give up our unending quest to always know the truth... to spend countless minutes, hours, days and years searching for the right way, the easy way, or the fastest way. What if we just focused on finding God's way?

I know this is something I have to personally work on.... for I am always seeking to control my life and the things/people around me. A shortcoming of mine, for sure. So I'll work on letting God take control, because He knows better what I need then I do myself. And it makes me wonder, if God can do great things for me surely He can do even more amazing things for the world? Of course He can, the trick is to let Him. So let's try together, shall we?

Less Sick But More Tired, Day 4

Good Sunday morning blog readers & writers. I'm on to the flu, day 4. Feeling much much better, but very tired. I didn't get much sleep last night. Don't know why... maybe the smoke from our wood furnace was tickling my nose through our open window, or maybe I was anxious about turning the clocks ahead. Or I might have been thinking about all the ways life constantly amuses and bemuses me.

But I didn't get to sleep until around 3, and then upat 7:30 for church. Maybe I'll tak a nap this afternoon.

The cough is mostly gone, the nose is still running, the throat is still a little raw and my skin is very sensitive. My normally scaling hot shower was reduced to merely tepid this morning.

But, today brings some sunshine and lots less snow to my corner of New England. The 1st Sunday of Lent begins hymns in minor tonalities, which are my favorites. And since Thursday is St. Patrick's Day, my in-laws are cooking up a corned beef for me tonight. I'll put my vegetarian ideals on the shelf for corned beef! :)

Make it a great day, everybody! I'm feeling quite chipper, myself.

Sick & Tired, Day 3

Last night I slept.... mostly throughout the whole night. Just waking up to either use the bathroom (I did consume over a liter of ginger ale yesterday) or cough up a lung.

God I'm tired of this.

It's clear to me that I don't do sick gracefully. I become a whiny and crabby person. Just one of my many shortcomings. But, in my defense, I will say that if I just have a cold or something less awful then the flu I do go about my business just like if I was healthy. But the flu prevents you from doing anything. It makes you become a person that has to think really hard about whether or not you really need to get up and do.... whatever.... because getting up hurts too much.

So my Lenten task of trying hard not to complain has been an epic failure for the past three days. I think I'd like a mulligan on this, please.

Guess I'll have to wait and see what this day brings. M surprised me yesterday with two classic movies from the library - Gone With The Wind and Captain Blood. GWTW we started watching last night but didn't finish it. Hopefully we'll watch some more today. CB was, I think, Errol Flynn's first movie. E. Flynn is one of my favorite actors, I especially loved him as Robin Hood. CB wasn't a bad movie, not the greatest, but not awful.

And I've been reading a rather creepy book called "A Reliable Wife" by Robert Goolrick. It's creepy in a weird way - not scary but just really weird. But a pretty great story, so far, on the human condition. How two people can live together with very very different life agendas. I can't wait to see how it ends.

Now maybe I'll take a nap.

In Sickness & In Health

Just wanted to take a quick minute to give a little blog-love to my wonderful husband M. He's been really great the past two days that I've been sick. And that's not to say that he's not really great most of time, but I think I don't really appreciate it until my ability to take care of things is severely limited.

So M has been diligently doing the dishes, running errands, cleaning up, taking care of the doggies (S&B), and doing the odd load of laundry. And again, he does do most of those things everyday since he doesn't work. But it's wonderful to me that he really steps up without complaining when I'm feeling low. When things are normal & happy I sometimes feel like I have to really jump on him to get him to pick up after himself. But these past two days have been lovely.

I did pick up a pair of dirty socks today, and about 6 empty beer bottles that had been lying around for God only knows how long. So M's not perfect... but he puts up with me when I'm a crabby germ factory. And I love him all the more dearly for it. But my opinion might change if he develops the dreaded man-cold.

Camping Out On The Couch, Day 2

Day two of the flu: feeling better then yesterday, but that might be the DayQuil talking. Fever was up to 102.5 at bedtime last night, and I didn't sleep very well. Up at 6, when I moved to the couch. M says I'm not allowed to do anything today except watch TV, read, or play on my computer.

I can say that I'm already damn sick of being sick! I hate that I had to loose two days of work. Disclosure: I hate that I had to use two vacation days so I can stay home and be sick. I don't actually hate the fact that I'm not at work. But at least M is being a real peach - running errands and taking good care of me. :)

I was planning on going to see my friend A, whom I haven't seen since high school, on Saturday morning. Sadly, the flu has cancelled those plans. This is maybe the 4th time in the past 2 months we have tried to get together and always something is preventing that from happening. One Saturday A had to work, then A was in a car accident, then A was out of town, and now I'm sick. Maybe that's God's way of telling me that I shouldn't go hang out with A?

::Sigh:: Oh well. I'll feel better soon. Eventually I'll be able to get off this couch. But the laundry can wait a few more days.

Oh she's got a fever of 103... (sing along with me now)

Get that girl to the hospital! 103!?! She'd be cooking her little brain....

Home sick today, fellow blog writers/readers. Whatever this is, it started yesterday morning is a fairly dry cough. Didn't feel bad, went to work, had a good day. Started getting a little achy around 6. Went to Ash Wednesday service and by the time I got home (around 8:30), I was shivering so bad I couldn't carry anything and my entire body hurt!! Took two night time sinus pills and watched the last hour of American Idol before M came home from band practice.

Slept off and on during the night, and woke up to a fever of 101.5. Called out of work and have been camping out on the couch all morning. M generously made me strawberry waffles and coffee this morning, and I watched some news on the TV. Feeling better now, I've had a couple of rounds of tylenol in me.... I even managed to fold the laundry that's been on the drying racks for too many days. But I promised M I'd take a break after the laundry so here I am.

Ash Wednesday service last night was amazing... and it maybe would have been even better had I been feeling well. It was such a relief to give over all my sins last night... all those things that you and I do everyday, that we don't really like of as sins. Like the petty dishonesties of our daily lives, or the casual disregard of other people's feelings. Now I just have to remember to give them up every day. And that's what Lent's all about... taking this time to come to rights with GOD again, to get to really know yourself better and to begin again your transformation into the very image of HIM. :)

So I'll be doing some contemplating of my life today, while I repeatedly both blow my nose and cough up a lung. TMI? Sorry... being sick just kinda sucks.

Turning over a new leaf (?)

Hello all.... yesterday I read a blog that talked about the correlation between clothes and mood. And it got me thinking: if I put a little more effort into what I wear, and my clothes look good and feel good, then I should also feel good while wearing them. So I'm going to try. I look and feel good today, and so I wanted to post.

Also, I was reading through some of my past blog enteries and realize that they can be quite negative sometimes. So I will apologize to my dear readers, and try hard to keep things lighter and happier.

The same blog I mentioned earlier does a great job of posting up pictures with nearly every posting. I'll confess to say I'm jealous - my photography skills are pretty bad and I'm not inclined to spend the time trying to figure out how to get the pics from my camera to the computer and then to the blog. So I'll keep being a little jealous until I can motivate myself to do it better. :)

I'll stop for now.... as I suspect this entry doesn't make as much sense on the page as it did in my brain. But I wanted to get it out! :)

Today's feel good outfit: black slacks, grey to black ombre short-sleave knit top with an animal print and ruched sleeves, fushia cropped cardigan and silver flats. Feel good music in the car for the ride to work: Enya

Lent is Upon Us!

Good morning! Lent start this week and I've been thinking about it a lot. When I was growing up we always gave up the TV, and so we spent a lot of time playnig board games and doing other family things. And I have a lot of good memories there.

Giving up the TV might result in a mutiny at my house. Or maybe a divorce.

In the past couple of years I've given up sweets, vowed to exercise more and done all manner of other crazy and/or stupid (for me) things. So I thought I'd approach Lent different this year. Instead of giving up something or vowing to do something more, since both of those tactics have been epic failures, I'm going to work hard this year in keeping my mouth shut.

My thought is that if I focus on what I'm going to say before I say it, perhaps I will minimize the amount of hurtful things I say. And hand-in-hand with that is my idea to cultivate some silence in my life. Silence that can be filled with GOD!

So here's hoping that this Lent will be different. That I can speak less and listen more. And still enjoy the occasional M&M. :)

Facebook Be Gone!

Well readers (the two of you), I've been without facebook for a couple of weeks now. I must say, it feels pretty good. But I was thinking about this yesterday, and I thought I'd share the things I like and don't like about having gotten rid of my FB account.

Don't like:
1. That no one keeps in touch. Why is it that people will take 30 seconds to write that they miss you or want to hang out on your fb wall, but they won't take the extra time to put that in an e-mail? I think I've heard from 2 people since I've left FB. That makes me a little sad.

2. I kinda miss the games in FB. They were a great way to waste time at work.

3. That I can't be vicariously involved in other people's lives anymore. I have no idea what peopke are doing now! And of course, I can't tell the world that I've done all 6 loads of laundry in one day. :)

Like:
1. That I don't feel like a slave to my computer anymore.

2. That I spend a lot more time doing meaningful things instead of wasting my time on FB.

3. That I'm spending more time with my husband.

So there it is. My likes and dislikes are even in amount, but I think I am a better person for having gotten rid of FB. It's just to bad people don't keep in touch. :(