Last night Tim wanted a recipe that used the three little eggplants we had. So I told him to find one and he did...it was called Moussaka. I made it while trying to entertain Dane whom I picked up from his school. The biggest trouble was that he wanted to play video games. I don't have any kid friendly video games for a five year old who doesn't have much experience with video games. I need Mario Kart or something, especially since he loves cars so much.

Anyway the moussaka had a cup of butter in it! And lots of cheese and I just started to feel like "Gosh, we are gonna eat this all?!" No way. I called Laima and asked her if she wanted to come over for dinner. She called back to say yes. Awesome. I cleaned off the table and we had: Moussaka, bread, salad, steamed green beans and watermelon. We chatted a bit, Laima left with lunch for today (yes, more moussaka and salad) and then we walked the dogs.

I also finished the first Artemis Fowl book this morning. It was okay. I will read the others.

I have also decided to rededicate myself to using my little book more often. I mean, I have dozens of little books around the house with lists of things I should do, half written thoughts, notes, etc....I should just go back to the orginal purpose of a little book and keep it all there. Although it is fun to have a variety of little books ... the truth is they don't get used all that much when I do that. I have been on a mission to go through and use as much of that stuff as I already have without buying more.

Why? Because we need a new refridgerator.

I also think we are going to have our roof replaced because everyone in the neighborhood (well on our block) got theirs replaced or are in the process of doing so. Apparently our roofs were damanged in that hail storm on April 13th. The best part? Insurance pays for it! I always thought insurance was only for really bad scenarios like your house burning down or something stealing all your stuff. I didn't realize it covered stuff like this.

I have kind of gotten to a place in my life where I just figured that you have to pay insurance for everything: car, house, life, medical, etc....you just pay it, no you probably won't use it. It's like taxes, it's there and you gotta do it.

I have another driving lesson tomorrow, although not with the same guy. I am kinda bummed about that because I don't like getting used to a new person ... but maybe he will be good too. I'll let you know. I need to go over things like parking, beltline, interstate, reverse driving, etc.

Oh, and I am a horribly crabby mood this morning. It was probably there to begin with and made worse by my sensitivity to whether or not DH is becoming a Road Warrior (on his bike). Then I am going to have to work closely with a coworker who is difficult to work with later this morning. What makes it hard is she realizes that there is tension and tries to fix it by talking about personal stuff. Gah, that is NOT the way to deal with me. The more professional you become the easier I am to deal with, believe it or not. If only she would get that from my refusal to discuss anything personal...unless asked a direct, pointed question. Then I answer...but she never likes the answers.

Anyway. I hope you have a better day.

See how I never even got to finish talking about my weekend? Yeah....crazy huh. I was also going to be clever and tell you about my Inferno night out. Then on Sunday the DH and I went across to the street to attend the annual Packer Block Party that our neighbors throw. We made a fruit pizza...and let me tell you when we walked in everyone turned their heads. I felt almost famous for a moment there....it was darn good fruit pizza.

But since the moment is gone, I'll tell you that I went to the American Indian community reception the UW had last night. It was at Memorial Union, I saw quite a few of the old gang that I knew, and met a new guy that had a total grudge against all the student politics that happened back in the day. We threw names around like cats with live mice, and over all I had a nice chat and a free dinner.

I am now alcohol free for the next ten days. Absolutely NO alcohol unless I want horrible side effects with the medicine that I am taking. Oh ...the DH wants the puter now. So I guess that is all you get. Don't blame me, blame the hater.

I have been working on this post all day, but was busy at work, saved it to my email, and thought I would finish it this afternoon. Except I am busy all afternoon. So instead of just not posting anything at all, I thought I would at least post this, and add on tomorrow I guess.

Classic updating style. What I did this weekend:

Friday after work the DH and I met up with Oliver and his friend
Mark/Paul/John? at the High Noon Saloon for Happy Hour drinks. I had
a few too many drinks, which made for a little tired on Saturday but
functional. It was cool that there was a Scrub-a-thon on Comedy
Central ... so I watched about six episodes before getting dressed to
go out of town (ha ha, really just the West side of Madison which
FEELS like going out of town for us). I felt like wearing my Destroy
shoes, which meant I should probably wear an outfit worthy of them. I
had been looking forward to going to H&M, which has been described at
the Ikea of Clothes. I even started to have dreams about this place
where I would dream 3-5 floors of dimly lit, department like store
with elevators, and fancy hotel furniture. Well, I had to check out
the place before I started to dream that it was the answer to all my
problems.

We headed out and it started to rain. Good thing I have an umbrella in
the car. Our first stop was Borders on the West side. I don't know
what it is about that Borders (aside from having more books), it also
has way more people and feels much more crowded than the East side
location. Tim got two trashy battletech books and I picked up a
Company novel: Mendoza in Hollywood with our 30% off coupons.
Afterwards we headed over to this awesome Indian restaurant called
Dar...something. I was great! We got the end of the buffet, but it was
all good, including the mango ice cream.

Then we went to the Mall. The parking lot was full to the brim, and
we had to park far away in the back lot. When we walked inside I
immediately felt like I was London. A little. I mean, the mall was so
packed and busy -- and that was a typical London day in their shopping
districts. We walked around for awhile before finding H&M (not
clearly marked on any signs in the mall) and Tim left me for Walden
Books to pick up another book.

SO...the store. It had lots of black, brown, red and white clothes...I
was a little disturbed to see that the store had my outfit. My
cargo/linen type skirt I got at JCPenny's for 6 bucks was
there...slightly different and 25$. My velveteen, dark purple coat
(that I spent the morning repairing, it's 11+ years old) was there for
45$ (slightly different), my birthday shirt from Hilary (target) was
there -- actually there was like 5 slightly different versions of that
shirt....for all 25 or 2-$. I was dismayed! I can find those things
on the East side, without the crowds, for a cheaper price! Tim late
said "but wasn't it exciting to see it all in one place?" I didn't
know how to answer then, but now I do. The answer is "no, not really."

However, H&M did have an awesomely priced selection of accessories. I
got myself the new black, medium bag I have been hankering for three
months. I had convinced myself I was going to make it and save myself
loads of money. I needed a bag that had separate pockets and areas for
things like my brand, spanking new, picture taking cell phone, my
keys, wallet...etc all without having to go fishing for it for like 10
minutes. The other bag I have is too small and only fit those items
but not a book, or a shirt, or lunch. Anyway, new awesome bag = 17$.
It's so cool. I also got some fingerless gloves for 3 bucks...I tried
to make my own..and well that didn't turn out so good. Oh, and I did
buy a shirt. This shirt was great..a. little expensive at 20 bucks,
but it was fitted and made me look amazing! I wish I could take it
apart already and try to make more shirts like it based on the
pattern. I don't have many shirts that make me feel sexy and awesome
looking, but this shirt is one of them. :)

After that, we went home and Laima picked me up. We headed downtown
to the Memorial Union to attend the International Studies world music
reception. They are nice appetizers, and a cash bar which I didn't
partake in, but they did have free, hot apple cider. I only drank one
cup and was quite proud of myself for that. Normally I want to drink
gallons of it and then pay for it later on in the bathroom. They also
had chocolate covered strawberries, of which I ended up eating like 6.
God they were good. Later on, after we left the performance of the
Whirling Dervishes because we were both getting angry/annoyed with
the religious pomposity of men -- we passed the cart that was taking
away the leftover food. Laima said to them "Are there any
strawberries left?" and the busboy said with disgust "Only ones
covered in chocolate."

HA! We scooped up a few more (totalling six for me) to accompany us
down the hallway. What an awesome dinner.

I have a purring cat seated on my lap. It's the only warm thing about me. I woke up this morning with a headache caused by someone/thing punching my jaw all last night.

Oh wait, it was probably me. :( I wonder what the dreams were about that caused me to grind so much (thank goodness for that stupid mouth guard, otherwise my teeth would be worse than they are). In any case, the DH bought me some generic tylenol and blocked the dogs in the bedroom and slept it off. In 45 min, I felt much better but tired. Not the day has progressed and I have spent most of it looking at the stupid internet and feeling cold. My tea is gone, but there is a whole pot of it in the kitchen if I could just tear myself away from this cat on my lap. It's the last of the Sunset Cinnamon tea that DH bought me last year as a happy suprise. It's good and just what this day needs.

I suppose a hot shower might liven things up, and putting laundry away. That's always really exciting, right? Yeah, I thought so. My driving lesson is at 12.30 today...so I should be ready by then to possibly cause a huge accident. .... I'm just kidding. I am sure it will be fine. Depending on how that goes I might scedule for my road test right now, apparently you have to schedule these things 12 weeks in advance.

I have decided my questions of the week are: Do you believe god cares about your individual concerns (Great comments btw, Lori and Jen), Do you believe in Free Will, and Do you believe in fate/destiney.

I really need to work on my writing story. I have only two sentences down, and that ain't gonna cut it. But after the lesson, I have monkey bar and then my three hour class at MATC where I hope to learn more than just background knowledge. Tim has been practicing his french all week. I almost felt guilty for not having any actual homework. ;) Almost.

This week has gone by fast...and cold. I have started to think about the winter clothes nestled away in the basement, and bringing them back out. I also think I need to go through my closet again and get rid of things I don't wear...or at least put them inthe basement? The problem with that is, that one wears T-shirts all year...under the other clothes. Layered like.

Okay. Hot shower should revive me and get me excited about this day.

So yeah, I decided to not go to work today. I mean, I don't work on Tuesdays, and they weren't expecting me so I am not missing anything. Besides, there isn't anything super pressing going on right now anyway, aside from data entry. Yesterday was a sick day, where I still managed to get a lot done -- at least on the phone. Today is going to be a more productive me day.

I am going to make some banana bread.
Take a shower and get dressed.
Make the bed.
Put laundry away and do another load.
Assess my green beads for the Xmas craft show.
Order more green beads.
Work on my creative writing story, topic this week is: Epiphany
Finish a letter to my Mom
Do some other bonus stuff, like...picking up, cleaning, organizing or whatnot.

I guess I felt overwhelmed yesterday and the day before with all the stuff that I am getting myself into. I just need to relax. Take it one day at a time. It won't all get done. Things won't always work, that is no reason to freak out and feel wracked with doubt and worry. It's so easy to dispense that advice, and yet so hard to take it.

This morning on the Today show, they talked with women who are also leaders......and their big advice was to not be afraid of failure. Well, failure is something that not just women are afraid of, men are quite afflicted with it too. I don't think I am afraid of failure...because usually if you keep trying then you will succeed. I think what I am afraid of is.....what if failure is it. What if failure means never. The end. No more. Not the "pick yourself up by your bootstraps," and try again but...as in "kaput."

I have also been disturbed by finding that I have suspicions that I don't believe god really cares about the individual concerns of people. That God only cares that you believe God exists. Sure, there is an afterlife, and sure you have to live a good life to get INTO the good part of the afterlife. However, that doesn't mean that you should expect any extra help along the way. Life here on earth is a test of your will/soul/stuff that makes you...you. To take the things that come your way and make something of it, and try to be a good person while doing that. To give to the poor, help the sick, comfort the ill, take care of each other, and be grateful for the lucky things that do happen to you. But don't think that anything you have is directly related to anything else but chance. I don't believe God makes people win the lottery, have a hit single or tv show in the same way that God makes people die of starvation, get raped, abducted, tortured, mentally ill or sick.

These are, in no way complete thoughts. I am still mulling this over, but it is a change from what I used to believe.

I had to call in a sick day today. I called and left a message on Janet's voice mail, and then tried to call later to see if they really needed me to come in the next day, but I kept getting voice mail. I wonder if she even came into today. Last time I called in sick, I got yelled at for not calling everyone in the office to leave a detailed message. Pft. I just don't have that number programmed into my phone, and I was really hoping to talk with Janet. Now, I am wondering if I should go in tomorrow to make up for it. I am not really into doing that, and they aren't expecting me. Maybe I should call and see if Janet' is around and what she thinks.

This day was long. I took two waladryl to help me sleep last night and it really affected me this morning. Not only was I not feeling well, but I was massively tired too. After I decided to not go in, moments before walking out the door to catch the bus, I feel asleep on the couch and woke up at 11.40.

We have a new foster, fresh from the kennel. We picked him up yesterday. He's okay, a little energetic and a counter surfer. I walked into the living room to discover a pleased-as-punch, dog licking his chops. He had just finished eating a 1/4 loaf of bread. Gah. He wasn't showing well at the kennel because he was too energetic. They think that having him in a house will tame him down a bit. I am inclined to agree. I think, over all Sukpee is a nice dog. Supposedly, we shouldn't have him long because he's a cat friendly dog and there is a distinct shortage of those dogs right now.

I have my first driving lesson set up for this Thursday at 12:30 - 2:00. I am learning how to drive folks. Me. Drive. Depending on how that goes, I may schedule a road test. Apparently it's booked up to 11 weeks out.

This weekend we went to Cheese Days in Monroe. It was fun. We ate alot. We also saw a movie called Roll Bounce.

I am debating right now whether or not I should try and make an earlier TKD class. I don't like the later class..b.ecause it's TOO late, and the instructer is not always consistent/clear enough for me to understand. Maybe I can avoid it altogether by going earlier. Yes, I might do this. I am dressed after all. I just need to get my stuff and ride there.

Tim want's stuffed peppers for dinner tonight. I should invite someone over for dinner sometime. I wonder if anyone would be interested in that.

It's really foggy this. Thick, soupy fog. Always a strange thing to see in the city. I don't like walking past the window because the fog kind of reminds of snow. All that white...and all that white is coming too soon. Everyone says that this winter is going to be cold and bitter. For once, I am actually inclined to agree.

I told Tim that I wanted an electric blanket...he suggested finally splurging for a down comforter. I love those things....I have always wanted one. But it's so hard to justify paying over a hundred dollars for a blanket. I might also invest in more...I don't know...layering type stuff for the house. I am tired of being cold, and the best way to beat the cold is to bundle up. But wearing a blanket around the house 1. pisses Tim off (I made a poncho, but taking a blanket and cutting out a hole in the middle) 2. gets in the way of me doing things, like cleaning, cooking, etc. The same kind of goes for the robe, and both things I have to change if I want to leave the house not looking like a crazy person.

I started Monkey bar again yesterday. We did pushups, chinups, broad jumps, jumping up to touch something high, and jumping on and off boxes. I love these workouts because they are so simple, so seemingly easy, and yet finishing them feels like I climbed Mount Everest. I was hoping I wouldn't be sore today.... that it would kick on on Saturday or Friday. But I was wrong. IT's here now, and here to stay. During my little two week haitus from Monkey Bar, I had gotten to a point where I was NOT sore every day. To think, I was actually starting to like it.

BUT...I must continue on my goal of a full, honest to god chin up by December 1st.

We are getting another foster dog on Sunday. Driving down to Lake Geneva to pick it up...it's already come a long way, all the way from Florida. It's cat friendly and has been living in house already, so this should be an easy, short term foster. There are lots of applications in for cat friendly dogs, and there are lots of non-cat friendly dogs in the kennel. In the mean time we have transitioned to feeding Innsmouth her special cat food in the bathroom, and now we have to find a place to put that cat box.

You see, we had to put Innsmouth and her cat box IN the kennel at the height of her bloody pee problem. She needed to eat her crystal dissolving food, and have access to the potty. Now I think all of the cats have gotten used to the idea of a cat box being there.

Now the sun is shining and has burned away all the fog. But you know what? I said SUN! Yes! After a five day hiatus, the sun has a come back into my life.

Today is my first class at MATC for my three course home improvement class (electrical, plumbing and general home improvement). Last night, after walking the dog I noticed that there was two new messages on the answering machine. One of which was my instructor introducing himself and wondering if I had any electrical questions/ or things I wanted to talk about. Of course I do! I have tons, since I don't know anything about working with electricity yet -- I will be a sponge of knowledge. Yeah, so that's really cool that he called (probably trying to desperately think of what to talk about tomorrow), and I am pretty excited to show up tonight and learn how to take control of my house. I wonder how many people will be in the class.... I should probably look the class up and make sure I don't need to buy any books or bring any materials with me... Tonight also marks the start of Tim's french class.

This Saturday we are going to go to Monroe to celebrate Cheese with other wisconsinites. We have room in the car for anyone who wants to go. I need to clean that car...that is one of my goals for today, to clean it. But first, I need to take an effin' shower, get dressed, and pay some bills, then go to Noon monkey bar class, come back, clean the car, and then hop on my bike and head back downtown to meet Tim at his work and go to Subway to split a sub for dinner and then off to our classes. Luckily he is done at 8, so he can head home and take care of the dog and all that. I don't get done until 9:00.

Last night I had a cooking diaster. Apparently you cannot make squash pancakes with already cooked squash, nor can you try to save it by sticking it in the oven. It still is going to taste rubbery, nasty and disgusting. What a blow after two stellar nights of dinners. It amazes me sometimes, how my experiments with cooking can be so far off. Afterwards, we had a craft night at Laima's and gorged ourselves on fresh baked bread...oh my gosh it was so good. I had this idea to make fingerless gloves for work...and it's...well another experimental work in progress. Hilary said that if I had checked my horrorscope yesterday it would have advised against 'experimenting.'

Sometimes I can't post to wazika when I am at work. SO I make the post and it sits there until I get home and retry. But then there are other times when a missive gets through. I thought I would try and do that today. Write something and see..but it'll be short.

This day is doom and gloom part 2. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to have Hilary call and get me for a coffee break. I was working hard on my third nap of the day and kind of bored, cold and uninspired. After having some soy chai though, and splitting a pecan roll and scone, I was inspired to make the rest of the day cozified and nice. I went home, took a hot bath with mineral salts I got from a friend and read Good Housekeeping. Then I got dressed in soft, comfortable clothes, make a hot pot of tea, and parked it on the couch where I was joined by my favorite kitty to read the Sunday paper.

Later Tim came home and we went to Borders where I got Magic for Beginners (wow, it's good...), and the first three Artemis Fowl books. We also went grocery shopping and only hunger splurged a little bit.

Now here I am today at work. Tim gave me a ride because of the rain, so I have to take the bus home. Only 50% of us came in though. I always come in. I rarely miss work. Partly because of that awesome feeling I have after I finish a day where I think "FINALLY, a day to myself to get shit done."

ugh. I came home and smelled the house. It didn't smell that good....why? Because Pluto pooped all over the guest room rug. I held my nose, sent him outside and have spent the last 20 minute cleaning it up. I am going to have to clean it again later....but the petzyme needs time to work it's magic for now (before I use detergents to get the stain out). The new rule is: if we don't want to eat the meat, then neither should Pluto.

I need a lesson on salsa making. I made some yesterday, and it was okay. It wasn't like the best salsa in the world, and of course whenever that happens I get a little disappointed. It was kind of hot, so I ended up toasting some bread in the oven and then putting that on top to eat -- kind of like bruchetta. I made some cucumber salad with sour cream and dill to cool it down. Since I don't have gloves, I don't wear any when I cut the jalapenos. That said, my fingernails burned all night, and anything I touched with my fingers and tasted was hot. Word to the wise, yo.

The weekend was good. During the day we did a little shopping to get a bike light for Tim's bike and blinker for the back of mine. Tim also got some biker gloves because they were on sale. Seriously, gloves are great. They take a little getting used too, but once you do you wonder how you ever lived without them. I also started to wonder what else I could wear gloves for on a daily basis. Then we rode bike to Taste of Madison where we were underwhelmed by the food options. On Saturday night we were invited over to Phil and Kandance's new place for a campfire. We brought Pluto and he was quite unhappy most of the time. Figures. Their new place is an old farm that is going to be tore down in 2 years for development/roads, etc. It's quite near where Hilary's new place is going to be, and since the bridge is out over Cottage Grove Road, it's pratically impossible to get to on a bike without risking life or limb. While there IS a bike lane most of the way on Milwaukee St, it ceases to exist on the bridge passing over the interstate/beltline. And you know motorists have that double standard where bikes should follow the rules of the road -- except when the motorists are on the road and don't want to give a bicyclist the full lane we are entitled too. It's maybe would be okay if the bridge was short of if there was a sidewalk -- but neither is true.

Oh well, at least Cottage Grove (with it's sidewalk) won't be out forever.

Sunday we drove to Neillsville to visit my Dad. One of Barb's kids were there with the whole family so we had company. I got to ATV!!! Yeah, I did a classic Black River Falls activity....I even drove Tim around on my Dad's new ATV. It was actually pretty cool, although I made sure not to drive faster than 20 since I didn't have a helmet or anything (and I didn't want to wreck my Dad's new vehicle). My unsavory brother was there and in top form. He called (even though he was only 30 yards away) for a ride to Hatfield. I told him I could give him a ride when we left but we had just gotten there. He wouldn't take it, and said "What about over the bridge?" I said not now, maybe later. He just wouldn't accept that answer. It had to be right then, and there. This after not speaking to me for over two years, and always badmouthing me and my husband to anyone who will listen. Well, the sitatuion was awkward and he wasn't getting the hint so I said I would call back later and hung up. I didn't call back later, but then he didn't either. OR he could have walked his ass over and asked in person, politely. Plus, I wouldn't have been doing the driving -- Tim would have. Do I even need to mention he owes me $200?

Anway, we had a good talk with Dad after Barb's kids and grandkids left. I told him that he could find a hochunk speaker in the Madison area, then I would be willing to meet with this person to learn basic/small talk hochunk. You know? Make a solid effort to learn. Of course right after I said that...okay the next day, I regretted it. But I shouldn't. Sure it's scary, but it's better to make an attempt then to not make one at all (just because it's not that convienent or because I am afraid of something new). We'll see, I said I would call him up later this week to follow up.

Monday slept in some more, I read a book: Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs. It was a nice light read - perfect for the weekend. Then we headed over to Steve's for a BBQ and had something to eat. Tim's allergies were pretty bad, so we didn't stay long. When we came back we saw that the cardinal family living in the tree outside our bedroom window had lost their birdletts. The nest has gotten askew and two little birdies were on the ground crying. We managed to get them back into the nest without touching them, and after about 15 min the parents were back to feeding them. Poor birds. Although they are obnoxious. I can't have my window open because when a cat (migo) sits in the windowsill, the birds start hollering at her to get out and back away. It's awful when you are trying to sleep in.

OH! And I forgot the most exciting news of all -- Pluto caught his first rabbit on Saturday night. I heard a death screech of a rabbit that ended up killing itself on the fence (after Pluto bit it's tail off). Poor bunny.

Hurray for the weekend! A four day weekend for me. I started it off right by sleeping in until 10:20. I watched a movie -- Roxy Charmeical (sp) with Winona Ryder in it. IT was ok......the boy love interest is the same kind that was in Honey I Shrunk the Kids...I wonder whatever happened to him.

Then I showered, I've done some busy work, and now I am about to go over to Amy's for a visit. Tim isn't back yet...I might have to just call him. I can't wait around all day. We have a skate to do later, and then tonight I want to go to Taste of Madison for Dinner downtown at the Capitol. Of course we can do that around 6 or 7...they close at eight...so I want to get there in time for good things to eat. Oh and we have to pick up our vegetables.

That chili I made? It was declared the best chili I have EVER made by the DH. The best...now that is some high praise. Tim is a good feedback person when it comes to food. I like to try new recipes (how else are you gonna be better cook), so I usually drill him on what he thought of the taste, consistency, etc after every dinner.

Happy Labor Day weekend dudes....maybe I'll post more later. But you know how it is.