I apologize for being so absent and tardy. It is the last thing I want to do - really. I usually write to sort out my thoughts and get things in order inside my head. However, I have too busy to even do that! In fact, I get to the point where writing is such a "pleasure" hobby for me, that I feel guilty when I DO write because my goodie twoshoes side says "get to work!"

So, while I am waiting for Hilary to pick me up, I am going to write as much as possible. This may end very ...oh wait, I think she is here.

or is that Tim.....


Nope..hilary...gotta go!

Since dinner was such a disaster last night, we had no lunch for today. I thought about what was closest to me that I could run out and get and came up with Taco Bell. So I called Tim for a taco intervention. He told me to go Chipolte instead and get taco's because they might be marginally better. I said okay and headed out. Well, the first place I passed was that Potbelly's Sandwich place -- I have never eaten there so I looked in and saw the line was short (6 people). I went in and ordered a Turkey on wheat, and a cookie. It was good -- the wait was a little long (maybe about 10 min), but when I left the line was to the door (about 25 people). Damn! I got there in the nick of time. :) The sandwich was good by the way.

So I decided not to throw out the blasted chicken but instead stick cut up pieces into the crock pot with onion, garlic, celeraic root, carrots and chicken brooth and let it simmer all day. Then at the end dump in a can of cream of something and make dumplings. My coworker assured me that she has also had a roasted chicken cooking disasters like that, and that saving the chicken is a wise idea (and that it was possible). So yeah...I guess that's what...oh wait, I work tomorrow. I guess I'll make that tonight and dump it in the crock pot tomorrow morning before we go. Wait, you can take the crock out of the pot -- would it explode if I put it in the fridge and then popped it back into the pot in the morning? Hm...better not take chances, I have big bowls with lids anyway.

I heard it's supposed to be warm and sunny this week...is that true? I should investigate. That would be kind of nice. I remember one year for Thankgiving (in college) it snowed the whole way there and back. It blew.

Speaking of driving -- my little bro got his Driver's Permit! My LITTLE brother. Gosh. Maybe I shouldn't get mine now and just instead boss my little brother around and make him drive me places. Ha ha. No, I am kiddding. Really.

Heh.

These are dark days -- literally. I find that when it gets dark -- I want to sleep. I remember one year in High School from 16-17, from December through January I woke up, went to school, came home, ate, and then went to bed ....Repeat. There were a few instances, of course where I stayed up later, but 5 out of 7 days that is what I did. I was out by no later than 7 every night. Of course, I can't do that these days. I have to stay awake and do productive things otherwise I am "lame."

Yesterday was pretty awesome. We played video games (Marvel: Ultimate Alliance), we went to Border to get myself a new journal (I write TONS in the winter when I am waiting....for buses, usually. Also in coffee shops, sometimes before bed. I write most in the winter,) and to get Tim a new book and cash in his Free Dessert coupon that he got for his birthday. We had such a nice day yesterday walking dogs at the Kennel, enjoying the drive and each other's company.

Today, was pretty mellow. We slept in, watched TV...okay I watched mostly movies. I watched all three of our Netflix movies today while crafting. I had stress dreams about the craft show last night, so I figured I should spend some quality time doing something today. I watched Brokeback Mountain (ok), Pop. 436 (eh, it was scifi movie quality), and Flightplane (which was a TBS movie quality). Ha, I'm gonna start rating movies based on what cable channel they should be on. Heh. I got a lot done tree wise, and even took time to take a shower and make dinner. Which is where everything went wrong.

We tried to make a roasted chicken. Except...when it was done the chicken wasn't right. It was ... tough, chewy, and rubbery. I don't get it. I just don't get it. Why on earth can't we roast a effin' chicken?! We have tried twice before - both met with failure...although this failure blew them all away. It should be that freaking hard, and yet it is. Then the stuffing I made wasn't that hot (although it was the best thing on the plate), and I steamed some yellow carrots. Sigh. We were both so disappointed. It's sitting in the fridge mostly uneaten because I feel like it's a terrible waste to throw it away. What would happen if I boiled it in water? Would that save it? Could I make something else out of it?

Yeah so, sometimes rotten dinners can ruin your day, especially when that dinner was supposed to be tomorrow's lunch. We don't have anything else that is easy to make either...no bread, eggs, yogurt...etc. This is what happens when I get too busy with my life, we buy too much crap food and we don't cook enough. It sucks.

My reading list feels so long right now. I have to finish Mendoza in Hollywood, and then I have three books to read: Infoquake, Starship Troopers and Me Talk Pretty One Day. When am I going to have time to read them? On the bus? I can't do that. You know very well that I get motion sick. I only write when the bus is stopped, or letting a passenger off, or I am waiting for it to arrive. I guess I could do the same with a book, but I need more time to devote to it and really get into it. Plus, I can pause my writing when the bus is moving (because the handwriting gets horrible), I can't always pause reading -- and then I get myself a ticket to motion sickness for at least three hours. That blows. I could read before bedtime, but when I go to bed right now, I just want to sleep!

I am kind of behind on letters too. I should get on that. In fact, all of this this that I posted could very well be in a letter right now. Maybe it should be. I am thinking of looking through my stationary with the long weekend and then swapping. So far only Hilary is interested? Geez, I guess I could also send some along to my Mom (although there is no swapping in that deal).

I could go to bed now, it's almost 10.30. I have a bit of headache brought on by a little red wine. I should drink a load of water so that I can get up three times tonight to use the John. Hurray! Maybe I should just go to bed. In fact, I think Pluto already put himself to bed (I still think it's kind of funny that he does that). I am glad that we have a long weekend this week. I have to work on Monday and Tuesday to make up for Wednesday (Doctor appointment), and then that's it. We have Thankgiving day with Candance and Phil (sibling in law who live 5 min away) and then the day after dinner....aka Zeland's Birthday party in Hilton (2 hours away). We are also dog sitting Jack this weekend (we get him Wednesday -- I just remembered that...), and go out to the Inferno on Saturday for Chuck and Mike's last DJ hurrah.

Oh and the dentist, apparently I have work for two cavities and a crown! I didn't remember anything about a 500$ crown! Damn. I guess that will just have to wait until next year. Our finances are already budgeted out for the end of this year with Xmas party, Xmas at my Mom's, and property taxes. Why do they give you tax bill in December/end of November? To remind you not to spend any money? Ha ha.

Okay, now I am really going to bed (especially since it's past 10:30). And for the record, I woke up in jammies, showered and changed into a different pair of jammies afterward. Now that is what I call a Sunday folks. :)

The rabbit turned out fine...good even, although the sauce was a tad bit bland. We both only ate a small plate of it, because we didn't have much of an appetite. I'll have it again today..., or Tim will. He's in the bedroom sleeping, taking a half day because he's still sick. I think he should stay home and just take it easy, but he won't believe me.

I have a dentist appointment this morning at 10:00. I made the stupid thing a year ago, and they kamakazied me into going into this one "yeah we have your insurance!" the lady says with enthusiasm. I know, it's just a cleaning -- but I HATE getting lectured about flossing. I am not amazing like Zoey who is never dirty, and has perfectly taken care of teeth. I just can't work up enough interest. In fact, it takes momumental energy to just put my mouth guard in every night to protect my teeth from grinding themselves into teeth dust.

Last night I went over to Hilary's with Stephanie and we crafted. I got two trees and most of a third done! Hot dog! And Stephanie made me a dish cloth (okay she made it, and I claimed it) -- and I am looking forward to trying it out in the sink today. It's a battlefield there.... But it was a VERY productive craft night. I need more of those. All right, I should shower. Maybe I'll use that bath stuff that Jess sent me a while back -- but I still have that Jasmine stuff I got from Jen to finish. I have to finish one bath product before I can move on to the next.

Hey, does anyone wanna do a stationary trade with me? You know you collect up your old stationary and we'll exchange it. New for us! Let me know.

Lately, I have been thinking about lobsters. I had lobster once, and really wasn't that impressed (but that isn't the point). I learned recently that lobsters can live as long as a human being, and that they are boiled alive -- a process that takes up to 2 minutes. I have decided that it is ... cruel to treat a fellow earth being that lives as long as us humans. What if they are intelligent creatures? For that matter, I have decided to never eat dolphin, whale, elephant or turtle.

Tonight I am making rabbit. I found a pound of it for 2.50 at Woodmans -- a product of China, over by the beef liver. I have had rabbit only once in my life, when I was visiting my exboyfriend in the Czech Republic. His mother made the rabbit and I remember thinking "greezy." Well, Tim mentioned he never had rabbit, and I realized I have never attempted to try making it. Seeing as we like to consider ourselves ready for an apocalypse at any time, we thought it best to try it out. Now if I can only find squirrel in the meat market, we would REALLY be in business.

I watched most of Dawn of the Dead remake on Scifi this last Saturday and then once again for two days couldn't stop thinking about it. Zombies and what I would do, how long I would live, what it would look like, what I would think...etc. Today, Tim called to tell me that he was going to go home early because he was sick: low grade headache, sweating, body aches -- and then I started to think "Hey this could be the start of the pandemic!"

Then I was disappointed because I always thought we would be affected later than everyone else when it arrives (and be more prepared). It occurred to me then, that when the pandemic starts, that there has to be joes like Tim who get it. You know, "ten people reportedly went to the hospital last week with a killer strain of the flu..." and then it spreads, and then the mania really explodes.

It's interesting, isn't it? That it's the American (human?) way to think that these things will never happen to you first, it will happen to someone else. And that is the normal thing to think, because if you reverse it, and start to think/believe that it will happen to you first ... well then you are just a paranoid lunatic. It just ain't right to think like that and quick! Everyone get their medical masks and tinfoil hats out!

Anyway, so Tim is sick and I hope I don't get it. After a grumpy day at work, I came home and rested my eyes on the couch. I was warmed both with fleece throws that we got from Tim's Mom for Xmas two years ago, and from a fuzzy feeling that I got directly from Hilary. You see, I am overcome with ennui this week and mentioned to her that we were thinking about moving to a more adult friendly city. A city with better restaurants, that caters to sophisticated, world traveling couples without kids. Of course, what I didn't get to tell her was that I got a phone call from sister in law Bekah yesterday (calling to wish Tim a happy birthday). Since Tim wasn't home at 3.30, I got to talk for about an hour and hear about how wonderful France was, and how great the European lifestyle was, and blah blah blah blah. Anyone who listens to an idealized one sided conversation for an hour is going to start looking around and thinking "Ugh...I live here?! This place is so BORING, so COMMON, so....ORDINARY....so *yawn*." Then that night we went out for Sushi...and it was okay. It was no Chicago sushi -- which started us reminiscing about all the wonderful restaurants, never being bored, always having something fun to do, the culture, the vivacity.... anyway. I think you see where I am going.

So I get home, and there is the most adorable little basket of flowers with a very thoughtful card -- from none other than Hilary, basically saying she appreciates my ordinary existence here in Madison. Ahh..you see I COULD go all over the world or to a very different city, but then there would be no Hilary.

So I guess for now, we'll just have to stay here.

So full. We went to Ginza's for Sushi and now I am SOOOOoooo full. So full.
Happy Birthday to Tim. :)

It's weird. It's like everyone stopped using the internet yesterday. Where did everyone go? It's like there was some major event and I was sleeping and realized too late.

I am on the couch. Pluto just woke up and came to sit next to me. I should pet him quick....he's limping, and he has morning dog breath. I should give him a breath biscuit. [Gets up and retrieves a Breath Buster - Pluto happily chomps it down.]

Maybe it was the snow. I have noticed before that when it snows people tend to not be around computers. I have the shades drawn in the living room. I can see outside every now and then to see the snow. This mixture of icy slush and snow reminds me of my childhood. Of sitting in beat up old cars with the heater blasting and breathing in loads of second hand smoke (can't roll down the window because it's COLD!) with my brothers in our dirty winter coats. I think I only ever got 2 or 3 new winter coats growing up. In fact, in my adulthood I have only ever gotten one new coat - the same time that Tim got his back when we were dating. We have determined that we are going to buy new coats this year (like we have said for the last four years) because our 9 year old coats are looking like they are old. Although still serviceable -- buttons can always be resewn on (and they have - several times, as well as having the pockets fixed and resewed until they are tiny replicas of their former self).

Maybe today with this unplanned weekend, we will go winter coat shopping. I want to also buy a rug for the back door entrance. The one I had before had been used twice before (bathroom and basement) and I had to toss it because Innsmouth peed on it and it wouldn't take another washing. I would like to get something more sturdy...that would resist cat pee and washings. We need a rug there to prevent skidding dogs all over the kitchen tile.

I had my last MATC class on Thursday and was quite happy it was done. It wasn't at all what I expected and the five people that ended finishing it with me -- agreed. I did get one of the dude's cards though to ever call if I have questions. That's cool Tim said that Home Depot has their little seminars online - I am thinking of maybe checking it out to see. I wonder if my friend Laima started her Women in Trades program yet - I am thinking it sounds wonderfully interesting. I wish I was the kind of person that could build a house - and yet, I also feel that if push came to shove I could. But push won't come to shove, so I guess I'll never find out.

Today also reminds me of a Northern Exposure kind of day. As well as a day that I imagine is quite typical for my Dad and for my grandmother (when she was alive). Of course just thinking of that land is kind of timeless...I can always think that everyone is still where they should be, and that nothing like mortality has come along to change the landscape. I sometimes fantasize that I am really a loner at heart. That I am capable of living out in the deep sticks and not to talk to any living being for weeks on end. I'd have a cat and a trusty dog, and would tromp around with purpose in a no nonsense sort of way, feeding my horse, goats and chickens. I'd look forward to checking the mail twice (or maybe even once) a week, and would always have mail to send. My little wood house would be impossibly cozy and rustic with rugs everywhere, and toasty little wood stove.

There is a another Christmas craft show this weekend at a Church I've never been too over by the Harmony Bar and Grill. I was thinking of going over there to check it out. Although I can't ride bike right now, and I don't know if I really want to drive over there. Maybe I can convince the DH to go -- although he's still sleeping (the hazards of staying up until 1:00 for him and me going to bed at 9:30). I suppose I could take the stupid bus for that short of distance...oh wait, I could call Amy and see if she wants to go this weekend since she couldn't the week or two before. Perhaps I will still take the bus though, just have to think of it as a "little adventure." But first I should take a nice hot shower and get clean and give my hair time to dry (although now that it's winter I have to bust out the stupid hair dryer to at least get it not sopping wet...otherwise it takes 8 hours for it to dry). Besides, I am probably boring you to death.

Special Feature this year -- Karaoke!

-- Holy cow is it nasty outside! I came home frozen...and frozen. It's thundering, sleeting, slick...and it all gave me one icky headache. I'm gonna cancel on Tim for Monkey Bar this afternoon. There is no way in hell I am going back out there until it stops.

Well, I suppose I should update those photos....and I should also update Tceku because it's been forever. It's like a bad relationship -- I've ignored it so long that I feel awkward about making the first move, I don't know where to start or what to say. So for now, I am going to put it off for a little while longer.

I should take a shower..if anything just to get me moving for the day. Can you believe it's Thursday already? Man this week is screaming by!

I am sitting on the couch, and the TV is on and my crafts are next to me, and I have a large cup of green/constant comment tea with me. I am using Tim's new laptop! Yeah, for his birthday this year I said he could finally have a lap top. He was so excited and has been researching it for a month or two now. I told him he couldn't buy it until November had started. Well, he found it at Circuit City on Tuesday and we wanted to make sure that we would still be able to get it (after it took so long for him to find it). So...today is my first day using it in the living room. Amazing! Just think I can see up to the minute updates while COOKING, or watching TV, or just sitting in the living room and enjoying the sunlight with the cats and dog. It's really kind of cool. Although I have noticed that not too much crafting is getting done right now - though lots of chatting with the Hildog and surfing the intarweb is getting accomplished.

Last night I went over to Hilary's to see her new furniture and to craft, and to have her husband, Jason - show me his virtual dog on his Nintendo handheld. Hilary's friend Stephanie was there and later I sampled her first pie ever - it was exceptionally good for a first crack at a pie. I believe she even made the crust herself. Of course, I am a crust snob - having learned the perfect recipe for making pie crusts a few years ago. But the important thing about going over to Hilary's is that I DROVE! And I stalled only a few times, but it was enough to send my darling into a rage. I guess I really do need to take up Laima on her offer to drive around my neighborhood with me. She doesn't yell like he does -- or if she does she does it on the inside. I am free this weekend Laima...what is your schedule?

Tonight is my last MATC home improvement class! Hurray! It's been terribly boring and dull. Gah, it's an old man talking about stuff. I mean, really no different that my friends Dad's kind of mumbling on about the inner workings of a gasket or something. I have to try very hard to make it interesting. But since most of you know, I have a thing about getting what I paid for - I have gone to all except one class, which is really good considering how many other people quit altogether. The few folks who are still there, I think are taking it for continuing education credits for their home inspection businesses. I wish I could say the same.

The month off from TKD is going so fast! It's a little sad how fast it's going...but the monkey bar is going quite well. I haven't convinced Tim that he is ready for a FIT class, and that it might be fun for him. Maybe next week. I said he HAD to go at least once class. I am officially down and have kept down 15 lbs since September. I would love to be able to drop another 10 by my birthday, but you know that's going to be challenge since the holidays are looming around us like fruit flies on a banana.

[Weird, on Malcom in the Middle -- the blond with the frizzy hair girl nerd, is the beautiful "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World," cheerleader on Heroes. ] It's kind of weird how I am starting to recognize so many actors from commercials to movies, to TV .... I guess you could say I watch too much TV, but I would say I actually watch LESS TV that most americans.

Yeah, so next Tuesday is Tim's Birthday and we plan on going out to dinner at a fancy seafood place. He is thinking the Mairiner's (sp!) Inn or Nautigal. I am looking forward to a fancy dinner...must make sure to not eat during the day.... I bought a cake to make, so he could have a piece ...okay, so I could have a piece. But I don't want to have the rest of the cake around the house. I need to go to a craft night next Wednesday...that will solve the problem of the extra cake.

Dummdeedo. What else? I saw Just Like Heaven the other day with Reese Witherspoon - and it was eh. I predicted almost everything about it. The only cool thing was the encounters with her a ghost in the beginning was very realistic. Other than that...eh. I have Brokeback Mountain and Dear Frankie left to see. Lots of good Laura movies....little dramas that are the perfect accompaniement to crafting..oh speaking of which, I guess if there are batteries in my camera I can take some photos of the trees in progress. See? There is a good intention.

I wonder if I owe any letters...I am sure I do. I know I haven't written on penpal since spring....it's sad really. I should look at my records and see what the score is. I also have to pay the bills today, but I'm not too into it. I can also pay them tomorrow. Or Monday? Or tomorrow for Saturday mail.

Okay, I should take that damned shower.

This whole weekend – starting Friday I was looking for excuses to not cook. To order in, and have someone else make the food for me – however that didn’t happen. In the end, I kept thinking “Well, I just gotta do ____ and then that’s some food, and we’ll save money.” That said, Friday we had carrots, cabbage, sweet potato and potato stir fry over rice with Trader Joe Ginger and Scallion stir fry sauce. I didn’t like it. Tim did. We watched Battlestar, drank some beers and visited with brother in law Phil who came over to get a black shirt (he was bartending the next day).

Saturday we got up and had bagels with cream cheese and pumpkin butter, with coffee. Tim gussied up Pluto and headed over to the Meet and Greet at East side Petsmart. I lounged around some more and diligently worked on xmas trees. Then I showered, got dressed and called Amy to see if she wanted to go to the St. Bernard’s Christmas Bazaar with me. She was out shopping and I called and left a message at her boyfriend’s insistence – but she didn’t call back in time. So I saddled my bike and rode over. It was a warm day and a nice ride. I get there, and signed up for a few silent auction baskets (I probably didn’t win any) – and shopped. I mostly went there for their White Elephant sale, and also for lunch. I had a roasted turkey sandwich (like in a roaster? … you know …I don’t know like pulled turkey!), a piece of coconut crème pie and a diet coke. I sat with two other catholic ladies (much older) and we talked about not needing friends to do something we wanted to do – that we (all three of us) just pack ourselves up and go, about the dangers of dating outside the church, and how delicious the pie was. It was rather nice meeting kindred spirits. I wonder if I will be one of those old ladies --- I would have to join a church to do that. After that, I went home and worked on trees some more, watching some TV, made a dinner of chicken with Trader Joe Chutney, with fries and a baked sweet potato, until it was time to get ready for the Halloween party that Kerri invited me, and then hit Chuck’s birthday drinks afterward at the Essen Haus.

The Halloween party was the best Halloween party (strangest and most energetic for sure) that I have been too in this Millennium. I had no idea that 13 year olds could talk so much! And the house, man was it decorated! It’s like they bought out Halloween Express and …well, let’s just say it was very cool. We stayed for about 40 min (although it felt like 10) and headed over to the Essen Haus for drinks. I wanted to make sure we caught them at dinner so I could visit with Dave and Sarah a bit. I returned the movie Clarissa I had borrowed from her – OH, I know what I watched all Saturday – it was the Sarah, Plain and Tall trilogy on the Hallmark channel with Glen Close and Christopher Walkin. We left at 11 and headed home. I went to bed early (as did Tim).

Sunday Tim got up early to get dressed and head out to Rockford to meet up with some old high school friends at RockCon. I slept on until 9 and then got up to make some crescent rolls (last easy thing to make). I ate those, had some tea and watched Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Grounded for Life while beading. Then I started to get a headache so I took some medicine and tried to nap. Tim came back at around 2:00 and I felt like I was hit by a truck. He went outside right away to rake leaves, and I tried to stay awake and not feel crappy. The headache had lessened and I decided the best thing to do would be the dishes. You can just stand there and be sleepy and slowly wake up while washing the dishes. I decided I would do housework as long as Tim was doing lawn work. I did the dishes, scrubbed the sink, cleaned the cat boxes, washed counters and the stove, cleaned the refrigerator, sweep the floor, beat the rugs, mopped the floor, and took out the trash. By the end of that I felt horrible. My headache was back in full force and didn’t leave for the rest of the night. We made Macaroni with ground turkey and onions – watched the Family Guy, American Dad, Simpson’s and some other show after that and forsook a much needed grocery shopping trip so I could go lie still at 9:00.

This morning my headache had receded mostly – and so far hasn’t returned except my eyes feel funny and looking at stuff is making me nauseous.

Anyway, we really need to shop tonight.

Kind of bored today -- I am at work so I can't really work on photo updating or anything like that. I can complain that I am bored though and would like more interaction or entertaining things to do. I guess that is the nature of work though? I guess?

I've been trying to make more time for making beaded christmas trees. Giving up things like computer time during the day. It isn't turning out that well -- but really I suppose doing things like:

Tuesday:

--checking out the infamous Trader Joe's with Hilary, and then going back to her new place to eat toasted bread and goat's cheese, coffee, chocolate croissants, blood orange italian soda, and pumpkin butter and to look at the kid's Halloween costumes

--having Mark and his future father-in-law over for company on Tuesday (I made squash soup, and whipped carrots to go with the trader joe's bread with chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

--I got 24 trick or treaters this year (a blockbuster year!), and a dog. The top costumes this year was: Darth Vader, Superman, Red Power Ranger (why does everyone like the red one?)

Wednesday

--Going to work, I got lucky catching my bus home after dallying too long at tropic jewel digging through this bin-O-beads finding "ornaments" for my xmas trees.

--monkey bar
--picking up vegetables
--going to bed early (tired man!)

Thursday

--shower and dress
--going to JoAnn's Fabrics with Hilary to look for supplies. I found a hugely discounted cup I liked, some more clay pots for trees and an adorable serving tray that later in the afternoon got transformed into a tea service for Tim to take to work. Complete with a little red tea pot, cup, leaf tidy/saucer, little box of assorted teas.
--lunch at Cool Beans
--dinner at State Bar and Grill (the special was meatloaf, mashed tater's and veggies with a dinner roll, I also had an Island wheat.
--coffee at Michelangelo's (to go)
--3 hour MATC class talking about Home Improvement (I know how to hang a door, replace a wooden slate in the floor, how to replace a window/screen or storm.
--Finished reading Charlotte Sometimes

Friday

--someone on my floor is cooking pancakes!! How wacky is that?! (edit...man those were good)
--working
--monkey bar
--maybe sneak out a little early....so I can get home to work on more trees...

But this weekend I have no large plans other than:

--St. Bernards Holiday Bazaar! (morning)
--Birthday drinks with Chuck at the Essen Haus