Friday's Feast

Friday's Feast

Appetizer How fast can you type? Faster than most of the people I work with, but slower than most of the people in my family. Which means something to you only if you know the people that I work with and my family. Somewhere around 80-85 wpm I think.

Soup What is your favorite online game? This is so easy...click here to find out: http://world4.monstersgame.co.uk/?ac=vid&vid=47114271 Salad On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 as highest), how intelligent do you think you are?

Well, Naturally, I think I'm a genius, so a 10. I know a lot of people who would disagree with that, though. And they might just be right. But I'll never admit it again. I'd rank my brain power somewhat above that of my 9 year old niece, and somewhere below that of a brain surgeon. At least, I hope most brain surgeons are smarter than I am. Main Course Name three of your best teachers from your school years. Mrs Tschache, 2nd grade (I don't think I spelled that right); Mrs Greenhaugh, 4th grade; Mrs Guy, AP English. They all deserve special halos for putting up with me.

Dessert What are your plans for this upcoming weekend?

Movie night at my place with the best friend tonight, which will include too much food and just the right amount of wine.

Then tomorrow we'll have fun times in the dirt in her backyard. If I'm really lucky, I'll talk her into going to the thrift store - which is usually as difficult as enticing a dog to pee on a fire hydrant.

Sundays are not meant to have any plans made for them too far in advance, so I'll start thinking about that sometime Sunday morning.

Too Cool

The Post Office is issuing a set of Star Wars Stamps next month. And you can go vote on your favorite; the winner will get its very own stamp book in the fall. Or sometime in the future. www.uspsjedimaster.com And if you vote for any of the stamps from the new movies, not only will I know and curse you, but the gods will cry. And curse you. You can vote for 1 stamp every day. Today I went with Leia and R2. I think tomorrow I'll go with Yoda. Or Obi-Wan. And does anyone else think that they did a horrible job on Han Solo? I mean, Harrison Ford didn't get those sexy genes so that he could look bad on a stamp. Because I'm sure that the most pressing thing on his mind these days is what a recreation of a picture of him from 30 years ago looks like when it's stuck on hundreds of envelopes.

It's easier to be green than some frogs think

Happy Earth Day! In the past year, I've gotten a little more green(in other words, get ready for me to go on and on about what I've done). I have a rule that if I have to spend money, then I better save money from that project in the end. That's because while the government may applaud my efforts (or not, considering our current president,) they would rather I repay my student loans first. Back in January I started replacing my light bulbs with CFLs, but my lights weren't burning out fast enough so I went on Ebay, bought about 25 of them and changed most of them out last weekend. I say most because I still need 3 indoor flood lights - and those are going to have to hold on until a few more paychecks come my way. It'd be a lot easier to do these things if they a little more affordable... Last month I started looking for local recycling possibilities. I kept telling myself being lazy, waiting for our little city to come up with a plan of their own. So I emailed the city asking for info, dropping hints, and then started looking around the county for places that take anything. Pretty much the only thing I can get rid of within 15 miles of us is newspapers and magazines. But then, this past week, the husband got an email from the university about their recycling program...and the end result is that I now have a place to take my plastics, cans, cardboard and all paper stuff. Glass is pretty much not accepted anywhere. And I planted a tree this year! Best Friend came over in the beginning of March, we went on an expidition, and I now have a tree - with leaves and everything! - growing in my backyard. My garden isn't doing so well. The dog ate the basil and the eggplant the first night we had him. The bell peppers, tomatoes, onions and squash are still alive. They've been moved out of harm's way...so we'll see if they live. I may break down and buy a few more plants. Thanks to living in the over-heated south, I could probably plant tomatoes in August and still get more produce than I can eat. I'm working my courage up to compost. The whole money-restriction makes this one harder to justify, although it will give me something to do with most of what's left of my garbage. I'm working up my courage to build a 3-bin system. I'm sure Best Friend will be involved in this project, and if she's nice, she might even get a hammer to complement the mini-shovel I got her Friday. The Prius I've been eyeing forever...it's going to have to wait. I've added up the numbers more times than I can count. I've used old math, new math, fuzzy math...and it all tells me that I can't afford a new car for another year or so. And I still haven't decided if I want the hybrid Civic or the Prius. The Civic is a little bigger...but the Prius has more shiny knobs and displays on the inside. And the Prius gets better gas milage, but the Civic is a little cheaper. So we'll see. So, now that you've read me bragging about myself...brag a little back at me.

Because I didn't have enough things to throw money at

I have a dog. I don't know how to convey the incredible incredulousness with which I wrote that. So I'll try again. I have a DOG. Got it yet? It's a long story (mainly because it has to do with my hubby's ex, who, truth be told, was nothing but graciousness itself - herself? -when I set foot on her property last week) but the end result of it all is that we have a 100+ pound, smelly, basil-plant-eating, drooling, large-poop-making, non-cat-loving German Shepherd in our backyard. /sigh. I have a dog! She's lucky she bought my stepson a German Shepherd - it's the only type of dog I've ever considered owning (as my best friend was quick to point out when I called her looking for opinions. As if she would ever say anything but yes to anyone who is considering getting a living organism of any kind). But when I say "the only dog I've ever considered owning", I've always meant it in a "maybe-one-day-I'll-think-about-it-and-then-decide-no" kind of way. But this dog is sweet. And pretty low-key, considering he's only two years old. The only thing he gets excited about is going for a walk. Toys? He could care less. All he wants to do is sleep. Which gives me one too many things in common with a dog. I still don't know how I feel about this. On the one hand, I'm glad my stepson didn't have to lose his pet. On the other hand - there's now a very large animal in my back yard. A backyard that my stepson really only visits one day out of any given week. I have to completely relocate my garden (not that there was much left of it after his first night with us). And amazingly enough, my non-living-creature-loving husband is completely taken with the dog. They're going on two or three walks a day, and he has to say goodnight to the dog every night. God help me, I have a dog.

Quiet Thoughts

There's something about the smell of rain that's soothing. I love to sit outside after I get home from work. Preferably with a glass of wine and my cell phone, chatting with my best friend about all the stupid things the two of us have done in the past day, week, month...or, for that fact, our entire lives. Or all the stupid things we're going to do in the future - because, let's face it, doing stupid things gives you the best stories to tell at the next dinner party. But when the rain starts falling - like it is now, softly - it's calming. Comforting. With an earthy scent, that makes me feel like anything is possible. That makes me take a deep breath and remember that in the long scheme of things, the stresses of today are going to be the things that make me laugh the hardest tomorrow. I love the rain.

He'll be married with a mortgage and 2.5 kids any day now

StepSon has decided to age 20 years in the past month. I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, he still has that "farts will always be funny" quality that men learn to hide when around females but never quite get rid of - and he hasn't mastered the "hide it" part of that yet. He still thinks he only needs two t-shirts, one pair of underwear and an unmatched pair of socks to make it through a week. And washing them is optional. But he's old enough now to see the wisdom that only males find in The Godfather. He's discovering more vegetables that he'll eat without complaining. And at this very moment, he is out DRIVING MY CAR with his father beside him. He got his permit a few months ago, but due to his new-found love for lacrosse and his ever-increasing social life, he hasn't spent that much time driving. But today he wanted to go out in my car. Since his dad drives a truck and it's a stick, but I drive the same model car as his mother, he picked my car. I spend more time in my car some days than I do in my living room, so I'm a wee bit attached to her. And the boy who has trouble rembering where his shoes are is now being trusted to remember which side the brake peddle is on. Without looking down. But when he gave me that look with those big brown eyes, I didn't even protest. I just handed him the keys. I've always known that being a mother required more courage than I could ever hope to have - there's that whole giving birth part that I decided to skip, since I'm not the bravest person in the world. But this boy is teaching me that maybe I got a little too cocky about sidestepping the entire "needing courage" part. PS - I love the first two Godfather movies. But there must be something subliminal in them, because men seem to get something extra "special" out of them. Maybe it's the blood. Maybe it's the Alpha Male-ness. I don't know - but it's there.

More Political Rantings

This is a great article from Time Magazine. Read it. Love it.

Canada Could Explode Any Day Now

One of Alabama's proud representatives:

"We could lose Iraq and survive; we lost Vietnam and survived, but if we lose this battle over gay marriage, we are doomed," he said.

Seriously? Bachus thinks that love is going to destroy the country? Not this "go-to-war-against-the-world" mentality that is all over the White House? How can ANYone think that people getting married will be the downfall of the country when we have a president who is destroying us, one second at a time? And I can't believe this guy keeps getting elected, either. I wonder how my hubby would feel about moving to Massachusetts?

To Leo or not to Leo

Leonardo DiCaprio. There. I said it. My hubby, if he reads this today, is now shuddering and has probably already gone offline. My best friend is also shuddering, but she's a curious enough individual to see where I'm going with this. I'm still remembering how incredibly sexy his South African accent was. He really hasn't ever done anything for me - I guess Titanic kinda killed his sex factor for me. And that movie is the reason that DH and BF shudder. But I'm now a convert. Leo got sexy? When the hell did this happen? Oh, and the movie (Blood Diamond) was good too. REALLY good. DH refused to "officially" watch it, but he sat at the computer and every time I glanced his way, his head was pointed at the TV. A few times, especially towards the end, he even walked into the living room and stood beside me. But he never sat down and "watched the movie." I was watching it and he just happened to be in the same room. And he'll never admit that he liked it, because he's completely on the "Not to Leo" side of my title for the day. Me? I'm so on the "To Leo" side now. And I think from now on, he should always have that accent. I'm off to add The Departed to my Netflix queue.

Lust

$1 million laptop

I've gained a few IQ points since last year

Last year, I got royally sucked into Google's April Fool's Day joke. If you'd like to see how spectacularly beautifully I embarrassed myself, just check this out. They didn't get me this year. Or, they got me for a half a second before I remembered what day it was. Which is almost like it never happened. Because at least I remembered before I got to the first time they spelled out that "T" is for toilet. My goal for the next year? To solve pi. Because at the phenomenal rate that I'm getting smarter that is sooo do-able. PS: I used Blogger's spell check on this post and it didn't recognize " Google's " as a word. Am I a nerd for finding that hilarious? Or is that just a sign that my sense of humor is elevating to a level on par with my intelligence?