Now I’m a believer

First, this link is worth a read. Tina Roth Eisenberg’s 11 Rules for Life & Work.

Nothing particularly exciting to report. I spent most of the weekend in various states of sitting, with two brief exceptions which involved vacuuming and baking cookies. Not at the same time. At one point I sat in a booth at Pizza Luce with Kate, which was a highlight.

Darren and I made a swift trip to IKEA on Thursday to exchange a faulty chair, and to get some new ones to go with the table I purchased a couple weeks ago. We left immediately after I got home from work, which meant that by the time we got out of the store we were starving. As we walked out to the parking ramp we were bitching about our hunger, and suddenly a package of Knackebrod fell from… I don’t know where. Perhaps the sky. Or the rafters, as there was still a roof over our heads. We picked it up, because it was clearly a sign from above and now obviously I believe in all things holy.

Obviously.

Twenty bucks for a package of big, dry crackers? Geez.

Right. So I didn’t do my little gratitude list thing last week because I am not very good at sticking to goals. Real talk, y’all. But here it is! It exists!

• I had a $25 Michael’s gift card left over from Christmas, and I used it to buy a giant frame for the Doctor Who exploding TARDIS poster I’ve had sitting in the closet for like a year. Thanks to my cousin for the GC, and grateful for my addled mind finally realizing the perfect thing to spend it on.
• I am grateful that at least one of our cats is not completely ridiculous (Lucy. Winston is psychotic).
• Related: I’m so glad Enli has been aging so well. She’s not old yet, I just mean she’s a nicer dog now. 
• I’m grateful for Lena Dunham’s Twitter feed, which I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon reading because work was so, so dead.
• Not that I’m complaining about a slow day. Those are nice on occasion.
• Quitting Macy’s was one of the smartest things I’ve done in terms of my own sanity.
• Two words: Justin. Timberlake.

Wearin’ my mask and lookin’ like a bear.

I had an amusing encounter with some raccoons last night.

Side note – apparently “raccoons” is not a word.

Anyway, I got off the bus after work. It was dark, and I saw a furry body running about on the corner of my street. At first I thought “is that cat crawling into the drain?” The answer was no. But that raccoon was. He watched me walk toward him for a bit, and then hid when I got too close.

Not five minutes later I left my building, this time with Enli in tow. It was walk time. And there in the yard, just off the parking lot, was a raccoon posse. There were four of them and they just stared at us. Until Enli tried to chase them, of course. Then they scurried off back to the drain. I could see one of them peering out at us as we walked past.

That was the last I saw of them.

St. Paul has drain raccoons. For some reason I am delighted by this.

Here is a related video.

You can tell I’m lacking ideas when all I have to offer is a story about how I saw some raccoons once.

The Remedy

Last night I ended up with some sort of chemical burn on my fingers.

I’m a bit unclear on the details, even though they are my fingers. it was mild; there was no visual evidence except a little redness, but mother of god did it hurt.

I had been using using oven cleaner – with gloves, mind you – and I must have somehow gotten some on the thumb, pointer, and middle fingers of my right hand. Despite washing my hands multiple times, including in the shower, there was still burning. Oh, the burning. Cold water and an ice pack relieved some of the pain, but the relief didn’t last. On the contrary, the burning sensation somehow traveled to the same fingers on my left hand. Double the agony.

Anyway. Long story short, I finally alerted Darren to my predicament and he suggested soaking my poor finger tips in vinegar.

Well. It worked. After all that misery, that mofo suggests a trick he learned from Fight Club and it worked. I did have to do a second vinegar soaking at like 1:00 in the morning, but I fell asleep pain free and my poor fingers are just fine today.

Seriously. Fight Club.

Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.

I have five open spaces left on my 30 by 30 list, but I’m already making progress on it. It’s nice to have goals, and crossing things off lists might be one of my favorite things.

Number 3 is “love my skin.” I did some research several weeks ago and picked out cleanser, scrub, and moisturizer that was recommended for my skin type. It hasn’t been long enough to really notice any changes, but I feel better just making the effort.

Number 10 is “find my perfect shade of lipstick.” I’m still going to do some experimenting, but Revlon’s Blushing Nude is freaking fantastic. Rose & Shine is the exact same color as my actual lips. That was special. I’ll still use it because I spent the money, and I think there might be some sparklies in it. But still.

Still going strong on 12, which is Project 365.

Finally, number 23 is “get new glasses.” I’ve got an appointment with the optometrist on Monday, and I’ve picked out the frames I’ll be purchasing from ZenniOptical.com:

So. There you have it. Hipstery!

As far as life goes, not much to report. Darren got promoted a few weeks ago and he’s much happier in his new position– no more customer service! Kate is moving back to St. Paul in a matter of days, which is excellent. I have a date with Kelsey tomorrow, which is random but also excellent. I think I was maybe her last resort. Maybe not. I’m cool with it either way. I’m watching The Benson Interruption on Netflix to prepare, because it’s been a long time since I watched/heard any Doug Benson comedy. Related: I miss having real cable.

Aaaaand, I bought a maxi dress. Yes, let us talk about clothes for a minute. I was afraid of maxi dresses. But this sucker is so comfortable.

Here is the pic from Target’s website

Taking photos of myself is difficult, but I tried:

I promise that hat actually sits normally. Angle = bad.

Uh, yeah. This is why I will never be a fashion blogger. Still, I totes styled this bad boy. Except, lighting, guys. My apartment doesn’t have it. Especially at night. Whatever, can we just look at my shoulders for a second? They’re lookin’ NICE. I only hope similar improvements start appearing in my midsection area.

Also, I did not intend to stand like the dress model.

Anyhoodle. This weekend brings grilling, Kelsey, Doug Benson, and stealthily acquiring quarters from the machine at the laundromat up the street because I forgot to go to the bank today. Plus, as always, plenty of Netflix. And probably gin. Can’t complain.

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable

I’m fifteen days into this 365 photo project thing. It’s going okay so far, but there have been a few days where I have almost forgotten, or I’m busy and just snap a picture of whatever. But still- I didn’t have any other goal for this project other than documenting a piece of my day, and it seems I’m doing just that. So, success thus far.

Hooray.

a sample

Warning: Audio clips posted may lead to pregnancy

Sorry for the long absence. Not much to report ’round these parts.

Darren and I had dinner at Fuji Ya tonight (hooray for Crowd Cut deals!) and they have super fancy blue fin on special right now. Ah, it was so good. Melt-in-your-mouth good. All sushi fans should try it.

Then tonight on Tumblr, Kelsey reblogged an audio clip of Benedict Cumberbatch reading John Keats. So I found something I could post here, courtesy of YouTube.

Oh, you want to download it so you can listen to it on your iPod whenever you want? Well, here you go.

Maybe I’ll have more to post about in the near future. Until then, assume that I’m spending most of my time watching Hoarders.

dirty pop

I’ve kind of been planning posts in my head, but I’ve just been too fucking lazy to actually write them.

Wednesday and Thursday, a good chunk of my work days consisted of meetings. One the the corporate VPs was in town to talk about how we can make our company even more awesome. Now, when these big meetings happen mt attendance is not usually a thing. This time, I was in about half of them, taking notes. It was interesting – we’re working on good things here – but dang if that shit doesn’t just make the whole week wonky.

Anyway, I didn’t come here to talk about meetings. I came here because I found the most amazing thing at Goodwill today. I almost want to go back and buy it. It would look great in our living room.

Are you ready for this?

Are you sitting down?

If you follow me on Tumblr or Twitter the surprise is going to be ruined.

Friends, feast your eyes on this.

I find it especially wonderful that I found them in the Brass & Metal section.

The only thing stopping me from going back for these is it’s not a complete set. Where are you, Joey?

Also, Darren would probably shun me for spending money on N*Sync bobble heads.

His loss.

So over it.

I am so sick of all this Minneapolis versus St. Paul bullshit I could scream.

I like St. Paul. It is much more my style. I like the slower pace, I’m not into nightlife. I like my townie-esque bar and my favorite Vietnamese place and my convenient distance from all of my favorite places. St. Paul is exactly what I need and I intend to stay right the hell here.

I don’t care why you (the proverbial you) think Minneapolis is so much better. It works for you and that’s just fine with me. I don’t need to listen to you preach. And I don’t want to argue with anyone about why I think St. Paul is better, either. Seriously. Is it really so important?

I’m not going to move to another city just because there are more food delivery options. That would probably be bad for my bank account anyway. When I want to visit a delicious Minneapolis restaurant or something, I will. HELLO, it takes like ten minutes to get there. It’s not that big a deal.

The two cities are very different and each offer different things. I don’t understand why people can’t just accept that each city has its own positive and negative qualities and leave it the hell alone. I am over the rivalry. They are cities, not sports teams. Find something more worthwhile to argue about.

rock me tender in the night air

If you’ve seen my kitchen, you know that it really kind of sucks. It’s small and lacks both counter and storage space. However, it’s supposedly an eat-in kitchen, so there’s an open spot against one wall.

We acquired a small butcher block/cart thing which provides extra storage and a place for the cats to eat (we keep their food up so the dog can’t get to it), and that + the dog’s food area + trash can basically filled the space.

But! Darren brought me home a rocking chair last week. I’ve been wanting one for a while. It needs to be re-painted, as its previous owners did a really slapdash job of throwing on some white paint. Anyway, it didn’t fit in the living room very well, so I moved some stuff around a little and now I have a rocking chair in the kitchen. It’s basically the greatest thing ever. Waiting for the oven to preheat? Rock. Husband is cooking and you want to hang out? Rock. This morning I ate cereal and rocked.

This isn’t really going anywhere. I just want to throw this out there: rocking chair. Kitchen. Advisable.

Swimming through birch and bark

It’s been a pretty slow week, hence the lack of updates.

There’s construction happening at work. We’re downsizing out suite now that half the office has relocated and we don’t need or want to pay for all the extra space. So the construction is mostly just noisy and messy. Today, however, a cordless drill came crashing through my ceiling. So that was something. Nothing by the ceiling tile sustained any damage (or injury).

This weekend I’m heading north again, this time with a bunch of ladies. Kate’s birthday is tomorrow (!) and we’re celebrating with a long weekend at her grandparents’ cabin. There will be skinny dipping. It’s supposed to be hot as balls all weekend. it’s supposed to rain too, but you can bet your bottom dollar (what?) that sa long as there’s no lightning, I’ll still be in that water.

I must remember to pack Kate’s gift tonight. Also the brownies that I made. Brownies! In my haste to get them in the oven, I forgot to add walnuts. I think they’ll still be awesome though.

Darren has to hold down the fort at home. I think he’ll manage. I suspect I’ll come home to find him playing video games in his underwear.

Too much?

Here is a sneak peek at Kate’s present, complete with a handmade bow.