Home Again/Boy Update/Plans

Ah, so we're back at home. It's sad, really. That the weekend went so quickly. That our relatives don't live closer to us. That I've had to spend all morning doing last-minute packing. We did have a nice time though, a very relaxing few days. Elliot enjoyed having 5 people constantly paying attention to him and playing with him. He has four teeth coming through on his top gums, and is strangely OK with that. He's now just days over 9 months old, and I got an email this morning from my husband, that sounded like he's starting to plan Boy's first birthday party. And it's a party that will be in the new house, I do hope everything is unpacked, or at least relatively tidy for that! After tomorrow we'll have no internet connection for a few weeks, so I'm sorry - I won't be able to post new things or comment. Think of me occasionally and send good thoughts!

Away

Hello, I am away. I am having a long weekend up in the North. I'm thankful that I am now semi-capable of understanding the accent up here! It may be awhile between updates, hope everyone's having a nice weekend! Feel free to send me lovely email or comments, it makes me feel special! Also, read my husband's blog for a giggle at the fun time we had coming up here!

EDITED: Thanks for all of your comments and well-wishes, guys! I'm back at home now and had a wonderful time. It was sooooooo relaxing, and I'm sorry to be back. We have tons more packing to do and it won't be fun, but at least we had a few days off! Blogging will sadly not return as normal, as we'll be without my precious broadband connection soon... but I will use these next few days to try and catch up on all my blog-reading!

Success

I've never really enjoyed cooking. I'm not much of a food person, give me dessert anyday. But one of the things my husband and I felt pretty strongly about, was always giving Elliot homemade baby food. I had a slow start preparing his meals. At the start, it was my husband who'd whip up a selection of foods for Boy on the weekends, and sometimes my mother-in-law would cook something here and there. But it was hardly ever me. And that just doesn't seem right, does it? I was given a baby and toddler cookbook a month ago, and it had been OK. I enjoyed making Elliot different foods, but up until recently, it had all been pureed food you'd only give to babies. I wish I'd taken a picture of my first 'proper' meal for Boy... risotto with butternut squash. I was so incredibly excited, I made everyone in the house taste it, and I was bouncing around, I could hardly contain myself! And Elliot LOVED it, that's what made it the best feeling ever. I can't help thinking what else can I cook? What's next? I can't remember the last time I've been this excited.

Can you believe...

..it's been over two weeks since I've finished a book?

Soooo tired..

I started off today thinking 'whew, just the one more day of packing' and now it seems neverending. I had all of our breakable items to do today, plus all the crap that seems to accumulate on the top shelves of our cupboards. And then I realised there was also all of Boy's outgrown clothes, and everytime I thought I'd finished one thing, I realised we had more things in another room I'd forgotten. I think it's two more boxes upstairs and I might just be finished. We're on kind of a tight squeeze at the moment, as we'll be going away on holiday to the north of England for a long weekend in a few days. Then, when we get back, it's only two more days until MOVING DAY. When we were at the house this weekend, it just didn't feel like it was ours. It was just an empty house. But we'll change all of that with all of our crap, once it arrives. Here's a picture though, taken this weekend of our lovely new fishpond.

Belated

Sorry this is late guys, but a big Happy Birthday to Shadowfalcon and Becca! I hope it was great!

Samantha: Thanks for getting my undies back.
Jake: Thanks for coming over.
Samantha: Thanks for coming to get me.
Jake: Happy Birthday, Samantha. Make a wish.
Samantha: It already came true

Keys, House, Rug Doctor

Yes, we did get the keys, the house is ours! :) We went out on Thursday to have a look around... and then back again yesterday to clean and scrub and Rug Doctor. Surprisingly, being lived in by two men previously, the house wasn't as dirty as I thought it would be. And he'd wrapped plastic sheets around his kitchen cupboard shelves, which I thought was a really good idea. So when the oil spills or something gets knocked over or sticky, the plastic can just be removed. We found there'd been a butterfly (how many of those do you see in London normally?) trapped in the house, and we spent SO long trying steer the thing out a window or a door, poor thing. And the quiet. There were no airplanes overhead or traffic zooming outside the window... I think I can get used to this. We now have great plans on how to make the house better, with kitchen stools for our new breakfast bar to planting an allotment out the back for Boy to grow his own vegetables... I love plans.

Red: [narrating] I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.

Blog Cloud

I found this ages and then lost it. I think it looks quite cool. You can have a blog cloud too... It's the words used most on my blog (I think). Or maybe just random words? I couldn't have used 'objectionable' THAT many times, right?

King: Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!

NYC at 16

I was reading on someone else's blog (I'm sorry I don't remember whose, I read so many!) and she was talking about reading aloud from your personal diary as a teenager. Well, I don't have any of those (thank god) but I have something close...I think I've mentioned it before, I spent my 16th birthday (and a lot of that summer) doing manual labour in a boot-camp type place in Oregon. I've just found the '1998 Crew Journal' that the Northwest Youth Corps sent out afterwards, with a collection of photos and journal entries, along with a copy of a news article that was printed in which *I* was interviewed for. I'd completely forgotten about it, but I thought it gives a small glimpse of me as a teenager... Here are the main bits, try not to make fun of me TOO much:

From the newspaper article:
(blah, blah, blah about our crew coming to this island infested with goats and scotch broom. Basically we're trying to rid the island of these bad bush-like plants that have taken over)
'The simplest thing, like popping a root up out of the ground, makes you feel great,' crew member Michelle R---- says, almost blissfully, on her 16th birthday. 'Once we get this field done, we're really going to feel great about ourselves.'
R----, who will be a junior in high school this fall, says she initially resisted her father's suggestion of a one-month Youth Corps stint as a summer project. But after the first couple days, she was a convert.
'It's back-breaking work and it's tough, but we've got to get it done, and the self-esteem when we're done is just going to be great,' she says. 'A lot of adults, I know, wouldn't be able to do this because it really is hard work. But it's satisfying too.' (blah, blah, blah about the projects they have planned, they interviewed another of my crew members, my team leader, blah, blah, blah. Then they bring it back to the goats, who stole our cheese sandwiches one day and everyone finds them amusing, cue me:) 'They are (entertaining, I mean)' says R----, the birthday crew member. 'But the novelty wears off every once in awhile.' The End. Wasn't I a dork? BLISSFULLY?! Was I trying to be funny in that last quote?

Here are some of the things I wrote in our crew journal. They had specific topics and questions we had to answer, but they didn't list all of the questions, so it sounds a little weird.

For the last week, Orange crew is working in the West Eugene Wetlands trying to restore its natural habitat of a wetland prairie. We're trying to accomplish this by ridding it of foreign and invader species like: thistle, tansy ragwort, and pear trees. Oh dear god. Dork, dork, dork.

My three favourite NYC Experiences were... Swimming after a long, hot day. Working, meeting wonderful friends and hanging out with them at weekend sites. My favourite experience was WORKING?

The rest is just too embarassing. I go on about how I've learned so much from my time there, that I'd never really WORKED before, that I'll never forget the friends I'd met. Honestly, I had to look at the names of my other crew members and then squint at the grainy black and white photo they had printed and see if ANY of the names could be connected with faces. Two of my crew members DID go to my same high school, but it's not like we hung out or anything. Shame I can't post the horrible photo.

Vizzini: INCONCEIVABLE.

Great distractions

So, I had to go to the doctor surgery today to test how well my liver is functioning after the removal of my gall bladder... I wasn't sure exactly how they'd do the actual testing, but I should have known it'd involve drawing blood. So I get into see the blood specialist guy, and explain to him that I don't have good veins for taking blood, and I get a little queasy at the sight of blood. He says that's fine, just look away and I'll keep you talking, no problem. Here's how the conversation went:

Him: Were you waiting long?
Me: Um, actually no, I'd only just walked in, gave the lady my name and I was called to come in.
Him: Ah, great. Which country are you from?
Me: America.
Him: Mmhmm, which part?
Me: Oregon.
Him: Uh-huh.
(long, long pause in which I'm thinking of all the blood being drained slowly out of my veins)
Him: Did you have to wait long today?

Interior Design

It's been awhile since I've posted a house update - if all goes well (and it should), we'll be exchanging contracts and so forth this week, and we'll get the keys on Thursday! It's an exciting time for us :) Our boxes arrived yesterday, and we've started doing what we can packing-wise... which led me to find some very interesting things today. I love finding old treasure that I forgot I had. Let me give you the backround story to this picture. When I first moved to England (6 years ago! wow) my husband had rented us this cute little furnished flat on a short-term basis. I'd brought lots of my things over from America, and we had lots of souvenirs and things from our travels, so we made things home-y pretty quickly. It was nice. I liked it there. For some reason or another, my husband had a MASSIVE Chiquito's menu he'd acquired, and I had a brain wave one day, to stick this colourful menu on the windowsill. Ooh, a simple way to spice up the boring kitchen! It started a little fad. Now I don't like to say we STOLE the other menus, but yes, we did - until I ended up with no space left on my windowsill and years later, I find way too many 'borrowed' menus in a bag crammed on the top shelf of a cupboard!

Mr. Merriweather: Oh, you study numerology?
Lucy Ricardo: Of course.
Mr. Merriweather: I'm a 1.
Lucy Ricardo: I'm a 3.
Ricky Ricardo: I'm a 5.
Mr. Merriweather: We're all odd, aren't we?

HELP NEEDED

OK, here's where all you ladies with kiddies can help me out, and PLEASE DO! So, Elliot has had teeth for a few months now - two of the cutest, itty bitty teeth on his bottom gums. My husband and I would like to keep them healthy. We've read loads of places that we should brush our baby's teeth as soon as they arrive, and we know it's important.. but how? There's differing advice as well, twice a day, once? If it's twice a day, then no problem in the morning - it's just the nighttime brush that would cause concern. We normally feed Boy a bottle last thing at night and he falls asleep. How am I going to maintain said sleepiness if I have to swish a mini-kid toothbrush in his mouth and then rinse for him? What did everyone else do? Am I making this harder than it's meant to be? Please help!
*Edited* I forgot to mention - I was going to go the health visitor this week and then realised I couldn't for whatever reason (boxes are being delivered - because we're moving! and doctor's appointment - what do you reckon a 'liver test' is meant to be?) and frankly most of the health visitors have been pretty useless in the past.
And is anyone else noticing my movie quotes? I've left the titles of where it came from off for a reason. It's bloody difficult to remember to add them, but I still think they're fun!

Samantha: It's really human of you to listen to all my bullshit.

A Family Affair

My husband has started yet another blog, please check it out and comment and enjoy! He's had other blogs that he's had and gotten bored with, I hope he sticks with this one, because I enjoy reading what's on his mind. Plus, he's outed our son's name! So here we are, meet our son, Elliot (he'll always be Boy to me!)

Robbie: [singing] I wanna make you smile whenever you're sad / Carry you around when your arthritis is bad / All I wanna do is grow old with you. / I'll get your medicine when your tummy aches / build you a fire if the furnace breaks / Oh it could be so nice, growin old with you. / I'll miss you, kiss you, give you my coat when you are cold. / Need you, feed you, I'll even let you hold the remote control. / So let me do the dishes in the kitchen sink / Put you to bed when you've had too much to drink. / Oh I could be the man to grow old with you. / I wanna grow old with you.

You can be the judge!

I absolutely adore blogging. And not just because I can moan on and on about nothing in particular, I love it because of the insight into people. Is that corny or what? Let me explain - I know there's a (modest) amount of people who do look at my blog fairly regularly, and it's been really interesting to note which topics make people comment more than others. Sure, people send their good-wishes when I'm ill (and it's happening more and more these days, grumble) and no one can resist a compliment when I post a picture of Boy (because he's stunning, of course) and for that I really do thank everyone! But apart from that...? It seems to be fish and feet. I'm not making it up - my post earlier about fish drew a few comments for regular lurkers and my number 99, of the 100 things drew yet more comments - on my ugly feet. Well, who am I to argue? You can be the judge now - I believe my feet are really ugly. Not just the toes, but the whole package. I warn you, if you don't like feet, don't look at the rest of this. Here are the pictures:














1) Yes, I did use an ungodly colour of red on my toenails, but calm down - it was the only nail polish I had. I've since gone out and bought a cheap 'oyster pink' (but then realised I had no nail polish remover, damn).
2) Yes, that is hair on my big toes, isn't that a turn-on?
3) I think that could be a wart on my right big toe.
4) Both little toes are a little chubby - I think I broke them (or at least severely bruised them by ramming them (both but on different occasions) accidentally into large bricks (don't ask))
5) Neither picture does justice to the amount of discoloured skin due to scarring, but trust me - I've had plenty of sandal-induced injuries.

(Blogger sucks. I still can't post a picture successfully)


6) Ah, the bottoms of my feet - yep, a nasty blister there under my toes
7) Good god, look at the amount of dry/dead skin there. I don't like wearing socks or shoes.

So, what's the verdict? Are you with me or not?

Kathleen Kelly: [in an email to Joe Fox] The odd thing about this form of communication is that you're more likely to talk about nothing than something. But I just want to say that all this nothing has meant more to me than so many somethings.

Warning

My son is dangerous. I mean that. No one with glasses must come within 15 feet of him without the risk of glasses being torn from faces. This includes me. Sadly, I must go get new glasses because of the little guy, he did much damage to my favourite (I mean only) pair of glasses, and they're now almost falling off my face. I wish I was talking just a little simple screw tightening and we're sorted, but he actually bent the frames. It's not a pretty sight. I guess it could have been worse - I did need to go in for a new prescription as its been well over two years since my last one. Oh well. I never get used to going to the optometrist.


Older Mike: There are seven lost secret fascinations and abilities. They are that: animals can talk; your favorite blanket is woven from a fabric so mighty, that once pulled over your head, it becomes an impenetrable force field, nothing is too heavy to lift with the aid of a cape; your hand, held forefinger out and thumb up, acutally fires bullets; jumping from any height with an umbrella is completely safe; monsters exist and can be both seen an done battle with; and the greatest, most special and regrettable loss of all: the ability to fly.

Sorry

I'm sorry I've been so boring this week. I have no inspiration. It's not normally a problem, because I don't ever mind blogging about the most inane crap, but seriously nothing this week. It was this cold (still lingering) and I just don't have the motivation to do anything but the bare minimum to survive. That includes hardly answering my emails (sorry to those few of you who DO email me) and maintain this blog and (gasp) I haven't read anything. Maybe this next week will be better.

Noelle: Did you ever look in the mirror so long that your face didn't make sense anymore? It just becomes all these shapes. Just shapes. Not good or bad.

New thing

100 Things

1. My mom named me: Michelle Nicole
2. I couldn't hate this name anymore than I do
3. There were always at least three Michelles in my class at school
4. And there were all more popular than me, so whenever someone yelled 'Michelle!' down the hall, I'd turn and look, and it wasn't for me
5. In the end, I ended up telling everyone my name was actually 'Rochelle' instead
6. This is the name my dad would have chosen for me, if he'd had the chance
7. My dad didn't 'meet' me until I was a few months old
8. When my mom was still pregnant with me she was on her way to Alaska (from Texas) and her waters broke and she had to have an emergency C-section in Seattle instead
9. I was premature and had to be in an incubator
10. I only weighed 4 pounds
11. My parents are strange - they were together for 11 years before they got married
12. They got divorced three months later
13. My dad said all that happened so he could get custody of my older, half-brother David
14. I come from a long line of alcoholics
15. In Alaska, on my birthday, the sun never sets
16. My dad was a stay at home single father
17. He was always there to drive me to soccer practice
18. Or swimming practice, softball, basketball, or track
19. A lot of times growing up, I hated that fact
20. But now I appreciate that I was quite lucky to have my dad around so much
21. We moved around constantly, from Alaska, California, Texas, Wyoming and then finally three different places in Oregon
22. Eugene, Oregon is where I consider 'home' in America
23. My dad was afraid of flying because of Vietnam, so we drove everywhere
24. When I was 4, we took our longest road trip as a family - from Juneau, Alaska to Caracas, Venezuela
25. My earliest memory is bashing my brother over the head with a massive yellow Tonka truck
26. But I have a terrible memory otherwise and can remember little of the rest of my young childhood
27. I taught myself to read after memorizing the words of my favourite book that my dad read to me every night
28. Since then, I've never been without a book
29. When my parents were arguing before their divorce, I'd hide in my books
30. I still do, to escape from reality
31. Everyone had great expectations for me because I scored in the 99% tile in the national testings and was the only student in my district to qualify for Talented and Gifted classes for Maths, Science and English
32. But I still dropped out of high school
33. And wanted to kill myself
34. And had an eating disorder that my dad never knew about
35. I'm still hurt and angry that he never noticed how unhappy I was
36. My unhappiness is part of the reason that I turned to the Internet
37. I told all my high school friends that I'd never get married
38. But I got married 4 months after my 18th birthday
39. And I've never been happier
40. I've only had three jobs in my life
41. Unless you count those few times when I babysat a neighbour's child
42. But I was a terrible babysitter because I kept giving him soda to stop his whining and kept him up too late
43. I only got my first job at Arby's (the roast beef sandwich fast food place) because the owner thought I was 18 and would be old enough to operate the slicer
44. This was because I'd already started classes at a community college, but was only 16
45. Everyday I'd go home smelling of grease
46. I ate fast food for over a year for lunch and dinner just to stay out of the house
47. I had to leave for work almost an hour early even though it only took 10 minutes on the bus
48. But something happens to me in moving vehicles, I almost always fell asleep and missed my stop and had to get another bus back
49. I still can't safely take the bus in case I fall asleep
50. I've worn glasses since before I was 3 years old
51. This is because of my 'lazy-eye'
52. Which got me into so much trouble when my dad or teachers thought I wasn't looking at them
53. When I really was
54. Technically, I don't need to wear glasses anymore
55. But I still wear them, because I like to hide behind them
56. I was picked on quite a lot in school
57. Until people realised I was David's little sister
58. It comes in handy having an older brother
59. Except when all the girls come up to me to tell me how cute they think he is, like this is a topic they think I'd like to discuss with them
60. I moved to a different school to escape said girls
61. I moved to another continent to get married
62. I met my husband online
63. We spoke for the first time online on the 4th December 1998
64. We met face-to-face for the first time on the 10th December 1999
65. We got married on the 2nd December 2000
66. Five years later, our first child was expected on 4th December 2005
67. The most important person in the world to me is my son
68. I'd do anything for him
69. But I'm afraid I'll mess him up psychologically
70. Because of what I went through with my mother
71. Which I don't feel comfortable talking about
72. I'm afraid of so many things
73. Not just ordinary things like snakes or public-speaking
74. But of success, as well as failure - if that makes sense
75. My lack of self-esteem holds me back
76. And so does all my fear
77. But I'm trying to change this, slowly
78. One of the ways is through this blog
79. My favourite colour is gray
80. I want to learn how to bake loads of delicious goodies
81. Because dessert is the only food I really enjoy
82. I'm quite a fussy eater and won't eat many foods
83. Though recently I've found out that some foods are actually nice even though I've sworn forever to hate them
84. I hate making decisions
85. I would love to be a published writer
86. Of young adult books ideally
87. Because that it what I enjoy reading the most
88. In my last job, I looked after the children's section in a bookstore
89. I loved my job so much
90. I still worry that who ever is looking after my section isn't doing it properly
91. I love watching movies that involve dancing, even if they're tacky
92. I have a very addictive personality
93. And I put lots of sentimental value on inanimate objects and find it hard to get rid of things
94. I collect Eeyores
95. I've had bad luck with pets in the past
96. I was cautioned by the police because I broke into a house to save a starving dog
97. I have a large collection of 'dress-up' hats
98. People get confused by my accent
99. I have ugly feet
100. I feel incredibly lucky to be a stay at home right now and to be able to watch my son learn new things everyday

He's so small and .. asleep

I love staring at Boy when he's asleep like this. He looks so peaceful, I wish I could sleep that soundly. But sometimes, I also worry so much that maybe he's stopped breathing. Will I ever stop worrying that my son is safe?

Maggie Rice: When they ask me what I liked best, I'll tell them, it was you

Maybe not Everyone's Thing...

I've been watching loads of movies recently, none of them worth mentioning, except this one. I'd read the books ages ago (by Ann Brashares) and loved them (I laughed, I cried) so I was quite looking forward to seeing how the movie of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants would work. The movie stuck reasonably close to the book - and what's best, it kept to the right tone and feel of the book with the bits that were altered. I love when that happens, especially in this case because the books covers so much: death, and love, divorce and above all friendship. Carmen and her father's relationship made me weep, but that's what I loved watching this movie. Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants was just what I needed: a feelgood movie with its share of tears.



Lou Lou Who: I'm glad he took our presents. You can't hurt Christmas, Mr. Mayor, beacuse it isn't about the... the gifts or the contest or the fancy lights. That's what Cindy's been trying to tell everyone... and me. I don't need anything more for Christmas than this right here: my family.

Memories

I've just put this album on to listen to. Does anyone else have music that immediately brings them back to another time and another place? This album does that for me. It reminds me of a time when I did things on the spur of the moment, completely spontaneous. When I twirled happily in parking lots and squealed with laughter and was completely and utterly enthralled in new love. It was the start of something great. Look at us over 7 years later :)

I love that we're older, and not so stupid (OK, you never were - but how did you put up with me?)

I love that we know where we are, where we stand, no more uncertainty. (and I don't have to speak to anymore long-distance operators)

I love that I can be completely myself around you and not have to worry if you'll make fun of me (because I know you will)

I love that you're just as playful, thoughtful, and caring as you were then (more so?)

Corey Flood: [Lloyd's letter to Diane] Dear Diane, I'll always be there for you. All the love in my heart, Lloyd. from Say Anything

150 Questions

I am officially boring:

150 Questions
The Bold Ones Are The Ones I Have Done.

01. Dyed your hair (You know I never have, why is this?)
02. Been a DJ ( I think that would be too scary)
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Been arrested (I’ve been cautioned, I bet that doesn’t count)
05. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol (I’m not sure I’d want to)
06. Held a tarantula (same as above)
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I love you" and meant it
09. Taught yourself an art from scratch (I taught myself how to read, have I told you that story yet?)
10. Done a striptease
11. Bungee jumped (honestly, the very thought of it makes me queasy)
12. Had a booth at a street fair (Ooh, what would I sell?)
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (I love lightning)
14. Stayed up all night long, and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights (a traumatic experience, apparently)
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa
18. Grown and eaten my own vegetables (they had bugs)
19. Touched an iceberg
20. Slept under the stars
21. Changed a baby's diaper (ah, how many times today?)
22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
23. Watched a meteor shower
24. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
25. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced (I can’t think of ANY body parts I’d like to pierce below the neck)(or above apart from my little earholes)
26. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph (I once drove in a car when someone ELSE drove at over 100 mph, I bet you’re impressed)
27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Had a food fight
29. Built your own PC from parts
30. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
31. Asked out a stranger (I’m shy)
32. Had a snowball fight (I always lose)
33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier (I’d be afraid it’d crack)(is that a pun? it wasn't meant to be)
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
35. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over (I think it counts. It does, right?)
36. Enacted a favorite fantasy
37. Taken a midnight skinny dip
38. Taken an ice cold bath
39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
40. Seen a total eclipse
41. Rode on a roller coaster
42. Hit a home run (maybe I just DREAMT I’ve hit a homerun)
43. Rode on a motorcycle (I’m so boring)
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
45. Adopted an accent for an entire day (nope, I get made fun of enough about my accent)
46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
47. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild (gross.)
48. Rode a horse
49. Had major surgery
50. Loved your job for all accounts
51. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
53. Had amazing friends
54. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (I've seen it done, we had a lodger once who paid us in venison meat)(which was nice except we had deer carcasses in our back garden)
55. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt (I wish I had the guts for that)
56. Stolen a sign (I have stolen traffic cones, but that wasn’t the question)
57. Backpacked in Europe
58. Taken a road-trip (or a gazillion)
59. Rock climbing
60. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read (all the time, I’m a geek)
61. Midnight walk on the beach
62. Sky diving
63. Changed your name
64. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
65. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them (who does these things?)
66. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
67. Benchpressed your own weight (ha! I can barely lift my own arms)
68. Milked a cow
69. Alphabetized your records (such a dork. Our DVDs are grouped into genres!)
70. Pretended to be a superhero (when I was younger, but I’m thinking of making matching capes for my son and I)
71. Sung karaoke (oh, the embarassment)(But I got a free t-shirt)(that I never wore)
72. Lounged around in bed all day (any excuse, honestly)
73. Posed nude in front of strangers (never)
74. Scuba diving (I went snorkelling in Hawaii, that was pretty)
75. Got it on to Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye (I actually detest the song, how is it meant to be romantic? Or am I missing the point?)
76. Kissed in the rain
77. Played in the mud
78. Played in the rain
79. Gone to a drive-in theater
80. Done something you should regret, but don't regret it.
81. Parasailed
82. Discovered that someone who's not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog
83. Skipped all your school reunions (technically didn’t graduate, so I’m not sure I’ll be invited to the reunion?)
84. Started a business
85. Dined in a restaurant and stolen silverware, plates, cups because your apartment needed them (sort of)
86. ...and gotten 86'ed from the restaurant because you did it so many times, they figured out it was you
87. Taken a martial arts class (I’d love to though)
88. Swordfought for the honor of a woman (why, why, why would I have done this?)
89. Written your own computer language
90. Gotten married
91. Been in a movie
92. Crashed a party
93. Loved someone you shouldn't have
94. Kissed someone so passionately it made you dizzy
95. Gotten divorced
96. Had sex at the office (does anyone else notice me skipping over the sex questions?)
97. Gone without food for 5 days (but I was on an IV drip)
98. Made cookies from scratch (who cares that they were awful?)
99. Won first prize in a costume contest
100. Rode a gondola
101. Gotten a tattoo
102. Found that the texture of some materials can turn you on
103. Rafted the Snake River
104. Found out someone was going to dump you via Blogger (oh, how sad)
105. Got flowers for no reason
106. Masturbated in a public place
107. Got so drunk you don't remember anything
108. Gone back to school
109. Performed on stage (when I was young and not so self-conscious)
110. Been to Las Vegas
111. Recorded music
112. Eaten shark
113. Had a one-night stand
114. Gotten someone fired for their actions
115. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
116. Bought a house (almost two! Less than a week)
117. Been in a combat zone (my living room?)
118. Buried one/both of your parents
119. Shaved or waxed your pubic hair off
120. Been on a cruise ship
121. Spoken more than one language fluently
122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
123. Bounced a check
124. Had your picture in the newspaper
125. Read - and understood - your credit report (I wanted to make this one bold, who would really know anyway, but I just couldn’t)
126. Raised children (raising, close enough)
127. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy (Teddy Ruxpin, I love you!)
128. Eaten kangaroo meat (My dad once had this awful kangaroo leg can opener thing. I cried when I found out what it was)
129. Been a sperm or egg donor
130. Eaten sushi (yuck)
131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
132. Called or written your Congress person
133. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
134. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
(my copy didn't have a 137, maybe I'll have to google it) (but I'll pretend I've done whatever it is, because it makes me feel special)
138. Had plastic surgery
139. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
140. Wrote articles for a large publication (I wish)
141. Lost over 100 pounds at one time
142. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
143. Piloted an airplane
144. Petted a stingray
145. Broken someone's heart (originally I had this in bold, but then I thouught about it, and probably not)
146. Helped an animal give birth
147. Been fired or laid off from a job
148. Won money on a T.V. game show
149. Broken a bone (I sprained my ankle when I was 7)
150. Had sex on a moving train

Today..

..is still not over. Why is that? Why is it dragging? Why can't it be over? I have a raging, obviously life-threatening cold and it's made me miserable. I haven't yet changed out of what I wore to sleep last night. Plus, I didn't get out of bed until 3:30pm and I feel AWFUL. Little balls of bunched up tissues are following me around, and I've had one mug after another of hot chocolate today. I can still hardly breathe and my throat hurts too much to eat anything substantial. Somebody make me feel better :(

On my mind

We went out shopping today, and seriously all the way home in the car, two things bothered me very much.

1) I couldn't remember the capital city of Chile*
2) I couldn't remember the name of the rat in Charlotte's Web**

Seriously, it bugged me so much the first thing I did when I got in the door was ran straight to the computer to google them.

*Santiago - I actually remembered this whilst the computer was booting up.
**Templeton - I'm ashamed I couldn't remember this. I had an idea in my head that it started with a P.

Books, books, books

I've been reading this book for awhile, and I really didn't want it to end. Sometimes when reading children's books I end up rolling my eyes when a main character comes back to life or things fall into place too easily, but in this series, it was definately NOT the case. James Bond IS after all, a 14 year old boy, I wouldn't expect him to always win the fight or escape from the clutches of the bad guy within seconds. In this book, there was lots of violence, torture and a death of a main (likeable) character. Plus lots of action. The baddies weren't completely bad, the good guys were surprising, and I want to read the next one! I have no idea how this fits in with the whole Bond image, but I'm loving it, seriously.


Plus, a big thank you to Keris for sending my next book to read, Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe! You all can check out her review at the Chicklet Lounge!

Music meme

Yay! NOLADawn is playing the fun music meme game! Hers is really hard, please all go check it out now. Everyone likes a challenge, right? What are you still doing here?

6 months, 6 years and 3000 hits

I just realised that back at the end of July, I've made 6 months writing this blog. I think it's a pretty big achievement, so congratulations are in order I do believe! :) Also, today I've reached 3,000 hits! Yes, this does include everytime *I* look at my blog, so in reality, that figure should probably be nearer to 1,000. I'm still pleased, it's a benchmark. In other anniversary news, in a few days time, I'll have been in this country for 6 years. 6 years. What a long time. I've done so much... gotten married, met some very interesting people, bought my first house, had two jobs, had a baby, and of course, most importantly maintained a blog for 6 months. I can hardly believe it.

For Charity

I saw this on Keris's blog and I'm a sucker for anything to do with charity (just ask Shadowfalcon - it's a shame I don't have any pictures of me wearing my turkey hat, and by a 'shame' I mean 'WHEW!') so here it is - for every blog that links to MJ Rose's website and the video for her new book, $5 will go to charity :) And if you link to the Old Hag, you could make $5 for yourself (to also donate to charity?). Someone remind me to tell the Pillsbury Doughboy story for Ammar's sake, will you? Trust me, it's funny.

I need a nap

I'm so tired recently, I haven't the energy to blog. I keep telling myself to go to the doctor and have my iron levels tested, but I haven't been as yet. I do take naps in the afternoon, and by this I mean I pass out with no choice of my own, and when I get up I feel so much worse. I feel sick to my stomach and just a general weirdness for hours afterwards. And then I won't be able to sleep at night and it's a vicious circle. So until I get this sorted out, I'm too much of a zombie to write anything of interest.