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dreamed i had forgotten to feed the cat (there hasn't been a cat of [half] my responsibility in the house since april). i was living in a farmie community and all of my friends were zombies but they weren't trying to eat my brains, they were trying to annoy and bug me while i was cleaning/working, etc. it's kinda funny now that i think about it...
that i either had my tax return or my bonus from work... above all else, it would ease my brainstress, but webs has a sale on discontinued noro silk garden; one of my top favorite yarns with which to work. i also just watched a how-to video in which the woman was using zephyr acrylic needles and now i want a set.
and this yarn is gorgeous.
*sigh*
i want to read the irrational knot, people seem happier today (about the packers' win) than the day after obama was elected, and parking in the carpool spot when you're by yourself makes you seem egotistical and falsely superior.
friday, we enjoyed lunch at michael's frozen custard; they serve a decent veggie burger. then we tooled around town getting errands done. we made it an early evening as matt picked up the saturday open shift, so he had to be awake quite early. my day was unproductive... but i had planned for it, so i don't feel too bad.
on sunday, i met george and mum at mickey's for her birthday breakfast. mom and i had the special: a chile relleno stuffed with cheddar, gouda, and squash. it was enormous and delicious.
i was going to try to learn entrelac, but the hat i want to make requires needles that i don't own. this fact surprises me, as i have about six billion needles, i just don't have two sets of us8 dpns.
the dogs are doing great. one of our trips on friday was to mounds... matt thought jones would enjoy a new stuffed squeaky toy, so we got pengui the penguin. within minutes, jones learned the name and was able to fetch it without hesitation; he's smart.
also, each morning i have to weed through comment spam on my blog... sometimes there are some real gems. i will share a couple with you:
Depending on the situation, fanny packs are probably pretty useful DAMN YOU CARGO PANTS YOU ARE A GATEWAY DRUG.and...
It's hard to fart in every room in your house at the same time. Well with my new Spiced Ham scented candle, you don't have to!
in the same vein as my plan to save, i need to pay off a credit card. i just calculated the monthly finance charges+insurance and it's going to take me a million years at this rate. literally.
my job title is no longer considered a necessary role at the company for which i work; my responsibilities will shift back to my previous role of front-end technologist.
i guess this is a good thing. i was really upset about it last night, but can't quite articulate why. it kinda makes me feel like the last four years' worth of work were irrelevant. i know that's not true, but it's a little disheartening.
i have some ideas for future career growth, but they'd be best kept off the internet.
that was, quite possibly, the most productive weekend in a long time. it was practically non-stop from the moment i got home on friday until about seven last night. we tore down the bedroom, moved it into the front room, washed the walls and ceiling and threw two coats of primer on the red walls.
then proceeded to the glass nickel for dinner and wilson's for celebratory drinks; at which point we were just drunk enough to participate in karaoke. matt and i sang "long legged, guitar pickin' man". i can't believe it.
we went to mickey's for breakfast on saturday, then headed home to start the rest of the painting. i think we worked on it for about 6 hours before the lack of daylight made it obvious that we needed to stop.
on sunday, i slept in and finished the edging and touched up a bit. monday, we put the room back together and now we're all cozy in our new bedroom.
we decided to turn the front bedroom into a "soft craft" room. it's well-lit enough for sewing and yarn storage. i also want to keep drawing and painting supplies up there. it'll make the officeden seem less crowded, i think.
next projects: curtains for bedroom, shelves for the bedroom that don't look as cheap as the ones in the den, basement clean up (to make room for a work area), light installation in kitchen, herb planting (matt got me an indoor greenhouse and seeds so we can have fresh herbs all the time!).
also, we got the great idea to make pho for dinner last night, and it really didn't turn out very well at all. i got a little more upset than i should have, but it took over an hour to make and i was disappointed. one good thing came out of it, though. i successfully fried tofu for the first time ever, so it'll be nice to add that to my meals.
also, too! we want to get a chest freezer so we can store herbs; we'd also like to can this year and use the cistern room for food storage.
oh, and the dogs love the snow.
i'm pretty sure my boss doesn't read my blog. he hasn't even said more than four words to me in as many days, so i highly doubt he's internet-stalking me.
anyway, i took a personal day yesterday. it felt good to sleep in and not really *have* to do anything. but, we did. after the morning dog walk, i took matt to rocky's. it was his first ever visit to the wisconsin-based pizza chain and a highly reminiscent one for me.
my mom and i used to go to the one off the beltline after her orthodontist appointments; she would cringe her way through a salad after having her braces tightened.
well, the salad bar is just as awesome as it was 25 years ago, and they still have that tasty chickpea-and-onion mix. the garden of eatin' tastes exactly the same as it did 10 years ago, as do the breadsticks and marinara.
afterward, we headed to sears because i was wrongly informed by their website that they sell paint. apparently, they no longer do so at the physical locations... so i walked out empty-handed. we headed to menards to get paint and paint supplies. matt also kindly picked up a bird feeder and some cardinal mix. he affixed it to the deck outside the kitchen window, so hopefully we'll get some feathered friends to feed and watch. i'd have to say this is probably the first time the deck on that side has been of any use other than grill storage.
the neatest part of the day happened at klein's greenhouse where we accumulated a number of new plants. we got a string of pearls, a string of hearts, a cypress tree, an african violet, some lavender, and a weird little succulent that looks like a butt.
all of these things are making the house feel more like both of ours. i hope.
i made the conscious decision to stop smoking. i can't even believe i did it. it was one of the best decisions of my life because it resulted a sense of pride and a realization that i didn't have to settle for other situations i was in; it made me stronger.
it feels good.
the weekend felt a little shorter than it should have. it's likely due to the fact that i slept in later than necessary both days.
friday was nice and relaxing. we cleaned the dining/living room up a bit to make way for my super awesome gift from matt. he got me a greenhousey shelving system and herb seeds so we can start growing plants indoors either for planting outside, or having fresh herbs at our disposal. then we got lunch and went to woodman's for some supplies. i made some pasta salad (for saturday) and then we celebrated january with girls' night out at the inferno.
having stayed out kinda late, we didn't get up before noon on saturday. before doing our weekly grocery shopping, we again attempted to find something comestible from dairyland but were unsurprisingly unimpressed. matt says he's willing to give it a third chance... i'm not so certain it will matter either way.
we then headed out to middleton for the moen family christmas where lots of good times were had. we got home around 9 and i was plum tuckered out, so we stayed home and warm on the couch.
sunday was quite lazy (for me, at least). i biked to breakfast, came home and made soup and pasta salad and walked the dogs on the ice.
there was a bit of frustration this morning when the alarm went off. however, i couldn't justify calling in...
we've allotted next weekend for tackling the bedroom with paint. i think i have the series of events that need to happen, so i'll jot them down here:
bills stress me out. i use my gmail inbox as a to-do list and sometimes it just fills up with bills. i recently changed the label color from red to yellow in an attempt to reduce the visual presence therefore reducing anxiety. i think it worked.
i'm also committed to rebuilding my emergency fund this year. it took quite the dive (from at least one mortgage payment to zero) during my recent life-changing event, and it scares me to not have a back up plan in case something comes up.
eventually, i'd like to have three 3-month cds, each with enough cash for one month of bills and just roll them over every three months. a guy i work with does this and it's genius. it's a daunting task that i'm sure will take me a while (especially while attempting to reduce my debt). hopefully i'll accomplish it before anything happens.
that said, my inbox currently has no bills, so i'm feeling good today.
last night's sleeptime was riddled with being awake... so much so that i don't think i slept more than a total hour. i had many strange dream sequences, a lot of which involved harry potter characters (which is weird since i've never seen the movies/read the books--but there have been a lot of references to them on the internets), workmates, and mickey's bartenders. a strange sequence that i need to pen involved a house party in a dining hall with a huge kitchen, a baby we were sitting, and jones continuously trying to jump in the huge, stainless steel sink while i ran the register and cleared the hall of used pint glasses.
weird.
i don't normally resolve to do anything differently just because it's the beginning of a new year; i have enough trouble motivating myself to make small improvements any other time. but, i did find this quote while trying to catch up on my daily reads and thought i'd share, at least so i remember to recognize:
"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." - Roald Dahl
i had intended on not letting the blog go while i was on vacation, but it appears that i failed at that. i barely touched the computer except for to watch the office on netflix.
i just had a really bad panic attack standing in line at subway... it took everything for me not to leave the building but i knew if i did, i'd have to explain tomorrow because they know me by sandwich.
i didn't do a whole lot on my list of things, except for finishing the sweater. now i have to find an occasion to wear it.
we had a great holiday... probably my favorite in a long time. oyster stew and lots of fun time with friends, a house guest for a couple nights from new york, lots of dog walks and celebratory shots, and sushi. i tried crab legs for the first time, slept in a lot, ate out a lot, spent a lot of money.
i told a friend at work that we didn't get around to painting the room and he said, "you know what? that room ain't going anywhere." it made me feel less guilty.
i started getting this weird zappy feeling in the pad of my thumb... it actually started before break... i haven't felt it in a couple of days, but should keep track of it.
i've been lax in writing down my dreams; a couple i need to jot have to do with a blue sundress, a really old used toothbrush, and not being able to work a shotgun in my grandma's house in fennimore.
also, my scalp is really dry from the weather/furnace being on and it's annoying me.
and, this is the 16th entry i've titled "sorry".