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September 2, 2010

one more week

almost four months ago, i told you about my filing for divorce; in just a week, i'll be walking out of the dane county court house an unmarried woman.

this fact is still foreign to me, which is probably why i have no desire to overtly celebrate.

this summer has been a crazy, awesome, scary, exciting, sad, thrilling, adventure from which i've learned a lot about human nature and myself. i couldn't have gotten through this without the help of someone very special and important to me.

it's amazing how much more me i am now. i love it.

August 24, 2010

another panic attack

on sunday morning. i knew something was off... i should have stayed home but went to mickey's for breakfast anyway... i couldn't eat my waffle for at least an hour. it's mildly embarrassing and annoying. the second suckiest part about suffering from panic attacks is the pain of waiting for the next one. it's in the back of your mind all the time.

so, monday morning when i woke up at 3 in a panic and tried my damndest to go back to sleep and by 7 i was certain i could not come to work, i called in and could finally fall back to sleep.

today's been ok... i've kinda felt like i'm about to freak out, but i haven't. hopefully i can stave off the next one... according to my records, it's been almost 2 years since my last attack. i thought i was done with 'em. oh, well.

August 17, 2010

my day so far

look around the internets for jobs for a friend
help a coworker with a link
get distracted by a phillip glass thread on a message board
see someone's 8-bit gremlin's print
search for giclee, cuz i had no idea what that was
wiki gremlins
learn that howie mandel did gizmo's voice
add a feedjit thing to my blog
test some web pages
watched brett domino do a lady gaga song
watch said lady gaga video (she's nuts.)
find a list of top 25 disturbing videos
disagree with some
a comment reminded me of kids
learned the buggy-glasses'd boy in the club is the writer of the film
off to lunch

August 11, 2010

apologies

i was trying to have today's comic ready by now, but got caught up in sandwich shadows and perfect yogurt containers. tomorrow, i promise.

August 10, 2010

wow

a pretty epic weekend was had... friday, i closed on my refi and am now the sole owner of a house. we then had an excellent time at girls' night out plus aaron plus matt... i was still a bit banged up from mud wrestling so my efforts at rocking out were kept to a minimum.

saturday was fairly uneventful; just a bit of this and that. then came sunday, a friend's final day at mickey's ... i was awake much longer than i ever should be and proceeded to get ornery cuz i forget to eat and it makes those around me suffer.

i ended up calling in sick yesterday and, after biking to michael's for lunch/breakfast/sustenance and woodman's, we spent most of the day being lazy and relaxed and calm and happy.

tune in later for my next comic, as soon as i think of a subject.

August 2, 2010

boots

i doubt i'd ever wear them, but i want to find a pair of the brown boots:

July 29, 2010

easy night

i left work early because the dogs hated me on tuesday for leaving them so long. we hung out in the park with neighbor david and his yellow lab, emma for about 45 minutes with the chuck-it.

then, i grabbed my bike and proceeded to tool around, but noticed my back tire was almost flat... so i biked it over to revolution and it was determined that i needed a new one. :/ so i waited a short 15-20 minutes while he installed it, and $42 later, i am the proud owner of a shiny new rear tire.

i hung out with some friends at mickey's and came home around 7 with the goal to not eat out because i had moved a bag of shrimp from the freezer to the fridge. i was successful in my endeavors:

fishtacos.jpg

i also finished alice in wonderland; helena was starting to annoy me by the end but it was entertaining.

July 28, 2010

good night

i got home from work at 5:30 and the dogs were visibly unamused that they'd been cooped up for 10 hours... we took a nice walk and they were fine. i then hopped on my bike and sweatily made it to the wisco to meet a friend for some chats.

i had planned on making dinner at home, but decided that the wisco's veggie burger was just cheap enough to fit into this week's eating out budget, and i'm glad i did. it was yummy.

i stopped at mickey's on my way home and saw a couple other peeps and tooled on home to finish the girl with the dragon tattoo. i will say that it's an excellent movie, but the beginning is not for the easily shocked or disturbed.

also, i really enjoy the sound of rain hitting the air conditioner.

July 27, 2010

the bachelorette

no, not the stupid show.

i'm by myself for the next three days; julie is house sitting and matt is camping. the dogs will be by themselves for the longest they've been since being in my possession. i'm going to see if i can't use this metime to my advantage.

also, julie moves out this weekend, so we're going to turn the downstairs bedroom into a craftartcomputer room. hopefully this will inspire some creativity.

also, i think i need to find a long, skinny, bar stool-height table for the dining room.

July 26, 2010

stellar

the weekend was positively splendid. we biked around downtown on friday; i had some things to file with the register of deeds. then spent some time at home getting ready for a show at the inferno; we were out kinda late playing pool and biking around in the sprinkles.

saturday, i met a (new) friend at the park behind the goodman center to throw some balls around for the dogs. it was kinda funny, he had one dog and five or six balls, and i had two dogs and one ball. i grabbed some grub at mickey's and proceeded to tool around downtown again. met matt back at mickey's when his shift was done; we retired relatively early and i slept in until 11(!) on sunday; the dogs weren't too excited about that.

i made my way to breakfast and then woodman's and the greekfest and back downtown again (i'm getting really good at biking the hill up king street), stopping to look at lake mendota a couple times. i thought to myself several times that i should have been doing this every nice, summer weekend of my entire life.

also, i have really cute photographic evidence of our escapades last weekend:

me_matt_lake.jpg

July 23, 2010

and, too

since i'm just waiting for 1 o'clock to roll around to leave work, i'll pull out a fridayfive from december 2003.

1. List your five favorite beverages.
coffee, water, absolut mandarin&soda, a good bloody, orange juice?
2. List your five favorite websites.
(these are all kinda cheating) google reader, facebook, yayhooray, iphone.alltop.com, and mine?
3. List your five favorite snack foods.
yogurt, banana, baby carrots, apple, granola bar
4. List your five favorite board and/or card games.
euchre, hold 'em, cribbage, solitaire, chess
5. List your five favorite computer and/or game system games.
(this is more fun since the invention of the iphone) fieldrunners, the creeps!, sudoku, mybrute, terracore

also, i want to thank the ipad for letting me watch/listen to the x-files in the kitchen as i prepared dinner last night.

and, here's the iphone background i made:

iphone.jpg

also

i want to get back into making hemp chokers and bracelets. and more peyote stitch rings:

and i just found this lolcat meme that i submitted to some website three years ago:

another weekend

hopefully it'll stay dry enough to permit the use of two wheels to get around.

this afternoon, matt and i are going downtown to run some errands and get some more threads from ragstock. tomorrow, i have a dogpark date in the morning, and a possible bday party in the evening. not sure what sunday will have in store, but hopefully the next 72 hours don't go by quickly.

July 15, 2010

*blank stare*

i start my day with morning coffee, which opens up several tabs in firefox.

on the list are gmail, facebook, twitter, dictionary.com's wotd, woot, google reader, alltop's iphone and user interface articles, uxurls, and a blank blog entry for me to pen if i so feel like it.

today, i've had the tab with a blank blog entry open for almost eight hours and haven't come up with a single thing to say. i just wanted you to know that i tried.

July 14, 2010

foliage

if you don't like where you are, then change it. you are not a tree.

also, i did not have nachos last night; someone kept me out playing darts and i got to have a veggie burger at the wisco. it's ok, they're not expensive.

also:

red fleur

July 13, 2010

finally

a project i've been on for over a year went live today.

also, i successfully procrastinated the act of sweeping/vacuuming for another week.

also, i want these all over the place:

fleur

July 12, 2010

quick weekend

the trip to milwaukee was nice. we made it to the airport pretty quickly and then headed downtown to grab some food and drinks. then stopped off at the public market to see my cousin at the wine bar.

saturday was mellow... i biked to the echo and stopped at the caribou on my way home through downtown. i wanted to check ragstock for a replacement shirt (from my bike wrestling experience) but they were out of orange. i had also forgotten that it was art fair on the square... which means pedestrians think they can cross on red all afternoon.

also, my two favorite boys:

favorites

July 9, 2010

brew town

we're taking roommate #2 to the airport in milwaukee this afternoon/eve so i'm trying to come up with something short and sweet to do so it's not just a two/three hour excursion in a car. i haven't been to milwaukee for fun in a long time... when i was littler, we used to go visit the godparents in brown deer every year for summerfest and/or brewers games.

being a kid was fun.

July 8, 2010

things

life is going ok.. i'm still getting paperwork together for the mortgage refinancing. i think i did this process a little out of order since the divorce won't be final til september. i can't say i knew/know wtf i'm doing.

the house is calmer but still a little akimbo. i've been antsy but working through it... i'm trying to communicate better .. i've always relied on written communication to talk, update, vent... it's more difficult for me to get my thoughts in order to orally verbalize them; i always feel like i'm going to say something stupid or wrong or not precisely what i mean to say.

in other news, i took a digger on my bike on monday and have a myriad of bruises to show for it. my derailleur is crooked and it makes the chain come off the front gear sometimes... so while i was staring down and pedaling, trying to will it back on, i lost balance and tumbled over; it's currently mildly amusing.

July 6, 2010

also

i'm currently addicted to reading this guy: michael zuschlag.

another long weekend

lots of biking around, hanging out, and napping. i didn't do any of the cleaning that i had intended, but we won't discuss that.

i did acquire some new duds from ragstock. i hadn't been inside that store in what seemed like forever, but it was exactly the same as 20(ish) years ago when i put together my halloween costume and then proceeded to leave it on the steps at the memorial union; not realizing until we got to the car and walking all the way back to find it missing. it would have been an awesome costume, too.

also, our own personal darts were obtained, and i got an exact bullseye while practicing cricket:

bullseye!

June 29, 2010

...

i was thinking i should hop on one of those "write something, anything, once a day" bandwagons; but that seems kind of forced, and trite. a haiku a day would be less forced, but it's been done.

maybe i should paint something-a-day, or draw, or photograph.

or maybe i should stick to trying to roll my ass outta bed and get to work on time.

June 28, 2010

scratch off

i totally forgot to blog about the lottery yesterday. and if you've never read it, you should. right now.

also, i'm in a good place today... even tho getting up and out of bed was the opposite of what i wanted to do. we're given quite a few vacation days here at work, so i'm going to add to the long weekend by taking thursday off as well. i'm determined to enjoy this summer as much as i can, since the last one was spent largely in a car on weekends to kenosha and back. i'm not saying i regret the time spent, just glad i don't have to do it again.

todo

things i need to accomplish at some point:

obtain ramones and calexico music for my ears
pick up finnegans wake again
talk to ben about my roof
get a replacement tube thingy for the grill
get frontline and heartguard
re-grout the tub!

also i have to start thinking about colors for the bathroom.

June 22, 2010

encouragement

probably in a response to my previous entry, my mom sent me this excerpt:

... i would like to beg you, dear sir, as well as i can, to have patience with everything that is unsolved in your heart and to try to cherish the questions themselves, like closed rooms and like books written in a very strange tongue. do not search now for answers which cannot be given you because you could not live them. it is a matter of living everything. live the questions now. perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, one distant day live right into the answer.

—rainer maria rilke, in letters to a young poet

i need to continue to live today and not wish time away.

also, having recently read an article about curbing spending, i think i need to recognize when i become hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, and make adjustments to rectify that in order to continue to have clarity in thinking and judgment.

June 20, 2010

surprisingly

it's 3pm on sunday and i haven't napped yet this weekend. i guess i haven't felt like it.

friday was spent biking around, visiting a couple favorite establishments. i had a moderately early night; but not before watching as much of shawshank redemption over netflix on my ipad as i could. but i went and did something mildly embarrassing... i fell asleep with my ipad on my bed, next to my head. :x

saturday i spent almost 5 hours at a family reunion. it was a great time. i hadn't seen most of my extended family in at least 10 months, if not more. there was a feeling of calm as everyone offered their support and encouragement for my recent choice.

when that was done, i headed to the tavern to see matt and was promptly swept up by kate to go to the victoria's secret semi annual sale. i had mixed feelings since a) it's in the mall and b) the last time i went to "the secret" was to get intimates for my wedding.

(sorry, i got distracted by the internet and also took a shower)

so i ended up finding out that i know my bra size (most women wear an incorrect size) and walked out with two fancy new bras.

today's been spent at the dog park, woodman's, and laughing hysterically at hyperbole and a half. oh, i also got to barter with a neighbor who is a massage therapist.

June 18, 2010

tgif

i'm reaching here, but a billion years ago, i used to participate in a fridayfive blog content generating thing... it's been a while since i've reused one, but i'm taking one from june of 2006. so, here goes:

1. what's one thing you've done this week to help someone?
i tried making someone less crabby last night. it didn't really work, but i tried.
2. what are two things you've eaten recently that you don't normally eat?
veggie burger (from the wisco--they're quite good), sauteed veggies and soba noodles (from the efforts to eat at home)
3. what are three things you've tried doing better?
living, eating, loving
4. what are four things you do habitually every day?
wake up, cuddle, smile, laugh
5. what are five things you will do this weekend?
more cuddles! family reunion, dog park, nap, laugh

June 16, 2010

profound self-realization penned

i have slowly come to realize that for the last (nearly) ten years, i've ignored myself because of who i chose to be with; i got complacent.

whoah. that stings, bob. reading that sentence makes me exhale deliberately.

recently, i've been antsy and anxious and feeling like i need to do something; make something beautiful, create anything, keep up with this blog so in ten years, i can look back on someone who made a decision (with help and support) to be happy and did something with that energy.

i went to college to design things and i haven't done anything remotely visually interesting in at least 8 years. knitting doesn't count.

bah.

side note: i discovered today that i can go down a watchband hole. it reminded me how skinny i was/got when i left my last serious partner.

June 15, 2010

three day weekend

it went by pretty quickly; there was lots of tooling about town.

we went to a play at mercury players (at fair oaks and east wash) on saturday. it was actually really hilarious, then had friends over to watch slc punk, which was also quite amusing.

the dogs were tolerant of our guests, for the most part.

also, matt and i are attempting a personal goal to not eat out for dinner... it's going to be difficult, for sure. i'm betting i'll last a month and then convince myself that i deserve some crappy takeout.

also, darts.

and cat:

June 9, 2010

limbo

not the fun, sexy kind... but things are getting better. there's a little more calm in the house, and i'm not freaking out as often or with as much volume.

also, it's a small sample size, but i have noticed that i have a lot fewer possessions than my current roommates. i wonder why that is.

June 8, 2010

extra curriculars

matt and i went to see a couple friends play softball last night. it had been two years since i'd attended a local sporting event; i forgot how entertaining it can be. i didn't know many people on the mickey's team last year so i didn't go to any games.

p.s., if a restaurant closes at 9, don't be that a-hole and walk in at 8:55; no one likes that.

June 7, 2010

:/

this entry started out as one complaining about work, but that's neither helpful nor necessary.

the weekend was ok... i think i need to spend my saturdays in parks and coffeeshops again, because i get quite antsy by myself.

also:

June 4, 2010

apologies

i forgot to tell you about the great things in my life. i have someone wonderful very close to me who has helped me immensely and without him i would be a crumbled mess. i owe him my sanity and so much more.

i also have my home to be thankful for and, although it's moderately messy right now, it's still standing and it's still mine. and the dogs really aren't that stressed now that they have a couch to lay on.

i'll be more comfortable when there's order and regularity.

June 3, 2010

freaking out

i've been on the verge of throwing up all day.

you don't need the details*. i just need to remember how this feels so when it's all over i can look back and see that it was worth it.

* i have $151 to my name, i am losing a roommate, i have to come up with $550 to close on my refi, i have 4 months to pay kurt another $2,000 for the house, my dogs are stressed out, my brain is being very tricksy with logic and reality, i feel like i'm drowning.

May 31, 2010

slight mental lapse

i was so distracted yesterday that i parked my bike outside of the wisco and proceeded inside without even locking it up. :/

the roommates are all about to head across the street for some greasy breakfastfoodnoms and then we're going to go bike shopping for matt.

also, my poppy tattoo is almost completely healed... there are a few big scabs that i'm trying really hard not to pick at. this friday, i'll be getting the water lily on my right side.

also too! the ipad is awesome.

May 27, 2010

crazy going slowly am i

i just explained, in fairly specific detail, the events of my life recently to a coworker, and it occurs to me that i may be in my current situation because i have years of complacency to make up for.

i'm considering the possibility of further change that, just maybe, will be added to the list of the best decisions i've made in my life; and they'll all have happened in 2010.

i will not get my hopes up or hold my breath. but i will feel a little giddy for a moment.

zomg.

May 26, 2010

weird

this morning, i remembered a work dream that involved me yelling at a coworker.

when i sat down in my cube, the mairzy doats song came into my head and i recalled how annoying it was to a certain someone when i would sing it.

i also wish they'd release twisted metal and super metroid for the iphone.

that is all.

May 25, 2010

ink'd

this weekend marked the end of a near 10-year drought involving tattoos:

i go back on the 4th to get a water lily on my right rib. i'm kinda glad he had to reschedule cuz i wouldn't be able to sleep on either side if we'd done them both at the same time.

also, we successfully moved all belongings of one roommate into the house. i have to move my clothes and things from upstairs (i even gave away a whole big apple bag of clothes to vinny's!). the bed frame will be dis- and reassembled on friday.

May 10, 2010

not too shabby

i had a pretty good weekend... it started with a last-minute visit to the crack doctor. i have a knot in my back/neck the size of texas and it's not getting a whole lot better...

then, i had a tattoo consult. you'll get to see pictures, i'm sure. that was followed by girls night out + aaron + matt. most everyone but matt and i left before the music got *really* good (when will they learn?) but even we only made it til shortly after midnight. i was a sore cookie the next day.

saturday was spent rearranging the living space to accommodate my new life change... and saturday night brought with it my favorite madison band, el valiente. the opening bands (vampire hands and daughter of the sun) were pretty good, too.

sunday, i had breakfast with mom and george. then proceeded to throw together a suitable garden. i planted pepperoncinis, cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, and basil. i also finally got the snow in the summer situated atop a stump in the front yard. hopefully it'll get enough sun.

i didn't mow the lawn, tho... and since i'll be out of town this coming weekend, it's going to be quite a bear to deal with when i finally can. i might have to mow after work some day this week :/

my ipad is still "prepared for shipping". i had hoped it wouldn't arrive on wednesday (i had it shipped to work and i won't be here that day), but i'm betting i could sweet talk a coworker to bring it closer to the east side if it does.

k... that's enough out of me for now.

May 7, 2010

one more thing, sorry

i was struck and amazed by the fact that in october, i will have been blogging for eight years.

ok

since i often rely on my blog for documentation, this entry is to record facts and feelings that i have otherwise left out of cyberspace because it's really no one's business but mine.

i'm pretty sure all three people who read this blog already know what's been going on, and the other two whom i don't know personally will find out that i filed for divorce on april 30 and kurt moved out on may 1. i have two roommates moving in this month, matt and julie.

i am keeping the house, just as soon as i visit a complimentary attorney for 30 minutes (through work's employee assistance program) to make sure i don't eff anything up in the process. then i have to get the deed in my name, refinance and become solely indebted for a very large sum of money for the next 30 years. tell me that's not fecking daunting?

work has also been moderately stressful. we have a *giant* project launching in july; a small part of which i've been working on since september of last year. it's part of the reason i have a pinched nerve.

so, because of all of this, i've treated myself to an ipad and a tattoo, neither of which are yet in my possession but will be soon.

April 29, 2010

i promise

in just a moment, this blog will become moderately less lame. there are just a few technicalities to work out and i promise, i'll have lots of fun stuff to share.

also, in even fewer moments, i'll own an ipad.

April 25, 2010

birthday week

as crappy as some parts of my life are right now, this week has been the most awesome time i've had in a long time. specifics aren't necessary, because those who helped make it a success know who they are.

i did spend a lion's share of money on adult bevvies and foodstuffs this week so my bank account will be very happy to have me back at work being productive in other areas of my life.

April 19, 2010

yay!

weirdly, my 33rd birthday falls on the 2000th entry to my blog... this year has already been amazingly strange, so i guess i shouldn't be surprised at the coincidence.

i'm about to go walk around the town celebrating at local establishments and eateries until i just can't take it anymore.

thanks to everyone for your celebratory condolences and happy thoughts.

April 13, 2010

soon, it gets old

so i'll stop apologizing for my lack of updates. i promise you, by june/july, this place will be hopping again.

speaking of hopping... jones found something in the park by our house that puzzled him. i was about 20 feet away when i couldn't get his attention to come with me so i figured it was something amazing. i walked over and looked at the grass with the same curiosity that he appeared to have and saw:

bunnies!

also, this graffiti is on a light pole in my new favorite place to sit and think:

random graffiti

April 6, 2010

long weekend

without going into too much detail, this weekend was filled with a massive swing of emotions. i got a lot of reading done, drank plenty of lattes, enjoyed the company of friends, had many adult beverages, went to the dog park a million times, laughed and cried.

thankfully, this is a short work-week and i can maybe do it all over again.

also, if you were a psychic, do you think it would improve your ability to spell?

photo.jpg

March 24, 2010

dollah bills, yo

putting a monthly budget on paper can be mighty humbling; and a little frustrating. it does make me realize, however, that i'm awfully glad i'm not any *further* in debt.

i'll leave you with this picture. it's not great, but i was having a great day by myself when i took it:

lake mendota

March 23, 2010

sorry folks

i haven't been feeling very "sharey" lately. some personal biz is consuming my thinker and it's really not appropriate content for a social blog.

i have made a small amount of progress on my deck of cards, but nothing to the point of being able to brag about.

March 9, 2010

booo

i seem to have contracted some sort of springtime cold. but i can't stay home from work because i'm taking friday off to spend the day with kurt for his bday (which is actually tomorrow).

and i don't want to get sicker because tomorrow evening i'm going to see v.s. ramachandran speak at the union and it would be miserable if i were snorting and coughing the whole time.

i've been kinda lax in my braille lately. i haven't even opened up my laptop except for maybe saturday mornings to check the weather forecast. i should be more diligent so i retain more.

also, this design*sponge post reminds me that i wanted to design a deck of cards a long time ago until i realized how much it would cost to print. but maybe i can do a block-printed set... which might not be any less expensive but could be more fun. that might be a good summer goal. i remember learning about why some kings have daggers and other have swords, and one-eyed jack (which made the "gentleman's club" in twin peaks make a little more sense); this was all about 10 years ago.

time is silly.

March 5, 2010

time

another thing i noticed as a non-smoker is that it seems that i have more time. it's weird, you wouldn't think something so passive would take up time, but it did. another reason to feel foolish about having been a smoker.

speaking of time, i find myself filling a lot of it with tasks that, in the past, i wouldn't care about. for example, this weekend i intend to get an oil change and a car wash, clean the fridge (it hasn't been scrubbed out in an embarrassingly long time), adjust the organization of the computer room (a new desk requires moving stuff around), and finish my super awesome sweater.

also, tonight is girls' night out, which means dancedance revolution at the inferno.

aaaand, i have til tuesday to finish the diary of anne frank; i'm currently on page 11.

March 4, 2010

also

i just ordered two more copies of allen carr's easy way to stop smoking to lend out. it is my goal to get as many of my friends to quit as i can without being an asshole about it.

February 26, 2010

stuff

i have a lot of packages arriving today; we'll just call it "stimulating the economy".

the yarn for my super awesome sweater is to arrive today, along with my new crock pot and green laser pointer for the dogs. amazon split my order into two packages, so ups and fedex will both be arriving today. i picture them dueling to get up to the door.

unfortunately, joann is where i had to order the needles for the super awesome sweater and it doesn't appear they've even left the warehouse.

in other news, i'm taking a friend to the apple store this afternoon to get an ipod touch and we're going to eat at the food court! that, combined with my recent rocky's trip, and a visit to mcdonald's next week for a shamrock shake, apparently, it's "reminisce about old foods" month.

i'll leave you with this awesome picture of nora:

noodle

February 22, 2010

lesson 7

i started working on lesson 7... each lesson reminds me of why i probably never finished my manuscript. it's a very persnickety language. lower sign contractions can't be used in conjunction with punctuation, except for the capital sign, etc, which means you can't use (en) for enough when it's written, "Enough!" because of the surrounding punctuation.

also, i bought yarn for the awesome reversible sweater; hopefully it arrives around the same time as the needles (i had to get those from a different online retailer).

yesterday marked six weeks of fresh air and better health.

February 16, 2010

relativity

i had to run to the library over lunch to pick up a book that, if i had waited one more day, would be shipped back to the madison public library. on arrival, i was behind a red saab who was waiting for a short, dark-haired lady and her two little girls to cross the path of incoming vehicles. they cleared the way and stayed right, while i pulled in and parked one median past her honda pilot, or whatever it was.

on my way in, i was reminded of the simplicity of life by watching a boy show his father some snow that he had picked up. once inside the building, i found myself behind a (presumable) grandma and her granddaughter whom i had seen walking in as i was parking.

i quickly made my way to the reserved shelves, isolated the one self-checkout that was out of order, and caught the eye of a librarian to check me out.

on my way back to my car, i noticed that honda lady had not yet pulled out; i said to myself, "yea, i should never have children." i was out of the parking lot before she even got into reverse.

February 8, 2010

weekend summary

friday night was girls' night out. it wasn't as awesome as in previous months, but i had a good enough time.

i finished stiff in two days. it was well written and entertaining. it may have changed my mind about what will happen to my body when the time comes. as of right now, i'm highly considering donating it to medical education. it beats making family pay $3k to incinerate me.

i didn't do any knitting... i finished my headband and couldn't think of another project to start.

we got our tax returns a week earlier than anticipated, so that's helpful since i seem to be spending more than i am bringing in.

edit: i totally forgot to brag because that's how often i think about it. four weeks smokeless. eff you phillip morris!

February 4, 2010

additionally

in an attempt to save some franklins, i went and became a library card-carrying member of society this past tuesday. so, i used their online service to reserve two books by mary roach, stiff and bonk. thus affording me the opportunity to remove them from my amazon wishlist, and (theoretically) saving me $20.

now i have to commit to reading them.

February 3, 2010

so...

i accidentally bought myself a pair of boots. the winter boots i have now are almost on their last leg (hah!), and these were on sale...

my windbreaker should be arriving today. i probably won't get to use it until march, but that's ok. it'll be nice to have for biking around when the sun goes down.

it seems, with all this spending, that i might need to work on another commitment, which would be to knock off the eating out for dinner. :x

February 1, 2010

wow

the weekend went really quickly. i did a whole lot of knitting, not as much cooking as i wanted to, and not as much cleaning as i wanted to.

we're dog-sitting until saturday. sam's an almost-12-year-old australian shepherd and he gets a little cranky at some of the younger dogs' shenanigans.

here he is about two years ago:

p.s., 3 whole weeks not smoking.

January 29, 2010

hmm

i was going to put $50/two weeks into savings because of the money i'm not spending on cigarettes... but i think i might have to spoil myself with this windbreaker instead.

so, i bought the windbreaker. i also ordered a small token to give to kurt for vday.

i would like to make this vanity tray for some reason, but i know i'd never use it; though, it would make a nice gift.

January 27, 2010

*hack* *cough*

i took a sick day yesterday... i started getting a sore throat around 2pm on sunday... came into work with sinus drainage on monday, and by monday night, i was hacking. i haven't been go-to-the-dr. sick in five years, and nothing fell into the list, so i decided to sleep it off. i finished another plarn bag (pics to come), and took a long walk with the dags.

back to work today...

January 25, 2010

i won't lie

allen carr says to avoid gaining weight after quitting, you shouldn't change your eating habits at all. i would be lying if i told you that was the case during my last two weeks... i've been slightly more snacky; whether it's as a result of wanting to have more meals at home, or a reaction to a craving. if it's the latter, i'm not doing it consciously. as i've said, i haven't really experienced a craving bigger than, "me, two weeks ago, would have had a cigarette before/after/during that."

i have noticed a slightly larger muffintop, but i presume once the warm weather comes around, it'll be easy to get rid of.

January 24, 2010

cleaning

i haven't done much of it this weekend... i've been experimenting with my rice cooker; took a trip to south park street to check out yue-wah, and determined a) i don't like umeboshi and b) whytf can't anyone accelerate on onramps?

i worked on my braille lesson six, and should hopefully have a 100% correct version to send to my instructor by the end of the weekend.

today, i'd like to clean the coffee maker and come up with something made from shrinky-dinks that will make me a million dollars.

also, i'll be celebrating two weeks without a cigarette.

January 21, 2010

11 days later

the pandemic has spread! i have friends and a husband whom i never thought would even consider quitting; and some of them have recently. that makes me happy.

part of the reason smokers don't want to try to quit is that they're told it's hard and that 95% of cold-turkey quitters smoke again within the first year and you suck and yadda yadda. so they're already set up for failure and say to themselves, "why bother?".

the myth that it's hard needs to be dispelled. i know it's only been 11 days, but i have had bigger urges for sushi in my life than for a cigarette in this short amount of time.

January 18, 2010

time

allen carr was right. he illustrates the smoker as someone who's just counting down the minutes (hours, days, whatever) until the next cigarette. why would someone wish their life away in order to simultaneously destroy it? i just sat through a two-hour movie and not once did i wish it were over so i could get outside and smoke. i may even enjoy movies in whole pieces now, imagine that.

it's been almost eight whole days and i feel great. the only disappointment i have in myself is that i didn't, wouldn't, couldn't do it sooner.

January 15, 2010

five days

well, a little shy of.

on fridays, work finishes at 1. i was worried that i'd be twiddling my fingers all afternoon, but i seemed to fill it up. we went to the dog park for a little while, and then came home and i had a craving, so i vacuumed. and then cleared a cupboard of expired crackers, etc. we really need to pay more attention to our purchasing habits.

i told a friend, last night, that i was going to clean something every time i had a craving. he seemed convinced that i would run out of things to clean. after vacuuming today (this is usually kurt's job), i realized that as long as we have black-haired animals, i will never run out of things to clean.

yesterday, i cleaned out about 40 bottles of condiments, salsas, ketchup, sauces, dips, and other assorted crap from the fridge.

expired

oh, and also, these last five days have been surprisingly easy. aside from me becoming a more aggressive and impatient driver, i haven't noticed any other bad things. it makes me wonder... i won't get cocky about it ever tho. that helps no one.

January 14, 2010

problem to solve

so it's been a measley not-even-four days and it's not too bad. i did have a craving after lunch today, cuz i was out at a work conference, and had just eaten and was getting ready to leave. i normally would have really enjoyed a cigarette walking to my car, but i saw two people outside smoking and i thought they looked pathetic.

so now i'm sitting at home waiting for the next dog walk and i had another craving, so i decided to go to woodman's. i'm sitting here again because i can get to and from woodman's in 20 minutes, including shopping; and i want a cigarette.

i think i'll clean out the fridge. we have condiments from before we moved.

January 13, 2010

still okay

it's been almost a full 78 hours. i haven't really had any cravings to speak of. i may, however, be slightly more irritating to those closest to me. according to what i've read, the first 3-5 days are when most of the nicotine leaves the body and it takes a little over two weeks for the rest to dissipate.

another note, i've been eating the exact same subway sandwich at least three times a week since october 2008 and today's sub had a taste that was different; i think it's caused by my taste buds being allowed to do their job. i may have to cut out ingredients until i find the offending flavor-maker.

January 12, 2010

perceptible improvements

i think my sense of smell/taste is better already. my daily apple was just a tiny bit sweeter than normal and almost tasted like a pear. i could also smell the faint aroma of tobacco when i unzipped my earbud case and i wrinkled my nose. that's a good sign.

kurt's been nice enough to smoke outside when i'm home and awake. it really doesn't help much in the morning because i can still smell it upstairs, thanks to forced air heat.

hopefully he'll join me soon.

one night down

i had my final cigarette on sunday evening. allen carr said to savor the filth so you can remember how awful it tasted, because later on, the little monster (nicotine) will try to make the big monster (brainwashing) forget, over time, how terrible the drug is.

it sounds like a bunch of cult-talk, but it's working so far.

i found a comment on metafilter where a woman mentioned that she carried colored pencils and a sketchbook; so i tried that last night, but my expensive prismacolors kept breaking, so now i have to put together a whole art kit to carry about.

January 7, 2010

i broke

i got mad and i broke.

there's this weird feeling of letting someone down, but that's not at all true or tangible. i can't word it quite right, but i know that there's no one who is affected by my decision but me and that makes it not as bad, which seems really stupid.

i had a frustrating day, an almost tolerable drive home, and an incident that made me feel like i needed a cigarette, and i bought a pack. that's all there is. problem is, i won't throw the rest of it away. it was almost $8. chump change, really. i won't even spend that on a sit-in movie, on principal.

i am relating this because i want record of an attempt at something that i haven't tried before. but i'll try it again. as sure as you sit there and read this.

i need a new plan... i didn't think it through. i just picked a date and stopped. you'd think that would be enough, right? it's not. there are minute-by-minute factors to consider, which i didn't.

who was it? mark twain who said "i've quite a million times". i'd rather not experience this a million times...

January 6, 2010

ok

so, i broke down and rolled a cig. kurt got some drum to save money and i rolled one. i really didn't like how it made me feel, but i think this set me back a couple days? i don't know. i'm gunna pretend it didn't cuz i didn't like it, but i think if we were on record, i would have to start over.

i told someone tonight that i was considering this a physical experiment. just seeing and feeling how my body would react. so that's how i dealt with it. i won't do that again. i didn't like it at all.

day two

i tried quitting while in college, bumming one cigarette a day from someone at matc for a week. then we roofed my mom's house in oregon and my uncles (who were also quit) convinced me to go to kwik trip and get a pack.

so it's been a little over a day and a half; this is the longest i've gone without smoking.

the drive home was fine. i walked to the tavern to see kurt and was convinced i'd cave after a drink. instead, i got annoyed at those around me. my friend, judy, was very encouraging tho. i kept saying, "we'll see".

if i can make it a week.

January 5, 2010

resolve

last year, my resolution was to perfect my written communication at work. i had noticed that, too often, people sent short and almost unintelligible emails; obviously not proofed prior to sending. i vowed not to turn into that person. it happened once or twice anyway, but i think overall, i did well.

this year, my resolution is more important; i'm going to quit smoking. in the past 6 years, i've cut down to 8-10 cigarettes a day, smoking only when i'm not at work. this fact creeps up to me as an excuse not to quit because the american cancer society considers me a light smoker; but it's not a very good excuse.

i'm going to try cold turkey; i realize that attempting to quit without aid is probably a lost cause, but if i do it this way first and fail, then at least i'll know that i tried. i don't really like gum or sticking things to my arm anyway; and i certainly don't like pills that make you suicidal, have nightmares, and give you hives or whatever chantix is purported to do.

i have figured out that i need to become acutely aware of my triggers, most of which are congratulatory. like, i made it through a day at work (this will be the hardest), i knit 100 rows, i drove 100 miles, i finished a meal, i painted the kitchen for an hour.

almost all of my (non-work) friends smoke. hanging out with them will be difficult... luckily for me, i'm extremely picky and don't have any friends who smoke my kind; so bumming isn't much of an option.

it's been 15 hours since my last cigarette and i don't yet feel like ripping anyone's head off.

January 1, 2010

wow

this was the first year in a long time that i was in bed before midnight. i didn't even call my mom as per usual.

here's to a happy 2010 and hope you all have a wonderful one.

nora's sweater

December 23, 2009

almost

in just a few, short hours, i'll be off work for a week and a half.

this year flew by... what with the summer consisting of 4 hour round-trips to kenosha and lots of hospital visits and family flying in and sadness. and work ramping up for two huge projects and christmastime.

i can't believe it's almost 2010.

December 17, 2009

*making the sign for boring*

sorry folks, not a whole hell of a lot to write about.

i can barely think of anything to say in less than 140 characters, let alone an entire page.

i guess i can talk about how kurt's mom's death has been pretty rough on us. kurt's the executor of her estate, but hasn't gone to probate court yet to get the paperwork transferred. they decided to rent out the house, and it just occurred to me that we would have to claim the rent as income and that could suck for our income taxes. and then it occurred to me that we (or someone has to) have to file income tax for 2009 for elaine.

there needs to be a manual, or at least a list of tasks that have to be done. maybe i should become a probate lawyer to help people through this shitty time.

on a brighter note, i've been knitting more and still find it enjoyable. i'm also still waiting to hear back about lesson 5; the instructor was out of town over the thanksgiving holiday, so we're experiencing a minor set back.

December 11, 2009

retired bike

i'd been biking most evenings after work up until tuesday... my tires just aren't knobby enough to get through all this snow, and new tires are too expensive since i'm not a commuter.

speaking of commuting, it's been taking me 1-2 hours to get to work and back since the snow fell; at least it's stayed in the realm of comical.

December 7, 2009

short weekend

it went by awfully quickly.

i submitted lesson 5 on saturday... i proofed it; wondering how many times i would have to read the sign for which to remember it.

apple bought lala, so they no longer offer cd trading; which means my 150+ want list will either never be fulfilled, or i'll have to start using swaptree; which is a weird model because it's most commonly a one-to-one trade.

also, the next two weeks at work are going to be pretty crappy. i likely won't get home til 7 tonight and tomorrow night; unless we cancel tomorrow's usability testers on account of the weather.

December 2, 2009

wow

i published some comments yesterday which rendered the blog blank; since i only display seven days out.

thanksgiving was nice.. it was good to be out of the office for four days. we went out to my aunt's in sun prairie, and although the whoel family was not in attendance, it was a pleasant time.

saturday afternoon, kurt's sister had a little get together at her house. i was only there for a second, but got to see his niece's mushroom farm. it's quite amazing.

sunday, we spent most of the day cleaning out kurt's mom's cabin; i guess we're going to become landlords. anyone want a cute little cabin for less than $50k?

it's only three and a half weeks until my holiday break. i can't wait.

i also bought a savory baking cookbook... weird.

also, i guess pee wee herman is making a comeback. this is exciting to me because i used to watch pee wee's playhouse every saturday before going on my paper route.

November 18, 2009

paranormal activity and dexter

we went to see paranormal activity this weekend, and i've been watching a lot of dexter; which, in turn, is making my dreams quite strange.

i didn't find paranormal to be all that good of a movie, considering all the attention it garnered as people petitioned to have it shown in theaters nationwide.

anyway, season three of dexter was really good. i wasn't particularly a fan of season two; i don't even remember if i watched all of it, but decided to give three a try, and it impressed. i'm looking forward to more.

November 17, 2009

shh

it's been kinda quiet lately. nothing new or exciting to report, which is fine by me.

i've started knitting again, but only on request. hopefully it'll stick.

the dogs are good, the house is good; so i'm thankful for that.

also, last night, i dreamed i was staring at people through a coffee decanter; yelling at them that it wasn't real coffee because i could *see* them through it.

i'll leave you with a nice pic:

kurt & noodlebutt

November 9, 2009

lesson 4

lesson for was emailed yesterday after another thorough proof-read. i wasn't going to peek at lesson 5, but i did; it's gunna be scary.

in other news, i've returned my favorite winter coat to columbia to take advantage of their lifetime warranty. the zipper pull basically just fell apart on friday, rendering the otherwise perfect coat useless. hopefully they don't give me any grief since it was purchased at an outlet.

November 2, 2009

long weekend

it doesn't feel like i had friday off. i stayed up too late, drove too much, and woke up too early. it made the weekend feel twice as long.

we had a really nice time in milwaukee. kurt had to visit conejito's and the tostadas were not as yummy as i had expected. but 3 for $3.75 cannot be beat.

then we headed to the uptowner near where a friend of kurt's lives and had a drink. i met a nice, old, lousianna man who insisted, if i ever needed to refer to him, to do so as "mr. nobody". whatever.

afterwards, we went to my cousin's wedding reception at the italian community center; costume's optional. we stayed til about 8 and drove back.. i was exhausted, but managed to stay up til 1:30 watching the roseanne halloween marathon.

October 28, 2009

100% guarantee

except for shipping.

they're going to accept my used fenders as crappy. i just need to yank them off the bike and throw them in a box. my friend, joe, has a business in which he does a lot of shipping and has graciously offered to cover the cost back to oconomowoc. so, for the $28 installation, and $11 shipping+tax, i get nothing but a wet backside.

October 27, 2009

i had had enough

after getting my bike stolen on my birthday, and buying a new trek bike, i needed some fenders so i wouldn't get back-spray during wet bike rides. so after quite a deliberation, and some back and forth with trek, i bought these bontrager approved fenders.

after unsuccessfully attempting to install them, i paid revolution cycles another $27 to install.

they are the hugest pieces of crap i've ever bought. they have a "safety feature" which allows the fenders to be popped off the stems in the event they get tugged on by something. well this wonderful feature causes them to pop off after going over any sort of bump. so, after this happened three times on my way home last night, they received an email:

i need to return these fenders for a refund. they are subpar and completely unreliable. they were installed by a professional retailer and the "safety feature" that releases them reacts upon every bump i encounter, rendering them completely useless.

i no longer have the packaging or receipt. can you let me know what i need to do to send these back? i am entirely disappointed in your recommendation and the manufacturing of these terrible fenders. i won't, ever or at all, suggest these to any of my bike-riding friends.

i'll even bring them to waterloo if it is necessary. i will not pay return shipping for such an outrageous piece of crap.

let's see how this goes.

October 20, 2009

wishing

i had a few seconds before a meeting yesterday, so i added up my amazon wishlist and to get me everything i want would cost a mere $489... with free shipping!

my back has recently been giving me more grief than usual. i've gone to the chiropractor every friday for the past four... if i bend my neck back and to the left, a tingly sensation happens down my left arm, and if i do it for too long, my fingers fall asleep. kind of a neat trick, except now it's interrupting my sleepytime; resulting in being moderately more crabby.

i haven't mowed the lawn in a over two months and really need to before the winter sets in. i apologized to the neighbors and she chuckled... what i'm most concerned with now, is not the act of mowing, but picking up two months worth of dog poo in the back yard.

October 9, 2009

weird

i just canceled home phone service for my deceased mother-in-law. i feel sorry for the guy who had to take my call. he was nice enough.

we've also had her mail forwarded here so we can deal with bills, etc. it seems medicare didn't cover $6 of the total expenses of her treatment. i'm not sure what to think about that.

we also have to prove the address change to her bank because of the privacy act.

October 5, 2009

october

i can't believe it's october already. in less than a month, we'll all be setting our clocks an hour back and it will be dark before i leave work. depressing.

also, the pinched nerve in my neck has started interrupting my sleep. it's only tolerable when laying flat on my back, which means i can't fall asleep so i roll around all night. i've been to the chiropractor twice in two weeks and i don't know if i can afford the frequency with which he wants me to return.

also, i finished lesson 3 yesterday, but will wait to hear back about lesson 2... and i'll probably braille it a couple more times just for practice before handing it in.

October 1, 2009

life

sorry i've been so mute. life's been quite distracting lately.

i handed in lesson 2 yesterday for my braille certification. hopefully she'll be able to turn it around quickly as i've read lesson 3 several times already.

work has been ok. two huge projects launched in the last 15 days and we've started work on one for next year.

here's me and the dogs trespassing in garver field:

September 23, 2009

ennui

i don't feel like doing a whole lot of anything lately. there's been a lot of stressful activity in my personal life; not likely to end soon.

i have to wait until my braille instructor has time to grade lesson 1... it's been two and a half weeks since i send it off... hopefully the future lessons will be graded and return with more quickness.. but i don't know what the capacity of my instructor is. like, does she do this full time? or am i dealing with a student or mom who has more important priorities?

also, work stinks.

September 8, 2009

another random update

a friend at work directed me to the perfect frame for my a2-sized poster; since i couldn't seem to find one to fit that size paper on this side of the pond.

i've sped through three lessons of braille, but can't hand any of them in until i get my first one back and get assigned an instructor (or is it a proofreader?). i sent it off on friday, so i'm sure it'll be a little while.

August 25, 2009

apologies

this time, for being so chatty! i no sooner claim lameness then start barraging you with updates and whatnots.

this particular one is in regards to an event taking place downtown this weekend, called ride the drive. essentially, blocking off the middle of the isthmus to motorized vehicles and only allowing bicyclists and pedestrians.

when people and their "movements" happen all at once, or in a prescribed timeframe; it makes people who do not participate want to hurt them. i use my bike for most everything other than driving to work (because i am not committed to waking up earlier than i have to). and i don't think it's a benefit to inexperienced bikers to allow them to "take over" such an area and possibly glean false self-importance that won't exist the next time they want to bike around the outer square.

also, this likely means i won't be able to eat at the old fashioned for sunday brunch because getting there will suck.

doing something

i think i will, anyway... back in 2000 (or was it '99?), i took a braille class to become a certified braillist through the national library service for the blind and physically handicapped, under the library of congress. the class was fun, the rules were difficult, the braille-making machine was heavy.

at the end, we were required to transcribe 50 braille pages with no more than 10 errors total. i chose the jaunt by stephen king, it is one of my favorite short stories of his and if they ever make it into a movie, i will refuse to view it.

anyway, i had eleven errors and could not, for the life of me, nose any of them out in order to qualify for certification. lame, i know. i still have all 50 pages printed out in a folder with coffee stains and smudged ink (the computer software simply prints dots as if they were raised; i can read braille with my eyes, i don't need to use my fingers).

so, yesterday, i sent an email to the volunteer braillists and tapists, where i took the class almost 10 years ago, to see if they could give me more information about how their certification works now; apparently it's all done by correspondence, hopefully the electronic kind.

August 24, 2009

how boring!

stupid facebook and twitter. they've been blamed for killing blogs. thoughts and opines have been reduced to 140 characters (tho not a limitation on facebook, it seems the practice has been adopted). maybe another blog killer is that there isn't a whole lot going on that's worth talking about...

i've been working on two pretty big projects at work, but i can't share them with you, gentle reader, until they go live (both in september); but i don't tend to talk about work, specifically.

i hope to get the bathroom painted before winter. that will complete our necessary painting until i tackle the stairs. they're kinda shoddy and blue and really out of place. i want to paint them brown.

here's a photo of jones putting up with katrina:

photo

August 18, 2009

my back

guess i'm getting old. my back's really been bothering me this summer. what's worse is that it's only apparent while at work; as soon as i get in my car to go home, i feel instantly better.

that's somewhat telling, isn't it.

August 17, 2009

hurumph

been kinda low on energy lately. as is evident in my sad-looking garden... the cukes didn't make it due to my lack of watering/nature's lack of rain. the tomatoes, on the other hand, are flourishing. must be some sort of yin-yang thing.

i finally got around to mowing the lawn yesterday while it sprinkled. i'm not sure if it's dangerous to mow during a sprinkle with an electric mower (common sense would say that it is); but i survived.

we took another trip to see kurt's mom on saturday. she's doing a little better. she has more energy than last week. that will probably change when she starts chemo later this month. kurt's sister is back from her round-the-world trip after the beginning of next month, so she'll probably arrange for some hospice or something.

August 10, 2009

dangit

a dream woke me up at 5 this am, then i let the dogs out, then the cat snuck out while letting them back in; i couldn't fall back asleep until i knew she was back in the house, which was an hour later. so i finally decided just to get up at 6:22. that, in itself, isn't too early, but i really was wide awake at 5.

as i was getting my daily snack routine all bagged up, i decided to make my lunch! it's been quite some time since i've done that. i used my laptop lunch and made a bologno and provolone sandwich, some olive salad from fraboni's (which i should just start making and quit buying), collage cheese and cherry tomatoes, and some grapes!

the drive to work was quite pleasant, aside from the jerk who sped up and got over without using his signal on cty rd m. i long for the day when i can bike to work.

July 28, 2009

sorry!

i've been so quiet lately. there's not a whole lot going on at work or at home. kurt's mom's condition is getting better; she's going to be released next monday to go home. she thought she could have max back for a couple weeks, but it really isn't a good idea. she's sad to have given him up but we've been assured that we can visit him.

the peach tree is doing well!

July 9, 2009

been hard

i'm no good at blogging anymore.. ever since twitter and facebook, i've reduced communication to fewer than 140 characters, making most longer stories mundane.

i also know that anyone who reads this, i've contact with on facebook, so there's risk of duplicating content.

one thing that's going on right now, which is taking up a lot of my mental capacity, is that kurt's mom has cancer and it's not looking good...

so, i'm just trying to enjoy life and summer and biking around town and hanging out with friends.

oh, and we're adopting kurt's mom's cat. hopefully i'm not allergic.

July 2, 2009

vacation

wow the blog looks lame when i don't update! i'll fill 'er up with some pictures til i can come up with something better.

June 24, 2009

cuuute

this is moderately old news, but if you haven't seen it.. a friend just re-sent it to me and i think it should be shared.

June 23, 2009

amazing

my iphone left china at 11pm last night and is in transit. i find it simply amazing that something can be that far away and is going to be on my doorstep in two (estimated) days.

in other news, it's bleepin' hot out. kurt broke down yesterday evening and installed a spare air conditioner in a window on the first floor. i think we're going to have to get an estimate for central air... the heat makes us crabby, and there's no need to live like that.

also, i just signed up for alice.com, they're a madison startup that allows you to order common household goods and they keep track of when you may be running low, and they ship for free. unfortunately, they don't carry my coffee.

June 18, 2009

the difference

between adequate and awesome. beware, this could be kinda long.

when i am the recipient of a gift card with limited funds, i purchase myself an amazon gift card in the amount of the original card. this way, i can use two methods of payment with amazon in the event my order is more than the total on the card (you can't use two cards, but you can use an amazon gift "certificate" and a debit card).

this morning, i attempted to do so and saw they were double-checking the accuracy of my card info by placing a $1 charge on the card before fulfilling the order for the full $100.. this essentially made amazon think i only had $99 and they wouldn't be fulfilling my order until i "please revise [my] payment". so i tried several times to reenter the card and, several times, got the same, generic error message. so i contacted help... and told them what i had gone through and hoped they could help me.

what i got back was a very explanatory response with an apology in regards to my frustration and the rep canceled my gift card order because cs reps are the only ones who can make changes... s/he then explained their process and why it worked the way it did. here's what i'm telling them as a result of the interaction i just had:

just wanted to say thanks for the quick and accurate response from your customer service representative.

although, my problem still exists, i don't feel so bad about it and will happily try a different solution.

a week ago today

i promised to be more diligent about my updates. i guess i lied.

a week ago today i had friday, the 12th off to look forward to. i slept in and we went to the dog park, as per usual. i did not mow the lawn. on saturday, we went to the marquette waterfront festival and hung out at mickey's.

on sunday, we had a pretty terrible brunch. and i made poor man's spanakopita for an early dinner.

monday, we found out that kurt's mom has cancer in her lung, so i opted not to come into work on tuesday. yesterday was actually quite nice at work; i had lots to do, and my day went by quickly.

June 11, 2009

keepin' up with content

at lunch, a friend was reading the "a year ago today" section of the paper to us, so i thought it would be funny to begin each of my blog entries with "one day ago today", and then describe anything interesting that happened yesterday.

so, look forward to tomorrow when you can hear about what happened the day before.

sorry guise

it's been a slow news month.

i could tell you about the awkward facebook friend rejection i got last weekend, or how i had to stop myself from cleaning the dining room before work this morning. or how i'm taking the last week of june off work. or how my garden has grown exponentially because of all the rain we've had.

but that would all be kinda boring.

June 4, 2009

more retail therapy

work's been kinda slow lately... and since things are always changing, it's good to keep up on what other online retailers are doing.

so, i bought this hat, and these sunglasses in orange.

it has been suggested that i'm too old for these accessories, but i'll beg to differ. at least until i'm 80.

June 2, 2009

$2.74

it occurred to me today that it's possible the reason people seem to get more outraged at gas when it gets above $2.599 is that we don't commonly see large, digital numbers displaying 2.69 or 2.74 on every street corner. it's just never that time.

May 28, 2009

who knew?

i had been meaning to post about this for a couple weeks now...

a friend of mine was biking his daughter to school recently, when he heard a noise and turned around to see that a mini-van had hit his daughter (at a very low speed), and she was laying on the ground, no longer on her bike.

no one was injured.

but he received two ordinance violations; one for not having registered his bicycle, and another for riding an unregistered bicycle!

imagine my surprise after having just had my bike stolen.. no one with whom i spoke had anything to say about the fact that it hadn't been registered. according to the bicycle registration website, registering increases the possibility of a stolen bike being recovered; even though i had the serial number, which is all that is really needed (aside from a description).

the site also states dealers are required to register bikes at the time of sale (wouldn't that have been handy!) but willy bikes said nothing about it when i replaced my stolen one with a spiffy new one.

so, i'm still trying to decide whether or not to register. and if i don't, whose nose i'm actually rubbing it in.

May 20, 2009

low on content

so you get some pictures.

here's the morning dove that is having a second go at raising a family in mickey's back patio:

photo

here's nora noodlebutt with all her legs akimbo:

photo

May 18, 2009

found

a neat little article about shel silverstein. i didn't know he was such a playa with the ladies.

on another note: we got our party invites, but i ordered them about 3 weeks later than last year so we haven't had time to hand them out to as many people. i'm toying with the idea of doing a facebook invite, but only if it'll let me pick the category(s) of friends.

May 7, 2009

this is why americans suck

my biggest problem today is that i have a $25 amazon gift certificate and i want a pair of sandals but onlineshoes.com is having a buy-one-get-25%-off-the-other sale and the pairs are the same price.

and i have to decide. either i spend more and get two pairs or spend less and get one.

April 30, 2009

no sir, i don't like it

it bugs me when people use "literally" and "seriously" when they don't mean it.

"my head literally exploded!" (she's still alive)

"i'll be back seriously in two seconds!" (she walked away for five minutes)

wow

can't believe it's almost may. we have only three weekends to prep and paint our kitchen before our annual memorial day party. that, of course, doesn't take preparing for the party itself. :/

they should sell motivation in a bottle.

April 27, 2009

peeve

i'm not sure why it bothers me so much, but i absolutely hate it when i'm the only one in a bathroom with more than 2 stalls (how about 5?) and the next person who comes in chooses the one adjacent to mine.

April 20, 2009

another year

all in all, a good birthday was had. we went to the magnus for a delicious dinner on saturday night. kurt had the elk (which he described as "awesome") and i had the sesame-encrusted ahi, which was delectable.

sunday morning, we met mom and george at the old fashioned and then came home and lazed about. around 3, kurt decided to open the blinds and said, "you shouldn't leave your bike out in the rain." so i asked him to hold the door while i brought it in. imagine my surprise when i didn't see it in the driveway! the non-emergency police weren't too hopeful that it would be recovered.

i'm kinda hoping the kid's mom will make him return it.

so, we get to go bike shopping this week.

April 17, 2009

too efficient

i've tied up as many loose ends as possible and i still have 4.5 hours to go before my vacation officially begins. i may sneak out early. :x

i've spent the last 20 minutes trying to find an iphone app which will allow me to upload pics to flickr. really, it shouldn't be this difficult.

i got to see two ducks in the neighbor's front yard yesterday:

photo

also, since i got to the dentist early yesterday, therefore got home early, we were able to enjoy some sun at the dog park:

photo

April 14, 2009

louis c.k.

bought the tix last night. should be a good show.

according to my records, it's been over a year since i've done anything show-like. not counting dub trio and el valiente. that wasn't really planned, so much as i decided the night of the show that i wanted to go.

we're also trying to figure out which night to go to the magnus and then which night i get second birthday dinner at takumi (it's kind of like being a hobbit having elevensies and second lunch).

i just have to get through the next four days.

April 13, 2009

considering

as i've previously mentioned, i'm taking next week off work... i wonder if i can get kurt to find someone to come in early so we can go see louis ck on thursday. i find him to be quite amusing:

April 8, 2009

on a roll

i'm distracting myself for a minute with the help of the internet and i keep finding cool things.

those who know me well know that i have a weird thing about storage containers.. particularly those involving the storage of food. even tho i stopped bringing my lunch to work in october (thanks subway!). well, i found another unnecessary container... i won't buy it today, but i will add it to my amazon wishlist. it's the alladin lunch & go.

whoah

how lame the blog looks when i do not update.

unfortunately, the most exciting thing going on right now is they're doing a controlled burned of the adjacent prairie and everyone is freaking out because no one sent out an email.

i swear, it's like the office.

April 2, 2009

sorry if it's a repeat

i seem to facebook more than blog any more, it's just easier with the iphone and what not... so i apologize to those of you who are one of my fb friends and still bother to read this, but i'm really excited. i just bought this shirt from the most hilarious episode of the office:

in other news, i still haven't heard a resolution from the insurance company from the accident that happened over a year go which resulted in renewing my faith in chiropractic treatment... if i can get a decent settlement, i could afford to go see the dr. on my own dime for a while (his particular office isn't covered by my health insurance; what a bunch of crap).

also, at work, we're having our annual silent auction to benefit the united way and i think i out bid too many people on a couple of high-ticket items. the auction ends at 5 today, so i'm hoping there are some dog lovers among us that want one of the two "doggy baskets" that i've bid on. :x

March 30, 2009

sorry, gentle reader

i've been really silent lately. i have no excuses other than general cabin fever and stir craziness.

i am, however, looking forward to enjoying my birthday week off again. we're going to (hopefully) spend the time painting our kitchen walls and cabinets. and maybe the bathroom.

picking out paint chips seems to be our major deterrent. we were able to identify the main color (mustard yellowish) and the cabinet color (a dark reddish, brown)... now i just need to get some samples so we can verify our aesthetic assumption.

also, i haven't been knitting much. i've actually been playing too many games on my iphone. i bought zombieville and critter crunch and those have been really fun. i can't wait til they get castle wolfenstein developed and released.

it just occurred to me that april fool's day is wednesday. i hope no one tries anything funny.

March 24, 2009

blech

staying home, day two.

i wish it were nicer out. i think that's part of the reason why i'm not going anywhere.

March 19, 2009

aww!

i remember when he died, i called all over town to used cd stores looking for anything i could get my hands on. the jerk at strictly discs laughed at me. i haven't shopped there since. it's been almost 10 whole years. jerk.

March 13, 2009

celebrate good times

as in tradition, we're extending kurt's bday celebration into this weekend. we were gifted a certificate for the magnus and will be enjoying dinner there tomorrow night.

i can't wait for the chimichurri.

March 11, 2009

dubuque, dubuque

the weekend went by much too fast, but it was still very nice and relaxing. for some reason, the diamond jo boat wasn't open, so we headed over to the physical building and it wasn't as cool. we each contributed $50 to the dubuque economy and decided that was just enough.

it was rainy and cold on sunday, so we spent most of the day in the hotel room, not before catching a classic brunch at timmerman's supper club; which was a lot like traveling back in time.

like i've said before, dubuque closes early on sundays. except, unlike two years ago, it's closer to 8 than 10 now. we almost didn't get dinner... we stopped over at the trusty old bricktown brewery, but they had just turned their wood-fire grills off (at 8:19). so we rushed back to the hotel and dined in the restaurant there. it was nice that they didn't rush us since they were closing at 9.

we went over to the busted lift for an after-dinner drink (which is, incidentally, now called 180 main and has a fancy restaurant on the first level).

we'll likely go back again, maybe for my birthday.

March 5, 2009

vaykay

one more work-day and i'm off for a long weekend. i'm excited to spend time away from four-legged creatures; we've been dog sitting since the 24th and i need a break.

in case you're on the edge of your seats, there are still no charges from the company claiming to change everyone's lives.

also, i had an impromptu presentation yesterday morning to our director and i didn't freak out in panic. that was nice.

oh, and burrito drive has been out of fish since sunday. wtf? it's lent!

March 2, 2009

restful weekend

we spent the majority of the weekend on the couch watching the entire 2nd and 3rd seasons of the office.

now, i have a four-day week to look forward to, and daylight savings time, and a long weekend away in a hotel; with a hot tub.

February 24, 2009

random update

no extraneous charges from the questionable company that i mentioned previously. yet.

i try to get the same parking spot every day, but didn't yesterday. so appeared a (presumably used) condom out of its wrapper on the pavement. it's still there today.

kurt and i are trying to agree on paint colors for the kitchen. the most annoying part is that there are eight million colors from which to choose.

February 23, 2009

being responsible stinks

we've been carrying a balance with home depot since purchasing the house... what with buying a grill, wood for the raised-bed garden, and random accessories (like the hand-sander which we've never even used).

well, i convinced kurt to use some of our surprisingly large tax return to pay off the balance. now we just have the sears purchase to worry about.. if they ever deliver.

February 18, 2009

yea, i know..

really, i'm not this stupid. i promise you.

so i come across this website promoting some magical berry pill that makes you a superwoman and slim at the same time.

of course, i want to give it a try. it's only $4.95 for shipping for the 14 day trial. so i order it. and then read the fine print. and decide that there's no way i'm paying their "monthly membership fee" even if it does turn me into madonna (the 1990s version). so it comes in the mail and i call the company without even opening the little bubblewrap-lined manilla envelope and was like, "i'm canceling my membership. what are your return instructions?" and she tells me and then today i google the company and see all these posts from people who canceled their membership but were still receiving random charges for random amounts.

so now i want to call the company and make sure they're clear about my direction to cancel... or drive to des moines and tell them myself.

or report my (debit) card as lost or stolen.

February 16, 2009

wtf woodman's?

i've been a woodman's shopper since i became responsible for my own well-being. for some reason, they've recently discontinued peddling the things that i buy.

it started with my hair dye... which isn't their fault, i guess, since it was discontinued by the manufacturer. then they stopped carrying orange la croix soda water (but they kept "plain" flavor. really!?). on our most recent visit, we discovered they no longer carry the flavor of yogurt that i most enjoy or my style of pen anymore.

i really am not fond of copp's or cub foods... but i might have to switch.

February 12, 2009

note to self

i need to try to find academic studies of language, specifically around the evolution of business-speak and maybe even a study that shows the geographical influence over time.

February 11, 2009

unsolicited

this morning, i received four unanswered phone calls from 213-426-2701... a number in LA. i don't know anyone in LA, so i called them back but got no answer.

they called me again while i was typing this! i asked them to remove me from their call list and then i hung up.

February 9, 2009

grrr

i forgot my keycard and ipod. i spilled coffee down the front of me in the car this morning.

i'm returning the boots i bought. they're too nice to wear. actually, they're too hard to get on and off.

i have a four-day work week ahead of me. we're having our new wash and dryer delivered on friday and we have to move the fridge and stove over in order to get them in the basement. i'm really not looking forward to the installation.

January 30, 2009

taxes

i've never been one to put off the filing of taxes. one year, i went with a boyfriend to the usps annex on milwaukee street before midnight so he could file.. i vowed there and then never to wait to file.

i'm happy to report that because we pay so darn much in interest and property taxes that it saved our butts from owing; in fact, we're getting twice as much back as we did last year (in total). nice.

January 27, 2009

ho-hum

i've been fairly blah lately. not feeling all that creative (knitting), or motivated to create well-crafted work-related documents (annotated wireframes, use-case flows, ui design), or wanting to do anything around the house (paint the bathroom, kitchen).

i think we need to get out of dodge for a weekend.

January 21, 2009

wow

the blog looks rather boring with only one entry..

i guess i can tell you about a couple of our vacation plans... kurt's bday is in march and we might head to dubuque again for some festivities. we'll probably stay in the old hotel instead of the holiday inn. the rooms are about the same price but the one in the historic building is about twice the size. and they have a greasy spoon diner on the first floor which had a happenin' slew of regulars the last time we stayed.

i'll probably have to reign in the gamblin' budget tho; i can sit in front of a video poker machine for an amazing amount of time without realizing it.

random update

i need a yarn swift. i understand why they're $80 but i don't want to spend that much because i don't need it with the frequency in which $80 is worth to me. a friend claims i should sit funny and wrap the hank around my knees to unwind, but i really don't see that working very well. perhaps i'll give it a try first.

i've successfully plotted all 120 hours of vacation for this year; ensuring that i go no more than 14 business days without a long weekend. except in december. they get kinda funny about using vacation after thanksgiving since we do 80% of our business in those 3.5 weeks.

i'm in meetings from 10-5:30 today (minus an hour and a half--not concurrent--which is too short of a span of time to get anything important started, let alone finished.

January 15, 2009

poor drivers

  • you don't need to drive with your foot on the brake.
  • you don't need to ride up on my ass when you can see there is ice on the road.
  • you may as well not bother expecting to be to work on time because you know the person in front of me is scared and won't go over 40 (in a 55).
  • you can't make someone go faster by ensuring your lights are not visible in their rear view mirror, but i can make you go slower.
  • please use clues like the two to three (sometimes five!) red lights on the back of the car in front of me as an indication of speed change.
  • feel free to familiarize yourself with how to navigate a roundabout. they're really quite simple.
  • remember, semis are not cars. they cannot stop quickly. so don't lane-change in front of them at a red light.
  • your time is no more important than anyone else's.

January 14, 2009

bear with me

i have to get this out so i can understand what the heck happened...

so kurt had, as part of his cell plan, messaging 200. last month, just moments before he was about to go over, i upped it to the next option: messaging 1500 (for an additional $10 per month). imagine my surprise when his part of the bill was almost $25 more than it should have been.

there was a $3.50 credit for the second half of the month of which messaging 200 was canceled, and an $11 charge for the second half of the month of which messaging 1500 was active. there was also a surprising $12.70 charge for going over the cut-off point of messaging 200 (which i had initiated in order to avoid overages). so, basically, we got charged $23.70 for trying to avoid getting any overage charges.

so i emailed them (i hate waiting for customer service on the phone) and let them know there was an errant charge of $12.70. they emailed back to poorly explain (outright lie about) the situation and credited the account $13.40 "as a courtesy"... i have no idea how they came up with that amount.

so i emailed them back asking if they thought their customers shouldn't make changes to their messaging options mid-cycle, then they shouldn't have that option available.

January 12, 2009

boring, i know

sorry, folks. i just haven't had anything interesting happen lately which would be worthy of penning. the lack of updates here is even further affected by my new facebook addiction.

i guess i could tell you about how i'm done with my chiropractic care from the accident a year ago and still haven't heard back from the state farm guy about closing the claim (it's been a week). i'll leave another message this evening if i don't hear from him today.

i'm moderately nervous about negotiating what my time is worth. obviously, it's worth more to me than to an insurance company. someone at work said i didn't seem to mind leaving early to go to the appointments, but i don't really think whether or not something was annoying should decrease my time's worth.

also, on a completely different topic: i wish i had the stylee design skillz of this lady.

January 8, 2009

sorry, gentle reader

i haven't had a whole lot to blab about lately. i've been back at work for four days and it hasn't been that bad, actually. a huge project was approved the day before our holiday break, so i'll have something new and fun to work on.

i ordered some more yarn from knitpicks, not sure what i'm gunna make.

sorry i don't have anything more interesting to share.

January 4, 2009

sunday blues

they usually show up for me around 3pm on sunday afternoon. seeing as how i've been off work for 12 days, they're here a couple hours earlier.

my car is coated with a thick layer of ice, and we have to go rescue kurt's truck from the mickey's parking lot. it's battery terminal has corroded to the point where the connection no longer works... at least it's 31 degrees out and not 2.

we had our large family xmas last night at the residence inn in middleton, and i, of course forgot to take pics. it was really nice to see everyone and eat yummy foods.

and i'm forced to drink weak coffee because i didn't have enough to last me til my sunday trip to woodman's. :/

January 1, 2009

phew!

what a whirlwind of a year.. this is the first new year's that i'm up before noon, suffering only from mild sleepiness.

the year started out with a car accident, which resulted in my obtaining an iphone, a new car, and a remodeled (half) bathroom. i built my raised bed garden during a week off of work for my birthday. we built a deck and had a housewarming party. fended off some mosquitoes. invented knitting with joy. started dyeing my hair again. started having panic attacks again. someone ran into a car while on their bike cuz of staring at me. voted in a pinnacle election. dropped 10 pounds. ate more sushi than i should have.

it was a good year.

December 25, 2008

merry merry

not unlike a year ago, my day will consist of dog stuff. and knitting. not sure about the huevos rancheros. i can't remember if i made those at home or if the diner was open last year.

we're about to head over to where kurt's mom is staying to walk her dog (along with ours), hopefully the temperature outside will cooperate.

the dogs have been quite antsy because we're not really walking them in these temperatures, just letting them out back to run and poop. i know i complained about that exact thing, but my excuse is the weather.

i've started working on a cowl, which isn't turning out nearly as pretty as the one to which i've linked. i'm not yet sure who the recipient will be. it's not orange, so i won't keep it for myself.

time to get out of the pj's.

December 15, 2008

7 business days

until i have 12 days off in a row. this week can't go fast enough.

December 9, 2008

poem

i had a teacher once make it very clear that in order to not sound like a fool, you had to pronounce poem, "pome" but make the o sound more pretentious. anyway, i've never really had an appreciation for poetry, other than shiel silverstein, dr suess, lewis carroll, roald dahl... you know, the rhymey-types.

i tried getting into e e cummings, but that was simply because of his use of lowercase.

i just came across a poem by frank o'hara which i kinda really like; not sure exactly why...

As Planned

After the first glass of vodka
you can accept just about anything
of life even your own mysteriousness
you think it is nice that a box
of matches is purple and brown and is called
La Petite and comes from Sweden
for they are words that you know and that
is all you know words not their feelings
or what they mean and you write because
you know them not because you understand them
because you don't you are stupid and lazy
and will never be great but you do
what you know because what else is there?

forgot

i woke up with this awesome blog post in my head and have since forgotten about it.

i had a weird work dream last night that involved my cube falling apart, someone tripping over it and suggesting i call facilities. then one of the facilities guys came to my house to break down and rebuild all my bookshelves because the wood was toxic.

on another note: people at work are already scheming about how to get out of here early.

December 8, 2008

also

i've been trying not to flagrantly toss my money about as much.. but if i could, i'd buy this. the orange one, of course.

but i know i'd rarely use it.

omg. i'm in love with this website. this ring is awesome. and i think i could justify this doormat.

sorry guise, i keep updating my post. i think i found what kurt's getting me. adult-sized footy pjs.

meh

ennui is setting in a couple weeks early. great.

December 4, 2008

night driving

it occurs to me that it probably is an urban legend that carrots help you see better at night. i used to eat as many as i could stomach the day of halloween so mom would let me stay out later, claiming, "i can see in the dark!"

well, i have eaten two cups of baby carrots each weekday for at least a year and i don't think it's helped. according to wikipedia, vitamin a will cause a betterment of vision. but too much will cause liver damage.

wtf people?

December 3, 2008

ahh

thanks to my sheer technological genius, i got to listen to franz ferdinand turned up to 11 on the way to work while simultaneously getting a song out of my head.

it won't make sense if you haven't heard it... but it's kind of annoying to wake up with "it's always better on holiday! so much better on holiday! that's why we only work when we need the money!" now i won't have to listen to that cd for a while.

p.s., dudes? this is my 1800th post ever.

November 25, 2008

tongue and nose

i have one little white taste bud on the tip of my tongue and it's pissing me off.

also, i don't know what to think about the sniftag. i kinda want to get jones and nora one (each). whoah, nevermind. i just looked at the cost.

November 23, 2008

late night

i went and saw dub trio last night... i wasn't entirely impressed, but the second band, el valiente, was really good.

i didn't get home til 2:30. as i told a friend, i think i turned into a pumpkin.

November 22, 2008

home sweet home

stoughton road and commercial ave seems to be the spot where some of madison's homeless hold their signs, looking very forlorn and cold. last week, a girl with star tattoos on her cheeks and only a hoody and jeans was there. i couldn't read her sign cuz i was driving toward the dog park. i had planned on giving her the only five in my wallet and my headwarmer but she was gone by the time we were on our way back home.

today, there was a sad looking man with a sign expressing his desire to get home for the holidays. and a jesus fish. i think they always add "god bless" in order to appeal to people's catholic guilt.

anyway... i gave him a 10 and said, "good luck". as i drove away, i thought, "i don't care if he spends it on alcohol because at least that'll give him a warm night's sleep, even if it's just in his head."

hopefully he spends it on a bus ticket instead.

November 20, 2008

aww

one of the cafe workers here noticed and announced that i had lost weight. that was nice.

November 18, 2008

panic update

sunday evening at woodman's. couldn't deal with the line in the liquor store. had to leave.

yesterday at the dr's office. could hardly hold the cup in which to pee.

almost today at lunch. but i did the breathe-on-your-thumb trick and i think it worked.

an update

uti's are hard to misdiagnose. i used to get them all the time. i almost just told the receptionist lady to send me straight to the pharmacy but decided against it. the dr. was nice enough.

so now i'm on antibiotics and i'm supposed to stay out of the sun.

in other news: i've lost 10lbs in 2 months and had to adjust my watch band to a smaller size.

November 17, 2008

:/ TMI

i feel, very slightly, as though i'm coming down with a uti. aside from the fact that i loathe going to the doctor, the last time i had a uti i didn't have insurance so i took those cranberry pills for a week and stained my toilet and almost turned it into a kidney infection as a result.

so, now i just have to wait til i have to pee again to decide if i need to go to the dr.

and i think i have a fever.

update: confirmed. leaving at 11. i have to get my insurance card so i'll be at the east side dean urgent care in about 2 hours.

November 12, 2008

nighttime

apparently i can't drive in the dark anymore. unless there are street lights. i'm going to have to start taking the through-town route again which sucks cuz there's more braking involved. but i had a difficult time last night on 113; not to mention my phone doesn't get a signal between bishop's bay and the other side of governor nelson's state park.

November 11, 2008

a couple of ideas

court stenographer, asl interpreter.

just so i don't forget.

November 10, 2008

economic crisis

was not apparent at kohl's this weekend. the parking lot was packed. and i spent $60 on 3 bras. one of which is the most comfortable thing i've ever worn and i highly recommend it. i just may buy three more.

on another note: i have a 3.5 day workweek. using up vacation time.

November 6, 2008

another thing

i biked down to mickey's last night and witnessed a hit and run by a vehicle to bicyclist at the atwood/dunning intersection. the biker was fine, but his bike was not. the car took off and it was the first time i didn't look at the license plate. i am manic about that shit. i do remember, however, that it was a tanish, 4-door, compact sedan, and the entire driver's side was smashed in. possibly a toyota or honda. it wasn't an american car.

a white truck took off after the car, presumably to get the plates. hopefully s/he succeeded.

hm

i have my evening and weekend hoodie and my daytime hoodie. i'm wearing the wrong one right now. it has holes everywhere.

i should probably replace it soon.

November 5, 2008

obviously

everyone's in a really good mood today.

it'll probably wear off as the reality of actually supporting the man we've chosen to run the country sets in. i don't think many people realize the depth of support and investment (emotional, actual) he's going to require from us. it's not like someone just steps into a position and viola (i pronounce that wrong on purpose) the world is a new and better place.

americans who want change are going to have to participate in the revolution of that expectation.

November 4, 2008

nerves

the country will be on edge today.

i'm vacillating on whether or not to stay home on my couch with the dogs and a cold bevvie tonight, or hang out at the tavern with other surly/elated folks and risk witnessing a riot.

November 3, 2008

at a loss

i forgot my ipod today. which means i had to listen to the bob and tom show this morning since 93.1 the lake is now 9.31 jamz, the place for hip hop in the capitol city. i hate the bob and tom show.

also, since i forgot my ipod, that means i forgot my keycard to get into work because they share space on my dining room table over the weekend. that is all.

October 28, 2008

first time ever

i just donated $15 to the obama campaign. i've never given money to a candidate before.

apparently i get a car magnet out of the deal. my donation probably covered postage for 10 magnets.

education

i'm trying to figure out which undergrad program the uw has that involves human-computer interaction. their website is kind of annoying to use. i can't find anything resembling it.

October 24, 2008

sickey

woke up with a sore throat and a headache. i never get headaches so they make me ornery.

i slept til 10.

the dogs are excited, but i'm too weak to take them to the dog park. and it's yucky out.

October 23, 2008

might as well

i wrote a letter to tds this week complaining about my experience with deactivating my voice line and only having dsl. they have yet to get back to me, but it may be because they're trying to figure out who gets to deal with me.

i used proper capitalization so they wouldn't think me a dunce.

Normally I don't do this, but I'm particularly frustrated with the situation. I've been a TDS customer for over 10 years with the account number 6082861312. I recently opted to get rid of the voice portion of my services since my home phone was serving very little use. This process was very cumbersome and resulted in losing service (both voice and dsl) for a week. Subsequently, I received an electronic credit of $53. As a result of removal of the voice service, I was apparently assigned a new account number and sent a paper bill with a charge of $83; imagine my surprise.

So, I had to call to initiate the credit adjustment from the previous account to the new one; somehow I feel as though that's not my responsibility and your systems should be able to accommodate a changed account number without the customer even knowing. Now I have to wait for a new pin (which I'll have to call again to change back to the previous pin so I can remember it) in order to set up electronic payments and suppress paper statements again.

I'm sure you understand the value of your customer's time, and obviously you're not trying to inconvenience me on purpose... I just would like your company to be aware that it is possible to make this a seamless process for your customer if you've a mind to design for your customer and not for your CEO.

I'd appreciate a response, and if possible, a credit for my week of lost service.

considering

voting early. i'm not sure if my nerves will last against the crowds i'm hoping will turn out.

maybe i'll do it on the way home from work tomorrow.

October 22, 2008

bleh

did not knit yesterday. i forgot to take it with me on my visit to see kurt at the tavern, and we ended up going out for sushi, so i got home just in time to crawl into bed.

late-night sushi results in some very strange dreams. ones that are not appropriate for repeating. oh! except part of the dream consisted of gas being $8.99 a gallon.

October 21, 2008

*sniff*

i did a load of laundry last night but it was still a little damp when i got up this morning... so my work-suitable hoodies weren't dry. kurt lent me one of his zip-up sweatshirts, so i get to smell him all day. it's nice.

also, we installed our wall-mounted shelves on sunday... but i'm too lame to take pictures. i'll try to grab some tonight.

October 17, 2008

this week

has positively dragged by.

on a lighter note: i'm halfway to netflixing teen wolf and teen wolf too. i think it's hilarious that you have to rent them together.

October 16, 2008

new case

got my new sena case earlier this week. i'd show you the drastic difference, but my blog won't let me upload a pic. :(

October 14, 2008

the humpty dance

i was 14/15... and completely in love with digital underground. i played the humpty dance over and over and over and over. listening to it again this afternoon takes me right back to the barrymore when i smelled pot in the theater/room and felt like mom would be so mad if she knew.

lol.

October 13, 2008

check yo' self

apparently there are some changes in how eligibility to vote is being determined this time around... don't get caught in a rigmarole; check your registration.

October 10, 2008

meh

not much to say today... the ennui is thick.

i did just get rjdj from the app store and it's pretty awesome.

October 9, 2008

appointments

i have the chiropractor this afternoon, hairscutty tomorrow, and dentist on monday. it's like dorothy's crew at the end of the wizard of oz.

October 8, 2008

happy consumer

so, i bought a sena case for my iphone and it started coming apart at the edges from use. i finally emailed them to let them know i thought a $30 leather case should last longer than 5 months and they're sending me a new one free of charge with a return box! though i don't care for the fact that it'll probably wear out in another 5 months, at least i won't have had to pay for it.

here's what the case looks like, if you're interested.

October 7, 2008

also

i didn't get around to recording knitting for joy this weekend. sorry.

meh

thank goodness for a short week.

lol. about two weeks ago, i wrote to our hr guy with some concerns about the amount of time and effort put toward halloween when we can't seem to muster the same amount of energy for regular projects.

i just got through my work email after a 4-day weekend... they canceled halloween.

October 6, 2008

most of the time

i feel like a kid with a.d.d.

i'm willing to bet if i'd been born 10 years later, i would have been diagnosed as such.

i'm currently waiting for the water heater to warm up enough so i can shower. we keep it low, usually.

October 2, 2008

and another thing

i just bought my discontinued hair dye on ebay for $1 less than retail. i wonder if i can complain to l'oreal.

October 1, 2008

fall

i have two skirts. i wear one about twice a year. today is one of those days.

it's made from a pair of phat pants from my rave days. i just tried to take a pic but my cubeoffice is too dark and my arm is too short to hold my phone far enough away. it's also the only bottom-half covering i own which will fit my favorite belt.

September 30, 2008

stress

i pulled something in my back yesterday getting in the car at the dog park after work. it hurts to inhale all the way. i tried kneading it out but now it just feels like a big bruise. i brought my theracane to work to try to loosen up the muscles... prognosis: painful.

September 26, 2008

well

now we're not going.

kurt missed a couple days of work this week, and i got behind on some bills somehow (like, they never came in the mail?). so, we're broke(ish). and can't afford the lavish milwaukee lifestyle to which we've become accustomed.

it'll still be a nice 4-day weekend for me. i hope.

September 25, 2008

grr

people are irritating the piss out of me today.

September 24, 2008

wishy washy!

ok, so now we're going to stay one night and at a hotel closer to the airport (where they're half what they are downtown).

i know you were on the edge of your seat with wonder.

September 23, 2008

erm.. nvm. :/

so, at some point, the travel industry decided that a crappy room with crappy carpeting and a crappy bed with some crappy pressed particle board furniture was worth at least $200 a night. everywhere.

we won't be staying in milwaukee.

i even checked the concourse, just to see "what if we wanted to stay downtown in madison?" nope. not that weekend.

mini vacation

trying. to. plan.

we're gunna stay a couple nights in milwaukee and the hotel that Kurt wants to stay in doesn't appear to exist anymore?

and we're going to try to get together with my cousin to at least grab a bite, if not check out her home.

i'll try to remember to take pics.

September 22, 2008

a hefty weekend

taking fridays off is almost my favorite thing. and i have four more between now and the end of the year (not including the ones they already have scheduled).

the willy street fair was exceptionally warm and claustrophobic. we went down, walked to the other end, got a falafel, ate, and walked back to ingersoll and left.

now, i've got a case of the mondays.

September 18, 2008

grump

i didn't sleep very well last night.. i woke up around 3:45 and thought, "that's ok. i don't have to be up for three hours..." and i tossed and turned until about 5:20 when i started having really weird dreams which kept waking me up until the alarm went off.

i also appear to have contracted The Office Cold™. i've been sneezing all morning and the right side of my throat just started getting itchy before lunch. i'm hoping it's just the chilly nights/mornings and nothing more.

September 17, 2008

annuals

tonight's dinner was good. not great, but good. the whole main room was filled with 5 tables of 10 who appeared to work together and were very loud. i, wrongly, picked the table in the room shoved over in the corner where i had to tippy-toe past four chairs (scoot the eff in!) just to pee. the entree was meh... the appetizers were really good, though. we got three oysters on the half shell and a seared salmon fillet. i had the ahi tuna and kurt had the diablo steak.

perhaps we've just been too impressed in the past. it just wasn't that awesome.

there's always next year. :)

tonight

we're going out to dinner at the magnus to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary.

apparently the traditional gift is candy. color me disinterested.

September 16, 2008

also!

my mom told us, last weekend, about the erehwon outlet at the bottom of monona drive.. i got a new columbia coat and a pair of keens for half off. it was still spendy (damn brand-loyalty) but i couldn't pass up 50% off!

September 11, 2008

hay guise

just so no one gets alarmed.. i'm just going through the low end of a sine wave of workdom. little is motivating and that makes me antsy and bored. that's all.

in other news: i found my next new project. knitty is celebrating 6 years and they just came out with a new issue.

i wonder if it would look as cool if the colors weren't striped, but all mixed up?

September 10, 2008

internally embarassed

i just totally forgot how to spell discretion. on the same day that i get forwarded an article about misspelling faster on the iphone. i wonder if it's making me dumber?

September 9, 2008

seriously

my back has been really bothering me... i can't sit still cuz i get pangs in the upper left side and lower right side and my left cheek gets cold like it's falling sleep and now my wrist hurts.

open mic'd

maybe i need to get this microphone for joy... the process is a little tedious right now. i have to record using the italk, import the audio file into itunes, convert to mp3, import into audacity, and edit the file. with a lappy mic, i'd be able to record directly into audacity.

September 8, 2008

bike crashy guy

before someone decided to (incorrectly) flag my strictly platonic craigslist post as inappropriate, someone claiming to be the guy sent an email. we've corresponded back and forth, very platonically, and he seems nice. i've now achieved closure.

and eff you to whomever decided my post was inappropriate, cuz it was fine.

September 5, 2008

wow

another solicitation came this morning. i really want to show you the pic that was sent to me, but i feel that would be a violation of his rights... needless to say, scottneedsagirlfriend.com is also available. and he even sent his phone number? wtf?

September 4, 2008

stranger solicitation

i posted my craigslist ad in strictly platonic for a reason.. i've received two email replies, neither of them from the bikeguy. i want to respond to one of them to apologize for not wanting to respond to him. i'm no dummy. he's looking for someone to go kayaking with and outdoorsy stuff and someone not into "the bar scene".

i don't think he'd like me. :)

my partner-in-humor at work and i have decided i should buy trentneedsagirlfriend.com, post his picture and email address and let him know that, even though i hate water and like bars, i'm more than willing to help a brother out.

September 3, 2008

mood

was feeling panicky again today after lunch. i drove to qdoba on university to meet kurt, and the drive back was hectic. the root cause? going to bed too late.

September 2, 2008

:x

head hurts. need caffeine, work is out of starbucks iced coffee :( and it's too friggin hot out to drink more regular coffee.

in other news: did i tell you guys how awesome my new earbuds are? eargasmick!

sorry, dudes

this weekend went by much too quickly; i slept in a lot and played a surprising amount of card games.

i also made it to work and 30 minutes into it with my fly down. :?

August 28, 2008

forgot

not that you need to know about this, but i have to document it so i don't forget: i woke up sunday morning panicking and it lasted about 2 hours. the dogs looked at me strangely.

August 26, 2008

*shrug*

can't think of anything worth taking up ones and zeros about.

August 25, 2008

in trouble

l'oreal has discontinued my hair dye, but i think i've found a suitable replacement.

funny pics

sexy people. this is one of the most amusing things i'll probably see all day.

August 22, 2008

erm

my lame attempt at forcing myself to post at least once a morning has left me with little to say today.

except, i could tell you about what i want to accomplish this weekend, mostly saturday. i'd like to try to record episode one of knitting with joy, take my lappy to mickey's and spend a couple hours setting up knittingwithjoy.com and editing the audio file. that last part probably won't happen until sunday cuz it's tedious. and i need to d'l some sound effects for the radio show.

August 20, 2008

meh

i'm achy and tired. i'm also anticipating this winter being the second worst insofar as my mood.

i just pulled my head down, chin toward chest, and felt the muscles in my back scream.

August 18, 2008

<3

i love how listening to alice in chains' dirt makes me feel; 15-years-old and all a-twitter about the boy who gave me the cd. lol.

:x i just spent the last 5 minutes googling him; apparently he still lives in middleton.

omg you guise

i just bought knittingwithjoy.com. joy's going to have her very own website!

can you believe no one, in the history of the internet, has thought of and purchased that url yet? weird.

counting

i just looked at the clock and thought "less than 9 hours." :/

had a pretty good weekend, but it went by too fast. i've been sleeping in later than usual, so that