Not really a morning person

Nobody is more surprised than I am that I actually like getting up early and going to the gym before work.

I wasn't expecting this question today

So, are you a good housewife?

I wish everyone I love lived in the same time zone, preferably the same one as me!

Who, me?

This morning I had breakfast with my writing mentor/teacher/thesis advisor/former landlord and she told me the second she saw me in class, she thought: trouble.

Going to work with a stamped hand

Last night I had fun at the Richard Cheese show!

Note to self

Before putting a bottle of Diet Coke into purse, check to make sure it is fully closed!

Gratitude

Today I am grateful for: feeling calm, sweet cherries, my good pen, What is the What? book on CD, Mediterranean potluck with some of my favorite women, dining alfresco, the white chocolate raspberry cupcakes, seeing people grow, the smell of babies, hugs from people who really love me, and My Heart's Desire finishing up the laundry so I can go to bed early.

Surprising Feminist Icon

This woman eats constantly, kicks ass, and looks good in red lipstick!

Zzzz

I have not been getting enough sleep lately, must change!

Stuck

When I want to make a lot of changes, it's hard to know where to start.

Reading the dictionary

I bought a 1939 dictionary and have been amusing myself by looking up words, like negotiatrix (female negotiator), mountain dew (intoxicating liquor; whiskey, especially illicit), and wellegant (swell and elegant).

Lovely

Once in a great while I'll have a day that's lovely from start to finish. Today was one. I slept until I woke up (a rarity), then read my book, took a shower, went to a friend's house for homemade Indian food, had great chat, got mani/pedi, came home, read more, had dinner on the deck with My Heart's Desire (he shopped and cooked) and some friends, watched an episode of How It's Made while cuddling with My Heart's Desire on the couch, then finished book, blogged, read, and went to sleep. Good night!

When can I stop doing this?

Open mouth, insert foot.

Yay!

My mentor is coming home on Sunday from nearly seven months abroad, not a moment too soon!

Work in progress

I am becoming the woman that I want to be.

2008 is flying by!

The year is half over already - I can't believe how fast it's going.

Pouring Rain

When I left work this afternoon, the skies opened up on me and by the time I got to my car I was carrying my shoes, with soaking wet hair.

It all comes down to one question...

What am I willing to spend -- money or time?

Teeth. Loved. It.

My Heart's Desire and I just finished watching Teeth. Finally, a feminist horror movie! He thought it was strange, but I really enjoyed it. And I loved the message that this movie sent.

I love that a movie like this even gets made. Add it to your queue, let me know what you think.

Another V8, please

Okay, so I finished Smart Girls Like Me by Diane Vadino. In a word: zzzzz. This book is not worth the time it takes to read it.

I love a parade

I'm considering going to New York for the Coney Island Mermaid Parade, after all, I love mermaids, I love New York, and I love parades!

Girls, girls, girls

Even though I am part of a couple, it is really important for me to spend time with female friends and I am very much looking forward to tonight's girls' dinner!

Grouchy, party of 2

Being grouchy is a surefire way to get other people to act grouchy back.

No grains smaller than rice

On three separate occasions, I have tried to make risotto, polenta, and quinoa. All of the attempts were colossal failures, rendering the meals inedible. After the last fiasco (My Heart’s Desire asked incredulously, “There’s ricotta in this? And garlic? And bacon?”), I am no longer going to attempt to make grains that are smaller than rice.

I'm serious

My fine line and wrinkles do not need correcting!

Attitude determines altitude

I got a much-needed attitude adjustment around 8pm.

A one-issue voter

After looking up the McCain history of anti-choice voting, I am now officially for Obama.

Everybody has it, nobody talks about it

Why is it so hard to talk about money?

Powerless

Lost power for the second time this week.

Home with a toothache

I watched trashy reality shows on YouTube - shh!

One awesome book, another not awesome at all

First, the awesome. House of Sand And Fog. It's not a new book, but I hadn't read it before. Why? Honestly, because it was one of Oprah's picks and most of her picks I really, really do not like. I got this copy on the cheap and just tore into it. It was beautifully written, touching, and I could hardly put it down, reading it in two sittings. I even cried during one part. I had seen the movie ages ago, but the book was not just more but incredible. Definitely worth reading!

Breaking News! V.C. Andrews has been robbed! I finished Shoot the Moon yesterday and can't believe I was able to stomach the whole thing. A predictable, trite plot, complete with flat characters and a familial romance straight out of a V.C. Andrews novel. The nicest thing I can say about it is: Yiich.

Next on the list: Smart Girls Like Me by Diane Vadino.

No Windy City for me

The poetry residency winner was announced, alas, it wasn't me - so hope for that is no longer alive.

Blech

Worst lunch ever: stale Cheerios with expired Silk.

Mediocre books, or, I could have had a V8

Recently I've read a couple of books that I really wanted to like, but didn't. The Friday Night Knitting Club was lent to me by my honorary grandmother, and she didn't like it either. We both found it incredibly cheesy and not very well developed. I really liked the premise and I tend to like books about women (particularly inter-generational friendships) but this was worse than a Lifetime movie. Really, I could have had a V8.

The Spare Wife I got from the library and I would have been furious if I had paid for it. I liked Alex Witchel's Me Times Three but this book was almost impossible to get invested in the flat characters or care one way or the other if the scandal broke. It didn't. Maybe the fact that I kept falling asleep while reading it was a sign...


Next on my reading list are Billie Letts Shoot the Moon and Andre Dubus III House of Sand and Fog. I got these at the library book sale for $1 (yes, I wrote a check) and am looking forward to reading them. I almost bought Shoot the Moon at Target the day before, but I refrained and saved $11.

Chicago poetry residency

I applied for a poetry residency and am keeping hope alive!

Ouchy

Nothing is worse than a toothache.

My garden grows!

A huge hydrangea bush sits outside my home office window and in the last few weeks it has been growing like crazy! This very afternoon I cut the first hydrangeas of the year and placed them on my table. Lovely, no?

Nummy

I plucked a warm strawberry off the vine and ate it in the field.