Clean as a whistle, Baby

Somehow, I actually managed to clean my apartment from top to bottom, pack, relax, and go to bed at a moderate hour last night. I suspect it had something to do with the two prior evenings filled with laziness and wii. Tuesday and Wednesday I had left-over pizza for breakfast AND dinner, and Wednesday I fell asleep in the bath. I haven't done either of those things since high school.

With help from Alsn and Bonnie (Tim's Grandma), I think I might have rigged up a system to keep my plants alive that involves a lot of double potting (double-bucketing in one case) and a large basin full of water on my breakfast table. I was almost late for work, in fact, because I watered the lemon tree so much that the second pot started to overflow and I had to use three towels to sop it up. The one blemish in my otherwise spotless apartment is the three wet, dirty towels in the bathroom. And I think one of Tim's socks is on the bedroom floor. Not too bad.

Now I just have to get through about 5 hours of work, make it to the airport without running over someone with my ridiculous suitcase, and get home. Admittedly, I feel a little guilty about taking two whole weeks off of work--especially since I have more than one co-worker who only took off one day. But if I wasn't going home to see both of my parents in both Boulder and Crawford, I would probably, in all seriousness, have a nervous breakdown.

Sometimes you just need to go home.

Things I'm most excited about:
Throwing the ball for Buster and being rewarded by having him wake me up the next day with his cold scratch paws on my face.
Walter's saggy kitty belly.
Last minute Christmas Shopping and seeing a movie in an actual movie theater with Dad.
Making Quiche and Cuban Sandwiches with Mom, spending money we don't have on things we don't need, putting together a puzzle.
Eating at Tacomania, PieWorks, and Oyster Bar in Shreveport with Kacie, Seth (if he'll come), Kristin, and Jason.
Reading "Born Standing Up" out loud to Tim on the drive to Plano.
Going to the Blue Parrot with my G-mom.
Maybe, just maybe, Tea and Dessert with Trina and Emily.
AND the White Elephant: bad gifts, drunk old people, and Gallob cooking. Can't beat it.

Perfweetumble

moar funny pictures

Just two more days until I get to go home!! Until then I'm keeping myself occupied with company parties (today was the fourth one) and Wii.

Tim left me yesterday morning and I'm here all alone for the first time. In a way, I love it because I absolutely LOVE being alone in an apartment or house. Maybe that comes from being both an only child and a latch-key kid. Anyway, it's great. In the other, more expected way, it totally sucks because, well, Tim's not here.

Before he left though, we went to see the movie Juno and it was... there isn't even a word for what it was. I guess it was humbly, sweetly, perfect. Perfweetumble. I love any movie with characters with whom I would want to share a house. I wanted to live with all of the characters and watch them talk to each other all day. Except Jennifer Garner, who I pretty much always want to keep at a distance for some--not mean, but sort of instinctual--reason.

Anyway, I've been trying to devise some sort of contraption that will water my plants for me while I'm gone. If anyone has any ideas that don't involve giving a stranger a house key, let me know.

Dance Hall Days Love...

Woke up with a Wang Chung song in my head. That's a good sign.

Tim and I couldn't afford/didn't have room for a Christmas tree this year so we decorated all of my plants with ornaments and lights, creating a festive "Holiday Nook." It's very cheery and bohemian. We also bought Christmas stockings--mine is green velvet with an embroidered cardinal and Tim's is fuzzy like one of those Santa hats--it feels very much like playing house. Even though, you know, we've lived together for two years now...

There aren't any presents under the tree yet because I'm waiting to wrap them until he's in class. Also, I pretty much plan to make a huge mess and wrap a million presents at once, which is one of my favorite things to do on earth.

Tim's been awake for the past 28 hours, writing his paper and driving me out to a Target in Falls Church, Virginia, with a whole lot of season 2 of LOST in between. He's got this one last paper and one final before he's done with this semester. It's very weird. It's also weird that even though he's going to have a major schedule change and it's kind of a milestone, finishing his first semester of graduate school... I'm stilling going to work every day the same as usual. This is kind of like a test for me to see if I'm ready for consistency. I don't know. I'm not jealous of Tim's all-nighters, but I am jealous of his 4-week vacation. Suddenly, a 20-page paper or three doesn't sound like a bad trade for 20 days off.

Maybe.

I'm baking Chocolate Cherry Bread, thanks to Tim's Grandparents, and the whole apartment smells WONDERFUL.

On an unrelated note: I found a 3 prong antler in the snow outside of my building, which is completely, completely weird and unexpected. But oddly, the fact that something weird and unexpected happened... is not.

Snow Bubble

Now, before you make fun of me for being from Colorado and being "used to it" let me kindly remind you that I've been living in Louisiana for five years now AND that I moved there precisely because I wanted to get away from snow.

Well, in my first Louisiana winter I learned that I'm an idiot, because 32 degrees and snowing is a whole different miserable bunny slope than 32 degrees and raining. Not to mention that a 104 degree summer in Colorado is a glorious summer compared with a 104 degree summer in Louisiana where it's so oppressive it should be illegal.

All of that to get to this: I just had my first walk home from work in the snow. It. Is. Snowing. With a capital "S." After five years of not really seeing snow (even at Christmas in Colorado, it was really too dry to actively snow), today I saw tiny snow, haily snow, puffy snow, lazy snow, blowy snow and wet snow ALL IN ONE DAY. This place is crazy.

And apparently, so am I. I HAVE NO WINTER APPROPRIATE SHOES. Not one pair. And especially not a pair that are winter AND work appropriate. I went to the stupid shoe store after work and forgot that I live in a city now where everything costs $100 more than I can afford--and so, I will be wearing my Airwalks to work tomorrow. If I lose a toe to frostbite, I'm sending the bill to Wachovia, for making me repay my loans so damn early.

And that's that.

TiVo your life and replay the good bits

I am not lazy. I am preoccupied with relaxing. And thus, I haven't written a single word about a trip to San Francisco, house guests from far and away, the bizarre and unexpected pleasures and pains of life spent at a desk, or Lars and the Real Girl.

I either have amazing guests who give me an excuse to cook ridiculous food and make my life generally better and happier. Or I take baths, I watch The Simpsons, I read in bed and do dishes. I walk to the metro in uncomfortable shoes and I don't write write in my Blog because it seems... time consuming and maybe a little forced.

I'm thinking about the Peace Corps.
I have two weeks off for Christmas because my boss is a saint.
My first student loan repayment is due in a week and a half.

And if I could get you something for Christmas I'd bake you some cookies, pick out a book, a movie and a DVD you might like, maybe some slippers for you, I'd paint you a small painting and I'd give you a framed picture of us at a party.

I'm glad the holidays are here.