what I've read at work today

·         The rest of my book.

·         An entire magazine

·         The latest city pages

·         The latest downtown journal

·         Copious NPR articles

·         Lots and lots and lots of blog posts from various origins

Number of phone calls taken:

·         14

Sometimes it’s just luscious being a temp.

surf blocker

Oh, surf blocker at work.  You just failed big time.  Giving me access to RealSimple.com could cost you millions in productivity.  Mwahahahah!

gratitude redux

I’ve been reading Mary Karr’s Lit the last week or so.  And what’s struck me the most is that despite her reticence to believe in a higher power, once she started praying about her sobriety, things started to come together.  And the largest bulk of her prayer was gratitude.  Despite my 7pm nightly alarm reminding myself, “what are you grateful for today?,” I have fallen off the wagon, just as my protagonist has climbed on.

But today, like most days, I have lots to be grateful for.  But today, it’s crystal clear.

Today, my contract at Rust was extended til March 18, more than 3 additional weeks.

Today, after my hellish President’s day, I got word that my engine repair is covered under warranty, and that it will be fixed with no cost to me.

I can’t tell you how blessed I feel right now, to get both of these pieces of information during the same 15 minute break.  And they trigger a whole new list of things I am grateful for: I am grateful for my dad and his stalwartness, I’m grateful for Sean’s job because it means I can quit my paper route (finally).  I am grateful for clear sunny days.  I am grateful that even when I am not actively praying, when I am not looking on the proverbial sunny side, someone else is.

Today is truly a breakthrough day.  And for that, I am grateful.

so the day has come

After a hellish day yesterday.  I bit the bullet.  I quit my paper route.  And it feels fantastic.  No more getting up before the crack of dawn.  No more weekends working.  No more missed Sunday services, or postponed social engagements due to the fact that I’m worthless after 8pm.

I slept from 8pm til 7am this morning.

And it felt even better than I imagined.

Here’s hoping they extend my contract at Rust!

note to self

Check this place out.  Highly recommened by Wide Lawns:

I'm a poet and I don't even know it

Today's status;

This week I got out my rollerblades.  This weekend I'll get out my skis.  Oh MN, you never cease to tease.

Interestingly enough, this arose from editing down some thoughts, and I didn't realize it rhymed til after I posted it.  So does that mean one of the biggest differences between narrative and poetry is editing?  Things to ponder.

In other news:  I am officially down to 230.  I've lost a pant size and added a belt hole on the "good side".  I still only half way there at best, but, as they say, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Oh MN weather. You had me fooled. It's amazing how 4 months of hardiness evaporates in two sunny 40 degree days. You are a cruel mistress. But you won't fool me twice.

my open letter

A conversation on Facebook

Status update:

Dear Potholes,

Please don't eat my car. I need it.

Much love,

R

7 friends like this.


Comments:

My 12-year-old brother-in-law’s response:

Dear R,

we appreciate your feed back, we will attempt too fix your problem within 24 hours, thanks much


Potholes

I am even more impressed with the style, not to mention humor, of this exchange, considering the vast majority of this posts are in all caps, text speak, and include extra letters (i.e. hooorrraaayy ffooorrr mmeeeee!).  After all, he is only twelve.  Kudos, P!

books update

Just finished: The Help by Katherine Sockett.  So so good.  And a happy ending.

Now reading: The cookbook collector on audiobook and Lit by Mary Karr.

Total books read so far: 8

For those keeping score, that's 4 books/month and I still have the better part of two weeks left, and two books well underway!  Go me and my literacy!

Am wondering if I should maybe set a goal of how many to read by the end of the year?  Thoughts?

This morning when I parked my car, the snow bank blocked the door. This afternoon, the door sailed cleanly over. This, my friends, is progress.

Valentine's day

This morning’s status update after delivering papers:

“All we really need is love.  But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” –Charles Schulz

What I found when I then proceeded to walk into the bedroom:

A big heart shaped box full of Hershey’s kisses.

And here he’d told me just before we left this morning, that he had to run inside because he “forgot” his phone.

My ass ;)

email to my hubby

From: wifey
Sent: Monday, February 14, 2011 8:56 AM
To: ‘hubby’
Subject: happy V-day

As part of your present (yes I did say part), I’m sending you something I hope will make you smile:

http://thatsnotaparkingspotasshole.blogspot.com/

It kind of makes me wonder why we didn’t think of this earlier.

x-*

Friday

Today is my day to make my list of things that I want to get done this weekend:

Clean up for Monday

Grocery shopping

Straighten bedroom

Clean out car

Library

Finish chandelier

Sweep and mop bathroom/kitchen

Read age old newspapers

Brush cat

Mail out sales

Vacuum

Yadda

Yadda

Yadda

More often than not though, it turns into the list of Things To Be Ignored.

I am currently campaigning for a two-weekend week (one for relaxing, one for being productive).  But until that happens, I’m going to try this trick my co-worker suggested.  I’m going to make two lists.  One will be a master list of my projects I want to tackle.  The other of what I’m prioritizing for this weekend.  Ideally this will probably only be about 3 tasks.  Otherwise, how will I relax?!

I’m liking this idea more and more.  Report to come about how well it works.

book log

Finished: Hedge Fund Wives – I really really enjoyed Guilding Lily, so I was really looking forward to this one, but it fell a little flat.  It wasn’t terrible, but it just felt predictable and like the author had another story arc she was going to do, but ran out of time, so just decided to jump ahead 4 years to the conclusion.

Currently:  The Help by Kathryn Stockett

So far, really really excellent.  I find I tend to like books that are told from different perspectives or periods in time so that you have to fit the pieces together.  This is definitely a book I’ve needed to make notes on characters, themes, etc.  Only about 50 pages in and I’m hooked.

5 years

A long time ago, I met a boy who was visiting a friend of mine from out of state.  He was devastatling handsome, and a flirt, and thought I was beautiful, elegant and sexy.  I was 17, and he was 16.  We got to emailing, and then talking, and eventually, over a year later, he was my date to the senior prom.  I loved him deeply, and I thought, one day, we would get married.

But like most parts of the life you envision for yourself at 19, things don't always work out that way.  For 5 years, we dated long distance.  I would go there in the summer, and he would come here at New Years.  We snuck in other visits when we could.  We talked on the phone every night.  He was my first.

Eventually I met the man I would marry.  And I realized all the things that were missing from my long-distance relationship: we lived separate lives, our paths headed in different directions.  It was no ones fault, just a symptom of the set-up.  I made an extremely difficult decision, and ended things with my out-of-state boyfriend.  Two months later, I was engaged.

I love my husband more than anything in this world.  Things aren't perfect, but they never are.  And I don't regret a single decision I've made.

But I still think of him.  Not everyday.  Maybe not even every month.  But often enough for a married woman.  And I repeat in my head the words I wrote to him in my last letter: "I wish you the very best.  And I hope someday you will understand.  If I have to be the bitch until that day comes, I accept it.  Because I know you will make someone the very best husband and father."

Today I discovered that he is engaged.  Facebook is amazing that way.  She is tall and a little bit round, with a beautiful smile and long, blonde curly hair.  And although it still makes me kind of sad,  I am so, so happy for him.  He deserves it, and I wish them all the best.

I don't know that I'll ever get the chance to say all this him.  Despite all our memories together, things did not end so kindly.  So I'm writing them here, in the hopes that somehow by sending them into the ether, he will get my blessings, and not care who they're from.

Charity

My husband works early on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays.  So early in fact that sometimes he's up earlier than I am for the paper route, so I get up a few minutes earlier so I can run him to the train.  This has the domino effect of me finishing my route up early, since I"m already up and out the door, might as well head to "work".  This morning was one of those days.  So I'm running along, slinging papers, running about 30 minutes ahead of schedule, and it's a balmy 28 degrees out at about 5:30am.  I get to one of my customers house, where I walk up a flight of snow and ice covered stairs, up a winding path to deliver the paper.  I hate this house.  I'm sure that the person who lives here is physically unable to keep the sidewalk and stairs clear, but it means that every snow fall, the stairs get worse and worse.  I am probably the only one who usese them; I'm sure the mail main crosses the yard from one house to another.  And I found myslef wishing for the millionth time that some neighborly-person would please shovel these stairs!  They had been shoveled out in storm we had back in December, but doubtful since then, and the steps we slowly moving from right-angled to obstus angled.

And then it occured to me.

I had 30 minutes to spare.  It was a warm morning, where the ice would probably come loose.  And I had a shovel in my car, at the ready.

So I decided to be my own change in the world, and I shoveled the stairs.  It felt good.  I was completing a task unbidden.  And although they're not completely clean, I'm now less concerned that I would hurt myself some dark morning.  I might even put some sand and salt down when I come through tomorrow.

But it begged the question:  Is charity still charity if it's in your favor?

I mean, I probably wouldn't have done this for a non-customer because I wouldn't have noticed.  And like I said, no one probably uses those stairs but me.  I didn't even shovel the sidewalk because it felt unneccesary.  But the idea of the homeowner looking outside and seeing the steps clear and wondering, "who did that?" makes me smile.

What do you think?  Would you have done the same?

Books read so far in 2011: 6

So I just finished reading One Day by David Nicholls.  Not only was the narrative created in an unusual way, with each chapter taking place exactly a year after the last.  Every year on July 15, starting in 1988 when Emma and Dex spend a night together after graduation, we get a snapshot of their lives, where they're at with each other, and thier own lives.  How things have changed, and how they've stayed the same.  For the majority of the book, we're made to believe we know all about "that first night", but toward the end, it flashes back to more storyline from that first day that puts an entirely different perspective on things.  Moving, unusual, and haunting are what come to mind.  I highly recommend it.

next up: A whole ton of books.  I have about 12 out from the library now (plus cds) because the suspensions I'd placed over the holidays expired and I forgot to re-suspend them.  Guess I'm going to be busy.

Currently:  Hedge Fund Wives by Tatiana Boncampagni -- so far I'm not enjoying the voice of the book as well as in Guilding Lily, but it promises to be entertaining, if not deep and introspective.

Also: Keep the Change, The Cookbook Collector, Lit, The Help, Not Buying it, The Girl Who Played Go, The Invisible Circus plus a whole bunch of cookbooks.  Stay Tuned!

The biggest word you've ever heard, and this is how it goes . . .

I’m not sure which is more amazing.  That the spell checked in my word processer has the word “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” in it, or that I spelled it right on the first try.

Technology:       1

Me:                   1

 

books update

Finished: the year of eating dangerously

In progress: One Day by David Nicholls