The Beauty and the Mess

Love is when you're not feeling well and your husband not only turns on the bed heater and fluffs the pillows for you, but also leaves a note on your pillow with your American Idol numbers so you won't forget who you wanted to vote for.

:)

(I meant to share that one earlier.)

Happy birthday Lisa!

Yay - Evan has his new (to him) car. He actually picked it up Tuesday night. It's a Metro like mine. His is a '94 and mine is a '99, but there's not much difference between them. They look exactly the same inside. This is the nicest car I've ever known him to have. It drives fairly smoothly and the air conditioning works! God has provided. I'm so thankful Evan doesn't have to drive the ticking time bomb anymore. Last night he washed both of our cars, and then we went to the library together. It's still so exciting to me that he likes going to the library as much as I do. Geek love.

Oh, speaking of geekiness, I saw a greeting card that had a picture of Gandalf (the wizard, not my cat) on the front, and said "Happy Birthday from Gandalf!" On the inside it said, "You actually got a little excited, didn't you? Man, what a geek!" Someone should get that for me.

I've been looking at different wordings for wedding invitations, and some of them are pretty funny. The best one I've found so far is "Mr. and Mrs. ___ invite you to witness a miracle - the marriage of their daughter ____!" I told Evan that was the most appropriate, given our history. Instead, he keeps suggesting things like "You are reluctantly invited..." LOL. I guess I'll stick with the traditional phrasing.

Target has those cute pink-and-black initial purses on sale. Of course, all they have is A, L, and R. They never have B! I've been looking forever for an initial purse, and the only one I've found was at Kohl's and it was kind of shoddy-looking. Hey Danielle- if you find a cute B purse in all your purse shopping, let me know. :)

Random observation: On American Idol, everyone kept saying how unique Fantasia was and how they'd never heard someone with her style. Well, I was listening to my 1998 Grammy Nominees CD last week, and you know who sounds exactly like Fantasia? Erykah Badu. Listen if you don't believe me. And where is she now? Weird. On another music note (ha ha), I've noticed all 3 Doors Down songs seem to lead to thoughts of Harry Potter. All those angsty songs about lonely, misunderstood heroes. Any one of them could go on the soundtrack.

So tomorrow my best friend is getting married. And then all the brides will be wives. Except for...(Elle Woods voice)....ME!!! LOL. Just kidding. Man, I'm spastic today. Maybe this is my brain's way of dealing with such a big event. Anyway, I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Hello. I'm hungry. Debra and I are going to Quizno's for lunch today! I haven't been in a few weeks and am very excited.

Book of the Week: I just finished Flabbergasted by Ray Blackston. It's Christian fiction, but not like any Christian novel I've ever read. I came across it at the library while looking for What a Girl Wants by Kristin Billerbeck (which they still don't have) and thought "Hmm, this looks interesting." It's fun and real, yet very intelligent. I recommend it to all of you, especially Danielle. According to his website, there are two sequels coming! Woo hoo. (Does anyone know where I can find a background like the one on his website? It's cool.)

That RUF CD I burned has hardly left my CD player this week. It's easier to focus on God when you're listening to hymns a lot, and the lyrics are so meaningful and well-written. Plus, there are such happy memories attached to most of the songs. I read a quote once that said something about how the people you sing with are your true friends. Well, I botched it up, but you get the idea.

I missed Clay on AI last night, but I called anulyra on my way home from band practice, and she gave me the play-by-play. The voting results were totally shocking. I won't say more, because then I'd have to use a cut and I'm tired of doing that for two sentences. Anyway, it was great to talk to Jen. I should call her more often. :)

Today I'm wearing lavender pants. I feel so daring. Now that my summer clothes are out, I intended to make this No Black Week at work in rebellion of corporate American fashion. But I just remembered that I wore a black skirt on Tuesday. Fie on me!

Oh, and yesterday marked eight months for me and Evan. :) I'm planning a really special date for us next month. Not a monthiversary thing, just a general thing. I'll tell once I have finalized it.

How is everyone's day? Mine isn't going so well. I've felt so irritable the last few days and wish I had more self-control. I am lethargic and don't feel like doing anything, including Pilates, which I skipped this morning even though Thursday is my designated skip day. And it's raining, so I can't walk tonight. Our church band director called to tell me there's a practice tonight, and I almost wanted to cry. Because of the flute trio, I have had one week off from band since March. Why are we already starting again? I love to play, but due to the half-hour drive each way, practices take up my entire evening. Everyone else lives right near the church, so it's not a big deal to them. Anyway, none of these are real problems, so I'm ashamed of feeling so aggravated.

I am completely horrified by the events in Iraq yesterday. I don't even have words.

On a cheerier note, if you've never seen the webpage When Office Supplies Attack, you really should. Especially if you work in an office. Some of the submissions are hilarious.

( American Idol )

Today is Wednesday, and not Tuesday! I'm so thrown off. Tonight I have flute practice (our trio is scheduled for Sunday morning) and then Evan and I will go to Free Scoop Night. I see it's gained quite a following. :) Ice cream: bringing people together. It couldn't be a better night for it, since my throat is still hurting. I'm trying to stave off the full sickness with Sudafed, but since these sinus attacks come every 2-3 months now, I know the signs. One of them is that I lose my appetite and only want cold drinky things like milkshakes and smoothies. It's weird. Anyway, Free Scoop Night is my personal kickoff to summer. Yay!

One thing I like about my job is getting to open hotels in our database system. I only get to do it once in a while because it's really my co-worker's job. Once I open a hotel, I send a notification e-mail to both of our corporate offices...thousands of people! It's the only time I ever feel powerful at work. Helen says I'm famous because of it. :)

Myla has invited me to go to Music Fest with her on Saturday to see Switchfoot. Sister Hazel, Fuel, Collective Soul, and Journey are also playing (some of them at the same time). The tickets aren't too expensive, so I'll probably go, but I'm not as thrilled about it as I was in years past. Crowds of drunk people are not my thing. Plus, it's hard to get very close to the stage. I hate shelling out money and then getting stuck a mile from the band I came to see. Oh well...I still have time to think about it.

( AI )

This morning I spent two hours at the eye doctor. It was my first visit to this guy; my parents go to church with him and most of the staff. Some of them weren't even aware that my parents had another daughter, which resurrected my feelings of guilt that I don't go to church with my family. Anyway, both of my eyes are exactly the same now, prescription-wise, which means that one of them has gotten a lot worse. My astigmatism is so bad that the doctor recommended some new lenses instead of Focus. He also warned me to watch for retina problems. :( Also, they used some anasthetic drops, and until a few minutes ago, I couldn't feel my eyeballs. It really freaked me out- I actually felt nauseous on my way back to work. I could never have LASIK.

Evan got a random call from his mom today. She says that whatever career path he decides to take, they'll be supportive. Even if that means going to mechanic school, or something similar, instead of finishing college. Isn't that great? He's kind of at a career crossroads right now, and I'm excited to see what he'll decide. He makes me proud. As Rachael says, yeah. I love him. :)

( My thoughts on American Idol, and a survey )

I'm tired today, probably because of the overcast weather. I've been sleeping more to get adjusted to Daylight Savings, but it doesn't matter how early I go to bed...my body still thinks it's 5 am when I wake up. There's no cure for that. :P

We have a nice neighborhood cat who occasionally stalks the door of our building, wanting to be let in. When I went home at lunch it was there, and it greeted me by cutely rubbing against my legs. I suddenly realized that every cat I've ever "met" has done this, except Gandalf. He never has, even when we first got him. What's up with that?

My last band practice before Easter is tonight. Also, I've been signed up to do a flute trio the first Sunday in May, so we'll be having rehearsals for that. It has a lot of tricky rhythms, and I am rhythm-illiterate. After thirteen years of playing, if it's any more fast/complicated than straight sixteenth notes, I have to have it clapped out for me. It's sad.

George was incredible on American Idol last night. His fan base seems to be growing weekly. I'm starting to wonder if he could actually win, and prove that America has taste. :)

I saw the most hilarious Sonic commercial last night. Two guys are in a car ordering low-carb wraps:
Guy 1: So you're doing the low-carb thing, huh?
Guy 2: Yeah...I'm doing some thing. I'm cutting back on my Vitamin E.
Guy 1: Vitamin E?
Guy 2: Everyone's cutting back on something. I figured Vitamin E was a good choice.

I made a poll about perfume, because it was on my mind. ( Follow your nose )

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm about 1/8 Irish and can wear the green proudly. Also, happy birthday to my Bun. He is 8 today, so he's now well into the golden years of bunnyhood. I can't go see him tonight since I have practice, but I always feel bad when I can't visit him on his birthday. Like he knows what day it is. :) We make a big deal of him on Easter, anyway.

Hair Woes: I'm really caught in the endless cycle of haircolor that I never wanted to enter. I'm still getting the red highlights and I love them. The problem is that they fade away pretty quickly and turn blonde, leaving me with brassy, uneven hair until I go back. My salon visits cost $70 apiece (cut and color) so I try to limit them to every two and a half to three months. (I hate waiting that long between trims, but it's easier than going two separate times.) This is an expensive habit, but I don't want to dye it all back...that would look so boring to me now. And I can't do it myself. It's just getting a little stressful to pay that much for hair. I switched to all color-protecting shampoos and stuff, so maybe that will help it last longer. I don't know what to do.

( American Idol )

Just a few nice bland items today:

Lay flat like a Polaroid picture.

I want to learn to crochet. I sort of learned in high school, but was never able to make more than a long strand or a weird blob of yarn. It seems relaxing and is something I could do anywhere, without carting a 50-pound container of supplies with me.

Last night's American Idol was truly awful. I voted for Lisa and Camile because they were the only enjoyable ones. Why did they put all the mediocre people in one group?

I have decided to give up fiction books for Lent. I won't go with the usual food sacrifices (I'm already being careful what I eat) or TV sacrifices (I watch three shows). Giving up novels will be hard for me, but not impossible, and it'll force me to attend to my theology books because I'll have nothing else to read. I'll probably find a bunch of biographies instead, but at least my intentions are good. Since deciding this, I went to the library and loaded up on novels I really want to read before my fast. Last night I started I Don't Know How She Does It (Danielle's recommendation). I like it, but it makes me feel sad and exhausted for the main character (a working mom). I pray my life will never resemble hers. Anyway, every year people wonder why I observe Lent since I'm Presbyterian. I started doing it in college to stay in sync with my Catholic friends, and since then I've decided a little annual sacrifice can't hurt. That's all.

I'm so anxious and moody today. I wish I could spend time with Bun. My throat hurts. I was supposed to be off from band practice tonight and next week, but now we're scheduled every week till Easter. The weather is beautiful outside and I'm missing it. Maybe I can go look out a window later and get my act together.