The Beauty and the Mess

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!

anulyra asked me what the heck this icon meant, and I bet a lot of you are wondering the same thing. ( I cut it in case someone hasn't finished Lord of the Rings yet. )

Only a couple of hours until the long hair goes bye-bye. Why do I have such mixed feelings about this? It's just hair. And it's not like I'm getting a bob. Sheesh.

If John Mayer had been an office drone, the song would have gone "Why, Monday, why?"

For the most part, this weekend was pretty relaxing. It was the first one in a long time that wasn't planned out beforehand. I spent a good chunk of it sitting by the window with a glass of tea reading Eragon. I also took two long walks because the weather was beautiful. On Friday night Evan and I saw Miracle, which was great. It's hard to believe that was a real story! If someone had made it up, all the critics would have said it was cheesy and formulaic- the coach chasing down the dream he lost, the ragtag bunch of players becoming a team, the unlikely win. But it was all real. Wow! On Saturday night, we watched Lost In Translation with Ryan. My main reaction to it is still, "Huh." It's extremely artsy and unusual, and I'm sure there were many other layers of meaning that I didn't get. There were some scenes and themes that I didn't like, but overall it was an interesting movie.

Oh, and I also slept a lot this weekend. Which was good, since I was feeling a little emotionally unstable. On Sunday afternoon, I went outside to take pictures of the azaleas. Gandalf played in the stairwell, and when I was done, I put my camera in my pocket and carried him up the (carpeted) stairs. At the top of the landing, the camera fell out and down the stairs. I rushed down to get it, and when I tried to turn it on, the lens wouldn't move. Major freak-out time. I called Evan, crying that I had broken my camera. Once I collected myself, I tried it again and it worked. So I guess it's okay, but I was ashamed of myself for breaking down like that. Evan is so great. He's very patient and knows just how to deal with me. I'm so blessed that he continues to put up with me. :)

Sunday school was funny this week. Ashley was teaching and he'd had a rough work week, so we had a Bible quiz of sorts. In one trick section, the answers could be from the Bible or Lord of the Rings. I correctly identified Hasufel as a horse of Rohan and not a Bible character, and everyone was awed at my dorkiness. I told Ashley that my friends would be here next week and would expect a good lesson, so the pressure's on. :) Only four days until Jessica, Jonathan and Dania arrive! Can you believe it?

( Talking about myself in the third person. )

Finally, a quiet moment. I better seize it. :P

So yesterday was my four-monthiversary. Evan and I had lunch. We didn't think we'd have any other time together, since he was supposed to have a class from 6-9. It was cancelled, though (on the first day), so he got to go watch Chasing Liberty with Debs and I. (I was surprised that he was willing to see it, but he was determined to have a monthiversary activity.) I really enjoyed the movie. The scenery was beautiful. It made me regret that I didn't spend my college-age years backpacking through Europe. I suggested to Evan that we go to Venice for our five-monthiversary. He laughed. I can't imagine why.

Debra went back to Nashville today. I'm sad. Thus endeth my female companionship.

The other day I started listening to Room for Squares again, after leaving it alone for a few months. I know some of you don't like John Mayer because of his overly breathy delivery. I find it annoying, too, but his songs are just wonderful. I enjoy his romantic songs even more now. :)

Random items I have been pondering: Why do the stars seem closer and clearer in wintertime? What causes deja vu (and don't say when they change something in the Matrix)? Why is my neighboring apartment still vacant after ten months?

My attempt to eat healthier is going well...I think. I had a Doubletree cookie today because they were giving them away downstairs, but that's my first major splurge in a while. I've been eating a lot of vegetables and drinking diet drinks instead of regular. I feel lighter. Of course, I don't own a scale, so I have no way of knowing how I'm doing. What kind of weirdo goes on a diet without a scale? :) Last night I ate with my family at a new restaurant, Firebirds. It gets my seal of approval- the menu items are unusual in a good way. I had a salmon salad that was to die for. Maybe we can go there when the California crew comes to visit.

Finally, why dakoda is one of my favorite people: "Danny and Kitchie came up with this idea for there to be cell phones all throughout LOTR...they talked about how Gandalf, being all old, would have one of those ancient cell phones that are huge, and then when Gandalf says in ROTK that Frodo has passed beyond his sight, he'd say "Frodo has passed beyond my service range." And then Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas would talk about the roaming expenses on their phones, because they're running all over Middle-Earth. And then with Frodo and Sam, Frodo would exceed his free minutes, and he'd be like "Sam, it's all over now....I've used up all of my minutes!" and Samwise will go "Here, take mine Mr. Frodo, I've got free nights and weekends."

Happy late birthday, chattyfingers and lifeofbrian and thetenthshadow!

Welcome, Christmas week. It feels too soon. I'm not ready for the holidays to be over. On the other hand, I feel a little like Charlie Brown. Why must we be so commercialized? Why couldn't I have just baked cookies for my friends and played Christmas carols on my flute or something? Instead I am scrambling to buy presents I'm not sure about with money I don't really have. On my lunch break I wrapped a large present in the backseat of my car, which is something I hope to never, ever have to do again. Don't ask.

My work friend Nina brought me a small pineapple cake, and I keep munching on it. It is as the waybread of the Elves to me.

So what did I do this weekend? On Friday night I took Evan to the airport. He didn't have room to take the gingerbread men I had made for him, which made both of us even more depressed. After our sad parting at the security check, I went home, and soon Em arrived to cheer me up. We and Kathy sat and talked and drank tea as in the KEBhouse of old. The next day, we went to the wedding of our friend Jessie. She was a beautiful bride. It was fun, but I missed Evan. When the reception was over, I went to see ROTK again with Myla because she hadn't been yet. It was still great, but I think I'm done for a while. ( I noticed something new, though. )

On Sunday I played both services again, and had lunch with Debs and her church friends. Then we wanted to rent How to Deal, but none of the local video stores had it. So we sat around watching figure skating. I came home intending to exercise and get a lot done, but then I discovered Titanic was on, so that was the end of my usefulness. Then I called Evan, made sure he wasn't boarding any ill-fated cruise liners, and went to bed early. The end.

Happy Hanukkah! :)

I am back. Yesterday I stayed home. I got five hours' sleep, and in the morning I felt absolutely horrible. Just washing my face took all my energy; I had to get back in bed. I called in sick and went back to sleep. The phone woke me up at 11:30. I haven't slept that late since high school. Other than being sick, it was a nice day. Kathy was also home, being sick herself, and we wrapped presents (once we could sit up for more than five minutes). Debra brought me some of my dad's magical chicken soup. In the evening, Evan came over and we exchanged Christmas presents. He got me three books from my wishlist: Traveling Mercies, The Ragamuffin Gospel, and The Pleasures of God. I was so happy- he really put thought into the selection, and he also knew that no one ever gets books for me, so he did that instead of getting movies or CDs. He is so sweet and thoughtful and knows me so well. We watched Friends together, and this line resulted in much grinning and google-eyes:

Joey: Was it weird when you and Monica got together?
Chandler:...Actually, no. It was more like, "I can't believe we haven't been doing this the whole time."

Sadly, tonight I have to take my beloved to the airport, where he will board a plane for New Hampshire, which is very very far away. Happily, Em (not Santa Claus) is coming to town tonight, and there will be much girl talk and togetherness. So I'll survive.

We just had our annual departmental Christmas potluck. It was a nice break. For the past month or so, my job has been taking me to new, insane heights of stress. I have the usual support work for my bosses, plus a bunch of new data entry stuff, plus projects I'm doing myself, one of which is nightmarish. I'm starting to feel angry and tense eight hours a day. I guess this is normal for most working people, but I find it troubling. When the phone rings for the seventh time in an hour, and it's the same client who called the other six times, and I want to rip the phone out of the wall and throw it down the stairs, I start to worry about myself. :(

( My unorganized review of ROTK, and the Friday Five. )

It's an exciting day around the office- my friend Cortney is engaged! Her boyfriend proposed yesterday; it was her birthday. I'm so excited for her. For a couple of weeks, I've had a gut feeling that another girl I knew would be engaged before the year was out. So it's good to know who it was. Of course, it could still be one of you. :) 2004 is officially going to be the Year of Weddings. It's great that I can be excited about other people's engagements now, without that underlying fear and sadness that it will never happen to me. Sometimes I still can't believe I have been so blessed. Even if I don't get any presents this year, I already have everything I want for Christmas. :) Sorry if this makes anyone sad. I just can't help but gush sometimes. (Edit: Just to clarify, I am not engaged. I am simply a girl in a happy dating relationship who knows, so far, four couples getting married in 2004.)

Yesterday I was suddenly, strangely exhausted. It was like someone had taken an Energy Vacuum and sucked the life right out of me. I had to rest in the middle of doing dishes. I fell asleep at 8:00 while Evan was there. This morning wasn't much better, till I had coffee. I hope I'm not getting the Dreaded Flu.

tingilya asked about everyone's top five albums of 2003. ( I cheated and picked six. )

I'm sure everyone is tired about hearing about ROTK, but have you heard how long this movie is? Three hours and forty minutes. That confirmed it- no midnight showing for me. Evan and I are going to the 8:00 show tomorrow night. I can wait one more day. I'm anxious, though. Please, Peter Jackson, don't butcher my favorite book of all time.

Friday is good! All hail Friday! Especially when it's a jeans day.

Cold weather is finally here, and it's invigorating. For some reason I am really ready for winter and the holidays this year. In a couple of weeks, things will get busy. I got an update from my mother yesterday re: our Texas Thanksgiving trip, and it wasn't good news. Apparently our family never actually invited us for Thanksgiving. But we still have to go because of my cousin's wedding on the 29th, so I suggested we just have Thanksgiving here and then drive down on Friday. My dad vetoed this plan. So now we're driving 15 hours (each way) to see people who don't even want to see us. I have no idea why we're the redheaded stepchildren of the family. (Incidentally, I'm fairly sure that if/when I get married, none of these people will come.) When I could have had a much-needed fun, long weekend, I am now going to have five days of nonstop annoyance and stress. However, there's nothing I can do about it, so I just pray that God uses it in a good way. In the meantime I'm going to try to forget about it.

I'm excited about Lawson's party tonight. Evan is also excited about meeting some of you people.

Target is currently having a huge sale on several new CDs. The new Sheryl Crow and Sarah McLachlan are $12 apiece. I was sorely tempted. Also, Ghostbusters and Rudy are both $7.50 on DVD. If any Target employees are reading this, I'd be happy to do more of this sort of promotion for store credit. :)

After 274347 days, I am finally done with Lord of Chaos and am now re-reading The Two Towers. It's amazing how that book never gets old; and also, how manageable it seems compared to Robert Jordan's books. Tolkien could say better in ten pages what RJ says in a hundred.

Have a good weekend, everyone! :D

I can't wait for Return of the King. I need to start re-reading, in preparation, but I'm still bogged down by Robert Jordan's Lord of Chaos. Incidentally, I think that's one of the coolest book titles ever. It lets everyone know that you're not a sissy. "What are you reading?" "Lord of Chaos." "Awesome." :)

Some bad news: Evan got in a wreck last night en route to my apartment. He was trying to cross Poplar from a side street with tall bushes- it's a major blind spot and I've always found it nerve-wracking- and pulled out too far and got hit by an oncoming Suburban. I'm so glad he wasn't hurt. There are a million ways it could have been so much worse, so I'm trying to look on the bright side. Amazingly the car is still driveable, but maybe not for long. If any of you hear of another $500 car for sale, please let me know.

Fridays are good.

( A Jessica survey: Families and Nice Things )