The Beauty and the Mess

Okay, I know I'm stupid for having to ask this, but can someone explain how to download a (free) font from a website? All fonts are zipped now, it seems, and I don't know how to unzip them. I've tried opening them, extracting them to the fonts folder, and everything else I can think of. They never show up in Word. I need some weddingy font choices for my invitations and at this rate I'll have to use Arial. Please reply and use small words. Thank you.

Yesterday was not the greatest day. We're in the midst of a mind-numbing data entry project at work, which has caused my tendonitis to flare up again from all the tabbing over. Tendonitis is one of the most annoying sensations I know of. It's not so much a pain as a sort of nonstop painful itch inside my arm. I can't be wimpy and beg off the project, so I just have to put up with it. I have my arm brace on, though, and it's helping a little. At least I have a nice long computerless week coming up soon.

On the positive side, we booked a fantastic photographer last night. My mom and I met with him and are both very excited about him. He's very talented and organized. Now all we need is a florist. God is really bringing this wedding together. Yay God! :) After the photographer meeting, we met up with my dad and Evan for dinner, which was a nice surprise. Then Evan and I went to the library. To my excitement they had Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities, and I'm already about halfway through it. I am simultaneously fascinated and disturbed, and feeling more thankful than ever that I didn't go that route.

The weather is absolutely amazing. Today's high is 79. I have never gotten an early fall as a birthday present before, but I'm loving it. :) Also I'm having lunch with my friend Kristin today, which might help alleviate the restlessness I've been feeling all week. Evan feels similarly bored. I don't know what's wrong with us. We have a nice action-packed weekend coming up, though! I'm so excited about the Olympics starting tomorrow. I love the Olympics. I still have a tape of the 1998 figure-skating long program with Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski. I think I'll tape the gymnastics this year since it's my favorite of the summer events. Go USA!

I'm back! I was without a computer from yesterday until about 11 am today. It was a long morning...it looks to be a long afternoon, too. I got to leave a little early yesterday since there was nothing for us to do, so I headed to the library. They have a new discards bookstore that I'd never been in because it's only open in the daytime. Well, it's awesome! I got several books for a few dollars (including A Severe Mercy, which I've wanted to read forever) and a Chris Rice CD for one dollar. Woo hoo!

Tonight a girl from the RUF New Class is having a cookout. Casey and Alli told me about it and assured me that Evan and I were invited, so we're going to go. It should be fun, although we're pretty out of touch with their group. Our friend Chris is forever talking to me about these RUF girls as if I know them, and I have to remind him I don't have a clue who he's talking about. It's strange to be old. :) Speaking of Chris, the other day after church we were talking about kids' names and we decided he should name his future son Walker. Because Walker Texas Ranger Jones is the coolest name ever! I think you'd have to know Chris to understand why that's so funny.

My hands are hurting from typing a bunch of labels on the typewriter earlier. Someone came by and said, "It's funny to see someone using one of those things." Good grief, is it that primitive? I typed all my high school papers (and stories) on my Smith-Corona. I didn't have a PC until I was in college. Sigh.

Okay, done crowding your friends page now. :)

Hey, check out my U of M icon! anulyra made it for me. Isn't she awesome?

God is so gracious even in unimportant things. Evan got to come to Wednesday Lunch today. I prayed fervently that my weekly conference call wouldn't be moved to 11:30, because it sometimes is, and then I am late or don't make it to lunch at all. Not only was it not moved, but it was also cancelled! So I got to meet him and the rest of the crew in a leisurely manner. :) We had a funny conversation which aardwolf is supposed to post about. If he doesn't, I'll do it myself later.

My dad gave me a tennis-elbow bracey thing for my tendonitis- just a band that wraps around my arm. It's itchy, but it stops the pain much better than the wrist brace. Weird. Last night my knee muscles hurt a lot, I guess due to the temperature change, so Evan gave me a knee massage. Isn't that sweet? Unfortunately we found out that even my knees are ticklish. I couldn't stop laughing. It was fun and horrible. :) In the end I had to play with the cat while he worked, to take my mind off the tickling. We also watched the news, which was having its weekly Campus Crime report. Almost every high school had had an episode of some kind. At my wonderful alma mater, a student had been caught with a .25 caliber pistol.

Me: See, this is why I don't want to send my kids to public school. The safety issue alone...
Evan: Yes, but it doesn't matter if the other kid has a gun, as long as your kid has a gun too!
Me: Oh, that's a great solution.
Evan: It is. We give all the kids guns. Then they'll be too afraid to shoot anyone because they know they'll get shot themselves.
Me (later): This is why you can never run for mayor.

LOL.

( Primeros y Ultimos )

Well, the sun is gone again and the clouds are back. Also, it's 20 degrees colder than it was yesterday. Don't you love these daily weather reports? :) Evan just called to tell me about something he heard on Rock 103 in parody of Memphis weathermen: an announcer, accompanied by rushing wind sounds, saying "White Death 2003: Attention all people. It is going to get cold. Calm the ** down." LOL. As Jon Stewart would say, it's the Storm of the Century of the Week. But without a storm.

New icon. I'm loving the 15 icons thing.

I have been working on my webpage a lot this week, which has resulted in tendonitis symptoms in my right wrist. This is the first week I've been able to type without a brace on my left arm. Needless to say, I am annoyed. I've heard that once you have such problems on one side, you'll inevitably have them on the other, but I was hoping I'd be an exception. My boss has agreed to let me order an ergonomic keyboard, so that might help. By the way, have you noticed that the operators in the Matrix movies (Tank, Link, et al) are always wearing glove-type things? Maybe they're braces for their carpal tunnel syndrome. I analyze things too much.

Debra's coming home this weekend! The guys and I are going to hang out with her tonight at the house. Woo hoo.

Since everyone seems so poll-happy lately, I might as well make a poll too. ( Here you go. :) )

Happy birthday, joy_unspeakable and jjustj! I'm glad to know you both. Wow, lots of October birthdays around here.

Today I am very tired. I went home yesterday and cleaned for two and a half hours. Then I exercised. Then I watched the Dolphins play the Chargers while working on a project. All night I was overemotional about different things- the San Diego fires, the bleach spot on my shirt, my weight, etc. Just before bed I had to take one of my 800 mg ibuprofen for my wrist. I read the information and got seriously freaked out at all the possible side effects. I did not want to take it, but I knew I had to, so I did. It was not a good night. Tonight will be better- it's my McAlister's With Ryan night, I don't have to clean anything, and I get to see Evan. The longer we're together, the more I miss him when we're not together. I am very pathetic.

I still haven't called my long-lost friend Miriam, with whom I reconnected a couple of weeks ago. If I don't call her soon, she'll forget about our meeting or think I don't want to talk to her. I'd like to hang out, it's just hard to fit someone from the past into my current life. I don't know how much fun she'd have with my friends.

My co-worker gave me a bag of candy corn and peanuts this morning. If you eat them together, it tastes like a Pay Day bar. I had never heard of this before, but it's pretty tasty.

I got the REM Greatest Hits CD. The packaging is complicated but cool.

Gee...I wonder if anyone would notice me napping. :)

Daily Wrist Update: Slightly better today. By the time I left yesterday, I was in so much pain I could hardly think about anything else. Since it was Tuesday, Ryan came over after work. We ate dinner at McAlister's to avoid creating more dirty dishes. Then we went to Turtle's Music and browsed for an hour or so. It was fun- just the break I needed. I got the new Ingram Hill CD, and an old favorite Mindy McCready CD from the three-dollar bin. Yeah, I'm not supposed to buy stuff anymore. Old habits die hard.

I recommend everyone check out Ingram Hill if you haven't heard of them (which you haven't if you don't live in the Memphis area). They have a great sound..sort of bluesy rock. The drummer was in band with me for several years, though he wouldn't remember me now, and the other members were in Evan's high school English class. They're the first local band I've really been into. Long ago, they were a Barenaked Ladies cover band called the Bamboozlers. Evan says people would throw Ronco noodles onto the stage at their shows, just like people throw Kraft macaroni at BNL concerts. :) Thus endeth my music history lesson for the day.

Lately I've rediscovered my old fondness for country music (middle of the road, not the really twangy kind). It seems like most of the happy, uplifting "secular" songs are country. My usual alternative-ish music tends to be kind of angsty. I guess life changes can produce music changes.

A few minutes ago Ryan's roommate called me. He just wanted directions to a Bible study, but when he said "This is Ryan's roommate" I was like Oh my gosh, something's happened to Ryan. I hate panicky moments like that.

I am thankful for my friends.

( Sorry for the quizilla, but I really liked this one. )

Happy birthday cafemusique! Have a great day! :)

I am in serious pain in my wrist, even after typing with my brace on all day. I just made a doctor's appointment. It's not until next Monday. Ouch.

Last night I wanted to make fried rice for Evan. I went to Kroger armed with a list. When I arrived at my door, I suddenly realized I had bought everything except the rice. I'm such a genius. He was understanding about it, and I made a frittata instead, so everything worked out.

Another reason why I love my sister so much: she's nuts. Here's an e-mail I got from her:

I love the hermana! I hope you are having a magnificent afternoon. I LOVE THE HERMANA!!!!!!! NO BOZOS!!!!!!!!!! ONLY HERMANAS!!!!!!!!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana numero dos

Okay, no more typing for me.

My wrist hurts. It is not fun. Lawson says I probably have tendonitis rather than carpal tunnel syndrome, so that's a little comforting. I really ought to go to the doctor. I don't like going to the doctor.

After Wednesday lunch today, helenangel and I had a great time wandering around the office looking for a box, which Helen dubbed "Happy Fun Box" in honor of the classic SNL sketch Happy Fun Ball. Of course, this caused us to go off on a tangent of, "Happy Fun Box contains a radioactive substance which must not be exposed. Do not taunt Happy Fun Box." Sadly, we were unable to locate Happy Fun Box, so we came back to my department and told my co-workers the story. They said, "What did you have for lunch?" :) Helen is fun. I'm glad to know her.

I found out that REM is releasing a greatest-hits CD at the end of October! I'm so excited. This will eliminate my need to buy all 283 of their albums (now that I don't download anymore).

Although I'm a Florida native, I'm rooting for the Cubs, and last night's debacle made me very mad. Here's a great article about it. I don't feel at all bad about rooting for the Cubs, because I usually root for the underdog, and my boyfriend is a Chicagoan. :) I would love to see a Cubs-Red Sox World Series, just for the miraculousness. But that seems unlikely now.

I took this picture from jessecho's car in June. I just wanted to show that I've been where the action is. :) My thoughts are with my California friends today. I hear a lot of buzz about McClintock. Maybe he'll win instead of Mr. "Vote for me if you want to live."

I think it would be fun to travel to all of the state capitals. I mean, a lot of people try to visit every monument, or every national park, or something, but no one tries to visit all the state capitals.

As I said earlier, I have to attend a business conference for the next couple of days, so I'll be MIA until Friday, unless something important happens. We have to read this book called Influence. It's actually pretty interesting. It must be because it was written by a psychologist and not a businessperson. :) I still haven't decided whether to go to the reception tonight or not. Only a couple of people from my department are going.

Hey, remember the other day when I joked about having carpal tunnel syndrome? Well, guess what. Apparently it wasn't a joke. :( Yesterday my hand and arm went semi-numb for several hours at work. I got scared, so I called my dad and researched the symptoms, and that's the verdict. Now I have to go to the doctor, so they can give me a wrist brace to use when it acts up. I also raised my chair and switched to a different wrist rest, and that seems to have helped today. With all the typing I do, it's just a wonder this didn't happen sooner. But I still, you know, like to feel my arm. :P