checking in

I got new glasses!


And, Annie got a new "purse" from some of my DC girls the other night. She hasn't destroyed it yet, which is pretty amazing. This is what she did to the rubber chicken I gave her the other day!

choices choices

Today was a crazy day. In a good way, of course but, still hectic.
I'm not going to give a run down, because it will make me more tired to talk about. There was lots of car time today, but I never pulled out my sock in progress. Chances are, I was just thinking too much and the Tall Guy and I were were talking too much for me to ever pull out knitting to work on.
Oh well.
Car shopping was mixed in with a wedding dress handoff/dinner with family and a going-away party for friends. We still don't know if this car situation will end up with my keeping Randy (that's my car) for another bit of time with a chunk of money invested OR if we'll go for new wheels. The top contenders for the day were the VW Jetta Wolfsburg edition (meaning tricked out!) and... well.. regardless of whether we end up with it or not.. I am completely in love with this car: This isn't the exact one, but it looks pretty close to what we drove. Mini, I liked you before today, having been in one before, but now. I think it may be lust. Spunky, fun to drive, turns on a dime, I love it.

ahh!

Alright.
Here's where I say, yes I've been trying to remain cool, calm and collected, but I'm sort of hitting my wall. So, I admit defeat. If you look at me funny I may cry. Or laugh, its hard to say today.
What I can tell you is that now, in the midst of work being crazy, wedding planning in its final stages (t-minus 15 days), my car is now toast. Well, not reallllly toast, but tired. In that way that it's already has so many issues, it's silly to get it fixed (which is another saga of 4+years ago).

So, tomorrow, in addition to a Going Away Party for friends moving to Italy, picking up stuff from the alterations place, getting my wedding dress and two other dresses to my Aunt and Uncle's house an hour away (dog + wedding dress, not really working in the same back seat next week), we will also be doing some car shopping. Seriously. So, in other comments that aren't my complaining about life, here are a few thoughts that I've had the past week and haven't had time to share...

• John Edwards: You suck. I always thought you did, now maybe more people will agree with me. Clearly not loving the person you're having an affair with AND having your wife in remission makes it all okay. Way to be a leader.
• Michael Phelps: Keep up the good work, even if your ears make me giggle a little.
• John McCain: When npr reports on its morning news that your handler's aren't letting you do too many more Town Hall style meetings because they can't "control" what you may say, its time for the US to question the bigger picture. Do we want a leader that needs handler's to keep them from saying stupid s#%t? I'm just curious.
• And finally. The Ohio State Fair kicks some serious butt. We had just about every kind of food deep fried that you could. The best? The deep-fried snickers bar. Sure, I'm two weeks away from fitting into a wedding dress, but who can resist???

on the road again

Tomorrow, the Tall Guy and I head to Columbus for a couple of days for a wedding (Of the friends that gave us the ice cream maker! YuM!). It should be lots of fun, though I'm feeling a little crazed at the moment. It will all be fine and an adventure, though, so a good night's sleep and I'll have my party shoes on!

This morning, on the way to work, for the first time ever, I had an encounter with a cicada. Let me say, that yes, I did live here four or so years ago when cicadas made their every-so-many years appearances. But, they didn't seem like a big deal to me then. I saw them, they saw me (or not) and I went about my business. This morning, though, I was really groggy, had my headphones on and was flying solo (a lot of mornings, the Tall Guy walks with me, even though we don't really talk, due to me extreme unfriendliness prior to coffee). So, I'm minding my own business and suddenly, even with my headphones on, I hear this crazy whirling noise, like a wind up car unwinding loudly. Next thing I know there is a three inch or so long bug flying haphazardly my way. Cicadas are clearly not good at flying. It's like a helicopter being flown by a drunk guy. Anyway, It nearly flew into my face as I screamed bloody murder.Photo courtesy of : http://johnbokma.com/mexit/2007/07/04/cicada-on-hand-esme-1.jpg
Saved to my server.

Yeah. The girl in me comes out sometimes, but seriously, folks. Cicadas are creepy!

Knitting progress will happen this weekend, as deadlines loom and the Tall Guy gets to drive. Yahoo!
Happy Weekend!

t minus 25

What we're working on (names obscured for obvious reasons, including those of you who will try to convince me to put you at another table... for one day, darlings, the Tall Guy and I are in charge!, insert evil laugh here) :

What Annie thinks of it:

And what Annie is doing this week when she's not pouting? Sitting on her mom's lap. (This was not staged. This is simply proof that our 40+ lb dog thinks she's a lap dog.)

What I would rather be working on, but you won't get a photo of: Knitting, playing, skipping...
Though, we did just have a nice dinner with family friends, with plenty of gin, wine and the like, so I can't complain too much.

and the choirs of angels sing!

Okay. Maybe that's a bit over-the-top. But, seriously, I have a thing about sunglasses. I like them big, ridiculous, often blue or green and a good fit to double as a headband. Is that too much to ask?
Well, as you may know, my favorite pair were retired in NH in July and I've been looking for a replacement ever since. The Tall Guy and I were in Annapolis yesterday for a variety of reasons and walked into the Helly Hansen store. (Sailors never walk past Helly Hansen without a peek in, I've learned). So, while there, I look at the sun glass case and find the exact same pair of Spy's that I had lost overboard last summer after only having for about 2 weeks. For most of you, this may not seem like a big deal, but I pretty much did a jump-spin-dance in the middle of the store which only continued when I was told it was the last pair left, so they were 20% off. swwwweeeet!
So, here they are:

Let's see how long they last..I'm cautiously optimistic.
In sock related news, I managed to finish the first of the Spring Forward socks on Thursday night, owing a great deal to about two hours of hanging out with Jessie at Teaism. While eating dinner there, a koi decided to jump in it's little pond and drenched Jessie! It was by far one of the odder things I've seen happen (I've never seen a koi in a pond jump out of the water, but that's just me.
I've paused on the Spring Forwards to start another pair of socks. I'm going to hold on pics until I have a good shot for you, but I'll just say, they're going to be bright!



Is anyone interested in a really cheap dog? Like I'll pay you to take her? Just kidding, mostly, but the Little Monster has been even more nuts than normal this week. While I was with Jessie on Thursday night, Annie managed to catch a mouse in the backyard. The mouse appeared to make it, after the Tall Guy made Annie let the poor thing go. If that wasn't bad enough, yesterday, we saw a R-A-T in our yard. Needless to say, I am not happy. Annie, on the other hand, thinks she's super-dog, so she's taken it upon her herself to do a regular tour of the yard inspecting for creatures. I'm happy to have her doing this, but its definitely causing her to be more amped then normal. Something I didn't think was quite possible. Sigh.