awwww.

my beautiful dog.

So, I'm moving. I guess my blog friends won't miss me, since I'll be taking you along. I like my little college town on the prairie, but I'm going to go be blue in a whole other red state now. My little brother (who has cerebral palsy, who I've mentioned here before) and my dad, his wife and my two younger siblings all live in Dallas. I tried it for awhile for my first college semester, but it was a little too rat-race-ish for me to stay afloat. I was -and continue to be- sort of a baby...people like me are why you should give annoyingly slow drivers a break. I actually get my feelings hurt when I get honked at or flipped off. I am entirely too sensitive and nerdy to survive on Dallas freeways...I'm like this annoying perpetual victim. Instead of flipping someone off back, I want to cry, "WHY, WHY would you WANT to hurt my feelings?!" I don't really think I am meant to be on the road anyways. I try to live in areas where I don't have to drive. Driving makes me crave xanax, which I don't think you're supposed to take when you drive anyways. The last time I lived in Dallas, it was unique for being one of the biggest cities in the US to have crap for public transportation. They just cannot get enough pollution down there; apparently, the word is out that Jesus will return before the air turns completely black. Things have changed a little, though, and you can now get to where you need to go via bus lines and trains. AND, we're going to live in the downtown area...so we can walk to where we want to eat. .

Speaking of eating, my new life in WW is going all right. I like the idea that I'm paying closer attention to what I'm bringing into my body. Before my knees were jacked up and I ran quite a bit, I think I ate about the same amount, and I was basically skinny. Now that I don't get that great exercise and am...ahem...getting a little older (turned 26 in September and am to the point where it behooves me to apply eye cream before bed), my butt is getting pretty droopy. And, I think one of the fatal mistakes of people who used to be skinny is that can exist in this state of reverse anorexia, in which they feel skinnier than they are...enter disturbing realistic photograph...*gasp*

Anyways, we're moving in June, most likely. I think I'll go ahead and teach special ed. down there, although it may take me a semester to get my certification in TX. I actually ended up with a degree in psych, although I have far more coursework in education.

Funny, I had decided that I could not teach, that I didn't fit in with the profession somehow...but, I think it had something to do with being in smallville. The idea became more and more stifling for me. Something about being in a bigger place makes teaching sound fun again. Maybe it takes some pressure off? I don't know. I can't really place the reasoning behind my randomness. One thing that I think contributed to my very early feeling of burn-out was that I only wanted to teach special ed--that's it. It never even occurred to me to teach in a traditional classroom...but sp. ed. training at my university really was just a cherry on top of lottttttts and lottttts of reg. ed. training. I enjoyed many parts of it, but it was difficult to stay passionate, because it just was not what I went to school for. --I was writing curriculum after curriculum, doing practicums, creating projects...and, all of it was stuff I knew I would never take into my classroom, because it was all to be for reg. ed. kids. If I had it to do over again, I would go to school in a state other than KS where there is an actual entire major just for special ed. At any rate, I'm going to start applying soon for some moderate MR classrooms, or something along the lines of life skills--that's what I'm interested in. I'm looking forward to it.

have you met my cat?

don't be deceived. he is evil. cute, but evil. he was found in a field this summer with the nastiest case of ear mites the vet had seen, and now he lives a different life...
as an evil dictator.

"i love to torture labradors and then sit serenely by this window."


"thought you got this bowl as a wedding gift? nope. it is my hundred dollar super-trendy cat bed..."

because i am in need of a study break

some people wait a life time for a moment like this

...so, I got tagged by Climenhaga to say five quirky things about myself...I don't think I've been tagged before, isn't that sad? tear, tear, pity party, pity party...

God bless lists, by the way.

1. I stay excited about Christmas all year long...even worse, I start listening to the holiday music right after halloween. i don't care how annoying you think i am, christmas is great. I used to just hate it (along with smiles, happy people and the color pink) when I was a dark and gloomy teenager, but I'm INTO it now! Last year, I had a Christmachanukwaanzakah party at my house.

2. I hate it when people talk about the bodily fluid that lives in the nose. Hate it. It makes me terribly aware of my own, which for some reason I find to be the most discusting sensation imaginable, even right now. ugh. i know this will be a challenging ocd-ish quality if i ever become a parent, but i cannot help it!

3. As long as we're on obsessive/compulsive tendencies, I also have a problem with someone watching me blow my own nose or brush my teeth. i will leave the room, close the door, whatever i need to do to get some privacy.

4. In spite of my need for privacy in such situations, I'm surprisingly comfortable discussing many things that others probably would consider private...this was much to the dismay of my parents when i was growing up...i told on myself often and shared more than they ever wanted to know!!

5. I really like the Andrews Sisters. Really. I can sing many of their songs and have always enjoyed that era both musically and historically speaking...I was once Rosie the Riveter for Halloween, although most people in my college town did not figure it out...

I tag Margaret & Lauren & Christi Lee & whoever else actually reads this blogs and wants to be tagged.

i like boxed wine and grew up in a trailer, but...

I am 20% White Trash.

I, my friend, have class. I am so not white trash. . I am more than likely Democrat, and my place is neat, and there is a good chance I may never drink wine from a box.

Take the
White Trash Test
@ FualiDotCom

update: mysterious rash unveiled

I have this.

...um...and, being the obsessive freak that I am, I was able to tell my dr. what I had without him telling me, and his jaw nearly hit the floor. No, nice dr. man, it's not that I'm a genius (well, I may be, but this is no example!); I'm merely a little insane and I couldn't sleep for one minute until I was 100% positive whether I had a flesh-eating virus.

The best thing about this "disease" is that it is next to unknown for it to appear on the face or fore-arms....except in me! It's just too funny and typical of my awkward and generally embarassing lifestyle for me to be that upset. You know, I don't get as upset by stuff like this as some people might, simply b/c it always really and truly does happen to me. Did I cry when the hairdresser at the beauty college jacked my hair up so bad that another student came over and whispered in my ear, "make her stop?" Nah--Been there too many times. Just a day in the life. I'm "that girl."

mysterious rash, omg

well, i don't know what i have, but i'm secretly quite concerned. it is typical for me to become quite concerned; atypical for it to turn out that there was actually any reason for such concern...so, at least there is that.

i have several welt-like bumps on my stomach and back with a few on my arms and neck. they're mostly about dime or nickle-sized and they are red and itchy. it started about a week ago, and instead of going away, I'M GETTING MORE AND MORE.
After annoyingly extensive internet research to rule out small pox (check) and leprosy (check)...my fear is that it is this one skin condition that i read about which does not go away for like THREE MONTHS. OMG. OMG. I'm in a wedding in three weeks, and I'm already starting to look like a leper. If anyone sees a shirt that says, "I'm not contagious," buy it for me and I'll pay you back.

of course, that is assuming the mystery rash isn't contagious.

my dr. appt. is at 2:15. ugh.

o' chanukah tree

Spent the afternoon with my mom who came into town to visit. She bought me this tiny, tiny Christmas tree, and then we bought all of these tiny, tiny decorations for it! It is ADORABLE! I decorated it all in pearly silveryness--you know, to be multicultural. Okay, so it's a sad attempt at encouraging cultural diversity, but since my husband is Jewish, I try to stick to blues and silvers insteads of reds & greens...and snowflakes instead of Santas...The funny thing is I don't think that Bruce could care less, even if I walked around in a Santa costume. Secretly, I just like it more. Wanna know something funny about life in the midwest? My husband was only the second Jewish person that I had ever known--we mostly just had white, Christian, republicans in my home town--and some grain elevators.

We were the poor people. We lived in a trailer behind my grandma's house. The cool thing about trailers is that all you have to do to see who's home is turn your head to the left and then to the right. The bad thing about trailers is that some of them, like ours, still have the tail lights, and rain is surprisingly loud when falling on a tin roof. At any rate, I must have gone to a good school or just met some good people, because I never felt ashamed that I lived in a trailer or had free lunches. I was really curious about people who had more money than we did, and I was sort of suspicious of them. Maybe I thought that they were rude because they didn't share. Maybe I was a com-mie child? :)

Anyways, I came home from hanging out with my mom, put on my COMFY pj pants and made myself wheat pasta with sauteed vegetables and tomato sauce. It reminded me of pasta putenesca from a series of unforunate events. I had green tea, too. My plan is to pick up a little, study a little, do a little yoga.

i never thought i would be saying this but...

i think i'm going to start WW this Saturday morning. this whole knee thing has gotten me really freaked into feeling pretty motivated to lose, and I think meetings would help give me a little much needed discipline...also, WW seems to be the most vegetarian-friendly plan. it's too bad i'm not more motivated to have a hot ass or something--than weight loss probably wouldn't have ever been an issue for me, really. so, in a way it may be a blessing that this knee shit has come up, I guess...it forces me to face my health now instead of later...i just want to live healthy, be healthy and happy and smiley. i don't want to think about weight all the time; i don't want it to be a major focus of my life. i haven't decided whether i'll do the internet stuff, too. i think i probably will. it sounds like a good way to stay organized and keep track of things. i'm kind of excited. the meetings on saturdays are at 7:30, 9 or 10:30. I think I'll go to the 9.

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i'm not prostelytizing; i just think think this is an interesting quote.

Isn't man an amazing animal? He kills wildlife--birds, kangaroos, deer, all kinds of cats, coyotes, beavers, groundhogs, mice, foxes and dingoes by the million in order to protect his domestic animals and their feed. Then he kills domestic animals by the billion and eats them. This in turn kills man by the million, because eating all those animals leads to degenerative--and fatal--health conditions like heart disease, kidney disease, and cancer. So then man tortures and kills millions more animals to look for cures for these diseases. Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being killed by hunger and malnutrition because food they could eat is being used to fatten domestic animals. Meanwhile, some people are dying of sad laughter at the absurdity of man, who kills so easily and so violently, and once a year, sends out cards praying for "Peace on Earth."
- David Coats from Old MacDonald's Factory Farm

squeaky voices and ungodly smells

i was just thinking...we (or at least i) make all these assumptions...or not really assumptions...but, in the same way that i read a book & imagine the main character in my mind, I develop voices and body language that I imagine you blogger friends encompass---

...and, I have to wonder--what if we all met at a big party? Would we be surprised and destracted at how different each other is compared to what we imagined...in the way like when a movie is made from a book & you're just soo suprised at who they picked to play your favorite character?

for example, i think of Mia as having sort of a deep voice--you know, with, er, "phone operater" potential...but, what if she is quiet and squeaky? what if?

and, Margaret, do you gesture wildly and knock passers by down in the process...i don't imagine that you do, but who knows?

i just died in your arms tonight

tom hanks, that is.  i actually had a dream where i died.  i don't know that i've ever had one of those before...tom hanks was there, but i think that might have something to do with the fact that "you've got mail" was playing when i fell asleep.  the strange thing is that i always want to analyze my dreams, but i never have random things & symbols that you would find in dream books...but, in this dream, i was crossing a lake that had waves bigger than in the ocean...and, i never could quite get to shore...then, a storm came through and it was even worse and the waves were shaped like big tiger claws crashing onto the rocky shore...then, it occurred to me that the two people i was with died-including tom hanks...and then, i realized i must have died, too.  i was scared for about a second, and then there was nothing...i either woke up or changed the dream channel.hmmm.    

happy birthday, tyler.

this is my brother. today is his birthday. i just remembered this a couple of hours ago, but that is o.k. because he does not know it is his birthday. he has cerebral palsy. he's non-communicative (traditionally speaking, that is) and he lives in dallas, so i can't just call him up or send him a letter that he will know is from me. Few things in life have confused me so much as being "the o.k. one." "Survivor's guilt for a disabled or sick sibling can be truly unbelievable; at least it is not unbearable anymore, though. i try to remember that god is probably smarter than me, and that for me to walk around miserable and feeling sorry for my brother means that i assume i have something that he does not...which is pretty presumptuous. i can only hope that the secret universe inside his head is bright and wonderful beyond the limitations of the tangible world that i reside in.

solitude, i guess.

I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. ~Henry David Thoreau, "Solitude," Walden, 1854

Inside myself is a place where I live all alone, and that's where I renew my springs that never dry up. ~Pearl Buck

full circle...well, kind of

in an effort to be less cranky, i'm trying to focus on things that make me uncranky...such as quotes and lists...while i drink coffee, no less.

It is strange what a contempt men have for the joys that are offered them freely. ~Georges Duhamel

a joy in my life that is free: relationships

you know how AA talks about the "higher power?" i believe that there is a higher power to be found in all the relationships in the world...when i have coffee with a friend or even stop to talk to an acquaintance, my feeling is that "god" can be found in that interaction. wow, am i flakey or WHAT?!

To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring. ~George Santayana

gratitude for a "changing of seasons" in my life: i am a compulsive...planner. planning helps me feel in control of my future. i think it stems from growing up with alcoholism in my home...you never know what's going to happen next, so you plan for all that you can, and then you have something you can count on. something i've been working on is stepping back from my situation and from my planning so that i could enjoy the surprises in life that would have otherwise been hidden to my peripheral vision...so, i'm grateful for that--for this time in my life where lots and lots of my plans have fallen through, failed, whatever...it is a season of change, for sure, although i'm really not as grateful for it as i would like. it's easy to get consumed, you know.--in society, goals...

gratitude for the changing of seasons, literally speaking: the TREES are SO pretty right now! red and orange and yellow EVERYWHERE.

And on the third day, God created the Remington bolt-action rifle, so that Man could fight the dinosaurs. And the homosexuals. (from Mean Girls)

...oh, to be blue in a red state...

10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong...from Lauren

01) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
02) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
03) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
04) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.
05) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
06) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.
07) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
08) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.
09) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

how stick people became extinct...a sad truth

disappeared. it was so funny. you would have loved it.

where oh where could my blogger friends be

where oh where did they go?





i am the scum of the earth...i am that which drips from my dog's nose...no, i am my dog's pumba heinous farts...forgive me, oh blogger friends for ever abandoning you. i will never sleep again ever if you do not forgive me. leave me a comment, or i will die from my GRIEF.

imagine no possesions

i just heard this song playing outside by my house. they are painting the house next door, and their loud music has been secretly annoying me all afternoon...but, this, i like. someone remade it. maybe everyone already knows that....as i've said before, i'm not very cool, and it's only getting worse.

Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer,
but Im not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.


*i don't know why i've been feeling all flakey lately, but i just get sad that we adults can't seem to follow the fundamental basics we teach our children...these early lessons are the seeds of human rights and altruism...share...do unto others as you would have them do unto you...stand up for what you believe...stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves...love yourself the way you are...

barbie doll

I've posted the following poem before, but I decided to do it again, because it is so fabulous.

Barbie Doll
By Marge Piercy

This girlchild was born as usual
and presented dolls that did pee-pee
and miniature GE stoves and irons
and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.
Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:
You have a great big nose and fat legs.
She was healthy, tested intelligent,
possessed strong arms and back,
abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.
She went to and fro apologizing.
Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.

She was advised to play coy,
exhorted to come on hearty,
exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.
Her good nature wore out
like a fan belt.
So she cut off her nose and her legs
and offered them up.

In the casket displayed on satin she lay
with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on,
a turned-up putty nose,
dressed in a pink and white nightie.
Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said.
Consummation at last.
To every woman a happy ending.

Costa Rica

honeymoon pix i took in Costa Rica. beautiful, beautiful country. great culture. great eco-tourism.

"To waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase it's usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very properity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed." Theodore Roosevelt




"When one
tugs at
a single
thing
in nature,
he finds
it attached to
the rest of the
world."
John Muir

i love you more than technology...but still i love technology...yes...

no, i don't. where is my post? bah! i posted stuff and can't find it. baaaah!

i'm coming out of the closet

hi everyone. i'm back. i wonder if my little blogger friends are still around...why did i forsake you?

anyways, i decided i was getting bored with talking about fitness, so i'm probably going to talk about stuff that is more important to me. yeah, i'd like to be skinny, but apparently I just like chocolate more than skinny-ness.

i also decided i'm getting bored with writing a journal that's all secretive...life is short, dang it. so, this is me!!

this is my husband and me on a bridge at our campus--we got married this july. thanks for the all the support during that time, by the way--I was in a freakin' panic in the months before the wedding...the idea of everyone looking at me and expecting me to be "pretty" when being pretty has never been a big concern for me caused all kinds of anxiety...but, i ended up having the greatest day ever...and, marriage for bruce and i is just what we hoped it would be...the same as before.

and, this is my dog and i on a typical morning. he was a groomsman in our wedding. he rocks our socks off.

i'm going to go delete SOME secret things now that i'm not sure i'd want some people i know to read. :)

thanks for the creepy tan.

I did the ever-so-creepy spray on tan booth thing today...It is SO weird...I've done it before, but every time it is still absolutely strange. I am a lilly white freckley girl who burns like crazy; needless to say, I decided to lay off of traditional tans a few weeks ago...Since I'm in a wedding this weekend, I decided to take a quick five pounds off by doing the good ol' creepy tan.

By the way, I'm still alive. I've been here reading, but not writing. Not sure why I haven't felt like writing, but I just didn't...so, I didn't. :) I wonder if anyone is still here to read.
I literally have nothing else interesting to say. I'm just updating for the sake of updating, although I actually have a billion other things I need to do right now.

shaving my legs above my knees, and other anomalies

Well, this will probably not be very insightful, because I just don't know what to write at all. I just got back from a really short workout. Emphasize the *short*. I forgot quarters for the parking meter, and didn't want to risk getting a ticket, so I shook my ass on this funky elliptical-like machine for ten minutes and then left...but, you know, I'm feeling pretty energized, so I think I might take my BELOVED dog out for a run in a little bit.

I'm pretty excited because I get to start my physical therapy for my knee this week. To answer Megan's question, he said I have (may God help me spell this) chondromalacia--it's the most common knee problem in young women, er, ladies. Basically, there is some muscle imbalance in a particular muscle in my quad area compared to my calves...so, my patella is not sliding up and down but in some jacked up motion that ends up causing pain after running....there are also some disturbing grinding sounds involved as well. Well, they're going to watch me run and check out my shoes and the way I walk and give me all kinds of advice...what shoes/inserts I need to correct the problem, how to land, exercises to correct the imbalance--it's really neat. I'm glad I go to a school where they hire great sports medicine people to keep the athletes healthy, because then I get to go too! The down side: Not only do I have to reveal my blindingly pasty white legs, but I have to shave them regularly now.--even above the knees. I mean, I have to KEEP doing that. Of course I always do that.

yes, I'm among the living

Well, no one will probably think to actually come back and check because all have probably assumed certain death, as I have not written for a millinium. But, I am actually quite alive.

SThe GREAT news is that I went to a sports medicine dr today to discuss my knee problem which has kept my running to a minimum for the last FOUR YEARS....I thought that I would not be running again until I could afford great insurance, but it turns out that my student fees at my university already entitle me to an excellent sports medicine dr and all kinds of physical therapy, and I should be running again in no time!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!! He says that I should only do a mile at a time for awhile and cross train on the elliptical, but that I should get prepared to run the way I used to, because it is right around the corner!! WooHoo! ...People, this is BIG!!

In even bigger news, my dog has become quite stellar at going down the slide at the park, all by himself.

i gained seven pounds in two weeks

Pretty amazing, huh?

While the typical bride may lose weight for her wedding, I, who am secretly really freaked over everyone staring at me and has secret fantasies of our dog as our only guest, have been GAINING. Yep, eating, eating, eating. Overall, I'll do well, but I've had these isolated periods of time in which I plummet off of the bandwagon, flip the bandwagon the bird, order a pizza, eat a box of Zebra cakes and feel like such a loser that I do it again the next day to feel better.... I didn't even realize how generally anxious I had become until I found myself completly useless one day after a weekend of long conversations regarding weddings and parental figures and weddings and weddings and weddings. I found myself completely unable to focus on my school work...I would stare and stare and stare, but to no avail. blah. This won't do. I went to the university doctor, and he said that some brides need zanex, and don't feel bad. (mispelled b/c I don't want those kinds of hits).

One of my New Year's resolutions was to become more politically engaged and active, and I'm happy to say that I'm doing awesome here! I've gotten involved in the local campaign against the proposed amendment regarding gay marriage that they've already passed in several other states...(these are scarey times, when we are writing discrimination into our state constitutions). I've also joined Amnesty International, and have been doing some serious letter writing...I'm trying to be a better consumer activist by staying away from Proctor and Gamble, the animal testing guru's of the world, but I've been sort of lazy there. Yeah. I'm working on a goal!

My dog has taken up this habit of just staring at me while I'm on the computer and making this low growling sound. He wags his tail while he's doing it, so it's totally weird. He's a good guy, but a little high maintenance. On a celebratory note, he learned to go down the slide at the park! Really!

holy crap!

Just a general update..."holy crap" being the title because the state from whence I hail is has proposed one of those far right, OBVIOUSLY religion motivated amendments...Ugh. I'm not even going to go into it, but I guess if any good has come from it, it's that it has motivated me (and many others) to actually be locally involved in the politics of things...

luckily, I'm not famous

Yeah, that's right...because (and be warned) I tried one of those counter thingies that I had heard so much about....Well, it was definitely sort of creepy to me that we can see people's ISP numbers and stuff (which made me think about the even more creepy Patriot Act); yet, on the other hand it was fun to see how people arrived at my blog.

Well, yesterday at a university computer, I went to my blog on a whim, clicked on my little counter thingy, and it actually displayed my last name and everything...Which is un-creepy when I think about the people I regularly correspond with on here, but otherwise is very creepy in general. I did not stick around to see if I could change it; it was just a little too weird, and so -needless to say- I removed the counter from my site.

It kind of reminded me of the time (before I knew ANYTHING about computers) when I needed to inform my Comp. II instructor that I had a personal female problem (with specifics, by the way), and I somehow sent to email to my entire class list serve.

Bummer.

Later-
Faye

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my tongue is on fire

Okay, so I've been eating like a super-star...No, not purging; I've been doing an excellent job of eating the way I want to eat...low cal, high fiber, as high as protein as a non meat & dairy girl can possibly eat (sans the protein powder that tastes like Evil himself)...but, today I found myself in search of some answers...While watching a cheesy old Jennifer Anniston movie, it occurred to me that I would give at least one of my pinky toes simply in exchange for a small serving of salt and vinegar chips...Now, I've been having minimal to no cheats on average. I thought to myself, "Self, should we get ourselves some salt and vinegar chips?" I held back. Finally, after wanting my beloved S&V chips for like a half an hour, I remembered what I've read several times, which is something like this: "Don't ignore your cravings...If you want chocolate, then have a little piece...Otherwise, when you try to fill up on celery and apples and non-fat bran muffins to satisfy your craving, you will probably still then break down and have the chocolate. Better to just have the chocolate in the first place." So, I thought I'd just have a few salt and vinegar chips...and, my dumb ass ate 3/4 of the entire bag!! I wonder what the experiences with others are on this whole "give in just a little" theory...

Further, those of you who have ever eaten 75 percent of a bag of salt and vinegar chips in one setting are aware of the certain impending side effects of tongue swelling, tongue pain, and a slight speech impediment for at least 24 hours.<

a href="http://www.aseriesofawkwardmoments.blogspot.com/">A Series of Awkward Moments

I just want to say, "happy birthday Margaret."

A Series of Awkward Moments: Not MY Meth. Lab!!

Not MY Meth. Lab!!

So, my fiance and I have a rental property that sort of helps us along financially. Last week we got a call... From our tenants on the left side of the duplex... About the METH LAB on the right side of the duplex! HOLY TWEAKER; I could NOT believe my ears...Of course, the tiny spy camera mounted on their porch had us questioning, but we would have never ever guessed a meth. lab...

While the story in itself is actually rather funny (mostly, as my fiance points out, because things like this just seem to have a way of happening to me--eventually, you just have to laugh.), it also gets sort of sad. When we stopped by (after the bust--never thought I'd be saying that on my blog) we ran into the girl's mom, and I found out that the girl involved was only 18 YEARS OLD. The guy? 28.

The good news is that the cops and the environmental government people say that the house does not have to be torn down! And, we'll no longer be living off of drug money! Hip, hip hooray!

Anyways, is soymilk supposed to have a tingly feeling? I think my soymilk has gone bad. Yuck. My tongue should NOT be numb, I am sure of it.
A Series of Awkward Moments

A Series of Awkward Moments

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.
-Elie Wiesel

*I think I may have posted this quote before. It is my number one favorite quote. I'm posting it in response to Mia's Jan. 18th post (I am dumb
at making links, so sorry) in which she said:

. . . And it opened my eyes to how unfair the world really is, and it made me believe that if I did not actively work against bigotry, than I was as racist and biggoted as any of the "ignorant" folks I sometimes found myself surrounded by. . .
A Series of Awkward Moments

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i think my dog is a hippie

I just fed Preston, my beloved lab, another dried apricot halve. He freakin' loves them...along with every other type of vegetation known to man. We often joke that maybe he is a vegetarian at heart, because he spends a really huge amount of time eating various plants when he is outside. I mean, it is way above average, here. Preston loves him some greens. The other day, I fed him some acorn squash and a tomato. He looked at me with eyes that said, "keep this secret veggie feeding thing up, and you may finally be my favorite." Lately, we've been noticing that he really loves to lay on the yoga mat, as well. I freely admit. I will admit I am secretly happy to know that Preston at least has some hippie-ish tendencies...It just helps me to assume that if he were a registered voter, he would probably not go Republican. I like to think that he is actually quite liberal. Yes, a liberal, vegetarian hippie--who loves me best.

I have not been feeling like updating at all! I really just don't know why. I keep having these secret fears that when I finally feel like updating again, no one will want to talk to me anymore! Well, Dont' Cry for me, Argentina...the truth is that I NEVER left you...I've been reading; just not writing.

Ummm, I have this view on life and work that has sort of shifted and developed in the last year or so...It really seems that those of us who live this "American dream" life/goals can just become so disconnected...so BUSY, and what's the point? So, there's something that you may not know about me that is about life in general...I don't feel the need to achieve the American Dream...I think that we work toooooo much. I'd rather get to the end of my life and know that I have spent my time building relationships and myself as a person and an altruist--things that are more internal than a nice car and nice clothes.

I'm reading this funny book, "Autobiography of a Fat Bride," which is sort of a caricature of my own life...Many, many awkward and humbling moments to be found here. It is really funny.

awwwwwwwwww. 

Here is one of my very best friends with his beloved "Mini-me." He even plays a game where you hide "Mini-me" somewhere, and he will ransack the house until he finds his little pal. 

Just got back

A Series of Awkward Moments: I worked my ass off today...yay!

A Happy New Year to all! I just got back from Texas like an hour ago...That's why I haven't updated for a few days...It was a great time...I'll do a proper update tomorrow...I'm planning to get back on my eating and exercise schedule tomorrow, too.

I do want to add that the cardio I've been doing (er, well, not on my vacation, exactly) has actually been leaving me feeling more energetic throughout my day....It's wierd how you don't even realize that you've gotten yourself to a place where you have less energy than you should...the regression is so insidious that it seems to go without being noticed...but, I do notice feeling great.

Must go...I have community kitchen at 6 a.m.