persephone33

I love the smell of my home. You know, when you've been away, and then you come home, and it just smells like home? I like it.

Vacation: In bullet points. 'Cause I'm tired.

§ I have a billion bug bites. And they are worth it, because the beach ROCKS. I'd live there if I could.

§ Southwest Airlines. The good half makes up for the crappy half.

§ I kicked Nolan's ASS at Scrabble. To be fair, he kicked mine a few times, too.

§ I've had costuming dreams, like nonstop since I've been gone. I need to reeeest.

§ I heart seafood. Good seafood. Not Red Lobster. Red Lobster = no good. Real, fresh, seafood? Awesome. Crabcakes. Lord have mercy.

§ Sanibel Island, Florida is a charming community. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a non-commercialized place to vacation.

§ Nolan and I got a tandem bike to ride around the island. For a few minutes while we were getting used to it, our marriage was touch and go.

§ Nolan says he has hip dysplasia from all the bike riding.

§ That may have been because I let him pedal some. Without any help from me. Hee.

§ The ocean is amazing. How it changes from day to day, how it's never the same experience twice. I love the waves. I love swimming in the ocean. It's made me want to write about it, I love it so much. I have a story idea percolating to write in, you know, all my free time.

§ My friend Jason, who house sat for us and took care of our dogs while we were away, left me Kerby Lane pancake mix he got for us from when he was in Austin last weekend. The pups looked happy and well fed, and I will be too, once I make my favorite Austin pancakes. :)


Here are a few shots, if you're into that. I took over 300 photos, so I showed posting restraint.

( Paradise in one journal entry. )

That's it. Anything happen while I was away?

Her name is Christine, and she lives in my mother's GPS.

The name Christine is a nod to Mr, King, of course.

(My name is not, FYI.)

Seriously, though, I've driven all over the Metroplex this week. I went to Dallas to see David, Ft. Worth to see Kristi and Sally, Hurst to see Deadra, and Irving to see Cherie and Rachel. These folks run the gamut of pals from my very oldest friend that I've known since we were three, to a former student of mine that just graduated with her theatre degree.

But to go all these places and not succumb to my truly hopeless sense of direction (Nolan says that I can't find my butt with two hands and a flashlight), my mother leant me her GPS.

I've learned that a GPS is a truly helpful thing. It's a bit unnerving, though, the first time you hear the placid, disembodied voice telling you, "In 1.8 miles, turn left." It gives you sort of a big brother vibe, all rolled up with the creepiness of the book about the 1958 Plymouth Fury come to life.

And even though she's truly a help, there's always room for operator error. If the girl said, "Recalculating," once, she said it four hundred times. I evidently don't follow directions very well. She got huffy a few times, and I swear I heard her roll her eyes more than once, but for the most part, she's a lot like me. She repeats herself ( a lot) when she doesn't get a response, gets a little irritated when things don't go her way, and shuts up when things are good.

I like her. I don't need one, given that I can drive anywhere I need to in my hometown in less than 20 minutes. But if I lived here, I sure would. I'd even have one built into the car, maybe.

As long as it wasn't a Fury.

Our weekend to the cabin was abbreviated, although not by much. I got what I'm pretty sure is strep/flu combo and since I met Nolan there, had to make the two hour trip home by myself. Urgh. And since all I seem to be able to do since is sleep or stare, glassy-eyed at the television, propped up by pillows, I'd do a little photoessay of the two days we were in Childress.

There are too many commas in that sentence. My fever is too high to figure out what's wrong.

I should preface this post with the fact that I finally got a new camera. Thanks Dad and Jerry & Lanell. :D
( Lots of pictures under here. As per usual. )

If you are inclined to do so, would you mind shooting up a prayer to the Big Guy? I haven't been this sick in a long time. Thanks!

This week, I am the queen of fruit and sugar, and have prevailed (mostly) over all I have surveyed.
( Plum Jam... the ambrosia of West Texas. )

I'll choose three random people (with one of those random generators to be fair) who comment of this entry, and I'll send you a jar, because I feel the need to spread the jam love.

Comment before Saturday morning at 10 am, central time.

I'll leave you with this.( Cute kid pictures! )

After five days at the cabin, we are home.

We got rained in. The county roads to get to our place are dirt, and if it rains more than a little, they're extremely hard to navigate without a four wheel drive. And sometimes even WITH a four wheel drive, you get stuck and have to have someone tow you out. So rather than risk THAT nightmare, we just toughed it out. I missed an appointment Monday morning, but other than that, it was a really lovely time. Family and friends came over on the fourth and we grilled and popped firecrackers until we were all too tired to keep our eyes open.

Pictures and post about the weekend forthcoming. There were more bugs, fireworks, fish, cows and kids than you can shake a stick at.

Whatever that means.  Childress makes me folksy. ;/

However, I will say that it is hard, sweaty, painful work to pick wild plums.

Wasps - 2, Carrie - 0 (Wasps are no respecter of persons. In my cleavage! The HORROR.)
Thorns 4,325, Carrie - 0
Plums - 0, Carrie - a gazillion

Pond water is... murky and suspicious.
And no matter how smart I think she is, my 12 year-old black Labrador retriever can't open doors for me when I lock myself out.

That about covers it, for now.  Tomorrow we start making those plums into JAM.  Wild Plum jam is SOOOOOOO good. 

*LHOTP = Little House on the Prarie

&hearts Go HERE and read obrien_blue's recap of the Glee finale. She does fabulous Bones recaps (or squee!caps) and this is the first one she's done for Glee. She's funny and smart and a hell of a writer (warning for language). I always laugh aloud at her entries. Go read. You won't be disappointed.

&hearts If I were in charge of the world, like a High Empress Over All Things, there would be a few changes. Manipulative people? Incarcerated for life. Mean people who insist of ranting about insignificant things and belittling others? Mmmm... the rack, I think. I'd be just and fair. And the bastards of life would need to re-think their positions on being jerks.

&hearts I've been feeling crappy lately. Like a low-grade nausea and intense tiredness. If I didn't know better (and I mean really know better), I'd say I was pregnant. And LHM, if I was pregnant, it would be a baby that would have a purpose, because it would be a freaking miracle. That is, if I didn't jump off a bridge, first.

&hearts I've been trying to write, poking around at a few things, but I'm just not inspired. When the muse takes a vacation, she really hits the road. I have no idea what to write that might spark any sort of even mildly acceptable results. It's sad.

&hearts We leave for Dallas on Friday, and we'll be gone for a week; the boys are going to a golf and tennis camp, and my sister will be there for the weekend. I want to get together with some old friends and family (I'm looking at you, deedsk_tx and tadpole_bac) and I think it'll be good to get away for awhile. When I get back, Nolan and I are going to the theatre's awards gala. I've been nominated for best actress, an award I fully do not expect to win. There are too many other great actors up for it, too. That's okay, there's a lot of that being nominated but not winning stuff going on. Luckily, my self esteem is high enough that it doesn't send me into a tailspin. Anyway, as I've been nominated, it's a great excuse to buy a dress. And I'm at -22 pounds, so shopping in the semi-formal departments in the Dallas area might even be pleasurable.

&hearts Nolan brought me 3 charms for my bracelet today for no reason whatsoever. That's nice, huh?

&hearts I love summertime. Seriously, having the boys home and going to the pool and making brownies and waking up whenever we feel like it? Nice. Really, really nice.

See you all on the flip side!

Because I need to see this in black and white:

• Make Ethan's birthday dinner tonight.  He could have chosen anything in the world, and he chose hamburgers and hot dogs, God bless him.  I used to ask my mom for Chicken Kiev and Chicken Fried Steaks for my birthday dinners.  Sorry, Mom.
• I still have to decorate his cake.  With a Marine Corps insignia?  Um...  going to have to Google that.  Oh, good grief.  Looks hard.
• make 2 dozen deviled eggs for the funeral meal I'm in charge of coordinating tomorrow.
• also make 2 peach cobblers.
• also finish dipping 4 dozen cake truffles
• also prepare two briskets
• also be at church to set up, receive prepared food and clear up after
• clean house for home group dinner tomorrow, pick up fajita meat and peppers and onions from Ruby Tequila's
• mow the yard before home group tomorrow?  I don't see this happening.  People can see the long grass.
• Thursday...  there was something on Thursday?  Shoot.
• Write (heartfelt?) thank you notes to each of the boy's teachers (5) and send them to school before Friday
• Pack for our trip to Denver on Friday
• Fix Nolan's ipod with all the stuff he wants on it before Friday
• Find some time in there to workout...

Okay.  That doesn't look so bad.  Cover me.  I'm goin' in. 

**You know how some people say, "OMG!" as an acronym? I'm instituting "LHM!" for "Lord have Mercy!" It's gonna catch on. I can feel it.

It's documented. Look it up.

(It's only documented right here, but whatever.)

Nolan decided to take me to San Fransisco this weekend! We only just decided to go on Monday, and we leave in the morning, so it all sort of snuck (not a word. sue) up on me. I have managed to exercise with a friend, do all the laundry, pack for the kids and I, and get Ethan's choir uniform and tie dyed t-shirt ready for his performance tomorrow (Which I'm going to miss! I'm a bad mom. A mom who will be in California having goooooood wine). I've been to the chiropractor (because my back protested all the mopping I did yesterday -- but the floors are SOOOO mopped), the dollar store to get supplies for my acting class this afternoon, managed to cook my lunch for this insanely healthy VLC diet, AND went to JoAnne's, got fabric, filling and thread, and made AJ a phase 2 moon costume (Um...don't ask. I didn't) for his school play on Tuesday.

I did not get to the post office. Sorry Mom and leigh_adams, the stuff I need to send you is sitting on my dresser, mocking me. It'll be next week and late, but still super cool. My most sincere apologies to the both of you.

My literary friend Holle Wood (aka norablackbird, not that she ever uses her LJ and YES, that is her real name) dropped off some new books for me to read! Wheeeeeeeee! I love reading on airplanes. It's the BEST. Thanks, Holle!

Now I'm off to teach class have dinner with a group of girlfriends and see the musical 'Grease,' for which I made two quilts , three kelly green cheerleader skirts and sewed a ton of hot pink rickrack to fuzzy white bathrobes for the Beauty School Dropout number. I cannot think of a better way to kick off my vacation weekend!

See you all on Tuesday!

And happy mother's day to my sweet mom, and all you other girls out there with kidlets. Have a great day!

None of which are very educational. But Nolan and I had a good time. We got glared at some, though.

( Image intensive. And don't expect to learn anything. )

I'd make a fun, but pretty crappy tour guide, huh?

Happy Veterans Day!

I spent the morning in the NYC garment district with Mom buying fabric and trims... SO cute! Makes me want to sew, for sure.

Also, had dinner at Nick and Stef's steakhouse... dear heavens above.  It was decadent.  A (one) glass of wine, a prime rib, mashed potatoes, bread and creme brulee.

Then we saw Men Who Stare at Goats.

...

No.  Just... no.  Don't.  Save yourself.  It's too late for me, but you... you still have hope.