leap day 2012

I heard on the radio this morning that if we didn't have leap day every four years to realign the calendar today would actually be May 2nd. Just a little trivia for you today.

A couple things happened today that I thought were noteworthy...

#1. I cut myself on my banana this morning. How, you ask? The top stem part that gets hard scratched me as I was tearing one banana from the bunch. Got a nice, long cut up my thumb. It's been hurting all day. I hope I don't get some sort of rare leap day banana stem infection. That wouldn't be good...

#2. Davy Jones died today. The Monkees were (and still are, quite frankly) one of my favorite bands when I was a kid. In the 1980's, when MTV had just started as a television station, they replayed the epsiodes of the Monkees TV show. I was addicted. We had all the episodes taped and I remember watching and rewatching every episode. They were my first boyband experience. Peter was always my favorite, but Davy was a close second.

this weekend i...

...watched 6 movies.
...helped my roommate finish decorations for her wedding.
...went to said roommate's wedding.
...slept in for three days.
...laughed and had a lot of fun with my bestie, Kristy.
...wrote two chapters on my new story.
...got a pedicure.
...began planning my summer trip to Oregon.
...contemplated moving to Alaska with Kristy.
...realized I'm not excited to now be living alone.

my soul mate

I've decided my soul mate is British.

New plan: scratch going to Oregon this summer. Instead, spend a week in England looking for my eternal companion and correct the mistake of us being born on separate continents.

feeling patriotic

I was driving home from work today, listening to Dirks Bently's new song, "Home," and I just got overwhelmed with a love for my country. I have always been proud to be an American but my love and patriotic tendencies have been on my mind the last couple days since watching the TV show Jericho this past weekend. Watching a fictionalized scenario where the freedoms and way of life that we all take for granted suddenly disappear, I am so grateful for the blessing of living in this country. Yes there are things I don't like and wish I could change but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

10 years ago today

Still grateful everyday that I was able to walk away and that I'm alive.

i want

A baby platypus!!

why i live in arizona

People ask me some time why I live in Arizona when it gets so hot in the winter. My answer: because it's safe. There are no major fault lines in the state which means no earthquakes. Occasionally we get a big windstorm that comes through, but we don't live anywhere near "Tornado Alley." The ocean is 6 hours away: close enough to go for the weekend, but far enough away to never have to deal with hurricanes. It can get up to 120 in the summer, yes, and we have bad fires sometimes because everything gets so dry, but I'll take fires and hot weather over natural disasters any day!!

This weekend I watched the 1.5 seasons of the show Jericho. The show takes place in a small, fictional town in Kansas. In the pilot episode several nuclear bombs are detonated in the United States which then plunges everyone into a whole new world and a new way of living. The people in this small town have to learn how to put their lives back together with no electricity, and no communication with the outside world. They have no idea what's going on or what happened with the bombs. The bombs went off in September. Soon, this small Kansas town is dealing with harsh winter weather and no heat. As I sat shivering on the couch, huddled under the blue blanket Katy knit for me for Christmas, watching these winter episodes, I was suddenly very thankful to live in Arizona. It does get cold here (contrary to popular belief) but at leas tit doesn't snow and stay below freezing for months at a time. In fact, in most movies/shows that depict the "end of the world" scenarios, most of them have people migrating south to Arizona and Mexico during "nuclear winter." Since I'm an inherently lazy person, this is good! I don't think I would survive a migration. Luckily, I don't have to.

This is why I live in Arizona. Eventually everyone's going to be coming here, anyway. I'm just ahead of the game. :)

hurts so good

Got my first massage and facial today. Apparently I was a lot more knotted up than I thought I was. The therapist worked on my shoulders a LOT. I feel like I'm bruised in places, but the facial was AWESOME!

feeling nostalgic

These are some of my favorite songs from Sesame Street when I was kid. I still remember these clips vividly. They make me happy. Do you remember them??

I remember my mom did a preschool/play group thing when I was 4. She did a little lesson with this song about arrows and following directions. (At least that's what I remember!! lol) Did you notice the scary music that happened when the arrow led to the octopus? Maybe that's where my fear of octopii started.....



I LOVED the aliens! Especially the cute little baby one!! This song had been stuck in my head for the last 25 years. I find myself singing it at random times.



I always thought it was cool to see all the kitchen utensils interacting with each other. I secretly always wished I could ride an egg beater....



Captain Vegetable!! Crunch, crunch, cruch. His whiskers are awesome.



Uhm...I love Aaron Neville. Close your eyes and just listen to his voice. Awesome.

funnies

Here are a few pictures that have made me laugh the last couple days. Enjoy!!

i'm confused

I moved into a new building at word today because I'm FINALLY done with training! In the bathroom there are two stickers in all the stalls. The sticker says, "If toilet doesn't flush, hold hand over sensor for 5-10 seconds." Here's the problem. These are the toilets:

Where's the sensor??? I'm confused....

my favorite board game

Candyland!! I love this game! I have a couple different versions of the game. I have the original one I got back in the 1980's and a new "vintage" one. I'm not sure why I love this game so much. It's just fun! My favorite character is Plumpy. He's just so cute and we share the misfortune of being short and...plumpy. :)

currently

Weathering: A headache

Wearing: Cargo shorts and a Tshirt. Oh yeah. I'm hot!

Drinking: Water

Eating: A bowl of cereal

Listening: To a movie on TV

Reading: Fateful by Cheri Schmidt

Thinking: About the book I'm currently in the middle of writing

Wishing: It were February 25th so Kristy was here

Enjoying: The most beautiful weather!! 82 degrees in February. LOVE IT :)

me on a ride

This is m on the teacups at Disneyland when I went with Katy last Labor Day. I freakin' love that place. I need to go back. Like, now.

my favorite cartoon character

This one was tough for me. I don't think I have ONE favorite cartoon character. Here are a few I thought of off the top of my head....

my favorite weather

I love sun (obviously, because I willingly moved to Arizona) and I love that I live somewhere where it's 80 degrees in February. However...living in the land of the sun has made me appreciate the rainy days when they do come.

I love staying in my jammies when it's overcast and rainy, curling up on the couch with either a book or a movie, with some warm fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies. Best day ever!!

my favorite drink

somewhere i went today

How, you ask, did I go to Sacramento today? Thanks to this book:

I borrowed this book from Kristy on Kindle and read it today at work (because it's been totally boring the last couple days and I haven't been able to do anything except read and try to write while I'm waiting for QA to review and give me feedback on my practice files before I "graduate"). It takes place in Sacramento. This book was kind of silly, but I liked it by the end. The guy is a little fruity at the beginning and totally acted like her gay best friend (I mean, come on...what guy in their straight mind knows how to expertly do a girl's hair and makeup???) But, by the end I was cheering him on. I wive any spoilers, but...it did make my dreams of being published seem a little more possible. I write at least as good (I think better) than this girl does. I can totally get published!

my hometown

I'm not sure what picture to put here today because I'm not sure where my "hometown" is. I grew up in three different states, during three very different times of my life. Which one is the one? From birth to 8 I lived with my family in Mesa, AZ.

From 8 to 16 we lived in Milwaukie, Oregon.

(I miss Mike's and sometimes crave their chocolate Oreo shake BAD!!)

From 16 to 23 I lived in Utah with my family. During that time we lived in Kaysville and then Lehi/Eagle Mountain.

(I worked for two years at the Bakery on Main St--the building with the green awning)

From 23 until today I am back in Mesa. So...where is my hometown? Is it possible to claim three different places as your hometown? I love and hate things about each of them. Each of these places is a part of who I am, and each holds a special place in my heart.

my favorite quote

the fruits of my labor!

Ruby only produced one grapefruit this year, but it was super yummy! I can't wait for next year :)

my favorite place in the whole world

My favorite place in the whole world: my parent's house with my family. Followed closely by this place:

my favorite store

I LOVE THIS STORE! It's like...the best of everything I love. Books, books, and more books, then fun and unique gifts and home decore, and it's attached to Wildflower Bread Company. So, I can go browse for hours, find a new book, then go order some yummy food to enjoy while I read. The only bad thing? It's so far away!! I wish it were closer. Although, it's probably a good thing that it's NOT, otherwise I would spend WAY too much time and money there!!

i never leave the house without...

I'm starting another photo-a-day challenge for February. I really enjoyed the one I did last month and wanted to continue. So I found a new list!

Day 1: A picture of something you never leave the house without.

I never leave without a pen (or 12) and a notebook in my purse. I constantly get ideas for scenes in the books I'm writing, hear song lyrics that are especially apropo, hear funny quotes that people say, jot down thoughts I want to blog about later, figure out my budget for the week, or need to make a list of things I need to do and will forget if I don't write them down RIGHT NOW. I would be LOST without a notebook and a pen easily accessible.