Cleaning, Due to Immiment Move and Marriage:

I realized a few days ago that this next week, before I move back to school, is the only "free" time I have to clean my room and sort through my things before I get married. Our wedding is on le 14 Juillet*; over Christmas break we'll be travelling back and forth, doing the family holiday things; and after I graduate, the wedding will be under two months away, which means that we'll be horribly busy with the last-minute things that can't be done months in advance.

So, bearing that in mind, I took a deep breath and plunged into the depths of my closets. They hadn't seen the light of day for a good while, at least a few years (once I got busy with college and moved away).

As a result of cleaning the closets and the rest of the room, I have five bags of items for Goodwill (due to my ruthless mantra: "If I haven't worn it the last season it was suitable for [meaning sweaters for fall, summery things for hot weather], someone else can have it." this is in direct opposition to my former mindset, saving things due to inherent sentimental value), and a few more just going out to the dumpster. It sounds horrendous, and I seriously didn't know I had that many things sitting there, waiting to be donated or thrown away.

Here's the top half of the closet:



Note that every shirt I own is now on its own plastic hanger...

And the lower half:



carpet? I had no idea! ...joking...kinda...


* July 14th!! We booked the church and found a reception hall -- oh, my goodness. I am so glad that we don't ever have to replay the day and a half we were hunting for the hall; every place we found, they charged at least a $1,000 fee for renting the hall, plus at least $3,000 in payment for the food (not including gratuity and tax). Wait, did you hear that? That was my heart sinking so low that it made friends with my pinky toe. The most expensive one ($1,400 to rent) still seemed rather junky; the "dance floor" was faux-wood linoleum, a area of 20 sq. ft. area, and smelled of chlorine. By the end of the day John looked pale and tired, and I was despondent and joking (only invite people we really like to the reception; tell them to bring their own food).

But on the second day, we went to the (Slave)Labor Temple, and miracle of miracles, it was exactly what we had been looking for. Beautiful hardwood floors throughout, a warm, homey atmosphere, mirrored walls, a separate bar! with tall, cushy seats! and windows all along the ends; there's a wide hallway that goes from the parking lot to the hall itself, and it has wooden floors as well; and there's a ton of natural light! Most importantly, though, it was $250. The nicest place in town, and only $250! When we walked into the room, it was as though a weight had fallen from our shoulders; we were so thrilled, and I could've hugged the room. It was wonderful.

I am so excited.

"I was there"

Check out the I Was There gallery. The pictures (link in the article) comparing antique postcard-pictures of buildings to their modernday selves.

a conversation re. updating

"You," I say, stifling a yawn, "Need to stop poking me. I know I need to write online, but I keep putting it off."

"Oh!" You say rather condescendingly. "I understand, since there's probably nothing happening where you are. You've probably been too busy sleeping and moping and roaming around the house in tattered sweatpants."

"No!" I shout, for I must dismiss those rumours that are floating about. I mean, really, sweatpants? Can't stand the horrid things.

I smile ingratiatingly. "It's not that I don't have things to write about -- oh, I do, I do. There is so much to write about; perhaps too much. That must be it! I have so many things to write about that I can't single only ONE out to discuss!"

"Fine," you declare, rather triumphantly, "Don't pick one! Spill them all! Divulge all the details! Spare none from the exposure of the blogging world!"

"But oh," I'll sigh, "I'm far too tired to have time to discuss them all. I've been so busy, with working on accounts/finding a church/setting the date/discovering my wedding dress/compiling a guest list/spreading the tidings/smooching John/all the other daily activities that get in the way." ("Except for the 'smooching John' part," I'll say mournfully, "As those times are painfully few and far between, since we only see each other a few times a month, now.")

And then I'll sigh again, heavily, for good measure, to emphasise just.how.busy I've been.

not too bright...

extreme ADD

Man on News Show: "...unfortunately, he also had Herpes of the Eye."
Mom and danika: silent and bemused, mentally repeating what MoNS had said.
danika: "well. i guess we know he wasn't paying attention in SexEd..."

in which i write a list, rather than a lengthy post (ha!)

in which i write a list, rather than a lengthy post (ha!)

1. i broke the Incredibly Long Day (I.L.D.) into more manageable segments by taking a two-hour-ish nap (3:10-5:26), and then curling up on the porch swing for a while (10:15-10:45).

2. the day was that long (how long? THAT long) due to two major reasons: a) my allergies had kicked into high gear and b) I'd only had four hours of sleep.

3. our cats became intoxicated off catnip. the bigger of the two, Lionel, was DRUNK. not just buzzing, pretending to be more drunk than he actually was, but the kind of drunk where he lolled on the floor, unable to hold his head up, weakly batted at the catnip bunch, then was horribly distracted by the sight of his paw batting at the aforementioned catnip, and decided to just lick it, instead. if he had been talking, it would have gone something like this: "I AM NOT...LU--Shhhluuuu -- drrrr---DRRRLUUUNNK. gihhhhh...gimmem.....the natcip. caahht...caahhh...caatni--a paawaahh? a paawwwwhhh? paw? *lick, lick*" and then he would have dissolved into giggles.

4. i saw a shooting star tonight, when I was curled up on the porch swing, swaying in the night air. i would tell you what i wished, but really, if i tell you and then it doesn't happen, I'll totally know why, and blame myself -- because, really, what idiot would tell someone what they'd wished?!

5. i took a Claritin tablet for the first time ever, today; it did suppress my sneezing and allowed me to breathe (as well as making my face numb and my lips tingly), but the 24 hour-thing? it's been 10, and i'm all stuffy and sneezy again. that sonic boom you heard? that was the result of my high-speed sneezes, in such fast succession. yes, i've broken the sound barrier. yes, i'm very modest.

6. i played a game of Scrabble tonight with my sister, brother, and mom. i'm always so tense when i play Scrabble, because it's the only game at which i can beat absolutely everybody -- and i need to preserve that reputation! last time, i beat mom by 70+ points. in order to balance out this bragging: i throw like a girl, i can't run, and the only time i ever watched more than a few minutes of a football game was when i taped the Superbowl for John.

7. i melted into soppy puddles of tears a few times, due to the stupid allergies and the stupid miles between John and me.

8. i ingested more m&m's than a human should, ever (unless, of course, that human had melted into soppy puddles of tears throughout the day; in that case, a chocolate antidote is necessary -- the same as after a dementor incident. trust me on this - professor lupin would be on my side, i'm sure).

9. i really have no ninth anecdote, but i cannot end this on a nine, so pretend you didn't see this one and move along.

10. i do, however, have a riddle for you (taken from krissa, of petit hiboux, because it's so good):

A woman is in her house. It's nighttime. She reads a book for a while, then realizes she's tired. She puts down the book. She shuts off the light, goes to another room, and falls asleep.

In the morning she wakes up, goes to her outside door, opens it, and picks up the day's newspaper. She reads the headline, goes back inside, and commits suicide. WHY?

no fair searching for the answer online! put down that search engine and back away, and nobody gets hurt. if there aren't any guesses that are on the right track, i'll post a clue tomorrow afternoon or evening -- i swear.


(and just so you know: i didn't get it. but now that krissa told me the answer, i love this riddle to pieces, because, really, it's a great one. )

(oh, in case you feel gypped due to the poor excuse for #9? i realized today how much i missed listening to Elvis! so now i'm listening to "Suspicious Minds," because it's one of my favourites. it's horribly sad, but i love it, love it, love it. i generally like songs that make me a little sad, or freak me out a little bit [wish i could say that last bit about movies, as well!])

addendum to the earlier post

addendum to the earlier post

I recently uncovered a letter I wrote last October, to one of my friends back here at home; I wrote the letter, but never sent it.

Here's part of it:

I'm (finally) at the point where no relationship is better than a wrong relationship. I want a guy, yes (someone smart and gentle, with nice hair and eyes that make me melt, and strong arms to enfold me; someone who will go to church with me, someone who cuddles, someone who is comfortable to be around, day in and day out, someone whom I’ll still want to be with 50 years from now). I'd love to have wild and crazy sex every day (hell, YES). I want to have a child, a little boy with dark hair and eyes, who loves being outside, frogs, bugs, books, watching his daddy shave, and snuggling. My ovaries, they're SCREAMING. But I want this all with the right guy. I've realized this, finally – there was a point where I thought that any guy was better than not having any prospects. But…maybe it's because I’m getting closer to the age where I'll actually get married (yay!), but I'm realizing how important it is that this all be with the right guy, that I not settle for anything less than the guy who checks off in all the important categories.

Nine days after I typed that, John walked into my life.

Summer in the city, and meeting with former teachers

Summer in the city, and meeting with former teachers

It's a summer day in the city, hot and muggy, bright blue skies and puffy white clouds concealing the fact that it rained and stormed all night.

I didn't decide that I was coming, on this trip to fetch my sister from the airport, until 45 minutes before we left. I walked out the door sporting a cute watermelon-coloured skirt and pretty top, fabulous shoes -- and for the first time in a long time, hair that actually did exactly what I wanted it to, with hardly any effort on my part!

As the rest of the family walked on to the pub where we were going to dinner, I took a few minutes and went into my old music school. I hadn't seen my violin teacher or her husband for a couple of years, as I stopped taking lessons in 2003, and have missed them ever since. She became pregnant a few months before I stopped with lessons, had the baby that fall, and they've had another one since then. I talked to her husband today (he's a violin teacher there, as well) - we've been out of touch for so long, so I gave them my e-mail address, because we have so many things to catch up on. He said that they're pregnant again, and due September 23rd. I asked him to please request that she hold the baby in for a few extra days, because my birthday is September 26th.

He was so happy to see me. They were such an odd couple, but worked perfectly together; she had long blonde hair, wasn't skinny, but a comfortable weight, had a heavy German accent, and smoked hand-rolled cigarettes. He was lanky, rather thin, and had glasses, a quiet voice and aura, and patchy, rather messy hair. They balanced each other perfectly. She was the loud one, he was the quiet one. She taught classically; he taught using the Suzuki method. She was a strict teacher; he was a softie. They had one of those relationships that had one main common interest, but completely different personalities -- and yet they didn't have any problems, fitting into each other's lives. Her face lit up every time he came across the hall to her studio and peeked in the window of the door, or came in to say "hi."

I love real-life, true, love stories. Seeing people together who obviously loved each other deeply...for a time, that was what kept me going. There were days when I felt as though I would never meet the man who would light up my days, about whom I found nothing repellent, and who always intrigued me. Nine months ago today, I met him; and within days, I knew that he was the one I would be with - and nothing has been the same since. We've discussed everything under the sun, walked for miles, stayed up late planning and discussing, and there are still some days when I have to pinch myself to make sure this is all real.

But it is! It's real, and it's happening to us, this time. Those beautiful love stories? I still love them and love those people, but this one, this beautiful love story? It's by far the best.

And I'm only a little bit biased. ;)

Updating two days in a row, and other various tidbits.

Updating two days in a row, and other various tidbits.

I've been sitting in my parent's living room, laptop appropriately on my lap, feet on a footrest, and had to get up to open the blinds all the way; it's pouring outside right now. Normally, this wouldn't be such a big deal, but it has been so dry here for so long; the grass has been brown and crunchy since the middle of June. I love the windows in this room; they stretch almost all the way to the ceiling, and from where I sit, I can gaze out across the valley -- obscured after a point by a thick veil of rain. Everything is a beautiful, pearly grey outside, except for the huge pine tree just southeast of the house, and watching the rain fall past the windows in a mad dash for the ground, makes me think of Christmas, of sitting here at night, the light on outside, and watching the white flakes swirling toward the ground, beautiful white spots against the forest green of the tree.

I have enya murmuring at me through the speakers on the laptop, because her music perfectly reflects my mood at this moment -- the rain seems almost magical, rather "Chronicles of Narnia"-esque.

I lent out my copy of The Time Traveler's Wife to a friend back in College Town at the end of May, and miss it horribly. Sometimes I close my eyes and go through passages of it, just in my head -- is that sad? (Okay, so it's sad; but is it sad because I'm mopey about it and missing it so much, or because I read it so many times that I have memorized the majority of the book?)

I read a survey today, and rather than copy and paste the thing in its entirety, I decided to pick and choose a few questions to put up:

Foods (and a drink) I didn't eat for many years until recently: Zucchini, avocados, guacamole, and Sangria.
Explanations: When I was younger, I swore that I hated zucchini; I don't know why -- I just did. Now, I love it, especially in stir-fries and soups -- it's so fresh!
I had my first avocado last fall; my first guacamole about the same time, and Sangria after I met John (and you thought this entry was John-free! Oh, you are so naive). I rarely get up and fetch my own glass of Sangria, but share a glass with John - most recently when we were at his mom's house, with his family and grandparents, curled up on the couch, and watching tv. It was so cozy, my legs over his lap and his arm around my shoulder, my head tucked in near his elbow, taking turns sipping the Sangria. Somehow, over the course of two evenings, we made our way through a jug of it, and when Nana came back from Sam's Club the next day, she had a new bottle for us -- one that, of course, was so huge (as is everything at Sam's) that it could hardly fit in the fridge.

I sleep with: The bear I have had since I was born, "Teddy," and the cute, squashed, little tiger that John has had since he was three, and who was once left in Hawaii, "Smoogles." Also with a sweatshirt and a few pillows.


My sister is coming tomorrow, flying in (well, on a plane) from Texas. She'll be here for a week, and it'll be so fun, having her around again! I've really missed her and my brother-in-law since they moved this Spring.

I don't have a smooth ending for this post, so: I hope you all have a wonderful night; what have you been up to?