Don't Cover Up The Bean Plate;

I want to watch it burn.

This phrase traipsed past my vocal cords this weekend, merrily sashayed over my tongue, across my lips and out into the world, from whence it could ne'er be unsaid. It was followed by one of those comic silent beats and subsequent explosions of laughter and derision (good-natured, of course--at least I don't think my mom was openly mocking me...). If you want the story, you will have to call me.

So it's been one helluva week. I am going to thieve Bea's Wednesday Words idea (avlsYffkwOi)and cleverly disguise it as my own: Monday Words. I'm so original.

1.Thanks: I want to thank you all for your kind calls, thoughts, and prayers. My grandma was one awesome lady (read Proverbs 31:10-31 and you will pretty much know her) and losing her was hard, but having such a great network of supportive friends and family helps more than you know.

2.Bree: a shout-out to my new bloggerfriend, who is braver than I. I've been reading your blog through Pat's for awhile now, too, and never had the guts to comment - you're one funny lawyer-to-be. Thanks for your kind words and for introducing me to O_o. :)

3.Hoopty: if ever I doubted that my car is a piece o' shite, my travels last Sunday and Monday put the kibosh on that question. My trip to Kansas for my grandma's funeral involved me flying crazy-early into Denver Sunday morning, getting picked up at the airport by my cousin from Ft. Collins, riding 6 1/2 hours with him to KS, going to the funeral Monday morning, and then doing it all again in reverse. The highlights of this ridiculously fast-paced travel schedule include getting to know my cousin Justin (he's six years older than I am, so we didn't really hang out growing up), careening down the backroads of hilly rural Kansas while drinking Red Bull (yecch) and perfecting our farmer waves, and getting to drive Justin's Audi. Holy Leather Seats is that a nice car.

4.The Fam: after the whirlwind trip to KS and back, I found out I could have taken five days off of work. I was feeling pretty depressed and very alone and just...weird...so I decided to take Thursday and Friday off to go back to Nebraska and spend some actual time with my family.

5.Baritone: I went to my sister's college choir concert on Thursday night. They sang Carmina Burana (you'd know it if you heard it) and had this amazing baritone soloist. Holy crap, he was good. The tenor, however, sounded (in the words of my PhD/college professor dad) "like his underwear was four sizes too small." It was a little forced and...um...painful.

6.Waubonsie: my sister, mom and dad and I camped at Waubonsie state park (just over the border in Iowa) on Friday and Saturday nights. Beautiful fall trees (something I don't get to see here in PHX) and perfect fall weather. We hiked and ate and talked and played board games and made trips into Nebraska City (20 miles away), where my Dad's students were presenting in a competition.

7.Apples: we went to the Apple Orchards in Nebraska City. My family used to do that when my brother and sister and I were little and we all lived in Peru. (...that's Peru, NE, by the way. It's always fun telling people I grew up in Peru.) Cider and Pie and Caramel Apples: oh my!

8.Brother: he thinks I'm funny! Ben's not much of a talker - a man of few words. So, even though we get along great, we don't talk a lot. Anyway, I was showing him my razr phone last weekend and played him the ringtone I have set for my sister (the theme from Sanford and Son as sung by Turk and JD on Scrubs) and he cracked up. No big deal. Well, I hung out with him and my sister-in-law in Omaha on Sunday and he was showing me his new cell phone. And he looks at me with his one-dimpled smirky-smile and goes "wanna hear my ringtone?" You guessed it. Sanford and Son from Scrubs. Aww. :)

9.Loquacious: I need to shut up now.

Me And My Bea.

For real.


(Except you'd have to replace "Donnie Darko" with some other movie. I've never seen Donnie Darko.)

Hooray, Natalie Dee.

So in the past week I've been to six states, three different airports a grand total of ten times, worked one and a half days, cried a lot, laughed a lot, drove a lot, flew a lot, saw people, missed people, said goodbye for good, said goodbye for awhile, reminisced, hugged, hiked, and healed.

Long blog soon. I promise.
G'night, friends.

Conversations. Family. Crossword puzzles. Gardening. That funky, godawful Christmas lampshade.

She loved those things.

My grandma died this morning. It's the strangest thing. I haven't had to deal with a close family member dying since I was 10 years old. I guess that makes me lucky, but it sure doesn't make this easier.

Please pray for comfort for my grandpa who just lost his wife of over 60 years and for my mom and aunt and uncle who just lost their mom.

Love to my grandma who is, I'm sure, talking God's ear off up there in Heaven right now.

Illustrator Schmillustrator.

Got that?

My first journal cover. :)
























You have no idea how weird it was to see my artwork in print. Here's to that pesky Master's degree paying off. (you can't see me, but I'm raising my can of Diet Dr. Pepper in a carbonated, caffeinated, aspartame- and phenylalanine-laden toast)

My Cactus Be Illin'

and not in a good way.

I blogged awhile ago about the odd affliction that had befallen my poor little Ikea cactus. Apparently, after a valiant struggle, it has succumbed to it's ailments. I looked at it today and discovered that the container that once held my proud little cacti has been reduced to a veritable minefield littered with severed cactus parts and shattered dreams. The thing just fell apart.

You will note that the yet-to-be-identified sprouts have grown considerably over the last 2 1/2 months - evidence to the fact that I did water it occasionally.



















Conclusions (take your pick):
1. This particular species of desert flora requires something other than water, special cactus potting soil, air, and sunlight.
2. My fascination with and subsequent refusal to remove the clearly aberrant growths contributed to it's untimely death.
3. I didn't love it enough.

A green thumb I have not.

HTD indeed.

I love surprises.

So my sister flew in on Saturday - just straight out of the blue. Due to me actually kinda sorta almost having a life this weekend, she had to nix the "show up at the door unannounced" kind of surprise. But the "hi,myplaneistakingoffIhavetohangupbutI'mcomingtoPhoenixtoday
Iflyinaroundthreeokbye" phone call is just as much fun. I was a tad giddy.

Things we did:

Talked.
Watched Scrubs, Friends, Lost, and The Office.
Wittily bantered.
Went to see The Illusionist.
Played Friends Trivia.
Said sarcastic things.
Walked around Copper Square.
Listened to Dane Cook. (wtb, htd?)
Pondered the future.
Had margaritas and mexican food at Chevy's.
Talked more.
Drove around Scottsdale.
Drank iced chai at Border's.
Quoted a lot of Friends and Scrubs.

Poor Haley walked over to my office on Monday afternoon and hung out for the last hour I was there. This was the fateful location of the 497th incident of someone asking us if we are twins. I don't understand.



Mad love to my htd.

Ode To My Little Green iPod

How do I love thee? A lot. *snap snap* (bongo rhythm fades into poetic silence)

To keep myself from being driven (more) insane by the incessant humming of 15 computers within 15 feet of my desk at work, I listen to my outdated but still treasured little green iPod mini. I put it on shuffle and it plays random songs all the livelong day.

I've noticed, however, that instead of playing a purely random sampling of the approximately 800 songs in the music library, my little green iPod has moods. It might even be schizophrenic, you guys. I just don't know. Each day it will pick a couple artists or albums and play a disproportionate sampling of those songs, mixed in with the expectedly random selections from the rest of the music library. And it's always incongruous pairings. One day it played a lot of Eisley and Cake. The next day it favored Muse and Jack Johnson with a little Chevelle love on the side. Today's featured bands were Radiohead and Nickel Creek.

I wonder if my moods affect the little green iPod or if the little green iPod influences me. Hmmm.