I love it when she gets obsessed with things. I’m reminded of myself at such times. The obsession seen here is a moth that made its way into the fireplace.

Whoa.

*I’m not lame like all those people wishing Edward Cullen a happy birthday. But if it were Jasper’s birthday, I’d be all over it.
*I love this illustration.
*Had a really long nap today. Dreamed I had a baby with Justin Timberlake. Baby was black. ??
*Gave in and ordered HBO w/ allowance money so I can watch True Blood. I don’t understand me sometimes.
*Watching Empire Strikes Back w/ RiffTrax until True Blood starts. Sook-eh!
*Snark and horny vampires. Who could ask for anything more?
*Wow, is Empire Strikes Back the longest movie ever, or what?
*Am I the only one who thinks the True Blood logo looks like a kindergartener with a crayon wrote it?
*More Eric, please.

*My coworker is leaving for a new job. I know it’s so I’ll be miserable w/o her. But the good news is, I’ll inherit her work and actually have something to do!
*Bryan Fuller leaving Heroes. I’m out. We only stuck with it because Brian Fuller was on board and we hoped it would get better. The writing has sucked for while.
*I don’t like it when Rowdi barks at the door, but it is nice that solicitors understand I just can’t talk long because of the dog. (I purposefully grab her by the collar and hold her right behind the door.)
*HE: I can’t believe you got revenge on me for not listening to you by doing exactly what I asked you to do when I wasn’t listening to you.
*If they’re still married, it’s cheating.
*I never trust blinkers.
*11 more minutes and I get to go stalk the new house again!
*Ha. Ha. Ha. They want to show the rent house tomorrow. Ha. Ha. Ha.
*How difficult can it be to buy DMB tickets? When my sister is involved, VERY.
*Mentioned flash mobs to my sis. She asked if that’s where a bunch of people go streaking together. Was serious.
*Hours later, we finally have DMB tickets for the Gorge. My head is tired. Also, Ticketmaster? You suck.

*Dude. I swear Rogue (one of our cats) just started whispering to me. She kind of scares me. [Asked if she barks] She’s more of a wheezer than a barker. And she sneezes and ends up with green snot all over her face. She’s gross.
*”You have a level of sophistication that so fitting with your beauty,” S.C. Gov. Sanford says. [Yeah, whores are like that.]
*Blerg. I’ll be surprised if his wife doesn’t change her mind on the whole open-to-reconciliation thing.
*Try not to weep. I dare you. [Link has graphic picture. Do watch the vid.]
*Heart of a poet, soul of a wanker. [Sanford.]
*Watching 2nd X-Files movie. The subplot is boring, and Scully’s The Official Debbie Downer. Why did they bother making this again? Come ONNN. Enough, already, Scully! I think I’d have preferred Doggett and Reyes for the movie.
*Wow. That movie kinda sucked. Made the paperwork I was multitasking seem like an episode of House.
*What was with that plot? And the subplot, which I think turned out to relate to the plot, but bleh.

There’s an exit sign about twenty feet from my desk at work. I’ve decided that the reason for its existence is to taunt me. It teases me with its bold red letters, the energy it sucks from the room and from me to keep itself on, the door it hovers over (a little creepy, if you ask me, all that hovering).

Monday one of my coworkers gave her notice. She found a great job and only has to come here until the end of next week. Lucky girl.

And then there’s me. Yes, I should be grateful that I still have a job, and I am grateful that I have the paycheck. The job, not so much. I won’t go into it here, but let’s just say that it’s not a fun environment–barely even tolerable. Also, the work has devolved into a massive pile of bore. For the last three months, I’ve felt like I’m just taking up space, and they’re probably only keeping me just in case everyone else gets a job. Or as headcount on the health insurance. Or so they can laugh and the exit signs can taunt me.

Since my coworker gets to scoff at the exit signs and get out of this soul-sucking place, I’m taking over her work. And now suddenly it looks like they actually need me here again. I have nine years of accounting experience, and I’ve only become useful again because a staff accountant with a little over a year of experience is leaving.

How twisted is that? It’s demeaning.

I know why things have turned out the way they have, and I don’t know if I’ll ever blog about it, but to give you a hint, there are some people in this world who are only happy when they make everyone else around them miserable. It’s hard to hate those people, because they’re so pathetic. I mostly pity them. Mostly.

I’m really sorry about the abundance of Kindle posts. But I’m totally in love with it, so I can’t help myself.

Anyway, it’s not like I’m one of those obnoxious iPhone people.

So I have my Bible on my Kindle–I don’t even carry the big giant copy to church or Bible study with me anymore, because I have a Bible that fits in my purse. I can highlight it, take notes in it, search it, etc. Until there’s a Kindle version of the Thompson Chain Reference Bible (also wouldn’t mind a Nelson Study Bible), I’m happy with it. Oh, and it was free (I see they’re now charging $7.99 for it).

Yesterday morning, we were sitting in Bible class after worship, studying Revelation. I had my Kindle open to the passage we were studying, and I decided I wanted to make the font bigger. To increase the font size, you push the font button and then use the little clicker to scroll to the size you want. However, you use the same font button to turn on text-to-speech. Instead of scrolling to the sides, you scroll down and then click the clicker.

You can see where this is going. I went to make the font bigger, and I turned on text-to-speech instead (kind of a reflexive action, since I do this all the time and I hardly ever change the font size).

I realized what I had done before Spike even started talking.

And I panicked.

I know, because I do this all the time, that to turn it off, you simply hit the font button again, scroll down, and click. So naturally my first panicky instinct was to hit the power switch and try to turn it off. The screen saver came on, and of course, it read to me anyway.

“Sorry! Sorry! I tried to change the font size! Sorry!” Everyone was laughing, I was fumbling to turn it back on, then go to the font window. The preacher teaches the class, and he had to stop down and wait for me to turn it off. (He, too, was laughing at me.)

Did I mention that the last time I’d used text-to-speech, I was washing dishes and had it turned all the way up? But of course.

[Related: Serenity finally got her Kindle. Here’s her review.]

It’s her favorite place to be.

*It feels like Friday. Thursday has turned from a day of hope to a day of deceit! Bad Thursday! Bad!

*All I want to know is: Is Billy Burke’s ’stache in New Moon?

*Just heard “It is what it is.” Restrained myself.

*I’m so ready to see DMB at the Gorge! (Not literally, though, since I haven’t yet bought tickets.)

*In husband failure news: we’re getting a Futurama movie next from Netflix, NOT anything involving vampires. [Husband failure turned into me buying season 1 of True Blood.]

*Found out that R-Patz’s middle name is Oxford. That’s brill.

*Why does someone need help because they don’t like crowds? Some people just don’t like crowds.

*It’s never okay to call someone asterisk ampersand carrot percent sign!

*SO’S YOUR FACE!

*I LOVE these boys.

*Saw “Could I Have Celiac?” as a post title in celiac forum. Thought, “Why would someone ask for that?”

*Kellie Pickler is on Twitter. My life is complete.

*”I ain’t waitin’ for the world to change, gonna change the world for you.” Much better lyric than Mayer’s “waiting on the world to change.”

*FREAKY: I’m listening to “Funny the Way It Is” and I get an email from DMB about the FTWII video.

*Going for a walk with Frank, Rowdi, and the GrooGrux King. [Frank bailed.]

*Right on, Granny.

*Still weird to me that twilight (the time of day, not the sparkly saga) falls after 10 here. Off to bed, and it’s still light out.

*Obama on Iran: “The world is watching.” Obama on True Blood: “The world is watching.”

*My ipod is skipping. Like a cd. Srsly.

*Oh, DMB, your new song “Funny the Way It Is” is SO funny the way it is! Yes, I DO remember winters. We had it for 6 mos this year!

*Just witnessed bathroom stalking at the office. WEIRD.

*I have made the final decision: GrooGrux King comes in 4th of all of DMB’s studio albums. You wanted to know.

*Couldn’t they have just asked five guys in the NIH office?

*You should never run when your hair is on fire. Stop, drop, and roll.

*Puppy’s running in her sleep. Also panting as if she were actually running.

*Season 1 arrived. I wonder what we’re doing all weekend? [That only lasted until this afternoon. Guess we’ll watch Gran Torino.]

*Cox and Turk centered Scrubs! I hope they’re keeping that new girl with the blonde ponytail, the one whose fake name I can never remember.

*Having cats means sometimes losing food you weren’t quite finished with.

*Awwww yeeeeeeaaahhhhh. Slept in till noon.

*He holds a press conference if he changes hair stylists, but not for this.

*He’s a great president… of his own house.

*At least stand up and say it’s wrong to murder your citizens. Don’t issue a three paragraph statement and go for photo ops. Act like a prez.

*They’re killing them in the streets, shooting people in the head, shooting women through the heart. He shouldn’t say it’s wrong?

*Srsly, Cable One, how hard is it to get a price quote on ordering HBO? Do you want my money, or don’t you?

So. I was minding my own business at work today, and by minding my own business, I mean I was in the bathroom doing just that.

I finished and came out of the stall. Someone (we’ll call her Stalker) was standing against the wall, even though there was an empty stall. I washed my hands, and she stalked out. I thought it was weird. Then someone else (we’ll call her Stalkee) came out of the third stall, and I wondered if Stalker had been waiting for Stalkee. And then I left, and when I got to the atrium, Stalker was standing at the top of the stairs. She actually asked me, and I could not believe this: “Hey, was Stalkee the one in the other stall?” I was appalled. You do not STALK people into a bathroom! It’s creepy! I gave her a look that said “you’re a FREAK!” and just said, “You know, I don’t really pay attention to other bathroom participants.”

Good grief. Get a grip.

First, this. Oh my word. I see this and I feel like a failure at life in general. I will never do anything as cool as that.

Also, this. Suck it, Babs. Can I call you Babs?

And I’m late on this, but it’s awesome. Break it down.

*Good morning, all ye slatterns!

*Fickle? Heck yes. I’m female.

*Ah, clients. So glad I don’t have those anymore.

*Hate vampires?! Why don’t you go join the Fellowship of the Sun!

*My mom says to me, re: my FB quiz: “What else don’t I know about you? I know you had a boyfriend with one eye.” Ah, yes. The cheerleader. He turned out gay, like all my other ex-BFs.

*True Blood season 1 disc 2 in the mail today! Netflix, I heart you.

*I sure wish those sloppy joes would make themselves so I could start True Blood!

*Has anyone used Gluten-Free Pantry’s old-fash cake mix to make snickerdoodles? Thoughts? [Update: They were yummy.]

*I refuse to call it G-Free.

*HBO, you can’t fit more than two eps on a disc? You make me roar in anger!

*Correction: HOT effeminate vampires. RT @IMAO_: it ends up what women want are effeminate vampires.

*Off to bed. I hope to wake up withOUT DMB’s “Shake Me Like a Monkey” stuck in my head.

[END YESTERDAY, BEGIN TODAY]

*I’m freezing! Can this company afford so much a/c?

*Encouraging: When Celiac Diagnosed in Adulthood, Intestines Don’t Always Heal Completely

*Wahoo! Something to do at work!

*I was so excited when Jonathan Jackson was on Terminator:SCC this season as John’s dad. And then the show got cancelled. Boo. He was only on for a couple of episodes. I was hoping it would turn into a regular role in season 3. Alas.

*Give me a word, any word. [This is for a current writing project I’m working on.]

*If I were going to be made vampire, and I knew it was going to happen, I’d eat a giant gluteny mess of garlic na’an.

*I’ve found a way to get Frank to eat brown rice: He loves it.

*Green + red bozo = blerg.

*HE: I don’t like unintentional soup. ME: Well, I don’t like your FACE!

Bask in the greatness of that BURN. Goodnight.

On Twitter, Jake Tapper linked to this story about Rep. Jim McDermott’s staffer wigging out when someone called her Liz instead of Elizabeth. She’s a real piece of work, not one to win friends and influence people. Go over there and read the email thread–it’s full of loser. (And may I just tell you how much I hate it when people say “past time” when they mean “pastime”? A lot much.) And this part cracks me up:

My name has a lot of “nicknames” which I don’t use. I use either my first name or my last name because I row with a lot of other women who share the same first name.

(Um, what’s with the quotes around nicknames?) The offender here is someone who clearly does not know good ol’ Betty, and she’s offhandedly mentioning that she’s on a rowing team. Or, heck, I don’t know Lizbeth at all, and I hate to presume, lest I be reprimanded umpteen times in an email thread–maybe she means she fights with lots of women who share her name. Well, if they act anything like dear E-Liz, I imagine she does.

(BTW, you can call me whatever you want–just don’t leave the h off my name.)

Love me, baby
Love me, baby
Shake me like a monkey, baby
Forever I am yours

You’re welcome.

SPOILERS! TRUE BLOOD AND SOOKIE BOOKS!

After reading the entire Twilight series four times (*cough* loser! *cough*), I decided I needed to move on. I’ve been reading Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian, and I’m still working on that, but I wanted some lighter vampire fare for most of my reading hours. Okay, let’s translate that: I wanted vampire romance, yo.

I kept hearing about Sookie Stackhouse. So I decided to give it a try, and I read the first book. And the second. And the third. And so on. Within nine days, I’d read all nine Sookies. Some of that was listening on the drive to and from Yellowstone. Because you know, beautiful scenery is much nicer when there are sexy Viking vampires involved. (I’m all about Eric and so over Bill.)

Naturally, once we got back from Yellowstone, I had to add the first season of True Blood, the HBO series based somewhat on the novels, to my Netflix queue. We watched both episodes on disc 1 last week, immediately mailed it back, and tonight we have disc 2. And naturally, I’m wishing the sloppy joes would cook themselves so I could just go ahead and pop in that disc. Grunt.

Diff: The series is trashier than the books. There have been times I’ve had to look away from the TV. But Dracula’s castle, I am already addicted.

Diff#2: Bill is supposed to be hawt. In season 1, he’s only barely yummy. Sam is not supposed to be hotter than him, but he so is in the series. But we did glimpse Eric in the season 2 premier (we’re catching up on season 1, but we had to watch the season 2 premier Sunday night, because I couldn’t just DVR it and wait until we were done with 1!), and yes, he’ll do. I will say that in the season 2 premier, Bill’s hotness totally increased when he said Sookie’s name the way he does and when he used the word “slattern.”

Diff#3: Tara. I love what they’ve done with Tara in the series.

Diff#4: Jason in the FOTS. That’s not out of the books, and I’m interested to see how they’re going to handle that when he becomes a werepanther. Or maybe he won’t, I don’t know.

Those are just some big differences off the top of my head. I’ve loved all the books (except 8, which was kind of meh), and so far I’m loving the series. Even Frank wants to watch it. Sunday night we watched a recap slash intro by Alan Ball, and after that, Frank was looking forward to season 2.

And we don’t have HBO, so I’m now trying to decide: spend my allowance on HBO for the next three months? Or wait for DVD. I have a feeling HBO is going to win. And then I’ll drop it until next season.

My pal Spike has gotten me back on my obsessive reading track. Okay, I give Twilight and my SIL half the credit, but Spike gets the other half. I’ve read more books so far this year than in any recent year in memory. I get on series kicks and such, but the last few years, I haven’t been able to just throw myself into books at all.

I think part of why the Kindle 2 has kickstarted my reading engine again is the fact that I can listen to books at work. But I would never, in a hundred years, pay $30 for an audiobook, even if Kindle’s text-to-speech didn’t exist. I’d buy the book and it would sit there on the shelf, waiting for me to read it.

Of the thirty-two books I’ve read so far this year (and yes, some of those are re-reads), eleven were paper books: Let the Right One In, the Twilights (each read twice in paper form and twice on Kindle), Dracula, and The Host. The rest have been downloads.

I also have six currently in progress, and having the Kindle means that I don’t have to find my place every time (I always lose bookmarks), and my nightstand isn’t stacked shoulder-high with books!

So in case I haven’t mentioned it a billion times, I love love love my Kindle.

I’ve been stalking our new house. Six of every seven days, I drive by, slowly, avoiding the stares of any future neighbors who may be hanging around outside. I study it. I try staring at the weird building in the back yard, which we still haven’t figured out–what ARE you, building?–and I gaze longingly at the rose bushes in the front yard. I’m not even a fan of roses, but the rose bushes are so pretty! And so abundant.

I’m not just stalking the house, I’m stalking the whole neighborhood. There’s supposed to be a park in the neighborhood, and we can’t find it. I don’t think it exists. But whatevs. With the back yard we’re getting, we don’t need a park.

So I drove by today. Got really annoyed. Why? you ask. Because there were two cars there. One parked in the RV parking, and one parked in the driveway. I know those are the owners’ cars, but I’m still like, get out of my driveway! That’s my house!

I should stop thinking of it that way until we close, in case something happens and we don’t get it.

I did hear from the loan officer today. She surprised me by saying that it’s in final review, and she thinks we’ll be able to close in June! We could be homeowners again (the first house we’ve ever bought together) in less than two weeks!

*I’m two years gluten-free today! And still thankful to my blog readers for diagnosing me when the docs were treating me like a hypochondriac!

*I’m considering getting HBO for the next eleven weeks for True Blood. Stupid free preview, stealing my allowance!

*Gloomy day in Boise. My favorite kind of day! If only I were in my hammock in my new back yard.

*I can’t run any reports today. Why did I bother coming to the office?

*Fox premiere dates: Glee 9/16, Bones and Fringe 9/17, Dollhouse 9/18, House (two-hour) 9/21, Lie to Me 9/28

*Teen outsmarts doctors, diagnoses self with Crohn’s disease. Wish I could act surprised! Good for her.

*You don’t bathe kittens without a deathwish. But if you must, put on your motorcycle leathers before going in.

*Network drives and acctg software have been down all morning. Thank goodness the internet works.

*Leaving office. Dancing jig.

*In i can’t believe this happened news: IRS sent us money. Party! We paid the penalty for not filing quarterly, and they refunded that. Yay!

*Trying to decide which is worse: hangnail on finger or hangnail on toe.

*Just saw real life Goode Family at Costco.

*Wow! Amazing picture of 5 mile long crowd in Iran

*4:30 comes in the a.m.? I didn’t realize there were two.

A critical network upgrade must be performed to ensure continued operation of Twitter. In coordination with Twitter, our network host had planned this upgrade for tonight. However, our network partners at NTT America recognize the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran. Tonight’s planned maintenance has been rescheduled to tomorrow between 2-3p PST (1:30a in Iran).

I’m devoted for life now.

They had announced it for 9 p.m. Pacific last night, but the people tweeting from Iran were all over it, begging Twitter to reschedule, and Twitter did.

Twitter owns this story. I was following it all weekend, and when I got to work yesterday, no one had heard what was going on. I think ABC was the only network reporting on it at all until Sunday night, when CNN finally jumped in.

If the revolution is successful for the people of Iran, Twitter will have played a huge part.

According to the gluten meter, today I’m two years gluten-free. !!!

ME: Wow, two years gluten-free!
HE: Wow. And you feel better?
ME: Yeah. Remember how bad I felt?
HE: I remember how bad I felt from all your whining!

It’s his loving support that’s gotten me through.

I’m not entirely healed, and I know I’m taking longer than a lot of people, but considering that I suffered all my life and had three horrible years before y’all diagnosed me (thank you thank you thank you), I expected it to take two to three years to be entirely well. Plus it took me too long to figure out that I’d developed intolerances to other foods. Live and learn, peeps.

I know there are a few of you who don’t follow me on Twitter, and I have a feeling that most of you don’t park yourselves at mountaineer musings all day and refresh so you can see my tweets. So here, I’ll post them for you so you’ll know what’s on my mind. It’s like reading the newspaper and getting yesterday’s news, but at least you eventually find out really important stuff.

Some of these will be in response to someone else’s tweet, and I’m not giving context.

And don’t worry. This is four days of tweets, and I plan to post these once a day. (Yet another reason to never come back, right?)

*I’m gonna google “thingie.”

*I get the point of smoked paprika–it makes everything taste like heaven. But I don’t get the point of regular paprika.

*I’m always up for a good kill! I hope there’s decapitation like in the book. Elsewise I’ll demand Netflix send a refund.

*I’m not ok with Lionel Richie songs on Idol, and I don’t think I’m cool with them on Twitter either. Song stuck in head now!

*Sunflower seeds are underrated as a breakfast food.

*No, I’m turning on Eminem. [Hmm, I see three different ways you could take this. I’ll leave it up to you, musees.]

*I like Thursdays. Thursdays give me hope.

*Once again, I’m compelled to ask: Turkey Bacon, will you marry me?

*There’s something inherently wrong with pitchers being on base period. I grew up American League, and I’ll stay American League!

*I think the peppers are missing from my “hot” sauce.

*Dude. Why’s there no Toby Keith on my computer?

*Linkin Park must really want me to shut up or they wouldn’t yell it so loudly.

*Where’s the UPS guy? He owes me Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King.

*Yay! True Blood in the mail today!

*Definition of awesome: I started my evening walk listening to ‘NSYNC and ended listening to the Backstreet Boys.

*Zo and Steven Crowder together as “Everyday Normal Republicans!” Brilliant.

*Made it up to 8 minutes on the elliptical! Moving ever closer to my unattainable goal of 10 minutes!

*Dang. Frank escaped upstairs before I could ask him to put away the leftovers. Sneaky bad husband!

*End of pay period today. Tempted to wear pajamas to office in case I get laid off and have to come right back home.

*I’m convinced there’s nothing in the world better than the Kindle 2. Not even turkey bacon. Maybe not even guacamole. Chicken tikka masala is a harder choice.

*Eating green pasta gives me a bit of a wiggins.

*Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch, who watches over you?

*So why are there no good-looking hockey commentators?

*Oh, I’m all about correcting people. Just ask Frank.

*I have no hope that Frank will ever be as smart as me, but I can make him marginally smarter over the years.

*Yay Pens! Congratulations!

*And here’s my favorite tradition in all of sport, one that without fail makes me cry at the Stanley Cup Finals. The handshake. Yep, boohooing over here. Yamahama [with apologies to Tracey], that’s a beautiful trophy. Ok, crying harder now. And I don’t even care about this team.

*You look at the Stanley Cup, and you see nothing but greatness. And a giant champagne chalice.

*Mario Lemieux should always wear facial hair.

*Okay, buyidaho.org. It is ON! Anti-Texas ads? I’ve never been more motivated to buy Texas products. And your cowboy boots? Payless, right? Yep, this is what Texans are like. Dumb bimbos and cowboys.

*”Do ya make sweaters or do ya kill people?”

*Wanted. Great dumb action. On SarahK’s Jason Statham Dumb Action Scale, I give it a 9.8.

*I think I’ll pack some boxes. You wish you were me.

*We’re actually gonna socialize tonight. I guess it’s been a few months, so we’re up for that again.

*I’m going to become murderously angry if I don’t find my packing tape soon.

*Well, of course! The TV tray should have been the first place I looked for the packing tape!

*My fingers are crossed, too, Paula! AI needs you!

*On first pass, I really like Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. Much better than Stand Up. Much.

*Watching the short “Drugs are Like That” with RiffTrax. This is one of the funniest shorts of all-time. Where are the people’s faces?!

*Just saw Star Trek again, this time at IMAX. Loved it again. Friend was having contractions at dinner and in the movie. Eventful!

*Protest. It kills me.

*Agh. Nerve pain in my leg almost unbearable–sitting, standing, walking so uncomfy. I promise to never eat GF cheesecake again.

*Well, isn’t that serendipitous. True Blood premieres tonight, and who’s getting a free HBO preview? I am!

*Every time I see an ad for “My Sister’s Keeper,” I want to barf. And I don’t particularly like barfing, so that’s saying something. It’s the heartwarming family kidney-for-sister thing that makes me want to barf.

*Local peeps only: Anyone need a non-HD TV? It’s free!

*RiffTrax DVDs now available on NetFlix! And Amazon

*If only there were a more powerful government that could put pressure on Iran's government.

FRANK: I don’t listen to Eminem. I have respect for myself. And others.
SARAHK: No you don’t.

I think I’m actually back. To blogging. It took Dave Matthews Band to do it, but I’m back. I’m working on several things right now. I don’t want to make any more promises than that, but look for me here. I’ll finally be around again.

wRitErsbLock saw a bumper sticker.

So I had decided that “they” have forgotten I even work there and so they’re planning to keep me until the end. But today the rumors are flying again, so it’s looking like there may be another layoff. I mean, I don’t really get having a layoff when you’re down from 400 people to 20, but whatevs. I just hope that if it’s happening, it happens soon so it doesn’t delay our closing at the last minute.

I wonder if this means I’ll get paid for my remaining vacation hours. The people there at the very end will most likely not get paid theirs, but going earlier… maybe?

Wow! It’s been a long time since I blogged. A lot’s been going on, I suppose. You want update? I give, I give.

*Ok, so I’m obsessed with Twitter (follow me). I resisted and resisted, because once Frank started tweeting and I saw that his obsession was like my Facebook obsession… well, I should have stayed away. So that’s where I’ve been.
*Also where I’ve been? Getting ready to buy a house. Long story short… four months after we offered on the house we rent, the bank has still not accepted or declined our offer. And after our file was on one negotiator’s desk for three months (”I’ll get to it in the order in which it was received”), they moved our file to a different negotiator’s desk (”It’s on the bottom of my stack, and I’ll get to it in the order in which it was received”). The bank is IndyMac. I’m wondering why they went kerplooey–such a well-oiled machine, that IndyMac.
*The realtor who has been working with us on the short sale found us some houses to look at, and she found one that’s great for us (actually she found several great for us, but one sang to me, la tua cantante, as it were, and no, I don’t know Latin or Italian or whatever, so I can’t change that to the me pronouns instead of the you pronouns). On a bad day with traffic accidents and road closures and snow, it should take us about five minutes to get to church and the same to get to Frank’s work. We’ll still manage to be late everywhere we go, though–don’t read so much into that proximity!
*The house has 3 beds, 2.5 baths, 2 car garage (real 2, not aughts 2) w/ lots of built in storage, 2 living areas, office, dining room. It’s slightly smaller than the house we rent but seems much bigger. Oh! Also a good-sized laundry room with cabinets and extra space and everything. Big front yard, huge back yard. Trees. Wood fireplace. Fire pit. Patios. Etc. NO great room (I’m not a big fan of those). Will need some updating, but it’s perfect for us. We should be moving sometime in July.
*I can’t wait to hang my hammock in my new back yard. My Kindle and I will have many hours out there.
*I won’t be able to see the TV from the kitchen. So obviously, I’m gonna need one of these. I haven’t yet told Frank.
*Finally bought the Olympus E-520. My first D-SLR. It arrived today, and yes, I’ll be downloading the manual onto my Kindle so I’ll know what the heck I’m doing.
*So here’s a dumb D-SLR question: my regular old Olympus camera has 10x optical zoom. D-SLR language seems to be some non-English language. What lens do I need for zooming that much? I’m looking at you, maya, because I know you know this stuff.
*I’m gonna have to wait on getting a flash and other lenses (I have to save up my allowance again).
*I got my hair did again today. Looks good.
*Rowdi’s gained weight. A lot. We feel rotten. I’ve been running with her a lot lately to help get her weight down. It isn’t working yet. But I’ll keep at it.
*I still have my job. I think they’re planning to keep me until the end. There are only about 20 of us left.
*We’re on vacation. Going to Yellowstone for a few days tomorrow.

So I’ve been having freaky dreams. I can’t tell you what my dream was two nights ago, because I ended up using it as the beginning of my second novel (first novel still in progress). But here’s what I dreamed last night:

I was Lionel Ritchie’s houseguest. Like I showed up at his house and asked if I could stay there, and he lived close to me (over off Trinity Blvd in Fort Worth, what the what??). He and my dad were friends. Rowdi and I stayed there (after a long day doing watersports with a faceless man who wasn’t Frank, because Frank was also in the dream, and he wasn’t the faceless man. Also, the faceless man did have a face, I just can’t remember who his face was.).

The next day, I was in a rush to get out of Lionel’s house (estate–off Trinity Blvd between 820 and Precinct in Fort Worth, mind you, where there are no estates), because I didn’t want to impose, as he was having a birthday party. So I was going to jog home with Rowdi and then come back for my stuff, but we got halfway down the driveway, and she passed out. So we loaded her into Lionel’s minivan, because nothing says best-selling artist like a minivan.

Meanwhile, I went inside to get my stuff. Adam Lambert showed up with his guitar. He sat on Lionel’s couch, and he was quite put out that I was taking up his time with Lionel. They were supposed to be rehearsing for a song they’ll be recording together in Dreamland.

My dad came over and told Lionel happy birthday. Lionel was gonna be having a big birthday party, and my dad told him he didn’t like the birthday cake, that it didn’t seem to suit Lionel.

So I started gathering all my stuff, and Adam knew me, because we go way back or something. He was still a little annoyed that, though we are friends in real life (we’re not), I supported Kris (a boy, regardless of the way his name is spelled) in the final. So that’s why he was so cold to me!

I made the guest bed I’d slept in, and just as I was going to swoop out the door, I spotted my wine glass, which I’d stuffed down into Lionel’s couch cushions. Didn’t want to take it to the kitchen, so I’d shoved it in the couch. So I whisked that off to the kitchen (Adam rolled his eyes at me), and I ran out the door with my stuff.

Lionel didn’t want to drive onto my street to drop me off–he just wanted to drop me at the intersection of Trinity and Salado Trail (yes, I did once live on this street). So he pulled over, across oncoming traffic, onto the shoulder and let me and Rowdi out. Rowdi looked confused. I thanked him. Adam, who had come with us, kissed me on the cheek and said goodbye. I walked the half mile home.

I mean, really. It would barely have been longer for Lionel to have dropped me at the end of his driveway.
~~~

I have to think this has something to do with my deep-seated belief that there should be no Lionel Ritchie covers on Idol. But I’m glad to know that Adam Lambert doesn’t hate me. At least in my dreams.