Happy Birthday Poppa!

Let's talk a minute about dads.  There are some dads who play lots of sports, and watch whatever sport is in season.  Not my dad.  There are dads who come home and read the Wall Street Journal with a fancy martini.  Not my dad.  There are good dads and bad dads, dads who talk a lot and dads who don't talk at all, tough dads and sappy dads, military dads and hippy dads.  My dad, my Pops, my Baba, he's not really any of those things.  What my dad is is amazing.  He works so hard every day to provide for my mom and for us kids, and he never complains, he never whines.  He just does what needs to be done.  Then he comes home, and he relaxes by watching whatever happens to be on TV when he turns it on.  If it's something really dumb, he'll see if he can find a John Wayne movie.  On the weekends, you can usually find him doing some sort of carpentry or house project.  He's quiet, funny, dry, handsome, and the best daddy a girl could ask for.  I'm so lucky to have him!!  Happy birthday Poppa, I love you!!

Got the Giggles

A couple of weekends ago, at our family ladies' weekend, my cousins and I were sitting around, just talking and chatting when suddenly (well not really suddenly, but you know what I mean), we got the meanest case of the giggles ever.  It started as usual with someone saying something that was punny (a pun that is funny) or slightly funny, and escalated until we were laughing so hard we were crying and holding our sides.  That is one of my favorite things, getting the giggles like that.  Something silly will strike you, and you just laugh and laugh and laugh until you just can't laugh anymore.  Then you'll try to stop laughing because it hurts so much, and someone will say something else that will set you off again.  It's really awesome when something someone says strikes ONLY you as hilarious, and so you're laughing hysterically with people staring at you like you're nuts, and you're trying to explain what's so funny, but you can't because you're laughing so hard, and on it goes until you're laughed out or until they start laughing with you, because laughing, like yawning, is contagious.  At least the way I laugh is, or so I'm told.  My little cousin's laugh is contagious as well.  He'll laugh at something with his high pitched giggle, and it'll strike him as so funny that he just can't stop.  His little face just breaks up and I can't help but laugh back, which makes him laugh harder until we're just collapsed on the floor in a fit of giggles.  Then his little brother will come over with a curious look on his face, and it'll set us off again.  Oh laughing.  It makes me so very happy.  As does this video of David Tennant and Billie Piper cracking up on the set of Doctor Who.  Talk about contagious laughter!!  I hope your day is full of laughter today!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Around this time every year, I get the itch to put something in the ground, to root around in the dirt and create something amazingly beautiful that I did.  To stay out in the sun, digging, planting, watering, weeding, pausing only long enough to have a glass of water or lemonade, until the day (or planting) is done and I can take a cool refreshing shower, strong with the labors of my hard work.  There are only really two problems with that itch.  One, I live in a third floor apartment, with no plot of land to speak of.  Two, all of that sounds A LOT like work.  Like really really hard work.  The kind of work that you have aches and pains from the next few days.  And I don't know if you know this, but I am extraordinarily lazy.  We're talking laziness of EPIC proportions.  I have helped with gardening and yard work before.  No really, I have.  I helped my aunt and uncle plant a bunch of flowers in their front garden,  and when I was little, we would sometimes have a vegetable garden in the backyard.  So I totally get the whole wanting to be one with nature thing.  Trust me, I totally do.  But it's HARD!  Back breakingly, joints achingly hard.  And I'm not really one for hard.  Which sounds TERRIBLE, I know.  I just don't want to break my back over something that may or may not take, depending on the Texas summer.  I'd rather work on an art project, or make a quilt.  Not to mention most of the things you can grow on an apartment patio I don't like.  Ah the joys of lazy and picky.  Guess I won't have a garden again this year!  

The Men of Shakespeare

I wrote about Shakespeare a while back, on a different blog.  In case you didn't know, he and I are sort of involved, as much as a 21st century woman and a dead 16th century playwright can be.  I've read all of his plays (even the bad ones) and read most of his sonnets.  I've studied and examined and played out his life and his works, until I know them back and forth.  I swallow up performances of his plays, seeing every one I can, including David Tennant and Catherine Tate in Much Ado About Nothing, easily my favorite play, or at least in the top two.  I watched that one tonight, and it struck me what a putz Claudio is.  I mean really. If you don't know the play, basically Claudio falls in love with a girl, proposes to her, is scheduled to marry her in two days, then the day before the wedding, he listens to the newly embraced bastard brother of the prince (who has in the past not proved to be an untrustworthy knave) and thinks he sees his love consorting with another man.  Of course it's not his love, it's her servant, and the man is under the bastard's command.  Instead of asking around, or thinking, "hey this guy might not be above par, I should really get a secondary source here", he believes it and slanders Hero (his love).  What a putz!  Then I started thinking about it.  A lot of the men who are the "main characters" (Romeo, Claudio, Ferdinand, and if I remember correctly Orlando) are pretty wimpy characters who moan and groan an awful lot, and who seem to go along with the first thing that happens without checking up.  Give me a Benedick, or a Mercutio who at least have a bit of jest while they're figuring out their issues.  But it begs the question, why did Shakespeare, a brilliant writer who made up words and phrases still used today, decide that wimpy men were the way to go?  My thought is that he knew that his female characters could carry it.  Granted, in his time, the female characters were played by men, but still.  It's interesting to think about the nuances behind the writing, and really dig down deep into what could be the meaning behind different characters and their actions.  Obviously we don't know, and who knows?  Will could be looking down and going "You stupid ass, it was merely to propel the story! There wouldn't be any climax if he actually thought about what was going on before he acted on it!"  The world may never know.

Whoops

I forgot to blog yesterday.  That's not entirely true.  I didn't forget to blog, I just couldn't think of anything to inspire me to write.  So then by the time I did think of something, I totally forgot and had moved on to other things.  So there's that.

I'm having a bit of a problem as of the last few days, and I've noticed that a couple of the blogs I read are having it too.  I'm not being inspired.  Maybe it's because I'm just not into writing right now, or something.  Or it could be that I don't think people read this, so I don't see the point in writing something that people won't read.  Or it could be that I feel like I've gotten myself into a rut of either being ridiculously funny and cute or sad and down.  I don't feel like that all the time.  In fact I currently am not cranky or grumpy but not completely chipper either.  The fact that I'm in between bothers my boss, and so he just calls me cranky.  My coworker says I'm an energy vampire.  Ah the joys of working with family.  But truthfully, I'm just bored.     I want to start a dialogue or something with someone.  I'm tired of the same ol' same ol'.  I feel like I have the same conversations with people over and over again.  And it's not just about one thing.  I feel like I have the same conversations about different things with different people!  My friend Lee and I, we talk about the weather and our plans, and his rowing.  My friend Steph and I, we talk about her new move and her leap into a healthier lifestyle and my new financial security.  My family, we talk about the kids and the summer plans and what we're doing to better ourselves.  I want to break out of the monotony.  The trouble is I'm not quite sure how to do that.

How do you break into something new?

Oh the Weather Outside is.....

Utterly delightful. There is a breeze in the air, the sun is shining and it's a beautiful warm 75 degrees outside.  This is what Texas spring is made of.  This is the day I want to be out at the park, lolling on a quilt reading, or flying down the highway with my windows (and sunroof) down, my music blaring and the sun warm on my body.  Instead, I am at work, admiring the beauty of a perfect day from the glances I take out the windows.  Such is the life I lead.

Manners (Really, How Chivalrous do You Want Your Man to be?)

Devon Sawa (do you remember him? 90's Canadian heartthrob who starred in such movies as Now and Then, Little Giants, and of course Wild America? He's grown up SO GOOD and is now in the CW's Nikita) tweeted something the other day that made me think.  He said "I always open doors for ladies but not car doors. I feel it's crossed the line into "suck-hole" territory. Am I wrong?"
Now, I love it when men hold the door open for me.  Really, I do.  Sometimes it's a bit awkward, because I don't know if they're holding the door for me, or just opening it really wide for themselves (don't judge, it has happened before).  I also really like it when men let the women go first down an aisle.  But I really really dislike when they open car doors for me.  Unless I am taking an abnormally long time getting out of the car, or I am injured or something, I can open the car door myself.  It takes too long for him to make it all the way around the car to open my door, and I'm not a very patient person.

But that brings to mind other things that have passed on which were considered "mannerly", "gentlemanly", or downright "chivalrous".  Like standing when a woman enters or leaves the room.  It's really all right fellas, you can stay seated.  Or allowing a woman to greet you first on the street.  If you know me, greet me.  I don't always pay attention to those around me when walking.  There is one I do like though.  According to walternelson.com, "remember also that really well bred women will not thank you for making them conspicuous by over officiousness in their defense, unless, indeed, there be any serious or glaring violation of decorum. In small matters, ladies are both able and willing to take care of themselves, and would prefer being allowed to overwhelm the unlucky offender in their own way."  Damn right! Unless someone is overly insulting, I can handle it thanks :-)

What do you think is good manners?  How mannerly do you wish the men in your life were, or are they already gentlemen?

Words and Phrases

Everyone has specific phrases or words in their vocabulary. Now before you get all huffy and storm off, thinking that I'm going to be writing a vocab or grammar post, don't flip your lid.  All I'm talking about is the different slang people use.  I have friends from up north who use 'wicked' all the time, and my BIL from Kansas calls soda 'pop', which is weird to me, since soda is coke.  But anyways.  I've found that most people are greatly amused by the words and phrases I use on a daily basis.  So much in fact, that they sometimes adopt them!  For example, I have a bad (sort of) habit of after someone says something, I say "You're something!"  Like if someone said "Mmm I love cake." I'd say "YOU'RE cake."  It's childish and dumb, but I find it funny.  Apparently, I've said it so much around my aunt that now she says it!  She in fact said it in the car on Saturday and then said "Dang it Ashley! Now you have me doing it!"  To which I just laughed and laughed.  I also say "Awesome" quite a lot, and when my former roommates hear it, they always think of me.  But what really makes me laugh (and is sometimes really embarrassing) is that I pick up words from stuff I do a lot.  Now that I've been watching a lot of British TV, I find myself using British slang. Just now, I almost typed 'telly' rather than TV.  I also say bloody sometimes, and I say 'rubbish' quite a bit.  I also bring back old words, like 'dandy' and 'neat'.  It's weird, but fun!  Mainly because it amuses me and others around me.  What words and phrases do you find yourself using a lot?  Are they unique to your part of the world, or is it diverse?

Glo Weekend

My Grandma was born April 15th.  When she died in 2005, my aunts decided that we should take a weekend every April to celebrate the fantastic example of womanhood she set for all of us.  So now, once a year, on the weekend after her birthday, the woman population of the Mouton family descend on my aunt's in-laws' lakehouse in Corsicana for a weekend full of relaxation, crafts, books, wine and, of course, food.  We call it Gloria's Ladies Outing or GLO Weekend.  Of course, since it's in the middle of the school year/spring, not everyone can come.  But a bunch of us do every year!  I think this year we have 16 people coming?  From across the country!  I can't wait to see everyone and spend a relaxing weekend on the lake after the tough week that I know everyone has had this week.  Goes back to what I was saying before.  It's all about the love.

Keep Breathing

Ingrid Michaelson's "Keep Breathing" came on my Pandora this morning, and as I was listening to it, it struck me how very appropriate that song is for this week.  From the terrible, heartless incident in Boston on Monday, to extended family sadness (my cousin's grandmother? aunt? died on Tuesday suddenly) to the horrible accident that happened in West, TX last night, it's been a week full of grief and sadness.  And all we can really do is pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and move along.  Just keep breathing.  And yet I am encouraged by the putting aside of personal differences to support one another.  I am not a fan of the Yankees (at all), but after watching their tribute to Boston Tuesday, I just couldn't help but think what a classy thing to do.  Here is your hated rival, but instead of jeering in the face of tragedy, you support them in the best way possible.  It just makes me happy, and it makes me cry.  If only all people could be like that.  Put aside petty differences and support each other in the time of need.  And keep breathing.  This can't all last forever.  Keep breathing and love each other.  Pray for Boston, and pray for West.  

Spring Cleaning? What is THAT?

Here's a shocker for you: I don't do cleaning.  I'm not a fan of it, I don't like it, and I much prefer when someone else does it for me.  Of course I DO clean, but it's when something gets so dirty or messy that I can't STAND the sight or thought of it any longer.  For example, there is a pile of dishes in my sink at the moment.  They've been there since last Thursday, when I last did the dishes in preparation for not being home during the weekend.  They WILL get washed before the weekend, because again I won't be there.  There is also a (clean) basket of laundry sitting in my room full of clothes (from different loads) waiting to be folded and put away.  They may or may not get put away this week.  So when someone (and by someone I mean the great big thing called the internet) tells me that this week is "Spring Cleaning Week", it's all I can do to not laugh out loud.  My "heavy-duty" cleaning (if you will) takes place usually before someone comes over to my house, depending on the person.  If my former roommate is coming over, I'll maybe clean some stuff up, but she knows how terribly messy I am.  If my friend and his parents who have never seen my house come over, I will put a bit more effort into cleaning the place, pass the vacuum over the floors, clean the bathroom mirror, that sort of thing.  To reassure you, I do clean the bathroom appliances relatively often, like every other week, mainly because it makes me crawl to think of the germs lurking there.  But to stop and take a weekend to clean everything in my (granted small) apartment?  You must be joking.  I am a busy woman.  I have things to do and people to see, books to read and movies to watch.  I don't have time to worry about switching my winter clothes for my spring/summer clothes.  Not to mention the fact that I would then have to switch them BACK in September.  I'd much rather stick to my spur of the moment cleaning sessions, thanks so much.  

Being a Grown Up

I did a very grown up thing today.  I took my car in to be serviced the moment (well close to the moment) I noticed something was wrong.  This is coming from the girl who's check engine light has been on since her birthday, a year ago.  I think part of the reason I may have done it was because it was making an ungodly noise.  The front brakes when applied would just make this TERRIBLE grinding sound.  I could swear that everyone in a twenty foot radius could hear it, but apparently it was all in my car.  So I made an appointment for the moment the dealership opened this morning (at 7, so I wouldn't be late for work) and I was the first one in line.  They also had a free shuttle which was awesome because then I didn't have to bother anyone for a ride.  BONUS.  Well sort of, because the shuttle driver (bless his little heart) didn't know his way around Dallas at all, and ended up taking the guy who lived out in Plano home first, so I didn't actually get to work until around 8:30, 8:45. The point is that I TRIED not to be late for work.  AND I also have enough money to pay for the repairs myself! They had to replace the brake pads and the rotors, and they changed the oil for me, which is great.  They also probably washed it for me, because my dealership is kind of awesome like that.  But yeah, I feel very grown up for taking care of my issues.  Plus I found out some more stuff that needs to get fixed (not right away, but eventually) so now I can faction those into my budget.  I feel very responsible.


On yesterday,  I am terribly saddened by the horrible incidents in Boston.  To target something that is clearly a non-political, non-threatening occurance is heartless and cruel.  My heart goes out to all the people affected, and to my beloved Boston.  I know that people will continue to pull together and show whoever did this that we will not be frightened.  That's the real goal, fear.  And I know that we will not sucumb to it.  God Bless you Boston and Bostonians.  You rock.

A Letter

Dear You,

You keep popping up.  Your brother texted me the other day, and he began our conversation the way you always did.  Then, you came up in my dream on Saturday night.  Everyone was at your funeral and then you were there.  You looked really good too, with short hair, in a black pinstriped three piece suit with a red tie.  I was the only one who could see you.  And you just stood behind your brother from across the room, and you stared at me and smiled. Then you disappeared.  Is that what you're wearing in heaven?  I bet it is.  You always did like your suits.  Crazy boy.  Then our song came on my Pandora on Sunday.  Do you know how ridiculously happy I am that Come On Eileen is our song?  It is SO RIDICULOUS.  Today is also the 15th, 7 months.  My two calendars are matching at the moment, both showing a big ol' 1-5.  I guess what I just wanted to say is that even though it's been more than half a year, I still think about you, and I still miss you every day.

Love, Me   

The Hobbit (Be Warned, Spoilers)

Before going on, I just want to warn anyone reading this who has not read the novel The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, and who is just coming to know Bilbo and his troupe of dwarves through Peter Jackson's movie of the same name starring the great Martin Freeman, this post does contain SPOILERS that have not yet been seen in the movies.  So if you're trying to keep yourself from knowing anything that could happen in the next two movies, don't read this post.  There, I warned you.

I came to The Hobbit years ago, when we read it in class as fourth-graders.  We also watched the animated movie, which probably if I saw it now I would greatly enjoy it.  BUT as a fourth-grade girl who was more concerned about not being a nerd than embracing that side of me, I found the novel dull, boring and completely uninteresting.  When the Lord of the Rings movies came out, I went and saw them in theaters with my family, and slowly but surely began to be very interested in all things Middle-Earth.  So I read the books.  Having devoured the books and LOVING them, I decided (many years down the road) to finally reread the prequel as an adult.  Lo and behold, I loved it.  I was enamoured of Bilbo and felt his joy and pain.  Smaug scared as well as intrigued me, and Thorin, while being a pompous ass throughout most of the book, won me over in the end.

This past winter, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey came out in theaters.  As I was already a huge fan of the work Peter Jackson had done with the trilogy, not to mention the work of Martin Freeman (as talked about here), I was thrilled that we would be going to see it over Christmas.  And of course, I loved it.  Martin was exactly what I thought Bilbo would be, Ian McKellan was of course fantastic as Gandalf, and I found new favorites in old favorites, as Fili and Kili quickly became the hottest dwarves I had ever seen, and Bofur became amazing in my eyes.  So when it came out on DVD, I didn't buy it.  But I did feel inclined to read yet again the adventure our friend Bilbo took away from his Shire.

This really wasn't a surprise to me, as I do love to reread things.  But what did surprise me was the emotion I showed at the end of the book.  At the end, when Thorin lays dying and calls Bilbo to him and asks forgiveness for being so hard and for giving up their friendship, I didn't just see Thorin the pompous ass who I didn't really have a thing for.  I saw Richard Armitage playing Thorin, who we got to know so much deeper and better that it was like a friend dying before my eyes.  In the book, the fact that Fili and Kili die is addressed in a matter of a few sentences.  They died in battle, protecting their wounded fallen uncle.  Those lines, though they were always my favorites, never affected me the way they did last night.  Because now, I wasn't just reading about how two dwarves died.  I was reading about how two dwarves died, and I was seeing in my head Dean O'Gorman and Aidan Turner bringing those two dwarves fabulously to life, and how Peter Jackson was going to make those few lines come to life and affect the entire nerd population with the utter devastation of the fan favorites dying.  Dying honorably, but dying nonetheless.  And it just hit me really hard, to where I had to stop reading for a while because I was busy crying.  I had to put my book down, because I knew what was going to happen and I had to mentally prepare myself for it.  Then I shook my head over my utter ridiculous nerdiness, and I finished the book. And then I went to bed.

What's Up?: A List of Random Thoughts

Usually I'm inspired by something to write about, but today despite the warm weather and sunshine, I am feeling decidedly uninspired.  So I give you a random list of things going through my head today.

• I'm really glad it's Thursday.  It means I'm one day closer to the weekend.

• Not gonna lie, one of my favorite cups I own is my Great Moustaches mug my friend Lauren got me for Christmas.  It has 14 of the most famous moustaches in history on it, and it makes me smile when I use it.

• Yesterday it was 43 degrees outside.  Today it is 65 degrees, and tomorrow it will be 74 degrees.  Please Texas, make up your mind.

• I'm currently rereading The Hobbit, and then I will go into The Lord of Rings trilogy.  I'm very into series right now.

• The next few weekends are going to be awesome.

• I really want to get my hair cut, but I don't know where that falls in my budgeting.

•   I'm rewatching Doctor Who, and I totally love The Doctor and Donna's relationship.  There's no hint of flirtation or trying too hard.  She's his best friend and he's hers.  I think it's awesome.

• I bought War Horse on Sunday and I have yet to watch it.  I feel like it's a movie I really need to settle in for, and I haven't been in that mood yet.

• I have to find a black dress this weekend, and I'm a little nervous about my prospects.

• I'm currently in love with lemon curd at the moment.  It's so tangy and sweet.

• I went out for dinner and drinks with a friend last night (he had dinner, I had dessert) and I've decided I like huckleberries!

• I think I have an obsession with skinny UK men with great voices and fantastic hair.  Or maybe it's just men with great voices and fantastic hair.  Who knows?

• Jamie Cullum is coming out with a new album soon, and that excited me to NO END!

• Would it be utterly geeky of me to go see the new Star Trek when it comes out by myself?  Does it make it less geeky to know that I'm really just going to see Benedict Cumberbatch?

• I'm trying really really REALLY hard to stay away from spoilers about the Doctor Who 50th episode and the new series of Sherlock.  Do you know how hard that is?

• I think I've shown my nerd flag enough today.  Bye!

How does One Make New Friends?

I just read an article on HelloGiggles.com called 6 Signs You Need Better Friends.  Now don't get me wrong, I have a group of really great friends, whom I love dearly.  However, of that group of friends, one or two really stick out as matching quite a few of the requirements in this article.  I have friends who CONSTANTLY bail, or who try to one up whatever issue or problem I may be having with one of their own.  I'm sure we all do, and as my family and other friends sometimes point out, maybe it's time to move on from those friends.  However, how does one do that?  I think I've been spoiled because I've always been able to make friends relatively soon.  I don't know if it's me, or if I just like to know things about people, but I'm usually pretty good at making a good first impression.  In school years, it was easy.  You had something in common with people and for the most part you hung out around the same people, especially as you got deeper into your major or your extracurriculars.  As a full-fledged adult, who works in a very small office, it is really hard to make lasting friends.  Sadly, I can count on one hand the friends I have made as an adult.  And I don't know what it is.  Maybe life?

But let me give you an example*.  Say you go to a party, or a club meeting or a social hour, whatever.  You go someplace where other full-fledged adults are congregating.  You get a drink (because every awkward is seriously better with libations), and you mingle.  You may meet someone who you kind of hit it off with, but not really. Or you may meet someone that you totally click with (we're not talking romantically, just friendly).  You have the same tastes in books and movies, and she (or he) is even madly in love with the same off-beat celebrity you are!  This is kismet, this is fate.  Here is your new best friend!  So you exchange information, and you go on.  But then you don't hear from her.  You find her on Facebook, and you add her, and she accepts your friend request.  We're doing well so far.  Then you post on her wall about something that you talked about.  No reply.  Somewhere along the way between awesome convo at social gathering and now, the friend fire cooled, and what do you do now?  You don't really know this person, so you can't badger them like you would your friend you've known for years.  You'll come off as a weirdo, in a bad way.  So what do you do?  How do you take that great conversation in a social setting and turn it into a lasting friendship?

*Note, all examples are totally hypothetical.  I'm not cool enough to go out into social settings with other full-fledged adults.  In hindsight, maybe that's my issue.

Clothes

I've been thinking about clothes lately.  Shocking, right, since I am a woman who is interested in her looks.  Not only that, but I've been talking recently with my lovely brides for whom I am a bridesmaid this year, and this just makes me think about all the clothes I will need to wear for all the things that I have to do for them.  I also have a choir show coming up and I know that they will want us to wear formal black, and my little black dress died last show.  I caught it on a nail while helping clean up and ripped a lovely little corner rip in the fabric.  So I need a new one.  My issue is this whole new budget thing I've got going on right now.  I've got a limited amount of money to spend here, so it's a priority thing.  I absolutely need a new black dress, but should I find one that looks good but is cheap? Or should I splurge and find one that is really nice?  I just don't know!   The other issue is that because of my size and body shape, only certain kinds of dresses look good on me.  I really shine in fifties style dresses, with flared skirts that go below my knees.  Do you know how hard it is to find dresses in that style that aren't extremely expensive?  I'll tell you, it's INSANELY hard. So I'm thinking maybe I'll make me a dress.  Now this is big talk from a person who can barely sew on buttons and has NEVER used a sewing machine in her life.  So here's my thought.  I'll find a dress that looks good and is relatively cheap, and then later on down the line once I've tried and had a little experience with a sewing machine, I may branch out and make myself something that looks amazing.  I do want to try and make myself a petticoat to go under my Easter dress, which is kind of fiftiesish.  Which will give the dress a new look for some of the things I have coming up, like rehearsal dinners and the like.  What do you think?  Where do you find dresses?  What are some easy things for me to start sewing?

Porch Sittin' Weather

Last spring, I lived in a four-plex in the historical district of Dallas.  My roommate and I shared a split up house with three other people, which meant that each of us got a section of the two big porches, upstairs (for the upstair apartments) or downstairs (for the downstairs, obv).  We lived downstairs, and since we were poor post-college twenty-somethings, we had no porch furniture.  I don't know if we just never got around to it, or if we didn't want to spend the money or what.  BUT the awesome thing about our porch is that it had wide railings and columns.  The railings were wide enough that I could comfortably sit on one and read my book.  I spent many a spring evening/morning out there, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.  Now that I no longer live there, I miss the railings. But now I have a more private porch, and a table and chairs to sit at.  As the weather gets warmer and nicer, I plan on spending many an evening out there, sipping somethin' and enjoying the weather before it gets way too hot.

Responsibility

It seems ridiculous, me writing a post on responsibility because I am not very good on that front. Oh don't get me wrong, I get to work on time every morning, and I've never run out of gas, or food for that matter.  But bills are not always paid on time (though they do get paid), and little things like getting my oil changed  and checkups seem to slip away from me until the very last second.  But growing up, my parents were very pro-responsibility.  We each had chores to do and we each had things that had to happen.  When we went off to college, even though three out of the six of us went to school where family members lived, we lived on campus or in apartments in later years and had jobs where we earned our keep.  Sure our parents paid tuition and some small bills (car insurance, car, phone) but the day to day stuff we were required to take care of ourselves.  When we graduated, we were expected to get jobs and take care of ourselves like adults.  My older sisters both had their own apartments and steady jobs for at least two years before they got married, though one of them was engaged for most of that time.  What's my point here?

My point is that a friend of mine's fiancee is living with her parents (which is totally fine, trust me, I know), and she's not going to leave until they're married in a year or so.  I totally understand the whole living with your parents, saving money thing.  Trust me, I totally get it.  I lived for three years with my aunt, with minimal rent and no bills.  It's a sweet gig.  BUT as someone who has been taught responsibility her whole life, it surprises me to think that this woman is going to go from her parents' house where presumably she has no bills, no major responsibilities besides work, and people taking care of her to a home with her husband, where she will become responsible for not only her own life, but the well-being and comfort on some part of her husband.  Maybe it's just me, but that would scare the freaking crap out of me.  I would personally want the experience of handling bills on my own, and knowing what to do when the oven won't light or the washing machine goes insane without having my daddy come fix it for me.  I want to know that on my own I can take care of my business before I combine that business with someone else's.  I know people have done it for years and years and it works out.  I know it does.  It just makes me a little nervous for them is all.  What do you think about responsibility?  Is it better to have some kind of learning curve?

This Sucks

My phone sucks. I shouldn't say that, because it's actually a pretty good phone.  But it doesn't have a whole lot of space, so every once in a while I have to clean out my text messages.  A few months ago, I lost one of my best friends, and all I had were text messages from him.  My phone told me today that my text messages were full, so I went to delete some of them, and I accidentally deleted his.  I now have nothing to remind me of him, and that makes me really really sad.  But I'm trying to not let it affect the rest of my day.

Camping

When I was little, we went on road trips every year.  The eight of us (nine counting my aunt who always came) piled into our fifteen passenger van and off we went on an adventure planned out by my mom, who was and is the queen of trips.  Seriously, if ever I need a trip planned, I'm calling her.  She knows every trick in the book.  Now because there were nine of us, we camped a lot.  We never camped on our way to places, no we always got motels for that.  But a lot of the time our destination would be a national park or another beautiful camping area.  There were usually two tents, one for my parents and the boys, and the other (the big house as we called it) for the four of us girls and our aunt.  We've had any number of experiences while camping, from freezing so much in the middle of the summer that we slept in a big pile in the middle of the tent with beach towels around our heads to keep warm to getting flooded out of  the tent due to massive rainstorms to being so hot that we slept outside of our sleeping bags and with as little clothing as possible while still remaining decent.  One of my favorite camping memories though happened in a crowded campground when I was about 13. My aunt uncle and cousins were camping with us in like Zion National Park or somewhere, and we were settling down to go to sleep.  My cousin Tara is a notorious chatterbox, who basically would talk herself to sleep, and we had finally gotten her to shut up and go to sleep.  The rest of us were settling in, waiting for the blissful embrace of sleep after a hard day of fun in the sun, when suddenly, from a different campsite, we heard the British tones of a Harry Potter audio book.  Now this was not at like 8:30 when a bedtime story would be appropriate, no this was at like 10:30, 11, when the majority of the campers in the area were going to sleep!  And this person, or people, were BLARING Harry Potter.  I believe it was Chamber of Secrets.  All of a sudden, Tara sits back up, completely asleep, and proceeds to try to have a conversation with the audio book.  It was the funniest thing I had ever heard in my entire life.  I miss camping.  I should see if I can get some people to go this summer!

So Fresh and So Clean

The theme for April's NaBloMa according to Blogher is FRESH, which is highly appropriate, considering that I've started a fresh new budget this month, which is geared toward getting me out of debt and financially stable, something I have yet to be in my years of adulthood.  But besides that, April is known as being the "Environmental" month.  Earth Day is April 22nd, Arbor Day is April 26th, and April, being in the very HEART of Spring, is known to be a month of renewal as the world becomes alive again after a cold dreary winter.  Even dark gloomy days like today still hold a glimmer of hope that isn't present in the dark gloomy rainy days that occur in earlier months.  Warmth (though never really far away in Texas) is near and bright sunny days of pretty colors and new life are around the corner everywhere you look.  Everything is washed clean, and is ready for the rest of the year. So fresh, and so clean.

OPENING DAY!

Because I have an awesome boss, I have the day off today.  Which is SO EXCITING for me, because that means I am able to watch OPENING DAY!!!!  My Red Sox are playing the New York Yankees as we speak, and currently are winning. Of course, that could change at any moment, seeing as that's how my boys play.  But so far, Jon Lester is working the mound like a hoss, and my boy Dustin has gotten on base both times he's been at bat.  I got up this morning and paid bills, which made me feel productive enough that I decided to go to a new gym and try it out.  I got a living social deal for eight weeks membership at this new gym, and so I decided to start it today.  I went and I talked to the people and they showed me around the place.  It's a really nice place, but it's in Uptown, and there's not a lot of parking.  It also seemed a little uppity to me.  I'll go for the eight weeks, and I have a free evaluation with a personal trainer on Wednesday. So that'll be good! But I'm not sure I'll actually stay there.  I really liked the 24 Fitness I went to once, so maybe I'll go there.  But for now, I'm going to watch baseball and eat Easter candy.  I'm so glad baseball is back! And I'm glad I can watching it on my iPad.  Yay!