halloween

Tuesday, in bullet points

• I want to be excited for Crafty Night tonight, but instead I am blue.
• I don't feel well. My family doesn't either.
• I am a complainer.
• I would like to specify that I am a complainer when I am sick. In reality, I am just a complainer, and it is amplified when I am sick.
• Boo.
• Bah.
• It's not a good time for sick days. LOTS going on at work.
• I like to feel important.
• In my most honest times, I admit that a lot of 'feeling important' is self-reflected.
• It is supposed to rain Halloween night.
• My Solomon's birthday is Halloween. I have been a lame-ass slacker and put off making/getting him something. What a lame-ass, I am! BOOOO!
• I have, however, begun reading Twilight, this teenager vampire book. Call me what you will, it's cool, I don't have shame about it, it's gooooooood. I love being helplessly lost in a book, and honey, it's been a long time!
• OH, and yeah, I AM excited about seeing my fantastico friends tonight! Damn, I love them!

sunday adventure to the secret greenhouse

yeah, they're just stunning!

the sky couldn't have been prettier

you have to at least try to catch all the falling leaves

yup, they're mushrooms, mama!

i wish i could've gotten hannah to stand still long enough for a photo...that girl has some adventurous energy!

Friday list: things that made me happy today

• Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffin from Starbucks
• Getting to work early (for the first time this week)
• Frou Frou coffee
• Pepper Pork from Venti’s
• Looking at my list and laughing…oh, so that’s why I’m poor – I spend too much! Ha!
• Getting to use pink and yellow paper all the time at work
• Being silly with Tia at work
• Getting the scoop from Katie about what’s been happening on Grey’s
• pandora.com
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs on youtube
• My date stamp
• Using my letter opener with Saul the Snail on it
• Emailing Mr. Office Supply guy
• Rubbing the Harry & David catalog across my body in ecstasy oooh…yeah…
• Knowing that I’m ridiculous
• My fantastic thrift store find black top (it was its debut today)
• Wearing my bright red wool cardigan for the first time this season
• Pumpkin spiced creamer in my *free* work coffee
• Using my ruler
• Using my beloved red swingline stapler
• Being totally kickass on the reception phone for a few minutes
• Smelling the new wooden cabinets in the newly remodeled break room
• Smelling my magenta sharpie
• Mailing another postcard to my postal mistress....damn, i love you!
• The warm warm sun during lunch
• A surprise lunch guest: Tim
• Tim’s hilarious Regan shirt (although maybe he doesn’t find it as funny as I do)
• Thinking about tomorrow night festivities! Can’t wait!!! Woot Woot!
• Thinking about tonight: seeing Jen and the kids
• Remembering sweet little Clem cheeks this morning, holding me close
• Snugglebear Hannah and her Papabear cuddling this morning
• Hot Hot Morning shower in the dark
• Daydreaming about weekend breakfasts
• And my darling, sweet, hilarious husband….life’s good, yo!

My apologies to your mothers, aunts, friends, and acquaintances…

I’m not gonna lie: I like my name. I was thinking the other day, however, that I’m not really fond of other g beginning names: Gloria, Glenda, Gail, Guinevere, Gidget (is that really a name?). I mean, you can be a perfectly fabulous person with these names, but yeah, as they stand alone, not so good. Could it be that ‘g’ in its essence has lost any hip-happening quality, (or did it EVER have it in the beginning?)?? Is ‘g’ the letter of antiquity?
I am a name snob. It’s true. When the topic of baby names comes up, I do my darnedest to sit quietly and not blurt out my litany of RULES of naming. I’ll just name a few, and offend you all --- MUahahaaaaa!

1. A first and middle name may not end in the same sound
Eg. Gabriella Glenda – no, no, no.
2. The end of the first name and the beginning of the middle name may not be the same sound.
Eg. Gabriella America – ew.
3. If you have twins, you MAY NOT give your children names that rhyme.
Eg. from high school: Lacey and Macy
4. Alternative ways to spell your child’s name, can be interesting, but just know, that they will FOREVER live with no one EVER spelling their name correctly on the first try. It could leave psychological scarring, I’m just saying.
Eg. Instead of Nathan --- Naython. --- Yeah, goodluck.

These are just a few, of my Rules of Naming Manifesto, which all of you may purchase and then delightfully burn on my lawn. It’s cool, I deserve it. I will say, that my children have not heeded my advice closely enough:

Me: What’s your doll’s name, Clementine?
Clem: Shula
Me: Shula?
Clem: Yeah, Shula Shiaya
Me: Wow...that's, clever, but don't you think, it could be-
Clem: NO! It's Shula Shiayaaaa!

Ok, ok...have it your way. I have noted, perhaps inappropriately so, that if you are a person of color, the parameters of naming are much looser. You can often find superfluous, yet charming, uses of the apostrophe, for example.

I will leave you with this, my dear, deeply disgruntled readers: I will shape up the under-loved 'g'. I will claim it be my own (sorry to all of you Gustav's and Gilbert's out there, the g is MINE!). I will cradle it in my arms and whisper the quiet little laws of proper naming. It will understand. It will.

Love,
g.

missing the target

I officially feel out of touch. I was sent to Target to pick up a prescription ---- and I didn’t want to go! YEAH, I know! The truth is everything --- from the arrangement of ziplock baggies to the assortment of pink basketballs --- EVERYTHING is SO fantastic there! I was alone, with lots of time, strolling the aisles. Used to be my most consistent wet dream, and now it feels like a nightmare. I wanted to check on a few things (I have literally been there 3 times in the last six months). It’s visual overload. All the kids clothes are new. All the adorable Halloween stuff is out. New dishes. New throw pillows. New shoes. New humidifiers. New tummy tucking body wear. And EVERYTHING on the clearance items are new. NEW NEW NEW! AND they’re selling Yo Gabba Gabba stuff there now tooooo!

I got way overheated examining the girls tights. I couldn’t even see straight in the Halloween area looking for the perfect fairy wands. Seriously, I cannot even be in there. Before passing out, I grabbed the scrip and darted out. Passed Pam and Bailey in the parking lot on my way out. Oh how we’ve had such good times there!

So yes, it still holds its power over me, but things have changed. The massive amounts of things that I would like to BUY BUY BUY kind of seem trashy now. It’s just so obvious. "I cannot afford you, so don’t even look at me!" (I should just try screaming that line to those DAMN stacks of washcloths! Yeah, SUCK IT, washcloths!). I’m not swearing Target off, but it’s like doughnuts --- I just can’t control myself around them, so it’s best to stay far far away. The more dreamy option, would be to simply get a huge vat of buttermilk bars to gorge myself on during my thousand dollar spending spree….sigh.

why i am a bad receptionist

This often happens to me when I’m unexpectedly thrown up at the front desk --- I can do no other work. Somehow I’m 1 part justified in accepting that the ONLY thing that will happen is that I will answer phones; I’m 1 part grumpy that I’m up here and frazzled by our new phone system; 1 part feeling guilty that I’m not trying harder to fight through this scatteredness and just GET SOME WORK DONE!; but the last 1 part is just happy --- happy that technically the receptionist needn’t do anything but get our callers to the right person’s voicemail, you know?

That being said, my beloved, Brandy, hooked me into the world’s MOST INSANELY ADORABLE & HOT blog: Some Girls Wander (which is her fashinonista blog), and then her crafty blog: Inside a Black Apple. After reading some of the crafty blog, I have begun to hate her. She’s disgustingly cute, and ridiculously successful (was on Martha for heavenssake!). Yeah, I hate+LOVE her! Thank goodness I don’t know her in real life. I’d be all fantasizing about her, and then having to egg her car. (..yeah, I AM that crazy!)

friday of gratefulness

1. I accomplished a crapton of work today. I needed to, let me tell you! YAYYYY!

2. And yeah...it's just a little over an hour until the weekend.

3. Weekends of bacon, and snuggly girls, and political impersonations, and inside jokes, and bedtime, and long hugs in the kitchen, and making sense of my new art project, and weekend time with Jacob.

4. My dear dear Jennifer interviewed at the firm today. Wishing and hoping!

5. Sending out my love love loves to my nyc girl. I love her.

6. Kitty boy. You know, he keeps purring.

7. Daydreaming about tipsy birthday brunch....mmmmm.....

blubbering over 'The Office'

I cried. I did – full on tears running down my cheeks. I admit I had been having some high alcohol content beer, and had just had a couple of lovely hours with my sweetie, so perhaps my emotional vents were already primed, however, I was seriously touched by last night’s episode of The Office. How I wish EVERYONE I knew watched that show.

For the first time, it honestly felt like Michael was…human. For a few moments, he dropped all the games and awkwardness, and ridiculousness, and was just --- real. He hugged a newer character, Holly. They hugged for quite some time. It was very touching. And then, after they were both choked up (and I was in a puddle of tears myself (weird that I would get so insanely emotional over this)), he said, “So, do you wanna go out?” Holly just nodded. He knew that she actually liked him. She ACTUALLY appreciates him! It seems, that he’s never really had that before.

The next scene took place on the phone – between Jim and Pam. Pam has been living in New York, going to design school. Jim has still been plugging away at Dunder Mifflin, back at The Office. They get each other’s voicemail and begin relaying the same exact story with the same exact tenderness and longing for each other, again ---- can I just say --- I fell to pieces. Giant tears pouring down my face…yeah, I better be starting my period because crying during sitcoms is just ridiculous --- I get it!

pumpkin fun!

and finally, yeah...i'm not going to lie. i made a fantastic Pumpkin King!

heaven: Friday list

1. I have fallen deeply in love with chocolate covered bing cherries.
2. So chocolatey.
3. So cherry.
4. So damn good.
5. My birthday's coming up....I'm just sayin'. ;)
6. Perhaps birthday wishes should be the topic for next week's list.
7. I've also been dreaming of changing my art pics on the right hand side of this blog. What could replace that genius though? Hmm...
8. Hoping to get some good pumpkins this weekend.
9. And to buy egg nog. Egg nog season has begun! Muahahahaaaaaa!

friday list (in outline format) - what must be said

A. It's been a whole week since I've posted.
.......1. LAME
.......2. Crazy crazy busy week at work, and at a loss for words.

B. Last night, I was thoroughly entertained by the VP debate
.......1. Winking during a debate, is not ok.
.......2. The constant smiles and snarkiness in Palin's performance gives me the chills.
.......3. As a feminist, it just floors me that she can pull the ‘female’ tricks of cuteness and ‘just a small town woman’ gig. It deeply offends me. And then…I get these moments of…equality doesn’t mean women MUST act like men.
.......4. Then she winks again, and I’m sorry, that’s just cheap. We’re not in on the same joke here, lady.
.......5. She also clearly didn’t know what an Achilles Heel was, which was a bit embarrassing. Laughing at that made me realize how elitist I can be. Shocked, anyone?
.......6. She did much better than I expected, however. I am positive my dear friend, Tim, felt completely pleased with her performance. He should. She stood tall, and answered questions, and truly went up against one of the most experienced senators.
.......7. It honestly comes down to different world views. She clearly gets her message across to people that believe that lowering taxes, and having less government will help us all. I don't agree. I don't believe we all take care of each other. I prefer my government to have policies and organizations to provide funding for groups and services that struggle.
.......8. Obama/Biden speak to me -- middle class girl with everyday problems: money, healthcare, the environment.

C. Font shopping is radtastic!
.......1. Remember that, Jacob!
.......2. Swirly fonts, handwritten fonts, decorative fonts, retro fonts…sigh….

D. The sweetness of my girls continues to fill my heart with gladness.
.......1. In the morning before school, they’re both so cuddly and reluctant to get up.
.......2. Clementine last night: “What’s complicated mean?” Me: “It means something is convoluted…errr I mean it means something is difficult.” “What’s difficult? Hannah, what’s difficult?” Hannah: “It means it’s complicated.”
.......3. The girls trying to play ponies with Fish (our ki’ boy).

E. One day of work without attorneys or boss lady makes for a very very silly day of fun.

F. Why do some songs just pierce you, straight through you? And you force yourself to listen to them AGAIN and AGAIN and yes, AGAIN!

G. I have the constant case of goosebumps. Seriously --- I get them with one very little gesture of sweetness. Or a few notes of a good song. Instantly, I’m covered in the largest goosebumps.

H. Today has kicked ass because I keep playing my favorite songs on Youtube!