I'm trying to blog better. I thought I'd spice this up with a picture. This is not our firepit. But it is a firepit and I'm really happy we are getting a firepit this weekend.

Today we took our dog for a walk and the cat followed us the whole way. I love our pets. We were seriously considering for a while giving our cat to a(nother) good home....but we reconsidered. It looks like the meowing litle guy is staying with us. Yes he meows....yes he is strange...yes he is confused a lot...but who isn't, really.

Anyway...

Tomorrow is another doctor's appointment!!
Then Friday night we get to see our friend Whitney who has been living far away in Columbus, Ohio!!
Then Saturday we go to the farmer's market and our veggie co-op and run a few errands for a few upcoming weddings :)
Then after that we'll probably use that firepit.

Anyway....
I can't believe how much my life has changed. Baby coming, better job, eating better, fire pit...oh boy.

yesss

Last night's dinner was phenomenal.

Pork chops, baked potato with sour cream, extra sharp cheddar cheese chunks and butter, salad with cracked pepper ranch dressing, tomatoes and more extra sharp cheddar cheese, a fruit salad with raspberries, strawberries and peaches, and pork tenderloin marinated in Jamaican Jerk sauce.

So good.

This morning was buttermilk pancakes with strawberry sauce and eggs with ham and cheese and a decaf coffee and orange juice and toast, followed by a nice salad for lunch.

I love having a few good meals in a row. Not bad.

This was probably boring to read about....but these meals were so good, I just wanted them to last longer.

Routines?

I love going on walks.

Since we got the dog, we've been walking a lot more. It's such a good feeling just to be out, walking under giant trees, next to the water, or even just along sidewalks with different houses to look at.

When I get out of work, I like to walk. And walking is FREE. You really can't beat it.

I've been wanting to get out to Allegany, Letchworth, and/or Ellicottville just to walk around for a day. Who is with me??

Anyway - I like this routine I have. I think people are either for or against routines. I like sliding into routines....and if I can, I'll keep up with it.

I like waking up, sitting down for some breakfast, and just eating while looking out the window at the trees. It's so nice.

Then, I go to work, come home for lunch, go back to work and come back home for dinner, a walk, and some writing or hanging out or getting things done around the house....or all of that. And then on the weekends - anything goes. Plans or no plans, I still try to fit in something at least as fun as a walk. I can't wait to take the baby on walks. I really can't.

I know that my routine will undergo changes - a lot of changes - but for now I really like what I've got. It makes me happy. I guess that's all I wanted to say.

Thoughts.

"Don't eat the cat". I often find myself saying this to my dog. He then turns his head to his side and slowly walks away from the cat. The dog was, when I said this to him, stopped jaws-open slightly above the cats head. He never clamps down--but I don't let him think that far, either.

"Stop the noises....stop this at once!" I often find myself saying this to my cat. Especially at night. When he is in the bedroom at night, his main goal is to jump on our heads, meow loudly, and then claw at the windows as loudly as possible. When bored of this, which does not easily happen, he has an innate thirst to find something else to make noisy....anything. He will claw at the sheets, he will bat at the posts of the bed. When we take him out of the room, he spends most of the night clawing at the door, which is even better, because it is both noisy and consistent. He somehow never gets bored of that. Fancy that. Fancy cat.

Do I think this is good practice for having kids? I don't think I can compare the two. I think I'm probably going to be up all night every night until my eyes feel like they are going to fall out, and my hair will probably fall out in clumps as I will have no more time to shower and people will start calling me "Zombie-Woman Sally". I added "Sally" because they might forget my name, and "Sally" would be an easy nickname to make up, because clearly it was easy for me to make up just now.

Maybe I'll even wear a fanny pack for some reason.

I grew up with so many kids in the house my mom would forget who she was calling for halfway through calling out for us. "Jon-Mike-Dav-Court-ANDYYYYY". Maybe that will happen to me at one kid. Anything is possible. I did put the crackers in the dishwasher the other day. Maybe I should stop eating so many crackers.

But I don't care about the fact that my life is going to get pretty crazy...I'm too excited to care. I can't wait to hold my little G. Besides...I've had practice, right?

Happy housing

Home improvementing your house (and yes, I'm saying home improvementing because you are always doing something when you are improving your house somehow so I'd rather call it home improvementing because it makes more sense to me)....Anyway...as I was saying...

Home improvementing your house is like playing a game of dominoes.

Or Jenga.

Or any boardgame at all when your cat jumps in the middle of the board and everything goes flying everywhere.

Take your pick.

Anyway, this is just what I feel like, after trying a few things with our house...and hearing the stories of other hard working home improvementers....and of course after watching the classic movie The Moneypit with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long.

We were going to paint the room for the baby. First, though, we had to take off the wallpaper from 1973 that was grasping tightly to the walls. Once this happened, we saw water damage. The water damage led us to see the roof was leaky.

I will break down what the plan WAS: take down wallpaper, paint room, and voila!

I will now break down what the plan MUST BE: take down wall paper [check], discover water damage [check], get the roof fixed [tomorrow?], get the walls fixed, get the walls painted, switch the floor (hot pink rugs from the previous owner....I'd rather have something slightly more neutral....especially because we don't know if we're having a boy or a girl yet)....add furniture and wall decals and voila!

Anyway - we shall see how this improvementing goes. Good luck to all of your improvement(ing)s.

And I call myself a person who blogs....

Well, I don't really call myself a person who blogs. But, maybe I should start, because maybe that would be a good enough reason for me to write more.

I could blame my pause on writing on many, many things. I'd rather just blame myself. It would be more honest of me. I DID buy a set of three very pretty Vera Bradley journals to write in during my period of non-writing in this blog....you know, I bought them so I could jot something down here and there....I gave one away, I kept one, and I lost one.

Then, I gave the one I kept for myself to Steve one night because we couldn't find any paper anywhere in the entire house and he had to go to the grocery store for more than 7 things and I read it's really hard for Americans to remember lists of more than 7 things because they're programed to remember things like phone numbers with 7 digits and blahblahblahblahblahblahblah but ANYWAY the point is I begrudgingly let him borrow that one pretty journal I had been journaling in (so to speak) and he promptly lost it.

The journal.

And we've been trying to save money so here I am...I don't have to buy a pretty journal when we have a COMPUTER. I'm being way more "green" this way. Way more "modern". Way more in touch with the world around me. Journaling is kind of like belonging to a clique of just you and yourself and whoever happily finds it and reads it just to see how weird you are. THIS way I can publish whatever I feel like and then more people can see how weird I am. It's way better this way, really.

Anyway, that's why I haven't been on here.

That and I've was busy quitting my job, getting a new way better job and also finding out I was pregnant.

Man I should have re-started my blogging months ago, as my life clearly got juicy and the only people I was telling were people I actually saw in person and a journal that was lost.

But, I blame myself. And now that the blaming part is all over and done with, I can move on and talk about whatever is on my mind.

Let's see......
hmm.....

Well, first off, being pregnant so far is something that I love. I love the eating (and I have actually been eating better than I normally eat, which makes me feel better, which makes me think I probably should have started eating better a long time ago but I am glad I am eating better now).

Also, I love the sleeping. I used to sleep like a bear, don't get me wrong, I would literally fall into a state of hibernation after work, especially in the winter: it would go --I'm home, get the flannel Jammies on, get my hot cocoa on, get my blankets on, get my sleep on. Anyway- now I'm still sleepy but I've always loved sleep sooo....it's a plus to feel sleepy when you like to sleep, that's basically what I'm saying here.

Thirdly, I love feeling the baby kick. It is the most amazing thing ever and it's great. I have noticed that there are kicks when I have something sweet, kicks when I am listening to fun music, kicks when I'm about to go to sleep, kicks kicks kicks. I like these kicks. I wonder if it means the baby will like to walk, or the baby will like ice cream, or the baby likes the same music I like...or maybe it just feels nice to stretch the ol' legs out every once in a while. Either way....I would agree with any person who ever said they liked it when the baby kicks (and they are pregnant).

Another thing I have noticed about being pregnant is that I get hot way easily. This never used to happen before! I was always so very cold, even sometimes in the summer.

Also I forget things a little bit. Like that crackers do not go into the freezer when you are putting them away and that soap is not shampoo. Little things like that. Not bad, though, keeps life pretty spicy.

Speaking of spicy (as in amazing), Steve and I have planted a flower AND vegetable garden and our house. It is very colorful and we actually "tend" to it. This is very, very great. We are also doing other home improvements....but maybe I could talk about those some other time.

Because right now, it's pretty close to my point of hibernation. So tired. My eyes...I can't...really...keep them open. I'm so dramatic. I'm just kinda tired. I think that's enough for my typing for one night.

So, have a good night, everybody. And...MAYBE...I will write again soon....

(I like the whole "ending with a cliff hanger" thing....when I'm writing, not when I'm reading, but I don't have to read this....but actually neither do you....anyway I should really go. Maybe I'll be back soon. That was my point. Maybe).

Night!

Thursday

SO: the University of Iowa-the TOP writing program in the country-has summer weekend writing conferences that you can sign up for. This is incredibly awesome because I am writing a novel, and a conference like THAT could be really great.

Anyway-this is especially cool because maybe if I do a workshop like that, I'll be closer to publishing my novel. Once that baby gets published, I have all kinds of plans.

I was thinking, in particular, if I could do something really fun, and since I'd be meeting a lot of people while doing book signings and going to and fro in the vast lands of America while keeping up with my star-studded itineraries,and various charity-giving organizations I'd be affiliated with, I would eventually meet some pretty cool celebrities, like, let's say Jon Hamm and Mike Rowe. Then, perhaps, one of us might mention going on a roadtrip....oh, by the way-Mike Row is the guy from Dirty Jobs and Jon Hamm is the guy from Mad Men. I think we would have some pretty good conversations, I really do.

For example, Mike and I would talk all about having terrible jobs, and once in a while Jon Hamm would chuckle while he drove us around. We would either be in a Mercedes-Benz or a Ford Explorer....because Jon Hamm does the voiceovers for the luxury cars and Mike Rowe is the everyman guy for Ford. Then, at some point, someone would mention meeting up with Steve at one of those places mentioned in Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and then we'd all talk about whatever is on our minds while eating delicious foods.

At some point, someone would naturally mention going camping together and we would all go camping, roasting marshmallows and coming up with ideas for my second book.

Anyway-that would be amazing, especially if it all happened because I went to that writer's conference.

Wednesday

I'm taking a time out to write something down.

I wonder how many people have been watching the Super Computer on Jeopardy the past two days. It freaks me out. WATSON, the IBM supercomputer, is kicking super butt.

This is just after the TIME magazine article on the projected oncoming of Singularity-a merging of people and machines, and the marking of the end of the human era (if I read this correctly).

I am terrified of all of this. But then again, I am writing about how terrifying it all is, using a computer. But at least, to the best of my knowledge, this computer is not able to outsmart me.

If you haven't read the article, or others like it, or if you haven't seen WATSON, I believe he is on again tonight, on Jeopardy.

I believe "he" has something close to 40,000 in winnings while the biggest Jeopardy winners in history are dwindling with scores like 2,000 points. Computers acting smarter than people.

I guess I'm worried about all this for a few different reasons: 1. It's all happening really fast, especially if you look at a time-line expressing the progression of technology. 2. I feel like change his hard, especially change that includes eradicating humanity as we know it.

Anyway-I probably didn't say too too much on the subject....but I wanted to say something: it's scary. It's really scary. I also read that if people try to stop it, it will just happen with underground movements. So we've got to "ride the wave" so to speak. The wave to doom? Hopefully not.

I guess this is sort of sordid and gloomy. Maybe I should think about happier topics. Valentine's day was this week, right? That's happy. I wonder what the computers think of Valentine's day.

I think that's all for now....

Sunday

I really haven't been feeling well for a while. That's why I haven't been writing the past couple days. I've decided today that I will keep writing, though, even if I am still not feeling well. I don't want anyone to think I've stopped my blog :)

I'm going to try and get myself moving...I'm going to go bake some cookies.


I'll make a list of 5 reasons to bake cookies-


1. You can listen to music for an extended period of time and still be doing something constructive-that's always fun
2. You have an excuse to eat something sweet-you've got to taste test to be a good baker
3.A little time in the kitchen can amount to a nice gift for someone-anyone
4. The kitchen smells amazing for a long time
5. The more you bake cookies, the better you get at baking them, and the better you get, the more you want to bake them...

Here are some great song choices to listen to while baking-no particular order-


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfDTkxV-X2w the strokes-hard to explain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHXpnZi9Hzs cat stevens- wild world

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs5wIJlUK1o elliott smith-needle in the hay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd9-oFqsAx0 death cab for cutie-a lack of color

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T35WXFOmwI james taylor-fire and rain


At least...unless you are in a different mood. These just kind of fit today anyway. For me.


Some topics I just might get to this week:
Time Magazine's article on Singularity...
The Super Computer on Jeopardy starting on Valentine's Day...
Valentine's Day...
Liberation...
Education...
Any old observation that just might be noticed...

In the Winter Time

"February Stars/Floating in the dark/Temporary Scars/February Stars" -Foo Fighters

It is so cold, and so dark, and so forboding this time of year. There hasn't been a holiday since Martin Luther King day, and not everybody even had off for that. Work weeks drag on and on and OH MY GOD on and on, but in the slowest possible way.

The faces on people seem to be missing pieces-like a sparkle in their eyes, or a dimple on their cheek. Grumpiness prevails. Even their face colors seem to have become light and wan. People walk around as though an invisible person had been following them around with an eraser that simultaneously leaves dark circles underneath their eyes.

Some fall straight asleep in their beds when they are finished with their work days...some take solace in food, and then get upset about that, too, because of all the new clothes they need to buy that they could fit into. Or, something like that, anyway.

It seems like almost everyone is off in a way....just staring off into the distance. What they expect to see in the distance? Even they cannot tell you. They just don't want to see what's in front of them for a little while, I guess.

Well, this being said, I'm doing the best I can to not get stuck in this quicksand of winter sadness....you stop and stare off into the distance for a minute, and the next thing you know you are covered in sand and you can't get out...not even an arm. Or, something like that.

So, I want to try and spread some cheer. I am trying to make a little list of happy things....at least...anything I can think of for today. 5 things.

This way, maybe, we'll be a little happier.

Here's a list of happiness. It's little, but....at least it exists. It's better than a list of horror. Or a list of despair. OR...well...I'll just start now.

1. Wednesday's work day is pretty much over. Done. Ka-put. Nothing but a memory. Basically never happened. ENDED!
2. If it didn't get so cold out, there would be no reason to get under a million blankets and have hot chocolate or coffee.
3. If it didn't get so dark and dreary all the time, what would we have to look forward to?
4. Music exists.
5. The stars come out and light the night sky, even in February.

And, if that didn't make you happy....well, that's ok. I can at least leave you on this note-

Sometimes I get words mixed up and letters get switched around-but only because I read the words too fast. One time, when I was working at a grocery store, there was a box in the corner of the back room on a shelf.

"Jew Trapper", I thought it said.

"Jet Wrapper", it was.

So, I guess another thing to be happy about is correctly labeled boxes. Or, correctly read labels. Or...something like that.

Anyway, happy Wednesday....I hope you all have very fast workdays Thursday and Friday....and a long, slow weekend.....so you can sleep happily under the stars.

Lists

I like to make lists....here are a few of them.

Reasons Why my dog is awesome:

1. He's almost 11 months old and almost bigger than me. Pretty soon I'll be able to ride him to work and save on gas.

2. He is a GREAT listener. I can tell because sometimes he turns his head to the side like what I said was the most intriguing bit of the English language he has heard so far.

3. He snuggles all the time. This is important because I am freezing all the time and don't think I have very good circulation so he is a good substitute for the non-blood that I have coursing through my veins.

4. He will eat anything I don't want to finish.

5. He'll go on a walk any time, any where.

Reasons why my cat would not care if I called him awesome:

1. He does not care about words, so the word "awesome" wouldn't mean anything to him. If I put a water bowl in front of him instead, he would love that. He loves water.

2-5. He doesn't care....

Reasons why I go to the gym

1. SO I don't become one of those obese people that get stuck to their couches and their skin has to be surgically removed-I've heard of this happening.

2. So I don't have to get my foot cut off. I've heard stories.

3. So I can eat a cupcake and not become ten pounds heavier the next millisecond.

4. So I can think about eating a cupcake and not become ten pounds heavier the next millisecond.

5. So I can keep up with my mammoth-sized dog on our walks, so he stays around....I seriously need this dog to help warm me with these circulation problems of mine.

I could make lists about everything. If that were a job, I would take it.

7 months later....

Um....the first time I started this, I stopped and then didn't pick up again for three months. Now, it's been 7. Seven. SEVEN months. At this rate, the next time I stop, if I ever start again, will be a 14 months. A lot can happen in 14 months. A lot can happen in 7 months. A lot can happen in a day.

Well, I have an excuse (Of Course!)

I've been writing a novel.

I'm very far in this novel. Maybe I'll post some of it sometime. It's about giants and mountains and two-headed monsters who live under the sea and swamps and quicksand and avalanches and fire breathing turtles and....well I don't want to give too much away. At the very least I will say it's about some people who have to overcome some obstacles....and climb this mountain. But, no details. No specifics. Just this very blah overview. You'd like it I think.


I write a page a day-
I work out a mile a day-
I walk the dog an hour a day-

I bought these beautiful little notebooks to write ideas in-they are sooooo pretty.

Anyway. I wanted to write today mostly to announce my book to anyone who might like to read....

If you're wondering if I'm done, I'm far from it-BUT if you're more of a visual person, I'll give you an example of how far I am: If I were a sculptor making a giant elephant, I would be so far in my sculpture that you might think it is a giant dinosaur, or maybe an old man all hunched over, or maybe a rock with a face. That's how far I am.

On a side-note--I think I'm turning into a little old lady. I eat my dinner really early, get into my PJs and go to bed at an hour I don't even want to admit. I can't taste much due to my deviated septum...I can't ever hear anything and have to screech WHAAAATTT? All the time. All the time. SO maybe if I keep this up going to the gym and walking my dog and sipping my cafe latte while I write my blog I can zip myself back into a twenty something pretty young thing that I very well should be.....

My knees were about to develop a crick if I didn't start working out....I could feel it. Especially when the rains are a-comin'. OK this blog is starting to lose focus. I just wanted to add that. Because, oh yes, this is why I added it to begin with-maybe writing is a good thing in more ways than one?

Have a good night, all.

5 miles

I just ranwalked 5 miles and am exhausted.

I don't know how anyone does it.

New Phone Bonanza

I've got a new phone
I've got a new phone
I've got a new phone
HeyheyHeyhey

Is it ironic or simply amazing that I have had my phone for two days now and have only used it to call people twice yet have been using every other function on it a million zillion times?

They shouldn't even bother calling them phones anymore. They should just be called something like "Zing" or "Awesome".

Do you have your Awesome with you today, miss?

Anyway-got to go....

Many things to do on the new "phone"!

Later

Day 95...just kidding.

Back from the weekend vacation!

Some quick lessons learned-

1. A little place called Casa Fiesta in Ohio...very, very near the Cedar Point Theme Park...is amazing. So amazing that my husband nearly walked into the kitchen after 4 dos equis beers to compliment the chef on the cooking.

2. Never, ever, EVER try to get to the exact weight limit on any ride. The result is terrifying. We definitely almost flew over the side of a 90 foot waterslide. Not the way I wanted to die, and I am very glad that it turned out the way it did in the end. I will spare you details so you don't have an almost-heart-attack as well.

3. Wooden rollercoasters are both nice and mean to you. They give a lot of those whooshy feelings but they also give you neck pains that flash foward you to your 85th year of life....or so I would imagine.

4. Long car rides are good on the way down and so, so tiring on the way back.

5. Being in "regular life" makes you want vacation. Being on the last day of vacation makes you want the next vacation.

6. There is nothing like an amusement park to remind you that the tattoo parlors of America are alive and kicking...(I have one, as well...but I'm just sayin'...)

7. There is nothing like a rollercoaster to remind you that you haven't been to church in a while.

8. When you are on a rollercoaster and your husband is sitting next to you saying "We're so high up...and not at the top yet...oh my God we're not at the top yet..." while you are closing your eyes and trying to quickly visualize an Indiana Jones-esque escape plan in case there is a glitch in the mechanics while closing your eyes and gripping the metal bars with all you've got....you have to think that's the equivilent to running at least 2 miles at the gym and worthy of some elephant ears or funnel cake or whatever you call those delicious cakey treats.


9. I have realized that "'80s future"is the theme of many rollercoasters in various amusement parks I've been to...and I bet many people can visualize what I mean before I describe what I mean (you know...the flourescent colors, the specific font of writing....the inference that computers will be the next big thing...)

10. When you have that crick in your neck like you're 85 years old and have flash forwarded and have no idea how to solve it without taking an excedrin-do not take that pill directly before bed at 11 p.m. because you will not fall asleep until 2 a.m.....but on the bright side you'll have a rough sketch of what your future might hold, as well as your grandkids, friends, and anyone else who has ever spoken with you in the past ten years....you might even grasp the meaning of life....and then you'll be so tired when you wake up at 8 a.m. after all that walking and realizing you still have that stupid crick that you will forget all of that....but you will remember not to take that excedrin at that time. It's a major no-no.

Thanks for listening, folks!