I was sitting in church yesterday looking around at all the children and imagining my life with a child. And I could only get to about age five before I started to feel really, really bizarre and uncomfortable.

I have a friend who will be turning 28 this week so I have decided to go back to my 28 things to to do in my 28th year to see what I have accomplished. My list was inspired by Erica.
1.Wrap presents in brown paper (Nearly all of my Christmas presents were wrapped in brown paper.
2.Conceive
3.Donate/Sell on Ebay those work clothes that I don’t wear in any two week period
4.Donate/Sell on Ebay those shoes that I don?t wear in any two week period.
5.Buy at least fivethree one new cd/albums (Amy Blaschke’s Self Titled and Sufjan Stevens’ Seven Swans bought the week of 3/23/04) (Edith Frost’s Wonder Wonder and The Unicorns’ Who will cut our hair when we’re gone? bought the week of 6/7/04). (The latest cd bought was Joseph Arthur’s most current.)
6.Write letters instead of emails
7.Visit three one states (state) other than Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida. Went to Boston in July and Chicago in October.
8.Go to Tennessee for a long weekend (Went to Chattanooga for New Years Weekend).
9.Convince my sister to come visit me for a weekend
10.Knit something other than a scarf
11.Learn to quilt
12.Go see a play (Saw Running with Scissors just last week.)
13.Buy lunch for a stranger
14.Eat vegetables (While I haven’t been eating nearly enough vegetables, I AM eating more than I used to)
15.Call my friends
16.Get a promotion
17.Clean the house on a regular basis
18.Plant wildflowers
19.Read Cider House Rules
20.Sell one of my paint-ings
21.Paint a piece of furniture
22.See my brother and sister in law
23.Compliment my brother in law
24.Learn French
25.Go to Johnson Shut-ins
26.Eat lunch outside
27.Get to know my neighbors
28.Have a garage/yard sale. Does it count if you sell things at a yard sale, but you weren’t present at the yard sale? I was on my way to see T* with H*, which was a really, really good excuse.

Just heard from a friend that a friend of a friend might be moving here. It would be great if they did move here (for many reasons, one of those being that it would mean that our friend might actually come to visit).
I think of moving after this summer and I get a little sad. I remember last summer sitting outside at the A*’s house and telling those with us that we hoped not to be here forever and M* telling me that all of the people sitting around the picnic table had once also said that they would never make I* their permanent home.
We’ve made some great friends, something that I didn’t forsee since we only had plans to stay here until CPH finished his M.A. And a little piece of me wishes we didn’t have to move on.

We’ve gone to a number of live shows lately. Last week some friends were playing at a local community center (along with another local band and a not-too-far-away band). This past week we went and saw an impromptu show by Liz Janes and also paid an unexpected visit a local dive to see some local bands.
There’s something very attractive about listening to live music while standing beside very good friends.
Another thing that has, of late, become insatiably(at least, for the moment) attractive is the idea of living on a farm in the (near) middle of nowhere and raising my own food and being snowed (literally) in. We went to a local creamery on Saturday and spoke to some acquaintances who are experiencing all of this at the moment and I couldn’t help but be jealous. Which is a new thing for the girl who always dreamed of living in a penthouse in the big city.

This week’s theme is crowded.
One of my favorite things to do with my friends is to walk to places – To the river, To the circle, To the ocean.
Just love it.

When I was in Boston over the 4th of July weekend, I was in a starbucks wasting time before the fireworks display on the Charles. I smiled as I heard one of my favorite Sondre Lerche (Stupid Memory) songs play in the background and I remember remarking to my friend that it was nice to hear good music from a place that we had never really associated with anything good.
Here lately, John in the Morning (from KEXP - if you’re not listening yet, you should – really), has been playing a few tracks from a compilation cd that I couldn’t find much news about. I emailed him and he told me it would only be found here, which turns out to be Starbucks own music-pushing machine.
It’s a great mix with some super-great artists singing their favorite love songs.
So, I broke down and bought it last night.
And I must admit that I am enjoying it immensely.

I know the producers have an agenda, but there were plenty of bathing suits that were less fashionable than Alexandra’s. I mean, come on!

So, it was fun to find out (begin to understand) where the term actually came from, but what I really want to know is…

why?

Had dinner with the A*’s and K* last night. The meaning of the dinner was to give some prospective movers the positives and negatives of Indianapolis.
It’s quite interesting that a year ago, I think I could have come up with a few more things that I don’t like about Indianapolis. Now, I think I’ll be sad if we have to leave it.

Liz Janes is in town this week visiting some friends. The friends with whom she is visiting happen to be heavily involved at our church so she was gracious enough to offer up a free show while she was in town. It was an enjoyable show. I think she was a bit surprised to see the large turnout. I’m all for musicians to make it big and such, but there’s something extremely attractive about the excitement that you see on someone’s face when what they think is going to be small show for less than 10 people turns into a 30+ audience.

Went home to Kentucky this weekend to celebrate Christmas since we couldn’t make it home for the real thing. My brother and his wife came in (I usualy only see them on holidays) and it was nice of them to make the trip. The Christmas Village was still up and a fake (!!!) tree had been bought so that they could keep a tree up without putting the household in danger (dead tree=fire). There are so many reasons that I love going home, but I think my favorite part is the dependency that my whole family has on the kitchen table. The television is never the focus of activities at the house (if it’s on, its usually on for only a handful of people or it is very late at night). Instead, people walk into the house to be greeted by a large number of people sitting at the kitchen table. And that’s a very comforting feeling.

The theme for the week is signs.

I know the picture is not a great one, but I thought it was such a find (this and the post card that had blair’s face on the ever popular uncle sam photo saying, “I want YOU for the US Army”)

I have to admit, I’ve never really liked reality television. Except for the occassional obsessions with the occassional episodes of the Real World (but I knew the cowboy from the first season!), I have had no problem skipping right past the channel that is showing (insert popular reality tv show here).

Until now.

I am completely addicted to Project Runway.

There. I said it.

While in Boston, CPH picked up a copy of the story that this movie was fashioned after as a wonderful must bring the other something back when you go away gift.

I’ve made my way through the first chapter. I was a bit skeptical of the book in general for one reason only: It’s set before World War II. And anybody who knows me, knows that I don’t much fancy books in which people don’t experience the liberties that multiple life/social/country/economic – alterning wars have brought about.

I was, however, extremely touched by something that was said about prisoner 1818. The author is talking about how much the farmer misses his wife.

”...and now that he was far from her side, he remembered the softness of her skin. It was like a tear in the fabric of his sleep.”

A* was recently talking about how she wanted to be a more descriptive writer. After reading that sentence, I think I’d like more descriptive writing to be an aspiration of my own, as well.

I’m enjoying the book, by the way. I think that the author has a talent of transcending space and time.

I mean, I’ve read authors who have transcended time, but not space.

I have no idea what I’m talking about.

.

The reflections (at least the human ones) belong to the SMWB and my CPH (left to right).

In the past week, I have had 11 different folks find my website via their search for sites to teach them how to get strong. Now, I can see why many people would be searching for ways to be stronger, especially in the few weeks following their new years resolutions. What I wonder is: Are all these people looking to beef up their muscles or are some looking to be stronger in their ability to knock down their temptations?

CPH came home last night from a (near) week long visit to Boston. He brought home gifts and stories and pictures. While he was gone, our friends took care of me, calling me and inviting me and feeding me.
For the entirety of our marriage, I have been unable to sleep in our bed while CPH is gone. Even if he’s out for the night and expected in late, when he returns he will find me on the couch tucked under the afghan with the TV still on.
Sure, our house is big and the bed is upstairs and far away from the entry doors – but I think the biggest reason I camp out in the living room when he is not there is this: It just doesn’t feel like sleep when he’s not there.

Today was, quite possibly, the laziest day I have had in a very long time. So lazy, in fact, that it doesn’t even feel like one day, but several days have passed in this 24 hour period.
It’s 1 am right now and at the same time last night (this morning), I was arriving home from a fun night with N*, R* and M*. I had already planned on sleeping in this morning (a liberty that I don’t participate in all that often). I actually slept in until half past noon (minus half an hour at daybreak). I woke up when a friend called and invited me to the gym. Because she wanted to take a nap and I needed to do some grocery shopping, we decided to go around 3. Sleeping sounded so much more appealing than shopping, so at about 1:30, I took a short (hour and a half) nap.
End of day one.
I woke up around 3 and my friend and I headed to the gym around 3:30. We walked enought to equal a mile and did some pilates and headed home. I was home at around 5:30 and I was asleep again by 6:30.
End of day two.
I woke again to the sound of the phone at around 8:30 with a headache (too much sleep=major headache). I accepted an invitation from the friend on the phone to come over for some hanging out and game playing. I joked (serious) when I walked in that my friends had saved me because I had been sleeping the day away. I ate dinner as we sat and talked. I am constantly amazed at the love of storytelling that is so present in all circles of friends. We ended the night with a rousing game of horribly personal questions answered as honestly as possible.
So it’s 1:30 am and I’m ready to end the day(s). I wonder if I will ever tire of my love for sleep?

Watched Eternal Sunshine for the second time tonight with a friend who was seeing it for the first time. I had told her earlier that the reason i wanted to watch it was that all of my friends had loved the movie and I had simply thought it to be good, but not great.
And I can’t remember this ever happening before. True, some of our little group of friends will absolutely cherish a movie and the other half will only bear it because the others adore it. But with Eternal Sunshine, everyone (and I mean all eight of my dearest friends – Do I have to explain that i just made that number up?) seemed to think it was one of the best movies of the year. Everyone but me, that is. I remembered it as a watchable movie that was a bit too hard to follow.
But for some reason, this time, I got it.

And it was beautiful.

Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden. – TS Eliot

mmmm. new daily read is yummy.

Check out A*’s deliciously wonderful bookmarks.

Now, if she could just learn to love the taste of curry.

Isn’t science amazing?

send him (or her) an email in binary.

mmm. nerd love.

yes. i have already sent one to CPH.

Just added some dailies that I have visited for a while, but am just now listing here.

More specifically, I have now added my del.icio.us daily reads and a few more blogs.

Although I had an overall gut wrenching, dont want to leave here ever again kind of weekend while CPH and I visited friends in Tennessee, I would have to say that Saturday was my favorite day of the visit. We didnt start Saturday until well after noon because, admittedly, Friday night was so much fun with all the drinking and all the secrets divulged and all the many times the words I miss you so much were intertwined with tears. Around half past one, we headed about 30 miles north to the little town where CPH and I began our lives together and where our host had grown up. We were headed to the north side of town to D*s parents house. We had apparently talked our friends with whom we spent the night before into coming along, although none of us remember convincing the male half of the couple (thinking, as we knew in the past, that even though we were inviting him, he would not show). We were pleasantly surprised when they called us for directions, although according to him (the male half), he had told us the night before that they would be there. Regardless, the M*s showed up relatively early and we started the day. I hadnt seen the eldest two boys (or their parents) for over a year and I was amazed at how much they had grown. When I had left, J* (the youngest) wasnt talking much and T* was in that my brother is still a baby and I like to push him around stage. The boys didnt recognize me, which made me a little sad (I understand that it was impossible for them to remember me what with all that is going on in their little brains, but I was sad nonetheless -I was a regular at their house when we lived in Tennessee, saw them at least once a week). But soon enough, we had made each others acquaintance and were playing like old times. CPH spent a lot of time with them and you should ask him to tell you stories.

Halfway through the visit, the boys were getting restless and the big boys were holed up in a room with a newly acquired xbox, so J* and I took the boys into an empty room and grabbed a box of building blocks (generic jenga) from the game shelf and set the boys to building. We noticed there was writing on the blocks and were appalled as we read them aloud, wondering if this was a game the parents had made themselves or if we had uncovered a deep dark secret of our dear friend D*. After reading Every. Single. Block, J* went to let D* know of the filth in his parents house (please understand the jest in my voice). He denied the whole thing, brushing it up to a sick game that either his little sister or little brother had come up with. I think he was a little embarrassed because he quickly started putting them away.
But not before CPH snapped a picture.

After the M*s had left, D* pulled out his Settlers game and we had a rousing game (of which I won, of course).

What I love most about the T*s is that they are constantly giving compliments to people. D* says that his dad is not that great at leading a company as far as eloquent speaking, but I think you could ask any successful person the most important thing to do to motivate your employees and they would say that it is important to always tell people when they are doing things right (take it from me, I have a masters degree in management).