Feeling listless-- er, list-ful

I think it was Jenny Wug who turned me on to Redbook Magazine. It's not necessarily categorized as classic literature, but it's terribly enjoyable, writes with the assumption the reader is married (instead of "how to score with ten guys this weekend!"), and has lots of lists and statistics. And you know how I lurve lists. So every month I get treated to a few lists-- things I just "must" have, things I don't know about the male psyche, outfits I could make with just three simple wardrobe pieces, etc. And they also give lots of website sources--or am I confusing that part with Country Living? I think I am. Country Living-- I could make a full time job out of visiting all of their listed website sources. Maybe I'll share some with you sometime. You'd like them, if you're into antiquing and traveling and cooking, etc. Anyway, love those lists in Redbook.

So I'm feeling listy, partially because I'm really tired from this weekend, really want to post today for you, dear readers, but don't have the creativity to tell all the gory details story-style, and partially because the microwave just beeped and my dee-lish Lemon Chicken entree from Lean Cuisine is ready.

List Number One: Things That Have Gone Right Lately:

-- Fun times with my husband. We had such a ball at Lowes last night-- got great help from a guy as we tried to pick out a weed-eater, looked at paint samples (more on that later), and brainstormed about how to inexpensively put up cupboards in the laundry room to alleviate the mess that is the Cuisinart closet. (Don't try to get the blender out without wearing closed-toe shoes. Yeouch.) How is it that we can have a blast at Steak and Shake, even with bad service? Or just watching tv together? He's just the most fun. (Why did we need to go shopping for a weedeater, you ask, after Brad bought a new one last week? Well, after he fired it up, the cooling fan blade inside began chipping off, throwing metal blade parts out like shrapnel. Not recommended.)

-- Fun times with our community group from church. There are four couples, including us, and it's turning out to be just grrrreat! We ask deep questions, have challenging conversations, and connect easily. I'm so thankful for these budding friendships and for the work I see God doing in each couple already. SO much fun!

-- A sister in one piece. After being hit by a semi last week, then in a fender bender in the rental car, then told that her car was totalled, she's had a rough time. I'm so thankful she's not hurt or worse, and that she is surviving the trauma and drama that is car stuff with grace.

-- A trip coming up! We're going home this weekend for a long weekend. I've been pining for the north-- after receiving sexist email forwards from clients, (who thinks that's appropriate??? E-VOLVE, people! Women are your equals!), dealing with "Christians" everywhere I go (including the jerk who thought it was appropriate to cut me off last week, give me the finger, and then nearly run me off the road-- if you have a fish on your car, live like it. Otherwise, just stop with the fakey Baptist talk), and being HOT, I'm just dying for the north. Plus, I miss the shopping (see below). I mentioned yesterday how excited I was go to home this weekend. Brad replied, "But our home is heeeeere now." "Oh, my house is here now, but I will always only feel at home in the city, especially in Chicago," I said. I just miss it so darn much.

-- Great sermon at church. I have my issues with our church, but I tell you, the sermons are really meaty and applicable. I'm trying to take notes sometimes to focus my thoughts, and when I leave with notes I find I have like ten things to chew on during the week. Really great stuff.

-- Cool find at the auction on Saturday-- a 1974 set of Better Homes and Gardens Encyclopedia of cooking... 19 of the 20 volumes (half inch thick) for..... ONE BUCK. (more on the auction later)

-- A cleaned-out freezer. I now know we have lots of burgers, a few frozen pizzas, and enough to keep us fed for a while, if I get creative. (Pork chops with onions, anyone?)

-- A terribly sweet new mirror in the guest bathroom. I'm in love. It really makes me swoon.

-- A baby coming any day-- not ours, sillies. (And don't ask until Brad's done with grad school in three years. You heard me.) Bethany and Rico are due any day now-- actually, I think she technically has a few weeks, but her semi-regular contractions are leading us to believe otherwise. A new baby!!!!

-- Finished purses. I finished my mom's and sister's purses last night, and I'm proud of them. Can't wait to give them to their new owners.

-- One car that is working well. Mostly.

-- A house that is standing. Ugly inside, but standing. (more on that later)


And now, things that are going wrong:

-- Paint. I worked sooo hard on Saturday night while Brad was at a racecar movie with the drummer from the band. I painted the hallway and entryway, taped, trimmed, covered the white spots... and now I don't like the color. It's the same color that my mother in law has in her hallway and I love it there. But it looks muuuuch too gold in our house, and if it's going to be in the hall, entry, great room, and kitchen, it has to not be too gold. I'm mad to have wasted $80 on the paint, and I'm mad to have worked so hard and have to do it over. Argh!

-- Paint again. Tried to paint the master bathroom. Again, don't like the color. Looks great on the swatch, but pink on the walls. We were going for khaki. Just. Mad. Actually, more like disappointed. I've so been looking forward to painting and making everything pretty, and the green in the guest suite is so beautiful. We will press on.

-- Our anniversary. We celebrated two years on Tuesday. Two years! Can't believe it has been that long!! I still feel like a newlywed, though I can't remember life before Brad very well. So on Tuesday we had plans to go down to Naples. We had a gift card from our wedding leftover-- for Pottery Barn! And they don't deduct those monthly fees, so we didn't mind waiting for something special to buy or some special occasion. What's more fun than shopping on your anniversary??? So we planned to go down to Naples where the only Pottery Barn is, for like 100 miles or more, and then we had reservations for fondue at The Melting Pot. Brad picked me up from work around 5 and we headed south. We realized that dinner was two hours away and our bellies were hungry, so we stopped on the way at Gatsby's Pizza, our favorite pizza place, for a personal pizza. It's only four little pieces, so our waitress asked us what was up. We told her our plans and then went on our way with her congratulations. But before we left, we saw on the tv at the bar that there were severe storms over Marco, moving toward Naples. And as we drove toward Naples, you would have thought we were driving to our doom. The sky was just black as anything and there was lightning everywhere. We made it to Pottery Barn and dashed from the parking lot to the mall just as the first raindrops hit. As we neared Pottery Barn we saw a sign on the door: closed for remodeling until August. 0 for 1, plans-speaking. So we went into Sharper Image for a look around, and then decided to go to Radio Shack, the most romantical place ever. Actually, the fun present I had Brad open a day early came with a European plug. Thanks, Amazon. So we thought we'd pick up a proper plug and then head to fondue early. We found the plug and went on our merry way... but as we neared the fondue place the storm worsened. When we arrived we noticed there weren't any lights on in the restaurant...or in the place next door... or the place next door to that... yep, power was out on the whole block. So we turned around and went back to Gatsby's for a full size pizza and romantic time watching Wheel of Fortune. Plans: 0 for 2. Spontanaety: 2 for 2 (Radio Shack and Gatsby's.) We went home and hooked up Brad's early present and grooved out to the music from Good Night and Good Luck. Despite the plans not working out well, we had a great time anyway.

-- Heat. I hate being hot. On Saturday the big antique store down the street from my office was having a clear-out-the-warehouse-auction. Fantastic, I thought. Just like old times on Western Avenue in Chicago-- we love auctions! And when we arrived at 10 am there were maybe 20 people there, which often means low prices. Yeah, the reason there were 10 people was that it was in the 90's outside, and the auction was OUTDOORS. In the sun. There was a tent set up for people to go stand under when the heat got to be too much, but it was a distance from the action so you'd miss what was going on if you were comfortable. We lasted for about an hour (pat me on the back!) and then left. We'll try again when the weather calms down. We should have known, when it was 85 at 7 a.m.

-- My Honda. The Oil-Consumption Test we performed last week confirmed our worst fears: my dear Honda Accord is sick in the engine. It's using 1.5 quarts of oil per 100 miles, which is too high to be good. So we don't know what to do. It's not under warranty, and if we chose to fix the engine we're looking at about $3500 at least. Plus, once you open an engine it's never the same, they say. So we might trade it in, and we might just drive it and keep oil on hand. Argh. We only bought it four months ago-- or less! And it only has 43,000 miles on it. I just love it to pieces. So sad.

-- That's about it. Oh, I just dropped lunch on the keyboard, so I better go.