Do I hear three hundred?

So last night was going to be quiet and relaxing, another night in front of Netflix's goodness. Disc 2 of Arrested Development Season 1 arrived, and we were going to have dinner and watch the whole thing and go to bed early.

But then this furniture store down here right by my work was advertising an auction, and I just had to go. It started at 6:30 and I got off work at 5:45, so instead of going home and coming back I ran an errand and went to the auction. And it was FUN. I love auctions-- the thrill of the bargaining, the atmosphere of excitement... it was fun. I was hoping to snag an 8 by 10 rug in the khaki/neutral family for $300 or less... high hopes, no dice. Everything was dark, expensive, or had lots of fringe- ugh. But the prices were amazing-- couches and loveseats for $450, oriental rugs originally priced at $20,000 went for $2,000! If I had means and way to sell, I would have snagged a few. But alas, there were no good deals for me.

So I went home and we had our relaxing evening minus the going-to-bed-early part. I made up some quick fajita chicken and onions and peppers-- yummm-- which I put in corn tortillas (note to self: corn tortillas fall apart real fast) and smart Brad put over a salad. Guess whose hands were cleaner after the meal. While we ate and for the rest of the night we watched the whole dvd-- I think I got to bed around 11:30 p.m. I'm a bit yawny today, though it has been quite a busy day already. Boss is here and we've just had a heated discussion about streamlining a few processes around here-- instead of just saying "jump" and expecting me to jump, howsabout if we put "jump" on the list of things I do every other Thursday, thereby allowing me to get other work done. Ok, so it was about jumping, but rather about examining insurance certificates, something I'm pretty sure Satan invented. I'm sure there's a little room in hell where people have to examine the certificates of each vendor and then call and ask for eensie weensie details to be fixed, get no response after faxing monthly, and then get blasted when they withhold payments. It's a tedious process which is actually a little bit enjoyable if there's nothing else on the docket for the day. Just takes concentration. Which is why I should do it twice a month instead of whenever boss decides to cut checks, which could be as often as every few days. (end rant)

Tonight we're having dinner at TGIFriday's with a couple from our former housegroup. They're due with their first baby next month and we haven't seen them in a while. I'm excited to have some friend time and also to try the new Friday's menu-- the pick-three-things-menu they keep advertising looks yummy. It's really noisy at our Friday's so we never go, but the other couple picked it so we'll go. I'm happy about that. I'm also happy about Sean and Jeannie's new little bowling ball, set to arrive any minute now. (She said it felt like a bowling ball, so I'm not being rude.) I just hope they name it something bowling-esque, like Biff or Lucille or something.

In other news, my sister who was diagnosed with Crohn's a few weeks ago is at the doctor today. I'm just sick about all she's going through and wish I could cast it into a herd of pigs. She's trying to be a full time teacher to the largest classroom in her school with eight severely autistic kids and a terribly unhelpful aid and incompetent administration, all the while dealing with constant pain and discomfort and unpleasantries of various types. Today she gets bloodwork and an x-ray and hopefully some relief from her latest flare-up. Meanwhile she's trying to get the insurance company to approve her new ongoing treatments for Crohn's-- apparently she gets an i.v. treatment every three weeks for a while, then every four weeks, building up to every 8 weeks, for life. If she ever stops taking the treatments she can never take them again-- her body will have built up resistance to it that can never be undone. It's supposed to be really powerful and helpful and the sooner she can get it, the better. We just have to wait for the insurance suits to get to that pile on their desk. You'd never know it to talk to her-- she's quite cool and collected, but please pray for her when she comes to mind. Many of you know chronic irritation and can sympathize. It's just not fun at all.

I'm headed up to Chi-town this weekend for a girls' weekend, sort of a comfort and support time for Steph. We're eating at Cheesecake Factory and getting massages and watching movies. I can't wait. I'm thinking of bringing supplies to make these homemade soft pretzels-- they look just amazing and so nice for a watching-movies snack. The pictures make me drool a little.

Back to work for me for now. Tomorrow I'll post about the surprise. :)

Debriefing on Sunday's Goings On...

I poked around this morning on the metafilter thread about superbowl commercials.  I even posted a comment... to which another person replied thusly:

--------------------
My comment: "Does anyone else wish that Prince had sung the National Anthem, and Billy Joel had done the half-time show?"

Other person's comment: "You are a bad person and should be medically evaluated."
--------------------

Ha!  Well, then.  Don't hold back or anything.  I guess that answers my question from last night, "Why is he up there? Does anyone still like Prince?"

My favorite commercial was the Chevy one where the girls are in the car and the guys start washing it and ripping off their shirts, etc. It's not my favorite because of the shirtless guys; I just love seeing gender tables turned.  Perhaps we're evolving.  And then the GoDaddy.com and SalesGenie ads came on and I was reminded that we're not so progressive a country after all.  Oh, well.  I did like the Coke ad with the Rube Goldberg machine inside the Coke machine.  I taught a Rube Goldberg class a few years back and just love stuff like that.

 

What was your favorite?

My little vintage-loving heart is all a-twitter

I got a catalog in the mail the other day - Antique Hardware and Home. I think it's because I'm on the Builder Magazine mailing list... anyway, I save these kinds of catalogs for the day when Brad and I get to renovate-slash-restore an old house. The catalog has old-style drawer pulls, door handles, you name it. Very cool. And in the Home section they have the sweetest vintage tablecloths like the cherry one above! Can you just believe it? At $29.99 it's a little much for an impulse buy, but I know it's there and when I get a little extra here and there, I just might go for it. They also have an apple one, fruit salad, and fruit cocktail and I want them all. Take a look if you like. I'm also drooling over the vintage half-aprons-- at 6 for $24.99 I almost consider it a sin not to partake. But alas, they are back ordered. I mean, hypothetically, if one was to put such item into one's shopping cart, one would receive a message that the item is backordered... busted. Also the vintage lunch box and vintage kitchen towel set put a twinkle in my eye.

I might need a second job.

I think you meant "breeding"...

From the story of the Fort Myers version of Punxsutawney Phil...

"Shell Factory Chief Executive Officer, Nancy Mitchell, said she hopes
the groundhogs can get along since the park is planning on breading
them."

A new show to eat up our evenings...

Michael Bluth: What have we always said is the most important thing?
George Michael Bluth: Breakfast
MB: Family
GMB: Oh, right. Family. I thought you meant of the things you eat.

Three episodes of Arrested Development gave us quite a few chuckles last night, thanks to Netflix and my sister's rec. Not as funny as the office, but not as painful, either. The family on the show is so very screwed up that I felt quite normal afterward. It's not too raunchy and not violent, and mostly just entertaining. I'll keep the other discs on the queue and will follow this family for a while.

After a delish dinner of Mrs. Grass's Chicken Soup and grilled cheese, we watched the dvds and then went our separate ways. By the way, the grilled cheese was quite good-- I'd seen on a blog or in a magazine the idea of using potato hamburger buns as the bread and pressing the sandwiches like a panini. I heated up a skillet and my heavier-than-a-car Le Creuset dutch oven and pressed the sandwiches between them. The sandwiches came out flat and crispy on the outside with no added butter. Yum.

After dinner and dvds Brad went to play World of Warcraft and I intended to blog some Africa pictures. However, since we have a mishmash of pictures from various generous family members, the pictures are in a weird order. And I just can't have that. So I spent some time putting them all in order and will soon be ready to post at least the first half of the trip. Saturday we don't have plans so I want to veg and blog then.

It's Friday and I'm hoping for a call from our realtor today. I called him last night to check in-- he has spoken with the interested party three times and she's thinking things over and researching the area. He said he'd call her again today. We shall see.

Pray for Brad if you think of it-- he's gotten an ear infection again. They tend to come on quickly and quite strong-- he's spent the last two days in bed quite a bit. Today he has a few things to do and then will go to the doctor to get some meds. Poor guy.

Police use stun guns on greased, naked student

The town we're hoping to move to just had an appearance on CNN.com. Doesn't dissuade me in the least, though. Kids will be kids. Loved the grease idea, though. That seems new to me.

No word from our realtor yet, no offer or anything. I'll keep you posted. I ran the numbers the other day after calling our mortgage lender to find out the payoff amount. It will have to be a generous offer which will only be evidence of the hand of God. Not impossible, just improbable. I read this quote somewhere a few months ago, maybe on a blog (sorry if it was yours-- let me know and I'll give you credit):

"To be a witness does not consist in engaging in propaganda nor even in stirring people up, but being a living mystery. It means to live in such a way that one's life would not make sense if God did not exist." Cardinal Suhard, archbishop of Paris 1940-49

I've mulled that over a bit here and there as it comes to mind, and I find that I love it more each time I mull. Consider it in the light of trying to sell a house in Lehigh right now-- seriously, that will be another miracle in my life of miracles. Improbable, but not impossible.

In other news, I've discovered a new product. These ciders from Celestial Seasonings come in cute red tins and I bought all three flavors last week. Electric kettle + honey vanilla cider mix = happy morning commute. Hey, it doesn't have to be 8 degrees to feel cold.

Tis all for now. Back to work.

Two lonely squares

Whoever was last in the bathroom here at work left me precious little
to work with. Two lonely squares. Of thin, cheap stuff, too. No
extras in the cabinet, and the paper towels are a fair distance to
waddle to. Two squares. Even a conservative girl like me can't work
with two squares.

On Netflix this week...

Week one was Season 1 and Season 2 of BBC's The Office.

Week two was The Office Special and Born Free.

Week three will be Arrested Development Season 1 Disc 1 and Cinema
Paradiso. I know I'll like Cinema Paradiso as it reminds me of the
summer outdoor movie nights in Baltimore. Their Little Italy area
closes up a few streets and a parking lot beside a three story
building. Old Fred who lives across the street from the parking lot
lets the town use his electricity and his attic window for their
powerful projector and they shoot movies across the parking lot onto
the side of the three story building, which has been painted white so
that the movies show well. When no movie is playing the painted brick
looks a bit odd, but everyone knows why its white so it doesn't
matter. The dessert store down the street is busy with sugar-buzzed
patrons getting ready to watch the movie, the authentic deli serves
brick-oven pizzas from the back, and the gelato store down the street
is busier than a beehive in July. Folks set up their lawn chairs in
the parking lot and streets as the popcorn machine is wheeled around
distributing free popcorn, and the local musicians play an Italian
singalong on a keyboard as a pre-show. Volare, oh oh, volare. And
something about a pizza pie hitting your eye. When it gets dark out
the cartoon begins, just like when we were kids. After the cartoon
are family-friendly movies, some with an open-air-movie or Italian
theme, like Return to Me or My Cousin Vinnie. One of the summers I
was there they played Cinema Paradiso, which makes you sound cool if
you pronounce it authentically-- CHEE nah mah pah dah DEE soh. So I
look forward to seeing it again.

Any thoughts on Arrested Development? My sister loves it and thinks
I'll like it, too. Anyone else seen it?

Busy night!

Last night I went to my high school reunion. It was held in Libertyville's public library which has a lovely garden atrium area. The funny thing about the reunion was that it was a dance, and no one was allowed to bring a date other than a high school colleague. I was sad not to bring Brad, but I went with a guy who was a mixture of guys I've known over the years. It was fun to get dressed up, but I don't keep in touch with many people from high school so I was anxious that I wouldn't have anyone to talk to other than my date. And when we got there, he was the entertainment for the night and had to play the piano all evening long. It wasn't nearly as much fun as I thought it would be and I woke up bewildered and disappointed.

But that's what I get for sleeping in the Room Of Weird Dreams, as it is now known. I tend to snore a bit and wake up Brad so I slept in the guest room last night. Sam and Erika also had some weird dreams in there this weekend. So now it is the Room Of Weird Dreams.

This past weekend was just wonderful. S&E arrived Friday night and we went back to the house and ate dinner. The pork loin in the crock pot turned out ok, contrary to my worries that it would be dry. It fell apart and we made sandwiches out of it. Afterward we went to get homemade ice cream at Sweet Things, a charming little store with a charming little owner who went on and on describing her various tea offerings with great passion. We went back to the house and chatted until bedtime.

Saturday we woke up late and had breakfast on the lanai. The weather hovered in the mid 70s and the breezes made it feel like vacation weather. After breakfast we went to the Six Mile Cypress Slough (ten points if you know how to pronounce that word!) for a walk around their boardwalk. We spotted quite a few bits of wildlife-- alligators, turtles, blue herons, egrets, ibis, those black birds which I call Solar Powered Birds as their wings are always spread in the sun to dry off, and more. When you come visit, we must go again. It was quite relaxing and fun.

Then we went to get lunch at Moe's, which is similar to Chipotle but with good queso dip for the free chips. Yum. We went to the wine store next door to look for some Florida-brewed beers for Sam, and then to Target to see if they had any good maternity swimsuits for Erika. (Yes on the beers, no on the swimsuits.) After we shopped we headed over to Sanibel for a quick relax on the beach before our sunset cruise. Unfortunately it was rather cloudy so we didn't see much of a sunset. We did see quite a few dolphins, however, and the boat ride itself was terribly relaxing. Afterward we got pizza at Gatsby's and ice cream at Royal Scoop, where the poor new guy thought pistachio ice cream was chocolate-colored and Sam ended up with two servings of dessert. Worse things have happened. Then we went home and watched Michigan State nearly recover from being 20 points behind Ohio State in basketball.

Sunday we went to the First Church of Learning Settlers. After breakfast Sam and Erika treated us to a game of Settlers of Catan. I had tried to play long ago but it never stuck, and Brad had never played. He picked up on it quite well and I followed along as best as I could. After that we took naps, wrote a paper for grad school, or played World of Warcraft (Brad and Kath, Erika, and Sam, respectively) until it was time for a late lunch/early dinner at Famous Dave's Barbecue. Word to the wise-- as good as it tastes, it's not worth the aftermath. At least that was my experience this time. After lunner we got shakes at Cheeburger (what would a trip to Fort Myers BE without a Cheeburger shake?) and said hello to Ralph and Chris for a bit. Then we headed home for a few more rounds of Settlers. By the time it was time for bed I was feeling like I had caught on and now I want to buy the game.

It was a fantastic weekend filled with relaxing activities. More importantly, however, Brad and I got to feel normal again. We connected with friends, people who know us and who we know, who are real and fun to be around. Both Sam and Erika are fantastic conversationalists and we talked about everything from midwives to crock pots to proofs about wobbly tables. Brad and I both lead rather isolated lives-- we work at desks, come home to each other, and do the same thing the next day. So we loved connecting with friends and just feeling more alive. Thanks, Sam and Erika, for the gift of last weekend!

One thing I left out-- on Friday night just as we were sitting down to dinner I received a phone call from a lady in New Hampshire who was interested in our house. To make a long story short, she asked what kind of deal we could give her if she paid us cash and closed in 30 days. (!!!!!) As of right now she is communicating with our realtor who is sending her information about the area. It may all fall through, or we may be moving soonishly. We're trying not to get too excited because it's quite likely it will not happen. But maybe it will. I'll keep you posted.

While the Seavers were here Sam showed us Google Reader. If you're not using it to keep up with your blogs, you must! It's a feature of having a google account like gmail and it lets you know which of your blogs has been updated! I set it up yesterday and was delighted to find out lickety split that Shanel posted 8 times yesterday with delightful stories and pictures and thoughts. One was this: "Buy yourself some flowers this week or a blooming plant at Jewel. Cheer your home up with some color. It is so drab out there and we have a long way to go till Spring." Hmm. Read metaphorically, this is so true for me right now. If you don't read Shanel's blog yet, I think you'll enjoy her musings. I love the pictures of her darling Audrey Anne and her stories about life taking care of the sick and dying.

And speaking of Shanel, she convinced me last week to try World of Warcraft. Any of my other girlfriends will be incredulous at that, but it's true. We made a date for last night to play together and we played for about an hour. I can understand the lure of it. The game is well-made and creative, and I have to say I enjoyed killing scorpions and warthog-things. But I can't say I'll do it again. I enjoy nurturing my girly side where there are no killings, only cooking and HGTV and pretty things, which is what I do when Brad plays his manly kill-things game.

Other random thoughts for today-- from Susan's blog: "From the beginning, our lives lay down clues to selfhood and vocation, though the clues may be hard to decode…. We do not find our callings by conforming ourselves to some abstract moral code. We find our callings by claiming authentic selfhood, by being who we are."

And "Depression is the ultimate state of disconnection--it deprives one of the relatedness that is the lifeline of every being."

I'm chewing on ideas of what I want to do with my life, and I keep coming back to being a principal. I can't seem to run away from it, as much as I'd like to and as much as I don't want to go to grad school. But "claiming authentic selfhood", as Susan quotes from Parker Palmer, it fits me to a T. I am a leader, I am an empowerer, an encourager, a delegator. I can steer the ship and pat the backs of my rowers. I have been fortunate enough to have had fantastic leader examples and have learned from them. So I'm thinking about that. I think ideally, we'd move to Ohio, work for a year, and then I'd start grad school next fall. Who knows.

And the second quote-- I'm feeling like I'm in full-fledged depression. It happened once before, right after we got engaged (!), and I became sort-of dead to the world. I was overwhelmed with my job and then I added wedding-planning to the pot, and after mustering-up for some time, something clicked inside and the chemicals turned off my happiness. A light dose of happy pills worked and I was off of them after 6 months. Then in October I was crying a lot and got some good prayer and the depression was completely lifted off of me for the past two years.

This time the click happened when I found out that the house I thought we were going to get in Ohio was sold to someone else. I felt the click happen, and ever since I just can't muster up. I can't make a decision worth anything-- menus are anxiety-producing to me. And this time I'm much more anxious-- full of nervousness at random times (watching tv, driving home) and heart-racing panic moments. I have a doctor's appointment next week and I hope hope hope she'll give me some small dose of something to take the edge off. It's an anxious, uncertain time of life and this time we don't have community here to rally around us. So the quote from Susan feels real-- I feel disconnected and unable and unwilling to try to connect to new people. I don't like myself and I don't trust my reactions so I'm just trying to get by right now until stability comes in one form or another. It's isolating for sure.

Thankfully I have a super husband who understands me even when I don't understand me and likes me just the same. We're getting by and enjoying our evenings at home together. We have some fun things planned-- next weekend is girls weekend for me in Chicago, then we both go to Indianapolis to see some Huntington friends, then we'll go to Mount Dora sometime which is a great town near Orlando, then my dad comes to town, and then my mom comes to town. All before mid March. And I just got an email from Spirit Airlines that they have some cheap fares down here in Feb and March, in case you want to visit! You never know how long we'll be here!

It's only 11:31 and I've posted three times today...

But they just keep coming! Right on US 41- main drag through Fort
Myers- there's a big billboard on a busy corner. It has two stick
figure people- man and women- and in big letters : www.my crappy sex
life.com (spaces inserted so I won't get googled). I saw it a few
days ago when they first put it up and thought, how tasteless and just
too much. Try explaning that to my seven year old niece or any other
child learning to read as you drive by on your daily way!

Today I remembered to actually check it out. It's an advertisement
for a CHURCH down here that is doing a series on sex. Unreal! I just
hate the hype and shock value that is employed like a hook to get
people to come to church. We actually tried this church-- it was one
we were excited about before we even got here!-- and couldn't take it.
The people have good intentions but the hype and hysteria is just too
much.

Unless I'm forgetting Jesus' stint in shock marketing, I thought our
job was to love God and love people. Nowhere were we instructed to
lure them in with over-the-top, potentially offensive marketing.

One more thing I'm looking forward to once we get to Ohio...

I have a black thumb, or a shriveled thumb, or whatever is the opposite of a green thumb. As a result we have absolutely no landscaping other than grass. Nothing. Bare lawn, that's it. And if we didn't have automatic sprinklers, the grass would be dead, too. So when we get to move, someday, my mother is going to teach me to garden. And I will get to have plants like these, which nearly move me to tears. There's something about peonies that is so comforting and soothing-- the delicate pink blossoms remind me of my mother's garden and my wedding bouquet.

Cooking experiment, and why I didn't post pictures last night

Believe me, I had good intentions to get some pix up here. But the
disappointment that is our little camera had a rather full memory card
and it took an hour to sort through things and clear it off. By 11
p.m. I had had enough. So that will have to wait until Monday. I
have some random stuff on there-- pictures of some of my cooking
endeavors, like the French onion soup and the calzones made with
Brandon's dough recipe, and some of Africa which I owe you badly. I'll
make an effort to post next week.

Last night I finished shaving off the edges of the plexiglass, and I
must say it looks goooooood. We both just love that table now. It
looks so cool and retro and modern all in one.

We also watched the end of the special from BBC's The Office. Oh, the
emotions. It was painfully good, just like every other minute of that
series. And I was happy with the way they ended it.

Last night was c-o-l-d in Florida terms. Brad had all the windows and
doors open to air out the house-- love that-- and by evening it was in
the 60s and quite brisk inside. I slept in socks, a sweatshirt, etc.,
with a heating pad on my feet and the down comforter last night and
got great sleep. This morning it was so cold in the house that Brad
turned on the heat! (I know, I know, wah wah wah.)

This morning I did a few things to get the house in order and also
threw a concoction into the crock pot for dinner tonight. Sam and
Erika arrive around 5:30 so I thought I'd cook something up for when
they get here. I got a pork loin at Costco last week with the
intention to cut it up and freeze parts. I put half of it- 3 lbs-
into the crock pot, along with some chicken stock, minced garlic,
creole seasoning, and a little cornstarch to thicken the gravy. I
sort of threw that recipe together from a few recipes I found online.
Unbeknownst to me, pork loin is different from pork roast, and the
loin is white and lean, therefore not a good candidate for the crock
pot. I was hoping for pulled pork sandwiches. Not so sure that will
happen. So we'll see how it works out. I figure if it doesn't turn
out well, I'll cut it into little chunks and put it in with some fried
rice and freeze it for lunches for me, and we can all go out to dinner
tonight. I love experimenting. I just wish meat wasn't so expensive
to experiment with.

Today will be slow-- boss is working from home so it's quiet in the
office. I don't have tons to do-- it's a slow market and we don't
have many new contracts. Since I'm contracts administrator, that
means I don't have a lot to administrate. Or administer. Whatever.

And in not fun news, my wonderful sister was diagnosed with Crohn's
Disease this week. She has a good doctor who is prescribing a good
drug treatment, but that treatment will be in the form of an IV she
has to take every 6 weeks without fail. I just hate that my baby
sister has to have this. So pray for her for comfort and for
reminders that God loves her.

Mom got the great idea of a cheerer-upper for Steph-- a girls' weekend
like we had in August! I just booked my ticket on Spirit for early
Feb and I'm excited to watch movies, paint nails, get massages, and
veg out together. It will be cold, but I can't wait to see them.
Chicago friends, please don't be hurt if I don't call. It's a weekend
reserved for girl-ing.

Have a great weekend, dear readers. We plan to do some sightseeing
and relaxing with Sam and Erika and hope to learn how to play
Settlers!

Spoiled Rotten

Last night I came home to a sparkly clean house, two dvds from
Netflix, and dinner already cooked! My husband is too good to me. We
had burgers and baked potato and salad-- yum. And glasses put in the
freezer for a few hours-- nice and chilly. We're trying to
incorporate more veggies into our diet so salad is becoming a daily
thing. We're both a little sick of it, but hoping it will become a
habit that we don't even think about. I got creative in my
salad-eating-- when I was finished with my half-of-baked-potato, I
thew a little cheese on it, broiled it, and then put my salad inside.
I then rolled it up like a little wrap, whose cross section looked a
lot like sushi, which led to an interesting dinner conversation about
what sushi really is. And that's another good habit we're
developing-- fewer dinners in front of the tv. It's just so nice to
have a conversation and unwind. Unless How It's Made is on Discovery.
That's a fun dinner show.

Anyway, after dinner we worked for a bit trying to shave down the
edges of the plexiglass for the table top which I thought would be a
relatively painless experience. My old glass grinder thought
otherwise. It took forever just to round one corner, and two of the
sides needed to be shaved-- all 26 and 36 inches of them. That would
have taken a week on the grinder, so we got out our router. The
router is mounted so that the blade hits about one inch above the
tabletop-- doesn't work so well when what we're working with is 3/16
of an inch thick. So we used some scrap wood to raise the table top
and got closer to our desired results. The thing still needs to be
sanded in places which I'm going to try to do tonight.

After that we watched Mythbusters, our Wednesday night special show
where Brad geeks out to fire and explosions and I geek out to
kinematics equations from physics class. Last night they had a myth
about what to do when you drive into water. They tried opening the
door while the car was sinking, opening the door when the car had
sunk, opening the door when the car had just hit the water, etc. The
answer is..... open the door as soon as you can. If you forget and
water has already risen inside the vehicle, sit calmly and wait until
the whole cabin is full. If you fight and struggle you'll run out of
breath and energy and will die. If you sit calmly you'll be fine.
Once it's full you can open the door easily. There's your public
service announcement for the day. It just happened down here a week
or two ago-- tragic story of a husband who's wife went out for takeout
Friday night and never came home. They found her in her van in a
rentention pond across the street from the restaurant. So very
heartbreaking.

After Mythbusters we watched the first half of The Office Special.
It's the last dose of BBC The Office that we have. And just like
Season One and Season Two, it was horrifically painful. Not in a
violent or offensive way. It's just that the main character is so
terribly... terrible. He says the most offensive or inappropriate
things and thinks more highly of himself than he ought to. It's
hilarious but painful. We made it halfway through and will finish
tonight.

So I am spoiled rotten. Lovely clean house and dinner made by my
husband, lovely evening of Mythbusters and The Office... I couldn't
ask for more.

A recipe I want to try... or maybe you try it and tell me if you like it!

Field's Famous Frango Mint Pie
1 cup Frango mint chocolates (about one-third pound), chopped into quarter-inch pieces
2 cups milk, divided
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
one-fourth teaspoon salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 9-inch graham cracker pie shells
Topping (see recipe)
 

In top of double boiler or on low power in microwave oven, melt Frango mint chocolates. In saucepan, scald 1and one-half cups of the milk. Stir in melted mints. Set aside. In top of double boiler, combine sugar, cornstarch, salt and remaining one-half cup milk.
Add eggs and cook over simmering water until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Cool. Stir in chocolate mixture, cream and vanilla.

 

Freeze in ice cream freezer, following basic manufacturer's instructions.
 

Fill both graham cracker pie shells with ice cream. Sprinkle one-half cup topping on top of each pie. Freeze until firm. Makes two 9-inch pies, 6 to 8 servings each.
 

Topping
1 cup filberts, finely chopped
1 cup sugar
 

In very heavy saucepan, melt sugar over medium heat until sugar starts to liquefy. Lower heat. Add filberts. Mix thoroughly. Transfer to buttered cookie sheet. Spread with knife. Cool. In blender or food processor, pulverize into small pieces.
 

Calories per serving: 646, 7 grams of fat.
 

This is just to say...

...that I've learned how to post to the blog via email.  No more pesky signing in to blogger unless pictures are involved.  Hooray!

Can you feel the love tonight?

Last night we had ourselves a cultural experience, no sarcasm at all. We got to see The Lion King, Broadway style, at our very own Barbara B. Mann theater on the grounds of Edison Community College in Fort Myers. It was incredible. I've seen it a few times on Broadway, thanks to chaperoning field trips and visits to New York with my mom. This was Brad's first time seeing it. And after seeing these animals in Africa, it had a whole new meaning for me. It is such an incredible show-- so creative and just gorgeous. It moved me like it always does and tickled my creative itch.







It also inspired me to do something creative, which is the motto of one of my favorite stores, The Paper Source. Unfortunately there are no stores down here, so online shopping is my best bet. I've spent quite a few minutes browsing this week as I need a colorful paper to put on my new desk! Remember that metal table we had powdercoated a while back? We got it back in December, and I just love it. It's silver and beautiful and retro and shiny all at the same time. The only thing left to finish is the top. Originally it had an old linoleum top which dried out and was cracked and curled. We took it off but there is still a metal lip around the edge which framed the top. Well, the lip is too deep to ignore unless you want some killer lines across your forearms, and it's too shallow to put plywood or anything else one finds at Lowe's. So we decided to try plexiglass. I bought two little pieces at Lowe's, two different thicknesses, to try for a few days. The cost of the thicker one, which was the best one, would have been more than $50. Ugh. But we found a nice little unusual shop called The Lucite Outlet. Not so much a chain of stores, since I'm not sure there's a huge market of mainstream consumers for lucite. However, this place cut me a sheet of acrylic in 5 minutes for $22, and I'm thrilled. It's squared on the corners so I need so sand it down a bit to round them, but no big deal. So what will go between the acrylic and the desktop? Well, I could do pictures or a collage, which actually just came to me and sounds really cool. But I need a cool background, so to Paper Source I go. I'm going to order a roll or two of their wrapping paper and it will be just great. They also have paper flower kits which tempt me beyond my limits. I might have to order an orchid one and a magnolia one. I already asked my kind mother to check the local stores near Chicago as they were out of the daffodil kits and I just must have one. (Mom, you're too good to me.)

(10 minutes elapses)

Ooo-- just took a shopping break there. See what I mean about tempting?

In other news, some team from up north made it to the Superbowl. I've never been a huge pro-football fan, but this is pretty cool. I mean, I remember that other time happening when I was 9, and I even knew the whole Superbowl Shuffle. (You know you want to click on it. Go ahead.) "You're lookin' at the Fridge, I'm the rookie. I may be large, but I'm no dumb cookie..."

While I'm certain I'll watch at least part of the game, here's an alternative: The Puppy Bowl. Animal Planet will be showing puppies playing around, with a half time show featuring kittens. Sorry to break your heart, Dad, but I might be a channel flipper that night.

That's all for now. This weekend will be our first opportunity to host friends!!! Sam and Erika and Samika or Erisam or Baby Seaver, take your pick, will be here. We're super excited.

Real Florida Experiences

Brad and I both feel just a little more Floridian today. My Florida experience happened as I entered my office from the parking lot this morning. I noticed a lot of frog poop on the ground, a little more than usual, but didn't think much of it. But I had forgotten to look up. As I walked through the doorway a frog jumped down and stuck to my bare bicep. Once I realized what the wet thing was on my arm I made noises I didn't know I could make-- like a cross between a gasp and an audible shudder with some scared lalalalalas mixed in. My heart rate jumped as I brushed the rascal off my arm onto the floor. I got the broom and tried to brush him outside, but he fought me on it and kept jumping back in. Finally I got him outside and shut the door quickly. And then I called Brad and my mother for sympathy. EWWW. And then washed off my arm.

Brad just called to let me know of his success in running errands this afternoon. While he was at Lowe's returning some things, he had his own Florida experience. See, in Florida, people wear whatever they think might be appropriate for their own backyard. It doesn't matter whether they are in the privacy of their backyard or not. Brad spotted one happy Lowe's shopper sporting a remarkable outfit. White shirt, blue Speedos. Thankfully the beer belly hung low enough as to camoflage any, er, bulges.

It's a beautiful day in Florida. What fun experiences have you had today?

I just spent my Christmas money.

I joined Netflix. See, our Blockbuster here is just... lacking. If it's not the latest and greatest and a bit crude, it's not there. So in order to expand my choices, I joined Netflix. I considered joining Blockbuster online, but Netflix got much better reviews on the Ask Metafilter, which to me is on the same level as Consumer Reports but by real consumers. Ooo- I should have checked Epinions. Might do that.

Anyway, now we have a free two-week trial. I signed up for the $9.99 a month, one-at-a-time, unlimited monthly deal. Here's what's in our queue right now, in order. Care to make some suggestions? I'm stupid excited for The Office dvds to arrive-- they're the ones from BBC. We've already caught up on the Steve Carell version. Now it's time to see the originals. Thanks, Kerry, for the suggestion!

The Office: Series 1
The Office: Series 2
The Office Special
The Wool Cap (Thanks, Sam, for the suggestion)
Arrested Development: Season 1: Disc 1 (My sister loves this. I've never seen it.)
Arrested Development: Season 1: Disc 2
Arrested Development: Season 1: Disc 3
Arrested Development: Season 2: Disc 1
Arrested Development: Season 2: Disc 2
Arrested Development: Season 2: Disc 3
Arrested Development: Season 3: Disc 1
Arrested Development: Season 3: Disc 2
Mostly Martha (I must own this soon. I just love this movie.)
Nowhere in Africa
Bread and Tulips (makes me think of my roommate Susan)
Born Free (to reminisce about Africa)
Cinema Paradiso: Director's Cut (makes me think of Baltimore's outdoor movie nights)
Roman Holiday
Coach Carter
Glory Road
Cars
Jesus Camp
C.S. Lewis: The Magic Never Ends
Coupling: Season 1 (looked interesting-- like a British "Friends")
Coupling: Season 2: Disc 1
Coupling: Season 2: Disc 2
Coupling: Season 3: Disc 1
Coupling: Season 3: Disc 2
Coupling: Season 4
Monty Python: The Life of Python: Vol. 1
Monty Python: The Life of Python: Vol. 2
The Chorus
Children of Heaven

As you can see, Brad hasn't gotten to add to the list yet. I threw in some Monty Python because I knew he'd probably like that. It will have a more masculine feel soon, I'm sure. Something with war, car races, and general violence will do.

Things are ok right now, otherwise. Not a single bite on our house which is discouraging. But we only listed it December 22nd. Average time on the market around here is like 120 days. So I won't get nervous until April 22, which happens to be my half-birthday. That would be a great half-birthday present, God. A contract.

And speaking of birthdays and houses, I had a bit of a mini-epiphany the other day. Remember the red Cape Cod house we found on my birthday in Ohio? The one that I thought was my birthday present from God? And then it sold? The thought popped into my head the other day-- what if that feeling, that zing I felt, was given in order to nudge us to get moving? We had just been talking about it before then, not really making any purposeful strides. Perhaps the purpose of the red house was to tell us that it's time to list our Florida house. Ever since that epiphany I've felt a little better about things.

And we've found a church that will work for the time being. It's not home, but it's pretty good. And it's only 15 minutes away, which is nice. It will do for a while. We're going to stay anonymous for a bit.

I've been on a cooking kick lately. I spent a day in the kitchen right before Christmas and felt so alive afterward. Creating, being in the kitchen, cooking, it all makes my heart feel alive. As does Country Living magazine. I'm so hungry for an antique fair or flea market that I drool over the pages of CL mag, ogling the old, worn quilts and beat up, paint-chipped tables. I am midwestern at heart.

Oh, but about cooking. I made some french onion soup on Sunday night for dinner- yum. And then Jell-o popcorn, red for Ohio State, on Monday. And last night I mixed up oatmeal cookies from a mix I got for Christmas. I added mini chocolate chips and toffee chips. It has all been good for my soul.

Don't forget the movie suggestions! Thanks!

I don't mean to go on and on about why I want to leave, but sometimes I can't stop myself from sharing.

Seriously.

One boss just came in complaining about an Hispanic buyer who is having doubts about the mortgage process he's going through. Today the buyer decided to explore another option, which halts the process that we worked out for him. This wasn't what Boss wanted to hear. So he sighed deeply and then spat, "Ethnics."

OH MY GOSH. I just burst out in nervous, incredulous laughter. "Boss, that's a terribly racist thing to say!"

He laughed. "No it's not. It's purely a cultural thing. All those ethnics just have a different timetable."

He was so tickled at my comment that he pulled Other Boss into my office. "Did you hear about that mortgage situation, Other Boss? Those ETHNICS."

Other Boss said, "I KNOW! They just need to trust us on this."

And I said, "Other Boss, I just told Boss that he needs to watch his speech. Saying 'Ethnics' like that is a very racist thing."

To which Boss replied, "I don't give a shit."

I swear I don't make this stuff up

This is the reason I don't think I'll be going back to my gastro doctor, Dr. O'Mailia...

2 FM doctors accused of fraudulant prescriptions (misspelling theirs)

By news-press.com
Originally posted on January 05, 2007

Lee County narcotics officers have arrested two Fort Myers physicians for illegally providing medications.

Dr. James Joseph O'Mailia, 53 of 1806 Monte Vista Street, was arrested Thursday night. Dr. Eugene W. Williams, 70, of 301-V South Road, was arrested this morning.

Williams was arrested at Grace Medical around 10 a.m. After police received several complaints about inappropriate prescribing and dispensing of drugs, police obtained several controlled substances, including Hydrocodone and Soma, without medical justification. After a review by the state attorney's office, Williams was arrested and charged with one count of trafficking in illegal drugs, a first-degree felony.

O'Mailia was arrested at his home around 10 p.m. Thursday after deputies were informed by a local pharmacist of altered prescriptions. Investigation showed numerous prescriptions had not been signed by O'Mailia's former business partner, and that O'Mailia had picked up and paid for the fraudulently signed prescriptions. His activities date back as far as March 2004, deputies said. O'Mailia was charged with 13 counts of fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance, a third-degree felony.

O'Mailia's arrest was part of a Pharmaceutical Investigations Law Enforcement Strategy launched in October.

Some Christmas pics

Outside of Outback Steakhouse, near the upscale shopping center in Fort Myers, were these two very large lighted decorations. The tree alone must have had a mile of rope light wound back and forth. They looked really cool. See the car behind them? Yeah, the tree was like 20 feet tall. Very pretty.


Brad and I split up on Saturday morning to do some shopping separately. Turns out we both went to the glamourous Edison Mall (not glamourous at all, actually-- pretty ghetto). Betcha fifty bucks YOUR mall's decorations didn't include an evergreen dolphin.



And we got a tree from Lowe's in the afternoon. We wrapped it up in a canvas drop cloth to avoid needles being shed all over my car. I think I told you what it looked like. Here's a pic:


And after it was all up and decorated:


If the following picture looks fuzzy to you, you must have been smoking something above...


Grr. Not so happy with my camera. But the tree is really pretty.

Steph came into town on Sunday the 24th. Here she is looking all sophisticated, walking up the lane from the airport terminal.


Brad grew up with an Advent Wreath at Christmas time. I think we did, too, except I don't remember the wreath part. I think we just had candles on a mirror on the table. Is that right, Mom? Anyway, we were at Michaels a few weeks back as I needed to pick up a wreath form for the shell wreath I have yet to make. While we were there, Brad asked if we could buy an Advent Wreath. Well, they don't sell pre-made kits, so we made our own. We bought a fake evergreen wreath, candles, and a bunch of "floral picks", or fake berries and pinecones on sticks. When it was assembled, this is what it looks like. We are quite proud.


One fun thing about Florida is the abundance of fruit this time of year. The oranges are delish. At the orange place we go to there were ruby red oranges-- not just ruby red grapefruit! They're red and sweeeet!


And Mom sent us a care package a little while ago with some Christmasy paper plates and napkins, and a Grow-Your-Own-Snowman kit. Here he is before he got the magic crystal liquid poured in.


And before Steph left for cold Chicago, we spent an afternoon on Sanibel Island. We also went on a sunset cruise where we saw dolphins! It was really relaxing.

Sis and I did a successful self portrait on the boat:


We went under the drawbridge of the Sanibel causeway. Once upon a time I was all proud because the company I interned with in college, moving Lake Shore Drive from one side of Soldier Field to the west side-- Parsons Brinckerhoff-- is the same company that made the Sanibel causeway, a reallllly long series of bridges connecting the island to the mainland. But then, a few years ago, it turns out the construction was inferior on the causeway and now they have to make a new bridge. Eek. This picture shows the old causeway and the muuuch taller new bridge. It's supposed to be complete in June of 2007 or so.


The sun just kept on setting:


A few nights prior, it got really chilly for Florida-- lows in the 40s. Brad made a fire in the firepit and we sat outside for a while.

Then when it was time to go inside, Brad decided to gently extinguish the fire with a spray bottle. It was our version of a free steam skin treatment. Ok, so I suggested the spray bottle because I thought we might want a fire the next night and if we poured water on it the wood would all be wet. Anyway.

We had our Bressler Family Christmas on Thursday night. Afterward we took the kids outside and lit some fireworks in the street:

I held Kena, who vascillated between being excited and gasping with joy, to being scared and burying her head in my shoulder. Too cute. Chase is toeing the "safety line"-- no one was allowed to cross the line except for Uncle Brad.


This pic is from Christmas day, when Kena tried on her pretty princess dress-up dress for us, complete with velcro-on wings and high heels!


And I leave with two wonderful pictures of Brad and me. Ahh, the happy picture with a sunset:


Oh, and there was a wedding party on the boat as well-- a cute couple and their family in town from Minnesota. They were getting married on Monday and had brought their family on the boat to kick off the weekend of fun. In the spirit of weddings:

Merry Chrissssssstmasssssss

Who are the people, er, creatures in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood, in your neigh-bor-hooo-oood? Happened about 5 minutes from our house.

In other news, we're seriously considering signing with the first real estate agent we met. He's quite a salesman and seems to have great contacts near, far, and everywhere in between. We're also second-guessing ourselves, or I should say, I'm second guessing myself. Poor Brad is just trying to keep up with my flaky emotions. But a conversation with a dear friend yesterday brought up some thoughts-- have we given Florida a REAL try? What if we HAD to stay here- like if Brad's parents were ill or something... what if we didn't have a choice to leave? Can we say we've given it our all? I don't know.

I know I miss the midwest, the seasons, the people, the city... and just writing that makes me feel so sure we have good reasons to move. See what I mean about flaky? I can't even maintain an opinion for one sentence. So at this unstable point, I think we're going to list the house sort of as a fleece for God. If his direction is for us to move, then he'll sell the house. If not, maybe we'll stick around for another year. At least down here we have stable jobs and are financially ok, even if we're not in love with our job options. That's more than a lot of people can say right now.

Last night we met with that other real estate guy. He was super nice and gave us a good education and ran numbers with us to find a bottom line. But he wasn't nearly as aggressive as the first guy, and in this market, sellers need an aggressive agent. He'd be a great buyer's agent, I think. After we met with him and realized we'll probably walk away with maybe $5000 in our pocket -- grr-- on a house that has appreciated much more than that (dang fees), we went out to Uno's and had some Chicago-style pizza. Then we went to the light thing at the nature center which was fun and festive. While we were there we ran into a former colleague of mine at the middle school here-- my favorite of the colleagues. She's still there and hanging in, trying to make a difference, bless her heart. Seriously, bless her, Lord. She deserves it! The administration hasn't changed at all, and if I ever doubted leaving there, my mind was once again made up last night with her stories. SOOOO glad to be out of there. We also got some pictures taken with Santa, because, well, why not?






It was close to when they were closing, and I think the photo lady was getting a little bored with all the little kids getting pictures taken. She saw us and asked if we felt like having a little fun with it... and we're always up for having a little fun... poor Santa.

The Goose is Getting Fat...

We're almost ready for Christmas after a big push this weekend to get preparations taken care of. We shopped on Saturday morning, met for lunch at Chili's, and then went tree shopping. We first went to a tent in the Sam's Club parking lot. There were beautiful, perfectly shaped trees with heavenly aroma and hellish price tags. I loved the 10 footers-- why not, since we have the vaulted ceilings? I'll tell you why not. Because $179 is too much for a dead tree which will be thrown away in two weeks. Even the small six footers were around $60. We decided to hit Lowe's.

Lowe's had their trees priced much more reasonably, so for $26.88 we got ourselves a lovely six foot tree of some kind I can't remember. We wrapped it in our painting drop cloth and bungee-corded it closed so it wouldn't get needles all over the inside of my trunk and car. You know that old commercial where the dad is trying to talk to his daughter about not smoking pot? When he rolls himself up in a white blanket on her floor, like a joint? Our tree very much resembled a six foot long joint. I took a pic- I'll post it soon.

We put it up, did a little trimming, and the thing is perfect! I even rubbed the needles to make sure no green paint would come off. (Our first tree two years ago from Menard's was painted green. If you rubbed the needles the fake green would come off on your fingers. It was pretty funny.) Well, our Lowe's tree had no green residue. It's real through and through. And it smells divine. We spent Sunday evening decorating it and making the living room look actually Christmasy.

We met on Sunday afternoon with a realtor. We got a name from the Christian Chamber of Southwest Florida-- there was a full-page impressive ad for this lady real estate agent, so I called to see what working with a real estate agent is like. She called back to say she is having health problems but would send her number one partner. So Gordon came over on Sunday afternoon-- what a salesman! Man, when you see a person who is just right for his or her job, there's something great about that. We listened to what he had to say, asked some questions, and pretty much decided after he left that we'd let things sit over the holidays and then would start up again after January 1st. But then he called yesterday to see what we had decided, and he gently reminded me that the population down here swells quite a bit over the next week and we might want to take advantage of that. So, being the comparison shoppers we are, we have a call into another real estate agent and we'll try to meet with him tonight or tomorrow, and then we'll make a decision. With the market as slow as it is, unless we have an agent who can get the word out wider than we can, the house will just sit here.

Today is our holiday lunch at work, followed by a meeting until 2 p.m. And tonight is the four-year-anniversary of Brad's and my first date! Four years ago he picked me up in his navy blue Jetta, took me to Flat Top Grill, which we learned was under construction. We walked a block down to the Asian place on Davis, but after looking at the menu neither of us were interested. So we finally went to That Little Mexican Cafe where he talked and I listened. In the middle of it I went to the restroom to call my friend Burns (her last name) and tell her it was the best first date I'd ever had. After dinner we drove around looking at Christmas lights in the Sauganash area of Chicago.

So tonight Brad's making dinner and then we're going to see the Holiday Arbor Lites at the local nature center. Four years of dating, three years ago engaged, exactly two and a half years ago married. Thank you, God, for the gift of my husband!

A few of you have written, worried about my mental health. I'm doing better, just taking it a day at a time. That straw that broke the camel's back was apparently a big straw and I'm feeling a bit chemically down, if you know what I mean. I have a doctor's appointment in early February and will probably ask for something to put a little pep in my step then. Thanks for your concern, and for not running away when I share things that are deeply personal like this.

Have a great Wednesday, all!

A little better

Friends and family,

Thanks for your words of encouragement and comfort. I'm feeling a little better today after spending yesterday sad, realizing I've been "hanging in there" and "mustering up" pretty much since we got to this state. There's no more muster left in me, and losing this house was the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm still angry at God-- I can't see his hand here and the last few things he's done show me he likes to say "ha ha, sucks to be you". "Here's a Honda Accord, the car you've wanted since you could drive. Oh, but now it's broken. Ah ha, sucks to be you!" "Here's a job in construction that you've wanted for a long time. Oh, but now you will forever be an office girl and never actually get promoted. Ah ha, sucks to be you." "Here's a house I want you to think is yours. It's your hope that you're getting out of Florida. Oh, I just gave it to someone else. Ah ha, sucks to be you."

I know somewhere that that is not who God is. But right now it's all I can see. I'm afraid to even think it-- it's pretty much the maddest I've ever been at God. I don't want to piss him off further and get smited and have to live all my frickin days in Florida. But I'm believing that he's bigger than my anger and maybe things will be ok eventually. In the meantime I've been reminded (thanks Mom, Steph, and Sam) to grieve. We've lost a lot this year and had our share of disappointments, and maybe we haven't fully grieved those losses. So I plan to spend the next joyous few days grieving. Irony.

I called a realtor this afternoon and left a message. We want to explore that route, even if we don't hire her for a little while. It just seems so costly, but maybe it's a necessary evil if we want to get out of here.

Tonight is a Christmas party put on by one of Brad's clients. Should be fun.

I'm just heartbroken.

Remember when I told you we found a house in Columbus, and I just *knew* it was for us?

I learned today that it has sold. It's under contract right now and is scheduled to close in January. I've been in and out of tears all day. And I know there are a million other houses out there, there are more fish in the sea, God has a plan, blah blah blah. But I am so very sad. I feel stuck in this forsaken state where I am a fish out of water, I feel resourceless and alone, and just this close to the edge of depression.

And I don't have a safe place to go with my sadness-- no friends down here who are safe, no church, no community. And the family we have down here wants us to stay anyway, so I can't really expect sympathy from them. The holidays are really hard since my parents split, my friends aren't coming after all, I've been sick and then too busy to put up any decorations yet so Christmas just feels like one giant failure, and now this. I don't think I can take one more bit of sad. I feel like I've been crammed into a cardboard box that's too small, and this house was my only straw for air, and now it's gone. I had asked the realtor to contact me if there was interest and perhaps we could consider alternative options to "sell our house, then buy another" -- like renting out our house or something, if time was of the essence. But she did not contact me, and now it's not ours.

And the thing is, it's not about *this* house. It's what the house represented to me -- hope. I just so truly felt that this was for us. I *knew*, like I've known about only a few things ever-- I knew I had to move back to Chicago from Baltimore, I knew Brad was The One, I knew we had to move to Florida, I knew when I saw our house down here that it was the one for us. And I thought I knew about this house. This leaves me doubting what I think I know, leaves me doubting my gut. When that happens, I usually see it as a sign I'm edging toward depression and need to do a little therapy check-up. Only I can't find a good therapist down here. Believe me, I've tried. There are plenty of pastoral counselors or life coaches-- neither of which are what I'm looking for. I just feel resourceless and alone. And sad.

Here it is. RIP, dream.

Now I'm scared God is going to make us stay in Florida. And that just makes me want to wail.

House For Sale!

"Hats! Hats for sale! Fifty cents a hat!"

Did you ever read that story of the man selling hats and the monkey in the tree... can't remember the title but I'm sure my mother could recite the whole thing. Anyway, whenever I hear anything is for sale, I think of that man yelling, "HATS! Hats for sale! Fifty cents a hat!" in my mother's singsong voice.

Whew-- I am all over the place today! Sorry. What I meant to post about is that our HOUSE is for sale! Check out our house blog and tell me what you think. Mom just suggested that we empty out our closet and photo it again so it looks more spacious-- I think I like that suggestion a lot. And I know the contact info says Kathy, but that does not give YOU permission to call me that. Kathy is my aunt and also my mother's friend, but I am Kathleen. I just put Kathy so if someone calls and asks for Kathy, I know it's house related. Not sure why I wanted to do that, but I did it anyway.

Read it, scour it, critique it, and send me your comments. Thanks, friends!

Return from Zombieland

And I don't mean Africa.

We got home on Sunday night (11/26) and barely made it home alive. Brad, who had not slept on the 18 hours of flying, dozed in the car while I worked. with. all. my. might. to keep my eyes open while driving across Alligator Alley. This is not a place you want to pull over and take a quick doze. The 8 foot high fences have barbed wire and an electric line in them to keep the alligators from climbing over the fences (I'm not kidding), but you don't want to take your chances. As soon as we hit the first exit past the toll booth to leave the alley, I asked Brad to take over driving. I kept drifting off at the wheel, and I hear that's not such a good thing.

So we got home, slept, and woke up around 4:30 a.m. on Monday dur to jet lag. And Monday was a good day. We felt in good health if a bit tired, napped, played Brad's newest addiction, Scrabble, opened Bob Evans at 6 a.m., ran a few errands, and slept some more. It was his birthday so we went to Ralph and Chris's for dessert in the evening and then came home and crashed.

Tuesday morning I woke up, ate cinnamon toast not knowing it would be for the last time, and went to work. I got there around 7:45 since we were still waking up at the crack of 4:30 a.m. Around 8:30 my office started spinning. Around 9:15 I lost the first piece of toast. At 9:45 I decided to head for home. I'll spare you the details except to say it was a good thing I grabbed a big coffee cup as I headed out the door. I've never hurled while driving before. And I sure as heck don't want to do it again.

I called Mom and Shelley on the way home to see if I should go home or go get tested for malaria. Both said to go home and wait it out, although I was certain I was on death's door. Miraculously, after retching for a while, I felt better. My dad called about five minutes after the last heave and we had a lovely chat which brought my spirits up immensely.

For the next three days my upchucker was quiet, but my downchucker wasn't happy. (I'm trying not to be too grody.) And did I mention our toilet was broken? It's not so much fun when one has to go NOW, to have to quickly turn on the water to the potty and then take care of urgent business. And then turn off the toilet again. Multiple times a day.

But I got ahead of myself. Tuesday was throwup day, and Wednesday morning I woke up with a doozy of a cold. So please forgive me for not blogging much lately. I've been meaning to, really. For the rest of the week I slept, watched minimal tv, slept, and made jello, which task was made easier with help from my fun birthday present of a plug-in teapot. Boils 6 cups of water in under 2 minutes. Makes jello-making quick, thankfully.

Brad caught the same cold bug on Thursday and has been fighting it ever since. I went to work on Thursday morning (why did I have to be the hero?) and after a few hours left and stocked up at CVS. I brought home anything that looked like a cold remedy and laid it all out, combined with what we already had in stock, on the counter. Brad came home early, too, and we had ourselves a nice little cold-remedy buffet. His terribly sore throat called for the Tylenol liquid stuff. My congested head and sneezing called for Wal-itin, the walgreens version of Claritin. Which did no good for me so it came off the buffet.

On Friday I got to the grocery. It took me the better part of two hours to get around the place, but we hadn't been in a month and only had peach jello left. So I stocked up and came home and slept the rest of the day.

All weekend we slept, ate little bits here and there, played Scrabble, and slept more. We've both worked every day this week but taken off a few hours early most days to get more sleep in. We're just now feeling like we're returning from Zombieland.

Oh, and we had to take our anti-malaria drugs for a full week after returning home, which tend to upset tummies and cause wacked out dreams. We can attest to both. The dreams... seriously! Where do they come from?

And we have fixed the toilet, thank you very much. We were about to call a plumber when I thought to first ask one of my smart bosses on Wednesday. He told me to buy a $4 flapper at Lowe's and do it ourselves. And wouldn't you know, the thing is fixed! Hooray. We went out to eat after going to Lowe's-- remember we have a limited assortment of restaurants within 15 minutes of us. Our choices are Steak and Shake, Bob Evans, Chick-Fil-A, Burger King, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Long John Silver's (I swear they were done in by the health department like ten years ago, but I guess not), and Applebees. We picked the last one, rather, I picked the last one as I am forever tempted by their commercials and want to give them just one more try to not disappoint me. But they always do disappoint me. Applebees, if you ever want our business again, you're going to have to learn to not drown the chicken and rice in watery orange sauce. And you're going to have to get a host staff who can at least fake being welcoming and giving a snit if we come or go. And you might consider menus that don't look like the last person licked them and then chewed on the edges. Maybe fewer tv's with CNN of all things (!)-- I hear there are better channels for the bar area. And, oh, maybe not wiping the rice from the table onto my seat. But who am I? I'm not Mrs. Applebee, so I probably should keep my comments to myself. (finish rant)

Mom sent us a bunch of her Africa pictures and Steph did, too, so I'm working on getting a recap ready for you all. It really was an amazing trip. We saw two game parks-- the Samburu and the Masai Mara. The scenery and animals at each were different and amazing. I can't wait to show you pictures-- I'll try to do that this weekend.

This weekend might be Christmas tree time for us. We're going to finish prepping the house for the market and will finish our house blog and put it on craigslist down here. I'll also link to it here in case any of you wish to purchase a lovely home in Florida. (I'm thinking of you, dear reader in Oklahoma! Or anyone in the cold midwest! It's 70 here!) Once the house is photographed and that blog is done, we'll get a tree and decorate the house. Did anyone see the HGTV special on the White House's decorations? That red ball ornament tree was breathtaking. Think I could talk Brad into an unconventional "tree" this year? My mom always decorated with those red ornaments, teaching her ladylike daughters to say "red ornaments" instead of "red balls" ("But why, Mommy?"). I just love the shiny redness of them. I might fill up some glass jars with them in the kitchen or something.

Oh, and yesterday after work I spent an hour and a half at Ulta. My mother-in-law gave me a gift card there for my birthday and my sister convinced me that the reason my eyes get bloodshot when I wear makeup is because the makeup is from my wedding. Two and a half years ago. Which she says is really gross. After I took those 47 self-portraits to break in the company camera I realized that I look like I've really let myself go. Not a fun feeling. So I'll start with blow-drying my hair on a more regular basis instead of drip drying, and I'll slap on a little pretty in the morning. Ulta helped with that last night-- buy one, get one free on their Ulta-brand makeup. I way overspent the gift card but I'm excited to go play with stuff tonight.

Have a good weekend, all. And Katie, I'm sure Brad would be honored if you named your Jetta after him. In fact, I'm sure he'd love to hear all about the ins and outs of your new car! Congrats!