how do you live so happily while i am sad and broken down?

 By the time I post this, I'll be in New Hampshire, but currently I'm up in the air, flying to Boston.  Three weeks away from home seems like an incredibly long time, which is weird because I used to be gone so much.  I have become very accustomed to my life at home: going three weeks without tennis, or my cat, or my friends, seems interminably long.  And it will be longer than that for several of those things - I probably won't get to play tennis until the end of March, unless I manage to make it to Sunday morning drills some weekend (not likely, see the word 'morning' there.)

• I played tennis yesterday and today for the first time in a month. I took the month of November off from it entirely, to try to give the plantar fasciitis in my right foot a chance to heal. It hasn't. :( But I was so happy to play again. Playing two days back to back was probably not the best plan. Drills (community co-ed open play*) are on Fridays, my team play time is on Saturdays, and practice is on Mondays. I hate to give up any of them, but I think I will have to pick two of the three going forward. Friday or Saturday, and then Mondays.



• I have also joined the YMCA. I have been meaning to do more core strength training for a while now, and they also offer pilates, yoga, Zumba, and water aerobics classes. The Zumba is out for now, but the others - particularly pilates and water aerobics - let me exercise without putting strain on my foot. They also offer something they call Coach Approach, where you talk to a fitness person about your goals and they help you build a program to meet them. I had my first meeting today. I wasn't crazy about the woman I saw, but I am happy about the weight training program I will be starting.



• I am going gang-busters on the craft project I started today. It's a cross-stitch wall hanging of this picture I found on the internet. I will post a picture of the finished product.



• M is home, so hopefully no more crazy cat stuff.

*There was no way to type that to not sound a little dirty.

Day 27: This month, in great detail

December 28:
Slept in, had lunch with Mom & Dad. I went to Wal Mart while Dad went to the doctor's - he's come down with a bad sinus infection/bronchitis thing. :( I picked up all the things on their list, and bought the birthday/anniversary cards for tomorrow's dinner, as well as a pastry brush for my mom for her birthday because she mentioned this week that she'd had to throw her old one away but kept forgetting to get a new one. Never say stuff like that around me, it tends to get you that thing, no matter how silly it is. Also, I almost bought a jigsaw puzzle set because for some reason I've been really wanting to put one together over this vacation, but I talked myself out of it because I knew my sister wanted to play cards tonight. Maybe I will look for it on sale at my Walmart when I get home. Anyway, I was wandering around the store, killing time waiting for my dad to get done at the doctor, and I saw the craft aisle so I looked at the yarn for a minute. Then I saw that Electronics was nearby so I thought I'd see how much a small TV would cost as I want one for my office. Then this happened:

My Internal Voice: "Damn, this cart has a wonky wheel."
Part of My Brain That Actually Pays Attention to Life: "Um. Wouldn't it have been wonky the entire 45 minutes you've already been shopping? Why is it just now bad?"
I look down, see the yarn that is quickly winding its way around one of the wheels. "SHIT."
I pull into an aisle and start tugging uselessly at the yarn.
My Internal Voice: "Ugh, it won't come off. Ew, I'm touching wheel grease, this is gross."
Part of My Brain That Actually Pays Attention to Life: "Um. The craft aisle was about 8 aisles back. Have you been trailing yarn this entire time like a dumbass?"

For the record, I had not. I had only been trailing about 15 feet of yarn like a dumbass. I had to get TWO Walmart employees to help me, one of which I asked for assistance and the other who FOLLOWED THE TRAIL OF THE MOVING YARN TO SEE WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON. This is my life.

I managed to not have any more accidents and Dad came and got me, and we went to the pharmacy to get his medicine. We chatted with Emory Melton, one of the few people I recognize in town these days and I helped find batteries for his hearing aid because the pharmacy was packed! Then we came home and I got on the internet for a while, then I helped make soup, and then we played cards. My sister and I won three games in a row - we were unbeatable! So we stopped to buy lottery tickets on the way home in case our good luck continued. We then learned that you cannot buy lottery tickets after 10 PM in Cassville MO. We are not sure if that was a state law or a gas station rule. I kind of lean toward it being a "the lady in the back didn't want to teach the new girl how to do it" rule, but that's just me. So we bought 4 scratch off tickets instead. Then my sister had to teach me how to play because I had never bought one before (still haven't, as she paid for them) and didn't understand. 4 tickets at $2 each, and they were all a bust except one, where we won the $2 back. No free money for us! :(

December 29:
Met my best friend's mother in town for lunch and caught up with her - she seems much happier than she has been any time I've seen her post-divorce. Then I went to Springfield with my parents and went to Best Buy. I am going to get a new radio for my car, because I am tired of messing with FM transmitters. Oddly enough, replacing the radio is not that much more expensive. Okay, it's 2-3 times more expensive, but has less chance of me dying in a fiery crash because the damn thing went staticky. Coming soon: Free to good home, one FM transmitter. Works well if you do not live in a major metropolitan area. Ugh. Anyway, I selected the radio I wanted only to find out that they couldn't install it that day, so I will have to do it on Friday after I'm home so that I don't miss the sale price. Also, may have talked my dad into getting a wireless router by telling him it would make us all want to hang out at their house when we're home. True, and sad, I know. I miss wifi. I miss internet. But I love my family. Speaking of which, we then went to our annual Birthday/Anniversary Extravaganza at Jimm's (first time at this restaurant - I realize that made it sound like we do this annually at Jimm's but I'm too lazy to fix it.) I was not expecting Jimm's to have two M's. But the food was decent and it was good to see everyone one last time before I have to head home in the morning. I came back to my sister's after saying goodbye to my parents (sniff) and packed everything up. I am definitely leaving with more than I came with! My mom gave me a knife tonight because I commented on how sharp it was when I was slicing veggies at her house. So far, I've nearly stabbed myself in the foot with it; perhaps I should not have sharp things.

December 30:
Driving, driving, more driving. I let the cat out to stretch her legs in Conway and she peed on the car seat. :( It wasn't her fault though; she was trying to use the litter box but just missed. After 13 lovely hours, many of which were filled with yowling cat, we are both happy to be home. And in anticipation of my New Year's resolution (more coming soon!) I have unpacked and put away almost everything. Then I stayed up far too late embracing the marvel of wi-fi. Oh, how I have missed it!



Day 28: This year, in great detail
Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30: Whatever tickles your fancy

Three or four times today I've thought, "Oh, this is what I'm going to update LJ with tonight!" and yet now that I have time, I'm not sure I remember them all. This is why twitter sometimes works better for me - quick and easy. Except I don't tweet everything as it also goes to my Facebook. Social networking is tiring sometimes.

Anyway. One of them was definitely that I got my termite-infested tree taken down in my front yard. I took some pictures, but basically, 100 foot tall pine tree is now a pile of sawdust. I am happy about this and would take the other three down in a heartbeat if I had the cash. Pine trees suck, y'all. And I have ten other trees on my third of an acre, so I don't feel there's much environmental impact there. But the funniest part of the whole process is that my beloved cat - who is afraid of the vacuum cleaner, the sound of trash bags being opened, and occasionally her own shadow, just to name a few - was fascinated. She watched from the window the whole time and cried when they were done.

Other things I thought about today that I'm now too tired to go into: a post about comfort eating and my not-yet-enacted exercise plan for watchme_not_eat and thoughts for here about a conversation my sister and I had last week about how maybe we're both actually happier when we aren't dating. I'm noting these here because I would like to come back to them, and maybe by mentioning them, I actually will. Worth a shot, anyway.

So I accomplished all the things I wanted to do today - plants, salad, grocery shopping. I am now the proud owner of 3 baby cacti of 3 different types which I plan to put in one pot (which I don't have yet and need to find) and one African violet, all of which are non-toxic to cats, and which I think I will keep in the living room.
( Pictures under the cut )

Day 06: Whatever tickles your fancy

I am addicted to checking the website from the shelter that I got Cinnamon from because I like watching the animals get adopted.

( Future days )

Today was just sort of a blah day all around. It was rainy and gray... except for ten minutes around 3pm when the sun almost came out. I worked, and watched all the Top Chef episodes even though I'd seen most of them. I got a blizzard from Dairy Queen. The cat knocked over my flowers and spilled water everywhere, but thankfully didn't get hurt or break the vase.

That's all I got today.

Yes it's four in the morning. Yes, I may have told a friend I'd be up at 9 am tomorrow to go to yoga. Yes, I may be a little bit drunk. But I digress...

Point the first: Last weekend was my all concert, all the time weekend. I went to see the American Idols concert on Friday. My indie soul died a little, but fuck that, it was a ton of fun. Or I was really intoxicated. Possibly both. The majority of the show was like a really good night out at a karaoke bar, and then Adam Lambert came on and it was a real rock show. Also, credit where it's due, the winner, Kris Allen, put on a hell of a show. Then on Saturday, you guys, on Saturday, I saw GREEN DAY. OMG, my soul was restored :D They were completely, completely awesome. I think that may have been the best concert I've ever been to. And they did everything, all the new stuff, all the American Idiot stuff, King for a Day, Minority, Good Riddance. The only thing they could have done to make it more awesome would have been if Tre got up and sang Dominated Love Slave, and I'm willing to bet that that will never happen. They did three encores, and they let some random kid from the audience play guitar for Jesus of Suburbia. Let me repeat that. Some random kid who was about 18 got to play Billie Joe Armstrong's guitar on stage with Green Day.

Point the second: My aunt is doing well. They ended up not doing surgery or traction, she's just doing rehab and apparently it's going really well. She's out of the hospital and in a nursing home? or some sort of care facility. I'm not sure. But thanks everyone for your good thoughts.

Point the third: Cinnamon is over her pink eye. That sucked.

Point the fourth: You know how you know you like a boy? You start questioning the content of your underwear drawer. Anybody got a favorite source of pretty underthings for the more well-endowed girl? I hate, hate, hate Victoria and all her secrets. Her secret is she's a skinny, flat-chested bitch and that just doesn't work out for me.

Ugh, ok. Bed. I'm so going to be napping during corpse pose tomorrow.

I'm in my hotel room in Vancouver, playing on the internet and watching tv. Also in Vancouver tonight are Adam Lambert and the rest of the American Idol contestants, and probably the actors from my favorite tv show, Supernatural, which should be starting to film again soon. I, however, have no desire to get off this couch. I fail at stalking.

I go home tomorrow! I am so, so, sooooooooooooooooo excited about this prospect. I miss my house, my cat, my couch, my tv, my hobbies, my tennis team, my friends, my own internet connection. 12 days is a long time.

Also, on Monday, my nephew's wife gave birth to their son! I am a great-aunt! His name is Brody and he's doing well - he has a small problem with his lungs, but they say it's not a big deal. I missed his arrival by 24 hours. *pouts* Although honestly it's for the best because if she'd gone into labor on Sunday, I would have had to leave in the middle and that would have sucked. I was thinking about it this morning, and I decided I am going to make my mom a cross-stitched family tree for Christmas - it's always hard to buy stuff for her, but I think she'd really like this, and I ordered the kit today - if I start now, I should be able to get it done by Christmas.

Ah, home!

I've been gone all day, my poor kitty is acting like I've orphaned her. :) I haven't gotten to sleep in at all this weekend. Yesterday I got up to mow the lawn, which ended up not working out so much, but hey) and then ran errands all day, and today I got up to go play tennis at 9:30. Then off to play our Sunday match - we won, yay! - before running home to hop in the shower and grab a quick bite before heading out to to Unplugged in the Park to do merch for local Atlanta artist and fellow LJer Juliana Finch (you guys should totally check her out, she's awesome!). Also got introduced to a new artist, Katie Herzig, also quite good!

Now I'm home, my feet hurt, and my cat is running around like she's on crack. Seriously, she ran and slid across the floor, and almost fell down the stairs.