Weekend activities

I started my weekend out on Friday by going to a soccer game with Simeon, Lisa P. and her man-friend Jeff. It was really fun. We bought the cheap tickets planning to spend the game in the Widmer Brothers beer garden, which is right on the field, and right by the beer. But when we got there, all the tables were taken. So my super-sweet-talker-friend Lisa walks over to this guy (Hi Virgil!!) sitting all alone and ask him if he is expecting any company. He wasn’t so she asked him if he would mind if she joined him, along with a few friends. So he let us keep him company at the game and wouldn’t even let us buy him a beer for his generosity. Then after the game there was a surprise (to us anyway) fireworks display. Sim said it was fate making up for me missing the 4th of July! It was great. I went home quite buzzed and very happy.

Then Saturday Sim and I lounged around the house. Finally we decided we needed to go out on a date and do something fun. So we grabbed lunch at Stanford’s and a matinee showing of Garden State. All I can say is wow. The movie was incredible. I had heard really great things over at Tequila Mockingbird over a month ago, but didn’t think it would ever come to a theater near me. Then when we were trying to decide what movie to see and it was actually listed in my theater, I was all excited again. I pulled up the trailer to convince Sim that this was the movie for us to see. He saw all my excitement and said “what the hell, sure.” But once the movie was over, he was really glad he did. Zach Braff, the hella funny young guy on Scrubs is so incredible. He actually wrote, directed, and starred in the movie. Can you imagine that?! All I can say is it is so refreshing to watch a movie with real plot (that doesn’t hide behind special effects), touching moments, and pure hilarity that keeps you giggling for days. Sim and I were reading through some quotes from the movie and I was actually crying, I was laughing so hard. So go make the decision for yourself. Watch it and you will see.

Then we went home, hung out for a bit. Adam and Susie came by with the kids. We all had dinner, which was cut short sadly when Darcie fell climbing over the baby-gate at the top of the stairs and hurt her wrist. Who would have thought that something designed entirely to prevent kids from hurting themselves would actually be the thing to hurt them? Not I!

Sunday we laid around in pure Bateman fashion in our pajamas til afternoon and caught up on some good quality television. But was I the only one let down by the MTV VMA’s? I expect drama. I want controversy. But what I got was bored. I changed the channel part way through and watched the end of Charmed. What can I say? At least they have drama.

Neurosis

The Rules of My Neurosis (aka: the reason why you all love me):

I have touched on a few of these in some of my entries, as well as my 100 things list, but I thought, just for fun, that I would list some of the ones you may not already know.

  • I have a thing with labels. In cupboards, on shelves, in closets, etc. all labels must be facing out. This makes things easy to identify, plus it’s just neater. If that is not possible (for example cereal boxes the “spine” faces out) the side with the nutritional label must never be seen.
  • Everything has an order: Books must all be stacked in descending order, tallest on the left.
  • All cds and movies are stored alphabetically.
  • Clothes are hung in the closet (all facing the same direction) organized by type (tank tops, short sleeve, long sleeve, long sleeve w/collar, jackets, skirts, pants) and then by color (ROYGBP). An organized wardrobe is a happy wardrobe.
  • Coasters are to be parallel to the tables edge. There is no need for things to be disheveled.
  • Magazines are to be stacked. There will be no fanning allowed.
  • Towels will be hung on the towel rack so that all hems are in a line. And why wouldn’t they be?
  • I make a list for everything: grocery list, to-do’s, wish list, guest list, home improvements, etc. You see the trend? Write it down. (You think this fuels my love for Post-its?)
  • Everything in my fridge or freezer that is unidentifiable it labeled–name and date, thankyouverymuch. Hence the love for Sharpies.
  • There is a place for everything. I will know if it has been moved. And if you don’t know where it goes, please just hand it to me.
  • There is a difference between kitchen towels and bathroom towels. Recognize.
  • It is completely and totally necessary to fold underwear. And yes, there is a right way to do it.

And that is just what I can think of off the cuff!

(You all respect my husband just a little bit more now dontcha?)

Dream Analysis

Last night I had the oddest dream. I am not quite sure what I was thinking about before falling asleep but I am fairly certain it had to do with last weeks Nip/Tuck stigmata reference and the fact that I had a bit of a stomach ache. I will allow you to form the opinion on your own, however. Here it is:

I was rubbing lotion on my arms, as I do everyday (morning with lovely scents, evening with moisturizer) and I noticed the lotion wasn’t absorbing in certain spots. In more or less a pattern. As I continued to rub the lotion in, I realized there were numbers “etched” into my arms. If I remember accurately, the numbers were 5, 3, 5, and 4, ascending up my arm. As I went to show a friend, to ensure I wasn’t crazy, the numbers started to bleed. And didn’t stop. So I had numbers bleeding out of both of my arms. My friend insisted I go to the hospital, and when we arrived there I started vomiting large amounts of blood into a near by sink. Several doctors came to evaluate me, but I awoke before any conclusions were deducted. Odd.

At the recommendation of one of my friends, I googled my dream to see what it meant. According to Dream Moods, “To see your arms as the emphasis in your dream, indicates your nurturance side and your ability to reach out and care for people. Alternatively, it may represent the struggles and challenges in your life. Consider the pun “arm yourself” which implies that you need to protect yourself, be more aggressive and take a firmer stance on things. To dream that your arm has been injured, signifies your inability to care for yourself or your helplessness in reaching out to others. You may have been feeling limited and restricted in terms of your freedom or activities. To dream that you are bleeding or losing blood, signifies that you are suffering from exhaustion or that you are feeling emotionally drained. It may also denote bitter confrontations between you and your friends. Your past actions has come back to haunt you.”

Just some food for thought on a dreary Wednesday morning. Hope you all had better dreams that I did.

The power of scent

It’s amazing what the power of a smell can do to a person. You can be walking through a busy mall, determined and walking with purpose, then suddenly stopped in your tracks by a familiar smell. It can be food, cologne, flowers. And suddenly you are taken back to a familiar place, a better time. Your pace slows and you take the time to look around you and absorb life.

Some scents are intoxicating: my husband’s cologne, a campfire, white roses. I get butterflies in my stomach, weak in the knees, often goose bumps.

Others invoke comfort (and sometimes hunger): Fresh baked bread, waffle cones from Baskin-Robbins, kettle corn at the farmers market. I want to curl up with a good book and a blanket.

The more powerful smells can transport you back in time to relive a moment in the past. These are different for everyone. For me, the smell of an old baseball glove takes me back to playing softball with my dad. Chanel No. 5 reminds me of the last Christmas I was able to spend with my mother-in-law. Hot buttered popcorn always reminds me of my first job working at a movie theater. All these memories are tied inside a simple scent.

Today I am wearing my new Sweet Pea lotion from Bath & Body Works. It’s very comforting, soothing. Whenever things get stressful or aren’t going my way, I find myself breathing in deeply and letting the scent wash over me, in a way that only a smell can.

Lovin’ the rain

Oh, it has been so nice to have the rain back. I am a true Oregonian if there ever was one. I love everything about the rain: the way it sounds, the way it smells, how it waters my plants for me. It finally up and rained on Saturday night, after what seemed like ages of nothing but sunshine. Sim and I were thrilled. We were driving home from helping Adam move into his new house. It was perfect. Sim looked over at me and smiled as he had to turn on the windshield wipers for the first time in ages. I instinctually rolled down my window and let several drops hit my hand. The weather was warm and the air was thick. The rain seemed to calm everything; the heat, the humidity, even us.

Sunday was everything a weekend should be. We slept in late, lingering in our pajamas until past noon. I finally showered and climbed back into my comfy pajama pants and a long sleeve shirt (imagine that?!). Throughout the day, we kept pausing at the windows to look outside and watch the rain bounce off the deck. I found myself opening windows to listen to the gentle sounds as the water found its way to the ground.

While we were working on fixing a drip in our guest bathroom toilet, we opened all the windows upstairs and let the clean smell of rain drift inside. We spent the rest of the day curled up on the couch watching movies. It was a great weekend. Everything in the world was right.

Its amazing how something as simple as rain can make everything better.

Flashback: First Kiss

Since there hasn’t been much to report on the blogfront as of late, I figured I’d recall a page from my past to entertain you all. It may even shed a little light as to how I have become the person I am today. Or it just may be something silly to read. Who knows. But here goes:

I went to Buxton Elementary in third grade. It was an incredibly small school and as a result my class only contained about 12 kids. This made the boy selection quite small. Of the ones that didn’t pick their noses or run like a girl, there were two that were contenders for my youthful attraction. As one made a much better friend, I fell for Richard. Richard was slender and athletic, he came from a farming family (almost all of us did in this small country town), and was very polite. Plus he was taller than me. This was a huge advantage for him, as I was the second tallest girl in the class and dwarfed the majority of the boys.

Meh.

I am feeling very meh today. Yeah, that’s right. Meh. I’m not sure what the deal is. I could not get myself out of bed this morning and I probably should have seen that as a sign. I have just been tired all day. I cannot get myself motivated to do anything. I even tried some good ol’ fashioned retail therapy, but that was even a no go. Can you imagine? Retail therapy failed me. So where do I go from here?

Maybe I should just go back to bed.

Busy nights and slow days

Summertime can be quite chaotic on the schedule, as there are so many things to do and people to see. Whereas in the winter things are slower (with the exception of the holidays) and more relaxed. However, my days at work are the exact opposite. Its quite frustrating. While I have practically nothing to do at work in the summer, I have a million things to do after work. I mostly sit and think of all the things I could be doing if I were at home. In the winter, it is suddenly crazy at work, then I have tons of free time afterwards. I guess it’s just natures way of leveling things out. It’s just taxing on the mind. At least I have blogs and IM to keep me busy. Oh and thank God for email. What a wonderful way to pass the hours….

So go ahead. Email me. Give me something to help pass the time. Please…

My weekend

Wow. It was a busy weekend. Friday evening Sim and I went to Olive Garden with my friend Jason and his girlfriend Rebecca. We had a fun time, and who doesn’t like an endless supply of breadsticks?

Then Saturday, Sim and I worked around the house and did fun things like laundry and studying for my Series 6. Yuck! But that evening we had our annual cul-de-sac BBQ. We live in a really great neighborhood where the people are fantastic, everyone watches out for each other, and we do cool things, like BBQ together. How awesome is that? It really makes us appreciate our home that much more knowing that we are surrounded by good people.

Sunday was a much needed “girls day” at Carson Hot Springs, while the boys came over to my house to play video games, tear up computers, and get in lots of foos ball. So I set off early Sunday morning to pick up the Lisas (Lisa P. and Lisa M.–I am surpised they let me hang out with them, being a “Carrie” and all) and we set off for Carson. It was a beautiful sunny day and the breeze off the gorge was perfect. We arrive at the spa and stripped down for our soak in a mineral bath. It was super relaxing sitting in the hot water. We were able to whisper and giggle until other women arrived and they had to shush us. Then, once we were nice and wrinkled, they escorted us to a different room where they wrapped us up in sheets and blankets, leaving only our nose and mouth exposed! I thought it would be scary or claustrophobic, but it was really relaxing…Lisa P. even fell asleep! Then we were unwrapped and it was time for our hour long massages! Ohhhh it was so nice. Having never received a massage before, I had no idea what to expect. But let me tell you, I loved every painful second of it! Come to find out later, the lady I had likes to get kinda rough. Who knew I would like that so much?! (Shame on you for thinking about me like that!) Then we showered and were ready to go. When it was all said and done it was a wonderful experience. Then we stopped for lunch and headed homeward.

When I finally got home, I found out that the boys were not as on the ball as us girls and had only just arrived! Jeez. Slackers. So Sim, Adam, Nick, David and occasionally Scott, played around on the computers and with David’s Xbox, sneaking in some foos ball here and there. All the while, I played with Darcie, Adam’s oldest daughter. We talked for quite some time (I just love the things that come out of the mouths of children!), played with my dogs, sat on the swings, tossed some balloons around, and climbed my play structure. It was a very peaceful end to a relaxing day. Then eventually everyone went home and I fell fast asleep! Hope you all had as productive a weekend as I did!

Feelin’ the love…

So I am not one to look at my site stats all the time. In fact, for the most part, its pretty dismal and I don’t want to know. But this weekend Sim was checking the stats and yells out from the other room, “Come here and look at this!” He showed me that in June I had 227 visits to my site, July had 433 and August (which has only been 9 days so far) has 118! That means that more than just three people are reading my site! There is empirical evidence and everything! I was so excited. So those of you silently lurking in the shadows, feel free to come out and say hello! I won’t bite….unless you ask me to!

So using the stats software, I can see where referral links are coming from. Most people type in my address directly (thank you for remembering me!), but there are a few people that have clicked on a link and were directed to my page. So I was curious. I followed the white rabbit. And low and behold, I found
Cheri. I was quite flattered to be listed under “Blogs that kick ass” on her site! What a compliment! Go and check her out. Looks like a great blog.

So while most of the time I feel like I am just organizing the thoughts in my head, it is nice to know that others are reading my site. Now the pressure is on. I have got to keep entertaining you so you all keep coming back! 🙂