I'm a posting machine!

Yeah, I know I'm shirking the responsibility of cleaning the house, but read this! Evidently that's what I do, according to this:

Your Birthdate: July 5

With a birthday on the 5th of the month you are inclined to work well with people and enjoy them. You are talented and versatile, very good at presenting ideas. You may have a tendency to get itchy feet at times and need change and travel. You tend to be very progressive, imaginative and adaptable. Your mind is quick, clever and analytical. A restlessness in your nature may make you a bit impatient and easily bored with routine. You may have a tendency to shirk responsibility

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Suprise suprise

Your Life Path Number Is 3

3 Your Life Path is one that emphasizes expression, sociability, and creativity as the lesson to be learned in this life. You are among the entertainers of the world, bright, effervescent, sparkling people with very optimistic attitudes. You possess the most exceptional creative skills: normally in the verbal realm, writing, speaking, acting, or similar endeavors. The lesson to be learned with a 3 life path is that of achievement through expression. The bright side of this path stresses harmony, beauty and pleasures; of sharing your creative talents with the world. Capturing your capability in creative self-expression is the highest level of attainment for this life path. You are warm and friendly, a good conversationalist, social and open. A good conversationalist both from the standpoint of being a delight to listen to, but even more importantly, one who has the ability to listen to others. You are always a welcome addition to any social situation and know how to make others feel at home. Your reative imagination is present, if sometimes latent, as the you may not be moved to develop you talent. Your approach to life tends to be exceedingly positive, and your disposition is almost surely sunny and open-hearted. You effectively cope with all of the many setbacks that occur in life and readily bounce back for more. It is usually easy for you to deal with problems because you can freely admit the existence of problems without letting them get you down. You have good manners and seem to be very conscious of other people's feelings and emotions. Life is generally lived to the fullest, often without much worry about tomorrow. You are not very good at handling money because of a general lack of concern about it. You spend it when you have it and don't when you don't. On the negative side, a 3 may be so delighted with the joy of living that the life becomes frivolous and superficial. You may scatter your abilities and express little sense of purpose. You can be an enigma, for no apparent reason you may become moody and tend to retreat. Escapist tendencies are not uncommon with the 3 life path, and you find it very hard to settle into one place or one position. Guard against being critical of others, impatient, intolerant, or overly optimistic. Typically, the life path 3 gives an above-average ability in some art form. This can encompass painting, interior decorating, landscaping, crafts, writing, music, or the stage, or all of the above. You are apt to be a happy, inspired person, constantly seeking the stimuli of similar people. Your exuberant nature can take you far, especially if you are ever able to focus your energies and talents.

What Is Your Life Path Number?

a sigh of relief.

So I think I'm done with the magazine for this month. I've been up since 8:30 and working since 10:30 and I wrote my article and finished all I'm capable of doing. There are just some things that aren't possible. At least I know my limits, right? It's been a relaxing day with a break for a tuna sandwich. I could be cleaning, but I don't think so.

We found a house in Safety Harbor that we're pretty set on. We really wanted one in South Tampa but we couldn't find anything we liked within our budget. The one we found in SH is a 2/2 1920s house a block from downtown and across the brick road from a cafe that has a live band that plays James Taylor and other nifty music. And it's quiet and the common rooms are really roomy and I'll have plenty of room for my office. And dark hardwood floors. Now we need more furniture. The landlord seems pretty cool too, which is nice. He'll pretty much let us do anything we want as long as it doesn't hurt the house. So I can paint and stuff. Woohoo! Let's just cross our fingers that we get it.

Last night I got together with some of the old fiction crew -- not enough of them, mind you, but it'll have to do. Scott was in town so we all went to Bennigan's and then retired to Brad's. I drank too much. I had four Bass ales at Bennigan's and 3/4 a bottle of wine (2003 Schmitt Soehne Riesling Spaetlese) at Brad's. I was swimmy -- it was delightful. The wine was not bad -- sweet but not White Zin sweet and very smooth. Not something I'd drink all the time but doable. It was a late night -- I didn't get home until after 1 a.m. (yes, that's late for me). Thankfully Brad lives in my apartment complex so I was able to walk home.

Wednesday night I went to a wine tasting in downtown Dunedin and saw an old friend there that I hadn't seen in ages (since her graduation party two years ago). And one of the girls I was with saw friends of hers from high school that she hadn't seen in 10 years. How odd is that? I had a lovely glass of wine there -- a Pinot Frigio, which I had never had but is pretty much like a Grigio, perhaps a little smoother. I wish I remembered the brand though. It started with a P. Any takers? Suzanne and I went to Alley Cat Cafe for dinner afterward and I didn't get home until after 12 a.m. on a work night -- I was so sleepy the next morning. My bedtime is around 10 now. But my weekends are long because I wake up by 8:30 without the alarm.

Anywhos, I think I may get some cleaning done while I still have the motivation. But I'll actually be around and not zipping around to get things done!

I feel like a spinning top or a dreidel ...

So life has been a little strenuous as of late. Not really that I'm complaining, but ... I haven't read a single book since last Wednesday! That's saying something. I've been carrying around Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell and I've read 20 pages or so, but most of the time it's sitting on my desk at work or on the table at home waiting for me, patiently. It's such a good friend for that. Sarah knows I'm busy, but she's so accommodating. I love her.

The managing editor for the mag I work for quit last week so I've been doing the majority of the posting for next month's issue (which comes out on Sunday) and I still have to write an article on bookcrossing meets geocaching (going to try to do it tonight after the meeting) and copy edit four more things so the new managing editor can post those (bless her heart) and fix all the links on the articles I've already posted and figure out how to post the pictures to those articles ...

So I'm sitting down to post here first, lazing about with a glass of Cab Sauv and the rain falling outside, typing on our brand new laptop and watching the beginning of Law & Order: SVU. I'll get to all the other work, eventually. I just really need a few minutes to sit and do nothing. Ya got me?

50 lashes with a wet noodle.

I know, I know. It's been awhile. I tried to write a bunch of times but everytime I logged into Blogger and got to this page I didn't know what I wanted to say. Work is doing alright. We still don't have desks, which is really quite ridiculous but what can you do? I'm still getting paid, and I'm alright with that. My brother spent the weekend with me and we went on a book spree. I bought 11 books. Woohoo, 11 books! Plus two for him, and I let him borrow Sarah Vowell's Take the Cannoli because he was mad I didn't give him Assassination Vacation (hey, I just bought it!) but he gave it back today already finished. Mom's thinking of letting him get his GED next year when he turns 16 because he's not cutting it in school. She had a meeting with the teachers yesterday and they accused him of being like the Columbine kids. They don't know him at all. He doesn't have anymore anger than any other kids and he's really sweet. He just doesn't have social skills. It's not his fault they don't understand him at school. At least he gets the understanding at home that he deserves. Plus he thinks it's hilarious that they think he's going to kill them. Stupid teachers.

We've been looking for houses for the past couple of weeks in South Tampa. It's ... going. I've found one I like but it's still not everything we want, and another one we both really like from the outside but the I keep trying to get ahold of the guy he doesn't answer his cell phone and he called me one time and I couldn't get to the phone in time but I called him right back and he didn't answer then either, and hasn't answered yet. And I'm not leaving 6 million messages.

Anywho, don't have anything else to say; you know how when you haven't said anything in awhile everything bubbles up too quickly? Yeah, that's how I feel. Night!

hey!

You're Betty Grable!


What Classic Pin-Up Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Black Monday, blue Tuesday.

Monday was wretched. Yes, that's my favorite word for such a day. I found out that my dad's girlfriend has cancer. They've been together for nearly 20 years, so she's as much a part of my life as anyone he could have married (he's allergic to marriage; he found out when he married my mom) and she's a sweet wonderful person. The only reason I found out is that I went to get my car insurance fixed up (she's my agent) and she was wearing a wig like the one I wore when I was Velma for Halloween. So she told me (and said she wouldn't tell anyone but family) but that she's going to chemo 3 days every 10, and she came in on a chemo day to help me. I felt so bad. Dad says it's worse than she lets on, that the chemo is more to prolong life than to save it. I told him I wouldn't tell Mom, but when I left after dinner I called her crying and went over. That's what her brother died of about two months ago -- liver cancer. I was slightly hysterical when I went to my mom's, but she made me feel a little better. I didn't get home until after 12a.m. and was supposed to get up at 6 to go to work.

But, at 4 a.m. I was wracked with horrible pains and spent hours in the bathroom. I think I'm better now; I can't tell if it's a stomach flu or just stress of the situation -- my body reacts differently to stress I can't handle. I was breaking out in sweats and my legs were going numb as well as the sickness -- it was like a slightly lighter version of this day. I'm going to go in for the second half of work because I do feel better and I don't want to miss a full day in the last week of training before we take our test and get thrown out in the real world of adjusting. Hopefully I don't spend the time in the bathroom there.

so far from done.

I've finished cataloguing 368 books (and thanks to MS Excel they're already in alphabetical order) with only 188 left to go. I probably won't add these books into the list because they're cookbooks, crimes & punishment books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, stylebooks, graphic novels (I have the entire series of Bone), reference supplies (like Gardner's Art Through the Ages) and antique books. But I'm surprised I got it done as quickly as I did. I'm proud of myself. It only took the entirety of High Fidelity and Adaptation. to finish.

There will be no bowling tonight, as Kyle of the Kyle/Shea couple is sick and Christen has inventory. I sit alone with my books. So I'm not really alone. I cleaned the house top to bottom yesterday morning (woke up at 7:45 for no good reason) so I haven't that to do. Perhaps another look 'round Michele since I'm now obsessed. Of course, I could be studying my work stuff, but I'm sure I can come up with something better than that :D

What came first, the music or the misery?

I was planning a trip to the bookstore, but when I walk into my library/dining room I am overcome by the books that I own but haven't read yet, so I may stay home instead. Plus maybe I can save the money towards a new laptop. I've begun a list of the books I own in MS Excel so I can alphabetize them later, but I think I'm in for a rough afternoon since I've only listed the books on one of my endtables and I'm up to 37. If I finish the books I may write up my DVDs too because we were at Best Buy the other day and I could not remember if we owned High Fidelity (we did). The collections are starting to get a little out of hand. Not that I mind, mind you, just an observation.

When I do end up at the bookstore I'm getting the book Sideways and a better copy of Prince of Tides. While I go over my books I'm going to take a few out that I have no interest in owning anymore (like that crappy version of PoT) and enter them into Bookcrossing.com. Then I'm gonna make a geocache with all of them in it and let them go. You know that this will be like ripping chunks of skin from my nether regions, but that's besides the point.

Toodles!

what's with all the mexican lust?

I seem to get a lot of people finding me by googling 'Mexican Lust'. Let me tell you, boys (& girls), This is what you want. I have no Mexican Lust here. La lujuria mexicana se cierra aqui. (I had to look that up on free translation. I really don't know Spanish. No Habla Espanol. Comprende?)

Also, I get a lot of "I've got Lance in my pants." People, this is the Web site you want. Leave me alone. I, contrary to popular belief, do not have Lance in my pants. He sits two seats down from me in insurance training and I'm quite certain he wants nothing to do with my pants.

Other interesting searches for the week:

Zac and Sara lyrics
stories of unrequited lust
just checking on ya ostrich
tmbg extinct animals
"give me the child, through dangers"
red elvises met justin lost email address
the urbz stop dog from peeing
houdini penis
th (seriously, they just searched "th")

Happy weekending! I'll catch you later!

The drink for the night tonight was a Red Zinfandel. After expressing my distaste for such wines as White Zin, I'm suprised I even tried. But I was referred to it, and I don't often pass up a referral unless I know for sure that those tastes don't match mine. VegasGustan referred me to Riesling, which I love, and now Diane from my insurance training steered me toward Red Zin (actually called just Zin, but for fear of getting white I will not leave off the color) and Sheraz (or something like that) that I'll try next time I go out. I like trying new things out so I can buy a bottle if I like it. So far the only thing I've bought a bottle of and been thoroughly satisfied with was a Chateau St. Michelle riesling.

And then, in the spirit of wine I bought Sideways, which is a lovely movie. If you haven't seen it, bypass Blockbuster and buy the damn thing. (This is, of course, as long as you aren't Morman. Evidently Mormons hate the movie. To which I say, you knew what was in it, don't say the movie sucks, say you disagree with the subject matter. I don't tell you what a fraud Joseph Smith was do I? Read The Poet and the Murderer if you want to know about that.) ... Sorry about the tangent but I came across a blog that was going off on how much it sucked, and when it came down to it it was just that she disagreed with the movie morally. Why bother then? You've read the reviews (and please tell me you read more than Best Comedy of the Year and actually read what it's about ...)

And off my soapbox I plunge. The glass of wine was actually the fourth alcoholic beverage I partook in tonight. After work the Other April and I went to happy hour and I had two Midori Sours and an Amaretto and Coke (which she said was supposed to taste like rootbeer but I didn't think so. Maybe flat rootbeer, which is just like sweet coke ... yeah, that's the ticket!)
I sleepy now. I cuddle against Christen while he samples his GT4. Good stuff, good stuff.

My poor poor Pat Conroy

As Prince of Tides is one of my very favorite books (thanks to The Brad), I have wisely stayed away from the movie. However often on nights that Christen works and I have the evening off (which tends lately to be every Wednesday) I've been watching movies that I am unfortunately drawn to that he wouldn't watch. Last week it was New York Minute. Over the weekend I caught the recent version of Cheaper by the Dozen. So tonight I was flipping through the On Demand movies (I can't be troubled with a movie's true starting time) and I saw that Cinemax was showing Prince of Tides. So I tried.

Besides the fact that they left out most of my favorite parts, they left out my favorite quote. If they didn't quote from other parts of the book I wouldn't have felt so cheated. And I'll give you the quote the moment I find it again; I'm rereading it to find it word for word.

But the real tragedy is that they dumbed down such a complicated and beautiful complex story into 2 minor plot strings. Tom's sister attempts suicide and Tom's marriage is on the rocks. It's so much more than that. Don't judge the book by its "Now a Major Motion Picture" cover. As a matter of fact, just buy the trade. It's so much prettier.

Can you keep a secret?

I've fallen in love.

With a wedding dress. Don't tell Christen.

Do you enjoy the occasional quickie?

I updated my sidebar to include a few more blogs that I regularly read but hadn't gotten around to adding. And sadly I thought it best to finally delete Bottling Up The Crazy from my blogroll since I think that he really has left us for good. Such a sad sad thing from such a talented blogger. Hopefully he's moved on to bigger and better things. I tend to have a 1 month rule, so if you update less than once a month I may delete you. There are a few on there that just barely fit themselves in the timetable.

Other than that, I really don't have anything. I called a few of those houses and there's two in Hyde Park that I'm going to try to see tomorrow. Will let you know!

Thanks to Killy

Y...Yttrium You scored 39 Mass, 10 Electronegativity, 64 Metal, and 0 Radioactivity!

Yttrium? Yttrium??? You're messing with me, right? That's not a real element. Really? If you say so. Okay... how about: You are really a solitary creature, and you're somewhat set in your ways. You work, consciously or subconsciously, towards the betterment of society, but I guess you do this by befriending it's strangest elements. You're kind of a spaceman/woman, but in the end you're allright. You should try to be with the benign weirdos of the world because, by goodness, no one else will. Oh, it says here that you are abundant on the moon. Interpret as you will.

99 Red ... Eclipses go by

I don't mind traffic. I really don't. It generally takes me over an hour (today was an hour and 20 minutes) to get home after work, and it has taken me as much as two hours to get home. This doesn't bother me. Now, I'd prefer it took less time, but whatever, you know? But this is what pisses me off: inconsiderate drivers. What the heck is wrong with people that they have to cut me off, glide into my lane, pull out and around me while there's less than a car length in front of me and the entire rest of the traffic is also only going 3 1/2 miles an hour. What the heck, man? I just want to reach over and yank that blonde ponytail in the red Eclipse until she drops the cell phone and screams for mercy .... mercy, I tell you. And I have no mercy.

Today was the sit-with, where I sat with someone who already knew the ropes and got to try out the things I'm going to be doing by myself, like sending letters and taking recorded statements ... it was pretty fun. I took a statement today from a guy who rear-ended someone in Brooklyn when it was snowing so bad he couldn't tell whether their lights were on or not. Some days I'm truly glad to be in Florida. I know it sucks, but not like that. I just kinda giggle and remind them that it's 84 degrees here. But I had a good time, and I learned a lot and think I'll really enjoy the job. We'll see -- my adjuster's license test is a week from Friday, so hopefully I'll pass and still have a job. Fingers crossed, right?

BUT also, when I was walking back to the desk a guy stops in front of me. "April?" he says. It's this guy that I've known since middle school. We took an elective class for summer school between eighth and ninth grade together (yes, I'm aware I'm a dork -- but that was an awesome class) and in high school he worked at the Wendy's down the street and I used to visit him after band practice while he closed up the restaurant (yes I had a crush; shhh, don't tell him) and in college he was the roommate of a guy I went to high school with and suitemate of a guy I was good friends with and swing dance partners with. And now he's a coworker -- how weird is that? Craziness, I tell you, pure craziness.

And my laptop broke. It still works, kinda, but the joint between the screen and the keyboard broke so it keeps flopping down while I'm typing. I really need a new one. Hopefully after I get my first paycheck I can afford a new one, or at least 1/2 (I can go halfie with Christen) because I really don't know how long I can deal with this. Anyone know any good deals?

Accent: I try for no accent what-so-ever, but I end up picking up whatever accent is around me. Especially southern accents.
Chore I hate: Hanging clothes, matching socks and emptying the dishwasher
Dad’s name: Donald Ray
Essential makeup: lipstick. The rest I can fudge on. Without lipstick I feel boring.
Favourite perfume: Heavenly by Victoria Secret
Gold or silver: Usually
Hometown: I have moved too many times to have home town. I feel very much at home in Glasgow, Scotland - but I don’t think I would want to live there again.
Interesting Fact: Duelling is legal in Paraguay, as long as both parties are registered blood donors.
Job Title: Mother - aka general dogsbody. Last job? I was general manager of my own comapny.
Kids: Hannah, Heidi, Daniel, and Rosie - In moments of madness I would like to have more. But since hubby’s been snipped it just ain’t gonna happen!
Living arrangements: A nice big house on the outskirts of Brussels, Belgium. Well, it will be nice when we finish renovations.
Mom’s birthplace: Small town Nebraska
Number of apples eaten last week: At least 3 or 4
Overnight hospital stays: 4 with the babies - 2 with miscarriages - 1 for Tonsillectomy - 1 for food poisioning.
Phobias: mice and rats - and other rodent like things *shudder*
Question you ask yourself a lot: ‘Now where was I going before I was interupted?’
Religious affiliation: With God… yes.
Siblings: 2 Sisters
Time I wake up: Around 6:30 on weekdays and as late as possible on weekends.
Unnatural hair color: Sometimes I get highlights in the winter.
Natural hair color: Dark blonde
Vegetable I refuse to eat: I think I can eat almost any vegetable.
Worst habit: Chocolate and icecream… and chocolate icecream
X-rays: teeth, back
Yummy food I make: Yummy is in the mouth of the taster… Why don’t you come for dinner and you can tell me if it’s yummy.
Zodiac sign: Someone told me once but I can’t remember.

the true test.

I nearly wrote this post this morning on paper solely for the purpose of keeping myself awake. The spring time change always messes with me internally. Sunday we were happy we got out of bed and moving at a decent hour until we realized it was actually near noon. House hunting went surprisingly well, and we found about six houses that looked promising, especially a couple in Town & Country (an area of Tampa). I'll let you know how it goes. For dinner I did fajitas with all the fixings and chocolate peanut butter fondue for dessert. Yum! It was awfully tasty. We bought this wine, I don't know if you've tried it -- Jest Red. It was okay, tasted a bit like sangria without the fruit. I think I might mix the rest with orange slices to finish it off. I haven't found a whole lot of wines I like enough to buy a whole bottle of it more than once. I like mid-sweet whites and sweeter reds ... like reisling and pinot grigio. I like crisp aftertastes (I like Chateau St. Michelle? reisling) with a less bitter bite.

And last night was the first time I got to use my new bowling ball, and I tore it up!

178!

That's right, I bested my best score at 178 last night (previous best score 164), other scores 132, 119, 121, 142. My average was way better than usual. Hurrah! It was worth it to buy the ball! Christen got a new ball too, and he did pretty good; his was urathane so he took longer getting used to it, but I think he won a game. I only won that top game, but overall I won for the night, and the Kyle/April team won too. Yay!

So being so tired this morning I took a nap in my car during lunch instead of eating. I needed it more. I may go to bed early -- Christen actually fell asleep next to me and is snoring over the television (though I'm only watching VH1's The 40 Hottest Rock Star Girlfriends and Wives so it doesn't matter too much. Tomorrow at work is the true test: We have a "sit-with" other adjusters while we learn how to really do the job. I'm nervous. We'll see how it goes then!

you already knew that.

Bourbon Congratulations! You're 127 proof, with specific scores in beer (100) , wine (116), and liquor (78).

Screw all that namby-pamby chick stuff, you're going straight for the bottle and a shot glass! It'll take more than a few shots of Wild Turkey or 99 Bananas before you start seeing pink elephants. You know how to handle your alcohol, and yourself at parties.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 50% on proof You scored higher than 94% on beer index You scored higher than 98% on wine index You scored higher than 90% on liquor index

Link: The Alcohol Knowledge Test written by hoppersplit on Ok Cupid

Not that I'm looking for anyone ...

Your dating personality profile: Liberal - Politics matters to you, and you aren't afraid to share your left-leaning views. You would never be caught voting for a conservative candidate. Intellectual - You consider your mind amongst your assets. Learning is not a chore but a constant search after wisdom and knowledge. You value education and rationality. Sensual - You are not particularly shy when it comes to your sexuality. You know what you like and do not feel inhibited.

Your date match profile: Funny - You consider a good sense of humor a major necessity in a date. If his jokes make you laugh, he has won your heart. Intellectual - You seek out intelligence. Idle chit-chat is not what you are after. You prefer your date who can stimulate your mind. Practical - You are drawn to people who are sensible and smart. Flashy, materialistic people turn you off. You appreciate the simpler side of living.

Your Top Ten Traits 1. Liberal 2. Intellectual 3. Sensual 4. Wealthy/Ambitious 5. Adventurous 6. Practical 7. Romantic 8. Funny 9. Big-Hearted 10. Shy

Your Top Ten Match Traits 1. Funny 2. Intellectual 3. Practical 4. Romantic 5. Liberal 6. Adventurous 7. Shy 8. Sensual 9. Wealthy/Ambitious 10. Big-Hearted

Get your Online Dating Profile - take the quiz!

happy me day!

It's April Fools. So happy Me Day! Because, we know I'm an April, and I'm also a bit of a fool ... but what else could be more fun?!