When bad things happen to good people

Or in other words, a bug flew into my eye on two separate occasions today. Two different bugs on two different occasions. The first one happened when I was on a walk with Sarah. We were just walking along, trying to get in some exercise, when suddenly the aforementioned bug flew right into my eye. Sarah, being a concerned friend, asked me if I wanted her to look in my eye to see if the bug was in there. I hesitated, not knowing if the confirmation of the bug being in my eye would make me feel better or worse. I decided it would be better to know and told her yes. She looked in my eye and confirmed that there was indeed a tiny bug in there. I don't know why, but I just wasn't ready to hear that. I screamed for about five seconds. When that didn't do anything, I actually tried (unsuccessfully) to get the bug out. Sarah stepped in and got it out for me. What a nice friend, huh?

Anyway, I tried to put the incident out of my head after that. Then tonight I decided to go for a little jog. I went a different route than usual (that might have been my mistake) and was minding my own business when again, a bug flew into my eye! It was the same kind of bug as earlier! What is with that family of bugs? I mean, I know my eyes are beautiful, but please try to resist flying straight into them!

I've come to a conclusion. I'm going to have to wear goggles at all times when I'm outside. This might put a cramp in my social/dating life but it's just a temporary measure until I can find a way to eradicate that species of bug. I'm open to suggestions. I mean, who would want to date a girl with a bug in her eye anyway!? I ask you!

Dreams denied

I've been hearing about this performance group - The Dream Engine - (please read that name with an angry voice) for weeks now. They performed at the Ann Arbor summer festival for four days this week. Or they were supposed to at least. A friend of mine who works at the AA summer festival had heard about them and told me it should be awesome. I checked out the flier she gave me and read about the show, which was described as a "mystifying performance of aerialists dancing and tumbling against an inflatable 26-foot high cone-shaped structure." Um, who wouldn't want to see that!? Anyway, I had planned to see them Wednesday night but it was canceled due to rain. I wasn't too worried because they were also going to be performing Saturday night and I figured I'd check them out then.

I called a bunch of friends and we all decided to meet an hour before the performance to get a good seat. The weather report said that it might rain, but the skies looked clear so we were pretty optimistic. When we got there, we saw the huge inflatable cone and got some excellent seats right near it. We laid out our blankets, got drinks, and settled in for what we assumed was going to be the kind of night dreams are made of. Then came the news: the show was canceled because a storm was coming in. What?! Again!? Admittedly, the group would be attaching themselves to what was essentially a lightening rod for their performance but still.

Everyone looked at me and said, "so what's the rain plan?" Um...rain plan? I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that what ensued can only be described as chaos. If you've ever hung out with a large group and had to debate what you should do next, you'll understand. We finally settled on seeing a movie. Sounds easy enough, right?

Once we got to the theater, the chaos and confusion continued. (It was actually pretty comical.) Here's a sample of the conversation:

"So what time does the movie start?"
"It started ten minutes ago."
"So what are we waiting for?"
"So&so isn't here yet ("So&so" shall remain nameless just in case she stumbles upon my blog)
"Well, when's the next showing?"
"In an hour."
"Should we see a different movie?"
"What's showing?"
"I've already seen that!"
"Let's move to a different line!"
"Wait, should we buy tickets?"
"Why did we move to a different line?"
"Has anyone talked to so&so? Where is she?"

As you can see, we were in desperate need of a leader. Luckily for us, Kara saved the day and gave us all of our options in a condensed form. An hour later, we were happily seated in the movie theater, where we watched the movie (Get Smart) and had a good time. I even got to sit by a boy who tried to hold my hand (as seen below). He was just kidding, but let's pretend he wasn't to give my ego a little boost (is that pathetic?).

Even though things ended well, I'm still mad at The Dream Engine (I wrote that name with a very sarcastic tone. Not sure if you caught that.) I guess I just wasn't meant to see acrobats attached to a giant inflatable cone. Sigh.

I'm ready for my close up!

I have never had any real desire to act - in fact, I have a strong aversion to even being video taped. Years ago when Katherine was directing a play and I was helping her with props, I had nightmares about being on stage and forgetting my lines. And I wasn't even in the play! It's just something that I have never wanted to be a part of. Until now.

The buzz around Saline for the past month or so is that Drew Barrymore is directing a film in the Saline area about roller derby girls called "Whip It" and, bonus: she's looking for extras. At work, Justin and Kathy and I have been talking about this a lot lately. Justin's comments were at first focused on making fun of the location: "Saline!? Why Saline?!" Whereas Kathy and I, who live in Saline, have been dreaming about our film debut. We looked up pictures of roller derby girls to get some idea of how we need to look be considered for the film, and found this:

After studying this and other pictures, I have great news: I'm not going to have to change much about my current "look." Alright, so let's see what I already have:

red fishnets - check
sunglasses - check
hardcore hair cut - check
bad attitude - check

Looks like all I need is the actual gear. I used to have roller skates but I don't think they'll fit me anymore, considering I haven't worn them in about twenty years. I think it will be pretty easy to get back to my old level of skill (which was level "awesome").

Ok, I have to be honest....the more I look at the pictures, the more nervous I get. After all, I bruise easily and these girls look really tough.

Can I pull this off? Maybe I should give Drew a call and find out more about my important role as an extra and how much contact I'd have to have with women like the one pictured above. Ellen Page is in the movie though and I'm definitely tougher than her. Well, tougher than her when she was pregnant in Juno anyway. I should probably start working out though, just in case.

Needless to say, I've changed my tune about acting. How can I pass up this opportunity? My game plan is to wander the streets of Saline for the next month until I'm "discovered." I just hope they don't cast me as Ellen's mom or something. But I guess I can't be picky, after all, I'm just starting my career as a Hollywood actress, and you have to start somewhere!

See you on the red carpet!

Tagged

Ok, so Angela tagged me which means that I have to answer some questions or rather, make some lists. These lists seem very self indulgent and a little personal. I'll give it a try but I can't promise totally honest answers mainly because I'm not cool with getting that personal on my blog. I mean, I don't know what kind of psycho may have stumbled upon my blog and would use this information against me! (wow, paranoid much? I'll have to work on that.) Anyway, I'll try to keep this brief.

(Here are the rules: How to play the game of Tag: Post these rules on your blog. Answer these 15 questions about yourself on your blog. List 3 Joys, 3 Fears, 3 Goals, 3 Current Obsessions/Collections and 3 Random/Surprising facts. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.)

3 joys
a really good book
vacations
being with people I love

3 fears
sharks
haunted houses (real or fake)
other stuff I'm not going to say because I'm afraid you'll use it against me.

3 goals
to bring back, "if you love it so much, why don't you marry it?!" to the 20-30something crowd.
to be Britney Spears' life coach and single-handedly turn her life around.
try to stop saying "ipso facto" so much. Or maybe try to say it more. I'm not sure which way I want to go with that.

3 current obsessions/collections
I don't have any collections (except my velvet Elvis wall hangings, but everyone collects those so it's not really noteworthy). So, obsessions...
my blog
my fan club
being the coolest person in the world (almost there!!)

3 random/surprising facts
I wear glasses at work
I am in the witness relocation program....oops, I wasn't supposed to say that (I recognize that that is such a stupid joke but I feel compelled to leave it here).
I won every event at the Olympics last year. Or whenever the last Olympics were.
(One of these random facts is true! And it's not the one you think!)

The end. If I must tag someone, I will tag Katherine! (I'm supposed to tag five people, but I really don't feel like it.)

Technologically challenged

I'm always the last to buy the newest technology (which no longer holds that title by the time I get it). I like to think it's because I'm waiting for the price to go down and the manufacturer to work out all the kinks. But really, I don't have any real interest in technology until my friends show me by example that I'm not fulling living without newest thing. I didn't get my first cell phone until something like 2004. My friends congratulated me by saying, "Welcome to the 90's!" So it should be no shock to anyone that I just recently bought my first ipod.

Once I figured out how to work the thing (for the most part), I started to really enjoy it. I mean, if I like a song, I don't have to buy the whole album - I can just download it, listen to it one hundred times and get sick of it! At a much faster rate than before. But I have a question about the ipod, and it's kind of embarrassing. The earpieces say "L" and "R" on them. Do I really have to match those up with the corresponding ears? They look like they're the exact same shape! They don't seem to be molded at all to fit to the ear they correspond to. But now I'm nervous - what if I put the L in my R ear!? Not only might they not fit right, but maybe I'm cross contaminating? Maybe my left ear is diseased and I'll pass that on to my up-till-now healthy right ear.

I dunno, maybe I should just find my old walkman. Those earpieces were so simple (until the padding came off). I recently looked through an old box of tapes I have saved that I have no way of listening to (until I find that walkman). And let me tell you, it would be a shame to never listen to them again! I had some awesome tapes. Well, tape singles. Millie Vanilli, Vanilla Ice, and Richard Marx, to name a few.

Well, if I can't find my walkman, I guess I could just upload some of those classics from itunes. I think I'll just play it safe and make sure I put the L earpiece in my L ear. I'm not taking any chances.

The magic of summer

There are many things that represent summer to me: baseball games, the warmth of the sun, flip flops, flowers, the smell of chlorine, fireworks, etc... But the main thing for me, the thing I always wait impatiently for, has finally made its blazing appearance: the fireflies.

The first firefly I saw this season was a single one, last weekend at the summer festival. But tonight while I was driving home I saw them everywhere.

Fireflies immediately transport me back to my childhood. I remember catching them with my friends then putting them in mason jars with holes punched in the lid. I always felt kind of guilty about trapping them, so I tried to create a "natural environment" for them (much less natural than their actual natural environment) - I'd put in a stick, a few leaves, maybe even a couple drops of water in case they got thirsty. But inevitably when I woke up the morning, the poor fireflies had died in the night. I stopped putting them in jars because of that, but I still tried to catch them just for fun. There was something so thrilling and exciting about catching them. They were like little flying fireballs! It felt like they were part of a fairy world. But that didn't change the fact that they were, in actuality, bugs. Normally I am not one to touch bugs but I made an exception for fireflies. Still, I'm not going to lie - it gave me the heebie jeebies to feel them crawling around on my palm and I'd let them go pretty quickly. When they were back in the air, the magic returned to them.

All those memories come back to me every year when I see the fireflies. They add so much to the magic of summer. Welcome back old friends!

Cuteness overload

I saw some really cute babies this week. They were so cute, in fact, I felt compelled to blog about them to share their cuteness with the world. (And by world, I mean the three people who look at my blog.) The first cute baby I have to brag about is my baby niece, Samantha. Katherine put her in a shoebox this week and it was beyond adorable. What, you think I'm exaggerating? I'm so not. To prove it, here's a picture:

The other cute baby I saw is little Ruthie, Justin and Alecia's baby. I haven't seen her in person in several months. I have been keeping up with her on her parent's blog, but she's even cuter in person! Ready to say, "aaaawwww"!? Here's a picture of Janice holding her:

Told you they were cute!

Thanks, anyway!

Last night two of my good friends, Kristin and Abram, came over with their adorable kids and the gift of a delicious cake. I hadn't seen them since they moved back to Michigan so I was really excited about it. We had a great visit; we laughed, talked about the Obama rally, and caught up. After they left I dug into the cake they brought over. It was so good! I even snuck a quick piece of it today when I got home from work before meeting Sarah to work out! (I hope it balanced out.)

Tonight I ran into Abram at a meeting and thanked him again for the cake and told him it was delicious. To which he said, "I know! I was so mad when Kristin gave it to you! I was like, 'Are you serious!? We need that cake!'"

When I got home, I saw there was one piece left so I ate it. It was gooooooooood. Guess you'll never know just how good it was, Abram! Thanks Kristin! (Now I know who it was really from!)

These pretzels are making me thirsty

There are certain questions that really stress me out when asked. Questions like,

• What are you doing with your life?
  
• Why aren't you married yet?
  
• How did you get to be so ridiculously good looking?
  
• What's your favorite episode of Seinfeld?

It's this last one that I find the most stressful, and it's the one I want to briefly talk about. It's not uncommon for me to say (or think) about any given situation, "this reminds me of that episode of Seinfeld...." and though I haven't watched the show much lately, I know it much better than I care to admit and occasionally try to figure out what my favorite episode is.

My sister Katherine and I have an ongoing conversation about this. We've both seen every episode of the show at least three times - lines from the show flow in and out of our dialogue with ease. They need no explanation - we know exactly what the other means when they say, "these pretzels are making me thirsty" or "I hear thee." Boy...this sounds pathetic now that I see it typed out. Moving on...

We decided that it's impossible to choose one favorite and apparently we take this very seriously, so we came up with our top three. Certain episodes move in and out of the top three, but in case you were wondering, we agree (for now) that our top favorites are:

1. The frogger (so many great scenes in this one, including the one where Elaine eats the antique cake she finds in Peterman's mini-fridge)
2. The little Jerry (the one where Kramer buys a chicken that turns out to be a rooster. He names it Little Jerry and enters it in cock fights. This episode also has the "I hear thee" line. It's a classic.)
3. The chicken roaster (Kramer and Jerry switch apartments and start acting like each other)

Now you know. I'm sure you were wondering, and I'm glad I could answer your unspoken question.

Obama-rama!

I'm no stranger to political rallies. The last one I went to was four years ago when John Kerry was running for president. A friend and I decided to go check it out; I think we both felt the same about Kerry: unenthusiastic, but curious and trying to keep an open mind, plus we were leery of the alternative. Unfortunately for us, Bon Jovi was also playing at this rally and when we got there the line was insane. After observing people for awhile, we determined that we were pretty sure most of the people there had come to see Bon Jovi. We were indignant because we had only partially gone to see Bon Jovi and were really hoping to see Kerry! We waited in line forever and ultimately did not get in, at which point we left and went to Chinese Buffet II. In other words, the night wasn't a total loss.

Yesterday was my friend Sarah's birthday and we had made plans to go out to dinner to celebrate. But when she found out Barack Obama was going to be in town she e-mailed me to ask me if I'd be up for going to see him instead! I was excited but hadn't forgotten what happened the last time and had some doubts that we'd be able to get in. My mind was put at ease a little bit when she assured me that Bon Jovi would not be there. We drove downtown and hopped on the People Mover to get to Joe Louis Arena. When we pulled up to the station at Joe Louis (two and half hours before the rally started), we couldn't believe the crowd we saw. Everyone on the People Mover gasped and muttered, "oh no." The line was loooong and dense. But once we got in the line, we actually had an ok time. The people around us were nice and fun, and we got some awesome buttons.

A little over an hour after getting in line, we entered Joe Louis and once through the metal detectors and security, we were home free! That's when the excitement began.

After skirting all around the aisles at Joe Louis, we were able to get decent seats. A little before the speakers came out, volunteers started handing out signs, including ones that were hand made and I think were supposed to look like they had been brought by people attending (we were specifically told we were not allowed to bring signs). Sarah was outraged by how staged the signs were. Here's a great pic. of her being outraged.

The first person to come out on stage was none other than Chauncey Billups! The crowd went wild. He only spoke very briefly, and mostly just introduced the woman who sang the national anthem (who did an amazing job by the way, partially due to the woman behind me who kept encouraging her, I think. "You got it! Hit it girl!"). Then Jennifer Granholm spoke. She did a decent job. But I will say one thing that I did not like about her speech. She was wearing what looked to be a banana clip. I don't know... it kind of looked like she's trying to grow her hair out and is in that awkward stage, but still. A banana clip? We were sitting to the side of her, so we could see that banana clip and it was pretty distracting.

Moving on, we wondered if Kwame would have the nerve to show up, but we heard that he was not invited. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but after what happened at the Red Wings parade, I would not be surprised! Another person said he decided not to come on his own. Either way, I think it's a good thing he wasn't there.

After her speech, Granholm introduced Barack Obama and.....Al Gore! Everyone went totally wild when they came out. We had no idea Al Gore was going to be there. It was quite a surprise. He gave a great speech (love the accent!) then introduced Obama. The rest of the rally was really fun. Obama is a very dynamic speaker with a lot of great ideas! I'm not sure how he plans to carry out all of his ideas, but I hope he can.

I don't want to give the impression that I'm madly in love with everything Obama says or does. I mean, I'm registered as "independent" after all, so I think that legally I have to keep an open mind up till election day. But I did like what I heard and we had a great time. And most importantly, Sarah said she had a great birthday.

The art of seduction

So, my friend Michiko is so wonderful. She is always giving me tips on how I can get married or who I should be interested in. She even gave me her Chanel #5 a few months ago with a guarantee that it will work if I wear it on my next date! I haven't had a chance to test it yet, in case you were wondering. Not that it's any of your business.

Anyway, tonight she told me that she'd been thinking about me. She saw an opera last weekend (I forget what the name of it was); I guess a lot of the opera was about women snaring men with their tricks and seduction. Michiko told me that I need to learn how to seduce and that I'm too quiet (she clarified that I should learn how to seduce in a PG sort of way, nothing bad ;)). Even Katherine told me that she's noticed when I talk to guys that my body language isn't very inviting. So, since I want to blame the fact that I'm single on anything other than imperfections on my part, I think I'm going to work on this. Single guys: you've been warned.

Fortune cookie update

I'm sure many of you (the millions and millions of people who read my blog daily ;)) were wondering if my fortune cookie came true yesterday. That is, if I got some exciting news. Well, I did. The news came from two of my friends, and it was about my bike. First, Emily told me that my bike is fixable, and second, Vaughn told me that he can fix the brakes (maybe). Emily worked on my bike all afternoon. I attempted to help but I think I got in the way mostly. I was amazed at this girl's skillz! She came over equipped with a tool box and a bunch of other bike-fixing-thingamajigs (told you I was helpful).

Later in the evening, I got to hang out with some friends at the Ann Arbor summer festival. It was a great time and the last time we'll see Brian for awhile since he'll be off traveling the world for a couple months. Below are some pictures of the good times. The picture on the left is Amy and Brian, and the others are of Katherine, Joe, Vaughn, and me. Nichole was there too, but she came after I put my camera away. :( One of the highlights of the evening was when Brian pointed out someone he knows who is often referred to as "Mr. Yummy." None of us found him particularly yummy, but to each his own. (Brian didn't say he thought the guy was yummy, just that he'd heard other people say that about him.)

On a different note, today is Father's Day! I just have to take a second to say that I have a really great dad! He's always been a wonderful example to us and is a great person. We all love him very much.

Friday the 13th

Isn't something bad supposed to happen on Friday the thirteenth? So far all I've experienced has been good fortune. Today at lunch, a few of us ordered Chinese take out. Inside my fortune cookie were two fortunes! Bonus. And they were both awesome:

"Remember three months from this date. Good things are in store for you." (September 13th) &

"Tomorrow your friend or partner will tell you some exciting news."

Well, I don't have a partner, so I'm hoping a friend will tell me some exciting news. It better be exciting having to do with me though. And good exciting, not bad exciting. Yeah, I know - I'm being very demanding. Justin told me he got that first one almost three months ago and next Friday (he thinks) is the three month mark. I'll wait and see what happens to him before I get my hopes up too much. I have never found my fortunes to come true though so I'm not holding my breath (not to sound pessimistic)! I have two taped up to my computer from this past year:

"A routine trip turns into an enchanting escapade" (never happened) &
"You will be showered with good luck before your next birthday" (I think I got this one last year, and it also didn't happen).

My favorite fortune of all time is: "Sell your ideas, they are totally acceptable." I got that one twice last year! I haven't tried selling my ideas yet though. I have to get on that.

I think I like it

So, yesterday was my one week anniversary of blogging, and obviously, I've taken to it. I don't know why I ever doubted I would - I guess I forgot how much I like the sound of my own voice (or the sight of my own words, as the case may be). It reminds me of something I read in an Archie comic when I was a kid and for some reason it stuck with me. It's a quote from Reggie:

"I love me,
I think I'm grand.
When I'm with me,
I hold my hand."

I'm kidding, I'm really not that vain. It just sounds that way. And looks that way. ;)

4 * 8 * 15 * 16 * 23 * 42

I'm going through Lost withdrawals. One of my friends from work recently borrowed season 1 from me and we've been discussing it. She decided she's not going to go on with the series, so I felt like I could answer all of her questions without spoiling anything for her. However, it was surprising to her how many questions I still couldn't answer! (What's up with the numbers!? What is the loud blast and the smoke monster?) It made me realize (once again) that there are still a lot of things I really want answers to. I'm going to put some of my questions on here, but I have to warn you that if you don't watch Lost these are going to sound really ridiculous. My friend Kathy and I always discuss Lost at work the day after it airs, and poor Justin has to listen to us say things like, "why didn't the smoke monster kill those guys?" and "Did Ben travel through time last night?" and other such crazy sounding things. Anyway, here are some questions that they really have to answer a.s.a.p before I lose it. Maybe some of you already know the answers - it's easy to miss something on this show. If you do, please let me know.

1) Who is Richard? What organization is he part of? And why is he so good looking?
2) What is the smoke monster? And why hasn't it been nominated for an Emmy yet?
3) Where is the island (at the end of season 4)!?!?!? And what's up with time on the island in general!?
4) Where does Widmore play into everything?
5) Who/what is Dharma?
6) Why are the bad guys so hot!? (Sawyer, Keamy RIP Keamy....I'm still not over that.)
7) Who is Jacob? And when did Christian Shepherd start working for him? And for that matter, Claire!? Is Claire deceased?
8) Also, it's not that important (or is it?) but what's up with the Black Rock? How did it get where it is? And is it significant?
9) The numbers....where do I even begin with that...
10) Why did Widmore fake the discovery of flight 815 in the ocean!?

I think I'll leave it at those for now. Let me know if I forgot any.

June, slow down!!

Every year it seems like summer is never going to come. The months of January, February, and March feel like a lifetime. They're so cold and dark and cold and miserable and cold. Around the end of March I start looking for signs of spring and I catch one here or there. But winter never gives up without a fight. Spring has to fight it's way in! A seventy degree day is often followed by a snow storm or a frost the next day. Near the end of April the leaves finally come back and that's when I let myself believe that summer will come! Now it's finally June. But today when I was typing in the date at work, I couldn't believe that it's already the ninth! Wasn't yesterday the first? Next thing you know it'll be the fourth of July! I'm going to do my best to take advantage of the summer months and be outside as much as possible, even if it means getting a very unhealthy tan.

Tonight we had a big pool party at my aunt and uncle's house. We had a blast, even when Malissa did a canon ball about one foot away from me in what I can only assume was an attempt to drown me. Sorry Malissa, you tried and failed! We also grilled hotdogs, had watermelon and watched James swim back and forth across the pool (this is a new thing for him this year). So today was a good summer day. On a slightly different note, one of my favorite parts of summer is the fireflies and I still haven't seen one! Have any of you?

If I were a Golden Girl, I would be Rose

Ok Ok, I know...two postings in one day sort of reeks of desperation. Read my blog! Please! I posted something new!! But after my last posting, where I mentioned being like one of the Golden Girls when I get old, I remembered that I once took a quiz to see which one I'll be. I couldn't remember the results, so I found another quiz and the result was no surprise: I would be Rose. We both have big hair and are from small towns, so I thought it sounded about right.

Over the years I've had this conversation with a lot of my friends: which Golden Girl would you be? You have to be careful suggesting to them which one you think they'd be. Especially if you're suggesting Blanche, if you know what I mean. And if you suggest Rose they'll think you're saying they're dumb. If you say Sofia, they'll think you mean old, and if you say Dorothy, they'll think boring and let's be honest, she had a weird voice and was teased a lot about her appearance by the other GGs. I once had this conversation with my friend at work, Justin, and I told him that I was sorry, but he'd have to be Stan since there are no other steady men on the show. I most likely made him take an online quiz too. He's a trooper and very patient so he went along with it.

Anyway, I'm curious what the rest of you (I'm talking to you! The 1-2 people who read my blog) think so I'm going to post a poll on the side. Which Golden Girl would you be? If I can get a team of the original four (remember, I'm Rose, and there can only be one of each), I'll meet you on the veranda of our house in Miami in 30-40 years. See you then!

Daily Affirmations

I don't know about the rest of you, but sometimes I find life kinda difficult. I've been thinking lately that I should come up with some daily affirmations to help get me through the hard times. In Ellen Degeneres's first book, she has a chapter on daily affirmations. Hers are hilarious. Here are some of my favorites:

* I bet nobody knows I'm crazy

* I mean for my hair to look like this

* Archie would rather date me than either Betty or Veronica

* I look good with back hair

* I'm good at watching TV

I'm going to come up with some of my own - it's my first time coming up with affirmations, so I make no promises that they'll be any good.

* My blog is the best blog I've ever written!!

* Nobody is judging me for reading Murder, She Wrote books

* People find my "annoying quirks" charming.

* When I get old I'm going to live with a bunch of friends in Florida, like the Golden Girls.

I can't go on, I'm horrible at making affirmations. Let me know if you have any good ones I could use!

Summer Reading

Summer is quickly approaching and I'm excited to get some good reading in. I have a stack of books next to my bed lined up to be read, but one that's off to the side and about sixth in line is about to be moved to the "on deck" position. I'm embarrassed to admit what the name of it is. Let me back up.

I've always loved mystery books but I feel like they're guilty pleasures that I squeeze in between more serious books. Maybe serious isn't the right word, but you know what I mean. (The exception to that rule is any book by Agatha Christie who I love and never feel guilty about reading!) Anyway, last summer I was at huge garage sale with Katherine, thumbing through a box of books when I saw a Murder, She Wrote book. I remembered having seen that show a couple times as a kid and thought that it might be a fun book to bring to the beach, plus it was only 25 cents. I started looking through the books more and saw that there were seven M, SW books. At first I thought, I'll just buy one. Maybe two. Or three. But then after I paid for those, I thought what the heck and bought all seven, thinking they'd just be fillers on my book shelf. Well, once I started reading them, I couldn't stop. When the seventh Harry Potter book came out, I didn't want to put down the M, SW book I was reading to read Harry Potter. (Did you see what I just wrote!?) Finally I decided to read HP and M, SW simultaneously, but M, SW won out and I ended up resenting HP for slowing down the process of finding out whodunit in the M, SW book. Needless to say, that was the best buck-seventy-five I spent that summer.

The big problem however, was that occasionally friends or casual acquaintances would ask, "read anything good lately?" I'd freeze and think, "should I tell them about the less embarrassing book I finished before starting on the M, SW series? or should I admit what I'm reading?" I'm about to face the same dilemma. I was at the library book sale last weekend and found another M, SW book: Manhattans and Murder. I glanced at the back and it said that Jessica (Fletcher, of course) has an appointment to go on the Larry King Live show to promote her new book and then has to (spoiler alert) solve the mystery of the murder of a sidewalk Santa. This book is an obvious classic.

Anyway, I'm reading Jane Eyre right now and just finished Wuthering Heights before that, so I think I have a right to go a little lighter for the next one, right? I'd be open to any other recommendations for summer reading! Just try not to judge me for the first one on my list.

Warning:

So, I'm not sure how into this blog I'm going to be. I'm pretty sure I'm over-thinking it! Right now I'm still thinking about how I want to do it. But I got the hardest part over with: coming up with a catchy title for my blog (I caved under the pressure and just used my name...that's the kind of creativity you can look forward to in this blog). And I have SO many interesting stories to choose from. For example, today I almost stepped on a worm!! If that's not a bloggers dream, I don't know what is. Also, this evening I went to the hardware store to look at seed packets. As you can see, I have so many interesting stories to choose from that I must keep people up to date on. Most likely h0wever, the only person who will read this blog will be Katherine, and even then it will only be because I'll be asking her, "so have you read my blog yet?" And she'll get fed up with my asking and she'll read it because she's nice like that. Maybe I'll end up nagging some of my other friends too because stories like mine simply must be told. All kidding aside, let the blogging begin!