My wise little Sansa

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My little Sansa SanDisk mp3 player knows all.  I went to bed in a mood, and I woke up in a mood, and then I didn’t get out of bed and my mood got worse until I basically threatened myself with bodily harm (it’s called being fat and lazy) if I didn’t get up and run, so I did.  And I’m glad I did.  (No surprise there.)  The sky was overcast and the temperature was in the mid-sixties and the humidity was, well, it wasn’t high, and I had just taken two days off (which is why the threats were effective), so my legs were fresh, and it felt good to run.  Even then, it would have been just okay if it weren’t for my cute little purple mp3 player.

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I don’t know what songs played during the first few miles (maybe some Van Halen?), but I know that as I coasted downhill about a mile and a half from home, Dean Martin’s “Good Morning, Life” started, and then with a half-mile to go (and the last incline in front of me), I heard Stevie Wonder’s harmonica heralding Sting’s “Brand New Day”.

I am as certain as I can be that my mp3 player has become sentient.  Maybe it happened after a certain number of hours of use for such a tiny little device, maybe it needed this exact combination of sweat and wind and weather, or maybe all mp3 players become aware (or have always been aware), but I KNOW that mine is now.  There are a LOT of songs on it, and while many of them are upbeat (I do use it for exercise), they aren’t all upbeat and they’re certainly not all that positive and life-affirming.  I mean, really.  What other explanation could there be?

 

 

I knew it!

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So that book I finished the other day?  The one where I was guessing all the plot twists?  I was totally right.  I mean, my last guess, the one I wrote about, that one was right. Well, it was a little less sensational than I had imagined, but that’s a good thing.  So I was mostly right, but I’ll take that.  All the guesses before it were very wrong, based on not enough information.  Even guessing the ending, I still enjoyed it.  And now, of course, I have to pick another book.  It’s such a burden to live this way.

It’s a start

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I attempted meditation today.  (I just tried to type “medication” instead of “meditation”.  I did not attempt medication today.  I’m perfectly capable of taking my medicine.  Attempts are not necessary.)  I was not exactly successful.  I understand that it’s something you have to practice, that you can’t just jump in one day like “Hey, I meditate now!”, but it wasn’t a total failure, either.

It was early this afternoon, and I was in a weird mood to begin with, didn’t really know what I wanted to do with myself (and I’ve just started a new book, and even though I’m 100 pages in, I’m not convinced it’s what I want to read), and I thought that some quiet time might be what I’m looking for, maybe with peaceful music, alone with my thoughts.

I left John practicing his guitar in the front room of the apartment, borrowed some headphones from him, found a YouTube video that plays 6 hours of meditation music (not medication music – my fingers will not stay on topic), and unrolled my yoga mat on the floor of our bedroom (the back room of the apartment).

Then what?  How to begin?  I stretched a little, and then I sat down on the mat, legs crossed, eyes closed, palms up.  I wasn’t really comfortable, so I tried lying down on my back.  Better, but only for all of five minutes because that’s when my phone rang.  Note to self: when meditating, turn off ringer.  It was Molly, venting about work.  Half an hour later, we hung up, and I tried again, but only for another ten minutes or so.  The moment had passed.  Those first five minutes were good, though.  I’ll have to try again.

It makes perfect sense

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Despite not having heard any Prince songs recently, I have a medley of them in my head.  Allow me to explain how I got to this point.  This morning, Mom made a joke about how the song “Secret Agent Man” will forever be “Secret Asian Man” to her.  I responded with one of mine (“Chicken To Ride” for “Ticket To Ride”), and then John chimed in with his for “Smoke On The Water”.  Instead of “Smoke on the water, fire in the sky”, he hears “Slow talkin’ Walter, fire engine guy.”

Here’s where my brain went:

  1. “Smoke On The Water” is NOT by Muddy Waters.  (I always go there first, even though I know it’s wrong.  Water/Waters – you can understand my association.)
  2. It’s by Deep Purple.
  3. Deep Purple did NOT do “Purple Haze”.  That’s Jimi Hendrix.
  4. “Purple Haze” sounds NOTHING like “Purple Rain”.
  5. “Purple Rain” is by Prince.
  6. Now I have several Prince songs battling for supremacy in my brain (“Raspberry Beret”, “Kiss”, “When Doves Cry”, “Little Red Corvette”, “Diamonds and Pearls”…you get the picture).

Logical, right?

Does the word “purple” look super-weird to anyone else right now?

Predictability isn’t always a bad thing

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I have read all of Kate Morton’s books.  Well, I’m a quarter from the end of the only one of hers I hadn’t read, so that’s mostly true.  I have enjoyed them all, some more than others.  They’re very similar, but that’s something I kind of like about them.  They have all these twists and turns.  And with this one, I’m enjoying anticipating the twists and turns.  It’s like watching a movie, when you have to pause and say out loud (it doesn’t count if  you only think it) who you think did it or how you think it’ll turn out.  You have to call it.  I’m doing that with this book (although not out loud – the rules are different for reading), and it’s kind of fun.  I’ve already been wrong twice, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got it now.  I’ll let you know.

Eh

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I am working.  It’s almost 10.  At night.  Why am I working?  That’s a very good question.  And it doesn’t have a very good answer.  And actually, I’m done working, so maybe it doesn’t matter.  Maybe I’m tired.  Maybe I feel a little guilty that I took a couple of hours out of my normal afternoon to follow John to his flying lesson and read in the shade of a tree at the airport.  (But it was so nice!  Until a mosquito bit my thumb.  Bastard.)  And maybe I’m over the guilt and going to bed now.

Good talk!

Problem

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Our new mattress is great, but it has one big flaw: it’s too comfortable.  It is getting increasingly harder to get out of bed in the morning.  Yesterday, I didn’t get up until 8, but I excused it by running at lunch.  Today, though, no running before work AND I didn’t run at lunch AND I’m not running this evening.  This has to stop!

I am seriously considering using my other phone as my alarm clock and leaving it across the room.  Not running in the morning is practically a crime this time of year – it’s finally cool enough to be really pleasant running weather, and I KNOW I’ll regret not taking advantage of this when it gets cold….I said this about being outside yesterday, didn’t I?  At least I’m consistent.  And if guilt is what it takes to get me up and moving and outside in the mornings (and any time the weather is nice), then I guess I’ll just have to deal with that.  Future Me will feel worse about missing out on this weather in amounts far higher than Present Me’s short-lived feelings of contentment about staying in bed.  Present Me really needs to be more considerate of Future Me.  Past Me has learned that lesson, but Present Me doesn’t always listen.

What am I going to do when winter comes?

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It rained all day on Saturday (seriously, ALL day), but Sunday was beautiful.  We went out for coffee and the worst croissant ever in the morning (the worst croissant ever was not what we went out for – why would that be my goal?  rotten goal – but it’s what I ended up with) and walked around a bit, discussing trips we’re planning (or maybe planning) for the fall.  We both have some vacation time we’re going to lose if we don’t use it by the end of December (which would be a crime), and we want to take an actual fun vacation without spending a ton of money (at least not while we’re also spending money on the flying lessons).  The question is where and when.  Still an open question.  But it’s a nice thing to talk about as you walk along on a beautiful Sunday morning.

Later in the day, after we managed to NOT go to the grocery store, AGAIN – no, seriously.  It’s not that hard.  In this case, we wanted to check out Graul’s Market, a store that doesn’t look all that great on the outside, but could be fine on the inside (better than fine would be nice) and is the closed grocery store to our house.  It was a little after 5 when we got there, and guess what?  They close at 5 on Sundays.  So rather than go to Giant or Whole Foods, we went home.  We can go without groceries for another day or so, right?  Sure!

Anyway, after we gave up on food, John spent some time working on his Android app, and I went over to the dock to read in the sunshine.  I’m trying to be mindful of how quickly the seasons change and how soon it’s going to be dark by 5pm, and I really really really really really want to make sure I’m appreciating the light and the nice weather while we have it.  And you know what?  It was really nice.  There were a lot of people coming and going, kids playing, dogs clearly wishing they could play with the kids, boats and the sky and the clouds, and oh yeah, my book…it was a nice evening to be out there.

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Check out the change in lighting.  These pictures were taken just a few minutes minutes apart, on my phone, and are shown here without any filters (because I don’t know how to do that).  I didn’t move at all, except to turn.  I was seated with my back to a post.  Looking ahead, I could see the dock.  Looking left, boats.  Neat.

Gmail takes care of me

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I got the best email from the Gmail Team the other day.  They were warning me about an email that had a virus or suspicious attachment that came to my account here (which forwards to my Gmail account).  The email came from America Airlines (orders@aa.com).  The best part was the last sentence in the email Gmail sent to me:

If you wish to write to America, just hit reply and send America a message.

Hell yeah, I wish to write to America!  I had no idea it was so easy!  Hey, America!

America?

Hm.  Turns out I don’t actually have anything to say to America.  Have a nice day!  Write again soon!

This is how I adult

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John is out flying, so I am on my own for the early part of the evening.  (This part.  This part we’re in now.)  I’m sure that if this were an alternate universe where I lived alone, I would have a well-stocked kitchen and lots of plans for a Friday evening.  (I know you’re laughing about the well-stocked kitchen part.  Stop that.  You may also be laughing about me having plans.  Hush now.)  In this universe, we have very little food in the apartment.  On the plus side, I’m not really hungry, so it doesn’t really matter.  My dinner tonight consists of the other half of the blueberry muffin I bought for breakfast and some rice crackers that are going stale.  And some pretty good wine, which helps the stale crackers go down.  I am watching not-good TV, and I am trying to ignore the mosquito bite on my knee (from last night – god damn mosquitos).

I really know how to have a good time.  Up next, fold the laundry and do the dishes!

It’s not supposed to rain inside

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We had some pretty major thunderstorms today.  All afternoon, actually.  It was pretty cool, although I couldn’t enjoy them all that much because I was on the longest conference call ever.  Someone was having a crisis, and John was wrapped up in his work, so even though we heard dripping, we assumed it was outside, and neither of us got up to check.  The rain stopped, we stopped working, and that’s when we found the giant puddle in our kitchen.  Yes, it appears the roof is leaking in our charming old rowhouse, right through the ceiling into our charming kitchen.  We are crazy-happy to NOT  be homeowners right now.  I have texted and email our landlady.  SHE can take care of this mess.  (It’s not actually a mess.  The puddle has been mopped up, and since it’s not raining anymore, I don’t plan to worry about it.)  Oh, did I mention we have ants?  So maybe it is a little bit of a mess.  Also, I got a mosquito bite on my knee during the three minutes I was outside this evening.  Maybe I’m a little bit of a mess.  Tomorrow is Friday!

I got over it

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The washing machine mirrored my mood yesterday.  I went into the dank basement (also appropriate to my mood) of our building to do some laundry.  One of the washing machines started right up, but when I pushed the start button on the other one, it didn’t start.  Then it kind of shrugged over a little bit, half-heartedly.  No water yet.  Stopped.  Shrugged another half-turn.  Stopped.  Stayed stopped.  Still stopped.  So powered it off and back on again.  Start button.  Another half-turn.  Then I gave up and stalked up the stairs.  I may have thrown my hands in the air and shouted a little.  (I was very much in a mood all day yesterday.  This didn’t help.)  I figured if it wasn’t done when I came down to move the clothes into the dryers, I’d move it to the other machine.

Then I forgot about the laundry for lots of hours.  (Enough hours that I felt like a jerk – what if the other tenants had planned to do laundry?)  Luckily for my mood, both washers worked, and the clothes were clean and ready for the dryer.  And John bought me ice cream, and I felt better.

Aren’t you glad there’s a happy ending?

Boat envy

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Spending time in downtown Annapolis means spending time looking at boats.  Big boats, little boats, fancy boats, plain boats.  Mostly fancy boats.  And I like boats.  I don’t want to own one, but I’d like access to one.  Who’s got a boat and lives near me?  I need some new, useful friends.  (Sorry, guys.  You just don’t cut it anymore.)  I need friends with a boat, friends with horses – these could be the same friends, but I’m afraid they’d get tired of me.  Tired of me personally, tired of me using them for their boat and horses…I can be pretty annoying sometimes.  And demanding.  But I’m also fun and lovable!  (I don’t want to turn my new friends off too soon.)  Come, new friends, find me!

You know what would work?  Old friends, buy a boat! And some horses!  I’ll love you extra much.  And in return, I will….um….read to you?  Yes, I’ll read to you.  I’ll fold your laundry.  Do your dishes.  And exercise your horses!

For everyone’s entertainment, but mostly Dad’s

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Presented without comment (sometimes):

From The Bloggess, An accidental competition for the worst mother ever.

Dad, you have to watch this gif.  The category it belongs to is Kids Falling Down.  It has cracked me up several times in a row.  Because I am a terrible person.  But so are you.  🙂  Click this link.

From reddit, the caption was “Hover mode engaged.”

hover mode engaged

 

From Dinosaur Comics:

(I’m sorry the text is blurry.  Not sure how to fix that.  But if you can’t read it, click the link to go to the page directly.  True for both of the dinosaur ones.)

dinosaurfruit

And this one, which actually made me laugh out loud (this should surprise no one): dinosaurupdog

And The System:

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Going to have fun this weekend!

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The long weekend is almost upon us, and I couldn’t be happier about it.  We don’t have any major plans, but we have a long list of little things that should help us finish settling in.  Hopefully we can do fun things in between the little necessary things.  (I’m sure we can.)  I just want to be able to relax a little.  Work has been nuts (even working from home – it’s been nonstop), and our weekends so far have had so many errands to run that I haven’t felt like I’ve been able to enjoy them much.  Working on that.

A bit of this, a bit of that

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For a change of pace, here are some pictures I’ve taken over the last couple of days interspersed with random sentences I’m hearing in the background right now.

“There’s no mud.”

I'm sorry it's grainy, but that is the dome of the Naval Academy chapel.

I’m sorry it’s grainy, but that is the dome of the Naval Academy chapel.

“I’ve got a large body of work.”

Sleeping duck on the dock in the early morning! It wasn't actually that early. This was a lazy duck.

Sleeping duck on the dock in the early morning! It wasn’t actually that early. This was a lazy duck.

“And that’s in the past.”

Do you feel threatened? I think this guy would be easy to duck. Hee. Duck.

Do you feel threatened? I think this guy would be easy to duck. Hee. Duck.

“Let’s leave the science to the scientists.”

Well, that was a failed experiment.  For my next trick, I’m going to post pictures from the Bookshelf Porn website because DAMN – check these out:

This framed bookshelf looks so cool.

http://bookshelfporn.com/post/100068917098/framed-bookshelf-by-mark-taylor-design

And this, man, our bedroom is going to look like this when we settle down again:

http://bookshelfporn.com/post/100196654923/we-do-love-some-bedroom-bookshelves

 

Noises

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We moved into an apartment in an old townhouse, so a certain amount of noise is to be expected.  We have creaky floors, thin walls, and an unexpectedly noisy central air system.  It makes some super-weird sounds every time it comes on.  After much thought and hours of study, I have narrowed down the source of the noises to one of two things:

  1. Fiends from hell are straining against their chains, struggling with everything they have to come through the vents and drag us, body and soul, down to the fiery depths.
  2. Pterodactyls have gotten stuck in the air ducts.  They’re growing hoarse, but we can still hear their creaky roaring.  They’re coming.  If they can fit through the vents.

I’m relying on you to avenge us.

Best sandwich in the world

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Guys, you can stop looking.  I have found the best sandwich in the world, and it is made right here in Annapolis.  The restaurants we’ve tried here have been hit or miss (mostly miss), but this sandwich shop is really really good.  It’s called The Big Cheese (or Sammy’s Deli – seems to have both names), and it’s got this enormous menu.  John and I (and Jess) have tried a bunch of their sandwiches already (all good), but there’s one I’ve had twice now, and I’m going to have to force myself to get anything else after this.  It’s the called the Brie Sandwich (the sandwich is more exciting than its name), and you can get it cold or warm.  French brie, honey mustard, lettuce, and tomato on a baguette (I get the French baguette, not the American baguette), and I can’t imagine getting it cold.  I’ve gotten it warm both times, and the cheese is all melty and it’s SO delicious.  (Dad, I haven’t asked yet if they have gluten-free bread, but I’m SURE they would make you a sandwich on whatever bread you bring.)  I think I’ve been there four times now (in the 16 or 17 days we’ve lived here), and I think I’m starting to look familiar to the owners (I think they’re the owners).  John tried (and liked) a sandwich named the Randi Sue (chicken salad with cranberries and other things in it), and then the next time he went, Randi Sue was working the register.  Turns out she’s the owners’ daughter, and they’ve got a son they’ve named a sandwich after, too.  Nice place, nice people, GREAT sandwiches.

Like sleeping on a cloud. We hope.

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Our new mattress came today!  We tried out half the mattresses in the store yesterday afternoon, picked one, and it appeared in our apartment this morning!  Like magic.  For all I know, the delivery guys were special mattress gnomes whose sole purpose in life is to bring new soft mattresses to people who’ve been sleeping on the same cheap one for 15 years.  Maybe 15 years is what it takes to get delivery gnomes instead of muggles.  All I know is that I got in the shower around midmorning, and by the time I got out, our old mattress was gone and the new mattress was in its place.  I wonder if they bake bread or fix shoes.

This picture is more exciting to me than it is to you, I know.

This picture is more exciting to me than it is to you, I know.