Life's little pleasures

We're having another mid-70's day with low humidity. After living in Virginia for 23 years, I know not to be fooled; balmy weather is probably just around the corner , waiting to rear its head and tease us until mid-October or so.

I'll take what I can get though--today, all the windows in the house are wide open, allowing a playful breeze to enter and fill the air with an unmistakable freshness. As I fold my laundry by the screen door, I hear children playing gleefully, and chickadees chirping and squabbling over the last crumbs of bread mom left outside. Even my parrots seem to sense the change; they are unusually quiet, cocking their little heads to the side, taking in the simple pleasures of a crisp, early fall day.

The fact that I have missed this time of year for two years now probably plays into my heightened enjoyment, but I'll take that as a blessing. It's two weeks until the end of September--time is fleeting, and sooner than I expect, I'll be lamenting over the short days, the wet coldness, and the bareness of the trees.

F

Some more randomness for your reading pleasure...

Comment and I'll give you a letter; then you have to list ten things you LOVE that begin with that letter. Afterward, post this in your journal and give out some letters of your own.

RS gave me the letter "F"

Family
Factory tours
Flamingos
Fried foods
Fruity tea
French jazz and art music of the 20th century
Futurama
Fille du Regiment, La
Funyuns
Friends

Because I've been too busy to write a real post...

...I'll entertain you with a mindless survey/questionnaire thing.

Name one fact about the last person who texted you?
Last text: LSU saying school is open on Monday
Last person who texted: Aaron, he was the best man at our wedding!

Honestly, what's on your mind right now?
How I want a piece of balogna.

What do you currently hear right now?
X-Files on TV

Can you sleep in jeans?
No, I don't wear them longer than I have to!

Where were you on July 4th, 2008?
At the in-laws' in Warrenton, and then at home to watch fireworks.

Who was the last person you were in a car with?
John

Do you care what others think about you?
Just my family and John

Good day?
Great day!

What do you look forward to in the next 3 months?
Getting unpacked and settled, finding a job, living in VA again.

Do you plan on moving out in the next year?
Already did that....and then I moved back in...with my husband! HA!!!

What are your plans for the weekend?
Next weekend, probably going to Ikea to get a new dresser. This weekend's just passed though, and we went apple picking, and fake Thanksgiving, and went to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum.

Do you like winter?
I love all seasons. It's so hard for me to pick a favorite. I really hope it snows this winter!

Do you enjoy late night phone conversations?
With my sister, always. :) With everyone else, I'm not that great of a phone person.

What are you doing tomorrow?
Cleaning, unpacking.

How late did you stay up last night?
Too late, as usual.

Do you like your school?
Yes and no.

Ever met a real life prostitute?
Not that I know of at least.

What will you be doing at 8AM tomorrow?
Most likely sleeping. :)

Have you ever made a mistake?
I'm certainly no Mary Poppins.

What would your last meal be before getting executed?
Either Nai Taw beef noodle soup with their pickled peppers, or something with cheese in/on it.

Do you have any phobias?
caterpillars, starfish

Do you miss anyone?
I went to school in two states, away from home...I'm always missing someone!

What's your hair look like today?
flat?

Have you been outside today?
Yes, it was beautiful!

In the past week have you smiled?
I certainly hope so. Sometimes I laugh in my sleep. That's always funny to explain when I wake the two of us up.

Olympic Seasons

I wonder if it's weird for southern hemisphere dwellers to have the Summer Olympics in the winter, and the Winter Olympics in the summer?

Morning

I got up earlier this morning to go to the bathroom, and was greeted by the familiar sound of the garbage truck. Looking up at the sleepy pink-blue sky, I was reminded of 8-count Crayola magic markers and those yellow wooden pencils that needed to be manually sharpened. I saw myself walking to the bus stop with my mother, doggedly reciting my multiplication table: "four times three is twelve. Four times four is sixteen." (And, as dogged as I was, I soon was able to do my math homework with ease--a first and only for me. Mother knows best.)

Today is the first day of school at both LSU and Longwood, and I am not among the crowds of rushed college students running to my first class, dragging on my left shoulder an overstuffed messenger bag. Instead, I sit here in my pajamas writing this blog entry. Yet, despite all the nostalgia of the morning, despite the reverie, something feels strangely calm and right about this situation.

Sheets

I really like fitted and flat sheets for twin beds because it's really easy to tell which side is the long side, and which side is the short side.

"...they called me McPain"

One of the funniest celebrity sketches I've seen on Late Night with Conan O'Brien:

The key to my heart

Not only does Jorge Cham understand my struggles as a grad student, but he somehow sees into my innermost secrets...or at least into my juvenile love for potty humor. Little known fact about me: the word "feces," spoken or in print, will always make me giggle--in fact, I'm chuckling to myself as I re-read this blog entry. One time, while I was working with Dr. G, I came across Italian word "fece" (as in, singular form? hee!) and almost lost it right then and there like the four-year-old I can often be. It's become a pretty big joke between John and myself. For some reason, I find the word hilarious looking on the page and random sounding when uttered. Plus, there's the whole meaning behind it. I don't know what I'll do when I reach my middle-aged years and find the word mentioned with greater frequency at the doctor's office. And so I present to you the latest PhD comic:

(click for full size)

Happy August, everyone!

Bright Eyes

I love him a lot.


Even when he's doing this:


I have the two best nephews ever. Biased aunt? Perhaps. :) (photos courtesy of my sister, aka His Mom)

FanGirl strikes again!

Fun little Access Hollywood interview between Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny:



Everyone go out and see the movie! It didn't do so great opening weekend, and fangirls like me need it to make more money so the powers that be will produce another film for our viewing pleasure. ;)

So I guess everyone goes through this...

(click for full size)

12-tone fun

AK posted this on her Facebook page, and I thought I'd share it with you all here too:

Two days!!!

In two days, I will be transformed into a 15-year-old fangirl. Why? The X-Files movie is coming out on Friday!!! Now, I'm not going to go so far as to say that I am the ultimate fangirl, but I was pretty pathetic back in The X-Files' heyday. I've seen every episode up until Season 9 at least twice (I was pretty depressed when David Duchovny left, and then Gillian Anderson became sparse as well). A few random things. I:

• Know almost all of the episode names, and can usually tell you what the name is within 5 minutes of viewing an episode
• Have a whole manila folder full of X-Files magazine and newspaper clippings that I keep thinking I've thrown away by now, but in fact keeps resurfacing at the most inconvenient and embarrassing moments (like when I'm going through old memorabilia with my then new boyfriend John)
  
• Am a little depressed that the first movie came out when I was 15, meaning that most 15-year-olds today were only 5 at the time
• Can tell what season a given episode is in just by looking at Mulder's hair style

I really wanted to be one of those crazy people who waited in line until midnight to watch the movie, but John has to work. True, I could go by myself, but like I said--I'm not the ultimate fangirl, so I can wait a few extra hours. ;)

Here's the trailer for any of you who might be interested:

Wedding Belle

Congratulations to SW and PK! Wishing you two many, many years of love, laughs, and happiness. It only gets better from here. <3

Happiness is....

John and I went to Wegman's today where we found a 3-lb. bag of "child size" gala apples. I love the child sized apples because they are just the perfect amount of apple for me during lunchtime. We then went to the bulk candy aisle (because Wegman's has the best bulk candy aisle there ever was) where I spotted a bin of giant Now and Laters. Here's a little known fact about me: I am obsessed over the banana flavored Now and Laters, even though I dislike actual bananas. What a joy-filled time it was for me to be able to pick out a bunch of banana Now and Laters and purchase only those (with a couple of apple flavored ones thrown in for good measure, of course) for my eating pleasure.