The Readiness Is All

So I've been a lazy blogger because I haven't been feeling well lately, but today I've got a guest post over at Housewife Eclectic about my favorite Christmas traditions. Check it out! (Includes awesome pictures of my brothers in tin foil hats.)

After missing a couple of weeks because of Thanksgiving vacation, I am back, and here are my confessions!

• I confess that I have a lot of Christmas shopping to do. I confess that this stresses me out a tiny bit, because I am terrible at thinking of presents for people. 
• I confess that this week I realized again just how awesome my husband is. I wasn't feeling well, so we decided to watch a movie to help me get my mind off it. He asked what I wanted to watch and I said (pitifully) "Something nice." So he came back from the living room with a Gregory Peck movie, a Katherine Hepburn movie, David Tennant's Hamlet, BBC's Emma, and a Hugh Grant movie. The man is a genius. 
• I confess that there are some tiny ants or something like ants that have infested our apartment. I think they have built a home in the shower caulk. I need to get the maintenance guys to come and look at it, but then I'll have to pull everything out of the closet. Just stay in your nice little line, guys, and I'll keep spraying your migration path with Pledge. 
• I confess that I am dying to put up my Christmas tree, but I can't find the stand. Eric is going to try to make one, but so far he has had a hard time coming up with anything that's going to support the top-heaviness of the tree - and since my ornaments are almost all really heavy ones, I am anxious for it to be stable. So . . . my tree waits. 
• I confess that my desire for snow was alleviated slightly by reports from the home front  of gale force winds and no power. I heard about it while I was walking with my friends in the park, in my shorts. In December. This is a weird place. 

I confess that I missed confessing last week because we were driving to Lubbock to surprise my mother-in-law for her birthday. It was amazing, especially when at first she didn't even notice that it was Eric who answered the door, and not his little brother Porter.

I confess that we went to a used book store in Lubbock and spent WAY too much money. We're going to use some of them as Christmas presents for each other to assuage our guilt about our lack of self-control. (And by "our" I mostly mean "my." Stupid trade-sized paperbacks.)

I confess that I love my job, although I did shudder slightly at the idea of storytime being DVDs of books being read and not actual people reading. However, decorating the entire place for Christmas was delightful, as is everything else. I even got to suggest a book to a patron.

I confess that I can't wait to go to Utah for Thanksgiving next weekend. I confess I am hoping for snow so I get at least a little this year.

I confess that I have been so tired lately that I find myself wondering if I'm falling asleep for microseconds with my eyes open. I confess that I wonder this because of an episode of Scientific American Frontiers that I saw as a teenager. I confess that I'm not sure why my brain chose to store that particular experiment to the long-term memory.

I confess that I have watched all of Downton Abbey season 2, which doesn't show up in America until January. I confess that it was amazing, and I will probably watch it again in all of its soap opera-y goodness when it's on Masterpiece. I am very much looking forward to the Christmas special.

I confess that I just bought tickets to the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn. I confess that this was a stupid idea, since 1) it's going to be ridiculous, 2) I have to teach seminary Friday morning and 3) we are driving to San Antonio Friday night so we can fly out early Saturday morning. I confess that I will be sneaking in a nap or two, because the hilarity of opening night is priceless.

I confess that I get really excited when the Williams-Sonoma catalog comes in the mail. It's not because I can afford anything they sell. It's because they are full of recipes and beautiful pictures of food. Food that I want to eat immediately.

I confess that another of my friends has started confessing because of my confessions, which makes me really excited. I'd say that I'm a trendsetter, but since I totally stole the idea from Debra, I think I'm more like a good-idea-recognizer, as are my friends.

I confess that I've been dancing around to Muppet covers all week. I further confess that I know all of the words to "The Rainbow Connection," and I'm pretty sure I have inadvertently acquired 3 different covers of it. I confess that when I'm singing along with it, I am fairly certain that  I will sing my future children to sleep with it.

I confess that on Halloween, we really planned on going out and celebrating in costume. But then sitting home eating roasted potatoes and watching scary movies seemed so much more appealing, and we'd already been to the trunk or treat the weekend before . . .

I confess that Eric and I are the funniest seminary teachers ever. I'm pretty sure that's just because Exodus is thoroughly amusing and incredibly tied to Charleton Heston in my mind.

I confess that I am delighted that I have reached a point where I actually enjoy reading the scriptures, and when Jacob says things like, "and I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words upon plates" and "hoping that our beloved brethren and our children will receive them with thankful hearts" I  read, "Man, it sure is hard to write on these dang plates! I hope you people appreciate all the work I'm putting into this so that you'll be able to read them in the future!" I know that's probably not what he meant . . . but maybe he did just a little bit. (Also, I confess that our branch is doing a Book of Mormon challenge, and I think we're supposed to be almost through Alma now. In other words, we're about 5 books behind. Whoops.)

I confess that I'm trying to figure out how to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day this weekend. I don't have anywhere to build a bonfire, and we just watched V for Vendetta not so very long ago. What else does one do to celebrate bonfire night?

I confess that I had to be drug tested yesterday for a job. I confess that being drug tested is incredibly awkward, especially the part where you have to hand back the cup. But on the bright side, it means I have a job. A job that pays very little, but is at least a job.

• I confess that I love having people come over to my house because it motivates me to dust and vacuum. 
• I confess that at our book club last night, I again felt like a little bit of a nut trying to explain to the nice ladies why books about cadavers and serial killers and zombies and cannibals are fascinating to me. 
• I confess that I also always feel like I talk too much at book club. Is it my fault that I've either read their book too or read something that reminds me of their book? 
• I confess that a "cold front" came in last night, and the overcast/windy/60 degree weather outside makes me want to get hot chocolate while I can still pretend it's chilly. 
• I confess that I was try to fill the pumpkin donut holes I made last night, and I couldn't figure out why the pastry filling injector was so rotten. I was complaining about to Eric and he calmly showed me how it was put together backwards. Ah. I see. 
• I confess that I cannot get enough of Halloween activities, including pumpkin food, scary movies, and people wearing costumes. The exception to this is the creepy guy that stands outside Kinderville dressed as Mario (with a full body suit). When I see him, I feel like calling Rayla and have her talk me down from my mask fear. 
• I confess that I carved Edgar Allan Poe's face into a pumpkin this week. 
• I confess that I need to go back to that time when I actually read the recipe instead of assuming I know what they want me to do with the ingredients. 
• I confess that I need a nap. Always. 

This is my 500th post on this blog. I think it's funny that Miri and I started our blogs at the same time (I'm sure we were in the same room, I just can't remember whether we started them on the same day or not - I just know it was January of 2007) and she just hit her 1000th post. I guess that's what happens when you barely post once a month some years (like the year I was finishing grad school and planning a wedding at the same time, for example.)
In the interim, I've started or written on several other blogs, including a cooking blog, an inspirational blog for women, a travelblog, an internship journal, the virtual quote wall, and an attempt at a blog bookclub. I partially blame the glut of blogs for some writing burnout at some point, which is why I'm currently just writing on two, plus the occasional guest post, with the hope of expanding back out to three again in the future. (The Lovely Blog, for the record. I love it so, but we all just ran out of inspiration. I'm currently storing up loveliness for the future.)
I've been reading through some of my first posts this morning. I think my writing is better now, but more guarded. I think part of that was because I assumed that not very many people were reading it and I knew who they were, so I felt less like a dork when I yammered on about the books that shaped my entire being and "songs that have deeply and sincerely entered into the depths of my SOUL."

I've been enjoying my list of 100 Things that I made when I started the blog, and I thought I'd update it. I'll try to make the ones I'm directly commenting on correspond to the numbers in the original post in case I don't explain sufficiently and you want to check. (Some of the items require no updates, and those I'm going to fill in with whatever I darn well want. I'll put those in italics. I didn't say the post idea made sense, just that I wanted to do it.) I realize that there will still be many of you who get bored before the end, but I've learned over the last five years that some of you are remarkably persistent.

1. I love this blog. It has been a good friend and tool for procrastination for nearly five years now. Right now, for example, I am procrastinating the dusting. I believe the original title was Nerdier Than Thou. It has had a few others, but I finally settled on this one a couple of years ago, and I still feel that it's perfect. 
2. I still hate raisins. I still think it feels like eating bugs. However, I do like craisins and golden raisins, generally speaking, which is funny, since texture has always been the issue. I've also learned to like mushrooms since this blog began, which was also a texture thing. 
3. True confessions: I used to blog about my sad dating life a lot. Now I'm married, and I've stopped counting the boyfriends, since the most recent one never ended. It makes the blog less juicy, but the life more content. 
4. I no longer sleep with a stuffed dog named Humphrey, because now I sleep with a tall man named Eric. However, Humphrey is still around, and he sits on our makeshift dresser in a place of honor. Also, I still love Humphrey Bogart. 
5. I have a lot more than 12 days of music on my computer now. There's a lot I haven't listened to, and I feel like I'm in a bit of a music rut. I blame the fact that the computer with the music on it goes to school with Eric and I can't make playlists without the library in front of me. 
6. When I started this blog, I said, "I've seen Simon and Garfunkle, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, Blues Traveler, U2, The Format, Death Cab for Cutie, Jason Mraz, Augustana, They Might Be Giants, The Beach Boys, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Chicago, Chanticleer, The King's Singers, and Brian Regan in concert, and I'm going to see the Shins in February!" I've now seen . . . a lot more bands than that in concert, because I had not yet entered into my true concert obsession phase. I will try to remember as many as possible:
•  Ben Kweller (with The Brobecks)
• The Shins
• Joshua Radin
• Ingrid Michaelson
• Damien Rice
• The Arcade Fire (with LCD Soundsystem)
• Ben Folds (with Ben Lee and Chris Merritt)
• Chris Merritt (twice besides the time he opened for Ben Folds)
• Noah and the Whale (in Houston)
• The Decemberists
• The National (Indianapolis)
• Brandi Carlile (Indianapolis)
• Ben Lee (with Cary Brothers)
• Andrew Bird
• The Fray (twice)
• Straylight Run (not impressive)
• Colbie Callait (didn't even stay for the encore, but the tickets were free!) 
• Blues Traveler (in New Haven)
• Band of Horses (in London)
• Snow Patrol (with OK Go)
• Angels and Airwaves 
• Weezer
• M. Ward
• Bon Iver
• The Aquabats (twice) (with Yo Gabba Gabba the second time which was painful) 
7. I actually still stay in touch with some of my friends from high school. The first year that we didn't have our traditional New Year's Eve party with Little Smokies was last year - because I got married and drove down to Texas before the New Year. It went a whopping 8 years. 
8. I married off a total of 17 roommates before I got married (Mandi, Melanie, Cara, Star, Candice, Janice, Sam, Janie, Miri, Lili, Jennie, Marcie, Mandy, Krissie, Amanda, Whitney, Torie.) 
9. I currently have 2 roommates: Eric and Stickybun. 
10. I still want to go back to England - and actually did after the first version of this list was published. 
11. My favorite thing in my apartment now is our set of bookshelves. I love that when people come over they browse the shelves and start talking about books. This, more than any other reason, is why I will always have a hard time switching to e-books. 
12. Goal: I still want to see every Shakespeare play live. So far I've seen all but 5 comedies and 6.5 histories. I have successfully checked all of the tragedies off the list as you can see here: 
• The Tempest
• Twelfth Night (about 4 times)
• Much Ado About Nothing (3)
• Henry IV, Part 1
• The Winter's Tale
• Romeo and Juliet (twice, even though it's not one I love)
• Love's Labours Lost
• The Taming of the Shrew (twice)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (I've lost count)
• Hamlet (4 times)
• As You Like It (twice)
• Antony and Cleopatra
• Coriolanus
• Titus Andronicus
• Macbeth
• The Merry Wives of Windsor (twice)
• The Merchant of Venice (twice)
• The Two Gentlemen of Verona
• King Lear (twice)
• Othello
• Julius Caesar
• Timon of Athens
• The Comedy of Errors
• Richard III
• Henry V
• Henry VIII (but it got rained out halfway through, so I'll probably have to see it again)
13. I still love Gregory Peck, and depressing movies. 
14. I no longer own any toe socks. I do, however, love long argyle socks. 
15. I don't know what I was smoking when I said Gregg's was my favorite place to eat in England. It was good, but Kahn's was much better. Also, the second time I was there I ate in some pubs that had delicious stuff. 
16. I still love Simon and Garfunkle. Some of my favorite songs of theirs are songs I didn't hear until a couple of years ago - "Keep the Customer Satisfied," "Flowers Never Bend With the Rainfall," "The Blues Run the Game." 
17. I no longer feel the need to practice Toaster Strudel voodoo, but I did learn to make my own. It's delicious, and still good for the soul. 
18. Jane Eyre is still my favorite book, and I've now seen 6 movie versions. 
19. I wish Orson Welles could narrate my life. 
20. Since trading in my irrational crushes for a rational one (Eric) (although I suppose some might beg to differ) I've thought less about my irrational ones, like Gilbert Blythe and Hawkeye Pierce. But I do have a crush on The Doctor now. Luckily, Eric kinds of reminds me of him. 
21. I don't read as many critical essays for fun these days. I do, however, read a lot more nonfiction than I used to. Right now, for example, I'm reading about how scientists have tried to figure out the afterlife by weighing people to see if they weigh less when their soul leaves. (Thank you, Mary Roach, for making science so funny.) 
22. Since starting this blog, I've added Sylvia Plath and Ken Kesey to the list of people who are amazing and slightly crazy to read. Reading my post made me want to reread Mrs. Dalloway though. I wonder if everyone gets to feel such warm fuzzies about that book. Probably not. 
23. Since writing about how I love Yeats and "The Second Coming," I got to sing a Yeats poem in Women's Chorus. It was a prettier poem ("The Lake Isle of Innisfree) although now I'm imagining a choral arrangement of "The Second Coming" and it is almost as hilarious as the time we sang "Fie on Sinful Fantasy" in Madrigals back in high school. ("Lust is but a bloody fire! Kindled with unchaste desire!") 
24. I got better at making comments in class after this, particularly in grad school. Now I teach seminary and try to make kids comment in class. 
25. I miss being one half of M&M, although now Miri is part of the Miri and Mike M&M, which is also nice. 
26. I still love my mom's lemon chicken, but I also love . . . so many things. Since this blog began, I have grown to absolutely love cooking, experimenting, and sharing the food I cook. However, I do believe that a post about my mom's lemon chicken will be going up on Sisters-in-Long soon. 
27. I still love to read about subjects that sound really weird and morbid when I tell people about them. For example, I just took a book to book club and told everyone how fascinating the part about cannibalism was. Some of the ladies there looked at me like I was insane. (It was the best book ever!!!) 
28. I want to reread A Tale of Two Cities. However, I've had a hard time getting into Dickens since then, unless it's a Dickens movie. 
29. I'm really grateful that for the last few months I've had lots of time to read. It's been nice to read books in a couple of days and then have Eric say, "When did you start that book??" Good times. 
30. I still blame my brothers for a lot of my musical taste. I'm grateful that I married into a family where I can sit with my in-laws and discuss music (or old movies, depending on the in-law.) 
31. I miss the trebuchet. 
32. I almost never listen to John Mayer anymore. I was just thinking about him this morning, and I don't know why. 
33. I still can't pick a favorite song. I'm not even going to try. 
34. My favorite cold cereal now is probably Quaker Oatmeal Squares or whatever Blueberry Morning knockoff I can find. However . . . I still love Cinnamon Toast Crunch. 
35. I still have a blanket with sleeves! Right now it's on my bed. 
36. I still love poetry, and having poetry books on my shelf. However, we have so many history books on our shelves now that I don't need the intellectual boost, even if most of the history books are Eric's.
37. I no longer have a transcendentalist corner in my room, but I kind of miss it. That was a very peaceful corner. 
38. I still love road trips, but luckily I married a man who also loves road trips! We did a lot of driving together when we were first dating, and now we go on frequent mini road trips to Houston and San Antonio, and we've driven 4000+ miles together on a single trip. 
39. I miss Pace's and Nielsen's. 
40. I still have a Jane Austen action figure. Also, a librarian action figure. 
41. I still love journals. I haven't done much with my giant journal lately, but I still like putting paint on things, so I offer to assist Eric whenever he paints big projects. 
42. I hadn't listened to much classical music for a little while, and suddenly Eric started wanting to listen to it while we were reading in the evenings. We just bought this gorgeous album of Yo Yo Ma playing Ennio Morricone music. It's lovely. 
43. When I was little, I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. Then I realized I couldn't draw. So I married one instead. 
44. I've gotten better at not rejecting things because they are popular. I think I can contribute at least some of this to Ann, who taught me that some things that are crazy popular and stupid are also really hilarious. 
45. This summer I broke my guitar back out after not having played it much for a little while. I learned to play "King of the Road" by Roger Miller, and "Save it for a Rainy Day" by The Jayhawks. 
46. I can no longer say that my only pets have been named after literary characters. Now I have to say they've been named after literary characters . . . and desserts. (Also, there was that time Jennie had a goldfish in our apartment and we named it Kishkumen. Sometimes we called him Fishkumen. Sometimes, Kishie the Fishie. So literary characters, desserts, and Gadianton Robbers.) 
47. No more eating on campus these days, although at IU I traded in pasta for pizza and waffle fries. 
48. I still get too involved in the books I read and feel a sense of loss when I finish them. 
49. I have received many more bouquets of flowers in my life of late. 
50. I still love Trivial Pursuit, and thankfully, Eric will play it with me. I've also learned to love Scrabble.
51. I still love Oscar Wilde. I'm also a big fan of Tom Stoppard. 
52. I miss roommate sleepovers in the living room. 
53. I hope that someday I have another trampoline. And another dog. 
54. Chicken cordon bleu is still really fun to cook. Around the same time I wrote the original post, I taught a bunch of boys how to make it. They called me for several years after that to ask about how long to cook it because they were making it for their families for Christmas or they were making it with dates. 
55. I'm still good at cutting up avocados. Not so much mangoes. 
56. I miss playing the viola. But I'm not really sorry I quit, because I miss choir more. 
57. I still see things all the time that make me think of the little reading nooks I used to try to create in my room. I just love a good nook. 
58. I don't have a window seat right now, but I do have a balcony garden. It's almost as good - except that it dies.  
59. Additions to the list of memories connected to music - realizing I really liked Eric after he sent me "Terrible Vision" by Rhett Butler, sending him "After All" by Sondre Lerche when I realized I was falling in love with him. 
60. I hadn't seen Princess Bride in years, but a few months ago I showed it to my Young Women. I forgot how much I enjoy that movie. 
61. I still know all the words to "We Didn't Start the Fire." 
62. I cry even more than I did when I started this blog and talked about how I had started to cry. BAH. 
63. I went to the midnight showing of the last Harry Potter movie with Eric and his mom, brother, and sister-in-law. His mom was sure that everyone there would be 12, but they were all our age. 
64. I still love Robin Hood. I really loved the BBC Robin Hood until the end of season two, which destroyed my heart. 
65. A few months ago, I got an invitation to the wedding of the guy who was my first date - and he definitely sent a present for mine. 
66. I still adore peanut butter. I have a friend whose child is allergic to peanuts, and I am terrified that my love of peanut butter will be stymied as hers was. 
67. My new car's name is Stella. R.I.P. Miss Daisy. 
68. I have learned to like some soups. Lindsey's cheesy cauliflower, homemade zuppa toscana, and butternut squash soup have all made soup a more bearable option. 
69. I still have that Louisa May Alcott sign on my wall! It's still true! 
70. Since starting as a seminary teacher, I have started hitting my snooze button less. 2 times instead of 4, usually. 
71. I still love "When Faith Endures," and I love playing through hymns that we never sing in church.
72. I really should learn how to doodle. 
73. My nieces and nephews all like me now! Win! 
74. One of my favorite things about my friend Debra is that we had basically the same childhood as far as dolls go. We swap ideas about what to do with dolls all the time. I still think bigger dolls are better than Barbies. 
75. I knew that Eric and I were destined to be together when I realized with both think Donatello is the best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. 
76. I'm coming around to the idea of stuffed crust pizza, but I don't ever make it that way. 
77. I still love making collections of music, but I don't have very many playlists in progress right now (see above, the bit about the laptop.) However, I did make a hurricane playlist. I'm disappointed that we didn't even get a tropical storm. 
78. I FORGOT THAT I SKEDADDLED UP THE CHAMPS ELYSEES! This list is the best! 
79. I think it's time to go to another professional baseball game. 
80. I've decided that I don't need to read whole Shakespeare plays. Watching them and then going back and rereading favorite parts is enough. 
81. I wrote before that I like to pronounce acronyms. I took a class in which my teacher said that acronyms are like Pinocchio: they all want to be real words. I believe this. 
82. I like scary movies and stories more than I used to. In fact, this week I'm hosting a book club, and we're going to talk about Octobery reads. 
83. I don't hate hardback books now - probably because I have more time to read at home, so I don't mind that they're heavy. And they're so pretty! 
84. I still alphabetize my movies, and I still don't alphabetize (but do categorize) my books. I also alphabetize my spices. I just met a lady who alphabetizes her canned goods. I almost hugged her. 
85. I still like window shopping, and I'm still really good at talking myself out of buying things. However, often the windows now are browser windows. 
86. I love that once people thought I wished I could be married to Shakespeare. Just yesterday, the following conversation occurred on my facebook wall: 
• Brittany: I don't know who else to ask...are you excited about the movie Anonymous? Or do you think its just a silly Shakespeare-as-a-person-was-dramatic movie? I NEED your opinion :)
• Me: Hahaha. Well, I just read a book that convincingly refuted the Edward de Vere theory for me, so I feel like it's kind of silly that they're making an entire movie about such a silly, unfounded theory. (For example - did you know Edward de Vere actually wrote plays under his own name that weren't any good? Why would he take credit for those and not the good ones?) But . . . I'll probably see it anyway, because hey! Why not?
• Brittany: I'm basically in the same boat. i say basically because I didn't know half of the information you just gave me hahaha.
• Me:Hahaha. I just read Bill Bryson's Shakespeare book, so now I'm in all out righteous indignation about Shakespeare writing Shakespeare's plays (did you know that no one questioned it until at least 200 years after his death?)
87. I need to buy some Nutella. It's been FAR too long. 
88. I keep trying to get Eric to wear fedoras. I think if anyone could bring them back, he could. 
89. I still love planting things, even though they keep dying in the insane Texas heat. I'm going to try again now that it's kind of fall-y. And by that I mean . . . in the high 80s and low 90s instead of in the 100s. 
90. I just bought some lemon pepper for my Macaroni and Cheese and convinced Eric that it was a good idea. 
91. I do not miss the smell of my Malian roommate's cooking. And just reading about how she fed me cow tongue made me remember how eating it felt like eating my own tongue. 
92. I think it's funny that I mentioned eating seaweed in that original post, because now I eat it all the time with sushi. 
93. I don't mind orange so much anymore! And for years, "Green Eyes" was my ringtone. 
94. Remember how I was on the National Academic League team in high school? Well, I married I boy who did some kind of science olympiad. Yep. 
95. Oh my gosh. St. Crispin's Day Speech. Still the best of all the speeches. 
96. I sacrifice sleep to read less now that I get up at 5:30 am, but sometimes when I can't sleep, I come out in the living room and read . . . and if it's a really good book I might not get back to bed for hours. 
97. I wish M*A*S*H were on instant watch. However, it may have been replaced as my all-time favorite show by Buffy or Doctor Who. 
98. I've still only had stitches once. It would be nice to keep it that way. 
99. My favorite kitchen utensil is no longer the salad spinner. It's now the Kitchen Aid (seriously - was I on crack?) with the electric fry pan as a close runner-up. 
100. I am still the hottest thing since soup. 

• I confess that I have spent an inordinate amount of time doing my hair this week. I blame Pinterest. 
• I confess that it brings me great pride that I can now french braid my own hair without it looking like things could live in it. (Or at least not looking like things do live in it. Braids are, overall, inviting-looking as living spaces.) 
• I confess that yesterday I found a dead cockroach on the floor (they just sprayed, so anything that cropped up in the last month starts crawling out and dying) and since I was leaving and planning to be gone the rest of the day until I picked up Eric, I just left it so that he would dispose of it. 
• I confess that I was positive that the job I'd applied for had been given to someone else because they told me a week and it had been almost two, and then I got the job the day after I was crying about it to Eric. I confess I didn't even ask how much it pays, because at this point I know it's not a job that requires an MLS, but I just want something to do, and I want to be working in a library until we leave here. 
• I confess that I am pretty distressed that red tide might keep me from Sandcastle Days this weekend. How can something I didn't even know about until yesterday keep me from sandcastle joy? Oh yeah, by potentially wreaking havoc on our respiratory systems as it kills fish by PARALYZING THEIR LUNGS. 
• I confess that I dreamed about time travel last night. Too much Doctor Who before bed, apparently. 
• I confess that this week it has been in the 50s when we leave for seminary, and it completely makes my day every time. I may not be able to wear scarves and cute jackets all the time, but I can darn well wear them at 6 in the morning while turning up the heater and pretending it's fall! 

By far my favorite picture from the protesting

Okay. I have some mixed feelings about the whole Occupy Wall Street movement, but I am certainly in favor of people's right to peaceably assemble, so overall my feelings are that Wall Street made some large mistakes that they aren't paying for, and I'm okay if people want to go and stand outside with signs for awhile.

However, I know exactly how I feel about this post by Lemony Snicket on OccupyWriters.com, "Thirteen Observations made by Lemony Snicket while watching Occupy Wall Street from a Discreet Distance." It is fantastic, and terribly enjoyable. I vote yes to Lemony Snicket writing political commentary.

Some favorites:

3. Money is like a child—rarely unaccompanied. When it disappears, look to those who were supposed to be keeping an eye on it while you were at the grocery store. You might also look for someone who has a lot of extra children sitting around, with long, suspicious explanations for how they got there.

5. There may not be a reason to share your cake. It is, after all, yours. You probably baked it yourself, in an oven of your own construction with ingredients you harvested yourself. It may be possible to keep your entire cake while explaining to any nearby hungry people just how reasonable you are.

11. Historically, a story about people inside impressive buildings ignoring or even taunting people standing outside shouting at them turns out to be a story with an unhappy ending.

Hahahaha. That man is a genius.

Just had a visit from the parents, which was lovely. It's always funny seeing a place through someone else's eyes - my apartment, the valley, Texas, etc. They somehow come off better than you see them after you look at them the same way for awhile. I think we took my parents out to the Island about 4 times (because seriously, it's the best part of down here - not a whole lot of other stuff to see.) I think my mom was just relieved that the border fence wasn't in our backyard and that there weren't drug lords running around outside our apartment. (Since the fence is 3 miles from our house, perhaps that was a legitimate concern. However, marijuana bales get catapulted over in places like Arizona or Laredo, not San Benito.

We started off with a rainy day in San Antonio, followed by time on the Island, at the Palo Alto Battlefield, browsing tiny museums, shopping, and eating. Lots of eating. I mention the eating because there's no photographic proof, but trust me. It occurred (and included BBQ pizza and pesto pizza and sticky wings made by me with my mom as sou chef).

Mum and Dad at the Alamo

On a barge at the Riverwalk, Eric looking slightly drunk/high. In his defense, he was sick, which is why the scruff isn't helping.

Not sure what Dad's excuse is. :)

At the Port Isabel Lighthouse

Sadly, Mom couldn't go up because of her recent knee surgery.

Dad in front of Bobz World

Rescued turtles at Turtles Inc. At least one of them is missing a leg.

Taking a dolphin boat. So many dolphins.

The Port Isabel lighthouse from the boat

Pelicans heading home for the night

A huge line of pelicans (which the tour guide called The Mexican Airforce) in front of the Padre Island skyline

In front of Dirty Al's

Eric refusing to smile for a second picture

Mom and Dad in front of Dirty Al's.

In my rush to make clean the house before my parents get here, I almost forgot to confess!

• I confess that I was sure I would be scrubbing my house from top to bottom before my mom sees it, and now I'm just done. It looks fine. 
• I confess that I finally saw Batman and Robin last night. I didn't really believe everyone who said it was terrible - or I believed them but just didn't understand how terrible it would be. That is possibly the worst movie I have ever seen, ever. I was barely even watching it because I was doing other stuff and I was STILL horrified that someone decided to release it. Poor George Clooney. 
• I confess that I went just a tiny bit crazy on Pinterest this week. Whoops. 
• I confess that this week we painted some of those boards where you stick your head in where the face is and then it looks like you're a sheep or a goose. They are awesome. I'm very excited that they'll be part of a local pumpkin patch, and I really like painting with Eric. Also, I just realized I didn't take pictures. I'll have to get some later from my friend who asked us to do them. 
• I confess that I'm a little jealous of the Utah snow storm. I know this is irrational, and that I wouldn't be enjoying it as much in person, but I really, really want to wear coats and boots and drink hot chocolate. Meanwhile, it's 90 here. But I have a leaf garland outside, so there's that. And pumpkin carving is coming, which will also help. 

Dear Steve Jobs,

Thank you for my iPod. I can't believe that a few years ago I was carrying around my 100 CD envelope and my discman, followed by that time that I had a jump drive that plugged into some little player (which held 256 MB.) I watched this video today and couldn't believe how far we've come, even from the first iPod. But compared to what had come before, the iPod was a revelation. I can't believe the things he introduces in this video that I use constantly and never think about.



I know there are a lot of people who love to hate Apple, and I know what their reasons are, and they can have their opinions. But seriously. Every time I hear someone talking about how great such and such tablet or MP3 player or smart phone is I think, "Yeah . . . but would it even exist if the iPad or the iPod or the iPhone hadn't been so revolutionary And if it did, would it look as pretty? And remember how we all laughed and said the iPad was so silly and useless, but now everyone has them and everyone else is trying to make them and Apple still has 95% of the market?" I'm sure someone would have made something like them eventually - but would they have done it with the same sleek pizazz? I don't know.

The point is, I'll miss you, Steve Jobs. You were a wizard and a visionary and I'll miss waiting to see what you and your black turtleneck will come up with next. I hope your company carries on your legacy with more magical devices.

So about a week ago, I fell in love with this mirror. In. Love. So yesterday I took a trip to Hobby Lobby and picked up some paper, tiny mirrors and cork circles, plus a full-length mirror from Walmart (which I got partially because it was $5 and partially because there are no full length mirrors in our house and every Sunday I try to see my outfit plus my shoes and fail).

Here is the end result! This isn't a great picture of it, but you get the idea. I think I'm going to pick up more of the little mirrors to scatter around (also, I need to get some sticky-tack for them - right now I'm just testing with scotch tape) but I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out for the most part. I should make things more often.

• I confess that I almost didn't bother to write confessions today, but then Lindsey posted some on her blog, saying that she looks forward to mine, and since I started writing them because I consistently look forward to Debra's . . . well. Who am I to deprive the world of part of a long string of joy in honesty? 
• I confess that I am always a little terrified when I leave seminary that I have casually said something that is going to give them a completely wrong impression about everything, and they'll start going around telling everyone that it's true because Sister Long said it in seminary. 
• I confess that it took all week, but I've finally managed to avoid spending multiple hours a day playing Angry Birds and Words With Friends on the iPad. 
• I confess that I hate grocery shopping, and spend much of my life trying to avoid it. I need several things right now, and I am avoiding the store this very moment. 
• I confess that I have been craving other kinds of shopping. I keep looking at things online, sometimes even putting them in my shopping cart, and then telling myself I don't need them. (Also, I have issues with paying shipping, even when things are on sale, and I'm also an incredibly tactile shopper, so not being able to touch things is a deterrent.) I'm hoping to hold out until my parents come to visit next week so I have money to spend on the inevitable trip my mom and I take to the outlets in Mercedes.
• I confess that I often watch Gilmore Girls as it goes up on the WB's website as if I hadn't already seen the entire series multiple times. I confess that I skipped the one where Rory misses Lorelai's graduation to hang out with Jess, because it makes me too upset. I confess that maybe Gilmore Girls is too important to me. 
• I confess that I am already thinking about Christmas, specifically how to make fun stockings for us and what on earth I will get for Eric (who never seems to want anything except the iPad, and he has that now), and what will be easy to send to friends and family in the mail and still be awesome,  and how I will cope with my first Christmas away from my family, and where/how we will celebrate our first anniversary (which is the week before Christmas and also before school gets out, but at least it's on a weekend this year). Whew. No wonder it's spilling out into October. 

My normal October plans are many and varied, including a lovely upcoming visit from my parents, and a potential trip to Houston to visit B and K and do a murder mystery party. However. This post is about the things I want to watch, eat, and read in order to celebrate pumpkin month, especially now that I have both an Ann and a Lindsey hole in my heart where Halloween celebrations ought to be. So here's an initial list, but I encourage recommendations from all corners.





Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach. What could be more fun that Mary Roach and scientists investigating ghosts?

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. The Haunting of Hill House was lots of fun last year, AND this is one of my friend Ann's favorite books. (Ann really is the authority on all things Halloween.) Just the title is creepy.  I just ordered it from hpb.com for $2. (Such is my lack of faith in the local libraries, and I couldn't find it at the bookstore closing sale, and I don't think Shirley Jackson needs my $11, since she died in 1965.)

• I confess that this week when my husband got his iPad, I knew that he was going to want to play with it, but was a little hurt when it was the first night in weeks that he was willing to stay up past 10. That's right. I'm jealous of the iPad.  
• I confess that the return of fall TV shows, particularly Parks and Recreation is ridiculously exciting to me, as is the fact that Cowboys and Aliens finally made it to the dollar theater. It's going to be a good night, even if I'm embarrassed by how much I love movies and TV (even ridiculous movies). 
• I confess that a library aide job just opened up in San Benito, and I'm hoping they'll consider me for it despite my Master's degree in Library Science. I confess that those were words I never thought I would say. 
• I confess that our hedgehog has been hopelessly neglected since we started going to bed early. We feed her and make sure she has water, but we haven't played with her much in weeks. This makes me sad, especially since she's probably turning feral right now. (In my defense, I would play with her during the day except she's NOCTURNAL and gets grumpy when I wake her up in the middle of her REM cycle.)
• I confess that while I miss fall weather, what I actually am missing the most is the ability to wear fall clothes. I hate summer clothes. I always feel better in layers and long sleeves, specifically in cardigans. This is why librarianship was such an obvious fit. 
• I confess that I've been working through my thank you notes for the wedding, and there are a couple I keep hesitating about because they're to people who have gotten married since I did, and I haven't sent them gifts yet. So embarrassing. My friends are much better friends than I am. 

Once upon a time, Eric really, really wanted an iPad.

That time was last year, when they first came out. He talked about it all the time. He was dying to have an iPad. On his phone, there is archived a list of things we wanted to do together for dates (although the list actually started before we officially started dating) and included movies to see, places to go, things to make, etc. One of the things on that list has always been, "Buy an iPad. Get the Starwalk App. Go stargazing."

Anyway, about the time Eric graduated, he actually went and bought an iPad. Gave them his money, bought a wireless keyboard. But the IU bookstore didn't have any in stock, so the idea was that they would hold one for him until it came in. And before it came in, he went back to the store and got his money back, because he was thinking that sometime in the near future he was going to buy this (and a million plane tickets to see me and to visit my parents to ask for my hand):

He picked it out all by himself.

So a couple of months later he proposed, and after flying back and forth a few times, we got married, and now we're in Texas and he's working for TFA, and so far he still doesn't have an iPad. I even tried to get him to use some of our Target giftcard money from the wedding on one (because hey, once I had my Kitchenaid I didn't care that much) but he just kept telling me that he didn't need one - and then spent his nights looking at the app store.

But then this happened, and TFA told Eric that they were giving him an iPad to use in his classroom (the jury is still our on whether he gets to keep it after we leave TFA, but we think yes). And much rejoicing ensued. And then, we found out that 3 regions get the iPad 2, and the Rio Grande Valley is one of them. So as of Wednesday night, Eric gets his iPad (2!), for free, which I am choosing to believe is a sign that being frugal and financially responsible is a good thing, and we should continue paying off our student loans as fast as we possibly can. And I'm pretty much banking on the fact that I won't see my husband without the iPad in his had for a few months.

As long as Thursday night is Starwalk night, it's cool.

My car was making a terrible noise as I drove out of the church parking lot after seminary. It was this weird scraping every time I turned right, and it was upsetting. I stopped at my mechanic's place on the way home (and by that I mean the place where I always get my oil changed, because they are nice) and after an hour in which they put the car up on lifts trying to figure out what horrible thing had happened, they found out that it was just some plastic in the wheel well that had apparently gotten pulled down and was rubbing. They tied it back out of the way and charged me $20. I could say I was annoyed at spending $20 on something I could have fixed myself, but I'm just grateful that it wasn't something serious.

We spent part of this morning watching old videos from 9/11 online. I can't believe it's been 10 years.

I was a sophomore in high school when it happened. Normally we wouldn't have had the TV on while I was getting ready for school, but one of my parents was having some minor medical procedure that day, so my dad hadn't gone to work and was watching the news in bed.

I remember being very confused about what was going on - all we knew was that a building in New York was burning - the World Trade Center, where we'd been just a couple of months before when we visited my brother, who lived about an hour away from the city. As we watched, the second plane crashed. It was crazy. Looking back, I can't believe I went to school after that, or that my parents went ahead and went to the doctor.

I remember that all day at school there was a division between teachers who let us watch the news all through class and teachers who thought we should keep our minds off it and work. I remember sitting with a group of relatively new friends and lunch and talking about what had happened and how we were supposed to feel. I remember that my brother knew several people who worked in the city or at the Trade Center. I think all of them were okay.

I remember that my mom had a new sweatshirt she'd just bought on our trip to New York. It had an outline of the skyline, including the twin towers. She had a hard time ever wearing it after that.

It's strange to think about that day now that it's colored by everything that came after - wars and airport security and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (an awesome book about a little boy whose father dies in the towers - the quote in the title comes from that). All I knew that day was that it would be something I would remember forever - the way my parents remember the moonwalk or the Kennedy assassination. There are some things that you just can't believe when they're happening, and then you never, ever forget.

The strangest thing that happened today was that a 12 year old boy asked me if I'd seen the news - all of the old 9/11 footage. I don't think he'd ever seen it before, and he was fascinated, because when it happened, he was 2.

Well, on the bright side, Friday confessionals seem to get me to post on my blog at least once a week. (Also, I wrote some for Sisters-in-Long the other night, so I'm feeling good.)

• I confess that this week my husband and I made a second raid on the dying mall bookstore, and bought 4 books at 70% off. (If you're interested, they were Malcolm Gladwell's What the Dog Saw, Mary Roach's Spook, John Berendt's The City of Falling Angels, and John Vaillant's The Tiger. Yes, I loved In the Heart of the Sea so much that I was as excited as Eric about 4 more non-fiction books.) Our receipt actually said, "You saved 39.53." We also confessed to each other our sadness about Borders dying (even though this closing was the less awesome Waldenbooks), because we both used to go there and just browse the books when we were sad or frustrated in college. Clearly we really were meant for each other. 
• I confess that one of the high point of my week was finally discovering an NPR station in the Valley. So. Much. Happiness. I listened to StoryCorps on my way home from seminary this morning and just beamed. 
• I confess that after my confession last week about the book I couldn't get into, I finally got into it. I finished it yesterday, and it was actually pretty good. However, there are enough books on my shelf that I am dying to read right now that I don't think I'll be accepting any loaners for a couple of months. 
• I confess that I don't really love lasagna. However, I love this pretend lasagna.  
• I confess that yesterday I walked outside and thought, "Wow, it's downright pleasant outside!" And then I saw a bank sign while I was driving that said it was 95. I'm sticking to my theory that the lack of humidity yesterday made it feel cooler than it was. 
• I also confess that my husband has been stalking the National Weather Service hoping that a hurricane is going to come our way so he can get a day off school. I'm hoping it will hold off for another month in case the power goes out and we lose the AC. 
• I confess that I'm about to make a paper countdown chain for my parents' visit to South Texas, which is happening in less than a month. 
• I confess that before bed last night, I found out that Jude Law and Keira Knightly are going to star in a new movie version of Anna Karenina (thanks Julie!). And then I dreamed about meeting Count Vronsky, who looked like Jude Law (even though I found out later that he's actually playing Karenin. Oh well.)  (Also, just by the way, I looked at the article again, and Tom Stoppard is doing the screenplay! Now I really approve.) 
• I confess that this week I was trying to find something to watch while I did the dishes, and nothing with any actual merit looked appealing at all. (Oh, CW. It's a good thing your shows are starting up next week.) I realized that I really wanted some ridiculous high school drama (Buffy. Basically I wanted Buffy.), so I ended up watching a really stupid ABC Family show on Netflix. And I watched the entire season. Excuse me while I read Malcolm Gladwell and pretend that didn't just happen. (Does Malcolm Gladwell count as a writer that will restore some sense of my being a thinking person?)
• From ridiculous to sublime: I confess that even though I groan when the alarm goes off every single morning, I'm starting to love teaching early-morning seminary. It brings back good memories of my own, not-early-morning experience with seminary. This morning we watched a video that included text from this amazing talk by Jeffrey R. Holland, which intensified my love for Moses 1:13, and for Elder Holland.

I liked it enough before that I'm going to try it again. :)

It occurs to me that I've never posted/taken pictures of our apartment before, and I just cleaned it on Monday (because Eric's back in school and I don't have a whole lot to do except wait to hear back about jobs - and also because it needed a good scrub down/ reorganization).

Anyway, here's the grand tour of our first apartment together.

Here's our front window, bookcases, Stickybun's home

Our couch and coffee table, plus the pictures on the wall

More of the couch and the bar looking into the kitchen

A closer-up looking into the kitchen (the pizza paddle is hanging where the dearly departed bacon used to be)

Our dining area, complete with a not-quite-finished Eric Long original

Our kitchen sink

Stove, fridge, microwave (fascinating, I know)

Our bathroom, with lovely shower curtain

Sink!

The closet outside our bathroom with a view of the hall vanity

The vanity with the wire hanger hooks Eric made for my hair stuff

Our room (there's a matching night stand on the other side, but there's also some laundry over there that I'm hiding)

So there you go! Ta da! It's small, but it's homey and we like it.