All blogged out.

Wow, we haven't even hit the midpoint of NaBloPoMo and I am blogged out. Whew.
I'm not sure what I can even write about today

*pauses to let all three readers of my blog brace for ranting, raving, or worse, WEDDING posts*

Nah. Don't worry. I'm so over all of that.

I think I'll try and write a bit about the craftasticness that is building up on my "To Do" list.

Foremost in my mind at the moment is all the baby crafting I have to do.
I really think that hearing baby news is the best thing EVER. Why?
Hmmm....because having babies is awesome (as long as it's not me!) and I get to craft teeny little sweet things for the babies, play with the little tiny humans, and then hand them back and go back to my sans-children life. It's kind of fantastic. I know someday Jamaal and I will work on kids, but right now it's so much better to get to celebrate pending baby news with family and friends, enjoy their kids, and leave :)

Back to my point: baby crafting!
A friend from college just answered my congratulatory email I sent three months ago when I found out she was expecting. I was starting to worry! The thing is that this is how we are pretty much - I see her at a party, we chat, have a good time, and then don't see each other/talk til the next party. Most people would probably question the fact that I even call this woman a "friend" BUT she was my "Big Sister" in college, and for some reason that makes seeing each other only twice a year still OK. When I found out she was having a baby boy I freaked out with the excitement. I've been knitting a ton of girl stuff, so I am ready for a boy challenge, and this friend is craft-worthy x 10 because not only is she my college Big Sister, but she is also incredibly artsy and will appreciate handmade goodness. Hurrah! Plus being the first close Smith-friend to have a baby, we-ell. It warrants a special effort (though my '04 Smith ladies, if you ever have kids, watch out. I will give myself arthritis crafting for your progeny!).

Today I bought this fabric bundle:

image source

It's definitely going to be a car/car seat quilt. I know there are other crafty people in this lady's life, so I really would NOT want to steal anyone's thunder by making a big quilt. It'll probably be 24" x 36" or so.

Next up, I have to find something to knit. So far there are some frontrunners on Ravelry:
Five Hour Boy Baby Sweater. Gah, the red is so cuuuute
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Too cool for school brimmed hat
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Baby Mittens. Thumbless!
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Wee "vest"
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Overlap Pullover
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Hex Hat
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Wee socks!
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Is that way too much? I thought that if I packaged it all together and the stuff coordinated, it wouldn't be too much. Of course what it will come down to is time. So I should probably prioritize or at least figure out what I want to coordinate and start knitting in a specific order, so if I don't finish half the stuff it doesn't look super-random. The nice thing is that the hats, mittens, and quilt can be done in a single day. The five hour sweater is truly five hours, so I guess the only hurdles would be the baby vest and pullover. We'll see.

This kind of makes me want to give myself a Christmas vacation. Tee hee. Just crafting.

OK - next.
My second cousin is having a baby right before Christmas. She asked for a quilt. A bird quilt. Since she was all request-y and demanding and we are not that tight AND she has one kid already, she's pretty much only getting a quilt.
Ha.
Ok a quilt and a five-hour baby sweater with a matching hat.

Here's the quilt fabric I bought:

image source

But of course I have no earthly idea of how I'm going to arrange this quilt. Usually I do log cabins as they are beyond ridiculously easy, but for some reason, I don't think that style is going to capture the full impact of the bird pattern. I'll probably just do some squares, which is a bit boring, but practical. I'll probably make this sweater, maybe even in this color.

It's the most popular thing in my ravelry queue for some strange reason. It's easy though, so that's good. Maybe I'll be nice and get some Old Navy baby tees to throw under it, but since she has one girl already, she probably has a lot of girly clothes....

Next up, my friend from childhood requested a hat and mitten set for her nearly two-year old. Plus it will be Alexa's birthday at the end of January, and usually I get her a little something crafty. I have been obsessing over hats and mittens. I want to be cute but also practical. Some faves from Ravelry so far:
How cute is this Golden Compass inspired hat?
Alexa's coat is bubblegum pink, and this would match really nicely. I am worried about sizing, as this is meant to fit a preschooler. I think I can manage to adapt it though.
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Miss Lady loooves ladybugs. These wouldn't match her jacket, but they'd make a great gift at her 2-year bday party. I might have to save these for that.
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These would be most practical, plus I can make them to match the hat.
So that's settled I guess!
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What else?
Oh yeah, there's all the stuff I've promised/owe people.

I told Amy I'd make us both a pair of Bella's Mittens:


There's the gay quilt I promised to make EE for her 25th bday (um she will be 28 in March. Go me). I'm not putting it's picture here because I want it to be a surprise!

There's the pink explosion quilt I told Amy I'd make.
There's the pink and purple quilt I told Jen's sister Libs I'd make. Two years ago.
Ummm there's the NY sports quilt I wanted to make Jamaal for Christmas....
There's the inevitable Christmas gift crafting I will take one.

OH.
And of course...I joined an ornament swap.
I'll be making these again this year:

I need to make 20 of them. I feel strangely up to the challenge!

So yes. We won't even discuss the fact that I am supposed to have finished 6 of my bridesmaid shawls (self-imposed goal) by the end of 2009. Ha ha.

I'll pause so you can all tell me that I am NEUROTIC.
Remember though, I thrive under pressure.

Negativity WHAT?

Oh goodness.

Ever have one of those weeks where you feel like the world is conspiring against you?

I'm not talking about one of those horrible weeks, where something truly horrible has happened, like your house burns down or your pet dies or you find out a friend is sick...no that's different.

What I'm talking about is a collection of highly irritating things that add up to push you to point break. Taken alone or one per week, you probably would just shake it off, but adding them up together makes them see irrationally big and looming - as if the world is conspiring against you.

I'm having one of those weeks.
First off, it never helps when your calendar looks like this:
Yes, those are many crossed off things in fluorescent pink.

So there's my calendar, setting the tone.
Monday - infamous board meeting, where I discover I am trapped on the board for the next seven months and not given options. Left my ATM card in the ATM machine. Drowned sorrows in double quarter pounder. Felt regret.
Tuesday - multitude of calls giving me crap about the meeting I've scheduled. Demanding admin assistants. Rude admin assistants. Want to bang my head against the keyboard.
Wednesday - bank closed, cannot get my ATM card back. Wore new red patent leather shoes that seemed like a great idea till they started giving my big toes blisters. Field more calls from admin assistants accusing me of scheduling exec board call "behind our back." Dinner with irrational Republicans who actually said "What Massachusetts needs is Sarah Palin" If she comes here, I sh*t you not, I will move to Alaska. Spend rest of night looking at clock, calculating my escape. Missed Glee.
Thursday - Internet at work royally f*cked. Bank does not have ATM card. Got peppermint mocha at Starbucks instead of what I ordered, a pumpkin spice latte. May have to bail dad out of jail later tonight...ok that's kind of funny. And it won't happen, as our state leaders seem to be doing all they can to quash a protest, so probably no acting up and rage and rock-throwing...at least I don't think....though I have to say if it did, it would be justified, because thanks to this guy and his band of brothers, I almost grew up fatherless and siblingless soooooo...yeah. This week, for lack of a better phrase, has been super f*cked up.
SUPER.
I can hardly bear to see what Friday will bring.

Though because I try and see the glass half full, here are some very nice things that have happened this week:
-Three - yes THREE people have asked me if I have lost weight because I look skinny. I lied and told them I have been exercising really hard and it's paying off. hahahahahaha. Maybe McDonald's will be my new weightloss strategy.
-My awesome eyebrown lady was even more awesome last night and gave me some free microdermabrasion. It rocks and sucks the impurities right out of your pores. I felt pretty for about 4 hours, lol.
-I got some validations from my bosses.
-One of the admins actually emailed me to say "Thank You"
-I had a bunch of good and hilarious phone calls with the Jamonster
-My college friend who I've kept in casual touch with finally returned my email (the congratulatory email I sent her when I found out she is pregnant) and she is doing well and happy and having a boy. That kind of made my week.
-My other college friend texted me that she was wearing the shoes we bought together (we bought the same pair of shoes in college for interviews. Nine west extended toe slingbacks) and that she was thinking of me. Aw, sweet.

So ok, it's not been all crappy. And I will really laugh if I have to drive out to Western Mass to get my dad out of SP Northampton. Though I doubt cops would arrest other cops unless things got really shady and bad LOL. AND
JAMAAL COMES TO VISIT TOMORROW!
YAYAYAYAYYAYAYAY. His visit may consist of going to Asian C, getting slightly tipsy on scorpion bowls, eating enough sushi to sober up again (I never drive intoxicated, just to assure all you readers!) and then driving to Hull to make out by the seawall. Because we are not 27 and 32 but rather 17 year olds who just exchanged a learner's permit for a real license and have raging hormones. LOL.

My pregnant friend was funny in her email when she asked how the wedding planning was going. She said "I remember the whole thing as being kind of a horrible experience..." She kind of hit the nail on the head for me. The whole thing has been kind of nightmarish. The one thing that went beautifully though was the dress shopping. That was a dream. I told Jamaal that of all the superficial junk involved in a wedding, the thing I am looking forward to most is putting on that dress.

So for those of you who don't know me from a hole in the wall or know me and have yet to see it, here's the dress:



I love it. It's beautiful. Can't wait to wear it.
Now I'm going to try and accomplish something today. And you know, try and not be so negative :)

Wedding Wednesday 7/54 aka A Post of Fails

ETA: I would like to step out of my self-indulgent skin to think of all the veterans who have served this country and continue to defend it today. I so admire the sacrifices servicemen and servicewomen make for this country, so I can go about my stupid life without thinking about my safety and freedoms. Thank you.

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Oh the fails this week.
Unbelievable.
Mostly work fails.
An ATM fail, where I left my ATM card in the machine yet again. At least this time I was distracted and on my cell, but still. When I went to the bank in hopes of retrieving the card before it met its death in the shredder I found the bank closed for Veteran's Day. Fail.

Now the wedding fails.

I emailed our point person at the reception venue with a list of questions.
Some I liked the answers to very much, like "yes candles are allowed" and "yes you can use the property the day of the wedding, even if it's before the official reception begins"

Others, not so much.

So we can't get in to decorate before 9am on Saturday morning. This makes me queasy. Since we're not blowing $50,000 on this affair, it is very DIY-oriented, but because I am NEUROTIC I have an elaborate scheme in my head as far as decor. Unfortunately, it does not like this will be a possibility because 1. we do not have a crew of laborers to help us 2. I will NOT let my nearly 60 year old dad, Jam's dad, Jam's brother or my cousin Andrew or uncle who has fallen off a ladder twice climb a ladder on my wedding day (I would never get over the guilt of someone getting hurt decorating for our wedding) and 3. we simply won't have the time or the ladder, which we have to provide, to pull it off:


Though if we keep our numbers down, and don't have to use the balcony for seating, maybe we could pull this off by not having to climb up and down a ladder too many times. I don't know. I am just feeling discouraged today I guess.

The good thing is that I have concrete answers. Now I can go over timing with the photographer and we can tighten the timeline for the day. Jam's response to this time constraint is to severly limit decorations. While I agree we may have to limit decorations, I kid you not, we are going to have a sign-up sheet or something and recruit as many people as possible to help us out. I am so grateful to know that there are a couple of people in particular who are hardcore into aesthetics and will work with us to make the barns beautiful.

So while I can admit to being sad about changing our decorating plans, I'm happy when I think of the great people who have our back...and I'm grateful that the one thing that worked flawlessly (or has worked flawlessly so far) has been the hotel. There may be a wedding at our venue on Friday and Sunday, but as far as I know, I beat everyone to the hotel block! AND I HAVE THE BRIDAL SUITE B*TCHES! Which up until wedding night will be called "the factory of craftiness, flowers and decorating." I can imagine the scene 11 months from now, the bridal suite full of ladies on Friday afternoon gettin' stuff done, and it makes me happy. I always thought I'd want to have a room to myself and enjoy the peace and quiet leading up to the "big day" (blech) but now I am so grateful I reserved that room. I want it full of people :) drinking champagne and hot gluing sh*t. ha ha ha.

Well I kind of talked myself out of that funk. It helps that I saw this tremendously gorgeous wedding today on weddingbee. Totally DIY and amazing. I just love it. I am totally poaching ideas. Really the only hurdle that comes with the time constraint is what to do with lighting...when I really think about it, centerpieces can be set up ready to go in boxes/crates. I can say to the bridesmaids "this is how it's supposed to look" and we can throw them on the tables. Escort cards will be premade and ready, menus, made and ready. Then the other details, pumpkins, gourds, guest books, etc, that will be easy. Just have to figure out the lighting and stuff.

So I am totally rambling and thinking out loud. Ugh sorry to the few that read my stupid blog ;)
It gets to be too much sometimes, and I shut my head off from all things wedding, then something comes up and it seems to be all I think about. I can't wait til we have some things in place and are making foward progress. I'll be super-relieved!

For now I have to get back to work. We're getting so close to figuring out this big lymphoma thing for a presentation at the American Society of Hematologists. Too bad I am too unimportant to be flown down to NOLA for the conference. Dang.

More later!

OMG

Another assistant just called me on the phone.
SERIOUSLY?
WTF?
I said "I'm sending out the agenda tomorrow"
"Oh I guess I can wait til then" she says.
That's it, I'm sending out an irritated email to everyone right now.

A List of Thoughts

Reading the NY Times does NOT make you SMART

- I belong to a certain bridal site/blog where there is a discussion board. For the most part it's friendly banter, you know, like 'OMG we're date twins!' or "My colors are navy and I don't know what the accent color should be." There's other intense stuff and then there's additional completely non-wedding related things. I seem to like to comment most on the non-wedding things. Recently in a movie discussion, someone quoted the NYT. I was like "Just b/c the NYT says it's so, doesn't mean it is." Seriously though, it's a wedding site and was I going to get into it with this user? Oh hell no. Not worth it. Then I notice that this person is a serial poster/NYT-referencer. While there's nothing wrong with the NY Times or wrong with referencing it, I want to smack her upside the head and say "Get an original idea." C'mon woman, break away fromt the narrow opinion of a sole newspaper. Instead I just rage on this blog. Ha ha ha.

I hate an inflated sense of self

- I always tell Jam that I hate to have my time wasted. Then I usually go on to say that I don't have an inflated sense of self, I am perfectly aware of my own insignificance. I am finding that people I am working with are not getting their own insignificance and the extent to which they are wasting my time. Very frustrating. I keep getting emails from various physician's assistants asking for things that I told them I would send on November 11th. Now do not get me wrong, I respect these people. Their jobs are NOT easy, many of the doctors are divas in the extreme, but seriously, do not hound me for something I told you would be arriving in your inbox on X day. And if you MUST could you at least be polite? The most recent email I received said only this: "Send in the call-in info for this call"
Heh? No please? No thank you? Not even a greeting?
My reply: "Hello, It will be sent out November 11th. Thank you. Allison."
In other words "Incredibly rude tw@t, I told you to wait. Leave me alone. PS this is what a salutation and closing look like."
EH. At least this one was to the point. The last email I received from an assistant berated me for adding her as a "participant" in Friday's conference call when she will not be "participating." Then she goes on to say that she must be CC'd on ANYTHING sent to the doc for whom she works. Uhhh. Yeah, thus you listed as a participant. I know you won't be calling in, but if I don't enter you as a participant, your doctor will never get the proper info. Disaster!!

Emotional Eating

-I recently admitted to emotional shopping. I said that food didn't really do it for me in that post, and said that to fill an empty void after a bad day or a death or something I usually like to charge things on my credit card. Yesterday was a rare exception. I belong to an alumnae club board and I desperately want to leave. I am in charge of the South Shore area and participation in events and sheer interests is abysmal. A-B-Y-S-M-A-L. I get about a 2 % participation rate in my planned events....the club thinks this is great, but out of 400 alumnae? Not so much. Anyways, I decided at this month's board meeting I would prepare the club for my departure in February, which marks the end of my 2-year term. I came up with a bunch of solutions and offered to aid my replacement in any way possible. There was a low rumble in the room when I said "February" - the short version of the story is that at some point in the last almost 2-years, someone decided that all term limits would end in June. So even though I was actually elected in December 2007 (didn't attend meetings til Feb, so I decided to cut the board a break) I can't be finished til June 2010..."unless you move far away" one of the members clarified. California never sounded better. Misery, boredom, and apathy are not good enough excuses to leave. My college friend and fellow board member says that I am being manipulated to stay on the board - this may be quite true. Anyway, last night I bolted from the meeting so I didn't have to socialize with any of the weirdos in attendance (my friend had left already LOL) and I ran to the T. I was flustered and angered and stressing. My heart was pounding. Suddenly I realized that every heartbeat conveyed a message, "McDonald's, McDonald's, McDonald's." I knew right then that a quarter pounder with cheese, fries, and a diet coke would literally solve all my problems. I know feeling that gustatory satisfaction would erase my sorrows. Rarely would I find my solace in a hunk of x-grade meat, rarely am I possessed by a desire for food so strong that I actually don't remember my ride home on the foul MBTA - but last night proved to be the rarest of rare occasions. I sped out of the Braintree T to Five Corners, one of the MOST reliable McDonald's in eastern Massachusetts. I wanted to order a quarter pounder, but accidentally ordered a double quarter pounder. I threw care to the wind as I bit into it and found it still STEAMING HOT. So many of my fast food experiences have let me down with a lukewarm burger. This was so hot it was as if my father had just taken it off the grill...so freakin good. My stress melted away. My headache and hunger melted away. My thighs grew by an inch each and my cholesterol shot up to 250, but good LORD in that moment, life was perfect.

My Weekend and My Epically Unproductive Day

Wow. Today has been horribly unproductive. Of course what does blogging do to help my career? Yeah, nothing, but here I am blogging away nevertheless.

Anyways, last Thursday afternoon I left for the annual "shop at New Hampshire's tax-free outlets and shove the family in a condo and see how long they can go without killing each other" weekend. Jamaal did not join in the festivities and wondered aloud how he'd get on next year when we are a married couple and actually doing things together in the same state. "I don't think I'd like it" he says. "Oh it's not as bad as it sounds" I always reassure him. Tee hee.

I have to say Thursday started on a high as amidst the absolute madness of the day, in which I was blamed entirely for the delay of a huge data submission (BLOW ME IT DEPT) we received news that all hospital employees who had worked here for the past 1040 work hours would be receiving a $1,000 bonus in our Thanksgiving paycheck. Shut the front door! I do not work in the world of perks and bonuses (unless, GOD forbid, I get cancer. Then I'll be at one of the world's premiere cancer institutions for treatment. But that's sort of the bonus you never want to have to get/use), so an extra grand getting tossed my way = EPIC. I practically skipped to my parent's car, which was waiting for me at the door to my building, another epic bonus. After our requisite stop at the New Hampshire State Liquor store to buy cheap, tax-free booze, we went to the outlets in Tilton, where I bought red patent leather heels. Yum.

Finally, we headed to our favorite restaurant in the entire state: The Common Man Ashland. I swear to you, if I moved to New Hampshire, probably about 50% of the reason would be because I needed to be closer to The Common Man. We headed up to the lounge to wait for a table where we learned that they have an extensive grog menu. It seems as though the C-M's interpretation of "grog" is somewhat loose, but I will not fight that. NO way. I ordered the "Fever Reliever" grog - or as I said it "Fevah Relievah" - hot cider with maple whisky and a cinnamon and sugar rim. Oh tastiness. It burned going down but was an excellent base for the bread, salad, baked scallops and white chocolate bread pudding that would follow. I think I gained at least 6 pounds there.

Friday consisted of shopping and my once-yearly dark ale consumption and once-yearly round-trip traverse across the Kanc. We drove from Lincoln to North Conway through the snow-dusted mountains - positively gorgeous. Unfortunately my father drove about 20 mph a majority of the trip as he relieved our traumatic but not too serious car accident. Even though this occured on a frozen overpass on Rt 93 above the Pemigewasset, apparently the Kanc brought back memories. Fortunately we arrived in NC in one piece with my mother promising to drive back. I hit up the usual JCrew and various shoe outlets, actually enjoyed the kitchen store this year and added to my dowry (ha ha ha), and suffered through the Talbots outlet. My parentals and I hit up the Muddy Moose for lunch. I figure this is my last year to live off their generosity so I ordered my Magic Hat and a huge-ass Rueben and enjoyed the scenery. Hells yeah. The victory of the day actually came at Old Navy. I wandered around the store buying reliable Old Navy yoga pants, a sparkle tank, long sleeved T's, a puffy vest and some stocking stuffers for Jamaal, not even looking at prices (this is the one weekend I through consumer caution to the wind and whip out that credit card!). I even grabbed some bag for .99 that said "get 10% off everytime you stuff this bag in December." Sounds good. I got to the register and the total came to $131. Yikes! "Hang on" said the girl at the register, "this doesn't take off for sale items till the end. She pressed a button and the total went to $85. I whipped out my Old Navy card "ooohhhh" said register chick "yeah you get an additional 30% off for using your card, so that's.....$60.50" My reaction went something like this "heeaaahhhnnnnnhhh?" "You spend $61 and saved $71!!!!" said register girl. I skipped out of the store and into the car after paying, then promptly fell asleep for our ride over the Kanc.

My sister and I had great plans for Saturday - we planned a several hundred mile loop through NH and Vermont to hit up our favorite crafting locations. We started in Meredith, where we had breakfast at a favorite local diner/restaurant. Next up was a bead store we discovered over the summer. While Amy chose clasps and beads for a necklace, I asked about stringing pearls. I wanted to make a necklace I had seen on Martha Stewart's website, and had chosen a strand of light grey freshwater pearls for my necklace. The owner of the bead shop pointed out the fact that making a single knot on either side of the pearl would be really hard. While I pondered this difficulty, she said "well what the insiders don't want you to know is that it's just as simple to use TWO silk cords to string pearls, that way you can knot the two strands together and have more control over knot placement." GENIUS! I decided to buy additional silk cord so I could repair three broken pearl strands from my cousin, great aunt and grandma kitty. Rockin'

After the bead store we were off to Grantham, a bit of a drive. We were pleased that the GPS was not sending us all the way south to Concord, only to pick up 89 to go north again. Backroad cutthrough! Our excitement was only heightened when we found ourselves thrust into very rural New Hampshire...which looks like very rural Massachusetts, only BETTER.
We stopped to take a picture of this:

Now some people who saw this were all up in arms, yelling "what's wrong with Mitt Romney?!" Of course Amy said "everything," and not that I disagree, but I explained our motivation for snapping the picture: had the news reached this outpost yet that we have a new president and it's not Mitt Romney? I DON'T KNOW. As Amy and I marveled at the seclusion of this "town" I mentioned that had I grown up there, I probably never would have left the woods. I would've hiked and made lean-to's and sh*t. I wasn't saying that that would've been a bad thing, but then Amy just comes out and says "Yeah. If I had grown up here, I would've been feral. I would be speaking in grunts right now."
So so so bad (and if anyone from NH is reading this I apologize. I love your state. Hard. And I am sure you make fun of us "flatlanders" all the time. ha ha).
Of course the word "feral" became this hilarious endless joke for the rest of the ride.

When we weren't joking about feral children, we were on the lookout for moose while enjoying the gorgeous scenery. We did not find any moose this last weekend, which was disappointing, though we did see a rather large Border Patrol checkpoint on the southbound side of 89 in NH/VT, deer carnage spread liberally across the road (it was grotesquely fresh), and many speeding drivers, leaving us in the dust, despite the precipitously placed highway (we got out of the car to admire the dropoff).

The crowning point of our journey was Chutter's in Littleton. It features the world's longest candy counter. I thank the heavens above or whatever producer at channel 5 decided to make Chutter's Chronicle-worthy. Anywho, I bought $30 worth of candy. While this is slightly embarrassing, how is a girl supposed to resist the world's largest candy counter featuring an entire section of gummy/sour things? Practically impossible! Of course I failed to bring my bag of loot to work this morning. Sadness.

So all in all the weekend was fab. We kind of rushed off on Sunday in order to be home in time for the football game. This was probably good because I think family time was getting to a few of us :)

Now I'm back at work trying to get sh*t done and it's practically impossible. I have a HUGE call on Friday, and I haven't prepared for it at all....and I should, since I am the one who is in charge of the agenda. Um. Yeah. Epic fail. I think I might have to show at work at like 7am tomorrow. Boo. It probably rules out a talk I wanted to go to also. This is why I should not be so bad at planning my day and productivity. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day.

What Happened to the Weekend?

Ahhh the weekend is totally gone!
Sadness...
And it's kind of late to ramble on about my NH adventures...and I'm kind of only posting because of NaBloPoMo
I will do that tomorrow.
Tomorrow is another countdown milestone
AND
it's time to do some major major major M-A-J-O-R organizing
AAAND
it's my good friend and college roomie's birthday (you know who you are :)

So more tomorrow. Tonight. Sleep.
Night blogland.

NH

I have so many things about which I must write...
Like how every modern bar should serve grog...
How I DO just love a bargain...
My once annual ale consumption...
How my sister and I said "feral" a million times today...
And so much more: deer carnage, Mitt Romney signs, insider beading secrets, Border Patrol, snowy mountains and moose hunts...

But later...now I must sleep off my food coma, one of the hazards of spending my weekend with my grandmother and the world's largest candy counter.