Birthday Recap

 There were certain things I wanted to do for my birthday.

 I had a champagne cocktail at the Barker Tavern (actually, I had 2)

 I got a mani/pedi and became a convert of the gel manicure.

I went to Sephora and bought myself some treats. 

I did manage to get hygiene kits together for my church, but I didn't seem to take a picture of them! I am super-anal and had the facecloths and hand towels all match, and put in toothbrushes that coordinated well with the towel colors. Who does that? And what hygiene kit recipient, who is in such a desperate situation they need a facecloth, hand towel, comb, toothbrush, bar of soap, nail clipper and 6 bandaids, would ever notice such a thing? Maybe no one will - which is fine, because the point is bringing people what they need to survive - but maybe someone will notice and think "someone thought of me when they put this together" because I did. 

I still haven't started my Craft Hope project, but hope to soon!

As for the quilt, life intervened. Yeah. I had set aside a day to make a Quilt for Quake Survivors quilt, but I totally failed because I was having a really bad awful day and couldn't focus long enough to sew. It sounds stupid, and looking back, it  is pretty dumb. I have been feeling terrible about it, and every time I see the scraps that I had cut out hanging out on the shelf of my pantry, I have guilt. I really felt like I was meant to make a quilt to comfort someone who had lost everything.

Then this happened in Alabama:

I saw this picture on (and stole it from) abcnews.com. Someone commented that they could not believe that in the midst of all this, America seemed to be focused on the Royal Wedding and President Obama's birth certificate. How true. I can't imagine what it's like to have a mile-wide funnel cloud bearing down on your home, putting your entire family and existence at risk. I can't imagine losing everything - but I can imagine how heartbroken I'd be to lose certain things - like family photos, heirlooms, and things I had made and other people had made for me. Suddenly I realized I have a reason to finish that quilt and that I wouldn't even have to search as far as Japan to find someone who might need a little homemade comfort.

John James Audubon!

Google looks like this today - it's John James Audubon's birthday! Thanks to my friend Rachel, the walls of our living room are graced with Audubon prints. I love them, they actually make me happy when I walk in the room! They're so vibrant you could stare at them for hours. I'm plotting ways to get my favorite print up in the dining room, a Baltimore Oriole in a Magnolia tree. Our wall are full, but there's always room for another Audubon print, right?

Here's what we have on the walls now (forgive the hideous camera phone photos):

Louisiana Heron, now called the Tricolored Heron

Screech Owls - especially fitting as I've found one living in a tree not far from our apartment

Pileated Woodpeckers

Blue-Winged Teals and Mallards

Great Blue Heron, one of my favorite birds

Carolina Parakeets, which are unfortunately extinct. Sad considering how beautiful they were.

Why You Gotta Hate?

What is up with people HATING on the Royal Wedding??

I get lukewarm feelings, I get indifference because we're Americans, sure, but some people I've encountered have super-violent reactions. Lighten up people, it's a wedding! A celebration of love! Yes, it's a multi-million dollar/pound celebration of love, but LIGHTEN UP, it's supposed to be fun for the rest of commoners to watch, judge, talk about Kate's dress, why she went with flowers in her hair instead of a tiara (or vice versa, as it remains to be seen), etc.

I say this as someone who does not plan to get up at 4AM to watch the beginning of wedding coverage. I'll DVR it and watch later, but after work on Friday I plan to enjoy checking out Kate's dress, what the queen is wearing, what kind of suit Will chose (I'm a newlywed, these things still entertain me. Oh, and I'm nosy lol). After all, the beauty of television coverage is that you have a choice - you can turn your tv on and watch the coverage, or you can watch something else, or not watch TV at all. OR you can go all out, you can get up at 4AM, watch the coverage, you can go to a viewing party at the asscrack of dawn in your fancy hat and sip mimosas.

Someone on facebook said "I'm not watching the Royal Wedding. Our forefathers fought a war with England so we wouldn't have to be subjected to things like this" (dramatic much?). My response is that yes, we're Americans, and most of us have 5 TVs in our houses and get 500 cable channels. We do have a choice about watching the wedding or not watching it. There's no need to get all riled up about it. Do it or don't. The end.

This American, however, is going to watch it with an adult beverage, fast forward through the dull bits, enjoy it, and will wish the newlyweds well...then it's back to normal for the rest of us!

As my sister would say: WHAT EVEN?

My coworker eats the same thing for lunch every.day. Oh except Fridays, when she gets chicken and lo mein at the Chinese place in the food court.

Every day she makes fun of the fact that I eat yogurt.

Why? Do I make fun of her Au Bon Pain salad that costs 11 bucks? Of which she only eats half and throws away the rest? NO. I don't.

I have made passive aggressive comments to try and get her to stop, like "wow, you're really concerned about my yogurt eating" but she doesn't get it. It's YoCrunch Greek, fruity and delicious with granola-y stuff on top. I eat it because 1. it's fairly healthy 2. I like it. So like, what is the issue?

I think I might start eating it for breakfast. And when she says something like "where's the yogurt?" I'll say "Oh, got sick of the comments, so now I eat it for breakfast when I'm alone in my office." SRSLY WTF?!

A Thought

More about my spectacular birthday later...
for now, a thought:

I was reading my blogroll this morning and came across pictures of Easter egg dying. My inner self sighed. I just turned 29, kind of old to be dying Easter eggs....besides, what would I do with them? As I sat at my desk thinking "eat them on Easter morning, and oh, the egg salad, one of Jam's specialties..." dying eggs seemed like maybe not so foolish an idea. Then I imagined my grown self buying a box of Paas at the supermarket. Yeah, I use self-checkout, but wouldn't I feel silly, just a little bit?

Then I remembered - I have a wedding ring, and one of the many perks of being married, is that you get a ring to wear for the world to see, upon which they may base their many assumptions about your life.....and when I go to the store and buy things, "kid things" I let the world make those assumptions, however wrong they may be...I'm a married lady, buying her kids Halloween candy, toys for Christmas, or......stuff for Easter eggs :)

Yes, it's wrong....but it feels oh so right.....

Birthday

My birthday is on Saturday. Yay!

While I always buy myself something and tend to be waaay self-indulgent (last year I bought a clarisonic!) this year I want to give back a little too. So, though it is my "birthday weekend" I am hoping to get a lot accomplished.

1. I would like to put together a bunch of hygiene kits for my church

2. I would like to participate in Craft Hope's Project 12

3. I would like to make a quilt for Quilts for Quake survivors.

I'd consider that to be a really good way to celebrate my birthday/spend time.

Just so you don't think I'm a goody two shoes, I'd also like to

1. order a champagne cocktail at the Barker Tavern

2. get a mani/ped

3. buy a clarisonic replacement head, night lotion, lorac multiplex 3D lip gloss and some bumble and bumble products at Sephora

These things mean birthday glory....and I am all about birthday glory for my last birthday in my 20's. Let's GO!!!

Amusing

I know, I know, it's a little crazy to compare nail polish to gasoline (though milk to gasoline I find a more reasonable comparison, because if you drove a little less, yet still bought x gallons of milk per week your're spending....ok I'm stopping), but I find this chart very interesting and entertaining, from the endlessly interesting and entertaining I Love Charts tumblr.

Subway Etiquette

Great pictorial display of why we should stop being a$$holes on the train and give up our seats to pregnant ladies (well, and anyone needing a seat!)

http://ilovecharts.tumblr.com/post/4373042007/subway-chivalry-via-noogs

I will say that I have offered my seat to pregnant ladies and ladies I suspected were pregnant. If you have any doubt about a woman being pregnant, err on the side of caution and offer up your seat. If a woman asks why you're offering it (though why anyone would ask is beyond me) say "you look like you've had a long day" or "just thought you would like to sit" - DO NOT SAY "Because you're pregnant, right?" Because let me tell you, it will make a non-pregnant lady feel kind of crappy about herself. Take it from a girl who knows. Luckily I have a sense of humor and usually say "yes, I know this parka makes me look pregnant, but I'm not! Thank you for being so kind as to offer me a seat though, that's really nice."

Actually, looking at this chart made me laugh because I fall into the category of the "alleyoops" aka standing people who have requested a seat on the pregnant person's behalf. I have only done this once, and I was intensely provoked. It was last summer on a packed red line train. A very obviously pregnant lady got on the train and proceeded take off her cardi and put her parcels on the floor. She looked hot and exhausted. The line of d-bag men seated in front of her either buried their head in their newspapers or stared at her gape-mouthed. A woman standing next to me muttered "can you believe it?" when no one stood to offer up their seat. I reached across 3 or 4 people, tapped the pregnant lady on the arm and said "Do you need to sit? Because I will tell someone to MOVE." The lady next to me chuckled. The pregnant lady looked slightly mortified and said "No, actually, I'm fine." I said "OK, but if at any point you want to sit, let me know. I will get someone to move." Now the men gaped at me...probably because they thought I was crazy. I probably looked crazy too. I noticed that when some seats freed up, the pregnant lady took one...at the opposite end of the train. Heh. I didn't care though, I was so so angry. Don't even get me started about the time a blind man WITH A SEEING EYE DOG got on the train and no one offered up their seat. I was ready to start throwing things at people.

Wow, this post turned from "lookit this cool chart" to full-out ranty. Oops. In short, read and be amused but horrified at the chart, think of it when you're next on the subway, offer your seat to someone who needs it more than you do. I will do the same.

Thank you, PSA now over.

Two Lists

Things my officemate does that ANNOY ME:

1. disagrees with me on purpose/brings up sensitive issues she knows we disagree on just so she can voice her opinion once again. E.g. gay marriage, pre-marital cohabitation, when a couple should buy a house/have kids, the fact that Jam and I don't eat pork. I would like to note in the record that I avoid these topics, and do not ever bring up coworkers 1.eating habits 2. religious affiliations/beliefs based solely on the teachings of the church to which she belongs and with which I have major personal issues 3. her marriage 4. her kids (unless it's "how's so and so doing in school")

2. reads the news to me. All of which I have usually read the day before...sometimes days and days before.

3. talks disparagingly about coworkers on our project - I don't care what they do unless their work affects me, which it doesn't

4. reads the weather out loud to me

5. reports on the status of the ladies room after each visit. E.g. "pee on the seat in stall one, in stall two, no one flushed." WTF?

6. plays the radio out loud without head phones. Some Neil Young-heavy station.

Things my officemate does that make me feel guilty about getting annoyed:

1. has my back (most of the time)

2. gossips (and she has good gossip, so as long as she's not purposefully mean, I am happy to indulge.)

3. gives me candy apples at Christmas (which may sound insignificant but they are the most bangin' candy apples ever invented on EARTH the end.)

4. tries to be helpful in my quest for additional domestic skills including cooking (she sends me recipes and bought me a pie plate for a wedding gift)

5. shares candy/baked goods/food with me at least once a week...I think she has a secret quest to fatten me up, but still, it seems like a benevolent gesture.

So while certain days are super-unbearable and I sit at my desk and think "today I am not going to talk about XYZ" or sit there and brace myself for questions I won't want to answer, there are times when I feel really bad about getting annoyed so easily because it could be much, much MUCH worse....like my old supervisor could be my officemate....and she has tics (slurping, tapping her fingers/feet, etc). It could be worse. I must learn a bit more patience. And learn to answer questions and respond to comments strategically.

Today I did fairly well. I shrugged when asked "why do elderly people still have their licenses? Old people are crashing into things all the time." I shrugged twice and said "I don't know. Doesn't the registry test them?" "It's a JOKE" she yelled. I shrugged again. Probably because I know several old people who drive more responsibly that I do....

Anyways, there's a list for today. I promise something more creative tomorrow. Hopefully a project won't eat my soul and three hours of my time tomorrow...

Animal House

There is a mouse running around the 2nd floor of our office building like he owns the place.

Little bastard.

Last night, he dug up my plant and threw dirt around my desk, then he crapped liberally on my office mate's desk (OK that's kind of funny because she was a bit beastly this week with the comments) - but I don't take kindly to the destruction of my tropical plants!

I declare a war on office mice.

I "could fight them with conventional weapons, but that would take years and cost millions of lives....."

I "have to go all out.

What this situation absolutely requires IS"

my self-designed mouse catcher.

I will let you know how it goes.