1. My sleep is all screwy. I woke up at 1:30am last night. I guess I should buy some melatonin for tonight...

2. I am having a job-hunt-related worry, which I just posted about above.

3. I feel kinda cruddy but I can't put my finger on why... I think I'll take a shower and brush my teeth and see if it helps.

1. I do have strep throat. OMG, I felt like death. I've taken six doses of antibiotics and am starting to feel normal again. I actually have energy this morning. I won't describe what my thoat looks like. I won't use those nasty words like, "patches" or "streaks" or "pus".

2. Since I'm feeling like a human again and will take my seventh dose momentarily, my kids, my parents and I are going to a small fair in our city center.

3. I have a ton of laundry to do but it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Tomorrow I will clean like the the Queen was visiting.

1. Still not feeling quite myself after that nasty bout with flu a few weeks ago. Ugh.

2. I have a personal training session on Wednesday to learn how to lift proper weights-barbells and such-at our gym. Hoping I feel better by then.

3. I like my job, I like my boss and coworkers, so why do I dread going to work? I don't hate life while I am there, we have fun, the day generally goes by fast-but I miss being at home and I am so tired when the day is over. Maybe #1 has something to do with this???

1. My right elbow is messed up; I exacerbated the problem on Friday by digging in the garden.

2. My ground cherries have finally come up! Sproutlings! This is awesome, because last year I had no luck with germination. I've also begun some tomato seeds that Miko sent me. They'd gotten buried under some other paperwork. Late start is better than none, I suppose.

3. Motivation to get things done is low, except with the garden. I tried playing "Pioneer Stew" yesterday to get myself off the computer and making progress with the ever-growing to-do list, but requiring the computer for the most acutely necessary tasks (bills) led me back to being online most of the day. It didn't help that there were obstacles in getting the bills taken care of, either. The card I had set up to auto-pay bills with most of my accounts has expired. The internet bill only allows me to send in a change via snail mail. The city website isn't loading, so the water bill has gone unpaid. I have been unable, therefore, to come up with the amount of $$ my housemate owes me, which vexes her to no end I am sure. I have to do taxes, which will still be easy this year, but that hasn't happened. The obstacles frustrated me, and I gave up. Much of the problem is also that my house is a mess. The environment doesn't encourage getting other things done. I'm overwhelmed at all the work that needs to be done, so the cycle feeds itself. I need to buck up.

1. Back trouble bad. Bed good.

2. Yesterday, I made anadama bread and washed all the bedding, including the comforters. Aaaaah, I love when everything's fresh and clean and soft and sweet.

3. The Fella left for work before my back trouble kicked in. Though he didn't even know I was in need of comfort, he surprised me by coming home last night with pizza and a childhood double feature (The Muppet Movie and Labyrinth). SO GREAT.

1. I have to work on the neighborhood website today to create a page advertising our Queen Victoria's Birthday Tea and House Tour fundraiser in May. The sad thing is that working on the little website for the neighborhood council is more interesting than my actual job.

2. I got a whole 'nother 8 foot high, 8 foot wide section of shelving built in the garage yesterday, only 16 more feet to go. So far it's passed the "250# man climbing on top and jumping up and down" test; there's no point in building if you can't overbuild. Hopefully we can get all of the hundreds of boxes off the floor soon.

3. Mrs O and I have been hitting the Gym three mornings a week for two weeks not but haven't lost any noticeable weight yet. It's nice having the Y only two blocks away.

1. I just had a nice converssation with one of my oldest friends from high school after finding him on Facebook.

2. Doing my usual Sunday morning music scrounge and looking forward to next week where I get to do a fill show, be interviewed at the station about my new show, then do my new show NEXT Sunday at this time.

3. I have to re-motivate myself at the gym - I've lost 25 lbs. in a month or so, but now the drudge is creeping in where I start convincing myself subtly to not go.

Sorry you didn't get the football result, Jan. Feel better soon.

1. The office is a complete trainwreck this morning, which is significantly pissing me off. (Srsly, the boss yelled at the the boys last week for dicking me on Sundays AND THEY DID IT AGAIN.) Argh. It's a serious case of TMS.

2. I still haven't heard from UMD about fall admission, even though registration for fall classes starts this Thursday. Good job y'all. Way to inspire confidence in your own program.

3. I'm quite anxious about the condo. There's still one thing that could potentially screw up the whole process and we won't know about it until next week, which is ass because we have to put out cash on Monday for the appraisal and inspection.

1. I've been feeling down in the dumps all weekend. I was going to go visit my dad but I didn't and I kind of regret it, but last night I got takeout with a college friend and watched The 7 Year Itch which was really funny.
2. I am very sensitive to smells today and the world is bothering me with its smelliness.
3. This morning I went to the gym even though I didn't want to and now I'm proud of myself.

1. Just
2. woke
3. up

I hope all you sick people start feeling better soon.

≡ Click to see image ≡
1. Built those yesterday, plus another one, all in my front yard. Found a huge pile of junk cinderblock behind the stockyards and ferried it all up to my house, 12 blocks at a time, back and forth. Concrete block is heavy. Now these have to be mortared into place and then they will be mosaiced and then dirt will be dumped into them and then they will be the most bombproof vegetable garden EVAR. My front yard looks like Berlin after the wall fell. Momentarily, work will recommence on this project.
1a. My shoulders are SORE.

2. Still have the stray puppy. Three dogs is a lot of dogs. Does anyone want a 6 month old very smart very sweet girl mutt?

3. Went to a small local artsy "circus" performance thing last night. Cute. Jugglers & acrobats.

1. Sister's baby is due any day now, and I'm obsessed--OBSESSED--with knitting things for it.

2. Have been spending my morning tea & cigarette(s) time making lists of things I'd like to get done that day, which has been incredibly helpful. Have declared today no-list day, which is also nice, as I can spend the whole day working on the projects mentioned above, should I so wish. Except for the bit where I make buttermilk pancakes for my lovely guy, which is soon.

3. New yoga dvd is hard but good. Must do it more.

So all in all, life's pretty sweet at the moment. Looking forward to progress reports (with photos, of course) of mgl's Berlin Garden.

Hee! mgl, I've got a cinderblock square foot garden that my boys have totally taken over. Good luck with your veggies!

1. Got a lot of rest for my vacation, which was nice, but the house isn't as clean as I'd like. At least I'm out of the blues. Yay, sunshine!

2. Sleepy because I drank too much caffiene yesterday and was experimenting with crochet stiches for a hand towell project at church.

3. Not as anxious as I was about going back to work. It'd been so busy that I couldn't think about the things that were bothering me. Now I have, and I can go back and deal with the problems, and with the things I can't change.

mgl, you can't get rid of Perdita now, Django obviously adores her.

1. Making sourdough bread today. Started the sponge yesterday and it's looking good. Fingers crossed!

2. Long list of Sunday chores and short supply of motivation may result in heartbreak, regret, and disappointment.

3. Sore from performing three cat baths on Friday night. Am concerned that the wound on my left arm (in a perfect mouth shape) is getting infected, even though I put neosporin on it immediately after removing the cat from the arm.

1. still getting sicker
2. intensely jealous of LoriFLA's strep throat because she can take antibiotics and I can't (well, I could, but they wouldn't do anything)
3. crying for no apparent reason (either sickness or hormonal) which means I'll get the "OMG why are you crying are you mad at me did I do something wrong what's wrong PLEASETELLME" from the husband when he gets home from church.

1. Went to Chinese buffet for lunch. Mmmmm.

2. It's so gorgeous out, we're going to take the dog to the park so she can run around and splash in the lake.

3. Still computerless at home, but when I get it back on Wednesday, it'll be MUCH faster and the RAM will be maxed, so yay for that.

Lori, so sorry to hear about the strep... UGH. I've had it a few times and it's horrible.

1. A friend is in the hospital, and although it isn't (super) serious, I can't help but be very worried.

2. Couldn't sleep well because of #1, so I decided to be productive this morning and cleaned my kitchen! Which is good, because...

3. A friend is on her way over and we are going to bake muffins, before going to see I Love You, Man. Yay!

1. Lots more gardening happened this weekend. Beautiful weather for being outside, too. I can't wait for stuff to start sprouting!

2. Mutton curry simmering in the oven. I know that sounds weird, but we've made it before and it's so freaking delicious.

3. I'm oddly tired and looking forward to bed. Really wish I had one more day off. I don't mind working five days in a row, but I want the weekend to be three days long!

1. I'm another bunny who spent time in the garden. I raked (wondering how on earth I got all the leaves in my yard when I don't even have trees!), decided to edge the beds, then edge the sidewalks. I've got more to do before putting down mulch, but I did a lot for one day..

2. Muscles hurt already. Tomorrow should be interesting.

3. Went to a wine tasting yesterday at a local winery who was having a fund raiser for a Columbian orphanage. I liked their Pear Wine and their Sangria; brought home the Sangria, but will probably go back for the Pear.

1. Ate
2. SO MANY
3. Pancakes ...

1. Yesterday was great. It was my birthday and my boyfriend baked challah just so he could make french toast for me (my special birthday eating request). It was delicious. At night we strolled around town to run a few errands and then he let me beg him into going to the home and garden Powell's (where I got one of these) and when that closed he let me beg him into going to the bigger Powell's (where I got this). And then he even let me beg him into going to Zupan's right before they closed so we could get Boylan's orange soda.

2. I have a crochet hangover. I got over-obsessed and excited and this morning I came down hard. I do love the armwarmers I made though! Actually, I really like everything I've made, I just didn't need to make a hat a day, that was silly.

3. Boyfriend also carved a stamp that he stamped on paper he made and then hand-bound into a card for me! Jesus, how great is that.

1. The bf is coming on Tuesday, and I'm super excited.

2. Had a very productive day yesterday and got everything but the kitchen cleaned.

3. Glad I got a lot done yesterday, because it's now one pm and I'm still in my pj's.

1. Back to life.

2. Back to reality.

3. Back to liiiiiiife . . .

1. It's Monday here, so I'm on my way to work, despite being sick as a dog
2. Because of feeling like death (slightly) warmed over all weekend, got nothing important done
3. Got to watch all of the first round of the new V8 Supercars season, though.

1. I'm making a point to get up on time, even though I have nowhere to go, and I'm making sure to go for a walk pretty much every day, and to accomplish as much from my TO DO Lists as I can. This approach appears to be helping. I'm feeling pretty upbeat and chipper a lot of the time now. Think the shock from last Monday is wearing off, and I'm going to start the process of applying for jobs this week. Just got to write / polish my resume today. One of my other strategies of coping with everything has been to spend time with my good friends, which has been really lovely. And I'm enjoying the side effects of my organisation - as I did a whole bunch of ironing last night, and my room is almost completely organised from the ground up.

2. I went on two dates last week. Not too sure about either of them. One of them I know is quite keen, but although I like him lots as a friend, I'm not sure that there is anything romantic there or not. The other I don't think I'll see again.

3. It's a bit of a grey day here, which is nice - hope it rains hard. But the Plan of Attack for the day is to go for a walk around the botanical gardens, go into uni, get my laptop set up for the wireless system there, work hard on my resume, meet my teammates for a meeting about our presentation, and then give the presentation in class. Maybe meet friends afterwards.

I'm Getting Things Done with Delores.

1. I've got two corset orders, and another soon perhaps (a friend knew someone who was about to pay prices similar to mine for plastic bones, and referred her to my etsy)
2. My mechanic told me I'd best be looking for a new car, as mine has hit the "one repair after another until it bursts into flames" stage of life. I'm having a very hard time finding one. People on craigslist are asking $3000 or more for stuff like mid-90s cavaliers.
3. Had dinner at my boyfriends' mom's house, she made corned beef. She also lent me barbara walters' autobiography.

bonus 4. My best friend's mom is a union organizer. she may be able to get me in doing that at entry level. I'm very excited about the prospect.

Update: I got the paperwork for my official admission to the bar today. Just have to sign, notarize, write a big check, and in two weeks, I'll be an attorney. I can finally stop correcting people at work who assume I already am one. Finally, some good news in the mail!

1. Last night was watching Heat and Dust with my Mom, a certified Indophile. Halfway through my niece comes down crying and her brother is saying "I know it was wrong, but I'm not talking about it right now." Through the bawling it ensues that he was fooling around upstairs with his airsoft pistol and shot a pellet into her room to scare her. It hit her in the eye. She said her eye hurt and she couldn't see!

I quick opened her lid and the eye looked intact but like her iris was all black.

We rushed to the hospital. (On the way, we had to wait for a little black chick and her shorty waltzing slowly across the street against the light, and when I honked she gave me a look like her shit didn't stink. I swear, I almost ran her over.) At the ER they gave her a CAT scan and told us they might have to transfer her to the state capital for eye surgery, but the on-call opthalmologist eventually appeared to say that while it was "bruised" and full of blood, her vision would probably return to normal after the blood drained.

My nephew's gun was taken away by the cops, and he might face felony reckless endangerment charges. He eventually showed up at the hospital crying and even held my niece's hand during part of the exam.

My mom barely held it together. Of all the three grandchildren she raised, this one was the most closely bonded to her, and we had just been discussing that very morning how much better she was doing since her sister (with a different set of developmental and mental disorders of her own) had moved out with her bio-mom.

Anyway, this all takes place amid the backdrop of my dad's dementia and resulting bankruptcy for my mom and dad, AND my nephew -- same one -- having a kid out of wedlock. I think this is about the twelfth time we've visited the hospital this year.

2. Getting closer to having one of our empty apartments ready to rent. It's incredible how much extra work my dad's years of deferred maintenance leads to. He NEVER let me fix an apartment 100% before somebody moved in so I'm fixing things that go back three tenants.

One of the biggest projects was this plastic toilet-seat riser for a tenant with hip replacements. The bolts were rusted completely shut, and several attempts to pry or bang them loose failed, so I finally just got the reciprocal saw and went to town on the bolt. I didn't want to a) damage the riser (we might use it for my dad someday), b) damage the toilet itself (no money for a replacement), c) damage me. But it pretty much worked out. Still, one stupid thing a tenant leaves behind = 2+ hours of hard work for me.

3. Relaxation was getting to work pruning the low-slung yews in the front yard. Last year I had started using spray paint to mark major branches that went in the "wrong" direction (switchbacks, or competing with a neighbor shrub) and that made it pretty easy to know which ones I could aggressively prune back. I don't want to just remove them outright because that would leave too many gaps, so this is actually a multi-year pruning project. I do feel I'm getting closer to having healthy and pretty yews, though.