it's the little things...

Braindead from a long week (and, yes, it's only Wednesday). Found this over on Jennifer 's blog (a new visitor). 52 Confessions 1. The phone rings, who do you want it to be? The Boyfriend 2. When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart? Yes and occasionally an extra random one near the cart corral. Why do people get them so close but then not give them that extra push? 3. If you had to kiss the last person you kissed again, would you? Yes, please. 4. Do you take compliments well? Not really but I think I'm getting a little better. 5. Do you play Sudoku? Yep. 6. If abandoned alone in the wilderness, would you survive? Depends what the conditions were and how long I'd be alone there. Not too good with the survival skills... 7. If your house were on fire, what would be the first thing you would save? Pictures. 8. Who was the last person you slept in the bed with? The Boyfriend. I know...you're shocked and appalled, aren't you? 9. Who do y

Instead of whining about how I apparently cannot become completely healthy in 2008, I'm going to show you my latest project. Perhaps you'll remember from long ago that the master bath looked something like this: I know, raised toilet seat. I know how that bothers some of you (and doesn't make for as good of a picture). Rest assured, I was more considerate in the more recent pics. Because I could not stand the sight of that wallpaper, I've been living with something like this (wallpaper remnants) for quite awhile: Yeah, it wasn't good but I swear it was better than those flowers. So, during recent bouts of wellness, I finally decided on how I was going to tackle this one. The walls under the wallpaper were not prepped for painting. The thought of removing every last speck of wallpaper made me want to commit self-injurious behavior. I decided to get some paintable wallpaper. I've used it before and was pleased with the results. I'd recommend it if you have w

Yeah, so it's not Sunday. I just needed a miscellaneous post and low and behold, that's the topic for Sunday Scribblings . Here's my mishmash: Amidst my numerous beginning-of-the-year illnesses, I managed to start and nearly finish my master bathroom. Pics coming soon! I'm very excited about it and feel rejuvenated in regards to getting the rest of the big projects completed. Next up? The Ugly Bathroom. I've realized that while I am blessed with a good metabolism, I will never have that perfectly flat stomach that many celebrities boast. I had absolutely nothing in my system after that stomach virus thing and I almost had that stomach. I eat half a dozen crackers? Pooch. Being able to actually eat enough to get that pooch? Made me unbelievably happy. The little things, people. I also have some new and/or updated light fixtures in the guest bath. Pics of that soon, too. After installing my new light fixture, The Brother went to flip the breaker back on a

To continue on with Mondo Beyondo ... What I Want to Acknowledge Myself for Regarding 2007 Doing a really good job with work. I think I kept my strong work ethic and was able to see beyond just financial compensation to what else is truly important in a job. I remained loyal despite getting non-stop calls for other options. Having the (you know, I want to say "balls" so I'm going to) balls to take a vacation on my own. To a place I'd never been but have wanted to go. To use that airline credit instead of just letting it expire. To not feel sorry for myself for doing it because I could have sat at home alone or taken this fantastic trip alone and I chose the more exciting one. Taking time to enjoy parts of life outside of work. Being open enough to know that some really fantastic guy crossed my path and not letting that opportunity pass me (him, us) by. And being vulnerable which, you know, is not very comfortable. Managing a household (with an actual house and a

Taking a break from 10 on Tuesday. I don't know if I'll pick that up again or not (or maybe just sporadically). After surfing some blogs, I found Sunday Scribblings . I like that it's just a topic and it gives you a lot of freedom. We'll see how it goes. This week's topic? Fellow Travelers. What a funny topic to be my first one... Traveling. Fellow travelers. I've mentioned this before but it still holds true. Sometimes I cannot believe that this is my life. That I get to travel so much. I've been a business traveler for almost three years now. Three years! That's so hard for me to believe. Before that, I wasn't much of a traveler at all. I was the kind of traveler I have grown to, well, despise is a strong word. I was a very infrequent leisure traveler. Ack. The kind who isn't sure about all the travel rules. Who gets anxiety over airport security and goes through it way too slowly. Who feels uncertain when faced with navigating new places. Who

I'm happy to report that I'm finally feeling human again. Not 100% but I actually left the house yesterday. Ok, so I drove the few miles to The Brother's place where I just sat around keeping the cat company, but I was out of the house. Also? I've been able to eat food besides crackers. Yea me! While I've been home so much this week (and not feeling at all like doing things on any personal To Do list), I've caught up on some blogs. The last link in my list over there in the sidebar is new. I've been meaning to add it for a long time. The author/artist has some amazing jewelry for sale (I bought a necklace about a year ago and love it), an adorable baby, fantastic photography skills, and some great ideas. Since I was behind, I missed her New Years post. It was called Mondo Beyondo 2008 . Go check it out to get the full explanation. It's basically a way to put the past year behind you and move on with the new one. Clean slate, etc. I know it's mid-Jan

In apparently more ways than one... How funny is this?! Go ahead, take the quiz to see how many little kids you could fight. You know you want to... 14

For the 4th time in my life. And I don't even know what we could have eaten that would have given it to us. But it lets me use the "I'm feeling crappy" face over there...

Is it too much information to tell you that I'm forcing The Boyfriend to answer some questions from this book called Things You Should Know About Your Mate: 1,000 Questions for Couples ? In all fairness, I'm answering them as well. Surely this doesn't surprise you given my psychology background. Tonight's list was about favorites. I thought I'd just copy/paste (censored a little bit) for you here. What have I learned from this exercise? I can't easily pick favorites. 1. Do you have a favorite type (or a couple) of music? A favorite singer? Or musical group? I'm really varied as you may have already noticed. My iPod is pretty eclectic. My favorites are probably Texas Country, 80s (of course), and Top 40 type stuff (I know that makes me suck just a little bit but I can't help it). It depends on my mood...sometimes I just set the iPod to shuffle until some genre strikes my fancy and then switch to that. I'm a little bit of a music snob sometimes, too.

This time last year there was a sad post recollecting my mom's death. One of the points of that was the lifelong need a child has for his or her parents. There have been lots of times over the past year where I've wished Mom were here. No doubt my brother has felt the same way. And no doubt there will be even more times this year (especially considering his upcoming nuptials ). I guess what's been on my mind the most lately is the need for a parent to give relationship advice. So lay it on me. What lessons have you learned? Or advice you wish you'd been given or things you would have done differently or tips you'd like to share regarding everything leading up to and including marriage? You don't have to have a successful marriage to play... everything's a learning experience.

I feel pretty good about the fact that I've now taken care of all the year-end blog stuff and it's only a week into '08. New "little things" list up there in the subtitle, new poll, new quiz. New start to the reading list. There have also been a few additions to the Concert List over there in the sidebar. For memory's sake, here's the list of '07 reads: 16. Four to Score 15. Dalai Lama, My Son: A Mother's Story 14. Three to Get Deadly 13. Two for the Dough 12. One for the Money 11. Wicked 10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 9. Marley and Me 8. Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas 7. Elegy for Iris (about half of it) 6. The Cider House Rules 5. Still Life with Woodpecker 4. Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood 3. Their Eyes Were Watching God 2. Sex and the City 1. Me Talk Pretty One Day Also, just an FYI, you may have noticed no 10 on Tuesdays lately. I've either been too busy or just not excited about the topic. This week's is

Ok , not really. It's a sinus infection but that didn't have as nice of a ring to it. The cons? Feeling sickly. Not getting a good night's sleep. Using up way too many tissues. The pros? Having realistic supervisors who allow you to stay home instead of going to Shreveport. The chance to take out garbage on an actual trash day. Naps. Perhaps time to take down Christmas decorations between said naps. The fact that I made it a whole 12 months in between bouts of this stuff (instead of what was becoming my usual 6 months). I know, I know. I'm sick. I should stop thinking about how I can productively use the extra at-home time. I'll do my best. Perhaps starting with a nap...