CAUTION: Woman In Progress

Well, gang, I finally got around to doing some of the projects on my list. Not the big painting paneling project. Not yet. I'm steeling myself up for that one. No, this weekend I got around to some of the furniture painting projects. I actually started last weekend by sanding, cleaning and priming a little wooden nightstand that my uncle had given to Mama. Mama couldn't use it but I had an excellent spot for it so I snapped it up. Friday night I stopped by Lowe's and picked up some paint and got to work on it. Ya'll, I'm not great at painting furniture. I don't know if I just am too messy for it or just don't have the right technique or what. I started out painting with a brush. It was AWFUL! Uneven, drippy and just an all around disappointment. But I tamped back my frustration and decided to stop wait to pick up some mini roll brushes Saturday morning. I'd read the Youngsters  advise against using foam rollers but since their recommendation o...

An apology, that is. Remember that Saturday downer  email I got a couple weeks ago? Yeah. Yesterday the sender apologized and said that the email had been more strongly written than intended and that I shouldn't take it to heart. I had never mentioned it to the sender or even responded to the email. I was too afraid I'd start crying or stick my foot in and make it worse.  So the apology felt random--especially since it was two weeks after the fact. Which made if feel more sincere--whether it actually was sincere or not. So now I'm left to wonder if the trusted colleague I had discussed it with used the situation to further her own agenda. Apparently SHE DOES have a problem with me. And if that's the case she should have approached me about it a long time ago instead of waiting until I was upset and feeling insecure to reveal her issue with me. I don't know how I feel about this colleague anymore. I find myself questioning our conv...

So says my, Eggos. So say we all.  Thanks Eggos.

Okay, so admittedly in prior months I've been shallowly drooling over a particularly muscular (and squickily underage) werewolf via Twilight. Yes, the muscles are droolworthy for sure. But I was team Jacob way before I ever saw Taylor Lautner's washboard abs. I've been thinking lately about the kind of men I'm attracted to. Not that it matters since no one's ever attracted to me but it's just kinda funny to think about what it is that draws me to certain men. Both in real life and in television, movies and books. Probably the biggest thing I've discovered about myself is that physical features aka looks-- while nice-- certainly don't really mean all that much to me. Character does. Take my obsession with Chuck. Yes, Zachary Levi is (to me) physically attractive. But I hadn't really thought of him in that way until I started watching Chuck . And yeah, I had seen him in other movies/tv shows before. He was on Less Than Perfect (sitcom on ABC,...

A new post is up at Kessler County Chronicles.

*My electric bill was $35 cheaper than I'd budgeted for the month. (Usually runs really high in Jan/Feb.) My car tag (license plate) is going to cost me $35. I was going to have to borrow from savings to pay for it. Now I don't. *I was asked last Sunday to sing a solo at church this week. My stage fright has gotten almost to the point where the very thought of a solo makes me wanna hurl. But I'd decided on singing "I'll Fly Away" anyway because I've been  convicted  to honor the talent God gave me. When I arrived at church Sunday, Mama and the music minister informed me that they wanted to sing "I'll Fly Away" and asked if I would sing the lead with them. I hadn't told anyone what I'd planned on singing or even that I'd decided definitely to sing. Singing in a small group? So much better for the ol' stage fright than singing solos. How cool was it that He worked that out for me? Also? We totally rocked it. :-D I'm su...

Ya'll, it's like AMAZING here. The weather, that is. Me personally, I'm not so amazing. But the weather? Totally fantabulous. I hope it's an actual early spring and not just a false one. I've actually even unearthed my flip-flop collection, it's that awesome. But, since many of ya'll are still in the throes of winter storms and blizzards, I'll spare you the details of 75 degree flip flop wearing weather. Instead...I'LL SHOW YOU!! Bwahahahahahahahaha Sis2 and her crew (Goofus, Lyssa and Efan) came out to the country for a visit Saturday. The original plan entailed hanging out at the folks' house and grilling burgers for lunch. But Uncle R finally decided to/found time to install my new motion censor porch lights. Pretty, right? Then he needed to stop by the folks' to fix something on Mama's "new" laptop. (Don't ask. It's a sore subject for me.) And because he was under the false impression that I slept past 9am...

So Thursday night TV is a bust for me. Nothin' on I care to watch. Normally, I use Thursday nights for watching whatever I got from Netflix that week. This week's Netflix pick was Going The Distance . You know, with Drew Barrymore and Justin Long? I was kinda "meh" about it when I put it in my que but I like Drew Barrymore, normally. And Justin Long--LOVED him in He's Just Not Into You. I figured I'd give it a shot. Ya'll...First of all...a gripe to whoever configures the previews on DVD's and sets the permissions of whether they can be skipped straight to the menu...This disc not only wouldn't let me skip straight to the menu it wouldn't let me use the skip button to skip past individual previews! I had to FAST FORWARD(!!!) through two hours of previews just to get to the menu. So okay. Maybe it was more like twenty minutes. But twenty minutes of previews that you can't skip??? I might as well have been watching a VHS! What's up ...

I don't know what it is about the cold winter months that fragments my determination. There are so many aspects of my life that need work and improvement that I'd been dedicatedly working on in the warmer months that seemed to have gone by the wayside once the cold set in. I had mostly stopped my indoor walking and counting calories. I started spending plastic money as though there were no tomorrow. I let some of my work projects slide. I even let some of my personal relationships fall between the cracks. Does the cold just make me cantankerous? Or is it some ingrained human behavior left over from our caveman ancestors? Or do I just get lazy in the winter? This week the temps have been hovering in the upper 60's to mid 70's and I can almost feel my psyche perking up. I've walked two days this week--and was actually excited about it instead of morose. And despite the influx of chocolate via V-Day, I'm more conscious** of what I eat. I'm even more conscio...

Okay, so I couldn't wait for everyone to weight-in. lol I already have eight pages written and wanted to get this party started. So, look for Episode One on http://www.kesslercountychronicles.blogspot.com/ . Be sure and let me know if it looks okay. And any suggestions are welcome. If you don't care to read it/keep up with it, that's cool, too. My feelings won't get hurt. Promise. :-)

Okay so I know I totally teased  y'all with this Saturday and then forgot to mention it yesterday. Sorry 'bout that. So here goes... I've missed writing. Yeah, I know I still write for this blog but I guess I should clarify that I miss writing fiction. I've started and stopped so many novels over the years that I've lost count. Just the thought of having to work my way through a point A to point B ending makes my throat close up and my inspiration flee. That's what worked so well with writing for Drifters'. There was no ending  needed and the characters could grow and develope at a pace by the span of YEARS instead of a predetermined word count. And I could juggle several storylines over the course of a month or even, heck, a day! And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, Drifters' is the on-line serial fan fiction type drama that I used to collaborate on over at the eHarlequin.com  community boards. But due to lack of time and new respon...

So I ended up leaving early Wednesday to drive Daddy's truck home. And I must say this just to get it out there...not so fond of driving Daddy's truck. Got nothin' against driving trucks, as a rule. I used to love driving his truck. But it needs new shocks. And the transmission is testy. And it's dirty, smelly and littered with manly hunter-ish paraphernalia. And his brakes are weird. But I drove it 45 minutes to home. In the SNOW. Yup. By the time I actually left, it was snowing. Not hard, but snowing, nonetheless. By the time I got home it was snowing so hard I couldn't hardly see. Unheard of phenomenon 'round here. Freaky weather, ya'll. Freak. E. So needless to say, once I got home I snuggled down in my pj's with the Devil Pup and watched TV and read a book. Mostly read a book. The TV was just on for background noise. Every now and then I'd look out the window and stare at the freakishly heavy snow. It was swirling and covering everything. I...

I'll be spending Valentine's Night with one of my favorite guys...Chuck! I heart Chuck. *swoony sigh* Real post coming soon...I promise.  ;-)

You know how sometimes your day starts out really really good--the coffee you brewed tasted exactly how you wanted it, the weather was clear, your pj's were warm, the pup snuggled in for a good nap against your legs while you read a particularly good book--and then one tiny little thing totally throws you for a loop and then that's all you can think about?? Surely you know what I'm talking about. Well, either way, that's what happened to me today. Had a great morning. A great past two days, actually. Then I came into work and checked my email and BAM !! Hit right between the eyes. And I can't even rant about it because it's work related. But it just totally squashed my good mood and made me feel like utter crap. Like SMACK in the forehead with extra force. And I just can't get it out of my head. I keep chewing on it and turning it over in my mind and crafting things I wish I could say or do in response and knowing that I can't. There's nothing I ...

Ya'll, as someone spectacularly unfashionable, I have a fashion question--On a scale of one to tacky, how unfashionable is it to wear black shoes with brown slacks? I've always worn black shoes with my brown slacks because a) shoes are not a priority of mine so they rank somewhere just above things like tan lines and shaving gel. So they're like, the very last thing I think about when buying clothes or dressing myself and b) I thought black went with everything. However, I was reading a home design blog recently that said something about not wanting to buy a black table because their chairs were brown and the two would clash. Which, obviously, led me to think about my black shoes and brown slacks. I never thought of them clashing until just now I was watching my feet while walking back to the office from lunch and my brown slacks were slapping against the black. I thought, hmm...looks okay to me. But what if I'm wrong? So, what say ye? Black shoes with brown slack...

I've been a regular church-goer all my life. Mama made sure we got into the habit of it from infancy and save for a very brief and miserable time a few years ago, I've always adhered to it. And it's helped shape me into the woman and Christian that I am. So score one for Mama, right? Having a spiritual place of worship is important to me. While there are actually other times and places where I've felt closer to God more so than at a church, church is still where I find that weekly spiritual grounding. An hour (or two, if I go to the evening service) where the ONLY thing going on in my life is learning about my Savior and praying. But lately...*sigh* Lately I seem to have re-developed this social anxiety about church. It's a strange sensation though I must say I've struggled with one form or another of it my whole life. Social anxiety/awkwardness EVERYWHERE is one of my heaviest crosses to bear. (No pun actually intended, if you even got the pun.) But at chu...

Before I say anything else, can I just ask, "Was that some intense playing on the field last night or what??" Whoo hoo! I am, of course, referring to Puppy Bowl VII which aired on Animal Planet last night. I don't know who won, exactly, but man did they play their adorable little hearts out! Why? What did ya'll think I was talking about?? *innocent blink* Anyway, since none of my family are sports minded (except for Goofus but he doesn't count) we never do the whole Super Bowl thing. I've never been to a Super Bowl party in my life, nor have I ever watched a game. But I love the food! Man, the food they advertise for super bowl parties looks awesome. So Mama decided we'd have a Super Supper Bowl party! hehehe She fixed hot wings (that weren't actually hot but were AWE-Some), coconut shrimp, onion rings and curly fries. And for dessert?? Hot fudge sundaes. Oh yeah! I went home with a serious case of heartburn last night but oh my gravy was ...

I'm a complete winter wimp. I admit it. I shudder when I see photos on the news or on blogs when the snow is as tall as a person and all the world is white. I cringe when I hear of temperatures (actual OR wind chill) in the negatives. As in below zero. *shivers* This, my friends, is why I live in the south. Well, besides the fact that I was born here. Winter here is like spring to ye folks up yonder. But...Ugh. I am so ready to bid winter adieu! We had a "winter storm" last night which basically means that there was the possibility of snow, sleet or ice--or all of the above. Mama and I left work at two o'clock yesterday in order to avoid it. Because ya'll? Us southern folk? We ain't got NO CLUE how to drive in winter storm conditions. Especially not me and Mama. We are not brave or stupid enough to try it, either. We ended up not  having any snow or heavy ice conditions. Mostly just a mix of rain and sleet causing icy roads, bridges and overpasses. The ...

Okay. So analyze these... Tuesday night I had a really weird dream involving animals. Libby and I were at home and I was in the kitchen washing dishes while she gazed out the dining room window into the back yard. Much like this. When she's not under my feet or pawing at the carport door to distract me, that's usually what she does while I'm washing dishes. Completely normal behavior. Then she started barking, as she's wont to do. I talked to her a bit asking her what's out there. I figured it was a cat or the neighbor's dog or something. When I glanced out I see this fluffy critter sitting up on it's hind legs and I think, oh, it's a bunny. But it wasn't. When it dropped to all fours and stood up, I realized that it was a coyote pup.( !! ) It looked over and saw us peering out at it and instead of running off into the woods as most animals do, it came lumbering over to the window and started pawing at it to get in. I jerked Libby back and ...

I swear I need to start carrying a voice recorder with me at all times. It's in the oddest moments--walking the DP, working in the stacks, brushing my teeth, etc--that I think of all the interesting(ish) things I could blog about. But those are all really inconvenient times to jot down my ideas, much less blog them, so those ideas get lost. And I end up with nothin'. Story of my life. So. Since I got nothin' all you're gettin' is... [image] Enjoy!

Because I like to bore you and because I like to know what everyone else watches/reads/listens to... What I'm watching... (Not to be confused with "Who I'm Stalking") Sunday Nights: Desperate Housewives (When it isn't a re-run) ABC Monday Nights: Chuck (Love me some Zachary Levi) NBC, Being  Human (a socially awkward werewolf, a seriously hot vampire and a quirky ghost--right up my ally!) Syfy (Imagine Greater.) (Sorry, had to throw that in there because I'm lame.) Pretty Little Liars (Though I usually record it to watch later.) ABC Family When it's in season, I watch The Closer on TNT. Used to watch Mike and Molly but found Being Human more intriguing. Tuesday: Channel surf.* It's unfortunate that I never hopped on the NCIS bandwagon because everyone and their brother seems to only subscribe to cable/satellite/digital receivers JUST to watch this show. And although I adore Mark Harmon and could lick Michael Weatherly ...