Monday, December 19, 2005

Groan

This is the busiest week of the year for the store. Consequently, I cannot post as much as I would like. Keep watching.

My tootsies ache ferociously... yes, I said 'ferociously.'
My cold is mild but lasting; today is day six, and my voice sounds like a smoker frog.
I am exhausted.

*Sound of head hitting keyboard*

Friday, December 16, 2005

Fa la la la BRAAAK!

As you might have guessed, I am not going home for Christmas.

Lack of money
+
Job security
+
Expensive flights
=
a Darin & Louise Apartment Christmas!

Darin and I decided that since a West Coast Christmas is impossible, so is a Christmas with the inlaws. I would be far too homesick and pouty, thus invoking misery in each of my extended family members.

I will be heading back home, however, in January! Eleven days of West Coast lovin.' The only downer is that between a heavy class and work schedule, Darin cannot come. Argh.

Here's a preview of my little winter vacay:
  1. Wait for Lulabelle to stop ignoring me, plead for her forgiveness regarding my long absence, and cuddle her before I go to sleep.
  2. Jump on Mom and Dad's bed (while they're in it, of course).
  3. Scandalize my eldest sister with the clothes I wear and love. Caren has rebuked my fashion sense ever since I lost my baby fat. To her, dressing prettily is dressing as a lady of the night. Maybe so, Caren. Maybe so.
  4. Go hiking where Darin proposed. (The first time.)
  5. Visit my buddy Mandy across the street. Harass her parents. Tease her mother.
  6. Read in the guest bedroom with the heater on full blast while lying on my tummy. This has been my "comfort food" since I was a little girl, reason unknown.
  7. Eat mom's pumpkin custard.
  8. Get a back massage from my wonderful brother Dave.
  9. Leave family dinner early enough to avoid religious debates, late enough to properly digest.
  10. (Edited for content)
  11. Go to the beach with my parents, make a fire while sitting on driftwood, eat clam chowder from Mo's, go crabbing.
  12. Without flinching, tell Dad I love him.
  13. Drink lots of mochas from my favorite hole-in-the-wall coffeehouses.
  14. Get "love vibes" from Mom.
  15. Spend the night by the Christmas tree.
  16. Meet our new little calico kitten, Tib.
  17. Dance in the living room with my nieces and nephews until someone gets hurt.
  18. Order in from my favorite Mexican restaurant and watch old movies with the parental units.
  19. Instead of avoiding the Annual Family Blow-up, take pictures for future blackmail usage.
  20. Continue the argument with my father on why "Kill Bill" is a great movie.
Keep reading through January, for the posts will be frequent and (I have a foreboding feeling) extra juicy. Shudder.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Of Cabbages and Poles

On Phase 2 of our honeymoon, Darin and I drove a U-Haul from the W.C. back to Midwestern Lands. On the way, we took a detour to Preston, Idaho. Yes, THE Preston, Idaho of Napoleon Dynamite.

The picture below is of me glorifying the very place Jon Heder played some raucous games of tetherball. On a second inspection of this photo, I realized that the tetherball pole looks similar to another kind of pole. Any old perv who saw this pic out of context might think... *Groan*



Anyway, isn't Idaho beautiful? Not half as gorgeous as my home state, but it has its purpose. I invite those of you live east of Montana to renounce your Midwestern roots and move to the west. Man cannot live on crap alone.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Pooplets

And now it's time for another installment of...

Schmeez Droppings
Thoughts, Realizations, and Excremental Wisdom
  1. I cannot tell you how desperate I am to get out of this bloody Midwest freeze and into some West Coast warm lovin'. Forsake sinful slush and godawful grey! Come with me, the Pied Piper, to the land that knows little or no snow!
  2. Speaking of that, I slid into a ditch on the way to work. A nice blue-collar kid smokin' a clove pulled my little sedan out with his macho Ford. Such a nice guy- I got to work on time and offered up my interaction with crazy shopping moms for him.
  3. On the same day, Darin slid into a parked car. This sounds so cliche, but "go figure."
  4. Black pinstripe pants are a must for every modern girl's wardrobe. Dress 'em down by pairing them with Pumas and a graphic tee. Dress 'em up with a blazer and heels. Perfecto.
  5. This was a superb Sunday: Mass, a Coney Island breakfast, catching "Narnia" (which we loved - check back for a review), a Christmas tree/decor purchase, and topping the night off with decorating and eggnog. Oh, and "Desperate Housewives" of course.
  6. Husband #1 semi-updated his website. A super-cool advent montage awaits you.
  7. My friend Katherine emailed me! Her emails always warm and fuzz me. Definitely the coolest, yet wenchiest Canadian I've ever known.
  8. After checking out this website introduced to me by my dear Dr. Beiting, I almost sympathize with anti-Christians. Objective Ministries would turn anyone off to converting. By the by, have you accepted Jesus yet? This one's just for kids. (Make sure to check out that mean old atheist, Mr. Gruff.) For those who are struggling with purity, here's the answer!
That's all have to say in twenty minutos. Yes, I did mean to say "minutos." Spanish is fun!

I have a 5 a.m. wake-up call tomorrow morn. Working my way through marriage, that's right! And there I was, naked in ShopRite.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Ready to Dye

Completely exhausted...

5 am wake-up calls...

Watching "Cinderella Man" with Husband #1... with Red Vines and York patties...

He's also going to dye my newly trimmed and banged up hair...

Shepherd's pie in oven... mmm...

Here's a picture of Darin and me. I really think we're a gorgeous couple.

Monday, December 05, 2005

Sing Me to Heaven

In my heart’s sequestered chambers lie truths stripped of poet’s gloss.
Words alone are vain and vacant, and my heart is mute.
In response to aching silence memory summons half-heard voices,
And my soul finds primal eloquence and wraps me in song.

If you would comfort me, sing me a lullaby.
If you would win my heart, sing me a love song.
If you would mourn me and bring me to God,
Sing me a requiem, Sing me to heaven.

Touch in me all love and passion, pain and pleasure,
Touch in me grief and comfort; love and passion, Pain and pleasure.

Sing me a lullaby, a love song, a requiem,
Love me, comfort me, bring me to God:
Sing me a love song, Sing me to heaven.

- Daniel E. Gawthrop (b. 1949)


Ahem. When I visit my alma mater, I feel an immense amount of warmth from both genders of the campus. This is probably because I am a wacky/married/open-minded woman that can and will say what anyone else can't or won't. We're comfortable with each other.

So, as an objective onlooker and active participant, I am disappointed in both the men and women of AMC.

Now that the population is down to circa forty, it is more vital than ever to love. As AMC students have learned in VanShajik's Human Person or Dentino's Theology of JP2 classes, "love" must be in action for it to be effective. This is the lacking element on our campus. This is the virtue that keeps our college from the greatness it deserves.

Disclaimer: I understand that the administration, whose example we should follow, forsook the privilege of admiration and leadership long ago. I also admit that I am pathetically guilty of the behavior I am about to criticize.
For the women: Many of us were taught to apply wisdom and sensitivity in our dealings with men to get what we want and need. We were taught how to create and maintain a happy and well-functioning relationship using our "feminine wiles" in benevolent and mutually satisfying ways. We have replaced this innate femininity with disdain, criticism, hypersensitivity, and manipulation. Men are not the insensitive creatures we like to think; men need respect and love whether or not they 'earn' it. Encourage men to be men.

For the men: I won't refer to you as "guys." You are men, and men you shall be called!

How many AMC girls feel similar to Chaucer's "gat-tothed" Wife of Bath? Rosy-faced broads with sexual energy hot enough to melt Fr. Roy's heart of stone, existing for the sole purpose of man's temptation and distraction? Personally, I felt more like Monty Python's hussies of Castle Anthrax, but that's just me. It's a pitiful cop-out to use a woman's beauty as an excuse for distraction and impurity. Everybody knows it, but we femmes somehow agree and blame ourselves. (Immodesty is an entirely separate issue.) Appreciate the beauty of the women around you. Pre-theologate or not, beauty is meant to be recognized, not shunned.

AMC ladies are tough; we need, however, the love and sensitivity of our wonderful gentlemen. Because I am a somewhat *vibrant* woman, some treat me as if I lack the capacity to have hurt feelings. When I was teased somewhat malevolently, rarely would a man in present company defend me. (Thank you, Cory, for asking someone to stop the foul language in a lady's presence last year. Thank you, Darin, for chasing that flirtatious homeless man. Thank you, "Crazy-eyes" Rutherford, for defending me against inappropriate comments instead of laughing or ignoring them. See? Elephants and women never forget.)

Destroy your copy of Paradise Lost if that's what it takes. Seriously.

Please stick together. Only one more semester to go. Like it or not, we are each bonded by faith and education. In our everyday interaction with one another, strive to remember the fundamental reason God placed man and woman together.

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Check Back Tomorrow.

Just what I said. Check back tomorrow. (Free popcorn!)