I Like to see the Sun Go Down

This is not about liking sunsets, which I do. Very much.

Rather, it's about basements and late-afternoon naps in the winter and being cooped up in an cubicle or back room that doubles as your office.

Our primary TV is in our basement. One of the reasons this is so is to discourage us from watching too much television. The problem is, it's the basement. It's away from things we take for granted like natural light. The basement is a kind of worm hole. When I'm down there, time passes, but I can't observe it like I can when I'm near a window.

I know that if I go downstairs at five o'clock, it's still dusk, a time when I can reflect on the day, and, together with the rest of the earth, let go the part we call daylight. If I'm down there for long, that special time has passed and it is just darkness. Just darkness. Unobserverable, stern, unchanging.

When I don't see the sun go down, I feel as though I've lost something.

It is a delightfully cold night, freezing in fact. Though it's still technically fall, winter is here in earnest. The days are frightening me with their brevity.

Thanksgiving was lovely. I roasted my first turkey, trusty old Joy of Cooking at my side. I consulted with my husband the night before about which method would be best for us, and we opted for high-heat roasting. It was touch and go when the house filled with smoke, but the turkey was juicy and crispy when we were done. Just the way I like it.

Our second Thanksgiving was on Friday with our friends who've made it a tradition to have something at their home since so many profs and their families don't go home for the holiday. We were there for four hours. Four hours. I've scratched my head at this, and I'm not sure why. It felt like thirty minutes, but before I knew it we were saying our goodbyes.

Saturday my husband bagged a deer. I was so proud, but the less said about the deer, the better. Sunday he was back out beating the bushes for pheasants, and before we knew it, the long weekend was over and we were blinking at the morning light.

You ever have one of those days. . .

. . .when you realize that an 8-year-old could have written your Christmas list?

Case in point:

Movies I want? Both High School Musicals

Music I like? Justin Timberlake and the soundtracks to the afore-mentioned musicals.

Tv shows I'd like to own on dvd? One Tree Hill.

girlfriday: what do I do, exactly?

I've been regretting not having more posts about my job as a so-called girlfriday.

Here are a few previous posts on being friday, for new-comers:

Talking on the phone to rude old men
You will run personal errands for the boss.
"Have a good one!"

Office decorations for the criminally insane.
Late to everything, covered in coffee
Both ends of the lollipop are fuzzy (girlfriday meets google)
What's this girl/friday about?

The trouble is, the job is really one part absurdity, one part hilarity, and the rest drudgery.

Sadly, the first thing that comes to mind when I try to recall what I learned earning my vo-tech degree it's the rule about filing: Nothing comes before something. If it's F. Scott Fitzgerald or Fitzwilliam FancyPants you're struggling with, F. Scott comes first (in the unlikely event you would be filing by first name rather than last). See?

I don't file any more. But if you want help, let me know.

But I'm still an assistant, looking for that one part absurdity so I can write about it here. It's just like filing. Nothing comes before something.

Estoy loca

I appreciate the Spanish language for thinking my craziness is in fact fluctuating and not part of my essence. If you're not familiar with the language, it has two forms of the verb "to be": "estar," which describes things that can change from moment to moment (your location, your mood, etc) and "ser," which describes your essence (your nationality, your gender, etc.). This is all very exciting for me as the other language I am currently learning, American Sign Language, has no "to be" verb in its language. Tricky. One would think that if you're crazy that's just part of who you are. But Spanish says no.

Thanks, Spanish.

On a side note, I have apparently inherited my mother's irrational fear of mice. Last night in my sleep I dreamt that I saw a mouse in the pillowcase of the pillow next to me. I immediately leapt from my bed and when I fully came-to I was standing in my kitchen. I spent about a minute debating how I would get the mouse out of my apartment. Then I rememberd that I saw the mouse standing in stalks of grass and I don't actually keep stalks of grass in my pillowcases.

Estoy loca. But maybe I won't always be.

Rarely Have I Been So Pleased With Myself

I made a mix CD, called it simply My Favorites, using a bunch of songs I had stored on itunes on my old computer. I can't believe how happy I am for myself.

Here's the list. It's perfect. It's so perfect.

Devotion...Newsboys
Blessing in Disguise...Lost Dogs
MMMBop...Hanson*
It's My Life...No Doubt
Get Your Way...Jamie Cullum
Hey Man...Nelly Furtado
Blessed...Elton John
Daughters...John Mayer
Learn To Be Still...The Eagles
Everyday is a Winding Road...Sheryl Crow
The World Exploded Into Love...Bob Schneider
One Flight Down...Norah Jones
In Amazing Grace Land...Susan Ashton
We Believe in Happy Endings...Emmy Lou Harris
Easy Silence...Dixie Chicks
How Can I Keep from Singing...Eva Cassidy
Go Light Your World...Kathy Troccoli
The Orphan...Newsboys
Landslide of Love...Newsboys

*I know what you're thinking. I'm not ashamed.

Toe-tapping, fun, tuneful, memorable. I'm never going to get tired of this CD.

Seeking Female in South Dakota, S or M, Must be Judicious, Thoughtful, Open Minded. Sense of Humor Optional.

I have been looking around for bloggers who call my new home theirs: South Dakota.

I've linked to about five, so far. One of them, Lone Prairie, I've been reading for years, and so should you. Another I've been reading off and on is Dakota Women.

These aren't women I generally agree with, but they're women interested in politics in South Dakota, and I was hoping for some lively discussion and the occasional meeting of the minds.

I did not anticipate meeting a writer as unbalanced as Anna. To call her writing biased is an understatement. To Anna, there are two kinds of people: Good people and the deceitful, indifferent, cold-hearted despots who call themselves pro-life.

Two weeks ago, she was complaining (generous word) that the vast right-wing conspiracy known as the pro-life movement makes women act like "helpless, idiotic victims."

Today, she claims that "Olga Reyes is merely one out of about 70,000 women who will die this year as a result of restrictions on abortion." (Ms. Reyes died because of her country's uber-restrictive abortion laws that don't permit doctors to perform an abortion when the life of the mother is in jeopardy.) Never mind that the need for an abortion as the result of an ectopic pregnancy is an exception, not the rule, and you would be hard-pressed to find a reasonable pro-lifer in the U.S. who supports a ban on abortion on these cases.

But that would be the balanced approach; it would show signs of thoughtfulness and consistency. Instead, Anna maintains that women die as a result of restrictive laws--and not as a result of their own choice to terminate an inconvenient pregnancy, nay. Helpless victims, anyone?

Later she blithely accuses "lots of people" (this means pro-life people in Dakota Women parlance) of "not be[ing] troubled in the least if stuff like this happened here."

That's "not being troubled in the least" if women die painful, preventable deaths in case you had trouble connecting the dots.

I wasn't very nice in the comments.

What's in Lois E. Lane's wallet?

Well, I'm nothing if not a copycat. So here goes...


One pair Isotoner driving gloves
A compact mirror that apparently is there for looks since I never use it
One tin of Altoids, which is only there because it's spearmint-flavored
A key card for my office building (works about 50% of the time)
Two pens
Yesterday's grocery shopping list
A cute notebook I ignore in favor of writing on my hand
One small lotion tube
A receipt from my birthday dinner of sushi
A keyless remote for our Buick (recently broke free from keychain)
One iTunes "song of the day" card from girlfriday
A super-cute faux velvet wallet from American Eagle
Two letters from my delinquent, non-communicative insurance company
Two birthday checks from my grandparents and sister in law
One "birthday month" discount coupon to a local decor store
Two pennies
A tube of Body Shop Vitamin E lip balm
A three-week-old cell phone (w/ hi-fi ringing...YES!)

This is a surprisingly small amount of "stuff" for a purse my size, but there you have it. My purse says, "I am deceptively tidy and can, at times, fool people into thinking I'm efficient."

Stop laughing!

What's in Molly McGee's Wallet?

Way more than there should be, is the answer to that question

NEW PICTURE COMING SOON

- One raisin
- One Aries horoscope booklet for the months of October/November/December, 2007
- One wallet containing 25 various cards and pieces of paper
- $70 in cash and a $60 babysitting check
- An old to-do list
- iTunes gift card from ACL fest
- Two passes to the Junior League of Austin Christmas Affair
- One Panda Express receipt
- One hair clip
- One hair claw
- One bottle of Purell hand sanitizer
- A keychain that says "BATTLE SHIP" from the car keys of my best friend's late grandfather
- One mechanical pencil
- One Clinique Sweet Honey lipstick
- One e.l.f. lip gloss
- 1/4 of a fun size Milky Way wrapper
- One Sidekick with holder
- Eye glasses cleaning cloth
- Two AA batteries
- One mint wrapper
- 1/2 my weight in coins
- The makings of a kick ass meth lab:
CVS brand Mucinex
Albuterol Inhaler
CVS brand Sudafed
Generic Ibruprofin
Sinus/Allergy pills
Halls cough drop wrapper
A various assortment of tissues
- A set of keys

My purse says, "I'm ill and will pay you in cash for any drugs you can offer to help me."

girlfriday: What's in her wallet?

It's the blog game that's sweeping the nation!

My L'oreal (?) makeup pouch, never zipped, the contents of which include:
-An ancient pallet of Clinique blush
-A large blush brush I've had since I was 16
-Pink lip gloss
-Cover girl Mascara
-Lipstick I don't wear

Bejeweled pocket mirror courtesy (mistaken for a padlock at a security station)
One bottle generic Ibuprofen
Kleenex (don't leave home without them)
Driving gloves
Tin of mints
Business card holder/calculator
Receipt from car title and registration
Glasses case
My real wallet
Glasses case
BandAid (almost as important as the Kleenex)
United Airlines Boarding Pass stub
Laminated coupons
Receipt
The document from my bank with my PIN number
Hand lotion made with minerals from the Dead Sea (the best ever)
"All Things Wise and Wonderful" (new addition)

If my purse says anything about me, it's "What kind of a moron carries their PIN number around?"

Me and Molly McGee

As some of you may have noticed, I have recently changed my username from ihearttexas to Molly McGee.

Now, after much suspense, I'm sure, I'm here to tell you why. I've created a new blog dedicated to my not-so-secret love affair with Old Time Radio. It's called 79 Wistful Vista and you can find it at oldtimeradiogirl.blogspot.com

My new name and the name of the blog are explained in the first post, so I invite you to check it out and join me as I give you a glimpse into the golden age of yesteryear.

What's In Your Wallet?

We have a large blue bin - an industrial, round laundry basket of sorts. It is for Sweet and Creamy's diaper bag, 4 year old's backpack, Tall, Dark and Handsome's heinously long and annoying computer cord and the place where all of my purses go to die. Since my purse is basically the diaper bag these days, when I go anywhere without S & C in tow I grab a purse that coordinates with my outfit at the time, and then place neccessary and random items in it. Time goes by and the bin has more than a handful of handbags.

I decide to clean them out put them back in my official satchel storage recepatacle, located underneath my bed. Here is what I find:

2 lipsticks (Mac- Viva Glam IV and Bath and Body Works, Crabapple)
1 tube of chapstick
2 tubes of lipgloss (Mac-Viva Glam V and VS- Sugar Cookie or something like that)
1 lip pencil (Mac - Plum)
1 coupon for aveda salon
2 used gift cards
2 unused gift cards
1 watch
1 comb
1 cell phone
1 card holder/wallet
1 wallet
1 empty mint tin
2 full mint tins
1 black ink pen
1 glitter wand
1 pencil
1 red ink pen
1 mini sharpie
1 pile of trash (mainly gum wrappers)
1 hair binder
1 barrette
1 extra strength tylenol
1 pair of earrings
1 half eaten roll of toffee
2 movie ticket stubbs (Little Miss Sunshine and Bourne Ultimatum)
3 tampons
1 set of keys
1 glasses case

Let's hope that what a woman carries in her purse isn't any sort of insight into her soul because my soul would say, "Hi, I'm a pile of crap. How are you?"

I took another one of these.

Sorry.

Hat tip: The Late Great Julie Neidlinger. (She's not dead. But it sounded clever. Sue me).

You can still build memories, forge bonds and generally have a good time without a lot of money, planning, and preparation.

Use love, ingenuity and a lot of your friends.

Champagne optional.

The Truth is (Still) Out There.

This is just super duper.