more recap

Yesterday…

• left work early (half-day)
• got my hair cut even shorter
• had dinner with the ‘rents at Golden Corral for Grandpa E.’s birthday
• the ‘rents took out the boys to see WALL-E again
• rewatching Reservoir Dogs with my dear hubby
• got past the 1/2 way point in John Scalzi’s The Ghost Brigades (the follow-on to the one I just finished by him, Old Man’s War)

Today…

• overslept
• back to work for the day
• taking tomorrow off for a nice long weekend

Weekend…

• going to my brother-in-law’s for the 4th (2 hour drive)
• spending time with aunt-in-law on the 5th
• resting! on the 6th

Oh, yeah.  One other thing.  We stopped at Wal-mart yesterday for a few things.  Circling the parking lot for a spot, with my Park-Fu powers feeling low, a little yellow volkswagen bug (newer style) sped past the spot I had picked out, then stopped a car length past it, leaving me just enough room to scoot into the spot.  Of course, the VW’s intention was to backup past this spot and pull in, having missed noticing the spot until it was too far past it.  Normally, I consider myself a pretty ethical person, especially in driving situations… always letting cars in front of me, etc.  But something about this little yellow VW speeding through the parking lot annoyed me, so I willfully took the spot before it could.  The VW paused, confused that my station-wagon-like Subaru Outback would steal the spot of a perky yellow VM.  Then on our way in, the VW passed us and the woman inside gave me a dirty yet confused look.

I have no regrets.

Recap of the last few days

Friday evening: A trip to the library (since the boys were there) resulted in me bringing home a book called Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56, which I read on Saturday.  More about that later.  My brother came over to play Spore, sure that he had a new strategy.  The results seemed pretty even across the board though.  At least we weren’t “ganging up” on him anymore.

Saturday: My dear husband worked.  Boy #1 tried his hand at mowing the lawn for the first time.  Not bad results.  Then he headed off for a day at his friend’s house.  Meanwhile, Boy #2 stayed home and spent entirely too much time playing Spore, which he also posted about.  I spent the day doing dishes and reorganizing the boys’ room, and beginning to straighten up the library, so that we can move the bookshelves and books (yay!) in.

Sunday: Worked 6 hours overtime, then went to see Wall-E.  It was an excellent love story (my husband is a lot like Wall-E, and as such, I am his Eve), with some great laugh-out-loud moments.  Payday and a surprise child support check (they gave me his economic stimulus!) resulted in a splurge of a few more Munchkin expansions… Munchkin Impossible and Super Munchkin.  We played a game, but were too exhausted to finish, so went to bed.

Today: Working, working, working, then home to my loves this afternoon.  This evening the boys are spending the night at Grandma’s and my love is not working, so we’ll have to figure out what child-less thing we might do… perhaps something exciting like grocery shopping!!

Dinner, etc.

I had dinner last night at the 312 restaurant in the hotel.  In contrast to the hotel itself, I have nothing bad to say about it.  Service was prompt and friendly and the food was delicious.  Perhaps most importantly, the fresh brewed iced tea was excellent.  I had the risotto of the day, with mushrooms and rabbit.  I’ve never had rabbit before, that I recall, so I thought I’d try something new.  Guess what?  It’s just like they say… it tastes like chicken!

They also served fresh bread with a bruschetta spread, which was to die for. 

Lacking my laptop charger, I spent my evening watching (gasp!) television.  It was less than satisfying.  I did a slight bit of drawing, and a very slight bit of writing, and then off to bed.

Stopped at a place called Cosi on my way to class today and grabbed myself an iced tea. Mmmm.

Some links of interest:

• George Orwell’s 1984: Download Free Audio Book Version
• Homemade “SciFi Channel” for classic sf video online

Munckins and evil scientists

Saturday night, planned as movie night with the bro, became another late night Munchkin night, when my brother read the rules and was actually intrigued. My love brought home another version of the game (Cthulu Munchkin) as well as an expansion, which made the game even more awesome! We played two games and were up til about midnight.

Today we helped the ‘rents with some yard work while they are away for the weekend. Refreshing to get a bit of sun and exercise, but now we are all tired and ordering out Chinese for supper. Mmmm crab rangoons are on their way.

Also, on Saturday we got it in our heads to post a fake Craig’s list ad, mostly my brother’s idea…

Mad scientist seeks female companion - 33 (Secret tropical island)

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Reply to: pers-702853181@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-05-31, 6:54PM CDT

Superbly intelligent, sometimes mad scientist, seeks female companion, age 20 to 25, to share my days and nights. Interest and enthusiasm in world domination and/or destruction required. Must be willing to seduce male hero types that may arrive on our island to foil my (our) plans. Must like ponies, monkeys, AND monsters.

After your in-depth background check is complete, you will sign a contract, including a non-disclosure agreement, and will relocate with me to an undisclosed location. Additional travel may be required.

Also seeking male henchman, fit, able to lift 100 lbs. and work independently. Disfigurement of physical appearance does not effect eligibility, and is in fact encouraged. Knowledge of firearms, explosives, and genetic engineering helpful but not required. Training available. EOE.

Please submit your resume and explain your qualifications to be considered for either position.

We intended as a joke, a possible for the best of Craig’s list, but we actually got some responses. I’ll let you know if anything turns up with that.

Flowers and links

Above, flowers I got this morning from my roomie at work.  Below, a few links for you I have gathered recently.

• 5 Psychological Experiments That Prove Humanity is Doomed- people are evil!
  
• Mother Nature’s Music - wind harps, etc.
• The Worrier’s Almanac Guide–Things You Should Actually Worry About

Besides that, not much new to report.  Going to Canada on Sunday for a business trip.  Also, the first week I’m going for training in downtown Chicago.  That’s about it!

Sunday

The husband is off at work and the boys are out fishing.  I’m taking a break from cleaning for a bit to give my dear fans an update.

Earlier this week, we had dinner with the ‘rents at Famous Dave’s, where I had some great catfish.  Not as good as a certain catfish chef I know in Chattanooga, but pretty good.

Last night, we had my brother over and watched a few movies.  First was The Darjeeling Limited.  This was a long, drawn out, sometimes funny, spiritual journey waste of time.  I guess I just can’t relate to the spiritual journeys of eccentric rich people.  It’s hard enough for me to relate to normal spiritual journeys, as I’ve never been much of a spiritual person.  I have thought recently, however, about becoming one.  Not terribly sure where to start with that though.

For my buddhist husband’s birthday, I got him a book called 201 Little Buddhist Reminders. The one so far I most relate to:

Gatha for morning tea or coffee

This drink is my cup of mindfulness.  I hold the present moment in my hands.

My mom is reading a bunch of interesting spiritual books at the moment, too.

Anyway, the next movie was MirrorMask which we watched the beginning of but got bored with.  Everyone agreed that if we were 7 years old it would be more entertaining.

Next, we watched Shawn of the Dead, which we’d seen before but is hilarious.

Finally, we watched The Amateurs, which was pretty funny, but not quite 40-year-old Virgin funny.

OK, back to work.

J.