Quodlibets

Progress Report Monday #17

I was so greatly hoping that I could finish that lower right hand corner by the time I posted this, because that would be such a tangible beginning of the end.  But you'll have to take my word for it that I've finished that penultimate column of sewing, and am on the last one.  The light at the end of the tunnel, if you will.  And seeing that light, actually, has me more motivated again.  I'm not really excited about the damn xmas lights on the eaves, but I am kind of excited about the prospect of backstitching.  And finishing!

I've been trying to decide whether I'll jump right into the next one (for my mom), or wait.  There are a few advantages of waiting, such as rebuilding my cache of sewing energy, and seeing if some new Gold Collection patterns come out for Holiday '08, but there is also the great boredom that arises in me after work that I fill with sewing.  (Except....guess what?  There's a Civ game coming out for Xbox 360 in June.  That might fill some time.)  So I'm not sure.  I think I started this one in late September, and I think I'd like to start the next one in early/late August.  I still won't finish by Xmas, but that's ok.  My mom knows it's coming to her.  In fact, so unromantically, I let her pick the (provisional) pattern.

I guess maybe I should just concentrate on getting this one done first, eh?

Real Life Choices

• Dave Matthews or REM (June 6, 2008)
• Ketchup or BBQ sauce
• Sewing or Crossword Puzzles
• Socks or no socks
• Olbermann or 60 Minutes
• Frozen Halibut or Sloppy Joe
• Firefox or Safari
• Dog Whisperer or FoodTV
• Diet Coke or Harp
• Puffs Plus or Puffs Ultra
• Jewel or Dominicks
• Toast with Peanut Butter or Raspberry Jam
• Yes or No
• Nonfiction or Fiction
• Scramble or Scrabulous
• Keep them or Return them (clothes, library books)
• Cats or Dogs

Things I'd like to try cooking

• Donut Muffins
• Chicken Pot Pie (from scratch!)
• Chicken Piccata
• Carrot Cake with real carrots
• BBQ Pulled Pork (in the slow cooker)
• Halibut wrapped in Prosciutto
• Cheese (Yes, I'd like to make cheese from milk.)
• French Onion Soup
• Something involving Quinoa
• A cake from scratch
• Cheesecake
• Rice pudding
• A corned beef
• Some sort of canned vegetable (green beans?)
• Tofu with flavor and nice texture
• Dog food or cat food (no, I'm not kidding.  I think it would be very interesting to feed your animal a healthy raw food diet--raw meat with nutritive additives such as bone meal and healthy oils)
• biscuits from scratch
• buttermilk ranch
• Pickles (of cucumbers, of beets, of any acceptable veggie, really)
• homemade raviolis (with pasta, not wonton wrappers)

That's all I can think of right now.  I'm sure there's more.  Incidentally, I just asked Sam what he might like me to cook for him, and he said, and I'm not joking:  Homemade raviolis.  Right after I had listed it.  Odd, that.  Looks like I'm making ravioli.

Friday night

On the schedule:

• Frozen Pizza
• Dog Whisperer (I love Cesar!)
• More TV
• Sewing
• Hopefully some cuddling
• Celebrating my Medium Guitar Tour victory!  I did it!  (I'm also ignoring the fact that I totally will have to move on to hard if I move on at all.  I'm not ready for that yet.)
• Trying to understand why some internets is working (this, for instance, and Google Reader) and some isn't (AIM, CNN, among others)
• Lots and lots of glorious sleep

Denial

Things I'm in Denial About:

• The weather.  I'm happily pretending that it's not winter anymore, even though it's patently (hello snow!) obvious that it is still winter, and isn't in fact spring.  This winter, have I mentioned it?, has been beyond brutal, and I am beyond ready for it to be over.  Hence, my denial about it, and my demand that it be spring already.
• The sewing.  I keep pretending I'll be done by June.  Ha!  If I keep going at this rate, there's no chance.  But I'd like to keep pretending, because it makes me feel good.
• The moving.  I keep pretending that it's going to be nice to move!  New place!  Yay!  Nope, not yay.  I've been looking, and what I want to know is that how people think that ONE closet placed in the LIVING ROOM qualifies as livable.  Hello, no.  But if I don't exist in denial, moving will depress me, so I have to pretend that it's an adventure.

That's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure that there's plenty more denial in my life.  I'll think on it and post more if I can.

Random Lists

Halloween Costumes in my life:

• Ballerina
• Strawberry
• Witch
• Cheerleader
• Jane (Tarzan's Jane)

Favorite Candies:

• Gummy objects.
• Salted caramels.
• Sweet Tarts.
• Cashew Skalies (from Graham's)
• Marshmallow Caramels

Things I might name an animal:

• Monkey Bear
• Beans
• Hedgehog
• Ethel
• Kittie

Magazines:

• Bust
• Bitch
• Wired
• Sports Illustrated
• ESPN the Mag

Websites:

• Kottke
• Dooce
• Daily Puppy
• Fail Dogs
• Andrew Sullivan 

Items of Clothing (Specific):

• The dark jeans
• My Eleanor Grosch Keds!
• The gray stripey knee socks
• The bright yellow sweater
• The black zip up sweater hoodie

Eps of Sex and the City:

• The one where Smith shaves his head for Samantha
• The one with Miranda's mother's funeral
• The one where Harry and Charlotte get married
• The last one of the 1st half of the 6th season, with the wedding of the gay man and the straight woman
• The one where Miranda and Steve first get together (and Big shows up for Carrie)

Addictions

• Knee socks.  I can't seem to get enough pairs, even though I only wear them half the year.
• Diet Coke.  Enough said.
• Underwear.  I've always loved pretty patterned undies, and never liked plain white ones.  I recently switched brands, so I'm avidly collecting new patterns.
• Books.  Is this a surprise?
• Sex and the City.  Another non-surprise.
• Burt's Bees chapstick.  I've tried other types (multiple other types) but nothing gives it up like Burt's Bees.
• The internets.  I can live without it on a vacation, but if I'm at work or home, I'm practically attached by an umbilical cord.
• Donuts.  There are very few food items that I'd claim to be addicted to, but donuts are definitely one of those few.  Cannot get enough.
• Shoes.  I collect shoes the way I collect underwear and socks, which says something.
• Purses.  Ditto the above.
• Yellow items.  I got this awesome bright yellow spring coat this year, and I know it makes me stand out like crazy, but it's so yellowy awesome.
• Beverly Hills, 90210.  I'm not in the closet about my love for this show.  2 episodes a day, every weekday.  I generally lose interest at a few points--the later eps especially--but I can almost always turn it on and watch happily.
• Sam.  Is that sappy?  But I'm still happy to see him after a long day of work, and I still get a little thrill when I see him from far away.  It may be sappy, but after 6 years, it's damn nice.

This is a requirement

No Progress Report today.  And no list either.  I STILL feel majorly crappy.  As in, I feel no better than I did yesterday (perhaps even worse), and at least as bad as I did on Saturday.  I'm sick of being sick.  And I'm too sick to think of a list topic tonight.  I'm hoping beyond hope that this is the turning point and that I'll start feeling better tomorrow.  I've done nothing but lay in bed all day (literally, lay in bed; not even on the couch) and I'm tired and stuffed up and I hurt.  And my right eyelid has suddenly begun twitching.

What was going to be a lovely 4 day vacation from work has turned into an at-least 5 day recuperation.  I'm thinking this is in fact the flu, not a common cold. 

Anyhow, I feel as if I might just fall over sideways and pass out.  My brief excursion (an hour and a half) onto the couch has exhausted me.  Perhaps I'll just go back to bed.

Places I'd Like to Visit (for the 1st time)

• Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Denmark)
• Greece
• Japan
• Toronto, CA
• Austin, TX
• New England
• Washington DC
• Mexico
• Kentucky (horse country!)
• Ireland
• Scotland
• The Grand Canyon
• Vienna, Austria
• Sicily
• Charleston, SC
• The Kutztown Festival (Penn.)
• Boston, MA
• Niagara Falls
• Lake Como, Italy
• Berlin, Germany
• Geneva, Switzerland
• Portugal
• Amsterdam
• Prague
• San Diego, CA

What I've done today

• Felt like crap-ola.  I've got what promises to be a lovely cold.
• Laundry.  Oh so fun.  Although I did wash my three new bras, which is fun.  New bras!  Fun!
• Napped.  Yes, after 9 hours of sleep, I needed more. 
• Took drugs.  The legal, cold medicine kind.  Although, also the kind they keep behind the counter of the pharm, because you might use them to make meth.  Not me though, I'm taking them so that I don't continue to feel like crap-ola.
• Ate a delicious lunch of Minestrone soup, from a very good Italian restaurant that delivers.  We had it last night for dinner (thanks Mooj!), and I didn't eat the soup.  It made a great lunch for a sickie.
• Went to the grocery store, which besides being crowded as hell (pre-Easter, I'm sure.  The hams were selling like hotcakes.), is also being remodeled.  While ultimately that will benefit us, it's not great now.  And anyway, who wants to shop for food when they feel like shit?  Not the best motivator.
• Watched 12 episodes of Sex and the City.  Finished the series yet again.  Now I plan to start at Season 1 and watch all the commentary.  Poor Sam.
• Watched the new trailer for the SatC movie.  OH.  MY.  GOD.  I don't want to spoil, so I won't say anything, but just....OH MY GOD.

And, there you have it.  I haven't read or done crosswords.  No computer games and no sewing.  I'm a terrible sickie, and I've felt terrible most of the day.  I suspect today was rock bottom day, and tomorrow I'll begin to climb back up to normal again.  I sure hope so, anyway.