100 Things

Stolen from Dykewife!

1. Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?
Closed. I don’t trust Edison having the door open. He’s already chewed holes in the edging of one of my favorite dresses, and a hole in my wedding veil. Such a bad cat!

2. Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotel?
Yes. They are mine. I take everything that is offered to me at hotels.

3. Have you ever had sex in a hotel room?
Yes! Such fun!

4. Have you ever stolen a street sign before?
No, but I did make elaborate plans in college to steal a sign for a dorm that also served as a fallout shelter.

5. Do you like to use post-it notes?
Yes, especially for bookmarks. They never fall out!

6. Do you cut out coupons but then never use them?
No, but I rarely use the coupons that that people give me or that come in the mail.

7. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of a bees?
Hm. Talk about a rock and a hard place. I think I’ll take the bear though – I’m allergic to bees.

9. Do you always smile for pictures?
I try to, but I suck at posed pictures. I usually blink.

10. What is your biggest pet peeve?
I think my biggest pet peeve is people who tell me, “You’re so quiet!” I mean, what do I say to that? “And you’re so loud!” would be deemed an insult, but people remarking on my quietness is okay. Psht.

11. Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out?
When I change the sheets I make up the bed hospital-style, so the sheets remain tucked in for awhile. I’m too lazy to do it that way all the time though, so after awhile the sheets untuck.

12. Do you ever count your steps when you walk?
Nope

13. Have you ever peed in the woods?
Just in campground outhouses. Not ever in the wild.

14. Do you ever jump up and down to make your privates bounce?
Can girls even do that?

15. Do you chew your pens and pencils?
No. The risk of splinters is too great.

16. How many people have you slept with this week?
One person and at least three cats.

17. Do you like popcorn from those big tins?
No, it winds up getting stale.

18. What is your "Song of the week"?
“Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley

19. Is it okay for guys to wear pink?
Only if he’s not a redhead, because then it would clash.

20. Do you still watch cartoons?
Sometimes, but there aren’t any cartoon shows that I watch regularly.

21. Whats your favorite scary movie?
I don’t like scary movies. They’re scary!

22. Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had some?
In the hunting reserve near the house where I grew up. That’s gotta be the one perk of growing up in the country.

23. What drink do you have with dinner?
Lately it’s been water. Sometimes milk or soda.

24. What do you dip a chicken nugget in?
Sometimes honey mustard, sometimes milkshakes. Hey, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!

25. What is your favorite food/ cuisine?
Pizza! Alternatively, anything spicy.

26. What movies could you watch over and over and still love?
The Big Lebowski, Clerks, The Royal Tenenbaums

28. Were you ever a boy/girl scout?
Yeah. I made it to Cadet before dropping out

29. Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine?
No. Wait. It depends. How much money, and how badly do I need it?

30. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper?
Oh, I can’t remember. Probably a note I jotted to Mike telling him where I’d gone while his band was practicing downstairs.

31. Can you change the oil on a car?
Yes, but I never have on my current car. You can’t change the oil in the street.

32. Ever gotten a speeding ticket?
No, but I got a traffic violation for “running a red light.” Whatever. It was yellow.

33. Ran out of gas?
Never! Hopefully it won’t happen, either.

34. Favorite kind of sandwich?:
Mm, depends on the day.

35. Best thing to eat for breakfast?
Donuts or jellybeans.

36. What is your usual bedtime?
Around midnight when I don’t have to work, around eight-thirty or nine when I do.

37. Are you lazy?
Oh yes.

38. When you were a kid what did you dress up as for halloween?
All kinds of things. One year my mom made me a unicorn costume, complete with mane and horn attached to a stocking cap. In retrospect, that was very impressive.

40. How many languages can you speak?
Just English, but I know lots of dirty words in Spanish.

41. Do you have any magazine subscriptions?
No, but Mike does.

42. Which are better legos or lincoln logs?
Tinker Toys

43. Where's the last place you TOOK A VACATION...
Why is that in caps?

44. Who is better...Leno or Letterman?
I don’t really watch either. I have a soft spot for Jon Stewart though.

45. Ever watch soap operas?
Not really.

46. Afraid of heights?
No, I’m afraid of falling. Ha!

47.Sing in the car?
I love to sing, but only when I’m by myself.

48. Dance in the shower?
No, it’s usually far too early in the morning for shenanigans.

49. Dance in the car?
That sounds like a bad idea.

50. Ever used a gun?
Nope, never

51. Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer?
When I was in my friend Erica’s wedding.

52. Are musicals cheesy?
Yeah, most are.

53. Is Christmas stressful?
No, I love it.

54. Ever eat a pierogie?
Yes! <3 <3 <3!

55. Favorite type of fruit pie?
Strawberry! Yum!

56. Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid?
My first desired occupation was to be a chemist. I was a serious kid.

57. Do you believe in ghosts?
I believe ghosts exist, but I don’t believe in every single haunting.

58. Ever have a Deja-vu feeling?
Not really

59. Do your feet stink?
No, they’re lovely.

60. Wear slippers?
No, I like being barefoot.

61. Wear a bath robe?
Yeah, I love my robe. I wish I could wear it all day, every day.

62. Wear to bed?
Depends on the weather.

63. First concert?
Oh gosh. Diamond Rio at the county fair. Can you tell I was a country kid?

64. Wal-Mart, Target or K-Mart?
Target! Yes!

65. Nike or Adidas?
Neither, really. I don’t buy sneakers often.

66.Cheetos Or Fritos?
Cheetos, baby.

67. Peanuts or Sunflower seeds?
Peanuts, I guess, although neither sound really good.

68. Ever hear of "gorp"?
Isn’t that like trail mix?

69. Ever take dance lessons?
Not really, just the dance unit in gym class. It was mandatory.

70. Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing?
I imagine he’ll get into freelance web work or writing eventually.

71. Can you curl your tongue?
No, but I wish I could.

72. Ever won a spelling bee?
No, but I got into the schoolwide finals once

73. Have you ever cried because you were so happy?
No, when I’m really happy I start giggling incessantly.

74. Own any record albums?
Yeah, three vinyls by Tom Petty.

75. Own a record player?
No, although I think Mike has one around here somewhere.

76. Regularly burn incense?
Yes

77. Ever been in love?
Yes.

78. Who would you like to see in concert?
Flogging Molly

79. What was your last concert you saw?
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, I think

80. Hot tea or cold tea?
Neither, I hate tea

81. Tea or coffee?
Neither, I hate tea and coffee

82. Favorite kind of cookie?
Peanut butter!

83. Can you swim well?
I can dog-paddle a little.

84. Can you hold your breath w/o manually holding your nose?
Yes, and I do so whenever I have hiccups

85. Are you patient?
It depends. I’m hugely patient with my students, but I’m impatient waiting for phone calls or the mail.

86. DJ or band, at a wedding?
mp3 player, baby

87. Ever won a contest?
Yes, a poster contest when I was in the 4th grade. It was about drugs.

88. Ever have plastic surgery?
Nope, but I’ve had medical surgery. I had a tumor removed.

89. Which are better black or green olives?
Neither, I hate olives, tea, and coffee.

90. Can you knit or crochet?
I can do both, but not very well

91. Best room for a fireplace?
The living room, I guess.

92. Do you want to get married?
Yep!

93. Do you like boys or girls?
Boys for romantic interests, both for friends

94. Who was your 1st crush?
A guy named Mike when I was in grade school.

95. Do you cry and throw a fit until you get your own way?
No, but I considered it once.

96. Do you have kids?
No, just cats.

97. Do you want kids?
Not immediately.

98. Whats your favorite color?
I like blue and certain shades of orange and red.

99. Do you miss anyone right now?
Nobody specific

100. Who do you wanna see right now?
Anyone is fine.

Bra Purse Construction

So after yesterday I had to construct a bra purse. You can see the blow-by-blow process here. I think that between the pink, the lace, and the pearls that it's quite possibly the World's Girliest Purse. That's okay - it was just for practice. I hope Mike isn't embarassed to see me walking around with a cut-up bra over my shoulder...I'm gonna use this thing!

Purse Idea

I'd like to make a simple drawstring purse to go with my wedding dress. While looking for patterns for the sewing impaired, I found this. I wanna make one now!

High Roller

I've been getting pretty stir-crazy sitting around the apartment, so today I braved the heat and walked around the neighborhood to do some errands, including stopping by the church office and grabbing some salad accessories from the grocery store. One of the interesting things about this neighborhood is that warm weather encourages the constant presence of rummage sales or massive piles of discarded stuff along the curb. Pretty much anytime I venture outside I'm presented with the opportunity to come home with someone else's junk. Normally I pass that stuff by, but today one pile near the church caught my attention.

What made me stop for a second look was a burst-open bag of sugar. It looked like it had opened on impact, and that it was fairly full. I stood there shaking my head...I mean, who throws away sugar? It's not like fruit or lettuce that goes bad quickly. I was musing at the folly of their actions and looking at the other items on the curb when my eyes lit up and I bent down to snatch something up.

A die.

But not just any die. A 26-sided die, with one letter on each side. It looked like the type of die people use for role-playing games, but I would use it for something different. I'd use it in therapy. I walked away, gloating over my find and already thinking up activities that could utilize this die.

Man - how many speech therapists do you know who get their therapy tools while curb shopping? That's dedication, I tell you.

Adventures in Dentistry

Before I even got up, I knew that yesterday was going to be a terrible day. In the morning I had to drive to Illinois for a pain-in-the-ass errand, then I had to drive to my old apartment to get it cleaned out for the end of my lease, and I'd cap it all off with a trip to the dentist in the evening. I needed fillings.

I've been rescheduling the dentist appointment for months. And actually, I would have rescheduled this appointment too, except that I didn't reschedule my last one. I forgot about the appointment entirely. I felt quite guilty about that, so I figured I'd better go ahead and keep this appointment so the dentist can finally get his money.

Now, I'm fairly terrified of the dentist. In fact, before I started having toothaches from the teeth I got filled yesterday, I hadn't been to the dentist since grad school when I got my wisdom teeth out. And we all remember how that went, right? Here's a little summary in case you forgot:

- numbness in my lip from nerve damage (temporary, thank God, although it lasted long enough for me to give my lip a thorough chewing)

- two dry sockets

- several trips back to the oral surgeon (who was 45 minutes away) to get medicine strips poked into the sockets

- huge swelling on my cheek and jaw

- pain, pain, pain

- an embarassing encounter with the head of the department at my college because I was so looped on vicodin

Yeah. So when the dentist assured me that my fillings would go well, I didn't believe him. After all, the oral surgeon had said the same thing. Besides, at least I was put under for the oral surgery. I'd be awake for this, which bothered me. I'm intensely squeamish, and the idea of something as hard and metal as a drill going into my teeth just made me shudder.

When I got to the dentist's office yesterday, I was terrified. When I saw the chair with all the materials laid out next to it, I began shaking. When the dental assistant explained the procedure to me - letting me see the tools and hear the drill - I just stared at the TV and tried not to cry.

The dentist came in and looked at my chart. "Now, you wanted local anesthetic. And you were also interested in nitrous?"

"YES," I said, an edge of desperation in my voice. "Absolutely. I'll take everything you've got."

"Well," he said, "everything we've seen points to the fact that the decay in your teeth is confined to the top layer, the enamel. And the enamel doesn't have any nerves in it. Just like the center of your tongue." He'd noticed my tongue piercing and couldn't believe that I insisted that the piercing was painless, but the fillings would be murder. "I think we can do this without any anesthetic."

"None?" I asked, my voice hollow. "None at all?"

"I'll do the drilling in quick intervals. Just a second or two. And I'll check to see what you're feeling. If you feel anything, we'll numb it up immediately. But let's try it without first."

I nodded and sighed, certain that this was the beginning of the end. "Okay."

Amazingly, what he said was true. I didn't have any pain. It was kind of like getting your fingernails cut - you can feel the pressure, but not really anything else. The fillings that I'd been putting off since December were done in less than fifteen minutes.

And so I learned a valuable lesson that day. That not all dentists are bastards. Some of them use really tiny painless drills instead.

Spoon bread recipe

Last night I used the mixer (the red mixer, Jen!) to make a pie and some spoon bread. I didn't like the pie so I won't pass the recipe on to infect other unsuspecting kitchens, but the spoon bread recipe can be found here. I got it from my Better Homes & Gardens book, but I used Monterey Jack cheese instead of cheddar, and I added a spoonful and a half of diced jalapeno pepper. It tastes best right when it comes out the oven. I had some today, and it had collaped and become denser, but it was still edible. Out of the oven, though, it's a total oralgasm.

Yes.

Today Mike, Ashley, Ashley's mom, Maria, and I went to a street festival down on Brady St. It was billed as an artisan fair, with lots of arts, crafts, food, and a cover band. I bought a spider-shaped pin that seemed to be made of coiled copper wire and beads. When I got home, though, I realized that the underlying structure wasn't coiled wire...it was a rubber spider. The maker had just wrapped wire and beads around a kids' toy. It still looks pretty cool, and I suppose I couldn't have bought all the materials for less than I paid for it, but I still hate it when I buy something I could have made myself.