Days off

At the direction of my supervisor, I took Monday and 1/2 of Tuesday off from work. I've never gardened in my entire life, but for some reason I decided it would be a good plan to follow through with my desire to have that bush in the backyard removed. I got a bit out of control and cleaned up the entire backyard (with the help of my future sister-in-law, Adrianne). I realize I only took one "before" picture, but you might appreciate me telling you that the back deck was covered in leaves and twigs and the tables and chairs were stacked along the fence by that tree. The tree was also out of control and today I chopped off some of the branches. I don't know if this was a good idea or not, since I'm not an arborist (isn't this the correct term? spell check is saying not...), but I don't really care very much right now. I also dug out all of the leaves from behind that tree. I still have to attempt to dig out the gigantic roots from that stupid bush, and that is going to be a pain in the ass, as they are huge and rocks are embedded in them. The only reason I took a picture of the lawn bags was to show you how much work I actually managed to do yesterday and today. I think I used a total of 14 lawn and leaf bags! Who knew yard work could be so therapeutic?

ok, I'm a slacker...

...and I haven't really blogged regularly. Oops! Here are the happenings:

--I am running a 5K on 9/20/08 with my neighbor, Lisa, and a bunch of co-workers/friends. I organized the group, so I figure it's enough to make ME not back out. Lisa and I started week 1 of 9 of the Couch-to-5K plan this week. Not too bad....yet! I'll try to fill you in next week. In the mean time, I started this blog for the participants. I like to think I am clever.

--I took a few weeks off from going to Weight Watchers meetings and felt like I gained a whole crap-load of weight. Really, I gained about 6 lbs. Not too bad, considering the amount of crap I ate. I guess 20-something days on the river actually DOES counter-balance SOME eating of the junk food. Anyway, I joined Weight Watchers online because it was too difficult to get to the meetings every week. I think I like the online stuff better - but really, truly believe that I'm at an advantage because I went to the meetings first. -3 lbs last week - go me!

--We are going to Josh's family's reunion tomorrow. I will attempt to report later.

--We got a new dishwasher. And table and chairs. And we picked out laminate flooring and carpet for the WHOLE house. And I am excited about ALL of it. It will be like we have a brand new house!

--We might need some muscles to help move our furniture into the garage for the new carpet. I will keep you posted if I need your help.

--Alison is moving back to Minnesota and I desperately want to go visit and go sing karaoke and attend BBQs. But we just bought all of that stuff and I have to finish my semester and I can't afford it. Sigh.

--Vegas in October!

Cute

I was supposed to read all day and finish this stupid book for my Management class. Brooke even went to her great-grandma's so I could get some stuff done (Josh went rafting again). I read quite a bit but eventually pulled out my guitar and jammed out a little bit. I picked up Brooke and brought her home to chill. Josh came home for a brief second and then we took him to an awards thing for work. Eventually, it came time for Brooke to go to bed. I still had my guitar out and I asked her if she wanted me to sing her a song. Of course, she said "yes" and plopped down cross-legged onto the floor to listen. She told me I could make a lot of money if I wanted to. Then, she asked if I wanted her to massage my back. Of course, I said "YES!" and she sat behind me on the couch while I played guitar and she rubbed my back. I started making up a stupid song about how I like it when Brooke massages my back. I stopped and said, "your turn!" and we took turns singing made up lines about each other. It went something like this:

M: "Man, I love it when Brooke rubs my back. It feels pretty awesome like that."
B: "Yeah, Miranda is the coolest."
M: "Brooke is a pretty cool kid"
B: "Miranda likes to sing."
M: "Brooke has some shoes that are a little bit too small."
B: "No they aren't."
M: "I think it's time for Brooke to go to bed!"

It was pretty much the funniest/cutest moment we've had in awhile. That and the time last week when we were eating dinner and she said, "Miranda, you know, over the past couple of days, you've been really acting like a mom." I kindly said, "Well, I'm not your real mom but I take care of you like a real mom should." She quietly responded with "ohh."

Anyway, our impromptu songwriting session was sooooo cute.

a few things I am very excited about!

1. Friday night's white-trash-bar-extravaganza was pretty entertaining. Josh's cousin's band played at Mr. Lucky's here in Boise. FYI, Lucky's is known for their NASCAR Sundays (all you can drink for $20.00). I'm pretty sure they are also known for the extreme amount of Special Olympics Dance Team members....in the most unofficial sense, of course. Anyway, the band was pretty good for firing the lead singer a week prior, which surprised the hell out of me (the fact that the band was pretty good surprised me, not the firing of the lead singer - that should not surprise anyone, really).

2. Saturday night I went to a concert at the Big Easy to see Joshua Radin and Ingrid Michaelson! They were incredible! I wasn't too familiar with their stuff before heading out (except for Ingrid's song, "The Way I Am" which is on an Old Navy commercial) but I am fully convinced that they are worth listening to over and over and over again in my office. Yay! On top of seeing the phenomenal concert, I ran into two of the guys who were in my youth group when I led the group at my church in college. They are old. That makes me feel old. BUT, it was super fun to see them and I think they even convinced me to pick up my guitar sometime soon.

3. I spent the majority of my time sleeping and laying on the couch this weekend and it felt awesome.

4. None of our immediate friends or family members drew a Middlefork of the Salmon rafting permit this summer, which made us pretty bummed out. Thankfully, a friend of a friend invited us on his trip! Hooray! I'm pretty sure I'll be dreaming of this for the next few months....

5. I think I have become addicted to Crystal Light Energy. And Spicy V8 (not just for my perfected bloody mary recipe - I like it plain, too). And Laughing Cow cheese with celery. And sushi. (I never thought I would say that). And steamed broccoli (WTF?).

6. I made my first official meatloaf last night and it was really effing good. Oh my god, when did I turn into a housewife?

7. San Francisco was fan-freaking-tastic. Next trip: Vegas on April 26!

I have a slight obsession...

...With rearranging my apartment. Granted, I'm not as bad as I used to be. I used to go through phases where I would rearrange my apartment or at least my bedroom once every month or two. I've lived here since December 30, 2006 and have only moved my living area around once. It must stem from feeling like things are out of place in life or something internal like that. I don't really feel like things are out of sync right now, by any means, but I decided to make a pretty big change in the arrangement of things around here today. I think I just got bored because I don't start my new job or classes for another week and I certainly don't want to do anything too productive (you know, like take a shower or change out of my pajamas). The problem is, I'm only half-way through my "little" rearrangement and I'm already tired of it. Now my apartment is in more disarray than it was an hour ago and I have no one pushing me to get it done. No one comes over here, so it's not like I am going to have massive amounts of company and need to make sure things are spic 'n' span. Ugh. I need encouragement to keep going.

On the flip side, I've decided to move my TV (which I never watch) into my bedroom to make more room for guitars in the living room. I haven't been playing much over the past 8 or 9 months because I've been distracted by school, work, and (though I hate to admit it) boyfriends. BUT, the other day I remembered where all of my old music is that I wrote and I sat around for 5 hours over the weekend and played and played and played and it was awesome. Hopefully this new arrangement will give me a bit more ambition to play more and write again...it's been a long time since that's happened too...


Maybe I'll actually take pictures for you folks who don't live around here and haven't seen my tiny little place that I call home.

Home

After several months living in the spare bedroom of my parents' house, I have finally found a place to call home! Tiny, but fitting, I am officially into my new abode and extremely happy to have a place to call my own. Visitors welcome, especially on New Year's Eve, prior to heading downtown (which is just a hop, skip, and a jump away!). Photos to come, I'm sure...but for now, I need to find someone willing to help me grow a garden when the time comes (which may benefit for your fridge!).