Busy Weekend

Friday: Me and Ken's 10th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by making a big flowerbed (brick edging, fill in with topsoil) and scattering sand around our backyard to help alleviate our drainage problems. Afterwards, we ate an unsatisfying dinner at Outback Steakhouse. We then commenced to ... lounge ... at home.



Saturday: We finished up the yard work and then headed to Chicagoland to visit Ken's college friends. One of them had been named on of the "top 40 Illinois attorneys under 40", so we attended a nice dinner party complete with wine, appetizers, and dessert. We pretend this is our anniversary dinner instead of the fiasco from the night before.



Sunday: Traveled home only slightly worse for wear. Ken is watching sports while procrastinating on schoolwork; I am doing laundry, cleaning, and contemplating a walk. I also foresee a trip to the grocery store. Later I will polish a flash fiction piece and send it off.



All in all, quite productive. I'll sleep well tonight, I think.

Soggy Sunday

The remnants of Hurricane Ike came through Central Illinois today. I have no idea how many inches we got. I heard predictions of 6 to 8, and that would probably be about right. Earlier I tried to drive to McDonald's to get breakfast and the highway had standing water. I probably could have made it through, but why risk it for an iced coffee? I didn't want to do laundry because I didn't want to overtax the sump pump (which has been working overtime to keep our basement dry, thankyouverymuch). So what have I accomplished today? Nothing, and it's been wonderful. I read a book and knitted and slept. There is something so decadent and marvelous about a Sunday-afternoon nap.

The rain has no passed and so I must try to get some laundry done. A girl's gotta have clean underwear, don't ya know.

Ah, fall.

Fall is my favorite time of year. Yesterday was 75 and sunny and perfect. Today is drizzly and 75; tomorrow will be rainy and a bit colder, I suspect. I love love love when the trees start to turn and the weather turns chilly and it's jeans-and-sweatshirt weather. I love when it's too cold to sleep with the windows open but not cold enough to turn on the heat. I love the mums and the high school football games and the pumpkins. I love pulling out fall and Halloween decorations. I love baking oatmeal cookies and buying candy "for Halloween" a month in advance.

This is the time of year I feel most alive.

Last week when I drove past our local high school the lights were on over the football field and a pack of girls crossed the street in front of me, on their way to the game. Back when I was that age, the Friday Night Football Game was the place to be. My friends and I would pour wine coolers into 32-ounce "Hawk Mugs" the local Hardee's sold and sneak them into the game. We'd walk around the track while the game happened so we could See and Be Seen. The cool kids hung out behind the home goal posts. The stoners held court underneath the bleachers. Some kids lined the fence around the field and actually watched the game. The liquor made the lights brighter than they were and now makes some of my memories surreal. We'd wear green and white and sing the fight song and drink our drinks fast so we wouldn't actually get caught with the goods. Afterwards we'd drive around the back country roads and try to find the after-game party, or we'd hang out on the square and be obnoxious, or we'd drive to Jerseyville to get pizza. Anything to sober up before curfew.

This is the time of year I feel most nostalgic. It's weird, too, because I didn't really like high school all that much. I don't keep in contact with hardly anyone I went to high school with. All I wanted was to graduate, leave, and never go back. I have no intention of ever living there, but when I think about my hometown, this time of year especially, I get the warm fuzzies.

9/11

I remember. We all remember.

downtime

Ken and I carpooled into work today, and on the way home we went to Petsmart to check out the wall o' rescue kitties. So cute! We've talked about getting another girl kitty, but none at the store jumped out at us. The right one will find us when it's time.

I did a little bit of writing neepery tonight, but mostly I knitted and watched the movie Contact on TV. We recently (read: last week) ditched cable and got Direct TV, and I have to say I'm enjoying the upgrade.

And now I'm going to go read in bed. Ah, free time.

In the next few days I'm starting on a new writing project. I will try to be better about regular posting, though.

Public service announcements

You can buy the Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog soundtrack on iTunes. Go forth and enjoy all the Bad-Horse goodness.

Season 4 of How I Met Your Mother started September 22nd. Go forth and and enjoy all the story-telling goodness.

Yeah, I finished the draft of the WIP today. How could you tell?

I knew yardwork was a bad idea

This weekend Ken and I finally stopped talking about putting in a flowerbed and started working on it. We cleared weeds, we dug a trench, we poured sand, we moved bricks. Now all we need to do is get in a truckload of dirt and decorative rock to actually make the bed.

Oh, and yeah, we have to get a new sliding glass door, too.

I'm not saying who was operating the trimmer when a rock got thrown. I will say I heard the hit, looked at the house to find the dent in the siding, and saw the spiderweb cracks in the window.

Luckily it's a double-paned window so we're not imminent danger of getting a living room full of glass. Never fear, a call has been made to the insurance agent.

For your viewing pleasure:

I know, I know ...

... I've been remiss about posting lately. But! I've had my head down on the WIP. That's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it. If the planets align correctly, I could have a second draft done by 10 p.m. tonight. Fingers crossed! And then, my pretties, you will inundated with blog content from yours truly.