It's time for a no-TV summer, for sure

We all know that I love my television shows so very much. Sometimes, they're the only things that can get me through a creative and psychological slump. But lately, I've found that several of my shows' plots and/or characters are making me roll my eyes in irritation.
Two examples off my DVR tonight:
Hart of Dixie is bugging me because the characters are becoming caricatures, and because I can take only so many misunderstandings or ridiculous bursts of silliness.
Revolution. I rolled my eyes specifically at the Charlie character, because she's having a hard time prioritizing her issues, and because she's the worst part of the entire show's many plot lines. If I could just fast-forward through each one of her scenes, I would, but I can't because she's in so much of the show itself.
Once Upon a Time was not on tonight's DVR, but it was on yesterday's. This show is on a stunning downslide into not being on my DVR anymore at all. As far as I can tell, there are only one or two episodes left in the season, so I may just muscle through the last episodes, and be done after them.
And let's talk about how annoying non-humanity vampire Elena is on The Vampire Diaries. I can not wait for the show to finally move on with that story. She's making it difficult for me to watch one of my favorite shows, and that is not okay.
And then there's Grimm, and the season-long amnesia of Juliet, which is more irritating with every single episode that airs. I believe that the memory loss will be dealt with and finished on tonight's episode, but I can't bring myself to watch it, since so much other TV has bugged me tonight.
What TV did delight me tonight? The Mindy Project, of course and as usual.

Crosswalks are important, kids

The street outside my apartment complex is a high-traffic one. It's also a popular school zone, with slower speeds required in the morning and afternoon. The afternoon time frame is the worst for any driver, because we're stuck going super slow, in traffic, with teenagers bolting across the street, from the McDonald's on the west side, to the bus stops on the east side. These kids though, are the bane of all the drivers' existence, due to their penchant for running across the street, between cars and without any regard for the crosswalks. I admit to having two close calls with the kids myself, once where a boy thought it would be funny to push a girl in the street in front of me and then pull her back by her backpack without her prior knowledge, and another time when a kid ran in front of me trying to cross the street to get to friends.
Today, on our way home from picking up Sydney, I saw an obvious result to these kids' behavior: a sedan with a lady outside her driver's side, and a teenage girl sitting on the grassy center median, surrounded by her friends. I assessed the situation to be that the girl ran across the street without caring for the cars, and that the lady wasn't prepared for her to jump out in front of her car, and then the two met with unfortunate circumstances.
I have to tell you, I feel worse for the lady driver than I do for the kid. I know too well how these kids run across the street, and I know how easy it is to not see them jet out from the next lane. They never use the crosswalks (and there are plenty of them), and they have no regard for the drivers. Now, since the driver was in the school zone, and there was traffic going even slower, I doubt the girl had anything more than a few bruises to show off after the incident. I'm hoping that the whole situation resolved itself so that no one was hurt too badly.
But still, maybe seeing one of their own get hit by a car will make the rest of the kids a bit more careful. Or maybe they'll use a crosswalk.

I hate hash tags not on Twitter

It's not that I didn't have anything to post last night. What it is, is my cheesy cable company's inability to keep Internet available when there's a particularly heavy rainstorm. Figure that out.
So, after the 12 hours of lightning, thunder and pouring rain, without Internet and with very spotty satellite, I went to bed early, more annoyed that I had to neglect my farm than anything else. And since this all happened on a Saturday, there was, of course, no chance of getting the people from Bob's Cable Co. out here on a Sunday. A Sunday without Internet shouldn't be a big deal, unless you're six years old and you really, really, really want to play your "Jurassic Park" game, which requires wifi. Anyway, it made for a very whiny afternoon in my house. Damn thing had best be working tomorrow, is all I can say.
Right now, I'm blogging from my phone, and I'm locked out of my farm for another night. Ugh. #firstworldproblems #ironicuseofhastag

I have a lot of stuff

ITEM!: I think I may be done with my box packing for a while. I finished up four more boxes today (as of now: 46), and found myself wandering around the place looking for things to finish up that last box. Also, I got into trouble for putting two bits of Sydney's stuff in it without her approval. Everything in my house that is not in a box is necessary to our survival for the next six weeks. I figure I can wait at least three or four weeks before finishing up the boxes, and making the final preparations for the move. Until then, I hunt for a house.
ITEM!: Daisy is ripe for blog material lately. She dug into some of Oliver's food today because I forgot to pick it up when I ran my errands this afternoon. Something she and I have discovered when she eats Oliver's food: she gets gassy. She is the craziest farter right now.
ITEM!: Sydney got her first sunburn of the season today. And I'm a terrible mom for forgetting her sunscreen. Her class went on a picnic field trip to a park this afternoon, and she did all kinds of running around. She got all super sweaty, and had a great time, but as we were getting her ready for bed tonight, I noticed how pink her cheeks and nose and forehead got from the day. So, we washed her face, and I put some of my thick night cream on her for bedtime.
ITEM!: Something interesting must have happened today, but for the life of me, I can't think of what that would have been. I hate days like that, and they're even worse when I sit down that evening and try to come up with something interesting to post. Tomorrow, cupcakes.

Triangle ... Bermuda Triangle

Okay, this picture showed up on Earth Pics several weeks ago, and I totally fell in love with its awesomeness. These are ship wrecks in the Bermuda Triangle. As much as the legend of the Bermuda Triangle is all crazy superstitions and old mariners' tales, there really kinda has to be something real going on there. Where there's smoke, there's fire, right? And where there are shipwrecks aplenty, there must be some kind of negative mystical force that makes bad things happen. I mean, look at the ships, planes and probably some scooters that get into all kinds of bad predicaments, and the people disappear. There has to be something to it. And while that's all horrible, this picture is really neat.
(Boxes done today: 5; as of now: 42.) My math skills are beginning to slow down as these numbers are getting higher.

Moving post = beautiful Earth pic

I haven't been keeping Y'ALL updated on my packing. And I know it's been a concern for you. I packed two boxes from the kitchen tonight, after spending the majority of the day getting frustrated by a lack of suitable homes to rent in Scottsdale. Yesterday, I packed up three boxes. I don't remember if I packed any on Monday, so I'll just say two. It's pretty awesome to know that I can pack up all the small appliances in my kitchen six weeks before moving (except the toaster because we're not animals), because I don't use them. Also, the serving pieces. I think you all may have more fun knowing what I can pack two months before moving because I can live without them just fine. Tomorrow, I'll pack up my Christmas dishes, and, as a testament to my social life (and lack thereof), the bar glasses. (Boxes done this week: 7; as of now: 37.)
I also reorganized my dining room so I have room for all my kitchen boxes. And, the dining room table has been adopted by the packing paper as a preparation and wrapping station.
So, I wasn't exactly unproductive today, though I feel it. But I did spend two hours on the sofa watching Life of Pi. It was visually stunning, but as for attention-keeping, well, notsomuch. I knew I should have gone with Django Unchained or The Dark Knight Rises.

Dog fight. Really. She fights.

So, my dog attacked another dog today.
My princess, Daisy, attacked another dog.
We had just gotten home from the groomers (so she's looking pretty, too). There was a lady walking her two dogs, about Oliver's size, in the grassy area in front of the parking spots. Sydney was standing outside my open car door, and I had Daisy on my lap, hooking on her leash. With the leash on her now, I put Daisy on the ground and handed Sydney the handle. Daisy started barking at the other dogs, which is usual for her for some reason, and started to head over to the grass.
The woman, meanwhile, had picked up one of her dogs, and was heading across the grass to leave the area. I said to Sydney, who is, by the way, old enough to hold on to a dog leash, "Hold on to that leash, please. Don't let her go." Sydney, of course, heard, "Go ahead and let Daisy walk over to the dogs she's barking at and drop the leash handle, too."
It's funny, because I see my little princess drop the leash, and my other little princess, barking ferociously, start charging at this other dog on the ground. Daisy, leash trailing, still barking, runs up to this other dog, and lifts her front legs and lunges at this other dog. Her front feet hit this dog on its shoulders, and she pushes it back. Most bizarre thing I've ever seen.
It's at this moment that I reached the leash handle and grabbed it, then pulled Daisy back, as she's still barking and lunging at this other dog. Of course, I apologized profusely, and pulled my princess back to my side. The lady was very nice, and said that it was okay. I told her that I appreciate her saying that, but that it is definitely not okay. And that I, again, am so sorry. She kept on heading home, and I was stuck standing there in the grassy area with my vicious, BI-PEDAL, princess and fighting machine.

Let's do this! and/or Bring it on!

Well, I did it!
I finally screwed up my courage, and sent my book to six different literary agencies today.
The first agency submission was, predictably, terrifying. I filled out the online form, and must have sat there for about five minutes, just staring at the "submit" button. I finally took a deep breath, put my hand on Daisy's head, and clicked the button.
After that one, it was easy to do the rest. The response time for each agency varies from three weeks to eight weeks, and most say that if you don't hear back from them in three months, they aren't interested. I was sure to write down the date on my notes, but I don't think I'll forget this day anytime soon. The day Kimmie finally had the courage to click "submit."
Of course, I'm not naive enough to really think that I'll get any interest in my first round of submissions. But it would be a nice thing, right? And also, having done this now, I feel like I can work on a couple of my other ideas. Submitting is easy, writing is hard.

Sunday is as Sunday does

We didn't leave the house except to go on our nature explorer's walk.
I didn't have any vegetable oil, so I couldn't make any blueberry muffins.
The peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I made us for dinner were delicious.
The show, Family Game Night, is annoying to watch.
Brownies are a yummy snack.
I can't stop watching Men in Black 3 right now.

Cupcakes are very good for you

A few weeks ago, we discovered that a cupcake bakery was being built in the shopping center down the street from our house. It's in the same shopping center as my Starbucks, which seems like fate, right? All my loves converging in one strip mall.
Sydney and I were very concerned that the bakery might not open before we leave in June. We've conducted several drive-bys in the last few weeks. We decided to do one today, and were incredibly pleased to discover a "Now Open" sign above the bakery! We parked right in front, and were greeted by people who work at the bakery, and a tray of cupcakes. They were giving away samples today, because the place is soft opening on Monday, and grand opening on Friday, but they wanted to drum up some interest and get everything working in there.
They had three different cupcakes for our tasting pleasure: red velvet, pink vanilla, and German chocolate. Given those choices, we both decided on the pink vanilla, which is vanilla cake with their signature pink buttercream frosting. Neither of us were interested in the cake, as we both prefer chocolate (we did taste the cake, and I remembered I don't like vanilla cake), but both of us were pleased with the frosting. They also had the menu for their core flavors. These intrigued me:
Pink chocolate, which is a chocolate cake with the pink frosting. This will be Sydney's and my favorite. ... Choco-holic, chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. ... Lemon, a lemon cake filled with tangy lemon and topped with lemon buttercream. ... Decadent fudge, chocolate or vanilla cake topped with a fudge frosting.
We can't wait for next week! Cupcakes in the house!!

That's a map of the T routes

I had a great plan to watch a new movie tonight. I've got three awesome ones from Netflix today: Django Unchained, Life of Pi, and The Dark Knight Rises. I was thinking about Django or Pi, to narrow it down, but then I got to watching the television.
The news stations were camped out in Watertown, Mass., waiting, watching and speculation about the manhunt being conducted for the second suspect in the Marathon bombings in Boston last Monday. I missed quite a bit on the news last night after I went to bed, including a fatal shooting at MIT in Cambridge, and the subsequent car chase, shootout and search throughout the night. I awoke to find Brian's text on my phone from a few hours earlier giving me some information and bemoaning his inability to stop watching the news.
I suffered from that affliction all day today. I couldn't turn off the news. Well, actually, I could turn off CNN, and did, early on this morning, but I was a steady watcher of both MSNBC and NBC's coverage all day. And now, at 10 p.m., I was finally released from the manhunt coverage, with the good news that this awful person has been found and captured, and is now in police custody at a hospital. People are glad that the man was taken alive because they think he'll provide answers, and he just may, but at the end of the day, nothing he says will satisfy anyone trying to find the truth behind his, and his brother's, actions on Monday. Still, any resolution without anymore loss of human life is a good one. I'm glad I was able to watch it firsthand. But I'm tired, and so ready to turn this TV off.
(Boxes done today: 1; as of now: 30.)

From gross to fabulous in one storm

I can probably count on one hand the things that I will miss about Houston. One of them is the weather, because there is real weather here. Not as much weather as Boston, but a whole lot more than Arizona (which I still am so excited to get back to).
But today's funky weather is a perfect example of what I'll miss: the morning started off gross, about 75 degrees and so humid it was misting. At lunchtime, it was the same. But at about 2 p.m., the wind kicked up, and it started to rain. With that rain came a temperature drop of about 15 degrees. It only got cooler as the day progressed. And tonight, all my windows are closed because it got too cold in the house; I'm wearing a sweatshirt; and the air conditioner is off. All good things, to be sure.
This is weather I like to call "unpredictable" and "kinda awesome for April." This will not be the kind of weather we'll have back in Arizona, and I'll miss it.
But you know what's fun for me? Yes, there are a few things that I'll miss about Houston, but -- TO ANSWER THE QUESTION -- I love knowing for a fact that I'm still going to be so much happier in Phoenix.
(Boxes done today: 5; as of now: 29.)

The Senate failed us today

I'm pretty irritated at the United States Senate, and how spectacularly it has failed the American people, in favor of the National Rifle Association and special interests. How can you have a measure -- universal background checks before gun purchases -- that 90 percent of the people in the country agree on, and then not vote to approve it? On how many issues do 90 percent of the American people agree? Not a whole lot, to be sure. In fact, this may be the only thing that amount of people have agreed on for a very long time.
And in what universe does a "majority" of 100 senators mean that it has to be 60 votes? I thought a majority of 100 was 51. But then again, I'm not too good at the math. Still, the Senate and its special interests failed the American people today, and that's a shame. It's sad.
After a day like yesterday, it's particularly upsetting to have our own government do its best to continue to not protect us better. It actively chose to not protect us better. There's something very wrong there. It's disconcerting.
(Boxes done today: 6; as of now: 24.)

The toe thing may gross you out

ITEM!: I'm still so upset about the bombing in Boston. I've stopped watching a lot of the coverage though, because most news channels are just rehashing their bad speculation, and repeating the bits of actual news ad nauseum. I'm so proud of the people there and how they're responding to this. And I'm super proud to say that I lived there. Articles made me cry today; Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert honored the town well tonight; and I wish I could be of some help.
ITEM!: I got heavy into the packing today. Honestly, I stood in the living room for several minutes just looking around, before I even figured out where I wanted to start. Because starting, you know, is the worst part. Once I got started -- in the living room -- I rolled pretty quickly through my boxing for the day. (Boxes done today: 11; as of now: 18.) I powered through the DVDs in the living room; the decorative pillows in the bedroom; and the decorative items in the living room. Tomorrow, I think I may start in the office, which I'm avoiding, because there are so many books.
ITEM!: I am not a fan of Tom Cruise. So I hate that I feel even the briefest bit of interest for his new movie, Oblivion. He was on The Daily Show tonight, and I barely made it through the interview, even though he was seemingly full of charm. This movie, because of Morgan Freeman, of course, looks like it might not be a bad way to spend a couple hours next week. But that opinion may change. Depends on how much I see of Tom Cruise over the next few days.
ITEM!: The big, fat bruise under my right foot's big toe's nail has finally healed to the point where the nail has separated from the toe itself, and I could trim it away. The new nail is growing in nicely, but there's still a lot of work to be done on the nail growing. So the nail looks more like a trapezoid (I think that's the shape I mean. I didn't do too well in geometry, so I could be way off). I polished the nails yesterday though, so now the weird-shaped nail is a brilliant blue.

I wish a hug could make it better

My heart is breaking for Boston tonight.
I love that town, and to have something like this happen to it is just awful. Today is Patriots Day, a city-wide holiday in Boston, where everyone is happy. School is out; workers are off; and the Red Sox play an early home game. It's such a happy day, and I hate that now it'll be an anniversary of something terrible.
My apartment in the South End is two blocks from the site. I never had Patriots Day off from work, and for every Patriots Day, I would curse the marathon for making my commute home so brutal. Also, there was trash and silver blankets all over the place.
I loved living in Boston. Not enough to be that far from the family now, but for those four years, it was an excellent place to be. I can only watch this coverage for bits at a time, since it's so sad to me. I just want to go there and hug the city.

I need to monetize this situation

Now, I know I watch a whole lot of movies, but I never really realized how many until I spent the weekend with my dad and the television. Because when it comes down to it, I drift from movie to movie on my movie channels, and treat their schedules like all manner of my addiction. I can't seem to go through my day without bits and pieces, or entire wholes, of movies. I can sit and wander through my 40 movie channels, and pick and choose for Daddy which ones are worthy of his watching, or not. I bounced from a war movie to a revenge movie and part of an alien movie, and was perfectly happy with them all.
And then, I had a Netflix movie to watch after the kid went to bed. And when that was done, and I needed background music for my blog posting, I chose the last 20 minutes of the second Bridget Jones movie. Now, I just want to turn off my television, because I think it's tired.

Lotsa medicines, some are for people

I was on the hunt for one of Daisy's pain pills this evening, since she tweaked her back again at some point this afternoon, and got distracted. Of course, she got her pill first, because it's more important that she feel better. But then, you know me, I got into the zone of cleaning out the medication drawer. It has, obviously, been quite some time since I did that. We had Sudafed, Midol and all manner of other things that were four, five or even six years expired. Also, there is a buttload of bandages. And burn cream for, you know, in case you accidentally touch a super hot stove burner.
There is a great amount of dog medications for all kinds of issues, too, like ear infections, eye infections, and more ear infections. Happily, also Daisy's pain medications were labeled and easy to find. She's taking it easy tonight; and is currently chilling on her cushion in the living room. I don't look forward to lifting her up onto the bed tonight. That usually earns me a yelp. As will putting her on the floor in the morning. But by this time tomorrow night, she should be feeling better. Crazy overweight dog with her back problems and not jumping off things properly.

Because Wednesday is "hump day"

Stream of consciousness:
My nose and fingers are chilled because a storm rolled into town, dropping the temperatures outside by 30 degrees in just a short amount of time, and I've finally closed the windows because my fresh air got too cold. ... Daddy arrives in Houston tomorrow, and I'm excited to do a bunch of stuff this weekend. I'm thinking, maybe some education, a visit to the Gulf, and some fun stuff for Sydney, because that's all she cares about. ... Daisy ate way too much of Oliver's food today. One time, it was just while I was in the bathroom. She's gotten sneaky and fast. She's never going to lose any weight. I think I'm getting out-thinked by a dog. ... I didn't pack any boxes today. So, the box count stays at seven. ... Sydney doesn't know it yet, but there is some Southern Blackberry Cobbler ice cream in the freezer. When she finds out, she's going to freak out. It's some of these little things that make me love being a mom. ... Please note that the landscape above is created with broccoli.

Fish photobombs are real

And then there was more packing.
I carried all the flattened boxes upstairs, and they now occupy a wall in the living room. Also, I filled up a box with my sweaters, and a wardrobe box with long dresses and skirts. All these things I know I won't need for the next couple months. And to give you a brief look into my neuroses, I tend to file through the boxes, checking their labels from the last move, and filling them with the same things. Less marker on the boxes leaves less room for confusion. It also makes for a more puzzle-like mindset for the packing. This calms me.
Having said that, with the boxes all up here, I'm starting to get antsy about the packing, and anxious about the amount of it. Again, I know that I'll be able to fly through it once I get started, but still, ... so. many. boxes.
(Boxes done today: 5; as of now: 7)
Duly noted that every time I start one of these box counters for our move, I lose track pretty early on, and then give up out of frustration. Yay; challenge!

Monday, fun day?

ITEM!: This picture is of the Great Wall of China, where it ends and meets the ocean. This may be among one of the coolest things ever.
ITEM!: What a weird day. I can't wait for my coffee with Marlo tomorrow morning. I kinda need to sit with someone who will be nice with no ulterior motive, and who will like me. What a weird day.
ITEM!: I did make my first hauls of boxes up to the apartment from the storage unit. So, I've got a wardrobe box full of packing paper, and about 20 flattened boxes in my living room. Also, now I'm motivated. I'm ready to get to the packing. My goal is to get all the boxes up here by Thursday. I'll dig into the actual packing after Daddy leaves next Monday.
ITEM!: The lady who lives in the bottom-floor apartment in my building accidentally drove her car into a different bottom-floor apartment's wall and living room this morning. I felt so bad for her, because she was obviously upset about it. I would be, too. And she's so nice. She hit the gas instead of the brake when pulling into the parking spot, and just kinda plowed into this lady's patio and living room. I didn't even hear the accident happen. I was in the laundry room, and had gone out to the balcony when I noticed the damage across the parking lot. At the very least, we get to supervise construction for the next couple weeks.
ITEM!: I finished my first Percy Jackson book today on the Nook (Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief). And it was pretty cool. Not as awesome or involved as the Harry Potter books, but a good little story nonetheless. I'm eager to dig into the rest of them. They're on sale on Barnes & Noble for the Nook, making them even more intriguing going into the next several weeks.

Martin, the time machine

I remember, a few years ago, buying an external hard drive for my computer to use as a back-up hard drive, should I need it. We bought the hard drive (which I'll call "Martin" for no real reason) and I was excited to back up the computer. The reality of working with Martin was very different than the idea of him. I did the best I could in just copying files and moving them over to his brain, but the process wasn't working as I had hoped. It wasn't instinctive, and gave me no clues as to how to do it easier. I got frustrated and put Martin in the drawer.
Fast forward five years, to some time in the last few months, when I decide that I really need to figure out how to use Martin effectively. I pull him out of the drawer and then Martin sits on my file cabinet, cable and brain at the ready.
Today, I decide to figure out Martin. And oh my goodness! Apparently, some more awesome things happened to my computer when I upgraded the operating systems all those months ago. This cool thing, which I've known about forever but never had an official one, called a Time Machine, is a back-up saving device sold by Apple. The Apple Time Machine is expensive, which is why I've not bought one.
But today, when I plugged Martin into my computer, the nifty new operating system asked me (I paraphrase), "Hey, miss thing! You wanna use Martin as a Time Machine? I can make that happen!" And then it gave me two buttons to click, and then, BOOM, the computer starts backing up to Martin!
Since this was the first back-up on Martin ever, and since I have a lot of stuff on the computer, it took about three hours for it to finish, but it was well worth the wait. I feel so much better now. Pictures, documents, videos and all that are now comfortably resting for perpetuity on Martin, for whenever I need them.

Thanks, but I'll just have 2

I continue to be unimpressed by 3D movies.
Today, Sydney and I ventured out to enjoy the beauty of Jurassic Park on the big screen, and in 3D. Only because it is Jurassic Park was this okay with me. Movies in 3D are a rip-off as far as I'm concerned. But I think I figured out the other issue I have with the technology: it's distracting.
Here we had Jurassic Park, one of the best movies ever made, and I couldn't concentrate on the film itself, because of the 3D trickery going on. I also wondered if some things weren't put in the film just for the 3D -ness of it. Like palm fronds I don't remember from the original. Or other things like that.
Also, and maybe this is just me, but I've noticed that if a movie isn't filmed specifically for a 3D format, it comes off as blurry in every aspect. And before you get snarky and wonder if it's blurry because I'm not wearing my glasses, I mean that the technology changes seem to have a hard time keeping up with the movie. The 3D bits just make for a more difficult film to watch.
So, once again, I've given the 3D technology another shot at wowing me, and it has fallen short. So, there we go. Even with the wonderfulness of Jurassic Park, watching the 3D movie is a waste of money.

The joy of gift cards

I am feeling awesome, because I spent two hours at Barnes & Noble today. In those two hours, I picked up three books to take home, and found four books for the Nook. (How does one select a book for the Nook and remember it for when one is home? Ah, well, one takes a picture of the book cover!)
I've discovered I have started putting books in these two categories: Home and Nook.
The Home books, obviously, come home with me. They are by authors that I read regularly. They are about a topic that I know I'll enjoy. They are the ones that stick in my head after I've read the back cover, and call my name.
The Nook books, of course, get downloaded. They are the ones that I've heard about online and in magazines. They are interesting, but not immediately emotionally compelling. They may be worth the money to buy them, but might not be worth the trees they'd be printed on. They are the books that are only available in hardcover at present, but all the others I have are paperback, and I refuse to mess up the aesthetics of having two or three paperbacks and one hardcover in the same series on my bookshelf.
And I like that I've separated them. With the Nook books, I'm more willing to take a chance. I'm more likely to read the book I heard about from Entertainment Weekly. I'm more intrigued by something I would normally stay very far away from. And the Home books are immediately put on a mental pedestal, and the To-Be-Read Pile is less likely to sit dormant for any amount of time.
I'm happy tonight, with all my new books.

Arizona hungry and hubby-less tired

A couple things are totally wrong with my little life right now.
1. I can not sleep well with my kid in her room and my husband not home. I've got paranoia. I woke up, wide awake, at 4 a.m. today, with the insistent need to check on Sydney. I know myself too well to not follow my instincts on something like that, because I try to always follow my instincts. Of course, she was fine, and sleeping soundly. I couldn't get to sleep though, for another 10 minutes, and after I checked on her again. Those Third-Floor Ninjas really get into my head sometimes. And it seems that they're more pervasive when I'm the Agent in Command of the household.
2. My husband is eating at all my favorite dining places without me. Yesterday at lunch, I was texted a photo of the Dilly's Deli menu board, and he ate Tokyo Express for dinner. Tonight, he was rushing home so he could enjoy his mini chimichangas from Julio's. He had lunch at Oregano's on Saturday. Honestly, I knew this would happen, but the preparation for this kind of food envy was insufficient.
3. My dogs need haircuts and the groomer was unable to accommodate them this week. Now, I have to wait three weeks to have it done. They have too much hair, and I can't see their eyes. This isn't an issue with Oliver, as I know him and every twitch of his body. But Daisy, well, she's unpredictable, and it's always better to be able to see her eyes.

I love me some movies

Life, lately, is all about the movies.
Today, I did one of my favorite things, which is go to the movies by myself. I enjoy getting my popcorn, sitting in the very middle of a row, and getting completely engrossed in the film. Today's flick, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, was just such a movie, with all kinds of fun explosions, action and cheeseball dialogue.
I've got a couple good movies from Netflix in my house, too. Skyfall, which I think I'll watch tomorrow afternoon; Rise of the Guardians, which Sydney and I will watch soon for Movie Afternoon; and Lincoln (technically, on its way from Netflix), which is the Oscar-nominated movie I told myself I would watch when it came out on DVD. Netflix continues to be an awesome service I wish I had thought up.
And this weekend, Jurassic Park will be back in theaters, and in 3-D. I know that I've made you all aware of my dislike for 3-D movies, but this is Jurassic Park, and it'll make my kid so happy to watch it on the big screen. So I'll bite the metaphorical bullet and pay for us to watch it in 3-D. She's very excited.

A list of what's OFFICIAL:

The avatars are gone. In case you really cared about this bizarre staple on the blog here, I'll tell you that yes, I did spend many hours putting together avatars for the future. I now have 130 avatars on reserve. Yes, yes, perhaps I went a little crazy and over-reacted. However, I have enough avatars for the next 10 years and a bit. This makes me happy. The idea of Sydney being 16 years old and reading my still-active blog makes me happy, too.
I am capable of eating only half a chocolate bunny. I am so proud of myself. I was able to crush and make bits out of the bunny, and then only snack on half of it. Then, if you can believe it, I tossed out the second half. And I was perfectly fine doing that. I think I may be growing as a person.
Archer is among the best of television shows ever. So is The Walking Dead. As if you couldn't tell, because I'm focused on shows that aren't on tonight, the storm outside is crazy bad and has knocked out my satellite dish. I'm binging on what's on my DVR.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation must be a good movie. I'm going to go see it tomorrow, so I will be able to prove or deny that assertion tomorrow night. But my comment to Brian is that, any movie with The Rock and Bruce Willis in it must be good. Also, popcorn.
Ensure drinks do not taste delicious. Brian left a few in the refrigerator, and he made me promise that they wouldn't go to waste. I drank one for dinner tonight, and I didn't like the taste. It was like dirty plastic, I think. I'm going to stick with my Carnation Breakfast Essentials. The Ensure is nasty.
I still love Earth Pics. This Twitter account is still blowing my mind, and I'm still loving the images I get. I've started favoriting the images and tweets I like the best, and then save the pictures to my desktop for the blog. This one is of a hot air balloon in Tuscany. Aren't the colors amazing?

And the boxing begins ...

I'm excited to say that I got some packing done today. It was just the beginning, and a minimal one, since I had to carry the boxes upstairs myself to get it done. But they were wardrobe boxes, and now Brian's closet is done. Also, I taped up two bins of his shoes. (Boxes done today: 2; as of now: 2)
I'll be bringing boxes upstairs bit by bit, as well as the packing paper and whatnot. This is why I'm starting early. I have a lot to do, and only myself to do it. I'm quite pleased with my little bit of packing for the day. I feel accomplished, and like I've started the big project, and now it's just a slow descent into the breach, when it's all done and we finally get the hell out of Texas.