elvis has left the building...

Top 5 things in my brain today...

1. I know, Dell, I know. You have great customer service. So great that you talk to me on the phone for 4 hours straight for something the laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast guy I finally talked to solved in about 40 minutes. Sweet mother of mercy. I mean, we killed the batteries on both of my phones talking. I talked to Carlton first, and the whole time just thought of the Fresh Prince of Bell Air. I didn't think it would get any better...
... until Elvis got on the line.
Elvis?
No, seriously.
Elvis?
Yes.
I swear he just decided that was his name because who can yell at Elvis??? Especially because of the Lilo and Stitch connection.
Elvis was going to send me a new harddrive.
And told me 7 million times that he understood how I felt.
(I can assure you he didn't)
I never got the last guy's name... but thanks to him, I now know the inside of my computer really well. And it seems to work. And that, my friends, is a praise.
But I never hope to hear again, "well, Miss Gabby, I understand your frustration and hope that we are making you happy" <--- because if you have to say that? I'm not. Not even close. Mama needs a drink.

2. The AC is on. The sun is shining. Max and I took a long walk.
The day is not all bad.

3. If you have a landscaping company and your last name is Bland, please don't name your company Bland Landscaping. Because then each time I see one of your trucks, I think to myself-- who the heck wants BLAND landscaping? (yeah, I'm even cheesey when I am driving around town by myself)

4. Here's my majorly non-tree-huggery confession: I have an Orkin man. (and I feel guilty about this) And I know him by name. And he humors my neuroses. And he asks about Max. And he doesn't spray anything. And he makes the liiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle tiny black ants that make me crazy go back out of my house where they belong. (but I still feel guilty)

5. Flowers = happy.
Mail love = happy.
Seeing my sister in two weekends = happy.
This sweet girl's HOF phone call that made me cry = happy.
REI dividends = cute Keens = happy.
Weekends = happy.

And now I'm off to stop thinking about Elvis....
and enjoying said weekend.

xoxoxo,

g

midweek ten

1. There is nothing better in the world that being in yoga...
Inverting yourself...
and realizing that out the window behind you, you're seeing upside down trees full of white blooms and the bluest of Carolina blue skies you've ever seen. Heaven on earth, I tell you.
2. Dog puke on a pillow?
Not so much fun... really, just dog puke in general isn't so much fun... but on your pillow?!
Come on now, Max... I know I wasn't meeting your every single need Monday night, but that was soooooooooo not the way to tell me.
Yuck.
Yuck.
Yuck.
(not heaven on earth, I tell you)
3. Cake cures all. I'm just saying.
I'm having a good cake week. Makes things better, I say.
4. Real friends understand the crazy things you do... even when you aren't sure you yourself understand what you're doing.
5. In a grand show of irony in the universe... Mike's xbox broke the week after we sent the PS2 to the Jackman. And in a grand show of non-Mikey-ness... Mike didn't seem to mind. I was the one in a tizzy because, well, that's what we've been watching DVDs on! And I had Fast Food Nation! And Employee of the Month! And I wasn't not watching those.
6. Speaking of FFN...
Read the book first... ...
or you won't expect the end of the movie.....
Actually. Just read the book. I really loved the movie... I really love Linklater, but I'm not sure that the book necessarily translated to the screen.
7. A clean house makes a happy G. We did a massive housecleaning (I'm using "we" loosely here.......)... purging... stuff shifting... and....
8. ... we moved a couch into our kitchen! And it is my new favorite spot.
Max says it's ok. Really doesn't provide the sort of potential for seeing cats in the front yard as the rest of our/his window seats do.
9. Anyone want to go antiquing with me? I'm on a quest for an old patchwork quilt for said kitchen couch. And then I'm going to fill the couch with even more pillows (which will make Mike insane... he's not sure of the point of throw pillows... to which I say, they have no point, but they look cute!)
I should've just called this post...
10 things about the couch in my kitchen.
and
10. Yes. I entered HOF. No, I didn't tell people. Yes, I won an HM. Yes, I am thrilled.
Believe it or not... I am an intensely private person.
It scares me and weirds me out to no end that my friends know that I'm trying to get pregnant-- because by saying out loud to you all "I'm not pregnant again"-- that means that I am saying out loud that I want to be pregnant. And that is scary.
Admitting to things means you want them to happen. And that, to me, is a very scary thing.
I don't have piles of confidence in myself-- but I have it in other people. So I'd much rather be your cheerleader than have you be mine.
My scrapbooking-- is kind of just me pouring my heart onto paper and then hanging it out there for the world to see. And that is another very scary thing.
So no. I didn't talk about it.
There are some things in life that I really need to do on my own. And this was one of them. I know I hurt some people by not sharing-- but honestly? It had nothing to do with anyone other than me. I don't like things happening to me that can't happen to everyone I love-- which is why I shocked myself by entering to begin with... It is funny to me that everything I felt yesterday was tempered by guilt when I just wanted to feel happy. So thank you for the congratulations and the emails and the calls and the love. It means the world to me.
Thanks for getting it.
Happy Wednesday.
xoxoxo,
g

friday ten

I haven't blogged this week...
In that, well, this week is the anniversary of Alex's death and it carries with it a whole lot of bad memories. I don't want to dwell on it. But I also don't want to gloss it over. Right now, we're all in a place where it is so so hard to say what we're feeling-- to express it all and to make it come out right. I suppose that is what healing is all about.
Suffice it to say, I've leaned on my rocks pretty hard this week.
And I appreciate so much the sweet emails and goofy messages and other goodnesses sent my way by all of you. I am reminded yet again how much love there is. So thank you.

On with the ten....
1. We sent the Jackman a Playstation 2 so he can be a Guitar Hero "just yike Uncle Mike" for his birthday.... we're pretty much in his "best aunt and uncle" book for all time now, but I'm not sure the other 2 feel the same. Hee. But now he is sick. Boo. Poor little Jack.

2. Max got his teeth cleaned this week.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the drama king that he is...
He sighed and groaned at us the whole night.
It is horrid how much we torture him.

3. We're getting a Jimmy Johns. Ahhhhhhhhhh! And then there was light. Oh, I am so excited. I would drive many miles for a #6 veggie sammie from there... Mike and I both looked at each other last night, though, and said we wanted it for dinner. Unfortunately, it isn't open yet. So I just thought about it alllllllllll night. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

4. We enrolled in that Blockbuster online rental thingie?
yeah.
I sorta completely adore it and the millions of movies in our que (I know, we're so 1989 to not be doing something like this yet).
Watched this the other day <--- So love. Even Mike watched and loved it (I think)... I've been a Chicks fan forever. Well, not when they sang at county fairs and wore hoop skirts and whatnot, but since then. I adore Natalie. I want her to live in my house and be my friend and say inappropriate things all the time just like I do. They are all so human... and watching them with their kiddos-- it all just was so good. So raw, too-- the footage of the "ex-fan" waving the American flag and telling the camerapeople that the Dixie Chicks suck, and then turning to her 2 year old and saying, "Now you say it, say the Dixie Chicks suck"-- just turned my stomach. And, yes, I did cry a bit. Of course.
5. Took engagement photos for some friends last weekend... and loved every single minute of it, and of editing them at Jess's... And I'm going to be a bridesmaid again. I think that means I need to shave my legs.

6. Wanting to do house stuff... dang you, spring, for making me want to do stuff like:
-- paint the kitchen
-- put in a patio
-- buy this, and these, and.............
-- the list goes on and on and on. Sigh.

7. I'm back into the groove of yoga.... I am.
And it is thrilling and good.
However, it was so long since the last time I went, I couldn't remember how to use my yoga bag. Oh yeah. I was so mad at it... shoving my mat in it... wondering why it shrunk and nothing fit anymore, only to get there and realize that the mat pocket is a nice zippered one at the bottom.... that I completely overlooked.
Heh.
For the record, I am one of the most inflexible people in the world. Please do not read my love of yoga as being bendy, for I am certainly not that.

8. Need
more
Cadbury
Minieggs.
Mike discovered he likes them. Dangit. Now we need yet another bag.

9. Mike starts softball and indoor soccer up again this weekend. He's trying to convince me I want to play on his soccer team. I keep reminding him I haven't played since, ummm, grad school. And I'm old now. And creaky. And slow. I swear.

and
10. Let the March madness begin, my friends. I met Mike during the NCAA tournament five years ago.... so it holds a special spot for me. AND it means I get to go out and have beer, jalapeno poppers, and other sundry bar food items at least once a week. Heavenly (and probably also the reasons I won't be playing any indoor soccer).

Enjoy your weekends, loves.
xoxoxox,
g