Something's Wrong, You're Not Naive, You Must Be Strong.

Don't let the holy light confuse you - this cat is up to no good.

So, today was off to a rough start. The beast decided to plague me all night long by pouncing on me every two seconds while I tried to sleep. I kept thinking he'd get tired and finally go to sleep, but as far as I could tell, that never happened. At some point, I finally got fed up enough to throw him out of my room and close the door. He didn't meow much either. I did hear him trying to open the door with his paw for a bit before he gave up. Needless to say, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night.

I'm not sure if it was the lack of sleep or the margaritas, but my brain and my belly weren't all that happy today. I suffered through it all and slid my way home on the ice and got to take a little nap before I started my evening.

Surprisingly, tonight turned out okay. I talked to Stinky for a bit, before she headed off to a basketball game, ran to the store and made potato leek soup. Yum.

We'll see how it goes tonight with the orange demon we call Archie. I'm hoping for a pounce free night of sleep. Wish me luck!

Gotta Gotta Be Down Because I Want It All

Here is a cyclist going down a ramp.

Um, so...I'm not really sure what to write tonight. This weekend was so hectic, I'm still kind of recovering from it. Today it rained and tomorrow it might snow. I'd say it's Iowa at the end of December, as far as the weather is concerned.

This evening I picked up the guy and we had a drink at the Dublin before we headed to Banditos for really good Mexican food. At one point, a waitress came by and just gave us a pint glass full of Margarita for free. She said it was a mistake. Then she said she gave it to us because she met me through our mutual friends, Bridget and Kathleen. I vaguely remembered her, but was glad she remembered me so kindly.

Of course, drinking that Margarita made me even more stupid and now I have to leave you with this sub-par blog post. Feel free to blame the generous waitress with the good memory. I know I am.

I Said, "I Must Be Fine 'Cuz My Heart's Still Beating."

Stinky girl and stinky cat.

Well, I kept thinking I was going to blog over this long weekend, but never got a chance. What that means, is that I was busy, but happily so. I'll try to quickly relate it all to you right now.

Wednesday night was very nice. The guy and I ate and had a great talk and harassed the new kitten and it was the perfect way to start the holiday.

I stole this pic and the next off my sister's FB. Here is Coadster torturing her cousin...

Thanksgiving was a lot of driving, but it was a nice dinner and very mellow. It was just me and my girls and my sister's family and my aunt and uncle. It felt weird that there weren't very many people, but it was really nice to be able to sit and have a conversation with the family who were there.

We got back around 6:30 and I made a little drink and watched Toy Story 3 with the girls. I'd say it was a pretty successful Thanksgiving all the way around.

...And here is Coadster battling her other cousin.

Friday was also very nice. I got a nice long run in, and a relaxing hot bath during the day. In the evening, I got the guy and we met our friend Pat and his family for Pagliais pizza. Pat and his wife are hilarious, so dinner was raucous and fun and the pizza was very tasty. I got home around 8'ish and tried to watch Alice in Wonderland with Coadster, but I fell asleep after the first half hour. I'm not sure if I was just that tired, or if Tim Burton was a little disappointing in this effort.

The guy got his back brace signed by Chris Horner. Pretty cool.

On Saturday the guy and I went to a cyclocross race. I had never been to one before and it was really cool. It was great to have the guy around to fill me in on the history and to explain its different aspects. I loved watching it and even have delusions of participating in one next year. We'll see.....

I hope everyone's holiday was long and busy in the best ways.

Now I'm a Fat House Cat Nursing My Sore Blunt Tongue

Here is a pic the guy took of me and Archie when we first visited him at the shelter. The girl crush suggested the name and Stinky really liked it.

So, I got the call today. They liked my application and I got to take the new boy in my life home tonight. He is quite the sweet, spastic, tornado of a cat, I must say. He tore around our house for the first couple of hours - hanging from curtains, running into walls and sliding into tables and couches. He finally wound down and jumped up on Stinky lying on the couch and fell asleep on her belly. I think it's safe to say that Stinky is in love.

Here he is playing with the cat dancer toy the guy got for him.

I have one more day of work before I'm off for Thanksgiving. Let me tell you, I'd love to call in sick tomorrow and just stay home and play with Archie all day. At least the girls will be home. It will be hard to leave him for however many hours to go to my Aunt's house on Thanksgiving. Do you think they'd mind if we brought him along?

And You Follow 'Til Your Sense of Which Direction Completely Disappears

Here is the kitty I'm trying to adopt. I stole this pic from the shelter site.

I've been kicking around the idea of getting a kitten since I bought my house. I waited because I had so much going on. I made the mistake of saying something about it to a woman in my office, who volunteers at the shelter. I asked her not to send me any pics of cute kittens, but she didn't listen to me. That was all it took.

I found two kittens I thought looked really cute. One was younger and female and the other was 3 months old and male. After work, the guy and I went to the shelter and we ogled the cats. The younger female was already adopted, but the 3 month old male was there. The guy and I both played with him and he was REALLY cute and playful and sweet. The guy took some pics with his camera, but I didn't have mine.

I filled out the paper work and I should find out tomorrow. I have to call the shelter before 10 am to let them know that I'm still interested. Then they'll go over my application. If everything looks good, I should be able to pick him up tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed. I know I am...

If You Want It, Come and Get It

Here is a pic of me wearing a bonnet. When in Kalona...Do what the Amish do, right?

Well, I had another lovely weekend. On Friday I picked up the guy and headed to the Co-op to pick up a few things. Remind me never to go there when I'm hungry again. I picked the few items I needed, but then got some fresh bread and some Greek olives and smoked salmon and dill neufchatel. The guy said since we had all that snacky stuff maybe we didn't even need to worry about dinner, but I made it anyway. Apparently, I'd hate to waste away or anything...

The guy displaying some jumpy shoes we found at the Mantique store.

I ran on Saturday and did a few things around the house. The girls got tickets to the college football game and did a little sisterly bonding.

I picked up the guy and we headed off for Kalona. Kalona is a little community with many Amish and Mennonite residents, so it happens to be very quaint and full of quilts and horses and buggies and antique shops. It's a great little place to poke around in. We checked out the furniture store and the bakery and a super girly antique store. While we were in there, we heard someone talking about the MANtique store next to it, and we decided to check that out. There were all kinds of contraptions and geegaws.

Our bartender rooting for the wrong team.

At 5, all the shops closed up and we still had an hour to kill before dinner. We found a cute little shack like bar and ordered drinks and settled in to watch the Hawks lose at the end of the game. Our bartender was an Ohio State fan, and so he cheered at the most inappropriate times.

We had a really nice and romantic dinner at the Tuscan Moon again. The guy ordered a martini. I'm not much of a martini drinker, but he was really sweet and offered me one of his olives...Which I do love. We always split our food. This time we got crab cakes as an appetizer and then split the shrimp fettucini pasta and the grilled shrimp and scallops and garlic mashed potatoes. Truly amazing.

I got some great time with Coadster today. Stinky was at work, so Coadster came back from her dad's while I was watching the end of Invictus and then we went to Menards and looked at junk for a bit. It was a nice way to spend a drizzly Sunday in November.

I See the Bright and Hollow Sky

I forgot my camera and had to steal D.'s photo from FB. Boom Boom asked me why I never posted about him on my blog anymore and I didn't want to let him down again.

Sooooo. Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of buying my house. Crazy. So much has gone down since then. I still love my house and so glad I bought it - no matter how house poor I feel sometimes.

Tonight I went to the Dublin after giving plasma. Erik and Boom Boom were in town. I hadn't seen Boom Boom (I love calling a guy with a Phd Boom Boom) in well over a year and it had been several months since I saw Erik. I met Erik's current girlfriend and filled him in about the guy. I think it's kind of nice when you get to a point with your ex where you're totally fine talking about relationships with them and feel good that they're happy.

I stayed a little longer than I had planned, but there were so many people out that I wanted to get to talk to as many of them as possible. I finally took off and gave my friends Shecky and K. rides home. Lovely, lovely.

The even cooler thing, is that tomorrow is Friday. Yea! Both my girls will be in Cedar Falls for the state football championship. I'd be surprised if they got home before midnight.

The guy and I are planning on making dinner. I'm just going for simple with salad, miso soup and spicy peanut noodles.

On Saturday, the guy and I are visiting another small town. I think we'll either go to Kalona or the Amanas. I'm sure wherever we choose, we'll have fun.

And what about all y'all? Will you be wondering what happened to the last year, or creating adventures in the current one?

And Maybe We'll Get Lucky and We'll Both Grow Old

Here is a kitschy little thing.

Oh, kids. The big side effect of being this happy, apparently, is stupidity. But I guess it could be worse...I could be unhappy and stupid.

I know this is getting boring for you all, but I had another wonderful night with the guy. I decided to go back and make the meal that exploded on me on Friday. Tonight, went without incident. The salmon was perfect, the lemon spinach couscous was wonderful and the veggies sauteed in garlic butter and white wine were nice too. And all new and improved and glass free!

I got a text from a friend tonight letting me know that Erik and his friend Boom Boom were going to be in town and hosting a happy hour dealy at the Dublin tomorrow evening. I think I'll stop down around 6'ish when I get done giving a plasma and do a drive-by. I kind of like doing that - I breeze down, have one beer, say hello to everyone I want to say hello to and go on my merry little way. Easy breezy.

Baby, Don't Believe I Wear Two Left Shoes

Here is a festive display.

Today was wonderfully fire free. I did a little experiment and tried running in the morning before work, instead of after. It turned our pretty well. I'm not the biggest morning person, so I was a little worried, but I got my ass out of bed and hit the road. Luckily, it was pretty foggy outside and I miss running in the fog, like I did when I was younger and lived in San Francisco. It was also nice to get off work and already be done with my work-out.

I even had a enough time to sit and watch a movie while Stinky was at work. I checked out Amelia. It was pretty interesting. I knew some of her story, but I had no idea she was so progressive for her time. Let's see...Getting to have both Richard Gere and Ewan MacGregor? It makes you want to go fly planes, doesn't it?

Just Play With Me and You Won't Get Burned

Firetrucks by my building.

Today we had a fire in my building at work. It wasn't a bad fire, but it did get us an hour outside and away from our desks. we were able to go back in and sadly, none of my work got ruined in the hubub.

I had a nice night with the guy tonight. I introduced him to my friends J and S. and they all got along really well. S. is our friend Bry's sister and the guy has been waiting a long time to meet her. It didn't hurt that J. just adopted a really sweet hound dog from the pound we got to meet him too.

Afterward, we went out for Mexican food at a place called Banditos. It was really good and the margaritas were even better.

Aside from the fire at work, it wasn't a bad start to the week at all.

Every Day is Such a Perfect Day to Spend

With the guy in Mount Vernon as reflected in the mirror.

Wow. This weekend started with a bang...Or an explosion of sorts. I picked up the guy and we came back to my place and made some fun cocktails and started fixing dinner. I had the salmon all ready to throw in the oven after I had the veggies cut and ready to saute'. I set the glass pan on the stove and turned on what turned out to be the wrong burner to start the couscous. While I was turning around to talk to the guy, I heard a loud sound and shards of glass shot everywhere. Damn!

Apparently, I turned on the wrong burner and it heated up the glass pan the salmon was in by accident and exploded it. It was very sad and I felt like an ass, but the guy was amazing. He started cleaning everything up right away and since we had to throw the food away, he just ordered a great pizza and paid for it. He was just glad I didn't get hurt by the glass flying all over the place. All we could do is laugh about the great exploding glass pan fiasco.

On Saturday I had a nice long run during the day. Stinky was at work until 1, so I had most of the day to myself. It was a cold, blustery, sometimes rainy day and it was just fine to stay home and get some things done.

Around 3:30. I picked up the guy and he asked me to come inside. He had told his mom the story from the night before and she went out and bought me a new glass pan. So sweet.

We headed to Mount Vernon. The weather was crappy, but we still wandered around in antique shops, and then went to a wine bar around 5 while we waited for a table to open up at the restaurant next door. We ate around 6'ish and it was lovely. We like to order two different things and then split it. Everything we got was really, really good. It was such a nice night.

Today I took care of some things around the house. I finally finished getting my screens switched out for storm windows and getting everything put away for Winter. My trees finally dropped their leaves right after the city stopped picking them up. Stupid trees. Stinky and I got some lunch together tonight. We've been trying to do something fun together every Sunday. It's just so hard sometimes to get her to make time in her busy schedule. It must be hard to be a teenager...

You Get a Shiver in the Dark, It's a Raining in the Park, but Meantime...

A recycled photo of my girls in their younger years. Amazing how that only seems like a few weeks ago.

Oh, weekend...How I am ever so ready for you. Tomorrow, Stinky has the day off, so she's going with some friends to Cedar Falls to watch her high school football team in the play offs. I doubt she'll be home until fairly late.

The guy and I are doing our usual Friday night date in. I'm baking salmon (I know we just had it, but it was the best looking fish I could find and I never get tired of it), making cous cous and I'm going to saute' some veggies. To drink we're mixing some vodka cocktails. I got tonic and limes and cranberry juice and red grapefruit juice. I also rented the movie, Secretary. I had some people recommend it to me and it sounds pretty dark and sexy...Well, the fact that creepy James Spader is in it, pretty much says it all.

I have no idea what I'm doing on Saturday. The weather is supposed to be crappy. The guy and I had been talking about going to different small towns around here every weekend and wandering around in the later afternoon and then finding a cool place to eat and a funky dive bar for a drink, but we'll see if that will work this weekend or not. I hope so. I love doing that kind of thing.

So, what of you, good people? Will you having a date night in, or going out for your fun?

I'm Kicking Through the Autumn Leaves

Here's that wacky bookstore cat again.

Weird thing about today...We got an email from someone in our building informing us that they were shutting off our electricity at 3:30. I never was clear on the particulars, but it meant we got to get off work an hour early. Since it was sunny and in the 70's in November, I jumped at the chance.

I had already run about 30 miles in the last 4 days and Stinky had plans with some kids before their youth group meeting, so I decided to pick up the guy an hour early. Of course, the minute I got off work, the clouds and wind kicked up, so we walked around downtown a bit and went to the Dublin for a couple of cocktails. It was so weird to be in a bar in the afternoon in the middle of the week. I don't think I could do it all the time, but just for something different, it was kind of nice. Emily, one of the bartenders I love, was working. She made us great drinks, provided us with some pleasant conversation and was pretty damn adorable doing it all.

We went back to my place and made dinner together. I've never dated a guy I could actually cook with...That's the problem with all those guys with control issues that I dated in my youth - no fun. It's so wonderful to talk and drink wine and chop veggies together. I doubt I'll ever take that for granted about the guy. I made some rice and shrimp and tofu stir-fry and miso soup. It all came out beautifully.

It was another incredible evening.

I Never Wanted Water Once

A beautiful bevy of beverages.

Today was another beautiful day right here in river city. The guy decided to try and take the bus downtown for the first time. I took an extended lunch and we walked to Prairie Lights and picked up a few more books. I got Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five (I haven't read it since high school and Coadster strongly suggested I read it again), Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen suggested by Facebook friends, and the guy bought me The John McPhee Reader. The guy is more of a non-fiction reader, so it's been nice for us to recommend books to each other that we wouldn't normally read.

After the bookstore, we went to Masala to eat at the Indian food buffet. The food was wonderful. We had a great talk and then walked around downtown for a bit before I had to go back to work. I still can't believe it's been in the 70's here today. I think we have one more day of that before everything gets a bit more seasonal, but there's no way I can complain. I went running in a t-shirt and shorts again today. So weird.

Everybody's Out On the Run Tonight, But There's No Place Left to HIde

Here is a fat cat from the first book store we went to. The other book store had two fat cats that seemed really pissed off at each other.

Tonight I ran after work around 5'ish. I turned the corner onto Scott Blvd and it was just barely dark out. I looked to my right and saw a beautiful crescent moon that turned from a light yellow to almost an orange as it descended. I wanted to be annoyed with it getting dark so early, but with my runner's high, the 60 degree temps in November and the moon as eye candy, all I could be was appreciative.

Lady Be Good, Do What You Should, You Know It'll Work Alright.

The guy in front of a used book store.

This weekend was lovely. On Friday, Stinky went to the game and I picked up the guy and we went to my place and ate pasta and bread and drank wine. It was such a nice night.

The guy showing my favorite bartender some love.

On Saturday I had a nice long run and did some chores around my house. At 3, I picked up the guy and we went to some used bookstores. Of course, earlier in the day we had talked on the phone about all the books we wanted to look for, and by the time we made it to the bookstore, we forgot most of them. We did get some cheap books, though.

After that we headed to the Dublin to give our friend S. a hard time. He made me a couple of wonderful Margaritas and the guy drank some whiskey and a beer or two. After that we headed to the Motley Cow and ate appetizers and salmon. We finished up the evening at my place for a bit before I dropped him off at home. We both agreed it was wonderful day...And a prefect weekend.

Today the weather was perfect. I ran my 10 mile route in shorts and a t-shirt. In Iowa. Weird. After Stinky got off work, we had a mom/daughter date and went to see a movie. It was nice to get to spend some alone time together.

Okay, I need to go to sleep and get ready for the week. It will be hard to leave this weekend behind.

Crosseyed and Painless

I'm photoless right now. I'll try to take some this weekend.

Right now, I am so ready for the weekend. I need a day or 50 off. Tomorrow I'm supposed to pick the guy up after work and we'll come back to my place for pasta, wine and a movie. I can't wait to just relax.

Saturday, Stinky works all day. In the afternoon, the guy and I are supposed to check out some used book stores and then head to the Dublin to bug our friend S. when he opens the bar. I don't know how long the guy will be able to stay at the bar, but afterward, I think we'll probably get some food and see how tired he is. That should all be a lot for him, I'm sure.

Sunday Stinky works most of the day and I'll try to run and take care of some house stuff. After she gets off of work, I think we're going to have a little mom/daughter date and catch a movie somewhere.

How about you all? Do you have big plans for your weekend?

Well I Took a Stroll on the Old Wild Walk

Dude. I am so out of pictures, I have to steal them off of FB. Here is the only pic of me where you can't see my bad dance face.

Ahhhh. Tonight was lovely. Stinky went out to dinner with a friend and then to watch some show choir. I picked up the guy and he helped me finish making dinner. We had shrimp fajitas, refried beans and salsa and guac. It turned out really well.

The rest of the night was even better. We talked about books and running and writing and made plans to find cool places outside of town to go hiking and once it snows to go cross country skiing. We think he should be up for cross country skiing in a couple of months. I'm excited. I've only done it a few times, but it's one of those repetitive motion exercises like biking or running that I love so well.

So many things to look forward to...

Keep On Rockin' in the Free World

Kids. It's late and I have to go to bed.

I voted, but from the sounds of it, my vote didn't do what I wanted it to. Sigh.

After I voted, I met a couple of girlfriends out at George's for a beer. How American is that of me?

Anyway, I hope all your votes went the way you wanted. Me? I'll just keep trying to get the good guys in office. Hopefully, we'll get 'em next time....

I Hear You Singin' Through the Wire, I Can Hear You in the Whine

Here is Coadster on Halloween. She was one of the Jer*sey Sho*re girls. (so, so much bronzer) Oh, she makes her mama proud.

Tonight I had a great run. It was the first time since the guy's accident that I felt really strong and got such an amazing runner's high. It was exactly what I needed. At one point during my run, the song "Wichita Lineman" came on my iPod, and I was immediately transported back to my childhood. I was struck by an incredible ache to be a kid and have someone take care of things for me. I imagined how nice it would be to have someone else make my dinner and pay the bills and I could just whine about being forced to take a shower and go to bed early. Can you imagine how lovely it would feel if you had the luxury of going to bed early one night? Crazy.

Anyway, I got home and made some frijoles and pumpkin pie and picked up Stinky from work and it really was just fine...Now, I'll finish blogging and go to bed too late and I'll just have to whine about that then.