Obviously, Katie already told the best story from our weekend. And that’s a good thing, both because she writes better than I do and because I’m too tired to do the story justice.
And if you read her story, you’d know that I’m too tired because I’ve been staying up too late in the last few weeks. I haven’t done 3:30 since grad school. Basically, I think sleep is obnoxious. I have long dreamed (ha!) about only needing a few hours of sleep at night. Wouldn’t it be wonderful not to waste a third of your life? Plus, we’ve got such great friends, family, and neighbors to hang out with. That’s way more fun than dreamland.
And on the same note, I have got to figure out how to start getting up earlier. Yes, going to bed earlier would help, but I know from experience that I could go to bed at five in the afternoon and still have trouble getting up before the sun. I used to be good at jumping out of bed before realizing the alarm clock had a snooze button, but I’m not good at that any more.
This weekend, I had the grandest dreams of getting started on more home renovation projects. I didn’t get any of them done. Not even a minute’s worth of work. But I did deep clean the kitchen, and that was good. And I finally found the time to make some yummy red beans & rice. The only downside to my second favorite dish (after wings, of course) is that it is too spicy for the kids to eat. And my recipe serves eight. So either I’m going to have to start inviting more people over for meals, or I’m not going to get to make my beloved red beans and rice too often. I know this week I will be eating a lot of red beans and rice leftovers.
Another coolness of the weekend, for the total geek, is that the cord arrived in the mail for our junky Toshiba laptop. It was a cheap laptop a few years ago, but unrelated bad things kept happening to the cords. Apparently power cords are tasty to puppies. Anyway, it finally has power, but now that it is not Katie’s primary machine, and because it was a terribly slow computer to begin with, I am going to yank Windows off of it and start from scratch with Linux. I’m pretty sure I can get a good distro that can support cheap hardware far better than Windows can.
Monday is the day I reserve for finding new music for the week, although I’m still basking in the glow of last week’s picks and the new Wilco album. So far today, though, I have no luck. Anybody have any suggestions?
Last night we ended up having a neighborhood bash on our front porch, complete with homemade ribs and PBR. Three neighbor families came over and stayed until nearly midnight. Friday night we had some different neighbor families over for ghost stories and some tasty Sweetwater. Why that party ended earlier than last night’s is a mystery to me. But I am thoroughly enjoying our neighborhood right now. Like any neighborhood, there are pros and cons, but you have to have good folks nearby, and we are definitely blessed in that regard.
Now I’ve got to get back into the work groove. I spent last Thursday and Friday reformatting the hard drive on my computer and reverting to Windows XP (I have to use Windows for business). I’d been having problems with this thing since I bought it last fall, and I can’t tell you how nice it is to have a well-running computer for the first time in six months. But I haven’t done a lot of real work in nearly a week, so I’m having trouble focusing today. I guess writing about it isn’t doing me any favors, though, so back to work for me.
I am closely following the discussion here. Basically, my CPA exam scores should be announced within the next week. So either I’ll be celebrating, or I’ll be quiet. Ifyaknowwhatimean.
I’ve been into horror movies a whole lot lately. From Hellraiser and Candyman to more obscure (often B) movies like 2001 Maniacs and Outpost, I’ve been watching them every free minute lately, and I’m ok with that. Right now it’s Halloween III, though, and that’s less than great. I love a horror movie, but movies about killing teenagers intent on nothing but sex don’t float my boat.
I’ve been really enjoying this Apples in Stereo album. “New Magnetic Wonder” may be their uber cool poppy album (with this song on it, which everyone in my house is addicted to), but their first full album has my heart. It is teh good stuff.
I have a ton of stuff to do around the house, from cleaning to plumbing to painting, and I’m never going to get any of it done.
I got to drive on the newly opened interstate in Knoxville today. As I drove a hundred yards or so behind the pace cars (purely by frustrating coincidence), I thought “gee, it’s a mile or two of asphalt,” but I am glad that navigating town will be easier for a while – at least until they pave the next road.
With luck, I will resume real blogging soon. I’ve been out of commission this weekend, because as soon as I had a free weekend, I had to go and get sick.
Anyway, I wrote a while back that I bought my car (last fall) because it is practical, so I have to brag on it a little bit. My “high insurance” car got 39 miles to the gallon last week. W00t. I used to have a first generation Prius that regularly got worse mileage than that (of course it still averaged better than the Civic, but that’s beyond the point).
Ok, you can now get on with your lives, having learned this little tidbit.
Or at least too far behind where I need to be. So I’ll leave you with this really, really funny video of Kevin Smith (aka Silent Bob) talking about how Hollywood and how he almost made a Superman movie. I’ve always thought dude was something, but now I’m thinking “damn!”