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Happy Full Moon!

July 30, 2007 by charlsiekate

If y’all haven’t noticed, I like the moon, and I think that it is a good idea to evaluate your moods and overall feelings at least a month, so I think I’m going to start doing that sort of thing when there is a full moon.  Like today. 

Right now, I need to make some changes in my life.  I don’t feel particularly healthy.  I’ve been eating lots of rich and indulgent food and not working out.  And I’ve probably been drinking more alcohol than I should.  It just seems like there is always a reason for these things.  I was in New York weekend before last and I felt it was my duty to eat all the yummy things that New York has to offer while I was there.  When I got home, my grandfather died (he was sick and couldn’t breathe, he lived a full life, it is sad, but was expected, and I appreciate everyone’s condolences), so I spend three days sitting around my parents house receiving tons and tons and tons of what they call here in the south "comfort food" – which basically means it tastes great and will make you fat.  Then after I ate too much food I would sit around with my gazillion aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends and drink beer and wine.  It was great to see everyone, but death and family are always stressful after a few days and I was exhausted when it was all over. 

And to top it all off, I haven’t wanted to work out recently.  I’m not sure why.  I want to blame it on the heat, but I know that isn’t the only reason.  I like running in the heat.  I also want to blame it on the fact that running through neighborhoods bores me, and that I miss running trails.  Augusta doesn’t have great running trails like Athens does, and being out in the woods was always a huge added bonus.  I guess sometimes you just go through phases.  I’m going to break out of this one today and go running if it kills me.

I’m not going to kill myself.  I know that in the past I have let a particularly bad run scar me, a run where I thought I would die and I kept pushing, and got overheated, or shin splints, or dehydrated to the point where I felt awful for the rest of the night.  When I have those bad runs I have to take the time to build back up and have a couple of good runs in my memory to erase the bad run. 

I need to be going to sleep earlier, and I need to get up earlier.  I need to wash my car and clean up my room.  Actually, I need to pack.  Because, guess what?  I’m moving!  I’m really excited about it – I’m moving in with one of my friends from Augusta who I’ve known forever and is super fun.  We are moving into a precious little house that her boyfriend bought (he likes where he lives).  It has a big kitchen and a deck and a yard and we are going to get a big tv and she has a dog, and I have a dog, and GUESS WHAT ELSE?  The house is right next door to one of my bestest friends from high school – Rachel – and her really great new husband!  Seriously.  I’m so excited.  And since I know I’ll be moving soon, I’ve started noticing the things I don’t like about where I live now.  Things that aren’t that big of a deal, things you can’t bitch and complain if you want to stay happy with your current situation, but once you know you are moving you can start to notice them.  Mostly I don’t like living by myself, and I’m really looking forward to having a roommate.  Briscoe is excited about having a doggie roommate too! 

It is so fun to have exciting plans.   

Posted in Thoughts | 1 Comment »

Vitamin Water makes me thirsty

July 18, 2007 by charlsiekate

And yet I continue to buy it and drink it.  Crave it even.  Sometimes I think I have some sort of mental disorder involving the consumption of liquids.  When I go to the grocery store, I want to buy coke, diet coke, caffeine free diet coke, Dr. pepper, diet dr. pepper, propel, poweraid, option, citrus cooler gatoraid, apple juice in the little boxes (minute maid), vitamin water, pelligrino, beer, wine, tea, coffee milk, chocolate milk, soy milk, and orange juice.  And when I say beer and wine, I mean I want white wine and red wine and good beer and light beer too. 

I spend most of my time thinking about what I want to drink, and get a cart mostly because I can’t carry around all the liquids.  I put so many liquids in my cart the wheels stop working correctly.

The only thing in my freezer is coffee and snickers.  My fridge has mostly beer and cokes and juice and milk when I can drink it fast enough to justify buying it. 

I mean, I like food a lot.  But when I go to the grocery, I want to buy drinks.   

Posted in Food and Drink | 1 Comment »

Ratatoullie

July 13, 2007 by charlsiekate

JP and I went and saw Ratatouille last night.  It was a cute movie, as pixar movies tend to be.  The theater was SHOCKINGLY crowded – it was one of the little theaters, we guessed it was because the Harry Potter movie was using up all the big theaters.  Plus, there were tons of children.  I always forget that if you go see a children’s movie, any time before 10:30 pm, the place is going to be full of children.  But most of the children acted right the whole movie. 

Another observation, when I go to the movie with my parents, we get a large popcorn, and it is always gone before the movie is halfway over.  My dad eats most of it.  Which, we discovered last night, is actually very difficult to do.  We weren’t able to even eat half of the large popcorn.  Good thing they told us we could have free refills. 

Oh, and part of the movie I was drooling over the cartoon food that was being prepared.  The other half of the movie I was about to be ill thinking about all the rats in the kitchen.  It was all JP could do to watch the rat prepare food.  Especially right after he climbed out of the storm water sewer in Paris.  Everyone knows that European cities don’t have separate sewer systems. I mean, it makes sense, the cities are so old, there is no such thing as a storm water sewer.  There is just the SEWER.  Gah.  I have a hard time even typing the word.  That is why sometimes you get that foul stench in European cities.  (p.s. It it totally worth it!  I love Europe!  All of it!)

But I don’t necessarily love rats.  I don’t hate them like I hate roaches.  But I don’t love them either. 

I still think Monsters INC is the best thing Pixar has come up with so far. 

Because, obviously, Everyone Loves Monsters! 

Posted in Movies | Leave a Comment »

Happy Friday the 13th!

July 13, 2007 by charlsiekate

I think I jumped the gun on there not being a cold front – this morning was breezy and much cooler than usual, which is awesome. 

I had a terribly difficult time getting out of bed this morning.  I’m not sure when I’ve been in such a deep sleep.  When my alarm went off, my first thought was, AGGGHHH, WHAT IS THAT NOISE?  My second thought was – WHERE AM I?

It is always weird to wake up in your own bed and be really confused about where you are.  It is one thing to wake up at a hotel, or at a beach/mountain house and be temporarily confused, especially if beer was involved the night before.  But I didn’t have a drop of alcohol last night and I was asleep by 11:30, so I’m not real sure why this morning was so traumatic.  I was having very strange dreams when my alarm jarred my from my slumber. 

As I was getting into my car to drive to work, I felt like someone was staring at me.  So I looked up, and there was a sleek black cat with yellow eyes, sitting in the grass in front of my car, swishing his tail.  I told him good morning kitty kat, and continued on my way. 

A few minutes later the radio DJ told me that it was Friday the 13th – and a cold shiver went down my back, since everyone knows that black cats on friday the 13th are obviously witches in disguise. 

Or, maybe I’ve been reading too much Harry Potter in anticipation of the new movie (yay!  I’m waiting on jennifer to get back from the beach on sunday to go see it) and for the new book!  Can’t wait!

Speaking of – I reserved my copy, but now I’m going to be in New York when it comes out.  I need to change that. 

Posted in summertime | Leave a Comment »

Ew.

July 12, 2007 by charlsiekate

It is hot outside today.  Hot and icky.  Yesterday afternoon we had a fantastic storm – the weather people said something about a cold front moving in that caused the storm. 

I think the cold front lost the fight.  Because it is still sticky and sweaty outside from where I’m standing. 

Posted in Weather | Leave a Comment »

I was tagged a while back, and I’ve been slack so –

July 10, 2007 by charlsiekate

Kat tagged me in Four things about me, so here we go –

Four Jobs I’ve held –  (umm, well, I was in school a very long time…)

1.  Right now I write letters to prisoners as part of my job.  How’s that?  It takes me a while to get back to the people who abuse children.  Bottom of list of things to do. 

2.  I worked at the front desk of this Lodge in Colorado.  It is now closed down, which is terribly depressing and sad.  Libby and I daydream about buying the place and running it for the rest of our lives.  We only need $15 million to buy it, and a few more to fix it up.

3.  I worked in transportation at the Masters golf tournament.  I was a junior in high school.  It was our job to pick the golfer and his caddy up in the parking lot, and drive them 100 yards to the club house.  The other part of our job involved picking up the new cadillacs and other cars from the dealerships and driving them to the National at the beginning of the week, then driving them back at the end of the week.  I was coordinated enough to lock the keys into the cadillac that had all the spare keys in the trunk.  HOW WAS I SUPPOSE TO KNOW THE SPARE KEYS WERE IN THAT CAR?  Definitely the coolest job I ever had for a week. 

4.  I was in charge of Development for my sorority in college (obviously didn’t get paid, but more interesting than the law firm jobs I’ve had).  It was my job to make sure you weren’t drinking at events if you weren’t 21 and that there was no alcohol in the house.  This is a job that sounds like no fun.  And it did give me some nightmares.  But it challenged me and taught me that mutual respect is a very effective tool. 

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over

1. Mean Girls

2.  Out of Africa

3.  The Royal Tennenbaums

4.  Gone With the Wind

Four Places I’ve Lived

1.  Athens, Ga. 

2.  Rome, Italy

3.  Rome, Ga. 

4.  Grand Lake, Colorado

Four Places I’ve Vacationed

1.  Santiago, Chile

2.  Steamboat Springs, Colorado

3.  Saratoga Springs, NY

4.  Long Boat Key, Florida

Four of my favorite Dishes

1.  Anything with grits.  Salmon and grits, grits and sausage swirls, shrimp and grits, praline chicken and grits, etc. 

2.  A hot ham sandwich when the ham has just come out of the oven (and smothered in glace), on white bread with mayonnaise.  Preferably in my parents kitchen during the holidays when Libby and Jennifer and I have just returned from the bar. 

3.  Any salad I ever had in Greece – cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, yummy. 

4.  Birthday cake my mom makes.  Unbelievable. 

Four sites I visit daily

1.  Gmail.com

2.  Bloglines.com

3.  Weather.com

4.  Westlaw.com

Four Places I would rather be

1.  In the blue ridge mountains.

2.  In the rocky mountains. 

3.  On a boat, on the ocean or the lake. 

4.  At a cafe in Italy or Greece – drinking coffee or beer – people watching with people I miss.

I’m really bad about responding to these things, and I feel like the people who would have responded have already been tagged, so I’m not going to tag anyone.  Following directions has never been my strong suit.   

 

Posted in Weblogs | Leave a Comment »

I wish I wasn’t the kind of person who…

July 10, 2007 by charlsiekate

…bought bananas and watched them turn brown without eating them. 

…left her clean clothes in the dryer. 

…never washed her car. 

…started blog posts, saved them as drafts, and never posted them for real. 

…never got around to framing things to hang on walls, such as diplomas, artwork, pictures. 

…lost netflix dvds.

…left coolers with beer and ice from saturday night outside until tuesday when the beer was hot and icky. 

…remembered it was trash day when the trash truck crashing down the street woke her up.   

Posted in Thoughts | 1 Comment »

I need to get my hearing checked

June 28, 2007 by charlsiekate

Remember when I said the spider’s name was Larry?  That is so not right.  HER name is Laree.  My bad.  SHE is very pretty.   

Apparently the females are the only ones who spin webs.  Also, the males frequently die in the mating ritual.  Hmm.  That sucks. 

Posted in outside | 1 Comment »

Spider Update

June 28, 2007 by charlsiekate

I emailed my clever friend Josh, who is a professor and expert on all things outdoors about the spider.  Josh was getting his PHD in bugs and forestry, or something like that, when I was in law school.  He has a bunch of degrees in zoology and geology and entomology.  Basically, he knows what he is talking about when it comes to spiders. 

He said that the spider wouldn’t bite me unless I picked it up and aggravated him, and then, even if he did bite me it wouldn’t hurt that bad.  Like a mosquito bite.  He also said that this kind of spider can be really pretty, and that they eat mosquitoes and gnats.  So he is probably a good spider to have around. 

I’ve decided to keep the spider around.  As it turns out, his name is Larry.  He likes it in the back yard.  I went to visit him this morning and his web is quite impressive.  Looks like he’s already taken care of a few mosquitoes that might have tried to chomp on me.  His web is in a good location too, I don’t actually have to walk right there for any reason.   

I would take a picture but I’m pretty sure that it wouldn’t show up right with my little camera.  So you will just have to take my word for it that he is very pretty, and having a good summer. If you happen to be around these parts, and want to see him, let me know and I’ll set up an appointment.  He’d like to make some nice friends in this area.   

Posted in outside | Leave a Comment »

Things I worry about

June 27, 2007 by charlsiekate

Then everybody was off to bed. I went up to my room with a piece of candle, and put it on the table. Then I set down in a chair by the window and tried to think of something cheerful, but it warn’t no use. I felt so lonesome I most wished I was dead. The stars were shining, and the leaves rustled in the woods ever so mournful; and I heard an owl, away off, who-whooing about somebody that was dead, and a whippowill and a dog crying about somebody that was going to die; and the wind was trying to whisper something to me, and I couldn’t make out what it was, and so it made the cold shivers run over me. Then away out in the woods I heard that kind of a sound that a ghost makes when it wants to tell about something that’s on its mind and can’t make itself understood, and so can’t rest easy in its grave, and has to go about that way every night grieving. I got so down-hearted and scared I did wish I had some company. Pretty soon a spider went crawling up my shoulder, and I flipped it off and it lit in the candle; and before I could budge it was all shriveled up. I didn’t need anybody to tell me that that was an awful bad sign and would fetch me some bad luck, so I was scared and most shook the clothes off of me. I got up and turned around in my tracks three times and crossed my breast every time; and then I tied up a little lock of my hair with a thread to keep witches away. But I hadn’t no confidence. You do that when you’ve lost a horseshoe that you’ve found, instead of nailing it up over the door, but I hadn’t ever heard anybody say it was any way to keep off bad luck when you’d killed a spider.

I set down again, a-shaking all over, and got out my pipe for a smoke; for the house was all as still as death now, and so the widow wouldn’t know.

Chapter One, Huckelberry Finn, Mark Twain. 

I loved this book as a child.  And this particular passage scarred me for life.  I HATE killing spiders.  Freaks me out.  Makes me shake.  I’ve come to terms with black cats, friday the 13ths (even when strange island appear), broken mirrors.  Most because I can’t come up with a good reason why those things should freak me out other than that I’ve been taught that they should. 

But spiders serve another more important purpose in my life in the subtropical clime that I live in.  Spiders eat bugs.  I don’t like bugs.  The more spiders, the less bugs.  But I run into a lot of spiders in my back yard.  A lot of bugs actually.  The orkin man came the other day and now I have dead bugs everywhere.  Ew. 

Regardless, this morning I was walking Briscoe and I almost ran slap into a huge spider web.  With a nice sized spider hanging out, spinning the web.  This little spider looked like a crab.  I mean, like a spider that was carrying a crab around on it’s back.  Like a little horseshoe crab.  He was actually pretty cute, although I wouldn’t want him crawling on me.  So I looked it up this morning and I believe it is called a Spinybacked Orbweaver. 

Here are some links to pictures of this strange looking little spider. 

Tell me what y’all think.  What do you do when you kill a spider?

p.s. one time travers killed a spider in his bathroom and million little baby spiders came out of the big spider.  AAAGGGGGHHHHHH.  I would die.  Black out, right there. 

Posted in outside | 2 Comments »

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