Trip & Fav

Going road tripping tomorrow - woohoo!  See y'all on the flip side!

This is one of my very favorites from Sarah McLachlan.  FAB cover of the XTC song.  

Wish she'd sing it in concert, but she never does because it wrecks her voice..sniff, sniff

Happy Holidays!

Some of my favs...

Nobody does this better than Lena

One of my fav songs

Loreena McKennitt is the perfect person for this song

Wheeeee!

Great version by Emilie-Claire Barlow

This is part of my subconscious now.  Always played at my house growing up.

Love it

Reporting From Hell

I know, what a negative way to start out...but funny, right?

Today I got to see my uncle, aunts, and cousins that I haven't seen in forever, so that was cool! Got to meet my cousin's baby girl - what a cutie! We mostly watch movies when we come up here.  My uncle has a fierce movie collection.  Saw Flight (good!) and The Campaign (hilarious)....best movies we watched.  Nothing too eventful. Dang, this is going to be the most boring report ever. Lol

Surprised to be making a post, but I'm sitting in my hotel room feeling a bit restless and bored.  I do love a good hotel room. Fluffy duvets make me happy. Hotels are one of the many reasons I love to travel....they make me oddly excited.  Okay, that sounded weird...moving on..

Maybe I'll write tonight. I have two books in my head that have been rolling around for forever. I have to be in the mood to write though. One's a quirky illustrated children's book that would also be geared toward adults and the other is a fantasy/mystery.  I have too many freaking hobbies that I have trouble getting things done. Need to consolidate my hobbies ... Or maybe rank them?  Man, I'm a nerd but I'm guessing you guys already figured that one out.  ; )

Going shopping tomorrow, hopefully Hobby Lobby. They're the best place to get frames. They often have big sales and a large variety. Ordered some prints a bit ago and got size happy...so I'm having trouble finding frames large enough or in odd sizes for them...gah!

Love this song...was also in a movie I watched today.

Where Country Music Goes to Die

Leaving tomorrow am to ride with the family to Branson, MO to see family.  Branson is one of my many ideas for what hell could look like.  My apologies to any of you guys that love it...that city and I just don't jive.  My grandfather moved there when I was a teenager, and I remember him telling me how much I'd love it there.  He said this to a girl with (at the time) multiple piercings, who wore mostly dark clothes or thrift store finds, and who had jacked-up hair.  Bless him.

Papaw was a sweetie.  He loved some country and bluegrass music.  The main rule at his house was that you didn't touch the thermostat or change the TV station from TNN.  That's The Nashville Network for all those not in the know or for the young'ins.  So I've seen plenty of Hee Haw and Grand Ole Opry.  God, help me.  I still have a soft spot for Dolly Parton & Reba McIntyre from those days though! 

SO glad I'm not driving there because I hate driving when there's ice on the road.  I turn into a grandma.  Hydroplaned (is that what it's called for ice??)  once and it scared me for life.  Mountains + ice = me, terrified

Since I'm on the topic of driving, I'll share with you a pet peeve of mine --  People that don't use their freaking blinkers!  It's a basic form of driver communication and common courtesy.  Get with it people!  If I wasn't afraid of getting shot, I would soooo have this bumper sticker on my car...

Rec

Most meditation I do is self-guided, but sometimes I feel like or need to listen to a cd.  If you're like me and have trouble finding a meditation cd that fits, I highly recommend Cynthia Sue Larson's Aura Healing Meditation.

Issues I usually have with finding a good meditation are the speaker's voice, how quickly they talk, and/or what they actually say.  Cynthia has a soothing, positive voice, she speaks at the perfect pace for me, and I agree with pretty much all the information she conveys during the meditations.  It involves a lot of grounding (which I feel is really important for removing negative energy, amongst other things) and the use of white light for healing and positivity.

Check her out!  She has an article with some of the meditations on her site if you're interested.

Do I deliver or what?

Introspection

 

 
There's always something swishing around in my brain, but I've been feeling more introspective than usual recently.  I've been told that I am one of those "can't see the forest for the trees" kind of people.  I can't help it -- I love details.  Just the way I'm wired.  I can see the forest when I really want to but it's just not as fun.  ha

Getting to the point...what do I want?  where do I want to be?  This year has been umm..interesting.  Work was just odd and stressful in ways that I can't even get into.  Grad school took up every day of almost every week from the start of school to the finish.  There were a lot of other changes that have and are ongoing too.  I tend to lose my focus when there's so much going on and I'm stressed.  I guess that's natural, but I forget to stop, reflect, and examine..and that's not working for me.

I need to meditate regularly.  Let me stop for a minute and say that the thing that bugs me the most about where I live is the lack of diversity, especially in thought.  I keep a lot of my thoughts, beliefs, and experiences to myself because I am not in the norm here and am very much a live and let live kind of person.  Some people aren't, and I don't feel like dealing with them if I talk about something that pings on their radar.  It's just hard to find like-minded people here.  My point with this is that in the past that when I've held it in, I let some of my practices (like meditation) fade.

Anyway, my goal is to start meditating every day again to help with clarity and being grounded.  I graduate at the end of this coming summer, and I don't want to receive my diploma and then think What next?  I want to know, have a plan.  A good plan, in a not so great situation, makes me feel better...at least I can look forward to exciting things in the future.  I so adore my friends and will miss them terribly, but I need to start really thinking and planning where I want to go and when.  I have a short list of cities that I'm thinking about.  I need to go on road trips to really check them out.  I need to save money for said road trips.  Heck, I need a budget for all this in general.  I can be so airy fairy, gah.  See, I really do need to be more grounded!

I'll stop here.  If I keep rolling with it, it tends to bum me out.

Promise the next post won't be so heavy.  Maybe I can find you guys some talking cats or other such silliness. ha!

Heart 'em

Aww

I love my friends.  They make me smile, snort with laughter, 
and get the warm fuzzies.

Smoochies, guys!!

Wheeee!

For most of today I've been helping set up and decorate for a party and have been cooking like crazy.  I made a gazillion super mini pecan pies, and some of them didn't come out of the pan properly...so we *had* to eat those of course.  No proper Southern lady would serve her guests imperfect pecan pie.  So, yeah, I'm hyppppped up on sugar now.  See below for a visual of my present mania...  (just imagine with me that it says pie instead of cake)

 

(image from the awesomeness that is Hyperbole & a Half)

I've been trying not to eat too much sugar, so when I do..wham!!  Making some tea and about to start cleaning with the Ramones.  At least I can make this hyperactivity work for me  

Funny Chickens

This vid makes me lolololol     NSFW, btw

Oh, Sarah

 
If you know me pretty well, you know my favorite album is Fumbling Towards Ecstasy by Sarah McLachlan.  From around my first listen, I became a huge Sarah fan.  I mean, I am a fan club member with a real card and everythin'!  ..Don't judge me, internet!!  Cool is not an adjective I used in my Blogger profile, so you were forewarned!

As I was saying -- because I am a Sarah M VIP fan, I received an email with a first listen of her new holiday song today.  With itchy fingers, I clicked play on the video....ohhh, guys...ohh, dear....I cringed.  Bad..bad...bad.  I haven't liked her newer albums that much, but this song...geez.  I was too sad to finish the video.  If any of you guys watch it, and the song becomes fabulous at some point, let me know!   Or if you think it's the bees knees and I'm off in crazy town, let me know that too!

  

Perky & Sassy

Gold Star #2

No work, no school but yet I was up before 7am again this morning!  ..blargh..  I'm usually such a good sleeper..what the heck's going on?  Maybe I'm in shock from my stress level plummeting from 4,230,789.54 to 1.4.  I know, I know...what a measly thing to complain about...but I love my sleep, guys.   Keeps me more on the perky side.   

*ahem, moving on*

Things to do today

• Figure out what parts I need for a stereo.  A friend gave me a sweet stereo system that her ex-husband left behind (will be clearing this sucker of bad juju...lol).  It came with the power cord but all other cables and wires are missing.  Should be interesting
• Decide what I'll be making for a work party on Saturday.  We usually don't have enough desserts, so that's what I'm going to bring.  I saw an interesting red velvet trifle in a magazine that I may make...it being all red and festive, and what not.  I may make peanut brittle also?  or cranberry ginger cake? amaretto soaked cherries dipped in white chocolate?  I was told not to bring anything weird. LOL  I take that as a compliment when people tell me that..haha.  (Yes, I've been told that multiple times...)  What's so weird about Indian spice cookies or Scandinavian cardamom bread?  ...come on people, step outside that box!
• Mop.  How I loathe to mop.  I've put it off for too long, so I need to do it today...  I have a Roomba (vacuum robot) that I love to pieces, but I so don't want to spring for the mop version.  $500 - heck no!  I'm low on my cleaning supplies...so I need to go to the dreaded Wal-mart. Eh, geez...crowds, buggies in the middle of the aisle, screaming children running into me....good times
• Read!  I hope it's rainy all day because I love to read when it rains.  Hot tea, candles lit, a blanket, and a good book = awesomeness 

Various Bits

Funny Glen

Love watching artists work

A fav

Last Day!

Today's my last day of work for the year - woohoo!!  Wrapping up some things and hopefully heading home early.

Looking forward to this weekend!  Tonight especially because it's a girls' night! Haven't been able to have one really since classes started, so long overdue.  Ahh, Saturday will be sleeping in, reading (The Winter Sea, Arcadia & Dragonfly and Amber, I'm talking to you), and drinking tea.  Sunday, two good friends are coming over, and we are going to do some redecorating.  Hmm...may make some yummy treats on Saturday for us to nosh on.  What to make...what to make...  That is why I love Pinterest!  I only have 50 billion pins with recipes...

Tu me fais rire, Henri!

No one ever dresses as crippling self-doubt   ...ah hahaha.  I wish there 

were more than 3 videos from this guy.

Funny Gal

I need to go on a road trip with this girlie STAT!  (Start at 6:41)

Coffee & Tunes

I think every time that I'm up this early on a non-work day I should get an award.  ..or at least a gold star, come on!

Coffee in hand that is so strong that the spoon stands up by itself...ahhh, the best kind.

On the rotation this morning so far... 

Have a good Sunday, all!  Hope you guys are more of a morning person than I am!

The E Word

I've decided that I want to become an exercise fanatic.  ...Okay, not a fanatic, but to become one of those people that feels the need...the pull...to do it every day.  Stress relief and weight loss -- 2 birds, 1 stone!!  I love when I can do that.  More bang for my buck!

For inspiration on my quest, I turned to Youtube.  I mostly got inspiration to giggle, but that's good for the stomach muscles, right???