Ahhh! I am so much happier with this new layout! As much as I wanted to have my website and my journal combined into one convenient space, it just got to be too much to look at. There was too much going on. It was too jumbled and too confusing. So, they're separate again, and the blog looks and feels much calmer. And, it's blue! I love the colour blue in all its varying shades, and I'm all about blue right now since deciding to repaint my bedroom once again. I think I will have to take a couple vacation days on the beginning or end of a weekend, however, to get this whole project done. If I go with the Q-bits, that is. That will be an awful lot of stuff to be putting together, plus all the painting! So, I may be changing my mind, and instead going with the Country Lane collection. Not only would there be fewer things to put together, but I won't have to hook them to the wall like I would the Q-bits.
Or, maybe I should just go down to the local unfinished furntiure shop, and buy a few pieces there and bring them home and paint them. Now there's a thought!
1. I successfully hooked up my new DVD/VCR machine this past weekend!
At this moment, what is your favorite...
1. ...song?"If We Are the Body" by Casting Crowns.
2. ...food? Pistachios.
3. ...tv show? 24
4. ...scent? Vanilla.
5. ...quote? "God answers all prayers; sometimes the answer is no."
I haven't sewn anything in a very long time! I haven't done a craft project in a long time either, and yesterday's sewing craft project was not only a great success, but a great deal of fun!!
For those of you who have been reading my journal or blog a while, you might remember the few trips I've taken to the Casa de Caballos winery with my friend DeeDee. The winery is not only famous for it's great wine and beautiful Arabian horses, but also for their adorable Briard, Maggie Mae . . . continue
So, the short story writing class I'm taking begins tonight, and - yay! - I have the book! I had to buy it from Borders last night, but still, I have it. The copy I ordered from Amazon.com should arrive in the mail today (if their tracking thingie is to be believed), and I wasn't about to spend an hour driving all the way home to pick it up after work then driving all the way back to campus. I'm just going to send the darn thing back, and let them know I'm sending it back because it was late. So there, Amazon, and your promised 2-day air! pppffffttt!
Anyway, last night I grabbed my writing notebook (three ring binder filled with lined paper and tons of old writing stuff like ideas, notes, and story starters, etc.), and a pen and mechanical pencil, my book, a copy of "Animal Farm" to read while I'm waiting for class to start, and some snacks (a Results shake, water, and an apple). I almost packed my laptop to take notes with, but I feared it would be too cumbersome, and that I'd look like an idiot. Then, last night I dreamed I was like Elle Woods in "Legally Blonde" who showed up for her first class at Harvard Law School with her fluffy pink pen and pretty pink notebook while everyone around her had laptops, and furiously clickity-clacked their notes down while she struggled to keep up. Of course, if everyone shows up with laptops tonight, I'll know to bring mine next week!
Oh, and there's a new journal entry up. I apologize for being so good during December, and then hardly updating at all so far this month. I promise to do better.
ANNOYED!!! You see, I ordered the textbook for the short story writing class I'm taking this quarter (which begins tomorrow night, by the way, and for which I've even started a new blog for notes, story ideas, thoughts, etc.) from Amazon.com a week ago! I even changed my normal 1-Click settings to 2-day air, so I'd get it by the weekend, and could thumb through it; maybe even read a couple stories just to get into the mood.
When the book didn't arrive on Saturday, I was a wee bit ticked, but not too worried - after all, it could still show up on Monday, or Tuesday, though that would be cutting it pretty darn close! When it wasn't there again last night, THEN I got mad! I checked the tracking and discovered that the book, which I ordered on January 6th, was not even shipped until January 12th - yester-freakin'-day!!! It's not scheduled to arrive in my mailbox until - you guessed it - tomorrow, the day of the class! Grr!
You know, I had my hands on a copy of the book at Borders just last week, and I almost bought it, but I thought, 'no, mine will show up in the mail today or tomorrow.' Now, I'm just praying that lone copy is still sitting there when I rush over in a total panic at lunch today to buy it. Gah!
A few years ago, I decided I was tired and bored with my bedroom and its furnishings, and spent the Memorial Day weekend painting the white walls a pretty, light blue, my brown dressers white, and spraypainting the brass hardware silver. Fast forward to now, and I'm once again tired and bored with my bedroom. To remedy this, I'm purchasing new bedroom furniture - actually I'm buying several pieces from Target's Q-bits Collection to take the place of my two dressers and TV stand - and am considering repainting my walls. Again. I'll stick with the blue hue, but I'm thinking about a darker blue on the wall where the white Q-bits will be, and a coordinating lighter blue for the rest of the walls. I'd also like to repaint the slightly off-white trim a pure, bright white.
My mom's favourite new TV show is "Clean Sweep" on TLC. She watches it everyday - sometimes several times a day - and has been itching to get rid of everything in the house, and start over clean, fresh, and organized. Despite the fact that being organized goes completely against my disorganized, pro-clutter personality, I've been kinda getting into the act as well: I've sold hundreds of CDs, DVDs and VHS tapes on Second Spin; I've given tons of old, but still in good condition clothes and shoes to Goodwill and the Salvation Army; and cleaned out my closet and dresser drawers of old junk and stuff I don't use or need. The books and rubber stamps are next.
This "Clean Sweep Mindset" has crossed over into my websites as well. I have been busily trying to consolidate my two websites - self-portrait.net and lisa-marie.net - into one, single, smooth-operating machine. I'm not sure it's working just yet. I'm also trying to clean out a bunch of old stuff, and reorganize other stuff. That is going a bit better. My photoblog, LapisBlue, is getting a complete overhaul which I hope to complete this weekend. I think I may scrap my gardening section, Reflections from the Gazing Ball, since I don't personally do any gardening, and really only take pictures of stuff in our garden, which really belongs in LapisBlue, and might even get rid of Verbosity and Stamper Girl completely, but I'm not sure about that yet. All I know is that keeping everything in both sites updated on a regular basis was becoming cumbersome and time consuming. I decided I really need to spend less time online updating, and more time in the real world living my life. And, while I like to share my creative endeavors with the whole wide world, there are some things I don't think I want floating around in cyberspace anymore.
Anyway, there might be some changes around here - some stuff might disappear, and other stuff might look different. If you get lost or confused, just e-mail me, or sign up for my Notify List on the left. Cheers!
I hope everyone had a safe and sane New Year's celebration last night! I went to bed early - having rung in the New Year on the east coast via CNN - but was awakened at midnight by some people up the street celebrating by setting off firecrackers and revving their dirt bike engines, and the dogs behind us barking because of all the noise. The clamor didn't last long, however, and I was able to fall back to sleep right away.
Today it is raining - not too hard, but quite steadily - and I am staying warm and dry inside the house. I'm curled up with George Orwell's Animal Farm, which is this month's classic book selection. For those of you who don't know, a couple years ago my friend Jewel and I decided to start reading classic books we'd somehow managed to miss during High School and College. We haven't always finished every book we've started, but we have managed to catch up on some really fantastic literature! This year we've chosen the following six books to read:
1. Animal Farm George Orwell
2. The Pickwick Papers Charles Dickens
3. Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
4. Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky
5. Inferno Dante
6. The Bible God (actually Jewel's suggestion was to read The New Testament, but since I'm planning on reading the whole Bible this year anyway, I thought I'd just put it down that way.)
I think we've got a pretty good list this year, and since I'm going to be taking a couple classes this winter and spring, as well as going to Curves three times a week, I'm glad we elected to cut our list in half.
I'm really looking forward to 2004 being a totally awesome year! I hope it's full of peace, joy, and happiness for us all! Cheers!