Monday, March 24, 2008

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Happy Easter



Can't believe it's already Easter. Didn't we just have Christmas? It's cold here, and won't be good for hunting eggs in the yard this year. I remember looking for eggs all over the house, then going outside after church on Easter Sunday and finding the beautiful eggs we'd dyed all over the place and it was a blast.

I bought a few new items last night to hang on my walls, thanks to my friend Dawn's help, she's got the artist's eye and she helped me find the perfect painting for the wall above my hot red sofa. I am the worst picture hanger there is. Everything's always off balance and I even use a leveler, but I just don't have the knack, but I'm going to try anyway. I'll post pics so you can all have a good laugh.

I've had three weeks of weekly drawing class and I love it. I've been doing a little sketching on my own, too, and it's a great way to relax and let the mind rest a little. Our instructor is great and the class is small and I'm so glad I decided to spend Thursday nights learning something completely different from anything I've ever done.

I have made a pact with myself NOT to leave the house today, however, until I've finished with a paper that's due tomorrow night. I'm about one-fourth-finished with it, so it's going to take the rest of this morning and probably most of the afternoon to complete, but then I can go shopping and decorating! Tomorrow is laundry, cleaning house, working on another paper, and watching this movie.

If you want to read a novel that will make you want to stay up all night and forget everything else you have to do until you finish it, try this one! You will lose some sleep, but it'll be worth it. Let me know if you read it, too.

Just finished the last season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and I think it's the best season of all six, and I'm going to have to start collecting all seasons of it now. Funniest thing I've ever watched.

Can't procrastinate any longer. Must get on with the paper. Happy Easter.

xoxo
Ness

Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St. Paddy's



Thanks, Cousin Candee!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

I Met Rainman In My Laundry Room

In order to get my laundry done in one fell swoop, I always get up early on Saturday morning. If I'm in the laundry room at my apartment complex by 7 a.m., I can use all the washing machines I need and the dryers, and I never have to share any of them, nor do I have to talk to anyone living in the complex. And who wants to make chit chat at 7 a.m. on a Saturday? This morning, however, I walked into the lovely laundry room to transfer my clothes from the washers to the dryers and this old guy with huge eyes and a bright orange knit cap was standing in front of one of the dryers staring at it like it was a television. He jumped out of his skin when I entered the room, which has a combination lock, which is supposed to keep out the criminals, and I said hi to him and he said, with a booming voice, "it's going to rain all day and we're going to have a light snow, but don't worry, it'll only be a dusting on the ground and will melt by tomorrow, but get ready to swim Monday and Tuesday 'cause it's going to rain for 48 hours straight, but then it's going to warm up Wednesday." No, "Hi, how are you?" Just a weather report with absolutely no inflection in his voice and he never took his eyes off the dryer, so I'm not really sure if he was even talking to me. I put my clothes in the dryer and got out of there in record time. I hope he didn't try to smell my socks after I left.

THIS is my new favorite blog. Thanks, Cousin Luann.

I watched THIS MOVIE last night. Whew. What a movie it is. If I have time, I'm going to watch it again this weekend. Now I want to read the book, too. I also have THIS ONE and THIS ONE to watch, but I have a ton of homework to do, so I'm not sure if I'll get to them this weekend. It is, however, going to rain all weekend, according to my source, so I can stay in and work and maybe have time for some more movies.

I told Auntie Linda that I couldn't go to Ireland this year like we were planning to do. If I get the TA position this fall (I'll find out the first part of April if I do) I'll need to use that travel money to live on, so we're going to wait until next year for Ireland. She was fine with that. We're talking about taking a short holiday someplace, maybe Chicago for a few days, or Kansas City. We want to go to some art museums and see some theatre and eat some good food and not spend a fortune. Any suggestions are welcome.

Congratulations to Emily. Not only did she win her school's first place award for her science fair project, but she won the regional first place, too! Told you she was something else. She is also off to St. Louis today for a week. She's spending her spring break on a mission trip with her church. She's such a good girl. She's a rocker, too, which makes her so interesting. I sort of love her a little.

As for Reece, he's hanging in there and reading really long books and he's a pro at working me. We've had this deal going for the last several summers, in which I bribe him to read. I pay him to read, that is. Well, since he no longer has to be bribed, I suggested to him that I send him the bribe money at the beginning of summer this year so that he can buy some books. He told me that the fourth book in the series he's been reading is going on sale in a week or so, and he'd really appreciate it if I could send the money early, like NOW, so he could buy the book. I sent him the money. He's good, I tell you.

I need to call Grandmother Bera now. She had her battery replaced in her pacemaker earlier this week and I haven't talked to her since the procedure. I hear she's doing fine, and I told her to ask for a turbo-charged battery and she said she would, and she also promised she wouldn't say "shit" while she was sedated. I'm going to ask her about that one.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Birthday Times Two

Today is sis-in-law's birthday. Happy Birthday, Dawn! Sorry I wasn't there for the party. Would have loved to have some of that cake! Thanks for sending me the pics, though. You are so good to send photos of everything that's going on. Hope the snow's melted off the roads and Dave takes you out tonight to celebrate. XOXO






Tomorrow is my baby brother's birthday, so Happy Birthday to Don! I don't think he ever reads this blog, so really I should be posting a picture of him with a bow on his head, but this is such a good one that Dawn sent me from their party, I'm going to be nice.




Look at this next one. This is Arkansas! In March! Reece looks like he's frozen, and Emily just looks beautiful, as usual. So glad we missed that snow in Missouri. I've had enough to last until next winter.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Anniversary and So Much More


February 21 was my three-year blogiversary and I didn't realize that until yesterday. When I began this blog, I had no idea what I would write about, and mostly that still holds true. I knew I'd write about Emily and Reece, and thus the name of my blog. Other than that, I had very little ambition. Most of my readers are family and they practically never comment, but if I skip more than a week of posting a blog, I always hear from them, so, I know you're reading, family. I have a few fellow bloggers who read, and I love y'all dearly. Your blogs are so good and I love reading them and I feel as if we're friends. I'd love to meet all of you someday and have a cup of coffee and hear your voices! Some of my friends and coworkers read and therefore I have to watch what I write about work. So, thanks, guys, for reading me for the last three years. I'm sure you'd like to have that time back to put on your life, huh?

Nothing much going on here. It's 60 degrees and I've been inside all day working on a paper. Tomorrow we're expecting two to four inches of snow. Yes. The weather here is even more strange than that in Arkansas. Yesterday my friend, Dawn, and I spent a nice afternoon having lunch and being girls and going shopping. We looked at handbags, jewelry, stuff for our homes, and of course: shoes. Dawn, you are so much fun. We've both signed up to begin a drawing class this coming Thursday night for five weeks. Dawn's a graphic artist, and I can't even draw a crooked line, so I know who'll do all the laughing in class. I've always wanted to take drawing lessons, though, and I'm getting old, so now's the time.

I need you guys to keep your fingers crossed for me for the next month. Yes, you may uncross them to eat, but then cross them back again. I'm up for a teaching assistantship for the fall and I really, really, really want the job. My friend, Sandy, has been a TA for the last year and she loves it and has talked me into applying for a position. I'll know something by the first part of April and I'll let you know whether I get hired.

Haven't been reading as much as usual, but I'm finishing this one, and I'm also reading this one. Thought I'd read it before seeing the movie.

I started watching the series "Weeds" and I think it's very good. Those Showtime series, at least the ones I've seen, have all been great. Last night, after doing some homework, I watched "Across the Universe." If you've not seen it and you love the Beatles, you will like it, but you won't love it. I ended up fast forwarding through some of it just to get to the ending. It wasn't a total waste of time, however. I'm going to watch this movie tonight. My photographer friend, Nic, tells me I'll like it and he gave me the accompanying book, but I can't remember the title of the book and it's in my bedroom and I'm too lazy to get up and get it so I'm not posting a link to it. Wait, I think it's Speedology. Still not getting up.

Time for a late lunch and I really want a hamburger. I haven't eaten one, or any red meat, in so long I don't remember. Think I'll go to Wendy's and get a burger with cheese on it. Now my stomach is growling.