Karma Laundrette

Another busy day in the land of (wanna be) nod(ding off)

• finish writing up Jersey Shore review, this weekend got away from me
• pick up a cubic yard of composted mulch and spread it in the garden
• dig up a good 20 plants and move them before the spring budding explosion
• laundry
• bake the week's bread
• mop (hahahahahah, right)
• finish sewing new sofa cushions - I've already made the trim, just need to put it all together
• go to this place and never come back I mean, are you kidding me? Look at this!
• Stare longingly out at my pool, wish for warm weather
• finish reading the latest bit of literature I dl'd for my Kindle (hey, it's for work)
• do my workout - a 25 HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) program
• watch Real Housewives of Miami - omg, it is going to be a train wreck, YAY!

OK, gotta be good and burn off this lousy winter chub or Imma have to buy new clothes. =P

• ignore laundry
• ignore mopping
• ignore exercise
• ignore cat scratching to be let out for umpteenth time
• eat breakfast
• Joel McHale
• have lunch with my sister (yay)
• work on story for story slam
• ignore bathroom scrubbing
• call around for estimates for housekeeper, because see previous items on To Do
• Viggo
• spread remaining mulch
• maybe work the Mr. in around other men on list
• Go back for seconds with Mr. McHale

Tonight's theme is "Memorable Dates," which I'm taking as dating dates, not 1492 dates. Which means it the Greatest/Worst Date of All Time*, the date that brought a date to the date. Video tomorrow. (*This one is prominently featured in my memoir, btw. It's... oh man, it's so perfectly descriptive of life in Utah, I just can't even begin.)

Almost the weekend, WHEEEE!

If I've not responded to your emails about coins, it's simply because I had so many emails to reply to! I think for the sake of organization and my bank account I need to turn off the request for random foreign coins. Thank you so much for the offers, but I am going to be sending a LOT of mailers across the globe and until I learn the formula for making money grow on trees, I'm going to have to beg off any further offers. :D (You all have been so generous, I can't WAIT to post pictures of all of the things my son ends up with. SMOOCH TO YOU ALL.)

Here's my to do list today, if that gives you any indication of what my life is like this week: ( To Do - Thursday )

So, uh, if I don't reply to you, that's why. Life is happening. :)

And for my Hebes, just in time for the last two nights of Hanukkah, HONIKA ELECTRONICA. <3 the TRON mention. I also love his Dreidle icon on his iPhone instead of the Apple logo, LOL!! I hope you all are having a lovely holiday. SMOOCH.

It's almost the weekend, folks, WHEW. (And Jersey Shore is on tonight! FIST PUMPIN' LIKE CHAAAAAAMPS!)

• I have an awesome flist. Just putting that out there. :)
• I am NOT going to procrastinate today, I'm going to get a huge list of chores done, revisions done (I FINALLY figured out what is wrong with my ms: I'm trying to do both speculative fiction AND narrative. Pick one, doofus!)
• I am going to do my hardcore yoga today and I AM going to do reverse half-moon, damn it. *cries*
• I am going to put up the rest of the Halloween decorations today. My house without Halloween stuff is like a rainbow without a pot of gold.
• I am going to bake bread, and time willing, I am going to make ginger orange rolls. I MEAN, COME ON. That needs to be in my mouth this second.
• I love Chuck Wendig's blog - he's hilarious. (Warning: he swears a lot, and I - shockingly - have readers that aren't down with the cussin'.) This is my favorite post, mostly because he uses the word "Slugabed." That's now in the daily vernacular. :D
• I dare you to not cry when you see this old man, lifelong Republican, WW2 vet, 54 year married straight man tell his government that equality for marriage is simple: it's American. "What do you think I voted for at Omaha Beach?"
• And to lighten the mood, these panels were made to fit perfectly inside those spam envelopes that come with credit card offers, etc. OH MY GOD, SO FUNNY. Some (cartoon) images are unsafe for work (starting with panel 9, so you can check it out up to that point.) I need to print them off and start sending them.
• These ice cube trays are totally cool. Gin and Titonic. LOL.
• For all of my hyper-organizers (and wanna be organizers) out there, THIS SITE is just freaking amazing. how to declutter your kitchen, woot! The slide show on the right is neat-o pa-tee-to (patio burrito) <-- local joke. :D

Top Chef went ( spoiler crazy and cooked up some monkey brains in tapir foot bowls, who knew? )

Modern Family cracked me the hell up last night. I think every baby should be put in a "Diana Ross from the RC years" wig (I thought that was obvious) and get a portrait taken. I love it.

1. I had the last of my stitches taken out this morning. That was... a really really weird feeling. My nasal passages, however, are FREE AND CLEAR. *expands nostrils to their widest and takes it all in*
2. For the first time in two weeks I actually TASTED MY COFFEE. *cries with relief* Mmm, coffee. May your flavor never leave me.
3. I swung by my favorite garden center to test out my new sniff-abilities and came home with babies that need planting. It's gonna be 80 today. it was 80 yesterday. BRING ON SPRING!
4. Speaking of plants, I have mint that is ripe for plucking, smashing, sugaring, and topping off with rum and club soda. MOJITO SEASON!
5. I want slices of pear, apples, some raspberries, and maybe a balsamic reduction drizzled over that with some blue cheese. GET IN MY MOUTH, PLEASE.

I'm staring at my weekend with a look of love. Also? Reclining on a chaise outside in a TANK TOP for maximum ray soakage and my Kindle will be happening, too.

\o/

note for myself: carrots sprung, beans sprung, tomatoes basil oregano cucumbers zucchini transplanted today. 45 days to harvest!

As someone who was groomed by her mother to have a specific body type, and ridiculed publicly when I didn't have that, as someone who was told by her father that it looked like I had a tire in my waist band, as someone that was an exercise bulimic in her late teens and was grey-faced and wan from being unhealthy, as someone who watched her best friend almost die from anorexia, as someone from the south on the wrong side of the grits line watched her g-grandmother kill herself with food (4'11" 436 pounds on her death bed) let me say this:

Being [eta] underweight or severely overweight combined with eating poorly and not exercising is bad for you. What a shocker, eh?

Note that I am not saying that being UNDERweight and THIN means you are healthy, because we all know that thin person that eats for crap and smokes too much, etc. *cough* Kate moss, Nicole Ritchie, Lara Flynn Boyle *cough* I'm certainly not saying that's the case, and I don't see any of my flist saying that, either. So let's not make assumptions all over the place. (As in, no one is saying people who are of a larger size are automatically unhealthy, and no one is saying that stick-thin waifs are automatically healthy.)

My goal is this: to be able to play when I want, and not have to buy a new wardrobe because of weight fluctuations. Period. I don't have a scale goal, I don't have a size goal. I've struggled with weight issues my whole life, as we all have. I just want to be healthy. To have a strong heart, to have strong lungs, legs, arms, and mind. I'm teaching my daughters that they are beautiful no matter what, and that food is not a reward, that food is not a time killer, that food is not anything but fuel, and often can taste delicious. They make healthy choices and that's all I can ask.

If I, or anyone else in your life that loves you (and you out there that know that I care about you, I DO) says that they want you to be healthy and strong, they aren't automatically saying you are fat, ugly, unattractive, unworthy, gross, etc. Honestly, I see you, not your body shape, not your foot size, any dimples on your ass, just YOU. And if I like you, I like YOU. Which means I want you to stick around for a while. And let's be honest: if you're making poor choices, you know it. You don't need anyone to tell you. I'm certainly not going to.

But I will say this: I care. I care that you might hate yourself because of a stupid scale. I care that you might be killing yourself because you use food to numb whatever it is. I care that you don't use your magnificent body that was designed to move. I care if you smoke. I care if you drink to excess. I care if you make any sort of unhealthy choices. (Wear your seat belts!) :) I CARE. I'm not judging you, I'm not thinking ugly thoughts, I just CARE.

If anyone, ANYONE needs encouragement to make healthier choices, to help you CONTINUE to make the choices you've BEEN making, to get any form of exercise you can, just say the word. I will help in any way I can because I care about you, and about you feeling your best, period. (Obviously if you have a medical condition such as hypothyroidism, etc. that screws up your body's ability to function as it should, that's a different story.) Just... don't knee-jerk to "you're judging me and hating me auuugh!" when it's not that at all. End of preaching at this end. I just can't stand to see anyone else eat themselves to death like they keep doing in my family, that's all. <3

[ETA] ( just to clarify, because I think this is a charged topic that you might have missed the point I clumsily attempted to make )

I'm wearing my protected-brains gear so I can't be killed by the ever-vigilant zombie killers out there, so HAR de HAR HAR. Seriously, zombie ficathon y/y? Does this need to happen? Any fandom, or original fic, the only requirement: ZOMBIES.

1. There is no FLDS/LDS discussion in this post, for any newcomers that might be clicking. (and wow - I have no idea how some of you are finding me! I mean, come on over, I don't mind, just where are you finding me? Curious.)
2. I had the day from Mom Hell yesterday with non-stop doctor visits (that led to two new dr. visits, a pre-registration at the hospital [#2 needs surgery on her arm, evidently] getting 20 pounds of rice for the 1rst grade class, buying elastic-waist pants for #2 (one arm = no buttons) and for the love of Pete and Shannon, can SOMEONE make pants for pre-teens that aren't slutty? Did I mention everything was on opposite sides of town from each other? Bah.
3. I made Beef Rendang last night, but with venison and it was delicious. (I didn't have the dried shrimp, however.) We may have that again in a few days, it was so taste-tastic. (Curried onions and carrots on the side, with barley for our starch)
4. germaine_pet is coming tomorrow and I am SO EXCITED to have grown-up time. GAAH.
5. If the wind could stop gusting up to 45 MPH that would be suuuuuper. I CAN NOT STAND the wind. I have half-finished flower beds calling me! *reaches passionately towards the windows*
6. I have so much to do today. I want to be a baby and stomp and make fists but I have to be all grown up and handle up on some bidness. GOD. DAMMIT.
7. this video was sent to me by bu_doodlebug this morning and it cracked me up BECAUSE IT IS TRUE. I mean, don't get me wrong. It's twee. But still... I laughed.

Hey, thanks to everyone that chimed in with righteous indignation about the 8 year old bully. The Mister took an extra slow walk home with Sally (our German Shepherd) after walking the girls to school this morning. Sally will protect her herd! Ha ha.

Bullet points, because I like 'to the point' info:

• my sister is in BIG TROUBLE for not calling me back ALL WEEK. This is unacceptable, and I guess she's saying she doesn't want to have sushi with me this week, RIGHT BETH? Harumph.
• I won Guitar Hero III
• on easy. (shut it! I'm half-way through on Medium! And let me say that I am KICK ASS at the bass. On YYZ, y'all. <-- significant to other GH players)
• it isn't sad or pathetic that my goal is to kick this eight-year old's ass. Dude, someone give this kid a REAL guitar, STAT! *rocks to Fire and Flames* lml -_- lml
• I found a violin repair shop that is going to restore my great-grandfather's violins to their former glory (he made them, so I can't trust them to just anyone, you know?) The kids will start violin lessons immediately after, muah ah ah
• I turned out two of the best loaves of bread yet yesterday. (Since Christmas, I have not bought bread. It's all homemade, y'all!) Oh, bread: why you so delicious?
• I was nominated for two awards in two fandoms! What?! You guys! Whoever nominated me, thank you very much! One was at the Fang Fetish awards for an old Connor fic of mine (so I'm all happy about that) and the other was for the only HP fic I've ever written, Things They Should Have Taught Us In School for the R/Hr awards, which is just too cool for school. *beams*
• everyone's been posting pics of their cats lately, I have pics of my dorks cats under the cut. BE WARNED: my Darthanne looks like she will jump through the picture and have your guts for garters. (It's a goth burlesque. I'll give you a second.)
• the most important: I have officially signed on to do the Susan G. Komen 3 Day again! WHOOO. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's a 3 day walk-a-thon. Twenty miles everyday. I pay for all of my own expenses and raise money that goes 100% to women and their families: it pays for their care, for their treatment, and in some cases, their bills so their families can survive without them for the duration of surgery/chemo. Here's my account of doing it in 2006 (I missed out last year due to a filming schedule.) I'll have donation information up soon, for those of you that want to contribute to an AMAZING cause. YAY LIFE!
• speaking of filming, I start shooting my next movie, St. Nick, this week, and I'm just tickled pink about EVERYTHING.

Tell me all about you! *props chin on fists after sliding cinnamon rolls over* ( whoops! cats are under here )

#!, for those of you that watch/love Friday Night Lights, you might be interested to know that the team it's based on, Odessa Permian, is kicking BUTT in the run to State. They've come back from a few horrible years with a running back (Smash-like) that is crazy talented, and they play in the semi-finals this Saturday. That whole town is in a boom right now, because of oil. (Um, that's where there's an oil well every ten feet, and that's not an exaggeration.) I've always wondered how they could ignore such an important aspect of any West Texas town - oil. (Roughnecks are guys that work on rigs - it's one of the toughest jobs out there.) I'm finally caught up on all the eps, and again: I want to make out in a car with Matt Saracen. Rawr.

( To Do List for NaNo and Thanksgiving )

Whatever I do, I need to NOT write up a list of all the Simpsons episodes I wish were playing right now on my TV. Like, the one where Homer befriends a lobster, then ends up eating it, crying, and dipping it into extra butter. And crying. And commenting on how delicious he was.
Mr. Burns singing "See My Vest! See my vest, made from real gorilla chests!"
Any Flanders-centric episode. Hiddiddly ho-diddly!
The one when the Simpsons get a trampoline. "Catch me Lord!"
The one when Marge gives birth to Lisa, so Bart stays with the Flanders. "Let's play missionary!" "Bringing in the sheaves... bringing in the sheaves!"
"Imagination Christmas!" "Yay!" "I got a bike!" *Tod pantomimes riding a bicycle*
Haha, Lisa, it says you choo-choo-choose me!
It tastes like... burning! Dying tickles! Excuse me, School Mommy? I saw Principal Skinner and Mrs. Crabapple in the closet making a baby and I saw the babies and it turned and looked at me. The children are right to laugh at you, Ralphie.
No one can escape a Scotsman when he's greased! Suddenly, the ugliest man in Glasgow wasn't good enough for her! You used me, Skinner! You uuuuuuuuused me! The French are cheese-eating surrender monkeys!
Oh, mighty Puma.

I CAN'T STOP.

Operation: Oh Shit, My Thighs Are Going To Be On A Movie Screen (the field manuals are awkward to carry, true) is finally yielding some results. For my own posterity, I'm putting my regime under the cut. Is potentially WAY TOO BORING to be read by anyone other than myself.

( and lift, two, three, four, other side two, three, four.. )

Today is grocery shopping day, which I love more than almost anything else, which is another reason why I'm very strange. (All the options! The fresh fruits and veggies! Meal options and planning! /DORK.) I'm also planning on spreading a half-ton of compost in the front garden, so that'll replace my walk today. o_0

IT IS FRIDAY!!! Whoo hoo, weekend! We have a pool party we're going to on Saturday, (our neighbors) and the hostess told me she was going to make frozen margaritas with rum. (She's from Canada) After I stopped gagging internally (I'm southern and have manners), I donated the tequila necessary to keep people from throwing up. I'm educating the public, one drink at a time. (Oh: Milagro tequila, natch, but Anejo instead of Silver. It's better for frozen 'ritas. Silver is good for on the rocks.) Alright, y'all! Drink one for me!