hurrah!

yay for breakfast!
yay for early morning phone calls (even if i don't answer)!
yay for scandalizing Karli accidentally!
yay for sly princess of darkness peeps!
yay for cards from my family!
yay for Jeni's valuable assistance!

Ouch.

I got called a tease last night.

oops.

And prompted a whole rant about girls and dating from a couple friends who were at our house.

dangit.

Which is kind of funny considering I don't think I flirt very much at all. And even when I try, it's not like I'm very good at it.

sigh.

dinner success!

Gender Construction

sorry it's so small... i found it in natalie's old archie comic and thought it was hilarious.

Inner Dialogue

Dear Mind,

This is body. I've been trying to get your attention lately, and you have ignored me. I'm tired. And hungry. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm also fighting off the Virus-O-Doom that so inflicts dear Ellyn. I have a few simple suggestions for you that will make our cohabitation run a little more smoothly.
First of all, you need to allow me to dictate what you consume more than you do. I realize that you are a control freak, but I know what I'm doing. Coffee does not count as breakfast. When I tell you we need more than 40 calories in the morning, I mean it. When I ask you for fruit, don't give me a poptart. When I ask for protein, McDonalds chicken nuggets will just make me feel bad. And when I feel bad, you feel bad. Ok, enough about diet.
My next point addresses sleeping. You need to let me sleep. Eight hours. Please.
I really appreciate that you've been taking care of me in my struggle against the bird flu, or whatever it is I'm fighting off. I love the extra fruit and vitamins and water. That's great. Keep up the good work! In fact, you should consider treating me this well all the time. We would be happier.
And now, exercise. Holy crap, I am turning into a sack of mush. I know you don't like this either. So, dear Mind, set me free from these oppressive chains of inactivity and take us to the gym!
Overall, you are an ok mind to live with, but if you seriously consider these humble suggestions, I think we could vastly improve our lifestyle and mood. And we would fight less. That's all for now.

Love,
Body

in case you were wondering...

Stilettos help only marginally when walking in compact snow. The heel does tend to act as a built in ice-pick, but lack of traction and decreased balance detract from Overall Ice Navigation.

Customer Service

Well, I arrived in ye olde photo archives (on time! yipee!) this morning after being stood up by my kid's therapist. The librarian kindly informs me that some woman called her complaining that "that photo girl" never called her back and she's been leaving messages for days. Huh. Interesting. So, I trudge into my office and listen to my messages (that I checked yesterday). There are 8: 5 hang-ups, two photo orders, and one cranky lady. All of these were left late yesterday afternoon. I called her back and appeased her as best I could.

"Ma'am, I'm so sorry you felt neglected. Unfortunately, it turns out that I am merely a part time employee with no benefits, and I don't work past 1 pm here. And, for the record, one message and five hang-ups left yesterday afternoon at and after 3:50 pm, do not count as leaving messages for days. Just so you know."

My next adventure occurred maybe an hour later. An old (meaning both previous and elderly) customer complained that I sent her the wrong picture. So, I looked up the microfilm (if you've ever done this, you will be aware of the intense dizziness behind one's eyes that occurs after a few minutes perusing microfilm), printed out the correct picture, compared it with the picture we sent her, and discovered that they were exactly the same. So I called her up. She described the photo we sent to her in detail. It was indeed the photo I had in front of me. It was also the photo from the paper. She insisted that they were different. I gently suggested they were the same.

"Ethel, dear, I think you must be smoking crack. You are looking at the same paper from the same date as I am and the same photo that was published in that paper. How on earth can you not see that they are EXACTLY THE SAME? I would suggest you visit your ophtalmologist immediately and consider getting a hobby that does not consist of bothering innocent photo archivists."

Otherwise, it's been a pretty good day. I dreamt that I had a gap in my front teeth, though (please refrain from wif of bath literary allusions or historical references regarding women with gaps in their teeth. this parenthetical clause is for you, jeni).

happy valentine's day, everybody.

taxes, temptations, and I can't think of another 't' word

So, I tried really hard to do my taxes yesterday. Really hard. I was doing pretty well (with the help of a tax-hero friend), until I called my mom and found out that my grants/scholarships/tuition trust reimbursement makes my taxes abominably complicated. Oh well. I tried.

My roommate also coerced me into getting a myspace. Here's what happened: the sister of my favorite redheaded roomie is on myspace. I got a myspace to be her friend. The myspace was created on Monday night. I now have internet friends and a new way to procrastinate at work. And home. Fabulous. What am I doing?! This is the downward spiral of internet addiction! Soon I will get fired for not working and only blogging, and then I will end up with bloodshot eyes, a pale complexion, and a chair-flattened butt. The horror!

On a completely new note, my boss wandered in yesterday and told me and Shanea (the other girl who works in the archives) to go to Starbucks for a while. So we did. Then he came in this morning and told us to take more breaks. What?

Confessions

We now have cable tv.

I'll let the dangerous and terrifying implications of that statement sink in for a moment...

And, as if that weren't bad enough, we also have (gasp!) internet.

We watched the gonzaga game at home last night. It took all the willpower in my meager being to turn it off at the end and go to bed. Tonight is another story. An unknown abyss in the battle of willpower over television. Will I be strong enough to be sociable and/or go to bed on time?

To be continued...

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind...

I love John Donne. I love that he can write beautifully about things that break my heart and make me fall down in awe. I've been thinking deeply about what it means to be united in the Body of Christ - about grieving and rejoicing with believers. I am in a time of deep sorrow with many of my dear friends right now, and it's baffling how closely connected my heart is with the people around me. I suppose it's part of God's will for us as believers in the world to love and weep and dance together. It's the weeping that gets me.

And first, I bless thy glorious name, that in this sound and voice I can hear thy instructions, in another man's to consider mine own condition; and to know, that this bell which tolls for another, before it come to ring out, may take me in too. As death is the wages of sin it is due to me; as death is the end of sickness it belongs to me; and though so disobedient a servant as I may be afraid to die, yet to so merciful a master as thou I cannot be afraid to come; and therefore into thy hands, O my God, I commend my spirit, a surrender which I know thou wilt accept, whether I live or die. - John Donne, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions

My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. - Colossians 2:2-3

Handsomest Man Update

He is a photographer whose picture I randomly (I promise) ran across while working hard today.