A desk chair, a floor, and one vintage skirt filled with 32 oz of water

It has been a crappy two days. I don't know why. It seems like the world decided to have a real estate enema, and all of the crap fell onto me. Especially yesterday. I was up to my eyeballs in work and being bothered by requests to do things that weren't technically my job, and the phone was ringing off the hook, and i had pms, and I was also fasting, so my brain couldn't work.
I stayed late at work on a beautiful afternoon. This, in the grand scheme of things, is almost a crime in my mind.
My bad day was remedied by sitting outside, drinking an entire bottle of wine with my husband, eating food off of the grill, and then going for a walk where we saw a group of high schoolers sliding down a dike in the hugest boxes I have ever seen in my life. They were larger than refrigerator boxes and made out of solid wood. And there were two of them. It was a strange site.
Today I was determined to have a better day. It was a beautiful morning, I got to work on time, and I managed to avoid almost all annoying drivers and bad songs on the radio. So, I think, it is going to be a better day.
And that is when, almost at that moment, I spilled 32 oz of water all over myself, my desk, and the floor.
It took an entire package of paper towels to clean it up.
And I had to sit in a wet dress all morning.
The one silver lining is that not a drop of water got on my laptop.
I suck at being Pollyanna. The glad game--not my favorite game. In fact, I hate games.
Anyway, if there is one thing a bad day or two at work will do for a person, it is that it makes you re-evaluate things.
Despite the two bad days at the beginning of this week, Billy and I did have a very glorious weekend in Mott. And, believe it or not, it was actually somewhat relaxing. I got to go for a run in the sunshine, we had the hot tub rented, wine was drank, coffee was drank, food was eaten, yoga was had on the patio in the sunshine, cigars were smoked on mammoth-scale decks, prairie scenes were photographed, life issues and dreams were hashed out.
The Choosing of the Wedding Music was suprisingly painless. But then, I figured, if I didn't have a choice about whether or not to sing or play, then I wasn't going to give them too many options to chose from. They/we/I chose "Someone to Watch over Me" for the prelude, and "Can I have this Dance?" for after they exchange rings.
And then I was promptly reprimanded by my mother for not chosing sacred music.
But the truth is, I'm not really sure how I feel about doing sacred music for a marriage where someone has been married three times. And also, I don't think it fits their personality together as a couple. And also, just because a song doesn't say "Jesus" in it, doesn't mean that it is banal or that it fails to glorify God in some way. There is some form of worship, I think, in appreciating the romantic love between a man and a woman in song--even if it doesn't directly include God. He did invent a romantic relationship in the first place. I think He is ok with what I chose. I don't think we need to speak in Christianese just to make something sacred.
And besides, like my sister pointed out, who hasn't heard completely and utterly inappropriate Shania Twain songs performed at weddings where you were cringing and wondering why in the world they would chose it???!!! At least the songs I chose have style, character, appropriateness, and suite the couple.
It's like short skirts--they can be fine if you carry yourself well. Secular songs can be fine in church if you carry yourself well.
I will post some pictures later tonight from the weekend. Maybe you will get just a smidgeon of an idea why I think the prairie where I grew up is the most beautiful place in the world. and if you don't, fine, that means there is more for the rest of us.
Sidenote--at AWP the other night, this girl read a poem she wrote about being from the prairie. And she said that her mother told her when she was little that she was lucky for being from the prairie. Other people, her mother explained, were surrounded by trees and buildings and other things. But, on the prairie, you are part of the sky--only your two feet touching the ground are actually part of the earth.
I love that image.
Our dogs enjoyed being farm dogs. A lot of the time there were every color and shape and size of dog. In order of size from largest to smallest: Patriot, Drea, Priscilla, Pogo, Molly, and Toby. It was ridiculous. But the dogs came home tired, happy, and full of ticks. Since we have arrived home, we have pulled a total of 9 ticks off of ourselves and the dogs. Bastard ticks. Gross.
My husband got some bigtime Mother-in-Law Points by installing a new ceiling fan/light fixture in the kitchen. He says it was easy. I think my mother now thinks of him as the electrical god. And my dad has some jobs lined up for him already for the next time we come home. Poor husband, can't get away from the projects no matter where he goes. Except for one place...
That's right, folks. It is exactly 30 days until we leave for Maui. I can't wait! Except for one thing--I've been on ediets 5 weeks and have only lost 5 pounds. This is a far cry from the desired 17-18 pounds I wanted to lose. So, there are New Rules. The New Rules are, no cheating on the diet whatsoever. The only exception is on Mondays when I will be juice fasting all day until supper when I will have a reasonable but non-measured supper. It is so hard not to cheat. But I have to realize: 1) no one else can lose weight for me, 2) you can't cheat the rules, 3) the rules actually DO apply to me, 4) no one else can lose weight for me, etc,etc.
Speaking of purging, I finished up the last of the purging in my old room this weekend. We came back to Fargo with doll collection, old diaries, photo books, prom dresses, and memorbilia in tow. Hopefully I can find a place to put all of it that doesn't ruin my current progress on purging.
My mother made the most amazing dessert this weekend. It was some kind of amazing almond-liqueur soaked pound cake covered in chocolate-coffee whipped cream frosting situation.
It was better than 15 orgasms. I will post the recipe later.
I will also post some entries from my gradeschool diary which are HILARIOUS.