Putting it in Writing

This is f-ing ridiculous.
I WILL finish this online class and send it to the web developer! TODAY!!
There, it's out there, so y'all hold me to it.

Books I Never Finished

Usually when I get I book I cannot put it down. I read it cover to cover, until it is finished, or my eyes fall out. Whichever comes first. SO the list of books I've never finished is pretty short, but here goes:
Stephen Covey "First Things First". From Amazon's website "Using this book will help you create balance between your personal and professional responsibilities by putting first things first and acting on them.". It seems like a great fit, I love organizers, I need balance, and Stephen is the Master Organizer. So why didn't I finish it? The man cannot write! Hell, I couldn't make it through chapter 1! And I tried twice! He should take some lessons from Suze Ormon. I don't always agree with her methods, but her writing style is engaging,
So, I struggle on without personal and worklife balance....Sigh.

"Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood.

Another strange one for me. Ms. Atwood is one of my favorite writers. "The Handmaid's Tale" is in my top 5 favorite novels! (And I've read hundreds, if not thousands, of them, so that is no small feat.) But O&C didn't engage me like her usual novels. Maybe it was the gloom and doom? No, probably not. She has a lot of that in her other books and it never really bothered me. I dunno, I just couldn't seem to connect with any of the characters. And it jumped around too much for me to feel invested in the story line. It was just kinda "Meh" for me.

I think that's it. Short list, right? I may add to it if I can think of anything else.
What got me to thinking about this was reading another blogger's post about having read "Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell". She LOVED it (as did I). But I didn't at first. I actually put it down after the first 100 pages or so. It was just a lot of boring background to me. A few weeks later, I took another running start at it and this time it captured me. Like the other reader, I couldn't put it down (and it's a BIG book). So, maybe one day I should give Mr. Covey or Ms. Atwood another chance. To paraphrase the often tossed-around break-up line "Maybe it's me, not the book, that is the problem".

Thankful

What a strange day. One the one hand, I am baffled by one of my former colleagues. She and I have some research projects that we are collaborating on but are winding up. I have long considered her a mentor and a valued associate. Yet she has (twice now) been untrustworthy and downright dispicable. I realize she is under a lot of pressure, the research arena is suffering for funding with the Big Monkey in Charge's wacked-out financial priorities. Therefore everyone is scrambling to not go under. But STILL! That is no reason to backstab someone else.
On the other hand, it is pouring rain, rumbling thunder that takes forever to fade away, and is darkly beautiful. I am thankful that my husband drove my car to work this morning, instead of riding his motorcycle. He will remain warm and dry when he comes home (in ~30 minutes).
It's a small amount of gratitude facing off against a large amount of stress. But I am grabbing onto the positive with both hands.

Too much, too soon

At 6.5 weeks pregnant, we (I) had a miscarriage. At motherfuckingDisneyWorld. Talk about a Karmic bitchslap.
I just took the baby ticker down from my blog sidebar. The same baby ticker I had only put up 1 week earlier. Did we announce our pregnancy too soon? Telling family and friends so soon that it was not going to happen was so much worse. I actually chickened-out and made my husband tell my parents. I just couldn't say the words. Hell, it hadn't even been a week earlier that we'd told them they were going to have another grandchild. From High to Low in 5 days flat.
Still cramping, still hurting. But I don't mind so much. Because once it's gone then that's it. Aside from the "What to Expect" book that I've shoved into the top drawer of my bureau and the booties that we bought for the grandparents, it's like it didn't happen. Like the projected due date of January 4th, 2009 is now just another day in the world.

Here we go

It's that feeling like when you are sitting in the front seat of roller coaster climbing slowly to reach the tippy-top of the first gut-wrenching plunge.
That "butterflies (piranhas) in your stomach/giddy anticipation/Dear God what have we gotten ourselves into?!?" feeling.
Yeah, that one.
I can't wait.

Mmmmm....fooooood

I want this:








And a few of these:














And several of these:


NOW!!!!!
Grrrr.....


(pictures and recipes from orangette.blogspot.com and stevesfrozenchillers.com ....bless them for their mad skills)

Happy Valentine's Day

I'm not going to comment about how long it's been since my last post. It is a non-issue. If this blog got a hit, I would fall over dead from shock. But it is a great place to compile my thoughts.
It's a nice, quiet V-day over here. Butternut squash soup for dinner and now I am working on my lecture for tomorrow. With a quick aside to fish the chewed-up paper towel out of the puppy's mouth. However I DID get up and make my lucky husband a latte and delivered it to him in bed. This is a rarity in the extreme, he is the latte-maker in this house. I was thinking as I was brewing that I probably wasn't authorized to operate that machinery. And he brought me home Godiva truffles. Yum!
I had to stop at Publix for milk and, while standing in line, noticed the wide (huge)variety of people by flowers and little red heart boxes of chocolates for their sweeties. Old, young, quietly happy, radiantly hopeful....the whole range. Even a much older woman buying a bouquet of mylar heart balloons. That one made me wonder who the lucky recipient was?
I agree that Valentine's Day is grossly cammercialized and could do with some toning down. But, sometimes people really do need the reminder to reconnect with their romantic sides. As long as they don't go crazy with the gifts, thinking that it will make up for neglecting their loved ones the remaining 364 days a year, then it's all good.
A whole day devoted to celebrating Love. What's not to like?
Happy Valentine's Day!