I Can't Believe I Read the WHOLE Thing

I had grand plans of super-cleaning my house this weekend in preparation for the Greatest Halloween Party Ever, but since Todd was feeling kind of sickly, I couldn't be bustling around the house making a lot of noise, could I? Of COURSE not. What kind of wife do you think I am?

So, instead of cleaning, I finished up Breaking Dawn, which concluded my whirlwind reading of the ENTIRE Twilight series, which I started on Tuesday. As in, five days before I finished them. All four books.

I feel vaguely embarassed by this, like I spent the weekend doing something shameful. Like surfing the 'net for porn, or campaigning for McCain or something.

But I have to say this: I loved, loved, LOVED those darn books. The teenage angst! The overly dramatic heartbreak! The barely-hidden message of morality! The vampires! The werewolves!

Oh, and I wish I was named Bella. I may have a child soon, just to name her Bella.

Now I'm totally all geeked-up and anxious for the movie, which comes out November 21, not that I checked or anything. I am SO making Little go with me for opening night. I might even wear fangs.



And in case you thought I spent the whole weekend with no intellectual stimulation, never fear, I rounded out my Sunday with The Incredible Hulk, Edward Norton version. And as much as I love me some Edward Norton, it still doesn't stand up to the wonderful Eddie's father himself, Bill Bixby.

Crap, I guess I have to go back to being an adult tomorrow.

I Should Have Just Walked

When I first started riding the bus to work, the "31" bus route was a nice, relaxing ride from Frankfort Avenue to the Hall of Justice. I could knit, read a book, and just ease into my day.

Well, no more.

It's not that I didn't see it coming. Some months ago, I started riding the "19" bus because the "31" was getting a little crowded.
This morning, I arrived at the bus stop with time to spare, (I didn't even have to drive my car to the stop and screech into a parking spot next to it) and sat for a minute, then saw my bus coming toward me.

Unfortunately, my bus had a sign flashing, "Sorry -- Out of Service." That sucker just drove right past me without so much as a little slow down or wave. And there were people on it! I know they were there, those tinted windows can't fool me.

So I waited, and before long, here comes the "31." It stopped, and I got on . . . along with approximately five hundred million and three other people. There might have been five hundred million and four, or five, but I couldn't see all the way to the back of the bus because around four hundred million of the passengers were standing up in the aisle.

I scrinched myself into a spot where I could balance on my left pinky toe, as long as I lifted my right foot four inches off the ground and mushed it into my left leg, reached my left arm over four people to grip the pole about nine feet off the ground, perched my right arm approximately seven inches behind and to the right of me, and draped my purse, gym bag, and lunch bag over my right index finger.

Oh, and held my breath.

Every time we stopped, started, or went around a curve, I had to tense every muscle in my body, shift my weight to the toe next to my left pinky toe, and pray that the polish from my last pedicure would hold me up.

I knew things were getting bad when the young girl in a wheelchair said, "Heck, all we need now is some BLIND person to try to get on with a DOG!"

AND . . . the next stop was the blind school, where, indeed, some poor blind person (with some super-cool facial piercings) and his dog got on.

As soon as the people in front saw him, someone yelled out, "We can make room for the dog, but not you!"

Yeah. Maybe Todd was on to something with the whole bike-riding thing.

101 Things -- The Second 100 Days

Whew! It's a little dusty around here. I've been a very bad blogger, but wanted to pop because it's time for another 101 Things update. So, here we go . . .

Read at least 4 non-fiction books in 2008. I read The Center Cannot Hold, which was absolutely fascinating if you are at all interested in mental ilness. Persepolis was quite a departure from my normal reading material, since it was not only non-fiction, but was in a graphic format. I liked it, and it went very quickly. The Nine was an excellent picture of the Supreme Court which clarified a lot of issues for me. Mockingbird, a biography of Harper Lee, made me very sad, and I think I'm going to have to read a biography of Truman Capote next. I could recommend all four books.

Read a book to learn more about US history. I'm going to count The Nine as fulfilling this category, although I think I'll try to read something else, too. This book really cleared some things up that have been confusing for me since law school, and I think it would be equally interesting for a non-lawyer. It's worth reading for the insights into Sandra Day O'Connor's personality.

Enter something in the State Fair. Well, I entered three somethings. That's all I have to say about that.

Make mint julep liqeur. It's finished and sitting in my liquor cabinet. I'm trying to wait until Derby next year to drink it, but it's very tempting.

Play in my church orchestra. Yay! I've done this twice, which I think makes me a regular member. It's fantastically fun for me to pretend to be a real violin player.

Be a Big Sister for at least six months. Little and I are still truckin' along, having a good time. She has been a wonderful addition to my life.

I was feeling like a 101 Things slacker, but that's actually quite a few things marked off. Honestly, though, I think I've done all the easy stuff, and I'm going to have to put some more effort into the next 100 days . . . especially with those pesky 10 weight loss items.

You're going to see a return to regular blogging around here in the coming weeks. I decided that while I'm not ready this year for NaNoWriMo, I'm going to do the blogging portion of the contest, which means I have to blog EVERY DAY in November. You may get tired of seeing me by the end of the month!