Today, in Bullet Points

People, I'm overloaded. Can't do any decent writing today. But I know you're just waiting on edge to hear what I've been up to, so here we go:

• Scraped my car windows not one, not two, not three, but FOUR times.
• Checked the snow emergency website like FIVE times.
• Drove all the way to work and then all the way back, so I could work from home and avoid rush hour.
• Felt grateful for my sweet little SUV, which powered me through the snow like nobody's business.
• Got a phone call from my auto body buddy, who asked how my new car was doing.
• Sang along to the radio.
• Did some research about British English and the differences between British English and American English.
• Ate some reheated hot-and-sour soup. And a box-made Ghiradelli dark-chocolate brownie (They are SO GOOD).
• Cooked dinner—honey-soy glazed chicken with bell peppers and snap peas stir-fry—with my handsome husband.
• Did the dishes.
• Went to the bank, dropped off dry cleaning, chauffered the dog, got crunched at the chiro.
• Daydreamed about the trip we're taking in less than TWO WEEKS!
• Heard my massage therapist warning me to stop carrying the weight of the world.
• Edited some fun stuff.
• Gave the UPS customer service people an earful.
• Listened to some new mp3s: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Regina Spektor.
  
• Made more to-do lists.

To do, to do, to do. . . . . .

Stress Level: Orange

Hi.

I have been away for the following reasons:

1. I am buried in bureaucratic paperwork due to having a totaled car. (Once again, thanks dude, for totaling a car that I owed $560 on.)
2. I am running around like crazy makin' the copies and signing papers and not sure if I'm signing my life away or just getting money for my car.
3. I had a wicked reaction to travel vaccinations, two days with fever and chills and vomitous feelings.
4. On the heels of that, I developed a nice head cold (time to haul out the Neti pot).
5. I'm fitting in regular chiro appointments, work, regular errands, general Mo-chauffeuring... and no exercise yet.
6. I have slept like crap for about, oh, wait, 14 days.
7. Oh, that's right, I have a rental car 'til Monday, won't have a check for my car 'til end of next week if I'm lucky, and car dealerships close early on Fridays and aren't open on Sundays in good ol' MN.
8. So, lessee: Hurt, sick, sick, paperwork I don't understand, no sleep....

I'm kinda freaking out.

Want to help me?
I'm doing online research about cars.

Please answer the following:

What kind of car do you drive?
Do you like it? Why?
Is there anything you'd change about it? What?
Do you hate it? Why?
What would you do differently/would you buy the same car again?
Are you a new or "pre-owned" person? Why?

Current Obsessions

1. Good reports from the hospital.
2. MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack and Macroviolet.
3. Halloween photos. (we didn't dress up this year, but man, babies in Halloween costumes. Half the reason you people have kids, right?)
4. Public radio.
5. The finally-normal fall weather.
6. Alba Botanica Hawaiian Spa cocoa butter hand & body lotion
7. The Forever War, by Dexter Filkins. Amazing writing and reportage.
8. The word reportage.
9. Roasted sweet potatoes.
10. Grapefruit.

What are some of your current obsessions?

Small Things

Ok, here's something. Maybe on the days I'm having trouble blogging I'll be counting my blessings. After all, this year is about downsizing (for a lot of people) so the small things become even that much more important. (Or at least it's important not to lose perspective.)

Here are some of my small-good-things.

1. Sending off a query to a major national mag. I might get rejected, but I'm excited nonetheless. And it brings me one step closer to a goal.

2. We only have one parking spot that we pay for for our building. Usually there are a couple free spots to steal at night, otherwise you're stuck with street parking, and meters start at 8. I don't have to leave for work until 8:30 most days, so it's kind of a pain. And you have to make sure that you're parked on the correct side of the street. Anyway, a lot of the free spots have been taken up by the Bobcat that plows our lot when it snows. Tonight I came home and William had squeezed into a free spot I couldn't have maneuvered into, so that I could have our regular spot.

3. Eating comfort food with my mom and dad.

4. Friends finding out they're pregnant.

5. A super yummy double-crazy spicy tuna roll at a fun restaurant.

6. Molly snuggling up.

7. A nap.

8. Trader Joe's Molokai coffee. The day they sell out I will cry. It says it's limited edition. Stock up people! IT'S SO GOOD. Better yet, ship it to me. I will appreciate it the mostest of anyone in the WHOLE WORLD.

9. William waking me up in the morning.

10. Making lists.

List O' Stuff

*Here's something that's a real bummer: we haven't had a digital camera since Hawaii. So no photos of this weekend, a la WeeMo.

*Today I am swamped with freelance work, so that's awesome, but hectic.

*Stores are running fabulous deals, but I'm really trying to stick to budget and pay off some debt, so sadly I cannot buy. It is making my hands shake.

*This dark-early thing (think 5:30, and its night-dark) is really making me tired.

*I have be re-falling in love with Snickers bars.

* I keep thinking life will slow down after this, life will slow down after that....I'm starting to think life doesn't slow down.

*Even though I love my job, I'm looking forward to a three-day week. (now two!)

*Been in an organizational rut. Like. Not organized.

*EEK!

*Lots to do on my to-do list, so I must run. Sorry for the craptacular post.

Our Favorite Things

Inspired by WeeMo's request and Found Out About Me's post, here is a list of a few of my favorite things:

Cupcakes
Being married to William
The smell (and taste) of oranges
Molly's paws
Babies laughing
Fun snail mail
Fake eyelashes
The smell of line-dried sheets
Rock and roll
Protesters
Old photos
Trivial Pursuit
Big sunglasses
Sleeping in
Hawaii
Long conversations
Lilacs
Caffeine
Vintage dresses
Correct punctuation
Afternoons at Ikea
Thunderstorms
Blank books
Purple
Not using plastic bags
Mounds bars
Calvin Klein sheets
Target
Laughing so hard I cry; making someone laugh so hard they cry
Fresh lemonade
Letterpress stationery
Peonies
Bookstores
Play-Doh
smell of suntan lotion
making lists
The Bill of Rights
Nerds
Glitter (the art supply, not the Mariah Carey movie)
Feeling useful
Arguing politics with my dad
Driving with the windows down and the heat on in my car in the fall
Goat cheese
Home decorating
Tennis
Project Runway
J. Crew
Trees
Dr Pepper
Fishing
Simply Orange
Blog Friends
Hot days, cold lakes
Getting off airplanes
Listening to Liz Phair, Tom Petty, R.E.M., etc.
Chocolate mousse
Pineapple
William's egg sandwiches on weekend mornings
New socks (especially knee-highs)
Massages
The New Yorker
Good questions
Pretty paper
The scratchy sound on records
Animal prints

William's favorite things:
Laying in bed after a hard day
Pale Ale
Chips and salsa
Sound of blow dryers (hair dryers)
Warm laundry
Crisp fall days
Milk and cookies
All things Dutch
Snuggling with Katie and Molly on a do-nothing Saturday
First snowfall of the year (extra props if it happens at night)
Football
When my Katie sings
A new magazine
Good deals
Being in a boat
Sunflower seeds and fishing
Waking up second
Good graphic design
Riding my bike
RadioLab (New York Public Radio show)
Deep-fried turkey
Bacon
NewsRadio and Seinfeld
Tetris
Researching stuff online (esp. potential purchases)
Traveling: seafood in Santorini, paella in Barcelona, pomme frites in Amsterdam, mousse in Paris, naan in India
Right when the wheels leave the ground on the airplane
Doing Molly's voice
Saying "Caaaaats!!!" extra props if they are in "paaaants".
Robots
Legos
Chocolate
Chocolate again
Art supplies (all the hidden potential which may never come to be)
Seeing a sunrise (much better than a sunset)
Jumping on pillows
Jumping into water
Smelling Katie's hair
Smell of Molly's paws
When Molly huffs and puffs
Playing catch with a baseball or football
Playing basketball
Flipping Out (both the show, and just flipping out)

Our favorite things:
Thai food on Friday nights
Eating at The Sample Room
Weekend mornings at the Farmer's Market
Hawaii
Decorating
Vintage shops
Making each other laugh
Dogs
Teak furniture
The color pink
Corn on the cob and BLT's
The Bulldog bar
Setting goals
The Office
Arrested Development
Art fairs, especially Art-a-Whirl
Etsy
Each other