I had them turn on some more of the lights in my office. I am currently alternating between 'Hey, I can see!' and 'OMG SO SO BLIND!' They turned on all 8 fluorescents originally, which ended up being blinding. My coworkers were joking that the divine light was in my office and that I should have a soundtrack of angels singing.

Now we're at half that, which is still insanely bright, but actually really nice compared to how dark it had been before.

In other news of 'baking soda is the greatest thing ever,' Girlio just made us some peppermint lime baking soda toothpaste and it's really awesome. (OK, it's flavored baking soda. But dude, my teeth feel CLEAN) We're keeping it in a Target sugar bowl that totally matches the bathroom and it makes me happy. So, if we have you over, that's not blow, don't snort it.

Ethiopian food and a play tonight. Whee! Also, I left my cell phone at home.

Notes:
-Order yarn
-Pull out the small country that accumulated under the couch while Brother's on the sofa bed
-LAUNDRY BITCHES!
-Swiffer EVERYTHING
-Walls - plz to be painting
-Hang pictures
-Clean out closet
-Shoerack?

In other news, I am a buying queen. Bought some great stuff off of Amazon, got a used copy of 'Silver Woven in My Hair' off of biblio.com and I'm considering switching my username to no_pants_mcgee to divorce it from my email address. That costs $15, though. And I'm cheap. Still, it's a thought.

Oh and I might buy a new iMac. There's that.

So, my older brother shows up in like 36 hours. I think. He hasn't actually called me to confirm that he's coming and I don't actually know if he's booked tickets or has my street address. So, that's weird. And in theory, Sears is showing up tonight to give an estimate about replacing our HVAC system and fixing the moldy pad. Hopefully, the two will be nearly equivalent in price so our landlord will opt to replace the whole thing and we can get an HVAC system that won't cost us $200 to cool our 600 square foot apartment for a month.

Crap, I put clothes in the washer on Saturday and never moved them.

We also had the MOTHER OF ALL CLEANY FESTS on Saturday. Moved a bunch of shit around, reorganized, cleaned up crazy amounts of dust and debris that had been living on the floor and organized a freecycle and a goodwill pile. Then, of course, as one does when one gets rid of stuff, we immediately went to Ikea for more stuff. (Not a lot more stuff - a couple of organizing boxes, more grundtal hangy things for the craft room, discounted cute fabric and some light bulbs) On the way to Ikea, we decided the best way to celebrate our cleaniness was to have people over to enjoy it, so we texted an invitation out to a few friends and have prettyprincessb and a few others out for wine and board games. It. Was. Awesome. I mean, they drank all our wine (we thought 4 bottles for 6 people would be plenty. They brought two, which we drank and then finished off the remains of our wine cube and one of our nicer bottles), we played Cranium and Wise & Otherwise, our downstairs neighbors probably hate us (more) and we finally kicked everyone out around 2am and collapsed. So, now I have to buy a lot more wine. And y'all know how I hate wine shopping. Next time we do this (because there will totally be a next time) and if the Columbia Heights target ever gets alcohol, I might just get three wine cubes and call it a night. Because the swanky wine in a box is actually quite good. No, I swear!

Yesterday, I emerged from the bedroom around 11:30, hung out reading Ken Follet until 1:30 and then biked my new bike over to City Bikes. It's getting a tune-up and the guy working said that it needed new brakes and brake cables. It's going to take them two and a half weeks to get to fixing it and will cost me probably $120. Which made me a little queasy and regret buying the bike until I remembered that even if I bought a bike new, it'd still need an adjustment and I'm paying less money because I got it used. It's also apparently the proto-type of the Dahon folding bikes, so I've got some serious folding bike street cred, yo. Stopped by CVS and picked up some groceries and hair dye, got subway, dyed my hair, threw on some cute clothes and then we went out with anneball, prettyprincessb and sabekkas and lj-less Mindy to get a burrito and see Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2. They kind of condensed the entire last three books into the movie in a bad way and ended with one of the worst lines ever, but it was still enjoyable and there were several very nice looking shirtless men.

Now, I'm at work. Huzzah. And I have the chance to introduce sabekkas to the joy that is Twilight. Yeah.

Oh, and I totally need me some Apples to Apples.

Stories like these really make me want a garden. There are some nice front yard gardens on our street, too. But I've managed to kill the two seedlings I got from our farm share and remain certain I'd do the same for other vegetables.

I am attempting to organize both at work and at home. Go me. And the level of 'ARGH I HATE THE WORLD' seems to be decreasing. Sweet.

(via froglady)

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

( Cut for your viewing pleasure... )

I feel like I should give y'all an update, but not much is happening. My feet itch like crazy. My employers are awesome. People are generally crazy. I may take pilates at work, I haven't decided. I was seriously underwhelmed by Project Runway last night and have started watching the Olympics for the first time since high school. I still kind of wince at the thought of knitting, which is seriously freaking me out when I stop to think about it. The house is still ashambles, though the pile of dirty laundry has turned into a stack of nicely folded laundry. My feet still itch like crazy.

jude Liz's friends get the most awesome tattoos.

Girl turns 8 on 8/8/08, which isn't quite as cool as the kid born at 8:08am weighing 8pounds 8 ounces. Or the other kid born at 8:08 on 8/8/08 with a brother who was born on 4/5/06.

Edward Cullen: Vampire and... scrapbooker? (OK, I admit I'm not into these mainly because I can't stand so many caps)

The hammer is... my pony?

Also, I have a hundred million billion mosquito bites on my legs and they all itch. Stupid bugs.

Also also, I bought a folding bike off of some dude on craigslist for $80. The bike's name is Ernest.

Since I have to train two people today and Friday was overwhelmingly busy, I figured I'd get into work early today and get some coffee in me and some work done before I had to spend the day training these folks. I meant to get here at 8:00, 8:15. I ended up getting in around 7:45. And of course, I did the only possible thing one could do when one gets to work an hour and fifteen minutes early... I snoozed in one of my office chairs for 45 minutes.

It was awesome, but now I'm tireder than I was when I came in, if that's even possible. And the coffee machine isn't working. Joy.

10 minutes before I have to go have enforced fun, I feel like my tummy has been tied in knots. This is not normal, this is not fun and this has been happening far too frequently. I think it's time to go to a doctor.

Also, I think I may be lactose intolerant and that makes me sad on many many levels.

Say you had 4 leeks. These leeks were not the monstrosities that you find in the grocery store, but rather looked like green onions. Despite the fact that you keep thinking you should use them to garnish a baked potato because they look like green onions, you have been reassured that they are, in fact, leeks.

What culinary delight would you make with them?

(Also, is it weird that I can't use the term god-ridden without giggling a little?)

I am alone in stentoriansista's old living room, where I am preparing for a Becoming circle. I cast a circle and then invoke a goddess... Inanna, I think. I then get an image of a circle with the right hand side being eaten away by green and then a whoosh of power and energy comes in and fills me. Though I am nearly bent double with it, I stumble downstairs into a large, open basement. ninthraven is working the coat check, then dukemockingbird sits me down on the floor and tries to fix my hair. I realize that I started too early and am upset. dukemockingbird tries to get me to pick a card, but I am unable to focus, muddled, slow. He gets kinda ticked. It occurs to me that no one has noticed that I'm being god-ridden. Peter Dinklage shows up with a life size replica of himself.

(This was a dream I had in the extra 10 minutes I had to curl up back in bed. No, I don't know why dukemockingbird was trying to fix my hair either)

I need a mindless knitting project and I seem to be out. I could work on my lucky sweater, but I'm at the sleeves and so not in the mood for lace. I could work on a wedding blanket, but that would require finding and/or buying yarn. I could start my fair isle vest, but... that's not mindless. I think I may have to work on that sweatervest that I have had to keep ripping and reknitting because I make it way, way too short.

Unless y'all can give me a fun project to work on. Anyone?

Cedric Diggory + Breaking Dawn = awesome (Breaking Dawn spoilers)

Two complaint calls in 20 minutes. And lame complaint calls, too. Bah.

So, I fully admit it, I drank the Twilight Kool-Aid. I most certainly did not go to a Breaking Dawn release party, buy a copy of the book or even read a pirated e-copy of the book (I need to read Eclipse first). I did, however, read the Cleolinda recap... and I don't think I've had such a good laugh in a long time. Also, the backlash is hysterical. Especially if you look at all the stuff with the "Don't burn it, return it" campaign. (I just love the "Wait... I can do that?!" reactions. Yes, if you haven't damaged the book and you're within the time frame, you can return the book. It happened all the time when I worked at a bookstore during HP3-5, people would buy one for each family member and then return them as they got finished so there was a household copy. As long as the book is in sellable condition, it's fine. I know, I know, it's weird)

Otherwise, this weekend was fairly quiet. Saw Hellboy 2 which was a crappy movie but beautiful visually on Friday and then Brideshead Revisited with the Aunt on Saturday and then had a drink at Busboys & Poets. Girly & I have been working our way through Doctor Who: 4. One of the ones we watched last night was "Silence in the Library" and omg, I cannot stand how much I loved that episode and I want Alex Kingston back. (Does that make me weird?)

I put a 6.5 pound chicken in the crockpot to cook with some veggies at 2:15 on high. It's still not cooked. I'm very annoyed. I would like to have nice Sunday dinner with my girlyfriend now, plzkthanks.

ETA: 10:45. So, that's 8.5 hours cooked on high. Wow.

This is bad.

This is worse. (The other side)

This is spiffy

I forgot my ID badge today, which means I a) have to wear a stupid name tag and b) can't go anywhere. I'm also freaking out over whether I lost it or misplaced it and I don't want to have to pay $20 for a new one! And I've only been here a month and a half! GRAH! I'm also trying to call my 401(k) people and either they're really busy this time of morning or their phone number just doesn't work. I think it's the latter. I'm super tired and was trying to convince myself to call in sick and I'm starting to think I should have.

In other news, This is hysterical.

ETA: Apparently, the problem is no one can call out of my building, not that the phone number doesn't work. So that's actually not that bad. Stupid phone upgrades.

It's totally okay that I had a giant Wendy's meal for lunch if I spent half an hour walking to and from the place I got it, right?

(I woke up with a serious burger craving and forgot my lunch in the fridge at home)

So You Think You Can Dance tonight... I predict: Twitch will perform a solo with his super-Twitch t-shirt, Chelsie will do a crappy solo where she twirls around a lot and shimmies her hips and doesn't actually dance, Mark will perform at least one lackluster partner dance (probably quickstep because the producers hate him now) and a lackluster solo, Courtney will perform a solo where she emotes a lot but doesn't really dance, Joshua will be adorable and Nigel will make an uncomfortable remark about his butt, and Katee will be awesome.

Has anyone else on my f-list made the switch to no 'poo? I ask because I noticed this morning that my bottle of water & apple cider vinegar had a bunch of glop at the bottom - I think it was mold (ew. ew ew ew. ew.). It's probably 2-3 weeks old (I rinse 2 times a week and use baking soda nearly daily), so I wouldn't be too surprised if it was, but... how does vinegar mold anyway? Could it be something else?!

Wow.... Again, I have nothing to say, just... wow. That was AWFUL. ( More Minor Spoilers )

Does anyone else think the name Bella kind of sounds like the name of a horse?

Also, I was totally reading waiting for the metro at L'Enfant Plaza yesterday, when the woman next to me says, "You know, the fourth one is coming out this weekend."

It took me a minute to figure out that she was talking to me about the Twilight books. "Oh really? I'm just getting started... They're hysterical."

Pause. Pause. "Yeah, they're a lot of fun. I'm a big fan."

Oh.

This is in the oven with 1/3 of the grated zucchini I have from the giant zucchini I got from the farm share. I subbed a cup of applesauce that I made from last year's fruit share for oil and swapped out a cup of flour for wheat flour, so I'll even feel good about eating it. And the batter was abso-frigging-lutely delicious.

I need to remember to either refrigerate the peaches from Leigh or eat them quickly. The ones I picked up on Tuesday are absolutely disgusting and moldy today. Yikes.

ETA: Yep. Two things: 1: My stove sucks. It took me an hour and a half to cook this shit and not 40-60 minutes like the recipe suggests (of course, I put them on the lower rack - I may change that in future. 2: This, even with all the healthy mods, is really, really good. Next time I might cut the sugar down to 1 3/4 cups.

OMG, y'all, I've 75 pages into Eclipse New Moon and this shit is bananas. The only books that I've read that are funnier than this were actually trying to be funny. Wow.

ETA: Errr... New Moon. Not Eclipse. Whoops.

I forgot to mention... with my tummy being punky on Friday, I ate several Pepto Bismol tablets. I woke up Saturday morning to... a black tongue. It's one of the side effects of Pepto Bismol chewables, but it definitely freaked me out first thing in the moring, like... did I have a lot of grape popsicles?! And all I could think about was that story of the poison on the edge of the Bible where the guy licks his finger to turn the page and then his tongue turns black and he dies and people stick out their tongues as a greeting to make sure that the person they're meeting is honorable. (Which I had been told was a folk legend in elementary school but is apparently in the plot of In the Name of the Rose?!) anneball thought I was a Chow Chow and stentoriansista thought I was a giraffe, so clearly I'm just weird that way.

Saturday night I fell asleep on the couch while watching Degrassi. I don't know which is worse. Crawled into bed to have one of the worst night's sleep I've had in a long time. I probably woke up 6 times between 12:30 and 6:30, at which point the cat realized I was awake and started meowing at me to come feed her (the cat is very sweet and very talkative when she wants something. Like food), so I stumbled out of bed and did and went back to sleep where I slept fitfully... until 8am. When someone nearby started hammering. And then they stopped. And then they started again. And then they stopped. And then they started what I originally thought was a chop saw but then later decided was an electric leaf blower. And then they stopped. And then they started again. And then they stopped. And then they started again. At which point I was seriously considering yelling out the window and telling them to shut the fuck up but I decided that wasn't polite, so I went back to the couch on the other side of the house to sleep (where I could still hear the leaf blower, but it was quieter) and continued to have really fitful sleep until noon. It was the kind of thing where you go to sleep and you have a bunch of dreams that feel really long and you wake up and it's 10 minutes later? Yeah, it sucked. Dragged myself out of bed, got some food in me and headed to the Uptown to see The Dark Knight with anneball and a friend. I got there wicked early and got in line at 2:30 for a 3:30 show... and was not the first person in line. (anneball, I will repay you for the ticket, I just didn't have any cash on me) We got kickin' seats and the movie was very, very good. I agree with the reviews... it's really not Batman's story, it's Harvey Dent's story and it's the Joker's story... both characters were much more interesting and dynamic than Batman's, who just stands around being conflicted.

The movie ended and it was 6:20 and there was a line down the street to Four Fields to get into the 7:05 show. Went to anneball's apartment to steal books and then I left 20 mintues later, the line was to the corner, around it and then up the street. For a 7pm show on a Sunday. Crazy.

Back at the cat-sitting house, the TV wouldn't turn on (...), so I sat and read on of the books I got while I listened to the people next door have a screaming fight for 45 minutes. At first I thought it was their television or people on the street, but I definitely put my ear to the wall like Nosey McNosersons and yep, this woman was full on screaming (at who? I have no idea). Took a bath, went to bed, left the house this morning and the owners should return tonight. All good in the hood.

Schwinn won't pay for labor to fix the crank and I'm sure as hell not going to, so it looks like the bike is going back to Amazon. I was actually really peeved when I went to City Bikes and found that they had two folding bikes after all. I guess when I get my prepaid return label and ship it back to Amazon, I'll have to go give the two folding bikes they have there a try. (That will make me feel better because I'll support my local bike store and get me some free service at the same time!) And if I don't like those, I might actually call Spokes Etc... instead of just checking their website. Hrm... now I have to figure out what to do with my b-day present from pucksraven and co (thanks again y'all!), since that got applied to the bike (which was also a present to stentoriansista since we could have gone on bike rides together... if said bike had actually worked properly. Bitches)

Also... the book I read last night? I am so embarrassed to admit it, but... Twilight. OMFG. OMFG. I just... wow. Y'all? ( Minor Spoilers. )

Just sent to metro via wmata.com's customer comment page

Why why why why WHY did you shut down one of the escalators for maintenance at EIGHT O'CLOCK ON A MONDAY MORNING?!?! It took me 10 minutes to leave the station this morning. There was a crowd of people (easily a 100) trying to navigate their way up one (non-functional) escalator, while the middle escalator was shut down and blocked off with one maintenance man just kind of sitting around not doing much. Foggy Bottom station still isn't air conditioned, so we got to broil while we shuffled slowly forward for 10 minutes. The other escalator worked... going down, so we got to watch maybe 10 people saunter down the escalator while we tried to press forward. Several people were late and desperate enough to try walking up the down escalator.

When at last victory was at hand and I started making my way up the stairs towards freedom, the same metro maintenance man told us we were walking up the stairs too quickly and we had to slow down.

I arrived at work 5 minutes late, sweating and pissed off, instead of 15 minutes early like I'd planned. Thanks a fucking lot, metro. I don't mind you screwing up my commute for reasons that make sense (track maintenance, issues with rail cars, traffic, and recently, when the bus I was on hit a car and made us all disembark and seek alternate means of transit), but this is just ridiculous. If you're going to close an escalator for much needed service, can you at least wait until rush hour is over?!