*cough*cough*cough*

Staying home today .... again. Thank god for Netflix and Sudafed.

Illness.

Last week I missed my cousin, Travis and his wife, Stacey and their child, Kailey so I decided to accept the invitation they extended to have a lovely cookout of burgers at their house. I went over knowing that K wasn't feeling very good - she had some sort of cold bug - but I was convinced I would be able to avoid her enough to not get ill. Boy, was I wrong. On Sunday my voice was scratchy and today, I am in full on sniffle-can't-breath-headache mode. I love K but right now I cannot recall why. Is that so horrible?

On a happier note, THE IRISH ARE COMING TOMORROW! I cannot wait to see them. I've been blogging and babbling about this for weeks and now, finally, after months of waiting - they are going to be in Green Bay, my hometown, where I grew up. It will be so fun to show them around, I'll even bring them to Lambeau and not groan in pain.

The heat wave is still going strong. Today Jamie and I went to the driving range and the breeze helped but it was still very hot. I missed the back of my neck with the sunscreen lotion and now have a hideous red semi-circle in the shape of my tank top neck line. Awesome. And tonight I am sleeping in the living room in attempts to stay cooler - I'm a tad closer to the air conditioner in here. It's kind of like having a slumber party on my futon. (At least that's what I tell myself to make it feel more fun.)

Sweetest dreams, dear pets.

Heat Wave.

I'm not kidding - it has been a Heat Wave of epic proporations in the greater Fox River area the last two days. Ranging anywhere from 84 - 90 degrees and humid as hell. It doesn't help that my car lacks a working A/C and my window unit, no matter how high I have it blasting, does not cool my room down at all. It's in the kitchen which leaves a good 20 feet or more plus it has to navigate a curve. So basically just the kitchen and part of the living room are bareable. I might be sleeping on the futon tonight... We'll see.

I'm recently obsessed with playing Mario Kart on Jamie's Wii. It's so fun! Some of the more difficult levels are real lip-biters but it's a fun way to spend the afternoon, especially when going outside is a sure fire way to melt immediately. My favorite player: Toad. He's so cute and small!

Today I bought my John Hughes' Inspired Notebook. It is really cute with some pretty flower design on the front and a tiny bee. It has an elastic band to keep it closed and is just the right size to carry around in my monster of a purse. I'm excited to start jotting down random thoughts during the day; now if only I could remember to stick the darn thing in my bag when I leave the house. I also bought a book that my favorite author, Sarah Dessen, spoke about on her blog. It's called "Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger": A collection of short stories by a writer named Lee Smith. I started reading some of it and she has an interesting writing style. Mostly description and telling - not so much dialogue so far. I'm only a few pages in though so we'll see how I like it. Hopefully I will since I'm sick of re-reading all my same old books laying around here. They are wonderful books but I can only read the same story so many times. I digress. The first story in Mrs. Darcy is about a woman going through a divorce. Semi-interesting. Again, we shall see. (The magic words of today.)

Tomorrow I hope to go to the driving range again. It proved to be fun last week and a good workout on my arms so I hope its not too terribly humid to go. So sick of sweating!

Good night, world.

Inspiration & Hughes

I read an article in Vanity Fair about John Hughes - the esteemed director and writer of many of the 80's movies I've been obsessed with since puberty (i.e. The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, etc.) It was all about his life and how he got to where he was with his career. He died recently at a young age of a heart attack. It was completely unexpected and his family was quite shocked as was the world of John Hughes' lovers. In this article, the journalist spoke to Hughes' sons who informed him that amongst their father's possessions were 300 notebooks filled with every memoir, observation, short story, joke, conversation, and idea he had in recent years. As I was reading about this, I though to myself, 'Wow, here is a guy who influenced my life in so many ways through his movies and he was actually an avid creative writer.' I felt so inspired. The man carried around a notebook wherever he went. To the drugstore, on an airplane, to the movies - everywhere. He was always writing down thoughts like his life depended on it.

One day I want my life to depend on my writing. One day I want my children to go through my things after I'm gone and find scribbled poetry, random story ideas, beautiful memories, interesting ideas - everything that fills my mind every day.

Let it begin...

Sunburnt shoulders and cheeseburgers

Thoughts of today:

1. I cheated on my diet today thus making me feel bad. I won't get into too much detail but there was a cheeseburger involved. I went for a walk with Stac and K though so that helped. I am still hoping to get some sit-ups in yet tonight and will do more tomorrow.

2. I'm getting more and more excited for "Sex and the City 2" - it comes out next week! I'm watching the couple seasons I have on DVD to pump myself up for it. Thank god for Netflix also! I'm hopefully getting season 4 this weekend! Yay!

3. Hannah and Jay fly in next Wednesday - less than week! I can't wait to see them and the guys. I've missed them all since January. Ireland is far too far away for my taste. Not only can I not walk there, but I cannot afford to fly either.

4. Jamie and I went to the driving range this morning. Not only did we wake up and get there before 10 am, but I did pretty good! He was impressed. I've been once before. Last summer I went with a friend and I was OK then too. After my 2nd hit, Jamie exclaimed, "Are you sure you aren't hustling me?" I guess that is good, right? We're definitely going to go again. I like that he and I actually DO things - things we enjoy together.

5. My legs feel sticky from Victoria's Secret self-tanner.

That's all I got for today. Oh, and I had a blast playing Mario Kart on Jamie's Wii today. Who knew boys had so much fun doing boy things?!

Sex, the city, & salad

So, what's been going on? Not a whole lot. I am a bit in shock and awe of the fact that I caught some VH1 show about celebs who dropped a bunch of weight. At one point (after 8 kids), Marie Osmond weighed 165 - and this is a crime? I weigh 155 on some days ... and I have no kids. This made me feel so down on myself that I came home and ate a salad and grapes for lunch then contemplated puking - JK! Well, about the puking part. The salad however did actually happen.

Now I'm watching "Sex and the City" dvds and getting all psyched for the 2nd movie which comes out soon! I cannot wait! I am also looking forward to "Letters to Juliet," because I'm a big dork. I haven't been to a good chick flick in far too long. I'm so glad Becky and Laurie and Hannah are all home within the same time frame - GIRL TIME!!! On that note, it seems like the summer is shaping up to be very busy. I have Han's wedding, Jamie's friend's wedding, my aunt is getting married, and Amanda is getting married in August. Then I also am working on my exercise routine, and I just started actual work on my Me Scrapebook. I have lots of great paper and stickers but I need lots more yet. I also need to make copies of the baby pictures, colorguard, high school, dance pictures, so that I don't ruin the originals chopping them up and gluing them all over the place. Ahhhh! I'll be so happy when it's done and I do enjoy doing it, but sometimes I wonder why I start these projects. To drive myself crazy - surely!

I wish I could get as inspired with my writing as I have been with my silly scrapebook project. I got an AB in my writing workshop - which is awesome and makes me happy. I think I actually am inspired by so many things around me, but I just get so overwhelmed by the idea of sitting and writing a whole novel or novella or whatever, that I don't even try. Maybe it's about time I conquered my fear. My favorite author, Sarah Dessen, wrote on her website that in order to stay completely enveloped in your writing, you need to try to write a little each day. I should really work that routine into my life along with my fun workout routines - ha! Fun workout = oxymoron.

Until another brainfart....

Little Miss Obsessive

Song of the moment: Paramore "I caught myself"

So Friday was my last final for the semester. Just one more. Please god just one more semester. I've been feeling this weird mixture of happiness and bummed-out-ness when it comes to graduation. All of my nearest and dearest just graduated yesterday and I still have one more semester. Even though I'm thrilled to pieces for them, and SO HAPPY for their success and completion of this thing called College - I can't help but feel envious and slightly sad. I wanted to share the experience with them.... Oh well. No use crying over unearned credits.

With summer starting, I have lots of work to look forward to. Also, Hannah and Jay's wedding is just around the corner which basically kicks off the summer. I cannot wait! Tomorrow I am driving to A-town to get some shoes to go with my b-maid dress. After their wedding, I have 3 more to attend this year! When did everyone decide to grow up? When did that happen and can we go back now please? Thanks.

Another new installment: I am Officially beginning my workout for the summer tomorrow. I drew up a little weekly calendar and everything. The goal: -15 lbs by the time the fall semester begins. It's going to be kind of tough to do in 3 months but I am incredibly determined ... I just hope I stay determined all summer! I tend to see the results of a pound or two lost, then go "Oh, great it's working!" and allow myself indulgences that I shouldn't! Bad girl, bad! I cannot do that. At least I have Jamie in my corner to help out. He is interested in toning up too so we can help drive each other to the goal.

Other than that stuff, I am incredibly tired from early working today. I am basically going to crash very soon and then get up, do 30 sit ups and arm exercises, drink coffee, and get ready for Appleton. Wish me luck in the shoe hunt, blogger world.