Apparently, there is some old wives tale that says that if you look in a mirror by candlelight before midnight on Halloween, you will see your true love/future spouse standing behind you in the mirror's image.
This creeps me out even more than the traditional ghost stories. Eep!
This week I got the BEST piece of mail EVER. I really wish I knew how to take photos from my phone and put them on the internet because the world deserves to see this thing. I'll try to describe it to you. You know those squishy sponge-like "stress-reliver" squeezable thingies? Well, imagine one of those in the shape of the continental USA. And put the American flag on it. Like this. Then draw a dot and the word "me" over the approximate location of Seattle. Then imagine another dot and the word "you" on top of the Chapel Hill area. And write "I Miss Mary" and a little red heart over the plains states.
That's what I got in the mail this week. It was the sweetest and saddest thing I've seen in years. And I LOVE it! It is the mail-equivalent of a sleepy little kitten that is struggling to stay awake but keeps nodding off despite its efforts. Adorable. I've considered putting it in my purse and taking it with me wherever I go. At the moment my talisman is a 2-inch-long rubber chicken. The chicken is more portable, but not as cute. Hmmm. Decisions.
At any rate, many many thanks to george for the amazing mail. I will be bragging about it to others for quite some time. When people eventually come over to the house, I will proudly display it on the coffee table and when they ask about it I'll do the Oh-this-old-thing? routine. And they will know that somebody - somebody in the northwestern corner of the country - loves me. And they will wish that somebody out there sent them kick-ass mail, too. And then they will think "Anybody who gets mail as rad as this must be pretty friggin' cool. I want to be closer to that coolness. I want her to be my friend. Oh yes."
Then someday they'll find this post in my blog and it will all be ruined. But that's okay. 'Cause I love my georgie. EEEEE!!!
There may not be Toros in the atmosphere, but there certainly is a cold front. Brr! It's chilly! We actually had to turn on the heater. How crazy is that? But it is beeeee-yoooo-tiful 'round these parts. The colors of the leaves are quite vivid! I thought we'd have to drive to the mountains to enjoy such lovely colors, so it's nice to see them outside our front door.
Events in recent history: 1. I have officially been in NC for 6 months. Half a year! Wowza! 2. Jeffrey won Project Runway. Yawn. Is it weird that a part of me really doesn't care who wins this show anymore? 3. Mom had surgery on her other eye and it's looking great! Woot! 4. We got a new TV. It's pretty! Me likey! 5. I've been sick for a week straight. But so far I managed to eat twice today without becoming ill immediately afterwards, so my hopes are high that I'll be over it soon. And no, I'm not pregnant. Promise. 6. The F1 season is over and Michael Schumacher is OUT! I feel oddly conflicted about this. A tiny little part of my heart wishes that Mike had at least made the podium for his final race ever. But mainly I'm just happy for Kimi. Because next year he'll be in a decent car and he might actually WIN something for a change.
Which reminds me ... During the pre-show I noticed that Kimi was smiling before the race. SMILING! I thought it was just because the albatros known as Maclaren was finally being removed from his neck. But there may have been more to it than that.
"Okay. Thanks for that." Tee hee. Now do you understand why the UK coverage of F1 is better than the Speed Channel? Do ya?
In other news, I've been thinking about getting crafty again. This urge usually hits people when the weather turns colder. When it's less humid. Frankly, when the idea of laying a warm, woolen project in one's lap sounds appealing rather than oppresive. But I am in no way as crafty as Lauren Porter. The woman knitted a full-sized Ferrari. She used 12 miles worth of yarn to make it. Don't ask me why. She says humor is an important aspect of her work, so maybe she isn't completely insane, afterall.
But oddly, my desire to knit/crochet/embroider has lessened this year. Instead, I am drawn more towards cooking. I have a long list of cooking blogs that I check. I read cookbooks as if they were novels. Kinda creepy! But good. And there's a definite satisfaction to be felt when one makes a fancy, lump-less sauce from scratch. What's odd is hearing that george, too, has discovered cooking as a new hobby. What is wrong with us?!?!? Why weren't we so excited about cooking back when we could have cooked for one another?!? Oh, the unfairness of it all! Oh well. Knitting is soooooooo 2002, anyway. And crochet is too 2005. I think cooking is the next wave, kids. Depend on it.
It's just a shame that a good afghan is better at keeping me warm than a loaf of pumpkin bread.
I'm ticked off with Wal-Mart. Or more specifically, I'm ticked off with their marketing/PR firm, Edelman.
A while back I heard about a website called Working Families for Wal-Mart. If you go to the site (and I honestly hope you DON'T because I don't think we should encourage them), you get the impression that the site was set up by independent consumers - Wal-Mart lovers who think that Wal-Mart is marvelous for communities, the environment, blahblahblah. There's even an "About Us" page that gives you the distinct impression that the so-called blog is run by a bunch of ordinary people who simply want to offer support to this enormous big-box store. In addition to this, a new "blog" was created that is tied to the "Working Families For Wal-Mart" campaign. The blog is called "Wal-Marting Across America". The point of this blog was that a couple of people were going to travel across the USA in an RV, spending their nights in Wal-Mart parking lots.
Sounds pretty damn suspicious, doesn't it. And for good reason. Within the last week it was discovered that this grassroots campaign was nothing more than astroturf. It's all a PR gimmick. The head of the PR firm finally admitted this on his own blog (after flatly ignoring all questions on the subject for many days).
But guess what. The website for "Working Families for Wal-Mart" still looks the same!!! There is NOTHING on the website identifying itself as advertising. The "About Us" page remains a lie. Anybody who does not frequent advertising and marketing blogs would not have a clue that Wal-Mart is funding that website. Gullible people might get sucked into the lie. It's disgusting, underhanded, and lacks any credibility.
Oddly enough, the final post on the "Wal-Marting Across America" blog is a rant from one of the authors, wondering what was so wrong about them taking money from Wal-Mart & their PR firm to sponsor their vacation. Ummm ... honey, there is a HELL of a lot wrong with that when you aren't honest and transparent about it. They were working for Wal-Mart - paid in free transportation, accomodation, and lord knows what else - but even they seem too stupid to realize that their sposored trip was a form of payment. The problem is not that they "dared to write positive things about Wal-Mart". The problem is that they were paid to do it, but never revealed that fact. Hence, the fury.
Grrrrrrrr. You see, THIS is part of the reason why I've stopped shopping at Wal-Mart. I have other reasons, but this little incident is certainly reaffirming my choice to shop elsewhere whenever possible.
Let's say that this old movie poster represents a dramatic interpretation of the last 7 days. Oddly enough, Robert Preston is portraying my mom. Just kinda try to imagine my mother's face there, but make sure you cover half of her head with lots of bandages & a strange mesh eyepatch-like thingamy. As for Susan Hayward? She's playing me, the ever-loving and doting daughter.
Last Tuesday I got on a plane and went to Tulsa to tend to my mother. She had eye surgery to remove a cataract & implant a new lens. The poor woman was nervous. And who wouldn't be?! I mean, EYE SURGERY! Few things make people wince as dramatically as the thought of sharp objects near eyes. The same people who guffaw at the sight of a guy getting a swift kick to the nads will shriek with horror at film fotage of eye surgery. So. I went to Tulsa to look after Mom and lift things for her (since she couldn't lift anything) and pick up things for her (since she wasn't allowed to bend down) and drive her around (since ... you know).
The good news is that the surgery went very well! Mom only had to wear the bandages for 1 day (I said the poster was a dramatic interpretation, people!). And although she suffered from some discomfort and pain, she is happy with the results. So yay! And we did sooooooo much together. We watched a Project Runway marathon and ate at The Polo Grill and saw the opera of "The Little Prince" and visited Rhiannon & baby Max and bought shoes and stopped by Merritt's for some lovely baked goods and much much more. It was a great week! And it certainly reminded me why I enjoy Tulsa (and why I miss it).
The problem, of course, is that I had very little time to see anyone other than family. So for those of you who I missed, I hope you'll forgive me! Tim and I will be back at Christmas time, so we'll have to get together then.
In the mean time, I better get cracking on the dirty dishes and laundry that has piled up in my absence. And maybe find out how much it costs to fly to Seattle!
Just got a phone call from Derek informing me that he and george have officially left California! Woo hoo! They are enjoying the mountains, clouds, and coniferous trees of Oregon. Can't you just imagine them taking deep, cleansing breaths of fresh Oregonian air? Sounds marvelous! As I'm sure you'll read on their own blogs, their escape from LA has not been easy. But thank goodness they are on their way. I'm sure they'll be much happier in Seattle. This week I watched part of a special on the Travel Channel about Seattle & I'm already excited about visiting the town. I also feel a strange urge to watch Sleepless In Seattle now just to see snippets of the town.
By the by, there isn't a whole lot happening here. I got some new luggage. And tried on some expensive shoes just to say that I did (Jimmy Choo's! Eep!). And the usual other things (baking, cleaning, tending to the yard, etc). And by the way, it is turning very autumnal here and it is simply gorgeous! I actually wore a sweater when we went out last night. Wee!
Or should I say "Wii"? As in the Nintendo Wii. It seems that we will be getting one of these newfangled machines. Note that we will not be purchasing it, though, as Tim is not really a console gamer. But his company is giving us a machine, so I suppose I'll start playing Super Duper Mario Cart - Now with more Super-duper-ness!
Personally, I'd rather have a fancy new TV. We visited some friends last night just so we could christen their new television (A TV-warming party, if you will). Oh my cod, people. It is a thing of beauty. Flat, LCD, widescreen. I'm guessing it's about 40 inches. Jennifer said that when they first turned it on, she wept tears of joy. I must say, I think I would do the same.
