the thrill of sunshine, warmer temperatures and music

the words are not coming to me this week.  i blame it on contracts, being cooped up in a room with co-workers, and too much pizza.  but...good things are happening.  so, as the sign in our office states, "it is what it is."  (amen)

 

signs of spring:

• a flock of robins spotted while driving home
• the wild fluctuations in temperature (26 to 52 in the span of 3 hours)
• the buds on the bradford pear trees
• seed catelogs
• flipflops worn on warmer days
• daylight when i leave work
• the feverish desire to go to the beach, the mountains, somewhere! 
• calculation of days before good friday
• irises breaking the earth in glorious green spikes
• final storage of the christmas decorations
• mardi gras and king cakes

 

favorite things this week:

• robins
• the cute heart coffee mug on my desk
• daffodils
• aveda hand lotion freebie
• sunshine on my shoulders....and the promise of 60 degree weather this weekend
• peanut m&m's

 

today on my ipod:  all for you (sister hazel), angel mine (cowboy junkies), beautiful day (u2), hold on loosely (.38 special), brown eyed girl (van morrison), charmed (my friend steve), hooch (everything), good (better than ezra), drift away (dobie gray), florida (patty griffin), give a little bit (goo goo dolls cover), go your own way (fleetwood mac),

it's friday and i love a list (august break version)

i would guess that post a friday post on a saturday would be the sort of thing i could do on an august break. 

favorite driving songs:
1.  take it easy - the eagles
2.  tiny dancer - elton john
3.  lunatic fringe - red ryder
4.  radar love - golden earring
5.  boys of summer - don henley

things i love about being on the road:
1. the usatoday crossword
2.  hot waffles on the breakfast bar
3. new people, places & things
4.  king bed & four pillows

things i love about coming home:
1.  the dogs greeting me at the door
2.  sleeping in my bed
3.  the box fan
4.  not living out of a suitcase

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today on my ipod - broken (angie aparo), lonesome town (rick nelson), you're beautiful (james blunt), melissa (allman brothers), amber (311), your winter (sister hazel), every little she does is magic (the police)

it's friday and i love a list (three days late and probably more than a few dollars short)

i didn't get to post my friday list, well...on friday.  so, breaking the rules...here's my friday list on monday....

reasons that summer in the deep south kinda sucks:
1.  humidity - good personal grooming habits are almost impossible to maintain if you go outside in july or august.
2.  heat - it's been in excess of the mid-90's for several days, some days right at 100. 
3.  the heat index - i think these indexes are hinky science because frankly, once the thermometer goes over 90 - it's hot...totally hot.
4.  mosquitoes - they get as big as say...a small hummingbird.  or is it they just feel that way when they land. 

reasons that summer in the deep south kinda doesn't suck:
1.  honeysuckle - the sweet scent of honeysuckle on a warm night is romantic and makes me think of first kisses in the moonlight.
2.  fireflies - they're magical as they flit across the yard.  they make me believe in fairies, frolics and happy thoughts.
3.  swimming - lakes, swimming pools - wherever.  we can usually get in the water much earlier and stay much later.  and swimming in the dark under stars?  to overuse a phrase - magical.  makes me want to be a niaid. 
4.  fresh veg and fruit - though i don't grow my own, i love fresh peas, butterbeans, squash, cucumbers, okra and the other wonderful veg of summer.  and don't get me started on peaches and plums!  yum.

things my inner child is screaming to do today:
1.    play with bubbles
2.    crack open a new box of crayons (love that scent) and color to my heart's content
3.    have pjb and koolaid for lunch (grape is my favorite flavor)
4.    nap
5.    make a clover necklace
6.    eat birthday cake for dessert
7.    play connect the dots
8.    skip up and down the long hallway at work
9.    stamp my feet when faced with work i don't wanna do
10.  splash
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today on my ipod - fugitive (david gray), wanna be startin' somthin' (michael jackson), one big love (patty griffin), these are days (10,000 maniacs, born to fly (sara evans), fireflies (lori mckenna), steal my kisses (ben harper), with or without you (u2), words (ryan adams), slow dancing in a burnnig room (john mayer)

the shot today is from this week's homework assignment and it's called "prison break"

it's friday and i love a list

states i've visited

alabama, arizona, arkansas, california, connecticut, florida, georgia, idaho, illinois, indiana, iowa, kansas, kentucky, louisana, maryland, massachusetts, minnesota, mississippi, missouri, new jersey, new mexico, north carolina, ohio, oregon, pennsylvania, south carolina, tennessee, texas, utah, virginia, washington - 31

favorite travel memories

eating apples by lake chelan, snow on the evergreens creating postcard versions of christmas trees, the sun setting over the puget sound, flying over the great salt flats, multnomah falls, the scent of evergreens near mount hood, the colors of the painted desert, the serene yet inspiring lincoln memorial, golden fields of sunflowers somewhere in the middle of texas, the taste of crab cakes at baltimore harbor, the mist over lake martin early in the morning, exploring the garden district of new orleans, a sunrise on the white sands of gulf shores (destin, fort walton, pensacola or seaside), a pond full of pink lotuses and a sunrise, the soldiers guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier at arlington, driving through the french quarter with my mom, sister and a friend while singing 'i like big butts and i cannot lie', the sound of thunderstorms outside my window in destin, driving into charleston for the first time, eating sunday lunch at lady and sons with mom, sis and kathy. 

favorite travel books

my life in france, under the tuscan sun, a year in provence, travels with charley, on the road

my roadtrip soundtrack
rest stop (matchbox twenty), grind me in the gears (edwin mccain), fast car (tracy chapman), i am (train), stay on the ride (patty griffin), free man (angie aparo), all for you (sister hazel), go your own way (fleetwood mac), only wanna be with you (hootie & the blowfish), born to run (bruce springsteen), wherever you will go (the calling), where you lead (carole king), where are you going (dave matthews band), drift away (dobie gray), fly me courageous (drivin' n cryin'), take it easy (the eagles), you can sleep while i drive (melissa etheridge)

'cause i'm a copycat (and i just wanna)

jeanine and hulaseventy have done lists this week and, i gotta tell you. i'm a girl that loves lists. i make them all the time. besides..have you seen their blogs? they're both enough to make this girl go all swoony and lust over ttv and polaroid cameras for long periods of time. i haunt the flea market and wonder if i could afford to go back to film on any kind of semi-permanent basis. plus...there's that whole no more polaroid film thing...(though i've heard there might be a chance of a miracle) *sigh* anyway...

what was i talking about?

lists.

lists help me get my job done. without lists the tedious, technical aspect of herding cats on my new job might be nigh to impossible. well, they're not really cats persay, but they sure act like them lately. you know the cats that are sitting on a porch full of rocking chairs (or out front at cracker barrel)

you will see that hulaseventy has made several lists (i really like the music one and the things that she's accomplished lately - i'm all about accomplishments and checking off the lists). jeanine today made a rather swoony list of traits. i think i let out a slight sigh at the mention of john cusack and high fidelity. (i'm still crushing on john after all these years)

so, how can i be original while totally, totally, totally ripping off fellow bloggers. (*wince) difficult right, because, well in admitting that i'm unoriginal, it really takes the wind out of the sails of originality. hmmmmmm i'm just going to mix it up a bit and see what comes out.

char's totally random list (in threes because i like three...it's a magic number)

the last three songs i listened to (made random through the magic of ipod)

• pride and joy - stevie ray vaughn
• this old heart of mine - the isley brothers
• dixie chicken - little feat

three songs that you would probably be shocked to find on my ipod (*hangs head)

• key largo - bertie higgins
• she's a bad mama-jama - carl carlton
• get back - ludicris

last three accomplishments

• sent out the last of the workgroup invitations
• figured out how to set up voting on outlook
• worked on my art journal/uploaded my daily photos to flickr

last three things i consumed (food is on my mind as it's getting near lunch)

• craisins
• coffee
• orange juice

three things i need to do this weekend

• wash clothes
• go to the post office
• babysit

three things i should do this weekend, but probably will not have time

• get the oil changed
• wash my car
• clean the catbox

three things i would rather be doing than all of this

• sitting on the beach, watching the sunset, with a ice cold drink and a smokin' hot guy
• sitting at a cafe in paris, sipping a hot cuppa with a smokin' hot guy
• sitting in a palazzo in tuscany, sipping vino with a .... well, you get the picture

three things i'm totally ashamed that i watch on television

• millionaire matchmaker
• tough love
• vampire diaries

three things i probably should watch to be cool but i don't

• lost
• gossip girl
• something on discovery

three things i want this time next year

• a paid off vehicle (this is totally do-able)
• a more creative spirit (working on that)
• a better sense of my new plan on 'living' (working on that too)

and....a random list of thoughts

• i wonder if i can make do with the cottage cheese lunch again or will i break down and buy something? i caved...i had poppy seed chicken casserole and banana puddin'
• why didn't i check my calendar before getting dressed this morning?
• do i have to go to my one o'clock dressed like this? *sigh*
• i wonder if the doobie brothers named themselves now, would they still pick that name? (long train runnin' just came on my ipod)
• i wonder how long i can type lists instead of sending the ballot out?
• probably not much longer....geez
• i so don't want cottage cheese.
• *sigh*
• i wonder how high they're going up with this building, it's beginning to block all of my light from outside.
• is it five o'clock yet. *damn*
• ohhhh. shoes.