Scattered Thoughts

I feel like I've been very discombobulated this week. (Is that even a real word?) I think it's Asia's absence. There's no one here to bounce all my randomness off of, so you're all getting the bear the brunt of it. Sorry. Or maybe not - it's who I am.

I've got lots to say and no energy to come up with interesting segues, so I'm falling back on my old favorite -the bullet list.

• I've been wanting to shout out to my friends Kelly and Kelly. These girls are two of my very favorite bloggers. I love their consistent posts at their own blogs and their dedication to reading mine (and commenting!) I feel very blessed to call each of them friend. It's fascinating that these women who live on the other side of the country (although they are both born and bred Pacific NW gals) are such a huge part of my daily life. Thanks ladies, for your friendship and your support and encouragement. Who knew I could be so blessed by a function of the internet?
• I almost have the kids' Halloween costumes assembled. I haven't mentioned it before, but I absolutely hate Halloween. Not because of the goblins and ghosts - whatever... and not because we're anti-trick-or-treat. Free candy by the handful? I'm there! No, I hate Halloween because finding costumes for three kids that both they and I can live with is scarier than any Friday the 13th movie. It's a nightmare. I hate spending money on costumes, and I hate that all the costumes are made out of that horrible polyester material that catches all your hangnails and makes that scritchy sound. In the past I've tried to make my own costumes. However, the older the kids get, the more they're out of that "Oh, gosh, Honey, look! It's a bumblebee and a tiger! Aren't they cute?" phase and more into the phase where nobody even really looks at what they're wearing. No matter what they wear they'll never be as cute as the toddlers dressed up like bears and dinosaurs and ladybugs. No - nobody is even looking at my kids anymore, and yet, I still have to find some sort of costume for each of them. This year we'll be a jailbird, a cowgirl and Darth Vader. Here's hoping we get lots of Snickers. Somehow that will make it worth all the hassle.
• I'm discovering something about the laundry this week. Remember my resolution to do a load whenever I had enough clothes to fill the washer? And how I was going to fold each load and put it away as soon as I got it out of the dryer? Well, it's Thursday, and I have yet to wash a load. Not because I'm not committed to my new plan. You see, with Asia gone, there just haven't been enough dirty clothes to wash. Now, I am not married to a construction worker or a landscaper... no, my husband works for the government and sits behind a desk all day. How the heck is he dirtying so many clothes? You can be assured we'll be talking about this. He is obviously just throwing everything in the hamper, regardless of whether it's actually dirty or not. I've gotten on the kids for doing that for years - I had no idea Asia was guilty of it as well. But the evidence speaks for itself, don't you think?
• Gracie loves to come down to the basement with me when I go to do the laundry... there she always engages in typical puppy behavior - running full speed across the concrete floor, playing hide and seek with me and being generally ornery. It was cute when she would grab a sock from the pile and run off around the corner with it hanging from her loose lips... however, the last four or five times we've gone down, she has grabbed a piece of my intimate apparel and absconded with it as fast as she can, hiding under the coffee table in the play room... The kids take her down with them when they go to watch a movie and I hear, "Mom, Gracie's got your bra again!" Ugh. That thing is expensive. If she ruins it, I'll be furious. Why my black bra?
• I currently have 8 unread magazines in my pile. I'm saving them for a weekend trip we'll be taking coming up... we'll be at the cabin of some friends. It's the perfect location to curl up with a magazine. I love hoarding my magazines for a trip like this.
• I went dumpster diving yesterday... as I was driving home from taking the kids to school, I saw someone had set out a beautiful bulletin board/magnetic chalk board with their trash. I hesitated for a nanosecond, then pulled the car around and grabbed that baby. It's hanging in my studio... I LOVE IT! Can't imagine why they were tossing it - it even had the matching magnets stuck to it still. Oh well - as I've said before, another man's trash... you know the rest.
• I finally got into my studio today to get something done. I bought a great doggie pillow for Gracie when I was in Portland with Brooke. I was going to save it for after the remodel, but I had stashed it in the studio, and when she saw it, she curled right up on it and made it her bed away from the crate. It was great to work to the sound of her snoring.
• I found out last week that I get to go to CHA in January - for those of you who aren't in the world of scrapbooking, that's the Big Daddy of all trade shows... It's in Vegas this winter and my boss wants me to come along! I'm thrilled to go. Asia is going to come along to play tennis with his recently relocated (to Vegas) tennis partner while we wander the show.

So there - that's my list. Aren't you glad you aren't Asia? You'd have to listen to me ramble like that every night when you got home from work!!! He's so patient with me!

Good day to everyone!