A word of advice

We have a salad spinner.

Exhibit A:

Said salad spinner is something we got recently and is pretty cool really. However, I haven't used it a whole lot. It's not hard to use, you wash the lettuce, tear it up, put it in the bowl/basket combo, put the lid on, push down on the thing to spin it dry. It also has a brake which doesn't work right anymore because of an unfortunate dishwasher incident, but if you push really hard it will slow it down, or you wait until it stops spinning.

Except...I didn't. Without thinking through the consequences, I took the lid off while the inside basket was still spinning and guess what the consequences are? Let's just say I was picking lettuce off the floor and out of the toaster.

For future reference, either get the brake to work or wait until it stops spinning. Unless lettuce everywhere is a look you're going for. (Thankfully it wasn't all the lettuce...)

Some things that make me happy lately...

...or life is good. In no particular order:

• Dropping gas prices. At the moment anything $2.55 or cheaper is awesome and Costco has it for $2.52.

• Getting 19-20 mpg out of a tank of gas...it doesn't always happen, unfortunately.

• Text messages and emails. :)

• A clean desk. Oh look, I forgot what color it was...

• Cool breezes promising cooler weather is on the way soon. Yay, fall!

• Driving with the windows down more often because of said cooler breezes.

• The fact that my birthday's next weekend. 21! Really? I mean, really? Wow.

• Getting some knitting done and remembering how much I like finishing projects. Need to be finishing about...three projects all at once too.

• Dark chocolate. Wait, that always makes me happy...

• Finding new recipes to make, some better than others. The recipe from an old cookbook for chocolate cupcakes was...bleah. Baked chocolate substance, yes; cupcake, no.

• My Avett Brothers station on Pandora.com. I only have one of their CDs and I'm finding more of their awesome music this way, besides music from similar artists. Oh, my Irish music station too, of course.

• Pronouncements and hugs from the opinionated little two year old I take care of. :)

2nd part of vacation

So I've failed to blog about the Cincinnati portion of my vacation yet, both because I've been busy, and I'm not sure how to split the difference between making a long story short, and talking about the whole thing in details that nobody cares about. However, to make a long story short: I went to Cincinnati, went with my relatives to Chicago for a wedding, stayed up there for the weekend, got back to Cincinnati and sat around with my cousins who were sick, caught their cold, flew home, and have been coughing ever since. Not that I'm bitter or anything. No, really I'm not. ;) But, I am in my third week of coughing...

To expand on that story a little, I got back from the beach, worked that Tuesday, then flew to Cincinnati on Wednesday. To be more exact, I flew from Greensboro to Philadelphia, where they informed me that my flight had been canceled and sent me back to Charlotte. Um, really?? After sitting around in Charlotte for a while I flew directly to Cincinnati, while my luggage stayed in Philly and US Air poured water on it. I knew United breaks guitars, but apparently US Air does your laundry for you...minus the dryer. Sooo helpful. At any rate, they delivered it to my cousins' house that evening and I had time to dry things before the next day. (With some muttering and complaining.)

Then the next day we drove to Chicago for the wedding. My (half-cousin? Step-cousin? something like that, I'm not sure what he is technically) was getting married. Thursday we did miscellaneous things, Friday was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner (my cousin John was a groomsman, so he was involved in all that), and then Saturday was the wedding.

I took some photos while I was there, and they're on Facebook: Cincinnati/Chicago Trip

By Saturday night, after having been in the same hotel room and very busy and stressed my cousins and I were all about to snap though. We all made it home without killing each other though. :P

When we got back to Cincinnati they were all out of it because they had colds, so we mostly sat around watching movies. We watched The Princess Diaries (there was nothing else in the house to watch), Waking Ned Devine, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, The Terminal, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Sherlock Holmes.

I'd watched Waking Ned Devine years ago, and when we started watching it I was worried at first that I wasn't going to be able to understand a word they were saying. It's a bunch of Irish people and they were mumbling in thick accents (and I didn't remember that from last time!), but they finally started talking more clearly. :D Anyway, funny movie.  

Mr. Blandings Build His Dream House I'd also seen a long time ago, and it didn't seem as funny as I remember. Perhaps because I've read the book it's based on and it just wasn't quite the same. It does star Cary Grant, so you can't go too far wrong there, but the actress playing his wife was very annoying.

The Terminal was very cute and funny at the same time. Tom Hanks, playing a foreigner with a vaguely Russian accent, stuck in an airport, was surprisingly hilarious. :) I'd definitely recommend it. I think my dad (who can't stand Tom Hanks) would even like it.

The Importance of Being Earnest: If you've ever read the Oscar Wilde play, or an adaptation of it, you know it's very amusing and satirical. The movie, while a little hard to follow simply because of the story, was very good as well and the characters seemed well-portrayed. Colin Firth is in it...and who knew Colin Firth could smile?? Not I. But he smiles quite a bit in this movie.

Sherlock Holmes: well, that required some mental distancing from the books to just enjoy it as a movie. I'm not exactly sure the characters were accurate to the books, but it was fascinating and set in a sort of steampunk England (which may have been accurate for the time? I'm not clear on the origins of that). I'd say it was probably best for the (setting? scenery? costumes? sets?)...all the stuff of a movie apart from the storyline, whatever that's called. The storyline didn't strike me as being terribly great, but I was too busy looking at the movie to notice a whole lot. Visually splendid, just don't pick it apart too much.

Okay, now that I've digressed into brief movie reviews... That's what we did in Cincinnati. My cousins also pulled out an old home video of us at our grandparents house when I was about...six, and my cousin James and I were bossing each other around. :D That then led to finding a box of old pictures and going through them. I found a couple pictures of myself as a baby, and a really cute photo of my parents when they were dating. :) Then the day before I left we went and played baseball and volleyball in the heat, and my uncle took Rebecca, Andrea, and I bowling in the evening. I can't bowl worth a darn either; I lost all three games. I blame it on not having much shoulder strength...or bowling skill. :) Despite that it was a good end to the vacation, especially since we were all tired and hyper at the end of the night, so the ride back to the house was hilarious.

Then Thursday morning I woke up feeling utterly crappy because I caught the cold, and flew home (uneventfully this time, thankfully) and collapsed on the couch. Odd vacation that I ended up having to rest from it, but it was a fun adventure. And I was extremely thankful for all the Starbucks in the Charlotte airport because I needed hot tea to make it home!

That was about a month ago, and I don't feel like I've slowed down since then, what with one thing or another. Ah well. I can put up with that. :)

So, C.S. Lewis was awesome

Dad has been reading to Colin from C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, and they're in the middle of reading The Silver Chair right now. Anyway, the one part I heard last night made me stop and listen because it's been a while since I read the books.

For some context (and it will probably only make sense if you've read the books I'm afraid) the children and Puddleglum the marshwiggle are looking for the giants' ruined city and words to tell them where to go to rescue Prince Rilian.

They discovered the words "Under Me" in the rocks, and it led them to the underground world where the prince (who is bewitched and clueless of who he really is) is being kept. They get there, and upon finding him, tell him what their quest is, and about how Aslan told them to look for the words, and they found them, right above where they fell down into the underworld. Prince Rilian proceeds to laugh at them and informs them that what they saw is the remains of the engraving on an old tombstone of a giant king, and in full the verse was:

Though under Earth and throneless now I be,

Yet, while I lived, all Earth was under me.

and that it was carved long ago, and not meant as any sign to them.

Upon hearing this, the children are extremely disheartened and figure they probably haven't found the right place after all, at which point Puddleglum interjects with the passage that made me stop and say "Wow!":

"Don't you mind him," said Puddleglum. "There are no accidents. Our guide is Aslan; and he was there when the giant King caused the letters to be cut, and he knew already all things that would come of them; including this."

I knew The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was allegorical, we all know that, but I didn't remember that clear reference to God's sovereignty in this book! Simply amazing.

Sand, sun, sea...see?

So, the beach was very nice, my only complaint being that it was so salty. For whatever strange reason that fact hadn't even crossed my mind, so when I got splashed in the face with salty water something very suddenly (and rather painfully) clicked. Right. The ocean is salty. I knew that. And salty water in one's throat, nose, and eyes is painful. So I didn't end up going in very deep for very long. If it had been freshwater I would have put up with getting water over my head once in a while, but that was just too painful. I stayed kind of on or near the edge instead.

But the beach itself was still fun. It was nice to get wet, and sit on the edge of the beach, and get nicely sunburnt... Not my back though, I religiously applied sunscreen to my back, but figured my legs never burn anyway, so they didn't need any. Ha. I applied sunscreen later, but probably too late at that point. My face got burnt too, which I'm not sure how to explain because I did definitely put sunscreen on it. But wow, I don't recall ever burning the back of my legs before, and I was pretty much unable to stand up straight Sunday night because it pulled the skin too much. Yeah, don't mind me, I'll just be sitting on the floor. (Yes, seriously.) I think almost everyone in our group got burnt though, even the ones who applied sunscreen multiple times, so I'm not sure what was up with that.

We drove over to the beach (Atlantic Beach) Saturday afternoon, and got there in the middle of a rainstorm. So we checked in to the hotel and proceeded to get settled in and then went down to the lobby area and played games. We didn't end up going out on the beach until after dark, but then we stayed out there until around eleven, walking on the beach and the pier...and then still stayed up later talking and eating popcorn when we got back, I think. We got up Sunday morning and stayed out on the beach until mid-afternoon (yes, decided to be heathens and not go to church), then went to a friend's house and cooked shrimp and potatoes and talked and played Scattergories into the evening.

Then Monday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed at five to go to the beach and watch the sunrise (after stopping in the lobby to get large cups of coffee of course). It was definitely a "Why are we doing this, again??" moment. It was certainly worth it though.

I built a sandcastle. :)

Then after we got back we ate breakfast and headed home, stopping to see friends and drop people off on the way, which made going home seem like less of a bad thing.

All in all it was a great three days, lots of fun and laughter. When I get together with this group I always seem to end up laughing my head off or giggling helplessly. I kind of wonder whether some of them even have any idea how reasonably quiet and sane I can be. :D It somehow worked out really well, all the people we had. We all (nine people) managed to get along well all weekend, so I guess it was a good mix of personalities.

Also, the beach seems to insist on lingering with me...I'm still finding sand in things. Ugh. I'm not a big fan of sand where it's not supposed to be. Oh, interesting note: I think I actually tanned! I thought my legs were tan after the burn wore off, but then they started peeling as bad sunburn always does. But that cleared up pretty fast and when I got back from the gym tonight my mom was pointing out that I am actually at least a little bit tan. Wow, well okay, I've got the beach to thank for the fact that I'm not quite as blindingly white as I usually am. ;)

Valerie's Happy Restroom

I unknowingly wandered into Valerie's Happy Restroom in the Charlotte airport, and thanks to the fact that she also self-promotes, I looked up her video on YouTube like she suggested. ;)

I've been annoyed by bathroom attendants before, but she was actually keeping the restroom clean and was very nice. A couple of the little kids in the bathroom really liked her singing too. :)

Busyness and even more to come

It is...Tuesday. Yes, Tuesday. I finally figured that out for sure, after wandering around the house for a little while last night, holding my alarm clock and trying to remember if I needed to set it so I could get up in the morning or not. Long weekends really mess up my calendar...yesterday felt like another Saturday because Dad was home. Yes, it's Tuesday, and I'm going dancing tonight, which I'm looking forward to, because I haven't been in a long time and the next two weeks I will either be gone or very busy. I'm hoping to maybe go to contra in Cincinnati though...

Ah, let's see. For starters, I'm going to the beach next weekend with some friends! I'm very excited about this because I haven't been to the beach since I was about two, and of course I don't remember that. Mom was sort of feeling bad about that, but I pointed out that this trip will be all the more exciting because of that.

I'll get back Monday night and then I'm leaving Wednesday to fly up to Ohio to see my cousins, drive to Chicago with them for a wedding, and then back to Cincinnati for a few days before I fly home again. I'm quite excited about this too. :) I get to see a new airport in the process and see all the interesting people in the airport. Interesting/weird/however you want to put it.

So that's what's up with that. Travel! And I think my cousin Rebecca is just a bit excited that I'm coming... See? :D

On Saturday I went shopping because I realized that not only did I not have a nice dress to wear to the wedding, but I was rather low on dressier summer clothes anyway. Most of my summer stuff is skirts that I've made and such, and some of it is...well, more casual. So I went to Goodwill first of course, got up way too late for such a venture and was there at the busiest time of the day. I found a pile of dresses to try on, then found that the dressing rooms were all very full. *sigh* Finally got one (with no mirror), narrowed down the selection to four dresses, and was able to come back later and find a dressing room with a mirror...and got one dress out of the deal. :P It's a nice pale blue sleeveless linen dress that is a little bit too big, but I washed it and that made it shrink a bit. I also found a men's shirt to use as a swimsuit coverup.

But still I didn't have anything that would really work for the wedding. So I went to a few more places...found a pair of black sandals, which is nice because all I had were some with about 2.5 inch heels, and you know those weren't comfortable! But still no dress. I finally went back home, picked up Mom, and we went to a consignment store near us. The lady (and her daughter) there helped us look around and I ended up finding one dress there. It's a sort of burgundy...tunic sort of thing. I'd post a picture here, but the photo didn't turn out very well. Mom and I decided to still go look at Target too, and I found a black sleeveless dress that fits very nicely and looks very classy. Score! Two nice dresses, a pair of shoes, and I'm all set now! And both dresses are material that won't wrinkle much, so I should be able to smoosh them into my suitcase without worry.

Friday night we all went to watch the fireworks after the baseball game downtown. That turned out to be a disappointment. We watched from the parking garage up at the hospital, so we had a good view, but the fireworks were very insignificant. So Dad and Colin and I went up to King on Sunday night and saw some much better ones! I took pictures (of course).

You can see all of the pictures here: Fireworks 2010

In other news, we visited a church Sunday morning. Now, I don't mind more modern worship, as long as what they're singing has good words, but oh my. I felt horribly out of place because I didn't know most of the songs, so I couldn't sing, and the music was VERY loud. You know, music that's almost concert-level loud, and you can feel your whole body vibrating so that it feels like your heart can't beat properly? I don't find that particularly enjoyable. Goodness knows I listen to music fairly loudly, but nowhere near that loud. So yeah, that was a bit different. They finally sang two songs that I knew, "Blessed Be The Name" and a hymn with the tune modernized a bit. I want to say it was "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross", but that doesn't sound quite right. Anyway, the sermon was very very good, which I was quite honestly a little surprised by, but I don't know if I could deal with being deafened every Sunday. But anyway, that was an interesting first experience, and I'm going to be gone the next two Sundays, so I don't know where the rest of the family is planning on going.

Ah, what else? Oh, I'm trying to sew a sunhat, and I'm hoping to have it done by this weekend. I figured out last night that I needed some stiffer interfacing to get the brim to stay up, so I got that this morning. With any luck I will have a hat by the end of Wednesday.

Now, I need to take a quick nap and then find some paper and starting writing a packing list. No, make that two packing lists. Packing is going to be logistical nightmare, since I'll have a suitcase of stuff when I get back from the beach and will probably need to wash and repack some of it, adding it to other stuff (which I should have packed already) in my suitcase to go to Ohio. So yeah, I need to find some paper and start writing. Yes, I have a computer but I cannot write a packing list on the computer. I have to have real pen and paper. :D

A few thoughts from my brain

Oh great, I decided to write a blog post and every thought immediately left my brain. Hmm...let's see.

iPads: I got to see one in person the other weekend and I was a little more impressed than I expected. Usually I have trouble with touchscreens, and on Mom's iPod Touch, the keyboard is so small I can't use it at all because I always hit the wrong keys. But this had a large enough keyboard on the touch-screen that I could actually use it. On the other hand, it worked fine sitting on the little plastic stand in the Apple store, but it was too big for me to hold in one hand comfortably (kind of defeats the purpose of the nice big keyboard too, if you have to type with one hand) and I can see how using it either flat on a desk, or on your lap could really mess up your neck and back from looking down at it all the time.

Pros:
Large touch-screen

Wonderful for Google Maps. I'm very very fond of Google Maps, and this was just about the perfect device for that. Large enough that you could see a pretty big piece of map at a time, and very easy and intuitive to move around on. Easier even than on a computer where you have to click and drag with the mouse to see more of the map.

Slightly more portable than a laptop...I could probably fit one in my purse. 

Cons:
Touch-screens get smeared up very fast, and it's a glossy screen so it really needs to be clean to see it properly.

Awkward to use

Not the most convenient thing for getting typical computer stuff done...not if you already have a laptop anyway.

I can't justify paying $600+ for something just because it's awesome for Google Maps. :) BUT I finally got to see one anyway! And it really was great for maps...

In other news...there are extreme disadvantages to being pale. Because of wearing two different swimsuits to the pool (switching up the strap placement on my back), I now have an awful sunburn right where my back had been protected by the straps on one swimsuit and therefore had no sun-exposure until the other day. It burnt, then it blistered and peeled, and right now it's getting better, but I'm avoiding normal shirts as much as possible and having Mom put cortisone cream on the burnt part. Ouch. Why, oh why do I always have ridiculous injuries like this? Oh, and I get to go to the pool because it's days I work and I take the little girl to the pool. :) So much more enjoyable than playing outside or walking in this heat!

I cleaned my room up the other day, getting rid of some stuff and organizing the rest, and I'm very glad to be able to see the top of my desk now. As usual, I'll see how long that actually lasts...

I'm also trying to make plans for next month. I have some time off and I want to go see my cousins, and then there's also a beach trip with some friends somewhat tentatively planned. So, fun stuff. I think this may be the busiest summer I've ever had. Which is fine with me. :)

So I guess life in a nutshell right now is work, reading, getting together with friends. Except, surely there are more things going on than that...? I guess that's the public version of what's going on. This was going to be a good post, but as I said, every decent thought left my brain and I'm left with, well, that up there. :D

Oh, to people who are commenting: I'm sorry about the annoying word-verification thing. I turned it on a while back to deal with all the spam comments I was getting, just turned it off last week and immediately started getting spammed again. So, I know it's annoying, but I have to have it on.

From Psalm 42

This hymn was in my head all day yesterday...I think I read something that referenced Psalm 42 or something, and immediately thought of this.

It's a beautiful hymn, both the words and music. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find a recording of it anywhere online, so I took a picture of it from my hymnal, so if you can read music you'll have an idea of what it sounds like anyway. 662 in the Trinity Hymnal if you have one.

(Click to enlarge.)

As the hart longs for flowing streams,
So longs my soul for thee, O God.
My soul does thirst for the living God;
When shall I come to see thy face?

My tears have fed me day and night,
while men have said, "Where is your God?"
But I recall as my soul pours dry,
The days of praise within thy house

Why do I mourn and toil within,
When it is mine to hope in God?
I shall again sing praise to Him;
He is my help, He is my God.