Wow

My mom will be here tomorrow!

Julie will be here Friday!

I wonder if anyone is going to buy me a cake.

I got Cardinals tickets for when I'm home. (Though, wow, way to be expensive, Cardinals.)

My grandparents lectured my mom on all the things her kids are doing wrong. I think I was a large part of that. Bring on the drama.

I biked 4.5 miles last night. That makes up for my lack of physical activity all weekend, I guess.

I really need to practice reading my poems. Don't want to sound silly.

I need to get a lot of wine for this weekend.

I still don't know what to wear on Friday.

Or to Evan's graduation.

Today I was thinking how much my books are like my babies. And I am ready to send them out into the world. Somehow I picture my books going off to their first day of Kindergarten. So exciting!

Box 'O Books

They have arrived... and are ready for new homes.

Coming Soon....

Flood

So, there was a water main break in Baltimore today which caused one road to be flooded. Which means roads were closed, traffic was a mess, etc. Of course, there were also two accidents this morning, one on my route to work. After an hour in the car, I realized it would be another hour, at least, until I got to work. So I turned around. They are still saying it'll be terrible during evening rush hour, so I guess it's good that I didn't try to fight and get in to work. Even though this means not going to the Orioles game.

Internet was out at work, also, so I couldn't even work from home. So I had a lazy morning. But I am taking off so much in May that I really needed to work.

Luckily, some people have internet at work now, so I have a few files coming to me that I can work on this afternoon. So I'll only be out half a days work.

Here's hoping traffic issues are resolved by tomorrow morning.

On my mind

Do I have enough time to go to the Cardinals game the Sunday I'm home?

Do I really want to see certain people I already said I'd see?

How tired will I be Weds after I go to the Orioles game tomorrow (and don't get home until 11 or later)?

My hair currently looks cute in a ponytail. That's unusual.

I biked (stationary bike) 4 miles today! But I only pushed myself for the last 5 minutes.

How will I entertain my guests when we're not at the reading?

Why...

is it 90 degrees in April?

I am oh so very hot. I feel bad complaining, since I've just wanted it to be warm. But this is extreme. Skipping spring is not ok.

Anyway, this has been a nice relaxing weekend. Here's all I have done:

~Turned on every fan in the house
~Decided what to wear for Matt's Graduation, unless it's cold that day, then I'm screwed.
~Decided I need to shop for a shirt to wear for the reading and Evan's Graduation
~Bought plane tickets for St. Louis
~Did not reserve a hotel room for STL, because I need to call the hotel first. Grr to late flights.
~Gotten the guest room (for mom) ready.
~Gotten Julie's room ready, except for the air mattress. This involved a lot of cleaning/organizing. It was a mess!
~Cleaned guest bathroom, then messed it up again.
~Bought some household essentials.
~Fancy party for Rachel's birthday
~Lots of grilling
~Planted new seeds, since I killed a few plants by repotting them too soon.
~Watched the Cardinals beat the Cubs
~Watched the Cubs beat the Cards
~Cleaned the siding in the back of the house, which was really gross
~Designed the poster for the MFA reading (no one else would volunteer!)

I'm sure there was more...

Orchid

I bought myself a new plant. Because our house needs more life and color. So, here's the orchid I got. This one's mini and purple. They also had really large ones, both sizes in purple and white. I wanted them all but stuck with this.

To the Wolves

I was thrown to the wolves this week! I moved departments at work, so I am part time in Humanities but technically a science team member. This resulted in my taking over project management for a science project. And it's been a mad house. Freelancers who send files with a "I hope these will get edited because they're full of grammatical errors and typos" disclaimer, missing files, angry vendors-none of which was my fault, thank goodness. Luckily it's a short project so it should end next week. But yeah, I worked late 3 days this week! And am still monitoring everything from here on my day off.

In other news:
Rome is a really great show. I wish it hadn't ended after only two seasons. We're going to finish season 2 soon and then will be sad.

My cover is blue! The proofs literally just showed up at my door. And I tore it open, even though I closed my eyes for 30 seconds before looking at the cover because I was really, really worried it would be purple. But it's not!

Obama likes pizza from St. Louis over Chicago. But it's some place I've never heard of, not Imos as I was hoping.

Carpenter went and injured himself again. *sigh*

We've started walking 15 minutes every day at work. This is 1)a great way to break up the afternoon and 2)good for you. So it's lovely. Of course, there are days that are far too busy, or rainy as it was this week. But I'm glad W&N has given us the ability to take time out of our day.

I also have a stationary bike now. I like to believe that's one reason I've had more energy this week. But I have been slacking. I went from 25 minutes every other day to 15 mins this week. Either way, yay health!

I know there was more I was going to put here but it's all floated away....

Sunshine Day

I sent my book to the printer today!

For those that don't know, the title of said book is River Under Metal. That's all you get to know until you get yourself a copy.

Oh, the cover ended up being blue. Unless it doesn't print right, in which case it may come out purple after all.

Julie's officially coming for my reading!

Which reminds me, I guess I need to start thinking about what I'm going to read that night. So much to choose from.

I've started cleaning house and it makes me glad. Cause it means there will be visitors soon.

I scheduled a massage for myself. (Hey, my doctor told me to.)

I am loving Seether's remake, Careless Whisper.

Thoughts

I put my herbs outside yesterday to get some sun. They got attacked by wind monsters. Now they are sad, though recovering. They're obviously still too tiny for the outdoors.

My spinach is starting to look like spinach! They are so cute.

My lilies are doing great now, but I'm going to have to move them soon. I knew I would eventually. I planted them in very small pots, because it was all I had. Now, do I get bigger pots or plant them in the front? They flower longer if placed in partial shade which leads me to believe I should have a pot out front, a pot on the deck, and plant the rest in the backyard. We shall see. I have time yet for planning.

The book is finally coming together. A few minor tweaks and I need to read through for orphans and widows. And I must finish my copyright page and colophon which are currently random thoughts on what needs to go there.

Then there's the cover. which is mostly finished, maybe. Except I confused myself over bleeds and don't know if I want something on the back cover or if it should just be blue. All of this will have to be resolved by Weds. Then I will hopefully not find any other problems and will submit to the printer on Friday.

I'm still struggling with my grandparents and their inability to a)communicate and b)realize when things are important. Also, Mom doesn't know what to do about coming to Baltimore now. She either has to bring the boys (and they miss a week of school)or find a babysitter (for about 5 days = not easy). Either way, she's coming, but it just adds another loop to jump through. Thanks U.S. Army, for once again, making things difficult.

At the same time, this means I do not have to see Mr. Lewis while in St. Louis. So that's nice.

I love going to the Japanese Steakhouse, which we did last night for Victor's birthday. But seriously, it's so much food. I was full of rice and noodles and vegetables before my protein was ready. And note, I say "protein" a lot now instead of the specific meat (it was salmon, here, in case you wondered). I blame this on Top Chef.

There are way too many babies happening. Even if you don't count the insane number at my job alone (what is it, 12 this year?) there are a bunch. Babies everywhere! And a lot of girls. And so many from people that I just can't picture as parents.

Apparently the guy who used to live in our house was a little nuts. His garage was apparently the most organized and fully stocked garage in the neighborhood. The insanity comes now-He outlined his tools on the walls so that everyone knew exactly where they belonged. Thank neighbors for telling us about that. And for thinking we're normal :)

I really want to go shopping. I don't like shopping, really, so this is odd. I think I just want to get something nice (or many somethings) for all the activities in May and that's spurring me. I am also craving t-shirts?

I had a dream last night that I was executed by electric chair. So weird. I blame the book I'm reading.

Said book is really great. (As Jodi Picoult always is.) It brings up a lot about religion. I was specifically intrigued by the idea that religion no longer unites, but divides. But you can still have religious beliefs without a religion. It's probably too much philosophy for my current state of mind, but it's entertaining too.

It's officially baseball season! Go Cardinals!