there's nothing like taking the dog for a walk on a cold night, then putting on soft, warm pajamas and eating ham and bean soup.

i'm a huge fan of all things cozy. fluffy socks, tea with lemon and honey (and sometimes whiskey), NCIS marathons on the couch with my love and our animals. things i can eat from a bowl (i LOVE bowls). crock pots, and the tasty things that come out of them. hot coffee in my favorite mug. crawling into bed, early, with a good book and the cat on my chest. warm laundry. clean sheets. Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra on the radio (er...Pandora station). thunderstorms in the night. hot showers. wrapping Christmas presents. a quiet house. cake. smashed-up baked potatoes with butter, salt, and bacon (eaten from a bowl, obvs). yarn. making things with yarn. belly-laughing. belly-laughing with E.

i'm not a huge fan of waking up with a scratchy throat. or math tests. especially math tests that have to be taken after waking up with a scratchy throat.

last night, i had the whole day planned. wake up, coffee and breakfast (healthy, high-fiber, no-sugar-added cereal...with marshmallows, because i'm a grown-up and i said so, that's why), start laundry, take math test (which is a "once you open the link, you're committed for the next four hours" thing), make more laundry detergent, clean the kitchen and bathroom, do more laundry, finish the little warm hat for the fetal pig i'll be dissecting on Tuesday.

it's been two hours, and i've only gotten through coffee and breakfast. and E will be home for lunch soon, so there's no point opening the test yet.

ok. new plan: start laundry. make laundry soap. do the dishes and sweep the kitchen. have lunch with E. take a long, hot shower. put on pajamas, robe, and fluffy socks. make tea with lemon, honey, and whiskey. take math test. crawl into bed with yarn and the cat.

coziest sick-and-have-to-take-a-test day ever.

last night

before:

during:  (Dallas gets canned pumpkin pretty often as a treat, and he was absolutely ENTRANCED. also, i can't believe it took us thirty-odd years to figure out that cut-open trash bags are the ideal under-pumpkin barrier.)

Ta-Daaaaaaaa!!!

(no filter of any kind!)

 i am going to marry this womon SO hard.

the traditional morning-after breakfast!

it rained for the third year in a row. i made homemade macaroni and cheese with smoked sausage. we had lots of trick-or-treaters, and watched Army of Darkness and Ash vs The Evil Dead. Dallas spent a couple of hours making whiny tortured dog noises from his crate, despite consuming three hot dogs in bits and pieces. Houdini lived up to her name and made a break for it, returning with a tail full of pickers. we ate too much candy. we slept in. we ate more candy. we had oatmeal pancakes and bacon for brunch. hope your Halloween was happy, too!!

freeeeeeee

the stars aligned, and gifted me the magical combination of a Monday with no clients til 5, and a Tuesday with no class or lab (college inservice day) and no clients til 4!

TWO. MOSTLY-OFF. DAYS.

even better: my math professor doesn't post our weekly assignments til sometime on Tuesday afternoon/evening, which usually frustrates me, but today just gives me even more of an excuse to play.

not that things aren't getting done; i have a load of laundry going (the dryer got fixed yesterday!), and a little later i'll do the usual dishes/counters/stove/floor cleanup in the kitchen. but let me tell you, being curled up on the couch in my new robe, with a craft project and my coffee...mmmmm.

yep, those are cereal marshmallows. we found a source that sells 1-pound bags of them for $3.99 (nuts.com)!!!! i ordered a bag for my sister for Christmas, but...well...i mean, i'm not going to gift substandard marshmallows. so we ordered a bag for us, too, and they are exactly how marshmallows should be.

oh!!! and the new robe!! YOU GUYS, THIS ROBE!!!!!!

it's like a hoodie and a robe hooked up and had a baby, and the result is the softest, warmest, most delightful...it's....like wearing premium butter. i was never a robe person, and now i know it's only because the perfect robe did not exist until now. i'm sad to take it off at night, and happy to put it back on in the morning. last night, i slept in it.

Houdini loves it, too. it's a cat magnet!

in non-robe-related news, on Saturday, E and i dressed up as Rosie the Riveter and helped set a new Guinness World Record for the most Rosies (2096!!!!) in one place:

(excuse my finger. jeez.)

it was so much fun! there were 43 original Rosies, each wearing a rose made out of the bandana fabric, and the rest of us came in all sizes, shapes, and ages (even babies!). to make the record count, we had to stand together for 5 minutes, and we passed the time by singing the national anthem, God Bless America, Amazing Grace, and America the Beautiful.

stay tuned for pumpkin-carving, Halloween-y-ness! Have a great week!

merrily

things are rolling along nicely here.

i'm finally starting to settle into a work/school/study groove (and, as far as i can tell, i'm currently getting straight A's). it means that i don't have much time for phone calls or hanging out, depending on the workload from week to week (for example, last week i had a biology test and a math quiz. this week, i had a biology lab test, and i have math homework problems due this weekend. next week i have a math quiz AND a math test, so add the test review to this week...etc, etc, etc.), but at least i no longer feel like the proverbial chicken. E has been in the next level of training, too, which means several of our evenings have been spent studying together on the couch with mugs of hot tea. it's been lovely.

Little V and i made a batch of homemade cheese crackers on Saturday. she helped mix the cold butter and shredded cheese into the flour (i had to get out the vacuum after that), and she used one of her blunt little toddler knives and helped "cut" the dough:

and you know what? they were the best damn cheese crackers any of us had ever had! i plan on making several batches the next time we have a party, and using some mini cookie cutters to make them all fancy.

E and i celebrated our third anniversary on Sunday. three years! we got all disgusting and schmoopy, and spent most of the day coloring in one of our new coloring books:

we also went to dinner at Carrabba's, which is kind of turning into a tradition. such delicious food! E loves their Chicken Trio, and i'm a huge fan of their tomato cream sauce. the wine (Ecco Domani merlot) was great, the desserts were great...the whole day was great, honestly. i am lucky beyond words to have a partner who is so smart, sexy, funny, kind, and generous. and, who has my back like i do hers. absolute magic.

i'm currently tucked into the upstairs massage room at work, doing math homework and waiting for my first client (of three) to arrive. after work, it's back to school for College Night - there will be representatives from 45 colleges, all with information. it ends at 8, and work ends at 7, so i will be doing a lightning-fast Information Collection Tour ("Nursing School? You has? Gimme!").

things i learned today:

how to solve algebraic equations containing fractions

fermentation is anaerobic respiration

you make hard alcohol through a process called fractional distillation (i'm REALLY enjoying this biology professor!)

deciding whether the statement, "When looking through a microscope, less light allows you to see more detail" is true or false is not easy when you have a background in stage lighting. define "less light"! of course you need to be able to properly see the sample on the slide, but too much light will wash out the details! THIS IS NOT AN EITHER/OR SITUATION.

after a month of what felt like never-ending places to be, i have decided that i am not leaving the house this weekend unless Absolutely Necessary. having already worked this morning and purchased the required groceries for tomorrow's slow-cooker meal (hamburger stew), all that remains is a trip to PetSmart for dog food, and that can wait until tomorrow.

it's gray and stormy outside. the leftover beans and ham are reheating on the slow cooker for later. i am settled on the couch, post-coffee-and-vanilla-sandwich-cookies, seriously considering a nap. not out of need, but because the house is quiet and i can think of nothing lovelier to do with myself.

i finished Bring Up The Bodies (by Hilary Mantel) this morning, and i *could* start on another book in my pleasure-reading pile. or i could do some dishes. or i could start a load of laundry, but the dryer belt broke (Mer-cur-eeeeee!), and the weather's a little too iffy to hang the clothes outside. i could clean the bathroom. i could play with some yarn. i could do a few math homework problems, but i aced my first math test yesterday (and my first biology test on Tuesday!), and my brain deserves a day off.

yes. it's the perfect day for a nap.

slow start

someone needs to make an alarm clock that adjusts to one's personal sleep cycle, so that you are still woken up in plenty of time to get ready for work/the day, but you are NOT woken up mid-REM sleep.

come on, brain. three hours is more than enough time to get yourself together.

the bed needs to be made.

the dishes need to be washed.

the second crocheted baby sock needs to be finished.

the second biology chapter needs reading.

the math homework needs doing (but you got the concept, which is impressive).

the bags and backpack need packing.

the clients need massaging.

the niece and nephew need to be played with and snuggled.

the s'mores blondies need to be baked.

come on, brain. you can do this...

feels.

all of them.

i'm heartbroken that Michfest (as we know it) is no more. we, all of us, will never be together like that again. i tried to walk the fine line between being aware of/enjoying all the "lasts" without dwelling on them, and mostly i succeeded. the deep, deep sobbing and wailing really only happened once for me: Saturday night, when i watched the Night Stage go dark (except for the work lights) for the last time.

  i'm full to bursting with love, though. and joy. and gratitude. that, out of all the people and possibilities in the world, we won the fucking lottery. we got to experience this place, be changed by it, broken open by it, healed and made whole by it. and we were so gentle and open with each other. all of us. god, how i love all of us!



i'm amazed at the depth of the Fest Magic this year. everything i wished and hoped for, happened. the worker bands were blue (my favorite). there was a rainbow after the thunderstorm on Sunday evening. there was a sign-up sheet for opening ceremonies, and i got to wear all white and hand out acorns to my sisters, saying "take what you love from this land, and plant something beautiful". i slept on the Night Stage my last night there, by myself, under the stars. every time i opened my eyes, the Milky Way above me had shifted. and the soft, soft light of the Night Stage bowl at dawn....mmmmmmm. and best of all, E was able to make it up for the weekend! the gates close at 10pm, and she skidded in at 9:59 (in the pouring rain).

i'm numb. i don't know how to unpack. i'm washing things, and putting them back in the safe places they live between Fests, knowing that there won't be any more Fests. i'm not washing things, because they still smell like the Land.

i'm still feral. and i'm resolved to stay feral. to live as like a Narnian as i can, even if there isn't any Narnia.

i'm nervous and excited, because tomorrow is my first day of school. Biology and Intermediate Algebra. a new path. a new beginning. a confidence, and a sense of certainty, that are a direct result of the nine times i joined thousands of my sisters in the Michigan woods.

i carry them with me. always.