Rules that I have for myself....What are your rules?

MENU OF THE DAY:

Music playing: http://www.pandora.com/ - have y'all heard of this? it's so great. You log on, plug in your favorite artist and it chooses similar music (like Genius on iTunes). Right now Counting Crows is playing the stripped version of Rain King.

Book: the new Pat Conroy, South of Broad. It started out great, but now it's starting to seem implausible. Especially the dialogue. And i'm having trouble liking some of the characters. But i will definitely finish it.

Photo: I didn't take it, Brian did. It's not recent, it's from that place we like to go on the beach at Vashon Island. But that's my little spot in the window and my book and my glass of chardonnay. (It's 180 degree view of the Puget Sound from that little spot.)

Quote: "God in his goodness sent the grape to cheer both great & small. Little fools will drink too much, big fools not at all."

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Being somewhat of an anal retentive personality, I have certain rules for myself that i follow. I am not saying they are good rules by any means, nor am i saying i am always successful following them. Here they are:

1. I could never not exercise even though i don't love it one bit. So i made a rule: that I never miss more than two days of exercise in a row unless I am on a vacation trip where running just isn't an option. (it's usually a flyfishing trip where going on a run could cause me to run into a critter like a cougar or the access is lousy and unsafe.)

2. If i miss more than two days because of a vacation i make certain i run as many days in a row (and longer) for every day i missed.

3. I try and wash my hair every Wednesday and Sunday. I hate washing my hair more than anything about getting ready.

4. I make it a rule to not shop sales. (it's cause i hate shopping.)

5. If i wear eyeliner i either wear it only on top or only on the bottom. I experiment every so often but usually end up looking like Rocky Raccoon or one of those ugly bitchy looking Vanity Fair models.

6. I don't give compliments that i don't mean.

7. If i say, 'let's do lunch', you can be sure I will be calling you for lunch.

8. If you say 'let's do lunch' but you make it a habit to not follow through, i won't be cancelling even a chance to go to the dentist to make time. (Because going to the dentist every 6 months is one of my other rules.)

9. I have to straighten crooked levelor blinds and pictures on the wall, no matter where i am. Seriously, i would do it in Buckingham Palace if i had to. So If you have crooked stuff in your home, don't be surprised if i get up in the middle of the conversation to fix them. (I do that so i can go back to concentrating on what you are saying.)

10. You can count on me when you need to get a job completed.

11. You can count on me getting pissed off if you don't get your own job completed if it makes more work for me.

12. I balance my checkbook every single month, to the penny. I always know what is in my account. Sometimes i check it twice just to be sure. (Part of this comes with having been more poor in my younger years. And having always worked in accounting, with confidence i felt I could run my checkbook balance down to about 89 cents a few days before payday since i kept such close tabs. It's why i keep separate checkbooks from my past two husband(s)... )

13. Because i love wine when i drink it i try to keep it to one glass per hour. For example, if it's four hours i will have four glasses. A bottle is my limit.

14. What i don't limit is the number of books i buy, nor will i ever. I figure it's my crack cocaine and it's a lot healthier and cheaper. I think honestly i have likely spent about $300 this summer alone on books.

15. I am never late to appointments.

16. I lift free weights (8 lbs) three days a week at the minimum. I won't go over that weight because i don't want my arms to look like Madonna's.

17. I don't pray, but i make sure that i tell God Thank You.

OK, allofyall..... what rules do you have for yourself? I may come back and add some more as i think of them. Now i have to go, cause it's Sunday and i need to wash my hair.

Thought i'd change my blog, lest y'all start thinking i'm whoring for more Comments!

Disclaimer: Much as i would love to try and get over 50 comments again it's time for a change - vacation is officially over!

MENU OF THE DAY:

on iTunes: I have Genius turned on with a Wilco song and some more good stuff is playing. right now it's Ryan Adams - "To Be Young" - Next is Beck "Lost Cause".

Reading: OMG, the new Jonathan Tropper (NOT Hopper - thank you equeyaya!) book is amazing! "This is Where i Leave You" i love it as much as i loved "Book of Joe". I already finished the Richard Russo book.

Weather: last week was a heat wave over 100 degrees. This week it is 40 degrees cooler and feels like fall. Only 64 degrees!

(It does make it easier for me now that i'm back to work. (Island pearl, how are you doing in Hawaii with Felicia or Felicity or whatever the hell that hurricane is called.)

In my glass: (See photo) The label is actually better than the wine, which is obviously the reason i bought it. But it's not bad.

My most recent iTunes purchase: Don't laugh, but while getting my allergy shot last week and reading the only magazine they ever have in that waiting room - which is called "Outside" and is mostly aimed at extreme rock climber athlete types and likely gay men for all the good advertisements, there was an article by this one dude who said he just loved the song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and it reminded me of how long it's been since i heard that song and how much i used to love it. So i bought it. It's one of those guilty pleasure purchases, like "Wichita Lineman" or "Rockafella Skank" by Fatboy Slim (which i purchased one night after my second glass of wine, only to find that it really really grew on me!)

I also bought "Famous Blue Raincoat", but not by Leonard Cohen. This version is by some chick Kate Buckhaven or something like that.

(I am thinking that quotations and italics are being a little bit redundant, so i will from here on out, forego the quotations on titles of stuff and leave off the italics on actual quotes. There is too much formatting in blogging already! )

Quotes: Here's some stuff i came across in one of my many journals of stuff i've read in books:

"We love to buy books because we believe we're buying the time to read them." - the late Warren Zevon quoting Schoppenhauer. (written out 9-13-03)

"I don't try to do the right thing on purpose." - my husband, Brian (written out 9-5-03)

(speaking of Russo:) "She looked like the kind of woman who had spent her whole life waiting in line." - from his book Mohawk. (Isn't this a great description and can't you just picture her?)

Here's one of my favorites:

"If she learned nothing else over the past two years, she had absorbed one painful lesson: There is no such thing as safety, there is only strength." - from the book Folly, by Laurie R. King.

I'm not adding any random thoughts today, just the Menu.

What's on your Menu?

Mid-Summer Wine Musings on The Last Few Days of Vacation. :(

MENU OF THE DAY:

In my glass: a chardonnay from this label i thought it was the menage a tois (sp?)wine, but i just noticed only two people are on the label. menage a dos? Whatever. It's good.

On iTunes: I recently discovered just how cool the iTunes Genius feature is. Right now i am listening to Van Morrison and Ryan Adams is next and Neil Young and Teddy Thompson and all my favorites, simply because i hit Genius after a Van Morrison song. Cool.

Weather: finally mid 70's after a Northwest heatwave that is so rare it's like as rare as what...... as a vegetarian having dinner in Tony Roma's Rib place... i'll come back to this.

Book: in the photo you can see i have Richard Russo's new book. it just came out today and i was there this morning to buy it. If i have a favorite author ( and i used to think i did and that it was Pat Conroy) i have to say it is now Russo. A few pages in and i can tell i like it already.

The best thing: My brother Troy, with his lately bad luck, just turned it around. With the messy divorce, his lovable old dog dying last month, having to sell his horse Chief this week and having a hard time keeping up with the economy and building homes, which is all he has done since he was 19, he just found out today that he got the construction supervisor job he applied for and it's a job doing EXACTLY what he wants. He has been volunteering with Habitat for Humanity for a long time and wanted the kind of job that helped people but also needed real benefits, and this is the Northwest version of Habitat that offers him that. He got the job out of 100 applicants. We are so happy and relieved for him.

The worst thing: i know, i know, i shouldn't complain, but i have to go back to work Friday. But this is the first time in all my years i have not been ready. I am losing my heart for union work and i don't feel good about what i do anymore. I can't believe how my attitudes are shifting. It makes me uneasy. I think we hurt more than we help. I need to get an attitude adjustment and figure this out.

OK, enought whining about that.... here are some photos. and even a video. (if i can do this correctly.) That is me flyfishing the Skykomish river in 100 degree weather. (I actually caught four rainbow, which is surprising for me especially since it was during a heat wave.) The video below is of me casting that Brian took. I have a nice cast people tell me so he wanted to video it so i could see it. The thing about casting a fly line is you should NOT do what Brad Pitt does in "A River Runs Through It" because it's just a waste of fly line and means you are showing off. But it's fun to try and do every once in awhile. And it is pretty when you succeed, but it doesn't really catch fish. (PS, it was NOT really Brad Pitt casting either.)

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1. Why do the new TV remotes have no sleep button on them to make it easier?

2. I hate those new Geico insurance commercials with the eyeballs on the stack of dollars and i bet y'all do too. I can't believe this company hasn't put together a focus group that hasn't told them already that they suck and are creepy.

3. Same with that Burger King dude.

4. But then again, you Baby Boomers will remember that terrible commercial for Shake 'N Bake and the little girl in that horrible southern accent saying "And I helped." Only she said it as "hayyyyullllped". And to this day, i remember that commercial.

5. I actually like commercials and usually hate it when my husband flips through them. My favorites are still the E-Trade baby.If you have not seen them, you must YouTube E-Trade baby and watch them all. They are the best.

6. Let me pause here and get myself another glass of that menage a dos chardonnay. (I am mixing up my foreign languages here.) I have no idea if i am spelling this correctly. I was never good in any language by English. And even English gives me fits. (I am telling on myself here: I spoke in double negatives until i was 20 years old.)

7. .....Ok, I'm back. I was just thinking about this the other day. Is it weird that i have read about 11 books on my vacation? Cause I have. And that means i don't do too much adventure stuff if i can read so much. (But then again it's nothing for me to read a book in a day.) And i have been on vacation since June 26.

8. Please, don't hate me for that.

9. I have been running alot! So i'm not TOTALLY lazy. OOOH, today I had a bit of a scare when a pit bull (off leash) came up to me. I had seen this pit bull running loose while driving around here, but never encountered him before but had been worried i might run into him since he is on my route. So when he charged up I stayed calm because i've been told about not showing fear. I just kept running and I didn't even point my pepper spray at him. And i could tell within the first mile of running with him that he was just happy to be running with me and totally harmless. He ended up running all four miles with me today even though i kept trying to lose him. He stayed every step of the way. He was just like a black lab really. However what worried me most was having people seeing this dog running with me all that way thinking it was being irresponsible running with a pit bull off leash. I kept wanting to yell at them, "He's not my dog!"

10. Ok, that's all i got. Where are Donna, MHS, umma, Lynnie, Kat? and all the other 19 followers here? What has your summer been like? Come and tell us.

Yes, even MORE vacation photos. Y'all should be so jealous.

Menu of the Day

Quote: Edited to finally add a quote: "It was then i knew that often the greatest of sins are not the things we do, but the things we fail to do." -- from "Chasing Grace" by Martha Manning.

How many books i purchased this week: 5

How many books i've read on vacation: i think 5 (Now i've read 6!) (Now i have read 7!) (Updated on July 25 - i am up to 8.)

How many iTunes i've bought: nothing, but i'm considering Wilco's new one. It sounds like George Harrison. (My favorite Beatle, if i had one).

Confession: It's after 5:00 pm and i finally put on some real clothes. And actually they aren't even real clothes, they are running attire.

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Here are my vacation photos, taken in the past couple of days. (Y'all are gonna be SO jealous!Especially my friends who have been to China and Japan and Hawaii and New York just recently!) In the pool photo you can see my front door and the flag. It was a cool day today when i shot this and that's why the pool is empty. This is my unmade bed. I took that today too. (I should have taken a photo of the TV with CNN's Michael Jackson's coverage! )

I don't have anything to muse on about today, but i might come back and edit this later to add some. I just wanted to change my blog. What are y'all doing?

Edited to add the photo of this pasta i made last night. It's a Giada recipe from Food Network's website. It's got fresh clams from the Farmer's market, shrimp, arugla and sun dried tomatoes in a wine sauce. (It about killed me to pour 1 1/2 cups of good chardonnay in the pan, which is nearly half a bottle. I didn't read the measurements or i would have bought a cheaper bottle.)

I just got my haircut today with bangs. I have NOT had bangs for about 10 years and i like them alot. So Brian took a photo and it's not often i like a photo of myself, but this one i do. so i'm posting it here even though it shows my whole face which is going against my signature of blog self portraits.

The margaritas i made today too are also pictured. Here is my recipe:

1. 1 orange, the size of a baseball, not the size of a softball

2. 1 lime, the size of a lime

3. 2 shots of Hornitos agave tequila (if you have Patron, all the better, but not necessary!)

4. 1 shot of triple sec OR Cointreau (Also not necessary because it's more expensive, but it IS better.)

5. a splash of Roses lime juice (found in the stores)

6. a splash of something carbonated - like squirt, fresca or sparkling water

ice

7. Grand Marnier (for last)

a) Peel the oranges and the limes and slice them into sections (something i learned today from my resourceful friend Sarah/louie louie, who is also learning to make margaritas today like we had in the Mexican restaurant yesterday during happy hour....

anyway, muddle these naked citrus fruits in the bottom of a glass (if you don't like pulp, use a shaker, personally i like some pulp.)

b) add the ice.

c) Add the shots

d) Add the splashes of Roses and carbonated soda pop

e. SHAKE IT LIKE A POLAROID PICTURE. (And take a picture while you are doing it. It will be a FUN photo!)

f) Pour it NOT into one of those stupid weenie margarita glasses, but in a 16 oz beer glass.

float a splash of grand marnier on top - serve with a slice of orange or lime for a garnish.

It's the best!

Depending on if you like salt on the rim (I do) dip your glass in the orange/lime juice from the cutting board and into the margarita salt (also purchased at grocery stores, but be careful not to let it cake up too much on the rim, that's not cool.)

It's about time...microbrew musings.

MENU OF THE DAY:

In my glass: a porter that looks just like Coca Cola in your glass.

On iPod: Wilco's " Hate it Here".

Last good book read: "The Help" - this book and "Little Bee" are my favorite books i've read this whole year.

What's goin' on: I am on vacation until August. 7th. This blog post is about all the boring things i have been doing.

Quote: Barbara, i have been looking all over for my email about your photo of the sign about why the business was closed in Japan and i cannot find it. I even went and looked back on your Kodak link and my computer crashed again, which is why i have not been back to look at your photos. I had to start my whole blog post over. So maybe you can put it up here for me.

Last iTunes purchase: Little Feat's "Willin". Brian's band played this song at the Farmer's Market and i loved this song.

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1. It's about time i have changed my blog but i can't say that summertime is my best inspiration.

2. summertime for me, is about being lazy.

3. I have read two books in two days. One was a Harlan Coben book. The other was that book called "Crazy for the Storm", a true story about a plane crash survival in the mountains. (It was not "Into Thin Air" or "Into the Wild" though.)

4. I cannot help it. I am saddened by Michael Jackson's death. And alot of my past week has been watching the CNN and E! channel on his life and death. I was like this with Princess Diana and JFK Jr's death too. I'm a celebrity death junkie and i need intervention.

5. Even when i didn't necessarily like all of his music, i never got tired of watching him move on stage. He was truly the best. My favorite video: "The way you make me feel".

6. I hate the Fourth of July more than i hate Valentine's Day and that is saying a lot.

7. A least Valentine's Day doesn't burn down houses and maim and kill people.

8. Oh God, please let Sarah Palin have her own show on Fox Network be the reason she is resigning her post. I don't like Hillary Clinton, but i REALLY REALLY cannot stand Palin and her Mr. Namby Pamby husband. It's embarrassing that she has more testoterone than he does. And they need to quit using their youngest daughter, whatever the hell her name is, as a prop.

9. ...and how about that show Kate Plus Nine? (That's what the show SHOULD be called) ...speaking of emasculated husbands......

10. So far i have not been doing much on vacation. I go for a run. Hang by the pool. One day i washed some windows. water my plants. read. cook. (I tried a couple of new dishes lately), watch Michael Jackson stuff on TV. Kylee's coming over tomorrow to spend time with me and to hang by the pool and have dinner. It's been GREAT.

11. There is nothing greater to me than unencumbered time.

OK. this is a short post today, but i may come back with more stuff. So tell us:

What are y'all doing?

What's your favorite Michael Jackson song? (Or if you don't like Michael Jackson, how about your favorite Karl Malden show?)

What are you reading or watching?

Observations & Random Musings about Life While Drinking Purple Cowboy Wine

MENU OF THE DAY:

On the iPod: "Your Life is Now" by John Mellencamp

In my Glass: this Purple Cowboy "Tenacious Red" wine. It makes me wonder if this translates to mean "Gay Cowboy", given all the hooplah about purple = gay.

Last Netflix: "Gran Torino"

The Best thing happening: I will be on vacation this time next week.

The Worst thing: I have a colonoscopy appointment the Thursday before my last day of work.

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1. People who know me have heard me say this before: Something I notice is that nearly every time I drive by a bus stop, the person waiting for the bus is smoking a cigarette.

2. And then I think of how if they never smoked they could be driving a red hot Honda Accord like my own for the money they spend.

3. When people tell me in the union office (and in my life outside of work too actually) that they give 110% (or any amount over 100%) , I always know they are full of shit. Not once have I been proved wrong yet in my 20 years of union work.

4. I will probably be more attracted to people who drink syrahs than I would be of people who drink riesling or vouvray.

5. I never went to college though I wanted to but my family didn’t have the money. I don’t think everyone who went to college is smarter than I am. But I used to.

6. Now I just think they had smarter parents.

7. The relative you like the least is always the one who will break your good wine glass or china plate during family gatherings.

8. I always think I need to own good kitchen gadgets, like a mandolin or a Cuisinart but I rarely use them. I think that makes me a kitchen snob.

9. I have to admit to add to my kitchen snobness, I have more cooking magazines subscriptions than any other kind.

10. I am going to cancel my music one, the Paste magazine, and I’m going to cancel the Real Simple one after ten years. I think I am already simple enough and the Paste magazine quit giving out the free cd mix.

11. I can’t help but love on sight babies with hair more than babies without hair.
Though that is not to say that babies without hair don’t grow up later and makes me love them. (My nieces come to mind.)

12. Seems like it’s always the girl babies without hair.

13. I am too vain to be a true bohemian, but there is a part of me that wishes so much I could just be exactly that. Speaking of bohemians. Here is a photo i took yesterday at the Farmer's Market. in Olympia. Olympia is home to Evergreen State College a very liberal arts school. Brian's band played outdoors at it and this kid was really into their music. He was pretty good.

14. However, I would rather be vain than be a fraud.

15. I would also rather be vain than falsely humble.

16. I don’t watch the cable news channel anymore very often. As Obama said in his interview with Brian Williams, he doesn’t learn very much from them.

17. I have to agree. But I have to admit I still like Anderson Cooper sometimes.

18. I watched Gran Torino last night and can’t believe how entertained I was by that movie. It was so overdone and over acted , but because it is Clint Eastwood I gave a pass. It’s not Mystic River and it will make you cringe and it is implausible, but it moves you too.

19. And i think if I were a minority I would rather be face to face with an Archie Bunker type, as Clint Eastwood is in this movie, than the subtly racist person, that one you can’t read. At least with Clint’s character you knew what he was about.

20. I read the best book today. It’s my second favorite behind “Little Bee”. It’s called “The Help”. I want everyone to read it. I am not going to say too much because I might do a special blog post on just books and I will elaborate further. It’s about black maids working for Junior Leaguer white woman in Mississippi during the early 60’s when JFK was assassinated and Medgar Evans was killed.

21. For Barbara and Grace who are traveling in Japan as i speak! I hope you experience all the best of Japan in a way i never did as a military brat living in Zama. I look forward to hearing about your experience.

Okay, what are you observing these days and what is on YOUR mind?

My Obituary....As Written by My Niece, Kylee, AKA Modern Hippie

MENU OF THE DAY:

Listening to: "Green River"by M.Ward

In my glass: Gnarly Head chardonnay

Quote: "You can't see tomorrow with yesterday's eyes" by Ryan Adams

Mood: pissed about work, but i'll get over it

Exercise: ran at lunch

Weather report: the kind that makes you want to sit outside with a glass of wine looking out over some body of water with some Amos Lee playing on the iPod.

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On my birthday, Kylee asked me what i wanted. Because she is a college student with little money I told her i wanted two things: her gray hoodie that i once kept for awhile before mailing back to her at school and for her to write my obituary. She came over on my birthday with the hoodie and just recently finished my obituary and posted it on her blog: http://dontspeaktype.blogspot.com/

I was quite touched by it and told her to be sure to hang on to it for 42 years because it is exactly what i want. She and i have talked often about our obituaries because i put her in charge of making sure my mom doesn't have a big ol' Catholic mass funeral if i die young. And she knows that I want my blurry blog photo above to be the photo used.

Anyway, here it is - with the blurry dancing photo, sure to be one of the most original obituaries you'll ever see in the newspaper:

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Saturday, June 6, 2009

Jo Benedetti, Age 94
Obituary for my fabulous Aunt Jo.

She had blonde straight hair

She loved to read

But she hated the library

She preferred bookstores

She was opinionated, stubborn and passionate

She was thoughtful, caring, and passionate

She ran everyday

Even in the snow and ice

Her family thought she was crazy

She loved her red Honda

She loved her iPod, American Idol and Lost

She would buy new books even though she had 20 others to read

She was a Democrat in her soul

And had politics running through her veins

Ignorant people pissed her off

And intelligent people inspired her

She fought for what she believed in

She loved to stay home and not attend a party

She loved wine

She had a slight OCD for cleanliness

She would do anything for you if she loved you

She did a lot for her community

And she supported campaigns & organizations

She liked slow music because she appreciated lyrics

She had a select group of people in her life

And hopefully you were one of them

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Posted by Modern Hippie