I just rickrolled myself because I actually wanted to hear the song. ISAL!

Also, I really want to learn to do the thing where you run up a wall and then do a backflip. How do you teach yourself to do that? I do have access to a gym with crash mats, but I am not sure how to even go about trying.

Finally, in the car today "Total eclipse of the heart" came on and MADE. MY. DAY. Belting it out with Bonnie Tyler--is anything better?

Once upon a time I was falling in love
Now I'm only falling apart...

Frieda had a blast playing in the sprinkler yesterday:



( More pics under the cut )

I miss a lot about being a kid, but at this time of year I really miss having a whole summer off--three months!--to basically do nothing but read, swim, read, roam around in the woods, read, hang out with friends, and read. It's so hard for me to drag myself to work every day right now when I'd really rather pack up the kid and spend every day alternating between the pool and the library. Liberally peppered with trips to local ice cream parlors.

Thanks to solar_diablo for this enlightening ad.

I'm such a nerd, but this sounds like the coolest vacation ever!

p.s. Nick agrees

I have been very unmotivated to post on LJ lately--my apologies! I'll try to catch you up here a bit.

Frieda the hell-beast
First of all, for some reason the stupid dog is obsessed with electrical cords lately. I don't know why she isn't dead yet, given how many she has managed to eat her way through when we dare to look away for a millisecond. (in the time it just took me to type "dare to look away" she managed to eat through one of Rob's shoelaces. Argh!) She has access to the laundry room during the day, and we THOUGHT we cleared it out well enough that she couldn't destroy anything, but she managed to get to the cord behind the spare freezer and chow through it. Tonight she bit through the cord to my computer mouse in the time it took me to get up and go into the kitchen. This dog better rescue a child from a well soon or something, because she is rapidly outweighing her value.

(Okay, damnit, something just fell over in the closet and she was on it in a flash, protecting us from the "intruder," her mohawk standing up straight. I guess she does have some use. She's also really great for cleaning up spills.)

My weakness
I should not be allowed in the sporting goods store unchaperoned. Today I went to get a new bathing suit for my workouts because my old one was getting weirdly misshapen. I really wanted one of those Body Glove tops that cover you like a tee-shirt. Although some people think my tan lines are sexy, I am not happy about their existence. I never swim before 3 p.m. and I cover myself with waterproof, high-SPF sunscreen. WTF? I've seen enough leatherskinned Scottsdale blondes to know I don't want to go that route. I'm a redhead living in the state with the highest skin cancer rate in the U.S. Need I say more?

So, I got a top like I wanted, but it didn't come with bottoms, so I had to get a sport bikini too. I finally found one that looks flattering on me, so I'm very excited. Then for good measure I got another one-piece, just because, you know, it had FLAMES on it. I mean seriously...FLAMES. How could I resist?

Seriously though, owning swimsuits in Arizona is like owning sweaters in Massachusetts. You can't really have too many. If you want to go outdoors in the summer here, you will be doing it in a pool, lake, or other body of water. So I don't feel too bad, especially because I have been very good about keeping up with this swim workout. Also, I avoided ALL the other departments because I really don't need racquetball gloves or a punching bag hanger (okay, I do need one of those) or, you know, a wet suit...

The big swim
I've started going to a local public pool because I can take Nick with me and they have a water slide and diving board that keep him occupied. I'm happy because his swimming skills are improving. He can now tread water very well and can swim with his head above water (last year he swam entirely underwater). Also we lost his noseplugs and he hasn't requested more, so maybe he can do without them from now on.

Rob has started joining us too, although he complains incessantly. :-P

Random
Two couples I know got married yesterday. I did not attend either ceremony, although one of them just did it for insurance reasons and will have the "real" wedding in November.

I am making Rob engage in romantic relationships in SecondLife to feed my sociological curiosity. I am a bad, bad girl.

Speaking of sociology, I've had this desire lately to go back to school and get a Ph.D. in soc. It would, of course, be the nail in the coffin of my employability (I don't want to teach). I think I'd just leave it off my resume.

I'm sure there's more but I can't think of it now, so I'll go search out some poly drama or something.

Awesome word of the day:

Excrescence:
a projection or outgrowth especially when abnormal
Ex: warty excrescences in the colon

This is awesome:

http://www.vipfibers.com/

I could make a Frieda sweater!

Nick is playing with his new monster action figures and holds up the grim reaper, saying in a deep voice, "NO ONE CAN DEFEAT DEATH!"

Then he accidentally drops the grim reaper on the floor.

As he scurries to retrieve it I hear him add, "Oh no...except maybe the scary giant Frieda dog!!!"

*****

Meanwhile, Frieda just ran in from outside with a ball in her mouth, which she dropped hopefully in front of the cat (who hates her beyond measure). Apparently she's hoping the kitty will play with her and they can finally be friends.

I must be feeling re-invigorated. I've had an overwhelming urge to cook this weekend. That's always a good sign that I'm feeling happy and energetic.

I am attempting to make yogurt in my crock pot. It's remarkably easy--time consuming, but you don't have to do anything other than warm it up and let it sit. I hope it comes out good!

I have also decided to start experimenting with homemade barbecue sauces. I had some really tasty barbecue in Texas, which reminded me that real barbecue is a whole different beast from that bottled crap we usually buy. I have one recipe I use on pulled chicken in the crock pot, and it's good, but I want to come up with something GREAT. Tonight's experiment is a recipe I found online that uses root beer.

Finally, I boiled a bunch of eggs to make egg salad to bring to work. I bought the meat-grinder attachment for my mixer, largely because I like my egg salad ground up that way (with green olives--yum!) It's about time for me to actually use it.

Nick has been pestering me to make ice cream, so I bought cream and I will make French vanilla this week. I have some vanilla beans up in the cabinet so it should be tasty. It will go perfectly with the pie I'll be making with the pecans I bought in Texas.

Okay, now I'm really hungry. Rob needs to finish mowing the lawn so he can fire up the grill!!!

You gotta love badly-worded questions. Of course I believe in monogamy--I've seen lots of people do it. My own parents have been monogamous for almost 50 years now.

Do I believe that monogamy is the best relationship style for everyone? No, I definitely don't. It's fabulous for some people, and Hell on Earth for others.

1. Christmas in July
I've gotten a bit of grief for not making my glögg this past Christmas, but I was too busy and stressed out to do it. But I've always wanted to have a Christmas party in the middle of summer here--something to break up the incessant 100+ days. So I'm thinking this summer I'll brew some glögg, bake some cookies, and blast the old Bing Crosby. Maybe I'll even pull out some of the decorations. If I was REALLY ambitious I'd put up the fake tree, but I don't know if I'm that motivated.

2. Beer tasting
Everyone brings about 3 bottles of a funky beer they'd like. Everyone samples the selections, which are served with cheeses and sausages and fruit and chocolate (to see what foods they complement). I can even get a selection of gourmet root beers so kids can have their own tasting.

3. Party in the park
Gather up all my friends and all the kids and dogs we can possibly find. Head to the local park. Bring frisbees, hula hoops, soccer balls, footballs, badminton sets, kites, water pistols, bubble solution...anything that's fun to play with outdoors. Serve beverages and finger foods. (ETA: Holy cow I forgot to put hackeysacks. For shame!)

I had nightmares all night last night, culminating in what may have been the single most horrifying dream of my entire life. Fear, rage, helplessness, humiliation, guilt--we has it!

All day long I've felt like shit. I just want to go home, crawl under my blanket, and cry.

see more dog and puppy pictures

I went to bed last night around 11:30.

Fell asleep somewhere between 12 and 12:30.

At 2:45 the dog barked and I woke up.

I tossed.

I turned.

I snuggled with Rob.

I didn't snuggle with Rob.

I turned the A/C down.

I went to the bathroom.

I kicked off the blankets.

I pulled the blankets up to my chin.

I did deep breathing exercises.

I did the Quick Coherence Technique.

I tried to empty my brain.

I let my brain run wild.

I tried not to look at the clock.

I went to the bathroom again.

I watched the sun rise.

Finally, a little after 6, I dozed off lightly again.

I woke up to my alarm at 7.

This insomnia thing has become a pattern lately. I don't consciously feel stressed, but clearly I am.

The only reward you can count on for working hard and doing the right thing will come from your own conscience. Make peace with that and you may find happiness.

Frieda managed to get to the box of laundry detergent on top of the dryer and spread it all over the laundry room.

Sure hope she didn't eat any. I guess if she starts farting bubbles I'll know.

President Obama rocks the Casbah.

Oh look, I'm conscious! Don't blink, you might miss it.

I started feeling sick Saturday night and Sunday I woke up (briefly) to full-blown craptacular. I started out with a sore throat and cough, but the main symptom I've had has been utterly crushing fatigue. I get up for about a half hour and then I'm completely wasted again. Just sitting up and reading a book is exhausting.

Speaking of which, it's probably time to hit the hay again. I only got up to eat some breakfast. Everyone I know loses their appetite when they are sick, except for me. Not only do I keep my appetite, but I crave the crappiest foods--things like fluffernutter sandwiches and corned beef hash and Chef Boyardee ravioli--stuff I used to eat as a kid. Comfort food.

One thing I do stop craving when I'm sick, however, is coffee. That's how I know I'm really, truly sick. Of course, now I don't know if the splitting headache I've got is due to the virus or to three days off the joe.

I've been having the craziest Nyquil-induced dreams. In the most recent one I was walking home from somewhere (home being my parents' house, which it often is in dreams) in a bathing suit and knee socks. And when I got home I found my old high school friend's little brother sleeping on our couch, which seemed perfectly normal even though I haven't talked to that friend in 20 years. There was also an earlier dream in which I was feeding chocolate chips to a dolphin and it jumped out of the water and jumped up on me the way Frieda does, trying to get more.

Anyway, nothing really new to report here. Guess I'll head back to bed soon.