do you ever wake up, think about your life, and say, "no thanks. I don't want any of that today." yeah. it's one of those days.

You Know You're From West Virginia When...

You only knew one or two Republicans as you were growing up. You actually know someone who has sold their vote for a bottle of liquor. You've never seen a local ballot with anything but Democratic candidates. You think Senator Byrd should be nominated for Sainthood. You've seen Senator Byrd's name on a sign in front of a bridge or highway construction project. You know what commodity cheese is. You've been asked to give someone a ride to the post office on "check day." You know what "check day" is. You have avoided the post office on "check day." You've seen a picture of John L. Lewis hanging on someone's wall right between the picture of Jesus and JFK. You know who John L. Lewis is. You know what a Tipple is. You know what a slate dump is. You played on a slate dump as a kid. You know someone who actually did go to Pruntytown. She same guy got his head shaved and "fell down the steps" at the court house a couple of times before being sent off. Everyone who works at the court house is related to someone else who works there. You sometimes call a paved road "the hard road." You know someone who has driven to a neighboring state to get "real beer" instead of the 3.2 stuff. You've bought fireworks from the same guy with the real beer. The state where this guy went might be called "O-hi." "Vacation" means driving through Wyatt on the way to Morgantown. Down south to you means Kentucky. Stores don't have bags; they have pokes. You cook green beans for hours. You know what a real tomato is, and have a recipe for candy ones. Your parents have threatened to have you sent to Pruntytown. You can watch someone order a hotdog and know in what part of the state they live. You know that Serpent Mound was not made by snakes. You know at least one couple who went to Virginia or Maryland to get married. You can change the oil in your truck without ducking your head. You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from West Virginia.

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I need to get away, and I'm taking suggestions on where to go. I want to visit a city that I've never been to. I'm willing to fly, but I'd still prefer one east of the mississippi since I'll have a limited amount of time and don't want to spend all of it traveling. major destinations I've already done: d.c., new orleans, savannah, chicago, and new york. doesn't have to be a big city, just somewhere interesting. feel free to give me idears.

I'm afraid the windsor crew is building much faster than I can keep up with their work. a few nights ago I drove by and saw that the first floor was framed--bare bones, but exciting stuff--and went back to take a picture today. yeah. check out the nor'easter gallery to see what has transpired.

on financial matters:

the earnest money on the house is paid! construction is really humming along; pics to be posted soon.

filed my tax returns today. owed federal and got back state--I ended up being a little over $100 to the good. so much for a grand refund. but at least I'm not in the hole.

in light of my adventures making my car payment, a haiku:

the check must be mailed
scowling bankers lie in wait
buy stamps? pray, with what?

I'm not sure what my "most prized possession" would be, but my car is high on the list--ophelia, my little go-devil. if pressed I could probably come up with 100 great reasons to own a miata, but tonight I thought of the greatest one of all:

you never have to worry about a psycho killer hiding in your back seat.

on today's episode of murphy's law: whenever you're in a hurry, you get stopped at every red light between points A and B. however, say you're driving while attempting to do something that really should not be done while operating a motor vehicle--eating a qdoba burrito, for example. inevitably every traffic signal, even at the notorious freeman mill road/florida street intersection (which has made many a poor soul late for various functions, I'm sure), will be green. which is why I finally had to break down and finish my dinner in the gateway commerce building's parking lot and was late to work.

the first "walk through" of the nor'easter is tomorrow afternoon. I get to hear all about drywall and things.

actually had to work last sunday for a bit. how can america be such an obese country with so many people buying nordictracks? they can't ALL be using them for creative plant stands.

I can't decide which are more annoying, ATMs that actually advertise themselves as "24 hour banking" that are "temporarily out of service" at off hours (yes, BB&T, I'm talking about you) or post office stamp machines THAT ARE COMPLETELY DEVOID OF 37 CENT STAMPS every single time I check. hmmph.

new nor'easter pic posted today.

it's a few days late, but I forgot to mention what a nice v-day weekend justin and I had. dinner at restaurant j basul noble in high point and chocolate all round. best of all, we got to celebrate negative hiv test results! so if anyone needs any prophylactics, you know who to see--they're gathering dust, and for once that's not a bad thing.

my feelings for justin have changed...in that they've become more intense than ever. he's gone from simply being part of my life to being the most crucial element of it. every day I'm thankful--and amazed--to be with someone so intelligent, talented, funny, sexy, loving, etcetera. he's everything I ever wanted, and everything I didn't even know I wanted. to all my friends in need of some love, I wish the same for you. but not from justin. he's taken.

new gallery in thousand words. not much to look at now, I know, but hopefully it'll get more interesting.

so I read that mary kay letourneau and vili fualaau are getting married "according to a department store registry." after a little digging I found out which one it was and checked out their list. they're getting some nice stuff. most of the registry's been purchased, but a pickle dish was still available. I'm so tempted to buy one and have it sent.

lately it's becoming more difficult to ignore willow's resemblance to a lemur. hmm.

I think that if I become much more stressed I'm going to explode in a fiery ball of acid (of the reflux variety). it pretty much comes down to my job, honestly. it isn't stressful per se--far from it; I still enjoy my work--but its impact on the rest of my life is bringing me further and further down. I just have to keep reminding myself that I can't even consider any changes until we're settled in the new house. too many things between now and then that will cost money.

even worse is that I stay stressed over the good things in my life. have you ever valued something so much that you worry about losing it--to the point that it's impossible to get any mental peace, or even enjoy the aforementioned thing as much as you should?

I'm becoming as neurotic as a carrie fisher character.

once again, I find myself wishing that my life was as simple as it used to be.

a bit of personal philosophy: when you say "you're pretentious," what I hear is "I am dismayed that my mental capacity is too base and meager to allow for the good taste that you have. although my stubborn pride won't allow me to voice it, I salute thee."

the double fudge coca-cola cake is back at cracker barrel. hallelujah!

nice visit with parents yesterday. it's a shame that bad weather delayed their coming for so long, but they finally made it.

it's one of those weird days when, for some inexplicable reason, I'm looking forward to going to work. very odd. although not as odd as those nights when it's time to leave and I think, "no! give me more work to do!" I think that's happened twice.

sunday we signed the contracts for the house, yay! it should be finished on june 24th. soon I'm going to set up a really annoying webshots gallery to which I'll add pictures every time a nail is driven in. we also selected our interior colors and materials, which was dramatic. picture me flinging myself over a table littered with plastic chips and carpet samples and crying, "NO! I simply cannot live with those countertops!" well, it wasn't that bad. but it took some time to reach consensus on everything. now if we can just get our lender(s) to do what we want. we've got loan approval, but we're not happy with any offers so far. get it together, people. I've got a credit score in the 700s and full documentation of a healthy income, so you will kindly do my bidding and not fuck with me.

oral-b brush ups are such a good idea. why didn't someone think of them years ago?

once again I should update my film blog with more info on this, but I just don't feel motivated. suffice it to say that napoleon dynamite was one of the most disappointing movies I've ever seen. also on the short list of most boring and most pointless. what am I missing here?

hopefully I can fall asleep soon so that I can hit great clips tomorrow and take advantage of their $5.99 sale. isn't my life a hoot?

so I've started taking these B complex mega vitamins. I think they've already done a lot to lower my stress levels--not one hysterical crying fit since I've been on 'em. B vitamins are also supposed to lessen "mental confusion." so why did I lie awake for an hour the other morning pondering this: if kato kaelin, johnny cochran, and judge ito were the three stooges, which ones would they be? I'm open to ideas on this one, but be prepared to justify your choices.

colleen parked next to me at work last night, and I noticed that she has a bush/cheney sticker. I really did not need to know that about her. it must be haverized.

haverize - verb. to purposely forget unpleasant or unwanted information.
source: the friends of bartleby slang lexicon, revised edition, 2005.

I've never been a tonight show fan, and so was unaware of the existence of the fruitcake lady until I was sent one of her video clips in a forward. I truly believe that she is the funniest human alive. if you've got high speed internet, watch some of these hellaciously amusing clips.

willow's in bed, and it looks comfy. off I go.

I hate to make yet another bitch/moan post, but I feel bitchy and moany. everything's going all right these days--floors dry, house financing underway, all that--but there's just too much of everything. I need a break. just three days, I think. three days away from everyone and everything, just a comfy bed and books in a quiet place. too bad it won't happen anytime soon. but as soon as march rolls around (that's when stuff at o.d. will become less strenuous; we bought out another freight company and are adjusting), I'm gone. ain't sayin where or when, just that I'll be back. and I can't wait.

willow's surgery went well. get to pick her up tomorrow. poor baby!

not a lot else happening, so I believe I'll go eat some breakfast.

the floors are almost dry, but now my toilet's leaking--the same one that was fixed a few months ago after my bathroom turned into a swamp. for those of you keeping track, that's NOT the same bathroom that had the shower curtain rod fall down. THAT bathroom is the one that had no faucets when we moved in. I'm seriously considering starting a separate blog to chronicle the pitfalls that occur in 4109.

but matters with the house are really taking shape. it's so much fun, like building a house in the sims. only real. with real money. that the bank will hopefully give us. that's the most pressing issue at hand.

the snow that was predicted didn't really materialize, mostly just rain. but it's sooooo cold. another fun electrical bill for next month.

gotta go run some more laundry through the dryer. the one upside to the great deluge of ought-five is that my room will wind up being cleaner than it's been for a while.

my day.

woke up, as per usual. showered, like usual. began walking to my closet...squish. half of my floor was soaked through. the whole closet. the hallway. josh's bedroom. seems the imbeciles that park forest hired to work on the water lines fucked up. I was livid. thankfully maintenance cleared things up right away after I went in the office and pitched a fit.

but the incident has just made it easier for me to say this: DO NOT EVER MOVE INTO PARK FOREST APARTMENTS! I've never known of a complex to have so many problems. we've been without water several times without being notified. we had those lovely big holes in the ceiling for several days. the men who came to reinforce the patio left their junk everywhere and took a looooong time to do their work. these fucking buildings must be made out of balsa wood, they need so much done. but when it comes to what I need done personally (i.e. the water leak of last fall), maintenance is nowhere to be found. the office staff is nice enough, when they're there--usually they're not, even during regular hours. I can't wait to get out of this hellhole.

that said, I'm going to bed. at justin's, since the noise of the carpet drying fans is somewhat distracting.

it's so odd to be up and sitting around the house on a monday afternoon--I'm usually either asleep or at justin's. but mlk day has given the teachers some freedom, and we're all just chilling and watching the simpsons here. if we end up moving into the new house during the summer the neighbors won't know what to think, since we'll all be home like this every day. we're a little too old to be college students, and the neighborhood's too nice to live in on welfare. I'd hate to get a reputation for being independently wealthy. it'll make us a target for burglars.

speaking of the house, finally got out to ridge view and spoke with the builder rep yesterday. walked through a house like the one we want, and it was great. I don't foresee any problems with financing--justin and I are co-signing, and my credit score is over 700 as it is--so I hope that construction can get underway soon. LOTS of pics will be posted.

my moods are still up and down, and I haven't been able to get dr. mckinney on the phone yet. will keep working on that.

the 'rents hit town on sunday for my pre-birthday birthday dinner. anyone reading this is welcome to invite themselves!

I've been trying to be a better correspondent, as per my new year's resolutions. I've gotten in touch with many old friends lately and am loving it. the only problem is for them to find time in the afternoons to hang out with me.

enough time wasted at the computer. time to waste more time on the sofa before the grind!