Small Wonders

Today, happiness has come in many forms.

-Rain! I have always loved all things connected to rain.

-New makeup! As Ugly Week has begun to stretch into Ugly Month, I've needed some more help in this department. Today I got some new foundation, concealer, perfume, face wash, and brushes, courtesy of my friend Nan who sells Mary Kay products. I have used Mary Kay products in the past and have found that they work well for me. I can always return anything that doesn't work out for me.

-Downsizing! Because of the new makeup, I went through all my old makeup and nail polish and threw away a ton of stuff. As I did, I thought about how much money I'd wasted on products I hardly used. In the future, I will try not to become obsessed with collecting things I don't use.

-My new flickr account! I decided to open a flickr account after all, but will continue posting photos here as well. You can subscribe to my photos if you want to, just as you would a regular blog.

-Clark's! It had been a long time since I'd been in Clark's, but Roy and I went there tonight and were awestruck at all the products. We will definitely become more regular shoppers.

-Strange coincidences! My mom called and woke me up from a dream that focused heavily on her and our relationship.

-Fuzzy kitties! When I woke up from said dream, I realized that both Kerwin and Woogas were all snuggled against me, sleeping. So cute!

-Homework avoidance! This really is not something to be excited about, but it's making the list anyway.

-Meditation! I've decided to try to add meditation to my daily routine to help reduce stress in my life. I've become aware that I am entirely too stressed out, and it is showing up in a number of areas. I have attempted meditation before with little success. I plan on trying it at the end of my yoga routine, because then I will already be very relaxed.

Words and Photos on a Rainy Sunday

I absolutely love clouds, rain, and storms. Needless to say, this past week and especially this weekend have been heaven for me. It has been a quiet weekend, but those are the best kind to have when it's raining outside.

I've been working on several school activities this weekend. For starters, I have to critique some of my classmates' work for my creative writing class. This is proving to be tougher than I originally anticipated, because most of it doesn't really strike a chord with me. I don't find any of it bad, but I don't find it particularly good either. So I'm not really sure what to say.

I am also supposed to turn in a creative work of my own tomorrow, and I've had little success with writing something worthwhile. So I started going through my poetry folders on my computer to find some promising pieces. I revisited some very old poems of mine, and man, they suck. Some of them are decent. All of them need work, even if I once filed them in the "Finished" folder. It's amazing how my perspective on my poetry has changed. I think I am going to turn in a couple of poems that have already been published. Even though they've appeared in print already, they are by no means perfect. It'll be interesting to hear other people's points of view.

In addition to school work, I've been doing a lot of soul searching and thinking about what it is I can realistically devote my life to. I haven't come to any real solutions yet, but one thing I do know is that I don't want to be a sellout. I have been emailing with Crissy, who was my wedding photographer. She also happens to be a person I admire greatly, because she is talented and brave and a positive influence on others. She has reiterated some simple truths that I need to revisit, and I am very grateful for that.

Along with these big things, there are the little things that I've enjoyed this weekend: sleeping in, grocery shopping at Trader Joe's, a smoothie from Juice it up, some fresh flowers, a sandwich from Togo's, a couple of unbearably cute kitties, good music, my awesome husband, and a few photos.

It's been a good weekend. I wish I wasn't dreading this coming week so much.

Fire, Fire Everywhere!

This is a satellite image of the fires burning in Southern California right now. It's pretty scary and sad to think of all those affected. I have been affected indirectly, as there is a fire burning near my school. Classes for the entire week have been cancelled. Naturally, I'm thrilled - but at what cost?

Here's hoping that everyone out there stays safe and out of the line of fire. (No pun intended.) I hate that these things happen. I can't imagine losing everything I own or having to pick what belongings to pack. This is all so very sad.

In the Hot Zone

Today it was about 106 degrees outside. If we were normal people, we would hide out in our air-conditioned home. Unfortunately, our abnormal air conditioning situation keeps our apartment comparable to the great outdoors. We live in the upstairs portion of an older house, so there is no central air. We have window units in each of the bedrooms (one of which we use for our computer room/library). Several months ago we bought a swamp cooler to cool off the living room. It keeps the air circulating but doesn't really cool off the room. Finally we decided to take matters into our own hands. Roy retrieved a window unit we had in storage and "installed" it in the kitchen. By installed, I mean he put it on a table, pushed the back of it out the window, and tied it down so it wouldn't fall out the window. Oh, and he also taped up the rest of the open window with cardboard. The word "ghetto-fabulous" comes to mind. (I call it one word because it's hypenated.) Check it out:



Yes, those are books and magazines propping up the unit. Nice, huh? It does a good job cooling down the kitchen, naturally. However, the living room is still toasty. I figure that this is a character-building experience. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

In other news, we went out to escape the heat and to see Stardust. However, upon getting to the movie theatre, we realized that we really shouldn't be spending money on movies right now. That is how broke we are, my friends. Instead we went to Target and bought a few necessary items with gift cards left over from the wedding.

I also finished reading Memories of my Melancholy Whores. It took me a little over a day to read it. I am a huge fan of the 3 Marquez books I have read, but this one was not nearly as good, in my opinion. Reading this book made me realize how long it has been since a book has come along and absolutely swept me off my feet. I miss the feeling of being absolutely satisfied by a book.

I can't believe it's already September! Kerwin is also alarmed by how fast time is going by:



Roy and Woogas are both pretty zen about the whole thing:



Happy September! Let's hear it for the end of summer (but apparently not the end of the heat).