I have a huge list today.

• Walking and chatting with Robin (really going to miss this)
• Wandering around taking pictures for Love Thursday
• Riding the scooter
• Singing “All the Single Ladies“, the Pomplamoose while riding the scooter
• Channeling Chris’s brain waves
• Doing something girlie like The Girlie Show
• Saturday morning breakfast with Chris
• Listening to my favorite NPR shows on Saturday mornings
• Subbing that morning yoga class on Saturdays, but only on occasion
• Sharing 105degrees with Amy
• Spice C smoothies with Cayenne pepper
• Sampling each others’ food
• Sharing Green Goodies cupcakes with Amy
• Helping Amy pick out Christmas ornaments
• Planning out ornaments for my Christmas tree for when we move and we have our own home
• Picking out crap to decorate Chris’s sweater
• Ice cream for dinner
• When Chris makes Mac-n-cheese
• Watching an on demand movie (I ordered on accident, so I had to watch it)

Maybe is just seemed bigger on paper.

I can list all the things that did not get accomplished this weekend. The kitchen did not get demoed and only half of the temporary kitchen got assembled (OK…maybe more then half). Office is still in shambles. And I did not get Chris’s sweater put together for our Christmas card (We are doing a card this year).

But who cares about all the crap that didn’t get done. Saturday was bliss. Amy came up for belated birthday and we took her to 105degrees for lunch. For dessert, we went to Green Goodies because Amy had specifically asked for cupcakes on her birthday and no one had delivered. After her first bite of organic cupcake, she said “why is this cupcake bringing tears to my eyes?”. Next thing you know, we were all crying. From there we headed to Gardenridge to help her pick out christmas ornaments and to walk off lunch. Picking out ornaments is thirsty business, so we ended up at the Urban Teahouse for tea. And the next thing we know, we’ve decided to head over to Pops for sodas. Whew!

Look at all that stuff we did accomplish! I did manage to get some things taken care of like laundry and groceries. Another thing I’m putting on the accomplished list is that I was not on the computer at all this weekend. I checked my email Saturday morning before going to sub for a yoga class and that was it. So I am behind on blogs and facebooks and tweets. But I can live with that.

So, I’m not much of a girlie girl. I’ve never worn much makeup and I wear yoga pants at least five days out of the week. But occasionally I do like to get all glamed up and hit the town. Tonight I am attending the Girlie Show with my friend Traci and in honor of the Girlie Show I plan on looking a little more….well…girlie. I guess you can say that I’m thankful for the rare opportunities where I get the chance to be girlie and play dress up.

Also, I am thankful that my friend Amy can finally come up and eat with us at 105degrees. I am so excited to share this place with another vegetarian. Plus, I haven’t had the chance to go back after the last time we went.

I am thankful for this beautiful day and being able to ride the scooter to work. I am thankful that I’m only working half the day even if it’s so I can get a jump start on building our temporary kitchen (I’m thinking it will take me an hour, then a nap). I am thankful for my beautiful sister-in-law who celebrated a very monumental birthday yesterday. She’s amazing.

I am just very thankful this Friday.

There’s a lot of construction going on in the area where I work. This is a new research tower being built just outside my window. Some days I sit mesmerized by the amount of support and scaffolding required for this project. And there are times when I think that there’s no way that building is going to remain upright when they take all of that scaffolding down. But of course, it will.

My mood has lifted and I’ve just learned to live with the chaos going on around me, but I think it would have taken a lot longer to get to place of ease with out all of my own personal scaffolding, my fiends that have been there to listen to the whines and bitches. I hope that I, in turn listen half as well and support them as well as they do for me.

I was asked once what my spiritual view was or is. My reply was that we are not in this alone. That there’s a reason we were all on this planet at this time in space together. That we need each other. With out the scaffolding it would all just come crashing down.

Happy Love Thursday.

Wow! That’s quite a list I’ve got going there. And yes, I realize I’ve blogged every day this week so far. So far.

Talk turned to Nanowrimo Saturday night as we sat around the campfire eating burnt marshmallows with the Jens. I was asked if I would be participating this year or at least participating in NaBloPoMo. And the simplest answer is No, no, aaannnndd NO.

My reasoning is just as simple as my answer: I am not a writer. I have zero grand creative ideas of becoming a published author. The only reason my name is on publications today is because I did all the science work and someone else did all the writing. Yes…I know I write this blog, but this isn’t actual writing. This is me talking or having a conversation with friends on the other side of the planet who I can’t see every day. Which leads into why I’m not involved with NaBloPoMo.

Well, have you heard of that book by Maggie Mason called No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog? If I had to blog every day for a month, this place would turn into a running commentary of not just what I had for lunch, but also for breakfast, supper and in between meal time snacks. Also, the blog is a relatively stress-free zone. Turning it into a daily event would lead me to too much panic and that would lead to the inevitable entry about how many times I pooped in one day.

Now, this isn’t to say that I am against any of these two creative endeavors. I will be personally kicking someone in the balls if he bails out on Nanowrimo this year. And I will be cheering on all of my friends who are involved with the project because I think they are all brilliant and fabulous and I can see really good things coming to them from their labors. So good luck all you Nanowrimoes and NaBloPoMoes! I’ll be the cheerleader with the megaphone.

I’ve notice a growing consensus of a cloud of funk settling around everyone lately. I know the past few weeks have been hard on me and most of that has been due to me being over extended and just plain tired. All of this has been fuel for the crank monster growing in my belly. But this weekend, I finally started to see the death of that little monster.

The crank monster could have totally been uncaged on Saturday what with me locking my keys in the trunk (on the other side of town from Chris) and being fifteen minutes late for a yoga class I was subbing. But it wasn’t. I had probably a good four hours of alone time, Chris made a huge dent in the office, and then we spent the evening with the Jens. I ate cheese, smores and more cheese and drank one too many New Castles. I passed out on the Jens couch around midnight with their dog Leela until Chris decided he was ready to head home (some time around 2? 3?). And then, this morning I woke up to sun and I was AWAKE! I jumped up, showered and slapped Chris on the thigh and said “Let’s go to Ingrid’s for brunch!”. And that’s what we did. Ate way too much and at one point in Target I was riding around on the end of the cart, too full and sleepy to move. But no crank monster.

Could it really all be about the time change? Because, yeah, I’m a little tired and hung over, but I feel lighter and more at ease then I have in a really long time. I don’t even care that I have no idea when they plan to start on the kitchen (tile in the floor is gone; could start tomorrow or next month; dealing with Chris’s brother here). But I’m pretty much ambivalent to it all. I have a space of my own. I’ve taken care of the things that I can take care of and that’s all I can pretty much do. So.. Bring it on November! I’m ready for ya.