Book Excitement!

For those of you who actually know me, even just a little bit, you know that I love books. I love to read, I really do. It's significantly better than television and it actually helps me unwind and relax.

When I was in high school I was that girl walking down the hallway between classes with her nose deep in a book, still able to dodge people without looking up. Think Belle in the opening song of Beauty and the Beast (the Disney film).

Johnny often asks me why I like to read, what's the point, and I try to explain that by reading I can escape my boring life by becoming part of someone else's life for a day. It is also possible to learn quite a bit from reading, not to mention that it helps in terms of vocabulary, spelling, and grammar.

I admit to often rereading the same books over and over, and that I tend to buy a book and then not read it (though when I finally do read it realize that I loved it and remember why I bought it in the first place). It is my goal to someday have an entire room full of books, floor to ceiling.

Anyway, I've been bored of sitting in my apartment all the time so last night I took myself out to Half Price Books. Yes, I know this is a website owned by Ebay, but it is also a store. A compact store with both new and used books for significantly less money than if I bought a book at Barnes and Nobles or Borders.

When I buy books I never know what I'm looking for when I go. I never make lists. Wait, just kidding. I rarely make lists. Now that I live on my own and don't have all the books I'm used to having (like L.M. Montgomery's Anne books, or The Chronicles of Narnia, or all of Dad's books by Mark Twain) I do have it in mind to buy those up bit by bit till I own each series. However, most of the time I don't have anything in mind and instead just browse the aisles for interesting titles that have nothing to do with sex and whose labels aren't that hot pink associated with most modern female writer's books.

One of my favorite writers of all time is Elizabeth Peters, also known as Barbara Michaels, who wrote the Amelia Peabody series. I've been slowly collecting those books over the past three years and finally, yesterday, discovered what I believe is the very first Amelia Peabody book. This made me very excited, as I've wanted to see how she and Emerson met and married but could never find the books. *** if you've never read that series, I apologize. 'Twould take too long to explain, but I'll bet it's on wikipedia somewhere *** 

But yesterday was a bad day in terms of how I felt about myself so I found myself wandering around, straying from the trusty fiction department toward sports and religion and such. As I walked I discovered an end cap covered in pilates, yoga and exercise kits that contained books, CDs, DVDs and probably those elastic workout bands. I already have videos for pilates and yoga and plain ole exercise so I ignored that end cap, but wondered about possibly getting a book of yoga or something so I wandered into the sports section (which included hunting.... Sorry, but I just don't really considering hunting a major sport...). Looking up I struck gold.

Almost all of my workout videos are by Denise Austin, who has a frustrating voice but workouts that work, and she wrote a book or two. I discovered one last night called Shrink Your Female Fat Zones.

It contains a 6-week plan for every female body type. As I sat down to start reading it before buying I discovered that her writing is lovely, as it explains everything in layman's terms without making you feel like a moron. Not only does she give you a workout regime, she also explains what each workout does, how walking benefits your body, gives step by step workouts that take no more than 20 minutes out of your day, shows morning, midday and evening stretches, and finally she gives shopping lists, meal plans for three different calorie intake amounts and also gives recipes for yummy things like homemade bean burritos and roasted chicken or couscous with lemon or thai chicken curry... The downside is those times when she lists beef or hamburgers, in which case I will substitute for homemade spicy black bean burgers or tofu or chicken (now that I live near a Trader Joes, my chicken will be organic to avoid those horrible hormones and chemicals they pump into animals nowadays).

This isn't a crash diet. It isn't even really a diet. She still leaves room for snacks, including things like Oreos, graham crackers, popcorn, ice cream, etc, teaches portion control and explains how some kinds of fat are good for you and necessary. It won't make you starve or fill up on nothing but meat. She says it's really a lifestyle, not a diet. This is the plan she personally uses for herself on a daily basis. And this book has sent me through the roof. By using this plan (obviously I won't follow her recipes and shopping list all the time, I'll add my own stuff in there as she explains how she figured the calories for each meal) I can enhance my energy and my nutrition and keep up my metabolism and figure for years and years to come. There are people who have been using this regime for decades and still look just as good now as they did at 20, some even better! So I'm really excited, this is seriously the best $9 I've ever spent.

I bought the book last night and have already read through almost the entire thing. I intend to start next week on Monday, so I have time to shop and prepare and figure out what time I will set aside for my workout each day. Unlike many other times when I tried to do this on my own, I'm determined to make this work. :) Plus it'll  keep me from sitting on my butt all day long, and it targets specific areas I want to work on. Not to mention that I'm getting married in 197.5 days and intend to look good. Wish me luck!

Apartment Excitement.

I've decided that, since I'll be living in this apartment at least until September, I need more color. Most apartments nowadays are all white and beige and boorrring. So today I FINALLY hung up my Indian bead curtain and used what are supposed to be regular curtains as a kind of decor. It took this long because I kept forgetting to borrow a staple gun from my Dad and/or sister.

However, I also went to Ikea for my very first time ever and discovered a $20 coffee table I'm really excited about

source

source

and this rug, which I love love love. Both of these are for my living room, which looks overly large and kind of boring.

Then I went to Urban Outfitters (the website... sadly, there is no U.O. store around here) which I absolutely adore due to its uniqueness, and I really want to create something like this, only bigger, for my living room wall.

source

My only sadness is U.O.'s lack of anything lavender or purple in general. There's lots of antique colors, but very little in the way of blue or purple. As I have recently discovered/decided my favorite color is any shade of purple this makes me very sad. However, I still love this duvet cover

and this one

and I'm hoping that dear Johnny likes at least one of them...

In either case, I am slowly but surely giving my living space more personality, and by registering Johnny and I can give our eventual living space (assuming it isn't this apartment) an Emily/Johnny flair. I really just love making my space my own. :)

Here is a.) Christmas lights covered by a sheer curtain I had no other use for and b.) the reason I'm so interested in duvet covers. While, yes, this bed spread is heinous that is not the reason I'm looking. Call me strange (Mom always did...) but I absolutely adore this spread. No, the reason I'm looking at duvet covers is because with this new wall covering my room is basically all one color and I'd like to add some interest. Plus, I love antique floral prints.

And here is the bead curtain I finally hung with two more of the originally unused curtains. Yes, I did that drawing you see on the wall as well. 

Hopefully I can find contact paper (did you know walmart.com has NO IDEA what contact paper is??? What is this world coming to!) so I can create that tree decal for my wall. I have a number of family photos on the wall that I'd love to connect together using the tree, and then create another for a different part of the wall that is currently bare. The more time I spend here the more personality this place will have. And it helps that the Ikea is literally a ten minute drive up I-75 from my apartment. :DD

Apparently I go back to work at the office most likely on Wednesday this week. I'm actually rather looking forward to it. And on Friday I'm supposed to go roller skating with a group of my friends I haven't seen in awhile! I'm so super excited, mostly about the roller skating part but especially for the hanging with friends WHILE skating part! I love love roller skating and rarely ever go so here's my chance! 

But for now I'm going to get up off my keester and do a workout. I've been a lazy bum and it's actually starting to show and I can't let that happen! I'm in a wedding in just over three months and then I have my own wedding in six and a half months - whoa. That's kind of really soon - and summer is literally right around the corner. Time to go sweat! Wish me luck! 

Holy cars, Batman!

I just want to take this moment to tell all of you who aren't experiencing this surprising February weather that I am currently sitting on the front porch at my parent's house in a pair of old gym shorts and a long sleeved shirt and it feels absolutely wonderful. Even though meteorologists claim this weather is definitely going to turn back into snow sometime in the next couple of weeks, we Ohioans are going to soak up this gorgeousness for as long as possible.

Well, my tomorrow was just changed again. Earlier today, just before my lunch break, my boss sent an email that said we all had tomorrow off because all of the full time employees are going to a mandatory part-ay to celebrate I think the 50th anniversary or some such nonsense. Temps are not invited. Good thing too, considering I'm currently stranded in this town. But just a moment ago, before I started this post, I got a text from my boss telling me that I would be working tomorrow same as always. Oh well, that's totally fine with me. I was bummed about losing out on money, especially considering my current circumstance.

Yesterday I went to get my car washed after work. Johnny was here for the day and it was so nice and my car was gah-ross so I went to get it washed. As we were leaving I noticed one of those annoying red lights on my dash. It said "Security". Lovely. Johnny checked the manual and apparently it has something or other to do with the Passlock or something and I have no idea what they mean. My car still turned on and all, so I figured I'd be okay. I was planning to drive back to Cincinnati immediately following dinner. Drove over to my Dad's office to say goodbye, and on my way I smelled a bit of a burning coming from my car. Kind of like the smell of the heater when you first turn it on in the fall. I figured, oh, it'll go away. Then, a quarter mile later, nearly to Dad's office, all of my dashboard lights (except the security light) and my headlights go out. I have a car with the lights that turn on automatically. This problem has never happened before. So I turned them on manually and they were fine, but when I told Dad he said, "Yeah, you're not going home tonight."

Today. Took the car up to our local mechanic friend who said A.) I had a wheel bearing that was going bad, and B.) I have to take my car to the dealership to have them take a look and that it's probably the ignition switch. Johnny said that generally takes a good $400 to fix. Not. Good. I was planning to take my car around to get it fixed tomorrow since I wasn't working. Bye-bye Emily's Friday plan! Looks like I'll be hanging around here again this weekend. *sigh*

In other news, Johnny and I celebrated 8 months of dating/being engaged this past Sunday, which also meant Valentine's Day was just another Monday. Which I'm honestly completely okay with. I'm going to be a pessimist for a second and say that Valentine's Day was just an excuse to make February more exciting than it  really is.

However, on Valentine's Day we got a care package from our good friend Chelsea in Florida, which was great fun because it included such stuff as a coloring book, markers, candy (one kind for each of us), and soup. Additionally, we received a package in the mail from my aunt in Maryland consisting of these lovely leather bracelets with silver clasps that say "Love Life. Be brave". Until today I wore mine consistently, but it was getting in the way as I worked so I left it off.

So, this is an incredibly boring post and I honestly don't have any photos to add so sorry y'all! Welcome to Podunk, Ohi-ah.

Too. Much. Driving.

You know, I probably wouldn't care so much about how many miles I have driven in the past month if I wasn't always taking the exact same route. For example, if I was driving across the country to somewhere new, mileage? Not such a big deal because I don't see the same scenery over. and over. and over. And I tell you what, that stretch from Cincinnati to Columbus on I-71 gets flatter and more boring every time you drive it.

When I came back to my family's house yesterday (Friday) I discovered all sorts of things had been moved around, Anne is sorting through videos and cleaned up the basement and organized the linen closet... and she intends to dispose of most of the VHS films we have, including all of the Disney stuff! So I''m going home with all kinds of movies after all this.

However, it's also rather disheartening, especially when Anne explained why she was doing it.
"Well, you know, Dad's probably going to sell the house in a year or so..."

Wait, what?

I've almost always lived in this house. I grew up in this house. I LOVE this house. Dad not live here??? Seriously? We haven't even had grandkids for him yet!

I cannot imagine my dad NOT living in this old house. We've done so much work on it, repainted both the inside and outside, recently bought new furniture including a new chair and trundle beds, have more books than could ever be counted... if he moves, he'll move into an apartment or duplex or something, and most likely will have to sell or give away most of the furniture and a lot of the stuff because it just won't fit in an apartment. And boy, did that make me sad. After my grandfather died in 1984, my grandma held onto her house and lived in it alone all the way up until I was halfway through high school. Which would mean she kept it for a good 18 years. But Dad will sell a mere year after? I just don't know. I don't know if I can handle that, and if he moves I don't know how often I'd come to visit anymore. It would be so strange and weird. Where would we have Christmas as a family? Would Dad travel to us? How would we visit with all our kids someday and all fit into his hypothetical apartment?

I know I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, but quite honestly this whole concept makes me heart hurt. I don't even really want to think about it, but I really can't help it. If I lived around here and could buy the house and live in it myself I... no, actually I wouldn't. That would be really strange, I don't think I could handle sleeping next to my husband in my parent's old room. Ick. Weird. I'd feel like I have to call Dad anytime I wanted to change something and get his permission before just doing it.

Anywho, I just spent the day with my cousins eating Chipotle (which they have never had before... those CT people are SO depraved) and Tom's Ice Cream and watching old home videos again. My cousin Sara was in many of them because she always came to hang with us when we'd visit. They all leave first thing tomorrow so it was nice to spend the day with them.

Tomorrow (Sunday) is February 13th. It is also known as Johnny's and my eight month anniversary. :D He actually wanted to go to Chipotle tomorrow, but we kinda already went and I cannot handle two days in a row so now I get to think of a new restaurant. It also helps that this will be the day before Valentine's so we can kinda mix the two together.

Emmanuel the Mardstrel

So, a few months ago a friend of mine posted a status asking about another word for a bard, which led to us coming up with a whole new word and a story line and I told her I'd write the story, she could illustrate. She is, after all, a fine artist. Here is my work in progress, copyright Emily Blood 2010, and we hope to make it into a children's book someday. Enjoy!!

I went to the village one lovely fall day
To visit the potter and trade eggs in for clay
In the midst of the hustle I saw a face
I had ne'er seen in three leagues of this place.
"That's Emmanuel the Mardstrel", the potter said with a grin
"They can't keep him out so they just let him in!"
"What's a mardstrel?" I asked as we both watched on
"Why it's a bard and a minstrel all rolled into one!
He plays strings with his fingers, has bells on his toes
And wreaks havoc in every village he goes!"


In the town of Grand Bugsby, the potter began
The mardstrel decided he wanted a tan.
He broke into houses and stole all the lamps
To lie under in the square without any pants.
In Hansen last summer, the potter went on,
He decided they needed less brains and more brawn
So he burned down the school, the church and the bridge
'Cos smarter folks live on the opposite ridge.


Just as he finished the potter stopped short
And looked toward the square with an angry snort
Quick as a flash he had knocked the bard flat!
"Get out of this town and never come back!
We don't need your help, this town is just fine,
So spare us your mischief or I'll break your spine!"



Aaaaaannnnd that's all I've got. Still a work in progress. :)

Whoa Yarn!!

I finally got up the energy to completely unpack and organize. As my best friend is coming for her first ever visit to my apartment on Thursday (SO EXCITED!!!!) I kind of wanted it to be done and organized and looking nice and not like I just came back from a three week sojourn to New Concord.

The Sunday before I went home for those three weeks, a couple I'm friends with gave me this set of metal do-it-yourself cube shelves. Till today they just sat in a Sam's Club reusable grocery bag next to my tv. Then I had a stroke of genius.

So. Much. Yarn.

When I worked at the Friendship Preschool and Daycare I spent nap time crocheting blankets and hats... anything to keep my knees warm in that freezing cold room. So the administrator gave me two enormous boxes of yarn that used to belong to her late mother. More yarn than I will EVER use.

Hey, anyone want some yarn? There's more where this came from!

Someday I should probably get around to actually finishing something... There's half a scarf I promised Dad three years ago still waiting to be finished... Sorry Dad!

In any case, thank you thank you Jim and Angie for giving me these shelves! It made my apartment more colorful and gave me a place to put my planters from the funeral. AND for my twinkle lights!

Today kinda sucked. But doing this actually made my night. :)

I'm Too Tired for Titles.

I care so much about the Super Bowl that I made a point of driving the 2.5 hour trip back to Cincinnati just when it was going on. Yup. It's that big of a deal to me.

I'm "home" now. Most of my stuff is unpacked but I have more clothes than I will ever have room for so tomorrow after work I get to organize my closet. Again. And then repack four days later for a weekend trip back to good ole nc.

Somehow all of this is easier when I'm with my family. Then it feels as though we're just waiting for Mom to come back from vacation. Now I have to deal with the reality of going back to work and paying bills and all of that nonsense without the periodical updates from Dad about when Mom's next treatment is or a text from Mom asking for help creating a group for her contacts on her phone. When I lived in Connecticut sometimes I would call home and have long conversations with my Mom about cooking and coupons and phones and work and life in general.

It's so much easier to pretend she's on vacation.

During my drive, once I got bored of music, I allowed my mind to slowly build, piece by piece, topic by topic, chapter by chapter, the book I am now determined to write. It will be a long haul, involving lots of emails overseas and to my relatives and Mom's friends and outlining and writing and revising and finding someone to publish it for me and whatever else it takes to write a book. Quite honestly, I don't care much if it sells. I just want to share my beautiful mother with the world and also fulfill my lifelong goal of publishing a book. I will need support from all of you, my wonderful readers. Help me keep on writing!

Anyway, I really hope that as time goes on sleeping actually grants me rest. Till then, I get to wake up at 5:30am for work for the first time in three and a half weeks. Wish me luck!