psycho games

There are a hell of a lot of "I am mormon" billboards in SouthBend. I suspect this is some Romney psychological tactic to make people think it is normal to believe that you will have your own planet and be a god someday.

How do people take this guy seriously? I'm pretty sure the rest of the world doesn't.

culture shock and 80s flashback

I took the opportunity this week to freak out about living in Indiana. I then stepped it up a notch and visited the Chicagoland suburbs on Saturday which further magnified the intensity of the freak out. It only really gets bad when I leave the house or have to deal with the school. I keep finding myself in scenes from Footloose and can only hope that Kevin Bacon will dance through at any moment...

relocation freak out

The house sale has recorded. We now officially live in Indiana and only Indiana and I can't freak out and drive back to Washington. OK, I might just freak out a little.

I guess I need to stop and look around now, and figure how I will fit in here.

The neighbor told me I need a hobby, she sees me post on Facebook every day. 

Good thing she doesn't follow my Tweets. 

Valentines, Lupercalia and chocolate.

20 year of not celebrating Valentine's Day - because it is the other 7,280 days that count ;)

True love is that part that involves more garden projects than roses, more paperwork than pastel cards, more budget meals than dinners out, and more fights and making up than heart shaped chocolates.

A Happy Lupercalia to you all.

college tours and empty nests

making college tour plans for the 4 day weekend, looking ahead to Spring Break plans *woosh* the past 6 months have gone fast

When we relocated 6 months ago we knew that college was on the horizon for our oldest, in fact it was a key factor in the timing of our move. It was important to us that our child have a sense of home in the new state, 2350 miles away from every home that we had ever known. 

We started the college search over, after 3 years of college visits and plans that centered on the Pacific Northwest. With 4 acceptances in hand, we are perhaps doing this a bit backwards now.

high velocity parenting

The real reason that you need to pay attention in Physics the first time is that one night you will be sitting there trying to help your kid interpret velocity versus time graphs and relate motion to the graphs and somethin-somethin about the slope of the velocity and need to pull it all off like you know what the hell you are talking about.

And then cross your arms and sternly tell the child they must advocate for them-self and stay after school and get help from the teacher.

time zones and inner clocks

I am having a hard time adjusting to Eastern Standard Time, it still feels like 2am when the alarm goes off :(

Because it is to my 40 something year old body that has lived in Pacific Standard Time for most of those years.

And it is dark here on the western side of the Eastern Time Zone. And this isn't just a winter thing.

Superbowl offenses

Superbowl and sexism, lots of Twitter on #notbuyingit !

The top offenders were Go Daddy, Fiat and Teleflora. Chevy got an honorable mention.

To view the ads from yesterday's game go HERE.

Advertising Executives are 95% male. And bitter and repressed apparently. 

cat yoga

The cat is asleep in a shoe box on my desk. If I move the shoe box from her spot she sits on whatever important file is sitting there and stares me down. 

After the sun comes up she will want her box carried to the window for early morning birding.

She has also taken up yoga. I find her laying in the sun on the yoga mat all stretched out in a pose with her head on the foam block used for more advanced stretches. It is hard to admit the cat has advanced in yoga further than I have.

I have not yet discovered how those scratches got on the Pilates ball.

coffee obsession, I'm not picky...

I am, in fact, out of coffee. I am not terrible particular about my coffee, other than there needs to be lots of it.

OK, like intravenous would be my preference.

I don't like flavored coffees, they give me a headache. I don't like "cheap" coffee, it upsets my stomach with too much acid. And I would never try one of those cup-machine-things, not only is the concept just out right wrong, I hear they taste like stale cigarette butts in water.

I prefer Sumatran or Italian roast, depending on my mood. I like to keep both drip and espresso grounds in stock, and I drink it black. I use to drink a 4 shot Americano, or four, a day but switched to drip when teaching because I took to carrying around a pump pot. 

I prefer independent coffee houses based on principal but will drink Starbucks, although it often upsets my stomach and frequently tastes funny. I have been buying Starbucks beans since landing in the middle of nowhere and having not yet found an independent roaster. I have not yet gotten over the concept of Dunkin Donuts coffee.

I am coffee obsessing and may need to go to the store. now.