Things on my plate

I've been up to a lot. I got a weird bug in me Sunday and started cleaning out my closet (gasp)! And when I say I cleaned out my closet I really mean that I took four entire hours and devoted myself to getting rid of over half of my clothes and shoes, bagging it all up, and hanging everything else back up nicely. Whew. It feels good to be purged of all of that stuff!

Of course, like a good girl, I did some walking on the treadmill, too. My good friend, the pesky robin, came to visit me at the window while I was on the treadmill, and tap-tap-tapped his little beak at the window for me, to give me some good walking rhythms I'm sure. Seriously, that bird...

While on the treadmill, I noticed another couple of interesting Gilmore Girls things that don't add up. In one conversation Richard and Emily Gilmore both refer to Richard's mother as in the past, using the word "was" to describe her as if she has already passed away. Am I remembering correctly that she does in fact appear in some episodes in later seasons, coming over for visits from London? And Kirk makes yet another "non-Kirk" appearance as a delivery guy bringing the swans to the Independence Inn for a wedding.
We also got a LOT of rain recently. Stormy nights mean one thing for certain in this household -- it will be a "five-dog-night". Aren't they just a little bit cute?

And I finally got the courage up to add the first set of borders to my Spring Fling Round Robin quilt square, mailed to me by Kari Day in Texas. It ended up being a lot more traditional and "safe" than I had originally dreamed up, but I thought her quilt square was bright enough and detailed enough on it's own and surely didn't need super-busy borders to be piled up on top of it. Off it goes to it's next partner tomorrow...

Kirk's origins

So I was walking on the treadmill again today (yay, me!), watching Episode #2 of Gilmore Girls, and up on the screen pops Kirk, standing on Lorelai's porch. What Gilmore Girls fan doesn't love Kirk? Well, I was shocked when he introduced himself as "Mick", and he asked Lorelai if this was her residence. What?! Yep, it looks like Kirk started out as an extra on Gilmore Girls as a technician hired by Emily to try to install a DSL line in Lorelai's house (she turned him down). I kept thinking to myself, how did I not notice this before? Well, of course, I didn't notice it the first time because I wouldn't have known who Kirk was at that point, so I am going to be interested to see at what point Kirk becomes Kirk in the series.

Sorry if you are bored by any of this Gilmore Girls trivia, but get used to it. I plan on going all the way back through the series while I walk my hiney off on the treadmill, and I'm sure there will be much more to come.

Keepin' it real...

Ah, another day in the oh-so-glamorous life of me. (cough, cough)

After two horribly unsuccessful months of absolutely ZERO miles walked per day, I finally got my hiney back on the treadmill this afternoon. In January I logged 63 miles on that thing. What can I say? When I fall off the wagon, I FALL OFF the wagon. Can I morph into the Incredible Shrinking Woman (anyone remember that movie from back in the day?) and lose a few inches over the next month or two? We shall see...

If only I could stop eating chocolate everyday and snacking so much, but right now I will work on coaxing one monkey off my back at a time. Thank goodness I've almost finished polishing off the rest of my son's Easter candy. (Oh, come on, don't act like you've never snuck candy from your kids, especially when they are too little to notice. I know, I am a big meanie, picking on someone smaller than me! Well, all that candy-stealing served me right because unfortunately now there is a little more junk in my trunk than there was a couple of months ago!)

And I started back on my journey by popping this into the DVD player while I walked:

Oh Rory and Lorelai, why did I ever go for even a few weeks without you in my life? Of course, starting this series over from scratch and just having watched the pilot episode is putting a whole new slew of questions in my head:
Does Lane have a dad? (She mentions her "parents" several times in the pilot episode, but I don't recall ever seeing a Mr. Kim on the show.)
Was there a different set used for the pilot? The kitchen at Lorelai's house is very unfamiliar in the pilot, with country-style green wallpaper up.
How old was Alexis Bledel when the series started? She looks so young!

And while I was on said treadmill, I made a new friend (note the sarcasm in my voice that you can't hear). Sure enough a new yellowjacket has come to visit. Yuck. I forget that along with the nicer warm spring weather, the bugs return. Ugh.

In this picture he is sitting on the head of the fake snowy owl (a Christmas decoration from Target that has found new life in the new basement windows trying to scare the robin away that keeps pecking at the windows ALL DAY LONG, a whole other story in and of itself, and unfortunately the robin only seems to enjoy the owl more and more and the pecking seems to be growing worse). Anyway, I was afraid to try and swat at this fellow, in fear that I would miss and really make him mad, causing him in turn to chase my son and I around the house, so for now, he can have the basement to himself. Ugh.

I did finish the quilt top yesterday, sewing all 80 blocks together into 10 rows. I like it! I think I will be adding some thick white borders (maybe 5 or 6" wide each) around it to make it big enough for a decent size lap quilt).


Last, but certainly not least, let's not forget where I have been spending most of my time lately:

My son has mastered the art of going #1 on the potty (hence the jar of Jelly Bellies on the toilet, his reward of one every time he goes #1 successfully), but we are waiting on pins and needles for #2 (hence the stack of wrapped presents, yes, I am not above bribery). I am REALLY TIRED of spending so much time in the bathroom. Also, you might have noticed the Disney storybook sitting on the throne as well. I have even stooped so low as to sit in there and read him a story or two in the hopes that he might go #2 while listening. I'll let you know how that works out...

And since I've been seeing so many "meme's" on the various blogs that I read, I am tagging myself with one of them (since I have no idea if I have enough readers to even tag me), here goes, 7 random things about myself:

1. I hate folding fitted sheets. I figured most people hate this as well. I even watched Martha do a demonstration on her show, but I couldn't replicate it, and it makes me hate the chore even more since I watched her do it so beautifully. Darn that Martha.

2. I always COMPLETELY rinse off the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. (Remember that dishwashing commercial where they put a birthday cake in there and it rinsed completely clear? Yeah, I pretty much don't believe the soap manufacturers.)

3. It freaks me out to be stuck in traffic beneath an overpass. I do not want to end my days sandwiched between the asphalt and a big concrete bridge.

4. I can rap the entire theme song from "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", and I'm not too proud to admit it.

5. I always order the same thing at Chick-Fil-A: a six-pack kid's meal with a lemonade and Polynesian sauce. It is a BAD DAY if they forget the Polynesian sauce.

6. When asked to play the piano for friends or family, oftentimes the first thing that pops in my head is the Muppet Show theme song. Thankfully I wait until something more impressive pops into my head before I start playing, considering I'm a professional pianist and all.

7. I have an iPod (super cute pink with a Coach case even) and don't use it. I'm still stuck in my "old school mix-tape" frame of mind and burn "mix CD"'s from my iTunes library and play those in the car. I know, I know, it's the same idea really, but I guess it's like trying to teach an old dog new tricks.

Kick-start your day

If you're anything like me, you might need a kick-in-the-pants to start your day off right. I know I do, especially after last night and having to bid adieu to the lovely Gilmore Girls. I almost started crying during the last episode, and even my husband kept saying, "This is sad!". I'm telling you, I think both Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel both looked a little bit puffy around the eyes throughout the whole thing, like they had already been crying before having to shoot the episode.

Today is day three in my Spring Break week of trying to knock stuff off the list, and today is going to be a doozy. I am going to tackle my guest bedroom. I don't have any pictures yet, but I promise to post a "before" and an "after" picture, but at least I can describe what it looks like in there right now. It basically looks like a craft store threw up in my guest room. There is so much stuff piled on the floor that you cannot walk in there. I have three windows that have lovely drapes (made by myself) hanging up, and one poor window that has been bare. The worst and most pathetic part is that I made the drapes over a year ago, and the fourth one is only missing the hem at the top. All of those hours spent making the drapes, and I couldn't find the 15 minutes to finish the measly hem across the top?! I am lame, lame, lame. So, today will be spent fixing the guest room. And by "fixing" I don't mean cramming all of my junk into other rooms and re-stuffing it in other closets -- I do mean to fix it all properly, finding a place for everything.

So to kick myself in the pants, won't you join me in watching a very cute video? This is one of my favorite songs by The Ditty Bops, and what makes it especially cute is the fact that it is a video of one of the girl's grandmother's Jazzercise class exercising to the song. I dare you not to get up and shake what God gave you when you watch this...



(Oh, and I was successful yesterday in dropping off my quilt for professional quilting. Go me!)

Leaving Stars Hollow

Today it is raining. Raining, raining, raining. All the pouring down seems very fitting for today, a day that is very bittersweet. You see, today my husband and I will be leaving Stars Hollow.



Yes, Stars Hollow from the "Gilmore Girls". :) Let me fill you in -- last summer, there was nothing on TV but reruns. And who wants to spend their summer watching reruns? Not us. A good friend had just recently been talking about one of her favorite TV shows, one I had never watched a single episode of while it was on TV. So I thought to myself, why not? I added Season One, Disc One to my Netflix queue, and the rest is history. I, of course, was hooked after the first episode, but little did I know that my husband would jump on the Gilmore Girls bandwagon with me. He came in the living room with his laptop during the second episode, and ever since, we have watched every single episode together.

But it all will end tonight. The final disc arrives today, and it has the last two episodes on it. I wish I could tell you I was on the edge of my seat with anticipation wondering how it all ends, but alas, I cheated a couple of months ago and looked online to see how it all goes down. Come on, don't tell me you guys would all be able to make it through all seven seasons to the very end without peeking?

Seriously, I think Gilmore Girls is now my favorite show EVER. I want to live in Stars Hollow. I want my house to feel as lived-in and as quirky and as cozy as Lorelai's house. I want to have a Luke's Diner to go to and chat with all the quirky locals and have town festivals and all of it. Oh, how I love everything about this show! But as sad as it feels to be leaving Stars Hollow, all is not lost. I have actually been "collecting" the boxed sets of all the DVD's so I will be able to start over from scratch when we are done. (My husband, however, did tell me he will NOT be joining me for a second go-round. I'm just proud of him for watching the whole thing through even once, and not being ashamed to tell people he enjoyed it.) So far I have Season's One through Three...

So farewell Rory and Lorelai. We sure have enjoyed spending this past year with you.

If you read this, who is your favorite Gilmore Girls character? I think my husband's is probably Kirk. Haha. Hmm, mine might be a toss-up between Babette and Lorelai, but I think my favorite character changes with every episode...