Lazy Sunday

This morning, Mom made an executive decision: we'd all had enough.

Instead of getting up at the regular time for church on Sunday, she got up, let the Ranger cat out the door and went back to bed. I finally cracked an eyelid around 10 and ambled down the hall. Mom was still in her pajamas. Dad had just thrown on a shirt to go downstairs. I could hear the coffeepot downstairs was issuing the gurgles of its first round of percolation.

We all sat around drinking coffee in our PJs until almost noon, when we realized we were hungry. We had eggs, grits, toast and fresh sliced tomatoes. I indulged in a third cup of coffee.

I took a long, hot shower. I let my hair mostly air dry. I put on a cami-tank top and shorts. I read a book. About 2 o'clock, I fell asleep again on the couch in the living room.

Dad fell asleep watching today's NASCAR race. When I woke up, Mom was back in bed reading a book.

The phone didn't ring. We talked in snatches, but it was mostly quiet. Calm. Serene.

We had tomato sandwiches for dinner. And then retreated to our respective druthers - books and computer games. Catching up on emails.

And the sun fell below the horizon and night stole quietly across the lawn. And for the first time in weeks, I felt still inside. Instead of droning bees stinging every corner of my mind, it was whisper-quiet.

Even though the weekend is over, the Sunday Dread seems to be held at bay by - of all things - nothingness.

WANTED

One blogger, missing since Sunday. May be engaged in other life activities. Last seen jumping off a dock in South Carolina. May be traveling with family along interstate highways. Possibly in Northwest Ga. Subject is average height with blonde hair (or so her driver's license says) which is badly in need of a haircut and *ahem* color refresh. Accomplices may include a tiny blond boy with bright blue eyes who insists on eating "bok bok" who may refer to the blogger as "Sha sha." Do not be fooled by the accomplice's stature. If pursued, the little man can make tracks. Also along for the ride is a very short hip-looking older woman who resembles the blogger, a tall man (also resembling the blogger), and a very thin thirtyish woman who also looks sorta like the blogger except for her long, long, long slim legs. (Versus the blogger's slightly plump thighs.)

Subject could be wearing new red shoes with patent leather buckles and peep toes and drinking copious amounts of coffee. Expect subject to display extreme guilt when confronted with her crime of blog neglect. Blogger is aware of her failure to post to any of her blogs in the most recent 7-day period. If captured, blogger faces commitment to post every day next week.

Tips should be directed to the comments section.

Weekend Update

Moment: Friday evening, driving home, black trees arterial against the pale peach sky, Sarah McLachlan singing "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and a beautiful sadness washed over me

Saturday: Out of bed and then back to bed. In pajamas until 3 p.m., watching A Christmas Caper starring Shannon Doherty on the ABC Family Channel.

Dosage: Up, working, chasing away the "I don't cares"

Office Christmas Party: Tasty food, warm welcomes, good conversation and another Awkward Moment with The Big Boss to add to my collection

Sunday morning: Cold dry wind whipping my hair up, my dad saying, "When it blows like that, you know you're alive."

Publix: Old home week running into parents of friends (Heather, that's you), old teachers, family friends

Lunch: Dad helped Mom make chili - the only thing he knows how to make; very charming

Nap: In the sun on the couch for two hours...ahhhhh.

Evening: Christmas music in the car on the way to meet Eva, Justin and Dillon. He was tired and sat in my lap with his head on my shoulder. That's happiness right there.

Baking: Cinnamon raisin sourdough bread...Mom's heavenly concoction. The house smells heavenly.

Carol of the Day: "Gentle Mary Laid Her Child"

Christmas spirit: Lifting?

Creativity: Low, hence another list post. More tomorrow...promise.

Jackpot!

2:45 p.m. today, phone rings

Me: Hello?

STGD: Hey, what are you doing?

Me: Eating Doritos and watching a Shania Twain video on CMT.

STGD: God, it's like you've won the lottery.

Strange Things I Do

1) Sit in the dark. I don't like the dark. But I will sit on the couch and start watching TV or surfing the internet and it will get dark outside and very dark inside, and I will wait hours to turn the light on.

2) Not put garbage in its rightful place. For example, this morning, I put inserts into a pair of shoes that didn't quite fit. The packaging? On the coffee table. Wore a new shirt the other day and cut the tag out. Left it on the desk. I will wad up a piece of paper and throw it in the floor. That's wrong.

3) Put off eating dinner. For a ridiculously long time. I'll consider it and weigh my options and then sort of try to convince myself that maybe I'm not hungry. Just because I'm lazy.

4) Write a to do list. Do three of the nine things on it. Rewrite the to do list and add four things to it. Do two things (neither from the original list). Wad up the page and throw it in the floor. Things do not get done this way.

Just Doing My Job

At work and currently thinking about

* The enormous gathering of dust and Kudzu hair I noticed under the bookcase this morning

* Needing stamps to mail bills that will drain my bank account

* A second cup of coffee at 11:11 a.m.

* Lunch at downtown hotel which inevitably consists of scary stuffed chicken and vegetable medley

* Dirty car

* Weekend to-do list (dishes, floors, bathroom, clothes pile, blogging, real simple catchup, figuring out how to wear a headband without looking 14)

* Spending too much money last weekend

* Gary Jules "Mad World"

* Going back to bed

Update: I was just reminded that I am also thinking about how much I love my graphic designer, S.

I Hate...

...cleaning hair out of the drain in the bathtub.

...the feeling of finishing a book I've been reading like mad to finish and realizing that it's over.

...the point in the late afternoon when I realize Saturday is over.

...trying fruitlessly to surf the internet for ideas for Christmas presents.

...never having anything worth eating in the kitchen because I am too lazy and inept to go to the grocery store.

...deciding I need a haircut and not being able to get an appointment for a whole week.

...computer problems.

...listlessly trying to decide what to do next.

Weird Six

I've been tapped by Kim to reveal some of my innate weirdness to the world. Narrowing down to six was the tough part:

1. I have an overwhelming fear that the world will run out of electricity. Sometimes when I drive at night and see all the lights on in an office building or think about all the electric signs, I feel panicked. When I had a washer/dryer and dishwasher in my first apartment, I couldn't run them at the same time without needing to leave the apartment. I can't sleep if I can hear the air or heat clicking on and off, so I'll turn the air up and the heat down to the point that it only comes on periodically.

2. I've noticed lately a few habits about numbers. I have to pump gas on the fives. It has to be $16.65 instead of $16.62. And the volume on the TV or radio has to be an even number.

3. When my sister got married five years ago, I had my first and only manicure. Before that, I wore my fingernails very, very long. The manicurist cut them pretty short, and since then, I've been unable to stand long fingernails. I had to cut my nails before I left for Salt Lake City, because I knew if they got too long on the trip, I would chew them off just to keep them short.

4. I have an undergraduate and graduate degree. Neither the college nor the university I went to had a football team. Conversely, I grew up a stone's throw from Athens, Georgia, a town obsessed with its UGA dawgs. But I have never been to a UGA football game.

5. I am obsessed with my handwriting. Perhaps it's something to do with being lefthanded, which typically makes for terrible penmanship. But I practiced and practiced and practiced until I had neat handwriting. If I start to write a note to myself on a post-it, and it looks messy, I'll throw it away and start over again.

6. I am an inherently messy person. At my house, I throw clothes and shoes around without care, leave dishes in the sink, and let the bathroom go straight past EPA standards. In a hotel, I am meticulously neat. Fastidious even. I will fold my clothes, put items back in the suitcase after use and hang up the towels in the bathroom. Perhaps I need to pretend I live in a hotel.

I'm double-tapping, but I'd love to see weirdness from Pen & M, Tom, Andi, Niki, and The Growler.

Thoughts for Saturday

It's almost 7:30...here are the things I've thought about today:

1) Taking a walk (but not taking one)

2) The gay man at the office came out yesterday - and admitted that he doesn't love my haircut. I'm officially growing it out.

3) How long it will take my hair to grow back out

4) Going to the grocery store (but not going)

5) Sadness over the plate I knocked to the floor off the couch arm and broke into several sadly irreparable pieces

6)How everything in my house that is edible seems to be stale

7) Having seen two drunk college students almost have sex on Front Street last night between the post office and a lunch-only cafe called Betty B's

8) Amusement at Kudzu's new habit of laying on the window sill and sleeping with his face smashed up against the pain or the frame

9) How wonderful it is, sometimes, to have not talked to anyone all day

10) Going to the library to get a book on tape to listen to while cleaning (and not doing either)

11) My hair looks best on Saturdays when no one is going to see it

12) That if I put all the things back in the corner where the ceiling leaked, someone will show up to spackle, paint and sand the ceiling - all over my stuff

13) Why the new Killers album isn't coming out until October

14) How to lose 12 pounds before I have to wear a bridesmaid dress without really trying (or giving up chips, cookies and ice cream)

15) Why I can find time to blog, make my way through 96 episdoes of S&TC, eat, drink, sleep, work, and make a gigantic mess of my apartment, but I can't find time to read a book

16) That I kind of missed taking the new car for a drive today while I was busy staying in

17) Sometimes Kudzu knows just when to come and get in my lap

18) Where to get to dinner from (refrigerator not included)

19) Whether or not I should start the 6-hour Pride & Prejudice, which I suddenly have a yen to do

20) The list of things I should be doing is growing longer the longer I sit on this couch and blog

Takin' It Easy Bein' Cheesy

I didn't go into the office today (despite having a ton of work that I need to do) and instead spent nearly the entire day in pajamas. I did get dressed for lunch with Tom at the Dixie Grill where I had a delicious sandwich called a Skinny Pete and sweet potato fries. Mmm. But after that I went back to the PJs and back to the couch. As a total indulgence, I broke out a VHS tape that's ten years old and labeled in my sister's handwriting "Sappy (Heart) Movies." On the tape are three back-to-back TV movies from 1995-96. The first movie is called "Wounded Heart" and stars Paula Devicq (of Party of Five fame) and Josh Hensley (who apparently is a soap opera star). The second is called "Hearts Adrift" and stars Sydney Penny (soap star) and Scott Reeves (soap star). They were both USA Network Morning Movies. The last is called "The Hired Heart" and stars Penelope Ann Miller, who sadly seems to be trying to resurge to her Kindergarten Cop fame in this made-for-TV flick. And they're SOOO deliciously cheesy - I heart the Heart Trilogy.