Self-portrait

Here's what I looked like the other day. Lately, Jason and I have been getting carded like crazy, and then the waitress or whoever acts totally SHOCKED when she sees our IDs. Is it a giant conspiracy to flatter us, or do we really look 12 years younger than we are? Neither seems likely.

I have a kind of big forehead.

Sparky, when I visit you, can you give me a haircut? I'm going to just have long hair until then, but I want short hair by the time I leave Texas, okay? I'll try to find pictures of haircuts that I like, but all I see in magazines is models with long, long hair. There is one with short hair, Agnes Deynes (or something like that), but I don't want mine THAT short. So, if you get ideas, good!

What are the neighbors building?

Most afternoons, a banging starts. What could they be building next door that they've been working on for 9 months? Is it a carpentry project, or are they finishing their basement? She is a mom and part time social worker and part time accountant. He goes to the seminary and has some full time job. So, no clues there. I might try to find a way to ask them.

I now have 5 pages of writing done!

Sparky, I'm so glad that can proofread my spelling for me. I am writing as fast as I can to get some ideas down, so it might be pretty crappy in content, grammar, and spelling! Thanks for telling me about the Poisonwood Bible. I have read some books by Barbara Kingsolver, but I am not sure if I have ever read that one. Maybe I'll see what I have of hers if I need a mentor for switching narrators.

Memorial Day Weekend

I didn't do anything! I'm still only at 2.5 pages. I'll try to add to it today. I'm trying to figure out how to narrate it. It starts, so far, with one character's diary. But I think I'm going to jump around to tell it from several different characters' perspectives. That can get annoying, and I don't think I've tried it before. So, it's an experiment!

Today I might only have one assignment for work, so I should have time to write after I'm done and no excuses not to do it.

Tonya

2.5

You'll be very impressed to know that I have now written 2.5 pages of a book. Only 300 left to go.

What I did so far

This week, I started writing a book. I don't have much yet, but taking that first step is a milestone. The book has some mystery in it. I hope I can figure out how to do it well. I've read enough books, now to simply emulate the good ones....

I'm also crocheting some dolls for the babies I know. I'm not that great at it, so they end up kind of wonky and out of proportion. That's okay with me, since I think that's cute.

I'm also trying to take good care of myself, like eating well and flossing, since I don't have the excuse of No Time. And I'm trying to keep our house cleaner.

We decided to stay living where we are, and buy a portable air conditioner to make it livable this summer. I believe Jason bought one last night, and we should get it in a week or two. That should help A LOT. The portable kind doesn't have to stick out the window, but just has a hose that goes out the window. I don't think the HOA will have a problem with that. The picture shows the one that we got, but we will put it in our bedroom, not the dining room. Good thing, because our dining room doesn't have any windows!

TTFN, Tonya

A potential house to move to

Jason found an interesting house for rent on Craigslist. The people renting it seem to be religious fanatics, but they are also moving to West Africa for 8 years, so we may never have to interact with them. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, and a 2-car garage. In the ad, it says there is a hot tub. In an email, he says, "Swimming Pool," but we think there may be a language barrier. So, we're going to drive over there and see what it looks like, and I think Jason is emailing again to ask for some more information.

In the photos, the place is fully furnished, so we want to make sure that all their stuff is going to be gone. It would be pretty cool to have a whole house! I'll keep you updated. It is fairly likely that the situation will be weird in some way. But, it's fun to imagine moving and decorating a new place.

It seems to just have a swamp cooler, which is not as good as A/C. But, it can work well in some houses. We currently use a little one in just our bedroom, and it works pretty well there. I think there is a trick to making the central ones work, plus the directions of your windows can make a huge difference in how hot your house gets.

Okay, I'll stop thinking about it until later.

Garage Sale

Jason and I went to a neighborhood yard sale in a nearby church parking lot. I saw a little foot rest for $3, but Jason didn't like the 70s warm brown color of it, so our feet will have to continue to rest on the floor.

I have a dream of finding dumbbells really cheap! I have them going up to 20 pounds, but I am really trying to increase my strength, so I need bigger ones. I can do bicep curls and triceps extensions with the 20s, so imagine how heavy I could go for lat rows! I think I could handle 45s for back. But, they're expensive. I think you can estimate $1 per pound. I am looking into various sets that are adjustable, like Bowflex SelectTechs (pictured above) or Powerblocks. They are expensive, too, but probably end up costing less than buying 25s, 30s, 35s, 40s, and 45s. And they take up a lot less space.

We did not see any kind of weights at the yard sale, or anything else appealing.

We are thinking of moving, since I'm committing to working from home for now. We might as well be close to Jason's work, and live somewhere with air conditioning. We are on a month-to-month lease here, so it will be easy to time the move.

TTFN!

Test Test

It's hard to find this blog. Jason suspects that it's not ready yet, but when a machine refuses to do my bidding, I just become more insistent.

So, what we're doing now is watching Battlestar Galactica (NERD ALERT!) and I'm drinking some beer. Earlier, Jason bought something called "Barley Wine-style Ale" but he is not up to trying it just yet. It is kind of scary. Its official name is Old Crustacean! Does it taste fishy? We think it will either be really good or totally disgusting. We may save it until we can rope some people into coming over and have a group tasting. It's kind of a big bottle.

Maybe we'll save it and let it age, like a fine barley wine.

New Blog

After reconnecting with some friends from my high school days, I keep remembering how much fun it was to have a 'zine. Since it will be so much easier to share pictures this way, I'm going to try to do it electronically instead. But, I do kind of long for a paper version. So, we'll see if this takes or not.

Right now, I'm doing editing from home. After about a month, I'm really starting to enjoy it. The thought of sitting in a cubicle for 40 hours a week just isn't appealing to me at the moment. I'm building a more anti-bourgeois attitude -- the result of which remains to be seen. I feel like I'm on the verge of DOING SOMETHING, though I don't know what. It's exciting, because it might be something pretty cool. It might just be an extreme haircut, but it could be the creation of something cool.

So, get ready! Something is brewing. :)

~Tonya