You know, one of the biggest reasons I wanted to buy a house was to have company over. Last night, I was lucky enough to spend time with a couple friends at home. First, my friend, Mary, stopped by with her beautiful, 16 month old daughter, Emily. We were roommates once way back when. She has since married and moved away to Kansas, but our friendship has endured. In true Mary fashion, she brought some chocolate chip cookies. I just started a diet again, but cookies made by good friends are totally fat and calorie free (did you know that?). It was so nice seeing her again, and her daughter, who brilliantly amused herself in my toyless and not-so-childproof house by playing with my ivory elephants. Kids come up with the most inventive games, don't they? Later, another, newer, friend, Stacey Stopped by to see the place. We spent a couple hours on a bottle of White Merlot and the perils of life, love, etc. So nice. I should have these get-togethers more often. By the way... Happy Halloween! I'm still trying to figure out if I should dress up tonight, or simply don my sparkly jeans again and call it good. Sometimes, I lack imagination, or is it energy I lack?

Working through lunch... again! I'm listening to the beautiful sound of popcorn popping in the microwave (lunch) and have tuned my office television into whatever soap opera is on channel 10 (it's my one and only channel). I guess the theory of working through lunch is actually working, but heck; I desperately need to catch up with my sponging. I feel so incomplete. So I will once again attempt to catch up from last time. . .

My Wednesday night drink with C.Leigh proved just as fulfilling as all our other get-togethers. After meeting her cat, Milly Grace, we set off for Yai-Yai's and scored a great window seat. Her and I seem to be on the same wavelength, even though we have come from two totally different worlds; me; the small-town, farm girl and her, the big-city daughter of prestige and influence. Needless, I enjoy her company and what she stands for. **Thursday I attended my little brother's last high-school football game... ever!! It was so sad! Not only because I will never again watch a sibling play a high-school sport, but also, they lost. I remember my very last high school basketball game. We made it to state and lost first round. For some reason, I was secretly happy we were done. ***Friday... Let's just say I partied in my new sparkly jeans and call it good. ***Saturday, my body required two things, sleep and food. I attended to myself very well, thank you. I did rise long enough to roadtrip to Syracuse to visit my brother at his new house. I didn't stay long, but was energized enough to, upon returning home, paint my kitchen. Oh, it's lovely! Sunday, after a small spat with my boyfriend, about what, you really don't want to know, we again took a trip to Syracuse where my mother, brother and (soon-to-be) sister-in-law, were happily cleaing and painting the "new house". Lathen and I assisted only during lunch break, but, believe me, if it weren't for us, there would be way too much homemade soup and cookies left and wasted. It felt good to do my part. But perhaps the highlight of the day was our trip to the grocery store. Once we got to the alcohol aisle, we decided we needed to re-stock and proceeded to buy our fair share of wine (5 bottles), vodka, tequila and scotch. You know, the staples. As you can probably guess, once home, Lathen fixed for me a vodka tonic and for himself a margarita. That and a good cuddle in our big chair brought us happily together again, our morning spat forgotten. And later, you guessed it! So I guess I had the makings of a perfect weekend - food, family, alcohol, sparkly jeans and sex. What more!?

This is my horoscope for today; and man, is it true.

The day ahead should be excellent, Mollie. For the past several days, you've been searching for a meaning in what befalls you in life. There have been changes in your chief occupation, new relationships, bursting ambitions... Today, you can let all of that soul searching go. Instead, you're likely to whip up a huge mixture of the whole experience and be grateful for the thrilling life you are leading right now!

And I'm off tonight to meet C.Leigh and her cat, Milly, and drink some White Zin.... I think I deserve that as I absorb the gratefulness for my thrilling life and squeeze my soul searching (at least for tonight).

I have decided to dedicate the last half hour of my work day to my beloved Brainsponge. To make a long, boring explanation short, I have been given over 300 new files at work; thus my lack of brainsponging during the day. At night, I cannot bear to sit at my amazingly slow computer and wait 20 minutes while it logs on. Good news is this - big raise for me. I guess I cannot complain to much then, can I. After all I'm not getting paid to sit here and sponge; just the priceless satisfaction knowing my thoughts are in written form forever. Evidence.

I will start with elaborations from my lists. Ah, yes...the little green squares. No, I wasn't invated by cubical martians. You see, I seem to think my house mustn't look like other houses. Therefore, I am constantly looking for creative little touches, here and there. For my bathroom, which was previously a solid green, yes walls and tile alike, I decided to create a yellow ("sawdust" if you will) wall with little green squares. To do this, I applied squares of masking tape here and there and painted the yellow, or "sawdust" over them. Needless to say, when I began the task of removing these squares, the paint seemed to come with it. Oh, it was different, yes, but not exactly the look I was going for. My walls are now solid sawdust. Don't worry. I'll think of something else to do on them. When Lathen came home to see my little green "squares" his response was in the most serious of tones, "I like the bathroom walls, Mollie". I detected a small smirk. Alas. I love him for that. Why? He is a perfectionist and I'm sure this sight on the walls of the bathroom, (he loved the green), in our brand new house (which I'm slowly creating into whatever I please, believe me) made him question a few things about this "whackjob" (his word) he chose to be with. me. Oh, but he took it all so well. But he really did, honestly and for real, love what I did in our hall. Dragonflies. So, he lets me do as I please, when I'm sure sometimes he wants to tell me to 'stop it!' That's one reason to love him. Another. Simply this. I drink too much White Zin. I "forget" to tell him things. He finds out. He understands and responds thusly, "You can tell me anything, Mollie. I'm a reasonable man". When he said that, I really heard it. It made me really appreciate the man he is. Can you believe it is now 5:00. I'd continue, but I really need to leave this little office. No promises when I'll continue, but rest assured I will...

PLEASE EXCUSE THAT LAST POST. MY GOD! I TRIED TO DO SOMETHING BUT, OBVIOUSLY, I DID IT WRONG. I'LL BE BAAAACK...

Another inspiration from Cami. Her latest manuscript conquest:

Thursday, October 18

More topics to elaborate on later. Hey, I've been busy:

Painting my bathroom. Ask me about little green squares. squeeze. and dragonflys. absorb.

Why I love Lathen. big absorb. He's a reasonable man. That and many other things.

The dangers of too much White Zin.

My run in with Indian food. squeeze.

Why I'm NOT snotty. squeeze.

Until later...

I'm stealing this list from cami. A list of chapters from her latest manuscropt conquest -
Last night. Bought paint and curtains for my bathroom and bedroom. They're still in my car. Fascinating.

I'm tired... and stressed.

Wow. I didn't realize it had been five days since I lasted blogged. I guess I should try to catch up. It seems as if I'm having less and less time to myself lately...

I did enjoy some abandoned forms of amusement Thursday night when I subbed for a friend's co-ed volleyball team. I haven't played co-ed for about 5 years. I really enjoyed it, considering the net is quite a bit higher than the women's net. I ended up serving underhand most of the night, because I was a bit inconsistent with my overhand serves. Bored with that? Ok, moving on.... Friday I once again Bunco'ed, only this time I was the big loser and came away with the boobie prize. The stars were unaligned..... Afterwards, I was lucky enough to share some one-on-one quality time with a friend and the catching up did me good.

Saturday it was back to the drunken downtown scene for the football game. I met my dear high-school friend, Nicole, at Sidetrack to watch the game, cleverly steering clear of the $10 parking scams so I could save that money for drinking. I was uncharacteristically fed up by midnightish and headed home. Now for the sad news... Upon returning home, I searched for my kitten, Scotch, who had been ill all day, finding him laying in the basement on the laundry-room rug. I picked him up and noticed he felt very cold. Wrapping him in a towel, I layed down on the couch with him and a blanket in an attempt to warm his little body. Every once in awhile, he made the saddest little sounds. Eventually, he began convulsing. I thought he was going to throw up, but all of a sudden he was still, eyes open, and quite gone from this world. I was heartbroken at the sight of my little kitten lying dead on my couch. I had only had him for three weeks, but I did care a lot about him. My pets are like children to me. I called Lathen at Ameristar but was told he was down in the storeroom. I asked that they give him a message to call home. He called within 10 minutes and I was at least able to talk to somebody. I didn't know what to do. Lathen told me to find a shoebox for him and put him in the garage. I found a shoebox, but wasn't comfortable putting him in the garage yet. I had been to a catholic funeral once where they used incense to help the spirit leave this world and enter the next. Feeling like I should do something, I placed the shoebox on the floor in the living room and lit some incense next to it. You may think I'm crazy, but I believe all life is precious and death should be respected. Maybe it was my way of coping. All I know is that I was more comfortable dealing with it this way. Lathen came home, put me to bed and put Scotch in the garage. The next day, we buried him in our garden. I made a cross from some old scraps of wood and attached a rose from the bush in our back yard. Scotch now has a proper resting place, and I feel better about that.

So tonight, I have just returned home from my first guitar class with Nicole, followed by a drink at Sandy's. The class was good. I really do get the method of the fingering, etc., but the actual act of finger placement and movement is going to be tricky. It isn't the most natural position for my fingers, you know, with those pesky, stiff bones in them. The have to be stretched and curled so much! All of us beginners had to laugh at ourselves as we attempted to place fingers 1 and 3 on fret 5 with finger 2 on fret 4, without forgetting the base chord and correct strum time signature. I once again have homework. Next week, we all have to play an assigned piece using at least three chords. It'll take some practice, but I'm up for it.

Well, goodnight for now. I hope to get back on a regular blogging schedule, but with all the new work I have, as well as this guitar class... one never knows, do one?

Dear Mollie,
Your inner child surfaces in full flower today, Mollie. Memories of good times in the past bring out your playful side, and you might want to try out forms of amusement that you once enjoyed, but have long since abandoned. . . . You can always face reality tomorrow. - Oh yeah!

My weekend was full of feelings and I've neither squeezed nor absorbed as of yet. Friday night was spent with my family at Levi's football game and, later, at a surprise celebration for my sister, Monti's, 30 birthday. It seems like only yesterday when she was painting my fingernails and, with her friends, using my face as their canvas as they practiced the art of make-up application. I always hated it when they did that, but I guess I learned at a young age that "beauty is pain". Anyway, she is now married with two really neat kids. Makes me wonder why the hell I'm so far behind... or am I? I don't have the family yet, but I'd bet the ant farm that I have more life experiences by far. Sometimes I'm amazed by the fact that I don't have some sort of family as the result of any number of sinful and spontaneous nights. The infertility Gods are surely prominent in my life. Which brings me to another realization. I've been thinking and talking about this child-bearing thing a lot lately. And my dreams have been trickled with images of my offspring. The latest dream being of me holding a beautiful, chubby baby boy with lots of dark hair, big, blue eyes. . . and a broken arm. He seemed happy, though. I think I may be beginning to hear the faint murmer of my biological clock going tick, tick, tick. Alas. Moving on to Saturday. I awoke feeling a bit sick to my stomach. Ironic? That soon passed and, noticing the gorgeous weather, opened every window in the house (I love that!) and was overcome by feelings of domestic energy and made dinner, did laundry, washed dishes, and basically twiddled around the house in an embarassingly happy state, considering what I was doing. Lathen did manly things such as lounge in "his chair", watch football and fold the clean clothes I was constantly throwing on him from the dryer. He's really good with the towels! It was a cozy day but the coziness ended about 5 when he was off to work, and I prepared for an evening out. I drank a few Malibu/Cokes, curled my hair, dressed and headed to Sidetrack Tavern for a 3-band benefit for Red Cross. My cousin's band (The Ten Cent Pistols) opened. They play an interesting mixture of punk and old-school country. I drank heavily and quite enjoyed myself with my aunt Kat, cousin Christie, her boyfriend, DJ, and friends Tom and Kim. Later, a friend from school, Stacy, met me there and, after the Pistols finished, we went to Woody's and Sandy's for a few more cocktails. What happened after the bars closed is consequential only to me and will definitely be absorbed. I was still quite drunk when Lathen came home and, after we briefed each other of our nights, sleep came quickly, at least for me. Sunday, we lunched at Brewsky's and finally began working on the chain link fence in our back yard. Lathen is going to build it himself and I'm happy to predicte that it should be done this week. In the life of two procrastinators, a finished fence is an exciting thing.

I believe I may be caught up now. I will definately need to share the latest happenings in my professional life, but that can wait. I hope the suspense does not kill you.