Happy Birthday Sarah!

I wish you much joy.

Oh Crap! I didn't call Mel back last night! I suck!! Sorry, Mel!!!!

So, at about 4:30 yesterday afternoon, my neck started to hurt. I don't know why I still ignore this symptom. It is a warning sign when it hurts like that! Hello! Can we catalog this info for next time please? Anyway, it grew into one of those crashing headaches. I don't know that I would call them migraines, as my vision doesn't get the spots or any of that kind of thing, and I can still function with them, it's just not fun. Anyway, after dinner I went and curled up in bed with a hot corn bag while Tom went off and ran errands on his own.

So, for the 3 of you who called last night while I was in headache-land, I'm sorry I was useless. I love you all and will try to get in touch with you today.

I don't know if my headache was connected to this, but yesterday was no-baby day (aka, the first day of my period), and last night I had cramps for the first time in... years? I am very, very lucky on this front and hardly get them, but this morning Tom warmed the corn pillow back up for me and I stayed in bed for a bit. Not that it was restful, as Athena was sure it was the perfect time to play Mouse. *sigh* So, right now, I have the remnants of both that and my headache sort of barely hanging on and I feel pretty drained. But, I think I'll be fine within a couple hours, as long as I move gently for a bit.

Mama asked me what we would be looking for in our next house. Here I will work to describe my realistic version of a "perfect Hunt house." Please note this is different from the house I will have when I rule the world.

Yard:
I want about 1.5 to 3 acres of yard. Yes, this is a lot, but I want it for several reasons:
a) privacy/distance from my neighbors. Yes, I would like to eventually make an effort to know my neighbors (something I have failed at thus far in my life), but I don't want to be able to see into their house from inside my house. So many new houses that are being built are right on top of each other! Eck!
b) certain requirements out of my yard:
    -trees, and lots of them
    -space for a big veggie garden
    -space for a clothes line
    -space for a barn/workshop area (it'd be great if this was already there)
    -space for a swing set/other cool kid stuff/small swimming pool in the summer/whatever
    -possible animal coops.... I've been considering raising chickens, but I think they have evil eyes. Maybe something else that lays eggs. The quail were cute.
    -space for lots of flowers

Exterior:
There are a lot of different styles of houses that I think are neat; my overriding requirement is that it be visually interesting on the outside - no shoe box houses for me! And, no house that looks just like its neighboring houses. I would have to paint a skull and crossbones in glow-in-the-dark paint on my garage door or something so that I could find it in the dark. Oh, and also just b/c it'd be neat. ;)
Here are some styles/features that I like:
    -stone work (especially gray stone)
    -the ones that look like barns
    -very Victorian - bay windows and towers rock!
    -very farm house - wrap around porches are cool!
    -the white stucco with the dark brown beams
    -neat angles
    -PORCH! Porch is required!
    -brick can be very pretty
So, yes, lots of options. The house in my head is a Victorian farm house with a wrap-around porch, a tower room, and a gray stone chimney.

Interior:
I am looking for a big house, just so you guys are forewarned.
4 Bedrooms - us, 2 kids, and a guest room
AT LEAST 2 bathrooms, including a Master Bath
An office for Tom
A BIG kitchen - must be more than a 2-butt kitchen!!
possible dining room, although an eat-in kitchen would be fine too
a den/library/sitting/family type room
a TV & video game room (preferably with few windows)
a craft room (debatable, depending on that exterior building)
laundry area
pantry

I'd also like things like: not on a major road, has a sump pump, relatively new plumbing and wiring (I can do cosmetic updates, but not so sure on the pipes and wires), no trains a block away, not on a sink hole or nuclear landfill... you know, the normal stuff.

I get the feeling we're going to look for longer this time around. :)

Amy - I didn't see your answer about the hat.. *cries* There's no way I can get it there by tonight. I mean, I could make it in probly an hour, but... damn you shipping world!! Damn me for not checking back obsessively!!!

I wonder if a party store (like Party City or some such) would have a suitable alternative. I know they often have little plastic bowler hats and such. Or, depending on how sturdy it needs to be, maybe you could just make one out of construction paper.

I'm sorry. :(

From Elly:- If you could have three wishes (no wishing for more wishes) what would they be?
I'll have to come back to this one.

- If you were limited to eating only one food for the rest of forever (assume your hypoglycemia and calories aren't applicable) what would it be?
Hmm....rice. Plain rice, brown rice, rice with a little butter, rice with a little soy sauce, hot rice, cold rice. MMmmmm, rice.

- What do you miss the most the you no longer have?
Well, there is that shirt that Tom gave away on the night of his bachelor party... :) Seriously, maybe Alice. She and I had quite the history. She was a good cat. It's hard to pick what I miss "the most." The pain/loss I feel for Alice, and for all my other loved ones that have moved on (both pets and people), has faded to a more 'background noise' kind of setting. If I focus on it, it's still there, but it's dull.

From Mama:
1. What birthdays do you remember from growing up? Why?
Let's see... I remember bits of my 6th: Tim with curly hair, you pregnant, Abby & Alana, the metal slide was hot. I remember one from middle school that we had in our yard - the boys climbed the maple and stayed in it nearly the whole time. I remember the one at the house on King St. Mostly, I remember themes from my childhood birthdays: chocolate mayonnaise cake...mmmmmmmmm; the Inside vs Outside question; wanting sleepovers and occasionally getting them; being surrounded by people who cared about me.

2. When your house in KC sells and you get to look for a house here, what kinds of things do you want in a house?
Oh my. We have a whole list. I'll have to post this separately.

3. If I were suddenly rich and could take you anywhere on vacation, where would we go?
Well, obviously you would have a vote, too. I'd like to see Ireland and Scotland. I'd like to see Japan. Maui was pretty darn cool. Or we could go to Oregon and take our time. Or we could just spend a week in Joplin and finally walk through all those little shops on Main. We can find a good time anywhere, Mama.

I am now 26 years old. I had a lovely birthday full of warm wishes via cards, text messages, calls, gifts, and even a bouquet from the company Tom was in CA to work with (not his company, but his customer!). I even got lots of birthday wishes in Animal Crossing, my video game. ;P I had chicken fried rice (with no onions) from Shanghai Inn for lunch - my favorite dish from my favorite Chinese place in Springfield. {Oh! Anna! I still would like those leftovers...I'm hoping to come in one day this week to help you and I can get them then. Or, you guys can eat them; I just don't want them to be thrown out.} I helped Anna with her house a little bit, and had dinner with Jen, Rog, their kids, Jen's folks, and my Mama. On Saturday, the day between my birthday and my little sister's, we had a pot-luck picnic in the park. The wind was cold, but people braved the day anyway, which was very sweet of them. I got lots of nice gifts and great hugs, and got to see a lot of faces that I really like having in my life. :)

I'm not one to dwell on age, but this birthday has gotten me a bit reflective. Where am I in my life, 26 years in? My prediction is that I'm only a little over a fourth of the way through. I made it through public school and college with flying colors. I have a degree. I've held 8 jobs over the course of the last 10 years. One of them has been a real "grown-up," salaried position. I've been promoted to the manager of my department. I've been unemployed for the first extended period of my life (since I was legal working age). I've bought a "crappy" car, and paid it off (thanks for the loan, Mom!). I've bought a "mid-level" car, and paid it off (thanks for the co-sign, Dad!). I've bought a "nice" car, and nearly paid it off  (thanks for the teamwork, Tom!). I've gained and lost treasured animal companions. I've gained and lost friendships. I've found a wonderful partner who makes me happy, works with me, and balances me, and I married him. We've moved to a new city. We've moved home. We've bought a house. We're working on selling a house. I've watched my friends' children grow, and wanted some of my own, and been frightened of having my own.
The last 3 or 4 years of my life have been laced with a tense expectation. A feeling of tightness, of wanting to launch suddenly forward into the next section of life, but being held back. A feeling of being made to wait for the rest of the world to creep forward into the next phase. I've often felt like I wanted to scream from frustration. I wanted to race ahead, not wait for the universe's ponderous motions. But I've found that each time I do get to move forward, a new goal steps up, and I start chomping the bit again. There is still an expectancy in my life, but it has mellowed to look more like hope. It has been tempered with a deeper patience and understanding of the simple fact that sometimes, you just have to wait. Good things are worth waiting for, and if you look around, there are good things where you are, too.

Life is like a river. You're placed in a boat, and given an oar and a shove off. There are times you coast, times you paddle furiously, times you link up, raft-like, with others, and times you paddle alone. There are doldrums and rapids, lakes and waterfalls. There are forks where you choose a direction and bends that you can't see around. Currently, I'm in a calm stretch, and I'm trying to enjoy it instead of spending too much energy looking ahead. Our house selling will be the key event that launches us into the next flurry of activity, and I have no control over that, so I'm trying to enjoy the scenery and keep a slow steady pace with my paddle to avoid feeling too bored (or useless - a common pitfall for me). The next chapter is one I look forward to - it holds a new house, making it into a home, and then starting a family to fill it - but I know I cannot skip forward, so I'm trying to relax where I am.

Thank you to everyone who sent me happiness for my birthday. :)

I have asked plenty of questions of all of you, so I am officially opening myself up to questions to answer myself. If there's anything you want to know about me, or an area of my life you'd like to challenge me to write about, lay it on me.

Today, I am in Spfd hanging out with Andrew. He still has a slight fever and a cough, so no school for him today. Enter: Super Nanny! Heh. Funny image, that. Anyway, we're having a good day. Right now, he's napping. I think that the cat, Simon,  is plotting something. I keep hearing strange noises in the other room (scrabbling sounds, small meows, etc) but when I go in there he's like, "huh? No, everything's fine here. Don't know what you're talking about." But I know the truth, buddy, I know. You're up to something.

Today Andrew and I drove past a lake that isn't usually there. You could tell by the tree in the middle of it. And the road off to the side that was submerged. Crazy. Ty said we've been declared in a state of emergency again, but most of the city seems fine. I called Elly last night and she said it's been raining in KC too this week. I'm concerned about our basement getting water in it again. When it flooded the last time, it was after several days of constant rain. I called our realtor and asked him to go check on it. He's supposed to call me back; we'll see if he does. I'm sure from talking with this guy that he'd be great at helping us find a house to buy, but I'm getting a bit frazzled with him as far as him helping us sell. *shrug* We'll give him a little longer, and then I'm going to think about finding a new realtor. 

So, this weekend we're going to go pick out my Valentine present (a quilt! Yay!) and then go to Spfd so Jen and I can work on painting her mother's house. It's going to be fun. :D

Other tasks for this weekend include laundry, taxes, and trying to collect RSVPs for my & mom's PartyLite Party. It's next Wednesday and we have 1 "yes" and 2 "no"s back from our list of over 20 pple. We are holding it at Panera, and we need to book our treat trays on Monday, so I'll be making some calls so we have a better idea of how many pple to expect.

Find your own pose!

Seatbelt Traits and Tendencies:
After a long night of The Seatbelt pose (and Seatbelts do sleep close to ten hours a night, quite a bit longer than the typical seven and a half), couples wake feeling warm, safe, and uniquely free of doubt. Regular doses of the pose can elevate Seatbelters to a new level of personal confidence, which buoys them to great heights in love and at the gym and can lead to plum promotions and camera time.

I don't go in a whole lot for zodiac stuff, but it is kinda fun. I guess, for a long time, it was because it seemed to fit me so poorly. When I was a teen, Crystal showed me the Big Book of Birthdays (I think that was the title... oughta find that book again) which went day by day. It was only then that I learned something that made it all make a little more sense to me. I was born on a cusp. I was born at 1am on the first day of the Aries cycle. Which means that up until that time, I'd been going "March 21 = Aries" and reading things like this:

Lets101 - Free Online Dating

that were supposed to apply to me. And they only sorta half fit. Well, that's cuz I'm only half Aries. I'm on the Pisces-Aries cusp. So if you read the above, and then the below....

Lets101 - Free Online Dating

...and then mush them together, that kinda is a bit more like me. :)

Hope you had a pleasant b-day Miss Mel. *smooch*

We're going to go see Avenue Q on Friday night!!!! It's in KC this week and I buckled and spent too much money on tickets. 

Your Aspie score: 105 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 122 of 200
You seem to have both Aspie and neurotypical traits

http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php