Thirteen Things Thursday

Haven't done this in a while...

1.  Last night I stuck to my plan:  had a normal dinner (Kim - I had TWO veggies, can you believe it?) then was in bed by ten.  So naturally I couldn't sleep.  I tossed and turned and for about 90 minutes thought about opening my bedroom window.  But didn't, because it didn't seem all that stuffy.  Finally I did open the window and fell asleep right after that.  Although the sleeping pills I also took at the same time might have had something to do with it.

2.  Had a fabulous lunch yesterday with the aforecited Kim.  Good food, good company; what more could you want?

3.  I've got the bug to move.  As in, a new place to call home.  I've been in my current place for five or maybe six years now (they all blend, it's a consequence of my job) and had moved there under some urgency so that it wasn't an ideal place.  My two chief issues with it are that it's right next to the freeway and a busy arterial, and it's damn small.  Size does matter when it comes to your home.  I'd stay even with the traffic noise but I'm starting to feel suffocated. 

4.  I think I'm going to go back into an apartment since I don't plan to get a dog any time soon.  Plus I really want a larger space - around 1,000 square feet - with nicer finishes, and I won't find that in a rental house with my budget.  I'm already looking at paying up to $200 more per month in rent for the kind of apartment I want.  I also want better appliances - like a fridge that doesn't require the application of any duct tape to keep the stuff on the door from falling out - and a fireplace.  Ideally, a gas fireplace but we'll see. 

4.  With moving, comes all of the logistics.  Even in my smaller apartment now, I have stuff.  Garage sale time!  I'd be looking at selling a lot of big stuff like my treadmill, washer and dryer (if I don't need one at the new place), entertainment center and maybe my couch.  Plus lots of paperback books and CDs. 

5.  Luckily I have time to plan all of this.  But the idea of a fresh start is very appealing. 

6.  I could also do some decorating, which I really don't have room for currently.  While I was up at my parents I did some antiquing.  Which for me, really means junquing.  Yesterday I mentioned the cool plates I found; they're in these neat colors with cocktail recipes on each.  I'll post some photos once I've gotten around to actually unpacking them.  I also found this hilarious print.  It's a head and shoulders shot of a woman, kind of Victorian age in dress and hairstyle.  She's pretty.  But what made me do a double take and eventually buy it was that she's got two cherries on a stem hanging out of her mouth.  Just hanging there.  For no apparent reason.  The more I looked at it, the more I became convinced that she was about to eat those cherries.  And then tie the stems into a knot.  With her tongue.  Because she's a naughty Victorian lady.  I'm going to hang it in my bathroom. 

7.  I am able to get this fabulous radio station out of Corvallis at my office and in my car.  Classic rock, baby.  I like KGON in Portland but it's hmmm sometimes too hard core for me?  Like a little too much on the technically awesome rock stuff - Hendrix, Clapton, ZZ Top - that I appreciate but am not all that in to.  When I went to Newport I was able to get the Corvallis station for almost the entire drive and it was exactly what I needed on a drive that felt like it took forever.

8.  Am I the only person who never feels the need to listen to NPR?  I swear, everybody else I know is "I was listening to NPR on my way to work today and...."  I know this is really weird but NPR has always felt vaguely cult-like to me.  Like you're listening to someone making the Kool-Aid. 

9.  I'm looking forward to having my friend the Fly Girl visit this weekend.  We plan to get to the expo early on Saturday to maximize our schwaggage.  Which is so a word.  There will also be tots and Powell's and possibly big Dicks. 

10.  Court cases about the valuation of golf courses are borrrrinnnng.  I had to fortify first with caffeine and salt water taffy.

11.  I love love love love love working with someone who gives a shit about things.  My last coworker?  If it didn't impact her directly she just didn't care or she did it half-assed.  Like one summer we were having a heat wave in Portland with temps in the high 90s and the AC unit that covers my part of the building crapped out.  I was dying, it was so hot; I actually went outside at times to cool off.   It took two days of me asking every couple of hours if she'd called the repair guys yet -- because she was the only one "allowed" to call them -- before she finally did.  How petty or self-involved can you be?  Our new hire not only takes care of problems right away, she is proactive about preventing problems in the first place.  How novel. 

12.  Who do you think will bite the big one in tonight's Grey's Anatomy season finale?  My money's on Lexie or Mark. 

13.  Only 14,000 runners are scheduled to run Rock 'n Roll this Sunday.  After Bloomsday, I think the streets will seem also deserted with only 14,000 people.  Echo echo echo....

Cheers,
the CilleyGirl