Of Love and Bedclothes

You know, sometimes you feel like a nut...sometimes...you don't! What I mean by that: This post is going to be a bit of a mish-mash, mmmkay?

First of all, I'd like to post another GIANT SHOUT-OUT of DELIGHT and CONGRATULATIONS to Karen over at the Naked Ovary; she's going to be heading off to China to pick up her daughter, Maya, at the beginning of September. I couldn't be any more excited for someone if I knew them in real life, honestly. Please go over and give her your congratulations, she deserves them.

Secondly; I'd like to give a huuuuge round of applause and "You can dooo eeeeeet!" out to my girl Chiada. Her blog, although it details some of the many things she does, doesn't do justice to two vital facts: One, the girl works soooo hard - she just goes, goes, goes. No wonder she's tired! Two: She is such a sweet, fun, lovely person, she deserves everything she has and so much more. Do you know what she's doing right now, on top of two jobs, two dogs, and being a far, far more neat and organized human than I will ever be? She's studying for her Real Estate test.

There are also a few Things Afoot around Casa de Meepers that I won't be blogging about, likely, but suffice it to say that Life is Complicated right now. Sorry for being such a tease, but some things are sacred, you know?

I'm going back to the doctor today (I know, how fuuun!) - he wanted to "see you about your bloodwork, for your thyroid", so that should be loads of fun. My little (middle) sister, the one who looks like Uma Thurman but with a better butt, called me this morning to give me a chiropracter that uses the same method as her boss, hopefully he'll be of some help sometime soon. She gets her puppy on Saturday, the little booger looks so. de.li.cious.ly. cute I can barely stand it. Look at his little rounded head and nose and those blue, blue eyes! I can almost smell the puppy breath. She's trying to think what to call him, so anyone with any suggestions, please chime in and drop her a comment.

Yesterday was the first day in over two weeks that I left the house for anything other than to go to the doctor or to my old office. I cannot adequately explain my pure, unadulterated joy at the following things:

• Doing all of our laundry at the same time. Yes, it's nice that we have our little mini washer and dryer at home, but I looove the laundromat, those lovely triple-loaders and the big, fluffy dryers. The smells of bleach and detergent and talking with Pepe, the owner about everything from politics to infertility. Did you know all the Mexican presidents except Vincente Fox have been Masons? Pepe claims that Dubya and some of the other big Masons have some kind of disgusting annual blood-drinking ritual... I don't know if that's literally true, but think of the blood that's been shed in the name of oil and 'freedom'. Ugh. Regarding the infertility bit: Pepe and his wife tried for ten years and spent somewhere in the range of sixty thousand dollars, and almost split up before they had their daughter, Jasmine (now almost ten). Nowadays, they radiate the kind of contentment that truly happy families bask in, sitting in their simple laundromat together, snacking on pulled pork, Mexican 'pan' (bread) and 'crema', chatting with their regulars.
  
• Watching light filter through Edie's tiny, transluscent tummy - since her recent operation, she's got that funny shaved underbelly. At only six and a half pounds and with her pinky-white skin, she's a tiny specimen of cathood, despite her monster appetite. Fortunately, she makes up in personality what she lacks in size.
• The joy that comes from a new bed set - Check this out, shoppers (skip, everyone else)... I got the following for just over a hundred bucks: -Tangerine sherbert colored bedspread, bright pink pillow cases and flat sheet, fitted sheet with matching bright pink/pale pink/china blue/crimson/white in a funky striped pattern, (all from Tommy Hilfiger) and a killer satin-y bedskirt in a great pinky-orange sharkskin - that last piece was $3.99. Plus a nice heavy woven-rush laundry hamper with velcro in/out liner and two compartments, and (yes, there's an and) two beautiful matching oval baskets that came with it. My love for shopping at Ross? Knows no bounds. Our bedroom? Can now only be looked at in indirect light, or with sunglasses. There may be pictures, so you can share in the fun of having your eyes bleed with me.
  
• Having a beer with lunch (this would be my first drink of any kind for over two weeks, so a little exciting, no?). Having an appetite, however small, for lunch. Having a buy-one, get-one gift card for La Salsa come in the mail unexpectedly. Having time to eat lunch with my husband and chat about absolutely nothing.
• Sharing a bottle of champagne (see above re: no drinks for two weeks plus..) with my girl Christy and taking a lovely long nighttime walk together, our first in weeks. We may not have burned the caloric value of what we drank with the walking, but surely the laughter was good for us.
• Having an idea for a new video that may be funny, if somewhat random, at six-thirty am today; not acting on it yet, but letting it develop in my head.
  
• Yet another lovely luncheon with my husband at the Pascucci's in Goleta; being pleasantly surprised that their cute decor and, most importantly, food quality, didn't go down with their expansion. Discovering that one of our boys at The Cutest and Most Helpful Post Office ever stumbled over here to Chock Late; my husbands' mild chagrin/dismay over this fact.
  
• Meeting with the doctor (for the last time! yeeeeahhh!) and having him say, "Oh wow! You look so much better than the last time you were in here!". The fact that he spent more than six seconds speaking with, not at, me and also let me read my charts and went through the labs with me, actually explaining what all those numbers were? Heartening in view of modern medicine.
  

So... that's my little list of Things I am Thankful for .... what makes your list?