Sixteen Days To Go

I just painted my toes Plugged In Plum, so have plenty of time to blog while I am in my forced repose, less I smear the paint. OPI has the best color names. I just took off I'm Not Really A Waitress, but there are other classic colors like Pinking Of You, Aphrodite's Pink Nightie, Miami Beat, Light My Sapphire, and Chocolate Shake-spear. I think that I am in the wrong field. Wouldn't it be great if your job was to come up with punny OPI names all day? As Bill from True Blood informs us, "puns used to be the highest form of humor".

I had lunch with Gizmo today and it was a much needed reconnection for the two of us. All friendships wax and wane, and sometimes you just need that one hangout to get everything back to where you would like it to be. I can't even really remember what we talked about, but perhaps it was just the relaxed time we spent together that heals all rifts. The white rice was just an added bonus.

This evening was all about what I wanted to do. Tired of the sulky, glum me, I decided to just do what ever struck my fancy. I came home from work and laid down for an hour and a half. I woke up wholly refreshed and headed up to the Arboretum where, surprise, surprise, I had crab bisque for dinner. I cannot get enough of that stuff. If the recipe didn't involve words like sherry, reduce, and something called surimi, I would make it by the bucket full. I then found an amazing skirt at The Banana. It is bordering on to fancy to wear to church, but I thought that I might wear it to Wicked. I stopped into the Apple store and seriously considered buying a case for my iPhone. If I wasn't so enamored with the aesthetics of the thing, it would be easier for me to hide it's light under a bushel. The small scratches and dings on the back don't bother me, but the screen has got it's first nick and it has made me finally consider a case. After leaving the Arboretum, I stopped into Target and finished buying all the tiny toiletries that my trip requires. I can hear Red laughing in my head right now that I have sixteen days until vacation and am already considering things like tiny saline bottles, and how many Q-Tips to take.

I am greatly looking forward to my trip. The first stop on my multi-leg tour will be in Vegas where I will spend five days with my parents. I fly in on a Friday after my dad gets off , but before my step-mom goes in. We will all have dinner together before she leaves. Due to my step-mom's odd work schedule, Saturday, my dad and I will spend together, Sunday will be all three of us, and then Monday she and I will hang. Tuesday, while the whole world is at work, I plan on doing nothing but laying by their pool, eating what ever I want, and watching old episodes of The O.C. on TV. Who could ask for anything more?

Wednesday I fly out to Portland to spend some time with my brother and his family. While I am there I will to go to work with my brother for a day, see the new Harry Potter movie, and soak up as much time as I can with my niece. Now many people will try to tell you that their nieces and nephews are the cutest thing they have ever seen. They will show you pictures and expect you to "ooooo" at them like they do, while you stand there and wonder if you two are looking at the same kid. I know, I have done it. That was until I was an aunt.

Something inside of you changes when the tiny face you look down into looks so strikingly like your own. It will melt your heart, change your feelings about kids, and fundamentally change the way you look at things like tiny Converse or Dora the Explorer. It must be just a glimpse of what it is like to be their parent. I did not know I could love a kid so much until I knew her soft curls, and brilliant blue eyes that are the exact shade as my brothers. Five days there with her will just not be enough. If my brother didn't live in the Arctic Tundra, I would move in a heart beat to be near her. You think that I am exaggerating, but to let you know that it was 51 degrees there today. His house does not even have air conditioning.

Just one more day of drudgery until...until I get to get up and work on Saturday. Boo! Sixteen days until vacation. Good night and a happy birthday goes out to APO.