some of my favorites from today

i really don't approve of the time change.

top 5 npr hosts:

luke burbank
neal conan
diane rehm
zorba pastor
peter sagal

(close behind are ira glass, carl kasell, and the car talk guys)

that being said, how ridiculously frustrated am i that zorba himself will be speaking at the OMRF (oklahoma medical research foundation, jeff's former employer in okc) on THE DAY we arrive...

sigh. at least ira will be in houston this january.

good things to come:

jeff only has 3 more semesters of classes ahead of him (before plunging head first into 2+ years of solid research), and his class schedules have already been worked out for all of them! hooray! and even better: only 2 classes per semester (compared with 3 this semester, which has nearly killed both of us), and it appears as if all of them will be directly related to his field.

i was persuaded into working more hours at the gallery until christmas, which i don't really mind aside from having to be there 6 days a week. but it's only 40 hours, 5 of which will be super extra mega pay. so that's nice. it'll also bump me up to 25 miles a week, which i'm looking forward to.

i have been crafting like crazy this week. i have felt coming out of my ears. and a convenient sale at target on shelves helped me to get everything much more organized.

5 days to okc! and we have a super secret plan to steal some time for nick's amazing thai! can't wait.

same old...

ugh- i'm so disappointed that i'm still working on gravity's rainbow!! i mean, it's really holding me back. at least i've surpassed the 100 page mark... only 600 more to go. honestly, i've only been reading it about 30 minutes a day. but i resolve to finish! maybe i'll start a new book in december.

well, we're finally making that first (for me) trip home next weekend. i really can't wait. really. really really. it's great cause we'll be home and with family and places we recognize, but it also sucks that it's going to be such a short trip. most of our time will be filled with festivities (jeff's sisters wedding), and then it's back on a plane. i wish we had a little more time to see some friends and eat some good thai.

i wish we had the time/money to make more trips, but it really isn't possible right now.

today the traffic was so bad on my way home that for over a mile i walked faster than the bus. i felt pretty good about that. i feel pretty good about walking. i feel pretty good because of walking. i'm up to 20 miles/week now.

tomorrow night we are going to the grand opening of our neighbor's new restaurant, aka sushi house. we've been hearing and imagining all kinds of good things about it (tristan is a french chef... making japanese food. only good things could come of that) for months, and it's right across the street from my work. so that's convenient :) we're supposed to be getting a 5 course meal, so hopefully we'll be able to find some vegetarian goodies to choose from.

pepper spray vs. stun gun

i had a fairly creepy experience the other day on my walk home. luckily i was only a few blocks from the apartment, but it has me doing research on self defense equipment. just in case. i already take as many precautions as possible- i don't carry any money and stay on well traveled streets, but still...

the 5 pounds of chex mix we got in the mail from jeff's mom sure helped though :) yum yum yum.

heck yes!

today was the first day i've walked without pain! hooray for muscles!

cars are for suckers.

the walk today was a tad sweaty, but overall very very good.

we have a restaurant called La Strada right across the street from us, whose name becomes a curse word on sundays when they have their "brunch" (cramming twice as many drunk people into a building than should actually be there and blasting techno from 11-6). they take all the parking spaces in a 5 block radius, so poor jeff is usually stuck at home all day with the rattling windows. anyway, i happened across something called the "westheimer block party" on craigslist. turns out one of their 5 stages (think paseo art festival times 20) is in the La Strada parking lot. oh goody.

car is healed! now she gets to sit in the garage for a few more days...

new rule.

it's taken a few little nudges recently, but i've decided to start walking to work. it's 2 1/2 miles, so it shouldn't be more than a 45 minute walk, i hope. and walking 5 miles a day, i think, could do nothing less than make me feel better. which is something i've been searching for.

the first reason for my decision is that i'll be out of a car for a few days anyway, while it's in the (very reputable, according to car talk...) shop. secondly, i just finished reading emma. those ladies in early 19th century walked freakin everywhere. EVERYDAY. if they can do it in their bustles and petticoats, then so shall i. perhaps, even, with bustles and petticoats.

i gave very little thought to riding my bike to work. it would be much faster, but i see no reason to get my bike stolen like all the others in our parking lot. besides, this way i'll be able to take pictures along the way :)