Lessons from Lily.

We are cat-sitting Lily (the kitten we raised for Bob...a.k.a. Bobskitten, Bobcat, and Darlene.) She is a phenomenal feline. She only talks when she has something important to say. Is very well-groomed. Polite. Curious about the world. Responds well to criticism. Appropriately affectionate, but never needy. I could learn a lot from this cat!

The weather is beautiful here. Since the snow melted, I've been spending as much of my free time on the deck as possible - reading zines to Shat, listening to town sounds and the occasional city cricket, hammocking, enjoying the juuuust bearable for bare feet weather. It. Is. Nice. The clouds keep teasing me with a good storm, but so far have only produced ten minutes of sprinkles.

Sidebar: many people assume that I am a cat person, but really I am just an animal person...who tends to accumulate stray cats. This cat accumulation makes it tricky to accumulate other animals, as they would harass - if not devour - fish, birds, and rodents. Our landlord does not allow dogs, since we live above a business and barking would not go over so well (and I'm not sure that I am patient enough to happily have a canine roomate). Our yardless location is not farm animal friendly, so that rules out goats, pigs, and chickens for the time being...

BUT Courtney is getting some chickens and I will love them as if they were my own.

Last week was ladies' swap night and it was a hit. Eight purty gals attended, pilfered through piles of discarded wares, and left with armloads of "new" clothes, books, bath things, furniture, craft supplies, and decor. Trash to treasure! It was beautiful. Alex sent me a message about how she is enjoying the thongs she got at the swap, but she meant to say "things" rather than "thongs." I laughed out loud, although secondhand thongs wouldn't be all that far-fetched in our circle of friends. Underwear, bras, boyfriends, mouth guards, and even Divacups have been known to circulate...

I just finished reading the second anthology of Invincible Summer by Nicole J. Georges. She has been added to my heroine list. Here is a partial list of little inspirations I gathered from this group of her zines:
Tofu omelette with olives. Road trip with cherries. Missy Kulik. Vegan white chocolate peanut butter?!? Fake flowers. Embroidery. Sister Spit. Eating Chinese Food Naked. And carrot soup. (I tried her recipe today. It was easy and yum.) Thank you, Nicole, for doing what you do!

Tomorrow my head will be out of zine and comic world and back into my "workshop." I do enjoy my job...I just enjoy free time a whole bunch more. Don't we all?

Big excitement list:

March - Hi, Vanessa!
April - Hi, Lady Gaga!
May - Hi, Dalai Lama! (work schedule allowing)
June - Road triiiiip!
July -5 year anniversary party!
August - Mary returns from a million years in Africa!

The best e-mail I've ever written to a complete stranger:

A rather ridiculous question... :]

...

From:	Sarah Reilly   ... Add to Contacts
To:	c**********@*****.com

---

Dear Sir,
Last week an expression popped into my head that I hadn't heard since my childhood. The expression ("barfalonus of the fruit loops") was one that my daddy would use to make me laugh whenever I was feeling sick. Why it popped into my head twenty years later in good health...I do not know...but now I'm curious as to where he came up with this saying. He can't remember and my internet research has yet to solve the mystery. Googling the whole phrase brings up nothing, and searching for "barfalonus" by itself directs me to (drumroll, please...) your blog and your blog alone! (An entry from 2003, in fact. You were blogging before blogging was cool! Whoa!) Anyway, if you have any information regarding the history of barfalonus, please let me know. Haha. :]
Have a lovely week and thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Sarah R.

Dirt boogers are a good indication that you had an adventurous day.

I should know by now that when Marvin suggests a "walk in the woods" I should expect a treacherous climb over slippery, snowy rocks and cliffs...and trespassing. Actually, I don't think he knew ahead of time about the trespassing and treachery involved. This time. It was fun though & tomorrow my body will be a-achin' & I will feel good about it. It was nice to come home, thaw out, clean up, and eat pumpernickel bread. Mmmm...

Before our hike we did a little Goodwill shopping and ended up with three vintage t-shirts for Marv, a brand new tee for me, a cuuute purse, two picture frames, and a hardback xylitol cookbook that retails for $18.00 at my work....all for twenty bucks. It made me feel guilty for cheating on thrift stores with Ebay.

Last night I was given a fancy coffee drink past my caffeine deadline, but I drank it anyway and wound up feng shui-ing the dickens out of our bedroom. It's a little bit eerie how amazing it feels after only making a few small changes. Much cozier. Less chaotic. Try it yourself before writing my off as nutty. 

Now, some urban snow walking pictures - featuring Derby, our not very intelligent cat:

Busy Thursday.

Today was a more productive than normal day off. I drank a lot-o-coffee which led to bakeaerobics, which basically means dancing while baking chocolate chip banana bread. I spent most of the morning scanning and labeling old photos of people on my dad's side of the family tree:

I got our taxes ready to mail off and bid on some Ebay dresses that I probably don't have appropriate shoes to match. Then I ate some roasted peppers and green beans and mod-podged my grandma's old sewing box with pictures of plants and textiles while watching "The Gospel Road: A Story of Jesus." In case you aren't familiar with it, it's basically Johnny Cash narrating the life and times of J.C. with song and kitsch. Hehe.
This may not sound like a particularly productive day to you, but my normal day off usually consists of sleeping in until noon, eating, reading blogs, and thinking about doing something more interesting.
I've started making lists of all the little things that I wish I could be doing instead of being stuck at work...and then doing them! On. A. Roll.
Tonight I have a stay-at-home-date with Marvin.

Jan, are you ary?

So far February means BUSINESS where weather is concerned! I'm okay with the cold because it means more baking, more cuddling, and more ginger tea. I'm also a big fan of thermal underwear. I could never ever make it as a fashion blogger...not only because I am terrible at blogging, but also because 75% of my winters are spent in thermal underwear and 75% of my summers are spent in unmentionables. I like looking at well-assembled outfits & I even own a handful of pretty things, but I'd rather be extremely comfortable than a little fashionable. And being fashionable in a house with four indoor cats = TOO MUCH LINT-ROLLING. No thanks!
Now that I've talked about the weather and reassured you of my frumpiness, let me tell you something about January, 2011: It was spectacular!
I spent the first week plucking bits of confetti out of my hair after Courtney's New Year's Eve party and nursing a cold. I also spent a lot of that week looking at this photograph and noting Kupo's cuteness:

Marv & I visited Holla Bend Wildlife Refuge & saw lots of birds, armadillos, and even an opossum. Once the weather warms up a bit we're going back to hike..and hopefully encounter more critters. This one was my favorite:

He dug such great holes and made the funniest little grunting sounds! We were instant friends.
For Marvin's birthday we ate an Australian feast and for my birthday we ate a Mexican feast...........and Courtney threw me a birthday party complete with a cake and junk food and a pinata and balloons and an obscene party game! It was just what I needed to feel not-so-old and boring! Here is my favorite picture from the evening:

Other exciting things: Tim & Amy's hippie-tacular bonfire wedding reception! Meeting Matt Millard's girlfriend! Friday night arcade hangout! A perfect walk in the snow! Marvin got his GED! Marvin also got stranded in Fayetteville during the last big snow which reminded me of how nice it is to have him at home! 
Wednesday nights are now devoted to girl hangouts with Leah & Alex. We originally intended for these hangouts to involve belly dancing lessons, but they've turned into intense bouts of couch-sitting, plan-making, problem-solving...discussions of Cunt, and lots-o-laughs.
This past weekend I visited my family. Daddy & I spent an afternoon looking through amazing old photos of our ancestors (to be scanned soon!) Mama & I played Scrabble (of course!) and she baked a sweet potato pie. Adrianna and I tried to identify some wild edibles, but failed. It was the perfect amount of cold & dreary for a good hike though!

My life is very full of goodness. I can't be thankful enough.

Love and more love,
Sarah
P.S. - As always, the really good photos are all stolen from Court___knee.