My back is numb, my hands are freezing

I'm having electronic dysfunction. Actually, a lot of it is just normal LIFE dysfunction, but still.

The very bottom portion of the touch screen of my iPhone stopped working, but it is only not responsive when trying to use the text function or to type or search map stuff. So now I have to drop it off to get it fixed, and who knows how long that will take.

But I can't do that until my computer, which took a major dump last night, is fixed, and that goes into repair on Thursday. again, who knows how long that will take.

Did I mention that my iPod battery won't hold a charge and basically has to be plugged up to play more than one or two songs?

Um, right now I'm not really satisfied with Apple. But I'm not really easy on my stuff either, so there you go.

If you want to communicate, you'll have to call me or email me, but I'll be limited to reading your posts on my teeeeensy phone screen and waiting for the repair to be done for a while, I suspect.

That's all!

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. Well let's see.

1) Bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Cross out the ones you started but didn't finish
5) Star the ones you hated
6) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them ;-)

Mine behind the: ( LJ cut! )

Hey, I'm better read than I thought! 40 out of the 100!

Short video of one of the wild horses we saw on the beach in Corolla. I'm sure he just wants us to go away, but so beautiful.

Last night, margaritas, a walk to Agua Linda for peppery treats, then back for more margaritas in the perfect Georgia summer night, Christmas lights draped over the fence for ambience, candles lit, lightning bugs occasionally zooming our heads. friends dropping in and out, watching the animals play with insects they've discovered winding their way through the (dead) grass. watching the sweat collect on our cold drinks and then as each tiny molecule succumbs to gravity and becomes the next droplet, watching it slide down our glasses to puddle on the table. The lassitude of Athens summer is here, my favorite time of year in this town. I was 20 the first summer I lived here, and 14 years later, summer is still a breath of fresh, humid air. As if you can go back to being the "other you" once school starts back and there's some crisp in the air.

But now, now is summer in Athens. And its time to step outside yourself and BREATHE it in. skinny dip in the lake, drink champagne from styrofoam cups, make whole weekend suppers out of what you can grill outdoors. swat mosquitoes and dip your toes into the kiddie pool your friends' lawn chairs are arranged around. savor the scents of incense and citronella oil and good herb and lighter fluid and lemonade. walk everywhere, say hello to strangers that become new friends, linger longer on the outdoor patios downtown. crash a house party. put your dog in the car with a tent and a cooler, and drive until some place looks interesting. You can, because its summer in Athens. It makes me feel ageless, wide-eyed, and free.

Real life, you can resume that later.

* Good conversation with mylife1060 today, and I might even get to actually SEE her this weekend!

* I may try out for the Classic City Rollergirls with my friend Laura. I am willing and able to kick some ass. I need to practice, as I've not been on roller skates since I was 15.

* I'm going to see our friend play tomorrow in Buford, the show is called "Talk Journey To Me", and it is a Poison/Journey cover band. The comic value is bound to be enough to make the drive.

* This weekend is all about socializing, music, working out, and pet sitting. sounds just about right...

by artist Peter Loose. We got it at the Southworks Arts Festival (still going on today!), and its now hanging in the living room above the door we open 1,000 times a day.

Think of how much more interesting our lives might be if we said YES more often to opportunities that come our way. (well, with the exclusion of, say, hard drugs or other things we know are stupid).

YES!!!

so work has been d.e.a.d. this week, therefore I've been off. I was REALLY expecting to work today. If I had any where to go, I'd have gone, had I known.

The happy happy of the day: There is this guy, he comes around to local businesses including Dan's on Fridays and he cooks all gourmet veggie food out of his kitchen, drops off a menu, then comes back later and brings all the food around lunchtime. The tropical fruit salad with lime mint coulis I just had was the BOMB, and the portabello/gouda quiche in there looks amazing. Last week the veggie sausage pig in blankets were fantastic also. I just really pray his kitchen is clean, since its probably not the most legal thing to be doing without the health inspector being involved. whatever. I'm all about it, because this guy is GOOD.

The other happy of the day: at the gym this morning I am doing my thing with the 12 lb medicine ball in one corner, and the lady working with her trainer behind me with her 5 lb ball asked him, "so are we going to be working up to what SHE'S doing?" meaning me. hell yeah! I walked probably 4 miles yesterday, more than that if you count the dog park, and next week its time to switch up the weight routine. I think I have worked out more days than not this month. Next month I'm really going to have to watch it as we'll be on vacation for most of it, but I'm going to buy a sheet of gold stars like teachers use and put a star on my calendar every day I bust my tail.

I'm also going to make a health/workout related filter, so please feel free to comment on here if you want to be on it. otherwise it will be mostly private, because if I was my friend and not interested, I wouldn't want to read it necessarily. I love to read other people's posts about what they do because it is motivating to me, and it also makes me realize that everyone else struggles with body image/dessert refusal/utter lazy times also so I don't feel so bad. So comment if you want to be included in my daily bs, because Dan and I are going back on WW next week and I'm sure my OCD is only going to carry over to LJ x 2 after that.

the weekend ahead: Oconee Co. Arts Festival and art sale, a friend's band playing, there's at least one cookout, probably 2, potentially 3. There are several hangout opportunities, it should be way laid back.

There will be another post later about the kitchen stuff, as I've found the Magic Piece to build it around, and its going to be excellent.

When I woke up as the power died yesterday, grumpy because there was no coffee, I knew it probably wasn't going to be the best day. It was kind of rotten throughout: wound dressings that wouldn't stay on, complaining patients, getting lost, yuck yuck yuck. Then I got all the way home and had to go back out, fortunately the guy only lived 15 minutes away.

the highlights: back to the gym, in which I managed to do some intermittent running without pain, and saw an acquaintance there that was happy to see me. I am frustrated that cardiovascularly I can keep going, but its like my calves just won't catch up! I still have some sensations that keep me up at night, but it was less yesterday. I was balancing on one foot trying to put on pants with flip flops on and about lost my balance, pain shooting through my left ankle after I got home. It feels alright today, but it sure did suck for the moment I was going through it.

Then Dan and I went to DePalmas and had a great meal (with leftovers!) and talked about stuff, then we went home and took the dogs to the dog park again! Boomer, despite his weirdness around humans, is a sweet dog and loves to play and is very sociable and friendly to other dogs. Pearl, still a bit pushy and independent. She needs to learn to come when I call her and that not every person loves her as much as I do. They have an agility course at the park, I'm trying to get her familiar with the equipment so I can take her to classes when they have their next session, of course, I need to be working on basic commands so she will listen to me.

Then we came home and vegged out, and he made me Rice Krispie Treats. yum!

I'm glad yesterday started off bad but ended great, and I'm so glad to be off today. On the agenda: wait for the furniture people to come exchange my shit. Probably a walk/run around the neighborhood. Grocery shopping. Laundry. Vacuuming. Kitchen planning. I also would like to find a cuter bathing suit as we're going to the beach in a few weeks. Off the agenda: I refuse to do any grass mowing! Or any yardwork in general! My body is exhausted from bending, digging, pushing, lifting, and dragging. The damn garden is in, there is only one more garden bed that needs some annuals in it, and I'm NOT going to do that today. The biggest yard work I'm going to do is possibly go buy a cheap plastic lounge chair and lie in the sun with a beer and my book this afternoon. which sounds better and better by the moment!

Well, I was supposed to leave for Nashville today and could have even had a dog sitter lined up as late as this afternoon, but there was lack of communication so I hope my friend does well and I'm sorry not to be there, even if I'm a bit hurt she basically ignored my attempts to communicate. whatever.

Instead I put in a fair amount of my garden today: finished the green beans, 3 rows of edamame, an okra patch, 6 early tomatoes while I wait on my seeded tomatoes to get bigger, basil seed tape along the front row. staked the asparagus and weeded the berry patch. mowed the back yard and then pitchforked the compost pile. the center is warm but we need more moisture. I'm laying down newspaper as a weed barrier and am hoping to "lasagna" compost in the fall for next season: that clay dirt is hard as a rock. Because I deeply enjoy the process, I don't rent tillers or use power tools to dig up my dirt: hoes, shovels, and muscles are what I use. I'm so damn sore today. It will be a few weeks before the peppers, thyme, and tomatoes are ready, the watermelon, cukes, and squash can go in soon. mmm.

I'm also sore from doing day 1 of the couch to 5k all the way through yesterday, (even though I tried for 15 minutes the day before, I didn't complete 20 so I'm not counting it) I didn't feel destroyed (even though I went 5 minutes longer than the program actually calls for), but wow! running just uses so many different muscles than walking! I'm sore from my boobs to my knees, literally. Which is where I store all my extra weight. Correlation, much? Tomorrow, I'm planning on doing it again, if I can move. I love the way my legs look after I've been on a running program, so I need to keep it up. I want this to be the summer of cute skirts and sandals. Plus, last night I got a bombasstic leg massage from the boy, so I need to keep THAT up as well.

Tonight Dan and I went downtown to the Twilight Criterium and drank some Terrapin and listened to some music. Watched some stunt bikers. Tomorrow it will be drunkenness in the streets, but tonight it was laid back and cool. Holding hands and walking downtown, perfect weather, smelling carnival foods and people watching. can't beat it. we made homemade pizzas tonight (olive oil/tomato/basil/garlic for me, pepperoni for him, both with smoked mozzarella and fresh soft mozzarella.) drool. so good. He has been a total joy to be around since I got home from Costa Rica. yay. things are really really good right now.