So really

Now, on top of everyone starting sentences with "So...." (17 times in less than 10 minutes during a meeting this week, seriously) I've noticed this other trendy bullshit thing: Really?

Trendy hipsters use "Really?" as a kinder gentler version of "You are so full of shit."

I thought it was just a midwestern thing until it happened in The Hangover last night.

Which is an excellent movie, by the way - right on par with Schindler's List - but it takes place in Vegas with drugs and strippers and whathaveyou.

Anyhow, good things Friday. Yep.

I am cranky today. But I will forge ahead as if my hormones aren't raging like the snows of Capistrano or something.

Here goes:

Going out for a movie with Jim for the first time in over a year.

The Hangover - "I didn't know they gave rings out at the Holocaust"

A quiet day last Sunday - just Jim, Grom and me hanging by the pool all day - can't remember the last time we did that, just us

Pilates on Tuesday

Mom & Da are coming back in August

Work is going exceptionally well - so much is happening it's hard to keep up and I love it

Jim making me laugh on the way to the train this morning even though I didn't feel like it

5 weeks without snack foods - although I broke down and had three pretzels last night so I guess it really hasn't been 5 weeks but fuck you I'm fixin' to bleed and if I WANT TO HAVE A GODDAMN PRETZEL I WILL GODAMMIT.

Sigh

Got my teeth cleaned this week

Went to the chiropractor too

My soap order arrived from Crabtree & Evelyn (my skin is soooo soft again this morning)

Two white rocking chairs make the front porch look very homey

Assembling said rocking chairs with Jim in the garage last Sunday - we're a good team

Sitting on said rocking chairs with Jim night before last and marveling at the amount of traffic passing by

Road the bus/El all week - only one cab ride for a lunch in the Loop

Playing Scrabble with Nelson and Jim the IT guy via my iPhone (yes, we're still playing)

My new favorite word: ITard (An IT guy who is not very bright)

I'm staying overnight in the city tonight and thinking about going to the Apple store on Michigan avenue to treat myself to a new smallish something

I opened up a separate bank account for myself so that I can live off of an allowance rather than just spending money willy-nilly and wreaking havoc on our finances (yes, this is a very good thing)

So maybe I won't treat myself to a smallish something now that I'm on a budget

Or maybe I'll just use my old debit card One Last Time since the new one hasn't arrived yet

Seeing Susan on the train last night

Knowing my husband and all of our friends will be having a fantastic, fun-filled weekend while I'm sitting in class Friday night, all day Saturday and all day Sunday

Okay this is not a good thing at all (and an ancillary reason for my crankiness) but I'd like to think everyone will miss me

Bleh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am listening to: Quiet, quiet office

I am reading: Presentations abstracts for IRCE 2010

And I am: CRANKY

Good Things Friday

My friend Mrs. You Know Who asked "Where's good things Friday?"

So here I am

Fabulous, amazing wonderful 10-day visit with my parents - LOVE THEM

Four weeks tomorrow no chips

Giving up sweets tomorrow for good - wish me luck - this could get ugly

Met Jennifer the massage therapy student on the bus Wednesday morning

Dinner at the You Know Who's Wednesday night, figuring out the Big 50th Birthday Trip

"You're doing it wrong"

Scrabble on my iPhone with Jim the IT guy and Nelson!

Birthday festivities for Corbin last night - a lovely, wonderful evening (plus cake)

Michael Jackson music

I LOVE MY JOB - even though it's keeping me insanely busy

The Dow was up over 9k

What goes around definitely comes around - I have an amazing update on The Turd that I will share next week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am listening to: Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

I am reading: Nothing much

And I am: Fabulous

Happy scrappy fuckity-foo-foo-Friday

Mom & Da are here at least through the weekend and I haven’t spent this much time with them since I moved to Illinois 20 years ago.
The Toyota Prius ads with all the people in the landscape make me inexplicably happy.
Crabtree & Evelyn Nantucket Briar soap makes my skin sooooo soft.
The truck pull last night and the Megasauraus, which ate a car and then set it on fire.
Being called the “Titty Lady” by a bum outside my office.
No potato chips, Doritos or Tostitos for three weeks tomorrow.
President Obama’s speech to the NAACP.
Not living on Facebook so much anymore.
Playing Scrabble with Jim the IT guy via my iPhone.
Oberweis turtle sundaes with butter pecan ice cream.
The ‘slut slippers’ Mom and me bought at the Batavia craft fair last weekend.
Jim’s beer can chicken.
Not reading the news as much as I used to.
You can tell the really hardcore Christians because the crosses around their necks always feature the not-so-Cuddly-Wuddly, but Skinny and Suffering Christ.
My IRA is finally moving in the right direction by a healthy, satisfying amount - hasn’t done that since I can remember.
The chunky yet elegant bracelet Mom made – I’ve worn it two days in a row – my new favorite.
My new shampoo (Leonor Greyl) smells incredible and doesn’t require conditioner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HedyBlog Mini Quiz:

Which group of words appeals to you more?

Open, creative, progressive, diverse, free.

Exclusive, traditional, consistent, classic, secure.

Just curious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am listening to: Talk Dirty to Me – Poison
I am reading: Nothing much
And I am: Thinky

Good things Friday

Mom & Da ARE HERE! YAY!
I have no idea where this week went - work is so amazingly cool/busy/crazy I haven't felt this energized about what I do in years.
Two weeks since I've had chips, Cheetos or Tostitos. Yay, me.
FABULOUS Fourth of July weekend
Swimming in Lake Geneva
Peeing in Lake Geneva
Mine's behavin'
Went to The Bristol Tap last night and somehow resisted the chips that always accompany the best burger on the planet.
Eating Quaker Oatmeal for breakfast - the cinnamon swirl is best
I need to write a 500 word article for the Illinois Technology Association by noon and I don't even have a topic yet.
Okay maybe that's not a good thing but it's on my mind.
Pilates on Tuesday kicked my ass.
The window washer who fell three stories down the building across the street yesterday is okay.
Seeing the 20 or so firefighters who gathered to rescue the window washer hanging from the side of the building across the street.
Dole Pina Colada juice is outstanding. Especially with Capt. Morgan. Try it.
My creative guy is finally back from Disney World.
Megan at the Kinko's in Aurora is a rockstar - the sign she made for my show in San Diego is fabulous.
Mom made her world famous potato salad for the little dinner gathering we're having tonight.
I had an excellent dream last night about telling off my cousin and his C-U-Next-Tuesday wife - it was extremely healing.
Talking with Mom on the porch.
The User Experience Assessment we did for a hardware store chain in Canada was a big hit.
Watching Penn & Teller's Bullshit show with Mom, Da & Jim last night.
"I feel like we got a lot of decisions made in this meeting."
Going to the grocery store with Da.
San Pellegrino Aranciata is delicious
Mom's Navy cake
My boss might actually have some billable work for me on a writing project for a client.
Judy's gonna be a gramma again - YAYYYYY!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm listening to: INXS - Don't Change (BEST SONG EVAR)
I am reading: Nothing
And I am: Happy

The fairy tale me

There’s a mirror in the foyer that Jim gave me for Christmas many years ago.

It’s smallish and round with a dark metal frame shaped like flowers and leaves. Pretty, but not too girly-girly. Like something from a fairy tale with a princess and an ugly cruel stepmother with a big hairy wart that smells like bad cheese. Just the wart, not the whole stepmother.

Anyhow.

It’s a skinny mirror – you know the ones – it magically makes me look at least 10 lbs. lighter.

I don’t even know why I look in it, really. It’s not a true reflection of reality.

Maybe I look because it gives me a glimpse of what could be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You've probably noticed I’m not writing any more. I’m pretty pissed off about it.

Because of charm school, I’ve lost the part of myself that liked this – writing and ranting and having fun with words.

Here’s hoping it comes back someday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not a huge fan of the word foyer, by the way. Especially snooty-falooty people who say it like ‘foy-A’.

These are the same folks who pronounce vase like ‘vaaaz’.

As in ‘The vaaaz in the foy-A is filled with juicy wet dog boogers.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So back to this mirror.

Love love loved fairy tales as a child. Hell, I still love ‘em.

And I’ve read a lot of them, but don’t ever recall a story like this:

What if, Once Upon a Time there was a mirror that could show you the best version of yourself?

The what-could’ve-been version who made better decisions and didn’t eat entire bags of Ruffles Sour Cream & Cheddar chips in one sitting?

Wouldn’t that be cool?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
fairy tale (also fairy story)
noun
a children's story about magical and imaginary beings and lands.
• [as adj. ] denoting something regarded as resembling a fairy story in being magical, idealized, or extremely happy : a fairy-tale romance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The point is, because of charm school I am catching glimpses of this slightly better, fairy tale version of myself.

It’s kinda cool when it isn’t scaring the living shit out of me.

Because this new Hedy is more sociable. Has more energy. Is more conscious and aware. Is eating less. Doing more. Is more compassionate. And less temperamental.

However.

It’s coming at a price and I am seriously mourning the old version of myself. The version that liked hanging out here with you and ranting about silly shit.

Furthermore, if you’ve ever read the really old, non-Disney fairy tales, you know they're often scary and bloody and not all of them have happy endings.

So right now, the fairy tale version of me is wandering around in the woods, ate all of her fucking breadcrumbs miles ago, and is hoping that her fairy godmother will arrive - POOF - soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am listening to: Green Day - Basket Case
I am reading: Nothing much
And I am: Reflective