Here I Am

I'm sorry if you thought I'd deserted the blog - stuff came up and I got jammed up for time. I hate when that happens!!!!

Anyway, here I am. I took today as a personal day since I'm heading up north to spend some time with Austin before he leaves for Iraq. I would much prefer to take a personal day to fly to Vegas for a wild weekend. I'd even prefer to use a personal day on something totally, mind-numbingly, complete-waste-of-my-time, boring - like going to a hunting/fishing/camping expo. It goes without saying that it's not the spending time with Austin that I'd rather not do, it's the seeing him off to Iraq part. (Hmm, if it goes without saying, why did I say it?? Just how my mind works, I guess. Whatever.) So before I go I thought I'd spend some quality time with the old blog.

Let me address any hunters/fishers/campers out there who may look at the last paragraph and wonder why I wouldn't jump at the chance to visit such an expo. I don't do any of those things. Ever. Please don't start with how I'd really enjoy...let's say, camping...if I did it the right way. For me, there is no right way. It's camping. My aversion to camping actually started when I did my Army basic training all those years ago. We had to do a three-day bivouac (Army word for camping), complete with tents, sleeping bags, etc. We packed all our stuff on our backs and marched for hours to the campsite. I should also point out that it was August in Alabama. Nuff said about that. So we get to where we have to set up our tents and I get started. Tents and I don't get along, but I finally got the damn thing up and put the sleeping bags inside. As I was crawling out backwards (these were not big tents) I saw a snake and (city-girl that I was) totally freaked out. I got all tangled in the sleeping bag and then thE tent and after what seemed like an hour but was probably about 30 seconds I managed to get untangled, but the tent fell down and then I noticed it wasn't a snake after all, it was the zipper of my sleeping bag. The rest of the day we did our marching/training/whatever stuff and then I had to sleep in my re-erected tent. There were all kinds of middle-of-the-Alabama-woods noises, scary ones, and then it started to rain. I had managed to put the tent up right in the middle of some run-off area and the water ran through and everything (me, the sleeping bag, my clothes) got soaking wet. The next morning I was standing in formation in my wet uniform and the Alabama sun started to shine and pretty soon it looked like I was wearing a sauna-suit as the steam started to rise. I decided right then and there that I would never willingly do anything remotely connected with camping again. I've stuck to that all these years, except for one relapse in Italy when some guy I was seeing decided it would be fun to camp on a remote beach for a couple of days and I let him convince me I'd like it. Well I didn't like it, it still sucked, and I broke up with him after that. Now, if someone asks me if I camp (a legitimate question here in Colorado) I just look them dead in the eye and give them one of my two well-worn answers: 1. "Do I look like I camp?" or 2. "My idea of camping is staying in a hotel with no room service." The conversation always moves on to something else. Living in Colorado with all its outdoor beauty and activities, I've also been able to use a variation of #1 a few times: "Do I look like I fish?".

That's not really what I'd planned to write today, but my mind goes off of these tangents and sends words to my fingers to type and this is what I ended up with.

Let's get caught up on American Idol. I cannot believe that Danny is still around after butchering "Dream On" so badly. "Dream On" is my number one favorite song ever; I've even instructed my family to play it at my funeral, that's how much it means to me. It's all wrapped up with the words and how it came out when I was a teenager and it just speaks to me as a perfect song for my life. There I go again on a tangent detour. Sorry. So, Danny's in the top three after that and Allison is gone. There is no justice. Adam was his normal awesome self and continues his march to the Idol victory. Kris was his normal cute self. I still can't bring myself to pick on him because of his cuteness. As for the duets, Kris and Danny: why did they even bother?, Adam and Allison: Bravo! Record something together and I'll buy it!

In keeping with this Idol conversation, here's this week's Fill-Ins:
1. Apples are to oranges as Adam is to Danny.
2. Adam better be the next American Idol and that's all I have to say about that.
3. I think I hear Ryan Seacrest announcing You-Know-Who is the new American Idol.
4. Kris and Danny, just start waving the white flag.
5. Do what you want to do, but make sure you vote for Adam.

Knitting news: I made another dishcloth and then started the baby blanket for my pregnant friend. I only have a couple of rows done so far. The baby's not due until October - good news for me! I'm using a variegated baby yarn in shades of green, yellow, and lavender (non-gender-specific, obviously) and will alternate with another yarn that's basically white with "dots" of the same colors. I'm making it up as I go, but if the result matches the vision in my head it will be a really pretty blanket.

Enjoy the weekend!