Ah, the mixer. A boy's best friend.

He somehow latched onto the mixer and refused to give it back.
And let's face it: it's not like I'm using it.

So we compromised: he can have it as long as he just watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with it and doesn't run around the house trying to find an open outlet to plug it into.

Works for me.

On my mind Monday.

1) Just finished Eclipse last night, the third book in the Twilight series. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but those books are entertaining. Annoying super conservative agenda lurking not so far beneath the surface, and extra cheesy cheese notwithstanding. I like a good guilty trash read now and then. In fact, I stayed up until midnight to finish it. *sheepish grin*

2) Exultant over my weekend update to Mom's etsy shop and the fact that she made a sale immediately after I updated, AND got into a treasury! Whoo-hoo! I'm dragging that woman and her crafts kicking and screaming into the digital age.

3) Still laughing about Zayda and Eliot and their antics this weekend. Seeing them loving each other's company reminds me so much of me and my favorite cousin at that age. (Hey Nic, miss you! *big kiss*)

4) Paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting. (topics of my 1001 classes today)

5) I will eat nearly anything so long as it's covered in chocolate. Exhibit A: the Snickers bar a colleague tucked into my mailbox this morning. I hate peanuts. And I don't care.

There is a simple explanation for this.

It was Dad's idea. And clearly Dad is NOT the parent who carried this child for nine+ months, labored for thirty-six hours to bring him into the world, and then had his uterus cut open to surgically extract him.

No, those delights went to Mom, who's looking on here, on the verge of an anxiety attack, vowing not to let him actually help mow the yard until he's at least twenty, and wondering what it is with boys and tractors. *sigh*

On my mind today.

I have no cohesive, overarching theme for a post today, but I keep feeling the need to blog bristling up against my skin like an itchy tag on the neck of my shirt. Here's what's on my mind today as I teach my classes, hold office hours, rinse, and repeat, in no particular order:

1) It's really cold in my office.

2) Eliot and I spied a "monster buck" out in the yard this morning, drinking from the neighbor's little pond. I think I'm going to love living in the country.

3) I'm planning on getting a new tattoo. Until very recently, I never thought I would get another tattoo. Once was enough for me, thanks. But since Molly died I keep feeling the need to have one, not so much to memoralize her, as to commemorate her passage through my life. Her life and death taught me a lot about living and made me think about the kind of person I want to be. I am.

Right now, I'm thinking the new tattoo will be a phrase written in script on the inside of my right wrist. I was thinking "simply live," but now am considering "embrace life." What do you think? Too hokey?

4) It's really, really cold in my office.

5) I'm 29 years old and I still like Little Debbie snacks.

6) I just bought this delicous pair of gloves and can't wait for them to arrive in my mailbox!

7) Why is it so friggin' cold in my office?

8) There's a movable sign that I pass now every day on my way to and from home, and every time I see it I get the nearly uncontrollable urge to vandalize it. Today it says "USA has turned against God." Last week it said, "Would Jesus vote for the party of abortion?" and before that it said, "Abortion is murder: God said so."

This sign pretty much serves as a laundry list of reasons why I get frustrated with a lot of people who subscribe to organized religion. (And yes, I know you're disagreeing with me already, and shaking your head in frustration, Adriane.) But first of all, who are you (you who maintains the sign) to presume what Jesus would do? I'm pretty sure he wouldn't vote at all. And by the way, voting based upon a single issue while completely ignoring the rest of the country's and the world's problems is ridiculously short sighted. Secondly, use an article in front of "USA." I recommend "The." Third, when did God say "Abortion is murder"? Is that the eleventh commandment? Did I not get that memo? Or did "He" just say it to you personally? Does he call you at home? Do you have a dorsal fin?

9) When I came into work this morning there was a tour group of prospective freshmen roaming about campus. I love that. Seeing those kids, high school seniors on the brink of the rest of their lives...there's just something there that fills me with hope. Yeah, it's hokey, I know. But I'm just like that. (For reference, see #3.) It's one of the reasons I love working on a college campus--this continual sense of renewal.

10) I don't really have a number ten; I just thought the list would look better if I did. And did I mention it's really cold in my office? Like, Antarctica cold?