Happy Thanksgiving. :)

Today, I'm thankful for...

1) A fuzzy white puppy who believes that cuddles are the perfect way to rouse someone.
2) The warm sunshine.
3) Living out my adventure in Texas.
4) A job that I L-O-V-E.
5) Amazing parents that I get to see in 27 days.
6) Being at a point in my life where singleness is actually a blessing.
7) A home - not just having one, but having a big old beautiful one with ornate trim and a stained-glass window.
8) 53 degrees at 7:40am (which will turn into 65 before the day is over).
9) An ocean view (10 blocks away, but who's counting??).
10) Dear friends, near and far away.

I hope you are having a glorious holiday on this particular Thursday, whether alone or with family or friends.

Much love from Texas!

Miss Bennet.

We've been doing a little cleaning, a little movie watching, a little cuddling, and a little laundry on this cold Saturday morning.



And yes, I just called 57 degrees cold.

Inspiration

I've been inspired by a lot lately.

Last night I sat on the living room floor and turned an aged piece of woodland decor into a fresh piece of artwork. I bought the wooden frame with a picture of ducks on a pond from Goodwill for just $4.00. Last night I sprayed the frame silver, and painted over the ducks with robin's egg blue and a little bit of soft details, with the words, "Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die...life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly."

It's a poem by Langston Hughes. I read it in high school, and we created artwork based on it that displayed our dreams. My senior year, as my English teacher was cleaning up her room, she gave me the artwork we had made. It's at my parents' house in my portfolio, but those words stuck with me throughout the years, and I wanted to display them in some way.

All I want to do right now is create. To sew, and paint, and glue things together.

I'm so excited to spend a few days alone in the house next week. :)

Seriously?

I don't dream very often.

Okay, the scientists in the room might take exception with that statement and explain to me that, according to the nature of REM cycles, I do dream. I may simply not remember them.

Whatever. If I don't remember it, it didn't happen.

In any case, I've been dreaming off and on lately.

And there seems to be a theme. Here's a sample:

1) A few weeks ago: It's my wedding day. My mom is with me as I get ready. There's something not quite right about my dress. It's not what I wanted. As I adjust and primp, I realize the same is true for the guy. Then I wake up.

2) Last night: I'm proposed to (possibly by my ex-boyfriend? let's just assume it was an unknown place-holding boy). He hands me a selection of rings to choose from and leaves the room. I immediately breeze past the diamonds for the non-traditional, funky stone rings. All of which are cheap, dime-store pieces. I realize that, in not anticipating my preferences (and giving me a selection?), this guy doesn't know me at all. And that's a fail. Then I wake up.

Put the dream analysis books back on the shelves, kids. This one is pretty easy to figure out.

For one of the first times in my life, my desire for companionship is being trumped by something else: wanting the RIGHT guy. And if my dreams are any indication, I'm willing to wait until I find him.

Do I know him right now? I don't think so.

Will I find him? Yes, someday. God-willing.



Much love from Texas. :)

Two Things.

1) Spot, the adorable little stuffed puppy of children's literary fame, has been decapitated and met his sorrowful death. May he rest in peace, and my his legacy live on in the hearts, minds, and bookshelves of future generations.

2) I realized this morning that I had a pretty good dating life in college. There was an interest, whether it turned into anything or not, each of my four years.

Except what led me to this conclusion was the realization that it's been nearly two years since I went on a proper date, and a year and a half since I even hung out with a guy with any sort of interest in me.

Of course, I could have taken Mr. Car Dealership himself up on his offer.

Wait...no. Definitely no.

Dear Self (6 Months Ago),

If you knew what I know now, you'd be doing things a little differntly. Sure, you might not make all of those impulse purchases that now hang in my closet unused. But you'd have a lot more cash. And you'd feel a lot better about life.

See, budgeting is kind of a neat trick. Being able to say, "Thanks, but I'm eating in tonight. Gotta stick to the budget." is pretty cool. And when it's all on paper (theoretically, 'cause it's actually maintained digitally), you can't even try to justify spending more than you have or have allotted. Even if you tried, the red bar of overbudgetedness would be staring you back in the face, yelling "Ehhhhhhhh. Wrong answer!"

Needless to say, I'm doing pretty well over here. Cleaning up your messes, though, which will take far longer for me than it took you to make them. Thanks for that, really.

Peace, love, and balanced budgets.

C-Jo

Things that make me smile.

1) There's a puppy under my chair. Her name is Bennet. You've met her.
2) I have The Office sticky notes. They say "Petty behavior. Zero productivity. All in a day's work."
3) I'm eating grapes, and I just had a delicious homemade black bean veggie burger.
4) I'm leaving work at 4:00 today, which is approximately 3 hours and 38 minutes from now.
5) I live in Texas, and though it's November, the sun is shining bright, warm, and delicious.


I should do this weekly. :)

Angry puppy.

Let it be established right now that Bennet, my dear, sweet girl-puppy, does not like the ocean.

At all.

I made her play in the waves. Her response was to run the other direction and glare at me. If looks could kill, I'd been dead and buried four times over.

After rinsing off my own feet and allowing her to leave the shoreline, prissy little princess trotted all the way home, barely stopping to sniff, pulling hard on the leash in my hand. She was wet, she was mad, and she wasn't going to give me the time of day until I learned from my mistakes.




Until we got into the yard at home. Then all was well, and cuddles resumed.

Brownies.

I dreamed about brownies last night. For reals. In fact, there might have been brownies in two locations in my dream. One, at some holiday dinnery thing, and the other in a college cafeteria, where I was, for some odd reason, eating. And forgot my ID, as I so often did in college, but that's a separate issue.

The real issue here is brownies.

I don't know what sparked this dream. I haven't had a brownie in at least two weeks, and I certainly don't have any in the house. My roommates are all asleep, so I know they weren't baking and invading my dreams with the scent of heavenly chocolate.

Though I wish they had, because now I want one.





No, I will not eat brownies. I will attempt, against all odds, to eat healthily today.

No brownies for this girl.