01.22.011

i spent all day yesterday nestled inside. it was snowing. we've been having some really nice snowstorms this winter, which i think is nature's way of making up for the wussy winter we had last year. it's also been very cold and windy. you take the nice with the less nice and it makes it okay. it's going to be even colder (well below freezing, with wind chills in the negatives) this week. in snowier news, there is the potential for snow on my birthday. i am always hopeful that the conditions will be just like they were when i was born; blizzardy and terrible. i don't know why i am so enamored with the idea of terrible birthday weather, but i am. i think i like to use it as an excuse to not have to go anywhere or do anything but get drunk and watch movies and listen to music.

the little teakettle arrived this week and we've been spending some nice time together. i've tried the vanilla green, acai green, and jasmine green teas. i still haven't tried the pomegranate green or any of the earl grey teas yet. i will probably brew a pot of earl grey before i start watching ken burns' jazz on netflix streaming (which i am ridiculously excited about). the flowers bloom pretty well, although i've found that most of them float instead of sitting upright in the base of teapot, which is a little disappointing. they're still lovely to watch, though, and they taste good, so no complaints. twenty seven dollars well spent.

weightloss things are going well. i am now tracking my diet and exercise and sticking to my plan with reasonable ease, which is nice. the only wrench that has been thrown into it was a surprise early monthly visit that i was not expecting until the 24th which has left me crampy and tired. oh well. i'll be making a big batch of vegan chili at some point this weekend. i hate having to cook black beans, and i don't like to buy them pre-cooked and canned because it adds a lot of unnecessary sodium. i am thinking about investing in a slow cooker. it seems like a good idea.

i am still writing a fair bit, although less than i was when the year first started. i've managed to work in some reading time as well. i'm reading the brothers karamazov at work and before i fall asleep at night, and i've been reading harpo speaks while working out and cooking dinner. i'm in the initial stages of writing and illustrating a children's story about the little teakettle's big texas adventure. by "initial stages" i mean, i came up with an outline and i can visualize the way i want the whole thing to look, but i can't actually buckle down and write the story. i think i'm going to do the art first and write it second, which seems odd, but i think it'll work out okay in the end. my plan is to make copies of it for all of my friends who are having babies, because there are a lot of them.

oh what else. it's weird not having a set schedule for writing here. and apparently not having a set schedule results in me not writing here for two weeks. i apologize for the giant lapse in entries. i will try to be better, but i make no guarantees.

if you would like to send or deliver to me any of the following for my birthday, you are more than welcome to.

corgi puppy.
donkey.
small bunny (dwarf and adorable preferred, but really, any bunny would be awesome).
giant tambourine.

a love letter.
a song.
cuddles.
a nice meal.
something nice and handmade.
vintage papers.
books.
records.
tickets to travel to different places with lodging included.
large blankets.
another fainting couch.
bookshelves.
flowers.
somebody nice (male).
more time.
other various surprises that i have not listed, but would be excited about.

after my birthday, i have to take down all of the christmas things and perhaps rearrange the living room again in order to utilize the space better. i need an area to make things in. the problem right now is that the dining room table (which i do most of my creative things on) is in the kitchen. i could move it back into the living room today, but i have some weird reason for not wanting to do this. i never named my christmas tree this year. i feel bad about it.

i've been having a lot of nice dreams that, although being nice, result in me feeling palpably lonely, to the point where i spend a long time walking around in the grocery store, watching people, because my non-familial human interactions have been basically cut down to grocery stores and gas stations. i should probably go visit the olde crew at the tv station (especially considering that one of my dear friends just got married last weekend) sometime this week, but the weather makes me want to stay inside where it is warm and i don't have to drive. the days are getting longer, at least. and time is passing quickly.

i don't know what else i've been meaning to write about. someday, i'll start posting the things i've actually been writing writing. once i figure out exactly what that is.