Something's missing.  And I'm not sure what it is.  Other than regular blog posts, I mean.  :)  I just have this nagging feeling, all the time lately, that I'm forgetting something.

Perhaps if I make a list my brain will figure it out or at least stop thinking about it for a while.

Things I have neglected:
1. Work. Not ready for deadlines coming up due to general as well as unforeseen, rush, business.  As my boss has complete and total disregard for deadlines I'm hoping this won't be a problem.  But work is never really all tidied up and put away so...
2. Trip. I'm a little panicky over trip arrangements but can't place what it is that I don't have lined up and ready to go.  Maybe because I have not studied up on Italian or French.  But charades should get me through, right?
3. Exercise.  No make ups this session for pilates so I'm probably beating myself up for going to the Sounders game.  Holding your scarf up for the whole length of the march counts as exercise, maybe...
4. Sleep. I can't wait for the day that this is fulfilled.  I often wonder what it feels like for people that have quality, restful sleep for one whole week.  How much more productive could I be?
5. Blog.  Sorry.  But I'm working on this one right now!
6. Kite.  Still haven't flown it yet.  :(  Before March goes out like a lamb I'll have to think of something.

Things I have down:
1. Baby presents.  So far all parties have received gender appropriate gifts while the new babies are still in the helpless, immobile stage.  Check.  But now I've run out of this one ribbon and can't find it at the fabric store.  Grrr.  More babies are on the horizon so will have to copy this to my to do list.
2. Reading.  At least for book club!  I rallied and made it through all of "The Help" last week for tonight's meeting and am almost done with next month's selection "City of Falling Angels". Double check.
3. Family.  I believe I am caught up with this via blogs, fb and the occasional phone call or face to face.
4. Friends.  Successful game night achieved last night.  Agricola is no longer a big, black box of crazy pieces! Theater sports the evening before for a nice tickling of the funny bone with some people I haven't seen in a bit.  Feel like I'm doing pretty well here.
5. Lunches.  I may not have mastered the art of menu planning but thanks to Trader Joes I have inexpensive, delish lunch options that are ready in a snap and make me want to buy this book even more.  Gotta love curries.  Also want this one for some Spanish f(l)are.
6. Cleaning.  Somehow (vacuuming excluded) I have kept up with the general clutter and dirt in my apt.  I no longer have a cleaning day but scatter it throughout the week.

Ok, I have an equal list of items to berate and praise myself for.  I actually feel a little better.  Nagging feeling is still there but I don't think I'll lose any sleep over it tonight.

In other news, my weatherproof wind chimes are looking decidedly weathered.  Can't decide if I should try to polish the metal and do something to the wood or let it "go naturally".  What I'd really like is to find a non-tacky way of securing the dumb shepherd's hook it hangs on so that it doesn't bang around against the house in a wind storm.  The whole thing swings side to side and is anything but melodious when it finds the porch railing.

Lavender blooms are peaking and lily of the valley pips are are making a showing as well.  Things aren't looking as good for the dwarf lilac but I won't judge 'til June.  Can't decide if I should try (again) for a porch edible garden.  The sludge in the air that comes up from the roads outside my apt makes me want to say no.  Wish I had some nice space. {soon my pet, soon}

I have had a sore throat for about three weeks now.  Not bad enough to warrant a doc visit but annoying enough to make the day less pleasant and my cough drop/soup/tea consumption to skyrocket.  Would really like to figure out if my work place is a causative agent or if my immune system sucks this bad.  I'm ALWAYS sick.  I might as well be a toddler.  Except I get to take care of myself and not stay home every time I feel icky.  There could never be enough sick hours for that.

Going to attempt to try the inst-netflix using my wii this week.  The special disc came in the mail and I hope it works!  Fingers aren't crossed too much as I'm sure the internet connection will be as spotty for the wii as it is for the taplop.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GREAT AND WONDERFUL why did I not know about the wonders of electrolysis before this weekend?  Had a free consultation where I basically got the first treatment free in addition to lots of info.  She must be a crack dealer on the side...  But yeah, so, it is 100x less painful than waxing and will eventually be permanent.  Wahoo!  Now I need to figure out how to use up my sugaring groupons.  By the way - if you aren't considering permanent removal - sugaring kicks ass.  Try it.  Water soluble and less painful.  Done and done.

I'm about to go ape #*&$ on the "genius bar" re my ipod schizophrenia.  If it malfunctions again there may be loss of limb for the first "genius" that tells me that it is a software issue and not a hardware issue because they can't duplicate the problem at their store.

That said I still want an iphone.  Come on 4G!  Come to Holly on another carrier - a good carrier!

All thoughts have left my brain so I think I will try to track down some Yo-Yo Ma tunes that have been eluding me on itunes.  Ciaocito y buona notte.

Birthday extravaganza!

Spent most of last weekend making momma feel special.  :)  The weather was gorgeous so we took a quick trip downtown on the bus and had a little walk.  Then we went out to lunch with some friends of mine before attending the RCRG derby.  Too much fun!  Mom remarked that it was much less violent than she remembered.  There are rules and everything - even a penalty box. She took pics and swears that she'll send some to Oma via her sis as Oma used to watch back in the day. So that was fun and we were out pretty late.  Slept in a bit the next day and then we ran off to Discovery Park for a cold, early morning picnic.  We caught the best weather of the day which soured a bit later so that was nice.  Then we ran off to REI to get her Senior Parks pass.  Lucky devil.  Lifetime pass for super cheap!  Will have to have her tag along on more trips... who says getting older isn't fabulous?

Speaking of which, my lovely little niecey-poo, Lauren, had her second birthday!  The phone call was brief and I think she wished me a happy birthday before I could even offer the greeting myself.  Too cute.  :)  Hopefully she liked the messy glittery card I sent.

Stumped.  I hate it when I wait too long to post and can't remember anything.  Let's see.  Work is really annoying.  Instruments going down left, right and center and no one has any idea what is wrong or how to fix them.  They do enjoy asking us to perform meaningless, unrelated tests and then refusing to do checks or analyses that we request of them.  Gah!  Dating again which is always amusing.  But in case there are proficient cyber stalkers out there I'll leave it at that.

Caught a head cold that has been chasing me for weeks so I've spent a lot of time at home doing nothing.  Feeling better today though so hopefully all is not lost for the weekend.  Could do with a bit less restlessness though.  I hate being sick.

Cruise planning has entered wardrobe mode.  The goal is still to fit everything I could possibly want into one carry-on bag that will see me through two weeks of European cities and a cruise ship.  Was quite successful last week (yes!  now I remember what I did on my day off) and found a bunch of cute tops and some bottoms that all go with my color scheme.  To make packing easier I have selected a palette of brown, white, purple and green.  If I can't wear it with everything else it doesn't get to go.  Ordered some travel laundry items to make wash & wear a possibility.  Found the neatest clothes line (thank you Rick Steves) that you don't need clothespins for.  And just for fun I bought a pac safe purse in a khaki color (working the browns).  They are so cool!  I keep thinking about Kate's S.Am. trip where her bag was ripped or cut to get her monies.  Granted the Med isn't S.Am. and I'm going to avoid sleeping on buses but having a purse you can't cut into makes me feel better.  Also, I can't find my money belt.  Any ideas?  Last seen in 2000...

Tried tooth powder as opposed to paste.  Incredibly salty.  Wondering if they are all like that and if it is worth it to have one tiny toothpaste tube less in my liquid bag.  So far my liquid bag is going to be sunscreen, lotion, shampoo/cond. and maybe a face wash.

I'm a-hunting the perfect pair of shoes now with a vengeance - and may have found them in a merrell.  Mesh sides are good, mostly cute and they come in purple.  Yes, I realize I'm addicted and have a problem with purple but they don't make them in brown!  I want to find a better insole for them.  My superfeet feel not scushy enough.  Yup, that's a word.  Scushiness is important.  Then I will find some of those little socks for the moisture wicking idea relayed in a previous post.  THEN I will be done with clothes and I can panic anew with how little language prep I have done.  It's only a few weeks away!!!!