Things I Love

• A super clean house
• Open windows
• The smell of mowed grass
• Ice cream (eating and going to get)
• A really good book you can't put down (this is a rare find for me)
• Dark chocolate covered pretzels
• Pedicures and painted nails in general
• The ability to finish a long run
• Sunday paper crossword puzzles
• Baking and eating chocolate chip cookies
• E-mails from my sister (ahem)
• A perfectly set, coordinated dining table, complete with tablecloth, placemats, real napkins, etc.
• Bailey's Irish Cream (with or without coffee mixed in)

Seriously, Starbucks?

I found out on Ellen yesterday that Starbucks is testing out a new drink size: the Trenta.  Really.  Twenty ounces of coffee at a time isn't enough?  You need 30?!  That is nearly 4 cups of coffee in a cup.  More like a pitcher, really.  I have never even ordered a Venti, and likely shall not be ordering the new super-sized option.  Aside from making you extremely jittery, don't you think 30 ounces is bound to get cold before you finish it?  Especially in those lame paper cups.

Ode to Crayola

This will not be the first time I've referenced the great crayon makers on this blog.  Awhile ago I discovered an online quiz celebrating Crayola's 50th birthday.  Ever since I was a small fry, I have been fascinated by the Crayola 64 box.  Not only was there a sharpener in the back (!), but there were so many colors that could be arranged light to dark, dark to light, or if you were feeling exceptionally artsy, primaries in one compartment, pastels in another, metallics over here, etc. etc. etc.  So many opportunities for color-coding and imposing order on the great rainbow of a box.  I tried to keep like colors together... in other words, pinks and reds away from the blues and greens.  And if you took out three crayons at once, you better put them back in their original places and not rotate them throughout the box.  Perhaps a little OCD?

And the markers were even worse, as the smelly Mr. Sketch markers had a photo on the front showing the 'proper' order the rainbow of colors should be stored in their styrofoam* tray.  (The tray appears to be cardboard now, in case you wondered) You can ask my sister... I would not allow anyone to replace my markers in their tray unless they corresponded to their spot on the box.

In high school and college I had a different color binder for each class, with a matching highlighter to mark the textbooks and to easily recognize important dates on a calendar.  Biology test on Monday?  It'll be written in green.  English paper due Thursday?  That's the yellow one.  I continue this craziness on my post-student wall calendar, but have graduated to rainbow sharpie markers in lieu of highlighting.

What can I say?  I enjoy both order and color-coding.  My sister, forever the AP Chem student, often reminds me that I am abnormal: "Nature is not color-coded or organized.  It's entropy; nature tends from order to disorder.  It's natural to be messy."  But I never enjoyed or excelled in Chemistry.  If I can color-code something, I will.  Markers, crayons, binders, social events, or my closet.

Yes, these are all ribbed (mostly Gap) tank tops arranged by color on a shelf.  What can I say?  Call me if you ever need help organizing.

*Do you guys remember when it was OK to use styrofoam?  Marker trays were made out of it, Big-Mac boxes, Dixie cups.  And call me crazy, but when I'm drinking a hot beverage, I would much prefer a styrofoam vessel to a paper one with a 'sleeve' around the middle to keep my hands from burning.  It doesn't work, folks.  The drink gets cold and I burn my fingers.  One of the few things from the 1980s for which I am nostalgic.  Styrofoam, CareBears, Fraggles..... I smell another blog entry

Momsie was here!

My mother was here all week and boy were we busy!  In addition to two comprehensive theme park tours that included nearly every ride and no lines at all (YAY), Mom also finally 'met' Alice from Alice in Wonderland, which made her day.  The rest of us, of course, realize that Alice is actually a young woman wearing a blonde wig and a blue dress, but don't tell her that...  Mom and I also did some damage at the outlet mall here in Orlando, the highlight of the trip being Mom's trendy designer dress that cost less than most pairs of shoes.  It's super cute, too.  The week ended on a high note; the three of us saw Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland in IMAX 3D before dropping Mom at the airport.  Sadly, the weather was less than cooperative-- but still better than anything you could hope for in Ohio.  It's been cold and windy all week, creating bad hair days and cold hands.  It's a good thing fun times and merriment trump blustery days.