Am I the only WordPress user who, in spite of having a Captcha thingie has had, like, forty spam comments today?!?  Where are all these effers coming from?!?

Yesterday I finally got so stir crazy that I actually left the house for a while and can I just say? It was super hard to come back home.  I love my home.  I love our apartment and hangin' with the kitty and the forty or fifty really loud ducks that hang out in our side yard.  I love my job.  But yesterday I hit my breaking point where I just sort of snapped and said "that's it, I have to get out of here."  So I went to Fred Meyer and bought new light bulbs for the living room lamps.  Exciting.  And it took me forever to decide on which light bulbs I wanted, not because I wasn't sure which kind to get but because there were so many choices of bulb for my type of lamp.  Also, have there been advances in soft light technology?  The last time I bought a soft white light bulb was by accident back in college and that thing made me feel like I was swimming in a toilet that hadn't been flushed in a while.  Seriously, the white walls of my dorm room were yucky "someone has a bad diet" yellow.  Who wants their home to look like that?  But somehow, the soft white choices greatly outnumbered the not soft white choices.  This is something I do not understand.

Also, before the uber environmental among you get all up in my grill over choosing a regular light bulb instead of one of the energy savers, I know, okay?  I know the energy savers are better.  I know they last longer.  I know they save money on the electric bill and that they don't give off as much heat.  I know all of these things.  But somehow, Will and I managed to buy what are probably the only two floor lamps in existence that are not spiral energy saving light bulb compliant.  I bought those kinds of bulbs once back in Roseburg and when I screwed them in, they did. not. work.  They work in our bedroom lamps, the floor lamp in "the office", and even in the dining room light fixture, but they will not work in the living room.  And? We cannot afford to get new living room floor lamps right now.  So. Um. Psssbbbbbllllltttth.

In unrelated news, today is laundry day, which means that I am sitting on the couch in my pajamas, looking at the piles of laundry I have to do and wondering exactly how long I can put off taking care of them.  To be honest, I don't mind doing the laundry.  I don't even mind trekking back and forth from the laundry room (dude, it is so much better than having to go to the laundromat every week) with each load.  I just…. well, can we invent something that prevents wrinkles and makes it so that I don't have to fold the laundry?  I hate folding laundry.  I hate folding it.  I hate putting it away.  Rawr.  I do, however, like the going outside and getting fresh air every thirty eight minutes though.

Look!  I'm posting first thing(ish) in the morning! Woo!

Without giving too much away, is it just me or is McDreamy being a jackass this season?

How the hell did four days go by since my last post?  I think I might have to do Nablopomo or whatever it's called next month to get back into the swing of things.  To be honest, I've been in such intense work mode lately that by the time I sit down to write here, my brain just flops over and pretends to be dead.  I keep promising to write my blog entries before I start working for the day but that? Would require not hitting the snooze button twelve times and we all know how futile it would be to try to get me to break that habit.

Unless you're talking about today, when we got woken up at FIVE THIRTY AM by a wrong number call.   When we switched to Fios I didn't see an option for keeping our Comcast number on the online signup thing (if you see it instantly when you go there, please don't point it out to me) so we ended up having to change our home phone number.  Our phone number used to be the number for a local fiber cable making company that prints its phone number on all of its products, so even though they've sent out promotional materials to tell all of their clients that their number has been changed (for the last five years), the clients just dial the number that's printed on the cable.  Fun for us! How do I know about all of this?  Because I talked to one of the sales reps for the company this morning.  Actually I e-mailed the company to let them know that we were getting their calls and that they might be missing out on sales (I was very polite, I swear) and one of the sales reps called me back to apologize.  Profusely.  So, I don't begrudge the company any.  It isn't their fault their clients don't pay attention.

Since Will has been cut back so drastically at work, we've gotten to spend quite a bit more time together and I have to tell you that we are the picture perfect vision of a twenty first century couple.  Every day has found us sitting side by side on the couch with our laptops in our laps and watching television.  For the record I only teased him via instant messenger for the first two days.  Then he threatened to start playing WoW in the living room if I didn't stop.  So…. I stopped. Also? I have gotten Will hooked on House.  And 90210.  He'll only admit to one of these though.

Last night we watched My Own Worst Enemy with Christian Slater.  Every time I see Christian Slater my inner fourteen year old swoons and I get this horrible urge to go to Hollywood Video and rent Kuffs.  The show was okay–I was busy working on stuff, so I didn't get to pay too much attention to it, but it does look far superior to Knight Rider, which is funny since Chevy is the major financier of MOWE (opposed to Ford for KR).

In other television news, how is it that I keep forgetting that part of the appeal of Heroes is not knowing what the hell is going on until the season finale.  For almost the whole hour, Will and I were going "What the hell? Ohhhhhh….no, wait…. what?  Holy crap! Why?!?" over and over again.  Also, the more I watch Linderman, the more convinced I become that the actor was the inspiration behind the face of the Luck Dragon in the Neverending Story.

Days that are productive for the home are never productive for the business.  Today? Has been very productive for the home.  I've done four loads of laundry.  I've cleaned the kitchen.  I've clipped some dead stuff off of Ralph (the begonia my friend Wendy gave me for my birthday) and brought him inside for the winter.  I do not know exactly where to put him that is plant-friendly and unreachable for Poppy, though I'm sure I'll have that figured out before too long.  I'm kind of leaning toward the bathroom, but I'm not sure why.  I backed up my Documents folder and Outlook to Will's portable hard drive.

Business-wise, however–wow.  I have checked my e-mail.  Doesn't that just scream productive?

The thing is, I need to kick it up several notches work wise.  The whole economy and people panicking and over reacting thing has literally hit home.  Last night Will came home and told me that he'd been cut back to just four hours a week at his job…his job where he is the only person in his department (driving).  Apparently it came down to either being able to keep him at his current part time schedule or give most of his hours to a guy who transfered in….into a completely different department.  This person that transferred in can't do Will's job.  Why can't he do Will's job?  Because he doesn't speak a single word of English.  No kidding.

Look, I don't want to go off on a polarizing political rant or alienate anybody, but it is really hard not to be bitter about the situation.  Will is the only driver for his company.  He is the only one who can pick up customers or take them where they need to go.  The new guy who transferred in can't even do his own job properly, let alone fill the hole left by Will because the new guy cannot read, write or speak English.  But somehow it is more important to make sure he gets his 40 hours a week, even if it means taking 20 of Will's.

Seriously–this isn't meant to bash people who don't speak English.  That's a hot issue and I'm sure people have very strong opinions on both sides of it.  This is more my disgust at the situation.  You know, if it was just a matter of budget cuts and they had someone coming in who could do Will's job, I wouldn't be nearly so angry.

So–I have to step it up.  I have to produce more, bring in more and hold things together for us.  Will is already out looking for a new job, but to be honest–I almost don't want him to have to find one.  It's my turn to be the support for our little family.  Will has been there to catch me while I found my feet in the writing world.  It's my turn to catch him so that he can keep up with his studies and not worry about how he is going to pay for the car.

This is why I am so frustrated at my lack of productivity today.  The fact is that while I do these household chores, I'm processing and planning and thinking, but it doesn't feel as productive as writing and getting paid.

Everybody knows that it is never a good idea to go grocery shopping directory when you are really hungry.  Do you know what the other half of that rule should be? Don’t go shopping when you are really full!  Last night, after the debate, Will and I went to dinner and then hit WinCo for groceries (oh yes, it was a steamy date night!).  Do you know what happens when you go shopping after you’ve eaten too much?  Everything looks disgusting.  So you actually end up making two grocery runs, the second one being for all of the things you forgot or skipped because you just wanted to get the hell out of the store and away from all of the edible stuff!

In addition to the food we bought last night we also bought this month’s copy of Portland Bride and Groom. Yes, almost four complete months after getting engaged we finally broke down and bought a wedding related periodical.  I bought a Bridal Guide and Wedding Planner a couple of months ago and have flipped through them, but somehow buying the magazine makes the onset of planning feel even more real.  I’m not sure who was greener, me or Will.

The thing is, I am really looking forward to getting married and being married.  Even now, it is hard not to call Will my husband (which is kind of tempting fate and makes me really nervous).  I’m looking forward to the legal beginning of that life together.  But the whole planning a wedding thing? Makes me incredibly nervous.  Everyone I know tells me to plan the wedding I want to have–the one that is right for Will and I and not to worry about what anybody else wants or thinks we should do and, well, have you met me? I am all about “no, what do you want?”  I know which details are the most important (for me) and I know a few things that I definitely do not want.  After that my usual reaction is a shrug and an “I don’t know…maybe?”

This shrug? Has led a few people to feel like they should be my guide.  And while I am happy that people want to help, the suggestions I am being given? Are all for things they would want at their weddings, not taking into consideration anything I’ve already said I know I want.  For example, even after I declared that I want my wedding ceremony to take place indoors, one friend keeps telling me about all of these great outdoor locations.  And even though we’ve been telling people that the one of the wedding details we are sure of is that the wedding will happen somewhere in the PDX area, people keep suggesting these areas super far away.

I don’t want to turn into Bridezilla or anything like that, but part of the whole “no what do you want?”ness that makes me me includes a way bigger than healthy dose of crippling guilt that accompanies the decision to not do what someone else wants.  I have a feeling that this process is going to make me the single hand that will keep the Tums company in business.

Commiserations?

I have, sadly, become addicted to the daytime lineup of SoapNet. Beverly Hills 90210, One Tree Hill, the O.C.–I can keep it on from 11 to 7 and not feel even the slightest urge to change the channel. The thing is, the only one of these shows I really like is the O.C. But the others provide mindless background noise. Yesterday Will took the afternoon off from work to finish some homework and he was kind of traumatized by my daytime lineup. I believe his exact quote was "one of these days I'll come home to find you in your pajamas and watching Days of Our Lives while you gorge yourself on chocolate ice cream!" Pajamas yes. Chocolate ice cream? Yum. Days? Hell to the No Way! Bleccch.

I am still loving Fios. So far I've only had one afternoon when there wasn't anything on that I felt like watching…and that wasn't because there wasn't any good programming. I just didn't feel like watching any of it. We discovered on Sunday night that we could record one thing with the DVR while we watched something else. There may or may not have been "I love Fios" dances done in our living room.

Is it sad that we are getting the majority of our political coverage from Jon Stewart? We tune into the Daily Show every night now to watch its coverage of the election. We know it isn't exactly a hard news source, but so far it is the only news-related show we can find that does not piss us off. I don't know what I am looking forward to more–tonight's debate or tomorrow night's Daily Show coverage of tonight's debate.

I'm pretty sure that everyone knows who I am voting for. I used to discuss politics regularly when I started blogging, but since meeting Will, I've laid off talking about political issues. This isn't because Will discourages it (though we don't really see eye to eye when it comes to politics and, for the most part, don't talk about them at home because doing so could lead to some heated exchanges). He has always told me to write whatever I want on my blog. I lay off the political rhetoric because of certain people to whom I will one day be related who are not known for accepting the views of others. It's kind of hard to censor myself, but if it keeps unnecessary drama from popping up, I'm happy to do it…for a while anyway.

I need to earn more money so that I can start leaving the house for a little bit each day. The weather is set in fall-ness and soon it will be gross and nasty out all the time, but even so, staying indoors all day every day is just not conducive to a blogging lifestyle. That's kind of pathetic: "I have to get a life for the betterment of my blog!"

First, I have to say that I was severely disappointed by the Vice Presidential debate.  Both candidates are known for their overzealousness–granted, that presents itself in different ways–and I was truly hoping for something along the lines of "My candidate rules and yours drools!" for an hour and a half.  Unfortunately, both VP candidates were poised and stayed on message and were very considerate of each other.

In spite of my hopes for entertainment being dashed, I have to say that Sarah Palin brought it.  Even though I don't like her, I have to say that I was impressed with her performance.  Not once did I see anything resembling a temper.  There were a couple of moments where it looked like her brain was saying "stop! stop talking!" but her mouth wasn't listening, but all in all I thought that she stuck to her talking points very well.  I think that if she could present her debate self to the public more often (or if the McCain campaign would let her present her debate self more often) she wouldn't be facing the level of public mockery that she has to deal with.

Before people jump all over me, I have to say that it is completely possible to disagree with everything a person says but still have tremendous respect for their convictions and the way they present themselves.  Palin's debate performance illustrates this.  I don't agree with her personal beliefs.  I don't want the McCain campaign to win.  I am an Obama girl.  That said, I was very impressed by her presence at the debate.

Okay. Politics at 8:00 AM on a Saturday. No no no no no no no more.

So, yeah, it's 8 in the morning on a Saturday and I can't decide if I want to stay awake or go back to bed.  Will has to work today, which is the major reason I'm awake right now.  The other reason I'm awake right now is that his Dad called us at 7 AM because he forgot about the two hour time difference between here and Texas.  Oh, and Will decided to talk about the bailout with him.  It just goes to show you how much Will's Dad and I differ on politics, that I wasn't even part of their conversation but I am now completely stressed out because of it.  I knew better than to try and join in the conversation, but having to listen to it was still more than I could handle that early in the morning.  Which means that now it's 8 and I am completely riled up and pissed off.  I don't know if going back to bed will help make the mood go away or if I'll just wake up in two hours feeling riled up, pissed off and groggy.

Plus, my house is a mess because I looked at it last night and said "I'll clean it tomorrow."

All I can say is that the bag of Hershey's kisses on the coffee table is not going to last very long!

Today I had to run downtown and get some books that were waiting for me at the library and I am very proud to say that I got downtown and back in an hour and only brought home the three books that were on hold for me.  This might not seem like a big deal, but for me it is nothing short of a miracle.  Maybe that bearded hippie guy who looked like a Velvet Jesus painting come to life who was holding doors open for people was more than just some guy with a remarkable resemblance issue.

In totally unrelated news, the current dinner choices in my house involve beef, beef or eating out. Will and I spent ungodly amounts of money eating lunches and dinners out over the summer and made a pact that once the semester started we would eat at home.  This is completely fine–the weather is cooling off, so cooking isn't such a vomitorioum of heat exhaustion, but the problem is that we had beef tacos for dinner last night.  I ate the leftover taco meat for lunch today and, according to my freezer, tonight's choices are something else with ground beef, steak…steak. I think it is time to do some grocery shopping.

In other unrelated news, I thoroughly enjoyed the premiere of Private Practice last night.  I read an interview in which Kate Walsh said that the show has become it's own story this season (instead of being Grey's Anatomy in LA) and I think that she's right.  I was riveted throughout the entire episode and still am not sure what I think of the A story's issue (I don't want to go into detail in case some of you haven't seen it yet).  Tonight Grey's Anatomy is pre-empted for the Vice Presidential Debate.  Am I the only person who is completely excited about this debate?  I think it is going to be some damn good television.  Between Palin's pathological inability to give coherent answers in interviews and Biden's over-enthusiastic need for metaphors and comparisons this debate is going to absolutely deliver the hair-tearing-tragicomedy.

I don't talk about politics much on this blog–not because I don't have anything to say but because the only news commentary that doesn't completely piss me off is the Daily Show and I'm pretty sure that I should make sure that my resources involve more than the "fake news" before I start to spout my political views.

I am kind of a little bit in love with Fios. I'm not afraid to admit that I have spent the better part of the last few days playing around with it, surfing through the on screen tv guide and deciding which show I want to watch the most. I especially love being able to record something in the living room and then watch it in the bedroom. That is all kinds of awesome.

Today I decided that I want to redo my professional site.  What I have up now I put up as a sort of placeholder while I figured out exactly what I wanted my professional site to look like and say.  I kind of put it up eight months ago.  Whoops.  Right now it looks exactly like what it is: a site that is still under construction.  And that? Is not so good for the bank account.

Speaking of work things that I shouldn't talk about on my blog, September turned out to be a crap ass month, income wise.  I'm not really surprised–it isn't like I could spend a whole lot of time working.  I am infinitely grateful for Will who said "I was planning on paying for this whole month anyway.  After all, it was my family and my friends you were taking care of and entertaining and who were keeping you from your job.  The least I can do is take away the rent burden."  He really is a great fiance sometimes.

The weather has been abnormally summer-like.  The last few days have all been in the high 80s.  We're due to have a temperature dive on Thursday (the high is supposed to be twenty degrees colder than the high on Wednesday) and some rain and I am kind of looking forward to it.  It's part of fall and I love fall.  I also firmly believe that summer weather needs to happen during the summer.  Having summer weather in October just won't be acceptable.  You know, 'cause I control the weather and stuff.