The satisfaction of a checked-off list

I know I've mentioned my type-a condition and the many woes it brings to my life. But, today, is not one of them.

Being a little OCD about my lists is a good thing (for once).

Tonight, the Munchkin is spending the night with Nana and Papa (thank you! a million times, thank you!) so last night Munchkin and I packed her bag. I made her a little list of things she needed to pack:
1. After-school play clothes
2. Jammies
3. School clothes for Friday
4. movies for Nana's house
5. toothbrush
6. toothpaste
7. Bear

She picked out her own clothes and packed them in her bag. And then we put the list on her bag so we wouldn't forget to pack Bear the toothbrush and toothpaste this morning, before we left.

We actually got out of the house this morning with ALL items properly packed in the bag, no fuss, no drama and nothing forgotten. Now, granted, if something HAD been forgotten, Nana lives less than 1.5 miles from our house but I think some important seeds were planted. *grin*

So, in the same spirit of renewed organization, I came into work this morning and made a list. (of course) I am very pleased to announce that my newsletter is at the printer, my program for tomorrow night's show is on the copy machine and all I have left on my list for the day is:
1. generate tickets for convention tomorrow
2. update CAC blog
3. clean off my desk (so messy!!)

*sigh* Ah, organization makes my brain feel better. I have been so twitterpated that I've developed temporary ADD. ugh. That stops TODAY. (not the twitterpated part, just the ADD)

Still no word from J. I know he's really busy with work and I have OFFICIALLY decided to stop waiting around for him to call me. K and I are going to see the Guardian tonight, on my night off. I would have gladly spent it with him but he didn't call so he misses out. *evil grin* I'm so rotten. Actually, I know that I haven't made him chase me very much and I know men like the chase so, put on your running shoes, oh object of my twitterpation, because the chase is on. *giggle*

I have never been very good at keeping my cards close to my vest (or however that phrase goes) because I am a very black and white person. I despise deception and prefer to say what I think and feel rather than play cat and mouse. *sigh* It sometimes leads to jumping ahead of myself. So, I take a good deep breath, remember that too much twitterpation is bad for the nervous system, get focused on the job at hand and get back to work. He knows how to find me and I feel fairly confident that he will. Afterall, what's not to like? He's said as much!

Anyway, my friends, my little break is over and I must, after all, get back to my list.

Tired

I have decided that I am more tired RIGHT NOW than I EVER was during King & I.

I think fridaynightgirl needs a vacation. So, here is my meme for Monday:

If money and time were no object, where would you go on vacation? For how long? What would you do?

I would love to see Egypt, to wander in the Valley of the Kings and to touch the mighty pyramids of Giza with my own hands.

and

I want to see the land of my ancestors, Scotland.

and

To roam around Europe at my own pace.

and

To visit India. To climb the steps of the ancient temples.

and

To visit China and Japan. To see the Forbidden City.

I guess I would need a few years to do that, huh?

If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged. Post your answer in your blog and then post a comment here, so I can come and visit you.

Saturdays are for Shopping!

Well, browsing, mostly (but browsing doesn't start with S so that would have messed up my alliteration).

Slept in this morning. Took some NyQuil last night because I was getting a sore throat and my ears were hurting. Never a good sign. This garbage that rolled in on the storm clouds two days and have set up residency has REALLY irritated my sinuses. Either that, or stuffy noses and sore throats are a side effect of being twitterpated. *grin*

We're going to Garden Ridge later today. WHEE!! My all-time favorite store. I would say that Restoration Hardware, Williams-Sonoma and Barnes & Noble all run pretty close with Garden Ridge, but I can't afford most of their inventory, so they are just for browsing.

I feel better today. Maybe NyQuil is good for being twitterpated too. *scratching head* I'm really trying to relax. So, K, Munchkin & I are going to Round Rock to shop for some Autumn-y things to put in the house.

Even Now

I can remember the heartstopping disbelief as my (now ex) husband and I were driving north to visit his relatives in Canada and we heard the terrible news. What if....If only....

As I kissed my daughter this morning before I dropped her off at preschool, I thought to myself for what has to be the millionth time, "Thank you God."

We had driven to New Jersey for a visit with the family. What a fun trip. We crossed the country, headed east from Texas. We stopped in Nashville on Saturday and then got up Sunday morning and drove to Washington D.C. I had never been to D.C. so I was as excited as a little kid. We stayed in a beautiful hotel less than six blocks from the Capitol.

I can remember the Korean War Memorial. Walking through that grassy space and those slightly oversized soldiers sent chills down my spine. I have always been the kind of person to choke up at a really beautiful performance of the National Anthem and the Posting of the Colors brings tears every time. So you can imagine seeing the reminders in our Nation's capital was a little overwhelming.

We talked about staying in D.C. another day, as the White House doesn't do tours on Mondays but decided to go on to New Jersey. On the way out of town, traffic was so bad headed straight north that we went around the city. We had the chance to see the Pentagon and I took a picture from the car. I can remember pouting a little because there were so many things that I wanted to see and wishing that we'd decided to stay another day. Why rush on to New Jersey? We were about to spend two weeks with the family. Who knew when we'd get back to D.C.?

But we pressed on.

Typically, we have taken the day after we arrived in New Jersey to go into New York and do the tourist thing. My ex-husband hates the City. I imagine it would be a little like if we went into Dallas with someone that had never been out of their little hometown. It would be really neat and big and new and novel to them, but we'd be bored because it is so familiar. But, I was a complete tourist, in love with all of the places I'd seen in the movies. Anyway, we always took the train into NYC and started at Penn Station in Uptown Manhattan. Manhattan is so big, though, that we never made it to the places in Lower Manhattan (like the Stock Exchange and the World Trade Center) before it was time for us to leave. So, we had decided to go into NYC the next time and start at the World Trade Center and work our way up. That was the plan.

Tuesday morning (9/11), we woke up and decided to forgo the NYC trip and go on to Canada to visit with the relatives in Montreal. So, we piled in our Tahoe and headed north (again), at around 7:30am.

We were listening to music CDs and didn't hear the inital news. Inbetween switching out CDs though, we heard Howard Stern sounding VERY serious so that (naturally) caught our attention. We were listening as the second plane hit the south tower, when the plane hit the Pentagon and then when the towers collapsed. To not be able to see but only imagine such a horrifying event was beyond awful. I can still remember my ex looking at me and saying, "this was not an accident." He looked at me and said, "they are going to close the borders." We drove about 9o mph the rest of the way to the border and, sure enough, we were one of the last people through before they closed the borders. Only once we arrived at the home of family did we see the carnage that was taking place in New York, Washington and in a grassy field in Pennsylvania.

All day, we watched the horror over and over, unable to tear ourselves away from those horrible pictures on the news.

Then, I remembered. We should have been there. My entire family thought my ex and I had gone into New York City that morning. They knew how excited I was about seeing the World Trade Center and they hadn't heard from me. After a few frantic calls and lots of reassurance that we were "safe" - the magnitude began to truly hit me.

If we had done what we had always done and what we had, until 7:00 that morning, planned to do, my ex and I should have been in the World Trade Center at 9am on September 11. Thank God for changed minds.

As we drove back from Canada on the 15th, we were numb from all of the news coverage. We wanted to go home, to Texas. We saw something incredible - American Flags - EVERYWHERE. You couldn't find a flag in any store because they had all sold out. In the four days that we'd been in Canada, there wasn't a flag left to buy on the East Coast. They were on every house, shop, car, overpass - you name it. It was awe inspiring. As we drove West on the way home, it was like that the entire way.

Now, five years have gone by and a lot of that feeling of unity and patriotism has dulled back to pre-9/11 days. But I still remember. I will always remember and be thankful that we changed our mind and our plans and, perhaps, it saved our lives that day.

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My First Everyday Things Entry

"If you want any one thing too much it's likely to disappoint. The healthy way is to learn to like the everyday things, like soft beds and buttermilk..."-- Augustus McCrae-"Lonesome Dove"

Ok Jules, I'm throwing in my $.02. (you have such a fun blog!) My everyday thing today is singing.

Yes, I have lots of training in opera and, at one time in my young life, believed myself destined for the great stages. Alas, the desire to make a stable living and have a home and family was stronger. *grin*

I have loved to sing all my life. My mother tells that I started singing before I could speak a full sentence and I believe her (my daughter did the same thing!). I love to sing. When I am sad, I can sing my sorrow. When I am happy, I can sing my heart's delight. Song is the perfect way to express what, sometimes, words fail to completely grasp.

I took this gift for granted until I met a woman who had, in her youth, been a great singer. In her early 40s, though, she developed cancer on her vocal chords. The only way to save her life was to surgically remove her chords. Her song was forever silenced. The sorrow etched in the face of this woman who had once, like me, experienced the true power and joy of song and had it stripped away from her was enough to change me. Never again did I take for granted the simple ability to open my mouth and let my heart pour out.

Golly! It's a Sign!!

So, you can see that I've really decided to do some brain shrinking activities tonight. *grin*

The next genius-in-the-making quiz is "What's Your 20s Name?"

Your 1920's Name is:

Amalia Isabella

What's" Your 1920's Name?

That just also happens to be the name of the lead female (I don't know about the Isabella part) in She Loves Me - the role over which I've been drooling since the end of King & I!! WOW! How groovy is that?!?

(It's fate!)