"I do still love my blog, Monica -- my life is just really boring right now. What?? Ouch, stop hitting me!"

I try to go out to my parents' for dinner and a movie or something at least once a weekend. Last Sunday, however, my parents and I went to see True Grit (which was amazing - I'm getting it on dvd the minute it comes out), then they came over to my place for dinner, since I live five minutes from the theater and the movie got out too late for me to go all the way out to theirs. It was really lovely -- my mom brought homemade soup and bread, and I provided salad, drinks, and a little bit of dessert. It had been a few years since my dad had seen my apartment and I've made a lot of changes in that time, so it was fun to get a whole new batch of compliments on the place. I spent the whole weekend cleaning before they got here, so it's also been really nice having a clean, straight living space. It was such a resounding success, in fact, that we decided to do it again this weekend, although now that today has arrived and I am sitting in my bathrobe and blogging at quarter to three (New Years resolution to go to church every Sunday FAIL) and am facing the fact that I actually have to get up and clean now instead of settling in for a lazy afternoon viewing of a movie, I'm sort of having mixed feelings about the idea. Only sort of mixed, though -- I really enjoyed last weekend and I won't miss the drive out to my parents'.

As you may have gleaned from Twitter, I'm currently treating poor Gracie for a UTI. There was this whole drama over trying to get a urine sample out of her involving earplugs and a urine-covered bathroom, and I've been feeding her pills every day since. The nice thing is that it's only been a week, but I'm pretty sure she's getting better! She's suddenly more affectionate than she's been in, like, ever, which makes me wonder how long she was sick (sigh). But she actually approaches me for pets and cuddles more often than Garfunkel does now. She also seems more more energetic and playful than she had been in a little while. Accurate diagnosis and a cuddly, healthy kitty for the win. :)

Case of the ...Tuesdays?

Just wanted to draw your attention to a new(ish) link on my sidebar. If you're not familiar with Hyperbole and a Half, a) you should be, and b) start with this one.

Hope you guys had a nice fourth, and fifth, if you got it off. My monday-that-was-not-a-monday was very much a monday -- I started the day by waking up with a nightmare, vastly oversleeping after I managed to fall back asleep, giving myself a nasty case of razor-burn under my arm while shaving, being absurdly late to work, then managing to overturn a full bowl of cereal onto my lap and the floor about an hour after I got in, resulting in me spending the rest of the morning trying to get milk out of the office carpet, then driving home to change and telling my managing editor to just credit me with having taken the morning off since I got practically no work done. The second half of the day was a vast improvement, but it had nowhere to go but up.

While I'm thinking of it, a heads-up: All year I've been telling myself hey, I'll work on art school research and my portfolio ...laaaater, as if later in the year the days produce not only more sunlight but more hours to work by, or as if working 40 hours a week will somehow magically take up less time next week, or maybe the week after that. Now, however, it's July, and I'm facing the fact that I somehow really have to fit massive amounts of creativity and explosive artistic growth into my current cramped-with-domestic-details, Dilbertesque lifestyle. It's kick-in-the-ass/panic time, and I may be on here a bit less. I'll try to still update at least once a week, but posts may not be as substantial, and as panic takes hold I may not make it quite that often. But comment-chats with you guys always make my day, and I'll try. Leave me little comments to say hi or something if it's been a while?

She seems confident Adama's not a cylon

As you're aware, Monica's started watching BSG. When previous plans were cancelled on us a few weeks ago, she proposed getting together to start the miniseries instead. It went something like this:

Monica: I have to leave half way through to go do homework, but we can at least get it started.
Holly: That should be doable. I watched it for the first time in two installments. I'll let you know when it's at the half way point.
[Girls settle down with dinner. Movie starts. Monica's rustling wrappers get quieter and quieter.]
Holly: [pauses movie] K, it's half done.
Monica: PRESS PLAY, DAMMIT
Holly: Are you sure? I know you have to—
Monica: NOW

She eventually got to a point where she decided to stop and go home, but by then there were only 23 minutes left and at that point, really, come on, so I talked her into staying. Most vindicating statement of the evening: "I can see why you're obsessed with this!" Always good to have one's insanities validated.

We're moving through s1 at a pretty steady clip, but the much-anticipated EriktheSwede is now in town, so that will put things on hold for a bit. Monica swears she's not going to disappear for the whole summer, that their goal is to spend these three months acting like people in a normal relationship where they're not separated by an ocean, who occasionally come up for air to see other people. We'll see. Frankly, who'd blame her for staying submerged? I've made her promise to see me for my birthday, but the awkward glory of Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down may have to wait.

In other news, I had a really lovely weekend. My friend Kate and I drove to Ann Arbor, where we had dinner somewhere we never could have afforded when we actually went to school there, and where we visited our friends Seth, Theresa, and their 10 month old daughter, Chelsea. I then spent Monday and Tuesday (which I'd taken as PTO) running errands and cleaning. I have finally become that person who uses vacation days to run errands and clean, which I guess means I'm officially a lame adult. I'd feel lamer and more irritated, but it felt just so damned good (just not being at work staring at a screen all day was amazing) that I'm thinking about doing it again in a couple weeks. I really am lame.

Achey breaky heart

So, my dad's slowly improving. He's still getting chest pains when he walks quickly, and he's dealing with a variety of problems like low blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, water in his legs, etc. His heart took some permanent damage, and now operates at 35% capacity. But he's getting better. My parents' already low-fat diet has gotten even more spare, and they've been making and eating a lot of smoothies.

I may end up needing to make some serious life changes, myself. Reason #1: the doctor said that although my parents have been eating pretty low-fat for the last 20 years, it was what my dad ate in his 20s and 30s that did his heart in. Which sort of sinks my whole eat-like-crap-now, be-healthy-later philosophy. Reason #2 is still up in the air -- I need to get my cholesterol tested. I've never had it done before, and if I've inherited my mother's cholesterol, I'm off the hook. The woman could eat fried chicken every day for the rest of her life and she'd probably be fine -- her numbers are amazing. But if I've inherited my dad's numbers, I'm in pretty serious trouble. No more pizza and buffalo wings -- not if I don't want to go into cardiac arrest in my mid-60s, anyway. And guys, I like pizza and buffalo wings. :/ How depressing would that be.

It's an exciting life I lead.

See? SEE??? This is what happens when I don't set a schedule for myself. I never. Blog.

Last night, Kasey came over for a Trek & Pizza Night of Awesome, and it was, as you might imagine from its title ...awesome. She came over at about 6, we got down to watching at about 8, and didn't quit til about 2. That's six solid hours of Trek: 3 TNG episodes, the new movie, and all the new movie's special features. It was hardcore. I then stayed up to finish Robin McKinley's The Outlaws of Sherwood, and I'm not going to say all the Trek's been affecting my brain, but I may or may not have kept picturing Alan-a-Dale in a visor. Catherine, you have so much to look forward to.

I missed church today (which may have had something to do with the whole me staying up til 4 to finish my book after the Trekathon thing ...my priorities not always being entirely what they ought to be), then spent most of the afternoon washing dishes, doing laundry, and cleaning. I've gradually over the last three years turned into someone who keeps her apartment relatively clean and tidy, which is, honestly, quite a shift and something I'm very pleased about. I still don't quite live up to my mom's precedent, but I do consider myself to have taken a step in the right direction -- keeping my home relatively clean is one of those things I consider to be a staple of adulthood. It still takes an imminent houseguest to make me clean my bathroom and I don't own a vacuum cleaner, but, well, babysteps.

Other notable events of the last few days include a massive snowstorm, me almost slipsliding my way into a head-on with a van, a red semi-truck with human skulls on the dashboard hovering disconcertingly below my office window, me finally getting a start on my Christmas shopping, and an inaugural wearing of the new scarf. I feel sort of like a turtle with it on, but it's really pretty, so we're going to try to ignore the whole drowning in yarn sensation and concentrate on the colors. Mmmm, seafoam green.