The Stick and the String

Explanations

2007-05-14T11:00:00.000-07:00

I know I dropped off the face of the internet recently. Honestly, I had my plate full with real life. Dominic and I are at a transition in our lives, and we're working very had to try to adapt to the way things are going to be for a while. How long? We don't know. Dominic may even be getting out of the Air Force in the next year. Whether he stays or goes, however, things are going to be tough for us for a while. Personally, I had a hard time while he was deployed. I know he did too. So right now we're enjoying our time together, trying to appreciate each other more, trying to do new things, take trips, hang out in the back yard and drink cold beer or wine. We're sleeping in and going to movies and eating at our favorite restaurants and grilling out on Dominic's new gas grill. We're playing with our cats and lying in our hammock. We're sitting on the couch in our sunroom. Dominic's playing video games and I'm reading books.

Things are tough in all branches of the military at the moment, and while we're less affected by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq than most, we're feeling it too in these rapid and frequent deployments. Dominic goes back to Qatar in June for another 60 days. The deployment after that will happen in October, but the good news is that he will probably either go to England or Greece--which is exciting for us both because I will be able to visit him. Right now we're hoping that he won't be gone over Christmas. We don't think he will. But I've learned to be perpetually dubious when it comes to his deployment schedule. But even within Dominic's career field, among our friends he works with, our situation is both worse and better. I know some wives who have been with their husbands a total of maybe a month since the new year, and I know other officers who have deployed just once and aren't on any lists to go immediately back. Still, Dominic's here now. I'm finished with school for the semester and have decided not to take classes or work this summer, so I can be free to spend some uninterrupted time with him.

I feel very resentful about a lot of things sometimes. Mostly it has to do with our current situation in Iraq and our seeming inability to take care of Americans at home. I'm also very unhappy with the way I see people in the military being treated right now. I specifically mean the very small cross-section I have witnessed by observing what is happening to Dominic and his co-workers. These are good, hardworking men and women. The government spent millions of dollars training them...each. And they are not being treated very well in return. I cannot say whose fault it is. I suspect the situation is rooted in the very highest tiers of governmental authority. That means that everyone else is in a Catch-22, quite literally.

Let me qualify this all by saying that I have a very limited perspective of...just about everything. And I don't speak for anyone but myself, not even Dominic. I'm proud of him and I'm grateful to the Air Force for being able to provide Dominic with the opportunity to do so many good things in his life, to achieve so much. I think he would agree with me when I say that being in the Air Force has been the defining experience of his adult life. So many qualities I love about Dominic--his extroversion, his natural leadership skills, his ability to work hard, his relentless friendliness--are qualities that have been exacerbated by his being in the Air Force so long. I am grateful to live in a country that has institutions that can be so positive for people, but you know, things are just hard lately. Most have it worse than us.

Anyway, please know that my voice can only speak for my own experience. To end more optimistically, here are a few things Dominic and I have planned before he leaves, and also a few things I have planned for myself after her goes:

We're taking a road trip to Pittsburgh, PA! Dominic has a TDY (temporary duty...basically a work-related trip) from the 22nd through the 25th of May, and we've decided to make a vacation out of it. We're leaving early and driving out there, and on the way we're stopping in Chicago, Sandusky, Iowa (home of Cedar Point, a big amusement park), and Cleveland. We don't have our itinerary completely planned out yet, but that's the basic plan.

Camping!

Perhaps visiting a local vineyard.

I'm going to be visiting my sister in Birmingham during July. I hope we can drive down to Panama City Beach or Fort Walton for a couple days.

and...

I hope to be visiting Brooke and Dale in New Orleans during the end of the summer. I guess I need to start talking to them about that.

So those are all positive things...and I might even be taking a few more trips besides those. Summer 2007 is the summer of travel for me. One of the very few good things about Dominic being gone is I'm learning how to act a little more like an adult. As little as a year ago, all this travel would have intimidated me too much to attempt by myself...but I'm learning to take care of myself better in his absence. I'm bolder, less likely to let being afraid stop me from trying new things.

Attention Everyone!

2007-05-04T22:40:00.000-07:00

I got a turkey in bowling.

Deployed

2007-02-12T22:56:00.000-08:00

I dropped Dominic off at the base at 5:00 this afternoon.

I went to class, and I felt okay.

I came home at 10:00 and watched a little bit of junk food TV.

I folded some clothes.

I tried to sleep, but it turns out I can't

It turns out I do not feel okay.

And I cannot sleep.

And I do not feel okay.

At least not right now.

Christmas 2006?

2007-02-05T15:41:00.000-08:00

Man, Kate and I are behind in the times! I came across some photos I need to post from this past Christmas. I'm so slow right now. Hope you like them! Hopefully while I'm away I 'll update the website with cool photos and updates. Keep rockin' everybody!

This is of course our 2006 Christmas tree!

This is the train I always wanted when I was a kid! Cool!

It was so hard not to peek in the stockings!

Kate Rocks! She's not really that good at trivia though...

Thomas's first Christmas morning...
/div>

This is all mine!!!

Mia's Favorite thing about Christmas...Boxes for eating!

Tom learning his patented "Reverse Nascar Entry"

The kids learning new tricks.

The call of the wild...

This is what I'll be missing!

Tom is always my Number One Model!

Time Flies!

2007-02-01T18:17:00.000-08:00

Time flies when you're having fun! Or at least time flies. A lot of things have been happening with Kate and I. She has been hard at work taking classes and teaching. She has a much more talkative class this semester so that is taking a lot of pressure off her. We have been stressing about an upcoming TDY I'll be leaving for later this month. That sucks, but will be keeping up with each other via email, phone, letters, and of course The Stick and String!

It has been terribly cold here in Omaha. We've been getting small amounts of snow nonstop. That sucks of course but so far it has been on the weekend. Convienent! That enables us to take Thomas Pynchon out in the snow on his leash. I had him out there about thirty seconds and then he tried to lay down and stop moving! I was like "Tom! You're a wild animal with a fur coat, you can't just lay down and die that quick!" He eventually came around and he's kind of a fan of the white stuff now.

I had surgery on my knee to have a cyst remove. Gross, I know. It was wicked cool watching myself be cut open though. The first time he cut me though it totally felt like I was just stabbed. I screamed a little. A manly scream though. Then it got infected. That's bad. Hopefully, the Doc will clear me as good tomorrow though. I feel fine though and am ready to move on.

Kate and I got new laptop computers though so now we can be trendy and type blogs in coffee shops. I've pretty much maxed out my trendiness for the day blogging in a coffeeshop while drinking an Italian soda. Kate's across from me being cute. We're livin' the dream!

2007-ish

2007-01-04T21:23:00.000-08:00

I don't make New Year's resolutions, but if I did, they'd probably go a little something like this:

1. Quit being such a black hole for random chocolate candies.

2. Scoop out the litter box more often than I do now, which is never, unless Dominic tells me I have to.

3. Be more ashamed of my Justin Timberlake habit instead of gleefully flaunting it about.

4. Stop entertaining people at parties with anecdotes about how in high school I stayed in on Friday nights and practiced my clarinet. Which I totally did.

5. Stop insisting that Dominic comment about how woefully less blonde my hair is now than it was three years ago. Even though it is, and he knows it, but won't admit it.

6. Pick up the phone and call someone. Anyone. Just use the phone.

7. Clean my glasses.

8. Stop burning holes in my friends' carpet. That's just rude.

9. Stop being afraid of loud noises.

10. Stop breaking wine glasses.

Notice almost all my resolutions have to do with my stopping myself from performing random annoying mannerisms. If I could purge myself of all my annoying mannerisms I'd be a much more pleasant and productive person. Happier too. I'd also be entirely unrecognizable.

Here's wishing you a good 2007...4 days of which you'll already never get back. Let's clink the proverbial glass to that. Cheers!

Thomas Pynchon Wishes You a Merry Christmas

2006-12-13T18:40:00.000-08:00

Who has a white beard and a little round belly that rolls like a bowl full of jelly?

Merry Christmas!

There and Back Again

2006-11-27T18:30:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics from our Cayman trip

Cayman, Here We Come!

2006-11-15T18:47:00.000-08:00

Two more days until Kate and I are off to enjoy our first tropical vacation together! We're going to have a great time with our friends Brooke and Dale from college. I just finished flight school two weeks ago after two and a half years . Oh yes, it is time to have a little party. Eat some delicious seafood. Get some diving in. Relax. Yes, definitely time for all of that.

In the meantime, Kate and I have been absolutely racing around with our heads on fire trying to get everything setup with work, schoolwork, and misc. housework(raking leaves, finishing home projects).

It's getting pretty cold here, and the leaves have already turned and fallen for the most part. I tried to catch the season in photographs, but nothing turned out spectacular. Kate and I will be missing Thanksgiving so we won't be hosting our annual "Loser's Who Don't Go Home" Thanksgiving dinner, but we plan to have some good friend(and fellow crazy cat people)over for dinner. We are also looking forward to our new friends Marnie and Dan's Winter Solstice Party. Dan's making a Winter Solstice Brew to help celebrate. Yum.

Of course, we'll add more photos when we get back next week. For now though have a fantastic Turkey Day! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Oh yeah, Here are the cats!

He Also Prefers a Pillow to Sleep Upon

2006-11-10T21:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-30T19:42:00.000-08:00

But first let's have some carrot cupcakes! They're unadorned in this picture, but I think you can sense their media transcending goodness from the screen.

Also pumpkin muffins! Yes!

Dominic is nearly finished tiling our sunroom. Here's what it looks like without grout.

We do it up in style at the Gaskin residence. The plastic lawnchairs we use inside are spray-painted with pretty colors.

Okay, Halloween party. Go!

J. as your typical abused housewife. His lovely wife, Sonja, looks on.

Hey, someone invited the Spartan cheerleaders! Awesome!

Dominic and I didn't get the memo that we wouldn't be cool unless we wore themed couples costumes. Mark and Lindsey, however, did.

Guess who Dominic is. Yes, that's a rockin' costume.

Your Pimms challenge has been accepted, Brooke! The world is all topsy-turvy now.

Stupid Thomas Pynchon!

2006-10-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

Sweet Juicy Asian Pears, Batman!

2006-10-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went apple (and pear) picking in Nebraska City. Hooray!

How Freaking Crazy is This?

2006-10-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

I think we have a gopher.

He lives underneath our back deck.

Dominic finally got his Nikon D80 (!) and as he was taking pictures outside he came face-to-face with the aforementioned rodent. He told me his internal monologue went a little something like this:

"Holy crap! What is that? Kate will never believe this. WAIT, I HAVE A CAMERA IN MY HANDS!"

Besides discovering we're playing host to a GOPHER (what should we do about that, anyway?), today has been an exciting day. Dominic has been longing for a digital SLR camera for a long time.

Technology, See: Fear of, and, of Course, Kitty Cats

2006-09-13T18:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't met with my class this past week because I've been holding individual conferences with my students. Tomorrow, we meet as an actual class again, and I'm going to take up their first papers of the semester, and then introduce our next unit. Then we're going to watch a movie! (I know; I'm the best teacher ever.) I found I enjoyed holding conferences with my students, as one-on-one work is more befitting to my personality than being a circus ringleader, a role which, honestly, still makes me nervous each time I have to reprise it. Even so, with the movie and all, tomorrow will find me providing minimal instruction, so why, I asked Dominic, do I still feel so anxious about it?

Because you're going to be handling electronic equipment, he said. And I said, Dang! You know me so well!

For it's true. I shall, tomorrow, be negotiating a beast named Smart Cart. I could have ordered a simple TV and DVD player, but I thought the Smart Cart (basically a computer on wheels) would be a fun alternative because it has a projector, and my students would be able to see the movie all big-like, just like in the the-a-ter!

Anyway, let's hope I can get it to work tomorrow. Moving on!

Mia has pink eye.

What's even sadder than the fact that Mia has pink eye, is the fact that this photo was taken a week and a half ago when she first contracted it in her right eye. We took her to the vet, who gave us eye cream to squirt in her eye twice daily, and we squirted away faithfully until it cleared up about a week later. The very next day she woke up with her left eye all pinked up. Oh, silly Mia.

Luckily, this brand of pink eye isn't communicable to humans or other cats, but that just leaves me wondering how exactly she got it in the first place. This is just the latest ailment tacked onto Mia's growing list of sicknesses. In the past two years we've had her, she's had a yeast infection in her ears, fleas, tapeworm twice, an upper resporitory infection, and now pink eye.

Are we terrible kitty parents?

Autumn In The Air

2006-09-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

Autumn is in the air and keeping in pace with the season Kate and I are very much in periods of transition. Kate of course is learning to be a college professor, and I am learning to be a full time aviator. The temperature highs that have been in the low seventies the past few days have seemed to be hinting at a really cold winter season. That has reinforced the fact that I'm going to have to sell my sports car and get something more practical for the winter. (sigh...) It's frustrating that I have to lose my present to myself so soon, but there are good things and bad things about it. One good thing is I can make it to work everyday with or without snow. A bad thing is that I'll be able to make it to work everyday with or without snow. It's a double edged sword. We'll probably buy a Honda Civic. How very practical.
Practicality also dictated that Kate and I should buy tickets to the Cayman Islands to meet Brooke and Dale this Thanksgiving. We are very excited. It's going to be awesome. Hopefully Brooke will also be able to visit in October.
Our yard is ablaze with purple flowers right now, here are a few pics:

Hope you liked them!

A Thomas Pynchon Sandwich, Nestled Between Thick Slices of New Haircut

2006-09-07T17:29:00.000-07:00

Lest We Forget How Far We've Yet to Go

2006-08-30T08:54:00.000-07:00

Here are two links to the sites of two of my most favorite people:

Tomorrow is The Anniversary, which seems a strange way to refer to it, anniversaries generally being good things. Certainly there isn’t anything much to celebrate, which is what we usually do with anniversaries, unless you want to celebrate our continued survival, though with hurricane season only half over and a flood control system held together with duct tape, spit, and desperate hope, that feels a bit premature yet.

Those messages were just too important to delete at first. Too loaded with emotion and fear and horror to simply erase by pressing a button. Then they represented something that I knew I should remember and think about because a person and a city that I love were so devastated.

Update

2006-08-28T17:10:00.000-07:00

Hey, thanks for the good wishes. Things are going well. I won't say much more about teaching, in the light of this blog being a public entity. I think my students would rather choke on loose pieces of granola while doing a headstand rather than google me to see what they could find, but still...better to be on the safe side.

Dominic has another flight this week. Also, Offutt has gone to 60 day deployments! This is such great news for us, as deployments were scheduled for 90 days before. My mind is much, much relieved by this recent turn of events. 90 seemed so terribly hard, and while 60 will be no cake walk, it will be better.

Not much else to say now. I've felt a little quiet lately.

Summon the Firing Squad

2006-08-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

Well, this is it. Tomorrow at 8:30 I'll be standing in front of eighteen eighteen year-olds. Because I'll be their teacher.

Let's do this.

Earn My Flight Pay?

2006-08-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

I don't get it...After a year of moves, more advanced flight academics, a stint as a secretary's secretary, and more academics, I am finally going to fly tomorrow. That's right, a full year has passed since my last flight. Time flies when apparently you're not doing your job. I'm a little nervous, but luckily my first flight won't involve air refueling(I don't want to throw up). Two planes that close just seems wrong! Now that I'm starting my flights I hope to be done with training soon. Maybe a couple of months. At this point I have been in training status for over two years! I mean how much training do you need to fly a plane. It only cost like thirty something million dollars. Chump change...to the Gov at least. Anyways I've got more mission prep to do, but just wanted to let everyone in on the big news!

Oh yeah, Kate is really busy and working hard at the university. Tomorrow she's putting in some serious hours including a mock workshop. She's been working 9-5 and no one in this house is used to that! I know that sounds horrible, but it's so true. I have to run, Later!

Pajamas and Tuna Fish

2006-08-06T15:40:00.000-07:00

So, there's been much sitting around in my pajamas and eating tuna fish sandwiches these past two weeks, which is why I haven't been writing here much. I mean, I know how interesting and glamorous pajamas and tuna fish are, which is why I deprived you of their salacious details. I'm cruel that way.

Today, itself, has been rather slow--we've had a slow drizzling rain going on since morning--and yet today has also been special. For today, besides being permeated by, yes, pajamas-wearing and tuna fish-eating, is my last day of vacation. Tomorrow I start my workshop for my TA position. I'm having heart palpitations just thinking about it.

I'm not sure I'm entirely prepared for my first day of workshop tomorrow. My plan is to a) show up on time, b) remember to bring a pen and some paper, and c) not look too stupid. I think I've got a and b under wraps; it's c I worry about. Like I told my friend, Dale, professor at Loyola and general college teacher-extraordinaire, I worry that I'll say the wrong thing and be chased through the hallowed halls of UNO by angry English professors bearing torches, and then they'll stone me to death, perhaps on the football field or maybe just outside the student union. I worry that they'll figure out I still (still!) sometimes confuse adjectives and adverbs, and I'm not always a hundred percent sure I use commas correctly a hundred percent of the time (though I've got to be at 99%, at least; I swear! Don't stone me.) I know I won't be teaching the mechanics of grammar, but nonetheless, I worry, I worry, I worry.

But I'm also excited. Really, really excited. Like I told Dominic, professional EWO for the United States Air Force and husband-extraordinaire, I feel like I'm finally headed in a professional direction, like I'm no longer a bum. Hooray! Hooray for living up to my potential! Finally! After two long post-college years of fiddling my fingers, dabbling in graduate classes, and catching dinners on fire! Also, I think I'll like teaching. Really, I think I will. So, I guess all the swinging back and forth between excitement and abject terror is what's giving me these heart palpitations.

I hope I don't mess this up. If you don't hear from me in a while you might want to contact Dominic. The torch-wielding English professors may have gotten me...with their stones.

All Quiet On The Midwestern Front

2006-07-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

Since Kate has stopped working at the bookstore things have been very difficult in Nebraska. As you can see there's hardly any room for Mia on the couch because Thomas Pynchon is growing at an exponential rate. Kate also has been having to attend to multiple social events to celebrate her departure from Barnes & Noble. "It's Friday and I don't have to go to work tomorrow!"

It hasn't been all lounging here at the house, we have attempted to redecorate our house. The work has been a little slow-going, but we've accomplished a lot. We discovered this treasure when tearing down the horrific pink wallpaper in our guest bedroom.

It seems Katharine is not the first Kathryn to live here. When I saw the name I wanted to instantly shout "Kathryn McCann Waldron 1985, where are you?" Then a Scooby Doo-esque Seventies era song would start in singing the merits of snacks and what one should be willing to do for one. Anyways. Kate was three in 1985.

Also, today was my last day at the bookstore.

2006-07-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

First, the only known evidence that our cats can in fact tolerate each other long enough to snuggle, at least once:

(also ignore all the scattered junk mail they're sprawled out on)

And secondly, after more than a year and a half of marriage, I finally, finally got a new social security card. I think that makes me legally Mrs. Gaskin. You may all cheer.

In Lieu of Actual Words...Except These Ones

2006-07-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

We bought a new computer! And a new camera! Now we're poor.

On Today Being a Good Day

2006-06-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

Thursdays I don't work. In fact, I barely work ever. Period. And I won't work at all come July 22nd, which is officially my last day at the bookstore. That is, I won't work until I find myself plopped down two weeks later in front of a classroom full of bushy-tailed, bright-eyed 18 year-olds eager to write essays about their high school travails and first loves (is it wrong I imagine Comp I happening like this? Is it wrong? I never took Comp I. I don't know. I fear I may be ripening toward a little something called a Rude Awakening).

So today I didn't work. And Dominic didn't work much. And that's how I found myself being whisked away to Lisa's Radial Cafe for a late breakfast and then a stop-in at Sweet Magnolia's bakery afterward for a key lime bar, which is so good you'd have to taste it for yourselves because adjectives, my friends, simply will not do this time. After the key lime bar was delivered safely to our refrigerator at home, we were off to a local tea shop. Then we went next door to World Market and bought a bunch of discounted baskets for organizational purposes (because if there's one thing Dominic and I lack it's organizational skill, so, seriously, we needed those baskets) and then we came home and organized, and I cleaned the house a bit. Afterward, I didn't fail to note (and I do this--sadly--every time I clean house) how much better I like our house when it's clean and free of clutter. We have a beautiful house! So it turns out.

There was also a challenging run Dominic and I took to the park, and reading Updike on the front porch, and delivering a lost toy back to neighbor kids, and playing with our kitties, and tiger lilies in a vase on our dining room table, and using new exciting citrus-y smelling bath products. Now Dominic is cooking chicken adobo and rice in the kitchen. Yay! See how good today is? See? I told you.

Two more things of note:

1. I've been invited to join a book club. After I finished celebrating such a good turn of luck by pumping my fist in the air like an Olympic gold medalist, I compiled a list of "nominations." Another way to describe the inception of this list would be to say I totally "dorked out." Here's the list. If you've read any of these books tell me whether you liked them.

The Remains of the Day --Iazuo Ishiguro
Love in the Time of Cholera --Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Prep and The Man of My Dreams --Curtis Sittenfeld
The Human Stain and The Plot Against America --Philip Roth
The Bonfire of the Vanities --Tom Wolfe
The Blind Assassin --Margaret Atwood
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay --Michael Chabon
The Shipping News --Annie Prouxl
The Devil Wears Prada --Lauren Weisburger
Lolita --Vladimir Nabokov
The Time Traveler's Wife --Audrey Niffenegger
Bridget Jone's Diary --Helen Fielding
The Fountains of Neptune --Rikki Ducornet
Written on the Body and Sexing the Cherry --Jeanette Winterson

2. We've finally named Little Cat. As of today he will be referred to as Thomas Pynchon. Because, much like Thomas Pynchon, he is crazy as hell.

Garbage Day

2006-06-22T15:43:00.000-07:00

Kate: Yeah, sprinklers around here make running on the sidewalks like an optical course. Especially on garbage days. Man, you're leaping around all the garbage cans, lids, and the recycling bins... An optical course, I tell you!

Dominic: You mean obstacle course?

Kate: Uh, yeah. But it's also an optical course because I use my optical resources, you see?

Dominic: You mean your eyes?

Kate: Exactly!

A lot about stuff you probably have no interest in

2006-06-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, so basically a lot has happened since last we spoke. But it's been like that quite frequently around here anyway, right? Last Saturday, we had our big blow-out promotion party for Dominic and friends, and my siblings flew in from Alabama for a week-long visit. It was a busy day. I wish I could tell you all about that party because--wow--lots of funny, funny stuff happened (Dominic, I'm looking at you), but I want everyone to still like me afterward, so, sorry, you get nothing. Except I will say we met most of our neighbors, and they're all incredibly nice, and they still spoke to us the next morning, so there's that.

Carrie and Craig--the aforementioned siblings--were down with hanging out in Omaha and we delighted them with such exciting forays as to The Zoo! and to The Imax Theater! and to The Ice cream in the Old Market! When we weren't at the zoo or the Imax theater or eating ice cream my brother and sister were either a.) watching the World Cup or b.) sleeping like sleeping champs. There wasn't a lot of middle ground, so unfortunately at times I felt like there wasn't any difference between them being here and being in Alabama because I hardly ever saw them.

Alas, Saturday they had to sever themselves from all that zoo-ing and Imax theater-ing and ice cream-eating and leave us. They will be sorely missed, especially since they only emerged into the daylight maybe twice the whole week so I never really saw them anyway.

Summer will probably be in a denouement from here on out. Dominic had taken leave from work to entertain Carrie and Craig and I for the week, but now that he's back he'll start flying soon. The runway at Offutt is closed so he going to be bussed to Lincoln, which ladles many, many hours onto his daily schedule. I predict I will see him approximately three and a half hours during the next three months.

But I'll be busy, quitting my bookstore job and preparing for my teaching job. Trying to get this house clean again after Hurricane Carrie and Tropical Storm Craig came whirling through. Squirting Little Cat with the spray bottle because he is so, so bad. Last night he peed on our down comforter.

Introducing Booger

2006-06-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

As part deux of my birthday gift, Dominic and I adopted a kitten! We thought we were going to adopt another full-grown cat, but there happened to be an abnormal influx of kittens at the shelter we went to, so kitten it was.

Booger's not really his name. We haven't settled on one yet. I wanted to name him Wee Thomas, but Dominic said no one would get it, and unless you're Brooke, and perhaps Dale, you don't get it, do you? But if you did get it, oh it would be the funniest cat name in the history of cat names to you, and you would laugh and laugh and laugh and say, "WEE THOMAS!" with an Irish accent. Second to my desire to name him Wee Thomas is my desire to name him after some clever literary reference, an author or a character. My favorites are Billy Faulkner and Major Major Major, but somehow those don't seem to be sticking either. Dominic likes Chief Curly Whiskers, but that will probably be his rank and call sign, just like Mia's rank and call sign are Ensign Fuzzybritches. (And oh, we are crazy cat people.)

Speaking of Mia, she's not really having this whole multi-cat household, but I suppose we're proud enough of her because, though she will spit and hiss at the kitten and even box him on his ears if he gets too close, she's mostly cool with having him hang around and hasn't tried to eat him as a tasty snack even once...as long as he doesn't try to play with her or anything crazy like that.

In Which I Annoy You with My Trendiness

2006-05-30T16:48:00.000-07:00

So, this was one of the things Dominic got me for my birthday. Happy birthday to me! I had previously occupied my time with excuses as to why buying an ipod would be too frivolous, too expensive, too everything for someone like me, but Dominic got me one anyway, and I'm now on my second day of trying to download all my favorite songs onto this sleek, teeny-tiny, razor-thin miracle of a device. It's so little and cute and it packs such a punch I've found myself trying to put it in my mouth like the sweet crispy delicious cookie it is. Here's a little internet game I had once scoffed at in bored disdain, but now that I am one of the annoying ipod-carrying, ear bud-wearing masses, I have become a raging hypocrite. Okay, enough with the adjectives.

Instructions: Set ipod to shuffle, write down ALL ten songs that come up first, try not to be embarrassed.

1. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" The Beach Boys.
Dominic and I are shamelessly avid re-watchers of 50 First Dates, a cute, funny, and surprisingly tender movie starring Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. Our favorite part of this movie (which we have seen approximately 127 times on HBO) is the moment when Adam says goodbye to Drew forever, and Drew's father gives him a parting gift of a CD of Beach Boys songs Drew loves, and as Adam sails away on his boat he sings this song and starts crying and says, "Why would you [give me this CD], you sick bastard!" Woo, we think that's funny. Er, maybe you'll just have to watch the movie.

2. "Never Know" Jack Johnson
This is Jack Johnson's newest CD, not counting the soundtrack he made for the Curious George movie. This is a good song, but not my favorite. I already have no recollection of downloading it.

3. "Alice Childress" Ben Folds Five
This is one of my favorites from Ben Folds Five. Dominic is inspired by the first lines which go, "Some summers in the evening after six or so, walk on down the hill, and maybe buy a beer." When we moved to Omaha we wanted to be able to live someplace where we could do that. Mission accomplished. I totally stole this song my freshman year of college in the salad days of Napster, but I bought the CD a little more than a year ago, so stop looking at me like that.

4. "Philosophy" Ben Folds Five
Again, one of my favorites. Again, I stole it before I bought it. Somewhere in the piano-frenzied middle of this song, Ben Folds borrows from "Rhapsody in Blue," which is wicked cool. I also used my affinity for this song to make boys think I was cool in college. It totally worked. Suckers.

5. "The Way You Move" Big Boi
This CD came out right before Dominic and I started dating. That last fall of college we went to the bar more than perhaps was wise, but I was freshly 21 and we were in love and it was a fun time. This song was played constantly. One time, Brooke and I were dancing to it in the bar we mostly frequented, the Porch, and Dominic came shimmying up behind Brooke and preceded to Drop It Like It Was Hot. I'm still laughing at that.

6. "Gone" Kanye West
This is one of my more favorites off "Late Registration." It's a good song. It samples from a really good song that I don't know, though I feel like I should.

7. "Time" Ben Folds
We were living in San Antonio when I bought this CD. I listened to this song on repeat for about a week. It's beautiful and simple. Noticing a pattern with the Ben Folds yet?

8. "I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You" Collin Hay
I find this song to be indescribably sad and very beautiful. It's one of those few songs where the writing speaks to me more than the arrangement of music. Dominic and I had an argument over whether this song is about a break-up (it is) and I had to patiently prove him wrong. I feel kind of dirty because I discovered it off the Garden State soundtrack, which is actually an incredible compilation of songs even if it is the poster boy CD for sensitive indie rock/emo and probably deserves to be made fun of.

9. "Caring is Creepy" The Shins
This is also from Garden State. Hardcore fans of the Shins probably hate that there are people out there (me) who only know about this band through the movie, but whatever.

10. "Could You Be Loved" Bob Marley
I thought this song was "Good to Be Loved" until I downloaded it into my ipod, so, yeah, the ipod is educational as well as recreational. I listen to Bob Marley because of Dominic. He's actually influenced my musical tastes much more than these ten songs show.

Graduations, Birthday Cakes, Promotions, and Sneezing Kitty Cats

2006-05-28T16:09:00.000-07:00

Lots of big things are happening right now all over the world. Of course I don't mean trivial things like war, earthquakes, political strife and scandal. I mean these things: graduations, birthday cakes, promotions, and sneezing kitty cats.

All of these gigantic things have happened or are about to happen and Kate and I are super excited. First Kate's little brother just graduated from BRHS and Kate and I are super excited to see him and Carrie when they visit in two weeks. Kate' s birthday cake has been a gift from the heavens. A delicious German Chocalate cake from a fantastic local bakery called Sweet Magnolias that makes everything from scratch. I normally don't like chocolate cake(everyone thinks I'm crazy now), but this cake is so delicious. I also get promoted on the sixth of next month. I am super excited because I feel like i've been a 2Lt forever. Two years of training(stagnation). I hate 2lt's. Lastly, poor Mia has had a sneeze for about a week now. Such big sneezes for a little cat. It's funny to see her little kitty face get scrunchy before she lets loose a string of kitty cat sneezes. She has recently been in full stalker mode following Kate and I nonstop everywhere we go. Even when its dark and we can't see her she'll give herself away with a series of kitty sneezes. She's nuts. She kind of sneezed on the back of Kate's head once. That was hilarious.

Huge things going on around here. It's awesome. Oh yeah, it's hot now. Later!

Cold Spring

2006-05-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

Here's the thing about living (much) farther north than I used to. It's not the long cold snowy winter I have a hard time abiding by; it's the Cold Spring.

Cold Spring can be defined as any kind of weather other than sunny and hot. 60 degrees, overcast, and windy, in the middle of May? That's Cold Spring. We hateses Cold Spring!

Anyway, when I'm not busy throwing temper tantrums over what's perfectly acceptable and normal weather in this part of the country, I'm busy going on runs and working so few hours it's like I have a phantom job.

Phantom job can be defined as any kind of job wherein you know you have a job and yet lack circumstantial evidence of the fact. Ex: You're in your pajamas and eating Reese's peanut butter cups on the couch at 10:30 on a Thursday morning and a commercial on TV just made you cry.

Lately, Dominic's been grilling me on what I might want for my birthday at the end of the month, and so far the only thing I can come up with is, ...Clothes? And then Dominic is like, That's not an acceptable answer. And so I say, ...Another cat? And he just looks at me. One thing I do think I want is pre-paid lessons at the yoga studio about a half a block around the corner from our house. I want these lessons mostly because the amount of coolness inherent in being able to walk to a yoga class is so much that the actually process of doing the yoga is a secondary entity in my mind.

One other thing before I go: Dominic has been really nice in the last couple of posts he's written when describing the process of my learning how to drive a manual transmission. In reality, I just cry a lot and proclaim over and over again, "Oh my god this is so scary I don't like this Oh my god this is scary," and Dominic just kind of rolls with it because he knows that having a wife such as I who will randomly suggest that we should have Filipino food for dinner one night because I love sharing the things he loves comes with downsides, like hating cars because they are Machines of Death.

But I'm trying to learn how to drive a stick anyway. Just in the midst of all the crying.

Farewell Old Friend!

2006-05-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

My camera has died. It was a good camera, but it has gone the way of most things made in China and purchased at Wal-Mart. Into the garbage. The camera broke because I used a AC/DC converter that apparently had gone bad after a two years of use. How was I to know? It was a decent point and shoot digital while it lasted, and it introduced me to photography. I really like taking photos and have been pressuring Kate into buying me a fancy digital SLR(Nikon d70s) without much luck so far. It's a pretty expensive hobby...

Last night though was pretty fun, Kate and I went to a brewery with a friend who's in town on business. The food was really good and we got there during happy hour which was cool since I wasn't driving! Speaking of which, Kate went on another drive in the 350Z and did well. She got herself a little worked up, but stayed in control the entire time and did well even on a hill!

I wish I could show everyone the flowerbaskets Kate and I planted, but alas my camera has died.

Carrie, make sure you request the time off for your trip out this week! It's going to be so worth it!

Go Speedracer! Go!

2006-05-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

After owning the Nissan 350Z for a year and a half, Kate finally got behind the wheel and raced up to a speed of about 10 miles an hour. FANTASTICO! Kate did so good driving the manual transmission her first time ever. She was stopping and starting like no other inside a half-hour! I'm certain when I learned my parents thought I was a dullard. Kate however, a natural. It was pretty ahhh...how should I describe it? AWESOME! And she made me another lemon meringue pie...how should I describe it ? SWEET!

Stephen Colbert bashing W. to his face at the White House Correspondents Ball/Convention...how should I describe this? KICK ASS!

Lots of cool things going on in case you didn't notice. Tomorrow is my last day of academics. That means test. This one is easy to describe. NOT COOL!

One more month until I get promoted and I can tell you it's hard to wait. I had my new rank sewn on my uniform, and I have to say I'm going to look pretty good with that silver bar on my shoulder. I hate to toot my own bugle, but it's the truth!

Oh Yeah! Birthday Ball Tickets: $60. Cab Downtown: $10. Cocktails during Social Hour: $40. Wine w/ Dinner: Included in Ticket Price. Slightly Inebriated Adult Prom Photo: Priceless...

Plumbing, Cell Phones, and Social Security Numbers

2006-05-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago, I read a horror story on the internet about a couple with an older home who found sewage backed up in their toilet and shower one day and had to have their driveway dug up in order to have their entire sewage system replaced. "Wow," I said to Dominic, "maybe we should get a plumber out to run some maintenance on our lines!" Normally, Dominic is the one who thinks we should Do Everything to Our House All at Once, like knock down those limestone planters on our front porch and build new brick columns, or extend our front porch, or pull up all the billions of bushes in our front yard, or refinish the back deck, or put more lighting in our back yard, or put up a hammock, or buy a new grill, or put up planters, or any of about a thousand other projects that would collectively cost us about a billion dollars. So I guess all of that was just to say that I was totally not surprised that he was receptive to hiring out a plumber to "blade" our lines, because he was, oh yes he was. And now we've got plumbing free of the tree roots that could have possibly caused extensive, potentially irreparable damage to our sewage lines, (it's so difficult being responsible home owners sometimes) but we're out nearly two hundred dollars this month that could have gone to any number of valuable causes, such as:

1. Buying me a new cell phone because I destroyed my old cell phone going on two weeks ago now.
2. Buying a hammock stand for the hammock I bought Dominic, which led, ultimately, to the destruction of my cell phone.
3. Buying me a new cell phone, so I don't have to reactivate Dominic's old cell phone because it's craptacular.

Anyway, we'll see how long I can play this game called, Complaining About the Fact that I Have to Buy a New Cell Phone Without Actually Buying a New Cell Phone. I think I can last another week, at least.

This morning, at work, I forgot my social security number. Big deal, you say? I've used my social security number almost everyday for some reason or another for the past 10 years, ever since I was forced to memorize it for my 7th grade English class. For the past six months, I've used it to clock in at the computer every morning. But today? Today, I forgot it, and I had to have a manager clock me in. Later, she handed me a piece of paper with my number written on it, and I was all, "Oh, nevermind! I remembered it! I remembered it! I can't believe I forgot it!" And she gave a nervous laugh and said something to the effect of, "That's something I'm sure everyone does." And I said, "Oh no! That's only something I do!"

In other words, Kate Gaskin: Weirding People Out Since 1982.

Cat Party!

2006-04-23T17:20:00.000-07:00

Well, internets, we've been fairly busy as of late, and unfortunately that means we've fallen into that old cliched habit known as not updating our blog and then writing one post in apology for not updating our blog and then not updating our blog.

But no more! Until next time.

Friday, Dominic turned 29 for the third time. I helped him celebrate by buying him a hammock and then destroying my cell phone! (Oh, how lucky Dominic is that I'm his wife.) I destroyed my cell phone by placing it on the bumper of the Blazer as I was hefting the new hammock into the back of the truck. Then I forgot to retrieve my phone from the bumper. Then I flung my phone into the middle of a busy road as I turned out of the parking lot of Target where I had bought the hammock, which ended up being the most expensive hammock in the world because it cost me a $200 cell phone, in addition to the $100 it initially cost me just for being a hammock.

So.

Saturday was better. We had a barbecue in celebration of Dominic's third 29th birthday, and lots of nice people came over and hung out with us in our backyard, and it was a truly awesome time, especially because I made a lemon meringue pie and a caramel cake, and those confections alone almost made up for the fact that I destroyed my cell phone (but not quite,) and wait, did I mention the beer? There was beer, too! Good beer. And lots of it.

This morning we took some friends--a married couple who shares our cat obsession; I mean, affinity--to a great little divy local breakfast diner, and then we returned home and totally used their very valid interest in an open house down the street in order to accompany them and snoop around in our neighbors' house. Which is beautiful. Anyway, it would be awesome if our friends lived down the street from us because then it would be one big cat party, night and day.

But we're not dorky! No way! We're cool! We're very cool people! And no, I did not just say "cat party." I would never say something so uncool.

Anyway, all the while this weekend I've been finishing my big paper for my Native American non-fiction writing class. It's 19 pages long, and has 23 sources in the works cited page. I worked on the works cited page for almost four hours on Friday. A Friday.

But now it's finished! Cat party!

I did not just say that.

Late Easter Coming

2006-04-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

Obviously, this is how I feel about updating lately: blah.

Last weekend, my Aunt Connie came to visit Dominic and me, and we had a great time showing her around Omaha, or at least our part of Omaha, which begins as you step outside our house and ends basically ten blocks in any one direction. Or you can drive the three miles to my work, but THAT'S IT. Dominic and I refuse to go any farther.

Next weekend we're having a barbecue for Dominic's birthday, which is Friday. There will be hamburgers! And beer! And caramel cake! (Oh, I bet you didn't see that last one coming).

One last thing: Today the Easter Bunny visited me. He was a little late this year, but after hearing word of the colossal hissy fit I threw today because I don't have any Easter candy to binge on this year (and my sister does!) he ordered his Easter minions out to the Gaskin household where they hid five eggs filled with various candies in our sunroom.

Good to know I still observe the most important part of this holiday: Gorging Oneself on Bad Fructose Syrup Fortified Commercialized Candy. And, Carrie, I take it back. There is an Easter Bunny.

Promtastic as Promised

2006-04-09T16:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a week, but Prom 2006 shall live in infamy through our pictures and vodka-tinged memories.

Exhibit A: Dominic double fists it because he is a rock star like that.

Exhibit B: We are very happy to be at Prom

Exhibit C: Oh my god, I'm married. This hadn't really occurred to me until I saw it in print, curiously enough.

Exhibit D: I love Prom.

Exhibit E: Obligatory pose by the ice sculpture.

Exhibit F: Dominic and I are seriously jazzed to be at Prom.

Exhibit G: Bottoms up!

Signs of Spring (and Other Promtastic Events Thrown In!)

2006-04-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

Spring is Here! As proof, here are some of the signs we're seeing around the house!

Holding the Doldrums, Holding on Through Them Too

2006-04-04T18:47:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been having a difficult time finding good words to write with. I tried to write a post about Dominic's and my prom experience a few days ago, but Blogger wouldn't let me publish any pictures to Stick and String, so I just scrapped it. I'll try again later, when I'm not in such a poo-poo mood.

There are so many good things happening in our lives right now, but coming off the weekends has been really tough for me for a long time now. I have a difficult time adjusting my level of self-expected happiness when Monday comes around and I see Dominic for only an hour or so, when we'd just been hanging out and having a good time together all weekend.

Spring is trying to peer through the winter drabness here. We've had a couple of beautiful days, though temperatures have still been a bit cool. Friday, we're supposed to get cold weather and ice and snow again, though. That's really starting to do a number on me--the weather, that is. I suppose school is also picking up, and that can be difficult and stressful, though I'm doing pretty well with keeping up and doing good, solid work in my classes this semester. Still, I've been feeling worn down lately, and I guess that's why I haven't been posting as much.

But there are so many exciting things to come for us, internets. And if I can just hold on through these doldrums, I'll be better for it.

This Is The Scariest Thing Ever...

2006-03-27T15:27:00.000-08:00

I 've recently realized what I think maybe one of the scariest things in my life. Even more terrifying than when I was grabbed by the Wicked Witch of the West at a haunted house when I was five, and that my friends was life traumatizing-scary. So what is it that frightens me so much? I agree with George W. Bush on two issues. Two! Which is one more than too many! It frightens me so much that I'm a little stunned. I find myself having to sit down and wonder what happened. Why God? Why?!?!

The first issue happened a few weeks ago when the Dubai company bought the rights to the company that scanned cargo coming into the US. I felt that the reason why people don't want them to own the company quite frankly is fueled mostly by a distrust and moderate to blatant racism towards Arabs and others from the Middle East. I'm sure everyone's saying "Nuh Unh!" I have a hard time coming up with another reason why some other foreign entity should not be able to continue the terrible job the present company is doing? Can you come up with any reasons? Maybe people out there could enlighten me.

The second issue is that of immigration. I believe in it. My mother is an immigrant. Your grandparents or great-grandparents probably are or were! Why does everyone hate immigrants? This is a country founded by immigrants. When I read about the immigration reform that Congress is trying to pass it just makes me sad that people would rather jail Hispanics than allow them the opportunity to work hard and suceed in this country. It's ridiculous! I hate it, but dubyah has a guest worker program idea that would allow current illegal aliens amnesty and become honest members of the American workforce. I agree with him. It hurts me to say, but I side with dubyah on immigration(It hurt so much to say that. I threw up in my mouth a little too). It does great things and reenergizes America. You probably don't agree and I look for enlightenment from those who have it to give.

It's a sad day I tell you. I never thought this would happen, but it did. I'm not certain I will ever be the same and I need some help.

Spring (Snow) Storm

2006-03-21T11:36:00.000-08:00

We had snow all day yesterday, the first day of spring. I didn't mind it too much, as I had the day off of work and school anyway, and Dominic got a snow day from work. So we sat around all day in our pajamas, and I stuck to my well (by now) established habit of becoming furiously interested in my own personal reading projects just when the critical part of reading and writing for school begins to pick up. I suppose Dominic was a bit bored with my choosing to read most of the day, so he started up with the whole "baby" thing again. I expect him to start laying out pie charts and graphs and statistics for me pretty soon. I'm also fairly certain he's got a ticker hidden somewhere that's counting down the days to when he expects we should begin the conception process. I've got a good two years of M.A. program left to barter with him, but after I graduate I'll be left vulnerable again. Dominic can be very dogged and persuasive, and the man's biological clock is ticking! Why am I so insensitive to his biological clock when it's ticking? Why?

Anyway, here's a picture I took of myself (and Dominic) yesterday after I painstakingly did my makeup. And still you can barely tell!

I was going to write more about how I feel like I need to write more and read more and also watch more of the kinds of movies I like, but I suppose I should really get to my schoolwork. That's what's inspiring me to be inspired in other things instead. Oh, school. You are so predictable in that you make me want to be doing anything else at all.

Serious stuff about my future and then a jam session.

2006-03-16T16:35:00.000-08:00

Today, I had a meeting at UNO about my new teaching assistant position. Apparently, I will be teaching my own Composition I class.

Me. Alone. All by myself. As in my name will be listed with the class when people go to register. This is very, very exciting and scary all at once.

This job is good, good news. It will pay my tuition. It's a substantial (as in more than double, though that isn't too difficult to accomplish) monthly pay raise from what I make working at the bookstore. And it will provide me finally, finally with job experience relevant to my career as a teacher if that's the road I choose to continue to follow.

So, wow. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but this is good news. And finally I have valid proof that I'm not as much of a slacker as I try to portray to the internet. See, internet? I have a JOB. That Dominic basically guilted me into applying for. BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER. My new job shall now serve to validate my existence. I think I learned that from the feminist movement.

Anyway, Dominic and I are having house guests tomorrow. We have dubious plans to feed them lots of good food, including some Brie we picked up at the grocery store just now. Say you: What if your house guests don't like Brie, Kate? I say, the more for me then! Oh, delicious, delicious Brie.

Also, Dominic cleaned out the truck today and salvaged a bunch of CD's that were just rolling around in the back of it. So I've been playing DJ today with all the newly discovered goods. So far I've made him listen to Rufus Wainwright, Justin Timberlake (JT!!!) and I gave a special shout out to him with some 50 Cent.

I'm Sick and Kate Won't Share Her Peanut Butter Cups With Me.

2006-03-14T15:56:00.000-08:00

I'm sick and Kate won't share her peanut butter cups with me. Everyone begin feeling sorry for me starting...now. Just kidding. Seriously though, Kate is not good at sharing.

I've started school which means I'm no longer a secretary which is kind of scary because it means I'm starting my "grown-up" job. If you consider a bunch of boys dressing up and playing war full-time "grown-up." I did go out to my jet and I found out that they smell like giant flying porta-potties. That's going to be a lot of fun. So far though everything is going ok and I'm sure in a few weeks I'll be ranting about how dificult school is and that I hate my job, but for now everything has been cake.

These past few months I haven't been writing much as everything for me has really slowed down. I mean in the past three years so much has happened, and I had what seemed to be insurmountable goals and tasks in front of me. Now, those things have passed and I have like everything I want and need. I talked with Kate about this some and we decided I should set some new goals for myself but I can't seem to think of any. I've also tried to think of a new hobby for myself with no luck(I have excluded exercise from the list of potential hobbies). I thought maybe furniture making or stained glass windows, but those ideas don't seem very lofty. I was watching Rudy the other day and thought that unless I have some grand goal no one will ever chant my name in a stadium. That kind of depressed me a little. It made me think that maybe after my military service is up I should run for political office. Kate tells me that I should, and I think it would be something that I could get excited about. I've looked up my party here in Nebraska, but they seem somewhat inaccessible to me. Their website is broken. How sad is that. Anyways, I don't need to harp on the disorganization of my own party. Was that out loud? Sorry. I need to find a new hobby. Any suggestions?

Oh yeah, speaking of parties. June 10th. Rager...Like college, frat-boy,crazy, barbequing a whole pig rager happening in Omaha. Promotion party. Everyone's invited.

News! News! News!

2006-03-08T18:31:00.000-08:00

Hey, I got the teaching assistantship I applied for! I actually got it!

This means I will be teaching a class in the fall!

Oh my!

Oh...

That's scary! (But my tuition will be paid for in full from now on, and I get a stipend!)

You Know You Want to Hang Out with Us

2006-03-06T06:41:00.000-08:00

Dominic and I invited a few friends over on Saturday night for, as Dominic termed it, cocktails. Nearly a half an hour after show time, we sat alone in our study reassuring ourselves that we're fun. You think we're fun, right? Yeah, we're fun! I think we're fun too! We're fun! And then we sat there and blinked at each other until people finally started showing up, and after that we gave out a collective exhale because it's difficult to justify your self-anointed state of being fun if no one will come to your house for free booze.

At some point, not too long after everyone showed up, the conversation veered toward luxury cars (which more than a few of us own or have just bought) and insurance premiums, not to mention all the talk about housing developments and house buying. Then Dominic said something about he couldn't believe we were talking about insurance premiums instead of concentrating soley on gettin' drunk. And then someone else said, "Yeah, this is a totally yuppie party." Then everyone left all at once at 10:30, and something inside of me died.

I looked at Dominic and I said, "We're fun, right?" And he said, "Heck, yeah we're fun!" "Let's walk to the bar, then!" "Let's walk to the bar!" And then we gave each other a high five, and walked to the bar and sat down and ordered a vodka tonic, and Dominic said, "I'm drunk and sleepy." So we stayed just a little bit longer, as tonic for being such yuppies. Then we walked home and passed out.

But we are so fun! We promise we are.

New York, New York...and Jerz

2006-03-01T17:44:00.000-08:00

Today I ate two lunches. Apparently, I still think I'm on vacation because when Dominic and I are on vacation we always eat approximately six meals a day. So far today I've had four and a half, plus a box of girl scout cookies.

Stop judging me.

Some of you already know that Dominic and I went gallivanting around New York City and New Jersey this past weekend. Here is what I have to say about everyone we met or reunioned with during our trip: You guys are all awesome. You Jersey guys, especially, have a certain aura of awesomeness, and now Dominic has a permanent catch phrase that he will always use when we are in your part of the country, and it has something to do with him being a living legend and giving me a high five and then telling strangers stories about our kitty cat.

Anyway, we flew into Newark on Thursday night, and on Friday we caught the New Jersey transit into the city. Brooke took us to Chinatown first, and I began a behavioral pattern that would become my default mode for the crowded streets and subways and buildings and restaurants of New York, which I will henceforth dub, the Quiet Internal Panic. About 94 percent of the time I was able to keep the Quiet Internal Panic under some amount of restraint, but once I almost lost it in a young designers' market in SOHO, though I scored a cool new hat from that experience so all was not lost.

After a fair amount of walking around on Friday we met up with a friend of mine from high school, John, at his place of work. Inside there were a lot of pet birds in cages. And a lot of pretty paintings. And a man who poured us drinks with mostly vodka in them. And also, I'm pretty sure for a moment we were all unwitting pawns in a Woody Allen movie, because that's how funny and quirky and unexpectedly "New York" the whole experience was. Anyway, John is awesome and still quite photogenic though I failed to get a picture of him, which is too bad because now you guys will never know how photogenic he is. And let me assure you he is quite photogenic. Oh yes he is. And now you will never know. How photogenic his is. ...Right.

Immediately after we left the Arts Club, Julia Roberts walked by Dominic, and then Dominic spazzed out and developed turret's for the rest of our trip, only instead of spewing random profanities at inopportune moments he would randomly yell out, "I saw Julia Roberts!" at people.

For dinner we ate at a Cuban restaurant in Chelsea. My meal was so good I made best friends with it, and before we parted there were tearful goodbyes on behalf of us both, and then I ate it, and I think my eyes misted over a bit. After dinner, we saw this play, which was the best play I've ever seen in all my life. I never even realized that a piece of me had been missing, and I would have never found that missing piece, nor even known to look, but now I can finally say I am a whole person because I have seen the Lieutenant of Inishmore. Oh, woe is you (anyone reading this now who is not Brooke or Dominic) for you have never seen the Lieutenant of Inishmore, and I assure you that a piece of you is missing as well. Good luck with that.

Saturday, we met up with John again (still incredibly photogenic) and he was kind enough to take us to brunch and show us around Greenwich Village and SOHO. Sunday, we met Dominic's friend, Candida, for brunch and she showed us around a bit of the Upper West Side and some of Central Park. Candida was very petite and cute and softspoken and polite and nice. She was also very photogenic, and Dominic managed to score some pictures of her as proof.
Monday we flew home. On our flight bound to Omaha, I tried to order a Bloody Mary, and the flight attendant scoffed at me and told me I looked like I was twelve. I'm not sure how this anecdote rounds out this post enough to end it, but I feel like it's appropriate anyway. So there you go.

The Southern Accent Strikes Again, or All These Midwesterners Think I'm a Hick

2006-02-22T17:52:00.000-08:00

Today in my Native American nonfiction class, we were workshopping the very rough draft of my project (which basically comprises my entire grade, oh scary) and I mentioned how I was actually really nervous about this workshop because, heck, I've been in creative writing workshops before, but I'm more accountable for the work I write for this class.

Suddenly everyone in my class got very quiet and looked at me, aghast. My teacher said, "Did you just say you were a cannibal?"

I said, "No, accountable."

Manly Men Fix Stuff

2006-02-17T14:19:00.000-08:00

Hey, guess what? I had another anxiety dream about prom again! This time I forgot to buy my jewelry ahead of time (so I had no jewelry, oh no!) and my hair was frizzy, and I had to get ready in a department store bathroom (what the crap?)! It was awful!

It's four degrees in Omaha today. A friend at work asked me how I was dealing with the weather. I said, "It's like the weather and I, we're two dogs, you see? And we're not sure about each other yet. We're wary of each other. So we're circling around and sniffing at each other. And we haven't made our minds up yet." Oh, how descriptive am I.

Today, I got home from work and there was an electrician in the house. An electrician who charges 65 dollars an hour! He was in our home because Dominic invited him here to fix some stuff that needed fixing after Dominic cut a hole in our bathroom ceiling and then put a ventilation fan in it and then wasn't sure what to do next. Actually, Dominic's been doing a great job with a couple remodeling and maintenance projects these past few days. Even now he's crawling around somewhere in the abyss of our attic doing god knows what, but I'm sure it entails the manly art of fixing something. My idea of "fixing something" is plugging in the printer, so Dominic is handy to have around these days.

Valentine

2006-02-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

So yesterday, I got up super early, went to work, shelved frantically, came home and rushed to finish my essay due for my 1:00 class and also complete my application for a T.A. I'm applying for, and then the printer broke, and I freaked out and called Dominic, and he didn't answer, so I just moronically pushed the power button on the printer over and over again, and then I saved my essay and my sample paper (for my T.A. application) on a floppy and tried to think if I could use a library printer to print these papers off at the school because I didn't know where any computer labs were located on campus, and then I called Dominic again, and this time he answered, and he said, "Is the printer hooked up to the computer?" and I said, "I don't knoooowwww," and he said, "Have you checked?" and because I'm a moron I hadn't, so I checked and the printer was actually unplugged so I plugged it in, and then the printer started printing, but I swear to god it was printing in tongues because those were not words; those were devilish, archaic symbols or black magic or something, but then the printer started printing recognizable words again, so I grabbed my papers and went to class and afterward when I was trying to find the English department so I could hand in my T.A. application packet, I got lost and wandered around the Arts and Sciences building for 20 minutes, and I cried a little and the whole time I was incredibly hot, and then I finally found the English department and then I drove home...

And Dominic had a dozen red roses on the kitchen counter for me and dinner reservations at an Indian restaurant downtown. And then he said he loved me, and he went running with me.

Because he is awesome, and I love him.

Flood and Loathing

2006-02-10T12:38:00.000-08:00

"I don’t have Katrina fatigue – I have Katrina complete and total fucking exhaustion. I would give anything for the luxury of having Katrina fatigue."

A List

2006-02-10T11:08:00.000-08:00

1. I need a haircut. Badly. Dominic cannot understand why I just won't go get one. Only my sister can understand that salons are scary places of doom, frightening second only to having to speak to hostesses in restaurants or talk on the phone to a stranger. Plus there's the thing with tipping, and how do you do that without being awkward, and all like, "Do you mind if I add the tip onto the check?" or, worse, clumsily pulling a fistful of dollar bills out of your purse and having your stylist be all, like, "Excuse me," and run away, avoiding your eyes.

2. Yesterday, on my afternoon run, I realized I had to go number two when I was about a block away from the house. So I doubled back, you know, to take care of it, and then when I went back outside and had gotten less than ten minutes into my run, it started snowing.

3. Dang, I need a haircut.

4. I had a dream last night that I was going to Prom. Only my dress didn't fit me right anymore. And I got my hair did the day before, so that when I slept on it I got it all messed up. And I hadn't found an evening bag to go with my ensemble yet. And shoes! My shoes were all wrong. And then nobody would dance with me all night.

5. Dominic and I are going to Jersey to visit Brooke at the end of the month. Yay!

6. Mia tried to kill herself yesterday by going on the other side of the iron railing that lines the upstairs part of our stairwell and trying to lay down. There's, like, an inch of space on the other side of the railing, and I totally thought she was going to fall off the second story of our house and die. But she didn't.

7. Right now I'm absentmindedly twirling my hair. This is annoying. I need a haircut.

8. I've got a lot of writing and reading to do for various classes this weekend. ...And I'm back in school.

9. There was a gas leak in the employee area of my work this morning. I'm pretty sure that's bad. I'm glad I'm not there anymore.

10. This weekend won't involve shots of tequila like last weekend did. I'm pretty bummed about that, it turns out.

Mia is a Snoring Snorer

2006-01-31T17:55:00.000-08:00

Last night Mia woke us both up, she was snoring so loud. What kind of cat snores? Honestly.

I made a caramel cake yesterday, and then today, right before I went on my afternoon run, I met up with Dominic, who had just pulled into our driveway.
"Hi," I said. "I have to go for a run because I don't feel so good. I ate a piece of cake for breakfast."
"Awww," he said, "and you ate one for lunch?" I nodded. "And for a snack?" I nodded, and then I said,
"How did you know that?"
"Oh, sweetie, I married you."
Then I sighed because it's true. Dominic knows me too well.

And speaking of Dominic, lately he has seemed to be just awakening to the realization that our slow, relatively stressless college days, wherein we would go to the same classes and be together every day and then come home and be together every day, have ended and it may not be that way with us again for years and years. I'm a little dumbfounded that it took him a year and a half to understand this sad turn of events. I'm pretty sure I got it way back when in Texas, when he would be gone for 10 hour days, sometimes weeks at a time, and then it was just Mia and I, sitting on the couch and blinking at each other for hours. I suppose now that I'm busier and he's a little less busy he has time to think about my not always being here, and that makes him sad. It makes me sad too. But, hey, soon the universe will right itself once more because he begins training again in March, so that means at that point I might see him again around, say, September. Ugh, the travails of sickeningly-in-love married folk who would sit around making doe eyes at each other and saying, "I love you," "No, I love you," for hours at a time if they didn't have to go to work. I mean, I hate those kinds of people.

Anyway, here's hoping our loudest of loud cats doesn't keep us up with her snoring again tonight. Really! What kind of cat snores?

Is Anybody Else Tired Of Work?

2006-01-30T17:15:00.000-08:00

I feel like I'm in danger because I've only been working for nearly two years after my two year college break and I'm looking forward to the the day I retire like it's next year. I know that's really sad because I have such a long way to go! Kate and I went to a co-worker's retirement party a couple of weeks ago and I was so jealous. It's just that after having just passed my ten year anniversary with the Air Force, I'm just starting again. I'm lucky that I have only a little over eleven years until I retire, but that most likely means that I will only have to get another job. Oh well, I'm done with griping for now.

Kate and I went to a beautiful Catholic Church this weekend for an Art & Flower show. Basically, local artists were able to showcase theor work and florists took on the theme of the painting or statue and used it as a themem in some sort of floral arrangement. It was very interesting. Later that night we went to meet some of Kate's co-workers for a birthday celebration. It was a lot of fun, and really nice to meet some fellow Democrats here in Nebraska. We hope to be able to hang out with all of them again soon.

I think I'll start flying again soon. I don't know how I feel about that, but It may require me to vacation most of Febuary. That would be nice, Kate and I hanging out all the time. Just like college.

Procrastination and Prom Dresses

2006-01-23T17:37:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been trying to work on balance, like that's not what everyone who finds themselves suddenly busy tries to do. But I'm not that busy, so I still have to monitor myself when I know I'm taking too much free time, when I've been on the internet for two hours clicking from link to link through garbage, when I've been sitting on the couch and not reading, when I've been noting for weeks what an awful mess our beautiful house is, and still I can't find the time to clean it up. Also, I've been trying to run, and wow has the Nebraska weather been helping me out. But oftentimes I find that I just can't get my priorities straight. Like today, I had plenty of time to a.) piddle around on the internet this morning for about an hour or so of free time, b.) do reading for my class and a bit of at-home internet research, c.) go for a half-hour run, d.) go to the library before class for some more research, and e.) drop by the English office to take care of a few things I've been putting off the last couple of weeks. I did about half those things, which is all right, I guess, but why, I ask you, couldn't I somehow have found it within my capabilities to finish all of it? I just don't know. Maybe tomorrow I'll be better about getting things done. But probably not.

On a lighter note, hey, I've had wonderful running weather lately. Which means tomorrow we'll have a snowstorm, but whatever. What matters is that I've been out running with some regularity again and that's awesome. Something else that's awesome: I bought my prom dress! Actually, the event was tinged with a bittersweetness, as I'd hoped to extend the search for the aforementioned dress for at least a month or longer, which would have meant that I would have gotten to drag Dominic to a lot of stores and try on a lot of dresses, but alas, I found the perfect dress on a sales rack at Dillards at 8:00 at night last Saturday, and I had no choice but to buy it, even if prom isn't for another two months. I won't even need to buy new shoes to go with it because I already have the perfect shoes (and, darn, I was looking forward to buying another pair of shoes!) but I've managed to comfort myself with the fact that I still have to find the right clutch and jewelry, and that could take months (oh, joyousness). And this is what I derive pleasure from, folks. But why isn't it fun to buy pretty frivolous things, especially since I know it's rare for me to have a use for them? So when I do, have a use for them that is, it's fun.

And also, just to tie in the whole wasting time theme with the prom dress shopping theme, don't think I didn't spend an hour and a half combing the internet for a picture of the dress I bought so I could post it here for you to see. If you did assume that I would never waste time that way, you'd be incorrect.

Lists

2006-01-18T16:45:00.000-08:00

So here's the deal:

1. School
2. Dominic's healing time from mouth surgery being rather longer than we had expected, resulting in bummed spirits all around this week. Even the cat has been sighing.
3. Work
4. Running

But besides all that, there have been several things to happen over the last few days that I wanted to tell you guys about, but I was too busy needing an attitude adjustment and stomping off to my room in a huff to write in my diary. I'm feeling a little better today, so I'll share those things with you now:

1. We hosted an impromptu dinner party on Saturday. I made loads of chicken stew, and then we all walked to a bar and had a jolly grand time. Also, I met a married couple who are now my favorite married couple ever because they are seriously funny and they talk about their cats even more than we talk about Mia, which is a lot (no really).

2. Speaking of Mia, she killed a mouse sometime early Monday morning. We didn't find the mouse until later that evening, but all signs point to her guilt. Especially when Dominic sagely noted that mice don't make pilgrimages to the Land of the Grand Fireplace simply to fall over and die and be all gross with rigor mortis. (Also, we have mice! We haven't seen anymore of them or noticed droppings anywhere. But still, mice!)

3. The past couple times I've gone for a run I've met up with a three legged puppy dog who is always in the process of taking her owner for an extremely brisk walk. Both times it made my heart feel funny, as if all the ice were melting from it or it was growing three times too large or something. Three legged puppy dogs are really cute.

Princess Tigerlily

2006-01-13T13:51:00.000-08:00

There's something about being in school that can make me feel humorless. Generally, I think it's because I usually feel intimidated in scholarly situations. That, and also nobody gets my jokes.

Lately, I've been trying to figure out everything that comes with starting a new school, new classes, new program. Also, I'm still working part-time. So it would appear that my uselessness as a ne'er-do-well housewife has come to an end. And now I'm just another confused English Lit. graduate student with a liberal bent and vague, misguided aspirations to grandeur. Not that I even take my vague, misguided aspirations to grandeur seriously. So what does that leave me with? Jokes no one understands. Right.

Well, Dominic came home with a bottle of wine he got for a dollar at a raffle today. So that's good.

I'm Alive!!!

2006-01-11T07:53:00.000-08:00

Well, obviously I made it through the surgery. It was not without it's moments when I thought I would not. I woke up about half way through the surgery wondering what was going on. They had to strap me down. I asked them to put me back to sleep, and after that I wandered in and out of conciousness. I did get to see my teeth before they were digarded as biohazardous waste. There were three whole teeth and one very broken up one. The last tooth they pulled was huge and it gave them a hard time. The had to call in a closer, a very experienced dentist, to handle it. I've decided that I don't like him.
I made it home ok and then Kate left for her first day of school. Yay! Then I started throwing up. First I threw up in the hide-a-bed and scared the cat. I got it in a bag though(the throw-up, not the cat). Later after Kate got back, I wasn't feeling well so I thought I would try to take a poop because my stomach hurt. Instead I threw up on the bathroom floor. It was gross. I felt better after that but the throw-up was all bloody. Ggrr-oss!
Now I feel better and I'm off the vicodin as of today, no rehab for me! I will however need a haircut and shampoo. Yay.

Open Mouth Surgery

2006-01-08T18:35:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately in the morning, I will be put under general anesthesia for the first time and have my wisdom teeth violently ripped from my mouth. Needless to say, I am not looking forward to it. The one good thing is that except for the hour and half Kate will be at class, she'll be at home looking after me. Nurse Kate...sweet, sweet Nurse Kate.
Anyways, I'll be at home convalescing for a few days so Kate went out and bought me plenty of applesauce and yogurt. I'll be veggin' on the pullout sofa for many days. It's going to be fun except for that mouth pain and losing a part of my body that I've had for so long. I used to say that I would keep my wisdom teeth because if the apocalypse occurred I would need them to chew and digest tree bark. Now, when the apocalypse comes, I have no chance. That sucks. Oh well. I will be getting narcotic drugs for the first time ever. That will be strange and new. Hopefully I won't become addicted to prescription drugs.

Dominic Pops the Question

2006-01-07T12:45:00.000-08:00

A couple days ago, Dominic sat me down and said to me, very, very seriously, "Kate, I have something to tell you."

"What?"

"Listen to me carefully. This is really important."

"What? What is it?"

"Now, don't take this lightly. This is serious."

"WHAT? FREAKING WHAT? WHAT IS GOING ON?"

"Kate...will you go to prom with me?"

"...Yes!"

Prom is actually the Birthday Ball, an event the good folks at Offutt Air Force Base are holding. As to whose birthday it is--who knows? Who cares? I GET TO BUY ANOTHER PROM DRESS!!!

All I have to say is that this is seriously going to be the best prom of my life because, a: my prom date will not dump me at the end of the night in order to get back together with his 200 pound ex-girlfriend, thereby forcing me to hitch a ride home, and, b: my prom date will not be a deranged cowboy with ADHD and a pickup truck so big I have to be hoisted in and out of it all night by a complex system of pulleys and levies until I finally tell him to just leave, thereby forcing me to hitch a ride home. Also, this time I KNOW I'm going to get to makeout with my date afterwards, which pretty much puts this prom into the category of Best Prom Ever, and it hasn't even happened yet.

Student Again

2006-01-03T16:51:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm finally registered for classes at UNO. Dominic has had to put up with a much-to-do of my freaking out, and it's not over, buddy, oh no it's not. I suppose the realization that this is the first truly adult endeavor I've ever undertaken is slowly dawning on me. All I know is that this Master's is going to be a lot of hard work, especially if I opt for going the thesis route, which I think I should. But it's something I need to do--so that I know I can do it, but also so I can get my feet planted more firmly on the ground. People are very lucky if they can figure out what they want. I never could really, but I think I can make this work for me. If I learn enough and really try to be a good scholar and teacher and (most importantly) a genuine lover of books, I think I can make a career of it. It doesn't make me feel sick to my stomach like so many other options do. Perhaps because the intention behind trying to understand and make use of good literature is noble and good and all about trying to better understand our world and our humanity or something like that. Am I right? Close? A fool?

We'll see where this goes. Hopefully to someplace good. Someplace where my brain will stop feeling like a dead mass of brick in my head and ignite into something that holds something useful, valuable even.

Vodka Tonic in Hand, People, Vodka Tonic in Hand

2005-12-31T18:44:00.000-08:00

I don't normally do these internet meme thingies, but I'm feeling lazy, and I'd like to do a little recap of 2005, so...

1. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before? Bought a house. Moved to Nebraska. Saw the state of Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri. Saw the prairie. Attended graduate classes in English.
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't make New Year's resolutions. If I did I would resolve to get on with graduate work already, but that's not a resolution. That's a given.
3. Did someone close to you give birth? No, but I have a couple of pregnant friends right now.
4. Did anyone close to you die? No, and thankfully.
5. What countries did you visit? None. I don't like this question. This question takes for granted--nay--EXPECTS that you have visited MULTIPLE foreign countries in the time of a year. Listen here, Question, most people are lucky if they even visit ONE foreign country a year. Geeze.
6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005? A little bit of stability and progress when it comes to work and school and getting on with the getting to a place in my life where I feel proud of what I've done and what I do professionally.
7. What dates from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Most recently, my first wedding anniversary with Dominic. That seemed like a big milestone for us.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I haven't been a big achiever lately. I suppose I have to take us back in the magical time machine all the way to January of 2005 when I successfully enrolled myself in grad school in Texas. I'm in the process of doing the same here in Nebraska. My achievement, I guess, is the continuing process of making sure I'm working toward having a Master's.
9. What was your biggest failure? I rear-ended someone (again). That made me feel like a failure. Maybe also my settling for a menial paying job instead of trying to get a "grown-up" job.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Sort of, I guess. I had to have another mole removed. Other than that, both Dominic and I have been very healthy and very thankful for our health.
11. What was the best thing you bought? I bought a lily flower arrangement for Dominic a while back. I enjoyed doing that for him.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? I'm going to say my own. Sometimes I misbehave, but mostly I try to be good.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I wish I could answer this question, but some things must go without saying on the internets...but I'm shaking my proverbial finger at you, AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
14. Where did most of your money go? First rent. Then car. Then mortgage. Then gas bill.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Moving to Omaha. Buying our house. Walking to the bars nearby (like we're doing tonight). Seeing my sister when she came to visit me in Texas. Seeing Brooke and Dale both times they came to visit us.
16. What song will always remind you of 2005? Whole CDs will remind me. Among them, John Legend, Tegan and Sara, Garden State soundtrack, the Arcade Fire, Regina Spektor, Common, Kanye West, Ben Folds, Interpol. Probably mostly Interpol.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder? I'm the same amount of happy, which is pretty darn happy. I have my moments when I feel like I'm messing everything up, but I think that's a pretty normal feeling for anyone to have no matter their level of happiness...and did I mention I was happy?
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Visiting Brooke in Jersey. I said I would twice and flaked out both times. I WON'T DO IT AGAIN, BROOKE. (call me)
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Crying because people let me down.
20. How will you be spending Christmas? We already spent it by the fire in our beautiful old house, drinking vodka tonics, and being all disgustingly in love.
22. Did you fall in love in 2005? A little more, with Dominic. It's strange, but I've definitely found that love is not static and that it can mean and feel like so many different things.
23. Any one-night stands? Nooo.
24. What was your favorite TV program? I've been going through all the Gilmore Girls. I think I'm in love with them. I am pathetic. (Lorelai, call me)
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No. And maybe. Feelings aren't always so black and white, so easily distinguished.
26. What was the best book you read? I read a lot of good books. But the one I'm reading now, The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. Le Guin, is shaping up to be the best, I believe.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Interpol, I have to say. I wouldn't call it a great musical discover, because--hello--they've been around a while, but I like that band, I do.
28. What did you want and get? A really good husband, who loves me, really, really loves me, and puts up with all my quirks. I have a lot of quirks.
29. What did you want and not get? The perfect job to magically fall into my hands without my having to look for it or even know what to look for at all. Perhaps, a realistic way to go about getting an MFA instead of an MA.
30. Favorite film of this year? The best surprise was St. Ralph. Recently, I enjoyed The Family Stone, even though it was nuts and really contrived. Dominic and I liked the family dynamic, though, and want to shoot for something like that with our own clan...one day...very far from this day.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Dominic took me to a winery. I was 23.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? For me to stop being such a coward about most things already. But whatever.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005? In Texas it was one of three white tanktops with one of two pairs of shorts from American Eagle EVERY SINGLE DAY and a pair of flipflops (and I wish I was joking about this). In Nebraska, it's been a variety of sweaters, pants, and jeans. With boots, scarfs, toboggans, gloves, and a brown wool peacoat. One day I mixed it up by wearing a short plaid schoolgirl skirt with almost-hooker black leather knee length boots and fishnet stockings. I wore this to Dominic's work's Christmas party. It was quite satisfying.
34. What kept you sane? Dominic. My crazy sister (you know I love you).
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Lately I've had a crush on Rachel McAdams.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? Not the Valerie Plame crap. But mostly the same-old, same-old. Feeling like we're all being lied to by the higher-ups.
37. Who do you miss? My sister and brother. They're so cool. Too cool for school.
38. Who was the best new person you met? I haven't met anyone new who has become an important part of my life in a long time. Here's hoping 2006 brings some of that.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005: It's important to constantly re-evaluate yourself and your attitude. If you're out of line, apologize immediately.

I Do Go On

2005-12-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

My favorite wedding photo in the one year photo album I made for Dominic.

Part of the flower arrangement he surprised me with.

Another part.

Happy Anniversary/Merry Christmas to Us

2005-12-26T15:45:00.000-08:00

So, Dominic and I have had a great holiday, and I hope, sincerely, that each of you have too. We went out on our fancy-pants Christmas Eve dinner, and I had ostrich! Ostrich!

Christmas morning we opened all our gifts. Christmas night we drank vodka tonics by the roaring fire. Today, we're eating pizza and watching 13 Going on 30. Quit judging us! Anyway, here are a few pictures. Yes, I bought Dominic a shirt with our Mexican kitty cat on it. Yes, I love my ear-flap toboggan. And yes, the Calvin and Hobbes are all belong to me!

Sham On -- A Ben Folds Odyssey

2005-12-22T17:25:00.000-08:00

First off, I'm going to send you guys here. Click on the link that says Smoke Orchestral Ve... Please ignore the title of the song directly above it. Unless you think sensitive white guy piano covers of hard-core gangster raps are funny, which personally, I do, but whatever.

When I was in Symphony Band in college, we would often play with vocalists. Marching band was the same, and because of that I can say I have played with such notorious artists as Lee Greenwood! And Brian McKnight! Anyway, all I'm saying here is that I would have peed my pants to have the opportunity to toot my clarinet along with Mr. Ben Folds. Peed my pants! Because he is awesome! And so, now, I present to you a short history of my reknowned fascination for this man.

I'm pretty sure the first Ben Folds Five CD I bought was the "The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner," sometime in '97. I can't remember why I bought this particular CD first, as it was one of the last ones released by the band. Probably I bought it because at the time "Army" was getting relatively heavy airplay. I'd heard "Brick" and even "Song for the Dumped" before it, and liked them both so I bought "Unauthorized Biography" and even though the latter two of those songs weren't even on it I enjoyed the CD. It was good--competent even--but not great. Later that year for my birthday, I asked for an earlier CD, "Whatever and Ever Amen," mostly because I knew there was a song on it called, "Kate," and I thought it would be wicked cool to own that song, and then I could play it late at night on the stereo in my bedroom and listened to it through my headphones and pretend it was about me. Anyway, I received the CD and listened to it all once through and, lo, religion reached down to me from among a collection of the most amazing songs ever, and an obsession was born.

My freshman year of college, my roommate, Bonnie, and I took full advantage of the heyday of Napster and "free" downloading, and we pilfered all the Ben Folds Five songs we could off the internet. I have fond memories of wasting endless hours listening to "Philosophy" (which I could argue may have been their best song ever) and "Twin Falls" alone. Another thing I discovered, was that being a Ben Folds Five fan gave me instant music cred in most social situations. The fact that I knew their music so well was, arguably, the only cool thing about me for years and years--and well, actually, maybe it still is.

The purchase of "Naked Baby Photos" came next (favorite song from it: "Jackson Cannery") and then much, much later I finally bought their very first self-titled CD (favorite song: "Video,") but nothing, nothing will ever touch the love I have for "Whatever and Ever Amen." There are only two CDs I can still listen to in their entirety after years and years of rotation on my various CD players. Weezer's Blue Album is the other one, and I love you, Blue Album, I do, but you don't have a song titled, "Kate," so you don't win the big prize of My Favorite CD Ever, but hey, don't look so down, little guy. Second place is an honor!

Ben Folds Five split up almost immediately after I really became aware of how much love I had for them in my heart. It was a terrible moment when I realized I would never get to see them play live, but then Ben Folds came out with "Rocking the Suburbs" shortly afterward, and I was mollified. I didn't actually buy this CD. My sister's boyfriend at the time burned me a copy, and I would have felt bad for totally ripping off his first solo attempt, except for the fact that I GOT TO SEE HIM LIVE IN BIRMINGHAM later that year. I bought a small turquoise t-shirt that night that I've had to since retire (though I still have it; oh, you know I do) and that t-shirt, by the power of its ability to successfully communicate my aesthetic tastes in music by the words, "Sham on," alone has granted me access to friendships I may have never had otherwise.

Anyway, "Rocking the Suburbs" was good, but Folds's latest release, "Songs for Silverman"--oh man, that CD is SOLID, and good enough so that it grows better and better the more you listen to it. I've been smitten with it ever since it was released earlier this spring. All I can say is I must loves me a good piano man.

I suppose that's it--my Odyssey. Something just seemed to click in my head just now when I listened to his orchestral rendition of "Smoke," and I felt like somehow I'd come full circle, because I remember what it was like to be part of an ensemble of instruments, to be part of what, in the end, makes something that can be beautiful--even, I would argue, transcendently so. And so what if I can't play piano, or sing or play a guitar for crap? I can remember what it was like to be briefly, briefly a musician. It makes me think I have something in common with Ben Folds, and maybe this is silly for me to admit, but that makes me smile.

Go Away, Scrooge

2005-12-22T10:26:00.000-08:00

There's been a bit of humbuggery going around here these days due to some shocking news (and for me, personally, because I am in the middle of a little gem by PKD that poses the question: What would the US have been like had we lost WWII? Slavery! Labor camps! The extermination of the entire indigenous population of Africa!) Anyway, at the end of last night, Dominic and I snuggled down in a bed full of blankets (because it's cold in our house now; we've turned the heat waaaaay down) and spent a moment feeling thankful that we have each other and a beautiful old (bottomless heat-sucking pit of a) house and a fat little cat and a happy marriage. We also felt grateful that we're able to spend Christmas together this year. We know we can't always count on our circumstances to be as such, and for the mere fact that we can celebrate our anniversary on Christmas Eve night and then wake up together on Christmas morning and go downstairs and open all our gifts to each other--for that fact we're thankful.

Speaking of gifts--will there ever be a point when I don't feel like a 10 year-old as Christmas approaches? I feel like I'm losing my mind, I want to open my presents so bad. Probably be up half the night of Christmas Eve, too.

Holy Crappity Do Dah!!!

2005-12-21T15:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I know I haven't posted anything for a while, but it turns out a THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY NINE dollar natural gas bill will make you immediately write a post on your blog! Isn't that something? If before I lacked the motivation to write, in my need OPPD(the gas company)was there for me. Now, I knew that there were reports that the Midwest was going to have some inflated gas prices and heating oil costs, but I never expected this.

This is what happened: I hadn't received my first bill yet so I was concerned and I called the utilities company, OPPD. I asked the nice woman for my bill amount and why I hadn't been billed and she was kind enough to tell me 379. 95. I said "thank you" and hung up. Then after that number registered I said "wow" and called back. I talked to another woman and asked her if that was right. She said "yes" and since they estimate consumption it could be lower, and that forty dollars of the bill was a "connection" fee. I said "thanks" and hung up. I worried about it again for a while and checked my meter calling back the woman, Roxanne, and read her my meter number. She said "wow" and then I said "what?" Then she said, "This is bad, you are at least 120.00 over the estimate." I said "Holy Crappity Do Dah!"

Holy Crappity Do Dah. I have a 500.00 natural gas bill. I can't recall that part of the American dream. I most have been sleeping.

Sugar Crash

2005-12-20T11:09:00.000-08:00

Adding to my recent Reasons to Be Psyched About the Holidays, this past Friday Dominic came home and surprised me with a Christmas-themed tin full of Reese's Cups and York Peppermint Patties, took me out to a local burger joint, and then took me to the movies. We never did share a strawberry shake, two straws, but that was the only thing the night was lacking. What happened afterward, was that I spent all day Monday in my pajamas, eating EVERY SINGLE ONE of the Reese's Cups and trying to decipher how it was possible that I had made such a succession of careless mistakes with my bank account, combined with bad timing and bad luck, as to virtually nullify the results of two weeks worth of paychecks.

The bank account drama has been mostly straightened out, and Dominic took the rest of the candy to work today, away from me, where it would just be abused, so today is looking to be better, even though I had a terrible hair day. But they can't all be winners, you know?

Reasons to Be Psyched for the Holidays

2005-12-16T13:02:00.000-08:00

1. All the presents under our tree! There are so many this year!

2. The fact that I'm wearing a white turtleneck sweater, an almost-too-short pleated skirt, and knee high black leather boots to Dominic's office Christmas party tomorrow.

3. 10:00 p.m. tickets to David Sedaris's "The Santaland Diaries" at the Blue Barn Theater after said Christmas party tomorrow.

4. Two reservations for Passport Restaurant in the Old Market part of Omaha for Christmas Eve, our first anniversary.

5. Getting to wear my Ann Taylor strapless, black cocktail dress for the second time when we go out on Christmas Eve (yes, I own something from Ann Taylor; don't mock me).

6. Tapas for Christmas dinner! --if Dominic approves because I haven't exactly run this idea by him yet. Anyway, tentative menu includes: sherried mushroom empanadas, garlic shrimp, chicken yakitori, proscuitto wrapped asparagus, apricots and blue cheese, and paella.

No Rest for the Weary

2005-12-15T04:23:00.000-08:00

And it's snowing again.

Attention: State of My Biology

2005-12-14T15:34:00.000-08:00

So, I've got most of my Christmas presents finished for the year, but, alas, I haven't touched the Christmas cards. Oh, Christmas cards! You are the bane of my existence!

Today the babies really got to me while I was working in the children's section of the bookstore. They were crying and BEING REALLY LOUD and they looked like they all had red kool-aide rings around their mouths and that's just unsanitary. So I guess every time the state of my biology tries to convince me I want a kid, I have to be around one and it FREAKS ME OUT.

No offence to those of you with kids or who are right now brewing kids (two of my friends included). It's just that babies can't talk or even think coherently and are therefore not to be trusted.

Did you hear me, Dominic? Babies are not to be trusted!

Running on Icy Sidewalks=Maybe Kate is Stupid

2005-12-12T09:55:00.000-08:00

Being that it is 40 degrees outside today, I had to take advantage of the veritable tropical heat and go for a run. Parts of the sidewalks are still icy from our having just emerged from Omaha's 100 years of snow, where it is always winter and never Christmas, and so I mostly jog-skated instead of jog-jogged. And if you're wondering what that is like, let me tell you that it involves much flailing of the limbs and muttered expletives.

Before my jog-skate, I dropped Brooke and Dale off at the airport, then drove off blindly in the direction of downtown, hoping I could blunder my way back to Dodge street, and thus find my way home again. At one point I was in Iowa. I despaired for a moment that I would have to live in Iowa always and never see Dominic again, but then a minute and a half later I drove back into Omaha, and all was safe and right with the world again.

We saw the Narnia movie on Friday, and while it could certainly never compare with the majesty of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I was very satisfied with the feel of the movie in general. Each of the characters seemed to have done well conveying the personalities the book first created for them, and even though I had to roll my eyes a bit at the chase scene made up for the middle of the movie, the final battle scenes were especially well done, as was the CGI Aslan, which was nearly perfect I thought, especially as voiced by Liam Neeson, the man I would have married had not Dominic first blinded me with his perfect pecs. The four children were adorable, and I told Dominic that out of all the possibilities* our collected gene pools may create for our future children, we will never have white, rosy-cheeked, British school children, which is what I really want, especially a boy, or just Edmund--can I have Edmund?

Anyway, I'm excited about the Narnia movies continuing and hopefully growing even better in the future.

Oh yes, also, I was accepted to UNO last week. "Dang!" I told Dominic, "Now I have to start working hard again."

*Dominic says we might have a Jewish baby instead of a Chinese baby. He says it will pop out with a jew-fro and say, "Oy Vey!"

Psycho Jungle Weather or the Opposite Thereof

2005-12-07T18:22:00.000-08:00

I had a distinctly Calvin and Hobbes moment this morning when--on the long walk from my truck to the front doors of my work--my boogers, they froze.

P.S. I tried to find on the internet the particular comic strip that inspired me to note my frozen boogers this morning so I could give you a link to, you know, further your knowledge of all things frozen and boogery; however, though there are many good Calvin and Hobbes comic strips to be found on the internet, I could not find the one in particular I was looking for. Thanks a lot, internet. Way to go being a pal.

A Home Improvement Moment...

2005-12-06T18:16:00.000-08:00

Hey Dad, This is what I'm looking at. I hope it helps.

Flood and Loathing

2005-12-06T11:59:00.000-08:00

Three months after there were bodies floating in our streets, how does it feel to be in New Orleans? Like we’ve been forgotten, and left to rot.

Windchill is Negative Seven, Captain

2005-12-04T16:59:00.000-08:00

This morning, after having dressed himself, Dominic said, "Everything I'm wearing except my underwear is from Gap." I said,"Do I need to plan an intervention?"

Let me tell you about how it's cold here. A new kind of cold that's only going to get colder. Dominic and I are like bewildered newborn babes out here, blinking our eyes confusedly into the negative degree windchill. Apparently he has forgotten some things about being cold since he last lived north of Alabama. I'm drinking a lot of hot tea to cope and considering carrying a flask of whiskey with me wherever I go.

I thought of few more things I'm scared of since last we spoke. They are: babies, the DMV, and mailing packages from the Post Office.

Fear

2005-12-02T16:21:00.000-08:00

Today, Dominic and I stopped in at a local coffee shop for a moment before heading back to the house for good, as it's supposed to snow tonight. While we were there we sat down on one of the shop's many couches, and he picked up a newspaper and asked me if I'd ever seen a tumbleweed. I looked at the picture he was pointing to. THE TUMBLEWEED IN QUESTION WAS THE SIZE OF A SMALL COUNTRY, AND IT WAS EATING A TRUCK ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. "Great," I said, "One more thing to be scared of here. Gigantic truck-eating tumbleweeds."

Maybe I've mentioned it before, but I'm scared of nearly everything, and after a while, being afraid of so many things that occur so frequently grows very wearisome and taxing. One day it would be nice if I could wake up and just be normal for once. You know, not have a minor anxiety attack if Dominic wants me to order the pizza this time, thereby forcing me to talk on the phone to a stranger. On the phone! To a stranger! So, anyway, here's an abbreviated list of things I'm randomly afraid of:

Phones and strangers, of course. Power tools, gas grills, most board games, most card games, cars, driving cars, driving cars in the dark, driving cars in unfamiliar places, driving cars in the rain, driving cars in the snow, driving cars on icy roads, driving cars on the freeway, driving cars in downtown areas of cities, driving...well, driving cars, period. I'm also afraid of falling down flights of stairs, falling down while I'm running outside, falling down when I'm on the treadmill, falling down because I'm clumsy. I'm afraid of making small talk, afraid of meeting new people, afraid of navigating crowded department stores, afraid of new jobs and new schools. I'm afraid of people older than me. I'm afraid of people younger than me. I'm afraid I'm not applying myself enough in anything I do. I'm afraid I'm too lazy and too indecisive to get anything worth doing done. I'm afraid I'm not smart enough. I'm really afraid I'm not smart enough. I'm afraid of math, of even doing simple addition, or figuring what kind of tip I should leave waitresses at restaurants. I'm afraid when people ask me the time if I'm wearing an analogue watch because I still can't read one quickly. I'm afraid when people ask me for directions because I still regularly mix up something so simple as telling my left from my right. I'm afraid when people look over my shoulder to make sure I'm not messing up. It makes me nervous; then I mess up. I'm afraid when I cry a little every time I read a sad story in a newspaper because I think life is making me more and more sensitive to every bad thing that happens, and I don't want to be always feeling so sad.

Okay, so that's a lot of stuff to be scared of. And like I said, that's not a complete list. But, hey! Here's something I'm not afraid of at all, not even a little bit: bugs.

Okay, I'm scared of spiders. But, I'm not scared of cockroaches! Or worms! And I can bait a hook! And then take it out of a fish's mouth! Not everyone can do that, but I can. It's a little bit of comfort, especially when I find myself being so impossibly, irrationally afraid of everything else.

Hereafter, I will make it a point to end every paragraph with an exclamation point (!)

2005-12-01T14:14:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm glad things are finally back to normal. And by that I mean there's a sink full of dirty dishes, laundry to be folded, and dinner to think about making, and yet here I am, wasting time, fumbling around badly with Dominic's guitar/snoozing on and off on the sunroom couch, wasting time better spent checking on my application process for UNO (due today. Gee, I hope they got everything in time) or sweeping the nastiness from the kitchen floor, where we tracked in snow from last night and throughout today. I was beginning to be concerned for myself because of the high levels of productivity I've shown lately--what, with getting a job and applying to grad school (last minute and haphazard as it was) and becoming the resident house-decorating drill sergeant with my rigid schedule of rooms to be painted. But now, alas, we're done with painting for the time being, and my laziness and carefully crafted skills of procrastination have returned to me, strong as ever. It just feels right, I say!

It snowed a good three inches last night, big fat flakes you see in movies (in my case) and Dominic and I went walking about our neighborhood in it. Everything was beautiful in a way I can't quite articulate. Hushed. An unbelievably soft white light infusing the streets and the beautiful old houses. Snow coming to rest on the historic lampposts. This morning it was deadly, a sheet of ice packed into the roads. Dominic tried to drive his Z up the slight hill in front of our house from where he'd parked on the side of the road the night before. I watched from the window of our house as his car slid sideways down the road. After fifteen minutes of being able to do nothing but coast backwards down the hill, he quit trying. He took the Blazer instead, and dropped me off at work, then came back for me at 11:00. Obviously, something has to give in our car situation. Also, why does this beautiful snow frighten me so much? Driving on it seems like a death sentence. I'm so scared of it. Argh! Adult responsibility. I don't like it, I say!

Our friends, Brooke and Dale, are coming to visit us on the 8th. It's like Christmas is coming early this year. Yes, I say!

Where It is Always Winter and Never Christmas...Yet

2005-11-30T13:05:00.000-08:00

Being that this is my first residence in a cold and snowy climate, I tend to wobble back and forth between thinking this weather is punishment from god and feeling that it is mildly and charmingly exotic.

Our heat went out over the night, and we woke this morning to a house of cold we couldn't do anything about. Dominic brought some wood home for a fire during his lunch break, and now I'm cozy in front of the fireplace with a cat, a cup of green tea, Isak Dinesen, and C.S. Lewis. We are, all of us, waiting patiently for the heating guy to come and magically restore our house with warmth. But for now--to this Alabama girl, at least--the fire seems a bit magical, and I haven't grown tired of waiting just yet.

Incidentally, green tea isn't the disgusting, potent, bitter brew I seemed to have been expecting it to be. Instead, it is a milder, more mellow version of the black stuff. Hmmm.

Here's a funny quote from Out of Africa: "A medal is an inconvenient thing to give to a naked man, because he has got no place to fix it on to..."

Movie Geek

2005-11-28T10:24:00.000-08:00

Recently, Dominic and I went to see Pride and Prejudice (which is, incidentally, the only Austen I've read) and though I found the movie to be overall very charming and satisfactory, I nonetheless amused myself by wondering how many of the people who were in the theater with me were aware that, really, this movie is the stuff of suspense thrillers.

Okay, we've got a late 18th century setting. Women cannot own property. And we have a housefull of them--the Bennets--who's only hope in the face of immediate eviction and destitution once the patriarch--Mr. Bennet--dies is the successful marriage of Jane, the eldest, to one Mr. Bingley, receiver of 5,000 a year, prospective savior to the Bennet ladies. Of course, this being a novel (adapted to a movie), there are twists and turns, and really it is Elizabeth who is the main character and whom the action centers around, but my main point remains the same, and that is, if this movie had aired to 18th century sensibilities, the women in the audience would be much less concerned with how brooding and dashing Mr. Darcy is and much more concerned with the suspense garnered as each of the three older sisters finally achieve successful (more or less) husbands. Also, it's funny to us when Elizabeth rejects Mr. Collin's offer of marriage in a flurry of indignant horror, but to her family, to her mother, this rejection is the ultimate act of selfishness on behalf of Elizabeth. At this point in the film, Mr. Collin represents the only hope for salvation for the Bennet women. Elizabeth does well by her character to reject the offer, and all, of course, resolves itself, but DANG, woman, you almost let your sisters and your mother die in the POOR HOUSE, probably from black lung or TB. Thank god Mr. Darcy turned out to be of admiral character, plus he's rich. Score for you, Lizzie. Now please try not to be upset when the snotty English society ladies refuse to be anything but coldly, mockingly cordial to you because of your inferior birth FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

Ah, to have lived almost 200 years ago. The clothing was so charming!

Okay, and now for an embarrassing confession: Before P&P began, I saw the new Chronicles of Narnia trailer for the first time on a theater screen, and it made me cry. IT MADE ME CRY. That's how excited I am about this movie. That's what this movie has to prove and to live up to-- THE TEARS OF MY ABSOLUTE EXCITEMENT AND LOVE AND EVERLASTING ADORATION FOR THE INSTITUTION OF C.S. LEWIS'S CLASSIC MASTERPIECE AND ALL THE DEPTH AND BREADTH OF IMAGINATION AND WONDER THUS INSPIRED INTO THE CHILDHOOD WORKING'S OF MY SO EASILY MOLDED MIND. That's all.

Also, I told Dominic I wanted to host a theme party beforehand, complete with Turkish Delight, and then dress up like Queen Susan, the archer, for the movie.

This, folks, is what he married.

P.S. Dominic made up a funny drinking game to go with P&P. Anytime someone says, Mr. Dahhhsy, take a drink.

Flood and Loathing

2005-11-26T08:56:00.000-08:00

Dale's Official List of Things He's Thankful Didn't Get Lost to the Flood

Thanks

2005-11-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

Turkeys: 2
Casseroles: 4
Jello salad: 1
Pans of giblet gravy: 1
Bowls of mashed potatoes: 1
Loaves of pumpkin bread: 2
Homemade pies: 2
Cans of jellied cranberry sauce: 2 (and, yes, we are classy like that)
Number in attendance: 9
Cranky cats: 1

Once more, Dominic and I have cooked like cooking fools. This is our second Thanksgiving entertaining coworkers of his that have no way home for the holidays, and I have officially dubbed the affair The Gaskin Thanksgiving Extravaganza. Next year there will be banners! And Flamenco dancers!

Seriously though, we know we have a lot to be thankful for. Every Thanksgiving we've spent together we've been thankful, but this one in particular comes at a very charmed time in our lives. I say this now, full from turkey and apple pie leftovers, freshly back from a neighborhood coffee house with espresso so good it's like shoving a needle in your arm and shooting up sugar and caffeine, and waiting on a friend who's going to drive us downtown to the warm and friendly bars there.

Ever the Pious Pilgrim

2005-11-22T04:33:00.000-08:00

Hey, guess what's coming up? That's right, Thanksgiving, my favorite of all holidays. It's the day my ancestors descend upon me swathed in a stern and purified light to hand me a free ticket to eat myself into a coma. Righteousness!

I would write a post about how much I like this holiday, but I'm a working girl now, and I don't have time. So instead, read this from last year.

Meanwhile I'll be working, hanging pictures in our newly painted study, painting on canvases (ooh, scary), writing a grocery list, pre-cooking, and doing dishes that have been in the sink since a week ago (oh no, I just didn't admit that).

Also, last year the Monkey Butt wore a costume. No word yet on whether she'll be dressed patriotically this year.

Car Conversation

2005-11-18T18:26:00.000-08:00

Kate: Hey, look. There's another Presbyterian church. There seem to be quite a few around here.
Dominic: Maybe they're trying to take over the world!
Kate: Maybe. It could be worse, though. It could be Baptists trying to take over the world. Southern ones. Hey, remember that time Catholics tried to take over the world?
Dominic: That time they killed a whole bunch of people?
Kate: Yeah.

Being Serious...Kind of

2005-11-17T14:11:00.000-08:00

Driving to the grocery store today to pick up ingredients for minestrone tonight (oh, the cooking, it never ends) I crested a hill and came upon the large city graveyard two blocks from our house. It was blanketed in snow, and I know, I know what snow looks like. I even know what accumulated snow looks like, snow that covers lawns and rooftops and the tops of cars, snow lining bare branches, snow disappearing into the dirty muck of the streets. I know what that kind of snow looks like. But I've never seen a graveyard of snow. And the sight was something beautifully desolate, something indescribable, an inexplicable sadness that comes upon you as you realize you're seeing something for the first time, something you never even knew to look for. I felt sad or lonely. I'm not sure which.

I had a man call out to me in the grocery store when I first walked in. "Whatever you're doing, it's working," he said, and I couldn't figure out if that was a comment on my looks in general (if so, thank you) or if this man was some sort of physical realization, sent to me from my psyche, of what I know internally to be true. I have been happy lately.

Wherein I Honestly Reconsider My Vocation and Pretend I Could Be a Pastry Chef

2005-11-17T11:29:00.000-08:00

I made a quiche a couple of days ago. What was so significant about this quiche--other than it was the first quiche I'd ever made--was that it was also the first time I'd ever made a pastry from scratch.

Behold the pastry!

I had to take a picture of it unbaked in case it fell apart during the baking process because, you know, pastry making seems complicated if you've never done it before and if you don't own a food processor expensive enough to do it for you. But, oh no sir! I will never let anything so insignificant as inexperience come between me and delicious baked goods. Really, I was born to make pastry. Now imagine doing jazz hands as you say it: I was born to make pastry! See, wasn't that fun?

Also, here's the finished project. Didn't I do a good job?

I would pat myself on the back, but, honestly, you know that perfectly flaky crust had to have been a fluke. I am, after all, the woman who once exploded a plate and set a kitchen on fire while trying to cook General Tso's chicken.

Cooking General Tso's chicken sounds like a euphemism. But it's not.

Other cooking successes as of late: olive and feta stuffed chicken breasts, spinach salad, and a wonderfully cheesy layered zucchini bake.

Misses: New England clam chowder that had the consistency of chunky puke.

And the petty escapades and antics of the Gaskin household never fail not to amuse...once again.

These shoes are cute, right? Dominic, you were wrong.

2005-11-16T10:30:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I bought these boots today (middle color) and Dominic was like, are you sure you want those boots, and I was like, yes, they're awesome (ladies, back me up here) and Dominic was like, you only like them because they look like those boots with the tassels on them you used to wear when you were a majorette in high school, and I was like, YES, YOU'RE RIGHT.

But I also like my new boots because they have ATTITUDE, and I live in Nebraska now, so I can justify buying boots, because, hello, it's cold here. We also bought a snow shovel at the local Lowe's today, and I found myself wondering, What fresh hell have I found myself in?, much like our little kitty cat did when we tossed her Mexican carcass out the back door yesterday into the accumulating snow.

Anyway, I probably found myself a job today at a bookstore. The pay is for crap, but I only have to work mornings, so that will mesh well with my school schedule once that starts up. I have to go for another interview with the manager on Friday, but I'm pretty sure that's the time for me to fill out information for W-3's and whatnot. Dominic scolded me gently last night about finding a "real" job, and I said, "Oh my god, are you my parents?" but he's right, and I suppose I have been a bit of an underachiever lately. Once, I'm back in school, however, you guys won't be able to get on to me anymore because I'll be a Student in Pursuit of Higher Learning, and isn't that supposed to admirable or noble or something? That's right, ha. I'll be noble.

But I'll be working soon, and for now that's good enough.

Also, today I drove to the interview, and the roads were slightly icy, and oh goodness, really, where I have I found myself? Oz in winter? Narnia during the reign of the White Witch? The snow, it's still on the ground. It didn't melt--BECAUSE IT'S STILL COLD OUTSIDE.

My little Southern mind. Officially blown.

A Mexican Kitty In Cold and Snowy Places...

2005-11-15T17:59:00.000-08:00

" What fresh Hell is this? Kitty leashes and snow? You have gone too far sir! "

I'm sure this is what the cat was thinking as I fired her out the door to experience snow firsthand, and yes I realize I am a crazy cat person because I narrate my cat's life in my head. What I think she's saying in her head is pretty funny in mine so I'm going to keep doing it.

Anyways we had our first snow today and everybody had firsts. Kate had her first all day snow, the cat was subjected to snow for the first time, and I walked to our neighborhood grocery in the snow for the first time. Of course, all these things put together are pretty cheesy, but I didn't work today and so Kate and I had our first official snow day. That's pretty awesome. Unfortunately, we had no wood for the fireplace or furniture in the study to sit by the fireplace. What we did have was a need to paint the dining room a cranberry red. It's going to take more than two coats for sure.

Anyways, I'm certain Kate will have more to say as she has had a busy day herself working on what I'm sure is a delicious quiche and salad for dinner, also everyone she knows in Alabama called her today. That's not true, I'm exaggerating but she did get a lot of calls!

Really, this post doesn't make any sense. Consider yourself warned.

2005-11-11T17:29:00.000-08:00

Hey, look at what we found beneath the wallpaper in our dining room. More wallpaper!

Take a closer look. Wow, that stuff is old. And cool--but wait, something's off here. Oh yes, that's right. This crap is IMPOSSIBLE TO REMOVE. Soooo...

Wow, look at Dominic use that heavy iron steamer. You probably can't tell just by looking at this picture that it took us only two days, a million curses, and the unveiling of what was probably aqua colored lead based paint, before we finally had wallpaper-free walls. But, heck, I ain't complaining. If anything I'm toasting; I'm saying, Cheers to you unwieldly wallpaper and lead based paint! Cheers to you home ownership!

In other things, we had a barbeque today that involved people from Dominic's work, spinach and artichoke dip, and our first rack of ribs since leaving Alabama. Last night we walked to a bar. AGAIN. It never gets old, this being able to walk to places that serve frosty cold beer, AND THEN WALK HOME AGAIN and Dominic doesn't have to drive (because it's a well known fact I don't DD ((not that I drunk drive either, god forbid; I've just mostly made Dominic drive in the past because that's what he got a sports car for and he can be a DD if he wants to drive it because I'm not driving it, and this sentence has officially descended into a convoluted mess so I'm ending it now))).

Right.

In other, other things, I didn't get the job with Kaplan, and that sucked. This was only the second time I've ever been turned down for a job, but this was my first time trying to get hired by being educationally qualified, which, for this job, I apparently wasn't.

So, the job search does go on, and yuck, yuck, yuck. I have another application pending somewhere, and blah, blah, blah. Really, I just want to get back in school, but I really need to make money to do that effectively, and even after I finally get my MA, I'll still have to find a job, and then Dominic and I will move again, AND I'LL HAVE TO FIND A JOB, and oh my god, the road of self pity this has suddenly taken me down.

Oh well. I'll get hired somewhere somehow soon enough, and until then--I'LL PAINT! Orange walls, red walls, yellow walls, green walls--and a beige wall? A BEIGE WALL!

Lately, my life has been a lot of fun.

Homeownership Agrees With Me...

2005-11-08T18:13:00.000-08:00

Well, after thirty years of living I have finally found that I like owning a house. Granted, so far nothing has erupted into flame or been submerged underwater like my friend Dale's house(http://floodandloathing.blogspot.com/). We've been busy ripping down down wallpaper, painting walls, and raking leaves like there's no tomorrow. And even though I filled seven giant lawn bags without finishing my front yard, and then the smaller tree that was holding on to it's leaves promptly decided to release them after I finished raking for the day. That was a slap in the face that I will not soon forget tree...
In other news Kate and I will be hosting our first barbecue on Saturday. It's been nice having a little time to get the house together before we try and have people over. in reality there are a million projects that I want to get done. Of course the house has made it eighty years without them so they're not mandatory. Still, I can hardly wait to drill my forst hole in ahouse that has been around longer than anyone I know. Also, home ownership means I need more power tools. That's a good thing. Power tools are a lot of fun.

Pinch Me

2005-11-04T10:54:00.000-08:00

Dominic and I woke up this morning and walked the color-turned, tree-lined street of our neighborhood three blocks down to a locally owned coffee shop. Bliss. Heaven.

Everything is still messy and chaotic in our house, but our stuff is gradually being put away. I'm working on it steadily until Dominic gets home from work. After that I made him promise to go for a run with me.

I just emailed the director of English graduate studies at UNO to see about setting up a meeting sometime.

I can't wait to begin cooking in our new house--soups, roasts, pies, casseroles.

Hey, life is fine.

Locked out of the house--it only took me three days

2005-11-03T20:47:00.000-08:00

Today, Dominic and I got our first taste of When Home Ownership Goes Wrong when, after I returned from the Most Scenic Run Ever, I found that my key, which had locked the door when I left the house, would not in fact unlock the door to let me back in. Dominic had gone to work earlier to check in and I had no idea when he was coming back and no way to contact him to let him know my house key was suddenly and inexplicably worthless. Luckily, we had a very warm day today, so I was only slightly cold, but by the time Dominic pulled up to our house a half an hour later, I'd worked myself into such a frenzy that I cried for two hours. Even after the locksmith had come to replace our broken lock and was gone, I was still blubbering. Only then I was officially blubbering because of my job "audition" with Kaplan--which happened later this evening--because I was scared and I didn't want to practice my presentation and it wasn't fair that I had to do this now with our house such a mess still and I hated everything and life sucked.

Well, I got over that mood, and thank god because I don't know how Dominic refrained himself from opening up a window on the second story of our house and pitching me out of it. I even knew how annoyingly melodramatic I was being, but I couldn't stop myself. I just cried and cried and cried about how our lock to the front door worked one moment and then turned against us the next. Stupid lock. Stupid, stupid lock.

But the job audition with Kaplan went well enough. I won't know if it went well enough for me to be hired until a few days, but it would be nice if I got the job. I'm trying not to get my hopes up. It would seem too easy for me to get a job--just like that--after months of self-inflicted unemployment. Blah, blah, jobs, blah, being a productive part of society again, blah, seeing my name on a check for the first time in 8 months, blah.

Our house is being slowly unpacked, but right now it still feels like we live in a fun house, only not one that's actually too fun but one that's scary and annoying and filled with a lot of boxes and randomly placed crap and you keep tripping over everything and loosing your keys and your cell phone and crying about house keys that suddenly refuse to work and job auditions--that kind of fun house.

A Place Called Home

2005-11-02T08:34:00.000-08:00

All right, so six days, five states, and one brand spanking new home later, we're reporting to you from Omaha, Nebraska, home of cornfields, cows, and a lot of white people. Dominic and I have been moved into our house since Halloween day, but the movers came with our stuff early this morning. And when I say movers, I mean mover. The guy driving the truck told us he'd have to pick up additional men in Missouri to help with the move and that would delay us getting our stuff until tomorrow, so Dominic sucked it up and told him to come straight here and he'd help. I had a hard time too, for sure--what with all the standing around and watching I did and moving my hand every five minutes or so to check things off the inventory. Wow, it was rough.

Now we've got a house full of boxes, but our computer's unpacked. As soon as the mover left Dominic said, "QUICK WE MUST FIND THE COMPUTER," and there was much frenzy of box opening and packaging paper tossing and we almost couldn't find the power strip, but lo it appeared to us swathed in shining light and we had internet once more. Once we actually get our stuff unpacked our house is going to look quite empty again. We have a couch, a table, a computer, and a bedroom set. It filled up a two bedroom apartment, but it won't go far in this two story house built for a family. No fear, though, Dominic and I have discovered the wonder that is Nebraska Furniture Mart, and we already have a good idea about which armoire and computer desk we want. Beyond that, we can't afford to buy much more furniture right now. Guests will have to sit on the floor. Pity.

Let's see, what else--oh yeah, I want to paint our foyer and stairwell two shades of orange, one of which is very bright, and DOMINIC IS ACTUALLY LETTING ME. We live in the coolest neighborhood ever (we have a chinese and pizza place and a corner grocery two blocks away--do you?) And I haven't had a shower going on three days now. I bet you didn't want to know that, but I told you anyway, SO SUCK IT UP!

More to come...

I Should Be Doing Something Else...

2005-10-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

Well, It's true. I should be. In the next five days Kate and I will move out of this apartment, drive across the country(uprooting our obnoxious Mexican kitty), close on our first home, and I'll find out about my new job. So we have something of a busy schedule. It's been somewhat surreal because we've done a little here and there, but we've left the brunt of everything for the movers, so everything is pretty much standard around here, except that we know we're about to leave. It's all very strange. Of course, we're totally nutty about the fact that we're about to buy our first house. I'm super excited about painting the interior, but Kate feels it's too early to talk about colors. I keep annoying her anyways though! She has it coming...
Today was my last day of work! Hooray! I am so glad to be leaving this base, and I'm really excited about starting something new. I guess that's one of the best things about being in the military. After a few years of doing something, it's time to start something new without being the low man on the totem pole again. It's not a bad racket.
Kate and I will be driving into NE on Friday afternoon and arrive Saturday evening. We have a hotel room with our cat and I'm pretty sure that's going to make everyone a little stir crazy. The three of us sitting around a hotel room blinking at each other is going to be a little awkward. All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy...(this is what the cat is thinking as she is waiting for an opportunity to eat us.) We should be able to get out and enjoy ourselves though, because come Monday it's back to busy time.
I've booked all our utilities on Monday, and I have to gripe a little about the cable. It's one hundred and fifty dollars a month. The cable is like crack cocaine. They get started a little with some good programming and then they hit you with a DVR and high speed internet then you're hooked for life. Those bastards at Cox and Time-Warner are heartless. They know what they're doing, but they just don't care. Shameful. I hope that I can survive the five days without internet access. It's going to be hard for sure, but hopefully I can get a friend to supply me with some while I'm down on my luck. I'll have to get some for Kate too...

Speaking of Books

2005-10-21T18:07:00.000-07:00

Today I temporarily lost my mind in the bookstore. Fifty-seven dollars worth of science fiction books? What, I don't have that much money in my checking account? Never mind! That's why god invented credit cards!

Normally I don't even carry a balance on my credit card. I do this by a very strategic method, it namely being, that I don't use it. But with all our house buying expenses and a few unforseeable emergencies (re: car wrecks) I've had to reinitiate my credit card into our household finances. It was do that or tell our insurance company, "Hey, we can't pay that $400 deductible, but thanks for trying to bill us anyway," and then end up in jail. I know I shouldn't be putting additional charges on my card right now with our move coming up, but it turns out that today I really, really needed that Philip K. Dick book and that Kurt Vonnegut novel and, oh, oh, I couldn't possibly leave the store without an Ursula K. Le Guin book, but what's one Le Guin book? MAKE IT TWO. I never even got out of the science fiction aisle, people. I had to close my eyes and feel my way to the register and then run out of the store really quickly in order to avoid any more purchases.

Afterward, I did have a little devil on my shoulder telling me to go to a CD store (I mean, I do have a very long roadtrip coming up, one in which I must cater to one very unhappy little kitty as well), but since buying CDs and books nearly always results in rash decision making on my part I just went straight home.

Besides, I have a busy night lined up. First, there's the fourth disc of season 1 of the Gilmore Girls to watch tonight (all of it), and also I got my InStyle magazine in the mail today, so it must be perused, partially at least. Also, there are my new books, one of which must be started tonight, and lastly, I just made a special trip to the grocery store to get my favorite ice cream because watching Gilmore Girls without consuming some form of junk food is considered sacrilege in some countries.

My Book Reading Husband

2005-10-17T08:32:00.000-07:00

is back!

One of the more peculiar aspects of my life before Dominic is that all my attentions toward boys were spent on specimens who did not particularly like to read. My short liaison with the out of fashion raver who had a copy of Marilyn Manson's biography in his frat house dorm room by his leopard print futon doesn't count (This was my taste in men at the time? The horror, I know).
Then came Dominic and his stacks of books lining the walls of his apartment and his smart contributions to discussions in English classes, and well--this on top of his dashing good looks?--I was smitten. I even forgave him for not liking Hemingway and thinking that Ethan Frome wasn't such a bad book, when everyone knows it's really the spawn of Edith Wharton temporarily acting for the devil.

When we first graduated from college I wasn't surprised that Dominic wasn't reading anything at the time. We both had just gotten off about a two year bender of doing nothing but cramming as many novels, poems, and plays into our heads as our major demanded, and also once he commissioned into the Air Force, he got busy quickly. That's what having a full-time job means for most people. But then an entire year passed, and then more than a year, and the only thing he'd read was The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe all in one big gulp one Saturday afternoon. Now, I am certainly not blaming him for this change in his reading habits. Dominic has been EXTRAORDINARILY busy learning how to do his new job. His reading was rerouted to technical manuals and textbooks and he often worked long, long hours with no hope of much reprieve for months on end. But still, I missed the way we used to be in college, in bed together, each of us with our noses in books.

So, it was with a kind of feverish pleasure that I got to suggest books for him to take to survival school when he left a month and a half ago. Now he's back up in Washington and he's informed me he's about 50 pages into Everything is Illuminated, and I'm so excited that he's doing something nerdy again. I mean I love my macho husband who struts around in his flight suit and can fly a Cessna and eat pounds on end of buffalo wings and survive in the wilderness, but I seriously think he may have been moving beyond my league, what with no books to humble his manhood and make him appear sensitive and thoughtful. And I can't have him moving beyond my league because we're married, and it would do no good for him to one day wake up, look at me, and think, "Behold this mousy little book nerd sleeping beside me. Ugh, all that drool...I can do better than her!" and then dump me. I will not be dumped! YOU HEAR ME, DOMINIC?

Where was I? Right--but that's not the point. The point is that Dominic's reading again--and reading a really lovely book at that, and that makes me happy. Now we can both be really excited about seeing the movie when it comes out. With the hobbit! I mean Elijah Wood!

Texas Sized Goodbye

2005-10-16T07:51:00.000-07:00

So Dominic's gone again. Once he comes home there will be a flurry of moving preparations and then we'll leave Texas for good.

THANK GOD.

No offense, Texas. Everyone here really loves you and likes to brag about how big you are and how we shouldn't mess with you or else, but a lot of the time you're just kind of hot and dirty--and not in a good way. I guess in some ways, living in San Antonio has been a very educational and cultural experience (like how you taught me about fresh tortillas, SA, or gently showed me that being a pale, blonde gringo is not that bad) but even the embracement of my awkward whiteness can't make up for how many stinkin' strip malls this city boasts. Maybe there are as many strip malls in Omaha as there are here, but I seriously doubt it, and anyway, Dominic's and my house are far away from them. In Nebraska we're going to be living in an actual neighborhood, with real houses and trees and sidewalks and everything. Here in Texas, we live in the middle of a parking lot.

But afterall, you were my first big city, San Antonio, and you taught me how to navigate your freeways and you gave me two car accidents and you gave me my first tapas and you gave me my Mexican kitty cat and you gave me a husband in a garden and snow flurries on Christmas Eve.

So thank you for all that. Except for the car accidents. Geeze.

Washington Again...

2005-10-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

Well after two weeks of being able to enjoy home life, I'm off to Washington again. This time I won't be stupid and bring only one long sleeve shirt. I'm off for more training, but this time I'll only be up there for a week thank goodness. Then when I get home, Kate and I will only have a week before we move from Texas to Nebraska. I'm so excited and scared that it's hard to think about anything else. So far, everything is falling into place with mortgage companies, realtors, and movers, but nothing is of course finalized iuntil the last minute and that's what's scary. It seems that if one thing doesn't work out then everything else will totally fall apart. I guess I shouldn't worry about that too much as it won't help anything... Kate and I can't wait to get in our house. Even though when we get there we won't have any furniture so... Kate, the cat, and I will be sitting, sleeping, eating, and well...everything on the floor. Even when the movers do get there since we're doubling our living space we can't fill the house so half the rooms won't have anything in them. Kate and I always make jokes about how we'll have this great house, but crappy college kid furniture. It's true though... Anyways, we'll be moving in exactly two weeks and I can't wait!

"God does not leave us comfortless" but he does decide before we're born if we're going to be nerds.

2005-10-13T18:51:00.000-07:00

So today I went to see this movie, and while it wasn't very good, I was able to correctly recognize and identify the author and title of a poem read aloud by Cameron Diaz's character. It was a singularly nerdy moment, made even nerdier by the fact that I didn't recognize the poem because of my English degree but because I read Jane Kenyon for fun, and I remember reading "Let Evening Come" for the first time a few years ago and closing my eyes and thinking, "Wow, this is a rocking poem."

They just don't come any nerdier than that, folks. And by they I mean I.

Reconstruction

2005-10-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

'“Well, she’s still there, so there’s that.”'--Flood and Loathing on returning to New Orleans and seeing the city's buildings rise up from a distance.

Our good friend, Dale, recently returned to his hometown. He's started a blog about his experiences in post-apocalyptic New Orleans. It's a good, candid look into the everyday workings of what people down there are doing to get their lives back and move on.