fruits, labor, insomnia, caffeine

Well, I had a leftover scone and I'm working on drowning that with some Starbucks but frankly I don't think this coffee is going to cut through the fog of 4 hours' sleep.



I am getting stuff (finally) done for the holidays... but it is taking it's toll. I finally finished the cookie boxes, but they took me til 2:30 this morning. Coupled with a 3-year-old and some nightmares about attack giraffes (too much National Geographic? Who knows...) Not that my late-ish bedtimes matter much right now, as I'm battling insomnia (my body heartily protesting the early nights and mornings that do not dawn quickly enough?)

I ran to the post office over lunch yesterday for holiday stamps. Then, we happened to stop at the post office on the way home last night to mail the card for which the holiday stamps were purchased. What I did not realize til I watched the evening news (well, the 1AM rerun of the evening news, anyway) was that yesterday was the post office's busiest day of the year. Smart, considering going to the post office even when it isn't busy sort of gives me a rash.

Still on the to-do list includes a few last-minute present errands (thank god for lunch hour), wrapping gifts like a madwoman (thank god for those years of my life I spent doing gift-wrap at the Mervyns...), and a few odds and ends sewing projects.

In other holiday tidings, I attempted to bring Paige to Holidazzle yesterday. Except it runs Wednesday through Sunday. Shoot. So we went through the Macy's 8th Floor exhibit (Mary Poppins this year, and well done) and had an absolute blast eating ice cream at Sebastian Joe's. All in all, a productive and giggly Monday.

Now, where's my intravenous caffeine...?

Hey kids, only 46 more shopping days 'til Groundhog's Day

Anyone else appalled by the thought of a kilt shortage? My people are being oppressed! We must rise up and march! I have a dream... that some day, all beefy-legged men can stands up with pride in the plaid skirt of their choosing!

I've been twittering all day about the Person of the Year being me (and you, and that overweight man who smells like cheese you sat next to that one time on the bus.) Daily Irrelevant found this. Irony is good for you, kids. It makes you smile.

Wired, you always find such nice little things to put on my wish list. The latest? A new book called She's Such a Geek. Bring it.

Warning: more graffiti photography ahead (shame on the city for knocking this building down to make more condos. Boo, living space. Yay, urban canvases!)

In non-blogosphere news:
* Score one for the Sarah -- my Christmas cards are done. (so is my baking, but that's probably another blog entry, and it's old news anyway.)
* I am more and more seriously considering joining the church choir (after some mostly drunken compliments about my singing voice. It really doesn't take much to boost my ego, folks.)
* This week's thought to ponder: men and harmonicas -- why are they so damn sexy together? Discuss (as I channel Linda Richman).

Meh, it's monday, that's what I got.
Songs that refuse to fall out of my brain today:
Alison - Elvis Costello
Barracuda - Heart
Ding Dong Merrily on High - Traditional Carol
Move to LA - Art Brut
Rock and Roll Lifestyle - Cake

V is for vendredi

(that's friday for all you anti-Frogs out there.)

Google Smackdown.
See what trumps what in a Google search head-to-head.
By the way, olives trump pickles in the Google world. It's a conspiracy, I'm telling you.
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What's a snood, mommy?













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Someone deer hunting in Wisconsin shot a 7-legged deer with both female and male reproductive organs. Honestly. The citizens of Fond Du Lac county have to stop putting out plutonium licks. Stick with the salt, people.
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It's official. Americans are lazy, whiny, litigation-happy half-breeds (apparently, sweaty and slippery too). Come on, I've played the Wii. With a beer in hand! And I haven't launched the wiimote into a plate of glass. And if you know me, you know that: a) I'm not careful (ask my dad about shooting skeet.) b) I am the least graceful woman you will ever meet. If I can break it, stain it, spill it, or otherwise decimate it, I usually do. Totally accidentally. Clutziness is my karmic debt or something.
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New toy alert (thank you, 89.3.)
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Excuse me? I'm going to whip out a WTF? here. Of course, this is anecdotal... Of course. Because you cannot empirically prove women aren't funny. I take pride in my sense of humor. It's one of the Sarah Guiding Competencies. And I'm pretty sure it is at least part of what attracts my friends, my romantic interests... hell, even my daughter thinks I'm funny.
Furthermore, I seek funny women in my friendships. I cherish funny women in my workplace. I think funny women make the world a better place. And there are plenty of us out there. I have half a notion this article was written by a man who just got dumped by a woman who was funnier that he is...
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(from 3QuarksDaily) Why I do not drink Coke (via Healthbolt).
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Check out the NPR Holiday Craft Winners (via Make:).

15 minutes of fame.

Thank you, Overheard in Minneapolis. This totally made the 2-mile run Wednesday worth it.

Happy Holidays from the GreenHouse

Happy Holidays, friends. It's Paige and I. It's the Christmas Tree.
It's the requisite Paige tugging on my cleavage moment.
Ah, the holidays.

that's what I like about you

true confessions of a city girl:

I hate December. It gets dark too early, it's cold, and lately, it's ugly. It wasn't so bad when I was a child... we actually had this thing called "snow" back then, and we used to do these foreign activities like "sled" and "ice skate", until it got dark.

But it has been alternately gloomy and rainy, or strangely 50 degrees, and I am off-kilter entirely. I don't have my snow, and as a native Minneapolitan, I am shook to the core. I am not sure how to embrace the holiday spirit without having to shovel.

Also, having spent one too many years working for a giant retail megamonster, I rather rue shopping for gifts. So I try to make mine, or buy indie. Which, I have done some of each... but this is hard to do when you are the proud owner of a preschoooler. Preschoolers are horrible little creatures who are easily gobbled up by Nickelodeon Marketing. Everything is Dora and Disney Princesses. Ooh, I think I threw up a little just typing that. Retail in December is horrible. I buy extra dishwashing soap right before Thanksgiving so I don't have to go to Target at all, if I can help it, til after New Years. Struggles ensue, however, when said preschooler I acquired 3.5 years ago wants Disney princess roller skates and a pony. Damn. I can't knit either of those things. My santa cover is totally blown.

All that to say: this December's making me grouchy.
Which I mentioned to Barbara.
To which she said: make a list of all the things you are proud of in 2006.

So, drumroll please... as a cure to grump, here goes.

1) I am proud of Paige… she has evolved from a toddler to a pre-schooler nicely, and it is good to see in the face of adversity she can still shine, adapt, and grow. I know she’s struggling, but I also know she’s handling this divorce better than I handled my parents divorce.

2) I am proud of my work. I took on projects I never dreamt I would do before I was 30, and handled them successfully. I traveled on my own, I worked with some high-powered and important people in the business world, and I got things done. And learned a lot in the process.

3) I am proud of my education. I’m pulling down a 4.0 in my program and have just one class to go. I feel god about the work I did on my thesis (even though it’s changed 100,000 times) and I am feeling really good about being done in May.

4) Probably most importantly, and for the first time in a really long time, I am proud to be myself. I have done so much work on my self-image and self esteem … a lot of soul-searching… taking myself out on dates… defining the Essential Sarah… tapping what Diana calls my inner Maya Angelou and finding strength in myself I didn’t know I had. Getting divorced SUCKS… and I hope no one I know ever has to go through it … but it is going to be so worth it. It already has been. For the first time in my life, I am comfortable just sitting in my own company. Damn, for the first time in my life, I think I am cool, and smart, and funny, and beautiful.

5) I am proud of my relationships. Relationships are fundamental to who I am, being both an extrovert and an intuitive. It was damned hard to weed my relationship garden over the last year … to find the relationships that were poisoning me and the relationships I wanted to keep… and it was tenuous. But here I am, and I am so pleased with what has become of my friendships. And my family! I have my family back… and the great thing is that they welcomed me back with open arms.

Other items of note:
Proud that I was able to travel to Europe this year.
Proud of my blog.
Proud of my house.
Proud of my crafting skills and accomplishments.
Proud that I am able to do things myself; that I am no longer scared to be alone.

for that hard-to-buy-for kid on your list?

These are wicked. And I'm not saying you should actually run out and buy these for children (duh...)

But they did make me giggle.

PSA: comments

FYI:
I've turned comments back on to "anyone who's got something to say, say it" mode.
(there was a bit of spamming happening at one point in time... hoping the word verification and comment moderation mitigates most of it.)

whether or not you are a registered Blogger, comment away.

Wednesday's random roundup

• Photographic evidence: jerks in big cars really do steal the compact spots.
• ...and if you believe that, I have a hydro plant and dam to sell you.
• December's the new November. Vote for your favorite Twin Cities music critic.
• Accidental Hedonist is posting 12 days of Christmas cookies. I forgot about the no-bake oatmeal cookies; maybe I'll make those Thursday night.
• Let's turn now to the completely ludicrous desk for the latest headlines. According to some crackpot, soy makes you gay. Man, I don't know what that means for my mom and her lactose intolerance...
• At an average bonus of $622,000 per employee, I wonder if Goldman's is looking for an Instructional Design consultant...
• I'm not trying to be sexist here (I try very hard to practice egalitarianism), but I thought this recap of Nancy Pelosi's interview with Barbara Walters was adorable. In the same way I find hearing my grandma's stories about bra-burning adorable.
• A little think-nugget on urban sprawl. Mmm... having my views challenged tingles.
• Move along, nothing witty to say here. (actually, I liked just about everything this post had to say, so I just think it deserves some honorable mention).
• PSA: if you are thinking about earning some extra holiday cash by working the streets of Ipswich... best to save your FMBs and pleather skirt for another occassion, and save yourself the serial-killer-victim status.
  

sing-song challenge

I was sent this survey today... and I guess I have apparently had enough memes for one life to mess with this one.
Here's the deal:
I filled this out, but instead of it being all about me, it's all song lyrics.
See if you can't figure out the songs. I'll post answers in a couple day's time.

All About Me Survey Take This Survey at Quizopolis.com I Am smelling like a rose that somebody gave me on my birthday deathbed. I Want to be sedated. I Have roamed through the fields, only to be with you. I Wish I was a little bit taller. I Hate everything about you. I Fear I have nothing to give, I have so much to lose here in this lonely place. I Hear noises in the darkness, I hear sadness . I Search myself. I Wonder wonder, ooh, bah doo wah oooh. Who wrote the book of love... I Regret that I did it like a junkie when he\'s jonzin\' I Love you, love you, madly. I Ache Someday, you will ache like I ache. I Always get what I want. I Usually do. and although i know it\'s a long road back i promise you... I Am Not afraid, I am not afraid, I am not afraid! I Dance with you sleeping in the beetle bug... I Sing “Get down here, dance with me. Wreck your life my way. Feel terribly clean and you’ll find the things that you say do not matter to me.” I Never ever, ever loved somebody, the way that I loved you. I Rarely wear a dress well... I Cry a river over you. I Am Not Always that way. I Lose my faith in you. There\'ll be nothing left for me to lose. I'm Confused Right now, I don’t exactly know what to choose ... I Need your love. Like a needle needs a vein, I need your love. I Should stay. Or should I go? Take This Survey at Quizopolis.com

holiday jeer

Ugly Christmas Lights.
(disclaimer: I'm actually a huge sucker for outdoor christmas lights. Tasteful outdoor christmas lights.)

just one moment please...

I know enough people who work on the phone all day long to know that not only is this funny... it's true.

closure is strange

I just finished my final paper for this semester's class. Closure is always strange for me, with school. But another semester is over (tomorrow night, anyhow.)
This puts me at exactly one semester and completed thesis to go in order to finish this degree.

And I'm still not sure how life works without papers and classes to attend and research to wade through and textbooks to highlight.


But guess what, kids?
In 5 short months, we're about to find out.

musing, it's monday.

• We're having a Minneapolitan December heatwave (40s, 50!). Warm, for December... yes. Agreed. But today: the air conditioning is on at work. What? I had to go brew some Rooibos tea just to get comfortable.
  
• Did you know it costs over 40 dollars to ship a case of beer commercially? Ridiculous.
  
• I'm writing my final reflection paper for fall semester today. I don't know how fall semester is over already, but it is. I have the thing outlined. The nice thing about it, is that it is a reflection paper... I don't have to cite and research and empiricize it all. It's just, what Sarah thinks (and if you read this blog, you know I'm an expert at writing that stuff up.)
• After a cookie-baking extravaganza yesterday, it has become glaringly apparent that I am in dire need of new baking sheets. Any recommendations on great ones? Perhaps something to put on the birthday wish list.
• The best-of lists are brewing... a soundtrack 2006 (which I'm hoping to work on tonight) as well as the haphazard Sarah's Best Of... list. Stay tuned.
• I'm sad to think all of these little car dealerships (to which I am attempting to take my car for an oil change) are getting gobbled up by Big Auto (in Minneapolis, it's Denny Hecker, Morrie's and Luther.) I have a warranty, people. I need to have my car serviced at the dealership. But I do not want to make the rich, richer, if I can help it (I would prefer to support ma and pa-type dealerships).
• Must you fail a simple IQ test to be a recruiter? And does your name have to be Kandi, Cookie, Kaki, or anything else with an "i" you will inherently dot with a teensy-tiny heart? Ack.
  

In-My-Head soundtrack for December 11th: Soldados (The Alarmists), This Year (The Mountain Goats), I'm a Wheel (Wilco), The Best Is Yet To Come (Nancy Wilson), Sabotage (Beastie Boys).

See? There really is a website for everything

Cats that look like hitler.

This is absurd. Brilliant, but absurd. What would I do on a Friday morning while I wait for the Starbuck's to kick in, without the internet to keep me amused?

beer.

Listless?

Fimoculous delights again.
An aggregator of 2006 lists. Bring it.

crate art

I have always been completely enamoured with fruit and vegetable crate labels/art... mostly because many of them are so bloody absurd.

Found this flickr collection on boingboing this afternoon. It's fantastic.

My favorite? Sweet Patootie brand vegetables. Heck yah. That goes as my new icon on myspace.

idiot-proof website.

awesome.

Minneapolis Craft Review

Craft Magazine's review of our fine city's crafty goodness.
Minneapolis is apparently on the (blogosphere) map today...