The Modern Gal

Cookie Monster and the origin of 'Om nom nom'

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:26:00 +0000

My main man on Sesame Street may have indeed been the originator of the oft-used 'om nom nom' phrase. Come to think of it, he may have had a role in the origins of LOL speak too. Me can has cookie?

I posted on this a long time ago, but as a refresher: the always entertaining Om nom nom nom blog.

P.S. Happy birthday, Sesame Street!

Witnessing a random act of kindness

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:24:00 +0000

I received an e-mail notice that payment for my P.O box was a few days overdue, so since it was my day off and because USPS.com didn't want to cooperate with me, I decided it best to haul ass across town to both empty the box which I hadn't visited in a while and pony up the payment.

When I got in line to pay there were about four people in front of me and of course only two people working the counter. The two customers at the counter seemed to have large, difficult requests, so nothing I could do but summon up a little patience and wait.

Not a minute after I'd joined the queue, a 30-something lady with came in with what appeared to be a 2- or 3-year-old kid. And the kid was screaming. The kind of screaming that makes me doubt any past or future desires of mine to ever procreate. She kept telling the kid in a menacing tone to 'be quiet,' but of course he didn't listen. That's when her phone rang, and she answered it. He kept screaming while she chatted for a moment. He kept grabbing her keys, she took them away, he wailed, she finally decided to hang up and focus on trying to keep her kid quiet. I did my best to stare straight ahead and fight a grimace that kept creeping on my face.

That's when the lady in front of me, probably in her 40s and now in the front of the line, smiled and turned to the other lady and said, "You can go ahead of me."

"Really? Are you sure?" the other lady asked with clear gratitude on her face.

"Of course. I have three kids, I completely understand."

It was then that I first felt A. doubly irritated, then B. in awe of the older woman's kindness and C. completely ashamed of my own reaction.

I was ashamed that I thought of nothing but my own irritation at the lady and her son and then had a brief moment of irritation at the older lady allowing the younger one to skip both her and me with her gesture. The younger lady was obviously struggling with juggling her son and her daily errands and a simple act of kindness from a stranger that cost the stranger nothing but an extra two minutes of her time appeared to make the woman's day. Why couldn't I have opened my heart like that?

And then something even more wonderful happened. When the woman and her son approached the counter, the boy stopped wailing. Instead, he started chirping, "Hi! Hi!" to the counter worker and anyone else whose gaze he could catch. He was smiling, and with every "Hi!" he drew a chuckle from those in the post office.

CYOB: Time to get spooky!

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

This post is part of NPW's Choose Your Own Blogventure, Spooktacular edition! If you got here from Definitely RA, keep reading. If not, visit NPW for the beginning and hopefully you'll get here eventually.

(Eds note: If you read this post between the hours of 9 and 11 a.m., I had the links screwed up, so read again!)
_____________________________________________________

I looked at Julie. Her gaze was fixated on the trunk, and she didn’t appear to have noticed the book sitting on a table next to one of the armchairs. I knew I had to grab the book. If I couldn’t watch the rest of Haunted Happenings, I could at least read the rest. Plus, it would be so much less scary without the images of the trunk that seemed to be torturing Julie.

I yanked Julie’s hand and pulled her toward the entrance of the library set up. She followed me, still distracted by the sight of the trunk up ahead. I began to hear the sound of a thumping heart. It grew louder with every step we took. I looked toward the gramophone as we approached it and saw two glowing red spots just beyond it.

“CA-CAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Julie and I screamed in unison as we were met face-to-face with a black object with glowing red eyes that had lunged from behind the gramophone.

We collected our wits in about 30 seconds and realized the thing that was staring us in the eyes was a fake but realistic looking raven perched on the end of a long stick. Holding the other end of the stick was a man with shaggy eyebrows, a shaggy moustache and wavy hair. He was wearing a long black coat and gazing upon us with an amused look.

“Ohmygod, he looks JUST LIKE THE PROFESSOR!” Julie said in the loudest whisper I’ve ever heard.

“You half-wit scaredy cat burglar! He’s supposed to be Edgar Allen Poe!”

Julie shot me The Look as I grabbed her arm and pulled her further into the library.

As we passed the armchairs, I grabbed the Haunted Happenings book. It felt hollow and made a rattling sound. I couldn’t look inside yet, as we were still encountering characters. Along the way, Dante popped out from the center of the fireplace, and Lovecraft’s Cthulhu had been hiding near the chess set.

Finally we made it to the door. I opened the book to see what was causing the rattle. It was an ancient iron key, just like the one Annelise had held in her hand in the movie. The glow of the porch light made the key sparkle, which pulled Julie’s gaze away from the trunk.

“What’s that?”

“It’s ... it’s ... it’s a key,” I responded.

“Ohhhh, no, no, no, NO!,” Julie said. “Let’s just knock on the door, get our candy and get the flip OUTTA HERE! ... Wait, no. I changed my mind. Let’s just run. I don’t need the candy. I’m too old for this shit anyway.”

“No way, I’m not leaving here without my candy at the very least. Besides, I want to see if there’s more haunting inside the house. And, I’m still curious about the trunk.”

If you think Kate and Julie should try to open the trunk, click here.
If you think Kate and Julie should knock on the door to get candy, click here.

Why smile when you can wink?

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:57:00 +0000

Some inspiration for your Thursday which I found inside a bathroom stall at a bookstore:

Some housekeeping

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:35:00 +0000

Two things:

1. Friday is the third annual installment of Nancy Pearl Wannabe's Choose Your Own Blogventure, this time with a spooktacular theme. For the rookies, Choose Your Own Blogventure is very much like those Choose Your Own Adventure books we all checked out from the school library as a kid, except easier to jump around thanks to the ease of computers.

Yours truly will be participating again, but as is customary, NPW will kick things off with the opening chapter. So on Friday, GO TO NPW FIRST BEFORE ANY OTHER BLOG. I'm super-serious about this. Also, budget a good two hours or so to get through every prong of the CYOB tree. Here is a link to her blog. Bookmark it NOW.

2. Noelle at The Daily Tannenbaum gave me an idea for a blog series the other day, and I wanted to see what you all thought. Noelle wrote about the new pedestrian bridge that crosses the Hudson River in her town in the Hudson Valley. She included a link to some Flickr photos of the area.

I loved seeing the little window into her world there, and I thought it would be really neat if we all posted a few photos of our own stomping grounds -- our houses or streets that we live on, the drive we take to work, the coffee shop we frequent, etc. We all live in such unique places and know so much about one another, but sometimes it's hard to picture a setting where your life stories are taking place. Would any of you be game for that? (And if so, I'm open to cutesy titles for such a blog series).

Grocery Store Musical

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:46:00 +0000

Because you all know of my love for choreographed dance moves, I'm sure the following revelation will come as no surprise to you. I am a huge, huge, huge fan of musicals.

There's just something so optimistic about a world where people break out into song and dance to express their feelings. Sadly, my own personal hell was God giving me such a love for musicals and then not giving me a singing voice to go with that love. Singing voice or not, I still belt out every word to every song in Grease (right down to 'There are Worse Things I Could Do.') A mere mention of anything Oklahoma related will have me spouting off about waving wheat and surreys with the fringe on top. And my love of musicals had me roller skating in sparkly clothes (a la Xanadu) through the park in 40-degree weather many years ago for a high school film class project. That, my modern friends, is dedication to the genre.

Now, I'm guessing most of you are familiar with the genius that is Improv Everywhere, an improv group that plans out public missions that create often strange or awkward situations but end up being hilarious. Like the no pants subway ride. Or when 3/4ths of the people in Grand Central Station froze at the exact same time.

The point of this post is this: Improv Everywhere did a musical. A grocery store musical. That appears to be about fruit ... but on second thought, maybe it's about something else ;)

I love how they manage to find the stoner to talk to after the musical's concluded. He probably thought the fruit were singing.

Today's another day left to find you

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:49:00 +0000

This made me happy this morning:

I especially dig the Light Brites. I totally had one of those as a kid.

Take On Me cover
Shiny and the Spoon

Snow, football, The MF and a bet

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:23:00 +0000

Well, hello there.

Busy season has gotten super-crazy-hit-me-over-the-head busy, so it's been kind of hard to do anything of the blogging nature. I did want to stop in and tell you all I'm alive and haven't cracked under the pressure of busy season yet (though I'm sure it's coming).

The Modern Fella has been handling busy season quite well. We have to squeeze whatever time we can get together in since his teaching hours don't completely jibe with my working life. Even with the moodiness that seems to spring forth at least once a week and the fact that I'm late to everything, he hasn't appeared to want to kill me yet, and I think he might actually still like me too, so bonus. This past weekend was my only completely free weekend out of 13 weekends, so we got to spend a lot of time together, and it was wonderful.

Speaking of The MF, here's an anecdote and bet that needs to go on the record for posterity's sake. (And it's not really about football, I promise).

The MF and I share a love for the same NFL team, that team unfortunately being the Tennessee Titans, now better known as the Tennessee Titanics after they lost 59-0 to the New England Patriots this weekend and dropped to 0-6 overall. If you saw a single highlight of that game, you'll know it was snowing. Not just snowing, but SNOWING!!! I can't seem to find how much snow actually fell, but it looked like it was in the feet department rather than foot or inches. **

Anywho, down 38-0 a minute or two before halftime the Titans had to punt. Again. Which is bad, of course, because in football punting means you failed to score points. For the Titans it's doubly bad because their main punter is super-injured so they signed some unknown guy out of nowhere to get them through until main punter gets healthy again. It is a serious crap shoot whenever newby punter punts (which is all the time, of course). Add in a dose of heavy snow, and well, I should have just closed my eyes.

Ok, so down 38-0, just before halftime, newby punter punting and he punts it 21 yards -- which is at minimum about half as far as you want him to punt it -- and the following conversation takes place:

MF: 'Ahhh, I totally could have punted that farther.'
MG: 'Oh really? In the snow?'
MF: 'Yes. I could have punted that farther in the snow while naked.'
MG: 'Oh really?'
MF: 'Yes.'
MG: 'You know we're going to test this theory out the first time it snows in Knoxville this winter.'
MF: 'Fine. And if I punt it farther than him, I get to be known as The Modern Love Machine on your blog.'
MG: 'Fine. But only if you punt it father than him in the snow while naked.'

The MF has wanted his name changed to The Modern Love Machine for a while now. I told him I'd have to lose a bet for that to happen. So now you know the terms of the bet. And we're just waiting for it to snow in Knoxville. And you can betcha we will find out if he can punt a football farther than 21 yards in the snow while naked.

I may even YouTube it.

**Modern Jennifer reports it was just a couple of inches. (see comment below) I guess the TV camera adds a few inches to snow just like it adds pounds to a person.

Green your Halloween

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:30:00 +0000

I've got a few posts brewing in my head, but I worked pretty much all weekend, so I'm just now getting caught up on life again. In the mean time, check out a post I did yesterday for The Greenists on greening your Halloween celebrations.

Also, while we're on the topic of Halloween ... I don't know that I'm going to get to fully celebrate Halloween this year because I have to work that day (I just don't know whether I'm working during the day or at night). Whether I'm free Halloween night is probably going to impact how much effort I put into a costume this year, but I'm looking for ideas. What are you planning on being and what's been the best costume you ever wore?

Nut up or shut up

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:19:00 +0000

Rule No. 1: go see Zombieland. It is hilarious and good. I love a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously.

I went to see Zombieland with the Modern Fella earlier this week. After the show we discussed our own plans for surviving a zombie outbreak. We know where we're going to get our guns (and it's not any of the obvious places) and we talked about which rules were important (I'm especially concerned with rule No. 3, which is just a general irrational fear of mine). It's good to have a plan.

Sometimes houseguests smell after just one night

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:13:00 +0000

The Modern Roomie, Modern Fella and I were standing in the front yard chatting last night when a car stopped and the man and boy inside asked us if we'd seen a black pug. We hadn't, and didn't think to ask these people were they lived or what their phone number was on the off chance we did see the pug.

The Modern Roomie decided to take Lucydog for a walk, and lo and behold she came home announcing she had seen the pug and was going to take her car back to the corner where the little pug was camped out, obviously confused about where it was. It was cute with its little pug face and wheezy breathing and kind of curled up in the Modern Fella's arms.

We drove around for the next 20 minutes looking for the man and the boy, hoping to flag them down and return their dog. When that didn't work, we split up ... I drove around, the Modern Roomie camped out on the porch with the dog. Still, nothing. Meanwhile, Juicycat wanted to pounce on the pug and Lucydog kept looking at it apprehensively.

As it got late, we knew it was a lost cause for the night. We printed flyers, but because it was A. dark, B. supposed to rain overnight, we knew it was futile to hang them around the 'hood before the morning. I tweeted a message about the dog and posted a message on our neighborhood e-mail listserv, but still nothing.

The thing about having a strange dog as an overnight houseguest when you have two humans and two animals already around means someone is going to be whining about the sleeping arrangements. Lucydog would have nothing to do with the pug in my bedroom, so the Modern Roomie tried keeping it in her room at first but ended up putting it in the bathroom because of its constant crying.

Let's just say it was a long night, and neither one of us got much sleep. We kind of just stared at it like zombies as it ran around the house this morning. We put the flyers up and found the owners within an hour.

"I was kinda disappointed," the Modern Roomie said tonight. "I was sort of hoping she'd be here when I got home from work today."
"But you also didn't really want to spend another night with her," I said.
"Absolutely not," she said.

The moral of the story brought to you by extreme fatigue is: make sure you ask those people looking for missing pugs where you can find them.

Not so modern guys

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:36:00 +0000

My friend Modern Kate, who shares my love of sports had this posted as her Facebook status a little while ago. I thought it was worth sharing and debating:

"Yesterday, Chris Berman explained how the NFL was participating in "Breast Awareness Sunday." That night, Al Michaels told a national audience "it'd be easy for [Mike Tomlin] to tell his wife to take care of it," re: parent-teacher conferences. Might be time to get some lady advisers in on the pre-game meeting, fellas."

The 'Breast Awareness Sunday' Berman was speaking of was actually Breast Cancer Awareness Sunday. Teams had breast cancer awareness promotions and players donned pink shoes and goal posts were wrapped with pink padding.

I have no idea what Al Michaels was referring to, but I can't think of a context where it really matters.

So, what do you think? Do Berman and Michaels need a little smack for talking like chauvinists on national television? Or do we give them both a pass because they're idiots anyway? Modern guys, I'd love your opinion too.

For the record, I think MK is right in that those broadcasts need some smart, modern gals who can set these guys straight.

Don't hold back.

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:42:00 +0000

I wanted to let everyone borrow my horoscope from this morning because it was just that good and Rocktobertastic ...

"Sensing that now is a time for new activities and encounters, you'll find ways to break from daily routines. Don't hold back."

Don't hold back.

Tips on repurposing

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:53:00 +0000

One of my favorite things about Real Simple is the section where they suggest new uses for old household items. My all-time-favorite tip is to use spent toilet paper and paper towel tubes to hold unused extension and computer cords.

Here's Real Simple's New Uses for Old Things Hall of Fame. There's even a link for repurposing food items as cleaners.

Come and get it

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:03:00 +0000

Modern Shannon at The Porch Swing has put together a collection of Rocktoberfest badges you can snag for your blog to spread the Rocktober vibe throughout the blogosphere. Feel free to grab the one in the corner, or go check out the others at The Porch Swing.

My friends and I rang in Rocktober in appropriate fashion tonight by hitting the town in our city's First Friday celebration, a time when the downtown art galleries and shop stay open late and offer free food and adult beverages. After a gloomy day, the skies parted and it was the perfect early fall evening to bike through downtown, mingle and talk about art and life with some really cool people.

Here are some artists I discovered:
1. Soundbooth Creative
2. Emily Greene
3. Wren Handmade

Enjoy and happy weekend!

A Rocktoberfest primer

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:39:00 +0000

Once upon a time, in a year not so far away ... ok, last year ... a bunch of bloggers in the blogosphere were having a really sucky September. Sucktember, if you will. In an effort to flip a metaphorical finger to Sucktember, those bloggers banded together and pledged to rock the socks off October and thus, Roctoberfest was born.

There isn't any specific guideline to celebrating Rocktoberfest other than to approach Rocktober with a very carpe-diem attitude. Harness the beauty of the changing leaves, the crispness of the cooling air and the healing powers of the bright sun and channel them into an attitude of kicking ass and taking names.

I like to celebrate Rocktober by trying new things. Last year it was new music. This year I'll try something old: blogging with some regularity. I just looked at my archives and realized I'd posted a total 16 times in the past two months. How incredibly lame. Can you believe there was an actual month (May '08) where I posted 52 times in a single month? Crazy. I wouldn't expect 52 posts this month, but I'm going to at least aim for 30.

I'm also trying to get back into the regular workout swing of things. I'm not going to set a 'this many days a week' goal, because I know that's just asking for failure, but I'm not allowing myself excuses when I have the time to run/bike/swim/dance/etc.

So, who's in for Rocktoberfest 2009? What's your Rocktoberfest pledge?

Gelato Sunday

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:54:00 +0000

I apologize in advance for any vomit-inducing qualities to this post.

The Modern Fella and I tried the new gelato store downtown for the first time a couple of weeks ago and were instantly hooked. Gelato is the superior Italian older sibling to ice cream. It's smoother and creamier and the flavor tends to be more intense and creative. (It's also fewer calories, so you know, bonus.)

After that first trip, the MF has been seeking gelato goodness morning, noon and night. He's talked about making a breakfast trip a few times (hasn't happened yet). He turned to me last Friday and said, 'You know what today is?' I guessed Friday. 'No, Gelato Friday!' And then it was Gelato Saturday. Yesterday just happened to be Gelato Sunday, so I guess this is turning into Gelato September.

Anyway, not the point.

At Coolato Gelato, you can sample any of the flavors before committing to one or two of them because they're always changing out their flavors and they carry some unusual ones like blood orange or pumpkin pie. The MF and I have been sampling at least two or three flavors each time before ordering. He's really good about testing only half of his dime-sized sample and then offering me the rest to try for myself.

So we were sitting there side-by-side on Gelato Sunday watching the employees clean up and prepare to close up shop when one last couple strolled in to have their own Gelato Sunday celebration. And like the MF, the man tried a little bit of his sample, and then fed the rest to his wife.

'Awww, it's so cute when couple share their gelato samples with each other,' I said. Then I paused and realized we were that couple too, and tacked on for good measure: 'I bet we're just as cute when we do it.'

'Of course we are,' he said as he fed me some of his chocolate gelato and then planted a kiss on my gelato-smudged lips.

Play it cool

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:07:00 +0000

Happy football Saturday from Chicago Bears (and former Vandy) QB, Jay Cutler ...

Better get yourself together darlin'

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:51:00 +0000

If you're from around these parts (these parts being my home state of Tennessee), you might know that a defensive back for the Tennessee football team managed to break the jaw of the UCLA quarterback when he sacked him. The Vols lost that game, but the fans found some enjoyment in the fact that their team at least did some physical damage and managed to get a 2-point safety play out of it. In the game the very next week one of Tennessee's starting wide receivers had his jaw broken AND the Vols lost the game.

Dwell on that for a second while I change the subject, sorta.

I'd like to think when it comes to being wronged I'm pretty good at forgiving and eventually forgetting, even if the latter part takes a while. I'd hope any of the people I wrong take the same approach. Even when I can't completely forget something that's upset me, I can usually put it out of my mind for a while. But every so often you're forced to confront what's happened. Something reminds you of the event, or worse, you run into the person responsible.

Such was the case earlier this week for me. I won't go into detail about with whom or how I crossed paths because the details aren't necessary.

The thing is, I just really wanted to sock the person. One good, hard round upper cut and be done with it.

Now, I'm not an aggressive person in any way. I've never punched or slapped anyone in my life. The most physical sport I've ever played was intramural football -- oh wait, that is kind of aggressive -- but I was the one who would attempt to pull our quarterback away from whomever she was attempting to punch. I can't think of any times I've ever had the urge to resort to violence, but good gracious I wanted to pop this person.

It was all about karmic retribution. This person did something that was a huge shot to my pride without appearing to miss a beat. I wanted to return the favor. It wasn't anything that's done any lasting damage, but I just knew -- KNEW -- I'd feel better.

Did I do it? I've done it a dozen times in my head since then. But of course I didn't actually do it. Modern gals don't punch people unless it's in self defense.

When I found out the next day about the wide receiver's jaw, the first thing I wondered was if it was the universe's own little justice system meting out punishment. Obviously the defensive back did not physically break his own teammate's jaw, but the timing of it all was uncanny.

I wonder if the universe has already taken care of business somehow on my behalf. Universe, if you have, I'd like to know about it.

I just hope I'm not in line for some retribution for all those mental punches.

Are we becoming unhappier?

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:15:00 +0000

Modern gal and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd opines on a recent study that women become less happy than men as they age in this column.

To warn the gals of the group: it might be a depressing read. But I also think it's worth the time to scan some of the comments on the story, many of which present interesting points that might have been left out in the study or might be behind the results of the study.

In an effort to be optimistic that my life won't follow the track that the study suggests, I'd like to think that our generation might have different results because of the way roles seem to change with the passing of every generation. I hope that's the case, anyway.

What do you think about the column? What do you think it will take to be happy when we're older modern gals?

Giving the gift of green cleaning

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:40:00 +0000

And a P.S. to the early post from today. I'm also guest posting at The Greenists today about giving the gift of green cleaning. Check it out!

(Wow, did I just post twice in a day? In other news, hell is now freezing over.)

All the single babies

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:26:00 +0000

I didn't say anything last week about the Kanye fiasco on the VMAs because I didn't watch the VMAs. I really had no idea they were on. I won't hold it against you if you did watch them, because obviously entertaining things happen on them. Yes, the way Kanye interrupted Taylor Swift was classless and uncalled for. Why was it uncalled for? Because we all know Beyonce had the greatest video of all time and didn't need to be told (with apologies to Taylor Swift, who is adorable but is NOT Beyonce).

(Also, thanks to Kanye for giving us all something to laugh and joke about, because this? Is hilarious).

Anyway, back to Single Ladies. It's been a while since I've mentioned the greatness of Single Ladies here at The Modern Gal. Well, the wait is over. I present to you the youngest Single Ladies dancer of all time: (Be sure you make it to the part where the kid does his/her own hand flip).

And something completely unrelated for the Office fans in the house. Jim and Pam have a wedding website, and it's like every other wedding website you've ever seen.

Updates here and there

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:24:00 +0000

Thanks for all of your comments on Friday's post, and a big thank you to Noelle who totally placed that quote for me as being from Six Feet Under (that had been driving me crazy for a long time).

My cousin made it through surgery successfully. The doctor thinks she got all the tumor, but the tumor did turn out to be malignant. That means a future of chemo and radiation for my cousin.

His spirits apparently are good. His dad reported a day after the surgery that he was "acting like a 15-year-old boy," which for once he was relieved of. I have no doubt my cousin will be a trooper through all this, I just hope the rest of our family can have the same kind of attitude.
____________________________________________________

Now for an update on my life, I suppose. Life is good. I'm plugging away through my busy season and doing a little bit better of managing it than I did last year. (The busy season is still young, though.) I was a little better prepared for it this year, so I haven't had as many problems crop up, which is good. I'm also going into work later because there's hardly ever a chance of me leaving work early. That's helped me have a little more personal time in the morning. I run errands, I read e-mails and I'm even beginning to read blogs again. Woot!

The Modern Fella is good at keeping me balanced in what little time we get to spend together (his teaching schedule and my work schedule greatly conflict). Our ideas of down time seem to go well together -- sit on the couch and watch football (and scream at our fantasy teams) or an episode (or two or three) of How I Met Your Mother or going for a bike ride around the 'hood. I'd venture to say I'm even crazier about him now AND he's passed the parentals/best friend test, so that's always a big bonus.

The one thing I'm not doing well is keeping an eye on my eating habits. This time last year I was a strict calorie counter, and I actually managed to lose weight while being so busy. This year I've been succumbing to eating while stressed out more and more. I'm not planning on another triathlon until probably the spring, when I'll have a little more time to stick to a regimented training schedule, so in the mean time I'm trying to force myself to train for some mythical tri in my head. Because I'd rather be able to eat what I want than have to go back to strict calorie counting day in and day out.

I guess that's everything that's going on. Like I said, I'm working to get caught up on all of your blogs, but in the mean time, tell me what you've been up to!

Politics changes everything

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:15:00 +0000

Now, I haven't had time to watch a lot of presidential addresses lately, and I really don't care a flip about the VMAs, but apparently President Obama DOESN'T think Beyonce had one of the greatest videos of all time?

Now, we know he's lying. Remember this bit?

When times are tough

themoderngal@gmail.com (The Modern Gal) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:57:00 +0000

Yesterday was a day of bad news. A friend of mine who was in her second trimester found out she'd lost her baby and had to have surgery. My cousin was found to have a brain tumor and is currently undergoing surgery.

My friend is ok, health-wise, but I know she and her husband are grieving right now. We're awaiting word on my cousin, though the Modern Dad says these things are never good when they show up in a 15-year-old.

I'm not so naive as to say 'These things don't happen to my family.' I will say that these kind of things haven't happened to my family much during my lifetime. I've been very lucky in that regard. My family is close-knit and my cousin has been a really healthy kid 'til now, so I know everyone is struggling with the news.

I don't know why I'm writing about it now, other than writing is my coping method. I guess it's always good to be reminded that life is precious. There's a line from a movie or a book that I love to reference but can never remember where it's from (perhaps Moonstruck? An awesome movie about family and love that everyone should see): 'Why does God allow death (or bad things in this case)?' 'To make life more important.'

I suppose it's an especially timely reminder on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 tragedies. Make sure your loved ones know they are loved. Support them both when they need it and when they don't.

Also, don't worry about me, but do please keep my friend and family members in your thoughts and prayers (if that's the way you roll). I know I don't talk much about my faith on here, but I will say that I don't pray for things to get better in cases like this because I know not everyone who is not well can get better. I do pray that everyone can find comfort and strength when times are tough.

Love you all.