Pink dreams really do come true

I can't believe I forgot to tell you! You know how I wanted a pink Christmas tree? Well, when I got back here to Civilization Daddy-O surprised me with a very merry PINK Christmas! He got me the tree and it's beautiful! And just down right cute! He had it all decorated and set up in my room! Go look at it!

Pink lover,
Maggie

An Irish Tale

For those of you who know me, you all know my love (or can we call it an obsession?) with Irish accents? Well, last night was... yummy to the ears.

For those of you who know me, also know that I accidentally joined an Irish dating web site. New readers, I was just looking for a pen pal and through a computer misrepresentation and misdirection I ended up on a dating site.

Well, since that happened, I've been emailing Irish Sam, several times a day. Oh, and I'm not a stalker, he's been emailing me back! We've been chatting about everything. Then after emailing, we used MSN and chatted in real time since there are 5 hours between us, it was fun to be able to do that.

Last night, in a moment of spontaneity, he sent me his phone number. There was no way I was calling it because of cost and just the potential weirdness of it. Then he asked for mine and I thought "what the hell." It's a Wild West number which I'll be changing soon, so who cares? And he called.

We chatted for about 20 minutes. He had a voice that could make me believe in God, that could melt chocolate, that was more perfect than a Manolo sale. OMG- he was delectable to listen to. And we had a nice visit. He's a huge Colts fan and being a Midwestern girl who is back in Civilization, it was quite funny to hear him go on and on about FB. He thought I had a beautiful accent- silly man! Oh, and his really exciting news is that he's coming to the States in November and hopes we can meet. He has a business trip to Austin, TX and is taking a side trip to Indianapolis to see a Colts game, and was hoping we could meet. It's about 11 months away and who knows what could happen in that time, but I thought it was hilarious that he couldn't wait to tell me!

But it was fun to have a chat. And it might be fun to see him, a year from now. He is a cutie; I've seen lots of pictures of him and he is a handsome bloke...

**********

In other news, I saw another movie. I didn't realize how much I missed going to the cinema until I've gotten back and can go any time I want. In a mere 20 minute drive, I have 23 screens at my disposal. I love going to see a movie and it's grand, and I take great pleasure in such. So Mac and I went to see Yes Man, a Jim Carey comedy. Now, I think of this as total "guy humor" but I do think this was funny, and I laughed in spite of myself. And after the other 2 stinkers we saw, this was a nice change of pace.

And I might just go see a movie today alone- Marley & Me or Twilight?

An Irish girl at heart,
Maggie

Sensory overload in a library?!?

I decided to get a library card and abuse the library here in Civilization. I worked at this same library for 4 years of high school and 2 years of college, so it was a place that I thought should fit like a perfect shoe. Well, it seems, it was the wrong size!

Back in the Wild West, I was spoiled by the librarian. She would tell me when something came in that she thought I would be interested in, or that I had asked for. All the brand new books fit on 2 book cases. The fiction section is about 4 long cases and the non-fiction went around the outside of the room. The Wild West library is 2 rooms big, the other being full of kid books. I could find what I wanted easily and without effort. Non fiction was Dewy Decimal and the librarian would just card catalog what I wanted. Fiction was alphabetized by author's last name and I could wander and find what I needed easily.

Here in hometown Civilization, the library was a different experience. Back in the day when I worked there, it was small-ish. Bigger than Wild West, but organized the same and had a card catalog that was in wooden drawers, a few computers and lots of places to read. And it was quiet. This is not what I found when I went in.

First, for a library it was loud. People were talking, I could hear the hum of music from ear buds on teens going deaf, keys clacking and just general noise. Gone was the wooden drawered catalog, replaced by lots of computers. There was a HUGE wall of magazine and periodicals. People were everywhere, laughing and talking. All this is great- please use your libraries! But it was just not what I was expecting. It was not going to be a nice quiet alcove in which to curl with a good book, but, rather, a noisy place full of hustle and bustle. And the "media" section seemed to be as large or maybe larger, than the book section- VHS, audio books, CDs, DVDs, computer software, equipment, magazines-- this all dwarfed the books.

And they are organized oddly. Non fiction was standard, but memoirs were mixed in with biographies as well as in with non fiction subjects, which made them hard to find by simple browsing. And fiction was sectioned into chunks. A mystery section, a western section, a sci fi section, a romance section. So I had to go through regular fiction to see if, for example, James Patterson is fiction or mystery- and apparently he's both- how confusing is that? And chick lit, which I do read in small doses- was it romance or fiction? Ummmm- both. And old books can be checked out for 3 weeks, new ones for 2 weeks, and there are fines for late books- I'm screwed. There is a day grace period on books, but not DVDs, which are only 7 days.... I need a guide book to use the library, and a map. And there was only one copy of the new Patterson book, Cross Country, and I am 16th on the waiting list. Realistically I could never get the book, OR a new one could be out before I get to read it.

This was strange. I used the library in Large City Civilization when I lived there 3 years ago and it was sort of like this, but I expected that library to be like that in a city of almost a million folks- and they had small little branches that felt like small libraries. And in Large City Civilization the media was cordoned off so it still felt like a small library experience. But this was just... overwhelming.

I did get some books. I hunted out favorite authors and snagged a computer to scan my Amazon list to find a some things I wanted to read. I have a feeling I'll still use Amazon as often as I ever did. I didn't even go to the music or DVD section; it scared me! No really, it was just an odd experience with all the people and new technology. I hadn't been in there for about 10 years so this was one of those "you can't go home" experiences. The winds of change are blowin', even in a library.

Bookworm at heart,
Maggie

I've got spirit, yes I do, I got spirit, how about you?

Mac and I went to the theater to see Spirit on Sunday. Since Saturday's movie sucked so badly we thought we'd try again. All Mac kept saying to me when we left watching Earth was that "we shoulda saw Spirit, mom" so I took him up on that suggestion.

And guess what? It sucked. It sucked so badly that 20 minutes into it Mac asked if we could leave. I told him to see if we could get our money back and if not, we were staying. We stayed. It was so bad it was like a car accident and I couldn't look away. It was bad, so bad I can't come up with an analogy it was so bad.

The idea was great- based on the comic book "The Spirit" and there were lots of big names: Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes. It was directed by Frank Miller who did awesome previous films like 300 and Sin City. But this just sucked. The dialogue was horrible. One great "comment" after another like "just shut up and bleed" or "Give me a tie and make sure it's a red one." OMG- it was really bad. And I swear Jackson plays the same character in every film: angry black man. The acting was terrible, too. The script was poorly written. It didn't flow; it was choppy and seemed forced. One bright spot: Johansson was a hoot, the straight man, if you will, to Jackson's Octopus character so I did enjoy her. If this was trying to be serious, it fell way way way short. If it was going for 'camp', then it succeed. But I don't think "camp" was the intention.

I did love how Jackson was totally and completely decked out in badass pimpdaddy fashions. I also thought the costumes for the women were glamorous. But the mask on Spirit was L-A-M-E. And he wore a totally stylin' suit, a sexy fedora and then a pair of Chuck Ts- making me ask WTF? Maybe I need to read the comic to see what the hell that was all about. And maybe it was a big deal to me since I'm all about the shoes, but really- Chuck Ts with a suit? I think not- not even for the comics. As I mentioned, Johansson was redeeming. The graphics were awesome and reminiscent of the black & white with touches of red or sporadic color of Sin City, which was great. I love the color and the comic book feel of it, and all the texture of the images. The BEST part were the sidekicks to Octopus. They were all the same dude- a la the oompa loompas in the Depp version of Willie Wonka, and he wore jeans and t-shirts. The only thing that changes as they kept getting killed & coming back to life, was the name on the front of the t-shirt, done in white letters on black. He was Pathos, Ethos, Logos, Nervos, Huevos, Dildos, etc-- each time he came back, he had a different "os" name. I howled with laughter at this sight gag. But even that was not enough to redeem this disaster.

Keeping vigilance on sucky movies is just another public service I provide! I want to see Bedtime Stories but now I'm afraid to go to the theater!

In search of a good movie,
Maggie

Introducing Satchels & Shoes Sunday

My new plaid shoes and my new Vera Wang bag...

Daddy-O gave me the Blackwatch Plaid heels with the peek-a-boo toes for Christmas and I cannot wait to wear them- maybe New Year's Eve or on my date next Saturday with "Sam" (he's taking me dinner and dancing...)? And the black Vera Wang bag... funny story about it: Daddy-O and I went to Kohls on Monday before Christmas and it was 50% off but I wouldn't buy it for myself that close to the holiday. The next day Hecate and I went shopping and it was still 50% off and I still didn't buy it. My grandmother of evil gave me $$$ so I bought this bag on Boxing Day and it was 60% off! BONUS!!!

Welcome to a new Sunday series....

In Shoes we Trust,
Maggie

The Day the Earth Stood Still

The title of this post is appropriate in two ways to describe my day today. First it was the title of the movie I saw today. It was also an apt description of shopping of Mac.

The movie sucked, by the way. It was long and drawn out. And if I hadn't been in a dark theater filled with other people, I would've peppered Mac with "what's happening now" type of questions. "What's he doing? Why's he here? What's the iron giant gonna do? Where did the kid come from?" And all those things because it was confusing. So since I was clueless and since it was dragging and dragging and dragging, I fell asleep for about 20 minutes in the middle somewhere.

Mac got some gift cards for Christmas and wanted to spend them. So after a quick stop at Starbucks and a run through Wal-Mart, we went to a mall. I hate malls. I hate malls, and I have visited malls more since I got here than I have in the entire 2.5 years I lived in the Wild West. I followed him in and out of clothing stores and the music store. I drew the line with the Game Stop. There were about 32 teenage boys in line and the store reeked of boy funk.

I camped on a bench outside the shop and hung with all the old men who were waiting for their wives. I chatted with Ian, who called to tell about his debunked family Xmas. I chatted with the old guys who gave me the business about waiting for my boy. I played with my cell phone.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity and the earth standing still, we grabbed food and hit the movie, which sucked. Did I mention the movie sucked? and Reeves wasn't even his super cute self.

It was a fun time to hang with Mac. It was the first together time we had since I got here. He was funny and actually nice and we found things to talk about.

See, the earth did stand still!

Still standing,
Maggie

Redneck Moving, Inc.

For whatever reason, Daddy-O and Mac thought it would be a "GREAT" idea to unload my U-Haul yesterday afternoon, after we opened all the presents. I have no idea why- because we were all there? Because the weather was supposed to be icky today and at least yesterday it was just cold but sunny? Because they wanted to just keep opening stuff? Because they are insane? I have no idea why, but that's what we sent out to do on that cold Christmas day.

First, Daddy-O's garage is on a corner alley. So we had to somehow back the U-Haul into his driveway, while maneuvering around bushes, felled trees covered in ice, Verizon telephone boxes and a telephone pole. And for those of you who have never had the pleasure of backing up a U-Haul attached to car, well.... it's akin to backing a submarine, pulled by a Pinto, down.... say... Madison Ave during rush hour- easy as pie, right?

Did I mention that said alley is COVERED in solid ice? Did I mention that Daddy-O's drive way is on a downhill incline and this slope was also covered in ice? Didn't I mention that important piece of information before the 4 of us idiots decided to do this? (4= Daddy-O, Mac, Guard & Me)

So after about 30 minutes of attempting to back the U-Haul unsuccessfully into the driveway because we couldn't get the right angle to back in because of all the aforementioned abjects were in the way, the guys decided to unhitch it and they were going to just push it up by the garage. I think this is a B-A-D idea in all capital letters, but the testosterone level won. They unhitched it and tried to move it but it was too heavy. Duh- it was weighted top to bottom, front to back with my STUFF! Including about 25 boxes of books and a 7 foot tall solid oak bookcase and 4 cartons of shoes and 3 cartons of purses... this was not LIGHT in weight.

So Daddy-O is kneeling beside the hitch part and Guard is circling the U-Haul and says "Maybe we can push it" and taps the side. And it starts to SLIDE down the slope, toward the garage. Daddy-O grabs the hitch and screams something like "Stop, stop stop" and then realizing he can't stop this at all "Shut the garage door before it hits my new car!!!!!!!!!" Daddy-O, while screaming this helpful bit of information, is clinging to the hitch thingy and being dragged down the driveway slope on his knees. Mac and Guard run over and grab the trailer and somehow they manage to stop it before it crashes into the new car. I'm in the garage laughin so hard I about pee myself. I have to go in and use the facilities and try to re-gain my composure. And thaw the frozen tears on my face from my hysterical laughter.

Upon my return, I find that all are fine, except for the knees in Daddy-O's jeans, which have seen better days than being pulled 6 feet on an icy slope... So we unload the U-Haul. Daddy-O crawls inside to hand boxes and stuff to us. We take out the last thing and Daddy-O comes scooting out. Now, do you recall the U-Haul is not hitched to anything, is balanced precariously on ice and made with 2 wheels in it's center? So Daddy-O slides to the end to crawl out. Oh, did I forget to mention that it's now empty so the whole thing TIPS forward sending Daddy-O sprawling face first. Guard grabs the hitch thingy and rights the U-Haul and Daddy-O is once again okay after coming about 2 inches from a faceplant on the ice covered drive way.

Now someone told me to drive my car back around to the front of the house. I did. So in our infinite wisdom, instead of getting the car, we decide to push the empty U-Haul up the ice covered drive way slope to the car. hey, it's empty and light now, so no worries right?

Actually, we did pull/ push it to the car without another mishap, but just get the visual image in your head for a moment, shall you? Mac, who is now an Emo teen, is pulling the U-Haul, while Guard, Daddy-O and I are all pushing. Down an alley. Toward a car. Redneck movers: we would get there a lot faster if we hitched it to the car instead of pushing it. Don't wanna leave stuff behind now, do we? "You might be a Redneck if your car runs out of gas and you push your U-Haul to its destination rather than call for a tow."

I got the giggles so badly that I know I was no help at all. At least it's empty and we can return it today.

Take a lesson from me, and the next time you have to move, hire people, but just not us!

One of the new members of the now 4 Stooges,
Maggie

What makes a perfect Christmas?

Why, a new pair of shoes, of course! Daddy-O bought me the cutest pair of shoes for Christmas- red and black plaid blackwatch, open toes with a 4 inch heel. And it's so nice to be back in Civilization where I can wear these!

The whole fam-damily was here all day and we had a nice celebration together. And I played with my new niece, who at three months, adored her pink cowgirl boots her Auntie Mags brought her back from the Wild West. Mac thought his $100 Visa gift card was the coolest thing around and can't wait to go online to buy shit. I got lovely gifts, other than my shoes, too!

Family tradition dictates brunch, and I cooked for the first time, and if I do say so, it was good. I made my world famous pot roast for supper- again, my first time of fixing Christmas supper. Again, it went well.

We tried to go see a movie but when we arrived, having none of us been smart enough to order the tickets on line a week ago, had a choice of Bolt or Twilight. Mac, hating all things Emo, threatened death if we made him see that one. (I'm not sure how Twilight=Emo and I just didn't ask.) So we came back home, cleaned the house of the wrapping paper debris, and I am now just relaxing. I'm debating on a bottle of wine...er, uh, I mean a glass of wine.

Hope you all had a great time on this holiday! Enjoy what's left of it and remember to give thanks for family, friends, and give special thanks for

After Christmas Vera Wang sales at Kohls,
Maggie

Over the river and through the woods [with vodka] to grandmother's house we go!

Today is the annual be made to feel guilty and be miserable Christmas celebration. It's on the calendar, I'm sure of it! Is there a Hallmark card for this celebration? It's also known, in my case, as a visit to grandmother's house.

Also, in my world, it's "OOOOOOOOO, grandmother, what a big mouth you have!!! OOOOOOOOOO, grandmother, what a heart of stone you have!" Ah, don't you just love a holiday that pulls the family together?

After she and Daddy-O had a row last year on X-Mas eve that was somehow my fault, it took us 4 months to speak to each other and now we talk about twice a month on the phone. It was easy when I lived in the Wild West and there were 2000 miles separating us, though sometimes that just wasn't enough. Now that I live in Civilization again, I'm practically in her backyard. Thank the shoe gods that I know the times and location of the nearest shoe stores. And liquor stores. And AA meetings, because living this close to her I'll probably need all three!

So this afternoon while ya'll are sipping eggnog and hugging your loved ones I'll be dodging verbal bullets over my hair, my weight, my lack of permanent job, Mac, and and anything else. Maybe this is the year I could give her the gift of my atheistness? Alright, I'm just kidding because I'm sure it would give my brother Guard a heart attack. My grandmother loves him and his family to pieces, thankfully!, and I just don't want to make them miserable.

I'll be good. And bring my own "water" bottle!

Think anyone would notice if I spiked the eggnog? Oh damn, we never HAVE eggnog!

Happy Merry Christmas Eve!

Tipple to me,
Maggie

So, here we are!

Here we are, and welcome!

It's about Damn time I got my act together and said hellooooooo to everyone! What do you think of the new digs? Rather fitting, don't you think? Shoes, purses, pink, me, you... ah, such a blissful cocmbination that I think I should have a Cosmo!

In celebration of my return to Civilization, I hung out with Hecate today. We had a whole day planned with about 37 things to do and had been planning with for about 2 months now, and we only did about 6 because of the holy terror weather. While I adore winter and Jack Frost is usually such a sweetheart of a fella, he was in a right foul mood to dump snow then freezing rain then flat out rain on us! He ruined my girls' day out with Hecate, just darn near. But she and I persevered and we hit STARBUCKS, ate food and managed to troll the mall and B&N booksellers, several times! We had so much fun and it was great to be back from the Wild West and living here in Civilization again. No man will get between a woman in her girlfriends, shopping, food and coffee!

However, I didn't buy new shoes. Nor did I get a new purse... but all is not lost! Daddy-O and I are going to hit Kohls on Friday to tackle the after Christmas sales and see if the black patient leather Vera Wang bag I'm drooling over is on sale! Please pardon me while I take a moment of silent reverence over Vera Wang and Kohls- and to wipe said drool off the keyboard...

In shoes we trust,
Maggie