blog? schmog.

To my masses of loyal readers: I am sorry for disappearing. This month and next are more fun and exciting than I can record in this web-space, so I've felt a bit overwhelmed...

It all began with a wonderful trip to Peninsula, Ohio, perhaps one of the most charming little towns anywhere. JessM was a wonderful hostess. There were beavers and bicycles and people who love Harry Potter. Vodka on the porch, poop smoothie waste recycling, sun tubes, Europe's Final Countdown, Winking Lizard, and more.

This past weekend, Brod and I set out for Southern WV with my dad early on Saturday morning. The family reunion was disappointing in itself, but the three of us were ridiculous together, which made it a very worthwhile trip. Saturday afternoon we decided to climb the Patterson mountain - Mario and I accomplished this feat ten years ago, but that trail has long since overgrown and disappeared. So, the fearless three set out on a new route, but we were soon lost and wandering on cattle paths. My favorite part is that all throughout the intense heat and humidity and steep mountain climb, Mario chugged a Busch Light. Lost, leaning against trees for rest, stopping every hundred yards with exhaustion, the beer was constant. Classic. Brod and Mario P. also cooked a monstrous pot of stew for 100 people. They stirred it with a West Virginia stick. Photos from these road trips will hopefully follow (I lie, remember...)

Musings on things that are sharp:

B-rod almost cut off his foot last week. I mean, I know hooks for hands and peg legs are cool and all, but what about a stumpy half-foot - how does that work? He was turning on the lawnmower (ancient and property of our landlords) when it flew into the air and simultaneously turned on. It then landed on his foot, shredding his boot. Praise the lord for steel toed boots - hiking boots, sneakers, anything else, and B's toes would be history right now. This made me feel ill.

Also, I came home last night to find a giant machete hidden between my two outer doors. I love that I have friends who have various machetes that I can borrow at my fancy.

"Sugar is the devil,"

said that angry lady with the spikey hair from that Bravo show Workout as I proceeded to dip little balls of margarine, peanut butter and powdered sugar into melting chocoloate. My kitchen had magically transformed into a candy factory, and I told myself I was now Tori Wonka! - (just to make this tedious process a little more fun). Eight hours later I laid down on the linoleum and whimpered a little, vowing never to eat a candy buckeye again. Seven hours after that, Peachums arrived at my house to find scary black circles under my eyes - yet, there were trays of buckeyes ready to be shuttled away for the kiddies of Trimble.

This, suprisingly, was the start of a wonderful day. After dumping the wretched sugar balls into the Volvo wagon, I trotted up the stairs and slept until noon thirty. Brod and I visited the new Donkey space and drank some iced chai; met JR for lunch and did some shop-browsing; took a nice walk home. Then we got to work on our new flower bed, and man is that soil in need of some serious love... we dug a little trench for the bricks - the fun Athens Block kind - and dug stones out of the old garden patch (and took some from our silly neighbors, who will never notice, because they hate plantlife from what I can tell and will never think to look in their bushes for very pretty stone). We plan to wash them and make them extra pretty on Saturday. After the outdoor work, we went for the mac-daddy dinner at the Blue Gator. I mean, for real, people: we ate strip steak and sea bass, and I had the best soup perhaps of my entire life - wild mushroom, spinach and garlic. drooool... In case you don't understand - we never eat like this. we are poor. so it was very exciting. I felt like I had superpowers and tons of energy after I ate such excellent food.

Okay, enough of that. Time to work. Here's one last thought: what's a girl to do when the international mail service loses a little piece of mail that contains a big piece of monies, huh?