A happy day, indeed

Arrr! It's me favorite day, mateys! Ye best be laying in a supply of grog fer tonight, or it's Über die Planke schicken fer ye.

Oh happy day!

Today is a most happy day, after a less than happy ending to yesterday (no details, just suffice it to say that a stuck zipper meant that I had to RIP MY PANTS OPEN in order to go to the bathroom).

Why? Today, dear readers, I discovered that Starbucks has returned their heavenly Pumpkin Spice Latte to the menu. And I'm not the only one obsessed with the PSL. The PSL is a sugary, super-sweet topping on all that is lovely about fall. It is followed by heaven in a cup for the Christmas holidays - the Gingerbread Latte.

So, as I sit surrounded by mounting paperwork and deadlines that make normal people cry, I am happy, caffeinated, and riding a sugar rush that will no doubt leave me asleep under my desk by lunchtime.

My computer stinks!

That's not to say it's a bad computer, but my iBook stinks. To be more specific, the keyboard has a strong body odor smell. At first, I thought it was the apartment to which we had decamped to escape the worst of the construction. But then I noticed it here, in our guest room. It only took several days of puzzlement and underarm sniffing to determine that the smell was not me, but rather my stinky computer. Thanks to the magic of Google, I learned not only that I was not alone in having a computer with eau de locker room, but also that the problem was, in fact, quite common. Apparently, there are many solutions, but none of them seem to work for any length of time. So for now, my computer sleeps with a dryer sheet tucked snugly betwixt the keyboard and screen.

Any suggestions? Or do I need to break down and buy a new, better, non-stinky one?

Silent for that long, and that's all I can come up with?

I know, I know. I've been a bad little blogger. But I have now simplified my life by resigning from a group blog so I can focus on this, on the addition to our house that is proceeding at glacial speed, on training for the marathon, on new responsibilities at work, and...oh yeah...on a four-year-old that seems to occupy just about every waking moment.

It's as Elizabeth says over at Half Changed World - I'm not perfect at anything, but then again I'm not really trying to be.

Also, I'm intrigued by LPF's 101 things in 1001 days effort. I guess if I were to tackle such a thing, item #1 would be to come up with a list. Sometimes I feel like I'm doing so much in the present at the expense of planning for the future.

Right now I have to go amend the electrical plan for our addition so we have enough plugs and the right types of switches in the right places. Sometimes my evenings are so sexy and exciting, I just can't stand it.

New YouTube idea

It came to me as we were heading out to work on a bright but somewhat foggy morning. We saw three guys walking towards us in the street with four dogs in tow:

Reservoir Dog Walkers.

Seriously. If someone can make a funny YouTube a short on that, I'd totally send it to everyone I know.

One sign we may drink too much

Tonight, we went out for our usual Friday night restaurant outing. It was a nice day, so we decided to go to a local Irish pub and sit outside on the patio. About halfway through our meal, our daughter - out of the blue - asked us: "What does BYOB spell?"

Turns out she got it from the movie "A Bug's Life." But still...

A matter of perspective

There are certain things in this world that I didn't understand before I had kids. Child leashes, for one (not that I would ever put DOM on one, but I sure as heck understand the sentiment now). Scrapbooking. And, as a person who dabbles in both environmental and urban design issues, I really did not approve of drive through windows. They take people off the street (a detriment to the vitality of a city) and contribute to more polluting vehicle exhaust emissions. However, since DOM has come into my life, I've found myself growing irrationally fond of the drive through ATM near our house, pay-at-the-pump gas stations, and drive through coffee shops. Because if you are just trying to make a quick stop to get some money, fill up the car with gas, pick up your dry cleaning, or grab a quick iced grande vanilla skim latte, the very last thing you want to do is park, unbuckle your child from her car seat, coax her out of the car, complete your five-minute errand, coax the child back into her seat, rebuckle the belts, and collapse exhausted into the driver seat after a two-minute errand has turned into a 30-minute stop complete with two meltdowns and a running "don't touch that" commentary track.

Erma's ghost

I have been a huge fan of Erma Bombeck ever since I was a teenager. How unhip is that? But I'm a sucker for humor in all its forms, and she was laugh-out-loud funny on so many levels. However, now that I'm a mom, I find myself not only appreciating her writing on a whole new level, but also recalling bits and pieces in the course of each day. For example, when I drive past a cemetary near our house, I remember her talking about finding a house with the perfect neighbors -- but that there aren't too many houses between two cemetaries.

Today I was reminded of this gem: "There is nothing more miserable in the world than to arrive in paradise and look like your passport photo." Eight days to Paris, one more magazine to get out before then. Looking like my passport photo will be a step up.