Selfish.

I’m feeling selfish. Really selfish.

I want time for me, me, me.

Actually, I don’t even want to be alone. I want to be with my husband and my kids. I want us all snuggled in pjs and comforters and watching a movie or playing Stratego or Quiddler or poker. (Okay, I admit it. We taught the kids to play poker. Max is quite good, actually.)

I want to read.

I have 4 books sitting here that I can’t wait to read. I guess I will read 1 or 2 on the plane to Vegas and back. (Did I tell you I’m presenting a seminar at the Got Milk? marketing conference? I’m pretty excited…)

I want to read all your wonderful blog postings. I’ve checked in on a couple this week, but I’m terribly behind. I hate that.

I want to write.

I want to write thoughtful blogs. And I’ve started a short story that I’ve had absolutely no time to think about. And letters. I want to send some letters. I love getting letters and think others do, too.

I want to sleep.

Okay, here goes Wendy again telling about her wonderful sheets and how great her bed is. Well it is! And I hate getting out of it at 6:00 am to go to the gym and I love getting into it when I’m ready to collapse at night. What I want is to have some bonus time there. Maybe with one of those books I mentioned.

I want to run.

I’ve decided to start running. I ran track in high school and though I wasn’t all that fast, I did build quite a bit of endurance. I’ve noticed lately that lots of the women I know with the best legs (and butts are runners. Couldn’t be a coincidence. So for Mother’s Day (maybe early? please?), I’m asking for running shoes. We’re lucky around here to have miles and miles of paths to run and bike on. Look for me!

Right now? I want to eat. Andrew made a great dinner – Indian Chicken on the grill with rice and edamame. I made challah.

Shabbat Shalom!

Help?

Anyone been to Turks & Caicos? If so, I have a friend who would love some recommendations!

Wednesday, snowy Wednesday.

Well, it’s barely more than a flurry. And yet, the kids are home from school. That’s frustrating. Simply tack it on to the end of the year in June. Whatever. I do wonder what the county was thinking this time. Ridiculous.

Some thoughts of the day….

1) I have always lived by the motto that food and drinks and computers don’t mix. Don’t eat and type. That’s how I’ve lived. Drinks? Well, I’ve let that go. I do have a Diet Pepsi or coffee on my desk virtually all the time. Okay, so today. Today, I really, really needed to get some work done. So I made some black beans and rice (mixed with last nights sauteed mushrooms and onions) and brought it to my desk. No time to stop, right?

But, as one might have predicted, a mishap. How the heck am I going to get those little pieces of rice out of my keyboard? With tweezers.

2) In the future, when there is a report threatening school closings, rearrange the work schedule so the deepest thinking part of the project doesn’t hit while the boys are in the next room playing Mario Brothers Make a Racket on GameCube.

3) Straightening the pantry does not pay the bills.

4) My little sister’s birthday was the other day. Her present (she’s going to love it!) should be here any day. I don’t want to spoil the surprise by writing it here… she started subscribing to the feed!

Happy Birthday Amy! (this picture is a couple years old. From about 1972.)

5) I’d better get back to work. I don’t want to get fired!

Looks can be deceiving.

This girl looks sweet, no?

That’s until she brings out this tray.

After an hour of poking, scraping, flossing, and lecturing, she sends the dentist in.

She looks nice, too. Doesn’t she? Actually she is. Wouldn’t it suck to have a job where everyone hates to see you?

I couldn’t resist.

Such a view.

Mood graph.

Kind of like a mood ring. Only geekier.

Product demonstration.

We went to the Adventure Travel show at the Washington Convention Center. Boy did we walk away with a load of amazing ideas and catalogs and pamphlets. Wowie wow. I want to go to Fiji, Africa, Buenos Aires, China, biking in Ireland, and more. Lots and lots more.

But I’m writing this about marketing. Two things we saw are, IMHO, worthy of mention. Sure, there was all kind of graft, candy, cool stuff. But these were truly engaging.

First, The Dude Ranch Association – or some such – had cattle roping lessons. The boys seriously want to go to one of these places now. That was a great booth.

Then, near the rain forest expedition booth (and the frog research project trip in Puerto Rico that I’m dying to go on!) there was the Gortex booth. The sales guys (cute, cute, cute!) talked about how Gortex outerwear will keep you dry on your adventure travels. Okay. Big deal. But then, they dressed you head to toe in their stuff. Then, you step into the storm. Well, it’s a trailer. But it’s raining hard and multi-directionally and lightning (okay, flashing lights) and making noise. Lots of noise.

Then, you get out, take off the Gortex, and you’re dry. Bone dry. Great product demo and talk about participation in the marketing message. Very cool.

I don’t know if I’ll ever have the need for such dry outerwear. But I do know that I’ll buy Gortex if I do. Seriously. This was brilliant and memorable.

And to top it off, they gave the boys leather bound tape measures with the Gortex URL on them. You don’t even want to know what they’ve measured so far…

Over the hills and far away.

In high school, I was a Deadhead. My friend, Laurie, loved Led Zeppelin. Back then, it was radical that we could find a way to get along. But we did. Quite well. I bet if you asked her, she’d tell you that there were Dead songs she liked after I made her listen to them. I know that there are Zeppelin songs that I really admired after she jammed them down my throat. I mean played them for me.

One such tune, Over the Hills and Far Away, is one of my lifelong favorite songs. Here it is for your listening enjoyment. (Not you, Mom. You won’t like it.) And forgive the commercial. I have just about HAD IT with youtube, so I’m trying another option.

[ There was a cool video here of Zeppelin performing the song. But it was making my brother's computer have errors... maybe yours too? ]

When Andrew & I renovated our home last year, we had a groovy sound system put in. We used a great company Innovative Media, whose fearless leader, Ryan, is star of DIY’s Tech Out My House. He also happens to be married to my cousin. And he’s a great guy and knows his stuff.

So last year, when we talked to Ryan about what we wanted in a music/entertainment system, we told him we wanted a turntable. After he stopped laughing (he said he had never sold one before), he set about designing the perfect system for us.

Last night, before our company came for dinner, we put that Zeppelin album on and turned it up. Way, way up. It was like being 17 again. Except this time, we could drink legally.

It was awesome.

Great way to start the weekend, don’t you think?

(note: Reed’s crack about golden oldies didn’t even ruin the mood!)