My Love/Hate Relationship with Turkey Legs

Successes this weekend: Cardinals won the World Series, I read 165 pages of my book, and I enjoyed the Texas Ren Fest Tradition of eating a turkey leg on a gorgeous Fall day.

However, I have always been one to grasp the virtue of humility and I know that with every success, there is also a failure to humble me.
Failures this weekend: Watching Albert Pujols’ potential last at bat as a St. Louis Cardinal, having 169 pages left of my book to finish by my November 1st goal(Aka impossible), and leaking Turkey Leg oil all over my brand new $70 dollar Banana Republic skirt.
I spent the rest of the weekend questioning my inept decision making skills that led me to wear said skirt to the Renaissance Festival. Jonathan and I came up with the theory that I am a girl torn between two worlds. In my head, I’m graceful and stylish, with impeccable manners, when in reality, I’m a clumsy tomboy who ruins every article of clothing above 30 dollars the first time I wear it.

Seriously, my Target wardrobe lasts forever, but my fancy-girl clothes are lucky to last 5 minutes. For example, in addition to my Banana skirt, I was wearing at $10 tank top from Old Navy and a $20 cardigan from Target; both items went unharmed during the eating of the Turkey Leg. Banana skirt: ruined.
Overall, it was a balanced weekend, with the biggest failure being that I forgot my camera.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have about 5 hours of reading to do.

Progress

My goal is to finish Diana Galbaldon's neverending A Breath of Snow and Ashes by October 31. Currently I am on page 824 of 1158, giving me 4 days to read 334 pages. That's roughly 84 pages each day. I'm optimistic, especially since I've been reading while watching the World Series. With the games averaging about 4 hours each, I should be able to get my quota in during Game 7 tonight. However, I did technically read 3 books during September, so I'll cut myself some slack if this monstrosity takes me a few extra days/months to finish. Other than reading and watching the Cardinals win the World Series, this weekend will be spent at the Texas Renaissance Festival in Magnolia. Saturday is supposed to be 72 degrees and sunny, and I will be enjoying the blissful day with a Turkey Leg in hand.

October has snuck by me. I am pretty late in ordering my monthly shipment of books and their estimated date of arrival is not until November 3. I decided to reward myself after sprinting through a 1158 page historical novel by finally reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I've heard it's a great novel for escapism and I can't wait to dive in.

Also on the list for November is The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova as well as A Modern Girl's Bible Study by Jennifer Hatmaker. Since I've been spending so much time reading A Breath Of Snow and Ashes, I've been really slacking on my Bible studying. And feeling really convicted about it. I could have definitely read the New Testament by now.

I have been crazy busy this month, traveling both to St. Louis and Lake Conroe twice. Hopefully November will be a bit more relaxing, with the first 3 weekends spent at home in Houston. Then its off to Louisiana for Thanksgiving and, more importantly, the LSU vs. Arkansas game. Can I get a "Geaux Tigers"?
It'll be my first game back in Death Valley since graduating 3 years ago and I cannot wait! Then the next weekend it is off to San Francisco for a mini-vacay with the hubs!

My Everest

Back in August I mentioned that I had made two "new years resolutions", one of which was to read two books a month. I've actually been doing surprisingly well with this; a whole lot better than my 'one new recipe a week' goal. After I finished my first book of October on October 3rd, I decided it was time for a challenge.

I had long ago abandoned Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series after it took me 6 months to finish The Fiery Cross, Book 5 of the historic series. So on October 4th I continued the saga with Book 6, A Breathe of Snow and Ashes; a 1158 page novel set in the years directly preceding the American Revolution.

1158 pages. Of teeny tiny itsby bitsy print. And I don't get a break at the start of a new chapter either. Nope, new chapters start a few lines down on the same page as the last chapter. So when I say 1158 pages, I mean it- Bible style.

I figured out that to finish this book by Halloween, I will have to read 45 pages a day. Due to the small print, this roughly averages out to an hour a day of reading. Currently I am only about 60 pages behind, but being as though we're coming off of a rainy reading filled weekend, that's not a good sign. But I am determined to finish by October 31st (says the girl who gave up on The Pillars of the Earth on about page 1137). It will be a long, difficult, and time consuming journey, but I believe that am up to the task (unless there is something better on TV). As Joey Tribiani would say, this is my Everest.
Reading Log:

August: Molokai by Alan Brennert and The Secret Daughter by Shilpu Somaya Gowda

September: Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay, Room by Emma Donoghue* and Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

October: Never Let Me Go* by Kazuo Ishiguro and A Breath of Snow And Ashes by Diana Gabaldon

* indicates books that you should read immediately.

Celebrity Look Alike

The other day my husband bestowed upon me the highest compliment in the land. While watching The Other Woman starring Natalie Portman, he turned to me and said "She kind of looks like you". Now while my delusional ego will admit that there is a slight resemblance in our eyes, I'm pretty sure my husband's association came more from the fact that her hair in that particular scene looked like this:

While Natalie can easily pull off what I refer to as 'rat's nest', it's not always the most flattering look on me. Let's be honest, this girl can pull of any hair (or lack there of) style.

I am not so fortunate.

(Me, doing my best Natalie impersonation.)

Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

NEEDTOBREATHE

I have a new favorite band. I'm not sure how I went so long without discovering NEEDTOBREATHE, but I am mourning for the time I've spent without them in my life. I'm making up for lost time by listening to them over and over in my usual compulsive way. However, I am showing some restraint by only buying one album at a time in order to prevent myself from becoming so sick of them by November that I have to remove them from my i-pod enitrely (RIP Grand Magnolias).

If you are out of the music loop like I am, NEEDTOBREATHE reminds me of a cross between Kings of Leon and Ray Lamontagne, with a little Tom Petty/Maroon 5/Gavin DeGraw swagger thrown in. They have that distinctly southern rock vibe that sounds great live in college town venues. Or riding in your car on a crisp fall day with the windows rolled down. Or through your headphones, during an energizing sunrise run.

Take a leap of faith and download their music. Trust me on this one.

"Days, they force you down under those covers,
Lazy mornings, they multiply
Glory's waiting right outside your window
wake up from your slumber, Baby open up your eyes" -NEEDTOBREATHE, "Slumber"

How to save a drowning iphone

It was the perfect Saturday. Cooler morning temperatures led to a perfect run followed by perfect laying out weather. I enjoyed a good hour of reading on the dock of Lake Conroe before scoring big on a new fall wardrobe at Old Navy during an unbelievable sale. On Saturday night, LSU scored 47 points in their win against West Virginia, solidifying their argument that they should be ranked #1 in the nation. What more could I ask for from a day other than an invigorating run, reading a cheesy book under the shade of a floppy hat, a good sale, and a Tiger stomping?

Of course, I’ve lived with my luck long enough to know that such a wonderful trend could not last. My run Sunday was hot and muggy and there was no time for laying out in the morning, since we had to be on our way back to Houston at 9:30 AM. In my rush to get ready/pack up the car, the most tragic thing happened. While blow-drying my hair, I heard something plop into the toilet. Figuring my mascara had rolled off the counter; I casually glanced over and to my horror, saw my i-phone sitting in the bottom of a watery grave.

After quickly retrieving it from the toilet I promptly yelled for my husband’s assistance. His two instructions to me were 1) do not turn it off, and 2) store it in a cool dry place for a few hours. I operated under this assumption for the next 3 hours until my i-phone finally shut itself off.

After it flatlined, I consulted the internet about what the best course of action is when your i-phone is on suicide watch for trying to off itself in the toilet. Basically, Google instructed me to do exactly the opposite of what my husband had said.

So, if your i-phone ever leaps 2 feet from the bathroom counter into the toilet, DO NOT keep it on and DO NOT store it in a cool, dry place. Instead you need to, 1) Turn it off 2) put it in a bag of rice, and 3) keep it in a very hot place in order to evaporate the water quickly. I took these steps about 5 hours after the drowning incident, and apparently I was about 5 hours too late. My i-phone has now been cooking in the hot Texas sun for 2 days now, but still shows no signs of life. Perhaps if I had only acted sooner to save my dear friend, he’d still be checking my email today.

And though I am completely devastated at the loss of my beloved phone, I’m really glad I found a way to blame this whole thing on Jonathan.