(no subject)

Dear Ohio,
I am sorry for your raging blizzard. I know how sick you must be of winter by now.

My mom sent pictures of how bad things are. My friend is trapped in her house because she can't clear the driveway enough to get her car out.

And here, I am texting her about how we are mowing the lawn today.

Ohio...you will always be my home. But I'm glad I left you.

With Love from a Distance,
Karyn

Busy Saturday

Lance and I have been pretty busy all day, as he's had a few things on his to-do list to get finished before he leaves tomorrow.

We went out to wash his truck and fill it up with gas (he's worried about gas being even more expensive by the time he gets back, so he figured he would have a full tank when he gets home so he won't have to worry about it right away). Then we stopped at an auto parts store to get a locking gas cap for his truck...people have been siphoning gas, and he's worried about someone doing it to him if they see his truck parked in the driveway all the time.

We got gas for our gas can too, and Lance got the lawn mower assembled and put the oil and gas in it. He just finished mowing the lawn (I started the mower, and it was really easy to start, so I was happy about that).

Before that, though, he put up the curtain rod over the back door. I had some spare IKEA curtains from our house in Germany and hung them up, but they are almost 2 feet too long for that window. I'm not hemming them. I can't sew worth crap, and I'm even useless at using that iron-on hemming tape (which came with the curtains). So we're just going to get new curtains. I had Lance hang the rod 84 inches from the floor, so that's the size we'll get. There are some at Penney's that I like, and they're half off right now. So since we're driving up to Northgate tonight to eat at Macaroni Grill for dinner (Lance has never eaten there before and has been dying to try it, and wants to drive up there tonight even though it's clear across town), we'll stop in at Penney's and pick up the curtains.

I think he's pretty much done with all the really important stuff that needed doing. Except for packing. He hasn't finished that yet.

(no subject)

Oh Barnes & Noble, how I both love and loathe your bargain books section.

*sigh*

Lance and I went there after dinner tonight. No reason really, except it was there and I haven't stepped foot in a bookstore for some time.

Dinner was good by the way. I do miss the Italian restaurants in Europe. They are so much more authentic, whereas here, they just throw together a bunch of Italian ingredients to make "Italian" dishes, and I don't think they really resemble anything you would actually eat in Italy. Exceptions to this are lasagna, fettuccine alfredo, and spaghetti with meat sauce.

I had Marsala Chicken Ravioli. Tasty. It was ravioli stuffed with grilled chicken, smothered in a marsala wine sauce, and dressed with crumbled cooked proscuitto, asparagus, and parmesan cheese.

While we were eating, Lance talked about going back to Italy. He wants to see Venice again. I am done with Venice. I told him I would rather do Rome or Florence. We basically planned out our next trip to Europe...where we would go...but it won't be for a long long time. We know that we're definitely going back to England though. And almost certainly Sweden.

Anyway, back to Barnes & Noble. The store there is two stories, so I wanted to check it out, having never been in a 2-story Barnes & Noble store before. There's nothing particularly special about this one, as it doesn't really have more selection just because it has 2 floors. But just try and keep me out of a bookstore anyway.

And so I caved and got 2 bargain books. Couldn't resist them.

First there was Hunger's Brides by Paul Anderson. The sheer size of this book and the cover caught my eye simultaneously. It's a 1400 page, absolutely massive hardback...very heavy and could probably be used as a lethal weapon. Reading the summary on the inside of the cover, I was incredibly intrigued. And for $7...well, damn.

But of course, I didn't stop there. I spotted The Memoirs of Helen of Troy by Amanda Elyot, and having just read her novel about Mary Robinson, I had to get it. For $5, how could I not? The Pre-Raphaelite painting on the cover was hard not to notice.

Lance rolled his eyes and then we headed up the escalator to the humor section. But he didn't get himself anything, even though I told him he would want something to read for his long journey to Oklahoma City tomorrow.

Speaking of long journeys...I-5 Southbound on the North end of Seattle was INSANE on the way home. Bumper to bumper. On a Saturday evening. What was that about? Surely it wasn't a Sonics game.

Oh, right now for curledup.com, I am reading a novel about the French Revolution. On the one hand, the plot makes for interesting reading. On the other, I find the dialogue to be irritating. Some of it doesn't seem to ring true at all.