Trips. But without acid.

I'm dying to get out of Dodge this month. I have a trip planned for April--Boise, under the guise of something educational but really to see Tristin and my Godson--but I haven't left the state in March. And it's time.

I was talking to myself over the last couple of days and I've decided that I need to see Alaska. I keep wanting to live there for no sane reason and I think it's time to debunk my desire. I'm planning on doing this by driving from Missoula to Anchorage (because Prudhoe Bay is just too damn far and I'll hit the Arctic Circle in Norway later in life) and back.

Now all I need is someone to split gas costs with.

Takers? Come now, you know you wanna!

In defense of my couch...

Ok. That's unrelated. But it was a funny conversational snippet. Kind of like, "Someone stab my frog!"

Did you know that when you're single, sometimes you can take the *entire* day to clean your house? Really. That's what I'm doing today. I'm listening to The Office and Buffy the Vampire Slayer while hanging out my windows to get the perfect spring sheen.

Later, I may get really, really crazy and scrub down the shower.

Can you hear my internal 'yippee?'

Oh, hi there! It's me again.

I'm so sorry for the long absences. I keep going deeper inside myself the closer I get to this huge testing date in May. Which testing date?

Oh. That's right. I never blog anymore.

I'm taking the SPHR certification in May. It's a big deal because if I manage to finish that and my B.S. degree in August, I'll be just about done with school.

When I say 'just about' I mean, "Done if I don't decide to do law school."

Anyway, I'm boring right now! I wake up, put on 'new' pajama pants, study, eat some, study, play with the cat or dog, study, eat and then go back to sleep. Sometimes I get really crazy and I watch Hulu or play with my niece. It's quite boring!

Except for the part where a guy friend of mine did move in for a bit. Just a couple of months. And so my closet is all restricted. Oh, the stories I could tell about merging households --even temporarily. Suffice it to say, BUY A NEW PLACE TOGETHER! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MERGE!

Other things I managed to do while I was gone include Mardi Gras, plan a Single Adult activity for Missoula and possibly adopt a dog.

Maybe I'm not so boring after all.

But until I decide that for real, here are some photos to hold you over.

A Tradition is Born

I can't begin to describe how in love with Mardi Gras I am. The first day we were here we went to the inaugural parade of Ocean City, Mississippi. My camera was nearly dead but I managed to grab this shot of a door wreath...

We got some fantastic beads which started our quest to double our bead count at every parade. I will tell you, after Mobile yesterday we are going to have to get BUSY at the next parade.

Yesterday we went to Bellingrath Gardens and had a fantastic time before heading into Mobile, AL for oysters and parade fun. Here are a couple of highlight photos with descriptions to follow.

If Michael Jackson can dub himself the 'King of Pop'...

Then I'm perfectly content dubbing myself "Queen of the Idiots." I have to say I'm really quite content with my life. I enjoy my apartment. I love my family being near me and I'm fearing that addictive force may keep me in Montana far past my planned stay here--we'll see. But when all is going so well I just have to throw in a little spice to keep myself off kilter. This particular spice always comes in a 'man' flavor. It's really quite amusing how predictable I am.

My favorite saying, or one of them, is "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."

And yet...

See? Go get ready for my coronation.

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart.

Darling Apartment,

I can't believe it's been a year! I love that our anniversary gives me an additional reason to celebrate February 14th. Today I carefully swept and mopped your floors after repainting the cabinets. I could feel that you were happy with the facelift. At your request, I'll wait until you're fully healed to post pictures. I know it's gushy to write to you publicly like this and you'll probably be upset at me but I don't care! I must shout my love for you from the rooftops! I couldn't be happier to have a partner like you in my life. You're amazingly comforting, you're warm and you look dang good in red!

Just know, my love, that my heart is yours. I don't even *look* at others since I met you. I know we're not promised forever but I hope we can take every beautiful day at a time, appreciating the time we've been given.

With all my heart and most of my income,

Stephanie

Sing a happy song! January is O.V.E.R!

I'm sorry for the absence. I was busy you see. I was channeling my inner-Tina-Fey and telling January to "Suck it!" Turns out yesterday, it finally gave in!

The trial didn't go the way of Alycia's family. And, in case he has Google Alerts on his name, Dr. Brent Lee of Fair Oaks Anesthesia Associates was found 'not guilty' in the wrongful death of my friend. Dr. Lee, you know what? I will always think that you were the axle in the wheel of incompetence that killed my friend. I would wish bad things on you, I would. And often do, actually. But I won't put them in writing. I just want you to know that it's obvious to any thinking person that you were just trying to avoid getting your ass sued for any rash action. The nurses there that night told me so. Your body language told me so. There's fault all around, yes. We both know it. A guy who says his passion is 'war surgery' should be far more daring. You screwed up. You were afraid. And because of that, you killed my friend. I hope you always remember. And, if nothing else, I hope it changed you in some small way.

And that's all I have to say about that.

February is going to be spent finishing up my semester and adjusting to a few changes. But my taxes are done! And my semester soon will be! So, overall, not a bad start to the year. And by 'start' I mean February 1. Because January really should be abolished.