Happy birthday to me!

I don't know why, but twenty-three feels like an old number. It's such a serious sounding number. When I say "I'm twenty-three" I feel like what I'm really saying is "I have a college degree, a career, and a professional wardrobe, I go to bed early, and I can no longer related to those crazy kids. Would you be interested in hearing my five year plan?"

Ehh, that's ok...at least twenty-three is more interesting than twenty-two. All twenty-two said was, "I'm divisible by eleven!"

I apologize, folks. I had several topics in mind I wanted to write about, and any one of them would probably have been more interesting than "Katie's psychology of numbers."

I was going to tell you that I have started scrapbooking our wedding pictures. It's the easiest scrapbook I've ever made, because the pictures are so gorgeous, they don't need any embellishment! I can't wait to finish it so that finally, more than a year after my wedding, I will be able to show off my pictures. Except now people probably don't care about my pictures anymore. Darnit!

Also, I made fresh salsa the other night, and it was so good I made it again. Then I realized that both times I had made it I left out an ingredient (same ingredient both times). So, I like the way it tastes, which should lead me to conclude that it's good, it doesn't need improving, and I should just enjoy it the way it is. Instead, every time I eat the salsa I start to wonder, "What if what I think is great really is great, but it's not as great as something greater?" (I copped that quote from a movie...anyone know which one?).
I've decided I'll have to make it correctly at least one time, just to set my wandering taste buds to rest once and for all.

Josh and I discovered that there is a 10,000 Villages store here in Nashville. We went in to explore because Josh didn't know what it was. It turned out that they were having an "Earth Friendly Entertaining Event", and there was a drawing accompanying said event, which I (actually Josh) won, and I got a free cookbook out of the deal! I was excited because it was a $22 cookbook, and so regardless of whether it's any good or not--but I'm sure at least some of it will be--I still won $22.

Josh and I have started exploring Nashville on the weekends. We aren't completely consistent, but we're trying to find something new to see or do every weekend. This weekend we're going to the Farmer's Market. I've been asking him to take me for a while. Maybe the next time I write I'll have stories about our ecologically friendly adventure!

This and that...shouldn't I be in bed right now?

No answers to the above question; it's almost 10 pm, Josh thinks I might be getting sick, I have to get up early for work in the morning...fabulous! It's the perfect time to start writing!

By now you probably all know this, but our Labor Day weekend wasn't what we'd expected. We ended up spending the weekend in Houston for my grandfather's funeral. He will be missed, but this isn't "goodbye", just "see you later". I expect when we do meet again he'll have a smile and a joke, just like always.

In the meantime, it was good to see family last weekend, even under the circumstances. I'm thankful for the extra time in Houston, but I've learned that one weekend is just enough time to remind you how much you miss your family but not enough time to really get to see them much. When will they learn that they need to move to Nashville?! I tossed around the whole "move to Houston" idea that everyone keeps suggesting, but really, if you've been to both cities and you are able to compare, Nashville is just a nicer town. Even considering how great Texas is, it's nice to live in a city that has more than one city park. And the people are nicer. Living in TN has shown me just how un-southern Houston truly is (and I can't speak for the rest of TX, but I have my suspicions).

Of course, the great thing about Houston is the people who are in it, so I'm working on a plan to transplant all of my favorite people to one spot, sort of like a mini-rapture. You'll know if I ever get it to work, but you might want to have some bags packed just in case.

Considering that I just compared myself to God, I don't think this particular post can go anywhere good, and if I continued with the above line of thought I would probably end up writing things like, "take, read, the words of my blog!" and "those who read my words and ignore her who wrote them will not be my friend and will not be included in the coming rapture."

Yes, it's probably good that I ended the post before I wrote anything sacreligious like that.

P.S. If you're scared of lightning, you may not want to sleep to close to me tonight.

Domestic Goddess/Fabulous Prize Winner

Pride may be a sin, but I cooked a great dinner this weekend and I feel like bragging about it. Josh and I had the house to ourselves and we spent all weekend doing exactly what we wanted (for Josh this was watching 24, for me it was cooking). I made Sopa Tlalpena--even the name impresses you, doesn't it? It's basically tortilla soup, but I made it from scratch--stock and everything! I know my dear husband would eat anything I set in front of him, even if it was spaghetti noodles covered in pancake syrup, but this was good. But wait, there's more! For dessert I made a lemon cheesecake with a cherry fruit topping, and you couldn't even tell it was low-fat. You can trust me on that; my mother raised me right--no cool whip!

Ok, now I'm starting to feel bad--this is getting to be way to much of a self-love-fest. Ok, one more thing...I won a radio prize today. Can you unscramble this celebrity anagram?

"Here Silly Maniac"

I can! I won a gift card to Captain D's (enjoy, Josh, my seafood loving husband) and one to the Libscomb Univ. bookstore. I checked out their website, and no, I will not be forced to spend it on textbooks and "Go Lipscomb" clothing. They have other books as well.

Oh yes, Josh and I are going camping on labor day weekend. This is exciting for several reasons, which I will now list out for you:
1) We have never been camping with each other.
2) This is the first time we've gone on vacation since our honeymoon.
3) We get to use one of our wedding presents for the first time (a fabulous picnic grill from Aunt Lorri and Uncle Jody--but our apartment complex wouldn't let us use it)
4) We are going to Kentucky, and I have never been to Kentucky.
5) Josh is going to teach me how to kayak.
6) We are going to use the new tent Josh got for his birthday.
I'm making Josh exercise with me every night so I can get in shape for all the rugged outdoor activities I will be partaking in. I'm just trying to figure out how to go camping and wear cute outfits at the same time. I mean, I am going to be taking pictures--I can't just wear any old t-shirt and shorts, now can I?

Ok, I think I've talked about myself enough for now! So, if you will excuse me, I have to go powder my nose.

My blog is fabulous now!

See?

Sometimes when I sit down in my office chair I want to reach for my seatbelt.

It's true. And then I remember that I'm not in my car. And lately I'm starting to worry my hiney is going to become attached to my seat. I need to get some exercise! The worst part of working is sitting in one place all day. Of course, today is worse than usual because I had an abnormally large lunch of fried chicken and all the good southern sides that go with (office birthdays=free food). Can somebody just roll me out the door to my car please? I don't even think I ate that much, but with all the butter and carbs in a good southern meal--you don't have to to start reeling from all the good food. One of these days I should get Josh to take me down to Savannah, so we can check out Ms. Deen's restaurant (there's a reason that woman looks so happy all the time, and it's not prozac, and I want some of it!).

But there's more to life than food...Josh and I have been working through the study "Men are Like Waffles, Women are Like Spaghetti" and it's so good. The study has already helped us with some of our biggest communication issues.

And speaking of spaghetti, Josh and I got an Olive Garden gift card from a couple we dogsat for. Yea! Can you say date night? So, my loyal reader, are there any good movies out we should go see?

Funny story about that dogsitting experience. We were watching two dogs. One was named Leo. And the other was named...well, we forgot to ask. So after about a day we got sick of saying "hey dog" so we just started calling him Blackie (it was a black dog--we were very creative). After a couple of hours he warmed up to his new name quite nicely and answered to it all week long. When "Blackie's" owners came back from vacation we told them the story. Guess what his real name was? Max. Only the most popular dog name around. But did Josh and I guess that? No. In true Katie and Josh fashion, we had to come up with our own creative solution. Oh well...life's more interesting that way!

Well reader, thanks for visiting. I needed to get a little stream of consciousness out of my...um...conscious.

I'm not naming my posts for you people.

Oops...too late I guess. Let's face it. My blog is pretty low on your reading priority list. You are probably more interested in the quints or the fabulous vacation pictures. However, I will valiantly write on, knowing that as long as I don't have pictures of cute babies, I will be writing for myself. I suppose I could come up with a clever idea for a funny blog and then I would have widespread blogging fame and fortune. Who am I kidding, though? Being funny is like trying to invent something. Whatever joke you make or idea you come up with--somebody else has made the joke first. You have Robin Williams to thank for that, most likely.

I'm not much of a philosopher, but in today's thoughts: I was reading an article about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and I started thinking--what do you think it's like for the children they adopt? I wonder if it feels surreal to go straight from complete obscurity into the world's most famous (and probably richest) family. Most kids get adopted into a "normal" family but these kids get dropped straight into the lap of luxury. And they didn't really get a say in it--Brad and Angelina did, but the kids didn't. I wonder how that feels. Ehh--the world will never know.

Any news on the Krebs front? Not really. An issue with the post office, a fridge that has no food in it, and lunch with an old friend today (Hi, Alaina!). Josh had a birthday, and we bought him pants and a tent. Yes, I am earning major wife points for volunteering to go camping. I have also recently earned wife points for making several classic rock references in one conversation, and also for saying "Let's watch all of the old Indiana Jones movies before the new one comes out!" I'm pretty sure when the phrase "Indiana Jones marathon" came out of my mouth Josh fell in love with me all over again.

That's enough for today. The national attention span is very short now, and you have probably already moved on to today's lunch menu.

Why haven't I posted in awhile?

Among other reasons, I forgot the email address that was on the account. I'm at work currently, but I'll be back. Unless I forget my email address again.