Merry Christmas!!

Hope you had a happy one!!

quote of the season

“Do you feel like it’s Christmas, or do you feel like you want to cut your head off?” – Shannon

 

Now that I’m home, I feel like it’s Christmas, but earlier today….that’s a different story. Good riddance, TWE (at least for 5 days)….

 

You too, ShanNON! Have a good one!!

Deep breath

Only 3 more days until Christmas! I'm feeling tired/excited/anxious all at the same time. It's been a long (though productive) week, and I am ready to relax with the husband tomorrow night before the family craziness commences.

Had a slightly stressful conversation with the maternal unit today. I know Christmas is hard for her (and it was evident on the phone), but I really did not have the emotional energy to deal with it tonight. I started feeling all guilty/responsible/can't-say-no (as usual), but Craig helped me draw the line I was having trouble drawing myself. And I feel a lot better about it now.

As of today, Brian is coming down with them and I'm super excited about that. Can it be possible that I haven't seen my brother since my wedding? 2 1/2 years? God, it sounds absurd, but I think that might be right. I really hope he doesn't bail at the last minute like he did last year. Scott is in California having a fabulous time, but I'll miss not seeing him. I can't wait to do the Santa thing with Gracie again :) (Christmas is so much more fun with little kids around!)

Just one more day of work...If I can get through two chapters and a handful of small loose ends to tie up before 2:00, I'll be home free for 4 days--yay!! This week has been extremely exhausting (12 chapters in 4 days--a new record for me--in addition to having one of those Carla conversations that knocked the wind out of me) and I am ready for this break :)

Working hard or hardly working?

What does it look like to you?

life is busy...

...but it's time to catch up on the blog!

Strange/new experiences I've had lately:

• Got an empty envelope in the mail. It contained a letter when it left California, but lost it somewhere along the way. That was a first.
• Went gay bar clubbing. Had a fabulous time.
• Got a tongue-kiss from a friend’s dog. Ew.

Life has been very good, very exciting, and very much a whirlwind lately. (not that the bullets above are necessarily all examples of this. The dog kiss especially was unexpected, yet I would describe it as neither “good” nor “exciting.” It was, however, a whirlwind. I had two dogs jumping on me at once in an overwhelmingly enthusiastic greeting and everything happened very quickly.)

More after the holidays, I expect…

orange

Is it just me, or is there still a ghost of orange above the description box to the right, above my profile?

Maybe I'm just orange-a-phobic. Whose idea was it to put orange and pink in the same template, anyway? Who thinks those colors look good together? Anyone?

on a more positive note...

Okay, so that last post sounded kind of pouty. In an effort to resist completely mel-ing out, I’m going to be honest about one thing concerning this experience—it truly has been an exercise in depending on God instead of people (“people” being “Craig” in this situation). That’s one of the things I’ve been praying for, and God has answered that prayer. But there’s a funny thing about praying for things like patience, refined character, or a deeper dependence on God—when God answers, it hurts!! Why can’t there be a painless way of getting those things? I guess when your hope starts growing into the wrong thing, it hurts to have it ripped away.

Anyway, I felt like I needed to acknowledge the positive side, because it’s been very real and very cool. Painful, but cool. Doesn’t mean I’m not still sad and it sure doesn’t mean I’m not still struggling, but God is faithful. He’s cool like that :) Maybe when Craig comes home I’ll appreciate him a little more and need him a little less. That would be sweet.

it's hump day

The orange line is gone--yay! I am an html genius! (haha, hardly...)

Two days, 15 hours, 30-some minutes until Craig is home. (But who's counting?)

Holiday Status (aka "the H-stat"):

• Christmas shopping: mostly done
• Gift wrapping: not started
• Craft-ish gifts (ie. requiring sewing or knitting): almost done, but my eyes and back are killing me.
• Christmas tree: still standing. for now.

I'm getting a massage tomorrow. I decided I deserve it. The past week and a half have been harder than I anticipated. I know, I know, single friends...no sympathy from you. I get it. Don't ask if you don't want to know the truth. I'm sad. I think I'm allowed. :(

new look part 2

Just kidding, I fixed the orange background. But I still can’t figure out how to get rid of the orange bar—any ideas?

 

Is it Saturday yet?

new look

So I was inspired by April's seasonally decorated blog to change up my look a bit. (Although, if someone can tell me the html secret to changing that orange background on my description box, I'd appreciate it...)

Temporary bachelorettehood is agreeing with me so far. I miss Craig (a lot), but I'm keeping busy and making good use of my time, which I was hoping I could do. I'm excited to see him Saturday, so I'm hoping this last week goes by quickly.

The Christmas shopping is almost done--woo-hoo!! Who knew getting a head start and having a strategy would make such a difference?

A tree, a book, and an empty house

Wow, over a week--I need to get on the ball with this thing!

So Craig left for Florida yesterday and I already miss him a whole lot :( I'll survive, but it's hard not to be sad. I know I won't have a problem keeping busy...keeping occupied is one way to keep myself from thinking and being sad, but it's also a good way to burn myself out. So, let's try not to revert back to my "old ways" of stuffing my life so full of activity that I don't ever rest and get any down time. These two weeks of temporary singleness will be over before I know it.

Last night Adrienne came over and helped me put up the tree and decorate the house. The downstairs is all lit and festive (I wanted to post a picture of it, but our camera battery is finally officially dead, and the charger is still at the house in Traverse City. Bummer!). This is Mika's first Christmas tree, and she's been very curious and exploratory. Let's hope it stays standing...

Ooh ooh, I have a new book to recommend: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Excellent so far! I was wary of reading it, because everyone talked about it like it was so disturbing and creepy, but that's a bunch of baloney. Yeah, it's about a girl who gets murdered, but it's not as dark and depressing as everyone made it sound. We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates and My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult were both 10x more depressing/disturbing, so if you have a morbid fascination with those kinds of books, read them! Good books, but dark.

GO BUCKS!!!

Fight the team across the field

Show them Ohio's here

(We've got the team why don't we)

Set the Earth reverberating

With a mighty cheer

RAH! RAH! RAH!

Hit them hard and see how they fall

Never let that team get the ball

Hail! Hail! The gang's all here

So let's beat that Michigan now!

I just realized Shannon's McGraw-Hill ID badge is showing in that picture--haha!!!

Bichons

Here, ShanNON. Is this one better?

Happy hour...

...is just not the same without the rest of the bichons.

C.R.A.Z.Y.

Is it the weekend yet? I'm going crazy. I know it's not TWE's fault that
things are sucking so much lately, but it's hard not to hate it anyway,
sometimes. I. can't. wait. until. this. project. is. over. I actually
had someone walk out of a meeting today, she was so frustrated. Just got
up and walked out. I wish I could do that with this project sometimes.

But Thanksgiving is next week--yay! I'm super excited about that.
However, Craig's leaving for Orlando the weekend after Thanksgiving, and
then I'll be all alone for two weeks :( I'm going to be so bored, so
beware--I'll probably be calling and begging some of you to hang out
with me!

[Untitled]

My unfaithful heart
mourns the loss of its idols,
feeling them ripped from my skin
(like Achan—did the gold burn under his stolen robe?
When his clothes were stripped away with his lies,
did it sear his skin to have to give it up?)
Approval…validation…admiration
torn away
scorn, contempt
left in their place,
like sulfur in a wound split open.
Is this Your wound?
Do You break that you may heal?
Or will You leave me this way,
naked and alone?
But I know You better than that.
Still I accuse You of cruelty,
sobbing behind my bloody hands,
raw from where they held the stolen treasure
held it so close and so tightly,
it felt like part of me;
raw from where it had become part of me,
connected and vital,
(torn away)
giving and taking life
Or was it only taking?
Stealing from me?
How could I have thought it was good?
How could it have been bad when it felt…
Why do I feel cut in two,
and You say it’s for my good?
Why?
I look down at my aching hands
bleeding wrists
clean hands
clean hands?
Wrists circled and wounded,
raw
not from a treasure that served me
but from chains that held me
bound me
the chains that had become a part of my skin,
tearing it away when you cut them off,
cut me free

Desperate Housewives--OMG

Did anyone else see it? I wanted to cry at the end. If you're a DH fan, I want to know what you think.

1. Will Mike forgive Susan?

2. Will Bree find out the truth about George and how her husband died?

3. Will Lynette be able to handle the working world for the whole season, or will she be back at home with her kids by the end?

4. Gabrielle--who is her baby daddy?

Oh, and you can take the Desperate Housewives Quiz to find out which character you are.

Update

Time to get back into consistent updates of this thing. So what's been new lately?

• We painted our livingroom. Well, almost. The new furniture was not going with the blue very well, so we switched to an olive green-ish color. Craig got most of it done Monday on his day off, but the front wall is still splotchy. One spot is still mostly blue, but with a big green blob in the middle. We talked about taking some brown left over from the basement and painting a trunk, so we'd have a little tree on the wall...the blue and green make it look very nature-y. (just kidding. obviously.)
• I finally saw "Serenity" after having 3 different coworkers tell me it was awesome. It's very good, if you like sci-fi....which I don't, necessarily...but I still liked it.
• We got free Funny Bone tickets again, and we're going this weekend. Fun!! I love the Funny Bone. Especially when it's free.

I guess that's about it...not a whole lot of excitement. I can't believe it's November already. November! And it's supposed to be 70 today :) The weekend is here!

Eternal Perspective

So, it's Friday! Again. Already. Is it just me, or have the weeks been
flying by? I mean, I'm excited about the weekend being here, but
sometimes I have to stop and think "What have I done in the past month?
How have I been spending my time? Am I investing in the things that are
important to me, or am I just maintaining? Functioning? Living for the
weekend?"

I want to spend my time and energy investing in the things that really
matter--People. God. (Eternal things.) A friend and I had breakfast this
morning and we were talking about our homework for the class we're
taking. Somehow the topic of values came up, and the difference between
the things God says are valuable and the things the world says are
valuable. It's funny how self-contradicting we are. How
self-contradicting I am. I know what I think my values are...what I want
my values to be. I want to value things that last more than I value
things that don't last. I want to value people more than tasks,
accomplishments, money, or my own comfort. I want to value God, learning
His word, and getting to know Him better more than I value my own
reputation, my own self-promotion. I know that these are things that are
important to me, but soooo often the way I live my life betrays the
reality of my own heart. I spend my time, energy, and thought life
seeking the things that do not matter--the approval of others, lack of
conflict in relationships (at the expense of real intimacy), and
material comfort.

I read this article last week called Values Transformation. It had
questions to ask yourself that are meant to uncover your actual values
(not just what you think you value or what you want to value, but what
you truly value). It was very eye-opening. At the same time, however, it
gave me hope--I can choose to act consistently with what I know is
valuable, making time for the things that do matter, and giving less of
myself to the things that don't. (Jewel: "Lend your voices only to
sounds of freedom...no longer lend your strength to that which you wish
to be free from...")

I read a quote recently from Goethe that was something like "That which
matters most must never be at the mercy of that which matters least."
That's how I want to live! That's what the Bible calls living wisely and
not foolishly--the fool throws his days away and never lifts his eyes
from himself and his own little bubble long enough to discover the true
fulfillment of investing in things that matter. Things that last.

We can lead lives of real meaning! Real purpose! Isn't that cool? I love
that God values us so highly that He gives us the opportunity to live a
life that really matters. I don't want to waste that.

It's freezing outside

Okay, so it’s definitely fall now. I wish I was on vacation like Libby! It’s not freezing-butt-cold where she is, I’m sure.

Check out my famous Aunt Carol! She’s the bomb!

new driver's license

25^th birthday = new driver’s license = new driver’s license photo

My face looks yellow, my eyes look kinda scared, and I’m tilting to the left. My right eye looks bigger than my left eye, maybe because the circle hologram-thing is right on top of it, giving me this lopsided, bug-eyed look. Or maybe it’s due to the tilt-factor. I’ve got the cheesy smile thing going on, but because of the bulging, frightened eyes, the “smile” looks more like a threatened grizzly bear baring its teeth.

Pour me a drink, bartender—here’s my ID. Yes, I promise that’s me, even though it looks like a jaundiced, bug-eyed wild animal falling sideways out of its chair….

New link

Hope you didn't have trouble finding me--I thought it was time to change it up a bit. Also, even though blogs are quite public, it's nice to feel some kind of sense of privacy, you know?

I am NOT super sensitive!

……am I?

Not a lot going on lately. I haven't updated because I've been too busy watching Desperate Housewives. I never watched it last season, but now I'm getting into it and have been watching rented DVDs from last year to get caught up. It is addicting! Even Craig likes it. Ah, television...

loving vs needing

"It's not your job to make everyone like you."

This is advice I received today at work. Well-intentioned advice. Advice from a friend.

Advice I have heard before, and yet am constantly struggling to apply to my life.

And not only is it not my job at McGraw-Hill to make everyone like me, it's not something God expects of me either. My heart wants to live a life of loving people--this is my "job," in a sense. How is it that my sincere attempts to love people can so quickly be warped into attempts to gain their acceptance? I want to love people--I don't want to need people to like me. Sometimes when you're really loving people, it will make them not like you. It sounds bass-ackwards, but it's true. If someone has a destructive habit, they may not like you if you try to show them the damage they are causing, but it certainly wouldn't be loving to help them continue hurting themselves.

"Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?" - Paul, (Galatians 4:16)

"It's not your job to make everyone like you."

When will I stop being such an approval addict and start choosing to love people, regardless of the cost?

Show You Love (Jars of Clay)
Speak-
say the words that no one else will ever say
Love-
love like the world we know is over in a day

I'm gonna show you love in every language
I'm gonna speak with words that need no form
I'm gonna give you what you never had before

You're beautiful
and I'm weakened by the force of Your eyes
so shine bright to separate the truth from the lies
I'm gonna show you love

So tie me to a tree and let the smoke and ash collect
No, I won't regret to let love do what love will let
We can drown in mixed emotions
or walk an angry sea
this is the cost of being free

Quiz

What cute little animal are YOU?

I am a: Lamb!

Peaceful and gentle, lambs have been used in religious imagery for millennia. Lambs are baby sheep, an animal tended by shephards since the dawn of history. As a lamb, you tend to stay together in a flock and graze on grassy land. Lambs don't mind being led and tend not to go off on their own.

I almost was a: Bunny or a Frog
I am least like a: Parakeet or a SquirrelWhat Cute Animal Are You?

Christmas shopping

So today I'm starting my Christmas shopping. This is a new Dalton record, and frankly, I'm proud of us! We're on a budget this year, so the other day we sat down and made out our lists, and today I'm getting started. Woo-hoo! Yay for fall and the approaching holiday season!

Started a new Xenos class this morning....Christian Growth. I'm so excited! I love taking classes, and this will be my first full-length Xenos class, so I'm not sure what to expect. I have a lot of information in my head, so I think I'll take some reading material with me to the mall, find a spot to sit, and try to do some processing....

Song

Okay, so I'm a song lyric-poster whenever I hear something that strikes a chord with how I'm feeling on a certain day. I heard this one in the car on the way home and made me pause and reflect, so I thought I'd share it. (I don't know why there are random words capitalized--I just copied and pasted it from another source)

"Love So Divine" (Smalltown Poets)
In the shadow of my days
When comfort is so far away
And hope is on the Cross
I lift mine eyes and wholly gaze
Upon the Savior's perfect Face
What mercy Love hath brought
My every hope and fear
Is resting here
With Thee

Chasing through a selfish maze
Of reckless and uncertain days
Our God pursues each heart
And tests even the purest thought
For hope built not upon His Rock
What grace His Love imparts
My every hope and fear
Is captured here

Chorus:
Take what is mine
I couldn't change the smallest part of me
Make me wholly Thine
Love so divine
Saves every part of me
All of me

My one hope in Thee remains
Thy Spirit everyday sustains
Oh, risen Lamb of God
I lift my voice to sing Thy praise
With all the saints redeemed by grace
What mercy Love hath brought
My every hope and fear
Is gathered here

Chorus

When at the final trumpet cry
I'm caught up to my Savior's Side
What joy our hearts shall find
And on that day of Glory I
Will recognize my heart's desire
My God, how great Thou art
My every hope and fear is raptured here

Chorus

I lift my voice to sing Thy praise
With all Thy saints redeemed by grace
With all my heart, with all my mind
With everything I am You know

Memory Lane

I was looking through old college quote lists and some were cracking me up. So I thought I'd share them, for a fun trip down memory lane. (Yeah, I know, I started a sentence with a conjunction. Hey, if it's good enough for Glencoe, it's good enough for me!)

"Actually, this is a cult." - Matt (at Bible study)

"Are these community socks? You know, like the community bikini underwear?" - Heidi

"I hope I get arrested!" - Michael Brown (campus director of Crusade)

*note written on dry erase board* "Janée: talk to me about cheese. - Beth"

"Hey, I don't know about you, but I don't want to have a crotch on our front door." - Beth

"'Stroganoff' made me lose the Warren County Spelling Bee. Stupid Stroganoff." - Heidi

"We're all racist lesbians." - Sara Ricciardi, about everyone living in Rodgers

"Sour cream is my love language." - Michael Brown

"Dude, you are a hottie. Even the guys think so." - Jay Hawthorne, to Matt Lochtefeld

"That would be me...with a capital 'Y'." - Amy

"I've always been naked, deep down inside." - Erik Marshall

"Okay, let's define 'diarrhea'..."- Beth

"What could be better than roast beef?" - Bobbi "Um, an IV of roast beef?" - Karen (Arby's lover to the core)

"My name is Mike....not Bea Arthur!" - some random guy yelling outside

"Not all boys are dumb. Just the ones that go here." - Janée

"I've got more issues than Time magazine." - Josh Coy, punster extraordinaire

"I think 'gease' is a word. It's a lubricant made from birds." - Ben R, playing Scrabble

Back to real life

Well, vacation is over and real life is back in full swing. For the first time (which I guess is a blessing), I brought work home that I really must get through before Monday. I'm trying to make it fun...like college again! I'm sitting in my jammies with my coffee at the computer, trying to rev myself up to get work done. Yay, isn't this great?!

Yesterday I came home from work to find that the kitten had peed in the papasan chair. Peed! In the suede chair! I don't know if this is a behavior issue or if I accidentally shut the basement door (she still hasn't quite gotten the hang of using the cat door to access the potty), so I'm trying not to get mad at her about it....but if anyone knows of any tips for cleaning pee out of suede, I'd appreciate them....ugh.

Now for something fun!....I got this from Apes. Comment with your name and I'll respond with...

1. something random about you.
2. what song/movie reminds me of you.
3. a flavor of jello to wrestle with you in.
4. something that only makes sense to you and me.
5. my first memory of you.
6. what animal you remind me of.
7. something I've always wondered about you.

I guess technically you're supposed to post this on your blog if I do this for you, but I won't place any stipulations on it. Post it if you like, but don't feel obligated.

Don't hate me...

...because this is where I spent the last five days. *sigh* Do I have to go back to work tomorrow?

One more day...

...until vacation!!!

Obie & Mika--friends again

Look at my poor injured kitty cats cuddling :) See how fat Obie can't even fit his whole butt on the back of the couch? And oblivious "Nermal" kitten just snuggles up to him. Aren't they cute?

The big Texas game...

*sigh* Is there anyone in Columbus who thought it would be a good idea to put Justin Zwick back in the game at the end of the 4th quarter? Anyone besides Jim Tressel, that is? Anyone?

I wonder if Tressel went home last night, or retreated to his secret batcave with security around him? All I know is there were a lot of angry Buckeye fans around last night, and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be him.

Vet Drama

Crazy kitty cat drama this week. We went up to visit Craig's family over Labor Day weekend, and when we came home Monday we found Obie with a bloody nose. Naturally, our first thought was, "Well, I guess it's time to get Mika declawed..." The vet had warned us that she could hurt him, since he doesn't have claws and can't defend himself against hers. We figured they must have been playing rough and she got him in the face.

Well...long story short, Mika's at the vet overnight tonight after getting declawed. Meanwhile, I'm concerned about Obie's nose and we decide it would be a good idea to have the vet look at it and make sure it's healing okay, not infected, etc. So, the vet looks him over, comes in to talk to us and says he doesn't think Obie was scratched at all, but that his boo boo is a burn--either electrical (from chewing on a cord, which he does every once in awhile) or chemical (from God knows what). He has sores on his tongue, too, which indicate that he probably chewed on something that burned his mouth.

Why is my cat so stupid? I feel so sad for him, but I hate it that I don't know how he did it to himself, and don't know how to keep him from doing it again. Of all the things to take a liking to chewing on...electrical cords. And of course, now we realize that the expense of declawing Mika could have waited, but oh well. My poor kitties. It's all antibiotics and special cat litter for the next couple weeks. Pets can be such high maintenance.

Tenacious D

I was just thinking that I suppose I will update my blog, since none of you have anything new to read on yours, and it made me think of this Tenacious D skit on their CD...

"But who will lead us in the rebuilding process?" (pronounced "PRO-suss")
"It's got to be someone with the knowhow...and the elbow grease...to lead us to a new land.
No, not me and KG, we don't have the cognitive capacity to lead...
ALRIGHT, we'll do it!"

That's probably only funny to me, but that's okay. I'm used to being the only person who thinks something is funny. That reminds me of Jay Hawthorne. That dude was always laughing at stuff that no one else ever got....usually his own jokes. He'd have to stick his arm out after telling a joke so that people knew to laugh. I miss Jay. That's one unique guy.

Don't be afraid to laugh at your own jokes, even if you're the only one who thinks they're funny. It's okay to be the only person laughing. Sometimes, others will even catch on. (Not always, but sometimes.)

the "glasses" again

I'm thinking again about the whole perspective issue. I read this the other day, and it just came back to me:

Two women looked through prison bars
One saw mud, the other saw stars.

Which woman will I choose to be? In this moment?

a long weekend...

...stinks when you're sick for most of it! Craig gave me his cold, and it is a nasty one. Blah. Being sick sucks.

New Car!

Check out our new car!

Why is it...

...that when you feel the most lonely, it's also the hardest to move toward someone?

silly photos

I was realizing that I have a lot of goofy closeup photos, mostly taken my my husband (including my profile pic--silly guy), and I thought it might be funny to post them here.

Top left to right:
-Is that Josh?
-Bryan eating a potato at Matt and Laura's wedding
-Baby Logan gets his first closeup

Bottom left to right:
-Chris Gleason smiling at softball
-My Blair Witch Project impression
-Craig showing off his tonsils...or something...

Give the man a camera, and there's no telling what he'll do with it.

Deficit Mentality

(Wow, thanks for the comments, guys. I feel loved :) Josh, you're the king of blogging. I'm not worthy. And Shannon--sexy picture! Ooh la la!)

I'm realizing lately how many of my issues are related to my perspective...the lenses through which I choose to see the world. If I define everything in terms of the negative--seeing things for what they are not, rather than what they are--then when is anything ever good enough? I think Dawn called it "deficit thinking" in my methods class....she warned us against having that kind of thinking toward our students--looking at all the ways they fall short of the standard, what they're not doing, how they don't meet our expectations. Instead, we were told to view them according to what they were--what they did well, what they enjoyed, what motivated them, what was good in them. I default to deficit thinking, and I'm realizing how much that is affecting other parts of my life.

And the thing that's really crazy about thinking that way is that it's totally opposite of the way God thinks of me. God is the opposite of a deficit thinker. He's a....surplus thinker! He looks at us and says, "This is who you are. Not who you think you are, but who I say you are." And when we have Christ, he gives us a brand-new identity and says "This is who you are now, and it is enough." In fact, God does more than call things by what they are. He is "the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." (Rom. 4:17) He sees me not for who I'm not, and not only for who I am, but for who He knows I someday will be. That's God's perspective. I want to see the world through those lenses.

The first post!!

Ahhh, I'm so excited about this new blog! It is better than Xanga in each and every way. And it's free. So freakin cool. (I thought I'd post a photo just for the heck of it. No real reason, just because I can!)

So what's new today? Well, gas is up. Holy cow. (Thanks to Jen for sending out the bichon bat signal to alert me to fill up this morning!) How will my life be changing in response to the rising cost of oil?

• I'll be walking to work every day, heels or no heels, 90 degree weather notwithstanding. McGraw-Hill, get ready for one blister-heeled, sweat-soaked TWE manager.
• No more long drives to clear my head. Maybe this is all for the best, if it means I won't have to worry about showing up in the campus police blotter again. (okay, so that happened 3 summers ago...it was still pretty freakin embarrassing...)
• I'll finally call American Electric Power and get hooked up, saying goodbye to all of my gasoline-powered appliances.
• No more using oil barrels as end tables. Those things are just too darned expensive.
• I'll start watering my lawn with water, rather than gasoline. And it was so good for my garden, too. Oh well.
• I'll stop leaving the lawnmower running all night long, for "white noise" to help me sleep.

Who am I kidding...I don't even have a lawn, let alone a lawnmower. And since Jen's worst fear is having a stinky cubemate, I guess walking to work isn't an option, either. I guess I'll just suck it up and fork out the big bucks. Maybe they'll start making cars that run on a plentiful, renewable resource....like cynicism or dandelions.