Swine flu is no laughing matter

But my goodness if this isn't the funniest captioned picture I've seen in a long time
(especially on the day they've tracked down "patient zero")
(thanks for sharing, Mary)

In some ways I might be a 12-year-old boy...just sayin'

Okay, not really, but I sort of felt like it last night. I'd had a long day...it did perk up mid-day, but then there was the metro break-down on the way home and subsequently a very crowded train and a man who did not need to be standing as close to me as he was, smelling the way he did. Then the pollen explosion during my "hill workout" (I'm not kidding, I could feel it coating my mouth and skin) and the cramping hamstrings and calfs...I know, I'm borderline whining. But all this to get you to the end of my day, which was really great

I'm laying in my bed, watching season one of Robin Hood (greatest Netflix find this year), brushing my teeth, trying to decide if it's too early to turn in for the night, when Emily gchats me from the second floor asking if I'm home. Then asks what I'm doing. I tell her. Then I say, though I think we should be playing Nintendo. She agrees. I head down to the (much cooler) second floor.

Super Mario Brothers 3: I love that game so much. I think it was the first videogame I ever won. Countless hours spent on it as a teenager. It was actually kind of scary to find that after this many years, I still go to the same blocks, use the same turtle shells, the same tubes, fly in the same places, and still play with the B button constantly pushed. AND, we both found ourselves playing along with the other when it was their turn. There were lots of close calls and gasping, but we made it all the way to level 3 without losing one life. But let me just tell you, the water world is HARD!! It always has been. But Emily has a cheat book (seriously, 12 year old boys!) and we got the frog suit out of one of the mushroom houses.

The dumb squids stole our suit from us long before we were ready to give it up, but we had fun with it nonetheless. About that time, I had to put myself in bed for real and wished we'd had time to get to the level where we could use this bad boy:

I love the Tanooki suit.

I can't wait until the next Nintendo night.

p.s. I ended my game at level 3 with 15 lives. Just sayin'...

From hot mess to happier mess

Do you ever have those mornings when you wake up and you know it's going to be a rough day? Well, for me, that morning started at 1 a.m. when I woke up at the wrong end of my bed. Literally. I had been asleep for about 2 hours (a miracle I even fell asleep considering it was about 85 degrees in my room) and when I woke up I found I had relocated myself to the edge of my bed right under the ceiling fan. I had also opened my window at some point and I think it was the sound of a fire engine that had woken me up. I got up and closed the window and tried to go back to sleep...

The rest of the hot mess of a morning all stemmed directly from the heat and the associated issues of showering and getting ready (still 85 degrees in my room), as well as a wardrobe choice with serious issues that were not noticed until I was on the metro. [sigh] I got to work only to find a huge stack of agreements ready to be edited and I just sat and wished I could go back and start the day again, preferably with a better attitude and/or sense of humor (and an air conditioner that actually works).

I had to settle for a vent session in my journal, a couple of pep talks with friends, and the harsh reality that I was at work and was going to have to recover the day somehow. Mercifully, the stack of agreements weren't as horrendous as I thought they were going to be, I made lunch plans with a dear friend, and then I came across these gems of photographs on Facebook:

This picture makes me laugh so hard

I know where those eggs have been...

This sort of feels like an Andy Warhol painting to me for some reason, or something out of Brave New World or something equally creepy.

What a great weekend

What a poser....

What a great group to ride with!

I'm still dreaming about that ice cream...

After viewing the pictures (and probably commenting annoyingly on said pictures), I had the lunch date with my friend, outside on a blanket in a park, whereupon she played for me a song that she recently heard that made her think of me. We laughed together as I listened to the words, and I felt very grateful for a friend who knows me so well.

Turns out I didn't have to go home to start the day again. Turns out I just need good friends and a few good laughs. Though I wouldn't mind an operating air conditioner and a more work-appropriate outfit... :)