Well, it's coming up upon a year since I last posted. I thought I'd pop in just to assure anyone who was curious as to my whereabouts.

Anyone?

Okay, well, in any event, the last year has been...challenging. Most of it was a just blur of stress management. The stress of having a toddler. Work stress. The stress of selling and buying a house simultaneously. Coping with an aged dog who craps and pees on the floor regularly.

That about sums it up. Nonetheless, there is still a whole lot of good to celebrate in my life, so a couple of months ago I started a new blog to document it. It's mainly just about the day to day stuff, always accompanied by photos. I'm sorry to say that I no longer collect dolls or follow any anime, and since many of you have come to know me through those hobbies, I will completely understand if you have no interest in my personal life.

But, if you're feeling kinda voyeuristic, please feel free to visit:

http://mplusmequalsl.blogspot.com/

If you have a paid LJ account, you can syndicate the site by pasting this link:

http://mplusmequalsl.blogspot.com/atom.xml

into the field at the bottom of this page:

http://www.livejournal.com/syn/


I'm also quite addicted to Flickr these days, so if you have an account and wish to keep in touch that way, I'd love to add you as a contact. My user id is melissann.

That's about it. I doubt that I will ever post to this journal again, but I will occasionally stop in to check out my friends' entries. I will also more than likely be shutting down Jenny Style later this year, so if there is anything that you want from the site, please download it now before it goes poof.

Take care, and many thanks to all those comments through the years.

Sincerely,

--Melissa, aka revolutionarygirl

I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a fo-to-graf

*sigh* Where was this camera 10 months ago?

And just to give more support to my March Is Evil theory, Amazon lowered the price on the Nikon D50 by $30. Yeesh.

Courtesy of mipplet

Are any of these a surprise?

1. Sean Bean
2. Josh Holloway
3. Joaquin Phoenix
4. Ion Gruffudd
5. Hugh Jackman

Edited - how could I forget Wolverine?!

No LJ photos today. She is napping a present. Yes, I'm off again today. LJ has an eye doctor appointment this afternoon. Nothing serious - her one eye hasn't stopped tearing since she was a newborn. Come to think of it, I need to go to the eye doctor myself, as I am down to one spare contact lens. :P

Mark and I held our very own Alfred Hitchcock film festival this weekend. When I was little, I saw Mel Brook's High Anxiety, and I remember that my grandfather used to do Alfred Hitchcock impersonations. Up until this weekend, that was the extent of my exposure to Hitchcock. First, on Saturday morning we saw The Birds. Since it was On Demand (and thus free), Mark thought it would be amusing to watch it given our visit to the Aviary. That got us curious about watching other Hitchcock films, so we watched Rear Window Saturday night and Vertigo Sunday night. I liked Vertigo the best because the plot was totally engrossing. I also want to see North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Dial M for Murder. I can't believe I've waited this long to see Hitchcock's films!

Now I'm off to check the mail (hoping for a package from Amazon containing HP: GOF on DVD), wash my hair, and have some lunch. I hope I can get this all accomplished before LJ wakes from her nap.

Since husband was off because of an arbitrary university holiday, I took a vacation day today.

I am so, so glad that I did. I really needed a day off to focus on what's truely important to me.

Birds.

*snerk*

Determined to do something out of the ordinary, our little family visited the National Aviary. Although we've lived here our entire lives, none of us had ever been there before. While I was in grade school, my class went on a field trip to the Aviary, but I was too sick to go. So I finally got to see what I missed.

Which, to be honest, wasn't very much. But it was a nice way to kill some time on a overcast day in Pittsburgh. Lauren enjoyed watching the random birds wandering the exhibits, and I attempted to take some photos while at the same time avoid getting pooped on. I failed pretty miserably at the former, but succeeded in the later (whew!). Afterwards, we went to LuLu's Noodles for lunch, where I had a noodle bowl and a bubble drink.

Getting back to picture taking - I detest our digital camera. I cannot begin to describe how unrealiable it is. Under absolute perfect conditions lighting, it takes awesome photos. Otherwise, forget it. It makes me sick to think about all the photos of Lauren's first year that I've missed because of it. So, today I ordered a Nikon D50. We shall soon see if the camera or its operator is to blame.

I feel so accomplished right now. I actually updated LJ's flickr album so that it is current.

Other than that, it was a fairly uneventful day. I did get to come home from work early today (Meaning that I arrived home on time, rather than working late, which is the norm). So I made meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner. I think I felt more satisfied making that meatloaf that I did attending meetings all day.

It's times like these that make me think that this women's lib stuff is overrated. I think that the real masterminds behind the women's rights movement were actually a bunch of men that figured out that the women got to stay home all day while the men were out bustin' their asses at work. Couldn't have that now could we?

;)

Each weekend, I've been attempting to do something creative.

I can neither sew, draw, or play music very well, but I seem to have a bit of a knack for paper crafts. I guess it's my way of taking revenge against all that paper I push during the work week.

"Take that you insidious piece of pressed wood pulp! I will transform you into something beautiful!"

Anyway, I had purchased a white, wooden letter "L" to hang in Lauren's room. It's been sitting in her closet since she was a newborn, rather than hanging on her nursery as I had originally intended. My procrastinatory nature sometimes works to my benefit, as it wouldn't be until months later that I discovered Donna Downey's book, Photo Decor. In one of the book's many wonderful projects, she alters a set of letters for her son's room. So I decided to give it try.

If you look closely, you may notice that the paper on the end of the "L" is ripped. I covered the area with two little red buttons. Those two little red buttons really do it for me. It's funny how your mistakes can lead you to something that you wouldn't have otherwise thought to do. The word "Believe" is a little trite, but "Cross your fingers and hope for the best" wouldn't fit inside that little frame.

Who knows - it could become a treasured family heirlom. Or it could end up on the .25 table at some future yard sale. Making crafts for your family is a crapshoot in that way.

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. I myself cooked yesterday. Everything came out great, but as they say, you don't really enjoy a meal you prepared as much as one prepared for you. LJ sampled mashed potatoes and yams (or are they sweet potatoes?), her very first table foods. :)

Today I went to work (Yes that stinks, but at least I'm not working retail), so now I'm just relaxing and surfing the internet. Such a luxury these days!

Anyway, what prompted me to post is a cool website that I found called LibraryThing. You can search multiple sources like the Library of Congress or Amazon to build a catalog of books. While you're building, you can add reviews and ratings. You can also see other users who own the book and even add comments to their profiles.

It's quite a neat website. I just started building my own catalog. As you can see, I made a quick list off the top of my head just to try out the site. :)

And on a completely unrelated note, since when is "Same Old Lang Syne" by Dan Fogleberg a Christmas song?! I swear, I've heard Dan played on the local radio stations more than I've heard Bing Crosby or Andy Williams!

I usually don't like Sundays. It's difficult to enjoy the day when you know that work is looming. Personally, I think that Friday is the best day of the week. Sure, you still have to go to work, but it's the anticipation of the weekend ahead that makes it so great. In that respect, it's no wonder that I prefer Christmas Eve over Christmas Day.

Anyway, I spent most of the day preparing for the week ahead. Since I've gone back to work, I've been freezer cooking. Every other weekend, I cook all our dinners for the next two weeks and freeze them. Because I don't have to cook, this allows me to have more time to spend with LJ (LJ meaning Lauren Julianna, not Livejournal) during the week nights. It's actually a lot of fun and quite rewarding. This weekend I made seasoned beef for tacos, stuffed peppers, teriyaki chicken stir fry, chicken a la king, and pulled pork. I've never made chicken a la king or pulled pork before, so I feel quite accomplished. Earlier this week, I made chocolate zucchini muffins which were a big hit at work. Cooking yummy stuff makes me happy. :)

While I was cooking, I was listening to the Return of the King soundtrack. Into the West gets me all choked up everytime. Actually, all of the Lord of the Rings music gets me all choked up. It really affects me.

Late in the afternoon, husband decided that LJ needed a new toy, so we took a ride to Babies R. Us. We found a Kick and Play bouncer on clearance for $20. With a $5 coupon, it came to only $15!



Who says money can't by happiness?

Well, I decided to put Olympos aside and read The Book. I finished at about 1:30 this afternoon, which is pretty good considering that I didn't start reading until around 4 pm yesterday. Then there is the fact that I have an 11 week old baby to take care of, plus factor in meals, sleep, bathroom breaks, etc.

( Spoilers )