2 be Bliss, as I dance along the road to Nirvana...

hey y'all. we (read: i) have been thinking about moving. we've been in this complex since summer '06. our lease is up for renewal soon but we haven't signed yet. i've been looking online and we've been visiting properties but every place we've gone has been missing something: - one place had a good layout but the BRs were too small . the storage was away from the unit and cost extra. the buildings were a bit older than i like. the parking was TIGHT. - another place was just small. it said the sq. footage was the same as what we have now. but they must have been counting the patio, the area in front of the apt. door, the walkway leading to the door, and some other unknown areas. because every room in that place was miniature. - one property was too big . umpteen buildings and they were adding more. it was like a small city . and i checked apartmentratings.com and one person said their rent increase was huge . like living-in-Manhattan huge. i che...

hey y'all. if the probably-imminent mother-in-law visit ain't scary enough for y'all, check his out: the sky is falling?

hey y'all. now, i know i was 'sposed to get back to the details of the Big Event from Jan. 19. but Something Came Up. mr. bliss said his momma might be coming for a visit this weekend. (long pause) need i say more? maybe... some of y'all might not know of the history between me and the MIL. (not to be confused with the MIB.) most of it ain't polite or pretty. on this planet or any other. i first met her on my first date with mr. bliss, back in october or november of 1995, on the occasion of her retirement party. (yeah, i know. go 'head on and laugh. it wasn't a good idea for a first date but some men don't know any better. and he and i had only just met a few days/the week before the date.) i was seated at a table with one of my future SILs. i have vague memories about anything from that part of the evening. what i do remember is the Introduction . mr. bliss presented me to his momma as if i were a freshly cut bouquet of sweetly...

hey y'all. how's the weather outside your window today? our day is sunny and fairly warm, considering. in the past few days/weeks, we've had some really really cold weather here. but thankfully, although we did get some snow, the predicted snowstorms have failed to materialize. saturday afternoon, i drove in the snow for the second time in my life. the first time (back in tha day) was unintentional and it was just flurries. i was heading for a romantic rendezvous with The One Who Got Away and it started coming down en route. it was dark out and i was scared. i was on a narrow two-lane road and the only illumination came from headlights. this time i knew what i was getting into. i thanked God for granting me safe passage and left home in daylight. the snow was coming down hard but there were few vehicles on the road and for once, drivers seemed to be courteous. my own snow-day miracle! i arrived at the hotel a few hours before the event started cuz we (the volunteers) we...

hey y'all. it's snowing here. yuck. baby bliss did the happy dance -- on the balcony in the cold -- when she saw it coming down. of course she had to drag me out with her. *sigh* i don't like snow. lemme re-phrase. i don't do snow. i've learned to love to look at it, because it's pretty and God has cured me of my very real fear ( disguised as hatred ) of snow. baby bliss prayed (literally) for the snow and she wants it to stick around until she wakes up in the morning. she's hoping to go out to play in it. (of course. why else do children pray for snow?) the last time we got snow, i went with baby bliss to the parking lot. she had a snowball fight with the car while i watched from the warmth and safety of inside the car . she had a great time. so did i. although i no longer fear the snow , i have a reverence for it. it's powerful and can be dangerous. i won't willingly drive in or on snow because i try to avoid driving in any ty...

hey y'all. if you're looking for a good book to read and you want some ideas, subscribe to the Review-A-Day at Powells.com . reading books has been one of my favorite activities since kindergarten. but more and more these days, if it ain't online, i don't have time to read it. Powell's reviews give me an idea of what i will likely enjoy in my spare bits of offline reading time. .

hey y'all. what a beautiful day we had yesterday in our lick of land. the sun was oh so shiny and the wind puffed warmly on our elbows. thank you God. but i did something yesterday that i almost regret today. almost. not quite. baby bliss and i were gonna head for the library yesterday so we could get our game fix on, using the library's wi-fi. (cuz we only have dial-up at home.) however, mr. bliss called to say it was warm and sunny, and we were swayed into thoughts of outdoor physical exertion. baby bliss wanted to play soccer but since the only place nearby to play is the tennis court, we took our badminton rackets as well. since we were on the court, we kicked the soccer ball to the corner and decided to play badminton first. what a game we had! i was in rare form, jumping high and lunging low , feats of physical prowess i hadn't performed in too many years to count. it felt good to swing that racket out there in the late afternoon sun as i imagined myself being sec...

just when we thought eating healthier was better, we might be on the verge of having to choose between good eats and the poor house. seems every time we make better choices for our lives, we're penalized for it somehow. i guess it's time for those of us with land to get our dirt tested to make sure its good enough to eat from and then plant our own. read here Healthy Food Getting More Expensive to get the full story. . . .

baby bliss got a laptop for christmas. i'm hoping she'll pitch a tent in the blogisphere with us y'all. (but am i really ready to see myself ranted about in cyberspace?) . . .

courtesy of our Fed'ral gov'ment, we will very soon be forced to spend our hard earned monies to acquire televisions that will broadcast digital signals. cuz if'n we don't, we'll no longer be able to watch free telly. because they love us so, our Congress set aside $1.5 billion to ensure that we all retain our right to free t.v. $5 million was set aside for education. gee. how much is that per state? how much per student in the U.S.? i'm disgusted that gov'ment officials think telly is much more important than our children's education. which is also supposed to be free. hello? how many children will be left behind cuz they're watching telly on sets that get digitally enhanced broadcasts while their favorite teachers are being pink-slipped cuz the school districts around the country have to split $5 million in educational funding? and some people say they don't believe in conspiracy theories. go here Digital TV to read more details...