La Vie en Curlsz Part One

I am a very determined person - when I have a goal nothing better get in my way. I obsess over it, plan it out in my head to the Nth degree and if there is a roadblock then watch out as I pull out the bazooka to get rid of it.

For instance - if I decide today I want a new camera, by this weekend. Then I research the hell out of it, think about it non stop, search high and low for the best deal and drive myself NUTS till I get it. Once I get it I'm fine, I can now go on with my life. This is called an obsession children - say it with me now O.B.S.E.S.S.I.O.N

Recent obsessions include: (in no particular order)

• New Coffee Maker - Not just any old coffee maker, I've been there and done that - I am shooting for the dream now - I'm about to turn 30 it's time I bought the coffee maker I have always wanted! The Cuisinart Grind & Brew - ahahhahah - And thank you eBay for such a wonderland deal!
• New Mp3 player for when I work out - something smaller than the one I use for everyday living
• Moving - my goal is to have a clean, efficient and speedy move - this has taken a lot of planning people
• Photographing my new "nephews" birth
• Email - this is a constant obsession
• MySpace - ugh this dammed addiction
• Work - 24/7
• Cell Phone (can you see I'm a gadget fool?)
• New Cable Service (the install took 4 hours!!!!)
• Finding new routes for walking the dog - oh this has been fun and gorgeous! Hour walks through the Northwest Hills will do a body pain - er I mean good
• Bluetooth Technology
• Laying out the design and furniture placement of our already over crowded new house.

If you will notice all of the following contribute in some way shape or form to my addictions

• Coffee
• Internet
• Internet Shopping
• Product Research
• Gadgets!!! (oh this is a big one)
• Walking - I know this sounds strange but I drive myself nuts if I don't at least go for a walk everyday - If it's bad weather I'll settle for the gym.
• Nesting (I have done this since I was a kid - I used to get catalogues and lay out new rooms)
• efficiency (I think I was an efficiency expert in my former life)
• Photography
• Certain TV shows that I have been without for 3 weeks - ughhh I'm melting - I see a bright light is that you Lord, can you come back when Project Runway is finished? (oh loosen up good Baptist it's only a joke!)

At some point I start to drive myself nuts - I am there now - they are coming to take me away... I hope they have TV, Internet and Coffee....

A few oddities of the past couple of weeks deserves some sharing... This is in somewhat of a list format as a tribute to my former roommate... Kim Rubsam Rama (LOL - that makes me smile) or KimaRama (that also makes me smile)

1. Taking the trash I notice a large VERY dead tree in the dump - pine tree with silver tinsel on it - could this possibly be someone's Christmas tree - would they just now be throwing it out???
2. Boudreaux's Butt Paste: I was subjected to a baby shower Sunday. 30 women sitting around eating chocolate and talking about three things - their own deliveries, their children and sales. Killing me softly... So Julie gets Butt Paste in one of her gift bags and she is SO excited! So me being not only the ONLY single person but most importantly the ONLY being without a child, innocently (but apparently stupidly) asked "what is butt paste?" Dead silence followed by giggling and a woman ACTUALLY saying "oh honey if you don't know I don't think we should tell you" --- Oh I'm sorry I mean I am a college graduate and have managed to have a career and be a responsible adult, but apparently because I have not birthed a child I couldn't possibly be let in on the butt past secret. So I said "is it for when the baby craps too much you can spackle the hole shut?" Luckily that got quite the laughter so I followed it by saying "I mean when I was a baby I think the mom's just used regular spackle from the hardware store, nice to see we have evolved". (I later remembered cyclist use this nifty paste for well you can figure it out - but I, unfortunately, didn't think of that at the time - I bet "they" don't know it's used for anything else than a baby's butt)
3. A small elderly Indian man coming out of his house to relax on his porch with only a long sleeved button down shirt on....
4. The movie "The Producers" - apparently the entire cast was on speed while making this film - it is the most HYPER movie I have ever seen.
5. Standing in church very close behind a man that smelled of onions and cigarettes - a bit distracting.
6. An elderly woman watering her yard in shorts, tshirt and black dress shoes
7. A boy riding down the street on a unicycle - Audrey (the dog) almost made him fall off - I laughed, hard, on the inside...
8. 15+ deer (and that really isn't an exaggeration) surrounding a car while the driver fed them by hand... all they did when we got there was stare us down -I thought the one with the largest antlers (huge rack) was going to charge us...
9. Odd commercials:

a. Hummer - feeling bad about yourself, someone make you feel small...bullying you around? Go buy a Hummer, it gets 5 miles to the gallon and gas is $3 a gallon and rising... but hey America you have money to burn and nothing better to spend it on...go for it! Wonder if oil companies own Hummer...

b. Little Richard and Charo selling Geico insurance - actually it's pretty friggin hilarious.

First it was the nasty wasp that flew up my dress and stung my hip - a week later my hip became swollen and itched like crazy - stinger painfully removed at last and life went on.

Then came the nasty spill in the shower that resulted in a injured elbow and disgusting bruise - oh and enough jokes about me needing a bar and grandma seat in the shower to last me a lifetime. Ps I am fondly reminded of the injured elbow each morning as I painfully have to stretch it out.

Next was the splinter in the finger that caused it to swell for two days.

Now an injured foot - from the bend in my toe to the ball of my foot I have some kind of sprain! How did this lovely incident occur - oh from me walking. Yep walking did me in - I walked a mile from the tire shop to a friend's house to get her car and then a mile back to get my car - in my flip flops. Yeah 2 miles in flip flops probably not the brightest but my brain is mush right now and I didn't think much of it. Till I woke up this morning with a slightly sore toe. By the end of the day I could barely walk. I prayed for a cain or walker as I painfully strolled in and out of church. And worst part, I can't wear any of my heels!!!! Yes that's the worst part - don't even argue!

Oh the journey of age is a fine one - if I was a horse I'd been shot and used for glue by now!

It's difficult to be a nomad when you have as much product, makeup and wardrobe changes as me... I remember this to be true even as a kid when I would get it in my head that I was going to run away! (This was at least once a week) I had this huge hot pink duffel bag - and I would start packing my stuff to live on the streets and next thing you know the duffel bag is so stuffed the zipper is breaking and so heavy I could barely lift it... why? Well life on the streets doesn't mean you should be without a clean pair of undies everyday, nor should it mean you shouldn't have a towel and washrag, shampoo/conditioner (I had crazy hair as a kid, oh and as an adult) and let's not be without the snacks people! I mean life on the streets should really just be my everyday life at home, with a new location!

So flash forward to today - I have no official home. I realized this last night when my niece Averie asked me "Malita, where do you live?"... I promptly began to answer her and then just kinda stammered "umm, ahh, well, actually...I'm in between homes at the moment."

I am in the process of moving out of the Taylor Draper Cove home (goodbye ridiculously long, difficult to communicate & hard to find/direct people to address) and into the Idlewild (hello hard to spell, hard to communicate and hard to direct people to address).... But along the way I'm staying at Steph's condo while she's in Zambia - taking care of Audrey (high maintenance dog)

So 1/3 of my stuff is at Taylor D, 1/3 at Idlewild and 1/3 at Steph's! Yes 1/3 is at Steph's - the journey required 3 large bags, 1 small bag and a huge makeup bag! Thus the flashback to my childhood and my many attempts to move to the streets. It's not easy!

And now is the moment when I start remembering all the stuff I left behind I need - phone charger, power cord for laptop etc. And oh I need ___ where is it, is it at house A, house B, in my car? And how is it possible that I landed here with 4 different bathing suits, 10 pairs of shoes, 2 curling irons and only managed to bring 4 pairs of undies (yes I still call them undies)? It's a mystery at this point!