Do you want....?

This is the conversation that I heard in the store this morning:

"Do you want Sponge Bob Square Pants?

"No, I want this one!"

"Are you sure that you don't want Sponge Bob?"

"I want this one, Spiderman."

"Are you sure that you don't want Sponge Bob?"

"No, I want Spiderman because I like him."

"You want Spiderman? Not Sponge Bob?"

This back and forth went on for a few minutes. Eventually the lady asked "Are you sure you don't want Dora, Sponge Bob, etc..." I almost suggested that she just buy Sponge Bob if she really wanted it. Or even I could get Spiderman for the kid. Too bad I have no idea what they were actually talking about.

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I am living in a fish bowl

Thanks to Jamie, Adam, Sam, and the van I am moved in to my new place. I actually had fun moving with the "gang". It really surprised me how fast things go with other people. We moved most of my stuff last night and I finished it off today. I have a pile of my stuff sitting in the kitchen. I also don't have any blinds. Don't worry, I am putting on a little show for the people across the way.

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This is not the way things work around here

When I went to Michigan this summer to visit my sister one day I was faced with an amazing challenge. My sister and brother-in-law went to a bed and breakfast. I was left alone with the 6 kids. They were ages of about 3 to about 12. Three three year old had a hard time with the situation. He missed his parents.

I was able to get all of the kids dinner and to bed. The next morning I wanted to keep all of the kids in bed as long as possible. Well, the two girls usually slept in real late. I told the older boys that they had to sleep in until 9:15 (if I remember correctly). That just left the 3 year old. He awakened at about 8. He started making noise and I ran to his room. He informed me that he was ready to get up now. He also said "I want some milk!" I told him that if he went back to sleep I would get him some milk. A look came across his face. A look that told me very clearly that "this is not the way things look around here". He slowly put his head back on his pillow and went back to sleep.

This same thing happened to me the other day. I was supervising my 8 month old nephews nap the other day. I heard him stirring and I went to get him out of bed. When I entered the room he looked at me like I didn't belong. He allowed me to get him out of bed. We went and I tried to entertain him until his mom got home. He kept looking at me like I was not following the "rules", like I knew what I was supposed to do and wasn't doing it. Eventually his mom came home and she said things straight. She fed him. He was okay after that. The food made him forget my errors.

Thankfully I did not deviate from the how "things actually work" and my nephews both forgave me.

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I am waving

Yesterday I was all bummed out. Joel informed me that he got an invitation to Google Wave. Google Wave is basically every communication platform ever invented rolled into one (including cave painting). Google wanted to see what email would be like if they invented it today. And Joel was able to play with its goodness and I was left out in the cold.

So what did I do? I complained to Jamie. I said "Jamie, my friend Joel has Wave and I don't!" The next thing I knew Jamie was using Wave too. If I were to extrapolate that out that means that everyone was on and using Google Wave. Both of them promised on their mouse pad that they would give me an invite as soon as they were able.

Today, out of the blue, I got an invite to Google Wave. Some poor soul took pity on me. I am previewing the future. To make things even better, Google has asked me to invite people to use Wave. I had 20 invites and used 15 immediately. If you are nice to me maybe I will send one your way. Maybe...

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Closing time

Today I finally had my "closing" for the condo that I am/have purchased. I had the great opportunity to sign mountains of paperwork. Now, officially, the government owns me. They said that I might get the keys on Monday afternoon. I am guessing I will get them on Tuesday. It is nice to have the whole waiting game almost over with. I wonder when it will hit me that I have purchased a "home"? Maybe after I have lived in Smallville a few weeks...

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Buying furniture is like...

I have mentioned before that I have been furniture shopping. I haven't really found anything that I like. There have been a few things that were close, but nothing. Last week I dropped into a furniture store and I looked around and there was nothing that really stuck out to me. So, the sales associate offered to show me the catalog of furniture they could order from. After flipping through it I found a sofa that I really liked.

After some price checking and surfing on the web I found that the cheapest price was from a company in Texas. I also called a few places in Utah to see if they carried it as well. Today I found out that it is not being made any more. No one has it and no one sells it. This has happened to me several times now.

I have decided that buying furniture is like dating. You see a girl and you think about asking her out to find out that she is already dating someone, married, or wants to kill all men. Or, you see a single girl that you want to ask out and when you finally get the courage to she has moved across the country. Or even maybe you ask a girl out and you decide that you like her and she suddenly is unavailable without any notice or explanation. Everything looks good on paper but it really doesn't exist.

Now I am stuck trying to find something new that I might like to sit on (I am talking about a sofa here) for the next few years. Burned.

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Do you like to read?

I like to read. Sometimes more than others. I have a whole stack of books that I have read. Most of them would be considered classics. I have been itching to get rid of these physical books are replace them with e-books. Every book that is out of copy right can be downloaded to the Kindle (or any other e-book reader) for free. Here is the list of books that I own that will be replaced with e-books in the near future:

• The Time Machine, H.G. Wells
• Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
• Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
• The Prince and the Pauper, Mark Twain
• The Call of the Wild, Jack London
• White Fang, Jack London
• A Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jules Verne
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Authors Court, Mark Twain
• Hard Times, Charles Dickens
• The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
• Through the Looking-Glass, Lewis Carroll
• The Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Around the World in Eight Days, Jules Verne
• From Earth to the Moon, Jules Verne
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne
• A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
• A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
• Moby Dick, Herman Melville

I know that it is hard to believe, but I have read all of these. Hopefully they will find a good home. It is nice to feed my techno-geek and charitable sides at the same time. I am excited to fill my Kindle up with great literature.

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