Just another year...

That is my favorite version of this song, but I must give props to Ani DiFranco who wrote the song, and who is one of my all-time favorite singer/songwriters.

So yes, I am 32 now, and I am owning it so far. When I was about to turn 30, the BF, who is 12 years older than me, assured me that "Your thirties are your best years." At 29, my immediate thought was, "Yeah right, what could be more fun than your 20s? 30 is the time to get serious. 30 is when you have to really start thinking about wrinkles and retirement funds."

But you know what? He was right. So far, my thirties have rocked. Now, of course it has not been all wine and roses, but overall, I have felt more confident, self-assured, and free to do whatever I really want since I turned 30. So 32 is just a little more kick-assy than 31.

I tend to celebrate my birthday all month long, a practice I put into place years ago. But this year I found myself surrounded by many other Taureans who also enjoy celebrating their entrance into the world for an entire month. This all culminated in a party at Hal and Mal's last weekend. While some of us were unsure as to how the evening would turn out, I have to say I think it was pretty fun. There was dancing, there was karaoke, there was random guests and a special surprise guest for me - one of my dear friends just happened to be in town from Nashville and showed up unannounced. It was great! So nice to have such a formidable group of ladies to grow older with.

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Reason #569240 that I love Mimi Smartypants:

Her diatribe on the meaning behind Wheat Thins marketing

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So the economy is in the crapper, we all know that. My job has recently been affected, because starting next week, I get a half-day unpaid every week until late September. This will hopefully save us enough money to keep us operating in FY10, but naturally there is the worry that it won't. I am not happy about this of course, but I am thankful beyond words that I still have a job. And hopefully the economy will turn around soon. But coming off of this past holiday weekend, I have to admit: I am kind of looking forward to having the extra time at home! That is something I never get anymore, really, is time to do things around the house. Since I won't have any money with which to go out and have a good time on my days off, I really think I will enjoy having time to clean out my closets, or start on a collage project I'm thinking of doing, or talk to my plants. Seriously! They may have a hard time getting me to go back to work on Fridays once this is all said and done.

Finally, I have to say, being a former show choir nerd, I am loving the new Fox show "Glee." I watched the pilot on Hulu today and was laughing my ass off. "There is nothing ironic about Show Choir!" Oh but yes, my dear, there really is!!

Here's the trailer:

This is getting good...

So today was election day in Jackson, at least for the mayoral primaries and city council positions. I wish I could have voted, but I don't live in Jackson YET, so I had to sit on my hands all day whilst reports came in that turnout was embarrassingly low at the polls. What was everyone doing? Getting blasted at Cazuela's for Cinco de Mayo? I truly don't think many people even realized today was election day, in spite of all the ads and signs and reminders from the media.

Now, our Mayor has collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. I truly hope he will be okay, but this man has cried wolf so many times that I don't know what to think. It just seems to convenient or ironic that this happened on election day - but it did happen after the polls closed, but still. Keep it here for breaking details...

It's thundering outside and threatening to rain, so that is another great reason for me to be inside under a blanket. I don't get nearly enough opportunity to snuggle on my couch, so I'm savoring this one.

Earlier this evening I was aurally assaulted in two ways. I will now tell you about it:

1. I went to a spin class and, without thinking, chose a bike directly in front of the speaker. I like the teacher because she usually brings good tunes. Today she chose a lot of death metal, and she also chose to yell really loud, so my ears are still ringing. Yay.

Also, while I was spinning, I realized something astounding. Jam band music would be the absolute worst type of music you could possibly work out to. Most of the songs that we spin to are around 3 minutes long, mayyybe 5 minutes maximum. This way you change up the type of activity for each song, so you have a well-rounded workout. I can't imagine doing jumps for all 12 minutes of Phish's "Stash." Not to mention the lack of a steady rhythm. No wonder so many stoners are out of shape!

(OK now it is pouring down rain AND hailing. Crazy!)

2. The creepy ice cream truck came inching down my street right when I got home from the gym. Ice cream trucks creep me out big time -- the way they slowly creep down the street, playing that same eerie song over and over again, lingering a little too long on the street, looking for more children... I console myself by imagining that it's Big Worm:



Then again, maybe I don't really want that kind of thing going down on my street, either!