silliness

So, I woke up at 6:45am - four hours of sleep definitely isn't enough when one is used to getting ten. I debated whether or not to go to Des Moines, since it snowed last night and I didn't know what the road conditions would be. However, I finally dragged myself out of bed, threw on a sweater, skirt, boots, and makeup, and drove up to Des Moines with the intention of going to a chapter meeting of the local romance writing group.

Since I said 'intention' in the last paragraph, you can probably guess that I didn't go. I was running late anyway, and would have just barely made it. But I decided that I would rather spend the time drinking an espresso-based drink (since I've had waaay too many of those convenience store 'cappuccinos' that contain more high fructose corn syrup than any actual coffee or milk) and working on my romance novel, instead of sitting through a meeting on 'getting know your characters' - I currently feel like the only thing I do know is my characters, so I didn't think that would be particularly helpful.

I should go work in the cafe at Borders more often - I wrote seven pages in two hours. I decided to take a break and look for some romance novels to buy, but then my parents called and asked if I wanted to have lunch. They had come to Des Moines for something else, and I ended up meeting them and Aunt Becky for Long John Silvers (mmm midwestern fish). We had a delightful time destroying our arteries, and then Aunt Becky and I hung out for a couple of hours. It was great to spend some quality time with her, since the last time I had seen her was in the family circusmobile at my great-uncle's funeral. We checked out some property that she and her fiance intend to build upon someday, went to Bed Bath and Beyond, and all was good. Then I drove home, watched some tv with my parents, and am now turning in at the relatively early hour of 12:30am. No Craig tonight, so that makes it easier.

Maybe tomorrow I'll discuss the secret meaning of my name, but I'm too tired to go into details tonight. However, I will leave you with this - I'm salivating over Cross' spring pen/notebook collection. Every season they put out a new limited-edition set of three different ballpoint pens with three different notebooks; I ended up buying last season's 'quasar' pen in a rosy color, and multiple notebooks because these are the best notebooks I've ever used. The lines are just right (I like v. narrow college-rule), and the covers are durable and snazzy (or, if I were on 'Project Runway', fierce!) at the same time. This season's collection is 'kalahari', and I'm in love - http://www.cross.com/catalog/productlisting.aspx?cat_name=Kalahari+Collection. I want the orange pen, I think, and I want to continue stockpiling notebooks against the inevitable day when Cross discontinues the line (or the Mayan calendar ends and we're thrown back into the stone age, so that I can recount our tragic decline and fall for later posterity). But, I'm going to hold off a week or two and see if the impulse dies down - any bets on where I'll land on this issue?