Remember Catiecake?   I never knew I would miss someone from the internet so much. She died last year and I find myself thinking about her and missing her regularly. I wasn’t even friends with her in real life and it’s not like we had a solid correspondence going or anything. It’s just that she used to write these really great lists of funny things and they always had me chuckling to myself because she was so relatable. She also had a wheaten so we often joked about my dog, Whiskey. Wheatens are one of a kind. So much trouble yet so cute about it.

Anyway, in the spirit of blogging every day (Who’s crazy idea was that?!!!) I thought I’d do a quick list.

Thing number one: I am reading “Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi” by Elif Shafak and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I don’t think I would have gotten it at all if I had read it a few years ago. Just little bits of Persian culture really go a long way now that I’ve immersed myself in Payam’s family. I can imagine the courtyards in the center of homes, the foods and even simple Arabic phrases… Things I would have never picked up on  back when I was just a white girl from the sticks. I’m actually quite taken with how the Turkish author writes about a housewife from North Hampton and describes her American life so easily. I could never write about a Turkish housewife. I’m going to have to study up on this author.

Payam’s brother gave me this book with instruction that I am to write a book report when I am done. I’m actually looking forward to writing a book report. That’s right up my alley! He used to make Payam write book reports for him when he was a boy (they are 10 years apart) and Payam resented it mightily. I think it’s hilarious and probably made Payam more interesting because of it.

Thing number two: We bought one of those magnetic poetry kits where you get a bunch of little word magnets and you can form sentences with them by rearranging the order. I thought it would be a fun activity for the kids, as we like to leave little jokes back and forth to each other. What I didn’t count on was that the magnetic poetry kit would be so sexual! Every other word suggested something and I was trying desperately hard to keep my mind out of the gutter! I swear it wasn’t me. So I asked Payam to order another set to make the poetry writing a little more age-appropriate. He bought the Edgar Allen Poe version so now we have dark depressing sensual poetry.

Thing number three: I’m plotting a big space-themed costume photoshoot. Usually I try to keep these projects on the down low until I get them completed and ready to hit the internet without a chance of someone copying my idea but that was before I was daily blogging and floundering around looking for something to write about.  As you can see from my banner, I’ve got a few ideas in mind. Right now I am working on “Space Kitty.” I’ve ordered glittery light up rain boots from amazon (what a godsend Amazon is) and some fuzzy galaxy fur from the fabric store. Did you know you can purchase fabric online and then go pick it up at the store later and skip the holiday lines? It’s brilliant! Anyway, I don’t have any idea how I’m going to sew a cat fur hat and wire up some kind of cat tail…I really hope I come up with something soon. And no, the pre-made space cat head won’t be part of my photoshoot.  I can’t cheat like that! I just bought that for Payam because it was like eleven bucks and hilarious.