Dear Blog Readers,*

(I guess I could say "Dear Joe & Brad, since they are the only ones I know read my blog.)

Hi! What's new & exciting? Things have been busy around here. Beatrice is fine, thanks for asking.

Joe and I have had a hard time staying in the same state since we got married. We have visited these states in the past (almost) three months: Virginia, North Carolina, California, Iowa, Maryland, Virginia (again), Nevada. With the exception of the trip to VA for the wedding, none of these travels have been together. Still on the agenda: Illinois, Iowa and Pennsylvania. Two out of three together. Tra-la!

Additionally, I quit my job. No, I do not have a full time job in CO yet. I'm temping, which is actually quite nice so far. There are several advantages to this:

• I do not work for my old company anymore.*
  
• I don't feel trapped in the house.
  
• I don't wake up at 5 am with the urgency to GET STUFF DONE and think "MIGHT AS WELL WORK."
  
• I don't have the urge to throw up anymore.
  
• I am FREEEEE, tra-la!
  

Seriously, I'm much happier now. I didn't realize how much happier I was until Joe and I were taking a walk last night. You seem happier, he said. I am. I really, really am. Don't ask me where my next effing paycheck is coming from, tho. (It may be from the lady at the temp agency who said "Oh, I see you used to work at D-Company. My husband used to own a game store." I guess her husband liked STCCG and their son played YJ. Small world! She said the name of the store and I recognized it. Turns out I recognized it because there is one by the same name in Australia, I think.)

Joe benefits, too, not only from a happier me but from tasty, gourmet dinners! Yesterday I made a penne w/ pesto, chicken and toasted pinenuts and today I made roulade of chicken, ham, sage and sundried tomatoes with a sage-garlic-lemon pan sauce. TRA-LA! There was also rice. I burned the crap out of my hand, though, when I grabbed the handle of the pan that had been in the oven. (Go ahead, grab the handle of one of your pans. See how many fingers it impacts?) Also in our kitchen now: homemade pound cake and leftover tortilla soup.

Other than that... business as usual.

*Also known as the post wherein I liberally use the phrase "tra-la."
**I could tell you tales about the massive changes that took place since I moved last year. Not here.

life with, vol. 1

Life with HotCop:

House Rule: No firearms on the couch (they leave imprints in the microfiber).

Life with Joe:

House Rule: No laptops on the couch (they leave imprints in the microfiber).

Always an adventure

Always an adventure
Originally uploaded by kackie

Always an adventure

there's a reason they call me HANDYERIKA, people

**NOTE** What you do not see here is the initial version of part B of this project, which involved hooks, and which turned out to be a huge disaster. So I went back to Lowe's and bought the rack I should have bought in the first place. You also do not see the grease, sweat and tears. Thank you. Please proceed**

Despite the note above, I still KICK ASS.

Note the blank wall:



Note the nimble use of the drill/electric screw driver:



Note the new MAGIC WALL HANGER THINGIE:



Note the STUD FINDING:



Note the CAREFUL MEASURING:



Note the WALL BIKE RACK, PEOPLE!!!



Note the NEWLY ORGANIZED GARAGE:



BOO to the YAH!!!!!

MAY DAY MAY DAY MAY DAY!!!

30 DAYS UNTIL THE WEDDING

MAY DAY MAY DAY MAY DAY

some thoughts on the postsecret event last night

• Frank Warren is cute. I almost said my secret is that I have a crush on him.
  
• I didn't bring my books to have them signed. It would have been pretty cool, but the line was long.
  
• People shared secrets. Some were powerful, some... weren't.
  
• Frank said he receives about 1,000 secrets a week and only posts about 20. Now we know why he doesn't post the other 980. Because they are probably uninteresting.
  
• An attractive person can become unattractive when they go up to the mike and open their mouths. Brad agrees.
  
• Frank takes it all very seriously. This is good because if it were me, I would yell at the microphone ramblers... SPIT IT OUT!
  
• The best part was learning about the SECRET secrets... the ones that didn't make it into the book because, for example, Mickey Mouse would sue your ass.
  
• The funny secrets are great.
  
• Brad, Joe and I all knew going in that none of us would be sharing a secret. Or crying (although I almost cried). It was bit of a relief.
  

Questions I should have asked:

• Has anyone ever shown up at your house? (The PostSecret address is Frank's home address)
  
• Where do you keep all the postcards? (Frank keeps all secrets that are sent to him.)
  
• Do you do all the legwork yourself? Scanning the postcards, sorting them, etc.
  

when someone's future is in your hands.

Thank goodness jury duty is over. As the first week of February approached, I didn't dread the thought of calling after 5pm every Monday for eight weeks. Maybe I'll get called, I thought, and I can miss a day of work. I thought this even though I play catch up at work every day and have to play harder when I miss a day.

I did get called. Twice. And I got picked to be on the jury both times. What is it about my face that says "FAIR AND BALANCED WEIGHING OF THE TESTIMONY" rather than "ROOMMATE IS A COP"?

In the first case (aka Team Old White Man Jury), the charges were abduction and attempted robbery. From my point of view, and the point of view of most of my fellow jurors, this was a case of misunderstanding. Was the defendant trying to abduct the girl? We thought not. Was he trying to rob her? 10 of us thought not, and 2 wondered "Why else would he approach her at 8 am in the way he did?" Sure, he approached her inappropriately. Sure, I would have been scared, too. Based on what I know about 20 year old males, I'm quite confident that the only reason he approached her was to try to get her number. He had money. He was drunk. He did a lot wrong that day, but trying to abduct and rob the girl wasn't part of it.

In the second case (aka Actually Reflective of the Population of the City of Hampton Jury), the charge was possession of cocaine. Oh, I thought when the judge read the charges, this one is easy. He either had it or he didn't. Not so much. Five of the members of this jury had been on a jury before this term. We all knew what the deal was: there was just too much reasonable doubt. Why would he have the drugs, if he knew he would be tested for drugs soon? Why wouldn't the prosecutor present evidence of past drug use, after 10 years of random drug testing? Why didn't they check the crack stem for DNA the same way they tested the dollar bill? Was the sun up, or wasn't it? We were left with too many questions to say definitively one way or the other and by law and the instructions given to us by the judge, that means we couldn't say he was guilty. Assumed innocent, and all that. Don't feel bad, HotCop told me after she played 100 Questions about Erika's second jury experience, if he really is a crack head, he'll get caught one way or the other. Yeah, thanks. Are you trying to make me doubt myself?

I'm glad I had the experiences as I've always been fascinated by courtroom drama and it was interesting to experience firsthand. But it's stressful as hell to think about your view of things having that much influence on their future. I don't recommend jury duty if you can help it.