Things to Know XIV

- I am the world's most graceless human - namely, I fell down the last four steps of the front staircase at work while carrying a tray with the coffee condiments and an almost empty pot.

- I didn't break anything doing the above. I'm just incredibly stiff, sore, and my right ankle is turning pretty colors.

- There is also some good floor burn on my left knee.

- Shins are very sensitive, did you know that?

- My cat as an affinity for tissue paper. Or any kind of paper, really.

- If you have not heard the song If I Die Young by The Band Perry, you must hear it.

- The above is non-negotiable.

- My visa photo makes me look like a drug dealer. I think I've mentioned this before.

- Em comes in 7 days!

- Seven days is the equivalent of a week.

- It must be almost NASCAR - the traffic by the house has picked up and they're treating this stretch of road like it's the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Only with more turns and slightly more complicated layout.

- I find it particularly funny that I work in the heart of wine country, am underage, don't drink, and am still expected to pass along advice on wine like I'm a natural. Or a hardcore wino.

- There is nothing wrong with being a hardcore wino - if that's your thing - I just prefer to wait until I'm of legal age before consuming.

- Excepting those very, very rare occasions (two, this past year) at college.

- Yes, only two. And trust me, I'm not an idiot.

- Sometimes this ingrained sense of responsibility isn't as handy as one would think.

- I don't think I'm going to be working Friday nights anymore - my boss has realized (probably, I think) that working Friday puts me into overtime by at least four hours.

- Tomorrow's payday.

- Direct deposit is awesome, by the way.

- There are 39 days left before the Wandering Sagittarius departs across the pond.

- Oh, snap.

- Be a puffin (or any sea-faring bird with glossy or semi-glossy feathers) - let it roll right off your back.

- I think my cat is confused as to why I haven't been getting everything ready to leave yet.

- I work too much to really realize that normally this is around the time when I used to get ready to leave for pre-season.

- A week in Brazil for a semester in Wales. Seems like a fair trade to me.

- Chuck hasn't had anything new on his blog since April. I checked two days ago.

- Eventually, there will be a new part of Murphy and Me. Eventually. This part is just difficult to write because, well....I'm flying a little by the seat of my pants in a bit of a transition state.

- Heather - bear with me, I'm working on the Murphy.

- If anyone has seen a small, violently orange Focus wandering around that answers to the name "Murfee" please send him my way. If he's got a playmate with him - something light-colored and fluffy-looking - whisper in his ear that Mama's making cookies and watch out.

- There aren't any actual cookies, but we need them both to come home.

- It's not a lie, it's just not the whole story.

- Henry the Houseplant not only has babies, but he's flowering. Pretty little white flowers.

- These are indications that he's rootbound.

- Henry the Houseplant is a spider plant, for those of you don't know him.

- Henry could probably do with some water. I'd best get on that.

- My literary BFF is Captain (he got promoted, he used to be a lieutenant) Nicholas Ramage of Dudley Pope's The Lord Ramage Novels (and he is heir to an earldom, so he's not quite royalty, but that's okay, he's still a badass).

- I haven't enjoyed a series this much since I first read the Dragonlance novels. And those are positively BAMF.

- Seriously. Listen to If I Die Young. Don't like country? Humor me.

- If I die young, bury me in satin/Lay me down on a bed of roses/Sink me in the river, at dawn/Send me away with the words of a love song.... The Band Perry

- Always walk with the words of a love song in your heart and on your tongue. Always.

- I don't think I've done a late night/early morning post in quite some time (since I was at college). Which is probably a good thing. Not so entertaining, but probably more socially acceptable.

- Socially acceptable? I think I'll let you make that decision.