And this one time, in band camp....

Okay, I have nothing important to say here, so be warned. This post will mention nothing you need or want to know, consider it a warm up, a "where's my brain" exercise.

Some bits and pieces of my day--

I had two pieces of doublemint gum left and the ghost stole it from my office, then two drawers in my kitchen were open. I should probably look in there for the gum.

This is sad, but I like to go to my bank in the morning for free coffee, cookies, and dog biscuits for Buddy Holly. But it's Lent so no cookies for me, even if there were cookies there, which there were not, but I had the coffee.

3w2ew -- my cat just stepped on the keyboard of my new laptop. Nice.

After writing about my ghost, I just found my gum (I kid you not), in a drawer, though not in the kitchen.

Tonight driving to the $1 store I thought about Bush's No Child Left Behind Plan. If I'm understanding it correctly, the schools that do the *worst* lose funding. Shouldn't be the other way around? Shouldn't schools that are having trouble be given more money so the kids can have tutors, counselors, etc? Maybe it's just me, but I think we've skimmed the icing and the cake off of our schools and are not just left with the crummy crumb-filled plate.

Things our waitress said at dinner: That stinks. You can't screw up ice cream.

***We liked her .

Soon I'll have good news to tell you, but it's not about a second book or a second child.

I received Mary Biddinger's book PRAIRIE FEVER in the mail and it's lovely! I'm looking forward to sitting down with it (on my red chaise) and diving in.

Sometimes I fantasize about condos or small cabins.

Tonight I'm proud of my golden retriever.

Things That Make You Fall Asleep (or Topics to Take a Nap To)

The Switch--
I finally made the change to the new blogger. Not because I wanted to, but because Blogger wanted me to. I felt I was taken to the department store to pick out the dress I didn't want to wear. What's odd is I don't seem to mind this dress--if in fact, I like the add-your-own-labels it offers. And a blog just for family, friends, and relatives--love that, that's the reason I started "First Draft" because my other blog felt too open. People from high school could google my name and step into my life, that gave me the creeps.

Labels--
The labels of new blogger make me laugh though. I feel like I'm playing my cheap version of $25,000 Pyramid--Things that Annoy Me, Things that make me Laugh, Things a Poet Would Say. But I'm labeling my posts and trying not to label others.

The Graduate--
My husband said that I say, "I only have one packet left and then I need to format my thesis and I'm done. I'm so close," about five times a day. My MFA program has been wonderful in so many ways, but I am aching to walk around the world again without a deadline. I will miss the program immensely, though I know I'll stay in touch with many of the friends I met there.

Still, there is something about homework and always needing to have something done that makes it feel as if there's a secret bird living in your house that always needs to be fed. And sometimes you'll realize, you've forgotten about the bird and it's starving or the bird is screeching though you can't see it. I've had anxiety dreams about a bird living in my armoire and I've woken up to find me digging through my clothes searching for a non-existant bird. So, as much as I love this bird, I'm looking forward to setting it free, to watch the bird fly off and see how I live without it.

Paging NP--

Dear NP (poet in the northern part of the state)-- I received your email and in the process of changing computer have lost your email address. Please email me back (I've already written you a response, just nowhere to send it--yes, I almost posted it here!) -- do you like receiving your own personal message online? ;-) Ah, technology!