busy bee

well, the posting has, yet again, gotten away from me. i've just gotten so busy. what with school, work, and not cleaning my apartment or doing dishes, i've not had time for the ol' blog. not much new to report. i'm just watching will and grace and stalling on finishing up on the paper that's due saturday. one more week of summer school and work, then it's off to tennessee and north carolina. gotta check out boone and appalachian state...make sure i want to invest 2 or so years into it. plus it'll be nice to hang out with trevor's family. my family's off to the beach next week, and i'm just a tad green-eyed. i don't even remember the last time i was at a beach. i think i was 19 or something. yikes.

well, that's about all my attention span can get out for now. i'll post more sometime soon.

surprise!

i know i already posted today, but that was before i had the rest of a good morning/early afternoon. so i'd done some schoolwork (enough to be satisfied with myself for the time being) and rested and showered and whatnot, and i decided i'd go out shopping for a birthday present for erica, whose birthday was thursday. i went to the box turtle, which has been my favorite shop lately, and because they were having a 20% off everything sale...great combo. well, on my way out to the car i noticed a box sticking out of the mailbox next to mine. normally i'm not a snoop, but it was an amazon box, and i have had my mail put in the incorrect box before. but i thought, surely it couldn't be my harry potter...it's not due till next week sometime (see post from earlier today). but it was! i'm totally thrilled. now i've just got to finish up my other book so i can get started on this one (which will probably happen today!). at the box turtle i found a fun present for erica, and i found a fabulous fabulous skirt on super super sale (i saved$77) that will go great (i'm pretty sure) with a top i already have, so now i have something fun to wear to hayden and peter's art show tonight.
oh, and another highlight is that my sage plant that i'd container planted perked back up after the rain yesterday evening. it had been looking droopy since the move from the garden to the fire escape...so horray for timely rain. finally, a good day.

fortnight

wow, i can't believe it's been that long since i posted. it seems like just the other day. nope, it was 2 whole weeks ago. things have been just crazy busy here. i feel like i'm almost never home. between work, school, trevor, family, and occasionally friends, i'm always on the go. lately i feel like there's not been enough summer in my summer. i am letting myself do some summer reading, though (which, of course, means i'm not reading for class). i'm about to finish the poisonwood bible by barbra kingsolver, which has been really good. i'm pumped that the new harry potter came out today. it would have been arriving in the mail toay if i weren't a cheapo and requested super saver free shipping delivery. but i guess that just gives me time to finish my bible.
wedding planning is coming along, i suppose. we've got a date and a place: may 13, 2006 at wildwood park.
well, it's time for a late breakfast. i've been up since 7 this morning doing schoolwork and reading for fun alternatively....

copy cat

so i've decided to be totally unoriginal on this post and cut-and-paste the "survey" from jon's blog, only with answers pertaining to yours truly...i'm just trying to come up with something to do while i lie down before going out that doesn't involve falling asleep.
so here's to me being uncreative with my time:

Who was the last person...
[1] You touched? stacey
[2] You talked to? ashley
[3] You hugged? trevor seth
[4] You instant messaged? i have no idea...it was soooo long ago
[5] You kissed? trevor seth
[6] You yelled at? trevor seth (sorry, babe)
[7] You laughed with? stacey, jody, and josh
[8] You had a crush on? not telling...

Name four drinks you regularly drink:
[1] water
[2] fruit juice
[3] milk
[4] amaretto sours

Name four random facts about yourself:
[1] i have a midget toe
[2] i have had the same stuffed animal, mutt, since i was an infant
[3] i hate making the bed, but love it when trevor does
[4] my name is really alexandra brooks

Name four random facts about your family:
[1] crazy
[2] when i was 9 i moved in with my aunt, uncle, and 5 cousins
[3] aunt margie makes the best ever fried chicken and mashed potatoes
[4] i have some relatives that were raised thinking they were twins, but they were really cousins (told you, crazy)

Have you ever...
[1] Fallen for a friend? indeed, and i'm marrying him
[2] Made out with JUST a friend? yep
[3] Been rejected? enough to be good at it
[4] Been in lust? how could i not?
[5] Used someone? probably
[6] Ever been used? certainly
[7] Cheated? never in a million years
[8] Been cheated on? yes, one kiss can seem pretty major to a junior high relationship...
[9] Done something you regret? i try not to let myself regret things, but yes.
[10] Can you list a few of them? not here

Do you..?
[1] Color your hair? used to, may again
[2] Have tattoos? just one
[3] Have Piercing(s)? just ears
[4] Have a boy/girl friend? yepper
[5] Floss daily? i wish
[6] Like to groove to the music? you bet it
[7] Think you are cultured? enough for the time being
[8] Like to drive fast? uh, once caught going 92 in a 65...i guess that's pretty fast.
[9] Believe in God or Devil? definitely not the devil
[10] Believe in The Closet Monster? no, but i used to believe in the toilet monster...had to flush while halfway out the door.

Miscellaneous Questions!
[1] What should you be doing right now? taking a shower and gettin pretty
[2] What are you listening to? my window unit air conditioner
[3] Can you do anything freakish with your body? not notably freakish
[4] Chicken or fish? fish
[5] Favorite Season? spring
[6] Is ice cream the best thing in the world? it's not too far down the list
[7] What would your dream date be? i have no idea
[8] Silver, gold or platinum? anything but yellow gold
[9] Candle lit dinner in a restaurant or at home? restaurant...either, really
[10] Roses or wild flowers? wildflowers...
[11] Silly or serious romance? a little of both
[12] What CD is in your CD player right now? a mix i made before i "moved" to denver
[13] Who was your favorite Spice Girl? scary (see picture)
[14] Favorite Disney Characters? as me: ariel, as a bf: aladdin (i mean, he was fashioned from tom cruise!)
[15] Favorite fast food? grilled stufft burrito (no meat) from taco bell, wendy's fries, and a cherry slush from sonic (the best hang-over cure i've found yet)
[16] Favorite book(s)? i'm pretty hooked on harry potter
[17] Sports Team? wabbits
[18] Favorite song(s)? : dancing in the moonlight as done by toploader
[19] What room is your computer in? wherever. the computer accessories and desk live in the hall of the apartment (now, isn't that efficient)
[20] What is your shoe size? 5
Happy or Scary movies? i'll watch just about anything (except maybe a western...unless held at gunpoint)
[22] What will you be when you grow up? i'm going to save the world.
23] Who do you consider your best friend? ahleah

bad hair day, bad day...

man, today has been one BAD day. the morning wasn't so bad, despite the fact that i spent over fifty dollars at walgreens on toiletries (and forgot my $5 off cupon in the car). why do they always have to all run out at the same time??? the pms seemed to kick in midday, right about the time that the customers became difficult. the strawberries are nasty, so now i want a salad...where is there ice cream?...is there a bathroom in this place?... i yelled "jesus" in front of some customers when gerrardo put some ice in my shoe...and then the straw that broke the camel's back: "when i'm offering you money, don't turn it down. this is what a customer looks like, i don't know if you get many customers here..." yep, that was it, and i broke down and cried. right in front of stacey and the german man and his son who were fixing stace's computer. pathetic. ashley reminds me that this is why i'm getting an education. so i don't have to deal with old men who think they can be rude to me because i work behind a counter.
negative tension with trevor later tonight only made things worse...i think it's time for some mindless entertainment. or maybe i should start reading for summer school. yeah right.

saturday night was interesting. trevor and i "bartended" (read: filled cups with ice and made booze available) for a wedding party at aunt margie and uncle gene's in honor of meg's best friend. bumped into some girls i went to high school with; turns out one of them didn't even know meg and i were related...wow, i was a nobody in high school. good thing i turned out okay...another is getting married in maui...and another was going to call me tomorrow. it's monday, and fifty bucks says i don't hear from her until i bump into her again sometime, probably at a downtown bar...

quit the frisbee team. i'm not much of one for quitting, but i'm also not much of one for giving up my (very limited) free summer time for something that's not that fun. i'm just not into competition. when i played ultimate in college, people threw the disc to me because i was their friend. in the league, throwing the disc to me would put the team at risk. but i was quite the valuable player, seeing as i lack cajones (literally...i could have certainly used some figurative ones).

okay, that's enough bitching and moaning. time for some silver lining:
my apartment is coming along.
i have pretty flowers on two tables.
the brita water filter really does make my bad apartment water taste great.
i got to spend the evening cooking for myself and being alone.
i get to look forward to 3 new books and a bunch of body shop stuff coming in the mail soon.
it rained a little, so i don't have to feel guilty about not watering my garden today.
i think that should tide me over...till next time

kegger-schmegger

quite the weekend, had i. friday night trevor and i saw a late showing of episode III; thought it was pretty good...felt like it connected to the original three better than the second one (which i don't even really remember the plot of). worked saturday, then off to perryville for some boozing. did my first keg-stand (now that's an experience). i don't think i'd have made it through it without all of the wine i'd already had. needless to say, i had to grin and bear it through my hangover during mass, and wasn't completely fine until father's day dinner. not much else is too exciting these days. i'm trying to enjoy my last couple of school-free weeks before summer school kicks in. and trying to get this damn apartment in order. it's so hard to commit to unpacking when there are more interesting things to do...

winning young punks

so i made it through my first summer league ultimate game. i really wasn't so sure how i would fare, seeing as i haven't played ultimate since the stress-fractured leg four years ago. i didn't fall down or make a total arse of myself, so that's good, but i didn't actually touch the frisbee either (missed the one pass sent my way). i'm not terribly disappointed in myself, but i am wishing i were in better shape; which is what the whole frisbee thing is about. my team seems pretty cool. a couple of fellas i knew in a former life, and some i just "knew of" (story of my life in high school...knew of people, but wasn't really known myself). i was the only girl that showed up for the game, and it was looking like i was going to have to play the whole time to maintain the one-girl minimum; but the other team allowed us to use a couple of rookie guys to play in my place, which kept me from dying and throwing up the naked juice i chugged down right before the game started (BAD idea jeans).
so now i'm pooped to the max. i had a late junkish dinner, and i'm about to lie the old self down for a read and some sleepy time. tomorrow it's off to perryville with stacey to take her truck to the shop and to go swimming at the watershed. horray for summer.

searching for moss

i'm looking for meg moss...somehow we've become horribly out of touch. the email address i have for her keeps sending emails back (and i don't mean with replies), and i don't have any other contact info on her. she posted a comment on a previous post, but that's all i've heard from the lady in quite some time. so if anyone knows how i might reach her, please let me know. or if megan herself is reading this in the near future, i'm looking for ya.

estrangement

wow, i never thought i'd say this, but i think i'm just as addicted to high-speed internet as i am to tv. i had a 6-day hiatus from my internet during the big move, and it's been awful. i hate that i'm so obsessed with checking my email, my blogs, my online wedding planner (dork points: 2), etc.
so to catch up on what i've been doing in the last week, here's the play-by-play...
thursday: day off from work, began moving
friday: trevor comes to help move, rented team america
saturday: more moving, dinner with joel and ashley, rented the avaitor (good, but very long)
sunday: finishing moving, cleaning the old place, dinner with meg
monday: back to work, unpacking, dinner with elizabeth, chandle, and jerm
tuesday: work, star of india with ranch folks
wednesday: work, ultimate summer league draft party (first-round pick for women...thanks joe)
today: hanging out with aunt margie, more unpacking, hunter's ball game, dogsitting for erica and leah
and everyday laced with some sex and the city on dvd...i've got season 5 to watch tonight.
so that should have everyone up to speed on where i've been these days i've not been posting. of course, i'm not on a road trip like ellen, so nobody's too worried about my not posting!
anyhoo, i'd better give this doggie some attention before i become engulfed in the world of carrie and friends...

face-lift

just thought i'd check out a new template...try it on for size. the dots were getting on my nerves, and i'm hoping that's why no one posts comments (as opposed to the more likely reason, that i've gotten a tad boring)

appalling

okay, here's the scene: i'm at work, waiting for a customer to finish picking out what groceries he needs, when this out-of-town (evidenced by their t-shirts) couple walks by. let me back-track and explain that my work is one of many stores in the river market in downtown little rock. caddy corner to us on one end is a middle eastern cusine and grocery, and caddy corner to us on another end is the river market grocery. both booths are run by families of eastern origin. back to the couple. so they're walking by and i hear this from the woman: "is this whole place staffed by terrorists, or just this store?" WOW. i guess i know in my heart of hearts that people like this do exist around me, but i think i've done a pretty good job tricking myself into believing this was just the kind of thing you see on tv or hypothesize about. i don't really know much about the people that run either of the stores, but what i see is that they are good people. do they love the united states? i don't know. are they wreaking havoc in the river market and terrorizing people? no. in fact, this woman is the only person i've ever witnessed experiencing fear related to these shop owners (who were actually not even present, i suppose it was the mere title of the store "middle eastern cuisine and grocery" that sent chills up her spine).
i'm still trying to process this occurrence...at the very least i'm quite disturbed. and saddened. i feel sorry for that woman, that she harbors such unhealthy feelings towards absent middle-eastern shop owners; i feel sad for the couple that owns the store, that they have probably been present for such hatred, and that this will likely not be the last time ugly emotions are directed at them.
i just don't know.

calling all cars

well, it looks as though i've neglected my blog yet again. so here's a quick line before i head off to work for the day...
riverfest this weekend was fun (though soggy at times). trevor and i spent most of saturday there, and i got a lot of sun. we saw a good show by weakness for blondes (headed up by a fellow i used to work with at take a hike); saw some crazy-awesome tumblers out of chicago...they kept me nervous the whole time; saw my neice lauren frances do a little zebra dance with her dance class; ate some phillipino pork kabobs, a funnell cake, and a carmel apple; and met up with todd and crew for a drink at cornerstone before heading off to see the black crows (which, no, i still didn't recognize a single song).
after work on sunday i drove out to perryville and spent a lazy memorial day with trevor and some new and returning ranch volunteers. cookout with the volunteers, then back to little rock for a knitting party with some college girlfriends.
now it's time to get serious about packing up the house so i can make my move this week. if anyone's bored during the week and wants to help a sister out, let me know.
okey dokey, gotta run!

meat

as i was cleaning out my "keepers" folder in my hotmail account, i came across some interesting and long forgotten things. in addition to my usual saved messages of friends updating contact info, i rediscovered a special email from trevor from before we were even together. how funny that i saved such a thing; i, of course, didn't know then (over a year and a half ago) that our relationship would take us here, but i did know that i liked the way the email made me feel. it's nothing so cheesy as a love note (that's not really trevor's style), but in his own way it was a signal to me that he was diggin on me, too. it was such a treat to find, and i wonder where we'll be when it resurfaces.
something else i found was an email from a college professor with a link about factory farming. it's called the meatrix and everyone who eats meat (and those who oppose it for any reason) should check it out.
well, the party here on saturday was a bit more of a gathering than a party, but it was quite a success anyway. i believe everyone attending had a good time. i know i sure did.

girls just wanna have fun

so i realized that i've not been doing much talking about the tv i've been watching (which probably isn't such a bad thing); the past couple of days have been full of tv shows and whatnot...last night it was over to elizabeth's for america's next top model, tonight at kat and carl's for survivor and the apprentice. to keep myself busy between mowing the lawn and printing out pictures on my mini photo printer, and to help myself stay up late (which probably is a bad thing) i found myself borrowing and watching season 2 of sex and the city from elizabeth.
prior to this marathon i've indulged myself in, i'd really only seen a meager handful of episodes of sex and the city. i've been a fan of sarah jessica parker since my childhood favorite, girl's just wanna have fun; i must say, seeing her "all grown up" and having orgasams is a little weird at first...however, i've taken to the show just as i did dawson's creek (yep, i'm a closet dawson's fan). there are actually some vague similarities between the two shows: relationship troubles, the pretty prudish brunette, all-white cast.
the second to last episode of the season was quite interesting. it was about the differences/challenges between twentysomething and thirtysomething women. how odd to be a twentysomething woman (girl, whatever) and watch this show from the perspective of a thirtysomething. not that i'm some hot single in the nyc dating scene, snatching up the a-list men; but it was intriguing to see it through those eyes. something i'm also curious about is whether it's the ny setting or the age that has these women going on SO many dates??? i'm sure it's just the fictional writing, but come on! i don't have any friends that go on dates. elizabeth and i were talking about this tonight. is it little rock? is it being a twentysomething? is it the water? even when i was "available", i never went on dates. and i certainly don't know anyone (except a particular ex) who regularly went on dates with a new aquaintence...how peculiar...

update

well, i'm not being very consistent with this blogging thing. sometimes i don't feel like there's too much to post about anyways. but there have been some developments in the life of little brooke, that i suppose i could share. first, leah has officially moved out. yep, i'm roommateless. it's pretty weird, the house being empty, going a long time without speaking any words to anybody face-to-face (which will change next week when i start working 40 hours a week). trevor and i spent the much of saturday, some of sunday, and most of monday apartment hunting. it felt like a grown-up thing to do, and i'm not sure i liked it. it's a tough call to make: live in a matchbox and save money or cough it up and be more comfortable. i decided on comfort (money can buy happiness in that regard, i suppose), and will be moving into an efficiency (yep, an apartment without a bedroom is bigger than what i almost went with) apartment on kavanaugh in this really old, pretty cool apartment building. hardwood floors, old appliances, full of character. the garden is coming along quite nicely. for proof, see photos below. i'm also putting in some pictures of trevor and me on our first backpacking trip. we only spent one night because of mother's day, but it was a blast and worth the dusty drive. i'm hoping to get my rear into shape so i can make it farther than 2 miles a day without dragging...

trevor and me before hiking out of crystal prong 

trevorseth hiking over the creek we camped near. 

some of the mater plants aren't looking so good, but i'm hoping they'll perk up a bit... 

finito!

all right! school's finished for the time being. what a relief! my evenings are mine...all mine. so i'll be working full-time soon down at the river market. come check it out and buy some organic and local foods. good for you, good for the farmer, good for our planet. the web page is under development, but if you're interested go to http://www.rivermerc.com and keep your eyes peeled for progress.
i must admit that there's some sadness involved in this last week of school. on friday, while i'm away at work, my wonderful roomie leah will be officially moving out. not only does this mean that the only furniture i've got is in the dining room and my bedroom (not to mention no tv!), but the worst part is the fact that this will be the end of an era. sure, leah and i went a year without living together since moving in together (we've been dorm/rent house roomies since 2000), but this is for good, i'm afraid. we're growing up and our paths are taking us different places (cue sappy music).
on a happier note, it's camping time! trevor and i (and anyone else we can drag along) are going camping...finally! i'm super excited, even though it'll just be a one-night trip.
oh, and look out for some updated photos of the garden. i'm working on it, i promise.

pleading for plan "c"

alright, i have no idea who actually visits my blog, or if any of you are in little rock, but i'm posting tonight to plea for help creating plan "c" with regards to my living arrangements. plan a didn't work out, plan b's looking a little doubtful. so if anybody knows anybody looking for a roommate (to move in or to move in with), or if anybody knows of any available one bedroom apartments (preferably not in west little rock), i'd be ever so greatful for comment posts...