There are days when I feel like I wear a uniform. Depending on the season, you'll either find me in shorts and a t-shirt or jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. Add a sweater if it's really cold. I think that this is due to a number of things: my clothing budget (not so big), the fact that I basically work from home, and also the fact that I like to wear what's comfortable. I don't like wearing heels (can't walk in them) and I don't have a lot of dressy clothes (see clothing budget and working from home). Hats off to you ladies who can pull off the dressy look, really. But here's my question: how do you fund your wardrobe (I know most of you aren't rich), and where do you wear these things?

I can't stand being told to relax. It really (and ironically) frustrates me. Somehow the insinuation that I'm not already relaxed totally aggravates me. So much so, in fact, that recently when John told me to relax, I bellowed "I'M NOT UNRELAXED!" Which, of course, demonstrates the apex of relaxation.

I refuse to pick out a Christmas tree wearing a t-shirt and shorts this year. I absolutely refuse. Except-- here's the thing-- it's still ridiculously warm here for this time of year. Even though it's Florida, we live in north central Florida, so the temperatures aren't usually Miami-esque by the end of November. I have photos of us from this time last year in which we're wearing wool sweaters and the heat is on inside! So yeah, if someone could tell Florida that it's November, I'd appreciate it.

For those who think that dogs are markedly different than small children, I give you Luke. Luke is sort of needy. And understand that when I say "Luke is sort of needy," it's comparable to saying "the ocean is kinda wet." Over the weekend, while we installed the flooring, Luke had to remain outside. While we were just on the other side of the door laying flooring. I can't say for sure, but based on his crying and whining and tantrum-throwing, I'd guess that he felt he might as well have been abandoned. And yesterday? Well, yesterday morning John left on a business trip. And Luke hasn't. left. my. side. No, not even to pee, not even to chase squirrels, not even to drink some water.

What I've marveled at since we got Luke is how he is at once flexible and neurotic. We take him at least twice a year, usually more like three or four times a year, to the "pet resort" to be boarded for a week or two at a time. And he's all, hey, this is cool, see you cats later! But when we put him outside to do some flooring work, he acts as if his entire world is collapsing and nothing will ever be the same, never ever, no don't try consoling me, I can't hear you over my sobbing. What gives?

After two pretty solid days of laying bamboo flooring, the main room of our house is finally done! I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It was a huge undertaking and lots of arduous work, but SO worth it. Have a look!

(And no, the TV is not normally in the fireplace! We had to move it off of the entertainment center while we worked on the floors. But you have to admit, it's a pretty sweet fit!)

Phew! So we got a late start yesterday, but we finished installing the bamboo flooring in the first half of the great room. We have to do that room in halves because the furniture is too heavy to move completely out of the house. We'll finish up the second half today and I'll post some real "after" pictures, but I wanted to post these two "during" photos now:

Trolling the vast internets last night, I came across this:

Know what it is? No? It's a condom dispenser. A condom dispenser. At the risk of offending any number of people, I'm going to go ahead and say that if you're having so much sex that you need to keep a condom dispenser on your bedside table, perhaps it's time to look into some other hobbies.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it falls at a time in the semester when I really need a bit of a break! I was glad to be able to get some baking in for the big day, and thought I'd share some photos:

Wherever you are, I hope all of you are relaxing with family and friends today and enjoying their company. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

So after much anticipation and delay, the bamboo floors are slated to arrive at our humble doorstep sometime today. We need to let them "relax" in their new environment for a couple days (Amy wondered if that meant we needed to offer them a beer and a bong hit) and then we can install them! (Sidenote: I just answered the door in my pajama pants and my UF sweatshirt. I'm now confident that the UPS man thinks I'm unemployed.) Once they've arrived and we've begun installation, I'll post some photos of our progress and our beautiful new floors! Yay to no more concrete!

Update: The bamboo arrived a little while ago and we've already begun to "relax" it. I've scheduled a mani and a pedi for the flooring at 2, then we'll pick it up and take it to the meditation center on the other side of town. Here's a close-up:

Why, you ask? Because of their current drought, Australia's government mandates that its citizens take four-minute showers. Four minutes. That's damn near impossible for me. They might as well say, "Emily, we're giving you four minutes to lay a golden egg." If I were an Australian, I'd look into whether or not it was acceptable to save up, say, two days' worth of four-minute showers. Then on the third day, presumably, one could take a twelve-minute shower. I'm all about the good ideas.

I don't know how I came across this while searching the vast internets, but clearly I need one of these:

Seriously! I work from home, we'll soon have bamboo floors throughout the house... c'mon! How cool would that be? If I had a sudden attack of writer's block, I could just go wheeling myself around the house, complete with laptop in case inspiration struck. Oooh! And I could mount a webcam on the front of it! NOW we're talking!

(Read about them here.)

That's the trouble with having four animals (three cats and a dog): we're outnumbered. And since we both work from home, our work days are punctuated every so often with "Edgar! Stop opening closets!" "Amos! Leave Lydia alone." "Luke! Go lay down!" "Lydia! I was sitting there!" You get the idea. They've got us outnumbered and they know it.

John: Have you heard of that movie [Amazing Grace]?

Me: No.

John: Oh.

Me: What I meant was, yes.

John: ... ... Did you not understand the question originally?

For John's birthday this year, I baked a Chocolate Guinness caked from Nigella Lawson's Feast. It was stunningly... breathtakingly... nay, divinely good.

Listening to our backyard neighbor blast talk radio yesterday afternoon, I was reminded of an email conversation I had with my friend Amy when John and I first bought this house:

Me: Our backyard neighbors are these two little old married people and the woman does a lot of gardening. While she gardens, she likes to listen to Rush, and because she's old, she has to crank the radio WAY up.

Amy: You have old neighbors who listen to Rush? That's pretty sweet. Not that I'm a Rush fan myself, but hey, it's ain't Perry Como!

Me: I meant Rush Limbaugh, not the band Rush.

Amy: ROFL!!!!! I thought it was so weird that you had these old neighbors who were Rush, as in Geddy Lee/Rush, fans!!!!

For John's birthday, I bought him a TomTom ONE gps. It's just about the coolest thing EVER. Sunday afternoon, we went for a drive with TomTom. If we missed our turn, TomTom very quickly recalculated our route and told us where to go. If we decided we wanted to add a destination along our route, TomTom figured out the fastest way to get us there. And when we found ourselves out in Middle of Nowhere, Florida (I think I heard the banjo music from Deliverance), TomTom got us the hell out of there, and fast!

When John and I first started dating, I invited him up to my parents' house to color Easter eggs with my family. Before I moved away, my family always got together the night before Easter for a huge egg-coloring shindig. Little did John know what he was getting himself into when he agreed. He showed up at the house, expecting to dip some eggs into dye and be done, right? That's what everyone does? What he met instead was an elaborate spread, with crayons and tape, wine and coffee (both for dyeing), and anything else that might make a unique Easter egg. He later told me that he felt incredibly intimidated, but I swear he never missed a beat. What a trouper!

Thirty-one years ago today, this lovely lady brought John into the world. Happy Birthday, John! And many more.

Yesterday morning, our FLOR samples arrived. I can't explain how eagerly we anticipated the arrival of these little 6x6 inch squares. We ordered 12 different samples and we've put them through a battery of tests: both of us walking on them with shoes, without shoes, and in bare feet; the animals walking across them (Amos), the animals running across them (Luke), and the animals cleaning themselves on them (Edgar). They've held up beautifully and now we're totally excited to order some more samples (we need to check out a couple colors) and place an order! Here's a quick photo:

Since I made such a splash with last week's genius idea, I thought I'd give it another whirl. So here goes: a Christmas savings account. I know, I know- it's not that sexy or exciting. BUT it will make your holidays less stressful, will make gift-giving easier, and will clear up oily skin. How's THAT for a pitch? A few years ago, John and I started an ING savings account. We get a much better interest rate (4.2% when last I checked), and it's less likely that we'll fall off the wagon and dip into the money for, oh I don't know, bamboo floors. We put a certain amount of money in every month and the money we save (plus the kickin' interest deposits we get) goes to cover not only all of our Christmas gifts, but also our Christmas tickets home and the cost of boarding the animals while we're away. Cool, huh? Go get one yourself!

Driving up to campus yesterday morning, I saw a young woman pushing a stroller... with a dog in it. The stroller was pink and frilly, and at first I was sure that she was pushing a baby. But then I saw the teeny dog in it and realized that the stroller wasn't so much a baby stroller, but a dog stroller. You've got to be kidding me. I've seen the tiny dogs in women's purses at the grocery store (don't get me started), I've seen women pushing their dogs in shopping carts at Lowe's (huh?), but a dog stroller? A dog STROLLER? Have we gone mad?!?

We've come full circle here at the Casey Compound. About a year ago, we started talking about putting in bamboo flooring. Then, once we looked into it, we realized how OMG! freakishly expensive it is and we changed our minds. Then we settled on staining the concrete, which I maintain would look bitchin'. And we proceeded to rip up the linoleum, rip out the old carpet, and put lots of smelly goo on the floor to get it nice and smooth for staining. And that goo had, oh I don't know, a million chemicals in it. And a thought started worming its way into my conscience: "This can't be good for us." But I pushed that thought away and tried to concentrate on how bitchin' the floors would look once we were done. But that thought kept coming up, as I looked into all the chemicals we'd need to bring into our home in order to get said bitchin' floors. And I couldn't push that thought away. So I talked to John The Wise about it. And John said he thought it would be okay. But that thought of mine somehow wormed its way into John's conscience, too. And a couple days later he told me that he didn't think the chemically-laden staining process was a good idea. So instead? Instead we're going with bamboo. More specifically, we're going with eco-friendly bamboo floors and recycled underlayment. And I can't wait to see the results.

Every year, I write about the Beloit College Mindset List and every year I remark on how little the new batch of college kids have experienced. This year, for example, marked the first post-Cold War class. These students have never known the Soviet Union; it's always been Russia. But I didn't really think about that until I talked to my students the other day about the Cold War. And I used the phrase "iron curtain" without thinking that it would need an explanation. But then they asked me to explain it. And they furiously scribbled down my words. And it slowly dawned on me just what it means that these kids never lived through the Cold War. Didn't watch the TV as hundreds of exhilarated citizens tore down the Berlin Wall. Didn't watch Oliver North dance an intricate tapdance through his trial (yes, I distinctly remember that). And then we talked about the first hydrogen bomb, 750 times more powerful than an atomic bomb. And they were shocked and horrified, having never... ever... heard of it. And I couldn't help but wonder: what else don't they know?

I'm taking today's NaBloPoMo from Maggie's book. "Act on ceremony. What are the family traditions or personal rituals you practice? How have they evolved over the years? Are there any new traditions you've always wanted to introduce?"

Two things immediately come to mind here: birthdays and Christmas. In my family, my parents always made a huge deal out of birthdays. My parents would get up super early and set the table, put out all the presents, and light candles. Then they'd wake up me and my brother, and the birthday kid would open up presents and everyone would sing the birthday song. That night, my mom would make whatever dinner the birthday kid wanted, and my dad would have made a huge pie (cherry if it was Lucas's birthday, apple if it was mine). Making a big fuss over birthdays has really stayed with me. And John-- who was never really into his birthday-- has started to really get into it.

The second thing that comes to mind is Christmas, specifically decorating the tree. My family would go out to a tree farm and tromp around in the bitter cold until we found a really great tree. Then once we got it home and got all the ornaments out, we'd play German Christmas music in the background while we decorated it. Since John and I live in Florida now, a tree farm (much less the bitter cold) are sort of out of the question. But we do still play German Christmas music while we put up all the ornaments and decorate the house.

What long-standing family traditions do you practice?

But this water peep that I found when I was cleaning out the cats' water dish is just as impressive:

Since last Halloween was so miserable, we opted not to hand out candy to the greedy buggers neighborhood kids. But I couldn't miss out on carving a pumpkin.

Every year around this time of year, people start asking what we want for Christmas and our birthdays. And every year I have such a hard time coming up with ideas. But this year, I started a del.icio.us account and as I come across things around the vast Internets that I'd like, I tag them with "wishlist". It's totally easy and really cool, and now I've got a bunch of gift ideas tagged, ranging in prices, so that gift-buyers have lots of ideas to choose from. Look, everyone! It's Genius Idea Friday!

This month I'm participating in NaBloPoMo, the National Blog Posting Month challenge. The idea is to write a blog post for every day of the month of November, as a writing exercise or just for the sheer thrill of blogging. You can read all about NaBloPoMo here, or you can check out NaBloShoeMo here! (Sadly, I can't participate in NaBloShoeMo due to a shoe shortage. Clearly I'll have to rectify that. Onward to Zappos!) Happy reading!