Story of my life

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I'm unorganized. Or maybe I'm more just disorderly organized. I know where things are. I can find a specific black skirt based solely on feel in a pile of black clothes. I can find a single earring because I know it dropped once off my nightstand weeks ago and must still be there. I can find that role of tape, those scissors, that pen etc because I know once I shoved them in the big box that sits under my bed. I can find a pair of shoes in the pile because I know I never put them away.

This quote so explains my life. I will probably find a favorite lip gloss in the pocket of my coat next fall, or maybe if I'm lucky there might be $5 in there too. My ski coat is forever rendering little surprises.

A few months ago I had a genius idea to go through all my cookbooks and marking which recipes I'd like to make. And because of this and my disorderly organization, I made a miraculous discovery: a clean and crisp $100 bill.

Now, if I had been more organized, that bill would have been neatly placed in my savings account and I could have earned some interest on it or something. But instead, I had a fantastic surprise and a good story for the future.

(P.S. Thanks Daddy for the nice card that the bill was tucked into. I'm pretty sure I stuck the card into the book because I didn't want it to get lost or forgotten and I knew the book would make it into my suitcase. I don't treat all your nice presents so forgetfully.)

Jess's Accident

I was vague after putting pictures of Jess up yesterday. I wasn't trying to be so vague, I was attempting to show that despite her being in the ICU on Friday and Saturday she's not nearly as bad as it looks. Fail.

So here's the story as far as I understand. Friday was Bike to Work day in DC. Jess and Michael and a few others, including Michael's doctor mother went for a bike ride on Friday. The path was crowded. Somehow Jess and Michael bumped into each other while riding side by side and Jess took a fall that resulted in her landing on her handlebars and cracking her ribs and somehow lacerating her liver. The liver bleeding stopped on it's own thank goodness, so she didn't need any kind of surgery to repair it.

She is no longer on oxygen or morphine. When I went by the hospital yesterday she was perky and happy and looking a thousand times better. She still moves slowly but she is healing well and seems to be making good healing progress.

Pssst!

1.  I'm wearing my new maxi dress for the third time in three days. Thank goodness for deodorant, inside activities while sporting it, and gorgeous weather that didn't make me sweat.

2.  My sister Jess is currently sitting in the hospital a couple metro stops away with broken ribs and a healing liver laceration. If she doesn't get to go home today, I'm popping by after work.

Thursday after work when we got mani-pedis and then Mr. Yogato

Friday after work (ok actually Saturday, but I'm sure Friday didn't look much different, maybe more doctors and nurses).
Also, this picture looks really bad. But Jess was looking at Michael who was at the end of the bed so her eyes are kind of closed, she's not dying,
 just under close watch and supervision by the ICU nurses.

3.  I'm going to the beach this weekend and I can't seem to stop looking at bathing suits I don't need. And because I'm going to be at the beach, my mom is flying in on Wednesday to help take care of Jess before she moves to Brooklyn, NY at the beginning of next month.

4.  Something miraculous happened to me last week. I discovered THIS tumber. And despite the occasional bad words and references to things this Mormon girl doesn't do, it's pretty funny (just giving you a warning).

5.  Saturday night after some mishaps and logistical detail malfunctions we ended up sitting on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial. It was the most gorgeous night. And let me tell you, sitting on the ground in a maxi dress? So much better than sitting on the ground in anything else. And after paying homage to Mr. Jefferson, reading a favorite part on his four quotes, and then coming out of the rotunda and seeing my friends just chilling on the steps (or in the boy's case, practicing their golf swings and imagining what it would be like to launch a ball off the steps into the Tidal Basin), it just seemed like the start to a beautiful summer.

Paris 1996 or 1997

Emma, Cami, Me, Jess, Rachel: Sacre Coeur, Paris

I look so geeky in this picture. I remember feeling the like only kid that wore a long coat like that. All the other kids at school were wearing sports teams Starter jackets. They were the coolest. Well, everyone thought they were the coolest. I didn't really have a sports team but I remember wishing I did so I could have a jacket instead of my blue one (above). I also remember the kids talking about how their cousin, cousin's friend, friend etc was mugged or even shot for their jacket. In my 12 year old mind, something worth getting shot at must be pretty cool. Yeah, I was so very clearly a dork.

Another confession of my dorkiness that year? Tupac died, I was 12, everyone seemed to be talking about it, some were crying, and I had no idea who they were talking about.

But what I really love about this picture is how cute my sisters look, especially Rachel with her little head of blonde curls. She was cute and I was just beginning my awkward years. And I hadn't even heard of Tupac, but I could sing every Beatles song and a significant amount of the Eagles, Credence Clearwater Revival, Earth, Wind and Fire and Doobie Brothers.

King Tut

As many of my long readers know, I spent the Summer of 2008 in The Holy Land. I'm so glad I was there before all the political turmoil in Egypt so I could fulfill one of my life long dreams of going to Egypt. And in going to Egypt I had three major goals:

1. See the pyramids. (Check, Check and Check)

2. Go to Karnak Temple. (Check and Check)

3. Go to the Valley of the Kings

But the Valley doesn't look like anything really. See?

Where are the tombs? How do you know where they are? It just looks like desert! But the tombs are hidden. They're scattered throughout the valley. The walls of most were elaborately painted after they were carved into the mountains. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside. It was really kind of tragic. (Google images.) I did however sneak a quick hand swipe to see what the carved paintings felt like. (Stone.) 

So what's the point of this post today other than showing you how much I love Ancient Egypt? To tell you that today Google is honoring Howard Carter on his 138th birthday. Mr. Carter is the man who discovered King Tut's tomb. The tomb that was really small and disappointing to go into because there was nothing in there besides his mummy, but a few days later when we went to the Cairo Museum and saw that half of a floor of that humongous museum was full of all the treasures found in King Tut's tomb. It was awesome. And that's why it was so great. No other ancient Egyptian leader's tomb ever had anything in them. Blasted grave robbers...

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is, the most exciting part of the Valley of the Kings is Tutankhamun's tomb and I'm glad Mr. Carter was born.

Holland, 1991

Cami, Jess, me, Emma

In 1990 we were lucky enough to move to a little town in Germany for two years. My dad was stationed at Worms Army Base and we lived in a cute little town called Osthofen. I was six. Here's your old classic Richey family of the week. Holland circa 1991.

Things I remember from that trip:

• I didn't have a proper coat, just a rain slicker. I think I forgot to pack it. So, to keep me warm I wrapped my ratty blanket around my torso and put my rain slicker over the top. I lost it and then later found it 30 seconds after a pair of old Dutch women picked it up by a corner, examining it warily between them. 
• Lots and lots of tulips
• Wanting wooden clogs until I tried them on.
• Being cold.

The typical things a 7 year old remembers...

I wish I were a commercial girl

While watching Revenge last week a Fruit of the Loom commercial starting Emmy Rossum came on (you know the girl who played Christine in the Phantom of the Opera movie?) and I couldn't help wishing I was her. See?

She just looks so pretty, and happy, and I need cotton! Yes, they pulled me in. If wearing cotton would make my hair like hers I will wear cotton every single day of my life.

And, another commercial person I wish I were:

(great dance moves, airport security was never so much fun)

Though if I had to choose a commercial personality, it's really a toss up between a Neutrogena girl and a Pantene Pro-V girl. Great skin or great hair?