<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004</id><updated>2011-05-25T09:16:42.061-05:00</updated><category term='moving'/><category term='Colbert'/><category term='cigars'/><category term='vids'/><category term='vacation'/><category term='divorce'/><category term='plants'/><category term='cats'/><category term='relationships'/><category term='On Notice'/><category term='wine'/><category term='winter'/><category term='fall'/><category term='photos'/><category term='confessions'/><category term='You Tube'/><category term='stuff and things'/><category term='blogosphere'/><category term='holidays'/><category term='spring'/><category term='family'/><category term='JK'/><category term='what makes me smile'/><category term='matchmaking'/><category term='The Office'/><category term='rant'/><category term='update'/><category term='debauchery'/><title type='text'>Ocean of Reality</title><subtitle type='html'>There is no greater joy than soaring high on the wings of your dreams, except maybe the joy of watching a dreamer who has nowhere to land but in the Ocean of Reality.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default?start-index=101&amp;max-results=100'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>309</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3040345220899825504</id><published>2007-12-05T15:03:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-12-05T15:06:16.177-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blogosphere'/><title type='text'>Closed for business.</title><content type='html'>I'm afraid it's come down to this, but I'm moving on.  If you'd like to follow me, please send an email to mseekfor at gmail dot com, and I'll send you the new address.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3040345220899825504?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3040345220899825504/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3040345220899825504' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3040345220899825504'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3040345220899825504'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/12/closed-for-business.html' title='Closed for business.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-6815978013774555334</id><published>2007-11-30T07:01:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-11-30T07:20:35.540-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blogosphere'/><title type='text'>The future of things to come.</title><content type='html'>I had an anxiety attack last night.  It's been a while since I had one, actually about 6 months ago.  I did a good job of controlling my stress and anxiety over the summer and through the beginning of the fall, but when that familiar tightness pulled at my chest last night, I couldn't stop it.  I called the one person I know who understands what it's like, who has been able to calm me down in the past, hoping that he would be there for me again.  And he was.  Smitty talked me through it, helped to control my breathing, and within minutes I was in control of myself again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We started to talk about what brought on this latest bought of anxiety, things of which I won't go into on here, and the things I can do to control it.  He reminded me that my blog used to be my form of therapy, and that recently I've withdrawn from that.  And he's absolutely right.  Things have changed to where I'm afraid to put my raw emotions out in a place where anyone I know can at anytime "read my thoughts".  My lack of anonymity has stopped me from fully expressing myself.  And with that, I have lost one of the real beneficial outlets I had for support.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What does that mean for the future?  I haven't completely decided yet.  I may shut down things here, I may move on to another place and start new, I may stop blogging all together.  I'm going to put a lot of thought into it this weekend.  When I know, you'll know.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-6815978013774555334?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/6815978013774555334/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=6815978013774555334' title='7 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6815978013774555334'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6815978013774555334'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/11/future-of-things-to-come.html' title='The future of things to come.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3213625995510986638</id><published>2007-11-28T08:26:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-11-28T09:09:06.940-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='stuff and things'/><title type='text'>Quick and dirty.</title><content type='html'>An update for all of my five readers, since it's been a while:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Things are crazy.  Putting in overtime at work, jam-packed weekends, not enough hours in a day.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;My holiday was nice, despite the small amount of family drama.  I'm so not ready for Christmas yet. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I have about five different posts brewing in my head at any one given time.  But when I find the time to type them out, I'm blocked.  I would love to tell you about the hilarious conversation I had with my family this weekend, or why I can't seem to get any shopping done during the holidays due to anxiety, or my latest misadventures with the male species, but I just can't find the words.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Can anyone explain to me why my ex and his family still read my blog?  Seriously people, get over it.  I'm no longer part of your life, you are no longer part of mine.  Move on.  I have.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I know I said I was done dating, and I am.  But well, I guess I'm &lt;em&gt;technically &lt;/em&gt;dating again.  Sorta.  Maybe?  Yeah, it's obviously complicated. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Work has blocked all "blogspot.com" websites.  So, I'm catching up on you all via my reader, but I can't comment.  Murr.  I'm not a happy camper.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;That's all from here.  I'll be back with a proper post, hopefully sooner than later.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3213625995510986638?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3213625995510986638/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3213625995510986638' title='7 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3213625995510986638'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3213625995510986638'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/11/quick-and-dirty.html' title='Quick and dirty.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-388567844371649578</id><published>2007-11-19T14:08:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-11-21T08:52:24.231-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><title type='text'>Giving thanks.</title><content type='html'>A few things I'm thankful for this holiday season...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;... my supportive family and friends.&lt;br /&gt;... my independence.&lt;br /&gt;... luck.&lt;br /&gt;... my job, oddly enough.&lt;br /&gt;... my cats.&lt;br /&gt;... a fully stocked humidor.&lt;br /&gt;... wine.&lt;br /&gt;... divorce!&lt;br /&gt;... lost friendships found again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To you and yours, Happy Thanksgiving!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-388567844371649578?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/388567844371649578/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=388567844371649578' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/388567844371649578'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/388567844371649578'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/11/giving-thanks.html' title='Giving thanks.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-8903174147089447525</id><published>2007-11-19T14:02:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-11-19T14:07:58.100-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='stuff and things'/><title type='text'>Its going to be ok, really.</title><content type='html'>Somehow, someway, things find a way of working themselves out.  The harder we push, the more difficult the situation becomes.  Sometimes you gotta sit back, relax, and the good things will come to you eventually.  The lost find their way back.  Somehow.  Someway.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Everything is going to be ok.  I'm sure of it.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-8903174147089447525?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/8903174147089447525/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=8903174147089447525' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8903174147089447525'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8903174147089447525'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/11/its-going-to-be-ok-really.html' title='Its going to be ok, really.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-2661886352532734854</id><published>2007-11-15T08:18:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-11-15T08:26:36.925-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='stuff and things'/><title type='text'>I'm here for you.</title><content type='html'>Six months later.  You've run away from me (more times than I can count), and I'm always in the same place I was when you left.  The logical question would be, "Why do you keep running?".  Instead, I say, "You need me.  What can I do?".&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Things haven't changed in the decade we've known each other.  They never will.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-2661886352532734854?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/2661886352532734854/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=2661886352532734854' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/2661886352532734854'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/2661886352532734854'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/11/im-here-for-you.html' title='I&apos;m here for you.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-6800163013689342242</id><published>2007-11-14T10:30:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-11-14T10:54:39.351-05:00</updated><title type='text'>I am Jack's smirking revenge.</title><content type='html'>I just saw a guy at work that looked like he walked straight out of Fight Club.  &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Disheveled&lt;/span&gt;, exhausted, big black shiner, and a cut across his cheek.  So, it makes me wonder...  when did Project Mayhem come to DC?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-6800163013689342242?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/6800163013689342242/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=6800163013689342242' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6800163013689342242'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6800163013689342242'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/11/i-am-jacks-smirking-revenge.html' title='I am Jack&apos;s smirking revenge.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3740999401854062016</id><published>2007-11-13T10:50:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-11-13T10:52:31.842-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><title type='text'>Randomness.</title><content type='html'>Would you say I am more a "Mistress Destiny" or a "Mistress Serenity"?  Discuss.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3740999401854062016?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3740999401854062016/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3740999401854062016' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3740999401854062016'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3740999401854062016'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/11/randomness.html' title='Randomness.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-8787907012746443948</id><published>2007-11-07T08:33:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-11-07T08:36:36.784-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='confessions'/><title type='text'>Just saying.</title><content type='html'>I really need a good cry, for no particular reason at all.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-8787907012746443948?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/8787907012746443948/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=8787907012746443948' title='6 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8787907012746443948'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8787907012746443948'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/11/just-saying.html' title='Just saying.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>6</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-4202944941429866680</id><published>2007-11-05T16:06:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-11-05T16:17:42.534-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='confessions'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><title type='text'>As My World Turns.</title><content type='html'>Wow.  You guys really love secrets!  For those of you who are clued in, thanks for letting me spill and for reassuring me that things are ok.  Things have finally settled down a bit and I'm not as stressed about the situation as I once was.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And to quote &lt;a href="http://briarannie.blogspot.com/"&gt;my friend&lt;/a&gt;, upon hearing The Secret, &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"OMG!!! You have the most drama filled life of everyone I've ever known. Incredible!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;It's totally true.  My life is a soap opera.  But maybe things will calm down now that the &lt;a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2007-11-05-wga-strike_N.htm"&gt;Writers Guild is on strike&lt;/a&gt; :)&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-4202944941429866680?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/4202944941429866680/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=4202944941429866680' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4202944941429866680'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4202944941429866680'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/11/as-my-world-turns.html' title='As My World Turns.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-695095237615557198</id><published>2007-10-31T13:08:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-10-31T13:18:40.912-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='confessions'/><title type='text'>Secrets, secrets, are no fun.</title><content type='html'>I've got a secret.  A &lt;strong&gt;BIG&lt;/strong&gt; secret. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You know, the kind that could possibly fuck-up a few people's lives type of secret.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And I can't talk to anyone about it.  It's driving me crazy.  I need to talk to &lt;em&gt;someone&lt;/em&gt; about it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I tried telling my therapist a few weeks ago, and then I got "the look".  The one that says, "Melissa, what the hell are you doing with your life?  Could you be anymore of a terrible person?".  So I changed my story at the last minute as to avoid the wrath of the woman that I pay to tell my problems to.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know, I can't believe I did it either.  That's exactly what I pay her for!  What the hell is wrong with me?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I seriously need help.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, why don't we just pretend that I told you my nasty little secret.  And you guys make me feel better about making a small indescresion and tell me it's going to be ok.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is going to be ok, isn't it?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-695095237615557198?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/695095237615557198/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=695095237615557198' title='12 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/695095237615557198'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/695095237615557198'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/10/secrets-secrets-are-no-fun.html' title='Secrets, secrets, are no fun.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>12</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-8935814955861034389</id><published>2007-10-31T10:35:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-10-31T10:39:24.363-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='divorce'/><title type='text'>Remembering to forget.</title><content type='html'>It wasn't until about nine o'clock last night that I remembered what day it was.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;October 30th. My wedding was three years ago, yesterday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm making some amazing progress.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-8935814955861034389?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/8935814955861034389/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=8935814955861034389' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8935814955861034389'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8935814955861034389'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/10/remembering-to-forget.html' title='Remembering to forget.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3752394902761541782</id><published>2007-10-30T07:27:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-10-30T07:35:37.051-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blogosphere'/><title type='text'>Listen up.</title><content type='html'>The amazing, talented, smoking-hot Poppy has moved &lt;a href="http://poppycede.com/"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  Update your blogrolls and your feeds, people.  You don't want to miss a minute of this fine lady :)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3752394902761541782?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3752394902761541782/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3752394902761541782' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3752394902761541782'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3752394902761541782'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/10/listen-up.html' title='Listen up.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-1307918822877543189</id><published>2007-10-23T16:49:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-10-23T16:56:44.562-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='confessions'/><title type='text'>The joys of singlehood.</title><content type='html'>In the relatively short time that I've been out on my own, I've become very independent and self-sufficient.  I &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;adore&lt;/span&gt; living on my own.  My time is exactly that... mine.  I don't have to share it with anyone.  I live by my own desires, my own schedules.  I don't have to answer to anyone.  I'm very happy with where I am at in my life right now.  And I don't want for that to change.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But sometimes?  It really sucks not having someone to help with that hard-to-clasp jewelry in the mornings.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-1307918822877543189?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/1307918822877543189/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=1307918822877543189' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1307918822877543189'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1307918822877543189'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/10/joys-of-singlehood.html' title='The joys of singlehood.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3545481377459614828</id><published>2007-10-16T07:45:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2007-10-16T08:09:03.812-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><title type='text'>Life was getting too hard to keep up with.</title><content type='html'>Things have gotten calm and slow here in Oceanland.  I'm viewing it as a good thing.  All that dating was wearing on me.  When it got to the point where I wasn't enjoying myself any longer, I knew it was time for a break.  I've got plenty of personal things I'd like to work on before I get back into that scene. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I gave my Mom the good news of my dating break this morning, and her response surprised and offended me.  "Let's see how long that lasts".  Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mom.  It's no surprise to anyone that I like, no LOVE men.  But really, I need to cut my losses here.  Looking for Mr. Right has only gotten me plenty of Mr. Wrongs.  I'm going to subscribe to the philosophy that he'll find me when I'm ready.  It's taking some getting used to, but overall I know this is the right move for me. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, right now I'm setting much of my time aside for my family, my friends, and myself.  Which makes things seem somewhat boring on the surface, but I'm content on the inside.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know that I have been somewhat removed from the blogging world recently.  Between work blocking the "blogspot.com" addresses, computer issues at home, and the lack real interest in putting my raw emotions out there as I once did, I've withdrawn.  I'm back in a place now where I'm starting to return.  I've missed all my blog friends tons, and looking forward to "delurking" back at your places soon.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3545481377459614828?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3545481377459614828/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3545481377459614828' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3545481377459614828'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3545481377459614828'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/10/life-was-getting-too-hard-to-keep-up.html' title='Life was getting too hard to keep up with.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-955517004583101742</id><published>2007-10-12T06:48:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-10-12T07:11:58.261-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='divorce'/><title type='text'>It is official.</title><content type='html'>After &lt;a href="http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2005/10/new-home-new-address.html"&gt;two years&lt;/a&gt;, it's &lt;em&gt;finally &lt;/em&gt;over.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As of today, I am a free woman.  I can't even begin to explain to you how good it feels.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Who's ready to party?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;"The happiest time of anyones life is just after the first divorce"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; -John Kenneth Galbraith&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-955517004583101742?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/955517004583101742/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=955517004583101742' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/955517004583101742'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/955517004583101742'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/10/it-is-official.html' title='It is official.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3917245106912722288</id><published>2007-10-10T07:13:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-10-10T07:23:53.021-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='matchmaking'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='stuff and things'/><title type='text'>Clearing up some things.</title><content type='html'>I've gotten a few emails from various people expressing their condolences for another relationship biting the dust. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Let me just say... It wasn't a relationship.  I had been dating someone for about a week and quickly learned he was a dick.  No big deal. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My heart's not broken, I'm not a bit upset.  I'm actually rather grateful that I found this out sooner than later. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And with that said, I'm officially taking a break from dating.  My divorce will be final in 2 days, and right now I just want to enjoy being single.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3917245106912722288?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3917245106912722288/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3917245106912722288' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3917245106912722288'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3917245106912722288'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/10/clearing-up-some-things.html' title='Clearing up some things.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-4050733670976750420</id><published>2007-10-08T21:46:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-10-08T21:51:54.481-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='matchmaking'/><title type='text'>Dear Mel's Heart,</title><content type='html'>You've lead Mel wrong too many times.  She's followed you blindly, and in return you get the flutters over someone that doesn't deserve a minute of her time.  You pitter-patter, she swoons, and next thing you know, the dude turns out to be a creep.  I've seen it happen one too many times.  I'm not letting it happen anymore.  From now on, she listens to me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cordially,&lt;br /&gt;Mel's Gut.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-4050733670976750420?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/4050733670976750420/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=4050733670976750420' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4050733670976750420'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4050733670976750420'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/10/dear-mels-heart.html' title='Dear Mel&apos;s Heart,'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-4726152709581112472</id><published>2007-10-05T13:48:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2007-10-05T13:52:53.318-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='vacation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photos'/><title type='text'>This is what relaxation looks like.</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2012/1491574134_d71c8590a1_o.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2012/1491574134_d71c8590a1_o.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Photos from my vacation are up &lt;a href="http://flickr.com/photos/mmullins/sets/72157602274881293/"&gt;here.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-4726152709581112472?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/4726152709581112472/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=4726152709581112472' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4726152709581112472'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4726152709581112472'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/10/this-is-what-relaxation-looks-like.html' title='This is what relaxation looks like.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-7780326425245459374</id><published>2007-10-03T21:17:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-10-10T07:24:22.342-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='matchmaking'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='what makes me smile'/><title type='text'>Happy.</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1171/1480822802_922375e8e2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1171/1480822802_922375e8e2.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I got flowers today.&lt;br /&gt;From a boy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm feeling pretty fucking special right now.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-7780326425245459374?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/7780326425245459374/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=7780326425245459374' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7780326425245459374'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7780326425245459374'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/10/happy.html' title='Happy.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1171/1480822802_922375e8e2_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-4458385767296485664</id><published>2007-09-28T06:39:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2007-09-28T07:05:10.561-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='matchmaking'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='divorce'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cats'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><title type='text'>Bullets.</title><content type='html'>It's about time for an update, don't you agree?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Vacation was heavenly.  I'm rested, relaxed, and healed.  Just for that alone, it wasn't so bad coming back to the "real world" this week.  I'll have pictures up soon.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I finally got around to getting some much needed reading done.  Which included the final Harry Potter novel and some very dirty romance novels.  Gotta love "beach reading".&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I've been given a new responsibility at work that I'm actually looking forward to.  I think the vacation has helped to change my outlook on the stressful situations in my life.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I had a root canal on Monday.  Aside from the fact that they started to drill not once, but twice before I was finally numb, it wasn't that bad.  Mel with four shots of Novocaine has a funny smile.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Val, my youngest cat, snuck out of the house late Tuesday night and I didn't realize it until early Wednesday morning.  I searched the neighborhood for her at 5 in the morning.  An hour later I found her terrified, hiding under a parked car.  I'm the worst cat mom ever.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The dating life is finally going well.  I've got something blooming on the horizon.  And that's all the juicy details you get for the moment.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Did I mention that my divorce will be final in &lt;strong&gt;2 WEEKS&lt;/strong&gt;?  Get ready to party, people.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-4458385767296485664?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/4458385767296485664/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=4458385767296485664' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4458385767296485664'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4458385767296485664'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/09/bullets.html' title='Bullets.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-7911458083085127848</id><published>2007-09-19T17:06:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-09-19T17:31:57.731-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Greetings from Lake Anna!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1428/1409735248_70eed2e1f3.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm here, enjoying life. Court is over, and I'm happy to report that my divorce will be final on October 12th.  Now, time to relax!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-7911458083085127848?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/7911458083085127848/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=7911458083085127848' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7911458083085127848'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7911458083085127848'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/09/greetings-from-lake-anna.html' title='Greetings from Lake Anna!'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1428/1409735248_70eed2e1f3_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-5092903905581720560</id><published>2007-09-12T20:08:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-09-12T20:25:11.649-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='matchmaking'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='divorce'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><title type='text'>By the numbers.</title><content type='html'>2: days left until vacation.&lt;br /&gt;6: full days of lake relaxing in my future.&lt;br /&gt;10: days on a wonderful steroid/antibiotic cocktail, because apparently I didn't kick those nasty cold germs &lt;a href="http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/06/talking-in-bullets.html"&gt;last time&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;5: times &lt;a href="http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/08/brutally-honest.html"&gt;this guy&lt;/a&gt; said "You were right." on my voicemail this evening, because afterall, I was right about him being a dick.&lt;br /&gt;4: wisdom teeth that I need to have pulled this month.&lt;br /&gt;7: days until &lt;a href="http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/light-at-end-of-tunnel.html"&gt;September 19th&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1,385: times I reminded myself that I'm a lucky girl.  And smiled.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-5092903905581720560?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/5092903905581720560/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=5092903905581720560' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5092903905581720560'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5092903905581720560'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/09/by-numbers.html' title='By the numbers.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3521250795127006720</id><published>2007-09-05T12:21:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-09-05T12:31:01.521-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='matchmaking'/><title type='text'>It could be worse.</title><content type='html'>&lt;blockquote&gt;"How'd the date go last night?"&lt;br /&gt;"Good."&lt;br /&gt;"Don't sound so thrilled."&lt;br /&gt;"Eh. I'm juggling too many guys right now. Can't decide who to get excited about."&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the grand scheme, there are much worse things to have problems with. But really? I'm a one-guy kind of girl. This dating thing is getting old really fast.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3521250795127006720?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3521250795127006720/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3521250795127006720' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3521250795127006720'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3521250795127006720'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/09/it-could-be-worse.html' title='It could be worse.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3007113699331967971</id><published>2007-08-30T18:59:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-08-30T19:31:12.842-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='stuff and things'/><title type='text'>Two letters, so hard to say.</title><content type='html'>I'm currently "seeing" this one guy (I don't dare call it dating, it would imply some kind of commitment on his part), and I &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;know&lt;/span&gt; he's wrong for me.  I &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;know&lt;/span&gt; he's using me.  I &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;know&lt;/span&gt; all he wants is for me to provide him with some physical attention.  I &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;know&lt;/span&gt; that he's looking for a &lt;a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=friends+with+benefits"&gt;fwb&lt;/a&gt; situation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know that if I continue down this path, I'm going to end up hurt.  Or worse, with a broken heart.  I &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;KNOW&lt;/span&gt; I deserve better.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But for some strange reason, I'm finding it hard to stop it before it starts.  To cut it off.  To say &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;"no"&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I started reading &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/Honest-Youre-Not-That-Into-Either/dp/0060834064/ref=sr_1_9/002-5309705-2403210?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;amp;amp;qid=1188518769&amp;amp;sr=8-9"&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;.  Hopefully it will help me find some strength.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Any words of encouragement?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3007113699331967971?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3007113699331967971/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3007113699331967971' title='7 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3007113699331967971'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3007113699331967971'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/08/two-letters-so-hard-to-say.html' title='Two letters, so hard to say.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-7260715489923641593</id><published>2007-08-29T06:58:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-08-29T07:14:52.094-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='matchmaking'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><title type='text'>Brutally Honest.</title><content type='html'>The .com matchmaking continues. Recently, I was "introduced" to this guy who was perfect on paper. We chatted online for a couple of weeks. He was eloquent and well read, we had many things in common and enjoyed the same activities. Our first phone conversation was the morning before our first date, and it lasted three hours. I was pretty confident that we were going to hit it off as soon as we met.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Giddy with anticipation, I drive out to meet him. All my instincts are telling me that this date is actually going to turn out well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And then, less than a minute after we exchange our first hug, he says,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;em&gt;"To be honest, you're heavier than I expected."&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Um, thanks? How am I supposed to respond to that?!?!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm all for honesty. But there is a difference between "honest" and "brutally honest". I vote to save the brutal part until at least the second date.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-7260715489923641593?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/7260715489923641593/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=7260715489923641593' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7260715489923641593'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7260715489923641593'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/08/brutally-honest.html' title='Brutally Honest.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-7259736950392078435</id><published>2007-08-17T08:48:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-08-17T08:52:44.307-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><title type='text'>Oh so touchable.</title><content type='html'>Daily cleavage pic &lt;a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1244/1148347169_aa6878071c_o.jpg"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I think the words you are looking for are "buxom", "heaving", and "stacked".&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-7259736950392078435?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/7259736950392078435/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=7259736950392078435' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7259736950392078435'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7259736950392078435'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/08/oh-so-touchable.html' title='Oh so touchable.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3772578663869914382</id><published>2007-08-17T08:34:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-08-17T08:38:38.434-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='stuff and things'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='what makes me smile'/><title type='text'>Tired.</title><content type='html'>I'm so looking forward to a restful weekend.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That is all.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Actually, no. One last thing. I bowled a 122 last night. The first time I've bowled over a hundred in. my. whole. life. I didn't suck, and I beat at least one boy in three games.&lt;br /&gt;It's little stuff like that that makes my day.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3772578663869914382?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3772578663869914382/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3772578663869914382' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3772578663869914382'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3772578663869914382'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/08/tired.html' title='Tired.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-767743015391281614</id><published>2007-08-15T10:02:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-09-05T14:36:08.850-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='matchmaking'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='confessions'/><title type='text'>Gone fishing.</title><content type='html'>Have I mentioned that I've been dating? Yeah, I started dating. A lot of first dates, not quite so many seconds. Which is ok, because it's been a long time since I went on a "real" first date. I have to say, while I'm not really looking to start a serious relationship right this second, getting back into the game has done wonders for my self esteem.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, I'm sure your wondering, "Where are you meeting all these guys, Mel? You know you can't find a quality man at a bar...", and you are absolutely right. My dirty little secret? I joined one of those online dating services.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ok, stop snickering.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While I haven't met the love of my life, and have no real expectation to, I'm pretty pleased with the results. And who knows? I don't know how long I plan on staying with it, but it works for now.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And for all those who feel a mothering need to warn me, I promise that I am being VERY safe. No personal information, no phone numbers until the first date, dates during the afternoon in a public place, yadda yadda. It's been drilled into my head already.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So yeah, .com matchmaking. It's a very fun diversion :)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-767743015391281614?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/767743015391281614/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=767743015391281614' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/767743015391281614'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/767743015391281614'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/08/gone-fishing.html' title='Gone fishing.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-6314301641707949518</id><published>2007-08-14T10:55:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-08-14T13:03:18.545-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='moving'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><title type='text'>Content.</title><content type='html'>In a few words, my new place is fabulous. I have a few new features that I didn't have in my old apartment that helps make it feel more "homey". My cats are in love with the view and spend hours in the windows watching the world go by. I have a very nice fireplace and sweet mantle that I just adore. My favorite little detail is the balcony. I have a suspicion that I'm going to be spending a lot of time out there.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last night I was hanging out with a close friend of mine on the balcony with a bottle of wine and a few cigars, when I looked up and saw a shooting star. I didn't even think to wish on it... I'm incredibly happy where my life is going at the moment and I feel good in the fact that great things are going to happen for me. Wishes? I don't need no stinkin' wishes! :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All in all, the move was totally worth the hard work and stress. Now it's time to sit back and enjoy!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-6314301641707949518?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/6314301641707949518/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=6314301641707949518' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6314301641707949518'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6314301641707949518'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/08/content.html' title='Content.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-7768851459177161795</id><published>2007-08-12T08:03:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-08-12T08:06:46.429-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='moving'/><title type='text'>Success.</title><content type='html'>I'm moved into my new apartment!! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Every single muscle in my body hurts. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have a ton to get done today, but right now... I think I'm going back to bed for an hour or so.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;:)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-7768851459177161795?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/7768851459177161795/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=7768851459177161795' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7768851459177161795'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7768851459177161795'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/08/success.html' title='Success.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3267844583335972745</id><published>2007-08-09T09:27:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-08-09T09:35:57.274-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='moving'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><title type='text'>I'm alive.</title><content type='html'>I just have a lot of things going on at the moment.  Too many things going on at work, drama with my friends, and a pretty non-exsistant home life for the last few weeks has worn me down.  Not to mention this weekend's move on top of everything. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm feeling a little bit like a chicken with it's head cut off.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And dear baby jeebus, I need a vacation.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3267844583335972745?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3267844583335972745/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3267844583335972745' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3267844583335972745'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3267844583335972745'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/08/im-alive.html' title='I&apos;m alive.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-7502819810066211761</id><published>2007-08-02T07:15:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-08-02T07:23:05.698-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cigars'/><title type='text'>Overheard at the cigar shop.</title><content type='html'>&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;"We rarely see women cigar smokers in here. SO sexy!"&lt;br /&gt;"You have the most beautiful smile. "&lt;br /&gt;"Meeting you has been the highlight of my day."&lt;br /&gt;"Have you ever been with a Grandpa before?... Would you like to?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dirty Old Men are the best!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-7502819810066211761?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/7502819810066211761/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=7502819810066211761' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7502819810066211761'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7502819810066211761'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/08/overheard-at-cigar-shop.html' title='Overheard at the cigar shop.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-6390902964186031855</id><published>2007-08-01T08:24:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-08-01T08:27:41.131-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Overheard this weekend.</title><content type='html'>&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;"Oh, you're a good flirt. The question is, can you back it up?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;-Famous last words. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's your turn. Guess the comeback.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-6390902964186031855?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/6390902964186031855/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=6390902964186031855' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6390902964186031855'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6390902964186031855'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/08/overheard-this-weekend.html' title='Overheard this weekend.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-5784272915096817621</id><published>2007-07-31T08:24:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-07-31T09:02:48.922-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cigars'/><title type='text'>Weekend Recap: Whoa, did that really happen?</title><content type='html'>I have so many great stories from this weekend that I can't even begin to tell them all. So, this recap will be the shortened, bulleted, PG-13 version.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;I attended my first &lt;a href="http://www.cigaradvisor.com/glossary.cfm?id=67"&gt;herf &lt;/a&gt;on Saturday. I didn't make it home until 6am Sunday. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I smoked a total of 10 cigars from Saturday afternoon until Sunday night.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Apparently, trying to walk down the stairs drunk is hazardous to your health. I felt sorry for the poor girl who busted her face. Six stitches later, I think she sobered up.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Certain cigars don't mix well with certain people, no matter how long said person has smoked. I had to make a quick trip to the bathroom and didn't quite make it. Embarrassing.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I met some of the nicest people ever at the herf. Not only was food and drink provided for, but I walked away with 7 cigars gifted to me. So generous.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Cigar smoking is so very hot. So is facial hair.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I'll never think of a thunderstorm the same way again.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;My elbows look like they've been rug-burned.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I can't wait until next month's herf!&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-5784272915096817621?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/5784272915096817621/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=5784272915096817621' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5784272915096817621'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5784272915096817621'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/07/weekend-recap-whoa-did-that-really.html' title='Weekend Recap: Whoa, did that really happen?'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-4310723629595385867</id><published>2007-07-26T09:37:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-07-26T20:34:31.085-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='moving'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><title type='text'>Wanted.</title><content type='html'>A few strong, sexy men with trucks, willing to take off their shirts and sweat for me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;May include moving furniture, boxes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;UPDATE&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;Move has been postponed until August 1oth.  But if any sexy men would still like to come over this weekend and take off their shirts for me, I'll be willing to help you sweat ;)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-4310723629595385867?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/4310723629595385867/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=4310723629595385867' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4310723629595385867'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4310723629595385867'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/07/wanted.html' title='Wanted.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3482705245523408217</id><published>2007-07-24T09:00:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-07-24T09:21:17.013-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blogosphere'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='stuff and things'/><title type='text'>Setting the record straight.</title><content type='html'>Because apparently I've given the wrong impression of my life around here the last few weeks.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm doing great.  Fantastic, actually.  Life's a bit hectic, yes.  Maybe even more unpredictable.  But I wake up every morning with a smile and I know that I'm ready for whatever my future holds for me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It goes without saying that there have been some changes in my personal life recently.  I'm sure it's not too hard to figure out what's up.  But, things always happen for a reason.  And I'm content knowing that life will work itself out.  Somehow.  I have to believe in that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With that being said, I've made some rather large changes in my life recently, ones that I'm not entirely comfortable revealing yet.  Ones that are making me feel better and walk lighter.  I'm even sleeping better!  It's surprising to me how &lt;strong&gt;good&lt;/strong&gt; life really is right now.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Things are happening, friends.  Great, wonderful things!  Look out for some good stories to come.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3482705245523408217?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3482705245523408217/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3482705245523408217' title='8 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3482705245523408217'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3482705245523408217'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/07/setting-record-straight.html' title='Setting the record straight.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>8</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-2399356146732478642</id><published>2007-07-20T15:21:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-07-20T15:32:30.640-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='stuff and things'/><title type='text'>When you don't know how to feel.</title><content type='html'>I didn't know it was possible, but in one single moment I felt two opposite emotions at the same time.  Incredibly happy and deeply sad.  All at once.  And it frightened me. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Because of that, I don't know what to say or how to react. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I drove home with the windows down, the humid night air swirling around me.  I couldn't smile and the tears wouldn't come.  I kept driving, waiting for one emotion to take over and wash over me.  It never happened.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It still hasn't.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And that scares me.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-2399356146732478642?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/2399356146732478642/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=2399356146732478642' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/2399356146732478642'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/2399356146732478642'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/07/when-you-dont-know-how-to-feel.html' title='When you don&apos;t know how to feel.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3874046559576156467</id><published>2007-07-19T10:07:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-07-26T09:55:33.722-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='moving'/><title type='text'>Oh yeah, by the way.</title><content type='html'>I'm moving out of my apartment next Saturday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Things are kinda crazy right now, as you can imagine.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Moving is the worst. You'd think I would have learned my lesson by now.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3874046559576156467?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3874046559576156467/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3874046559576156467' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3874046559576156467'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3874046559576156467'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/07/oh-yeah-by-way.html' title='Oh yeah, by the way.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-8666819061146751707</id><published>2007-07-17T06:27:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-07-17T06:32:19.806-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Overheard this weekend.</title><content type='html'>&lt;blockquote&gt;"Oh my god.  It looks like you have a big dildo in your mouth!"&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-My Mother, upon seeing &lt;a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1188/836970554_5a17dfda7b_o.jpg"&gt;a picture of me&lt;/a&gt; smoking a Romeo y Julieta Reserve Maduro.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rock on.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-8666819061146751707?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/8666819061146751707/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=8666819061146751707' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8666819061146751707'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8666819061146751707'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/07/overheard-this-weekend.html' title='Overheard this weekend.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3657223747740607882</id><published>2007-07-14T11:11:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-07-14T11:26:17.267-05:00</updated><title type='text'>So much to say.</title><content type='html'>So many things I could say right now, I just can't bring myself to talk about it.  And I probably never will here. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Each and every moment of my life, I'm growing, changing, becoming stronger.  I've learned the hard way how to take care of myself, and that thought empowers me. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I can do it on my own, but I don't want to have to.  I don't know what I would do without my friends.  I definitely don't tell you all enough how grateful I am to have you in my life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I care deeply, love blindly, and feel passionately.  I am me.  I'm a beautiful person, and you all have reminded me of that.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3657223747740607882?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3657223747740607882/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3657223747740607882' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3657223747740607882'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3657223747740607882'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/07/so-much-to-say.html' title='So much to say.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-1829625559764379458</id><published>2007-07-10T17:11:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-07-10T17:17:01.140-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blogosphere'/><title type='text'>You have reached Mel's blog.</title><content type='html'>Please leave a message and I will get back to you... at my earliest convenience?   Sometime in the future?  At a later date? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'll be back... just right now, my heart's not in it.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-1829625559764379458?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/1829625559764379458/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=1829625559764379458' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1829625559764379458'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1829625559764379458'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/07/you-have-reached-mels-blog.html' title='You have reached Mel&apos;s blog.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-6021909631443412758</id><published>2007-07-05T12:03:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-07-05T12:14:44.307-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><title type='text'>Why my 4th of July sucked.</title><content type='html'>Who voted to have the 4th of July fall in the middle of the week?  Why couldn't we have celebrated it on weekend?!?  Wednesday is the WORST possible day for a holiday.  Seriously, I'm going to write my Congressman about this.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What did I do for Independence Day?  I stayed home to spend the evening watching the freaks in my neighborhood almost burn the complex down with fireworks.  The alarm clock at 4:30 this morning was lucky it didn't get chucked out the window.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With that said, I'm definitely going to be in the mood to party this weekend.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-6021909631443412758?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/6021909631443412758/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=6021909631443412758' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6021909631443412758'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6021909631443412758'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/07/why-my-4th-of-july-sucked.html' title='Why my 4th of July sucked.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-9027282612336716612</id><published>2007-07-03T07:08:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-07-03T07:25:35.701-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='what makes me smile'/><title type='text'>Good Stuff.</title><content type='html'>In case you missed the comments on the last post, the dessert came out amazing.  The whole dinner was quite tasty, but Smitty especially loved the trifle.  This one I will definitely be making again.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ladies, men go crazy for chocolate.  This recipe is a must make, as I promise he'll put a smile on your face in return *ehem* ;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, by popular demand: &lt;strong&gt;Death by Chocolate&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1 package brownie mix (I used Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix)&lt;br /&gt;2 (3.9 ounce) packages instant chocolate pudding mix&lt;br /&gt;1 package frozen whipped topping, thawed&lt;br /&gt;3 bars chocolate covered English toffee (Heath Bars)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Prepare brownies according to package directions. Let cool.&lt;br /&gt;Mix pudding according to package directions.&lt;br /&gt;In a glass trifle bowl, layer in the following order: 1/2 of the brownie, crumbled; 1/2 of the pudding; 1 toffee bar, crushed; 1/2 of the whipped topping.&lt;br /&gt;Repeat layers in the same order. Save the last toffee bar to crumble and sprinkle on top before serving.&lt;br /&gt;Refrigerate. Best if made the day before you serve it.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-9027282612336716612?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/9027282612336716612/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=9027282612336716612' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/9027282612336716612'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/9027282612336716612'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/07/good-stuff.html' title='Good Stuff.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-1846772569243416636</id><published>2007-06-28T19:14:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-28T19:21:43.932-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Death by Chocolate.</title><content type='html'>I just finished preparing dessert for tomorrow evening.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1067/654505442_e23999a3d5.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1067/654505442_e23999a3d5.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Looks good, no?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-1846772569243416636?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/1846772569243416636/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=1846772569243416636' title='8 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1846772569243416636'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1846772569243416636'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/06/death-by-chocolate.html' title='Death by Chocolate.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1067/654505442_e23999a3d5_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>8</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3748070388960883446</id><published>2007-06-27T06:50:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-27T07:23:47.479-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rant'/><title type='text'>Open Letter.</title><content type='html'>Dear Old Man running in my neighborhood:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I appreciate your need to get off the couch and workout.  Really I do.  But can I suggest something?  When you wear those see-through booty running shorts without underwear, you &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAybhbfYp_E&amp;mode=related&amp;amp;search="&gt;hang a little brain&lt;/a&gt;.  That's not something I can deal with at 6 in the morning.  I think I'd rather see you in spandex.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanks,  Your Visually Violated Neighbor.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3748070388960883446?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3748070388960883446/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3748070388960883446' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3748070388960883446'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3748070388960883446'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/06/open-letter.html' title='Open Letter.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-1459291841616608386</id><published>2007-06-26T13:14:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-26T13:40:58.806-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blogosphere'/><title type='text'>Talking in bullets.</title><content type='html'>&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;I've been MIA recently. Was off fighting another cold... second one this year. Stress, it's a muthafucka.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Sudafed.  It makes my heart race something terrible.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Life is pretty boring around here these days. I feel like I've had a ton of time to myself recently, but none of it is "fun". Between work, family, and looking for a new place to live, that's all I got. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Actually, I did get to spend some much needed time with Smitty this weekend. He came over and cooked for me (seriously, I have the best boyfriend ever), but I'm sorry to say that I got him sick as well. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;If all goes as planned, it looks like I've put off moving for another 6 months.  WOOT!&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Oh yeah, and Bear is sick as well.  Poor sweet kitty has the sniffles.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Due to my wicked cold germs, I just found out about &lt;a href="http://www.apileofdogbones.com/index.php/site/hiatus/"&gt;NYCWD and his terrible tragedy&lt;/a&gt;. I can't even begin imagine the pain he's feeling right now. My heart goes out to him, his family, and his sweet Puppy Monster. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.avitable.com/2007/06/22/for-dawg/"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5080442149508772994" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ScrP6Mk_WPM/RoFbN7dkdII/AAAAAAAAACQ/u4AYrR7Mswo/s320/puppymonster1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-1459291841616608386?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/1459291841616608386/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=1459291841616608386' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1459291841616608386'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1459291841616608386'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/06/talking-in-bullets.html' title='Talking in bullets.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ScrP6Mk_WPM/RoFbN7dkdII/AAAAAAAAACQ/u4AYrR7Mswo/s72-c/puppymonster1.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-7117085307387899167</id><published>2007-06-20T09:36:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-20T09:40:16.262-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rant'/><title type='text'>Real life.</title><content type='html'>Stress is kinda getting to me a bit.  And I KNOW that it's just a normal part of life, and that these things will work themselves out in time. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, I'm not gonna rant.  I WANT to rant, but not gonna.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Instead, all I'm gonna say is HOT DAMN I NEED A VACATION.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-7117085307387899167?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/7117085307387899167/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=7117085307387899167' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7117085307387899167'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7117085307387899167'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/06/real-life.html' title='Real life.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-5383827569214791839</id><published>2007-06-19T04:55:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-19T04:59:05.177-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><title type='text'>Hells Yeah!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://stickyflypaper.blogspot.com/2007/06/fuckin-can-i-gets-hells-yea.html"&gt;Congrats to Smitty&lt;/a&gt; who completed his MCSA Bootcamp and Certification yesterday!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well earned and well deserved, sweetheart. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You. Rock.  :)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-5383827569214791839?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/5383827569214791839/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=5383827569214791839' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5383827569214791839'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5383827569214791839'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/06/hells-yeah.html' title='Hells Yeah!'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-804950782730725292</id><published>2007-06-16T22:09:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-16T22:15:41.163-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blogosphere'/><title type='text'>Mel dlogs.</title><content type='html'>dlog: a drunk blog.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Highly entertaining?  Or pointless ramblings?   And should one rely on the aid of a spellchecker prior to posting?  Or does the bad grammar and spelling add to the charm?  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So many points to consider. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Next up: dvloging.  SWEET.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-804950782730725292?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/804950782730725292/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=804950782730725292' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/804950782730725292'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/804950782730725292'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/06/mel-dlogs.html' title='Mel dlogs.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-2274176753658250896</id><published>2007-06-14T10:48:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-14T17:28:14.962-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rant'/><title type='text'>Disgruntled.</title><content type='html'>Work has me more than a little upset today. I'm usually can deal with stress of my job pretty well, but today? Not so much.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When my bosses' boss publicly credits and recognizes someone else for *MY* huge project, it kinda pisses me off.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I could really use a vacation about now.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-2274176753658250896?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/2274176753658250896/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=2274176753658250896' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/2274176753658250896'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/2274176753658250896'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/06/disgruntled.html' title='Disgruntled.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-6198036130598343939</id><published>2007-06-12T07:52:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-12T07:57:18.294-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='vids'/><title type='text'>Mel vlogs.</title><content type='html'>&lt;embed src="http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=210841" quality="best" scale="exactfit" width="400" height="300" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And yes, John Mayer is playing in the background.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also, if anyone is interested... I'm posting cigar reviews over at &lt;a href="http://mseekfor.livejournal.com/"&gt;The Ashtray&lt;/a&gt; along with the occasional video. Enjoy.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-6198036130598343939?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/6198036130598343939/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=6198036130598343939' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6198036130598343939'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6198036130598343939'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/06/mel-vlogs.html' title='Mel vlogs.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-4358887111247612276</id><published>2007-06-11T09:21:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-11T10:05:49.520-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rant'/><title type='text'>Please wake me up.</title><content type='html'>Over the last month or so, I've found myself waking up crying multiple times a week. Sometimes, I have no idea why I am crying. But other times, like last night, I can remember the dream in vivid detail. This is incredibly frightening to me... being startled in the middle of the night and realizing you are sobbing, moaning and catching your breath... it isn't the best experience, let me tell you.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For the ones I am remembering, none of the dreams or the same or even relate to the same topic. I can't figure out what they have in common or what I'm doing before bed that are creating them.  Which is frustrating because I really want, nay NEED them to stop. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Has anyone else out there dealt with this?  Maybe a dream interpreter?  I could really use some advice here.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-4358887111247612276?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/4358887111247612276/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=4358887111247612276' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4358887111247612276'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4358887111247612276'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/06/please-wake-me-up.html' title='Please wake me up.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-1626834446385994675</id><published>2007-06-07T08:51:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-07T08:53:39.188-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blogosphere'/><title type='text'>Is this thing on?</title><content type='html'>Someone want to tell me what the hell is going on with &lt;a href="http://www.google.com/reader/view/"&gt;Google Reader&lt;/a&gt;?  Things have been a little too quiet the past few days...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-1626834446385994675?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/1626834446385994675/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=1626834446385994675' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1626834446385994675'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1626834446385994675'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/06/is-this-thing-on.html' title='Is this thing on?'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-9150497798234443684</id><published>2007-06-06T07:45:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-06T15:26:21.809-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cats'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><title type='text'>Special Treatment.</title><content type='html'>Yesterday, I kinda hit rock bottom. Family issues, friend issues, work problems all on top of worrying about those closest to me just wore me down emotionally. By the time I got home I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. And then I walked in the front door and had a insistent cat at my feet, crying for a treat and yeah, I lost it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;"I just can't...&lt;/em&gt; *sob*&lt;em&gt;... keep taking orders...&lt;/em&gt; *sob, sniffle*&lt;em&gt;...&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;Please cat... &lt;/em&gt;*sob*&lt;em&gt;...&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;leave me be".&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was pretty obvious I wasn't myself, even to the kitties. So the little one stopped her crying, and the rest of the evening they were by my side, one on the left and the other on the right. If I went into another room, they both followed. They didn't bother me for food or entertainment the rest of the evening. They didn't require any attention on my part, but they sure did make sure they were giving ME attention.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And then, out of nowhere, Smitty called just to tell me he missed me. Which was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Feeling a little better, I went off to bed, kitties trailing behind. And when the bad dreams woke me up numerous times during the night, they were right there beside me providing a comforting nuzzle, somehow knowing that it was exactly what I needed at that moment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm feeling much better this morning.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-9150497798234443684?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/9150497798234443684/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=9150497798234443684' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/9150497798234443684'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/9150497798234443684'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/06/special-treatment.html' title='Special Treatment.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3015925984897236146</id><published>2007-06-04T22:34:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-04T22:38:29.115-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='You Tube'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='what makes me smile'/><title type='text'>How I spend my summer evenings.</title><content type='html'>&lt;object width="425" height="350"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wK4K-sP1da0"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wK4K-sP1da0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The brew: Sam Adams Summer Ale&lt;br /&gt;The smoke: Perdomo Reserve Champagne, Robusto&lt;br /&gt;The hottie: Yours Truly&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3015925984897236146?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3015925984897236146/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3015925984897236146' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3015925984897236146'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3015925984897236146'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/06/how-i-spend-my-summer-evenings.html' title='How I spend my summer evenings.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-1712567989796602737</id><published>2007-06-01T09:12:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-01T09:16:18.968-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><title type='text'>Filling out nicely.</title><content type='html'>Daily cleavage pic &lt;a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/247/524914027_323e3b3bb5.jpg"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Yeah, this might be a semi-regular thing. 'Cause admit it, they're pretty fucking amazing.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-1712567989796602737?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/1712567989796602737/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=1712567989796602737' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1712567989796602737'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1712567989796602737'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/06/filling-out-nicely.html' title='Filling out nicely.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-7662442409104375833</id><published>2007-06-01T06:30:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-01T06:32:53.897-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blogosphere'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='what makes me smile'/><title type='text'>Turbopuns.</title><content type='html'>It's stupid shit like this that really puts a smile on my face.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.collegehumor.com/moogaloop/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1761896" quality="best" width="400" height="300" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-7662442409104375833?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/7662442409104375833/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=7662442409104375833' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7662442409104375833'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7662442409104375833'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/06/turbopuns.html' title='Turbopuns.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-6525217476744086793</id><published>2007-05-31T10:27:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-31T11:51:37.385-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><title type='text'>Care for a stare?</title><content type='html'>Awesome new bra + smokin' cami = kickass cleavage day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;*Update: Photographic evidence for Poppy's benefit &lt;a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/220/523440284_2fe23d99e8_o.jpg"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  Enjoy!!*&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-6525217476744086793?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/6525217476744086793/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=6525217476744086793' title='8 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6525217476744086793'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6525217476744086793'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/care-for-stare.html' title='Care for a stare?'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>8</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-8115322802671152622</id><published>2007-05-29T08:15:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-29T08:42:43.489-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rant'/><title type='text'>The joys of Slugging.</title><content type='html'>I enjoy my music loud. VERY loud. Crank up a little hard rock and I'm a happy girl. But some music? Well, its just not fit to be blasted at ear-piercing intensities. Especially at 6 in the morning.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To the couple I rode in to work with this morning: For the love of all that is sacred, turn the Gospel down a smidge. God hears you, and the ringing in His ears is giving Him a headache, too.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-8115322802671152622?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/8115322802671152622/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=8115322802671152622' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8115322802671152622'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8115322802671152622'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/joys-of-slugging.html' title='The joys of Slugging.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-9183822357381859871</id><published>2007-05-25T08:12:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-25T08:13:23.192-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blogosphere'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><title type='text'>Finally Friday.</title><content type='html'>So, what are your plans for the long holiday weekend?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-9183822357381859871?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/9183822357381859871/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=9183822357381859871' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/9183822357381859871'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/9183822357381859871'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/finally-friday.html' title='Finally Friday.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-4181937422076675527</id><published>2007-05-24T07:59:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-24T08:06:55.451-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rant'/><title type='text'>Waking up on the wrong side.</title><content type='html'>I want to hit something.  Really.  Hard.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've been incredibly cranky the last two days.  And it's not anything in particular that's causing it, quite the opposite actually.  EVERYTHING is causing it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In talking with a coworker this morning, she said, "I just can't find anything to be positive about right now". &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I couldn't have said it better myself.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-4181937422076675527?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/4181937422076675527/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=4181937422076675527' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4181937422076675527'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4181937422076675527'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/waking-up-on-wrong-side.html' title='Waking up on the wrong side.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-2641762388430597705</id><published>2007-05-22T14:59:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-24T15:35:30.880-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><title type='text'>Have I mentioned this yet?</title><content type='html'>&lt;del&gt;My boyfriend? Oh yeah, he's &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;fuckin&lt;/span&gt; awesome.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Obviously, this weekend was kinda shitty. So to cheer me up, he took me to the toy store.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The &lt;em&gt;naughty&lt;/em&gt; toy store.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm a lucky girl.&lt;/del&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-2641762388430597705?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/2641762388430597705/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=2641762388430597705' title='6 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/2641762388430597705'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/2641762388430597705'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/have-i-mentioned-this-yet.html' title='Have I mentioned this yet?'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>6</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3113627759274488294</id><published>2007-05-18T09:23:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-18T09:40:35.239-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='family'/><title type='text'>Remembering is the hardest part.</title><content type='html'>Eight years ago.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I can still remember the day in perfect detail.  Our drive to school, hugging you in the hallway during lunch, the last family dinner that didn't end as well as it should have.  I remember the sound of the gun and hearing your body hit the floor, Mom screaming for Dad, running across the street to get help.  I remember the police cars and fire trucks, watching them wheel you into the ambulance and screaming when they didn't drive off right away.  Getting into my neighbor's car and laying my head in Mom's lap, her blood-soaked clothes and face, asking her if you were alive.  The hospital where we all gathered, family and friends, crouched together praying for you, hearing the helicopter land to fly you out.  Most of all, I remember saying goodbye. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You were laying on the table, your shirt was gone and your hair was pink, from what only I could guess (later) was blood.  I grabbed your arm and looked into your eyes and realized the sparkle was gone... between sobs I begged you to fight, but you were already gone.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Eight years later, I'm still angry at you for wanting to leave us. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm afraid I'll never forgive you for your selfishness.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tomorrow, I will not celebrate your life because you chose to take it.   Tomorrow, I instead choose to live my own life.  I think you would have wanted it that way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I miss you, little bro.  More than words can say.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3113627759274488294?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3113627759274488294/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3113627759274488294' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3113627759274488294'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3113627759274488294'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/remembering-is-hardest-part.html' title='Remembering is the hardest part.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-6196834951195519419</id><published>2007-05-17T15:17:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-17T15:20:58.315-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blogosphere'/><title type='text'>It's that time of year again.</title><content type='html'>I'll be taking a bit of a "break" until sometime next week. If you know me, then you know why.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No worries... I'll see you all on the flip side.*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;*One of my Dad's sayings for "see ya soon".&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-6196834951195519419?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/6196834951195519419/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=6196834951195519419' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6196834951195519419'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6196834951195519419'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/its-that-time-of-year-again.html' title='It&apos;s that time of year again.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-4125717105752318177</id><published>2007-05-15T07:16:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-15T07:31:33.359-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blogosphere'/><title type='text'>Your turn.</title><content type='html'>It's D-day people. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Delurking&lt;/span&gt; Day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've notice that while my readership stays the same, the comments are becoming few and far between.  I know you guys are &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;poppin&lt;/span&gt;' in daily to check this place out... &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;statcounter&lt;/span&gt; never lies.  So, it's your turn.  Leave a comment.  I don't care what you say.  Introduce yourself.  Say "hi".  Tell me a secret.  Leave a confession.  Have a question?  Don't be afraid to ask.  Recommend future topics.  Tell me what you are having for dinner.  Be random.  It doesn't matter... surprise me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know it's difficult to break out of the shell and comment on &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;someone's&lt;/span&gt; blog... I struggle with the same thing myself.  So here's the deal: you leave me a comment and I'll make sure I leave one for you.  Or, if you don't blog, I'll respond to you in my comments.  Not enough incentive?  How about I tell you about my new vibrator?         &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Get to it, folks.  Or you'll make me cry.  Seriously.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-4125717105752318177?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/4125717105752318177/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=4125717105752318177' title='7 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4125717105752318177'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4125717105752318177'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/your-turn.html' title='Your turn.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-8881138312685660409</id><published>2007-05-14T11:10:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-14T13:13:38.565-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='family'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><title type='text'>Weekend Recap: Mother's Day Edition.</title><content type='html'>Ugh. I'm hungover today. Yes, I'm the terrible daughter who got drunk during Mother's Day festivities. So today's recap will be short, sweet, and in bullet form.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Friday night:&lt;/strong&gt; was feeling pretty bitchy and tired, so stayed home and did laundry. Also drank some wine, watched West Side Story, and knitted. Oh yeah, I'm definitely turning into the Old Cat Lady. Hot.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Saturday&lt;/strong&gt;: Slept in, finished off a few Mother's Day things and drove out to Potomac falls to spend the evening with Smitty. We made some chocolate-chip blondies for his Grandfather's 90th birthday and went to a late showing of Spiderman 3 (which left much more to be desired). 2am cigars, strawberries, and champagne. Awesome night to say the least.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sunday&lt;/strong&gt;: Up ridiculously early to drive down to my parent's lake house. Both sets of grandparents ended up joining us. Family drama ensued. I drank entirely too much wine, drove the golf cart around taking pictures of the water and tried to feed carrots to the baby bunny that lives in my parents yard. I have nothing but class, people :) Spent 3 hours the most horrendous traffic on I-95 heading home. Ah, the joys of living in Northern Virginia. Also, I'm sporting a pretty awesome farmer's tan (nay, SUNBURN) today. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;So that's it. I'll be hitting the pillow tonight pretty early. Cause right now? I'm not sure how well I'm going to be getting through the day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh yeah, go over and check out Smitty's video's &lt;a href="http://stickyflypaper.blogspot.com/2007/05/episode-65-new-toad.html"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://stickyflypaper.blogspot.com/2007/05/stop-gap-animation.html"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Fun stuff, I tell you :)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-8881138312685660409?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/8881138312685660409/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=8881138312685660409' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8881138312685660409'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8881138312685660409'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/weekend-recap-mothers-day-edition.html' title='Weekend Recap: Mother&apos;s Day Edition.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-1654438558891397950</id><published>2007-05-11T06:34:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-11T06:45:45.512-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='family'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='what makes me smile'/><title type='text'>She's got me figured out.</title><content type='html'>"I've got the walking farts."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;"The.... what?"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Walking farts."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;"Did you just say 'walking farts'?  What the hell is that?"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"You've never heard that before?  Its when you are trying to hold in the pocket of air but it squeaks out when you walk.  You know, walking farts."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;:Laughing hysterically:&lt;em&gt; "Oh my god.  My Mom just said 'walking farts'.  That's awesome."&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Melissa, DO NOT blog about this!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Oops.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-1654438558891397950?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/1654438558891397950/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=1654438558891397950' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1654438558891397950'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1654438558891397950'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/shes-got-me-figured-out.html' title='She&apos;s got me figured out.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-1557068606237644310</id><published>2007-05-09T12:11:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-09T12:24:16.090-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photos'/><title type='text'>I can't believe we didn't see this.</title><content type='html'>Phone conversation with Smitty last night:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Hey, you still have those pictures on your camera from the park?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;"Yeah, why?"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I was looking at them on my computer and wanted to show you something."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;"Ok, which one?"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Pull up that one of the tree trunk and rotate it."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;"Ok....... WHOA. Oh my god!! It's a SNAKE!"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I know!!!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;"YIKES!! How did we not see that when were there?!?"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Seriously, this REALLY freaked me out. I'm terrified of snakes. Hands-down, my worst fear.&lt;br /&gt;How did we miss this?&lt;br /&gt;You better believe that I'm never going to the park in sandals again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://flickr.com/photos/mmullins/477570599/?rotated=1&amp;cb=1178730599371"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/173/477570599_37627359a0_b.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*Oh yeah, I also had some wicked nightmares about snakes last night. I wasn't kidding when I said I was scared of them!*&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-1557068606237644310?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/1557068606237644310/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=1557068606237644310' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1557068606237644310'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1557068606237644310'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/i-cant-believe-we-didnt-see-this.html' title='I can&apos;t believe we didn&apos;t see this.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm1.static.flickr.com/173/477570599_37627359a0_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-8083578308591796675</id><published>2007-05-08T07:23:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-08T08:05:00.322-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><title type='text'>Weekend Recap: Cinco de Mayo Craziness.</title><content type='html'>This weekend kicked all kinds of ass. Including mine. Yikes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://flickr.com/photos/mmullins/sets/72157600180167533/"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/191/485278348_dc9bf368c6.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Smitty's Cinco de Mayo party on Saturday rocked the casaba. He's a fantastic host. Delicious yummy food and way too much tequila and Coronas. &lt;a href="http://stickyflypaper.blogspot.com/2007/05/always-room-for-jello.html"&gt;These&lt;/a&gt; were way too yummy to be legal. Fun times to be had by everyone.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Poppy has documented my drunken ramblings, and I have to say I'm slightly embarrassed. You can see it &lt;a href="http://poppycede.blogspot.com/2007/05/living-vicariously-through-others.html"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;... but please, don't laugh too hard.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh yeah, and Smitty decided to blog drunk. &lt;a href="http://stickyflypaper.blogspot.com/2007/05/topic-of-day.html"&gt;That was fun&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've spent the last two days recovering from the worst hangover I think I've ever had. Two things: I love tequila, but it doesn't love me. And getting older is a bitch.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;*I've got more party pics, but I'm having major computer issues at home. I don't forsee having anything up and running in the near future.*&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-8083578308591796675?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/8083578308591796675/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=8083578308591796675' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8083578308591796675'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8083578308591796675'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/weekend-recap-cinco-de-mayo-craziness.html' title='Weekend Recap: Cinco de Mayo Craziness.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm1.static.flickr.com/191/485278348_dc9bf368c6_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-4113237058605481784</id><published>2007-05-04T07:59:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-04T08:16:57.471-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><title type='text'>Ready for the weekend.</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://blogs.commercialappeal.com/leslie/archives/tequila.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://blogs.commercialappeal.com/leslie/archives/tequila.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;a href="http://blogs.commercialappeal.com/leslie/archives/tequila.jpg"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://stickyflypaper.blogspot.com/2007/05/my-body-may-be-here.html"&gt;Time for Cinco de Mayo!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="left"&gt;Cheers :)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-4113237058605481784?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/4113237058605481784/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=4113237058605481784' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4113237058605481784'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/4113237058605481784'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/ready-for-weekend.html' title='Ready for the weekend.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-9028053056379030001</id><published>2007-05-02T11:52:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-02T11:55:03.883-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><title type='text'>Fuzzy Wuzzies.</title><content type='html'>&lt;em&gt;Where the Wild Things Are&lt;/em&gt; is one of my favorite children’s books. I remember it was one of the first books l learned how to read on my own when I was in Kindergarten. I still have my copy from when I was a child sitting on my bookshelf, tattered and worn, with a little bit of water damage and a whole lot of character. It’s one of those precious “keepsakes” that I will keep with me to share one day with my children.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So you could imagine my curiosity when I was watching porn the other night and came across the title &lt;em&gt;Where the Wild Things Fuck&lt;/em&gt;. (Didn’t see that one coming, did ya?)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of course, I had to watch it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And now, when I read my classic &lt;em&gt;Where the Wild Thing Are&lt;/em&gt; book to my children one day, I don’t think I’ll be able to get through it with a straight face or a pure thought in my mind.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-9028053056379030001?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/9028053056379030001/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=9028053056379030001' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/9028053056379030001'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/9028053056379030001'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/fuzzy-wuzzies.html' title='Fuzzy Wuzzies.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-2724514505726753371</id><published>2007-05-01T09:30:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-01T09:40:20.962-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><title type='text'>X-rated Tuesday Wondering.</title><content type='html'>In discussion with Poppy &lt;a href="http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/curved-for-her-pleasure.html"&gt;yesterday&lt;/a&gt;, we were curious:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Why is it that the head and the shaft are generally not the same color?&lt;br /&gt;Aren't they all like that?  I mean, in my experience they are.  Guys, help us out here.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yes, Poppy and I regularly talk about penises.  And porn.  And sex toys.  &lt;a href="http://poppycede.blogspot.com/2007/05/x-rated-tuesday-wondering.html"&gt;Poppy&lt;/a&gt; is awesomely hot and naughty.  I have a huge girl-crush on her.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-2724514505726753371?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/2724514505726753371/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=2724514505726753371' title='8 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/2724514505726753371'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/2724514505726753371'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/x-rated-tuesday-wondering.html' title='X-rated Tuesday Wondering.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>8</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-7433924520519982106</id><published>2007-05-01T09:07:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-01T10:14:00.497-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='what makes me smile'/><title type='text'>My new obsession.</title><content type='html'>I've &lt;a href="http://woot.com"&gt;wooted&lt;/a&gt; twice in two days: Yesterday's &lt;a href="http://wine.woot.com/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryId=2360"&gt;wine.woot&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.woot.com/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryId=2362"&gt;today's woot&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm quickly becoming a internet shopaholic nerd.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Woot!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-7433924520519982106?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/7433924520519982106/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=7433924520519982106' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7433924520519982106'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7433924520519982106'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/my-new-obsession.html' title='My new obsession.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-5897624250043204248</id><published>2007-04-30T07:17:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-30T07:18:16.123-05:00</updated><title type='text'>A moment of silence.</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a title="One Day Blog Silence" href="http://www.onedayblogsilence.com" target=""&gt;&lt;img title="One Day Blog Silence" style="“width: 338px" alt="One Day Blog Silence" hspace="0" src="http://www.onedayblogsilence.com/onedaysilence2.jpg" align="baseline" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-5897624250043204248?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/5897624250043204248/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=5897624250043204248' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5897624250043204248'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5897624250043204248'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/moment-of-silence.html' title='A moment of silence.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3078005068552893042</id><published>2007-04-29T19:20:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-29T19:48:00.378-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photos'/><title type='text'>Curved for her pleasure.</title><content type='html'>Today, coming back from &lt;a href="http://www.pwcparks.org/lrpark/"&gt;Lake Ridge Park&lt;/a&gt;, Smitty and I found a surprise waiting for us outside my apartment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NSFW Pictures &lt;a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/181/477553266_99cbad41fa_b.jpg"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/219/477567677_90f3436a43_b.jpg"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hehe. Even I don't have one of those.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3078005068552893042?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3078005068552893042/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3078005068552893042' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3078005068552893042'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3078005068552893042'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/curved-for-her-pleasure.html' title='Curved for her pleasure.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-5640947823811700528</id><published>2007-04-26T07:40:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-26T07:50:42.386-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><title type='text'>Bedside manner.</title><content type='html'>Bad news: After waiting to see the doctor for over an hour, was put on 5 days of antibiotics.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Good news: I'm already feeling better.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Explain to me how it's fair that if I'm 15 minutes late for an appointment, I'm required to reschedule for another day and still pay for the visit I missed; but if the doctor is running late, I (a) get no notice of the wait I will experience when I check in and (b) get no apology for the inconvenience. MURR.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also, after a series of tests, was told that I'm dehydrated. Which I find strange since I drink at least 64 oz of water a day. Plus a good 20-40 oz of diet coke. Hrm.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-5640947823811700528?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/5640947823811700528/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=5640947823811700528' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5640947823811700528'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5640947823811700528'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/bedside-manner.html' title='Bedside manner.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-7357596560248182989</id><published>2007-04-25T11:03:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-25T11:08:50.868-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><title type='text'>Things have got to change.</title><content type='html'>I'm leaving work early today for yet another doctor appointment (wasn't I just sick not too long ago?).  These health issues I keep having are ridiculous.  It's &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;appalling&lt;/span&gt; that I'm 26 and find myself constantly fighting an infection or illness.  &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Something's&lt;/span&gt; got to change.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Those personal goals I was talking about yesterday?  This is exactly what I am talking about.  Changes are in the works... lifestyle overhaul.  Not all at once, mind you.  But this is the one body I've got and it's time that I start taking care of it and treating it well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm ready.  I'm determined.  And this time, I'm doing it for myself.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-7357596560248182989?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/7357596560248182989/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=7357596560248182989' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7357596560248182989'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7357596560248182989'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/things-have-got-to-change.html' title='Things have got to change.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-5781712372727590153</id><published>2007-04-24T07:37:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-24T08:50:06.529-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><title type='text'>Weekend Recap: Returning back to normalcy.</title><content type='html'>As you can see folks, last week I wasn't all here. Tragedy happens and I just shut down, mentally and physically. I spent a lot of time last week in a depressed lump on the couch, camped out in front of the news. Not healthy. The media spin made me sick and angry, and after Thursday I made the decision to "turn it off". No more news the rest of the weekend. And whoa, did that ever help.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While I'm still upset and &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;saddened&lt;/span&gt; by last weeks events, I'm feeling better. It's time to begin healing, time to get back to life as normal.  Life ahead holds many joys and I'm looking forward to enjoying them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This weekend was peaceful and quiet.  Smitty and I ventured out to see his friend's band in Fairfax Friday night.  Fun times.  After the full, exhausting week we both had, we both crashed into bed soon after we returned home.  Saturday we slept in, &lt;a href="http://stickyflypaper.blogspot.com/2007/04/best-show-eva.html"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;marathoned&lt;/span&gt; on &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;Battlestar&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;Galactica&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (8 episodes!), and made some yummy &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;mexican&lt;/span&gt; for dinner.  Smitty and I really enjoy cooking together... it's become a fun weekend activity that we look forward to.  And the rest of the weekend from there was a lazy blur.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, it's back to the grind for me.  I've recently made some personal goals for myself that I'm tackling this week.  One of them includes making changes to the blog.  Now, time to find the time to do it all is another issue...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-5781712372727590153?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/5781712372727590153/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=5781712372727590153' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5781712372727590153'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5781712372727590153'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/weekend-recap-returning-back-to.html' title='Weekend Recap: Returning back to normalcy.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-5910032648042101490</id><published>2007-04-19T07:47:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-19T08:00:01.053-05:00</updated><title type='text'>We are the Hokies.</title><content type='html'>The Tech community has come together in this tragic time, holding each other up and begining the healing the process.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am honored to don my burnt orange and chicago maroon, proud to show my Hokie Spirit. And when people ask me what a Hokie is, I can tell them in all honesty, "I am a Hokie".&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We are Hokies united.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I am SO very proud to be a Hokie.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-5910032648042101490?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/5910032648042101490/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=5910032648042101490' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5910032648042101490'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5910032648042101490'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/we-are-hokies.html' title='We are the Hokies.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-2171613262633948652</id><published>2007-04-18T06:46:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-18T06:47:54.310-05:00</updated><title type='text'>We are Virginia Tech.</title><content type='html'>&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0cSuidxE8os" width="425" height="350" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Let's Go Hokies!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-2171613262633948652?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/2171613262633948652/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=2171613262633948652' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/2171613262633948652'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/2171613262633948652'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/we-are-virginia-tech.html' title='We are Virginia Tech.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3306908517557615608</id><published>2007-04-17T07:43:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-17T07:44:39.609-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Hokies United.</title><content type='html'>I am a daughter, a sister, a girlfriend.  A niece, cousin, and friend. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I am a Hokie.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While I’m not currently a student at Virginia Tech, the recent events on campus have none the less impacted me deeply.  I cannot comprehend the tragedy that has occurred.  The Hokie community, our community, is feeling a sorrow that touches our very core. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Our University’s motto is “Ut Prosim”, which means “That I may serve”.  Right now, I am feeling an intense need to serve the mourning community, want to help bring peace when none can be found. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With any senseless tragedy, we ask for answers when there is none to be found.  I join my fellow Hokies in their grief and sadness.  We will come together and heal.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;We are proud.  We are strong.  We are Hokies.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3306908517557615608?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3306908517557615608/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3306908517557615608' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3306908517557615608'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3306908517557615608'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/hokies-united.html' title='Hokies United.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-8696376111587180209</id><published>2007-04-16T14:45:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-16T14:50:26.120-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Unthinkable.</title><content type='html'>The events this morning at Virginia Tech have really hit home for me.  I graduated from the University back in 2003.  I'm still in shock at the moment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18134671/"&gt;Such an unthinkable tragedy.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My heart aches for the victims, the familes, and the whole Virginia Tech community.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-8696376111587180209?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/8696376111587180209/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=8696376111587180209' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8696376111587180209'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8696376111587180209'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/unthinkable.html' title='Unthinkable.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-6172017154110637714</id><published>2007-04-16T08:17:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-16T08:18:31.555-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><title type='text'>Weekend Recap: I'm not telling.</title><content type='html'>This weekend was pretty much freaking amazing, people.  You know it had to be good if I’m walking into work with a smile ON A MONDAY MORNING.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As much as I would love to spill every little detail, I really need to keep this one to myself. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For now.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-6172017154110637714?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/6172017154110637714/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=6172017154110637714' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6172017154110637714'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6172017154110637714'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/weekend-recap-im-not-telling.html' title='Weekend Recap: I&apos;m not telling.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-7621213427305814200</id><published>2007-04-13T09:10:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-13T09:15:21.633-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Where Poppy asks all the right questions to get in my pants.</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;Five questions from my lovely &lt;a href="http://poppycede.blogspot.com/"&gt;Poppy&lt;/a&gt;. If you want to play, don't answer these questions. See the rules below to play!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. When we meet in July is Drunk Mel going to make out with Drunk Poppy in the bathroom?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;If I say yes, does that mean I don’t get to meet Drunk Poppy in July? In the interest of truth and full disclosure, I will say that is it completely possible. I mean, I’ve always wanted to make out with a girl. And my girl crush on Poppy is enough to bring out Kinky Mel ;)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Are you ever getting married again or just taking on lovers?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The failing of my first marriage has not changed me into a crazy cat lady. I would very much like to get married again and start a family one day. Whether or not that will happen is another story completely. In the mean time, taking on a lover seems like a great alternative.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. If you didn't work at your current super-top-secret job what would you be doing with your professional life?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;If I could do anything, I would really like to work with animals, possibly in a rescue shelter or in animal training.&lt;br /&gt;Either that, or a Porn Movie Reviewer. Awesome. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4. Do you name your sex toys? (If yes, fess up!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;Of course! Rabbit (that was obvious, right?), Mouse (looks like a computer mouse), and The Blue Knight. Not to be confused with The Blue Eyed Wonder, who of course is Smitty (can I count him as a sex toy, too?). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5. What's your favorite flower and why?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;I have three favorite flowers that I just can’t choose between.&lt;br /&gt;Gerber Daisies are the perfect flower. They look “happy” and always bring a smile to my face. The instantly brighten a dark room. They mix well with other flowers but look especially gorgeous all on their own.&lt;br /&gt;I also love Daffodils. I used to pick them from the flowerbeds in college and keep a fresh bouquet on my desk while they were in bloom. The smell takes me back to that time when things were things were simple.&lt;br /&gt;And lastly, Roses. For their sexy elegance, always being in style, and because making love on a bed of rose petals is one of the hottest things ever.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Rules:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."&lt;br /&gt;2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.&lt;br /&gt;3. You will update your weblog with the answers to the questions.&lt;br /&gt;4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.&lt;br /&gt;5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-7621213427305814200?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/7621213427305814200/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=7621213427305814200' title='8 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7621213427305814200'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7621213427305814200'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/where-poppy-asks-all-right-questions-to.html' title='Where Poppy asks all the right questions to get in my pants.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>8</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-8943025673995601096</id><published>2007-04-12T06:27:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-12T06:31:50.136-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='what makes me smile'/><title type='text'>What makes me smile.</title><content type='html'>The white t-shirt that was passionately discarded amongst my sheets in the heat of the moment. Its smell is the perfect balance of soap, deodorant, sweat, sex, and 100% man. I've stashed it between the mountains of pillows I keep on my bed, and at night before I go to sleep, I reach between the pillows, put the shirt to my face, and take a deep breath.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It’s not as good as having the real thing right next to me, but it sure does put a smile in my face until I see him again.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-8943025673995601096?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/8943025673995601096/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=8943025673995601096' title='6 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8943025673995601096'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8943025673995601096'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/what-makes-me-smile.html' title='What makes me smile.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>6</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-8265198608991399634</id><published>2007-04-11T13:16:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-11T13:20:33.085-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Belated Weekend Update: Flowers and Eggs.</title><content type='html'>I started last weekend early with a trip downtown from Smitty who met me at work so we could enjoy what was left of the Cherry Blossoms. It was such a wonderful afternoon... a bit chilly, but the company more than made up for it. We walked the tidal basin, visited the WWII Memorial, took way too many pictures, made sure we got a soft pretzel, made our way to &lt;a href="http://www.lovethebeer.com/rfd.html"&gt;RFD&lt;/a&gt; for dinner, and acted way too much like tourists. The couple that took &lt;a href="http://flickr.com/photos/mmullins/450804382/"&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; photo for us were from Florida and thought we were visiting from out of town as well. By the end of the night we crashed in front of the TV and watched an episode of &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Battlestar&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Galactica&lt;/span&gt;, but we were both so exhausted from the day that we couldn't much enjoy it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Saturday was lazy day for Smitty and I. After a afternoon &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;Battlestar&lt;/span&gt; Marathon (almost done with Season One!!) we set out to make Easter cupcakes for his nieces and nephew. That was an experience. We attempted to make stencils to decorate the frosting, but after Smitty tried to draw a carrot that looked more like a turnip, and my flower looked more like a sun, we decided that sprinkles would probably look better than anything freehand we attempted to draw. Good news is that the cupcakes ended up being a hit with his family!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Sunday I spent over at my parents. Mom and I watched "Little Miss Sunshine". Afterwards, she turned to me and matter-of-&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;factly&lt;/span&gt; said, "Makes you think we aren't such a crazy family after all". She taught me how to make a rib roast dinner. I got an Easter basket, as every year, full of candy I don't need, but will eat... cause those &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;Cadbury&lt;/span&gt; Carmel Eggs? Just too good to waste. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;So, that's it. Enjoy the photos from our DC excursion. Props to Smitty for taking the bulk of them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://flickr.com/photos/mmullins/sets/72157600060342136/"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/242/455443479_a9fd822730.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://flickr.com/photos/mmullins/sets/72157600060342136/"&gt;See set at &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"&gt;flickr&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-8265198608991399634?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/8265198608991399634/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=8265198608991399634' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8265198608991399634'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8265198608991399634'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/belated-weekend-update-flowers-and-eggs.html' title='Belated Weekend Update: Flowers and Eggs.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm1.static.flickr.com/242/455443479_a9fd822730_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-5152799660734544703</id><published>2007-04-10T09:16:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-10T10:42:22.314-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='divorce'/><title type='text'>Light at the end of the tunnel.</title><content type='html'>&lt;em&gt;Good news&lt;/em&gt;: A trial date has been set to determine the property separation for my subsequent divorce.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bad news&lt;/em&gt;: The trial is scheduled for September 19th.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Its amazing to me that it's going to take well over 2 years to end a marriage that was only 11 months.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For now, I focus on the positive. An end is finally in sight.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-5152799660734544703?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/5152799660734544703/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=5152799660734544703' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5152799660734544703'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5152799660734544703'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/light-at-end-of-tunnel.html' title='Light at the end of the tunnel.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-7549877528544848995</id><published>2007-04-05T09:48:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-05T09:57:25.530-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cats'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spring'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photos'/><title type='text'>Murr.</title><content type='html'>I'm ridiculously grumpy today, folks. This weather can suck it. What happened to spring??&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, yeah. I got nothin.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Except a really cute picture of my cat.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/186/438129087_388eb2fa74.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-7549877528544848995?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/7549877528544848995/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=7549877528544848995' title='7 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7549877528544848995'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/7549877528544848995'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/murr.html' title='Murr.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm1.static.flickr.com/186/438129087_388eb2fa74_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-6805334632509046376</id><published>2007-04-03T07:13:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-03T07:19:37.751-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spring'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photos'/><title type='text'>Spring Twilight.</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/444266957_83fb6a7fdb.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/444266957_83fb6a7fdb.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-6805334632509046376?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/6805334632509046376/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=6805334632509046376' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6805334632509046376'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6805334632509046376'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/sping-twilight.html' title='Spring Twilight.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/444266957_83fb6a7fdb_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-3191980281375517238</id><published>2007-04-02T07:42:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-02T08:58:55.525-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spring'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><title type='text'>Seasons change.</title><content type='html'>I was sick AGAIN at the end of last week with a nasty stomach bug. That was 36 hours of pure torture, let me tell you. Ugh. Good news is that it left as quick as it arrived and I'm back at work after an &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;unusually&lt;/span&gt; long weekend.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My favorite thing about this weekend was the fantastic spring weather. The kitties enjoyed a few days of open windows and Smitty and I did some &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;grillin&lt;/span&gt; out on Saturday night. Burgers and dogs... YUM! I have a feeling we will be &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;grillin&lt;/span&gt; quite a bit this season :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This week coming up: &lt;a href="http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/cms/index.php?id=390"&gt;Cherry Blossoms&lt;/a&gt;!! This is one of my favorite times of the year. The &lt;a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?node=cityguide/profile&amp;amp;id=799961"&gt;Tidal Basin &lt;/a&gt;is &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;beginning&lt;/span&gt; to turn into clouds of pink and white which Smitty and I will be taking an early work day on Friday to enjoy. Here's hoping for good weather!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm feeling extraordinarily good these days... despite some setbacks, my mood is been fairly up recently. I know the change is in part from the turn in weather. I've always dealt with a bit of the "winter blues". I'm finding that the motivation I've been lacking over the months has slowly been returning. This is the perfect time for me to start working on all those "little things" that I've been neglecting for some time. Good things are on the horizon, folks. I can feel it.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-3191980281375517238?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/3191980281375517238/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=3191980281375517238' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3191980281375517238'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/3191980281375517238'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/04/seasons-change.html' title='Seasons change.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-556803874403933753</id><published>2007-03-28T09:11:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-03-28T09:22:22.240-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='confessions'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='family'/><title type='text'>Hypothetical.</title><content type='html'>Let's say that I have this friend who, hypothetically of course, likes to have hickeys placed in some *ahem* interesting places. My friend has a tendency to get a little hot when she looks at these hickeys because, well hypothetically, the hickeys remind her of the man who put them there and what they were doing together when they were placed. I mean, wouldn't you get hot thinking about that?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then, let's say that my friend got a fairly large, dark purple hickey again this weekend. Said mark, hypothetically, was so dark that is showed through her white shirt.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So when her Mom noticed the dark hickey, do you think that she believed my friend when she told her that she bruised herself on a sharp corner? Hypothetically, of course.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yeah, I didn't think so either.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-556803874403933753?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/556803874403933753/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=556803874403933753' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/556803874403933753'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/556803874403933753'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/03/hypothetical.html' title='Hypothetical.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-5629101817450020559</id><published>2007-03-27T10:15:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2007-03-27T11:38:54.850-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Weekend Recap: Birthday Edition.</title><content type='html'>I'm a ridiculously lucky girl. Lucky and spoiled. This weekend was absolutely amazing, all thanks to Smitty and my parents.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Saturday morning started a bit early with a trip to Ikea with Smitty. We both had a short list of must-haves but spent a majority of the time browsing. One full cart and a few hours later, we left with minimal damage to our wallets and a full tummy from the Ikea cafeteria (I'm completely in love with Swedish meatballs, which I'd never had before). After Ikea, Smitty and I spent some *ahem* quality time together at my apartment before we headed out to his place for the rest of the evening's debauchery.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First, Smitty made me open my present a day early... a kick ass iPod docking station/speaker/alarm clock, which I'm totally thrilled about. I didn't have any way to listen to my iPod at home and this little guy is perfect. After that, we met some people out at &lt;a href="http://www.olddominion.com/home.shtml"&gt;Old Dominion Brewery&lt;/a&gt; for dinner. Brats &amp; Mash... YUM. Micro-brewed beer... DOUBLE YUM. Smitty also got a growler for me to take home. Back at Smitty's place, he had made me some &lt;a href="http://www.disaronno.com/"&gt;Disoranno&lt;/a&gt; creps with apples, which was pretty much one of the most amazing desserts I've ever had. Finished the night off with Disoranno on the rocks with a mighty tasty cigar (La Gloria Cubana, Series R, Maduro, No. 7) and quite a bit of more *ahem* quality time with Smitty. Fell asleep completely exhausted and satisfied.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Woke up Saturday morning to the sweetest rendition of "Happy Birthday" I've ever had sung to me. Smitty definitely started my day with a *bang* ;) After a warm, relaxing shower, I headed out to my parents house for the rest of the afternoon/evening. Mom made me fried chicken and white rice (I'm a southern girl at heart... this is my absolute favorite meal) and an apple pie for dessert. We sat around and talked, reminisced over my baby book, and enjoyed the warm weather. Later that night I opened more presents... roses from my dad, gift card to Bed Bath and Beyond, new purse, and a diamond heart necklace.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Like I said, I'm spoiled.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To top it all off, my parents gave me some money towards a new camera. So, yesterday I went out and got the &lt;a href="http://www.fujifilmusa.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/digitalS5200Overview.jsp?item=I836806&amp;dbid=836806&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;urltype=overview&amp;NavBarId=I836806"&gt;Fuji S5200&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I told you I was spoiled.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This camera is amazing. I'm still learning, and suspect will be learning about it for quite some time. But here are some photos I took while playing around yesterday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://flickr.com/photos/mmullins/sets/72157600029376949/"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/181/436353679_b85129f3b4_o.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://flickr.com/photos/mmullins/sets/72157600029376949/"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am the most fortunate girl... I have friends and family who care deeply for me and show me in so many wonderful ways. I only hope that I can return the sentiment back to them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Special thanks to Smitty for an amazing weekend. I am so grateful to have you in my life.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-5629101817450020559?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/5629101817450020559/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=5629101817450020559' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5629101817450020559'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5629101817450020559'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/03/weekend-recap-birthday-edition_27.html' title='Weekend Recap: Birthday Edition.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-6828836681975351632</id><published>2007-03-25T21:09:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-03-25T21:14:10.600-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><title type='text'>... and one to grow on.</title><content type='html'>26 candles on my apple pie today.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;BEST. BIRTHDAY. EVER.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is definitely going to be my year to shine.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-6828836681975351632?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/6828836681975351632/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=6828836681975351632' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6828836681975351632'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/6828836681975351632'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/03/and-one-to-grow-on.html' title='... and one to grow on.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-2663323779230635232</id><published>2007-03-22T11:42:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-03-22T11:44:20.298-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='confessions'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='family'/><title type='text'>Stuff and things.</title><content type='html'>Work's been monopolizing all my time recently. I've been taking little "blog breaks" to keep my sanity... and as a result, I think I'm going to drive &lt;a href="http://poppycede.blogspot.com/index.html"&gt;Poppy&lt;/a&gt; insane. I think I left her no less than 10 comments yesterday. That's pretty much been my only daily escape.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm flippin' thrilled its almost the weekend. Got a few very fun things planned so far (Ikea! Cigars! Debauchery! Fried chicken and apple pie!) as well as spending some much needed time with Smitty and my folks. Actually, today is my Mom's birthday and next Tuesday is my Dad's (as well as another birthday this weekend!) so the next few days will be PARTY CENTRAL. Rock on.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's been pretty dull around here, I know. I've been keeping to myself about the more *ehem* naughty side of my life, shall we say. Not for lack of fun, my friends. Things are VERY productive in that department. It's just that, well... I'm feeling very protective of my relationship at the moment. It's something special that is shared between Smitty and I. With the lack of anonymity that I have, I don't really feel comfortable telling everyone that ITS JUST THAT GOOD. &lt;em&gt;Whoops, it slipped&lt;/em&gt;. In all seriousness, things are really great at the moment... so great that I just want to wrap it up and put it in a safe little place where no one can touch it, saving it for just him and I. I share bits an pieces of my happiness with you all, but the rest of it? I'm keeping that all for him.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh yeah, and just so we are all clear? Just cause I have Smitty doesn't mean I've packed my box of toys and porn away. Oh no, it's still getting regular use. There is NO WAY I could give that up, even if I am getting the best I've ever had. &lt;em&gt;Damn, slipped again!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-2663323779230635232?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/2663323779230635232/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=2663323779230635232' title='7 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/2663323779230635232'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/2663323779230635232'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/03/works-been-monopolizing-all-my-time.html' title='Stuff and things.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-8985160788193541456</id><published>2007-03-21T17:27:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-03-21T17:34:51.324-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='what makes me smile'/><title type='text'>Did you hear that?</title><content type='html'>This made my biological clock tick for just a second.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.collegehumor.com/moogaloop/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1749229" quality="best" width="400" height="300" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Damn you, Wii Baby.  Damn you and that adorable belly laugh.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-8985160788193541456?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/8985160788193541456/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=8985160788193541456' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8985160788193541456'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/8985160788193541456'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/03/did-you-hear-that.html' title='Did you hear that?'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-5195969630340109580</id><published>2007-03-20T17:47:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-03-20T17:59:44.254-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='confessions'/><title type='text'>Welcome home?</title><content type='html'>As much as I enjoy having my own place, sometimes I really miss having someone to come home to.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-5195969630340109580?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/5195969630340109580/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=5195969630340109580' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5195969630340109580'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5195969630340109580'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/03/welcome-home.html' title='Welcome home?'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-5860554852701885566</id><published>2007-03-19T06:54:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-03-19T10:00:20.075-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><title type='text'>Another weekend over?!</title><content type='html'>Ugh, I can't believe it's Monday morning already. The week goes by way too slow and the weekend way too quickly. Why is that exactly? To be honest, I don't even know where Saturday went.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This weekend I spent way too much time being lazy. This is partly due to the fact that I'm fighting off some wicked cold germs again (yes, AGAIN! Every time the weather makes a dramatic change). But, I've found that orange juice and vodka are better than any cold medicine I've taken. You can blame that one on Smitty -- I hate to admit this, but I'd never had vodka before last weekend. And now? Well, I'm hooked.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I didn't celebrate St. Patty's like I would have wanted, complete with green beer and Irish Car Bombs, due to the yucky cold germs that kicked my ass on Saturday. I started feeling better Sunday and better yet today, so hopefully I can kick this before this weekend's celebratory debauchery!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This weekend I did, however, dive into the first season of Battlestar Galactica, which I've fallen in love with. Better than any Soap Opera I've ever seen, but not quite as good as "The Office". When I finish up with that, I'm going to watch Firefly. And maybe the Buffy The Vampire Slayer series, which I've never seen but has been recommended to me by more than a few people. Needless to say my Netflix queue is quite full at the moment. Spring needs to get here soon so I can spend less time in front of the TV and more time outside!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Good lord, I hope this week goes by quickly...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-5860554852701885566?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/5860554852701885566/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=5860554852701885566' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5860554852701885566'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5860554852701885566'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/03/another-weekend-over.html' title='Another weekend over?!'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-5874960089773876570</id><published>2007-03-16T07:10:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-03-16T15:22:16.405-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='relationships'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='debauchery'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><title type='text'>Awake.</title><content type='html'>My time off was fabulous, kids. I couldn't have asked for a more relaxing time. I'm totally recharged and ready to kick ass!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While the details of my "vacation" may be a bit of a bore, I will say that I spent quite a bit of time with Smitty. We partook in some debauchery, I met his group of friends for the first time, did some shopping, saw &lt;em&gt;300&lt;/em&gt;, and tried a new irish pub. And then, there was the Groban concert.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I can't even begin to describe what a wonderful night we had.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Seeing where Smitty worked, &lt;a href="http://www.fadoirishpub.com/washington/"&gt;Fado&lt;/a&gt; for dinner, hearing Groban's magical voice, falling in love with &lt;a href="http://www.luciamicarelli.com/"&gt;Lucia Mircarelli&lt;/a&gt;, goosebumps all night long. Oh yeah, and the roses... Smitty is quite the Casanova.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://flickr.com/photos/mmullins/sets/72157594588610295/"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/170/422999422_15bf45d5ba.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's hard to sit here and not brag about how amazing of a guy Smitty is. Hot damn, I'm a lucky girl.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-5874960089773876570?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/5874960089773876570/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=5874960089773876570' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5874960089773876570'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/5874960089773876570'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/03/awake.html' title='Awake.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm1.static.flickr.com/170/422999422_15bf45d5ba_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17764004.post-1807642358479651477</id><published>2007-03-13T10:54:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-03-13T11:55:35.101-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='You Tube'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cats'/><title type='text'>Having fun with video.</title><content type='html'>I'm being VERY productive with my time off.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is Bear last night, trying to figure out what the hell I was doing. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Notice towards the end... when I "meow" at him, he meow's back.  It sounds like baby meow cause he has never learned how to meow like a big cat. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh yeah, and ignore my annoying voice. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width="425" height="350"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SG0wJP6eVQU"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SG0wJP6eVQU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And here are both my kitties this morning.  Bear is being a little more vocal because I'm giving some attention to Val. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width="425" height="350"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/E3VpMVY_52I"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/E3VpMVY_52I" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17764004-1807642358479651477?l=oceanofreality.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/feeds/1807642358479651477/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17764004&amp;postID=1807642358479651477' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1807642358479651477'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/17764004/posts/default/1807642358479651477'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://oceanofreality.blogspot.com/2007/03/having-fun-with-video.html' title='Having fun with video.'/><author><name>Mel</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry></feed>
