“amor ipse notitia est”

I love signs. I love when there is something unavoidable that is hanging there in plain view that makes giggle like a schoolgirl.
Now that I’m a grown-up, and know the inner “workings” of Corporate America, warning signs such as the one pictured here are exponentially funnier. What the real world has taught me is that there was a committee somewhere that had meetings, agendas, objectives, and budgets for this. The color scheme and the exact wording were voted on if not debated.

This one’s a pretty good one, because it’s in Cary where we Cary-dwellers are particulary persnickety about signs and banners. I can’t believe this one slipped through the cracks.

The best sign I have ever EVER seen was also in Cary, although it was nowhere near as big or flashy as this one. What it lacked in size and sparkle it more than made up for in hilarity.
In the Baptist Convention of NC building, about, oh, twelve - thirteen years ago, the elevator closed. My brother and I were there for some reason or another to see my mother, who was working there at the time. Bryan & I locked eyes onto it and simultaneously read, Missionary Positions Available with all of the Please Inquire xxx-xxxx and so forth below. There were other (seminary-trained, mild-mannered, etc) people in the elevator but we locked eyes and held in our laughs until we were alone.
I will never, ever forget that sign.

Yesterday I was thankful to be stuck in traffic on 440.
I was headed to my mom’s house to do some things for her when I rounded a corner about 1:30 in the afternoon, and lo & behold, right there between Cary and Western Blvd., things came to a gridlock. Since there never were any sirens, it only made sense that this long pause I got to take was for the funeral of Senator Helms, held at 2:00 in Raleigh.

I always have three or four books in the car (at least) so I read one of those for about half an hour as we inched along slowly, and then I got over to make my exit off onto Hillsboro Street. I got bored with the book I was reading and reached into my bag for my Ipod. Turning it on, the song that randomly played was Alison Krause and Gillian Welch’s duet “I’ll Fly Away” from the film score to O Brother, Where Art Though. I had to smile, for though I can’t think of a man from our great state who differed on virtually every issue as much as one can differ from my own stance, fly away he did.

My posts have greatly decreased in number since school let out. I would have thought it would be the other way around, since I have these huge stretches of time on my hands.

We just went down to Wilmington for three days, and had a nice time with some of Kyle’s friends who he’s known since high school and all throughout his days at NCSU. I got a good deal of work on my current cross-stitch sampler done while “the boys” played Rock Band. It’s not my cup of tea, let’s say, but whatever dumps your truck. In downtown Wilmington we were able to take in a few of the sights and shops with Katie, Kyle, Megan and I sticking it out for about two and a half hours until the heat made us say “uncle.”
We had some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had at Kilwin’s Chocolate & Ice Cream Shoppe (I had the New Orleans Praline flavor… very nice).
Two of the boutiques we went in were selling the wares of our very own local and highly laudedHolly Aiken. I was carrying my current favorite of the 5 Aikens I own this weekend and received a few compliments on it, as I always do. The thing I love the most about her stuff is that it is the antithesis of Vera Bradley. It is tasteful, it does not look like wallpaper from a funeral home, and perhaps most importantly, it can be cleaned with Formula 409.
We did a lot of looking but no buying in Wilmington. I didn’t face much temptation except of course in one of my favorite places, the edge of urge. I’m on a “no-more-dresses” diet, thankfully, or I could have easily tested even a very wealthy man’s credit limit in there. However, there was a handmade silver bangle with a lovely quote about faith that spoke to me. The seventy-five dollar price tag, although more than reasonable, isn’t in the works for this little graduate student.

That was my fourth.
Today I’m organizing my craft supplies.
I just finished sorting buttons, and had an eerily good time doing it.

Hope life is good for any readers that may be out there.