Soccer Woes

I played soccer today with my team for the first time since November (I believe). I have kicked the ball around on a few occasions with J and in the raquettball court at the gym but that is about it. Other than my gym and walking workouts, I haven't really been pushing myself much.

Oh my gosh, did I suck. I felt like I was running with lead in my feet. I ran out of gas before we were finished because we started so late and I had eaten 4 hours before. Luckily, I was still able to kick the ball and control it but it felt like I had no power and was not even close to being an effective player.

Yesterday, I weight lifted backs and one of the exercises I do is "good morning" raises. This tightens up the butt and hamstrings besides just working the lowerback, and today they were tight so sprinting was almost impossible. I now know I need to get my butt exercising twice as much as I am currently doing or I will not be able to compete at all.

We might have a tournament next week and I don't know if I will even been any help to the team...

New Printer

I finally got around to installing my new printer yesterday. J got it for me for Christmas....I know, it is terrible that I hadn't gotten it on there but I had other computer stuff that was more pressing and then all the house stuff piled up.

It is a Canon PIXMA MP830 and can I just say this thing rocks!!! I have only made one scan and one copy so far but I am impressed. It scans a million times faster than my old HP (sorry Chicken) so finishing up my Grandmother's picture project should be easy. It has slots for memory cards so you can easily transfer pics from camera (which I don't really need since I have 4 card slots in my computer and I usually have York print my pics but it is nice that it is there). It also does double side, all sorts of different paper and has a usb port on the front for thumb drive access...

I am sure the ink will cost a fortune and we won't be using the faxing capability for a while (no jack in this room) and I can just scan stuff in and email it in most cases but I think I am in love...haha.

For Chicken...

who wanted me to post a pic of my tulips and I thought the dogwood came out exceptionally well so I am throwing it in as a freebie...I reduced the file size on these to keep down the pilfering but if you (Chicken) want a full sized copy I can email them to you...






I am using the dogwood on my myspace profile, this profile and on my desktop right now because it is just so springy and spring doesn't last for long here...soon it will be hot and muggy!!!

Mystery Bump

NOTE: GROSS WARNING!!!!!

I am not sure if I blogged about this before but I found this weird white bump on my arm in the fall. At first it just looked like one of those white "no pigmentation" spots you sometimes get when you get tan but it felt a bit raised so of course I fiddled with it and worried a bit about it. I wasn't too concerned but was definitely curious.

J told me that it was probably nothing but I should leave it alone and make plans to have it looked at. I didn't have time to schedule anything before Christmas with our trip and my school wrapping up, but I was going to do it right after the new year started.

Anyhow, during the trip, I noticed that it was going away some (probably because I was leaving it alone) so I stopped calling it "my little cancer" and forgot about it for the most part. When I went for a physical in February, I mentioned it to the doctor and they didn't seem to think it was anything to worry about.

Yesterday I was wearing a sleeveless shirt and felt the bump and it felt greatly diminished...I was glad because it really meant that it was nothing and that my fooling with it, was what made it seem like it was getting bigger.

Today, I was in a sleeveless shirt again, and I noticed this stuff on my arm, kind of near the practically unnoticeable bump. I wiped it off. Later on, I noticed this stuff again, and thought it was kind of weird. I pushed on the spot there the bump was supposed to be, and all this white stuff (I know, kind of gross) came out of one of my pores. I just kept pushing and more stuff came out (more than any kind of pimple or anything like that). I asked J what he thought, and he said, I must have had a small infection in there (probably from messing with it) and now it was over.

So I am not sure if I should be concerned that all this stuff expressed out of this thing or glad that it might be a sign that it is gone forever....guess I will just keep an eye on it and see what happens. Right now it seems to be gone, let's hope it stays that way!!!

Almost There

Well, we had the meeting with our realtor today and he came by and did the measurements and pictures for our listing which starts on Monday. We have pretty much everything done around here for the listing, but not for the move. We are trying to keep the house looking a certain way at least for a while.

When I get home from my reunion in May, I plan to go head first into packing and organizing and at that point, people will just have to deal with the fact that we will have a house that looks like we are moving. If I have to wait 'til the last minute to do my organizing and packing, I will lose my mind...haha.

In other news, the eggs in the bluebird nest have not hatched yet...I am starting to get worried but I guess I better look it up on the web so I know if they are not viable or not.

We got our title for our second car. We are selling it before the move and it is easier to sell a car when you have the title in hand, so I paid it off last month just for that reason and it came in the mail the other day. I had to run by a branch of the bank that did the loan though, because they didn't sign off on the title and it is worthless to me if they don't sign off on it. Fortunately, they understood what I needed and signed it.

I have another customer service story to post about but I am waiting to see if they will take care of it before I have to start a campaign against them...

Water, water - and wasted plastic bottles - everywhere :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Health

This article touches on exactly what I bitched about in my blog earlier this month....what a waste and now it looks like some of the time, the water in the bottles is not any better for you...

Flashing

The other day when J was in the attic putting some new insulation up (and thank goodness I didn't have to do that...I have this weird fear of getting fiberglass in my skin)....he noticed that there was a small hole in the sheeting of the roof right near our chimney. We talked about different ways to fix it for a few days but came to the concensus that to do it right, we would have to take the shingles off in the area in question and replace the sheeting properly. We probably could have gotten away with doing some kind of half assed job but we just couldn't do it.

So on Friday, while I was busy dropping off yardwaste and picking up pinestraw and unloading it, J was on the roof getting things going. He carefully removed the shingles (as we didn't know if we could find matching ones) and cut out the section of sheeting that would need to be replaced. In the course of that, he discovered that the reason the hole was there to begin with is because whomever replaced the flashing on the chimney before did a really bad job of it (part of it was aluminum siding not even real flashing) and some how water had gotten below it and rotted that sheeting. We were lucky we hadn't had a leaking problem this whole time in the house.

So after I was done unloading, we took off for our local home improvement store and picked up the necessary items. Amazingly enough, we did find some shingles that matched ours and so we ended up with a pack of those as well. We came back home and J went back to the roof and I moved onto another project. As it started to get dark, we put things away and prepared for the next day.

Saturday, J got up on the roof bright and early and I took care of some other items. We knew it was supposed to rain on Sunday so we were trying to finish the roof up that day for sure. I started working on my yardwork and getting the 39 bales put out. I finished up the yardwork, right at dusk and because we weren't completely finished but finished enough that we could just tarp the chimney and not have to worry, that is what did. Around 11pm it started to rain but we knew that we were okay because J had finished up everything that would be getting wet from the tarp, we really only had to do the cap flashing on the sides of the chimney.

Sunday morning we get up to the news of the horrible storm hitting the East Coast. So many inches of rain expected and severe thunderstorm and tornado watches in effect. We decide to run to the home improvement store since we can't do anything on the roof until the rain stops. We had some returns to do and a few different things to pick up. While we are there, the rain stops...we hurry home because it looks like we have a 3 hour window to finish up. J already has all the flashing shaped and cut, we just need to get it on there and caulked. He starts on it and then asks me to help him so we can finish in time.

So he places and nails them into the chimney and I go around behind him caulking them up with this polyurethane black goopy stuff. It is definitely a messy job but not anything too difficult. We are down to two more pieces when the sky starts to get darker and we can hear thunder in the distance. I tell him that I am getting down as soon as it gets close, because not only are we on the roof of our house during a severe thunderstorm watch, we are playing with sheets of metal and have to climb an aluminum later to get down. I won't even mention the fact that there have been 5 lightening strikes on trees in our neighborhood since we have lived here (one in our yard). Needless to say, we start working much faster. I kept one eye on the storm as we joked about the headlines if we should both get killed up there...haha. Fortunately for us, the storm skirts by us without coming very close although it was a bit gusty and dark off to one side, and we are able to get everything caulked, cleaned up and off the roof before it starts to rain.

Note: While we were up there, I just kept thinking about how much my mom would not want to know what we were doing...

New Eggs To Watch

The bluebirds laid 5 new eggs in their first (very late) clutch for the year...

What Are They Thinking?

On Saturday, I spent a large portion of the day doing yardwork around the house. I put out 39 bales of pinestraw in our yard (my fingers are raw), but while I was doing it, I was wondering what the birds were thinking of my actions.

I figure it went something like this.

"So Louise, what do you think that human is doing over there?"
"Oh, she does that twice a year..."
"Yes, but what for?"
"Irma, don't you know? She is building a nest....that is how they do it."

Time Is Flying

Wow, it seems like I am on the computer all the time but every time I come to check out my blog, days have gone by where I haven't posted....

This weekend (a four day for J) is being spent getting things done around the house in prep for putting it on the market in about a week. I am doing yard stuff and J is doing house stuff. I picked up 39 bales of pinestraw yesterday and I am putting it out today before it rains tomorrow. I did a recycling run this morning as well as a run or two to Lowe's for J's projects.

We have some flowers to put in pots and some cleaning up outside to do, but things are coming along quickly. J has already fixed the insulation in the attic on the two skylights. I managed to smuggle two big boxes out of the recycling center so I can put a few nonessentials in the attic for the time being. This week will be busy for me, even after J goes back to the office because I have lots of little projects looming on the edges. I do plan to try to get the computer stuff out of the way tomorrow while it is lowsy weather outside.

I am helping a friend and his partners beta test a new online service, trying to get to the gym so I won't be gigantic at my 15 year college reunion in May, and organizing stuff for our move in July...needless to say, the plate is full. I do want to get visits in (we are trying to get my mom out here before we take off), and I have friends in the area that I have to see so time management skills for me are of the essense and I think I am doing okay with them.

We did find out that our renters in WA are not going to be able to buy our house (it is out of their price range) so we will have to actually put that house on the market too...I am not going to worry about that right now though....we'll see how things play out and go from there...the renter's might be there a bit longer or something, so who knows.

Anyhow, that is a little catch up from me...hope everyone else's weekend is going well. Hope nobody is stressing about taxes...haha.

Pinging Irritation

I HATE the fact that Wordpress, Typepad and all other blog hosts out there don't ping Blogrolling automatically!!! The "recently updated" function is back online with Blogrolling but those that are hosted at the above locations always sit at the bottom of my list and I forget to check them and then I get so behind.....grrrr.

(All you all could ping using autopinger but that would require an extra step everytime you post)

Novelist Kurt Vonnegut dies at age 84 - Yahoo! News

One of J's favorite authors....so sorry to hear that he died. J doesn't really read much fiction but when he does, it is almost always a Vonnegut book.

Do You Need Any?

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but my friend Bonita that came to visit us this weekend is a Tupperware consultant. She is the best because she has a no pressure sales style which is just what I am looking forward in a consultant (not to mention that she has been my friend for over 20 years). She brought several pieces with her to my house to show me (since I had told her that I wanted to get some things). I purchased a few items from her that she had with her but I also plan to make an order online from her page (so she gets the credit) in the near future. I have a couple of friends that wanted to look at the catalog so we are going to put the order in together if we can.

Anyhow, I am so happy with Bonita as my consultant, I thought I would share her contact info on the Tupperware site in case any of you wanted to order something...

Click on this link if you would like to go to her website on Tupperware.

Tasks To Do

Well, I haven't been on my laptop in a while and that is where I keep my task list on Outlook. I went to it today and was able to check off a few things but had a to add a few things too. We are having to replace some insulation in the attic along the two skylights. I don't think insulation does well when it is in a upright position unless you are able to tack it in. I am sure J plans to do that when he gets it done. It was kind of fun to click off some of the check marks but then I had to change the date on a few other things that I was supposed to get done in March (just an arbitrary date really) that I didn't get done. Hopefully many of them will be accomplished this week and weekend although, it is raining today so all outdoor stuff is cut off.

Fortunately, the temperature is coming back up to spring weather and we'll be able to kick some of the yard things off the list. I need to get some pinestraw, and we might borrow a bigger truck to do that....would be easier than making several trips.

Anyhow, I have been on here for too long today, helping on the help boards and playing around. Have to get to some other items.

Our New Visitor

I don't know if I have mentioned this recently or not, but after the squirrel and then mouse issues (and it was only one of each that we can figure) a while back, things have been quiet in the walls.

A few weeks ago, when quietly typing on my PC in my office, I would hear some kind of "scritching" sound (and yes, I have since found out there is a definition for that term but it doesn't apply here and I started calling this noise that before I knew the definition and even now know, can't stop myself from using the term) in the eave area outside my office window.

I reported the sound to J and started to track when I heard it because sometimes it will give you a clue to what it going on. Now the thing about this sound is that, it wasn't of the same consistently or timing of the sounds the mouse or squirrel made so I was convinced it was something else. J went up into the attic a few times and we couldn't determine anything but were sure that it was definitely something in the eave.

I went with him and we even brought out the mouse traps just in case, and we talked about setting the live catch squirrel trap (it doesn't hurt them, just contains them) because we thought perhaps it was a possum that got in there while we had the eave on the end of house open a while ago for some work. We didn't end up setting the live trap, because we soon became convinced it wasn't a possum. Thing that confused us completely is the fact that our attic is pretty much sealed off these days so it would be difficult for anything of any size to get up there, not to mention the fact that in our warming days, it is blazing hot up there.

So, we set the few mouse traps and I waited. I left the attic stairs down one evening with the garage door open hoping if it was a possum, it might just go out for dinner at night and I could put the stairs back up and be done with it. J went on a business trip and when he would call, he would ask if I had checked the traps and if I was still hearing the scritching. I was logging it all at my desk in the office, and yes, I was still hearing the scritching. J came home yesterday and in the afternoon, went up into the attic to check things out. He decided to get all the way out next to the eave and move the insulation around. When he did this, an 8 inch lizard came out....and scurried away. I am thinking it is this beautiful skink that we have had living (I assumed on the outside) at our house for the last couple of years. He has a gorgeous blue tail. J couldn't confirm this but it is dark in the attic so perhaps it is him.

This explains why the traps weren't not being triggered and why I was hearing the scritching even when it was hot up there. He is probably in lizard heaven up there, and as long as he is not chewing on wires, I am not sure I care whether he is up there. I figure he is probably eating some bugs that I don't want to deal with, right? Personally I am just relieved that it isn't a rodent of some sort...

They Arrived

Our friends came last night...they look great and we are having a great time...minus a small allergy attack...will update on our visit as the weekend progresses. They love the hot tub, especially after a long day of driving.

Friends

One of my best friends from high school and his mother are coming to visit us this weekend. I am so excited to see them. They are taking a long weekend to get away and chill which sounds absolutely fabulous to me. I am excited to have visitors, we haven't had many, and it will be the last time I get to see them before we move back to Japan.

J and I stopped to see them on our way home from Florida at Christmas time and I think that was the first time I has seen them in about 10 years. We had stayed in contact with cards and emails but no face to face in forever. The cool thing about it, was that once we got caught up, it was like we had never been apart, the conversation was so easy and fun.

Needless to say (and I hope they aren't reading my blog in the next few days) I am getting things in ship shape around here. It is a good motivator for me so it is fabulous. We are going to be putting our house on the market in a few weeks so this spring cleaning I am doing is going to be filling at least two requirements. Tomorrow I am finishing up the house (in between other appts I have) and then on Friday (since they won't arrive til evening time), J and I will be able to tackle a couple of yard issues we have been waiting on.

I purchased some new things for the yard the other day at Lowe's and now it looks like we are going to get another (and hopefully our last) freeze of the year this weekend so I will have to bring some of it in...oh well, at least I didn't get it in the ground and then have it all freeze...that would have pissed me off.

I am hoping we will have some clear nights with a moon that we can check out in the telescope, a few logs on the outdoor fireplace and a nice warm hottub with some glasses of wine to go with it....sounds like a nice weekend to me. What will you all be doing?

Iran frees detained British sailors - Yahoo! News

Maybe there is hope for all of us yet...

Is The List Actually Shrinking?

Okay, I am making headway...and it feels good. While it might not look like it to the naked eye, I am slowly clicking little things off my list and that always helps me sleep better at night...and oh, can I say, how fabulous a little Clairol can be for a person's outlook? I just feel better knowing I did it and I won't have to do it again for a month or so and I don't look ten years older than I am anymore!!!!

So, if I can get the fish tank cleaned, the cat box cleaned and the sunroom vacuumed tonight before settling in to watch a movie and work on my friend's baby blanket, I will feel like a completely new person...the work in progress in my office can wait 'til tomorrow.

Please note that while I wanted to post a huge list here of all the sh1t I have been doing, I decided against it because I know how much it depresses you all....haha

This Rocks!!!

Google Translate is awesome....loving it. You should check it out sometime. What a great tool...I am sure there are others out there but this one is so easy to find and use...

http://translate.google.com/translate_t

Of course it is probably not completely perfect but something is better than nothing (unless of course it completely messes up what you want to say....)

Loving It

Wow, I am finding some awesome hacks for the blogs these days, I found one for showing recent comments (see the bottom half of my sidebar), and I found another one that I use sometimes for truncating long posts. I have a three column template on my test blog (mishkatestrun.blogspot.com) that I am trying out. It looks nice, but I am not sure if I like it or not. I found another for removing the nav bar, but sometimes not having it there is a pain in the butt since the links to get to your blog dashboard are up there...I end up having to go through my profile everytime and not all of my blogs are listed on my profile, so I don't know if I would remove the navbar forever or not. I did find but can't get to it, a navbar that comes and goes like the start bar at the bottom of a Windows page...I just can't get to the hack to try it out because the person who did the hack has made his blog private....we'll see if I can get invited or at least sent the code to try it out.

Oh and I am loving the new newsreel widget offered in the layouts if you have them...you can put in what ever terms you want displayed on yours and then when you click on the term, the news from Google news shows up with that search term. I am sure my search terms will fluctuate depending on the day but I think the widget itself is pretty cool.

HAPPY BDAY CHICKEN!!!!

Whooooooohooooo!!! You did it....I hope you have a great one. I wish I could be there to help you celebrate....:(

NPR : New Study Could Change Approach to Heart Health

Here is a quote from this article that I have heard in radio form several times this week...

"a new study found that a healthy lifestyle and drug treatment could be just as good at preventing heart attacks as angioplasty and the insertion of stents"

While this is great, meaning less people should have to go under the knife...the reason that most of them have to go under the knife is because a "healthy lifestyle" is not something they seem to be able to accomplish on their own. It is like having a study that says, exercise and eating right is as effective as gastric bypass in helping people to lose weight....yeah, we know that but sometimes the exercise and eating right is beyond the grasp of the individual's will power.

I am by no means advocating surgical fixes to things that could otherwise be fixed by living healthy lifestyle, I am just griping about the fact that we always have these studies come out (that I am sure cost tons of money) stating obvious facts that we all already know. Can't we spend that money somewhere studying something we don't know instead?

Limitations

Okay, I have started to limit myself on my tasks per day because I am so easily distracted by all the little things. So today, I have five things on my list...and only two of them are big ones so I should be able to hack them off with no problem...2 of them are just running errands kinds of things.

We had some rain yesterday so everything in the yard is looking pretty fresh and that is nice but it still needs some attention. I also have an unwelcome visitor issue....when I am in my office, I can hear scratching again...don't know if it is birds nesting in our gutter outside (which I guess is happening quite a bit right now) or if we have another little mouse...I had to set the mouse traps upstairs in the attics yesterday just to be sure.

My tulips in the back containers have finally bloomed..the green has been up for ages but our weather has been so weird that I am not sure they knew what to do. Anyhow, I have already used up my allocated computer time for this morning up helping on the help group and updating one of my blogs...time to get going. Hair color is first on the list...haha.

3 More Days

UNTIL CHICKEN IS 32!!!!!

Everyday Humdrum

Well, I went to the dealership today and spent 3 hours in their waiting room. They replaced my muffler and half the exhaust pipe and now my truck is not backfiring...whoooeeee!!! Nice thing is that it was covered under the warranty. I paid to have them replace my fuel filter (service needed) and they checked my power steering system (service not needed until 45000 miles) and it was good to go.

After leaving there, I went to Lowe's to look at paint possibilities for our front door since there is no paint here at the house that matches it. While there, I got a call from J. We decided to meet up for lunch since he forgot a few things he needs on this trip that he is on (only a few hours away) so we met in the middle and had some down home bbq'd cooking, and it was good. I didn't get the paint yet but did get some chips so I can match up the door better tomorrow when it is light. I also talked to several people about what our options were to keep the new weatherstripping we just did from sticking to the new paint we are going to apply. The answer is silicone spray...I'll let you know if it works.

I was able to catch J up on the house visit with the realtor yesterday and what things we should move around in the house to make it look nicer and seem more spacious. Figure I will be taking a lot of small things up into the attic for hiding just to declutter. We gave his old dresser to a friend of his that is going to use it for storing some stuff and I am glad it went to a good home because it was still usable but not in nice enough condition to give to Habitat or Goodwill.

One of my friends from high school might be coming to visit me in the next week or so and I am excited to see her. She is the mom of one of the four people I hung out with and she was like a second mom to all of us. I was able to see her and her son this December when we were driving through Florida but it will be nice to have her visit here too....now if I could just get some more of our family and friends out here before we take off....hint hint hint.

I stopped by another friend's place on the way home from lunch because I hadn't seen them in ages and because they are the landscaping and garden center owners we like to use. I was hoping I could get a fern and some color for my yard but alas, they are waiting until the middle of next month to do their annuals just in case we get another frost here. I might have to get a few things at Lowe's but we'll see. I am not in a hurry and it's not like I don't have five million other things on my list that I could be doing. It was great to see them and I will get back over there in the next few days because I need some bark, and some iron for my poor yellowed looking plants. I wish I was more motivated for the yard right now but I am not, even though I want it to look nice...weird huh?

Speaking of frosts, it was in the mid 80s today and tonight it will be in the mid 50s and tomorrow is supposed to stay in the mid 50s with rain...I guess we are getting some cold weather in from the north....brrrr. The pine pollen is still dropping like crazy...I took a pic of the car the other day before i rinsed it off so I will get that posted soon. If it does rain tonight and tomorrow, we will have little greenish yellow run off trails all over the place.

Now it is almost 8:30pm and I haven't eaten dinner (lunch was late and filling) and I have been playing on myspace (trying to get the statcounter to work) and on the blogger support help group...I need to get a help group for myself so that I can be more focused on my stuff...sometimes I walk from one room with the intention of doing something and while there will get distracted into another task and so on and so forth...it is terrible. I better go so I can say I actually accomplished something today.

Where Does The Time Go?

Today is almost over and I didn't get nearly as much stuff done as I would have liked....I still have some time but most of it is going to be inside stuff...haha.

I met with a friend this morning for a walk that turned into an all day thing (which was okay because we haven't seen each other in a while), and then I met with a realtor a few minutes ago so we could go over things in the house.

I tried to picture how things must look through his eyes...and it seems to me that we have too much clutter. That is okay, J put some extra plywood down in the attic so we have more room to hide some things. I can spread out some stuff too and that will make it seem less cluttered....I am such a pack rat...terrible I know.

So I am going to head off, drink some Diet Coke since I am falling asleep, work on a project for a friend while watching a movie I know J won't want to see, and then we'll see what else I can get done. I am sure that I will throw some laundry and dusting in there somewhere as well. I should get over to the gym this evening so I can get some muscles....haha.

Started Again

They started the road work on our street this morning. Perhaps this means that they will get it finished before we put the house up...wouldn't that be great?

I was able to get out in the yard and get a few things done yesterday after spending a good part of the afternoon walking in the woods looking for geocaches. The caches were actually pretty good, and the exercise was great. I had a lot of fun, except for the fact that I was out on my own and it would have been more fun with someone for company.

We have a huge red ant colony living in the new landscaping and I am dealing with it as we speak. I filled one of the feeders for the birds but moved it closer to the house so they wouldn't be picking up fallen seed near the fire ant treatments (which is right under the bird feeders). I got some stuff cleaned up and watered and hopefully, I can get some planting that needs to happen in the next week or so done.

We want to get things done so we can have some time to enjoy the area and our friends before we have to leave. I almost feel guilty when I leave a place and feel like I haven't taken advantage of all it has to offer, seen all the sites and culture available, but a person can only do so much.

Anyhow, better go, still have a lot on the list to do.

J is on a business trip and I want to make a dent in things before he gets home. It seems that while I keep knocking things off the list there are always more that pile up behind them. I am making headway and things are starting to look better. J got the entire garage done before he left and it looks so much better. Now we are just working on one room of the house at a time.

Weather Unfortunates

The skies are clear, the temperature is warm and the breeze is lovely. I can't open the windows and enjoy it all because the pine pollen has started its 5-21 day drop in this area and you don't want to have every surface in your house covered in it, believe me. Why is the nicest weather of the season always trumped by this issue.....grr

Construction Again

Not long after the second lot across the street from us was cleared and construction started, a third lot (next to it) was cleared. This was almost a year ago. Since then the second lot house has been built, sold and moved into. The third lot has just sat empty.

Of course, now that we will be putting our house on the market in month or so, they have to come out and start leveling it for a foundation....

They are also supposed to be repairing and repaving our entire street in March but they have only just started. At first we were glad to see we were on the top of the list because that meant it would be done before we put the house up...with the way they are creeping about doing it, it won't be started until the day we go on the market.

Don't Forget To Click

Hey everyone...don't forget to go to this link once a day and click on all the colored tabs to support the different organizations. All it costs you is a bit of time, but it can make a huge difference. I have installed a button to the Animal Rescue version on my sidebar but all the colored tabs need support so don't be stingy with your clicking....haha.

Forecaster sees active Atlantic hurricane season - Yahoo! News

Don't they say this every year? Isn't it a bit like crying wolf?

Moving News

Well, it looks like we are moving this summer. We have a employment and educational (not to mention, traveling) opportunity that has opened up for us back in Japan where I was going to school before. We decided to take the "twice in a lifetime" opportunity to live in another country for a while, and since we have already been there before, we have friends and experiences to return to.

We are both very excited about the move even though we haven't been here nearly long enough and of course the move is going to require a lot of work and preparation. We have already started jumping though all the loops of process required to get things rolling. Thankfully, because we have been there before, we at least are a step ahead.

We are planning on taking Chase (our cat) back with us and Japan is one of the stricker countries to bring animals into. She is turning out to be the toughest part of the preparation so far but things are moving along.

I need to start reviewing my Japanese books so I can communicate a bit when we get there.

Commercial Peeves Redux

Okay, the chick on the new Quiznos commercial that says the sandwich is full of lots of meat and that is what a real woman wants drives me nuts when she laughs....she is a freak!!!

Has anyone else noticed that Wendy's is using the Femmes Blister in the Sun in the background of their new commercials? They aren't using the words, only the music....hmmm, I wonder why?

Bottled Water

I understand the use of little bottled waters for people on the go, in the car, or at sporting events, but what I don't understand is people buying cases at a time of 8-12 oz bottles of water to drink at home....what happened to using a gallon jug and pouring it into a glass or using a filter either at the sink or in the refrigerator and pouring it into a glass....I just see our landfills (because you know most of these people are not recycling these little bottles*) filling up with empty bottles of water that could have been avoided if people weren't so stupid.

*While I am a diligent recycler, out off all my friends, I am the only one that does, so I figure the ratio has to be about the same across the world...sad to say.

Sad Birdie News

This morning I woke up to a dead Carolina Chickdee in our sun room. I couldn't figure out how it got in there but then I saw that the screen door to the sun room was open about 2 inches and the slider was open to vent the room. Apparently, J left it open the night before and this little guy must have gotten in the room, couldn't get out and Chase terrorized it until it died from shock, I am assuming since it wasn't really torn up at all.

I was so sad to see it....Chase seemed a bit proud of the whole thing, and there were little feathers in the room, so I am sure it tried for a while to get away. Poor thing.

Carvinal and Costa Rica

Did you see on the news how a tourist on a Carnival ship killed a robber in Costa Rica last week? At first the news was reporting that they were tourists from our boat (the Legend) but it turns out that they were on the Liberty but on the same cruise itinerary as we had...8 days in the Caribbean and Central America. That could have been us....huh?

I thought it was interesting how the news made a big deal out of how the guy was a retired military person with self defense training...like he was some sort of lethal weapon or something...if you ask me, the lethal weapon was the idiot holding the gun to begin with.

Something Fun

Got this one from Angsty...

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Still Waiting

After weeks and weeks of pain in the ass tactics, my mother finally received the Ipod Nano that I got her for her birthday in November. Amazon had to send it twice to get it there. A month later, the first one they sent (which we assumed had been stolen since it wasn't insured) arrived and she sent it to me to deal with (which is what I told her to do).

Starting in January, I have been emailing Amazon to get a return label sent to me so I can return this item to them (since they didn't charge me for the second one to be sent, it would be stealing to keep this one). They promptly wrote back that a return label would be in the mail.....

It is now March and I still don't have a return label. I emailed them a third time this morning to see if they can get on the ball...

Lunar Eclipse

We were able to see the lunar eclipse here on the east coast at a local park but we had some clouds between 6 and 7 (when it was in full eclipse so I didn't get any good pics of it then). After we watched it come out of the eclipse a bit, we went home so I could get our telescope out and check it out further. We have a lot of trees around our house so that is why we went to the park initially so by the time it had really cleared the trees here at the house, it was back to a full moon.

I took some pictures of the full moon with my digital camera by just holding it up to the lens on the telescope...not the best way to do it I am sure but they still came out okay... as you can see from this photo.

It always amazes me when I look at the moon through our telescope because you can really see the details (more so on an not full night) and it makes you realize just how small we all are. I need to get the telescope out more...maybe if my sis and mom are able to visit before we move. I know they would love to look through it.

It Came In The Mail Today

My diploma....I am official!!!!

Is It Possible...

That Blogrolling's "recently updated" function is working again? I don't want to get excited yet, but I have noticed over the last few days that some blogs are showing as being recently updated and it was not because of me (my pinging of all of your blogs ended after only a day or so of effort on my part).

I have been self pinging my own blogs for sometime now because I am convinced that Bloggers ability to do it has not be available. The Autopinger website does it automatically for me but I do it manually as well when I update, just for the fun of it. I usually only hit about 7 of the main ones and it only takes a second.

Anyhow, if Blogrolling is working again, I will be thrilled (although it still doesn't reflect Wordpress or Typepad blogs correctly). I won't miss updates like I have been when I am forced to go at it on my own.

Dental Work

I noticed a few weeks ago that Chase (our cat) had really bad breath. I got out our little finger toothbrush thingy so I could give her a cleaning and realized that her gums were very imflamed. It looked like it was time to have her teeth done again.

So I called my friend to get a number of a good vet and called to make an appointment. Yesterday I took her in to get the work done. I ended up also having to do blood work on her since she is getting older and we had her microchipped as well.

I picked her up late yesterday afternoon. She seems fine although her cheeks looked a bit puffy all evening. I softened up some hard cat food for her and she ate (good sign). They sent me home with some pain killers for her because it seems they had to extract a tooth (that might be the foul smell). She seems to be doing okay and other than administering her pain killers, I haven't tried to see in her mouth yet. I will give it a few days and then I might try to see which tooth they ended up taking out...

I had to explain to them before they saw her, that she was not subjected to abuse...just a really bad hair cut.

Turn Around Day

If you can believe it, I have been too sick over the last few days to even think about sitting at my computer for any length of time. Normally, a head cold (when I get them which is not often) makes me feel bad for about 3 days and then I start to feel better as it moves into my chest.

Three days ago, I thought I was going to start to feel better and each day, the turnaround day did not come. Yesterday, after another horrible night of no sleep (even on Nyquil), I decided I better see if things were going to need some help. After making some phone calls to the advice nurse and our insurance, I decided to see a doctor to make sure I was okay.

Normally I wouldn't go to a doctor for a cold...they can't do anything for you and if they do give you something, it just so that you don't feel like you wasted your time, but in reality, colds and flu just have to run their course. My problem was that this cold didn't seem to be running its course and if anything, it was getting worse, and I was feeling really drugged up. The advice nurse confirmed what I had predicted (my cold had turned ugly), and her recommendation to get to urgent care was all I needed.

I saw the doctor yesterday and it turns out that I have a sinus infection. I have never had one before, so it explains why this "cold" seemed so different. This one hurt really bad from day one and I have never had a "cold" do that to me before. This one also started in my chest, which is also not normal for me.

Regardless, I am on antibiotics and prescription strength cold medicine now and last night, I actually slept through the night without feeling completely doped up. It was fabulous. I am starting to feel better today but I am going to continue to take it easy until I kick this thing. I had to get up early this morning to take the cat in for dental work but I am planning to eat some breakfast, take some medicine and hit the couch with a box of kleenex, my afghan and a pillow. If I can get some more rest in, I am sure I will be feeling better soon.

The antibiotics seem to be giving my body the kick it needed to beat this little bug up and as soon I can hear again, I will know for sure that I am on my way to recovery....haha.

Spitting

I wish that someone had taught me to spit properly when I was a kid. If I knew how, I would be able to get rid of this terrible phlegm without having to gag myself to death over the sink. It makes me ill that J can just sniff up, do that weird back of the throat noise and then spit it out...same thing if he has to cough. I am stuck with tears running down my eyes, my tongue hanging out over the sink trying not to bring lunch up with the rest of it....grrr, sometimes I hate being a girl.

Butched Updated

I butched the lion kitty today. Since it has started to warm up, I know she will be shedding that coat like crazy so I decided to get a jump on it. I put her in the bathtub with me (no water, just a place to contain the hair) and I used scissors, laid her on her back and went to town....she is much smaller now but looks a bit butched....cat fur never looks good when it is cut and it is even worse when you use scissors. I just didn't feel like dealing with the clippers and the scissors are much faster and she is used to them. I ended up covered in hair but fortunately I was wearing clothes that were going in the wash anyhow.

She pretty much purred through the whole ordeal...she was just thrilled to have me holding her and she is comfortable on her back because I put her on her back all the time in my lap. Hope it doesn't get too cold again or she will have to huddle in that bed of hers to stay warm because that snow coat she was wearing is GONE!!!!!

Quite the List

Got this one from Chatty...not a bad list (of course, it currently reflects my specifics, please change the formatting to your own if you do it).

Look at the list of books below.
*Bold the ones you’ve read
*Italicize the ones you want to read
*Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.

If you are reading this, tag your it!

1.The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2.Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3.To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True(Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolsoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100.Ulysses (James Joyce)

Repetition

Is is strange that when I find an article of clothing that fits welll and looks good on me, I buy several identical ones in different colors? I just got 5 new shirts in that are just like these two I purchased before from Target and I love them...the colors and the feel of them. I did the initial wash and now I am wearing one of them...this one in fact....only that is not me....

Is It Here Yet?

Today, you would think that spring has sprung....but it might only be fooling us. We are expected to get into the high 60s today but then it will be back down to freezing temps tonight and tomorrow night. Tomorrow won't even break the 60s....I think we have made the turn but that doesn't mean we won't have a few days here and there that are back in the throws of winter. I guess it means I am not going to get my big snow dump that I was hoping for but who knows...we could a freak thing, huh?

Lastly, I guess it means that I will be forced to get off my butt and get this yard looking nicer...our time away from the duties is over...haha.

Geocaching Blues

I found 5 caches yesterday while I was out and about. 3 of them were in parking lots and totally sucked. One of the many reasons I won't miss geocaching in this state when we leave. I am thinking I might just archive all of mine and take them with me because these people who think that micros in the forest or in the littered backs of stores are exciting obviously can't appreciate a quality cache...grrrrr.

Sahara Run

Sahara Run

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070220/ap_on_re_af/running_the_sahara

Sounds Like...

Why is it that the music to the regular Law and Order reminds me so much of the show LA Law from when I was a kid?

How is it that with all the other things going on in our country and around the world, the fact that some stupid rich female celebrity shaved her head is reason for "Breaking News" on CNN?

How can movie trailers for new movies really feel okay about saying "the best animated movie of the year" when we are only in February? Isn't it the only animated movie from this year?

Is it any surprise that the muffler is rusted out on my new truck 900 miles after the end of the manufacturer's warranty?

Peanut Butter Fiasco

Okay, I understand that there is a "recall" on certain peanut butter because of samonella or ecoli (this has been misreported today so who knows) and if a person has access to the Internet, they can find out exactly what brand and which lot number.

Thing is that the jack@ss local news stations want to get people to watch their broadcasts as 11pm so instead of caring about the public (those that might not have cable or Internet), they tell everyone to check in at 11 for the information.

Can I just say jack@sses again!!!

Roses

I went out yesterday afternoon to look at some properties with our realtor (long story), and didn't get back until around 4:30pm....when I did, there were a dozen roses in a vase waiting for me on the doorstep.

J must have ordered them while on his trip...makes me feel good to know he was thinking of me being alone on V day. I talked to him on the phone last night and thanked him for such a nice surprise.

They smell so great and just brighten the whole place up. I can't look at them without thinking of him. FLFA

Midnight Salad

When I was a kid, I would spend the night, quite often in fact, at my cousin's house. There were lots of weekends that I spent at their house....weird because now that I think about it, he hardly ever spent the night at my house...it was always their house that we had sleep overs at.

I could go into a whole soap opera explanation of how our families were connected, both legally and not legally but I am sure you would start to think we were from some hills in the SE of the US if I did that. All you really need to know is that our parents were very good friends as well as relatives (for a time) and that meant that my cousins and I grew up around each other (we even lived with them for a while when I was in jr high).

I always enjoyed my nights at their house...even if I hadn't planned ahead to stay the night, I could fit in my cousin's clothes and my aunt always had lots of silky cool pjs for me to choose from. Sometimes my aunt and uncle would put out the hidabed couch and sleep in the living room with us kids and we would stay up late watching horror movies (what else was on late in the late 70s/early 80s, huh?).

Without fail, everyone would fall asleep except for me and my uncle (think there were night owl genes involved here because my bio father was also a night owl). Around midnight we would get the munchies and he would get up and make a salad of iceburg lettuce, chunks of ham and blue cheese dressing. I swear that was the best salad I have ever had....and that time with him sharing that simple salad will always be a memory I cherish. I wonder if he remembers it too.

On My Own

I have been getting some awesome sleep the last few nights....and I know why. J is on a short business trip and I have the bed to myself. I put both head pillows in the middle of the bed and then the two leg pillows on each side. I can roll from position to position without having to do my usual "flip" and I guess that means that I am not waking up as much. It has been so nice.

I'll be glad when he gets home cause I miss him tons but I right now I am enjoying not having to do the "flip".

Saving Water

Do automatic flushing toilets really save any water if they flush 4 or 5 times while you are still in the stall?

Is This True?

According to my January issue of Fitness magazine, nearly 25 percent of Americans say they've ironed their clothes while wearing them....

Grandma's Pillowcases

Yesterday in my quest to remove all poison ivy/oak oil from my house, I did all the bedding. We have 4 pillows on our bed...one for each head and then one for each person's legs. The leg pillows sit on top of the bed and are visible. I always put one of my grandmother's pillow cases on those pillows because they are nice to look at and since they are out in the open, I figure what better place to have them.

For as long as I can remember my grandmother has embroidered. Mostly pillowcases but table runners, baby quilts and other items have made it in the mix as well. I started my own embroidery kit so I could do it with her when I was still in elementary school and I cross stitch now (and I am sure this comes from her). I have lots of pillowcases for my home that she has embroidered for me. I joke that I have enough to change cases everyday and not repeat for a year but I don't have that many...

I was thinking yesterday, when I was changing the cases on our leg pillows, that I will be bummed when these cases wear out. I have some quilts in my closet that were made by one of my great grandmothers and I don't use them like I used to because I don't want them to wear out. My great grandmothers would think it was weird that I have these beautiful quilts that I don't use for fear of wearing them out (but when they made them, they probably didn't think they would become antiques and worth money).

I am sure my grandma would think it was strange if I didn't use her pillowcases too, but then if I ever handed them down to the next generation, they would probably end up stored like my quilts so they wouldn't get worn out...weird how the value changes. Is it more valuable as something being used or is it more valuable hanging out in pristine condition in my closet?

Anyhow I decided I would make a quilt out of the embroidered parts when and if the pillowcases wear out. I have never made a quilt before and I don't really need another project right now so hopefully they will last for quite some time.

Warning....Updated

Make sure you are changing your Blogger password regularly...seems to be a rash of h@ckers using a forced password program to hack people's account. Since Blogger doesn't have a lock out on their password system, the h@ckers can just keep trying until they get it right...I have seen at least 8 blogs today that were broken into in the last two days....and I am sure there are more.

Don't know why anyone would do this to someone else...just lame but then some people are just lame.

Update:
Seems that most of those claiming to being hacked were actually deleted by Blogger for TOS violations. At least one was really hacked and the password issue is still relevant but at least it is not a epidemic of hacking going on...

Stamping Out The Oil

Looks like J might have gotten either poison ivy or oak so I am doing a lot of laundry today because who knows what clothes he was wearing when it happened and what he might have touched in our house.

I already went through the entire house with a rag soaked with alcohol on it so I could get rid of the oils if they are any anything, like doorknobs, lightswitches, and flushers.

Ugh!!! I hate this stuff but we both get it pretty bad so the precautions are worth the effort.

Today Is The Day

Whooooeeee!!! Superbowl Sunday is here. I will get going on that soon, but I have to get some stuff done around here before heading over to our friends for the big game. I will have my socks and sweatshirt on and hopefully they will help to push the Bears to a Superbowl Victory!!!!

Reading Update

Updated Mishka's Reading with the January reads...hope you enjoy them.

Snow Updated!!!

We finally got snow this morning!!!! We only had a sprinkling earlier and then it started to really snow a bit. Now we have about 2 inches but the rain has started so I am sure it won't last long. I managed to get outside and take some photos and video before my camcorder batteries died. At least I have some footage...will probably stay in today, except for picking up my niece later this afternoon and going to the gym after lunch.

Redundant

I have become a bit addicted to the Blogger Help Forum's. I try to post helpful information when I can, but this morning has been ridiculous.

Apparently a huge amount of people are having problems. These could be a server problem at Blogger, or they could be a migration from old to new problem. Thing is, everyone is posting their error message on the forums in all the different topic areas (some of which are not for problems) and no one seems to be reading the fact that EVERYONE is having this problem (meaning it is something that Blogger is probably working on and won't be fixed until it is fixed by them). There are hundreds of posts about this same exact problem and people are all pissed because it is not fixed yet.

Seems a few people have found relief by reloading their pages, or even by upgrading to the new templates while others have mentioned that reverting back to classic templates has helped them. I know that I would be irritated if I was having a problem, and I might even go to the forums to see what was up, but if I saw that everyone was having the same problem, I would just figure that Blogger was working on it and I would just have to wait. I definitely wouldn't start modifying my template without an indication from Blogger that I should do so.

It is amazing to me that when there is a problem online, people get mad so fast when it is not completely fixed in a matter of minutes. The instantaneousness of the web has made us all a bit less patient.

Wool Coat

How exciting is my life that I am blogging about my coat???

Well, today I broke down and finally bought a "dress coat". I have a ton of coats, in fact I have a pile of them in a goodwill box on their way out the door. Coats are very hard for me to give up but reality is that when it comes to actually wearing a coat, there are only a couple that I really wear and the rest are just there for reserve.

I am trying to be better about not hoarding things and moving into a simpler life but it is hard for me....I am by nature a pack rat and keeping things for "just in case" is a motto of my life.

So, you are probably wondering, how buying a new coat is working on simplifying things...well, I haven't had a coat that I could wear with nice clothes or dresses, since I don't know...highschool, when I would wear recycled black trenchcoats? So I needed to get a nice wool coat with the idea, that this would free me up to get rid of three others that I have just had in reserve.

It seemed like I was in Burlington Coat Factory forever but I ended up with a 275 dollar Anne Klein wool/cashmere coat for about 100 bucks and I am happy with the purchase. I don't know that I will wear this coat all the time, but it will definitely fit the bill for the long term dressy needs, and now I can hand off the "wannabe" letterman's jacket, the 80's fleece, and the ugly OD green coat I used to wear in the 90's with big sweaters and leggings....(yes, I wore them too). I am sure someone else will find these coats very useful in the cold days we have left this winter, and I will feel a bit free-er.

Taxes Are Coming

Well, the season is upon us again. I have not actually started dealing with it full scale but it is on the back of my mind. I have purchased my software, mostly I am waiting for tax paperwork to come in the mail and for the motivation to the year end filing to locate all the necessary components.....haha.

I am usually a Turbotax user but in the last few years have gotten very irritated with their new methods. The basic version (which is the only version I have ever used) has progressively started to offer less and less for those that need to do more than a 1040EZ. Since we own a house that we live in and own one we rent one out in another state, our taxes can be slightly confusing (not as confusing as they would be if we had a business or something). I have recently found that Turbotax has not been helping me as much as it should and that pisses me off. I mean to offer something for a price and then to slowly reduce what you are offering but not lowering the price any is just plain deceitful.

So I looked into my options and decided to go with Taxcut this year. Their prices differences are not based on what they offer me regarding my federal taxes but based on whether you want to e-file (which I don't) or if you have state taxes to do (which I don't). I read a review/comparison on the two and Taxcut won out. I am hoping that I will get all questions asked that I need to do my taxes correctly this year and will feel justified in my decision to dump Turbotax.

Pinging Issues

Well, as you all know (at least those of you that use Blogrolling) there has been a problem lately with their "recently updated" feature not working. In reality, it works fine, the problem seems to be either that Blogger is no longer sending out pings that they can read (I think this might be a New Blogger issue), or they are being bombarded with spam pings and legit ones are being dropped. I have tested the system by pinging the manually for all of my updates (as well as blogs that I read) and those go through fine and the "recently updated" feature seems to function fine.

I started noticing that recently my RSS feeds (this turns out to be partly because the RSS address on New Blogger is different than on Old Blogger) of my blog weren't updating on My Yahoo much and I am trying to get more traffic (even put my main blog on FuelMyBlog). I listed my blog with Yahoo and Google, and have been proactive in trying to get this "recently updated" issue fixed. I have become even more convinced that there is a New Blogger pinging problem. I don't think that their pings to even Weblogs or Technorati are working either. That is why I went to Autopinger yesterday.

I signed up for a free account and put all my blogs into their automated system where I could pick and choose which services would be pinged (and they ping EVERYBODY). I also ping manually through them each time I update one of my blogs just to be as current as I can. It has become part of my blogging routine. I turn off the services that are of the lowest percentages (usually indicates a problem with their system), and a lot of the non-english services (I keep at least two of the Japanese ones but turn off most of the others).

Anyhow, I thought I would share news of this service because it seems that my pings from them are getting through to Blogrolling with no problem and my blogs are reflecting the correct "recently updated" information. I figured that some of you might want to sign your blogs up for this service so that your blogs would show as "recently updated" as well since Blogger doesn't seem to be doing it for us right now.

Note: There is another service called Pingomatic that you can use for manual pings but I like the fact that if I forget to do it manually with Autopinger, they will eventually do it for me (I think it is at least once an hour).

South Park Rules!!!!

Got this from Mindsprite...had to do one of my own. Looks like me too....although I hope I am not this stocky in real life...haha.

Finally....New Floor

It's about time I got this post up...sorry for the delay.

Here are some pics of our kitchen flooring project and the final look with the new countertops and new floor both.

This is what our kitchen basically looked like when we moved into our house. Old faux butcherblock countertops and a tan and cream plaid floor. This was a shot I took before we removed the countertops a while back, so that is why there is nothing on the counters really.

This is more of a close up of the floor (which wasn't in terrible condition but was very outdated looking). This is looking from near the kitchen sink towards our pantry. The doors are already off the pantry and everything that is normally on the floor in there is gone to another room.

We had to move the fridge, washer and dryer all into the family room, and then the stove and dishwasher into our dining room in order to do this flooring project.

This shot is during the rollout of the new floor. We had to take this 12x16 roll of linoleum and try to fit it and cut it while not tearing it...it was quite the feat and not something I would like to repeat anytime soon. Fortunately, we had done the floor in our little guest bathroom first so we kind of had an idea of how to proceed. Obviously, we didn't eat out of this kitchen for a few days, but we did have the fridge, the microwave and coffee maker plugged in, so we could do snacks and drinks.

This is just a comparison shot from the same location as the old floor shot above. This is looking towards the pantry from the kitchen sink after the floor was finished and all molding and doors had been replaced. I think the patter is much more modern looking and now all the linoleum in the house matches.


This is the finished kitchen with new floor and new countertops. All appliances and extras are back in place. It looks so much more updated and that is what we were going for. The floor only took us the New Year weekend. Hooking the fridge's icemaker back up ended up being the hardest part of the whole thing....haha.

We Are Going To The Superbowl!!!!!

Finally, my Bears pulled off the season I have been looking for. The last couple of years, they have gotten close but not quite there. Today they put the Saints away. I am so thrilled to be watching them in the Superbowl this year!!! The socks and sweatshirt I put on during the first quarter must have been just the extra kick they needed to get past the playoff hump (haha).

I hope the Superbowl ends up being an exciting game.....GOOOOOOO Bears!!!!!

The Lion Kitty

Finally, I got a couple of decent pics of the lion kitty living in my house. Her fur is so fluffy right now it is ridiculous. I hope it is keeping her warm, because as soon as it warms up a bit, it is gone (otherwise she sheds more than any cat I have ever seen). So here you go, enjoy it while you can....

New Pets

I finally got a few new fish (4 to be exact) the other day. I ended up with 3 Dalmation Lyretail Mollies and 1 black Mollie. One of the Dalmations is male and the black Mollie is male...so I have balanced out the gender issue (there are still more girls than boys but that is the way it should be). Only issue right now is that there is only one Red Wag Platy in there but I don't want to get more of them, so she will just have to suck it up unfortunately.

So anyhow, here are two pictures of the Dalmations...I couldn't get a good shot of the black one. These Lyretails don't have the really fancy dorsal fin like some of my others have had but they still look pretty nice.

Another Blogrolling Note

Seems that if you manually ping blog rolling in their ping form on their website, it will update your links in your blogroll.

I have been checking out their forums today after all my links when "new" and it seems that what has happened to cause most of their problems is spamblogs that ping as updated and have over worked the system. They are currently working on a cure, but if you want your blogs to show as updated, the work around is to do the manual ping on blogrolling's site. I tried to the ping at Technorati and Webblog but it didn't update blogrolling. I have tested pinging at blogrolling itself and it does work.

Update: I have been manually updating all the blogs in my blogroll with blogrolling....wow. I just figure that if you updated today, you deserve to be at the top...don't know if I will do it all day, but it is fun to see them move around a bit...it has been so long.

This also means that you will look updated to anyone else that has you on their blogroll...so if you think that Blogrolling is working again...it's not...it is just me!!!

My Towel Animals

I thought these were too cute and we had a new one each night in our room....I just had to photograph them before I took them apart. Now I just need to learn how to make them...it would be fun when we have guests. The ones with sunglasses are wearing my sunglasses.

No Skin

I managed to twist off the skin on my thumb today doing quarterly maintenance on the hottub.

I was trying to remove all 39 jets from the hot tub shell so I could clean and do maintenance on them as well and two of them would not come off. I even put on rubber gloves to try to get some better grip.

It didn't start to hurt until later when I was doing dishes and trying to make dinner. Somehow, no matter how I hurt myself, it ends up being the one thing I use the most...how is that possible?

It seems that each day I am being able to get a few things done off my list since school has been over, and that has been gratifying even if a bit painful...

Fish Tank

I wanted to post a picture of the fish tank with the new cabinet...here it is...and I think the fish like it. Now I just need to get some more fish...the ones in there look a bit lonely.

Sometimes I Wonder

Okay, we went to NY City this summer and I have had pictures and souveniors ready to put in an album for ages but I couldn't do it because I couldn't find the postcards I purchased to keep for the book...I figured I would find them eventually but had honestly looked every where that I thought they would be.

I had just about resolved myself to the fact that I was going to have to do the book without them, when today, while looking for a pen in the glove box of our truck, J stumbled upon them. I am such a dork....guess that means getting that travel book done is now on my list of things to do. I really need to get pictures from our trip and the holidays uploaded to York because they are having a sale on prints until the 16th and I don't want to pay more for prints than I have to...

How Do They Do It?

Until recently, I haven't had my nails painted by anyone but me (or my mom when I was little). While we were on our trip, I lost all the polish on one foot while rafting in Costa Rica...and we had a formal occasion to attend a few days later. Even though I am Ms Prepared, and did think of just about everything to bring with us on the trip, I didn't bring polish or remover, so I was left to pay for it.

Since I wasn't have a complete pedicure, just a repolish, I made sure things were cleaned up and nice before going to the appointment. Basically the entire process entailed removal of old polish, a little buffing of dry skin, base coat, two coats of polish, and top coat. I think the entire thing took only 10 minutes. The technician was very quick and did a great job, and I am amazed at how well this polish stands up.

It is like having a clear coat car finish on my toenails...is it the top coat, or the type of polish that causes it to be so tough? Whatever it is, I need to buy some of this stuff for myself. I love it.

It's Official

I got word yesterday....I am officially a graduate. I should be getting my diploma from my graduate school in a few weeks. Whew!!!!!

Observations

Started Ian's book "Hard Word of Life"...pretty interesting so far...definitely a fun read. I would provide a link but I can't seem to find one even on Lulu.com which is where it was published....perhaps "someone" could point interested parties in the right direction?

My gym is affiliated with a local medical center, so it has a lot of older members that are in physical therapy...it is strange to me to see old lady knees. I haven't seen a grandma like person in shorts in my family in ages...I have to say, it is pretty cute...especially when they wear pink socks with their little white Keds.

Since we are talking about the gym...when I am there, I usually have my shuffle with anything from Disturbed, to Favela Chic playing. Every once in a while I take my earphones off when I am in the locker room. I am always surprised to hear Glenn Miller playing softly over the main speakers...do they think people (even old people) can get their work out on to that music? I makes me want to read or contemplate but not work out...

I put out the new Diabetes travel bug in one of my caches the other day. I went with J to see if he could find it (the cache, not the travel bug)...he did, he is good that way. We ended up running along a new trail that I had only seen 1/2 of. It was a good thing, and I ran farther and longer than I have in a long time (without a soccer ball in front of me).

Speaking of J, the other day, I went with him and another friend on a hike in the national forest near here. The friend and I each had a GPS in our hands as we were also finding a couple of caches while we were out. J had a topomap of the area and a WWII compass that he had borrowed from the friend. I was amazed, let me say again, amazed at how well J can navigate in the woods. He would find a bearing on the map, put the map and compass away, and we would all start hiking to it (we weren't on a trail and had to cross creeks, and get under and through all sorts of bushes and trees). Everytime I would think we were a tiny bit off course, I would look at the bearing on my GPS and J would be right on target...how does he do that?

Put the fish tank on the new fish tank cabinet last night. Had to move a few things around in the family room. I might end up moving some more things around. The tank looks really awesome on the cabinet and the fish seem to like it as well. I'll post a pic later if I remember.

Got 4 packages yesterday from family for Christmas. J got this awesome workout toning bar that I think we can both use for exercise and golf swings...we'll see. It is definitely a nice addition to our home gym equipment. We got this fun game from his mom (that we even played last night) along with a few other things. Then we got this cool piece of art from my dad and his wife. I have a lot of my dad's artwork in my house (not that I couldn't use more...hint, hint) but I never had any of his wife's and this piece is one of hers. It is really great and I am so thrilled to have it.

Well, I need to get in gear...so I will have to do some more "observing" later...

Comment Text Editing

I am posting this link as a reference to myself because it tells me how to make my comment text grammatically correct and I had to search everywhere to find it. I figure if I make it a post, at least I will have it later if I want and can do a search on my own blog for it.

Comment Text Editing Directions...the help forum couldn't be bothered to answer my questions but in posting a third time, this link came up in their cool search window and it is set up for new Blogger (which is what I needed). Yeah!!! Now if I could only get a few other tweaks going my way...I'll be good.