Sunday, October 30, 2005

Sarah's Absolutely Awesome Post

Sarah the Penguin posted an awesome memorial post to Rosa Parks...it is so worth the read. Hope you enjoy it.

Chicago Bears Pull It Off

Whoohhoooo!!!! My favorite team wins in overtime against Detroit with a nice interception by Tillman for a touchdown!!!! Awesome, awesome. I was so glad I got to see it....since we never get the NFL games here that we want to see...what a fluke.

Chicago is leading their division...and I am saying, it is about time.

Deliverables

Well, it is Sunday morning here. Crisp and clear once again and I am delving into the second to last deliverable for my class this semester. The final is the last deliverable and there is nothing I can do about that until it is upon me, but our group project is due on the 14th of November and it pretty much has not moved forward at all.

I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to schoolwork (although you wouldn't know that from all my procrastination these days) and I like to get good grades...makes me feel good. So since I have not have contact with much of my group for this project (with the exception of one person), I had decided that I have to start working on this regardless and if I don't get help from them, then their grades will hopefully reflect that. I just can't risk my grade waiting until the last minute on something this big. It is not that it couldn't be done by one person, it totally can, it is just that we are supposed to share the work and the parts that are already supposed to be done by now are not done so those of us with the second parts can't really start to move. So needless to say, yesterday I started working on the parts that are supposed to be done by now...oh well, such is life when you are working in groups in a long distance setting (hell, for that matter working with groups at all).

It is frustrating to me though, that even with all my procrastination, I am still a multitasker. It seems that at least two members of this four member group are not multitaskers and this is part of the hold up. One lady won't do schoolwork at work, or at home after work. She will only do it on the weekend...well that is just not going to work since we only have a couple of weekends left and this project, while doable, is still time consuming and rather large...

I guess I am bitching, and I really shouldn't be since we could have been working on this ages ago but our instructor is not the best planner and it seemed that we had a paper and a midterm right on top of each other and that really slowed things down. I am just glad at this point that at least one other member is willing to do some work and we have already discussed that it might come down to the two of us...which is okay with me if we get it done and it is quality work. The others can just suck it up. Oh, I can't wait until I am done with this program and its silly group work...they never learn that it just doesn't work that well. Someone always slacks and ends up getting an A off the backs of others....ugh!!

Well, I better get motivated. Need to see if any of my queries were addressed yesterday and see what else I can get done today. Don't know if I have soccer or not yet but I know I have some mums in the backyard that need to be put in the ground. It is nice to have J back, but he is working today so I guess I am on my own for a while (which is okay when I have school work to do).

Friday, October 28, 2005

Cold Snap

Frosty TreesOkay, this is killing me...it doesn't even matter that I know it will be warmer by next week this time...it is cold now.

I have switched my jewelry to winter, my toenail polish to winter, put flannel sheets on my bed, put my feather comforter back on the bed, switched all my clothes over to winter, and even have my winter PJs in the closet...I am about two seconds from burning one of my Duralogs...I was just not prepared for it to go from comfortable warm weather to Artic in 3 days time. Nobody adjusts that fast, do they?

I am getting in the hottub to warm up...even though it is only 8pm. At least my toes will be warm.

Miers withdraws nomination - Yahoo! News

I have not been following this much, since Roberts was put in a chief justice without any experience as such, I figured we were looking at another instance of Bush just putting in whomever he wanted regardless of qualifications.

I do find it interesting that the extreme right wing (and someone please explain to me how extreme anything ends up in Congress) had such an opposition to her. Makes me think that she might have been moderate enough to balance the scales a bit. Unfortunately, the Democrats once again, did not have enough fight in them to do anything worthwhile and she is gone without even finding out.

Her major issue was that internal White House info would be disclosed and she couldn't have that....didn't the White House end up keeping internal documents about Roberts confidential???? Why is it that when the Democrats want to see documents, the White House is somehow able to keep it from happening but when the extreme right in Congress wants to see documents, the nominee pulls out because she is convinced that the documents will be turned over???? Hmmm....

I also have issues with the fact that tax returns were not required this time around. I think that it is vital that conflict of interests be rooted out and tax returns are a part of that. We have enough of our administration involved in big finance, we don't need to have lifetime positions also involved...make sense to me.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Pumpkins 3 & 4

Here are pics of the second set I have done....


Skull Pumpkin I did this one first tonight. It is on one of the larger pumpkins I bought, and it took a while to do this one because it was really thick. I had to use one of the larger saws and that made the detail work more difficult. I think it came out pretty good. It looks scary I think.



Fall Leaf Pumpkin This is the second one. It is on a pink skinned pumpkin that is a bit smaller. I really like this one, but because the skin is thinner than a regular pumpkin and the meat is softer, I am willing to bet it won't last as long...bummer because it would be cool to have it around way after Halloween. I just did cut outs of leaf sillouettes in random spots.


I was able to pick up a bunch of other pumpkins today (acorn, pancake, spaghetti, turban) and I am using them as decor for a while but plan to cook them as well so there won't be any carving going on there. This is the only time of year when you can even get some of these varieties so I have to enjoy them while I can. I love the spaghetti ones...they are delicious. I did get a couple of dried goards from the farmers market the other day and I am going to try to clean them up and do the painting thing....we'll see if I end up with time to fit it in...

My Downfall


This is the only time of year that I can get it, and I always have to get some (just like I have to get candy hearts at Valentine's, and Robin Eggs at Easter)...so while I am trying to meet some goals of fitness by Christmas...a bag of these made it into my home today and is open, sitting in a candy dish. The really bad part is that I am the only one here for a few more days....ahhhh...the temptation.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Pumpkins 1 & 2

Here are pics of the first two pumpkins I have carved this fall...

Three bats taking flight in front of a full moon

I did this one first. One of the easier ones...but I didn't have any big pumpkins so finding designs that were small enough was difficult. This is supposed to be three bats flying in front of a full moon...but I think it is kind of hard to see.

This one is called Mr Lips.

This was the second one I did today. Boy, my hand was tired after this one. I did it while I watched "The Village" on DVD (which I rather enjoyed). This one had a lot more work to it but I think it came out a lot better looking. It is not scary but still really cool looking. I can keep him up even after Halloween I think.

I have plenty more to do still. Just got two more today for cheap, cheap...its an addiction I tell you...Can't wait for J to see them.

Fun Day

Today is going to be my fun day. Besides the exercise I have to get done as soon as it gets warm enough to breath outside without freezing my lungs, the rest of the day is allocated to things I want to do and have not had time for with midterms and papers piling up...

I plan to carve a few pumpkins, make some cards, decorate my house spookily, watch a movie or two....yeah!!! A free day...and I just found out that J is going to stop by for a few minutes to pick something up and then it is back off to work for him until Halloween. It will be nice to see him for the first time in a week.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

It's Here

Well, any delusions I might have had about it being warm here are over now....we have a severe weather warning tonight and tomorrow night...here is how it reads.

232 PM EDT TUE OCT 25 2005...COLD TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT......A FROST ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED WEDNESDAY NIGHT...A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVING UP THE NEW ENGLAND COAST BROUGHT BRISK NORTHWEST WINDS TODAY.

THE BRISK NORTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY DIMINISH TO AROUND 5 TO 10 MPH OVERNIGHT... AS THE LOW PRESSURE MOVES AWAY. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR THE TEMPERATURES TO FALL INTO THE MID TO UPPER30S TONIGHT. THERE MAY BE SOME SCATTERED LIGHT FROST LATE TONIGHT BUT THE LIGHT BREEZE IS EXPECTED TO GREATLY LIMIT FROST FORMATION.

THE COLDEST NIGHT IN THIS CURRENT COLD SPELL IS EXPECTED TO BE WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE SURFACE HIGH WILL MOVE OVERHEAD ALLOWING THE WINDS TO BECOME NEARLY CALM WITH CLEAR SKIES. THE TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO FALL INTO THE MID 30s. SCATTERED FROSTAPPEARS LIKELY BY DAYBREAK THURSDAY... ESPECIALLY OUTSIDE OF URBAN AREAS.

Time to put the summer stuff away, break out the winter clothes and change my jewelry (a ritual I do at the end of summer). I already have the down comforter on the bed with the flannel sheets....sad to say. I have to bring the ferns in tonight too or they will be dead by morning...ugh, like I didn't already have enough on my "To Do" list tonight....haha.

How Does That Work

I leave the area for three days and I come back and Fall is in full swing. It is only 39 degrees outside right now....brrrr. It is supposed to continue like this for the rest of the week. I did get in the hottub last night even though the trip to and from the house was a bit chilly.

I guess I will wait on my walk this morning until things warm up just a bit. I have a bunch of things to do outside today too....hopefully that forecasted 60 is not just a fib...come on sun, warm this place up...

I'm Back

Actually I got back Sunday night but was busy with getting things done around the house and getting unpacked so I didn't get a chance to write, although I did read a bit. I managed to make it through the weekend without much computer contact (actually I worked on my friends machine all evening on Saturday because it is infected with Malware, but I didn't do email or write so it doesn't really count).

Yesterday, I was busy procrastinating (yeah I did a bit of that, but didn't feel bad about it because I did other things I wanted to do instead of the school work), doing three loads of laundry, watering plants, feeding birds, sending off postcards (like to do that after a trip), and researching and writing a 9 page paper for class. Needless to say, while I read a lot of blogs yesterday and did some emailing, I just couldn't get in the groove to write myself.

I'll recap my weekend and upload some pics in a bit, just wanted to say I was back and I am watching you!!!!

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Epiphany

This morning it dawned on me that I am not living my life to the fullest extent that I could, and haven't been for a while. I don't know why I realized this today, but I did and I am grateful. If I were to die today, I would regret the way I have been living, because it has been wasteful.

I let myself get bogged down in trivial things. I let the fear of getting hurt decide things for me, and am letting procrastination rule my world, which keeps me from doing the things that I really enjoy. I need to spend less time worrying, and more time taking care of business so I can enjoy life and those that are important to me.

I am starting today (even though I am leaving town for a few days) to make some changes. I need to make more time for myself (and this doesn't mean procrastinate even more). I keep telling those in my life that are fighting these same issues this very advice but I realize that I have not been taking it myself enough. I am going to write more, sing more, do art more, exercise more, love more, and appreciate the small beautiful things that are out there around every corner.

I know this sounds really cheesy, and I apologize to those that I might be causing to gag, but I am serious about this. Life only comes around once, and I feel like I have been letting it float by without being very involved for a while now. That is going to stop. It's all too short to do that.

Leaving On A Jet Plane...

Yep, I am out of town for the weekend and I'll be at a friend who still uses.....dial up (oh the horror). So needless to say, I won't be blogging over the weekend or even checking email for that matter...I don't know what I will do. I am sure I will have withdrawls of some sort. I am not even taking my laptop with me, so I won't even have that to comfort me....eeek!!!

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Wounds Galore


I don't know what is going on with me lately, but I seem to have a case of "accident prone" and I am not sure who I picked it up from.

Not only do I still have the bruise (although it is fading) and dent in my shin from soccer two Sundays ago, I have a new bruise on my right bicep from a collision with someone's elbow this last Sunday. I look like an abuse case.

I also managed to puncture my thumb on some kind of thorny object in my yard the other day. It didn't bleed but enough "poison" got in there that my thumb is tender. Needless to say, that little thorny thing is not in my yard anymore.....killed it yesterday with the clippers. That'll show it.

Yesterday while I was loading my truck up with the tons of fall flowers and plants I bought to replace all my dead summer stuff, I got stung by a yellow jacket on the back of my leg. I was able to treat it with ammonia (which seemed to work well) and today it just itches a bit when my shorts touch it.

Last night, while cleaning out wax from one of my many candle holders, I managed to slice my left hand a bit. It was a clean shallow cut so even though it bled a little bit, I just put a bandaid on it and it seems to be healing already....

I don't know what it is with me but if I keep going at this rate, I'll only be able to walk on one leg and use one arm to do anything with....ugh!!!

How Is That Possible?

When I woke up this morning around 7:30am, it was only 51 degrees out according to Weather.com on my computer...that was 6 degrees cooler than it was supposed to get last night.

It is now 11am and it is already 81 degrees according to the same source...30 degrees difference in 3 1/2 hours...wow!!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Not Really Evil

Thanks to P'nut for this one.


Raw evil score: 24.44%


Oh well, I tried. Guess it goes with the month...huh?

Sally Field and ER


I have been watching reruns of ER on TNT in the mornings and I have to say that Sally does an awesome job on that show. I just looked it up and she won an Emmy for her performance and it was well deserved.

Whewwwww!

Well, I finished the midterm last night with 20 minutes to spare ( I was done a bit earlier but wanted to double check my formatting and all my hyperlinks). It is not my best work but I think it is okay.

Thing is, our instructor put a limit of 2 pages on each question (there were 3 questions), but then asked pretty complicated questions. So the options were to go a bit vague and fit it in the required limit, or get specific but not get it all in....I chose to go a bit vague and I hope that works out.

Now I have a little paper due next Monday at midnight, and then a group project (which we haven't really started) due three weeks after that. The little paper is something I want to get done in the next couple of days (completely possible) because I am going to a friends house for the weekend and she only has dial up and our school atmosphere would not like that much. Oh, and I guess there is a final near the end but that is still a ways off.

So I am going to breath easy for part of today, look over the paper requirements and see if any of the gazillion sheets of research I printed yesterday can be used for this one as well, and start on it later in the day. If I can finish it before Thursday, it will mark my first time in a long time of finishing something up early rather than letting the procrastination bug get me....

Monday, October 17, 2005

Brrrrr

Not exactly ours, but close enough for govt work.
Last winter was our first winter in a long time. We had been living in a tropical location that had very mild winters. We knew that our first winter would feel very cold to us, and it did for the most part. It was the first time I had seen snow in 5 years.

We have a house that has a heat pump for heating and cooling. In the winter, I had set the old style 80's thermostat to 70 degrees during the day and 65 or so at night. I knew I was being wimpy, I could stand it colder than that but I was just not prepared to put my body through it during our first winter. Our energy bills weren't too bad and the house was comfortable for the most part.

During the summer this year, I broke down and picked up a 10 dollar digital thermometer to see what the temp in the house really was (good thing I did too because that thermometer ended up being what we used on our refrigerator issues as well). Turned out that the old 80's thermostat was not reading very accurately and we were actually running the AC more than what was necessary for the temp we were trying to achieve. The digital thermometer enabled us to set the temp where it should be so as not to kill the fish but also to not kill the checkbook.

Anyhow, it has started to get cooler here at night (still have beautiful days in the mid 70's) and last night I noticed that the digital thermometer was reading less than 70 degrees but the heat had not kicked on....that was because the 80's thermostat said that the house was 75 degrees. So in having the 80's thermostat set at 70 degrees, we were actually dealing with a house temp of 65 or so. Which also means at night last year I was setting it near to 60...so I guess I am not as wimpy as I thought. The heat just kicked on this morning and it is 66 degrees in here...

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Field From Hell

I think I just experienced the worse soccer field I have ever played on. Our "home" field is not great but so far all of our "away" games have been far worse and this one today takes the cake.

First off, it was slanted up hill towards one goal. Second, it had a dirt road running the length of it on one side (inside the sidelines). Lastly, the entire thing was sand with a few sparce patches of weeds that once wanted to be grass. It was horrible.

Usually a soccer ball will bounce pretty consistently, but not today, it was like trying to play soccer with a football. It would sometimes just bounce completely in the opposite direction, and other times it would find a particularly deep section of sand and just come to a stop.

I am expecting my calves to be sore tomorrow as I just spent 2 hours running up hill at the beach...

Backtrack

I tried to set up the backtrack feature that Blogger just added to our blogosphere but it didn't load, so they give you the HTML and you are supposed to cut and paste a bit of it into the template in a few spots.

I did that, and while I could see the backtrack option on there and it shows up in my comments section, it didn't seem to be working correctly, so I took it out.

I guess I will just wait until they get it fixed so it will automatically update my template before I try to put it in again...

It Strikes Again

I have the procrastination bug bad...I have a midterm that is due at midnight on Monday that I have only started to work on today (even though we have a week). I have a short paper due on the 23rd that I need to get out of the way before I go on a short trip next weekend and I haven't even looked at it. I am leaving at 3pm today for soccer.

This class is just not that interesting to me and I am not motivated to do school work, or read the book. I have been managing to meet all the weekly requirements (and doing okay at it) but every week, I wait until the last minute to get my stuff done. The issue is too, that I end up putting other things I need to do because I am supposed to be devoting my time to schoolwork...so in the end, nothing gets done. I am sad to say that I watched 3 different movies on TNT yesterday and while I did balance the checkbook and reconcile bank statements during that time, I did NO HOMEWORK.

I was supposed to devote Friday, Saturday, and today to this test (not that it should take that long) since the rest of the week was taken up with the hot tub issue, and J preparing for his trip. Once he was gone on Friday, I had plans to get motivated. Now it is Sunday and I am just starting on the midterm.

One thing I am hoping, is that there will be overlap between what I research for the midterm and what I end up needing for my paper as I hate printing all those resources to just have them tossed at the end of it. If I could use the stuff for more than one project, at least it would be worth it (in ink and paper).

Now there is another underlying issue that keeps me from the computer some. My desk set up is not really conducive to long term computer work. The way it is, my right arm is stretched out and suspended all the time and that causes my shoulder to ache quite a bit....of course I can't totally blame this since it doesn't keep me from blogging....now does it.

Oh well, better get to it....watch, it will only take me a couple of hours and all the procrastination will have been for nothing...

Friday, October 14, 2005

Absolutely Beautiful

Fall in the SE USToday was absolutely gorgeous. Moderate temps, clear skys, low humidity....lovely. Days like this make me really enjoy the fall season.

Wish I didn't have schoolwork to do this weekend, so I could get outside and enjoy it more...as it is, I might be dragging the laptop out to the table in back just so I can be outside while I am slaving away...haha.

Cookies

Yeah, you thought I was going to talk about the baked ones...but you were wrong. I am talking about the ones on my computer.

Every once in a while, something happens online where I need to blow my cookies away. This is fine and in fact is a pretty good thing to do for security reasons, but every time I do, I forget how many pages I have that "remember me".

All the pages that I comment on, Amazon, Geocaching, my site meter, and at least a dozen others. When the cookies are gone, I have to remember passwords, user names, and refill in all my pertinant info on people's blogs...it is amazing how lazy I have gotten.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Up and Running

Well, after a day of electrical, plumbing, and gutter issues, we have a hot tub on our back porch that is functional and in the process of heating up...that might take a while.

Seems everything works fine...just want to test it out but 76 degree water is just too chilly for me when it is only 76 degrees outside as well...so hopefully before bed, it will be warm enough to get in for a few minutes.

Yeah!!!!

__________________
Update: We got it up to temp, and hung out in it after dinner for 20 mins or so. It was great. We played with all the settings, lighting and the stereo...it is going to be really nice when the weather gets cold...

Bad Timing

I really need to use the bathroom to pee (too much Diet Coke I guess) but the electrician is here working on the wiring to the hot tub and he is under the house directly beneath both bathrooms....guess I will wait a while.

Image History

Thanks to P'nut for this one....

Go to Google and click on the Images link.
Type in the following and post the first (or your favorite) picture the search engine finds.

Where I Grew Up
Small town in the NW









Where I Live Now
Small town in the SE









My Name
Apparently lots of pets are named Mishka












My Grandma's Name
Eula is a hard name to find images for.










Favorite Food
Bahn Mi: Vietnamese Sandwich









Favorite Drink
Bert and I have the same taste in margartitas, although I like mine on the rocks.








Favorite Song
Couldn't pick one favorite but I do enjoy this one.












Favorite Smell
Once again, couldn't pick one favorite, but I do love plumeria.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Hot Tub Is Coming/Here

Basically what ours will look like.
Whoooeee!!! I got the call today that our hot tub is coming tomorrow...I am so excited. I think I am just going to let them deliver it to the driveway and then we'll figure out how to get it around the back. We can probably rent a pallet jack or something.

The guy on the phone told me that it could be 150-300 bucks to have them wheel it around and I can do it myself for much cheaper...thanks, but no thanks. We'll see when they come out tomorrow how much the driver wants but I am not paying the above for sure.

I have to go call the electrician so we can get this thing hooked up this week. I am so excited....yeah!!!! Too bad J is leaving for a business trip for 2 weeks this Friday...he won't be here to enjoy it with me until he gets back if we don't have it up and running by Thursday (and it is mostly for him and his back....poor guy).

_____________________
Update: It got here fine this afternoon, and it wasn't as much as was quoted to have them get it around the house and laid back down (it shipped on its side on a pallet). So I have a hot tub with no water in it and no electricity sitting on my back porch now....whooeee only a few more steps and I'll be able to enjoy it.

Birds

The birds at my house are up to something. They are working in conjunction with each other to complete some kind of plan...don't know what it is but they are being very sneaky...

Ouch

Played soccer on Sunday even though the other team didn't show. We just split up and scrimmaged for a while. We had a new girl out there (don't know if she is going to play always with us, or just did that day) but she is pretty good. Fast, young and strong....just what we need.

Thing is that at one point, I was in defense and she was a forward. She dribbled the ball just a hair too far in front of her and I went to get it. I got the ball away from her but in the process she was going for a big kick at the ball, and with the ball gone, our shins connected. Even with shinguards on, I have a healthy bruise and dent in my shin right above my ankle and the whole thing is pretty tender.

It is perfectly located to the spot where I usually cross my ankles when I am sitting at the computer. Ouch!!!

Monday, October 10, 2005

Comfort in a Bowl


When I was a kid, my mom would make Campbell's Cream of Potato soup on cold days. Back then, the chucks of potato were these little squares. She would put lots of black pepper in it and we would eat it with crackers and sometimes a sandwich.

I was always so proud of myself because it was something we both liked to eat, made me feel closer to her. I don't get to eat it with her much anymore (we live 3000+ miles apart right now). I still eat it when it is chilly (like today), and think of her when I do. The chunks of potato are bigger now but just as good.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It has been raining here for days now. It is the aftermath of some tropical storm from the coast, but whatever it is, it is getting old.

Usually the fall is awesome, cooler, dry weather that allows you to get out and get some things accomplished that you have been putting off during the heat and humidity of the summer...but not this week.

Yesterday didn't rain as much although it was cloudy the whole time, so I was able to do a bit in the yard and I didn't get drenched at my soccer game (other than in sweat), so I can't complain there too much.

We do need the rain, so I understand how some people are grateful for it, but the thing is that when it rains here, it pours and most of it just runs off, and creates ditches in people's yard. We don't get much of it to sink in.

Oh well, enough bitching from me this morning. I have things to do and fortunately most of them are indoors anyhow....

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Nascar Education

Not my photo but it looked just like this one.
Yesterday, while on my way to grocery shopping I noticed that there was a race car (kind of hard to miss) sitting in front of the store. It was Bobby Hamilton Jr's Tide car.

I went to check the car out, and since it was Friday, there weren't a lot of people around. There was a guy sitting there "babysitting" it to make sure people didn't climb in or on it. He as also giving away free hats and die cast cars to purchasers of Tide or Downy products.

I struck up a conversation with him, and learned a ton about racing that I would have otherwise never known as a regular fan. I talked to him for about 45 minutes and it was great. He has been working with Nascar for 28 years. The car in question was retired in March of this year and will be sold at the annual Lowe's Blowout.

He ended up moving it back to the trailer later while I was in the store. I am sorry I missed it because I would love to hear one of those things running up close like that. He said he couldn't rev it up when he drove it up because he was afraid it would break the store's front glass.

My favorite driver is Mark Martin but he is retiring this year so I will have to find someone new. I think I am going to switch over to the driver of the car that Mark owns (Matt Kenseth #17), and probably will continue to own next year.

Grossed Out

WARNING!!!! Graphic post...don't read if you are grossed out easily or are male and don't like to deal with female "stuff".




Okay, people, this is the deal. If you require removal of certain feminine hygiene products from your body while in a public restroom, and in doing so, you smack it up against the edge of the toilet bowl...please wipe the edge of the toilet bowl when you are through so that the next person doesn't know specifically what you did in there.

Not only is it gross to see but we also don't want to be exposed to your biological waste.

Thanks

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Word Verification Word

Today marks the first time the word verification on Blogger game something that resembles a word....it was WUGSY....not a word (I don't think) but closest I have come so far.

Toenail Dream

I had a weird dream about my big toenail the other night.

Thing is, sometimes when I play soccer, if my toenails are not completely short, they will ache a bit, like someone stepped on them or something. Just makes the edge of my big toe a bit tender.

Back story is that when I was a kid, one of my aunts had to have surgery on her big toe for an ingrown toenail. Ever since then, I have had this weird paranoia about getting an ingrown toenail. I have never actually had one but I am terrified for some reason that I might get one. Needless to say, this causes me to have a very fastidious toenail maintenance schedule.

I think because my toes were a bit tender from soccer, this instigated the dream sequence as follows: I was checking out my toe to figure out why it was hurting. I had the clippers and the cuticle cutter in my hand. I was pulling on the skin along the outside edge of my big toe to see if it was inflamed or if the toenail was digging in. While I was doing this, the entire outside edge of my toe came loose and kind swung open like a door. I could see down the edge of my toenail to this big piece that was just growing straight into my toe...and there was no way to dislodge it.

I woke up. Weird huh?

US Mormons prepare for worst by storing supplies - Yahoo! News

While I absolutely believe in being prepared (and anyone that knows me can verify this), I wonder what happens to the year's worth of food for each person if the catastrophe is flooding, or some other kind of home-wrecking disaster.

The article doesn't say if the food is stored in a special place or in special conditions. If it is just sitting in everyone's basement, it might not be useful if people had to evacuate or if their homes were demolished by an act of nature.

Just curious, that is all....not dogging, I promise.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Haircut

I have long (mid of my back) curly brown hair that is pretty much straight across in the back and has long layers in the front near my face.

I used to get my hair cut at one of the various cheap places like Supercuts or Fantastic Sams between visits with my mom (she cuts hair too). Thing is, the cut is not that critical as I have curly hair so most (only most) mistakes are easily covered up.

I have a really hard time paying more than about 15 bucks for a trim (which is mostly all I ever need). I tend to wait 6 months and just have my mom do it. Unfortunately, this time during my trip, I didn't get to see my mom, hence no hair cut either.

I can keep the front under control on my own, but usually it is the back that is hard. It seems now, though that I have surpassed that problem as well. My hair is long enough now, that I can actually comb it straight, pull it down where I need to cut and then bring it around to the front to cut it without messing up the line....so the other day, in desperation, I cut the back too.

I don't know if it is perfectly straight back there (thanks to the curls) but it looks a lot healthier and it is not frizzing out on me at the ends anymore (and it didn't cost me a thing).

Note to Mom: When I do see you, I would still love to have you cut my hair. A periodic straightening of my line in back will definitely be appreciated.

CNN.com - Class action sought for 'Dr. Phil' diet suit - Oct 4, 2005

While I think $120 a month for supplements is a lot, I find it hard to believe that anyone can say they thought they would lose weight just from the pills.

The diet itself fully explains that a low calorie diet and exercise is required and I can tell you, that if there were a combination of pills I could take that alone, would cause me to lose weight, I would be all over it, and so would the rest of the country. So I find it hard to believe it was ever advertised as such.

If we can start suing every diet plan in this country on the fact that we didn't lose weight, the diet industry is in for trouble. I am pretty sure they all have "no guarantee" clauses.

I can't stand it when people try to sue and claim ignorance....it just makes them look dumber.

Counters

I have two counters on this blog...one that I like the looks of but is very vague in its reports and then another that is ugly that gives me lots of details. Both are free.

For some reason the one that gives me lots of details is not working right now. It doesn't show up on any of the blogs I have it on...I can't load their site either so I am assuming that they are having technical difficulties but will be up again shortly.

At least I hope so....I really like that counter.

_________________

Looks like it is up and running again....yeah!!!

Monday, October 03, 2005

Soccer Is Back

Yesterday, I played soccer with the league I am in for the first time in several weeks. I don't have a team roster or schedule so I basically wait for the coach or assistant coach to call me when we have to play (games get cancelled for weather and other reasons frequently). I had not heard from them in a couple of weeks and I was out of town for another one, so it wasn't a big deal.

I was called on Friday to see if I wanted to play this Sunday, and even though I have not touched a soccer ball since our last game, I said okay. I knew it would be tough on my body but figured that I would just get through it and be the better for it.

Stupidly, I didn't eat properly before the game so with the mixture of nerves and 10 minutes of running around on the field, I ran out of gas rather quickly. It took everything in me to keep running until the half ended, and then I headed for my gatorage and a powerbar. Powerbars don't last long either during a game but at least it was something.

So after the half I was feeling a bit re-energized and our whole team started playing a lot better. I think the half time talk did a lot (although it was all in Spanish so I didn't know most of what was being said). We weren't attacking the ball and seemed to be shying away from the opponents but after the half, you would think an entirely different team was out there. I was really jazzed. I did take a shot in my right quad that is aching a bit today but no big green bruise so I can't complain much. Other than that, I just feel like I exercised and that is motivating me to continue.

We didn't end up winning but our improvement in the second half was enough to lift spirits and hopefully we'll play better at our next game.

Queries

It seems that a lot of my referring pages (according to my counter) are people doing google image searches for the Oregon Ducks....

Unfortunately, the keyword analysis shows that "pictures of girl changing her tampon" is the big hitter this week....nice huh? Guess all my tampon commercial peeves have paid off....haha.

Iraq's President Calls for PM to Step Down - Yahoo! News

I wish there was an easy way to fix this. Religion is just such a hard thing to argue logically about, and mixing it in with politics seems to always be a bad idea.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

NFL

I irks me that I can't see a decent game on Sunday because I am forced to watch the "local" game due to NFL television restrictions....I think it is crap that they do that, and it makes me just turn the NFL off completely.