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.

New Cabinet

J made me this cool cabinet for our fish tank to sit on since our current fish tank stand is not looking so hot and has no place to hide the stuff.



Problem is, this cabinet is so cool looking (and it matches, in style, our buffet in our dining room) that I don't want to ruin it by putting the fish tank on it. I am afraid that the little bit of water, condensation or salt that gets out of the tank will ruin the wood. I need to find something to put between the wood and the tank to try to protect it some.



Anyhow, here are three pics of it...one as it was being made and glued and two of it finished (we had even ironed on the paper to the sliding screens). Isn't it nice?

I Got Lucky

Okay, I know, enough about new blogger, but I have one more thing to say for now and then I will shut up about it. When I converted, it was pretty much painless, all three of my blogs have been upgraded to the new templates and besides a little glitch on where the email and pencil show up on this blog, I can't complain. Pictures upload faster, the layouts are easier to tweak (once you get comfortable with them), and the publishing is a million times faster. I also like the new spell checker, and the labels an awful lot. I have not been locked out, or completely deleted like some have.

I have been scoping out the scene on the Google Blogger Group. Some people have been completely hosed in their transfer. Yes, there are those like me, that are just trying to find out how to do some of the tweaking we did before and that is no big deal. Others have lost their entire blogs, are locked out of their blogs, have their blogs stuck between the new version and the old...all sorts of nightmares. It makes me glad that I have backed up my most important posts in case I were to lose everything.

The point of my post I guess is that there are those that do business via their blogs. Sounds like a good idea, until it goes down. Thing I don't understand is that they are getting irate at Blogger. As a free service they can't really get mad if it is not available or needs tweaking. I mean, I would hope that you would not have your entire business relying on a free service, right? This person in particular is mad because her RSS feeds are not working....her blog is functioning fine otherwise.

I guess I am just thankful that my blogs are working well, and that I am not watching dollars go out the window because I put my business in the hands of a free service with no guarantees.

Christmas Has Arrived

One of my MILs makes this awesome fudge every year for Christmas. It is to die for. I was excited to see the package in the mail because as soon as I saw the handwriting I knew it was in the box.

She sent ours late this year because we were out of town so it arrived today....it is so good. We will have to spread it out over time so we don't end up eating a billion calories in the next few days. I am not complaining though because it is just not Christmas until the fudge gets here.

Reading Update

Got the 3rd blog upgraded and updated today. Check out Mishka's Reading for a list of the books I read in 2006 and my rating and reviews of them.

Playing Around

Have actually had some time today to do some of the things that I have wanted to do during the semester, holidays and travel.

I have backed up most of my posts from last year (at least the ones that I want to keep). I have tweaked my blog a bit, and have added labels to my last 50 posts.

I still need to tweak my other blogs and post our travel stuff to my travelblog as well as post pics from our recent kitchen floor work.

Now I am going to get some lunch going, and maybe even watch a movie I know J won't want to see while I work on a project for a friend.

New Year Activities

We went to our friends house last night to celebrate the New Year's countdown. We watched Pay per View Pride fights until the midnight hour. It was a nice time and some great food. The only thing that wasn't great was the hour long drive home at 1am in the morning.

Needless to say, we slept in today but managed to get lots done. The kitchen in complete (I'll post pictures soon), and that was no small feat. The laundry room is up and running again, and we even got the ice maker on the refridge hooked up again.

I managed to get a B in my class so unless I have seriously miscalculated, I should be graduating soon. I will check in with the school next week and hopefully that will be confirmed.

Last but not least, I updated my blog to beta (or not beta, whichever it is now). It wasn't as bad as I thought and it publishes a lot faster but I still want to change my template but not back to the classic settings so I guess I will be stuck with this one for a while longer until some of the free templates out there start working with widgets....

Anyhow, just wanted to get this post up....Happy New Year everyone.

A Year In Review 2006

Continued this from last year....first sentence from each month's first post for all of last year.

January

I just wanted to say Happy New Year to everyone out there in blogland.

February

The new commercial running for M&Ms Amazing candy bar with Barry White singing in the background is just too much for me...now candy is having sex????

March

We spent all day yesterday replacing the main water line into our house.

April

I went golfing with J yesterday for the second Sunday in a row.

May

Well, school is behind me for the semester.

June

Does anyone else but me have routines that they do (for small things) everytime and if they have to differ from that routine, it messes them up?

July

I got home after being gone for 2 weeks and the 5 blue bird eggs that had been in the nest for a week when I left were still there.

August

Wow...the last few days have been busy and it isn't slowing down today either.

September

I don't know about you, but whenever I have tried to tile anything in the past, I have always wanted it to be straight and neat.

October

I almost forgot.

November

Well, I got my pumpkins done...at least the scary ones, and I put them out last night.

December

The hummer has driven me away...I know that is lame but it is how I feel.

Well, that is it...a whole year of posting. I just want to wish everyone a happy, healthy and safe New Year!!!!

I am converting to the new blogger tomorrow so we'll see how that goes...I am backing up posts and my template tweaks before I do it though.

Blogrolling Issues

Since is seems that blogrolling is not functioning in the way that it was before, and I can't seem to get them to fix it, I am going to reorganize the way it lists my reads....they will be size, I think.

If anyone knows of another option besides blogrolling....not bloglines, but something I can put on my blog, let me know...right now I am not happy with them because the "recently updated" feature was the best and now it seems to be gone. I don't know that it is their fault...it might be that beta doesn't ping them correctly, but if that is the case, then they need to do some adjustments to get with the new program....oh well, I'll do the size thing for now and we'll see where things go from there.

I will be changing to Beta soon and hopefully changing my template up quite a bit. Still looking for the time to fit it in...perhaps after this weekend when I am not in the middle of replacing my kitchen floor.

Flooring Time

I swear, we weren't in the house more than ten minutes from our trip and J was pulling the quarter round molding off our floors in the kitchen, laundry and pantry in preparation for replacement.

We rented the roller (since this is such a big piece compared to the bathroom we did) today but have it through the holidays. I'll take pics...I know it will look awesome when it is done but the task is going to be quite the undertaking to get right.

There is no break in the linoleum between the kitchen and pantry or between the kitchen and laundry...there is only a small second piece between the dining room and pantry, so that means we are going to be trying to lay, cut, adhere and straighten a piece of linoleum that is 12 ft by 16 ft....should be a lot of fun.

Saddam Is Dead

Weird to think that it actually happened. I hope that Iraq can start to move forward now that this chapter of dictatorship has been closed.

At Home

Well, we made it home last night. Got most of the unpacking done and the laundry started. J even got a soak in the hottub in before we crashed to sleep.

I found two geocaches on the way home and managed to log all the ones from the entire trip, even picked up a coin and a travelbug along the way.

We had Christmas morning this morning and J got me this awesome 5 in 1 printer...I have needed a new printer for a while (although mine works fine, it is just 10 years old and a bit outdated). I can't decide if I should purge the scanner and printer I have now and just keep the new guy, or keep them as back up....I am a pack rat by heart so I am sure it will be a tough decision. I haven't set it up yet because I am still trying to catch up from other things I have to get done today (like checking our mail at the post office)...

I better run, just wanted to let everyone know we were home and doing fine. Will blog more later about the trip and all the observations I have made lately....I am sure you can't wait...haha.

Alive and Well

We are back on solid ground and thoroughly enjoyed our trip. We are currently at a friend's house outside of Orlando visiting but will be heading home this morning. It will be nice to get home.

I managed to get a decent grade in my class, and with any luck, I will get notice that I am a graduate (can't wait). I did get all my Christmas cards done and sent out before we left for the trip as well as many of the other things done that were on my plate and that was a nice feeling.

I plan to blog about our trip but not right now. We are getting things together this morning to get on the road again. Fortunately, we don't have too much of a drive. We took a ton of pictures and I'll probably get those loaded up on my travel blog in the next day or so.

I have a few things on my task list when I return home but I am looking forward to getting some things done that have been moved to the back burner for a while. It will be nice.

Anyhow, just wanted to get a short post up...blogrollings updates don't seem to be functioning. I hope to get caught up with the rest of the blogging world soon.

Finished

As of midnight EST tonight, I am done with my master's degree (assuming I did well enough in the class to get credit for it) in Computer Systems Management. I will take the spring off to get some stuff done but I will be entering the work force again some day soon....oh what a thought.

Anyhow, I just thought I would share my joy with being finished with my last class and having it all behind me.

Traveling

Well, we were in Savannah, Georgia last night at our friend's house. It was a lot fun. We went to dinner and out on the river front in the evening. It is a beautiful town and hopefully we can go there again and spend more time. We got to see an awesome rock/blues band at one of the bars in the district downtown and the guitar playing was pretty cool. My dad would have loved it.

Tonight we are in Fort Lauderdale, Florida....long drive today. We are enjoying our trip so far. I'll blog more on this later, when we are home and I have time to do it.

Just so you know, if I am not on the blog scene for the next week or so, it is just because my Internet connection is going to be quite limited.

To Do List

Well here it is...what I have done and what I need to do still at least before we take off this week...

1. Clean fish tank, set fish up.
2. Clean cat box, set cat up.
3. Vacuum house.
4. Treat hot tub and strap down top.
5. Finish case study for class.
6. Finish brainstorming project for class.
7. Respond to other classmates on my conference for class.
8. Make 8 Christmas cards.
9. Pay bills.
10. Pack.
11. Get cash for trip from bank.
12. Take key to friend to house sit with.
13. Set up timers.
14. Make birthday cards.
15. Renew passport.
16. Try on clothes, and return those that I don't need.
17. Deliver friend's birthday gift.
18. Print geocaches for countries
19. Charge cameras.
20. Drop off items at Goodwill.
21. Email trip info to family.
22. Water plants.
23. Make 13 more Christmas cards.
24. Laundry
25. Print maps and directions to locations.
26. Organize, organize, organize.

That is all I can think of right now....gosh it is only a week long trip but you would think I was leaving for months...haha. I have lists started all over my house to try to my brain free to function normally. I better run, have to finish up my brainstorming project so that all I have left in my graduate degree is responding to those that might answer questions on my conference at the last minute (the final questions/answers have to be posted by the 17th).

Note: J did participate in these tasks with me....I didn't do them all by myself.

Due to Popular Demand

Here are two pics I took outside a few minutes ago of our Christmas lights...they are not great, but you can see that it is pitch black and our lights are the only thing out there....haha.

This is the entire front of the house from the street. I had to use the unipod to try to steady the camera enough to get this in the dark and it is still a bit blurry. The thing on the right is the holly bush we lit, then there is the entire gutter along the front, then the porch rail near the porch light and then you can barely see the Christmas tree in the dining room.

This is the Christmas tree from outside the house looking in.

We don't have any moving animals or icicles on our house but some of the ones in another neighborhood have. We'll put the lights on timers when we leave so they will still light up. The ones on the porch are the new LED lights. They are supposed to last longer, burn brighter, and use less energy. I can tell you that they burn lots brighter. They aren't cheaper and with the 96 ft we had to do across the front, I couldn't afford to get them for the gutter.

Christmas At My House

Well, I have had the decorations up for a while but was busy with school, so haven't had a chance to post them. It was very simple this year, I am not into a lot of glitter and foof anyhow so it makes for things to be very easy. Here you go!!!

This is our little Christmas tree on the buffet in our dining room. I only picked a few of our ornaments to hang on it this year since we decided to not do a full size tree. The lights are very cute on it when it gets to be dark but you can't really see them here.

This is the fireplace in the familyroom with a fire burning it it. We have three stockings out and strangely enough, those two long ones belong to J and I from when we were kids (we didn't know each other then). Isn't that weird that they are so similar? The little candle holders on the mantel next to the kokeshi doll have snowflakes on them.

This is a little wooden tree with individual ornaments that I put together every year. It sits on the TV in the family room. I think I bought it at the Monkey store (only some of you will know what that is).

This is our little key table near the front door where I put a basket of pinecones and a candle out. As you can see, it gets piled with keys and iPods as well.

I wish I could take a picture of the house from outside when the lights are on but I don't think it would turn out. We did lights along the gutter in front, down the railing of the porch and then on one bush in the yard. It looks really nice and we are about the only ones on the block with lights on this year.

I have candles all over the house and of course my little Santa cup that I have been putting milk for Santa in since I was tiny...it is too bad we won't be here to feed him this year. Perhaps he will hit our house a day or two late.

Enough Already

Okay, my blogroll is not updating so I have no idea who has updated and who hasn't....I guess I'll try to get some time later on to catch up with everyone.

I am working on one of two deliverables for class that are due this weekend before we leave on our holiday trip....I don't know why this is the hardest part.....grrr.

My manta of "last class, last class" is ringing loudly in my ears today....it is the only thing that is keeping me going.

Wish me luck, everything but the gym is on the back burner otherwise, and I still have tons of other things to do.....ugh!!!!

Countertops

I have owed this post for a while...the whole ordeal was really not that bad, and it wasn't really that much money either. It worked out for us financially to let someone else do the tear out and install but we did all the plumbing, sink setting, faucet replacing, caulking and touch up painting.

This is the before picture of our butcher block looking vinyl tops (and the old linoleum that is next to go, after the holidays).

This is the work in progress. The countertops have been removed. The hole in the sheetrock in the back left corner is visible and the stove is pulled out. I vacuumed up 30 years of old construction debris from all the hidey holes.

This is the final (on the countertops at least). The sink and plumbing is back in, the caulking is done, the painting is finished and all the stuff has been returned to its spot.

Now imagine the room with the new floors...hopefully we'll get those done when we get past the holidays.

Snowflakes

I made some snowflakes!!!! Which remindes me that I need to do some for my front window...maybe I will do that tonight. I cut them out of origami paper and tape them to the windows of our house during the winter.

Anyhow, here are the ones I made online...






You can make one too at this site if you want.

It's Finally Here

I just got the notice that I need to switch to Beta but I am not going to do it until after the holidays because I know as soon as I start messing with it, I will spend hours playing with it and I just don't have that kind of time right now.

After the holidays, I will have more time than I know what to do with...we'll see if I get anything accomplished...haha.

Getting There

Well, amazingly enough, with all the plates I have juggling in the air, I managed to get all my Christmas shopping done a couple of days ago. Yesterday, I got everything wrapped, and today I got it all boxed up to be shipped. We don't have a lot family in the area, so minus a couple gifts for close friends/family and their kids, everything we buy is shipped to the midwest or northwest.

I have finished all the cards that I am not making but I still need to make some and get them sent. I might get to some of that tomorrow, assuming I get some schoolwork done somewhere.

I had J bring down the two Christmas totes we keep in the attic so I could decorate, and I actually accomplished that yesterday as well, minus the lights outside (which I need to get new lights for). We decided against getting a big tree this year since we will be gone part of the time, but I did decorate our little Oki tree and put it up on our buffet in our dining room. It looks lovely, and once we get the lights outside done, it will be complete.

We are supposed to attend a tree trimming party this weekend and it will be great to see some friends and celebrate before our trip. We'll be home in time for New Year's Eve and I am hearing that there might even be a party to go to...that will be nice for sure.

So, now, I need to get cracking on some schoolwork before my groupmates think I have completely dropped the ball on them. Also today is Thursday, which is the day every week I pick my neice up from school so we can spend some time together. Tomorrow, I am helping a friend out with some Christmas stuff that her husband can't attend and it should be a lot of fun...it seems like the more I have on the schedule, the better I am at getting things done...procrastination just gets put on hold...weird but that is how it works sometimes.

IMPORTANT!!! Unger Report on the ATS

You have to go to this website and hear the Unger Report on NPR about the ATS. It is the database rating system for travelers that was reported about in my post earlier this week. I am so happy to hear that NPR picked up on it and I hope someone makes a huge deal out of this thing....I thought Unger did a great job on this one. His satire is hilarious.

It is also offered as a podcast if you want to download it to Itunes but I figured I could do the link here to the page and you could listen to it in Realplayer or WMP if you wanted...

The link is in the title to this post or here. Let me know what you think....

I Love It

Weird Al's "White and Nerdy" is the number one video on VH1 this morning.....that just rocks!!!!

THIS IS IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ U.S. rates travelers for terror risk - Yahoo! News

This is a load of crap. It is a complete invasion of privacy with no way to fight it and unconstitutional as far as I am concerned. This is not what America is about, and our congresspeople need to do something about this soon. I can't believe that this has been allowed to happen and that no one has created any kind of stink about it? What is this country coming to?

I am so irritated and sad right now, I can't even write....

More Books

I updated Mishka's Reading with the November reads...hope you enjoy it.

Can't Do It

The hummer has driven me away...I know that is lame but it is how I feel.

I just can't go there anymore. It was nice while it lasted but it is just not fun anymore...

This is touching on a new thing that has been surfacing in my life recently, and just now, it was an easy break to make. I don't think the rest of them will be, but it might be something that will have to be done.

School Blues

Well, the countertops are in, and looking nice. J got the sink hooked up last night while I was running errands but we need to do some touch up painting and another round of caulking before we are through, so most of the kitchen counter stuff is still in the dining room.

Today, I am back to the grindstone to finish up this paper. We are also supposed to turn in our class evaluations soon and I think this prof is going to get dinged a bit by me. He has not be a contributor to our classroom learning at all, his grading is pretty inconsistent and it takes him too long to reply to questions posed to him on emails and in the classroom. I just got a grade for my last homework session which I turned in 4 days late...it was the highest grade I have received yet. I don't get it.

My experience in this entire program as been that as the semester continues, the grades get better. I think the profs get overwhelmed and have to get the grades out faster so they end up not being as thorough or something. Oh, well, last class, last class, last class....that is what I keep telling myself. In fact by the time we leave for our holiday trip, I will be done....I can not wait.

I just got graduation stuff in the mail yesterday. They sent out the usual stuff for us to order, like class rings (that they want just too much money for), announcements, and other items. I was thinking about getting some announcements just to let family know but since they will make reference to the graduation ceremony in May (which I won't be attending), I felt like they would just end up looking like a ploy for gifts. I figure something else out to do an announcement...maybe in my family newsletter (which is way overdue). Anyhow, getting that stuff in the mail made me realize that I am so close...last class, last class, last class.

Well I better go while my mantra is still drumming through my head and try to get this paper finished up.

Countertops Again

Well, the tear out is over...I need to take a picture for my project documentary but right now I have to run to Lowe's and Hellmart before they come back with the new countertops.

It turns out that the idiots that put in the last countertops (or perhaps it was the very first people that put in countertops in this house) cut them wrong and ended up punching out the drywall on one end of the kitchen to make them fit....idiots.

Anyhow, I am half tempted to put a note back there that it wasn't us that did this so that when someone replaces the countertops some day in the future, they don't think we were the idiots...how funny would that be to find?

Needless to say, as soon as they left to go back to the shop to cut the new countertops, I broke out the vacuum and cleaned up all the construction debris from 30 years ago that was still behind the cabinets....I don't understand how they can just put stuff together and not clean up first. Both sides of the cabinets have these open spots in the far corners and there was just piles of sawdust and drywall crumbs in there. Oh, and the idiots that cut the drywall to fit the countertop they messed up in just left the pieces of drywall in the wall in pieces...so of course you know that is gone now too because I just couldn't let it stay there.

Oh well, it is clean now and I better run before they come back to put the new stuff in. So much for schoolwork today, huh?

Countertops

We are getting new countertops...nothing fancy since we know we are moving but we wanted to update the kitchen and the butcher block looking formica had to go. We ordered the tops (a stone looking formica) a few weeks ago and they are coming tomorrow to take out the old and put in the new. It was so cheap to have them do the install (small local company, Lowe's wanted an arm and a leg) that we decided to let them deal with the headache.

So we had to take some stuff out of the sink cabinet so we could unhook all the plumbing. We purchased a new sink, much like the one we have now and a new faucet, much like the one we have now to replace the old ones. They will take out the old countertops in the morning and will dispose of them and the sink, and will come back in the afternoon with the new countertops and our new sink and install them. We have to do the plumbing but that is no biggie.

So you know what I was doing tonight? You can guess, right? I was sweeping behind and underneath both the refridgerator and the stove (which they will have to move tomorrow) because I didn't want anyone to see the dust bunnies under there. I was even wiping down the old counters where the microwave sits and J said "you don't have to do that", and I said "yes I do...".

I wonder how many others clean all the stuff before they show up...and how many they have to deal with that are just disgusting...

Busy

Today was a beautiful day. J and I were able to spend some time outdoors and stopped at one point to note how lucky we were and thankful that our biggest worry was if a goose would poop on us. It was in the mid 70's (supposed to remain that way the entire week...so you know that doing schoolwork is going to kill me), the sun was out, and the sky was clear. We could see and hear birds and squirrels rustling around in the leaves looking for food. I can't believe that we are a week from December and enjoying this weather. It won't last so I am going to absorb it all while I can before real winter actually shows it head around here.

The gym tonight was busier than I have ever seen it...I guess everyone was working off all that food and guilt...haha.

I did some walking before I got there (have a new geocache that I am putting out this week) and then did some more cardio at the gym before weight lifting. The way our gym is set up, many of the cardio machines overlook the gymnasium so you can watch people play basketball or volleyball. Tonight it was basketball and I kept finding myself absorbed in their games, so much so that I would laugh or shout out when they would shoot or miss....luckily for me, everyone around me had headphones on.

I hate to admit it but tonight's music selection was C+C Music Factory (first 4 songs are all the same beat and great for the elliptical machine) and Green Day (great for weight lifting and cardio), that is until my shuffle ran out of juice halfway through my last set of cable cross overs...it is charging on the computer right now.

My newest cache (as soon as it is published) is a puzzle multicache. I hope that the local cachers enjoy it...it really isn't that hard of a puzzle but I'll give a hint if it looks like it is not working out for people. The hike to it is shorter than most of my caches...but I didn't have a choice, I wanted to introduce a new trail I found and it is only so long...

Tomorrow is going to be a school day for sure. I have a paper (the same one) due on Sunday and I want to get the final draft done and out of the way, so I can concentrate on the group project. I have to get all my school work done and finished by the 15th of December because J and I are leaving town that day for the holiday. We'll be back before New Year's Eve, but my class is over officially on the 17th of December, so we just have to push the work forward a few days.

I have a lot of things on my plate right now, I feel like if I can get some of the schoolwork out of the way, I can enjoy the seasonal things I want to do, like decorate our house and get my cards and gift purchasing done. With the 15th as a deadline...I am feeling the crunch.

Just So You Know

Flannel pjs and flannel sheets do not mix well, unless you enjoy being cocooned in the middle of the night.

It is worth it to buy decent toilet paper....the cheap sh1t doesn't tear right and it is frustrating.

Cell Phone Recycling

Yesterday was my birthday....and J got me a pay as you go cell phone. If you read my blog at all, you probably know I am not a big cell phone person. Never had one before yesterday and really don't like how the industry is handled in the US so much so, that I vowed if I ever got one for emergencies, it would be a pay as you go phone.

The thing that I found very interesting about my phone was this little bag that was included in the box to recycle cell phones with. The one I had is part of a program Motorola has. There is a link to their site on the title or here. Anyhow, I like anything that has to do with recycling and I thought it was awesome that they included a postage paid bag that you could use to recycle up to three phones in and it didn't matter if they had batteries or what brand they were...how cool is that?

Anyhow, I guess from the website above, you can get postage for free to recycle your old phones too, in case you don't already have one of these handy bags. I recommend doing so, since I read in an article not too long ago that people are filling up landfills with these little non-biodegradable castoffs and it seems to me that recycling them makes so much more sense.

Happy Thanksgiving

To those that celebrate this American holiday...I just want to wish the best and hope it finds you with lots to be thankful for, good health and friends and family to celebrate with.

Have a great one!!!

Back To The Grindstone

Well the nice little 3 day break I had is over....I am back to the schoolwork. I have one more comment at a minimum to make on our brainstorming conference. I need to final draft my paper and start research for our group case study analysis assignment.

With all of this, you would think I would be busy researching or something, but instead, I am sitting on the family room floor with the wind and rain pounding away outside, updating my address books and working on my Christmas card list for this year.

All I can say, is at least I am getting something done and not just wasting the day completely, but I am going to be hurting to get at the school work in the next few days so my group mates don't kill me and I don't end up stressing too much.

At this point, my electronic, hardcopy and email address books are all up to date and I have figured out how many cards I have to make before too long.

Books

One of the things that sucks about being a fast reader...I wait at least a year if not more for my favorite authors to write books and then I end up reading them in about 4 days....wish I were able to spread out the fun a bit longer than that. I just get sucked in and can't stop....terrible.

PlayStation Mayhem - Forbes.com

Someone explain this to me....I don't get the sleeping in line thing and I definitely don't get the robbing and violence. It is a f*cking game, people. In two weeks, no one is going to care that you got one of the first ones. Anyone that would risk going to jail to steal one or kill someone is just an idiot and really needs to be taken out of the gene pool.

Too Much

Okay- I just caught myself trying to scrub off an intentional imperfection (part of the design) on our linoleum floor...I need a break apparently. I had to look under the bath mat at the repeat to make sure it was intentional!!!!

Power Outage

We had some wind and rain last night...all the gunk coming up from the Gulf states and the power was out when I woke up this morning.

Wasn't bad, except I couldn't make any coffee, but otherwise, I just read my book and ate cereal. It is funny how you forget about it and try to turn lights on automatically or realize that you won't be able to put your contacts in, in the bathroom because it is too dark in there.

Fortunately, we have lots of windows and skylights in this house and it made most normal functioning, okay. Power is back on now (obviously) and I need to get to work. Guess I can make some lunch now.

She's Off

Well, after a day of troubles with the airlines, Chicken is off on her way home. It worked out for me that she was able to stay longer...that was my plan all along...haha.

Anyhow, we had a great visit. Everytime I see her, I wish I lived near her again (maybe someday soon, who knows). We used to live within an hour and a half and it was so nice to just be able to do weekends with each other (and our hubbys) when we wanted. Now I am lucky if I get to see her twice a year.

We did some geocaching, some exercising, tried to eat right most of the time, soaked in the hottub some, and even drove down and sat on the beach for a bit. We spent a lot of time in the car (long trip to the beach, and two trips to the airport) but it was still time we had to talk and visit so it was okay. We had fun even in the midst of her airline fiasco...got a movie and some good food in while we were waiting. The only thing we didn't get done that we were supposed to get done was a little fire in the new pit we have but our timing and weather didn't allow for it (we'll do it soon, Haha, promise).

Anyhow, it looks like we got her off today without any problems, and I hope her connection is smooth as well as the pick up of her suitcase (which somehow got there without her). I know she had a good time and we did as well so I guess the trip was a success. I can't wait to see her and B again...maybe in the spring if I end up going out that way. We'll see I guess.

Love you sis, I had a blast, and was so sad to see you go. I hope you and B can get out here before next fall so we can show you all some other cool stuff.

She's Coming

In a few hours, I get to head to the airport to pick up my little sis, who is actually taller than me (and has been since she was 15 or so). We only have a weekend, but we are going to make the best of it. She has never been out this far East (well, actually she has been to Japan when I lived there, but she went west to get there...haha), so we are going to hit the beach tomorrow so she can check out the Atlantic coast a bit.

I didn't fly out this fall to the West coast like I usually do so this trip of hers is making up for the time we would have if I had come that way. I am glad she decided to come because I don't think I could have gone a year without seeing her...that would be too long for sure. Even when I was in Japan, we never went a year without seeing each other. I flew to the West coast every 6 months to deal with our house and visit family and she came out to visit me twice.

Anyhow, it should be a fun weekend. Hopefully neither of us will be thinking about schoolwork we have looming over our heads and we'll just be able to enjoy the time off and together. Hasta luego folks...I have sh1t to do before she gets here!!!

Morning Shots

I finally figured out (with the help of a small freeware program) how to take stills from the Africam at Nhorko Pan.

Here are my bird shots from this morning. Haven't a clue what kind of bird but it was cool looking and super loud.




I just need to figure out how to make the resolution better so it is not so grainy...

Irked

I had a sucky game at soccer today...I play soccer for two reasons, exercise and fun. Today was not fun, but fortunately I played the entire thing so at least I got the exercise part in, huh?

First off, the team we were playing were a bunch of freaking babies...you couldn't touch them without them falling on the ground crying, grabbing some body part. It was pathetic. I figure if you can't handle playing a contact sport, then you need to get off the field.

So in the first half, there was some miscommunication between one of our defenders and our keeper and we basically gave the other team a goal...they didn't even have to work for it. I know the girls involved felt horrible but a goal is a goal.

In the second half, we were playing "hurry up offense" and the other team seemed to use all their "injuries" as away to waste time off the clock so we couldn't get a score in. I mean seriously, near the end of the second half they had 5 injuries in a 7 minutes span....it was ridiculous and completely frustrating for me.

I didn't shake hands with the other team because I felt like they played underhandenly and their spectators were nothing but a bunch of @ssholes. Forget that they are all supposed to be adults and act more mature than they did. I wonder if they would ever even think about how embarrassing they were being to themselves. I didn't say anything to them because it would have just given them fuel for the fire.

I left the field completely pissed off and irritated. I didn't even stay long enough to take off my gear, I just changed my cleats for tennies and headed out. I drove the long way so I could cool off before getting home. It sucked but at least I got some calories burned.

Iraqi tribunal sentences Saddam to hang - Yahoo! News

Finally...some closure. I can't say I will be sad to see this person gone from the Earth. Although he looks like a sad old man on the TV, I know what kind of terror he dealt to those who opposed him in his country for so long, and that given the chance, he would be right back at it.

Just wish we could have gotten rid of him last decade when we were there the first time under more legitimate pretenses, and saved all of us a lot of blood, horror, and misery.

Strange But Comforting

The other afternoon, J and I were sitting on the family floor taking a little midafternoon nap. The way naps work for me ( a lot of the time), is that I feel very tired, so I lay down and doze off. If I am woken up after about 15 minutes, I can't go back to sleep but still feel very rested. J, on the other hand, can keep sleeping if he wants, the small "wake up" doesn't affect him like it does me. If I sleep longer than the 15 minutes, I often waken feeling a bit groggy and tired.

Anyhow on this particular day, for some reason, we had fallen to sleep with our heads together. I don't remember falling completely asleep (I felt aware of my surroundings but I was also dreaming). In the dream, I was talking with him and I made some kind of joke. In real life, J laughed, which woke me up completely (it was about 15 minutes anyway). I don't know if it was just a coincidence or if having our heads that close together allowed us to share a dream, but it was kind of weird.

Then the following morning, I decided I was going to make a bigger breakfast for the two of us (usually we eat cereal or toast). My standard weekend breakfast is fried potatoes with onions, bellpepper and eggs, that we usually eat in flour tortillas with salsa and sour cream. I came to making these breakfasts because when we first got married (15 years ago), I found out that J didn't like eggs scrambled with nothing in them. I started making them with lots of stuff in them and wrapping them in tortillas so we could eat them on the go. Sometimes I worry that I make it too often and we don't have enough variation on breakfast.

Anyhow, that morning, I had mentioned to him that I was going to make breakfast so he wouldn't eat any cereal by mistake. I went about making our bed, and doing my usual morning routine (which, when I am alone, means I don't usually eat, right off). I had decided without telling J that I was going to make pancakes and fried eggs instead of the usual. By the time I got into the kitchen, J was already preparing breakfast and he was making pancake and eggs....isn't that weird? I told him that I had thought I would make that, and we both chuckled.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that we are so perfectly tuned that we can sense each other's feelings and thoughts (as nice as that might be sometimes)...if it was a regular occurence, I definitely wouldn't be commenting on it here. The fact that we had two weird little things in two days is what made me notice. I guess we were just synchronized that weekend for some reason.

Pumpkins Lit

Here are my lit pumpkins (that I did for Halloween). I couldn't get Blogger to publish them on the other post so I thought I would put them here for looks....haha.


My spider pumpkin


J's skull pumpkin

The pic of mine came out sharper but the pumpkins were fading fast, so I had to go with what I had. Since then, we have had two frosts and those two pumpkins are getting a bit old looking. They need to be yardwasted at this point. My other pumpkins (that aren't carved) are doing okay, and I hope I can get them carved up before Tday for some fall decoration.

Africam.com

Haha, and Chicken got me addicted to this site. The main page has several links to various webcams but this button is to the Nkorho Pan webcam which is near a natural watering hole in Africa. You can check out some great wildlife images and the sounds alone are worth the visit.

I made a button for two of my blogs using their logo on their main page (I emailed them first to make sure it was okay). If you want the html code to add the button to your blog, let me know.

Halloween Fun

Well, I got my pumpkins done...at least the scary ones, and I put them out last night. I haven't gotten pictures of them lit up...will try to do that tonight but here is a pic of them on our hearth before I set them outside. J did the skull and I did the spider. I thought they came out pretty well.

We ended up at the last minute heading over to a friend's house for the night. She has a son who is 4 and another one of our friends with 3 kids was coming over too so we decided to make a night of it. My friend L dressed up at Aurora, the princess from Sleeping Beauty because that is what her son decided she should be (he is on a dragon kick right now). He was dressed up as dinosaur from the jurassic period called an Allosaur. His outfit was very cute. Her husband was a sorceror of some sort.

I wore my lion costume (one of the few ones I have that I can keep warm in) and my friend JB was in a witch costume. Her oldest daughter was a witch too, the middle one was Aurora and the youngest (7 weeks old) was in a little ghost and goblin outfit. I have covered up the faces to protect the innocent and since I was the one taking pics, I am not in any of them....haha.

We had some pizza and opened the door to lots of trick or treaters and then did some trick or treating ourselves. One of the last houses we went to was very spooky, they did a terrific job of decorating it up. The porch was all dark and there was a sign with black light reading "Take Only One". We bent down to get the little ones some candy and this guy jumped out of the dark and scared the crud out of the kids...I saw him coming so I didn't scream like I would have had I not known. The kids (both 3 and 4) almost ran and then started to cry a bit. We left that house and the rest of the night, they talked about how they didn't want to go to any more spooky houses....

Well, that is it folks, I better run, still have to get black nail polish off my nails. Today is the last nice day for us for a while so I have to get in the yard and make some headway.

(Blogger is being lame and not letting me get the other two photos on here...I will try again later)