the RATS of moose

2011-08-30T09:46:00.000-05:00

I am (or by the time you read this ‘was’) ridin’ down that highway while Chuck drives… connected to the internet. I am continually amazed by technology. I know the kiddies have been doing this for years, but for me, it’s still a novelty. We are on the way to Mpls to drop off #1 daughters stuph. The truck is loaded… well, mostly loaded. There are still considerable air holes in the way back. Jayne and I could pack another hundred pounds in here. Or pretty close to it… Went out and got me a hitch thingie for the receiver and have the bike rack mounted and her bike with us.

Speaking of which…. I haven’t ridden my bike all summer. My butt is constantly whining about the positions in which I sit and the bike seat is particularly onerous. I barely go 5 miles and all I can think of is ‘HOW MUCH LONGER???’ So the talk of recumbents has been going around for the last year or so… we finally took me out to a bike shop last Saturday and I rode 3… 2 two-wheelers and a trike. One bike with crank down (pedals below hip level) and one with crank up (pedals at or above hip/seat level.) Much fun!! One long wheel base – virtually no learning curve, just like riding a regular bike. The crank up version is a bit more difficult.. but it had a short wheel base and I did okay… didn’t dump myself onto the ground! YIPPEE for me… I’ll take the little victories. And then I rode the trike.

I.Rode.The.Trike. And not just any trike. An ICE trike. High end. Folding, Spiffy. Really spiffy. And fun… really really fun. I may turn into a trike girl. Did you know they come with parking brakes? PARKING BRAKES!!! for heavens sake… Just like a kickstand but SOOOOO much better… I think I have been spoiled by riding this one first. oops…. just like a really good pair of shoes…

Anyway, where was I? Hiking finished a week ago today… seems longer than that. Amazing what normal daily stuff will do to you. Sucks your brain out. Daughter #1 left last Friday for the UofM. She is part of Welcome Week for the freshman this year. Scary. Planning on telling them how not to get caught doing all those things it says not to do in the instructions. Had planned on cleaning (and cleaning and cleaning) the house on Saturday, but Chuck had mapped out a somewhat questionable bike route and was going to go drive it and that’s how the house ended up still dirty and I fell in love with a trike. I haven’t had a trike since the red one I got when I was little little. My x-seam is 44. What’s yours?

We did okay hiking on Sunday… drove out to IL canyon and walked the 3 out there… hopped in the car and found ‘facilities’ if ya know what I mean, hiked some more until Kat’s blood sugar dropped, drove back, ate lunch and walked some more…. My feet finally gave out and I nixed a walk down to the ranger station. Lover’s Leap was enough.

AACCHH….. I am getting to hate cars and trucks. We are 3 hours into this trip and my butt has given out.

I just saw an indoor ferris wheel….

The More of Later...

2011-08-20T09:09:00.002-05:00

Umbrellas have been fetched. Rain is falling. Thunder is booming. Lightning is lightning. Sidebar: Why is lightning one of the hardest words to spell? I struggle with it every time I write it. Time to watch the flotsom and jetsom of visitors here in the front lobby. Am thinking I should move to the Great Room.. higher volume... and no doubt a Bride-zilla somewhere. hee hee hee They are fun to watch. no visitors as exciting so far as the Dru look-alike. Just the usual kids, grandparents and harried parents. I am sitting next to the birdcage in the lobby and there was a middle-school age girl talking to the birds. Very cute. The birds have been chittering all morning.

Since the rain is upon us... am thinking a field trip to Farm and Fleet is in order... if and when the rest of the gang gets out of bed. I just peeked into K&K's room and all was dead on the western front... unusual. Both of them are early risers. Am wondering how Kat is doing under the constant stress of Sean. Yesterday she said she so wanted to be here because it was somewhere with no confrontations. And life with Sean is a constant confrontation. I cannot imagine how hard it is to live with a special needs child. I am glad I don't have to face that. I am glad she can be here with us. Kay is living with the daily upheaval of corporate restructuring. Her position is going away but really don't know when and really don't have a good description of what she is going to do next. She hates to live with uncertainty. She dreads the thought of 2 hours of communting a day. We think she needs to apply for the financial director position at Lincoln Park Zoo. It would be just the change she needs.

I got a hit from a head hunter the other day. Am thinking I can send in my resume and see what shakes out. Barb encouraged me to apply. Always good to keep up with the interview skills. She is correct.

Think I will go wander the internet.... or maybe a trail... the rain looks to be dying off.

The Loss of Short Term.... ummm ... The loss of memory....

2011-08-20T08:28:00.002-05:00

Since no one reads this, I feel relatively safe in commenting here. My favorite phrase of late.. who am I kidding... of the last few years is, "I don't remember." I don't remember fun/wild things I have done with my best friend. I didn't remember where I went on my first cruise with my beloved. I definitely don't remember my high school years the way other people remember them. I don't seem to remember anything.

I have been thinking that I should have kept a journal all these years. A diary. I had one on and off in high school and college. Had one on and off throughout the decades (GADS.... decades. I have been alive for decades. I have been alive longer than I probably have to live!! EGADS!!!! where did that word come from anyway? Egads. Will need to go look that up so I can not remember it at some point in the future.) Am thinking now that I should have been a little more disciplined about keeping a journal. Oprah does/has. I think I bought into the whole notion of 'nothing written down is nothing that can be used against you'. Bad advice. I miss all the missing years.

This is my start of keeping one again. I think. Haven't quite decided between this and the book on the shelf at home. This would be easier... I can access it from almost anywhere... but the book offers more privacy. Maybe I will just use my website instead... put up a page with some impossible password, or a hidden page or just carry around a word document on a flash drive. I need to write. I need a place to put it all down so I can reference it in my old age. (Wait, am I there already?) I hate the memory loss. It makes me feel stoopid.

So, where am I today? At Starving Rock... aka Starved Rock State Park Lodge. With my besties! Jayne, Kay and Kat. We are here to get away from everyone else. All responsibility. All errands, jobs, parents, kids, spousal equivalents, pets, annoyances, etc. Just us, some wine and some trails. And food. Lots and lots of food.

We got here yesterday. Kay and I caught up with each other in Morris and had lunch (ate too much... little diner with homemade bread toasted just right for the sandwich and red-all-the-way-thru strawberry salad. ate too much) Dropped the sewing machine off for repair. Silly thing won't tension correctly. I gave up and gave it to Leo. He can do anything.

Kay and I proceeded on to the Lodge. Unpacked. Thought seriously about taking a nap. Didn't. About that time Jayne called to announce her arrival. She was lost in the trees and her Tom-Tom (gps) had given up. We got her here. Started to unload the car and Kat pulled up. What GREAT timing. We flopped in the room for a while (reminds me... where does the phrase 'flop sweat' come from??), chatted, surfed the web and then headed out for dinner at the fish place. No, can't remember the name. It's the fish place. Captain's Cove, I believe. Down the road on the north side of the river, east of Utica, down in the same direction of where we last picked up Chuck when he rode out here 2 years ago.

Sidebar: Weird.. there is a guy across the lobby from me who looks just like Dru Peterson. Bet he gets that all the time... Spooky.... even tho I know Dru is in jail at this very moment, this guy is a dead ringer.

Chuck was well on his way to making it to the lodge before dark when the path posted a sign that said 'path out ahead'. Being Chuck, he didn't believe it and kept going. Until the path disappeared. By then it was almost dark and he was covered in clay and mud and called for a pickup. I think there is still clay in Kays van. Chuck is sure there is still clay/mud in his wheels. It was a fun pick-up.

Today we are supposed to hike... but the radar isn't looking pormising. Giant cloud with red spots in it. I think we are going to get pounded really soon.

I should go get an umbrella. More later

Things that make you go hmmm.....

2009-09-10T21:22:00.001-05:00

Republicans....

Strong belief in God

Pro Death Penalty

Pro war

Anti-abortion

Let illegal immigrants bleed to death on floor of ER instead of offering emergency life-saving care

In other words..... you can't kill someone who doesn't have a life yet, but you can kill someone who DOES have a life even though most if not all religions advocate turning the other cheek and being a good samaritan.

Hmmmmm.... how does one explain that to oneself?

To mourn or not to mourn...

2009-06-26T19:13:00.002-05:00

Nope... Michael Jackson should have been in jail.

I totally agree with a statement a friend of mine made...
" he had allowed himself... "
MJ made the choices that got him where he ended up. No pity here. I mean, come on.... MJ had his peeps going around the world SOLICITING 'Lifetime achievement awards' for the boss-man.... there is something REALLY WRONG with that outlook.

Good riddance to bad rubbish, as grandma would say....

I am thinking that I would like to be hired by some rich rich person (need not be a celebrity, but it would help) as the voice of reason, and that I had written into my contract that my decision on any given matter would supersede that of both the rich person AND the handlers/enablers AND that the rich person would be forced to thank me afterward for making the right decision AND that I would get paid exorbitant amounts of money for the honor of telling the rich person to shove it.

Just goes to show you that the right amount of narcotics will stop anyone's breathing (just like the 24 year old from Wilco that OD'd on Fentanyl patches... duh... )

...sigh... It's good to dream.

I can't wait till it's over

(okay, okay..... my opinion didn't stop me from watching the drooling, panting mobs on teevee last night... or from cackling gleefully while watching the news helicopters chase the sherrif's helicopter to the morgue... that was FUNNY!!!! ONly in LA!!!! But at least I watched most of it with the sound turned off and closed caption off)

Is today over yet?

2009-06-20T13:53:00.009-05:00

Welcome to the support day from hell. It's my first week on call for my new job. AARRGGHH!! And, I am supporting a computer application that is getting new users added every week. And the computer application generates their paycheck. And it is the last day of the payperiod. Oh, well. I signed up for this.

On a lighter (or different) note, Chuck and I decided to move in together when our leases were up this spring. What a fiasco that has turned into! More later.....

Gimme My $$ Back!!!

2009-06-17T19:38:00.002-05:00

Why are we wasting Congressional time investigating steroid use by baseball players? Who cares? Professional athletes are entertainers, nothing more. And if Congress wants to investigate entertainer’s use of steroids, I think we should look at ALL the entertainers out there. I don’t see any Congressional committee investigating NASCAR drivers, they are entertainers. What about pro wrestlers? I don’t see my local Senator breathing down their necks. (And they even call themselves entertainers!) What about basketball players? Soccer players? Ballerinas? What about the acrobats in Cirque du Soleil? Surely THEY are entertainers! Why not investigate them?

Professional athletes are entertainers. They don’t set national policy. They don’t police my streets. They don’t put out fires or provide medical care. They don’t teach children reading and writing. They put on a show, that’s it. They are adults and if they want to inject themselves with banned substances, so what? How are they different from heroin users? Or alcoholics? Or people who smoke? All of that is bad, but Congress isn’t investigating those people.

Quit wasting my hard-earned tax dollars on pointless steroid investigations. What are you going to do, send users to jail? HAHA! Spend my tax dollars on something substantial. I know, how about health care reform?

A lesson to be learned

2009-04-19T18:27:00.002-05:00

Susan Boyle is the greatest find on "Britain's Got Talent" since Paul Potts.

And she looks just about as good.

By the time I saw her video, the cat (pardon the pun) was out of the bag and I was expecting good things.

I doubt I would have been that charitable had I seen the show live.

My bad.

Our bad.

Will we ever quit this behavior?

I wonder how many people look at me and think unkind thoughts?

How many people do I look at and think unkind thoughts about?

Can we quit this behavior?

Is it even worth trying?

Observations in the bath...

2009-04-14T19:09:00.002-05:00

Have you ever wondered about where all those name tags on lanyards have been?

The ones, especially on women, that hang just below the bust?

The ones that swoop right into your undies when you bend over to sit on the toilet?

I feel the earth move.... wait, it's just my STUPH moving...

2009-04-12T16:36:00.002-05:00

Will someone please explain to me why I have Oprah magazines from March 2006 sitting in my apartment? And April 2006 and May 2006 and and and.... 3 years of Cooking Light and Rachel Ray? I am nuts. I have too much junk. And it is now going to haunt me. Again.

I am moving.

Again.

But different this time...

by July 1, Chuck and I will be co-habitating. We've been talking about this for the last 18 months and now that our leases are up, we have decided it is time.

Or maybe it was more... (me) Hi, my lease is up. I am moving out. Are you coming with me? (him) Ummm.... well.....

I really hope I am learning to compromise and that it didn't go that way. I think some days he feels like I run roughshod all over him. It's never my intention, but seems to frequently be the outcome. [sigh]

Anyway, we will be leaving the apartment where we have lived the last 2.5 (me)-3 (him) years and will be living under the same roof..... which technically we have been doing for the last 2.5 years, but not within the same 4 walls. It will be a change... I hope we survive. ;-)

So for the next couple months I need to be cleaning... and cleaning and cleaning and throwing out and throwing out and throwing out.... today I started with the old magazines and about 50 or so old floppy disks (which, of course, had to be looked at one more time to make sure I wasn't throwing out the ONE AND ONLY COPY of something important). I am not sure how I wound up doing that as I was originally headed down the hall to work on my t-shirt quilt. [shrug] I am easily distracted.

(why, oh why, do I have 3 year old magazines?)(I suppose it's not as bad as the 20-year-old National Geographics my parents had)

Chuck brought up the other day that we will be needing to trim our belongings. He asked about my microwave (thanks, Mom! the Amana Radar Range still works like a champ!) and how we probably didn't need 2. Which immediately put me into a mild panic.... WHO'S STUFF DO YOU DUMP? How many TV's do you really need? How many wooden spoons? How many potholders? Pots? Pans? Bath towels??? AAAGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good Will is going to get quite a haul this July.

We went out to look at a couple townhouses yesterday. What fun! I love looking at new places. Sometimes I think I could do it endlessly. And as much as I am going to whine from now until August, I like moving to a new place... the surprise you get when opening unmarked boxes... the angst over the broken _____. Getting used to the smell of the new place... wondering what cupboard/cabinet/closet you put something in... I really love moving. At least I should, I have done it enough. 15 places of my own, one shared house with my sister, and 3 stints at Mom & Dad's house... storage units in Miami, Phoenix, Colona, Jayne's basement (sometimes all at the same time) and my current storage unit which will be going away by June 30!!! Hopefully for the last time.

Chuck has mentioned several times that perhaps, it is time for me to thin out the pile of 'stuph'.

I am having problems with that.

I am a packrat.

I was raised that way.

There was no minimalist zen in my childhood. More was fine. More was normal.

On the other hand, do I really need a 1980-something copy of Parade magazine featuring Richard Speck and his murder spree?

I have visions of my side of the garage being filled with boxes upon boxes of stuph that Chuck won't let in the house until I go thru it (again).

Some years ago, my mother, sister and I agreed that we had reached a point in our lives where it was 'okay' to let go of things that other family members had made or given to us. I would venture to guess that I am still having problems with that. I have known for years that i needed to go thru the boxes. But out of sight is out of mind.... at the rate of $170 a month for storage. Okay, so maybe I'm not entirely rational about this. Is my stuff really worth $5270? I think so. It's my "STUPH!!!" On the other hand.... I may have too much stuph.

There was a house for rent just around the corner from us with about 3000 square feet of space... plus a basement. I was really interested in seeing it although I was a little scared that it would be a little too much space and that I would irrevokably expand into the space (kind of like Veruca Salt, the blueberry in Willy Wonka) and not be able to move ever again. Fortunately (unfortunately??), it was rented the night before I called. (We have decided to rent for the next couple years-long story, involves 3 kids, a divorce and college next year).

Here are the links to the places we saw yesterday.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2112-N-Juniper-Lane-Unit-2112_Arlington-Heights_IL_60004_1105783518

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/151-Schiller-Square-Unit-151_Itasca_IL_60143_1107381749

es we sa We liked the Juniper place. you can see a gazillion photos of it on my Flickr page.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94935649@N00/
The realtor we are using is the one who sold my townhouse 3 years ago. She laughed and laughed at all the pics Chuck and I took. The best part about this place is its location. It is right across the street from where we live now. Would make moving easy!

The Schiller place had some issues (not the least of which was it's proximity to the train tracks)... cracks in the ceiling AND wall drywall, leaks in the plumbing in the utility room, a clothes dryer that runs on 120 volts instead of 220 (been there, done that, no repeats wanted), a dungeon for small children in the basement.... we decided to pass on this one.

But... we have just started this process. It's a long time until June 30.

Way up north....

2009-03-10T21:42:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJUFTm6cJXM

The reason Chuck won't move to Minnesota with me.

Rats.

Hovercraft

2009-03-06T21:34:00.002-06:00

What is it with the hovercraft thing in the womens restroom?

Why is it that when nature calls and I hustle my flow into the stall

I frequently find puddles of pee all over the seat?

Why do women think that applying buttocks to seat will cause them to catch some dread disease?

Don't they know that the odds of catching goobers from the toilet seat are just about nill

Yet the desk they are sitting at...

The research indicated your desk can hold up to 10,000,000 germs or 20,961 germs per square inch. Compared to the toilet seat at only 49 germs per square inch, a work station is nearly 400 times more contaminated than a bathroom.

Now, sit your ass down on that toilet seat and don't be leaving me the wet spot..

Last weeks thoughts

2009-03-05T20:05:00.002-06:00

A few days ago I was thinking the following...

I can tell I am getting old. I want it to get warm outside.

Now.

Don't get me wrong. I love Love LOVE snow. I eagerly await it's arrival every year. I revel in the first and second and third and fourth ... and 44th snowfall. I send ALL CAPS WITH EXCLAMATION POINTS texts to my beloved to announce the snowfalls. And mostly, I am sorry when the rain falls and the snow melts.

But this year, I am ready for warm. The heat is free in my apartment building and I have had the thermostat at 74 some days. And I've still been cold.

And I am sitting here at my desk at work with a long sleeved shirt, sweater and fleece jacket on ... and my little black glove on my right hand because it is freezing too.

Time to go to Menard's and buy some hand warmers...
.........................................................................................

Which I did... toe warmers too.... just in case.

And today, it was warm. 63 degrees or so.... but with that yucky March wind blowing everything off the road. But it was warm.

And then I decided....

I missed the snow.

Did you know there was a Michelle Obama fashion blog?

2009-03-04T21:00:00.004-06:00

Them is wonderful looking arms!! Quit all the ruckus about bare arms! My arms should look so good! (I'm working on it...)

I do not understand the uproar about Michelle's bare arms. They look great. Fashion rules from 1960 are no longer in effect. And everyone who smiting the First Lady for baring arms should remember the bit about throwing stones and glass houses.

And for all we know, Michelle may be starting menopause and be having 'her own private summer' all the time. That would make me go sleeveless! Oh. Wait. That HAS made me go sleeveless. Sometimes, topless. Or bottomless. Or both!

The fashion-bare-istas need to snap their jaws shut and go back to hibernating.

Food

2009-02-28T17:27:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure what happened... last week it was bread... this week it was biscotti... dark chocolate biscotti with almonds... who knew it was so easy?

All Obama, All the time....

2009-01-26T20:55:00.001-06:00

There is no place better than C-Span for uninterrupted coverage of a live political event... WITHOUT SUPERFLUOUS COMMENTATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a joy.... I watched all 8 hours.....

All Obama, all the time

2009-01-18T13:53:00.001-06:00

As I sit here on my couch, watching the non-stop inauguration coverage, I am awed (maybe for the first time) about how the transition of power occurs in this country. For 232 years, we have been able to hand it over to the next person in line, no muss, no fuss, no coups, no takeovers, just 'here ya go, have at it'.

Bush seems ready to leave. I'm sure it's been a long 8 years.

Obama is eager to start. And I am more impressed with him every day. I like his ability to listen... to everyone, not just those in the 'inner circle'. I like the dinner he attended at George Will's house last week. I like that he can listen to views different than his and come back with the reasons why he needs to do something another way. One of the talking heads described Obama as an 'empirical man', someone driven by data, not 'gut feelings'. I think we have had enough guts for now. I like his family life. I admire his relationship with Michelle. I love watching them together, the way they talk without words, the way they unconsciously broadcast their love for each other in everything they say and do. I wish everyone could have a relationship like that. I wish everyone could raise kids as seemingly well adjusted as they did. We would CERTAINLY be better off.

I like how energized America is right now. Everyone's emotions are running at fever pitch and I almost wish I could be in DC on Tuesday... except that I am old and the cold weather would make me want to pee every 5 minutes and there are already reports of there not being enough porta-potties (did you notice that ALL the porta-potties are blue?) and even if there are enough, you won't be able to get to them because there is going to be an influx of 80 gazillion people into DC for the party and you won't be able to move. Of course, of there are 80 gazillion people, you will be so tightly packed in that you will stay warm. And since I don't have a VIP ticket to anything, the views would be horrible and I would end up watching the whole thing on a jumbo-tron, so why not stay at home and watch on TV. Which I can't do because I will be at work... but maybe I will sneak a TV in go watch. I have already set the TIVO to record CSPAN and PBS all day so I will have plenty to watch when I get home. I may have to skip exercising and going out for the ritual Tuesday night pizza so I can get it all in. (Sorry Chuck) I am totally caught up in the wall-to-wall Inauguration coverage on TV. All I do is channel flip all day long... all Obama, all the time.... maybe I can call in sick the nest two days.... hee hee hee.

And although I consider myself totally uninvolved in politics, I feel excited this time. I have totally swallowed the Obama Kool-aid. He is MY AGE!!! For the first time in my life, the White House will be inhabited by someone to whom I can relate. Maybe that is the difference. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE that Michelle wears FLAT AND SHOES WITH LITTLE KITTEN HEELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY, a First Lady that wears sensible, yet fashionable, shoes. I am so lucky to have such a role model.

By the way.... how, exactly, does the "football" make the transition? At 10 or so in the morning, Bush and Obama will be together at the White House, then BO will leave for the parade and swearing in and Bush will get on a helicopter. WHERE WILL THE FOOTBALL BE? I mean, it will take some time for BO to get from the White House to the swearing-in ceremony... WHERE WILL THE FOOTBALL BE?? Do they have 2 footballs? Just in case? Inquiring minds and all that....

I am full of hope and optimism. I believe a better day is in store for us. It won't occur overnight, but Obama will build it and we will come.

Sometimes, things just turn out right...

2009-01-10T18:36:00.000-06:00

5 Somali pirates drown with ransom money

Plunking

2009-01-10T10:41:00.002-06:00

I am such a slug... I so admire people that blog on a regular basis... my mother wonders why I don't write for a living... this is why... it requires dedication. I am dedicated to sloth. I love plunking my butt down on the couch and not moving for hours (during which time I could be writing but would rather be reading). Or plunking my butt down in the sewing room and not moving for hours. Or plunking my butt down in front of the computer and not moving for hours. I like admiring other peoples work, not producing my own.

{sigh}

So it's off my butt I go now... because no one who's work I admire is going to come over here and do my laundry....

Long time, no ramble...

2009-01-04T07:28:00.004-06:00

Okay... I got the munching on pineapple thing going for me.... bought one yesterday at the Marion Market down here in Florida... man, is that pineapple good... it makes you wonder why you eat the canned stuff...

Little sister says if she wins the lottery she will take me back to St. Johns for 2 weeks... I like that..

Long time, no type. Hmm... this seemed like such a good idea at the time... May of 2005.. three and a half years ago. I really admire people who do this regularly. Takes long term dedication (which I lack). I do better with short time lines and deadlines.. I love deadlines... you should have seen me crank out a quilt with the deadline of Christmas. That I didn't start until the first weekend in December. It turned out pretty okay.. well, except for the little mishap with the backing. I should post pictures. Except that I can't from here in sunny Florida cuz they are all at home in cold snowy Illinois. ooohh... wait, my sister has one.. let me see here...
This is bestest boyfriend with his quilt. He seems to like it. A lot. I am happy. I work well with deadlines. hee hee hee.. Although we didn't see much of each other during December because I was always sewing sewing sewing. Oh, well. This month will be better.

We spent a lovely quiet New Years together gathering up all my albums and old 45's. He is going to copy them to CD for me...SWEET!!! What a great Christmas gift... We have had fun listening to some of the junk my sister and I collected back in the 70's and 80's. Anyone remember Ronco records? Got one of them. How about K-Tell? Got a couple of them! How about Shawn Cassidy? Yep, got 2 of the same kind by him. It's an interesting collection.

Bestest boyfriend offered to copy 45 albums.

I showed up with 200.

oops...

he's doing them anyway.

While I am in Florida.

Have I ever mentioned what a great guy he is? Well, he IS!

Wow... it's almost 9 am and the rest of the house is still sleeping. I want breakfast. We decided to go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast this morning. I can hear hashbrown casserole calling my name. LOUDLY. It may be time to start rattling around to wake them up. hmmm... we were all up late reading....

anyone know where I can get computer keyboard key stickers? Mom types so much she has worn the letters off the keys, and she has a split (wave) keyboard which I can't type well on, and I am mistyping almost every word ... I have to look. Except everything is blank. Maybe I will just let the typos flow. Wheich woiuld make for some ingeresting reading. I think. Or not. Okay, I do fine with smallworkds. Or not. Maybe I will just continue to backspace.,

Food. I need food. That's why I can't type. I haven't eaten in almost 12 hours. My brain is starving. Although, given what I ahve stuffed into my mouth since I got here, I shouldn't eat for another month. It has been nothing short of a food fest... the trip to the market yesterday netted a pineapple (almost gone), strawberries (half gone), cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, oranges, grapefruit. We are fruiting ourselves to death. But it sure tastes great! Not so bad a diet, say you? Well, then there is the (never-ending supply of) chocolate, Jelly Bellies, cinnamon twisty snacky thingies, more chocolate, coconut shrimp, ice cream, angel food cake (with strawberries and whipped cream and ice cream) and subs from the Firehouse Sub Shop, and and and... you get the idea. I may want to purchase another ticket for the airplane ride home just so I fit in the seat... sheesh... Hopefully, my Wii Fit will get my butt in gear when I get home.

Or not....

Getting old sucks...

2008-11-16T18:50:00.004-06:00

WHAT IN HELL IS THAT GIANT HAIR DOING ON MY LIP?

AND HOW IS IT THAT I DIDN'T NOTICE IT ALL WEEK?

Crap.... getting old sucks....

Sunday Rituals

2008-11-16T18:20:00.002-06:00

Is there anything better on a Sunday than noshing on a plate of hot-off-the-griddle pancakes, lightly soaked in syrup, immersed in the Sunday paper while the snow falls outside the window?

I thought not.....

Well, except for munching on fresh pineapple in the open air restaurant at the Westin Resort on St John in January...

I'll shut up now.

Question of the day...

2008-09-12T20:34:00.001-05:00

How much ink is wasted by people doodling during meetings? I filled a page and a half this morning during a 30 minute status meeting.

Favorate TV commerical of the week

2008-09-11T21:00:00.001-05:00

Verizon wireless... the Dead Zone.. a take off on the two little dead girls from "The Shining"

Mom said, it never pays to lie...

2008-09-09T17:42:00.002-05:00

Sarah, Sarah, Sarah...

Didn't your momma tell you never to lie?

You said you sold the guv's jet on e-bay. It didn't sell there. It was sold thru a conventional airplane sales company. And your running mate John should listen to his momma too... he said you sold it for a profit... you didn't. It sold for a loss.

You said you opposed the 'Bridge to Nowhere'. I just listened to a clip of your 2006 guv campaign. You clearly stated you supported it. And only after Congress pulled the plug did you say that the project was dead.

You said you got rid of the guv mansion chef. Nice.. but I notice that the chef is back on the state payroll.. cooking for the legislature now. Don't you have restaurants in Juneau?

Liar Liar pants on fire...

A constitutional refresher...

2008-09-08T20:44:00.002-05:00

From theocracywatch.com -

The Godless Constitution

The word "God" does not appear within the text of the Constitution of the United States. After spending three-and-a-half months debating and negotiating about what should go into the document that would govern the land, the framers drafted a constitution that is secular. The U.S. Constitution is often confused with the Declaration of Independence, and it's important to understand the difference.

The Declaration of Independence is seen as that document that established the new nation of the United States. It was written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776. It was signed by the Continental Congress and sent to King George III of England. It is a very eloquent document that is celebrated every July 4, but it is not the law of the land. It is a statement of sentiments directed to King George III in reaction to unfair taxation. The U.S. Constitution was ratified on March 4, 1789 -- thirteen years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The Declaration of Independence refers to "the Creator:"

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The Declaration of Independence is not a legal document; it is not the U.S. Constitution. Foes of the principle of separation of church and state often refer to the word "Creator" in the Declaration of Independence as proof that the framers of the U.S. Constitution intended for the United States to be ruled by a soveriegn being. Nothing could be further from the truth. The United States Constitution was written and ratified by elected officials representing a coalition of Enlightenment rationalists and evangelical Christians who were deeply concerned about entanglements between religion and government.

Vote Republican if...

2008-09-08T19:24:00.003-05:00

...someone else's religion forced down your throat carefully put forth as conservative laws.

you want all rights striped from people who are not heterosexual.

you want to affiliate with a party that was brought back to life by embracing 'traditional southern values' i.e. white.

you want Roe v. Wade overturned.

you support a party that doesn't want the minimum wage to go up because it cuts into profits.

you don't believe in science.

you think it's okay to stay in Iraq for 100 years.

you think it's okay to mix church and state.

you want only conservative judges on the supreme court.

you want social security privatized.

you don't think global warming is a problem.

you think it's okay for people go bankrupt because they can't pay medical bills because the government doesn't believe in national health care.

you think Freddie Mac and Fannie May don't need regulation or oversight.

you think it's okay for a woman to get raped, get pregnant and be forced to carry the child to birth.

John McCain says he wants change. This from a man who has voted with the president 90% of the time. This from the self-described maverick. Just how maverick is it to go with the flow?

Sarah Palin believes in abstinence only. Those teachings worked really well for her daughter. Sarah believes in no rights to abortion ever. Period. Not for rape. Not for incest. Wonder how she would feel if her daughter wound up like that. Sarah goes to a church that espouses 'praying away the gay.'' She is totally against gay marriage and spousal rights for same sex partners.

If you want to live in a theocracy...

move to Iran.

Self Destruction...

2008-09-07T16:39:00.002-05:00

I have got to quit this.. I am scaring myself.... Yesterday, I went to the Farmer's Market and loaded up on corn and blueberries and tomatoes and radishes and celery and and and....

However... while I was doing all this picking up at the various stands.. I managed to set down the bag (the reusable ones you buy at the market) with the blueberries and, you guessed it, I left it sitting on the ground.

I finally remembered this last night just as I was falling asleep and it has been bugging me ever since.

So... I just rewarded myself with permission to go to Costco and replace the blueberries (not as good, but the price is right)... I have been working on a work project diligently all weekend and thought I deserved a break (and besides, Costco closes in an hour).

I got up, put on some decent clothes, got my shopping bags, diet Pepsi and purse and out the door I went. I made it as far as the sidewalk right outside the door.

That's when the left brain took over and reminded me in-no-uncertain-terms that I had enough nectarines and raspberries in the fridge to cause 5 days worth of diarrhea and the LAST thing I needed was MORE FRUIT.

So I turned around, got back into comphy clothes and am back in front of the computer to finish my work work.

Is this a sign of maturity?????

If so, will someone please send directions for it's destruction???

Religion and Politics

2008-09-03T06:23:00.001-05:00

I wonder if Sarah wants us to pray that she and John win in November?

Another reason not to vote republican...

2008-09-02T21:57:00.003-05:00

June 8, 2008 - Sarah Palin addressing her old church.... "Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God," she exhorted the congregants. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."

George W sent the troops over to Iraq to do God's will?? I thought it was Dick Cheney's bid for revenge for George H...

In politics I drown.....

2008-09-02T21:14:00.002-05:00

It's funny how your views color what you "hear" when you listen to someone speaking the opposite of what you think.

I'm tired of the POW line of defense.

But I can't get enough of 'I was born a poor black child'

After 4 days, I am tired of the moose-butchering unwed mother from Alaska.

But I love the guy who took the train home to Delaware every night.

I thought the speeches last week were smoothly delivered, even those given by the 'real' people, like Barney Smith.

I am not happy with the quoting of scripture and overt display of crosses this week.

I was happy with the mostly secular nature of last weeks speeches.

And really, we have 'In God We Trust' scribbled all over our money... a few 'God Bless America's' seem okay.

I liked the laundry list Barak posted last Thursday... I wonder what John will come up with that won't sound like more of the same!

Summer SuperBowl

2008-08-10T19:18:00.002-05:00

Did anyone notice the commercials during the Olympic Opening Ceremony on Friday night?

It was like watching the Super Bowl! I couldn't decide which was better.. the show or the advertising!

Too cool.....

Paris goes to Washington

2008-08-06T20:18:00.002-05:00

Like, totally, the best video of the week...

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d

Like, I'll vote for her...

(Associated Press/August 6, 2008)

Sewing Dork Awards

2008-07-19T10:33:00.002-05:00

And the sewing dork award for

"Most Likely to Burn The House Down"

goes to....

ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went into the sewing room on Thursday to iron a shirt for work only to discover that the iron had been sitting on the sewing table in the ON position (and not just on but ALL THE WAY ON-SUPER HOT-WOOL SETTING) for approximately....

THREE WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This I discovered the day after the electric bill arrived and had spiked by $30.

Hmmmm......

Some days I amaze even myself.

The Labors of My Fruits

2008-07-02T21:07:00.003-05:00

Grapefruit $1

Bag of oranges $3

Fresh, red-all-the-way-to-the-middle strawberries $5

2 pounds of cherries $6

4 pounds of blueberries $8

Six trips a day to the bathroom, no poop blender required ...... Priceless

Ten feet tall and bulletproof

2008-06-28T13:02:00.003-05:00

Summer has arrived in all it's glory.... yesterday was 87 degrees and 90% humidity... except in my office, where it is either 87 degrees and 90% humidity or 55 degrees and 10% humidity. Yesterday was the later. So after 4 hours of freezing to death (there is something inherently wrong with running a space heater in June) I grabbed a magazine and a diet pepsi and wandered outside to soak up some warmth. I found a friendly, shady curb in the parking lot and plopped my butt down to read for a few minutes. About the time I got to thinking that I should go back in to log into a conference call (about billing -YAWN!!!), I had a wave (tsumani size) of nausea hit. And it hit hard.... cold, clammy sweat, pale skin, dizzy to the point of knowing I couldn't get up and walk, feeling like all the blueberries I had eaten that morning were going to show up to grace the ground I was staring at, and that wonderful feeling of ... crap, I didn't tell anyone where I was going and I don't have a phone with me to call for help and I can't move. Great! Now what? Oh, and by the way, you are going to be late for your conference call. Double crap. Wait a few more minutes. More waves of nausea. More of that TOTALLY icky sweat that goes along with it. (There is something wrong with an outdoor temp of 87 and that icy chill running down my back. That sweat should be warm, dammit!) Oh, look, there is stuff dripping off my nose onto the blacktop. Or is it out of my nose? Hard to tell. Okay, I feel better now (yeah, right) I will go back into the building. Okay stand up. Okay, quit swaying. Okay right foot, left foot, right foot, you are walking like a drunk, but that's okay, that's how I feel. I wonder what my blood sugar is? I ate breakfast at 6 am, and it's noon-thirty, but I have been munching blueberries (are they coming up?) all morning. And I drank milk with the coffee (is THAT coming back up??). And, oh, look, the handicapped ramp into the building... that's good, I don't think I can navigate stairs... up the ramp open the door. Open the door. Um, you have to lift your arm and place your hand on the handle... Yeah, yeah, I got it. Open the door. Done. Whadda ya mean, there's another door? Okay, open another door. Stand just inside the door and sway. where the hell is everyone? It's lunchtime. Isn't ANYONE going out for lunch today? Gotta sit down. Gotta make it to the bathroom. My blueberries are rioting. Can't walk. Okay, sit on that little side table thingie right inside the door. Watch the cold icky sweat drip off my nose again. Watch it get my glasses all yucky. Gotta make it down the hall. Oh, look someone is coming... and going... nice of you to stop and offer help, you moron. Okay, stand up again, head for bathroom. Made the bathroom. What belongs to the reflection in the mirror? Wow you look like shit. Um, yes, thank you, I feel like shit. Complete bathroom functions without revisiting the blueberries. Whew. Feel better (man, is that a relative term just now). Mop face off - well, at least when I am this pale, you can't see my rosacea. Um, pale probably isn't good. Well, that's okay. The color will return at some point in time. Okay, head back for office, grab some cold diet pepsi from fridge, make it to desk, dial phone for conference call, lay head down on desk to recover.

The rest of the afternoon I felt crappy-like someone had beat me up or wrung me out but good. Feeling persisted up to bedtime. Food didn't seem to help. Sugar didn't seem to help.

And then, at some point in time, while describing my nooner to my beloved boyfriend, he characterized my cool, clammy sweat as that of someone in heart failure. Yep, I said, just like

someone

in

heart

failure.

OH CRAP. Now what??? Heart failure? at 47??? No way!

Well, maybe.

What would I have done if I had been the triage nurse in the ED and someone with those exact symptoms had walked in? I would have put them in a wheelchair, pushed them to the back, flopped them in a bed, taken a pulse, hooked them to a monitor, started an IV, done an EKG, drawn labs, and given them an aspirin.

I wonder what my pulse was during that episode? I wonder if I even had one? Maybe a little atrial fibrillation (heart not pumping enough)? Maybe a little SVT (heart going to fast)? Or maybe it was just a little low sugar with a little too warm a temp and too much humidity. Who knows? Certainly not me. Why not?

Because, as it was pointed out by my beloved boyfriend, I still think of myself as invincible. Ten feet tall and bulletproof. Never in need of a doctor.

After yesterday, maybe not so much...

.

Lite is better...

2008-06-20T19:13:00.004-05:00

I was listening to my favorite cooking show, Good Eats, one day when the host, Alton Brown, discussed soy sauce.

I'll have to admit, I don't think much about soy sauce. You get Chinese food, you get soy sauce. You cook Asian food, you use soy sauce. You have high blood pressure, you use soy sauce light.

Or do you?

Soy sauce is made from fermented soybeans. Look on the label of any Kikoman's and you see water, wheat, soybeans and salt. Look on the label of the 'lite' soy sauce I had in the 'frige and you see....

hydrolized soy protein

and corn syrup

?corn syrup? In soy sauce? YUCK!

and carmel coloring

and lactic acid...

I think I will stick with the natural stuff, salt be danged....

http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/june/cookout/

Summer time

2008-06-20T18:35:00.003-05:00

Fifteen hours, thirteen minutes and 32 seconds.. the longest day of the year. The summer solstice.

You know what that means....

As of tomorrow....

WINTER IS ON THE WAY AGAIN

AAAAAACCCCHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

{sigh}

2008-06-02T20:19:00.000-05:00

She's soft.

She's furry.

She's antisocial.

That's my girl-cat!

Tonight

2008-05-30T21:02:00.001-05:00

(with apologies to Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.... to the tune of "Tonight" from West Side Story)....

Tonight, Tonight
Won't be just any night
Tonight there will be lint rollers here....

Tonight, Tonight

I see my cat tonight

And tonight there will be kit-ty furrrrrrrrr....

Today the minutes seem like hours
The hours go so slowly
And still I'm stuck at work....

Oh, clock
Move fast
And make this endless day
Endless night
TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!

7 day into exile...

2008-05-30T20:59:00.002-05:00

A whole week has gone by without Sierra. It is sooooo weird here. I keep waiting for her to meow thru the door when I get home. Chuck waits for her to come out and throw herself on the floor in front of his foot.

Meanwhile, over at Kates house... she is getting along quite well without us. Figures.

I'm going to visit her next week.... YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

News from the new home...

2008-05-28T06:32:00.003-05:00

{sigh} Sierra is doing better than I am.... Kate says she is pretty calm while the resident cat, Lily, has a fit, hissing and barking at the newcomer. Sierra just sits there and gives Lily the 'whatever' look. Sierra has been hiding under the bed a lot, but Kate pulled her out Monday and my kitty played with the feather toy... and she made herself right at t home on the bed.. much to Lily's dislike....

Sierra will do well. Kate is happy.

Chuck and I miss her.

Day Two...

2008-05-27T06:45:00.002-05:00

Quiet... it's too quiet in here.... she would have loved going out on the patio yesterday. And then in. And then out. And then in. And then out... But she would have liked it. Without Sierra, my laundry is destined to never make it into the closet.... I used to hang my pants in the closet as soon as I got back from laundry. Now, I don't worry about collecting cat hair, so they are still hanging on the garment rack in the sewing room. Oops.

She wasn't here to meow at me when I put my oatmeal in the microwave. (She always assumed that the bowl was full of Little Friskies in gravy for her.)

{sigh} This too shall pass. I will see Kate today and see how the weekend went...

Day One...

2008-05-25T20:31:00.003-05:00

Today is the first full day at home in 10 years without a little furball or 2 winding around my leg, getting in the way when I walk down the hall, running from the vacuum cleaner, meowing for treats... It feels a little sterile here. The cat tree
is still in the living room with the feather toy hanging off it... but most of the other toys are put away.

Sierra moved to Kate's house yesterday morning amidst lots of tears and loud "Mommy, I'm not happy" meows. I know Kate will love her as much as I do... but it's a little unsettling to come home and not have my purr-kitty meet me at the door... to not feel her jump on the bed in the middle of the night... to not feel her against my leg as I fall asleep... to not see her little paws creep over the arm of my chair as she whines about sitting in my lap.

I keep telling myself it's only for a month.. that she will be back because something didn't work out at Kate's... too much hair, too much scratching, too much fighting with the resident cat, Lily.... but Kate was serious when she looked at me and said that she fully expects this to be a permanent move for Sierra.

I know this is the right decision... to go to someone I know and trust is far better than going to someone I don't know. Kate says I can come visit any time... I think I will wait a few days until she gets acclimated and I can quit sniffling all the time.

On the bright side... at least Chuck will be able to spend time at my place not worrying about where he sits and what he touches... that will be a change for the better.

In the mean time, I think I will go wallow in one of the five stages of grieving...

Thinking...

2008-05-19T20:11:00.001-05:00

too long gone,,,,,, too little blog.......

I'm thinking...

2008-04-23T03:44:00.000-05:00

3 am is a rotten time to get up in the morning...

I'm thinking...

2008-04-19T17:36:00.000-05:00

That it is possible to eat too many garlic pretzels.

Watching...

2008-04-05T10:39:00.001-05:00

My absolutely mostest favorite You Tube video ever!!!

DNR

Watching...

2008-04-05T10:17:00.005-05:00

I should be cleaning the house. The cat fur is piling up in corners and has nearly buried the CPU. It's a wonder the thing hasn't caught fire.... which reminds me... I never did drop a work ticket at the hospital to get the computer on 3rd floor vacuumed out... hope it doesn't catch fire......

but on to the main event....

A while back I started reading 'Escape' by Carolyn Jessop, a survivor/runaway from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It's a disturbing book detailing the abuse within the cult. Today on the telly, I see that 52 girls have been removed from the FLDS compound in Texas and placed with Child Protective Services.

Maybe this will spur the Utah Child Protective Services to go investigate what is going on in Hildale.

It's frightening what goes on in this country, known to the authorities, but not pursued.

This site has an interesting, brief synopsis of the book... read on....

Wondering...

2008-04-05T10:06:00.002-05:00

Can my friends be 'dooced' if I say bad things about their workplaces on my blog?

Wondering...

2008-04-04T18:35:00.004-05:00

Wouldn't it be something?

If,

forty years after the assassination of

the Reverend Martin Luther King,

the man who three years prior

brokered the deal that gave black people the federal right to vote,

this nation voted a black man into the office of

President?

Since when???

2008-03-23T20:24:00.002-05:00

Since when is everything closed on Easter? I don't remember it being like this... Costco was closed. Ditto Best Buy and Target. The local mall (such as it is or isn't) was closed. Borders was open, as was K-Mart. But it seems as if most things were closed.

I don't remember Easter being like this.....

I am old and out of touch.....

Do you feel like I do?

2008-02-19T16:45:00.004-06:00

I feel good..... I knew that I would....

I just didn't realize HOW good I would feel....

I became unemployed today.... and I feel fine.... ;-)

My hospital has been going thru some hard times lately due to the loss of a major insurance contract and many years of financial mismanagement that finally caught up to us. They started talking "right sizing" (what a snarky phrase-whoever thought that one up should be shot) back in December and things really heated up in the last 3 or 4 weeks.

Our little tiny subdivision of the department (5 educators) knew it was coming (well, most of us did) and started making other arrangements.... 3 of the other instructors moved to another division in our department (IT), I applied for a transfer but didn't quite get it, and of course, one was blindsided.

But, thanks to the foresight of my beloved boyfriend and totally practical sister, the profits I made on the sale of my house were put into an emergency fund for just such an event. And it is for that reason I feel sooooooo good.

Yeah, yeah, I'm a nurse, I can get a job anywhere. Totally true. And I applied for 2 other jobs last week. And I will file for unemployment tomorrow. And I have applied for an open position back in my own department, which may come to fruition. But there is enough money in the kitty to keep me going quite fine for the next little bit, so I feel absolutely NO pressure to go out and accept the first job tossed my way.

This is the most wonderful position to be in. I wish everyone who got down-sized could feel like I do.

Once again (as my sister would say), the Money Fairy has farted on my head.

But just to hedge my bets, I bought $10 worth of Mega Millions tickets today.

Texas Ban on Sex Toy Sales Is Overturned

2008-02-13T21:27:00.001-06:00

Well.... I guess that's a good thing.... I'm supposing they need more dildos since they exported the biggest one they had to Washington, DC.

Sheesh

2008-01-28T17:49:00.000-06:00

What a difference a day makes.... It's like the meds waited until the LAST POSSIBLE MOMENT to kick in.... I feel almost human.

And I feel like going SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHEE-HEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Long time (cough) no blog

2008-01-27T17:48:00.001-06:00

I has come to my attention that I have not had a "well" day this whole year. I got sick on December 29 and NOTHING HAS CHANGED!!! What is this? I went to school yesterday and the woman sitting next to me said her husband sounded like me (harsh cough, can't breath...) for six weeks. According to her I've got 2 week to go. I certainly hope so. It is so depressing to feel this consistently crappy. And I can't sleep. That's causing problems....

It didn't really sink in how sick I have been until yesterday. After my class (how to use Photoshop to mess up my pictures), I stopped at a strip mall to spend my 'Borders Bucks' and take advantage of a 30% off coupon.... I found 3 books on photography (maybe I should backtrack..... I got a really Really REALLY nifty SLR camera for Christmas... A beautiful Canon EOS Rebel xTi. I love it!!!!!!!!! We both have SLRs now so he wanted to take a photography class so we could use the cameras well. Well... in true procrastinator fashion, by the time we registered for the class at the local community college the class was full and only one of us got in. And... there was no waiting list. Which... didn't matter in the end because something happened to the instructor and the class was cancelled. But I had also signed up for 'Digital Darkroom', so went to school, hacking and coating myself with Purell every 5 minutes. So far, I like the class.. a lot! I actually drew a picture with Photoshop. And that's how I wound up at Borders.... had coupons and desired a book or 2 on using a digital camera and photography in general (an F stop means WHAT??) So I purchased my books (hack, cough, shudder), walked out of the store (hack, cough-cough-cough, shudder... oh, did I mention that these coughing paroxysms cause some really unpleasant gyneco-urinary side effects?) with the intention of going next door to Lands' End (probably my favorite store), hacked and coughed some more and decided that going home to take a nap sounded better than shopping. At my favorite store.

Something is not quite right here.

I left the strip mall at 5:30. I didn't get to sleep until after 2 am. Did I mention I was having problems sleeping?

I took a nap today..

I don't have the energy to put my Christmas decorations in the truck and drive them 6 blocks over to put back in the storage unit. I'm just leaving them stacked in the living room.

I don't care.

My head hurts.

My ears hurt.

My chest hurts.

My co-workers refuse to be in the same room as me.

I have no time off to take to be sick.

And 2 visits to the medicine woman haven't brought (bought) me the instant cure I wanted.

Chuck thinks it's the foam mattress topper we bought that is making me sick. It sounds good... chemical bronchitis or pneumonitis due to off-gassing... Not a bad thought.... but I got sick before the mattress arrived (at least the ones that are spewing fumes... gotta love the smell of toluene last thing before you drift off.... that could explain some of my dreams, too... hmmmmm).

I think it's a nasty cold that has reawakened my asthma (long seemingly dormant, although that's debatable... I have been getting this cold/killer cough combination once a winter the last several years... patterns, anyone?). I am on enough meds to kill a horse, including steroids (which may be the root of the can't sleep thingie... tomorrow morning is the last pill, we will see if I sleep better Monday night).

I don't care what it is. I just want it to leave. Okay, let me rephrase that.... I don't care what the eventual diagnosis is as long as it's something that's CURABLE!!

I just want to feel normal. I want my life back.

So... while I was driving home yesterday I thought about how being sick was manifesting itself in my life... here's what I came up with...

the TOP TEN Reasons Chris knows she's sick....

10. I slept in past 7 am on a Saturday morning

9. I've lost my taste for coffee

8. I've eaten homemade soup 7 days in a row

7. When faced with a choice of shopping or sleeping... shopping LOST

6. I got quarantined at work

5. I have e-mail more than 10 days old that is unread

4. And I have no interest in reading them...

3. I've spent more on medicine that groceries

2. I'm hacking up more hairballs than the cat

and............. THE NUMBER ONE REASON I KNOW I'M SICK...................

1. I haven't purchased a single pair of shoes ALL YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My week, nutshell version

2008-01-17T20:39:00.000-06:00

Well... it's been quite the week...

FedEx lost my feet....

My non-denominational employer is in bed with the Lutherans

My periodontist offered to manipulate my overgrowing gums with a machete

And my beloved boyfriend is being compared to Moses and/or God.

Does it get any better than this?

What the???

2008-01-07T18:57:00.000-06:00

WEATHER ALERT: Tornado sightings, damage reported
Tornado watch in effect Photos Graphic: Shattering record warmth

Forecast Snow returns Video: Ride with snowplows

January 7, 2008 55° F

Last updated: 6:48 p.m.

What is wrong with this picture?

How about it's JANUARY

in CHICAGO!!!!!!!!!!

I just got back from the store... the truck thermometer said 67 degrees.... OUTSIDE!!

This is just wrong......

Turn down service every morning...

2008-01-07T06:16:00.000-06:00

There is now a scientific reason for me NOT to make my bed. HA!

Christmas Eve crash kills man

2007-12-25T16:07:00.000-06:00

Mom's cousin, Bernie, died yesterday. Death of a relative is not an unusual event, except in this case. Bernie is only the second relative I remember that did not die of old age and/or disease. I wonder what the odds are... of one's family members dying of disease/old age vs trauma? Guess it would depend on the size of the family (ours is small), and the relative riskiness of the family members pursuits.

It's weird how things go. We (Mom, Dad, me, sis) are all at my sister's house for Christmas and we got a Christmas card from Bernie yesterday (Christmas Eve). He told us about his current gig, driving a mail truck over mountains in Wyoming. He included a couple of phone numbers, which Mom promptly called to leave a wacky Merry Christmas message. I think Bernie was already dead when she dialed.

I wonder if anyone was around to hear the phone ring when Mom called? Wonder if Bernie was still at the scene... wonder if the medics heard it and tried to find it. Or did he leave the phone at home?

We always comment on that in the emergency department after someone has died. We are busy cleaning up the patient and the phone goes off. Some days you want to answer it. Other days you don't. Mostly we just let it ring. It's a wonder we weren't tempted to do really rotten things. We did use them to find numbers for the families. Or friends. Calling the operator to find out where an area code is located. It's always so hard, long distance.

Georgine is the only other person in the family that I can recall dying in a crash. But that was back in 1968 or so. Not bad I suppose. May it be another 39 years before someone dies a traumatic death in our little family.

It's been a long time since our holidays were saddened by a death. I know we are not the only ones and I wish for everyone only good memories of the one gone.

How much is that suitcase in the window?

2007-12-09T15:45:00.000-06:00

He's home, I am relaxed.

His suitcase is another story. It made it from Milan to Frankfurt, got scanned in Frankfurt, got on the plane in Frankfurt and then 8 minutes later was taken off the plane and hasn't been seen since. (Ain't barcodes great??) I think it went to Bora Bora for the winter. His co-worker has even less of an idea where his bag is.... according to records.. they don't show it on the plane from Milan to anywhere.... poor bag!

I am thinking a trip to the Unclaimed Baggage Center might be in order one of these days (although I doubt they get luggage from Europe).

Long distance Love?

2007-12-05T21:11:00.000-06:00

(sigh) Here I was all ready to go on an OCD rant tonight about not hearing from the bestest boyfriend in over 24 hours and when I got home from work there were 3 emails in the box. (dreamy smile) Is he a honey, or what? It is weird how anxious I am about this trip... must have something to do with the cell phone not working over there, no easy means to retrieve him and OH-MY-GOD-WHAT-HAPPENS-IF-HE-IS-IN-A-LITTLE-12-SEATER-AIRPLANE-THAT-CRASHES... and the local Czech, Gypsy, Italian, Polske, whoever FAA doesn't think the world will miss the 10 people who were on that tiny-little-plane-that-had-an-oops-into-the-side-of-the-mountain and I'm pretty sure he forgot to put my phone number and ICE stuff in his wallet (like I asked him to do a thousand times before he left) and I will never know what happened and no one will know where to send his remains (if there are any) and if I don't know he is dead, how will I ever manage to

steal

his

car

before probate court catches up with his stuff?

I love him dearly. Can't you tell??

Pod People

2007-12-04T20:24:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year again... and the snow is falling for the second time in a week. The first time was last Saturday as Chuck sat on a plane (in first class, no less) waiting to take off for Prague, Czech Republic. According to the flight tracker I was glued to (well, glued to after I got home from shopping at the convention center-sized craft show) he took off only 45 minutes late. Once I got the tracker going (thank you Spike O'Dell for getting me hooked on that!!), I was off and researching what first class looked like. I hope he took pictures. They will beat my Business-Class-goes-Economy seats from the cruise... I was fascinated by not being able to touch the seat in front of me... But now that I've seen this..... I'll be looking for Mr. Chuck to buy my airline tickets.... Hmmmm, I upgraded us to a cruise cabin with a balcony, I think he can spring for pod seats on our next trip... hee hee hee Then again... if we go podding, we can't sit next to each other... and I really do enjoy that... maybe just a nice wide Business class seat again...

It is very strange with Chuck gone... usually when I am apart from him I am with family and the whole environment is busy/crazy/noisy. But I am home alone and it is QUIET. Nice change from work and the hustle in the stores. I am taking advantage of his trip and getting some Christmas shopping done. A little tonight and some more on Thursday, mixed with a little on-line stuph and I should be good to go. Maybe. ;-)

But it's almost 9 and I am just finishing dinner (did I mention that I lose weight when he is gone? That's the only thing I like about him leaving) and there is still a lot to do tonight.

Take care all and bundle up (or semi-roast to death if you are down south!)

Star Trek and Turkey

2007-11-10T14:49:00.000-06:00

What happened to this year?

I looked at the calendar yesterday and suddenly it was November. The passage of time seems to have moved into warp drive without taking me along for the ride. And I never seem to do anything with my days off except clean and run errands. What happened to the girl who postponed work-like stuff (indefinitely) to have fun? She must be hibernating… take today’s list of things to do… get the humidifier from storage and fire it up. I keep electrocuting the cat. Put the bike in storage. It’s currently taking up space in the living room and is in the way and I’m not going to ride it anymore this year. (Hmmm.. while I am at the storage unit, I was supposed to get something that was there.. wish I could remember what it was.) Pack the summer clothes up and put the winter duds in the drawer. Fashion a gate to go over the door to the closet so air can circulate but cat cannot leave hair all over my clothes. Vacuum. Do dishes. Wash kitchen floor. Take recycling out to trash bin. Collapse. I want a maid for Christmas.

Another sign of the apocalypse appeared today… it’s 2 weeks to Thanksgiving and today in the store, you could hardly find any Thanksgiving decorations, paper plates, etc. They had been relegated to a tiny section of shelves in the back of the store. They were overrun by the Christmas decorations. Aisles and aisles and AISLES of Christmas decorations. It’s too soon!! It always seems too soon. I remember how disgusted I was when I saw the first Christmas stuph appear on the shelves back in September. That was just a tad bit of overkill. Now the one radio station is playing Christmas carols and you can hear HO-HO-HO in almost every store you enter. I’m still trying to figure out if I’m serving a whole turkey or just the drumsticks…..

California dreamin'

2007-10-22T17:39:00.000-05:00

Lester Holt is a lucky man. Yesterday on the evening news he ran a monologue by his son, detailing the younger Holt's evacuation from Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA, due to the wildfires. Tonight Dad is reporting from Malibu.

I wish all parents had that luxury.

Lap 87

2007-10-14T19:37:00.000-05:00

I am sick. I have a virus. It started a little last night when I went to the hardware store for casters for my shelves and I wound up with this tree thingie. It got worse today. I went to the store for shower gel. It cost $104!!!!!!!! Of course, I got to carry the shower gel home in my new suitcase, along with 50 feet of co-axial cable, 2 cans of Chicken Chow Mein, a lint roller, toilet cleaner (2 bottles because I am too lazy to transport one bottle between bathrooms..... 10 feet apart). I think I also found a pair of wire cutters, a stud finder (Chuck, where are you???), shampoo, a little tiny can of shave cream (for the cruise, ya know..... ya didn't know? Oh. Well. Um.... We are going on a cruise, him and me. To the Carribean,,,,, Caribbean??? Carob-Bean??? On the 28th of October.... but more on that later.) I am pretty sure there was a bunch'o other stuph in the bag... but I lost track. I circled the store maybe 10 or 122 times... it's hard to recall.... all I remember is thinking, "As long as I am here, I should get...." and another lap would begin. I saw many of the same people over and over... sometimes it appeared that they were following me (or vice versa), or we would be going in opposite directions and meet twice. I started to think of them as family... until I realized I couldn't understand a word of the polish they were mumbling.... or spanish or indian or whatever..... And to top it all off... the metal detectors went off when I left and I was accosted by the guy in the blue shirt.... he doubles as the greeter...

I am calling it the Wal-Mart virus.

I like them, but...

2007-10-06T19:23:00.001-05:00

okay... I'm not really a Cubs fan.... I am in the doom and gloom closet with the people who are currently sitting at Wrigley Field.

Chuck and I went to Wrigley Field today. We were in the neighborhood to see 'In the Shadow of the Moon' at the Music Box Theater and after lunch (and a 10 minute downpour) we decided to wander down to the stadium to soak in the ambiance. It was still early and not many people were there, but it was interesting. And it's kind of fun to sit here at home and see the rooftop bleachers that we had perused earlier. Betcha the lines for the bathrooms are shorter on the rooftops. I would really like to go to a game next summer, just for the experience.

But back to the totally depressing situation at Clark and Addison.... It may be time to go to dinner. Chuck has mentioned it a couple of times... Wonder if we can linger at Wendy's long enough for the game to finish?

GO CUBBIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-09-28T22:37:00.000-05:00

I was never a baseball fan...

and then I moved to Chicago.

And I started listening to WGN radio...

and in the summer, they broadcast baseball games...

and I would leave the radio on as background noise in my office...

and then I started listening....

and discovered that Pat and Ron were really funny...

and that the games were interesting...

and that I felt bad when the Cubs did bad...

and I felt good when the Cubs did good...

and that I looked forward to spring when Pat and Ron would come back to kibbutz away the afternoon...

and now...

GO CUBBIES!!! CENTRAL DIVISION CHAMPS!!!!!!

Only 11 more game to go to the World Series....

Sweet sounds

2007-09-26T19:37:00.000-05:00

I am the very proud owner of my very first Queen Latifah CD.... Trav'lin' Light.

It's heavenly. No rap, just covers of some very nice standards...

From the website, aceshowbiz.com, "Still on the heels of “The Dana Owens Album” that sports jazz vibe, rapper-turner singer Latifah will cover songs associated with Peggy Lee, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughn, Mary Wells, Roberta Flack, Phoebe Snow and Etta James among others." The forgot to mention Billie Holiday... I think I may have to go out and get "The Dana Owens Album"....

I am in love with this music..... go listen for yourself!

1965 Deja vu

2007-09-20T20:39:00.000-05:00

Isn't it sad, that in this day and age, there are places still living in 1965.

I hope the Jena 6 know that many, many more people support them, then condem them.

Let's all do the Snoopy Happy Dance!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-09-17T19:55:00.000-05:00

OJ is in jail!!!!

OJ is in jail!!!

Requiem for a Tooth

2007-09-11T20:37:00.000-05:00

It is sad, but true... #21 committed suicide... the prolonged, drawn-out kind. Heaven knows how long this has been going on.... maybe years.... It started as a small black spot a year ago

and yesterday culminated in the (semi-)atraumatic removal of said #21 (lower left, behind the incisors, in front of the molars, the bicuspid.
Notice the size of the hole... almost the diameter of the whole tooth. It's a wonder it all came out in one piece..

I asked the nice lady at the front desk to call over to the hospital across the parking lot and ask the chaplin to come over to do a requiem for the tooth.

She thought I was kidding.

I now resemble trailer park trash of the unhealthy kind.
yuck...

I went both ways...

2007-09-06T19:48:00.001-05:00

Well.. in the interest of science, I tried it both ways today.

While sitting around and finding that I was rather bored in a bathroom with stalls today and knowing that I was totally alone (the heavy breather from the office down the hall was mercifully absent) I decided (with the intention of giving the Senator the benefit-of-the-doubt) to try the "wide stance" he is claiming to have taken whilst in a similar environment. All I can say is...

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!

From that particular position (which, I am sure, has something to do with the peculiar angles of the seat (which tend to roll your hips in, toward the midline) and the height of the bowl and probably the relative alignment of Uranus), getting my feet over to the walls of the stall (or even in the vicinity of) HURTS! My hips (wide, tho they may be) just don't bend in that direction! By the time I got my feet planted, my knees were knocking and my pelvis was beginning to wonder what it would look like with an open book fracture. Well...

that couldn't possibly have been the position Senator Craig had assumed... so I tried it from the other direction.. faced the throne and spread those legs (good thing I had a really really full skirt on today) at which point I lost my balance and ... well.... we'll leave it there.

I feel gipped... I didn't even get to tap my toes....

Extraction distraction

2007-09-04T19:57:00.000-05:00

The day is fast approaching when I will start to resemble trailer trash. The grand extraction of tooth #21, due to dry rot, will commence on September 10 at 3:30 in the afternoon.

You're all invited.

Chuck said if I brought it home and put it under my pillow, there may be monetary compensation involved. (Although probably not enough to cover the cost of the removal.)

It is weird, is it not? That peculiar feeling that bubbles out when vanity strikes. After years of glibly telling one and all that I really don't give a rats ass about what other people think of me (envision grubby clothes going to the grocery store, unvarnished toenails regularly hanging out of sandals, hair that doesn't get combed-no, not even once-during the day, etc.) I find myself wanting to hide behind my lovely sandalwood fan for six months.

I made the appointment with the orthodontist today. Two weeks after the death of tooth #21, (sounds like a mine accident) I will once again be sporting BRACES!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, one brace. From tooth #20 to tooth #22 to keep the hole open until the crown can be placed ..... 6 months from now.

I WILL BE TOOTHLESS FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That will be me.. in the back of all the pics with her mouth closed. (A first, to be sure...)

Another person to be proud of...

2007-09-04T19:51:00.001-05:00

After the arrest of the esteemed gentleman from Idaho... the terror threat level in airport bathrooms has been raised to lavender.

With all the tapping of toes that allegedly occurred in said bathroom, can't you see the iPod defense coming???

Today's humor courtesy of bestest boyfriend... who lifted them from someone else.

Disappointed, yet again...

2007-09-04T19:49:00.000-05:00

Mother nature lied.... today was 92 degrees and humid... yuck... more of the same tomorrow.... WHERE IS FALL??????????????????

I wish I wish I wish....

2007-08-28T21:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning was such a tease.... When I got up at 5 am the sun was nowhere in sight.... when I left at 6:15 the sun had not yet cleared the houses on the horizon... I had to use the defroster to warm the windshield up to dry it off... had to use the rear defroster to clear that window too.....there was low level fog on the playground of the local school... and the air was CRISP! 61 degrees worth of CRISP!!!

FALL IS A COMIN' BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today......

it was 92 with 80% humidity.

Ugh, part 2

2007-08-22T18:48:00.000-05:00

A giraffes tongue is sooooo long it can pick boogers out of it's own nose......

A little PAP, anyone?

2007-08-22T18:43:00.000-05:00

Koala babies eat POOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAACCCHHHHH!!!

At about this stage it begins to consume small quantities of the semi-liquid form of the mother’s excrement called "pap" in order to inoculate its gut with the microbes necessary to digest eucalypt leaves.

Ugh!! And here I thought them koala babies were sooo cute....

Things that make you go... Hmm..

2007-08-22T17:39:00.000-05:00

Seen on a car license plate the other day...

BY US MFG

Any chance the guy behind the wheel was a union guy?

Time Flies

2007-08-22T17:35:00.000-05:00

Is it just me or does it seem like the news/weather pundits are saying "Oh, LOOK.... it's another 'hundred year flood'! Just like the one we had last month.... and the month before... or in the case of the midwest this year, the one we had last week....

Tender toofs

2007-08-20T21:16:00.000-05:00

Ma teefe hurt. 'n dey don' fee-o righ. Eveytime I go to da den-ist I tink he resurfaces all ma teefe so I bite funny fo' a foo day.... tings dentists do to amuse demselfs and run up da bill. Aldough, today was less den las' time.... by 30 bucks. Woo-pee...

I don't know how Mom goes and gets teefe drilled without novicaine!! Yeah, I don't like the 'caine hangover either, but IT HURTS!!!!!!!!!!! I almost came out of the chair last time he drilled with not-quite-enough juice.

But now my 6 almost baddest black fillings (which I thought gave me a slightly rakish look... pirate-like maybe... 'Aye, sweetie, come here 'n have a lookie in me mouph... black teefe just like me black soul....' Okay, maybe not) are gone and replaced with polymers. White/yellow whatever-the-heck-color-my-teefe-are polymers. I guess it looks better. I haven't spent much time in there yet tonight. It hurts. The 4 baddest of the bad need crowns (make mine gold with encrusted rubies...)... and root canals.... Ugh!

Drilling was quite the little mining operation today. The bit looked like 20 grit sandpaper magnified to the nth degree... I could have stuck a whole finger into the grooves on the bit. And when he cut loose with it.... whew the chunks of silver stuff did fly... out of my mouth, up my nose, at the dentist, all over my tongue (which was gagging and protesting up a storm). I thought for sure, he hit granite in there... All three of the teeth were like that (hey, the novicaine must be wearing off!)... chunks, chunks, chunks. I was beginning to wonder if I had any toofs left at all!

But I am done for now. Umm.. well, for the next 2 weeks or so. The extraction is on Sept 10. Yahoo, zippy. I am soooo (not) excited about that.

I think when I added up all the projected work on my mouth I came up with a $15,000 bill or so... OUCH!! I think this will take a few years....

Or, I will just get crowns as the teefe break off and require root canals...

Or maybe I'll just file them down myself and chew with nubs.

Six degrees of seperation... or less....

2007-08-04T11:23:00.000-05:00

The disaster in Minnesota last Wednesday could have been worse.. much worse. Found out today that the son and daughter-in-law of my mom's best friend work just 15 minutes from the bridge....

...for a school bus company....

One of the drivers for their company knows the woman who was driving the bus on the bridge....

Fortunately, all friends up north are safe and accounted for...

You don't realize the wide-reaching impact of something like this. At work Friday I was chatting with one of the nurses who's husband works for a company that rents medical equipment to hospitals... he got a call Wednesday night from the Minneapolis office to get things ready.. make sure all equipment was clean and ready to ship north if needed. So the Chicago office got busy.

And then they found out that one of the guys from the Chicago office was on the bridge... he is in the hospital with broken bones all over the place but doing okay.

It's a small world....

Like paraplegic survivor Marcelo Cruz said... "You really have to enjoy every day," he said, "because you don't know if it's your last."

Retire Larry King Live

2007-08-03T20:20:00.000-05:00

Larry King needs to retire. He's 73. It's past time. Larry King Live is getting to be more like Larry King Lost His Train of Thought. His trademark of long silences, a strategy devised to allow the interviewee to speak, are falling flatter and flatter every day.... when the interviewee responds with a 2 word answer Larry fails to pick up the ball.... especially with the remote location interviews... with children.... speaking of..... he has young children at home... he should be there with them. Watch them grow up.

Yeah, that's the ticket....

Sign of the Apocalypse

2007-08-03T17:51:00.000-05:00

"Viva Viagra"?????

Oh, pa-leezzzeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to me!

2007-07-29T09:58:00.000-05:00

Hmmm... 47 doesn't feel much different than 46. Wonder why that is? I imagine it will be more of the same... another day, another body part that refuses to function normally or without pain... more methane production, less desire to exercise, another liver spot on my hands... and another disturbing discovery... Chuck is winning at Scrabble... I don't know what happened. He's won the last 4 of 5 games.... last game he had a single word score of 230. It was a thing of beauty.

It's the last day of the Tour de Fraud. It's been interesting to watch the dopers get thrown out the last 3 weeks. Hopefully the Americans will keep their veins clean. Mary Van De Velde, the morning traffic person on WGN, has a nephew in the race... Christian Van De Velde, he was in 25th place after yesterday... it's been fun listening to Mary talk about Chris. She is obviously very proud of him.

oooohhhhh Lance is on the teevee...... doing commentary and answering inane questions.... "Lance, what is the leader, the yellow jersey, thinking right now? Chuck actually had the correct answer.... the leader is thinking, "I hope the guy in front of me doesn't hit the cobblestones.... I hope I don't hit the cobblestones". At least it's not raining.

Celebrated my birthday by sleeping late yesterday. Amazing how something so simple was so coveted.

(slight pause)

oophhhh..... Went out for the usual Sunday morning breakfast and took a little side trip to a bike shop over in Niles. I am on the quest for the perfect bike seat.... which after trying 2 different seats in the store (and 3 more at home), I am convinced doesn't exist except on a trike or a recumbant. We did find one last week that looks like a recumbant seat for a regular bicycle post... I may go back and get that one... will need a new post for it, but I am looking for biking without pain....

This is the Schwinn No Pressure comfort saddle.....

This is the one that killed my sciatic nerve after 20 miles or so....I'll let you guess what this killed.....

This is what I got today. Need to try a buncho adjustments to see if I can get it to work....

I think I will sleep on it.....

Cha-Ching

2007-07-11T19:16:00.000-05:00

$3300.

For a tooth. Or rather, the removal thereof.

Oh, yeah, plus the $250 so far at the dentist for getting impressions...

so he can see me again to build the crown. $$$

and again so he can fix the cavity the first dentist missed $$$

and again to start replacing my cracked and somewhat missing fillings $$$

and some more for the orthodontist next door who will build my 'spacer' so my teeth don't fill in the hole the extraction will make $$$

There goes the vacation $$$.... so much for getting some joolery at Bernard Passman's little place... rats.

Learn something new every day

2007-07-08T16:46:00.000-05:00

Did you know that it would take 1402.5 stings from a crowd of angry African Killer Bees to kill me?

It seems that 8.5 stings per pound is the lethal dose.

I think I'm safe.

At least for today.

Lazy Sunday Observation

2007-06-23T20:43:00.000-05:00

One should not allow the cat to sit under the table while one is sanding.....

Another sad story

2007-06-23T20:32:00.000-05:00

Maybe, before we crucify Bobby Cutts, Jr, we should take a minute to wait for the coroner's report. There is a chance... remote, I'll give you, but a chance Jesse Davis died of natural causes. Pregnant ladies are prone to blood clots. Sometimes the blood clots move. Sometimes the blood clots kill.

No, I'm not defending him. Yes, I believe he was involved. But he's not guilty yet.

Coffee Table Art

2007-06-23T10:01:00.000-05:00

I think my head will look good... sitting there on the coffee table.... I'll put a little plastic plant tray under it to catch the drips... but if this headache doesn't go away I will be using the new circular saw to cut my head off until it straightens up and flies right. I haven't had one this bad in years... It started when the temps got above 80 and has greeted me every morning since then... sheesh... time to move to Hudson Bay.

Ahh, but enough whining.... today is the day for power tools.... after I get back from the vet and oil change I will annoy the neighbors... hee hee hee. I love power tools.

The Daily Visual

2007-06-23T09:31:00.000-05:00

Trash bags committing suicide from the 11th floor garbage chute.

The life of a loser....

2007-06-20T19:35:00.000-05:00

Hmm.. amazing what happens when you follow the fluffy peoples food plan (FFPF). Down 4.6 pounds this week. Am spending the occasional extra point on little squares of dark dark chocolate at bedtime and had a 1 point fudge bar somewhere over the weekend... But am doing well... over 16 pounds to date. Am approaching my 10% goal of 18 pounds but don't know if that is a realistic goal. Guess I'll spend the next few weeks practicing.

Think I'll celebrate with a Blizzard from Dairy Queen... heh heh heh

Just kidding.... I think.....

Anata no koto wo kangaeteiru cdm

TiVo food

2007-06-18T20:02:00.000-05:00

Did you know corn syrup was the main ingredient in Red Vines? Big surprise there. I love the Food Channel. I especially love the Food Network on TiVo!!!!!!!!! I can watch and watch and watch my favorite shows WHEN I WANNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am in heaven. [sigh]

And I bought another power tool last weekend. I am 'really' in heaven!!! I was supposed to be using a gift certificate to purchase a piece of stained glass art I found in downtown Chicago in April. Well, wouldn't ya know it, by the time I got down there last Sat, the piece was gone and none of the others tripped my trigger, so I took myself back to town to run errands... and one of the errands involved buying a 1x4"x6' board and getting the guy at the store to cut it up for me (my other choice was a hand saw at home-ugh- not outside at 90+ degrees!). And while I stood there waiting for the cut man... I thought.... what if I spent the gift certificate on a TOOL??? a POWER TOOL???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I nearly wet myself as I motored to the next store where they had the brands I wanted to drool over. I now own a Ryobi 18volt 5.5 inch trim saw and 2 batteries. I am in love!

Amazing how little it takes to make me happy, huh?

TaTa for now... time to go read 'The Family Handyman' and 'ShopNotes'.

Anata no koto wo kangaeteiru, cdm.

Diarrhea of the fingertips and other tales...

2007-06-12T18:40:00.000-05:00

Hmm.. with the frequency of my posts, one would almost think that the luster of a public diary has worn off. One might be right. It seems as tho real life is bogging down the whole blogging process(bogging the blogging, bogging the blogging, bogging the blogging... you try it!)... By the time you get home from work, put things away, change, do dinner and clean up or do dinner and come home, the evening is almost gone and there is just enough time to brush your teeth and drop into bed. It might'nt be so bad if dropping into bed yielded something besides tossing and turning, waking (tho thankfully not always to pee!), dropping off, covers on, covers off, too hot, too cold, arm asleep, etc., but that's not the case either. (I before E except after C... wonder where either comes in?) I feel cheated that bedtime should be 9 or 9:30 every night if I am to wake refreshed at 5:30... which isn't happening (see above). My (semi-half-assed) professional website for trauma nurses is way behind, this blog is almost deserted (desserted would be better, wonder how long it would take to drive to Dairy Queen? I hear the key lime blizzards are to-die-for!). And it's not deserted for lack of ideas.. those come in fairly regular spurts... It seems to be lack of oomph, energy, motivation, too much to do... which could be true... most weekends the last couple months have been on the road. Back and forth to Iowa for bestest friends wedding prep and the event itself, up to MI to remodel a bathroom over Memorial Day weekend, another wedding this last weekend... by the time Monday arrives, all I want to do is sleep. Today is no exception... except that it's Tuesday and I actually got my fluffy butt into a bathing suit and went to the pool. 30 minutes of constant movement of some kind... 20 min of laps (did you know you can swim in circles in the deep end if no one else is there?), 10 of bicycling underwater at various speeds. Now have chlorine eyes... but maybe, if I keep this up, my hair will get blonder.. or at least, green. Speaking of fluffy butt, I am still going to the fluffy people meetings (rah, rah, gag). Made it to 16 weeks, which is their milestone for 'changing your lifestyle behavior' or some such. Ha! They haven't seen my version of the core diet. I gave up on the counting points thing. Too restricting, not enough fruit. Switched to core and am having lots of fun.. going to Chili's and eating chips and salsa... (hey, the salsa is core!), Steak n' Shake for burgers and a low-fat yogurt shake, Portillo's for baked spaghetti... okay, I suck at the core plan too.. which is why my weight has remained steady for the last 2 months or so... but not all bad... I am staying here without exercise (my goal!) and my clothes fit. Yeah, yeah, if I move the fluffy parts a little more I might lose a little more, but, like the fluffy people say... I have to think about a lifetime commitment.. what can I reasonably expect myself to do? I hate exercise. Unless I am paying someone an exorbitant fee to someone who will personally torture me with weights and lunges (and sometimes, not even then!), I won't exercise willingly. I am sporadic. I am thinking that it would be better if I had an exercise buddy, but I am too lazy to find one and Mr. Boyfriend and I exercise at different times of the day. (whine whine who's got the cheese?) But, a bad day on the fluffy person plan is better than a good day off the plan, so there. Hmmm... maybe a little exercise would pep me up a little. Now, there's a thought. Comes right after the I-hate-exercise thought. (sigh) Diarrhea of the fingertips. Isn't it grand? What do they call this? Stream-of-consciousness-s-s-s-s thoughts? Rambling? But I haven't done it in a while, so it's okay. Right? (pause for big deep breath)

Nice paws. My teeth are rotting and falling out of my head. Or at least one of them is. I missed a dental appointment last August when I changed jobs (too cheepcheap to pay out-of-pocket) and now I am going to get to pay even MORE! There is a cavity in my incisor that extends down below the bone and the dentist won't touch it. I got referred to the periodontist. Yippee. I think I will like him. At least I am impressed by his office staff. They were very nice on the phone, took all of my information and said to drop off my x-rays that day so the doctor could look at them. The receptionist said he would take a peek to make sure I didn't need to come in any earlier than the 25th. So far no call back, so I guess I will survive with my dental cary until then. When I stopped in with said x-rays, they had a nice envelope with my name and addy all ready to go. Contained the promised health form AND a very nice letter welcoming me (by name) to the practice. Also enclosed was a brochure detailing the doctors specialties, how financing and insurance were handled, emergency numbers including a cell phone number for the doctor. I like him already! Now, if I could just get rid of this headache!!! (no, not tooth related)

I wonder if I should do a little Benadryl to help Mr. Sandman tonight? Couldn't hurt, I suppose. I love mixing anti-histamines with anti-histamines. My sinuses should be dry as a bone by midnight. Hmmm.. might explain the nosebleed yesterday. Nope, that was strictly due to the humidity.. or lack thereof... 32% or something wild like that yesterday. 37% right now... guess that explains it. We are in the 80's all week with the low humidity... it's nice... this is the only way I like 80 degrees. Unless, of course, you are talking 80 degrees, sunny with a breeze stirred from the movement of the cruise ship under my feet. I'll take that 80 deg at any humidity! I miss the ship. ships. I don't know that I miss the lifestyle of a crew member so much, but I miss miss miss being on the ship. Chuck and I are soooo different that way. His idea of paradise is a place in the middle of nowhere, with no one around except a few naked-hot-springs-dipping eccentrics, in the middle of a New Mexico desert. My idea of paradise is a ship populated with 200-3000 other fully clothed people in the middle of an ocean somewhere. Nice dichotomy. I intend to drag him on another cruise later this fall. As of yet, he has not reciprocated and dragged me to the middle of a desert.

The Soprano's ended. I can now return the digital cable box to the overpriced company and get myself a TiVo so I don't have to miss my favorite NETWORK tv shows.... well, and the food channel... and CLTV... and WGN 9 pm news... and CNN and and and... ;-)

Good heavens... it just dawned on me... I have been so overwhelmed with doing nothing, that I haven't even been to read my 2 mostest very favorite blogs in AGES!! Flau, I need a good martini recipe made with pomegranate liqueur. I can't remember if you posted one already or not. I have a giant bottle of pommy juice here and nothing to do this weekend but housework. Haven't done the Dooce in even more ages. What has happened to me?? (In my best Olympia Dukakis ala 'Moonstruck' Italian accent) SNAP OUTTA ET!! I need to read more, eat less. (burp) I really wanted Kraft Mac & Cheese for dinner. Good thing there wasn't any in the house.... 8 million points and I don't think it's core. But I sooooo love it. Weird. Chicken Chow mien instead. (yes, Kay, with white rice. but I was good all day today... only one Hershey's Kiss at breakfast.) Maybe I'll have a 1 point fudge bar tonight. Maybe not.

Enough blather. One of these days I'll tell you how I tried to turn into Elphaba at Jayne's wedding.

Joining the family tradition...

2007-06-03T20:41:00.000-05:00

Well, I did it. I joined in the family tradition (Mom's side, not Dad's) of nasal irrigation today. [hoark, gag] Yup, stuck that thing filled with lukewarm saltwater right up my nose and squeezed. [cantbreathecantbreathecantbreathe] Wow... was THAT a weird sensation. [AACCHH!!! SALT WATER IN THE BACK OF MY THROAT I'M GUNNA PUKE!!!!] Like my head was filling up. [ok, I can breathe, I am not going to puke, but I'm getting the willies] And then... IT RAN OUT THE OTHER SIDE!! Just like it did on television! And in all those pictures on the internet (home of all true knowledge and fact). And (insert giant bugs-crawling-on-skin shiver here), well, it wasn't so bad. Sort of. So I did the other side. [mouth open, just breathe in and out] It was okay, I guess. Not sure what I expected. Miraculous clear-headedness? See-thru nasal passages? And where exactly does all that water go? Just around the turbinates or does some of it creep into the frontal sinuses and wash them out too? Questions, questions. If I could be assurred that I was washing out all 4 sinuses with this I would feel a lot 'cleaner' I think. Hmmm... questions for the doc when I see her again.

Thanks, Kay... I think... She and I watched a few minutes of Dr. Oz on Oprah last weekend and some audience member was doing a live demo of the Neti Pot. (Gul-durn-it Mabel, right there in front of everybody.) We had a brief discussion and she was sure that one relative we have was an active participant and that Grandpa did it. (Gramps had well known sinus problems. Forgot to ask Mom if she was Neti Potting.) Didn't give it much thought other than, "That looks gross", but after waking up the last 2 nights with my nose plugged, and not being able to breathe and squirting Afrin up the nostrils at 4 am, I went to the store and procured a nasal lavage device.

It's not as cute as a neti pot, but it seems to do the trick. Will be interesting to see how I do tonight. Although I am thinking I will hedge my bets and do some sudafed at bedtime to ensure a breathe easy sleep.

Side effects seem to be limited to a feeling of fullness in my ears for some time after the lavage.

On the up side, it's been 5 hours now and my nose is remarkably clear. Will see how it goes.

Ta-ta for now.... I must go and sniff some new smells with my clean nose!

More painting

2007-05-27T16:07:00.001-05:00

Waiting for paint to dry... sooooo fun........ sooooo fuuuuuunnnn..... zzzzzz

Weekends 'r us...

2007-05-27T15:44:00.001-05:00

And a fine Memorial Day weekend to ya'll!

Such a lot of time has passed..... let's see... work is going well... the 10th-13th was taken up by my bestest friends wedding... what a hoot that was... more later.... last weekend Chuck and I took an impromptu trip to Dayton OH for HamFest... or geek fest as a number of friends and family members have called it.... this weekend is at Kay's house for bathroom remodeling and spray painting the truck... all in all, not a bad month.... but... time to spray the truck more.... later...

Huh?

2007-05-03T17:22:00.000-05:00

Whadda'ya mean it's been a month since I wrote last?? Couldin'na been.... could it?

Sheesh... I didn't realize it had been so long.... amazing how real life gets in the way of funner thingies, isn't it?

Like today at work.... one of the girlz and I were busy comparing pics of my maternal uncle and his oldest offspring... looking for similarities.... good news! Meg says my uncle is a handsome man!

Other busy work has involved working afternoon shift for the better part of March and early April for the release of a new computer program at work... it's up and running... and breaking... and running... and breaking.... am glad I am not on that treadmill!!

Am now involved in 2 projects at work.... helping the OB department get computerized documentation... and introducing Project Management Methodology to my very own IT department.... Have I told you lately how much I love love love my new job??? I got excellent reviews on my OB proposal today from my mentor (novel concept, having a mentor... didn't have that or anything resembling it at the old job)... she liked that it was vendor-neutral (an intentional move by me... I don't think the 'party's' brand is going to fit the needs of the department.... I want to look closely at another vendor....) and she forwarded it to our director for review!!!! YIPPEE!!!!!!

My sidekick, TPT, is, as usual, sitting around doing nothing... today she called in sick... the boss and #2 co-worker are both off next week so the 2 of us that are left are taking bets on how many days she is late, starts the day at the hospital and fails to punch in, or just doesn't show up because she is "sick" (i.e.-I stayed out too late playing darts last night and drank too much beer). (Yes, I will be going to hell for those remarks... but, I will be in the company of the people I really really like... hee hee hee...Or, I can take a page from bestest boyfriends book... he doesn't believe in anything.... once you die, you are dead.)

Speaking of... BB is here to whisk me away for dinner... tata....

Best Practices

2007-04-11T20:48:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the simplest actions yield the biggest rewards...

This was Chicago and the 'burbs this morning....

I wore my boots to work today. I actually turned around at the parking lot door and went back to my apartment to put them on.

3 inches and counting....

It was the best decision I made all day.