A PRECIOUS, mouldering pleasure ’t is

To meet an antique book,
In just the dress his century wore;
A privilege, I think,

His venerable hand to take,
And warming in our own,
A passage back, or two, to make
To times when he was young.

His quaint opinions to inspect,
His knowledge to unfold
On what concerns our mutual mind,
The literature of old;

What interested scholars most,
What competitions ran
When Plato was a certainty,
And Sophocles a man;

When Sappho was a living girl,
And Beatrice wore
The gown that Dante deified.
Facts, centuries before,

He traverses familiar,
As one should come to town
And tell you all your dreams were true:
He lived where dreams were born.

His presence is enchantment,
You beg him not to go;
Old volumes shake their vellum heads
And tantalize, just so.

~ Emily Dickinson

The Things I do...

...for my dog

Like leaving a nice, cozy, warm office to go buy meat for her home-cooked meals. I could have used meat I have in the fridge for myself, but noooooo. I know that makes her asthma/bronchitis worse, so I went out in this lovely 7*F weather to go grocery shopping for the dog.

....out of my own stupidity

So I've been trying to track down this missing Debit card transaction for about a month now. My bank says it hasn't cleared, and isn't even showing up at Vis.a. It's only for $11.37 (according to what I wrote in my checkbook ledger, no receipt in sight until this past weekend.) They usually clear the same day. My bank gave me some bizarre story about the grocery store having 30 days to report (?) the transaction...Ummm....hello? Isn't a Debit charge immediate? I thought that was the whole point of electronic transactions?

Well, in my belated spring cleaning this past weekend, I actually found the receipt. (In the bin where I keep the potatoes, but that's beside the point.) Took it to the grocery store today since they couldn't research it earlier without the receipt. Met with the bookkeeper, who looks at my receipt for a few minutes, then looks at me and says "Honey, this is for a cash transaction. You didn't use your debit card for this." DUH.

Apparently I'm so paranoid about forgetting to deduct debit transactions from my check book balance, I'm now subtracting cash payments.

It's the blond highlights. Really. (That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.)

Snow and Girl Scout Cookies

Can this day get any better?

We've gotten several more inches of the white stuff overnight. Temps got up to the mid-40's F yesterday. So I was outside knocking the ice out of the one rain gutter on the house...not so much to "save" the rain gutter itself, but to keep the ice from backing up onto the roof and doing damage. I'm planning (hopefully) to put new rain gutters on the house this spring. It was 41*F when I went to bed at 10pm...woke up to -6*F. Yes, that's a negative sign in front of the six. [g] I'm so twisted I'm loving this. :) Although the white-out conditions on the way to work weren't so fun...at least it was only between EH and H, where it's wide-open fields, etc.

And then someone from the office next door finally came over with the Girl Scout Cookie order form. I went over there 2 weeks ago asking if anyone came in selling those cookies, to send them our way. That kid hit the jackpot in our office. I never had such a hard time finding a Girl Scout to buy cookies from until I moved here. Anyway. My order is in.

Had fun this weekend at the Big Brothers Big Sisters annual "Bowl for Kids' Sake" fundraiser. Michelle (my little's mom) bowled for her part-time job Macy's. I helped her fund raise and between the two of us we raised $383.00. Even better, Macy's is going to match it! So that comes to $766 just from the two of us!!! The shift Michelle bowled on (each shift is 1.5 hours) raised $6700.00. How cool is that? And that was just one shift on Saturday! There were 8 shifts over 2 days.

Saturday afternoon, before the bowling, I did the library thing with my little sister and her older sister. We go at least twice a month now. It's fun, although getting Shanni to browse for books is hard. Afterward we went to my house. On the way, we picked up my mail. I was all excited because I got the first disc of the 2006 "Jane Eyre" adaptation from Netflix. Which prompted the following conversation...

Me: (waving red envelope in the air) Yay! Jane Eyre disc one is here!
S: What's the movie?
Me: Jane Eyre (handing mail to KT in front seat next to me)
KT: Cool. What movie did you get?
Me: JANE EYRE!

After a few seconds of silence we all started laughing. It was funny, but probably one of those you-had-to-be-there moments. Neither of them had heard of Jane Eyre (oh, the horror!). Well, I fixed that! They actually wanted to watch it. So I put it in. There was about 20 minutes left on the first disc when we had to leave. Shanni did not want to leave. She really wanted to finish the movie. And boy, was she bummed when I told here there was another 2 hours to go! She kept pestering me to tell her how the story turns out. "What does the gypsy tell Jane", "Who's up in the tower?", "What happens next?" [g] Next Saturday we're finishing the movie.

It's great to have another convert. :)

Snow and Girl Scout Cookies

Can this day get any better? We've gotten several more inches of the white stuff overnight. Temps got up to the mid-40's F yesterday. So I was outside knocking the ice out of the one rain gutter on the house...not so much to "save" the rain gutter itself, but to keep the ice from backing up onto the roof and doing damage. I'm planning (hopefully) to put new rain gutters on the house this spring. It was 41*F when I went to bed at 10pm...woke up to -6*F. Yes, that's a negative sign in front of the six. [g] I'm so twisted I'm loving this. :) Although the white-out conditions on the way to work weren't so fun...at least it was only between EH and H, where it's wide-open fields, etc. And then someone from the office next door finally came over with the Girl Scout Cookie order form. I went over there 2 weeks ago asking if anyone came in selling those cookies, to send them our way. That kid hit the jackpot in our office. I never had such a hard time finding a Girl Scout to buy cookies from until I moved here. Anyway. My order is in. Had fun this weekend at the Big Brothers Big Sisters annual "Bowl for Kids' Sake" fundraiser. Michelle (my little's mom) bowled for her part-time job Macy's. I helped her fund raise and between the two of us we raised $383.00. Even better, Macy's is going to match it! So that comes to $766 just from the two of us!!! The shift Michelle bowled on (each shift is 1.5 hours) raised $6700.00. How cool is that? And that was just one shift on Saturday! There were 8 shifts over 2 days. Saturday afternoon, before the bowling, I did the library thing with my little sister and her older sister. We go at least twice a month now. It's fun, although getting Shanni to browse for books is hard. Afterward we went to my house. On the way, we picked up my mail. I was all excited because I got the first disc of the 2006 "Jane Eyre" adaptation from Netflix. Which prompted the following conversation... Me: (waving red envelope in the air) Yay! Jane Eyre disc one is here! S: What's the movie? Me: Jane Eyre (handing mail to KT in front seat next to me) KT: Cool. What movie did you get? Me: JANE EYRE! After a few seconds of silence we all started laughing. It was funny, but probably one of those you-had-to-be-there moments. Neither of them had heard of Jane Eyre (oh, the horror!). Well, I fixed that! They actually wanted to watch it. So I put it in. There was about 20 minutes left on the first disc when we had to leave. Shanni did not want to leave. She really wanted to finish the movie. And boy, was she bummed when I told here there was another 2 hours to go! She kept pestering me to tell her how the story turns out. "What does the gypsy tell Jane", "Who's up in the tower?", "What happens next?" [g] Next Saturday we're finishing the movie. It's great to have another convert. :)

Presents to Myself

Last night, after sorting through the "joy" that was my mail (see post below), and after eating dinner, I decided to brave the upstairs to unearth some of my old books.

Now, it's been really, really cold here lately. As in below zero most of the day, and definitely at night. I have the heat turned off upstairs, and heavy curtains blocking the base of the stairway. They sure keep the heat contained downstairs! It was cold up there.

Debated going back downstairs for gloves, but once I drug out a box and started pulling the books out...I quite forgot my hands were so cold! It was like hitting the lottery or something. Lots of "OH, I forgot I had that one!" and "Oh, I love this book." Squeals of delight, even.

Ended up taking a stack of about ten books downstairs. Then I dove into an autobiography of Anne Morrow Lindbergh I forgot I had. I got it just before I moved into my house in May 2006. I've never unpacked my boxes of books, because the upstairs, where they're going to be stored, isn't "ready" yet. (Carpets pulled, floors sanded/painted. One room is mid-point; carpets are pulled and icky stuff mostly scraped off.) Spent several hours reading, and had to make myself go to bed on time. [g]

Aside: If you've never read any of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's writing, you should. She writes in such a lyrical, almost hypnotic, manner about her travels with Charles Lindbergh. Did you know she was his navigator for many of his flights after they married? Pretty cool. My favorite is Listen! the Wind. Written in the years after her first child was murdered, it is pretty haunting. Especially when you know how much she equated the wind blowing to the night her son was taken & killed. North to the Orient is good too!

I highly recommend packing your favorites away for awhile and forgetting they are there. Then, when you unearth them at a later date, you're in for such fun and excitement! Oh, the joy of presents to myself!

Note to Homeowners

REVIEW YOUR ESCROW ACCOUNT STATEMENT CLOSELY.

I received mine last night, and after reviewing it, here's what I found:

1) For the coming year, my bank increased my mortgage by $4/mo because I dropped below the 'cushion' one month this past year. I expected that as my insurance increased due to the remodels I've done. That's okay. It's not that huge an increase.

2) But then they project that for this coming year I'll be an additional several hundred short by the end of the year. So they increased the payment by another $14/month until March 2009.

Now, match isn't my best subject, but I was sitting there going WTF? The only reason I dipped below the "cushion" was because my insurance went up. They used all the same insurance & tax numbers for next year's projections, with an increased amount going into my escrow account each month. So how in the world, based on my current payments, am I going to be short by the end of the year? Here's how:

When calculating actual payments for this year, they did not include the final 2 months escrow payments. Which totally makes up for their predicted "shortage". So now on Monday I have to waste my lunch at the bank to get this sorted out. It's not like I can't do the extra $18/month for a year. I can. But it's the principle of the thing, you know? Do your damn accounting right from the start, thank you. And you better damn well account for every single dime I give you, 'cause I'm gonna catch it. ;)

Okay. Crankiness gone. :)

Reading slumps, exercise slumps, slump, slump, slump...

Ya know, if you say/write that enough it loses meaning; is awkward to say. Almost like a word you've just made up.

A "we never discuss books/characters" anymore post on the BB got me to wondering why we don't talk books as much. Truly, when I first started haunting the BB in 2001, it was mostly about Suz' books. Is it that the people on the board have changed that much? Or that it's a bunch of new/different people?

Somehow I think it's more because we all have such varied interests, and because the board has evolved from just a place to talk about Suz' books. It's become more of a community of people that love of books brought together. And then again, we've discussed Suz' books to death. Really, we have. I've never met a group of book-a-holics that could analyze an author's writings down to the smallest detail like these ladies can! It's cool, really. But there's nothing new on the horizon to get us all worked up or excited.

Which got me to thinking about how that's true for me in regard to reading, period. "Agnes and the Hitman" is the most enjoyable book I've read in a long time. And even that took me two weeks after checking it out of the library to even start, and a week to actually read. I liked it, it was entertaining, a fun, light read. But now what?

It doesn't seem to matter what type of book I pick up. Nothing captures my interest for long, or sucks me into the story, or sticks with me for days, or wends its way into my dreams. The last books that did that were the ones by Elizabeth Vaughan. It's been a year since the last one in that trilogy came out, and I dreamt about them the other night!

Maybe I need to go back and revisit some of those classic books that fostered my love of reading. I haven't read Wuthering Heights in years and years. Not since I was in Paraguay. I loved that book...used to read it at least once a year. And was actually finding the second half of the book, the part after Cathy & Heathcliff, was better than the first. (Probably because there's a "happy-ever-after" to it!) I've also been wanting to read "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" by Anne Bronte. It's been sitting on my bookshelf for years. Then there's "The Blue Castle" by L.M. Montgomery, and "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte.

Yeah, maybe that's what I need to do. Revisit some of the classics I haven't read in years.

And now I just need a swift kick in the butt to get me exercising again. (P Smith - if you're reading this - I lost your email address! That's why I haven't been emailing you lately. I hope you're doing better than I am at the whole REVing it up thing. )

Bowl for Kids' Sake

My Little Sister's mom is bowling this year in the annual Big Brothers/Big Sisters Bowl for Kids' Sake fundraiser and we're a bit shy of our goal. Use the link to our donation page or click on the widget below:

"Why?" Day for January 2008

Sitrep: Nothing. Unless snow shoveling counts? Did about 5 minutes after work.

- Why do people wash their dishes but leave their dirty forks & knives in the sink?

- Why, when the arctic cold front hits, do people spend the weekend goofing off instead of bringing enough wood into the house to last for several days, especially when it's their ONLY source of heat, and their wood stove will only hold a fire for 4 hours?

- Why do they then take a day off work to haul wood, and expect everyone to feel sorry for them because they have to use a vacation day to do so? [Heloooo. They had Saturday & Sunday to stock up.]

- Why do people that have 4wd vehicles think this means they can cut everyone else off when the roads are icy/snowy? [FYI - Just because you have 4wd, does not mean I have 4wd. Just some food for thought.]

- Why do I like such cold temps when my car doesn't?

- Why do organize myself so well I can't figure out where I stored my ski gloves after last winter?

- Why do I keep adding to my "House Project List" when I haven't gotten anything done since the living room over a year ago?

Negative Numbers

Shouldn't be a good thing. But ya know, sometimes they are. I'm loving the current cold temps we're finally seeing. It was -20*F this morning when I got up to get ready for work. Yes, that's the actual temp, not the windchill. The wind died down a bit, so the windchill equaled the air temp for awhile, anyway.

We got about 9 inches of snow between Friday and Sunday morning. Most of it Saturday evening & overnight. Spent about 40 minutes shoveling snow yesterday morning, and another 30 minutes in the afternoon helping my neighbor dig out her car. The snow plow came down our road and completely blocked all the cars in. Nice of them, no? It was fairly deep in the back where I park in the garage, but I was able to get my car out, up to the main road, and then back again. Much more snow and I won't be able to. I'm seriously thinking my tax refund (if there's enough) should go toward a snowblower. It would make life a little simpler, I think. Or maybe I should hire someone with a snow shovel on the front of their truck to come clear my drive...I'll have to think about that one.

Books...I haven't talked about books much lately. Read a fun one last week "Agnes and the Hitman" by Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer. It's their second book together, and I enjoyed it more than the first. It was pretty funny. Quirky & unusual. I'm not sure how I feel about liking a hero that really was a hitman. The heroine and her anger issues was fresh. Normally the heroine is so "perfect". I could totally relate to the anger thing...I've had probs with that in the past. Not to the degree the heroine did. But I found her mental conversations with herself hilarious. Normally I don't like small southern towns with tons of quirky characters, but somehow they pulled this one off. I'd recommend it for a fun, light read.

I'm currently reading "Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker. It's interesting. But he's very wordy. I wish he'd cut a lot out and get to the point more. Feels like every other page is a new acronym of stages/signs, etc. Very good info, just hard for me to read and stay focused on.

Other than that, not much else going on. Oh. The ruling party in Paraguay has actually nominated a female to run for President. Who'd a thunk it? ;)

I'm trying to ignore the US political races going on. I'm tired of the endless debates over nothing, and whether or not I should vote for someone based on their race, sex or religion. At this point, I'd rather vote for a Martian...

A Bird in a Pocket

Sitrep: 1 migraine, 0 workouts

Last night I had a very interesting dream. Very vivid, like usual. I was someplace outside the United States, possibly a Peace Corps type of deal. In my dream I was walking across a very large, bustling city. Very much like those I visited in South America. I was carrying a bird and a dog. Or was it a cat? Something along those lines. The bird was little; I could just hold it in one hand. It was almost like a Bluebird, but somewhat like a parakeet. The dog/cat was little, kitten or puppy size, but awkward to carry. The bird was hard to hold onto, and the dog/cat too heavy to hold with just one arm. I didn't dare put the dog/cat on a leash because of all the people. Or I didn't have a leash. Not sure which. I was desperately searching for something to put them in so I could carry them home more easily.

I wound up at some type of store that had tons of used boxes. The shop owner and her son tried to help me find a box, but they were all too shallow for the dog/cat. Then the shop owner's son handed me a plastic case with a zipper opening and holes poked in the sides. "Try this," he said to me. (It was almost like one of those makeup/toiletry bags.) I opened it and laid the bird and the dog/cat in there. Amazingly the dog/cat is now small enough to fit in there. But the little bird does not like it when I go to zip it up, and it's beak pierces through the plastic and hooks into my hand or finger. Almost like a fish hook, deep. I gently pry the bird loose and take them both out of the bag and continue on my way.

I think my brother and sister were mixed in here somewhere, but can't remember too much. Only part I remember is teasing my brother that my sister was artificially inseminated 7 years ago, and that's where my niece came from. I think my SIL smacked me on the head for being mean to my brother at this point.

[Except in real life, my niece is 4 and there is NO doubt my BIL is her father. He & my sis have been together at least 11 years now? And my niece resembles her Dad quite a bit. Red hair, anyone? She definitely gets that from my BIL. But I digress, and really, that was just a blip in the dream as I needed to find something for the bird and dog/cat to travel in.]

Next part I remember, I'm at or approaching my apartment, and run into someone I know. They are sympathetic and suggest I go to a nearby Kmart type store. I've already been there, but agree to go anyway. I put the little bird in my pants pocket, with one hand gently covering the opening to keep it safely stowed, without hurting it. We get to the store and now there's a new row, tucked behind/to the side of the regular pet stuff, and I start to recall having seen those airline approved travel crates there before. Lo and behold, I find one for the dog/cat. The bird is more difficult. There are some cages, one pretty bizarre looking one with a bottom corner bent in. But I can't tell if they're airline approved for travel.

I'm still trying to keep the bird in my pocket, and look through the cages. (The dog/cat is safely stowed in it's crate by now.) My friends and the store workers aren't much help, they start asking me about the papers for the animals. Have I gotten the papers and approval to take them out of the country? I'm still frantically asking them which bird cage is travel-approved by the airlines. Now I realize I haven't gotten the papers and am leaving in two days.

[FYI, it took several weeks for the paperwork to bring my dog back from Paraguay to come through]

Last thing I remember about the dream is being near tears, unable to find a cage for the bird, trying to keep it safe in my pocket, and not knowing if I can bring it home with me.

Then my alarm went off. I am not sure what in the heck this dream means. Very, very, weird. Where the heck did the bird come from? I never dream about birds. I can't even remember dreaming about birds before, except for one dream where I was a hawk/falcon size bird and flying. Actually, I transformed from human to bird to human...That dream was years ago (literally) and I still remember many, many details, more than just that.

Anyway. I can't shake the feeling I had at the end of the dream.

Pictures and Words

Sitrep (last week): 1x Boot Camp, 1x Boot Camp (20 mins), 1x Legs
Weekly goals: 2x Boot Camp (entire workout), 3x Abs

Do you ever do those exercises where you close your eyes and try to picture something? An item, a person, a place? I'm talking about just seeing it. No words, just the image. I used to be decent enough at this, but over the last years I've noticed that it's harder and harder to do. I need words to describe, to build that image. I can't just see it.

I wonder if that's because I've always been a reader? I prefer books to movies, although I partake of my fair share of both. It's rather bizarre because I dream so vividly. And it's all about images and sound. I don't need words to create the dreams. And many of my dreams are "entertaining". It's like I'm creating books/movies in my mind. There are plots and everything. A lot of those types of dreams I enjoy. I've had three of them in the last week and a half, which is why this comes up.

Last night's was great, what little I can remember. Weird, no doubt based on my current reading/watching schedule, but good. Kind of Elizabeth Vaughan (Warprize, Warsworn, & Warlord - my favorite discovery last year) meets Jane Austen. (Watched the latest adaptation of "Persuasion" on Masterpiece Theater last night. It didn't do the book justice. When it ended at 1 1/2 hours, I was surprised. I hope "Northanger Abbey" next week is better!)

So it seems in my unconscious state I'm plenty good at creating images. But in my conscious state words get in the way. (I can see my brother shaking his head at this. He's thinking "Duh.", I'm sure. He always did hate my tendency to be "wordy". Probably because I use them as a shield a lot of the time!) One time, I even remember the credits rolling at the end of the dream. It still makes me laugh to think about it. I actually woke myself up laughing that time!

I wonder if tonight's dreams will be as fun. Medium is on TV tonight. Along with a new Jon & Kate plus 8. Along with my rewatches of Law & Order and History Channel/CourtTV (aka TruTV) fare, I'm surprised I sleep at all.

Here's what I'm reading right now:

1) The Gift of Fear by Gaving de Becker
2) Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer
3) The Circle Within by Dianne Sylvan
4) Movable Harvests: Fruits, Vegetables, Berries: The Simplicity of Container Gardens by Chuck & Barbara Crandall
5) Best Garden Plants for Montana by Bob Gough, et al.

Sing or Whine

Sitrep: 1x Boot Camp (all of it! except last cover drill)

Every once in awhile I read something that hits home. Something that makes me stop and think or see more clearly or clarifies something or reminds me of what I already know. Last night was one of those nights, so I thought I'd share the passages here. It's from "The Circle Within" by Dianne Sylvan.

"On the outside we 'do unto others,' but on the inside there's a patchwork quilt of self-abnegation, societal stereotypes, the opinions of others, and every mean thing anyone has ever said to us eating away at our spirits while we smile at the world.

Far more important than the way others see us is how we see ourselves. The gods do not judge us, but we manage to do so quite well on our own, heaping self-loathing on ourselves that we would never direct toward others. Sometimes we are kinder to our enemies. We are taught from an early age, and by example, to be casually cruel to ourselves: 'I'm so fat,' 'I'm such an idiot,' 'I must be the ugliest person on Earth.' When you find yourself cursing the mirror, stop and think: would you walk up to a total stranger and say, 'My god, man, who hit you with the ugly stick?' If you would, put this book down and seek help.

If not, ask yourself why a complete stranger deserves compassion and you don't." (pg 44)

"The important thing isn't so much that s*&% happens, the important thing is what we do with the s*&% afterward. We can choose to remain victims, to act out of vengeance, or to curl up in a ball and hide, or we can choose to stand up and grow. No one can decide how tragedy will affect us but us. Sing or whine, it's our decision." (pgs 45-46)

Things I've Learned in 2008

Sitrep: Zero. Again. Sigh. No excuses. I just didn't work out last night.

So it's the eighth day of 2008 and already I've learned a few "lessons" (or had a few revelations.)

1. If you delete something from the system, people will notice. Eventually. (Learned by observation, not by doing. I'm not stupid enough to delete anything.)

2. A coat of nail polish applied on top of an already existing coat of nail polish will work as nail polish remover. But only once you've left the house.

3. TV shows about hauntings are best avoided when you're me. Especially when they're about dogs being killed. Just saying.

4. Every year I have a "one-night stand" with the doctor. Ever think about that? Your breasts get felt up, something's inserted & swished around in your va-jay-jay (cracks me up to say that.[g])...Only difference is you get no pleasure out of this one-"night" stand. You also don't get dinner first, and you eventually get a bill. What is up with that???

5. I now reach for healthy snacks when moderately stressed: Got stressed at work this morning (I really wish coworkers would leave me alone) and thought "OMG, I really need something sweet." And in response to that thought I got a yogurt out of the fridge.

Well. Better get back to work now. Gotta earn my paycheck somehow. ;)

Mental Tornado

Sitrep: 1x Boot Camp (~45 min), 1x Boot Camp (30 min)

Goals for January 7-13:

1. Monday - Boot Camp (at least 30 min)
2. Tuesday - Abs
3. Wednesday - Boot Camp
4. Thursday - Abs
5. Friday - Boot Camp
6. Saturday - at least 30 minutes of any activity that gets me moving, with my little sister
7. Sunday - at least 30 minutes of any activity that gets me moving

I can't believe I'm scheduling myself to do Boot Camp three times this week. Insane. But I'm enjoying it, so, why stop a good thing? It's making me work harder than I have been.

So I feel like I'm in a mental tornado this morning. A gazillion thoughts zooming around in my head. I had an idea at some point on what I wanted to blog about, but, alas, it is gone. I had a good title and everything. Ya know, sometimes I think I'm getting early alzheimers. [sigh]

Maybe it's just the fumes from cleaning house yesterday. Did one of those semi-annual bathroom cleanings. The kind where you bleach the tub, etc. Got a new shower curtain liner, because, really, the one I had was no longer cleanable. I think if I'd dipped it in bleach one more time it would have disintegrated. Sorry if this is TMI, but it was getting to the point even I didn't want to step into the shower. [Mom, if you're reading this, it's just a nightmare, go back to sleep.]

Getting irritated by my bathroom sink. Used almost a whole 80oz Liquid Drain Gel bottle on it, various times throughout the day, and the darn thing won't stay unclogged. I'm gonna have to take the sink apart, damnit, because the drain plug is "attached" and can't be pulled out. Sometimes I hate my hair. [Sigh]

And then my brain is off on politics, what with the primaries being so prevalent in the news. Am I the only one that thinks we should have a national primary? Everyone votes on the same day, only one vote per person. The candidate for each party (including independents) with the most votes gets to run for president. That way the media can't do what they've done in this election cycle: decide who are the top candidates and focus all media attention on them. Drives me nuts. Because they limit the free coverage to just those people, which in my mind is an unfair advantage! I also don't like the fact that the current primary system lets a handful of states determine who actually runs for president, and the electoral system then lets a handful of states determine who becomes president. And yes, I even felt this way when I lived in FL, a state that plays a big role.

Off on another tangent (life is so much better when I don't watch the news in the morning): What the heck is up with this new book by Morton on Tom Cruise? I have to ask myself - If we were to substitute Christianity for Scientology, would it be such a big deal? Seems to me that heavy involvement in your church is a good thing. So what if it's Scientology? I don't remember Cruise being on the news lately for drunk driving or drugs or spousal abuse or incest or...Being very involved in your church is always praised as such a good thing for Christians. Drives me nuts.

Get a grip, get a life, move on Nat!!!!

At work this morning they announced who is taking over when the boss retires. Looks like the new CEO will start on Feb 1, with the current CEO staying through the end of February. I'm so bummed. I know the new CEO, we all do, he's a previous president of our board, we've worked with him a lot in the past on various issues/projects. He's very qualified for the position, he's a very nice guy. I'm just not sure what kind of boss he'll be. It's also gonna be sad to see RM go, and then there's that whole "change" thing. I hate that. I deal okay, am pretty flexible, just makes me uneasy.

So I'm gonna focus on the good things. :) Got some good cleaning/organizing done this weekend. Talked quite awhile with my SIL Friday after work. Still miss them a lot. Especially how much we laughed together. It snowed Saturday while I was at Costco with Shanni. 20 minutes in the store and we exit to a whiteout. Sweet. It blew over within 10 minutes leaving little on the ground. But it was snow! :) Did Boot Camp several times last week although last night it was only 30 mins. Got too overheated I think. Because I really pushed myself on those cover drills. Did I ever mention that I hate cover drills?

Oh, which reminds me, is anyone out there the least little bit worried that Alden's teaching me how to kick a door in?

Ah, the joys of being an adult

Sitrep: 1x Boot Camp (~45 min), 1x Abs Essentials #2

When the cat's away, the mice will play.

That's how I feel about some of the "goings on" while I was on vacation. Apparently a local Sand & Gravel company applied for a permit to begin a new gravel pit about a mile or so from my house. Smack dab in the middle of my town, really, on 111.5 acres. EH is probably 95% residential as it's just a sleeper community for H. Nice of them to try to run this through during the holidays, isn't it? I just got wind of it yesterday afternoon.

So last night I ended up at a local community meeting to inform everyone about the issue. Now, I can normally be found on the side of environmental protection, and private property rights, and yes, the two can work together. I'm also practical and understand that these kinds of projects have got to go somewhere. With the proper forethought and protections in place, I could be okay with this particular project. Except for a few things:

1. The Environmental Assessment provided has very little data to backup the "minimal" impact they claim they will have
   
   
2. This will not increase the tax base as they will be closing down their other gravel pit that is pretty much played out
   
   
3. They've used one months worth of data to determine the water level, and want to mine to within 5 feet of that.
   
   
4. We are already a designated Super Fund site with much cleanup of soil and water going on. They've supposedly done two 4-pt tests on 111.5 acres to determine that it is not contaminated. WTF? When the majority of plots around this property have had to have their yards replaced?
   
   
5. There's a loophole they can use to avoid having to apply for a water permit - means no study whatsover of the impact the 24/7 operations will have on our aquifer level and existing wells. An area already having problems. Heck, the whole valley is having water issues.
   
   
6. Their existing operations have had multiple violations for non-compliance with dust control, noise, air quality, etc.
   
   
7. Main access road is already below county standards for existing amount of traffic. The county keeps denying residential subdivisions because of this, even when the developers will pay half the cost of repairs/improvements to the road. The county requires an engineering report and cost estimate. This EA has none of that, and they say the estimated minimum 76 trucks per day (no mention of # of trips per truck) is a "slight" increase.
   
   
8. It's next to several elementary schools, how about air quality of the kids breathing in the dust daily, dust which may well be contaminated with lead, arsenic and cadmium?
   
   
9. Reclamation portion of the EA is sketchy at best.

See, I could go on and on...So I've done my dutiful, voting, property-owner bit and put in my comments to the Dept of Environmental Quality (the comment period ends today!), talked to my local representatives and county commissioners (who were at the meeting last night, too.) I'm not totally against the project, I just think they need to do a proper environmental assessment. I've read the EA myself, there is very little factual/statistical data in it. From what I hear and read in news articles (thank goodness for the internet!) this is not a very good EA done by the DEQ. Even engineers who do these things for the DEQ are saying so. It's like they just checked things off the list, not expecting there'd be opposition.

The sand & gravel company purchased this land in 2001, and have not posted any signs saying they were going to mine it or anything. They have another parcel of land just a bit further north of this one, where they have had a sign posted for fifteen years saying they were going to mine there, and they've already gotten the permits. The housing developments in that area were put in after that.

So why the rush? Because the area is about to be zoned by the county as residential, that's why. If they get at least one of the permits they need prior to that, they will be grandfathered in and able to develop the pit and processing plants in this area.

I have little hopes they'll do another EA or an environmental impact statement, or deny the permit. So it looks like I'll be breathing dust by year's end. Just what my allergies needed. Sigh. And this will most likely not help my property value. Who wants to live that close to a 24/7 mining operation?

Here Come Nat's Nails

Sitrep: 1x Boot Camp (~45 mins)
Due Tonight: Abs

I had a nice evening yesterday. Got home and ate dinner. Postponed boot camp 'cause I was waaaay too hungry. Forgot to take my snacks to work with me. Ooops. Then, since I had to wait a few hours before working out, I decided to paint my finger nails. Yep. You read that right. I painted my finger nails. Turns out the nail polish I got for Xmas appears to be a light pink in the bottle, but on my fingers it's actually a deep, bright pink. They're very, ummm, "here come Nat's nails" today. [g] But I haven't chewed them a single time this morning. That's why I painted them. I'm hopeful that if they are pretty looking, it will help me not chew them down to the nub.

So two of my shows are back on the air - "Wife Swap" and "Super Nanny". Not sure if I should own up to watching the first one. I have no idea why I do. Maybe to reinforce my life choices? To go "See, it really is NOT greener on the other side of the fence." Or maybe it's just because I like to see people argue...it totally caters to my bad side. There were actually two episodes of "Super Nanny". The one I wanted to watch was the second one. Figured it out about 10 minutes into the first one at 8.

So I quickly started Boot Camp. I did 30 minutes of it, up to the third set of push ups, before I started skipping. Of course, by 20 minutes into it I was starting to struggle. Made myself continue on to the first set of floor exercises. Can I just say that I'm actually getting the hang of those kicks? If I keep this up, I might just be able to kick down a door someday. If I needed to. IF it was hollow. And not metal. Anyway. I fast-forwarded the rest of the standing/cardio exercises and just did the remaining abs work and cool-down/stretches. Got done right as the second episode was starting.

Naturally, this is when a friend called to chat. I took the call since we hadn't chatted in awhile, and TV episodes do rerun eventually. :) I was sitting on the floor (hadn't made it to my feet yet) and the nail polish was at eye-level on the coffee table. So I got this wild hair and decided to paint my toe nails to match my finger nails. Yep. You read that right, too. I painted my toe nails.

FYI - it's not easy to paint your nails right after doing Boot Camp. It was a little difficult to control where the polish went because my arms were trembling. LOL. If you're gonna do this, make sure you have lots of nail polish remover. Which I don't. Since it's a "girl" item. Which reminds me. Is there a master shopping list somewhere for "Being A Girl"? Because really. I'm sure there are plenty of other things I need but just don't know about. Yet.

Hello, 2008

Sitrep: 1x Bootcamp.
Weekly Goal: 1x Bootcamp (tonight), 2x Abs #2, 1x Cardio

Who the heck stole the last five days? Yikes. I was going to blog on Friday, just to report in that yes, I was able to get out of bed after doing Bootcamp on Thursday. Surprisingly, I didn't hurt as much as I expected. I guess the previous year's worth of exercise does make a difference.

One thing I did notice was that a different set of muscles was "aching" after Bootcamp. I was wondering if it worked anything different since most of the moves are the same as the Essentials DVD (if you did all 4 workouts back-to-back and amped it up. A Lot.) Well, it does. I enjoyed it and am looking forward (no, I'm not running a fever!) to incorporating it into my routine. So here's what my weekly goal is for this week. I'm not going to bother about Monday & Tuesday as they are long gone...

Wednesday: Bootcamp
Thursday: Abs
Friday: Cardio
Saturday: Abs
Sunday: Free Day - 30 mins of any activity of my choosing. [Excluding PS2 & TV]

Alden has a great post on his blog about Resolutions. He limits himself to three. Funnily enough, I started out thinking to limit myself to one resolution only. But broadened it to three before I'd even read his New Year's Day post. It's not quite in the three areas he's talking about, but here they are:

1. Stop Chewing My Nails.

Yes, I'm 34 and chew my nails. Sigh. But having gotten some nail polish for Xmas (well, I did ask for Girl Stuff) I guess I really need to have nails to polish. I've done this before, believe it or not. The final year in Paraguay with the Peace Corps I was so mellow I didn't need to chew my nails. It was fabulous! I am going to do it again. It's a nervous habit that I can break. Heck, if I can get myself exercising like I have been for the last sixteen months, I can do this.

2. Continue with Exercise & Sensible Eating

Weekly exercise goals, swim buddies, healthy food choices, realistic portion sizes and lots of water will play a major part in this. I'm going to try something new this year. Instead of just saying how many times a week I'm going to do a certain exercise, I'm going to assign a specific day. Otherwise it's too easy to decide to do the easy workouts today, with tomorrow (ie, the hard workouts) never arriving. ;)

3. Re-start the FlyLady system at Home & Work

When I was doing this at my last rental, before buying the house a year and a half ago, it was fabulous! Things got done at home, at work...I remembered birthdays and other events, things were on time, not forgotten, less stressful. I could throw a party at my house with 3 hours notice. And most of that 3 hours spent at the store getting snacks & decorations. I am not kidding. Ah, those were the days. http://www.flylady.net/

Anyway. Those are my 3 goals for the year. Very attainable, I think.

Happy 2008 to everyone. May it be a fun year with plenty of happiness and health, and just a pinch of salt to keep the really bad stuff away!