Whirlwind Weekend

Sitrep: Nothing.
Goal (2/25-3/2): Fifteen minutes of some type of activity daily.

I'm amazed my post from last Friday is as clear as it is. I wrote it in a frenzy of thinking and while in the grip of some type of funky sinus/stress/migraine? headache...Coffee made it worse...migraine meds had no effect...ibuprofen and sudafed helped mildly...

Then I went and had my taxes done. That was fun. But at least it's done and filed, and I'm getting enough money back to pay a few bills and pre-pay for a year's worth of lawn maintenance (fertilizer & weed control) along with a core aeration, and leave me some money left over to sock away in savings. Whoo-hooo! Hopefully this year, with my witholding change in effect for a whole year instead of just half a year, I won't get as much money back. Sounds bizarre, I know, but why lend the government my money interest free? I'd rather put it in a money market account. I think I'm disciplined enough to do that now.

This weekend was crazy busy. I need a day off to recover. Saturday our soon to be retired boss had a party at his house for the staff. It was a lot of fun. I went over a few hours early to a) bathe his late wife's dog (that's a post for another day) and b) to get his new printer/scanner set up for him. Only accomplished the first before everyone else showed up. The party started around 2:30pm, and ended around 8:30 pm. It was a lot of fun, and definitely the most relaxed I've ever seen my current boss. Okay, he was pretty lit. It was hilarious. My new boss makes a pretty mean margarita. I had to stop after two. My head was starting to spin. Yes, I'm a light weight...But everyone else even said they were strong. And, okay, I was drinking out of a large plastic cup instead of a margarita or wine glass, so I suspect I was getting more than I planned...

Our office now has a strong contingent with ties to Butte. Which explains the Margaritas. Around here, Butte is known as the party town. If there's a celebration going on, it's gonna be in Butte, and it's gonna be a week long, minimum. :) You know it's gonna be a long day when an hour into the party the (new) boss says "Call J (our accountant/HR person) and tell her since she's last to arrive, she has to stop at the liquor store on the way here and get 2 more bottles of margarita mix. And tequila." And his wife hollers from the living room, "You might want to make that 4!"

Let's just say a fun time was had by all. I was in bed by 9pm. Didn't get up until 10am.

Yesterday my little's mom & stepdad came back from Great Falls. He seems pretty chipper since the back surgery. Of course, the pain meds might have something to do with that. Although he and Michelle can definitely use the space from each other. lol. That week in one hospital room was tough, apparently. Especially the last 2 days. They had a huge blow up yesterday at their house; over a t-shirt from what I gathered. It was hard not to a) over hear, and b) laugh out loud, because it was the silliest argument I've heard in a long time. Stressed the girls a bit though, so I had them go into one of their bedrooms on the other side of the house. I'd brought some groceries with me, and made a chicken pot pie for dinner for them...it was edible, even if I do say so myself. ;) Thank you to my SIL who reminded me of this recipe when I visited them last December. I gave her the recipe originally, and then forgot about it myself...How sad. Then my little sister made chewy chocolate cookies with Reese's peanut butter chips...I "helped", mostly by eating the dough when her back was turned. Heh. Then I went home, talked to my folks, and crawled into bed.

I'm a pathetic sad sack. I have got to get exercising again. I feel better, eat better, and am just all around better when I do. My goal this week is to do fifteen minutes of activity each day. I don't care what as long I get moving.

Meee-owww

Sitrep: Sluggish beyond belief. Lack of motivation.

So. There's still a brouhaha going on the bulletin board, and today it really descended into cattiness. Sigh. Why do we have to do this to each other? I've noticed it really seems to happen with just a few posters, and I have done my fair share of wallowing in the mud with certain other posters.

It's just so hard to refrain, you know? As I said to one of my BB friends, when she called me and told me not to respond to one post (this was weeks ago, and has nothing to do with the current squabble), I really felt like replying with this:

Bad of me, I know. What can I say?

Good part of the day is that I got to have a nice little side conversation with Cranky Otter about the government's use of "In God We Trust" on official documentation. Okay, really, it was CO talking with someone else, I just got the benefit of "listening" in. It was great. Just the kind of stuff I love to talk about, but can seldom find anyone else who wants to.

It's interesting the views people have. I remember one discussion I had on the BB with someone who did not feel that there was any religious discrimination in the U.S., or that anyone not a Christian in this country is ever made to feel inferior or opressed. Really? I have. She came back with a "No You Haven't" post. Which really made my blood boil. [g] It might not seem like much, but when I get a work email from someone in an organization we do business with, and it is signed "God Bless You" and I get in trouble for having as part of my email signature "Blessed Be" or "May the Goddess Bless You". How is the one acceptable and the other not? That is a form of opression, a way of making someone feel inferior.

And I had another, brief, go round with someone on the BB this week who doesn't believe there is any opression in the U.S. (I'm thinking it's the same person as before, but am not totally sure.) I want to respond to her post, and ask her what her definition of opression is. From what I read, it seemed to me that as long as a person is free to leave the country, then they aren't opressed. I'm probably interpreting the posts wrong, but that's what I got from it. Which really - scares - me in some respects. Because if one person seriously believes this, then there are probably many more that do.

For one thing, I don't believe leaving the country is all that easy any more. At least, not legally...(her responding post seemed to me to suggest people leave illegally. Which is funny, if you think about it, because so many in this country are up in arms over those coming here illegally.) For another, there really is opression going on in this country. Just look at the struggle for gays/lesbians to have equal protections and rights under the law. To not be treated as second class citizens. Look at the prejudices and discriminations that African Americans still face. Yes, it's come a long way since the 60's. But it's still there. And until I moved West, I didn't realize the types of discrimination and prejudice faced by Native Americans. I could go on and on...

I guess I just have this sensation that's been building since 9/11 that we are on the precipiece of some really scary restrictions when it comes to our freedoms to live our lives like we have been.

I used to believe our government wouldn't harm us. That we needed more federal government than state government. Now it frightens me that the individual states' rights are more and more getting swallowed up or over-ridden by the feds.

I really don't like this uneasy, queasy feeling. I don't know. Maybe I'm just paranoid...like my friend who's stockpiling supplies for when the government collapses...

Define: Angst

Sitrep: Can you guess?

A kind of fear or anxiety; Angst is German for “fear.” It is usually applied to a deep and essentially philosophical anxiety about the world in general or personal freedom. *

Basically, that's been my kind of day today. Filled with Angst.

It started with Steve (little's stepdad) going in for his back operation this morning. Started at 8:30am, out at 1:30pm. He's now out of recovery and doing well, from the text I got from Michelle.

And continued with the BB. Ah, the joys of the BB. Sometimes I don't understand myself. Why do I read the posts when I know they're going to upset me? Why do I read the posts in potentially upsetting threads by people whose posts I know are going to upset me. It's like being in the room and watching mother and daughter have an emotional, verbal knock-down-drag-out battle. Emotionally draining. I just get so frustrated when I witness stuff like this. Someone being "attacked" because they posted a differing viewpoint. I'm sure I've done it before; I try not to as a general rule. But I'm not perfect. I just hate what I see as the typical knee-jerk reaction of isolationist Americans. (In my viewpoint, anyway). It's the type of angry reaction that's rhetoric filled, builds a wall, fosters hate.

This has been the kind of day that drives me to eat poorly...and since I happen to have several boxes of Girl Scout cookies on my desk - this is not a good thing. So in my effort to not eat a box of Thin Mints in the course of one 8 hour work day, I've devoured my finger nails. Sigh. And they were looking so pretty, too. I haven't chewed them since January 1st. That's almost 2 whole months.

Okay. So I've vented plenty on bad stuff. Now I'm going to vent on good stuff. :)

1) Got to see my little sister this morning because I drove her to school. Sshe's staying at her dad's a few blocks from my house, and her school is right by my work so she's catching a ride in to town with me.

2) I get to see my little sister every morning the rest of this week because I'm driving her to school.

3) I got to see a litter of newborn labrador puppies at lunch and got to bottle feed one of the pups. :) There's something about the smell and feel of newborn and weeks old puppies that's so relaxing. One of our vendors takes their dog to work, and she had her litter overnight. So I stopped by during lunch. There was a steady stream of people stopping by to see them. :) The Mama Dog is doing great. She had 10 puppies; her first litter! Six boys, four girls. And they are all healthy looking and very noisy. But oh, so sweet. I held a couple of them. Got to bottle feed one, as they are rotating them on/off the mother. I guess she can only feed so many at a time, so they're supplementing with formula.

4) My new boss' daughter just stopped by with their two new puppies. Chocolate brown Cocker Spaniels, 2.5 months old.

Ahhh. Now that's the way to end a day. I'm all smiley and happy feeling now. I just have to keep thinking about those puppies, that's all.

And hope to heaven that my dog doesn't get too bent out of shape when I get home tonight. ;) I've cheated on her with 13 other dogs today! Soon to be 14, as my coworkers Great Dane is outside in her car, waiting to go out to O'Toole's tonight. ;)

*"angst." The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. 20 Feb. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/angst.

Too Close to the Edge

Sitrep: Back to Zero. Just got my Girl Scout Cookie order. Why did I order so many? What was I thinking?????

So this weekend I spent quite a bit of time with my little sister's family. Her stepdad has had back problems for years. Several weeks back he "tweaked" it somehow, and it just hasn't been getting better. He has to have four vertebrae fused, which is happening tomorrow. Unfortunately, this puts him out of work for at least 3 months. And, naturally, his employer doesn't provide disability insurance, so he won't be getting any pay. In addition, he can't go back to his job (one he's been doing for pretty much the same employer for 30 years) because of the heavy lifting involved.

So he's basically been laid off for medical reasons. And starting March 1st, they are switching him to his wife's medical insurance plan (they work for the same company) so he will still have insurance. Only she has to pay the premium for him, which is an additional $360 per month. It sucks, big time.

My little's mom was freaking out. Which I can totally understand. They're losing half their monthly income. They were barely keeping their heads above water as it was. They weren't exactly the best with their finances, but they weren't that bad either. Most of their existing debt is medically related. It's amazing how fast medical bills add up even when you have insurance.

But there's just no way they can pay anything on any of their debt with just her income (and she's already working 2 jobs; one full, one part-time). It's barely going to cover basic necessities as it is. And just forget about any of the new medical bills because of the back surgery and rehab. I highly doubt insurance will cover it all. It really sucks. They've pretty much decided they'll have to declare bankruptcy once those bills come in. Because it's a minimum of 3 months until he's supposed to be back on his feet, and then he'll have to be retrained, etc, and find another job. Doesn't look like he can get unemployment because he isn't able to work (one of the exclusions listed) and it takes 6 months (per the SSA) to get SS disability. Which he qualifies for, from what we researched, but we've all heard that you get turned down the first time, no matter what.

It just makes me wonder how many of us are that close to the edge. I'd always realized intellectually how most people (myself included) are one or two paychecks away from disaster. I guess I didn't realize exactly what that meant. The reality of it. Now granted, they could have managed their money much better than they have. But they haven't been doing that bad in the grand scheme of things. It's pretty scary when you think about it.

Romantic Couples

Sitrep: 1x PPU, 15 min Snow Shoveling

Happy Valentine's Day!

I dedicat today to my love of chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.

Has there ever been a better love/hate relationship? :)

The first forty-four days of this year I've been in a reading slump, of sorts. After spending quite a bit of time delving in the world of the romantic classics with Masterpiece Theater's "Jane Austen" series, and the 2005 version of "Jane Eyre", I decided to go back and re-read some of my old favorites in the classics section of my personal library.

The last few days it's been "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte. It's one of my favorites, but not for the usual reasons. The volume I have is worn, you can tell it's been read alot. And seemingly, I always start it from the same point: the scene where Isabella flees Heathcliff and makes her dramatic appearance at the Grange, shortly after Catherine died. I start there and read to the end. The tale of what happens after, the relationship/romance between Cathy (the daughter) and Hareton (Catherine's nephew) is so little written about in the book, yet seems sweeter to me and more wonderful than that between Catherine & Heathcliff.

Frankly, I do wonder at why people love the romance between those two so much. Why they are such a celebrated pair of star-crossed lovers. I found them to be two very unlikeable characters. Their love was obsessive, selfish, destructive. Very much like the fiber of who they were. I felt no pity for them; they brought their destruction upon themselves. I just couldn't and can't picture Heathcliff as a hero. He was mean, vindictive, possessive...no redeeming qualities about him, from my viewpoint. He and Catherine were wild and mad in a bad sort of way. Not sure how else to describe it. Like the worst lightning/thunderstorm I've ever been through.

Catherine was spoiled and selfish...willful, tempermental. She wanted to marry the rich man so she could be "lady of the manor", but still tie Heathcliff to her side. She was selfish to the end; not seeing how she brought about her own destruction, and that of her husband and sister-in-law. Heathcliff let his bitterness focus his life; the whole revenge on those that "did him wrong" was his sole reason for living, even before Catherine died.

I just find it hard to understand why people characterize this as romantic or a romance. I suppose they might seem romantic, if you only ever watch the old Merle Oberon/Laurence Olivier version, which leapfrogs from Catherine's death (which occurs only 160 +/- pages into the book!!!) to Heathcliff's death. It totally omits what happens after, which is by far the bulk of the book. And it paints them in a much nicer light, really, than the book. I can't explain why, but they are much darker figures in the book.

The book itself is a masterful piece of writing, I think. It protrays quite a section of people and life and says quite a bit about human nature and revenge and selfishness and love and the nature of love. And it's destructive power. It's a wonderful trip into madness and despair and destruction, that actually ends on a whiff of lightness and air...

Maybe that's why I like it so much.

'A Rose By Any Other Name'

Sitrep: 1x PPU (10 regular, 10 wide, 10 close)

Would definitely smell as sweet...and probably be just as darn prickly.

We had an interesting staff meeting today. Got to discuss the potential first name of our accountants pending grandchild: Atley. She is sooo not thrilled with that. Still insists no grandchild of hers will be called Atley.

Our new Exec just got not one, but two, new puppies. Chocolate brown cocker spaniels. Brothers from the same litter. The puppy was a Valentine's Day present to his wife. (They lost their dog last year, and she has been wanting another one. ) Unfortunately for him (fortunately for the 2nd puppy) he took his daughter with him to pick up the dog. That's how they ended up with the second one. Do men never learn? Really. I don't care if she is in her first year in college. How could he not know she'd insist on getting the other puppy? It was the last one left....

So our weekly staff meeting ended with trying to name a) the grandchild and b) the two puppies.

For the grandkid, we came up with Dean Atley. The reverse of what the parents want, but hey, it's a compromise. And at least the poor kid wouldn't go through school being called Atley! Grandma is still on the "no" bandwagon to using Atley at all. I rather like "Seth" myself.

The dogs, I think, are going to end up Marco & Polo. And now you all can have those dratted names echoing in your heads, like they have been in mine: Maaaarcooooo..............Pooollloooo!

There Are Signs Everywhere

And if you follow them, you won't get lost. Maybe. If they're in your own language.

There were plenty this morning. I woke up at 3 am and couldn't sleep. It'd been 6 hours since I took the capsule form of Ny.quil (no hallucinations, yay!), but didn't want to take the daytime version for fear it would prevent me from eventually falling asleep again. So I listened to an interesting program on the history channel about the "underground" used by the "enemy" during the Viet Nam war. This really huge cave that was a military base, for all intents and purposes. And in comparison to their South Vietnamese couterparts who lived on bases with AC and swimming pools. Huh. No wonder they won. Much more motivated... (Yes I know that's an oversimplification.)

My alarm went off at 6:45 am, later than I normally get up, and my legs were so heavy and achy when I got out of bed. That was sign number two. But hey, it's just the meds, this is really just a head cold, so I sucked it up and came to work.

Signs number three, four, five and six occured when I walked into the office, took off my hat, coat, gloves, boots, etc, and walked back to where my coworkers were gathered. Night utilities didn't run so we had to run it this morning (40 minutes of downtime), no one had made coffee yet, the "slacker" called in sick becuase of her "cold" (puh-lease, she sneezed maybe 2x yesterday!!!!) , and my coworkers started laughing at their first sight of me...

That is really just too much. I thought I had mascara on my cheeks, or my shirt on backwards/inside out, my zipper undone, something. But no. They just said I looked like I felt like "crap" and that my hair was...weird. Not how I usually wear it. I still can't tell what they're talking about. But really. When your coworkers laugh at your appearance upon arrival at work...

I think that sign is saying GO HOME

Is it Saturday Yet?

I'm on my second dose of liquid Dayq.uil since 8am. (I usually stay away from the stuff. Nyq.uil makes me hallucinate. The day stuff is just a step behind that.)

Ran out of Klee.nex by 10am, reducing me to using toilet paper. (Had to steal a roll of TP from the bathroom. Shhhh. No one turn me in, please.)

Santa can use me to lead his sleigh, my nose is so raw it's glowing red.

Every lotion I have makes my nose burn, even the stuff supposedly for this very thing.

Oh, and I did Abs Essentials Intermediate last night.

Tonight I'm going home and curling up on the sofa and watching Jane Eyre again. Too bad I no longer have a VCR. It would be a pefect evening for Colin Firth as Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.

Note to self: Add P&P to your wish list on Amazon...

And every time I scan this post, my eyes substitute "Satan" for "Santa". Repeat after me: step away from the Dayq.uil...

The "Alpine Glow"

Sitrep: 3x Thought about Reving, 2x Thought About doing PPU

Driving into work this morning was beautiful. It's starting to get light out now just around the time I get up. By the time I head for work, it's that lovely gray turning white light.

I go West to get to town; the foothills this morning had a coating of white still from all the snow, with the lovely golden brown of the grass peeking through. Like donuts lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar. Behind them loomed the mountains of the Continental Divide. A darker gray with snow, several long, strung-out layers of puffy clouds hovering above. The light from the rising sun coated the clouds and tips of the Continental Divide a glorious pink that faded down into the snow-covered sides of the mountains. They look just like someone has poured freshly melted pink syrup over the peaks and let it dribble down. Streaks of pink looked like they'd been painted across the white-blue sky. I've been told this is called the "Alpine Glow."

Whatever it's called, it's absolutely beautiful to see when it occurs. The light, the colors, the textures, the depth of the sky...Almost made me glad I was up early enough to see it. Almost!

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!

Whose Bright Idea WAS This, Anyway?

I'm posting this tonight because I might not be able to get out of bed in the morning.

I just did almost all of BodyRev Bootcamp.

I know, I know, what the heck was I thinking? I think I was thinking "oh, this isn't so bad, I can do a few more minutes..." Except for about 20 minutes into it, after the second set of pushups, when I went F-this...and forwarded through about 10 minutes of cover drills & kicks/blocks to get to the abs section. Those were okay. Is it my imagination, though, or does he do a heck of a lot more reps in Bootcamp than the Essential Abs? (I've only done through E. Abs Intermediate).

After Abs I went ahead and did the rest. Only at maybe half the speed that Alden does. And I could not do that last set of cover drills. When I heard myself whimper at his announcement of one more set of cover drills, I new I'd done enough. Did the cool down and here I am in my PJs on the sofa. My BodyRev still in the middle of the living room floor. It can stay there. LOL. I'm not about to pick it up.

My arms and legs are all quivery. My back, shoulders, and abs, too, now that I'm inventorying. (Is that even a word?) I think lack of blood to the brain (or the rush of blood to the brain) combined with not enough oxygen is making me giddy. Feels like all my muscle groups are sending out messages to each other going "What the h@## was that?????????". Kinda like we all did here a few years back when that 5.6 earthquake hit. Burned up the phones lines calling everyone going "What the h@## was that???? Was that an earthquake?" Except all my body can get out is "What the h@## was that????"

It does feel good in a sick, demented, kind of way. It's those darn endorphins speaking, I tell you. But really. It does feel good to actually do something, and not just sit around eating all day. To set a goal, meet it, even exceed it somewhat!

So here's to staying Fired Up! If I can make it to the kitchen, I might just toast myself with a small glass of Egg Nog. :)

I vs I

Sitrep: Embarassed to write this - nothing for the last 2 weeks. [hanging head]

Today's Goal: 15 minutes of Bootcamp

Christmas this year was most excellent (as Bill & Ted would say.) Woke up at 2am, unable to sleep. And not in any Xmas morning excitement kinda way, either. In a too-much-Clar.itin kinda way. sigh. I loaded up the car and headed over to my little sister's at 6 am. She wanted me there at 6:30 but originally I said no, but I'd do 8am. Then we haggled a bit and settled on 7:30. I texted her at 6am to let her know I was on the way. Naturally, they were all awake and waiting impatiently for me.

The morning passed in a frenzy of glittery paper and bows and boxes and squeals of delight. Some presents were even kissed. Not the giver...the gift got kissed. LOL. It wasn't me, and it wasn't a book...It was, however, a gift I gave. ;) Instead of a big dinner, we made a big breakfast. Eggs, homemade biscuits, gravy, sausage, bacon...Oh, what a delight. Even better, we didn't cook or eat until after the presents were all opened. Whoo-yah. Now we're talking. I always hated opening our stockings, then having breakfast and then opening our presents. For pity's sake....A girl can only take so much!

I got tons of cool stuff. Even GIRL STUFF. Yes, it merits capital letters. [g] Eyeshadow, nail polish...Of course, Michelle whispered in an aside to me "we'll show you how to use it." Heehee. Now I need to stop eating my nails. Got "Metro Girl" by Janet Evanovich. I lied to my little sister. She was so happy to have found it, although I've already read it. When she asked if I had, I said "Nope." Sorta true...I listened to it on audiobook so I haven't actually read it. But it's been her first attempt to pay attention to what I like and go pick out the present herself. Got my "wicked" good slippers (putting them to good use.) And some great PJ's. The best part about this Xmas was all the stuff I got was stuff I needed and can use.

One surprise gift I got was the DVD of "The Secret". Based on the popular book. Or it seems a popular book. Shanni's older sister carries it with her everywhere; it's her "bible". So. Not having read the book, I was clueless. Got home around noon, made the return call to my parents, and then popped the movie in. It was interesting. Nothing new to my ears (maybe I watch too much Discovery Channel and History Channel.) Reminds me of a lot of Eastern Philosophy, Chi, etc. But it's a good message.

Especially if Shanni's older sister actually follows through and does this. Focus on the positive, etc. But if you ask me, that girl just needs a swift kick in the butt and nobody willing to bail her out. ;) But back to "The Secret"; I'm a bit of a skeptic, had to roll my eyes at some parts, the background a bit distracting (especially that darn floating key - I kept wanting to click on it....too much video gaming, maybe?!?) , the lettering extremely hard to read. Of course, that last could be my eyes and my smallish TV set. I've been pricing HDTVs but just can't make myself spend that much.

One thing that stuck with me was a comment one of the "experts" (not sure what they are called. Holders of the Secret???) made. It basically went like this: There's being informed and then there's being inundated. Huh. Kinda what I do to myself, I think. Which is probably why I had that huge rant the other day all sparked by wanting some Clarit.in-D.

I have a tendency to get inundated very easily...especially when it comes to politics and current events, etc. But even in everyday life. It's why I like it out here so much, and why city living is just not for me. I loved visiting my brother & sil in TN, but was so glad to get off the plane here in MT. I can't remember ever feeling such relief upon arriving home. [It could also have been because of the delays and missed connections and hostile airline staff.]

Anyway. I'm working on my "shields" but it's imperfect at best. And when I'm tired or sick...My brain gets to a point I can't process anything on it's own, but everything all at once. It's overwhelming. So I just need to learn the point between being informed and being inundated. And learn when to turn everything OFF. The TV does not need to be on all the time. Try some music instead, Nat. ;)

PS - I beat the "Changing Brains" chapter in the "Nightmare Before Christmas" game. Hah. It only took me a solid 2 hours on the 24th. But I did it. Once. Got a nightmare rank of "C". Haven't tried it again. The only time you can get the brain into the Doctor's head is to throw it right before the darn bolts of electricity fire. Just make sure you have a life left. Or you die before the brain goes in. Stupid game. ;( Beat the next chapter multiple times that night too. It was an easy one! :) I also figured out if I went to town and stocked up on "life" and "firebombs", etc, then saved the game before attempting the brain changing part, I could just exit the game when I died instead of choosing "continue". Then I'd reload the saved game. Didn't loose money or "life" that way. Hah. :)

When Commercials Are True to Life

Or should that be the other way around?

So this weekend I finally felt well enough (note use of well vs good - hope I got it right my BB friends!) to move around and do stuff. Yesterday I pretty much gamed all day - played "Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge" on my new used PS2. Took a break to go grocery shopping (desperately needed!) and to dust the living room. Did that because the layer of dust on the TV was making it harder to kill the "bad guys".

You know that commercial that shows the adult playing the leapster handheld electronic game with the boy? And she's all excited about the level she's on and he's higher? Well, that's me and my nephew. Really. See, I tested the game at their house when I bought it, since it was used. He really liked it, so we played it several times. The last time we played for several hours, and my oldest niece played as well. I joked that I needed them (especially my nephew) to run through the game for me first so I could see how to beat the bad guys. Well, it might have been a joke when I said it, but it's now the truth. LOL. I've made it all the way to the level after the last one my nephew beat. And I keep dying. Darn it.

It's not my fault. OK, it is my fault. But you have to get behind the doctor (who is in a chair that keeps swiveling), pull open his head, get in front of him, grab his brain off the table and toss it in...TWICE. Because there are 2 halves to the brain. All while dodging machine guns, swirling propellers and bolts of electricity. All three of which alternate. Oh, and before his head closes again.

But at least it lets you retry the chapters. So I focused on that...in my own lovely OCD way I've redone all of the first 6 chapters until I scored an "A" for nightmare level on each one. (And earned the figurines, than you very much). :)

Now I've just gotta figure out how to beat this next chapter. Which I will probably then have to play over and over again until I score an "A". All night I dreamt of of people with green bars and red exclamation points over their heads. And they were all running around malls and stores Xmas shopping. (This comes from spending all day Saturday shopping with my little and her family. A fun day, surprisingly, but still a day of shopping right before Xmas!) Sigh. I really need to learn not to be so obsessive when I get new stuff!

I did earn enough "souls" replaying each chapter to level up both my "Soul Robber" and the fire bombs to level 3. Pretty impressive stuff. ;)

So now I need to figure out how to get my nephew out here to show me how to beat this game. [g] Sad, so sad, that I need my 7 year old nephew to beat a lousy game...

Keep Breathing

Sitrep: Still sitting at Zero. Unless watching the BootCamp DVD counts? Didn't think so.

I did manage to watch the entire 60 minutes of Bootcamp. I think I stand a good chance of making it fifteen minutes. Much farther than that I don't know. So I'm aiming for at least 15 minutes, and if I feel up to it, going further. You'd think by now I'd be able to do 30 minutes. Although it was slightly alarming to see Alden breaking out into such a sweat. Hmmm. I'm starting to think this might be bad. So I'll just not think about it.

Got the giggles listening to him say "All we have to do is kick a door in." Oh, really. Is that all we have to do? I'm more likely to knock myself over with those kicks than kick a door in. But okay. I'm game. I'm just going to have everything moved out of the way, including the dog. I'll lock her in the other room for the duration for her own safety. :-0

I did like where he said "Keep breathing." Sadly enough, that's something I need to remind myself to do while exercising. Sheesh. You'd think exercising alone is hard enough. Why make it more difficult on myself by not breathing? Need to print out a large red-letter sign to hang above my desk that says that, so when I get thrown under the bus or things go wrong, I can calm myself down. The "No whining" sign worked when I had it over my desk. Sure I got some strange looks but it was effective. Cut down on other people coming into my cubby complaining. That was an unintentional side benefit!

And now for those of you that don't like it when I get all political or stuff like that, you can stop reading now. ;) Because I'm about to get political.

I decided to keep taking the generic Clar.itin.-D. Took it while at my brothers (5 cats, 4 dogs, 'nuff said!) and felt fabulous. I've been back less than a week and had raging sinus pain every flippin' day. So today I went to get some more. Only pharmacy that doesn't keep a computer log of transactions involving pseudo.ephe.drine is KMart so I go there. But because of our wonderful, insightful, intelligent legislators, I can only buy one box at a time of the 24 hour dose. It's $8.94 and only has ten pills. When I asked if I could buy more than one box, she says to me "This is the 24 hour dose." Like that freakin' matters when I'm taking it daily for the next umpteen years of my life? Hel-loooooo! I'd like to not have to go to the pharmacy every ten days. It's ridiculous. If I go to the doctor (there's another $100) and get a prescription, they can do it that way and maybe give me a 30 day supply. Except then they want to run it through as a prescription which means submitting to my insurance (like they'll pay for an over the counter med. Please). As long as I get generic OTC pricing. Unless they do approve it under my insurance benefits and I can get a 30 day supply for $10 like I used to. But to do this I need to go to the doctor. Which means time off work and more money. Geez Louise. Keep Breathing, Nat.

So I've decided to start writing to all my state legislators, whether they are in my district or not, in my city, or not. Because I am sick and tired of having to jump through hoops and being treated like I'm a criminal or going to commit a criminal act, when all I want to do is buy my freakin' allergy meds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll probably end up on some state drug trafficker or DEA list. So if I disappear, the government has me. They're at the root of all evil, right? ;)

Okay, that's probably stretching it. But really. Where did common sense go? I used to think some of the people in power, in particular at the state and local levels, were in it for the people. That there was some idealism left in the world of politics. I can't seem to find it anymore. It seems like everyone is just out for themselves and what's politically expedient for them. Drives me crazy. Maybe it was always like that and I'm just getting cranky as I "age". Although at 34, that's awafully early, isn't it? I guess my rose-colored glasses broke. I'm just so frustrated by the state of affairs, and how utterly impossible it seems to get something done. I understand the reason behind the move to restrict access to Pseudoeph.edrine. Yet why make it so impossibly difficult to access for legal reasons? Meth users are still going to buy their meth. The meth makers are still going to make their meth. All it's doing is making people like me - who need the legitimate OTC meds - have nothing but problems getting the stuff, or worse yet, make us decide to just suffer and not buy it at all.

I know, it sounds stupid to get all worked up over Sudaf.ed. It's little. Maybe that's why it gets me all worked up. It's the little things, the little injustices of the world that push me over the edges. Somehow I can deal with the big stuff. Like the non-response of the world to what's going on in Darfur and other places. Oh, we're real big on "Never Again" but it's all talk. When push comes to shove we hem and haw and nothing gets done and we say "Never Again" solemnly on days of remembrance and then go home to our plush homes filled with Christmas trees and thousands of dollars of useless stuff we'll probably use once and throw away.

And it's not like we get a chance to change anything or make a difference. In this day and age of "information" and "access" to whatever info we want, it seems like we get less and less actual info. What's up with that? The "press" in it's infinite wisdom, dictates to us the news we get about the current presidential elections. How many candidates are actually running for each party nomination? Yet we only hear about a few of them. Take Obama and Clinton, for example. Frankly, I care for neither of them. Him, because I don't get what's the big deal about him? I can't seem to get a handle on that...other than he's young and less time in office than some candidates. Does that make him less corrrupted? I don't know. And Clinton. Well. She's just part of the same old guard that's in WA. No better or worse I suppose than the next. Frankly, I don't care if she's "personable" or "warm". Who the hell cares? I'm not electing the president to be my best friend!!!! Yes, I want them to be able to talk to other people, to be able to really listen, to think. to listen to opposing viewpoints and give them credibility if they are due it. What the hell does that have to do with being "warm". Give me a break! I don't know. It seems like the more info we get or have access too, the less any of it is substantial, the less we pay attention. And maybe it isn't really more info. Maybe it's actually less just thrown at us at umpteen different decibel levels with different colors flashing at us and different voices spewing out over the airwaves and spilling over the pages until our eyes and brains can't focus anymore and we hit the first "yes" or "no" or "off" button we come across. Regardless of the consequences.

Well. I think I need to breathe. Where'd all this come from? All I wanted was a month's supply of Claritin-D!

Don't Pi$$ in MY wheaties...

Damn It. And I was having such a good day too. I absolutely positively hate when someone throws ME under the bus because someone ELSE is throwing a fit about something that is entirely THEIR fault. I also hate veiled threats. Both of which I've gotten about a situation out of my control. That I had nothing to do with. That took place while I was on vacation, for Pete's Sake! Both are organizations I do business with; one is a regulating organization. They did the veiled threat bit. The other is one we franchise some classes with. They're the ones that threw me under the bus. Even though it was their policy we enforced. I'm thinking learning to kick in the door with the Bootcamp DVD is looking more promising by the minute. Oooooh, I hate it when I can't do anything in situations like this except sit here and take it. Bastards.

Okay. Rant over. Positive note - I can channel this energy into a good workout, right?

I am Superwoman

Not.

So I was going to workout last night. But by the time I left work yesterday, I had a raging sinus headache. Got home, took some meds, crashed with the heating pad for about 40 minutes, and then raced to meet my little sister & her family so we could split up and attend both of the girls' concerts last night. Yep. The high school and middle school scheduled their choir concerts the same night in two different locations. Sigh. I'd promised KT I'd go to hers before we knew about Shanni's...Shanni was very sweet about letting me keep my promise to KT. And I'm glad I did as it looked for awhile like I was the only one going. Poor kid. Why is it that we try so much harder to make it to events for younger kids than for teens? Is it because we think they'll understand better?

Anyway. Three of us went to one, three to the other. When KT saw us in the "crowd" she lit up. I haven't seen her look that happy in a long time. She was beaming and looked fabulous up there singing and enjoying herself. Her choir ended after 20 minutes, so her stepdad and I split (after trying to find her in the crowd and not being able to) to see how much we could hear of Shanni's. Hers started 30 minutes after her sister's. We got there halfway through the first song. Toward the end, when they stood back up to do the final songs with the other grades, Shanni saw me and I could see her go "Ohhhh!" It was funny. Then a tall girl stood in front of her. LOL.

Then I went home and was in bed asleep by 8:30pm. I hate sinus issues. I'd try the sinus rinse Cranky Otter recommends if it hadn't been so...entertaining...the first time. ;)

So I got up extra early to work on the next Xmas project that I'd oringally planned to do last night. Now that I have one, I just had to use the sewing machine in a project. Pretty much went like this:

1. Ran out of thread.
2. Switched to another color, it started snagging.
3. The bobbin ran out.
4. I stitched a crooked line and had to take them out by hand.
5. Snagged again.
6. And again.
7. And again.
8. The needle broke.

OMG. I threw it aside and got ready for work. LOL. It's a good thing my coworker found a bottle of Coff.ee Mates Pumpkin Spice creamer while she was shopping last night and got me a bottle. Three cups (and a major case of let's-clean-my-office-'cause-it's-grungy) I'm finally sitting down for longer than 3 seconds. Too much caffeine perhaps? I should have brought my PPU to work today.

Someone please stop me. I am not Superwoman!

Shifting Gears

Sitrep: Zero. Zip. Zilch.

In my defense, I was traveling a good part of Sunday & didn't get my BodyRev & Perfect Pushup back until yesterday when my suitcase made it back to town. Last night was all about unpacking, and finishing my SILs Xmas present. I know, I know, I'm making excuses...I definitely could have and should have done either abs or a set of PPU. Tonight.

I was talking on the phone with Janet W last night, and had the most astonishing revelation. So astonishing I didn't realize it until this morning. [g] Gotta be the 2-days travel followed by diving into things at work. Man, I hate going back to work after a vacation. Especially this one. I really had such a good time, and didn't realize how much I would miss my SIL, brother, and the kids. It was kind of a let-down not being with them the last few days!

But on to my "revelation". JanetW asked if I was looking better what with all the exercise I've been doing lately. And I said no, but that's okay, I'm still down the 20 pounds, and still down the 2 pant sizes that I lost during the first year of using the BodyRev. But I'm okay with that. And it's true. It doesn't bug me that I'm not losing more weight, etc. Because I feel so much better when I work out. It's just so weird. :) Even when I do the pushups, and that is so not something I ever thought I'd "hear" myself say. And that's really how I feel. Oh, sure, I want to lose another 20 pounds and really tone so I can look hot in a swimsuit...But I'm okay with feeling better and healthier and having energy, etc. It's all in the attitude, anyway. And I'm sure I'll need reminding of that along the way. :) I'm bound to have "I'm so fat" days in the future. It happens to everyone!

It's just such a good feeling to have energy and motivation to do stuff. :) So on with the BodyRev and Pefect Pushup and yes, even Bootcamp!!!! (Although I'm thinking Saturday might be the day to start that, so I don't have to go to work in agony.) Anyone want to take bets on how much of Bootcamp I'll be able to do my first time out? I'm aiming for 10 minutes before collapsing...

Finally Home

Sitrep for Last Week: 1x Abs, 1x PPU
Goals (12/17-12/23): 2x Abs, 1x Bootcamp (as much as I can do before dying), 2x PPU. Of course, this only works if my suitcase makes it to town - both the BodyRev & PPU are in there.

Okay. So last week was lousy for exercising. Unless it was playing games on the Wii. Some activity at least.

But I'm home. Only took 2 days and another overnight stay. My luggage should get here some time today. I hope.

Went to the doctor this morning for the "thing" on my neck. It's some type of bug bite that got infected because I wouldn't stop scratching it. NOT a brown recluse bite or lyme disease, in spite of the bull's eye look to it. Doc just rolled her eyes at me, told me to stop scratching it like a child. ;)

Gotta get caught up at work.

"What kind of father ARE you?"

Sitrep: 3x Cardio, 3x PPU (Max 0)

"The kind that doesn't give his daugher $30 to eat lunch at Taco Bell." OMG. I had to leave the room over that one. Can we say my oldest niece is a firecracker? This is an actual quote from her and my brother. Just one from the last week. All of us are wise acres. Including the kids. ;)

Yesterday we went to McKay. A used books, music & video warehouse. OMG. Talk about fun. I scored big time. TWO of Suz' books. An original edition of Taylor's Temptation and an original edition of Undercover Princess. I already have the first one, but have never read the second one. For only 50 cents each! Whoo-hoo. I also got a couple of Catherine Mann's Wingmen Warriors that I haven't read. And the latest J.D. Robb on unabridged audio CD for 50% less than cover price.

Then we just hung out the rest of the day, reading, doing crossword puzzles. My nieces are really getting into doing them. We spent an hour this morning working on one. I have them using the dictionary to look up meanings and get hints. They are doing really good. I also have my SIL hooked on crosswords now. LOL. We spent a good part of yesterday doing them....both of us feeling stupid when we get the obvious, easy ones wrong!!

Last night was TV night, where after the kids cleaned their rooms we all sat down and watched Christmas movies together. Everyone but the oldest niece, M, and I fell asleep. Then after everyone went upstairs to bed, I sat with her in her room and we just talked. It was fun. I liked having that one on one time with her. It was a little disconcerting though as I kept getting these images of her as a toddler/preschooler. The last time I spent several days just with her. She's almost 11 now. It was just weird.

We planned to play outside today but it is all rainy/misty out. Yuck. So we are stuck indoors. This morning the girls helped me do my final workout of the week. Heh. They are almost as hard task masters as Alden! They all think the BodyRev is cool, and "joined" me while I did the 15 minute Cardio workout. Then both girls tried out the Pefect Pushup. How pathetic do I feel when my 8 year old niece cranks out 10 regular PPU's in a row? Sheesh. But hey. She has less weight to push up and hold up!

So this marks the first time in well over a month that I have actually MET MY WEEKLY GOAL. Whoo-Yah! Now that is something to get FIRED UP about. And tomorrow is family game day and we're going to play the Wii. Bowling, tennis, whatever. :) I'm having a really great time!

This Trip is Getting Expensive

Sitrep: 2x Cardio, 2x PPU (10 reg, 10 wide, 10 close)
These Perfect Pushups are getting easier. :) I mean, they're still pushups, but I'm getting the hang of 'em and actually able to have "good" form. Helps to have my SIL to "spot" me.

Yesterday I bought a Playstation 2. And 3 games. And microphones. LOL. I've been wanting one for a while; was thinking about getting the Wii. But after playing Sing Star two nights in a row, I decided I was definitely getting one. Since Brian is a manger in a gaming store, he was able to help me put together a good used system. Got it all used, including the microphones (they were returned, never used!!!). Got Sing Star Rock and 80's. :) I was going to have my SIL blog for me yesterday because apparently while singing with the kids on Monday evening I was rocking out pretty good and amusing the heck out of her and my brother. [g] But we went out to lunch at Olive Garden (oh, the joy! Nearest one in my neck of the woods is a 4 hour drive!)

Then we came home and I played one of my new games: Nightmare Before Christmas, Oogie's Revenge. Brian thinks I was having way too much fun slamming those ghosts to the ground. Slam! Slam!

He rented a new game and tried it out last night. Time Crisis 4. OMG. He's good. And when he saw all the weapons he gets to use...I thought he was going to pee himself when he saw the machine gun. And when he got the grenade launcher...He had a BLAST. My SIL even tried it. It has an actual "gun" you calibrate and aim at screen. I declined to try it as I've spent enough money already. :) Went to the mall Tuesday and my SIL helped me find some great pants (on sale!) and a top at Dillard's.

So I am having a lot of fun! And I've managed to exercise twice this week. Whoo-hoo!

The FUN has begun!

Sitrep (last week): 2x Cardio, 2x Arms, 1 set Regular & 1/2 Set Wide PPU
Goal (12/3-9): 3x Cardio, 3x PPU (1 set ea Regular, Wide & Close each time)
So far: 1x Cardio, 1x PPU Regular & Wide, 1/2 Close

I'm at my brother's, finally, and am having a blast! It's so great to see everyone again. I'm not sure who's more excited or having more fun. Sunday is usually their family day, where they eat out or order in, and play games. I think I'm going to have to get a Playstation. LOL. We played a new game called Buzz. It was a blast. The girls, K & M, each wanted to be on my team, so we played twice, switching teams. K & I did okay...we were leading for awhile, until their Mom totally kicked all our butts. Brian & N (my nephew) teamed up and held their own. They came in second. When M & I teamed up, we wiped the floor with the others. ;)

Then we played Sing Star. Now that is tons of fun. [g] Even I got up there and sang...did pretty decently too until my niece tricked me into singing "S.O.S" with her...I've never head the song before...Can we just say it was excruciating? Love how it tells you when you've hit a bad note. LOL. Like I couldn't tell by the pained expressions on everyone's faces. But it was a lot of fun. Oh, this is going to be bad for me. A new addiction, a new toy...

Today so far I've spent a couple of hours chatting with my sister in law. Brian's at work, and the kids are at school. It's just us and the critters...4 dogs, 5 cats...I did 1 cardio workout, and then the Perfect Pushup. Did a lot more than last time. Managed one full set of Regular & Wide position, and then got halfway through a set of Close position. I like it. My SIL tried it and liked it. Of course, now I have to kill her because a) she did 7 in a row like they were nothing (grrrr), and then did some more! and b) these are GOING HOME WITH ME.

Well, that's it for now. Not sure the plan for the rest of the day. As long as it's not work, I'm good. (Side note: they made it 2 hours before calling my cell phone).

Overnight in Detroit

Sitrep: 2x Cardio, 2x Arms, 1 Reg PPU, 1/2 Wide PPU

So I was stranded overnight in Detroit. Lovely. I'm sure this city is nicer than it appeared to me in a blanket of sleet as the taxi took me to the only hotel NW airlines had still available...the Doubletree. Ahhh, the misery. Although I've become enough of a girl that the loss of my styling gel and styling comb this morning has me a wee bit irritated. And lauging at myself. Off to the airport in a few to try to get the 10:24 to Knoxville...Hopefully I make it...doesn't look to be snowing/sleeting any more. Who knows if it's icy, though.

I really want to get there today...don't want to disappoint my brother, sil or the kids again. Or myself. I was so looking forward to getting there last night!

Gator & Other Exercise Ladies - Stay FIRED UP as Alden would say...IF I'd been a bit better in shape I'd've made my connecting flight...definitely ran harder, faster and farther last night than I'd've been able to just over a year ago! But I definitely need to start the BootCamp DVD when I get it. Missed my connecting flight by TWO MINUTES!