Positivity

Sitrep: 1x Rock Wall Climbing (or "Bouldering" as climbing without harness is called) I was going to post about Shanni & I at the gym last night, and the things I do simply because I don't want to let her down. And about how I have some kind of freaky high going on today (aka, "I'm in a good mood because I exercised yesterday which let me sleep well"). But I read Cranky Otter's blog post from yesterday, and I really just have to share it. I'm going to copy & paste it, (until CO makes me take it down. [g]) just because I don't want anyone to miss it because they'd have to follow a link: the following was written by Cranky Otter, Thursday, October 23, 2008 Tilting at Windmills This week when I drove to the farmers market after work, the proportion of "YES" to "NO" on 8 signs at a big intersection I pass through was way off in favor of yes. I bought my fruits and veggies and squash and my blood continued to boil. Instead of raging silently I decided to go talk to them. The staff at the arts council let me use a marker and a piece of paper to make a "NO H8" sign and tape it to my back. Then I hied off, parked at the mall, and walked over to the corner and started confronting the haters. For some reason that happened to be really effective, I just walked right up to the kids in a block of maybe 10 people and asked why they were holding signs. "To say Yes to 8". "Why?" "To Protect Marriage." "From What?" Adults interceded. So I asked why they thought it was ok to take kids to a streetcorner to help them profess their hate. To a one they denied having any hate for gays. Uh huh. They just want to protect society from going to hell in a handbasket of perversion. Well, what they call perversion, I call progress. If people weren't using the exact same arguments against gay marriage that they used against black people marrying white people, they might have a valid point. But as it is, they feel self righteous in denying other people rights they themselves are allowed. Intolerable. So I didn't change any of their minds, but I hope I planted the seed of doubt with the kids. And I was able to discuss with them, without screaming, but generally making enough of a pill of myself that I drove them off the corner. When they asked if prostitution should be legalized too I said yes. "Well obviously you're too far to the left for us to talk to." Uh, sure. And you're too far to the hate for me to like. They were particularly annoyed when I pointed out that laws that discriminate against differences in identity lead directly to things like the 15 year old cross dresser being shot to death in school two towns over a couple months ago, for being a little strange. Granted, when they left the majority of traffic had gone down, but I definitely think I hastened their departure. Which left a very small handful of "No on H8" people left over. But hey, we were there. One of the more lucid H8ers came back to chat, sans sign. His primary argument, despite having a gay brother whose long term relationship he "tolerates" but does not "celebrate", was that if gay marriage is allowed, suddenly sons and fathers will be marrying. Well, Sons can't currently marry mothers, so why the fear? He also thinks that gay sex is risky for health. ALL sex is risky for health. And straight people can have oral and anal sex too. Oh, and the "it's unnatural" argument? There are twice as many gay people as redheads. Even if there were only one though, by virtue of existing, gays are as natural as any other person. One person tried to ask me "if a six year old would prefer to live with his natural mom and dad or two dads". Then wouldn't listen if I asked if the natural mom and dad wanted to raise the child, were abusive, etc... saying I wouldn't answer his question as if his question was reasonable. He left when I insisted that there were more answers than just his two. What I should have said is, "If you asked a six year old if he wanted Cheetos for dinner, would he say yes? Should we then legislate that all kids should only have Cheetos for dinner?" I can't say it helped anyone but me for me to go do that. But I was heartened that a kid coming by on a skateboard stopped to ask the calm h8ter how he thought kids of this generation would judge their parents for promoting intolerance. And another young woman with a rainbow flag came by. I think that unless something is so dangerous that it causes immediate and lasting or fatal harm to the unwary, we should choose education over legislation for matters of personal choice - alcohol, cigarettes, other low toxicity drugs, and sexual choices. Things that need to be illegal (or extremely hard to get) are those things that cause immediate and lasting harm to the unwary, and behaviors that endanger or take advantage of people who have not or cannot give consent. Anything related to core identity, like sexual orientation or race, should be protected by law because we have shown time and again if differences are not legally protected, people who are different will be marginalized legally and socially. When people are protected legally, they become accepted socially. And I can't see any downside to tolerating other people choosing what is best for their family, as long as they don't mandate what is best for me and mine Thank you CO for being you and taking a stand! We should all be so inspired and brave!

Things I Learned...

Sitrep: Okay, I didn't get anything else done last week. Sigh. Lovely little stomach bug took me out of the equation. Goal: 2x Abs, 2x Gym visit

I guess I've been a single gal living alone for too long, because the last 6 weeks of having my little and her family live with me has, shall we say, broadened?, my self-knowledge. Considering I'm very self-aware as a general rule, it was a bit surprising to me. There were the usual things that got under my skin, like asking every other sentence "what did he say" or "what did he mean" or "what's so funny" (from the other room); Shanni's inability to understand my need to read quietly without explaining my book or carrying on a conversation with her at the same time. New Things That Irritate Me: 1) People not emptying the garbage can even when it's overflowing 2) Squashing over-full bag down so you can force more items in it and still not emptying it 3) Emptying the garbage and not putting a fresh bag in 4) Throwing trash in a garbage can that doesn't have a garbage bag in it 5) Putting a garbage bag in the trash can without removing items from #4 6) Leaving the butter out on the counter New Things That Make me a Teensy-Eeensy Bit Crazy: 1) Putting the little spoons in with the big spoons 2) Putting the little forks in with the big forks (c'mon people, how hard is this?) 3) Using every pan & pot in the world to make dinner and then not cleaning up 4) Using the very, very last of the toilet paper and not telling anyone until the mad "get ready for bed" dash begins at 10pm 5) Eating the last 2 slices of bread, leaving me nothing for breakfast...especially when you've been specifically warned I must say, items 1,2 and 5 on the second list were danger zones for me. Who knew having the silverware in the wrong spot would freak me out so? KT came upon me re-sorting the silverware and muttering "Big fork - little fork - big spoon - little spoon..." She gave me a weird look then wisely started loading the dishwasher. LOL. They moved out last Thursday, and while I do miss some of the chaos, just a little, I am relieved to have my home and solitude returned to me. The dog is thrilled...she slept like the dead the first 2 days. [g] Things are slowly returning to normal, the house is getting straightened up bit by bit...although they did a good job cleaning before leaving. KT is stopping by after school to clean the garage - animal crates, last few boxes, etc. And I even got some Halloween decorations out yesterday. Whoo-hoo.

I'm here...and it's First Snowfall of the Season

This week's goal: 1 hour exercise this week, any combo of any exercise; 2x BodyRev Abs Sitrep: 20 mins snow shoveling 15 mins Rock Wall Climbing 20 minutes shooting hoops 15 minutes pool time (no laps, just lazy swimming)

No search parties needed. On either account. [g] They're monitoring internet at work now and I've not been in the mood or able to rescue my computer in the evenings to get online. KT or Shanni are either on the computer when I get home or they squabble when it comes out so for the sake of my sanity I don't get it out. The cold weather they've been threatening us with finally rolled in last Thursday/Friday, and the snow came overnight Saturday and all day Sunday. There's about a foot of the stuff...or was, it's melting now the sun's out. We're supposed to get into the 40's... I finally got a new battery for the car...$118.00, Dad, so you didn't really get jipped on yours. Labor to get it changed was only $18.00. (The mechanic doesn't start with a minimum hour charge, who knew?) Anyway. Car starts like a dream now. And apparently they don't make a block heater for my engine. Huh. The 6 cylinder gas engine, yes. The 4 cylinder gas, no. Why, I have no idea. Oh well. The parents are back from their Spain vacation...yay! I like being able to call and talk again. Not that I did this weekend. But yesterday was all about snow shoveling, several hours at the gym, laundry/helping little sis and her family pack stuff up, and general recovery... The gym was interesting. We spent about 15 minutes in the rock wall climbing room; without ropes you can free climb up to the Red Line, which is about 10 feet up I think. Felt more like 20, personally...It's harder than I'd thought though I never would have made it up at all without the increased arm strength from REVing. I know this for a fact because I tried a rock climbing wall once before starting on the BodyRev and went nowhere, fast. At the 15 minute mark my arms started screaming, so we went to shoot some hoops instead. 20 minutes of that and I was begging Shanni to go to the swimming pool. Now, remember how I said it was snowing all day? Well, the pools are all outdoors. Yep. Heated, but outdoors. Nice enough view, but really. Windchill in the 20's (actually temp in teh 30's) and snowing does not make for a pleasant enough swimming experience even if the water is hot. After 20 minutes I told Shanni I'd meet her in the hot tub. LOL. She wasn't far behind me. Anyway. That was all my fun. Except for taking pics of the dogs. Got a funny one of Scully - she'd been out in the snow and I call this the punk rocker look:

The Reason I Cringe

"the proposal is big and the reason it's big is because it's a big problem". G.W.Bush That's the best our president can do? That's the best he can say? God. No wonder confidence is crumbling. If all the people surrounding him can't come up with something better than that to explain the madness of our government's actions this week, we are in dire straits indeed. It's the reason I cringe when I turn on the news now. Where the heck are the economic and business advisers? The REAL ones, not the ones that got us into this mess. Why isn't anyone standing up in front of the people and saying "This sucks. We know it sucks. But we have to do this without a guarantee of getting all the money back. Even then, the economy will get worse before it gets better. The taxpayers are going to take the burden. CEO salaries and golden parachutes ARE NOT THE PROBLEM THEY ARE A DISTRACTION. Right now we HAVE TO FOCUS ON STABILIZING THE FINANCIAL SECTOR. After that we can deal with the salary cap issue. After that we can deal with the wrong-doers, the speculators. But WE HAVE TO STOP THE CHAOS FIRST." We need to be told in blunt terms the average person can understand that this is not a bailout of the CEO's. This is a bailout of the economy. Which affects all of us. Yeah, no ones paying my mortgage. But financial stability is necessary for economic growth. We may not reach the levels of the Great Depression, but things aren't going to be great for a few years. Unemployment will rise from historic lows, interest rates will go up from historic lows, home buying/values will still decrease from historic highs...But these are all things that need to happen. The economy cannot sustain a high forever. Corrections are needed. We can't hold them off. And the longer we hold them off, the harsher the correction is going to be in my opinion. I'd apologize for yelling, but I need to vent in a BIG WAY about the stupidity of Congress finally listening to "what the voters want" when most of the voters (myself included, even if I do have an Economics degree!) don't have the slightest clue how the economy works, how everything is inter-related, how the banking & finance system works, or the short and long-term effects of bailout vs no bailout. NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO LISTEN TO JOHN Q PUBLIC. Once again, politics trumps doing what's better for the people/country as a whole.

Who would have thought it...

Okay, I'm still around. It's been insanely busy at work and at home. I must admit to feeling a bit overwhelmed with 4 people, 4 birds and 3 dogs staying with me. None of us expected it to take this long. Stupid movers. But their new home is in place and leveled and hooked up to the pressure pump (for the well) and hooked up to the sewer line and today the water is being hooked up. Michelle is painting today (see how I missed out on that with my business trip). Bummer. Hah. I haven't had much to say lately as my brain is just running a mile a second. Too much stuff going on; presidential politics, the economy, the "financial crisis"...I keep reading more and more and the BB isn't an escape anymore like it used to be. But I can't find any other topics to focus on either. It seems to be all my brain can think about, especially the economic stuff. And then it turned out Shanni really was sick, and I got sick...pushed myself last week to get everything ready for this seminar this week, and was able to take Friday off to recover. Shanni thought that would be great, except all I did was sleep. lol. It's definitely not like playing hooky from school! We've developed quite the routine. Steve cooks dinner most nights since he's home, the girls get home and do homework, then I get home around the same time as Michelle. I've got 3 TVs hooked up to cable now so there's no arguing over what to watch. Although we seem to congregate in the living room. It's the mornings that are the best, though. KT leaves at 5:30 for dance/drill team practice; I get up at 6 to shower (only one bathroom) and then Shanni gets up. Well, M & S are big coffee drinkers. (They brought their coffee pot with them. [g]) I've gotten in the habit of prepping it the night before & turning it on as I stumble past on the way to my shower; or fixing it when I get out of the shower. I'm dressed right away (a minor miracle!), and then Shanni gets up. A few minutes after I leave the bathroom (or as soon as the coffee is done brewing, lol) Michelle stumbles out. It's pretty much weather report, news, & then "The Waltons" or "It's Me or the Dog" until Shanni & I leave for the day. I drop her off at school, and head to work. I love the time we spend on the way to school; it's great to just chit-chat about the day before we start it. Especially since we're in the middle of a SlugBug (VW Beetle) contest. If it can be called that. It's more like a crusade. ;) I almost yelled out "Silver Slug Bug, no Slug Bug Back!" on the way to dinner with the instructors last night. Oops. Thank goodness I managed to restrain myself. [g] I must admit, I'm going to miss this part of their stay. It's kind of fun. And has me missing my parents for some reason. I think I've become a bit too much of a homebody since buying the house. And having the other dogs around is a delight. The birds have faded into the background; I'm so used to their singing now. But the dogs are great. Scully is very cranky still. Especially with Aria, the standard poodle that's just a year old. She (Scully) has taken to hiding out upstairs in the second bedroom, where I've been sleeping. Even when I'm home, she stays up there. After coming down to say hello and get dinner, that is. ;) Poor thing. Her home has been invaded. She's an old dog at 13, you know. I was looking at a picture of her today from June 2006 and realized how much grayer she's gotten since then...and she's losing her eyesight. It's very noticeable now and depresses me. So I'm going to stop going there in this post. Night before last I brushed Radar (the golden) and he just puddled on the floor. I've never seen a dog melt like that before. When I was brushing the front of his neck, he stretched his head up toward me and I've never been given such an adoring look before...It was so funny. Scully ran and hid when she saw the brush, Izzy (the Westie) dared me with her eyes to try and groom her (safely ensconced on the sofa with KT), and Aria (the poodle) gave me a puzzled look, came over and licked Radar's ear, and then went and laid down. Kooky dogs. But it's great when I pull up next to the garage at the end of the day and the three of them are standing at the gate waiting for me. My own welcoming committee. And it's not because they're about to be fed. How lovely. :)

I found a Gem & Wasn't Looking

Sitrep: 1x Swimming, 1x Pilates Class (60 mins), 2x Walk (30 min ea, w/dogs)

Also known as A Trip to the Library. :) I took Shanni & KT to the library Saturday, mostly for their sakes as I have umpteen million books I'm currently reading, and that's not including my TBR pile. Having caught whatever bug Shanni (and everyone else in town) had last week, I could not concentrate on books or TV to save my life. In spite of myself, I found a book while casually browing the new book shelf: My Enemy's Cradle by Sara Young. from B&N website blurb:

Cyrla's neighbors have begun to whisper. Her cousin, Anneke, is pregnant and has passed the rigorous exams for admission to the Lebensborn, a maternity home for girls carrying German babies. But Anneke's soldier has disappeared, and Lebensborn babies are only ever released to their father's custody— or taken away.

A note is left under the mat. Someone knows that Cyrla, sent from Poland years before for safekeeping with her Dutch relatives, is Jewish. The Nazis are imposing more and more restrictions; she won't be safe there for long.

And then in the space of an afternoon, life falls apart. Cyrla must choose between certain discovery in her cousin's home and taking Anneke's place in the Lebensborn—Cyrla and Anneke are nearly identical. If she takes refuge in the enemy's lair, can Cyrla fool the doctors, nurses, guards, and other mothers-to-be? Can she escape before they discover she is not who she claims?

It sounded intriguing - you don't see stuff about the Nazi Lebensborn program all that much. Actually, I can only ever remember one other fiction novel that this is talked about and part of the storyline. Although that's not a good example statistically speaking; I read but I don't read that much! After reading a few pages there, it seemed an okay read so I checked it out. I finished In the Bleak Midwinter that night (also a good read), and Sunday morning picked up My Enemy's Cradle. And finished it by dinner time. Aside from a few plot twists I found a bit harder to suspend reality for, it was a really good book. It's her first adult fiction novel; she's written quite a few children's books under the name Sara Pennypacker. I wish there had been a bit more from the eventual romantic interest's viewpoint prior to seeing him in the latter part of the book. Would have made his "revelation" a bit more believable. But it is very much first person POV; you don't get into anyone else's head but Cyrla's. And some threads are left hanging at the end, just a few minor ones. But I think it is fitting for the time period where people often "disappeared" and no one ever knew what became of them. Anyway, for a good read, with lots of emotion (at least there was for me; I even dreamt about it last night), I recommend finding this book. I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for her next adult fiction novel. And might just look for her children's stuff at the library to see if any of it would be good for my youngest niece. :)

Pilates...Or Not?

Goals: 1x Swimming, 1x Pilates Class, 1x BodyRev Bootcamp, 1x Rock Wall Climbing Sitrep: 1x Swimming, 1x Pilates Class (60 mins)

Last night was my first ever Pilates class. It was a beginner's class. I was, uh, a bit disappointed. It's basically the floor exercises from an aerobics class. Is that typical Pilates? If so, I think next week I'll check out the water aerobics class. Last night was murder on my hips. Especially the right one. Darn arthritis. It burns like mad today, and now the rest of the leg is tingly. (sigh) Amazingly, I find myself getting re-motivated now that Fall "is here". Maybe it's that "going back to school" mentality. [g] Or maybe I'm just like Scully...cold air makes me frisky. LOL. Now there's an image. I'm so not feeling frisky today. Distracted & tired. Cranky. Those are words that come to mind. Although overall mentally I'm feeling better. The exercise last night, no doubt. But this morning. Sheesh. My Little Sister is "sick" today. It started last night, when they got home from running errands (that started directly after school) at 10pm. Insane. She'd been doing her homework in the car between stores. I'm sure that didn't work real well. [rolling eyes]. She was fine when she got home until she was told she'd have to finish her homework then or get up at 5 am to finish. She chose 5am, but not 10 minutes after crawling into bed she started complaining of being sick. Did the same thing this morning. So her mom let her stay home. I blame her mom in this instance. What was she thinking, keeping the kid out so late? Why didn't she drop her off at home to do homework while Mom went shopping? And she blew off a meet with her middle daughter, the almost 18 year old (we're kept informed of the count daily), to get her homecoming dress. At least she called her (KT was at work) to let her know. But late; KT had been waiting for her for hours. (She works at M.acy's, also where she's getting the dress). Poor kid was crushed. Found her in my bedroom at 10pm bawling her eyes out. (sigh) Oh, and when they did get home they had Shanni's stepdad's 7 yr old grandson with them. I knew they were picking him up for the afternoon since it was C's b-day. But I didn't realize that meant keeping him overnight. Since I'm short on bedrooms, beds and sofas, C slept on the floor with Shanni...in my room. Guess who needs the light left on all night??? I'm starting (!) to sound cranky, aren't I? This morning Shanni was curled up on the sofa acting anything but sick, Izzie is continuing her stare-down challenge with Scully, Michelle let the big dogs in the house (they are too rambunctious that early in the morning), her work kept calling, she kept trying to get Steve to listen to her instructions about the pet groomer coming to pick up Aria for grooming, and he kept playing with the 7 year old grandson. Who got a new toy for his birthday: a remote controlled car. Joy. Not. Man, I'm turning into a cranky old woman. I had to leave the house ASAP or I'd've cracked that car in two. And tossed Shanni into the shower with a "I don't care if your homework's not done you're going to school." As it was, I managed to restrain myself to "Don't drive that into the living room furniture....Don't hit the furniture it's new...don't bang the furniture, it cost a lot of money...don't bang into that, it's from Japan...don't hurt the furniture...not the furniture from Japan...don't bang into ANY OF THE FURNITURE!" At that point I left before doing bodily harm. ;)

So...This was my weekend

Sitrep: 1x swimming (30 mins, no laps though), Yard Work - see below. [g]

So. It was a jam-packed weekend. Lots of stuff to do, with sinus pressure/headache added. I had no idea how much of a mess 4 extra people could make. Holy Cow. I am so not cut out for this "mother" thing. Michelle tried hard the first week to keep things in order, but she got sick last week (sinus issues, just like the rest of us) and when you combine that with 4 females PMSing during the same week, well...'Nuff said. All I managed to get done on Saturday was grocery shopping. And some pictures. Definitely took some pictures. Here's one of them: Is this not the happiest looking dog ever? This is Radar, one of Shanni's dogs. Actually, he's really her mom's dog. The Westie is Shanni's, the poodle is Steve's (whether he wants her or not, she is in love with him. [g]). KT has a cat. Anyway. Radar is just so happy in this picture you can't help but smile, can you?

Here's why he's in such a very good mood: Serves me right for buying them a Ko.n.g toy & stuffing it with kibble & peanut butter. [rolling eyes]. Here's Aria, the Standard Poodle that looks like a sheep, and Isabelle (aka; Izzie or Rotteno):

Gym Bound

Sitrep: Joined a Gym ("athletic center")

Well, I've gone and done it now. I signed up - and paid for - a 2 year membership at one of the local fitness centers. It's the "paid for" part that freaks me out. Although how paying for it up front is any worse than over time when you sign a 2-year contract, I don't know... I was able to include Shanni on my membership, and the total cost is only $35/month, and a one-time $20 application fee. Not bad. Considering the membership at this facility would normally be a one-time application fee of $120, and then $55/month for me, plus $12/month for Shanni until she's 14 (one yr) and then it would be $16/month for Shanni. So this is much, much better. :) It includes all the facilities at the club's main location. All 3 locations would have been better for me, as I could do my regular workouts at one located more or less on the way home, instead of the West location. But this isn't too bad all things considered. They have 5 courts for racquetball, handball, wallyball (?) and one for basketball; three Hot Springs pools, the Adventure Zone, full fitness facilities including cardio and strength equipment, Group Fitness Classes, Teen Fitness Program, tanning and indoor rock climbing wall. This might make me sound old (!) but I'm especially interested in the water fitness class. It would be much easier on my hip. Yeah, yeah. I can hear you all laughing. Cut it out. But I'm excited. I still want to use my BodyRev. But I've been wanting something I can do with Shanni to help her with her issues of self-esteem & weight. We can make our first visit this Saturday. :)

Goodbye Garden, Hello Mom

Sitrep: Don't Look Here!

It's amazing the things you learn about yourself when people move in. Me, it's definitely reinforced the fact that I'm used to being alone and am a bit set in my ways. It's also reinforced my decision not to have kids. Ever. (Can you tell Shanni is driving us batty?) The dogs are adapting well. Even Her Royal Dogginess, Scully. Izzy (Shanni's Westie, and half the size of my dog) is tired of being bullied and the two have gotten into a humdinger of a snarl/pinning-fest. No blood drawn. Freaks everyone out, though. Except me. Just makes me mad and they both get banished outside. The big dogs are doing extremely well in the house and love the doggie door. Aria, the standard poodle, destroyed my American Flags that I had in the front flower pots. Well, she chewed up the poles...oh, and the top part of the little water fountain in my front bed. Ooops. (She's only a year old, and teething.) And she keeps taking the river rocks one by one out of the water fountain pot...bizarre. Izzy, however, found something much more entertaining to do. She dug up my veggie garden. Yes, she truly did. The half whiskey barrel with the carrots, lettuce and onions. {sigh} I came home Friday and it was all dug up. I was able to smooth the dirt back in and save the carrots. The next morning it was destroyed again; dirt everywhere. We caught Izzy in the act later that day, sitting there in the container, face and paws covered with dirt, serenely surveying the back yard. :( Shanni has been a barrel of fun. Not. The slightest thing will set her off. I'm trying my darndest to stay out of her & her mother's arguments. Friday morning they had a rip-roaring argument, and I got dragged in...and it all started with two strips of jerky. I kid you not. But yesterday, ahh, yesterday I think I won. One battle, anyway. She'd spent the night and day at her cousins' house. Her mom went to pick her up and I guess they argued on the 5 minute drive back to my house. She came storming in...I'd been waiting for her to cook Josie's b-day dinner (cake was already done) so she stomped into the kitchen to help me. I was rinsing the veggies and didn't hear something she said...I went "what?" and she grumpily said "Nothing." Now, she's not allowed to use that answer any more. She does it on purpose, talking softly so you have to ask her what she said, then refusing to repeat it, and so on until it becomes a fight. So I replied, "You know that's not an answer. Now what'd you say?" She then turned on me (and I do mean turned on me) and snarled "NOTHING...It was mean and I don't want to say it again. Just like what you did last week..." Technically, this is true. I'd made a remark that was very catty, and then apologized. She hadn't been paying attention, until she heard the apology...and then demanded I repeat the remark. To which I said it wasn't a very nice remark, I shouldn't have said it in the first place and didn't want to repeat it. Which she couldn't accept and it descended into an argument...But that was over a week ago. So how did I handle last night??? Well, luckily for me, my Mom bailed me out. No mean feat considering the woman lives over 2500 miles from me. Me (channeling Mom; calm voiced): Stop. Shanni (red faced and yelling): If you can do it so can I! I don't have to repeat it... you didn't have to when you said something mean... Me (Mom speaking calmly through my mouth ): Then you should have said "It was a mean thing to say, and I'm sorry I said it, and don't want to repeat it." I would have been fine with that. But you said "Nothing" in an angry voice trying to start a fight with me. Now go to your room. Shanni (sputtering): B..b..you can't... Me (calmly, firmly, pointing her toward the stairs): Go to your room until I call you.

And I turned away, back to fixing dinner. Totally stunned I'd kept my cool. And that she obeyed me. Stomping every last step, but she obeyed me. Michelle came out of the bed room a few minutes later wanting to know why Shanni was stomping around upstairs. I told her Shanni had gotten angry, tried to pick a fight, and been disrespectful so I sent her to her room. The look on Michelle's face was priceless...A few minutes later she went upstairs. [sigh]. But Shanni didn't come back downstairs with her, because I'd told her not to...Heh heh heh. I think it was more that she thought she was punishing me by her continued absence. Not. I finished getting dinner on the stove and then called upstairs to her to get her clothes and go take her shower. Darned if she didn't listen. And was a perfect angel the rest of the evening. ;) She even helped clean the kitchen after dinner & cake, and wiped down the sink & stove with nary a murmur of protest. Miracles do happen after all.

SNOW!

On Mount H? On September 1st??? Un-freakin'-believable. At least, that's what I said to myself (or something reasonably similar) Monday morning as I headed out to my little sister's house for another day of packing. It rained a good part of the day Sunday, with strong winds, and I knew the temps were to drop into the forties that night. But to wake up to snow on the Elkhorns south of my house, and then to turn West and see Mount H with a dusting of snow about 3/4 of the way down... Not. Good. Especially since Michelle'd already called me to let me know that the items already out of the house and securely (or so we thought) wrapped/stored were wet. Apparently the wind Sunday blew plenty of rain in along with knocking out the power. The girls discovered the problem when they went out to dig out the candles. {sigh} So instead of moving furniture out, we struggled in the alternately pouring and drizzling rain, with the temperature at 38*F (wind chill 33*F), to put up two large family-size tents. And then moved everything in there. Ughh. One of the guys that volunteered to help with the heavy stuff got the bottle flu. So me and one male friend that did show up did the heavy lifting. (We kept having to chase away Steve-with-the-Broken-Back and his friend D-just-got-out-of-the-hospital-with-colostomy-bag.) Can I just say Monday was nightmarish. And that was before Shanni got into a fight with me. I was too tired and cranky and cold to exhibit any patience...Oh, man, was that a stressful day. At one point Michelle told Shanni if she hated me so much they'd call BBBS first thing on Tuesday and withdraw from the program. Hah. That shut her up. I took a bag of trash outside after that, and KT came up to me and gave me a hug and whispered "I'm so sorry she's being mean. Don't go away." [g] As if. Shanni ended up apologizing. Later. Much, much later. Me, I'm hanging my head in shame because I just couldn't let it go. By 1pm yesterday, we had two carloads and a truck load of dogs (ok, 2 dogs w/their travel kennels) at my house. The cat and one little dog were in my car. The cat is now hostage in my garage (allergies, can't have her in my house - Sis, stay out of my garage if you ever visit!). The four birds (I took them over on Monday) are happily chirping away in a far corner of the kitchen. The dogs have free reign in the yard and are in doggie heaven...the Golden Retriever & Standard Poodle even fit through the doggie door. Go figure. Her Royal Dogginess is Not Pleased we have company. It's amusing to watch her give the other dogs the "evil eye". And to watch them give Scully a wide berth. I'm not kidding. They all watch her out of the corners of their eyes and if she moves in one direction, they get up and go in the other. So they are all moved in for the duration...Shanni & I are "camped" upstairs, KT is sleeping on the sofa, and Michelle & Steve are in my room...can't have the man with the broken back sleeping on the floor. Their old home is supposedly being moved today, the new one coming in tomorrow. If all goes according to the latest schedule. Our friend Josie stopped by last night with wine. And ended up cooking dinner. I'm not sure how that happened, the girls were supposed to cook dinner (meat loaf) and I swear they started to...I was upstairs cleaning the spare room, and doing laundry so I don't know why Josie ended up cooking. But it was nice not to have to. Poor Steve was passed out on the sofa within minutes of sitting down. Between the TV, the birds (OMG are they noisy), the girls doing "homework", the dryer, the dogs, & us three girls chatting across the house, it was bedlam. Can I just say I was glad to have to return to work this morning? At least it has warmed up, the sun is shining, and the snow on Mount H didn't last past Monday afternoon.

Not MY Dog!

Sitrep: 1x Lawn Mowing, 10x THINKING About REVing :(

I'm not one to watch a lot of the reality TV shows. Although in the past I've admitted to watching W.ife Sw.ap and Su.perna.nny. Now I mostly read or play solitaire while those are on in the background. But this summer I've discovered a new reality show. Greatest American Dog. Let me just say up front that my dog would not make it onto this show so I am suitably impressed at those that have. But last night's episode was crazy. Here's a short clip from the episode. This would have sent me running.
Watch CBS Videos Online I wish they had a short clip of the dogs doing the zip line. Yikes. To see that you have to watch the full episode online. You can't fast forward to the end, more's the pity.

Define: Hearing

Sitrep: 1x Lawn Mowed

Sometimes I think my little sister thinks I'm crazy. Sometimes I think I am... Last Friday I was invited to attend Shanni's "family" therapy session. During our regular outing together on Saturday, while enjoying cool treats al fresco at the local D.Q., she relayed her impression of the whole session. Shanni thinks the therapist is critical of her, and says everything she is doing is wrong. Which is so not what I heard. So we talked some about how we interpret what others say to us, and filter the words through our own feelings, experiences, memory process, etc. Of course, while we went about the rest of our afternoon, my mind was ruminating in the background, about thoughts and hearing and how it all works. Ruminations I then shared with her, to her everlasting joy. *snort* I mean, really. Can we hear our own thoughts? It seems like I'm hearing myself. (OK, so I talk to myself in my head. I can't be the only one!) So when I hear that voice in my head, am I really hearing it? I mean, physically. It's not really a sound, is it? Sounds are all about different waves, I think. (It's been awhile since those science classes.) Isn't hearing all about the actual physical actions of sound waves and the ears? Thinking in my head doesn't produce that...yet I could swear I "hear" those words. I can differentiate between my voice, a friend's voice, my mother's voice - don't tell her that!!! ;) But if it doesn't actually involve sound, how can it be hearing? Is it a chemical response combined with memories of sound? exactly is it? It's been driving me crazy all weekend. FYI, this is why I don't do drugs, and rarely drink. If I think about crazy stuff like this totally sober, could you imagine how insane I'd be if I was on drugs? {shudder} It doesn't bear thinking about! Of course, posts like this will probably be used someday as proof I need to be committed. But hey. This is much better than the time I convinced myself that the universe really didn't exist and therefore I didn't exist. Again, totally sober. That was a fun night. Not.

Fay, Fay, Go Away...

Sitrep: 1/2 Lawn Mowed, ~2 mile walk

Talked to the folks - again - this morning. The streets around them are flooded and closed, but so far the cul-de-sac they live on is okay. The sewage system is flooded, though, so that's not much fun. There are water use restrictions from that...limit how much you use, etc. But they have power. My SIL's grandfather is above water as well...at least when she checked on him yesterday. She hadn't called yet this morning when I talked to her. My lunatic sister (yes, lunatic!) went jogging yesterday when the wind/rain let up some. They (sister & bil) were going again this morning. [insert rolling of eyes here] They also went swimming yesterday evening with their 4.5 yr old during a short rain break. Just in case y'all didn't know this, but swimming pools filled with fresh rain water are cold. Just saying. Saw on the weather channel that the Ace Hardware in A1A Plaza put their generators on sale for 30% off yesterday. That's surprising. A nice surprise! Not too much else going on in my world. Crashed big time last night. Two days of running around and socializing until 8pm wears me out. I think I played solitaire for several hours. And did you know that if you shuffle a deck of cards continuously for over an hour you'll see all the Aces pass through the bottom of the deck? Really, you will. Some of them several times over. This morning was Business Plan presentations at work - to the whole office. Fifteen minutes per presentation with a 5 minute Q&A. Glad that's over. Now I get to implement mine, and be "monitored" in my progress. Oh, joy. Not.

Making Dad Laugh

Sitrep: 1/2 Lawn mowed, ~2 mi Walk

So I called my parents this morning to see how they fared with Tropical Storm F.ay, since the eye apparently moved quite s-l-o-o-o-w-l-y over them last night. Dad answered (nice surprise, it's usually Mom & I've talked to her and my sister the last two days.) Considering it was early for me on a work day, Dad should have been surprised it was me. But since I've called 2 days in a row to check on them...not so much. Really it's just an excuse to call! And yesterday I figured was the best chance to catch my sister not in the pool! But when I started with "The weather channel reported 51 tornadoes in [ ] county, are you guys ok?" Dad couldn't help but laugh. A real belly laugh. I think I really tickled his funny bone. Turns out it was one tornado, with 51 homes damaged. And not near them. My poor beleaguered brain apparently condensed the report and scrambled it about a bit. [g] But hey, at least I made my Dad laugh! I think it's quite humorous that they've had no tropical weather this season until the week my sister visits with her family. Lucky them - trapped for 2 days in the house with a 4 and a half year old who lives to swim. [g] While on the phone my BIL in the background hollered "Send snorkels!" LOL. So far all's well at the house. Streets around the neighborhood that flood with regular rainfall are flooded. But nothing beyond that. The last few days have been busy for me. But finally our 2-day annual seminar for a local company is over and the instructor in on his way home. Had to do the hostess thing the last 2 days, and eat out. Bummer. Last night we walked from the downtown hotel he stayed at & up to the walking mall and a local eatery that used to be a brothel. Big Dorothy's. [g] Good steaks and fun atmosphere. It's about a mile from the hotel one way. The weather cooled down considerably, and it sprinkled a bit. But it was a nice walk. On the way back we got ice cream. It's a good thing we walked! Saw the chiropractor again today for a status check. All looks good. A few more adjustments today and that's that unless I'm in pain again. He told me again not to baby my right hip for that arthritis, to keep moving so it stays lubricated. Which I'm doing. Sort of. :) I have got to get back into REVing. No ifs, ands or buts about it. Just a lot of hips and butt. [groan, I know]. Oh, and I'm buying a new (to me) camera. It's a smaller digital camera I've been wanting. Not quite a pocket point and shoot, but smaller by quite a bit than my digital SLR, and with a really good optical zoom. It's going to be my "around-town" camera. One I can carry with me and not worry about leaving in the trunk of the car. Not like my "baby", my D SLR. [g]

Speedy Gonzalez, That's my name!

Sitrep: 1/2 lawn mowed. Last night. At 9pm. Even under a full moon (barely up!) and outdoor lights, I did a lousy job. Note to self: don't mow after sunset.

Well...I have no idea what happened to last week. After Tuesday it's all a blur. Except Friday afternoon. Our boss decided to do a staff outing. Normally cause for the grumbles, but not this time. They took us up the road to "Tons of Fun". An arcade/mini-golf/go-kart place. We had BBQ ribs and chicken for lunch, then a round of truly hilarious mini-golf. Then we got on the go-karts. That was a hoot. I might keep to the speed limit on the real road, but get me on a go-kart and the pedal is to the metal. [g] I was standing on that gas pedal hollering in my head "Faster dammit, faster!" I was fourth to start, right after two of my coworkers and my boss. I could not get past him. He was hugging the curves and going flat out...But I'm smart. ;) I saw that one of my coworkers, P, was not going as fast as us, and after a few laps we were catching up. D and N blew past her, but I could tell my boss B was going to keep on going until the last minute. So I started to pull out and go wide around the curve...Then K (who'd been right behind the whole time) thought she'd scoot between me and B and get past us. Hah. She fell right into my trap. B got too close to P and she panicked, moved left. Too late, I was zooming right in there so she zoomed right, cutting B off. He had to brake, then K had to swerve behind me to miss him. And I just flew right past all of them. [g] I came in third. :) One of the best moments, though, was when W blew past J (who just became a grandma for the first time), screaming "Move over Grandma!!!" Too funny. Then a quick trip to DQ, and we got to go home an hour early. Naturally, it being payday, I stopped at Hast.ings to browse the books. Didn't do much this weekend...read a lot. Lounged around a lot. Sigh. Worked some yesterday, last minute. Ughhh. Argued with Shanni some. That girl has got to learn how to deal with disappointment. Geez. So what if the store doesn't have the locker lock you want...they'll get more in or she'll find it at another store! No cause for pouting, etc. Today I feel like a ping pong ball...one of our annual seminars we do for a local company is today and tomorrow, and the instructor is in town from Florida. So I'm doing the chauffeur thing, and popping back and forth from the hotel to the office and back again to make sure everything's okay, the instructor doesn't need anything, and so on ad infinitum...I went home at lunch to let the fur baby out because I have to do the dinner thing after work today. At least I'll eat nice. But now I have to go home tonight and clean like mad because I didn't this weekend and the sun room is looking more like a junk room and I'm having someone over this week to look at the gas valve I broke (part 1 and part 2) beginning of last winter . They have to be able to get to it to fix it. Sigh. I also want them to quote how much it will cost to move the water hookups for the washer & dryer up to the main floor, so I can seal that darn floor instead of keeping that huge hole for the hoses to run through. They'll kinda need to go down into the basement. So the stuff parked on top of the access door has got to go... Gonna be a fun night. Not. ;)

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Sitrep: 1/2 lawn mowed

the old man is snoooooring. He went to... Oh, wait. That's me. [g] I'm soooo sleepy this mornin' I'm about to pass out at my desk. I must be cranky too as a coworker made a coffee run and treated me to a Mocha. Ahhh, the little joys in life. ;) I dreamt a lot last night. Pretty much all I can remember is a guy changing from a blond-haired cutie into a mocha skinned god with a gold earring. I gave him a purple hat (which he put on straight away) in exchange for some advice and then I walked away. I turned back a second or two later and there was nothing but a purple hat moving along the ground. I cautiously flipped the hat off and it was a turtle making some pretty fast (and determined) progress. Then the perspective changed...I was looking up and toward the turtle, as if through a sheet of glass that was barely thick enough to cover me. And as the turtle crawled over me, I realized it was a tarantula. Jeez oh Pete. Is it any wonder I'm exhausted???? And I can't even begin to put into words the feeling I remember from the dream. First good/excited/proud (???), then totally creeped out. I'm not sure I even want to know what this dream means. And I'm sure there's a meaning there somewhere.

It's probably "Don't eat Spaghetti O's for lunch you idiot".

Grease Monkeys

Weekly Goal: 1x Bootcamp, 1x Qigong, 1x Mow Lawn

Apologies in advance if I sound cranky...I'm very tired; slept poorly. Not inclined to parse my words for mood. [g] Dreamt last night I was on the phone with Shanni and she was sick; started with a cold and got worse. I was irritable because she wouldn't tell me the symptoms and I was feeling sick in my dream. Maybe my subconscious is trying to tell me something? Like if I don't get off my butt and exercise and eat better I'm going to get sick? Saturday was an uneventful day for the most part. I motivated my sorry self out of the house around noon to go get Shanni. We'd planned to work in my yard, putting in the new flower bed borders and starting on the back "deck". Except it pretty much boiled down to a quick run to the cell phone store (she locked her SIM card therefore blocking all but 911 calls) and then to the store to buy a bulb for the car headlight. We had to get someone to help us as the number bulb I needed wasn't on the shelf...the guy told me to bring my car around and they could change the bulb for me. For $5.00 (plus cost of light bulb). I guess I'm cheap, because I didn't want to pay someone to do something I can d0 - and have - myself. Shanni was quite dubious. Once at my house I looked up the instructions quickly online (to make sure I didn't unplug some necessary wires). I had a little trouble getting the cap off. I didn't want to use force (been there, done that, broken a few things!) so first tried finessing it off. Went with force. ;) To make a long story shorter, we changed the bulb. I had a bit of trouble lining the bulb up with all the grooves. Hard to line things up blindly. But finally got it in. At one point during the process Shanni went "Don't you have any guy neighbors we can call?" Pfffffttttt. I also heard "Ooooo...you're dirty!" (Funny coming from a girl who just a few years ago was happily catching frogs in the irrigation ditch by her house.) I said what I usually say, "I'm washable." She was pretty proud when we finished - and the light worked. [g] I also made a point to show her how to check the oil and washer fluid, and where the anti-freeze (coolant) goes. And the battery. I guess I'm going to have to show her how to change a tire one of these days. The rest of the afternoon she kept calling us "Grease Monkeys." So I didn't exercise last week. Went to the chiropractor for my hip Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. By the evening after the second adjustment I felt great! Wednesday was a final adjustment and also to review the x-rays of my hips. Turns out I have very early signs of arthritis in my right hip. Surprise. Not. It's always bothered me, and I figured eventually I'd have arthritis there. Just not at 35. [g] The doc said I can keep on exercising and walking/hiking is okay. I'm just not to take up running. In one of those "did I say that out loud" moments, I went "Please. I just took up walking. Running's not even an option!" He looked a little startled, but laughed. So. Now I really need to lose that extra 20 pounds. Just more motivation! I was afraid he was going to tell me to stop exercising all together. But from what he told me, and from some research I did at the library, I'm okay to continue. Just need to wear really, really good shoes. He told me where I can get some good orthotics (not custom made) for about $50. I think I'll try those before going the orthopedist route again. So. Onward and upward. And it's nice to know I'm not hallucinating the aches in my hip, or the pain when I sleep on my right side. [g] And yesterday I managed to motivate into the garden. One flower bed out front now has a new border - two years after removing the old one. ;) It's that generic plastic border you bury except for the edge, but it works for me. Got 50 feet of it for $5.00. Gotta love procrastinating until the end of the season. Hah. The veggie garden is not making much progress...tomato plant is all played out. Carrots are finally coming up and I thinned them out. Green onions aren't getting taller and browning on top. Lettuce is struggling. But it's getting much cooler. I actually wore jeans out to dinner Saturday night. The Chives and Basil are hanging in there. At least the lime trees are looking wonderful! Not much else to report, except that Shanni keeps getting herself grounded. So far she's lost going out one afternoon, her cell phone for 2 days (oh, the inhumanity! lol) and now our outing to Ga.tes of the Mo.untains Saturday with BBBS. Heh. Poor kid. NOT! I keep telling her about the time my mom dragged me home from a friends birthday slumber party because I hadn't finished my chores. I was 16 at the time...

I Summited Mount Helena

Last Week Sitrep: 3.4 mile hike
Goal: 1x Bootcamp, 1x Qui Gong

Shanni & I finally made it to the top of Mount Helena. And I have the aching muscles and chiropractor bills to prove it. [g]

Plan of Attack: Prospect Shafts Trail (1.5 mi) to Hogback Switch Trail (.3 mi) leading to Summit; 1906 Trail back to the parking lot (1.6 mi).

Reality Check: We set out at 9:30 am, reaching the top around 11:30 am. Yep. Took us almost two hours to hike the 1.8 miles to the top. I'm thinking that's a pretty abysmal pace, but hey. It's me. This trail is supposedly less step than the 1906 trail we attempted last year. I'd have to agree on that, although others don't. It's longer, and winds around more. Gorgeous sneak peeks of the valley along the way, and plenty of shade, make this a rather nice hike. If you can forget about the fact you're hiking, that is.

About twenty minutes down the trail, we came across a picnic table and Shanni wanted to stop for a snack. I brought sandwiches for our lunch later, along with cheese sticks, carrots and granola bars. Not to mention tons of water. (Two 32oz bottles for each of us.) Let's just say that cheese sticks are not a good option on a hike unless you have a cooler or thermal lined backpack.

Just across the way from the picnic table is what's called the Charcoal Kiln. We took pictures. It looks like the remains of a tower or something made out of rocks. Pretty neat. Then we started back up the path. It was about this point that my right hip started to irritate. Like my sciatic nerve was getting pinched or something. Not too unusual.

About 1.5 miles up the Prospect Shaft's Trail we switched onto Hogback Switch Trail. Now, it was getting rather steep already, and I was hoping we'd already hit Hogback Switch. Nope. I wanted to cry when we saw the sign. Shanni was great, very encouraging. I was struggling by this point; not sure how much farther I could go. I'd forgotten to wear my heart rate monitor, but could tell whenever I got too high out of my target zone. I'd stop in the shade for a few minutes (usually moving around a bit, just not going up.) Anyway. Shanni coaxed me those last .3 miles to the summit (yes, it was .3, at least that's what the map down below said!)

The top was just craggy rocks, but the view was amazing. I took some pictures. Not as many as I'd've normally taken. But exhaustion and no shade make for poor photographer incentives. [g] We wanted to take the 1906 trail down, which I thought connected to the Hogback trail further back. Ooops. That was the first wrong step of the day. So we had to go back up. Oh, joy. At least it was only fifteen feet or so...someone else pointed us the correct way down. Only after a few minutes the trail started to split into 3 directions with no signs/markers. Peachy. Figuring I was being intelligent, I said "Those 2 look like they're going back up, this one is definitely going down. Let's take this one." Heh. Turned out to be not so intelligent after all!

After about 10 minutes of pretty steep and rocky progress down (I'm pretty sure this is where I really started to screw up my hip), we began to wonder if we'd passed the Devil's Kitchen (large cave in the limestone face), and how'd we mange to do that? Thankfully we came across a mother-daughter pair hiking up. They kindly told us we were on the Powerline Trail, not the 1906. Shanni was disappointed and wanted to go back; I wanted to know if this trail ended in the parking lot. They laughed, said yes, but then told us they (veteran hikers) wouldn't go down this trail. Apparently the Powerline Trail is a pretty ugly downward climb. (My chiropractor confirmed this.) So we had to go back up. {whimper}

Shanni ran ahead with them; I kept having to stop. Although I pushed myself harder than I previously had. That whole ego thing. Didn't want to look bad. Like being red-faced and breathing like a bellows while the top of your head explodes doesn't look bad, and tears stream down your face, doesn't look bad! By this point I kept telling myself "The only easy day was yesterday"...not sure why my brain picked that quote. I certainly didn't help! "You gotta want it bad enough" and "Body obeys the brain" would have been better motivators, I think. But we made it back up (nearly to the top, where the trail split in 3 directions) and they showed us the 1906 trail. You actually have to walk down that path a bit to see a) it goes up slightly then down dramatically and b) the signpost. Sigh. So really. I summited several times. ;) That whole side-trip added thirty minutes to the day.

Going down was lovely. Much easier. The first few minutes the world spun crazily in my peripheral vision - Vertigo - but that evened out. The Devil's Kitchen is neat; it's basically an extremly large and wonderfully cool shallow opening in the limestone cliff face. We stopped there about twenty minutes or so and ate lunch. I didn't even eat half my sandwich; my body started giving me the "going to be sick" signals. But we'd snacked several times on the way up, with my choice being carrots. (love the moisture in them.) I stuck to sipping water the rest of the way down. At this point I was 1/3 of the way through my second bottle of water.

The 1906 trail down is rather steep, mostly shaded, and also provides great views of the valley. My hip really burned by this point, and I could feel every step in my lower back. But we did it. We made it. :) At 1:05 pm we were in the car.

FWIW (for what it's worth): The 2 ladies that we met on the Powerline Trail caught up with us on their way down. The Powerline Trail is not on the map at the parking lot.

The Aftermath: I woke up Sunday with the expected pain. Legs so stiff, calve muscles in agony. Didn't do much throughout the day other than walk around the house and stretch my muscles, etc. Was going to mow the lawn as a method of loosening up my legs, but it rained. Soaked at least 40 minutes in hot water. Felt much better, except for my hip. Oh, my hip! It was late afternoon when I realized that every time I stood up, when I put my rut foot down and walked in a straight line, my right foot was pointed right (not forward!). Uh-oh. My feet turn outward normally, but not that much.

So yesterday I missed work and ended up at the chiropractor for the first time in my life. I felt silly as I wasn't in any pain. Just discomfort, but when I stood to show him how I was standing, he goes "oh yeah, that's not right." LOL. A quick, little adjustment later and my foot was pointing straight. My right hip was too far forward or something. He had me come back today for an x-ray to take a look at the hip joint (I told him I had to wear splints/casts on my leg as an infant) just to be sure since I've always had issues with it. (No side leg lifts - agonizing burning pain!). His wife took the pics today, and per her the hip looks normal...radiographer needs to give the "official" word. I got another adjustment and feel much better. I no longer feel lopsided. [g] One more adjustment tomorrow, and then a follow-up on Monday to make sure I'm still in alignment.

Funny thing, after about 10 minutes or so of walking after the first adjustment, the calve muscles in my right leg no longer hurt as much. They were much much more sore than the left leg. Guess it was the additional strain of how I was walking. [g]

So. That's the grand adventure on Mount Helena last weekend. The Hike That Lasted Three Days. :) But we made it!!!!

I Am...

...really weird sometimes, ya know? What else can you say about someone who hangs out in their yard and meows at the neighbor's cat two yards down? We're talking 10+ minutes, here. My little sister rolls her eyes at me...I know the names of my neighbors' pets, but not my neighbors. Heh.


...also finished with ITF. Got it from the library on lunch yesterday and finished it at 1:45 am. So the rest of this post is ALL ABOUT ITF.

THIS IS YOUR OFFICIAL SPOILER ALERT!

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So. Obviously it was written well enough I stayed up late to finish it. Mostly because I want to be as enthralled by her books as I once was.

But parts of this book felt like I was slogging through mud. A few times I found myself thinking "oh, come on. This is taking for-ev-er!" I've felt that a few times lately while reading books I otherwise put in the "enjoyed" and "good book" category when done. Bizarre.

ITF was well written, as usual, yet I was still left frustrated at the end of the book. It reads more like several books competing to be top dog in one. Some of the story arcs are moving toward closure. Maybe. Although I don't think that Dave & Sophia will end up together. She's with him because she wanted to be with someone who loved her, not because she loved him. Totally understandable from my viewpoint. Decker...I still don't like him. Or not like him. I'm pretty "whatever" on the whole thing with him. Murphy & Hannah...the supposed main characters...liked them. Liked Hannah. Liked Murphy. Although at times I got confused by the similarity of sense of humor...like trying to figure out the nickname Hannah gave him "Bwee"...What the heck? I had to get the answer to that from the BB...which someone got from Suz...I kept thinking it was a "So.uth P.ark" thing...then kept having to go "no, that's Izzy, not Murphy." Sigh. And the sarcastic humor they all seem to have.

I enjoyed Izzy & Eden's story line the most, until the ctastrophic ending. [Arggh. I'd this vain hope while reading Suz was going to surprise me & tie that all up nicely.] Although how quickly Izzy "fell in love" with this kid wasn't so believable to me. He's confusing lust & white night syndrome with love, if you ask me. So I won't be surprised if in his next, what, 4?, appearances he's not with her and not with Tracy. So far Suz has had him hook up with 2 women needing to be "saved". At least, in their minds & his. Suz has already said his arc is over 6 books. 2 down, 4 to go. Yippee. NOT. And that's just Izzy/Eden/Tracy.

And there were some things I was kinda "huh" about. I'm not an expert, but I'd thought the amount of Roh.yp.nol it would take to give Eden such total blackout/amnesia would be a fairly large dose, and would last from 2-12 hours. Reading I've done would indicate the 12 hours being on the extreme far end of the time-line. Effects starting to wear off around 4 hours. From what I've read. Would there have been enough time to do all that filming/staging? Maybe. I guess I'm getting hung up on details. And why the heck would this guy go to all the bother. Yeah, I can get the whole I-want-her-I'm-gonna-have-her vibe. But the elaborateness of Richie's plan, the videos, etc, all to get Jerry back? I mean, geez, hadn't they just met??? Is this guy in love with Jerry or something? Made NO sense to me. One tape would have been enough..."dude, your girl's been screwing around on you...and it wasn't the first time."

Then there's the whole Sophia/Decker/Dave triangle. The Tess/Nash/"Whatever" triangle. And that one leaves me feeling betrayed. Because Tess & Nash had their book. They got their happy-ever-after. Which means riding off into the freaking sunset in my world - when it comes to romance novels, that is. [g] It does not mean being primary characters, overcoming the storyline obstacle to become a couple in love and together at the end of the book only to appear fleetingly in subsequent books with major issues, and then finally as a major not-quite-secondary-not-quite-primary plot line. Which wasn't resolved by the end of the book either. Hoo. Yah. If I wanted this kind of anxiety/heartburn, I'd watch F.ox news 24/7. [sorry Dad & other Fo.x N.ew.s fans. If it helps, I can't think of any other news programs that don't follow close on FN's heels.]

Reading fulfills a need I have to escape. Escape being the operative word. Closure, happiness, order, balance, harmony, light...That's what I need at the end of the book. Not a bunch of characters with gaping wounds. And there are so very, very, very many characters...and we just got 2 new ones. Eden & Jo (the psychiatrist.) It's too tiring; I can't keep them straight. I shouldn't need a freaking chart to keep track of info while reading for pleasure.

This is why I'm not enjoying her books as much anymore. Why I want to cry when I finish; because I'm so let down. The older I get, the less I find myself "equipped" to deal with such angst. Funny, really, considering I used to watch THREE soap operas daily. Taped & watched them daily, I really did. (This was pre-DVR days.) Maybe I just burned myself out. LOL.

Mostly I think it's because I'm just tired of it. I'm much more pragmatic now than I was during those years. Growing up had something to do with it. Mostly those 2 years in Paraguay, I think. I'm so "For Pete's Sake. Get over it already." Which is why I'm not the best support for my friend fighting alcoholism. Not that I think that about the alcoholism. But the way she blows everything else up into a huge f-ing deal. Sometimes I just want to scream "GET A F-ING GRIP!" Heh. Wonder what response that would get! [g]

Anyway. I'm kinda wandering all over the place today. See what lack of sleep and no coffee yet have done to me?

So here's what I have to say to myself: "Get a F-ing Grip!" and "Get over it already." [g] Facts are facts. Suz' books are not romances. Not any more. They are what I consider fiction/suspense with relationships. It's a series of ongoing characters, not stand-alone books loosely connected to each other. So. Facts being facts, and life being what it is, I'll probably keep reading her books. But I'll be doing the library thing, like this time, and only reading them when I'm in the mood for that type of book. :) It's a testament to how good of a writer she is that her books engender these kinds of reactions, no?

Saying Goodbye to Favorite Authors

Sitrep: last week - 30 minutes swimming
Goals: 2x Boot camp

One of my favorite authors, Suz.anne Bro.ckmann, released a new book last week. And I have yet to buy it. Yes, I know. Coming from the person that scoured used book stores on her vacation in Japan to find copies of her back list, this is shocking.

I haven't enjoyed her last few books as much as I used to. (My post on her previous book) Part of it is that I have changed since I first discovered her books 10+ years ago. Part of it is she has changed, as has the world.

I'm on the library waiting list for this one. I noticed Saturday that I'm now up to number one (from 4 on release day), with the next copy due back around August 14. But I'm so not excited about this. I think I'm actually dreading reading this book. Made evident by a BB post header listing several characters that apparently have secondary story lines in this book. Characters from two of her "triangles"; the seemingly endless soap-opera-like threads. [sigh]

It's so depressing when an author whose books/writing I enjoy evolves into a different style. It happened with J.ude De.vereaux, Ju.lie Ga.rwood, etc. It's the switch over to mainstream, more fiction/suspense, I think. And seems to happen around or after they move into hardback. After they hit the bestseller lists. Reader, publisher, editor or author driven, it seems to inevitably happen.

This weekend it dawned on me that OTE was the last book of hers that I read more than once. Every one after that, once I'd read it, I put it away and that was that.

Her writing style has changed. Slowly at first with the introduction of the Sam/Alyssa/MaryLou triangle. But once that went over so "well" (hey, it generated lots of buzz and people wanting to keep reading to get to the end) it's like that became the sole goal. There are now three continuous story lines or "arcs": Decker/Dave/Sophia, Tess/Nash, Izzy/Tracy. The last book and now this book introduce the hero and heroine for the first time. And they are newcomers to the "world" she's created. Characters we've never heard about. It's like they are foils for these story arcs, and overshadowed. Less detailed, less impressive, less important. At least, that's how I feel.

And her books are definitely more political. It's not like my politics and hers differ. They really don't from what I can tell. I just am tired of the "causes". Maybe they were always there; I'm either too sensitive or the climate politically has changed and it's coming across more stridently in her books. I don't k now. But things like "Cosmo" pulling out the PF.LAG button/emblem (whatever it was) didn't fit in the scene it happened in. Maybe it was the way it was written, like it was added to promote the group, not as part of the character development. I'm so not sure why that was jarring to me and stands out. Hmmm.

The characters no longer stand out for me; they blend together now. It's kind of irritating that the heroines all seem to be of the same type: spunky, law-enforcement type background, etc. The continual use of alcoholism, lack of condom useage. It's becoming repetitive. And I know I've remarked on this before, but the fact that everyone the characters meet has the same type of sense of humor etc. It's like what happened with Davi.d E.ddings. I loved the "Belagariad". The "Belgarion" was pretty good. But after that, especially through the "Sparhawk" and later series, it's like they were pale imitations of the first books.

Or like the Ro.bert J.ordan "Whee.l of T.im.e" series. Wonderful writing, detailed, intricate story lines, great characters. Until what, the fourth or fifth book? Then the characters (especially the women) started to become more like empty shells of themselves, more alike than dissimilar, and way too many threads/story lines for any of them to be satisfactorily written. It was too easy to become lost, confused...and way too much work to read the books as they came out. I'm not sure to this day, almost twenty years after the first book in the series, if he ever finished it.

But I digress. So this is how I feel about Suz' books. Rather a revelation to me. And I'm not sure I even want to read this latest one, In.to the F.ire, when my turn comes up at the library. I'm tempted to wait until she finishes these story arcs. Or maybe not even then. (Which will probably get me banned from the BB.)

It's All About Scully

Sitrep: 30 minutes Swimming

And no, I'm not referring to the new X.-Files movie. Although I want to go see it. First I need to rewatch the series finale...I can't remember the ending!

I'm talking about my wonderful, obnoxious, adorable and extremely spoiled fur-baby.

I dropped her off at my little's house Wednesday a.m. before heading out of town on a business trip. Shanni called that night, around 10pm, to "chat", and while talking realized they hadn't fed Scully dinner. Now, Scully is nothing if not insistent about having her meals at preordained times. Seriously. If I'm not feeding her by 7am on weekends, she makes such a racket I'm surprised the neighbors don't complain. So Shanni was upset because they forgot to feed Scully...it's not that they're cruel, etc, it's that their 3 dogs are outside most of the day (Golden Retriever, Standard Poodle, Westie) and self-feed from this huge bowl. For Scully going over there is a little bit like Thanksgiving and Christmas all rolled into one. Naturally she's outside with the other dogs a lot, and munches quite happily from their bowl. Keeping them away until she eats the juiciest bits, of course. She's The Alpha of that pack.

So yesterday morning at 6:45 am Michelle called to assure me they fed her breakfast. Scully made sure of it. [g] Then last night Shanni called to say good-night, and told me Scully almost gave them heart failure. Apparently, she disappeared for quite awhile. Various accounts have it ranging from a few minutes, to over an hour. When they weren't looking, she slipped into the master bedroom and crawled under the bed. (I do mean crawled - there's very little space. She can make herself mighty little/flat when she wants to.) And she stayed there all day. I think there's just too much activity there for her. [g] Shanni was apparently so scared she was shrieking Scully's name. Oh yeah, that'll make the dog come running. [rolling my eyes]

Well, talking to them just now, it appears Scully stayed all night and all morning under the bed. She didn't come out for dinner (I'm sure she was too gorged on the other dog's food. She won't skip a meal) nor did she come out for breakfast. Michelle said "I know she's still alive because whenever the cat tries to go under the bed she growls. And if the other dogs come in the room, she growls." Still on the phone, Michelle decided it was time for Scully to go outside. I mean, she has got to go pee...Then she started laughing.

Apparently Shanni was so worried about Scully starving while I'm away, she put Scully's dog food bowl under the bed this morning!!! It was licked clean. OMG. I'm still laughing. No wonder the silly thing didn't get out from under the bed. Talk about "room service."

If You're Ever...

Sitrep: 30 minutes Swimming

If you're ever in Bozeman, Montana on a Thursday night, have dinner at The Mint Bar & Cafe in Belgrade, just outside town.

The food is phenomenal. I had the tastiest, tenderest steak I can remember (which says a lot, since I order medium well or well done). It was like butter in my mouth. And whatever they marinate it in...O.M.G. The fries were delicious as well...tangy and salty and just perfect. And you won't find a better vanilla bean Creme Brulee. The atmosphere is great...very Montana yet tasteful....The Mint has been around since 1904 so the history is fun.

And on Thursday nights, an extra special treat with entertainment by Montana Rose. Great mellow beat, kinda bluegrass meets country meets something else...She has a wonderful voice, and the band is excellent. Live music with the best dinner I've had in a long time!

The company was great; I love listening to our Ed Consultant J. swap stories with the instructors...especially when we can get him talking about his travels in Europe, or his years in the Navy. Tonight was no exception, great dinner company (except for one of the instructors, who I don't like for some reason. I can't quite put my finger on why I distrust her so much. Must puzzle that one out.)

Driving back to the hotel we were treated to a Montana sunset over the countryside and mountains. Breathtaking! And a perfect end to a perfect evening.

Last night a wonderful Italian place, tonight the Mint...who knows where we'll eat tomorrow?

Turning Limes into Limeade

I'm having such a hard time keeping to my budget lately. Stress, stress, stress. And today I bought another Lime Tree. For Pete's sake. Sigh. BUT it was the one I really wanted in the first place only it was $39.95 plus shipping. So I got the cheaper one. And it is thriving. Oh, you should see the new leaves coming off of it. I'm thrilled...it was actually the third attempt (first 2 attempts from a different company) and finally SUCCESS!

Anyway. With my love of limes, I've been thinking of getting a second one. In Paraguay I pretty much denuded the two lime trees in my yard when they were in season, and the limes in the grocery stores around here are puh-theh-tic.

Today in my email I got the newsletter for Park Trees & Shrubs , and there it was, the other lime tree, for only $19.95. So I had to buy it. I mean, that's half the price! So I'm a happy little grower.

And for all of you wondering how I can grow lime trees in MT, it's for my container garden. They'll over-winter it in the house. ;) So now I'm sitting here at my desk singing "Limes, beautiful Limes" in my head. At least I'm smiling now! It's all good, as long as I don't start singing out loud and skipping through the office!

Silence. With a capital "S".

Somehow I've ended up single and childless yet with a child very much like me as a teen. OMG. How the heck did that happen? Oh, yeah...I joined Big Brothers Big Sisters. I have no idea what to do with Shanni. She's just a bundle of raw nerves and crazy emotions. I can so relate to what she's feeling. I was an emotional mess myself at her age. I just don't know what to do or say when she falls apart. Nothing I do seems to help, and only makes it worse. So I just sit there and listen. It's just so hard because I know what's on the other side of all that emotion and chaos...it's just something you can see at twelve, almost thirteen. But, Oh, the melodrama! Her Aunt yelled at her yesterday, and called her lazy. (Actually, she called Shanni and her siblings lazy.) Not cause for a meltdown, but this is Shanni. A child whose parents never yell at her, and are pretty lax in discipline, rules, etc. The truth of the matter is that Shanni is lazy. As are her siblings. They've learned to be so from their parents (both households). So the house and yard aren't very well maintained. Unless they're having company over for a holiday, and then it's clean-clean-clean like mad for days. I know, because I'm family enough I've been recruited for those events. [g] Since they are now moving (long story short, they gave up their house in the bankruptcy, and are having a different home brought in) Mom has decided it's time to start fresh. Sunday Shanni's Aunt D and family (think Brady Bunch, only 5 girls and 1 boy) descended to clean the yard. I didn't show up until early afternoon, and just in time for the fireworks. [g] It was all I could do later on not to laugh when Shanni was presenting to her mother all her grievances against Aunt D. Especially when she started in on "Aunt D didn't take into consideration that I have a job, or the dogs, or the wind, or that we concentrate on the inside of the house so much..." OMG. That "take into consideration" part sounds so like me. At this point her Mom stopped her and went "How many days in July have you worked?" Silence. With a Capital S. Her mom held up one finger. "One day." Then she looked around the room, raised an eyebrow and continued "You've been concentrating on the inside?" Silence. Again, with a Capital S. "It doesn't look clean to me." By this point I was sitting hunched up in my chair, face turned away, because I really wanted to laugh at the dumbstruck looks on the girl's faces. M doesn't usually call them on their crap. I do, but their Mom doesn't. I wanted to cheer her on. I'd already been over this with Shannon earlier that afternoon. And I've told her on numerous occasions that she should do more around the house. She's learned the rules at my house, although I have to remind her a lot. I don't yell, I just remind her calmly to throw stuff away, or rinse her dishes and put them in the dishwasher...But then again, I only have her with me once a week. If it was daily I might lose my mind. [g] Anyway. I do my best not to let Shanni get away with her flights of fancy...I'll let her have her little fits. I ignore her, turn up the music, read, stuff like that, until she's calmer and then we talk rationally about stuff. Mostly I just ask her questions to try to get her to think through why she's so upset. Honestly, she doesn't have these breakdowns with me, unless they've started before I show up. There are numerous reasons for that, the largest one I'm not mom, followed by the fact I see it coming and say "Don't even start that with me. You'll only ruin your afternoon, not mine." And have proven the point. I've tried to tell M. we can't baby Shanni through these. Let her have her melt down and talk to her afterward. Trying to cajole her into a better mood only feeds into the meltdown. Maybe I'm just too harsh. I don't know. It's nerve-wracking. Anyway. By the time I got home I was exhausted. And extremely thankful for the Blessed Silence of my home. With a Capital S!!! At least her mom has her seeing a counselor. Maybe she can help Shanni learn how to deal with her emotions and anger issues. I definitely think some physical activity will help tremendously. Keep your fingers crossed we get into the YMCA for the Single Parent Family Rate. Then I think I'll make a weekly date with Shanni to go to the Y, in addition to our usual weekend outing. P.S. Did I mention the lettuce is coming up? Just a few little leaves poking through the dirt. Man, I'm going to go crazy waiting for all this stuff to get big enough to eat. How do people stand this?

Lucky Bookstore Find

Sitrep: no Mount Helena tomorrow. :(

So yesterday I drove to Butte with my little sis and her family. It was bankruptcy court date, and their car is in the shop. Of course. So I "volunteered" to take them. It's only about an hour away, and a pretty drive. I didn't have a clue where we were going, but Steve said he knew, no prob. Riiiiight. Ya know, when a person is driving down the interstate at 75 mph, and you're the navigator, you really have to tell them it's their exit coming up before you pass it!!!!

He said he could get us there taking the next exit, and foolishly I listened instead of just turning around like I wanted to. Sigh. We had 10 minutes to get to the courthouse by the time the attorney had given them (thank goodness he told them to be there 30 minutes before the hearing start time!!!!). I was not exactly happy as I thought they were going to be late for court. Not a good idea. I think judges tend to get irritated by that kind of thing.

Anyway. Steve & Michelle were doing the usual couple-bickering-over-asking-for-directions thing, KT telling me to just "Google it", and Shanni was uncharacteristically quiet. Smart kid. [g] I'm going how the hell do I "Google it" when I'm driving? I don't exactly have the Internet in my car...that's when KT (in that teenager tone - you know the one) informed me that I can text Google for directions. How the heck am I supposed to know that? I usually Google it BEFORE I GO. To put an end to the madness I just pulled over, grabbed my cell and called a coworker that lives in Butte. She told me how to get where we were going and we were there just in time to meet the attorney.

Oh, did I mention that downtown Butte is something like 4 blocks by 4 blocks? Turns out where I pulled over was two blocks from the courthouse, which we could see from where we were. I even pointed to it and said "is that it?" Hah.

After that was done, we ate lunch, and then went shopping. First store was this great little used book store. I spent $25 there. I found a copy of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's "Listen, the Wind" which I've been wanting for a long time. :) Happy happy. And it was only $5.00. Joy, joy I had the worst time figuring out where they put her books. The owner said his wife insists on shelving AML in the classics section. He lead me to the right book case, and I saw it first. I almost knocked him over trying to get it off the shelf. LOL.

Then we hit a couple of antique stores, took the girls to the mall, and came home. It was a good day! Except for when Steve lost his patience and went to haul the girls out of Claire's Boutique. He was a pretty amusing sight standing there in the midst of all that girly stuff. And suitably threatening, as the two made their choices ASAP when they saw him.

Happy, happy, joy, joy...that was me last night fondling my new-to-me books as I tried to read them all at once.

P.S. - Shanni forgot she's babysitting all day tomorrow, followed by an school friend's slumber party, so no hike on Mount Helena. Too bad I promised her months ago that I wouldn't go up there without her. Stupid me. So it's Boot Camp with Alden this weekend.

P.S.S. - Almost forgot! They weren't there last night when I watered, but this morning the onions are peeking through the surface...a whole 1/4"! Whoo-hoo!

Minor Miracles and Lessons Learned

Sitrep: I have a goal now. [g] Mt Helena on Saturday or Bust!

So yesterday was the monthly grocery shopping day. It's still going surprisingly well, using the typed list on the fridge and going only once for the main stuff, and 2 weeks later the other store for the meats (monthly supply again). Last night I came in at $4.84 over my budget. Because of a book, naturally. :) And this was also one of those monthly trips where I had to restock flour, sugar, shortening...all those baking goods I buy infrequently. And miracle of miracles, I actually made it out of the store without any chocolate, cookies, ice cream or pizza/tomato items. Which is saying a lot since a) I was really hungry and b) I was PMS-ing.

Then I ruined it by making oatmeal cookies at 9pm and inhaling several cookies worth of the dough. Not to mention the finished product. They're supposed to be for tomorrow's trip to Butte, America with my little and her family. At least that's what I told myself as I was baking them. (But we all know it's because I wanted the dough.)

Every so often I get these strange cravings or spells where I only want to eat one thing. Usually it's my favorite lime pasta dish, or egg salad sandwiches, or biscuits with eggs and gravy...lately it's been Oatmeal Cookies. This was my third batch in the last 2 weeks. All eaten by yours truly. Although one batch was an oatmeal cake (try it sometime. It's pretty good with coffee for breakfast). Interestingly enough, did you realize that you can (without adjusting the other ingredients)

1) Use less flour than called for
2) Use less shortening than called for
3) Use butter 1 for 1 instead of shortening
4) Use a mix of butter & shortening
5) Eliminate the eggs entirely
6) Don't add vanilla (I wanna know who closed the bottle last. It's un-openable!)

And the cookies will still turn out pretty decent? You can even do a multiple of the above in the same batch and the cookies are still edible.

And if you're using the recipe from the New Better Homes & Garden Cookbook (the same one my Mom's had since I can remember), you can substitute regular milk for the buttermilk, change nothing else in the recipe, and bake it in a cake pan? It's kinda like a cornbread, only oatmeal. With sugar. Yum. (It only works with the above cookbook's recipe. At least, that's the only one that's worked for me so far!)

But you absolutely, positively, can not use less oats than the recipe calls for without reducing all the other ingredients first. Because it just does not taste like oatmeal cookies. It tastes like a brown sugar flour cinnamon cookie. Which I suppose is okay. Just not when you're craving oatmeal cookies.

Not that that stopped me from eating a handful for breakfast.

Ostrich

Sitrep: Che Caique...( loosely translated from Guarani - "Without Want". No motivation!)

A lot of things lately have made me think humans are a bunch of ostriches with our heads in the sand. I read a great Thurber quote (I'm re-reading a bunch of his stuff. The "Flood" story from "My Life & Hard Times" can still make me laugh helplessly.) Anyway. I read a great Thurber quote that brought ostriches to mind (I'll post it later) and was kind of my ah-ha moment that brought together a lot of things I've been musing over the last few weeks.

1) Discovering my little's mom has been paying interest-only mortgage payments for ten years. OMG. It took a lot of doing to get her to understand why she's upside down in her house...with the girls looking on. I just wanted to shake her and yell at the girls that if I ever catch them doing something so stupid...Not once in those ten years did she add up what she'd paid, or even look at the balance remaining on her mortgage statement...

Thwump...there goes her head into the sand.

2) News story on giving cholesterol to children as young as one year old if high cholesterol/obesity runs in the family. Apparently that's considered safe. WTF? Are they serious? Geez. Both my parents have high cholesterol, yet aren't obese. I'm overweight yet my cholesterol is excellent. So instead of actually implementing programs such as incentives for parents to exercise with their kids from a young age, assistance for poorer families to buy fruits/veggies, insisting on physical education in school, nutrition classes in school (can combine into all sorts of other classes as well, like math - you use math in recipes, figuring out calories, etc). Do they actually think putting these kids on cholesterol meds as young as one years old is the right thing to do? What potential side-effects would that have!

Thwump...there go all our heads into the sand.

3) Tom's post the other day on Charlie Mike. I've read it a few times and each time I feel like I'm hearing this giant THWUMP. Me sticking my head in the sand. [g] In particular the last few days I've been focusing on his last line "what lifestyle do you want to be trapped in?" Judging by the last few weeks, one of indolence and food. [sigh] But that's not what I want to be trapped in. I used to say to myself (and others) that if only I lost 20 pounds, I'd be satisfied, I'd be healthy, etc. Well, the truth of it is that I've lost - and kept off for over a year - those 20 pounds. And I'm not satisfied. I'm happy, very much so, but it's not enough. There's another 20 pounds for me to hit the healthy mark. I think where I've been stumbling is that I've been setting short-term goals. Things like "this is what I'm doing this week". Which is good, but without having that larger goal beyond the smaller one, it's too easy to lose focus. I want to be trapped in a lifestyle where exercising several times a week is normal, part of my routine. A lifestyle where I have energy and am healthy. A lifestyle that my little sister can look to and think she can do it too.

So this ostrich is pulling her head outta the sand and taking a look around.

My goal: lose 20 pounds by July 15, 2009.

I think that's a pretty decent amount of time to get this accomplished in. Short term steps to get this done are to get back on Spark People. Daily journaling of my food/exercise helped. A lot. I'm also setting weekly goals and monthly "rewards" (ie, Starbucks, Books, Music) for meeting those goals. This week's goal: climb Mount Helena.

Basil, I see Basil!

Finally! The basil is peeking it's way out of the dirt. I'd about given up on it. I must have planted it a bit too deep, maybe. But I was watering the tomato/basil/chives container after work yesterday and there it was! I was so excited I forgot I had the hose in my hand and sprayed the dog. Oops. [g] I got the carrots, onion and lettuce planted although I'm afraid it's probably too hot for them right now. We'll see. Tonight I need to build the planter for the green beans and the green pepper. I've had the wood piled in the "garden" area for weeks, just have been too distracted (read lazy) to do anything about it. The tomatoes are ripening up quite nicely. Too bad I don't eat them. lol. But Shanni does, so they are all hers! They're little tomatoes, too.

It's a good thing I had such a nice day last Sunday, because this week has been heck at work. The convention started today and it has just been insane getting ready for it. Especially with a new boss, and the 2nd in "command" hasn't a clue (even if she thinks she does!). At least I managed to finagle my way out of attending. Because if I was there I'd be doing all the work. I already had one call from Nick (coworker) who is so frustrated because he's doing the work while everyone else is socializing. I had a feeling it would be that way. Which is why I didn't want to go. :)

Nothing much else to report. I'm exhausted (haven't exercised in awhile!!!) and I ate lunch at one of my favorite places this week (Pita Pit) and forgot that their Caesar dressing is the kind that gives me a headache. So it's been a fun few days. I'm not sure which is more draining; the headache or the meds? Either way I'm too tired mentally to think of anything to blog about today. Just thought I'd post before everyone thinks I'm sick or something. And I was excited about the basil. [g]

Perfect Day

Sitrep for last week: 1x Swimming, 1x Walk (30 min w/little sis), 1x Yard Mowing, 1x Moving Furniture (Sofa, ugh)

Goals: 2x Boot camp, Daily Walks w/Dog (weather permitting)

I didn't want yesterday to end. Maybe my idea of a perfect day is different than others' ideas, but yesterday was so wonderful, so relaxing. I got up at my usual weekend time, 7 am (thanks fur baby-that-must-eat-on-schedule-or-else), and then crashed on the couch for a few hours. There was a wonderful breeze coming in the windows most of the day. I watched a few home decorating shows, then logged on to check the library website to see if a book I wanted was in. It was. So I showered and dressed, and then worked on my puzzle book "Brain Games" (I love this thing, and am always so impatient for the next issue to come out!). I headed to the library around 1pm (that's when they open) and found my book, "Susannah Morrow" by Megan Chance. (VERY GOOD BOOK, as is "An Inconvenient Wife".) I also picked up "The Timekeeper's Wife" or whatever it's called. Can't remember right now.

I went home and read the rest of the day. Didn't turn the TV on, just sat in my recliner chair under the window, with the fresh air flowing over me. It was great. The house was spotless since I'd cleaned for the party on Friday. Laundry was done, I had dinner already prepared. I just sat there and read. Late afternoon I stopped for a bit and mowed the yard, tended to my plants (chives are growing nicely, tomatoes are doing okay - one is actually ripening, no sight of the basil yet, and the lime tree is thriving in it's new pot). Then I went inside and read some more. It was just one of those peaceful, perfect days. The light, the air, the quiet, the soft sounds of summer drifting in from outside (distant lawnmowers, children's voices, a dog bark here and there). I love days like this. :)

Here's wishing you all have days that renew you as much as yesterday did for me.

PS - If you haven't read it yet, check out last week's guest post on Charlie Mike. It's wonderful!!!