Busy, Busy, Busy

So I just realized I haven't posted in about two and a half months...yikes. Time didn't just fly past, it gave me whiplash as well! Here are the "high"lights: The last few weeks of March continued w/Rock Climbing and gym time. Work hit one of our busy patches; dedicated evenings to reading. Boy, have I been reading! More on that later. April was the time killer. Shanni went to her first rock climbing competition. She got a "competitor" ribbon. Which means she completed five climbs. It was insane and so much fun. Her mom, stepdad, dad, sister & I were there. She was so stoked her Dad came. Especially since it was out of town. (Day trip). And boy was he proud of her. Was really into it. At last she's doing something he can sort of relate too. Not too academic (she intimidates all of us with her school stuff!) and not too girly. So that was great for her. The team in and of itself did fabulous. Lots of ribbons, 2nds and 1sts, etc. After the comp we hit Barnes & Noble. I was sick but didn't know it. Although the fact that I had a $20 gift card from my birthday and didn't feel like looking for anything should have been clue #1. By Monday I was at the doctor. One side of my nose was swollen, and hurt. Bizarre. Turns out I had a lovely sinus infection. First in a long time. 2 weeks of antibiotics. Yipee. Not. (Pretty sure it was from the CPAP & head cold I got. Note to self: don't wear when sick. Then Shanni's mom had a much needed surgery (not for anything life-threatening). The girls were to stay with me that night and the next until she came home. Only she had a bad reaction to the anasthesia - as in almost dying - and had to be intubated for several hours. That was Thursday of the week I was sick. Saturday the girls and I had Global Youth Service Day. Only KT forgot her event started earlier than ours, the Humane Society had to drop out because of some infection or other, and we all ended up staining a playground. Only I ended up sitting in the car because the smell of the stain was inducing a migraine...Their mom got released that day, and they were all in their own home by nightfall. Including the dogs. Did I mention all 3 dogs were at my house? Scully did not like it. Especially because the littlest one kept challenging her for Alpha. Sunday afternoon saw S's mom in the ER. After hours waiting, she was admitted and the girls went home with me. Which meant another trip out into the valley to get their stuff. And the 3 dogs. Anway. To make this long story even longer, M was diagnosed with pneumonia and was hospitalized 5 days. The first 2 in ICU, something we didn't tell the girls until it was over. But Shanni is too smart - darn those advanced classes at school - and was telling me all about pneumonia, etc. She knew it can be deadly... Anyway. That was the final two weeks of April. Not sure what happened to May. I think that was all about recovery. I even managed to forget to call my mother on her birthday. First time ever, I think. Except for the 2 years in Peace Corps. For which I am absolved because I didn't have a phone! It was also KT's prom night and somehow she ended up getting dressed at my house...It was a masquerade and the friend supposedly lending her the mask didn't so I left my nice, calm, peaceful house where KT and Shanni were in a good mood (rare) for maybe 30 minutes to run get stuff to make a mask. Everyone was at war when I returned! Ended up with me telling their Mom to be quiet, it was KT's prom; and telling Shanni if it had been up to me I wouldn't have let her go to a dance the same night as her sister's prom if it had been up to me and to be quiet for Pete's Sake - she'd make it to her dance on time!!!! Their stepdad left the house for a long walk, which made their mom mad. But really. I wanted to take a walk too. Only was too afraid the house would be blown apart if I left...Then I ended up driving KT to the prom because her step-sister left without her...and they'd driven their truck into town. WTF were they thinking???? Well. Is it any wonder by the time I got home all I could do was collapse into bed??? If there'd been alcohol in the house, I'dve had a drink! Memorial weekend was fabulous. We put in the garden out at Shanni's. We ran out of space, so it's now been extended for the pumpkins and potatoes. It was a beautiful day, the girls kept quiet (because I told M I was leaving; I wasn't wasting my Saturday with a bunch of squabbling girls. Apparently whatever she said to them after that did the trick.) I actually planned ahead and brought sunblock with me so I didn't burn!!!! And oh, the garden is lovely! We planned out the rows and marked and labeled them. There's walking space between rows, and stepdad S put in a sprinkler system so we don't have to drag the hoses around. :) Now it's June 1st, and over this past weekend I got a new bedroom floor and painted the paneling. Well, with primer. Still struggling with the final color choice. Keep your fingers crossed I don't end up spending more on paint samples than the final choice!

Sky Dreaming

Sitrep: Gym tonight.

I dreamt I was in Spain last night. Only it was my parents house here in the States. But I know itwas Spain because of the sky. The brightness of the sun, the intensity of the heat. It's how I remember the Spain of my youth, those visits to Abuela & Abuelo, and sundry aunts, uncles, cousins. In my dream it was that sky, that light, that heat that made my brain say "Spain" and not "Florida". As usual, it was a weird dream. Upon arrival, I got to my parents and after greeting my brother and his family, jumped straight into the pool. To the delight of my youngest niece who was in the pool with her mother, my sister. I can still feel how sweet that water was, how refreshing. Then it was time to leave for home. Sigh. And then the sky coming in to work this morning was wonderfully quirky. A weather front dropped around 4-6 inches of heavy wet snow yesterday, along with dropping the temps. I'm out in the east valley area, so it's pretty open between home and work. Driving west, there seemed to be a white wall swallowing the town, topped by a few clouds tinged with the colors of the sunrise. It was like those pictures I've seen of giant dust storms in Australia. Only this was white, tinged gray. Once I turned north, it changed. To the east of me, the sunrise was beautiful. The sun had cleared the snow-covered mountains, highlighting the new dusting of snow on the yellow-brown foothills, with deep green pines poking up all over the place. Little tendrils of fog curled between some of the foothills. But the road I was on seemed to be some kind of arbitrary line that white wall struggled to seep past. As if the very earth on the other side of the pavement was fighting back. I could still see the sunrise to the east, as clear and bright as it should be. As the road curved more to the northwest, the whiteness made headway. Visibility dropped to 1/10th of a mile (for me, anyway) and the sun to the east was a fading memory. Once I made that final turn west, it was all over. I was swallowed whole.

Yes to CPAP, No to Corn & Green Beans

Sitrep: 1 hour @ gym - weights both arms & legs

Had my follow up with the ENT yesterday. I have mild Sleep Apnea. The way he was talking, it seemed like he was iffy on prescribing me the CPAP. Until I told him I have to go to bed between 7-8pm in order to just get through the day. I mean, seriously. What part of sleep deprivation does he not get? But he did prescribe it and I got it today. CT scan came back looking good; just a little spot that might cause issues. Staying on Rx nasal spray and starting on Neil Med Sinus rinse 2x a day. Allergy testing had some interesting results. They call mine an "intolerance" not allergies. Milk scored high (like I didn't know that already), tomato a close 2nd. The startling ones are CORN and GREEN BEANS. These are the 2 veggies I eat most often. Frankly, they're the top two veggies I like! These are the specific items I'm to restrict to no more than 2x a week, and rotate them (copied as-is from the list): Cheese, CORN, Corn Syrup, Egg White, Egg Yolk, Wheat, MILK (Cow), Butter, Cheese, hard, Cottage cheese, Cream, Cream cheese, Ice Cream, Sour Cream, Whey, Yogurt, Orange, Peanuts, Potato, White, Tomato No more mixed veggies for me. And corn? Is this even possible? I mean, corn is in everything. Which brings to mind CO's recent post blasting the corn industry's pro-high fructose corn syrup. I thought it was a great post when I read it, now it makes me want to cry. And say, did you know that "dextrose, glucose, dextrin, dexin, dextrimaltose, caramel color, Vitamin C (!)" all have corn in them? Vitamin C??? Good, God. What next? But they gave me a huge list of foods in all the food groups that I can have, and a sample 4-day rotation schedule. My Little's mom says that's what's bugging me the most. I have my grocery budget, my shopping list, etc, all planned out. Now I have to relearn how to cook, eat, and shop. Sigh. I never did like grocery shopping to start with...

Would it Be Wicked?

Sitrep: 45 min treadmill (low intensity), 30 min rock wall climbing, 25min treadmill (low intensity), 20 min abs & thighs

Would it be terribly wicked if I lied to the library that I lost or damaged some of the Cd's of the "Jane Eyre" unabridged audio book read by Josephine Bailey, as long as I bought them a replacement copy - unabridged - only read by Susan Ericksen? She does a great job on the J.D. Robb audio books... This one, read by Josephine Bailey, is phenomenal, and costs $100+ to buy. Gulp. Or used at around $60.00. But the other unabridged editions are about half that, at $30.00, new. It's not thievery is it? At the very least it's not ethical or moral. I'm skirting the edge, aren't I? Or you're all laughing at me and thinking "oh for Pete's Sake - burn a copy!!!" It's just...would they ban me from the library? Now that would be agony. [g] We're talking skipping purgatory and going straight to hell. But this, this is the best audio version of any book I've ever heard. I guess the best answer would be to save my pennies. And in the meantime, check it out the next time I want to listen to it. I think the Wii just got demoted to #3. [g] This is now #2. A new hot water heater remains permanently lodged at the numero uno spot. Yes, I know. How responsible. But totally necessary for my sanity. And the safety of those around me. Every time I look at the case sitting there on the top of the "return" pile, I feel like grabbing it up and hugging it to my chest. Like I used to do on Christmas mornings when I got that long-awaited book...(my sis and I used to have to give Mom book lists, and restrain ourselves from buying them before Xmas. Remember that, sis?) It's so wonderful, so lovely!!!! I must have it! Eventually. [g]

Review Days [link corrected]

Sitrep: 45 minutes treadmill (too much, apparently, as my left leg is stiff & sore today)

I've been reading a lot more since returning from my sister's over the holidays. Not that I read much there...too busy playing w/my niece. But I've been reading some new-to-me authors (Thanks Janet W) and an old-to-me author. I'll start with that one. "Dark of Night" by Suzanne Brockmann note: I wrote this 2/11 after reading the book, and before coming across some author posts/comments. I just haven't posted until now due to my obsessive need to pare down words and correct myself. Not that it does much good. SPOILER ALERT I didn't enjoy this book. I do believe it is a combination of things. But I'll start by telling you my mindset when I picked it up on Friday night [a week after the release date. It was finally my turn at the library.]

1. I no longer consider her books romance. More suspense with relationships thrown in.
2. I was in the mindset for a cleverly written suspense novel.
3. I was not in the Sophia/Decker camp as neither character particularly jumped out at me to start with. Same with Tess/Nash, Dave, Tracy. Ho-hum. Although I enjoyed Tracy when first introduced to her in Into the Storm. And thought Tess/Nash had found their ho-hum HEA in their book.
4. I was very tired and really wanted a book I could escape into.

Now for the review.

About 20-40 pages into the book, I tossed it (literally) aside and watched TV instead. There was a lot of back story that needed to be explained for any potential new reader. To me, this came across as Show (then explain/tell). Kinda bogged the story line moving as quickly forward as usual. [Cranky Otter calls this "info dump". It fits.]

Sunday I gave it another go, because, well, I hate to give up on an author I like. Pretty much still the same mindset as on Friday night. I read and read, struggling, really. I felt like I was walking through mud. Or trying to run in sand on the beach. The show & tell really started to bug me. I was distracted, found myself thinking DUH, I got it, you don't need to explain what the character just said. I'm not stupid. Not a good thing to be thinking when you just want to get lost in a book.

The relationship portion had two "romantic" couples - Sophia/Dave and Decker/Tracy. For something like 5 years (not sure on the dates) there has been this dangling plot line of Sophia/Decker. After hinting in previous books (especially the last one), the pairing became Sophia/Dave. Only in the last book did I pick up on anything that might be Decker/Tracy. And it was a pretty obvious hint, since I picked it up. I don't usually read her books to pick up hints. I try to just enjoy the current story and go with the flow. Not being in the Sophia/Decker camp, I didn't really mind the pairing. Whatever. Because in my mind these aren't romances anymore, so...

I didn't feel there was much to Sophia and Dave's relationship. He was, shall we say, on the needy side? I felt smothered. Frankly, she should have kicked his ass. And he should have told her to go to hell. Putting up with all that I-love-Decker for years. What is he, some kind of masochist? Where's his pride? No respect for him on my end.

I was irritated with the characters. Especially the male characters. These men are attracted/in love with these spec ops type women, yet kept secrets to the Nth degree to "protect" their woman...Their strong, capable, kick-a$$ women? Oh, how caveman-ish. Decker, Nash, and finally, when Dave wouldn't tell Sophia something, I kinda half screamed out loud. (Scully went and hid at that point.) What, are these guys clones?

This is also the point I said F-this (literally), and skipped to the end of the book. Worked much better for me that way. Jumped around after that, reading scenes that popped out at me, etc.

So please note, that probably does affect my understanding of some points I didn't "get":

1. Why the hell was Jules/FBI involved in this? Even "unofficially".
2. Why the hell was the entire Troubleshooters office gone? Tom's making that much money in the first five years of his business they can do that? Not believable to me. Maybe a small point, but still...
3. Tracy was the only one with the "hope" to pick up the inconsistencies that meant Nash was still alive? yeah, right. Her being best friends with Nash and all that. Not.
4. Decker/Sophia - their "conversation" that tied up the angst that was between them for all those books? Very blah, kinda a "huh?" moment. And I wasn't even rooting for those two.
5. Really Bad Guys are after Nash, and S&A bring their baby along? Uh-huh. Right.

Now we get to my Biggest Pet Peeve w/Ms. Brockmann.

1. sex without a condom. It's in just about every freakin' book she writes, lately. What, is that supposed to mean they're in love? They forget themselves in the passion of love and don't use a condom? Puh-leeze. At least this time she ended up pregnant.

So. That's my personal view of DON. Before I came across an author Q&A on Barnes & Noble. The first part of the Q&A that caught my attention was this line:

“It was like dragging a piano up a hill with a rope the entire time.” S Brockmann on writing Dark of Night. (Date/Time Stamp: 02-06-2009 05:46 PM. About two-thirds of the way down.) I copied the quote out because it perfectly describes how I felt reading this book.

[FWIW, this link starts on pg 1 of the Q&A. If you're up to reading it this late in the game, good luck! It took me almost 2 hours to find the correct page to link!]

The more I read, the more disquieted I got. Many of the same feelings/questions I had were brushed aside rather rudely, I thought. With a "tough s&*t" attitude.

Personally, I can understand how so many people are upset. You can bring a horse to water but you can't make it drink. But if you bring that horse to water, and it drinks, but the water is vinegar, don't be surprised if the horse reacts negatively.

After ten years buying (multiple copies, several languages), reading, and promoting her books to every person I know, and in every bookstore I go to, (and this was way before she was a NY Times best-seller), I am personally insulted that I'm labeled as anti-gay because I don't like this book. That's a mighty big brush to tar & feather with.

But it wasn't enough to do that. Oh, no. She had to make other comments denigrating romance readers and so forth. The very readers that have propelled her to NY Times Best-Seller status.

Seriously, some of her comments are ones I've heard from non-romance readers, writers and press, etc. You know the ones. Who think all romance readers are stupid, uneducated, loser women.

And here's someone that got their start in the romance industry. I understand wanting to move on to bigger and supposedly better things. But to look down your nose at the very people that put you there? Not well done. And people can say all they want about her talent, but it means very little if the readers don't buy the books. That's what makes the publisher more inclined to keep publishing your stuff.

I'm sure it won't make any difference to Ms Brockmann (or her publishers). But I will no longer support someone that looks down on me. Not by word of mouth, and not by sending my hard earned dollars her way. There's no excuse, in my book, for being rude to readers who didn't like your book, and ask you very thought out, nicely phrased questions about your book.

It's another "Why" Day

Sitrep: Nothing. At. All. I'm a wee bit cranky (headache started once arrived at work due to excessive use of cleaning chemicals this weekend by our cleaning person.) Should post the review I started weeks ago on "Dark of Night" only I need to finish it up & "trim down" my wordiness. Yes, hard as it is to believe, my posts are usually trimmed down quite a bit from the original. And in the mood I'm in, I'd probably be a bit snarky in my rewrite/pare down, especially in light of some author comments I came across after reading the book & writing my review. So here are some why's from Up My Mind and Way In The Back... Why do car designers/manufacturers never take into consideration that their bigger, brighter, cover-more-area headlights are actually high-beams? Why are those bigger, brighter, cover-more-area-used-to-be-the-high-beam headlights usually on trucks/SUVs (cars that are generally higher than cars)? Why oh why do people with these high beam lights like to tailgate? Because at night, it's hard enough to see anything other than those wide area ultra bright lights blaring into my eyes from oncoming traffic. But when I'm at a stop, or slowing down, and the cars behind me don't keep a decent distance, their lights fill every single mirror and reflect into my eyes... And I do mean every single mirror...rearview and both side mirrors. It is blinding... Why do people do this? Why can't we learn that bigger (in this case, brighter) is not necessarily better? And why do I let it bother me? It's just irritating. Like the whole distance-between-cars thing. Why do people insist on tail-gating and stopping on top of each other? Hellloooooo. Please leave space between my car and yours, please. Especially when it's been half raining/half snowing all day!!!!!!!!!!! Three car accident last week on the way home from work delayed traffic for hours. Cause: tail-gating & inattention. One driver wasn't paying attention, couldn't stop soon enough, hit the car in front if it, hard. That car was parked right on top of the car in front of it, and therefore unable to do anything but ram into them. Nice, huh? If that middle car had had the proper amount of space, they wouldn't have hit the one in front. And that's from the police in the paper. Not just my thinking. Why is my break over?????

Oxygen

Sitrep: Zero. My goal is to workout at the gym 2x this week.

This lack of good sleep is really getting to me. But at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Friday night was the sleep study. It was interesting, and I actually slept. I got to the hospital's sleep center about 7:30 and had a ton of paperwork to fill out regarding sleep patters, etc. They hooked me up to all sorts of wires/sensors: 1 on each leg 2 on chest 2 on back of shoulders 1 behind each ear 1 0r 2 (can't remember) under chin 2 on forehead 2-3? on my head. In my hair. With sensor paste. That was NOT FUN washing out the next day. Then there were the two nasal things - like the oxygen tubes, only not tubes. They hooked over the ear and rested just at my nose. That felt really weird. One was a temperature gauge, I can't remember what the Respiratory Therapist said the second was for. I also wore 2 bands; one over my diaphragm and the other over my upper chest. They wanted me to sleep on my back all night. That was the hard part. Then she showed me how to use the oxygen "mask", in case they needed me to use it in the middle of the night. She said that if I had enough measurable pauses/stopping breathing, they would put me on the oxygen for the last 4 hours to get some readings. Okay. She helped me into bed - someone had to hold all the flippin' wires. Then turned the lights out. I'd taken my usual sleeping pill, so I was able to fall asleep. But it felt like an eternity until I did. On my back, the whole night. Of course, I was apparently so afraid of flipping onto my side, I held my arms in one position too long, and they started to fall asleep. [g] At one point I woke myself up choking/coughing/gasping for air....Those don't happen too often (because I learned to sleep on my side). I'm glad it happened during the sleep study. About 1:30 the RT woke me up and put on the oxygen mask. Apparently I'd had enough "incidents".

Got 4 hours sleep using the mask; it was lovely.

Here's what the mask looks like:

Wearing it didn't phase me at all. Although trying to talk while wearing it was a bit difficult. I guess I'm just used to wearing stuff on my head (sinus eye masks to sleep, or wrapping a heating pad around my head when I have a headache). It'll take about 2 weeks until I hear the results. Still have the CT scan of my sinuses to look forward to. Then it's back to the ENT for results from sleep study, CT, and allergy testing. Between all this stuff they have got to find a solution for me.

Frankly, I just want the darn oxygen. My little sister's mom said to me at breakfast Saturday that she hadn't realized how badly it'd gotten for me until that morning. She said "I haven't seen you this chipper in a long time." [g] Yup. So now I have to eke my way through two more weeks; luckily I've figured out that if I get 11 hours of sleep per night, I can function. Although I haven't been able to work out how, exactly, I'm going to do that with my 2 nights I'm not home until 9pm (gym nights). Oh, well. I'll survive. :)

A Tidy Line of Trash Cans

Goals: 2x gym, 1x BodyRev Bootcamp, 1x BodyRev Abs

As I pulled away from my house this morning, it struck me that I forgot to put out the trash can for pickup this morning. Actually, I forgot to take the trash out to the big trash can in the first place. Even though I told myself multiple times last night to do so. I'm not sure I really like this new system of trash pickup. It was sooo much easier when they came twice a week and simply went down the back alley and voila, trash was picked up. Having to move the trash can to curbside is apparently a task I'm not capable of doing on a regular basis. Hopefully, once winter's over and I can store the can behind the house again, seeing it on a daily basis as I pass from garage to house, etc, will be a better reminder. But as I drove to work, for some reason those rows of tidily lined up trash cans struck me. It was a "Truman" moment. What is this perfect little world I've landed myself in? A world where everyone lines up their trash cans in this neat little row in front of the house. What, are there markers on the pavement? It was eerie. My street was the only one that was "off". Because of me. Hmmm. I wonder if the neighbors and others driving past think to themselves "What's wrong with that house? Are those people insane? Why can't they get their garbage can out and lined up?" Not sure why I'm blogging about this; it just seemed to me that in spite of my not wanting to have that traditional married with 2.5 kids and a picket fence lifestyle, I seem to have caught the trappings of it.... - House - Child (my little sister) - In-laws (my little's family) - Mortgage, taxes, home repairs, putting the trash out For some reason I just wanted to scream.

And So It Begins

Sitrep: Nothing new since yesterday. Gym night tonight.

Had my annual doctor visit today; due to the lack of quality sleep/snoring/potential sleep apnea issue, I have my first appointment with the ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) doctor next week. Yippee. Not. My past experience with ENTs was not good. After 2 ENTs, multiple visits, x-rays, hearing tests (duh, I couldn't hear because the ear drops they gave me for an infection clogged my eustachian tubes - heard fine before then and after!!!), and results that said "you don't have allergies" in spite of the symptoms & past medical diagnoses to the contrary, I gave up on that field. But to get to a sleep apnea study, my doc wants me to go through the ENT. Ah'm thrilled. Seriously though. When I research S.A, I have a lot of the symptoms:

• Excessive daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia)
• Loud snoring
• Observed episodes of breathing cessation during sleep
• Abrupt awakenings accompanied by shortness of breath
• Awakening with a dry mouth or sore throat
• Morning headache
• Difficulty staying asleep (insomnia)
• Unrefreshing sleep
• Irritability/Depressed mood
• Unusual behaviors in sleep (i.e. night terrors, night sweats)

A friend of mine was talking with a friend of his about sleep and bad dreams, etc. She works in the medical field, specifically Sleep Disorders, and told him the list of sleep apnea symptoms. Turns out those extremely vivid dreams and night sweats are on the list. Finally. Something that explains the night sweats!!!! (No, it's not hormonal! Checked that already!)

Thank goodness my doc renewed the prescription for the sleeping pill. I'd be a zombie without it. Next week the ENT and so it begins...

Justified Outrage or Double Standard?

Sitrep: 30 mins Yoga (bad workout), 1x Gym (weights-legs, abs & 40 min treadmill)

So the battery on my MP3 player gave out just as I was getting onto the treadmill last night. Which means I plugged into the TV hookup. At first it was Biggest Loser, but that's losing interest for me, so when I saw Anderson Cooper 360 was starting with Obama, and the caption says "Obama Says He Screwed Up" (or something along those lines), I switched over. I have to wonder at everyone's outrage over Daschle's tax issue. Seriously. Why is everyone so upset? Because he made the mistake in the first place? Because he didn't pay it back right away? Admittedly, I haven't read any details recently. Way back this summer/fall I remember coming across something on this, but it's a vague memory at best. The way I look at it, we have a double standard for politicians and rich people when it comes to taxes. We love to flay them alive for tax mistakes, not paying enough taxes, etc. Yet how many of us scramble each year on our own taxes to pay as little as possible? How many of us have made errors and don't know it yet because we're small fry where IRS audits are concerned? How many of us have deliberately misrepresented facts or left off income all-together? What about my little sister's step dad, who had a home business with his first wife (decades ago) and she didn't file their taxes like she told him she did? It took until a few years ago for the IRS to figure it out and start attaching his refunds (and stimulus checks; his new wife's too, since they filed jointly when they got married, having no knowledge he owed back taxes.) No body is flaying him alive, or denying him a job (and yep, he worked for years where he managed budgets and finances for an adult group home.) And I gotta say, how many people when contacted by the IRS run right out and write that check. Wouldn't logic say "Look into this? What's going on?" Seriously. Is the issue in Daschle's case fraud? Was it deliberate? Will it affect his job performance? What if he didn't have the liquid funds to just write a check for $100,000? (That's the figure I thought I heard?). Speaking for myself, I'm going to do everything I know to minimize how much tax I pay. And if my CPA makes a mistake then so be it. If I ended up owing, you better believe I wouldn't be writing a check willy-nilly. Not with the horror stories I've heard about the IRS. I'd be demanding a review or whatever. And delaying as long as possible before paying the money. (And yes, my CPA has made a mistake, only it was in my benefit. He caught it after the fact and we filed the papers necessary to correct.) Maybe I'm being too generous here, but really. Is it justified outrage, or double standard? *I'm not a big Daschle fan, so my thoughts aren't out of partisanship or anything like that.

They got it wrong...

I guess this is a continuation of my last post. I watched the second part of PBS' Masterpiece Theater version of Wuthering Heights last night. It was only an hour. Combined, they gave 2.5 hours to this majestic book. They should have skipped it all together. Number One Peeve (I apologize for shouting): HEATHCLIFF DID NOT SHOOT HIMSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll say that again. Heathcliff did not shoot himself! And the whole death scene with Cathy...for Pete's sake. They left out the majority of the speeches. Heathcliff and Cathy had a heck of an emotional breakdown/fight before she died. And let's not forget the emotional meltdown she had that started her sickness to begin with. Some of the best writing of the book was left out. It was horrible. Made me think I was losing my mind, that I didn't remember the story as well as I thought (hah, I've read it so much in English I can - and have - read it in Spanish!) . So I pulled out my time-worn copy, and followed along. Yep. They left out a whole lot of the emotional, twisted, heart-wrenching speeches between Cathy and Heathcliff. And the whole scene where Edgar runs into Isabella? Puh-leeze. NEVER HAPPENED. One of my favorite scenes in the book is when she bursts into the kitches at the Grange shortly after Cathy dies, and relates how she ran away from Heathcliff, etc. Fabulous stuff. They left out a majority of the wild, obsessive, mental distraught/deranged verbiage between Cathy & Heathcliff. Made it look like, gee, Cathy got sick and died, not that in a fit of pique and stubborness and revenge she WILLED herself to die. Read chapters 11 - 16. I am soooooooo disappointed in PBS & Masterpiece Theater. What a hack job. All in all, they get a big fat F from me.

Getting It Right

Last Week’s Sitrep: Tues – 30 treadmill, 10 minutes crunches, 20 minutes bicycle Thurs – 45 minutes Life Fitness Circuit (setup w/1 set on 16 machines - weights, computerized system) Sat – 40 minutes swimming (making games up so my little & I were moving) This week: Goal - 3x workout at gym Completed 1x on Sun – 35 minutes weights (legs, arms, abs); 15 minutes Treadmill

Yet another attempt at adapting “Wuthering Heights” for film aired last night on PBS. It was okay, but disappointing so far. One and a half hours, when normally they go an hour and forty to forty five minutes. Yes, that’s only 15 minutes or so. You’d be surprised how that makes a difference. There was beautiful scenery. But the skips in the story drive me mad. An absolute lack of chemistry between the actors playing Heathcliff and Cathy was jarring to me. And the way they cut lines from some of the most important scenes, or re-worked them. Example: the scene Heathcliff runs away. He overhears the conversation between Cathy and Nelly up to the point she says it would degrade her to marry him. Then he runs off. After making her dramatic declaration “Nelly, I am Heathcliff”, in the book she soon learns he overheard, and she ends up getting sick in the rain trying to find him/waiting for him to return. Thus she ends up at Thrushcross Grange to convalesce. They trashed that whole conversation. This is one of the best scenes of the book, and lays much of the groundwork for Heathcliff’s determined destruction of them all. And then the way they kept switching the order of scenes around. The whole sketchy, jumping around, no explanations with Linton & Catherine (the daughter) at the beginning was so unnecessary. Confusing, detracts from Cathy/Heathcliff…I can only imagine what someone new to the story would be thinking. They have this problem with a lot of the film adaptations of WH. Either they don’t care to dedicate the time needed to fully adapt this book to film, or the person adapting hasn’t read the book, or read it enough. I just don’t understand, especially PBS. Maybe it’s because they’re trying to modernize Masterpiece Theater. I noticed some glaring shortening/editing of the Jane Austen films last year that left them disappointing. Why do they do this when I know they can do it right? Just look at that marvelous adaptation of “Pride & Prejudice” with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. Of course, I’m probably a bit biased as my first introduction to “Wuthering Heights” was the movie adaptation with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon. Granted, it’s an adaptation that only covered the first half of the book, including the end of the book with Heathcliff’s death. But the acting, the passion between the two leads, the fact that they didn’t re-work the order of the book, or alter/omit lines in the important conversations…now that is what makes the difference, I think. Ah, well. I’ll tune in next week no doubt, to see how they butcher the conclusion.

Look, it's an Elk!!!!

No, it's a Llama! "Hunter Shoots Wild Llama Thinking it's an Elk"

And I thought I had bad days. I think this might top any bad day I've ever had. Can you imagine how stupid this guy must feel? On an international level, no less!

Especially since he even wasted his tag on it. For Pete's Sake.

This is an elk. This is a Llama. Any Questions?

And this is a Moose....Grizzly Bears...Black Bears. Just in case.

Why do we let these people into my state? Oh, that's right. Money.

PS - Blogger is giving me fits lately on my work computer...so I hope this all shows up. Half the time I can't see what I've posted.

Do You Ever?

Understand this: you are the ONLY ONE who can change and cast off these shackles of limitation and turn your life into what you want it to be…until you do step forward, you will be a prisoner within yourself, a shipwrecked spirit without rudder or compass, subject to the winds of your own self-imposed limitations…or even worse, the limitations of others. ~ Alden Mills on Charlie Mike http://perfectpushup.blogspot.com/2009/01/perfect-promise-part-ii-team-perfect.html

Sometimes, when I listen to music, read a passage in a book, when the air and light are just so I feel like my inside self is doing pirouettes across the grass. As if I’m leaping through the air, like dolphins on a sunny day. Sometimes I truly understand what the Grinch felt when his heart grew two sizes. Sometimes, when I’m too tired, too stressed, too something, I feel like pulling in as much breath as my lungs can hold and just letting it out in the longest, loudest scream I can manage. Sometimes, when the sky is gray, the clouds play peek-a-book with the mountains, and it’s just plain cold out, I feel my heart squeeze tight with happiness, and can't help but sing. Sometimes, walking down a hallway at work, dealing with the minutia of life, I hear a carnival theme echo in my head. Sometimes, I don't. Do you, ever?

One Day In California

Sitrep: 60 min Weight Class (arms, legs, abs)

And I'm all done in. Not because of the class, either. My 5 year old niece is amazing, adorable, beautiful; full of sunshine and laughter. Not to mention energy. OMG. I'm not sure I can make it 2 weeks. But it would be a good way to go! Apparently she's quite taken with me. I haven't seen her since she was about 2 years old, so...From stories my sister has told, I knew she's a girly-girl. So I made sure I packed the makeup - including nail polish - I bought from my sister-in-law (who's an Avon rep now...in case anyone's interested: http://tomararogers.avonrepresentative.com/. This evening, after playing with her yesterday afternoon, most of the morning, all afternoon (including watching the little fish take a swimming lesson) I was keeping her busy while my sister and BIL cooked dinner...How?, you may ask? Why, by painting her toe nails & finger nails, of course. With my new Mulberry shade by Avon (reminder: gotta stock up, love this color!) And then we used her glitter coating polish on her toes. They called us for dinner, and we ran out into the kitchen. Okay, she danced, pulling me along. (FYI, she doesn't walk, she dances.) After she showed off her nails, she grabbed my hands and we did this spinning around thing. She ended up laying down on the floor "pretending" to fall down from being dizzy. I started to pull her up and she looked up at me and said "You're Great." A compliment, I'm told by her parents, she does not hand out lightly. [g]

Wood Pigeons

How strange that an article on wood pigeons would so recall the past, and make me falter as I read aloud.

Last night, trying to ignore the fact that my heart had decided to move into my head, I put on my headphones and listened to the audio book version of "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier. In spite of the throbbing heart beat bouncing between my ears, the pressure, the noise of said heart beat, the ice pack over my eyes and the heating pad on the back of my head/neck, my mind latched onto this section early on in the book; this sentence in particular, coming as it did after an article in a magazine catapulted the heroine into her past. It made me remember a split second when I was in Paraguay, doing something as inconsequential as hanging my laundry on the line to dry, when my happy-as-a-lark mood was overtaken by a pang of homesickness so sharp I had to stop for a minute. To this day I'm not sure what caused it. I really was in a good mood...I can still see that moment, the clear blue sky, the sunlight, the green of the trees and grasses and colors of the flowers. I can still feel that moment; how happy I was, how nice the sunlight on my face felt, how lighthearted the breeze brushing past me seemed. The sudden sharpness of the homesickness. It might have been the peace of the moment, the sound of a child's laugh or a call from one person to another across the yard that made me remember lazy summer afternoons and weekends as a pre-teen/teen, when I could lay on my bed in my parents house and hear the distant sound of lawn mowers and kids playing outside...Sunlight and air and people, all wrapped up into one big package of home and safety. Just one of those weird overlapping of moments, I suppose. But laying there in tears, (have I ever mentioned I'm pathetic when I don't feel good?) and waiting for something to make my heartbeat get out of my ears, that paragraph and sentence, that little remembered moment, did the trick. That's the last bit of the book and the last thought I remember before falling asleep. Strange, that.

I Want to Believe

Sitrep: ~15 minutes shoveling snow It’s funny how something as simple as a movie can make you rehash your life. (Or maybe I’m the only one that this happens too?) After a tough night Friday night (I have not had a nightmare so full of death of family members since high school…) I received my two latest Netflix rentals. One was this obscure movie with Hedy Lamarr- and obscure doesn’t begin to cover it. It’s from 1933, and made in Europe; Austria or Germany to be a bit more precise. It’s barely a talkie. Seriously. Mostly music accompanying the scenes, what speech there was was confined to single sentences. It was interesting, but no phenomenal. Shocking In that for a movie from 1933, there was definite nudity. Today, it would be rated “R”. Not what I was expecting from that era. Then again, it is a European movie…they’re a lot more relaxed about nudity than us Americans. The other movie, the one that caused the retrospective, was the latest X-Files entry: “I Want to Believe”. Not your typical X-Files, really. Much more into the emotional aspect, of Scully & Mulder (yes, this is where my dog’s name came from.), of Scully’s doubts, of Mulder’s need to believe. It was actually pretty good. The final scene between the two almost made me cry. (It could have been the lack of sleep...) Although sad to say I can’t even remember how the series ended. I didn’t think they were together at the end. Were they? I feel sometimes like I’m losing my mind, the things I can’t remember. But that last season, well, when Mulder left the show and Scully was having the baby and they started in with the whole male baby as some type of savior…I tuned out. Oh, I had the show on every week, I just read or did other stuff (like talk on the phone!). It was more habit, and hope it’d return to the quality of the previous years. That’s a far cry from the days where I refused any and all phone calls during an X-Files episode. I mean, I was a fan. I even talked my mom into taping it every week for the two years I was in the Peace Corps. What a Mom, huh? (This was in the days before you could get every season of every show imaginable on DVD almost as soon as they aired. And man, were those packages TREASURED. I got a few other PCVs hooked on the show. ) When was the last time a show captivated me that much? The answer is simple: there hasn’t been. I can’t think of a single show that has hooked me like that one did. Why is that? Is it the networks/lack of shows? It seems they are all Law & Order/CSI type shows or family dramas like the Sopranos or Brothers and Sisters, or reality shows. I barely watch the Biggest Loser anymore. None of the shows capture me, transport me, make me want to tune in for an hour that’s sure to capture my mind & attention. Or is it simply that I’ve changed? I’m just not sure. There’s a certain nostalgia when I look back on the days of my enthrallment with the X-Files. I’m not sure why. It’s just weird to me, that’s all. I’ve never had any troubles obsessing over shows or books. When did that stop? Why did that stop? I kind of miss it, to tell the truth. There’s something exciting about waiting for that next episode; the enjoyment of it. Oh, I got tired of the mythology story line, but when they did the other stuff, the creepy/eerie only-the-X-Files-does-this…What a ride it was! Now it seems it’s all angst and drama on TV. Everything is so soap opera-y. Not that that’s bad, it’s just too much angst for me. [g] I want entertainment, not angst. I want substance with my entertainment, too. I want more than a 30 minute sitcom. I want something different. I want a show that's story-line driven, not character-angst driven. I want something like the early days of the X-Files, or Star Trek: TNG. Where you have character stuff, but it's the indivdual episode stories that are great. Where you can miss a week and not feel lost in the next week's episode...

All's Well that Ends Well

This was some week. Wednesday's insanity at work was followed shortly after 7am on Thursday with a call from my good friend W that her dog, Crazy Horse, had died. He was 10, old for a Great Dane, and she knew his health was fading. But when she got up, he seemed fine, wanted outisde to pee. She let him out and a few minutes later heard him whining. She went to check on him and he was facing the house, lying on the ground. She went to him, he coughed twice, and died. Anyway. Thursday was a very rough day. I made it from my house to hers in 17 minutes, half the normal time... Saturday night I had a slumber party at my house. Shanni's step-dad was at his annual "hunting weekend" (puh-leeze, these men haven't hunted in decades! One walks at a shuffle, another has a colostomy bag..."hunting" is the last thing they were doing.) So the "girls" got together at my house. Shanni, her sister KT, Michelle & Josie. We tried this new pizza place in EH (very good) and got plenty of junk food. Came home and just had fun...facials, finger & toe nail painting...wine, naturally, for the adults. I gave the vino a pass as I've not slept well in over a month and that would just make it worse. But Michelle & Josie...well, light weights doesn't cover it. LOL. I have not laughed that much in I don't know how long. To the point I spewed egg nogg all over the coffee table...Apparently I wasn't done laughing yet. Who knew? My sides hurt I laughed so hard. It was the pictures that did it...And of course, I just have to share them. But on the QT, as my Grandpa would have said. My friends don't know I'm posting these. Oh, and for what it's worth...these were taken at the beginning of the night, just as the wine was poured...

PS - Don't ever tell Josie she's a scrapper. You've been warned. ;)

One of those days

Where it probably would have been better to not leave the house. Or the bed, for that matter. Sigh. I know better, when I get this tired. I just have no tolerance. Suffice it to say, very bad day at work. Had a run in with Attila over something so stupid...I saved us $2500 on something and she could see no good in it, totally was hostile and angry and I just couldn't handle it. When I get that mad and frustrated it can only come out...you guessed it...in tears. Lur-ve-ly. Mad myself scarce when that started. Ackkk. It got better, the boss backed me BIG time, and made Attila apologize to me. Heh. Anyway. Just wanted to check in. Gotta go...at class at the library. I'm such a geek in my spare time I'm taking a free class on L.i.nux at the library. 3 nights running. Sheesh.

Sixty One Trees

Sitrep: Back-sliding, Big Time. BUT on the road last week I only had french fries 1x; and that was after two frustrating days of working on our server & workstations remotely to fix a virus someone downloaded. And my computer crashed. Ughh.

Listening to NPR on the way to work this morning, I heard an interesting fact. Some scientist (I forget from where) used data from NASA to calculate how many trees there are on the planet. Using population figures from end of the year 2005, she calculated that there are 61 trees per person on the planet. She thought it sounded like a lot; being a big tree lover, I thought it sounded kinda puny. Especially when you factor in the number of books I've read over the years. Which got me to thinking; how many trees go into making a book, anyway? So I did what I usually do, I googled it. Here's the first site I looked at, which boggled this mere mortal's mind. (Dad, you'll probably like the math more than I did.) It doesn't seem there's definite answer on that. But being a tree lover, at least the world supports 61 trees per person, and trees are replantable. So now I think I need to look at how many trees I want to add to the world yearly to make up for what I use. Well, what I think I use, which is probably way less than I really do...I just have to take one real look around my office to know I'm way underestimating. But hey. Every tree counts, right? And when I consider that I've half-jokingly said for years that I must have been a Druid or a Dryad in a former life-time, why haven't I made a serious effort at planting trees before? And speaking of Druids; this past week I was in the "Big City" for work, and went to Bo.rders. Ahhh, what a lovely place to be. I love their bookshelves that look like library stacks...just for the sheer pleasure of being in a large book store that actually focuses on selling books, I wandered aimlessly through the store, scanning shelves as I went. Guess what I found? A book on Druidry. One that examines the Druids of Antiquity (what we know, anyway) to the revival today. And everything in between. I was sooo tempted to buy it...but, alas, that darn book budget of mine. I alloted $70 from my bonus to extra book buying. And believe you me, it went fast. The one on Druids just didn't make it high enough in the pile before the money ran out. [g] Is it a sign that I found that book that got me to thinking about trees and then heard the report on NPR today? Especially since I haven't listened to the radio on my morning drive for months...I much prefer audio books. Now if the Kin.dle would just drop in price, I might forgo paper books more. Maybe.

WHO robbed the woods, The trusting woods? The unsuspecting trees Brought out their burrs and mosses His fantasy to please. He scanned their trinkets, curious, He grasped, he bore away. What will the solemn hemlock, What will the fir-tree say? ~Emily Dickinson

My Soul Is Singing

And oh what a change from yesterday morning! I woke up around 1am yesterday (November 4th) and found myself praying to God, Jehovah, Allah, the Goddess, the Force, the Universe, to please please let O.ba.ma win. Wow. I'm not quite sure what I was dreaming (I didn't feel like I'd been dreaming, and usually I can tell). But I sure wanted him to win. I didn't realize how very much until that moment. All day I felt inside like I was yelling "Please". I even did that on the drive from H to B, about 4 hours, 3 of which I managed to listen to election coverage on NPR. I couldn't believe it when they announced it. I kept saying to Michelle (they called me on my cell) that I'd believe it when McC conceded and I heard O's acceptance speech. Then I'd believe it. I'm still stunned at how much he won by...and that he won the electoral and the popular. The first time in 30 years, I heard. He flipped Fla. Stunning. And came darn close to flipping Mont. For awhile there it looked good. It was within 3%. :) And what a wonderful speech. I was smiling, crying, happy. I've never been this invested in the results of our elections before. Some Mont. issues/initiatives did/didn't get passed as I wanted. My State Rep got re-elected, YAY! The idiot county commissioner screwing up zoning for the county got booted (another yay!), and it goes on. Only two bummers (minor ones) for me: Insurance Commissioner wasn't the one I wanted, and our single representative to the House (Federal level) got re-elected. Darnit. As happy as I am; as hopeful as I am; some real depressing stuff going on out there. Prop 8 in CA got passed. AR passed a law prohibiting unmarried people (gay OR straight) in a relationship from adopting OR being foster parents? WTF? Depressing. But then you have stuff like WA allowing physician assisted suicide... The spectrum is amazing. And overall, my soul is still singing. I actually have some hope. I'm excited about the future.

When A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Sitrep:

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.