FOOL OF A TOOK! -Gandalf
At noon we started watching The Fellowship of the Ring...the extended version, of course. Four hours and one bag of popcorn later, it ended. Good thing, too, cuz my attention span was wearing thin! Had to do some quick chores on our break. Now we've just started The Two Towers. My favorite one! I love the Ents. And let's not forget Legolas! *swoon*
Eight more hours to go till this trilogy ends........must stay focused. I really want Starbucks. We're not starting the alcohol consumption until later...after dinner prolly. I made spagetti sauce! Y U M!
This post is boring. So sorry. You should be out partying anyway! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Randomization
What is the meaning of this? I sent an e-card from there to my Honey because it made me laugh so hard I almost fell over. I came across it somewhere out there in BE land...sorry, I don't remember where or I'd link 'em up right here!
When I first started surfing on BE, I'd get 25-50 mystery credits every once in a while. But lately, I only get small handfulls of 2 or 5 credits each. Whatever, surfing the sites is still fun and incredibly addicting.
Well lookie there, my site meter just crossed the 1000 visits threshhold. Congratulations, um, self!
I got up and walked to the park near my house, around the park three times and then home again. I took the dog with me. He's totally worn out and has been sleeping since we returned home at 8:30am!
I am not really inspired to write anything interesting today so how bout another meme to entertain us?
The ABC's of Me
Animals: two feline sisters from the pound named Nala and Ariel; one pixie-bob boy cat Merlyn; one overly large Chihuahua named Dobby. I love dolphins, monkeys and komodo dragons.
Best Friends: my dad, my husband, my dog. Car: 1996 Toyota Camry…but I want something with 4WD! Desires: Lose about 75+ pounds, have a baby, and world peace. Eye Color: Brown Favorite Foods: Mexican, Italian, Seafood Garden Stuff: I want a veggie garden but don’t have it in yet…maybe this Spring? Flower gardens are currently three rose bushes and I will plant iris bulbs someday! Hometown: St. Louis, MO or Littleton, CO…depends on who you ask! Ice Cream: Yes, please! Job: Not as of yet. Am a student now but will be sort of internshiping at a Child Development program in the Fall. Keepsake Favorite: Photographs. I just went through a box of them today! Language: English. Some French leftover. Manias: Are we talking about OCD here? There are too many to list! But here’s just one: the toilet paper MUST go OVER the roll or else I will probably develop a migrane! Name: Garnet Girl aka Garnie aka Honey
Outfit I Love: Sweat pants, Dave Matthews T-shirt, fluffy socks. Phobias: Spiders, heights, clowns, pitch-black darkness, abandonment. Quality I Value Most: Open-mindedness Relationship: Married 1.5 years. Suspicious of: Mostly my mother. Let’s not go there. Television Show(s): Buffy, Everybody Loves Raymond, ER, L&O:SVU, Daily Show, Charmed Unsavory Characteristic: Anxiety issues Volunteer: I used to volunteer with my dad at a homeless shelter for teenagers in Denver. But I haven’t done any since my early teens. In January I will start volunteering at a Child Development center for one of my classes. Webpage: http://www.myhoneyandme.com and http://garnetsbreathingroom.blogspot.com Xylophone or other instrument: Used to play piano. Want to learn the bass guitar or the violin…someday! Year born: Year of the Dragon Zodiac: Aquarius
New Design!
Thank you, Maggie, for all your help and inspiration for my new blog design and layout! I was thoroughly impressed with her new layout and of course wanted to copy her (don't I always?! ;)). She helped me find the free design, understand a little more about the code, and then she kept me company via AIM while I tinkered with it and all my add-ons. Please, leave me a comment and let me know what you think! There are still some little bits that I think require further tweekage but if you knew how long I've spent on this today, you'd agree that it's in everyone's best interest if I just walk away for a while!
Does anyone know where my friend can get a nice counter thingy to track her baby's age? And, also, how do I put that moon phase tracker on here without making the purple column half the width of the whole page? Please help!
Whew!
Can you believe it? Christmas has ended! One week till the new year and then the holidays will be officially over! How bittersweet it is!
We had a wonderful Christmas. Honey's birthday dinner at the Rio was lovely. Our Yule celebration with Dad and his GF was mellow and fun.
Christmas Eve with Mom was relaxing (she slept most of the time she was here, big surprise). Christmas morning we drew out the grand event of opening presents to make it last 2 hours...pretty good considering it was only three of us! Then Christmas afternoon at the in-laws was so very cozy and warm. We had more gifts, breakfast for dinner (YAY!) and I felt very welcome and loved in that house. It was a perfect holiday!
Yesterday, Honey and his dad went shopping for and brought home his bday present: a 55" LCD High Def TV! The thing is HUGE!
I mean, really, who NEEDS a television this big?!? It takes up half of our living room! We spent the afternoon at furniture stores to find a home theater stand for it! Finally scored big at American Furniture for under $200 we got this:
Isn't it beautiful!? Honey and I reached a new agreement in our marriage: he can be mostly in charge of picking out electronics and other manly machinery while I will be mostly in charge of picking out paint colors, curtain fabrics, furniture styles, etc. It's give and take. Perfect!
So, eventually, everyone will start asking, "What'd you get for Christmas?" I think it's silly to run down an inventory kind of list so here are some of my faves: Kitchen Aid stand mixer, Buffy Season 7 on DVD (my collection is now complete!), Mikasa crystal decanter, Harry Potter 3 on DVD, slippers, PJs, pedicure kit, cashola! I didn't get very much from my list but, to be honest, it was a struggle for me to come up with anything to put on my list before Christmas! In this day and age, don't we all just flat go out and buy ourselves whatever we want? I know the "gargantuan TV" is really Honey's gift but it's sort of mine too, since I get to watch it as much as he does! PLUS I got to get new furniture for it! So we're both happy! And my inner geek does really get stoked about the new electronics! Apparently, I can plug my digital camcorder/camera's memory stick into the TV and see the images on the big screen. How cool is that?!
New Years Eve we are watching the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy back to back. These are extended versions, of course, so we're looking at a 9+ hour event; including half hour breaks in between. If anyone reading this wants to join us, please feel free! BRING POPCORN!!!!
Jingle Bells!
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
..and to all a good night!
Fun and Busy Times
I am an apron-wearing, spatula-flinging, can-opening, pot-simmering, cooking FOOL today!!! It's 11AM and so far I have made wassail, chili and brownies. I'm taking a break to rest my neck and feet while Honey is out buying me cinnamon sticks and a rolling pin. Who gave me the idea of making Christmas cookies this year? Where are you? I need to hurt you. I made bought all this cookie dough and then promptly lost my cookie cutters. So for three days I've been searching for cookie cutters. Stupid. Someone suggested that I just cut the holiday figures out of the dough by freehand but my OCD simply will not allow me to do such a thing. Besides, have you seen how much cookie dough I have!?
Anyway, I scored some cutters from the MIL last night. So once the rolling pin arrives, I'll be set to resume baking some Christmas kitchen cheer!
Yesterday was awesome. I made chocolate fudge in the morning. Then dad called and said he was 15 minutes away to give me something. See, we're having a Yule celebration tonight and are going to burn a Yule log and various other things out on our back porch but we needed a fire pit-type thing. We were going to borrow one from dad's gf but he said it was all heavy, dirty and covered in ice and snow....so he just bought us a brand new one! 'Tis the season, eh?! It's this huge heavy metal thing in a box with a marble rim. I'll show you pics when we Honey gets it put together this afternoon. It looks beautiful! Look out, neighbors! We're PYROS!!!
So then dad and I went out to lunch...yadda yadda...Honey got off work early...yadda yadda...I checked the mail and my Velveteen Rabbit CD arrived! Horray!!!! I listened to it twice while I got ready for dinner. This is thrilling for me because I used to listen to that tape over and over at Christmas time. I've wanted the CD for a few years but only last week broke down and bought it. Well, it's been discontinued or whatever...they're not making it any more. So I knew I couldn't order it directly from Amazon and a friend of mine couldn't find it at Best Buy or Circuit City. So I ordered it from a private seller through Amazon marketplace and got it in one week! Horray!
Last night we went to dinner for Honey's bday with his rents, my dad and his gf. Great food, nice ambiance and super company. Honey scored on the Birthday gifts yet again! He got a huge remote controlled airplane (4 foot wingspan), a book and one hour of flying lessons to go with it, three Christmas movies from me, and a sort of "gift certificate" from his parents to go pick out a big screen HDTV at Best Buy. He about peed his pants he was so excited about the plane and the TV! We put our own TV back in place when we got home (it had been moved due to the wall-cutting and pipe-leaking of earlier this week) and watched one of the movies I got him. It was a lovely evening.
And now the countdown to Christmas begins..........I'm running out of spatulas!
Oh yeah, and did I mention it's only 1 degree outside???? FAAARREEEEZZZIIIINNNNNG! Turn the oven back on!!!!
I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.
Only a hippopotamus will do.
Don't want a doll, no dinky tinker toy.
I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy.
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.
I don't think Santa Claus will mind, do you?
He won't have to use a dirty chimney flue,
Just bring him through the front door, that's the easy thing to do.
I can see me now on Christmas morning creeping down the stairs...
Oh what joy and what surprise when I open up my eyes and see a Hippo Hero standing there!
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.
Only a hippopotamus will do.
No crocodiles. No rhinosaurussess.
I only like hippopotamussess.
And hippopotamussess like me too!
Mom says the hippo would eat me up but then
Teacher says a hippo is a vegetarian.
There's lots of room for him in our two car garage
I'll feed him there and wash him there and give him his massage.
I can see me now on Christmas morning creeping down the stairs...
Oh what joy and what surprise when I open up my eyes and see a Hippo Hero standing there!
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.Only a hippopotamus will do.
No crocodiles or rhinosaurussess.
I only like hippopotamussess.
And hippopotamussess like me too!
(This is a song on our Dr. Demento's Christmas CD but I don't know who sang it! It's super cute, though.)
No More Tears
It's freezing cold here and the snow just stopped. I'm glad I'm indoors where it's warm.
I just finished reading through the Chronological entries of the California Hammonds blog. If you play on Blog Explosion, then you've probably seen their banner a hundred times. Following a Maggie's suggestion, I clicked on it and spent several hours reading through the saddness of their loss. If you have the time, heart and tears to spare, take some time to visit this page. It's very moving.
So I bought all this sugar cookie dough a couple days ago with the intent of baking and decorating cookies, making fudge etc and compiling little tupperwares of goodies to share with my neighbors. I guess you could say I'm nesting (shhhh don't tell my hubby!). ...no, I am not preggers! Calm down! Anyway, I got all this cookie dough and searched high and low yesterday for my six plastic cookie cutters that I've had forever but have not used since I was six years old! Surprise, surprise, the one time I need them, they are nowhere to be found. I think I pitched them or donated them to charity before we moved in June! King Soopers and Albertsons are both sold out and I ain't driving in this snow and ice to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy cookie cutters at $6 a piece!
I resorted to calling MIL to borrow hers. Luckily she has them and of course knows where they are! She will bring them to me tonight when we all meet at the Rio for Honey's birthday dinner. Woo hoo!
I made peanut butter fudge yesterday and today I will make chocolate fudge. Yum yum! Tomorrow I will make Honey some fudgy brownies with caramel frosting on top. Could it get anymore sweeter in this house?!?!
The Half-Blood Prince is coming!
http://www.mugglenet.com/
Woo hoo!!!! And that link has some pics from the Goblet of Fire flick, too!
Mostly better now
I really didn't want to turn this into a whine and cheese blog! I've got my other super secret blog for bitchin' and moanin'! So that ends NOW right here!
The leak is fixed. Plumber came out and replaced a pretty big hunk o' copper piping. Not too expensive either. Still a dent in the wallet but nothing to lose sleep over. We're going to leave the hole in the wall for a couple days just to keep an eye on it...make sure there aren't other leaks and such. I'm getting used to the hole because it's so (kinda) neat and (mostly) square.
I'm throwing in the towel on Christmas shopping. I haven't done any shopping for three weeks at which point I was pretty sure I was done. But I haven't gotten Honey anything particularly special and sentimental. So I thought I'd go out and get something else for him. But I can't think of anything special enough that we can afford and the hordes of people out there make me want to pull my hair out! It's just not worth the trouble. His birthday is Thursday and he'll love all of his gifts (bday and otherwise). So be it.
And in a different part of my boggely brain.... Teen Girl Squad cracks my s#*t up and Honey and I quote it almost every day. We're convinced we live next door to these chixors even though the four girls in the house next door are in their early 20's! They are looking "SOOOO GOOD!" Have a laugh....this one's on me!
All I want for Christmas is a hole in my wall
UPDATE: It's not as bad anymore...FIL came over to help Honey cut a hole in the wall and ceiling. The holes are about 5" wide and 6" tall and very squared off. They found a copper pipe that feeds water to the upstairs bathrooms which had been previously "repaired" with simple sauter (sp?). Clearly, that repair did not keep. The 2X4 wood joints are soft, mushy and slightly molded but not seriously damaged. Once the pipe is fixed, we can bleach and secure the 2X4's.
So Honey scheduled the plumber man to come out tomorrow morning to look at it and fix it. Then we'll get drywall guy to come and fix the hole, scrape and fix the other damaged areas on that wall.
It's not as bad as it seemed. Honey rigged up a small bucket under the copper pipes to collect any water that may leak out before it's fixed.
I'm still sort of "coming down" off of the anxiety this had caused me. Tomorrow will be better. It's almost Christmas!!! WOO HOO!! :)
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The plumber came this morning. He said that the waterstains and mold on the wall and ceiling are probably caused by a leak or multiple leaks in the main drain pipe that runs down the wall from upstairs. Since our master bath and guest bath are basically back to back, it's not clear which one is causing the problem.
All in all, we got to pay him $30 to tell us that he'd need to "rip out parts of the wall" in the livingroom in order to "try and see where the leaks are" and then "maybe it can be repaired." It would cost $125/hour for him to rip into the wall and, according to his estimate, it may take "an hour or so" to do it. Then he'd have to give us an estimate on fixing the problem(s) he finds in the skeleton of my home. He's fully qualified to rip holes into the guts of my house but he will not be responsible for repairing those holes and re-drywalling it. Yadda yadda.
So here we are. Honey's down there with a ladder, dropcloth, knives and various other tools, awaiting his dad's arrival to help him rip the holes in the wall himself. We "know a guy" who could repair any holes we put in it for a pretty good price.
That's where my brain basically shuts off and tears well up in my eyes over the whole issue. I've been wrapping presents all morning, trying not to have a panic attack. If this weren't happening so close to Christmas (holiday, family time) we'd have plenty of money saved up for these repairs and it wouldn't be as big of an issue for me. But we've spent almost all of our savings on meager gifts for our friends and family and each other. How in the world are we going to pay for this?
I'll be hiding in my bedroom or on my puter while they rip apart my living room this afternoon. Wish them luck! (I'll take pictures and post them as things progress).
Home again, home again, jiggity jig
Yay. We're home.
It's nice to be back in our digs, sleep in our own comfy bed. Be surrounded by our critters.
But our excitement was short-lived.
We discovered that a water leakage problem that we thought we had remedied a month or so ago has gotten progressively worse. Observe:
The spot in the middle of the wall (where Honey's hand is to show scale) is all waterstained and the paint texture is all wacky. The black spot (half green and half white walls picture) is the crease between the wall and the ceiling. That spot used to just be white with a little water stain on the paint. Now it's black...growing mold. There is also a slight crack in the ceiling near the leakage.
Needless to say, we have a plumber scheduled to visit us tomorrow morning. Until then, we get to shower at the in-laws' across town and quite possibly potty at the neighbors.
Oh joy.
FREEDOM!!!
Horray! Honey says his class will get out very early today (between noon and 2) and then we can head home today! I'm so excited!! We're going straight to MIL's to pick up the DoodleBug and smother him with kisses all the way home! We're crazy about that dog...we've both been brought to tears missing him so badly this week. Haha!
Someone is running laps with lead shoes on in the room above me. I can't handle it. I'm going to go work out real quick...
As Willow says on Buffy, "Bored now"
Okay, for real, I've had enough. I'm done playing hotel. I miss my bed, my kitties, my precious puppydog, my Christmas decorations, my kitchen, MY LIFE. I'm bored now. I want to go home. I'm sick of this hotel room but there is NOTHING to do oot n' aboot. I'm sorta crabby about it today. Only three more days to go. *le sigh*
I've found some great blogs out there through Blog Explosion. Monday I surfed over 100 blogs! That's a jolly good waste of time! But, really, there are some great blogs out there! Someday, I want my blog to be as cool as, say The Impulsive Buy, Mommy Matters, and Tiny Voices in My Head. (Are ya hooked yet? You want some more?) And don't even get me started on the kick ass links that I find on these blogs...everything from stupid quizzes that help me determine what flavor Pocky I am (Chocolat Orange, btw) to creating little bouncing blob dudes to keep my blog company when I'm away. When I have absolutely nothing more to write about than how I'm still button-mashing on my new PS2 game Star Ocean, I can always look at some other people's blogs for inspiration or at least a good link to get my juices flowing! Oh, my parents would be so proud!
So this may be a boring blog...but I'm trying to get traffic to it and I'm emailing and commenting on other ppl's blogs in the hopes that they will want to be my bestest blog-friends and teach me a thing or two on how to develop my blog better.
Okay, now it's time for me to check on how Savannah is doing today...
I want to go home............
Am proud!
I felt really fat and icky this morning. So I browsed a couple blogs, read one whole sappy one and then got off my big booty and used the exercise facility in this hotel! I walked for 1.5 miles. Go me!
*!*New Favorite Joke!!!*!*
OMG I'm laughing my booty off at this one!!!!
A monkey is sitting in a tree smoking a joint when a lizard walks past and looks up and says to the monkey "Hey! What are you doing?"
The monkey says "Smoking a joint, come up and have some."
So the lizard climbs up and sits next to the monkey and they have a few joints.
After a while the lizard says his mouth is 'dry' and is going to get a drink from the river.
The lizard is so stoned that he leans too far over and falls into the river.
A crocodile sees this and swims over to the lizard and helps him to the side, then asks the lizard, "What's the matter with you?"
The lizard explains to the crocodile that he was sitting smoking a joint with the monkey in the tree, got too stoned and then fell into the river while taking a drink.
The crocodile says he has to check this out and walks into the jungle, finds the tree were the monkey is sitting, finishing another joint, and he looks up at the monkey and says "Hey you!"
The Monkey looks down and says "Fuuuuuuck dude....... how much water did you drink?!!"
BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHHA! Thanks, Uncle Marv!
"It's like a Firewall for your pet's brain"!!!!
This is so awesome! I can't stop laughing!!! You gotta read the whole thing (even the fine print at the bottom about payment and such)!
Famous on TV!!!
Honey's company went public on Friday and some of the mucky-mucks at the company rang the bell on the NYSE this morning. We got up bright and early to watch it on CNBC (we're also taping it at home!). Follow this link to see the article and picture. Since I'm away from home this week, I do not currently have a way to upload pictures. So for now, check out that link and I shall tell you who we know in the picture! The dude with the white hair, white shirt and red tie smack in the middle is Honey's uncle Bill (the Bill Barrett). To uncle Bill's left is Honey's dad Frank (brother-in-law of Bill). To Bill's right is one of his many sons...this one's name is Fred and I believe he is the pres. of the company. Just behind Frank's left shoulder (tan-colored jacket) is Honey's cousin Jim (hubby of one of Bill's many daughters). All the way on the end (to Bill's right) is another of his sons who's name is Terry. I've met a couple of the other people in the picture who are non-family-relations but I won't tell you their names because I can't remember them! So now you know how I am famous on TV! Wooooot! If BBC gets the image and article up on their web site I'll update this post with that information.
Totally cool!
We made it to Gillette in 6 hours...no biggie. Encountered some snow and it's really freaking cold here (and windy)! Not sure if Honey's training session is actually happening tomorrow...we'll find out in the morning. So this may be a short trip.
I got this from my dad. Very cool pictures of nature in action!
Enter Title Here
Why must I clean my house so much prior to a trip? It can't only be because people I know will be coming into my home to feed my cats, bring in the paper and such. They're family...who cares if they notice a dirty dish towel left wadded up on the counter, ora pair of shoes thrown haphazardly in the middle of the living room. I mean, really.
I didn't actually CLEAN this time, though. The scrubbers, cleansers and paper towels remained tucked away in their dark little corner of the basement. No, no, this was just a STRAIGHTENING type of clean. We (I made Honey pitch in) picked up trash, loose papers, shoes, etc etc around the house and put everything back where they belonged. I love coming home to a clean house and I also didn't want to leave stuff lying around for our week-long absence.
And we also had to sort of cat-proof the house. I saw the cutest web site yesterday on which the owners of two lovely fluffy cats glorified their curious natures and freakish habit of climbing up, chewing on, pulling down the christmas tree. It was so adorable. It made me get all warm fuzzies about my own three felines. So I decided to let the youngest little monster (Merlyn) run amok through the house with the girls while we're gone. This is their house too. Why not? And Ariel and Merlyn have not been fighting as much in the last few weeks...if I lock him alone in the bedroom, they're just going to start all over again and rip each other apart when we get home and integrate them again. So, they're on their own. And Merlyn will have to learn to eat just one meal a day when our housesitters come to feed them. What's the worst that can happen? (Stay tuned...)
Anyway, we're all packed and cleaned and ready to go. We're heading out at 9:30 in the morning to drop Dobby off at Honey's rents'. Then it's a six hour drive to Gillette. Wooptydoo!!! I'll be asleep by Longmont!
I am Water...duhhhh
Your Element Is Water |
A bit of a contradiction, you can seem both lighthearted
and serious. That's because you're good at going with the flow - but you also
are deep. Highly intuitive, you tune in to people's emotions and moods easily.
You are able to tap into deep emotional connections and connect with others.
You prefer a smooth, harmonious life - but you can navigate your way around
waves. You have a knack for getting people to get along and making life a little
more peaceful. |
I knew that! I'm an Aquarius which is the Water Bearer but it's an Air sign. I tend to fluxuate between the two. If you take this quiz and think it's fun, I'd love to know your results! Leave a comment or sign my guestbook, please! :)
All Good Things Must Come to an End...and a Beginning???
FINALLY FINISHED WITH THE SEMESTER!!! I just completed my last exam for my art class. WHEW. It took me over 2 hours but that included a couple of potty breaks (nerves) and discussions with Honey. But it's done now and that's it! FINITO!!!! whew!
I met with my advisor yesterday (who happens to be the instructor of the class in which I took the aforementioned exam!) and talked with her about where I'm going, what I'm doing, what I have left to do, when I'll need to transfer (to Metro) etc. I am STOKED about this:
See, I haven't worked with children since 1996-1997 and when I did I had no previous experience or education so I did just about everything wrong (in my opinion now!). So I've been pretty anxious and hesitant (just downright scared out of my wits!) to return to the classroom. One of the courses required for my group leader and director's certifications as well as the degree is the lab course which is 60 hours of in-classroom experience in addition to online exams, readings, assignments, etc. I've been putting that class off for three years for different reasons: initially, I just couldn't afford the time off from my stupid job at KFD to do the internship/volunteer time, nor could I afford to quit my job at KFD in order to get a full time job at a local center because I was the main breadwinner in our household for a while. Since I was able to quit that job and move to Littleton, I've been postponning getting a job in a center simply out of fear. I know that's no reason to NOT do something...I just wasn't ready to deal with that fear and get to it yet. Especially since I don't HAVE to work right now...I'm enjoying my time at home.
Okay, so I've been beating myself up about all of that for a while now and feeling like crap about it. But I discussed the lab course with my advisor yesterday and she told me two things that releived me at once!
1. She teaches the 102 course so she does the observation in the classroom with me as well as grades my assignments online. Woo hoo! I'm kicking butt in her art class!
2. I can do this internship for the lab class at the lab school on the ACC campus!!! I don't have to rush out and get a job at some center just to take this course!!!!! This is an ideal situation for me because it basically involves her holding my hand and guiding me as I work with the little people in the classroom. What a perfect transition for me to get back into the classroom for employment in the future!!!
Needless to say, I AM STOKED!!!!!!! I am registering for that course TODAY and I'm also going to take Children's Lit (as long as it's not cancelled again). I will need to take history and some science, maybe some more math (yuck, sort of yuck and MEGA YUCK) in order to obtain the degree (longer term goal) so I haven't decided yet if I'll take a history course with my ECE courses next semester...or if I'd be better off taking it easy next semester with only two classes. I'll definitely register for the two ECE ones and then think over the history class while I'm in Gillette next week. It's all coming together.
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On a different note, Honey's company just went public today on the NYSE. Since it's a family company, we're all very excited about this. He set his alarm and we got up early today (he's off work today) and watched Bloomberg television channel all morning. In addition to that channel, he often flipped over to CNBC on the tv, had Buisness for Breakfast radio show streaming through his laptop and jumped back and forth from his Yahoo! stocks page and his brokerage firm's page. It was crazy. I just sat back and cross-stitched and asked 101 questions about stocks, reverse splits, shares, blah blah blah. It's all very interesting but my brain started to hurt after a while. Too much math and gambling for my attention span!
So by now you may or may not be curious about how the aforementioned stock is doing on this first day of tradeage. You can check it out for yourself if you're interested: BBG (the Bill Barrett Corporation). From what we saw this morning, it was climbing. Honey's dad (the COO of the company) was on the floor of the NYSE when it opened this morning and he said there was much cheering and celebrating. On Monday morning, Honey's dad, and other family members who are mucky-mucks in the company will be ringing the bell at NYSE. FAMOUS ON TV!!!
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Enough of all that. Now I must go wrap presents and other such nonsense. Woo hoo!
Update on the Idiot Teacher
She finally found and graded all of my missing assignments. My final points for the class are: 740/700. Go figure! She's so cool (*sarcasm*). I'm meeting with my advisor (her boss) tomorrow. Stay tuned...
100 Things About Me
I've seen this on other blogs and thought it'd be fun to try! So here's me... 100 Things About Me1. I was born in St. Louis, MO 2. I was born the day before Groundhog Day and my father won’t ever let me forget it 3. I’m deathly afraid of spiders, all kinds, all shapes, sizes and colors 4. I love Mexican food. Especially my Honey’s enchiladas (he ain’t Mexican) 5. I’m 5’7 ½” but I just round up and say I’m 5’8” 6. I’m way overweight 7. I love Yankee Candles 8. I have a Chihuahua named Dobby 9. I went to a private, Episcopal school from 4th through 8th grades 10. I graduated from Heritage High School in 1994 11. I attended Univ. Northern Colorado for two years after high school 12. I hated UNC 13. I developed a severe addiction to IRC in 1996 (lasted till about 1999) 14. I developed a slight addiction to alcohol 15. I dropped out of college in 1996 (see #s 13 & 14) 16. I think I’m hypoglycemic 17. My left foot is just slightly smaller than my right foot 18. I was baptized in the Episcopal church when I was 1 year old 19. I like to give identities to my body parts and organs "my hair is not happy with me today," or "my bladder is trying to clock in some overtime" 20. I am a Pagan focusing on Wicca traditions 21. I collect crystals 22. I’ve been reading tarot cards for almost 15 years 23. I am a closet computer geek 24. I love the colors purple and light shades of green 25. My dad calls me Scout 26. My husband calls me Honey 27. My mom calls me Abbeish 28. My grandmother calls me Lady Abigail 29. My internet friends call me Garnie 30. I used to write a lot of poetry 31. I haven’t tried to write poetry in years 32. My grandfather used to call me Alligator Ann 33. I love it when the digital clock reads 11:11 or 3:33, etc 34. I hate math and history 35. I love literature, art and science 36. I have three cats 37. I love dolphins 38. I’ve been to Maui and I desperately want to go again 39. My favorite authors are John Irivng, Tom Robbins and Barbara Kingsolver 40. My favorite artists are Georgia O’Keefe, Salvador Dali 41. I’m pro-choice 42. I’m liberal on most issues 43. I hate it when people think that “alot” is an actual word 44. I don’t like phrases that include the word pop: “Just pop it in the oven,” “I’ll just pop on over” 45. I hate seeing other people’s feet 46. I don’t drink nearly enough water 47. I feel strongly about the toilet paper going OVER the roll, rather than under 48. I love seafood 49. I’m a frugal bargain shopper 50. I lost my virginity at 18 and was well-prepared for the experience 51. I’m a sucker for Lifetime movies about serious mental or physical illnesses 52. I think showering is a pain in the ass (but I still do it every day!) 53. I am slightly Obsessive Compulsive 54. My favorite poets are Emily Dickenson, e e cummings and Rainer Maria Rilke 55. I believe in fairies 56. I believe in aliens 57. I really wish I could have a close encounter of the second or third kind 58. Two of my favorite movies are Gone With the Wind and Pulp Fiction 59. I’m a total grandma driver in the snow 60. I can’t stand reality TV shows 61. I’m a decent poker player 62. I have abandonment issues 63. I love salty and soury things 64. I can only drink one cup of coffee a day 65. I get migraines 66. I hate cooked broccoli 67. I’m a crafting fool 68. I’m obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and the Scooby Gang thereof) 69. I'm big on ritual 70. I burp as naturally as I sneeze or cough 71. I’ve smoked pot 72. I’ve done acid 73. I’ve done 'shrooms 74. I haven’t done any more drugs than those 75. I do not currently do, nor do I want to do drugs again 76. I love to take pictures of my pets 77. I only check my snail mail once a week (if that!) 78. I love symbolism 79. I love to help people solve problems (big or small) 80. I don’t like to see movies at the theater on opening night 81. I used to be obsessed with Pearl Jam 82. I am now obsessed with Dave Matthews Band 83. I met my husband in high school 84. Then I met him in a chat room 3 years later 83. Then I started dating him 4 years after that 84. I wanted my wedding to be outside 85. I had my wedding indoors at the University Park Holiday Inn in Fort Collins, CO 86. I designed my own wedding programs 87. I used to want to be a psychologist 88. Then I wanted to be a dream researcher 89. Then I wanted to be an preschool teacher 90. Now I want to be a psychologist again 91. I’m trying to finish my degree in psychology 92. I’m prone to kidney stones 93. I have a mild case of Irritable Bowel Syndrome94. I love quoting movies 95. I have perma-blackheads on the tip of my nose 96. I can’t tell jokes to save my life 97. I love to hear/read good jokes 98. Most of my dearest friends have been at least 15 years older than me 99. I’m an only child 100. I wish I had burgandy-reddish hair
Okeley Dokeley!
The Christmas cards have been sent! Grandmother's gifts have been packaged! Mom has been cared for for the week! And now, all I have to do, is take one exam for my art class (tomorrow) and I'll be ready to kick it for a month. Ahhhhhhhh sweet relaxation.
I have nothing to report other than I am totally dreading this trip to Gillette, WY next week. It's going to be totally boring for me. But I'll be with my Honey and I'd hate to be home alone without him for a whole week so that makes it all worth it.
I've thought of things I can do while I'm bummin out there next week. Here is my list of ideas:
1. Write blogs (duhh)
2. Read blogs (duhhh)
3. IRC (boring)
4. Play Gin or Wordscape or other such nonsense on iwin
5. Cross-stitch like a mad woman
6. Read one of the probably dozen books I'll take with me
7. Do some of these word puzzles in this book mom gave me
8. Play PS2 (Honey might be giving me an early Christmas present of Star Ocean to play while he's in his training session!!! Or I'll just beat FFX and move on to FFX-2)
9. Watch free movie channels in the hotel room
10. Walk around town to get some exercise
11. Miss my puppy and kitties
12. Miss my Christmas decorations
Yea those last two are kinda lame but the other ones are pretty much what I would be doing if I were going to be home all next week anyway. So I guess it's not so bad. Maybe I can learn some more HTML to rock up this site a bit. We shall see...
Call me crazy but I will always lust after this tarot deck. I've wanted it for many years and I shall want it for many years to come. Simply because I won't dare ask for such a thing for Christmas or my birthday. I just can't seem to justify $100 for a tarot deck. I surely wouldn't feel comfortable actually USING the cards! Goddess forbid! But they sure are pretty. And I sure do love me some Salvador Dali.
Yes, clearly I have nothing interesting to post today. So please feel free to roam about the country.
How cute is our dog?
I mean really! Without even trying, he just looks as sweet as can be!
His name is Dobby. Our own little house elf! And although he thinks he comes from Chihuahua, Mexico, he was actually really born in La Grange, Wyoming a year and a half ago. His favorite things to do are wrestle with his "brudder" (see "Wonderboy and Young Nastyman" post)and sleep in the sunshine.
The Curse of the Idiot Teacher (this is a long one)
I refer to her as "My Ding-Dong Teacher." Over the years, my mother, a former college English instructor, has stressed to me the imporant difference between a "teacher" and an "instructor." She could give you a long, detailed and extremely boring description of the difference but basically, my assessment is that it all boils down to the amount of respect due to each. An instructor is usually an educator in the college or (especially) university setting. While a teacher is usually an educator in the high school or lower grade school levels. Therefore, I try to refer to all of my educators in college as instructors. Except this one...
My nutrition TEACHER is a freaking brain-dead IDIOT! (No offense to those people living with mental or developmental disabilities) About two weeks into the online class I couldn't help but notice her incessant misspelling of words and misuse of punctuation and grammar in her emails, discussion board postings and assignment instructions. And yet, I found it ironic that in each of her assignment instructions, she included a little threat that misspelled words and misused grammar and punctuation in our assignments will cost us valuable points. Oh, how I wish I could grade her on a weekly basis!!!!
If that hypocrisy wasn't bad enough, here's a doozy for ya! This is an online course. My first one, in fact, though I'm taking two online courses this semester. So, when I turn an assignment in, I am required to do so through what is called the Digital Dropbox. Basically, through the class website, I'm required to click a button, upload a document, fill in who I want it directed to and then hit SUBMIT. I'm no computer retard. I've been on the danged internet for over 8 years now. So I quickly figured it out...no problem.
About three weeks into the class, our TEACHER sent out a class-wide email admitting that she "is so dumb" and that she had "lost our quizzes" for that week (I'm quoting her directly). Can you imagine? A college instructor admitting that she is "dumb" because she "lost" an assignment???!?!!!? Seriously, woman, come up with some stupid excuse that involves your seventh grandma's death or something just as clever! The quiz eventually turned up with the help of her boss, the department chair who is also my instructor for my Art and the Young Child course (online).
Halfway through the semester I was injured in the shoulder and neck areas and was unable to remain vertical for more than 15 minutes at a time. This lasted about two weeks. Naturally, I had assignments due in all of my classes that week, so my mom suggested that I ask for an extention for at least one of them. So, I chose the idiot teacher. I emailed her and told her of my prediciment. She said it was not a problem if I turned in the assignment late and that I would not be penalized via grade points for its tardiness. Woo hoo for me. Two weeks later I had another assignment due in that class which I completed on time and also turned in my late assignment two days after that one. Two weeks and another (now, third) assignment later, I emailed her and asked her when we might expect our grades for those assignments. Four days later she replied to me saying that she never received any of the three aforementioned assignments from me!!!!
This all happened the week before and the week of Thanksgiving. As soon as I got her reply, I replied to her, freaking out, and assuring her that I had submitted them through the magical and holy Digital Dropbox. I sent her two or three more frantic emails with copied and pasted proof of my submissions as well as an inquiry as to why she had not let me know sooner that she had not received these items from me. I got no response. I was an anxious, nervous wreck that entire rest of the week and weekend. My husband told me not to worry about it since I was getting all A's in the class anyway and I had turned in all my other assignments on time.
Finally, a week later, two days before Thanksgiving, she responded...five times. In the first email she attempted to reprimand me by pointing out that she "does not make it a habit to contact adult students who are missing assignments when these adult students should be responsible enough to maintain their own work." My fear of authority let that one stab me right through the heart. The second email asked me if I had indeed submitted said assignments through the Digital Dropbox. DUHHHHHHHHHHHH Had I not already stated that to her at least once and included a copy of my submission confirmation directly from the magical and all holy Digital Dropbox?!?! ARGH!
The next two emails (we're on #3 and #4 now) were repeats of each other simply saying "I still cannot find your assignments." She must've sent that email to me twice. Not sure why. Maybe it has something to do with her computer illiteracy.
The final email, which was timestamped as sent one half hour after the first one, said only, "I found and have graded all three assignments." She didn't even sign her name. I got 100% on all three assignments. I know I should've celebrated and yes, I had a sense of relief, but I realized that there was no way she could have really examined and properly graded all three of my assignments in that short amount of time. I don't think she actually looked at them. She just saw that I had them with the right titles on them and then she gave me an A. Whatever.
So that whole experience just convinced me to stop putting so much effort into my assignments for her. I started putting them off until the morning of the day they were due. I completed one in one hour and got another A on it. Go me. I completed a second one and turned it in within one hour. A week later, I realized that she has lost that assignment as well. (This is as of last week). I've emailed her three times about it and even pasted the text of my assignment into an email to her. She has not responded. I guess she only has time to check up on the course once a week. Poor little idiot.
Anyway, that's where we're at now. Another standoff. I still haven't heard from her regarding the latest missing assignment and I submitted the assignment that is due today as an attachment to an email to her. So she's got it in three different formats. If she can't find it, I might have to hunt her down and burn her at the stake!
Needless to say, I'm meeting with my advisor (the aforementioned department chair and INSTRUCTOR of my online art class) later this week to discuss my future goals and what I've acheived so far. I am also taking to her some print outs of the assignments and emails from this Idiot Teacher. As her boss, I think she should be made aware of the disgraceful method of teaching this idiot has. I will also make it clear that I will never take another class under that idiot again. We'll see what comes of it.
This is the last week of the semester. I am so looking forward to the break!!! :)
Deck the Halls!
YAY! We put up Christmas decorations today! The tree, garland on the banister, lights outside (go Honey!), the mantle, and even some upstairs! Here are some pics:
I made this wreath last year!
I decided to skip the tinsel garland and instead use big fat ribbon on the tree this year. And also used only clear lights instead of my usual rainbow colors. The tree turned out looking sort of Victorian-ish. It looks so lovely! I'm sorry we'll be gone all next week and won't be able to enjoy them that whole week before Christmas. Oh well... Those pics are kinda grainy. Not sure why.
I'll finish up the cards this week and get them in the mail. And I have 90% of my shopping done already! I can't believe how on top of all this I've been this year! I guess that's what happens when ya don't have a job. ;)
Since again we have a gas burning fireplace, Pete wants to get a chimenea so we can burn the Yule log again this year. I'm not sure it's worth such an expense to go out and buy a chimenea to do it. I think, instead, I'll take us to dad's house so we can burn it in his fireplace (woodburning). That'd be kinda cool cuz then we can get dad and Kathe to participate. I know dad'll love it...and I'm pretty sure Kathe will too.
Kathe (dad's gf) invited Pete and me down to her house for cards and other games on Christmas day. She'll have her kids there (all about my age) and she wants us all to meet ... first time ever YIKES! She's kinda freakin out about that too! I'll wait and freak out on Christmas morning, instead. Hehehe And it'll be super fun cuz we got dad a big poker set for Christmas. Then he can use it that afternoon!
So here's our Christmas plan:
Weds 12/22 - dinner at the Rio Grande in Lone Tree for Pete's birthday
Thurs 12/23 - Pete's off work...we'll just play birthday all day
Fri 12/24 - pick up mom in the afternoon and bring her to our house; make shrimp dinner; watch some Christmas movies...the traditional "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Christmas Vacation." Maybe even "A Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Rudolph" since I got all four of those for Pete for his bday...SHHHHHH!
Sat 12/25 "the BIG C DAY!" - have banana bread and gift opening in morning with mom; take mom home around noon; go to Frank and Carolyn's for Christmas with them and Lindsay; go to Kathe's around 3:00 for dad's Christmas and meeting her fam and playing cards.
What a danged busy time! But I guess everyone's is like that...more or less. It's hard balancing so many families. We're talking about going to Grandmother's in Tennessee next year.
Okay, this blog is long enough. What's your favorite part(s) about Christmas/Yule/Haunnaka time?
New Mood Meter Jobber!!
Awwww yea......I finally figured out how to get that mood meter jobber up there in the profile section. Only took me three hours in which I should have been working out! RAWR! I'm such a geek!!
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