Garnet's Breathing Room

Moving

2005-08-19T12:00:00.000-06:00

Garnet's Breathing Room is shutting down! But fear not! You can find me at my new home: My Honey and Me! Come and see!

Load 'em up! Move 'em out!

2005-08-18T11:21:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I helped my sister-in-law move out of her apartment. Today, I will be helping her move into her newly-purchased first condo. I can't lift heavy things because of my bad back so yesterday, I grabbed a bottle of cleanser and a sponge and did my favorite thing in the world: cleaned her kitchen!!! After packing up her dishes and glassware, I scrubbed the fridge and freezer, washed all shelves in the cabinets, and scoured the drip pans in the stove. I always do this. In every apartment I've lived in, every condo I've helped my mom move out of...I always end up leaving the kitchen and bathroom cleaner than it was on move-in day!

Today, I shall take on the task of unpacking her kitchen items. I love deciding where the most convenient place is for the dishes, glassware and silverware is. I've done this several times for my mom, dad and myself, of course. I've almost got it down to a science. Start with the silverware and work your way up to the dishes. Pots and pans and such are the last to go in, wherever there's room. You must take into consideration location of the dishwasher in order to assure ease of unloading practices. It's quite complicated. If I told you any more, I'd have to charge you for my knowledge!

Am I a great sister-in-law or what?!

Messing around, Breaking things

2005-08-16T10:38:00.000-06:00

I've spent the better part of the past few days messing around on my new blog. I am trying to get as much transfered from here to there as possible before I let ya'll come visit me over there. Unfortunately, yesterday, while messing around with code I knew not anything about, I royally screwed the whole thing up. Now, when I go to my new blog site, I get this horribly ugly error that includes the words "Bad arguments," "Permission denied," and "WARNING: implode." The word implode causes me the most concern. I do not want my new blog to implode. I want to change it back to the way it was before, all simple and neat and tidy. But I've gone and messed it all up! And I can't seem to get it fixed! Of course, I found a really nice easy-to-understand-step-by-step FAQ AFTER I broke everything. *heavy sigh* Alas, that's what Honeys are for, right? I'm going to use my Loving Wife Charms on him and see if he'll try to fix it for me. Yikes!

And now on to something I know how to do without screwing up...PICTURES!!!

On Friday night, we went to our old family friends' (S & J) house for dinner and poker. These two have been so close to me and my dad for many years, I pretty much consider them family. Anyway, dad and his gf were there, and so was J's sister. J was going in for a craniotomy on Monday to remove an arterial aneurysm. So we were getting together for one last hurrah before the surgery and her long rehabilitation.

Here is dad and his GF and S examining a map:

This is a hat and a sign I made for it for J to wear after her surgery:

J, modelling the hat:

Word is that J made it through the surgery just fine and will be in ICU for probably the rest of the week. *whew*

Honey hung up our instruments in the "music room:"

And here are the four paint colors I was testing out in my room:

I sort of like the lavender in the middle but don't really care for either of the greens and the purple on the end is too dark. I'm going to take my quilt into the paint shop this week to try and better match the paint to it.

Today I am a Stripper

2005-08-11T11:07:00.000-06:00

This morning I got up, dressed in something loose-fitting and slightly dirty, put on some rockin' music and started stripping. That's right. All alone in a bedroom, I began to strip...

THE WALLPAPER!!! DUHHH!!! I'll wait here while you walk back from the gutter.

Remember, a long time ago, I was talking about making my very own room? Well, since then, I've gotten a quilt set with the colors I want, rearranged some furniture in there and cleaned out and organized the closet. All that's left to do is strip the current wallpaper boarder and repaint the walls.

Easier said than done!

My MIL finally convinced me to just bite the bullet, stop watch all the home-redecoration shows and just go out there and get some paint samples of the shades I want on the walls. Such a committment! I don't know if I can handle it! But yesterday I took myself to the paint store down the street and picked out two shades of green and two shades of purple to try out. In order to get a really good look at how the paint will look on the walls, I need to remove the white chair-rails and ABC wallpaper around the room. I'm using some magical solution and hot water and a scraper. It's more fun that I thought it would be! Moving the big ass futon away from the next wall won't be so much fun but what the heck...that's what a chiropractor's for, right?!

Wish me luck!

Stupid Pet Tricks

2005-08-09T15:18:00.000-06:00

That's it. I'm teaching my cat to talk. Or at the very least, to write.

(If you hate cats or are completely unaware of the issues surrounding feline urinary habits, then please, save yourself; read no further as this post does not concern you. For the rest of you sympathetic souls...bear with me.)

When we brought Merlyn home last summer to live with us, Dobby and the gi rls, we added more litter boxes throughout the house for his convenience. The girls have never had a problem finding and consistantly using the boxes. But this little shit is a different story. Honey didn't want to take him in from my dad because he's had bad experiences with kittens peeing all over everything. Dad swore to Pete that Merlyn would not do that. My dad is a liar. Or a very bad psychic.

What? This is cool. I'm cool. Everything's normal here.

We have SIX freaking boxes throughout the house: three in the basement, one in the living room, one in our bedroom and one here in my office. I have realized of late that he only uses the three in the basement; I haven't seen him crawl into or out of any of the others above ground since he was a wee kitten. Unfortunately, because we rarely live in the basement, it is those three boxes that are most often ignored and fill up the fastest. When this happens, Merlyn lets us know that he does not approve of such crapping conditions by simply peeing on any personal cloth on a horizontal surface: a clean dishtowel left on the dryer, my blanket draped over the recliner and half on the floor, my shorts left on the bathroom floor for a couple of days. He's over a year old and he's still doing this! No, he's not spraying: this is a horizontal marking, not a vertical one. And he's been fixed. He's not angry at us. He used to just pee on Honey's clothes or things on Honey's side of the room. Now he is non-discriminatory. He's not being beaten up by the girls any longer and he gets plenty of exercise throughout the house. He simply does this to tell us that he doesn't like the state of the litter boxes in the basement. If I taught him how to speak, he could just TELL me with words. At the very least, if he could write or scribble me a note, I'd get the message.

Really, when it comes down to it, I must be a terrible cat ~~owner~~ staff member. Honey and I often live under the assumption that six litter boxes should last a good couple of weeks before needing to be scooped. This is a false belief. If Merlyn had his way, I'm sure he'd have us down on all fours scooping their boxes every couple of hours. Sorry, Little Piss Pot, that ain't gonna happen around here.

So I dumped the litter in the boxes throughtout the house and vaccummed all that loose litter that cats love to track onto the carpet, the mat, wherever they happen to land when exiting their shitters. I've replaced with clean litter and have vowed to scoop at LEAST once a week. Promise. No, really, this time I mean it. For real. But if I forget, could you just leave me a note???

Randomness, with pictures

2005-08-07T14:29:00.000-06:00

I'm feeling random today. So bear with me as I blurt out all the junkI've been collecting in my head to blog about lately!

Friday night we had dinner and hung out with Maggie and family. We had soooo much fun! And can I just say that her little Julia is a beautiful and fun child! We are definitely going to get together with them more regularly!

We went to Home Depot yesterday and I ended up with the biggest frugal score of late! I wanted one of those lounge chairs for laying out in the sun on the porch. I found one at Home Depot. They had two big stacks of them. They're good quality, with the straps instead of the plastic ropes like the kind you'd get at Wally World. Between the two stacks a price and description was taped to the concrete floor. The price was listed at $5! I didn't think twice about it and had Honey heft it into the cart for me. When we went to check out the chair rang up at $40. I didn't have a cow but we just mentioned to the cashier that the price was listed at
$5. He called some guy in Gardening Center who I ran into when I went back to double check the price. He said, "Yep, looks like that's the price. I'd make the same mistake." Then he got
on his radio and told our cashier to ring it up at $5. He took the price tag off the floor and threw it in the trash. I WAS STOKED! Forty dollar chair for FIVE BUCKS!!! WOO HOO!!! I'm still flyin' high over that bargain! (And thankful that the dudes at the Depot weren't snots about it and didn't give me a hard time. That's just good business.)

We saw Constantine last night and L.O.V.E.D. IT! OMG I totally thought it was going to suck but that movie had me captivated from opening to ending credits! Unbelievable! I am so going to buy that movie ASAP!
Also saw Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, which was okay...pretty cute, entertaining. And we tried to watch Exorcist: The Beginning but I had to turn it off after 15 minutes: too much unnecessary blood and gore for me. Beyond lame.

And now for some pictures:

This here is the band Hit and Run Bluegrass at RockyGrass last Friday.

And here's the beautiful view we had from our chairs:

Here's Honey:

Our brand new tent that we had to put up in the back yard yesterday! (The rain fly wasn't on properly in this photo. Please disregard and, instead, feast your eyes upon the dog check out
the digs):

This is a cross-stitch I finished last winter:

Here's one I did in the spring:

This one I just finished last week (not pressed or framed yet):

And, finally, the girls are enjoying a lazy Sunday in the sunshine:

A Letter to Amazon

2005-08-05T14:41:00.000-06:00

Dear Amazon.com,
I have much love for you and you don't even know it. Actually, my ordering history in your records may indicate a bit of regular facination. But I am here to tell you today that I flat out love you!
Books galore! Shopping from the comforts of my own messy home is a real kick in the pants. And it's so easy to search through you. Don't even get me started on how wonderful your "Customers who purchased this also purchaed..." suggestions. Oh how you tempt me so. *swoon*
My wishlist keeps track of all sorts of things (books and non-books) that I think I want for future reference. If I don't always buy those non-book items from you, please don't be angry. There are just some things that I require and do not wish to pay the shipping charges on.
Today I bought three textbooks through your Amazon Marketplace network and simply adored the experience. I tried it last semester, too but had more trouble than I did this year. In ordering through your three different sellers of used-but-in-like-new-condition text books, I've saved $70 than if I had purchased them through my school's bookstore myself! Yes! Including shipping! UNBELIEVABLE!
In short, I want to thank you, amazon.com for being the wonderful resource of our generation that you are. And never forget that I love you!

Regards,
Abbey

P.S. You can send Devoted Customer gift certs to the address stored in my account if you are so inclined. Thank you.

Soggy Songs

2005-08-04T14:04:00.000-06:00

It's been raining here non-stop since dawn. We desperately need the moisture here in this dry land of Colorado. I love the rain. It soothes my soul. Sort of gives me an excuse to put the breaks on, turn down the lights in my head and "schlep" around the house. I've finished a cross-stitch pattern (photos forthcoming) and started a new one, watched four L&O:SVU's and did some dishes. I love days like these!!!

I've made a soundtrack tribute to the weather today. These songseither remind me of rain or make me smile when it is raining:

Wolf in the Breast - Cocteau Twins
Grace is Gone - Dave Matthews Band
Daniel - Elton John
Out to Get You - James
Washing of the Water - Peter Gabriel
Prayers for Rain - The Cure

Grief

2005-08-03T17:30:00.000-06:00

Please take a moment, if you would, to go visit Callista over at Inconceivable. She just got some devestating news. I'm sure she could use all the support we can give her.

I am Lupin, Hear Me Howl!

2005-08-01T10:18:00.000-06:00

Swiped from Amy:

Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

I'm a Hard Core Snob

2005-07-30T15:33:00.000-06:00

...cuz I'm drinkin' San Pellegrino water straight out da bottle. That's right. Killin' off what's left of this here 25.3 fl oz bottle of fancy bubbly water. *bururrrrrrp!*

Yesterday, Honey and I spent the whole day up in Lyons at a bluegrass festival. This one's called Rocky Grass and it's filled to the rim with famous bluegrass performers. This is a three day weekend gig. Actually, this weekend of non-stop concerts follows a full week of workshops and such, referred to as "The Academy." I wasn't sure I could handle three full days of bluegrass this time (Lyons isn't as happenin' as Durango was) so I just went for yesterday. Honey's there today and will go again tomorrow.

Fried our butts off in the 100 degree heat up there yesterday. While Honey reapplied his sunblock every hour or so, I'd casually think to spray some on my arms from time to time in between trips to the nearby river to soak myself with water. I figured I needed to get my Vacation Tan back in full swing to see out the rest of the summer. Needless to say, Honey's still white. I'm a freaking lobster.

Anyway, the music was good but really, my favoritest part was the people watching. I am an avid people watcher. I used to go on day trips to the airport with friends just to sit and watch the people pass by and make prank-pages over the intercom. I saw a very very large woman in a mumu beach herself smack in the middle of the shallow river with her head resting against a rock. She was there for about an hour, best I could tell. I also saw a guy change out of his shorts and into his swim trunks under the pseudo-privacy of a blanket. Unfortunately, his back was to us. I saw his crack. He forgot that people exist behind him as well as in front. Duh. I saw a woman breast feeding her baby. I overheard a witty man tell a group of friends this joke: "Adam said to Eve, 'Look out! I don't know how big this thing's gonna get!'") and nobody near him laughed much. I saw a lot of great people doing great and, sometimes, stupid things! It was awesome!

I left around 6:00 and headed the 60 miles back home. Honey got home at midnight. He said after the sun went down, not long after I left, a greenish haze covered the landscape of people in the crowd. He witnessed the five or so frat boys in front of him light up doobie after doobie until the show was over. This is interesting to me because I have been to my fair share of Lollapoloozas and the like. I know that at any Dave Matthews concert there will be that thick green haze. But I didn't really know to expect it from the bluegrass followers. Sure, they look like granola hippies but you can tell that they're not 100% because of the $150 sandals and $300 binoculars they possess. They're not hippies, nor are they yuppies. They're not even yippies. I'm not sure what to call them but they are a nice breed of people. The majority of bluegrass devotees are between the ages of 25-75, sporting young to teenage kids in tow and a wide variety of "gadgets" (be they instruments, outdoorsy/REI toys, etc). But they don't light up the weed right as the sound check people are setting up the stage an hour before the concert even begins. These people have CLASS. They have STYLE. Most of all, they have patience and a plethera of common sense: They wait until the end of the concert, after the sun is sufficiently hidden and the crowd has tripled in size (all making it easier and less likely for the security people to give a damn!). Now what I wanna know is, where were these people when I was smokin' at concerts!!!??!?!?

We've already decided that next year we're going to camp at the festival. Our buddies from Coal Creek Bluegrass were in attendance (though not performing) and were camping on site. We'd love to hang out with them again!

Ever heard a bluegrass version of "All Along the Watchtower," "Forever Young," or "Friend of the Devil"? I did yesterday. Hella-cool!

Today I participated in my first "public" Wiccan ritual. The Wicca Basics 101 class that I dropped out of earlier in the summer had a Lughnasadh celebration and ritual this morning and invited those of us who dropped the class. It was small and simply-orchestrated but very comfortable and spiritually enlightening. At the end of the rituals, the teacher was given a gift of thanks from another student (one of the only two who lasted the entire course of the class!) and then the teacher went around and publically, individually thanked each person for coming. She looked me in the eye and thanked me for letting her know when I decided to no longer come to the classes. She said that it meant a lot more to her than I probably thought (it did) that I took the initiative to recognize and express that the class just wasn't right for me at this junction of my path. I felt really good that she recognized that I did it, although I certainly wasn't expecting her to. It took a lot of balls for me to bail on that class. And even more balls to actually explain to her why I did so. I'm normally the type of person who just STOPS. Leaves. Does not return. No longer deals. But lately, I've been more aware of that and being a better person about it. :)

Well. Now. Honey's gone for the rest of the evening. ~~What am I to do with myself!? Tomorrow I'll take the dog to the Bark Park. But this evening I must entertain myself. Hmmmm....~~

*UPDATE: Fear not, I am sufficiently entertained. I took Dobby to the Bark Park for a bit and he got really hot and panty while trying to avoid the big dogs who were trying to play with him. We hit Noodles and Company on the way home to get me some dinner. Plopped down to watch some TiVo'ed goodness (Monk and Get Color!) followed by some L&O: SVU! I've forgotten how much fun it can be being alone sometimes! I'm an only child...I've had lots of practice!

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Brief Update on What I'm Reading

2005-07-30T09:34:00.000-06:00

Loved Harry Potter & THBP.

Adored Little Earthquakes. (new moms, young moms, wanna-be-moms should definitely read this book! I laughed and cried throughout the whole thing!)

After 20 pages into Fortune's Rocks, I realized I "didn't care." Reaching the "Didn't/Don't Care" point of a book, for me, means that I am not excited to pick up the book in question and read some more. And I have to stop and ask myself, "Self, do I care what happens to this character? Do I care what is going to happen in the rest of the story?" And other such inquiries. I love Anita Shreve but this book is just too formal for me. And reading about a young woman who's about to have an illcit affair with an older married man really isn't my cup of tea (neither are books about women who have been married for several years, only to suddenly realize that they need to leave their husbands in order to rediscover themselves and become the independant, strong women they could've been if only their husbands hadn't stiffled them). To each her own!

So I just started I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe. I've never read any of Wolfe's novels before but I remember my parents often having them lying around the house. This book's on loan from my in-laws. So what's the deal with Tom Wolfe? Is he ultra egocentric or what? Here's why I get that impression of him: On the book's jacket and spine, his name is in in HUGE bold block letters with the title of the book gently present in light cursive print. And at the bottom of each odd-numbered page is his name going vertical, intersecting with the title of the book on the horizontal, both in the corner just next to the page number. Like he really wants me to know that HE wrote this book! Is there something I should know about this author that the rest of the literary world is privy to?

And, also, can someone please clarify to me what "unabridged" means? Thanks.

Numba' One in Da Hood, G

2005-07-28T14:58:00.000-06:00

My new favorite show is this:

Hearing the theme song just makes you wanna watch, don't it!?!

It's stupid as all get out. But so is South Park, or Teletubbies for that matter! It's only on at like 2am but good ole TiVo has been saving them for me! Always good for a laugh!

This Giggle's on Me

2005-07-28T12:17:00.000-06:00

Because I'm Bored and Because You Care

2005-07-27T11:07:00.000-06:00

...or not. Whatever. I said the other day that I am going through Meme-Withdrawls so I grabbed one from True Jersey Girl today! Enjoy...

What I was doing 10 years ago:
Putting on my BigGirlPants by moving to an apartment off campus up at UNC. Pursuing a degree in Psychology. I discovered the chat rooms on the internet in 1995. It's all been downhill from there! Just kiddin'...actually, that's how I met my husband (in 1996 I think) so I can't complain!

5 years ago:
Living in a garden level apartment in Fort Collins with my then-fiance Honey. We had tons of stuff in a very small, very hot space. I was working at a credit reporting agency nearby and struggling to make friends in the area. Consdiering going back to school to pursue goals in Early Childhood Education.

1 year ago:
Settling into our new house in Highlands Ranch. Feeling glad to be back in the old 'hood where I grew up. Seeing parents more regularly. Changing schools. Getting acquainted with our new kitten Merlyn.

Yesterday:
Had lunch on the farm with Dad and talked about what sort of camping gear I need.

5 snacks I enjoy:
microwave popcorn (sometimes with cheese slices melted on top)
ice cream
brie and sourdough bread
chips and salsa
Cheez-Its with cream cheese

5 songs I know all the words to:
Every song on Pearl Jam's Ten, VS, and Vitalogy albums
Paul Revere by Beastie Boys
Everything on Counting Crows' August and Everything After album
90% of all Dave Matthews Band songs
All of Sarah McLachlan's songs

5 things I would do with $100 million:
Buy a gigantic, beautiful, custom-built house in the mountains
Pay off my dad's house, his debt and give him a few million to live off of
Buy a few vacation homes (Hilton Head, Maui, South of France, London, India)
Travel around the country in a brand-new, state of the art mobile home
Have a bunch of kiddos and more dogs

5 locations I would like to run away to:
Maui
Paris
Barbados
San Fran
the Moon

5 things I like doing:
Spending time with my husband, dad and/or in-laws
Cuddling with my puppy and kitties
Reading
Cross-stitching
Blogging

5 bad habits I have:
Chewing on the skin just around the tips of my fingernails
Pressing the creases on the inside thighs of my jeans
Speaking without thinking first
Playing "hermit" in the house for too long
One more that I'll never admit to anyone but Honey

5 things I would never wear (again?):
Thong underwear
My hair as a mullet
2"+ heels
Wrangler jeans
A gag-ball

5 TV shows I like:
Days of Our Lives
Desperate Housewives
Law and Order: SVU
The Daily Show with John Stewart
Everybody Loves Raymond

5 biggest joys of the moment:
Chatting with my Honey in ICQ
Thinking about my new blog design
Watching my dog sleep
Finishing this meme
Sneezing

5 favorite toys:
TiVo
digital camera
book light
computer
the new tent I'm about to buy

This part wasn't on hers but I'm gonna tag 5 people to do this meme (if they want to!):
Girl
Turtleheart
Christine
Scully
Pandora

If your name's not on the above list and you want to do it, go for it! Just let me know so I can come see!!!

Heads Up

2005-07-25T11:28:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking lately about the slang my Honey uses on a regular basis. Here are some of the more popular phrases, their definitions, and examples of how I hear them used on a daily basis (the conclusions you may draw whilst reading the examples are probably as skewed as mine are!):

Kill it = finish it all (ex. "Are you gonna kill that bag of chips?")
Crash = sleep (ex. "If you guys want to drink a lot tonight, you're welcome to crash here.")
Heads up = look out (I remember this from my soccer days. What does it mean, anyway?)
Frip = trick (ex. "Don't believe that commercia. It was a frip on you." He got this one from Willy Wonka)
Chew on = eat (ex. "I'll just grab something to chew on here.")
Oh doh! (said as one word) = that's not good! (ex. "Oh doh! I killed all the chips!")

And don't be fooled...most of these phrases and words have rubbed off on me. On any given weekend day, as we're walking around town doing whatever, it's not unusual to hear us say "oh doh" at least a dozen times in one hour!

What secret language is spoken at your house?

And here's an actual 'heads up' for you: My blog will soon be experiencing a total makeover! Complete with name change, Blogger-ditching, and template! Stay tuned!

A New Addition

2005-07-24T12:46:00.000-06:00

Please go visit Beth and Chris at So the Fish Said... and congratulate them on their newest addition: Amelia!

Way to go, guys!!

A Lovely Weekend (plus some pictures)

2005-07-24T11:53:00.000-06:00

I've had a particularly lovely weekend! I was feeling sort of blue on Friday and my Honey brought home these flowers to cheer me up (irises...my favorite!):

He played a little banjo despite Merlyn's reluctance to share the chair with him:

Saturday was Honey's Super Secret Surprise Day and we set out at 8AM for bagels and coffee. Then headed up to the mountains. He took me to Blackhawk for some gambling! Blackhawk and Central City are two new gambling towns in Colorado. They're actually both very old mining towns but they've been restored and updated and filled with huge casinos. It's certainly no Vegas by any stretch of the imagination! But it sure is fun. We've been talking about going up there for a couple years but we just never have done it. Until yesterday!

We used our leftover vacation money and pissed it away on a variety of video poker and bar games! A woman nearby won the $1050 progressive jackpot on a machine. We congratulated her and smiled, then walked away rather sulkily, feeling full of jealousy. Bah. We had a nice lunch anyway and then headed back to Denver. Here are some pictures I took on the way up there (they wouldn't let me take pictures in the casino. Go figure!):

On our way home we stopped at a local gourmet market and bought a variety of delicately prepared foods for a Wine and Cheese Night at home. We grilled up my lemon-dill salmon filet and Honey's chicken breast, ate some brie and havarti on toasted sourdough and drank three carefully-selected bottles of Riesling and Sauvingon Blanc. We played the 90's edition of Trivial Pursuit (I won!) and then watched American Pie and American Pie 2 while enjoying our deserts also from the gourmet market (canoli for me, margarita tart for Honey). It was such a delightful splurge for us! I highly recommend it to anyone!

Oh, and while we're at the business of looking at pictures, I forgot to show you the pendant Honey got me whlie we were in Hilton Head:

Today, we're finally getting a break in the 100+ degree weather around here! The high is only supposed to be 85. Unfortunately, this means it's cool enough for Honey to mow the lawn mid-day.

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable weekend! Catch ya on the flip side!

Is There Anybody Out There?

2005-07-22T11:06:00.000-06:00

Does anyone even read my blog anymore? Are ya'll just lurking lately and not leaving comments? I miss my visitors! Please come back!

I finished the Half Blood Prince last night. Had to stay up till midnight to do it. Boy, what a shocker! I know who dies, who did it, and what's left to do in Harry's final year at Hogwarts. But I shall only discuss it with people who have read and finished the book. Now I must give Honey ample time to read it so that I have someone to talk to about it!!!

So what should I read next? Little Earthquakes or Fortune's Rocks? Please leave your two cents below!

Friday's Feast

2005-07-22T09:11:00.000-06:00

Appetizer
What kind of car do you drive? If you could make an even trade for any other car, what would you want to drive?
A 2005 Toyota 4Runner. I just got it in April and I adore it! I don't want another car. But if I were forced to make an even trade, I'd take a Volvo SUV.

Soup
Take your phone number and add each number together separately (example: 8+6+7+5+3+0+9=38) - What's the total?
Since we have to dial all 10 numbers to make a call in Denver, my total is 42. What's that mean?

Salad
When were you last outside, and what were you doing?
About a half hour ago - turning off the sprinkler (trying to revive the big dead patch of grass in our back yard!)

Main Course
What is your favorite restaurant and what do you usually order there?
My all-time favorite restaurant is Tortilla Marissa's in Fort Collins. I always order the blue corn cheese enchilladas and a frozen raspberry margarita. Mmmmmmmmmm. *drool*

Dessert
Name 3 things in which you occasionally indulge.
1- brie and sourdough
2- cannolis
3- lobster

Listen Up!

2005-07-21T10:55:00.000-06:00

Got me a new webby toy over there to the left! It's called musicblogger. You can see what I'm listening to. How cool is that? (Stole the idea from the Girl!)

Um, I'm going through some meme withdrawls! I haven't done a meme in, like, 100 years! Someone, anyone, pleeeeease give me a meme to occupy my time with!!!

And, also, Gnorm has arrived to his first host family! His first attempt at travel left him with a broken foot and his host mother ended up with a busted back (injuries not at all related). Gnorm's been repaired (replaced?) and is back on the road. Go check him out!

The Midnight Movie

2005-07-20T11:52:00.000-06:00

I watched the movie version of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil last night. It sucked. I had seen it many years ago but didn't remember anything about it. So I read and loved the book earlier this month and, after having toured Savannah, I wanted to see the film again.

AWFUL. Slow. Boring. Terrible acting (and not just from the people in the film who weren't even actual actors...you could tell the actual characters from the actors for sure). Not to mention they completely chopped up the storyline. Jim Williams had FOUR murder trials, not just one. Everything else was all jacked up. A lot of it was directly from the story but all moved around in odd places. And what really bugged me was that Joe Odom and Mandy Hillis repeatedly said throughout the book, "When this book gets famous and they make a movie out of it, we want to play ourselves in the film!" But they didn't! Clint Eastwood cast his own daughter in the role of Mandy. And she was awful. Bah. And no, there was no romance between John and Mandy.

Granted, the author of the book had been approached to write the screenplay and he said that he had spent eight years working on the book...the screenplay would probably kill him. That's understandable, I guess.

What I did like about the movie:
Kevin Spacey's portrayal of Jim Williams. He does look almost identical to the real guy and his southern accent and mannerisms were dead on. Unfortunately, I have seen him act even better in movies like KPAX and Usual Suspects. He could've put even more into this role.

A young Jude Law plays Danny ("Billy" in the movie). He gets shot really early in the movie but it's definitely him acting like a punkass hillbilly boy!

Some of the real people in the story played either themselves or similar roles in the movie: Williams' lawyer played the judge in the murder trial (clearly a terrible actor!), Jerry Spence played himself as the gay friend who cuts everyone's hair at Joe Odom's parties, The Lady Chablis played herself magnificently!

Seeing the houses, streets, pictures, art, etc that I had seen during our tour of Savannah. It was cool to look at the backgrounds of the scenes and say, "HEY! I've been there! I saw that! I walked through that hall!"

Okay, that's it. I'm climbing off my soapbox now. Didn't mean to get up on there in the first place! What it all comes down to is this: if you like to read and haven't read it yet...READ THE BOOK! It's awesome and good for some hearty laughs (especially the parts with Chablis!). Skip the movie. It's worthless.

As Forrest Gump once said, "And that's all I have to say about that."

The Surprise That's Driving Me Crazy(er)

2005-07-20T10:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday evening, Honey asked me if we had any plans for this coming Saturday afternoon (because I am the Master Scheduler and Keeper of the Calendars). I told him that we don't have any plans that day and he simply replied with, "Okay, good. And do you still have some of those traveller's checks from our trip? Bring those."

Well. Now I have to figure out and guess what he's planning. I kept asking random questions last night to get it out of him. I started with, "What were you doing when you thought of this plan?" thinking that I could piece it together logically. He was sorting through his loose change and pulling out all the newest state quarters. I figured he was taking me to the Denver Mint like we've been talking about doing for a year or so now. But that wasn't it. I asked more questions like, "Is it shopping?" "Can the dog go with us?" "Is it something that is fun and cool or something that is boring and lame that I wouldn't want to go to unless you secretly dragged me to it?" (the answers, respectively were "no, no, fun and cool"). I'm a brat. I have to ask things like that.

So far, all I've gotten out of him are:

We will be leaving the house at 8AM.
It will take all day.
We may come back in the evening but, depending on how things go, we may end up staying there.
We may be doing a bit of walking.
He is considering blindfolding me when he gets me in the car so that I don't figure it out too quickly (to which I responded, "I might throw up.")

That's it! I can't figure it out! And I've still got three whole days to wait! The last time he pulled a surprise on me like this was when he proposed to me over three years ago! (and yes, I had already participated in picking out the diamond, the ring, etc. But once the ring had been picked out, I let go and let him take it from there)

I know, I know. You're all gonna tell me to keep my mouth shut and leave it alone and let him surprise me good and proper. But I can't help it right now. Today I am thinking on it and am trying to solve the puzzle. By tonight, I'll probably have given up and leave it alone until Saturday.

So what do you think it could be????

Hey! I blog too!

2005-07-19T10:10:00.000-06:00

On Saturday, Honey and I went to Borders to pick up the Half-Blood Prince. While we were there, I wandered over to the Mythology section, looking for books on the relationship between the Virgin Mary and the Great Goddess. The Mythology section is located right next to a group of two sofas, and three comfortable chairs arranged around a coffee table. All of these seats were occupied by a group of women who were knitting and chatting up a storm. It looked so cute to me. I couldn't find any of the books I was looking for but I lingered a bit longer in the area in order to ~~eavesdrop~~ make certain that the books weren't there.
While I was doing so, I heard this conversation:

Lady 1: Hey are you still making that t-shirt that you wrote about on your blog?
Lady 2: Oh yes. And I'm using suchandsuch yarn for it. It's coming out loverly.

My ears perked up when I heard her say "blog." I had to physically hold myself back from running over there, jumping on the couch and hollaring, "ME TOO! I AM OF YOUR PEOPLE!" I wanted to ask them what their blog addresses were and I wanted to tell them mine. I wanted to share some popular names on my blogroll to see if they knew of any of them. Alas, I did none of these things. I didn't want to be thought of as rude for eavesdropping. In retrospect, though, they were sitting in the middle of a public retail store with dozens of people roaming around behind them. Surely, I wasn't the only one to pick up on bits of their conversation throughtout the morning.

Ah well, if you are one of these knitting ladies or know of them, please leave me a comment! We live in the same area and we all blog! That's two things we already have in common! Let's be friends!

I stumbled across two particularly great posts that I'd like to bring to your attention today:

The Zero Boss shares a beautiful tribute to his marriage

Guppyman responds loudly to his spam

Blessed TiVo

2005-07-19T09:36:00.000-06:00

Yeah...we got a TiVo. After months of debate, we finally came up with substantial justification for getting one! It only took eight total hours over the course of two days, three calls to our cable provider, and some tricky re-configuiring of the cabling outside of the house to get it working right! Horray! It's so much fun!!! When we're talking about the TiVo, we don't call it, "the TiVo." Actually, we refer to it as if it were a person. There is "the cable box," "the VCR" and "TiVo." He's already part of our family!

The Half-Blood Prince is great! I absolutely won't give anything away! Honey read a spoiler web site last week and came home telling me that he knows who dies in the story. He won't tell me (thank goddess!). My goal of reading the entire thing on Sunday was thwarted by getting a late start, falling asleep twice, and leaving for Best Buy to buy TiVo. Since the TV and internet weren't working all day yesterday, I spent most of the day reading it. I'm just over halfway through it and really, it's great! Just as good as the others but certainly more mature. The kids are sixteen now and it's obvious that they've learned a lot and grown out of a lot of their careless behavior. Love is in the air in this one! And a lot of characters from previous novels make their appearance. I can't wait to finish it so Honey can read it and then we can talk about it! If you have the chance, by all means, read it!

Oooo, I'm also reading Your Aura and Your Chakras: The Owner's Manual. I've recently come to recognize that I have a unique ability (gift? curse?) to detect, understand and absorb other people's energy. The negative energy that I absorb from people really gets me down and wears me out and I figured it was high time for me to learn to do something about it, learn to manage it, learn to cleanse my own energies and protect myself from harmful ones. I'm really excited about this!

Yesterday, while the TV and internet were down because we were halfway through working out the TiVo issue, I went a little stir crazy. I finally cleaned out our bedroom closet and other such things around the house. But I got really lonely around mid-morning. I am an internet junkie and have been for at least 10 years! At one point, I almost broke down and went to the library to use their computers for a bit. But I held back. It wasn't easy.

Now I'm curious, what sorts of techno-goodies can you not live without for more than one day???

Today's To Do List:

2005-07-17T13:56:00.000-06:00

Read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

This is a lofty goal but it sounded like fun! I started at 11 and am already 100 pages in. It's gonna be a long day! I took a break to shower and eat. Now back to it!

P.S. I hated The Pact. I had to skim through the second half of the book and just read the last 10 pages to finish it up. I really don't like stories that give a minute-by-minute account of several different people's handling of a difficult situation and grief. I liked the sections of the story that recounted past events but the present-day happenings bored me to tears. Ugh.

Emotional Baggage

2005-07-15T14:38:00.000-06:00

I'm having a rough day. Rather than explain how I'm feeling, I'd like to express myself through some music:

(Don't get the wrong idea...Honey and I are still happily married. This is about someone else. You can read about the drama here.)

So glad it's Friday! Everyone have a great weekend!

Let It Be

2005-07-15T10:54:00.000-06:00

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me,
Speaking words of wisdom: Let it be.
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom: Let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Whispered words of wisdom.
Let it be.

And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree
There will be an answer: Let it be.
For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer: Let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Yeah, there will be an answer.
Let it be.

And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me
Shine on till tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom: Let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Yeah, there will be an answer.
Let it be.

Fun Things to do With Your Head

2005-07-14T11:07:00.000-06:00

It's fun to change your hair style every three months and every time, act like it's the end-all-be-all of your hair styles.

Right now is the first time in the last 15 years that my hair is 100% it's natural color. I was tempted to highlight it before my vacation but my hair grows so damned fast that it just didn't seem worth the expense on such short hair.

And, all in all...I don't really like my hair this short afterall. I thought I did. I got it trimmed before the trip and it's not as short as it was two months ago. But I was just looking through pictures of myself for Mama Moon's Natural Beauty photo collection, and realized that I really only loved my hair when it was this length and color(s).

So, as of today, I am growing my hair out a-g-a-i-n! Honey has been warned: the next two or three months in front of the mirror won't be happy times. Here was our conversation about it this morning on ICQ:

Me: HAAHHAAHAHAHAH
Me: i've decided to grow my hair out again!
Me: i am just as bad as my mother!!!
Honey: heheheheh
Honey: uh oh
Honey: you think that you can wait while the hair grows out?
Me: no that part will really suck

Wish me us him luck!

Pictures.......FINALLY!

2005-07-13T12:38:00.000-06:00

Only took three hours of cussing and biding my time on Photobucket, but I got 'em up there for ya! Click on the image below to see all of them. I'm sorry if they each take too long to load; I'm not sure how to adjust the resolution of each picutre once I get them up there. Enjoy!

Jiggity Jig

2005-07-12T14:19:00.000-06:00

Ahhhh. Vacation is always nice but sometimes, I enjoy coming home almost as much!

I had a lovely time in South Carolina this past week! The first few days we stayed in an ocean-front room at the Westin Resort. All 103 family members who were there for the reunion stayed in the same hotel. We spent most of our days divided between the beach, the pool and the bed.
On Wednesday we left the resort and moved into the rental home my in-laws own. It was nice and private there for the two of us. We crossed the street, walked down a planked bridge and stood on a slim shoreline to watch dolphin pods feeding just 30 yards away from us. Little bitty crabs scoured the beach as we navigated our way through them.
We spent Friday touring the historic district of Savannah. At the time I was in the middle of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil so it was a thrill for me to see all the houses and tour the Mercer house where the majority of the story takes place. Saturday, we went to Beaufort for lunch and to see all the old, southern houses. We are suckers for charming homes!

I ate seafood at least once every single day since I stepped off the plane. I actually started getting sick of eating crab! *gasp!* But I couldn't stop!!! All in all, I ate shrimp, crab (Dungeness and Alaskan King), swordfish, flounder, scallops, oysters (which I decided I do not like!), mussles, and grouper.

I have a nice, even, sexy tan. I've still got sand in some of my clothes and about a gazillion mosquito bites! ARGH! I hate the humidity so I was really glad to get home to Colorado's dryer climate so I could BREATHE again!

We took tons of great pictures that I will share with you as soon as we get the memory stick reader thingy working!

On my trip I read 2.25 books:
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is an outstanding novel! Had me laughing out loud regularly! It's a true story which makes it even more appealing. I'm told it's better than the movie, which I plan to rent ASAP.
Sellevision was an easy and hilarious read. It's by Augusten Burroughs but this one's not a depressing and crazy memoir. I was laughing aloud and scaring the woman next to me on the flight home yesterday!
What We Keep - I bought this while I was out there and started reading it on the plane yesterday. About 50 pages in, I realized that I had read it before. DUHHH!!! Not reading it again!

After that experience, I decided to get a library card and save money on books. So I got my card today and checked out Little Earthquakes and Fortune's Rocks. I still need to finish The Pact (just started it) before I dive into one of these gems.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just published this and re-read it and thought to myself, "YUUUUCK!" Clearly, I have lost some of my blogging skills. I'm sorry if I sound kind of dry and boring right now. Give me a couple days to get back in the swing of things! I'll be catching up on all your blogs shortly, too!

Stay tuned for pictures...

American Summer

2005-07-01T09:26:00.000-06:00

This is probably my last post for a while. I'll be back home on the 11th. Until then, I'll leave you with a mix of music to celebrate Summertime and the Fourth of July. Enjoy!

Miss America - David Byrne
An American Girl - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Summertime Rolls - Jane's Addiction
I'm Afraid of Americans - David Bowie featuring Trent Reznor
American Baby - Dave Matthews Band
Soak Up the Sun - Sheryl Crow
America - Prince and the Revolution
One Headlight - The Wallflowers
America - Simon and Garfunkel
Wagon Wheel - Old Crow Medicine Show

Happy Independence Day!

Kicking Testing the (Photo)Bucket

2005-06-30T14:38:00.000-06:00

I set up a Photobucket account just now (cause I saw how cool it was on Dawn's site!) and I wanna test it out right quick here. Take a looksee:

Here is our pup in the car

Here is Merlyn working very hard, as he does every day between 10AM and 3PM

Close up of what he's doing there

This here's my dad and his motorcycle

And here's Honey with the scary Colonel statue at KFC

Here are my roses in the front yard:

I shopped till I dropped

2005-06-30T10:02:00.000-06:00

I did it. I got it over with. I did my shopping like a mad-woman yesterday. I don't really enjoy shopping for clothes. Maybe it's because I can only shop in the Womens' department where they have an extremely limited selection of cute clothes that actually look good on me. No, that can't be it. I've always hated shopping. My grandmother is a shop-aholic. She used to drag me and my mother to the mall when we lived near them and I was a wee child. We'd spend entire days, almost weekly, at the mall. When I got older, I came to realize that it wasn't any fun. I went with her to the mall once when I was about 16 and tried to split up from her so that we could each go to our favorite stores on our own (I needed to go to Claires and Bath and Body Works, she desired Robinson's May and Lord and Taylor). She did not like that idea of splitting up and made me stick with her for the rest of the day. It was miserable. I quickly realized that she just wanted me to follow her around from store to store and watch as she fondled every article of clothing on the racks while not buying a single item. That's when I began boycotting shopping with her.

I hate trying on clothes, looking at my self in the mirror, hauling bags of crap around for hours. I like shopping for THINGS but not clothes. Unless I'm with my Honey. He has this amazing ability to pick out these beautiful outfits that compliment my figure very well. And when I come out of the dreaded fitting rooms, if I beg him hard enough, he will be honest with me and tell me if an outfit looks like shit on me. Together we can get in, try on, and get out of clothing stores in record time.

So yesterday I went to four different stores to try on clothes. I found a GREAT deal on a beautiful dress (regularly priced at $60, rang up at $30!) and even found comfortable matching pink sandles that were reasonably priced. I found a couple cute tops and one pair of denim shorts. I will say that I love to buy pjs. So I bought another nightgown. Swimsuits were not available for me as none of these stores had any in my size. I've got one that I got in Maui two years ago but the chest part is becoming rather stretched out. It'll be more fun to try on suits in Hilton Head after I've spent a couple days tanning on the beach!

I got me a cute little Tinkerbell purse and a Tinkerbell knapsack for my carry-on.

There you have it...I don't like to shop. Shoe shopping and clothes shopping are the worst. I like to shop for CDs, electronics, body lotions and other girlie things, purses, books, accessories and what not. Now I've gotten my seasonal shopping spree out of the way for another few months!

I've taken a few pictures with my new camera that I want to share with you. I'll work more on that this afternoon....

Survey Says!

2005-06-27T15:24:00.000-06:00

Well, I don't know what it says yet but I put in my two cents...

Thanks to Cheeky, Kelly, and Rose for the peer pressure.

Cause Cheap is How I Feel

2005-06-27T12:04:00.000-06:00

I forgot how much I loooooove used CD and DVD shopping! SecondSpin used to be my favorite store. There was a time where I worked in a building within a half block from the store. I was in heaven! I haven't been to the store in many many moons. On Saturday, Honey and I went by there and we scored BIG TIME! Here's what I got:

The Beekeeper (CD) - Tori Amos
200 More Miles (Live Performances 1985-1994) (CD)- Cowboy Junkies
The X-Files Movie: Fight the Future (DVD)
American Pie (DVD)
American Wedding (DVD)
SNL - Best of Chris Kattan (DVD) - this ended up being a huge disappointment. But at least it was only a $7 disappointment instead of a $15 one!

And Honey got two other CDs that I can't remember the names of. It was "buy three get fourth one free" day. All those CDs and DVDs only cost us about $65. Yeah, that's a lot of money. But if we had purchased all of them new, it would've cost at least TWICE that amount!

I was literally on a retail high for the rest of the afternoon! I am currently ripping them to my iPod.

I finished the Pilot's Wife on Saturday. If you haven't read it yet, I HIGHLY suggest it to anyone! What a great novel! It totally blew me away about 1/2 way through! Go. Read. Now!

Did you hear about that poor girl who was killed from a shark attack in Florida? And now there's been another attack (non-lethal) just today. Well, this has suddenly got me in a slight panic. I fear sharks to no end. I normally don't have to face that fear regularly since I live in a land-locked state and rarely travel to the ocean. For some reason, when I went to Hawaii and Maui two years ago on our honeymoon, I wasn't very conscious of this fear. But now, with these reports coming in of shark attacks off the Florida coastline, and since I'm going to the South Carolina coastline in less than a week....well, I'm starting to think I just won't get in the water! To ease my concerns, Honey says, "I won't let them get you," and "It's warmer in the gulf coast than it is in Hilton Head." That first one is sweet, but really, he can't protect me from sharks. I'm not that gullible! And I'm trying to search the web right now for statistical info on the water temps and shark sightings in Hilton Head of late. So far, I am finding nothing. Except that there have been approximately 42 shark attacks on people in South Carolina between 1675 and 2001. That's a long ass time. In comparison, Florida has experienced over 450 in the same time frame. This comes as some relief to me. *cold sweat*

Did I mention that our flight leaves at SIX FREAKING THIRTY IN THE MORNING on Saturday!?!?!? I'm not even close to consciousness until 7:30 most days. I think I might sleep on the couch so that Honey can just roll me out the door and into the car that morning. Ugh.

Sometimes I am Silly

2005-06-24T10:32:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I find myself in the midst of a Lifetime binge. You might be familiar with it: cold sweats, cravings for bon-bons, zoning out in front of the tv watching heart-wrenching, poorly acted dramatic movies...sometimes back to back. These binges often strike me during the summer months, when I'm not in school or otherwise preoccupied. Like, say, today. Yes, I am in a Lifetime binge right now. This morning I watched a great flick about a couple that had been married for twenty years, had two teenage children and the wife found her husband having an affair....with a man! *gasp* Can you believe it?! The funny part is, throughout the entire movie, I kept repeating in my head, "Don't be gay, Sparky!" (from SouthPark). I'm weird, I know.

Iliana wanted to know what books I got the other night. So, here ya go:

The Pilot's Wife
Sellevision
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (since I'll be visiting Savannah in the coming weeks)
The Pact: A Love Story
Name All the Animals: A Memoir

And I have the book I Am Charlotte Simmons on loan to me from family and I want to read it while on vacation. But it's a huge book and it's a hardcover, both of which don't travel well with me. What to do, what to do...?

My new camera arrived yesterday. I've got it all unpacked and fully charged up. But this thing has so many bells and whistles that I'm not sure I'm qualified to actually use it properly! I may need to spend some quality time with user manual in hand over the weekend in order to master this thing!

I was planning on going to Kohl's today to get a new swimsuit and some shorts since they're having a huge sale today (aren't they always?!?!). But ugh, I am so not in the mood to try on clothes! Especially skin-sucking, fat producing swimsuits! Yuck!

Nevermind - all around

2005-06-22T11:10:00.000-06:00

Nevermind about the guest posting while I'm away. Thank you, Christine, for offering but I haven't been getting enough visits to my blog to warrant constant monitoring while I'm gone! It's a busy summer for everyone!

Today I am spending time in "my room." I'm going through two large file boxes full of old photographs and organizing them into categorized photo boxes. I'm throwing out a lot of photos that I don't really want to hang onto: pictures from old friends' husbands' birthday parties -whom I no longer speak to; images of random mountains, beaches and cacti from across the country; blurred, overlapped pictures of people I don't even know. I'm not sure why but it just doesn't feel right to just dump those pictures in the trash. Won't the trash men want to look at them or something? Won't they just pile up in the landfill and blow away for strangers to find and ponder at? Maybe I should shred them. Is it safe to shred Poloroids?

I'm taking a break now from this daunting task. A box with photo albums that my mom and I made for my dad and their wedding album are up next. Oh joy. So not looking forward to that. They divorced 10 years ago after 20 years of marriage...why can't I bring myself to throw their wedding album away? 'Sup with that?

I hate it when you're excited to start a new book and you crack open that new book and you start reading it, anticipating that it's just going to get better and better...any minute now it'll grab you and stop being so damned predicatble and strike your interest....but then it just doesn't. I HATE THAT!!!!! I got about 100 pages into The Mermaid Chair yesterday when I finally realized that I was bored to tears reading it, I kept predicting what was going to happen, kept thinking, "oh this is just like YaYa Sisterhood - big woop," and already thinking about what to read next. So I gave up. I tossed the book aside and went to Borders at 8:00 last night. I spent about an hour there, scouring the shelves for books to read. I came home with a stack of five books (one was free and another was 30% off!) and a new book light. I know I shouldn't buy brand new books at $14 a pop. It's such a rip off. I wish I knew of a good used book store in my area. Scratch that, I do know where two used book stores are in my area. There's just something about a brand new book that tickles my fancy. I'd go to the library but most of their most recent books are all in hard cover and I prefer paperbacks, don'tchyaknow? Bah. I started reading The Pilot's Wife last night when I got home and couldn't put it down. Now that's when you know that a book is worth reading.

And can I just say I about had a heart attack from over-excitement yesterday when Jen told me about this!!!?!??! Seriously. Must. Go. I signed up as a Warehouse member just to improve my chances of actually getting a ticket to this show. I'm not a big concert-goer since tickets seem to cost a small fortune lately but there are a few stand-out shows that I absolutely will pay any amount to see. Dave at Red Rocks is a dream come true. *swoon*

Got another adjustment and massage this afternoon. Here's hoping I don't get another ass-knocking-on migraine. Ugh.

Calling All Guests!

2005-06-21T09:17:00.000-06:00

I'm leaving in a while for eleven days and although we are taking a laptop or two on our vacation with us, I don't think I'll have time for frequent (or interesting) posts. Also, the hotel we're staying at the first four days charges for in-room internet usage! Bah!

So I was thinking of taking volunteers to do some guest-blogging for me. You can write about whatever you want or I could give you a topic to focus on. I'm open to ideas! If you're at all interested in being a guest blogger here between July 2 and July 11, please email me at dolphin at frii dot com.

Of course, not a lot of people have the time to visit here lately and I'm sure everyone's busy enough this summer keeping up their own blogs but, if you want to take a swing at it, let me know!!!

Insert Title Here

2005-06-20T09:32:00.000-06:00

My brain is running randomly already this morning. So here goes...

We bought a camera. It took me forever to decide but the guy at Best Buy highly recommended this one so we bought it. It'll be shipped directly to us probably by the end of this week.

Back is feeling muuuuuuuch better but now I'm starting to over-do it and ignore my doctor's suggestions of continuing to take it easy and get into physical therapy. I just want to get on with my life. If I can walk, stand, move a lot, then I will. I'm tired of being confined to that damned recliner!!! I had an adjustment and hour-long massage on Friday which felt great but ended up giving me the worst migraine I've had in months. I'm due for another round of massage and adjustment tomorrow or Weds. Wish me luck!

I hope everyone had a lovely Father's Day. We had a cookout at my dad's on Saturday and that was fun. Then had a cookout at the in-laws' yesterday and that was fun, too.

I have been reading up a storm these past few weeks! I just finished one book in two days over the weekend! Here's what I've read in the past month:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (This was a really good book. Unlike any I've ever read before. It kept me entertained, a few giggles and a surprise in the middle! I read for three hours in bed last night in order to finish it. I dreamed of brilliant special people all night long!)
The Namesake (Beautifully written. Some of the minute descriptions started to bore me halfway through but the story, plot and characters are intriguing. I haven't read her other book yet, but nowI intend to!)
The Art of Mending (Easy read, fine character development of the narrator but the other characters were just barely one-dimensional. I'll probably read more of her stuff before I decide if I like her or not!)
The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters (This whole book is written in a series of letters from the narrator to various people: her boss, coworkers, sister, parents, brother. Heart-wrenching tale but a very good read. I would recommend reading or at least being very familiar with the story of Don Quixote before you read this book as the narrator referrences it a lot throughout and I think there are some vital parallelisms that I missed -having not read Don Quixote myself.)

Next up is The Mermaid Chair. Then I'll need to make another trip to the book store (twist my arm!) to stock up for my trip to the beach. I'm thinking of taking one whole bag of books with me! I ~~stole~~ borrowed some suggestions Beth received when she vacationed beach-side last month. Here's what I'm pondering over for the trip (including some of my own wishlisters):
The Bitch Posse
Harvesting the Heart
Name All the Animals: A Memoir
A Girl Becomes a Comma Like That
The Pact: A Love Story
Prep

It's obvious from all the descriptions of the aforementioned books that I like my novels with a touch of tragedy in them! I don't like mysteries or horror and I'm not in a fantasy/sci-fi reading mode at the moment (at least until The Half-Blood Prince comes out!). So, given all of that, got any other suggestions for me???

Say Cheese!!!

2005-06-17T09:46:00.000-06:00

Honey's buying me a new digital camera before we leave for our trip. We have a great digital camcorder that takes stills but I want something more compact that takes better quality still photos (for my blog, of course!). I did some basic research on the net yesterday and have so far narrowed it down to six cameras: two Canon Powershots (SD500 and S70), two Sony Cybershots (DSC-W7 and DSC-P200), and two Nikon Coolpixes (7600 and 7900). We'll probably go fondle some of them over the weekend. But before I go, do you have any suggestions, recommendations, reviews on these cameras for me?

A Family Reunion

2005-06-17T09:31:00.000-06:00

Honey's mother's side of the family is GI-normous, to put it lightly. She has 7 brothers and sisters, one of which has 8 kids of his own. Plus grand kids and so on. Honey's got more cousins than he can count. They have a family reunion every four years. The last one was in Jackson Hole, WY and the first time I was introduced to such a huge family. To give you an idea, picture this: the first full day in Jackson, we all took a trip up to Yellowstone. We left at some ungodly hour like 6am. We took a tour bus. Scratch that...we took THREE tour buses. One of the family members in charge of the reunion chartered three of those full-size huge tour buses to haul all 150 of us up to Yellowstone.

In comparison, my family could probably all fit in a Subaru Outback!

I've got two uncles, one of which was gay for the majority of his life. He is now married to a woman who has three children of her own. I don 't really count them as cousins but I guess I should. Other than them, I have one cousin by blood. My dad was an only child, as am I. The end. Fini. Family fits in a car, not a bus! And we don't do family reunions, unless one of us gets married and there's only one unwed one of us left so ... *shrug*

Back to my original subject....this family reunion is going to be wonderful! I am really looking forward to it. I simply adore my husband's family and watching them all interact with one another. When I went to the last reunion, I was only Honey's "girlfriend." I don't even think we were engaged yet. Everyone wanted to meet me, kept teasing me about how I was managing dealing with all the relatives, etc. It was super fun. They all came to our wedding and we had a great time!

So two weeks from tomorrow, I'll be boarding a plane with Honey and his father en route to Hilton Head, SC. I've never been there but his family has a couple of vacation homes on the beach that they've been wanting to get me to for years (because of the dolphins that swim just off shore -- I looooooove dolphins!). I've never even really been to the south before - except for a couple of days in Virginia when SIL graduated from college.

The reunion this year is very casual and laid back. No real big events arranged like the trip to Yellowstone, hot air balloon ride, wildlife viewing expeditions like we did in Jackson. After the four day reunion conclues, Honey and I will spend the remainder of the week at the in-laws' vacation home. We'll probably spend most of our time lounging on the beach and we're talking about driving down to Savannah or Charleston for some sight-seeing and shopping.

I have to go bathing suit shopping next week. YUCK! But at least I'm 15 pounds lighter than I was the last time I had to endure that nightmare so it shouldn't be so depressing.

Other than a swimsuit, some beach towels and a half-dozen novels to read, what else do you suggest I pack for the beach and my trip to the south?

THIS is why I don't discuss or debate political issues!

2005-06-16T14:15:00.000-06:00

Your Political Profile

Overall: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Social Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

How Liberal / Conservative Are You?

(Ripped from VikiBabbles)

WOW! I knew I was a politically divided person but I never really knew how it all broke down. This is sort of a silly quiz but the results are quite appropriate! My dad should see this! hahaha

Where do we go from here?

2005-06-16T11:46:00.000-06:00

Back and neck are still healing. Have been to the chiro twice already this week and will go again tomorrow for another adjustment and an hour massage! HORRAY FOR MASSAGE!

Our anniversary was lovely as was Honey's day off with me yesterday. We bought my bike and ordered all kinds of upgrades for the bike that dad gave us for Honey to use. We got helmets, a bike computer, and other such gadgets that we couldn't live without. We did all this at the bike shop where my parents bought me my mountain bike about 15 years ago. They're a great company and very nice employees. They let us use a couple of substantial coupons that had expired a month ago and although they had originally told us that his bike wouldn't be ready until middle to late next week, they actually said that they would move up our "order" and try to have it all done and ready for both bikes to be picked up by this weekend! How sweet! Can't wait!

Yesterday I met briefly with my advisor at the college. It's only taken me four and a half years to complete an associates degree but yes, the end is in sight. I finally found out what I have left to take next fall and spring semesters to complete the degree and move on to another school for a bachelors and (maybe) eventually a masters. In what field, you may ask? Well, as I like to tell the administrators at school, "I'm in between goals at the moment!" I started this whole education endeavor in 2001 with the goal of completing my Group Leader and Director's certifications so that I could teach, direct and eventually run my own in-home child care center (like Maggie just started this week! She's my hero!). The two years of my part time classes in Early Childhood Education were fantastic as I began to make my dreams into realities! Then, as I progressed through the classes on the administrative side of the field, I slowly became disenchanted with the idea of running and operating my own center. Finally, at the end of last semester, I completed both my Group Leader and Director's certifications but was left with the strong feeling of wanting more. Not sure exactly what it is that I want...but it's more than just those certificates.

So I'm finishing up the associates degree in the next year. The great news is that I don't have to take any math classes again! The bad news is I have to take a history course. (these are my weakest areas of interest!) So, according to the list of required courses to complete the Associates of Arts degree that is guaranteed to transfer to any in-state four-year college, I have tentatively decided on the following schedule:

FALL 2005
SPE 125 Interpersonal Communication (this is a lovely alternative to public speaking and right up my alley!)
GEY 111 Physical Geology (I'm always asking my dad or my Honey such things as "how did the mountains get here?" or "where does natural gas come from anyway?" and I am continuously intrigued by their knowledge and responses. This class will fulfill half of my physical and life sciences requirements and be of much interest to me, I'm sure!)
HIS 101 Western Civilization OR HIS 201 US History (I hated Western Civ so much in high school that I failed it twice and didn't even know where the class met for the first month of classes because I never. even. went! But it might sustain my interest now. Not sure which would be better suited for me. Suggestions are welcome on both!)

SPRING 2006
GEY 112 Hisotrical Geology
and either a Survey of Humanities, Art History or Music History class to fulfill the Arts and Humanities requirements.

I also need to talk to an advisor at some schools I'm considering transferring to in Denver for my bachelor's degree. I am weighing my options between a degree in Psychology (like I wanted to do all through high school and my first year of college after graduation), Human Services, or Social Work. Psych's high on my list because it leaves a lot of options open for me if I want to continue on for a Masters (probably in Counseling).

I'm going to be in school forever. But I don't really mind. I'm in no hurry to get my degree and start a career. I'm here to enjoy my life and all its aspects. I love to learn...learn ANYTHING. So it will be a lot of work but enjoyable none the less.

Now, back to my summertime of leisure!!!!

Happy Anniversary To Me!

2005-06-14T09:26:00.000-06:00

Two years ago today I married the man of my dreams. We had a beautiful wedding with lots of family and friends. You can see the professional photos of it here.

When people ask us how we met, Honey and I always say, "we met on line in a chatroom...but we actually went to high school together." It's true. He was three years ahead of me in high school and he dated a girl in my class. That's the only way I knew him - or "of him," I guess you could say. He wasn't my type at the time and I don't think we ever spoke. I just remember seeing him around from time to time.

A few years after high school, I started hanging out in a Colorado-based IRC chat room. After a while, a couple regulars in the room started hosting wild parties for us all to get together and meet face-to-face. I was a serious party girl at these gatherings and was usually pretty inebriated by the end of the parties! At one party in particular, I saw this guy who looked familiar. The way Honey tells it is something like this:
"I saw you there in your velvet shirt and two long braids, dancing in the living room with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other. You were dancing and singing and having a real good time. You started to come into the kitchen where I happened to be standing. You stopped dead in your tracks en route to the fridge, looked at me and said, 'HEY! Didn't I go to high school with you?!' I said 'yep' you said, 'RIGHT ON!' and then returned to your dancing and singing."

For the next couple of years, Honey and I would run into each other at various parties. We would sometimes end up going to buy cigarettes or more beer together. I remember always trying to impress him with my (albeit very limited) knowledge of techno music because I knew he was into that kind of thing. I always felt this magnetic pull towards him. It wasn't necessarily physical attraction...just something pulled me towards him. We'd talk a bit but he seemed very shy. I always thought he had a thick shell to crack. (He now says that he thought the same thing about me!) I always wanted to talk to him more, hang out. But at these parties, one or both of us was otherwise involved with a significant other. So we just blew it off.

Then, in November 1999, I was online one Friday evening, talking about a wine tasting party I had been invited to. I wanted to go but it turned out the party was going to be full of mostly couples and I needed a date. When I complained about that, Honey spoke up and said he'd be my date. He admitted that he was drunk at the time and I accused him of not knowing what the heck he was committing himself to and that he would not remember it in the morning. He assured me that he would remember. The next morning, I got online and he was there. He was hungover but he remembered: "Wine Tasting party...you and me...December 12. See, I remembered!" He said to me. I was floored.

We went out a couple times before the party just to make sure we'd have a good time together. Those dates were wonderful! I had never felt so completely comfortable with a man in my entire life. We never ran out of things to talk about.

By the time we went to the wine tasting party together, we were hooked on each other! We had only been on two previous dates and we had to bring an appetizer to the party. We brought dumplings that we needed to cook upon arrival. We were at the host's house, boiling and preparing our dumplings when another guest approached us and asked, "How long have you two been married?" We were shocked! We told him it was only our third date, that we were certainly not married! To which he replied, "Wow, I've just never seen a man and a woman work so well together in the kitchen." Can you tell yet that we were made to be together???

The following June I moved to Fort Collins where he had been living since high school and we got an apartment together. We struggled to make ends meet, learn how to live with a person of the opposite sex and figure out how to cohabitate with one another out of wedlock without causing his parents and my mother too much heartbreak. We were engaged the following September (2001).

The year of our wedding was wrought with challenges for us. I was involved in a car accident (Jan 2003) that took six months of chiropractic, physical and massage therapy to get me living pain-free again. Two weeks before our wedding, my grandfather passed away after a short struggle with pancreatic cancer. Two days before our nuptuals, Honey came down with a pretty bad cold. On our way to the rehersal dinner, Honey got in a car accident right before my eyes (I was in the car behind him). He wasn't hurt but we were all pretty shaken up. On our wedding day, Honey was pale, coughing and running a fever (though nobody took the time to take his temp!). As soon as the reception came to a close, I was struck with the sickies myself. We laid in bed for a week after the ceremony to heal and gather strength for our honeymoon. The day after we got back to work from our honeymoon, Honey was laid off from his job. A couple months later he had to have emergency surgery to remove his infected gall bladder.

We learned a lot throughout the course of that year. We learned how to be a couple, how to make decisions together, how to lean on each other for support and strength. We learned about the power of our love for one another and about the dynamics of our newly merged families (his parents and mine). I think that year made us stronger by testing us so much. We knew if we could survive all of that, then we could survive anything...together.

Since then, our lives have been very blessed with his new job, my continuing my education, growing our family of pets, etc. We both know just how fortunate we are and we never take it for granted. We are still learning about ourselves and our differences and similarities. When all is said and done, at the end of the day, my favorite thing to do is just lie in bed on my side, facing him (and he facing me), cuddling our dog in between us and talking about whatever comes to mind.

I love you, Honey. You are the man of my dreams and I will never let you go! Happy anniversary!!!

PS We're going out for a fancy seafood dinner tonight. He's taking tomorrow off from work and we're going to get our bicycles together! YAY!

PPS I saw a chiropractor yesterday and she's helping me heal my back already. I feel 85% better than I did last week. Thank you for all of your well-wishes and support!

It's Getting Better All the Time

2005-06-12T10:09:00.000-06:00

Well, after three movies (Finding Neverland, I Heart Huckabees and Hotel Rwanda), six back-to-back select episodes of the X-Files (from the new collection called Abduction), and a long day of ultimate boredom, my back is FINALLY starting to feel a bit better! The pain is not as sharp or severe when I get up, walk, etc. I had Honey help me stretch my leg backwards in a way that the doc suggested and that felt GREAT! This morning I was able to get up, carefully shave my ready-for-cornrows hairy legs in the bathtub and then take a nice long shower. It felt so good! Now I'm back in the chair to recoup my energy and strength for another go at activity later today. I might go to the Bark Park with Honey and the dog. I need to get out of this house, get some fresh air, see the sun.

I confirmed that physical therapy is covered under my insurance, though I was unable to find an in-network provider close to my house. The good news is I think chriopractic medicine is also covered and I did find several providers nearby.

Yesterday I only took one muscle relaxer. I'm trying to stay away from the Vicodin as much as possible. Although I may need to take one if I'm going to the Bark Park this afternoon. We'll see.

My two year wedding anniversary is coming up in two days. Honey's thinking of taking Weds off so we can go have a nice long romantic dinner Tuesday night and then go get my new bike on Weds. My dad gave me his old bike that he rarely rode so we're going to get that tuned up and maybe some new handlebars on it for Honey to use. He's psyched. That's our anniversary gift to each other...bicycles. So we can take bike rides together. :)

I think I'm rambling. Can you tell I haven't had much human-contact in the past few days?!?! I need to get out of here!!!

I Love My Honey

2005-06-10T18:30:00.000-06:00

I love my Honey so much. Words cannot explain. But I will try...

Yesterday, in the midst of my own private Pity Party, I wanted my Honey to want to drop everything and come home to help me and give me sympathy for my pain. He was busy at work and suggested that I call his mother. I couldn't do that. Like I said yesterday, I have trouble asking for help. But the truth was, I wanted one or both of two things: 1. husbandly love and support and 2. motherly love and support. I have outlets to call on for the motherly part (not my own mother, of course) but I just didn't have the wherewithall to call anyone else.

So anyway, Honey worked it out at the office to drop everything and come home to me early. He then went to pick up a pizza, some salad and four movies for me to watch. He took this morning off to take me to the doctor. He made my breakfast, did the dishes, and helped me hobble into and out of the doctor's office. He picked up lunch for me, went to get my prescriptions and some frozen ice cream treats (within my diet limits!) and is now warming up some leftover pizza for me.

I know that he does this because he loves me. He cares for me. I am so very lucky to have such a wonderful man as he by my side. I never thought that I would ever end up with such an amazing person.

I doubt he'll read this but I told him "I'm gonna blog about you now." He laughed. Now he's scrubbing some more dishes and trying to teach the dog how to take out the trash. Heheheh.

Honey, I love you with all my heart. You are truly the man of my dreams. Thank you.

Herb Of Mystery

2005-06-10T17:49:00.000-06:00

This cracked me up!

Uh...thank you??

2005-06-10T17:24:00.000-06:00

I sat in the doctor's exam room for two whole hours waiting and wondering. And all I got out of the deal was a handful of prescriptions. She offered to prescribe me some valium instead of a muscle relaxer but I declined. Did she not see my family history of substance abuse?!?! I know myself well enough to admit that I have an addictive personality and valium is really the last thing I need!

She thinks my sacral joint is jammed or stuck or something.

So she prescribed me a muscle relaxant (with TWO available refills!), a pain killer (happens to be the one my mom is currently addicted to), a new birth control pill, a new anti-anxiety med and some samples of a migrane killer. Oh she did suggest I see a chiropractor and a physical therapist as soon as my pain subsides. In the meantime she just said to go home, lie down and take the drugs.

All that education just to throw drugs at people??? Ugh.

When in doubt, dope 'em up, I guess. I hate this.

PS Don't worry, I won't get addicted to this crap. I've had these kinds of Rx's before and I take as few as I can possibly get away with.

Blehhhh

2005-06-09T14:15:00.000-06:00

I've made an appointment with a new doctor for tomorrow morning. This pain is getting more acute by the hour and I can barely fend for myself around the house (it took me 45 mins to make a can of soup in the microwave). I don't know how to gently as people for help so instead of calling my MIL or dad, I called Honey and started sobbing in his ear...in the middle of his work day. I didn't get the sympathy and encouragement from him that I wanted. I knew the instant he picked up the phone that it was a mistake calling him. He's a man. He's well-skilled at being the sick person but not so adept at being the caretaker. He told me to call his mother. Which I simply could not break down and do. So I gathered up my strength and forced my body to make myself a good lunch and eat it. The kitchen is dripping with dishes but I have to ignore them since I can't bend down and fill up the dishwasher so well.

Enough complaining. I made a doctor's appointment. The muscle relaxers I took earlier did nothing at all but make me a little loopy and dizzy for an hour or so. Now that they've worn off I'm going to try a higher dose (but not higher than recommended on the bottle!) of Motrin. I'm starting to fear the worst: that this is not muscular, rather, it's like a bone spur or something. My mom's had several herniated and re-herniated disks in her spine and neck for years. So, as the doctor that I ~~really am~~ play on TV, I say it's hereditary and it's happened to me. Heh. My motto is "Fear the worst, hope for the best."

Honey's taking the morning (all day?) off tomorrow to take me to the doc and look after me. This is a new doctor for me so hopefully I'll like her. :)

Okay. My Pity Party is officially over. Ya'll don't have to go home but ya can't stay here!

All Out of Whack

2005-06-09T09:38:00.000-06:00

Thank you to everyone for your well-wishes yesterday. I'm sorry my post sounded bitter and angry but I was very inconvenienced by the pain in my back. I did what everyone told me to do, I left the pillows in the tub and collapsed in the recliner for the day. Honey got home mid-afternoon and brought me a heating pad that unfortunately wouldn't stay hot enough for me. I alternated ice and heat throughout the evening as I was instructed to do after my car accident a couple years ago. I took Aleve and Motrin (not at the same time!) but nothing even came close to touching the pain. It persisted. I tried to sleep flat on my back all night but I'm such a side-sleeper that it really didn't last.
The dog is not helping me rest my back at all. He demands to go in and out at least 15 times throughout the morning to sit in the sun, go potty, bark at the neighbors, or whatever suits his fancy. Then when he's inside he knocks his new favorite toy under the coffee table and then whines and cries for me to get on my hands and knees to get it for him. Some days he just sleeps all day. Apparently, this is not one of those days! Hehe!
Bad news is the pain is worse today. I finally took a shower so at least now I feel clean. There is absolutely NOTHING on TV during the daytime so I'm probably going to just read read read.
Yesterday I saw the movie Amelie which I borrowed from my sis-in-law. WHAT A CUTE MOVIE!!! I loved every minute of it! And now I know where Travelocity (and, subsequently, Cori) got the idea for the Roaming Gnome! If you haven't seen it yet and if you can handle subtitles, I would highly reccomend it!

So I've got to slowly climb my way back downstairs now and maybe take a muscle relaxer I got from the doc last year for neck pain. If nothing else, it might just knock me out for a few hours. Please leave a message after the beep....

P.S. I must feel better by tomorrow because Yankee Candle Company is having their semi-annual 50% off sale tomrrow and I absolutely must participate in that!!!! If I have to steal a wheelchair to get there, I'll do it! You've been warned!

Here's How I'm a Dumbass...

2005-06-08T10:51:00.000-06:00

I mowed the lawn on Monday. While I was turning the mower around on the sidewalk to do another strip on the lawn, I twisted myself into a weird way (hard to describe) and felt a pang zap through the right side of my lower back. I ignored it and went on to mow the rest of the front and back lawns. No big deal.
Then yesterday I felt more pangs and pulls down there but I just wrote it off as my sciatica flaring up. I decided to ignore it further and go about my business (visited my dad in the country, lots of bending over collecting chicken eggs and such).
This morning I woke up and was in a fair amount of pain in the same location as I slowly got out of bed. Ignored it (I'm getting good at that!). I was planning on washing all of our bed linens, including pillows, and cleaning out our completely trashed bedroom closet today. I got the bathtub full of water and all six of our pillows soaking in there. After I slowly raised my body from that crouched-over-the-tub position, my back revolted. It hurts to walk. It hurts to lean back in this office chair. It hurts to stand up. Ugh.

Honey says I need to go sit in the recliner, put heat on my back and rest all day. Okay fine. I'll reluctantly do that. I know it's the best thing. But thse damned six pillows that are floating in a tub full of Tide, Borax and Consume all need to be rinsed at least three times each! THIS WILL KILL MY BACK!!!!!

What the hell am I supposed to do? ARGH!!!!!!$#@$%*$#)%^*#$

Welcome!

2005-06-08T08:09:00.000-06:00

YAY! I've finally made it! Since I started this blog in November, it has been my wish to one day be spotlighted on the beautiful and talented Michele's site of the day!! And today is the day!!! I wish I had some warning, I would've gotten my hair done!

So welcome, newcomers! Stay a while! Have a look around and please come back soon!

For your enjoyment, I give you these 30 second popular movies as reinacted by bunnies (found on Guppyman's blog). Enjoy!

P.S. I tried to read Good in Bed again last night but just couldn't stick with it. So I moved on to The Art of Mending and so far that's really good. I hate it when I just can't get into a particular book that I thought I wanted to read! It doesn't happen often but when it does, it's devistating. I've tried to read Irving's Son of a Circus about six times now and just can't get past the first 30 pages or so because I just don't care about the characters or what happens in the plot. Such a let down. So Good in Bed will soon be returned to its rightful owner (I borrowed it) and I'll try one of Jennifer Weiner's other books later on. *le sigh*

Speed Reading

2005-06-07T09:21:00.000-06:00

I said last week that it takes me about a month to read an entire novel. Well, since then I have been defying the odds! I just read two books in two weeks; one of them I started on Thursday and finished last night. I'm ashamed to admit this but the truth is that since all my favorite regular TV shows have finished for the summer, there's NOTHING to watch on the ole tube! So instead, I read! Imagine that!

So I read and loved Lucky: A Memoir by Alice Sebold (ie. The Lovely Bones). What an amazing true story. I couldn't put it down. Then I just recently finished The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson. It was pretty good, sort of repetative at times. The entire book is written in the form of letters from the narrator to various people in her life. Made me cry at the end.

Up next I must choose from the following books:
The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Please, my friends, help me decide by tonight what to crack open next!

Random Monday

2005-06-06T11:41:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope everyone's weekend was nice. Mine was good. Much more relaxed and fun than last weekend! Now I need to catch up on responses to comments for the past few days!

Re: Car Shows
I had a good time at the car show yesterday!!! The weather was lovely and we took the dog. Honey's dad was a judge so we ran into him a couple times on our tour of all the exotic cars. These were mostly sports cars like Lamborginis, Ferraris, Corvettes, BMWs, etc. Some cute, some a little too over the top. Of all the cars I saw there, I liked this Lotus the BEST!!!! Yeah, it's a 2005 and almost all the other cars were 1989 or older but so what! I like what I like! Most of all, I liked it because it is sort of reasonably priced.
Then Honey and I went off to shop for bicycles! My kick-ass bike that I got when I was 14 was stolen from me when I was 22. I haven't had a bike since. Instead, I got fat. But now that I'm losing weight and becoming more active, I really want a bike again!!! So we went to three different bike shops in town and tried a bunch out. This is the one I liked the best in our search so far. It's a bit pricey for my taste but we're not done looking. Our second wedding anniversary is coming up in a week so we're thinking of buying two bikes so we can ride together ("as Honeys" as my husband would say!).

Re: A Meme in Pictures

My current favorite song is "Wagonwheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show. They're a modern bluegrass band. Apparently, that video is even shown on MTV2 and VH1 Country! I discovered the song when we were in Durango at the Bluegrass Festival. Another band covered the song and I loved it! So I bought the CD and I play that song over and over and over sometimes when I'm driving around in the car. It's so good!
My favorite shoes are Crocs. I think I've mentioned them before. They're ugly and look like gardening shoes but they're super comfortable, durable and ventilated! Look at the feet of people you pass on the street this Summer. I bet you start seeing a lot more of them now!

Re: Thoughts on Reading

Thank you to everyone who offered suggestions for books to add to my To-Read List! I haven't even heard of most of those authors you mentioned but now you've given me something to research and add to my shopping list, too!
When I went to Borders the other night, all of the books I want are either not out yet or are still in hardcover and I really prefer paperbacks lately. Hardcovers are nice and all but they're so much more expensive and hard to hold up with one hand while you pet a kitty or puppy with the other hand!
Welcome back Michelle!!! I've missed you!!!

Re: Not Totally Recovered Yet
I've located the camera but the battery's dead. Plugged it into the charger this morning and will hopefully find time to take some snapshots of our new furniture and/or arrangements today or tomorrow.

HOLD DA PHONE! Did I forget to mention that Saturday was our dog's second birthday?!?! Some of you have kids - we have pets; we all make a big deal out of it, right?! Anyway, we took Dobby to Petsmart and bought him a new bed, a new chew toy and a can of "treat" (wet) food (which he'd never had before!). We were going to take him to the Bark Park but it rained almost all day long and the entire night before so that wouldn't have been fun. He did get to visit with some of his favorite people over the weekend and was spoiled rotten as ever! He's worn out from all the fanfare!

We also saw Madagascar on Saturday. I laughed so hard at the little lemurs that I literally had tears streaming down my face. Cute movie. Go see it.

Well, I think this post is wordy enough! That's all for now, folks!

Car Shows

2005-06-05T09:21:00.000-06:00

I am going to some kind of car show with Honey today. He loves these kinds of things. I don't really. I am Garnet's overwhelming excitement. Not.

The things we do for the ones we love!

A Meme in Pictures

2005-06-03T10:23:00.000-06:00

As seen here and here:

Place I grew up:

Place I live now:

My grandmothers' names:

and:

My name:

My favorite food:

My favorite drink:

My favorite song (currently):

My favorite smell:

My favorite shoes (currently):

You can play too!
Go to images.google.com

Search for: Place you grew up, place you live now, your grandmothers' names, your name, favorite food, favorite drink, favorite song, favorite smell, and favorite shoes.

Then post the corresponding pictures. Have fun!

Thoughts on Reading

2005-06-02T14:32:00.000-06:00

The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.
-Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Woman Reading ~ Pierre-Auguste Renoir

I'm certainly no Book-Girl, but I would like to tell you a little bit about my courtship with the hobby of reading...I hope you don't get too bored by this!

My mother was a college English and Literature professor for years. It was not uncommon to find her standing in the middle of the kitchen quoting Shakespeare or James Joyce. Her dissertation in graduate school was called 'Images of Women in Saul Bellow's Novels.' Clearly, she loved to read. She had a huge collection of books in almost every room of the house. She read incessantly. It was her passion to read as well as to teach the things that she read.
I learned to read at an early age and would play a game with my mother called, "Who Wrote?" which consisted of her saying, "Who wrote..." and then throwing out a random classic novel. This game usually centered around the same dozen or so classic authors (T.S. Elliot, Saul Bellow, William Shakespeare, Earnest Hemmingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald). I enjoyed the guessing and matching aspects of the game but I never really cared much about the books or what they might have been about.

I have some of these classics on my bookshelves now. I salvaged them from my mother as she started to throw them out or give them away. Things have changed in her life so dramatically that she has trouble reading anymore. But I knew these books were important in the world and I kept them as mementos I guess.

When I was a pre-teen, I read a lot of fun stuff like the Sweet Valley High and Babysitters Club series. I also read just about anything by Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary. That was before we got cable.

Later on, in high school, I stopped enjoying reading. I never got past the first chapter in any assigned readings inschool (Uncle Tom's Cabin, Wuthering Heights, The Scarlett Letter). I read Tiger Beat magazine and watched TV instead. I just wasn't into it. It didn't do anything for me. In retrospect, I think I was rebelling against my mother, trying to disappoint her - wouldn't be the first time.

I'm not sure why but I picked up and read Tom Robbins' Still Life With Woodpecker during my study hours my senior year. Must've been because I smoked Camel cigarettes at the time! (If that doesn't make sense to you, read the book and you'll get it). I adored that book! It was wacky and weird; not at all what I had expected.

So years went by and I grew up and hauled my small collection of books from apartment to apartment throughout college. I kept them with me though I rarely read them. I'd read poetry. Loved Emily Dickenson, e. e. cummings, and Rilke. Novels just weren't my bag.

At one point in my life, while I was living with my mother to try and pull myself out of some well-earned debt, I literally woke up with a desire to read a novel. Not just any novel, though. It had to be John Irving.

My mom raved about John Irving incessantly. She read all of his novels and short stories. She'd go see him do readings at the Tattered Cover whenever he was in town. She even took a writing workshop with him and he critiqued one of her own stories (this was back when she was also still writing). To me, he was a god of books. I knew there must've been something in his books that kept her coming back to them.

So one day, I asked her if I could borrow one of her Irving novels. I asked her to recommend one for me to start with. I can't remember now if it was The World According to Garp or A Prayer for Owen Meany that I read first. Regardless, those were the best books I ever read in my life! I read all of the John Irving novels I could get my hands on (though I could never really get into Son of a Circus). And then I read more Tom Robbins. I suddenly became a reading snob and would only read books by those two authors.

A couple years later I decided to make peace with my high school rebellious streak from my past and began to read Wuthering Heights for fun. I enjoyed that book and went on to read Little Women. I was planned to continue reading all the classics but then I was introduced to Oprah's book club. That was like Lifetime television in print!!! I was hooked! What a great way to escape reality! I had discovered a portal to millions of different worlds! And it was soooo much safer (although, not necessarily cheaper in the long run) than drugs or alcohol!

Ever since then, I've been reading non-stop. I don't read very fast; it usually takes me about a month to read a complete book. I take my time and I read mostly at night before bed. I always have a book to read. It's a great way to escape without getting dizzy from staring at the computer or television screen! Honey and I have six big bookcases with hundreds of books in them. I have sold some in the past to used book stores and there was a period of time when I was addicted to the library. Now I'm addicted to Borders, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com!

So, now that you know my oh-so-facinating history with reading, I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite books. These are grouped in no particular order, just as I came across them on my bookshelves or as they jumped back into my memory over time. Follow the links on the titles if you'd like to find out more about the books on amazon.com. Enjoy!

Running With Scissors - Augusten Burroughs
Dry: A Memoir - Augusten Burroughs
Peace Like a River - Leif Enger
The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
Animal Dreams - Barbara Kingsolver
The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver
Pigs in Heaven - Barbara Kingsolver
Prodigal Summer - Barbara Kingsolver
The World According to Garp - John Irving
The Ciderhouse Rules - John Irving
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
Hotel New Hampshire - John Irving
Seven Years in Tibet - Heinrich Harrer
The Road to Wellville - T.C. Boyle
White Oleander - Janet Fitch
Where the Heart Is - Billie Letts
She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood - Rebecca Wells
Little Altars Everywhere - Rebecca Wells
Jitterbug Perfume - Tom Robbins
Skinny Legs and All - Tom Robbins
Still Life With Woodpecker - Tom Robbins
Villa Incognito - Tom Robbins
Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates - Tom Robbins
The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffeneger
Wicked - Gregory Macguire
Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Lucky: A Memoi r - Alice Sebold
Fall to Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald
A Map of the World - Jane Hamilton
Interview With the Vampire - Anne Rice
The Vampire Lestat - Anne Rice
The Queen of the Damned - Anne Rice
*Did not like The Tale of the Body Thief - Book IV in this series*
Memnoch the Devil - Anne Rice
The Vampire Armand - Anne Rice

BOOKS CURRENTLY ON MY TO-READ LIST:

Until I Find You: A Novel - John Irving
Ya Yas in Bloom - Rebecca Wells
Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
Wild Ducks Flying Backward - Tom Robbins
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
Good in Bed - Jennifer Weiner (I've been trying to read this book for years but it just seems too much like Bridget Jones' Diary!)

Now, what are some of your favorite books that you would like to recommend? I'm going to the bookstore tonight for something specific. Care to tempt me with more?

How To Avoid Driving Drunk

2005-06-02T09:19:00.000-06:00

My dad sent me this funny:

The next time you are too drunk to drive, walk to the nearest pizza shop and place a delivery order. When they go to deliver your pizza, catch a ride home with 'em.

Ha! Sorry. That's all I could come up with this morning. Give me a couple hours. I'll find something better for ya!

Not Totally Recovered Yet

2005-06-01T10:49:00.000-06:00

WHEW! What a weekend!!! Since my MIL came over a couple weeks ago to help me put some curtains up in a couple rooms, my mind has been racing with desires for more change! Without boring you with the step-by-step details (since most of you have never been to my house!), I'll just tell you that we moved a Queen sized bed, a full size futon, a treadmill, a TV and stand, three bookcases (one oak, the other two formica and all three HEAVY AS SHIT!), two lounge chairs and one coffee table around in our house. Up stairs, down stairs, across rooms, into hallways...it was nutso in here for two days! Our muscles ached and our heads pounded. But it was great exercise for me.
I volunteered to mow the lawns on Sunday in an attempt to get more excersize and lose weight. As soon as we finished the yard work, the rain came pouring down. Talk about timing!

So Monday we were having a BBQ with some family over here (which is part of the reason why I wanted all that furniture moved and rearranged beforehand). I got the idea to run to American Furniture Warehouse that morning, just hours before our company arrived, in order to buy some new furniture! Yes, because I wanted to move more furniture around. My husband was thrilled at the idea (not!). I got a coffee table and end table to match my TV stand I bought in December. We also got a kick ass headboard for our bedroom.

Who doesn't love rearranging old furniture and buying new furniture!?!?

When I find the camera, I'll take pictures for ya!

Our Pets Are Our Children

2005-05-31T09:36:00.000-06:00

My friend Turtleheart got some devestating news about her beloved cat over the weekend. Please take a moment to drop by her site and send her your support.
You can also go to Claire's site on Catster and leave her some treats too.

I hope everyone had a nice long weekend. Mine was busy and exhausting. I'll tell you about it later...

The Good, the Bad, and the Painful

2005-05-27T10:14:00.000-06:00

The Good: This makes me laugh out loud!
"...the whole affair would be very intimate, just Darth Vader and me and maybe a couple of other kids, sitting around and chatting amicably about our favorite droids." BWAAAHAHAHAHAHA!

The Bad: This article makes me livid.
But what I don't understand is why are they sending their son to a Catholic school? Sure, I went to an Episcopal school but my parents weren't practicing Wicca.

The Painful: This kind of hurts my brains.
I scored an 88% but I didn't really enjoy it. It felt like my head was going to explode!

Where In The World...?

2005-05-26T13:43:00.000-06:00

Hello. I'd like you to meet Norm:

Norm lives with Cori. Like many fun-in-the-sun loving people, Norm has begun his Summertime travels (despite the rumors, Norm denies having any relation to that other travelling gnome in those commercials). He'll be spanning the globe via the World Wide Blogosphere over the course of the next few months. Check back at Cori's site as he sends home photos of his adventures. And look for Norm's very own button on your fellow bloggers' sites to see who he'll be visiting this Summer! (Mine's over there on the sidebar).

Happy trails to you, dear Norm! And don't forget to pack clean underwear!

Shopping Ambiance

2005-05-25T09:56:00.000-06:00

You know ~~you're getting old~~ it's a sad day when you hear this song playing in the grocery store. (Made me want to buy MEAT and PUDDING!)

What has this world come to? *le sigh*

Like You Care

2005-05-24T11:01:00.000-06:00

I'm feeling cocky today. Not sure why. Better stand back and hold on while I do yet another meme to kill the time.

Ripped from Kelly

1. IF YOU COULD BUILD A SECOND HOUSE ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD IT BE?

Deep in the mountains somewhere.

2. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING?

PJs. Big baggy comfy PJs, sans bra and undies!

3. THE LAST CD YOU BOUGHT?

Dave Matthews Band, Stand Up

4. WHAT TIME DO YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING?

Between 7 and 8 am

5. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE KITCHEN APPLIANCE?

Oh man, I love them all! I have to pick just one?!?! I'll have you know that when we registered for our wedding, over 50% of the items on our registry was appliances!
Okay, it's a tie between the Foodsaver and the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer (which I got last Christmas after years of lusting after it - haven't used it yet!!!)

6. IF YOU COULD PLAY AN INSTRUMENT, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

The violin or the bass guitar

7. FAVORITE COLOR?

Purple and green

8. WHICH DO YOU PREFER, SPORTS CAR OR SUV?

SUV!

9. DO YOU BELIEVE IN AFTERLIFE?

Yes. And then some.

10. FAVORITE CHILDREN’S BOOK?

Goodnight Moon

11. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON?

Autumn

12. IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE SUPER POWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Teleportation

13. IF YOU HAVE A TATTOO, WHAT IS IT?

1- a yin-yang with two dolphins circling the perimeter on the outside of my right ankle
2- a tribal dolphin on my back/left shoulder blade (Honey has an identical one on the same place on his back - we got them in Hawaii on our Honeymoon after we swam with the dolphins)

14. CAN YOU JUGGLE?

No but I jiggle a lot. Does that count?

15. THE ONE PERSON/PEOPLE FROM YOUR PAST YOU WISH YOU COULD GO BACK AND TALK TO?

My paternal grandma

16. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DAY?

Thursday, I think.

17. WHAT’S IN THE TRUNK OF YOUR CAR?

What do you think?

18. WHICH DO YOU PREFER, SUSHI OR HAMBURGER?

SUSHI!!!!!

19. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER?

Iris

20. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEAL?

Seafood (mussles, crab, lobster, shrimp)

New Hair and Stuff

2005-05-22T13:08:00.000-06:00

Okay, here I am with my new hair (or lack thereof!):

front

and back

I had to chop it because it's too danged hot already and it's going to be a long summer of even hotter temps! Yes yes, I know, Colorado is a dry heat. But it still makes me sweat like a Mofo! So I chopped it. It only took me about 12 hours to get back the "I LOOK LIKE A BOY!" freak out phase (with Honey's help and encouragement and enough styling products for a small army of gay men). I like it now. It's fun and cute. I've had a couple friends comment on how it's so drastic and different for me. They haven't said, "It looks good!" or "I like it!" or anything like that. My in-laws are coming over any minute now. I wonder what they'll say.

And just for good measure, here are two of my favoritest boys in the whole world:

Ya got me!

2005-05-22T08:13:00.000-06:00

Remember when you were small and you'd play tag by running around the yard chasing your friends or siblings for hours on end...and there'd always have to be a "Home Base" where you could go and touch (or just generally be near) to be "safe" where the kid who was "it" couldn't "tag" you? We used to yell "BASE!!!!!" when we'd get to home base and then proceed heavy panting as we tried to catch our breath.

Anyway, Turtleheart tagged me. I wasn't on Base. I should really be getting ready to go see Revenge of the Sith right now (yes, we're going to a 9:45AM show!). But I'd rather do this instead:

Total volume of music files on my computer:
32.5 GB - and then some more on a separate "music server" Honey and I set up a while back.

Last CD I bought was:
Dave Matthews Band, Stand Up

Song playing right now:
Some random bluegrass song on the bluegrass channel on our digital cable. It's a Sunday morning ritual.

Five songs I listen to a lot or that mean a lot to me:

1. "Love of My Life" by Santana featuring Dave Matthews - this was our wedding song. Awwwww

2. "Elsewhere" by Sarah McLachlan

3. "Forty-Six and Two" by Tool

4. "Wagonwheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show

5. "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" by the Beatles

Five people I'm passing the baton to:
Um, don't have time to pick five right now. If you're reading this and you want to do it...go for it! But tell me here so I can come see!

Did I mention I had all my hair chopped off on Friday? Hehehehe. I'll post a picture soon!

Your Basic Friday Memes

2005-05-20T11:38:00.000-06:00

CheekyProf said everyone else was doing it, so of course, I have to, too!

Look into my eyes...

I have always been attracted to men who's eyes squint when they smile or laugh. An observant friend of mine pointed that out to me years ago. Only recently did I realize that I do it, too!

And look...Honey does too!!!

And, you know, it just wouldn't be Friday without a big ole feast! Enjoy!

Appetizer
Approximately how many hours per day do you spend watching television?
Depends on the day, time of year, etc. Approximately 2-3 hours per day.

Soup
Which colors decorate your kitchen?
Green and white walls. Light oak cabinets. Brushed stainless steel accessories. White and black appliances. Lavender, white and charcoal dinnerware.

Salad
Name 2 brand names you buy on a regular basis, and what do you like about them?
Bounty - I buy the paper towels and dinner napkins. They really are the "quilted quicker picker upper!"
Pfaltzgraff - My whole family uses these dishes. My parents had them for years when I was growing up. Mom got her own when she moved out. Dad and his ex-wife got some when they got married. Grandparents, uncles and now I have them! There are so many versitile patters and they're very durable.

Main Course
What is your biggest fear?
That my husband will die before me and leave me all alone.

Dessert
If you could wake up tomorrow and find yourself in another location, where would you want to be?
Back on Kanapali beach in front of the Sheraton resort in Maui. Ahhhhhh....

Bonus Birthday Question (it's Friday's Feast's birthday!)
What's your favorite flavor of birthday cake?
White sponge cake with either white or chocolate frosting!!!! YAY!

Meet Crabby-Abbey

2005-05-20T09:35:00.000-06:00

I'm crabby today. Not exactly sure why. No, wait, yes I do. My danged "moon time" came out of the blue this week. I'm not supposed to have another period until mid-summer. And now it just shows up to ruin my life. Grrrrrrrr. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have these mad cramps. Some have suggested that this is happening now because, since I started my diet and exercise program, my body is flushing out all kinds of toxins. Or whatever. Fine. JUST GET THE HELL OVER WITH ALREADY!

I'm gonna go drill some holes. I bought 27 of these knobs for my cabinet doors yesterday. Now I've gotta go put them in. Sure, they don't look like much now but wait till I get them all installed! Drilling will help me vent my frustration!

Conversation At Honey's Office

2005-05-19T10:11:00.000-06:00

Quick background to this story: Honey works at a company where his dad also works. In fact, a handful of Honey's relatives (uncles, cousins, etc) work at this company. Anyway, Honey works in the IT department. Honey's dad is the CFO. They pass in the hall sometimes. Here was a conversation that took place yesterday:

Dad: I heard that your wife and my wife bought some curtains and rods and stuff yesterday.
Honey: Yup. Guess so.
Dad: You know what this means, right?
Honey: No. What?
Dad: I'll be over on Saturday to help you hang the rods.

Hahahahahhahah! It was funny to me. Is it funny to you, too?

Mmmmm Fruity-licious!

2005-05-19T09:45:00.000-06:00

I am making a fruit salad to take to a dinner party with my inlaws this evening. I am a freak, so, yes, I need a recipe for such a salad. I need low fat and low calorie (for my diet). Anyone got any good recipes for me???

Nevermind. Here's what I ended up doing:

2 red gala apples, peeled
2 navel oranges, peeled and separated
1 package strawberries
1/2 honeydew melon
2 bananas
1 lg can pineapple chunks, drained
1 pound seedless red grapes, sliced in half
1 cup unsweetened orange juice
1 6 oz tub Dannon Light n' Fit strawberry yogurt (creamy)

Chop everything up into bitesized pieces. Soak banana and apple chunks in the OJ while you prepare the rest - to delay early browning. Mix all together with the yogurt and chill. Serves 6.

Uhhh...wha?

2005-05-18T21:38:00.000-06:00

What does "mama se mama sa mama koo sa" mean, anyway?

I heard this song on the radio again yesterday and I'll admit, I love it! I sing it at the top of my lungs. I boogie in my drivers seat. I act like I've got rhythm and soul, like Michael Jackson did before he turned white-ish. But after about the twentieth repetition of the aforementioned line in the "chorus," I started wondering what the heck does it mean! It sounds like some of Enya's songs (which I also love) but I don't think it's the same language.

Things that make me go hmmm....

HaloScan Help Needed

2005-05-17T08:40:00.000-06:00

I'm confused about Haloscan right now. I've got it on all three of my blogs and on all three, when you go to comment, you are given the option to put your email address in. But when you submit the comment and I go to look at them, I only see a link to your homepage, but no link to your email. This is happening on all three of my Haloscan (free) accounts. I have not upgraded these accounts. I can't find anything on their web site to explain why it's happening. I've changed templates (all three blogs have different templates) and nothing works. I am stumped! I'd like to be able to email some commenters back directly.

Anybody have any ideas? (thank you, Christine, for helping me start to trouble shoot it this morning!) Please leave your suggestions in the comment box...

Thank you!

Don't Take This Quiz

2005-05-16T14:06:00.000-06:00

This is not a fun quiz. Talk about a smack in the face! I found it at MamaMoon's blog this afternoon. Check out her score and the scores of most of her commenters. Mine? Let's just say that the results told me that if everybody lived like I do, we'd need over 7 planet Earths.

No wonder I was drawn to the goddess Gaia during my class on Saturday. Clearly, she has some serious finger-wagging to do at me. I've been a bad girl.

"Everyday things change but basically they stay the same..."

2005-05-16T12:12:00.000-06:00

**UPDATE**
All gone now! Hope you heard 'em while they were hot (like Dave is!)!

Happy Weekend, Everyone! To celebrate this beautiful May Saturday, I'd like to share with you all just a sampling of some of my favorite Dave recordings. See below (I hope this works!):

"Gravedigger" (Acoustic version) from Dave's solo album, Some Devil.
"American Baby" The first single released for radio play from the new album Stand Up.
"Dancing Nancies" Listen carefully to the lyrics, and the instruments, and the whole beautiful conglomeration. After eleven years, this song, from Under the Table and Dreaming, still ceases to amaze me!
"Lover Lay Down" Sometimes I listen to this (and all of his other love songs) and pretend that he wrote this song for ME! (My friend Mandy thinks the same thing about her!) This one's from a live, intimate session called Live at Luther College Dave did with Tim Reynolds.
"Seek Up (live)" This is a meaningful song to me. I adore the lyrics. This is from the Live at Red Rocks album and I just happened to be at that show! FAMOUS! There's a great version of "All Along the Watchtower" on this one, too.
"The Dreaming Tree" Talk about a tearjerker! The whole album Before These Crowded Streets is full of songs like this - hopeless, wistful, and sometimes angry as heck!

I hope you enjoy these songs! They'll only stay up for a couple of days so don't miss out! If you like what you hear, GO OUT AND BUY THE ALBUMS!!!! Or follow the links I provided you to purchase them through the DMB website.

Some fun things

2005-05-13T13:42:00.000-06:00

I never do these but sometimes my friend Maggie does! So here goes:

(originally from Unconscious Mutterings)

Android:: Paranoid
Revenge:: Sami Brady
Knight:: in shining armor
Stranded:: on an island
Weakness:: ice cream
Greed:: money
Walter:: Cronkite
Dense:: Shampoo (WTF did that come from???)
Sheep:: my friend Jim
Propane:: Hank Hill

Clearly, all I need to know about life I learned from TV!

And, in honor of my first week of dieting, I shall now commence in pigging out on Friday's Feast!

Appetizer
Whose intelligence do you find intimidating?
My long-time family friend Steve. The man is quirky but a genius (aren't they all) and I think I sound like a freaking idiot when I try to carry on an intelligent conversation with him.

Soup
Name something you've done that surprised yourself.
Hanging up on my mother's mother. Telling my mom "no" and meaning it. Going back to school in 2002. Learning to play guitar. I surprise myself almost every day.

Salad
List 3 people whom you have only "met" online, but consider good friends.
I've met a ton of people online but I've met them IRL too. So, in looking at my buddies list, I can honestly say there isn't a person on there that I haven't met. As far as blogging friends go, other than the ones who were my IRL friends before they/I started blogging, I haven't yet formed strong friendships with anyone in particular.

Main Course
Where is the dirtiest place you've ever been?
I went to a pseudo-rave several years ago with an ex-boyfriend. I'm not a candy raver, nor was I ever one. I was sober as a stone that night unless you count the cold meds I was taking for a recent illness. ANYWAY....the bathroom at this place was NASSSSSSSTYYYYY!!!!! Ever seen the movie Trainspotting when Ewan McGregor climbs into the toilet in what was referred to as "The Dirtiest Toilet in Scotland"? Yes. This bathroom was THAT gross. It probably would have been tolerable had I been intoxicated with some battery acid or whatever.

Dessert
What is the best example of "perfection" that you can think of?
Well damn. I'll have you know I just spent the last 15 minutes trying to think of just the PERFECT answer for this question. One that would startle and amaze you. One that would induce deep contemplation and wonder. So, by that rationale, I believe that the answer is in the question!

All's Well That Ends Well

2005-05-13T09:50:00.000-06:00

While my Lab instructor was nothing but understanding and kind about the situation yesterday, there was nothing more she could do to give me the points to make up for that missing essay. It's entirely my fault so I'm not wasting any energy blaming her, the school, the web site, or whatever. I just plain did not see the assignment until yesterday. Without those points, it brings my final grade in the class from a solid A+ to a B. Such is life. I'm trying very hard to not be such a damned perfectionist when it comes to school (in the past three years that I've been back at college, I've only had one other B and that was because I just didn't go to all of the classes!). So now Honey can't brag to his folks that I have a 4.0 GPA. Oh well. Life goes on. Live and learn and all that.

My MIL came over the other day to talk about window treatments in our house. As I have mentioned before, one of my main projects this summer (along with losing weight) is to decorate the rooms of our house. She is an interior decorator - I don't know if it's a hobby or a lifestyle but she has access to direct suppliers and mucho discounts. So we measured the front windows (bay windows), the kitchen sliding door, and our bedroom window. In the front room, we decided on wooden blinds for all three windows and some draperies on the two side ones. In the kitchen, I'm going to install a ready-made curtain to replace the horrible venitian blinds that are currently there and always breaking. Finally, in our bedroom, we are going to replace the blinds with better quality ones to better block out the light in the mornings and install a swag decorative fabric along a curtain rod on top. Does any of this make sense to you? No? Well, fear not, once it's all installed, I'll post pictures for your enjoyment!

I need to go catch up on some of my favorite blogs now! Happy Friday, everyone!!

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Not Even Cool At All

2005-05-12T09:17:00.000-06:00

Turns out, that essay for my Lab class is an assignment that I completely overlooked. It's a two page essay that requires a bibliography with several different sources. There's no way I can whip something like that out in under three hours. She needs the grades by noon. I just wrote her an email apologizing profusely for the mix up and trying desperately to explain myself. It truly was an honest mistake. But instead of kicking myself in the ass about it all day long, all I can do is hope for the best. Maybe she'll give me extra points on another assignment to make up for some of the difference. Besides that essay, I have 100% on all assignments in that class. She's an awesome instructor so I wouldn't be surprised if she is willing to work something like that out with me. If not, oh well. Then I won't have a perfect grade. People make mistakes. Even me. Ho hum.

How incredibly frustrating, though! ARGH!

Grrr Argh

2005-05-11T15:50:00.000-06:00

The semester officially ended on Monday. Grades are due by instructors on Friday. My Lab instructor/advisor just emailed me that she didn't get my final assessment essay and she wonders why I didn't turn it in. Additionally, my IDIOT Lit instructor emailed me, asking me to remind her which presentation was mine and where my written assignment might be.

Okay, people. I know the end of the semester is just as frustrating for you as it is for your students but I tried to make this one as painless as possible for you and for me. I completed all final assignments according to your specifications and turned them in on time.

To my Lab instructor: the essay is included in that beautifully organized observational portfolio that I turned into your box on Friday. It's in the back. Very last page I believe.

To my IDIOT Lit instructor: mine was the bright yellow posterboard with a crayon drawing of a big, smushy brown teddy bear. The written part of the assignment is a description of said bear, as told from his point of view, in the theme of the Velveteen Rabbit. The written part is pasted to the front of the giant bright yellow poster board. You can't miss it.

Are we clear now? Can I calm down and put an end to my panic attack?

Oh happy day!

2005-05-11T09:38:00.000-06:00

You know it's going to be a good day when you put your brand-spankin' new Dave Matthews Band CD in the computer and, despite the warning labels inside the CD jacket that warn of the fact that this CD will not play in a PC, CD-ROM or some DVD players for fear of copyright infringement, it actually plays on your computer!!!! I AM IN HEAVEN!!!! This is my FAVORITEST band in the world!!! Dave's solo CD was okay. But it's really the instrumental goulash that backs up his lyrical genius that really flicks my Bic!!! And the guitar plucking in "American baby" is so simple, and yet so awe-inspiring!

Yes, tis true, I own all 8 of DMB's studio albums, Dave's solo album and all of their live recordings. My DMB collection surpasses Honey's Greatful Dead collection by only one CD! If you don't particularly like DMB, well, to each his own. If you are a fan, GO OUT NOW AND BUY THIS NEW CD! If you're just not sure, let me know, I can hook you up. But be warned: Dave's like crack...one hit and you'll be hooked!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some audio-smack to do!

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Blogs are like Lays...You Can't Have Just One

2005-05-09T17:18:00.000-06:00

Okay, well, some people can. But not me. No way.

I am on a mission to lose some serious weight. I joined eDiets today. And to track my progress and bitch about whatever related to it, I've created yet another blog! It'll be there always linked on the left: One Pound At A Time. You're welcome to visit and leave comments often. I can definitely use the support!!! I know there are a lot of weight loss blogs out there and they can get tedious and boring. So I'll understand if that's just not your cup o' tea!

Bear with that site, though. It's new and will need many updates and facelifts in the next week or so!

And here we are again

2005-05-09T12:02:00.000-06:00

another Monday morning. Weeeee!

I had a lovely mother's day. Honey and I beat the rush at IHOP and had an early breakfast (sometimes, I need my crepes). Then we took Dobby to the Bark Park where he played with a bunch of other dogs, but mostly just wandered around smelling plants and marking them. He's such a little man. After that I ran over to Bath and Body Works to get two new scents of shower gel and spray. Then to lunch, and a bit of furniture shopping. Mid-afternoon, we drove by the park near our house and saw a couple groups of people flying kites - it was pretty windy here yesterday. So we went home and Honey pulled out his favorite stunt kite. I haven't flown a kite in over 15 years! But we had so much fun!!!! My neck is sore today from staring up at the kite in the sky for so long!

Last night we had dinner with the in-laws at a nice Itallian place. MIL is coming over tomorrow to help me measure a couple windows in our house and then taking me to someplace to look at curtains. Decorating this house is one of my top priorities for the summer. However, since MIL is coming over, I HAVE TO CLEAN THE HOUSE!!!! No way can I let her see the spots on our kitchen floor, or the piles of paper on the tables, or the stacks of books and groups of cleaning products that just never got totally put away weeks ago! I'm almost done with the downstairs. The upstairs is just getting a quick wipe down and vacuum. And I have to cover up my magickal books...those are still secret from her.

It's supposed to reach 80 degrees here today! I'm making SUN TEA!!!!

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Happy Mother's Day!

2005-05-08T12:11:00.000-06:00

To all my motherly friends, I wish you...

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Vote for Allison!

2005-05-07T23:02:00.000-06:00

Have you been to Allison's blog, 63 Days yet? If not, you're really missing out. She's a strong woman with an amazing story to tell.

Go check her out, read her story, and vote for her for a Blogette award by clicking here!

You Asked For It!

2005-05-06T13:20:00.000-06:00

Per your requests, I have pictures for you of things in my life! See below:

Maggie, here's my fridge. I didn't clean it up for you at all. But what you can't see is some of that beer that Rich made and brought us in February which we store on top of the refrigerator!

Scully, I wasn't sure if you wanted an indoor or outdoor view from my livingroom so I choose the latter. Notice Merlyn scouting out a good sit-and-taunt-the-birdies-from-the-window spot:

Shannin, here are pictures of both my altar and my magickal library:

Christine, here's where I sit when I watch Days. I usually eat my lunch on that retro tv-table whilst I watch:

...and here's where I blog (it's a mess, I know. Who cares?)

honestyrain, here's the exterior of my house. This was taken last year around this time as we were househunting. My nickname has been Garnet for years and this house just happened to be on Garnet Place. I had to live here. I just HAD to!

And, finally, for the Genuine Smartypants, right back atchya! Here is my "uhh...nevermind!"

Hitting the Snooze Button on the Ol' Biological Clock

2005-05-06T09:47:00.000-06:00

I want a baby. Have I mentioned that yet? I want one. Maybe two. No more than three. Hopefully not all boys. I've got names picked out and everything. I have friends with babies and I love to hold them and watch them and gaze at pictures of them whenever I can. I love shopping for baby shower gifts and a couple weeks ago, I almost had a seizure of excitement as Honey and I roamed the aisles of Babies R Us for a friend. Two ladies at the preschool I've been working at are recently pregnant. One of them said the other day, "Dang. It must be something in the water!" To which I replied, "Gimmie some of that water!" She asked if I was trying to get pregnant. Alas, my answer is still no........

Two years ago when we were just married, we both weren't ready yet because we didn't want to have to share each others' attention with a new person in our family. Makes sense, right? Newlyweds want to be all goo-goo-gaa-gaa to each other and only to each other. Then last year, our excuse was that we weren't financially secure enough. That excuse didn't last long because everyone we talked to shot it down by easily saying, "Nobody's every financially ready enough for kids. You just make due." So then my new excuse last year was that I want a baby, I just don't want the responsibilities associated with raising an adolescent (driving to piano lessons, paying for soccer uniforms, etc), or dealing with teenage hormones, or paying for college, braces, doctor's visits. That excuse might sound a little harsh to some people but at least we are honest about it.

And now, my most recent excuses are as follows:

1. I need to lose at least 30 pounds before I start makin' babies. If I don't do that, I probably will have a difficult (health-wise) pregnancy.

2. I've got some heavy emotional baggage that I am trying to work through in therapy. It's all rooted in my maternal family line. I already know that when I become a mother, I will do almost everything opposite of how my mother and grandmother did them. I won't be like them. But I still have more work to do before I can feel like an emotionally whole, balanced and stable woman. I want to be able to give my baby the best of what I have to offer and I'm just not there yet.

So, I'm starting to line my ducks up in a row (so to speak) in preparation to lose some weight. I've got ideas of how it can work for me. I don't do crash diets and I don't do fad diets. I'll do Weight Watchers or eDiets, maybe. I'll walk the treadmill, walk outside, try some push ups and continue my yoga. But there's a certain amount of mental preparation that needs to be complete before I can begin such a lifestyle change. I'm just starting that preparation now. And I'm already working on the emotional issues. I am well on my way!

In the meantime, I will remain content with just giggling and feeling my heart skip a beat when I see Maggie's baby in images such as these. Or as I read about Lima Bean's growth on Beth and Chris' blog.

Woe that I shall live vicariously for the rest of my life.....!

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What do you want to see?

2005-05-04T10:53:00.000-06:00

I came across this idea on a couple of blogs through BE today (sorry, I don't remember which ones exactly or I'd throw ya a link!).

My dear three faithful readers, to you I pose this question: What would you like to see? If I were to take a picture of anything in my world for you to see, what would you want it to be? Sure you've all endured endless pictures of my cats, my man-dog, and my car. But maybe there's something else you'd like to see? My desk? My kitchen sink? The view from my bed? I'm talkin anything. Post your suggestion/request in the comments and I'll start clicking away just for you! I'll post all results later this week.

Disclaimer: There will be no pornographic or nude photos taken. Sorry. If you wanna see that kind of stuff, you'll have to go elsewhere.

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Something Fun and Something Not So Much

2005-05-04T08:41:00.000-06:00

It's fun to buy a brand new SUV and drive it all over town! It's fun to finally be the primary driver in the household on weekend outings. It's fun to floor it and pass the little people in the slow lane when the urge strikes. It's fun to gaze out the window at said SUV and feel overly-protective of it (telling Honey, "NO FARTING IN THE NEW CAR!").

It is not, however, fun to pay $50 for a full tank of gas an a car wash. No. Not so much.

When I filled up my car yesterday and yanked my receipt out of the stupid machine, I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I knew it would cost more to fill up the SUV than it did to fill up my little Camry. But I wasn't prepared for that much! I drove home in a pout and threw myself on the couch, complaining to Honey. He assured me that we can afford to pay that much more for gas or else we would not have purchased the car in the first place. Also, one must take into consideration that before I got the new ride, I didn't drive much at all. I drove to school and other random appointments. Honey drove us all over on the weekends. So in my car, I really only had to fill up my tank every couple of weeks. Since we got the 4Runner, I have become the designated driver. I haven't been in Honey's car (another SUV) since the day we picked up the 4Runner.

There now...excuses and weak attempts at justification always make feel better!

Pick a side

2005-05-03T12:34:00.000-06:00

I was informed today about the Alienware Star Wars PC. Yes. It's true. And if you want one, you have to pick either the Dark Side or the Light side. Of course. And of course Honey is trying desperately to convince me that he needs one. Simply cannot live without one. Or two. Or both. I got him a Darth Tater last week. Will it never end????

I am officially finished with my Children's Lit class. Met last night for the last time and I turned in my final project. She tried to teach us something new last night but I don't think any of us were paying attention...since we've already taken the final exam. DUhhhh.

Now all I have left is to compile my observations for my lab class and turn that in later this week. Then I'll be done! And I am also applying for the Director and Group Leader certification. Whew! That's one major goal accomplished after three years of hard work! I'm taking the summer off to decide what to do next. I am seriously considering a Masters in Human Development. Interesting stuff and I can do a lot with it out in the world.

It's been a while since I've highlighted some current events on this here blog. So how bout this one. What has this world come to? It's disgraceful that the state would require her mother to give up some of her parental rights in order for her to work towards her drivers license. It's even more disgraceful that the only way these people might be able to see any reasonable resolution to the situation is through law suits and thousands of dollars in lawyer's fees. I mean, really people. There's gotta be a loop hole somewhere!

Sorry folks, that's about all the current events I can stomach for the day. I watch the news just about every morning. Can't watch it at night because it's too depressing and gives me bad dreams.

And that's all I have to say about that...

If I could be good

2005-05-02T10:21:00.000-06:00

If Brando, Christine, Maggie and Kelly jumped off a bridge, I'd probably do the same...

You know the drill: Pick 5 of the following professions and complete the sentence:

If I could be a scientist... If I could be a farmer...
If I could be a musician... If I could be a doctor...
If I could be a painter... If I could be a gardener...
If I could be a missionary... If I could be a chef...
If I could be an architect... If I could be a linguist...
If I could be a psychologist... If I could be a librarian...
If I could be an athlete... If I could be a lawyer...
If I could be an innkeeper... If I could be a professor...
If I could be a writer... If I could be a backup dancer...
If I could be a llama-rider... If I could be a bonnie pirate...
If I could be a midget stripper... If I could be a proctologist...
If I could be a TV-Chat Show host... If I could be an actor...
If I could be a judge... If I could be a Jedi...
If I could be a mob boss... If I could be a backup singer...
If I could be a CEO... If I could be a movie reviewer...

1. If I could be a painter, I'd have a sunroom built onto the house with lots of windows and screen french doors to open up. I would have easels and potter's wheels and a kiln and lots of oil paints, watercolors, paper mache, and various other media with which I would recreate the world around me. I would drink herbal tea every day as I sat on my velvet-covered lounger in my artist's sunroom, gazing out the window at the butterflies, birdies and neighborhood cats roaming around, as I contemplated what I would create today.

2. If I could be a gardener, I'd grow all kinds of flowers, herbs and vegetables. I'd have fields of wildflowers, irises, daisies, lillies, bleeding hearts and roses. I'd grow beds of ivy, poppies and petunias. I'd cultivate enormous, juicy and sweet tomatoes, crisp carrots, and dozens of aeromatic herbs like oregano, basil, lavendar, chamomile and thyme. I'd have benches and soft paths winding through my gardens. There would be bird feeders, houses and baths all over the place. I'd take naps in my garden under large weeping willow trees and listen to the winds blow through the leaves and petals of its beauty.

3. If I could be a llama-rider, I'd ride it all over Highlands Ranch. I'd stay in the "fast lane" at all times and I would shout "BEEP BEEP" when I wanted to pass someone. I'd park it in front of the grocery store and secure it to a post in a handicapped space. I'd announce to nearby patrons of the store that my llama has a hi-tech security system installed in it so nobody better go near it while I am inside. When I'd come out from doing my shopping, my llama would be there waiting patiently for me, sticking his walnut teeth out and making children giggle.

4. If I could be a Jedi, I would move things with my mind. I would do the dishes with my mind as I cross-stitched with my hands. I would turn the light out from across the room when I'm done reading and ready to fall asleep. I would let the dog out (and back in again) without having to actually get up every 5 seconds. I would also make the idiot drivers get the heck outta my way when I'm running late to class or otherwise just wanting to test out my bigger, faster engine. I would also mentally suggest to Honey that he bring home some flowers or a box of candy for me on a regular basis.

5. If I could be a proctologist, I wouldn't. That's just gross.

If you're reading this and you haven't done it already but would like to, go ahead! Consider yourself tagged! But let me know that you did it so I can go check out your responses!

The Best Bluegrass Band in Colorado

2005-05-01T16:23:00.000-06:00

...is COAL CREEK BLUEGRASS BAND! That's right, folks! You heard it here first! Coal Creek is the durntootinest best bluegrass band in the 'tire state o' Colorado!

We saw 'em play last night at a house concert. They were all set up and actually performed in front of a crowd of about 35 people (or more?) in a guy's living room! It was incredible. These guys have such a super stage presence. They're witty and funny as they tune up their instruments and such between songs. But really, the most impressive thing to me is that they use one single microphone. That's one mic shared by five band members: fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar and bass players, four of which take turns singing different songs. They say it's true to the "old time bluegrass" tradition and I'll take their word for it! Go check out their site, listen to some samples of their music and try to catch them live if you get a chance. You truly won't regret it!

P.S. That weatherpixie chick down there on the left side of this blog is a freakin' liar! It's sooooo not sunny and pretty outside. It's been gloomy grey and snowing off and on all day today...and every danged day for the past three days. I AM OVER IT! BRING ON THE SUN!

Today's Special

2005-04-29T15:33:00.000-06:00

from Friday's Feast:

Appetizer
Which keys do you have on your key chain?
1 car key + 1 auto-unlock jobber + 1 house key + 1 mailbox key + a dozen plastic "frequent shopper" taggy things.

Soup
What is the most spontaneous thing you've ever done?
Well, a week ago my answer would have simply been: taken a long weekend trip to San Francisco. But last Saturday, I spontaneously bought a new car. How fun was that!

Salad
Who is the best cook in your family?
My mother-in-law for sure. Honey is a close second and I might just be tied with him.

Main Course
If you were to write a "how-to" book, what would the title be?
How To Screw Up Telling A Great Joke in Ten Easy Steps (it'd be a short book - probably a board book)

Dessert
Name a recent fad you've tried.
Honey and I bought Crocs. Everyone's talking about them now. We're not normally fad-followers but we are suckers for comfortable shoes. Even if they're ugly so SHOOSH!

Decided

2005-04-29T10:19:00.000-06:00

After some great private counsel, I've decided to go ahead and work at the center my two days next week. Because what it all really boils down to is the kids. I love working with them. I've watched so many of them change and grow in the past four months and I've seen how I've changed and grown with them. I want to see this through and get as much time with them as I can before the semester ends.

I woke up too early this morning to a migrane wishing me good morning and snow falling and covering our lawn. I couldn't get back to sleep so I turned on the news and they had extensive coverage of the current snow "storm" that is sweeping the front range. There's really only about a half inch of snow out there. But just because the temperature fell below freezing overnight, they have to plaster it all over the news and report about how the streets are so icy, oh wait now over here they're not icy, now they're just wet, no now they're icy again. Anyway, there were accidents galore yadda yadda. I fell back asleep and dreamed of driving my new car around town, slipping on the ice, trying to get out of a parking lot, watching everyone slide around and crash in front of me, all while trying desperately to learn how to drive on the snow and ice again with 4WD! I need Honey to take me and the 4Runner to an empty parking lot so I can practice driving in this stuff. I need to go out today and run a couple errands. Used to be I wouldn't dare leave the house on a day like today but with my SUV and the fact that I'm not going very far from home, I think I'm willing to take the challenge.

My male cat Merlyn is peeing all over the place again. Well, not really all over the place...mostly just on Honey's things. Last week he pee'd on Honey's blanket that was on his side of the bed. A couple days ago he peed on some papers that had been left on the floor over on Honey's side of our office in the loft. Early this morning, after Honey kicked him out of the bedroom so he could shower in peace (usually, Merlyn likes to stand at the bathroom door and hollar at him while he's showering), Merlyn pissed on the carpet just outside the door. Poor Honey. He gets so mad and it just about ruined his morning. But what I can't figure out is why do I feel personally responsible when it happens? Oh, and why the hell is Merlyn peeing so much?!!?!? I've changed his food, according to an expert's suggestion, but it hasn't helped. He's become more loving and sweet towards me, but that's it. I think he is possessive of me and that's why he only pees on Honey's things. It's not fair but what can I do?! I'm thinking of calling the Denver Dumb Friends League's Behavior Help Hotline today to inquire. I really don't want to have to call in a kitty shrink to help Merlyn "work through his issues." Yes, he's fixed and no, he's not "spraying." This is straight up stinky, man-cat pee. YUCK!!!!

I have nothing else to say right now. Talk amongst yourselves.

Can't even decide

2005-04-28T13:33:00.000-06:00

I have a dilema!

My final ECE class that I'm in right now is actually a lab class in which I have been required to log 60 hours this semester in the classroom. Thus far, I have logged 72.5 hours. So I'm good to go. The semester doesn't end until May 9. Most of the kids in the class that I've been working with are graduating tomorrow and will be slowly dropping out of the classroom early next week as their parents' classes start tapering off. I had previously agreed to come in on Tuesday and Thursday mornings through the end of the semester. Even though I don't need the hours to pass the class, and I'm not on the payroll so they'd basically be getting me to work for them for free.

Here's my dilema....to bail or not to bail, that is the question.

I could really use the extra time next week to finish up my final projects and test studying and such. But on the other hand, it's only three hours each morning and who'm I kidding...I'll probably spend that time blogging anyway!
I don't particularly like working there for free but on the other hand, why not since I have been all this time...two more days won't kill me.
They will be very low on kids next week (see above) so they probably won't be short-handed or in need of more teachers. On the other hand, I did ask the lead teacher in the room today if she'll need me next week and she said yes, without even giving it much thought.
That lead teacher mostly ignores me unless I have an activity or evaluation that I need her help with. Most of the time I get no respect from her.
The director there offered me a job in the fall. I would do it only if that current lead teacher isn't there. Rumor has it she is currently seeking employment elsewhere. I work well with the other teachers and will probably get more respect once I'm on the payroll.

I am so torn. I keep thinking I'll call the director and tell her I can't come in anymore next week. But then I stop and think it's no big deal and to just go in anyway.

I seriously can't decide. I am so good at making things way more complicated than they need to be! This is a case in point!

Any suggestions are welcome!

In other news, my sis-in-law is working as the stage manager for this dinner theater. They've got great food and all their shows have been awesome! But they are in DIRE need of increased audience attendance this weekend or their current show (Rocky Horror!) will be cancelled. So I'm rounding up a bunch of people to go this weekend! If you're in the Colorado Front Range area and are interested in going, please email me at abbey at myhoneyandme dot com. I can hook you up with free tickets (dinner and show) for tomorrow night if you act fast!

It's freezing here. I'm sure some homework will warm me up. Bah!

Belief-O-Matic

2005-04-27T21:22:00.000-06:00

So my friend Turtleheart took this great quiz that has a funny name but asks some pretty serious questions about your faith and belief systems. I thought I'd have a go at it and here's how it rated me, according to my honest answers:

The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa.

Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking.

1.	Neo-Pagan (100%)
2.	Mahayana Buddhism (85%)
3.	Unitarian Universalism (83%)
4.	New Age (80%)
5.	Hinduism (79%)
6.	Reform Judaism (68%)
7.	Jainism (66%)
8.	Liberal Quakers (65%)
9.	New Thought (64%)
10.	Theravada Buddhism (57%)
11.	Scientology (55%)
12.	Sikhism (53%)
13.	Bah�'� Faith (52%)
14.	Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (47%)
15.	Orthodox Judaism (46%)
16.	Taoism (45%)
17.	Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (42%)
18.	Secular Humanism (41%)
19.	Islam (38%)
20.	Orthodox Quaker (33%)
21.	Nontheist (24%)
22.	Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (16%)
23.	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (15%)
24.	Seventh Day Adventist (14%)
25.	Eastern Orthodox (10%)
26.	Roman Catholic (10%)
27.	Jehovah's Witness (7%)

You can take the test yourself right here!

Just Another Day

2005-04-27T10:21:00.000-06:00

I'm not feeling particularly chipper today. My family issues continue to plague me. But some of you have requested pictures of my new ride so here she is:

I'm loving driving this thing! I get so much more respect on the road than I did in my Camry! Woo hoo!

My two yoga videos and my mat arrived in the past few days so I'm starting on yoga this week. I finished my first guitar class last night and was really glad for it to end. I learned a lot of beginner stuff in that class but the instructor was kind of a pompus ass. I'll be starting a new, next level and more intensive class at Swallow Hill in two weeks. Looking forward to that. I also signed up for a Wicca Basics 101 class that meets every Saturday for two hours for thirteen weeks, starting in two weeks as well. The class supposedly covers all the basics of Wicca (herbology, pantheon, divination, etc) with a strong emphasis on the ethics of practicing Wicca. In case you're interested, we're using this book, which was extremely hard for me to track down. But I finally found a great deal on it used through Amazon's marketplace!

It's been raining on and off all week, which I kind of like but it slows me down. I met with my advisor at school yesterday and confirmed that I will be Director and Group Leader Certified at the end of this semester in two weeks. Then I'll be deciding what to focus my future studies and eventual masters degree in. Right now, it's a tie between Psychology, Social Work or Human Development. This past week, Human Development has been in the lead!

My daddy is taking me to lunch today because he loves me. I've got to go get ready for that now.

This is Ground Control to Major Tom

2005-04-25T09:35:00.000-06:00

Where have I been? Jeeesh. I've been a busy little bee! And just haven't had the time to blog lately.

Big news! We bought me a new car! WOO HOO! We went to test drive SUV's on Saturday and we really weren't planning on buying one that day. But I had done so much research before we walked onto the lot and they were having such a great deal (of course!) that day only that we just jumped in feet first and bought it! It's a 2005 Toyota 4Runner SR5. It's pacific blue in color. Here is a picture of it on Toyota's web site. I don't have a picture of mine because we didn't get home until 11pm Saturday night and it was raining all day yesterday. Got the damned thing dirty with the rain and dirt and such already. I'm tempted to take it back to the dealership and say, "I'd like a different one. This one got dirty already!" Haha! I threw Honey and the dog in the car yesterday and we drove all over the place, showing it off to our parents and enjoying the ride. I want to go drive it some more today but I am so incredibly tired from the busy weekend that I might just end up staying home and resting all day! UGh!

That there is mostly all the news I've got. School's over in two weeks and I'm stoked! Can't wait for summer! I'm going to get serious about (re)decorating our house this summer. And we've got Honey's family reunion in Hilton Head, SC in July. Weeeee!

And now I'm off to catch up with my favorite blogs! Happy Monday!

Everybody Else is Doing It

2005-04-21T20:59:00.000-06:00

Your Linguistic Profile:

75% General American English

10% Upper Midwestern

10% Yankee

5% Dixie

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Brainwashed by MomToFou r, Amy, MamaMoon, Pandora...

So I Married a Jedi

2005-04-20T10:22:00.000-06:00

I think I've mentioned it before today but just a reminder, I married a Star Wars fanatic! My husband used to watch the original three Star Wars movies on VHS at least once a month while doing mundane tasks around the house (cleaning, changing sheets, etc). He's been doing so for years. When we started dating, I noticed that 'A New Hope' was permanently inside his VCR, ready to play at a moment's notice. Last Christmas Eve, he was hiding upstairs, wrapping presents and watching 'Return of the Jedi' when all of a sudden, I heard a shriek of terror spew out of the bedroom. He came running downstairs, tears welling up in his eyes, with a damaged VHS tape in his hands. "IT ATE MY STAR WARS!!!" he exclaimed between panicked sobs. Apparently, the VCR had turned against the old, worn out video tape and began to eat it alive, mid-play. The tape Honey held in his hands was torn out of the cassette and mangled beyond repair. Needless to say, the man was devistated. I assured him that he would most likely receive all three new-and-improved versions of the original movies on DVD the next morning, as it was Christmas only hours away and his entire family knows how important this phenomenon is to him. That calmed him down a bit but he was still sad about the destruction of his original VHS tape. Poor guy.

Big surprise here...his fanaticism had rubbed off on me a bit. I finally sat down and watched all three original movies after he did get them at Christmas. I had seen them all many times before (I even had my own set of them on VHS tapes) and was intrigued by the movie, stories and characters as I was growing up. But this time I watched with a closer eye, examining and analyzing the Jedi tradition, what the Dark Side really represents, and how C3PO totally reminds me of an up-tight gay friend of mine! It was fun.

And so now we are holding our breaths for the release of the third installment of the pre-quel: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. I've seen the trailers, pictures, everything and I must admit that a tingle of anticipation shivers down my spine every time I hear Vader's deep, threatening breathing. I can't wait to see Anakin cross over to the Dark Side!!!!

This morning I saw a hilarious commercial for new dark chocolate M&M's. It involved Darth Vader and the Red and Yellow M&M's. I couldn't find the actual commercial anywhere on the web but I did find this at the M&M website.

Some other StarWars goodies to check out:

Mr. Potato Head could not resist the Dark Side...see Darth Tater
GoatWars???
I must own this iPod cover SOON!!!

Now I shall leave you with some wise words from Yoda:

“Yes, a Jedi’s strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan’s apprentice.”

Do tell...

2005-04-18T12:05:00.000-06:00

My brain is skipping beats today. Must be a side effect from the fumes of the cleaning products I used to scrub down my bathroom yesterday!

Anyway, I've been thinking about something lately: we all have our daily chores, requirements, rituals, routines (take a shower, walk the dog, go to work, watch the news, help kids with homework, etc). Some we like, others we detest. What I want to know is, what is your favorite part of the day? Favorite routine, chore, transitional time, that sort of thing? So, first tell me your favorite and then tell me your least favorite!

My favorite is probably the time I take out of the middle of my day to stop, sit down and watch my soap opera. It's an incredibly stupid show but I really enjoy being able to stop my responsibilities (homework, dishes, laundry, etc), sit in my recliner and turn my brain off for an hour in the middle of the day: no Honey, no cooking, no bills to think about. Just me and the ole boobtube.

My least favorite part of the day is when I have to take a shower. I like to be clean and well-lubricated afterwards with my favorite lotion (Curel). But I despise having to go through the motions of getting drenched, washing and conditioning my hair, shaving, sudsing, etc. So annoying.

Now, you go...!