Fair and Movie Day

Today J and I went to the great New York state fair. And I was right - it was way more fun to go and walk around with him than it was to work there on Monday. WAY more fun.

We got there early, which was a very smart thing to do, because we got to park close, and were out of there shortly after it started getting really hot and crowded - not before I got overheated, but a bottle of water helped that immensely.

Heat problems aside, though, it was fun. We went into the horse arena, and saw some draft horses being awarded their ribbons. We went through the dairy barn and saw some cows. We went through the horse barn and got to meet a very nice horse named Sable, who was getting ready to go do a competition. She was all ready, and was just waiting, and her handler (trainer? owner? I don't know what the lady was) was kind enough to let us pet her neck and she even talked to us for a while about the horses and what they do. It was nice.

We also got barbecue (J) and a burger (me) for lunch, walked around and saw the sand sculpture and the butter sculpture. And we listened to a couple of songs by a classic rock cover band in the free concert area. They were really good, but then they started playing Van Halen, who J HATES, so he was up and out of there like a shot. It was actually kind of hilarious - I don't know if I've ever seen him move that fast.

Oh, and we got new doggy tags for the four pups, so if they ever wander off (Bernie), anyone who finds them will know who to call. Bernie's is a blue bone, Willow's is a red heart, Duff's is a gold star (which he totally earns by being an awesome dog), and Rosebud's is a gold doghouse with a dog coming out of the front of it. I feel better knowing that they have identification now, just in case.

Once we had both started to have enough of the heat (me) and the crowds (both of us), we got some pizze frittes (fried sticks of dough, covered in sugar) and hit the road to come home.

And once home, we knocked another Oscar winning best picture out of the way! We watched Unforgiven, which J had already seen, but I never had. It was very good, and I can totally see why it won, and why Gene Hackman won best supporting actor for it. I didn't see it when it came out because it was a western, and I don't generally like those, but I'm glad I saw this one finally. It was worth watching.

And now we're going to go up to J's entertainment room (surround sound) and watch the final Star Wars movie. And just like that, I'll have finally seen all of the movies that most people started seeing decades ago! :)

It's a good holiday weekend, it really is.

Happy List 1

One of my 101 things was to write down one thing every day that made me smile, or made me happy, on that day. For some reason I've been horrible at remembering to do this. I've flossed my teeth almost every night since I made this list, but I forget to write down one thing that made me happy. I have no idea why.

Anyway, I remembered to do it enough this week that I have almost a full week's worth to write down - six whole things out of seven! Not bad, right? Part of this deal is that I'm supposed to blog my list every Saturday, so here goes.

Monday, August 25, 2008: Having my hours at the stupid Fair changed so that I would be home at a semi-decent hour - 6:30 or so, instead of 8:30 or so.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008: I didn't have to work at the Fair!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008: My long weekend was approved! I'll have Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday off, and the best part is that I will get to spend the last two days with J. :)

Thursday, August 28, 2008: Going with J to pick up his new (to him) truck! He's been wanting a truck, so I'm so happy he found one that has everything he wants.

Friday, August 29, 2008: UPS brought me Apartment Life, the newest expansion pack for the Sims! I loaded it on my computer, and it's playing fine, and I love it!

Saturday, August 30, 2008: It feels too early to write today's, because my day is only half over, and J isn't even home yet (he's very often the best part of my weekends). So I'm changing it so that I blog about my lists on Saturdays, and those lists will cover the previous Saturday - Friday.

Have a great weekend, everyone. :)

Randomitis

I saw Alan Hale (Skipper from Gilligan's Island on an old episode of The Andy Griffith Show last night. He called Barney "Little Buddy." It made me wonder if Alan was the one who made the Skipper call Gilligan that all of the time, instead of it being written that way.

J and I painted the back wall of the front porch this weekend. It looks really good now. I still have white paint on and under a few of my fingernails.

I have a headache.

I baked my first ever homemade loaf of banana bread this weekend - meaning, it wasn't from a mix, but was from scratch, using real ripe bananas. The recipe said no mixer was required, but I don't like gooey chunks of banana in my bread, so I mixed the hell out of those bananas.

I had to work at the State Fair yesterday. I was dreading it, but it wasn't too bad. All the same, I was very happy that they didn't need me today. I missed my desk, my computer and my comfortable desk chair. I did not, however, miss the people who give me work all day long.

J and I might go to the State Fair for fun on either Thursday or Sunday. I hope we do, because I think it would be fun to wander around with him and see what's there, and maybe eat some greasy, fattening foods.

Speaking of fattening foods, I'm on day nine without chocolate. I'm not really missing it much, and once I started adding some non-chocolate sugar into my daily diet, I stopped hating the world, even. Hmmm.

I might need to address that sugar addiction at some point. But not right now.

I ate too much banana bread this afternoon (the last of my homemade), and now I have a bellyache to go with my headache.

I want to go home, put on my PJs and relax while I wait for J to get home.

I had never eaten fish before I met J. We eat it about three times a week now (maybe twice). Salmon is my favorite.

I am addicted to my Sims 2 game. But you knew that already.

I'm very much in love with my J. But you knew that already, too. :)

I had half a bagel with jelly for lunch today, because I didn't bring anything, and the place I went to wanted $4.50 for a turkey wrap. Uh, no. Tomorrow I'll go to a different place for lunch.

My feet are hot.

And I am now done telling you random things. Thank you, and good-bye. :)

101 Update and a Movie Review of Sorts

Today I watched From Here to Eternity while I was at home alone, playing the Sims (and doing laundry and vacuuming and trimming some grass, etc.). I am perfectly aware that splitting my attention between the game and the movie like that makes me not give full attention to either, so I'm sure I missed some things in the movie that I might have caught if I had been just watching. Still. I liked it.

When J and I were on the way to get dinner and groceries, I told him the movie was mostly about relationships. That's not wrong, but the more I told him the more I realized it wasn't just about the boy/girl relationships. There were a lot of soldier/soldier relationships, a lot of Army stuff, of course every person in the story had their own stuff going on, and there was a boxing thing and really, there were a lot more layers to it than I originally thought. I kind of want to watch it again, now.

(The previous two paragraphs, by the way, are why this is a review "of sorts." I am no movie reviewer, and usually can't pin down exactly what makes me like or dislike a movie beyond a general feeling.)

Anyway. I would definitely recommend the movie, if only for the fun of picking out who all the people are who are in it. I was halfway through the movie before I realized Burt Lancaster was Dr. "Moonlight" Graham from Field of Dreams, and didn't figure out who Claude Akins was until I looked the movie up online.

This was the 28th Academny Award Best Picture winner I have seen out of 80, by the way. Fifty-two to go! (And Unforgiven is sitting on my desk waiting for me to find the time to watch it.)

101 Things Update

I thought I'd give a quick update on how I'm doing with my list. So far I'm doing really well on some things, and need to work harder on others.

First - I started going chocolate free on Monday, which I think I wrote about. So far I'm still chocolate free, and haven't had any serious cravings yet, which is a good thing. I did crash a bit on Monday night/Tuesday morning, apparently because I didn't eat much sugar at all on Monday, since I skipped my usual lunchtime candy bar. But some Advil and some non-chocolate sugar, and a little bit of time, and I was fine again by Tuesday afternoon.

I'm thinking about adding a ticker to the sidebar to count down how long I have left until I can eat chocolate again. The official date, by the way, is September 28th. Two days down, 38 to go! Sigh.

Second - I've been flossing nightly. Woo! My dentist will be so proud.

Third - I've written down a couple of the things that have made me happy, but I need to get better at it. I'm forgetting to do it on as many days as I'm remembering.

Fourth - I haven't been spending half an hour per day on my crocheting at all. Sigh. I need to work harder on that. Winter will be here before I know it, and Gabrielle WILL have her baby blanket by then! That is my vow.

Fifth - I tell J I love him every day. :) Of course, I always did that anyway, so it probably wasn't a good thing to put on this list, but oh well. One easy thing out of 101 is good.

As for the eating healthier stuff - well, I got bananas this week, and I've had one every day since Sunday. I have three left at home, but they're a bit too ripe now (or will be, by tomorrow), so I think they're destined to become banana bread. Cutting out the chocolate is a huge step in the healthier eating direction, too. I haven't replaced it with too much non-chocolate sugary stuff, so that's okay.

In non 1001 Things news, I went to the eye doctor for my final contacts visit, and it all went well. I now have a three month supply of them, and I am wearing my beginning pair now. I'm going to keep them on all day, if they don't start to annoy my eyes. The longer I wear them, the sooner I'll stop feeling them in my eye. (I feel them less now, but I still have a ways to go before I forget I have them in.)

Also, work is going to be crazy busy for the next couple of weeks. Sigh. I hate it when the kids come back to school. Why can't summer last longer? Oh well. By the time the semester is a week or two in, things will be calmer again.

And that's all I have to say for now, I guess. Later, people!

Tested Already

When I wrote that I was going to go 40 days without eating chocolate, I meant chocolate in all forms. No candy bars, no chocolate chip cookies, no cookies with fudge on them, not even any chocolate cereal. I knew that I would face a lot of challenges during these 40 days - a lot of tests of my strength - but I never expected the first test to come on the very first day I'm going without chocolate. But take a look at what just showed up on my desk.


One half-pint of chocolate ice cream. I needed the container so that I could take a picture of it to use on a poster to advertise it (we're selling it at the State Fair). I expected an empty container - I got a full one. And I get to keep it and enjoy it, in the words of the person who brought it.

Uh, it'll keep for 40 days, right? :)

(The ice cream is made where I work, so identifying information is rather clumsily blocked out to protect my secret location. Which makes it sound like I work for the CIA or something, but really I just don't want the whole Internet at large to know where to find me, you know?)

Day One

Well, if you read my 101 in 1001 post, you may have seen that I wanted to try giving up chocolate for 40 days. Well, my friends, welcome to day one. I admit that I am addicted to chocolate (or maybe to sugar, but whatever - my sugar usually comes in chocolate form), so I expect at least the first couple of weeks to be VERY difficult. I'll let you know how it goes.

In other areas of that list, I'm starting to record daily something that made me happy that day. I'm going to post my week's list on Saturday. I didn't post one this past Saturday, because I had just started my 101 things list on Friday, and honestly I had already failed by not writing something down on Friday. But I'll cast my mind back and get it for you now.

Hmm... Friday... Let's see if my memory goes back that far. Okay, it doesn't really. So I'll say that I was happy to go home from work, and have two days off in front of me.

For Saturday what made me happy was... um, I guess I'll say seeing a bunny when I was mowing my lawn. I saw it twice (I scared it with the mower twice), and it was very cute and made me smile. Plus mowing is really rather relaxing and calming, so I guess that was kind of a happy experience, too, even though I wasn't looking forward to doing it (and even though due to rainstorms, I only got half of it done, and the other half is still waiting for me to finish it).

This promises to be a very busy week at work for me. Actually, a busy two or three weeks, sigh. I'll be happy when the semester is under way and we all go back to normal, work wise. That should happen by week three, I guess.

I did start my day off right, however. I got some strawberry frosted mini wheats with groceries this weekend, and I had them for breakfast. They are YUMMY. Mmm. I almost forgot I was eating healthy.

Now I have to go get to work. Happy Monday, people!

Crafty

Look what I did last night.





I made myself a case for my glasses. Once upon a time I had three of them, and I think I know where one of them is now (but it's in a bag in the storage room upstairs, and I'm not ready to tackle that right now), but I have no idea where the other two are. So, I figured - I have all this yarn sitting in my house, and I have the knowledge and the time, so why not make myself a case for my glasses? So I found a pattern online yesterday and I made it up last night. It came out really cute, don't you think? It could be smaller - it's a little wider than it needs to be. But it works, and now I have something to put my glasses in when I'm wearing my contacts. :)

Speaking of the contacts, I got them the other day, but I have to work up to wearing them everyday. I wore them an hour on Wednesday, two hours yesterday and I'll add an hour every day until I have them on all day. I can still feel them in my eyes, and I'm a little worried that my eyes are going to be too dry for them and I'll need to use drops, but we'll see. It feels amazing not having my glasses on, though. I love it.

101 Things To Do In 1001 Days

Sarah linked me to this site today, and what do you know, I started making a list of things to do. Here's how it works.

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in 1001 days.

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (i.e., no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e., represent some amount of effort on your part).

Ready for my list? I guess I'm ready to type it out, so here goes. Keep in mind that I have 1001 days to do this in (my end date is Friday, May 13, 2011, with a start date of tomorrow). Some of them might take me just about the whole time to finish. I've separated them into categories, so that they're more organized. I've also censored a few that are too personal to put online - and no guessing what they are! :) Okay, here goes.

To Better Myself Physically

1. Give up chocolate for 40 days Finished 9/27/08!
2. Start an exercise routine and stick with it for at least three months
3. Lose 80 pounds
4. Count points for 30 days, to retrain myself on how much to eat. (Started 11/21/08.)
5. Buy myself a new wardrobe, once I reach my goal weight
6. Wear a swimsuit and feel good in it
7. Floss my teeth at least twice per week
8. Wear shorts in the summer and enjoy it
9. Have a professional bra fitting
10. Ride my bike in the summer, at least twice per month (June -
11. Go to the dentist for regular check-ups
12. Get old fillings replaced
13. Get crowns on at least two more molars
14. Start to wear skirts and dresses again
15. This one is censored :)Done! December 31, 2008
16. Have flat belly again

For My Relationship with J
17. Sit outside with J and watch the sunrise - maybe at a lake? Or sunset if he'd rather
18. Get married someday :)
19. Work on relationship every day, to make sure it stays fresh and our love stays like it is
20. Tell J I love him every day
21. Censored :)
22. Also censored :)
23. Buy J dinner at least once per month (more if I can afford it)
24. This one is also censored :)
25. Go to Waffle House with J
26. Go to see Alice Cooper with J (in October!)We did this on the night of 10/26/08, and it was amazingly fun! I should have put way more things like this on this list.

For My Other Relationships
27. Have my sister and brother-in-law over for dinner at least once
28. Call my brothers (two of them)at least once
29. Arrange a lunch with me, J, Sarah, Jeff and Jamie at least twice
30. Send "thinking of you" cards to J's parents, my sister and my brothers periodically
31. Go to lunch and a movie with my sister at least three times
32. Go ice skating with Sarah
33. Start sending birthday/Christmas cards to my nieces/nephews and great-nieces/great-nephews
34. Send someone flowers (a friend or relative), for no reason
35. Go to a hockey game with my sister, her husband and J

Crafts
36. Finish Gabrielle's baby blanket (before winter)Finished, 9/27/08!
37. Learn to knitDone!
38. Make myself a sweater
39. Learn to do cable knitting
40. Knit an afghan with a semi-complicated pattern
41. Finish all craft projects I start
42. Always have a craft project in the works - if I don't have a gift to make, then make something for myself, for J or make baby gifts ahead (since there will be many more babies coming, I'm sure).

Reading/Writing/TV/Movies
43. Go to a midnight movie, at least once
44. Keep a list of all books read (on goodreads.com)
45. Watch all (current and future, not past) Oscar Best Picture nominated pictures - on DVD is fine, they don't have to still be in the theater
46. Read all books off one of the "top 100" lists I printed out ages ago
47. Read all the classic books I own
48. Read 10 Pulitzer Prize winning books (fiction) (2/10)
49. Participate in NaNoWriMo and finish
50. Finish Puritanical Green Thumb (a Sims 2 legacy)
51. Finish Grafted Roots (a Sims 2 legacy)
52. Update at least one Sims 2 legacy chapter total per month until legacies are finished
53. Write at least two blog posts per week
54. Write at least one short story per month (0/33)
55. Complete NaBloPoMo each year (1/3) first one done!
56. Complete holidailies each year (1/3)first one done!
57. Watch all Academy Award winning movies (43/80)

For Me
58. Get a nice digital camera and start taking pictures every dayI got a great camera for Christmas 2008, woo! Pictures are being taken all the time now.
59. Spend time outdoors in every nice weather day - even if it's just sitting on the steps while the dogs do their business
60. Slowly work on getting new batteries/bands for all watches that need them
61. Buy at least three new watches
62. Plant flowers on graves (Mom, Wayne, Dad, both sets of grandparents, Mabel)
63. Make up a will
64. Buy more canvas bags to use when shopping
65. Find or take a picture of me and J that I like, frame it and display it in the house
66. Get to a point where I have at least five pairs of work pants, so I never have to wear the same pair twice in the same week again As of September, 2008, this is true! J bought me a new pair of pants, so I now have five. If one starts to wear out, I need to get a new one before it's trash, though.
67. Write down something daily that made me happy that day - write a blog with the complete list every Saturday
68. Have a calendar made with pictures I took. Give it to friends and family for Christmas
69. Ride a roller coaster again
70. Build a snowman
71. Procrastinate less at work
72. Go skinny dipping (once the pool is open)
73. Buy photo printer
74. Print out pictures that I take and like, then frame them and display them (collage frames, maybe)
75. Have a pool party
76. Set up file system in desk for important papers
77. Send thank you notes after Christmas/birthday/other events

Financial Stuff
78. Start a savings account
79. Get a home equity loan to pay off student loan/get a new roof
80. Pay off/settle all credit cards (1/7)First one settled 12/3/08, woo!
81. Save a dollar a day throughout this challenge - use the money for something fun for me and J (vacation, fun stuff, whatever)(start in February 09, once car is fixed and taxes are paid)

Food Stuff
82. Make tiramisu from scratch
83. Make at least one loaf of homemade bread per month from October - April
84. Try two new recipes that J and I might like (1/2)

For the House and Car
85. Clean out my boookshelves - give books I don't want to keep away
86. Plant a flowerbed somewhere around the house
87. Clean out the storage room upstairs (all my and Mom's crap)
88. Hire someone to come haul the trash from the garage to the dump (chairs, air conditioners, old lawn tractor, etc.)
89. Brush coats of all animals at least once per week (in shedding season)
90. Get car's oil changed regularly
91. Vacuum out car and wash it periodically
92. Need new one for here
93. Need new one for here
94. Need new one for here
95. Open pool
96. Put up a clothesline, so I don't have to use the dryer all summer

Do Gooder Stuff
97. Give 10 gifts "just because"
98. Pay for the person behind me at the drive-thru
99. Try to give blood every time the Red Cross comes to work
100. Donate food to the food cupboard

For This List
101. Take photos of tasks when completed, if possible/appropriate

Did you read the whole thing? :) Good for you, if you did! I'm going to post a permanent link to it in the sidebar, and I'll edit as I start getting things crossed off.

It's going to be a busy 1001 days. :)

Is That Really Possible?

I just read someone online say that she had once given up chocolate for lent, and she lost her taste for it (although she did say she worked hard to get it back).

This chocaholic wonders - is it even possible to lose your taste for chocolate?!?

If so, why would you ever want to?

(And yet, some inner part of me is wondering if I would lose my taste for it if I gave it up. Lent is what, 40 days? I'm not Catholic, so if I'm wrong, let me know. Not that I'm going to try it. I might think about it, though. Maybe. Possibly. (Probably not.))

Contacts

I don't know if I mentioned it in here, but I had an eye appointment a couple of weeks ago. It was just a regular check-up. My prescription had changed a little; instead of getting new glasses, though, I am getting contacts. :) I'm very excited about this, because I hate wearing glasses all the time. HATE it.

Yesterday when I got home from work, I had a message that my contacts were ready. So I called and got an appointment to go in this afternoon. They have to show me how to put them in, how to take them out and how to take care of them, and apparently when they're done with all of that, I need to see the eye doctor again while I have them in.

I am so happy that I won't have to wear these glasses all the time anymore. J is a bit sad, because he likes my glasses on me, but I am excited. They bug my nose, they bug the side of my head, I don't like seeing the frames and looking under them if I try to look down without moving my head.

I'll let you know how the lesson goes, and how I like them once I have them in. :)

Random Thoughts

Every week when I'm standing in line at Walmart with my cat stuff, I think "I should get some gum." But I don't buy any. And then later that week I'll be sitting at my desk, having just eaten something I shouldn't have eaten, and I'll think, "I wish I had some gum."

Random. But it happens just about every week, exactly like that. You'd think I'd break down and just buy the gum.

One More Reason

One more reason I love my J:

Yesterday morning we went grocery shopping. I remembered to get cat treats and litter, but I forgot the food. Which was a very bad thing, since they'd be out of food by tomorrow, latest. I was planning on driving back out to Walmart after work today to get some cat food, which sucked because A) Who wants to go to Walmart after work? And B) I'd much rather be home spending time with J.

I got an e-mail from J a little while ago. He went to Lowe's to pick something up, and he went next door to Walmart and got the bag of cat food for me. :) It's just another reason that he rocks, and it's another reason why I love him. Thank you, J. You are the best.

Heartbreaking (and heartwarming) Link

I saw this link in Rob's blog today, and the story just broke my heart. When I still wanted to have kids, I always wanted to adopt, because there are so many kids out there in need of good homes. But I don't think I ever could have handled something like this. I'm so glad there are people out there who open their hearts and their homes to children who need them so desperately.

Watch It

First and foremost, if you haven't watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog yet, do it now. It is online once again for free viewing (or you can download it from itunes). It is worth spending the time on. It's an amazing tale of a guy (Dr. Horrible) who wants to be evil and rule the world, but along the way there is this girl that he sees every Wednesday and Saturday at the laundromat, and he's completely in crush with her. Dr. Horrible's arch-nemesis is Captain Hammer, a so-called superhero who tries to foil Dr. Horrible's plans, and somehow ends up meeting laundry girl and starting to date her.

I can't even describe how good this is. Watch it. Kay? Kay.

So. Yesterday I was all tired all day, because I got a horrible night of sleep Sunday night. But last night I went to bed early, and I slept great, and this morning I feel fanTAStic. I love sleep, when I get it.

Amazingly, I guess that's all I have to say. So. Go back up to that link up there, click it, and watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. You'll have fun. Bye!

Eye Stuff

I left work a little bit early yesterday to get my eyes checked. It had been a couple of years, so it was a bit overdue, actually. I found out a couple of interesting things during this visit.

1. I have a mole on the back of my left eye. He said it was no different than a mole on your skin, and we'll keep watching it every time I go back to the eye doctor. (I have checked online, and apparently some doctors call these freckles, rather than moles.)

2. I have a cataract in my right eye. This is something that isn't bothering me at all - it's not affecting my vision. He said it could even be something that I was born with, but it's never been noticed before. Short of any traumatic injury, it shouldn't affect me at all for a long time, but in 20 years or so it could start developing into a problem - the typical old age cataract thing.

So, those were both weird things, right? I thought so. But! My prescription had changed slightly, and rather than getting new glasses, I am getting contacts! I'm very excited about this, because I HATE wearing my glasses. Like, seriously hate it more than I can say. They bug my nose, they hurt the side of my head, I hit them all the time, they're just a pain in the butt. I can't wait to get my contacts - they should be in about a week or week and a half from now, at which point I'll be going to see them again, so they can show me how to put them in, how to take them out and how to take care of them.

SO EXTREMELY EXCITED.