In which I prove I am a TV addict

I stole the following from Clare:

Instructions: Bold (or change the color) of all of the following TV shows which you've seen 3 or more episodes of in your lifetime. Bold and Italicize a show if you're positive you've seen every episode of it. If you want, add up to 3 additional shows (keep the list in alphabetical order).

24
3rd Rock from the Sun
7th Heaven
Adam-12
Aeon Flux
A.L.F
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alias
Allo Allo
American Idol/Pop Idol/Canadian Idol/Australian Idol/X-Fact0r
America's Next Top Model/Germany's Next Top Model
Angel
Arrested Development
Babylon 5
Babylon 5: Crusade
Battlestar Galactica (the old one)
Battlestar Galactica (the new one)
Baywatch
Beavis & Butthead
The Ben Stiller Show
Beverly Hills 90210
Bewitched
Bleak House
Bonanza
Bones
Bosom Buddies
Boston Legal
Boy Meets World
Brady Bunch
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Bug Juice
Chappelle's Show
Charlie's Angels
Charmed
Cheers
China Beach
Columbo
Commander in Chief
Coupling
Cowboy Bebop
Crossing Jordan
CSI
CSI: Miami
CSI: NY
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dallas
Dancing with the Stars
Danny Phantom
Dark Angel
Dark Skies
Davinci's Inquest
Dawson's Creek
Dead Like Me
Deadliest Catch
Deadwood
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Designing Women
Desperate Housewives
Dharma & Greg
Different Strokes
Doctor Who (new Who)
Doctor Who (series 1-26)
Dragnet
Due South
Dungeons and Dragons (old cartoon)
Dynasty
Earth 2
Eastenders
Emergency!
Entourage
ER
Everwood
Everybody Loves Raymond
Facts of Life
Falcon Crest
Family Guy
Family Ties
Fantasy Island
Farscape
Fawlty Towers
Felicity
Firefly
Flamingo Road
Frasier
Friends
Full House
Futurama
Get Smart
Gilligan's Island
Gilmore Girls
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Green Wing
Grey's Anatomy
Growing Pains
Gunsmoke
Happy Days
Head of the Class
Highlander
Hill Street Blues
Hogan's Heroes
Home and Away
Home Improvement
Homicide: Life on the Street
House
I Dream of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
Invader Zim
Invasion
Iron Chef (Japan)
Iron Chef (USA)
Ironsides
JAG
Jackass
Jeopardy
Joey
John Doe
Kath and Kim
Knight Rider
Knots Landing
La Femme Nikita
LA Law
Laugh-In
Laverne and Shirley
Law & Order
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: SVU
Little House on the Prairie
Lizzie McGuire
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lost
Lost in Space
Love, American Style
M*A*S*H
MacGyver
Magnum P.I.
Malcolm in the Middle
Married...With Children
Melrose Place
Miami Vice
Mission Impossible
Monk
Moonlighting
Mork & Mindy
Murphy Brown
My Family
My Favorite Martian
My Life as a Dog
My Mother the Car
My So-Called Life
My Three Sons
My Two Dads
Mysterious Cities of Gold
NCIS
Neighbours
Night Court
Nip/Tuck
Northern Exposure
Numbers
One Day at a Time
One Tree Hill
Oz
Parker Lewis Can't Lose
Party of Five
Perfect Strangers
Perry Mason
Picket Fences
Pirates of Darkwater
Pokemon
Power Rangers
Prison Break
Prisoner / Cell Block H
Profiler
Project Runway
Psyche
Quantum Leap
Queer As Folk (US)
Queer as Folk (British)
Queer Eye For The Straight Guy
ReGenesis
Remington Steele
Rescue Me
Road Rules
ROME
Roseanne
Roswell
Samurai Jack
Saved by the Bell
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Scooby-Doo Where Are You?
Scrubs
Seinfeld
Sex and the City
Six Feet Under
Slings and Arrows
Smallville
Small Wonder
So Weird
South Park
Spaced
Spongebob Squarepants
Sports Night
SquarePegs
St. Elsewhere
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Enterprise
Stargate Atlantis - New season
StargateSG-1 -Newseason
Superman
Supernatural
Surface
Survivor
Taxi
Teen Titans
Teletubbies
That Girl
That 70's Show
That's So Raven
The 4400
The Addams Family
The Andy Griffith Show
The A-Team
The Avengers
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Bionic Woman
The Colbert Report
The Cosby Show
The Daily Show
The Days And Nights Of Molly Dodd
The Dead Zone
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Flintstones
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Golden Girls
The Jetsons
The L Word
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mighty Boosh
The Monkees
The Munsters
The Mythbusters
The O.C.
The Office (UK)
The Office (US)
The Pretender
The Prisoner
The Real World
The Shield
The Simpsons
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Sopranos
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
The Sullivans
The Twilight Zone
The Waltons
The West Wing
The Wonder Years
The X-Files
Third Watch
thirtysomething
Three's Company
Top Gear
Twin Peaks
Twitch City
Upstairs, Downstairs
Veronica Mars
Wings
What Not To Wear (US)
What Not To Wear (UK)
Whose Line is it Anyway? (US)
Whose Line is it Anyway? (UK)
Witchblade
Will and Grace
Wonderfalls
Wonder Woman
Xena: Warrior Princess
Young Hercules

Okay, yes, I watch way too much TV. In my own defense, a lot of these shows were watched when I was a kid, and yet I still managed to play outside a lot. I've always been good at multi-tasking, I suppose. But oh, some of these shows hold fond memories for me.

Being a Good Grown-Up

Okay, I'm not putting it off - I just made a doctor's appointment for a physical. Of course, they couldn't get me in until October, but that's okay. The health/blood pressure/not wanting to end up with my Mom's health problems thing is all I've been able to think about since yesterday, so I'm going to make sure to do something about it. I am NOT going to be like my Mom - I'm going to take my little early warning sign and I am going to heed it. (No offence, Mom.)

And I'm okay with waiting until October, because that gives me more time to lose weight and exercise before I go in, so maybe my blood pressure will be closer to normal by then. :) We'll see.

Wake-up Call

The Red Cross is having a blood drive in the gym in my building at work. I am a good, blood giving type of person, so I went in after lunch to try to give. I knew I might not be able to give, because my iron is usually too low. But I have to try. So I went in, and I had my vitals taken, and my iron was in fact too low. I got some unexpected news, though - my blood pressure was borderline high.

I've never had high blood pressure. Whenever I've had it taken, it's always been normal. However, it's in my genes - my Mom had high blood pressure. And heart attacks. And strokes. So obviously this was a huge wake-up call for me.

I of course came right back to my desk after I left the blood drive, and looked up high blood pressure on webmd. It may be no surprise to you that high blood pressure can lead to all of those things I listed in the previous paragraph. The site also confirmed for me what I already knew - how to change my lifestyle to get it down. I need to lose weight, eat healthier and do aerobic exercise for 30 minutes a day. I'm already working on the losing weight thing, and I'm eating less junk food and less total food during the day, so no problem there. I do need to work in more fruits and I suppose I need to figure out a way to work in more vegetables too, although I really don't know how I'm going to do that without puking, because I hate them all, pretty much. The biggie, for me, is the exercise.

I live a very sedentary life. I sit on my butt all day at work, I sit on my butt in the car on the way to and from work, I sit on my butt at my computer when I'm home - I don't move much. I don't even walk my dogs - they just go out loose in my yard. The idea of losing weight just to improve my self-image wasn't enough incentive to get me to start exercising. But the desire to avoid all of the health problems that come with high blood pressure is.

Sigh. It looks like I'll be breaking out those old aerobics tapes.

When the Red Cross comes back in a couple of months, I'll attempt to give blood again, and I'll find out if my plan is working. If not, I guess I'll have to go to the doctor (and yes, I know I should go now, but I'm not going to. I'll try what I know I need to do first, and if it doesn't work, then I'll go). But if it's lower, then I'll know I'm on the right track.

Genetics are a bitch.

Steve Irwin

I always get very sad when a celebrity dies. I guess it's because I feel like I get to know them in a way, from watching them on TV and in the movies. I was shocked today when I heard that Steve Irwin had died in a freak accident while in the water with stingrays. I don't get so sad about him, really - his pain is over. I feel for his wife and their two kids. His youngest son is about two years old, which is how old I was when my Dad died, so I really empathize. His kids are lucky that they can watch their Dad in videos of all of his shows, so at least he'll be a living, talking person in their minds at all times, instead of just still photos like I had of my Dad. But I know the pain of not having any actual memories of your Father - of never being able to remember a day spent with him, or a time when he called your name.

I feel for his kids. I hope Terry does what she can to make sure that his memory stays alive in their memory forever.

The Cocoon Ate My Lawnmower

I went outside with the dogs a few minutes ago, and it is so nice outside! So I thought maybe I would mow part of the lawn. I went to the garage door, and looked it over carefully, like I always do, because I have a lot of spiders where I live, and I definitely don't want to take the chance of touching one or having one fall on me or anything. Shudder. And I did find some spiders, but I also found this:

(Shown next to a Daddy Long Legs, so you can get an idea of the size of it - it's very small.)

It's a cocoon. Or chrysalis - I'm not sure. Whatever it is, I don't want to take the chance of hurting it, so I didn't open the garage door, and my lawn didn't get mowed. I wonder how long this thing will be holding my garage door captive?

If anyone who reads this has any idea what type of creature this is going to end up being, drop me an e-mail or a comment, would you? I'd really like to know. Thanks!

Edited to add: I did some research online, and it looks like it's a Monarch butterfly cocoon! So exciting. It takes them about a week and a half to come out of the cocoon. I have no idea how long it's been hanging there, but I'm going to keep an eye on it. Apparently they turn transparent a day before they emerge, so when it gets to that point, I'll take another picture. But, yay! My garage door is hosting the birth of a Monarch butterfly! So cool.

Finally! Two days off to relax

Aaaahhhh. The only good thing about working 12 days in a row is the incredible feeling of freedom and appreciation it has made me have for this weekend. You know what I did yesterday? Almost nothing, and it felt great. Okay, so I did a couple loads of laundry. And I ran a few errands (grocery store, library, bank), but I got to take the dogs with me, so that was even okay. And I got Chinese food for dinner, so really it was just about the perfect Saturday. And today is shaping up just as well. I need to mow the lawn, but it is a little rainy and actually cold out (weird, for August), so that's not getting done today. Instead I will be sitting here all day, playing the Sims, catching up on my recorded TV shows, and maybe sweeping the floors. Oh, and I have already done two loads of laundry and my sheets are in the washer. But laundry is almost nothing, it's so easy - the machines do all the work.

Anyway, I'm just checking in to let you all know that I did in fact survive my 12 days of hell, and I am really enjoying my weekend. And now I just have to work five more days, and then I get a THREE day weekend, because I took Labor Day off (we don't get it automatically, because the office doesn't close). And I'll get my first overtime paycheck on Tuesday, and I can't wait to see how big it is. They better not kill me too much with taxes, because I need to feel like all that time with no days off was worth it.

And now I'm going to go back to playing my game. I hope you all are having fantastic weekends!

Hanging In

I've made it to day 11. I just have to get through today and tomorrow, and then I will finally have two days off, to sleep the sleep of the dead, because frankly that's how I've been feeling the last few days - dead.

But yeah, blah, blah, blah, I'm exhausted, haven't had any time off, boringness. Right? Yup. And I'm afraid it doesn't get much more exciting than that, because that's what my life has been for the last 11 days. Work, sleep, get up and work again, Sim a little, lather, rinse and repeat. I'm existing on Diet Pepsi and junk food. Not healthy, but whatever it takes to keep me vertical for the work days. And the junk food is okay, because I'm starting another weight loss challenge at work.

Yeah, remember when I talked about that last one? All those months ago? Yeah, I never mentioned it again because I crapped out on it at about week four. Yup. But I'm trying again, because you never know - this may be the time I stick with it. I've been trying to do some self improvement lately, anyway. It's taking a while, but I'm trying to work myself back into the person I was before my Mom got sick and life started beating me down. And by that I mean, I'm trying to get back into actually caring about how I look and how I treat myself. The first step was starting to wear jewelry again, the second step (newly accomplished) was starting to take the effort to wear make-up again. The third step is the weight loss and starting to exercise so that I can feel healthy again, which will be followed by step four: shop 'til I drop and buy all kinds of new, smaller, girly clothes. Obviously that step kind of hinges on the one before it. So I'm giving it another shot.

And now I have to go to a stupid meeting, so that's it from me for now. I hope you all are having good weeks. And if you have any good willpower thoughts that you could send my way (starting about Saturday), I would very much appreciate them. Thanks!

Reading: Frankie's Place, by Jim Sterba (purchased while I was in Maine)
Listening: to my Yahoo radio, which is currently playing some Wham!
Watching: my computer monitor, for another 5 1/2 hours, ugh.
Wishing: that it was Friday at 4:30, because I'd be on my way home.
Drinking: Diet Pepsi

Tired, Oh So Tired

Day 9 of 12. I'm losing steam big time. It's 9:18 a.m. at this very moment, and I am already drinking a soda, because I don't drink coffee, and I needed caffeine to keep my eyes open. Willow woke up me up a few times last night growling, and in fact got herself kicked out of my room for the first time in a few weeks. But then, of course, she woke me up again at 5:00 this morning scratching at my door to get back in. Stupid dog. It's a good thing she's so darn cute and (usually) lovable.

It's only Tuesday. Someone wake me when Friday afternoon comes, okay? Thanks.

A New Semester Begins

Welcome weekend is over - the students are all back on campus. The freshmen are charging up their new laptops, getting to know their roommates, and anticipating the first day of classes. Their backpacks are ready with textbooks, notebooks, folders, pens, pencils and calculators. They've got their outifts all picked out so that they will look just right. A load of new experiences await them, some good, some bad, but all necessary to make them into the people they will eventually be. The traditional students won't appreciate it for what it is - a chance to learn the skills they will need to give them a bright future. The non-traditional students will, because they know what else is out there.

I am not taking classes this semester. And I am so happy about that, I can't even express it. I will get up tomorrow morning and go to work, and I will be very grateful not to have to pack up my laptop to start a couple of new classes. This break is going to be fantastic. Let those students go to classes and do homework and struggle with group assignments and study for quizzes and tests. I'm going to relax.

Snapshot

So, I'm bored. For anyone reading this who isn't Sarah, and therefore doesn't know what laptop distribution is like, this is how my day is going. I showed up at 7:30 this morning, and stood around and did nothing until 9:00. Then I herded students into a room and signed their contract copies and directed them to another room. That lasted about 15 minutes, and then I sat and did nothing until 11:00, when I got to do that all again. And then (are you getting a picture here?) I ate lunch and did nothing until 1:30, and now I'm sitting here doing nothing again, waiting for 3:30 when I can work for another fifteen minutes and then hopefully go home. So basically, I'm working for about an hour, but spending 8 1/2 hours or so here to do it. Fun!

But I'm getting paid overtime for it all, so I guess I'll shut up now. :)

Introspective entry about work, brought on by severe tiredness

Five days of work down, seven to go. I hate the week that the kids come back. So, yeah, work has been kind of crazy. If you have been reading me right along, you know that I changed jobs in January. I work for the same company, and in the same building, but for a different department. That transition has been harder in some ways than I thought it would be. I've had to adjust to not working with my two good friends anymore, which was made easier by the fact that they're just on the other side of the building, so while we're not working side by side anymore, I still get to see them everyday, and we usually get to have lunch together too.

Although, I'll admit it here and now, I did have to deal with some jealousy when the summer first started, and they were over there together, working in the same space, and I was all the way on the other side of the building, missing all the fun. That was totally my issue, and I got over it eventually. And yes, I did say fun and work in the same sentence. How can work not be fun when it involves two crazy people who make jokes out of everything?

So, I adjusted to that, and I learned the ins and outs of my new job, and I enjoy it a lot. I don't love it, but I like it, and it's a very good job, and I feel lucky everyday to have it. But the fact that I work for the same company, in the same building, can make things weird sometimes. Yesterday my old coworkers had to move 800 or 900 laptops from our building to the one where they're going to be distributed to the students, while I was helping out with stuff in my own office. And I felt guilty! I felt like I should be over there, sweating along with them while moving those laptops. Telling myself that I have a different job now didn't make me get past that. Then today I was in the gym where all of the new students were coming through for orientation, doing stuff for the old office (I get shipped out to them for things like this, because they're a little shorthanded right now) - selling laptops and answering questions. But mostly it was very slow for me, and I sat there for amost nine hours not doing too much of anything useful. And I was thinking about my friends, back in the old building, handing out cell phones to what must have felt like thousands of students, with lines backed up the length of a gymnasium (four lines, that is), and I felt guilty again. I would have been far more useful down there with them, handing out phones (or helping in the store, not that I could have been much use in there).

I'm not sure what the point of this post is, other than that I shouldn't write entries when I'm tired and only have work on my mind. But I guess overall I'm just having trouble separating my old job from my new job. My loyalties are mixed. I loved my old job, and I have two great friends who still work there, and I want to be able to help them out on these hectic, busy days. And I can't. And I'm sorry about that.

And maybe I need to get the fuck out of my head, and go lay in my clean bed and relax and go to sleep early, because I have to be at work at 7:30 tomorrow to hand out laptops. (Which, for anyone keeping track, is being done for my old job. Is it any wonder I have trouble saying good-bye to it?) I hope you all have great weekends - those of you who have it off, that is. Sarah, Jamie and I will be at work wishing we weren't.

This Entry Rated PG-13

My job can be pretty boring, but every once in a while I get a cool assignment. Like this one: the college where I work makes ice cream, and they're probably going to be rolling out four new flavors soon - I was asked to help come up with names for the new flavors. One of the flavors was vanilla with halved cherries. I came up with the perfect name! Only I don't think the college will go for it - what do you think?

The name I came up with? Popped My Cherry.

Hee. Something tells me the chancellor would have a cow.

Good-bye Weekend

I had a good weekend. A bridal shower on Saturday that turned into dinner at Applebee's. A lazy day today doing not much of anything, and the weather was absolutely perfect - if it could be low 70s everyday, with nights in the 50s, I would be so happy. It's great. Weird for August, but I'll take it.

It's a good thing I enjoyed my weekend, too, because school starts a week from tomorrow. The students will be back, and I have to work next weekend. Sigh. So sad. I have to work for TWELVE days in a row. Twelve, people! Two of my readers feel my pain, because they work there too. That doesn't make me feel any better, though.

And I have a cat yelling at me, and I don't really have anything else to say, so that's all for now. I hope you all had great weekends!

Ren-Purse

I promised you the picture of that very weird purse that I saw at the Renaissance Fair on Saturday. Behold (and I apologize for the poor quality of the picture - I was kind of snapping it on the sly, and she was standing in the sun):

Can you make it out? That is the fur from the head of an animal - I couldn't quite tell what, but it seems like a coyote, maybe? If you know something else that it may be, leave me a comment to let me know. Anyway, the fur head makes the flap, and the bottom seems to be a turtle or tortoise shell, with leather fringe hanging off the bottom. I'm kind of glad that I can't see what the back of it is made out of. Freaky.

I had dinner at my sister's house tonight, like I do every Monday night (my sister rules), and she told me that my nephew, who moved out to Los Angeles less than a month ago, I think, landed a bit part as a hostage on Medium, which is so exciting! It would be exciting no matter what show it was, but I actually watch and love that show, so I can't wait to see it. He doesn't know when it's going to be on yet, but I'll mention again when I know. So cool.

Okay, wow, my head is so not into writing something interesting here, so I'm ending this entry here. I hope you all are having a great Monday!

Ren Fair - An Entry in Pictures

Jamie and I went to the renaissance fair today. It's a very interesting place, and we had a fun day (albeit a hot, tiring one). You wanna see some pictures? Cool.

The entrance, with two of the first actors we came across.

The King! Who looks more like the Pope in that hat.

A parade of actors. It turned out that all of these people were heading to their first show of the day - we caught part of it.

Outside of the show I just mentioned, there was this lady hanging out with a live owl on her arm. Very cool! She was involved with the show.

God save the Queen!

There were rides all around the fair, and they were all hand operated. If you look closely, you can see two guys in the middle of this, pushing on the spokes to move the swings. Pretty cool, but I SO would not want to be one of the operators of these things.

We watched part of a joust. We didn't watch the whole show, though, because we were standing right in the sun, and it was very hot.

And that's all for the pictures. I was going to post a few more, but blogger crapped out on me again. All you're missing is: a picture of a turkey leg that Jamie ate for lunch. It was giant, people were eating them all over and in my opinion they a little gross. I'm just not enough of a carnivore for those things.

I also had a close-up picture of the owl, who we saw hanging out in the shade between shows. He was very pretty. And the last picture was going to be of the weirdest purse I have ever seen. Actually, this has to be seen to be believed, so look for that in a future entry.

And that was our trip to the Ren Fair! It was a lot of fun, and a new experience for us both, so I'm glad we went.

Inside the...well, inside my head, I guess

I'm sitting here watching an episode of Inside the Actor's Studio with Hugh Laurie (of House) as the guest, and they just got to the end of the show, where James Lipton asks that same questionnaire that he asks every guest, and I was thinking of answers and realized...I could bug you with them! So here we go. Feel free to answer them for yourselves, too, in your blog, in your head, or in my comments (hint, hint). :)

1. "What is your favorite word?" Mine is...Peace. As in peace and quiet, when Willow isn't grumbling and the TV isn't on. Nice.

2. "What is your least favorite word?" Mine is...snow. Even in August.

3. "What turns you on?" A look from a man that just screams he loves me. You know that intense, trying to drink you in kind of look. It's great.

4. "What turns you off?" Religion talk.

5. "What sound or noise do you love?" The voices of the people I love.

6. "What sound or noise do you hate?" Screaming kids.

7. "What is your favorite curse word?" Fuck. It's the one I pull out when I get aggravated or tired. I also like to string it with other curse words - for example: shit fuck goddamn it all to fucking goddamn hell (for when I get really upset or aggravated).

8. "What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?" I would like to be an author of fiction books.

9. "What profession would you not like to participate in?" I would never want to be a waitress. It just seems like it's super hard work, with crappy hours and little appreciation. I tip well, because I think the people who do that job, and do it well, deserve to be rewarded, because it must suck big time.

10. "If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?" Well, there's no contest. I want to be directed to where my Mom, Step-Dad and Dad are, along with all of our other family members who have predeceased me. But mostly, I want to see my Mom, Wayne and I want to meet my father.

There, wasn't that fun? I could do this tomorrow, and my answers would be different, so consider this a snapshot of this exact moment in time. Okay, your turn!

Dodging Bullets

Whew, that was close. In a case of temporary insanity, I signed up a couple of months ago for the corporate challenge, which is a 3.5 mile race/walk held in Syracuse, sponsored by corporations to support charity. I was SO not looking forward to it. Exercise is not my favorite activity, unfortunately. But! I dodged that one. The race was cancelled due to record heat. Woo! Now I get to go home and sweat in the privacy of my home, instead of in the company of 7,000 other sweaty people. MUCH better.

Plus, I got a Day-Glo yellow t-shirt out of the deal. Seriously. They would have been able to see me from miles away, as I trudged my way across the 3.5 mile line.


This picture doesn't even adequately display the brightness of this shirt. M is for magically bright. (And check out my bathroom tile in the background. Hee.)

Summer Weekends

I'm sitting at my desk, looking out at the sun shining down on the freshly cut grass of my front lawn. I'm listening to the birds singing, I'm watching the weeds on the edge of the corn field across the street waving in the breeze. My cat Gracie is napping on the desk next to my computer, her sister Zelda is on top of the TV taking a bath. Bernie is sleeping on the floor behind my chair and Willow is, at least for the moment, being quiet laying on her bed. I've had another great weekend - not doing much of anything, but getting to spend time with someone I love, hanging out yesterday and just getting groceries today. And I'm thinking about how wonderful summer weekends are, and how great it would be if we all got to have summers off, like we did when we were kids.

Imagine it! Sleeping in everyday. Hanging out with your friends everyday, because you don't have anywhere you have to be or anything you have to do, so why not? Going to the pool to swim (in my backyard, if I had gotten it open this year), hanging out on the couch (in this fantasy I have one) watching movies while you eat popcorn and drink sodas. And going to bed late every night, knowing that tomorrow you get to get up and do whatever you want again, because it's summer, and that's what summers are for.

It's a really nice fantasy. But of course we all have bills to pay, so we have to work, and the summer fun is relegated to two short days a week, for the three short months that summer lasts. But you know what? That's okay too. It may not be the carefree months of fun that we had when we were kids, but every week of work is followed by a weekend, and summer weekends are the best. Thanks for sharing them with me, some of you by physically spending time with me, and the rest of you by just stopping in to see what I've been up to. I hope you all have been enjoying your summer weekends as much as I have. And try not to let the idea of Monday get you down. Because Monday is only five short days away from the next weekend.

Reading Update

I'm still on my quest to read all of the books listed in the lists I linked to here. I'm making slow but steady progress, and am discovering some great books along the way. Here, partly in case you care and partly because I want to keep track for myself, are the ones I have read so far.

The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
Middlemarch, by George Eliot
My Antonia, by Willa Cather

Funny, I didn't realize until I wrote those down that all of them so far have been written by women. Interesting. I enjoyed all of these books, which gives me great hope for the rest of the ones on those lists. Of the five I've finished so far, I think To Kill a Mockingbird was probably my favorite, and Middlemarch was the hardest to read by far. The story isn't hard to understand, but the language is old fashioned and harder to get through. I enjoyed it, though.

On deck to be read next:

Women in Love, by D.H. Lawrence (there goes my streak of women writers)
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf

This quest is going to take me years - even though there are overlaps on some of the lists, there are still hundreds of books listed. It's a good quest, though, and I look forward to every single book I'll encounter along the way. Although I have to say I may skip a couple, namely Schindler's List, because I saw the movie and it depressed me so much that I don't know if I can take the book, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, because they just don't interest me at all. I don't know - I might make myself try with that one, though. Millions of people loved them, so they can't be bad, even though I didn't find the first movie at all interesting, and never saw the other two. It will be put off until the end, though, so I don't have to think about it for a long time.

I feel like I should mention here, too, that most of these books are being taken out of the library, but I'm also reading some of them online - go to www.gutenberg.org to check out their collection. They only seem to have older books, most likely because of copyright issues, but there are a lot of older books on these lists, so it's working out for me. It's a great resource if you don't want to purchase the books or make a trip to the library.

Movies and Books and Thunder, Oh My

I was going to mow the rest of the lawn tonight (I did half of it last night), but a thunderstorm came through, so I wasn't able to. Instead, I've been sitting here all night, pretty much bored to tears. This is what happens to me when I don't have my Sims to keep me occupied - my Simming computer is currently in the shop. I'll have it back soon, but in the meantime, I'm spending time reading and watching movies and TV. Which is normally fine, but tonight I'm just antsy. Sarah told me to jump on the bed, but I didn't. I should have - she said it would help. Sigh.

I hate when I get like this, though. When I'm in this mood, I pretty much don't want to do anything. Reading? Fun for a few pages, but then no. Watching one of my birthday movies (thanks again, Sally)? It took me about three hours to get through an hour and a half movie, because I kept pausing it and wandering off. And I haven't even had the TV on since right after I got home.

What I should have done tonight was watch some Netflix stuff. I've got three discs that I've had for a week, and for me that's a long time - I try to watch them and get them back in the mail as soon as possible. If I'm going to pay the money, I want to get as many movies as possible per month. But not this week - they're just sitting there. I also have Jamie's copy of season one of Tru Calling, and his copy of King Kong to watch. I'm putting off the Kong because I'm afraid of remakes. I liked the originals of the Kong and Godzilla movies too much. They ruined Godzilla when they remade it, what if they do the same with Kong? Plus, the ending makes me sad. Anyway, maybe I'll get some DVD time in this weekend.

And now even writing in here isn't keeping my attention, so I'm off. I think I'll go watch some of that Netflix stuff. Party of Five season one, coming right up. It's fun to see them in the very beginning, knowing where they're going to go through the years. And then sleep, and then tomorrow is Friday! Yay! And of course I'm just working for that weekend. Hee. I know, that was a horribly cheesy song reference. And now I'm out of here. Have a great night!

Umm...

This is happening in the chat section of a solitaire game of yahoo mah jong right now. I'm changing the user names to protect their anonymity, although since they're having this chat in a public forum, I'm not sure why I'm bothering. There are two people involved - a girl, who I'll call Skank, and a boy who I'll call StupidButt (hereafter SB). Abbreviations and misspellings are all their own.

Skank: do u have a girlfriend StupidButt?
SB: no
Skank: do u want 1?
SB: yeah
Skank: how bout me?
SB: i don't even know u
Skank: so i don't now u
SB: do u have myspace?
Skank: yes
SB: well add me minne is (myspace name deleted)
Skank: but you can send me pics of u in the mail
Skank: k
SB: u can look at my pics on myspace
Skank: k
Skank: so wat r u wearing?
SB: nothing but boxers
SB: u?
At this point a less morally deplete person pops in and asks them to take it elsewhere, because they have kids in the room. To which SB responds: no (He is such a class act. But hey, this teen loser is getting some action! He ain't going nowhere.)
Skank: bra & thong
SB: kool
Skank: i know huh
And their conversation pretty much ended there, with the additional exchange of myspace addresses. And now Skank is trolling for more guys:
Skank: ANY GUYS WANNA TALK
Skank: HELLO
Skank: A HOT GIRL WANTS 2 TALK 2 A HOT GUY

Skank? If you were all that hot, you wouldn't be on Yahoo trolling for strange guys. But thanks for the little bit of fun on this boring Wednesday afternoon. I hope you find the troll of your dreams.

My Number

Stolen from Deals. This is pretty accurate, I think.

You Are 2: The Helper

You always put on a happy face and try to help those around you. You're incredibly empathetic and care about everyone you know. Able to see the good in others, you're thoughtful, warm, and sincere. You connect with people who are charming and charismatic.

What Number Are You?

(Probably) The Last Birthday Post of 2006

So, I had my last birthday celebration yesterday. A birthday that lasts five days! I love it. Jamie, Sarah, her fiance and I spent the afternoon out. We went and played mini golf, which was fun. Sarah has a lot of power in her swing! Too bad you don't really need that much power in mini golf. :) None of us were lucky enough to land a hole in one, but that's okay, because we had fun.

After golfing we went to Applebee's for dinner. I had a crispy orange chicken bowl, and only ate the chicken, but it was really good. Well, all except for the one bite that was inexplicably spicy hot, which set my tongue and lip on fire. Stupid chicken. And when we were done eating, I started hearing the waitresses coming out singing, and I was all like, "Oh man, someone is going to get embarrassed. Ha." And of course, they were coming to sing to me. I never saw it coming. The whole time they were walking towards us, I was thinking that they had to be coming to someone else, because how would they know to come to us? Jamie hadn't had time to talk to anyone about it. But I was wrong - he mouthed it to the waitress somehow while he was giving her the menus back. He was very pleased with himself, I could tell. And apparently, my face turned all kinds of red. It was kind of fun, though, and we had free dessert! So that's pretty cool.

Jamie is just lucky that his birthday is six months away, though. :P

And on a totally non-birthday related note, I'm sleeping again! I got a really good night's sleep on Saturday night, and another one last night. I'm very happy about that. Of course, I have been kicking Willow out of the bedroom at night because she won't stop growling so that I can go to sleep, so we have to work that out still, but whatever. I'm sleeping again. I'm a very happy camper.

And now I must get back to work. I hope you all have great Mondays!

Not quite as tired, but almost

Well, your good thoughts last night (if you read the last entry and sent me any) worked to an extent - Willow grumbled a little, but she wasn't as loud as the night before. I, however, had a raging case of insomnia going, and it wasn't ready to go away. I shut the TV off at 9:00, fully expected to be asleep by 9:15, I was so tired, but I was still awake at 1:00 in the morning. So not fun. I got a few hours sleep, but woke up at 5:00 again and was awake until later in the morning. I did finally manage to catch four more hours then, and woke up feeling much better, but still a bit tired.

Now I just have to hope that I'll be able to sleep better tonight! If I have to go through that three nights in a row, I just may lose my mind! So keep those good thoughts coming!

Tired

I am so stinking tired right now. I went to bed last night at about 10:00, and slept fine from about 10:30 or so until 12:15. Then I had get up to use the bathroom, and when I came back, I couldn't get back to sleep, mostly because Willow was growling. Like, growling non-stop for hours on end, keeping me awake. I yelled at her, I got up and tried to make her stop, but nothing worked until finally, at about 3:30, I got up and put her in her crate in the living room. She stayed quiet for about two hours, so I managed to get a couple hours of sleep myself. Then she started barking, so I had to get up and get her.

Anyway, so all told, I was in bed for about 8 1/2 hours, and managed to sleep for about 3 1/2 or 4 hours. Fun! I called in late to work, because I was so desperate to get a little more sleep, but it didn't work. This time it wasn't Willow's fault, it was just that I couldn't get to sleep. So I got up and went to work. And somehow I made it through the day and now I'm home, waiting for it to be late enough to go to bed. I could go to bed right now (it's 7:30), but if I do, I'll be up way too early. So I'm making myself hold out until 9:00.

Wish me luck for sleeping tonight. Willow has been grumbling the whole time I've been home. I don't know why she feels compelled to growl all the time. Her life before I adopted her may have been horrible, I don't know, but she has a good one now, and has had for almost a year. What does she have to be so unhappy about? Anyway, if she keeps me awake tonight, I may just lose my mind, which would be very bad for both of us, so think good, quiet dog thoughts, okay? Thanks.

This dog needs Prozac.

Birthday continued

Well, my birthday is about over for this year. I had a great day, too. I spent a lot of time relaxing, but I got some stuff done around the house, too, so I wasn't a total slug. I had an ice cream sundae for lunch, which is really the best kind of lunch to have on your birthday. I went to my sister's house and had my boiled dinner, which was yummy, and chocolate cake with boiled frosting, which was also yummy, and that combined with the sundae left me feeling absolutely stuffed. Oh man. I came home and put my pjs on so fast! My belly was way too full for jeans.

And of course I got a gift. I got a bouquet of very pretty flowers (I love flowers, and almost never get them, so they're very special to me when I do), and I got a sisters thing which is very cool - it's two figurines carved out of willow wood, and their hands connect. It's very nice.

I came back home an hour and a half or so ago, and my phone rang, and the birthday surprises kept coming, because it was my brother! This was the brother who lives in Virginia, who is closest to me in age than anyone else. I don't hear from him much - he has mostly seemed to like to pretend he doesn't have any family at all. But he called me today, and he sent me a card with pictures of his kids, and he even told me he loved me! The world may be ending anytime now, because those three things have to be a sign of that. It was a very nice surprise, though.

And now the day is almost over, and I'm relaxing for a while before bedtime. I love birthdays - they're usually a great day, and this one was no exception. I also got to chat with Sally for a while today, and she sent me a gift card for amazon.com, which I already used, so I'll be getting a package in the mail sometime soon, and really? That just means the birthday fun will last that much longer. So it's cool. And now I have to go relax. Good night!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yay! My birthday is here! The celebration started yesterday for me, on my pre-birthday, as my brother called it. Jamie gave me presents! I got Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich and Must Love Dogs. I love them both, James, thank you. I also left an hour early so that I could go get groceries and still be home at my normal time, which I did. The one downside to that is that it was a million fucking degrees outside, so even with my air conditioner running in my car, I was still all damp and sweaty by the time I got to the grocery store. This heat can break soon. Please? For me? It is my birthday, after all.

Today I am off from work, because I have never worked a birthday in my life, and I don't see any reason to start today. And I celebrated by sleeping in! Until 9:00! That, my friends, is something that NEVER happens. I'll sometimes make it to 8:00 or 8:15, but that's usually the limit. Not today, though. I did have to get up and make Willow get out from under the bed at about 5:30 this morning, though, because Bernie had crawled under there too, and she was on a steady grumble. You try to sleep in with a dog underneath you, going grrrrrr, grrrrrr, grrrrrr on repeat. Once she got out from under the bed, though, she shut up and was fine. Which is good, because I am NOT a pleasant person when my sleep is interrupted. Not that I would have done anything to her, but I would have been in a pissy mood all day, and who wants that? Not me.

Anyway, so I'm going to spend the day doing not much of anything. I'll be playing the Sims, eating brownie sundaes (if I actually bake the brownies today - I bought the stuff yesterday, but it was way too hot to be running the oven - if I don't bake them, then I'll just have ice cream with chocolate sauce, like I did last night, which is still pretty damn good) and hanging out watching TV until about 3:30, then I'm going to my sister's house. She is making me dinner - I requested boiled dinner, which I absolutely love. And for any of you people who don't know what that is, it is ham, cabbage, potatoes and carrots, all boiled together. It sounds kind of gross, I know, but the flavors all come out and merge and it tastes really good when it's done. I don't eat the cabbage, of course. :) She'll probably also make me a cake and I know she got me something too, so I'll have a present to open. I love my birthday.

Okay, that's all for now. I'll most likely update again later today with more birthday news. Have a great Tuesday everyone!

What Really Annoys Me

...Getting so used to fast forwarding past commercials while watching shows on my DVR, that I automatically try to fast forward past them even while I'm watching live TV! And then, because once isn't enough, I try it during every single commercial break! Ugh!

July Rocks, Reason Five, I think

Two movies, five hours in a movie theater + lots of time spent with good friends = an excellent Saturday. Today, Jamie and I went to see Superman Returns (I liked it, but wasn't blown away, I think Jamie got a little bored - the new Superman is pretty cute, though), and then an hour after that he, Sarah, her fiance Jeff and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man's Chest (fun, I really liked it, but going to a movie and being surrounded by loud talking kids with annoying laughs frustrates me, plus we got in the theater late, so we had to sit up front, which about killed my neck). It was a fun day.

Also? For the second time in less than a week, a complete stranger complimented me on my smile. Jamie and I were sitting in a booth at McDonald's having lunch, and the people in the booth behind Jamie got up to leave, and the lady told me she had "been noticing my smile, and it's very pretty." How cool is that? Compliments are fantastic.

See? July rocks. And it's only the 8th! There are a lot of rocking days ahead.

Tired Now

How can a work week that is only three days long make me so tired? Seriously. I worked harder the last two days than I usually do in two weeks, much less one. The college I work for is having orientation, and I've been helping out at my old office's booths, telling hundreds of kids and their parents about the laptops we have for sale. So many people came through between 8:00 and Noon yesterday (and the day before) that I almost lost my voice from talking, and couldn't get enough water - I was guzzling it whenever I got a break.

What the heck is that kind of work load about? Man. You'd think they expected us to earn our pay, or something. :)

July isn't rocking as much as it was the first four days, sadly, mostly because of going back to work. Although I have gotten to work with my good friend Sarah, though, so that rocks.

The month will start rocking again pretty soon, though, because my birthday is only 11 days away! Get used to hearing that, people, because I LOVE my birthday, and look forward to it like a kid looks forward to Christmas. I'm not sure why, since every one that goes by makes me older (but I've never cared about age), and since my parents are gone, I don't get showered in gifts anymore (but then, I just appreciate what I get that much more). But it's a day about me, and I get gifts from at least two people, usually, and I get a cake at work and another one from my sister, and that really does rock. Birthdays rule.

Also? After two and a half days of sitting in a hard folding chair at orientation, my cushy desk chair pretty much rocks, too. My butt and back are much happier this afternoon. Aren't you glad I shared that?

And that's really all I have to say for now. Two more hours and the weekend officially starts, and I am very happy about that. And the new Pirates movie starts this weekend! Johnny Depp as a gay pirate - what else could you ask for in a movie?

July Rocks, Reason 4: Independence Day

I've already written here that July 4th is my favorite holiday - it beats Christmas hands down, and comes really close to beating my birthday, too. I wanted you all to be able to see why I love it so much, so I brought my camera with me today. Aren't you lucky?

I live in an area where we have the very classic small town 4th of July. The festivities start in the morning, when we go to the town green and walk around all of the vendor booths that are set up, offering everything from fruit and vegetables to silver jewelry. And, of course, pies.

Somehow I always end up being broke on the 4th, so I can never afford to buy anything. Which is sad, but somehow I survive. :) As you're walking around the green, you are surrounded by all of the people who live in the area, almost all of whom come out to enjoy the day. You'll see lots of red, white and blue clothing, flags on shirts and shoes and vests, and lots of kids and even quite a few dogs. And to set the mood, there is a jazz band playing in the middle of the green.

You'll see people selling balloons, and if you have a child with you (which we did), you'll of course have to buy one. We bought this one below - we didn't know at the time that it was an evil balloon. First it kept hitting us in the faces, and then it popped right next to my little great niece's head and scared the wits out of her. Bad balloon.

Then the parade will finally start to come through, and you'll see lots of fire trucks and ambulances, some old tractors, some people on horseback (and if you're lucky, like we were, one of those horses will poop right in front of you. Cool!) and a few bands. The bands, of course, are the best part of the parade, and it ended this time with a very cool one. Three of the schools in the area joined their bands together to form one large band with (from what I heard) 300 members. It was very impressive.

(I was going to include more pictures here, but blogger decided to crap out on the picture uploading, so that's all I can include. Go a few posts below to find my flickr link - you'll find some more pictures there.)

After the parade, if you're lucky enough to be in a family like I am, you'll go back to the house and hang out for a while. At my sister's house, my nephew was waiting at the house to bombard us with water balloons, a fight that ended with him tossing his girlfriend and himself into the kiddy pool in the backyard. Silly kids (well, he's almost 19, but still). You'll talk and have fun and then there will be a barbecue, with hamburgers, hot dogs, marinated chicken, macaroni salad, fruit salad and of course chips.

If you're me, once the barbecue is over you have to go home to let the dogs out and spend some time with them, which is exactly what I did. Then when evening came, I headed back to my sister's house and had a still warm from the oven brownie (yum), hung out for another hour or so, and then we headed back to town to watch the fireworks. If you're like my sister and I, you'll sit in lawn chairs on the grass and talk (and read a little, in my case), and watch the people slowly pile in while the kids play on the grass. Then, at about 9:30, the fireworks start. In the town we go to, they set off the fireworks over the local college, and they're really very nice. I took video of the finale - if I can figure out how to upload that here, or on flickr, I'll let you see it.

And then they're over, and you go home, and you sit up and post entries about the great day on the Internet for the world to read, even though you should be getting to bed because you have to get up and go to work in the morning (and I have to be at work at 7:00, so I really need to hit the hay - it's 11:02 right now. Eek!) And there you have the perfect small town 4th of July.

And in two weeks? Birthday! July really does rock.

July Rocks, Reason Three

Yesterday? After a long day of editing boring papers? I had chocolate soft serve ice cream for dinner. Oh yeah, you're jealous, I know.

And of course, today is parade day, so I'll be back later with pictures, if my camera batteries get done charging before I have to go. I heart July 4th.

And it's exactly two weeks until my birthday. Woo! :)

July Rocks, Reason Two

Today I had planned on sitting at home all day, editing papers. Instead, I went to a movie with my sister - we went to see The Lake House. It was a pretty good movie, and a great distraction. Editing those papers isn't particularly hard, but it is boring as hell. No offense to the people who wrote them, but research papers aren't exactly thrilling to read. But the pay is good, so I persevere. :)

Right now, though, I'm taking a break from the boredom, so I thought I'd write a quick note here to show that July really is rocking. I mean, two days in a row where I thought I'd just be sitting at home doing nothing but working on editing papers, and I got to go do fun stuff instead. Well, at least in addition to. See? July rocks.

The movie earlier really was pretty good, like I said - it wasn't a waste of the $4.50 matinee price. It did, however, like romance movies are wont to do, leave me yearning when it was over. I drove the whole way home feeling once again that hole in my life where a romantic relationship should be. I'm not feeling it with quite the same intensity now that I'm home editing research papers, but the hole is there, like it always is. I'm just waiting for help filling it.

Anyway, I have a feeling that tomorrow will be a little less rocking than today, simply because I have to get the rest of these papers finished so that they're done before the holiday - I do not want to be editing when I should be enjoying the day. Still, even though I'll be working on those papers, I'll be home, and working at home is better than a regular day of work. Always. So it'll still rock a little. And now I need to get back to the current paper. Later!

July Rocks, Reason One

My July 4th weekend is off to a fantastic start. I got up today fully expecting to not do much of anything (except for editing). I did some laundry, I chatted with Sarah, who was up uncharacteristically early for a Saturday, I watched some DVR'ed TV, and about Noon I went in and took a shower and got dressed. When I got done and came back to my desk, I had an IM from Jamie asking me if I wanted to go to Chittenango Falls Park, which is a nearby state park with some amazing waterfalls (Sally, you remember - where we went with Bo when you and Steve were here visiting last year). And we went and walked up and down the trails, and almost killed ourselves because we are too out of shape, and we watched the amazingly beautiful waterfalls (I didn't take my camera, but Jamie did - I stole the pics from him), and we went around to the other side of the water, and we sat on some big rocks and stuck our feet in the water, and we just hung out in the sun and had a great relaxing time.

I am very lucky to have the friends that I have, and I love spending time with them.

Don't Rain on My Parade, Dang It

All you naysayers just need to quit. Jamie and Sarah! I'm talking about you! The July 4th festivities WILL be held in Hamilton. Because it's my favorite holiday, and they have to be. :) And besides, all they need is to have the stuff on the green and then the parade - I don't care as much about the fireworks. They're nice, but as long as the rest of the day happens, I'll be happy.

And it WILL happen! Because I say so. So there. (And if they don't happen, I'll be very sad, so think good thoughts, okay? No more of this "what if they don't have anywhere to have them" stuff. 'Kay? 'Kay.)

Lonely Now

I don't know why this hits me at night, but it does. I come home from work, I hang out and watch TV or DVDs or read a book or play the Sims, and if I keep my mind occupied, I'm okay. But then I'll hit a quiet stretch, like now, and I just get...well, lonely, I guess. I've lived alone for most of my adult life, and sometimes at night I feel like I can't take another day of it. But somehow the days just keep piling up, so I guess I can. But I reserve the right to hate it sometimes.

I know I'm not the only one who feels this. It's too bad us lonely people can't find each other on nights like this. We might be much less down about it all.

I haven't done this in a while, so for a change:

Just finished reading: The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. Check one off my reading lists!
Just starting to read: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
Listening: to Willow lick her dog bed. I have no idea why she's doing it, but at least she isn't growling at nothing. For a change.
Wishing: That must be pretty obvious by what I wrote above.
Looking forward to: maybe mini golfing with Jamie, Sarah and Jeff this weekend (we have to plan when/if we're going to do that). Also looking forward to July 4th and then my birthday. Maybe I could convince one or more of those people I just named into hanging out and having fun on those days? Hmm...Well, my birthday is on a Tuesday, but maybe on the 4th? Guys? What do you say? Fireworks? Fun, right? Ooh, and cake on my birthday. Yummy.

Muddy Flood

When I got home from work today, it wasn't even raining, but it started downpouring a little while later. Now, outside of my window, I have this going on:

I've lived in this house since November, 1999, and this is only the second time this has happened. It isn't much of a flood as floods go - I'm not in any danger here, it's not even coming up on the lawn, much less into my house - but it's pretty messy and dramatic for this house. I guess I'm lucky that I can look at all that muddy water running down out of the field and think how cool it is, instead of having to see it as a reason to worry about my house and myself and my animals. It is pretty freaking neat, though.

Also going on in my life right now, there is work, work and more work. I am back to my full-time job this week, and it is keeping me busy just about every minute of every day so far, and in addition I am also beginning to work on an editing job for my good friend Sally (Hi Sally!), so my evenings are full of work, too, and this weekend will be as well, because I want to get the job done before the 4th. I plan on enjoying the 4th to the fullest. For most people here in the states, the 4th is just a random day off, but it's my favorite holiday, and here is why.

First: I spend the whole day with my sister and as much of her family that is around. Second: we go to the green in Hamilton in the morning (a green is basically a town square, for those unfamiliar with the term - a large grassy area for public use) and look at all the stuff that is set up there for sale. There are plants and veggies/fruit, and lots of crafts, as well as a few different kinds of food tents. Third: after we walk around the green, we stand on the side of the road and watch the parade. I love parades - I think I inherited that from my mother and grandmother. They both loved them too, so I come by it honestly. Fourth: after the parade, we go back to my sister's house, and hang out and have a barbecue. Always a fun time. Fifth: if they aren't rained out, there are fireworks to go to that night, and they are always cool. And sixth: it's a great family day, in the summer, so the weather is guaranteed not to be snowy and horrible (although it's not guaranteed to be hot or even warm), and best of all there isn't the pressure of gift buying that there is at Christmas. See? There you have six reasons why it is my favorite holiday.

And I didn't even plan on writing that, but I guess it's what was in my head. And now I'm out of here. I'm going to go back to listening to the rain and watching the dirty water washing down my road (although it's already receding, just since I have been writing this). I hope you are all having great Tuesday nights.

Bored Now

Okay, one week of vacation, and I am totally ruined. I am so bored! Give me one day where I don't have anything fun planned to do, and I sit here at my computer with the TV on, completely bored and not knowing what to do to occupy myself. Even the Sims didn't draw my attention. Help! I have forgotten how to be alone!

On the other hand, Days of Our Lives is on Soap Net right now, and I know almost everyone on the show - and I haven't watched it since like 1989. Cool. Plus? I had it on for roughly 20 seconds, and saw three bare chested, 6-pack ab having men. Bonus!

But, really? Bored now! (Anyone who recognizes that reference is an instant friend of mine. Jamie? You know, right?)

Sigh

My vacation week is just about over - it's back to work tomorrow. And just when I've actually managed to sleep until 8:00 for two days in a row! It took me a whole week to get myself to be able to do that, and now I am going to have to go back to getting up at 6:30. Yuck. Oh well. I only have to work one full week and then it's July 4th, so I'll get one or two extra days off there.

And of course, my birthday is exactly two weeks from the 4th, on the 18th. Fair warning for anyone who reads this and knows me and might want to buy me something. :)

Well, I just had a little bit of excitement. First, so that you can picture this - I'm still in my pajamas, which today means a pair of Jimmy Hendrix pajama pants (I like men's pajama pants, and they didn't have much of a selection - this is not a statement on any kind of fanship or anything) and a Santa Fe t-shirt (no bra), with flip-flops on my feet and very flat, uncombed bedhead. Super attractive. I hear a knock on my door, and I look out and see an animal control truck, so I answer the door. There is a lady out there (and a man in the truck), asking me if I have a ladder, because there is a fledgling bird (grackel, she said) that she just took out of the road - it was apparently trying to take its first flight, and it isn't quite ready. She wanted to put it back into the tree. So I go into my (horribly messy, very spider filled and therefore usually off limits to me except for the part where my lawn mower is stored) garage and get my ladder, and they put the fledgling in the crook of the tree, and it promptly flies right back out onto my lawn. Silly bird. Meanwhile, the parent birds are chirping like mad, yelling at us for messing with their baby. The lady picks the fledgling back up and puts it on my side lawn, where it will hopefully calm down and figure out how to stay in the air and out of the road so that it doesn't get hit.

And I'm sure the animal control people enjoyed the sight of me outside in my PJs. Score!

Anyway, back to my end of vacation entry that was interrupted by bird craziness. I had a really great vacation week. I got to go to Maine and fall in love with a coastline, I got to spend a lot of time with my sister and her husband (although I would have loved a little bit more alone time with my sister, but I am very glad that her husband was with us too), I got to go on a whale watch and see a finback whale, and I even had a few days once I got back to hang out and relax and get the dogs settled back in and used to our usual routine. And I got to see Sarah for a little while and I got to hang out with Jamie for a while, and basically have a great time.

And Jamie gave me a Superman lunchbox, for no reason other than that he saw it and knew I would love it. Yay! Unexpected gifts rock, especially super cool ones like that. Thanks Jamie! Okay, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday. Later gators!

Photo Link

In case you missed it, there is a new post below - my last vacation post from Maine (posted a day late). I couldn't get blogger to upload my pictures, and since I have that problem a lot, I decided to be like the cool kids and get a flickr account. If I have the correct link, you can go here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36112851@N00/

to view my pictures. If that doesn't work, because I am an idiot when it comes to these things, my username there is avidreader2466. The pictures are all public, so you should be able to see them. Now, go! Enjoy! Pictures of water and rocks and beautiful scenery never get old, right? Right. :)

And entry a day late

I tried to post this yesterday, but the wireless connection wasn't strong enough to load the pictures, so I'm trying again today.

******

Our day was started today with a whale watching cruise. We sailed out from Bar Harbor at about 9:00 in the morning. We had a nice cruise out about 25 miles out to sea. Along the way we saw puffins, seals and a couple of lighthouses. It was a nice, leisurely cruise. But one thing is for sure - it may be nice on land, but when you get out to sea and get moving at up to 30 miles per hour? It gets pretty stinking cold. I had on a t-shirt, a zip-up hoodie and by the time we got going, I was wearing a coat that I bought here too, and I was still cold. And the wind! Oh man, my eyes almost couldn't take it. I was beginning to wonder if it was worth it, and then suddenly it was.

The whale that we saw was a finback. He (or she) surfaced plenty of times, so we got some pretty good looks at him (or her). My pictures didn't come out great - a small digital camera isn't quite up to this kind of situation. It didn't matter, though. The experience is one I'll always remember.

Thsi afternoon we hung out for a while, and then we went to play some mini golf. I had made a bad choice and had a piece of chocolate cake for dessert at lunchtime, and it was a little too moussy and milky for me - my lactose problems acted up. I felt pretty crappy. But we left to go back to the shore where we went yesterday. And I'm so glad we did.

By the time we got there, I was feeling much better, but even if I hadn't, I think that I would have once we were there. High tide was at just about 8:00 tonight, and we got there a little after 7:00 to watch the show. Nature puts on one heck of a display, too, let me tell you. The surf came crashing in to the rocks on the shore (the rocks that Jamie loves my pictures of oh so much), smelling of salt and fish, and splashing anyone who ventured too close to the tide line as it moved. As we were there, the sun was setting and the light was amazing. It was the most calming, relaxing place we could have been at that moment. And it is officially my new favorite location on earth.

Tomorrow our trip is over, and I have to say I am a little sad. I will be happy to see the critters again, and to see Sarah and Jamie and give them their souvenirs (I'm not telling you what I bought - ha), but I will miss being able to drive just 20 minutes or so to get to that beach.

*******

Okay, the pictures won't load on my home network either (I got home an hour and a half ago or so), so I'll just post this and load the pictures up later.

Vacation Post

Hello from Maine! We have had such a great day. We started out this morning going for a ride to see a lighthouse, and stopping along the way at a couple of places on the coast - the pictures I posted earlier are from those places. The scenery here is absolutely gorgeous. I seriously would love to pack up the critters and move here for at least a few months out of the year. It's just fantastic. We saw the lighthouse at Bass Harbor, which you saw below. We had to climb down some steep wooden stairs and across a rocky area to get a good view. My brother-in-law climbed out for that picture in the entry below - I wasn't about to climb out there myself. I like my neck in one piece, thanks.

This afternoon my brother-in-law went golfing and my sister and I went shopping in Bar Harbor. I spent way too much money, but it was a lot of fun. We even spent half an hour or so browsing through a bookstore, so you know we had fun. After we were shopped out, we went and sat on a bench by the harbor. And as if that wasn't enough sightseeing fun for one day, we then drove up to the summit of Cadillac Mountain. The clouds were rolling in and fogging it up a bit, but it was still pretty amazing. And now we're relaxing for tonight.

Okay, enough talking - here are some more pictures.

This is the harbor where we sat and relaxed after our strenuous day of shopping. Very pretty.

This is on the way up the hill in Acadia National Park.

From the summit of Cadillac Mountain. The white spots on land in the distance are Bar Harbor. The above picture was taken from the shore in front of those islands.

Another view of the town spread out below. It is indescribably beautiful here. Tomorrow we're going to take a whale/puffin watching cruise, if the boats go out. The water was too choppy for them to go out today, so cross your fingers for us. We also might go out on a beautiful four masted boat. More pictures tomorrow, if this crappy wireless connection holds out!

Wish You Were Here

Beautiful, gorgeous - wish you were here.

Getting ready to go

About 20 1/2 hours from now, I will be on my way to Maine. Yay! I'm so excited. We're going to have a lot of fun on our trip.

I've been spending this weekend getting ready to go. I went shopping yesterday and got some new socks and pajama pants (which I really only got because I needed them, not just for the trip), some new sandals (they were for the trip) and I don't know what all else, but I spent a ton of money. I also got some groceries for my nephew for while he's here and of course for the animals so that they have everything they need while I'm gone.

And the best purchase of the day - I got a quart of the juiciest, sweetest, freshest strawberries ever, directly from the farm stand. Yum. I love fresh June strawberries. I refuse to buy the ones from the grocery store, because they are horrible in comparison.

And today I've been cleaning up a storm, and sweating like a madwoman doing it. I've got about half of the house cleaned, and still have the other half to do, and then it will be presentable for my nephew when he comes to watch the critters. I have also started to pack up what I don't need between now and tomorrow morning - by the time I go to bed tonight, all I will have left to do in the morning is all my regular morning stuff to take care of the critters, I'll have to get myself ready to go, and I'll have to pack up my bathroom stuff and my laptop. Everything else will be done.

I can't wait to pull out of that driveway tomorrow morning and hit the road. Woo! If the wireless card that I borrowed from Jamie works in the hotel we're staying in, I'll be posting while we're there, so watch this space - I'll share some of my pictures with you. I hope you're having a great weekend!

"Cuddles Bit Me" la la la

I was outside with the dogs last night, and we lingered for a while, because it was absolutely beautiful out. When we came back in, I had a message on my machine, and it was from my Aunt - my father's sister. I've probably mentioned that my Dad died when I was two, but I may not have mentioned that I haven't really known any of his family since, because of a falling out between my Mom and my Dad's Mother. Anyway, I couldn't remember the last time I saw or spoke to this woman, so it was strange.

We had a nice conversation. She had called because her mother died last winter, and in her will she had left all of what she had (which wasn't much, I'm sure, since our family has never been what you'd call well off) to her ex-son-in-law (my Aunt's ex-husband). But there was a life insurance policy that was apparently left from when my grandfather died, which wasn't named in the will - all of her descendents would have been owed a portion of it. It apparently isn't for much money, though, and once it was divided among my Aunt, my four siblings and myself, it would have amounted to a few hundred bucks or so for each of us. The ex-son-in-law had papers sent out to everyone asking them to sign off their share so that it could go to him for his expenses in taking care of her estate.

Anyway, everyone signed off except for her, because she's thinking of fighting for her share, and me, because I'm a lame-o and I forgot to send the papers back. Since we didn't sign off, we were sent a summons to come to a court date next week if we wanted to contest it. She called me to see if I was going to fight it. Of course I told her no - I didn't even know the woman, I'm not going to fight to get any of her money. Once that talk was over, we had a nice little conversation, and just before she hung up, she told me that the last time she saw my father before he died, he had come to the house where she was living with her parents, and he had me with him. I was two years and 10 months old, and she said I was singing a song about Cuddles biting me. (Cuddles was my Mom's Pekingnese dog at the time.) So just like that, she gave me a little snippet of my toddlerhood that I would otherwise have never known about, and she let me know that sometimes I got to go places with my Dad all by myself - the other kids must have been in school. It was very cool. I just wish I could hear what my almost three year old self sounded like, and what kind of song I made up.

Ready too early

I got up too early this morning, and can't leave for work for another half an hour, so I thought I would check in here. Do you like the rubber duckies? I bought them this weekend at Bath & Body Works. Two dollars each! What a bargain. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them - I don't have much surface space in my bathroom. For right now they're sitting on my desk.

I only have five days to go before I leave on vacation. It's so exciting! I'm going to have a lot of work to finish up this week so that I'm not leaving a ton of unfinished projects on my desk while I'm gone, but that's okay. It'll just make the rest of the week go more quickly. I hope. Although yesterday felt like it would never end.

Anyway, every day since Monday I've gotten up and thought of where I would be a week from that moment. Monday it was in the car on our way there, and yesterday and today it's just "there." Because I don't know what we'll actually be doing at what time. I can't wait to go, though. I need a break. The hotel we're staying in has wireless Internet, so I'll probably be posting while I'm gone. And I'll take plenty of pictures!

Woo! Vacation is almost here!

Okay, I guess that's all for now. I should go finish getting dressed and let the dogs out again. They never finish their business in one trip, because they're too anxious to get their breakfast. Silly dogs. Have a great Wednesday!

Thinking...

...How great it is to spend a day with friends.
...How lucky I am to have found two great friends through work.
...How lucky I am to have found another great friend through a previous job.
...How great it is to have a house full of critters (even though I'm kind of looking forward to a vacation from them in a week and a half - a few days away is sometimes a good thing).
...How great it is to have a sister that I can be close to and share things with (like our upcoming trip).
...How much I regret having forgotten about and missed my niece's party last night.
...How much I love being in the middle of a great book and having seven more sitting on my desk waiting for me.
...How I have everything in my life right now that I could ask for, not counting material things, with the one exception of that someone to share my life with in a romantic, spend the rest of my life with my best friend kind of way.
...That I shouldn't complain about the weather, because I'd rather have it cold instead of blistering hot, but that I also would like to not have to run space heaters in June to get my house above 60 degrees.
...That a certain person in my life has no idea how attractive he is, how great he is, and how important he is to the people around him - myself most definitely included.
...That a certain other person in my life has turned out to be a very funny, fantastic person to spend time with, despite the fact that when I first met her, she never said a single word the whole first day that we spent sitting next to each other at work. :)
...That a cat's purr might just be the best sound in the world, especially when the cat in question is sitting on my shouler, purring right into my ear, at a time when there isn't any other sound in the house but for the sound of the space heater by my desk, the computer fan on my desktop, and the clicking of my keys on my laptop.
...That weekends need to last forever, because they fucking rule. Especially when they include Chinese food for dinner and the possibility of yummy soft serve ice cream on Sunday.
...That I'm really happy that I haven't taken the flannel sheets off my bed yet (yay, warm toasty bed on a cold summer night).
...How much I love the fact that I bought two rubber duckies today - one yellow, one pearly white.
...That Sarah is going to love what I bought her today, and how much I love teasing her by mentioning it here but not telling her what it is. :P

I'm a Bad Aunt :(

When I was at my sister's house on Monday afternoon, her oldest daughter was there, and she mentioned that she was having a party tonight for all of the family (my sister has six kids, three of whom are married, so they have a LOT of family), and she invited me too. She just moved here from Colorado a month or so ago, and she just got an apartment that I haven't been to yet, so I don't know where it is. See a problem here?

Well, the problem could have been avoided if I had called my sister and asked where my niece lives and what time the party was going to be, but by the time I got through the week of work, I had forgotten about the party. So I didn't think to call her. I had been home for a couple of hours when the phone rang. I let the machine pick up, because I always do (I get a lot of calls from solicitors) - it was my brother-in-law on the phone. I could hear the party in the background, so I smiled and got up to answer the phone. One more problem? He hung up just as I was getting to the phone. And he didn't tell me where her apartment is. Sigh. Oh well. I called and left a message on my sister's phone. If they call me back, I'll find out where she lives and go. Otherwise? Well, next time I'll have to make sure that I know where the party is and when to be there! And maybe they better call and remind me at some point the day before the party. :)

Numbers thingy

9 lasts (taken from Sarah's myspace blog)

9. Last place you were: outside with the dogs
8. Last cigarette: Never in my life
7. Last beverage: water
6. Last kind of candy: Brach's malted milk balls. Yum, yum, yummy
5. Last phone call: Jamie, at work
4. Last CD played: Barenaked Ladies, on my mp3 player
3. Last bubble bath: I have no idea. I used to take a lot of them when I was a teen - not so much since
2. Last time you cried: I honestly don't remember. I may have teared up at a book or movie or something.
1. Last alcoholic drink: I don't remember when, but it would have been something mixed that masked the taste of alcohol, because I hate that taste. I seem to remember something green, that tasted like a Sweet Tart, but I don't remember it's name.

8 Have you evers

8. Have you ever dated someone twice. No
7. Have you ever been cheated on? Not that I know of
6. Have you ever cheated on someone? No
5. Have you ever kissed someone and regretted it? No, I don't think so
4. Have you ever fallen in love? Yes, and got my heart stomped for my trouble
3. Have you ever lost someone? Sadly, yes. Too many
2. Have you ever been depressed? Yes, because of the above
1. Have you ever dumped someone? Yes. Everyone I've ever dated except for the one I fell in love with and one other guy.

7 States you've been to

7. NY
6. HI
5. VA
4. TN
3. FL
2. IL
1. NM
And I could go on to add more.

6 Things you've done today

6. Had dinner with my sister
5. Hired my nephew to watch my dogs and my house while I'm on vacation. Yay!
4. Read a little of The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
3. Skated during lunch
2. Hugged my dogs
1. Cleaned out Willow's disgustingly dirty ears

People you can tell pretty much anything to

5. my sister
4. Sally
3. Sarah
2. Jamie
1. Um, I guess I only have four

4 places you want to go

4. Maine (in two weeks, yay!)
3. Italy
2. France
1. Hawaii (already been, but want to go back)

3 favorite colors

3. Dark green
2. Blue
1. Red

2 things you want to do before you die

2. pay off my bills (although if number one never happens, they won't have anyone to get the money from after I die, so screw 'em)
1. Get married, or at the very least fall in love with someone who actually falls in love with me, too, and live together until we get old and decrepit.

1 thing you wish you could change?

1. I would go back in time and go to college right after high school.

Maine Pics, not taken by me

Well, blogger still won't let me add more pictures to my last post, but for some reason I was able to add them to a new post, so here they are. Sigh. Blogger, you make my life difficult sometimes.

This is a view of a Bar Harbor street. I'll be walking down this street in about two weeks! I hope the shops have some cute stuff.

A Maine lighthouse. We hope to get to tour one of these while we're there.

Views of the beauty that is Acadia National Park. It's pictures like these that made me fall in love with Maine in the first place. I couldn't care less about lobster, but give me a rocky sea coast and I'm in love. I am so looking forward to this vacation.

All of these pictures were taken from a brochure that is available in PDF form from www.downeastregion.com.

Vacation!

My sister just came over, and we did the beginning stages of planning our vacation. We booked a room at a motel in Bar Harbor, Maine...and wait, it occurs to me that I never told anyone who reads this and doesn't know me in real life that our trip to Virginia is off. My sister couldn't afford the whole Busch Gardens trip, so we decided that instead of going away for a week to Virginia we'd go for a couple of days someplace else, and we've decided on Maine.

We're going to Mt. Desert Island, and staying in Bar Harbor, right close to Acadia National Park. We looked up some information online, and so far we've planned on going on a puffin and whale watching tour one day that we're there, my brother-in-law will go golfing one day while my sister and I go shopping, and we're of course going to go into Acadia and do some hiking/sightseeing. There is a 27 mile loop somewhere that you can drive that goes up a mountain, and we want to do that. We also want to go and watch the sunrise over the ocean one morning. It's going to be a great trip.

I haven't had a real vacation in a while. I went to Tennessee to visit my brother last year, but that was staying with him and just seeing a few things around his area. It was great, but it wasn't a going away, staying in a hotel and sightseeing all the time kind of trip. So this will be a lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to the trip. I've always wanted to see Maine. I feel like I've fallen in love with it just from pictures - it'll be great to see it in person. And my sister has been very stressed out from the family stuff that has been going on, so I know she needs the trip. It will be good for her and her husband to get away. And we're going in two weeks! Woo!

The only down part is that I am going to probably have to board my dogs, and I absolutely hate HATE the idea. I just don't have anyone to watch them at the house for me, though. Jamie doesn't want to stay here because he has cats of his own, and he doesn't want to leave them alone for that many days. Sarah has a dog of her own, and doesn't seem sure that my dogs would be okay with her staying with them in my absence (although I'm sure they'd be fine Sarah, and I'll pay you! I gave my nephew $150 last year!), and my niece is already dog/house sitting for someone else. My nephew who has done this in the past for me is living with someone now, and old enough that he probably doesn't want to house/dog sit for me, and my other nephew is allergic to cats. Sigh. I hate boarding my dogs. I know they're okay while they're there, but I always worry about them wondering why they're in such a strange, loud, uncomfortable place, and wondering where I am and if I'm abandoning them. And now I need to quit talking about it.

Anyway, short of the dog boarding stress, this is going to be a very fun trip, and it's going to be here in just two short weeks! I'm so excited!

Also: I had two more pictures that were supposed to be in this entry, but for some reason blogger isn't uploading them. It tells me it did, but they don't show up. What's up with that? How are you people going to be jealous about where I'm going if you can't see where I'm going? Sigh.

Ice Show

Tonight I went to an ice show with my sister, her husband, Jamie, my boss, her husband and two of their kids. The show was to benefit the Freedom Guide Dogs organization, which raises and trains guide dogs for vision impaired people. They had a bunch of local skaters of all ages, and four professional skaters. It was a fun show, made even more fun because I got these tickets as a gift for doing the ad layout for the program, and we got to sit in the expensive seats on the ice. These people were skating inches in front of me. It was fun.

Wanna see pictures? You know you do. I had to take the camera to get some pictures for work, so I might as well post a few here. Before I show them, though, you should be aware that I was taking them with a digital camera that does not handle action well, so any movements come out blurry. Have you ever been to an ice show? Skaters don't stand still very often. Also, of course we couldn't use flash, so the lighting isn't the best (not that a flash would have done much good in these circumstances, but still).

Jozef Sabovcik did some amazing moves on the ice, and you could tell that he is a fun guy to be around. He was up dancing on the ice at the end when all of the kid skaters were going out to get their applause.

Steven Cousins was pretty amazing too. It's incredible the moves these guys can do with apparently no effort.

John Zimmerman and (a blurry) Kyoko Ina. They did some breathtaking moves. I've seen things like the death spiral on TV, but it's so different seeing it in person somehow. I mean, if her head had crashed into the ice, it would have been so close to me when it happened! Scary. I was most excited to see John, because I watched Skating with Celebrities, so I actually knew who he was. The rest of the skaters I had never heard of, really (sorry guys, if you ever google yourselves and find this). They were all amazing to watch, though.

And this little guy I'm only putting on here because you can't really see his face, otherwise I wouldn't post his picture on the Internet. This kid stole the show! Since the benefit was for the guide dog organization, they had a bunch of their smaller skaters dress up in dog outfits, complete with doggy face make-up, and skate around the ice. They were extremely cute and funny to watch, but this little black doggy here stole the attention from everyone else. He was such a ham, mugging for the crowd. And he never fell once! Way to go, little kid!

Okay, and now it's past my bedtime, so I'm going to post this and hit the hay. I just had to share the good time that I had with everyone. The only thing missing was Sarah. Sarah? They had black lab puppies there. You would have fallen in love! You should have skipped your cousin's wedding and come with us instead. :) Good night everyone!