Almost Done Skipping Chocolate

Ten days from today, I'll be able to have chocolate again, because my 40 day no chocolate experiment will finally be over. I'll be able to cross an item off my 101 things list, woo! But more importantly, I'll be able to have chocolate milk, and maybe some brownies, and definitely a candy bar of some sort. It's going to be a good day.

What have I learned from this experiment? Well, I guess I shouldn't really say I definitely did NOT lose my taste for chocolate, since I haven't had any in 30 days (if I had done a 30 day no chocolate experiment, I'd be eating it again today. D'oh! That's what I should have done), but based on how much I'm wanting it, I'd say it's a safe bet that I haven't lost any of my taste for it.

So I guess I've learned a couple of things.

One: I am definitely addicted to sugar. When the chocolate first went away, so did most of my sugar intake, and by day two I was withdrawing big time. So I added other forms of sugar into my diet, and I've been fine since. (I am NOT facing my sugar addiction right now. Maybe in the future, but not now.)

Two: I've discovered non-chocolate sources of the sweet stuff. Cookies that I normally overlook, like Fig Newtons and Lorna Doones. Cake flavors that I would never usually buy, like French Vanilla and even muffin flavors that I wouldn't have bought before, like Cinnamon Streusel (these were a hit with J, by the way. He hinted last night that we could have those again and it would be a good thing). :)

Mostly, though, I've learned that I CAN go without chocolate if I need to. I'll miss it, but I'll survive. However, since I don't HAVE to go without it, you better believe I'll be sinking my chocolate deprived teeth into a big candy bar or brownie or something come September 27. Mmm, I'm already licking my lips in anticipation.

Happy Things 2

As promised, here is my list of things that made me happy over the last week.

Sunday, 9/7: Opening day of football season. And okay, I don't really care about football at all, but J was home, and he was excited that he got to watch his Dolphins play (they don't air the Dolphins games much in our area), and we had ourselves a regular football party/junk food day. I automatically love any day that includes extra sharp cheddar cheese and crackers. Mmmm. Oh, and Hint of Lime Tostitos. I could eat those all day (and I think I did).

Monday, 9/8: Watching The Sarah Connor Chronicles with J. Getting on the floor and laying with Bernie, my head on his side. (I had a nasty headache that evening, so it was nice to just relax and do nothing much.)

Tuesday, 9/9: J calling me at work. :) I still love when he does that. Also, J pulling into the driveway when he got home from work, honking the horn to let me know he was home.

Wednesday, 9/10: Gracie was walking out of the bathroom in the morning (while I was in there getting ready for work). Sable was hiding outside of the door, under the china closet. When Gracie reached the doorway, Sable pounced on her! It made me laugh.

Thursday, 9/11: Seeing J's big smile and getting a big hug when he first got up (while I was getting ready for work). There's no better way to start the day.

Friday, 9/12: Unexpectedly having J home with me that night (he was originally supposed to be at work, but his schedule changed).

Saturday, 9/13: Gracie laying on my chest, oh so content and happy as I petted her. She's so pretty and sweet (they all are). That was a very nice, peaceful moment in a day that I kind of walked through asleep, because I didn't get enough sleep the night before. Also, I played a lot of Sims, which always makes me happy. I love to feed my addiction. Oh, and of course I knitted some, too. My scarf is getting long enough to actually look like a scarf now! Woo!

Talking To Myself

Believe it or not, I remembered to record my list of things that made me happy this week. I typed them at work every day. But then when I left work yesterday afternoon, I forgot to print them out or e-mail them to myself, so now that I'm home, I have no idea what they were. Oops? I'll post them on Monday.

J is at work today. This isn't anything unusual - he generally does work on Saturdays. But for some reason being alone today has made me remember what it was like before J, when I still lived alone and wasn't dating anyone. I talk to myself. A lot. I eat too much. It's not pretty. It's a good thing he'll be home most of tomorrow.

It is nice and quiet here right now, though - all of the animals are sleeping. It's nice.

Happy Saturday, people.

Template Change

If you visited this site yesterday, you saw a totally different template than this one. Sorry for changing it again, but I didn't love the one I put up yesterday - this one, though, feels more like me. I like it.

Gerber daisies are just so pretty, don't you think? They're cheerful. I like it. :)

Restless

I'm feeling very restless this afternoon. I feel like I need a change of scenery. I'm considering just getting up and walking around the building or something. Or maybe stepping outside and just standing there for a couple of minutes. Anything to get me away from my desk.

Or I want to move my blog to somewhere else, or redesign it or something. But hardly anyone reads this, and no matter where it is, it's still just me writing it, so what's the point? Sigh.

Also, I have 16 days to go and I'll be able to eat chocolate again. I think it's safe to say I'm not losing my taste for it. In fact, did I tell you I've been dreaming about it? Because I have. Nothing major, but I'll just be walking through my dream, eating a brownie. I miss brownies.

I have to bring in a snack for work tomorrow. I wish I could bring brownies. I have no idea what I'll make instead. Maybe some white or yellow cupcakes, or some sugar cookies or something. I don't know. I'll peruse the bakery aisle in the local store and see what I find.

Happy Thursday, people. I hope you're less restless than I am right now.

Willow and McDuff

For someone who acts like she hates all other animals, Willow sure does like McDuff. :) I can't blame her, though, he's a sweetie, for sure.

Falling Apart - Not Really

I have a canker sore in my mouth. It hurts when I eat. I hate canker sores.

I bit the inside of my cheek (left side - same side as the canker sore) while eating dinner last night. It hurt a lot, and is just waiting to jump in the way so I can continue to bite it whenever I eat.

I started getting a headache at work yesterday, but it wasn't bad, so I didn't take any Advil to get rid of it. It got progressively worse, so that I didn't feel up to doing anything last night. I did finally take some Advil, and then J and I spent an hour on the futon, watching The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I'm glad it was on, because that's all I was up to doing. (Also, I love my DVR. I had no idea the premiere was on last night, but the DVR knew, and it started recording it for us. DVRs rock.)

I feel a small headache beginning again this morning. I'm out of Advil. Sigh.

It's raining today. I don't own an umbrella (well, I do, but it got left outside on the porch too long and is now in the garage, which means it is dead to me, because spiders are most likely living in it. Or not, but in my mind they are, which means it's still dead to me). I need to walk across campus for lunch. I really hope it stops raining for half an hour, so I can make the walk without getting drenched. (I would just drive, but the students steal our parking spots if we leave them, and then I'd have nowhere to park when I got back.) I really need to buy myself an umbrella.

My Pandora radio station played a song this morning by a band called Diamond Nights. I had never heard them before, but I think I like them. They sound kind of like old school rock and roll, which is the best kind. Check them out. (You can listen to their whole album on their website, which is very nice. I wish more bands did that.) I'm up in the air about some of their songs, but I think I really like a few other ones.

There is some sort of training session getting ready to start in the conference room across the hall from my office. Their food table is set up in my area, because the conference room is too small to hold it. I really hope that they close the door to the conference room, because it's going to be annoying enough when they all file into my area for lunch - I don't want to have to listen to them all day, too. Sigh.

I once again failed to do a list of things that made me happy last week. Why do I suck so much at that? I'm going to go start a file on my work laptop right now, so that I can open it up every morning and write something down for the day before. Maybe this way I'll actually remember to do it.

Bye. :)

More Knitting Talk, with Pictures!

Check it out! This is the beginning of my first ever knitted scarf. There are a total of four patterns in this scarf, and you can see that I have three done already (the four are repeated four times, of course, to make it longer). I have started the fourth pattern, but I only have a couple of rows done, so you can't really see that yet. But aren't the other three cool?

This is the basket weave pattern, which was the first one I had to do. It's really easy, thankfully, and it came out well. There are a couple of minor errors in it, but this scarf is just for me, and I can live with them. :) And since it's my first real knitting project, I can live with a couple of mistakes. I kept thinking when I was doing this part that I would kind of like a sweater in this pattern - at least a sweater that had this for the front - maybe not the whole thing. But I'm not up to sweaters yet, so who knows what I'll end up making when I get ready for that.

This is the mesh stitch, which is the part that gave me the most trouble. Let's just say that I got a lot of practice at tearing out rows and picking stitches back up (which isn't all that easy when you're new to the whole knitting thing). There are mistakes in here, too - I had to completely fudge the last row to get back to the right number of stitches. But whatever, I wasn't tearing it out again, and like I said - this is for me, so I don't really care all that much if there are mistakes. Here's hoping that this section gets easier when I do it the second, third and fourth times, though, or I may just shoot someone.

This is the section I did last night - it's called sugar cubes. This one would make a cute sweater, too, although I don't know if I'd want to wear it - it might be too cute as a sweater. I don't know. Anyway, it was easy, and I don't think I made any mistakes in this at all! Or at least no major ones, and none that are even visible. So that's good.

The next section is called seed stitch, which is just knitting one stitch and then purling the next, and reversing that on the next row. It'll be easy, too, I hope. As long as I don't lose track of when to do which stitch.

Which reminds me, I totally learned something about this whole process from my Mother. I remember that when she was knitting a difficult pattern, or at least one where the rows were all different, she had a notebook that she would keep next to her, and she'd mark down rows as she finished them. Guess what I'm doing now? You better believe I'm writing them down, or I'd never remember what I just did, or where I left off the day before when I pick it up again. So, thanks Mom!

I'm really enjoying this whole knitting thing (like you couldn't tell). I plan on working on this and that baby blanket I've been making forever at the same time, so that I can get them both done soon (soon, I swear, so that baby has her blanket before it gets cold again). Once I have both the baby blanket and my scarf done, I'm going to try to make a sweater next, I think. I found a nice, easy looking pattern online that I want to try. We'll see. It'll be a while before I get these done, but I'll be working on the sweater by October, I hope.

Oh, and I'll get off the knitting topic long enough to say - I weighed myself this morning. I don't really have any idea what I weighed before I stopped snacking so much at work, but this morning I weighed about six pounds less than I would have expected to. Woo! This new minimal snacking at work habit is one I want to keep up.

Knitting and Chocolate and Snacking and Other Ramblings

I'm teaching myself to knit - working towards that entry in my 101 things, where I want to learn to knit and then make myself a blanket or sweater (preferably a sweater, since I think it would be cool to wear one I made myself). I'm doing this pattern: The Road Scarf. I've just finished the first part, which is a basket weave pattern, and it totally looks the same! I'm so proud of myself. I apparently knit tightly, which means it's a bit smaller than it is supposed to be, but that's okay. It's just a scarf, and that just means I made more basket weaves than they show in that picture to compensate.

Well, the next section is a mesh stitch, and I had absolutely no idea how to do that, but then I found videos online to help me! I love the Internet. In case anyone finds this post in the future and wants to know as desperately as I did, here they are. This woman shows how to do "yo, k2tog," and this knitting glossary shows how to do the Skp.

The Internet is a great thing. I'd rather have my Mom here to show me how to do these things, but I don't have her. In this case, the Internet is the best alternative. (Although nothing would ever replace her, of course.)

Anyway, learning how to do this pattern is apparently my new obsession. I have to have one always - usually it's the Sims, now it's knitting. At least I'll get a useful product out of the knitting (plus I can do it while I'm Simming, and feed two obsessions at once, hee).

I think I had other things I wanted to talk about in here. I wanted to post a couple of days ago, but I was way too busy, and now that it's two days later and I have the time, do you think I can remember what it was I wanted to say? Heck no. :)

Oh! I remember. I'm not old, but sometimes my memory doesn't work so good. And no, the fact that I am obsessed with knitting does not make me old. :P

So, what I wanted to say was this. I am on my 19th day without chocolate of any sort. I didn't even crave it for the first 13 of those days. But for the last six? Oh man. When we went to the Fair on Sunday, I wanted a soft serve chocolate ice cream cone. I wanted chocolate milk. And since then, I've wanted chocolate milk, chocolate ice cream, and just about any sort of candy bar (but without nuts). And last night J said we were going to have a junk day on Sunday, because it's opening weekend of football season, don't ya know, and he might even get to watch the Dolphins play, woo! So it's a reason to celebrate. And I was like, "Oh! I could make us some brownies!" Except then I couldn't eat them. Sigh. Why am I doing this no chocolate thing again? Just to see if I can lose my taste for it, like that one person did? I really don't think I will, if these cravings are anything to go by.

Maybe I'll get a box of yellow cake mix and some white frosting, and make us cupcakes instead. We can even put some orange sprinkles on them, in honor of the Dolphins.

Also, I haven't weighed myself, but I think the no chocolate thing, combined with the fact that I've changed how I eat at work, is making me lose weight. See, I used to bring my lunch, and use the money work gives us for lunch to buy sodas, candy bars, chips, cookies, etc., to go with my sandwich and to have as snacks later in the day. Well, instead of doing that, I'm now spending my lunch money on - imagine this - lunch! Which means no snacks (or not many). I'm not going to weigh myself to find out for sure, but I think I may have lost a bit of my abdomen. Here's hoping I'm right, and that it continues.

Okay. I've rambled enough now. Just one thing - is it 4:30 yet? I want to go home and knit. :)

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.

Loving the Weekend, Missing Vacation

At some point during a trip to town yesterday to pick up dinner for me and J, my car's odometer flipped over to 100,000 miles. That is somehow both exciting and scary. I need to drive this car for at least two more years (maybe more like three). It's still in good shape, so I'm hoping to watch that number climb even higher without too many trips to the mechanic before I can trade it in for something new(er).

So, I forgot to update on Friday and Saturday, so you know what? I failed pretty miserably at the whole updating every day in July thing, didn't I? Oh well. I still posted entries way more often than I would have, so I count it as a semi-success.

J and I had a great weekend. He was at work on Saturday, so I spent the day doing errands - running recycling to the dump, getting gas in my car and for the lawn mower, mowing the lawn, doing laundry. But I also got some time to watch a movie online (I love Netflix's online movie feature) and I got to play my Sims, so it was a good day. J went to see Dark Knight with one of his friends after work, and then he came home and we just relaxed for the evening.

Sunday we got up and went to Denny's for breakfast. I had two scrambled eggs, which is fine and good, but I also got fried potatoes, and that is just too much! Next time I need to remember to stick to just the eggs and toast, so I won't feel so full all day.

After breakfast we went to Walmart and got groceries, and then we went home. We spent the afternoon doing a mix of individual things (him: rearranging his rooms upstairs, me: playing the Sims and doing some laundry and vacuuming some) and some together things (helping him move the big furniture upstairs, watching TV, that kind of stuff). By the end of the day, it just felt like we had just achieved the perfect balance of time together and time on our own (while the other one was just a room or so away), and it was a fantastic Sunday. I loved it.

But now it's Monday, and I'm back at work, and I have an ad to make up and send out before the end of the day, and another project that I need to keep working on. And all I want to do is go home and spend the day with J, who is off until about 8:00 tonight. I miss vacation.

PSA

So, I don't normally do product reviews here. But, a friend of J gave him a product a while ago that I initially laughed at. But then he tried it, and it really worked! So I wanted to share it with you. Here goes.

Do you live with other people? Do you share a bathroom with one or more other people? Do they contaminate the bathroom just before you need to go in there to brush your teeth, making you gag from the smell?

Buy One-Drop, and gag no more!

This miracle product really works!

Just spray one or two squirts into the toilet before you "take the kids to the pool," and the smell will miraculously disappear before it has a chance to invade your sensitive nostrils!

Okay, kidding aside, this stuff really works! J tested it first, and I've used it, too. No bathroom stink! Unfortunately, as far as I know, it won't do anything for farts. You're on your own there.

One-Drop - for all your stinky bathroom needs! :)

Pictures

Take two of these.

And two of these.

And you have one fun, festive table. :)

Sable is my cute little snuggly cat. I kind of heart her a lot.

I also heart J's McDuff, who is just the cutest little boy dog in all the land (not to be confused with the cutest BIG boy dog in all the land, who is of course Bernie).

Okay, I heart all of the animals. These are just the two I took pictures of just now.

Vacation Officially Over

Getting up for work on the second day back after vacation should NOT be harder than the first day. Right? But it was. I really did not want to get up at 6:00 this morning at all. I could have slept for another hour and a half, at least. And I didn't even stay up late! Sigh.

Yesterday afternoon J called me at work and asked me if I wanted to go to the dollar store and maybe Big Lots with him after work. I said yes, so when I got off I went and picked him up, and we drove to town. He was looking for a face towel to use in the gym, and he wanted to get some new placemats for the dining room table, to keep on during the summer, when we don't have any sort of holiday ones to put out.

We bought four Spiderman placemats. Ha! I love them. I'll have to take a picture to show you their awesomeness. In almost every way, we are so perfect for each other. What other 39 and 40 year old people would have Spiderman placemats on their dining room table? I love us. :)

J was back to work today, and of course I was back yesterday, so vacation is officially over for this year. Which is sad. It was so much fun. We had a lot of time to connect and just spend time together. We each get so wrapped up in our work schedules that it's nice to have that from time to time. I think this is going to be a yearly thing. We deserve the time together.

Also, next time I take a vacation, remind me to drink more water, okay? I'm sucking it down at work, and still feeling dry. Soda does not = water. :)

Back to Work

First day back at work. It went fine. I had a few things to do for people this morning, and I have a small project to get done in the next couple of days, but otherwise it'll be a pretty easy week back at work. Which is nice.

I can tell I had a great vacation, though, because I actually didn't really mind going back to work this morning. I mean, I would have rather stayed home, but I didn't dread going back to work, which is good.

Also, since I was off on my birthday, we had cake at work for me today. Woo! I love that. (Although they sang to me, which makes me turn all red. I hate being in the spotlight.)

So, if you remember, when we went shopping on Thursday of last week, I got a learn to knit scarf kit from Michael's. I'm working on it, and it's coming really well, and I want to try making something bigger when I'm done with it. So I went online and looked up a free pattern for a sweater. This one. I may have problems doing it, since I am very much a beginner, but I am going to try. I'll let you know how it goes when I get started on it (of course, first I should finish the baby blanket I'm stil making. It's coming, Michelle, I promise! :).

Okay, back to practicing the knitting thing. Have a good Monday night!

Vacation Sunday, or It's Almost Over

If you like Joss Whedon, Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and even musicals, you have to check this out: Dr. Horribl's Sing-A-Long Blog. It's fun and worth watching, like everything Joss does. And I don't think it'll be online long, from what I've read, so go and watch now.

So, last day of vacation. We hung around and relaxed a little bit, and we watched the original Star Wars movie. Which was good, although I'm really glad I got to watch the characters' back stories in the first three movies, instead of not knowing what had lead to the battles in this movie. I'm looking forward to watching the last two.

Okay, I'm off to go enjoy the end of my last day off. Later!

Vacation Saturday, the Second

Mmm, cake. :)

My week off is winding up in a great way, because the days just keep getting better. Today we went to a small town farmer's market, where we got some amazingly tasty kettle corn and a loaf of homemade Italian bread (which I'll be breaking into tomorrow). There were a lot of vendors out, and I love walking around there.

After the farmer's market, we went and got groceries, and then came back home. We didn't stay long, though, before we were off to play mini golf!

And you know what? It was a lot of fun, and I was right when I told my friend Sally that since I beat J by one or two strokes the first time we went, that he'd probably end up creaming me today. He didn't cream me, but he evened up the score by beating me by two strokes. But! I got a hole in one, which was amazing. :)

Unfortunately, it was very hot out today. So by the time we were done with 18 holes of mini golf, we were both very hot, very sweaty and kind of worn out. So we went and got ice cream, and sat inside an air conditioned ice cream shop to eat it. It was heaven.

And when we got home this afternoon, we continued my Star Wars education. We watched Clone Wars, which are cartoons that take place between the second and third movies, and then we watched Revenge of the Sith. I liked that one the best so far. Dare I say I'm becoming a fan? Hmm. Well, I don't think I'll ever be as nuts about it as J is, but I'm truly enjoying it. I asked him if we could watch the fourth movie (the first one originally released) tomorrow.

And now, I'll leave you for the night, with a picture that I took of Rosebud. J had a can of cheese, like you would use for tortilla chips, and when he had emptied it, he gave it to Rosebud to clean out. She now has a yellow nose (at least until she gets a bath tomorrow, but shh, don't tell her about that).

Birthday

My birthday was great. Dark Knight was amazing - Heath Ledger was fantastic, and it made me sad to see how much talent was lost when he died. He was riveting, and scary as hell (and funny, in parts). I loved it.

Dinner at the Outback was also great. Filet mignon, French fries, and J surprised me with a brownie sundae for dessert! The waitress brought it over and told me happy birthday, and I was so surprised! It was amazing.

Of course, it all added up to too much food, so that I couldn't even think about cutting my birthday cake for a while. I finally had a very small slice at 8:30, though. I had to have at least one piece on my actual birthday!

Now we're getting ready to go to bed, because we're both tired and so full! Oh, and we watched Episode 2 of Star Wars, which I enjoyed. Two movies down, four to go, and I'll finally have seen all of these movies!

Tomorrow we're going to go to a local small town to see what they have at the farmer's market, and then we're going mini golfing (we ran out of time and were too full after dinner to go today).

Have I said yet that I love vacation? It seems like I might have. :)

Happy B-Day To Me!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday,

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I'm up early, because I can never sleep late on my birthday, ever. I just get too excited about it.

And we have fun plans! We're going to go see Dark Knight, and we're going mini golfing at a place J has been wanting to go to, and we're going to go to dinner at the Outback. He is spoiling me big time.

Also, when I opened my eyes this morning, there was an amazon box on top of my alarm clock, with my presents inside. I brought it out to the living room with me, but I was going to wait to open them until J got up. Ha! I lasted half an hour, and then they were all open. He got me some great DVDs, including the two parts of season six of Sex and the City, Clueless, which I have always loved and never owned, for some reason, the final season of M*A*S*H, which completes my collection of that series, and my favorite gift of all - Kitchen and Bath Stuff for my Sims game. Woo! I just installed that, and I'm going to spend the time while J is still in bed (it's only 7:13 now, and he didn't come to bed until almost 2:30) building a house, and decorating it with some of the stuff from this pack. Woo!

I love my birthday.

And thanks, J, for the gifts and for the great day we're going to have. I'm very lucky to have you in my life.

Also, we get cake later! Woo!

Vacation Thursday

Oops. I forgot to update yesterday! I don't even have a faulty Internet to blame, like I did over the weekend, either. I just plain forgot. Oh well. :)

Vacation is continuing to go well. We spent yesterday driving to the mall and walking around. J had never been to the mall that I usually go to, and I hadn't been there in years. Turns out, there are a lot of empty locations there, which is kind of sad. But J still managed to find some cool new t-shirts at Hot Topic, and then we went to an adjacent mall and we went to TJ Maxx and Michaels. J's Mom had given me a $25 gift card for Michaels that someone had given her (she doesn't shop there, apparently), so I had fun spending that. I got J a couple of bandanas, I got myself a couple of plain t-shirts for $2.50 each that I can totally wear to work, I got a new pair of scissors, and I got a learn to knit kit that I can use to make a scarf. I'm an expert crocheter, but I never really learned to knit.

We also spent quite a while last night watching the end of season 5 of Buffy. J's watching through the series for the first time, and I'm having fun rewatching it. And we just watched the first two episodes of season 6, so that he could see how they brought Buffy back. :) I love that show. The later seasons aren't really as good as the earlier ones, but they're still fun.

We also went today and picked up my birthday cake, yay! It's sitting in the fridge waiting for tomorrow. And once J gets done watching some of his sitcoms (Roseanne, Simpsons), we're going to watch Episode 1 of Star Wars. I've never seen them (I might have seen the original ones at some point, but it was a long time ago, and I don't really remember them).

Oh! And J bought a wireless router today, so we are now wireless in our house! Or at least he is, since my laptop doesn't have integrated wireless, and the router didn't come with a card. But I can buy one, and then I can be wireless, too. And for now, it's just cool that he can go online upstairs, even though the modem is downstairs.

Okay. I'm off to do more fun stuff. Talk to you tomorrow! (On my birthday, woo!)

Vacation Tuesday

Vacation Tuesday, and I've spent the whole day thinking it was Saturday or Sunday. :) I love that about vacations.

Today was a busy day. J's parents came out at 1:00 to take us to lunch and to visit, so we spent the morning working on the house. J put a new coat of stain on the porch, and I cleaned inside - dusting, vacuuming, doing the dishes, cleaning the counters and the stove, that kind of stuff. Fun, right? But the house looks nice.

When I got done cleaning I took a shower, and I no sooner got out then my brother-in-law called and offered to replace the brakes on my car today. So I took an unscheduled trip to town to get the parts, and then to my sister's house so that he could do them. J came and picked me up, and then we went home and waited for his parents.

The visit was fun, as it always is. I like his parents. They took us out to a local diner that J and I like to go to, and then we went to a local store that specializes in food products made by people in NY State - small business people with a dream, for the most part. It's a very unique store, and I think they liked it - they bought a few things, anyway.

So once they had spent some money, we headed back home and hung out talking for a couple of hours before they went home, leaving J and I to our own devices. I'm glad that I like his family so much. And they like me - they brought me presents! Which I totally opened even though my birthday isn't until Friday. It was nice stuff.

J and I went and picked up my car, and now we're hanging out. J is watching the All Star baseball game, and I'm playing the Sims. It's pretty much a perfect evening, if you ask me.

I really do love vacations.

Monday in Vacationland

I missed two days updating, and it wasn't even my fault! :) Saturday morning the Internet was up and working fine - I did some surfing and checked some e-mail, all the usual stuff. Then I got showered and dressed, took the recycling to the dump and went to town to get half a turkey sub for lunch, and when I got home, the Internet was down. When restarting and resetting the modem didn't work, and restarting my computer didn't work, I called my provider. Turns out one of their buildings flooded on Saturday, and Internet service was knocked out for five or six area codes, including mine. So, no Internet for me all the rest of Saturday or the beginning of Sunday.

Sunday, J and I were going in the afternoon to Blues Fest, with two of his friends. The Internet was still down in the morning, but we got up and went after groceries and went to breakfast at Denny's, and then we came back and got ready to go.

The Blues Fest was fun - damp, but fun. When we got there, it was downpouring rain, so J and I hung out in the car for a while, until his friends felt we had stayed dry long enough (just kidding), and they came and got us and took us out to where the festivities were happening. We hung out under the beer tent for a while, keeping dry, and the three of them had a beer (I was the designated driver of our two person carpool, so no drinking for me, not that I like beer anyway. In fact, I don't drink at all, really, so I'll always happily be the DD). We listened to the local act who was on the stage at the time, and then, when it was time for the next "name" act to play on the opposite stage, we went over there and sat down in the chairs his friends had nicely brought with them for us.

Okay, I like the blues? And his friends seem really nice - I wouldn't mind hanging out with them more often. But sitting in the rain, under one of those garbage bag rain coats that you can buy at amusement parks and the like, was not my idea of a good time. I was very happy when the rain finally stopped and the sun came out. Then I was able to enjoy the day more.

And it really did get pretty fun after that. We watched the act, and then we went to the local barbecue place and had some great food. Then we went and stood watching another act again, and this group was really entertaining, I thought. I liked them. They were a local group again, but one that really seems to enjoy what they're doing, and they're pretty good at it, too.

And at that point, I would have been happy to leave. It was 9:30 before they finished, I was getting tired, and my feet were sore from standing up for too long. But we stayed to watch the last act - Jimmy Vaughan (brother to the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan), and then we left to go home. I drove, with J navigating me out of the city (I hate driving in the city - too many one way streets to make you lose your way, often when where you need to be is in sight, but you just can't get there because of all the damn one way streets, grr), and then we got home, took care of the dogs, and collapsed.

Oh, and the Internet was back up, but it was after Midnight, so it was technically already today (and I had already missed updating on Sunday), and I was tired, so no entry until now. :)

Anyway, so far vacation has been great. We slept in this morning (I didn't get up until 9:30, which is pretty unheard of), we were lazy this morning and got some stuff done this afternoon. I trimmed the weeds and grass around the pool out back, showing myself just how weak I am, because man, somewhere around the third side of the pool, my arms became amazingly like jelly. I need to work my arms more.

And now I'm inside playing the Sims (and updating here), while J is outside cleaning up his shop area in the garage. I've told him to call me if he needs help with anything, but otherwise, I am clear to play. Woo!

Oh, and we might - might - get Chinese food for dinner tonight. Yay! If we do, should I have sweet and sour chicken, or sesame chicken? I almost always go with sweet and sour, but sesame sounds good, too. I'll have to think about it.

Have a great Monday evening, peoples! I'll talk to you again tomorrow. And for now, good-bye from Vacationland!

Vacation Begins....

Now!!! Woo!!!!!

Nine days of freedom, here I come! Oh, the sleeping in, oh the relaxation, oh the scraping and painting. :)

Oh, the birthday. Hee. I heart my birthdays. Even when I'm turning 39. I don't care. Still love 'em. What's not to love about a day when you get presents AND birthday cake? And even a movie (Dark Knight) and a game of mini golf AND dinner out? (Thanks to J, of course, cuz he loves me.)

More tomorrow, from Vacation Land. Now I'm driving home to my J. Later!

Counting Down Times a Million

Vacation starts in....

ONE HOUR AND 7 MINUTES! WOO!!!!!!

Almost There

Hey, check out my new vacation countdown ticker in the sidebar there! I wanted one that would countdown the time right to the second, but the only one I found like that was very ugly. So there's this one instead, which is cute. And look, it's a little J and Denise, heading into vacationland together! Aww. :)

Last night J called me and asked me if I wanted to meet him at Pizza Hut for dinner. I had just gotten home from getting my haircut and I was already in my pajamas. I had planned on eating cereal for dinner. Did I want pizza with my J instead? Heck yes. So I threw my jeans on and went and met him at the Hut. It may not sound like anything special, but any time spent with J is special, so I loved it.

Oh, and my hair came out cute! I wasn't sure how I felt about it last night, but J liked it, and I liked it after my shower this morning, so I'm happy. I do have one thing I'll change next time, though. I asked for long layers, which she did. But she put the layers in while my hair was parted in the middle, but I always part my hair on my left side. So when I flipped it back over to its proper part, the shortest layer on the right side is a LOT shorter than the shortest layer on the left. And I think it looks kind of choppy on the right side because of that. Next time I'll have her do the layers while it's parted the way I wear it.

Okay, I've got to get to writing a press release. One day and 44 minutes until vacation! Woo!

Countdown Day Two

Work is crazy busy this week. Why is it I always get slammed with work the week before a vacation? It's like instead of getting a week off from work, I just have to do two weeks worth of work in one week. Which is the same for everyone, I'm sure. It sucks, doesn't it? On the other hand, I did help to handle a small crisis (one of the problems mentioned yesterday), and got a "thanks" from the boss, so that's nice. He doesn't hand the thanks out very often.

Also, in very exciting news, I'm getting a haircut today! Woo! I'm very excited about this, because my hair has gotten very long, and it's kind of annoying the heck out of me. I'm not going to do anything drastic to it, and it'll still be semi-long, but I'm still excited to finally get it done. Sometimes the little things are the most exciting things.

My friend Sarah, who is also taking off next week, liked my countdown yesterday. Therefore I am going to give you today's official countdown:

There are now two days and 42 minutes until J and I (and Sarah and Jeff) will be on vacation. Separately, but during the same week, which is the week that rules - my birthday week. :)

The Countdown Begins

This work day is trying to wear me down. I am NOT going to let it. I am on vacation as of Friday at 4:00 - I will not let one crappy afternoon sink my mood. My eyes are on the (vacation) prize, baby.

So, yeah, a couple of minor sucks at work this afternoon - well, one minor one and one possibly major one, but people are working on fixing that one. So it should still be okay.

But! My spirits are still flying from finding out Gracie was going to be okay, and that I won't have to spend any more money on vet bills right now (knock on wood). I should actually be able to still help out with house stuff this summer, AND still have enough to get brakes for my car and tires this fall, and to get my haircut and my eyes examined. I'm going to get contacts, oh yes I am.

Also, J is taking me to see his favorite performer - Alice Cooper - in October. I'm really looking forward to sharing that with him.

And my vacation starts in exactly three days, two hours and ten minutes, so it's all good. I heart vacation oh so very much.

The BEST News

I just got back from the vet, and other than the visit not being free, it went as well as it possibly could have gone.

Gracie - has a fatty deposit caused by the subcutaneous stitches she had when she was spayed. It doesn't have to be removed, she's fine.

Bernie - had an ear infection, so his ears were cleaned and he has medicine to take once a day. His leg is most likely being bothered by arthritis, and I can give him some glucosamine pills to help with it, if I want - they can be purchased through them (too expensive) or over the counter in the grocery store (which I'll check out).

I feel like a million pounds of weight has just been taken off my shoulders. Woo! Now I'll be able to start vacation next week and actually ENJOY it! Excellent. :) Maybe July won't totally suck after all.

Suck

Well, I already missed a day of updating, so there goes the every day in July thing, huh? Sigh. Oh well. I just couldn't have updated yesterday. Here is yesterday in one word: suck.

In half an hour I leave work to go take Gracie and Bernie to the vet. I am stressing it big time. I am NOT ready to lose my cat, and I am NOT ready for Bernie to lose his leg, and I am NOT ready to pay the vets hundreds of more dollars. I just paid them off, for cripes sake.

I'll update later, to let you all know how the vet visit went.

Saturday, Bernie and Hopes

Good news about Bernie - his leg seems to be feeling better. He's still limping and whining when he first gets up, but he's walking around okay, albeit with more of a limp than before, so it looks like I won't have to worry about his leg right now - I can concentrate on getting Gracie checked out first. Here's hoping that Bernie stays on the road to recovery, too. Not only are my funds limited (extremely limited), but if he keeps having problems with the leg, it'll have to be amputated. Which is better than him living in constant pain, obviously, but I'm hoping for neither pain NOR amputation, thanks.

As for Gracie, she is still acting fine. She's eating and using the litter pan, and asking for lots of loving, just like usual. It's the one thing giving me a small ray of hope for her right now. Maybe I got lucky and found this mass in time for it to be taken out before it does any damage. I hope.

So, today was a busy one. J was at work - he had to leave late last night. So I spent the day mowing the lawn and doing other chores. Oh, and here's a tip from me to you. If you're mowing the lawn, and there is an extension cord running across the grass, say from the flagpole, which has been artfully decorated with lights, to the porch where it can be plugged in, unplug it and move it off the lawn before you mow over it! As you might be able to tell, I didn't do that. I mowed right over the cord, cut it into lots of pieces, and had to go buy replacements. I bet I won't forget to move the cord again for a long time.

And now I'm going to settle in to watch Animal Cops Houston - I love those animal rescue shows on Animal Planet - and play the Sims for the evening, while J catches up on some much needed sleep. Have a great Saturday night, peoples.

Fourth and Animals

On any other day, this would be a very bad thing.


Really, the parade was fun, but apparently not if you were on a float.


My favorite band.

So, July 4th was fun. I woke up still feeling kind of down about Gracie's potential health problems, but I went to my sister's and joined the holiday festivities anyway. We didn't get to walk the green the way we like to, because we got there late (for those who don't live in a small town, the green is a community park area, and on July 4th a lot of vendors set up there, selling everything from home grown produce to crafts, leather jackets and of course "fair food" - funnel cakes, sausage sandwiches, cotton candy, etc.), but we lined up for the parade and had fun hanging out waiting for and then watching it. The child in the first picture is my great-nephew, Sammy. He LOVED playing in the road. I think it was a bigger hit than the parade itself. If only roads were closed to traffic every day!

When the parade was over, we went back to my sister's house and hung out for a while, and then had hamburgers and other picnic food for dinner. Then I came home to see my J, who I hadn't seen since Wednesday night (stupid work). I missed him.

And my animals proved once again that they are determined to keep me worried. I already have Gracie's mysterious abdomen mass to worry about, and now tonight Bernie started whining in pain, and I had no idea what was wrong with him. Well, it turns out that his right front elbow was bothering him. This is the bone he had broken at some point before he was mine, that was never set. The elbow doesn't bend, because it healed badly. He's never shown any pain from it before tonight, though. I'm figuring he must have wrenched it. He kept trying to get up and walk around on it and crying, so I finally put a dog bed in his crate and locked him in to force him to be still and let it rest. I'm not looking forward to letting him out in a few minutes, though.

I have an appointment on Monday afternoon for Gracie to get her abdomen mass checked, and Bernie was going along anyway to have his ears cleaned and get some medicine for them (I think he has an ear infection), so I'll have them check his elbow while he's there.

Stupid animals. Why do they want to make me worry about them so much?

Happy July 4th, to all who are from here (and hi to those who aren't). You're already thinking good thoughts for Gracie - could you add Bernie to your list now, too? Thanks.

Worried

Last night I walked out to the kitchen, and Gracie was laying on her back in the dining room chair that sits under the picture window (the one she and Zelda are sitting in up there). So of course I walked over and scratched her belly, because how could I resist? And while I was petting her, I felt a mass in her abdomen. It's down low, about where her spaying incision was, and it's fairly large - a little smaller than a golf ball, I guess.

So now I'm worried about her again. I love all of my animals, and I hate having to start thinking about losing any of them. I love Gracie, and we've just been through so much with her leg, that it seems really unfair that now I have to be worrying about her possibly having cancer or something. I've had a lot of animals who have had cancer, and I've lost every single one of them. Gracie is only 7 1/2 - I'm not ready to even think about that with her, and yet here I am, worried about losing her.

And of course I'm worried about money, too. I was so excited yesterday, because I was going to be able to pay off the vet bill and my dentist bill and a couple of other bills are gone, and I was going to be able to actually contribute some money towards the house! And I'd still have money left over to spend on myself, which I'm never able to do! And now I have the knowledge of this future vet bill hanging over my head. If it turns out to be cancer, I won't go to extreme measures to try to save her. I'll pay for them to remove the mass, if it's operable, but I won't do anything else. Still, just a blood test (which I'm assuming they'll have to do) and an exam and maybe x-rays and then possibly surgery are going to take all of my extra money once again.

I guess I'm just never supposed to have cash in my pocket at any time. It's just not meant for me.

Okay, money aside, send me good thoughts about Gracie, would you? I need all the good thoughts I can get right now, because I'm not feeling any in my own head.

(Also, the money that I was expecting to show up yesterday still hasn't. I called them, and they said they sent it to the bank yesterday. So why the fuck isn't it in my account? Stupid effing bank.)

Good and Bad Things

Good Things
I got my economic stimulus check from the government yesterday. Woo! They took out the little bit of money that I still owed from my taxes from 2006 and 2007, but I still have a respectable amount left.

I called the vet's office this morning and told them I had found the copy of my first bill for taking in Gracie with her broken leg - the one that said there was no charge for the recheck office visits (they charged me $25 each for her last two visits). Once they knew I had the proof of that statement in my hands, they took the $50 off my bill without even making me fax it to them. The girl was so nice that I almost decided to give them a second chance at taking care of my animals. And then I remembered the half an hour drive to get there, and how they treated me her last two visits (not the vets, who were always great, but the office staff), and I said screw them. I'm trying the people down the road when I take Bernie and/or Willow to the vet next week (they both have dirty ears, and probably ear infections).

I have a yearly (small) payout from an old account that is supposed to show up on or about July 1st every year. It hadn't shown up in my account as of this morning, so I called to check on it, and was told it was in processing, and would be in my account today. This money will enable me to pay my school taxes and my homeowner's insurance and (combined with the economic stimulus money) will enable me to pay off the vet and my dentist this month. Less bills, yay!

I got up and exercised this morning. I took it easy on the aerobic part, because my calf is still sore, but I still felt like I got a decent workout.

I measured my waist after my workout, and it was 1 1/2 inches smaller than it was in early May. Woohoo!

I bought two more quarts of strawberries today. One more batch of strawberry shortcake before the end of the season! Excellent.

J will be home with me tonight. His coworker is on vacation, so he's working a LOT. But he'll be home tonight, which makes me happy.

Bad Things

It's now almost 3:00, and that money I spoke of earlier, that is supposed to show up in my account today? Isn't here yet. Did the guy mean it would show up at 11:59 p.m.?

I went to the bank during lunch to deposit my economic stimulus check, and got $20 cash back. They put a hold on $20 that I had in my account, so now it only shows me having $8 in there (I guess they don't trust a government check?). I have to wait to get gas now until the check shows up in my balance. I have less than an eighth of a tank. Sigh. (So close to having so much money, but for right now I'm cash poor.) (Also, I long for the days when $8 would almost fill my tank - they weren't that long ago!)

I stopped at Subway on my way back to work and got a turkey sub for lunch. Healthy, but I got a whole one instead of a half. I need help - I can't help over ordering if I'm eating by myself.

(I also ate a Hershey's candy bar. I seem to be having a weak self-control day.)


I think I'm out of things. Which is good, because this entry is long enough. Sometimes I talk too much.

Nablopomo and other news

I signed up to post every day in July. Woo! :) I'll try to remember to post at least a small entry every day, even when I'm on vacation in two weeks for my birthday.

Have I mentioned here yet that my birthday is two weeks from Friday? Because it is. I love my birthday, so I'm very much looking forward to that day. J and I will both be on vacation (not going anywhere, just enjoying not being at work), so it should be a really fun day.

So, I don't think I mentioned in my super long Saturday post that when I was exercising that morning, my calves started hurting a LOT. Like, so much that I had to keep stopping during the workout, they hurt so bad. So I've taken a few days off from working out, and I've realized that I need to start increasing the amount of protein I need to eat. My muscles are recovering slowly, and I think I'll be ready to start working out again tomorrow. I'm afraid to go too long without doing it, because it's just so easy to fall out of the habit! And I don't want to do that. I like that I'm starting to transform my body (slowly - if only it were a quicker process!).

Anyway. So that's really all I have to say for now. Just check back in here daily, or as often as you can, because I'll be here everyday now until the end of the month. And I'll leave you with some kitty pictures. :)


When Gracie was still in her crate, and I'd hold on to her and carry her through the house, the other cats acted like they had no idea who she was. Lucy, who had always acted as a Mom to Gracie and Zelda, hissed at her. I was afraid that they would never accept her again in quite the same way. I'm happy to say I was wrong. Even J, who isn't exactly a cat lover like me, called me in to show me how cute it was when he saw Lucy washing Gracie's head. :) I'm glad to see my girls sleeping all cuddled up together again.


My Sable is a beautiful, sweet little girl. Still skittish from her time as a stray, but so loving. She loves to snuggle up into my neck and rub her chin on my cheek. :) Also, please ignore my cluttered desk (and yes, that is the Sims on my desktop monitor behind her. Hee).