Pet Picture Day

I got the idea yesterday for a new regular feature here on my blog. One day each week I'll post new pictures of my cats, and one day each week I'll post pictures of my dogs. I'm figuring Tuesdays will be Cat Picture Day, and Fridays will be Dog Picture Day. Except this week, since I didn't think of it until Thursday, so for this week only, Friday is Cat AND Dog Picture Day. :) Ready? Okay, here we go.

Cat Pictures for Sally (my friend who I was e-mailing when I thought of this idea):

Gracie and Lucy like to cuddle together in this chair to sleep.

My beautiful Lucy.

It was nice enough to open the windows for a little while yesterday afternoon. Sable likes the fresh air.

Zelda looks like she's smelling the flowers (those are the beautiful roses that my J gave to me), but really she's just wondering why I'm not petting her instead of taking her picture.

There aren't any pictures of Kate this time, because she was hiding in her house. She does that most of the time.

Dog Pictures for J (because two of the dogs are his, and he loves my two also, and because I love him)

My Bernie is gorgeous, isn't he?

Rosie says it's time to go out, please.





Bernie loves to smell the breeze.

So does McDuff.



Bernie also loves to roll on the ground - driveway or grass (as seen here), dirt or snow, he doesn't care.

McDuff likes to follow Rosebud around.

Rosie's nose is always to the ground - it's a hound thing.

Willow doesn't like to go out anymore than necessary, but she loves to sit on the futon and look at me over the back of it. :)

Okay, That's Enough

I've had enough of things breaking, okay universe? First my computer, then the oven, then the freezer.

Yes, our freezer wasn't working. I had someone come out and fix it yesterday. It turns out that water from the defroster had gotten into the fan area, and frozen, which kept the fan from working, which meant the cold air wasn't circulating into the freezer. Sigh. We lost some fish, but that was the worst of it. I was able to save most everything else.

Still. If nothing else breaks for a while, J and I will be very happy.

He did, however, surprise me last night by bringing me a dozen roses. :) They're so beautiful. Roses are my favorite flower. I'll post a picture of them with my happy list on Sunday, because you know they're what made me happy yesterday.

Happy List, 9/28 - 10/4

Here are the things that made me happy this week.

Sunday: J coming home a little earlier than he thought he would, meaning I actually got to see him for a couple of hours while I was still awake. That was a very good thing, because I was missing him like crazy.

Monday: I have a visual for this one. Please see below.

Mmmmm. :)

Tuesday: My Sims computer is fixed, and for only $40! Woo! Also, laying in bed with J and watching TV, while recovering from donating blood after not getting much sleep the night before.

Wednesday: My oven is fixed! And I have my computer back! Also, watching Sable as she hid around the bookcase from Zelda, and then pounced on her when Zelda came into view. Sable makes me laugh so much.

Thursday: J hugging me and consoling me when I was so tired that I was crying, after another night of insomnia.

Friday: Finding out some very good news from my health insurance company. Talking this news over with J, and deciding to do something I've wanted to do for a while. (Sorry for the cryptic, but it's a personal thing - and one of the personal things on my 101 list, as a matter of fact, so I'll be able to mark it off soon.)

Saturday: Finding out that Rosebud's puffiness was just an allergic reaction to a bug bite or something, and that she wouldn't even need medication. Seeing her back to normal by the time J got home from work in the middle of the night. Also, relaxing and watching TV and playing the Sims. Ooh, and making macaroni and cheese for dinner.

Saturday

Puffy Rosie.

This morning I had been up for about an hour or so, I was still lolling about in my pajamas, playing the Sims, doing laundry and just easing into my day, when I noticed something odd about Rosebud's face. It looked like there was something wrong with her eye, but when I got closer to her, I noticed it wasn't just her eye - her whole face was all puffy. I was a little concerned, but not overly alarmed, until I felt a swollen lump in the baggy skin on her throat, too. J was at work, so I called him to see what he wanted me to do. And thus started an hour of calling vets around here, calling my (former) vet, and not having any luck with any of them. (My former vet told me that she couldn't see Rosebud today, and suggested I call an emergency vet. I have paid thousands of dollars to these people in the last eight years or so, and this, on top of some things that happened with Gracie when her leg was broken, led me to say I will never spend another dollar at their practice again. Hence my calling them my former vets. I mean it, too - the next time someone needs to go to the vet, I'll try someone around here.)

Anyway, eventually we ended up with J calling his usual vet's office. He didn't think they had Saturday hours, but they did, so I loaded Rosebud into the car, and we drove down there. J met us there, and poor little shaking Rosie got herself examined. My initial instincts were right - the vet thought she had probably gotten stung by a bug of some sort, and was having an allergic reaction. It wasn't severe, and it wasn't affecting her breathing, so she's going to be fine - the puffiness will go down on its own eventually.

So I hugged my poor worried J (he loves that dog so much), and I drove Miss Rosie home, and we've had a quiet day since then. She's been sleeping on the couch in a nice warm room, and I've been playing the Sims, doing laundry and watching TV, while checking on her every half hour or so, to make sure she's still doing fine.

She is.

She's tired after a stressful day.

Oh, and I also made myself dinner - I made J's Mom's homemade macaroni and cheese recipe.


Doesn't it look good, all baked up?


It was very yummy. I had two plates, even though I shouldn't have. It was too good to stop at one. Now I'm very full, but that's okay. I don't mind. :)

Oh, and my oven is fixed! We had a repairman come out on Tuesday morning (or Wednesday? I lose track of the days), and he just had to adjust the pilot light. Now it works fine, so my macaroni and cheese got to bake as long as it was supposed to. Yay! I might try making another loaf of homemade bread tomorrow.

Oh, and one more thing! Since I have finally finished that baby blanket, I decided to go ahead and start making a sweater for myself. I got the needles that I needed yesterday, and I started it this morning. So far the back of the sweater (the part I'm doing first) is only about an inch high, so I have a long way to go. I'm very excited about it, though. I hope it comes out all right (and I'll share pictures when it becomes some sort of recognizable shape).

And now I'm going to go fold the dry towels, and maybe watch some of the TV shows I have on the DVR. Happy Saturday, people!

Vote

I liked this. It's an important message. And this is coming from someone who never cared enough to vote before four years ago. But somehow my hatred of George W. led to me caring enough to want him gone. And now, even though he is guaranteed to go (thank goodness), somehow I'm still caring enough to go out and vote again this year.

Do you?

And do you think this whole "caring" thing is part of getting old(er)? If so, I guess I can live with that. :)

Insomnia

I seem to have developed a case of insomnia. According to Wikipedia, the type I'm going through is "middle insomnia," meaning that I wake up in the middle of the night and then can't fall back asleep. It happened last night, it happened Monday night, it happened Friday night of last week, and I think it happened one other night, too - whatever night it was that Bernie woke me up peeing on the floor.

I don't know what's causing this - although I have my suspicions (it's not J or the animals (the animals might have woken me up two of those times, but they didn't keep me from going back to sleep), I'm not unduly stressed, so there is only one other conclusion I can draw, which I won't name here). I just know that it sucks trying to get through a workday on four hours of sleep, when I've always been the type of person to require at least seven hours in order to function well (preferably eight or nine).

So last night. I got up at 2:30 to use the bathroom, went back to bed, and then lay there, tossing and turning, for an hour. I got up and walked around the living room, sniffling a little because I knew the hard day that was coming, and I couldn't prevent it. I went back to bed. I got up and sat on the futon and petted the cats. I went back to bed. I got up and turned off the chimes on the grandfather clock, because I was just laying there, listening to it count off every 15 minutes of sleep that I was missing. I went back to bed. And finally I went back to sleep, for about half an hour.

Then the alarm rang.

I called in late and went back to bed after taking care of the animals, but I didn't fall back to sleep. I just lay there. So finally I just got up and came to work (after crying on J's shoulder a little bit about being so tired - I'm such a baby).

I don't know if I'm right about what's causing this, but I do know that I'll be going to the doctor later this month for my annual female stuff anyway, so I WILL be talking to her about my suspicions.

I can't take this. I need my sleep.

Yesterday's Lesson

What I learned yesterday: When you're already exhausted from having a bad night of sleep, it is probably not a good idea to go ahead and give blood, just because the Red Cross is set up in your building.

So, yes. I got a horrible night of sleep on Monday. I was woken up at about 2:30 or so, by one of the cats meowing for food, and when I got back to bed, I just couldn't get back to sleep. I lay there until at least 5:00 in the morning (the last time I looked at the clock was 4:45, but it was still a little while before I fell asleep), and then I got up at 6:30 (okay, 6:40, but the alarm went off at 6:30) for work, as usual.

I was exhausted.

But when I was going to get some lunch, I noticed that the Red Cross was set up in the gym in my building. I haven't given blood in a long time, because my iron is usually too low. But I have been eating mini wheats for breakfast every day, which are pretty high in iron, so I thought it might have a chance of being high enough for me to give.

I like to give blood. It could be me or my family or friends needing it someday, you know?

But I was so tired. Did I want to make the effort? Not really. Did I think I should? Yes. So I did. I figured my iron might be too low, anyway, and at least I'd have tried to give, meaning I could go sit back at my desk guilt free.

My iron needed to be 12.5. It was exactly 12.5. So I gave a pint.

An hour and a half later, I was feeling so tired and so, well, crappy, that I couldn't sit up straight any longer. I went home early and I got into my PJs, and into my bed, and I stayed there, with short breaks, until 6:40 this morning.

I feel great this morning - full of energy. But I learned my lesson. Next time the Red Cross comes to work, I won't try to give unless I'm well rested - guilt be damned!

You Have To Be Nice To Me Today

The Red Cross says so.


Did you know it's pretty hard to take a picture of your own upper arm? Because it is (that's where the sticker is).

Anyway. I'm tired today. The cats woke me up in the middle of the night, and I had trouble falling back to sleep after I had shut them up, so I'm about three hours short. My brain isn't working well.

So of course, giving blood was a great idea. :) But they were here, so I had to try. And I'm glad I did - someone will be happy to have that blood.

Happy Things

I forgot to e-mail my list to myself again on Friday, so I'm posting these a day late. But I'm still PMSing in a huge way (I'm ready to cry this morning if anyone says anything wrong to me, even though I have absolutely no reason to cry - hormones suck butt), so I'm really doing well just getting them posted at all.

Sometimes being a woman really sucks.

Okay, on to happier things from the last week.

Sunday: I had a really nice day at home with J, playing Sims, knitting and watching TV. Also, the Dolphins won, which made him happy, so it makes me happy.

Monday: J and I got home at the same time, which I don't think has ever happened before. It was nice. Getting an hour to Sim, and spending it playing an orphan family. It is a fun challenge, and everyone survived, woo!

Tuesday: Sitting in the living room at night, all the animals being quiet, the TV not on, with Sable sitting on my shoulder, purring and rubbing her head into my jaw. She's so sweet. It was a very peaceful moment.

Wednesday: I got Molly, my humidifier, in the mail! Also, watching J sleep for a few minutes, after I gave him a nice massage. It was very sweet.

Thursday: Sitting on the futon with Willow, watching TV and crocheting. And of course, J. He makes me laugh.

Friday: Starting the day in J's arms, not wanting to get out of bed. Ending the day in J's arms, not having to get out of bed.

Saturday: Starting the day with chocolate milk and a Kit-Kat. Mmm. Getting some great hugs and kisses from Willow when the oven wasn’t working, and my brownies were trapped in a half-baked state inside.

Today

This morning I felt Bernie nosing me in the arm, even licking me, while whining. I didn't know what time it was, and didn't look at the clock, but for some reason I thought it was time for J to get up for work (or almost), so I ignored Bernie. Then I heard him start to pee on the floor. That got me up. And it was only 4:08, so it wasn't anywhere near time for J to get up. Lesson learned. I will never ignore Bernie when he comes whining to me in the middle of the night again.

Once I got up, let him out, cleaned up the pee, let him back in, washed my hands and went back to bed, I was pretty much awake. I didn't want to be, but then you don't always get what you want, right? So I lay there, awake. J got up for work, then got ready, then came in and got the dogs and let them out. Then he came to say good-bye to me, handing me that king sized Kit-Kat bar that I wrote about earlier. I love a man who hands me chocolate at 6:00 in the morning, I really do.

After he left, I finally managed to get back to sleep, after kicking Willow out of the room for being noisy, and then letting her back in once she started scratching on the door from the living room side. I got up at almost 8:00, still tired, but ready to start my day. I had a lot of plans for today! I was going to:

Finally finish that baby blanket
Make homemade bread
Make brownies
Dust the furniture
Vacuum the floors
Mop the floors
Clean the bathroom
Do all of the laundry

Good plans, right? Here's what I actually did:

I finally finished that baby blanket (but it took me from about 8:30 in the morning until about 4:45 in the afternoon, and almost killed my right wrist - I have a bit of carpal tunnel or something, and the repepitive motions of crocheting really bug it after a while).
I made the brownies (with some trouble).
I attempted to make some bread (but learned that my bread maker is broken. I ended up with a lump of hard, unrisen, browned dough).
I did all the laundry.

Sigh.

First, before I go any further, I should tell you - I'm PMSing. Big time. I got all emotional and mushy this morning when watching Made of Honor, and e-mailed my mush to J. That was the good part of my PMSing.

I melted down later. The blanket was taking forever. The bread didn't work. I mixed up the brownies and put them in the oven, and then the oven for some reason stopped lighting (I have a gas oven/stove), when the brownies were only half done. It finally lit up again, after I melted down over it, asking the universe why it was keeping the brownies away from a hormonal woman who had just finished up 40 days without chocolate. Isn't that enough? What more do you want, universe?!?

Just in time to keep me from laying on the floor in a full-on fit, the oven lit up once again, and shortly thereafter, just an hour or so after they should have been done, the brownies finally finished. Whew. Is the oven broken now? Or was it a temporary anomaly? I have no idea. I'm hoping for temporary.

Then I spent ten minutes on the floor, hugging on Willow, who gave me some very nice hugs and kisses back. That helped. I also sat on a chair in the dining room and watched the rain falling into the pool. That helped, too. Then I finished that blanket, and that helped a LOT.

I made myself some mini pizzas for dinner (using the toaster oven, which thankfully is still working fine). I burned my tongue on one a little, but not badly. I shared the last mini pizza with the dogs. They liked that. Then I went out and frosted the still warm, but not too warm brownies (did I mention they are frosted brownies? Because they are, and they are heaven in a pan), and I cut a big one and ate it. I got chocolate frosting all over my fingers, and I loved every second of it.

I feel a lot better now. How did I ever go 40 days without chocolate? I don't know, but I am never doing that again. That's a second lesson I learned today.

To recap:

1. Never ignore Bernie when he whines and licks my arm in the middle of the night.
2. Never again attempt to live my life without chocolate. It's just not worth it.

Okay, me and my hormonal self are going to go watch some TV and relax, chores be damned for now. But first, take a gander at these.

The blanket, all folded up and ready to go. I'm going to find a gift bag for it this weekend. Michelle? I hope you'll like this. The two dark colors aren't showing up quite the same here as they are in real life - the one is more mauve than purple, like it appears, and the other one isn't quite so dark brown. Also, since I have no idea when I'll see you guys again, I'm going to deliver this to Donna on Monday. I figure she'll see you way before I see you again.

They really are heaven in a pan, and were totally worth waiting two hours for. But I still hope there isn't really anything wrong with the oven.

Okay, I'm out of here. I'm going to go relax and watch TV for the rest of the day. And maybe I'll vacuum, before the house gets completely taken over by animal hair. Oh! And I almost forgot two more things. First, finishing that baby blanket was on my list of 101 things, so I get to cross it off. That's two items crossed off in one day, woo! Second, have some cuteness to make you smile:

Breakfast

This is what breakfast looks like when you've gone 40 days without chocolate. :) In case you can't tell, that's chocolate milk in the mug, and of course that is a king sized Kit-Kat, courtesy of my wonderful J, who put it in my hand when he came into the bedroom to say good-bye as he was leaving for work this morning.

In case you're wondering, this is what it sounds like at my desk as I'm eating sticks of Kit-Kat (oh, the heavenly chocolate taste) and drinking chocolate milk - "Mmmm, mmmmmmm, hmmmmmm."

I'm so glad that 40 days is over.

Oh! And I'm going to go mark this item on my 101 list as done. Check! Never doing that again.

Day 40

Today is my last day without chocolate.

Wait, let me scream that out loud.

TODAY IS MY LAST DAY WITHOUT CHOCOLATE!!!

I'm a little excited, in case you couldn't tell. I have Sarah's bucket of Halloween candy at home, and I'm going to get some brownie mix (or chocolate chip cookie dough, I keep going back and forth) when J and I go after groceries tonight.

Anyway:

I'll probably eat these first. Mmm.

Followed closely by:



It's going to be a good weekend. :)

Two Years Ago

Two years ago yesterday I was sitting at my desk at work, when I got an e-mail with the following subject line: "eHarmony match requests communication." I opened it up and saw that J from (his city) had requested communication.

When I signed up for eHarmony, it wasn't so much to actually meet people - it was more to see who they would match me up with, or in fact even if they would attempt to match me with anyone. The first time I tried eHarmony was a couple of years after my Mother died. I was very depressed, and when I filled out the profile, I was honest in how I was feeling at the time. I got all the way through their very long application, only to have them tell me that they couldn't match me with anyone.

This time, however, they obviously did (of course, I was in a much better frame of mind this time around).

So when that e-mail came in, I wondered if I should bother replying. I would have to pay to join eHarmony to respond, and what if it didn't work out? I had a very bad track record with relationships, after all, and had really begun to think I would just be alone forever.

But then eHarmony sent me a deal - three months for the price of one. And I had a credit card with enough available to pay for it, so I said what the heck. I paid, and I replied.

Obviously this is one of the best things I've ever done.

I love you, J. I'm so glad you asked me to start communicating with you two years ago, and I'm so, so glad I paid the fee to respond. I can't imagine my life without you now. I'm glad we're going to get to spend the rest of our lives together.

Meet Molly

I have been having trouble with my contacts feeling really dry after I wear them for a few hours. I asked my boss if I could order a humidifier to use in the office, in hopes that it will help keep them more moist - especially once they start blasting the heat for the winter months. She said I could, so I did - it arrived today. Meet Molly. :)



Molly says "Moo."
Also, her nostrils and mouth look like a smiley face. :)

I could have ordered a normal, boring humidifier, but why do that when you can get one in the shape of a cow? They also come in the shapes of frogs, penguins, elephants and even Spongebob Squarepants. But I've always liked cows, so it had to be this one for me. Isn't she cute? The mist comes out of her ear tips. She's making me happy. Now here's hoping she can make my eyes stay moist with my contacts in!

How I can tell it's fall

1. I'm thinking that there is a nice chill in the air, that feels good on my bare arms.

2. I noticed that the trees are starting to mix some yellows, oranges and reds in with their green leaves.

3. I'm sweating way less.

4. Were those Canadian geese that I heard honking in the field next door? I think they might have been.

5. The windows are closed at night, instead of open.

6. The fan isn't always on at night.

7. I'm wearing socks again.

8. I haven't cut the grass in weeks, and it barely needs it (but I will have to cut it probably one more time before I'll be done for the season).

9. The calendar on my local station's weather page says it officially starts today.

10. Football season is back underway (for J, which means Simming/knitting/reading while he watches and/or listens to football is back underway for me).

11. I'm feeling the urge to bake - cupcakes, muffins, cookies, brownies (and not just because I'm missing the chocolate so much), and even bread.

12. Halloween decorations are starting to show up all over the house. :) When J is done decorating, maybe I'll take you on a tour again, like I did last year.

Happy Things, Week 3

Look at me, remembering to do this two weeks in a row! Here are the things that made me happy this week.

Sunday: J coming home to me, after being at work since Saturday morning. We spent a great afternoon together, before he went to sleep.

Monday: I used all of my letters TWICE in Scrabble with Sarah. I had dinner with my sister and her family - I hadn't seen her in a long time, so it was very nice. I also got all of my playing done for my next update in my Sims story.

Tuesday: Relaxing with J at night and just watching TV until bedtime. Also, Willow was being very snuggly and happy (mostly because her enemy, Rosebud, was in the mudroom).

Wednesday: I got a good night's sleep (after getting a horrible one the night before). I got part one of my Sims update done, and started setting up for my other legacy.

Thursday: Having some time with my poor, tired J. Working on the second mesh stitch section of my scarf, and having it come out right! Maybe I will be able to make myself a sweater soon after all! (After I finish the baby blanket, that is. I won't let myself start a sweater until I do.)

Friday: Writing part 2 of my Sims legacy update, while watching TV with J.

Saturday: Lying in bed with J, watching Raging Bull. It was a good movie, with great acting by DeNiro, and I love watching movies with J. Sarah bringing me chocolate! Which was partly mean, but I'll love it when I can eat it on Saturday of next week. :)

Why Sarah is Awesome (and mean)

She brought me this:



It's full of this:



Isn't that nice? A bucket full of chocolate, all for me! But it's also mean, because I can't eat any of it until a week from today! :) It smells amazing, though!

Meme Time

It's been a long time since I've done a meme, and I just found one online that was actually semi-interesting. I wanted to post anyway, so here you go! :)

A-Accent: I don't hear one normally, but I guess I have a bit of a northern accent. Until I hear southerners on TV, and then my southern comes out (I lived in Virginia for almost 15 years).
B-Breakfast item: Cereal. Many different varieties, depending on my mood.
C-Chore you hate: Mopping. There is a reason my floors are not the cleanest (understatement), and why even when we someday replace the worn out linoleum in the kitchen and dining room (and bathroom), I will have to find a color that will hide dirt.
D-Dad's Name: Philip (birth Dad, he died when I was two), Wayne (step-dad, raised me then died when I was 23).
E-Essential every day item: Once next Saturday comes? Chocolate. But really, water, J hugs, pet hugs and kisses.
F-Flavor Ice Cream: Chocolate. Mmm.
G-Gold or silver?: Silver mostly, but my engagement ring is gold.
H-Happy Place: Home.
I-Insomnia: Not often, luckily, and when it does hit, it usually only lasts one night.
J-Job: Marketing. Boring.
K-Kids: None, woo! Unless you count dogs and cats, and then I have 9 (counting J's two dogs).
L-Living arrangements: Living in sin, although it's less sinful, I guess, since he proposed to me in December. And I don't really believe it's living in sin, but that's what everyone used to call it.
M-Mom's birthplace: a hospital about ten miles from where I am right now.
N-Name your pets: In no particular order - Bernie, Willow, Rosebud, McDuff, Lucy, Kate, Zelda, Gracie, Sable.
O-Overnight hospital stays: I had my appendix out when I was in sixth grade. That's it so far.
P-Phobia: SPIDERS. They're way too creepy.
Q-Question: Why can't we work two days a week and have five off? Or even work, like, three days and have four off. It seems more balanced that way, and we'd all be way happier.
R-Religious affiliation: Officially, I'm Methodist. But I don't go to church, and I don't have any interest in changing that fact.
S-Siblings: Three brothers, one sister - all older than me (I'm the baby by six years).
T-Time you wake up: On weekdays, 6:30. On weekends, anywhere between 6:30 and 8:00. I've lost my ability to sleep the morning away, like I used to.
U-Unnatural hair colors you've had: The only time I've dyed my hair, it was a very dark brown. Now I don't even do that.
V-Vegetable you refuse to eat: Uh, all of them except for corn. Yes, I know. They're good for me. But, blah.
W-Worst Habit: Snacking when I'm not hungry - just bored.
X-X-rays you've had: Ankle, when I broke it, chest, when I was having severe congestion problems. Maybe I had my abdomen x-rayed when my appendix was infected (they had trouble diagnosing it), but I don't know.
Y-Yummy: Chocolate!!!
Z-Zoo animal: I haven't been to a zoo in at least 20 years, so I don't know. Uh, elephants? Penguins? Tigers? It kind of depresses me that any of them are in zoos instead of living the life they were intended to live, in the wild, so I don't know.

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.