Insane MIL & Weekend

I'll let you know when I can get more pics to show up in the Niagara 2 post. In the meantime, have some bonus Dulce de Leche cheesecake & listen to my stories.

My MIL is insane. For years my sister has taken her family up to Chris's mom's lake house for a weekend in the summer. Chris recently worked out a weekend where his mom would be in Chicago (she's a minister & is in Seminary for the summers) & thus my sister & family were ok to stay. MIL knew about this. She just drove up there today (my sister got up there last night, a 3.5 hour drive) & kicked my sister out!

Ok, even if for some reason the weekend got mixed up on one of our ends, did she have to boot my sister out? My sister always fixes things around the house & leaves at least $100 as a "thank you." They always leave the house cleaner than they found it. They'd already fixed the garage door today. Then, as a thanks, they get booted out. WTF?

I've said this before, but one of these days I'm sticking to this: I refuse to go up there anymore & visit her. She makes her place incredibly unwelcoming.

She pulled this weird stunt a few years ago for family friends. The Harpers are a mutual family friend from church days. The kids were friends with Chris and MIL was friends with the whole family. The youngest child visited a few solo weekends with his wife, with MILs permission. Again, they always left some cash & took care of the place. She "mixed up" weekends again & showed up freaking out...saying she knew who D. Harper was & he wasn't the D. Harper she knew and kicked him out. That was especially weird, an Alzheimerish moment. But otherwise, she has always seemed fine.

Ugh.

So anyway, we are laying out paver patio this weekend. It's supposed to be in the 90s & humid. Great. I'll take pictures.

Peep Meet: Niagara Pt. 2

Saturday & Sunday...
Or where good peeps go bad
*******A few more pics are posted then blogger started being mean AGAIN & not letting me upload. So have some Tintern....English white cheddar cheese with shallots & revisit later for MORE pics*****

I'm young, I'm lazy. It was vacation. That's why I opted out of breakfast over on the Canadian side with peeps. I knew we'd catch up later. So while Meemo, the Mystics, the Le Pews, the Lights, Seana family and the Byoffers (I think that was it?) had breakfast, we were just rolling out of bed.

Chris and I got up & walked around the State Park across the street from our hotel. Had some great views of the American Falls & Rapids. Learned a little Niagara Falls history.

Next, it was off to Buffalo while the breakfast crew headed to the zoo. The Maroonclows also went to Buffalo, but on a seperate mission. She wanted shoes for THE dress. We wanted wings. We went to the Anchor Bar & Grill, home of the original Buffalo wing.

We also wanted a weck, which Buffalo is famous for. What's a weck? It's a roast beef sandwich on a kimmelweck roll (a uniquely textured roll with salt & caraway on top). The wings were average, but the weck was outstanding. Looks like it would be a fun bar to hang out at. A pitcher of beer, some fried veggies, about 12 wings & a weck later (all shared), we walked out completely & utterly full. Buffalo was interesting. Had some nice areas & some more industrial areas. Lots of little colleges scattered around.

Next is was off to find some brew in St. Catherines. Well, Chris failed to write down the name of the place we wanted to check out & due to a festival downtown, we failed on our mission. So we called to see what everyone else was up to. The Lightsies were heading back to their hotel to grab a drink & dress for dinner. We had brought along dinner clothes & needed to change too. So we headed to their hotel & relaxed for a bit. I learned Mr. Lights is crafty & our Lights is the keeper of the lawn mower. Mr. Lights has a job to do: Make Lights a cupholder for her lawnmower. Why does she need a cupholder? This woman is a fool for Southern Comfort & Cokes. So much so that she has a "travel pack" of SoCo. She has little mini liquor bottles that she refills with SoCo & puts them in a Ziploc bag. She was pleased that we were bringing a cooler & she could pack those in for our late night drinking in the Sweet Suite (Catt's room).

We packed up for the evening into our truck (where we again heard Mr. Lights complain about the Zoom Zoom rental car). We parked in the Casino where it was free with a Player's Club Card. This meant we had to roam the Casino. I went in & signed up for the card while the gentleman asked me about Chocolate Cheese from Wisconsin. Apparently he hasn't visited my blog....or HAS he? I also exchanged REAL money for that silly Canadian Monopoly money. :-) The casino looked fun, but it's not really my thing. Then Chris wanted to buy some um, fine Canadian (or some other "C" place) cigars so we shopped for that in the casino complex.

Next up was Cafe Tu Tu Tango. What a neat place! It's upstairs from Wolfgang Puck's (which I never went to....boo hiss). There is art covering every wall, made by local artisans. It's all for sale, so they encourage you to wander throughout your evening. The menu was tapas style & had some great items. More importantly, you want to hear about peeps.

Waiting for us (we thought WE were early) was cq & babycq! I immediately recognized them once our area was pointed out. Beautiful ladies! Cq was quieter than I expected, but soon found out she just has a quiet voice. We had no problem making conversation, especially with the ADORABLE babycq there! The Maroonclowns, The Meemos & The Le Pews then all arrived at about the same time. Unfortunately, The Meemos & LePews were behind us & we didn't get to chat much. What beautiful people, though! Pene is gorgeous, Pepe seems to have a ton of energy (and is quite handsome himself) and the kids are very outgoing! Mrs. Meemo & baby Meemo have the same beautiful hair & smiles. Wish I'd have made the effort to talk to them a little bit. I was just too wrapped up in our crazy table! Jimbo, Catt, The Mystics, and the Byoffers then arrived. Mystic was busy playing with the kiddos (she has a great knack for that) & I'm not too sure what everyone else was up to. We got a call from Silvergirl who was with her family & looking for the restaurant. After about 15 minutes of direction guiding, Meemo & Chris got her there. She brought starfish shaped chocolates for everyone! How sweet!

Oh, and Seana & family made a quick appearance at dinner just to say hello. They'd had a long, long day & were pooped. So she proved to DH that everyone wasn't imaginary, nor axe murderers, so mission accomplished.

Babybyoffer was wearing his special shirt, made just for this occassion
The Maroonclowns drink like fish (go figure

The LePews

Baby cq apparently always gets freaky eyes when the red light comes on cameras. *giggle* I love this pic

The LePews, Mrs. & Baby Meemo and Seana's family had to leave just as we were done with dinner. It has been a long day for all the kiddos. Byoffer told baby byoffer to suck it up & press on. I kid, I kid. As the rest of us stood on the street, we realized we TOTALLY messed up by not getting a group shot in the restaurant. *Doh!* So those of us that were left found a spot & some nice waitresses on a smoke break to take our picture:

Meemo, Jimbo, Catt and the Maroonclowns & The Mysics went to play at the Casino. The rest of us went for a stroll along the falls. It was a gorgeous night for it. Some random pics:


The Silvergirl family needed to get back to camp, so we said goodbye. Not before I decided Mr. Silvergirl looked like a politican & should run for office. He was a very nice guy & put up with my idiocy (or was it the half gallon of sangria I drank at dinner?) We met back up with the casino peeps & headed back to the Sweet Suite for some drinking & debauchery. Dragonflies had sent candles for everyone so we gave her a call to say "thank you"! Wasn't that sweet? We tried calling some other peeps, but nobody wanted to talk to us. Snobs. We'd brought a cooler of Wisconsin brewed beers for the gang, so Chris had fun being the beer bitch. We also brought leftover wings from The Anchor, so Jimbo was able to enjoy those. We realized Maroonclown had this uncontrollable laugh where she looks like she's going to need CPR eventually. And Catt? A total snorter! Jimbo has a cute giggle.

At the end of the night, we realized a bed "leg" photo was in high order. I don't have pics of that, but if you keep your eyes open, you can find them on blogland or OT. :-)

The next morning, we met up with Catt & Jimbo to take them to the airport, as Buffalo was on our route home. Well, it wouldn't be a stop in Canada without trying some Tim Horton's coffee, so we made a point of finding one on our way out. The line was crazy long & the staff not to sharp. But let me tell ya, that's some good effing coffee. Pastries? Meh. Did you know they served sammiches at Tim Horton's? I did not realize. I decided for anyone that hasn't been there, Tim's is much like a Dunkin' Donuts, with lunch. Oh, and what is this crazy "hot smoothie" thing they serve there? Crazy Canucks.

I was very sad as we left the final peeps we saw at the airport. The weekend was officially over. *sniff* I can't WAIT for Peep Meet '07. I SO hope to meet more of the clan!

Peep Meet: Niagara

Friday: Michigan to Niagara Falls
Peep Meeting Frenzy
Mr. Breezy had given us some good directions on our giant map. He drives truck, so his directions were based on where restaurants were. Crazy Mr. Breezy.

We drove up through Canada and crossed into the U.S. at Lewiston. We checked into our hotel where Chris decided he needed a nap. Pbbbbt, I was too excited to be there. I walked around our hotel area to get my bearings. Found the pedestrian path to the Rainbow Bridge, checked out the State Park across the street and found our driving route to the Rainbow Bridge.

I called Meemo, our awesome event coordinator, to get the scoop on the night's adventures. We were meeting at the new Fallsview Casino at 8:00. Chris and I decided to walk over, as the Casino was literally right across the falls from our hotel & didn't look far away once we crossed the bridge. Ha. The streets angle over there & the casino is on top of a hill. Looks were deceiving.

We were the first to arrive at the meeting spot, which was to our advantage. We were easily able to recognize the group walking down the street. I immediately recognized the tall, dark & handsome Meemo, as well at the tall, red-headed handsome Jimbo. It took me a second to recognize Catt because her hair looked blonder in person. Or maybe it was just the sun. *shurg* Catt & Jimbo looked like a fashion advertisement with their matching garb. I couldn't figure out who the beautiful couple with them was. I started running through the list in my head. Nothing was matching up. I had to ask. They were the Maroonclows! Next, I immediately recognized the tall, attractive couple with the cute baby in the stroller. The t-shirt with the big purple ball was a dead giveaway. The byoffers were there!

Immediately everyone was so welcoming and chatty. I got awesome hugs right off the bat. Meemo was busy talking on his pink razar phone, though. We peeps are a bothersome bunch.

Within minutes, a darkly dressed mysterious couple walked towards us & waved. We were too stupid to immediately recognize the woman WEARING THE WOLF SHIRT. *doh!* Of course, within seconds we realized it was the Mysticwolf's!

Around the same time, a cutie single lady came prancing up to the group and it took us a second to figure out it was Seana, checking out the serial killer status of the group. She didn't look at all like a tart nor a boring housewife.

90% of that evenings group was there & the Lightsies were on their way. Chris & Jimbo scouted out a bar/restaurant for us across the street. It had a lovely terrace that was almost empty & a nice casual menu for the many of us that hadn't yet eaten. Perfect!

I had the pleasure of sitting next to Mrs. byoffer & baby byoffer. Mrs. byoffer was so nice to talk to. She was curious about all of us and didn't hesitate to make fun of her husband. I think she should post on the boards, don't you? Baby byoffer is a happy, happy kid. He was flirting with all the ladies and dancing to the music that started up & drowned out our conversations. Hey, at least the music was good.

Oh, and Catt threw food at me like some tough chick. Mind you, she was wearing a prairie skirt...how tough can a chick look in that?

A few peeps went for a smoke & ran into the lightsies! I had to wait my turn to hug the bejeezus out of my northernmost buddy! What a wonderful, warm person she is! And Mr. Lights was such a happy, smiling guy, not at all bothered by spending time with us lunatics!

We decided to hit the road back to Catt's fancy suite (ahhh, the sweetness of upgrades) so we didn't have to yell over the music and it was almost time for the promised FIREWORKS. Mrs. byoffer & babybyoffer had gone back to the hotel by that point. Boo. In the Sweet Suite, Magically some beer arrived (thanks Meemo & byoffer!) & I got to have a Keith's....a favorite of JD Fortune. It's like we have a connection now.

Well, Jimbo quickly realized we couldn't actually see the fireworks, however the falls were beautifully illuminated with colored lights & provided an awesome view from the living room of the suite. By that point, we were chatterboxes. Maroonclown had some catching up to do, the boys were talking about birthdays and gay penguins, we all had to make fun of Catt about Hayden & here geekly Star Wars love....you know, it was just like a day on OT! There was no akward conversation lulls or anything. We babbled forever. We talked about the fact that Mystic became a blue peep for Starting Over, yet had never watched the show. She has since watched one episode. Seana and Maroonclown have these silly, larger than life personalities. You always knew when one was near! Seana is queen of the sarcastic quips...easy to see why she found a home at OT. Maroonclown is just a hoot. I can't even describe her personality very well. I guess you'll have to meet her for yourself! Crazy Canadian ladies, indeed. Mystic has this calm demeanor when she talks, yet commands a room. So she sounds all serious, yet will throw in something completely laugh-worthy often. Lightsy spent a lot of time laughing and making silly comments. I missed most of the men's coversations, as they were in the bedroom most of the time. *cricket cricket* Although I didn't note that Jimbo really loosed up as the night went on. Little did I know how much he'd loosen up over the weekend. *snort* Oh yeah, did I mention Catt is a snorter when she laughs? Now whenever I type *snort*, I think of her.

I could've stayed forever that night, but we had a trek back to the U.S. side of the falls. Everyone decided to leave at that point. Meemo offered to give us a ride to the bridge, as he had to go by there anyway to take the Maroonclowns home. About the time he said his car must be on the next level & we'd have to find the staircase, we realized he really could be a serial killer. Uh huh.

We made it home in one piece, it was a beautiful night to walk back to the hotel across the bridge.

Much to your disappointement, I didn't bring my camera on Friday night, so everyone else will have to show you pics from then.
Stay tuned for Saturday...

Peep Meet: Michigan

Let's have some spicy pepper jack while we hear the spicy dirt from Michigan & Niagara. :-)

THURSDAY: Wisconsin to Michigan
I totally forgot about the time change between the states & called Breezy about an hour after she was expecting us to be there (doh!). After our 6.5 hour drive, we pulled up to the Breezy house...or what we assumed was. There was no house number, so I was just going on her description. A man came to the door as we were walking up.
Me: Are you Mr. Breezy (ok, I used his real name)?
Man: *looks at me with confusion* Who?
Me: I'm looking for Mr. & Mrs. Breezy's house.
Man: *shakes head* I don't know who that is.
Voice in background: Now you know why Carey wants you to kick his butt!

Yep, we had the right house. Mr. Breezy was just being Mr. Mischievious. *kicks his butt*

We immediately felt at home since Breezy had a Packers blanket on the couch and a shrine downstairs (along with her mini green monstah). Breezygirl was so shy at first.

We went outside to enjoy the afternoon. Chris immediately became fixated on the tractor sprinkler. It travels along the hose to water a large lawn space without having to move sprinklers & hoses. Guess was landed on our Monday Menard's shopping trip list? Then Mr. Breezy & Chris started working on one of Mr. Breezy's toys: the Harley. Breezy and I decided drinking on the deck sounded more fun.

One guess what she made for "drinks". Points for the peeps that guessed JELLO SHOTS! And not just a few...a whole 9x13 double stacked pan of them. And they were HUGE. And the blue ones? Totally lethal. She tried to tell us she just used a cup of vodka. I think Breezy lies and was just trying to get us drunk.




Anywhooooo, Breezygirl was cracking me up. She is so smart, confident, beautiful & silly. It's easy to tell what a great relationship she and her mom have.

Ok, guessing time again! Guess what Breezy made for dinner. BEER BUTT CHICKEN! But we had to start the grill first. And the ignition switch wasn't lighting the fire, so Breezy broke out the lighter. But it wasn't one of those long stick lighters, it was just a cigarette lighter. How would THIS help light the grill? She starts mumbling about spaghetti. *boggle* You can't cook spaghetti on the grill, I thought. She triumphantly comes out of the house with a single spaghetti noodle and proceeded to try & light it on fire. I think I about burst my stomach from laughing so hard. After a few minutes, and to my amazement, it actually was on fire & she was able to light the grill. I still think she's crazy.



We ate the yummy dinner while the husbands and some other men tinkered on the bikes. There were sparks flying from the garage & everything. They finally came in & we chatted for hours. We even did a shot of Naners! Oh, and Chris drank some patootie (as we decided to call it) that I hear Clueless is responsible for.

Finally we hit the hay, since I decided Chris looked quite drunk & was really blabbering. :-)

Friday morning we were very sad to say goodbye & that we couldn't force the Breezy's in the truck to come to Niagara Falls (they had a wedding that weekend where Breezygirl was a junior bride).

Breezy is such a laid-back, fun, intelligent and kind person. She and her daughter are both beautiful. They look so much alike! I hope that we'll have another chance to hang out with the Breezy's again!

Peep Meet Appetizer

Flambe'd queso funditio with peppers, chorizo and tomatoes. Grab some tortilla chips & dip in.

We are in Joliet, IL right now. It was time for a rest. Only about a 3.5 hour trip home tomorrow. However we have to stop at Menards on our way home tomorrow & get a tractor sprinkler (thanks an effing lot, Breezy). We're ordering our patio construction supplies, too.

I have a camera full of pictures to share. Our trip was awesome. Breezy was a great hostess. I immediately understood why Carey wanted to kick Mr. Breezy in the butt. But more about that later.

There were beer butts and jello shots in Michigan.

Drinks, drinks, and more drinks in Niagara. The parts in between the first drink and last are all a little fuzzy. Thank Cod Catt got the suite for us to parte' in.

Oh, and those silly Canadians, eh. Let me tell you abooot them....

I'll save all the details for Tuesday. It's about time for bed. We just got back from a local Mexican restaurant that was OUTSTANDING. Nolay made me drink the gigantic (think about 24 oz) margarita. They informed us they drive customers home if needed. *LLMC* (laugh like Maroonclown)

Buenos Noches!

Bob is in charge of the cheese.

If you are looking for cheese, I'm putting Bob in charge while I'm gone. Please, I encourage harassment of Bob. I bet she'll put out some fancy cheese for you if you ask nicely.

My Independence Day weekend was ok. Worked a lot at the theater. Made enough money to pay for vacation between Chris and I. Yay! Went to Chris's brothers & sat around outside. It was ok. Just nice not to be working. However, yesterday morning we were supposed to go boating. Instead, Chris's brother & SIL needed help picking up windows they bought from a flea market. They were heavy double paned windows for a four-season porch that they intended to seperate & use for a greenhouse. Well, that took 2 hours of heavy lifting where FIL hurt his knee quite badly, SIL got some nasty scratches & I had a bungee cut & snap against my knees. Everyone else got some pretty sore backs out of the deal. We just went home after that.

But good news! Tomorrow morning I head out to see Breezy! Then Friday I head out to see lots of OT peeps! Seana is afraid we are all crazy. Well, she's probably right.

Tonight...I get to meet dragonflies, albeit, for about 15 minutes. Yay!

Days off are good.

Because it's a holiday weekend, let's have a fondue party!

I had the day off yesterday & it was nice & relaxing. Went to visit my dad, ate my favorite doughnut in the world, went out for lunch with a friend, got the oil changed in the car & took a very very short nap before my pt job.

I had chinese for lunch. That pleases me. I had a spring roll and steamed veggies & chicken with a side of spicy garlic sauce. I find I really enjoy chinese the most when it's not drowning in oil.

The doughnut? It's from the place my aunt & uncle used to own. It's this cinnamon swirl thing (like persians, only better) with extra cinnamon on top & dunked in glaze. The best.

Today I need to get some work done since I'll only be in one day next week.

Have a great weekend!

Sucks to be my dad.

Brie & sun dried tomato baguettes today.

Poor dad. He's worked at this small lumber yard since he moved to the area in 1974 (give or take a year). It's about 3 minutes from his house & he worked his way up to manager. The owner sold it a few years ago, as he was getting quite old & his health was failing. The business was quite the money maker, but the man never invested it back into the business, just into his own pockets. The lumber yard was appreciated by local general contractors & would go the extra mile for it's customers.

The new owner bought this lumber yard & a few others in the area. He already owned an office supply business that was doing fairly well. Nobody really knew what to expect.

Within three years, the new owner had sucked all the money out of two lumber yards to finance his office supply business, which had taken a nose dive. Pretty soon he started pulling money from my dad's lumber yard. All the sudden they didn't have money in the account to pay invoices. Suppliers were pissed, their credit was ruined with many of them & there was barely money for payroll. Hard to keep customers happy when their suppliers were delaying shipments due to non-payment. So my dad has been miserable. A few weeks ago, the employees were given notice that the place was closing in 60 days. Sad, but at least that gave them time to find a new job.

Then, wham! On Friday they were called by the bank & told to lock the doors & close until at least Monday. They were advised to remove all of their personal belongings. Today is Wednesday & still no news. My dad is getting called at home by contractors & customers saying "WTF?" None of the employees have any clue what's going on. The owner has "cut & run, " and the business is now held in the custody of an attorney. So now he sits, entertains low ball job offers (at least he's getting some offers), and is miserable. 4 years away from possible retirement.

I'm going to visit him tomorrow.

7 Things Meme

Seven Things Meme
7! That's a lot!
I was tagged by Nutzy who was tagged by HD.

Seven things to do before I die:
1. Visit every state in the U.S.
2. Visit every continent
3. Spend significant time volunteering for the elderly
4. Purchase a fancy stand mixer & make pasta (dare to dream, I know)
5. Write to a magazine & get published...I don't care if it's even just a letter to the editor
6. Renew my marriage vows on our 50th anniversary :-)
7. Get Chris his ultralight or other aircraft

Seven things I cannot do:
1. Consistently make good bread
2. Dance...and have it look right.
3. Be 125 lbs.
4. Turn down a cosmopolitan
5. Any math in my head beyond super simple stuff
6. Stay off the internet at work
7. Eat caviar

Seven things that attract me to my mate:
1. Goofy sense of humor
2. Dimples
3. Sometimes buys me treats that he knows I especially like
4. In the same vein, always encourages me buy truffles when we find a truffle store.
5. Smaaaaht.
6. He's a kickass Trivial Pursuit partner
7. His love of cats

Seven things I say:
1. "WTF?" (*waves to Nutz*)
2. "I see you packed your angry eyes" (adapted from Toy Story 2)
3. *with lisp* "Surprise!" (this is a new one, from Last Comic Standing's Nikki Payne)
4. *with lisp* "Turn out the lights Charles...what for?....Romance" A favorite line from Life Goes On
5. "Look! Turklets!"
6. "I chalk it up to a learning experience"
7. "Meh."

Seven books I love:
1. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult
2. The Liar's Club by Mary Karr
3. Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy
4. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein
5. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
6. Christy by Catherine Marshall
7. The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

Seven movies that I've loved:
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Dead Poet's Society
3. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
4. The Muppet's Take Manhattan
5. Toy Story 2
6. Beautiful Girls
7. The Usual Suspects

Seven People I Tag:
Anyone that hasn't done it!

Going once, going twice....SOLD!

Have some cheddar & bacon cheese spread with crackers & let's talk about auctions!

I went to my first auction this weekend. I was always intimidated by the concept, so had never shown any interest in going to one. However, it was the neighbor's auction and we had our eye on some items so we went. Apparently you have to register for a number...we didn't realize that til they announced it a few minutes before the auction started. Newbies.

So there's a ton of craptacular stuff. We had our eye on the following:
1. Sauce maker (for canning)...won for $1
2. Redwing Crocks (for my BIL)...won one for $20
3. Kraut cutter (for my BIL)....gave up, as we know nothing about kraut cutters & weren't paying attention.
4. Treadmill...won for $1....plus it included a rowing glider macine, inversion table, and exercise bike. They all work fine. The treadmill just needs some lube.
5. block & tackle....lost.
6. chains....lost
7. gas mosquito magnet type thing...won for $85 (new cost is around $250)
8. mosquito gas handheld fogger...won for $5 (new price is around $45 & it also came with the chemicals)
9. brand new electric mosquito magnet thingy...won for $1 (store price is $225)
10. Table saw table for $2.50 (for my BIL)
11. Drill press for $80 (for my BIL)

So my personal triumph was that the exercise equipment actually works. Chris was shaking his head at me when I bid for that & it included all four pieces. He figured we'd be paying to haul it to the dump. Whew! It DID work! The treadmill was about a $300-$400 one new, so not exactly top of the line, but it has electronics that work. I don't think the incline does...but hey, it was $1.

And they have 8 soaker hoses that I wanted, but had to get to work. Turns out they didn't sell, so I'm going to offer her $10 (only would've cost $1 at the auction!) for them. I'd feel guilty only offering her $1, though, especially since I don't think they made a dime to spare at the auction. They needed the proceeds to pay off his tractor loans.

Aside from that being kind of sad, yay for acutions!

Turklet

Have some cherry-cream cheese kringle. I have a sweet tooth.

Today as we were driving into work, two adult turkeys were walking their babies on the side of the road (a busy highway). Hope they didn't try to cross. Anyway, Chris exclaimed,

"Awww, turkeys and their turklets."

Chris=Wordmakerupper

Which brings me to my question of the day (since I didn't look it up on the internet): What IS a baby turkey called?

I got it back.

Cojack & summer sausage today. That's what I had last night at a housewarming party.

Last night was a busy evening. I again have a cell phone...yay! Chris got a camera phone, I just got a plain ol baseline Nokia. Chris is bothering me with this new camera phone. He likes to take random pictures of me in the car. Were you all like this when YOU got camera phones?

I had to squeeze in a last minute housewarming party in a town 30 minutes away from our house and fulfilling Tastefully Simple orders for a fundraiser, which I have to deliver tomorrow. I also have an odd schedule at APT this week, so I'm feeling a bit slammed.

The neighboor (JD house widow) is having an auction tomorrow morning. I think some friends are coming, which means I'll also have to straighten up the house. They are those neat-freak friends that would comment to eachother in the car about how our floor wasn't swept, so YES, I have to clean.

Shoes

Monterrey Jack with Toasteds crackers today. I love those crackers.

Anywhoo....let's talk shoes.

I need a new pair of black semi-dressy sandals. Mine are falling apart. I browsed Payless last night with no luck. I can't stand things between my toes and some of the wide bands across the foot were stiff & rubbed into my foot when I walked. I have size 10 feet, so my selection is also usually limited.

Chris also needs new shoes. He likes to wear hiking boots because he needs arch support & ankle support. Let's face it: hiking boots are not exactly dapper. He goes through a pair/year because it's really all he wears. He has these regular brown lace up shoes that I really like on him, however he complains the arch support sucks. They also don't offer ankle support, but he can live with that.

So we are having a household shoe issue. I think we both need a new pair before Niagara. I'm hoping a set of nice insoles will prompt my DH into wearing the cuter shoes.

I think I need to hit DSW & maybe Wal-Mart. For some reason, I have always been able to find inexpensive, comfortable, fairly stylish shoes at Wal-Mart. I usually have better luck there than Payless. And Target and Kohl's are hit or miss for shoes usually. Sometimes I find a cute comfy pair at Target & sometimes I find an under $30 pair at Kohls that I like. At DSW I'll have to pay a little more, but it might be worth it. I have a really difficult time paying over $35/pair. $20 or less/pair is more in my price range. I'm just not enough of a shoe-ho I guess.

Pig: In Need of Home

Let's have some cajun flavored cheese curds while we think about this little mystery.

5:30 pm, Friday: I come home for a few minutes before I have to work at APT. All is fine.

8:30 pm, Friday: I leave work to meet my family at a restaurant. They are already done eating, so we just go have a beer.

10:15 pm, Friday: We return home. I'm in the kitchen & glance out the front window. It's dark, but there's something that catches my eye. It looks like a pig is sitting on my front porch. I look again. It's still there. I go onto the porch to investigate. Sure enough, this is sitting there:

??? WTF ???

Option 1: My father knows of my dislike of ugly lawn ornaments. He had to drive by my house on the way to the restaurant, while I was at work.

Option 2: Friends that don't necessarily know of my lawn ornament issue just thought it would be funny.

Option 3: The pig needed a home & it thought ours looked nice.

So what do I do with this pig?

Oh Dear Cod.

Do you ever leave a message on an answering machine or voicemail & get totally distracted, thus leaving an idiotic rambling message? And do you ever do this at work?

I just left the worst rambling, unprofessional voicemail ever. I was trying to recruit a Director of Nursing for a study we are doing which consists of a 20 minute phone interview now & one in about 2 weeks. I have left 6 other messages that went just fine this afternoon. This particular one? Total brain fart.

My message went something like this:
Hi this is Kim N with the University of Wisconsin. I'm calling because (and here is where the brain fart starts kicking in) my boss (totally unprofessional language) and I are doing a small study on care planning and the RAPs (there was a more eloquent way to say this). We are trying to recruit homes from across the U.S. (wtf? Why did I say this? I never did in the other messages!) and you were recommended to us by the AHHSA association (ok, it's just AAHSA, not "the AAHSA assoc.") as a facility that does excellent care planning (again, could've been more eloquent).

The rest went fairly smooth. I just completely spaced for a minute. No way this person is calling me back. And I might be too embarassed to call her back.

*bangs head on desk*

How much do you need?

Strawberry cream cheese coffee cake this morning. I'll even serve coffee & tea. Although it's hot & muggy here, so let's also have mimosas!

This might be too personal for some. So how much money would you need to make (yearly salary) to be able to live "comfortably?" I'm sure our definitions of comfortable will vary. And I'm sure where we live will influence our answers.

Based on need to pay off lots of debt, I would say a $120,000 household income would allow us to quickly pay off bills and not have to worry about paying the bills. That is, if we continued to live our current lifestyle (same house, same types of vehicles). Then we could even afford to buy some toys in 5-10 years without going into anymore debt.

The chances of us having that income within the next 5 years is slim to none. We are both state employees. And not like fancy department heads or chancellors.

I forgot to put in a title. Edited to add this.

It's white cheese day. Let's have provolone, baby swiss and chevre.

What an eavesdropper would've heard in our car this morning:

Chris (semi-sarcastically): I wish I had one of those old Volkswagon convertibles.
Kim: Hm, I've never seen one of those.
Chris: Really? There was one in Hanson's Mmmm Bop video.

*cricket cricket*

Thoughts & questions

Have some warm garlic cheese bread.

Feel sorry for me that I don't have an MP3 player. It's is now going on my Christmas list.

I have a piece of chocolate cake again today. Should I wait until after lunch or eat it now? Let's face it. There's no splitting it into half now & half later. Once I dig in, it will all be gone.

I got a great deal on a facial peel stuff at Sally Beauty Supply (I had to buy a curling iron...it's my favorite place to buy that stuff). It was regularly $20, but was on their clearance table for $6.99...plus those items were all buy one get one. Woohooo! I've been using it on my surgery scars, as well as my face & it actually seems to be fading them. Yay!

Do you use any OTC teeth whitening products? I'm curious about this new Listerine.

Long Weekend Recrap

Some lovely colby for you, purchased from our local cheese factory.

I had yesterday off because the Dish Network repairman was coming. So again, we finally have all our channels. Yay! I caught up on a little trash tv (The Hills, Sonya!).

I worked at APT this weekend in the gift shop. It was fun. The two hours flew by. Go to http://www.americanplayers.org to check the place out. Chris got a call from our friend, the house manager, yesterday. He needs a part time concessions worker to peddle beer. Chris agreed, if he could get a similar schedule to mine. They accomodated him. Yay!

I had a Tastefully Simple event this weekend. It was a fundraiser for a former hostess's church. Only about 20 people showed, but sales were around $1500. When each item is less than $10, that means it was quite successful. Unfortunately, I think I'm getting out of the TS business soon. I'm just not excited about doing parties any more. I still love the product, but I have no time to do parties.

I washed windows and screens yesterday. No fun, but a lovely day to do it. I also did a little planting of some ornamental grasses I found on sale for $2.99/big pot. Yay! I also grilled some trout Chris had caught over the weekend. Yum! I made a sauce for it out of mangos, herbs, roasted pepper hot sauce and honey.

Now, I shall quit blabbering.

I must get work done

A nice sharp cheddar and grapes today.

I really need to get this little project done at work. I've been avoiding it all week.

I really would rather surf the net for patio ideas and Niagara trip stuff.

What would you rather be doing today?

The backyard

Area in red is where I'm thinking the patio should go.

First picture is the view from our existing deck, the sides are also wooded, so it's nice and private (note, we've left our deck railing-less for now, until we decide what to do with the rest of the area)

Summer project

<------design idea. The white items are patio furniture. The big table & chairs we already have. I want to get a bar set for the upper existing deck (great minds think alike, Breezy!). the orange circle is where the firepit would go. Mind you, my scale isn't exact here.

Fresh mozzarella and tomatoes with lots of italian & garlic flavored olive oil today.

I think we are biting the bullet & charging our summer project: the backyard patio. My pt job checks will all go towards paying it off. It's 0% interest for a year.

Now I must design the darn thing. *stress* I hate big landscaping projects because they are so permanent. I'll have to take a picture of our backyard & get your opinions. Right now we have a small (6x6' maybe?) deck off the back door. Our basement is partially exposed, so the deck is off the top level. I'm thinking of bringing the stairs off to a mid level landing & then stairs down onto a large ground level patio made of belgian pavers. The firepit will then be off of that.

The other option is to have a large ground level deck made of treated lumber (the fancy wood is too expensive). I think I'd like the look, however we can't build the firepit into that (since it's all wood) and would still need a seperate firepit area anyway (more moolah). Plus, I think the upkeep will be slightly easier and less expensive with the pavers...no deck staining.

Anyone with paver experience? Our soil is sandy, so it's the perfect surface for doing it. I just don't want them all to heave in a few years & have it look like crap. I know some heaving is inevitable, but I hope to keep it to a minimum.

Your Celebrity Date

Pesto Havarti today as you think about your favorite celebrity.

This is right up MCatt & Glow's ally.

You've won a date with your celebrity d'jour. You have from 9 am to 5 pm to spend with your celeb and no, having sex with him/her isn't an option.

What would you do for the day?

Travel

Key Lime Cheesecake for everyone this morning, topped with my special raspberry currant sauce.

Good morning Chippiepie, Hushpuppy, Fishcakes, et al,

I spent a few hours yesterday making travel arrangements for my first November conference (San Francisco is first and then Dallas). Chris IS coming with me to San Francisco and I was able to use my frequent flyer miles to buy him a ticket. It only cost $10. Yay! Unfortunately, our flight will leave Madison at 6:15 a.m. (we have a 45 min. drive to the airport). Gah!

Those "award travel" tickets aren't exactly good. Our choices were to leave MSN at 6:15 am & get to SFO at 11 am, leave MSN at 7:00 a.m. and get to SFO at 10:00 pm or leave at noon & get in at 11 pm. I didn't want to get in late because that would waste an entire day on a plane & in airports. What a waste. And I love some of the routes. One took us from Madison to Atlanta to Cincinatti to San Fran. Ah, no thanks.

I'm goint to OT to ask about car rental companies.

I've lost my mind.

I swear I left the cheese tray over here. Who stole it?

I swear I already posted a new blog entry today. Turns out I didn't.

Ooooh, I do remember visiting lots of blogs, though.

Monsty is now to be called fishcakes.

Weekend Recrap

Morning campers! I have some leftover sharp cheddah for you to munch on. If you so please, there is also venison summer sausage.

The weather was pretty great all weekend. Too hot & humid yesterday, though.

My weekend activities included: cooking, reading, sitting on my butt by the fire, playing cards, boating, walking to the bathroom and garbage dumpsters, drinking and sleeping.

The boat ride was fun. It was first positive boating experience in a long, long time. Usually whatever boat I'm in malfunctions, hits something, the water is too low, the driver doesn't know the waterway or the water is too choppy. This time, the water was high, the boat was fine and it was a little choppy, but that's ok. Chris did a great job driving us around the river (Mississippi).

I read my INXS: Story to Story book. Interesting stuff. Quite sad when it started talking about Michael's death.

Rum & coke get me in trouble. *passes out* Just sayin'.

Holy Carp I'm Busy

I'm rushed, therefore it's a cheddar variety tray today. Not very imaginitive, I know. I'll include some of the hummus I made last night. Spicy & delicious.

I'm off tomorrow, so am trying to get stuff done at work. We have a grant going out (again). It's in decent shape, but there are always last minute changes that spin everything out of control.

We are camping at a beautiful State park this weekend. It's along the bluffs of the Mississippi River. We aren't camping on the bluffs (the sites are tiny, crowded and if bad weather hits, good luck), but we have spacious shaded sites below. The weather is supposed to be perfect: Low 80s and no rain. Rare for Memorial Day weekend.

On the camping menu:
Tacos
BBQ sauced, grilled chicken
Grilled pork roast
Morel mushrooms
Pudgie Pies (camper pies, whatever you want to call them)
Turkey burgers
hot dogs/brats

We tend to eat pretty well all weekend. :-)

ABC Meme

Nookie said I forgot the cheese. I just needed to find inspiration. In honor of the Top Chef finale tonight, I'm serving the cheese Miguel couldn't pronounce to save his life: Fourme d'Ambert Cheese. You might not like this strong french cheese, but I've laid out some good crostini to go with it.

A is for Age - 29
B is for Booze - Rum & Coke or Cosmos
C is for Career - Research Project Manager
D is for Dad’s name - Mark
E is for Essential Item to bring to a Party - Cheese. Come on, it's what you expect me to say.
F is for Favorite Songs at the Moment - Suicide Blonde by INXS...oldie but I've been playing it lots
G is for Goof off thing to do - Play Testes Toss. You might know it as ladder ball. The military boys introduced me to it, therefore it's why I know it as testes toss.
H is for Hometown - Richland Center
I is for Instrument you play - I used to make harmonicas out of combs and wax paper
J is for Jam or Jelly you like - Freezer strawberry rhubarb jam. *licks lips*
K is for Kids - 3 cats
L is for Living arrangement - House with Chris & the cats
M is for Mom’s name - Rosemary
N is for Names of best friends - Melanie, Angie, Megan, Deanna
O is for overnight hospital stays -None
P is for Phobias - Snakes, en masse bugs
Q is for Quote you like - Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it-Ellen Degeneres
R is for Relationship that lasted longest - Current one...around 8 years as a serious relationship.
S is for Siblings - 2 older sisters.
T is for Texas, Ever been? - Not yet--ask me again in November!
U is for Unique trait - I'll go with my crooked pinky.
V if for Vegetable you love - Peas, corn on the cob (thanks, momma), broccoli, cucumbers, bell peppers
W is for Worst traits - Not passionate enough (I have few things I feel quite strongly about)
X - is for XRays you’ve had - teeth, arm & hand, spine...I think that's about it.
Y is for Yummy food you make - jumbalaya, stuffed mushrooms, peppercorn beef tenderloin, cream puffs, Snickers pie
Z is for Zodiac sign - Aries

They are dead.

Have some sympathetic white queso & chips with me.

They are all dead. Well, all but five. The 40 pepper plants and 20 tomato plants that I nursed from seeds and carefully planted on Monday are dead. Who knew that Monday night we were going to have a bad frost? *sniff* The five bell pepper plants survived. Those were seeds I had taken from the most delicious farmer's market red bell pepper I'd ever had. I forget what kind it was, but yum!

Anyway, I give up. I'm not investing any more time or money in the tomatoes & peppers. I'll have such little time to garden this summer, anyway.

So much work down the drain. This has been a very late killing frost for our area. Usually the second week of May & you are then safe. However, there HAVE been killing frosts around Memorial Day before...just long ago. I'm a young gardener, I guess I took a chance. Sigh.

The Concert

Cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting this morning...mmmmm.

INXS is hot. Not just JD. All of them.

Scott Stapp? Not bad. He was better than I anticipated. Did a lot of old Creed stuff in addition to his new solo music. Not a long break between SS & INXS coming on. That was nice.

They had a curtain down with a 5 minute countdown timer (a few screams when it hit JDs # at 4:48). 3-2-1 *enter harmonica* The curtain raises & JD bursts on stage with Suicide Blonde. Holy carp did he look hot in his black suit, white shirt and yellow striped tie undone. Oh, and shades. Mmmmm. The pinnacle of JD hotness. The jacket came off soon after, then the tie. And about three songs in, he changed to a black t-shirt.

Ok, enough about JD hotness (for now). The set was simple, so nothing to report there. We were on Tim & Garry Gary's side of the stage, but were close enough to get a decent view of the whole band. Other than Jon. There was a cymbal blocking my view of him. *pout*

Notable performances:
Taste It. No, we didn't get the microphone sex that he often does as part of the show, however he did a little sexy mic dance. And he did a fun rap with Taste It to intro the band.

By My Side. Ok, I'm biased. I love this song. It started out with all of them sitting around Jon's drum stand playing and singing. So intimate. JD's voice sounded FABULOUS on this one.

Other songs included:
Mystify
Need You Tonight
Devil Inside
Never Tear Us Apart
Don't Change
New Sensation
Original Sin
Kick
Afterglow
Pretty Vegas
Hot Girls
Never Let You Go (Yes, I said "Knockers would love this")
Devil's Party
Hungry

JD & the two backup singers (I think one is the girl that does the Afterglow backup vocals on the album) did a beautiful acapella of Amazing Grace. Absolutely beautiful. JD also did a spoken word thing that was odd, yet cool. Something in there about chocolate chip orgasms.

Tim is a horny rock star. He makes me laugh. He was always mugging for the crowd, playing with the ladies in the front row & generally hamming it up.

Andrew was looking quite cute. I think he's lost some weight. He and Kirk had some cute playful moments.

JD smoked & swore a lot. One lucky girl (I hope she was a smoker) got one of his half-smoked cigarettes. He also had a thing for ripping up signs people made. He'd take them up to Jon & show him, then rip them. Very odd. He did his homework on Milwaukee, referencing the city being about beer & Harley Davidson's.

I was disappointed there wasn't a little more banter from the band. Other than JD, nobody said anything to the crowd. Yesterday, I was reading my INXS: Story to Story book & it shed a little light on that. Their image, by their first manager, was very much about mystery. They were supposed to seem a little private & inaccessible, yet completely musically compelling. I guess that has carried through to present day.

Now for the picture story. I forgot to charge the batteries before I left, so there wasn't much juice to take pics left. Chris grabbed the camera, because that is what he always does. He takes a picture of Scott Stapp, knowing full well there isn't enough juice to take more than a few pics. Gah! He gets one of the band when they are doing Suicide Blonde. The camera shuts off. I looked at them yesterday & the SS one is perfect...if you are in to SS. INXS? Blurry, blurry, blurry. Sigh.

Nap Time!

It's nap time, so get your nap mats ready.

Did you have "nap mats" in kindergarten? We did. My mom bought me a stupid rug. One of those nylon strip woven ones. I wanted an actual mat. *pout* My dad still has my nap mat in his messy workshop. I think I'm a little insulted by that.

Your Work Environment

Somebody had a license plate that said "GOUDA" this morning, so we're having gouda.

How do people at your workplaces get along? At most of my other jobs, it's been generally good. There's always been one or two people that nobody likes, but we could all get along & have fun. There wasn't a ton of talking about others behind their backs.

At my current job it is HORRIBLE. There are many groups:
Faculty (PhD level instructors and researchers),
Academic Staff (researchers like me and people like advisors, communications staff, etc)
Instructional Staff (MS level instructors for entry courses),
Classified staff (admin. support personnel),
Administration (Dean, Business office staff)

The Faculty & Instructional staff have a long standing status issue. The Instructional feel mistreated and unimportant. The faculty feel they do all the important stuff and don't have time to collaborate with other staff. Not to mention faculty members can be odd folks with few social skills anyway.

The Classified Staff feel extremely persectuted by everyone (and there is some basis for that). However, they generally do little to earn respect and decide to complain to everyone OTHER than the person they have issues with. They aren't problem solvers and don't think before they speek.

Administration has filled itself with defensive, rule spewing, recluses. Everyone hates them, they hate everyone. They aren't friendly in the hallways, but rather hide in their offices. And never ever ask how you are doing. But when you ask them? They'll moan & complain for hours about how their life is awful or how awful other employees are behaving. They LOVE to come out with policies that make themselves sound like the police. They have no sense of "how can we help you work within the rules?" Instead it's this attitude of "You're all idiots that don't know the rules & just wait til we catch you." And decisions are made behind closed doors with no venue for feedback.

I'm in the Academic Staff group that just hangs out. We are on the fringe & have little power. It's easy to get sucked in by both sides of arguments because we are so powerless that everyone wants to vent to us.

It's just horrible & is creating a complete lack of any social or professionally sound atmosphere.

Anywhoooo, INXS is tomorrow-YAY!

"I" Meme

I AM: average.

I WANT: more money.

I WISH: I had a flat stomach & abs.

I HATE: pickles.

I MISS: the occassional weekend alone.

I FEAR: my career future.

I HEAR: the ventilation system above my desk.

I WONDER: what I'll do when my boss retires.

I REGRET: not finishing my bachelor's sooner.

I AM NOT: motivated to do my work.

I DANCE: poorly.

I SING: only with the radio turned up loudly.

I CRY: when I'm really angry.

I AM NOT ALWAYS: eating cheese, contrary to what you might expect.

I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: some decent food.

I WRITE: better than what reflects on here.

I CONFUSE: my cats as they try to follow me around they house. My constant directional changes stress them.

Shoot me now.

I try to be good & this is what I get.

Remember how I was happy with my 11th row INXS tickets for this weekend?

I checked...there is now Row B available. 2nd Row! However, this would mean neck crooning and loudness. The loudness doesn't bother me, but Chris gets this static ear thing.

Besides, I'd then have to try & sell my other tickets. Not positive I could do that with the short time left.

*grumpy eyes*

2 things that bother me

Nice cheesy omeltes this morning. What would you like in your omelet? I'm having mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, dill havarti & cheddar cheese. *burp*

Two completely unrelated things I hate:

The best pasta dishes are fattening. They are loaded with butter and/or olive oil.

I hate coworkers that pass the buck. The famous "it's not my job" line gets old real fast. I'm the person that ends up with a problem in my lap because everyone KNOWS I'll take care of it. This has always served me well in terms of work reputation & I'm sure has helped me advance in my jobs, however, it feels "doormatish" at times. And it keeps happening because I continue to allow it to. Yesterday I at least voiced my displeasure to everyone involved. That was a step.

Peep Meet

Caprino goat cheese today. Never had it, but it sounds delicious. Not much in the food & beverage category Italians do wrong.

I'm excited & sad at the same time about the peep meet in Niagara Falls. I thought (ok, hoped) we'd get a big turnout, but as time goes by numbers have dropped. I'm not at all angry about it, just sad that I won't get to meet as many as I'd thought. Understandable that the timing is bad for some, gas prices & flight prices are high right now, room rates aren't exactly cheap and the mood on OT has been tense lately.

I'm still very excited at meeting all that will be there. So far, I think it's us, the Le Pew's, Meemo, Seana, Maroonclown, Byoffer, Catt, Mysticwolf, and Frisky. Hmmm, maybe it's good that I get to keep this group all to myself! Muwhahahahahaha! *hops*

P.S. Did I mention I get to stop at Breezy's on the way? *double hop*

*Looks Down*

Yes, that article from Friday IS from a satrical newspaper. I shouldn't have assumed everyone knows about The Onion. They are completely satirical and cross the line weekly. I? Love it.

Now have some dill & garlic cheesecurds. *squeak*

I had a nice weekend. Friday night we went to my brother-in-laws for a Mother's Day gathering. MIL has to be back for church services Sunday morning, so we celebrated Friday & Saturday. Friday we drank far too much wine. Saturday we visited nurseries in the rain. I bought a few perennials & some annuals.

We also had a college graduation party on Saturday night. It was a really nice time. My boss opened up her home to the student for the party. The student wanted to have a party in Madison, but her apartment is small. My boss said "Invite people to my house." How nice is that?

Sunday I cleaned & did a few projects indoors. I hope the weather gets a little nicer this week.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend, especially the bloggy moms!

Pro-Deathers Unite!

Thank you to Chris and the Onion for this special post.

New 'Anti-Abortion Pill' Kills Mother, Leaves Fetus Alive
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/48199
May 10, 2006 Issue 42•19
NEW YORK—Pro-life advocates celebrated approval of the new anti-abortion drug UR-86 by the Food and Drug Administration Tuesday, calling it a "safe and effective method" for terminating pregnant women while leaving their unborn children unharmed.

A doctor explains to an expectant mother how her organs will slowly dissolve with the new pill.
Pfizer, manufacturer of UR-86—dubbed the "last-morning-ever pill"—said the drug is intended only for occasions when the mind-set or politics of the mother threaten the life of the fetus.
"This drug is designed for extreme cases in which the mother cannot or should not be saved, or when her health has been placed before that of her unborn child," Pfizer spokesman Anthony Wright said.
The orally ingested drug first tests for the presence of a fetus. If the outcome is positive, a near-lethal dose of barbiturates is released, which induces a coma in the expectant mother until the child is born, at which point a second, fatal dose is released.
The FDA's approval came after months of clinical trials firmly established that the fetus would be nourished and protected in the womb of the near-deceased UR-86 user.
Gender-equality advocates praised the introduction of the drug, calling it an "innovative solution" to the highly polarizing national abortion debate.
"This is a step forward for equality," men's rights activist Charles Hackett said. "For too long, women have had an unfair advantage in the outcome of a pregnancy. UR-86 levels the playing field for husbands and boyfriends across America."

....(more at above link...it's worth the read, really).

I like...

I like:

Camembert, so let's snack.

Violas. They've popped up hardily for the third year in my flower beds. Yay!

Rain. It means I don' t have to water the gardens.

Reader's Digest. Fluffy & a bit conservative, but I like reading it. Does that make me old?

Wine. I like shopping for it as much as drinking it. And we found mini-boxed wine! They are like individual serving sizes. We thought of you!

Hot chocolate. I don't drink it very much, but the cold weather inspired me to get some yesterday. mmmmm.

English Muffins. I often forget how good these are with a little bit of jam. Last weekend I even made eggs bennedict. I added some fresh chives to my hollandaise & it was delicious. Gawd it's fattening, though.

Reading in bed. I can focus quite well on the story. I get distracted if I sit elsewhere in the house.

Bonus Post! Music Meme

I'm wasting time & just read MCatt's blog. I want to play!

Instructions: Open a music player of your choosing. Say the following questions aloud and press "Shuffle". The first song that comes up is the answer to the question. Keep shuffling/refreshing for each question.

Well, I don't have a very big library, so I opened up iTunes & randomly clicked on iMixes.

1. How does the world see me?
There's a World by Goldrush
I think it just called me fat.

2. Will I have a happy life?
Devil with a blue dress on by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels
I'll take that as a Yes.

3. What do my friends really think of me?
Pardise City by Guns N Roses (OOOOH, look! An "-N-" thing!)
And now it thinks I'm a whore. Or is it all of you that think I'm a whore? *evil glare*

4. Do people secretly lust after me?
That's the Way It Is by Celine Dion
I've learned to live with it, so must you.

5. How can I make myself happy?
Episode Prelude by Nandro Lauria
I think I'm happier ignoring this one.

6. What should I do with my life?
Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
Pining after peep meets, in other words.

7. Will I ever have children?
Holiday by Green Day
Named Holiday? Does that mean it will be a boy?

8. What is some good advice for me?
Touch It by Busta Rhymes
Mine or yours?

9. How will I be remembered?
One Little Slip by Barenaked Ladies
Just one? I'll call that success!

10. What do I think my current theme song is?
On an Island by David Gilmore
I think I called myself spacey.

11What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
Stop by the Spice Girls
Really? Am I that annoying?

12. What song will play at my funeral?
4Ever by the Veronicas
I think this is where I'm sent into perpetual reincarnation because I never get it quite right.

13. What type of men/women do you like?
Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz
Well, duh.

Glad Press-N-Seal

Let me take some Vermont Sharp Cheddar out for you. *slices & chats*

I bought Glad Press-N-Seal last night. We usually use the Food Saver for freezing meats, but we ran out of bags & the local store didn't carry them. Hence, I thought I'd try the Press N Seal. It was strange to work with. I think I'll like it better to cover dishes with than to package up meat.

I'm buying my MIL a Swiffer Sweep-N-Vac for part of her MD gift. I have one & love it. The house up north gets really disgusting on the linoleum crap. Pet hair, human hair & other yuck. There's only a crappy straw-type broom up there now. I think the Sweep N Vac will work nicely.

What other "-N-" things can we talk about?

Feline Acne

Kasseri cheese, flambe'd for your pleasure.

Ever heard of feline acne? I think my calico might have it. She has a few dark spots that have developed around her mouth, but the inside of the mouth looks fine. So I read up & relized it might be feline acne. It can be caused by plastic water dishes (which we use & don't clean as often as we should). Cats can't groom their chins well, thus it's a breeding ground for kitty cat acne.

Guess I need to call the vet.

I'm here!

Have some Jarlsberg and pity me. I somehow hurt my back/hip this weekend. Stayed home with vicodin yesterday. It is a little better today. I'm out of ibuprofen & acetominophen, though.

Let's recap my weekend:

Yardwork: Got some new veggies planted in the garden (cantaloupe, zuchinni and cucumbers) and started to landscape an area in back of the house with some woodsy perennials. Had to pull a billion crappy weeds first.

Cinco de Mayo: Went to dinner with friends at a restaurant I dislike. I still dislike it. Went to a "beer unveiling" party afterwards. We met a guy at a party a few months ago. He was new to the area & was trying to open a brewery in Spring Green. Had trouble with zoning, but wanted to get the brews out regardless. Chris hooked him up with our favorite Madison brewpub owners to brew the beer. It all worked out and now they have two beers kegged and goint in for bottles. So welcome Furthermore beer to the Wisconsin microbrew market. They'll be grassroots pimping it across the area.

Fishing Day 1: Well that didn't go so well. We are boatsitting a very nice fishing boat for a friend while he's in Iraq. I've never driven a boat. Last year I helped Chris launch the boat once. This time, I launched it much better. Although, he forgot to put the drain plug in & we had to take it back out. Sigh. Still launched it ok. Loading it back on the trailer didn't go so well. He left me in the boat to drive it onto the trailer (it was either that or back the trailer in. I don't do that well). But I'd never driven a boat & it's the kind where the steering "stick" is on the motor (there's a word for that, but it escapes me)...no steering wheel. I ended up coming in sideways & driving the boat over the trailer wheels in the water. Only slight, easily repairable damage to the trailer, boat was fine.

Fishing Day 2: We had never been on the Wisconsin River near us, so decided to explore it with the boat. Launched it just fine. Yay! Then, we had to maneuver through about 1.1-2.2' of water for a distance. That sucked. Then we had to maneuver around sandbars. At least we found SOME deep water eventually. On the way back it was worse. Going like 2 MPH in shallow water we hit something (likely a log or rock). Broke a chunk off the prop, but luckily it was the crappy prop (at least we planned ahead for that). This time we decided to manhandle the boat back on the trailer. We were wet, but no stress & damage.

Goat herding: The John Deere Lady was gone for the weekend. Her goat got out of the pen. I decided I should put it back in. I tried reasoning with the goat. It decided to shit & piss instead of listening to me. I decided to get behind the goat & shoo it back into the pen. It ran in circles around me. I decided to be brave & take it by the collar (it has horns & made me nervous. do they bite?). Finally got it shoved in after about a 20 minute ordeal.

Garage cleaning: How do garages get so dirty & unorganized?

Appetizers!

Boursault (it's a form of brie, you'll love it) with baguettes today! Mmmmmmmmmmmm. I think Bob is busy, so there should be plenty for everyone.

I love appetizers. I love standard bar food appetizers and fancy little "mini meal" appetizers.

What's your favorite?

Jalepeno poppers, cheese curds, artichoke dip, shrimp cocktail and bruschetta my favorite appetizers. I have a hard time paying for shrimp cocktail though, because, come on, I can have it at home for half the price without any effort other than hitting the store.

Top Chef

Pecorino is on the menu today. Try it, you just might like it. BTW, I gave the kitties your compliments from yesterday. :-)

I love Top Chef on Bravo. It's being renewed for another season. Hurrah! I much prefer this to any of the other cooking reality shows. For those that haven't watched, the premise is bringing quality aspiring chefs (ok, there were a few obvious duds) into a competition with two daily challenges:

Quick Fire: They have around 30 minutes to create something gourmet out of something, usually silly. For example: Create a gourmet dish out of gas station food items, create a carnival food inspired dish, etc.

&

The Challenge: They have usually a few days to create a meal for different guests. Examples: Cater a wedding of 100 guests (present your menu ideas to the couple & the couple chooses), serve dinner highlighting a rare wine & rare truffles to Napa Valley chefs, plan a dinner for food reviewers (but then producers switched up who was preparing which dish at the last minute to add a twist) and open a restaurant for a night...contestants choose the theme, set up and menu.

The hostess is awful, but the two standing judges are honest and seem to be having fun with the contestants. The contestants seem to be chosen carefully and the level of competition is great.

It's down to the final three now: Harold (mmmmm, Matthew Fox-ish, very skilled), Tiffani (bitchcy, but very creative dishes), and Dave (does gourmet casual well, emotional wreck).

Gooooooooooo Harold!

Cat Pics

I have nothing to say, so have some pepperjack & look at my kitties.
Loki (yawning), Ali (calico) & Bartleby (just being cute):

Holy Carp! I have lots to do!

Chevre and sesame crackers are being served on the pool deck. BYOB.

First, my inner thighs ache today from bull riding. It took a few days to set in.

Second, my excessive playing on the net yesterday left me with LOTS to do today. I need to make a list, so I'll do it on the blog:

-Deal with hotel room payment debate with a group we did a conference for in November
-Organize calling list for project
-Call 3 nursing homes to set up visits
-Review an IRB (human subjects research approval) application
-Start another IRB application
-Prep for a new grant application we found yesterday...due on June 6th

Ack! And I have to leave early today to go babysit the high maintenance nephews. Sorry if I'm not bloggy today!

Random Points

We haven't had meunster in awhile & it IS one of my favorite cheeses, so enjoy.

-We made donuts this weekend. They tasted good yesterday...not so much today. I will, however, have to perfect them further if they'll ever be fit to serve to family & friends. Frankly, I'm not convinced this is something my waistline needs me to work on perfecting.

-I rode a mechanical bull yesterday. It made me dizzy.

-My coworker still walks her 9 year old son into school and to his locker every morning. Is that weird? It struck me as weird. She's divorced and her older son (I think he's 20) is kind of a screwed up kid, so maybe she's just over-coddling this younger one.

-I just checked out all of Green Bay's picks in the draft & am quite pleased. There was a lot of good talent available this year. I think a lot of teams are happy. I think it would be exciting to work the draft in some capacity. Lots of tense excitement.

-I'm going to lunch today for a coworker's birthday. We are going to Panera. Totally forgot. I must have a salad given the horrendous diet of mine yesterday: donuts & coffee, chicken nachos, lots of beer (at least I drank Miller Lite instead of my normal full calorie microbrews), 1 glass of water, 1/2 c. of leftover corn chowder & a pork roast sandwich. Oh, I also had a handfull of grapes in the morning. At least there was some fruit involved.

-That recap of my food yesterday made me slightly nausious.

-We watched a few movies courtesty of free Starz weekend. We never go out to movies & rarely rent, so lots of new stuff for us! We watched National Treasure & Hitch. Both were very good. I'd seen Hitch before with my sister, but it was new for Chris. Chris also watched an oldie from childhood: Flight of the Navigator, which I'd never seen. I half-watched it while cleaning house.

-Last weekend we watched Jarhead. I liked it because it didn't try to be a bang-up war movie. Given the situation of our friends in Iraq right now, I think there is a good portion of soldiers that get all excited to go over & do what they've been trained for, but end up sitting around a lot & pulling patrol type jobs. Many of them feel it's a huge waste of their time away from their families & other jobs. Aside from the fact I don't think we should be there anymore, I guess I understand the need for patrol soldiers, it's just too bad they are bored & have to be away from their jobs & families for so long for such a boring, repetitive task. However, in our friends' units, lots of soldiers are working on their undergrad & graduate degrees online since the military will pay for it. It's a very constructive use of their time at least and getting your education paid for is a pretty darn good benefit of being in the military.

-ETA: Geg is going to INXS today...first row. She'd better save me some of their sweat.

Try to have a good Monday!

Walks

I'm serving bagel halves toasted with tomato & fontina cheese on top. Sounds like a nice way to start the day.

Walks are good. Do you like to take walks? Do you take them very often? By yourself or with someone? Are they more walks or hikes? Where do you go?

I find if I take a walk by myself during the day it puts me in a better state of mind. I found a gorgeous walking trail on campus that I can do in about 30 minutes. It runs right along the lake & then back into the woods. Awesome & peaceful. Of course a gaggle of joggers usually tramples by me and makes me feel uncool for just walking.

I had to walk into work this morning because I'm too cheap to park on campus when I have the car for the day (there are exceptions). I treated myself to a foofy coffee on the way since Starbuck's was on the way. It's a gorgeous morning out.

My nagging headache is still there, though. Why didn't I refill my ibuprofen in my purse?

Am I supposed to feel guilty?

Some snacktastic summer sausage and edam today.

I'm not happy today. I'm tired of being criticzed in RL and indirectly, online. Ever have those times when it feels like you can't please someone/many people? The criticisms and judgments just get really old. I'm feel this negativity surrounding me at every turn. But you know what? The online stuff that is stressing me won't make me take a break or anything. That's not the way I'm going to deal with it. Might make more sense to take a break, but I'm going to continue as usual and hope that if I can retain some happiness & spread it, it might have a good impact all around. The RL stuff isn't so easy to let fly by, but I'm working on it. You know the saying, "you can't change people, you can only change how you react to them"...or something like that. I don't need to force anybody into my mold, I'd just appreciate it if they'd quite trying to force me to stare at THEIR mold & smother me with it.

So, sit, enjoy some cheese and smile. We all need to remember the really good simple things & smile. Oh, and there is some vodka in the cabinet to your left. You may help yourself.

GOP Mail!

Something stinks...Might be the limburger....might be the email below. Don't worry that you don't like limburger. You'll have no appetite left after reading this.

I subscribe to both the Democratic & Republican party emails. Why? To see what kind of propaganda they are both spewing. And it helps me learn who NOT to vote for in various elections.

The one today from the Republican party is a real winner. They'd like me to fill out their survey! I was kind of excited to respond to the items in unexpected ways, however, there is no option other than to leave a comment in the box at the end. But I can't even do that without completing each question...and there is no "other" option to select. Sure, they take away all my fun. Speaking of fun, just imagine all the ways these survey results will be used by the party in future advertising. yay!

1.) Which issues will be most important in determining your vote this November? (select up to three)
Keeping Taxes Low
Immigration & border security
Winning the War On Terror
Growing Our Economy
Improving education
Increasing access to affordable health care
Protecting Social Security
Energy independence
Appointing qualified judges
Strengthening marriage and the family
Morals and ethics in government

2.) What is the most important reason for maintaining and expanding our Republican majorities in 2006? (select one)
To ensure that America continues to stand united and strong in fighting the War on Terror
To help President Bush enact his reform agenda for America
To keep Democrat leaders like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Howard Dean from pushing through their extreme left-wing agenda
To make President Bush's tax cuts permanent and keep our economy growing
To uphold our nation's bedrock values

3.) If the Democrats win control of the Congress in 2006, what is the one thing you would be most worried would happen?
Democrats will try to censure or impeach President Bush
Democrat would raise your taxes
Democrats would cut and run from the central front in the War on Terror
Democrats would sell out American values to Hollywood liberals
Democrats would impose government-run health care

4.) As you know, President Bush has announced a bold reform agenda for 2006. Which of his initiatives is most important to you? (select one)
Fighting and Winning the War on Terror
Comprehensive immigration reform that secures our borders
Making tax relief permanent for all taxpayers
Making America more competitive in the global marketplace
Reducing America's dependence on foreign sources of energy by half

5.) From which sources do you receive most of your news and political information? (select multiple)
ABC News
CBS News
NBC News
Fox News Channel
CNN
MSNBC
News websites
Blogs
Daily Newspaper
Radio
E-mail
News/Opinion Magazines
Friends and Family
Other

6.) On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely is it that you would recommend voting Republican in the next election to a friend or a colleague?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7.) As an online activist, what features would you like to see on GOP.com? (select multiple)
More ways to connect with fellow Republicans
Volunteer opportunities in my area
Web videos & podcasts with key newsmakers
Online polls
The latest breaking news
Information on the issues important to me
Information on GOP candidates and elected officials
Online Diaries from GOP political leaders
Other

Housework Accomplished

Have some longhorn colby & let me tell you of all I accomplished this weekend.

1. Made wrap sandwiches for Chris's potluck on Saturday (He's a member of the local Experimental Aircraft Association....that's a topic for another day).

2. Did 4 loads of laundry

3. Dusted, vacuumed, swept floors

4. Cleaned bathrooms...even the entire exterior of the toilets.

5. Organized Linen Closet

6. Organized batteries & other carp (hooks, tiny lightbulbs, etc)

7. Pulled weeds in all flower beds

8. Raked gravel out of neighbors yards

9. Raked sticks from our yard

10. Planted Onions

11. Propped up tomato & pepper seedlings with wooden skewers & strips of cloth

12. Made a few loaves of Amish Friendship Bread...someone gave me started last weekend

13. Made 3 nights of dinners...didn't eat frozen pizza nor go out even once.

14. Worked out on my ball...I got a ball injury.

15. Found baby kitttens under our deck. They are from the neighbor's outdoor cats...the guy that just died brought them to his new house from their old farm & took care of them. But he never got them fixed...therefore they keep having kittens. I'm sure the widow will move in July & leave the cats here. So it's now my mission to get homes for the kittens & get the cats spayed & neutered. But only if I can find a vet to do it cheap. The odd thing...the three adult cats all stay huddled with the kittens. They must all be females and are trying to keep any males away...or maybe the other two are kittens from momma kitty's last litter. I'll have to talk to the widow and investigate.

Three Good Things

Wine soaked cheddar today. I could eat it all right now.
Fortunately, I have homemade chocolate chip cookies to munch on IRL.

It's Friday, it's lovely here. I could gripe, but instead, I'm going to focus on the good things today. Name three good things about your life right now.

1. Chris prepped the garden for me so I can play this weekend
2. I love my cats to pieces, they are completely great companions
3. I have a flexible boss

Girly Talk

Screw the cheese & let's have truffles...Men enter at your own risk. I wonder if Chris will be embarassed that his wife is spouting about this on the internet.



**filler***


I'm going on a girly stuff rant:
Why can't I control my period? BC Pills made it lighter, but never controlled my spotting all frickin month long. I've been on them since I was 16 & it's always been problematic. I tried Depo with the same results (plus, I was semi-allergic to Depo shots).

I shave my toes sometimes. This should have gone on my weird things list. I sprout about 3 hairs on top of each toe & they are dark enough to bother me. So in sandal weather, I tend to shave them.

I hate being a girl. What issues do you have? Massive PMS? Cramps? Hair in weird places? Come on girls, let it out. Don't let me be embarassed by myself.

Tagged: 6 Weird Things

Here are the rules-
1. Reveal six weird facts/things/habits about yourself and then tag six people
2. Leave a "You're Tagged!" comment to let the people you have tagged know they have to reveal six things (or the entire blogosphere will explode and it will be their fault)
3. Leave a comment HERE to let me know when you have completed your mission

SIX THINGS
1. I have a crooked pinky. I revealed this oddity in a recent thread of Sonya's. My grandmother also had one. The only way to fix it is to have it broken. No thank you. We like to make fun of it & call it a birth defect.

2. I'm agnostic, but have two ministers as in-laws. I didn't realize I was agnostic until about a year ago, though. I have never broached this subject with the in-laws & very well might keep it under wraps. Obviously they are committed to their beliefs & faith. I'm not going to change them & am in no mood for them to try and convince me. We'd just go round in circles.

3. I hate pickles & olives. All kinds. I can stomach black olives chopped into something (pizza, taco dip), but try to avoid them & pick them off when appropriate.

4. It took me 8 years (not actuall time in school) to get my bachelor's degree. I hit college upon hs graduation in 1995. I went for a year (and one trimester) & then moved back home (basically forced by my family) for a few years because I was broke (it's a longer story than that, but you don't really want to hear about it). Then moved in with Chris & went to Milwaukee for 3 semesters. Then moved to Madison & went here for 5 semesters. So really, I wasn't IN college for 8 years, I just took some time moving around & working in between all those years. As a bonus: The only class I ever failed was a Java programming class. The first 3 weeks were fine..then suddenly I was lost beyond belief. I should've gone for tutoring right away. I didn't, tried to muddle through & ultimately failed it.

5. I sold adhesive tape. I had to cold call framing business & such to sell them adhesive tape. I also serviced an existing clientel. I hated that job sooooo much.

6. My grade school class only had 5 kids (plus me). I loved it. Made it hard to transition to junior high/middle school, but I loved the individual attention and ability of teachers to work with students of varying levels, tailoring lessons to each.

TAGGING:
1. Carey
2. Swami
3. Momma
4. MTW
5. MM
6. Jen

Ode to JD House Owner

Today we are having a boring cheese tray. Cheddar, Cojack & Swiss. Why? Well, it's funeral time.

The cranky ol retired farmer, Larry, that lived in the John Deere themed house next to us died on Saturday. Keeled over at the dinner table, totally unexpected. The good news is that they had an accepted offer come in on the house last week. The bad news is, his poor wife is left with all this farm stuff to deal with and all the finances (which Larry kept in his head). He'd just bought a new giant farm-sized John Deere on Saturday afternoon. So she has to get rid of two big tractors, misc big farm equipment & a shed full of carp. I hope Chris will help her out with organizing an auction.

They both have adult children (from previous marriages) that will be helpful, too. Otherwise, they didn't really have friends. An old couple from Illinois & one guy from a few towns away...that's about it.

I'm not all broken up about this...the guy was an angry ol bugger that seemed to be pretty miserable with life anyway, but I do feel very bad for his wife.

Other good news...the big tractor tire rim in their backyard may soon be ours for making a campfire circle in our backyard. Glad we kept putting that task off...this will be perfect. *hangs head in shame* I look at it as creating a memorial to Larry.

Otherwise, Easter was ok. Nothing too exciting. It rained a lot. The ham was delicious, the deviled eggs were good and my cream puffs turned out delicious!

Thinking about Me

Have some dill havariti & be introspective with me.

I'm a slow thinker. I would say I'm fairly intelligent, but I just take awile to process things. For example, if we are doing an outdoor project together or building something, Chris doesn't understand why he can't just say one word and have me understand what he means within seconds. I thought about it, and I think it's just the way my brain works. I've never been able to quickly do math in my head. On paper I'm fast. I can't spell words aloud. But on paper, I'm fine. I don't get it.

MTW made me think about my anger style again the other day. I'm like him..sometimes I just need 15 minutes to be angry & let it pass. I can't usually think clearly if I'm angry, so it's better if I don't say anything at all.

On an unrelated subject...did you enjoy coloring Easter eggs as a kid? Do you still enjoy it now? Did everyone make an egg dipped in every color (we called it the puke egg). Did you get fancy & do multi colored ones? We often wrote on eggs with crayons before we dipped them. And I liked the stickers that came in the Paas kits. The fuzzy duck was my favorite.

Easter

I've never had Easter Cheese...I think it's Russian, a homemade cheese thing. Maybe we should try it today.

So what is everyone doing for Easter?

We go to my sister's house (only 30 minutes from our house). Chris and my BIL hide plastic eggs in the yard for the kiddos (5 of them). Then we move on to Birthday Party stuff, as 3 of the kids all have birthdays within weeks of eachother, so there is one big family party combined with Easter every year. Then we eat ham, asaparagus & whatever else my sis has decided to cook. For the last few years she's gotten one of those spiral cut honey glazed hams from the special ham store. YUM!

We drink, we make merry and head home, exhausted from crazy children.

I'm hungry for devilded eggs.

I interrupt this pooptacular moment...

....to do a happy dance! Chocolate Cheese for everyone! If you've never had chocolate cheese, well then it's your loss.

I scored decent INXS tickets after I'd almost given up hope. When I first checked, $45 mid-balcony seats were all that were left. Every few days I checked back & the seats kept getting better...still not good enough for me though. Today, I found 12th row floor seats. yay!

Our student worker deleted our 2500 reference Endnote library. It took 3 years to bulid this bible of references lists. Luckily, it was on the server & the server backs up every night. They assure me it can be retrieved. *keeps fingers crossed* My boss is appreciating my sunny disposition throughout this. Really, the INXS find just put me in a good mood that can't be dashed.

Not that my tickets are front row, like Geg's. Pbbbbt. At least they are on an aisle. Chris will be happy about that. He's not a big "crowd" person.

I can't tell you what this post is about

...or you wouldn't read it.

Have some cubes of medium cheddar & prepare to be fascinated....Had enough time to enjoy your cheese?

Under the category of things you never knew (oreos?):

Causes of black colored poop
acidified blood
blood from higher in the digestive tract
iron supplements or foods high in iron
Pepto-Bismol or other medicines containing bismuth
black licorice
large amounts of spinach or other greens
blueberries
aspirin
other foods dark in color such as chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreos)

Causes of red colored poop
blood
hemorrhoids
red gelatin, popsicles, or Kool-Aid
tomato juice or soup
large amounts beetsCauses of pale or clay colored stools
lack of bile salt (bile salt gives stool its brownish color)
antacids containing aluminum hydroxide
barium from a recent barium enema test
hepatitis

Causes of green poop
large amounts of green, leafy vegetables
green or purple artificial coloring (popsicles, Kool-Aid, gelatin)
iron supplements
rapid transit or decreased colonic transit time

Causes of orange poop
some medications (such as beta-carotene and rifampen)
foods high in beta-carotene: carrots, sweet potatoes, apricots, winter squash, pumpkin, cantaloupe, and mangoes

Seriously, who has all these poop colors??????
Thank you, about.com: http://ibscrohns.about.com/cs/otherdiseases/a/stoolcolors.htm

*kicks feet up*

It's my day off, I don't have to serve cheese.

It's almost nap time. Seedlings are taken care of, a few piles of junk are gone, lunch has been eaten, groceries have been bought & put away.

Now, time for kitten love and napping...have a splendid afternoon!

I have tomorrow off-yay!

Gruyere and baby swiss with apple wedges for your dining pleasure.

Scallops are underappreciated. I like em, but never buy them. Alton Brown had a show on about cooking scallops last night, so now I'm jonesing for scallops.

I'm taking the day off work tomorrow. That makes me happy. I'm looking forward to sleeping in with cats surrounding me.

When did I quit caring about TAR & Survivor? TAR-FE scared me away, I think. I watched a little last night while I worked my ball. Survivor-meh, I've missed 2 eps this season & don't really care. If I'm home, I'll watch. If not, I don't sweat it.

Great episode of Lost last night. I've stood by the fact that Libby was a patient, not a doc since we were first introduced to her. Maybe she WAS a doc, but maybe something happened to put her there. She played a psycho too well on Guiding Light for her NOT to be fishy on Lost.

More Ball Talk & Clothing

White cheddar & crackers today.

Just for my dearest vols, I'll talk more about my exercise ball. Did you know there are different sizes of these giant balls? I didn't. When I bought my set, I assumed the ball would fit me. Pbbbt. When you sit on it, your hips are supposed to be above your knees. Mine are level with my knees (which means my butt actually drops below my knees). Last night I perused balls & found that my size is for people 5'0-5'3. They were out of the next size, but there was one for people 6'0-6'3. So now, I must buy a new ball. Mine works ok for crunches & floor based work, but I could do more if I had a proper sized ball. I haven't watched the video, but have been following the book. The pics in the book are good, but I have to read the instructions carefully, it's very pilates focused, so direction of breathing matters a lot when you are doing the exercises. I like that you don't have to do a ton of reps. You can do a lot of different exercises in a short period of time. I'm not getting bored during the routines...yet anyway.

I can't do the exercise where you put the ball between your feet & raise it overhead (without bending your knees) so your body & legs form an "L" shape. Heck, my flexibility & back muscles are barely good enough to do that without a ball. Instead, I lift it a little off the ground & hold for 5 reps.

After my core is strengthened, I need to focus on some exercises that help my flexibility.

So now on to clothes. Based on my observations at work this morning: Two things that look good on very few people are velour jogging suits and lemon yellow mini skirts.

Ramble Ramble

Beer Kaese today, straight from Wisconsin. It's a nutty cheese, that coincidentally contains no beer. It was made as a salute to prohibition's repeal.

Last night I used my exercise ball. I love it! I found there was one exercise I couldn't hardly do at all & could tell it was because of my weak back (well, and my lack of flexibility). Otherwise, I totally loved it & am looking forward to having a stable, strong core.

I made cheater jumbalaya last night (Zatarain's mix with chicken, smoked venison, extra bell peppers & onions added). I love that stuff.

What did you have for dinner last night? And what's for lunch today?

Daylight Savings Time Sucks

Cream Cheese danishes this morning.

Who is sleepy this morning, our first day back to work after this gawd awful thing called daylight savings time? We slept in a half an hour this morning.

I had an ok weekend, but it was busy. Friday night was my sister's birthday. We ate at Quaker Steak & Lube. I tried real food instead of just wings or appetizers this time. Still not impressed with the place. I'll stick to their soft pretzels next time.

Saturday I had a TS party and then it was off to Wisconsin Dells to have a girls night out. I hadn't seen my best friend from childhood for about two years. It was so nice to see her. Four of us went out to lots of bars and out for dinner, then back to the hotel to babble away.

Sunday I was up early because one of the girls was quite the snorer. I got home at 10:30 where Chris was busy eating leftover frozen pizza. I cleaned a little bit & then we took a nap. Ahhhhh, glorious naps. Then it was off to the bar to meet friends. I must quit drinking so much. Then it was home to cook dinner and work on my TS stuff and regular work stuff til 10. Yuck.

I need a day off.

BREEZY-I tried Peels (the pom/blueberry one). YUMMMMMMM!
CAREY-I think you package should arrive early this week. I think it was Wed. last week that I mailed it.