Romance is Dead

Yes ya'all, I am sorry to tell you this..... but it’s true. What guys define as romance and what gals determine it should be are two different things. Let me tell you a little story about a long drive home the other night that a husband and wife were taking in order to get home from vacation.

Husband pulls over at a gas station in order to fill up the gas tank and make the necessary pit stops (i.e. snacks, bathroom, etc.) Wife waits patiently in the passenger seat of the car while said husband gets out and starts putting gasoline in the car. Husband stays outside by the side of the car, waiting for the tank to fill up. Wife decides to show her love by enacting a scene out of the movie 'The Titanic'.

Do ya'all know where I am going? That scene where they 'get it on' in the car, its all steamy in the car, and one of their hands reach up to the window of the car and slide down - leaving a handprint cuz there is all sorts of condensation on the window.

So anyway!

Wife puts her hand on the window of their car and slowly slides it down, putting on her most love stricken look possible. Husband squints at her, shakes his head and returns his attention the gas pump. Wife decides husband did not understand her intentions and again puts her hand on the car window, slides it down slowly and looks love stricken. Husband then glares at her. Wife decides he needs to understand just how romantic she is being and decides to do it a third time.

Wife's hand slides slowly down window. Wife looks love stricken. Husband then has had enuf and says in a loud voice (mind you, the window is up, so wife can hear him inside the car despite the window being up):

"What the f*ck are you doing?"

So then wife has to explain that she is enacting a scene of the 'Titanic' on the way into the gas station, to which her husband laughs and says:

"I was just thinking, da*nit! I am gonna have to clean those windows now"

Wife rests her case....

Margaritas and Monkeys

Vegas has been fun =) Inspired by our friends at the OJ party we had the other night, we decided to go to 'Margaritaville' for food and drinks. That was fairly interesting, as while we were eating, they stopped the music and put on a skit with 3 people on stilts and a blonde running around in a swimming suit holding a tray with margarita glasses on it. This skit was all done to the song 'Margaritaville' and ended with the blonde falling in a fake volcano (yes, that was built in the restaurant), only to climb out and slide down the volcano and splash into a blender full of fake margarita mix.

No wait! The blonde did get on some sort of swing and swing around above the bar after that. I believe THAT was the end.

Uhuh, yup.....wholesome family fun lol

Anywhooo .... one of the highlights of the trip so far for me is the other morning when I was in the shower. OK, stop it..... I am not going where you think I am going!

Anyway! I am in the shower, towards the shower head and then turn around to the other side - all the while closing my eyes in happiness from the burning hot water that I find so relaxing. I then open my eyes ...... and on the shower wall I see a picture and the words 'Death Monkey'.

And yes, the picture was of an evil looking monkey, fangs and all. This was left on the shower wall the previous night courtesy of my devoted, loving husband.

=)

On Da Road

Alright, this anniversary vacation has not gotten off to a great start. Yesterday, everything worked against us, so we did not get on the road until 5 P ish. The initial game plan was to be on the road by noon.... but.....well, ya know....

We slept in the car yesterday night and got a room at a Days Inn about an hour away from Flagstaff, AZ tonight. We were hoping to be in Vegas by now, but we were both wanting to get out of the car pretty bad after spending the night in it.

Plus, we did not make as good of time today as we wouldve hoped - probably cuz we felt skanky, tired, sore and slightly grumpy lol Some of the places to stop along the way are less than satisfactory, especially if you have to use the facilities. One of our stops had clean restrooms, but the employee behind the counter and the ladies sitting at a table eating their goodies they just bought were a bit disconcerting to say the least. Of course, the husband decides he is gonna check on the car, says he will be right back and tells me to 'go shopping'. Well, he took foreverrrrrrr ....... which wouldnt have been as bad if I didnt feel a bit weird listening to the gal with the mullet behind the counter singing Tobey Keith's 'Who's your Daddy?' song. I finally couldnt take it anymore and went outside to tell him he was taking entirely too long =)

But other than that, life is good lol

A Knittin' Fool

I can not feel my fingers .....

No, wait! I *can* feel my fingers. They friggin THROB - payment for the knitting I have been doin' lately I guess. My lower back kills me too *whine, whine* Knitting for charity shouldve been started a LONG time ago, but oh well.... am sure the kids in Haiti will appreciate the bears =) And I am sure the baby hats I am knitting also will look pretty stylin' on the baby's heads lol

My youngest pup keeps taking off with my yarn, tho, which doesnt help. Actually, it does help in a way, as it makes me stand up every so often and not make my back totally messed up. My youngest pup is usually not content to just take the yarn, tho. She must unravel it all the way out of the office, and then nose it down the stairs, so that it unwinds all the way down the stairs too *ughh*

Am getting to the point where I am tempted to let her have ALL my yarn - been knitting WAY too much =)

Panda Pez

Once upon a time, I had one of my good friends give me a panda pez. I was pretty darn tickled by this, and have kept it in the cupboard - just in case I want to fill it full of pez candy-goodness someday. However, today it seems my panda pez has had enuf of being ignored and is crying out to be noticed. As this is what I found when I opened my cupboard door tonight.....

You Are Gonna Go Far Kid

Well, not really - not at the rate I am going this week lol Monday began with a 'Healthier Me' appointment scheduled at work, which tested my cholesterol, glucose and other such related things. They have me scheduled at 8:42A for it - yeah, kinda odd that they didnt try the every 5 minute thing, like whats wrong with 8:45A? But anywhoooo...

Work began with me accidently clicking a file of mine and moving it somewhere else - and that somewhere else was a mystery to even me. I did not see where it went, it just disappeared. So off Lisa went to search her fussy computer for her lost file. Amazingly, this does not take too terribly long. What DOES take terribly long is figgerin' out how to move it back =/ My husband text messages me with the hint 'copy and paste is your friend'. I go to explorer, find my file and move it to the file it should go to - AND it starts a fairly lengthy process of copying the files. Feeling mighty proud of myself, I think' 'HA! I should text my husband and tell him Explorer is my friend and NOT copy and paste!' Altho, its a good thing I didnt, as once it was all done, there still was no file transfered to the correct spot.

The short story of this? Copy and Paste was INDEED my friend.

Anywhoooo! I fix the problem and head off to the other building for my 'Healthier Me' appointment. I am almost to the building and realize I forgot my Blue Cross/Blue Shield card I needed to show them to take the 'Healthier Me' appointment. Already running late, I run all the way back to the building I came from, got to my cubicle, grabbed my card and ran all the way back to the building I needed to go to. I get to where I need to check in and the guy asks me how I am doing. I breathlessly reply:

"Just great"

In probably the most sarcastic voice ever - which must have been detected by the guy, cuz he laughs and gives me the form I need to fill out. I stand and fill out the form - despite the 3 chairs that are available for me to sit down in. As I am doing so, another person walks up to check in and the guy asks him:

'Do you have your Blue Cross/Blue Shield card with you'?

'No, I forgot it', the guy replies.

'Thats ok', says the guy who is checking him in says, 'Just give me your last four digits of your social security #'.

I stop filling out the form and am almost tempted to give it back to the dude and say, 'SCREW YOU & YOUR HEALTHIER YOU CRAP - I almost had a heart attack running over here cuz I thought you needed the F'N card'

But I restain myself, fill out the rest of the form, hand it back to the guy and walk in. And guess what? When they take my pulse rate, its 92.....

Who wouldve friggin thought? lol

Anywhooo..... THAT was just the beginning of my week. I aint telling you the rest. Altho, I DO have to impart some other wisdom before I sign off on this blog post:

Do NOT use aluminum knitting needles as drum sticks when beating on your desk that has a glass top.

Just sayin'.....

=)

One of Those Days

Sometimes a day is just not meant to be I think. Sometimes I think you should just go to bed and wake up a bit later, ready to start it all over again.

I think that I am having one of those days. Altho, I suppose there is no guarantee I am gonna wake up and everything fixes itself. I actually do not even have that option, as I am now at work on my lunch break. I guess I could take a nap and see if that helps, but after the endless hassles I have had already, I think I need more than just a nap.

After I found my Discover card I have been missing for the last couple of weeks this morning, I thought this was a sign – that the day was gonna be pretty darn good. And almost as if someone proves me wrong, everything else after that did not go right.

I feed the dogs, only to have the younger one do a #2 *immediately* afterwords. I, umm….catch her in the act and send her outside. I clean it up and go into the bedroom and back out in a matter of 5 minutes. ANOTHER friggin spot on the carpet *sigh* I try to grab her, but she must realize I am pissed (no pun intended), and starts moving away from me on the stairs. I finally get ahold of her, only to bonk her head against the stairs. To her credit, she did not utter a sound, and it had to hurt just a little. Trying not to feel guilty about it, I put her outside again, clean up the carpet and let her in. The guilt sets in and I spend several minutes holding her, consoling her, and having a ‘talk’ with her.

That done, I needed to head off to work – as I was already running late. I put my stuff in the jeep, knowing I need my coat, which I decide to go back inside to get. I go back inside, and friggin forget what I came in the house for. I pet the dogs, waiting to remember and almost head out without a coat – and then I remember it. I grab it from the washer/dryer area, as I had recently just washed it and notice that there is paper residue all over it. I think, what the heck (rather, more like he double L, but…) and grab it anyway and head out again. I get in the jeep and hit the garage door opener to close the door. I hit it again. Again, AGAIN. AND FRIGGIN AGAIN.

It finally closes and I am on my way to work! *feeble yay* I am running so late I do not have time to put my makeup on at home, so at a stop sign I apply my foundation. And yes, it F’N falls out of my hands and splatters all over the side of my jeep’s door. I take deep breaths, not trying to let this get the best of me and grab a napkin. There were two problems with this:

#1 It smears the foundation instead of taking it off.
#2 The foundation hit the vented area on my door, so it now spreads the foundation INSIDE the vented area.

Screw it! I think…..I will just clean it later. I make it the rest of the way to work and am in the parking lot at 8:02 A. I open the door, grab my purse, and then reach back for my coat. And as if to say that even IT thinks its too cold (or for all I know, maybe it was embarrassed to go inside with paper particles over it), it grabs onto my passenger seat and I have to tug hard to get it out.

Satisfied I won the battle with the coat, I go inside, sit at my desk and clock in at 8:04A. Looking for the small victories where I can, I sigh a happy sigh of relief. I then look down at my coat and see the buttons on the coat had taken a beating when washed and now are all scratched up…..

&*%*%$^#&^I^&$*#$^%##

F’N WEDNESDAY – I HATE YOU

Bein' Educated

Most of my night has been spent doing three friggin' assignments for my Taxation college class. However, the beginning of my night started off with a different sort of education - at dinner I learned that people do eat dolphin. I was really starting to freak out when I thought I had been one of those people, as my husband casually informed me that Mahi Mahi is dolphin, WHILE we were at a seafood place. I automatically think he is kidding, cuz if anyone knows my husband, he loves to mess with people like that =)

Since I have a handy-dandy iPhone, with a spiffy-rific internet connection, I decide to investigate really quick before we order. At first glance, it did look like it was dolphin, but at second glance, I notice it said 'dolphin-like' fish. I breathe a sigh of relief, but yet..... I HAD to know whether people actually ate dolphin. So what do I google to find out?

DOLPHIN RECIPES.....

Uh huh.... there ARE dolphin recipes out on the internet. Take this one for instance:

GRILLED DOLPHIN

1 1/4 lb. thickly sliced dolphin
8 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 c. rice vinegar
Salt if desired
1/2 tsp. pepper, black lg. ground

Dinner for 4. Cut off any dark meat on dolphin. Marinate 4 even slices of dolphin in large bowl. All ingredients mixed for at least 6 hours. Grill 5-7 minutes on each side depending on thickness. Approximately 10 minutes total for 1 inch fillets. Baste with marinade mix while grilling.

Notice the thickly sliced dolphin?? *Lisa throws up a little in her mouth* How COULD people honestly feel good about themselves eating a dolphin? Did a trainer at the zoo just get really pissed off that a dolphin was not learning its tricks in a timely fashion and sent it off to be butchered? Ackkk... I weep for dolphins everywhere....

A Bunch of Toilet Paper

Uhuh.....Yep! THATS exactly what I found when I came home this afternoon after a trip to Home Depot. My husband walks in the door as I am still trying to get my purse and a couple of other things out of the truck. He soon walks back out and says:

"Sadie left a present for you"

OHHHHHH REEAAAALLYY??? I promptly go inside and find toilet paper across the hallway and a small dachshund laying on her backside in an attempt to look utterly adorable so that her shenanigans would suddenly seem cute.....

And yes...it DID help! =) But..... that small dachshund that was previously looking adorable had been in a state of boredom earlier. AND in that state of boredom, she had found toilet paper a GREAT outlet....

AND that toilet paper had met its demise due to this puppy's boredom....

AND this is what I walked into =)

Needless to say, it was the WHOLE roll of toilet paper wound up on our floor. So there was no saving any of the toilet paper, altho I kept it as a momento of things to do.....

SUCH AS ....SHUT THE F'N BATHROOM DOOR!

=)

A Frustrating Week

This week has not been a good one for me so far. Between getting to work *barely* in time to clock in without being late to spilling triple berry freezoni on my pants at lunch, this week has been a real winner so far.

I do not understand how I seem to have lots of time when I wake up, but as soon as I get in my jeep to head to work, I lose another 5 minutes. Not that I do not know that I am running short on time before I get to my jeep. I have no time to even put on my jewelry, and instead, stash them in my purse and pants before I head out the door. That way, I can put them on in the jeep, or when I first clock in. However, it makes me feel like some sort of ‘thief’ of sorts – stashing my loot in my pockets and all. Then I get to work and fight with my computer all day long, as it simply seems fussy at anything I want it to do. I *could* call our help desk, but I do not have enough faith in their abilities to fix my problem. Plus, I do not have the time for them to figure it out. I have work to do darnit lol

It’s amazing I didn’t have to go home during lunch to change my pants on Tuesday when I spilled triple berry freezoni on myself. It was not a lot of it, but enough to look REALLY bad considering it was on my crotch area. Needless to say, my husband could not look at me without laughing, and I have to admit, it was a bit humorous. I start laughing with him, drinking the rest of my freezoni, and ended up getting more of the drink on my hands. Do I have any napkins to use? Heck no…. that would be WAY too convenient. So, my husband being the every-helpful one says:

“Oh hell! Just wipe your hands on your pants!”

Oh yes, dear. THAT would be just lovely, dear, I sarcastically thought. But one look of his face and hearing his laughter somehow made his crass remark all better lol

A Happy Childhood

I went by a school the other day in Lawrence that had a sign that read:

"It's never too late to have a happy childhood"

Ever since then, this statement has been bothering me - probably cuz I overanalyze things too much lol But I always think to myself that this statement is not true - once your childhood is over, its over. If you had a bad one, you are unable to go back and fix what went wrong. You are continually moving forward, and if your childhood was bad, the only thing you can do is to make your adulthood the best it can be.

I suppose this sign was just supposed to be inspirational to the kids who go to that school. They probably never figured an adult (who doesnt even live in Lawrence - yet!) would drive by and think to herself that the statement was misleading lol BUT you are unable to change the situation you are in when you are a kid, you are unable to get different parents - so I think they shouldve said:

"Make as many happy moments in your childhood as you can"

See? You are not misleading a kid, you are only giving them hope for something better - despite his/her circumstances.

I am so friggin wise lol

Offended Neighbors

I figger any Friday should start off with a good laugh, so I am posting a link to an article that I found amusing =)

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/oct/03/offended_neighbors_get_utah_park_statue_moved/

Panda Express Fortune

Hmmmm .... I thought you would all like to know that 'Panda Express' gave me a fortune cookie tonight that said that I will soon be the center of attention. So, please...... if I am unable to email, call, text or snail mail very much in the months coming up, I just want ya'all to know that I am just overwhelmed with all the attention and still think ya'all are super cool =)

And yes, I am assuming that the attention they are refering to is *good* attention. I am sure its not that they find that I am a little odd and lock me up for observation, after which I spaz out and constantly stomp on imaginary ants, and.....

Errrr, uh.....wait! My husband typed that - not me lol

Why Me????

I have decided that birds suck.

Yes, you read right. 'Lil ole me, the animal lover, said that birds s-u-c-k.

I have spent at least an hour chasing a sparrow around in the garage. At first, I was like:

"Awww, hi sweetie! How didya get in here? You poor thing!"

But needless to say, the initial 'awww' did not last long. I opened ALL three garage doors. I whistled and made noise outside, while I swear I saw our neighbors peeking out their windows with their phones to their head calling the cops. I banged away with the handle of a broom at things in the garage trying to scare it outside. It flew away from me on at least 2 occasions and hit itself in the head flying away, and then would sit on top of one of the cars. I grabbed a Folgers can and was hoping it would sit there dazed long enuf for me to trap it. But noooo..... this bird is friggin invincible! It flys away and tweets at me in disgust - like *I* had no right to be there.

Amazingly enuf, it finally flys into a car that is stripped out (husband wants it for a track car). It flys back to the hatch area into one of the rear fender areas. I think, what the heck! and in I go with my Folgers can to get the bird. I think I have it trapped and it flys out at me and I freak and back out. It then flys into the OTHER FRIGGIN fender area. I go back after it and trap it with my Folgers can. I hold it down with a piece of paper I found in the car, start backing out of the car, and....

THE CAN FALLS OUT OF MY HANDS

Yes, you read those capital letters right! At the same time it falls out of hands, it rolls underneath my jeep and I twist my arm and feel it 'pop'.

And yes, I said a multitude of cuss words at this point. Not only did I loose the friggin bird again, but my darn arm/shoulder hurts bad.

Not to let this get the best of me, I run to the other side of the jeep where the can rolled. I look under and see the bird glued to the bottom of it still. I grab the broom handle again, reach under the jeep, push the broom handle on the bird to make it stay put, yanked the can out and started running outside. I then deposit him as far away as possible and run back to the garage and close all three doors.

What really pisses me off is that I finally get inside the house, sit down at my desk in the office, and hear the rain hit.

Awwww! The friggin GUILT!! Visions of a brain damaged, rain soaked bird now fill my head *angry sigh*

On the positive side of things, I think it already quit lol

Is SOMEONE trying to tell me something?

OK, I am disappointed in my food choices I have had tonight =/ Needless to say, I do not want to go out to get fast food or grocery shop, so I tried to 'make do' with what I had here at home. The food I have at home is not much either, sooo..... I start by going through canned goods.

Tomato soup? Hmmm..... may not be bad, altho I try to stay away from tomatoes, but what da heck! Why not? If I feel sick to my stomach afterwords, my husband will not be at home to be grossed out by my ability to stink up the whole house. I pick one can up and look at the bottom for the expiration date, which read 2007.

Ughhh. I pick up another can of tomato soup and it says 2007 on the bottom too. The last friggin can of tomato soup says the same thing, so off all three go to the trash can.

I check 2 other cans of food, and they both have expired dates. After they head off to trash can heaven, I decide to check the mixed nuts we have in the other cupboard. Yayyyy! They are good still, so I grab them and start heading to the living room to turn on the TV and snack away. However, catastrophe hits and all of the sudden I loose my grip on the can and nuts go flying everywhere =/ I look at whats left in the can and think to myself, 'its ok, I still have about half left' (note to the reader: there was only about a cup left of nuts left to begin with).

I look down and the dogs are diving in for the nuts, which I start spazzin out about cuz I am not sure its good for dogs to eat nuts period. So I manage to scoop them all up and throw them in the trash, only to find out the youngest dog grabbed a couple and was gnawing at them in the kitchen area *sigh* So I grab them from her, ignoring her bummed out look from me doing so, and throw them away as I head back to the living room to continue eating the rest of the nuts.

I sit down, kick back the recliner and started to eat as I turned on the TV. The TV comes alive with the Channel 57's "Animal Cops - Detroit show". It immediately shows a doberman they rescued that the owner put a rubber band on its tail to cut into it and make it 'fall off'. Needless to say, the rubber band was fairly well inbedded into the poor dog's tail - so the removal of it was a bit bloody. They then have the dog head off to get antibiotics and such, and the guy announcing the things for the show starts saying that, "unfortunetely, the dog is very friendly and can't help waggin her tail, which makes it bleed more'. They then show the floor and tail and there is blood everywhere - and I start reconsidering if I really want to eat anymore lol

I ate all of the mixed nuts tho, and now I have a funky taste in my mouth =/ I am thinking I may go to bed soon, as SOMEONE is trying to tell me I should not eat anything. I will try not to take offense to that lol

A Good Night

What a spiffy evening I have had, despite the depressed mood I was in earlier this morning =) I left work and headed to 'The Studio' for some knitting stuff, to find out it is only about 15 minutes from my work place *woot* How darn handy is THAT? lol Anyway! Despite their loss of power and the darkness that greeted me inside cuz they had no lights, I was able to get some bamboo circular needles to start knitting my hat with. I then head off towards home and stop at A&W/Long John Silvers along the way to get some pieces of fish. I have to say, those deep fat fried pieces of fish tasted awesome! Maybe the greasiness of them aint so good for me, but they made me even happier darnit!

I then stopped at Office Max and found a magnetic board for my office - as I have some new M&M magnets I got in Vegas that I *must* put to good use! There is even a small cork board and a calender with my magnetic board. I have decided my M&M dudes will be placed on 'special' days on my calender =) Altho, I told my husband this and he told me I was a 'dork' =P Oh well.... maybe I am! But I am a happy dork at least lol

Tough Ole Guy

Wow, there are some bad a$$ people in Lawrence I guess! This dude is 54 years old and still brave enuf to take on the police lol

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/aug/30/lawrence_police_tase_and_arrest_54yearold_lawrence/

Who Needs a Fork?

Or spoon? Or spatula? Or plate? I think I need none of the above when I am eating some yummy Boston Cream cake myself. However, I think my husband is shocked at my ability to eat a piece of cake with my bare hands. He was on the phone, when he stopped talking and said:

"Good gawd, leave some cake for me!"

If I had not had my hands full with some cake that needed to make its way into my mouth, I would have flipped him off, but..... instead I just glared at him lol Then I took myself and my piece of cake with me to another room to savor the last morsels of Boston Cream Cake-goodness =)

And Now For The Rest Of The Story

Sometimes, it really is better to know the 'rest of the story' to things you hear. I am on the drive home from work and dealing with my Sirius radio cutting out. It may be the FM transmitter, but we are not sure yet. Whatever it is, you will be listening to someone talking or singing, and then silence. It is then back to talking or singing for a bit, then some more silence. Generally, these periods of silence do not last too terrribly long, but long enuf to really annoy you if you are trying to sing along to a song. Or trying to listen to the DJ talk about something, as in today. Despite the problems I was having, I finished listening to a song I liked. Then there was silence. Then the DJ all the sudden starts talking by saying:

'its like a shot in the a$$'

Then silence.

Then the DJ again:

'good times, good times'

Then silence.

Which prompts me to look at my Sirius radio in dismay and turn it off lol

Casinos, Broken Arms and More

I know I have blogged about this before, but I swear some days have a 'theme' to them. For instance, on the day we were on our way home from Deadwood, SD, I saw at least two people with their arms in casts/slings. The first one was at the Hampton Hotel we stayed at. We took advantage of their 'continental' breakfast and noticed there was a a guy standing by the food line with his arm in a cast/sling. I kinda wondered why he was standing there watching us, altho I suppose what else can he do with only one good arm? However, it was a good diet reinforcement, as I felt guilty for grabbing two mini boxes of fruit loops versus one and a yogurt. A very small yogurt I might add *sniffle*

The other broken arm dude was seen somewhere on the way home to KC standing on a street corner. Needless to say, this made me wonder also - as we had to stop at the light so he had ample opportunity to cross the street at that time. However, he stayed put and stayed there looking rather forlorn. So I stared at him while we drove past and wondered what da heck was happening to people that I would see 2 people with broken arms in one day.

The day before this, I swear all I saw where billboards advertising for casinos. These casinos were not just plain ole casinos either. They included many other things like gas stations and restuarants. I began to wonder if there was *not* a place in South Dakota that they would not attach a casino to. I came up with a few more they could use (if they havent already!):

Coffee Shops
Rest Stops
Car Dealerships
Dave and Busters
Cabelas
Harley Dealerships

Ya never know, if someone wins a little on the slot machines, they may feel more likely to spend it in the store lol

I did know the 'vacation' was over when I made a couple of comments that made my husband say 'shut up cartman', cuz I sounded like a South Park character. While the reader may think this is just playful banter and not the end of the vacation, let me inform the reader that it was in regards to my 2nd degree sunburn acquired during our latest vacation trip to husband's destination of choice =)

So anyway! I have decided our destination in December for our 5 year anniversary is gonna be all about relaxin' and doting on me lol

Last Night In Deadwood, South Dakota

Well, its been an eventful last few days here at the Sturgis Harley Ralley. For the most part, tho, I have done pretty well. Altho, it has not helped that the pain patches I took off before we left ripped off the first layer of my skin. The first day on the road was a 100 degree day, so that sunburnt off another layer of my skin *sniffle* So my neck and shoulder area looks absolutely fabulous - NOT.

Riding on the back of a Harley is pretty darn exhausting too. It did help the couple of times I took a 6 hour energy drink/shot. I am surprised my neck wasnt more sore after the first time, tho. When you are on a long stretch of highway, on the back of a Harley and an energy drink kicks in - well, you look left, then right, then left, then right, then left, then right - all in a matter of 5 minutes. You then realize what you are doing and decide to amuse yourself by looking at your reflection in your husband's helmet by sticking your tongue out and making faces. That then gets boring, so you decide to sing VERY loud - but despite singing the same chorus over and over again, the wind still manages to make your husband not hear your beautiful music.

Yes, I am refering to myself as 'You' - cuz I am ashamed to admit that it was ME being a goof lol

Eww, that Smell =/

Uhuh, yup! Thats a Lynard Skynard song - altho the lyrics in it talk about an entirely different kinda smell than what I am thinkin' of right now! After just mowing the lawn pretty darn fast tonight, my body thinks I pretty much suck right about now lol So.... in an effort to remedy that situation, I made myself a cosmo and put 5 pain patches on me. These are oriental pain patches and smell terrible - altho I do have to say, they generally work. Whether they work cuz you pass out from the smell, or that your body inside is soaking in the smelly-ness and passes out itself - I am not sure. I suppose it could be the fact that they just plain work, but they still do smell!

Hopefully, I will wake up tomorrow morning feelin' like a brand new person and ready for our trip to Sturgis, SD on the back of the bike. Yup! My husband and I are headed to SD for their annual Harley rally. I am gonna be a Biker Chick for the next few days - woot! lol Anyone who knows me may be....... well, may be wishing me luck right about now. As I am probably way too prissy to be goin' on this trip. BUT they do have 'Bear Country USA' up there, and a store called 'Mostly Chocolates', so SD aint all that bad =)

Isn't That Called Cheating?

I got a magazine the other day when my husband and I were at Home Depot getting some stuff that was titled 'Taste of Home: 5 Ingredient Recipes'. Naturally, I thought it was pretty spiffy to have a list of recipes only requiring 5 ingredients - until I opened the magazine. AFTER I bought it I might add.

I thought about not bloggin' atcha all about it, but the more I thought about it, the more I had to tell SOMEONE. After all, it has been awhile since my last blog post, so why not gripe about the contents of a magazine I bought? lol

Anyway! I was under the impression that the 5 ingrediants would still mean you would be actually making most of the entree/dessert/etc. However, it lists things you can buy at the store already friggin made, and tells you how you can put them together to create your mouth-watering masterpiece. Here is a list of some of the 'recipes' that made it into the magazine:

Onion crescent rolls - Guess what the main ingredient is in this? A tube of refrigerated crescent rolls. Genius I tell ya!

Ranch Style Pork Burgers - Yep. Uh huh. You make hamburger patties out of ground pork and put it on a bun with some ranch sauce. Seriously. I dunno why I never thought of that before lol

Ginger Iced Tea - They really outdid themselves on this one. It only took 3 ingredients - ginger ale, iced tea, water.

Creamy tomato soup - Some advice here. Instead of spending 4 bucks for a magazine that tells you that you can combine milk and tomato juice to make soup - spend at least 3 bucks less and buy the cans of tomato juice themselves. Am thinking the tomato juice makers *may* have thought of this one themselves already.

Inside Out Sandwiches - One word. GROSS. I ain't flippin' my sandwich inside out so that I touch the slimey sandwich meat inside. Altho, in their defense, they suggest wrapping them up tightly with plastic wrap lol

Honey Cinnamon Butter - OK, while I am a fan of this type of butter, how friggin stoopid do they think we are that we dunno what goes into this? And just to spell it out to us further, they suggest serving it with muffins, toast, bagels, etc. Dangit! And here I was thinking of having a pot of honey cinnamon butter all by its 'lil lonesome.

OK, OK..... I will hush lol I seriously go could go on and on a bit more, but I think ya'all have the idea =) I think I am just peeved I spent 4 bucks for the magazine, when I could cheat my way thru my scrumptious dinners I cook for my husband all on my own!

Five Things You Should Not Do, See or Hear on a Sunday

1) Opening your puppy's mouth to see what to see what she is munchin' on, only to have a ladybug fly out of her mouth and freak ya out.

2) Sitting in a booth by the window at Eldridge House in the morning havin' brunch and seeing a tall, skinny guy with buzzed hair, wearing a hospital gown, knee high red socks, and pushing a stroller with a doll in it made of old socks.

3) Listening to your husband yell the 'Timmmmmyy!' line from South Park over, and over, and OVER, and.....

4) Walking up the stairs of your house, only to find dead June Bug carcasses on almost every step that then get picked up with a piece of toilet paper and flushed down the toilet.

5) Give your puppy her second bath for the day because you thought she had puked again in her pet taxi, only to find out the brown you saw, was just her.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm

There has been alot of things lately that make no sense to me it seems. Starting with buying towels at the store - why are 98 percent of the super fluffy (and most wanted towels) have a stripe of 'non fluffy-ness' at the ends? It seems they want to make a strip at each end to be decorative or something, but takes away inches of 'fluffy goodness'. I don't wanna grab a towel to dry myself off and be like, 'ohhh, awww..... so soft.....hey! what the F?' Do they put these strips on each end to warn you the you are nearing the end? Are they trying to save money by not putting in these extra few inches of fluffy-ness? The only ones that are purely fluffy towels are ones that seemed targeted to kids - with wild, wacky prints or colors. I guess its a sign of maturity if you graduate to the towels with the strips at the end. Hmmm - what does that say about me then? lol

Also, I am not sure why June Bugs were created. I find them extremely annoying, and they really do not serve much of a purpose. Heck, if I read right when I googled June Bugs, they only live a year. So whats the point? Why is it necessary for them to be born and fly around and buzz and be friggin annoying? And oh! Why da heck do my dogs think they are so friggin tasty? I do not need some June Bug swimming around in my dogs' tummys - altho I am sure they are probably off to June Bug Heaven before they even reach there, but.... I am seriously afraid to open up my door anymore. It reminds me of that Alfred Hitchcock movie about the birds - or the old scarey movie about the huge spiders - where there are WAY too many of them, invading the city - invading our homes - invading our lives.

OK, I better stop, I think the energy drink I had earlier is letting my imagination get the best of me lol

A New Puppy Named Sadie

Well, it has been a pretty laid back 4th of July here - but thats ok =) Relaxing a bit has helped my body recup some - as I have been fighting off a sore throat, sinus congestion, sneezing, etc etc crud for the past week now. I was pretty close to losing my voice, but I *think* I am safe on that now. Not that my husband would complain if I lost my voice lol

Anyway! The new puppy we have gotten has been pretty darn amusing lately. Well, she actually has been amusing ever since we got her - which is probably a BIG reason for my mood improving since my older one passed away. Our new dachshund - Mercedes 'Sadie' for short - continually reminds me of the older one that passed away. And maybe I am crazy, but I like to think its my 'Karma' coming back to me - knowing I need her. Like my husband says, she has been reinKARMAnated lol

But anyway, back to the amusing stuff =) It seems as if we have a place in our front yard called 'Mushroomland'. It is a place that entices young puppies - especially ones by the name of 'Sadie'. Every day, the dogs and I take a walk to the mailbox - taking the sidewalk because we are law abiding citizens and all lol EVERY day, Sadie starts off walking a straight line, right on my heels until she gets by 'Mushroomland'. Then suddenly she starts walking a bit crooked, and then she throws caution to the wind and takes off as fast as possible to 'Mushroomland'. I run after her, just in time to pry her mouth open and have the mushroom she just snatched up, taken out of her mouth. However, she has gotten fairly smart about this daily ritual, as she runs there and grabs a mushroom, clamps her mouth shut, and rolls over looking contrite - in the hopes, I will laugh and saw 'awww' and leave her be. Then she secretly eats her mushroom in peace =)

But I am the 'Dog Whisperer', I know her tricks *evil laugh* lol

The Name Says it All

Ya know, you would think that anyone wanting to start a restaurant, fast food place, or eating establishment in general would realize that the name of your place can help sell your food. Since I have nothing better to do on a Tuesday night, I decide to Google places in the Lawrence, KS area to eat at. Alot of the typical eating establishments came up, and then, almost when I had gotten bored of my latest idea to keep myself busy and entertained, I came across (drum roll please!) - Buzzard Pizza in Pomona, KS.

Now there is a name that screams 'eat pizza at my eating establishment' huh? Seriously, you could get all sorts of ideas where they got that name from, and most of them are not good. Perhaps they are not picky what they put on their pizza, much like a buzzard picking at a carcass on the road? Or perhaps they have happened to find out just how tasty buzzard can be and that is their secret ingedient? Or maybe they have a pet buzzard they are quite fond of and wanted to name their pizza place after? While that may be somewhat touching that a person could not be discrimatory towards the bird(s) they love, it also makes a person wonder if they have gotten out much - as there are many other ugly birds that may not make you wanna barf when thinking about the 'delicacies' they eat!

Anyway! It is 12:05 AM and I shoudl be asleep instead of chattin' atcha all about buzzards, so off I go to bed! lol

Outlaw Country

Well, this is the last day off I have before I go back to work *sigh* I do NOT want to go back to work tomorrow - it has been pretty darn nice to travel with my husband and our dog these last few days. Despite the fact of one night in a Comfort Inn that was SO friggin nasty that I was afraid to lay in the bed. My husband, on the other hand, fell asleep really quick - altho he had the help of muscle relaxers because of his neck and back hurting him. And our dog didnt care about the accomodations, she was just happy to curl up next to him and snooze lol

I do have to say, I *may* not miss the XM radio station that my husband has been tuning into on a daily basis =) It is an 'Outlaw Country' channel, which produces such hits as 'Beer Run' or 'Don't Need no Teeth for Kissing'. And no..... I am NOT making this up lol I do have to say, the first song (Beer Run) can be a quite catchy tune, as the chorus is sung:

B, Double E, Double R , U, N - BEER RUNNNNNN!!

Needless to say, that line has been sung by my husband numerous times since =)

One Big Doggie Step Forward, Two HUGE Doggie Steps Back

Well, I was actually fairly proud of our youngest pup today out on our land. She managed to greet the neighbor dog, wag her tail, and even try to play with the other dog. So you say? Isnt that what dogs are supposed to do? Well, yeah ...... unless you are a wussy little dog who is afraid of everything like our young dachshund, Carrera lol

Needless to say, the time out on the land went quick. I put down more bug stuff and watered the 'Karma' tree. Then Carrera and I headed back home ..... but almost by the time I got home, I was so low on gas that I thought I oughta stop and fill up. Even though the price of gas was three friggin dollars and 75 F'N cents =/ Was tempted to just put in a half tank and take a chance that maybe tomorrow morning things would be better with the gas prices. But last time I did that, the price went up 15 cents overnight =/ =/

Anyway! They had an automatic car wash there, so I decided to do one of those as well. My jeep had a bunch of bug splatters which made it look less than pretty. Altho, it was fitting for the name of my jeep - OGRE =) Anywhoooo! Paid for the gas and headed to their auto car wash and pulled in to sit the cycle out. Carrera gets on my lap as soon as it starts kickin' in, she curls up and starts shaking like crazy cuz, yes......she was SCARED of the auto carwash lol

So we are now home and she is curled up by me on the couch - tuckered out. It was a pretty stressful day for her after all =)

This Thing You Ask I Can Not Do

What a productive day I have had =) My husband and I cleaned house, went and ate at IHOP (their cream cheese stuffed french toast is DEEEliiiiiiciousss!), went to the Mall for a couple of errands and had an agent come and look at our house. I managed to take back a couple of clothing items to Target, also. One was a shirt that made my chest look a bit ......uhhh, odd. The other was a summer dress that was a bit more revealing than I thought it would have been. I was not sure about it, I thought about keeping it, altho when I would wear it I dunno. BUT I can always count on my husband to help me make up my mind on things. I asked him what he thought, making the comment that it was a bit revealing, and he says:

"Well, you are probably at that age not to be wearing that sorta thing. You ARE a Godparent now after all"

Ummm, thanks?? lol But yep! He IS right, I am a Godparent now - courtesy of my friend A and her husband! My husband is a Godparent too - and we are both pretty flattered, we brag about it all the time =) Of course, my husband just likes to do the Marlon Brando/Godfather line:

"This thing you ask, I can not do"

He is actually pretty good at it too =) Because of this, he has decided what we are gonna be dressed up for Halloween this year. He will be Marlon Brando/Godfather and I am gonna be the Fairy Godmother.

So like, does anyone know where I can find a magic wand? lol

Karma Ghia - 4/19/93 to 4/22/08

I have started this blog post and erased it more times than I can count. I honestly do not know how you can put into words the feelings I have right now about Karma passing away today. I do know that she was more than just a dog to me, that she will never be replaced. It actually makes me feel ill just typing this out, like it makes it more 'real' and maybe its just all a bad dream that will be erased with a good night's sleep. I have so many questions and not enough answers, I have so many times I still want to share with her that are gone now. I have a house that feels empty without her, but yet I can still feel her here.

But she is not here, and that thought will continue to make me ache inside for a long time to come. I hope she is happy where she is right now, I hope she remembers how much we tried, how much we cared. I hope I have the strength to carry the special moments she gave me in my heart and eventually smile when I think about them.

Karma Girl, you touched my life and so many others....

I will always remember you.

All Energy Drinks Are NOT The Same

I just got done drinking an energy drink that had coffee and energy drink in it, and I must say, it was friggin nasty! Not one to waste a $2 energy drink, I decided to keep drinking it after the initial couple of sips - even tho I had already determined that it had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Needless to say, I would still be drinking it if my husband had not come upstairs and taken it away from me lol

Anyone ever try the coffee/energy drinks? Am I just bein' a wuss? Nahhhh..... that can't be it =)

A Bad Night

We killed a deer tonight on our way to get dinner =/ It was awful, as there was no way my husband could stop in time for the deer. I was devastated, and am glad my husband is more level headed than I am when it comes to those sort of situations, as I was crying and being utterly pathetic. Luckily, we were only going about 20 or so miles when we hit the deer, but it still did some damage to the truck. And the deer did not live .......

It is awful to witness the death of an animal. It did get up after being hit, but it stood there a bit dazed and looked at us with eyes that knew something was not right. It slowly shook his/her head, twitched its tail and gradually fell/laid down in the road. The deer's eyes started to roll backward and it started to twitch its tail again, and then ...... he/she was gone =/ I cried the whole time, knowing from the moment it looked at us, that the deer was not going to run off the road and recover elsewhere. It knew. I knew. WE all knew that it was bad. And all I could do was cry. All I could do was hope that it was a quick enuf death so that it would not suffer.

My husband was able to call 911 and let them know to come, tho. In the meantime, we had a fire truck with several firemen aboard, go by and then turn around to help. They got the deer off the road, which was a small blessing, as I think its horrid how an animal's body will be left on the road for someone else to hit it or to just decompose publicly. Would we want OUR body there for everybody to see?

Anyway! I know I am glad the accident was not worse - my husband definetely does not need to be in a major accident with his back problems. And the truck will be fixed up before ya know it. But, I still feel awful about the deer, and I hope its in a better place right now - romping thru woods, making new friends, with no roads or vehicles anywhere.

First Day at Yoga Class

I have successfully completed my first day in Yoga class! Yayyy me! =) I did not think my husband and I would be able to participate, as we were almost 10 minutes late getting there, but we walked in just as everyone was introducing themselves. Altho, about halfway thru the class, all my husband could do was glare at me and whisper that he 'hates me' lol Granted, it WAS a bit harder of a workout than I had anticipated for us, so I was having a tuff time of it too. I have to say, I am NOT the most coordinated and flexible person, so the poses/stretches and such she had us do made me sit there grimacing. And just when I think I had enuf, she comes over and helps me stretch my leg further on one of the exercises.

'Can you touch the wall?' she asks.

'Ummm ..... no.' I reply.

To which she helps move my leg and demonstrates that yes, I CAN touch the wall. However, she was totally oblivious of all the tendons and muscles in my leg screaming out obscenities as she did so =O

But anyway! Other than that, today was fairly successful - except for my lunch hour when I sat there eating my tuna and crackers for lunch in my jeep. It mentions on the lid of the can you can pull it open or use a can opener. Ummm......hellooo?? Why do they need to rub it in that I do not have one at the moment? lol So I did pull the lid up and splattered tuna juice on my pant leg. I then sat there for about a minute staring in disbelief at my leg and already noticing the nice, pungent tuna smell on me. However, I am hungry and decide to sit there and finish my tuna and crackers and deal with the tuna mess on me later.

Needless to say, the rest of my day had people avoiding me cuz of my funky smell lol

Best Buy, Pomegranate Juice and the Demise of Dillons

Just in case ya'all did not know - Pomegranate juice is bad. Very, VERY bad!!!!

My husband and I have been home about an hour after going out to do a few errands. I was surprised we made it back within a decent time, as I spent a decent part of it in Best Buy's restroom. And believe me, I did not want to use it - but I did not have a choice *sigh* Its just really horrid to have to walk in a public restroom, all the while hoping they cleaned it sometime that day. You walk in and go past one stall that is occupied, go past the next one cuz its right next door to the person occupying the stall you just passed, go by another stall cuz its .... uhh... well, its just plain gross. And THEN finally make it to the stall #4 that appears to be the winner.

We were about to leave the store when I had to make the trek right back to that wonderful Best Buy restroom =/ So needless to say, I can tell you that the Best Buy's restroom in Overland Park does not have faucets you can just wave your hands under and water appears. And they do not have auto paper towel dispenser things either. But they do have some really funky, foamy soap that made me wonder if I should be washing my hands with it or not lol

I did need to make a stop at a grocery store for pop, as we are having a food day tomorrow at work and that what I volunteered to bring. My husband noticed a Dillons on the way back from Best Buy and stopped there, knowing I love Dillons (kudos to my husband huh? lol). However, we walk in there and at least 3/4 of the store's shelves were empty. You can tell this immediately walking in, and so my husband and I turned right back around (after staring in at the store from the door area with omg looks - well, me anyway!) and headed back to the truck to find another grocery store.

I told my husband I couldve done without seeing that lol What a goofed up night - my Dillons stores are going out of business and Pomegranate juice lies to you about all the good it does for ya. What is this friggin world coming to? =)

Can You Hear Me Rooooaaarrr????!!!

That was kinda the theme for the night, as we took my husband's daughter to see a band she likes called 'Silverstein'. They were not bad, but the other opening acts (one of which was Devil Wears Prada) was a huge scream/yell fest =/ It was pretty humorous to watch the first band get down with their bad selves by headbanging in unison, only to break for a bit by jumping up and down in unison, and then back to headbanging in unison lol

I honestly do not understand the whole scream/yell thing myself. You usually do not understand a word they say when they do. They also do not do it in a way that adds itself musically to the song. It's just a bunch of rude, overpunctuated, overemphasized slur of words that come out of the person's mouth. The only thing I believe you can take away from the experience emotionally is irritation.

Anywhooo! =) Silverstein was fairly good, tho - not so much scream/yell - more melody sorta thing. However, they overkilled the lights - sending out white eye piercing shards of light every 2 minutes or so. There was no way you could still see the band or what they were doing when that happened. I told my husband that I felt like one of the blind mice in the movie 'Shrek' - walking about with my cane and sunglasses lol

BUT my husband's daughter seemed to like the show. Plus, she got a Tshirt with Silverstein on it, so she was pretty darn happy. So the temporary deafness and blindness was worth it =)

One Small Bird

Poor me. Poor, Pooooooor meeeeeeeeeeee *sigh, sniffle,sigh* I am sick with the flu and it ain't no fun I tell ya! Altho, I have to say that the codeine cough syrup I have been prescribed ain't too bad. Well, it does taste awful, but it does make me feel happier lol Altho, I am starting to see things that are not there - like I reached down to pet one of the dogs on the bed and found out it was not a dog at all, but a brown fuzzy blanket.

To which I went, 'whoooaa' in amazement lol

I have to say, I am not sure it is the codeine alone that does that, as I DO have a tendancy for seeing things that are not there. Heck! Ask my husband - am sure he will give you all sorts of stories =) However, the other day I DID see something that was there that amused me some. I had to wait at the library's parking lot with the dogs while our house was bein' shown. I park the jeep, push the seat back and hear a 'fizz' noise. I instantly know what happened, and got out of the jeep and opened the door to the back seat to get the can of energy drink that was spitting everywhere - to my older dog's enjoyment lol

Everything got settled down after telling one dog to stop licking at the carpet where the energy drink was and the other to hush cuz she was barking like she was some sort of bad a$$. There was about 5 minutes worth of silence when I hear a drilling sound.

And then I hear it about 5 more times, as I look around trying to figger out who/what is doing it. I think it sounds like a woodpecker almost, and look up at the light post next to me and see nothing. I look down at the base of it and and a bird with a red spot on its head looks around the post, tweets away as if laughing at me, hammers with his beak at the pole and flies off.

After a few moments of saying to myself 'I knew it!' and laughter, it was about time to head home. I have to say that one small bird made my day, altho when telling the story to my husband later on, he did ask if it was really a McDonalds wrapper I saw instead lol

Acupuncture

Today we are supposed to 'spring forward', but I am still in bed with our two dogs lol I hate once we get used to having the time one way, they gotta go friggin change it on us =/ So I am bein' a lil extra lazy today to make me not feel so ripped off =)

Speaking of dogs, my oldest one is now somewhat famous! The new vet we have been taking her to has been giving her acupuncture treatments once a week for her liver problem. They had someone in there the other day taking pics of Karma with the acupuncture needles in her, and now her pic is on the front page of the community newspaper - 'Lenexa Sun' I believe its called =) What a proud, proud day in my life *Lisa happily sniffles* lol

And speaking of acupuncture, I had an appt for acupuncture yesterday myself. It went pretty well, considering I am not a fan of having needles (no matter what the size) stuck in me. I was kinda in for a rude awakening when I got dressed and went to the front desk to pay, tho. The acupuncturist gal asked me what I was gonna do for the rest of the day, and I said I would probably clean house as we have a house showing in a bit. A gal who had been sitting there waiting for her acupuncture or massage session, suddenly asks me in a loud, tense voice who my agent was. I sleepily tell her, and then she just as tensely asks:

'Don't know her, whats the real estate company you use?'

I tell her again, and she said our agent still does not sound familiar, and she was a real estate agent for 5 years. I am thinking that being a real estate agent made her forever tense/stressed now. If ya'all had heard her bland, stressed out voice, you would agree. Or maybe its just me bein' in a 'zone' from coming out of my acupuncture session. Whatever it was, I was not ready for it lol

But I was reminded of a 'Friends' episode where they were all talking about 'what ifs'. In it, Phoebe actually had contemplated being a trader with the stock market. Everyone was surprised and she said that she actually was pretty good at it, and part of the show was about if she had done that work instead of being a massage therapist.

Hey .... wait a minute .... I see a trend here lol

Anyway! Phoebe was all tense, stressed and eventually had a mild heart attack from it. And I seriously wondered if the gal sitting at my acupuncturist's office was headed down the same path.

OK, I suppose I have done enuf rambling on stuff, I suppose I can get out of bed now lol

Viva Las Vegas

Here I am. Yes, it is I - Lisa Marie. 'Lil Ole Lisa Marie. Here to blog atcha all - cuz it has been a few days. And well, cuz my husband went to my blog and asked me when I am gonna blog next lol

Today was a stressful day at work, altho I had a pretty darn good weekend despite feeling a bit under the weather. I got to see all the cool knitter gals on Sunday, my husband got some work done on the shelves he is building in our storage unit (believe me, having a husband happy he was productive makes for a happy wife =)), and I got to hang out with my friend A and her husband. Not to mention, my husband got a chance to have his daughter hang out with us as well.

We all went to eat at a Mexican restaurant after the knitting get together. About 2 margs later for my husband and a marg later for me, and none for A (since she is pregnant) or her husband (cuz he probably just wanted to watch us be goofy after drinking margs) - we were talking about all kinds of stuff. Within reason - as my husband's daughter was there and we do have *some* standards lol

We did get to talking about singing songs - and how I tend to irritate my husband because I never remember more than one or two lines of a song. And I sing those one or two lines over, and over, and OVER. I find it quite humorous - and actually, if you think about it, if you sing the same line over and over, you are eventually bound to sing it on key. So the way I look at it, I am sparing my husband from something even more irritating lol

It is bad that the lines I do remember of songs are typically not the songs I would generally sing along to. For instance, 'Viva Las Vegas' - those 3 words are the only words I know of the song. And I will sing them baritone, acupelo, bass, dramatic baritone, acupelo that warbles, yodling bass, a Marilyn Monroe-esque number, and more. Usually by the time I go thru about 3 of these, my husband is telling me to shut up =)

Honestly tho, I think its better to sing what you do know than sing the rest and act like you know what the words are myself. Doncha all think the same? Back me up here - my husband needs to be put in his place lol

Swan Upping

Hmmm ..... no wonder the swans are biting if they are supposed to be made into dinner someday! We will be in trouble if cows get that smart =)

What the heck am I talking about? See below - I have copied and pasted for your entertainment pleasure lol

Queen Elizabeth ‘sorry’ for swan bite
But palace says it's a myth that she's responsible for all of them

LONDON - Elishia Stevenson wanted an apology when she was bitten by a swan. So she wrote to Queen Elizabeth II.
The 6-year-old girl from Cornwall, south west England, wrote to Buckingham Palace because her mother told her the queen owns all the swans in Britain. She decorated her letter with flowers and a picture of a swan with a sad face.
A lady-in-waiting responded, saying the queen was "sorry to hear about the swan."
Though the queen doesn't own every swan in Britain, she does own certain mute swans in the Thames. This tradition goes back to the 12th century, when roast swan was considered a delicious dish, and continues today with the annual "Swan Upping," a census of swans on the Thames.
David Pogson, a Buckingham Palace spokesman, said the idea the queen owns all the swans is a myth.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Ladies First

I was headed to a DR appt the other day and I had to wait for the elevator to get to the floor where my DRs office was at. At the elevator was an older couple, an older man and lil ole me. When the elevator door opened, I wait for everyone else to go into the elevator before I did. Instead, the single older man waves me and the other gal with her husband on ahead of him. We all walk in ahead of him and the older gal with her husband says 'thank you' to the single older man once we were in the elevator. He replies:

'Ladies first I say'

She again thanks him. To which he replies:

'Its a dying art form'.

And which got me to thinking - has that kind of chivalry died in a sense? I know my husband opens doors for me, but I know that there are guys out there that do not do that anymore. I started to think about why it even mattered - as I tend to go on ahead and open my own doors. I think its not just the 'ladies first' policy. It is the act of chivalry itself ya know? It just reminded me a of a Liberty commercial I like on TV, with the basic 'pay it forward' motto. One person helps someone and someone else notices and helps someone else, and then that someone else helps another person and it continues to go on and on.

I just think its awesome that sometimes it takes a single older man waving you on ahead of him into an elevator to realize one of the most important qualities of all in a human being .....

And I think the world could use alot more of it =)

The Same Store?

My husband and I went out to get something to eat at McDonalds yesterday and drove by the area where the grocery store we usually go to is at. Well, USED to be at - it was a Dillons and it is now a Price Chopper. I love Dillons, so needless to say I was pretty darn unhappy. I flipped the store off along the way to McDonalds and pouted as we pulled into the McDonalds' drive thru line to order. My husband then tells me, 'Well, it is basically the SAME store - to which I pout just a bit more.

It is NOT the same store - everything in there has Price Chopper stamped all over it. They have different standards than Dillons, they have different stuff than Dillons, they are NOT Dillons *sniffle*

To pacify me, as we pull out of the McDonalds drive thru line and go by what used to be Dillons, my husband yells out:

'Price Chopper is the mark of the Devil. Bring back Dillons - Price Chopper is Evil!!'

Normally, this would have me shrinking in my seat, hoping no one saw me, but I have to say I grinned and laughed - knowing my husband said exactly what I thought but could not yell for the world to hear lol

Magnified Mirrors

We were in a hotel on Thursday night that had one of those magnified mirrors for gals to put their makeup on and such. And after spending about an hour in front of it, observing every little pore, hair, wrinkle and more - I wondered if magnified mirrors were just an evil marketing ploy to make a gal feel bad about herself. I bet the people who make those magnified mirrors also have a makeup line, lotions and cleansing products to wash away any dirt, pimples and wrinkles you may have. I bet they even have their own plastic surgery office set up somewhere in every city, ready to whip out that evil mirror and ask:

'Yes, I see what you mean. That HUGE wrinkle right there? We really should do something about that'

So many evil people in this world, I swear lol

Waiting at the Airport

Here I am - sitting and waiting for my flight out to Boston to see my husband and dealing with a very underwhelming internet connection. I need to get online with my college I am gonna start taking classes with, but ironically, I only seem to be able to access hotmail and my blog. Arencha all lucky? lol

I am really not liking the people I have around me either =/ This guy who seemed glued to my side when I was in the magazine/snack store getting something to eat, is sitting a couple of chairs next to me. The person behind me seems to shift her weight alot, as I keep feeling my seat move a bit every so often. Or maybe its the gal next to me who is busy chatting up a storm and wiggling her feet like she has had 3 energy drinks or something. I dunno, and I don't care - actually I do care, but what am I gonna do about it? Hey! I know...... I will gripe atcha all about it =)

OK, it IS the latter gal, not the gal behind me - as she suddenly turned around to look at something and moved the whole friggin ROW of chairs *sigh*

Maybe I am just being a bit more grumpy than usual, I will try to give her the benefit of the doubt. I did have a stressful day at work, even tho I was not there the whole day. Not to mention the fact that I have not got much sleep in the past few days. Last night I managed to get to bed at 1:30 A, but was up by 5 AM getting myself and the dogs ready to go for the day. Ya know, I don't care what anyone says, dogs take just as much work as a kid. Especially when one is slower and stubborn and the younger one a crazy baby. Yes.... a crazy baby ... as one minute she can be running around tearing the stuffing out of a pillow, and the next she can be curled up next to you, glued to your side for reassurance you still love her =)

Alright, I am gonna stop typing atcha all, cuz I am about to go postal with the gal next to me wiggling her friggin dumb feet =/ I think I need a prozac or sumpin lol

2:38 AM and still awake =/

Not sure why I am unable to fall asleep tonight, or rather morning by now. Altho, I did fall asleep for a few hours when I got home, so I am sure that doesn't help any. Not to mention, my husband is gone cuz of work, so I tend not to sleep as well when he is gone. So .... here I am, bloggin' atcha all when most normal people are in bed lol

When I got home today (err, yesterday =)), I saw a sticky note on the door - saying that I had a gift and that they will either try to deliver later, or I can call the below number for a good time to stop by. I decide to call, even tho I had basically nothing to do tonight that would require me to leave, and found out it was a promotional deal. They informed me we had a 'free gift' and it had to do with some home security system. I grumpily told the gal we did not want it and hung up, as if we were going to invest in something like that, we would contact them to begin with. Not to mention the fact that I was irritated that they deliberately mislead me by placing the note on the door. I am sure they knew people will call, as its almost Valentines Day - so people (or at least I thought this) that perhaps someone (like my husband) had sent me something a day or so early.

Oh well! I was probably not in the best of moods after finding out at work that they were going to go with 'more qualified' applicants for the job I applied for. In one way it was a relief, as I am not sure I wanted the job after all, but....... it would have been nice to have been given a chance to show what a darn awesome choice I coulda been for them lol

Alright, its 7 more minutes until 3 AM, so I better try and get some sleep. Wish me luck!

Don't Lose That Part of You

I am sitting here watching the movie "Pretty Woman' and it really got me to thinking. Yeah ..... believe it or not, a movie like "Pretty Woman" can do that to me =) I blame it on my husband for taking off to the east coast for work, its gotten me all sentimental and stuff lol

Seriously tho, its basically about a woman who didn't have much who met a guy who had it all. At least monetarily .... she had what he needed emotionally I think. It really got me to thinking about what is important - and I really think its not loosing touch with who you are. Julia Roberts (aka Vivian) was always who she was - and I think that is what Richard Gere (Edward) fell in love with. And I think its important to never to lose touch with who you are - no matter how old you get, no matter how many kids you have, no matter how much money you get. Always never lose that part of you that led you to your ultimate happiness ya know?

=)

Just When You Think You Know Someone

My husband and I were driving back from Lawrence after trying a Mexican restaurant that my friend, L, recommended when the unthinkable happened. Well actually, it was 'thinkable' on my husband's part, as he proceeded to do it - just to my utter dismay lol

We stop at a gas station, since we were basically on 'E'. It took quite awhile to get to the next gas station since leaving Lawrence, as it was snowing a bunch, covering the ground and making the drive a bit tricky. While my husband was outside at the gas pump, I decided I would be 'funny' and lock the doors so he couldnt get back in quickly. I did know he had a spare key in the gas cap at the time, and saw him go for it - smiling as he reached for the door and then opened it, feeling pretty happy that I knew he would do that. I was in the process of voicing that to him when all of the sudden he throws a snowball at me ..... in the truck ...... at my face ......

Yes, I sat there with eyes closed and whimpered , pieces of snow slowly sliding off my face and could not believe my husband would do such a thing to me. And needless to say, he laughed all the rest of the way home and I did not lol

The Suburbian Peacock

I am not sure why, but for the past 6-8 months (maybe more), we have had a peacock roaming about our neighborhood. I am pretty sure he/she doesn't belong to anybody in particular, as the peacock is always around a different person's house every couple of days or so. Or maybe he/she is just a very social peacock - altho, I have never known peacocks to be that social of animals. Maybe it is a very vain peacock and likes to strut about the neighborhood showing off its beautiful array of feathers. No matter what the reason, my husband and I are constantly amazed that the peacock is out and about in the kind of weather that we have been having. Surely peacocks do not like walking thru snow and ice. And when we do not see him/her struttin' about the neighborhood, where is the peacock? Where does it sleep? Who feeds it, or does it find food on its own?

So many questions, so little blog space lol

Not My Night

Sometimes I do not think I am ready for the people I encounter, the places I go, or the things that happen to me. One of those sometimes was tonite .......

We decide on a different Chinese place to eat at first of all, and that was a mistake. We walk in, was seated and realize they have a buffet. Not to sound snooty, but I generally do NOT like buffets. Of any nationality of food. This was no different, but my husband decides to go for it and try the buffet (altho he is not usually a huge fan). I order just some lo mein noodles - which turned into an ordeal. The waitress was so hard to understand and so abrupt, that it took me the 3rd try to realize she was trying to get me to decide on if I wanted chicken, beef, etc lo mein. I think she thought I was odd, as I had to be the only one in the restaurant that was not eating the buffet. She repeated everything several times, even when we shook our heads yes or no, or replied yes or no. Actually, it seemed she would not take 'no' as an answer. My husband's water ran low, she asked if he wanted water (err twice), he said no - but yet she asks again and reaches over to pour him some water. At the end of the dinner, she tells us we have free dessert ...... free dessert .... free dessert. We decline on the friggin free dessert, only to have her shove a bowl of ice cream under my nose asking 'ice cream?' *uughh*

And it was not just the waitress I found annoying! There was a Mom bouncing her kid up and down on a table diagonal from us and someone behind me in their booth that kept whispering 'help me, help me'. Or maybe that was the voice in my head! lol

Wahoo! My 51st Blog Post =)

Ack, what a day! I had to go in early to make up time for a dermatologist appt I had in the afternoon and I am actually surprised I made it to work by 7 AM. I was not feeling well last night, so I took a muscle relaxer and a shot of apple korn (courtesy of our awesome friends L&C =)) and was pretty much out for the most of the night. I *did* manage to stay awake during our drive to micro center (umm.... only to find out they were closed already). And I was still awake when I decided I HAD to go to to Sheridans for some sorta dessert. My husband, needing no encouragement, drove us right there - where I had a strawberry concrete (yumm.... strawberries are my 2nd fav next to chocolate =)). I managed to eat it all by the time we got home - which is quite impressive if you knew how close our house is to Sheridans lol

But anyway! Got in the door, threw away my empty Sheridan cup, got my laptop out, leaned back in the recliner with laptop on umm... lap.....and FELL ASLEEP. Needless to say, I had tuned in to some 'rich bride, poor bride' show that my husband found a little too 'girlie' for his taste, so he headed downstairs to dote on his guitars a bit =) I wake up about an hour later and realize he isnt around, and went downstairs to find him. I found him, said sumpin I have no recollection of now, and promptly fell asleep on the futon downstairs. I wake up another hour later and see my husband isnt aorund again, walk up the stairs, find him and fall asleep yet again once I found him.

Yes, yes... I know. So sad. So pathetic =)

So I was a bit zoned going in to work today, but managed to get thru the day and get to my DRs appt. I have this spot on my face thats grown some that I was worried about, so I thought I would have it checked out. First time at a dermatologist and I am not sure I will go back lol If anyone has ever seen 'Independence Day' and remembers the wacky scientist dude played by the Star Treck guy (err..... dont ask me how I know he was Data ... err... ummm.... anyway!) in that movie - THAT is what my dermatologist was like. She was WAY too interested in moles and freckles and such - and the way she came at me with her goggles - almost bumping into me in her haste to see some really funky skin thing she may or may not have seen before made me feel a little uncomfortable. Honestly, I think if I had told her I had a spot in between my toes, she would have taken a look at it. She seemed disappointed I only wanted her to check my back and face lol

Seriously tho, when someone starts talking about the life of a mole with utter enjoyment (and not the furry one that buries holes underground), ya gotta wonder about her =)

Wednesday Night TV

Uhhh..... do ya'all know there are actually 'fight clubs'? My husband and I are sitting here watching a TV show about a group called 'Dog Brothers' that is a fight club - and they really do beat the crap out of each other! Granted, they are wearing padding and face gear, so it isn't *quite* like the 'Fight Club' movie, but still.....

But hey! the people in charge of this TV channel are nice enuf to all of the sudden put a pop up in the corner of the screen saying, 'Taboo foods - Live Delicious Maggots', to break up the tenseness you might feel at watching the fight club show =)

Ack......seriously? Maggots to eat? People to beat? Aren't I neat? The rhymes I speak? lol

Yayy! A Day off of Work =)

I actually am surprised I am up already, as I have been pretty lazy since my husband has gotten home. Yesterday, we didnt get out of bed until noon! That must have been the reason I wasn't sleeping well last night then - even tho I didnt go to sleep until 2 A. Plus the fact that I had some vanilla coffee that my friend, C, gave me =) And well.....I did read my Queen Elizabeth book before bed, and that will make anybody have bad dreams and wake up constantly lol Its pretty awful the way they decided to kill people back then. Not to mention the fact that anyone who potentially had power, wanted power, or even thought about having power was usually in line to be beheaded or sumpin'. I need to start reading a lighthearted, silly book before bed and leave the serious, depressing stuff for during the day I guess!

So anyway! Here I am, up and about before noon on a typical work day and I am not sure what to do with myself lol I have fed the dogs, so I have done my duty there. I *could* exercise, but I am gonna wait for my husband to get home so that we can do it together. We have 2 Nordic Tracks now, thanks to our friends T & C =) Actually, their Nordic Track is fancier than the one we had/have before. We may have to alternate, or I am gonna get jealous that my husband's is nicer. Yeah, I am a weird freak like that lol

All kinds of time on a Monday, what to do? What to do? =)

When it Rains, It Snows

Well, at least today anyway! It started off gloomy today and then Mother Nature decided that a little rain might be nice. After awhile of raining, I guess Mother Nature was bored - as it started spitting snow. And then it is now coming down even more *uggh* Altho, to be optimistic about it, it is the nice fluffy happy kinda snow lol

It has been that kind of day today tho =/ My work day was consumed by many stressful things and one would think by the time I got home, everything would be just spiffy. Once home, I soon started on my supper - which basically consisted of a container of yogurt with some granola in it and mashed potatoes. The latter was a disaster, as I got lazy and decided I didnt wanna have to dig out my beaters to mash them and instead I used the blender. I rationalized that it does basically the same thing, but by the time I pressed the 'mix' button, I realized what a goofy idea using the blender to mash potatoes was.

There are a couple of things that make this fantastic idea of mine not work. They are:

#1 At the bottom there is the blade that does the work. Which is fine and dandy until all of the potatoes get stuck down around it. Once I was done, I had to spoon it out - which still left some potatoes stuck around the blade. Sooooo......'lil ole me does not want to waste any possible potatoeeey goodness, and unscrews the bottom to expose the blade. I then lick around the blade, as the spoon still wasn't doing its job, to get every last single drop of potato. Yes, I am quite talented that way. I am able to do stupid stuff like that without cutting my tongue. Well....ummmm...most of the time lol

#2 When you mix potatoes in a blender, they do not MIX - they do not BLEND - they do not a single darn thing those buttons on the blender says it will do to what you stick in there. They just 'swirl' around and occasionally grab a potatoe that hasn't been mashed and do something with it. And the lucky potatoes that do get attacked by the blade end up more like cool whip or meringue. So by the time I sadly was spooning it out, I had fluffy potatoes with potatoe chunks here and there that didn't make it in with their pals. Honestly, the chunky potatoes win my vote, as the rest of them were a bit too fluffy for my taste =) I guess thats the price I pay for being so darn lazy!

Even tho today was stressful at work, it did amuse me when I took a break to google 'muscle spasms', as my body has been really hurting lately. Too much exercise probably, but.......it did waste a few minutes of my work day. And it gave me a much needed break from the stuff I was dealing with. But anyway! There was a bunch of stuff that came up, one of which was a disorder called 'Ehlers-Danlos syndrome'. Curious, I look at one of the links for it that gave information. Under the 'Outlook/Prognosis' section, it says:

People with EDS generally have a normal life span. Intelligence is normal.

Is it just me, or did you even stop to think about your intelligence with this syndrome from the get go? lol I mean, I guess I am glad that I will be of normal intelligence if I do have it, but.....how friggin weird to put that there!

Janice Dickinson/Britney Spears

Alright, why is Janice Dickinson commenting that she would slap Britney Spears silly worthy of a msnbc headline? I am not saying that I totally disagree with Janice, but when did her comment carry so much more weight than other things that are happening in the world? In case ya wanna read the article, go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22638463/. You will find it not worth the time they spent writing the article. Maybe slightly entertaining, yes.......but basically all it is if 'fluff' - just something to fill in the msnbc.com website page.

Why does this bug me? I guess maybe if my husband was around and I didn't have so much free time on my hands, I would not take the time to blog atcha all about it. But I think its just slightly goofy to take one person's opinion and turn it into 'news'. Its not news - its an opinion! And I am quite sure there are a bunch of people out there thinking Britney Spears is a mental case right about now and needs a reality check. But wouldn't it be more intersting to observe the opinions of the people of the US as a whole on it, than centering around just one person? Not to mention, this person that msnbc deemed so important to write about has had her own time spent in rehabs.

Does that make her an expert on what Britney needs? Or does this just conveniently give her some media attention , so that her model show she now has on the air does not do poorly? I wonder if she is having people go 'Janice Dickinson? who is she? what did she do?' lol

I suppose, in defense of msnbc, they do have the article categorized under 'entertainment' =) But I always thought that is where deaths, births, new shows/actors, etc etc all went. I never knew that it was a spot for the occasional 'celebrity' to spout off their intended wisdom for the whole world to read.

And no, I am not jealous that they haven't posted my opinion(s) on msnbc lol

Plain Ole Friday

Do you ever just sit in front of your computer and not do a single thing? Never hit a key? Barely even blink at the screen? Just sit there and stare, mesmerized by what is in front of you and not even really register what IT is that you are staring at?

Thats pathetic ole me right now - altho it certainly isn't helped by my husband being out of town for a week. I missed him days before he even left, and now I feel a bit lost without him here. Maybe blabbin' atcha all will get me out of the funk I am in =)

My husband and I did have some pretty awesome massages the other day. It was our second time to this place, and the way our bodies have been aching (whether from the sudden committment to exercise or the fact we have been fighting off some sort of cold/flu I dunno), we were looking forward to it days before our scheduled appointment. I usually have a terrible time relaxing, which is why I just have them give me a deep tissue massage - that way if I don't relax while there, I will certainly relax after I have left there lol

Karma, our oldest daschund, is now back to possibly having Pituitary Cushings =/ Altho, at least this is the lesser of the two she could have, so I guess I should be happy. And the specialist we have been taking her to says with the new medication they have, it is a 'controllable' disease. Soo.... we shall see! We did take her to her new vet, and she thought it could just be her being so allergic to stuff/food, that her liver ends up working too hard. She even gave Karma an acupuncture treatment =) Who knew dogs could get acupuncture done too huh? I personally like acpuncture better than massage most times, as they just stick you with the needles, leave ya alone for about 20 minutes, take them out, stick you with some more and leave ya alone for 20 more minutes. That way you can lay there by yourself - and just let your mind wander. Altho, if you dare to even move with the needles stuck in you, you will wish you weren't alone!

Speaking of minds wandering, I better post this blog entry before my mind decides that staring at the screen again is the better thing to do =)

Sock Progress, Diet and Things Not There

Yay! I have made some decent progress on my sock, and even tho I am stumped on one section - at least it appears that I have been trying to accomplish what I am sure everyone thinks is impossible for me to do. Finish a knitting project! =) It is rather annoying that I have 2 blue needles and 2 purple ones I am knitting with and they do not all color coordinate, but I am gonna bend the rules this time and just get the friggin' sock done - I will think of it as maintaining 'feng shui' by knitting with 2 blue and 2 purple needles. Altho, honestly, part of the time its more like 2 blue and 1 purple or 2 purple and 1 blue, but..............

ANYWAY!!!

Today has been a pretty good day, even tho I haven't been feeling quite my normal spiffy self. I think its the drastic reduction in chocolate intake that has done it to me. But one of my resolutions is to lose some weight, and even tho chocolate tastes heavenly, I will try to have some sort of will power over it and drink some green tea instead *feeble yay* Normally, I do love hot tea, but normally I would have it on my terms - not as a substitute for something else I would rather want *heavy sigh*

The last two days have been a bit stressful, as I have had my husband tease me any chance he could get about a goof up I made. I know, I know.....thats what husbands are for, right? lol I think it was a mistake anyone could make - I saw a big clump of mud on the highway and thought it was a turtle. Granted, I had just thought on our trip to NYC not long ago that a Wal-Mart bag was a bird, so I suppose it would appear there is something either #1 wrong with my eyesight or #2 wrong with my brain. My husband apparantly decides that is must be the latter and so proceeds to go on about EVERY friggin' thing that we see on the road.

'Wow, there is a turtle....... no wait, thats just mud'

'Wow, there is a box turtle ..... no wait, thats just a BOX'

UGHHHHHH!!

Ya know, he should be glad his wife sees the beauty in things not there! Oh wait, did that make sense? lol