The last to know

Fellow Blogger bloggers:  Am I the only one who didn't know the posting editor has been UPDATED?  Oh my Lord.  I could scream from frustration and elation all at the same time.  Good grief.

Brainless Activity

I've spent most of the day sitting on the couch watching "Band of Brothers." There are some shows that Alan and I agree are worth watching anytime they're on, whether there are 90 minutes left or 10. "Band of Brothers" is one of those, and usually it's shown as a marathon. Thus, the long afternoon of couch-potatoing. Not to mention the fact I have a slight cold and don't feel like doing anything else.

A couple others we agree on:

The Bourne (Anything)
Zoolander
South Park

I've become such a South Park junkie. It's my #1 guilty pleasure. I've even found that when I'm having trouble falling asleep at night, I'll watch one of the thirty or so recorded episodes to doze off to. I love that they make fun of every demographic, every religion, you name it. No one gets left out. But it's so wrong on so many levels.

There are plenty we don't agree on. Alan's not interested in anything paranormal or ghost-related, and I can easily pass up college football or "Dumb and Dumber." To add to this random post, I'm going to share some of my favorite movies:

Seems Like Old Times (a Neil Simon)
The Four Seasons (another Neil Simon)
Broadcast News

You'd never want to watch these movies WITH me, however. I know all the dialogue and can't help myself. But it's the dialogue that makes those movies rock. I wish there were a network solely dedicated to showing 70s and 80s movies. And with that I'm going to stop, because I'm really showing my age. I shouldn't be doing that, with another birthday approaching.

Puzzles

There's a science to doing crosswords puzzles. Do you know this? I'm surprised when people with way more smarts and advanced vocabularies than me do not know how to do a crossword. I should be clear - I'm not one of those who can finish every crossword. The Saturday and Sunday ones are often left lying around with half of the answers (or less) filled in, until I'm tired of being reminded how dumb I feel and eventually get thrown away. So here are things about crosswords that some people don't know, which I've discovered by working them with others:

Monday's puzzle is way easy, to the point of annoyance. Tuesday is still fairly easy, Wednesday starts to get more challenging, and by Thursday or Friday I'm feeling retarded. Good luck with the weekend puzzles.

Verb tense in the clue and the answer must match.

Answers will never contain a word or part of a word from the clue. EVER. This seems obvious, but you'd be surprised what people will try.

If the clue uses the last name only of say, an actor, and wants you to supply the character's name - it wants the character's last name as well. It's the matching thing again.

If the clue uses an abbreviation, the answer will be abbreviated too. More matching!

If the clue ends with a question mark, the answer will be "silly answers" (I call them), not literal.

Put it down and pick it back up the next day. I'm convinced the brain continues to mull over the clues. You'll be surprised at the answers you'll get 24 hours later. I'm also convinced that crosswords are good for the mind. I need to work them more often.

And lastly...you need to know the last name of John Lennon's lover, the name of the river that runs through Paris, a four-letter word for a beigy color, the name for a church altar, the name of an ancient Roman marketplace, and a word for a fluffy accessory. Ono, Seine, ecru, apse, agora, and boa. They're used relentlessly. Must be all the vowels.

Start with Monday. You'll be patting yourself on the back for a job well done getting three-letter answers for the clue "two words heard at a wedding."

Changes, finally

I totally snagged that photo from the internet, but it is similar to what you might see along a West Texas road. I like the stormy skies, too, which is what we've been experiencing the past couple of nights. Also, WOW Blogger! You finally decided to update the template selections. What's it been, three, four years?

Why Puppies Are Awesome

They like to cuddle.

They're kind of like babies only better because there are no diapers, no painfully long crying spells...I could go on and on.

You can sneak them into stores in your purse if you are so inclined.

They relieve stress.

I've yet to see an ugly puppy. Ugly dogs, yes. But no ugly puppies.

(Here is where I would insert a picture of maybe the cutest puppy ever. That would be Addison's puppy, Betsey, who we've been babysitting all weekend and spoiling rotten. But my camera cord is destroyed and I therefore have pictures in limbo.)

You get so lost in their cuteness that you forget about other stuff.

And lastly, PUPPY BREATH!

Guessing this isn't what God had in mind.

I'm well aware that I'm not doing Lent correctly. I gave up three things for these forty days, or isn't it really 46 including Sundays? Anyway, I gave up chips of any kind, french fries, and snacking after dinner. Notice a trend here? I'm giving up things that I shouldn't be eating anyway and by giving up will possibly benefit me with a couple of lost pounds. It's all me, me, me. And then I happened upon this religious/educational show one morning early that reminded me of how poorly I'm going about this.

Today's participants usually do one or all of three things: 1) give something up, 2) add something positive (prayer perhaps), and 3) almsgiving. I didn't know what almsgiving was exactly, which is quite telling of my charitable nature.

So I've got two out of three in the works, but that third one's not my specialty. Does it have to be charitable towards people? Because I'd really rather go volunteer at the SPCA. Uh-oh...there's goes that "me" business again.

I'm not having trouble with the first one, so I think that defeats the purpose. The second one - well I am praying a whole lot more, but since I have REALLY MAJOR issues and CONFUSION around how prayer works...well let's just say I don't think my heart is in it the way it should be. I have never, ever been able to reconcile prayer in an acceptable, meaningful manner. Here's what I've recently decided due to life's events: do not pray for action, healing, guidance. Rather, pray for forgiveness, thanksgiving, and simply to talk to and therefore have a relationship with God.

That's where I'm at in my journey through Lent. I'm trying.

And since I gave up blogging for so long that now no one really looks at this, I realize I'm pretty much talking to myself. And that's okay right now. I just need to talk.

Serenity now, serenity now

Earlier this morning I spent a half hour ranting and raving about the "disappearance" of one of my new shirts. I woke up Bailey and rooted through her room and closet, assuming she tried it on and then threw it on the floor or stuffed it in a drawer (which occasionally happens). I silently accused Alan of taking it to the cleaners by mistake with his clothes (thankfully he wasn't here or I would have questioned him). I considered maybe the dog took it, or that someone snuck in the garage and stole some clothes, or that it fell behind the washer and dryer. I mean, how do you lose a shirt? A sock, yes. A shirt, no.

I looked EVERYWHERE. Three times. During this time I had been doing laundry and had carefully checked the load of clothes that I put in the washer. Still nothing. I looked some more, and all the while I am absolutely fuming. You see, this has happened before - sometime last year right after buying some new clothes for school, I lost a shirt. I liked that shirt so much that I went back to the store and bought another one. And here I was again, the shirt I liked the most was missing.

So as I'm considering getting dressed and going to Target to buy the shirt again (I really liked this shirt - Bailey said it made my boobs look big!), I notice the washer has stopped and decide to check that load again. I take the load out piece by piece to place in the dryer, and there it is - in the washer. How I missed it the three previous times I looked through the clothes, is a mystery. Or is it? Sometimes you just gotta wonder if someone's trying to tell you something.

Something like, "CALM THE HELL DOWN!"

Homecoming

President Bush came home to Midland yesterday for a farewell gathering. I didn't attend, but I did watch it on our local news. It's perhaps the best speech I've ever heard him give, considering many of his have been awkward at best. He was so relaxed, funny, poised, and confident. But of course he was in front of a very warm and welcoming crowd - his hometown. I've believed for a long time that time will reveal some things that make the public think twice about his time in office. It's not that I don't think he should be accountable for certain conditions, I just think we as a public tend to be pretty pompous about how much we "know."

I'm sort of neutral on this new administration. I might be skeptical that any big changes are really going to occur (for the better), but I also don't want to be the type that thinks we're all doomed. We're not, and we'll be fine. Maybe better, who knows. I was sort of put off by some of the jabs in Obama's speech towards Bush and his administration, and will steal Alan's word by saying it was pretty petty, considering the time and place. But hopefully that isn't an indication of what the man is really like. He's my president now, and I'm hoping for the best.

And that's probably the most politics you'll ever hear from me.

With a capital "B"

Wow, I'm following off the face of the internet earth. I just looked at the date of my last posting, and I think that's the longest dry spell I've ever had between posts. Nothing's wrong. I just kind of bore me right now, so why bore you?

My fellow Americans...

Well, I guess I'm off to vote here in a little while. I know a lot of people who voted early, but I don't like to do that. I like the energy of the actual day! For me, it's that one special day where you feel very patriotic and very much a citizen! And trust me, I only "get into it" on this one day. I don't follow the campaigns very closely, I don't watch the debates, I just don't like either candidate by the time election day comes around. But you know what I do like? I like my money. And even though it won't matter, I've got to go vote to have a voice on what I think about people who want to "redistribute" MY money.

Have fun watching all the hoopla tonight!

In Time for Halloween

Anyone who lives in West Texas knows that real estate prices have been ridiculously high for a while. Midlanders aren't going through the economic doom that much of the country is experiencing. In fact, the economy is pretty sweet around here. It's hard to find a home that hasn't already been snatched up within hours of being put on the market. So it was no surprise to us to see the "sold" sign on the house next door within 24 hours of being listed.

What did surprise us, however, was that the owners were already selling the home. They just bought it about a year ago, did a LOT of renovating, and looked to be a young couple who were settling down for a while. So why move so quickly?

The previous owner was an elderly lady who had been living alone for quite some time after her husband died. Her health was not good, but she was still able to live on her own and had friends and family visit frequently. Alan went over there a couple times to help her with things like lighting the pilot light, but we didn't have a lot of contact with her. One night, a little over a year ago, I woke up to flashing lights coming through our bedroom window. Out front were several emergency vehicles, one of which was an ambulance. We learned over the next couple of days that the woman had fallen, hit her head, and died.

So back to today. From talking to neighbors, Alan learned that the couple is moving because of the GHOST. The husband is gone a lot, and the wife is afraid to be home alone because of certain disturbances...like faucets being turned on and off. When Alan told me, my eyes lit up! I was so excited to be next door to a haunted house! That is, until I started hearing unusual noises the past few nights and began wondering if she's visiting her neighbors. Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo.

Feeling maternal

I think anytime someone starts a blog with, "I had this dream last night...," readers instantly yawn and move on because who wants to hear about a dream? It's REALLY not that interesting to ANYONE other than yourself. You are the only one to whom it seems real. Good thing it's my blog page and I can do what I want. :-)

So I had this dream last night that I was in Wal-Mart with a group of young kids that I was semi-responsible for, like a school field trip or something. One kindergarten boy cut his foot, because he was running around in his socks through the metal clothes racks. He was bleeding pretty badly, so I picked him up and we headed to the nurses' clinic in the Wal-Mart. Yeah, you know, those nurses' clinics in every Wal-Mart. By the time I walked in the clinic, the little boy was now a baby about 9 months old. When I realize that I had accidently picked up someone's baby, I start to panic and head back out into the store. I'm thinking, "oh my God, someone's going to think I kidnapped their baby!"

But no parents were frantically looking for their child, no Adam alerts called out, nothing. I was still very panicked and spent the next 2-3 hours with this baby looking for the mom or dad. How could they not be looking for him? Then the Wal-Mart becomes a restaurant at night that is closing soon, and none of the staff seem concerned at all about my situation. Actually, they seem annoyed that I won't go home.

One thing I keep thinking during the dream is how cute the baby is, how good he's being, how nice it is to hold a baby again....and how PLEASE GOD LET ME FIND HIS PARENTS because I don't want to keep him!

The dream just struck me as funny, because Alan and I recently kept sweet little Holden for Brandi and Luke for a couple days. It was so fun, and we really enjoyed our weekend with him! And I really missed him just a few days later!

I think most women naturally reach an age at which they don't have yearnings to have babies anymore. I reached that age many, many years ago, yet it was still possible if Alan and I ever changed our minds. But we haven't, and we WON'T. The life that we see just around the corner looks pretty sweet. And then there'll be grandchildren to satisfy those maternal instincts. Babysitting suits me just fine.

Bottoms up!

How do I love thee, Nyquil, let me count the ways:

1. You make me feel better every time, regardless of how sick I am.
2. You're made with alcohol.
3. You make my leg jitters go away.
4. You allow me to sleep until 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. This is impossible without you!
5. You could taste much worst.
6. Your commercials do not irritate me or gross me out.
7. I mentioned the alcohol already, didn't I? Oh well, it's worth mentioning again because it's the only alcohol I've had in weeks.

And now it's time for another swig, and of course, bedtime. :-)

Okay, I'll Play!

DeeBee tagged me to play a game called Seven Facts or something like that. Of course I'll play! Why would I go get ready for work when I can be goofing off on the computer?

Seven Weird or Random facts about me:

1. Clowns creep me out.

2. I live with a mean cat that attacks and bites me almost daily.

3. I can't eat at Quiznos because of a weird Hobbit-looking troll of a man that was sitting next to me at a Quiznos once. It was the first time I had ever been there, and I've never been back. You just had to see him. But I've really worked on my issues with dwarfs and am a big fan of "Little People, Big World." So don't hate me.

4. I don't like tags - on clothes, blankets, pillows, whatever. I cut off every pillow tag the moment that pillow enters the house, and I can't have a blanket/sheet/throw tag near my face.

5. I broke my arm when I was 6 or 7. My parents didn't realize it for a week. ha.

6. I'm stealing an idea from DeeBee here and mentioning a recurring dream I always have: tornadoes. I have so many tornado dreams, and they're usually very cool. I'm fascinated with tornadoes.

7. I went to Europe when I was 15 with complete strangers, except for my French teacher who I didn't want to know any better.

Okay, I'll tag a few others:

Elizabeth, Just South of Sanity
Melissa, New Leaves in March
Naomi, blog it on your myspace!
Brandi, ditto

Nevermind

Recently I've been thinking I should get my hair cut short again, and then I go back through pictures and see this:

YOWZA! I'm thinking, NO.

Celebrating free enterprise

Whew! Finally a night's sleep with no headache and no headache so far today. I was able to get a couple errands run that I couldn't do the past few days. Plus I finally got my haircut, because I FOUND MY HAIRCUTTING LADY! I'm not sure what you're supposed to call them, but I don't think "haircutting lady" is it. Perhaps hair stylist? That sounds a little less white trash. Anyway, she left a major salon chain, which I won't give the name but it sort of rhymes with Duperduts.

They wouldn't tell anyone where she went, but I used my detective skills that I learned from The First 48 and Crime 360 and The FBI Files and found her! You don't know her and therefore it's probably not interesting, but I'm just proud of her for taking the plunge and opening her own business. She's a single mom with two kids, and she opened a classy salon without the classy fees. Awesome.

And now I'm going to go plop on the couch for a little while, read my book, and wait for Alan to get home and cook dinner! He wants to grill, and grilling means I'm not cooking. Although I did clean and prepare the corn cobs for the grill. Yep, I'm done for the day.

Late night rant

WHAT-THE-HELL??

Let's review: I have made a concerted effort over the last few months to eat more of the good things and cut out more of the bad. I've also managed portions, I've gotten some (okay, a little) exercise, and more importantly I've passed up some pretty yummy snacks at about 2:30 in the afternoon and 10:00 at night. Those are difficult times of the day! And so because of these things that they say you're supposed to do, I was expecting some good news on my blood work. In fact, I'm the one who requested that additional blood work be done at my yearly visit (before I knew that my old age would require it anyway) because 1) I find it interesting, and 2) I figured at the very least my cholesterol numbers would be awesome. And okay, maybe 3) I was hoping my thyroid would have been a little out of whack, and therefore they'd give me a magic pill to get it back in shape and wipe away a handful of pounds in the process.

But, noooo! I get a call from the nurse wanting to "discuss" my cholesterol level of 221, which is about 21 points higher than they would like to see! So I've a got a message for they: Screw it! I'd say something else but Daddy reads my blog, and I don't think he wants to hear his daughter use such words.

Alas, I have nothing to show for my efforts. Zippo. Even on vacation, do you know what I bought myself to snack on in the condo for the week? A tray of veggies and some watermelon. And yeah, maybe a little cheese, but I WAS ON VACATION! I didn't touch the ice cream or the soda, plus I made an effort to find the new Egg Beaters at the grocery store (to no avail). I had a mere handful of Cheetos at the beach. I'm telling you, that's will power, baby. And okay, there was that one day that I had four Krispy Kreme donuts, but I WAS ON VACATION! And did I mention the fact that we walked who knows how many miles over the course of the week? I'm surprised my $3.00 Old Navy flip-flops don't have holes in them.

Yet it gets me nowhere, so here I am up very late with a headache, and I absolutely WILL go in that kitchen and get something satisfying to eat. I seem to recall some double stuffed oreos that Leigh bought while he was housesitting for us. Heck, I might as well drink the whole milk he bought to wash them down!

No time for subtleties

Yesterday I went to the doctor for my annual visit. Yeah, you know the appointment I'm talking about. And throughout the entire visit I was reminded of my age.

"Let's see...now that YOU'RE FORTY, we do this additional exam."

"Well, since YOU'RE FORTY, you'll need to keep an eye on this."

"When women reach FORTY, LIKE YOU, they also have to have this done."

Basically what I learned is there'll be much more poking, prodding, and pinching now that I'M FORTY.

Poof!

Remember this episode of Friends? They all go to Barbados and Monica gets "humid hair." It's one of my favorite episodes and the first time I'd ever seen a show or movie acknowledge humid hair. I can totally relate! Junior high was a difficult two years anyway, but walking to school and/or waiting outside for the bus was enough exposure to the moisture to give me a sizable helmet head every morning, which didn't do wonders for the self esteem. So this episode had me rolling, especially when Monica remedies the situation by getting corn rows and beads ("it's a treat for the eyes AND the ears!") I'm not one of lucky ones whose hair falls silky and smooth on humid days, so I'm preparing myself for some pretty bad hair days in Florida. I'm packing an arsenal of ponytail holders, headbands, and bobby pins and am assuming I'll be having too much fun to care!

Well said

Warning: This post requests that you participate. Come on, you anonymous readers out there!

Yesterday Alan made reference to the lyrics of a country song by Diamond Rio called "Beautiful Mess." So it got me thinking of other song lyrics, and I bet most of us have a particular song that we declare as having THE BEST lyrics ever. For me, that song is Shenandoah's "Ghost in This House." I can't remember when it was released, probably around the early 90s, but it's such a clever yet sad way to describe a relationship that has deteriorated. Another one along those same lines is "Sail On" by Lionel Richie. (Yes, I am showing my age!) I also like "Difficult Kind" by Sheryl Crow, especially:

"There ain't nothing like regret to remind you you're alive."

Awesome! Anyway, the lyrics don't have to be serious to be great (I'm thinking of a line from "In Da Club"), so what's your favorite?