Many of us have traditions we repeat each year around Christmastime. And lots of these involve movies. I know many people enjoy "It's A Wonderful Life" or "Christmas Vacation."
But my biggest tradition I can't stray from is my "Christmas tape." I've had my Christmas tape since I was 2. Granted, I don't remember it then. But every year, I have to watch this thing from start to... almost-finish. I'll explain...
My Christmas tape is an old, Polaroid VHS tape that my mom and dad recorded for me sometime between 1987-1990. It contains 5 main shows that I have to watch every year, and a few towards the end that I might watch.
First up on the tape is Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. It was made in 1978, and my parents recorded it in either 1987 or 1988 from PBS. What a trip down memory lane as far as PBS goes... remember how all episodes of Sesame Street began with the Ralston-Purina sponsorship? And the blue screen with the text "Financial support, from viewers like you." Anyways, Oscar the Grouch gets Big Bird believing that Santa is not real and since so many people don't have chimneys, they won't get gifts. So Big Bird and gang set out to prove Santa is real. Also, there is a great sub-plot with Bert and Ernie and Mr. Hooper that is essentially "Gift of the Magi." It's a great, great movie. I just looked, and it can be bought on Amazon, but I'm curious to know if it is truly the original or has been edited. My guess: edited.
Moving on to Christmas special #2: Rudolph. In all it's claymation glory. Who doesn't love Burl Ives?
The third one on the tape is old Frosty the Snowman cartoon. My favorite part of this whole cartoon is: when the kids are trying to name the snowman, one kid says "Oatmeal?" in the cutest, high-pitched voice ever. If you know me, you've probably heard me say "Oatmeal?" at some point. I use it when I can, but no one ever knows I'm referencing something.
Fouth in line is A Charlie Brown Christmas. The Vince Guaraldi Trio made some of the best music for that show. I listen to that soundtrack the most out of all the Christmas music I have. It's timeless, half of it's just a piano and a bass, and it's great. And, if you ask, I might do my little dance from this movie. I have a weird imitation of the kid that just bobs his head unnaturally from side to side during the Linus and Lucy song. This is a yearly request from my friend/cousin Jeff.
Fifth is my favorite, partly because of who it is and also because it is lesser-known: Muppet Family Christmas. This one originated in 1988, I believe. I'm not quite sure when we recorded it, but I'm pretty sure it is the original. I say that because (didn't realize this until recently) this one got seriously edited through the years because of copyright laws and some of the songs. But this one is a lot of fun. It is quite possibly the only time where nearly all, and I REALLY mean that, of the Muppet creations of Jim Henson were united together for one movie. I'm talking The Muppets, I'm talking Sesame Street, Baby Muppets, AND Fraggles. Not to mention a little cameo from the master himself at the end. It. Is. Spectacular.
Since I am a big fan of Sesame Street and the Muppets, it is also interesting to me (in a fun way) how much they have changed over the years. Not just voices and puppeteers, but in main characters and minor characters. For instance, in both Sesame Street and Muppet Christmas shows, Elmo is not a main character. At all. He doesn't even talk in the Muppets one. Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, and Big Bird used to be the real stars of the show, yet nowadays they have been pushed aside for Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Murry, and Rosita. Interesting little things to notice, that's all.
Sixth on the tape, which I don't have to watch every year, are Winnie the Pooh Christmas, and the infamous cartoon where Donald Duck plays hockey with his rambunctious nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie.
And that's my "Christmas tape." Year after year, I would start to worry that the tape might break, snap in two when I'm rewinding, or just become so fuzzy it became unwatchable. Well, this year we got in preservation mode and my dad lovingly put them all on DVDs for me. I can't explain how excited this makes me. No more worries [for now, haha]! Oh and the other best part about this tape/now-DVD: it still has all the old commercials in it. And those are a riot in themselves.
Anyone else have a movie or two they have to watch every year? Thanks for readin'!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
First Android experience: D+
I'd been up for an upgrade to my phone since August, and my husband had been for quite some time. Still rockin' a Palm phone, he really needed the upgrade more than myself. We decided we were ready to delve into the smartphone universe, and finally made that jump in the middle of October.
Then the obvious question: which phone to buy? I wanted to wait to see what kind of new iPhone Apple released, and if I maybe wanted to get that or the iPhone 4 for cheaper. Not all too impressed by the 4S, I didn't feel it was worth $200, and the more I looked into the specs, I didn't feel the now-outdated 4 was even worth the reduced price of $100. So, I went with the HTC Inspire.
The Inspire turned out to be nothing by trouble for me. My Facebook app crashed every frickin' time I tried to post a status update. I had to uninstall the updated app and run the old one in order to ever post anything. I'm not a Facebook addict, but come on. That's pretty ridiculous. Then, other things started to never work on the phone. I finally had it when, in trying to open a game, the phone did nothing buy black out. The screen went black and I couldn't do anything. I tried tapping the home button, which lit up, meaning the phone was still on, but nothing would respond. I couldn't hold in the power button to turn it off either. I finally had to take OUT the battery to shut the damn thing off. I was done. I had only had the thing for a week and had this many problems. I wanted Jarrod's phone, the Infuse. He had not experienced any problems, and I was still in the one-month span of time you can trade your phone no questions asked. I will never buy an HTC again. It was an awful experience and not to mention, the thing was a brick. I know 5-6 ounces doesn't sound like much (the Infuse is, like 3 oz.), but my arm would actually be tired from holding the phone up to my ear. Their phones are all really heavy for some reason.
So I traded in and got the Infuse to much excitement. Things seemed to work better, the screen was much sharper, all was well. I was delusional... The only noticeable 'flaw' was that wifi signals were weaker, which Jarrod did warn me about. Other than that, seemed fine. Until... I went to the Facebook app. Same problem. I am currently running the old version, because once again it crashes every time I want to post something! Furthermore, turns out the Infuse is still running Froyo, with no upgrade in sight (for you non-tech'ers out there: this is kind of ridiculous.) Despite it's flaws, the HTC was at least on Gingerbread. I've toyed with the idea of rooting my phone, but never actually have gone through with it.
Anyways, so Facebook still crashes, and in less than a month's time I have also had another wealth of problems:
- I can't send picture messages--this only works about 50% of the time.
- I can't download picture messages--the message says it's "downloading" but never ever finishes downloading and I never see the photo.
- I can't watch any YouTube videos. My video player NEVER works, in either the YouTube app or the web browser.
- My internal video player never works, so videos I myself record on the phone never play. The only time it will work is if I restart my phone. But the fact that I have to do that is stupid, and then it never fails that it just goes back to not working soon after.
- Just in last week: my phone's video recorder does not work either. I tried to take a video at a store, and it would not work. I had to resort to a boring photo instead.
- Half of my games never load properly, so I never get to play those.
Since I've had both the Apple experience and now the Android experience, I now understand why Apple costs more. iOS is more refined, and if you want that, then that's why you pay extra; makes sense, that's how all of Apple's products are. Granted, a lot of the little buggy things that tick me off about Android (like how your text box where you're typing does not expand, so if you have more than two lines of type, you can't see the rest of it and have no way of seeing it unless you want to tap and tap away trying to get the cursor up there) have probably been fixed with the newer OS versions.
But still. For my first Android experience, I can't say I'm impressed. I guess I just have terrible luck with phones, too. Yes, I do plan to go by the store sometime soon and tell them all of these issues I'm having with my phone. I've done nothing wrong, so hopefully they can help me out.
Next time, I think I'm just buying an iPhone.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Muppets
We saw The Muppets last night, and we saw the late show. I only mention this because that dictates the type of audience you get, meaning no kids, a handful of adults, and some teens.
I'll start by saying I really liked the movie. If I could do half-stars, I think I'd give it a 4.5 out of 5. I'm a huge Muppet fan; love the sense of humor, but mostly love it for its pure creativity, and I truly enjoy those little characters as if they were real, which is how it's supposed to be. I've been known to cry a few times listening to Kermit sing "It's Not Easy Being Green." And I gotta say when they were panning through Kermit's old office last night, looking at all the banjos on the wall, the pictures with multiple guests on The Muppet Show, and numerous other iconic props, I teared up.
We saw the movie with my cousin and his fiancé, who are also fans. The rest of the people in the theatre, hard to tell. We were definitely the 'most-laughing' group in there. And as I mentioned there were teens there too, who, as teens usually are these days, were completely disrespectful of everyone else there and annoying. They made fun of the movie the entire time. Why in the world would you go see something you have no intention of liking? And when they weren't doing that, they were talking, for the whole theater to hear. I seriously contemplated being that chick who walks out, asks management to ask them to leave, and hope they can't subconsciously pick out my car in the parking lot. It was beyond annoying. So this leads me to my [now obvious] realization: if you are under the age of, let's say, 20, you should not see this movie. Exceptions to this rule are if you are indeed a Muppet fan, like British and dry humor, or are involved in the arts somehow.
So moving on from that. The movie was great. They took an angle to the story similar to Toy Story 3. In Toy Story 3, the 'old toys' are dealing with the fact that Andy got older and doesn't play with them any more, and they've been kind of forgotten about. It had been ten years, I believe, since the previous Toy Story 2, so that is exactly what they acknowledged with the story: Hey, it's been ten years, so let's do that and ask what has changed in the last ten years? The Muppets is a similar thing. The story is set up around the fact that it's been years since their last gig, and they've been forgotten about and replaced by other things. So they try to round up the gang, and you get to see what each Muppet found a separate career in once "the old gang" fell apart. The story itself felt natural and geniune, as did Toy Story, because it is fans like myself revisiting things we loved in our childhood that have since gone by the wayside.
I don't think it was quite the epic, comic genius of Jim Henson 30 years ago, but it was as good as it will ever get for modern times. Yeah, some of the voices were a little off, but the differences were forgivable. The jokes were very well done though, and they referenced themselves often just like they used to; referring to the camera being there, Statler and Waldorf asked a question and were like "Did we just reveal a key to the plot?" "Well I hope so, otherwise I just wasted the audience's time!" "Doh-oh-oh-oh!", etc.
There were a few more songs than normal, though. Even though I'm a fan of musicals, some of them just felt unnatural. When Amy Adams sang a song solo at a diner, it just felt kind of off. That song was not needed. But! Many of the other songs were hilarious and the lyrics would take you where you didn't think they would go, one of my favorites being the "Am I a Muppet? Or am I a Man?" or whatever it's true title is.
I had heard from a movie critic that Jason Segel, who helped write, and the director, James Bobin, approached this movie very carefully. They didn't want to blow it out of the water or make it so over the top, as many movies are these days (kids ones especially.) They really wanted to make it like the Muppets they remembered as a kid. I appreciate that, and it definitely came through. They did NOT try to outdo the movies of old, just be on par with them. All in all, it was a lot of fun and if you laughed at the Muppets back then, you should give it a shot.
I'll start by saying I really liked the movie. If I could do half-stars, I think I'd give it a 4.5 out of 5. I'm a huge Muppet fan; love the sense of humor, but mostly love it for its pure creativity, and I truly enjoy those little characters as if they were real, which is how it's supposed to be. I've been known to cry a few times listening to Kermit sing "It's Not Easy Being Green." And I gotta say when they were panning through Kermit's old office last night, looking at all the banjos on the wall, the pictures with multiple guests on The Muppet Show, and numerous other iconic props, I teared up.
We saw the movie with my cousin and his fiancé, who are also fans. The rest of the people in the theatre, hard to tell. We were definitely the 'most-laughing' group in there. And as I mentioned there were teens there too, who, as teens usually are these days, were completely disrespectful of everyone else there and annoying. They made fun of the movie the entire time. Why in the world would you go see something you have no intention of liking? And when they weren't doing that, they were talking, for the whole theater to hear. I seriously contemplated being that chick who walks out, asks management to ask them to leave, and hope they can't subconsciously pick out my car in the parking lot. It was beyond annoying. So this leads me to my [now obvious] realization: if you are under the age of, let's say, 20, you should not see this movie. Exceptions to this rule are if you are indeed a Muppet fan, like British and dry humor, or are involved in the arts somehow.
So moving on from that. The movie was great. They took an angle to the story similar to Toy Story 3. In Toy Story 3, the 'old toys' are dealing with the fact that Andy got older and doesn't play with them any more, and they've been kind of forgotten about. It had been ten years, I believe, since the previous Toy Story 2, so that is exactly what they acknowledged with the story: Hey, it's been ten years, so let's do that and ask what has changed in the last ten years? The Muppets is a similar thing. The story is set up around the fact that it's been years since their last gig, and they've been forgotten about and replaced by other things. So they try to round up the gang, and you get to see what each Muppet found a separate career in once "the old gang" fell apart. The story itself felt natural and geniune, as did Toy Story, because it is fans like myself revisiting things we loved in our childhood that have since gone by the wayside.
I don't think it was quite the epic, comic genius of Jim Henson 30 years ago, but it was as good as it will ever get for modern times. Yeah, some of the voices were a little off, but the differences were forgivable. The jokes were very well done though, and they referenced themselves often just like they used to; referring to the camera being there, Statler and Waldorf asked a question and were like "Did we just reveal a key to the plot?" "Well I hope so, otherwise I just wasted the audience's time!" "Doh-oh-oh-oh!", etc.
There were a few more songs than normal, though. Even though I'm a fan of musicals, some of them just felt unnatural. When Amy Adams sang a song solo at a diner, it just felt kind of off. That song was not needed. But! Many of the other songs were hilarious and the lyrics would take you where you didn't think they would go, one of my favorites being the "Am I a Muppet? Or am I a Man?" or whatever it's true title is.
I had heard from a movie critic that Jason Segel, who helped write, and the director, James Bobin, approached this movie very carefully. They didn't want to blow it out of the water or make it so over the top, as many movies are these days (kids ones especially.) They really wanted to make it like the Muppets they remembered as a kid. I appreciate that, and it definitely came through. They did NOT try to outdo the movies of old, just be on par with them. All in all, it was a lot of fun and if you laughed at the Muppets back then, you should give it a shot.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Black Friday, day of the apocalypse
I'm not a doomsday believer; I don't really think the end of the world is right around the corner. I will, however, acknowledge there seem to be more strange occurrences in the world; more earthquakes, crazy weather patterns, and the like. These slightly tie in with what is written in Revelations, but then again it could just be the fact that we have more access to wordly news than ever before.
However, as I was watching a video last night of some Black Friday shoppers ripping through a Walmart display to get some sort of ten-dollar game/movie "while supplies last" (extra literally) I had this thought...
How "appropriate", per se, would it be that some Black Friday in future would be the day Jesus would come back to earth. I mean, how (almost) funny would that be?
We don't really have a huge understanding of God, and mine is certainly nothing to write home about, but I just imagine God observing the Black Friday catastrophes and saying to himself "This isn't what it should be like."
And on a side note, is it just me or did Black Friday get WAY out of hand this year? Stores pushing up their opening-times even more than before, just to get that extra dollar. This year aside, when did Black Friday become what it is today? Either I wasn't paying attention, or my memory is correct, but I don't remember it being this nuts when I was younger. We've all heard the stories of people being trampled to death just to buy a TV for 75% off, and this year alone some of my favorites were: person gets shot outside Walmart in attempted robbery to take his Black Friday purchases (sadly, the shopper was shot, not the robber), people ripping apart the Walmart display, the woman who sprayed pepper spray at fellow shoppers so she could get the deal first, or when gunfire erupted outside of a store in North Carolina. I don't think anyone was hurt there, but someone fired shots in the sky to distract people.
But back to my God assumption. With all kinds of things like that happening across the country, I just don't see God saying "Good job, people. Buy those TVs!" I mean, it's not technically the Christmas season, but for most people this day is the big day of Christmas shopping. Yet, despite all the Christmas-y feelings in the air, Black Friday brings out the worst in people, not the best. Once in a while you will find a diamond in the rough—a person who is not just thinking about themselves, but about their fellow shoppers too. But, like I said: rare. Extremely rare.
This morning our first reading was again the reminder that you do not know the time, nor the place when the Lord will appear, and you should be on watch at all times for that day. Yes, our God is a loving and forgiving God, but to me it would seem so appropriate for him to return the day after Thanksgiving while many are caught up being selfish, being the first to buy their big TV.
However, as I was watching a video last night of some Black Friday shoppers ripping through a Walmart display to get some sort of ten-dollar game/movie "while supplies last" (extra literally) I had this thought...
How "appropriate", per se, would it be that some Black Friday in future would be the day Jesus would come back to earth. I mean, how (almost) funny would that be?
We don't really have a huge understanding of God, and mine is certainly nothing to write home about, but I just imagine God observing the Black Friday catastrophes and saying to himself "This isn't what it should be like."
And on a side note, is it just me or did Black Friday get WAY out of hand this year? Stores pushing up their opening-times even more than before, just to get that extra dollar. This year aside, when did Black Friday become what it is today? Either I wasn't paying attention, or my memory is correct, but I don't remember it being this nuts when I was younger. We've all heard the stories of people being trampled to death just to buy a TV for 75% off, and this year alone some of my favorites were: person gets shot outside Walmart in attempted robbery to take his Black Friday purchases (sadly, the shopper was shot, not the robber), people ripping apart the Walmart display, the woman who sprayed pepper spray at fellow shoppers so she could get the deal first, or when gunfire erupted outside of a store in North Carolina. I don't think anyone was hurt there, but someone fired shots in the sky to distract people.
But back to my God assumption. With all kinds of things like that happening across the country, I just don't see God saying "Good job, people. Buy those TVs!" I mean, it's not technically the Christmas season, but for most people this day is the big day of Christmas shopping. Yet, despite all the Christmas-y feelings in the air, Black Friday brings out the worst in people, not the best. Once in a while you will find a diamond in the rough—a person who is not just thinking about themselves, but about their fellow shoppers too. But, like I said: rare. Extremely rare.
This morning our first reading was again the reminder that you do not know the time, nor the place when the Lord will appear, and you should be on watch at all times for that day. Yes, our God is a loving and forgiving God, but to me it would seem so appropriate for him to return the day after Thanksgiving while many are caught up being selfish, being the first to buy their big TV.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Post of thanks
As cliche as they are, I think I'll do a Thanksgiving-inspired post. Reflection is nice, anyways. And just to get them out of the way, yes I am thankful for family and friends, but I'm not going to expound on those much.
I'm thankful for my house. Jarrod and I were able to purchase our first house this year. Yeah, it's kinda small at 1200 square feet, and yeah, it's not the closest thing to where I work, but it's home. But that's why it's called a "starter home."
I'm also thankful for Jarrod. In a moment of enormous frustration the other morning, he calmed me down, and was so understanding even though I had just had a meltdown. Stuff like that is why I married him, not to mention his complete acceptance and understanding of what I have.
I'm thankful for my parents, and that I can depend on them and talk with them like I always have. Even if I don't live there anymore.
I'd also like to interject that I'm thankful for this snowman mug of coffee on my desk right now. And that I have the chance to brew a strong cuppa, just the way I like it. And snowmen are cute.
I'm also quite thankful for my job. At this time last year, I was in the wake of being laid off at the end of October, desperately looking for some sort of work. With a stroke of luck, my parents decided to eat at Joe's last Black Friday, and ran into a local business owner, who informed them they were swamped and needed someone to help out around the office. And that she'd love to have me there. I 'interviewed' (let's be honest, she was already planning on hiring me) and got a job.
Then come February, they had a couple changes and my hours were getting cut. Crazy of all crazies, at that same time the Missourian called me up about a job they really didn't advertise for. In the previous November, I had applied there, and they still had my resume from that and wanted to talk to me about working part-time. I worked both jobs for a period of time, then my other one ended, and I became full-time at the paper.
So in less than a year (from today, at least) I've gone from unemployed, to full-time, to part-time, to two jobs, to one full-time job, to becoming officially permanent, to also getting a promotion and a new position. Wow, what a roller coaster I guess. It's obvious why I am so thankful for this one. I'm in a great spot career-wise in that I get to do a mesh of things I like. And as we all know, doing what you love is the biggest battle in the working world.
Moving on, I'm thankful for Twitter. Seriously. Never in my life have I been able to consume the kind of design-driven, awesome, creative content that fuels my brain with this much ease. I love checking Twitter daily and what my next awesome find will be.
And I feel like I should be thankful for my health, but honestly that's been kinda hard lately. My health and me have issues. And I just got done with a big ole tune-up, my lungs were so happy, and less than a week after finishing that up, I guess I caught something. My lungs were no longer happy, actually they were quite pissed off, and so was I. I mean, come on God! One week? I got to enjoy ONE WEEK of good health? Anyways, I'm back on some antibiotics to fight this off and it's been difficult. But, like I said, I feel like I should be thankful for what I do have. I'm not on oxygen, so there's that. And I didn't have to go right back to the hospital. And, I can still get around semi-okay and take care of myself, so that's worth being thankful for too, right?
Anyways, it's been a great year, possibly one of the best I'll have in my life I'm going to guess. Certainly eventful. Much to be thankful for. (How did this turn into a New Years-esque reflection? lol)
Saturday, November 5, 2011
The movies
Last night, I realize now, was an almost-duplicate of how we spent our Valentine's Day earlier this year. On that Valentine's day, we went to the Olive Garden here in Wentzville, dealt with a huge wait, and also saw Gnomeo and Juliet. Well, last night we ate at Olive Garden, and then decided to stream Gnomeo and Juliet on Netflix. Wow... that's kind of odd. (By the way, that movie is super fun; filled with tons of Elton John music, some good humor, and cute gnomes. For a kids movie, it's pretty good for adults too.)
Anyways, what I'm getting to is today, when I logged onto my Netflix, I noticed the website had changed. I shouldn't be surprised by this, but I was. Anyways, this happened because I switched my plan to an instant-only plan, because last month we had the same DVD here for an entire month. I have done the plan switch many times throughout my Netflix life, and pretty much suspended my entire account for four months while I was planning a wedding. But I've never gone to JUST streaming. Well, lo and behold, my DVD queue is GONE. Completely. I had way too many movies in that thing; over 100, for sure. But hey! Thank god, for some reason a while back, I decided to post it on here! So yay, when my DVD's resume, I have something to reference. I can't tell you how happy that makes me, because trying to rediscover that many movies or kind of remember what was in it would have been overwhelming, to say the least.
With movies, I have also decided that for a 'winter project' Jarrod and I will start watching a bunch of 80s and 90s movies that I have not seen. I won't go into the whole list, though; it's kind of embarrassing, haha. When Marie comes home for Christmas, too, she might be able to help me out in this department. Her and her sisters owned many of these cult classics, so there is another resource besides Netflix. Looks like I'll have to reactivate my DVD plan, and add even more movies to the queue.
Anyways, what I'm getting to is today, when I logged onto my Netflix, I noticed the website had changed. I shouldn't be surprised by this, but I was. Anyways, this happened because I switched my plan to an instant-only plan, because last month we had the same DVD here for an entire month. I have done the plan switch many times throughout my Netflix life, and pretty much suspended my entire account for four months while I was planning a wedding. But I've never gone to JUST streaming. Well, lo and behold, my DVD queue is GONE. Completely. I had way too many movies in that thing; over 100, for sure. But hey! Thank god, for some reason a while back, I decided to post it on here! So yay, when my DVD's resume, I have something to reference. I can't tell you how happy that makes me, because trying to rediscover that many movies or kind of remember what was in it would have been overwhelming, to say the least.
With movies, I have also decided that for a 'winter project' Jarrod and I will start watching a bunch of 80s and 90s movies that I have not seen. I won't go into the whole list, though; it's kind of embarrassing, haha. When Marie comes home for Christmas, too, she might be able to help me out in this department. Her and her sisters owned many of these cult classics, so there is another resource besides Netflix. Looks like I'll have to reactivate my DVD plan, and add even more movies to the queue.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Reminiscing about fun, happy meals
I had a random thought driving in to work this morning. That thought led into another one, and they were both about McDonald's.
Does anyone know if you can still trick or treat at McDonald's? As I recall, unless I'm completely making this up, I used to stop by McDonald's on Halloween night. If you did that, you would get a bag of cookies. My favorite have always been the McDonaldland cookies, and let me tell ya, this was always one of the best treats I got on Halloween. (By the way, if you order a Happy Meal for your self [which I sometimes do, it's the perfect amount of food where you don't feel blah] you can usually ask to exchange the toy for a bag of cookies.)
So then that thought led to the next: I wonder if you can still take your report card to McDonald's and get free burgers? Does anyone know if you can? It was kind of an un-advertised thing, but you could take it there and get free hamburgers for every A you had. Limit of 6. The person who waited on you would initial your report card so you couldn't cheat and bring it back, and it was great! We usually got our burgers and then went over to my grandparents' house where we would share them with them. And I would usually find a piece of cheese in their fridge to add on. For a short period of time, Taco Bell jumped in on this too and gave you free tacos, but I think that was limited to only 3 or 4.
Ah those were the days. As much as everyone wants to dis McDonald's for their unhealthy food, I think most everyone has fond memories of being a kid and going to a place like that and getting fast food. A friend of mine (she's in her 70s) has told a story where Friday was McDonald's night, and they would pile their 10 kids in the station wagon and treat the kids. My mom still occasionally will talk about going to the A&W that used to be in town, and getting the little 10-cent root beers. I remember, in my hometown location, how the play area used to be in the back of the store. And friends had birthday parties there, and there was only one slide. That slide is still there to this day, though it got moved to a larger play area. Back in the day when fast food and easy-frozen cooking wasn't rampant, it was a real treat to go there. Heck, I still think it's a treat for myself to this day. On my last day of college, the day I moved out, I had everything packed up and ready to go and I decided to REALLY treat myself and get breakfast at McD's.
I think these reasons are why it really bums me out when I hear about legislation to ban Happy Meal toys because it's supposedly promoting 'unhealthy eating.' Yeah right. Let kids be kids. A toy is a toy, and McDonald's food is perfectly fine in moderation, as it's supposed to be. No one is 'supposed' to eat there as often as some do, so don't punish a bunch of kids because of your lack of a desire to make a home-cooked meal.
Does anyone know if you can still trick or treat at McDonald's? As I recall, unless I'm completely making this up, I used to stop by McDonald's on Halloween night. If you did that, you would get a bag of cookies. My favorite have always been the McDonaldland cookies, and let me tell ya, this was always one of the best treats I got on Halloween. (By the way, if you order a Happy Meal for your self [which I sometimes do, it's the perfect amount of food where you don't feel blah] you can usually ask to exchange the toy for a bag of cookies.)
So then that thought led to the next: I wonder if you can still take your report card to McDonald's and get free burgers? Does anyone know if you can? It was kind of an un-advertised thing, but you could take it there and get free hamburgers for every A you had. Limit of 6. The person who waited on you would initial your report card so you couldn't cheat and bring it back, and it was great! We usually got our burgers and then went over to my grandparents' house where we would share them with them. And I would usually find a piece of cheese in their fridge to add on. For a short period of time, Taco Bell jumped in on this too and gave you free tacos, but I think that was limited to only 3 or 4.
Ah those were the days. As much as everyone wants to dis McDonald's for their unhealthy food, I think most everyone has fond memories of being a kid and going to a place like that and getting fast food. A friend of mine (she's in her 70s) has told a story where Friday was McDonald's night, and they would pile their 10 kids in the station wagon and treat the kids. My mom still occasionally will talk about going to the A&W that used to be in town, and getting the little 10-cent root beers. I remember, in my hometown location, how the play area used to be in the back of the store. And friends had birthday parties there, and there was only one slide. That slide is still there to this day, though it got moved to a larger play area. Back in the day when fast food and easy-frozen cooking wasn't rampant, it was a real treat to go there. Heck, I still think it's a treat for myself to this day. On my last day of college, the day I moved out, I had everything packed up and ready to go and I decided to REALLY treat myself and get breakfast at McD's.
I think these reasons are why it really bums me out when I hear about legislation to ban Happy Meal toys because it's supposedly promoting 'unhealthy eating.' Yeah right. Let kids be kids. A toy is a toy, and McDonald's food is perfectly fine in moderation, as it's supposed to be. No one is 'supposed' to eat there as often as some do, so don't punish a bunch of kids because of your lack of a desire to make a home-cooked meal.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Home sick
I am at home sick today. I'm not exactly sure what is going on. It started yesterday. When I went to bed around 1am, I didn't fall asleep but started coughing. Well, that continued all night long. I don't know how many times I woke up, but it was more than I was sleeping. And it went on after I got up too. So, I was pretty much coughing almost nonstop for over 12 hours. I finally calmed down enough to take a nap at 3:30 p.m. yesterday. As the night went on, though, I felt worse and worse in other ways. My head started to stuff up, my throat hurt, my nose was draining, and my eyes were watery. Not to mention my lungs felt like someone had rubbed them raw with sandpaper, they were so sore and inflamed from all the coughing.
Jarrod was awesome and ran to Walmart last night at 9:30 to get me some cold medicine, soup, Puffs Soft & Strong tissues, and some crackers. :) I didn't sleep much better last night, and didn't feel much better this morning so I am home for today. I hope to take a nap after the Price Is Right.
We have construction going on outside on the road to our house, so I get to listen to that all day. Oh goody. But I've got a crock pot of vegetable soup going, so I'm hoping that tastes good tonight. Hopefully my nose will be a little less clogged by then.
Jarrod was awesome and ran to Walmart last night at 9:30 to get me some cold medicine, soup, Puffs Soft & Strong tissues, and some crackers. :) I didn't sleep much better last night, and didn't feel much better this morning so I am home for today. I hope to take a nap after the Price Is Right.
We have construction going on outside on the road to our house, so I get to listen to that all day. Oh goody. But I've got a crock pot of vegetable soup going, so I'm hoping that tastes good tonight. Hopefully my nose will be a little less clogged by then.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
What a day
Like everyone else today, I'm blogging about 9/11. Ten years ago when I heard the news I was a freshman at Borgia in Theology class. A kid named Tony showed up late for school (he was notorious for that) and mentioned that the WTC had been hit. I honestly had never heard of the World Trade Centers, so I didn't quit know exactly which building he meant. Since I didn't know, I thought it has something to do with Wall Street and was wondering what would happen to the stock markets if all
of those people died. My next class was my world history class with Tyree. I believe we had a quiz or some homework to hand in, but after we took care of that he told us "Well, I've decided that we are just
going to go to the cafeteria and watch the television. This is history and nothing I could teach you today is as important as what is going on right now." At some point, Rev Kev got on the PA system and
announced what was going on and said a prayer. I remember thinking to myself 'Wow, he is really good at coming up with prayers on the spot.' For some reason, hardly any (if any) TVs worked at that time in the classrooms, so we went to the cafeteria where another class was already. We watched the paranoia unfold and watched the towers fall. I remember that well because I remember the TV reporter cursing on air, and since everything was so frantic that day it didn't get bleeped; I doubt anyone cared that day.
I admit that at the time I didn't, and couldn't, fully comprehend the scale of this or how large its significance. And also, to be completely honest, I don't know that it phased me too much, but most
things don't anyways it's just how I am. I didn't fully understand or have some sort of emotional connection until about 3 years ago when I watched a video on YouTube. This particular one, though I couldn't find it back the other day, was shot from someone's apartment. There were two women in the background and, I presume, a child because they had a kids program on the TV. The kids songs playing in the background from the TV added a really strange feeling to everything, as you would guess. I just remember this lady's reaction when the second plane hit, and then I actually started to cry. She wasn't overly dramatic or anything, it was just pure, utter disbelief. But what really hit me was when she started to notice people jumping from the buildings and she said "Oh my God. There... there are people... and they're jumping?" Anyways, after watching that I thought to myself "Ok, I get it now." Watching a completely stripped down, bare bones version of the events unfold without any commentary or crazy newscasters really had an impact on me. I also remember when the towers fell and from her apartment, she had an interesting view. Since she was higher up, you could just see everything billowing between the buildings and I will never forget the way it looked. It looked like the hounds of hell coming to get you, with hands of clouds of smoke and dust just grabbing away; it was so, so strange looking.
The other night I sought out this video again, but never found it. I did, however, find someone's seven-part video montage of the events, and I watched those. The person did a good job with the various
footage they had. Again, it was so interesting and just moving to watch it. The most striking was the fifth one, I believe, in which the first tower fell. Hearing the screams and panic was just... unbelievable. So if you are curious and want to see more of a first-person account of the attacks, then I would recommend with caution. It's not easy to watch, but it's definitely moving.
of those people died. My next class was my world history class with Tyree. I believe we had a quiz or some homework to hand in, but after we took care of that he told us "Well, I've decided that we are just
going to go to the cafeteria and watch the television. This is history and nothing I could teach you today is as important as what is going on right now." At some point, Rev Kev got on the PA system and
announced what was going on and said a prayer. I remember thinking to myself 'Wow, he is really good at coming up with prayers on the spot.' For some reason, hardly any (if any) TVs worked at that time in the classrooms, so we went to the cafeteria where another class was already. We watched the paranoia unfold and watched the towers fall. I remember that well because I remember the TV reporter cursing on air, and since everything was so frantic that day it didn't get bleeped; I doubt anyone cared that day.
I admit that at the time I didn't, and couldn't, fully comprehend the scale of this or how large its significance. And also, to be completely honest, I don't know that it phased me too much, but most
things don't anyways it's just how I am. I didn't fully understand or have some sort of emotional connection until about 3 years ago when I watched a video on YouTube. This particular one, though I couldn't find it back the other day, was shot from someone's apartment. There were two women in the background and, I presume, a child because they had a kids program on the TV. The kids songs playing in the background from the TV added a really strange feeling to everything, as you would guess. I just remember this lady's reaction when the second plane hit, and then I actually started to cry. She wasn't overly dramatic or anything, it was just pure, utter disbelief. But what really hit me was when she started to notice people jumping from the buildings and she said "Oh my God. There... there are people... and they're jumping?" Anyways, after watching that I thought to myself "Ok, I get it now." Watching a completely stripped down, bare bones version of the events unfold without any commentary or crazy newscasters really had an impact on me. I also remember when the towers fell and from her apartment, she had an interesting view. Since she was higher up, you could just see everything billowing between the buildings and I will never forget the way it looked. It looked like the hounds of hell coming to get you, with hands of clouds of smoke and dust just grabbing away; it was so, so strange looking.
The other night I sought out this video again, but never found it. I did, however, find someone's seven-part video montage of the events, and I watched those. The person did a good job with the various
footage they had. Again, it was so interesting and just moving to watch it. The most striking was the fifth one, I believe, in which the first tower fell. Hearing the screams and panic was just... unbelievable. So if you are curious and want to see more of a first-person account of the attacks, then I would recommend with caution. It's not easy to watch, but it's definitely moving.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Going from mega-fan to ticked off user
(I'm up coughing... so what do I do? Blog! Haha.)
Apple is bothering me these days. What was once a wonderful producer of a wonderful alternative to a Windows computer has become a cocky industry leader forcing its users to go places they don't want to.
Personally, I do not necessarily agree with the path that Apple is planning to take me down.
I read a great editorial on Engadget saying how Apple is done with the optical drive. Yes, it was an opinion piece, but his argument was laid out well and it all just made sense. The evidence here is in two recent releases from Apple, they have gotten rid of the CD drives in their machines. With the laptops, you now have options of a MacBook Air, which I personally find pointless, or the MacBook Pro, which is overkill for most people. The Air has no CD drive, and never has, so no surprise there. But the thing is that they dropped their lesser laptop so you now only have those two options. Previously, you had the option of the MacBook. Now that no longer exists. But the one that confuses me most is the new Mac Mini's do not have CD drives. How do you get any programs on your computer you ask? Well, in Apple's world, you would buy them from the shiny App Store and simply download them. Or, you could download them somewhere else, put them on a flash drive, and get them on your machine that way, or you could buy a separate CD drive to hook up to your Mini externally. And what if someone wanted to burn a CD or a DVD? I still like to make CD mixes for my car, or iMovie projects. I guess they assume I'll just use my iPod and that I hate home movies and will watch them... on my Mac. Pretty ridiculous, isn't it? So there's that.
I am also very bothered by this because this can only mean one thing in the long-term: to the cloud. By slowly removing our abilities to use computers like we always have, they are channeling us and preparing us for these new methods. Apple made a huge push with iCloud when it talked about it at WWDC. In theory, it sounds great. [Send your files somewhere in North Carolina and have them automatically push back to ALL of your devices... what could possibly go wrong? Oh, and don't worry, no one's going to pay attention to the files you send us, either. Yeah, right.] But I am just not a cloud person; I don't like the idea, I don't want to partake in it, and dammit I don't want Apple to force me into it.
But mostly I'm upset over Lion, their new operating system. At first, Lion sounded awesome, I admit. It is very 'flashy' in its capabilities. But now, I don't really want anything to do with it.
For one, I feel that Lion is directed at laptops and laptops only. With so many functions that rely on multi-touch, (translation: using a touchpad) they would not work much for me. Plus, I don't know that I really care; I'm not sure that it matters to me if I can swipe a program off and on my screen.
But my biggest gripe, and it's a really big one, is the hoops they make you jump through to upgrade to it. My dad has a laptop, I can't remember how old, but it was some of the best specs at the time as far as what Apple offered in MacBook Pros, and he can't upgrade to Lion because his hardware is not good enough. You need so much RAM to run the darn program, and he physically can't upgrade. So he's just stuck with Snow Leopard until the machine dies.
Me, on the other hand, I have the RAM, but I don't have Snow Leopard. In poking around Apple's store, I just found this lovely little piece of information:
The fact that they made their new OS solely dependent with the most recent OS is f'ing outrageous. And the second fact that they expect me to buy Snow Leopard for $29.99 and then buy Lion for another $29.99 is an f'ing joke. This is pretty much the nail in the coffin for me NOT buying Lion. I don't want it now. I think I'll upgrade to Snow Leopard, because there are a few things I'd like to do with that, but then I'm done on this computer. I also found out by chance in a CF blog I was reading that Lion is not compatible with 2004 Microsoft Office. Awesome. And to fix THAT problem, the latest version of Office is $150.
Total cost to make Jamie's computer run Lion and act like it always has: $210.
No thank you.
Jarrod is getting pretty pissed off at Apple, possibly more than I am, for many of the same reasons. He is really into learning Linux more and maybe we'll become a Linux household, who knows. The thing is, though, that my career depends on Apple computers, so I will always be using one whether I like it or not; the Adobe Suite simply does not work nearly as good on a PC as it does on a Mac.
I have a feeling we're not alone in our unsettled issues with the giant Apple, either. Even in Popular Mechanics' piece comparing tablets, in the "Who Is It For" description, under the iPad they said 'Anyone who doesn't hold a grudge against Apple' and for the Samsung Galaxy it said 'Anyone who wants to break free from Apple's walled garden.' It made me laugh, but it also verified how I'm feeling. So I'll wait and see where Apple tries to push me next, but I'm no longer just a blind sheep following along.
Apple is bothering me these days. What was once a wonderful producer of a wonderful alternative to a Windows computer has become a cocky industry leader forcing its users to go places they don't want to.
Personally, I do not necessarily agree with the path that Apple is planning to take me down.
I read a great editorial on Engadget saying how Apple is done with the optical drive. Yes, it was an opinion piece, but his argument was laid out well and it all just made sense. The evidence here is in two recent releases from Apple, they have gotten rid of the CD drives in their machines. With the laptops, you now have options of a MacBook Air, which I personally find pointless, or the MacBook Pro, which is overkill for most people. The Air has no CD drive, and never has, so no surprise there. But the thing is that they dropped their lesser laptop so you now only have those two options. Previously, you had the option of the MacBook. Now that no longer exists. But the one that confuses me most is the new Mac Mini's do not have CD drives. How do you get any programs on your computer you ask? Well, in Apple's world, you would buy them from the shiny App Store and simply download them. Or, you could download them somewhere else, put them on a flash drive, and get them on your machine that way, or you could buy a separate CD drive to hook up to your Mini externally. And what if someone wanted to burn a CD or a DVD? I still like to make CD mixes for my car, or iMovie projects. I guess they assume I'll just use my iPod and that I hate home movies and will watch them... on my Mac. Pretty ridiculous, isn't it? So there's that.
I am also very bothered by this because this can only mean one thing in the long-term: to the cloud. By slowly removing our abilities to use computers like we always have, they are channeling us and preparing us for these new methods. Apple made a huge push with iCloud when it talked about it at WWDC. In theory, it sounds great. [Send your files somewhere in North Carolina and have them automatically push back to ALL of your devices... what could possibly go wrong? Oh, and don't worry, no one's going to pay attention to the files you send us, either. Yeah, right.] But I am just not a cloud person; I don't like the idea, I don't want to partake in it, and dammit I don't want Apple to force me into it.
But mostly I'm upset over Lion, their new operating system. At first, Lion sounded awesome, I admit. It is very 'flashy' in its capabilities. But now, I don't really want anything to do with it.
For one, I feel that Lion is directed at laptops and laptops only. With so many functions that rely on multi-touch, (translation: using a touchpad) they would not work much for me. Plus, I don't know that I really care; I'm not sure that it matters to me if I can swipe a program off and on my screen.
But my biggest gripe, and it's a really big one, is the hoops they make you jump through to upgrade to it. My dad has a laptop, I can't remember how old, but it was some of the best specs at the time as far as what Apple offered in MacBook Pros, and he can't upgrade to Lion because his hardware is not good enough. You need so much RAM to run the darn program, and he physically can't upgrade. So he's just stuck with Snow Leopard until the machine dies.
Me, on the other hand, I have the RAM, but I don't have Snow Leopard. In poking around Apple's store, I just found this lovely little piece of information:
Total cost to make Jamie's computer run Lion and act like it always has: $210.
No thank you.
Jarrod is getting pretty pissed off at Apple, possibly more than I am, for many of the same reasons. He is really into learning Linux more and maybe we'll become a Linux household, who knows. The thing is, though, that my career depends on Apple computers, so I will always be using one whether I like it or not; the Adobe Suite simply does not work nearly as good on a PC as it does on a Mac.
I have a feeling we're not alone in our unsettled issues with the giant Apple, either. Even in Popular Mechanics' piece comparing tablets, in the "Who Is It For" description, under the iPad they said 'Anyone who doesn't hold a grudge against Apple' and for the Samsung Galaxy it said 'Anyone who wants to break free from Apple's walled garden.' It made me laugh, but it also verified how I'm feeling. So I'll wait and see where Apple tries to push me next, but I'm no longer just a blind sheep following along.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
My day
I am on a great emotional high at the moment.
I just made a grrrrreat supper. I mean, we actually had a MEAL. I fixed chicken patties for sandwiches, white rice, and fresh corn on the cob. It was my first time cooking fresh veggies (I know, I know, it's just boiling water and salt mostly, but still) and the corn happened to be a delicious bunch, too. So that was all really good. Oh! And, not only did I do this, but my timing was perfect. All three things were done within 2 minutes of each other. And to top that, I just lined up three, count them THREE, lunches for myself this week. I boiled some noodles after supper so I could use up some spaghetti sauce I had in the fridge. I got two servings out of that, and in addition to that I have my leftovers from the Elephant Bar the other night.
Boo-yah!
All the dishes are clean, there are no dishes in our sink anymore, and we are ready to watch some Breaking Bad!
I just made a grrrrreat supper. I mean, we actually had a MEAL. I fixed chicken patties for sandwiches, white rice, and fresh corn on the cob. It was my first time cooking fresh veggies (I know, I know, it's just boiling water and salt mostly, but still) and the corn happened to be a delicious bunch, too. So that was all really good. Oh! And, not only did I do this, but my timing was perfect. All three things were done within 2 minutes of each other. And to top that, I just lined up three, count them THREE, lunches for myself this week. I boiled some noodles after supper so I could use up some spaghetti sauce I had in the fridge. I got two servings out of that, and in addition to that I have my leftovers from the Elephant Bar the other night.
Boo-yah!
All the dishes are clean, there are no dishes in our sink anymore, and we are ready to watch some Breaking Bad!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Texas
Wow, it has been a while since I've posted anything. I wonder if anyone ever checks this anymore, on the off chance I have? I've had a couple crazy things going on in my life lately. First of all is my crazy bite. It all started with a normal mosquito bite above my ankle, then three days later I couldn't walk, then we went to UrgentCare and the doctor gave me a med, then it got a little better, then it slowed down, then I went to my normal doctor and he informed me this is a staph infection, it's cellulitus. Awesome.
It's better, mostly gone away, but still lingering. Luckily, Monday I have a checkup with my docs at Barnes so if they feel that it needs a good kick in the butt to go away, we can talk about it then.
The other crazy thing is something I thought of today. In light of my appointment Monday, I once again realized, as I always do right before these things, that another three months has gone by and I have not
started exercising daily. How much longer am I going to put this off? I mean, yes we've been busy lately getting things figured out, but more than anything I think we just 'feel' busy because we're still falling into the routine of married life. Hey guess what, no one else is hear to do the dishes, or put them away, or cut the grass, or clean, or allllll of those other chores you don't think of much when you live at home once you're home from college. So I consider it more of an adjustment than the fact that we're necessarily "busy". Anyways, with the exercise it doesn't always work for me to work out outside. I am NOT going to get up at 4am in order to beat the heat, but some evenings are still too hot. Something interesting has happened as I've gotten older: my lungs have changed their temperature preferences.
When I was little, the winter bothered me. I dreaded walking much of anywhere because if it was cold, there was a good chance it would trigger a coughing fit. Now, it's the heat; getting into a hot car nearly suffocates me if it's over 100 outside. And strangely, I can handle the winter a lot better.
So working out at night isn't always great either. Thus, we need a gym membership. There's about one option, maybe two, for us here in town, and it's not very cost-effective to join different gyms close to where we work. I know we need to do this, but I just don't know when we'll think of it and actually do it. How long, now, have I been saying 'I need to just DO it.'? What in the world am I waiting for? The one day I wake up and I'm gasping for air? In thinking about that... no, not really. I know the benefits. I've felt them before. I can get around a lot easier, stay out longer, and just tolerate everything much better. Not to mention, if we ever want to try having kids, I need to start working for it now. If I've never mentioned anything about moms with CF, here's the answer: yes I can have kids, it's just difficult and obviously can have its risks. Ideally, I should be in tip top shape in order to carry full-term and not have a hospitalization during that period of time.
Exercise. What's stopping me? I have no answer for that, which feels much worse than having a valid excuse. Okay, for about a week there was no way I could exercise with my ankle/bite/staph, but I'm not
counting that. It was a week. Gosh I need to kick my butt into gear. Thanks for reading this extremely-stream-of-consciousness blog.
It's better, mostly gone away, but still lingering. Luckily, Monday I have a checkup with my docs at Barnes so if they feel that it needs a good kick in the butt to go away, we can talk about it then.
The other crazy thing is something I thought of today. In light of my appointment Monday, I once again realized, as I always do right before these things, that another three months has gone by and I have not
started exercising daily. How much longer am I going to put this off? I mean, yes we've been busy lately getting things figured out, but more than anything I think we just 'feel' busy because we're still falling into the routine of married life. Hey guess what, no one else is hear to do the dishes, or put them away, or cut the grass, or clean, or allllll of those other chores you don't think of much when you live at home once you're home from college. So I consider it more of an adjustment than the fact that we're necessarily "busy". Anyways, with the exercise it doesn't always work for me to work out outside. I am NOT going to get up at 4am in order to beat the heat, but some evenings are still too hot. Something interesting has happened as I've gotten older: my lungs have changed their temperature preferences.
When I was little, the winter bothered me. I dreaded walking much of anywhere because if it was cold, there was a good chance it would trigger a coughing fit. Now, it's the heat; getting into a hot car nearly suffocates me if it's over 100 outside. And strangely, I can handle the winter a lot better.
So working out at night isn't always great either. Thus, we need a gym membership. There's about one option, maybe two, for us here in town, and it's not very cost-effective to join different gyms close to where we work. I know we need to do this, but I just don't know when we'll think of it and actually do it. How long, now, have I been saying 'I need to just DO it.'? What in the world am I waiting for? The one day I wake up and I'm gasping for air? In thinking about that... no, not really. I know the benefits. I've felt them before. I can get around a lot easier, stay out longer, and just tolerate everything much better. Not to mention, if we ever want to try having kids, I need to start working for it now. If I've never mentioned anything about moms with CF, here's the answer: yes I can have kids, it's just difficult and obviously can have its risks. Ideally, I should be in tip top shape in order to carry full-term and not have a hospitalization during that period of time.
Exercise. What's stopping me? I have no answer for that, which feels much worse than having a valid excuse. Okay, for about a week there was no way I could exercise with my ankle/bite/staph, but I'm not
counting that. It was a week. Gosh I need to kick my butt into gear. Thanks for reading this extremely-stream-of-consciousness blog.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Well... what a 4th
First, I'd like to say that I'm not used to tons of fireworks going off in my neighborhood. In Washington, fireworks are illegal, but obviously not here in Wentzville. Our neighbors have been setting them off for quite a while now; big ones too. Anyways, I caught about five seconds of the city's fireworks from the front window. Woo hoo... five seconds, ha.
Anyways, it's been quite a fourth of July this year. I went to the Lake with Jarrod's family, as usual, on Friday. We went out on the boat a few times, took the wave runner out once, and I hopefully gained back a little weight throughout this weekend. And I didn't get sunburned! However... I did get something else, and at this point I think I would trade it for a sunburn.
I got bit by something. I think this something bit me Friday night. Saturday I started to notice a few mosquito bites on myself. I have a couple on my arms, a few on my legs, a few on some of my little toes (they always go after my toes. what the crap?) and one right above my ankle on my leg. And it hurt. Well, it ached Saturday, hurt a little more Sunday, and then overnight and this morning it hurt so bad I was unable to walk on it. I called the pulmonary doctor on call to see if this was some crazy side effect to a medicine I started. It wasn't, it was probably a bite. We came home early from the Lake today to go to UrgentCare, where the doctor said it looked like a bite that is infected, which is kind of what the pulmonologist suspected. I was prescribed an antibiotic to help take away the infection.
So, here I am getting ready for bed now. My foot hurts again... a lot. The pain subsided a little earlier this evening, but now it's back. And, moreover, the red spot on my leg has grown. I've been elevating my leg and applied a cold compress, but to no avail. I took my first dose of the antibiotic, but obviously that's not going to do much right now.
Like I said, I think I'd trade this for a sunburn. A sunburn sounds more appealing right now than a strange infection going on under your skin that hurts so bad you can't even walk... I'm not sure that I'm
going to make it to work tomorrow either. I was able to walk a little today, but tonight it's hurting again, and if I wake up like I feel right now, there is no way I'll be able to walk. I'm sure walking and
putting pressure and weight on it isn't helping either.
Anyways, it's been quite a fourth of July this year. I went to the Lake with Jarrod's family, as usual, on Friday. We went out on the boat a few times, took the wave runner out once, and I hopefully gained back a little weight throughout this weekend. And I didn't get sunburned! However... I did get something else, and at this point I think I would trade it for a sunburn.
I got bit by something. I think this something bit me Friday night. Saturday I started to notice a few mosquito bites on myself. I have a couple on my arms, a few on my legs, a few on some of my little toes (they always go after my toes. what the crap?) and one right above my ankle on my leg. And it hurt. Well, it ached Saturday, hurt a little more Sunday, and then overnight and this morning it hurt so bad I was unable to walk on it. I called the pulmonary doctor on call to see if this was some crazy side effect to a medicine I started. It wasn't, it was probably a bite. We came home early from the Lake today to go to UrgentCare, where the doctor said it looked like a bite that is infected, which is kind of what the pulmonologist suspected. I was prescribed an antibiotic to help take away the infection.
So, here I am getting ready for bed now. My foot hurts again... a lot. The pain subsided a little earlier this evening, but now it's back. And, moreover, the red spot on my leg has grown. I've been elevating my leg and applied a cold compress, but to no avail. I took my first dose of the antibiotic, but obviously that's not going to do much right now.
Like I said, I think I'd trade this for a sunburn. A sunburn sounds more appealing right now than a strange infection going on under your skin that hurts so bad you can't even walk... I'm not sure that I'm
going to make it to work tomorrow either. I was able to walk a little today, but tonight it's hurting again, and if I wake up like I feel right now, there is no way I'll be able to walk. I'm sure walking and
putting pressure and weight on it isn't helping either.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Wise old creatures?
As far back as I can remember, I have always liked turtles. I can't explain it. And if the Buddhists' version of creation is correct, I was probably a turtle in a previous life.
So since I love turtles so much, I love it when I see one, and I am on the lookout, perhaps a smidge more than your average person.
You've probably heard the old saying "When you see a turtle cross the road, that means it's going to rain." (And if you haven't heard, well let me introduce you to this.) I don't know about you, but more times than not, this turns out to be true! Strange coincidence, right? I'm not so sure that it is...
I've had this theory for a long time that I believe there may be some truth to this. I've tried to do a little research on google from time to time when I think of it, but with no results. Either I'm not typing in the right search criteria or no one has ever done a study on it. But my theory is that the reason you more than likely see a turtle is because they are on the move, trying to find safety, a better shelter, or... something. Turtles are, by nature, kinda shy if you haven't noticed. Why would they continuously put themselves in harm's way crossing a road if they didn't feel, in their being, that it was necessary? I think they do this because they can sense the changes in the atmosphere, and therefore start moving to take cover, or whatever. It's long been thought that many animals have strange sixth senses connected to mother nature, so why not turtles too? They've been around for so long and most of them live until they're 100; I'm pretty confident they have some sort of connection with mother Earth.
But, the entire reason I'm bringing this up is because in the past 3 days, I saw more turtles than in a long time. I had multiple spottings every day. And it definitely isn't raining here; it's one of the driest, hottest weeks yet. Now it makes sense to me: they were on the move because they could feel the earth trembling. This morning we had a small earthquake not too far from here. It was a 3.9 or a 4.2, depending which website you read, but it still woke me up and lasted about 30 seconds. Just like cats supposedly do something strange before an earthquake, I think these turtles were responding too. What do you think? Am I crazy?
So since I love turtles so much, I love it when I see one, and I am on the lookout, perhaps a smidge more than your average person.
You've probably heard the old saying "When you see a turtle cross the road, that means it's going to rain." (And if you haven't heard, well let me introduce you to this.) I don't know about you, but more times than not, this turns out to be true! Strange coincidence, right? I'm not so sure that it is...
I've had this theory for a long time that I believe there may be some truth to this. I've tried to do a little research on google from time to time when I think of it, but with no results. Either I'm not typing in the right search criteria or no one has ever done a study on it. But my theory is that the reason you more than likely see a turtle is because they are on the move, trying to find safety, a better shelter, or... something. Turtles are, by nature, kinda shy if you haven't noticed. Why would they continuously put themselves in harm's way crossing a road if they didn't feel, in their being, that it was necessary? I think they do this because they can sense the changes in the atmosphere, and therefore start moving to take cover, or whatever. It's long been thought that many animals have strange sixth senses connected to mother nature, so why not turtles too? They've been around for so long and most of them live until they're 100; I'm pretty confident they have some sort of connection with mother Earth.
But, the entire reason I'm bringing this up is because in the past 3 days, I saw more turtles than in a long time. I had multiple spottings every day. And it definitely isn't raining here; it's one of the driest, hottest weeks yet. Now it makes sense to me: they were on the move because they could feel the earth trembling. This morning we had a small earthquake not too far from here. It was a 3.9 or a 4.2, depending which website you read, but it still woke me up and lasted about 30 seconds. Just like cats supposedly do something strange before an earthquake, I think these turtles were responding too. What do you think? Am I crazy?
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Discoveries
Well, we are down to less than a month until the wedding. I gotta tell you, right now both Jarrod and I are ready for the day to just be here. Apparently, this is not too uncommon of a feeling.
These past couple months have been quite a journey, and I've had a lot of internal struggles going on which I barely mention; probably because I'm an introvert and feel it is my duty, and mine alone, to tackle them. However, I'm feeling in a great mood right now (not sure why...) so why not air out the laundry...
On a sad note: All of this wedding craziness has made me very, very forgetful. Not to sound bragging, but this is quite uncommon in my life. I have been blessed with a great brain that can divide itself into many tasks at once and I always, always, have things on the back burner. But I guess I have finally met my breaking point, because keeping track of all of this stuff has just been wearing on me. I forget to call this person, until two weeks have gone by. I forget to email this person, schedule this appointment. Granted, all these things still get done, but just not in the timely manner I usually do them in. In another department there's my room: it's a disaster. I should be trying to pack things up to move to the house, but I just don't think about it while I'm downstairs in the evenings. Instead, it stresses me out when I'm getting ready for bed and am in my room with the visual evidence that: my life is a mess. So I never remember to start packing, clean, put my laundry away, and everything else related.
Another sad note: I've dropped most communication between people as well, and not because I wanted to. I will take this moment to apologize and ask that you realize I'm not intentionally avoiding you, rarely emailing, or not calling, I just don't remember. Again, the forgetfulness.
These past couple months have been quite a journey, and I've had a lot of internal struggles going on which I barely mention; probably because I'm an introvert and feel it is my duty, and mine alone, to tackle them. However, I'm feeling in a great mood right now (not sure why...) so why not air out the laundry...
On a sad note: All of this wedding craziness has made me very, very forgetful. Not to sound bragging, but this is quite uncommon in my life. I have been blessed with a great brain that can divide itself into many tasks at once and I always, always, have things on the back burner. But I guess I have finally met my breaking point, because keeping track of all of this stuff has just been wearing on me. I forget to call this person, until two weeks have gone by. I forget to email this person, schedule this appointment. Granted, all these things still get done, but just not in the timely manner I usually do them in. In another department there's my room: it's a disaster. I should be trying to pack things up to move to the house, but I just don't think about it while I'm downstairs in the evenings. Instead, it stresses me out when I'm getting ready for bed and am in my room with the visual evidence that: my life is a mess. So I never remember to start packing, clean, put my laundry away, and everything else related.
Another sad note: I've dropped most communication between people as well, and not because I wanted to. I will take this moment to apologize and ask that you realize I'm not intentionally avoiding you, rarely emailing, or not calling, I just don't remember. Again, the forgetfulness.
Friday, May 27, 2011
A great day
Isn't it great to reach the end of the day, and suddenly you realize 'Wow, this was a really great day?' That's where I'm at right now, because today HAS been great!
Work was good; I was busy most of the day. I got to make possibly the most exciting video yet, with footage from a demolition of a building this morning. Yes, it was sad to see it go, but watching things be demolished or constructed is always interesting. However, come to think of it, I forgot to watch it in reverse... I was going to do that when I was all done.
After work I headed straight up the road for my wedding dress fitting, which was awesome! Julia, Marie, Wanda, and Heather all came along to see and to learn how to do the bustle. It looked great, and I actually got my veil yesterday, so we really got to see the total picture.
After that, I had dinner with Heather, which was so awesome. We haven't seen each other in a long time, or really gotten a chance to chat in an even longer time. After that, I headed to Becky's house where her, myself, Jeff, and Jojo played 90s Trivial Pursuit. Becky won, though I was darn close a couple times! My biggest letdown was when my mind blanked on Apple's first PDA... I couldn't think of the name! I kept thinking "Nook" or "Nink"... well, if you have never heard of it, it was called the Newton. And it was huge flop.
Then I hung around with Becky for a while and we got to talk, which was also awesome because, like Heather, it had been a while.
And now I am home doing my vest. I entered the six RSVP's I got today for the wedding. Those were due today, but I am obviously expecting some stragglers the next few days. After that, we'll see how many people I have to call. Right now, I am missing 61 replies. To me, that seems like a lot, but who knows. It's probably standard.
Work was good; I was busy most of the day. I got to make possibly the most exciting video yet, with footage from a demolition of a building this morning. Yes, it was sad to see it go, but watching things be demolished or constructed is always interesting. However, come to think of it, I forgot to watch it in reverse... I was going to do that when I was all done.
After work I headed straight up the road for my wedding dress fitting, which was awesome! Julia, Marie, Wanda, and Heather all came along to see and to learn how to do the bustle. It looked great, and I actually got my veil yesterday, so we really got to see the total picture.
After that, I had dinner with Heather, which was so awesome. We haven't seen each other in a long time, or really gotten a chance to chat in an even longer time. After that, I headed to Becky's house where her, myself, Jeff, and Jojo played 90s Trivial Pursuit. Becky won, though I was darn close a couple times! My biggest letdown was when my mind blanked on Apple's first PDA... I couldn't think of the name! I kept thinking "Nook" or "Nink"... well, if you have never heard of it, it was called the Newton. And it was huge flop.
Then I hung around with Becky for a while and we got to talk, which was also awesome because, like Heather, it had been a while.
And now I am home doing my vest. I entered the six RSVP's I got today for the wedding. Those were due today, but I am obviously expecting some stragglers the next few days. After that, we'll see how many people I have to call. Right now, I am missing 61 replies. To me, that seems like a lot, but who knows. It's probably standard.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Tonight's venture: Sardonic children's books for adults
While browsing Amazon the other night, in the top sellers list was this book you could pre-order called "Go the F**k to Sleep." Intrigued, I clicked on it. It's a book for adults (obviously) and goes into the troubles of parenting in, I imagine, a hilarious tongue-in-cheek sort of way.
So this set me into looking at some of the related books, and they all make me laugh in some way. I love book covers, and some of these are just great. Also, side note, a lot of these happen to be born from a blog of the same name. A few that I didn't add on here are the book versions of Texts from Last Night, S**t My Dad Says, F My Life, and Cake Wrecks.
Book 2: All My Friends Are Dead. This tale is told from many angles and objects, all of whose friends are dead. See second image. Hilarious.
Book 3: I Hate Everything. I just love the cover for this one.
Book 4: I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar. I think I was part of this original Facebook group, actually. This statement definitely sums up a small part of me. Let me edit this and add "and Incorrect Spelling."
Book 5: Pets Who Want to Kill Themselves. Based on my new favorite blog of the same title.
Book 6: Breaking Bad News with Baby Animals. If the cover wasn't hilarious enough, I actually laughed at one of the page spreads for about 30 seconds... click here to see what I was laughing at.
And to compliment that, here's Book 7: Asking Awkward Questions with Baby Animals.
So this set me into looking at some of the related books, and they all make me laugh in some way. I love book covers, and some of these are just great. Also, side note, a lot of these happen to be born from a blog of the same name. A few that I didn't add on here are the book versions of Texts from Last Night, S**t My Dad Says, F My Life, and Cake Wrecks.
Book 6: Breaking Bad News with Baby Animals. If the cover wasn't hilarious enough, I actually laughed at one of the page spreads for about 30 seconds... click here to see what I was laughing at.
And to compliment that, here's Book 7: Asking Awkward Questions with Baby Animals.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
A small update
Looking over my last blog post about my stomach issues, I felt it might be of slight interest to a couple people to post a follow-up to that. Well folks, I am back to normal, which is nice, but at the moment I'm still making choices for better food and drinks in my system.
I don't have soda too regularly anymore. I had my mom pick up some caffeine free Mountain Dew, which is great and all, but it leaves a very unpleasant after-taste in your mouth. So... C+ on that one. I had Taco Bell the other night (darn those endless Taco commercials on Saturday) which was some of the first true fast food I've had in a while. Let's just say, I'm not eager to have it again. It didn't mess up my stomach or any gross things of that sort, but it just made me feel really BLAH; not to mention, my dining experience was a huge disappointment because my tacos were put in my bag upside down, so all the meat and cheese fell to the tops and stuck to the wrappers. Frowny face.
Anyways, I've tried small doses of coffee and those have gone fine, so that's good. I still enjoy the taste of it too, so I'm quite happy about that. But this soda thing is just puzzling me... I can't believe how I never really noticed how icky it can taste, until now. So we'll see, again, as time goes on how this all turns out to be.
I don't have soda too regularly anymore. I had my mom pick up some caffeine free Mountain Dew, which is great and all, but it leaves a very unpleasant after-taste in your mouth. So... C+ on that one. I had Taco Bell the other night (darn those endless Taco commercials on Saturday) which was some of the first true fast food I've had in a while. Let's just say, I'm not eager to have it again. It didn't mess up my stomach or any gross things of that sort, but it just made me feel really BLAH; not to mention, my dining experience was a huge disappointment because my tacos were put in my bag upside down, so all the meat and cheese fell to the tops and stuck to the wrappers. Frowny face.
Anyways, I've tried small doses of coffee and those have gone fine, so that's good. I still enjoy the taste of it too, so I'm quite happy about that. But this soda thing is just puzzling me... I can't believe how I never really noticed how icky it can taste, until now. So we'll see, again, as time goes on how this all turns out to be.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
A week ago I ended up at Urgent Care at Patient's First because of some severe abdominal pains. These pains had happened twice and the second time was even worse; so bad it brought me to tears. So I decided it best to find out what the heck was going on.
It turned out that I had/have gastritis, which means my stomach lining is inflamed. Treatment is involving doubling up on my antacid and avoiding caffeine, spicy foods, greasy foods, and acidic drinks. Instead, I've been drinking juice, milk, Kool-Aid, and I even had iced tea the other night. I have the occasional Sprite, but my soda intake has gone down completely; I'm not just cutting out ones with caffeine.
Now that I'm past the detox stage (giving up caffeine and all) I wish I could tell you I notice a huge difference in the way I feel, but I just can't truthfully say that. However, I feel better about what I eat and drink, and we all know that the mental portion is half the battle sometimes. Something interesting is happening now that I have had to cut things out of my diet, or significantly decrease them.
One is that I absolutely do not, no way no how, NEED caffeine in the morning. I think it's safe to say that, if anything, the caffeine just made the afternoons even worse. I would be all hunky-dory and alert in the morning, but then the afternoon crash and burn would happen.
The second interesting thing is that I'm taking a second look at soda... a serious one. I've given up soda for Lent in the past, and that was fine and all, but eventually I would go back to drinking as much as I had before Lent and there really wasn't a long-term benefit from it. Not that there needs to be, but I'm just saying. Anyways, the past few days I've tried to reintroduce caffeinated sodas back into my system, but my system seems to rebel when I do this. Granted, this could still be part of the gastritis, but I'm wondering if it's a sign; a sign that I really don't need to be drinking as much soda. We all know that soda is nothing but bad chemicals mixed together to form this addictive, bubbly drink we all love and crave. But I've been thinking about this a lot and wondering if maybe I should try to cut back on soda for the long-term; I'm sure I would feel some benefits then, most definitely.
I admit I'm a little scared of what will happen when I bring coffee back into the picture, because coffee is something I do love. I became a bit of a coffee-enthusiast, if you will, enjoying good, expensive coffees from time to time and savoring the variety of flavors and roasts (yes I drink it black, 95% of the time.) I hope I can continue to enjoy it, but maybe it'll have to be in smaller increments. As long as I can have it, I'll be happy with that. There's no reason for me to drink an entire travel mug full of coffee anyways.
So after a couple more weeks, I guess I'll reevaluate and see where things stand. I feel that this is probably not the last time I'll have to deal with a stomach issue like this (my gastrointenstinal issues seem to keep going up as I'm getting older) and keeping these bad drinks and bad foods to a minimum is going to help me no matter what. Not to mention my teeth will love me for it too. Here's hoping I can stick with it!
It turned out that I had/have gastritis, which means my stomach lining is inflamed. Treatment is involving doubling up on my antacid and avoiding caffeine, spicy foods, greasy foods, and acidic drinks. Instead, I've been drinking juice, milk, Kool-Aid, and I even had iced tea the other night. I have the occasional Sprite, but my soda intake has gone down completely; I'm not just cutting out ones with caffeine.
Now that I'm past the detox stage (giving up caffeine and all) I wish I could tell you I notice a huge difference in the way I feel, but I just can't truthfully say that. However, I feel better about what I eat and drink, and we all know that the mental portion is half the battle sometimes. Something interesting is happening now that I have had to cut things out of my diet, or significantly decrease them.
One is that I absolutely do not, no way no how, NEED caffeine in the morning. I think it's safe to say that, if anything, the caffeine just made the afternoons even worse. I would be all hunky-dory and alert in the morning, but then the afternoon crash and burn would happen.
The second interesting thing is that I'm taking a second look at soda... a serious one. I've given up soda for Lent in the past, and that was fine and all, but eventually I would go back to drinking as much as I had before Lent and there really wasn't a long-term benefit from it. Not that there needs to be, but I'm just saying. Anyways, the past few days I've tried to reintroduce caffeinated sodas back into my system, but my system seems to rebel when I do this. Granted, this could still be part of the gastritis, but I'm wondering if it's a sign; a sign that I really don't need to be drinking as much soda. We all know that soda is nothing but bad chemicals mixed together to form this addictive, bubbly drink we all love and crave. But I've been thinking about this a lot and wondering if maybe I should try to cut back on soda for the long-term; I'm sure I would feel some benefits then, most definitely.
I admit I'm a little scared of what will happen when I bring coffee back into the picture, because coffee is something I do love. I became a bit of a coffee-enthusiast, if you will, enjoying good, expensive coffees from time to time and savoring the variety of flavors and roasts (yes I drink it black, 95% of the time.) I hope I can continue to enjoy it, but maybe it'll have to be in smaller increments. As long as I can have it, I'll be happy with that. There's no reason for me to drink an entire travel mug full of coffee anyways.
So after a couple more weeks, I guess I'll reevaluate and see where things stand. I feel that this is probably not the last time I'll have to deal with a stomach issue like this (my gastrointenstinal issues seem to keep going up as I'm getting older) and keeping these bad drinks and bad foods to a minimum is going to help me no matter what. Not to mention my teeth will love me for it too. Here's hoping I can stick with it!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
2 things
1. This evening, after just brushing my teeth, I find myself wanting a bedtime story. I know, that's silly of me, right? It's probably because I'm nostalgic, but when you're little and sleepy, there is nothing better than falling asleep to a story from mom or dad. I'm quite sleepy, so it just sounds awesome right now.
2. God has presented me with a solution to a big potential problem I was going to have soon. I think it's definitely one of those "He works in mysterious ways" situations because all of a sudden, today I have a way out and I won't have to compromise my health. More details to come later...
2. God has presented me with a solution to a big potential problem I was going to have soon. I think it's definitely one of those "He works in mysterious ways" situations because all of a sudden, today I have a way out and I won't have to compromise my health. More details to come later...
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
I just had to post this little tidbit...
So I have always disliked Miley Cyrus. Hated, almost. I found Hannah Montana incredibly annoying and that "Party In the USA" song sounded like a singing weasel.
Well, I just found out something about dear ol' Miley that has changed my opinion about her. I'm not saying I still don't find Hannah Montana annoying, but I have a lot more respect suddenly than I had ten minutes ago. Turns out in December 2009, Miley went to get her first tattoo (a little young, but stay with me here...) She got a small tattoo that says "Just Breathe" on her upper chest, under her left breast to be specific. Yeah, it's a strange spot for a tattoo, but I'm okay with it since it's not somewhere the world will see all the time. Why did she do this? Well, turns out... it was in honor of a close friend who passed away from cystic fibrosis.
...wow. Hmph.
So I have always disliked Miley Cyrus. Hated, almost. I found Hannah Montana incredibly annoying and that "Party In the USA" song sounded like a singing weasel.
Well, I just found out something about dear ol' Miley that has changed my opinion about her. I'm not saying I still don't find Hannah Montana annoying, but I have a lot more respect suddenly than I had ten minutes ago. Turns out in December 2009, Miley went to get her first tattoo (a little young, but stay with me here...) She got a small tattoo that says "Just Breathe" on her upper chest, under her left breast to be specific. Yeah, it's a strange spot for a tattoo, but I'm okay with it since it's not somewhere the world will see all the time. Why did she do this? Well, turns out... it was in honor of a close friend who passed away from cystic fibrosis.
...wow. Hmph.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
The Ay's have it
Our local paper releases a "Parade of Babies" sort of insert yearly as a way for proud parents to announce the birth of their baby in the past year. I noticed a trend in baby names this year, which I must say I'm starting to find annoying. Pretty much if you name your kid something with a long A sound (as in "ay" in May) you've got a trendy name. Trend numero dos is adding unnecessary y's in place of i's and e's, and more specifically in combination with an "n". And some people even combine these two to form a name that, quite honestly, half the time I can't tell if it's for a boy or a girl. Oh, the quest to be original when naming your kids (yet not so original when it sounds like everyone else's name)...
Here are a sample of names from this year's insert:
Here are a sample of names from this year's insert:
- Braelyn
- Haidyn (girl)
- Westyn
- Ayden
- Josslyn
- Haley
- Gillyann
- Brayden
- Daylyn
- Taevyn (...what?)
- Peyton
- Avery
- Ava
- Mason
- Layla
- Jayson (again, unnecessary y)
- Hayden (boy)
- Ayden
- Aiden
- Leighton
- Caylynn
- Bailey
- Lane
- Kaitlyn
- Jayden
- Aydan
- Hayden (girl)
- Mason
- Callie (not sure if this is a like "cat" or a like "lake")
- Blaine
- Trevyn (...what?)
- Paityn (girl)
- Gwendylan (sorry, but this looks like it's almost the name of a theme park: Gwendy Land)
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Easy-Mac-e Catrastrophe
This morning I did something I've never done before: burnt my Easy Mac. As most of you know, I eat Easy Mac almost every morning for breakfast. This morning, though, I must have been out of it (although... I was quite awake and not tired.)
I was talking with mom about... something, as she was sewing a button on her pants. I put my Easy Mac in the microwave and got everything ready to make it once it was done. I pulled out the potholders and started to smell something. Mom could smell it too. We both thought something didn't quite smell right; it was like something toasting or burning in the toaster... except I wasn't using the toaster. I sniffed the potholders in case those smelled, and they were not the problem. I then checked by the microwave area and that was definitely the problem. I paused my cooking with 50 seconds left, and opened the door. The culprit was in there, and I then took down my bowl to discover browned, blackened, and charred noodles... with no water. For the first time in my long history of making Easy Mac, I forgot to add the water. I immediately put the bowl outside on the deck. IT. REEKED. Oh my gosh, I didn't know that it could smell that bad. It was worse than burnt popcorn, though I can't quite relate it to anything else.
Later on right before I left dad brought the bowl back in and put my charred macaroni's in a baggie and through it in the trash. After doing that, we could see that I most likely ruined the bowl too. The bottom of the bowl is scarred with brown and black spots, with white areas where noodles were; it's a really
strange pattern, haha.
My cousin Jason did this same thing one time, though his was with one of the microwaveable cups and the cup melted too and left a mark on their microwave. I think his was a little worse, but now we're both in the same boat. But he's 10...
Oh well, first time for everything I suppose.
I was talking with mom about... something, as she was sewing a button on her pants. I put my Easy Mac in the microwave and got everything ready to make it once it was done. I pulled out the potholders and started to smell something. Mom could smell it too. We both thought something didn't quite smell right; it was like something toasting or burning in the toaster... except I wasn't using the toaster. I sniffed the potholders in case those smelled, and they were not the problem. I then checked by the microwave area and that was definitely the problem. I paused my cooking with 50 seconds left, and opened the door. The culprit was in there, and I then took down my bowl to discover browned, blackened, and charred noodles... with no water. For the first time in my long history of making Easy Mac, I forgot to add the water. I immediately put the bowl outside on the deck. IT. REEKED. Oh my gosh, I didn't know that it could smell that bad. It was worse than burnt popcorn, though I can't quite relate it to anything else.
Later on right before I left dad brought the bowl back in and put my charred macaroni's in a baggie and through it in the trash. After doing that, we could see that I most likely ruined the bowl too. The bottom of the bowl is scarred with brown and black spots, with white areas where noodles were; it's a really
strange pattern, haha.
My cousin Jason did this same thing one time, though his was with one of the microwaveable cups and the cup melted too and left a mark on their microwave. I think his was a little worse, but now we're both in the same boat. But he's 10...
Oh well, first time for everything I suppose.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Nuthin' But a "IV" Thang
Tomorrow I have my follow-up appointment after my stay in the hospital. Wish me luck. I do feel much better, and honestly if I wasn't I would REALLY think something is wrong. We are on track to finish up my IV stuff tomorrow night, provided that my appointment shows I am improving as expected. I am so excited to be done with this. I don't mind doing it at work, and fortunately my mom is very generous with her time and has gotten up every morning to come up at 6:00am and run my one dose of meds, but I'm just ready to be done.
Something less obvious about these tune ups: My selection of clothes is always cut down to about 10% or less when I do this because my port is accessed. I have a port just under my skin on the left side of my body, in pretty much the exact spot you would 'put your hand over your heart' for the Pledge of Allegiance. So not only is there a small bump of a needle, meaning no fitted shirts, there is the dressing, which adds a good 2-3 inches of tape around it. In the summertime, this pretty much means I'm wearing T-shirts all the time. Right now, though, it means high-necked sweaters or shirts with SCARVES are totally fine! So trying to dress with this thing in is much easier in the winter.
Something less obvious about these tune ups: My selection of clothes is always cut down to about 10% or less when I do this because my port is accessed. I have a port just under my skin on the left side of my body, in pretty much the exact spot you would 'put your hand over your heart' for the Pledge of Allegiance. So not only is there a small bump of a needle, meaning no fitted shirts, there is the dressing, which adds a good 2-3 inches of tape around it. In the summertime, this pretty much means I'm wearing T-shirts all the time. Right now, though, it means high-necked sweaters or shirts with SCARVES are totally fine! So trying to dress with this thing in is much easier in the winter.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Review: "Exit Through the Gift Shop"
"Exit Through the Gift Shop" has been on my radar for a little while now and I watched it the other day. It's now up for an academy award for Documentary Feature, so that's fun.
The documentary is about street art, which is kinda fun. In a nutshell: this random French guy randomly stumbles upon his cousin one day who is preparing his street art, and then decides to follow his cousin around at night and such as he places his pieces up around the city. As time goes on, he hooks up with some of the most well-known street artists around to film them as they put up their work at night. Except for one: Banksy. If you don't know who Banksy is, he is possibly THE most well-known street artist around. He lives in Britain and is known for his particular style that is fairly distinct and usually in your face. If you don't know what street art is, it is basically artistic graffiti. Sometime is isn't spray paint, though, but it is all art that is strategically placed, usually in a city setting. The fun part about it is that it is usually temporary, as most times it's illegal. So obviously this random Frenchman filming this is a great thing, as it captures the technique and documents that it happens because sometimes the art is only up for a day or two. The movie goes like this for a while and it is quite interesting, not to mention that it's kind of fun and intriguing to delve into the underworld of street art.
Finally one day Thierry (the guy filming all this stuff) gets a call that Banksy is in town. He speeds off to meet him, literally, and ends up gaining his trust and starts to tape him as he works. This was really cool to me because Banksy is this mysterious guy who is never revealed in the film. We have faces for all the other street artists in this film except him; he is lighted from the back, in a hoodie (which looked very Assassin's Creed-ish) and his voice is processed. But he's a very intriguing person, and his ideas intrigue me. Something I've noticed about myself when it comes to art and design: I typically love things that I would never, EVER, in a million years come up with. I do not think like a Banksy. I can criticize something, sure. But to take that idea and turn it into a satirical work of art? Never.
So watching Banksy and listening to him was quite fun. Honestly, the movie could have ended right after his prank at Disneyland. But it didn't, and then it just went downhill.
Banksy challenges Thierry to go and create his own art. Thierry, thinking Banksy is this all-powerful god, takes this to heart and does just that. So he becomes a 'street artist' and calls himself "Mr. Brainwash." This was about where my internet cut out for the third time and I decided to postpone finishing the movie. I had a feeling that the movie was just taking a turn for the worse, though. And I was right.
So now the scope of the movie has changed. We are no longer following the underworld of street art but the new street art of Thierry. Except... he's not really doing art.
Thierry's ideas are bland and shallow to put it nicely; they have no depth, which is obvious in his explanations of his pieces. Even his name is cheesy, I mean come on, "Mr. Brainwash"? He claims to have no art training whatsoever, and it's kind of obvious. All of a sudden he makes hundreds of pieces of art for his opening show, a show that would typically be the size of someone who is well-established, not brand new. I found this further proof that the guy had no clue what he was doing. Even MORE is that everything he does is a rip off of Andy Warhol. He does the Cambell's soup in 50 different ways, he does Marilyn in 100 different ways, yet they're all still the same. It's very much a one trick pony. And also just like Andy Warhol: he's not making any of his art, he hires people to do that. And the thing is: people eat this shit up! They buy it for thousands of dollars (something else he obviously has no clue about—he just makes up astronomical prices as he goes, proving his ego is as big as ever.)
This documentary gets you thinking. My first thought was that this was further proof that I just don't 'get' post-modern art, or whatever art movement we're in now. But the more I thought about it the more I think the joke is on Thierry. Banksy has some HILARIOUS quotes at the end about Thierry's success and being mostly responsible for it. I won't tell you them because they're good ones, but basically he doesn't think the guy's art is worth crap.
And I feel it should be noted, Banksy is the one who made this film. The decisions to put 'what' in the movie were Banksy's. Therefore, I feel that the joke is on Thierry because he thought Banksy was this god-like person, when in reality Banksy is laughing at Thierry and his 'fame' knowing that the guy has no direction, has no vision, and has no concept as an artist. Banksy's art draws your attention to something, to point out why this is weird or why this is ridiculous. In no way do I feel that Banksy tried to glorify himself in a "my stuff is way better than his" way, but rather this movie is just another piece of Banksy's art: he draws attention to the fact that Thierry has no talent and is mostly trying to make a quick buck. "Exit Through the Gift Shop": you paid for your admission, now buy more of our crap.
The documentary is about street art, which is kinda fun. In a nutshell: this random French guy randomly stumbles upon his cousin one day who is preparing his street art, and then decides to follow his cousin around at night and such as he places his pieces up around the city. As time goes on, he hooks up with some of the most well-known street artists around to film them as they put up their work at night. Except for one: Banksy. If you don't know who Banksy is, he is possibly THE most well-known street artist around. He lives in Britain and is known for his particular style that is fairly distinct and usually in your face. If you don't know what street art is, it is basically artistic graffiti. Sometime is isn't spray paint, though, but it is all art that is strategically placed, usually in a city setting. The fun part about it is that it is usually temporary, as most times it's illegal. So obviously this random Frenchman filming this is a great thing, as it captures the technique and documents that it happens because sometimes the art is only up for a day or two. The movie goes like this for a while and it is quite interesting, not to mention that it's kind of fun and intriguing to delve into the underworld of street art.
Finally one day Thierry (the guy filming all this stuff) gets a call that Banksy is in town. He speeds off to meet him, literally, and ends up gaining his trust and starts to tape him as he works. This was really cool to me because Banksy is this mysterious guy who is never revealed in the film. We have faces for all the other street artists in this film except him; he is lighted from the back, in a hoodie (which looked very Assassin's Creed-ish) and his voice is processed. But he's a very intriguing person, and his ideas intrigue me. Something I've noticed about myself when it comes to art and design: I typically love things that I would never, EVER, in a million years come up with. I do not think like a Banksy. I can criticize something, sure. But to take that idea and turn it into a satirical work of art? Never.
So watching Banksy and listening to him was quite fun. Honestly, the movie could have ended right after his prank at Disneyland. But it didn't, and then it just went downhill.
Banksy challenges Thierry to go and create his own art. Thierry, thinking Banksy is this all-powerful god, takes this to heart and does just that. So he becomes a 'street artist' and calls himself "Mr. Brainwash." This was about where my internet cut out for the third time and I decided to postpone finishing the movie. I had a feeling that the movie was just taking a turn for the worse, though. And I was right.
So now the scope of the movie has changed. We are no longer following the underworld of street art but the new street art of Thierry. Except... he's not really doing art.
Thierry's ideas are bland and shallow to put it nicely; they have no depth, which is obvious in his explanations of his pieces. Even his name is cheesy, I mean come on, "Mr. Brainwash"? He claims to have no art training whatsoever, and it's kind of obvious. All of a sudden he makes hundreds of pieces of art for his opening show, a show that would typically be the size of someone who is well-established, not brand new. I found this further proof that the guy had no clue what he was doing. Even MORE is that everything he does is a rip off of Andy Warhol. He does the Cambell's soup in 50 different ways, he does Marilyn in 100 different ways, yet they're all still the same. It's very much a one trick pony. And also just like Andy Warhol: he's not making any of his art, he hires people to do that. And the thing is: people eat this shit up! They buy it for thousands of dollars (something else he obviously has no clue about—he just makes up astronomical prices as he goes, proving his ego is as big as ever.)
This documentary gets you thinking. My first thought was that this was further proof that I just don't 'get' post-modern art, or whatever art movement we're in now. But the more I thought about it the more I think the joke is on Thierry. Banksy has some HILARIOUS quotes at the end about Thierry's success and being mostly responsible for it. I won't tell you them because they're good ones, but basically he doesn't think the guy's art is worth crap.
And I feel it should be noted, Banksy is the one who made this film. The decisions to put 'what' in the movie were Banksy's. Therefore, I feel that the joke is on Thierry because he thought Banksy was this god-like person, when in reality Banksy is laughing at Thierry and his 'fame' knowing that the guy has no direction, has no vision, and has no concept as an artist. Banksy's art draws your attention to something, to point out why this is weird or why this is ridiculous. In no way do I feel that Banksy tried to glorify himself in a "my stuff is way better than his" way, but rather this movie is just another piece of Banksy's art: he draws attention to the fact that Thierry has no talent and is mostly trying to make a quick buck. "Exit Through the Gift Shop": you paid for your admission, now buy more of our crap.
Icetopia
There, I just invented a new ridiculous term for this storm we had. Or rather... semi-storm. Talk about a major disappointment and major goof on the part of the weatherman.
Should we be surprised though? No! Of course not. Every time it snows, their guess is as good as yours or mine as to how much snow will actually fall.
I gotta say that the entire sequence of news coverage just annoys me, and I'm to the point now where I don't really want to watch the local news anymore. Too bad I kind of have to in order to catch what the weather 'might' do.
Every frickin' time it's the same damn thing:
Day 1: Weatherman reports storm will be coming in 3-4 days
Day 2: Weatherman gives better 'estimates' of snow totals for storm that is 2-3 days away.
Day 3, the day before: Each separate news channel sends 3 different reporters to 3 different locations around the metro area. These locations include 1 grocery store, 1 hardware store, and either 1 more grocery store or a store where you can find salt or window scrapers. Proceed with ridiculous "storm mode" coverage of how the bread, milk, and eggs are flying off the shelves like wild monkeys so everyone can go home and make French toast! Observe! The Lowe's on Watson Road as customers flock out of the store in triumphant glory with their new snow shovel! And let us check in wiiiitthhh... Kathy, who is standing outside of the Walmart on Clayton, conducting boring interviews of maniacal shoppers about what they purchased before "the big storm."
Day 4: The snow/ice happens. We viewers are told to stay at home if at all possible. Don't venture out into the danger of all dangers. They treat us as if this is our first snowstorm ever and we have never heard this advice before, nor do we have any common sense. They remind us time and again that if you MUST venture out into this terrible weather: take it slow, keep a good distance between the person in front of you, and allow extra time for your commute. Again, all as if we've never heard it before.
Later on day 4: The snow amounts start to come in. Round two of each separate news channel sending 3 different reporters to 3 different locations commences. Kathy is in Illinois and says "Yes, the snow is in full swing. It is really coming down over here." John is in Ballwin and says "We are having quite a bit of snow over here." Steve in Wentzville says "The snow has hit, we are in the middle of the storm! Stay in folks, this one's gonna be a doozy." Steve bends over to pick up a handful of snow to further prove his point that: snow is indeed falling. We are left to conclude: the snow is falling. And we didn't even need to look out the window to figure it out! (And do I need to mention the irony that just 2 minutes before these reports, they reminded us not to travel in this stuff if we don't absolutely have to?)
Night of day 4: Snow totals are not as expected. They are lower. Weathermen launch into a laundry list of excuses as to why the totals are lower. Way lower. Way long list.
Likely scenario for day 5: Kids are home from school because school was called on account of predicted snow totals that did not happen. Therefore: a free snow day for no reason and another day to make up in June.
Living in Missouri is great...
Should we be surprised though? No! Of course not. Every time it snows, their guess is as good as yours or mine as to how much snow will actually fall.
I gotta say that the entire sequence of news coverage just annoys me, and I'm to the point now where I don't really want to watch the local news anymore. Too bad I kind of have to in order to catch what the weather 'might' do.
Every frickin' time it's the same damn thing:
Day 1: Weatherman reports storm will be coming in 3-4 days
Day 2: Weatherman gives better 'estimates' of snow totals for storm that is 2-3 days away.
Day 3, the day before: Each separate news channel sends 3 different reporters to 3 different locations around the metro area. These locations include 1 grocery store, 1 hardware store, and either 1 more grocery store or a store where you can find salt or window scrapers. Proceed with ridiculous "storm mode" coverage of how the bread, milk, and eggs are flying off the shelves like wild monkeys so everyone can go home and make French toast! Observe! The Lowe's on Watson Road as customers flock out of the store in triumphant glory with their new snow shovel! And let us check in wiiiitthhh... Kathy, who is standing outside of the Walmart on Clayton, conducting boring interviews of maniacal shoppers about what they purchased before "the big storm."
Day 4: The snow/ice happens. We viewers are told to stay at home if at all possible. Don't venture out into the danger of all dangers. They treat us as if this is our first snowstorm ever and we have never heard this advice before, nor do we have any common sense. They remind us time and again that if you MUST venture out into this terrible weather: take it slow, keep a good distance between the person in front of you, and allow extra time for your commute. Again, all as if we've never heard it before.
Later on day 4: The snow amounts start to come in. Round two of each separate news channel sending 3 different reporters to 3 different locations commences. Kathy is in Illinois and says "Yes, the snow is in full swing. It is really coming down over here." John is in Ballwin and says "We are having quite a bit of snow over here." Steve in Wentzville says "The snow has hit, we are in the middle of the storm! Stay in folks, this one's gonna be a doozy." Steve bends over to pick up a handful of snow to further prove his point that: snow is indeed falling. We are left to conclude: the snow is falling. And we didn't even need to look out the window to figure it out! (And do I need to mention the irony that just 2 minutes before these reports, they reminded us not to travel in this stuff if we don't absolutely have to?)
Night of day 4: Snow totals are not as expected. They are lower. Weathermen launch into a laundry list of excuses as to why the totals are lower. Way lower. Way long list.
Likely scenario for day 5: Kids are home from school because school was called on account of predicted snow totals that did not happen. Therefore: a free snow day for no reason and another day to make up in June.
Living in Missouri is great...
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Books books books
Last night I finished 1984. It's about time, too... it only took me three years, haha. Anyways, I must say I am glad I read it, though I'm going to take a break from the dystopia books for a while. Had it not been for my true push to finally finish the book, and my self-made rule that I couldn't read anything else until I finished one of my books-in-progress, I might have put it back down. The ending is a very uncomfortable one, and I tell you, when he looked at himself in the mirror, that was the worst of it for me. I can't explain why, but it was. Anyways, still glad I read it and it's 'message' is kind of percolating in my brain right now.
So I woke up early this morning in order to get a good shower in, since I'm heading to the hospital and won't get one for another week. And I had time to start another book. I chose to start reading Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God. I started the book, and after 20 minutes of reading, I closed it. I decided to look up the reviews on Amazon about the book. I was specifically hoping to find someone out there who said something like "Being a Catholic, I still thought this book was great" but I found no such thing. I found one review that said this: "His disclaimers aside, it is my opinion that Francis truly, deep down, believes that the believer's work is mystically tied into their salvation. His denials are only at a superficial level so that he can remain "evangelical" and avoid the necessary soul-searching that might lead him toward a Roman Catholic-esque theology." which I found interesting. Anyways, let me step back and explain this Amazonian search: the book was written to "Christians" and had lingo of "Being a good American Christian" and things like that, and I just can't get into that. Catholicism is still Christian, yes, but there is a huge difference between our beliefs and those of a non-denominational Christian (the author.) Never once has my priest ever, EVER said in mass "as good Christians we should blah blah blah." (he usually says good stewards, servants, or something like that.)
Needless to say, I'm taking this book back. I'm sure there's a nice message in it, but it's just not for me. Plus, the whole thing is just one big ongoing sermon. Nah, I think I'll pass. And if I do feel the need to read it, I'll get it from the library.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
State of the Lungs Address
Well folks, it's that time again—3:30am when Jamie is coughing and decides to write a blog! Yay for that... not exactly.
Anyways, I had a doctor's appointment today and, well, it did not go so great. It was a follow-up to my December appointment, in which my PFT numbers were lower, so they had me do a course of antibiotics by mouth, at home. So basically, this was a check to see if I'd gotten better or not.
I did my PFT (pulmonary function test) and was shocked by the results, a bad shocked. The lady asked me "Have you been sick?" I said no. But even after a few more tries, my numbers never improved. At that moment, she grabbed a pulse/ox and my oxygen levels were only 94%, which is not terrible but fairly low for me as I am usually in the 97%+ range. I can't remember the total volume of air I blew out, but my FEV1 (which is the amount of air blown out within the first second) was at 33%. This was 10% lower than last time, in December, which is a huge drop. What this all means is that for a person of my height and weight, my lungs are expelling 33% of the air they should be. In other words, 33%-ish of my lungs is working, the rest is sort of on sick leave. There are other amounts measured in the PFT, such as total volume and FEV2 (2 seconds) but the FEV1 is what most of their diagnosis is based on. I'm not totally sure as to why this is, but studies and such over the years and years of CF care have shown that this number, more than the others, indicates most accurately how the person is feeling and the rate their lungs are declining.
This all was quite a shock for me, actually. I have not felt terrible and my cough hasn't been outrageously bad (the cough is usually what signals to me that it's time for a tune-up.) I'm a tad short of breath, but even that isn't that bad. So as I was sitting waiting for the doctor, I was on the verge of tears. The news was just unexpected and I didn't think I should be coming back in the hospital this soon, which is what I knew we would have to do.
So, yes, this means a trip to the hospital for me. I am planning to go in next week. I guess I should be thankful I don't feel that bad that I need to come in tomorrow. Jarrod and I will celebrate our anniversary this Saturday, and I would like to at least enjoy that (as much as I can.) We've been together for five years. Also, I wanted to see our friends at Trivia Night this weekend too.
I'm pretty bummed about the whole thing, but I'm sure tomorrow will be better. This is all just a part of a 'routine' for me, so it's nothing too crazy, I suppose.
Anyways, I had a doctor's appointment today and, well, it did not go so great. It was a follow-up to my December appointment, in which my PFT numbers were lower, so they had me do a course of antibiotics by mouth, at home. So basically, this was a check to see if I'd gotten better or not.
I did my PFT (pulmonary function test) and was shocked by the results, a bad shocked. The lady asked me "Have you been sick?" I said no. But even after a few more tries, my numbers never improved. At that moment, she grabbed a pulse/ox and my oxygen levels were only 94%, which is not terrible but fairly low for me as I am usually in the 97%+ range. I can't remember the total volume of air I blew out, but my FEV1 (which is the amount of air blown out within the first second) was at 33%. This was 10% lower than last time, in December, which is a huge drop. What this all means is that for a person of my height and weight, my lungs are expelling 33% of the air they should be. In other words, 33%-ish of my lungs is working, the rest is sort of on sick leave. There are other amounts measured in the PFT, such as total volume and FEV2 (2 seconds) but the FEV1 is what most of their diagnosis is based on. I'm not totally sure as to why this is, but studies and such over the years and years of CF care have shown that this number, more than the others, indicates most accurately how the person is feeling and the rate their lungs are declining.
This all was quite a shock for me, actually. I have not felt terrible and my cough hasn't been outrageously bad (the cough is usually what signals to me that it's time for a tune-up.) I'm a tad short of breath, but even that isn't that bad. So as I was sitting waiting for the doctor, I was on the verge of tears. The news was just unexpected and I didn't think I should be coming back in the hospital this soon, which is what I knew we would have to do.
So, yes, this means a trip to the hospital for me. I am planning to go in next week. I guess I should be thankful I don't feel that bad that I need to come in tomorrow. Jarrod and I will celebrate our anniversary this Saturday, and I would like to at least enjoy that (as much as I can.) We've been together for five years. Also, I wanted to see our friends at Trivia Night this weekend too.
I'm pretty bummed about the whole thing, but I'm sure tomorrow will be better. This is all just a part of a 'routine' for me, so it's nothing too crazy, I suppose.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
House update
Well we've barely been in the house for a week and we have started painting. I was over there yesterday to try my hand at it, and for a first-timer I think I did pretty good. I gave a shot at cutting it too, doing the edging around door frames, the ceiling, etc. Obviously painting a house is different than painting a canvas, but it came fairly natural for me since I did previously paint paintings. The biggest difference was that this paint dries much faster. I never worked with oils, which are the most viscous and slow-drying, but took a liking to acrylics. Acrylics are still a little more workable than latex wall paint, so you have to work semi-fast.
Anyhoo, we have done all the blue rooms so far and Jarrod is starting on the green today. So far, I really like the blue color I chose (which is good, haha.) It is exactly what I hoped for: it would look blue, but it wouldn't be like "Hey I'm BLUE," in-your-face blue.
I brought a handful of things over to the house yesterday, such as my dishes from college, some extra plastic plates, plastic cups, and some plastic flatware. Mom and I need to take a trip back to Cosco and get a huge box of that stuff sometime, so in the meantime, I never thought I'd necessarily do this, but I am washing the plastic so we can reuse because I don't have all that much, haha. Jarrod is going to move in there sometime soon, so we'll need to decide if we wanna continue with this big box of plastic stuff or buy some cheapy silverware for him to use until we get some good stuff. I don't know yet. I already have a big list of new things to bring with me next time I go over there.
And on another note, I am so happy to be better! Thursday and Friday I was home with a bad stomach flu. I honestly don't know that I've ever had a true 'stomach flu' like this... the kind where you can't keep anything down and the whole bit. Thursday night my supper consisted of beef broth and oyster crackers. Friday I was able to handle a little more as the day went on, and I actually had a turkey and mashed potatoes meal from Bob Evans that night. It went well, and my stomach didn't feel too crazy, and I was sooooo happy to have FOOD again. Anyways, yesterday I felt fine and was able to eat semi-normal again. I obviously didn't dive in and eat fried food or hot wings or something, but I didn't feel bad at all yesterday. I was so thankful! It felt great to be able to eat again.
Anyhoo, we have done all the blue rooms so far and Jarrod is starting on the green today. So far, I really like the blue color I chose (which is good, haha.) It is exactly what I hoped for: it would look blue, but it wouldn't be like "Hey I'm BLUE," in-your-face blue.
I brought a handful of things over to the house yesterday, such as my dishes from college, some extra plastic plates, plastic cups, and some plastic flatware. Mom and I need to take a trip back to Cosco and get a huge box of that stuff sometime, so in the meantime, I never thought I'd necessarily do this, but I am washing the plastic so we can reuse because I don't have all that much, haha. Jarrod is going to move in there sometime soon, so we'll need to decide if we wanna continue with this big box of plastic stuff or buy some cheapy silverware for him to use until we get some good stuff. I don't know yet. I already have a big list of new things to bring with me next time I go over there.
And on another note, I am so happy to be better! Thursday and Friday I was home with a bad stomach flu. I honestly don't know that I've ever had a true 'stomach flu' like this... the kind where you can't keep anything down and the whole bit. Thursday night my supper consisted of beef broth and oyster crackers. Friday I was able to handle a little more as the day went on, and I actually had a turkey and mashed potatoes meal from Bob Evans that night. It went well, and my stomach didn't feel too crazy, and I was sooooo happy to have FOOD again. Anyways, yesterday I felt fine and was able to eat semi-normal again. I obviously didn't dive in and eat fried food or hot wings or something, but I didn't feel bad at all yesterday. I was so thankful! It felt great to be able to eat again.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
New year post one
Happy New Year, whoever reads this!
Well, tomorrow is a big day for Jarrod and me: we close on our house. I am praying tonight that everything goes smoothly and we aren't there for hours and hours waiting on... something.
Today mom and I went around and did a little shopping. I used some of my Christmas money to buy some sweat pants I didn't get for Christmas. The exciting part is they were on clearance at Aeropostale, so yay for that! Then we went to Bed, Bath, & Beyond where I finished up a few things on my registry. Then we went to Costco for the usual random giant items.
I have to tell you something exciting, though. First of all, I'm excited for our new house. It's new, it's small, it's perfect for us. Second of all, I'm excited about my paint colors! I finally decided on them today, and I have a fun little side story:
I was debating between a light mauve or green for our bathroom. I picked out towels and accessories earlier that were dark brown, and they went with both of the paint swatches I had brought, so no problems there. Anyways, tonight I decided to read up a little on paint colors and choosing them. So I was reading about have a "color scheme" and then I realized something: all of my colors I'd picked out were all earth-tones! I had a blue, a green, and a tan. The only one that didn't fit that "scheme" was the purple. So that was the nail in the coffin: no purple. I am super excited now, because I honestly didn't even realize this whole 'earthy' feel I've got goin'. But it's awesome because I love being outside, I love trees, I love birds, and I love fresh air so I think it was some awesome sub-conscious thing that I gravitated towards these colors. Call me crazy.
So the THIRD thing I'm excited about is the hall bathroom. Briefer side story: I'd been debating what to do with it. I like ducks, but didn't know if I should do that in the new house. I don't feel like I can shove my cutesy-loving personality to the side constantly, but I didn't know that ducks were the way to go. Today at BBB, I found an even BETTER solution: hummingbirds! They had a shower curtain and whole ensemble that was a very sophisticated blue, tan, and white with a hummingbird design. I loved it, and I am so excited that I found it, seeing as I love hummingbirds. More than ducks, too.
Well, tomorrow is a big day for Jarrod and me: we close on our house. I am praying tonight that everything goes smoothly and we aren't there for hours and hours waiting on... something.
Today mom and I went around and did a little shopping. I used some of my Christmas money to buy some sweat pants I didn't get for Christmas. The exciting part is they were on clearance at Aeropostale, so yay for that! Then we went to Bed, Bath, & Beyond where I finished up a few things on my registry. Then we went to Costco for the usual random giant items.
I have to tell you something exciting, though. First of all, I'm excited for our new house. It's new, it's small, it's perfect for us. Second of all, I'm excited about my paint colors! I finally decided on them today, and I have a fun little side story:
I was debating between a light mauve or green for our bathroom. I picked out towels and accessories earlier that were dark brown, and they went with both of the paint swatches I had brought, so no problems there. Anyways, tonight I decided to read up a little on paint colors and choosing them. So I was reading about have a "color scheme" and then I realized something: all of my colors I'd picked out were all earth-tones! I had a blue, a green, and a tan. The only one that didn't fit that "scheme" was the purple. So that was the nail in the coffin: no purple. I am super excited now, because I honestly didn't even realize this whole 'earthy' feel I've got goin'. But it's awesome because I love being outside, I love trees, I love birds, and I love fresh air so I think it was some awesome sub-conscious thing that I gravitated towards these colors. Call me crazy.
So the THIRD thing I'm excited about is the hall bathroom. Briefer side story: I'd been debating what to do with it. I like ducks, but didn't know if I should do that in the new house. I don't feel like I can shove my cutesy-loving personality to the side constantly, but I didn't know that ducks were the way to go. Today at BBB, I found an even BETTER solution: hummingbirds! They had a shower curtain and whole ensemble that was a very sophisticated blue, tan, and white with a hummingbird design. I loved it, and I am so excited that I found it, seeing as I love hummingbirds. More than ducks, too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)