A Sure Sign

Movies will rot your brain!

Every time I hear another report about the Swine Flu (Pending) Pandemic, I fully expect to hear a tinge of panic in the announcer's voice as she explains that there have been significant mutations in the virus which are causing horrific reactions in the afflicted parties. The main reaction, of course, being Zombieism.

Then again, having watched those movies, I am now well versed in Zombie Avoidance and Methods of Zombie Annihilation. So....yeah.

Murphy Knew His, um...Stuff

I don't believe I've mentioned it here, but I recently paid off my Xterra. (**EDIT: Wow, I just mentioned it two posts ago. But I've slept since then...) It's very exciting, to have that portion of my (relatively minimal) debt taken care of. I should, in fact, have the title in my hot little hands sometime this week. What a nice birthday present to myself!

Now, the flip side of that was knowing that as soon as I had paid it off, something else would come up. It always does. Every time I've ever paid off a credit card, car payment, or otherwise gotten something truly daunting out of my hair and/or off of my plate, something else ugly has reared its head--preventing me from every *truly* getting ahead myself.

This time, I naturally assumed it was going to be the Xterra itself. It is, after all, nearly 10 years old. It's in remarkably good shape for its age, and the Xterra--despite having a super slick new look in recent model years--has something of a timeless style. However, as we all know, time is cruel, and I'm just waiting for the ball to drop.

I really hope it doesn't soon. Because the ugly spectre with the raised and howling head this time is the telly. Our behemoth died a very sudden death sometime between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. When R tried to turn it on yesterday, it was just dead. No flickering lights, no warning signals that failure was immenent. Just a black, blank screen and a whole lot of "WTF"??

Personally, I think all of the MMA fighting and mafia violence of the recently resurrected Sopranos disc set finally did it in. :D That, or all the butter and sugar in Paula Deen's cookin has soaked in. Whatever the case, we find ourselves without a tv. It doesn't trouble me too much, as I rarely watch it aside from the occasional bout of CNN Headline News while I get ready in the morning, or the aforementioned Paula Deen (along with Giada/Ina Garten/Rachel Ray during the "dinner hour"). Oh, and Thursday night NBC. Love.

Anyway. I digress. We are going to have to get a new tv, because now that I can't play with the Wii, I want to desperately even though I haven't touched it in ages. I LONG to finish watching The Tudors discs that we got from Netflix something like 4 months ago (or longer)! It's amazing, isn't it, how you always want what you can't have?

Hopefully, after we deal with the annoyance of finding someone to pick up and haul off the old telly, and setting up the new one, there will be a few months of monetary peace where I can put some of the "extra" money towards our remaining credit card bills. Until then, I suppose I should just thank Murphy that his laws had the good graces to at least wait to kill the telly until *after* my car was paid off.

Thanks, Murphy, thanks a lot. ;)

Canooks!

I have recently been raving (to R and to my best friend and...well, that's about it, since I've got no one else to crow to) about the glory of Radio Paradise. And I DO love Radio Paradise. It is a constant joy to listen to, and the peacelovinhippiechick in me revels in the primarily happy mellow world folk rock thing they've got goin on.

But earlier this week at work I stumbled onto CBC Radio 3, and DAMN if it isn't the perfectly sexy bad boy to lure me away from my tried and true. It's pretty much all new, totally unfamiliar, dirty rockin stuff--with the occasional sweetly french pop tune thrown in for good measure. Granted, I only catch glimpses while I'm at work, and I'm dialed in right now as I write, but what I've heard I love.

I've gone a long time without discovering and appreciating new music, and for anyone who knows me, that's saying a lot. Music used to be pretty much the be-all end-all for me (have I used that phrase recently? typing it out gave me an annoying sense of deja-vu). So it's really nice to rediscover that aspect of myself. I don't think I'll ever find myself going to concerts 4-5 nights a week again, and it's unlikely that my cd collection (mp3 file collection these days, I suppose) will grow as exponentially as it did when I was working at the record store, but it's enough for me that I'm hearing some stuff that makes me pause and look up the artist name and make a note to check it out later.

In other "new stuff" news...I got my hair cut today. Woohoo. It's not really anything different, so don't go begging for photos or anything. I basically don't look like I'm wearing a pile of straw on my head anymore.

In "I can't decide which new stuff to get news", I cannot decide which skin shall adorn my new lil puter. So when I have more energy for it, I'm going to post some options here and ask for a vote of sorts. Which, I guess, basically means that Shanny will be the one who decides, as no one else ever says so much as "Boo!". :P

And, with that, good night. It's nearing midnight and the heat comes earlier and earlier these days... If I want to breathe fresh air tomorrow, I'd better get some sleep!

New Toy, Happy Early Birthday!

Ever since I became enamoured of the idea of being able to blog from bed, I've been rendered incapable of putting two words together at my desktop computer. I just can't get my thoughts together out there. To many distractions, too, too many.

In one of my typical interweb ramblings, I discovered "netbooks" and was instantly smitten. They are tiny, portable, very basic, and very inexpensive. I read and read and researched and discovered the lovely Asus eeePC 1000HE.

I mentioned it to R and, although he was skeptical at first, I think my earnest interest finally won him over and he checked it out. I was honestly going to buy it myself, having just paid off my car and feeling the joy of "extra money"...but with my birthday coming up, he was havin' none of that. The Asus would be my birthday present, and so it is! We ordered it over the weekend, and it came in today. It's black, and will soon be covered in a nifty skin of some sort--because it really is a fingerprint magnet. And because skinz are just cool.

So I'm sitting here in bed, happily tapping away and listening to CBC Radio 3. The reviews were right; the sound is far from audiophile-approved, but it's certainly fine for my current purposes. And while I could stay up all night toying with all the features and settings, I must, at this point, put it away. Summer has come early to the desert (our first 100+ degree day was yesterday!) and I have to get the hounds out the door before 6am if I don't want to roast.

I know I've said it before, but I have to say it again--I think I'll be around more often now. Writing before bed(in bed!) clears my brain of some of the flotsam and jetsam it collects during the day, and I really believe it helps me sleep better. And since I'm going to be getting up at 5:30 or earlier for the next few months, I'm going to need all the help I can get!

I love my lil netbook! Thank you baby! <3

MPG

We haven't really talked a lot about mileage lately. Today, however, I finally got off my butt and went for a nice long(ish) bike ride, so I feel a bit better about broaching the subject.

For example, the pain of admitting that nearly the entire month of February was spent doing a whole lot of nothing is dulled a bit by being able to say that I rode for about 10 miles today. Of course, my total for the week is a paltry 15 miles or so, and admitting that is as though someone cut off my morphine.

I blame it on the dog. Bucket and I went for a nice long romp in the desert last Sunday. As much as I preach against it, there are times when I just want to see the boy run, so I let him off leash. He's quite good out there in the middle of nowhere, and as long as we never run into another dog, we should be just fine. He has chased many a lizard, what I presume to have been a rabbit, and this past Sunday found and tactfully avoided a rattlesnake (thank heavens he had the good sense to step away; I'm not sure what I'd have done if he'd decided it would make a fun chew toy). It's a real joy to see him exploring and occasionally looking over his shoulder to make sure I'm in sight. He comes when he's called (as long as there are no major distractions) and never gets too far away. If he can't hear my footsteps, he'll stand stock still and start looking fervently for me--I stop from time to time and "hide" just to make sure he's paying attention!

Anyway. The desert being what it is... I normally am the considerate parent and check his lil tootsies when we get home, but for some reason last Sunday I spaced it. I think I was just exhausted--5 miles of running through the desert on a toasty Spring afternoon will do that to a girl. I was laying on the bed, mustering up the energy to take a shower when Bucket walked up to the side of the bed and looked at me plaintively while lifting up one paw.

Sure enough, he had a GINORMOUS thorn in one of his pads. We had to get the needlenose pliers after it, and he shrieked like the little girl he is. Anyone would have thought we were poking a searing cattle prod in his eye or something. We cleaned it up and watched him limp around the house for the rest of the afternoon, clearly hoping that more attention would come his way.

The Monday morning walk of course had to be cancelled. We wanted to give him time to heal up properly, and taking Delilah and not him would have been paramount to asking for the animal kingdom's version of wailing and gnashing of teeth. Since he was no longer limping and showed no other signs of distress with the foot, I decided to take him for a short walk on Tuesday, which went just fine. Hooray.

Wednesday I'll have to blame on myself. I had decided to take my 24 allergy meds before bed, since they were making me a bit groggy during the morning, and when I tried to wake up at 6 am, I felt like I'd been beaten around the head with a sack of lead. Same result when I tried to wake up at 6:45, 7:15, and 7:45. I finally hauled my sorry self out of bed shortly after 8am, so no walkies Wednesday.

I have no idea why we didn't walk Thursday morning. I'm going to have to go with sheer laziness.

Friday? Well, lets just say that Bucket had a tummy ache on Thursday night and Friday morning and leave it there. I mean, I don't need to go into detail about what was going on with my boy's butt. It was gross. And it needed to be taken care of at 2am and again at 4am. And I'm pretty sure I didn't sleep at all really between those two times. So when 6am rolled around, I had long since re-set the alarm for a friendlier hour.

Wow, so it seems that I can really only blame the boy for 3 days of suckage this week. The rest of it was all me. But his days are the majority, so I'm going to stick with my previous assesment that it's all his fault.

And on an entirely different note, R took Bucket and Delilah with him to get coffee this afternoon. The rear windows in the xTerra were up, so the girl at the window couldn't see the dogs, but she could hear Bucket whining and chirping like he does. She honestly asked R if he had "a little chihuahua back there". I'm not sure how he stifled what surely must have been the world's loudest guffaw, but he simply rolled down the rear window and let Bucket stick his head out. The coffee girl was shocked, to say the least. A little chihuahua indeed!

So yeah. Lowish miles this week overall, but today was a good day. I'm hoping to make that a more regular ride, as it's fast, easy (totally non-technical so I can push the speed and get the heart rate up!), and variable enough to keep me from getting bored. The cupcake bites have really been a bane to any sort of "get skinny" plan; my only hope is to get more active! With summer fast approaching, my outdoor activity window grows slimmer and slimmer--unlike my belly!

I'll get some totals together soon; I'm not entirely sure where I stand overall and it would be good information to have. But now...sleep!

Buzz buzz buzz

I recently bought an air purifier for our bedroom, as my allergies--especially overnight, for some reason--have gotten more annoying. I can't tell if it's doing much at all really, but I've become accustomed to the humming of the fans; they create a lovely white noise in the room. However, they do keep me from thinking deeply. I could think of nothing else when trying to name tonight's post. Or perhaps there's really nothing else to call such ramblings.

Thank you to my dear Shanny, who has, through the miracle of technology, set herself up to receive an email whenever I update my blog. She is also one of the only folks who ever post comments on my blog (coughcoughpointedcough). I want to link to her blog, which is much more regularly updated than mine, although not as much as I'd like (coughcough)--but since I'm on the laptop, I don't have the faintest idea how to find her.*** What on earth would I ever do without my bookmarks?

Anyway.

No crazy bizaare dreams to report from the past two nights. Oh, don't doubt that I had them! I just can't recall the content at this point. We watched two episodes of Lost tonight, though, so I'm sure it will be a fun-filled venture into insanity when I drift of to sleep in a bit.

Holy Crap. Season Three of the Venture Brothers came out yesterday and I totally forgot about it. Not that I've even seen Season Two yet, but season one was really amazingly good. Clever and ridiculous and insidious and buzz buzz buzz.... Maybe it's time to go shopping.

See what I did there? The weird, invisible tangential leap between talking about the insanity of Lost to "zomg Venture Brothers!"? It's kind of hard to follow, even for me, but this is how it goes**:

We watched two episodes of Lost(which is a total trip).
In my head, but not written down: "I think it's better to wait until the DVDs come out--or at least until the end of the season so we can watch them all at once."
"You know", (still in my head) I need to clean out the DVD shelves downstairs."
Then, as I visualise the DVD shelves, I can see the Venture Brothers very near the LOST set(s) on the shelf (television collections are filed together, of course...duh!).
Then I remember hearing a blurb about the Venture Brothers Season Three set coming out on Tuesday. (On NPR, of all places! *THAT'S* how cool the Venture Brothers are.)

So now that you've had that tasty little peek inside my whacko brain, I'm going to leave you to chew on it a bit while I head off to what will surely be animated dreams of angry butterflies, smoke monsters, hippies, and assassins. Good times!

**OR...it may have had something to do with the fact that I'd just used the word "venture" in the line previous. Amazing what you find out when you re-read something you've just written. Although everything else is true, too.

***Wow. I really need to hang out around here more often. There is a link to Shanny's site, right over there << on the side bar.

I am the Optimist Doctor

The one who refuses to let the patient die. The one who never delivers the "I'm so sorry...." speech. The one who constantly has another trick up her sleeve.

I have let this blog fade so so many times, and yet I keep coming back. Small wonder no one reads along; I have a hard time following blogs that post 3-4 times a week, much less one that might post 3-4 times every 6 months! No, I can't blame my readers for my...lack of readers. I have only myself and my lackadaisical posting attitudes to fault for that.

My most recent excuse was, of course, the incoming parentals. The prep work for their visit, their visit, and the downtime afterward was my rationale for abandoning The Blog. But they left almost 2 months ago, for crying out loud! I guess I just find it hard to jump back on the bandwagon once I've fallen off. Those cart horses do go quickly, you know.

At any rate, I've this night found the laptop sitting on the bed. R was feelin crappy today (so I'm probably catching back my cooties even as I type), and had the computer in here so he could email in sick (aaaahhhh technology! don't even have to talk to the boss any more--just send him an email!).

It was calling to me and it makes sense--I've journaled since I was a teenager, and I always wrote before bed. Got my thoughts out of my brain and allowed me, usually, to get to sleep more easily. And it kept me from having wildly whacko dreams, like the one a couple weeks ago where I was being chased by a mountain lion that eventually grabbed the back of my hand with one of his ginormous claws, which stuck in like nature's own grappling hook. Or the one last night featuring a huge smooth quarry-like pit in the earth, strewn with the skeletons of the people who had fallen in and couldn't get out. Among other things.

Yeah, those things I can do without. So perhaps blogging about the mundanities of my days will keep me here, keep some of you here (Hi Mom! Hi Dad!), and get me some much needed sweet dreams!

Regretting the Expenditure

Because gadgets that make me feel like a slacker suck.

I bought a Pedometer just after Christmas. Despite the fact that I have a really snazzy GarminForerunner 301 which works just fine (except for the download/online stuff, which I've never managed to be able to access), I wanted to see exactly how many steps I was taking each day--to see how close I was to the magical 10,000 steps mark.

Not. Very. Close.

I wore the pedometer every day last week, from the time I got up in the morning to the time I went to bed. I wanted the full day's worth of steps. Admittedly, there are limits to what the pedometer can measure--it only starts counting after like 4 consecutive seconds of walking, and erratic steps or moving too quickly or too slowly sometimes means it won't register your movements. Still. I figured I was in a pretty good position for 10-15k steps a day. Right?

Like most people, I grossly overestimated the number of steps I take on any given day. On days when I started out by walking 3-3.5 miles with the dogs, I came in only around 8-9k. Still short of the mark. On days that I didn't walk the dogs (I know, I know, for shame...), I came in around 3k. Miserable machine!

My one triumph was Wednesday, when I both walked the dogs in the morning (3.69miles), and went for a hike that evening (3.5 miles). Steps that day: 17,890! But let's be honest, the odds of me doing anything remotely like that on a regular basis are slim to none. I've taken to walking in place in the kitchen while making dinner, but I think it only serves to make me look ridiculous; I'm not sure the pedometer even "sees" those steps. le sigh.

Anyway, here's the breakdown for the week:

Day / Miles / Steps
Sunday / 8.57-bike / no ped yet
Monday / 3.02-walk / 9485
Tuesday / 0.00 / 3117
Wednesday / 7.19-walk / 17,890
Thursday / 0.0 / 3445
Friday / 3.47-walk / 8562
Saturday / 0.0 / forgot to wear the ped
TOTALS: 22.25 miles / 42,499 steps

I have no idea where that puts me for the month, because I forgot to look at my old post and I've been too lazy to write it down in my planner, where it really should go. It would save me a lot of time at the end/beginning of the week when I'm doing these recaps. There is a lot of button pushing and scrolling through workouts to get to the numbers. So perhaps I'll get on that.

The 'rents are coming in on Wednesday for a week's visit, weather allowing. Supposedly some big ice storm is set to hit their neck of the woods, just in time to make driving 2 hours to the airport a real fiasco. Here's hoping the weatherman is wrong this time too. All this is to say that, assuming my folks make their flight, chances are high that I *won't* be posting much this week.

That's funny. It implies that in other circumstances I might post 5 times a day or some such. lol.

You get my meaning. So that promised excursion to the summer of '08 will likely wait a little longer. But here are a couple photos from a hiking trip I took way back then (to Woods Canyon Lake), just to keep you interested:
It was so amazingly beautiful up there. Green. And green. With wind and water and vegetation that was green. /sigh

Giddy

I am thankful that I have a job that allowed me to watch streaming video of Today's Events. I was able to successfully complete my assigned tasks, but I will admit that there were a lot of breaks taken to oogle the massive display of hope and excitement and pride playing out on my computer screen.

I was stunned at the numbers of people who showed up for the event, and even more blown away by the amount of preparation that went into providing for them--the miles of chairs, 20 or so giant screens(I'm totally guessing here) that allowed the folks over a half mile away to see what was happening at the podium, the warming stations, the blankets that were handed out, the security, the transporation...it was mind blowing.

I was awed by the enormity of the occasion itself. The formality of it all really made me proud. We, as Americans, don't have a lot of real "culture" to call our own--it's all a mishmash of the immigrant communities that make us These United States--but oh, the ceremony of the day! The motorcades and the banners and flags, the military personnel stationed at every gateway and portal. . . And the millions of people clamoring for the tiniest view of the new president--the joy and hope on the faces as the cameras panned the crowd... It really felt like America.

I am not naive enough to think that things are going to change overnight. I am, however, giddy with the thought that we have finally come together as a country and spoken out about some changes that we'd *like* to see--that we *need* to see. I believe that we have chosen the administration to bring about some of those changes. It's not going to be painless, and in fact it's probably going to get worse before it gets better, but I believe that it will happen.

Yes, It Can.

A note on mileages

So I slacked off a bit last week, and I'm going to call it the fault of my allergies, which started kicking my BUTT on Sunday. I simply could not drag my sorry self out of bed early enough to get any exercise in for the next three days.

However, I did really well the previous week, and I've gotten this week off to a good start, so I'm not calling my Resolution a bust.

Here's what I have so far:
Week ending / Miles:
Jan 3 / 8.29(w)
Jan 10 / 6.71(w) 20.13(b)
Jan 17 / 8.63
Jan 24 / 8.57(b)

TOTAL: 52.33

Which means I've averaged 2.9 miles a day--barely over my goal, but beating it nonetheless. I'm feeling manky again today after my ride this morning, but I've managed to get some allergy meds down my gullet, so hopefully I'll get some decent sleep and be up and at 'em in the morning.

Oh, and the pedometer I ordered after Christmas has finally come in, so I'm going to play with that this week and see if I even get close to the magical 10,000 step mark.

Later this week: More on the joys of Wii Fit and my sundry hikes during my Summer of Freedom and Gloom 08. Woo.

I'd better get this done. . .

Before another day goes by and I'm a full week without posting. Oh. The Horror.

So yeah, in real life, I rode my bike Saturday morning. TWENTY MILES. /flex

To be honest, I was not planning this. If someone had said to me before hand "we're going to ride about 2o miles today", I would have laughed nervously and suddenly remembered that I had a broken leg, or that I had to give birth later in the day and couldn't possibly work a ride that long into my schedule. As it was, we intended to ride about 10-12 miles....and just kept going.

It was a ride I joined via Meetup.com, so I didn't know the people (turned out a couple people bailed so it was just me and one other gal) I was riding with, and I was barely familiar with where we'd be riding (along the canals in Scottsdale, which was an enabler to the length of the ride--they are very fast and easy riding). As it turned out, though, the ride leader and I got along just fine, and ended up riding well past where we thought we'd end up. We also stopped at a groovy little farmers' market along the way and sampled some of Sam The Chocolate Guy's goods (mayan chocolate--yum!).

Unfortunately, I presumed that since I had ridden 20 miles that morning on my bike, I could eat anything I wanted in whatever quantity I deemed desireable. This turned out to be not such a good idea, as by Sunday morning I had not only gained back any previously lost poundage (truth be known, I'm chalking it up to muscle gain!! that's my story, and I'm stickin to it!), but also felt quite sick.

I really need to start jumping on the Wii Fit every morning again. There is nothing like a sweet little electronic voice "tsk tsking" at you to shore up your willpower against naughty things like cookies and sweet sweet coffee drinks.

At this point, though, I've gained back nearly all the weight I lost last summer, and I am loathe to climb aboard and watch the graph line shoot through the top of the telly. And I really don't think I can bear to hear the disappointment in my Wii trainer's voice. So the plan is to lose a bit more on my own before I go back to the balance board. I might just have to suck it up though, because if last Saturday was any indication, I'm pretty full of fail on the whole "do it yourself" mode of fitness.

Besides, I better get serious if I'm going to spend 6 months on an Australian island. (hahaha, I know the link is broken--I don't think they really anticipated the response. Fairly naive, I feel, if you're advertising to pay someone $100k to spend 6 months vacationing and blogging about their experiences.)

Link-o-Licious!
<3

Hump Day!

Whenever I hear that phrase, I actually envision the week as a giant surly camel, with Wednesday teetering precariously on its hump (it's always a dromedary, because Wednesday is so big that it would simply sit across the humps of a bactrian camel. . . the single hump is key). True story.

Not only is it Wednesday, but it's also the 7th of January. Date-wise, we're a week into the New Year. Here are my totals so far:

8.34 miles last week
6.85 miles so far this week

Which makes for a grand total of 15.19 miles over the course of 7 days. Just over 2 miles a day; it appears that I'm barely ekeing by! Thing is, I've been doing a fair amount of non-linear exercising as well--I just don't know how to translate that into mileage.

Anyway.

Quickly, very quickly, as my computer cutoff for the evening is about to strike, let me jump back a month or so ago when I was telling stories of a trip to the Midwest.

You'll recall that I first hit the Casa De Parentals, and then zoomed up to KC to visit My Best Friend in the Whole World Even England. I was supposed to have left for home after visiting with her and her family for a few days, but I was compelled to go back and spend some more time in the boonies with no cable and intermittent DSL. So I called Southwest and switched my flight to a week later (hey, I was unemployed--what I lacked in money I more than made up for in Free Time), and back to the 'rents' I went.

I knitted some more, probably worked in the yard some more, surely played a lot of solitaire on the computer because there is only so much network television I can take (Honestly, I don't know how they do it. I'm SO showing them the glory of Hulu when they come visit!). It was a lovely lovely time, but eventually I had to come back to the reality of unemployment in Phoenix.

Fortunately, I had in my pocket a gift--or rather the promise of a gift. A gift that would distract me, entertain me, and enable me to get some exercise during the Months in Which I Do Not Leave The House. I had in my pocket a Wii Fit (well not *really*...more like a gift card...a LOT like a check in my name so that I could pick it up when I got back to Phoenix. Happy Birthday!).

Arbitrary Restart

I'm a bit dubious of New Year's Resolutions. It's a great tradition and all, but it seems a bit callow to make a bunch of 180 degree turns in your personality and mannerisms just because of specific date on a calendar.

That said, I always make a couple. I guess I'm hopeful that some strange twist of fate or alignment of the stars will actually enable me to make things stick this time around--to help me make the changes that I'm apparently incapable of making on my own at any point in the year.

I like to leave my New Year's Resolutions kind of loose, so if I fail, it will be harder to pin it down as an absolute miss of the mark. I don't like to Resolve to lose 15 lbs. I prefer to say that I'll get in better shape. Nor will I say "I will no longer eat candy and consistently od on sugars." Rather, I say "I'll eat more healthfully."

This year I abandoned that tack, for the most part. I have made the obligatory promises to treat my body better--to exercise more and eat more veggies and whatnot--I would feel that I was letting down the Gods of Tradition if I left those out. But I have also made the following, quantitative, resolutions:

I will log, whether on foot or on bike (or swimming if it comes up), 60 miles a month. Sounds like a lot, but it's a paltry amount, really--and sadly more than I've managed to accumulate in recent memory. And I'm not talking about the distant that might be racked up in my numerous trips to see if anything nommable has suddenly appeared in the fridge. I'm talking about purposeful travel. Walking the dogs, hiking, going for a bike ride. Actual exercise.

I also originally thought that I might resolve to write three times a week here. But that seems, really, to be setting myself (and you?) up for disappointment. Once a week seems a better goal, given my propensity for getting wildly distracted and then overwhelmed with my own thoughts to the point of speechlessness.

Yes. Two *real* resolutions. I think it's about all I can handle. And so far I've done fairly well with them. I've logged 11.5 miles this year so far (so I can sit on my butt for a couple now??), and have written twice in three days.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go play on the computer for the next 35 minutes so I can shut it down by 8pm. (It's another unspoken goal I've given myself, but I'm pretty sure it won't last, so I'm not going to mention it now.) Getting a full night of sleep has proven quite satisfying to me for the past couple nights, although I'm not sure what the dogs or the man make of me waking up before 6am on my own.

Today

Today is the first day of the rest of this year. Profundity at its best, ladies and gents.

I had big plans for a big blowout of a post, to bring attention to the fact that I have resolved--yet again--to do better at this. To write more. To post more photos.

But the fact of the matter is, after a beautiful hike this morning at Pinnacle Peak Park:
I am pooped and have a whopping headache to boot. (yes, that's a house nestled at the foot of that mountain that I just hiked over. must suck for those people to have to live out here in the middle of a beautiful nature area, with all those trails out their back door. I feel sorry for them.)

So. Welcome to 2009. Welcome to my blog. When I shake this headache and get some rest, I'll be back!

Apologies!

To all my fans in the KC area, who didn't catch the fact that I was doing a retrospective here! Seems I got people all a-flutter, thinking I was headed back that way soon. Ah, that I could! I would love to catch the MBP reunion happening next weekend.

No no, what I meant was that the next time we talked (meaning, of course, the next time I rambled on endlessly in type and you read or skimmed the blogpost) I would tell you all about the Kansas City leg of my trip, wherein it became every more clear to me that once you have an adorable child (as does my Best Friend in the Entire World, Even England) the laws of physics and gravity and whatnot all go straight out the window.

Everything is centered around the little one. Where to eat, how to entertain ourselves, what we say...The World starts revolving around her. Not a bad thing, just wildly different than Life Without A Child. And honestly, I have no idea how ppl with children survive. After a day and a half I was absolutely wiped out. Exhausted. Waterballoon fights in the backyard? Hours spent trying to finagle a few teeny bites of food into her little mouth when she was otherwise distracted by some fancy artwork or an action packed football game? Painting and cutting and chalk art on the front steps, lots and lots and LOTS of lotion applications (oh boy does that little girl love lotion!). Blinky, whirly, blingy, springy toys. A trunk full of dress up clothes, and a tea set on the drum set. Trips to the park, where we were served handfulls of dirt "cupcakes", and where a giant worm proved far more fascinating (and terrifying) than anything I could have ever imagined:
At times I tried to hide in my room, but even that was useless, as bright and early in the morning the tiny little voice was at my door..."Where's Kewwi? KEWWI!! WAKE UP!" And you can't be mad at her--that's another bass-ackwards law of little people (and puppies and other baby animals)--she's just to adorable and honest and *real* to get mad at. She's incredibly smart, very funny, and generally a very cool little girl. I'm SO glad I got a chance to hang out with her, and I can't wait to do it again...but man, I'm glad I only have dogs and a boyfriend to take care of!

Then again, I don't think the puppies *or* R would ever want to take part in a miniature replica train ride:
I can't wait to go back and see her (and my best friend!) again. . .

Update! And Stuff...

So. In the past two days, Team Fatty has raised over $11,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Not too shabby. I personally haven't contributed a great deal towards that amount, but I have yet to put it out to our online gaming family, or to my hiking/cycling Meetup groups. Must. Push. Moar!

Yeah.

Back in Missouri (Mizzou-rah, or Misoo-ri, or Misery, depending on your regional dialect and/or personal mood), there were Thunderstorms to enjoy, hummingbirds to feed and laptop computers to connect.

I also got a refresher course in knitting, which for some odd reason I've always wanted to learn. Mom has tried on multiple occasions to teach me, but because I am quite unable to pick it up and immediately be good at it, it's never quite caught on. Because there is little to do in the boonies except watch one of the three available television channels, I got quite a lot of practice in while I was there. I even managed to knit...an oversized washcloth? a pint-sized towel? Looking at it again now (I keep it near me at all times, as a reminder of more crafty times.), it's more the size of a placemat--although it is wholly unsuited to that task as it would slide all over the table *and* get horrifically laden with crumbs to boot.

I was pretty pleased with my little washcloth/towel/placemat, and after I got back to Phoenix I promptly went out and purchased some inexpensive cotton yarn with which to continue apace. Thing is, I don't watch much telly here. And it's difficult to knit while sitting at the computer--much more difficult than you might imagine.

And so, alas, my sunshine yellow skein of yarn sits atop my tower, largely unused. I've got about 4 rows of what I'll optimistically call "seed stitch" on the needles, but since I haven't really done anything with them in approximately forever, I doubt there will be much more added to them.

I could seriously open my own shop with all of the half-finished projects I've got laying about.

Poing!

And later, Kansas City, here I come!

Brief Interlude

If you have spent any time around me in the last 2 years or so, you've heard me mention The Fat Cyclist. He is one of my favourite blog writers, he is a cyclist, and his wife is battling some pretty horrific cancer right now.

He's been involved with the Lance Armstrong Livestrong Foundation since her cancer came back, and they have helped immensely with referals, information, and sundry sorts of assistance. There are some really good posts about it, and other things here.

Last year as a community, Fatty's friends, family, and readers donated to the LAF via Mike Levin, who raised over $57,000 dollars for the cause. This year, Fatty has challenged us to create four Fat Cyclist teams (one for each city in which the Livestrong Challenge is held) in the hopes that we will be the biggest Mega-Team with the most gigantic-est funds raised--ever!

So. I've joined the San Jose Team. (They're close and they needed warm bodies!) You can find my donation site here. I know things are tight for all of us right now, but please consider donating even $10. Chances are excruciatingly high that you or someone you love will deal with some form of cancer in your lives. Donations to the Lance Armstrong Livestrong Foundation will enable research to continue towards treatments and cures, as well as provide a strong base of support for people currently dealing with cancer.

Thanks.

Yes, Goats!

When I went home to The Sticks, it was partially to celebrate my parents' anniversary, partially to celebrate my mom's birthday, partially to celebrate Mother's Day, and partially to celebrate my own birthday.

On my actual birthday, my mom asked what I wanted to do. . .go to town and go shopping, maybe? Maybe. . . But what I really wanted to do was go see the neighbour's goats. Mom had mentioned this neighbour and her menagerie countless times, knowing the odd affinity I have for all creatures great and small (and smelly). And aside from having goats, she also sounded like a pretty cool lady anyway, so I was excited to meet her. So we put on our grubby clothes and shoes--we'd be traipsing around in a goat pen, after all--and headed across the golf course.

Yes, there is a golf course smack dab in the middle of the neighbourhood where my folks live. And yes, there is a house off the 6th or 7th green with a yard full of goats. I couldn't make this up.

This is Billy. The Billy of the herd. He is one nasty dude. I was warned, but refused to believe in the foul habits of a billy goat. I don't think I got any photographic evidence, and believe me when I say this photo was taken *before* I witnessed it, but yes...billy goats pee on their beards.
It's quite a demonstration of agility and balance, really, but in the end I just wasn't as impressed as he possibly hoped. I guess his little trick works with the lady goats though, because there were dozens of little faces like this staring us down:I got to break out the goat treats and become everyone's best friend for a few minutes, and despite Billy giving me far more attention than the little ones dared, it was a really cool thing to do on my birthday. Yeah, that's me, turning 38 and livin' it up at a petting zoo, with a smelly pee-covered billy goat chasing me around and shoes covered in straw and poo. I am probably the world's cheapest date. And I'm okay with that.

I need my camera.

Because Delilah has just moved her achy bones from her bed to a sunny little patch on the floor behind me. The curtains are pulled back and the window is open, so she's getting a full facefull of direct sun. And she's squinting. It's pretty adorable, but it's a sight only for me today, because my camera is downstairs on the kitchen table. Probably out of juice anyway.

My iPhone is charging about a foot from me, but it was so dead that if I pull it off the charger to take a photo it will just die again. I'm obviously not terribly good with electronics that require proximity or charges.

Anyway. It's Saturday morning, just about a quarter to 9am here in Arizona where we don't change our clocks. I have no idea what time zone we're a part of these days. When people ask, I just say "Arizona Time" and let them figure it out.

We're going to a movie later this morning, but I thought I'd take this quick bit of quiet time to bring everyone up to speed on my doings for the past months. Everyone. Ha. The two people who still even bother to check to see if this thing has been added to. The other two people who read it have long moved on to other things. But I digress.

My last post was towards the end of April, and shortly after that I went home to Missouri to see my folks and my Best Friend in The Entire World, Even England (long story dating back to highschool).

Going back to my folks' house, which is smack dab in the middle of Boonies, MidAmerica, should be a relaxing, idyllic thing. They live close to a ginormous lake, where there are a lot of fish. They are surrounded by miles and miles and miles of woodland trails, and there are birds singing and squirrels chucking nuts down at your every move. But when I go home, it's always Project Time. Here's dad, preparing the lawnmower for me. See all that grass behind him? That's about 20% of what there is to mow. And see my above allusion to the fact that there are a LOT of trees to mow around.

I also got to move some newly cut firewood around. Baby snakes like big piles of wood.So do frogs with bright yellow legs. I didn't get to save any baby mice this time, but I do always enjoy finding critters; especially if I get to pick them up and put them on other critters.Snickers did *not* approve. I'm not sure the frog enjoyed it much either. But it was amusing to us humans, and no one got hurt.

I did get to spend some quality time in the woods, hunting for morels. Sadly, after many many hours, we had to settle for, well, nothing. Fortunately the neighbours had enormously better luck than we did, and they were in a sharing mood. Anyway. It was pretty in them thar woods:Another critter! Can you see him? Look real close!And that, my friends is day one of my trip to Missouri. Well, it could have been days one and three. I've slept since then, and even yesterday was a blur, so I'm not really going to make much of a stab at getting things from 7 months ago in chronological order. Anyway.

Tomorrow, Goats!

I am Thankful. . .

...that my mom and dad never fail to mention the fact that I never write on my blog anymore. Every single time we talk, for the past 7 months since I last wrote, my dad especially asks why I haven't updated my blog. And every time they mention it, I reply that yes, I really need to get back to writing. And then I get sidetracked until the next time they ask about it.

So thanks, folks, for nagging me back into writing. :P We'll see if it sticks this time.

There are a lot of other things I'm thankful for, but that I won't go into here. I think it's enough to just say that I appreciate my life and I realise that things could be much different for me and mine.

We have a lot of catching up to do, but I'm going to also leave that for another time. It's late on Thanksgiving and despite having eaten entirely too much food earlier today, I've got a bit of the midnight munchies. I'm going to go snag a bite of leftovers and hit the hay.

Love,
me