HGTV Dream Home 2006

I've gone so far as to make HGTV my internet home page for the next month or so, just so I'll remember to enter EVERY DAY to win the HGTV Dream Home 2006. It's yummy. I get a little misty-eyed thinking of all the wonderful singletrack mt. biking trails I would have access to!

Pet Owners!

Contaminated pet food kills dozens of dogs - Pet Health - MSNBC.com

Please read this article and spread the news to your pet loving friends! Their dogs may be having undiagnosed problems from eating this dog food.

Go See The Ringer. Seriously.

Go see The Ringer.

I'm not kidding. I was appalled at the idea behind this movie when I first learned about it. I used to worked with developmentally disabled adults, and found the whole premise disgusting. Then, a few weeks ago, I was having my tires balanced and while I waited I chanced upon an article about the movie in one of the sports magazines laying around. Turns out the film is not only sanctioned by The Special Olympics, the Chairman of the Board of the SO was the Executive Producer. A great many MR athletes/actors are in the movie--including Leonard Flowers and The Kids of Widney High.
Go here and check out the "Behind the Scenes" featurette. One of the best bits is a SO Tech Advisor talking about athlete reactions to Johnny Knoxville playing the lead role of the film. They thought it was a great idea--because the people that watched Jackass were the most likely candidates to abuse people with mental retardation. They felt that if he could draw that crowd to a movie like this, those folks might learn to treat them with more respect.

I hope that is the case--and I think it might just work.

If My Dogs Were Superheroes...

As you probably know if you are rl friend or just a regular reader, I have two dogs. They are both AMPB Terrier mixes, and are just as sweet as can be, as you can plainly see from this photo. Look at those faces! Angels, I tell you!


I do think, though that either of them could be great superheroes, fighting bad guys not with great agility and nasty growls, but with their own special skills.

Bucket (the white and black one) would stop bad guys in their tracks by projectile vomiting. He would then subdue them into admission of any crime by whining incessantly until they couldn't take it any longer.

Delilah (the tiger) would incapacitate the baddies by placing a tiny, well clawed paw directly on the tenderest part of their foot. She would then proceed to get confessions by licking that foot torture style until the crooks spilled their guts.

Yep. My dogs would make great superheroes. Problem is, they are currently wasting their talents on the good guys! *sigh*

There are Days...

And there are days....

It's an unoriginal post title, apparently, but why not do some recycling? It does good across the board. It's not just for cardboard anymore!

But....I digress.

It's the second day of 2006 already. My how time flies. I will be 36 years old this year, so my list of resolutions has become something more akin to a "To Do" list. We have these books at work, admonishing the reader to do these 100 Things before they die, or see these 1000 Places. I think they have given me a complex of sorts, even though I refuse to open them for fear of finding out how much more I need to get done in the next 40 to 50 years.

So I've made my own little list of things to do in the next year, and it goes thusly:

1) Learn (again) how to knit. My mom tried to show me a couple of years ago, but I put it down for approximately 30 mintues and never figured out how to get started again... My friend Shannon writes endlessly about her newfound love of knitting, and posts pictures of yummy scarves that she apparently whips up in minutes. My mom makes these fabulous little cloths, and equally yummy scarves in addition to full-on afghans. As if I don't have enough half-finished projects laying about the house...I want to KNIT!

2) Go to Sedona/Grand Canyon/Flagstaff. I've lived here just over a year and haven't seen these places? Enough said.

3) Enter a mountain bike race and/or triathlon. Because if I enter, I will *have* to train for it. I'm much to cheap to pay the entry fee and then blow it off. And then there is my pride...

And then there are some other listy things that are not, strictly speaking, resolutions but yet somehow qualify.

1) Buy a road bike. (all the better to train and compete for that triathlon)
2) Buy bike racks. (for storing multitudes of bikes in the garage and for schlepping around said bikes to aforementioned races)

Finally, a serious committment to self-betterment, in the true spirit of resolutions:

Start treating food as fuel instead of a shoulder to cry on or bullhorn to shout about life's injustices. 80% of the time. A girl's gotta have her chocolate, after all....

Happy New Year!

The Way of the Mountain Turtle

Not the single-speed part...maybe not the race part...but I want to ride this trail. If you don't read the story (but you should, because it's a good one), at least look at the photos. Wow.

Well, did you?

Did you click that link? Did you then click the big "WATCH THIS MOVIE" link? I don't think so. Because if you did, you would have surely posted here saying that that was the funniest, most clever thing you've seen in just *ages*. You would have wailed about the fact that you cannot find out how to get that song into your MP3 player. You would have lambasted me about the fact that you can't stop humming the tune, and rejoyced at realising after the umpteenth viewing that you can turn on subtitles and LEARN THE WORDS--Hooray!

Yeah. So go do that.

...

I haven't posted about the holidays because I've been feeling a little disgruntled at the whole working my ass off and people being dumb jerks bit. Now that that aspect of the holidays is mostly over, I can calmly say that I did have a lovely Christmas. At least the part that I spent at home with my honey and my furkids. We had a quiet evening Christmas eve, opening gifts and making the dogs sick with all manner of treats (Scotti Biscotti, Greenies, and carob-chip cookies). Christmas morning we opened our stockings (Santa always seems to deliver early to my parents house--why he can't just find ME is beyond reason--and my mom forwards the stockings here) and ate some yummy chocolate/crescent roll concoction I whipped up. We watched a few episodes of Firefly and had a great Christmas dinner consisting mainly of things I merely had to re-heat or boil and mash. Easy peasy.

It was a lovely, relaxing time, and the first entire day off together that Russell and I have had in longer than I care to remember. We need more of those!

The Ultimate Showdown

Watch This Movie!

Chipmunks Haunt Me

Remember them? "Theodore, Simon...AAAAAAALLLLLLVIIIIIIINNNNNNN!!!!?" The Chipmunks!. Yeah. That's right. Scroll on down the page. Listen to the samples. You know you want to.

For some reason, when the holidays roll around, I always think of that song. The first one. The Chipmunk Song. I still have the vinyl LP. I used to listen to it over and over again when I was a kid; it's a wonder it still plays. My record player (I almost typed "phonograph player", but that would just show my age and pretentiousness in ways I don't want to face.) is still in storage, though, so I'll have to wait to hear the beautiful analog version another time. For now, though, I'm off to amazon or itunes to sample more.

Long live the Chipmunks!

Wierd Things I do...

So I was laying (lying?) in bed last night, trying to fall asleep. As usual, I had the sheet/blanket pulled up over my mouth, just under my nose. I *must* sleep like this. It's better still if the sheet is tucked in and is kind of snug. How bizarre is that? I also cannot sleep unless my feet are covered...I have a theory that someone used to sneak into my room when was little and tickle my feet.

Another odd thing I noticed when I was at the two concerts we attended last week... When I take a drink of water, I tend to hold it in my mouth for a while before swallowing. I haven't noticed if this is just a concert thing or an all-the-time thing. Perhaps I'm trying to hydrate by osmosis? I do know that I tend to get sick to my stomach if I drink a lot of water when I'm working out or biking or whatever--maybe it's the same when dancing and I'm just subconciously drinking v e r y slowly?

Anyway. I'm sure I could write a book about the Wierd Things I do, so I'll pay more attention and post more as they reveal themselves to my consciousness.

good day!

My body has a point to make....

And that point is: You are TOO OLD FOR THIS CRAP. SLOW DOWN!

I worked the "front" of the store on Saturday, meaning that for the full 8 hours I was there, I was at the registers conducting traffic, answering manager calls, answering general service calls, and ringing when necessary. I stocked PoP displays, schlepped many boxes of wine, and collected the trash. I was, almost literally, running the entire day. I mentioned being dog tired when I got home around 7:30, but managed to stay up until nearly 11pm.

I then proceeded to sleep until AFTER 1PM the next day. For those math-impaired readers, that's over 14 hours of sleep.

Granted, Russell has been sick for about the last week, and several folks at work are coming down with it as well. I'm sure I've gotten more than a touch of that. Mostly, though, I think I just ran myself ragged. It was hella fun and I loved (almost) every second of it, but man....

Anyway. Today was a day off and I did a lot of nothing. I still need to mail off some packages and send some holiday cards--perhaps pick up a last minute gift or two. Tomorrow is another day off and I think I'll get some more slacker time in and do a few errands. Woot! for weekends.

How to make time stand still.

When I am very very busy, days last forever. My past two days off has felt like a week--I actually had a nervous fit about missing work today until I double-double checked the schedule--because I've been so busy and gotten so much done. It started, like it always does, with a list. I am a task lovin girl, and I make lists. Sometimes I add stuff I've done to a list just so it looks like I've accomplished more.

Lately I've made a lot of lists that have served only as "wish lists"...things I'd *like* to get done but have no real intention of doing. Things that won't cause the world to end if I put them off until next week or whenever. The to-do list I created for myself on Monday was really no different than those previous lists...I simply decided to follow through. I stayed on track and got just about every little thing done, and then some. And now that it's effectively my Sunday night, I can't believe that it's only 9:15pm. It really feels like it should be so much later, and that's because I've packed so much into a single day. I love days like this! I even took a fantastically long hot bath and read a book, and it's ONLY 9:15!

However, I do have to be at work at 7am, so bedtime fast approaches. I'll have to quickly make another list for tomorrow after work so I can make it last longer too!

You Say Ozo....

I say matli!

OZOMATLI! OZOMATLI!

We just got home from seeing them in concert. It was my second time, Russell's first. Damn. They are so amazing live. I danced my ass off, and I even spied Russell groovin' a bit. There were so many people there just standing and watching quietly. I'm not sure if they were clinically dead or what. You'd just about have to be to not feel the music these guys churn out. It's pretty much a hard wire to your groove engines to fire up.

If they come to your town, do yourself a favour and go see them. You won't be disappointed. Even if you don't dig on their style of music, you cannot deny that they put on one helluva show. And for the love of all that is right with the world, dance. Dance like you mean it and like you don't give a rat's ass what anyone thinks. Let yourself go and feel it. Your body and soul will thank you.

News Flash

When you are talking on a cell phone, you are NOT having a private conversation. I'm not talking about people eavesdropping over the satellite waves or whatever (which they probably are, but that's another blog altogether). I'm talking about the RUDE people who have conversations on their cell phones while eating in a restaurant, shopping in a store, or standing at my register to pay. The other day I was working in glassware, when up walks a tall, attractive woman. She's chattering away, so I look up to see if she needs assistance. Turns out she's having some heart-to-heart conversation with what must have been her long lost best friend, given the amount of sordid detail she was going into regarding her current relationship (they're getting married! how awesome is that?!), her past relationship (none of her family ever liked the guy anyway, so it's probably for the best), and all of the nuances of relatadating in between. She obviously was not aware of the phenomenon that causes all cell phone users to up their speaking volume by about 30%, thus rendering any conversation anything but private.

Then there are all the people who walk up to the cash registers with a phone plastered to their ear. When you ask them questions about their merchandise, or try to get information from them in any regard, they look at you like you've grown an extra head, and isn't that the rudest thing you ever did see?

If you have a cell phone, for the love of pete go outside the store or restaurant to have your conversation. You'll get some privacy and you'll have a better chance of avoiding looking like an asshole and NOT pissing someone off.

(I'm really not completely grumpy this season...I tried to post something funny the other day and blogger was down. really.)

So much nothin'

No deep thoughts or profundity here...just a giant sigh of exhaustion at working retail during the holiday season. It's not always the case, but I generally find that people are grumpier and less fun to be around these days, especially in a retail environment. Here, I am of course talking about the customers, although many times their bad attitude rubs off on us. There are only so many times you can be racing through the store with your arms *clearly* overloaded with this or that product and have some impatient bitch say in an annoyed and plaintive voice "Excuuuuse me, but can you help me???" without getting a bit...peeved. Um, yeah. Sure. I'll just continue to hold onto these two ginormous boxes of glassware while simultaneously holding your hand on the trip back to the cookie aisle. The price on that? Try checking the little white sticker right there in the corner. Advent Calendars? It started three days ago, and you're going to pull an attitude with me because we are sold out??

Yeah. Just remember when you are out shopping this season that the folks working for you are probably doing about 3 different jobs at any one time. They are overworked and underpaid and probably not getting coffee and smoke breaks like you do at your typical office job. Their feet hurt from running around all day, and they are almost always going to be working with at least one other customer besides yourself. Give 'em a break, okay?

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

You are Woodstock!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

curses to my friend Shannon for leading me to this site. I don't even like Peanuts, but there I am...Woodstock. I've also been drinking Peppermint Patty hot cocoa recently. What. Is. WRONG. with me?

Snow!

Well, it hasn't here, but when I walked out of work this evening, there was a smell and a taste in the air that just screamed snow to me. I really must get up to the mountains this winter and have myself some, well, winter. I long to bundle up in 17 layers of clothing and don one of my numerous silly hats. I want to wear the fantastic scarf my mother knit for me. I want to wear my hiking boots again, and my thick wool socks. I want my cheeks to turn bright pink with the chill, my eyes to water and my nose to run. Yes. Honestly. I miss these things!

It's strange, the things you want when you can't have them.

Look!

At Roto-blog: More Vagueness. I love these photo-manips done my fellow blogger in Birmingham. Really really lovely stuff.

Lottery

The old fashioned kind, I'm referring to. Not the "I haven't got any money to spare, but I'll spend my last dollar on a ticket in hopes of winning eleventy billion" type.

I'm not sure I mentioned them before or not, but our last neighbours to the south were slightly...unsavoury. I think a lot of alchohol was imbibed at that house, and their dogs were the bane of the neighbourhood and the recipients of MUCH hate from Delilah (Bucket just didn't understand why he couldn't go play). They left piles of refuse in the lane between our houses, and parked their large "landscaping" trailer in front of our driveway.

Suddenly, after less than 2 months, they were gone. We noticed a discernable lack of snarling dogs and rubbish about a week ago. Then the "For Rent" sign went up. Again. This will be the fourth time we've had new neighbours in the last year. When I came home from work yesterday I noticed that the sign is gone. I'm hoping for cool hip people we can befriend and trust to watch the dogs when we're away. Possibly folks with whom we can have game nights with along with periodic dinners and co-opted Garage Sales. Russell suspects we will get more white trash.

I'll keep you posted.

Random Gripe

So I was over at the Marble Slab Creamery today, awaiting my Chocolate-Peanut Butter shake (it had been a VERY and even EXTRAORDINARILY stressfull day at work and I know I shouldn't self medicate with ice cream. I'm a bad girl. Spank me later.), and I popped into the ladies room.

They had one of those idiotic "paper saver" rigs--the kind that won't allow you to pull off more than 2 squares of toilet paper at a time. Who the hell can wipe their ass with 2 squares of toilet paper?