Woot

Woot
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

This morning I bought this nifty little MP3 player off of Woot, a site Shawn turned me on to. Shawn's actually passed along quite a few sites I've found useful: FridaysFeast, Flickr, Craigslist, MedIDs, and now Woot! It's a site where they have only one item for sale each day and when the day is over or the thing sells out, that's it. No more thing for that day. Today's thing was this little MP3 player ~ under $20 including the shipping. I've been knocking around the idea of getting one for wogging/biking, but wasn't really sure how they worked or if I would even like them. I figured that $20 was a good price for something I was going to experiment with and it has all the features I wanted ~ FM tuner, arm band, etc. I'm looking forward to receiving him this week and gathering songs to upload onto him. I will, of course, call him Woot.

Speaking of exercising...it's just too, too hot to do anything outside today. The heat index is a stifling 107! I opened the door to let Shannon out & the heat nearly knocked me over! You can almost see a wavering kind of haze in the air. I'm pretty sure I'll be spending the bulk of the day inside with my scrapbook stuff and the air conditioner. I actually finished the P'Cola scrapbook last night. Yea for me! Next up is London before I forget what we did there ~ it's been over a year since our trip!

So What

Takee-Outee
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

I woke up this afternoon to find Vickie's People magazine on the kitchen table screaming at me with the headline "I'M GAY." Apparently some rich yadahoo kid in some dumb boy band who has been cowering in the proverbial closet all these years has decided to tell the world about his nasty little secret because now he feels "more liberated and free." Who really gives a crap? Until stupid shit like this stops making front page news, gay people will never be treated as equals. When is the last time you saw a headline like "I'M STRAIGHT!" or "I HAVE A DOG!" on the cover of an international magazine? Maybe it's because he's rich and was a chicken-shit for so many years that it's now a big deal for some asinine reason. So let me proclaim, here and now, to all who may read this, that I am no longer officially gay. I'll be gay again in a few years after I've saved a little bit of money and have lied about my life to a significant number of people. And I'll make sure to notify People magazine first, because if there's an especially intrusive way to delve into someone's private life, they are definitely the slimeballs to tell. I hope I won't be sharing the cover with Michael Jackson, though ~ he creaps me out a little!

Feast One-Hundred & Four
Appetizer

What's the funniest dream you can remember having?

I have a lot of strange dreams, but not very many funny ones. A while back one of the Sex & The City women was kinda hot for me. Strange thing is, I've never even seen the show.

Soup

If you were a dog, what breed would you be, and why?

I think I'd be a Lab because they all seem to be very bouncy and friendly.

Salad

Continue this sentence: "I get confused when..."

I read books or watch movies with a lot of main characters. When reading, I have to make a bookmark listing who's who. If it's a movie, I'm usually screwed unless I can watch it 2 or 3 times.

Main Course

Name two things that need to be done, but you are procrastinating in completing.

Painting the bathroom and painting the upstairs bedroom.

Dessert

When was the last time you tried something new, and what was it?

Last night was the first time in my life that I had Chinese take out. I'm a picky eater, so I like the buffets where I can kinda pick and choose what I want. But last night I was daring and got food in little white boxes. It was neat!

Surgery

Vic & I went to her surgery consult yesterday and it looks like the only way to fix her problem and relieve the pain is to have surgery. Again. Poor Vic, she's in a lot of pain now ~ it's affecting her neck, shoulder and radiates down her arm into her fingers. Parts of her arm and hand are numb and the pain just keeps getting worse. The surgeon says the problem is with her C4&5 in her spine. During the last surgery, in 2001, the doctor replaced her C5&6 vertebra and inserted a plate. This time the doctor is going to remove the old plate, take out the bad bone and replace it with cadaver bone and then put in a new plate. He'll enter by making an incision in the front of her neck, again. The whole procedure lasts about 2 hours and she'll spend one night in the hospital ~ the worst part of the whole surgery is the recovery. Last time she was out of work for 3 months and in quite a bit of pain almost the entire time. The doctor says she'll miss at least 6 weeks this time, too. That whole area of her neck was so tender that it hurt just to ride in the car, so she spent a lot of time in the house. Her surgery is scheduled for August 17th, so we're going to try to get as much stuff done around the house as we can to make it "recovery friendly." The upside to all this is that when it's all done she'll finally be pain free again. And she'll catch up on all her reading!

Bike Bike Bike

Vic & I didn't go to the Tall Ship Festival this past weekend ~ neither of us really wanted to drive 2 hours north and since I usually don't get up until about 1:00 on Saturdays anyway, we would've really gotten a late start on the day. The ships will be in Port Huron next month, so we'll see them then. We did, however, take the bikes to a couple of parks. Saturday we rode around Dodge Park (about 7 miles). By the time we got out there it was late afternoon and there was the most wonderful breeze blowing. The bike trail is well paved and runs through a wooded area, so it was very peaceful. Sunday we rode out to Stony Creek. That trail is about 8 miles long and runs alongside a beautiful lake. As a matter of fact the whole weeekend was bea-u-ti-ful! The temp was in the 80s and there was a constant breeze. Vic & I had a great time riding bikes!

Bike Bike Bike
Oh, there's nothing I like
quite as much as riding my bike.

Sure, we could've taken a hike
with a guy named Mike

Or fished for some pike
at a nearby dike.

But I'd much rather like
to go riding my bike.

I like like like to ride my bike bike bike.

Not Much Going On

Not really sure what we'll be doing this weekend. We planned on heading up to Bay City to see the Tall Ships Festival, but that's a 2 hour drive & I'm not sure if I want to be in the car that long. I guess we'll just decide tomorrow after I wake up. We could just stay home and work on stuff around the house, but it's supposed to be a really nice weekend and I'd hate to waste cool mid-afternoon breezes on rearranging the garage! I'm just looking forward to not having to go to work for a couple of days, so I really don't care what we do as long as it doesn't involve 911 calls!


Friday's Feast
One Hundred and Three

Appetizer
Fill in the blanks: I ____________ when I _____________.
I have to throw the ball a dozen times when I want Shannon to go potty.
I yell at the TV when I watch Tigers games.
I daydream about what I could be doing at home when I am at work.

Soup
Name something you use to make your home smell good.
Vic really likes champa incense sticks and I like to burn the Body Shop's cranberry oil.

Salad
If you could receive a coupon in the mail for 50% off any product, what would you want it to be for?
A boat.

Main Course
Besides sleeping, what do you spend the majority of the hours of your typical day doing?
My time is pretty much divided between sitting outside reading & sitting inside watching baseball.

Dessert
What can you hear right now while answering these questions?
The Tigers pre-game show on the TV.

Caseys

Caseys
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

Every week Vic & I try to buy a new flower or plant to pretty up the yard a bit. This week I got a pot of Black-Eyed Caseys. They're like Black-Eyed Susans except that their little black eyes poke out instead of staying in. And since we can never remember their correct name, we've named them after someone who likes them very, very much.

Also new this week are my contact lenses. I've always thought that we shouldn't have to pay for stuff that we absolutely have to have in order to exist ~ contacts being one of them. There should be some sort of legislation that says "if you need that certain thing or else you'll fall apart, then you should be given that certain thing for free." One 6-month supply of contacts is $130!! My insurance picks up most of the cost, but I still have to pay something. And since I can't see without them, I think the doctor should give them to me for free. I also think I should get free gas, free tampons and free kitty litter! I guess I could write up some sort of proposal and submit it to Congress, but then Bush might find that it "crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect" and veto it. (Who do you think wrote that for him? Just seems like too many big words for W.) Maybe I'll just stick to whining about it in my blog instead.

Upcoming Outings

I got pictures in the mail today from Jeannine ~ yea! I love getting stuff in the mail, even if Vic opens it first. They're of her trip here in June when we went to the Tigers game and to Frankenmuth. I can't believe it's the middle of July already! Where has the time gone? It seems like Jeannine was just here a few weeks ago and now stores are already putting school supplies on sale. Other than the mini heatwave we had last week, the Summer weather has been perfect. I hope we'll have great weather thru Autumn and a nice mild Winter again. I've got heaps of stuff planned for the next 6 months or so. Vic goes to see the doctor next week and maybe he can give us a better idea of when/if she'll have to have surgery. She's still in a lot of pain, so I'm guessing that if surgery is necessary it will probably be in the next month or two. I hope we'll still be able to go to the Renaissance Festival in September and to the cider mill in October. Right now I'm trying to get us tickets to a Tigers game. They're still in 1st place (in all of baseball!) which is great for the team, but it sucks if you want to buy last-minute tickets ~ there aren't any! Go Tigers!

Whole Lotta Nothin'

This past weekend Vic & I didn't really have anything specific planned ~ there were a few places we talked about going, but nothing definite. It was going to be a "see how the wind blows" kind of weekend. Well the wind wasn't blowing at all and the heat index reached 100, so we ended up doing a whole lot of nothing. Vic got a lot of laundry done, I finished my book and we sat inside in the air conditioning most of the weekend. We did venture out, later in the evenings, for ice cream both days. It was even too hot to wog today, so I cut the grass instead. I think I got plenty of exercise doing that ~ and I probably got a pretty good tan, too! This coming weekend is the Tall Ship Festival in Bay City, about an hour away from us. Hopefully the heat won't be as bad and we can venture out of the house for it. It's not supposed to be this hot in Michigan ~ it's supposed to be snowing. Maybe we need to move a little further north!

Doctor Updates

I heard from the doctor (finally) about my mammogram. She said that right now we have nothing to worry about, but since my last mamm. was 5 years ago, she wants me to take another one in 3 months to compare the films. I'm not really worried about it, but it was sure nice of her to call and talk to me personally about it. I also got my trial pair of new contacts yesterday. Supposedly I should be able to sleep in these, so I'm going to wear them for a week and then go back to the eye doctor and have him check my eyes out. I really hate not being able to see when I wake up, so I hope I'll be able to sleep in these and not have them suction themselves to my eyeball.

Feast One Hundred & Two
Appetizer
Name one thing nice that you could do for someone else today.
I could make pitchers of iced tea for Vic, even though I don't drink the stuff. But wait, I just did that yesterday, so I guess I've got the day off from being nice.

Soup
When was the last time you were frightened by the weather?
The night of September 15, 2004 ~ the hours before Hurrican Ivan hit.

Salad
What would you say is the most useful website or blog that you visit?
I love Wikipedia. Lots of interesting stuff there. Pictures, too.

Main Course
Who was your favorite singer/group when you were a child?
ABBA ~ I once got a 45 of "Waterloo" on the back of a cereal box. I cut it out and the little paper/plastic record played just fine on my pink record player.

Dessert
Do you have any rituals? If so, what are they?
When I go to work I have to clean my whole little area before I can log onto the computer for the night. I wipe off the phone & keyboards, arrange my quick reference sheets on my desk and make sure I have a fresh piece of paper on my notebook. I'm regularly laughed at.

Wogging

I've started running again. Well, let me ammend that a bit. Back in the days when I used to run 3 miles 7 days a week, I read in one of my running magazines that a person is a runner if they can run two 9-minute miles back to back and anything slower than that makes you a jogger. I think right now I'm a wogger; a combination of walking/jogging. I've been out to the track every once in a while since the snow melted, but nothing really consistent. But I got to thinking about how good I used to feel after my runs and how much healthier I seemed to be, so I've gotten more serious about the whole running thing. I've been wogging at the high school track every day for a week! The only day I wasn't there was when Vic & I spent the day walking around the zoo and I know I probably covered more distance that day then I do at the track. I'm starting out slow ~ I do 6 laps which is 1.5 miles. I've been timing the middle 4 laps to see how fast I can wog my mile ~ not too impressive so far, but right now my main goal is just to get out there and keep moving! With that said, I am skipping the track today to cut the grass instead. Cutting my front & back grass is definitely a pretty good workout and I'm usually pretty beat when I'm finished. Also, the All Star break is over and the Tigers are on TV tonight! So I'm looking forward to getting the grass done so I can just sit & relax for a bit before I head out to work. Go Tigers!

Squish Again

Vic & Zebra
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

I thought I would treat you to another picture of mine & Vic's trip to the zoo last Sunday. The zebras were very friendly & really curious about all the people who stopped to look at them. Apparently they also like to have their picture taken!

I had to go back for a follow-up mammogram yesterday. The doctor found some calcium deposits on the first film and wanted a more magnified view, so I went back for a resquishing. Mercedes the squisher told me that calcium deposits aren't necessarily a bad thing, but if they are too big or too plentiful or in a bad spot the doctor may want a biopsy done. The results are supposed to be forwarded to my doctor today or tomorrow, so hopefully I hear something soon. And, hopefully, it will be good news. I don't think I want a "babopsy."

The Old People & Kids Weekend

Tigers
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

After sleeping in late & then doing some yard work, Vic & I headed out to the MetroPark for a free concert by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO). The weather was gorgeous and the DSO was wonderful. Of course, since it was free every senior citizen you could shake a stick at was there. And they all sat next to Vic. She hates to be crowded, especially since we made the extra effort to get there a little early and staked out a nice place for our lawn chairs & cooler. It was close enough to hear the concert, but not so close that people would be sitting on our laps. Wrong! And for some reason people at outdoor concerts feel that it's okay to yell to each other. Not talk, yell. I guess it's the price you gotta pay for free, though.
Sunday we finally headed out to the zoo. We been talking about making a trip out there since the snow melted, but always seem to have something else going on. Sunday was another perfect day. A little on the warm side, so some of the animals were napping in shady spots. Much like the tigers in my picture. Actually, this phot could've be taken at my house because this is pretty much the activity level of our kitties. The Detroit Zoo is really big and Vic & I walked the whole thing. (I've got a huge blister on my little toe!) Lots of neat animals and beautiful flowers everywhere! Also everywhere were tons of kids. Now that school is out, I don't think any day would be a safe day to go to the zoo. I just think that any kid under 14 should be kept on a leash. One of those full body leashes, not just the collar one. I felt like a pinball machine with kids bouncing off of me every hour or so. But we did get a lot of great pictures and other than the rugrats, we had a great afternoon out.

Saturday, 7am

I usually always look forward to Friday, but since I have to go in 4 hours early tonight I'm really really looking forward to Saturday! Vic & I plan on going to the MetroPark to see the Detroit Symphony Orchestra play a free concert under the stars. I love stars and I especially love free, so I think we'll have a good time. If the weather cooperates on Sunday we're going to finally get out to the zoo. So I'm really looking forward to 7am Saturday morning when I skip out the front door of the PD and do my little weekend jig. It's a very pretty sight.

Feast One Hundred & One

Appetizer
When was the last time you visited a hospital?
A couple of weeks ago when I went with Vic to get her MRI done.

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how ambitious are you?
I think it depends on what I'm being ambitious about. If it's work related then I'm definitely a 1 ~ my philosophy has always been "why work harder if they're not going to pay me more?". Otherwise, I think I'm probably about a 6 or 7 on the daily life ambition scale.

Salad
Make a sentence using the letters of a body part. (Example: (mouth) My other ukelele tings healthily.)
Nesting Osprey Sit Ergonomically

Main Course
If you were to start a club, what would the subject matter be, and what would you name it?
I would call it "Casey, Casey, Casey" and it would be about all things Casey, naturally.

Dessert
What color is the carpet/flooring in your home?
We have ugly brown and uglier tan carpeting, wood floors & greyish marbley tile.

Squish

I went for a mammogram Wednesday afternoon. The whole experience was pretty unremarkable and not much to blog about, but I did notice one thing while I was standing there in one of those attractive gowns that open in the front. Quite a few medical personnel, from doctors to lab techs, find it unnecessary to introduce themselves to the patient. Now it may be just me, but I think if you're going to have me standing half-naked in a chilly room and injecting x-ray juice into my boobies the least you could do is tell me who you are. Christine, although not overly friendly, was certainly efficient and seemed to know what she was doing. But when I asked her what her name was (while she was hoisting my boobage up onto the cold slab) she gave it rather reluctantly, like maybe she was in trouble or something. What's the problem with saying who you are?! I just don't get it. I have another doctor's appointment today ~ this time with the eye doctor. This will be my first time seeing him and I hope, for his sake, that he introduces himself to me. (I also hope there won't be any more boob squishing.)

A Weekend of Nothing...Sort Of

Vic Cuttting the Grass
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

This was supposed to be the weekend of nothing. We were going to go nowhere and do nothing except sit around. Maybe we would read, but even that was iffy. Well, we almost succeeded in our nothingness. Saturday was spent sleeping in and then we went to a local plant nursery we've been wanting to visit and bought a spider plant (Charlotte) and a pretty purple climbing flower (Jack). After planting Jack & sitting on our new chair cushions (we bought earlier at the KMart) admiring him, Vic & I grilled a juicy steak for dinner (I, of course, set the table). Sunday, after watching the Tigers game, we cut the grass, trimmed the bushes & weeded the garden. Not really much of doing nothing, I guess, but we did spend an awful lot of time sitting around, too! And we had planned to go to see fireworks, but so many people in the neighborhood were setting them off that we saw plenty of fireworks without having to leave our backyard. Oh, I also finally finished the Hurricane Ivan scrapbook. Yea for me! The London book is next, but I'm not really looking forward to tackling something that big right now, so I think I'm going to work on catching up with the regular month-to-month scrapbook instead. I'd also like to get the bathroom painted by the end of the month. I think July is going to be pretty busy.