Playoffs

Playoffs
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

Is everyone as excited as I am that both the Pistons AND the Red Wings are in the playoffs? I doubt it. One of the reasons we moved North was because I really really missed pro sports and now how GREAT is it that two Detroit teams are in the playoffs! Every year the city dresses up the Spirit of Detroit guy in either a Pistons or Red Wings jersey, depending on which team is in the playoffs. I guess the big guy will just have to wear a different jersey every day! Both teams finished #1 in their respective leagues and they both have an excellent chance of going all the way. If they're both crowned champions, this will be the first time EVER that the same city has had an NBA champ AND an NHL champ the same year! How exciting! Hopefully we can make it downtown to get some pics of the Spirit dude this weekend. I'll keep you all abreast of playoff developments!

Current Events

Today the Sweet Baboo and I took a walk thru the hood. This is our first foray out into the wild since the traumatic attacking-dog incident a few weeks ago. Why so long between walks? Well, the reason is threefold: 1.) I was quite sick for about 3 weeks, 2.) The weather was crappy, and 3.) The Sweet Baboo and I are just a tooch on the lazy side. It was a balmy 64 degrees when we set out ~ a heatwave for this area! I'm happy to report we finished the walk unscathed and are now looking forward to a congratulatory dinner of pizza!

My car pooped out on me this morning. When I got off work this morning the battery was completely dead, so one of the guys gave me a jump and I made it home, but once I turned the Jeep off it wouldn't crank back up again. I left Vic a little memo asking her to check it out for me, and she bought me a new battery while I was asleep! Yea for Vickie! Turns out my alternator has low amps (dumb girl look on my face) and needs to be replaced, so it looks like this weekend will be car-repair themed. Actually, Vic and our neighbor will probably work on the Jeeps and if the weather cooperates I'll finally get to re-doing the Adirondack chairs.

Weekend Foliage

Saturday We set out earlyish on Saturday morning for the Home Depot. Our plan was to get a few pieces of lumber Vic needed to finally finish the door frame on the back door. We came back with the lumber, but we also picked up a few trees, too! The below pictures are of our new Purpleleaf Plum tree and our Forsythia.

Since the ground is still so wet, both trees went in the ground with very little work. I can't wait for the Purpleleaf Plum to get bushy and flowery. The Forsythia, unfortunately, stays the vibrant yellow only in the Spring ~ the rest of the year it's leaves are a pretty green. We'd like to eventually put more Forsythia along the fence in the backyard as a privacy-type hedgerow. After planting, the sun was still out so we gave Shannon a bath outside. Hopefully the ground will dry up soon, because not only do we need to cut the grass, but Shannon loves to roll around in the backyard and she's just a filthy mess all of the time! We need a few weeks of no rain and plenty of sunshine and I think we'll be okay.

Sunday We spent Easter Sunday at Vic's mom's house. We had an early dinner and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with her. We got home early enough to spend time with our own furry family and just relax for a bit. It's coldish again today. Not cold enough that we have to worry about bringing the plants back in, but cold enough that I have to wear sweatpants instead of the shorts I was wearing this weekend. I guess I have a few more weeks to trade out my Winter and Spring clothes.

Earl the Squirrel

Friday, April 14, 2006
Feast Eighty-Nine

Appetizer
What movie soundtracks do you own?
I'm not sure if I own any now (although I'm sure I could
probably find at least one). However, the very first
soundtrack I had was from the movie "Grease" on
8-Track! Half way thru a song you'd hear a big GLUMP! & then the song would continue.

Soup
How much cash do you usually carry with you?
Usually $10-$15 until Vic figures out I have money and then the dollar amount drops drastically.

Salad
Are you more comfortable around men or women?
Women. I'm grossly outnumbered at work, tho. Hazel Park has only one female patrol officer, so I'm subjected nightly to farting contests and stories about poop and other "guy stuff." It's really an eye-opener.

Main
What is the most mischievous thing you remember doing as a child?
I honestly don't remember. But one of the most mischievous things I've done TO a child is to run thru the house gobbling like a turkey. This sends the kitties flying thru the room! And it makes me chuckle.

Dessert
Who is the funniest member of your family?
Funny ha-ha would probably be me. Funny weird is definitely Earl (that's him in the pic). Earl's got huge eyes, a nose like a possum's and bowed legs (he used to have a rather ample manhood before it got snipped). He's also slightly overweight and built low to the ground. And he frequently flops over onto his back, airing out his wares for all to see.

This upcoming weekend should be pretty busy. We're going to Vic's mom's house for Easter lunch and I'm pretty sure we're going to spend most of Saturday working on a few small projects around the house. I like my job, but I look forward to the weekend all week long. And now that's it's been nice out I enjoy it even more! It's been kind've rainy the last couple of days, but still warm out. I'd like to redo the outside chairs some time this week, so hopefully the weather will cooperate.

One Year & Two Days of Blogs

It's been unseasonably warm here for the last couple of days. I think the temp actually got up to 75 one day this week! Vic & I would really like to take our plants back outside, but we think we may still have at least a couple of really cold days ahead of us yet, so they'll stay inside for at least another couple of weeks. Maybe they can go out the week after Easter. I love sitting outside when there's a nice breeze out. This is perfect "listen to the Tigers on the radio" weather. As a matter of fact, I'm listening to them right now!

I had to go to another training class yesterday when I got off of work, so by the time I got home (at around 5:00) I had been up for about 30 hours. I was exhausted and fell asleep on the couch until Vic got home at around 12:30. I really wanted to blog yesterday cuz I missed Tuesday's blog, which was my 1 year blog anniversary, but I was just waaayyy too tired to do it. A lot has happened to me in the past 12 months. Of course moving, the new house and a new job are the biggies, but there's been quite a bit of other stuff going on, too. I got to go to my first ever hockey game this year, I shoveled snow for the first time in over 20 years, Vic and I have been to some really nice area parks, we got to see the Tigers AND the Indians play live, but mostly we've just spent a lot of time going places and seeing things we couldn't experience in Florida. I'm really glad to be back up north again and I'm glad I've got a job that I like (most of the time). The past year hasn't been bad at all.

Springing Tulips

Spring Garden
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

Well, this past Saturday Vic & I finally made it out to the local plant nursery where we spoke to a very knowledgable horticulturist about our planting plans. We now have a better idea of what we want and when we're going to start planting. It's still a bit early to plant in our part of Michigan as you can see by our Tulips barely peeking out of the ground. We'll probably begin planting before Mother's Day, so until then, we'll just imagine what the back yard will look like. We took the adirondack chairs out of the garage and placed them on the patio today, even though it's still a little too cold to sit outside for very long. I'm planning on sanding and repainting them soon.

Our Sunday was spent pretty much at home. Vic helped me put up the much needed shelf in my craft room and I really made a huge dent in putting stuff away! I might even get it done before the end of the month! I'm feeling much better, but still can't seem to shake this nagging cough. Will I ever be at 100% again?!

Fleurs & Plantes ~ So Far

I finally completed the bottom half of "Fleurs & Plantes." Because most of these projects seem to take months to finish, I try to divide each picture into halves or thirds or quarters. I'm quite pleased that I've completed half of this one already and am really looking forward to starting the next half. I think of it as a totally new picture just to keep it interesting.

I also finally got around to seeing "Capote" the other night. I really enjoyed the acting, but not the movie so much. It was very monotone. By that I mean there were no peaks to the story ~ it just went along at the same pace for the entire 2 hours. Kind've dull. I also rented "Brokeback Mountain" and plan to watch it this weekend. Hopefully that will be a bit more interesting

Friday, April 07, 2006
Feast Eighty-Eight

Appetizer

Name a trait you share with your parents or your children.

Some of my children:

Shannon ~ we both like to spend time outside listening to the baseball game

Caleb ~ we both like to bug Vickie when she's trying to sleep

Duncan ~ we both like lots of attention

Earl ~ we both like tummy rubs

Nate ~ we both like privacy when going potty

Ricki ~ we both tend to hum when walking thru the house

Zachary ~ we would both sleep all day, if given the chance

Soup

List 3 qualities of a good leader, in your opinion.

Lead by example

Show you can do the job, too

Don't be afraid to delegate

Salad

Who is your favorite television chef?

The Swedish Chef from the Muppet Show.

Main Course

Share a story about a gift you received from someone you love.

Vic gave me a green hoodie for Christmas that I just love! I wear it outside all the time.

Dessert

How do you react under pressure?

Pretty well, I think. I like to be left alone so that I can organize, prioritize and tackle what needs to be done.

Blogging

Yesterday I had to stay after work for 3 hours to train on the new radio system we're getting at work. Consequently, I didn't get to bed until after noon and ended up sleeping most of the evening, leaving myself just enough time to eat a delicious meal of pizza balls (actually, I think they're called pizza rolls) and get ready for work. I missed out on my before-work lounging time. I really enjoy sitting before a fire, watching TV and cross-stitching before going to work. Since I've been somewhat under the weather, I haven't been stitching with my usual fervor. I should really be finished with the bottom half of the picture by now, so I'm looking forward to tackling it tonight. Hopefully, I'll finish it tonight or tomorrow and can soon include a photo of it!

Next week will mark my blog's 1 year anniversary. When I first heard of blogging I thought it was a dumb idea because anyone who might be interested in the goings-on in my life was right there in Pensacola with me. But then Shawn moved away and I really enjoyed reading about the little things going on in his life and at about that same time Vic & I had started the moving process, so I thought this might be an interesting project to take my mind off all the moving-related headaches I was having. I also thought it would be a nice way for my friends to keep up with what's going on in my new part of the world. So, I hope my blog hasn't been a dire disappointment for anyone who's signed on in the last year and I hope some interesting events will occur this year to make for fascinating blogging! Here's hoping we all have a great Spring & Summer to write about!

Recuperative Weekend

I spent most of this past weekend trying to get un-sick. Vic really took great care of me ~ she made sure I took plenty of good drugs and let me sleep all I wanted. Consequently, we didn't get a whol heck of a lot done on our two days off together. We really wanted to stop my a nursery and start pricing/buying the trees we want to plant in the backyard, but that trip has now been postponed to next Saturday. I think we're in a good planting window right now, although we are expecting some light snow flurries later on tonight! Sunday was spent grocery shopping and ended up being an early night for me. (I was in bed by 3am, which is like 9pm to normal people.) But I think all the resting did some good, because I feel quite a bit better today. Still a little stuffy, but not at all achey! The wind is really blowing outside, so this is great sleeping or curling up on the couch weather, which is what I think I'm going to do right now.

Still Sick

I see that I haven't blogged since Monday, but I have a good reason for it. I've been super sick for the past 2 weeks. The last time I was this sick was in 2001 when we went to Ireland. Only difference is that then I only got about 5 hours of sleep a night and now I've been sleeping about 11 or 12 hours. I've been taking cold drugs and vitamin C, but my nose keeps running and my cough just seems to be getting worse every day. Vic thinks my lack of Vitamin C intake may lead to scurvy, so maybe I don't have a cold after all...maybe I've been scurvied! Hopefully I'll begin recovering this weekend because it's suppose to be nice out and it really sucks to be sick when the weather is nice.

Feast Eighty-Seven

Appetizer
Name 3 things that you think are strange.
My dog licking the carpet
My neighbor 2 houses down (he's more of a perv than strange)
Those VW commercials with the guy from "Fargo" ("pancakes house")

Soup
What was the last ceremony you attended?
Shawn's graduation from UWF.

Salad
What is one lesson you have learned in the past year?
No matter how well you plan, the trip is always going to cost more than you thought.

Main Course
Tell us about one of your childhood memories.
I got separated from my mom in Higbee's when I was about 5 or 6. Higbee's was a major department store in downtown Cleveland and the same store that Ralphie saw the Red Rider BB Gun in the window of.

Dessert
If you could extend any of the four seasons to be twice as long as normal, which season would you want to lengthen?
Without a doubt, Autumn. I love being able to wear sweatshirts and sweaters and looking at the beautiful colors on the leaves. It's one of the main reasons we moved back up North!

Wings Weekend

This was a really good weekend! Saturday Vic & I attended our first major league hockey game! Normally all the Red Wings games are sold-out or the only tickets left are nosebleed seats going for $60, but we really lucked out this past weekend. There's a business owner in Hazel Park that has season tickets to the Wings, Lions and Tigers games and whenever he doesn't use them he gives them to one of the cops to use. Luckily I was there when Johnny (the cop) was looking for somebody to give the tickets to. Vic & I got 7th row seats right near the goal for free! Yea for us! We saw the Columubus Blue Jackets.

In our haste to get to the game, we forgot our camera, but I've taken a lovely picture of my souvenir puck and our game tickets!

If we get the opportunityto go again, I won't forget the camera! The game was great, but unfortunately the Red Wings lost in an overtime shootout. After the game we hung around for a while to let the crowd kind've thin out and then we had no problem exiting the parking structure or getting right onto the freeway. Afterward, we dined at the lovely 24 hour Coney Island by our house. It was really a great experience. Live hockey is a lot of fun and I definitely recommend it to everyone!

Because we stayed up so late on Saturday, we both slept in on Sunday. We spent the day doing a little light grocery shopping and we ate mexicans at Don Pablo. Finally we found a Mexican restaurant we both like ~ and it only took 9 months! Now we need to find a good Chinese place. The rest of the day was spent just hanging around the house playing with Shannon. I'm still sick, but feeling a lot better. It seems to be the worst when I'm laying down; my nose gets all clogged up & I go into coughing fits, but at least I can talk again. I'm sure everyone's just delighted about that.

Wings

Yesterday was the first time I've ever lost my voice and it was kind've a weird feeling. I've been sick all week, but yesterday afternoon when I woke up I was feeling a little better. I tried to say something to Shannon and nothing came out! As the day wore on, I was able to squeak a few sentences and managed to call out sick (they laughed at me on the phone), but my voice never really got any better. I didn't like the idea of not being able to communicate freely. I'm sure it was a welcome change for Vic, but I didn't like it one bit! Today I sound like crap, but at least I can talk again. And I've got to go into work tonight. I'm picking up some Red Wings tickets from one of the guys. Vic & I are going to our first Red Wings game Saturday night and we're both really looking forward to it. Being able to attend major sporting events was one of the reasons we wanted to move back up north!

Feast Eighty-Six

Appetizer
How would you describe your personal comfort zone?
My personal comfort zone would probably be in my living room, plopped on the puzo (my recliner) and watching a good movie that I've seen before, while cross-stitching.

Soup
What is your favorite tree?
Maple. My grandma's street used to be lined with them & seeing them always reminds me of that time period.

Salad
List 3 foods you'd like to include in your dinner plans for tonight.
Pizza, fettucine alfredo, nachos. I'm planning on just having pizza, though.

Main Course
What is the best advice you've ever been given, but didn't heed?
Don't get out of the Air Force.

Dessert
On a scale of 1-10 (10 being highest), how much attention do you feel comfortable receiving from others?
10, unless I'm in trouble, then -10.

Spring, I Implore You

Tigers Tickets
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

Spring, Spring, oh where art thou, Spring?
I'm tired of snow & wind & other cold thing(s).

I'm ready for baseball & flowers & walks in the park.
And for staying outside way after dark (when it's not so cold).

I just now today received tickets to my 2nd ever Tigers game!
So Winter, go away! Hang your snowy head in shame!

Leave us now to make room for Spring, you big bully!
I mean it! Go away! I'm not fooly(ing)!

Feeling Better

I caught a terrible cold or flu or something. I woke up yesterday morning with a scratchy throat, runny nose and feeling like I got hit with a baseball bat about a hundred times. I was so exhuasted the whole day that I finally called out sick; I knew I would sound like shit on the phone and radio and I didn't think I'd be able to stay awake, even though I spent most of the day in bed or napping on the recliner. Today I feel much better; my nose and throat are about the same, but I don't feel as run down as I did yesterday. I ventured out this afternoon to get my hair cut. It's been way too long since the last cutting, so it really needed it. After I take a quick nap, I'll take out the garbage and iron my clothes for work tonight. Not very exciting, but at least I have the energy to do stuff today. Yesterday really sucked.

Weekend Update

Friday
This was Shawn's last day in the 313, so we celebrated by attending some St. Paddy's Day festivities. We saw a great band called Blackthorn at O'Mara's Irish restaurant. The music was great and the place was packed with a ton of partying people. We all had a wonderful time. After I took Shawn back to his hotel and Vickie back to the house, I had to go to work. I really didn't mind, though. I figured I'd be up all night anyway, so I might as well be making some money at the same time.

Feast Eighty-Five
Appetizer
What job would you definitely not want to have?
Telemarketer or any kind of commision-type job.

Soup
Oprah calls and wants you to appear on her show. What would that day's show be about?
Me and all things me. And everyone would get great surprise gifts, including me. She would treat me to a day of doing all the things I've always wanted to do, but still haven't gotten around to yet. Stuff like, skydiving, flying a plane, performing on stage at Carnegie Hall, etc.

Salad
Name 3 vegetables that you eat on a regular basis.
Pizza, Steak-Ums, broccoli & cheese.

MainCourse
If you were commissioned to rename your hometown, what would you call it?
Caseyville and all the street signs would have little shamrocks on them.

Dessert
If you had a personal assistant, what kind of tasks would you have them to do?
Pay all the bills, clean the litter boxes, dust, cook, buy fresh flowers daily for the house, organize the craft room, bathe Shannon, cut my food for me.


Saturday
I was really looking forward to just sitting around cross-stitching all night, but I didn't pick it up even once! We did some running around in the afternoon and then an old friend of Vic's came over that evening. I did manage to get the shelves for my craft room closet that I've been whining about for the last week. I wanted to put them up today, but I woke up this afternoon with a sore throat, runny nose and an achey feeling all over, so chances are pretty good that I'll be spending most of the evening curled up on the couch until I have to leave for work.

Sunday
On our way to Vic's mom's house, Vic's Jeep broke. We had it towed to the mechanic's place and then hung out with Mom for a while. It was something having to do with a belt and a pulley thing under the hood. I'm not exactly sure, but thankfully they've fixed it and it's ready to be picked up. So it looks like my evening of couch-curling-upon will be delayed until after I take Vic to her refurbished Jeep. It was actually a pretty full weekend and we spent a lot of time driving all over town to get little things accomplished. Other than the Jeep pooping out, this past weekend wasn't bad at all.

Beware the Ides of March

Happy Ides! I had a little list of things I wanted to get done around the house today and ended up oversleeping 3.5 hours. Needless to say, I got nothing done. I guess there's always tomorrow, but I hate when a plan goes awry! Shawn & I enjoyed a lovely evening last night cross-stitching/knitting and watching the new "Pride & Prejudice" movie. It was okay, but Shawn had a good point...the BBC version with Colin Firth was 6 hours long and this movie was only 2, so how can you expect to cram 6 hours into 2 and get the same movie? The Colin Firth version was sweepingly majestic in all it's gloriou wonderment ~ the new one had Donald Sutherland with a lisp. Still, it was Jane Austen so you can't really go that wrong. And I got some work done on my picture.

The yellow splotches on the photo aren't actually on the fabric, I think they are the reflection from the light overhead.

I've also included a recent shot of Shannon, post-attack days. This picture was actually taken shortly after she got done rolling around in the muddy backyard. Her expression doesn't show the euphoria she's experiencing after having just muddied up the living room carpet AGAIN. We haven't walked since the incident, but that's mainly due to the weather ~ it's been very windy the last couple of days and we've had a few flurries, as well. We'll be back out there soon, though. And with pepper spray this time.

Shannon Update

Shannon's doing great ~ she acts like nothing even happened. She got extra chewies yesterday and Vickie bought her a new baby, so I think she's over the whole "bad dog" event of yesterday. I checked at work about getting some pepper spray, but I can't use the stuff the cops use because it's industrial strength and "For Law Enforcement Use Only." Well what the heck good is it working for the police if I can't even get lethal shit?

It's really windy today ~ gale force winds, the weather guy says. I'm going to go pick up Shawn in a few hours and we are going to spend a lovely night crafting in front of a roaring log. Hopefully the snow flurries they are predicting will hold off until after midnight when I'm off the road and securely tucked in at work.

Pissed

Shannon & I were attacked by a dog today while out walking. First, we're both fine ~ very muddy, but fine. Second, I'm really pissed about the whole situation. I'm pissed that the dog's owner didn't really seem to give a shit and I'm really pissed that now I don't feel safe walking my dog thru my own neighborhood. I hate that now I feel compelled to carry pepper spray with us whenever we leave the yard. This Boxer just came out of nowhere and latched onto my Shannon. I didn't have anything to beat this dog with, but I kicked it whith everything I had and managed to get it off just as it's person came outside. It's fat bitch of a person, that is. I've never sworn so much at one person face-to-face than I did just a few hours ago. And had this unconcerned twit of a person not fled back into her house, this also would've probably been the first time in my life I actually hit someone. Oh she tried to outswear me as she made her hasty retreat, but she couldn't even come close. I was definitely fired up. Shannon seemed okay for the rest of the walk home and seems okay now that we've been home for a while, but we'll have to keep an eye on her for the next couple of days to make sure she's not in any pain or anything. The bad dog really had a hold of her, but because Shannon is black, it's hard to tell if she's bruised or bleeding. The very nice lady at Animal Control said that the've been out to this dog's address before for several things (she couldn't tell me what, tho), but that since she didn't actually see the attack, that she could only give them a warning this time. I figured that's what she would say, but I know what it's like when people call me and say "this happened 2 weeks ago" or "this is the 3rd time this has happened" and my response is always the same..."Why didn't you report it when it happened??" So, hopefully this won't happen again, but if it does, Animal Control will have a record of this dog. And I'm also comforted by knowing that this piece of shit dog will probably have a bruise about the size of my shoe for at least a couple of days.

Upcoming Weekend

It's been unseasonably hot here the last couple of days. Hot and rainy. It would be nice if it would stay this way (hot, not rainy), but I know we'll probably have at least one more snow before the season is over.

The upcoming weekend will include a visit from an insurance guy (yuck) and a visit from Shawn (yea). Hopefully we'll have some nice weather while Shawn is here so we can show him around a little, but what I'm most looking forward to is him coming over one night so we can watch "Pride & Prejudice" together. He'll knit and I'll cross-stitch and we'll compare the Colin Firth version to the Keira Knightly version over pizza. It should be a glorious evening!


Friday, March 10, 2006
Feast Eighty-Four

Appetizer
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how intuitive do you think you are?
Probably about somewhere in the middle, although I do have a tendency to not believe anybody. Comes with the job, I guess.

Soup
What is your favorite kind of gum?
Anything sugarless.

Salad
Name a CD you own that you would never get rid of.
If I could only choose one I guess it would have to be an indigo girls cd ~ maybe "Retrospective" or a live one.

Main Course
When was the last time you said something you didn't mean?
I say stuff I don't mean every day at work. Sometimes you've gotta tell the citizens what they want to hear, not what you're going to actually do for them.

Dessert
What is the sum of the numbers in your birthdate? (Example: 3 + 2 + 1 + 9 + 7 + 9 = 31)
1+2+1+2+1+9+6+5=27

Sick, Lottery, Friends

Last night I stayed home sick from work. I just wasn't feeling well and didn't want to spend the whole night at work in the bathroom, so I took a sick day. (I'm feeling much better today.) Even though I spent part of the night whining and groaning, it was still better than a night at work. If anyone was destined to win the lottery it's definitely me ~ I just hate working. I wish I could stay home every day. Even on rainy days, like today.

Saturday an insurance agent is coming to the house to talk to us about life insurance. We both have policies thru our jobs, but we need something that would cover paying off the house. When I win the lottery, I'm going to have someone handle stuff like this. I just don't want to be bothered with comparing policies and sitting thru long, boring presentations. It's all just so dumb.

Sunday, Shawn, of the Savannah Shawns, is coming for a visit. Well, it's actually a work-related training thing, but I'm sure we'll visit at least a couple of days while he's in town and Vic and I are really looking forward to his visit. In the 8 months that we've lived in MI, Shawn will make the second person who has come to see us ~ we didn't get this many visitors the entire time we lived in Pensacola! The last 8 months have been really hectic with changing jobs, organizing the house and familiarizing ourselves with the area that we haven't really made any new friends. We're friendly with our neighbors, but we haven't really met anybody that we can hang out and do stuff with. Part of the reason, I'm sure, is that Vic and I work opposite shifts so we can't get together to do stuff during the week, like join a bowling league or something. I still plan on starting to run once the weather clears up, so maybe we'll meet people at the races or when we go bike riding on the weekends. If not, more of our friends are going to have schedule trips to visit!

Another Un-Interesting Day

Things I have at least a dozen of:
* kitties
* pairs of socks
* baseball hats
* finished cross-stitch projects
* colored pens
* dog-slimed tennis balls
* frozen pizza rolls

Things I operate daily:
* shower radio
* the telephone (I turn it off when I go to bed)
* hair dryer
* fax machine at work
* touch-lamp on the computer desk
* garage door opener
* shredder

Things I play with on a regular basis:
* cross-stitch stuff
* scrapbook stuff
* sudoku puzzles
* Bear
* Shannon
* Caleb
* Vickie

Boring Day at Casey's House

Things around my house that are blue:
* the kleenex box
* the numbers on my clock radio
* my underwear
* the picture frame w/Shannon's photo in it
* part of my computer's mouse pad
* sweatpants
* sweater I wore to work last night

Things around my house that are green:
* both of the shirts I'm wearing right now
* the shamrock stickers on the calendar
* leaves on the plants in the bedroom
* other part of the computer's mouse pad
* Larry the cucumber (on the computer monitor)
* a post-it note on the corkboard by the computer
* the heavy curtain I use to block sunlight so I can sleep during the day

Things around my house that are brown:
* the little basket that I keep small pieces of writing paper in
* the bedroom walls
* computer desk
* bookshelves
* the sweater I will probably wear to work tonight
* two pairs of my shoes
* one of the quilts on our quilt rack

Things around my house that are red:
* the shorts I'm going to sleep in tomorrow morning
* some flowers in a picture hanging on the bedroom wall
* Bob the tomato (on the computer monitor)
* my glasses case by the bedside
* the pen I use for writing important stuff on the calenar
* a push pin on the corkboard by the computer
* the little scarf w/the sheep on it that I use to tie back the bedroom curtain

The Weekend

Saturday
This past Saturday was much like almost every other Saturday ~ I slept in and then Vic & I got a bite to eat and we spent the night just relaxing. However, this week we rented some movies and spent all night watching them. I must've cross-stitched for about 8 straight hours! It was wonderful! Above is my "Fleurs & Plantes" picture, so far. The flower shop is going to be a heck 0f a lot easier to do than the flowers that are actually on the shop. But so far, I'm really enjoying stitching it. I always like the beginnings of new projects. Back to the movies...we watched "Flightplan", which was okay and better than I thought it would be; "Crash", which turned out to be pretty good and also better than I thought it would be; and finally "Walk the Line", which was definitely the best of the three. It was one of the most entertaining movies I've watched in a long, long time. If you haven't seen it, see it! Everything about the picture was very good.

Sunday
Our Saturday night spilled into Sunday morning ~ the sun was just coming up as we got into bed! I woke up about noonish and still accomplished quite a bit around the house. I really wanted to tackle that craft room and I made a huge dent in it that afterno0n. I'm now about a third of the way done with it. I need Vic to make me a few shelves and I need to go thru a few of the hundred or so knick knack boxes we have and I'll be all set. We watched the Oscars Sunday night. I'm not a big awards show kind of person, but there wasn't really anything else on worth watching. And remember how in an earlier posting I mentioned how I wanted to start watching less TV? Well, the "Sopranos" starts next Sunday, so Vic ordered HBO this weekend. And not just HBO because HBO by itself was more expensive than the HBO/Showtime package, so now we have both HBO and Showtime! So tonight I will have to flip thru an additional 25 channels on the onscreen TV guide before I finally settle on the Monday night "Friends" marathon on TBS. I may never get outside again.

Kitchen Tulips

This past October Vic & I planted some Tulips outside and have been looking forward to their "springing" ever since. We had a few bulbs left over and Vic threw them in a pot and put them in front of our East-facing kitchen window to see what would happen. Well about a week ago we found little green shoots popping out of the soil and now we have a little mini garden!

Our first little tulip



The mad bluebird who guards her against kitty prey

She'll have more friends soon

Needless to say, we are both very excited about our new little indoor garden and can't wait for the outside one now! Although it's been cold, it's also been sunny during the day which is great for our little in-the-ground tulips. I'm really looking forward to Spring!


Friday, March 03, 2006
Feast Eighty-Three

Appetizer
How many pillows and blankets do you sleep with?
I sleep with 2 pillows, 3 blankets and 2-4 kitties (usually on my feet).

Soup
What are you currently "addicted" to?
Since I can't spend as much time outside as I'd like, I've been watching a lot of TV. Other than a few prime time shows, most of my viewing is reruns and documentaries. And I absolutely love our DVR. It's like Tivo from the cable company and it's a wonderful tool to record movies & stuff on to watch later (cuz you're busy watching reruns and documentaries).

Salad
If you could make a small change to your current routine or schedule that would make you just a little bit happier, what would it be?
To watch less TV and spend more time outside. I can't wait for Spring.

Main Course
Which adjective do you find yourself using often?
"Most-bestest" as in "Shannon you're the most-bestest dog in the whole wide world!"

Dessert
Have you ever picked up a hitchhiker?
No no no no no. Absolutely never ever.

Oscar Failings

Due to today's snow, the Celebrity Fit Club will be meeting indoors and will probably not do much of anything at all.

Every year I try to see the five movies nominated for Best Picture...and I usually fail. This year will be no exception, although I did rent "Crash" and will probably watch it Saturday night with the girlfriend. We also got "Walk the Line" for which Joaquin and Reese are both nominated, so perhaps we can count that one as part of the five, too. I'd really like to see the others, but I either don't have the money or the time and they're all going to be out on DVD this month anyway, so why kill myself. Chances are I'll probably just watch snippets of the ceremony, so I'm not really stressed out about the whole situation.

The Detroit city council finally came to a decision regarding the zoo and it looks like the zoo avoided the chopping block. I don't know what agreement they came to or with whom; I'm just so disgusted with the whole deal. But I am really glad that we'll be able to visit the animals this Spring. I'm really looking forward to that.

*Personal note to Shawn: Don't forget to get your mom a birthday card!

Cross-Stitch & Poop

I finished the cross-stitch picture last night and here is what it looks like:

We, in Michigan (at least my part of Michigan) haven't had that much snow at all. Everyone keeps saying that there's plenty of Winter left and we'll get some hellacious snow, but I'd like to think they're all wrong. Today, as a matter of fact, is a beautiful sunny day ~ the perfect day to run to the store and go for a walk, which is what I believe I shall do. It is not, however, the perfect day to work on craft rooms, so I shant be doing that. Actually, I opened the door to the craft room and discovered several boxes of Vickie's stuff in there, so that gives me the perfect excuse to wait to tackle it until she is around. Tonight I think I'll relax in front of a movie with pizza and my new cross-stitch (Fleurs & Plantes) and enjoy the time before I need to leave for work.

Speaking of work, the millage vote was yesterday and surprisingly it passed. Yea! What this means is that my job is secure for the time being. I guess I should keep my options open, though, in case something else pops up. There's been very little popping, though. I like my job, but sometimes it just doesn't seem all that secure. But it's definitely interesting. Last night we arrested a guy for DUI that was so drunk that first he threw up all over himself and then later in his cell he pooped all over the floor and laid in it. Now if that's not entertainment I don't know what is.

Fat Tuesday

Happy Mardi Gras! Or around here it's Happy Paczki Day! The paczki (punch-key) is a big round doughnut filled with assorted stuff and contains about 300 calories. It's actually some sort of Polish tradition that you have these huge lard balls on the day before Lent and since we have a rather large Polish community, paczkis are literally everywhere. I haven't tried one cuz I'm afraid I'll explode. I wanted to try something different with the blog pictures, so I hope the paczki pic comes out okay. There's also a website dedicated to the history of the paczki if your really interested.

I think I should finish the cross-stitch tonight (Yea!). It's taken me almost 5 months to complete! Seems like a long time, but this was a pretty complex project and I really did try to work on it at least 4 or 5 times a week. Tomorrow I'll start another smaller picture ~ this one will be French Fleurs & Plantes. It doesn't look as involved and there seem to be quite a few half-stitches so I should finish it in less than 5 months (I hope). Tomorrow I'm also going to tackle the craft room. I promised myself that as soon as I finished this project, I was going to organize (again) the craft room and scrapbook at least once a week until I'm caught up. My room became a sort of dumping ground for stuff we didn't know where to put. Well tomorrow I'm going to figure out homes for all the wayward stuff. Wish me luck.

Shannon's Blog

Mom & I took another walk around the neighborhood today and boy, was it ever cold. We both kinda felt obligated to walk today, though, because yesterday was soo windy that the members of the Celebrity Fit Club were forced to stay inside and make nachos instead. After that walk in the park a few weeks ago I was so exhausted I could barely make it upstairs to bed, so I really want to get in better shape and I think these little walks will do me good. They’re probably a pretty good idea for Mom, too. I know it’s probably just her Winter fur, but she seems a little thicker around the middle. We both probably need to spend less time in front of the fireplace and more time outside. Besides the walks being good for us, it’s also a lot of fun to take in all the new smells and to poop on other people’s lawns. I especially like it when there’s a little “yippy” dog stuck inside the house just a-bitchin’ while I squat in their front yard. And it’s not like I’m the one who has to pick it up and carry it home, so I have a good walk pretty much every time we take one. I’m really looking forward to the Summer when I can go swimming in the lake and stink for a week. Those are the best times!

Mom's Friday Feast
Friday, February 24, 2006
Feast Eighty-Two

Appetizer
Choose one: moving to another state, having triplets, or never being able to eat chocolate again.
Well, I'm not a huge chocolate fan, I've moved out of state several times (it sucks) and I can't ever fathom me creating one small living person, so the thought of making three all at once is beyond comprehension.

Soup
Name a news story that truly shocked you.
Lately it would have to be the City of Detroit's refusal to let the Zoological Society take over ownership of the Detroit Zoo. The city council would rather close the zoo altogether than let the Zoological Society bail them out. The state has offered to pay the city $4 million, which would not only save the city money, but would also garner an extra profit of $4 million. The city council's response was "This ain't no plantation no more. You just can't own us like you used to." So the all black city council would prefer to permenantly close the Detroit Zoo than to give ownership to the Zoological Society. What the hell do they want?!

Salad
What was your very first job?
I worked in my Grandma's ice cream parlor. She made homemade ice cream & I thought it would be a great job because she said I could eat all the ice cream I wanted. After a couple of weeks I despised ice cream. Smart Grandma.

Main Course
If you had the chance to read the diary of someone you're really close to, would you? Why or why not?
I'd like to say no, but I would probably peek anyway. Fortunately, I've never been in that situation.

Dessert
What's something you're looking forward to?
The Summer. Last Summer was the first time in about 10 years I've lived some place where the weather was pleasant. It was always so hot in FL that we never wanted to leave the house. I stayed outside way past dark on almost every night my first summer in MI. There's no better way to listen to a baseball game then on a little transistor radio in your backyard under the stars.

Celebrity Fit Club 1 ~ Midwest Edition

Today was the premier episode of "Celebrity Fit Club 1 ~ Midwest Edition." This club was formed because of a potent desire to finally become the physically fit hoochie mamas we know we can be. Membership is exclusive (not everyone can be a hoochie mama) and new members must be voted on by the governing board consisting of the two founding members. As a matter of fact, membership is soo exclusive that presently the only members are the governing board, one of which is a dog. (I'm the other member.) So anyway, Shannon & I took a leisurely walk thru the neighborhood this afternoon. On our stroll we traipsed thru some mud patches, pooped on several lawns and smelled remnants of dead things past. Nothing too exhausting on our first trip out since the walk in the park a couple of Sundays ago. We were only out for about 30 minutes, but I think that's a good start for Shannon. Now we're going to relax for a bit, eat a hearty dinner of pizza rolls and then work on the old cross-stitch. Tomorrow's edition of "Celebrity Fit Club" will probably entail another trip thru the hood and maybe a few ball tossings. The weather guy is predicting flurries, but as long as it's not too cold, we'll be out there. (And yes, we picked up the poop.)

Insuring Katrina

When we moved from FL to MI our car insurance doubled in price. It actually doubled! To begin with, I guess MI is a very expensive state for insurance and the fact that we live so close to a major car-stealing city only adds to the misery. Well now, six months later, our monthly car insurance doubled (almost) again! That means that in the less-than-a-year since we've moved our monthly car insurance has almost quadrupled in price. We pay more for car insurance every month than we do for homeowner's insurance! Vickie says it's due in part to the fact that we have Allstate and they have to hike up everyone's insurance to help pay for the hurricane claims down south. She's probably right, but do I have to single-handedly pay for the entire state of Louisiana? I'm just baffled by this and it really REALLY makes me mad!

The Weekend

As with most Saturdays, I slept in (till about 1pm) and then awoke to the frigid cold of Michigan. It got as low as 2 degrees at one point during the day! (More about that later.) After a relaxing dinner out and a short trip to Home Depot for some stuff for the upcoming bathroom remodel, we met her mom for a pleasant eveing of folk music. Every weekend a different neighboring city hosts the "Coffee House Series." The entertainment is usually a folk group or some other folksy-type music. This week it was the Raisin Pickers and it was held at the Jolly Senior Citizens facility. Needless to say, Vic & I were probably the youngest ones there, but the group was great and we had a really good time. Next week it'll be Blackthorn, an Irish band that we've seen before. They're great, so we're both looking forward to them.

My plans for Sunday were to get the laundry out of the way earlier so I could spend the rest of the day doing absolutely nothing. Ha! Remember how cold it was the night before? Well, our hot water pipe burst and was spewing water all over the laundry room! Water was was just pouring out of the ceiling light fixture and had I not been in there, we probably would've had terrible flood damage to the house. Our handy neighbor came over and fixed the problem, but this involved me laying on my stomach up in the COLD attic holding a pipe while he welded on the new piece for what seemed like an eternity. It was actually only about 3o minutes or so, but it was damn cold up there, so it seemed like a lot longer. Then we made the mistake of telling him that we were planning on replacing our back door soon. We didn't mean that afternoon, but he insisted on helping and starting tearing apart the old door frame. His 10 minute welding job took closer to 2 hours and with evening starting to set in none of us wanted to hang a new door, but Vic & I didn't want to spend the rest of the night with a huge hole in our living room wall either. So we hung a door. A very nice looking door with a larger window which really brightens up the room. By the time we finished with all these projects I didn't get to plop down on the couch until almost 10:30! So my relaxing Sunday was anything but, but we got alot accomplished and don't have to worry about a drafty door any more!

Olympic Issues

Lindsey Jacobellis
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

I've been watching the Olympic games every day that they've been on now and although I've really enjoyed them, most of the events have been less than memorable. By that I mean I watch and applaud or grimace at the event when it happens and then about 30 seconds later I've forgotten about it. Except for yesterday's women's snowboarding event. American Lindsey Jacobellis was considered the best female snowboarder in the world and was predicted to take the gold medal in her race yesterday...but didn't. She was so far out in front of her competition during the medal race that the other girls weren't even in the picture. And then on the last bumpy thing she did a little showboating, wiped out and the Swiss girl (who was in 4th place and waaaay far back)passed by her and took the gold medal. For some reason this whole scene of events has stuck with me ever since I witnessed it. Normally I hate it when athletes show off; football players who start their dance before they get to the end zone, basketball players who slam dunk, baseball players making one-handed catches. But Jacobellis didn't just screw herself and her team, she let America down. She was out there competing not for Casey the Tigers fan, but for Casey the American and it kinda makes me mad. Normally I'd say "she got what she deserves," but as the person she's representing I think I was short-changed and deserve something more. I'm sure, in time, I'll forget about this just like every other missed chance for an American Olympic gold medal has passed from my memory, but for right now it stings a bit and I feel cheated.

Sick

Back in FL I used to get headaches quite a bit. I always thought it was due to the air conditioning. Absolutely every place you go is air conditioned because of the sweltering Summer heat. I figured it had something to do with the manufactured air flowing thru dirty duct work and filtering out all those headache-causing particles. I think I was right because since I've lived in MI I've only had one really bad headache...last night. I was so sick at work I had to leave early. I'd rather be puny & sick at home than at work. After some sleep and plenty of drugs I now feel much better. We've lived in MI now for over 8 months and it's taken that long to get a serious mind-numbing headache, so I think that's pretty good! Just one more reason why MI is better than FL.


Friday, February 17, 2006
Feast Eighty-One

Appetizer
If you were a color, which color would you be, and why?
Green. The sweatshirt I'm wearing now is green and I really enjoy being outside in the non-Winter months. And I loved Ireland which is about 100,000 different shades of green!

Soup
When was the last time you went to the doctor, and what was your reason for going?
Sometime this past Summer I registered with the VA and had to see a doctor for a routine checkup. She was actually a Physician's Assistant and was happy to write me prescriptions for any drugs I wanted. Scary.

Salad
What do you collect?
We've been trying to get all the state quarters and are having a little difficulty obtaining all the 2005 coins. I also try to get matchbooks from cities we visit.

Main Course
What were you like in high school? Name one thing you miss and one thing you don't miss about those days.
I wasn't popular, but I wasn't a nerd either...I was just somewhere in the middle. I hated my high school years more than any other time period in the history of me. High school, for me, was a colossal waste of 4 years I will never be able to get back. Every minute of every school day was complete torture and I literally had to struggle to get thru each day. I purposely faded into the background in every school situation so I wouldn't have to interact with all the beautiful people who picked on the nerds or become a nerd that got picked on. I'm sure if you asked anyone I went to school with who I was, they would draw a complete blank. And I'm glad.

Dessert
Imageine you're standing in front of your home, with your back towards your home. Describe the view - what can you see? Trees? Cars? A zoo? Wal-Mart?
There's a beautiful tree on our tree lawn and the house across the street has a huge flag pole in the front yard. The people who moved in have been trying to dig it up from the day they moved in last Fall. I'm sure they would be out there today working on it if the ground wasn't frozen. It can be quite entertaining.

Olympics, Eh

One of the great things about living in Detroit is that we've got a Canadian TV station to watch the Olympics on. I'd say about 50% of my Olympic viewing has been on CBC (the Canadian Broadcasting Channel, eh). They really give you a different perspective on the games. Sure, they're a little biased toward Canadian athletes, but not as much as NBC is toward the U.S. athletes. Watching CBC also brings with it a whole new set of commercials and announcers that talk funny ("Let's tawk aboot hawkey, eh?"). It's great! Some of their announcers really suck, but they talk great! I think the CBC should broadcast baseball, too!

And in response to the burning question on everyone's minds, "Are Tom and Katie breaking up?"... who really gives a beaver's butt what Tom and Katie ever do?

Snowy Day At Park

Snowy Day @ Park
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

Inspired by the Winter Olympics, Vic & I participated in Olympic Dog Walking festivities this past weekend. What this really amounts to is us finally getting up off of our lazy asses to take the dog for a much needed walk. Shannon really enjoyed spending last Sunday at the park chasing tennis balls, barking at ducks and scaring passing poodles. It was a bit chilly when we set out, but after walking and playing for a while it wasn't too bad at all. The sun was out and the snow made the park seem very peaceful. Shannon really had a great time but paid for it later. I guess she just doesn't get enough exercise, so later on that night she was really feeling the effects of the afternoon on her body. She was so sore that she was having difficulty just moving around. We let her lay on the couch and put a heating pad on her hip area for the rest of the evening. She seems to be okay now, so I guess it was just sore muscles. Vic & I were really scared there for a while, though. We're planning on heading back out there this coming weekend, but we'll take it a little bit easier this time. Hopefully these walks will be good for all of us!

Union

norma rae
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

I went to my first union meeting ever tonight. It was very underwhelming to say the least, but it did bring images of Sally Field to mind. The whole meeting dealt with whether or not to agree to a a proposed contract with the city. Since I'm still technically on probation I didn't get to vote (kinda disappointing). I won't bore you with the details, but the short version is that I still don't know for sure if/when I'll be laid off. I'll probably know more after the millage vote on the 28th. Still, I felt very union-y sitting there with my fellow oppressed peoples. I almost wish I had brought a black magic marker and some cardboard!

Snowy Shannon

That folk music thing I was really looking forward to isn't until next weekend, so instead I spent part of the afternoon playing in the snow with Shannon. She absolutely loves the snow! She dashes out the door and throws herself on the ground, rolling around and making doggy snow angels. It snowed enough for Shannon to roll around in, but not enough to make a snowperson or shovel the driveway. The rest of the evening will be spent in front of the fire watching the Olympics. That luge really impresses me. I'm not to thrilled with driving 80 mph in a car much less going the same speed on a little sled down a winding icy path. Pretty cool.

Looking Forward to the Weekend

I'm really looking forward to the weekend. Our only plans are to see a sort've Celtic/Folk duo this Saturday ~ they are the first in a string of folk-related concerts this month. I'm mainly excited about the prospect of doing nothing for a few days. Just laying around the house in big sweats and yelling at the kitties to get off of stuff. I like my job, but not working is soo much better and I really like having weekends off. My cross-stitch project is about 80% done and I'll post a photo of it after it's complete.


Friday, February 10, 2006
Feast Eighty

Appetizer
What was a class or course you took while in school that you realize now was a total waste of time?
Home Economics. I couldn't cook then and I can't cook now. As a matter of fact, I was so bad that my little group always assigned me the task of washing dishes.

Soup
Who is the tallest person you know?
My brother is about 6'4". He literally towers over me when we stand next to each other.

Salad
What's your favorite midnight snack?
Dutch apple pie w/Cool Whip or chips & chip dip.

Main Course
Have you ever found money somewhere? If so, where did you find it, and how much was it?
I found $5 in a pocket once and was ecstatic. I don't remember ever finding anything larger than a couple bucks on the ground.

Dessert
Where would you like to retire?
In Michigan, but further north. Maybe somewhere in the middle of the state near horses and cows.

Sudokus

Has anyone tried these Sodoku puzzles? At first I didn't understand them, so I feared them. But now the puzzles and I are one and I welcome them into my home. "Come little Sodoku puzzles. Tempt me with your numerical ways. You are a worthy opponent, but I, I am the master. The puzzle grasshopper, if you will. I shall, and do, defeat your every number challenge. You are no match for me and my trusted sidekick, Mr. Pencil. It is wise that you should bow to my higher intellect and become my house elf, my servant, a serf on Caseyland. You are by far not my equal, but nonetheless I welcome you into my home (and sometimes I take you to work) and together we become one. One Almighty Puzzle Empress."

Work

I had a training class today on hostage negotiations. All this really means is that I don't have to go to work tonight. Yea!! I've also been scheduled for more waste-of-time classes in April and May. Does this mean that I may not get laid off or does it mean that the police department has excess funds that they have to use up before the end of their fiscal year so they are registering their three dispatchers for every training class that comes down the pike? Well, I'll find out more regarding my job status this Monday. There is a union meeting then and they are supposed to tell us where we stand with negotiating with the city. I'm actually not that upset about it all any more. I figure if I get laid off then it'll just give me the opportunity to try something new and possibly something I'll enjoy more! Or maybe I'll win the lottery.

Money, Money, Money

I wanted to try to do this year's taxes on my own, so I loaded up the TaxCut program and gathered all my paperwork. It took me about an hour and I'm happy to report that my federal tax return this year is $385,296! Party at my house!

I finally got to see the latest Harry Potter movie this weekend. After much whining, Vic relented and took me to the movies. Yea! Going to the movies is very expensive. Two tickets, popcorn and a drink cost us almost $30! Good thing I've got that hefty return headed my way.

There have been many rumors around work about the possible lay-offs. I've heard so many different things that it would take a seperate blog to list them all. I should find out for sure by the end of this month. Hopefully, if I'm one of the lay-offs, I'll qualify for unemployment. It actually wouldn't be bad spending some extra time at home ~ I could get a lot of painting and putting away done. It would really be nice if it happened in the Spring instead, because I could spend all day working in the yard. And really, the loss of money shouldn't affect us too bad. I mean after all, we'll have $385,296 in the bank!

Super Shmooper

Super Bowl, Super Bowl, Super Bowl. I'm about sick of hearing about the stupid game already! It makes me mad that it's being held in my own backyard and I wasn't even given the opportunity to buy tickets for it! It makes no difference that I'd rather be at home watching it from the comfort of my couch, just steps from my very own bathroom ~ I still would've like to have been asked. Actually, I'm really ready for baseball to start. I've printed out the Tigers schedule and blocked off the games I want to go to for the whole season. I'm sure Vic will be just thrilled to see my handywork! Go Tigers!


Friday Feast Seventy-Nine

Appetizer
On a scale of 1 to 10 (10=highest), how sociable are you?
If you mean how often do I go out & socialize, I'd have to say 2 or 3. Vickie & I are probably the most stay-at-homiest people I know..especially when it's cold outside and we can throw a log on the fire. If you mean how am I once you get me out of the house and into a social gathering, I think I'm probably a 9 or 10. I'll talk to anybody and feel comfortable in just about any setting.

Soup
Name 3 DVDs you currently own.
Wow, we've got quite a few. I'll list 3 that most people might not have:
1. "Waking Ned Devine"
2. The 2004 Hurricane Ivan DVD put together by the local news station
3. "The Commitments" in Chinese with English subtitles

Salad
If you were to win a superlative award now (such as most talented, class clown, most likely to succeed), what would it be?
Best Joke Teller Ever

Main Course
What is your favorite radio station?
89X ~ "Detroit's source for alternative music"

Dinner
Complete this sentence: I believe __________ because __________.
"I believe for every drop of rain that falls a flower grows" because Laverne & Shirley say so.

"Hi, I'm Robert Osborne."

It's " 31 Days of Oscar" time again on Turner Classic Movies! Every February (with some spillage into March) TCM plays only Academy Award winning or nominated films and this gives me the chance to finally see movies that I've heard about for years but never got the chance to see. For instance, it was during this festival of moviedom that I finally got to see "Lawrence of Arabia." It's the perfect movie if you've got about 4 hours to kill and don't mind slipping into a catatonic state where you find yourself mumbling your dog's name over and over again. But I've now got this "essential" movie out of the way and never ever ever have to see it again ever. And make sure to watch host Robert Osborne both before and after each movie because he imparts little bits of trivia about each film (sometimes Robert is my favorite part of the movie! I like to think he's saying "hi" just to me!). Tonight is "African Queen" and "Casablanca." Two wonderful movies that I've seen dozens of times, but will probably watch again anyway.

Blahing

Ya know, it's been almost ten months since I started this blog! I did it as a sort of whim, to see if I could stick with it. I also thought it would be a great way for the friends I've left behind, but still love, to keep up with my everyday doings. Most days my doings are pretty blah and that's not really something email worthy, but I still enjoy reading about the daily goings on in everyone else's lives so I figure that everyone else must be just giddy with excitement at my every new blog, too! I'm actually pretty proud of myself for keeping at it all this time and look forward to the day I can start a blog with "The most fabulous thing EVER happened to me today!" Until that happens, you're all stuck with my blah-ness.

Nothing New

Although Vic & I didn't do much this weekend (again!), I still think I made a little progress in my quest to be less lazy. Saturday morning & most of the afternoon was spent getting Vic's Jeep fixed. Some part was making some kind of squeky noise under the hood and it sounded, well, very squeaky. Anyway, we got that taken care of and I finally got to sleep around 3pm. After sleeping for a few hours, I spent the rest of the evening watching movies and cross-stitching. Sunday was somewhat 0f a success, too. I got up early and cleaned the house, did some laundry and read. I guess we didn't really accomplish much this weekend, but at least I didn't spend 12 hours in bed and I got some stuff around the house done. And took care of Vic's squeakyness!

We also watched the Screen Actor's Guild awards and I'm just wondering how Reese Witherspoon and her "can't-pay-somebody-to-cast-him-in-a-movie" husband are getting along these days? I mean Reese seems to get all the good movies, she's winning awards out the yin-yang and is in every one of Vickie's dumb magazines. You just know that's gotta make Ryan Whatshisname nutso-crazy. Interesting...

Lazy, Lazy, Lazy

I haven't blogged in a week and I wish I could say the reason for this is because I've just been WAY so busy with spectacularly interesting things in my life that I just couldn't spare 5 minutes to sit at the computer, but I really can't say that. For some reason I'm having a horribly hard time falling asleep when I get home from work in the morning so I end up staying up until 9 or 10 and then subsequently sleeping until 6 or 7 at night! This leaves me just enough time to shower, eat and get ready for work and NO time to do anything else it seems. I've been too too lazy these past couple of weeks and I'm going to try harder to incorporate something, anything into my daily schedule. I really wanted to start taking Shannon for walks, but I get up too late and it's been bone-numbingly cold out, so no walks yet. But I could start on the craft room again or organize the bookshelves. One thing I have been working on feverishly is my cross-stitch. My latest project is about 2/3 finished and I hope to have it done by the end of February! Not really a "moving-type" of activity, but at least I'm awake!


Feast Seventy-Eight
Friday, January 27, 2006

Appetizer
Choose one: Popcorn, Pizza, Pretzels, Peanuts, or Pasta.
Pizza. As a matter of fact, tonight will make the 4th time this week I've had a pizza derivitive.

Soup
Describe your personality in terms of a particular vehicle.
I've never been a big car person. I just don't care what I drive as long as it doesn't breakdown. So I guess I'd have to pick a nice clean 2001 black Jeep Cherokee Sport with a little Detroit Tigers guy on the antenna. Which, coincidentally, happens to be sitting in my garage right now.

Salad
If you won a shopping spree, from which store would you want it to be?
Home Depot. We needs lots of stuff for the house.

Main
Which television show re-runs do you enjoy watching?
Friends, Law & Order, Will & Grace and Raymond.

Dessert
If you could look into the future, how far down the road would you like to see? 10 years? 100 years? A million?
I'm curious to see what changes and new inventions are going to come about in the future, so I'd have to say 100 years.

Feast

Feast Seventy-Seven
Friday, January 20, 2006

Appetizer
About how many times per day do you check your email?
Usually about 3 or 4 times a day.

Soup
If you had the money to collect something really valuable, what would it be?
Stamps.

Salad
Write a sentence using the letters of your favorite beverage.
Some nests are prettily plumed, like eagles. (I'm running late for work - I don't have time to be more creative.)

Main Course
If you could be on a game show, which one would you want it to be?
I think probably Wheel of Fortune. I'd at least have an outside chance of winning that one.

Dessert
Name 3 computer programs or web sites you would hate to be without.
Google, Mapquest and MySimon.

Cartridge Update

It snowed all last night and all day today. Outside my window is a wintry wonderland. A world of swirling snow and black ice. Still no ink cartridge. I may have to order one online.

Quirks

I had planned to go to Office Depot (or Max, I can never get those two straight) to buy an ink cartridge when I woke up this aftern00n but it was raining. As a matter of fact, it's been raining all day. Since I've gotten older I've noticed some weird quirks popping up. One of those quirks is being overly supersticious. I'm a firm believer that you shouldn't go out in the rain unless you absolutely have to. If you do go out something bad will happen because you're not supposed to be out there! I just don't think a little black ink is worth totalling my Jeep so I'm making a fire and not moving from the house until it's time to go to work. Isn't interesting how our perspective on things changes as we age? When I was a teenager I couldn't leave the house unless my hair was just perfect ~ now, on my weekends off, I sometimes go days without even picking up a brush. I just don't care and don't care who does care! Maybe it's because I'm in a secure relationship and don't feel the need to look "available" any more. Or maybe I'm just old. Either way, I'm not printing anything until the weather clears up!

Glorious

This past weekend I did nothing at all. I only left the house once on Saturday to go to the grocery store with Vic. We were back within the hour and then I didn't leave the house at all the entire rest of the weekend. I spent most of Saturday and all day Sunday in front of the fireplace watching football and cross-stitching. It was a glorious two days of nothingness! I spent the whole weekend in sweatpants and thick wooly socks and loved it! I highly recommend it to everyone.

The Year of Case

I had planned on writing about "The Year of Case" in my first blog of January, but now that it's almost the Ides of January I seem to have missed the deadline. Alot happened in 2005 for me. The two main happenings were moving from FL to MI and the abundance of jobs I've had. The actual move was a royal pain in the ass and I highly recommend that nobody move cross country more than once in their lives (I've done it several!). I'm glad I'm here now though and really enjoy my new state. I'm looking forward to Spring & Summer events!

Before moving, I had been at my previous job for more than six years. I am now awaiting W-2's from no less than four jobs for 2005! Good news is that I finally found a job that I like, that I'm good at and where my co-workers are really nice. Bad news is that the union is fighting with the city and demanding pay cuts so I may A) be laid off, B) have my hours cut or C) be fired. I should know something more firm in the next couple of weeks. Since it's out of my hands, I'm trying not to think about it. I suck at trying not to think about it.


Feast Seventy-Six
Friday, January 13, 2006

Appetizer
Name one chore you don't really mind doing.
Cutting the grass.

Soup
How many times have you moved homes in your life?
24 house-10, apartment-6, dormitory-5, condo-2, trailer-1

Salad
How old were you when you had your very first kiss?
17 and then 21

Main Course
What time of day do you usually feel your best?
Around 6pm-ish

Dessert
Using three words or less, describe your current local weather.
Snowless, Winter, blah-y

The Year of Case

I had planned on writing about "The Year of Case" in my first blog of January, but now that it's almost the Ides of January I seem to have missed the deadline. Alot happened in 2005 for me. The two main happenings were moving from FL to MI and the abundance of jobs I've had. The actual move was a royal pain in the ass and I highly recommend that nobody move cross country more than once in their lives (I've done it several!). I'm glad I'm here now though and really enjoy my new state. I'm looking forward to Spring & Summer events!

Before moving, I had been at my previous job for more than six years. I am now awaiting W-2's from no less than four jobs for 2005! Good news is that I finally found a job that I like, that I'm good at and where my co-workers are really nice. Bad news is that the union is fighting with the city and demanding pay cuts so I may A) be laid off, B) have my hours cut or C) be fired. I should know something more firm in the next couple of weeks. Since it's out of my hands, I'm trying not to think about it. I suck at trying not to think about it.


Feast Seventy-Six
Friday, January 13, 2006

Appetizer
Name one chore you don't really mind doing.
Cutting the grass.

Soup
How many times have you moved homes in your life?
24 house-10, dormitory-5, condo-2, apartment-6, trailer-1

Salad
How old were you when you had your very first kiss?
17 and then 21

Main Course
What time of day do you usually feel your best?
Around 6pm-ish

Dessert
Using three words or less, describe your current local weather.
Snowless, Winter, blah-y

Karen's Departure

This morning Vic & I are taking Karen to the airport for her return to P'Cola. I think she had a nice time, despite us not having any snow for her to play in. And we enjoyed having her here for the week. But as nice as it was, I'm looking forward to going back to my every day routine. It's not that I had to be entertaining or anything, but throwing something different into my every day activities really screws me up! I'm looking forward to long evenings cross-stitching in front of "Friends" reruns. I really did enjoy Karen's visit, though. She and I went to the movies Monday night and I finally got to see "Narnia." I know Vic wouldn't go with me, so I thought I might have to wait until it came out on DVD. Ya know, I still haven't seen the latest "Harry Potter" yet. Vic keeps promising me we'll go soon. Hopefully by the time the next guest visits we'll have more of the house completed. I'd be happy just to have the bookcases arranged properly!