Footprints with a New Year

Well another year has come and gone...I can't believe I say good bye to my 10th year reunion year. Pretty crazy. Funny how one reflects at the end of a year. Did I accomplish my Resolutions from this year passed? Well I'd say I was about 50%, maybe 75%. I will work harder this year. I think I say that every year too.

Well it's raining a lot and will be raining a lot for the next couple of days. I think it's the Universes' way of cleansing us for a brand new year. Washing out the old and such.

This evening I will see my parents, I will see an old friend and I will play games with new friends. I'm glad I had another year with my parents and I'm happy I have my friends always.

As I have walked through this year, some new footprints have walked beside me, some old footprints have moved away, some have just stopped and others continue on by my side. For my new friends, I'm glad we have met and I hope my passion for all things is conveyed on to you. For my old friends who have moved on, I wish you well on your new path even if it must be without me. For those of you that have stopped, I hope you start again, if you need to go backwards, do it with caution for looking back is bad luck. For those of you by my side, I look forward to our newest year together and all the adventures set forth for us.

Be careful all and Have a Happy New Year!

Living on The Beaches, Lot#84

Well kiddies, it finally happened. We got our lender situation all under control and have picked our lot. With a bigger surprise, it will be done in April. We thought it wouldn't be done till maybe June-ish.

Last night we picked our lot, roof elevation, carpet, padding, ceiling fans, kitchen and bathroom flooring and got down to 4 counter top choices, we will make the final decision next Saturday. It's all very nail bitting, trust me. We'll also pick our stucco and roof tile then too.

Our cute little address: 1**0 Las Playas St., Lot#84

I can't think of a better way to start a New Year.

Railroad Tycoon back in the day...

"Light" ranting

Where you see bright,
I see dark.

Your bright skies and rainbows make you happy,
My dark skies and clouds keep me at ease.

The sun beckons you to play outside and thrive from its rays,
My moon calls me from sleep to dance in its pale light.

Your sun makes me sad,
My night allows me to thrive.

For your ways are not everyone’s right ways.
Embrace life when it is dark as you shove your light down my throat.

If your light is so great, why do people die when they head toward it?

Reading over my dog cookbook.

There were some helpful tips to keep your dogs healthy, this struck me really funny:

"Don't let your dogs eat cat food, it's high in crude fats and protein. Also, it has pictures of cats on it."

My bubble of happiness.

So Christmas is really over. I got some pretty neat gifts. I have enough iTunes to give me 1/2 a days music easy. I got so many kitchen gadets and pans, I can't wait to cook/bake! I even got a dog cookie cookbook! Yes, I need more ways to spoil our dogs.

It was fun to watch everyone open gifts and hug. I love family and friends. I finally felt the warmth inside I was looking for. It wasn't the gifts so much as being surrounded by love and happiness, it was like I was in a bubble all day long. I'm still a little drunk on it.

Hope everyone found their own "Bubble of Happiness."

Carb loading for my day.

Eating, shopping, a garage door is installed and wrapping! Full day but more important, fufilling. We went to Molly J's for breakfast, mmmm. I ordered chicken fried steak and eggs, toast and pancakes. I didn't finish it all, shopping with bricks in your stomach, not a good idea. I headed out at about 10:00am and finished up and arrived home around 2:30pm.

I went to 9 stores. I think 4ish hours is good. I even got my car washed, Atomic Betty is clean! Poor car has been through the ringer. I then got the call as I was almost home... we need nuts and plumbers tape, can you go to Lowe's.... ewww. Nothing like getting lost in a warehouse, you all know the commercials, you know what I'm talking about. Luck was on my side. I walked in and the isle in front of me was nuts and bolts. Easy enough, now to find a sales associate to find plumbers tape. Hopefully, I won't find someone who started 2 days ago and works with wood. I ran into 2 people who were helping a couple with paint. The girl asked what I was looking for and walked right down the isle we were next to and picked up tape and asked "10ft or 25ft." Good thing for cell phones. With a one quick ring, I was on my way out the door. Yay for Lowes. My dad and uncle were installing a garage door for us. YAY for not having to open the garage door in the rain anymore! It is a Merry Christmas indeed.

Now, I had to wrap. Erin was going to do a family thing, my dad took the dogs with him so I had no excuses. I made some tamales for dinner and had a ginger ale... mmm. Yummy Christmas Eve dinner for me all by myself. I ate a couple Christmas chocolates and got going. I watched Elf till the 24 hours of a Christmas Story started at 8:00pm. Erin got home at 10:00pm and ruined my mojo by turning off a Christmas Story and playing a video game. Wrapping wasn't as much fun listening to people dying in the background. Who knew I'd be wrapping till 11:30pm and dropping gifts off at friends' homes after that. I'm going to bed and falling a sleep to Ralphie writing a theme about his longing for a gun and beating up Flick, it's 1:30am. I love this goofy movie.

Merry Christmas Eve... well I guess I can just say Merry Christmas now.

Out with all the crazies looking for spirit... or the perfect gifts.

So with the schedule which is my life, I have had no time to really shop for hours and hours except the day after Thanksgiving. With 2 days left till "the big one" I have quite a few gifts and stocking stuffers to get. Since I was shopping with one of the people I need to finish with, I was destined to be out on Christmas Eve. Sounds fun, we shall see.

Okay, so I get that people are trying to figure out that special gift that will make the receivers' eyes all a glow, I get that they are the only ones who are in a hurry but where I lose my patient hat and want to do nothing else but strangle them with it, is when people swirve or stop in front of me. I have little patience for stupid drivers. I will end this rant here.

My biggest gifting problem you ask? Every year my bank sponsers an orphange with a giving tree. I try to pick 2 or 3 cards because no matter how much I think I'm struggling, I really am not. Well this year they chose older kids and with older kids come more expensive price tags. So I chose a girl who wanted a game (wow what a shocker). So little 9 year old Karen wanted a Scavenger Hunt board game. I went to Target, I found nothing. I went to Wal-Mart, again nothing. I went to Toys R Us.... oh yes, nothing. I went to K-B's, Walgreens, Longs, Rite-Aid... nothing, nothing and more nothing. WHAT'S ON EARTH WAS THIS MYSTERY GAME? So I went to the tell all know all of games... Board game geek, it showed me a game from 1982. Damn. So I tried Ebay, same 1982 board game. Now 3 weeks have gone by and it's 2 days before Christmas and the gift is due TODAY. So I got to thinking... Scavenger Hunt, finding things, figuring out, solving clues... CLUE. There is a new version that is called Clue Mysteries. I've seen that everywhere and it's about $20ish, I thought that would be nice. I went to Target and they had one copy. I figured that was a sign. Looking over the box I'd wish they'd had 2 so I could have bought a copy for myself. Happy with my purchase, I walked in the bank smiling and I think a hint of Christmas spirit found itself inside me.

Another debacle... the big dog store. My mom saw this sweatshirt she really liked on this lady at the beach last weekend. I wanted to buy it for her. So I went to the mall 2 days before Christmas.... oye. Parking was pretty simple, amazing. We walked into the big dog store and looked around, I wasn't seeing it. Finally, as I was turning to leave, I saw it in the furthest back corner. I marched on over and started looking at sizes... 5x, 5x, 5x, 4x, 4x, 3x, 2x, 1x.... crap. Since when are there only huge sizes left... saddened, I walked out of the store. The mall was a bust but Karen still got her game, I hope she likes it.

6 hours past and many a bag was loaded into the back of my car. Lists were checked off, smiles all around. Only a few gifts left for tomorrow. Sweet.

Happy Hollowdays... I think people have forgotten what they are about... the hollowness saddens me.

I was the skinny girl?

So I got a call that said, I was not chosen for the big loser contest. Apparently, the girls chosen were quite "bigger" than myself. I was one of the "smaller" girls. Tell me I didn't laugh for about 10 minutes when I got off the phone. That's a bright side I would have never thought of to not being picked.

Plan B shall now take effect. Personal challenge is just as rewarding... never question my ability to adapt a plan on any given moment. I'll fight every blistering, bloody, sore muscle, fatigued step of the way. My stubbornness is empowering.

13 1/2 months to go...

"Look mommie, I can use the pen all by myself."

Like a tray of water in the freezer... I froze.

So I went in for my interview and any thoughts I wanted to convey that I was the girl that would compete the hardest just flew right out of my head. Maybe I'll get a sympathy vote because I was just that sad. They decide today.

I love kisses

Well yes those too but I'm speaking of the New Hershey Candy Coated Kisses. They are pretty yummy and cute. A licorice bite snuck in the picture it was jealous because I was eating those yesterday. They taste just like another candy, I just can't figure out what... so please visit your neighborhood store and eat some so you can tell me the candy. Thanks.

JoeCon '05

So this past weekend an old friend of a friend came into town from the Bay area for 4 days of gaming bliss. With this being so close to the holidays and spending time with family being high on the list... I was only able to game 2 nights.

However, Joe, of JoeCon, is a very nice guy and we wish he lived closer so he could be a regular. In my time on the table I played El Grande, RoboRally (well 1/2 a game, interrupted by a migraine) and Age of Steam (did not know how I felt about this game the 1st time I played it). Being the unusally fair minded person, I have made a point in life to try things 2-3 times to give a fair opinion of "hell no, that sucks."

Needless to say, Age of Steam was much more well received (Joe said he wouldn't let me leave till I liked it, so I really didn't have much choice). Secretly still, 2 rounds in I was trying to really understand the game. It made sense much faster. Foresight is an enemy of mine so this was my disability I figured out. With no taksies backsies, I took 3rd of 6. I guess that's alright. So I won't mind so much if this game hits the table more.

RoboRally was the only game that supported 8 so that came out Saturday night... it got long and drawn out. I tagged out with Erin when she arrived so I could attempt to detour my migraine. An hour and half later they were still playing and people were quitting. Too many robots with no room or the right cards to move.

El Grande is just fun. I like to hear the cubes when they drop in the Caballero. Watching people get paranoid about their home turf is funny too.

JoeCon was fun, there were even T-shirts designed I wish I could have ordered one in time to wear. I can't wait till next year when he comes back.

My Crusade to Become the Biggest Loser

I want to be a loser. I want people to walk down the street and see me and say, "hey that girl is one of the losers." And at the end of 16 weeks, I want to hear, "wow look at her, she WAS the biggest loser.

For those of you who think I'm nuts, well, that's besides the point. In my city, one of the radio stations is having a "Biggest Loser 2" contest. To see who can lose the most weight in 16 weeks. We'll work out with a trainer (and maybe a nutritionist?) 4-6 days a week. I want this more than anyone could imagine. I'm so worried about my health and the medical history in my family. Coming on 30 has really got me thinking. My ulitimate goal is to be back down to my high school weight by my 30th birthday. I have 14 months. I believe it is very do-able and I want/need this challenge. I miss a lot of things that were so easy in my early 20's, funny how it just slipped away from me.

I got a call! I have an interview Tuesday at 2:30pm... please everyone cross your fingers for me.

So this is my Christmas wish... to be a big loser in the New Year.

Santa Plays 20 questions with Melissa the 5 year old.

Erin did me a huge favor by playing Santa at Petsmart for "Santa Paws" photos. Well every once in awhile, Santa Erin had to take pics with children and not animals. There was a particular family of 4 and the youngest, Melissa, had many a question for Santa Erin.

M: Where are your reindeer?
S: Out back behind the store.

M: Can I see them?
S: Well I don't know, they are way out back and resting.

M: Why?
S: They had a long flight and need to rest.

M: What are their names?
S: There's Comet and Blitzen and Donner and...uh... you know the most famous one, what's his name?
M: Oh yeah, Rudolph!
S: Now you tell me the rest of them.
M: Uh...

M: Do you have a mom?
S: Yes.

M: What is her name?
S: Mrs. Klaus, no wait that's my wife, mama Klaus. (looks at me in panic, I'm trying not to pee and/or laugh)

M: Do you have dogs?
S: Yes.

M: What are their names?
S: Zoey and Piper.

M: Okay, bye Santa.

Imagine that being a really fast conversation, which I'm sure for Erin, seemed like an eternity. It was hilarious!

Anyway, Happy Holidays all!

Literally

I have a lot of friends who are teachers. Who also have friends that are teachers. So I can get some really funny emails about students from various schools. This turned up in my inbox yesterday. It's finals week and a girl put this as her answer. No joke. A high school student.

Erin and her quest to finish... attempt #2.

The Shadows of Today

Is my day gray or is the worlds' day gray?

Am I moving slow or is the world moving too fast?

Is the wind sweeping across my face or is the wind blowing me around?

Are my feet carrying me forward or is the universe drawing me forward?

most days I make my decisions... today I'll let the universe do it for me, I need a break.

It's amazing how good a sandwich from the trash is.

Poor girl, multi-tasking was not her strong point. I went to subway for lunch for 2 reasons: healthier food and to get subway gift certificates for my dad for Christmas. Sweet girl but not a whole lot upstairs.

So I ordered a sandy-wich, it was made and then I asked for the gift certificates. Well asking the girl who bent over and her hat fell off for the gift certificates should have been my first clue. Anyway, apparently she couldn't hold my sandwich and take money for the gift certificates, so she dropped it in the trash. However, I didn't see that part. Then when I stood there waiting for it, after she handed me my gift certificates she looked at me like "why are you still standing there?" I asked where my sandwich was, so we looked around and she found it in the trash so she had to make me a whole new one. This didn't seem to surprise her other 4 co-workers.

Spending invisible money.

Step 1: Deposit money & bonus.
Step 2: Sign for it.
Step 3: Leave to shop.
Step 4: Put miles on Debit Card.
Step 5: Go to view damage online.
Step 6: Realize ALL money is gone.
Step 7: Upon further review, realizing it was never deposited.
Step 8: Looking at receipt, then noticing Christopher Gr*** has all your money.
Step 9: Go bowling with the heads of people at your bank.
Step 10: Have your money back in said account within 10 minutes.

Fuck me....

We went shopping at the Outlet Stores and got a House!

Our waiting list days have finally paid off. They called us to pick a lot to build our house! We were shopping in Tulare and while looking in the "Welcome Home" store, my phone rang to see if we were still interested in having a house built.

Anyone else think the universe put me in that store at just the right time...

Death

How come when someone dies near the holidays they say, "that's horrible and so close to the holidays." I can't imagine mid March being any better for a parent or loved one to die.

Be thankful year round for those you have in your life and smile for the memories you have of ones who roam on other plains...

Results are in!

Knew: 92 <- Test Score :)
Didn't "Knew": 8

Final Grade: A

Revenge of the Slurp.

Settling in to my last test of the semester. The material was fairly simple, in 30-45 short minutes, I'd be DONE!

By question #4 I was ready to kill a guy about 6 seats to my left. If looks could kill, they'd still be mopping his annoying ass up today. Apparently, Senior Sniffles had a cold. Anyone, who's sat in a class and had to take a test, knows that when you lean over to read a paper, your nose runs worse than a leaky faucet. Obviously, this was new to him because about every 25 seconds you'd hear that lovely "sucking of boogers." This made taking the test just a tad tougher. Short of shoving toilet paper up his nose, this guy couldn't take a hint.

I remember reading a few questions 3 times before I could actually comprehend it. The only relief I got was when he had to cough. Then I had about a minute and half of silence.

Moral of the story: If you have a cold and have to be in a quiet room with people, stick tissue up your nose. Blowing your nose every minute is just as annoying as the slurp.

Final Standing:

Knew: 63
Didn't "knew": 10

Although as I went through the test, the multiple choice triggered some of the "unknown." So I think it was more like 5 that I didn't know. I could only miss 13 and I'm not sure if I pulled it off, we'll see tomorrow.

The 100 question test took me 30 minutes. I looked up as I finished at the girl next to me, she was on the first side still, about #47... yikes.

When Pipers' attack...

It is now 5 hours till my test:

Know: 53
Don't know: 20

I'm going shopping now, I need a break.

Studying, hot cocoa, painting and the "do it all" phone.

So I have a pretty kick back day here at work (shut up, I do have to work sometimes). I've run through my note cards twice: I know about 41 of them, which means I don't know 32 of them. Not looking good... yet.

I can't stop thinking about the vanilla/cocoa I'm going to buy tonight. I know it's going to be cool and I'm looking forward to it.

We've recently been going to "Color Me Mine." Painting pottery is fun. Very relaxing with all the other crap we have going on. I'm working on a Santa for my mom and Erin is going to start a bowl for her mom. I can't wait to see how it turns out, it looks hard. I will take pics along the way.

I got a new phone, I would take a pic and show you cause it's really flippin' sweet but you can't take a pic of your own phone with your phone. So if it has one downfall, that's it. Cause it has a camera built in, it flips open to show a keyboard, it plays video's, it makes video's, it goes shopping for you and organizes your closet. Okay, not the last two but it does damn near everything else. Yay for the LG from Verizon! I will take a pic of what Piper (my puppy) did to my phone though. She ate 2 phones in 2 weeks, bad dog.

Back to my note cards...

I'm the one with mashed hair and unwilling to get out of the chair.

Today was a tough Sunday. I got up, went to eat breakfast at Tina Maries. Home of 14 omelette's. They weren't kidding, those people take their omelette's seriously. I ordered chicken fried steak & eggs (scrambled, kinda like my mind today), hashbrowns & a biscuit with gravy. Oh and chocolate milk, one must enjoy a good glass of chocolate milk.

So we came here to work on our Nutrition questions for our final tomorrow. Funny? Oh I think so. You think we'd go to a bagel/smoothie place or something but fatty and fried seem the better way to go. Anyway, we got through one question and our food was here. Mmmm.

3 plates in front me. Embarrassing? Oh yes a little but I say give me a shovel and get outta my way. Good grub. Needless to say, I didn't eat again till about 6:00pm. I sat my butt in the recliner with a blanket, occasionally dosing off. My hair was mashed in the back and sticking out every which way it could. What a nice day.

I decided to start my note cards around 7:00pm. Good thing I waited till the last minute.

The sounds of being "Screwed" courtsey of Paris Hilton.

This starlet is no virgin to being in the spotlight, whether it be a sex tape, wild party, vacation or bar pics, we've seen this one "do" it all. Well once again, Jamie, Jack & Stench have done it. They helped leak the next Kelly Clarkson.

Paris Hilton can sing, you ask? The anwser is NO. Without a shadow of a doubt. This overprocessed, high strung tartlet is far from having any natural talent. And the name of this masterpiece of Hilton History? "Screwed." Are we really surprised? They've always said, "go with what you know."

Piper ate my phone and during peak hours! Damn.

Boston Market or just Market?

This makes me laugh every time. I have a friend who lives in Boston. She like to go to Boston Market for their Mac n' cheese. I asked her isn't that redundant to say Boston Market since you live there, shouldn't you just call it Market? She called me a big dork. *giggles* I don't know why it's funny, it just is.

Mountain Dews' New Energy in a Bottle.

It tastes like poo. Sugar free was not the way to go. There's $2.49 I can't get back. With the "Best Taste" date on the bottle saying drink by Feb. 2006. Makes me think how much worse can it get?

Cell phones, the cold and hot cocoa.

So we had class last night at B.C. and the temperature has dramatically dropped here in Bako. I personally enjoy it, I can wear a sweatshirt and shorts or pants and a t-shirt.

Entering class, most people were bundled up and jabbering about the weather. As usual the professor asked for cell phones to be turned off or to vibrate. Well you know there is always one in the bunch. About mid-way through the review, about as loud as a ringer could be, it went off and the person answered it and walked out of class. I love how the professor handlded it; long drawn out pause while starring at the person all the way out the door. Priceless. I mean have some common sense and courtesy, geez.

The temp dropping to the lower 40's upper 30's at night is allowing my body to cool down. I bought some French Vanilla/Hot Cocoa at the Shell Station by the college. It was wonderful! I love hot drinks, it's just not possible for me to enjoy them since I'm so warm on the inside already. Then steam starts coming out from my head. It's not pretty.

I came in the office and it was 67 in here, warm to me. My boss came in in a sweatshirt and warm up pants. He was cold and turned up the heat. Good thing I want to lose weight, it's like a damn sauna in here!

Shopping, Sleeping and Laughing

So the alarm went off at 3:25am. Three snooze hits later and I rolled out of bed. Thank goodness I laid my clothes out the night before because there is no way I could have picked out something that matched. I pulled my hoodie over my head, brushed my teeth and slowly made my way toward the garage. Erin was about in good a good shape as I was. We silently drove to Best Buy.

When we got there, we were 2 whole buildings down. We waited for about an hour, it wasn't too bad. People are entertaining to say the least. Best Buy was on the ball, they had people handing out tags for the bigger items and you could apply for credit while standing in line. We were there to get some cheap cd's and dvd's. When we walked in, there was no line. We kept checking it because that is what slowed us down last year, we stood in line for well over an hour. We walked around and looking up, a line was forming, I ran for it. I was about 30 people back. Not too bad, Erin kept wandering around and we were out of there by 5:30am and on our way to Target since they opened at 6:00am.

We got the dvd player and some other stuff and we were out of there by 6:30am and ready for breakfast before heading to Toys R Us and the mall (or hell as it is now known).

Toys R Us was surprisingly fast but KB Toy store took about an hour and a half. They handed you a bag at the front of the store. I was tempted to hop in it and hop around the store, yes it was that big. So basically you had to walk the whole store to shop, that was the line. We got lots and lots of presents there. We easily filled that bag and walked out with 3 large bags and surprisingly we only spent $90.

We plopped our butts in the car at 9:15am. We were done *hooray*! Time to head home and go to sleep. I remember putting Friends Season 10 on and laughing a little, it was 10:30 when I laid down, when I looked up, it was 3:30pm. Great nap. Time to get ready for George Lopez!

We went to pick up the dogs, they had a slumber party at my mom's house. Came back home to get ready and then headed to Tailgaters before the show. Holy shit! It was wall to wall people. Thankfully, Erin's brother was there at the bar so we had a spot to stand. We ordered some beer, hot wings and chili fries. Damn good hot wings, I've wanted some the rest of the weekend. Great flavor, mmmm. George Lopez was sooo hilarious. He was on for 2 hours and we had great seats. Root beer and popcorn to accompany the show made it that much better.

So Friday was a fun day, similar to last year, except the comedian was Seinfeld. Can't wait till next year!!! Hope everyone's Turkey day was Gobble-tastic!

I give thanks to Texas Hold 'Em, Ham, Family, Homemade Tortillas and Ads.

I woke up around 10:00am to find Erin watching a HUGE Texas Hold 'Em tournament on TV. Turns out they were showing it from start to finish, it was on for about 7 hours. I watched about 4 of those hours. I had to leave at 2:00pm to take a pot to my mom to make the stuffing. There were 5600 people at the start and when I left it was down to 20 people (2 tables). I never got to see who won but wow is that pretty sweet... $10,000.00 entry fee at a chance to win $7,000,000.00.

I love Thanksgiving. I am particularly fond of the Ham. I love ham in between bread, in a tortilla, picking at it as I walk by the dish... it's so yummy. I also love being around family, watching movies all day and having an excuse to take a nap and blaming it on the turkey.

I was walking into the house with the pot to hear my mom and her sister freaking out because the mashed potatoes were liquid. I had just set the pot down and my mom looked at me and said, "go to the store and get potato buds now and hurry." I spun on my heel and walked right back out the door. Having a Mexican mother who knows what she needs, you never question, you just do it. It's taken me 28 years but I have it down now. I sped down the road to Albertsons, expecting a huge line. I walked in, grabbed 2 boxes of Hungry Jack instant potatoes and headed to self check out. LUCK! No line, I scanned my 2 items and jogged out of the store. It took me 12 minutes total. My uncle asked what I was doing in my car, he didn't even know I had left. I'm fast!

After sitting around all day, evening had set in, some of the family had left. The alcohol came out as did the poker cards. After about an hour of laughing at that. My mom started bringing out food for round 2. I simply asked my mom to make some homemade tortillas, she said no and that I was nuts. DAMN! They would have been so good with mashed potatoes in them (before you wince, try it first, I have a white girl approval from Erin). So I went to the fridge to get the store bought ones and they didn't have any, geez o peez. At this moment, my mom felt bad and said, "fine at least get out the ingredients." I ran to the cupboard before she changed her mind. :) MMmmm, good tortillas and mashed potatoes.

Erin and I then sat around and planned our 4:30am attack for Holiday Shopping! At first, we were circling everything we wanted... oops, time for giving not receiving. We decided it would be best to finish all the kids. Lots and lots of toys on sale. Wish me luck with all the crazies!

In choosing #23:

All there is, is the ever-moving, changing content, arising presently in awareness. It's only when there is immersion in the stream of thought that time seems real. In presence there is the knowing that what is appearing, presently, as a life apparently extended in time is the play of life.

Day 8 with no hope in sight...

Okay, so I went to the doctor because this horrific cough is winning and that does not bode well with me. I want to be able to game this weekend so I'm breaking down and using my medical insurance.

They were able to get me in @ 10:45am, I called at 8:50am. Not bad. I was out of the docs' office at 11:00am to be told that I do not have: bronchitis, laryngitis or anything else serious. I have an irritation in my throat. How irritating...

The Charm of Vegas

"Massages"
Alcohol
Slots
Topless
Utopia
Re-buy
BlackJack
Aces
Temptation
Euphoria

The Package has been received!

The games are in, the games are in, oh happy day the games are in! *Me doing a happy dance in my office*

Nothing like receiving a nice 2ft box because the main game inside is so big and has so many pieces! Woohoo!

You know what? The Nacho Incident box cracks me up everytime I read it:

You're three miles into Alberta, a sack of warm, spicy burritos your only companion. To be caught north of the border with salsa would be the end of you. Wait-- what's that noise???

LMAO!!! Call me a sucker for a cheesy line.

45 minutes till I'm off work. Too bad I have to go to the bank, wrap the bunco gifts, eat dinner, go to bunco, take the dogs to their grandma's house, drop the dog stuff off at the petsitters and pack for Vegas!!! No playing with my new games for me :(

Maybe I want to stay at work? Eeek...

Foggy mind has distracted me from my new arrival today!

I have 2 little bundles of joy arriving today. I can't believe I forgot about them! How awful am I? Last night all I wanted to do was lay around. I moved from my chair, to my couch, back to the chair and then to bed. Being sick sucks! I can't think of anything else but laying around and sleeping.

Anyway, back to the important packages. Last Friday an order was placed for: Descent: A journey into the dark and The Nacho Incident. Descent is a dream if you love oodles and oodles of bits and pieces. I can't wait to open the box. I know it won't get here till after 4:00pm, the UPS guy always seems to pull that off on game deliveries but if it's work samples, he's here by noon :p The nacho incident has intrigued me since I read about smuggling burritos across the border. I can't pass up a fun card game.

The bum deal is, I won't be able to play these till next week at best. Tomorrow I'm off to the desert of bright lights and hookers, did I say hookers? I meant slot machines. Silly Advil groggy-ness. I will take the booklet and try to read through Descent, I'm sure it will be an easy read with a few whiskey sours in me *wink*

Well my soup is getting cold... later.

Ode to my Cold:

You Blow. The End.

Did you?

Fudge mint oreos will be my demise.

Lesson of the Day:

A YOUNG MAN CALLED ALAN INVITED HIS MOTHER FOR DINNER.
DURING THE COURSE OF THE MEAL, HIS MOTHER COULDN'T HELP BUT
NOTICE HOW HANDSOME ALAN'S FLATMATE WAS.

SHE HAD LONG BEEN SUSPICIOUS OF A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE
TWO, AND THIS ONLY MADE HER MORE CURIOUS. OVER THE COURSE OF
THE EVENING, WHILE WATCHING THE TWO INTERACT, SHE STARTED TO
WONDER IF THERE WAS MORE BETWEEN ALAN AND HIS FLATMATE THAN
MET THE EYE.

READING HIS MUM'S THOUGHTS, ALAN VOLUNTEERED, "I KNOW WHAT YOU
MUST BE THINKING, BUT I ASSURE YOU, SIMON & I ARE JUST FLATMATES".

ABOUT A WEEK LATER, SIMON CAME TO ALAN SAYING, "EVER SINCE YOUR MOTHER CAME
TO DINNER, I'VE BEEN UNABLE TO FIND THE FRYING PAN, YOU DON'T SUPPOSE SHE TOOK IT DO YOU?"
"WELL, I DOUBT IT, BUT I'LL E-MAIL HER JUST TO BE SURE," SAID ALAN, SO HE SAT DOWN AND WROTE:

DEAR MOTHER, I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU "DID" TAKE THE FRYING
PAN FROM MY HOUSE, I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU "DID NOT" TAKE THE FRYING
PAN, BUT THE FACT REMAINS THAT IT HAS BEEN MISSING EVER SINCE YOU WERE
HERE FOR DINNER.
LOVE ALAN

SEVERAL DAYS LATER, ALAN RECEIVED AN E-MAIL FROM HIS MOTHER
WHICH READ:

DEAR SON,
I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU "DO" SLEEP WITH SIMON, AND I'M NOT
SAYING THAT YOU "DO NOT" SLEEP WITH SIMON, BUT THE FACT
REMAINS THAT IF HE WAS SLEEPING IN HIS OWN BED, HE WOULD HAVE
FOUND THE FRYING PAN BY NOW.
LOVE MUM

LESSON OF THE DAY:
DON'T EVER LIE TO YOUR MOTHER (SHE ALWAYS, ALWAYS FINDS OUT!)

Your Birthdate: February 27

You are a spiritual soul - a person who tries to find meaning in everything. You spend a good amount of time meditating, trying to figure out life. Helping others is also important to you. You enjoy social activities with that goal. You are very generous and giving. Yet you expect very little in return. Your strength: Getting along with anyone and everyone Your weakness: Needing a good amount of downtime to recharge Your power color: Cobalt blue Your power symbol: Dove Your power month: September

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Steak Flavored Corn

Can't pass up an opportunity to buy a NY Steak for $3.74. They were big and tasty looking. We got 2 and planned to toss them on the grill with some peppercorn seasoning. With a baked potato and some organic sweet corn on the side, this was a meal for Queens. Peppercorn seasoning looks like dirt out of the packet, well who knew dirt could taste so good!

The corn cooked right above the steaks on the 3 tier grill, that way they wouldn't turn into popcorn. I don't know why but the corn tasted extra yummy last night. I figured it had something to do with the smoke/steam from the fat drippings of the steak. Whatever it was, that was the best damn corn!

Kev to the Dizzle, Fed in the hizzie
.... as lame as I sound, this one beats me by a long shot.


Normally, I wouldn't bother posting on something as lame as Kevin Federline but Jamie, Jack & Stench (JJS) drove me to this.

They felt the need to play this song "K-Fed" has rapped and is said to come out next year, called Y'all ain't ready. <-- Really, no shit?

Moving along, the husband of Britney Spears has brought out some really revealing lyrics *insert sarcasm here* such as "Back then, they called me K-Fed, but you can call me Daddy instead." *crickets chirping* *Blank Stare* I really can't even make fun of this, its overloaded my ability to make fun of him.

JJS said it reminded them of New Kids on the Block. Jamie told Jack to compare the two side by side. Stench said it had to be hard core NKOTB to be a fair comparison "like Hangin' Tough, not that sissy Please Don't Go Girl ballad." Note: the fact that Stench knew these titles is a laugh within itself. So they started with Hangin' Tough, then moved to Y'all ain't ready and back and forth from there. Jamie said "No, he is no New Kids, they really deliever." All this while they are singing along with Hangin' Tough and some other comment about that being "the special man dance." All very funny indeed.

I'm not a fan of the Spears but I feel sorry for her. She paid money for this "music" to be made. "K-Fed" has anticipated a backlash to occur from the public to which he replied: "My prediction is that y'all gonna hate on the style we create, straight 2008." *Blank Stare, Blink Blink*

A shot of these combined will allow you to utter this phrase:

"I can see through time"

Sometimes these 3 words say it perfectly.

All Hallows Eve and the children I made fear for their lives' *eh hem* I mean tactfully scared.

To all who do not know, I LOVE HALLOWEEN! This by far is my favorite holiday. I take great care and pride in my decorations and primping of spiders and ghosts. Everyone and everything must be placed, just right. As a last minute venture, I went to Party City and found some great items on clearance. One in particular was a "trap door" on a mechanisim that moved the doors up and down, making a light creaking sound and had a bone hand reaching out of it. It was regularly $40 and I grabbed it for $10. It was one of the most commented attractions in the yard. :) I also got a mask to hide behind and some make-up items.

Sitting at work with my legs about shaking off my body was fun, waiting to get off work. The afternoon flew by though, lots of end of the month work. I finished at 1 minute till 4:00pm so that worked great. I arrived home with a list of things I needed to grab before we left for my parents house. I also got out of the car to find Napolean Dynamite standing before me, snowboots and all. I love this day!

So we headed down the road and walking down the street we saw a nun with some groceries heading home.... priceless. We pulled around the corner to find my parents placing crosses in the front yard with fake mounds where the deceased have been recently buried and my aunt and uncle placing the 16 pumpkins we carved, throughout the yard. Yes, I said 16 pumpkins. My dad had placed my 5 ft skeleton in a noose from a wooden prop he made and attached it to a tree. Looked great. I got out and set out to work, setting up my lab table and fog machine. This involved covering the table in black table cloths and setting mason jars with water and glow sticks and misc. bugs. A mini coffin with a skeleton sitting up in it. A cauldron with lights in it, so it would properly glow and a lot of bats, spiders and rats spread around. I hid the fog machine under the table and grabbed a chair. I placed a hologram machine that projected witches on the side of the house. There were curtains set up in front of the doors to walk through and spider webs all the way up the walk way. Along with some chalk outlines on the sidewalk. Then the floating head was set up in one of the windows, screaming in the background.

I went inside, put on my mask and my cloak. My dogs walked right up and licked my hands. My cousins dog barked and ran away... poor girl. Probably didn't help I was chasing her but it's rare you see a pit bull so scared. I walked outside and got settled in my chair and positioned myself to look as fake as possible. Slumped over and happy as can be, victims, I mean kids started coming in packs. All of them staring and pointing and "ooohing" and "awwing" I couldn't be any happier unless I had some whiskey and hot wings in front of me.

It was fun to see them stare through me as hard as they could. Trying to decide if I was real or not was hilarious. I would tilt my head or raise my arm quickly to some of the older ones just to see them jump a little. I was very sweet to the little ones. They would be very hesitant to walk up to the door and I would quietly speak "it's okay, just walk up to the door, no one will scare you." They would walk really slow, just watching to make sure I wouldn't get them. Even a mom who was staring at my table, saw my eyes shift and said, "hey there's someone in there." I lifted my head and spoke, which made her jump a little and then she laughed. Then as the kids walked away from the house I would turn on the fog machine, which some would run or scream or dance in it. Well the mom screamed and jumped.... oops. Good thing she had a good sense of humor about it.

Kids came and went, all staring and admiring the pumpkins and decorations. I got to hear some of the best comments, which made how tired I was worth it all.
"This house right here, is the reason I still love to come trick or treating."

A mom said, he (referring to her son) almost ran to your house, he looks forward to coming here every year and wanted to skip all the other houses to come here first.

Another family that comes by every year, always takes pictures in front of our pumpkins and hay bails. That is one of their traditions. :)

"This is always the bestest house."

"Hold on, I'm trick or treating." Said a fairy on her cell phone. That was pretty funny.

I saw pirates, a Napolean, princesses, a bumble bee, spiderman, Jack Skelington, "Black-u-la" and lots of others. Most of the people had no idea I was there, so I got to hear first hand what everyone really thought. Lots of parents that loved the pumpkins, it was so awesome to see families enjoying our work together. It was the greatest spiritual boost to know I was contributing to such great kid memories. I'm still on a little high today...

I'll post pics as soon as I get them developed...

"I may dance with the devil but its only because he has the best music."

Chili Beans, Corn Bread and 16 Pumpkins

So as the tradition goes, the day before Halloween, we all bring our pumpkins to my parents house, I make copies of the Pumpkin Masters Designs and we all set out carving. I keep binders of old patterns, so we easily have over 50 to choose from. My mom always makes a big pot of chili beans and corn bread. A nice way to warm you up on the inside since you'll be sitting outside for the next four hours in the cool air carving pumpkins.

A new fun toy I found on sale was the Pumpkin Master power carver. Oh yes, it is battery operated and makes carving all the big chunks out a breeze. This little joyous creation also allowed me to get through 3 pumpkins, pretty easily.

This year, 16 pumpkins would be staying at my parents house and there was 7 of us carving. Friends came over as well, carving their own pumpkins to take back home with them, so I think overall we had 21 pumpkins. It's such a fun tradition as each person starts finishing them and holding a flashlight to show off their pumpkin.

Lots of smiles and also a lot of heavy sighs and misc. words of utter disgust when the tip of tower breaks or a spiders leg doesn't come out right. My new idea to fix things? Use a toothpick to prop it up, we saved a castle tower, a pumpkin and a couple other pieces from falling off.

All in all, it was a great night and I look forward to that almost as much as the next night. I love spending time with family and in my parents house, if you walk through the door, you are family. It's really a special and wonderful place to have grown up.

Never try anything new in the morning till you are able to commit to reading the label...

Monday morning after Daylight Savings proves to be a difficult one. Sleep. Such a small word that is the beginning of all days and things yet to come. The foundation of new memories to make. I woke up an hour early and had trouble falling a sleep the night before since I was so excited about Halloween.

In need of some energy, I decided to try this new Apple Pie flavored bar. Sounds great, huh? When I think of Apple Pie, I think of a light flaky crust and some carmalized apples. I open this little mystery bar to find what looks like a bar shaped piece of plywood. Not that it looked bad but there were a lot of little pieces compressed in there.

So to a person who has allergies, this might typically send some kind of alarm that "hey, you may want to look at the ingredient list." However, in my half-asleep state all I had ensured was I had some water there because I know these bars can get dry kinda fast. I take the first, very small, bite and begin to chew. A little strange but good, has a nice flavor to it. So I'm thinking what a great breakfast to have... (about this time, I'm half way through it) and then it happens. All of the sudden my tongue is swelling, my throat and ears are itching to no end! I grab the wrapper and read the ingredients to find there are walnuts and almonds as main ingredients! I just start lapping down water and scratching at my throat like I was clawing through wrapping paper.

The nice thing about my allergy, is it will go away on its own but it sure is uncomfortable for 15-20 minutes. So lesson learned, no eating new things without reading labels or early in the morning.

If it had given me a splotchy red face and arms, this could have worked to my advantage being Halloween and all. Oh well, I'll settle for the bar mask with hooded robe to scare kids.

Note: In no way am I making light of people with truly bad allergic reactions, so get over it and shut up. Thank you and good day.

Another one come and gone... and I still can't capture a flag.

So my full Saturday contained many elements: softball, hot flashes, gaming, a nap and more gaming with cookies. I started out my normal Saturday with pitching lessons, good job by all, watching the girls work hard and wanting more makes me feel like I'm finally getting somewhere. I look forward to the upcoming season which is quickly approaching.

Then as that finished up, a video gaming tournament was held at the high school to see who was the all time bestest Madden player. Some of the kids played board games on the side or when they were disqualified from the Madden game. A couple of the teachers that were participating were just as into those games as the kids, that was fun to watch.

We packed up and headed home, I was hungry but decided a sprinkle of sleepy dust was the only therapy I needed if I planned on hanging in "adult play time." So I got the hour pick me up and got ready to game, this envolves picking up cookies, a very important element in gaming.

We played Shadows over Camelot, RoboRally and another game I can't remember the name of but it envolved blowing up an island and dumping people off the land into the water to be eaten by sharks.

With 7 people involved on defending Camelot, there was bound to be a traitor, but who could it be? The game is very difficult to beat so the traitor has very little work to do in the beginning, not till towards the end does it become (sometimes) a little more obvious. Poor Sally, she just wanted to destroy Camelot and continually adding siege engines made her a quick person to target the accusation. Rich made the call and we had our trader! We shortly won our last quest and won the game! All hail the knights of the round table!
RoboRally is always a challenge for me. I always make that one wrong turn which gets me pushed off the board or into a pit. Erin won this game and didn't have to power down once, I guess her math background and awesome starting point contributed to this heavy metal win. I enjoy sliding on conveyer belts and turning on gears but I guess I'm not one to follow the crowd and actually make it onto a flag. I guess I should be able to make one but making 3? I don't think my robot is that lucky. Oh well, I guess it could be worse, my robot could have a lisp or limp...
???(game I can't remember the title), give me a break it was 11:00p.m. and I just came off a very sad loss of RoboRally. The object was to get your people from the middle island to any of the 4 islands on four corners by boats, swimming or dolphins helping you along. There were sea monters, sharks and whales to detour your voyage. It was a very cute Milton Bradley game from like 20 years ago (I saw on the box it was printed in 1982). Kurt beat me by two points. I always enjoy a close game by numbers.
We attempted to get taco bell afterwards but the line of 14 cars detoured me home instead to have a cheese link in a bun with mustard. Good stuff but its no bean burrito with sour cream, no onions... maybe I'll get it later today.

Scary Pisces, Deeper Thinking and Math Says Confusion = Challenge.

Speaking with a friend this morning, I was confronted with the task of listening and lending some light assistance. Two things I never mind doing for anyone in true need. I was challenged with some good, dark, points. Thinking quickly, like the pisces I am (swimming fiercely but gently), I answered from within my soul and past experiences. To which I was told "Pisces scare me."

Well that wasn't my intention but I guess my boldness can sometimes be taken that way. I also realized when speaking with the many different natured souls that I do, each person allows me to draw something special from within myself. I enjoy each person who has come onto my path in life, good or bad, I've taken something with me from them to travel forward. My ability to use a deeper thought process has come back to life lately and it's pretty enjoyable and sometimes "scary." I like the thought of my soul becoming a little more unlocked. I thank you for that.

Confusion was presented to me this morning, not for myself but as a problem in ones life. My answer was simply stated. "I see being confused as a challenge." With that I mean, you must embrace it and let it take its course, there isn't anything wrong with being confused but don't let it rule your self. We all need challenge and change, after all, they are inevitable.

"Standing at a locked door, I know the key is on the other side but how will I get to it?"

The Email & The Dead Microwave

The non-functioning microwave in the Staff Lounge will be laid to rest on Wednesday, October 19th. It was a good microwave and unfortunately passed away sometime in the late 20th century. The reasons why the microwave came to spend its remaining days at Arvin High School will be chronicled in the forthcoming book: My Life with Hank: The Story Of The Microwave That Could and The Rat That Came To Die Inside It, available at at Borders near you, and the maloFILMS© documentary: Hank.

Services will be held fifth period.

Much bereaved,

John Ab***

I received this in my inbox today, I felt it must be shared with the rest of the world. A good lesson, we should all appreciate our appliances in such a deep way.

The Sleeping Fairy Hates Me

Just when I thought, "I'm so tired, I'm going to sleep like a log." (and don't get me started on how logs sleep, I think it's ridiculous as well) I open my eyes in the dark abyss of my room to roll over and read the clock that says 1:20a.m. I roll back over and think once again, it's going to be a LONG night. This wonderful story continues on at 2:45a.m., 3:40a.m. and 4:50a.m. It could be worse I guess, I could have woke up at 3:00a.m. and smelled something burning in the house... lol.

I have been sleeping so well the past 2 weeks, I forgot just how horrible it was to wake up 4-5 times a night. I think it was a fluke though, I have a lot of creavtive ideas flowing right now so I think my brain is having trouble settling down. I'm not too worried about it.

I don't think the sleeping fairy really hates me but her cousin the sandman is quite the joker... *yawns*

Counting down to positive energy & being rejuvenated.

So it's now 3 days till we game. Game nights serve a few purposes for me. Not only do I get to play the best type of games ever invented (check out my link to European Board Games) but I get to socialize with some of the best people ever.

As we move through my life you find out just how busy I am. So for the hours we play, I forget about the test I need to study for, the work piling up at my job, the cleaning I need to be doing, the pitching lessons I need to lay out, the words I need to get out of my head and onto that damn sheet of paper that taunts me daily... you get my point.

Gaming is equal to coffee for you "normal" people. It wakes my body up form the inside out but instead of just for a few hours, this lasts for days and I feel clear headed and ready to run toward my tasks instead of away from them. I love how much positive energy I get from my friends.

"Surround yourself with goodness to find your inner strength..."

Take your vitamins or turn into a sloth.

So I was taking my nutrition test last night and we all know how "they" usually throw in a wacky answer to make you smile when all you really want to do is snap the pencil in half and throw it at the person in front of you who is the "tapper."

Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent. My point is the wacky answer. This section of the class was about vitamins, the foods that contain each one and deficiencies if you don't consume what you should daily, weekly, etc. So this particular question got me thinking:

If you are Vitamin A deficient and this shape you are more suseptable to have a stroke or heart disease?

a) pear
b) apple
c) orange
d) sloth

The last one made me giggle and then I thought, "If people were going to take on a "sloth" form if they became vitamin deficient, I think people would take vitamin intake a lot more serious."

The moral of the story: "Take your vitamins by consuming good for you foods or become some oversized hideous creature who no one wants to socialize with and who will have a bad heart." :)

The love/hate relationship...

A particular woman has entered my radio, she is the wife of a very good friend, and I can't stand her! I'm always listening for her to bad mouth my friend so I can be the first one on the phone to tell her she should appreciate what she has been given in her life. She drives me insane, but yet, I can't shut her off? I've had problems like this before where something completely drives me insane but I can't get enough of it... it's maddening really. I know I'm not the only one who goes through this. I can't be... can I? No. Well? No, I'm not, stop it. Oh I have to go, she's back on... shhhh.

My first time.

So as my first post, let me say "welcome and hello." I hope I can be half as entertaining as some of my other friends who own blogs. Comment at will. I'm excited to try this newest step in my online lifestyle. I'm many things as you will find. I do enjoy the act of free will and free thinking. So if you finish a post and your eyebrows are raised, I can walk away from my keyboard with a smile. So enjoy your day, I know I will.