Woke up today ... to everything grey. And all that I saw, just kept going on and on...
After sleeping in and a bit of lounging we headed out, going through the Journey sex trafficking exhibit/shipping containers down the street. There wasn't a clear message about what to do to stop sex trafficking and the literature was a first-person story typed in a handwriting font. It wasn't a clear story or narrative, but maybe that was the point ... to confuse the viewer/reader?
I didn't really get much from the art, except one room. They had the smell of poverty down pat. It was a replica of the room where the girls would be kept. The bed shook, the stench was unbearable and the exit was covered in condoms. Bizarre. At the end you could give them your e-mail address. I did not.
Then we went to the Palladium gym, where elliptical and TV makes for an easy effective workout. Afterward we walked into a DOWNPOUR, the result of the Nor'easter I believe the weather people are squawking about. Shawn didn't have an umbrella, so it made for a soggy walk to Blockbuster.
Our local one is closing, which is typical, since our Blockbuster by mail just gave us free in-store returns for the rest of the year, which would mean we could swap out a DVD we received in the mail for one at the store. Not useful when the nearest store is more than a half-hour walk away. Dud.
BUT because the store is closing they're selling off all their videos. We were able to peruse the sale items for the duration of the downpour before heading on our way. Now we're killing time before we head out again into the murky weather for Kellie's birthday dinner.
Definitely feels like autumn. November huzzah!
Mind The Gap
Oh, hello there.
Another post via Jezebel inspired me to react in blog post form*:
But then I thought about it, and my slightly more rational side (as there is no truly rational Mari) says they're just trying to sell clothes, so let them say what they want, and it's catchy besides. It's not like a church is propagating the idea that you can believe what you want, mix and match until you're happy.
This is a topic of discussion in my faith/Methodism class (whether it's OK to just pick your favorite parts of various religions and kind of create your own path ... consensus: it's not). I'm reading a Q&A book about Methodism and the Articles of Religion, so it's kind of top-of-mind, which might account for my initial sour-puss reaction to the advertisement.
*Normally I might have just shared this in my Google Reader, but knowing I have a daily blog post to create tends to skew things toward a post rather than a share.
Here's the ad via YouTube:
Another post via Jezebel inspired me to react in blog post form*:
Mind The Gap - the gap - Jezebel:I saw this commercial last night and had a similar reaction ... i.e. "do-whatever-you-wanna-kuh" is not good. There's meaning behind the Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations, and this commercial, seemingly moreso than others, blatantly thumbs its nose at those celebrations.
The American Family Association is not amused at The Gap for adding greetings like 'Happy Whateveryouwannukah' and 'Mo' Mistletoe' to its holiday ad campaign, which they claim 'censors' Christmas. [Brandweek]"
But then I thought about it, and my slightly more rational side (as there is no truly rational Mari) says they're just trying to sell clothes, so let them say what they want, and it's catchy besides. It's not like a church is propagating the idea that you can believe what you want, mix and match until you're happy.
This is a topic of discussion in my faith/Methodism class (whether it's OK to just pick your favorite parts of various religions and kind of create your own path ... consensus: it's not). I'm reading a Q&A book about Methodism and the Articles of Religion, so it's kind of top-of-mind, which might account for my initial sour-puss reaction to the advertisement.
*Normally I might have just shared this in my Google Reader, but knowing I have a daily blog post to create tends to skew things toward a post rather than a share.
Here's the ad via YouTube:
Number Threes, via Jezabel
This made me laugh so hard. I think that speaks more to me and my humor level than anything.
Not sure that it should count for NaBloPoMo, but with a little writing from me here, I think I'm going to count it.
Work has been especially tough lately. I hope next week it evens out. I hate wishing my life away and I ESPECIALLY hate wishing NOVEMBER away, but I am certainly looking forward to a trip to Danville for Thanksgiving followed shortly thereafter by a trip to Miami. Yeah, keep focusing on the here and now, the tangible parts of being in this moment, in this day, typing on this keyboard.
I'm participating in a mystery crochet project, so that's kind of exciting. I still haven't gone through Journey, but that's still on the agenda. Also, holiday craft fairs are opening around the city, which I didn't know about in the last TWO holiday seasons I've lived in New York, and I also discovered a Michaels opened up in Manhattan. Now all I need is a Target. Or to be voted off the island.
*headdesk*
Crafting Memories
I like to think of myself as the crafty sort (see crochet projects, magnet Christmas gifts and a "head board"). It's not an adult-onset craftiness, and I think fondness for crafting may be in my genes.
Growing up I spent many days with my Great Aunt Norma Lee, a queen crafter. She sewed us Barbie clothes, baby accessories and entertained us with craft projects featuring puff paint, glitter and beads. (This was the 80s/early 90s!)
There are a couple crafty times I remember at Gran's house -- creating a colorful fan and recycling crayons.
To make the fan, we colored each line of a piece of college-ruled notebook paper a different color ... on both sides. So we ended up with a striped piece of paper, which we then folded accordion-style along each stripe. Then we bunched up one end and folded it to make a beautiful (in our eyes) fan.
We always had a box of broken old crayons, and at some point we decided to make something with them. I remember making multi-color crayons by putting a bunch of (unwrapped) broken pieces together in a muffin-tin, then melting the crayons in a low oven. When they cooled we had these wild crayons (surprisingly the colors don't "run" together). The results weren't exactly ergonomic, although I suppose we could have used a corn pone pan or similar to better approximate a crayon.
Writing this reminds me of another crayon craft. We used the shavings from sharpening the crayons. First we'd draw an outline on a piece of waxed paper -- or lay waxed paper over an outline drawing. Then we'd take crayon shavings and fill in the outline. Then we'd cover with more waxed paper, a towel and iron it. The colored shavings would melt together and create a picture (for some reason I'm thinking of a butterfly). Then when it cooled we could peel off the paper and stick (tape?) the results to the window so the light would shine through. I'm fairly certain I'm not making this up, but either way it sounds like a good idea.
I was also a Girl Scout, which could account for some of my crafting tendencies. However my strongest GS craft-related memory involves blood. Specifically me slicing my thumb open when we were carving potatoes to make vegetable stamps. I was probably the least likely to do something like that (i.e. I was old enough to have knife skills), but sure enough WHACK and I was gushing blood everywhere. I have a feeling I didn't finish that craft project. Geez.
Do you have any crafty childhood memories?
Image of VA Apartment bedroom w/ wonky "headboard" made of foam core, batting and fabric.
Growing up I spent many days with my Great Aunt Norma Lee, a queen crafter. She sewed us Barbie clothes, baby accessories and entertained us with craft projects featuring puff paint, glitter and beads. (This was the 80s/early 90s!)
There are a couple crafty times I remember at Gran's house -- creating a colorful fan and recycling crayons.
To make the fan, we colored each line of a piece of college-ruled notebook paper a different color ... on both sides. So we ended up with a striped piece of paper, which we then folded accordion-style along each stripe. Then we bunched up one end and folded it to make a beautiful (in our eyes) fan.
We always had a box of broken old crayons, and at some point we decided to make something with them. I remember making multi-color crayons by putting a bunch of (unwrapped) broken pieces together in a muffin-tin, then melting the crayons in a low oven. When they cooled we had these wild crayons (surprisingly the colors don't "run" together). The results weren't exactly ergonomic, although I suppose we could have used a corn pone pan or similar to better approximate a crayon.
Writing this reminds me of another crayon craft. We used the shavings from sharpening the crayons. First we'd draw an outline on a piece of waxed paper -- or lay waxed paper over an outline drawing. Then we'd take crayon shavings and fill in the outline. Then we'd cover with more waxed paper, a towel and iron it. The colored shavings would melt together and create a picture (for some reason I'm thinking of a butterfly). Then when it cooled we could peel off the paper and stick (tape?) the results to the window so the light would shine through. I'm fairly certain I'm not making this up, but either way it sounds like a good idea.
I was also a Girl Scout, which could account for some of my crafting tendencies. However my strongest GS craft-related memory involves blood. Specifically me slicing my thumb open when we were carving potatoes to make vegetable stamps. I was probably the least likely to do something like that (i.e. I was old enough to have knife skills), but sure enough WHACK and I was gushing blood everywhere. I have a feeling I didn't finish that craft project. Geez.
Do you have any crafty childhood memories?
Dental DON'T
Today I figured out why most people dislike the dentist. It's PAINFUL. I've never had a really bad cleaning, but this one was the worst. And obnoxious because for the last six months I've been brushing w/ a high dollar Sonicare toothbrush that the hygienist insisted I have. I have flossed regularly for years, and no dentist or hygienist has ever noticed, but it's something adults have to do so I do it. Clearly I'm brushing wrong ... she said there were hard deposits under my gums in the front and she was surprised I hadn't had gum pain because they were inflammed and looked sore. Well I certainly have pain now after she dug out whatever was in there. How horrifying, right?So I'm near tears at this point, cursing myself for spending so much money on something that clearly didn't do the job, the dentist is showing me how to brush my teeth and then I go to have a cavity filled ... it's not a new one/is the same one as last time. I put it off due to insurance battles but all seems well now. The filling was easier than the cleaning, although I hate the noise, and I zoned out so I didn't hear his "open wider" commands until he said my name kind of loud and tapped my shoulder. Nice.
How did I make it twenty-five years without a cavity? Now it seems I have one/year at least and I'm actually taking BETTER care of my teeth in terms of flossing and brushing (or so I thought). I didn't have cavities until I moved away from Oklahoma, but then I was younger then, so who knows why things change.
Webcam shot of my teeth. My laptop's webcam has a built in "film" option so I guess I could start my own video diary/confessionals. How Real World of me. Only a thought.
Journey
Hopefully a proper post later, but wanted to get this down while it's still "a story."
This morning I woke up to the sound of a press conference and the voice of Emma Thompson, then Mayor Bloomberg. There's an art installation called Journey set up on our street, which I can see from our window. With unseasonably warm weather, we have the window wide open.
I didn't race down to be part of the melee, but I do intend to walk through the installation while it's here and learn about sex trafficking and what it is that they're encouraging people to do about it. I'll report back.
Dentist today, so wish me luck!!!
This morning I woke up to the sound of a press conference and the voice of Emma Thompson, then Mayor Bloomberg. There's an art installation called Journey set up on our street, which I can see from our window. With unseasonably warm weather, we have the window wide open.
I didn't race down to be part of the melee, but I do intend to walk through the installation while it's here and learn about sex trafficking and what it is that they're encouraging people to do about it. I'll report back.
Dentist today, so wish me luck!!!
The view from 8G this morning
Snap that Gum; Pop those Hips
I keep thinking about how much I loved Saturday's SNL. I like Taylor Swift a lot, and she was really good hosting the show. It was literally the best one I've seen in ages. And she sure does pop her hips when she sings. Pretty funny to watch, since I generally just listen to her music on my Pandora station as it comes up.
On the subway to church yesterday I got a seat after 42nd Street and was minding my own business reading when all of a sudden a woman popped out of her seat and went over to someone sitting a few seats to my left to berate her about snapping her gum. It was the most bizarre thing -- someone being so rude and inappropriate under the guise of correcting someone else's rude behavior. I didn't notice the gum chewing or popping, but I definitely noticed the shrew who made a big stink ... and not on her way out. She stomped her foot and demanded the other woman stop her gum chewing and then stood at the door pouting and acting self-righteous until the next stop. The gum chewer said "I'm sorry" and stopped snapping her gum as far as I could tell.
What is wrong with people?
The theme for this week's faith class was love, and what love is. One thing is not jealous, so we were talking about jealousy ... which led to work issues. One thing that was said ... that people act jealous or mean and petty because of a deep-seated need to be loved. Interesting. But then why do I do the mean and petty things I do? I am a people pleaser in some respects and a "who cares what you think?" terror on wheels in others. That's not to say I don't feel loved ... I do. It's just something tumbling around in my brain today. (i.e. What's wrong with me?)
An answer for another day, because for now I'm lacing up my kicks and heading to the gym for a happy Monday workout (the elliptical seems so bla after a nice Sunday afternoon basketball workout with Shawn).
On the subway to church yesterday I got a seat after 42nd Street and was minding my own business reading when all of a sudden a woman popped out of her seat and went over to someone sitting a few seats to my left to berate her about snapping her gum. It was the most bizarre thing -- someone being so rude and inappropriate under the guise of correcting someone else's rude behavior. I didn't notice the gum chewing or popping, but I definitely noticed the shrew who made a big stink ... and not on her way out. She stomped her foot and demanded the other woman stop her gum chewing and then stood at the door pouting and acting self-righteous until the next stop. The gum chewer said "I'm sorry" and stopped snapping her gum as far as I could tell.
What is wrong with people?
The theme for this week's faith class was love, and what love is. One thing is not jealous, so we were talking about jealousy ... which led to work issues. One thing that was said ... that people act jealous or mean and petty because of a deep-seated need to be loved. Interesting. But then why do I do the mean and petty things I do? I am a people pleaser in some respects and a "who cares what you think?" terror on wheels in others. That's not to say I don't feel loved ... I do. It's just something tumbling around in my brain today. (i.e. What's wrong with me?)
An answer for another day, because for now I'm lacing up my kicks and heading to the gym for a happy Monday workout (the elliptical seems so bla after a nice Sunday afternoon basketball workout with Shawn).
Giving Thanks
This month my mom has been blogging daily about things for which she's thankful. I've tried to write gratitude journals but am usually less-than-committed to that. I really like the idea of it though.
One year when we were little we did a Thanksgiving tree in our bathroom. It's possible we did it more than one year, but it's a distinct memory. We cut out all these leaves from yellow, orange, brown and red construction paper. We taped a brown paper "trunk" to the hot water heater door, and then every day of November we wrote something we were thankful for on a leaf and taped them on the trunk.
I'm sure I was thankful for family, friends, books, my toys, the usual things a kid likes. I'm still thankful for all those things (I still have my Brownie bear and Heidi "My Child" doll). And I LOVE the idea of a Thanksgiving tree -- seeing the gratitudes "grow" before you.
Another thing I love about this time of year are the turkey hands. Tracing a hand and using the fingers as the feathers and the thumb as the turkey's head. And if we're ever blessed with children I like the idea of tracing their hands each year and building the turkey that way -- each year adding more "feathers" with the larger hand outline. I have all sorts of crazy ideas of the things I'd like to do with kids ... but I know I'll be lucky to just keep it together!
But today, specifically I am thankful for basketball with my husband, ridiculously warm weather in November, the joy of giving my crocheted works to the craft fair and a grande skim latte on a downtown bus ride after church.
Happy weekend.
One year when we were little we did a Thanksgiving tree in our bathroom. It's possible we did it more than one year, but it's a distinct memory. We cut out all these leaves from yellow, orange, brown and red construction paper. We taped a brown paper "trunk" to the hot water heater door, and then every day of November we wrote something we were thankful for on a leaf and taped them on the trunk.
I'm sure I was thankful for family, friends, books, my toys, the usual things a kid likes. I'm still thankful for all those things (I still have my Brownie bear and Heidi "My Child" doll). And I LOVE the idea of a Thanksgiving tree -- seeing the gratitudes "grow" before you.
Another thing I love about this time of year are the turkey hands. Tracing a hand and using the fingers as the feathers and the thumb as the turkey's head. And if we're ever blessed with children I like the idea of tracing their hands each year and building the turkey that way -- each year adding more "feathers" with the larger hand outline. I have all sorts of crazy ideas of the things I'd like to do with kids ... but I know I'll be lucky to just keep it together!
But today, specifically I am thankful for basketball with my husband, ridiculously warm weather in November, the joy of giving my crocheted works to the craft fair and a grande skim latte on a downtown bus ride after church.
Happy weekend.
Saturday in the City
Last night's show was pretty good. Not slosh-in-the-rain-looking-for-tickets good, but worth seeing. Carrie Fisher is something else. Unfortunately we were way high at the theater, something I didn't realize or I would have brought the binoculars! You could still see her and her literal glittery performance, but being so far back we were less involved in the performance.
The theater itself was Studio 54 in a former life ... a place Shawn had never heard of. It was also very shabby looking - the front part around the stage was actually crumbled.
We laughed and enjoyed ourselves. The show was a lot like the book -- If I'd realized I would see the show I probably would have waited to read it -- but some other audience interaction things added in. Plus there was some multimedia, which always makes things better.
When we got home I started looking through my photos. I'm in the process of moving everything from my back-up drive (which backed up my old laptop) and then trying to organize everything more logically within Windows 7. It was fun to look back through our engagement photos -- two years ago this month.
The theater itself was Studio 54 in a former life ... a place Shawn had never heard of. It was also very shabby looking - the front part around the stage was actually crumbled.
We laughed and enjoyed ourselves. The show was a lot like the book -- If I'd realized I would see the show I probably would have waited to read it -- but some other audience interaction things added in. Plus there was some multimedia, which always makes things better.
When we got home I started looking through my photos. I'm in the process of moving everything from my back-up drive (which backed up my old laptop) and then trying to organize everything more logically within Windows 7. It was fun to look back through our engagement photos -- two years ago this month.
Pretty good stuff. We should go traipsing through Central Park again now while the leaves are changing. The weather is getting much cooler. In fact last night it was down right frigid! November is my favorite.
I'm still getting used to the laptop -- the screen is so wide that there's space around EVERY web page. And it's so clear that if I look at this screen at the same time as my work desktop's monitor it's a striking difference that makes my eyes hurt!
I still have writing plans. So I hope that will be a main use for this computer. I also use it for webcamming, e-mailing, blogging and games. Maybe a little Roller Coaster Tycoon in my future.
Tonight we've been invited to a birthday dinner for one of Shawn's colleagues, so that should be fun. Also strangely looking forward to SNL. Must be a country thing. Onward.
Notes from Bulletins Past
Each week at church I jot notes in my bulletin. They recycle them there, but I tend to bring mine home with me ... now I have a stack of them with notes in them, and here are some of the notes:
A children's sermon that I liked from last week, the Sunday after Halloween. The pastor asked the kids what they did for the holiday and what they dressed up as. On Halloween we wear costumes and some are scary. Other things about Halloween are scary, but with Jesus we don't need to be afraid because he's our lifesaver. Then she passed out Life Saver candies. Kind of hokey, but not the worst children's sermon I've ever heard. :)
Another -- she brought out a guitar and talked about how she'd borrowed it. Then she strummed and acted surprised that she couldn't play. How can she learn? Take lessons, which would mean practicing and sticking with it so she could get good. Sometimes it's important to stick with something when it's hard, like we stick with it and keep coming to church to practice being followers of Christ.
Every week the ushers keep a death grip on the offering plates and I make a note of it when they're especially grabby. I guess it's because money could slip out/into the pockets of someone, but it's just so weird to see them practically laying across someone in an aisle seat to allow an inner-seated person to place their offering in the plate instead of allowing the plate to be passed. Trust issues? (Not that I can talk ... I get nervous leaving my purse in the pew for communion.)
A lady in a pew in front of me one week had on the cutest crocheted beret. The older ladies also wear hat pins to keep their hats on their heads no matter what. It took me a while to figure out what the jewel was on the hat ... it was a pin. The hat was definitely distracting and my sermon notes reflect that. I kept thinking "I could make that!" and "Wouldn't I look jaunty in a hat like that?" Oh brother.
An anecdote about the Biosphere project (my main memory of that is that there was a Pauly Shore movie that made fun of it?) ... anyway, one of the things that came out of that was learning that trees need the wind to build strong bark and allow them to grow taller. Without wind, they grow to a certain height and then fall over and die. Life's challenges are like that and we need struggles to make us stronger in our faith.
Also from that sermon, a remark that really resonated for me -- sometimes it's harder to depend on God in the good times when we have lots of possessions and everything is going great. Calling out to God for help is a natural ingrained response for me, but I need to be more conscious of my relationship with the Lord when things are going well.
None of these are my ideas or thoughts, but I wanted to promulgate them and keep them together for my own reference (which is a big reason for me to blog).
Tonight's the "Wishful Drinking" show, so that post will be on tap for Saturday. I also found my notebook page with ideas for posts. Yippie!
A children's sermon that I liked from last week, the Sunday after Halloween. The pastor asked the kids what they did for the holiday and what they dressed up as. On Halloween we wear costumes and some are scary. Other things about Halloween are scary, but with Jesus we don't need to be afraid because he's our lifesaver. Then she passed out Life Saver candies. Kind of hokey, but not the worst children's sermon I've ever heard. :)
Another -- she brought out a guitar and talked about how she'd borrowed it. Then she strummed and acted surprised that she couldn't play. How can she learn? Take lessons, which would mean practicing and sticking with it so she could get good. Sometimes it's important to stick with something when it's hard, like we stick with it and keep coming to church to practice being followers of Christ.
Every week the ushers keep a death grip on the offering plates and I make a note of it when they're especially grabby. I guess it's because money could slip out/into the pockets of someone, but it's just so weird to see them practically laying across someone in an aisle seat to allow an inner-seated person to place their offering in the plate instead of allowing the plate to be passed. Trust issues? (Not that I can talk ... I get nervous leaving my purse in the pew for communion.)
A lady in a pew in front of me one week had on the cutest crocheted beret. The older ladies also wear hat pins to keep their hats on their heads no matter what. It took me a while to figure out what the jewel was on the hat ... it was a pin. The hat was definitely distracting and my sermon notes reflect that. I kept thinking "I could make that!" and "Wouldn't I look jaunty in a hat like that?" Oh brother.
An anecdote about the Biosphere project (my main memory of that is that there was a Pauly Shore movie that made fun of it?) ... anyway, one of the things that came out of that was learning that trees need the wind to build strong bark and allow them to grow taller. Without wind, they grow to a certain height and then fall over and die. Life's challenges are like that and we need struggles to make us stronger in our faith.
Also from that sermon, a remark that really resonated for me -- sometimes it's harder to depend on God in the good times when we have lots of possessions and everything is going great. Calling out to God for help is a natural ingrained response for me, but I need to be more conscious of my relationship with the Lord when things are going well.
None of these are my ideas or thoughts, but I wanted to promulgate them and keep them together for my own reference (which is a big reason for me to blog).
Tonight's the "Wishful Drinking" show, so that post will be on tap for Saturday. I also found my notebook page with ideas for posts. Yippie!
Secrecy and Some Finished Ornaments
I first read about the Google Dashboard this morning on Hillicon Valley, a Capitol Hill blog written by a graduate school friend. Since then I've come across several more articles with people freaking out (even mildly) about the "Big Brother" aspect of Google's hold on private facts about our online lives.
Uh ... duh?
In truth I'm not so much creeped out about it and like the idea of a dashboard (see yours here) to quickly access all the privacy settings for my Google tools. Maybe I've been drinking too much Kool-Aid though.
I finished prepping my thread crochet ornaments last night:
There are 15 snowflakes and stars and one angel. The two big ones are meant as tree toppers (and they're about 8"-10" across), although I wasn't quite sure how to rig them that way so I just tied the translucent thread at two points near the middle thinking the star could nestle among the branches. My favorite is the big star on the left.
I made RIDICULOUSLY strong sugar starch to stiffen the ornaments, and it took a while for everything to dry. But they did and now they're stiff as a board. None is perfect, but they turned out great.
I had the idea of taking this picture and then filling in the rest of the non-purple area with the clone tool. It ended up looking so dumb that I just decided that seeing the bedspread was OK. The purple material is a Target sash that I bought for Beth to wear with her maid of honor dress.
I'll be taking these and the green baby blanket to church for the craft fair, which is 11/21. My brain is all sorts of Swiss cheese about the month. Old age? Probably not, although my 28th year is coming to an end ... three weeks left at this age.
Uh ... duh?
In truth I'm not so much creeped out about it and like the idea of a dashboard (see yours here) to quickly access all the privacy settings for my Google tools. Maybe I've been drinking too much Kool-Aid though.
I finished prepping my thread crochet ornaments last night:
There are 15 snowflakes and stars and one angel. The two big ones are meant as tree toppers (and they're about 8"-10" across), although I wasn't quite sure how to rig them that way so I just tied the translucent thread at two points near the middle thinking the star could nestle among the branches. My favorite is the big star on the left.
I made RIDICULOUSLY strong sugar starch to stiffen the ornaments, and it took a while for everything to dry. But they did and now they're stiff as a board. None is perfect, but they turned out great.
I had the idea of taking this picture and then filling in the rest of the non-purple area with the clone tool. It ended up looking so dumb that I just decided that seeing the bedspread was OK. The purple material is a Target sash that I bought for Beth to wear with her maid of honor dress.
I'll be taking these and the green baby blanket to church for the craft fair, which is 11/21. My brain is all sorts of Swiss cheese about the month. Old age? Probably not, although my 28th year is coming to an end ... three weeks left at this age.
Wednesday
Brain freeze -- I actually WILL be at church for the next three Sundays before holiday travel starts. I didn't think I would be there for all four faith class sessions. Look at a calendar, jeez.
I have very little to report, and I can't find my blog ideas paper. I've been webcamming with Owen and Beth on the laptop. It's pretty fun although Shawn says the picture will be better when directly plugged into the Internet. But I wanted to move around and lay on the bed. That's part of why I bought a laptop!
I'm also in the market for a new cell phone. My contract is complete, and my phone has been holding its charge for less time. I also SHOULD be able to lower my contract plan to pay less once I get an office phone. However it's been promised for three weeks, so we'll see. I'm not happy with the choices at AT&T. Could I think about switching? I'm not sure. It seems a little over-the-top to get another new gadget, but I definitely want it.
Materialistic much? Oiy.
I have very little to report, and I can't find my blog ideas paper. I've been webcamming with Owen and Beth on the laptop. It's pretty fun although Shawn says the picture will be better when directly plugged into the Internet. But I wanted to move around and lay on the bed. That's part of why I bought a laptop!
I'm also in the market for a new cell phone. My contract is complete, and my phone has been holding its charge for less time. I also SHOULD be able to lower my contract plan to pay less once I get an office phone. However it's been promised for three weeks, so we'll see. I'm not happy with the choices at AT&T. Could I think about switching? I'm not sure. It seems a little over-the-top to get another new gadget, but I definitely want it.
Materialistic much? Oiy.
They Named a Street After You
Just back from the voting place. An old man was pulling the "reset" lever between each voter, and when the other worker took my name said "They named a street after you." (There's a Walker Street downtown.) I just smiled and said, "Actually they named it after my husband. It's his name." Then the old guy kept talking to me but I couldn't understand a thing. Civic duty done though.
Last night's game was super fun. It was our first NBA game -- Knicks vs. New Orleans Hornets. Knicks won. We had trouble finding our seats, but we did just in time for the National Anthem. We took some pictures:
Last night's game was super fun. It was our first NBA game -- Knicks vs. New Orleans Hornets. Knicks won. We had trouble finding our seats, but we did just in time for the National Anthem. We took some pictures:
Mari at Madison Square Garden
Shawn at Madison Square Garden
Shawn watching the City Dancers with the binoculars!
Final score: 117-111
I think we'll have to go back some time. It didn't last too long, which was good, and basketball is entertaining. I wonder if Owen would like a sporting event like this. We were very high up though, so that might not go over well. Mario Batali, a Food Network chef and NYC restaurant owner, was the most famous person there. All the other celebs were at the World Series I'm sure!
Until tomorrow...
Patience and Discipline
I am now being tested -- at least my patience is. My work changed Internet Service Providers, which somehow managed to kick me off the access list for VPN and e-mail. A struggle, as here it is afternoon and I haven't had access to my work e-mail since late Friday. Good news is that my direct boss is on vacation, so nothing should be too pressing (and people CAN just call me if it's urgent). I have also been able to do some work that didn't require e-mail. But it's a pretty weird disconnect.
Now a computer tech has remote access of my work computer, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to pop off a little blog post. Last night as I was trying to fall asleep (shouldn't the time change make me SLEEPIER at bedtime?) I was thinking about discipline and the ways I'm trying to improve myself.
I have become a dedicated flosser over the past few years, and over the last six months my brushing routine has picked up because of the purchase of a sonic toothbrush.
Exercising daily is still forming into a habit, but getting there. Eating better is something that requires more discipline, including discipline to plan and prepare meals in advance. I get really lazy and have to fight the tendency to just do takeout.
I need to have better discipline in my spiritual life, with devotions. I'm making a start with the faith class commitment (which could be a post on its own). I also would like to be a more disciplined writer -- not necessarily blogger, but there are some things I need to write that I just don't do ... in favor of TV or goofing around or whatever.
My patience paid off -- the tech was able to quickly fix the problem, flush my DNS and get me re-connected. So it's whirlwind work this afternoon. Hopefully a quick trip to the gym before the Knicks game. HA!
Welcome to November
We're having perfect November weather in NYC. It's blustery and overcast, with lots of leaves swirling about.
The marathon was today, which meant lower-than-average attendance at church. I also started the faith class today - learning about Methodism. So far so good. It's only four sessions, but I'm worried about having to miss the fourth one (our trip for Thanksgiving and then Miami), but I'll figure it out when I get there.
Shawn will be home soon, so I'm looking forward to that. Today for me was church, the faith class, then the gym (Palladium -- working out and watching TV is so much better than without TV!), an omelet at Cozy and then home. I've got "Sunshine Cleaning" going while I'm waiting and blogging. Need to gear myself up for work this week.
I have a notebook sheet of ideas for blog posts, so I should have plenty of content beyond the day-to-day mundane this-is-my-life posts. But we'll see. Tomorrow is the Knicks game after work, so there will be that to write about.
Kind of a lame first-of-November post, but it will do. Until tomorrow...
The marathon was today, which meant lower-than-average attendance at church. I also started the faith class today - learning about Methodism. So far so good. It's only four sessions, but I'm worried about having to miss the fourth one (our trip for Thanksgiving and then Miami), but I'll figure it out when I get there.
Shawn will be home soon, so I'm looking forward to that. Today for me was church, the faith class, then the gym (Palladium -- working out and watching TV is so much better than without TV!), an omelet at Cozy and then home. I've got "Sunshine Cleaning" going while I'm waiting and blogging. Need to gear myself up for work this week.
I have a notebook sheet of ideas for blog posts, so I should have plenty of content beyond the day-to-day mundane this-is-my-life posts. But we'll see. Tomorrow is the Knicks game after work, so there will be that to write about.
Kind of a lame first-of-November post, but it will do. Until tomorrow...
Just Another Saturday
Today has been OK. I went to have a blood test and then continued on my way to donate blood. That was an ordeal, taking over two hours and left me with numb-ish lips and a very sore arm. I hate doing it so much but these people have a way of pestering me into doing it more. I much prefer straight whole blood donations (and the additional benefit of having my body replenish the blood). I saw lots of crazies wandering around, and I'm sure more will be coming out tonight! The lines in front of Ricky's costume shops are ridiculous! Maybe the costumes go on sale today so that's why everyone waits until the last minute? I doubt it though!
Here's a picture of me with my new toy, a Dell Laptop on which I'm writing this, my first blog post. Yes, it's purple. I don't know why that color makes me SO happy, but it does. And apparently it's got to the point where I see other colors when I look at purple (i.e. a work related thing I thought was blue is actually purple). Could it be time for purple rehab? Hopefully it's not that serious. And I'm pretty sure my love affair with the color won't end. I've had an affinity for the hue since high school for sure, when my Gran made me my gorgeous purple afghan. There could be worse things.
I'm anxious for Shawn to get home so he can set up the wifi connection and get everything in secure mode before I really use this computer a lot. Windows 7 so far seems OK. Kind of similar to a Mac with the floating toolbar thing at the top, but I'm digging it. Because I mostly play with it offline I've been really enjoying Majong again. HA. I am terrible at it though. The back lit keyboard was a free feature that I think I'll really like, although I assume it will eat battery life, so maybe there's a way to turn it off.
Shawn will be home tomorrow, and yesterday was the fifth anniversary of our meeting -- at a Halloween party in DC.
PS I'm starting NaBloPoMo tomorrow, so you have at least one/post per day from me in November to look forward to. I did it last year, and hopefully this new computer will make that goal even easier to attain.
Here's a picture of me with my new toy, a Dell Laptop on which I'm writing this, my first blog post. Yes, it's purple. I don't know why that color makes me SO happy, but it does. And apparently it's got to the point where I see other colors when I look at purple (i.e. a work related thing I thought was blue is actually purple). Could it be time for purple rehab? Hopefully it's not that serious. And I'm pretty sure my love affair with the color won't end. I've had an affinity for the hue since high school for sure, when my Gran made me my gorgeous purple afghan. There could be worse things.
I'm anxious for Shawn to get home so he can set up the wifi connection and get everything in secure mode before I really use this computer a lot. Windows 7 so far seems OK. Kind of similar to a Mac with the floating toolbar thing at the top, but I'm digging it. Because I mostly play with it offline I've been really enjoying Majong again. HA. I am terrible at it though. The back lit keyboard was a free feature that I think I'll really like, although I assume it will eat battery life, so maybe there's a way to turn it off.
Shawn will be home tomorrow, and yesterday was the fifth anniversary of our meeting -- at a Halloween party in DC.
PS I'm starting NaBloPoMo tomorrow, so you have at least one/post per day from me in November to look forward to. I did it last year, and hopefully this new computer will make that goal even easier to attain.
Tiramisu Blanket
Here's one of several photos of the Tiramisu blanket I made this month. Holly sent me the pattern. I made it to use up the green yarn I had left over from my last baby blanket, but I still have more. Not sure what I'll do with it, but it's certainly a great color.
The pattern is super easy -- basically single crochet. But because it's single crochet, it takes a long time. I also didn't do a great job keeping the sides straight, as evidenced by at least one of the photos. But the ribbon ties at the corner are just too sweet. Probably impractical for an active baby and the ribbon might even be a choking hazard. But the blanket looks cute even with the ribbons removed.
The plan is to donate this to the church craft fair along with some thread snowflakes and stars, which still need to be starched.
MW by SW
I made this face earlier this week and Shawn just wanted to capture it. Note the pink face from exercising and the utterly ridiculous T-shirt, which is super soft and I love so much!
Lost & Found
This day ... this day.
It started with a one heck of a racket in the hallway -- the sound of hammering on metal. This continued for FOUR hours straight, and I finally realized it was the Verizon people installing Fios in our building by first pulling down all the material holding up the cables or wiring or something. I was nervous about losing Internet connection -- they had wires everywhere -- but everything stayed online aside from the usual Outlook connection issues.
Shawn got on his way to Lubbock. I won't hear that he arrived for a while yet, I think. But we'll see. He's there for a conference and networking. It's what it takes to make the bank I guess. Time investment in the career and our future. So I can deal. Definitely missing him though!
At about 1:30 or so I decide to run out to the NYU ticket office and buy seats for the "Wishful Drinking" one-woman show by Carrie Fisher. Shawn normally buys things because he has the full privileges ID, but these didn't go on sale until after he left. It's raining pretty steadily, but the building is just a couple blocks away, so I figure why not? I actually had no hassles getting the tickets. The guy wasn't allowed to sell them to me on Shawn's ID, but when I showed him mine he said "don't worry about it" and sold them. I put them snugly in my left hip pocket to protect them from the rain.
I walked to the library to return my books (hey, while I'm out), and I didn't want the tickets to get bent in my bag with the books rattling around. What a bad idea. When I finally get back to the apartment I go to pull the tickets out of my pocket and ...
They're.
Not.
There.
So I immediately dump my bag, on the off chance that I smartly put them in my bag to keep them safe from the rain and just forgot to tell my brain that. Nope. So I turn around and head back to the street -- saying hey to the rackety noise-making workers and the doorman on my way out. I re-trace my steps ...
Up Greene Street, to Waverly, over to University, up to 9th Street, across 5th Avenue, almost to 6th Avenue ... when I spot them!
They're just lying there, so sad, on the sidewalk, totally drenched and just uck. I pick them up, turn about and head back home ... where there's time sensitive work to do on top of everything else.
The tickets are drying out and the ink didn't run or anything. The envelope was ruined, but I'm glad they were in an envelope to have at least a bit of protection.
"Wishful Drinking" had better be a wonderful show after the panic and racing around to find them!
It started with a one heck of a racket in the hallway -- the sound of hammering on metal. This continued for FOUR hours straight, and I finally realized it was the Verizon people installing Fios in our building by first pulling down all the material holding up the cables or wiring or something. I was nervous about losing Internet connection -- they had wires everywhere -- but everything stayed online aside from the usual Outlook connection issues.
Shawn got on his way to Lubbock. I won't hear that he arrived for a while yet, I think. But we'll see. He's there for a conference and networking. It's what it takes to make the bank I guess. Time investment in the career and our future. So I can deal. Definitely missing him though!
At about 1:30 or so I decide to run out to the NYU ticket office and buy seats for the "Wishful Drinking" one-woman show by Carrie Fisher. Shawn normally buys things because he has the full privileges ID, but these didn't go on sale until after he left. It's raining pretty steadily, but the building is just a couple blocks away, so I figure why not? I actually had no hassles getting the tickets. The guy wasn't allowed to sell them to me on Shawn's ID, but when I showed him mine he said "don't worry about it" and sold them. I put them snugly in my left hip pocket to protect them from the rain.
I walked to the library to return my books (hey, while I'm out), and I didn't want the tickets to get bent in my bag with the books rattling around. What a bad idea. When I finally get back to the apartment I go to pull the tickets out of my pocket and ...
They're.
Not.
There.
So I immediately dump my bag, on the off chance that I smartly put them in my bag to keep them safe from the rain and just forgot to tell my brain that. Nope. So I turn around and head back to the street -- saying hey to the rackety noise-making workers and the doorman on my way out. I re-trace my steps ...
Up Greene Street, to Waverly, over to University, up to 9th Street, across 5th Avenue, almost to 6th Avenue ... when I spot them!
They're just lying there, so sad, on the sidewalk, totally drenched and just uck. I pick them up, turn about and head back home ... where there's time sensitive work to do on top of everything else.
The tickets are drying out and the ink didn't run or anything. The envelope was ruined, but I'm glad they were in an envelope to have at least a bit of protection.
"Wishful Drinking" had better be a wonderful show after the panic and racing around to find them!
Reviews: Son of a Witch and The Appeal
Son of a Witch: A Novel by Gregory MaguireMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
It's been a long time since I read Wicked, so I was a bit confused and the book never really caught me up, so I'd recommend reading these in quick succession. The book raised a lot of questions, more than it answered for me (but that might be due to my confusion over Wicked). I might read the next book (about the Lion), but looking at its Wikipedia page it doesn't seem to answer the questions (like what exactly happened to Nor).I still think the series is incredibly clever, taking a beloved story and flipping it around ... while still keeping the original storyline in tact (although positioning it as a sugar-coated version of events). A blog in my RSS reader mentioned these books as a starting point to think about for writing good blog posts or other content. Can you look at something that's stumped you from another perspective? I'm still looking.
The Appeal by John GrishamMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
It's been so long since I've read a Grisham novel, but I knew I liked them. This was a fast read, pretty compelling storyline and the legal speak made accessible, which makes me feel smarter. It was different from what I remember in his other books in that the little guy doesn't win. But oddly I found myself somewhat rooting for the "bad" guy ... maybe because of his NYC lifestyle or maybe because I just knew if he'd gone down in flames it would have been wholly unrealistic. The end was a little contrived though, with several things happening to a justice and his family that made you think he *might* come around to the "right" decision on the appeal. I'm going to track down some of his other books too, because if nothing else it's great subway reading.
View all my reviews
H-O-R-S-E
For the first time Shawn beat me at Horse today. He was drilling shots left and right. We had a great time.
Now my back is killing. Hope it's better by the morning.
Now my back is killing. Hope it's better by the morning.
October Round Up
Shawn killed a HUGE mosquito today on the wall. It was FULL of my blood, judging by the mark it left and by the various bug bites on my body. Especially troubling are those on my elbow. Hope its friends go away and die soon, and that it wasn't infected with West Nile.
There was a flier in the basement saying "be careful" of the virus and it's been spotted in the West Village ... hard to do that when the windows in the building have no screens. A screen wouldn't work because the windows open out and you need access to be able to open them. I wonder if a weighted drape of screen-like material would do the trick.
Going to the gym every day is not a welcome ritual, but it is a ritual none-the-less. Today we got to see the men's basketball team working out. There are about 18 of them, and they're pretty good, at least against each other. They're all white. I have probably mentioned that before when we were watching them last year (only in double headers with the women's team).
Work is the same, which means there's plenty to report if I were to get into the habit of recording my reactions and thoughts about that. But we ALL know that's not in anyone's best interest, so for the time being Shawn is the sounding board and so it goes. I'll survive.
Lots of potentially fun things coming up. Shawn has a conference next week in Lubbock. I should have invited someone to come visit me over Halloween. The parade of crazies should be pretty fun -- especially since it's a Saturday night.
Shawn's cousin's birthday is in November (a couple weeks older than me), so we've been invited to her soiree (had to spell check that one). Shawn has another trip in mid-November and then we're off to Danville for Thanksgiving.
One week after we're back we'll be on our way to Miami for a week. I'm actually taking a week off from work! I haven't really done that since the wedding (and even then I'm not sure if I took a full week off because Memorial Day was involved). Shawn has a conference there and I'm tagging along. Then just a couple weeks after that and we'll be on our way to Oklahoma for Christmas.
We also checked out the NYU ticket website, and there are cheap Knicks tickets and a couple plays we'd like to go see, so we can certainly have a few date nights in the midst of the travel and excitement.
My crochet is trudging along. I've done about 12 snowflakes and stars for the upcoming church craft fair. I'm going to keep making them because I can't starch them (make them stiff so they can hang from Christmas trees) until it's a clear day (strict instructions from Gran on how to do that). I am almost finished with the green Tiramisu blanket, which I also plan to donate to the fair. It's a really pretty spring green and I'm left with excess yarn, so I'm trying to come up with a project for that. I think I might do a quick scarf, either as a gift or an additional donation. The fair is coming up quickly though, so I don't know if I'll have enough time to get another project done.
I also need to revisit my "wedding" bedspread. I think I've done five of the ~24 or so squares I need to make. Each one takes HOURS, and I haven't done one in probably a year. I'm also pretty sure that the one's I've done don't match each other exactly, so I'm not sure how hard it will be to piece them together. Crochet is flexible, but thread crochet is less so. The bedspread is something I definitely want to see finished. I guess the additional year in NYC gives me that much more time to shoot for having it done before we move into a real house. I won't beat myself up if it doesn't happen though. I'm always better at meeting my deadlines creating things for other people than creating things for myself.
The rain's really coming down today. Very soothing.
There was a flier in the basement saying "be careful" of the virus and it's been spotted in the West Village ... hard to do that when the windows in the building have no screens. A screen wouldn't work because the windows open out and you need access to be able to open them. I wonder if a weighted drape of screen-like material would do the trick.
Going to the gym every day is not a welcome ritual, but it is a ritual none-the-less. Today we got to see the men's basketball team working out. There are about 18 of them, and they're pretty good, at least against each other. They're all white. I have probably mentioned that before when we were watching them last year (only in double headers with the women's team).
Work is the same, which means there's plenty to report if I were to get into the habit of recording my reactions and thoughts about that. But we ALL know that's not in anyone's best interest, so for the time being Shawn is the sounding board and so it goes. I'll survive.
Lots of potentially fun things coming up. Shawn has a conference next week in Lubbock. I should have invited someone to come visit me over Halloween. The parade of crazies should be pretty fun -- especially since it's a Saturday night.
Shawn's cousin's birthday is in November (a couple weeks older than me), so we've been invited to her soiree (had to spell check that one). Shawn has another trip in mid-November and then we're off to Danville for Thanksgiving.
One week after we're back we'll be on our way to Miami for a week. I'm actually taking a week off from work! I haven't really done that since the wedding (and even then I'm not sure if I took a full week off because Memorial Day was involved). Shawn has a conference there and I'm tagging along. Then just a couple weeks after that and we'll be on our way to Oklahoma for Christmas.
We also checked out the NYU ticket website, and there are cheap Knicks tickets and a couple plays we'd like to go see, so we can certainly have a few date nights in the midst of the travel and excitement.
My crochet is trudging along. I've done about 12 snowflakes and stars for the upcoming church craft fair. I'm going to keep making them because I can't starch them (make them stiff so they can hang from Christmas trees) until it's a clear day (strict instructions from Gran on how to do that). I am almost finished with the green Tiramisu blanket, which I also plan to donate to the fair. It's a really pretty spring green and I'm left with excess yarn, so I'm trying to come up with a project for that. I think I might do a quick scarf, either as a gift or an additional donation. The fair is coming up quickly though, so I don't know if I'll have enough time to get another project done.
I also need to revisit my "wedding" bedspread. I think I've done five of the ~24 or so squares I need to make. Each one takes HOURS, and I haven't done one in probably a year. I'm also pretty sure that the one's I've done don't match each other exactly, so I'm not sure how hard it will be to piece them together. Crochet is flexible, but thread crochet is less so. The bedspread is something I definitely want to see finished. I guess the additional year in NYC gives me that much more time to shoot for having it done before we move into a real house. I won't beat myself up if it doesn't happen though. I'm always better at meeting my deadlines creating things for other people than creating things for myself.
The rain's really coming down today. Very soothing.
Stretched
Maybe I should get more flexible. Oiy.
Nothing unusual with work today. I went to the post office after work and then to Duane Reade for envelopes, the deli for Think Thin bars (until my Amazon delivery arrives later this week) and the gym. I pushed a bit, which makes me feel better. I should do that more, and get back into weight training. I loved having strong muscles. One step at a time -- need to get consistent with gym-going first!
Church was solid yesterday. We've had gloomy chilly weather, but inside the sanctuary it was warm and bright. The children's sermon was pretty great. She asked them all "what do you like to do for fun?" The kids said -- soccer, basketball, jump rope, watch TV, swimming, etc. Then she asked "who likes to draw?" and everyone raised their hand.
So some of these things we probably do by ourselves, but we can always invite people to do things with us that we enjoy. Serving God can be fun and enjoyable! (Her drawing example was that we could make cards and share our love of drawing with others.)
We're doing what we love -- God made us the way we are and to enjoy doing things, and having fun is a blessing from God. And we need to share that joy with others -- whether playing with your basketball or soccer team or drawing a card for someone.
I thought it was a pretty straightforward, solid message for the kids. And I needed to hear it too. My joys are crochet and writing letters. Both are things I can do with others and/or for others.
Crochet projects are moving along but nothing complete yet. Need to get in gear.
Baseball is killing me -- I just want to see House.
Nothing unusual with work today. I went to the post office after work and then to Duane Reade for envelopes, the deli for Think Thin bars (until my Amazon delivery arrives later this week) and the gym. I pushed a bit, which makes me feel better. I should do that more, and get back into weight training. I loved having strong muscles. One step at a time -- need to get consistent with gym-going first!
Church was solid yesterday. We've had gloomy chilly weather, but inside the sanctuary it was warm and bright. The children's sermon was pretty great. She asked them all "what do you like to do for fun?" The kids said -- soccer, basketball, jump rope, watch TV, swimming, etc. Then she asked "who likes to draw?" and everyone raised their hand.
So some of these things we probably do by ourselves, but we can always invite people to do things with us that we enjoy. Serving God can be fun and enjoyable! (Her drawing example was that we could make cards and share our love of drawing with others.)
We're doing what we love -- God made us the way we are and to enjoy doing things, and having fun is a blessing from God. And we need to share that joy with others -- whether playing with your basketball or soccer team or drawing a card for someone.
I thought it was a pretty straightforward, solid message for the kids. And I needed to hear it too. My joys are crochet and writing letters. Both are things I can do with others and/or for others.
Crochet projects are moving along but nothing complete yet. Need to get in gear.
Baseball is killing me -- I just want to see House.
Relative Youth
I forced myself to the gym tonight, even though I worked until almost 7 p.m. (straight through from 9 a.m. ... I'm clearly doing something wrong) and scarfed a bite of dinner and just wanted to watch TV.
I didn't work out very hard or anything, and I forgot my music. I was forced to listen to the fan and the whir of the machines - people running on the treadmills making a rhythmic soothing sound. I read my magazine, so it wasn't the worst. I should focus more on pushing myself. At this point I'm just proud of me for getting out of the apartment regularly. Huh.
The reason for this post is that on the way to the gym I overheard a conversation that kind of made it worth while. It was a couple of guys, one of whom worked at Ricky's Halloween store (or somewhere else where he'd have to wear a costume at work). He was talking about some list of 25 year olds who had changed the world and was freaking out about how he'll be 25 in SIXTY DAYS! OMG he needs to change the world fast. Also that when you're old and excellent no one cares because you're supposed to be that way.
Oh brother.
We were almost at the gym (they kept walking), but I really wanted to say most people are not going to change the world in a huge way. But most of us can change OUR worlds -- be a positive impact on the people around us. Just the same we can also have negative impacts that change our worlds just as much. I also wanted to knock their heads together.
I did nothing -- just walked along to the gym, swiped in and did my elliptical thing.
I'll be glad when Shawn's home. I didn't know I could get much more hermit-y (hermit-ic?) ...
I didn't work out very hard or anything, and I forgot my music. I was forced to listen to the fan and the whir of the machines - people running on the treadmills making a rhythmic soothing sound. I read my magazine, so it wasn't the worst. I should focus more on pushing myself. At this point I'm just proud of me for getting out of the apartment regularly. Huh.
The reason for this post is that on the way to the gym I overheard a conversation that kind of made it worth while. It was a couple of guys, one of whom worked at Ricky's Halloween store (or somewhere else where he'd have to wear a costume at work). He was talking about some list of 25 year olds who had changed the world and was freaking out about how he'll be 25 in SIXTY DAYS! OMG he needs to change the world fast. Also that when you're old and excellent no one cares because you're supposed to be that way.
Oh brother.
We were almost at the gym (they kept walking), but I really wanted to say most people are not going to change the world in a huge way. But most of us can change OUR worlds -- be a positive impact on the people around us. Just the same we can also have negative impacts that change our worlds just as much. I also wanted to knock their heads together.
I did nothing -- just walked along to the gym, swiped in and did my elliptical thing.
I'll be glad when Shawn's home. I didn't know I could get much more hermit-y (hermit-ic?) ...
One of Fifteen
A fact about me that I tell practically everyone I meet is that I graduated with a high school class of 15 people.
I found out yesterday that one of those 15 has done something unspeakable, shaking my little hometown and the surrounding area. I don't understand and probably never will.
I found out yesterday that one of those 15 has done something unspeakable, shaking my little hometown and the surrounding area. I don't understand and probably never will.
Reviews: Trust Agents and Wishful Drinking
Trust Agents by Chris Brogan & Julien SmithMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book is a how-to/handbook for getting traction online. I'm not sure I want to be so popular, but I guess the thinking behind why I should read this book is to get ideas for how to make my employer popular online.Of course the "real" reason I bought (!) and read the book is because I like Chris Brogan, his blog and his attitude, which is the point of the book (be nice and people will like you and spread your message). Page 190 "Words comprise only 7% of what is being communicated. Thus, those who don't know how to handle the omission of 93% of all human signals (38% vocal tones and 55% body movement) either stay away or make dreadful mistakes."The book reinforced a lot of what I already knew and believed, and there was a lot of "duh, big red truck" advice, although that was also the point.I was surprised by the lack of sources in the book - no citations or footnotes to speak of, although they definitely did research. They also never defined "content marketing blog" ... which is a little jargony. I get what they mean, but kind of broke their own rules about clarity.
View all my reviews
Wishful Drinking by Carrie FisherMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a request from the library - my first in ages. Someone recommended it/reminded me of it online. This was a SUPER fast read (try just over an hour) because of wide spacing and large fonts. It reads like a gossip magazine in some respects but also really funny and snarky ... mostly about herself (and her dad Eddie Fisher). The book is smart and fun, and I can't believe I've never read any of her novels. Something else to request at the library!!!
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Love to Link
I share links through my Google Reader, and if Google worked as I think it should I would be able to share those in round-up posts created automagically by Blogger. WordPress has a plug-in for that, but until I block off the time and really learn WordPress and transfer this blog to that platform I'll continue to selectively share via posts, and I have two to share today, neither of which I actually shared w/ "note in reader."
Janice Erlbaum: Dea(r)th of a blog: I read this one a couple days ago, but I found myself still thinking about it, especially her sixth reason for keeping a blog: 6. To passive-aggressively let people know what I was really thinking, without having to own it in person:
Advice Columnist Stands on Her Faith: This is a UMC feature about "Ask Amy" -- a lifelong Methodist. I remember reading an excerpt from her book in a women's magazine, probably around last Christmas. I had wanted to read her book, and should still add it to my "to read" list ... and here's an idea, actually request is from the library!
Today's Upper Room reading was outstanding, based on the scripture Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people." I like the idea that no matter what we are doing we can do it in ministry for the Lord. Putting that into practice is another matter entirely, but it definitely lifted me today, and I hope it does the same for you.
(Aside - it would actually be helpful for my work to be better at WordPress, since that's the software our blog uses ... although I don't have access to the blog server, which is another thing entirely)
Janice Erlbaum: Dea(r)th of a blog: I read this one a couple days ago, but I found myself still thinking about it, especially her sixth reason for keeping a blog: 6. To passive-aggressively let people know what I was really thinking, without having to own it in person:
6. Ugh. It’s been a number of years since I used my blog to take passive-aggressive shots at conveniently unnamed people (“Oh, I wasn’t talking about you…”), but I can still work up a healthy cringe recalling those times. When I used my Twitter account one day this summer to swipe anonymously at two women I know, I realized it was time to quit Twitter. I am not proud of having used my blog to be hurtful to other people, even if those other people were American Idol contestants, or otherwise totally asking for it. Oh, I’m not talking about you…I don't think I do that too much on my blog, but I know on Twitter I am insanely gripe-y and I shouldn't be. I like "without having to own it in person" -- that I shouldn't write anything about someone that I wouldn't say to them directly (even if I vaguely refer to someone). A good goal to strive for, made especially hard given the fact that I don't speak TO people most days and am limited to e-mail. But I digress.
Advice Columnist Stands on Her Faith: This is a UMC feature about "Ask Amy" -- a lifelong Methodist. I remember reading an excerpt from her book in a women's magazine, probably around last Christmas. I had wanted to read her book, and should still add it to my "to read" list ... and here's an idea, actually request is from the library!
Today's Upper Room reading was outstanding, based on the scripture Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people." I like the idea that no matter what we are doing we can do it in ministry for the Lord. Putting that into practice is another matter entirely, but it definitely lifted me today, and I hope it does the same for you.
(Aside - it would actually be helpful for my work to be better at WordPress, since that's the software our blog uses ... although I don't have access to the blog server, which is another thing entirely)
blustery
went outside and almost got knocked over it was so windy. reminded me of oklahoma (wind sweeping down the plains and such).
webcammed with my mother-in-law for the first time and with Owen - he actually interacted and sang me the funniest song.
webcammed with my mother-in-law for the first time and with Owen - he actually interacted and sang me the funniest song.
it was greek night at the gym ... or something. they were having crazy competitions, including tug of war. those were pretty hilarious.
Two Years Later
I mark time. I remember self-dates (i.e. my first boyfriend and I started "going out" on Jan. 11; I got my braces off on Feb. 11, which is also the birthday of the guy I sat behind in algebra classes; etc.) ... well today is a day - two years since Shawn and I got engaged at the Top of the Rock. That means this picture is two years old:
How innocent and sweet I look!
After the darkness of yesterday -- really just a terrible day punctuated in bouts of self doubt -- today has been a welcome bit of light, remembering why I am here, in this city. To be with my beloved. All the other stuff is ... just that, stuff.
Also it didn't hurt that I got a card from my best 5-year-old with birthday photos and TWO custom drawings -- Optimus Prime and Thomas -- to add to my collection and display.
In an attempt to keep the positivity on an upswing I'm forcing myself to go to the gym. So I'd better get moving.
Aside: the building handy man came to our door today ... Shawn had failed to tell me he'd reported our weird sink - it was wobbly and had a bit of a leak. The handy man was working away, swearing under his breath at it while I worked at my computer at some PowerPoint stuff, feeling equally frustrated at times with the program and my computer's processor. SO for about 45 minutes today I had a co-worker ... at least we were working alongside each other at our respective tasks. HA!
How innocent and sweet I look!
After the darkness of yesterday -- really just a terrible day punctuated in bouts of self doubt -- today has been a welcome bit of light, remembering why I am here, in this city. To be with my beloved. All the other stuff is ... just that, stuff.
Also it didn't hurt that I got a card from my best 5-year-old with birthday photos and TWO custom drawings -- Optimus Prime and Thomas -- to add to my collection and display.
In an attempt to keep the positivity on an upswing I'm forcing myself to go to the gym. So I'd better get moving.
Aside: the building handy man came to our door today ... Shawn had failed to tell me he'd reported our weird sink - it was wobbly and had a bit of a leak. The handy man was working away, swearing under his breath at it while I worked at my computer at some PowerPoint stuff, feeling equally frustrated at times with the program and my computer's processor. SO for about 45 minutes today I had a co-worker ... at least we were working alongside each other at our respective tasks. HA!
Bloody Sunday
My mom (or main reader of this humble blog) just told me she doesn't like negativity online. But this has been such a terrible day I can't help myself but chronicling it. I'll try to add some positives to balance it.
MTA hates me. Transit never fails to screw me up somehow. Last weekend it was the 4/5 running local, and me getting off a 6 train to church to wait for the express that never came, meaning I was late for church. I knew better this time, so Shawn and I got to church on time no problem.
The service itself was disjointed and long - over an hour and a half. There's a rotating cast of guest organists and this one played extra/delayed the start of the service, and the pastor got confused a couple times about the order of worship, causing some doubling back. Really pretty strange.
Positive - I think someone's prayers are being answered, as the pastor's sermons are getting better to me ... they're not as good as the pastor previously before her, but they're definitely delivering messages I need to hear. So that's something.
The trip back from church ... not so easy. We decided to save $ and take the bus home. We walked to 5th Avenue to take the direct bus, and get on. Of COURSE at 59th street the driver informs us no buses can go "up" 5th Avenue due to a parade. First of all, it's DOWN 5th Avenue. The only way you can go up it is to go against traffic, but I digress. We could have stayed on the bus and gone over to 7th Avenue, but then we would have been on the opposite side of 5th Ave. from our apartment, meaning we could find ourselves in the same situation we did during the gay pride parade. No thanks.
So we got off at 59th street and got on the subway there, no problem. But of course it's another $4.50 we wouldn't have paid had the bus just run normally. I guess the moral is to check MTA before EVERY SINGLE TRIP you make - no matter how often you make it.
A positive - the German family that was on the 6 with us to church was ALSO on our bus when we got out of church (they went to a museum - either the Guggenheim or the Met, we couldn't really tell). I thought that was a funny little coincidence.
Another positive - we went to the gym again today. I'm not feeling 100% but definitely well enough to shoot around. We did the same yesterday, just goofing off but also getting sweaty and working on our shots. Good times. It leaves me exhausted, but that's a good thing.
After watching the DVR'ed SNL from last night (meh, but better than last week's), I decided to turn on my laptop ... the dreaded black screen again. Not sure what's going on, but I'm making the executive decision that I need to toss this one and move on/buy myself a new, lighter purple laptop. (Purple is optional but desirable).
So, fire up the desktop and log on to my AOL mail. I've got about 50 messages from Facebook... Including several from "myself" ... meaning someone hacked my account and started posting advertising messages. Frantic, I change the password and go through a few other accounts (MySpace, Twitter) that have similar passwords to change them too. I hope I'm not forgetting any. But just really gets my blood pressure up and cranks me right out. UGH. And it started posting things on people's accounts that I haven't thought of in a long time. If someone did that to me I would probably de-friend them. So it's possible my already meager friend count will drop. I guess I'm OK with that. I think if I had my druthers I wouldn't really log onto FB all that much anyway.
Now I'm writing this and feel so ... yucky. Just ... I don't know. And add to the fact that work creeps into my mind constantly ... just things to do/things I wish I didn't have to do kind of stuff ... and the stress/excitement of our future makes me even crazier.
A final positive, although from yesterday, we went and saw "Whip It" ... Drew Barrymoore's directorial debut. VERY good. I love Kristen Wiig, like want-to-write-her-fan-letters love her, and the past two movies we've seen have her in them. (She's also a big reason why I watch SNL ... just kidding/just kidding/just kidding/just kidding.) Anyway, I loved Whip It, except for the blatant commercial I thought was subversively added - "You can never have too much eyeliner ... or Lash Blast" was a line in the movie. Lash Blast is Cover Girl's brand name for mascara and is shilled by Drew Barrymoore. I don't doubt that she got paid for that placement, but I still though it was weird. I wonder if there were others like that I missed. Oh, and it also REALLY made me want to move to Austin. Fingers and toes crossed that dreams can come true, but we'll see. I bet it also planted the idea of my friend Holly in my head (Holly of Austin fame), as I dreamed about her last night. Hrm.
Time to start making something to eat and try to talk myself off the ledge of digital fury. At least I checked it tonight and didn't have to be stressed out about it while also working. Right... Maybe some crocheting will help. (And Dexter!)
This is just a brain dump of anxiety. Pray for me, my sanity and my husband!
MTA hates me. Transit never fails to screw me up somehow. Last weekend it was the 4/5 running local, and me getting off a 6 train to church to wait for the express that never came, meaning I was late for church. I knew better this time, so Shawn and I got to church on time no problem.
The service itself was disjointed and long - over an hour and a half. There's a rotating cast of guest organists and this one played extra/delayed the start of the service, and the pastor got confused a couple times about the order of worship, causing some doubling back. Really pretty strange.
Positive - I think someone's prayers are being answered, as the pastor's sermons are getting better to me ... they're not as good as the pastor previously before her, but they're definitely delivering messages I need to hear. So that's something.
The trip back from church ... not so easy. We decided to save $ and take the bus home. We walked to 5th Avenue to take the direct bus, and get on. Of COURSE at 59th street the driver informs us no buses can go "up" 5th Avenue due to a parade. First of all, it's DOWN 5th Avenue. The only way you can go up it is to go against traffic, but I digress. We could have stayed on the bus and gone over to 7th Avenue, but then we would have been on the opposite side of 5th Ave. from our apartment, meaning we could find ourselves in the same situation we did during the gay pride parade. No thanks.
So we got off at 59th street and got on the subway there, no problem. But of course it's another $4.50 we wouldn't have paid had the bus just run normally. I guess the moral is to check MTA before EVERY SINGLE TRIP you make - no matter how often you make it.
A positive - the German family that was on the 6 with us to church was ALSO on our bus when we got out of church (they went to a museum - either the Guggenheim or the Met, we couldn't really tell). I thought that was a funny little coincidence.
Another positive - we went to the gym again today. I'm not feeling 100% but definitely well enough to shoot around. We did the same yesterday, just goofing off but also getting sweaty and working on our shots. Good times. It leaves me exhausted, but that's a good thing.
After watching the DVR'ed SNL from last night (meh, but better than last week's), I decided to turn on my laptop ... the dreaded black screen again. Not sure what's going on, but I'm making the executive decision that I need to toss this one and move on/buy myself a new, lighter purple laptop. (Purple is optional but desirable).
So, fire up the desktop and log on to my AOL mail. I've got about 50 messages from Facebook... Including several from "myself" ... meaning someone hacked my account and started posting advertising messages. Frantic, I change the password and go through a few other accounts (MySpace, Twitter) that have similar passwords to change them too. I hope I'm not forgetting any. But just really gets my blood pressure up and cranks me right out. UGH. And it started posting things on people's accounts that I haven't thought of in a long time. If someone did that to me I would probably de-friend them. So it's possible my already meager friend count will drop. I guess I'm OK with that. I think if I had my druthers I wouldn't really log onto FB all that much anyway.
Now I'm writing this and feel so ... yucky. Just ... I don't know. And add to the fact that work creeps into my mind constantly ... just things to do/things I wish I didn't have to do kind of stuff ... and the stress/excitement of our future makes me even crazier.
A final positive, although from yesterday, we went and saw "Whip It" ... Drew Barrymoore's directorial debut. VERY good. I love Kristen Wiig, like want-to-write-her-fan-letters love her, and the past two movies we've seen have her in them. (She's also a big reason why I watch SNL ... just kidding/just kidding/just kidding/just kidding.) Anyway, I loved Whip It, except for the blatant commercial I thought was subversively added - "You can never have too much eyeliner ... or Lash Blast" was a line in the movie. Lash Blast is Cover Girl's brand name for mascara and is shilled by Drew Barrymoore. I don't doubt that she got paid for that placement, but I still though it was weird. I wonder if there were others like that I missed. Oh, and it also REALLY made me want to move to Austin. Fingers and toes crossed that dreams can come true, but we'll see. I bet it also planted the idea of my friend Holly in my head (Holly of Austin fame), as I dreamed about her last night. Hrm.
Time to start making something to eat and try to talk myself off the ledge of digital fury. At least I checked it tonight and didn't have to be stressed out about it while also working. Right... Maybe some crocheting will help. (And Dexter!)
This is just a brain dump of anxiety. Pray for me, my sanity and my husband!
Middling
I just wrote a lot of "this-is-my-life" stuff and deleted it. I need to get over myself. (And I need to get over this cold/flu/whatever)
Marketing Fail
I'm a fan of Lion Brand Yarn on Facebook. And I get their blog updates in my RSS reader. Why is it that I'm just learning today that there's a NYC store for Lion Brand Yarn? Back when I first moved here I scoured Google looking for a Michaels-type place (none on the island, but I have found one trekkable in Queens) and for yarn stores. This one didn't come up (although now it's visible on Google Maps). I wonder when it opened?! I just happened to see a blog post that used a picture of the store and mentioned that it was in NYC. Huh.
I finished a project that will be unveiled around Christmas-time. I'm working on a sweet green Tiramisu baby blanket. I intend to donate it to my church's craft fair. I also want to whip up some thread snowflakes and flat angels for the fair too. I need to get busy.
I talked to Gran today and I would probably be a happier person if I did speak to her daily. I called after my mom e-mailed me pictures of Gran's latest crocheted blanket (finishing someone else's work ... and something I helped her figure out when I was in OK last month - the pattern wasn't super clear AND the original crocheter didn't exactly follow the pattern!). Gran thought it was pretty funny that I could see the pictures the day after they were taken.
I am down and out with a head cold. Still working (clearly, blogging w/o working would be ill advised), but not at 100% capacity and with really sore ears and just a cloggy yechy feeling. Will be glad to feel better - as this yechiness just started yesterday and is in full swing today. No fever or tummy troubles, so I doubt swine flu, but I'll keep you posted. It's what I get for being out and about among the masses. Uh ...
I was planning to try to man up and go to the gym, but my head hurts too much. AND Gran's advice, like Shawn's, was to drink lots of water and rest. The resting sounds pretty good right about now, and I'm keeping up with the water ... as the worn spot in the floor between my desk and the bathroom can attest.
I finished a project that will be unveiled around Christmas-time. I'm working on a sweet green Tiramisu baby blanket. I intend to donate it to my church's craft fair. I also want to whip up some thread snowflakes and flat angels for the fair too. I need to get busy.
I talked to Gran today and I would probably be a happier person if I did speak to her daily. I called after my mom e-mailed me pictures of Gran's latest crocheted blanket (finishing someone else's work ... and something I helped her figure out when I was in OK last month - the pattern wasn't super clear AND the original crocheter didn't exactly follow the pattern!). Gran thought it was pretty funny that I could see the pictures the day after they were taken.
I am down and out with a head cold. Still working (clearly, blogging w/o working would be ill advised), but not at 100% capacity and with really sore ears and just a cloggy yechy feeling. Will be glad to feel better - as this yechiness just started yesterday and is in full swing today. No fever or tummy troubles, so I doubt swine flu, but I'll keep you posted. It's what I get for being out and about among the masses. Uh ...
I was planning to try to man up and go to the gym, but my head hurts too much. AND Gran's advice, like Shawn's, was to drink lots of water and rest. The resting sounds pretty good right about now, and I'm keeping up with the water ... as the worn spot in the floor between my desk and the bathroom can attest.
Blood Donation Saga Continues
This time I was turned away from donating platelets. I am not too disappointed, but it's frustrating to block out the time, get to the center, wait, be pricked and then they say I'm ineligible. Usually it's been anemic/low blood iron (a couple times when donating in Maryland), but this time it was my pulse.
Her first count was 110, too high. Then she had me sit for probably 10 minutes and took it again. (I told her it wouldn't change ... as I wasn't winded and actually felt just fine/calm/not nervous.) She didn't tell me what the second count was, but said it would beat really fast and then go vague, like she couldn't feel it for a bit before it was racing again. She thought maybe I was holding my breath. Maybe I was, but not intentionally, and after she told me that she said I couldn't donate (instead of taking my pulse while I paid attention to how I was breathing). She also didn't take into account that she had me pull my right arm across my body and that she was pressing it into the side of the desk so hard it made an indention in my skin. Whatevs.
I feel fine and actually suspect it had something to do with the 1/2 coffee I drank with a bagel on the way to the center. I have been intaking far less caffeine than normal for me, mostly for personal plumbing reasons, but I imagine the caffeine impacted my heart rate. I didn't offer up that explanation and just packed up and left. Blech.
It took me over an hour to get home because instead of walking to the subway I took the closer bus, which meandered and had to go around a street festival. Plus it's raining, which makes everything worse.
On the bus I had time to think ... and think ... and think. I have been listening to Brad Paisley on my iPod lately -- some of his songs are so incredible upbeat (The World, Alcohol) and others are so very sad/sentimental (When I Get Where I'm Going, Then, Oh Yeah You're Gone). So that added to the reflective quality of the ride.
In the sermon (hands down the best one so far from this new pastor), she challenged us to always pray for people we meet and see -- to pray for the city as a whole and all its people. I really like that and find that I especially pray for young women crying. The bus ride was a good time for saying those prayers surrounded by all kinds of people.
I've got crocheting to do and DVR'ed TV to watch. The sermon also got me thinking about my (hermit) lifestyle ... but this afternoon I'm going to let myself enjoy it.
Her first count was 110, too high. Then she had me sit for probably 10 minutes and took it again. (I told her it wouldn't change ... as I wasn't winded and actually felt just fine/calm/not nervous.) She didn't tell me what the second count was, but said it would beat really fast and then go vague, like she couldn't feel it for a bit before it was racing again. She thought maybe I was holding my breath. Maybe I was, but not intentionally, and after she told me that she said I couldn't donate (instead of taking my pulse while I paid attention to how I was breathing). She also didn't take into account that she had me pull my right arm across my body and that she was pressing it into the side of the desk so hard it made an indention in my skin. Whatevs.
I feel fine and actually suspect it had something to do with the 1/2 coffee I drank with a bagel on the way to the center. I have been intaking far less caffeine than normal for me, mostly for personal plumbing reasons, but I imagine the caffeine impacted my heart rate. I didn't offer up that explanation and just packed up and left. Blech.
It took me over an hour to get home because instead of walking to the subway I took the closer bus, which meandered and had to go around a street festival. Plus it's raining, which makes everything worse.
On the bus I had time to think ... and think ... and think. I have been listening to Brad Paisley on my iPod lately -- some of his songs are so incredible upbeat (The World, Alcohol) and others are so very sad/sentimental (When I Get Where I'm Going, Then, Oh Yeah You're Gone). So that added to the reflective quality of the ride.
In the sermon (hands down the best one so far from this new pastor), she challenged us to always pray for people we meet and see -- to pray for the city as a whole and all its people. I really like that and find that I especially pray for young women crying. The bus ride was a good time for saying those prayers surrounded by all kinds of people.
I've got crocheting to do and DVR'ed TV to watch. The sermon also got me thinking about my (hermit) lifestyle ... but this afternoon I'm going to let myself enjoy it.
Folk Art
Thanks to a perfectly timed shared blog post, I found out today was the Smithsonian Museum Day - a lot of museums offer free admission. We picked the American Folk Art Museum, since we'd heard about it on Friday at a party.
It was a cool museum, what parts of it were open. There was even a Titanic replica in metal that was made around the time the ship was built (1912-1915). Admission was free even if you weren't with the Museum Day because most of the museum was closed for an installation (including the yarn section, which I just assume they must have ... based on the gift shop). Bummer in the summer, but it was something to do and getting out is always a good thing.
I got back from DC yesterday at about 6 pm, and we went directly to the aforementioned party. It was in a 34th floor apartment on 86th and 3rd. WOW the view south. I told Shawn if we could have a view like that it would almost make staying in NYC seem palatable. ALMOST.
The party was for a visiting lecturer and there were about 20 people in a very small living room without enough seats for everyone. As the evening progressed (pizza, wine and assorted nibblies), the room got increasingly hot and stuffy. After three days in the office, with travel, the event on Thursday and my general nature, I was chomping at the bit to leave after just over 2 hours standing talking to people.
Most of the guests were fascinating, easy to talk to and just nice. (I tend to like mathematicians, as you may have guessed.) There was also a guy who reminded me of Kahn from King of the Hill (ah, second Mike Judge-project mentioned in a week!) ... basically the guy was laughing at Shawn and me and trying to be sly about our "red neck" ways ... Perhaps it was just a cultural thing (he didn't say red neck, which is a signature of Kahn on the cartoon), and he is new in NYC/the department. But it was a bit off putting to be present for someone trying to belittle my beloved.
As we took off (my excuse and apologies to the hostess being centered on the truthful fact that I had been away and traveling all afternoon), we were invited to take a look at the view from the roof. So we went up there, where it was nice and cool. A crisp gorgeous night - we could see Staten Island it seemed. It was all so beautiful - and there was much more seating and a better temperature up there. I would have been able to stick it out longer if we'd been on the roof. Shawn and I spent a few minutes up there before taking the ride back downstairs and going back to our nest here in the Village.
I won't talk too much about work, other than to say it was a pretty good visit overall work wise. The event went well and I didn't come home on Friday to any urgent or upsetting emails. The ride home was MUCH better than the last one (after a crippling faux pas, which consumed my thoughts and still upsets me if I let myself dwell). I did have a coworker express feigned concern about me not getting out enough -- it was a really weird catty remark that I'm sure I took more seriously than it was intended. I feel worse about my close-knit lifestyle when having to try to explain it than actually living it, but there is some truth to the need for a more "normal" work lifestyle. Em to the eh. Meh.
Church and plasma donation tomorrow. (The last scheduled appointment had to be re-scheduled due to ... let's say technical difficulties on my part involving a trip to a Duane Reed walk-in clinic and a three-day course of cypro ... but I'm all good now.) Dexter starts tomorrow night - the first time we'll be able to watch the episodes as they're released. I also may spend some time working on my website and exploring the idea of transferring this blogspot blog to a self-hosted wordpress blog. Not sure if I have enough web storage on my site though, so we'll see if I get anywhere. I also need to get on the ball re: the IUMC website and such.
Shawn and I also played basketball earlier in the day, so I'm overwhelmingly exhausted now - a very nice feeling. Zzzzzzz.......
It was a cool museum, what parts of it were open. There was even a Titanic replica in metal that was made around the time the ship was built (1912-1915). Admission was free even if you weren't with the Museum Day because most of the museum was closed for an installation (including the yarn section, which I just assume they must have ... based on the gift shop). Bummer in the summer, but it was something to do and getting out is always a good thing.
I got back from DC yesterday at about 6 pm, and we went directly to the aforementioned party. It was in a 34th floor apartment on 86th and 3rd. WOW the view south. I told Shawn if we could have a view like that it would almost make staying in NYC seem palatable. ALMOST.
The party was for a visiting lecturer and there were about 20 people in a very small living room without enough seats for everyone. As the evening progressed (pizza, wine and assorted nibblies), the room got increasingly hot and stuffy. After three days in the office, with travel, the event on Thursday and my general nature, I was chomping at the bit to leave after just over 2 hours standing talking to people.
Most of the guests were fascinating, easy to talk to and just nice. (I tend to like mathematicians, as you may have guessed.) There was also a guy who reminded me of Kahn from King of the Hill (ah, second Mike Judge-project mentioned in a week!) ... basically the guy was laughing at Shawn and me and trying to be sly about our "red neck" ways ... Perhaps it was just a cultural thing (he didn't say red neck, which is a signature of Kahn on the cartoon), and he is new in NYC/the department. But it was a bit off putting to be present for someone trying to belittle my beloved.
As we took off (my excuse and apologies to the hostess being centered on the truthful fact that I had been away and traveling all afternoon), we were invited to take a look at the view from the roof. So we went up there, where it was nice and cool. A crisp gorgeous night - we could see Staten Island it seemed. It was all so beautiful - and there was much more seating and a better temperature up there. I would have been able to stick it out longer if we'd been on the roof. Shawn and I spent a few minutes up there before taking the ride back downstairs and going back to our nest here in the Village.
I won't talk too much about work, other than to say it was a pretty good visit overall work wise. The event went well and I didn't come home on Friday to any urgent or upsetting emails. The ride home was MUCH better than the last one (after a crippling faux pas, which consumed my thoughts and still upsets me if I let myself dwell). I did have a coworker express feigned concern about me not getting out enough -- it was a really weird catty remark that I'm sure I took more seriously than it was intended. I feel worse about my close-knit lifestyle when having to try to explain it than actually living it, but there is some truth to the need for a more "normal" work lifestyle. Em to the eh. Meh.
Church and plasma donation tomorrow. (The last scheduled appointment had to be re-scheduled due to ... let's say technical difficulties on my part involving a trip to a Duane Reed walk-in clinic and a three-day course of cypro ... but I'm all good now.) Dexter starts tomorrow night - the first time we'll be able to watch the episodes as they're released. I also may spend some time working on my website and exploring the idea of transferring this blogspot blog to a self-hosted wordpress blog. Not sure if I have enough web storage on my site though, so we'll see if I get anywhere. I also need to get on the ball re: the IUMC website and such.
Shawn and I also played basketball earlier in the day, so I'm overwhelmingly exhausted now - a very nice feeling. Zzzzzzz.......
Two-sday
I should be packing. I should be making dinner. I will soon.
Just got finished working out ... or what counts as working out for me. I'm doing my best to get in a routine, so that it becomes a habit that I'll miss when I don't get to do it (like tomorrow and Thursday when I'm not here). Just the walk to the gym, 20-ish minutes on the elliptical at varying speeds, getting heart rate up, and then the walk from the gym. It's enough to get me sweaty, which isn't exactly hard to do.
Re-read a Marie Claire (yes, it's come to this - re-reading crap-tastic magazines) and actually read some of the longer interview type articles, including the one about the Olsen twin. She is so funny and entitled. She talked about how when she and her sister went to NYU they started the craze of carrying a Starbucks cup. That made me laugh - almost off my machine.
Well, Shawn's home. So I guess I should get started on dinner. Don't worry about him while I'm gone - there are a plethora of cheap eats around us (many of which deliver) ... and I had a Fresh Direct delivery today so he's set with sandwich goods and other quick eats items should he choose to cook at home.
Packing, eck ... but tonight: DiNozzo!
Just got finished working out ... or what counts as working out for me. I'm doing my best to get in a routine, so that it becomes a habit that I'll miss when I don't get to do it (like tomorrow and Thursday when I'm not here). Just the walk to the gym, 20-ish minutes on the elliptical at varying speeds, getting heart rate up, and then the walk from the gym. It's enough to get me sweaty, which isn't exactly hard to do.
Re-read a Marie Claire (yes, it's come to this - re-reading crap-tastic magazines) and actually read some of the longer interview type articles, including the one about the Olsen twin. She is so funny and entitled. She talked about how when she and her sister went to NYU they started the craze of carrying a Starbucks cup. That made me laugh - almost off my machine.
Well, Shawn's home. So I guess I should get started on dinner. Don't worry about him while I'm gone - there are a plethora of cheap eats around us (many of which deliver) ... and I had a Fresh Direct delivery today so he's set with sandwich goods and other quick eats items should he choose to cook at home.
Packing, eck ... but tonight: DiNozzo!
"I'm Gonna Call Up Domino's...
and have them deliver some Pepsi."
That line, from Extract, made me laugh so hard that the girls in the row behind us started laughing at me. I don't know what it was - the accent, the absurdity ... Shawn swears I laughed because I think it's a fine idea to have soda delivered by the pizza place. Seeing the movie on Saturday night was a much needed break this weekend, which was a working weekend to put it mildly.
I upgraded my iPod software - which screwed up all the music and things. I think I got it all settled, but geez what a pain. I did it while watching House (omg, I could write entry after entry about TV shows, but I figure there's enough of that w/o me attaching my name to it, but I do want to write DiNozzo!) ... so it took a bit over two hours.
Working out is still trudging along. It's not a habit yet, but I'm forcing myself to go. We'll see how the time away for work will affect it.
FINALLY got to the post office today. A certain mother-in-law's birthday gift is en route now. I also finally mailed the latest work newsletter to Gran, over a week late. It also contains an out-of-date letter, but probably better than a poke in the eye. (I know I like to get hard copy mail even if I already "know" everything in the letter.)
My eyes are acting crazy again - red/bloodshot or whatever. I should get more sleep and have less stress. Uh ... summer's over so I don't envision that any time soon. I'll keep on trucking.
This is absolutely just a journal entry - about me and what I've been doing, which basically is not much beyond work. (So it's less writer's block than life block I guess.) I haven't even really been reading anything beyond magazines, although I have one book review to type up. I also have hibernated most of my crochet projects - not sure what's up with that but I intend to take the green blanket Tiramisu pattern with me on the train ... yeah, I have to get up in the middle of the night again on Wednesday (5:45 a.m. feels like the middle of the night for me).
So this is this. Until another day.
That line, from Extract, made me laugh so hard that the girls in the row behind us started laughing at me. I don't know what it was - the accent, the absurdity ... Shawn swears I laughed because I think it's a fine idea to have soda delivered by the pizza place. Seeing the movie on Saturday night was a much needed break this weekend, which was a working weekend to put it mildly.
I upgraded my iPod software - which screwed up all the music and things. I think I got it all settled, but geez what a pain. I did it while watching House (omg, I could write entry after entry about TV shows, but I figure there's enough of that w/o me attaching my name to it, but I do want to write DiNozzo!) ... so it took a bit over two hours.
Working out is still trudging along. It's not a habit yet, but I'm forcing myself to go. We'll see how the time away for work will affect it.
FINALLY got to the post office today. A certain mother-in-law's birthday gift is en route now. I also finally mailed the latest work newsletter to Gran, over a week late. It also contains an out-of-date letter, but probably better than a poke in the eye. (I know I like to get hard copy mail even if I already "know" everything in the letter.)
My eyes are acting crazy again - red/bloodshot or whatever. I should get more sleep and have less stress. Uh ... summer's over so I don't envision that any time soon. I'll keep on trucking.
This is absolutely just a journal entry - about me and what I've been doing, which basically is not much beyond work. (So it's less writer's block than life block I guess.) I haven't even really been reading anything beyond magazines, although I have one book review to type up. I also have hibernated most of my crochet projects - not sure what's up with that but I intend to take the green blanket Tiramisu pattern with me on the train ... yeah, I have to get up in the middle of the night again on Wednesday (5:45 a.m. feels like the middle of the night for me).
So this is this. Until another day.
Big Brother
NOT about the reality show, although I did watch one season of that - maybe the first - whichever one had the smarmy handsome doctor guy who won - Eric? No, I think it was Will.
I wrote yesterday about Owen's pretend brother, but today I've been thinking about BIG BROTHER, and not just the government.
Oklahoma State University, my alma mater, must have a bug in my apartment or something. Or maybe someone at the OSU Foundation or OSU Alumni Association reads this blog and figured out my updated address. Because without me updating it, they were able to send the OSU Magazine to my new address. But the even weirder part is that the magazine comes addressed to SHAWN! He said I should call them and get it corrected because he doesn't want anyone (including the postman) to think he is affiliated with the sticks. Uh ... Go Pokes?!
Then there's Facebook. I probably would not have made it out of my teen years had FB been around then. I mean, seriously?! The Big Brother aspect comes in the suggested friends. That feature comes up with some astounding results - suggesting someone I actually know ... although there's NO WAY FB could know I know them in real life given what data we have on our profiles (and no shared friends). Really creeps me out.
Google Images is getting Shawn - when you search his name one of the images that pops up is from our wedding site, which leads indirectly to my website, which leads to this blog. Egads! He's taken great pains to keep our online footprints separate. I changed the website with the image, but Google forgets nothing. I just hope it eventually bumps down so it doesn't appear on page 1 of the Google Image results. I am a gold mine of information about Shawn though ... so maybe I should think about scrubbing this blog and/or the site. That would make me sad though, so we'll see.
But on the other hand, I lay it all out there. There are lots of details about me that can be pieced together from Facebook, MySpace, my website, this BLOG, etc. I like this record of me though, and I like that my family (by birth and marriage) can look at what I'm doing at their leisure.
But I don't write about work at length. I may have written my organization's name in the blog, but I try not to. I sometimes gripe in Twitter, but I generally keep it unspecific and sometimes it's about working conditions (slow computer or construction or something in the apartment next door). This week's work especially has worn me out. But if you want the deets, it will have to be over e-mail.
Happy weekend. ~Mari.
I wrote yesterday about Owen's pretend brother, but today I've been thinking about BIG BROTHER, and not just the government.
Oklahoma State University, my alma mater, must have a bug in my apartment or something. Or maybe someone at the OSU Foundation or OSU Alumni Association reads this blog and figured out my updated address. Because without me updating it, they were able to send the OSU Magazine to my new address. But the even weirder part is that the magazine comes addressed to SHAWN! He said I should call them and get it corrected because he doesn't want anyone (including the postman) to think he is affiliated with the sticks. Uh ... Go Pokes?!
Then there's Facebook. I probably would not have made it out of my teen years had FB been around then. I mean, seriously?! The Big Brother aspect comes in the suggested friends. That feature comes up with some astounding results - suggesting someone I actually know ... although there's NO WAY FB could know I know them in real life given what data we have on our profiles (and no shared friends). Really creeps me out.
Google Images is getting Shawn - when you search his name one of the images that pops up is from our wedding site, which leads indirectly to my website, which leads to this blog. Egads! He's taken great pains to keep our online footprints separate. I changed the website with the image, but Google forgets nothing. I just hope it eventually bumps down so it doesn't appear on page 1 of the Google Image results. I am a gold mine of information about Shawn though ... so maybe I should think about scrubbing this blog and/or the site. That would make me sad though, so we'll see.
But on the other hand, I lay it all out there. There are lots of details about me that can be pieced together from Facebook, MySpace, my website, this BLOG, etc. I like this record of me though, and I like that my family (by birth and marriage) can look at what I'm doing at their leisure.
But I don't write about work at length. I may have written my organization's name in the blog, but I try not to. I sometimes gripe in Twitter, but I generally keep it unspecific and sometimes it's about working conditions (slow computer or construction or something in the apartment next door). This week's work especially has worn me out. But if you want the deets, it will have to be over e-mail.
Happy weekend. ~Mari.
Blocked
September started out so promising, in terms of posting efficiency. But I guess being around Owen is good for inspiration. Plus there was always some little memory to jot down. (Like "my pretend brother" is also in Kindergarten, lives in Canada and comes over for play dates.)
Shawn wore his jacket for the first time today.
Other than that, I have absolutely nothing to report. Dur.
Shawn wore his jacket for the first time today.
Other than that, I have absolutely nothing to report. Dur.
Bringing the Pain
These are really random thoughts, and quantify just how much I need to get out more. Seriously.
Went to the gym today for the first time in ... months.
They have all new equipment, which is pretty cool. The ellipticals have plugins for iPods. Hilarity.
Of course I pick the day that they're having "club day" at the gym - the entire basketball court (all three regulation sized courts) were covered in tables and students signing up for this and that club or fraternity. There was even a line to get into the gym - but the actual workout areas were pretty sparsely populated.
On the walk TO the gym I saw a guy washing his SUV. For one thing, it's kind of rainy in NYC. For another, he was washing it WITH BOTTLED WATER. I swear, he had a case of water and was pouring a bottle on the roof. Maybe it was just rinsing off some bird poo or something from the case he had just purchased or something but it still made a crazy picture.
While I stretched I overheard a conversation by the fencing team coach and two captains - about some girl who probably wouldn't make the cut, and even if she did she wouldn't be allowed to travel with them. It was pretty weird.
Now I'm hungry and Fresh Direct doesn't come until tomorrow because I was lazy about placing the order. Groceries for the weekend and beyond though, so there's that.
I miss my that kid Owen! UGH.
Went to the gym today for the first time in ... months.
They have all new equipment, which is pretty cool. The ellipticals have plugins for iPods. Hilarity.
Of course I pick the day that they're having "club day" at the gym - the entire basketball court (all three regulation sized courts) were covered in tables and students signing up for this and that club or fraternity. There was even a line to get into the gym - but the actual workout areas were pretty sparsely populated.
On the walk TO the gym I saw a guy washing his SUV. For one thing, it's kind of rainy in NYC. For another, he was washing it WITH BOTTLED WATER. I swear, he had a case of water and was pouring a bottle on the roof. Maybe it was just rinsing off some bird poo or something from the case he had just purchased or something but it still made a crazy picture.
While I stretched I overheard a conversation by the fencing team coach and two captains - about some girl who probably wouldn't make the cut, and even if she did she wouldn't be allowed to travel with them. It was pretty weird.
Now I'm hungry and Fresh Direct doesn't come until tomorrow because I was lazy about placing the order. Groceries for the weekend and beyond though, so there's that.
I miss my that kid Owen! UGH.
View from My Computer
I should try a proper post tomorrow. Just not a lot happening beyond work stress.
The Ache
This feeling after being home in Oklahoma ... the ache. Wanting to hug a little boy and kiss his face. And hear his laugh - even his whine. It really stinks.
The trip back from Lawton to NYC was overwhelmingly negative and hassle-filled. First our flight out of Lawton got canceled - no explanation except something about the plane not making it from Dallas. (Weather was fine.) A long line and people at the front just yukking it up w/ the 3 customer service reps who were working to re-book people on later flights. If we'd done that, we'd just be arriving now.
Instead I called the 800 number while I stood in line and booked tickets on a flight from Wichita Falls to Dallas. WF is just about 30-45 minutes on down the road from Lawton, but still extra travel time for my mom, sister and Owen. Instead of flying into LGA we had to take a connecting flight to Newark, NJ.
The first flight from WF was in a small prop plane. The security at their airport was embarrassingly podunk. They take their jobs very seriously and individually asked everyone about liquids and laptops TWICE before we could even get in line. Then the flight was full of novice travelers who had to be told to take off their shoes, everything out of pockets, etc. There was also a lot of crying because there's an Airforce base nearby and several girlfriends were put on the flight.
Anyway, we got on the flight and on our way. It was a REALLY bumpy ride. So much turbulence (b/c those small planes fly so low) that there was no drink service and we all had to stay seated the entire time. No problem. BUT there was a (seemingly pregnant) lady who lost her lunch (or vom-dot-commed if you will) on the descent. So much that it overflowed the puke bag onto everything and delayed deplaning. She was crying and everyone felt so bad for her.
What could have been a really short layover ended up being about 30 minutes, enough time to transfer terminals and get a sandwich (although neither of us were super hungry after seeing the puke on the plane). Shawn and I weren't seated together, but we were close enough that we were able to get someone to switch so we could sit together for the 3 hour flight. It turned into about 4 hours on the plane because of a loooong delay b/c of an air system check. They weren't very open with the updates.
FINALLY we arrived at about 11:40, and I was pretty happy when we landed, thinking woo-hoo! Although we were 1.5+ hours later than our originally scheduled arrival AND we were at a less desirable, farther-away airport, I still thought we were almost home. UH ...
The only time I took a cab from Newark it took a long time and was pretty expensive - and that was WITH the driver doing a short cut to get around the Holland Tunnel line (residential streets to the front of the line). So we didn't really want to chance it and thought the NJ Transit train would be a safer bet. After getting our checked bag, a $15 ticket each, two AirTrain trains to the actual rail station and over an hour after the flight landed, we're on the platform ... waiting for another train to get into NYC. It was either 12 minutes late or 20 minutes early, but our wait was tolerably short and the ride to Penn Station wasn't TOO bad. Then a taxi from Penn Station was quick because by this time it's getting close to 2 a.m. on a Monday night, so not many people are out and about (although more than you would imagine).
Finally home and get inside - turned AC on and no surprises other than the expected sour milk. I'm still exhausted from fewer hours of sleep, but hopefully I can make it up in an earlier bed time tonight.
There's no real moral of this story, although avoid Newark airport if you can. And American Airlines is on my sh*tlist (no other way to get to Lawton though so no sense having a tirade or meltdown).
The trip back from Lawton to NYC was overwhelmingly negative and hassle-filled. First our flight out of Lawton got canceled - no explanation except something about the plane not making it from Dallas. (Weather was fine.) A long line and people at the front just yukking it up w/ the 3 customer service reps who were working to re-book people on later flights. If we'd done that, we'd just be arriving now.
Instead I called the 800 number while I stood in line and booked tickets on a flight from Wichita Falls to Dallas. WF is just about 30-45 minutes on down the road from Lawton, but still extra travel time for my mom, sister and Owen. Instead of flying into LGA we had to take a connecting flight to Newark, NJ.
The first flight from WF was in a small prop plane. The security at their airport was embarrassingly podunk. They take their jobs very seriously and individually asked everyone about liquids and laptops TWICE before we could even get in line. Then the flight was full of novice travelers who had to be told to take off their shoes, everything out of pockets, etc. There was also a lot of crying because there's an Airforce base nearby and several girlfriends were put on the flight.
Anyway, we got on the flight and on our way. It was a REALLY bumpy ride. So much turbulence (b/c those small planes fly so low) that there was no drink service and we all had to stay seated the entire time. No problem. BUT there was a (seemingly pregnant) lady who lost her lunch (or vom-dot-commed if you will) on the descent. So much that it overflowed the puke bag onto everything and delayed deplaning. She was crying and everyone felt so bad for her.
What could have been a really short layover ended up being about 30 minutes, enough time to transfer terminals and get a sandwich (although neither of us were super hungry after seeing the puke on the plane). Shawn and I weren't seated together, but we were close enough that we were able to get someone to switch so we could sit together for the 3 hour flight. It turned into about 4 hours on the plane because of a loooong delay b/c of an air system check. They weren't very open with the updates.
FINALLY we arrived at about 11:40, and I was pretty happy when we landed, thinking woo-hoo! Although we were 1.5+ hours later than our originally scheduled arrival AND we were at a less desirable, farther-away airport, I still thought we were almost home. UH ...
The only time I took a cab from Newark it took a long time and was pretty expensive - and that was WITH the driver doing a short cut to get around the Holland Tunnel line (residential streets to the front of the line). So we didn't really want to chance it and thought the NJ Transit train would be a safer bet. After getting our checked bag, a $15 ticket each, two AirTrain trains to the actual rail station and over an hour after the flight landed, we're on the platform ... waiting for another train to get into NYC. It was either 12 minutes late or 20 minutes early, but our wait was tolerably short and the ride to Penn Station wasn't TOO bad. Then a taxi from Penn Station was quick because by this time it's getting close to 2 a.m. on a Monday night, so not many people are out and about (although more than you would imagine).
Finally home and get inside - turned AC on and no surprises other than the expected sour milk. I'm still exhausted from fewer hours of sleep, but hopefully I can make it up in an earlier bed time tonight.
There's no real moral of this story, although avoid Newark airport if you can. And American Airlines is on my sh*tlist (no other way to get to Lawton though so no sense having a tirade or meltdown).
Quick Anti Post
This should complete the quintet of computers from which I have blogged this week: Beth's (now), Mama's laptop, Mama's desktop, my laptop and Shawn's laptop. 5. So there.
Today's my dad's birthday - happy birthday.
We swam for two hours today so everyone is exhausted, sun sick (but not sunburned!) and more than a little crabby. Shawn and I have a big day of travel tomorrow. Then it's straight back into the grind.
We land in NY at 10 pm if all goes well, so home by 11 ... knock on wood. I should be recovered by the weekend, and thankfully it's a short work week.
Until next time.
Today's my dad's birthday - happy birthday.
We swam for two hours today so everyone is exhausted, sun sick (but not sunburned!) and more than a little crabby. Shawn and I have a big day of travel tomorrow. Then it's straight back into the grind.
We land in NY at 10 pm if all goes well, so home by 11 ... knock on wood. I should be recovered by the weekend, and thankfully it's a short work week.
Until next time.
psketti and 80 years
Great Aunt Norma Lee turns 80 this weekend (Monday). My dad's birthday is tomorrow, so this has been a trip of birthdays. Wahoo!
Mama is making us sketti, and Owen is being his most precious self. I think we're both coming down with a little cold, but hopefully it wont be too bad. Today we had the birthday pictures made, and he was a little stubborn about giving a genuine smile. He's cute no matter what though.
I've been having a weird neck ache thing that comes and goes. It's always something with me, right?
Enjoying the time off but will be nice to be back in the city and working efficiently. But I could get used to this human interaction thing. HA!
Mama is making us sketti, and Owen is being his most precious self. I think we're both coming down with a little cold, but hopefully it wont be too bad. Today we had the birthday pictures made, and he was a little stubborn about giving a genuine smile. He's cute no matter what though.
I've been having a weird neck ache thing that comes and goes. It's always something with me, right?
Enjoying the time off but will be nice to be back in the city and working efficiently. But I could get used to this human interaction thing. HA!
Launching of the Boy
Today is rainy, so we probably won't get to swim, which will probably lead to another meltdown (last night it sprinkled, so we didn't get to have our third day of swimming ... here's hoping it clears up this afternoon).
Here are pictures from Tuesday:
Pre-launch: 1, 2, 3 ...
Launch! - see how poor Bubba lands on his back.
Auntie M grabs Owen to comfort him post-splash.
Here are pictures from Tuesday:
Pre-launch: 1, 2, 3 ...
Launch! - see how poor Bubba lands on his back.
Auntie M grabs Owen to comfort him post-splash.It didn't take long before he was back to splashing and jumping. He's a water baby (or water kid, he prefers). Pa calls him a water dog.
Tomorrow will be his 5-year-old pictures at Sears. Beth has a series of photos each year around his birthday of him w/ a white number corresponding to his new age. Really cute, but then I'm partial. We'll also be going to see Aunt Norma Lee in Frederick and basically kicking around southwest Oklahoma. Our flight is Monday at about 3 p.m. from Lawton - hurray for no 2-hour drives to the airport!
Last night I found a journal from 03-04 that included when I first met Shawn (one of the few books left here - most others are in NYC). Reading some of the entries before that was cringe-worthy - I mean I was really psycho. I guess I was even that way in tracking down Shawn after we met. I'm not sure if I've mellowed, if it's just a factor of aging/growing up OR if I'm just incredibly lucky to have found someone who perfectly balances me and can put up with my crazy interludes. Probably a combination. Whatever it is, I'm very grateful!
Tomorrow will be his 5-year-old pictures at Sears. Beth has a series of photos each year around his birthday of him w/ a white number corresponding to his new age. Really cute, but then I'm partial. We'll also be going to see Aunt Norma Lee in Frederick and basically kicking around southwest Oklahoma. Our flight is Monday at about 3 p.m. from Lawton - hurray for no 2-hour drives to the airport!
Last night I found a journal from 03-04 that included when I first met Shawn (one of the few books left here - most others are in NYC). Reading some of the entries before that was cringe-worthy - I mean I was really psycho. I guess I was even that way in tracking down Shawn after we met. I'm not sure if I've mellowed, if it's just a factor of aging/growing up OR if I'm just incredibly lucky to have found someone who perfectly balances me and can put up with my crazy interludes. Probably a combination. Whatever it is, I'm very grateful!
Third
Not that it's NaBloPoMo, but here it is the third of Sept and I've had three posts this month. What, what?!
Here's a photo from Shawn's mom - on the subway after (?) the play we saw when they were here in July (date stamped even)
Free advertising on my blog. How about that, Budweiser?!
Posting this on Shawn's computer in my teenage bedroom (we added on when I was about 12 so Beth and I shared the dining room as our bedroom when we were kids). Probably the first blog post from here, although I did have a laptop w/ dial up on at least a few trips home ... but I didn't really blog my college years in a public way.
Until tomorrow...
Here's a photo from Shawn's mom - on the subway after (?) the play we saw when they were here in July (date stamped even)
Free advertising on my blog. How about that, Budweiser?!Posting this on Shawn's computer in my teenage bedroom (we added on when I was about 12 so Beth and I shared the dining room as our bedroom when we were kids). Probably the first blog post from here, although I did have a laptop w/ dial up on at least a few trips home ... but I didn't really blog my college years in a public way.
Until tomorrow...
600
Seems like not too long ago I was "celebrating" my 500th blog post. Here we are at 600. I think I'm getting more regular in updates BUT not necessarily better in content. Certainly not better in traffic or AdWords revenue (to be honest I've never earned enough to get paid!) ... but I have a nice history for myself and my family. I probably get the most benefit from the blog.
Anyway, another day on the home front. Worked all morning and in fact am still working to try to get my laptop to comply with my PowerPoint requests. It takes 10 minutes for it to just "convert" to allow an edit to be made. So I'm getting nowhere fast. (And blogging on my mom's computer while I wait. SHEESH.)
Lunch with Gran today. She has Women's Circle this afternoon, then choir practice and prayer meeting tonight. Beth has a meeting after school and my mom works at the library tonight. So Shawn and I will be picking up Owen from school and hanging out for a bit. Papa John's pizza is on the menu tonight - there isn't one near us in NYC (although they do exist there, they just won't deliver to our area). I've also been drinking more than my share of Sonic and Wayne's drinks - diet vanilla Coke, if you please. The people of NYC don't know what they're missing by not having the ability to get a quality fountain drink. If there's a place to get it, I haven't found it yet!
Last night we swam at the apartment. Owen is FEARLESS. He didn't even check the temperature of the water. Just plugged his nose and jumped in (he does wear a life vest/floatie apparatus). It was freezing, but Uncle Shawn and I did get in with him. Shawn threw him in the water a lot, which was fun. I have pictures, but the camera is at Beth's. I'll try to add the funniest one soon. Owen was pleased with every throw except one, when Shawn LAUNCHED him into the water from pool side and Owen landed on his back. Poor kid! He came up crying, but it didn't last long and he was back to swimming and asking to be thrown (from inside the water though). Maybe we'll swim again today.
We got Owen's hair cut yesterday too - he looks much more grown up and so so so cute. We've also been watching his new Titanic DVD - an Amazon find from Auntie M. I also got him a giant cut away book - you can see inside the ship and look at all the decks. What other 5 year old is so fascinated with a sinking ship? He is funny.
I guess this is just a lesson in learning patience. I get the concept, but I am really unable to put it into practice. I want things fast and I want them now, especially when it comes to work that I like to be able to produce. Maybe I should just slow down and take it in. We are in Oklahoma after all, home of a draaaaaaaawl like you wouldn't believe (noticed a lot on the plane, but since I've been here it's less obvious to me).
Until next time.
Anyway, another day on the home front. Worked all morning and in fact am still working to try to get my laptop to comply with my PowerPoint requests. It takes 10 minutes for it to just "convert" to allow an edit to be made. So I'm getting nowhere fast. (And blogging on my mom's computer while I wait. SHEESH.)
Lunch with Gran today. She has Women's Circle this afternoon, then choir practice and prayer meeting tonight. Beth has a meeting after school and my mom works at the library tonight. So Shawn and I will be picking up Owen from school and hanging out for a bit. Papa John's pizza is on the menu tonight - there isn't one near us in NYC (although they do exist there, they just won't deliver to our area). I've also been drinking more than my share of Sonic and Wayne's drinks - diet vanilla Coke, if you please. The people of NYC don't know what they're missing by not having the ability to get a quality fountain drink. If there's a place to get it, I haven't found it yet!
Last night we swam at the apartment. Owen is FEARLESS. He didn't even check the temperature of the water. Just plugged his nose and jumped in (he does wear a life vest/floatie apparatus). It was freezing, but Uncle Shawn and I did get in with him. Shawn threw him in the water a lot, which was fun. I have pictures, but the camera is at Beth's. I'll try to add the funniest one soon. Owen was pleased with every throw except one, when Shawn LAUNCHED him into the water from pool side and Owen landed on his back. Poor kid! He came up crying, but it didn't last long and he was back to swimming and asking to be thrown (from inside the water though). Maybe we'll swim again today.
We got Owen's hair cut yesterday too - he looks much more grown up and so so so cute. We've also been watching his new Titanic DVD - an Amazon find from Auntie M. I also got him a giant cut away book - you can see inside the ship and look at all the decks. What other 5 year old is so fascinated with a sinking ship? He is funny.
I guess this is just a lesson in learning patience. I get the concept, but I am really unable to put it into practice. I want things fast and I want them now, especially when it comes to work that I like to be able to produce. Maybe I should just slow down and take it in. We are in Oklahoma after all, home of a draaaaaaaawl like you wouldn't believe (noticed a lot on the plane, but since I've been here it's less obvious to me).
Until next time.
Indiahoma Office Worker
My 2003-era laptop continues to surprise me with how it can mess up. The latest being that the enter key doesn't work. If I want a line break or paragraph break - better hit up copy and paste (thankfully that works ... something that wasn't always true/this laptop would paste a screen shot instead of what you actually copied).
The laptop's USB ports don't recognize my memory key. And my mom's laptop doesn't have PPT or Excel, two key ingredients to my work success. So I've had to e-mail the files from the memory key to my laptop. I am able to VPN to the work network on my mom's computer to get the files I (inevitably) forgot to put on the memory key. The laptop just has lots of problems, and I hope to put it out of its misery soon. Although I guess it could be reformatted if it was totally wiped and re-set. We'll see. But thank goodness the programs I need work and that I can access the Internet via Ethernet (wireless doesn't work with this network/laptop combo).
Picking up Owen from Kindergarten is pretty great - the best feeling when he spots you and realizes he gets to come home! He has little friends and told one of them "This is My Mari" ... what a sweet boy.
I got to spend a couple hours with a friend from way back - and holding her new baby daughter. Wow. So that was pretty great and I hope to see them again before we leave. Shawn should really have a chance to hold a baby that tiny. I just hope we're lucky enough to get to have a baby of our own. I'm an early worrier, and this is no exception.
This afternoon will be crocheting with Gran before picking up Owen ... then a haircut for him, groceries and dinner at Beth's.
The laptop's USB ports don't recognize my memory key. And my mom's laptop doesn't have PPT or Excel, two key ingredients to my work success. So I've had to e-mail the files from the memory key to my laptop. I am able to VPN to the work network on my mom's computer to get the files I (inevitably) forgot to put on the memory key. The laptop just has lots of problems, and I hope to put it out of its misery soon. Although I guess it could be reformatted if it was totally wiped and re-set. We'll see. But thank goodness the programs I need work and that I can access the Internet via Ethernet (wireless doesn't work with this network/laptop combo).
Picking up Owen from Kindergarten is pretty great - the best feeling when he spots you and realizes he gets to come home! He has little friends and told one of them "This is My Mari" ... what a sweet boy.
I got to spend a couple hours with a friend from way back - and holding her new baby daughter. Wow. So that was pretty great and I hope to see them again before we leave. Shawn should really have a chance to hold a baby that tiny. I just hope we're lucky enough to get to have a baby of our own. I'm an early worrier, and this is no exception.
This afternoon will be crocheting with Gran before picking up Owen ... then a haircut for him, groceries and dinner at Beth's.
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