Weirdness

Check this out: Click Me

What's weird? I've been on that bridge a couple of times. And C has gephyrophobia and things like this don't help it any, lol.

On another note, my last day of class is Thursday and my exams are Friday. Sheesh!!! I'm starting to get pre-exam anxiety. I found out yesterday that my English exams is going to be 6 essay questions. I guess it's a good thing I have 3 hours to take that one. Something else that's weird is that I'm required to use both of my books for that exam because I have to cite sources from them. I've had open book/open note exams before but I've never actually been required to use them.

And one last thing...Hannah got me up at 4:45 this morning. I don't do 4:45 am.

Good Saturday Morning

Just a quick post to say, "HI!!!!!!!!!!" We're getting ready to head out to the beach. My nails are painted, the bags are packed, and the car is loaded. Can you tell that I love, love, love the beach?

On another subject, Hannah slept peacefully in her crate for the first time last night. Usually when we put her in there it sounds like something's in there with her attacking. Good news for us!

Okay. Time to run. C-ya!

Lurkers vs. Stalkers

Is there a difference between the two? IMO, yes. Lurking is reading a blog or a message board without malicious intent. Stalking is following and watching someone who is unaware and doesn't want to be observed in a harassing manner and for self-serving reasons. I really think that I should know since I have experienced both.

To my sister-in-law: I don't consider you a stalker in the least. I'm glad you come and read my blog even if you don't comment. If you'll notice, I hardly ever get comments from anyone, lol. And then there have been times when I've gotten comments from people that I had just wished would shut up and go away. Figure out for yourself whether I considered them lurkers or stalkers, lmao.

And now it's Friday. The weeks seem to go by so incredibly fast. Good thing? Bad thing? I dunno. We're headed to the beach again tomorrow. I can't wait. I plan on bringing my iPod, my Elizabeth book, a cool drink, the sunblock and soaking up the rays. I hope everyone else has a good weekend with lots of sunshine.

Good Reads

I recently ran across this site that I really like. You can make an online catalogue of the books you've read, are currently reading, and are going to read. Plus, you can add people as friends and see their library as well which makes it easy to find new authors and books that you might like to check out for yourself. You can see my Good Reads widgit down on the right.

You can click on my Good Reads widgit down on the right ===> which will take you to their website and you can also view my library and add me as a friend.

How Goes It?

It goes fine in my corner of the world. I would like to give a most heartfelt thank you to Jennifer S. and Dana for their feedback yesterday. I integrated all of your suggestions into my project. You both were a big help. Now with that project done, I only have one more big one due before my finals.

We've had absolutely gorgeous weather this week. I cannot wait to get back to the beach this weekend. C and I bought two different kinds of sunblock last night, lol. He's still sunburned even though it's been 5 days. I'm nicely tanned if I do say so myself. I guess I still have a little of the SoCal girl left in me after all. I used to just go from pale to burned to pale to burned, etc.

I'm bored with this. Until next time.

I Need Help

I have my final project for my computer class due this week and I need some feedback. What I'm doing is designing a portable GPS unit for a vehicle. The part I need help with is knowing what features a user would need/want on their unit. For instance, our GPS has a feature where it stores the cities that you have gotten directions for in the history. However, if you want to delete 1 or 2 of them you can't. You either keep them all or delete them all. I would make a unit that gives you the option of deleting select cities instead of having to delete your entire history. Get what I'm going for here? What would you want on your GPS if you were to go out and buy one today? Or what would you change/keep the same about the one you have now? So, I would really appreciate some input. For the next couple days I'm allowing comments from anybody, anonymous or not, so please leave me some ideas. If you're rather shy, you can shoot me an email at: gpsproject2007@gmail.com

And THEN....

My dogs have been bugging me today. Our neighbors are having their roof re-shingled and the roofers are making quite a bit of noise. As a result, Hannah doesn't want to go outside. She's a wimpy little puppy and noises scare her, lol. She's had several accidents indoors today and on a normal day, she doesn't have any. It's frustrating to say the least. Then, both of the dogs were playing together and managed to knock over a full can of soda all over the floor and my new rug. This doesn't make me a happy camper.

On another note, my semester is wrapping up. Busy, I am. I have my last major English paper due and my final project for my computer class due. I'll be taking my exams on May 4th. Every semester, I always have mixed feelings about it coming to an end. On the one hand, I'm glad to be getting a break. On the other, I never quite know what to do with myself during my time off.

Anywho, I've been getting quite a few clicks on the map thing I posted yesterday. So, in case anyone wants to make one of their own here's the link: Map

Where Have You Been?

I've posted this map before but it was way back when and before we moved to N.E. So, here's where I've been:

P.S.

I updated the picture blog with additional pictures from yesterday's trip to the beach. If you need/want/lost the link leave a comment or send me an E-mail and I'll get it to you.

Fun Times

We had an awesome weekend. S's fever only lasted a couple hours on Friday and after that she was fine. So, Friday we didn't do much but Saturday we did our commissary shopping and then we did some beach shopping. We bought a couple beach chairs and some sand toys for the kids. Sunday, we hit the beach and we hit it hard. You couldn't have asked for better weather. It was it the high 70's with a good breeze making it perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. The girls built a few sand castles. M built two pits in which she floated her boat, heheh. C and I lounged in the sun. Other than the killer sunburns C and I now sport, it was a perfect, perfect day. Had we not spent the last three years in Vermont, the sunburns would never have happened. Note to self: You are no longer living in the Great White North. Break out the sunblock.

We're hoping to go back next weekend.

The beach.

M's floating her boat.

The aftermath. What's sad is that it looks worse in person.

Jam Packed Day

C had the day off of work so we took advantage by running errands. First, we started out at the oil change place. Then we headed off to the vet's office for Hannah's first check up. She weighs 9 pounds and is the picture of health. You know how dogs have a third eyelid? Well, they do. What's weird is that Hannah's are two different colors: One is black and the other is white. It's no big deal but it creates the illusion that one eye is smaller than the other. While we were there, everybody made a huge fuss over her. They gave us a coupon for a free bag of food at the doggie spa next door and everyone there fawned over her too. She really does have an irresistibly cute face.

Next, we got a call from the girls' school nurse saying the S was in her office with a sore throat but no fever. We went and picked her up and now she not only has the sore throat but a fever too. She's out relaxing on the couch. I'm hoping her fever doesn't spike too high.

We all got home and everybody conked out for an afternoon nap. Hannah's still zonked in the middle of the floor. She had a very busy morning.

Now, we just got done cutting up strawberries for strawberry shortcake. The Harris Teeter had 2 qt containers of them on sale for 75 cents. What a deal, right? Can't beat that with a stick.

Ok. So this is my third attempt at a blog entry for today. The first two I backspaced over. I'm treading delicately because I'm tired of being bombarded with the outside world. How much sadness are you supposed to view on the news in one day? I'm trying not to bring it here.

One good thing to talk about is that I found a friend on Myspace yesterday (which, btw, I added a link to my page in my links section.) that I hadn't talked to in about 10 months. So I guess Myspace isn't all bad, lol. I'm seriously missing all my friends right now. Long distance hugs to all.

See? Depressing.

Brain Fart

I neglected my blog yesterday. I didn't even think about the fact that I hadn't posted anything until I was laying in bed last night around midnight. I wasn't about to get up and remedy the situation though. I'm not that blog obsessed.

You ever know somebody that you just don't like and then they get sick and you feel bad for not liking them? I had that happen yesterday. I feel bad that this person is in the hospital but it doesn't make me like them any better.

C had a gadget whore moment yesterday. He bought these shoes that you can insert a pedometer into and then it transmits to your iPod nano your steps and how many calories you burn and stuff. I'm not even going to say how much the dumb things cost but they were on sale at the Exchange and he got the pedometer thing for free. Still, he tried to convince me that he bought the shoes because he liked how they looked and not because of the iPod thing. Yeah, right. And I was born yesterday, lol.

Puppy Ownership

It was brought to my attention that I never said in my other post whether or not the puppy was a boy or a girl. For the record, she's a girl. We also decided on a name: Hannah after Muhammad Ali's daughter Hana. Get it? He's a boxer, the puppy's a boxer, lol. Anyway, the last few days since bringing her home have been interesting. Getting any sort of decent sleep is a thing of the past. She just turned 7 weeks today and she's not sleeping through the night yet. She got us up at 1:30am, 3:00 am, 5 am, and for good at 7 am. We're also crate training her which isn't something we've done before. Bailey was 4 months old when we got her and already crate trained. She's so gosh darn cute though that you can't get mad at her even at 3 in the morning, lol. Having Hannah has made us realize what an excellent dog Bailey is. When they play together, Bailey is careful not to be too rough. She only uses her muzzle and her neck to push Hannah around. And she'll crouch down on the floor to let the puppy bite at her ears, neck, and head. Bailey also shares all her toys nicely except for her rope. She doesn't like it when Hannah plays with it but it's funny to watch because the rope is bigger than Hannah, lol. It's pretty neat to watch them interact together.

Because of our recent addition, I have absolutely nothing else to talk about. I'm turning in my English assignment late today because of Hannah, lol. That's how much of a presence she is. Very little else gets done between taking her outside constantly because she's a pee machine, watching that she doesn't mess on the floor, making sure she eats on time, trying to get her to sleep quietly in her crate, and playing with her when she's awake. It's like bringing a newborn baby home. I'm freaking exhausted. I look like I'm coming down with the flu or something, lol.

I'm off. Hannah's napping right now so I have to get some work done.

Here's My Surprise

Say hello to the newest addition to our family. We haven't picked out a name yet. We're tossing around quite a few different ideas. Bailey was leery of the new puppy at first but once she realized that the puppy would play with her, she came around pretty fast. The only thing is that the puppy keeps trying to nurse off of Bailey, lol. Aren't they the cutest??

I am so deeply disturbed right now that I don't know whether I want to cry or yell, scream, and break stuff. Or all of the above.

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WITH KIDS THESE DAYS?!?!? AND WHERE THE HELL ARE THE PARENTS?!?

How is it that 9, 10, and 11, year olds still in elementary school meet at the freaking monkey bars to have fights? How is it that these same kids are getting suspended for fighting and bullying? What happened to kids that play tag and dolls and crap? Have people given up on raising kids that aren't going to end up in gangs, in jail, and on the FBI's freaking most wanted list? I just don't understand it and it's upsetting. And it's freaking scary. Scary. These kids are, if they all don't end up dead or in jail, going to be in positions of authority one day. Future freaking leaders of America. At this rate, the only thing they're going to lead us into is anarchy. Parents need to wake the freak up and take an interest in what their kids are up to. There's this one girl that I know of who is 13 years old. She was recently suspended from school for being involved in a plan with several other girls to beat up another girl. She didn't understand why she was in trouble, however, because, in her words, she wasn't going to do anything to the girl, she was just going to bring the knife. True freaking story. Is the girl to blame? Yes, to a point, but ultimately her parents should have their heads examined. How did they raise this child? M has a scrape on her forehead that she got today from one of the neighborhood boys who threw a rock and hit her in the head with it. BUT, he wasn't aiming at her, he was aiming at another girl and he apologized to M so I guess that makes it okay. Yeah, right.

The world sucks and the people in it suck even more.

Guess What?

I've got some exciting news!!! I'm going to leave y'all hanging though in case this deal falls through but it's a doozy. I'm trying, very unsuccessfully, not to get my hopes up on this. I'll know for sure what's what tomorrow afternoon so I'll have a special Saturday edition tomorrow.

Also, and of equal importance, today is the 12th anniversary of when C and I started dating. Awww. He's gone on duty until tomorrow morning, but I got up with him for work this morning (after only 4 hours of sleep, ugh) so at least I got to see him for a few minutes on this, our special day.

Be sure and check back tomorrow afternoon.

Did You Hear?

Kurt Vonnegut died. Here's the story in case you didn't know. Kurt Vonnegut

C has duty again this weekend which blows. But what can ya do? At least it'll give me time to get that play read.

The breeze blowing in from my windows right now smells citrus-y. It's very nice.

Ever Had a Day

Where your mind is going a mile a minute to the point where you can't really do anything productive? I'm having one of those days.

Who's already tired of the whole Imus thing?

The Weekend

Our weekend was pretty nice. Friday we picked up the Dyson from the shop. It's working better than ever now. Saturday we took the kids out to get their Easter presents. We have decided to forgo baskets and this year we got them each their own pet. M got a guinea pig and S got a beta fish. Both animals have made nice additions to our family. I had no idea that guinea pigs have as much personality as they do and that they make noises. I've had hamsters, lizards, frogs, fish, cats, birds, rats, rabbits, and dogs but never a guinea pig so I didn't know anything about them. Sunday we stayed home, colored eggs, and that was about it. Easter is my least favorite holiday of them all. We're not religious so, imo, it's hypocritical to celebrate it but we do it for the kids anyway. Oh well.

Gas prices are completely outrageous. I'm just glad that we don't live in Cali with the 4Runner right now. I'd be walking everywhere. Supposedly we're supposed to be getting a break over the next few weeks. Yeah. I'll believe it when I see it.

I finished reading Oedipus yesterday. I really enjoyed it which was a surprise to me. I remember attempting to read Iliad or The Odyssey (I don't remember which) in high school and hating it. I was expecting a similar result from Oedipus and was pleasantly surprised when I ended up liking it. The Oedipus complex, however, is retarded. Oedipus didn't know he was sleeping with his mother and if he instinctually knew, why'd he gouge his own eyes out and insist that he be put to death??? This week I'm reading Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream. I admit that I'm totally intimidated by Shakespeare. We'll see how it goes. And my last bit of reading news is that I've given up on The War of the Roses. I simply don't have enough time to read it and it's due back in four days. I'll just go buy it at the end of the semester and finish it up then.

Yesterday, for my cheering up, C and I went to MJ's Raw Bar and Grille for lunch. It was great. I had the fish and scallops and C had the fish and shrimp. Truly excellent food and we'll be back.

I think that catches us up for now.

A Little Sad

We just got back from taking Bailey to the vet. She doesn't have a life threatening condition but what is wrong with her is potentially debilitating. So, I've spent some of today crying a little bit and C is taking me out for lunch to cheer me up. Not that he isn't sad too but he deals with it better than I do. Bailey's not just a dog.

Learn Your Job or Shut Up

We were in a pet store today perusing the animals. I happened to overhear a woman who was buying a rabbit (which could be a whole thread unto itself this time of year) asking the sales woman various questions about how to care for the rabbit. The sales woman's answers were 90% incorrect. I am by no means an expert, but I have had several different rabbits over my lifetime and have made it a point to learn how to properly care for them. This woman shouldn't have been giving out advice under the guise of being an "expert". I was irritated enough to say something to the new rabbit owner. I was very proud of myself in that I was respectful about it. I didn't tell her that all the information she was just given by that ignoramus was wrong, I just referred her to the House Rabbit Society's web page and told her that any information she would need could be found there. What I really wanted to do was to slap the other woman until she found herself another job. It is obvious to me that you don't get your information from watching old cartoons of Bugs Bunny.

And please, don't buy a rabbit just because it's Easter. That's a very wrong reason to buy one and it's also irresponsible.

Things that have been on my mind lately:

Bailey needs to go to the vet. She's been acting weird for a while now and it's starting to worry me. When she runs, she yips occasionally and I'm afraid that she might be getting hip problems. I'm really hoping I'm just being paranoid.

Finals are just around the corner and I am not even close to being prepared. I haven't kept up with the reading in my computer class because that book is quite possibly the most boring book ever written. I have to read 6 chapters by the end of today just to be caught up to where I should be.

C has a 96 for Easter weekend. This is going to be such a great thing for him. 96's (4 days off) and 72's (3 days off) didn't exist for the past three years.

A certain family situation back in Ohio. I don't want to elaborate here.

M seemed to age about 4 years over the last week. Parenthood is fast becoming terrifying territory. Babies are so much easier, lol.

It's Thursday and I don't have the slightest idea what we're doing for Easter. I haven't bought the kids anything yet. I'm such a slacker.

Squirrels are devious little animals. They may look cute and innocent, but they steal the birds' food.

I HAVE SO MUCH READING TO DO!!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Yeah. So, I didn't update yesterday. I don't think I actually throttled back until about 5:30 last night when I got in the car to go to the library. I was busy cleaning my house for visitors that aren't coming. I'm also in the middle of reading two books and a play. I'm having a hard time getting through my "War of the Roses" book. It is seriously lagging in the middle. I think it's starting to pick up again though. Thing is, it's a library book which I've already renewed once and I would like to finish it before I have to renew it again. The other book I'm reading is "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman. This book is for my book club. And the play that I'm reading is "Oedipus the King" by Sophocles. This is for my English class and on top of that, I'm also facilitating the discussion on my class presentation this week. I have about a month left in this semester so things are starting to get hectic. Oh yeah. And the kids are on Spring Break this week and M had a sleepover last night so peace at my house does not exist this week.

Household Tip of the Week:

Rust stains on your counter tops? Use a bit of toothpaste and a sponge to get them right out. Know where I got this tip? From watching an old episode of Home Improvement, lol. I was surprised when it actually worked.

Oh! I almost forgot. The number of people that outclicked on "Post Secret" the other day was funny. Considering the variety of secrets this week, I'm really curious to know which one everybody thinks I'm talking about. Just so ya know, it wasn't the masturbation one, lmao!!