Sunday, September 24, 2006
Adventures in Blogger Beta
I'm messing around in this new Blogger Beta version...it looks as though there are finally (gasp!) categories (a.k.a labels)!?! Hmmm...we shall see if I can figure out if there's an easy way to get the labels on a list over on the sidebar...I just may come back to this old blog.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Lotto Quandary
Okay first of all, I tried to spell it “quandry” but spell check said no way. Quandary looks weird to me. Anyway…
Okay so suppose you go to purchase a lotto ticket (which you haven’t done in about ten years, so you can’t even remember whether it’s even 5 or 6 numbers they need) and this is what happens:
You have the numbers you want in your head, and ask the clerk for a lotto ticket. She asks if you will want your winnings in cash (one lump sum, slightly smaller than the total amount) or 20 year payments. Of course you say cash, and she agrees. So she starts printing an automatic ticket, assuming that’s what you want. Then you say, no, you want to play your own numbers. So she puts that ticket to the side of the machine, and gets you a slip to mark your numbers on. You mark your numbers and hand her back the slip. She is printing the ticket, and you tell her you’ll also buy the ticket she first printed out, just in case that was your fated ticket, so you purchase both.
You begin to walk away and read that the 2nd ticket, the one with your numbers, says on it “20 year payments”. So you turn around, and tell her you wanted cash on this one also. You didn’t see there was a place to mark it on the ticket, and she didn’t realize it just automatically printed the payments if you don’t choose otherwise. So she prints your ticket a second time, with your numbers, and the cash prize option.
You start to walk away again, and watch her put your original hand-picked ticket to the side of the machine. The one with YOUR numbers on it, with the mistaken “payments” option printed on it. Since it was a mistake, you assume that ticket should be voided and thrown away. So you ask her what happens to that ticket now. She says that either one of the employees will purchase the ticket or she’ll give it to someone wanting an automatic ticket…a quick pick. Except that it’s NOT a quick pick. Those numbers, your numbers, wouldn’t have come up on the next “quick pick”. So you are at a loss for what to do.
Do you spend another dollar and grab the other ticket with your numbers on it? The choice you have is either to shell out another dollar, so if your numbers win, you’re sure to get it all (assuming another person hasn’t come up with those same numbers) or you walk away, and for the cost of a dollar, if the numbers should win, you are now automatically, voluntarily sharing half the pot with someone else. You have given your winning numbers to someone else as a gift.
The estimated pot is 20 million dollars. After taxes, about 10 million, right? But when sharing it with someone else, that cuts your share to 5 million. So that one dollar is the difference of 5 million dollars. That’s a lot of dollars. But what if you believe that everything happens for a reason? What if you were supposed to leave a copy of your numbers, so you can bless another person’s life?
All of this was swirling around in my mind the entire time I was in the grocery store today, and ultimately I left with my two tickets (the quick pick mistake, and one with my numbers) and left the other one with my numbers for someone else. So I may have just wasted two dollars, which could have been better spent on some chocolate, or I may have just given 5 million dollars to someone.
Don’t you find it weird that they should not void that ticket? What would you have done? Would everything I was pondering even have crossed your mind?
So driving home, I found myself wishing that if anyone won with me, I hoped it would be the teenage girl who helped me. Because she was very gracious to the lady in line in front of me, instead of giving her attitude, which, honestly, I probably would have done in her shoes (the lady in front of me actually had the nerve to return one empty bag of chips, and another bag with only a couple of chips at the bottom of the bag, saying that her kids “didn’t like them”…Huh?? They couldn’t have been too bad if they finished both bags. Who does that??).
So I’ve spent a whole lot of time today contemplating this situation, and can you tell by the way it’s made me think so much, that I fully intend to win this lotto tomorrow? Wish me luck!
Okay so suppose you go to purchase a lotto ticket (which you haven’t done in about ten years, so you can’t even remember whether it’s even 5 or 6 numbers they need) and this is what happens:
You have the numbers you want in your head, and ask the clerk for a lotto ticket. She asks if you will want your winnings in cash (one lump sum, slightly smaller than the total amount) or 20 year payments. Of course you say cash, and she agrees. So she starts printing an automatic ticket, assuming that’s what you want. Then you say, no, you want to play your own numbers. So she puts that ticket to the side of the machine, and gets you a slip to mark your numbers on. You mark your numbers and hand her back the slip. She is printing the ticket, and you tell her you’ll also buy the ticket she first printed out, just in case that was your fated ticket, so you purchase both.
You begin to walk away and read that the 2nd ticket, the one with your numbers, says on it “20 year payments”. So you turn around, and tell her you wanted cash on this one also. You didn’t see there was a place to mark it on the ticket, and she didn’t realize it just automatically printed the payments if you don’t choose otherwise. So she prints your ticket a second time, with your numbers, and the cash prize option.
You start to walk away again, and watch her put your original hand-picked ticket to the side of the machine. The one with YOUR numbers on it, with the mistaken “payments” option printed on it. Since it was a mistake, you assume that ticket should be voided and thrown away. So you ask her what happens to that ticket now. She says that either one of the employees will purchase the ticket or she’ll give it to someone wanting an automatic ticket…a quick pick. Except that it’s NOT a quick pick. Those numbers, your numbers, wouldn’t have come up on the next “quick pick”. So you are at a loss for what to do.
Do you spend another dollar and grab the other ticket with your numbers on it? The choice you have is either to shell out another dollar, so if your numbers win, you’re sure to get it all (assuming another person hasn’t come up with those same numbers) or you walk away, and for the cost of a dollar, if the numbers should win, you are now automatically, voluntarily sharing half the pot with someone else. You have given your winning numbers to someone else as a gift.
The estimated pot is 20 million dollars. After taxes, about 10 million, right? But when sharing it with someone else, that cuts your share to 5 million. So that one dollar is the difference of 5 million dollars. That’s a lot of dollars. But what if you believe that everything happens for a reason? What if you were supposed to leave a copy of your numbers, so you can bless another person’s life?
All of this was swirling around in my mind the entire time I was in the grocery store today, and ultimately I left with my two tickets (the quick pick mistake, and one with my numbers) and left the other one with my numbers for someone else. So I may have just wasted two dollars, which could have been better spent on some chocolate, or I may have just given 5 million dollars to someone.
Don’t you find it weird that they should not void that ticket? What would you have done? Would everything I was pondering even have crossed your mind?
So driving home, I found myself wishing that if anyone won with me, I hoped it would be the teenage girl who helped me. Because she was very gracious to the lady in line in front of me, instead of giving her attitude, which, honestly, I probably would have done in her shoes (the lady in front of me actually had the nerve to return one empty bag of chips, and another bag with only a couple of chips at the bottom of the bag, saying that her kids “didn’t like them”…Huh?? They couldn’t have been too bad if they finished both bags. Who does that??).
So I’ve spent a whole lot of time today contemplating this situation, and can you tell by the way it’s made me think so much, that I fully intend to win this lotto tomorrow? Wish me luck!
Thursday, June 15, 2006
You Must Read This Book! Mara and Dann: An Adventure
I absolutely must recommend a book that I just finished reading last night: Mara and Dann: An Adventure, by Doris Lessing. I have wanted to read it for a long time, and am so glad I finally got my hands on it. It’s the type of book that you just get immersed in and feel that you’re walking the journey with the characters. Reading about the inconceivable hardships that these characters endure has literally changed the way I view my daily life. There are books that you read and forget about the next day, and there are books that stay with you. This is definitely one of the latter.
This powerful novel completely transformed me to another world. I’m going to type out the summary from the jacket cover because there is just so much to this story that I don’t even know where to begin. And after reading the jacket, I am amazed at just how much of the story plot is left out! There’s so much more to the story, if you can believe it! The summary doesn’t even begin to describe the trials these characters go through, but it will give you an idea of the genre of the book, so you can decide if it’s something that interests you.
Just a note…This is a hard book to get a hold of. I tried ordering it last year from Amazon, but it was on back order, so I never did. I’m not sure if they have copies available now or not. Every time I was in a bookstore, large or small, they never had it on their shelves. And my library didn’t have it either, but luckily I was able to order an interlibrary loan!
Thousands of years in the future, all the northern hemisphere is buried hundreds of feet deep under the ice and snow of a new ice age. At the southern end of a large landmass called Ifrik, two children of the Mahondi people, seven-year-old Mara and her younger brother, Dann, are abducted from their home and family in the middle of the night. Left in the care of a sympathetic Mahondi woman, Mara and Dann are raised as outsiders in a poor rural village. They learn to survive the hardships and dangers of a life threatened as much by an unforgiving climate and menacing animals as by a hostile community of Rock People who wish them ill. Eventually they join the great human migration North, away from the drought that is turning the southern land to dust, and in search of a place with enough water and food to support human life.
Trekking through a barren countryside, Mara and Dann discover different peoples and places and survive a series of hazardous adventures. They outwit hostile travelers and city dwellers who would kill them for a pittance, and join the increasingly desperate struggle for subsistence in a world transformed by unpredictable climatic change. Captured and enslaved by the Hadron people, they eventually escape and continue North, through the wet heat of the River Towns, only to be captured again by a military commander in the country of Charad. Dan becomes a general in the army, while Mara is recruited as a spy and even abducted for breeding purposes by a rival ethnic group. Traveling across the continent, the siblings enter cities rife with crime, power struggles, and corruption, learning as much about human nature as about how societies function.
Mara’s mind is as restless as her feet, and she hungers after knowledge and answers to her questions: Who are my parents? Where do Dann and I come from? Who once lived in these ruined cities we find in Ifrik, and when? And why did they disappear? What will we find up North, and where exactly, is the North? All the while she dreams of water, trees, and beautiful cities, and of gentle, friendly people. Powerful natural forces, indifferent to human life but essential to its survival, determine the course of Mara and Dann’s journey. And Mara – with a thirst to learn almost as strong as her thirst for water, and a compassionate, loving nature that survives despite the cruelty of the environment and of human behavior – is one of Doris Lessing’s most appealing heroines. Filled with shrewd observations and a clear-eyed vision of the human condition, Mara and Dann is imaginative fiction at its best from a master of the genre.
Again, if you think that sounds like quite a story, it isn’t even the half of it! I highly, highly recommend it!!
This powerful novel completely transformed me to another world. I’m going to type out the summary from the jacket cover because there is just so much to this story that I don’t even know where to begin. And after reading the jacket, I am amazed at just how much of the story plot is left out! There’s so much more to the story, if you can believe it! The summary doesn’t even begin to describe the trials these characters go through, but it will give you an idea of the genre of the book, so you can decide if it’s something that interests you.
Just a note…This is a hard book to get a hold of. I tried ordering it last year from Amazon, but it was on back order, so I never did. I’m not sure if they have copies available now or not. Every time I was in a bookstore, large or small, they never had it on their shelves. And my library didn’t have it either, but luckily I was able to order an interlibrary loan!
~~~~~~~~~~
Summary of Mara and Dann: An AdventureThousands of years in the future, all the northern hemisphere is buried hundreds of feet deep under the ice and snow of a new ice age. At the southern end of a large landmass called Ifrik, two children of the Mahondi people, seven-year-old Mara and her younger brother, Dann, are abducted from their home and family in the middle of the night. Left in the care of a sympathetic Mahondi woman, Mara and Dann are raised as outsiders in a poor rural village. They learn to survive the hardships and dangers of a life threatened as much by an unforgiving climate and menacing animals as by a hostile community of Rock People who wish them ill. Eventually they join the great human migration North, away from the drought that is turning the southern land to dust, and in search of a place with enough water and food to support human life.
Trekking through a barren countryside, Mara and Dann discover different peoples and places and survive a series of hazardous adventures. They outwit hostile travelers and city dwellers who would kill them for a pittance, and join the increasingly desperate struggle for subsistence in a world transformed by unpredictable climatic change. Captured and enslaved by the Hadron people, they eventually escape and continue North, through the wet heat of the River Towns, only to be captured again by a military commander in the country of Charad. Dan becomes a general in the army, while Mara is recruited as a spy and even abducted for breeding purposes by a rival ethnic group. Traveling across the continent, the siblings enter cities rife with crime, power struggles, and corruption, learning as much about human nature as about how societies function.
Mara’s mind is as restless as her feet, and she hungers after knowledge and answers to her questions: Who are my parents? Where do Dann and I come from? Who once lived in these ruined cities we find in Ifrik, and when? And why did they disappear? What will we find up North, and where exactly, is the North? All the while she dreams of water, trees, and beautiful cities, and of gentle, friendly people. Powerful natural forces, indifferent to human life but essential to its survival, determine the course of Mara and Dann’s journey. And Mara – with a thirst to learn almost as strong as her thirst for water, and a compassionate, loving nature that survives despite the cruelty of the environment and of human behavior – is one of Doris Lessing’s most appealing heroines. Filled with shrewd observations and a clear-eyed vision of the human condition, Mara and Dann is imaginative fiction at its best from a master of the genre.
~~~~~~~~~~
Again, if you think that sounds like quite a story, it isn’t even the half of it! I highly, highly recommend it!!
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Steve Pavlina's Million Dollar Experiment
I've been reading a lot of Steve Pavlina's personal development blog posts lately. Good stuff. Here's a link to his Million Dollar Manifestation Experiment. He's putting out the intention (along with anyone who wants to participate) to attract a million dollars into his life. Check it out, it's a pretty interesting group project. I'm a big believer in being able to create your reality through visualization (has worked for me in the past), so it will be an interesting experiment to watch/participate in.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
10 Plans for the Summer
Ten On Tuesday
This is a tough one, because to be honest, I don’t have any plans for the summer. But here are some things I will probably be doing in the next few months. Keep in mind I’m not a beachy/hot/summertime sorta gal. Summer is my least favorite season!
1. Watch fireworks.
2. Take the kids to movie night in the park.
3. Decide whether or not I can still faithfully watch Grey’s Anatomy after they killed off Denny.
4. Get rid of a bunch of the kids’ stuff they don’t use.
5. Increase my income.
6. Get more organized.
7. Read something inspiring every day.
8. Get into the habit of drinking more water.
9. Awaiting the release of Taylor Hicks’ CD!
10. Remember to be sincerely grateful everyday for air conditioning!
This is a tough one, because to be honest, I don’t have any plans for the summer. But here are some things I will probably be doing in the next few months. Keep in mind I’m not a beachy/hot/summertime sorta gal. Summer is my least favorite season!
1. Watch fireworks.
2. Take the kids to movie night in the park.
3. Decide whether or not I can still faithfully watch Grey’s Anatomy after they killed off Denny.
4. Get rid of a bunch of the kids’ stuff they don’t use.
5. Increase my income.
6. Get more organized.
7. Read something inspiring every day.
8. Get into the habit of drinking more water.
9. Awaiting the release of Taylor Hicks’ CD!
10. Remember to be sincerely grateful everyday for air conditioning!
Monday, May 29, 2006
Nailpolish Art
What happens when you leave your 4 year old daughter alone in the bathroom for awhile? A proud girl emerges, producing a painting she made with various colored nail polishes. Even signed her name in polish! Instead of immediately worrying about all the toxic fumes she must have inhaled the entire time, or wondering how much nail polish she got on the floor, I am exhilarated by her creativity!
...But I do still need to clean it up, so does anyone have any ideas on exactly how to remove dried nail polish from floors, if there's no nailpolish remover on hand?!
...But I do still need to clean it up, so does anyone have any ideas on exactly how to remove dried nail polish from floors, if there's no nailpolish remover on hand?!
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Showering with Scorpions
I’ve always been afraid of spiders. They obviously smell my fear because they follow me wherever I go, taunting me. But now fear has new meaning. In the past couple of days I’ve killed three scorpions in my closet. Over the past few months, more. Ambushed by one in the shower. If having a scorpion, a SCORPION, drop on you and sting you in the shower isn’t cause for alarm, I really don’t know what is.
This is life in the country. Nobody warned me about the scorpions. It’s just wrong. Humans, specifically this human, should not co-abide with scorpions. It’s just not right. My 6 year old son, of course, loves them. He gets very upset when witnessing my murderous ways. Every other intruding creature (and there are lots of them, including spiders) are collected alive and escorted outside where they belong. But I am attempting to send a strong message to the scorpion world that their kind will not be tolerated. I would never even consider killing one outside because that’s where they belong. I don’t dispute their right to living on this planet. However, in my closet, not so much.
This has been one of the major deciding factors in my not making Texas my permanent residence. The heat being another, and the lack of plush greenery another. But the scorpions…it’s just something I cannot live with for the rest of my life.
Remember when I took that Find Your Spot test and most of my answers directed me to North Carolina? Well, I took it again and though I got some different results, some of the destinations have changed, the majority of the list still pointed to North Carolina. I do believe that’s where I will be headed towards the end of the year. So if anyone has any info on N.C. they’d like to share, I’d love to hear it. I’m assuming there are no scorpions there…if you know otherwise, please let me know!
Oh, and I'm currently working on 8 projects. Yes, 8. Plus I'm reading a LOT lately. And have been trying to work on work while my kids are asleep at night, spending more time with them during the day...so I haven't been here on this blog much. I'm working on being more productive with my time...time management has always been a weak point for me. But I will try to blog here more, because it's something I like doing, and need to make time for it!
This is life in the country. Nobody warned me about the scorpions. It’s just wrong. Humans, specifically this human, should not co-abide with scorpions. It’s just not right. My 6 year old son, of course, loves them. He gets very upset when witnessing my murderous ways. Every other intruding creature (and there are lots of them, including spiders) are collected alive and escorted outside where they belong. But I am attempting to send a strong message to the scorpion world that their kind will not be tolerated. I would never even consider killing one outside because that’s where they belong. I don’t dispute their right to living on this planet. However, in my closet, not so much.
This has been one of the major deciding factors in my not making Texas my permanent residence. The heat being another, and the lack of plush greenery another. But the scorpions…it’s just something I cannot live with for the rest of my life.
Remember when I took that Find Your Spot test and most of my answers directed me to North Carolina? Well, I took it again and though I got some different results, some of the destinations have changed, the majority of the list still pointed to North Carolina. I do believe that’s where I will be headed towards the end of the year. So if anyone has any info on N.C. they’d like to share, I’d love to hear it. I’m assuming there are no scorpions there…if you know otherwise, please let me know!
Oh, and I'm currently working on 8 projects. Yes, 8. Plus I'm reading a LOT lately. And have been trying to work on work while my kids are asleep at night, spending more time with them during the day...so I haven't been here on this blog much. I'm working on being more productive with my time...time management has always been a weak point for me. But I will try to blog here more, because it's something I like doing, and need to make time for it!
Monday, February 27, 2006
Vegan Chocolate Pudding...OMG
I don't remember where I got this recipe, but I've had it for a long time and have never tried it until a couple days ago. When I have a chocolate craving, I'm more into the chewy texture of a brownie, something I can chew on. So pudding is never my first choice. But I found myself low on available ingredients and a major chocolate craving onset. So I pulled out the pudding recipe and thought it was worth a shot. It was SO delicious I couldn't believe it! So I thought I'd share...
1 (12 oz.) package of Mori-Nu silken tofu (Firm)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
In a small food processor, blend the tofu until smooth (do NOT use a blender, it will never work...and a large food processor may not mix such a small amount very well). Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. (I use a mini-processor, so I added half the sugar and blended, then the rest of the sugar and cocoa together, so that it wouldn't overflow).
When you taste test it to be sure it's done, you don't want to feel any sugar granules in it. When the sugar has completely disolved into the pudding, and it's silky smooth, then it's done. Put it in the fridge for as long as you can take it. I made mine at night and cheated and had some a few minutes after making it. But I saved the rest for the next day and it had a thicker consistency.
Delicious, delicous, delicious...and best of all, no gross top to pull off like the dairy puddings! The only thing I wish I had done differently? I should have doubled the recipe, it was gone too soon!
1 (12 oz.) package of Mori-Nu silken tofu (Firm)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
In a small food processor, blend the tofu until smooth (do NOT use a blender, it will never work...and a large food processor may not mix such a small amount very well). Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. (I use a mini-processor, so I added half the sugar and blended, then the rest of the sugar and cocoa together, so that it wouldn't overflow).
When you taste test it to be sure it's done, you don't want to feel any sugar granules in it. When the sugar has completely disolved into the pudding, and it's silky smooth, then it's done. Put it in the fridge for as long as you can take it. I made mine at night and cheated and had some a few minutes after making it. But I saved the rest for the next day and it had a thicker consistency.
Delicious, delicous, delicious...and best of all, no gross top to pull off like the dairy puddings! The only thing I wish I had done differently? I should have doubled the recipe, it was gone too soon!
Monday, February 20, 2006
Afraid of a Blade
Elaborating on # 27 from my 100 Things list: I am afraid of knives.
Actually really any sort of a sharp metal blade. Knives, razors, food processor and blender blades, vegetable peelers, cheese graters, and to a certain degree, scissors. I don’t know where this fear comes from. I’ve not been the victim of a stabbing or slashing, thank the Lord.
I do remember being in high school and having a shaving mishap. While shaving my legs I accidentally went sideways with the razor at my ankle and sliced a fair sized chunk of my skin off. Ow. Even remembering it gives me the chills. Maybe that’s where it all started. Oh and I did cut myself in elementary school with scissors, leaving a pretty deep wound for a kid.
But I also stepped on broken glass at the beach at age 9. I sat with a puddle of blood at my feet, surrounded by strangers while my mom brought the car around. I had to get stitches. To numb it, the doctor put a needle INTO the cut. I screamed bloody murder. But I’m not afraid of broken glass. Needles, yes. Broken glass, no. But you see, needles happen to be a sharp metal object.
Even after slicing my hand open on broken glass in a bar. Or cutting my head open by bumping my head on the window of an entertainment center, needing stitches yet again, on my head this time. Oh and there was the time a light fixture fell on my face and sliced the bridge of my nose open so that there was a flap hanging down. I had had it with stitches by this point in my life so I didn’t go to the er because I knew stitches would have been administered. Yet despite gaping wounds and stitches from head to foot, I have no fear of broken glass. But give me a shaving accident and I’m scarred for life?
I mean I seriously dread washing the blade of my food processor that I use almost daily. I clean that thing so slowly as if handling a bomb. When I have to cut food, I am EXTREMELY careful and never cut anything that comes even remotely close to my fingers.
I don’t own any kitchen or butcher knives. I have ONE small steak knife that I use to cut vegetables and fruit with, or anything else that needs more than a regular table knife’s strength. Even so, one time while washing the dishes, I actually sliced my finger really badly with a dull table knife! I’m not joking!! I pulled it too hard out of my other hand and it cut right through my skin deeper than you would imagine possible. I was shocked.
I’m sure there’s no one who looks forward to being cut with a metal blade of any sort, but I feel I have an unnatural fear of them and am not sure where it comes from, when based upon my life’s experiences, there are other things I should be more weary of but am not. When I was a kid, my mom nearly sliced her thumb right off cutting open a bagel. But I don’t remember the day, I just remember the story of how her thumb was hanging by a thread. Could that be it, even though it’s not a memory I remember? I still love bagels...
I guess it’s as illogical as my fear of spiders. Maybe I’ll never know the reason. (And my relationship with spiders is a post for another day!)
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Ten on Tuesday - Favorite TV Shows
I'm baaaaack... So it's been four months. (Happy Valentine's Day!) Still have dial-up, but am trying to develop more patience. I'm going to start in slow and start with a Ten on Tuesday post so I don't have to come up with a really clever post to celebrate my return. I'm fairly certain no one will be reading this anyway, so I'm basically writing to myself right now since I'm sure all my blog friends will have given up on me by now! :)
So today's "Ten on Tuesday" is a topic I have no knowledge of whatsoever. It's "Your 10 favorite Olympians". I couldn't name one. So I am choosing a topic from last month. What a rebel I am.
My 10 Favorite Current TV Shows
1. Grey's Anatomy. Oh my gosh. How gorgeous is McDreamy!? How did Patrick Dempsey get so much better with age!? And George...what a cutie, I just want to hug him all the time!
2. The Office. Oh gosh. The funniest show I've seen in a long time. I love it, I love it, I love it. Why can't it be an hour long?
3. Gilmore Girls. I have a long standing love of this show. I want to live in Stars Hollow.
4. Dancing With the Stars. I'm addicted to it. So glad it's on twice a week.
5. American Idol. I haven't really watched the auditions but am excited for the show to begin!
6. Related. I have heard this show may be cancelled and I really hope it doesn't because I am really really liking it.
7. Lost. Well, it has "lost" a lot of it's excitement for me...I am watching it out of habit now because I hope it gets better again.
8. Desperate Housewives. See comments on Lost. Same deal.
9. Scrubs / The King of Queens. I watch these when nothing else is on, and they are both funny and make me laugh, however, I am putting them here only because I feel like I'm forgetting a show I regularly watch and needed something for #9.
10. Enjoying Everyday Life. (Joyce Meyer). Watch it every morning before I do anything else.
So today's "Ten on Tuesday" is a topic I have no knowledge of whatsoever. It's "Your 10 favorite Olympians". I couldn't name one. So I am choosing a topic from last month. What a rebel I am.
My 10 Favorite Current TV Shows
1. Grey's Anatomy. Oh my gosh. How gorgeous is McDreamy!? How did Patrick Dempsey get so much better with age!? And George...what a cutie, I just want to hug him all the time!
2. The Office. Oh gosh. The funniest show I've seen in a long time. I love it, I love it, I love it. Why can't it be an hour long?
3. Gilmore Girls. I have a long standing love of this show. I want to live in Stars Hollow.
4. Dancing With the Stars. I'm addicted to it. So glad it's on twice a week.
5. American Idol. I haven't really watched the auditions but am excited for the show to begin!
6. Related. I have heard this show may be cancelled and I really hope it doesn't because I am really really liking it.
7. Lost. Well, it has "lost" a lot of it's excitement for me...I am watching it out of habit now because I hope it gets better again.
8. Desperate Housewives. See comments on Lost. Same deal.
9. Scrubs / The King of Queens. I watch these when nothing else is on, and they are both funny and make me laugh, however, I am putting them here only because I feel like I'm forgetting a show I regularly watch and needed something for #9.
10. Enjoying Everyday Life. (Joyce Meyer). Watch it every morning before I do anything else.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Books Read in 2005
I wanted to take this list off the sidebar to make room for the 2006 list, but I didn't want to lose it so I'm just transferring it into a post. This is the list of books I read in 2005 for myself. My unofficial goal was to read at least a book a month, just for me. It's hard to find the time to read "Mama Books" with three little ones needing so much of my attention, but I pulled it off...and then some! :)
- Middlesex
- Wuthering Heights (again!)
- We The Living
- Jewel
- My Point...And I Do Have One
- I Know This Much Is True
- The Road To Reality
- The Little Prince
- A Painted House
- Revolution in World Missions
- Atlas Shrugged
- Animal Farm
- Isolde, Queen of the Western Isle
- The Maid of the White Hands
- The Message (in progress)
Sunday, October 16, 2005
How Does Anyone Live Like This?
Remember me? Probably not. This blog has been temporarily abandoned. Not by any choice or desire of my own. I miss blogging. But now I have dial-up internet. Which for me, is the same as having no internet. Because I avoid the computer like the plague. You used to have to tear me away from the screen and now you can't get me near it. I have attempted to check my email twice in the past few weeks and have not made it. I am not patient. It took several MINUTES for this page to load so I could write a little post. I still have no idea whether or not I will have the patience to wait for it to post. Or maybe someone will pick up the phone and I'll get thrown off before having a chance to save it. Save it now while I have a few sentences down, just to be safe? No, because pressing "Save as Draft" will lead me to wait 4 minutes to get back to the screen.
This is killing me. I miss all my blogs that I visit. I miss doing research for my kids online. This sucks. I will look into DSL this week, but we are way out in the country with very little hope. My life has changed.
So I just wanted to write a little update and let anyone who periodically checks this ghost town of a blog know that we are alive. And that I really do want to come back. And that if the DSL gods are merciful, I'll be back soon! And to all of my regular commenters, I'm thinking of you and hope to see you when I get back to the world of internet!
Bye for now!
This is killing me. I miss all my blogs that I visit. I miss doing research for my kids online. This sucks. I will look into DSL this week, but we are way out in the country with very little hope. My life has changed.
So I just wanted to write a little update and let anyone who periodically checks this ghost town of a blog know that we are alive. And that I really do want to come back. And that if the DSL gods are merciful, I'll be back soon! And to all of my regular commenters, I'm thinking of you and hope to see you when I get back to the world of internet!
Bye for now!
Friday, September 16, 2005
Moving
Well, we're moving tomorrow. We're not going very far, so I hope to be back online in a few days. Unfortunately, there is no access to cable internet where I'm moving, so this may be a temporary move. I honestly don't know how I will manage to live with dial-up. I am so very impatient when it comes to waiting for a computer to load. Back in the day before broadband, I was known to take my frustration out on my monitor. I recently saw a commercial where a man did the same thing, so I know I'm not the only one. I had strong urges to throw my computer out the window.
So wish me luck, wish me patience...and if that doesn't work, wish me yet another place to move to with the wonderful access of ultra-high-speed cable internet!
So wish me luck, wish me patience...and if that doesn't work, wish me yet another place to move to with the wonderful access of ultra-high-speed cable internet!
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Not Gerls!
Translation...No Girls!
(click on image to enlarge)
Spider made this sign and taped it onto the door to the playroom. Note the drawing of the girl with the circle around her and the bar crossing her out. I thought that was hilarious. Like a no-smoking sign. I didn't even know he knew about that sort of sign. The "no girls" thing caught me by surprise too. Since he's the only male in the house, he couldn't have heard about excluding girls from another boy. I knew he had to have heard it from somewhere, because I don't think he would have thought to discriminate by gender, I think he would have just written "no sisters". So I told him I thought his sign was very creative and asked where he got the idea. He said he learned about it from watching Arthur. Great.
We go through bouts where we turn off the t.v. for a week or two, or for a few days. It's usually when I find that the t.v. is on more than it's off. Last week was a t.v. free week. For the kids. During the day. I was busted one night when Spider came out to go to the bathroom and "caught" me watching a "mama show" at night. He reminded me that it was TV Free Week. I had to admit to him that it was only during the day. That Mama needs some t.v. time to relax at night. He was fine with that.
We have been listening to a lot more music and stories on cd this week. It seems everyone is more comfortable with some sort of background sound. As if the noise level with three children wasn't enough. But for some reason it's not. Even I like to have something playing most of the time. And for the times when I don't feel like listening to anything specific, I will usually play French music. It's beautiful filler. I'd really like to expand my foreign music selection. So if anyone has a favorite recommendation, I'm all ears!
(click on image to enlarge)
Spider made this sign and taped it onto the door to the playroom. Note the drawing of the girl with the circle around her and the bar crossing her out. I thought that was hilarious. Like a no-smoking sign. I didn't even know he knew about that sort of sign. The "no girls" thing caught me by surprise too. Since he's the only male in the house, he couldn't have heard about excluding girls from another boy. I knew he had to have heard it from somewhere, because I don't think he would have thought to discriminate by gender, I think he would have just written "no sisters". So I told him I thought his sign was very creative and asked where he got the idea. He said he learned about it from watching Arthur. Great.
We go through bouts where we turn off the t.v. for a week or two, or for a few days. It's usually when I find that the t.v. is on more than it's off. Last week was a t.v. free week. For the kids. During the day. I was busted one night when Spider came out to go to the bathroom and "caught" me watching a "mama show" at night. He reminded me that it was TV Free Week. I had to admit to him that it was only during the day. That Mama needs some t.v. time to relax at night. He was fine with that.
We have been listening to a lot more music and stories on cd this week. It seems everyone is more comfortable with some sort of background sound. As if the noise level with three children wasn't enough. But for some reason it's not. Even I like to have something playing most of the time. And for the times when I don't feel like listening to anything specific, I will usually play French music. It's beautiful filler. I'd really like to expand my foreign music selection. So if anyone has a favorite recommendation, I'm all ears!
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Photos Of You
I don't have much time to blog today but wanted to share this. It's pretty creepy. You never know when your photo is being taken or what is being done with it. Whenever I read people's blogs and they show random photos of strangers I always think about how that person has no idea his/her photo is shown on the internet.
I've also always wondered how many photo albums I am in, as a background player. If you look through your family photos taken out on the town, there are usually people you don't know in the background. It's weird for me to think that I'm one of those background people in other people's photo albums. Though, when taken unintentionally, it's more of an interesting thing to think about, and much less creepy than the link I posted above.
I've also always wondered how many photo albums I am in, as a background player. If you look through your family photos taken out on the town, there are usually people you don't know in the background. It's weird for me to think that I'm one of those background people in other people's photo albums. Though, when taken unintentionally, it's more of an interesting thing to think about, and much less creepy than the link I posted above.
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