Saying "Good-bye"

It doesn't seem like a difficult thing to do, but does anyone say "good-bye" on the phone anymore? I do, but seem to be in the minorirty.

Case in point: I was on the phone today with a colleague. As we were about to end the call, I was going to wish her a Merry Christmas, but she beat me to it with a pleasant "Happy Holidays." (It's HR, so we really need to be politically correct.) Anyway, I said "You do the same." or something lame like that. Then I said "Good-bye." I barely got the words out of my mouth and heard her phone click as she hung up.

I felt like she must have said "Happy Holidays" and proceeded to hang up without even waiting for a reponse from me. I'm sure that wasn't the case.

Do you still say "good-bye" when ending a phone conversation, or am I being old-fashined?

Being Thankful

Too many times, I focus on the things I don't have, rather than what I do have. This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for many things. In no particular order. . . 

1. 2 beautiful, loving and healthy children
2. My wonderful and adoring husband
3. A house
4. Our near 5.5 acres of land
5. A reliable car that I love!
6. A job, and therefore a paycheck and insurance
7. Generous and loving parents
8. Generous and loving in-laws
9. My brother and sister
10. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law
11. My friends, near and far
12. Soccer
13. Glee!
14. Electricty and running water!
15. Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall
16. Lazy Sundays (and sleeping in)
17. Chickens that are so generous with their eggs. Too generous maybe. Anyone need any eggs?
18. Coca-Cola
19. Living in a free country
20. Music
21. The internet that allows me to make silly lists like this and publish them for the world to see.
22. College sports
23. Victoria's Secret
24. My children's artwork
25. Sunflowers
26. Literature
27. Having a great boss and great people to work with
28. My health
29. An education
30. sticky notes

I could go on and on, but I think 30 is a pretty respectable list. None of these things are perfect, but I love having them in my life none the less.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

And remember to be thankful for all that you do have!

Just posted to My Fat Jeans fit, if anyone is interested in reading. :-)

"You look exactly the same!"

I always get excited when I get a friend request on Facebook. I know, it's pretty pathetic. I got one the other day and clicked to see who it was. It was someone I didn't know, but we had 10 firends in common. So I click to see who they are. They're all people I went to high school with, so I must have gone to high school with this person. I dig out my yearbook and look them up thinking surely it would jog my memory. Nope, I can honeslty say I have no clue who this person is.

But I digress, this is not the reason for my post. It is the yearbooks. Katie enjoyed looking at one, she insisted that I get the rest of them out. So, I did. She has a way, you know. She wanted to see Andy and Angie as well. We started with 1987 because all 3 of us are in there. Angie a Senior, I'm a Junior and Andy a Freshman.

I covered up the names so she couldn't cheat and told her to find Andy. She asked for a hint.

"He's a boy."

I get the look from her.

"And he has hair."

She can't find him, so I cover half the page and she finds him immediately.

"He looks just like Grandpa!"

"WHAT??!!"

"He does. He looks just like Grandpa!"

Andy's reaction when I texted this to him:

"OMG! Put that away!"

Then we move on to my page. She finds me right away and laughs.

"You look exactly the same!"
Well, I don't know about that. . . .

She also finds a picture of me in the hall my Junior year. She points to it and says,

"Mom, what up with those jeans?" She says this with attitude, of course.

"Those are stone wash."

"What's stone wash?"

"That!"

She sits down with all the yearbooks and proceeds to try to find the three of us in any and all pictures. She points to one and asks if its me. When I tell her no, she says absentmindedly, "But there are so many curls."

Yep, ladies and gentlemen, it was the 80s! We ALL had curls!!!

I then remember looking through my Mom's yearbook when I was a kid and thinking how incredibly long ago that was. (I'm sure that's what Katie was thinking last night.) There is one image that sticks with me. A picture of the girls in their poodle skirts (or something similar) all lined up in the hall on their knees. Mom said that's how they measured your skirt to make sure it was long enough. The skirt hem had to touch the floor. How degrading is that? We've sure come a long way!

I hope you've enjoyed returning to the 80s with me. It was rather fun last night!

You can't judge a book by it's cover, can you?

As you may know, I've been reading a lot lately. My latest book I picked up simply because of it's cover: "The Unthinkable thoughts of Jacob Green."

This is the story about a boy in a slighty dysfunctional family. (Although, I have decided that we're all a bit dysfunctional from time to time.)  The story begins when Jacob is 10 and quickly moves on to age 13. From there, 15.

I did enjoy the book and found some places a little disturbing because I have a 13-year-old son. However, the ending was a little frustrating, or perhaps it was just thought provoking. It's one of those books that don't end. I finished the chapter and quickly turned the page, only to find it blank.

Another book I just picked up one day in the library was "Bone House". It takes place in early 17th-century rural England and surrounds the death of the village prostitute. I saw it in the library a few years ago and I have no idea what I was looking for, but the title stopped me. I read the jacket and thought maybe I would come back and get it some day. I eventually did and it was an excellent book. I would highly recommend it!

Cheap Shoes

Generally speaking, I don't buy cheap shoes, or purses. My mom taught me that you only buy leather and anything less is a waste of your money. However, a few years ago, I did buy some REALLY cheap shoes.

This was when I was taking classes to complete my Bechelor's. Most of my classes were filled with other people like me: 30-somethings that realized the degree they didn't need 10 years ago was a must now. Some of my classes did have your typical just-out-of-high-school student. Chemistry was one of these classes. One of them sat right behind me. I came to class one evening and she had on the cutest shoes. I told her that I liked them and she told me where she got them and that they were only $5! Five dollars!!!!???? I decided that even if I only wore them once or twice, I would get my money's worth out of them.

After class I headed to the store to pick up a pair of my very own. I remember standing there thinking this was not a store I would normally step foot in, let alone actually buy something in. I even remember seeing the "Man made materials" label and thinking I really shouldn't waste my money. I walked around for quite a while with them before finally deciding that $5 was just too good to pass up. So I bought them.

They're a slide and really not that comfortable to wear simply because they are hard to keep on your feet. So I don't wear them that often, but I will say they've stood up pretty well. I'm thinking today may be the day they should meet the trash can.

If you look closely, you can see that the insole to the shoe is starting to come loose. What I find most entertaining about this is that the it has stitches in it. They actually took the time to stitch around the edge of it, but it's glued to the shoe!!!

Someday I hope to have a pair Christian Louboutin. . . . .

"Now that's soccer!"

We had a busy weekend last week. Soccer in Danville at 11:15, then in Arcola at 4:00. That didn't leave us enough time to go home, so we went to Champaign for lunch then on to Arcola. Cassidy's DSA team won their DSA game 7-0. It's amazing how excited I still get when one of them scores when we're winning big. I think it's because there are so few goals scored it soccer that it's always exciting to see one of them score. Oh yeah, and Cassidy was one of them!!

The Arcola game (Hoopeston FC - traveling) had an interesting start. The Arcola team was young and most of their players looked more Katie's age then Cassidy's. They start out dribbling down the field right past one of our players, right past Cassidy and a quick, light kick, and right over the head of our goalie and into the net. We were all shocked!! Although this isn't even the most interesting part of this game.

Cassidy was goalie the second half!! Dana and I were nervous wrecks. Cassidy has never played in a game as goalie. He has in practice, but I don't think ever very seriously. Long story short, 5 shots were made on him. Two were bad shots, he stopped two and one got by him. We were pretty proud of him!

Sunday HFC played in Mt. Zion. This is the same team that beat the crap out of us in the Spring and is currently undefeated - - I mean WAS undefeated. We really thought it was going to be a tough game. However, our team really pulled together and played an awesome game. The score kept going back and forth, one for us, one for them. (I think at one point, Mt. Zion might have been up by 2.) Final score: HFC - 8, Mt. Zion - 5. Although Cassidy didn't score, they all played one hell of a game. It was really exciting to watch, and even better to see them beat an undefeated team. Especially when we have so many younger boys on our team. Needless to say, the Mt. Zion coach wasn't too happy and neither were some of the parents.

I have to admit, I love being a soccer mom!

One more thing: Turns out Cassidy volunteered to be goalie at the Arcola game. And now he thinks he might like being a back-up goalie!

Just some things that are on my mind

Yes, I know I've been ignoring my blog. Well, not really. I guess my little random thoughts seem to be appearing on Facebook instead of here. I know I used to not understand FB, but now I'm a junkie. I'm hooked on facecrack!!!!

Roman Polanski - Why is the hell is Hollywood defending this ass-hole!?!?!? HE RAPED A 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL!! I don't care if it was 30 years ago, that's inexcusable no matter who you are!

High Fashion - Found this on Yahoo! "A model presents a creation by Spanish designer Amai Rodriguez during the Madrid Cibeles Fashion week."

You know I'm all about fashion, but really, what is this? Is this designer serious or joking? I bet she's glad she's got that big ol' top hat pulled down over her face.

Rocky the Rooster - Our rooster is not doing very well. From what could deduce from the Internet, we think he is suffering from "head bonk". (A highly technical term, obviously.) This is when a chicken suffers a neck injury from flying into something, like perhaps a barn wall. He's not looking too good. He's got his head all crooked around and almost has it upside down. Dana finally had to make a little pen for him because the chickens were pecking at him. (Were the making fun of him?) His tail feathers look bad and you can tell he's lost weight. Katie stood out there last weekend with him and cried her little eyes out. I think we'll all be upset if he doesn't pull through. HOWEVER, Dana said he heard him crowing this morning. I'm hoping that is a good sign. Come on, Rocky!! We're all pulling for you!

Blushing - Do you ever blush at the wrong time? I guess there's never a "right" time. I can feel my face getting hot, so I get more self-conscience about it and then I can feel it getting even hotter. It's always so embarrassing.

Jon & Kate - When in the hell are their 15 minutes over? I used to like their show, then I thought Kate was really mean to Jon and felt really sorry for him. Then this whole divorce thing, and I actually kinda felt sorry for Kate. Her tearful interview on the show. . . Now I think they're both self-serving idiots. Jon's off the show now, so of course now that he's not getting a paycheck, free trips, his teeth whitened, blah, blah, blah, he thinks his children are being exploited and wants TLC to stop taping. Here's the sign he posted. The last time I checked "penalty" only had one "e". I think those two deserve each other.

I've been told twice in the last 2 days that I need to loosen up. I've always thought I was pretty laid back, but now I'm thinking maybe I was wrong. What do you think?

Green Deed for the Day

For months, I've been driving by a plastic bag caught on some weeds at the intersection Route 1 and 100 North in Iroquois County. I've been meaning to stop and pick it up for a long time, and today was finally the day. I still can't believe it hasn't blown away after all this time. It is now safely in my recycle bin.

Ah, that felt good!!

I have 182 songs (12.5 hours of music) on my ipod shuffle. How cool and amazing is that?!

Between drying my hair and straightening my hair I have one AWESOME 70's 'do!

Your Facebook Friends

How many Facebook friends do you have? I have a mere 36. Not sure what that says about me, but I'm OK with that. One of my "friends" has 400. Four hundred!!?? He must have "friended" everyone he's ever met! Actually, he's no longer a friend of mine. I "unfriended" him yesterday. Too much politics and "I'm so great and everyone is so stupid."

My question is this: Why do people want to be my "friend" when I haven't seen them since High School graduation? I probably didn't talk to them that day, much less at any time in the last 20 years. I'm amazed at some of the friend requests I get. Why are they all of a sudden interested in me?

But I do get excited when I see a friend request. Who could it be? An old boyfriend, someone I knew in California, or a complete stranger that's mistaken me for someone else? I've had all three.

Then there are the updates. I have one "friend" that is constantly updating that she is drinking her coffee and getting ready to clean. Her house must be immaculate. And I don't think she has a job. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but she's ALWAYS cleaning her house. Here's an MSN article I saw a few weeks ago regarding FB updates. I've seen all of these, but am guilty of none!!!

http://tech.msn.com/products/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=20260811

Blogging from my phone. LOOK OUT!

Finally taking the time. . .

So many random thoughts, so little time. I just haven't taken the time recently to post, so I'm taking the last few minutes of my lunch to do so.

I've change the title to my blog, although my url remains the same. I still wish I'd taken a little more time on that in the beginning. Oh, well. Cassidy hasn't said it for a while, but "That's so random." or "You guys are so random." used to come out of his mouth from time to time when he thought Dana and I were doing something. . . well, random.

I also changed my background picture. Like? You'll probably see it change from time to time. This picture was taken from our dock at Indiana Beach. I thought the roller coaster was appropriate. (You'll see in a minute.)

In the spirit of being random, I'm going to close this blog with one of the great random moments from one of my favorite movies, "Parenthood."

-You know, when l was young, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster. Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride.

- What a great story.

-l always wanted to go again. lt was just interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened...so scared, so sick, so excited... and so thrilled all together. Some didn´t like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. l like the roller coaster. You get more out of it.

Really??!!

Seriously, does anyone else see the problem with this? I mean, come on. . . pyrotechnics on your chest? In case you didn't know, that means it's blowing up in your face!

Oh, Lady GaGa. Does your mother know you're doing this?

Sunrise at IMS

The Greatest Spectacle in Racing - Part II - Staking Your Claim

We arrive just as I thought we would at 4:30 (5:30 Eastern). There is zero traffic and we get to the house we park at in no time flat. The house is literally across the street and one parking lot down from the gate near turn 4 where we sit. However, they are not yet up. So we wait.

If you know Dana, you know he's getting antsy. He finally decides around 5:45 that he's going to send me and the kids to get in line and he'll come after us. Off we go with everything in tow except one cooler. (Dana got off easy.) We get in line and must fourth or fifth. Here we are with all this stuff and the guy behind me comments on it. Yeah, I like to come prepared. It was just him and his son, and they didn't have much. I don't know what it was, but there was a loud "BOOM" and I said, "Must be 6:00!"

In we go and off to stake our claim. After we get out of the tunnel we head toward the hill in the straigh away out of turn 4. The guy that was behind us is there and asks if you can see very well there. I said "Not really, but it's easy to get out." There were only about 4 people set up, so we got our spot right in front of the big screen. Dana showed up just a few minutes later.

Only 7 hours till the race starts. . .

The Greatest Spectacle in Racing - Part I - The Preparation

Getting ready for the Indy 500 is no easy task. At least for me it's not. It's not like I just pack a 12-pack of Miller Lite and walk out the door like so many college students do. Oh, no! It's pretty much an all day and night affair.

First, there's the menu. I have to make sure I've covered everyone's tastes so when we get there we don't end up spending a fortune on a Turkey leg! Katie requested a Pizza lunchable. After some resistance, I finally gave in. She would not have eaten otherwise. Cassidy couldn't decide, so I suggested a bologna sandwich. "OK, with mayonnaise and lettuce." Like I don't know how he likes his bologna sandwich. Dana said he didn't care, but there's a particular sandwich that Dana and I usually eat (courtesy of Emeril; the kids don't care for it) and I decided to still make it because it's become a tradition for us. I also usually make potato salad, but decided to pass on that this year because it takes so long to put together and I really didn't feel I had the time.

So it's off to the store. I picked up a few extras, but not too much. Last year we had so much food, it wasn't funny. Nothing like packing it in at 6:30 am only to pack out 80 percent of it. So I decided to scale back. This is what we ended up with:

Sandwiches (both ham and bologna)
corn and black bean salsa
scoops chips
Doritos
grapes (they're good when it's hot out)
chocolate chip cookies
starburst
donettes
orange juice
coke
mt. dew
water
capri-sun

PHEW! And that's just the food and drinks. Then there's everything else!

sunglasses
hats
sunscreen
chairs
blankets
sweatshirts
phones
trash bags (I can't just throw it on the ground)
umbrellas
napkins
cups
baby wipes
tylenol/excedrin
tums
band-aids (I'm not walking clear over to the care center if someone scrapes a knee!!)
earplugs

After only a few years, I feel we're pretty well seasoned. We like to arrive early because we sit on the infield. To get a seat on the top of the hill, you need to be there early. Gates open at 6:00 Eastern. Last year we got there about 6:30 and barely got a spot on the top of the hill. Dana wanted to be up at 1:30 Central and leave by 2:30. That would give us 2 1/2 hours to get there. I told him that seemed to early because it usually only takes 1 1/2 hours. He decided getting up at 2:00 would be OK. When I set the alarm, I decided I'd better make it 1:30. If not and we didn't get a spot, it would be my fault. Don't want to be responsible for that. We finally get to bed at about 10:00.

You know how you're in a really good sleep and you hear something that wakes you up, but when you wake up you don't hear it? That happened to me some time after midnight. I finally realized it was Katie. I go into her room and she said she couldn't sleep. I told her to just lay down because we had to get up soon. She said that made her stomach hurt. Then she said she thought she might throw up.

Dana suggested I make her some toast. Well, if she felt like throwing up, I knew the toast would do it for sure. But I wasn't going to argue with anyone at 12:30 in the morning. She took one TINY little bite of toast and you guessed it: she threw up.

I finally got back to bed at 1:00. The alarm went off at 1:30. In the shower by 1:40 and packing by 2:00. Dana made breakfast, Katie said she felt OK, I packed everything in the car and we were out the door by 3:00!

Stay tuned for more. . .

We Don't Accept Cash

I was just at the DMV and noticed a sign that said they did not accept cash for the Illinois Dept of Revenue. Check or money order only. Since when does a goverment entity not accept cash? Apparently since 4/1/07. I suppose they then send the money directly to the Dept. of Revenue and it would make sense to not accept cash.

Just thought it was weird.

So proud of Cassidy

This weekend Cassidy was at the Middle School Track Sectional in Gibson City. He normally does hurdles, 4 x 100 relay, 800 and most recently the high jump.


His 4 x 100 relay team has been changed so much, they're pretty much screwed from the start. Although he's run with the same 3 boys the last few meets, I don't think they've ever run in the same order. And their hand offs, well, let's just say they need some work. So we didn't expect much from this event. And I don't think Cassidy did either. I think they may have come in dead last.


He didn't do the high jump (I think he was happy about that) or the 800. He was a little disappointed in the 800, but seemed OK with it. And then there are the hurdles.


Cassidy has a passion for the hurdles. I have NEVER seen him so excited about. . . well, anything really outside of video games. He's the only 7th grade boy that runs them and I think he likes that. A freshman has been working with him and I think he thinks that's pretty cool, too.

He came in 3rd in his heat which put him in the finals. I had the camera and decided to record the final heat. I figured if I didn't he would make it to state and I wouldn't have it recorded. If you've ever tried to record a sporting event, you'll know that you're not really watching it because you're concentrating on recording. I have him and the 2 runners on either side of him in the view finder. He says he got a poor start, but I didn't notice it. He was keeping up with the others, but I couldn't really see who was in the lead, and it was all I could do to contain myself. When they crossed the finish line, Dana says, "Was he third or fourth?"

He came in 4th. But I could not have been more proud of him. He also had his best time of 18.7. We headed to the other end of the track to see him. As we went that way, we passed the freshman (Matt Watson, I think) that's been helping him. I heard someone say, "Matt, how'd he do? Did he make it to State?" He replied, "No, he came in 4th." I just wanted to jump up and down and say, "That's my boy!! I'm Cassidy's mom!!" I do wish, however, that I had stopped Matt and introduced myself to him so that I could thank him for working with Cassidy. It might be cool for Cassidy to have a freshman helping him, but probably not so cool for a freshman to be helping a lowly little 7th grader. I hope he knows how much that means to Cass.

We finally caught up with Cassidy and I gave him a big hug and told him how proud I was. I know, probably not the coolest thing for me to do, but he'll appreciate it when he's older. I certainly hope he sticks with this; I've always thought he would do well in Track. Let's hope for a State showing next year!!

If I can figure out how to do it, I'll post the race.

What do you do while driving?

So I'm driving to work today and Jamie is following me. I know this simply because of her vanity plates. Anyway, I notice that both of Jamie's hands are near her mouth. I think she must be eating a breakfast sandwich with both hands. No, that would be silly. Of course! The only logical explanation is that she's flossing her teeth. Yes, this woman was flossing her teeth while driving. So you know she was driving with her knee. Texting, eating, talking on the phone, disciplining your children, putting on make-up, doing your hair. . . but flossing? That's a new one.

True Story

We did a little shopping last weekend. Before leaving the mall, Katie and I went to the bathroom. She didn’t have to go so she waited outside the stalls for me. When I came out, she was standing near the tampon machine. She points to the word “tampon” and starts to sound it out.

“What’s a tampon, mom?”

“That’s something that mom’s and big girls use. You don’t need to know about it right now. I’ll explain it to you when you’re older.”

She gave me a weird look, but accepted the explanation. I washed my hands and while I was getting some paper towel, she says . . . .

“Oh, look! They have napkins, too!”

Cracking the Human Resources Code

"COMPETITIVE SALARY"
Most of our competitors don't pay much either.

"JOIN OUR FAST-PACED COMPANY"
We have no time to train you.

"CASUAL WORK ATMOSPHERE"
You'll be here very late, very often -- might as well be comfortable.

"MUST BE DEADLINE-ORIENTED"
Your first four projects are already way overdue.

"SOME OVERTIME REQUIRED"
Did we mention that you'll be here very late, very often? And most weekends.

"DUTIES WILL VARY"
Anyone in the office can boss you around.

"MUST HAVE AN EYE FOR DETAIL"
We have no quality control.

"CAREER-MINDED"
Female applicants must be childless.

"APPLY IN PERSON"
If you're old, fat or ugly, that position has already been filled.

"NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE"
This job listing is just a legal formality. The position was filled by some executive's nephew.

"SEEKING CANDIDATES WITH A WIDE VARIETY OF EXPERIENCE"
Due to consolidation, you'll be replacing three people.

"PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS A MUST"
This company is a total mess.

"REQUIRES TEAM LEADERSHIP SKILLS"
You'll have all the responsibilities of upper management, without the pay, title or respect.

"GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILLS"
Listen to management, figure out what they want, don't ask too many questions and get the sh*t done.

That's my boy!/Good people/house plans/Mattoon soccer

Cassidy had a county track meet last weekend and placed 6 in all of his events. (That gets him 3 ribbons!) In the hurdles, he made it to the final heat and it was obvious to me (his mother) that he came in 6th. When they placed him, they put him dead last. Dana and Cassidy's coach both loudly announced "That's not right!" Cassidy proceeds over to the scorers table at the end of the line. I then see him approach one of the officials. He has his stick with "8" written on it and I see him shaking it at the official and talking to her. He goes back to the end of the line, checks in and comes back to the fence to exit the track. He was really upset because he knew he wasn't last. We told him it was OK that there was nothing we could do. Then the official that he was talking to came running over and said they had him correct. I asked "What place?" and she held up 6 fingers. I don't know if his bringing it to their attention had anything to do with it, but that's my boy!

There are still some good people in the world. At the end of the 7th grade girls 1600 m, one of the Hoopeston girls actually got lapped by a girl from Oakwood. After she finished, she waited for the Hoopeston girl and she ran along beside her for about 100 m and encouraged her. That Oakwood mom must be very proud of her little girl.

Dana and I have been planning an addition to our house for about 5 years. Remember, we only have one bathroom and it's getting to be more and more of a challenge. One of these days we'll actually be able to afford it. Anyway, we've changed our minds a hundred different times. Dana came up with a new idea this weekend and was sketching it out on paper. Katie saw this and started making her own sketches. She was showing me her design which included a "relaxing room." She said it was a place you could go to relax and not be bothered. OMG! She's a genius!!!! What a brilliant idea! I told her if we could find a spot for it, we would have one. And the rule would be that if you were in the relaxing room, no one could bother you for any reason whatsoever!

We had 2 soccer games in Mattoon Sunday afternoon. Although it was extremely windy, it was a beautiful day. We won our first game and then played Mattoon about 30 minutes later. That sucks because we had just finished and Mattoon was fresh. Additionally, we only had 1 sub, and they had 4 or 5. Before the half it started getting ugly with parents yelling. I hate it when the adults can't act like adults. On 2 different occasions, we had 2 players down and hurt. Most teams "take a knee." I don't recall any of the Mattoon players doing this. Every other team we have EVER played has ALWAYS done this. Apparently the players and parents were also laughing at our players because they were hurt. The reffing was horrible and we ended up getting beat by one goal. The team was very upset. We play them again in 2 weeks in Hoopeston. Let's hope we can pull off a win!!

I'm out of time, and this is too long to proofread. Please forgive any typos!

Today is Earth Day!

I sincerely hope that you are planning to do something positive for our planet today. At work, employees were asked to wear green in support of earth day. As a reward, we were allowed to wear jeans. I'm happy that most of us are wearing green today (along with the company sponsored green "Mardi Gras" beads. . . that were made in China) but I question whether or not any of us will be doing anything differently today, or any other day.

As I've probably mentioned, we have replaced nearly every lightbulb in our house with CFL bulbs. Yes, they do take a little while to warm up, but only a few seconds. Their light is just a bright as a standard bulb.

We've planted a garden, and a pretty large one at that. Dana wanted to start from seed this year, so we've ordered A LOT of organic seed. We saved egg cartons this winter to use them to start the plants. Dana ingeniously made little greenhouses out of them. It worked really well and you can see some decent sized tomato plants in this picture.

We also plan to purchase some chickens. Katie is REALLY excited about this and wanted to name them. I told her we could not name them because we were going to eat them. I don't want her to think of them as pets. Dana is working on a chicken coop. And guess what? He's doing this with re-claimed wood, right from our barn! There's a ton of good wood out there, no need to buy more. He took part of the old manger and will use that as a roost. I'll try to get a picture of that to post. He's also planning to use some of this wood to make a coffee table and an outdoor table.
I felt guilty the other day because I didn't get a chance to pack my lunch for work. I drove to Burger King and sat in the drive through while my car ran the entire time. I suppose at the very least I should stop using the drive through!

We're also planning to set up rain barrells and collect the rain from the tool shed roof. Also in the barn are some huge, old field tiles that Dana is going to fashion into rain barrells. He's so smart. . . that's why I married him. I only wish this project was done since we've been having so much rain lately.

We've also been watching "Living with Ed" on planet green. That's an entertaining show. But Ed said something one day that really struck me. He commented that it's not a pass/fail in going green. And he's right. Even if you're only doing one thing (I'd like to see you do more) at least you're doing something! I told Dana last night that we may not be able to change the world, but at least we're making an effort. We're doing our best to be part of the solution, and not part of the problem. I'm hoping that by me writing this blog, I'll inspire just one of you to make an effort to reduce your carbon footprint.

And finally, you may have noticed that I'm following a new blog - True North. I stumbled on this last week from an article that I was reading on my phone. You might want to check them out. There's a link to the article in their April 16 post.

Tell me, what are you doing today to protect the earth?

What did I ever do to you?

Everyone at work is very nice, but there's this one lady that for some inexplicable reason, doesn't seem to like me. Now I'm not saying that I'm such a perfect person that everyone must like me (I'm not that delusional) but some common courtesy is expected.

A few months ago, this person had a problem (with insurance, I think) and went to the other HR Administrator for help. (Our Benefits Administrator was on vacation.) She should have come to me because I handle the Salary workforce. But she didn't. FINE! I don't mind, really. One less thing for me to worry about. My boss happened to come in and noticed this person in the other Admin's office. She said "Why is she over there?" I laughed and said "I don't know. I don't think she likes me."

I don't necessarily go out of my way to talk to her, but when I see her in the hall or run into her in the bathroom, I'll say hello, just like I do with everyone else. I see her today in the bathroom. I smile and say "Hello." Nothing. I get nothing from her. She looked right at me, continued to dry her hands and that was that.

I don't know what I ever did to her, but she doesn't like me.

A Day with Cassidy

Cassidy received a GAP gift card from Aunt Angie for his birthday. I'm glad it was a gift card and not $$ because all he ever wants to buy are video games. So this forced him to buy some clothes. We're very busy with soccer and track, but had this weekend free, so I thought we'd go spend his money. It worked out quite nicely because Katie was invited to a friends house for the day. Otherwise she would have been hounding me all day to buy her something. And the two of them would have been fighting all day!!

We dropped Katie off at her friend's house before leaving town and headed to Mahomet where Dana was working for the day. We had lunch with him and didn't actually make it to Champaign until 1:30 or 2:00. I don't like a late start to shopping.

I was on the hunt for a black skirt and a pair of jeans. Luckily, I found them both at Bergner's without much problem. That's unusual for me. Of course, I can't walk through Bergner's without going to the shoe department. I found a pair I liked, but they weren't appropriate for work, and I hate to spend $$ on shoes that I can't wear that often. I eventually tried them on and was really disappointed in how they looked on me. So I didn't buy them. But I did find a cute little Liz Claiborne wristlet that was on sale and ended up only costing me $11. It was originally marked $20. I LOVE to find bargains like that!!! It almost makes you wonder why we ever buy anything at full price.

On the way over, I asked Cassidy how his shoes were doing. He said they still fit OK, but when he showed me the sole, it was obvious that he needed a new pair. I told him we'd also look for some shoes for him today. He said he wanted some Converse. I thought that was a little strange, but asked if he wanted some Chuck Taylor's. He didn't know what those were, but ultimately that is what he wanted, he just didn't know it.

He knew exactly where to go to find them, so off we went to Journeys. They had a whole bunch of Chuck's and he finally settled on a two tone gray pair. (In this pic you can also see the hideous shoes I bought him when school started.) Once we had those taken care of, it was off to GAP to try and find him a pair of jeans.

Now my Mom will tell you how difficult this task has been. Cassidy is about 5'7" and only weighs about 100 pounds. I decided to start in the men's section because I didn't really think we would have any luck in the boys. We started with a 28x30 and they fit!!! You can't imagine how happy the two of us were. They could probably stand to be a little longer, but I know a 32 would be way too long. And they don't have 28s any longer in the store; I would have to buy them on-line. He picked out a shirt (also gray. . . to match the shoes???) and had spent all his money, and then some. He was concerned about paying me back (what a good kid) but I assured him that wasn't necessary.

All in all, I had a nice little bonding day with my son, shopping, of all things. He and I don't get much time just the two of us anymore and it was really nice.

Oh, yeah. He also ran in his first Track meet on Thursday. Came in 2nd in the hurdles!! I was so sorry to have missed it. He's also running in the 4x100 relay and the 800m. The relay, well, it didn't go so well. They were dead last. They had to substitute one of the runners, switched around their normal positions and one of them dropped the baton. He usually runs the 2nd leg, but ended up running the anchor and he really gave it his all. I was glad to see that he didn't just give up knowing they were going to get beat. He came in 6th in the 800. Dana laughed and told him he ran a good 600. He got passed by 2 runners the last 200 meters. But for his first meet ever, I thought he did a great job!

And Katie is tuckered out!

Oh, yeah, one more thing. I'm also proud to say that Cassidy and I made 6 purchases today, and did not bring home one plastic bag. I took a shopping bag with us and stuffed everything in there, or the ginormous purse that Mom bought me for my birthday. Remember, Earth Day is April 22.

I'm starting to enjoy Facebook!

At first I didn't really get it, but now I'm starting to have some fun with it. And I am getting more technically savvy. I took a picture of myself with my phone today, e-mailed it to myself, then uploaded it to facebook. I'm so talented! ;-) I know, that's really not so talented, but I am impressed with the quality of the picture from my little ol' phone. And that I figured out how to do it.

I refuse to grow up. I refuse to grow up.

What's on your ipod?

When I came in to work the other day, I was listening to my ipod. It's just a shuffle (I'd love to have a touch) but I'm amazed at how much music this little device can hold. I get so tired of the nonsense on the radio, that I often listen to my ipod on the way to work. Anyway, I was still listening when I came in. I ran into a friend and he asked what I was listening to. It was Ciara's "Oh". I held up one of the ear buds so he could hear. He was shocked and said he didn't think I listened to that kind of music. So it got me thinking about the eclectic mix. Here's a little taste of what I'm listening to right now. Some of it may surprise you. . . . or not.

Vivaldi - The Four Seasons

Jay-Z - Show me what you got

The Police - Every Breath you take

50 cent - In da club

Music from Batman Returns

My Chemical Romance - Teenagers

The Grateful Dead - Cassidy and Katie Mae, of course

Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro

Music from Darkon (google it)

Chris Isaak - Wicked Game

The Veronicas - Untouched

But no LOTR. I just haven't yet taken the time to load it from CD. What I think is really funny is that The Four Seasons is sandwiched in between Jay -Z and House of Pain's Jump Around.

So many thoughts, so little time

Rainy Soccer

Cassidy is on the traveling soccer team this Spring. Not the greatest time for soccer because we tend to get rained out. . . a lot. Anyway, they were originally scheduled for 2 games last Saturday, which was a beautiful day. One was moved to Sunday, which was a nasty rainy day. The game was at 3:00 and didn't start out too badly. It was a little rainy and windy and let up just before then end of the first half. When the second half started, it picked back up again. Dana decided to move the car to the other end of the field so that we could get out of the rain. By the time we got in the car, it was a good solid rain, and before the game ended, it was pouring. The refs even stopped the game and asked the captain of the other team if they wanted to continue. (We were beating them 5-0.) They decided to continue. Those poor kids couldn't have gotten any wetter!!!!Can you see the drops of water on the end of his hair?

Glamour or Seventeen?

I renewed my subscription to Glamour magazine. Not sure why. It has some interesting articles, and it helps make me still feel young. But how young? The first thing I always do when I get a new issue it go to the back where they have their Fashion Do's and Don'ts. So this month, that's exactly what I did. Then I put it down to start working on dinner. A little while later, Katie walks in with it, very interested on an article. Oh, god, what could she be reading. There are certainly things in Glamour that I wouldn't want her to read. But it was OK! It was just an article on Miley Cyrus. PHEW! Wait. . . what. . . Miley Cyrus on the cover of Glamour with a feature story??!! Don't you think she would be more appropriately gracing the cover of Seventeen? Oh, wait, the cover reads "Miley: America's Most Famous Girl Grows Up" I hate to break it you Miles, but you're not "grown up" when you're only 16. I don't care if you are dating a 20 year-old man! UGH! She is a sweet, (I guess, but how would I know) pretty girl, but come on!

Facebook it or Blog it

I was going to post something on here, but decided not to because my mom and mother-in-law both read this. MOM! Don't freak out, it's not that bad, just something that doesn't necessarily need to be shared with you. So I thought I would post it on my facebook page. No, can't do that either. My minister (even though I rarely go to church anymore) is a friend. So, I guess I'll just have to keep this little nugget to myself.

Twilight Movie Round 2

I've been wanting to give Twilight another chance, so I watched it again Friday night. Perhaps my first critique was a little rash. I still feel it was a condensed version of the condensed version of the book, but it was an OK movie. I actually enjoyed it a little the second time around.

I think what I enjoyed was that I knew more about the characters. You don't get to know all of Edward's family until the subsequent books. So the eccentricities of each of them don't make much sense in the movie. But for me, it was comical to see Jasper looking nervous all the time and knowing why.

So, if you have 2 1/2 hours to kill on a Saturday night, I suppose I would recommend it. But, on the same token, if you have 2 1/2 hours to kill on a Saturday night, start reading the book. I really think you'll enjoy it.

The Great American Spirit

I saw this on Yahoo and just had to share it. Isn't this country great!!!

In this photo released Tuesday, March 31, 2009, by the Newark (Ohio) Police Department, a motorized bar stool is shown. Police in Newark, 30 miles east of Columbus, say when they responded to a report of a crash with injuries on March 4 2009, they found a man who had wrecked a bar stool powered by a deconstructed lawn mower. Police say Kile Wygle, 28 was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated after he told an officer at the hospital that he had consumed 15 beers. Wygle told police his motorized bar stool can go up to 38 mph.



And in keeping with the theme of this post, I thought this was appropriate. I found this today on failblog.org. Not sure how well you can see it, but look closely. It's a wheelchair parked in the handicap parking spot.

My Baby Boy

My sweet little baby boy turns 13 today! He's taller than me now, and wears the same size shoe as his Dad, an 11 1/2. I got teary-eyed driving to work this morning and again now as I write this. I just can't believe it's been 13 years since I first changed his little diaper. I stood there alone in my hospital room with him and changed his diaper on my bed. I remember standing there so proud of myself and basking in new motherhood glow. . . only to watch a stream of urine come out the top of the diaper, across his little belly and onto my bed. I guess the diaper wasn't tight enough around his waist. Yeah, don't ask. . . I have no idea how I managed that.

Disappointed

We rented Twilight last night on PPV. What a disappointment it turned out to be. I'm so glad I did not waste $19.99 to purchase it. It was the condensed version of the condensed version of the book. I think I'll just leave it at that. My advice: Skip the movie and read the book.

Distractions

Sorry to have left you all hanging out here. I'm sure you've been checking my blog daily (yeah, right) and have been so disappointed that I'm not here. "Where is she? I hope she's ok. Maybe I should call her!" Well, I'm still caught up in the distraction that has consumed me for the last few weeks. Yes, I'm still reading the Twilight series. I'm finally to book 4, Breaking Dawn, the longest of them. I'm nearly done, and can't wait to see the happily ever after, as I'm sure it will be.


Sometimes I feel a little silly reading a book that is intended for adolescents, but it is truly captivating. Stephenie Meyer is a gifted story teller. I'm glad I haven't had to wait for each book to come out. It's been really nice to finish one and simply pick up the next one and continue the story. I even have to stop and think what happened in which book because they have kinda melted into one for me. . . kinda like LOTR! Which really is one book, not three as many think it is. But I digress.


The DVD for Twilight came out at midnight last night. It first appeared on my PPV at 4 a.m. Dana's lucky I wasn't up watching it then. However, I am a little torn. As you know (see previous post) I prefer books over the movies. They are 100% of the time better. I'm afraid I'll be a little disappointed in it, although Cassidy tells me it's pretty close to the book. They are currently filming Eclipse and I believe there are plans to do all of them.

Cassidy's birthday is the 30th. I only have one thing for him. The rest of the Twilight series was supposed to be for him, but I couldn't wait to start the second book. So that's out. Plus, I don't think he's all that interested in them. I guess they're more of a "girl" thing. I keep saying I'm going to do some shopping during lunch, but I can't seem to get my nose out of the book!! Oh, he also just sent me a text: You know what would be better than a birthday cake? A birthday PIE. I guess I'll be baking an apple pie for his birthday.

My other current distraction is that it's tax time!! I hate filing taxes. Each year Dana asks me for receipts, and I have to dig them up. And each year I tell myself I'm going to be more organized next year and have them all ready. And I never am. I'm here alone today, so I suppose I should get the office organized and try to be ready for next spring.

THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!!!

A "forward" making it's rounds on the internet. I thought it was fitting. I've added my commentary in red.

If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking Twenty-five miles to school every morning Uphill... barefoot.. BOTH ways. Yadda, yadda, yadda And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had and how easy they've got it! But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to mychildhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, We had to go to the damn library andlook it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!! There was no email!! We had to actually writesomebody a letter, with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents! I remember them at 17 cents.

Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! No where was safe!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! I used to tape songs off the radio! I guess that's stealing, too. There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished and the tape would come undone.'cause that's how we rolled, dig?

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If youwere on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school,your mom, your boss, your Bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister! I remember when caller ID first came out. I thought "Who would ever want that?" Of course, we have it.

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation videogames with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With gameslike 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screenforever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE! And when you died, you died. You didn't get to start from the same place. No, you had to go clear back to the beginning and try to get past those damn scorpions and catch the swinging vine!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel! There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove .. Imagine that! Actually, I barely remember life without a microwave. Mom must have gotten hers when we were pretty little. And let me tell you, that thing lasted forever!! I bet she had it 20 years. I think when she finally got a new one, it was only a space issue. I think the enormous thing still worked!

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or before!

Regards,The over 30 Crowd

And I'll add at least one more. DVR. I don't know how we lived before our DVR. Recording shows is so easy, and when Dana yells at me to come look at something on TV, I don't have to dash into the room. (He has a really bad habit of that.) He simply backs it up and viola!!

Do you have anything to add??

He's following me

Hey Bobby X!!! Wassup, man?

Bobby X was an Engineering Co-op at Heatcraft, and I just noticed today that he's a "Follower." (Sorry, I don't know when you showed up.) Anyway, a little story about the "X". Correct me if I'm wrong, Bobby, but when you started at Heatcraft, IT needed a middle initial to set up your account, and since you didn't have one, they assigned you with an "X".

And so Bobby X was born.

Welcome to the not-so-exciting world of Amy's Random Thoughts!

(Katie just read the last line, smacked me on the shoulder and said "Hey! That's a good one, Mom.)

How I met Your Father

Today is the 21st Anniversary of mine and Dana's first date - a blind date. So, for those of you that don't know it, here's the story.

It was a Saturday night, the day following Dana's last career high school basketball game. My friend and I had listened to it on the radio hoping they would lose. Dana constantly reminds me of that and claims it to be my fault that they lost. If I hadn't wished them to lose. . . well, if they won, that meant I wouldn't meet him, and even though I didn't know anything about him and hadn't seen a picture of him, I still wanted to meet him.

So, how did a girl from Williamsport, Indiana end up on a blind date with a guy from Hoopeston, Illinois? My friend Katrina's dad worked at a grain elevator in Hoopeston and he hooked up Katrina with the son of a woman he worked with. So Katrina and Casey started dating and they hooked up Dana and I. (We see Casey's mom on occassion and I think she's proud that she had a part in our meeting. She sometimes reminds us of this. )

Dana met another friend of Katrina's about a week before meeting me. He didn't like her at all. (I didn't much care for her either.) Legend has it that Dana looked through Katrina's yearbook and picked me out. REALLY?!

We met at a Seeger Basketball game. He claims love at first sight. So he and his friend watched our basketball team play, while I cheered. No pressure there! We then went to Pizza Hut in Attica and ended the evening watching a movie at Katrina's - Ernest Goes to Camp. Dana thought it was hilarious! I still remember him slapping his knee and laughing.

So here we are 21 years later drinking wine, blogging and watching our (his) DVR'd version of Heli-Loggers. It's been a great 21 years, and I can't wait for the next 21!!

I'm Still Here

Has it really been that long since I posted? I don't know why, I'm constantly having random thoughts pop into my head and I think "I should blog about that."

Today is my birthday. My 38th to be exact. I can't believe I'm 38. I really don't feel like it. And it's harder still to believe that my first born is almost 13. This month will also be the 21st anniversary of mine and Dana's first date (a blind date) at a basketball game in Williamsport - yes, I was only 17. I'll have to tell you about that some time. Anyway, time marches on!

All of my free time for the past 7 days has been spent reading "Twilight". WOW! What an amazing book. I have never, and I mean never, read a book so quickly in all my life. There are 3 more and I can't wait to read them. It's a book for young adults, but I guess anyone that's ever been in love at 17 could relate to it.

Well, it's after 1:00 and my lunch is over. Just wanted to let you all know that I was still among the living and that some gorgeous vampire named Edward didn't get me. (Twilight reference).

My Favorite Super Bowl Commercials

Doritos - With the crystal ball. Pretty good.

Coke - The bugs stealing the guys coke. That was cute. The Coke Zero commercial that was a re-make of the Mean Joe Green commercial. At first I was upset. That commercial is iconic, how can you re-make it?? But it was funny.

Pepsi - With Wil. I. Am and Bob Dylan. Considering it was Pepsi, I liked it.

Career Builder - You might need a new job (or something to that effect). Ha Ha. That used to be me. Screaming in the car, crying, wanting to punch something, although not small animals.

Dana's mad that the Cardinals lost.

Parenting 400

I'd say we're probably to the 400 level of our parenting. We're definitely beyond 101. And I think once we hit the teen years (in 2 months) we'll move on to graduate school, then later our PhD. That's assuming we complete our undergrad!!

Last Friday, Cassidy wanted to go to the Skating Rink for a teen dance. We agreed to let him go. I would drop him 0ff, and Dana would pick him up at midnight. (Wait a minute! Did I let my almost 13-year-old stay out until midnight?) When we were just a few blocks from the rink, my conversation with him went a little something like this:

Me: I know I don't have to tell you this, but I have to tell you this. Behave yourself and do what you're told.
Cassidy: I know.
Me: I know you know, but I still have to tell you these things. Just make sure you do what you're supposed to.
Cassidy: I will, Mom.

And before dropping him off 30 seconds later. . .
Me: Have fun and be good. You have your phone don't you?
[Rhetorical question.]
Cassidy: Yes, Mom.
Me: Call us if you need anything.
Cassidy: K

Last night, Katie and I were on the computer looking up how to pierce the ears of her American Girl Dolls. (FYI. You have to send them to the "hospital".) She hears the TV from the other room and says "Meth commercial." What a sorry state of the world when a 7-year-old recognizes the sound of a meth commercial. I guess that's good because she looks at me with wide eyes and says, "I'll never do meth." And I said "You better not!" A few minutes later we were back in the living room and it came up again. I told them both that they had better never use Meth or any other drug. Cassidy was ignoring me, so I got his attention and repeated myself. He says, "I know, Mom."

I remember telling my mom one time that when you raise a child, you teach them the best you can, and they eventually get to an age where they're on their own and you hope you've taught them the right things. I'm pretty sure I told her that before I had kids of my own, but I still believe it. That's why my kids constantly hear these mini lectures from me. When Cassidy was little, I would tell him not to smoke cigarettes and then ask him why. He would say "Because it makes those things that you breathe with black." Scare tactic? Maybe. But hopefully when someone offers him a cigarette (if they haven't already) he'll remember that and decide for himself that it's not a good idea.

Hopefully. . .

Amio Andretti

That's what Dana calls me from time to time. He thinks I drive like a race car driver. But I don't. Not usually anyway. I guess I'm just a little aggressive.

I set my cruise control to about 62 mph. And I cruise at that speed. If I get behind you and you're only going 60 or 61, I don't slow down. I will get around you (quickly) and then go back to cruising speed.

Then there are the people that drive below the speed limit. It's one thing to drive 55, and yes, that bugs me, too. But under 55? Now, there's just no call for that. But do you know what really irritates me? The person behind them that won't pass. That one car that rides their bumper but won't ever make their move. Being fourth or fifth in line is very frustrating (for me) because you are really taking a chance to pass that many cars. Every night this week I've been in this situation while driving home.

It makes me crazy!!



Err, uh. . . crazier . . .

It ain't easy bein' green

Kermit the frog really knew what he was talking about. The Dixon's recently decided to "go green." We do what we can, although I'm sure it's not enough. But we figure making some sort of attempt is better than none at all. I hope after reading this you will also try to make some changes to help our planet.

We have changed virtually every light in our house to energy efficient lights. Although it did cost us some money up front, I've seen about a $50 decline in our power bill each month. Really! Sure, they take a little while to warm up, but in less than 30 seconds, you have full light. And they're so much more efficient.

Paper or Plastic. They say that one really isn't any better than the other for the environment. They both let off CO2 into the atmosphere during production. I would always get plastic because I could carry more at one time. (I don't usually get help bringing the groceries in.) And I would use them to line the bathroom trashcan. But I don't re-use that many, so they were ultimately thrown away. I would cringe when they put the Cascade in a bag by itself. Yeah, I know why they do that, but they could have just put it in the cart. So this summer I started buying the re-usable bags. I have 5 and don't think I've ever needed more than that. At only $1 a piece, that's a pretty good investment! In the last 6 months, I figure I've saved about 200 plastic bags from going out to the trash to be burned. Here's the catch though, you have to remember to put them back in the car each week.

I recently met a friend at Subway for lunch. I got a salad and they put it in a bag for me. Of course they always put your sandwich in a bag. Why? So that you can carry it to the table I guess. Is that really necessary? No, I don't think so. I guess I'm going to have to tell them to stop using the bag. Really, I'm capable of getting it to the table without killing the environment. Imagine how many of those bags Subway hands out each day that are used for about 30 seconds. What a waste!!

And what about when you run into the store for a tube of toothpaste, or deodorant? Do you really need a bag for that? If it's a small enough amount for me to just carry back to the car, or throw in my purse, I do tell them to skip the bag. I used to get weird looks, but most people aren't surprised by it any more. Perhaps I'm not the only one.

And finally, warming up your car. Ugh. I really hate doing that. But, when the temps are as frigid as they were a week ago, you don't really have a choice. Dana tends to send Cassidy out at 6:45 to start our cars. I take the kids down to meet the bus at 7:00 and usually have to come back in the house to eat breakfast and pack my lunch. If I leave my car running the whole time, it will run for 45 minutes. That's stupid. Since it's "warmed" up, I've been turning the car off once I get the kids on the bus. So when I come back out 20 minutes later the car is cold again, but I feel better that I've made an effort.

I could go on and on, but it's passed time for me to get back to work, so I'll leave it at that. Just think about it though. Buy a re-usable bag or replace a light bulb. Your mother earth will thank you for it.

P.S. In case you didn't know, we have a new President. WOO-HOO!!!!

Today in Middle Earth

Today in Middle-earth, January 15
The Bridge of Khazad-dûm, and the fall of Gandalf (1419)
The Company reaches Nimrodel late at night (1419)

January 15, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. The Bridge of Khazad-dûm, and the fall of Gandalf.
(from the appendices)
“… there came a great noise: a rolling BOOM that seemed to come from depths far below, and to tremble in the stone at their feet. They sprang towards the door in alarm. DOOM, DOOM it rolled again, as if huge hands were turning the very caverns of Moria into a vast drum...”
(Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine, p. 428 FotR)

2. The Company reaches Nimrodel late at night.
(from the appendices)
“‘Lothlórien!’ cried Legolas. ‘Lothlórien! We have come to the eaves of the Golden Wood. Alas that it is winter…’”
(Tolkien, 1965 Ballantine, p. 438 FotR)

I thought you might like to know.
http://www.theonering.net/

Sell by vs. Use by

Didn't they always used to have a "use by" date on foods? I could swear that they did. However, I think the grocery industry must have petitioned congress to start using the "sell by" date. That way, they know when to pull it off their shelves. Unless you shop in Hoopeston. You really have to watch the dates or you'll get something home that's primed for a science experiment. Been there, done that.

I'd much rather see the "use by" date. Sell by doesn't help me. How do I know how long my yogurt is good for? Is it 2 days, 3 days, a week? Probably not a week, but I guarantee you that when that sell by date comes and goes, that yogurt meets the trash! I'm not taking any chances and I'm not checking it with my nose.

Then there's the "born on" date that's on beer. REALLY?! I always thought that was stupid, too. I guess they were trying to be clever. Nothing like a drunk trying to figure out how old or young their beer should be before consuming it. Does yogurt stay fresh as long as beer does? Probably not.

So we try to eat everything in our house before the sell by date. It's just safer that way.

Mild Freak-out!!

Last night before going to bed, I decided to put some lotion on my hands. I climbed into bed, took off my engagement ring (carefully laying it on the covers) and put on some lotion. Meanwhile, Dana came to bed. As I said yesterday, his hands are really dry from working in Cassidy's room, so I knew he'd want some lotion for his hands. After he was done, I put the lotion on my night stand and off to dreamland we went.

The alarm went off at 4:20 a.m. this morning, and it was a little hot in our room. I threw off some covers to cool off. I eventually rolled out of bed to get dressed to exercise. While in the bathroom however, I noticed the absence of my engagement ring. OH, MY GOD!!!! What did I do with it last night? That's right! I carefully placed it on the covers right in front of me so I could put it back on after applying my lotion. BUT I DIDN'T PUT IT BACK ON!!

I casually returned to our room where Dana was getting dressed. I DON'T SEE IT ANYWHERE! AND I THREW OFF THE COVERS THIS MORNING BEFORE GETTING UP. OH, GOD, WHERE CAN IT BE! Dana finally went downstairs and I frantically started looking for it. I just kept remembering the Christmas that I lost my diamond pendant necklace. . . .

--Graduation Day 1989--
When I was in High School, it was all the rage for boys to buy their girlfriends "promise" rings. Dana didn't buy me one, but he did buy me this little diamond pendant. It was small, but he told me that it was his promise that he would someday marry me. It meant the world to me. After all, I was only 18 years old and had thought I'd met the man I would marry. (Turns out I did.)

-- Christmas 1997--
It's 1997 and I still wear that little diamond necklace Dana gave me in High School. It's also Christmas Eve and it's the last time I'll ever wear it. Mom had gotten me a necklace for Christmas. I decided to try it on. So I took off Dana's necklace and carefully placed it in the box that the new necklace came in. Later that night, everything got shoved in bags and taken home with us. A few weeks later, I'm getting ready for work and was looking for my necklace. I CAN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE! WHERE ON EARTH COULD IT BE? I finally came to the realization that I must have thrown it away when I was cleaning up all the boxes and bags from Christmas. I don't know what else could have happened to it.

--4:30 a.m. January 13, 2009--
All of these memories are flashing through my head in a matter of milliseconds and I'm getting more and more terrified that I can't find my ring. I pick up the blanket that's on our bed and feverishly shake it waiting to hear my ring hit the wood floor. I don't see or hear anything. I turn back to the bed, and there it is. PHEW!!! Heart rate is back to normal. . . I go downstairs and exercise.

I'm never taking off my engagement ring again!

I feel naked!!

Yesterday, we were cleaning like mad because Dana is done with all the drywall in the hall and Cassidy's room. Hey, I just realized that when this project is done, that whole end of the house will have been remodeled. That's pretty exciting!

Anyway, since I was in so much dust and cleaning supplies, I was washing my hands alot and putting on lotion. So I took off my engagement ring so it didn't get filled with lotion. I forgot to put it on last night before bed, and again this morning. I feel really weird without it.

Working on a Saturday

I'm working today trying to catch up. Like that ever happens. Anyway, before I left the house, I told the kids to unload the dishwasher and reload it for me. Almost every night when I get home, I mean, every night when I get home, I have to do these two things before starting dinner.

So I just got a text from Cassidy:
Do we have to reload the dishwasher too

My reply:
Yes!

You would think I'd asked them to recover the furniture!!

NEW BLOG

I started a new blog to journal mine and Dana's attempt to lose weight and get healthy in 2009. You can access it at the link below, or if you click on "View my complete profile" to the right, there is a link there as well. I didn't think everyone would want to hear constant updates about P90X or our diet, so now you have the choice to check in or not.

http://www.amysdietjournal.blogspot.com/

A little more randomness

First of all, is randomness a word? I don't know, and I don't feel like looking it up. Spell check didn't stop on it, though.

Did you know that both of my kids are named from Grateful Dead songs? Cassidy is a bona fide Dead song; I think Katie Mae is an old blues song. HOW IRONIC!! It just came up on my iPod! Not the Dead version. but another really bluesy version I found. I decided last night that when she gets married, both versions will be played at her wedding. Along with my dad and Cassidy singing K-K-K-Katie.

Anyway, the lyrics didn't have anything to do with my (our) choice of names, I just liked them both. I think the best line from the two is from Katie Mae.

She walks just like her daddy's got oil wells in her back yard.

That's Katie Mae all right!!

I said I would blog about our exercising. Well, this morning. . . yoga. . . we didn't do it. Going to bed at 10:30 and getting up before 4:30 and doing yoga. . . that's just too much. And aside from the hot chocolate I had because my throat hurt, and the small bowl of Cap'n Crunch, I've been very good. And considering there's a box of Cap'n in the house and it's Thursday, that's saying a lot. The Cap'n is my nemesis. We'll be back at it tomorrow. I need to go to bed by 9:00!!

Like a Phoenix from the Ashes

Get out your Birkenstocks, patchouli and long skirts. . . The Grateful Dead are going on tour this summer!!

And they will be in Chicago on May 5. And you can bet the Dixon's will be there!!

Jerry and Pigpen may be dead, but The Dead live on. The rest of the guys are getting together this summer for a 19 city tour. And luckily one of those cities happens to be Chicago. It will be one of their last shows with the tour ending at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. If I could, that would be the show we would go to. We saw The Dead there. . . probably in '94.

What a long strange trip is certainly has been. From my pseudo-hippie days in California, to my shoe loving present, it has been strange and great. We've done so much in our lives, living in California surely changed us. You just don't know what life is like in California until you've lived there. We were friends with some truly old hippies and they were the most sincere people I've ever met. They truly would have given you the shirts off their backs.

We were even in attendance at the Jerry Garcia Memorial they had in Golden Gate Park in 1995 -- I was pregnant with Cassidy. Can you believe we had the camera, but no film??!! It was unforgettable. We went down to Haight Ashbury afterwards and there were hippies all over just kind of milling around. Everyone seemed to be in a fog, and I don't think it was drug induced. Can you believe there is a "Ben & Jerry's" on the corner of Haight and Ashbury? At least there was 13 years ago.