Have a Laugh, it's on Me!

Probably not the most flattering picture, but it sure made me laugh!
Enjoy.

20 Years Ago...

Twenty years ago today the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up with all the world watching. Where were you?

I was a geeky 14 year old freshman in high school. I was sitting in the first row, second desk of freshman orientation class with my eyes glued to the tv set mounted in the top left corner of the room. I couldn't believe what I saw. All at once, 30 something students inhaled with a gasp of shock, followed by a tragic exhale of horror. I walked around like a zombie the rest of the day.

At that time...those astronauts (especially the woman) were my heroes.

Netflix

Hello world,

I have resisted for a while now, hoping that my reluctance would lengthen the life of our locally owned video rental store. But alas, I knew it would happen eventually. I just hope our little local store will do well, despite the growing competition. I was not planning on subscribing to Netflix. But what do you do when someone gives you a months free subscription?

I must admit, it is easier than I thought. But unfortunately it does give me one more thing to keep up on. Indeed, it has the potential to turn us all into nightly couch potatoes...not that we weren't already.

So far we have watched:

Secondhand Lions
Herbie Fully Loaded
War of the Worlds
The Elegant Universe- disc 1 & 2
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Next on our Quere is Flight Plan and one of my all time favorites...Oh brother where art thou?

I thought I was the only person left in the universe, to not fully understand the way this mail movie service worked, but just in case I'm not- let me explain...since I am now an "expert" (haha) on the subject.

You create an account on the Netflix website.
You choose movies you want to see in whichever order you want to see them.
The first 3 movies come in the mail (you will be notified by email)
You watch them at your convience.
You send whichever one you want back, and when they get it, they send you the next one on your list.

It's easy. You use the same envelope it came in. The return postage is paid.

Hmm.

Changes...Can't stop 'em. Don't really want to anyway.

Moving?

There is a lot of talk swirling around our house these days, and the girls are officially freaked out.

MB left today for Orgeon. He has a 10am interview tomorrow with a couple bigwigs at Pacific Power. If he is offered and accepts the job...we MIGHT be moving to Orgeon this summer.

Let me think about this...

Pros:
Close to my family (daddy!)
Nice high school for the girls
Same pay
cost of living DRAMATICALLY decreases
more $$ in the bank
Bigger house

Cons:
leaving my friends
can't come back to Ca. (once you leave, it's hard to come back)
I get REALLY stressed when I have to move

I miss you

"Don't waste your time on me, you're already the voice inside my head."

That song is really stuck in my head.

It's called "I miss you" by Blink 182

Here's the lyrics...

Hello there the angel from my nightmare
The shadow in background of the morgue
The unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley
We can live like Jack and Sally if we want
Where you can always find me
And we'll have Halloween on Christmas
And in the night we'll wish this never ends
We'll wish this never end

Where are you and I'm so sorry
I cannot sleep I cannot dream tonight
I need somebody and always
This sick strange darkness comes creeping on so haunting everytime
And as I stared I counted the webs from all the spiders
catching things and eating their insides
Like indecision to call you
And hear your voice of treason
Will you come home and stop this pain tonight
stop this pain tonight

Don't waste your time on me your already the voice inside my head(6x)

I miss you miss you(6x)

Now let me write a quick poem to sing my song of expression:

sink into the fair of givers
blowing in the brisky breeze
leaves of every tone and tatter
fall into the freeze

screaming at the morning dawn
doesn't help one bit
so give it one more day
before you throw a fit

Landing in the big house
will gladly do you well
to keep you safe and sorry
you've died and gone to hell

where did all the fishers go?
I haven't seen them yet
I know they used to be here
because I found their net.

men have turned to drink
in the time you sit and plunder
take upon the knife
in your hand to wonder

the givers of the day
have given you the shaft
now it's time to be a man
and kick them in the ass!

wow- I must be in a bad mood. That sure is one mad poem. Funny, I don't feel like it started out that way. But the more I opened the door, the more the anger pushed until...I swore! Forgive me...I'm moody. I'm wearing a hat that says "Grumpy".

HELP ME! My Daughter is a Teenager!

Katie,
13 years ago you came into this world and just like everyone said it would...my life changed forever. You took all the energy, time and patience I had, but what I have received in return is far greater than I ever expected. All the little things you have done that made me laugh (I'm thinking of the cherrios) ...the fun we've had on our "mommy & me" days...the way you protect your little sis (I know you love her). Your sassy little style makes you special. I love you exactly the way you are and I'm sorry for the times I get a little to preachy. I am proud of how hard you work in school and how responsible you have become. I know I can trust you and I respect you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LOVELY YOUNG LADY...KATELYN

Quote

"Smart goals are specific, measurable, realistic, written out and should have a deadline or time frame."

-David Yukelson, Ph.D., Penn State University sports psychologist

See likes to run, doesn't she?

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Say Hello to my Little Friend

World, meet Marty and Bob.
These are MB's bosses. The guy on the right is retiring. This was his party. Bob is a HUGE Elvis fan (which explains the big black hair on this smaller sized version of him).
Let me explain. The guys and gals at work decided a few months ago to make a mini sized Marty because he spends a lot of time away from the office. It became very funny. I happened to stop by his work the other day to say hello to Don on his first day back (a co-worker who was injured while mountain biking on Thanksgiving day). They had little Marty sitting on a kids bike with a sign that read, "Welcome back Don. Keep the training wheels on for safety!"
At this dinner, Bob was presented a "mini me" of his very own. However, Bob is loved so much that I think the guys want to keep his smaller self at work so that they won't go through withdrawals.


Yeah, that's me...I only had ONE glass!

Marty is beside himself.

MacWorld

First Up: The Train...

In a word...Surreal. I find it very interesting (and sad at the same time) that so many people would be in such close proximity and not say a single word. Not even make eye contact. About half the people I saw had ipods.
This makes travel a bit easier. Read a book, take a nap or listen to your ipod...just don't look at anyone! So what did I do?
I watched everyone. Nobody looked like they wanted to talk. I joined the 50% and clicked on some tunes. I listened to the E.T. theme song and had a little fun imagining what super hero each person could be. When I couldn't come up with the perfect hero, I just made one up. I created the adventures of "Star Queen" and "Middle Man".
The next time you see someone laugh out loud for no apparent reason at all...well, it just could be someone like me using their imagination.

Next Up: MacWorld...

I loved this. It was easy to get my pass since I'd already registered online. I saw so many cool things. However, I was a bit disappointed with the first thing I saw. As wonderful as the new iMac with Intel chip is...it doesn't combine 2 platforms in one computer like I originally thought. Nope. No Windows. I was told that "is never gonna happen". Basically the chip makes the mac a ton faster than it used to be and allows the mac to support several windows applications.
And dang it, it's about time someone built in a webcam!
I walked around the place for the next 4 hours. I sat in a few demos, entered to win a free ipod, and checked out some very fancy cars (all hooked up with music in famous Apple style).
I discovered the advantages to taking and using pictures in Raw format. Apature seems easy to use, but I over heard one guy at lunch voicing his opinion that imovie is much easier. I think you get out what you put in.

It was easy to figure out what exhibitors knew would be the biggest seller. Let me give you a hint...it has to do with Apple's cash cow.

Did you say "ipod"?
Well, you're close. To be specific...the case for the ipod. I looked at so many! I already have one for my nano, but I was in the market to buy a case for an ipod video. No, I didn't actually have the unit yet, but I did find the perfect case. It's completely versatile. It is silver and black with removable clips, straps and lid.
Katie's 13th birthday is next week and today I finally bought the ipod to fill the case. I do have a friend that works for Apple and could have gotten a discount, but instead I decided to make my purchase at Best Buy. Why? For their warranty. Sure you have to pay for it, but it's the ONLY warranty that covers moisture damage (the leading cause of ipod failure, I should know) for 3 years! And the best part...I don't have to have the papers. If I lose the receipt or the warranty info they gave me (which I will lose) my warranty is still valid. Cool.

Skiing, Skywatching & Computer Drooling

I had a very busy weekend. So busy in fact, that I had a hard time waking up this morning with the realization that I did it all in only 4 days.

Let's begin with the most recent and work out way back in time.

Skiing at Bear Valley.

I thought I was in good shape. I cringed at the idea of not getting in a good workout over the weekend. But oh man did Sunday's ski day kicked my hiney! I woke up yesterday very sore. Today is the same way. It hurts to walk. On the bright side...the day was perfect for skiing. A fresh new blanket of white powder covered the slopes and the sun shined on the flakes, making them look like glitter.
It was a beautiful day. Megan took right to it again, just as she did last year, a natural born skier. Katie & Sarah (Kate's friend that we brought with us) decided they wanted to try snowboarding. I warned them that it's a bit tougher, but it was no use...they had their minds set. So after I paid the package deals for snowboards, skies, lift tickets and lessons, we all headed over to our respective rental rooms to try on boots.

*Note for next year- Bring 2 way radios!!

After riding the chair lift a couple times, we couldn't find the girls and I had to scour the place to make sure Kate & Sarah didn't miss their snowboard lesson.
Megan didn't want a lesson. She's fearless.
Well, the girls made their lesson, but Katie ditched them half way through because she was to scared to try and snowboard from the top of the mountain (which is what the class was doing next). After I got mad at her, I calmed down. She ended up not using her lift ticket AT ALL. She stayed in the baby section all day and I felt sorry for her. She really let her fear stop her from having a good time. She wasn't willing to fall.

Of course nobody likes to fall, especially me (I carried my new camera in my back pocket and nano clipped to the front). However, I did do one nice face snow plant. MB talked me into taking the triple chair lift, which is the one that goes all the way to the very top of the mountain. Even though the run was considered "intermediate" it sure seemed steep to me! I fell not long after I snapped the picture you see at the top of this page. When I got to the bottom, I was just happy to get the shot and a bit proud of myself that I didn't let fear stop me from getting it. The views up there were breath taking.
BTW- see the puffs of white that look like fog hanging in the sky? It's not fog. That is smoke from dynomite. All day we kept hearing exposives being detonated for avalanche control. I don't know why, but everyone would yell and cheer whenever the explosions rung out. Also there was a competion being held very close to the lodge. There was an announcer giving out prizes and some very good skiers who did tricks on the slide bars.

Skywatching.

The drive up to the cabin on Saturday afternoon said it all. Rainclouds and snowflakes were going to obstruck my view. However, being the eternal optimist that I am (haha) I held out a small trace of hope.
I woke up at midnight. I woke up at 1am. I woke up again at 1:45 and quickly jumped out of bed. 11 minutes! I pulled on my boots and threw on MB's big flannel jacket. Outside, the sky was a bright white. Standing in the middle of the street provided the widest view from the trees. I had no trouble seeing the sky, except for the big sloppy snowflakes landing like miniature bombs between my eyelashes.
After what seemed like forever, I hung down my head and assumed I must have missed it. But when I got back in the house, the bright red digital numbers on the bedroom alarm clock said "1:50" No Way! It's only been 5 minutes since I got up? As unreal as this seemed to me...I tried to go even slower the second time, going through the entire process again. Boots and coat, but this time I added one more thing...my ipod.
I set it to play the theme song to Star Wars and tucked it deep inside my coat. With a renewed sense of hope, I stared up once again, waiting with anticipation for Stardust to dazzle me with it's tail of burning fire. I waited there, all alone in the cold slushy snow. I felt like Linus waiting for the great pumpkin on Halloween.
I wanted to look at my ipod for the time, but was to afraid of missing it. After a while, I gave up and looked down. The numbers starring back at me read 1:58am. Either the trees were in the way, or the weather blocked it completely.
I went back to bed, waking up every hour until morning.

Computer Drooling.

Ah heck, I'll write about Macworld some other time. This post is long enough!

Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down

Hey my fellow bloggers...

Yes, I have worked a tad on my book, but that's not the main reason for my absence. I've just had one busy week. Relate? Yesterday I spent 4 hours at the beauty shop repairing the damage to my overly dyed hair (picture to be posted...ehhh, probably next week) and today I ran 10 miles with a crippling headache (caused by the chemicals I endured the day before) that I optimistically hoped would go away. I was wrong.
However...
First I must tell you the GREAT NEWS...

I just found out today that my friend, Thea, has been accepted as a candidate for a promising new stem cell surgery of which I have already discussed in length on this site. Haven't I? Yes, I'm sure I did. Moving on...

That's right folks! Thea has a big bright smile pasted on her beautiful face and has revved up her therapy workouts in anticipation of the surgery, which will take place this November in Portugal. The down side? She's got to raise about 50 grand to pay for it. Plus she will need more than that to include the special post surgery therapy treatments she will need in Michigan. I have no doubts she will do it. This is a gracious, giving community and we all love her. It may not total as much as the benefit for Alexis, coming right off the heels of that, but my optimistic side is thinking...we could raise MORE. Sure why not?

Now...MACWORLD

Ta da! I'm so excited to be going to San Francisco tomorrow. I'll start out at 6:30am, wow, that's early for me! Drive to Walnut Creek and hop on the Bart train. After traveling under the bay, I'll get off near the center where Macworld is being held. I don't get to attend any of the workshops or keynote presentations...those are mega bucks! But the expo should provide plenty of interesting toys for my never ending wishlist.
Who knows, I might even buy Katie's birthday present there...what else would a thirteen year old want? An ipod. I want to get her the 60g that hold 10,000 songs. Her library is already HUGE! She'd have a nano filled up in no time.

There is one other thing we are doing this weekend, but I won't tell you until next week. However, take a look to the stars if you happen to be awake at 1:56am and live on west coast. The link on my post title will take you to one of my favorite sites. The JPL CIT. Stardust is a nifty little spacecraft with a tennis racket shaped honeycomb attached designed to catch interstellar dust and tiny particles of our solar system. Back in 2004 astronomers were extremely excited when Stardust got as close as 150 miles within the comet "Wild 2". From that comet it was able to catch some very respectable sized dust.
It's been riding around our galaxy since it was launched in Feb. of 1999.
Makes you wonder...how we can create a vehicle that can navigate the universe for 7 years, covering a whooping 2.88 billion miles without getting any maintence at all, while failing to market a car tough enough to withstand the neglect of the average busy American.

Anyway...

Welcome home Stardust!!

Are You Normal?

Your Normalcy Quotient is: 50 out of 100.

Your quiz results make you a Wonderful Eccentric

You've earned the title of wonderful eccentric, and while you're not a wild, gun slinging maverick, you certainly like to follow your own way. Of course, you probably don't think of yourself as eccentric. As Einstein might say, "It's all relative."

Buried Treasure

Like my new dress?
I got it at the thrift store. Yeah! I snagged this designer Q shiny grey dress for only 8 bucks! Now, you might be saying...thrift stores only have old ragged used clothes.
NO WAY my friend. Although I do admit that at least half of the clothing in thrift stores are crap...there ARE some good things. You just have to look. I found 2 new dresses on this day. One even still had the tag on it. I guess women buy stuff with the hopes of losing weight and finally give up. Who knows.

Now I just need to fix my hair. As some of you know, I've been TRYING to go back to my original hair color, which is a dark brown. I have had very little success. The dark color keeps fading out. Time to call in the experts. I have an appointment set for this Wednesday. I know you don't care...but I guess I do. I'm tired of coloring it. I just want it to grow out and be what God had planned all along.

Wow- I sure sound shallow, don't I? My clothes, my hair...hehe, love me or leave me!

why can't I eat cookies?

Why do I always think I can eat cookies?

Opps, more day 4

Forgot this one...Rainforest Cafe
My personal favorite. Here's what really happens to a princess after midnight!

Actually this picture was taken at 11pm after a 14 hour day in the park! We had wanted to eat at the Rainforest cafe in Downtown Disney, but could not get a reservation all week! However, at 10:30 we were walking by and I noticed it was still open...and seemed to be empty.
How about a late dessert? I asked. of course I had takers. They sat us next to the elephants and everyone had a good time. We even bought some glasses that light up on the bottom when you push a button from underneath the cup.

And by the way....that is ROOT beer she's drinking. Came with her float. I ate half a piece of chocolate cake and woke up with a tummy ache at 4am. Sweet!

Day 4

Lego Man Snoring

Greeting from California (souvenir shop)

Cave of Wonders

Courtney's Wish

Disney's original Main Street Electrical Parade


Day 4
Since we pretty much did all the rides already, today was my day to called the shots. One of the things I really wanted to do on this trip was take in at least one great show. And with our preferred seating tickets...I couldn't wait! The word around the park was "ya gotta see Aladdin!"

After a little bit of pouting from my ride loving family members (that's all of them), we sat next to the entrance of It's a small world, for an hour waiting for the Fantasy of Dreams Parade to start. That is where we met Courtney. She is the little girl in the wheelchair pictured above. She was diagnosed with SMA (spinal muscular atrophy) when she was 1yr old. She is now 9. I noticed her caretakers and family members wearing buttons promoting the ever popular "Make a Wish" Foundation. Courtney's grandmother informed me that this is Courtney's wish. To go to Disneyland. I was touched. There are some people in this world that you just KNOW are special. I believe Courtney is. My girls asked a lot of questions about Courtney, and Megan couldn't believe that this little girl was the same age as her. They understood why she couldn't close her mouth. They understood why she didn't speak to them. They were not afraid, but felt somewhat guilty for being so healthy. Good lessons folks.

After the parade of Dreams, we headed back over to CA. Adventure. I don't remember the exact order, but I know I had a delicious turkey sub on wheat bread. Probably the ONLY place to get food without a line. Healthy food in Disneyland? Heck yeah! But no line...sad. Will take you 20 minutes to get a burger and fries though.

We had some fast passes for "Soarin California". This was a simulation theater. There are three rows of seats that are NOT attached to each other. They are only attached to a moving arm above your head. You get in and buckle up. Once secure, the arms move forward, then up and stopped so that all the seats were now vertical, facing the movie screen. We were in the third row, so the row in front of us were now above us. We could see their feet dangling. The simulation took us to all parts of California. Much of it looked like home...or the cabin. I recognized most of it. The only parts I wasn't very familiar with, was the desert. I picked out Yosemite right away and the coast, Tahoe and Redwoods.

Another thing we did on day 4 was the Grizzly Bear River Run ( I think that's what it was called). Basically, you sit in a round raft with 7 other people and get wet from the rapids. It was fun! Especially since I was sitting in the middle (didn't get that wet) and it was a nice warm sunny day. I found a great t-shirt for my dad at the store there.
It says,
UPPA CREEK CANOE RENTALS
with paddles $29.95
without paddles $2.95
I laughed my head off and knew this was the gift for my dad!! He LOVED it! Do I know him or what?

We did make it to see Aladdin. In a word....AWESOME. Dang, it was the coolest show I've seen in a LONG time. The genie was terrific!! Extremely funny. I liked when he said "SNAP GIRL, oh no you didn't!" He said that when Jasmine rejected Aladin in the beginning.
The had a big elephant that walked between the seats, a real flying carpet and just look at that Cave of Wonders! It was truly a feast for the eyes. We used our perferred seating and got front row seats. Booh yeah! While waiting in line for the show, I made another friend. This time it was an older lady vacationing with her grandaughter. They had gotten the trip paid for by a christian radio station. Why? Because there was someone missing. Back in April, the little girl's mother (the daughter of the lady I was talking to) passed away. "She had gotten sick and the medicine didn't work" were her exact words. I didn't ask her to elaborate, I just placed my hand on her shoulder and said that I was so sorry for her loss.
Their trip to Disneyland was already planned. I could see how hard this was for her to say. She couldn't disappoint her grandaughter, who BTW, was the same age as Megan. For the second time that day, I said a little prayer.

Finally we wrapped up the evening by watching a Disney classic...The Disney Main Street Electrical Parade. I saw this parade when I was just a kid. Years ago they took it away. It's been all over the world. The last place it lit up was Japan. We were lucky to see it since they only brought it back to Anaheim for 2 weeks for Christmas.

One more thing...the lego man. We were walking through Downtown Disney and I heard someone snoring. I looked around and noticed this man made of legos sitting on the bench just outside the legoland store. I SWEAR I didn't see him there all week. He had a box attached underneath the seat that rang out his snore.

And so was the end of Day 4.

Making My Sunshine

Me unhappy?
let it not be.

Just cause the rain
pounds the wet ground
and blustery breeze
topples the trees
with a crackling sound

never the weather
be sunny or grey
ravage my soul
in this stiffling way
at least not today...

A New Year's Resolution

I don't usually do these because I don't need Jan. 1st as motivation to lose weight, stop smoking or eat healthier. I naturally kick my own butt physically, never smoked a cig in my life and happen to love dried apricots.

However, there is one thing that came to mind as the clock struck midnight, WRITE MY BOOK!!

That is the one area of myself that I am truly disappointed in. I haven't gotten much further with it than I was at this time last year. Really. It's sad. I have been putting other things higher on the list of things to do. So let's take a closer look at the distractions, shall we?

#1 Distraction: THIS BLOG.
Solution: Write less on the blog and more on the book (sorry folks)

#2 Distraction: RUNNING.
Solution: Create a training plan, and stick to it!

#3 Distraction: FEAR.
Solution: Be brave and dive right in. Believe in myself a little more.

#4 Distraction: TIME.
Solution: Plan a weekend alone and head for the hills! Get myself to the cabin and dedicate large chunks of time to nothing but Annie!

There. That's my plan of action. I've outlined my goal. This will be a year of completion. At least two of my dreams will be realized. I will also run a half marathon. I will! Hopefully in Disneyland, yeah baby! No more "someday". Someday never comes and you don't get to live forever.
I will do everything I want to do before I'm 40, just in case. Long story.