Fashion Advice

What should I wear to the Dave Matthews concert?

ipod

I always feel a bit like Fred Flintstone when I go to the Y with my cheesy little radio that hooks on my pants with a big long corded set of earphones. But I really only want a radio so that I can hear what is on the YMCA televisions. I don't want to listen to music, so there's really no point in purchasing an ipod. I don't really get the ipod craze. Then again, I've never really understood any portable music craze. I prefer quiet.

Johnny

I had a wonderful, long dream lastnight about Johnny Depp. It turns out that, according to my subconscious, Johnny robs houses in his spare time. Lastnight, he fell in love with one of the girls he robbed, who he almost kidnapped but dropped her off to be with her family at Disney World. I know, it's weird.

Then, he wrote to his agent:

"I'm just writing to tell you I've fallen in love with a girl. She is neither beautiful nor talented. But I think I've got an idea for an excellent script."

Oh, my stem cells!

While I am not a big Bush fan, I am backing up his stance on the stem cell research bill. For this situation, I am reminded of that show, Law and Order. The lawyer is always told he can't use that witness or this evidence. So, after some more work, he finds another way and usually wins his case.

Stem cells can be retrieved from places other than embryos. I understand that these are donated embryos that would probably be destroyed anyway, but the government, our country, which I pay taxes to and all that stuff, should not be the ones to pay for something I consider ethically wrong. The blood can be on someone else's hands--not mine, and not the government's.

I know that Parkinson's and other diseases are devastating, but even as we cure and vaccinate and medicate, more diseases will come and people will always be dying. Let's not lose our heads in a panic over something that is inevitable (death). Chill out, think for a minute, and find another way to get stem cells.

MUSKIES!!!!!!!

December 19th, 2002...I wrote this post over Christmas break because I could hardly stand to be away from my Muskies for a month. Now we've been apart for over two years. :( So, I've decided to repost it, just on the off chance that someone will feel bad and visit me.


"Would my Muskies come visit me if told the I was dying? I thought of that today and wrote a nice rhyming poem that has really poor rhythm, but bear with me. Here it is:



Dead By Saturday

I’ll be dead by Saturday, my dear,
So you better come quick.
You need to be here.

I’ll be dead by Saturday, my dearest.
When I take my last breath,
I do want you nearest.

I’ll be dead by Saturday, my love.
When I pass
It’s you I’ll be thinking of.

I’ll be dead by Saturday, my star.
So drive on up and don’t say
It’s too far.

I’ll be dead by Saturday, I swear!
Practice what you'll say as my life comes to a close.
I know you must care.

I’ll be dead by Saturday, my darling.
I can already feel myself
Slowly drifting...the angels are calling.

I’ll be dead by Saturday, my sweet sugar plum!
I’m not faking! I promise, it’s true.
When I’m gone, won’t YOU feel dumb!

I’ll be dead by Saturday, my dear,
So please come very soon.
I’m slipping away, I fear.

I feel so tired, so weak, so alone...
Why, why aren’t you here?
Call in the troops! They’ll bring you, I know.

Won’t you hold my hand as I leave, my dear?
For I’ll be dead by Saturday,
And that is ever so near!"

Is the world getting better or worse?

What do you think?

Kids are psychotic.

Some kids are psychotic. I don't like kids who don't know how to control their voice level. It drives me nuts.

Disney or Die

We bought Disney season passes so now we have to go at least about five times in the next twelve months to get our money's worth.

Teaching preschool is a breeze compared to first grade. Loving it. So far.

I'm really busy.

Like It's 1999

While it would have been cool to watch the fireworks at the beach, John and I decided the traffic afterwards just wouldn't be worth it. It's too bad we don't live in the parking lot of Dravenstott's. That was very convenient.

Instead, we sat for a few hours talking to some friends of ours, which was nice because we rarely have serious dialog with anyone besides each other. I am tired of small talk with people all the time.

We had a "Christmas in July" party yesterday for the youth group kids. They even bought each other gag gifts. The best gift was a roll of toilet paper and some anti-diarrheal pills. Funny stuff.

Our church often has meatballs as an appetizer at events like this, and everytime they make me a little bit sick. Everytime I eat them anyway. And now I feel sick.

Am I blind?

So, I'm reading this book called Blue Like Jazz. Just about every evangelical Christian in the world is reading it as well. I'm on the sixth chapter and basically, it's a very honest Christian explaining his ideas and his faith and his thoughts on God. It's a train of thought book, which is my favorite type of book of book. I like it almost as much as phyllo dough.

The book gets a person thinking. I mean, it makes me think about my own ideas about God before and after "becoming a Christian." The people in the book really struggle with "becoming a Christian," probably because they're older (I mean, about my age), and they feel like they can't become a Christian because it's so irrational. Because everyone knows Christians are dumb, walking around with blind faith, giving money to the Republicans, letting a pastor tell them what to think and how to feel.

I guess I never saw Christianity that way before I was a Christian, and now that I am one (surrendered life to Jesus, believe He died for me...) I see Christianity that way more and more as I get older. Am I being brainwashed by the world? Brainwashed by my church?

I believe, and hope, that God intends to raise up a new type of Christian. More people like this Don guy who wrote this book, and the people in his story. We ought not to put our faith blindly into anything, or say we believe because we know "it's true in our hearts." Find some evidence, people! Do a little research.

Don't you think all Christians feel like they're trying to be David Copperfield when they're talking to a "non-believer" about Christ? Don't you think Christians all feel like complete morons when they try to explain how, yes, Noah's Ark could have really happened? But, to quote the book here, God makes about as much sense to me as I make sense to an ant.

FETA!

I bought feta cheese for the first time today. I really like feta. I made something called spanakopita triangles, a Greek appetizer. I just call them spank a pitas. Anyway, they're very yummy and made with phyllo dough, which is one of my favorite things in the whole world.

Next time, I am going to do the same thing, but use cheesecake filling and cherries instead of spinach, feta, and mushrooms. Now that's some good eatin'.

I need to catch up on some old movies, so I am thinking about renting or buying some classics. I was inspired by some book at Border's about the 500 movies everyone has to see. I'm not sure why Tremors was listed as one.

I'm too sexy for this furniture!

I'm proud of John and myself (that sounds stupid). But yes, I'm proud of us. We've resisted the itch to just go out and buy new furniture. We're still chillin with the (pink and turquoise) flower garden couch with chair and dining room furniture to match. Along with our own black and red accents. Matches beautifully, let me tell you. But everytime we are expecting guests (which happens maybe once a month), I start to fantasize and wish for the furniture of my dreams which is...

I have no idea. I'd have to have an entire plan of my house to know what furniture I want and how can I do that if we don't even own our house and we can't paint or anything! Aggghhh!

So, I was considering getting the furniture steam cleaned. At least that would make things a little better, right? I saw one of the matching pieces at John's mom's the other night, and holy canolli...we are dirty folks. The chair that matches our loveseat is so white compared to it's mate. It's borderline repulsive.

So what do you guys know about steam cleaning?

by reason of insanity

Andrea Yates. Mothers killing their children.

Many, if not all, of these mothers who kill their children were diagnosed with severe mental disorders before their children's murders. Andrea Yates was one of those mothers diagnosed only with depression yet had attempted suicide numerous times. She fell into some serious religious fanaticism as well. By this time, I would say she is unable to make logical decisions, so I'm going to switch the whole decision-making process to her husband. He had his family living in a 350-square foot bus. He let her home school the children although she had always been reclusive and was still obviously suffering from depression.

Obviously, she was insane. Anyone who pre-meditates murder and kills a living creature, I think, must be at least a little bit insane. She should be locked up somewhere (institution or prison) for the rest of her life. Of course her family wants her to be in institutionalized.

About a year before the murders: "...she began to self mutilate and refused to feed her children because she felt they were eating too much. She thought there were video cameras in the ceilings and said that the characters on television were talking to her and the children. She told Rusty about the hallucinations, yet neither of them informed Andrea's psychiatrist, Dr. Starbranch. On July 20, Andrea put a knife to her neck and begged her husband to let her die."

Is this someone you'd leave home alone with five children all day, every day, alone?

When I hear about cases like this, I immediately think of the fathers of these children, the husbands of these wives. Andrea had five kids in eight years. She didn't have friends. She was living in a bus for most of those years until her family finally urged her retarded husband to buy a house. Doctors gave her meds but never observed any psychotic behaviors. But Mr. Yates observed these behaviors, and yet he let it all continue.

I think Andrea should be institutionalized and Rusty Yates should be in prison. "But not very much was known about mental illness five years ago," says the news. Hmmm.

Gay Marriage

Just kidding! I'm not writing about gay marriage today.

I made a stupid mistake. I got John's birthday present online because I just couldn't wait and paid with my debit card. That means John can see, plain as day, exactly what I bought him on our checking account. Oh dear.

When we have kids we're going to buy the boxed sets of the Smurfs and The Little House on the Prairie. Our kids can watch those instead of these stupid cartoons they have on today.

Our cat is losing her mind. We got her this toy that she is obsessed with. She's either laying on top of it or constantly watching it, as if it's going to disappear. And if it doesn't move for a while (as in, we are not playing with her), she comes up and bites our toes, legs, fingers, etc. She just walks up and bites us! Unbelievable!

My Inner Puppy Dog

You Are a Boxer Puppy

Energetic, playful and good with kids. You've also got a wild spirit that can't be trained or tamed.

What Breed of Puppy Are You?

How I Love

Your Five Variable Love Profile

Propensity for Monogamy: Your propensity for monogamy is high. You find it easy to be devoted and loyal to one person. And in return, you expect the same from who you love. Any sign of straying, and you'll end things. Experience Level: Your experience level is high. You've loved, lost, and loved again. You have had a wide range of love experiences. And when the real thing comes along, you know it! Dominance: Your dominance is low. This doesn't mean you're a doormat, just balanced. You know a relationship is not about getting your way. And you love to give your sweetie a lot of freedom. Cynicism: Your cynicism is medium. You'd like to believe in true and everlasting love... But you've definitely been burned enough to know better. You're still an optimist, but you also are a realist. Independence: Your independence is medium. In relationships, you need both "me time" and "we time." You usually find it easy to be part of a couple. But occasionally you start to feel a little smothered.

The Five Variable Love Test

I miss everyone.

the bad doctor

I visited "the bad doctor" yesterday, and I have many strange emotions associated with "the bad doctor."

Every woman is supposed to visit "the bad doctor" at least every other year. I have to go every year in June because of my history with tumors. Lucky me. Anyway, as soon as I flip the calendar to May, I begin to silently sulk. When May is over, I usually just keep the calendar on May for a while, just to stall time a bit.


After that, I go into an avoidance phase and look for staircases, balconies, fast-moving traffic...anything I could throw myself into or over to avoid visiting "the bad doctor."

Then, I start thinking about how I will reward myself (or how John can reward me) for this miraculous feat of visiting "the bad doctor." This time I decided to set my sights on Bahama Breeze, a Jamaican restaurant about an hour away that I have been to with coworkers. John has never been there, and I was hoping to get him hooked so that we can go, like, twice a month, and visit surrounding places.

So, needless to say, I got through it, and it always ends up not being so bad afterall. The really psychotic part of it is that, no kidding, I feel like flippin' Superwoman after the appointments. I also feel that I deserve every gosh darn thing I want. So I went to Target and spent an obscene amount of money on things that I don't really need and hoped that I could beat John home so that I could distract him from looking at our bank account...

But he beat me. And he wasn't too mad. And he still took me to Bahama Breeze. And Border's, even, where we bought some new healthy recipe books.

Our diet/fitness program is going extremely well. I am feeling much, much better than I was, and the food is super. I'm also never hungry. However, I'm trying to wean myself off of caffeine. I went about two days with zero caffeine. Then, at Bahama Breeze, I downed three glasses of Coke. Mind you, I never, never, never empty a glass at any restaurant. Until now. My headache went away and I was bouncy energized all night. It was GREAT!

Here are some very good books to try:

Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook: I am not a diet-food person, but every page has a recipe that sounds delicious, with normal ingredients we actually have already. There's pizza, meatloaf, spaghetti, breads...everything you can think of, simply made. The book is huge as well. Good investment, only 30 bucks.

Super Smoothies (Barber and Whiteford): I have a new passion for smoothies since discovering that they don't need to have milk or ice cream in them. This has great ideas for smoothie ingredients, like some with Gatorade in them to have after workouts, chocolate soy milk (I love it!), one to drink if you have an upset tummy, on for PMS cravings and cramps, all kinds of yummy ideas! $16.95

The Complete Book of Core Training by Kurt, Brett, and Mike Brungardt: I don't like doing book reviews, can you tell? I'm getting tired now. I'm convinced I always quit working out because of injuries, and all those injuries lead back to my back, my core muscles, which is what this book aims to correct. Just trust me.

Summertime...

What to do with myself? Start a new hobby? I thought about painting dishes. John hates that idea. Go shopping? Yeah. I like this idea. Especially because I'm in some outrageous magazine club and I now get Glamour and Elle delivered to our house every month. It really does make me want to go out and get the stuff they're talking about. Except the belts you put over your shirts...I'm not ready for that yet. I usually think it looks great on other people, but I'd feel like an idiot doing it myself. Or wearing boots over my jeans. Hmmm. I can't do that. Can't do that.

I did finally get into the book God-Shaped Hole by Tiffanie DeBartolo. While I didn't like the book or the characters very much at first, I fell in love with both of them by page 80 or so and as I closed in on the end, I had to stop reading it. It's obvious by the cover that the guy in the book dies, and I just couldn't bear it. So, Trixie, Jacob Grace may have died in your world, but he's still alive in mine!

I went on to my second book recommended by Autumn, The Little Friend by Donna Tarrt, which I am really enjoying. Someone in the airport asked me if it was like a John Grisham novel and I had no idea what to say, as I have never read a John Grisham book and I stay away from writers who come out with more than three books a week. I feel that's a good strategy.

new pet peeve

Since Chris is here, we've been taking turns riding in the backseat. This has led to the discovery of a new pet peeve. It's always bothered me, but I just realized how it irritates me.

I hate it when people in the front seat roll their windows down, totally disregarding the person in the back. I mean, it's nice when they ask if they can. "Hey, do you mind if I roll down my window?" Yes, I mind. I am going to look like flippin' Napolean Dynamite if you do that. GOSH! Idiots!

Sorry for quoting the movie there. I hate it when people quote that movie, and since I just saw it for the first time, it's hard to resist. Now I understand why people quote it so much.

Anyway, I know all the cool girls ride with the windows down. But since I no longer care about impressing men (besides my husband), I'd just like to point out two things. Number one, I have curly hair, and while I'm not the type to hyperventilate if my hair gets messed up, I don't want to look like that girl from Welcome to the Dollhouse. Second, it is officially hot as I can imagine hell ever being, and rolling the window down does nothing but dry out my eyes and make me angry.

So there.

Another pet peeve is people who always say "Oh, ABSOLUTELY!"

Do you think I could get soy milk in my mocha? "Oh, absolutely!"
Do you guys carry this purse in orange as well? "Absolutely!"

I don't know what you think, but that just doesn't make sense. Usually I would just say yes, sure, or of course.