Happy Post Valentine's Day and President's Day

Did you know that Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born on exactly the same day? February 12, 1809. Kinda interesting, huh? That's a lot of influence and impact on American and global society for one day. Celestial focus like a laser beam, baby!

February is a pretty cool month. It's singularly unique among all the other months in the number of days it has. It's the month all these cool prezzies were born, and it's the month of VALENTINE'S DAY! I love Valentine's Day. I hear people say things like, "it's just another one of those holidays invented by Hallmark . . ." and I think it's sad. First of all, Valentine's Day is a lot older than most people think, AND it's a global holiday - not just something we do here in good ole commercial America. There are several "origins" of the holiday, or really, more appropriately, several religions and traditions honored with this day, and it has melded and evolved over time into a wonderful celebration of love and friendship. The card-giving extravaganza we know today in America began during the mid-1800s. Card and note giving was already going on in England when an American woman glommed on to the idea and used her father's stationery business as a means to manufacture and distribute the new Valentine's Day cards. And the rest is history. I remember that I loved Valentine's Day when I was in grade school, even though I wasn't the most popular little girl. Didn't matter. I still got to use the red and pink and white construction paper to make hearts and cupids and stick them on one of those white craft bags and tape to to my desk. I also got to tear all the perforated valentines with funny sayings and choose who got which - putting a special one for teacher in an envelope first. There were always one to two "Teacher" Valentines in the box. And I still like to celebrate Valentine's Day. And this year, the sweetie and I had a really good one.

We stayed at an old Victorian Hotel in Port Townsend. Here's a picture of my sweetie in the parlor where we were going through local menus trying to figure out where we were going to go for dinner on Saturday night. We got into PT on Friday night and went to The Public House. Kristopher had a steak and I had some fish and chips. They did a great job on both, but the steak was just amazing! It was the best steak I'd tasted since I've been in Seattle. And fifteen years is a long, friggin' time. Anyway, we went back to the hotel early because it looked like PT had gone to bed for the night when we finished at the restaurant about 10:30. When it was officially midnight, Kristopher gave me my Valentine's present which was a beautiful red, velvet heart filled with truffles. Lots of them. Like 50. lol! Maybe I'll have to take them to the office and give them away. That's a lot of chocolate.

The next morning we got up and, after taking our sweet time in the room, er...um...anyway we went to a local joint called SeaJ's which is on the working end of the waterfront behind a hotel where I stayed when I had a visit with my friend Laurie Smith. Kristopher went off hunting for the weekend, and used our room as a base camp for his operations, and Laurie and I hung out all day and messed around PT. Anyway, Kristopher and I had a hearty breakfast at SeaJ's amongst the locals. After breakfast we went over to Swain's, an "outdoor outfitter" place which was more of an "everything" kind of store. It actually reminded me of the old-fashioned Woolsworth's store. Speaking of, we also went to a drugstore that still had a soda fountain in the back - old school, with chrome, red-topped stools and pull-handle Coca-cola dispensers behind the counter. I LOVE PT. It's like walking into the past.

Anyway, after quite a bit of shopping (more than either of us generally do in a month) we went back to the hotel for a nap. Well, after we went to the local co-op and bought some water and apples and the two biggest cookies we'd ever seen. After the nap, we got up and got out some more - this time going downtown and walking up and down trying to find places we might want to eat for dinner. We had been out playing and waited so long, however, we wound up going to the Nifty Fifties restaurant for our Valentine's Day dinner. But that was actually great. Nifty Fifties is really a cool place. They've gone to a lot of trouble to make it as authentically 50s as they could. And, we just happened to be in there on the same night as this group of about 15 teenagers who were all decked-out in 50s attire and out for a night on the town. I first noticed them when I saw this perfectly "Fonzie" dude sitting at the soda counter.
When it was getting about time for them to close (unbelievably this place closes at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday night....) the whole group got together and had a picture taken. I wish I had been thinkin' straight - I would have gotten a picture of them as well. But I only just learned how to focus my GD camera, so gimme a break. After dinner, we went to the movies to see the new Clint Eastwood flick, "Gran Torino" at the local theatre in uptown. It looked like it used to maybe be an old playhouse, but I didn't read anything on it so I won't say anymore. What I will say is that if you haven't seen Gran Torino, go see it. If you like anything Clint Eastwood has done, go see it. You won't be disappointed.

Next day we got up and got our stuff packed to leave. We went and had breakfast at the Bayview restaurant. How's THAT for a little brand recognition, eh? We both had a special called a "BOB" which is an acronym for "Bayview on a Biscuit". And it just so happened that our waitress, Cinda, was the inspiration for that dish. We got the whole scoop. Seems that when she was pregnant with her daughter (who is now 7 years old), she kept craving a particular configuration of Bayview breakfast items. And, after they'd made it for her so much, and she had turned other customers on to it, they just put it on the menu. It was on there when she got back after delivering her child. So we had a great breakfast there, and went back to downtown PT where the shops were yawning open and we went to the local pagan bookstore: Phoenix Rising. What a great store. She has so much SHIT in there, it's not even funny! Anyway, bought a few things there, then went over to the candle shop, bought a few things there. We went to an antique book store called "Insatiable Books" where I purchased a "Washington Monitor and Freemason's Guide" from 1945. It belonged to a Master Mason who was installed into the order in 1946. Anyway, I found the place to be intoxicating. I was so "crowed" (self-coined term for what happens to me when I go into shops containing items of intense interest such as old books, jewelry, etc...) when I went in there I didn't think to get out my camera and take pictures. But I've got my little book. (Just took a big sniff of those old pages....lovely!)

Let's see...then we went into the Bishop hotel where we met the proprietress and chatted her up about the place. This is probably where we'll stay the next time we go. All of the PT merchants are very concerned about the upcoming bridge closure that's going to start at the head of their life-sustaining tourist season. If you're reading this and thinking about planning a mini-vacation getaway between May 1 and June 20, think about going to PT and staying anywhere. Spend some bux over there. I hate seeing all those empty storefronts and we have to support our local destinations if we expect them to weather this economic storm.

After talking to our friend at The Bishop, we were both pretty tired and ready to go home and see our kitties, we lucked out and got on the Keystone ferry and headed back toward the mainland. Here we are taken at mister man's arm's length:

When we got home to Lynnwood, we topped off our weekend with a visit to the Claim Jumper restaurant where we ate too much and drank too much and had too much fun.

This was a great Valentine's Day. I have to say it was the very best we've had together and I can't wait 'til next year. I hope it's just as good and better. Nighty-night everyone! I gotta go to bed. Another work day tomorrow, and man...am I ever thankful I am among the fortunate ones who can say that. BB!

Why Do All The Little Microsoft Gizmos Always Suck Ass?

I ask you...why can't Microsoft, biggest fuckin' corporation on the planet - okay, mebbe not quite, but still pretty damn big - make a friggin' MP3 player that doesn't go tits-up a week after you buy the damn thing? I ask you! I'm out on their site and it's ass-flavored.

Now I have to go and take back a thing that I didn't buy for myself to a store that I never would have bought it in. Damn good thing I didn't get rid of my Sansa and didn't stop my subscription to Rhapsody. Guess I'd better go to bed. It's only Tuesday...don't want to be shootin' the wad this early in the week.

On a more pleasant note...I've been enjoying Facebook quite a bit the past several days. I threw a monkey at my sister-in-law, and that rocked. lol!

Going Back to Work Tomorrow

Well, it's been twelve days since the phone call from my sisgter telling me that Mother was gone. I got back into town on Friday around lunch time. I'm very glad to be back home to my familiar surroundings. I thought it was going to help quell the sadness better than it has. This has actually hit me a lot harder than I expected. There have also been side-lessons that I really didn't anticipate.

Anyway, I'm hoping that going back to work is going to be the glue that brings me back together.

My Mother Died on Wednesday, January 14

Well, it's happened. I can't say that I didn't expect it, because I did. I have expected it for a long time now as my Mother has been getting sicker and weaker over the past couple of years. But it doesn't matter how long you've been expecting it or bracing yourself for it - when it comes, it's still a horrific experience that you really don't know how to handle - or at least I'm not planning to write any self-help books on the subject any time soon. My sisters and neices and nephews feel the same way. My own children, Tim and Andrea, have been away for the past 15 years - and it's actually been that long since Tim has seen her - Andrea saw her just a couple of years ago so it's a bit different for her. Still, I now that it stung them, even with the time and distance. But a mom is different than a Grandma, no matter how you want to slice it. It's strange, but I'm beginning to see the edges of understanding that there is an invisible umbilicus that connects us all to our mothers - no matter how old we are. And only this most final of partings can sever it. It's the strangest feeling of being orphaned. My father has been gone now since 1972, so in a sense, I guess I really am an orphan now. The photograph at the head of this post is of my mom when she was 16 years old. Isn't that something? Look how young and vibrant she looks. **sigh**

I'm sitting in a motel room in a place called Ardmore, Oklahoma. It's where I grew up until I was 18 and moved away to Texas. It is also the final resting place of my parents and my maternal family My sisters and I have been through the wringer with the final disposition of my mother. There have been two funerals - one in the town where my mother has lived for the past 8 years - the town that my sister and brother-in-law call home, and this town. So, I flew in with Mr. Kristopher on Wednesday after getting the call, and Thursday saw us making funeral arrangements, picking music and caskets and ministers and so forth, and Friday was for making sure that all was right and the body was ready for viewing at the funeral home - of course that first time you see your loved one all decked out in their eternal finery it's quite a shocker. And then Saturday was the first funeral - cried and cried...don't remember much else about the day other than we went back to my sister's house and cooked a big meal. Don't think my sister was too keen on that, but I think she got through it okay. Myself, I needed something familiar and busy to do, and it was good to see everyone together and having food and laughing and talking. One of those "affirmation of life" moments that I know my mother would have approved. Then Sunday was for seeing Kristopher off back to Seattle - which was and has been rough on me - I sure miss him being here with me. He was a huge help, and it was so wonderful just to have him to cuddle up next to. Anyway, we caravaned him to the airport to turn in the rental car on our way to this town, which is about 3 hours south of where we were as the crow flies - we got into town yesterday, got a motel room, got almost no sleep and then we had to get up and go through another funeral. I thought I had cried myself dry at the last one, but hell no....not at all....this one was worse. After having thought about it, I believe I have identified the pivotal moment when it GOT worse too. It was when I saw my cousin who lives in a town called Moore, Oklahoma - and I hadn't seen this dude since I was 12 years old. As soon as I saw him, it was like a switch going off in my head that said, "this is your mother's funeral - she has really died and that is why these old relatives are coming out of the woodwork" and that was kind of like a sucker punch. So there was another 2 hour round of crying. The service was nice and it was good to see the old relative show up and exchange email addresses and so forth, but it was completely exhausting. Then we went out to a restaurant where I had a dry steak with no flavor (not sure it wasn't the day and not the facility...not likely to ever eat there again to find out - but oh well). Then went and bought silk flowers and drove to the graveyard to make new arrangments for the urns which were already in place on my Dad's and Mom's duel gravestone. Then, I went back to the funeral home on my own to say a rosary (not my path, but my mom's and I felt like I owed it to her since she did not have a mass for a service - both sisters have now gone protestant! Though who am I to say anything about THAT?) After the rosary, I had a little more talking to do to my mother while in the presence of the body she occupied for 80 years - then I put some flowers in with her, touched her hands for the last time, closed the coffin lid and felt more tired than I ever thought possible. I decided to do something - ANYTHING to take my mind off of all of this (Six days of NON-STOP fun, lemme tell ya) so I went to see a movie. That stupid "Mall Cop" - which was just the sort of vacant stupidity that I needed. So I did get at least 1.5 hours of respite. After that it was wandering around this little town in the car - wanting something but having no idea what - and wanting nothing at all; feeling lonely, yet not wanting any of the company that was around for me to enjoy - like my sister, brother-in-law or niece, being hungry, yet not wanting anything to eat - and, well, you get the picture.

It is a no win situation, lemme tell ya. So, I wandered around a bit more, found a salad to bring back to my room and decided to blog. So now you're all caught up.

My mother, Theresa Ann Chitwood, died peacefully in her sleep in her own home. My sister, through no small effort, was able to keep the old girl out of a nursing home, which I'm sure she is VERY proud of. I hope she's proud anyway, I am certainly proud of her. I'm not sure I could have done it. It is absolutely CERTAIN that I would not have been able to accomplish that feat from 2500 miles away.

Tomorrow is the interment. One more thing, and then I can say that I saw this all the way to the end of the road. I will throw the handful of dirt - say my final, final goodbyes, and then likely not revisit this town again for a long, long time - if at all.

I'm really hoping to come home sooner than I planned, which is Friday. I really want to be back with my own immediate family and to feel things that seem normal once again. Nothing has felt normal, with the possible exception of the keys on this purple lappy, for the past six days and it's exhausting. Here's a last picture of my mom for this post. She was pretty puny in this picture, but she was an apple of health compared to the way she was in the very end.

This picture was taken during my visit in 2006 and my mom was still walking with her walker then. She had not walked since October of 2007 following a fall and a bad break to her right leg.

I loved that old woman, and I know that her spirit lives on in all of us left behind. I know that she is out of pain. It's those of us who remain here, missing her, that hurt now.

And with that, I bid you goodnight.

ZUNE RULES!!!

So I got a Zune .mp3 player from a friend for a late Christmas present a couple of days ago, and it is COOL! I've been using the Rhapsody music service for just over 2 years now, and have been really happy with it, but it's fun to learn new stuff, and this is a Microsoft service. And, being the consummate geek, nerd, MS fan-girl that I am, it's pretty cool to be hooked in to the service. Here's a picture of the little Zune player.

It's 8GB, and holds pics, videos, music, audio books, etc... So, pretty cool...I spent five hours on the Zune site two nights ago when I set it up. It takes a while to get a decent music collection going. Right now I'm listening to Boston's greatest hits or some shit. It's pretty cool. There's a Zune online community where you can meet people who have similar tastes in music. My shit's all over the map though, so I'm really not interested in using that. I may listen to Rob Zombie or A Perfect Circle or even Disturbed - it doesn't mean that I want to sidle up to a bunch of skin head freakazoids. And I may listen to the Cranberries and the Smashing Pumpkins, but that doesn't mean that I want to pierce my tongue and get a tramp stamp. So, new MS music service, super cool...worth lookin' into if you're into that kinda thing.

So what else is goin' on? Let's see....had church last night. That was good. Always makes for a better start on the following week. I'm having some ice cream - or a I was...now the kitty is having what was left in the bowl, which was basically the meltins'. Kristopher is reading a book (What Color is Your Parachute 2009) And all is peaceful and right in the Skelton household.

Monday is on its way, and far too quickly. So I guess I'll post this since I can't think of another thing to say. **sigh** I gotta think of some more good music too.

Wooo Hoo! It's 2009!

Well, it's been a while since I've posted and with good goddamn reason. It's been the friggin' holidays and I've been running around like someone gave me a bucket of cocaine and a time machine back to 1981.

We had a nice Christmas celebration here at the house, and I took some of my ususal, wonderful photographs. Here, lemme share with you:



Okay, though it may look like I was running through the living room being chased by wild dogs when I took this picture, I can assure you that I was standing as still as I could and snapping yon pickage.

And check out this next offering .. . Geezuz.... I'm tellin' you that I am the shittiest photographer EVER.



Again, looks like a scene from Logan's friggin' Run. I did actually take a picture or two that wasn't so bad. They were pictures of the tree and packages. Those sucker stayed still long enough for me to snap 'em. And one of my friends, you know who you are, wanted to see pics of the tree.

So here's our blue tree....


And here are a couple of close-ups:





So there's a little taste of Christmas at the Skelton household. Those pics were taken on the evening of the 25th, as that's when Tim Allen (the son) and Andrea (the daughter) came over with their significant others and we had Christmas.

Leading up to the event was some of the snowiest weather I've seen in my fourteen years here in Seattle and lots of work, work, work. I got stuck in Redmond on the 18th after one of my spine appointments and wound up having to hole-up in a hippy coffee shop there which I found thoroughly enjoyable, and bought some stuff there too. I also gave Kristopher his present early, and it was a good thing, because it was an XBox 360, and to me there's nothing worse than getting a video game (much less a PLATFORM) on Christmas and then not getting to play with it because there are people over and dinner to be eaten, etc....

Now I didn't take detailed pictures of Christmas dinner because I did that weird shit on Thanksgiving.

Oh, but there was a pre-Christmas Christmas at Kristopher's mom's place where I took this fantastic picture of my brother and sister-in-law:


I think they're quite the cutie couple there with their little picka-poo, Thor. And while I'm at it, lemme show you some pics of my little hubbie who loooooooves Christmas so much, and loves getting his picture taken even more. Doesn't he look like he's about to take the camera from me and shove it up my ass in this first one? Maybe that's why my camera work is so shaky....

And finally, here's an image of my husband that displays how he really feels about the whooooole Christmas season.


Okay, I'm gonna go do something else right now, but I wanted to put up a post before it got too much later in the month. I'd like to start blogging more often, and will try. Wooo Hoo!

Wow! It's December 19 and there is Snow on EVERYTHING!

Okay...if this post cuts off abruptly, don't think anything of it. I have vowed that no matter what I have said or haven't said, I will be posting this before I put this box down for more than just going back and refilling my glass. That's right ... no more of these tired-ass, posted three weeks later posts...

Okay, I have no idea what I'm gonna talk about...oh wait! Yes I do! Almost all of the presents are wrapped and ready to go. The tree looks really good - all full and shit. But tomorrow it will start to get depleated. Oh! And did I mention that I am drinking for the first time in about a year? No? Well, I am. I haven't drank because of the meds I was on, but I've been off of those for nearly two months, and so now I can have a drink again. Okay...a drink or five. I had a crazy assed craving for whiskey sours today, so I cracked at the mix and am on my, well, when I get up to refill it, my third drink. I have a giant bowl of popcorn sitting next to me and that's tasty too. The housetops that I can see out our picture window are all white and fluffy, and the blue and crystal tree is awesome as well. Life is good. I'm trying to decide whether I want to go out for a walk.

I'm looking forward to all the Yule and Christmas doin's we've got scheduled coming up. I don't have any pics to post . . . but I'm going to have to post anyway. ha ha!

And a Couple of Birthdays Come and Almost Gone

It seems like everything has been set on fast forward these past many, many weeks. Today is December 9 (REALITY CHECK: It is actually December 19 - 11 friggin' days after I wrote this post - but I refuse to delete it entirely since I can't remember what I was thinking at the time), and it's my birthday. It's been a really good one too. Quiet and simple as far as celebration goes, and yet, not at all.

Also covered by this post is Andrea's birthay which was a whopping TWO WEEKS ago. Here's a picture from it:



Needless to say, I'm a little behind. With good reason. I had a class to create on a piece of very complicated software for a presentation that happened yesterday. That had me riding pretty high on adreniline for most of the referenced two weeks. As soon as Thanksgiving was over, I hit the trenches in earnest with that and didn't let up until it was done...and it wasn't done until around midnight on Sunday. All worth it though.

So...back to birthdays. Mine was good, as I've already said. And it was good despite the fact that I had a 6:30 spinal relief clinic appointment, a toe-nail removal at 8:30, (this required getting a deadening shot in the toe which is a form of torture that is legal for podiatrists to use in this country - apparently), and a holiday party at the office for which I had agreed to sing at 12:30. It was quite the busy day, lemme tell ya. But everything worked out wonderfully. Even though I was late for my spine appointment - and late because I thought that I missed my exit and got myself all turned around so I could come back the other way on 405 and re-approach it - only to realize that I hadn't overshot it in the first place. Did I mention that it was about 6:15 a.m. and I'd had maybe five hours sleep the night before? Hmm? Anyway, the folks at the Spinal Relief Center always make me feel pretty good about my day (I'm really gonna miss 'em when the treatments are all completed) - but I digress . . . as USUAL.

At work I had to hurry up and get shit done because we had our office party today and it started at noon. I couldn't get out of there 'til 12:30, but made it over to the party just in time for the food to be delivered. Time enough, I guess. The Figgy Pudding carrolers got back together for a command performance and that was fun. If you don't know what I'm talking about, nevermind...it's really kinda sad. Anyway, then I stopped off by GameStop to pick up a case for the PSP. Yesterday all I did was charge the thing - today, I actualy played it. :) I played some God of War and it was really cool. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself now! I can't seem to win...I either run completely off course, or get ahead of myself. Anyway, fuck it! I had some lovely roses and cupcakes a couple of books I'd put on my Amazon list waiting for me when I got home to the little man. Here's the pic:



We were going to a movie, but I opted for staying home and playing with my PSP.

Okay . . . given the fact that it's actually 12-19, and not 12-09 anymore - I think I'm gonna post this friggin' thing

Man...All He Wanted Was a Red Rider BB Gun!

Well, it's that time of year again . . . yep. Christmas time is here. The one time of year we encourage our kids to sit on the laps of funny-smelling old men, stroke their beards and take candy from them. Yep. The American Christmas - nothin' quite like it.

I just thought I'd share these precious-moment photos of a friend's kid getting into the spirit of things.

Thanksgiving A-Plenty!

Well, we've had our Thanksgiving holiday, and lots of it. It started last weekend when Tim Allen, Polly, Andrea and her new beau, Bill, came over for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. It had been a couple of years since I cooked one, so I went NUTSO! I've got a bunch of pics to prove what a nut case I am too! I thought I'd do a little show and tell. Who knows? One of you may need to reference this page to cook your own turkey one day. (Possibly even one of my children)

Okay, the first thing I did is bake my own bread especially for the purpose of staling it and using it in the cornbread stuffing the following weekend. So this rising bread here was done 7 days prior to the dinner.

This may seem a little bit much for some of you, but I want you to know that it DOES make a difference in the way the stuffing comes out. The bread has to have a lot of body so that it doesn't get soggy. I HATE soggy stuffing.

I also made a carrot cake for one of the desserts. Here my ceramic kitchen buddies look on approvingling.

So after I got the desserts taken care of, and I didn't take pics of all of them, but I did a Bavarian salad the night before as well as two pumpkin pies, I got up at 6:30 Sunday morning and began working on the turkey. The first thing to do with a turkey is to take it out of the bag and wash it. After washing it in the sink with room temperature water, you need to give it a salt bath. Check out yon pictures.




So after you've rinsed out all the innerds...you simply need to pour salt into the cavity of the bird, and vigorously rub the insides. You are using this as an abrasive and thoroughly cleaning the inside of the bird that is going to become the roasting cavity for the stuffing.


Speaking of stuffing, you need to have it all ready and sitting somewhere near the turkey so you can get it all stuffed in. I use a nice serving spoon and shovel it gently into the cavity. The main cavity isn't the only place I stuff either. I also stuff the back cavity so that I don't have a turkey with that weird indentation when I get finished.


Another thing thing you need to do is to take care of the neck and giblets (the heart and liver). Put them into a sauce pan with lots of water. This is later going to become the liquid for your giblet gravy, and to moisten the stuffing that goes into the oven to cook outside of the bird.


After the turkey is stuffed in the main cavity, and the back cavity, then it's time to do a little surgical sewing on it. I had to sew the back flap closed so that it wouldn't come open and look strange. So it's a needle and thread and get to sewin!

The best way to finish, is to get the turkey on the roaster rack, dry it off with a paper towel, then oil it with olive oil. I also ground some fresh black pepper on it before it went into the oven. I cooked it at 350 for the first 1/2 hour, then turned it down to 325. You cook turkey for basically 15 minutes per pound. This was a 20 pound turkey, so we were down for 5 hours.


Here's what the turkey looked like cooking.


So after the turkey had been cooking for a few hours, and just before the kids got there, I set up the appetizers. Really wish I wasn't one of THE worst photographers ever. I'm trying, but my improvement is slow and barely perceptible.


So here's Andrea and Bill, and the little baby dog Trixie. They got there just before noon.


Here's Kris and Tim Allen basting the turkey.



Andrea and Polly snacking on stuff before dinner. There were veggies, a cheese ball, and Hickory Farms crackers and dates, and cream cheese with olives in celery. Yum!


I'm not sure if this was supposed to be a commentary on the turkey or what! lol! Actually, I know it wasn't...she's just a little turd!



And here's me....ready to cut the bird!

And so a slicin' we will go...


And here's my son trying to get across the kitchen without getting his picture taken. Tough luck!

And here is Andrea and Polly. Andrea took my camera outside to get this one.


We had a wonderful time. I didn't get any more pics because I was busy serving dinner. The Goddess let the food come out good, and everyone was personable and all was calm and wonderful.

We continued our Thanksgiving celebration by heading over to Wenatchee to Nick and Maggie's place for the real event on the real day itself. I didn't get a single picture of Nick and Maggie's Thanksgiving...I have no idea why. I never even thought about getting my camera out - AND I HAD IT WITH ME! I hope we get to go again. I'll do better. Their house was beautiful, the food was great. And OMG! Is it 3:30 in the morning? Yes. Yes it is. I'm goin' to bed. But I did manage to finally get this T-Day blog done! I still need to do an entry with Andrea's birthday pics in it. There are only a few, but they are cute, and they were taken on her 19th birthday.

Whew! Goodnight all!

Could Stress be the Next Diet Aid?

As I was sitting at work today with acid reflux riding high, I thought of how I wasn't hungry at all, and how there might be something marketable in this fact. Mind you, I feel like there's a hole burrowing its way through the lining of my breadbasket, but hey! I don't feel like I need food, and I've had like a cup of oatmeal today.

Whatever the case, it would have to be better than friggin' Alli . . . I can't even BELIEVE that people would buy this product. It makes me laugh out loud when I think about the fact that the warnings include things like "may cause anal leakage and spotting." Holy Hell! You may be able to eat a few hundred calos more per day, but you have to start wearing adult diapers. How sexy is THAT? Hey baby....I'll be right out...I just have to change my pants...I seem to have shat myself.. tee hee! Riiiight....

Or maybe we could go back to a turn-of-the-last-century solution and start nom-nommin' tapeworms. Can you imagine? Tapeworms? How DISGUSTING is THAT? I can remember reading about tapeworms when I was a butterball teenager and wishing I could get one. Who knew you could by them in a box in my grandmother's day. Sheeeeet... have another doughnut...ain't no thang...here....wash it down with a sterilized tapeworm.

It's really unbelieveable the stress we put on the physique in this country, and then don't have any support system for helping to make it happen for people. For instance, there's the whole magazine ad culture that teenagers are victims and slaves to - however, all over the country, athletic programs in schools are being cut due to lack of funding, and academics are stressed far more than physical fitness. But if you're a fat kid who sits around and reads all day long and makes straight As in school, you're automatically branded as a lazy kid. Huh? And we may want our adult work force to be lookin' good too, but do most companies have provisions for physical fitness during work hours? No.... I'm not talking about the employer actually paying you to buff up, but we are, in fact, alloted only so many waking hours, and it so happens that most of us spend the majority of them doing some kind of meaningless work. Why not encourage some physical health and fitness int he workplace by making it mandatory that employers, especially employers of office workers, who employee over 500 people, make an exercise facility available for employees who want to use it? Hell, we write every other damn nit-pickin' detail into law - why not something that actually would do us some good for a change? I'm just bitter because we have this really nice shower facility here at my work, but if you want to ride an exercise bike or walk on a treadmill, you've gotta go waaaaaay the hell down the road because all the close-by ones (okay...with the exception of the rich old men's health club across the street that costs $5,000 a year to belong to) have closed down.

I'm not sure why I went on this rant...oh yeah...heartburn as the next diet and weight loss solution. That makes about as much sense as having your stomach cut out and your intestines re-wired. Oh wait...that's bariatric surgery which is a multi-million dollar industry in this sad and confused country of ours. (I'm also probably feeling a bit militant because I'm listening to Mudvayne's new stuff). Anyway, there it is. Have a great hump day!

Alaska True Cod Toothpaste

You know...once in a while I have a great idea. Today is one of those times. As I was ingesting my 3 tablespoons of fish oil as prescribed by my chiropractor for the disks in my back - I thought "What the Hell? Everthing I eat or drink today is going to taste like this friggin' fish oil...I may as well have brushed with fish oil toothpaste."


I think that the color is about right too, huh? Well, maybe this isn't THE best idea I've ever had. Maybe my idea for a turbo salt-shaker was slightly better. However, I'm in a whimsical mood and felt like sharing it.

This morning saw another early morning back treatment, and all that space between the vertebrae when they're done leaves you feeling a little giddy sometimes. But I'm here at work, so I'd better concentrate on giving Caesar what is Caesar's. Ciao Baby! Happy Tuesday! (I love me some exclaimation points!)