Sweet!

A brief interlude from the snow outside:

I'm buying my plane tickets to Austin to see my cousin get married this summer (congratulations Brian!). I was going to use the voucher from MLK day. I went to cash in the voucher. There was another $300 voucher sitting in my account from last year. I have no memory of that earlier voucher. But sweet! Now I just need to save up my vacation days to go some place fun.

I have a place or two in mind. Where do you think I should go?

A brief linkfest

• This is how I feel when I run. Although it's been snowing so long I'm not sure I'll ever run again. Booo.


• A Rhode Island therapy cat accurately predicts when residents are near death. It's creepy until you think about it and then it's kind of comforting and cool.


• My birthday wish list. Some of these are pretty spendy so you might need to buy these gifts in pairs. If we're prioritizing, powerskips first, then hover scooter. Skip the robots and anything with a gun.


• The clothing diet: no new clothes for a year. I read that and thought, "well shoot, I could do that but I need running clothes and shoes more often than that". Oh well.


• Timelapse of snowfall. It's cool. And what Minnesota has looked like and will look like for a while. Seriously, when will it be summer?


• Following the snow theme In the south attendance at the grocery store before a snow storm is mandatory.


• What's your city's nickname? City of Lakes, Flying Pig and Queen City are not on the list.


• And finally, some of my favorite commercials from the super bowl. The Fiddling Beaver. Mind = now in gutter. Anything with a killer whale is cool. Dave, Jay and Oprah. Win. Doritos: Minneapolis: this one wasn't that funny but was created and filmed by some guys in Minneapolis. And finally, the Denny's Chickens. Guess where I'll (not) be tomorrow.

Such a Southener

Ok, right off the bat, there was a type in my title that I'm glad I caught. (The first H got typed as a K at first. That wouldn't been embarrassing.)

This is the weather report for the next few days. I was watching and Sven just told me it's gonna snow through Tuesday, stop on Wednesday, and snow again Thursday and Friday.

So, good southerner (I grew up north of the Mason Dixon Line but well south of the "Waffle House - IHOP" line) that I am, I heard the word "Snow" on Friday at work and spent some time checking out the weather. Originally I hadn't planned on taking home my work lap top, just thinking about keeping weekends totally work free. After consulting the weather, I realized I might want to spend some time working from home on Monday and packed the lap top.

The thing about the cultural south is we stay inside until the snow has fallen and the (one or two) plows get out. We check the weather and plan ahead. Busiest time at the grocery store? Right before a big snow storm. There will be no milk, no eggs and no beer for you. The good news is all of your neighbors have been to the store too.

The thing about Minnesota is we act like we don't care about snow storms. We don't plan our grocery trips around them. We go grocery shopping during the storm. Or wait 'till after. We don't cancel school or close work. Ever. As somewhat of an outsider, my interpretation is that Minnesotan's like their bragging rights about dealing with snow and cold. Planning ahead for snow storms would give the storm too much power over us. So we ignore the weather and complain about the traffic.

(Side note: the "Bud Light House" commercial is pretty good. The Snickers commercial is clever but doesn't speak to me as much. Ok, the Doritos one is pretty good too.)

I still plan ahead for the snow storms and go to work after rush hour is over.

Maybe I should go back to watching the super bowl commercials.

***Update - I found this article right after I wrote this post. So I'm coming back to add it. This is what grocery stores look like in the cultural south when snow is predicted. Do I know my people?***

So I had this dream and now I'm registered for the marathon...

I realized last night as I was falling asleep that registration is now open for the Twin Cities Marathon. Apparently that thought influenced me because I had this dream... Someone I knew took me to the starting line of the marathon (in my dream it was the Twin Cities Marathon, but the course totally wasn't our marathon) and cheered for me. The course took us through this castle/labyrinth/something and I kept going through it the wrong way and getting bounced back to the beginning. Understand now that I'm running through the halls trying to keep up with the marathoners. And every time I got bounced back I had to wear some different costume, all of which were hot and involved a lot of fur. It was like ground hog day on an acid trip. And I was getting further and further behind everyone else. I also remember one other part of the course that looked kind of like Cathedral Hill and my friend was there too. I don't remember actually finishin the marathon in my dream but I'm sure I did or I woke up from thinking about running in all those costumes.

Today, after all that, I decided to actually register for the marathon. (Hey, now I'm economically invested.) I also registered for the Flying Pig Half Marathon, known by some as Hill Training. I was thinking about running the Minneapolis Half Marathon like last year but I think I've spent enough on race entries for one day. (Though, seriously, to all of you from Minnesota the Minneapolis Half or full Marathon is a great race and a great course.)

This has been a rough week for running and working out in general. Between the snow and my attitude about the gym in the winter, not much is getting done. I might try just going for a walk this weekend. Walking in the snow is fun right? It's not supposed to be that cold.

Going Crazy not Running

Just for the record: I want to run. I'm going mildly insane with all the ice we have up here. I was actually glad when it snowed today because it'll mean a snow pack to run on instead of, well, ice. (Hey, it's still winter. I'll do almost anything to avoid the gym.)

Speaking of doing almost anything, it really did snow today. I was mildly traumatized by the five or six accidents I saw on my way back from a home visit today so I decided not to venture out once I got home from work. Instead, I did four exercise videos. I started off with Eight Minute Buns because, believe it or not, that one's actually the hardest. Next I did Eight Minute Legs. It was hard for me to do it with the chair, much easier to stand up straight and hold my arms on either side of me. It must be all that gymnastics I did when I was a kid. Better balance without assistance. Then Eight Minute Abs which is almost as hard as the buns. And finally, Eight Minute Arms with 3lb weights (because it's what I have here). This was the easiest by far. I could keep up with the repetitions on every exercise. I think the guy who does the videos sounds positive and encouraging. Is that weird?

At work we finally got our new laptops and I got my first taste of Windows 7. I must say, it's pretty nice. I think I'll always be a mac girl, but Windows 7 has a much better user interface than XP. I tried Office 2007 too. I'm not loving the ribbons. But I did figure out how to turn them off entirely so that made me happy. Plus, dude, I got a laptop for my job. Awesome.

Other than that, I've done some playing on the web, although not much. Here's what I've come up with so far:

• For the Bolder Options runners and The St Paul Runners, it's time to sign up for the Ragnar Relay 2010. Remember, this year Bolder Options is the charity receiving the proceeds from the race which makes it even better.


• To Jenny and Aunt Elaine When I'm rich I'll buy you one of these. No one else will understand the penguin reference.


• Amanda, here's how to make your own pho. Sorry, I couldn't find one with seafood, but my co-op does reliably sell squid so at least I know where to buy that ingredient.
  Also for Amanda if that other aquarium ever gets too big, here's one you might like better.
  And finally, Yo, Amanda what are you doing for the super bowl? I can bring any one of these bacon-snacks. Remember the one I made last year?


• To Eric of all people, this made me think of you. I think it was the Weber Grill.


• For all the Minnesotans reading this, check out our state's average IQ.


• For everyone, do you know the difference between kitchen devices and midevil torture tools? I got 90%. This just made me laugh.


• For ME! Want. That's actually pretty inexpensive. And Really want!. Maybe that's the case I'll get for the new work laptop.


• For, well, just here Squirrel proof bird feeder.


• And finally, 65 open source software downloads that someone claims will do something incredible. They look good but I got distracted when I couldn't make the entire article appear on one page.

Linkfest

• The best part of January? (Well, February this year, but still...) Superbowl Ads. Here's some classics. Although it didn't have my personal favorite, The Cat Herders. How many feel like they herd cats every day?


• I'm keeping quite about the Apple GodPad, but I always like to know about new games for the iPhone/iPod Touch. It drives me bonkers when you call it the iTouch. I just feel dirty.


• Want to know the meaning of Dumb use of resources? I call it feeding my neighbors car corn when we could use regular gas (which uses about the same amount of energy as corn ethanol) and feed corn to, you know, people.


• In honor of the state of the union (which I'm still watching), which bloc votes with you?. St. Croix? Sohio?


• Staying with the political/world theme, learn the true meanings of flags. The USA flag is a little on the nose I think.


• Want proof that bit-torrent, piracy, and so on, aren't so bad? Now they're just giving the stuff away. Apparently even taking the DRM crap off works to improve profits.


• Mother natures is scary.


• Pie in a jar that actually made me think of Chris first, but also Kelly because she bakes and Amanda becuase I think of her canning all kinds of stuff. Cast Iron Skillet Pizza also reminds me of Amanda whose oven is too small to fit actual pizza.


• Why are the dinosaurs extinct?.


• And finally, I'm putting this here because I know some of you read my blog via facebook. If you do, consider yourself one of my 150. Thanks. I'm glad to know you.

Photo-mania

It's been a while since I've uploaded any pictures. Although I've still been taking them. I have a hard time focusing my attention on things like political speeches, as interesting and relevant as the State of the Union is to me. So I'm writing a blog post and editing photos while I listen. (Hey, if I miss anything, I'll check the internetz.)

Last Friday: I decided to pay tribute to Sudafed, one of my favorite substances ever created. Most of what's gone was used while I was flying back and forth from Cincinnati. There's nothing worse than being congested on an air plane. Ow.


Last Saturday: I must have been exercising because I once again decided to pay tribute to my poor, beat-up, well-loved iPod. Notice how the top is missing? It makes locking the keys interesting. I also spent a lot of time Saturday cheering and providing runner support for several friends at the Securian Frozen Half Marathon (good job to Tesha, Kate, Glen, Laura, John, Heather, and Robin for running the Half and to Beth for running the un-certified 5k). Beth and I were like the only people on Shephard Road cheering for the runners. Lots of people in Vikings gear that day.


Sunday: The Vikings lost. This is how my room looks when the Vikings loose. No. I'm just kidding. Sunday is my clean up day. I spent a lot of time cleaning, doing laundry, and generally putting stuff away. The rest of the week, I have little energy to clean. I'd have more energy if I shared this space with another human being. The fish don't mind the mess. Sometimes I hate how messy things get and I wont let people come over if I don't have time to clean. This is probably one of the most honest pictures I could put up.


Monday: I remember working on Monday and not doing exercise. On purpose. I went to the gym on Sunday and Saturday. Apparently my fish tank was all I could think of to photograph.


Tuesday: There was work. There was the gym. And there was the most awesome breakfast ever: Banana slices with peanut butter and chocolate chips. I am learning to embrace peanut butter as a protein source.


Today: This is a pair of earrings I love.

A new accomplishment

Ok, so I'm mildly problematically addicted to the Word Challenge game on Facebook.

But I did just get a new high score.

Linkfest: Long overdue

• The bread I tried to make. I failed. It still looks good.


• Freaking love it when the police chief tells Governor Pawlenty to leave health care alone.


• I'd really love this. It drives me bonkers that Minnesota has one of the best health care programs for publicly funded programs and we get much less money from the federal government than states that have totally lousy public programs.


• This may be why I have such a hard time concentrating on a football game.


• Why you should never make a bet about doing something on national television. Too funny.


• This is what Africa looks like to me.


• Want to see something entertaining? Turn on the elevation feature on the map. All those ups and downs represent a change in like 8 feet of elevation. The one really big spike is the bridge over Cedar Ave.


• How bacon is meant to be enjoyed? Just ewww.


• Planning on traveling? Find out how the airlines will be screwing you with extra baggage/food/convenience fees they've made up recently. I actually just had a fairly ok experience on Delta. Even though our plane had mechanical problems and I got back a day late. I got basically a free ticket out of it. I think I'll use it for Texas.

Photo-fest

My attempt at making bread. The verdict: Fail. I think the flour went bad in the freezer.



Satsuma mandarins: best food ever.



When I was home, I got a hair cut. It was sort of a spur of the moment decision.



Quilts at home. Mom has more handmade quilts than anyone I know. And I'm including my pooky bear in this, although she's definitely the best competition.



A painting in my parent's living room. It's the signature of my dad's art teacher. He was like an extra grandpa to me.



Sunrise on the airplane.



Sometimes, I don't know what to photograph. I use whatever is lying around and try to find an interesting angle.