Driving the fun car

Finally

I can't believe I didn't smile bigger for this shot.

I also finished the puzzle on Friday

Friday

Friday I sat by the pool in my new suit, by the way and enjoyed my vacation, and the warm pool water. I know it seems silly to have heated pools in Florida. I now see the benefits as well. I also snacked and played around. How cute is that little crab? We also learned a new game called Blink! It's super fun and super fast.

Thursday dinner

After the game we went out to dinner. Obviously a Margarita was indicated. Sadly, I forgot to say "no tomatoes" on my salad and so paid the price. The food was really good. I had chicken marsalla.

Spring Training

Day 2

I taught Aunt Joanie to play Phase 10, a fantastic game. Aunt Joanie said I got a ridiculous number of wild cards. I only seemed to get them when I was playing with her though. I started playing with my Uncle Tom and he skunked me. More puzzle too. I got some sun. (You should see me now.)

My first day...

Aunt Joanie seemed to think an 1,000 piece puzzle would keep me busy. How right she was... This is how much I got done the first day.

Did I mention the pool?

Those actually didn't have alcohol in them. (Although that would have been ok too.)

Some pics from the trip...

Here's the view from the plane on the way down. On the way home it was cool to see where the snow started. The snow outlined the rows. The big piles left by all the plows were really all that was left of the snow. And of course the lakes are still frozen.

Unconscious Mutterings

I say ... and you think ... ?
San Francisco :: Yarng
Sadness :: waaah
Spirits :: God
Harriet :: Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip
State :: Ohio
John :: Cousin
Offense :: Jail
Timeless :: Music
Account :: Bank
Refuse :: port-o-let

Alcohol

I try to have at least one of my spring break posts involve alcohol. It seems this si the one. I haven't had too much to drink, half a beer and some wine. Although I haven't eaten much today and I drank the wine a little fast.

I also trounced my aunt at a game called Phase 10. I highly recommend it. It's like rummy only it comes in a deck with the rules so no one can accuse me of making up my own rules. I really don't do that.

I'm wearing a new pair of Reebok shorts I bought yesterday. And I had to look down at them to see how to spell "Reebok". I love them. They have my new happy place. I also tried out my new tankini. It turns out they do make tankinis that can flatter my body.

Aunt Joan just said, "ok, grab yourself something to drink". I've gotta go...

Snow

I heard it snowed in Minnesota today. It's 82* and mostly sunny here. Nya Nya na boo boo.

Fun day at the ball game

Today we went to a Twins spring training game. Not all the good baseball players play during spring training. Tori Hunter played, and Justin Morneau and Nick Punto. It was a good time. It was really hot though.

I still haven't gotten to wear any of the clothes I bought but I can't wait beause they're cute. I even bought a tankini / whatever the two piece bathing suits are called / baithing suit that I am willing to wear in public.

Now I would like badly to get in the pool but it looks like it's about to rain. I'm torn...

I am the shopping queen

Usually in life I woul shop with Kelly and Amanda, and one of them approves all my purchases. Today I shopped with my Aunt Joanie. I did well. Really, I bought too much stuff. At first I thought if I brought cash I wouldn't spend as much. Turns out I just shouldn't go shopping....

Florida rocks

Hi, my name is Liz and I'm on spring break. In Florida. At a resort community. In a house with a pool. And alcohol. It's possible I'm in heaven.

They have computers and digital cameras and all kinds of good stuff here too. Yesterday after I flew in, I got Uncle Tom's spaghetti. I think we all know how I feel about that. Today I helped Aunt Joan take the dog for a walk, ran 2 miles in the Florida sun, and swam. Now I'm trying to help Aunt Joan move the songs on her iPod from one computer to a new one. I hope I'm doing it right.

The plane ride down did help me seriously consider getting an iPod. The problem is I'd want two. A shuffle for exercising because they're so tiny a light, and a 30G or 80G one for real life because I have that much music. The 2G SD card in my Palm is just not doing the magic. The problem is I always have to root through my music to select exaclty what I want, and then have to sync that.

I don't think I can buy an iPod, another iPod and a MacBook right now. I'm still not sure I'm going to keep working at the aquarium given the wildness of the past couple of overnights I've worked there. Sharks after dark is a cool thing, but it's screwing up the overnight routine by like a lot.

My Aunt Joanie also has a Nintendo SD. It's kind of fun. At some point in my life maybe I'll get back into video games. It seems like they should help my brainpower. Now I have to figure out if I did the iPod thing correctly. If you know anything about 3rd generation iPods, give me a call.

As seen on

I found a couple of things poking around on the internet today. I haven't got a chance to read, well, hardly any of them. If you have a chance to read any of them, let me know which one I should start with when I get back.

1. Unlocking Minds is about everyone's psychic powers according to the headlines. It looks interesting.

2. Why Intelligent People Tend to Be Unhappy. Also haven't read it. Interesting premise though.

3. Top 5 Future Technologies. This one I did look at. Even if you don't read it all, follow the link and scroll down to the picture of the partial invisibility cloak. It is the trippiest think I've ever seen.

4. And finally, 9 Lessons for Would Be Bloggers. I also skimmed this one. Interesting points.

Spring Break and fun pictures

In honor of spring break, I pulled out the flip flops. All the snow is melting so I was able to get some great pictures today. Very artsy.

This is the puddle made from the snow on the roof melting and dripping down the gutters by my patio. Watch out for the splashing. My foot (in the flip flops) got wet taking this.

Another puddle made from water coming off the roof and down the gutters. Check out the reflection.

And a couple more artsy shots just to brighten your day.

Let me tell you about my day yesterday

This picture pretty much says it all. Remember how good I was doing Thursday and Friday?

Friday night when I got home I wanted something with carbs and protein at the same time. Haggen Daas seemed to fit the bill quite nicely. Or so I thought.

Saturday morning when I got up to pack breakfast I realized I put the Haggen Daas in the fridge. When I went to put it back in the freezer it fell, and since it was melted, it splattered.

Then I went to the first job. And then someone who works for me passed out.

Then I couldn't leave my first job because I had to tie up all the loose ends so I could go away for a week.

Then I went to my second job and found out they wanted me to do something I'd specifically asked not to do. Then we couldn't lay everyone down at the usual time so we had to wait an hour. Then we had to spring our clocks forward so we lost another hour of sleep.

Randomness

In honor of spring break, a moment of Randomness:

1. Do you like to read? Yes when it's for fun. No when I need to learn something from it. What is your fav book? For sheer reading pleasure, any Harry Potter book. author? Charles Dickens
2. Do you hate it when they turn a book into a film? Sometimes. There are some parts of books I love to see on film, and love it when they get it right. Lord of the Rings is a good one because that was such a visual book, seeing it on film was great. When the book is more of a "journey of personal growth" and there's a lot of talk about feelings and change and that sort of thing, the movies usually disappoint. I hold "in her shoes as an example.
3. Has a book ever changed your life? I'm sure one has. Can't think of it right now. How? Well Harry Potter made me like to read again.
4. Do you tend to borrow books from the library or do you prefer to buy them? I try to buy used or borrow from friends. I am fundamentally opposed to the Minneapolis public library system because it bites. Cincinnati, land of conservatives who wont spend money on anything still can afford one of the best libraries there is and I'm spoiled. Plus the libraries are never open. Think I'm kidding?
5. Which book are you planning on reading next? Something good for spring break.

Snow Check and Mood Check

For a history of the snow, you can check out this post and this post. It's in the 40's today and the snow is starting to melt. Everything is very wet. It's still not melted enough for me to run on the sidewalks, but the path's in the city parks are near.

That brings me to my next point. For a check on my mood yesterday, check out this post. I'm feeling about the same, or better.
I slept all morning. Then I was on my way to the Y to run. But it was such a sunny day I decided that Lake Nokomis was a good distance to run around, since it's been such a long time since I've really run in earnest. So I ran outside, 2.8 miles. In shorts and a t-shirt. The ground is still covered with snow. I got a lot of weird looks. Although whenever I saw a runner wearing a parka and gloves I gave them a weird look too. At the very end of the day I saw a couple other runners in shorts and t-shirts. That's really the right amount of clothes for this temperature, despite the snow thats lingering on the ground.

This is the kind of day I had today

'Nuff said.

Spring Break

These are the things I hope to be doing in Florida. I didn't realize the huggie was in the picture when I took it, but yeah, I guess I'd like to be doing some drinking as well. When I was in Florida a couple of years ago I taught my family to play 500, and they call me and ask the rules every time they want to play it. Phase 10 is not 500, but a similar idea and has the added value of having the rules right in the deck of cards. I got on pack for me and one as a gift to my aunt and uncle who I'm staying with.

3X Thursday

1. In general, are you happy with life? Do you consider yourself a happy person? Why/why not?
I'm pretty happy with life. I'm really happy with life right now. Ask me why.

2. What is happiness, anyway?
Happiness is faith in a good outcome, happiness is faith in the universe taking care of me, and you, and the rest of us.

3. What do you think happiness (as a concept) is based on? Do you think it's genetic?
I think some genetic factors like temperament impact how easily people get along with you and you get along with them, which can definitely impact happiness. I think a lot of it is spiritual.

The Book Meme

I saw the Book Meme here, and I'm writing it for Amanda, who lost her book list.

THE BOOK MEME!

* Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror? Usually Fantasy. I love Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
* Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback? Depends. Books I'll keep forever, hardback. Books I'll abuse, like Harry Potter books which go everywhere in my backpack I buy paperback copies.
* Amazon or Brick and Mortar? Usually Used Books, but almost always an actual store.
* Barnes & Noble or Borders? Barnes & Noble
* Hitchhiker or Discworld? What are those?
* Bookmark or Dogear? Usually a bookmark or just "remember" the page number.
* Magazine: Digg, BoingBoing and Del.icio.us.
* Alphabetize by author, Alphabetize by title, or random? By size, although now they're all in a box, but still by size.
* Keep, Throw Away or Sell? Keep.
* Keep dust-jacket or toss it? Usually I loose it.
* Read with dustjacket or remove it? Remove it.
* Short story or novel? Long.
* Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? I've read Harry. The Lemony Snicket movie was cool so it seems like the books should also be cool.
* Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? When I'm about to fall asleep.
* "It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time?" Usually "once upon a time"
* Buy or Borrow? Buy. I hate the Minneapolis Library system.
* Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse? Recommendations and world of mouth.
* Lewis or Tolkien? Tolkein.
* Collection (short stories by the same author) or Anthology (short stories by different authors)? I don't know, I've never really read either.
* Tidy ending or Cliffhanger? If it's a cliffhanger it's not an ending.
* Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading? When I wake up and before bed.
* Standalone or Series? Usually a series, or several works by the same author. *New or used? New for Harry Potter, used for almost anything else.
* Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? Hmmm... I'll have to think about that. Maybe Prescriptions for Living or Conversations with God, although that movie just came out so everyone knows about that book now.
* Top 5 favorite genre books of all time?
o Classic Science fiction: Hmmm
o Modern Science Fiction: The one Steven King wrote
o Classic Fantasy: Lord Of The Rings
o Modern Fantasy: Harry Potter
o Mystery: Hmmm
o Thriller: Stephen King, Evil Things or the fantasy one he wrote
* Favorite genre series? Harry Potter
* Currently Reading? School work. I'm not allowed to have fun.

I love running!

I love running. Even more exciting, apparently I can still do it, at least a little. I ran 2.5 miles on the track at the Y tonight. I was, as always, the slowest runner on the track. Nevertheless, I was running. It took me 29:42 to run 2.5 miles or 11:53 miles. I was quite pleased. In my head I'd negotiated to run 2 miles, but I felt so good at the end of that lap, and a really good song had just started, so I decided to keep going. Around 2.5 miles my arms actually started to cramp. I decided not to kill myself my first time running in... I wonder how long it's been. I credit the rowing machine, swimming, and the stair master with keeping me in "running shape" at least a little bit.

Wednesday Mind Hump

1. Favorite type of cheerios - honey nut, frosted, or good ol' plain?
Honey Nut all the way. As a kid I mixed them with all kinds of other cereals. Still do as a matter of fact...

2. Do you still dig for the prize in the box?
Now I tend to buy organic cereals, the organic knock off of cheerios is great, and there's no prizes in those. I know, it is hard to be an adult sometimes.

3. Do you actually eat the non-marshmallow pieces in Lucky Charms?
I don't think I've ever eaten either part of Lucky Charms. I don't even feel deprived.

4. Do you go cuckoo for cocoa puffs?
No, but it's ok. I never did.

5. What is your favorite brand/kind of cereal?
My co-op sells Honey Gone Nuts Granola is bulk. It's a good think too because that's how much I eat it. Usually I mix it with yogurt.

I feel like crap

I feel like crap. For a while I've been thinking I have giardia because, ahem, I'm experiencing some of the symptoms. I was making pita to have with my holy land homos and got fascinated by the pictures I could take of the toaster oven.

I was feeling fine and then I ate again. Now I feel like crap again. I have stomach cramps that are related to eating. I can't make them go away. Although, now that I'm thinking of it, it seems to be worse when I eat bread.

Video Game Playing

Sunday we went over to Eric's. Kelly cooked us dinner (and had an awesome sense of humor about my dislike for asparagus). After dinner(and really if I'm going to be honest, before dinner too) we played video games. The rumor is that Eric is sad Kelly won't play video games with him so Amanda and I tested out the new Wii. The sports suite is pretty cool. Tennis is my favorite.

These are the bushes on Friday while it was still snowing.

These are the bushes when it basically stopped snowing and the sun came out.

Here's the tree in the snow

I took this shot on Friday after a majority of the snow had fallen. I slept and stayed home Friday. I was supposed to have lunch with Travis.

Monday Music Mambo

1. Name three of your favorite guitarists.
a. Eric Clapton. He's probably my all-time favorite.
b. Jimmy Page. I love Led Zeppelin. I also love that for the "heavy metal" band, they did all kinds of acoustic stuff as well.
c. Stevie Ray Vaughn.

2. Do you have a favorite guitar solo? What is it?
I love the solos in "Pride and Joy" by Stevie Ray Vaughn.

3. What's your favorite style of guitar playing?
To listen to, I like rock, funk, the blues, acoustic and jazz. For those of you luck enough to live in the Twin Cities, Cities 97 and especially Acoustic Sunrise are my favorites.

4. Do you know how to play the guitar?
Why yes. Yes I do. When playing the guitar, I love to play jazz and the blues. Those are more fun when playing with other people. Alone acoustic and folk music is really fun to play. Too bad I can't actually sing.

100 Books Meme

The 100 books meme can also been seen here, here, and here. I'm doing this for Amanda and Kelly because they both love to read.
Instructions:

Look at the list of books below.
*Bold the ones you’ve read
*Italicize the ones you want to read
*leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in. If you are reading this, tag your it!

1.The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) Does watching the movie count?
2.Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3.To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell) Does watching the movie count?
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10.A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11.Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12.Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13.Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden) Does watching the movie count?
16.Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) Does watching the movie count?
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) Does watching the movie count?
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay) Does watching the movie count?
38. I Know This Much is True(Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom) Does watching the movie count?
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolsoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding) Does watching the movie count?
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje) Does watching the movie count?
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett) Does watching the movie count?
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White) Does watching the movie count?
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth(Pearl S. Buck) I'm bolding this because I was supposed to have read it for English in 11th or 12th grade and we did talk about it.
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100.Ulysses (James Joyce)

I'm really surprised by the number of books on this list I've read. It probably didn't hurt that half of them are Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Sorry, I really haven't read Charlotte's Web.

The Sunday Seven

From The Sunday Seven:
Name your seven favorite animals to see at the zoo.

I've never been to The Minnesota Zoo, but I grew up in Cincinnati, which has the amazing Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens.

1. Obviously my favorite animals in any zoo are the fruit bats. Most zoos also have vampire bats which I think are cool (their knees are different from any other kind of bats) but the fruit bats are way bigger, easier to see, and cuter.

2. I always liked going to see the eagles as well. I really like most raptors. (Firefox thinks "raptors" isn't a word so I mean I like hawks, eagles, owls, and similarly large meat eating birds.) In Cincinnati visitors can actually walk into the aviary where the eagles live.

3. The Komodo Dragons in Cincinnati came when I was 8 or 9 and for some reason they captured my imagination even though they don't do a whole lot.

4. Cincinnati had really awesome walruses. One of them spit on me once as part of a show. Everyone else laughed. I was not amused. It probably didn't help that the mom of the kid I was with also laughed at me.

5. The African planes exhibit. I love the elephants and the giraffes. I'm counting them as one because technically they're in the same exhibit in Cincinnati.

6. The Polar bears. At some point Cincinnati Zoo got a lot of money from somewhere to build this fantastic polar bear enclosure where guests can actually see the bears swimming and playing around. It seems much less cruel than the polar bear enclosure at our Como Zoo.

7. The big cats. There's this woman at the Cincinnati Zoo, or at least she was, called Katherine Hilker who does these Cheetah talks. Also the zoo had two white bengal tigers. Bengal tigers are special to Cincinnati also because of our football team.

Two Memes, Same Idea

First, from Unconscious Mutterings:
1. Nude :: heck yes
2. Support :: me
3. Rachel :: Friends
4. Crane :: construction (or Frasier)
5. Candy bar :: Baby Ruth
6. Material :: Girl
7. Mind games :: brain teasers
8. Eviction :: bad landlord, bad apartment
9. Produce :: fruit and veggies
10. Joke :: not funny

Second, this week Randomness had the same idea:

1. bug: smashed on my windshield
2. red: Amanda
3. traffic: the blizzard(s) we just had
4. apple: red, teacher
5. sexy: see number 1 above
6. book: Harry Potter
7. roller coaster: Kings Island (Now Paramount's Kings Island)
8. hippie: my parents
9. weekend: work
10. chocolate: that time of the month

Results of the Ikea trip

I'm trying to decide what has upset my stomach is such a spectacular fashion. It could have been the fried rice. I keep thinking maybe it was the milk, but I didn't have any of that today. It really could have been my cereal but that doesn't sound right either. After the salmonella in the peanut butter, I've come to believe that stuff can be anywhere.

I'm still not sure. Maybe it's the cactus. Hee hee.



I'm enjoying all the nice things I got at Ikea, even if I am going out of my mind with boredom while looking at them. It's almost time to get out a Harry Potter book. Even more sad is that I can't exercise right now. That's about enough to drive me nuts.



The other thing that happened today... I think I've blogged at length about the quirks of the particular computer (boo Toshiba). One of its quirks is that from time to time the sound does not function. I am a geek and so have many "computer nerd" friends who have been delighted to look at said Toshiba. After Eric looked at it for quite a while all he could say was "wow, that's really messed up." The only way to make the sound function once again is to hold down the power button to turn the computer off, and then turn it back on. A simple system restart, or hitting "start" "shutdown" etc. doesn't always do the magic.

So I exited firefox and turned my computer off, and when I restarted firefox again, McAfee site advisor, google toolbar, wiss rss, and about ten other extensions popped up tabs to let me know they were now installed. All my cookie rules for cookie safe and javascript rules for NoScript were gone. Inexplicably the only bookmarks to actually disappear were the ones I use in my RSS reader. All the other ones stayed put. Also staying put were my toolbar buttons in the order and places I wanted them. The theme went back to the default though, and all the settings in about:config (one of the coolest parts of Firefox) were back to the default. Anyone know why this is happening, or even what the name of the problem is?

And then we went to Ikea

As the present snow storm began, Amanda and I went out to dinner and then to Ikea. Amanda needed good jars to store tea. It's a longer story than is really interesting. I wanted to come and look for some things also. I have these slick black wire shelves that I love. Then I put those plastic drawers on them and filled them with DVDs and all kinds of other stuff. The shelves really look like I was still in college and I don't mean grad school. I'd been wanted to change it for a while. Kelly suggested wicker so that's really what I had my eye out for. It turns out there was something else that worked even better.


While we were looking around, Amanda found something that... ahem... wasn't supposed to be there.



Near the end of the trip, I made what can only be described as an impulse buy. I've been thinking about having a plant for a while. Did you know Ikea sells cacti? Me neither. They do. So I picked one up and we headed the the check out aisle.



The #@%! cactus stabbed me. Amanda laughed. I decided to name the cactus Amanda. It's the end of the next day now, and my hand still hurts. The good thing is I don't think it's cactus dermatitis, which does exist.

Even though The Amanda Plant stabbed me yesterday, I've been trying to talk to it today. I'm slowly making my peace.

Mostly back to normal

Tuesday I was back to normal. I had a slightly rough but then fun day with the kids. Then I went swimming. I love swimming. I didn't know I'd like it this much. I did a lot of freestyle so by the end of the night, my arms were like jello. I badly wanted groceries since I hadn't had a chance to do that in a while. I also badly wanted to go to my co-op. Since mine was closed, I settled for the Wedge. The nice thing about The Wedge, they kindly announce to all their customers that pastries are way less at the end of the night.

Obviously I bought one. And ate it. For dinner. I had a chocolate croissant and milk for dinner. It's ok. I'm sure there was fruit and vegetables somewhere else in my diet that day.

Then it was Monday

By Monday most of the snow was cleaned up. (My street was only half plowed, but Minneapolis snow emergencies take longer.) I went to the gym to work out. I almost passed out on the stair master. Literally. I got all light-headed. At least I had the good sense to stop. Once the light-headedness and the nausea went away, I did the rower. I felt ok afterwards. Other than that it was a relatively normal day.

Tree part 2

Ok, so here's the tree sometime on Sunday. Clearly it has snowed. Now, there were many beautiful things about this first batch of snow.
1. It was on the weekend and so didn't screw up most people's work schedules.
2. It was on the weekend and so didn't screw up school.
3. It fell basically in 24 hours. Then it was done. Then the snowplows could come.
4. For such a big storm, people basically didn't freak out.

I can't emphasize number 3 enough, because this current blizzard is taking forever. The snow plows come through and plow and then more snow comes.

24 Feb: The Snow Begins

Pay attention to this tree. We'll see it again.

This was last Saturday when I sat at home and canceled work. I think all my kids thought I was nuts. Until it snowed Saturday night, just as we would have been going home. I also watched A Good Woman. I really liked it.

(For some reason I keep typing Goog instead of good. Is this a problem?)

Pics update from 23 Feb

Wow, that was last Friday. It has been a while. Friday we did an outreach to the Rondo Community Outreach Library, which is one of the nicest libraries I've been to. I was walking around with one of my teens and we stopped at a booth and a nurse asked me if I'd had my flu shot yet.

I work with seniors and I work with teens and I work with the public so I'm really supposed to get one. With the insurance and times and locations it never worked out so I didn't get one, and was really fine with that situation.

Then this nurse has to be all professional and thorough and good at her job and ask me if I'd had my flu shot. I was totally aware that I was with a teenager and so had to be a good role model or I might not have gotten the thing. As it was I felt like someone hit my arm with a bat for the next two days.

After the outreach a couple of my kids took me to a great new restaurant on University Ave. Then I went home. I knew there was a big snow storm coming and didn't even feel compelled to stop at the grocery store. I guess that makes me a northerner.

Wednesday Mind Hump

I know it's Thursday. That should tell you about the... No, I'm not going there.

What is the last book you read?
I'm currently reading a book called Prescriptions for Living by Bernie Siegel. I love it. Before that, I'm sure it was some Harry Potter book that I'd finished. But fear not, spring break is coming...

Who is your favorite character in the book?
The book is non-fiction. Bernie Siegel is an oncologist who got really interested in why some patients with cancer can live for years. It's him telling stories about what seems to help people live.

Did you enjoy the book?
I love it. He has some great stories. My favorite part so far is where the author is saying something about prayer and remembering the names of your angels. He says he has an angel named "Oh Shit", and help always arrives when he calls that angel in particular.

Would you recommend the book to others?
Depends. I love it. It does take a particular stance about faith and spirituality. The book is probably most valuable to people who are open to that stance.