June 30, 2003
Alright so I am a little behind in my holiday shopping. For new folks, I usually start holiday shopping in February/March. Today I found a nice gift for Nora! I will try to remember to get it sometime this week. Knowing the owner of the store will help me remember to get it. I need to make my list and load it on my pda. I want to get just about everything I can by the end of October.
I've decided to get the 10 year extended warranty for my KitchenAid mixer. $70 for 10 years is pretty good. Josh got it for my years ago for my birthday and we haven't had a problem with it yet. Hopefully we won't have any ever.
Have you ever noticed how annoying it is to cancel services these days. I am trying to cancel an account for an online fax service and it's a pain in the arse. Why can't they just have a delete account link and a confirmation that you really want to delete your account. How hard is that? Why must I go through their "Live Chat" (my arse) thing and have it deleted that way? Give me a break.
Migraines causing me grief again. I got two hours of sleep but that's ok. I managed a nap this afternoon. The meds don't work if I don't take them early enough. /sigh it generally sucks. If I am lucky it will all end in a day or two. It has always come in waves.
In other news.. Brittany asked me this and I couldn't get past Interior Secretary... so here goes.
Presidential succession is as follows:
*A bill is currently being pushed to up The Homeland Security Secretary to 8th in line of succession.
And finally, two darn storms today and one hasn't even gotten here yet but it's causing havoc with the cable modem. Grrr.
Caesar! Holy smokes folks. Completely loving this movie. Great cinema!
Whoops. Storm overhead. I can hear the rain hitting the window. Must be windy outside then. So much for opening the window.
I really should get to sleep, but I'm avoiding it.
I'm tired of hearing about prescription drug care for the elderly. Why? Because kids need it just as much. How about prescription drug care for everyone?
Alright, time for bed or else I'm going to get going on a really big political rant.
Happy Birthday wishes to Pamela!!
:skittles:' is now using mt. I need to add the link back to mt, but I'm too tired right now.
Plugged ears aren't apparently a side effect of my medicine, but for some reason I've had that problem today. I was still up for a while last night but I fell asleep much earlier than the night before. I hope tonight is better.
Well, here comes the test of my migraine meds. I took some at the first signs. I'm giving it about an hour (maybe a little more) and if it doesn't help, I'm going to be pissed. I'm so tired it's not funny. I need my sleep!
Josh finally finished the brakes this evening and well, after some harsh injury and messy fingernails, he finished.
I'm going to try to sleep. Wish me luck.
Well, so much for getting anything done today. I didn't get to sleep until after 6am. Migraine from H-E-Double Hockey Stick. I thought I was going to die. I got some medicine today and it seemed to stop the oncoming one. Only problem is I'm dead tired now.
Josh is changing the brakepads on the car. He ended up smashing his finger but will be ok. Ouchie finger.
Other news, my mother in law will be retired soon. PARTY!!! Just kidding. Happy early retirement! Now take some time and relax. Oh and Law & Order comes on all the time on TNT during the daytime!
Go me! I've been working here and there on :skittlescam: and I'll finish making the templates and all tomorrow. Rawr kitty. Good news... she'll have a pda page and an rss feed! (Actually, she already does, but I'm not finished tweaking them yet)
So I've been thinking about the latest Harry Potter book. The death of that certain character leaves some holes open. I know J.K. Rowling has already planned how everything will end but hasn't decided on how all of that will happen. So, I wonder if since this particular person died this way, they'd be able to eventually come back in some form. Man it's hard writing like this and not giving away much.
Sleepytime!
Strom Thurmond is dead... uhh.. song going through my head. dance done.
Link forthcoming!
ok, found one
For the next few days I am guessing, I will only have a little bit of time here and there to do things. Well, since I can't get any of my big projects done, I'm going to work on :skittlescam:. That's my plan. I just need to decide on a layout and slowly start putting things into place. My other projects will need an entire day devoted to one site and I need input from others on the other site. I need TIME and I have none.
Let me take this moment to explain why I do not like using public restrooms and why, if I must use them, I do what I do. I have two words for you, Itching Powder. Yes, itching powder. But first things first. They are gross. Think about the nasties floating around in there. Ick. And what about itching powder you think? Well, how easy is it to sprinkle a little itching powder onto the TP roll. Talk about hell. I think like that, what can I say. I used to carry a tiny can of Lysol with me, but I haven't needed it recently.
Well, I just thought I'd lend that idea out. Josh laughed the first time I explained the whole itching powder thing, but then he thought about it. Yeah, it would suck for either gender!
Well, umm. Bad news. Last night at approximately 1:00am, we lost Sifl. Sifl was my old laptop that I traded with Josh. I have since given Josh the laptop and will just use my desktop. I thought I transferred all of my files but it seems that I lost some of the data. Wahh. Most of it is recoverable. The only thing I didn't have a backup of was the fonts I had sorted. It was only about 100 that were sorted, so it isn't too bad.
I did have a slight problem with my desktop. I went to import my old emails and kept getting an error message. It ended up that I uhh, well, used almost all 20 Gigs on my machine. Oops. I just moved a lot of stuff to the server that needed to be moved over anyway. Now I have about 2 Gigs free and more on the way.
In other news, we had a spare wireless network card from Sifl, so I gave it to my parents and hooked their old laptop up to access the net. My dad is happy. Now he will more than likely buy that new desk he has been putting off.
Well, I'm almost done knitting a Slytherin scarf bookmark for one my brothers. He thought it would be fitting since he is reading the latest book. Both of my brothers are reading a copy now. Brittany has a Gyriffindor one I knitted her months ago. Shalyn asked for one, but I had to finish her full size scarf first. Plus, I told her it was for school. Now that she will be starting school, I guess I'll need to make her one as well. Maybe I should make them as stocking stuffers. I never know what to put in stockings. We never celebrated xmas until I was about 14 and even then we just got money unless we siblings bought each other something. Oh well. It's an idea.
I got my Clie working. I crashed that sucker hard, but managed to find my back up files. I had most of the data, so I'll just do a transfer from my laptop and I should be ok.
So Josh and I were walking out of the drugstore this evening and I noticed on the ground a HUGE beetle. I saw another one and started worrying. I got home and forgot about them until about five minutes ago. The 24hour news station here did a story about them, except they were saying they were found at the beach. We live about 45 minutes from where they found them. Weird, really freaking weird. The bodies were 3 inches (not counting legs and other parts) Eeeek. I'd have freaked at night.
I'd planned to write a wrap up earlier, but some stuff came up and has been handled.
I enjoyed Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix. It was interesting to read. I wonder if any kids when they get older will notice some things from their history classes that were similar to things that occured in the book. I think she did a really good job. Both of my brothers have now gotten their own copies and have begun reading them. I think we have five copies between the family. I need to get some yarn to knit some more scarf bookmarks for everyone. :brittany: has been poking around for information from me, but the only thing I told her one of her guesses for Gyriffindor Prefects was correct. She also lost a tooth and is I guess, having a nice day.
Feeling better but not great. I discovered that a pain in my head was related to my neck and an evil pillow I decided to try out. Grrr. It's been almost a week and I'm still paying for it!
I laughed, I cried, I worried, I gawked.. I finished. Pretty darn good.
Oh yeah, btw, we have 2 copies of OoTP here. Go us. Of course Brittany started getting sick around 11:50pm. Go figure. We were still part of the first group. I just had to stand in line by myself. Brittany went to the car.
I've been dropping little bits of info that I know about HP5 to Brittany and the last one I told her made her squeal. She is so excited that she is getting ready now for the party that starts at 10pm. She's going to take a nap so that she can stay up to read it.
Lasagna was made and lots was eaten. Surprisingly, it wasn't all eaten by me. Shalyn was going crazy over it. Brittany even ate some.
Never in a million years would I believe I would be spending my Friday night at a Harry Potter Release Party. I shall be escorting :brittany: and possibly Shalyn to one of the local bookstores for their Harry Potter party. We haven't decided exactly what to do with Shalyn. She won't be able to stay up that late, but she really wants to go. I think she thinks it is a birthday party. Maybe she will change her mind and stay home once she realizes it's not a birthday party. Of course AJ wants to go because he heard the word party. He's so cute sometimes.
They are all running around the house right now. It's still raining outside so they are stuck inside. We built the classic sheet forts and they are playing jungle.
Well, I got the wireless adapter connected and I'm coming to you from my good old desktop!
Next thing to do is update my bookmarks on this machine. Tomorrow or Sunday. I will be chillin wit da munchkins tomorrow and then HP obsessing on Saturday. Oh, funny story. Brittany stopped by with her dad and saw the story on the news about the little girl who was accidentally sold a copy early. Throughout the entire story she kept saying quietly, "I hate her, I hate her, I HATE HER." I haven't even told her what I know!
I need to say something. Sean Connery is THE MAN! That guy can do drama, action, comedy, you name it and still pull it off.
Obviously, I'm feeling much better. Still some ickiness, but I'm excited to be feeling this good. I just need to remember to take a nap tomorrow around 6:30 until 10:30 or so. Well, now that I am stuffed from Josh's fresh veggies in brown sauce, I need to do something. Yippee for feeling better!
Ughhhh. I'm dying here. There are people speculating things about something in the new Harry Potter book that I know the answer to and would be willing to bet $$ on. Ugh. Well, it should all be interesting. Brittany heard a snippet and got really wide eyed over it. The excitement is massive. I'm glad. I'm really glad kids are starting to read more. They need to.
Feeling tons better until I decided to have some Sun Chips. That made me feel like vomitting. I think waking up at 5am and taking my medicine then (when I should, instead of 7:30am when I have been waking up naturally) helped. Before I felt ill I managed to get eight pages done of something I am working on. Yipee for me. That's layout, content, and graphics finished. Go me. Now if there weren't some twenty-seven pages, I would feel even better.
At least it's not a beautiful day outside and I am stuck in here. It's hot and raining out there.
I just need one more thing done today and I'll be a happy camper. Josh needs to hook my desktop up to the wireless network. I already hooked the cable to the tv tuner card, but can't find my remote for it. I guess I'll do things the old fashioned way then, with a click of the mouse.
Ok, something to drink and then back to work.
Yippeee. I cut the codine out and am just taking small doses of Tylenol and some antibiotics. I feel pretty good right now. It won't last, but for a minute I felt really good. If things clear up as they have been I am thinking I should be ok by the end of the week.
Tomorrow if I am well, I've got a lot of work to do. Friday evening to Saturday morning I will be embroiled in an all out reading battle with her royal munchkin-ness. We will of course be reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Umm, knew it.
I'm sick, I'm tired, and I just want to rest. My body wants to rest but my mind doesn't. I think that's what is not helping. Also, I discovered that I don't do codine very well. I was miserable yesterday afternoon and last night (the times I was on it). It made me feel worse.
I did manage to find this interesting little meme. I typed in miftik and got:
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Go figure. The way I'm feeling right now, if someone pissed me off, I'd probably would become a serial killer. I hate being sick like this, HATE IT. I need a crying emoticon, but it would have to flood. I feel that bad.
Well, this should be interesting.
Feeling better, but still pretty bad. Sore throat included. However I woke up this morning early and had a moment of brilliance and fixed a problem I was having with my email. Yeah for me.
So, I was reading a post at geekgrrl.com regarding the whole netscape/mozilla/IE standards thing and it reminds me of something that irritates me a lot! I get livid when people tell me you should only use style sheets for layouts or you shouldn't use tables. That's not what they are meant to be used for. I know this. I KNOW THIS. However... in the real world where real companies don't want to exclude anyone, tables must be used. The last place I worked at we had to make sure the site was Netscape 4 compatible. That meant a lot of stuff was out! I had to proceed with caution when using CSS there. Basic stuff only. I'm glad a have a css pocket reference guide for those kinds of situations.
I guess I get tired of people telling me that I should do something some way, but in real life it doesn't work that way. /sigh I need a nap.
Last note. Skittles has scratched out a small line of fur by her nose. I am calling her Scar (from The Lion King) and she is hating it. It will grow back.
I've had a fever since last night. It sucks. I'm irritated and ready to reload this laptop. Something is up with outlook. Grr. If it wasn't for the fact that I have over five years worth of emails in outlook files, I'd switch to Eudora or something else. Grrrr. Well, maybe reloading will be good for my soul. Josh loaded this machine up while I was backing up my old laptop so I technically haven't loaded this machine yet.
My hatred for a particular nation was reaffirmed today. Grrrrr. It didn't help that I was sick. I'm going to bed. I am too pissed with outlook. (mainly "winword.exe")
Ahh, Josh and I got a new monitor and it looks so cute. Now I just need to either run a network cable to the homeland (hub) or get a wireless card for the desktop. Personally, I'm leaning towards running the line. Only because we've been getting these outrageous bandwidth rates from the cable modem. Even Josh was in shock. Cool.
We got some stuff out of storage and I think Josh is happy. He was irritated because it seemed to be over 100° in the storage. I'm sure it wasn't, but there was no breeze or anything so it made it horrid. But, things were put away and brought back. We are happy.
Tuesday or Wednesday I may put the new monitor on the wall.
Things to buy:
Things to find:
A few months ago Josh said he missed the NPR programming that we had back in New England. I could have sworn there were about four stations in decent broadcast range.
Even though I don't especially like A Prairie Home Companion, Josh does. I am currently trying to wake him up by sitting next to him with my laptop and playing the stream from the local NPR station. Car Talk comes on next, so maybe that will wake him up.
A few days ago Josh and I had a sit down and discussed needs, mainly my need for a new flat screen monitor. He agreed that this was a worthy need. I think something is telling me that he might want to inherit it or get a bigger one than mine when his monitor goes (either that or he feels guilty for buying over $200 worth of equipment from Natchez when I thought it would be about $50).
I already have a huge monitor which is why I am not using it. It's HUGE. I want a 15" because that is the size I need. Anything else won't fit where I need it. I'm going to wall mount it and a 15" with trim will barely fit! (Fun with tools in my future).
DUH! I completely forgot my parents have an attic! I've been sitting here trying to figure out what they could do with a twin bed mattress and box spring that is in perfect condition, but not really used right now. For some reason putting it in the attic never even crossed our collective minds. That attic is barely ever used. It's too darn hot to go up there for anything!
Looking back through some of my archives I found a link to the quit meter and discovered that since Josh quit smoking he has saved almost $8,000 and not to mention saving some years on his life. Yeah! I should note he did it cold turkey and it worked.
Happy Father's Day dad! Make it a good one!
Well, the day started out pretty good. Head munchkin, my mother, and I decided to do a little thrifting. We went to some yard sales and scored. To be specific, :brittany: scored. She got a ton of stuff to play ceo with. She and her friend have been pretending they run these big corporations and all. She's got a nice leatherbound notebook case and some other odds and ends. I ended up finding some really cool kites. The guy selling them used to own a kite business.
Of course the day got worse when I finished yard work. I got a nose bleed and started feeling miserable. It sucked.
Today was the first day it didn't rain down in buckets. It sprinkled a tiny bit, but that was it. Go figure.
Only he could fall off a Segway.
Note that a Segway is a self-balancing, electric-powered transportation device.
GW link found via easybakecoven.net
Today we kept really busy. We have totally redone one of my parents shops. New displays were purchased and we are still designing stuff as we go. Today Josh and I bought the last of the display stuff. My brother and I had bought some yesterday too.
There's a pretty cool store that sells all sorts of store displays and stuff. I want to approach them about redoing their website. It looks like someone used one of those Frontpage 97 templates to make it. They put a lot of money into their catalog, but nothing into their website. Pay me $500 and a discount on future purchases and I'll do it. Of course I'd charge more if they wanted ecommerce.
I killed my CLIÉ today. I didn't recharge it for weeks and it died today. Everything is gone. I haven't synched it lately either, so I lost a little data, but nothing too important. However, I did lose programs that I purchased and will have to dig around for my serial numbers etc. I think I'll start that after a nap.
Happy Birthday my little kitty. My girl is six now and still cute as a kitten. She played tonight with Josh. The kids want to make a cake for her. I think they just want a cake. I bought some mix and icing (I don't like cake from scratch for some reason.) and sprinkles. :skittles: will get a "cake" consisting of a can of wet food and six pieces of dry food on top. Fake candles if you will. It will keep the kids entertained and the kitty will be happy.
Our anniversary went as usual. Cute cuddleness was had, but not sickly. Worked on getting :brittany: riding a bike. Just goofed off really.
:brittany: worked on her writing journal today. It's a cute little story. She had to stop because there was a storm heading over. I think we'll keep her spelling errors in there. It's good for her to learn. Too much auto editing these days makes for bad spellers in the future.
Oh, I should mention that :brittany: said this story was part of a trilogy. I think the ideas of trilogies are coming the LoTR and The Matrix trilogies. Kids.
*************** Mushy Post Warning ***************
Happy Anniversary Josh. Four years ago we cut out of work early and went and got ourselves hitched. I am happier each day. I love you.
*************** End Mushy Post Warning ***************
We are geeks, I freely admit it. Last night Josh came across AJ's etch-a-sketch. What did he draw you ask? A full server rack. It was so adorable. /sniff
We are currently watching the launch of the first of the two Mars Rovers. There is a cloud obstructing our view in the backyard, so we can't watch it live. They are planning to launch the second rover on the 25th, maybe we can go to the cape and take the kids to see it. Maybe.
I think karma was working today. A stray dog came to the house today. We are estimating it was about eight or nine years old. It was also a Husky mix (we're not sure what). There was no collar, but it was overweight, so it is owned by someone. We got it plenty of water and called animal control and waited. My brother waited while we took lunch to my dad. My dad's day apparently picked up around the same time we were helping the dog. Karma.
It was so darn cute, but huge. :skittles: would have gone ballistic had she seen it. It was easily over 100lbs. I don't know whether animal control ever came since my brother was gone when we returned. I can't call his cell where he is either, so I'll wait. We put more water out just in case and have been checking. No sign yet. I did spot a bluejay though! I saw a Robin a couple of days ago. Lots of birdies coming out lately.
Apparently one of the fish we bought a while back had babies. Well, I'm guessing only one survived (there are some evil other fishies in there). So, since it's mommy died (evil fishy attacked it), we have named it Nemo. Brittany discovered it. We are going to move the evil fishies into their own tank. Right now Nemo is about the size of four grains of salt side by side. He's TINY. Oh, and he's orange too but not a clown fish. Naming it Nemo was a joke, but it has kind of stuck.
I'm not sure what it was all about, but :brittany: just called me to find out who played Morpheus in The Matrix. Of course we all know it was the fabulous Laurence Fishburne.
Got a whole boat load of stuff done today. Focus, that was just what I needed. Oh, and the fact that it was dumping rain down earlier kind of helped too.
Ahh, sitting at the table eating cornflakes for breakfast this morning I had a flashback. I was about six and I was sitting at the table eating cornflakes for breakfast. I think the only place we ever ate cornflakes was when we were visiting K and family. It was always Apple Jacks at my grandmothers and at our house it was whatever my mom let us pick out at the store. (Coooookie Crisp was always a fav amongst my brothers and I.)
The weather has been fickle today. Woke up and it was severly overcast. Went back to sleep due to a massive headache. Woke up then and it was sunny. Then I walked from the tv room to the bedroom and it was overcast and has been for the past twenty minutes. I expect one more patch of sunshine, then a downpour in about an hour and then after two hours, we'll be done for the day. Pretty much typical.
Shalyn gets her school shots tomorrow. AJ gets some too I think. I can't believe Shalyn is ready for school. It seems like just the other day I was putting her in the laundry basket and scooting her around. Oh wait, that was the other day.
Alright, off to do something, anything...
I hate it when I have emotional dreams. I just woke up from a five minute nap and I felt like I had been crying all day. Weird.
AJ called me by my name today. My mother picked up a dining room table and chairs today... scaled down for the kids. It's so darn cute. I tried helping her figure out where to put it and well, I couldn't. Right now it is in the library room because it's the only place it almost fits. I'm determined to find a place now. The kids and I painted the chairs today. They really need to be sanded and then either stained or painted. I figured a little bit of paint by the kids would be fine. Brittany wants to sew some cushions for the chairs and a tablecloth. We'll see. I see more Gryffindor colors in the future.
I'm bored. No, I'm REALLY bored! I'm so bored I'm not even sure if I brushed my teeth yet. Worked one some stuff, got bored, stopped. Did some Photoshop work, got bored, stopped. Got cold, stopped everything and got hot chocolate.
I think it's been my subconcious telling me to just go to damn bed.
Uhh, is it a bad thing if one of your applications is apparently having a seizure while trying to load? Hrmm. Not good.
Well, scrap that plan for today. Josh has informed me that he needs to borrow my laptop this afternoon to run Vag-Com. Grrr. I guess I won't get anything done this afternoon and I know I won't be in the mood to start in the evening. /sigh
I think I may try and make an apple pie for my dad. Sugar free of course.
Finally, we have an actual definition for bling-bling! According to the New Oxford Dictionary it is, "A reference to elaborate jewelry and clothing, and the appreciation of it." Well, isn't that spiffy. Orcs have also made their way into the dictionary. Yeah for Tolkien!
And now, for sleep. I despise yard work and that is what we did today.
Things coming up in the month of June that I am looking forward to:
One day I'm going to break something in this house, and it will more than likely be my skull. I smacked my head hard on the underside of a cabinet today. Now It is really hurting. I can feel it in my neck as well. I swear I need to wear a helmet and guards.
Nemo was ok. I won't say it was the greatest kids movie or anything. The animation was spectacular, but I don't know, there was something missing from it. At least it was a matinee. If it wasn't, I might have felt like I wasted the money. I think the kids thought it was ok. AJ was ready to go about an hour into the movie and the girls didn't talk too much about it after it was over. Hrmm, at least Return of The King is only six months away and Two Towers comes out on DVD in two months. There's hope and a big long movie marathon with the kids in the future.
You know, when I first saw the whole "SpikeTV" thing, I honestly thought they were talking about Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Apparently, everyone else thinks differently. I can't say that I particularly enjoy all of Spike's stuff. Girl 6 and Clockers were really the only pieces of work that he has done that I liked.
Taking the kids to see Finding Nemo in a few hours. That should be interesting. I've heard good and bad things about it. We'll see. Maybe :brittany: will do a review on her site or something.
AJ got peanut butter all over himself while eating lunch so he got a bath. While getting his hair dryed, with the towel over his head, he started acting like what I thought was a monkey. He quickly informed me that he was E.T. and then proceeded to run around the house with the towel on his head yelling, "E.T. phone home, E.T. phone home." Just too darn cute I tell you.
More weather script fun in between E.T. crazy episodes by AJ. Brittany also started playing around with Dreamweaver. I gave her some html background before and then just let her play.
Well, one goal accomplished. Weather script to be finished tomorrow.
Really tired. AJ was being uber-cute (and a little smarty pants) today. The girls went fishing (caught nothing though). Josh took AJ for a walk around the lake (and saw hee-hees aka fish). In othewords uber cuteness throughout the day. Brittany began studying her fourth grade stuff. I think she's doing ok. Darn division. I let to kids make their own pizzas (fresh dough was made) and they really liked it. Now if I can only remember how much of everything I put in the dough. Shalyn for some reason thinks she put rice on top of her pizza instead of shredded cheese. Kids.
I've decided that dad is getting solar lights for the backyard for Father's day. He really liked the ones I picked up so I will get him some. I tend to be a practical gift giver.
One week until our fourth wedding anniversary. (eeeek, already!) Josh is getting gun reloading equipment as his gift. Aww, shucks, I'm so sweet.
My voice is going. This sucks. I tried getting after :skittles: for misbehaving and I sounded like a dying old man.
Weird ass dream. I dreamt that I had gone to our old bank and withdrew $15,525, except that the bank register said there was only $7,346. So I got worried in my dream and raced to the bank which closed early because the owners wife or daughter (can't remember exactly) had been seriously injured. I don't remember how though. Weird.
Even in my dreams I am a worry-wort. Geez
I have made quite a bit of progress on my project. I even designed a new header for it (something I wasn't planning to do).
Time to watch some Sopranos before bed. I don't know what I will do when they stop making them. They've become one of Josh's annual holiday presents.
Oh, not to forget... Someone (:skittles:) is probably going to have a slight stomach ache tonight. She decided to "drink" pan water. We filled up a greasy pan with water and suds and she decided to try and drink some. We caught her before she had too much, but well, ick.
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