Exceedingly Mundane

My Valentines Day this year came a day early! The doorbell rang a little after 5 PM yesterday, and there was a big bouquet of flowers standing in front of my favorite delivery man, outside the front door. Tim decided to beat the rush and get my flowers a day early, which is a good thing, since some places probably sell out! I also got my favorite thing in February – a sweetheart brownie blast from Sonic! 🙂 Tim knows how much I love those things, and so he went and got me one. Isn’t he sweet?

I think I’ll keep him… he’s a very good Valentine 🙂

Here’s a pic of my flowers:

Have a great Valentines Day everyone 🙂 We’ll be pigging out on ribeyes tonight, how about you?

Hello Internet 🙂 Am I the only person in the world with this idiosyncrasy?

I’m vacuuming the carpet, and I see a speck of dirt or something on the floor. I run the vacuum over it, and it won’t come up. I run it over it a couple more times, but the darn thing won’t pick up. So, I bend over and pick it up, then toss it back on the floor and try again. I swear it, I ran the vacuum cleaner over that speck of dirt probably 8 or 9 times before it finally picked up. Then, I stopped and thought – why didn’t I walk to the garbage can and throw it away, after I had gone to the trouble to bend over and pick it up? Is it just me? Has anyone else ever done this? 😳

It’s still sort of cold here this morning, so I finally relented and fixed myself a small cappuccino. I have been trying to be good, and only have coffee on the days that Tim is here (weekends and the days he works from home). I think that part of my weight gain is coming from the coffee (with all the cream and sugar/Splenda I have to add to it), so I’m trying to cut back. It was like 28º when we woke up this morning and I still haven’t completely warmed up, so I was trying to be good. But, I finally relented and I’m sitting here finishing up my cappuccino. 🙁

We had a really good weekend, or at least I did. 🙂 I think it drives Tim a bit nuts to stay around the house, but that’s my favorite kind of weekend, especially when it’s cold or rainy. I got a lot of reading done, finished one book and started another, and we watched TV and some movies, and those are always my favorite kind of weekends. Even played a little Sudoku together, which is fun for me. We ate in all weekend, so I did a lot of cooking too. Yes, I know, you all think we eat out all weekend, every weekend, but not always. I cooked every meal and we ate in the entire time. Tim hit a lot of golf balls, both inside and out. He worked with his golf video inside a bunch, then took it outside when he got cabin fever. I bet he hit golf balls for at least 3 hours yesterday afternoon. 🙄

I better get to work on my to-do list, it’s a mile long today. I put off a lot of stuff I could have done over the weekend, so I could spend time with Tim or read. I have a lot of catching up to do today!

A day late, but I guess that’s ok 🙂

2006 Winter Olympics~

By the way…
Will you be watching the coverage of the winter Olympics? I’ll watch some, but probably not as much as I have in years past. Tim has never really enjoyed the Olympics, so I have watched less in the decade we’ve been together. He seems a little more interested this time, and even watched some of the downhill on Saturday night, so hopefully we’ll get to watch more this time around.

If so, what is your favorite event or events to watch? My favorite is the figure skating, but I also like speed skating, downhill skiing and some of the luge and bobsled events.

Who are you rooting for? A country, a particular athlete? Well, I really would have rooted for Michelle Kwan, she’s a class act, and I hated to see her have to withdraw. I’ll mostly root for the American team 🙂

Have you ever attended an Olympic event in person? No, it would be great though, but I doubt we’ll ever be that independently wealthy

Do you have a favorite winter Olympian from years past? Dan Jansen. He seemed like such a great guy, such a competitor, and he endured so much. I’m a huge Dan Jansen fan 😀

If you could add a sport to the winter Olympics, what would it be? Well, living in the Deep South, they are all foreign to me, so I have no idea!

Yesterday was a pretty cold and windy day, so I curled up and read most of the afternoon and evening. I finished the 4th book in the Zion Covenant series by Bodie Thoene, “Jerusalem Interlude”. While I liked this book, and enjoy reading the next one in the series, I will say that I didn’t like this one as much as the previous 3 I had read. I didn’t find the subject matter (Jerusalem, Arabs vs Jews) as interesting as I had the others, which focused more on Hitler’s pre-war expansion in Europe. It was a good book though, and I’m looking forward to reading the final 2 in this series. I won’t put up an individual review on Hambones, since this is part of a series.

OK, that makes 6 books read so far in 2006, and a total of 1861 pages. You can check out my sidebar for that info, any time. 🙂

Up next to read… something that we own; have to figure out which one. This is the last book of 3 that I checked out from the library a couple of weeks ago. All of our library branches are closed on Sundays, so I can’t go this afternoon and check out more books. I will probably either start a Grisham from our library (I’m about 5 or 6 books behind with his), or else my new Nicholas Sparks book. I’ll have to move up my trip to the library this week!

UPDATE: Ok, I’ve settled on “The First Counsel” by Brad Meltzer. Tim has read several of Meltzer’s books and this is one of his favorites. We own it in hardback, so that’s on the docket next. 🙂

Tim went to Hollywood Video yesterday to rent some movies. He asked if I wanted to go with him before he left, but I was curled up in my chair with my book and told him “No, you go rent you some movies you want to see, I am happy with my book.” He left and came back with 3 movies. He was trying to be sweet, and rented one for himself (Kingdom of Heaven), one he thought we’d both watch (Legend of Zorro) and one “for me”. What did you get for me, I ask? “Miss Congeniality 2”. Sigh. We’ve seen that Tim. No, we haven’t. Yes, we have. We saw it last year. I don’t remember it. Let me go pull up the review on Hambones – here it is, I reviewed it in July of last year. Oh, ok. Would you take it back and try to rent me another one? NO!

He watched Kingdom of Heaven last night, but I was reading, so I won’t be able to give a review of that one. I doubt Tim will type up a review, he’s not “into that”. We’ll watch Zorro later today, and I’ll try to review that one on Hambones later.

We’re finally having a little winter weather around here. It’s pretty cold and blustery outside, and so far, we’re staying in and avoiding the cold. Tim and I are in the process of upgrading some of the blogs we host on Hambones. We’re currently working on 3 of them. We started last night late and have continued that today. So, today is a blog day! 🙂 Not mine, but for other family and friends. Go check ’em out!

OK, let’s play “answer some questions”. The last time I posted something like this, I had good feedback, so let’s try again. Post your answers in the form of a comment here, or at your own blog. 🙂

1. What are your favorite pizza toppings? List your favorite 3 (or more).

2. What was the last movie you saw (theater or rented, your choice, or both)?

3. What is your favorite fruit?

Trent sent me a few more pictures of Grayson and Ava Clair. Such cutie pies! They are in their album now, go check them out. 3 of them are of Ava Clair enjoying her food and 2 of the kids in the tub. 😀

Friday, February 10, 2006
Feast Eighty

Appetizer
What was a class or course you took while in school that you realize now was a total waste of time? I enjoyed most of the classes I took in both high school and college. Even though my degree is in mathematics and computer science, I really think I’d have to pick one of my math classes. The non-Euclidean geometry class I struggled with was the worst – it was the polar opposite of all geometry (Euclidean) that I had ever taken. A very “think outside the box” kind of class… in this one, parallel lines meet, and you had to plot them out. I had a lot of trouble with this class and I hated it.

Soup
Who is the tallest person you know? I went to college with a couple of guys that were 6’6″ and 6’7″.

Salad
What’s your favorite midnight snack? I try not to eat late at night. If I want something, I try to just drink some orange juice. I guess if I was going to be really bad and splurge, it would be something chocolate. Surprise, surprise! 😀

Main Course
Have you ever found money somewhere? If so, where did you find it, and how much was it? I find money all the time, I think because I’m always looking down. I find coins mostly, but I have found dollar bills before. The most memorable money I ever found was in elementary or junior high. I found 3 quarters lined up perfectly on top of one another in the circle where our house was. I remember being so excited, it’s like someone laid them out for me (there were only 3 houses in our circle), and I was so happy. That 75 cents was more than I got for my allowance for the week, so I thought I was so rich!

Dessert
Where would you like to retire? In the mountains, in a very large cabin with a huge kitchen, a huge great room (big stone fireplace is a must), a room with a pool table, a hot tub outside, and gorgeous views of the mountains. Rockers on the porch, to watch the sunrise and sunset.

::Premium Web Service::

Onesome–Premium – Have you paid for any access to web services? What services? What are they like? No, we don’t pay for any premium anything. The only thing we pay for computer wise is our internet access and domain name registration. I’ve never signed up for premium music or movie services, online or otherwise.

Twosome–Web – For the free stuff on the web, what it your favorite out there? What do you find yourself looking at everyday? Hmm, I find myself going to my favorite message boards and blogs every day, but as far as sites to get freebies…. I can’t think of any off the top of my head! 🙂 I get lots of free recipes at my cooking site, does that count?!

Threesome–Service – What goes on in your mind when you’re out and get bad service from a restaurant or store? Do you let it slide off your back like ducks do to water? Or, do you make sure the business knows your dissatisfaction?you make sure the business knows your dissatisfaction? WELL. Interesting question. I’m more opinionated in restaurants about food and service, but that comes from working in restaurants and serving people, I look at it differently. But, the overall answer is the same – I fume, fuss to Tim later, sometimes blog about it, but I am so non-confrontational, that I don’t ever tell the waiter/cashier/store manager or whoever that I’m dissatisfied. I don’t want to appear rude or inconsiderate, and I don’t like to cause a fuss about anything, so I won’t ever confront them or voice my opinion. In fact, we’ve had manager types come by our table before in restaurants and ask “is everything ok” or something like that, and even if it’s not, I won’t say a word. I just smile and say “fine, thanks” or something along those lines. I don’t like scenes. 🙂

These were harder than you would imagine… I feel very special to have gotten 5 out of 8 correct! Go take it for yourself and post your results in the form of a comment, or at your own blog. 🙂

You Know a Lot About Blogging

You got 5/8 correct! Your not a total blogging geek yet… give it time.

I finished the book “Redemption” by Karen Kingsbury and Gary Smalley last night late. Tim had to work really late, so I stayed up late and finished my book. I really enjoyed it (it’s the first in a series of 5 books by the same 2 authors, about the same family) and I’m really looking forward to reading the others.

I just checked online and the other 4 books in the series are available at my local library. A couple are currently checked out, and one has a hold waiting on it, so it may be a while before I can get through them all. But they are there and available, and I’m very patient. 🙂 I love that I can sit at home in my pajamas and bring up the card catalog from my library online and look and see a) what is available b) if it’s checked out c) when it is due back and d) if someone else has a hold on it, waiting for it to return. I love the Internet

I’ll try to get a review up soon in the Reviews section of Hambones. That brings my number of books read so far in 2006 to a whopping 5. 😀 Pages read are at 1461 (see sidebar counters). I think that’s pretty good, don’t you?!

Today, I have a lot of laundry and cleaning to do. I hope to try to work out again this afternoon, and if I have time, I’m going to catch up on several days worth of newspapers. Once I’m caught up on the papers, (and I’m not watching all of our TV shows!), I will try to start the next book in the Zion Covenant series (Jerusalem Interlude).

1. Do you have an iPod/mP3 player? If so, what kind? Yes, I have an Ipod, 30 gig photo that I LOVE 😀

2. How many songs are on your player and of those, how many did you purchase online? about 1100 or 1200 right now, and a very small percentage of those were purchased online. I’m going to buy 2 albums soon though, so my online purchases are going up soon. 😉

3. Do you tend to listen to a certain type of music when you are sad/down? If so, describe: Hmmm, I guess sappy songs or sad songs. Not sure. I think when I’m down, I don’t tend to listen to music, I usually stare at the TV or read.

4. How much memory does your player have? Do you think it is too little, just right or way too much? I have a 30 gig. It’s enough for me, but I wish it was the video model and not the photo…. not that I’d pay 1.99 for episodes of Lost or Battlestar Galactica, but I think it’s cool. 🙂

5. What two types of music (jazz, pop, country, rap, etc.) do you listen to more than other types? Country and Pop

And, here’s a bonus – a picture of my beloved iPod, with the red Tough Skin that Tim got me for my birthday. I love it, because I’m clumsy and klutzy and I feel like when I drop or bang my iPod now, it will survive with its Tough Skin keeping it safe. 🙂

True or False (and feel free to elaborate)

1. I consider myself to be very organized. Yes 😀
2. I tend to get more done when I’m pressed for time. Pretty Much, I think it helps me focus
3. Multi-tasking is something I do often. These days, I don’t have to multi-task as much as I did when I was working. But I can still do it, if required.
4. I might be a perfectionist. Hmmm, well, ok, maybe
5. I enjoy Mondays as much as I enjoy Fridays. True
6. If I didn’t make a list (or hang a post-it note) I’d forget what it is I need to do. Absolutely True
7. I have no problem asking for help when I don’t understand something. True most of the time, might depend on the task or person I’m having to ask 🙂