Stories of Airports and Snow

yeah yeah, so Shawn and I didn't go anywhere this year (which isn't true, we went over to the Lima Bean's house...she's so much cuter now that she can hold her own damn head up). BUT that doesn't mean that we haven't heard endless stories of travel travails.

My dad was stuck in North Carolina (?) because he couldn't get back to Colorado...but hey, Carolina is better than Jersey.

Everyone in Colorado was stuck in their house.

One of my coworkers was stuck at the Austin Airport for 10 hours because she missed her first flight to Chicago...the flight didn't even have to go through Denver...just straight through to Chicago...but I guess Chicago was on a 4 hour flight delay because of fog.

And we...why we weren't stuck at all! yay for mild climates!

As far as Christmas presents go, we got quite a few nifty things...things like a 750 piece "solve the mystery" puzzle, which we solved the puzzle, and managed to solve the mystery without the "key evidence"...but then, I think the clues and the lab reports and what other crap they gave you really gave the whole thing away...not nearly as hard as the puzzles Mom used to buy us. We also got like $125 in movie gift certificates...so, we's goin' to the movies! And I got a nice outfit from Mom. She had Dani help her, but it's all good, the clothes fit and everyone at work said they looked nice. I got a nifty iHome...it's for my iPod...which I've taken to calling my ip-odd instead of my "na-new, na-new." That's all for now...I'll post a pic of the puzzle later so that the fam can use it to make their version of said puzzle.

Good God, there's something in the water!

So then, the Lima Bean was born in September...and Mrs. Poochie is going to have a baby in May...and now Miss Sarah is going to have a baby in July! I swear, there's something in the water...I think I'd better switch to bottled, just to be safe.

The Baby Name Wizard

No, we're not having a baby. Ross got me hooked on a website a while back, and so I started reading more about the actual book and then had the stupid, stupid thought "wow, that's pretty cool, I should get the book." And thus, I have bought the book...I also got a "how to make stuffed animals" book too so that I can make something for Baby Colison. The book is such a let down...maybe it's a let down because it really is just another baby name book and it doesn't explain the science of what research went into it, or it doesn't explain why people sometimes choose mates that begin with the same letters...or even why parents that have twins always seem to name the kids with names that all begin with the same letter. But anyhow, I'm disappointed. They don't even have my name in it. :(

Names that go with Danielle: Nicole, Erica, Amanda, Rachel, Stephanie, Derek, Jeremy, Sean, Travis, Adam

Names that go with Mary: Margaret, Catherine, Martha, Rosa, Anne, John, Charles, George, Edward, Paul

Names that go with James: Mary, Elizabeth, Anne, Camilla, Charlotte, Robert, William, Thomas, Phillip, John

Europe or Central America?

So then, as I said earlier, this is a picture of our shower wall...apparently I take really long showers or something because I swear to God that this looks like Spain, Italy and a messed up Greece...but then one day I thought it looked a little more like Central America...but you can't have Spain, Italy and Central America all connected...or can you? Dur, and after I uploaded it I realized that there are little red lines acting like messed up little arrows when really they point to nothing, so look ABOVE the titles--except for Spain, which is in the middle of where Spain is in my Shower Wall World.

Chrismakuh

Ah Chrismakuh...how glorious of a season you are. You get to bring out the best and worse in people. For example: Project Blue Santa--good (not to mention the fact that this organization gets thousands of unwrapped toys which they then go and wrap...that's a lot of wrapping), and psychotic christians--bad. Yes, that's right, psychotic christians. I believe I have found my arch nemeses...Everyone knows of this type of person--the person that is personally offended that someone dare say "happy holidays" instead of "merry christmas". they'll claim that "people have taken the christ out of christmas" which guess what? not everyone is christian. There are tons of other religions, so yes, "Happy Holidays" is what you say to people when you aren't sure if they're christian...but then, at the same time, there isn't a muslim, hindu, or buddhist holiday around christmas, so maybe it would be best if we just didn't say anything to anyone about religious holidays unless you absolutely know without a doubt what religion the person is...hmm, that could work nicely, though i'm sure the psychotic christians would still be upset because they need to be recognized...stupid attention seeking whores.

Religious Holidays in December (via earthcalendar.net):
12/3--Beginning of Advent (christian)
12/8--Immaculate Conception (christian)
--Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji (sikhism)
12/10--Ganga Bua (voudon)
12/12--Agu Arroyo (voudon)
12/16--Beginning of Chanukkah (judaism)
12/21--Alban Arthuan/Heruin (celticism)
--Litha/Yule (paganism)
12/24--Christmas Eve (christian)
12/25--Christmas Day (christian)
--Bain de Noel (voudon)
12/26--Zartusht-No-Diso (zoroastrian)
12/31--Asara B'tevet (judaism)
--Omisoka (shinto)

Non-Religious days of note (via earthcalendar.net):
12/23--Festivus
12/26--beginning of Kwanzaa

So choose a holiday and enjoy, just remember that not everyone you meet celebrates the same one. And on that note, Happy Holidays!

The Wall in the Shower

So, I'm going to blog about the wall in the shower. Boring you may say. But, au contraire mon frer. The wall is marble...therefore it's got the funny little feather lines in it. These lines can be imagined to draw things...you know, like how you can see things in clouds. I will post a picture later (I have to figure out how to get my camera all hooked up and downloading pictures while using this crazy new OS called "Vista"---mwah ha ha ha, that's right, Shawn's got a Developer's license for Vista so he gets to play with it at home to try to find bugs and whatnot.). But, back to the issue at hand, I want to know if it's a funky drawing of Spain, Italy, and Greece, or if it's a drawing of California, Baja, and Central America. As I said...later.

Bah Humbug!

On Thursday I had to go to the doctor for a stupid physical. YAY nothing's wrong! they put a rush order on the lab work so I found out 15 minutes later. YAY! But then, the question of the tetanus shot came up..."uh...let's see...we were going to Albuquerque for a band trip...and I had to get it right after that trip because I was turning 15 and that's when I needed the shot...and now I'm...25...damn." so the tetanus shot it is. The shot itself didn't hurt. by that night I was in pain. I woke up at least 4 times because I'd hit my arm, rolled over on it, or just tried to move it. Friday day I couldn't lift my arm at more than a 15 degree angle without seeing stars...That's when I started taking the pain meds. ThenI got the reaction to the vaccine where it feels like you have the flu but not--so I was nauseous, chills (so I was wearing sweatpants, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, and was still under a blanket...and this was AFTER I turned the heat up to 72), achy, low-grade fever and dead tired. I slept in the same outfit as described above and woke up once to take more pain meds...Saturday's been better...but then I've been on a constant Advil high all day, and, since Shawn's starting to get some sore throat type sickness, he hasn't complained about me turning the temp up inside the house.

In other stuff, we went to Shawn's work group's holiday party on Thursday night. There were conversations about Linux, the delicious soup, and a very in-depth conversation about Transformers...I don't know if I should be impressed, or very, very scared.

So, you know how I said

that Shawn had built me a new computer with all the stuff that he bought the day after Thanksgiving? And how I needed a new computer because the only thing I could do on my old one was surf the web? Yeah, well, funny story: Since shawn is obsessed with Linux (what's a linux?) he decided to install Sabayon on my computer (as well as Windows). And now, for some reason, he can't connect to the internet--nevermind the fact that it connected perfectly fine to the internet last night. And this is why I hate computers...

In other news, my in-laws decided that we (us and his parents) should all throw some money in and get my sister-in-law and her husband one big present (combined for their birthdays and Christmas). This is perfectly fine with me...the only problem is that we had already gone out and bought Christina her Christmas presents...which we can keep one of them til next Christmas, but I'm worried about keeping the one that Shawn chose because I think the stuff may not be good if we wait a year...so I guess it will become a birthday present maybe? but then I feel like we should get Nathan something to open as well...oy vey...see the problem with going shopping the day after Thanksgiving?

Let the Christmas shopping begin

So, Thanksgiving. We were home, by ourselves, we had smoked turkey breast, and it was delicious. Then 9pm rolled around and Shawn said "let's go get a hard drive from CompUSA, they have a good deal on a 160 gig drive." so it was off to CompUSA where we waited in line to get out of the store for about an hour and a half, but we had the hard drive. We got home at like 11:45 and then set the alarm to wake up at 4am so we could leave for Fry's to get their computer based deals. We got to Fry's at 4:30 and waited in line to get INTO the store for about 20-25 minutes--they opened a little early because the line had gone from the front doors all the way down to the fire station. Now then, last year we waited in line for about an hour to get out of the store, so this year's goal was to get in and get out as quick as possible--no lollygagging around looking at things we weren't going to buy. We didn't even have to wait in line to leave. We were out of the store by 5:05am. Then it was off to Kohl's for actual Christmas gifts, that was an hour and a half long wait. Then to Linens 'n Things, then to Old Navy (both of which didn't have very long lines--mostly because by this time, both stores had been open for about an hour). And then we went back to Fry's the following Sunday to pick up some more presents for people. And thus we have bought ourselves the stuff to make me a new computer (my computer is so outdated that about the only thing I can do on it anymore is surf the internet) and the stuff for a new media computer (now we can get High Def television), and gotten about half of our Christmas shopping done. WOOO! and it's only December 2nd. Now then, we just got to go wait in line at the post office so we can ship all this stuff out.

Thanksgiving dinner

my initial statement and question: "hmm, thanksgiving is this week. you want a turkey...so, what should we have for side dishes?"

Shawn's in-depth and highly complex answer: "jello"

And the rest of the conversation is as follows:
"alright, what type of jello?"

"I don't know, strawberry?"

"No, I don't mean what flavor, I mean what type--like lime with cream cheese and marshmallows, or cherry with fruit, or strawberry with whipped cream?"

"Why's it got to have extra stuff in it?"

"Because it's Thanksgiving."

"You know, just because it's Thanksgiving doesn't mean it has to be difficult."

"right, well, what else should we have for food?"

"we've already got potatoes...and a box of stuffing...and biscuits...and jello...."

"yeah, I know, but that's all easy stuff, what else should we have?"

"uh...apple pie?"

"Ah yes, apple pie! That's kinda difficult...or not difficult but time consuming. Okay, now we're good."

"you know..."

"yes, I know, just because it's Thanksgiving doesn't mean it has to be difficult."

The good (transpo) book

So, as I promised last week sometime (whenever it was that Jon posted about the guy running for senate or something in Pennsylvania) here is my post about determining speeds for roadways...of course, for whatever reason the book gives everything more as a "if you want the speed to be this, then you should design this as..." as opposed to "if you have a roadway that is designed as this, then the safe speed should be..." But I digress.

Ok, #1. There are tons of tables...which I do not feel like scanning in for your betterment...so if you want the tables themselves, go find them from AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials)...or find the transpo book I have (Transportation Engineering Planning and Design Fourth Edition by Paul H Wright And Norman J. Ashford)

Various parts that go into designing a road:
-Sight Distance (how far can you see in front of you),
-Perception-Reaction distance (how far you travel from when you first see something to when you react to it--Reaction is usually set to 2.5 seconds, but can go up to 3.0 seconds),
-Braking distance (how long you're breaking for),
-number of lanes (number of lanes needed to maintain a certain level of service--otherwise known as "why am I sitting in this traffic jam?")
-width of shoulder (the wider the clear shoulder, the faster people will go)
-slope of hill after shoulder (this determines usage of guardrails)
-other various stuff which I do not feel like typing about (gutter inlets, train intersections, highway intersections, bridge design, type of pavement used, thickness of pavement, etc.)

Sight distance on the road generally just means "how far can you see in front of you?" this is why when it's dark out you don't want to "out drive" your headlights. And thus, probably the reason for Texas having "Day speed limits" and "Night speed limits". Stopping sight distance is the distance you travel from when you first see something to when you actually stop...How fast can you stop the car when you see a hindrance in the road? AASHTO uses "wet pavement" calculations because wet pavement has less friction than dry pavement, thus it takes you longer to stop. So then, the calcuations are as follows:
Perception-Reaction distance: 1.47*(2.5 sec)*V where V is the velocity of the car in mph.
Braking distance: V^2/(30*f) where V is the velocity of the car in mph and f is the coefficient of friction (between 0.28 (for about 70mph) to 0.4 (for about 20mph))
Therefore your stopping sight distance is the distance you travel while reacting plus the distance you travel while breaking...and this is only for level ground, it would be longer for slopped ground.
And thus, the speed limit you select should take into account that your stoping sight distance needs to be shorter than your sight distance--you don't want people traveling on a road at 65mph when they can only see 50 feet in front of them.

Number of lanes calculations: Number of lanes = Directional Design Hourly Volume (DDHV) / Service Flow Level.
DDHV = Annual average daily traffic * K * D
K = percent of AADT that occurs in the peak hour (usually 10 - 20%)
D = Directional factor (percentage of cars on the roadway going the direction of interest) (usually 50-70%)
SFL (service flow level) is taken from a table--calculated as "vehicles per lane" by a percentage of trucks (0-20%) and by terrain (level, rolling hills, or mountains). The better the level of service, the less cars in a lane, and therefore the less likely you are to get stuck in a traffic jam.

Wide shoulders and other types of obstructions:
The wider the shoulder, the faster people can travel safely because brokedown cars can get completely off the road, plus you can use the shoulder for evasive tactics if needed.
The wider the lanes, the faster people will drive because they don't have to worry as much about hitting cars in other lanes.
The steeper the hill off of the shoulder determines the use of gaurdrails--you're more likely to over compensate and try to stay away from the guardrails, plus if you do hit the guardrail, it's supposed to keep you from going over the edge of the mountian.
Dividing a highway makes it safer to travel faster because you're not as worried about being hit by oncoming traffic.
Dividing a small neighborhood street, usually gets you to go slower because you can't necessarily see people or animals crossing the street as easily, especially if trees are added.
Adding cones gets you to slow down because you don't want to hit anything...even if the cones are placed to give you the same amount of space as the lane does.

ah yes, what a glorious weekend

So, I decided I ought to take monday and tuesday off (in addition to having friday off for veteran's day), and thus turn my 2 day weekend into a 5 day weekend. And it is glorious!

Friday, I didn't do anything...or rather, the only thing I really accomplished was getting the $20 I promised to Daniella to her...I ended up spending 3 hours over there...hey man, she's bored--she's just sitting at home watching TV all day.

Saturday through Sunday, Shawn and I went backpacking at Pedernales Falls. It was pretty cool. Pictures should be posted soon.

Monday, I finished painting the guest bedroom/drum room...finally, it's only been a year and a half since I started painting the damn room! And I cleaned up some--did laundry, did dishes, that type of stuff.

and today, today I have the goal of getting my hair cut--well trimmed really. I want to donate my hair to "wigs for kids" or "locks of love" and so I figure I better go make sure that my hair is actually in good shape and whatnot. I also should finish the laundry, finish the dishes, and finish putting away all of our stuff from backpacking...woo!

right, well, ta ta for now!

God I hate the doctor's office

so then, as I mentioned quite some time ago (almost a year to be exact), I hate the doctor's office. I normally only go when I'm healthy and all the test results come back saying that I'm sick. AND just so you know, that goes the other way as well--I go in when I'm sick, the tests say I'm healthy. For example, I woke up this morning and said "hunh, my bladder feels funny...I wonder if I have a bladder infection..." then I go to the bathroom and decide "yes, yes I have a bladder infection." so I call in sick to work and make a doctor's appointment. They set an appointment for 2pm. I get to the appointment and go pee in a cup (because that's what they have you do). and the test results come back that I've got too much water in my urine...so the tests can't find any bacteria, thus there is no proof I have a bladder infection. Stupid. So the doctor told me to come back later if I get the other symptoms of a bladder infection. Otherwise, we're done here. blah. stupid body and it's stupid reaction to the stupid doctor office. Stupid.


In other news, I found out that one of the guys I went to college with (and was one of Shawn's biking buddies) who is a model (you've seen him in ads for American Eagle--he's the one on the right in the add above), is now in a commercial for Gain laundry detergent. so now I have to watch commercials to see if I can spot him...damn commercials, I have a mythTV for a reason...so I don't have to be subjected to watching commercials.

In the real news there was a threat at one of the local highschools. They dont know anything about it...don't know if it was a Columbine thing, or if it was a Wisconsin school thing...but whatever.

Also, I love Heroes. If not only because I can watch the episodes Online after they air. one less thing for me to record on the MythTV.

Gah, I've done it again!

GAH! so I was talking to mom on the phone this evening while driving home from work. She was telling me about how my sister is "moving" out. It seems to be quite the long move. She's had an apartment, but hasn't moved all of her stuff over there yet. Don't get me wrong, she's LIVING in her apartment, just ALL of her furniture is at mom and dad's. Mom says that they're going to help move the furniture, but dad says that she has to have all the small stuff out of the house before he'll help with the furniture.

In anycase, Dani was visiting at Mom and Dad's while I was on the phone with Mom. So Mom, of course, had me talk to her. I told her that she had to pack all the small stuff in boxes because there is nothing more annoying than trying to help someone move who obviously isn't ready to have their stuff moved. Mostly because you're sitting around waiting for things to be thrown haphazardly into boxes instead of moving all the damn stuff onto a truck. I mean, if you dont' want to put the stuff in boxes, at least put everything in large trash bags....but get the stuff ready to move before you start to move for christ's sake! But anyhow, I started telling her this and she was like ":::sigh:::: [now this means that she's pissed off]. Well, have a good one, Katina." Click. Yep...she's mad at me. Sorry DaniBani.

Fish and Vistors...

well...you know the saying. My in-laws left this morning for the 18 hour drive back to colorado. They were here from Sunday afternoon to Saturday morning. and I didn't get as homicidal as I do when I'm with them 24/7. So, that is good.

However, their stay started out with me being at Bond's house making goodies for the bake sale we had for charity at work on monday. When I got home, their van was parked in the driveway...on my side. In front of the open garage door. showing an empty garage. now then, logic would then dictate that the empty garage meant that I wasn't home. And so, I pull into the driveway behind Shawn's truck and think to myself "and so it begins." I walk in the house and I hear "HELL WO" gah!!!!!! but then I was regaled with a story about how they originally parked on the street in front of the house, but the neighbor backed into the van and it's broken, it's busted, it cannot be driven. I go out and look at the van. The neighbor has backed into the van and broken the driver side rear-view mirror. Not a big deal. But apparently big enough for them to never park in front of the house EVER again. This means that everytime they come visit, I will have to park on the street instead (or behind shawn's car, which is only possible if he gets home before me, which he normally doesn't). DAMMIT I WANT MY GARAGE PARKING SPACE BACK! But, on the plus side, it was the one thing they broke this time, and they didn't throw hot coffee on our cat...which is also good.

and this is my biggest complaint...the lack of indoor parking for myself. and, as I said I never got to the point where I was thinking of ways to off them and make it look like an accident. so, either I'm making progress, or they're becoming better about not pissing me off.

But the other funny things I found out:

They can't sit in the backseat of my car. Or rather, they can sit in the backseat, they just can't figure out how to buckle their seatbelts. Must not turn around and buckle them in, they are 60-year-old grown adults, they can figure out their own damn seatbelt...even if we do have to wait for 5 minutes for them to figure it out.

Elsie calls more when she's in-town than when she's out of town. She called Shawn at work at least one time a day every day. I'm glad she didn't call me. I would have probably not answered the phone after the first day.

They tell us to not worry about the cost of food on a menu at a restaurant. This probably would have made more sense if we had eaten at a restaurant that cost more than $6 a plate...

AND don't ever let them sleep on the couches ever again. It's not that it's annoying because you have to be extra quiet in the morning, or that they will wake you up every time they start snoring, but it's annoying because when they're sleeping on the couches, it means that the cats CAN'T sleep on the couches...which means they sleep with us. Which is annoying because then I end up with two 12 pound cats sleeping on my head and on my chest. Not fun.

But as I said, our lives can return to normal...they're gone. Now then, time for the party.

the stingrays, like the trees, are fighting back.

So, as I'm sure you've heard, an 81-year-old man had his heart pierced by a stingray. The difference between this time and when Steve Irwin did it is that the stinger broke off under the skin so the guy couldn't pull the thing out (which is what Steve did). The doctors think this saved his life...you know, it's like the whole thing of if you get stabbed, you're not supposed to remove the knife because it's probably actually preventing you from bleeding to death. Anyhow, this is the second sting ray attack in like 3 months...I think the stingrays are trying to take over the world. It's very similar to the time when the trees had had enough of the celebrities. The pine trees were fed up with the stars and so they would randomly jump out in front of a celebrity while the celebrity was skiing...okay, so maybe the trees were just trying to get autographs...

Bake Sale

So, when Kim left the other week, she left the office in dissarray. By dissarray I mean that there was no one to be in charge of our City of Austin Combined Charity drive. And so, dear reader, Olga was put in charge (ha ha, you thought I was going to say that I took over didn't you?!?!?). Well, Olga sends out an email saying to give her our pledges and that we're having a bake sale. Wha? Kim never mentioned anything of a bake sale...eh, she was probably going to wait til the friday before the bake sale to tell everyone. But anyhow, there's a bake sale. So I volunteered to make cookies...as I always do. I think I may even get ambitious and make a pie. Bond asked what type of cookies I was going to make, but I don't know. She suggested something with Smarties in them. I said she was crazy. She consequently found a recipe that has Smarties in it. Yep, Oatmeal Smarties Cookies. Bleah...She aggreed. But she's into this Smarties thing now, so she says she's going to make Smarties pie. It will be Whipped cream and smarties in a graham cracker crust....patent pending. I'll let you know how it is...if it actually gets made.

In the News today

In the newspaper: BevoXIII died recently. He is most known for crapping on the Cornhuskers' field in Nebraska.

On MSNBC.com: Sports nuts men will wait until AFTER the game is finished on TV to go to the Emergency room (because yes, the team is only going to win if you are at home yelling like an idiot at the TV) (OK, OK, so I have been known to yell at various people on my TV as well).

Bone density for women decreases by drinking Colas. Damn.

The FBI and CIA apparently don't want to know what the terrorists are thinking because they aren't pushing for their agents to learn foreign languages. Only 1% (33 persons) speak Arabic at all, and of those, only 1 speaks it fluently. The FBI won't let him work in Arabic countries though because he was born in Egypt...he may be a terrorist you know.

The Yankees' pitcher died in a plane crash. It was remnisent of 9-11...only without at much death and destruction.

and the biggest story of the night: Decaf Coffee contains Caffeine...didn't they discover this like 5 years ago? because I could have sworn...

Baseball

So, as I'm sure most of you already heard, the pitcher for the Yankees went out in a blaze of glory this afternoon (read: flew his 4 person plane into a building). Now then, I'm not so sure, but not winning the world series doesn't seem to be a reason to commit suicide (note: I do not know if the poor bloke committed suicide or not, but it does seem like a bit of a coincidence, no?)...but then, that's just me. I mean, I did have a coworker tell me that the only reason for her to live the other day was to go out and eat lunch, and then i was worried. But then I realized that it was freaking early in the morning and that she probably either said "the only reason for me to come to work today" or meant to say that. In anycase, saying that you're living today for food is quite alright by me.

Whatever

So I figure I should post SOMETHING because I haven't blogged in a while. Unfortunately, I don't have anything to blog about--work is going well (Although I've been frustrated this week with my supervisor), life is good (the bachelor started again, so I have friends again! YAY!!!), and a shit-load of new TV shows are to be watched...Thus there's not a lot to blog about--or rather, there's probably really TONS to blog about, but I'm just too lazy. Stupid laziness.

hmmm....Let's see something to blog about...

Shawn and I went to see the Lima Bean. She's pretty cute for a newborn...And just so you know, holding her for an hour didn't make me want to have one--it just made my arm tired.

Cousin David was in town last weekend. We didn't get to hang out, but we did talk on the phone for about an hour--it was nice to talk to him. We normally don't see each other often, and we definitely never talk on the phone. (the picture to the left is of Cousin David and Aunt Lynn dancing at my wedding).

Bond loved the pictures of her in Colorado. I knew she would.



And due to frustration with computers at work this morning, I would like to announce that Bill Gates is the Devil.

Stuff for the Understuffed

So, Shawn and I went back to Colorado a few weeks ago. I know, I didn't blog anything about it...mostly because nothing really happened, besides, pictures are better than words--if you want to know what happened, go to our home page. But I digress. We went back home and while we were there, it was decided that we should go see my grandparents. Mostly because their house is in the mountains and they're trying to sell it (on a side note, my typing accuracy is crap tonight). Now then, the cabin...oh the cabin. The ground breaking was on the day Dani was born. So that means that the main building is 23 years old. There are pictures of cousin David and me hammering various nails, pictures of our parents when they were young, and pictures of the grandparents...not necessarily looking lots younger, but their glasses sure have changed a lot. And also, there are lots of memories. Grandma baking sugar cookies and singing "Frosty the Snowman" while the kids sat around and did Christmas crafts...Jared insisting that we watch "Annie" again, and singing "Tomorrow, Tomorrow....Tomorrow, Tomorrow" through the whole movie...Hiking up around Montgomery Mill to look for old pieces of metal with the metal detector...Toboganing down the driveway...and so on and so forth....but once again, I digress.

ANYHOW the point of this whole story was that Grandma and Grandpa are moving out. This of course has them in a tizzy. Mostly because there is absolutely NO WHERE to put anything from the cabin in their house in Arizona. This, of course, means that they have to get rid of a bunch of stuff. And a lot of the stuff in the Cabin is the heirloom type stuff. You should have seen grandma when we were up there, she was throwing things at us left and right. In the end, it ended up that I got a couple of plates, a Donald Duck milk pitcher (from the mid '40's), a towel that her mom made (GG Edith apparently did fabric painting and did a tea towel with a dark haired girl and a tea towel with a blond haired girl, and grandma said "wow, it's Katina and Dani" and so she folded them up and put them in her cedar chest, thus they're in great shape), and a hankercheif or two. This of course is in addition to the stuff that Shawn's parents brought back from his grandfather's estate from the last trip to Pennsylvania.

And mom and Dani today took some of the stuff to the Library today because the library was having some "appraise your junk" day or something. Pretty much, there isn't anything worth tons of money ("it's monetary value isn't great, but the sentimental value is through the roof!"). But that's okay...they're heirlooms...and that's what really matters....now...to find a place for all of this stuff.

wedding photos...again

So the other night i was bored. and I mean really bored. bored to the point of me going through the links on our wedding page. and what do you know? the photographer from the wedding has some of shawn's and my photos up on his website indictitive of the types of photos he takes...which...is...awesome. And so, to save yourself some time, the photos begin on page 54 of his weddings page (yeah, I went through 50-some-odd-pages of wedding photos that weren't mine--I started from the end and went backward...hey, I said I was bored)....if you ever feel the need to look them up.

Dani's Goal of 100

How pitiful...Dani is 3 blogs away from 100. and I, I am at a measly 50-something. But to be fair, I do upkeep for 2 separate blogs...so really I'm probably over 100, but still...so sad.

Let's see....we went to Colorado, We came back...We're not going back for Christmas...I checked--it would be 2x the cost to fly back at Christmas. Besides, we have Vegas and a wedding to go to early next year. We haven't gotten pictures up yet because Shawn is a dork and is procrastinating on making a webpage for me (hey, I have NO IDEA how to use Digikam, and I'm not about to learn--be glad, I photoshopped the photo below. I call it "Bond's Trip to Colorado")

I went to happy hour with some of the coworkers--it's always fun, although I think we need to stop having happy hour on wednesdays...mostly because Bond and John can't go (those crazy Baptists), and thus it is sad because Bond is awesome...thus the picture of her trip to Colorado.

I'm in Training for the rest of the week at work...which is good, but it's sad--one of the other girls at work was supposed to be in the same training, but she ditched me. Really, it's because she's slammed with work for Williamson Creek and the Corps of Engineers project that's going on down there...don't ask me, I dont' know.

And we're finally getting close to replacing Ross...so sad, I know. He went to go work for another department because he was at the top of the food chain for GIS people in our department--which sucked for him. But, they have one more person to interview, then we'll have a new person. YAY! I like new people! AND Ross is in Peru right now, I hope he's having a fun time and isn't becoming sick with Typhoid. Because That. Would. Blow. ha! literally!

As mentioned Earlier, Lon and Daniella had the Lima Bean. Her name is Vanessa Mabel. I haven't seen her in person yet, but she's like a very consternated little kid from the picture they sent. Meh, I"m sure she was just gassy...or hungry...or trying to poop...or something (and that's the second time I've made reference to pooping in this blog. Go ME!) But I called last night (she was a scant 3.5 days old) and Lon sounded like hell...so...HAPPY BIRTHDAY big guy! But Daniella sounded absolutely fine...I wonder if she just keeps punching him every time he falls asleep...because that would be interesting.

In sad news, Mrs and Mr Poochie took down their website. She says it's because I was the only one that looked at it. and I have one question: Are you saying I'm not good enough?

Oh! speaking of Mrs. Poochie! The bachelor starts up again. and for this, I am excited. Not because the bachelor is a good show, but because that means we'll start having girls' night again! YAY for girls!

And as mentioned earlier: Bond's Vacation to Colorado!

The LIMA BEAN!!!!

YAY! Ma-Belle was born today, 8 days early. But Lon says that she and her mother are doing well, so everything's good.

oh the insanity

We ate at Fazzoli's tonight. We like Fazolli's. Fast. Italian. Food. Unfortunately, tonight, it was much more like being at a REAL restaurant. And it's all because of THEM. The THEM I speak of is (are?) the people sitting next to us.

First, they held up the line because they wanted to use a coupon on an item that was on special (which apparently you aren't allowed to use a coupon for), and the manager wasn't letting them use the coupon...well, he wasn't going to let them use a coupon until they pretty much refused to order a meal without the damn coupon and the line was already out the door--it was quite the standoff. But, eventually the manager let them use the coupon (which 1. If you try to use the coupon and the manager says "no" your options are either stand your ground and put up a big stink or say "oh, ok" and order your meal sans coupon and 2. If you're the manager, and you tell the people 'no coupon' once, your options are to pray that they listen to you and if they don't, realize that they're going to put up a stink, and that you'd be better off just letting them use the coupon. Hence why standing your ground when attempting to use a coupon is generally an alright deal...it usually doesn't cause that much of a backlog of people. But in this case obviously, it did.)

Second, they ordered something special--meaning, "I want the spaghetti, but sauce on the side." So, obviously the first round of food had spaghetti with sauce on it, so it got sent back. When it came out the second time, they had the girl deliver it to the table. Unfortunately, she didn't know who ordered "spaghetti, sauce on the side" and thus figured it was the couple with a little girl. The Fazzoli-ette took the spaghetti off of the tray and put it on the table, the lady at the table said "oh, we didn't order this" and that's when Fazzoli-ette realized that the people who ordered it were at a DIFFERENT table. So she picks the spaghetti sans sauce up and puts it back on the tray and walks over to THEM. The gentleman says "I hate to do this, but since you served this spaghetti to a different table, we would like a new one--one that hasn't been served to anyone else." (which, I have an issue with the "I hate to tell you/do this" phrase because if you really hated it, you wouldn't have done it...so you get some pleasure from making people feel bad...schandenfreude maybe? But I digress) "oh, ok sir, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were the ones that ordered the spaghetti, and the lady over there didn't touch anything..." "I know, but we'd like a new one. It's not a problem, we're having a nice time visiting and we're willing to wait." "uh...yes, sir. I'm sorry about that, Sir." "It's not a problem, we'd just like a new one."

And third, when they finally get their food, they prayed...I'm not talking the silently bow their heads and pray type thing either--it was the holding hands and praying out loud kind of praying...which I totally understand doing at home, or even at college your freshman year where you "eat out" all the time, but doing it at a fast food restaurant just kinda makes you seem like a jackass who is trying to show how pious you are...especially after you made the people at said restaurant make your food 3 times because you're so nit-picky...makes me almost wonder what your religion teaches...because I'm guessing it's not forgiveness and tolerance.

The Westinghouse

So Shawn found a good deal on an LCD monitor this last weekend, and thus we have taken the first steps into a new century. You can read about it HERE.

In other news, it FINALLY rained at our house this morning. So the windows (we had 3 of them replaced over the summer), did well--no leaks from what we can tell. AND our rain barrel is full again--Yay for watering plants again!!!!

Not a whole lot else is happening. My yearly performance review at work was postponed until the end of this week, which, damn, I was hoping to get it over with. But hopefully it will go well (my supervisor already implied as such), and it will be a good start to the long weekend. Also, my parents should be back from their cruise next Wednesday...and I can't wait for dad to put up all the photos. :P

Thank God I've got a mind like a steel trap

So, Laurie told me a while ago that I have a mind like a steel trap--this is because I took her dogs out for about a week and they were trying to housebreak the younger one. Then, about a month later she asked me to do it for one day while they were going out of town, and said she was going to write down all the directions again. I told her not to, and practically repeated the original directions word for word, thus the comment.

Anyhow, yesterday Daniella calls me and says that she's on her way to one of her "Baby Classes" aka Lamaze and other such necessities for having a baby, and she can't pick up her prescription at Sam's Club and she's out of the pills, which she needs to control the gestational diabetes. Ultimately, she asks if I could go pick up her prescription. I say "sure, why not?" and then proceed to leave work, drive to Sam's Club and go to the pharmacy. I wait patiently in line, get to the counter and give Daniella's name. The pharmacist looks it up in the system, and says, "I need you to confirm your month and day of your birth." ....Shit. When is her birthday...it's in November...around Thanksgiving...."oh, uh, November 25..." and as I'm trying desperately to figure out the year, the pharmacist says "Thank you!" and turns to go get the pills. phew. Then I had to forge some signature on the little pad thingy--mostly it's just so the insurance people know when the prescription was picked up, paid for it and left.

So yes, be glad I have a mind like a steel trap...could you imagine me trying to explain why I didn't know my 'own' birthday. But, it's a good thing that Daniella had me go pick them up...otherwise she was going to have DJ do it...and I'm positive that he doesn't even know which month is Daniella's birthday.

Gosh, it seems like forever

It seems like forever since I last blogged. Which, it has been, and it hasn't been. It's been like a week and some odd days, but it hasn't been as long as a month, so be glad for small things.

We did go to the San Antonio Zoo. I liked the Denver Zoo better. We also ate at the Hard Rock on the Riverwalk. That was nice. I had apple pie. mmmm, pie.

I've been on backup duty for the past week. But it's okay. we haven't had rain in over a month. We've actually had to resort to watering our lawn. FIE!!!!

Work has been hectic. Ross switched jobs, and I am now the supervisor of the intern because of it. The FEWS group is falling apart--Ross and I frequently have discussions about who is going to leave first and why and when. Sigh...silly people getting all bent out of shape around yearly review time...maybe I'll be bent out of shape at some point, but at this juncture, it just seems so...unnecessary.

A nation of Wimps.

Here's a link to an article about how we're raising a nation of Wimps...you want your kid to do well in life? Stop helping him with everything--you gotta let them flounder. So Mom, Dad, Thanks. Also, apparently if you're controlling about what you toddler eats (as in when, how much, etc.) then they're more likely to be overweight as adults because they have a lack of control...or something like that.

Dad got his stolen car back. They found it about 90 miles from where my parents live. The car was covered in oil and had pot all over the place...so it was in pretty good shape.

hmmm...I think that's all for right now...so sad. Oh yeah, I'm eating at the Shady Grove for lunch tomorrow and Shawn and I finally ate at Stubb's. So that means i've eaten at 2 true barbeque places...now it's just the iron works and the salt lick...and maybe Kreutz...AND we're going to go to the San Antonio Zoo this weekend...Maybe...If we feel like it...and it's not raining...or too hot...

This world is full of asshats

Yes, that's right, the world is full of bigot asshats. It seems to be nowdays that everyone from your generic middle eastern muslim, to your israeli jew to the catholic nutso Mel Gibson is a bigot asshat. I had all sorts of stuff I was going to write about Hezbollah,Gibson, Israel and Ahmadinejad, I was even going to come up with some crazy political conspiracy theory...but alas it's too depressing.

Speaking of depressing, I was trying to remember some article I read a long time ago--some article that was written by a priest. I think it was back when Bush was first elected (so in 2000), and he wrote an article about how priests are a conduit between people and God. It is not their job to judge, but to forgive....hmm, wish I could find that article...it was good.

but let's see....what else? something less depressing perhaps....tomorrow is happy hour day at work. YAY! I'm finally going to try the cheese plate appetizer at Zax....I will call it the kaeseplatte aperitif.

And a final thought, brought to you by Willy Wonka (and subsequently the writers of that fine movie), "If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it." oh wait...sometimes that IS depressing...hmm, alright then a quote from "Rent" (which I still haven't seen)...."Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other road, no other way, no day but today."

Flood Pictures!

Yay! I found flood pictures at work...so, I figure that I shall post them here, because you're interested right? If you want to get an idea of where each of these were taken, click Here



Here is a picture of Shoal Creek after the 1981 flood. The car lot is between 5th and 6th on Lamar Blvd. In this picture, the photographer is standing on 5th street looking towards 6th.







The Blue Line on the building shows the high water mark (about 7 feet) for the 1981 flood. This building was the original Whole Foods Market. It was located at 10th and Lamar. It is now the home of Cheapo Discs. Cheapo Discs was flooded with about 3 feet of water in 2001.









1935 flood overtops Congress Bridge. the picture is taken from the south side of the river. You can see the capital building in the background.











1915 Waller Creek (?) probably around 12th and Waterloo park.

A cat and her furniture

Not much to say, just some photos that may be of interest.

This is Ivy in HER chair. This was about 10 minutes after the furniture guys left.



These are the 2 blocks that I made for the Lima Bean. Everyone at the shower seemed to think they were great...wonderful, now I'll be sewing for the next 2 years. I would like to point out that I did the needlepoint, and Shawn did the sewing of the blocks together. Hey, don't give me that look--he's the one that wanted to learn how to use the sewing machine.


And here's Shawn's Grill that came in today. He's currently getting the coals hot so we can finally have our freaking chicken and potato dinner...at about 9pm tonight...yay.

Veronica Mars Season 2

No no no, we haven't finished the season yet, in fact we just watched episode 13 last night, so we're half way through the season. But, my thoughts:

Donut needs to leave. I think he's probably a good actor, but the powers that be want him to be mysterious...which just makes him seem psychotic. Besides, all I can think of when V and D are together are how they just act like they're siblings....so the sex scene...ick. (btw, Donut does leave...at least he's gone right now. yay!)

Logan and Veronica need to get back together. This is mostly because I love how they're so witty with each other...alright, they don't really need to get back together, they just need to be friends again and hang out.

I dislike the Wallace and Jackie thing...I like the Wallace and Jane thing.

Awww! Beaver and Mac are so cute together. Too bad she was switched at birth with an 02er baby, and he's a psycho.

I like Weevil...except that his name is "Weevil"...I mean come on...but at least it's better than "Thumper".

And Keith and Lamb and Vic and Cliff...why they just sell the show...and they make it awesome.

Movies, glorious Movies

Well, here's my list o' movies. Let me know if you would like to borrow any of them.

DVDs/BluRays
1776
300
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
50 First Dates
The Alamo
American Beauty
American History X
American Pie
American Pie 2
American Reunion
American Wedding
Army of Darkness 
Argo (BluRay)
Austin Powers 1: International Man of Mystery
Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers 3: Goldmember
Bad Santa
Basic
Batman Begins
Batman: Dark Knight
A Beautiful Mind
Big Bang Theory (Season 1)
Blood Diamond
Bourne Supremacy
Braveheart (auf Deutsch--region 2)
Brotherhood of the Wolf
The Butterfly Effect
Cars
A Christmas Story
The Complex Rock Tour Live (Blue Man Group)
The Count of Monte Cristo
Crash
CSI: Season 2 and 3

The Day after Tomorrow
The Departed
Die Hard
Django Unchained (BluRay)
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Eyes Wide Shut (auf Deutsch--region 2)
Family Guy (Season 3, 7)
Fight Club
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Fracture
Gattaca
Get Him to the Greek
Gettysburg
Go
Good Eats (Season 1)
Guardians of the Galaxy (BluRay)
The Hangover
The Hangover 3 (BluRay)
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Hero
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
House, M.D. (Season 1)
How I Met Your Mother (season 1)
The Hunger Games 
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Illusionist
I Love You, Man
Inception
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Inside Man
The Interpreter
The Italian Job (2003)
Jurassic World
Kill Bill (1, 2)
Kiss the Girls
Knocked Up
L.A. Confidential
The Lake House
The Last of the Mohicans
Limitless
Lock, Stock & two smoking barrels
Lord of the Rings (1, 2, 3)
Lucky # Slevin
March of the Penguins
Men In Black 3 (BluRay)
Master & Commander
The Mexican
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Must Love Dogs
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Mystic River
NCIS (season 1)
Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Ocean's 12
Old School
Paycheck
Phantom of the Opera
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Pride and Prejudice
The Prestige
The Princess Bride (BluRay)
RED
Requiem for a Dream
Reservoir Dogs
Saved!
Scream
The Shawshank Redemption
Sherlock Holmes
Shrek
Shrek the Third
Silence of the Lambs
The Simpsons Movie
Simpsons, Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 12
S1m0ne
Sin City
Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (BluRay)
Snatch
Spiderman
Starship Troopers
Star Trek
Star Trek Into Darkness
The Story of Us
Thank You for Smoking
Total Recall (BluRay)
Transporter 3
Tropic Thunder
The Ugly Truth
The Usual Suspects
Van Wilder
Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Wererabbit
Wanted
The Watch
Watchmen
What Dreams May Come
World War Z (BluRay)
X2
X-Men: Days of Future Past (BluRay)


VHS
Amistad
Austin Powers: The Spy who Shagged Me
Boondock Saints
Bram Stoker's Dracula
le Divorce
Dogma
Face Off
Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
In Dreams
Legally Blonde 2
Life of David Gale
Lilo & Stitch
Love Actually
Jurassic Park
Kate & Leopold
Kentucky Fried Movie
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Memento
The Mexican
The Mummy Returns
Ocean's 11 (2001)
Original Sin
Panic Room
Paycheck
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Quidam
The Ref
The Scorpion King
Stargate
Swordfish
Tombstone
Training Day
X-Men
Young Frankenstein

Banned while pregnant

So then, as everyone knows, Lon and Daniella are having a Lima Bean (aka a baby) (Note: "Lima Bean" should probably be replaced now as the baby looks like a real baby)(Note: Said Lima Bean is now approximately 2 pounds in weight).

Listeriosis: Bacterial infection, relatively rare, causes abortion, stillbirth and preterm labor. Usually associated with unpasteurized dairy products, occurances in pasteurized products are usually in plain ol' milk.

Toxoplasmosis: Parasitic infection, causes serious eye or brain damage at birth. May also be a cause of schizophrenia (or perhaps schizophrenics are more likely to get toxoplasmosis). If you've had toxo before, you've got an immunity to it, ergo there is only concern if the mother contracts toxo for the first time during pregnancy.

Anyhow...here are some foods that are forbidden when pregnant with a Lima Bean and why:

Raw meat (is this usually a problem?)--Listeriosis
unwashed raw vegetables--Listeriosis
raw milk/raw milk products--Listeriosis
Feta, Brie, Camembert, Bleu cheeses--Listeriosis
delicatessen foods (unless reheated)--Listeriosis
Leftover/ready to eat foods (ie Hotdogs) (unless reheated to 'steaming hot')--Listeriosis
raw or undercooked meat (again) especially pork, lamb, and venison--Toxoplasmosis
drinking water infected with toxo (untreated drinking water)--Toxoplasmosis
raw or unpasteurized milk and milk products (again) especially goat's milk--Toxoplasmosis
unwashed vegetables (again!)--Toxoplasmosis
salt-cured or smoked or dried meat--Toxoplasmosis

Things banned while pregnant:
cleaning cat litterboxes--Toxoplasmosis (note: only cats that have killed a rodent or bird infected with toxo within the past month will have the parasite)
gardening--Toxoplasmosis (stray cats could have used the area as a litterbox)
sand boxes--Toxoplasmosis (see above)
Of course, in all the cases above you can do them, but use disposable gloves and wash your hands immediately afterwards. And above all else, DO NOT put your unwashed hands in your mouth.

Veronica Mars Season 1

So, we just finished "Veronica Mars, Season 1". Ross had let us borrow the DVDs as he likes the show and thought that we would get a kick out of it...and let me tell you, I love it! It's totally like a Buffy/Angel type show, so you know, something on the WB or UPN. But I do have a few issues with it....which aren't bad by any means, it's more about the fact that it's the first season.

1. It follows the formula: Sassy Lead character, token new person bestest friend, ex-significant other and their jackass/bitch best friend....hmm, it's really like a sentence really...there's the Noun, the Noun's best friend, the Adjective, the Verb who is directly connected to the Noun and the Adverb, who is always trying to mess with the Noun and the Adjective...weird...But I believe the part that I called was the part where the Lead character starts doing either the ex or the ex's best friend. Poor Wallace, he is doomed to being a friend forever.

2. The show goes truckin' along, giving more and more clues as to who killed Lilly, and then at about episode 13 the clues plummeted. It's okay, this is probably because the powers that be didn't think that it would be around for a second season so when it got the green light for the rest of the season they were shocked and didn't know what to do.

3. Veronica starts going out with Logan! This is doomed. mostly because it's close to the end of the first season, which means they're trying to get ratings to get the green light for a second season.

4. Logan and Veronica pretty much all but call it off a few episodes later...looks like the show is coming back for a season 2...

But, as I said I like it...now then, ON TO SEASON 2!

Yay! Furniture!

I never remember being this excited over furniture...that would probably be because I've never been the one to buy it, it's always been furniture for someone else's home. but anyhow, here are some pictures:

Here's Shawn providing some scale for the new couch



The chair alone is about the same size as our previous loveseat. The ottoman is almost big enough to sleep on.

Hey, your credit is stellar, would you like to buy anything else?

So, Shawn and I went and bought new living room furniture. I would post a link to the stuff we got, but for whatever reason, it's like the ONLY furniture set they don't have on their website, so you'll just have to wait until the stuff all arrives on Saturday. Sorry. :P But, I can try to describe it...it's olive green, fabric....has pillows that have eggplant and olive circles on them...hmm, yes. We got the sofa and the chair with ottoman...The ottoman is HUGE! you can practically sleep on it. But it was funny--we went in yesterday and just loved the stuff so we went back today and bought it. It was funny though because I was filling out the application for the Rooms To Go credit card and one of the questions is "what is your monthly mortgage payment?" and other questions associated with mortgages, and so we asked the guy if we needed to fill it out and he was like "oh yes because if you have a bad credit rating, we go off of what the mortgage company says about you paying your mortgage." so we filled out the questions to the best of our ability (Yes we know our monthly payments, no we do not know the outstanding debt on our mortgage). But the guy ran off with the application and came back like 5 seconds later saying we were approved (we think it's because we put down how much we each make). But when we were signing off on the furniture the guy was like "okay, well your credit rating is awesome, you sure you dont' want to buy anything else? Could I interest you in a mattress, or a rug?" nothing quite like saying "hey, your credit is good, would you like to ruin it?"

BUT, I'll post pictures when we get the stuff...

WWFSMD?

Alright, a short post--
Mr. Clark took the TEST. this is what his strengths are: ideation, input, strategic, developer, context. This means that he tends to remember every little thing about crazy religions....and history...and everything else really --you should ask him about the flying spaghetti monster religion sometime...I shit you not, there's a religion in which the guy believes that a flying spaghetti monster put us all on earth.

I am Context, input, individualization, developer, responsibility. That means that I like to know the history of things, I remember everything, I treat everyone differently, I can see the small steps that people need to take to get where they're going, and when I claim I'll do something, come hell or high water, I'll do it.

Shawn is Learner, Analytical, Relator, Intellection, Adaptability. That means he spends 2 weeks learning about a product that he wants, then spends the next 2 weeks going over all the alternatives to said product. He will eventually buy a product, but only a few select people will get to see/use said product because he builds relationships with people he already knows, he likes to think, and he's able to go with the flow (on some things).

so yeah, these are our psychoses, what are yours?

Adaptability: You live in the moment
Analytical: You always say "prove it"
Context: You need to know the history of something before deciding on the future
Developer: You see the potential in others
Ideation: You are fascinated by ideas
Individualization: You are intrigued by the unique qualities in people
Input: You collect things (anything--quotations, stuffed bears, animals, trivia)
Intellection: You like to think
Learner: You like to learn
Relator: You are pulled to people you already know
Responsibility: You take psychological ownership for anything you commit to
Strategic: You can sort through the clutter to find the best route

So then, 3 people, 12 themes of 34 utilized...not bad, not bad... I promise I'll get around to one about different people I work with...and not just the ones who have taken the test.

KITTENS....AGAIN!

No, my cat is not having kittens again (she's fixed), but Mr. and Mrs. Poochie found a stray with 3 kittens in their backyard on Tuesday night. And now, since Mr. Poochie has renounced his love of all small furry things, they are looking for someone to foster said kittens. So, naturally, I'm up there on the list--mostly because I have concrete floors and have already gone through this process once before. Unfortuneately, this time I have an IV cat who, like Mr. Poochie, has renounced all things that are small, furry, and of her same species. So this means that if she's not sitting at the door growling and hissing at the new kittens, she would probably be licking herself bald (which, as i said, goes in phases...sometimes she's bald, sometimes she's not...I don't know...that little weirdo).

But, we may have a solution, Kena has said that she may be able to take the cats--as long as I went and got them all tested and innoculated and whatnot first to be sure that they wouldn't give anything to her cat. But, at least this time around, it appears as if there's already homes for all the kittens, it's just a waiting game to make sure they're weaned.

Outdoor furniture

Here's a picture of our new outdoor furniture we bought. Yes the chairs don't match the table--but the issue is that we have birds that like to poop on the deck at the place where the table is, and the chairs that come with the set are fabric slingback, so we figured that with all the bird poop that was bound to get on them that it would be better if we found fabric slingbacks that DIDN'T cost $80/chair. We also didn't get the umbrella for the same reason (damn birdpoop)...not to mention that the table doesn't really get all that much sun anyhow.

Like Sands through the Hour Glass...

So, are the DAYS OF OUR LIVES. Things recently about Days (please take note that I do NOT watch this show...ever)

1. My parents got my name from the show. Yep...Baby Katina. She was on in the early eighties for aparently like a nano-second.

2. My mom used to do daycare, and so, when I was allowed to not take naps anymore, I had to help fold laundry. Funny, mom made sure that our nap hour coincided with Days.

3. About a month after I started helping to fold the laundry, they killed off my favorite character; Patch. I was sad. I remember asking mom why they would do such a thing. She said it made for better stories.

4. The next day they aired the 'funeral'. At the end, some guys came out and switched the coffins! Yay Patch lives! But then they never brought him back. We went through the Roman isn't Roman, he's John; Marlena is possessed by the Devil (that was awesome); Isabella is killed off; the old guy (Tom I think) actually dies in real life so they had to kill him off in the show; Jack gets replaced, and then later the original Jack is brought back to replace Interim Jack; and then I stopped watching--hey, 1st grade started!

5. Yesterday, while watching "Last Comic Standing" there was a comercial for Days. And they're bringing back PATCH!

6. Thus proving that the world in which Soap Operas occur that anything can, and in all likelyhood; will, happen.

To quote Sally Field...

"you like me, right now, you like me!" (And yes, that's what she really said. We just all think she said "you like me, you really like me").

There has been someone posting anonymously, and unlike last time where it seemed as if the person thought this site was asininely dumb (let me digress--this is pretty much mindless blather that would normally go into some sort of journal, if I were into that type of thing...but at the same time, this way if I go off the deep end, then there may be some proof---you know like that guy in Montana who killed an entire family to kidnap to the two youngest children to use as his sex toys, he wrote that he was afraid he was going to hurt small children in his blog...so yeah, you never know), this NEW person likes my site. And there's some one else on the other site (ad-dict-ed) that said they like that site...they may be the same person, but I'm just glad that there's someone else out there that has this site bookmarked aside from my sister, Dani.

but on to today's mindless blather and observations...and if either of you 2 people want me to give my thoughts or write a blog on something specific, please let me know--I still have to get around to dani's request for a coworker's "Now Discover your Strengths" blog....

Alright, so I've been obsessed with Regina Spektor for maybe 3 days now. I found out about her because one of her songs ("Samson") was played at the end of CSI:NY--the one where Stella kills her psycho boyfriend. So I've been listening to "Samson" and "On the Radio" a lot...and I added "Fidelity" to my MySpace page. Dani says that this music seems odd for me. which, I guess so, but not really--it totally reminds me of other music like Rusted Root...which I listened to in college because Sunshine (aptly nicknamed as such because she normally didn't get out of bed until 4pm) liked that music and played it all the time.

But time for my funny observation of this music: Quazi seems obsessed with it too. Everytime I turn on one of the songs, he comes running into the study and jumps up on my lap and stares at the computer speakers for about a minute before he goes to the other chair and goes to sleep. I think he does it because it IS different from the other songs that I usually listen to...mostly because most of the music that sounds similar usually has guys singing, not falsetto pitched women. I should try to get a picture sometime before he becomes too used to it and doesn't react.

big ones, little ones, fat ones, skinny ones...

ah, I remember that song...sorta. Do You? Anyhow, here, as promised is the picture of the snake. It sucks that I was unable to get a picture of it's head, I tried, really I did, but it's covered because of a stupid leaf.

ah she-it

So, I did field work yesterday. I like field work, mostly because I get to go outside when it's all sunny. And as Ray at Bishop-Brogden says, "you gotta get your daily dose of Sunshine." So Kena and I are out doing our field work. I was wearing my cute boots the City bought me (we get ONE pair of field shoes per year that they'll buy us...they don't want us dropping stuff on our toes and breaking them, or getting bitten by snakes...or other such bad things that would require them to pay workman's comp). But I digress. So we went out and were doing our "take pictures of all the bridges in town" project. It's actually because FEMA makes us do it. But anyhow, we're out and about and we're down by the river on Shoal Creek. I go about and take my 2 requisite pictures and look around trying to find out if there are any trees in the creek that perhaps need to be removed or other such things. Then I see a turtle...and I LIKE turtles. So I decide to take a picture. CLICK. next thing I notice, there's a FREAKING HUGE SNAKE slithering right by the poor turtle. And immediatiately I think "Holy freaking Jebus!" quickly followed by Ray's admonishment of "If you see a snake, and you don't get a picture of it, how are we ever to believe that you saw a snake?" So I take a 2 pictures of the thing...I'll have to put up my picture later--the one below is from the Herps of Texas website...but anyhow, I saw a SNAKE!

As soon as we got back to the office I went about asking all the Texans what the poisonous snakes look like (the three common ones down here are Coral, Water Mocasin, and Cottonmouth), and they all told me that it wasn't poisonous, but then no one really knew what the snake was that I had a picture of. Finally today, Ross and I sat down and surfed the net until I found it. It's just a big rat snake....non-poisonous, non-agressive, constrictor. meh. But, I saw a SNAKE!

Turn around, don't drown

Turn around, Don't Drown is a national slogan (used by the National Weather Service mostly) that they came up with in the 70's or 80's (I think) to try to use the repetition and rhyming part in everyone's brains (think "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit"--there's actually some scientific reason why these types of easy to repeat ryhming phrases are so easy to convince us with...so if you want to get someone to believe you, just rhyme and repeat) to get them to stop driving across roads with water over them. It was thought up by a highschool student, I think. You don't hear this slogan as much in the states that don't have massive amounts of flooding (think Colorado). Down here though, we've got bumper stickers, magnets, cards, even poster contests. Don't worry, I'll get one for you. :) Extra bonus, there's even a SONG!

Now, Discover MY strengths

So, Shawn has decided that I should read "Now Discover Your Strengths" because he had to read it for his work book club--they read such riveting books as "Developing Linux Drivers" and "Developing Linux Kernels." But anyhow, the whole gist of the book is "why bother fixing your weaknesses when you're not going to ever be great at what your weakness is. You should work on your strengths because that's what you're good at so make it better!" to which I say, "Word." So anyhow, it pretty much says that some people consider some things to be a weakness, but it's really just because they're not looking at it as a strength. For example, the doomsday people (you know, the ones that always say "what if this happens, or what if that happens?") have the strength to look at something from just about every angle--their strength is finding the weaknesses in something and pointing them out. This would be a hassle in the case of writing a report because they're too busy trying to find every angle and fill every hole in the report. BUT if you apply these people to something that would use their ability to find everything that's wrong (such as emergency planning) then what people thought was a hindrance actually becomes their strength. Susan is this person. She is constantly saying that the worst rainstorm is going to come, there is going to be flooding EVERYWHERE and we're all going to DIE. She's also in charge of our Flood Early Warning System. Needless to say, Austin now has one of the best flood warning systems in the US. Anyhow, I will use this book and analyze my coworkers. it will be fun, fun I say.

Speaking of work, work has been weird. We got a new director. And it seems that everyone is thinking that the world will end because of it. Because of this, and our semi-annual performance review week, everyone is on edge and getting short with each other.

And that is it for now. Turn around, Don't Drown.

Gas is expensive, my ass.

I watched the news last night. I KNOW! impressive! well, for me at least.

Anyhow, common misconception of the American people: Gas is expensive. Gas is NOT expensive here. Europeans are paying an equivalent of about $6 a gallon. Canadians are paying about $4 a gallon. Prices generally aren't given for African and South American countries because not a whole heck of a lot of people buy gas or diesel, and those that do tend to have an option of buying a bio-fuel of some sort. The only countries actively paying less than us are the middle east countries (they do have the most oil), Venezuela (has the 2nd greatest amount of oil--Venezuela is actually the number 2 supplier of oil for the US), and China, who is subsidizing the price of oil and so the government is going hugely in debt and is wanting to stop the subsidizing.

BUT, the interesting stuff:
-People currently aren't concerned about Venezuela--or really even know all that much about it right now--mostly because it's not in the news. Iran/Iraq is/are more important. But the news with Venezuela: Hugo Chavez (the president) hates George Bush. He loves Fidel Castro. He does whatever Fidel tells him to do. Chavez is currently passing out rifles to his people and telling them to learn to use them because they may have to use them against the Americans when they invade the country to steal the oil.

-The president may want to open ANWR to oil drilling (hey, it's been a debate since Clinton's first administration). The problem with this: Unless the fuel consumption standards on automobiles are changed, ANWR will only supply enough fuel for about 5, possibly 10 years. Back in 2002 (when I did a bunch of research for this), it was thought that ANWR had some oil, but not a lot. It was surmised that if the standard of fuel consumption for cars was increased from 27 to 36 mpg, it would end up saving the amount of fuel that was available in ANWR.

-Playboy ran an article last month (which was a reprint from a Canadian magazine) about how the US made the assumption that they'd be able to get oil from Iraq, but the problem was that Saddam didn't ever really actively drill for oil and so in order for the US to get any oil from Iraq, they'd have to re-build the entire infrastructure first. Iran, on the other hand, has a great oil drilling system. and as such, it was surmised that the US would use the same excuse (WMD's) to go after Iran.

-Oil companies in the US have posted an average of a 48% profit for their 1st quarter standings. 48% profit--this is a 31% increase over the same time last year. what this REALLY means: the price of the fuel you are currently buying is more expensive than last summer because the oil companies want to make a larger profit.

Dani's Blog (BB post)

1. If you were looking for a pair of stranglers in New York city and they were looking for you but neither you nor they knew anything about you, inculding names how would you go about finding them? empire state building...probably 9am, noon, 3pm...TOP observation deck. large posters advertising....that or wear something completely outlandish.

2 What smell do you just love? grilling/barbecueing food.

3 list five things that are on your life time goals? 1. own a dog. 2. go to the UK again. 3. Go on a cruise. 4. retire from working at the City. 5. learn to drive stick.

4 do you a five year plan? as far as still working at the City, not really...but then, I guess they would want me to have taken my damn PE by then.

5 What is the biggest turn-off for you? "hey, let's just skip the foreplay"

6 what personality trait do you dislike the most in yourself? not sticking up for myself when I should.

7 What is one of your happiest memories? sitting out in the middle of nowhere in parker eating cupcakes from king soopers and drinking Jones Soda with my buds...it was kinda a common theme Junior year of high school.

8 what's your favorite TV show? CSI

9 list three things that are 'odd' about you? 1. i remember weird trivia/dates. 2. I hate to talk in public...at all--any more than 3 people listening to me at once makes me nervous. 3. When I get nervous, I break out in a rash all over my chest/neck.

10 right at this moment, how happy are you with your life (on a scale of 1-10)? 7

11 favorite sandwich? left over turkey from thanksgiving, miracle whip, mustard, lettuce, cheddar cheese slices, a little pepper.

12 What's your favorite acholoic mix drink or shot? Mike's cranberry lemonade.

13 What's your favorite brand of beer? Fat tire.

14 what physical feature of the oppsite sex is your favorite? sense of humor...or rather sarcasm.

15. what physical feature do you like best about yourself? my boobs...or butt.

16. what would you like to do when you retire? travel.

17. what is your biggest regret? not dating more people...or getting drunk more often.

18. what is your favorite time of day? the hour after I get home from work.

19. Whats the best present that you have ever gotten? Grandpa's slide rule from when he was a new engineering kid.

20. If you could meet anyone that is dead who would you pick? Queen Elizabeth...I think, maybe.

21. how did your parents pick your name? do you know what your name would have been if you were born the oppisite sex? They got it from a Soap Opera (Days of our Lives to be exact). I would have been Jared Wesley if I were a boy.

22 would you like your spouse to be smarter than you? sure, in some things.

23. What is more important in picking a mate brains or looks or something else? brains

24. What was the weirdest or worst dream/nightmare you have had? well, the most crazy re-occuring one. Dani and I are little, and we're starting out across a field to go fishing with Grandpa Ben. I get to a drainage ditch, I look down, and there's this large aligator. Dani hasn't seen it, but is further behind me and goes to take a flying leap over the ditch. and that's about when I always wake up. Granted, I haven't had this dream since like 4th grade...but the point is, I remember it.

25 Do you prefer being around men or women? men usually...but I do hang out with a LOT of girls now.

26 What would be the 'perfect evening' for you? melting pot and a movie...that or melting pot and then just sitting outside in the dark for a while.

27.When was your last fight? What caused it and who won? Mom probably...over wedding stuff. I don't remember who won. I think we compromised on it...I got more colors in my bouquet, but not as many as she wanted.

28. What do you most strive for in your life: accomplishment, security, love, power, excitement, knowledge, or something else? knowledge.

29. If money wasn't an issue where would you go on your next vacation? Europe...maybe I'd do the crazy cruise thing that Susan and Jonathan did--take a cruise down to Brazil, travel up the amazon for a while, turn around, go across the ocean and then it turns into a cruise about the mediterranean.

30. Do you judge others by higher or lower standards than you use to judge yourself? depends on what I'm judging them on.

Delivery Day

Three things:

1. Our Fridge arrived yesterday at about 4 pm. I have posted 2 pictures. One is of the fridge itself--you can see the Easter towel my mom gave me on the oven next to the fridge. The other, is of our 10 pound turkey in the freezer. Obviously you CAN fit a turkey in the freezer.







2. Mom sent us flowers for Easter (Yay!!!). I like flowers. Yep yep yep.


3. Shawn's supervisor at work gave us some tickets he couldn't use to an Austin Wranglers game. Now then, for those of you who haven't seen arena football, it is like the craziest thing ever! First, it's football on a 50 yard field instead of the normal 100 yard. Second, because of this crazy shortened field, everything else is also smaller (except for the players). Third, they have a bunch of break time audience involved stuff--dropping rolled t-shirts from the rafters with parachutes on them and letting some ladies run around with a shopping cart trying to get as many as possible before they hit the ground, a competition between 2 father/son teams to see who can catch the most thrown rubber fish in a net, having a guy stand on the "15" and throw a football through the field goals (keep in mind that the field goals are smaller, and probably lower), and he gets 10 Hooter dollars for every one he makes, etc. Fourth, Texans, they are crazy--the mascot's name is Trigger...They set off fireworks after every touchdown/fieldgoal/conversion done by the Wranglers. And, finally Fifth, there are crazy 1.00 minute rules--apparently there are separate rules that apply in the last minute of the game...I think these exist to make the last football minute last about 30 real minutes.

Also, the Wranglers, they need to get a real mascot--I suggest a miniature horse.