As a diehard FSU Seminole, I cheer for the Noles and for whomever is playing against the Florida Gators... unless it is a National Championship game. For the #1 spot, loyalty to my state kicks in. I'm not pleased that they've tested me on that for the 2nd time in 3 years! I suppose it is a small consolation that at least the Oklahoma Sooners put up a good fight and made them really work for tonight's win. *sigh*
Go Gators.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Random Bits
Jenni posted this at One Thing and suggested that we might want to put our own versions up. This reminds me of all those “let’s get to know each other” emails that go around. Most of you know I hate those things and rarely do them. I figured I’ll post this one and then won’t feel the slightest bit guilty about not responding to those emails for the rest of the year. (I do still read them, though) *smile* Feel free to do your own versions if you like.
Items I HAVE done are in bold. I was only supposed to mark what I've done or not done, but you know me, I have to comment...
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii - some day, I hope to do this
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity - I don’t know how to answer this one. Really, how does one define “too much”?
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain - not like Mount Everest or anything crazy, though!
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo - I'm guessing singing by myself when nobody can hear me doesn't really count. I've played instrumental solos, though, does that count?
11. Bungee jumped - I can't imagine I will ever, ever make this one bold.
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty - I know I saw it when I was very young, but I don't know if we went up the inside. I'm not marking it since I can't remember it even if I did it.
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train - I was unfortunately not in a sleeping compartment, though, just a regular seat. It's similar to sleeping in a car or on an airplane... not very comfortable!
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - we had "paid time off" that encompassed both sick and vacation time. You earned the time off, you could use it as you felt like. So I did take off a day on extremely short notice a time or two, but it was "legal" to do so even if not a practice they encouraged.
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run - yeah, right. I'd just pleased if I can actually hit the ball, never mind if it goes anywhere.
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors - what a generic question. My parents are ancestors, so how far back does this mean? Been to some reasonably far back, so I'm marking it, but really, more specifics would have been nice.
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language - if I had teachers but I still had to learn the language, does that count? Didn't learn it exceptionally well, granted, but I can read it to some extent...
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt - not yet, but it's on my list of things I'd really like to do
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater - assuming this means when a movie is actually playing and not just to see an empty theater...
55. Been in a movie - my college roommate was a film major. I mostly helped out with work behind the camera, but I was in brief flashes of some of their films.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business - my contract work and my Stampin' Up! membership are technically businesses even though they aren't what most people envision as a business
58. Taken a martial arts class - only took one class myself, although I certainly watched enough classes when Alex was studying for his TaeKwonDo black belt.
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen - wanted to do this and volunteered at one once only to be told they had enough help so thanks anyway
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason - "gotten" is vague. "Purchased for myself", yes. "Received", no.
64. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma - in fact, should have done it again last month. Need to see where the drives are now. I used to organize them at PATLive, so I just did it when the bloodmobile came to us.
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check - not my proudest moment and thankfully a long time ago
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London - been to London, but I don't think we saw the guard change while we were there
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle - and the even more fun "fell asleep while a passenger on a motorcycle" that scared the daylights out of my poor father and he wouldn't let me ride behind him for quite some time after that. To clarify, I wasn't aware of speeding when I rode with my dad, only when I rode with my husband. I still wish I'd kept my MC license when I had it, and frequently think about getting it again. Not having a motorcycle to ride is a bit of a damper on that, though.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible - working on it again
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - my husband caught some fish and I helped clean them, so I think that counts, unless seafood doesn't count as an animal. Depends on who you ask, I guess.
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury - only received a summons for jury duty once and didn't even have to report
91. Met someone famous - maybe someone I've met will be famous in the future
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one - horrible, horrible experience
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
Items I HAVE done are in bold. I was only supposed to mark what I've done or not done, but you know me, I have to comment...
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii - some day, I hope to do this
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity - I don’t know how to answer this one. Really, how does one define “too much”?
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain - not like Mount Everest or anything crazy, though!
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo - I'm guessing singing by myself when nobody can hear me doesn't really count. I've played instrumental solos, though, does that count?
11. Bungee jumped - I can't imagine I will ever, ever make this one bold.
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty - I know I saw it when I was very young, but I don't know if we went up the inside. I'm not marking it since I can't remember it even if I did it.
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train - I was unfortunately not in a sleeping compartment, though, just a regular seat. It's similar to sleeping in a car or on an airplane... not very comfortable!
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - we had "paid time off" that encompassed both sick and vacation time. You earned the time off, you could use it as you felt like. So I did take off a day on extremely short notice a time or two, but it was "legal" to do so even if not a practice they encouraged.
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run - yeah, right. I'd just pleased if I can actually hit the ball, never mind if it goes anywhere.
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors - what a generic question. My parents are ancestors, so how far back does this mean? Been to some reasonably far back, so I'm marking it, but really, more specifics would have been nice.
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language - if I had teachers but I still had to learn the language, does that count? Didn't learn it exceptionally well, granted, but I can read it to some extent...
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt - not yet, but it's on my list of things I'd really like to do
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater - assuming this means when a movie is actually playing and not just to see an empty theater...
55. Been in a movie - my college roommate was a film major. I mostly helped out with work behind the camera, but I was in brief flashes of some of their films.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business - my contract work and my Stampin' Up! membership are technically businesses even though they aren't what most people envision as a business
58. Taken a martial arts class - only took one class myself, although I certainly watched enough classes when Alex was studying for his TaeKwonDo black belt.
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen - wanted to do this and volunteered at one once only to be told they had enough help so thanks anyway
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason - "gotten" is vague. "Purchased for myself", yes. "Received", no.
64. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma - in fact, should have done it again last month. Need to see where the drives are now. I used to organize them at PATLive, so I just did it when the bloodmobile came to us.
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check - not my proudest moment and thankfully a long time ago
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London - been to London, but I don't think we saw the guard change while we were there
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle - and the even more fun "fell asleep while a passenger on a motorcycle" that scared the daylights out of my poor father and he wouldn't let me ride behind him for quite some time after that. To clarify, I wasn't aware of speeding when I rode with my dad, only when I rode with my husband. I still wish I'd kept my MC license when I had it, and frequently think about getting it again. Not having a motorcycle to ride is a bit of a damper on that, though.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible - working on it again
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - my husband caught some fish and I helped clean them, so I think that counts, unless seafood doesn't count as an animal. Depends on who you ask, I guess.
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury - only received a summons for jury duty once and didn't even have to report
91. Met someone famous - maybe someone I've met will be famous in the future
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one - horrible, horrible experience
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Handsome Man
It has come to my attention that not everyone got the photo of Alex that I was including in the Christmas cards. I'm very sorry if you didn't get one; I thought I put them in!This is one of his 2 favorite shirts, so I wasn't suprised he wanted to wear it for the picture. I was amused at how nicely the blue in the shirt matched with the photog's standard background color. We planned it like that... yeah...
Just Chillin'
I realize I haven't said much in the past few weeks. We've been amazingly busy but yet not. Christmas time and activities always take up more time than one expects, but we still managed to keep it fairly calm and controlled. Both Alex & I thought of some foods we'd like to try, so I looked up recipes and made something new, different, or out of the norm almost every day. Some of them turned out better than others, but it was fun to try new things.
As was not a surprise, video-game-aholic Alex spent as much time as possible on various games over the break. I did force him to read a book, too, just to break it up a little. I also forced him to play some games that I could play as well. I'm an old-school gamer who likes the basic arcade game type things. The adventure games that take hours and hours... not so much. I understand other people like them, and I enjoy watching others play them, but they are too much for me. They go too long, and generally I have a hard time with the 3D depth-perception images. But we played some 2-player games I could handle for some fun bonding time. Then, since he was kept whomping me on the video games, we got out some "old-fashioned" games one day. We played Battleship (I won both games) and Racko (I won 3 in a row) and then he wasn't quite so smug! Unfortunately, most board games play better with more than 2 people. We do have some computerized 'board games' that he suggested, but I was electronic'd out by then.
Christmas Day was fun. When he was little, I started a tradition of making him hunt for a present. It is usually a 'big' present. That might be size, or it might just be of importance. But when he opens one gift, he gets a clue. When he was little, it just told him to go look in place X for the next clue, whereby he would be told to go to place Y, etc. As he got older, the clues started to be actual clues he had to figure out. This year, they were almost riddles. Some he got much too quickly, but some took him a little while to figure out. All told, it took him almost an hour to find the Guitar Hero World Tour set. Then it took about 90 seconds to rip it open, pull out the drum set, and start playing it!
New Years continued our laid-back approach. We just stayed home and chilled by ourselves. There was a dessert I made for a party last year that Alex remembered and wanted again. I'll post that recipe later. We had the special dessert, jumped from Fox to NBC to ABC for various New York coverage, and just welcomed the new year quietly. It was different from how we normally do things, but it was nice.
I hope you had a great end of the year yourselves!
As was not a surprise, video-game-aholic Alex spent as much time as possible on various games over the break. I did force him to read a book, too, just to break it up a little. I also forced him to play some games that I could play as well. I'm an old-school gamer who likes the basic arcade game type things. The adventure games that take hours and hours... not so much. I understand other people like them, and I enjoy watching others play them, but they are too much for me. They go too long, and generally I have a hard time with the 3D depth-perception images. But we played some 2-player games I could handle for some fun bonding time. Then, since he was kept whomping me on the video games, we got out some "old-fashioned" games one day. We played Battleship (I won both games) and Racko (I won 3 in a row) and then he wasn't quite so smug! Unfortunately, most board games play better with more than 2 people. We do have some computerized 'board games' that he suggested, but I was electronic'd out by then.
Christmas Day was fun. When he was little, I started a tradition of making him hunt for a present. It is usually a 'big' present. That might be size, or it might just be of importance. But when he opens one gift, he gets a clue. When he was little, it just told him to go look in place X for the next clue, whereby he would be told to go to place Y, etc. As he got older, the clues started to be actual clues he had to figure out. This year, they were almost riddles. Some he got much too quickly, but some took him a little while to figure out. All told, it took him almost an hour to find the Guitar Hero World Tour set. Then it took about 90 seconds to rip it open, pull out the drum set, and start playing it!
New Years continued our laid-back approach. We just stayed home and chilled by ourselves. There was a dessert I made for a party last year that Alex remembered and wanted again. I'll post that recipe later. We had the special dessert, jumped from Fox to NBC to ABC for various New York coverage, and just welcomed the new year quietly. It was different from how we normally do things, but it was nice.
I hope you had a great end of the year yourselves!
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