Go BU... Go Go BU!

Tom and I went to the Bradley game tonight. Above is a picture of the kickass team intro.

The first half consisted of us sitting there with our hands on our heads wondering what was going on. I don't think I've ever seen that many turnovers, bricks, and airballs from two teams.

The team and the crowd perked up in the second half. My throat kind of hurts a bit from all the cheering... there was even a slam dunk! It was great to see the team show up in the second half and blow Indiana State out of the water.

My parting thought... drumlines are super cool!

That's the ticket...

...bring on the painting ideas people! If no one wants an original Jane creation, then the least you can do is help bounce some ideas around for me to ponder. I would be painting tonight, but my hands are freezing and it's even colder downstairs.

I hope you're staying warm wherever you are. Tonight I'm going to watch a little American Idol and Dirty Jobs. I hope Dirty Jobs isn't as gross as last week when Mike Rowe worked with slime eels, also known as hag fish. Eeeeeew!

A fun-filled Sunday

I woke up and watched one of my favorite movies that I don't own, Drumline. I love the drums! During that I got an invite to go to lunch with Nick, the guy I've been chatting with through match.com. It was a fun lunch and really nice to have a clear picture of him in my head. I tell you, guys do not know how to post good pictures of themselves on those websites.

In the afternoon I hitched a ride with mom, dad and grandpa to go look at the house Tom and Laura are interested in. I guess they're almost done staging their house and will be putting it on the market fairly soon. If you want to live 2 miles from me, then I've got the perfect house for you.

That's the scoop from my world. I've got cats pacing back and forth waiting for me to get back to the couch, so I'll be on my way.

On my way...

...to becoming a master painter. Okay, so the journey is going to be down quite a long road, but I'm having a blast. I wish I could show you all how it's going, but I don't want a certain someone to see what I'm making. I want it to be a surprise. I think I have my teacher fooled... she thinks I have experience painting. Yeah, finger painting.

Anyone need a painting for their home? I'm thinking about doing something out of my head for my next project. It would help if I had a taker, then I could paint with you in mind. The canvas size I would like to use is 16" x 20", and I'll take color family requests. If you're interested, drop me a line.

Oh, what a day.

I haven't quite figured out what's going on with my stomach yet. I started to feel kind of puny today when I was driving to work. I was attempting to stick it out, but I didn't want to be miserable at work. I gathered a couple things up and worked from home this morning. This afternoon I will be cuddled up on a couch or bed... most likely with a furball in my lap.

I had an interesting thought over the weekend when I was driving back from Tom and Laura's after feeding their cats. I saw a port-o-potty on a street corner. My thought was, I wonder what it's like in a port-o-potty when it's negative degrees out? I would imagine the stink is somewhat minimal compared to the heat in the summer.

Me and Geovany :-)

Okay, so it's not the clearest photo, but you can tell it's me and Geovany Soto! At the Cubs Caravan, we got "tickets" that told us what line to go in for autographs and I was lucky enough to get Soto's line. Later on, I snuck into a couple other lines and got some other autographs from the up and coming stars. After that, I met back up with Tom and we came up with the mission to get a Soto autograph for him. In that same moment I got a picture of us with my phone. Probably should have brought the real camera, but it works for me.
Go Cubbies!

A True Artist

My paint class started tonight and I think I am now a true artist. I managed to get blue paint all over my hands! I do believe my clothes came out unscathed. It's only a matter of time before those get hit. Especially if I'm going to try to paint at home while the kitties are around. Tomorrow is the Cubs Caravan, so hopefully I'll have a good photo or two to add... we shall see.

Tap vs. Bottled–What Should You Drink?

I found this all quite interesting, especially the part about reusing a plastic bottle.

• 60 million bottles a day being tossed into U.S. landfills
  
• It can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade
• Producing those bottles burns through 1.5 million barrels of crude oil annually--enough fuel to keep 100,000 cars running for a year.
  
• Recycling helps but reusing is even better. Invest in a couple of portable, dishwasher-safe, stainless steel bottles like Klean Kanteens that won’t leach nasty chemicals into your water. (Don’t get into the habit of refilling the water bottle you just emptied; the polyethylene terephthalate it’s made of breaks down with multiple usings.)

4 REASONS TO TURN ON THE TAP

1. Tap water is tested daily
Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, water suppliers are required to provide an annual report on the quality of your local water and to test tap water daily. By comparison, the FDA examines bottled water only weekly, and consumers can’t get the agency’s results. You can easily get the lowdown on your state’s drinking water quality at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo/index.html

2. Tap water is a bargain
Bottled water costs about 500 times more than tap. If you’re into really fancy labels, up to 1,000 times more.

3. Tap water is a tooth saver
It has more fluoride than bottled water, which helps prevent tooth decay. (Yes, you never outgrow your need for fluoride.)

4. Tap water is often tasty
Some places (New York City for one) have delicious water, but if you don’t love the flavor of yours, the solution is simple: Run your tap water through a Brita or Pur filter to remove most tastes and odors. The average home filter goes for $8.99 and produces the equivalent of 300 large (16.9 ounce) bottles of water. That’s about $0.03 cents a bottle, versus the $1.25 or so you’d pay in a market.

What is it?

I've watched portions of several New England Patriots games this year and I have yet to figure out what logo/image is painted at mid-field near each sideline. It's really been bugging me, do you know what it is?

The Weekend is Almost Here

I don't have any big plans for this weekend. I do believe Grandpa and Dad will be coming over to help finish up the sump pump project from earlier in the week. The basement is officially water-free, but I would like to get the sump pump water to drain into the utility sink. Right now the water spews out the hose, off the wall, and then down the drain. The cats believe a "monster" now lives in the basement.

The blogging spirit

I seem to have lost the blogging spirit lately. It's hard for me to think creatively and out of the box when I don't feel like myself. I suppose I could still blog, but I'm afraid it would turn into a bunch of complaining.

Anyway, tonight I gorged myself on sushi. I even tried some flavors I've never tried before. Laura let me try her ice cream-like dessert. I believe it was a green tea flavored ice cream ball coated in a gummy-"bear"-like substance. Honestly, it just felt kind of fuzzy to the tongue. Others said it was more of a marshmallow texture. I wouldn't know because I don't eat non-gooey marshmallows.

I'd like to send out a belated HOLLA! to Laura for her birthday. Sorry, I haven't been on my game lately.

I made it through Friday!

I dare say it was the longest 3-day work week I've ever encountered. We actually had clients in the office, so there was much planning and presenting that went along with it. Unlike most meetings, it was quite productive. I still feel a bit wiped out, but maybe that's because I watched the Discovery channel until midnight and I was up by 7:00am.

Tonight's the work holiday party, and right now I'm undecided about what to do the rest of the day. I think I'm going to look into one of the painting classes over a Lakeview and maybe look around for that extra TV.

Need a New Year's Resolution?

How about taking a few steps towards Going Green?
Every little bit can help and make a difference.
In my new house, I've already switched out the light bulbs to eco-friendly ones, and I bring my own grocery sacks to the store. Oh, and I signed up for recycling pickup. This year, I'll get a couple more ideas from the websites below:


www.worldwatch.org/node/3915 (This one has 10 ways to Go Green and save.)


www.treehugger.com/gogreen.php (This has a collection of How to Green your lighting, pet, wedding, car, etc.)


http://gogreeninitiative.org/content/FAQ.html (Information about a program that can be introduced into a school.)

If you already set your New Year's Resolution, then I challenge you to take one idea from the web links above and implement it into your life this year. We've gotta start somewhere.