Happy New Year from...

...Jinkies...
...Sparky...
...and myself!

Officially Christmas Break

I made it through the week and it's now officially Christmas Break, sure, I only get 3 days, but I'm fully prepared to enjoy it and relax. I think I'm quite fortunate to have this reaction.

It seems like so many of the people around me are getting stressed out because they have to spend time with family and are worried about gift giving. The fact that I truly love my family and enjoy spending time with them allows me to relax and have fun. There are no pressures to make sure things go well... family understands.

And as far as the gift giving... I had a new strategy this year. Quantity, not Quality! Everyone gets the same amount of gifts and all at the same price point. It really helped cut down on the planning and stressing out. The only down side was the amount of wrapping paper and tape that I had to use. Yes, it took some time to wrap everything, but in the end, I think I came out on top because I spent minimal time out in the stores this year. Let's just hope I see some smiling faces on Christmas morning.

Just think, hidden inside of each of these boxes are little wrapped up _____. Sorry, can't give away the contents just yet.

Hopefully getting back on track.

I have strayed quite a bit lately from any sort of routine. Between stress and work and the weather turning to wet and cold, I just haven't felt much like myself.

Now is the time to get myself back on track. The first step is getting Sparky and I back into an exercising routine. Thanks to a nice profit sharing bonus thingy at the end of the year because of the hard work of my coworkers and myself, I was able to work in the purchase of a treadmill. I realized that walking is one of my favorite forms of exercise and it really stinks that it's so difficult to do in the winter.

I found what will hopefully be a suitable treadmill for me at Walmart. Tom and his friends' helped transport it back to the house for me on Sunday. Once out the box, it was all mine to put together. Note: I do not suggest trying to put a treadmill together by oneself. Yes, it is possible, but it is quite taxing on the lower back.

Anyway, Sparky and I have both been on the treadmill the last two days. It has nice preplanned workouts for me, and with a few dog treat incentives, I've been able to get the Sparkster up and walking. 2 minutes the first day and about 8 today. I simply put the harness on him. Kindly ask him to hop up on the belt. Hold on to his harness, to center him. Push the on button and hold a treat out in front of his nose. My hope is to get to a point where I don't have to hold him and he understands he'll get a treat after his walk. We shall see how this goes.

My additional motivation for getting on the treadmill is getting to watch an episode of TV on DVD while I work out. I'm starting with my Ally McBeal series. As you can see in the photo below, with the slight modification of taking the magazine stand out, I'm able to set my portable DVD player in the spot. Pretty sweet!
Next step for me is making grocery lists for when I go to the store. I'm hoping this will help me from buying things I shouldn't and hopefully plan out meals better. Sometimes I wonder why they just don't have people food, like they do for cats and dogs. A well balanced diet in little nugget sized pieces that you don't have to worry about prepping or expiring. If these were to exist, I think blue would be a fun color for them to be in.

This never gets old!

I do complain about my spaz, but there are times that he just melts my heart. He really is such a good dog. As with most nights lately, he keeps calling it bedtime around 8:30 and walks into his crate, snuffles into his pillow case and calls it a night.

Cat Prank - FAIL

A day without homework.

I've been enjoying this evening without any homework. Sure, I could have brought some home, but gosh darn in, I didn't feel like it. I didn't get any breaks other than stopping home for a quick bite today at lunch. So, what have a been doing this evening? Well, catching up on about a week and half of Ellen's talkshow episodes. Yes, one is quite busy and stressed to have let Ellen slide that long. I probably shouldn't do that because laughter can really be the best medicine.

I also was able to complete one huge present. I have several more on the list between birthdays and Christmas. I think I have it pretty manageable right now and am especially thankful for the good ole I.O.U.

Had a very nice Thanksgiving Day on Saturday with the family, although Laura was still in Kankakee and unable to make it. At least I'll get to catch up with her and Tom this coming weekend. The Tur-Duc-Hen we had for Thanksgiving dinner was quite the experience and very enjoyable. Wish I would have taken some leftovers home with me. But at least I got the leftover mashed potatoes.

For those that may not be familiar with a Tur-Duc-Hen, this is exactly what we had. mmm.mmm.good.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

The prize goes to Tom.

Just can't seem...

...to keep my legs from bouncing today. Is it the final change in weather, the pull of the moon, stress at work, hormones, forgetting my meds for a day. Goodness only knows, just hoping tomorrow will be a smoother less jittery day.

At least I have two fuzzballs to help try to keep me calm at home. I shall hug them, and squeeze them, and call them George. Anyone know where I pulled that one from? Hoping I actually get some attempts to that one. If not, then I think the blog will be done sooner than later.

Poofarts

One of my coworkers sent me a link today. The link lead me to a website that posted screen shots of people's "auto-corrected" instant messages. I was laughing so hard I was crying about the one talking about poofarts.

"If I wait to long to eat lunch, I start to get cranky and my coworkers will drop poofarts on my desk."

Just so you know, poofarts = poptarts. I'd post the link to the website if I could remember.


Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, but I was busy getting things done around the yard and house. On top of that busyness, I've had an annoying sour stomach since Thursday. Things that should have been fun over the weekend... well, I just felt like I was going through the motions.

I'm hoping this week gives me an iron stomach and smooth productive work days. I feel like I'm involved in too many projects that just won't end and am trying to partially train the two new hires. I just don't feel like I have the proper time or sanity right now. But then again, what's new?

Random Photos and this Weekend

So one day I got a $5.00 off Halloween items at CVS and I couldn't resist "buying" a wolf mask for $4.99. You can't beat just paying tax for something.
Here's Jenny wearing the mask.
And here's Ryan wearing it after having eaten at Chevy's for his birthday. Note the sombrero.
I also found this photo on my phone that I hadn't posted. One morning while visiting Emily, we went out to breakfast. I just couldn't get over the fact that I could so easily see the mountains. Super cool!
Also while visiting Emily in Denver, we went to Dave and Busters. I don't think I remembered to blog about it before. It was the normal fun times that a place like that brings. But in addition to that, one of the prizes you could win with tickets was non other than Stunt Granny!
Today Jim, Tom, and I went disc golfing at Bradley Park. Laura came along with us and picked up litter along the way. To her surprise, she found a raccoon sleeping in an empty garbage can on the first hole. Super crazy! We figured he was stuck, so Jim tipped over the can to rudely awaken/save the poor little critter. As Tom mentioned, the raccoon probably had some explaining to do to his wife.

There were piles of leaves all over the place. The largest wind-formed pile was on hole 9, the last hole in upper Bradley. The pile was almost 3 feet high, 10 feet deep and close to 20 feet long. I did some can-can high kicks through the pile and then Laura followed up with a high-jump leap. Can you spot Laura's face in the photo below?

When not playing around this weekend, I spent quite a bit of time out in the yard. After I saw this, I realized that I don't often look at the sky right above my head. I'm glad I did and caught a glimpse of this rainbow cloud. The rainbow didn't continue any further than what's in this photo.It was neat to watch the small patch of wispy clouds move through the rainbow.

I chopped off all the cannas about a foot or so off the ground. Last year I learned that it helps to see where they are buried, so don't just break off the entire stalk.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to make a big bouquet. It actually made it much easier (less bending over, etc.) to chop them up to fit in lawn waste bags.
I should have taken a shot of all the bulbs I dug up. They filled up 4-5 5-gallon buckets. Plenty more than what I need... still have a Cub Food carboard box filled to the brim, ready to give away. Let me know if you'd like some.

Also, let me know if you want to help me dig up elephant ears this week! I'm not sure what my game plan to get them out of the ground is, but it's got to be done.

One Step Closer

Finally got the Dawson frames hung on the wall.
Now I just have to get the room organized and everything pulled together for when the Southside Mission comes pick up the old desk, television and other items I don't need anymore.

Such a Slacker

Wow, I feel like such a slacker! I've been home a week, and I haven't posted any photos from my adventure in Colorado with Emily.

I thought it would be a good idea to go to a botanical garden. Emily hadn't been there before, so she was game. Sadly, it wasn't the best time of the year to look at flowers... this is one of the best looking one we saw that day.On the other hand, the botanical garden was located on an "old school" ranch. They had chickens, goats, sheep, and a Clydesdale. There were educational signs outside the different buildings like for the ice house and bunk house. I bet it would be a pretty cool place for a class field trip.

Anyway, here's a couple pics.


We also drove up to the top of a mountain where Buffalo Bill Cody is buried. Along the way up, we saw these people paragliding from somewhere towards the top of the mountain. Can't say I'd want to do that myself, but it was super cool to watch.
Here's a view from the other side of the mountain. It was so beautiful.
Here's Emily's cat Toni, A.K.A. Kitteh. She likes to hang on the porch and was just checking out the owl that attempts to keep away the squirrels from the potted plants.
I had a blast visiting Emily. Felt just like hanging out in college, but the weekend just didn't last long enough.

Head in the clouds

What to do on a flight from Denver to Minneapolis? How's about blog it up a bit. Sure I had to pay for Internet access, but it was cheaper than if I had gone to see Jackass3D with Emily yesterday. Speaking of of Emily, had a great time visiting her this weekend, if only I could have stayed longer. I guess you'll have that, time to head back to the real world.

I never knew it was possible for someone to squeeze past the beverage cart. How many new faces have you seen today? I will have seen thousands during my day of travels. It was funny to see everyone make the same expression as they turned the corner near what should have been the end of the security line, only to discover it wrapped around the baggage area. Denver has their shit together and whipped us through the winding line. I was AMAZED!

Looking forward to getting the photos off my camera so I can share the adventures Emily and I had. It's getting close to the turn off electrical devices and stow your tray table time of the flight, so I better sign off. Next leg, Minneapolis to Bloomington... I'm getting there.

I've been thinking.

I follow quite a few different people on twitter and it's interesting to see how they post items to encourage helping other, but lately they've been feeling the need to request people to be more kind to each other.

I think the internet has depersonalized things. It's almost like a screen name is a mask and people think they won't be seen. What happened to the days of "If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all".

Maybe if it changed "If you can't type anything nice, then don't type anything at all".

That's what's on my mind this evening.

For Pete's Sake!

I've had quite the busy weekend and it's unfortunately ending in a very frustrating fashion. The good news was I found someone that wanted my old desktop computer. Grandpa wants it to be able to play solitaire and possible other games. For the computer to run better and hopefully flawlessly, I decided to use the recovery CD I have and restore it to the factory settings, so he can start new.

The Compaq did not come with recovery CD's, so when I got it, it had me burn the recovery discs. I put them in the computer and saw the files on them, so I assumed I would be good to go. Little did I know that the computer would have some sort of trouble reading it and not complete the job. I think I have managed to turned the computer into a gigantic paperweight.

I tried loading an older restore disc from a previous computer, but it doesn't want to run and flashes the blue screen of death. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I may be able to borrow a restore disc from work that will help get the computer up and running. This is really beyond frustrating.

Maybe I should focus on the fun disc golfing with Tom this weekend or the progress I'm making in the second bedroom. That's all I got for now... argh!

Sometimes you feel like a nut...

...Sometimes you don't. Almond Joys have nuts, Mounds don't. I can't even remember the last time I've heard that jingle, but yet it gets stuck in my head so often.

I think it would be somewhat interesting to understand why the brain gets stuck on certain thoughts and why they just keep repeating and you can't get them to go away. But then again do I really want to know what goes on in my head. Well... only if it would help me put the kibosh on all anxiety issues I have.

Amazing how typing down the jingle has gotten it to go away and I was just sitting here for a couple minutes with a nice blank mind. How relaxing to just let the mind chill and put aside all the worries of the day.

Time to go pet my fuzzy little buddies.
Good evening, morning, and afternoon to all.

Saturday, Saturday, Saturday

So, yep, it's Saturday.
I tired myself out today. Tom and I went to Pekin to play the McNaughton frisbee golf course. We were quite impressed with their first 9 holes, then we hit the back nine.

Here's a photo of Tom's frisbee stuck on top the canopy-like vegetation that seemed to suck the life out of us. He ended up here twice... thanks to my thinking I knew which direction we needed to throw on one of the holes. Yep, I had us throwing the complete wrong direction.
Here's a photo of my frisbee stuck in an actual tree. We saw it stick in there just a a basketball can get wedged between the rim and backboard. It's hard to find my white frisbee in the shot, but you can see Tom trying to help me get it.
Overall it was a fun time, and we came out on top with an extra frisbee. We enjoyed the first nine holes, but the back nine kicked our butts. Don't think we'll be going back there anytime soon. I don't like to feel defeated by course, but I guess I should tip my hat to the creator of the course.

I seem to have run out of energy today, but before I hit the wall, I did get some clouds up in the bathroom. It never quite dawned on me how messy sponge painting would be. Had to take a picture, and this only after the first layer of clouds... the back of my had looked just as bad.
I think this will work well enough for me. Now I need to finally touch up the blue spots, but I have fewer spots to touch up. :)

This Video Cracks Me Up!

Pretty Boring Day

Well, I think I've gotten the good ole digestive system to settle down some. Would have had a miserable day at work, so I'm glad I chose to stay.

Besides paying the bills, here's how productive I was:

I lured Jinkies in with some treats and then brushed and brushed and brushed him. I'm hoping this will help cut down on his hairball production. Last time he so kindly left one on the couch.
Finally opening my last pack of toilet since my birthday, I took the time to untie and debag the toilet paper caterpillar Laura gave me.

I even made room and put it away in my teeny-tiny cabinet. I have a feeling there's a better word for cabinet, but it's escaping me right now.

Is it The Sparkster or The Squeakster?

Yes, my dog does have a tail, but it moves so fast that my camera wasn't able to pick it up.
I would like everyone to be able to enjoy the happiness that Sparky exudes at almost all times.

Weekend over all too soon.

I had a fairly productive Saturday. I took Sparky for a walk down to Glen Oak Park so we could cheer on the Zoo Run Runners. Got to root on Tom, Coker, Vince, Sandra, and her brother Omar. Sparky was lovin' all the smells and the added attention. I really should have put him in that shirt I got him. That would have been funny.

Did the normal household stuff the rest of the day. I could have finished painting the bathroom, but I wasn't feeling it. I need to be in a creative mindset when I tackle the clouds, otherwise I don't think it will turn out right.

Instead, I put my energy into framing the 30 Andre Dawson baseball cards Tom got me for my birthday. Here's just one of the three frames I put together. I think they turned out quite nicely and I even had room to put in the photo of Dawson and myself. Now I just need to get them up on the wall, along with the Janesville puzzle I framed a few weeks ago.
Seeing that I was up at 5 this morning, I tried to get a few things done instead of just sitting around vedging. Finally got some grocery shopping done. I've just been picking up odds and ends the last couple of weeks. Need to get back in the rhythm of planning out meals... should be set for the week now.

Dad came by mid-morning to install the shower head I bought. I wanted a nice clean new one with a hose, so it will be easier to give The Sparkster a bath. Maybe now I'll get less wet during his bath time. There seemed to be a defect with the one I bought, so Dad and I took a nice trip to Menards. The second new one seems to work like a charm, but the real test will come Monday morning. Hopefully it doesn't shoot off the wall like an out of control fire hose.
Sparky was quite pleased to have Dad stop by and visit him. I seriously think in his little world that meeting/seeing new people is purely for his own enjoyment. Little does he know that he's just lucky I know just great and loving people.

Anyway, he was pretty jazzed most of the afternoon. Here's a picture of him during squeaky time. The duck has won him over since he busted the squeaker in the cow already.
It still amazes me how quickly he can go from spaz to chill. And as I type this, he's actually fallen asleep.
Hope everyone has a good week. I sure hope I do!

Kind of Hazy

Feeling kind of hazy this evening. Really should get off my duff to take something to get this darn headache to go away. I can't imagine why I have a headache. Could it be the chaos in the office this week. OMG... not only have I been wearing my noise canceling headphones most of this week, but I'm contemplating some ear plugs too!

Don't really want to dwell on that, so here's a snippet of the bathroom for those that may be curious. Still haven't done the clouds yet, but at least I have somewhere to hang my towels again.
I went to Petco after work to buy some more treats for the furballs. I apologize for the glowy eyes on the Sparkster, but I had to use the flash. He decided to take his new squeaky cow toy to bed with him at 7:30 this evening. I think it was really to protect it from Jinkies.
I had fun rooting through the clearance cart. Not only did I find discounted dog and cat treats, but I got this $3 t-shirt for Sparky. Thought maybe he'd like to where it on cool Fall days before he breaks out his winter coat.
That's all she wrote.
Have a good evening, morning, afternoon and night.

Super busy weekend.

I had quite the busy weekend, which is ending with me sprawled out on the couch, taking in Night at the Museum 2 and trying to fight off a nagging headache.

Friday night I stopped over at Mom and Dad's to borrow a couple painting supplies for my bathroom project. Saturday, before diving in to the bathroom, Sparky and I headed into Dunlap to watch Tom's team play. Little did I know that it was a tournament and I was a good hour early to Tom's game. Luckily, I did get to chat with him before heading home to start on my project.

Saturday afternoon I got all the items taken off the walls in the bathroom. I had slight issues with the getting the towel bar off the wall. The screw heads were painted over and stripped. I broke a couple drill bits in my attempts and had to rely on the good ole sturdy hammer. After that I puttied and sanded and puttied and sanded all evening.

Sunday started out with Jim taking the shower rod down for me, and then him, Tom and I headed over to ICC for a round of frisbee golf. Great weather and fun times. Shortly after lunch the priming began and then I followed up later with the painting.

This morning I got the bathroom back in useful order before partaking in the Iadipaolo's Labor Day cookout. They had a great idea to try some of the games from "A Minute to Win it". Super fun, but I'll have to start practicing if they do that again.

This evening I ran out of steam. My motivation has fizzled out. My goal will be to work a little bit in the bathroom each evening until all light spots are solid blue, the cabinet is on the wall, the towel bars are up, trim painted, new shower installed, and clouds painted. Oh goodness, what have I started.

It's all about timing.

Yesterday was pretty darn good timing for me to hang out with Matt for the day. The day before would have been smoldering and today would have been too rainy.

I got to run several errands yesterday and Matt didn't mind coming along for the ride. It was nice to get so much accomplished. The afternoon brought on the goofing around. We headed over to ICC to play Matt's first round of frisbee golf since he was 6 years old. Overall, it was a successful outing, no lost discs and we even got to see a dear up close. With a little practice, I think Matt could easily move a step or two beyond the zig-zag game he was playing. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that neither one of us got into poison ivy.

Got to break out the Wii a little bit for some actual game play. Finally tried the Batman Lego game I bought many months ago. Can't wait for the colder weather to have an excuse to play it more often.

I'm almost done with the most recent book in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. Then I'll have a big decision of what book to start next. I have so many books from Grandpa and ones that I bought on clearance or Mom gave me to try. Maybe I should put the titles in a hat and pull one out that way.

This weekend I plan to take advantage of the 3-day weekend. Really hope to get some things done in the bathroom. The toilet has started to trickle and run or something like that, but with the cabinet above the tank, I can't see down into the tank to figure out what needs to be fixed. With the need to move the cabinet, It'd be in my best interest to try to smooth out the walls and paint before putting it back in place.

Also, I got the frames and rest of the pieces to put together my Andre Dawson baseball card frames. That should be a fun project to figure out which cards go in each frame. Then I'll work on hanging those up in the second bedroom, and I'll also get my birthday present from the Iadipaolo's up too.

I think that's most of what's on my mind right now. Time to go flip the load of laundry. I know, the fun around here never stops, but don't get too jealous. Heck, invite yourself over if you want to partake first hand.

Another Season Over

Had a great night at the Chiefs game with Tom, Laura, Jim and Theresa. We tried to make a new friend, but he didn't stick around the entire game... just an inning or two, perched on the railing. Corn chips weren't his thing, but apparently staring at Jim was.Signs of a good game other than a Chiefs win. A sore throat from cheering too much, occasional tears running down your cheeks at the game, a couple giveaways (see Rosco below), a foul ball to the group, and free baseball, loved the extra inning win!
A great way to end the start of a stressful work week. I have tomorrow off and it should be fun because I get to spend most of the day with Matt. Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

Most of the Rest

I wasn't very trigger happy during this trip. Probably because taking pictures seemed like too much effort in the 90+ heat. I really wonder what the heat index was. With highs of 92, did we have a heat index of 100?

Anyway, here are some additional photos from the trip. Don't worry, I'll fill you in on a couple things I didn't take photos of.

Prior to the Iowa Cubs game Sunday afternoon, Mom wanted to view the sculpture park that was located in the downtown Des Moines area. Here she is with one of her favorite pieces. It was a bunch of metal letters welded and hinged together.
After the sculpture park, we headed to Principal Park where the Iowa Cubs played. Gates opened 90 minutes before the game and my plan was to get some autographs, so we were there before the gates opened. It wasn't setup quite like I anticipated, nor was I at the beginning of the line. So, I opted to just "settle" for getting Sandberg's autograph. I just couldn't pass up th Hall of Famer, especially when I already have a good portion of the teams signatures from the Chiefs or Cubs Caravan.

I had a Midwest League ball I was going to get signed, but Mom bought a program and that looked so much cooler, so I went for that. The other reason why I passed up on stalking the players was because it was mystery ball giveaway day. We each got to pick a wrapped autograph ball. It was like Christmas, not knowing what signature you would get. I originally got Jeff Stevens and Sam Fuld, but traded Fuld for a Brian Schlitter.
Here's a shot from where are seats were supposed to be for the LBT/Sugarland concert. This was the longest grandstand I could have imaged, with non-proportional sized stage!
Let's see, what's next. This is one of the Sky Tracks or Sky Trams they had. Mom and I rode one that went across a different section of the fair. It was neat to see everything from that perspective, but slightly nerve-wracking for me. I took this photo on Saturday, and this area was one of the least crowded I saw.
I regret to inform you or maybe I'm proud to say that I didn't eat anything fried on a stick. Now, I did have one of the best cookie monsters ever. Then again, any ice cream treat tastes like the worlds best when you've been melting for hours.

Also, I'm sad to say that I did not investigate what a Twinkie Log is.
I don't remember exactly what I said to get a reaction like this out of Mom... possible something about the Twinkie Log? And this wasn't even the day that I was all sugared up. If you have x-ray vision, you can see the Cubs fanny-pack she was sporting under her shirt. ;)
What else can I report on this evening. As I've mentioned to a few, Iowa does not have Bob Evans. Most, if not all of the Iowa rest areas we saw had wireless internet. Iowa Farm and Fleets and Family Dollars are quite similar to ours in Peoria. Shopping at outlet malls isn't a bad experience when you actually find good deals on things you need. Iowa cheese is just as good as Wisconsin cheese, well at least from Maytag Dairy Farms. Sleep is good, but hijacking Mom for a concert road trip is beyond better.

Concerts Galore

I had a great time with Mom over the weekend at the Iowa State Fair. I'm a bit tired right now due to too much rockin', tons of fun, lots of driving and a lack of sleep. I'll share some photos of the concert tonight and fill in more tomorrow with a recap of the Fair experience and the other things we did.

Mom and I are both a part of the Little Big Town fan club and were fortunate to get a meet and greet with them before the concert. If you study the photo close enough, you will notice the bulge at Mom's waste, which is actually a fanny pack! It was good thinking on her part and was sported by many at the Fair. From L to R, Phillip, Kimberly, Mom, Me, Jimi, and Karen. They were awesome to us!
Here's a pic of the group from the top of the grandstand. The sound mix was right on this time and they played a stupendous show.
Here's a pic of Jennifer and Kristian during another energized Sugarland performance.
Sunday was Sheryl Crow's turn to take the stage. I didn't have much of a chance to take in her newly released album, so I wasn't completely sure what I was in for. I was just as happy, if not happier than the first time I saw her live. She just about brought the house down! So Good!
I wish I was that close to her, but this is a photo off of the big screen.