What a day

I had a bad day today. It started off with a 2 hour commute to work-which really should only take 30 minutes. It went down hill from there. So, in an effort to cheer myself up,I have decided to write about somethings that I love, make me smile or make me happy:

Diet Lipton White Tea-Raspberry: This stuff is so good! And no points!

Pecan Lovers Mix from Planters: This stuff is amazingly good. And lots of Weight Watchers points, but sometimes, you just gotta eat it!

My niece tonight when she said "Mimi let me cova you up wif da blanket...there you go"! I almost cried she was so cute.

My dogs who are snuggled around me.

I got my hair cut tonight and it was GREAT! I got to relax and get my hair washed. Fabulous!

Otto who is cracking me up by running around the living room with a squeaky candy cane squeaking it!

My friend "J". Thanks for being on the other end of the line as I tried not get out of my car and start running and screaming up and down the highway while trying to beat the crap out of the people who were trying to "cheat" by speeding down the median during the traffic debacle of 10/30. IDIOTS!!!!!! I love you!

My friend "A". Thank you so much for being there for me today. I can't tell you how much it meant it to me. Seriously there are no words.

Well, I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween. I will be trick or treating with my nieces. I can't wait!

Parched

This is a picture of Falls Lake. A stones throw from where I live. I found it on our newspapers website. (Can I get in trouble for using it? Oh well!)

We are having a very serious drought here in NC. Our governor asked us to reduce our water consumption by 50%. I have my own well so I don’t use “city” water, but that does not mean that I am not taking this seriously. I am and I have thought of a few ways to personally conserve. Here are a few of the things that I have done:

I switched to paper plates. Now this was very problematic for me. Because I am fairly “eco” friendly I try to use things that can be reused. For this purpose that means plates. I try not to “kill trees” by using needless paper products if I can help it. But when faced with running the dishwater a couple times a week or just once a week, well I thought saving water was more important. The plates use a renewable resource, are biodegradable and are made of recycled paper. That is how I justified it anyway.

I take a “sailor shower”. Ok, I had never heard that term before but someone said it to me while describing how they are trying to conserve water. It means that you turn on the shower and get wet. Then you shut it off, lather up (hair and all) and then turn it back on to rinse. It really does save a lot of water but there are other issues. Like you can get a little cold for one! But it is worth saving several gallons of water so I stick with it.

I save the water from my shower. I have a “bathtub” shower. I plug up the tub and take a shower, thus collecting all the water in the tub. I was using it to keep my plants alive and also to rinse out the sink after brushing my teeth (no, not rinsing out my mouth, just the sink!) I also used it to rinse off plates and cups that I did use before putting them in the dish washer.

I turned off the water to my toilet. I know this one sounds bizarre. Every time I flush the toilet, approximately 2 gallons of water goes down the drain, literally! So, I use the saved shower water to flush the toilet. Yeah the water is a little cloudy from shampoo and soap but who cares. I also don’t flush after every pee. I know gross!!!! Really I do. But desperate times call for desperate measures!

I take my laundry to the Laundromat. Now, someone said that this is saving my water but at the cost of city water. And while this is true there is actually another reason for my going to the Laundromat. The washing machines are bigger than mine so I get more done at one time (saving energy-I think) and the commercial washing machines use less water than most home models-or so it appeared to me. I do one load per week at home and a couple at the Laundromat on Sunday. The Laundromat has other benefits, I get to sit and read while I wait for my clothes. A luxury that I don’t get often at home because the dogs want something or there is something to clean or to put away etc. It is kind of relaxing which makes me feel less stressed.

I know some of these things sound completely weird and not everyone has time to save water in milk jugs (another thing that gets recycled!) to flush the toilet, but these are the tings that I can do. Do a rain dance for us here in NC. We had some good rain last week but they said we need a lot more to fill the lakes!

The long awaited blog

Well, maybe not long awaited. I have no idea if anyone will be interested in my trip but here it is in pictures! Well, sort of...




So, here is the main part of the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina. It is the original section that opened in 1913. It was restored to it's original glory at the end of the 20th century. They still have many of the original furnishings which were done in the Arts & Crafts Style(some call it Mission Style)- my favorite! Gorgeous isn't it?



And here is the view from my room. Really fabulous right? (HaHa) They are building luxury condominiums or so I was told. Kinda too close for my liking.



Ok, here is a better view. This was taken from one of the windows in the Sammons Wing.



Cookie had a good time!

All in all I survived and had a bit of a good time, with a little help from my friends. Thanks A and C! Just remember, we stick together and no one gets left behind! Oh and "it is so pretty up there,we had a great time right"? RIGHT!(ha ha) And the Very Berry Tini at Elaine's was FABULOUS!!

The dogs were just fine without me as I knew they would be. But it sure was nice to get home and they were so excited to see me! That made me feel pretty good. There is nothing better that arriving home to 3 very excited fuzzies who just want your attention. Ah...I am loved! :-)

Travelin' Blues

I should be packing. But I am not. I have been doing lots of other things. Like talking on the phone, working on this blog, feeding the cats, making the dog's food for the next 2 days, eating chips...I just don't want to pack. Because I just don;t want to go. Now there are some highlights like getting to ride with 2 really funny guys. Plus it isn't every day that you get to meet a US Supreme Court Justice, other female Chief Justices from other states or the Secretary of State of NC. I mean those are all cool things. The thing is, it is also a lot of work. Checking in 500 people and making sure everyone has their tickets, name badges etc. But I am going to try and enjoy myself. At least at some point. So I guess I should go pack...but I think I need to take out the garbage oh and I think the dog room needs to be dusted...

Random thoughts for today

WHY IS IT 94 DEGREES HERE IN OCTOBER?! Could I get a break please?

Why won't it just rain. A nice deluge-for a couple of hours, is that too much to ask? I mean come on already!

I learned something new today. A mountain lion is also called a puma, panther, cougar or catamount. I always wondered what the heck a Western Carolina University Catamount was. Why not just call yourselves the Western Carolina University Cougars?

Sugar Snap Peas ARE REALLY GOOD!

So are Slim a Bear 100 Calorie ice cream bars!

Morning Star Farms Cheddar "burgers" are not good. But I like their Grillers! Yes, even though it is a soy, meat substitute.

Men in Trees starts on Friday! Yeah!!

Why can't fried shrimp be good for you?

Why does Otto always bark to come in right when I get comfortable on the couch with
the laptop after just letting him out?

Oh good grief this was BORING!

Trips

Well it has been a while since I posted. Mainly, because work is stressing me out. So, when I come home the last thing I want to do is turn on the computer. Even for fun stuff like blogging and ebaying!

Here is my problem. I have to go somewhere for a work function over night. I don’t want to go. We are staying in a very upscale resort and spa-somewhere that I would NEVER get to go left to my own devices. The problem is I am completely freaked out to leave the dogs. Now, the dogs will be fine. My dad is taking care of them and he is great with them. Plus my parents live 1.1 miles away, so multiple trips to my house to let them out really won’t be too much of a hardship. The problem is me. I am having huge separation anxiety. You see, I have never left them overnight in the past 5 years. This is significant. It became worse once I was divorced. The dogs became my “security blanket”. I knew when I got home they would be there waiting for me. And I kind of became a homebody. I mean I am not a hermit. I still go to the store, go my parents, go to my brother and sister-in-laws. I mean I have no problem going out for a couple of hours. But I want to be home, sleep in my own bed with the dogs snoring around me. I guess it is like people who can only go to sleep with the T.V. on or some other “white” noise. The dogs are my “white” noise!

Second, I am pretty shy and just the thought of having to possibly “mingle” with the 500 people that will be there has the potential to send me into an anxiety attack right now! I don’t think that I have anything that these people would be interested in hearing. Maybe we will run out of steak and chicken dinners and I will be allowed to go to my room and order room service! That would be great! But not likely.

Oh well, I will just need to suck it up and try to enjoy my time at an exclusive hotel and spa in the mountains in October!

Wish me luck. Seriously.

So, I have a few complaints.

Me, Complain? Well, maybe not complaints but there are 2 things that are really bugging me. So, maybe if I jump up on my soap box it will make me feel better.

The first thing is people who insist on watering their grass during a drought. Now, I am not talking about people who have a new house and need to water their new lawn. I mean the people who insist on having a green looking lawn. Here is the deal. WE ARE IN A SERIOUS DROUGHT! If you don't believe me or the news, just drive on highway 98 and check out Falls Lake-Raleigh's water source. It is scary just how low it is. There is a section that is just all grass and mud. IT USED TO BE WATER. I am a homeowner and I understand that your lawn is part of the curb appeal. An investment in your property. But I think having water to drink, cook with and take a shower is more important. I don't know maybe it is just me.

The second thing is the whole Michael Vick situation. There are people out there who are outraged that he just might never play football again. All over a bunch of animals. Who cares what he did to the dogs when their are humans suffering. They are just picking on him because he is rich and people are jealous. I mean it isn't like he committed a crime. YES HE DID!!..ARE YOU PEOPLE KIDDING ME?!? Now, first let me say that I do think we need to concentrate on the human suffering in this country, but not in lieu of animal suffering. WE need to concentrate on suffering, period. There is a great quote by Gandhi that says the greatness of a country can be judged by how it treats it animals. If we aren't kind to animals why would we be kind to our fellow man? Dog fighting is disgusting. No matter how you feel about dogs or animals, what they do is just wrong. Have any of these people saying it is just a dog, seen a pit that has been used for fighting? Well I have and it is one of the saddest things I have seen. Michael Vick admitted to killing his pits that didn't fight well by wetting them down and electrocuting them as well as strangulation. I mean how do you do that to a living thing? Disgusting. Dog fighting is cruel, disgusting and not a sport. Why would you want to watch that? I heard a great guy on NPR today and he said I am a black man and I love my dog. He said people are saying that dog fighting is a black thing and he did not agree. And I don't agree that it is a "black thing" either. It isn't something that only black people do. It is something that humans do. It is a human thing and it has to stop. And I don't give a crap about how great a football player he was/is. He committed a crime. He admits to it. And now he will have to pay the price for that crime. And everyone who commits a crime, whether against humans or animals should pay for their crime. They shouldn't get a break because they are rich or famous or white or black or green. Everyone has a right to fair trial and I hope that Mr. Vick gets one if it goes that far. Because when he does get his punishment, I don't want anyone to say he got railroaded.

Ok, so now I can move on. And give my 3 rescue dogs a great big hug, an extra treat and more space on my bed.

Dancing with the Stars

Yep, it is that time of year again. Time for Dancing with the Stars. I LOVE THIS SHOW! For so many reasons. Seeing these "stars" learning how to dance is just a hoot. I say "stars" because I have only heard of a few of them. The costumes are simply amazing and I love the voting aspect.

What annoys me about the show is the music. The singers sing these weird songs to ballroom dance to. For instance, someone just Cha Cha Cha-ed to the Pussycat Dolls. WHAT? You don;t Cha Cha to the Pussycat Dolls. The second thing that annoys me are the people who make fun of the people who have not done so well. Ballroom dancing is HARD. How do I know? I took 2 semesters in college and performed the Tango at a dance show. Yes, my parents drove to Greensboro to watch me(bless them) and no, I can't still do a good Tango. Now a Polka yes. The swing absolutely. I might even be able to pull off a waltz. But that is about it. These dances are hard. To learn these complicated steps in such a short period of time is tough. And most of these stars have day jobs. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that ballroom dancing is brain surgery but what I am saying is give them a break.

So on Mondays and Tuesdays from 8-9:30 call me during commercials! haha..no seriously. HAHa!

Fred Weasley

Well, I finally got a picture of Fred. How cute is he? He is such a sweet cat. I love the wink. Something must have happened to his eye because it is always winking. He must have had a hard life. I hope that I am making it better for him.
I love you Fred Weasley!

Today's Random Thoughts

Fall is finally here in NC...at least for now! I will enjoy it while we have it.

I am tired of mowing the grass.

My Weight Watchers total so far is 10.2 lbs! Yeah!!

I am adicted to the show Surviorman on Discovery Channel. Les you rock!

Man am I tired. But I have to go pet sit before I go to bed.

Veggie Burgers baked in the oven are actually very good. Well with cheese and a potato roll!

My hair cut is still fab! It makes me feel good about myself. That is a BIG accomplishment!

I feel really bad for my dad. He is a contractor at a computer company and they told him that they may not be allowed to renew his contract. My dad is a hard worker and he is good at what he does. I just feel bad for him. I just hope they do renew it in January.

My 20th class reunion is next year. Holy crap! Where did the time go?
Those were the days. Where you couldn't wait to be grown up. And sometimes I wish I could go back. Knowing what I know now of course!

There are 98 days until Christmas!

I will leave you with that thought.

Sick

So, now I really am sick. I went to the doctor yesterday and he informed me that I have a sinus infection. So I am on antibiotics for 10 days. The problem is, now I am sick from the antibiotics! So, on top of feeling terrible I feel even worse. So, I am doing and experiment. I took my meds this a.m. If I get sick again, I am not going to work. I really don't like calling in sick. It makes mefeel bad. I worry about all the work that I should be doing. But, I can't go to work like this. I am way too far from the bathroom. I just feel guilty and then I feel bad for feeling guilty becasue I really am sick! Wish me luck!

Cookie Monster and I say TGIF!

Seriously. If I had to work one more day I think I would have to call in sick, and I never do that. I have been trying to think of something to write all week. The thing is, I have no inspiration. I am tired and sad. My gramma is really sick and in the hospital, one of my best friends has extremely ill pets and I am crabby. Maybe because it is the end of the summer and I am tired of being hot, I am tired of being in this terrible drought, I am tired of brown grass, I am tired of mean, annoying,and nosy people at work. I AM JUST PLAIN TIRED OF EVERYTHING. And to top it off I had a minor anxiety attack thing morning. So, to try and boost the ole' morale, I am going to write about happy things!

NO work for 2 whole days!

Cookie Monster ROCKS!

I have a new hair cut and I LOVE IT! Very sassy!

My total weight loss is 9.2 pounds. Whee!

When I went to leave my parents house the other night, my 2 year old niece followed me to the door shouting, "bye Mimi, (I said "I love you" and she says..) love you, bye Auntie Mimi, bye Mimi, I go outside, BYE MIMI!!! How cute is that?

I am thinking of starting my own business in the next 2 years. Go me!

I get to go back to sleep tomorrow after I give the dogs their meds.

I am half way through re-reading all the Harry Potter books.

I am driving the dogs crazy by singing while listening to my MP3 player. They hate when I sing. Boy I must really stink! That is ok. It doesn't stop me. "Waterloo, finally facing my Waterloo..." Go Abba!

I got a new CD at Target called "80's Mixed Tape". How many of you had the infamous "mixed tape"? I had about 50 of them! Loved the mixed tape.

It is late enough for me to go to sleep. Yeah me!

Cookie Monster, the dogs and I wish all of you lots of things to be happy about!

Random thoughts for August 30.

I am ready for summer to be OVER. I am tired of being HOT.

I start week 4 of Weight Watchers tomorrow. Actually, I am doing pretty good. I have lost 6.6 pounds so far. Although I wish I were losing it faster, I realize that it won't happen any quicker. I mean I didn't put all the weight on over night, so it certainly isn't going to fall off of me because I eat a salad every night!

I want to take a nap.

Is it Friday yet?

Grocery store tonight or tomorrow?

I feel uninspired.

My dogs are so cute!

I am hungry and I forgot my lunch.

oh! I think I have popcorn!

Rub a dub dub-2 pups in the tub!

Well, it was bath time for Otto and Bunnie this weekend. Why you ask? Well let me tell you the story.

Saturday was VERY hot-at least 100 degrees so I was very watchful of the dogs going outside. I was checking on them and noticed Otto laying on his side in the yard. This is not normal behavior so I dashed outside to see if he was ok. By the time I got close I noticed he was rolling on the grass so I thought maybe he had an itch. Upon closer inspection, I realized he was rolling ON a dead mole. GROSS! He smelled, well disgusting and I had no idea how I was going to get the smell out. “Dead” is very difficult to get rid of. A few weeks ago I had bought some new dog shampoo. It is Buddy Wash by Cloudstar. I was not sure if this was going to work or not but it was all I had so I had to go with it. I am happy to say that it worked GREAT! No more “dead” smell and it rinsed out easily! I highly recommend it!
You can find it at: https://www9.mailordercentral.com/cloudstar/products.asp?dept=15

I felt slightly bad because they hate baths, but I hate dead smell more!

I seem to have neglected my blog while counting points. Here are my random thoughts for today:

It is funny. I never really thought about food until Weight Watchers. What do I mean by that? Well, before I would just eat. I didn’t think about what or when or if I was hungry. If something popped in to my mind that I wanted to eat well I just ate it. Now I think about “How many points is that” and “How many points do I have left today” and even “Is it worth that many points”? Tomorrow is another weigh in. Hopefully I will add to the 3.2 lbs that I lost last week!

It has been hot here. I mean like HELL hot. I hate hot. Well I like hot French Fries and pizza. Not hot weather. Not 103 degree weather like yesterday. Nothing good can come from 103 degrees.

My dogs are the cutest dogs EVER! Well to me anyway.

My friend has to have her wisdom teeth out. I am glad mine have already been removed.

I am such a nerd for lists. I have lists for everything. I actually made a Master Grocery List. How completely nerdy is that?! Well at least it isn’t laminated…not yet!

Flies are gross.

So are slugs.

The end-for now!

Please Welcome Fred Weasley and other random ramblings

Well, "we" have a new cat. He is a grey tabby. I have some funny pictures of him but have not gotten them off my camera yet, so when I do I will post them. He is another little guy that just showed up hungry and kind of beat up. He has been at the house for a while so I finally broke down, scraped up some money and took him to the vet. I ended up spending $88 which I really didn't have but I did find out that he was a neutered male, about 3-4 years old, and has a notch out of his ear because at one time he was feral. He also got a rabies shot, treated for ear mites and a distemper shot. Unfortuantely, Flounder HATES him. Everytime Flounder passes him he hisses. I try and spend time with both of them so no one is jealous but I guess I am not doing a good job. I really didn't want another cat but he is such a sweetie and I wanted to make sure that at least he was well fed and vaccinated. It is the best I could do. Oh, I named him Fred Weasley as a tribute to a character in the Harry Potter books. He is a pretty cute guy.

Tomorrow is my first weigh in at Weight Watchers and if I don;t do well I am going to be sad. I have not had a Mountain Dew for a week and I have the caffine headache to prove it, so I had better have lost some weight or I am going right out for a big Mountain Dew and french fries with a side of Dairy Queen! :-)

On a serious note, I am feeling a bit down in the dumps lately. Not sure what is bringing that on except that it does happen every now and again regardless of my meds. I just feel like crying all the time and I have to concentrate on not crying. I know it just happens to me sometimes, so I just work through it, but it is a challenge. I don't tell anyone anymore (oh gee except I just told the 3 people who read this!) because I feel a bit ridiculous. Oh well. I think I am over the big hill and on the down side.

Songs on my MP3 player while writing this blog: 3 Is A Magic Number, Slip Slidin'Away, Ashes By Now, High Enough, Different Corner, You Are The Everything and Hey Jack Kerouak. Who sings High Enough you ask? Damn Yankees! :-)

How many points is that?

Well, I joined Weight Watchers (again) today. The last time I joined was in 2003. I did pretty well losing almost 40lbs but I ended up quitting in 2004. Oh and yes put all 40 pounds BACK on. Why you ask? Did it become too hard? Was I tired of going to meetings? Was I bored? Nope. None of those. It got too hard to count points and worry about what I was eating when I was dealing with my ex-husband deciding to leave me for someone he met while playing a fantasy role playing on the internet. Oh, and I was jobless having just been laid off. Can you say “good times”? Yep. Real great. I am finally to the point now where I can look back and not want to crawl into bed and never come out, but I digress. This is about Weight Watchers!

I am not sure what has spurred me to do this now. Well, except that every time I go to buy something to wear I have to get a bigger size and this concerns me. I mean let’s face it. I am fat. Trust me, I don’t overlook that fact. And really losing weight is more about me being healthy than looking good. I am pretty comfortable with myself...NOW! That was not always the case. But I feel ready this time. And to celebrate, I am having dinner at Bojangles. Yep, bring on the chicken tenders, sauce, fries, biscuit and ice tea. It will be a long time before those items cross my lips again. See, I can’t just have a little taste and be satisfied. Which is odd because there are some foods that I can. Like M&M’s. I think you can have 10 M&M’s for 2 points or something like that. Well, I can eat 10 M&M’s and be satisfied but I can not eat 2 French fries and be ok. I HAVE TO EAT THEM ALL! So, I have to cut them out and tell myself I can eat them once a month or something. I have to set limits.

Well, wish me luck. Now it is off to the grocery store with my POINTS calculator for things like grapes, reduced fat cheese and wheat bread. Yeah for me!

How are people this creative?

I am finally done!

So, I finally finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I was so sad when it was over. No more Harry Potter. I am not sure what it was about the books that I loved so much. The magic? The way JK Rowling described everything so when the movies came out you exclaimed “I knew that is what it looked like!” Or maybe it was the loyalty and friendship threads that were woven in every book. My favorite character was always Sirius Black. Of course he didn’t show up until the third book and then promptly died at the end of the 5th one but I loved his character. I also liked Hagrid because I could see a tiny glimmer of myself in him-his love of all creatures even if they weren’t all that cute and cuddle (Sorry Hagrid, I can’t agree with you on Aragog. Yuck!) Dumbledore who was so incredibly funny. And Snape. I always thought he got a bad rap up – well until the 6th book where I really could not believe he was so evil-but in the 7th book we really know what happened and it made me love him. I think I always liked Snape because of the movies, I so love Alan Rickman!

Well, if you haven’t read the last Harry Potter book, you should. It is the best out of the 7. I am listening to it on CD right now during my commute. A great way to spend 45 minutes!

Funny AND cute!

If you watch Ugly Betty or the Simpson's you get this! I thought it was hysterical!

Definition of Jazz Hands by Wikipedia:
Jazz hands is a common gesture often used in theatre and dance. To perform Jazz hands, one's hands are opened with palms facing forward and the fingers are splayed.

The position of the arms can vary. Forearms are usually extended upward, or the forearms may extend forward with the elbows held close to the body, or forearms may extend to the sides or downward.

Note: The hands may then be shaken slightly, as if holding a tambourine. However, this is not a necessary part of the Jazz Hands action.