Where On Earth?

Where is the best place to take a 1 week vacation. (AND when is the best time to go there?)

It is decided. As a shared News Years Resolution, Seen and I have decided to "go somewhere". We've never actually gone anywhere as tourists. Well, we went to Hawaii once, but shared that vacation with 3 other people, so we didn't get to be as tourist-y as we could. This year, we will get our passports and head out into the world. Do you have any suggestions? What was your fav. vacation (Favcation) and what time of year should we go? April in Paris? August in New Zealand, May in Yellowstone?

There are determining factors here, the first being an influx of income. The unemployment, which we are both on, isn't exactly "traveling money". It does allow for a LOT of time for travel. I am optimistically thinking his new creative venture will explode and we'll have lots of clams for moving around the world.

Secondly is; some guy just put explosive in his underpants and made travel a tad more difficult for the rest of us. Thank goodness nobody got hurt this time. Restrictions and security is now tighter/longer/harder (stop it, this is a family friendly blog.) Since we are not criminals, I think we'll just add an hour here and there to the schedule and should be able to weather that difficulty.

Thirdly is; other commitments/animal care. The year is planned out thusly so far (yes, all events require travel): Friday - Writers Conference on V-Day weekend (San Diego), March - I spend a week with my Mother Dear (CO), May - Niece graduates from grad. school weekend (SFO), June - another niece gets hitched (CO), I have moderate promises from 2 other nieces that they will visit me (come on down!!) So somewhere's in there, we'll sneak in a vacation for the stressed out, newly wealthy (fingers crossed) Robinsons.

Happy New Year friends! May all your travels and adventures this year be safe ones.

The Moment

I shall not start every blog with the note, "It's been awhile since I've written here", though it is so often appropriate.

Also I like to list things. So here are the 2 things I'm here for today:

A. Just checked out pix from Halloween. This year has put a ton of stress on my body and MAN do I look tired and a little old.

2. I haven't been driving. Even though my job is about 18 miles away from my abode, Seen drives me to work in the morning and I've been catching the express bus home every night. (BTW, Seen is a frickin awesome, selfless, wonderful, handsome, talented, intelligent person. I am a lucky wifey.) So I bring the iPod with me to listen to Huck Finn on the way home. Gotta keep me entertained, as I am an American and god forbid I am alone with my thoughts for 2 minutes. Tonight, the iPod died, even though I charged it all night last night. The iPod started up, said "charge me", gave me the finger and RIP'ed it just as I started my ride. So, I looked out the window.

Best thing that happened to me today. Out the west window of a southbound bus on a dark LA freeway was a river of light. The grainy sunshade on the buses giant window was blocking any definition in the cars out there, so all I saw were thousands of lights, gliding past me. It was like walking on stars...I turned it into a meditation and it was awe-some. There is unexpected beauty all around us.

Just thought I'd share that with you.

Curbside Special

I got two stories for you today and they are both about cats. Okay, the second story is a little bit about how Whiskey Tango we are, but mainly, cats...

1. Munchy: Munchy is very spunky and yelly and loved. Seen took this picture when she was yelling at him to pet her. I think it's the most adorabley cute and pathetic picture I've ever seen of anything or anyone, ever.
Munchy is now 17.5 years old. We've been giving her sub-Q fluids, every other morning, for the past 6 months. After a few months of the fluids, Munchy's left eye got glassy and stopped responding to light.The eye thing was due to her high blood pressure, so we got a pill for that. About a month ago, Munchy started yelling for no reason. She would just sit and yell, at the water dish, at thin air. The vet said she had "ropey" intestines and they were probably ulcerated. She gets a compounded pill for that, and a 1/2 a pepcid a day. She's doing fine right now, just funnily pathetic in pictures.

***
Story #2. Curbside shopping - So our downstairs neighbors moved out. They left this fairly nice, dark cherry wood futon with a nice, rust Muslin covered mattress on it just sitting on the curb. I haven't been feeling well (vertigo from all the crappy stress) but when Seen mentioned it was on the front lawn when he'd gone downstairs about 2 hours earlier, I thought, "ok". He mildly suggested maybe we should go get it and sell it. We'd sold our own, space hogging, ugly, Ikea futon about a month ago.

I said, "I'm not proud. We're unemployed. Let's just go check it out" Something you should know; when we lived in Chicago, we was broke. Neither one of us comes from any kind of money, not even the "I'm just comfortable" kind. We furnished our apartments with couches, chairs, bookshelves, tables, etc... found on front lawns and alleys around town on the night after moving day (May 1st for the uninitiated). We actually found some well made antiques that way. A lot of our friends did it too. Of course, most of our friends were actors and musicians. Make what you want to outta that.

Moving on, we went down to check out the futon, it was very nice. The cover was top of the line, there were no scratches on it, no fur shed on it, no cigarette smell, nothin. It was Pottery Barn nice (which is $$ to our kind) So we brought it upstairs and planned to put it up on Craigslist and make $50, what the heck right? Only...

Only Ling Ling thought it was the best present we ever got her. She doesn't scratch at it, she just jumps all over it, rubs her face on it, rolls around on it and has the happiest dang look on her little multi-colored face. So we're keeping it. It has a smaller footprint than our old futon, and it is very nice. Happy Birthday Ling Ling. We got you a 2nd hand futon.



3. KoE: Kitten of Evil doesn't have a story. I just wanted to include a picture of here as equal time for all cutans.

Well Put.

Hey folks,

I follow this blog of a fellow who owns an elderly cat named Munchy. I also own an elderly cat named Munchy. Both cats figure into our blogs in different ways.

Yesterday, after I posted the bit about Dad and the answering machine, Joseph posted a poem about grief. It was spot on, so I figured I'd direct you to it. Click Here to see feeling put into a short bit of words.

Thank you Joseph of Troy Bear for your way with language.

Answering Machine

My Dad passed away one week ago today. I won't go into it, because I don't think I'm ready to just yet. I'll just tell ya, he'd been sick for over a year and had been in the hospital since mid-June. I wrote a little bit about that when I went home to visit in July.

Dad had Mom call all the kids last Monday to come home because he knew he was close to the end. We all got there Monday night, had one last night of laughter, tears and chatter with him and then he slipped into unconsciousness Monday night and passed away at 5:58 am Wednesday, August 26th. He was surrounded by all 5 of his children, his wife and one grandchild (he had 11).

I stayed at home with my family through the funeral and then flew home late Saturday night. It doesn't seem quite real when I'm this far away. I called my Mom today, just to chat, but she wasn't home. She's off shopping for groceries with one of my sisters. So the answering machine picked up the call. It's my Dad's voice. It's weird to think he's not really there.

Lazy Daze

oh. hello.

I honestly haven't been doing much of anything of interest lately, so I haven't been blogging. I know, that hasn't stopped me before.

Alright then, smarty pantses, here is my latest FierceAndNerdy blog all about what an awful cook I am. With the exception of Chicken Pesto Ravioli's, which now I think I'm allergic to basil, so looks like it's back to just baking for me.

Ah well, it's best for this world that I stay outta the kitchen.

Looking at the Moon

Hi,

I know, it's been awhile. Two days after my last post, Seen got laid off, no notice. (I haven't had a paycheck in about 3 months)

3 days after Seen got laid off, my Dad was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia. Dad has been living with MDS for over a year, so this new diagnosis was not the best news. I wrote about that in a blogumn for my friend Ernessa's blog, FierceAndNerdy.com

It's been a craptacular year, or two. But...I'm focusing on the positive this very moment. The positives are:

1. Living in a beach community now, which is a great place to be unemployed! It's much better than being unemployed during the summer in the sweltering valley.

2. Dad recovered from his latest brink of doom sinus infection and hopefully he might be able to make it home from the hospital within the next month or two.

3. I get to hang out with Seen all the time!

4. While in CO, I got to be with all manner of family and they are awesome!

5. Munchy has responded well to her treatment for CRF and high blood pressure. She has her bad days, but she's pretty spry for a 17 yr old cat.

6. I got my health! Which I am maintaining by working out fer free at Muscle Beach (see this weeks FierceAndNerdy post.)

7. Lots and lots more

Now I'm gonna go do something summery, beachy and life-affirming, because all this crud has pointed out one giant fact. All we get is today, let's make the most of it.

Fawty with my Shawty (or eating on my birthday)

Why, hello again!

Yesterday was my birthday and anniversary (Birthaversary) so I am now 1 day older and deeper in debt, literally, cause we spent some ka-ching yesterday!

Since it was so low-key phenomenal, and totally all about eating, I figured I'd give you the highlights (with minimal pix, cause we forgot the camera like dummies):

1st - Wanted to start the day with yoga, but was sleepy. We said screw-it and slept in. Sean made me delicious protein pancakes with berries. That was healthy right?!?

2nd - gym, ran, weights, sweated, did not feel like a total gluttonous lump...yet.

3rd - Lunch reservations at The Huntley Penthouse, which is a fabulous hotel about 1 block south. It's normally way to fabulous for the likes of us, but Seen got me a saucy black dress as a present, so we decided we could fit in. The view is gorgeous. The restaurant is on the 16th floor, exactly 2 blocks east of the Santa Monica beach, so you can pretty much see up and down the coast through giant windows that surround the space. I was facing the beach, so that's the view I had. Seen was facing the restaurant, so he got to look at me (great view...) AND pretty much the whole city. We both had the crispy skin salmon, which was served on tomato coulis. Is it still a healthy lunch if I had a big ole Mojito. The salmon was good, the mojito was ok, I kept burping mint the rest of the day (TMI?)

4th - We met Irma at Oceana, which is a swank hotel about 1 block north of us. Due to it's swankness and celebritardness, they don't usually allow non-guests to come into the lounge, which is right off the pool area. We just walked in like we belonged and nobody bothered us :)

The Oceana makes a toasted marshmallow shake that Irma had told me about 3-4 weeks ago. I figured it was a good b-day desert. I was right, it tasted like a toasted marshmallow shake, which costs $14. Lets just say I'm gonna figure out how to make those at home.

5th - Exhausted by the days exploits (of walking 3-4 blocks for foods) we decided to skip our beach plans and just hang at home and make dinner. I made pesto, tossed some chicken I'd baked earlier into the food processor with the pesto and then made home-made ravioli's with the filling. Now I really want a pasta maker, cause I just can't roll this dough out thin enough! As I am normally a horrible cook, I'll take the raves we both gave this effort.

See, nothing too exciting, just food, lots of delicious food! Seen made the day wonderful by taking off work and hanging out with me. I kinda wish every day was my birthday (then I'd be a little over 14,000)

Textercising - Copyright Stinky Junior

This post makes me feel a little like Andy Rooney, only I'm not as funny or as saggy (yet): Didya ever wonder who is so important that they have to be texting while they're on a treadmill?

We're going to the gym now instead of Muscle Beach, which is not happy making because I am still sans iPod and our current gym is like 4 blocks from UCLA, so it's filled with beautiful co-eds who are probably very smart, but because I'm shallow and they're pretty, let's just say they are vapid and I prefer working out on Muscle Beach, well, cause it's on the beach and it's all gymnastical and body weight. (and it's cool.)

But Seen hurt his ankle on the Santa Monica stairs, and we're workout buddies, so we go to the gym so he can avoid feet related exercises, like slippery stairs and walking and such.

While at the gym, I try to just focus on my own mat, as they say in yoga. Focus on my own workout, but hell, there are pretty co-eds of both varieties to look at. Lots of eye candy and fashion ideas. What cracks me up is the 40% of girls, and about 3% of the boys, who are texting while they work out. I can not relate (or conjugate) to textercisers.

Dude, I don't really like going to the gym, so I'm gonna actually make an effort while I'm there, so I can get OUT of there. Why go if you're just gonna kinda pedal on the stationary bike while textercising or sorta do crunches while your thumbs are flying away? Okay, you do look good in your Juicy sweat gear, but there is a Coffee Bean 3 doors away... Much less effort down there, and they have cookies!

"I just don't get it." Amy Rooney

No Wheaties

Beer. I love beer.

Unfortunately, I also have that whole "sensitivity to wheat" thing going on, so beer stuffs me up and gives me hella hangover the next morning, even if I only have one! Life seemed so unfair, until...

Hurray for Redbridge! A delightful beer that has a wonderfully rich red flavor. It is made with sorghum instead of wheat, so no hangover (ok, hangover may occur if you have more than, say, 2 or 3.) I've tried several gluten-free beers and this one is the tastiest (also the most readily available.) We've asked our local liquor store to stock it and I know that BevMo does carry it.

Redbridge is Anheuser-Busch's answer for the alcoholic, beer-loving Celiac suffering crowd and we say 'Thank you sirs!"

Inspirational Pigeons

It's mid-year (almost) and my mid-year resolutions have just kicked in. Okay they were kicked in last week, but hey, I'm an early starter.

Big resolution: Since I am "Fun-employed" I am treating my writing like a job. I have a set, scheduled time to write daily. I've been going to the Coffee Bean and writing for 1-2 hours every morning. (Ok, 4 mornings in the last week).

There are two pigeons hanging around the Coffee Bean who are "handicapped": Stumpy, who has one regular foot and one foot with just one talon on a stump and, the guy I saw this morning with two toes that are black and turn up on the end of his foot. Ouch.

They don't seem to let their handicap stop them, so I'm oddly inspired by them. I've got good feet, aside from a slight case of plantar faciitis, and no health problems. If these little moochers can make a go of it, I guess I can make it out of the house to write.

I'll try to get a pic of Stumpy tomorrow. I always try to slip him some scone without the other pigeons noticing, maybe he'll see me and pose for the camera.

sticky kitty

In the Lessons I've Learned from Munchy file.

Liquid cat laxative, Lactulose, doesn't always go down the hatch properly. Sometimes, even when you think it's all in, it can bubble up out mouth corners and and drip onto fur.

Lactulose makes for sticky fur if not thoroughly washed off immediately. Munchy has a few pointy spots here and there on her fur. Petting her comes with an occasional fun and pokey discovery now.

And now for something completely different, Munchy action shots:






Yup, she's nutty.

One Year

One year ago, on May 4th, our Weasel passed away. Weasel was one of a kind. Since she didn't have a memorial or couldn't have an obituary, I thought I'd write a few words about her here. So that her legacy lives someplace outside of the hearts of her people, who miss her still.

Sean rescued Weasel and her sister Munchy from a house filled with noisy children and dogs and lots of other cats in August of 1992. She was a 4 month old, bossy runt of a grey striped kitten. Anytime we moved, and we moved every year, she ran around the new digs, yelling and owning the place immediately while her sister would find any closet to hide in.

As a kitten, we would take Wease into the yard and toss roses from the rose bushes or dandelions into the yard for her. She would chase them and bring them back in her mouth. She must have missed that game, for a few years after we decided to keep her indoors, she would pull socks out of the sock drawer and walk around the house yowling. We called her the sock killer. And we could never keep flowers in the house. Weasel loved to eat roses, and then throw them back up.

During the first 6 months I was in California, before Sean moved out and I was all alone in the heart of a pre-gentrified Hollywood, Weasel was my comfort. She slept next to me on the tiny futon on the floor and loved me in my loneliness.

As she aged she developed some odd habits; she loved being held and nursing on the shoulder of a terry-cloth robe. At some point she decided it would be awesome to stick her nose into my ear and start licking. It wasn't a constant occurrence, but when it happened, she purred with kitty glee and we cringed and laughed at the tickling.

Weasel was the cat who would always come out and say Hi to guests. She always wanted to meet people and be in the middle of the conversation. When she passed, several people who knew her agreed she was the best, most sociable cat they had known.

She was sick for a while, losing weight for a good 6 months with no diagnosis as to what the problem was from the vet. Then, one night she just suddenly jumped off my chest and ran out of the room. I knew then that something was seriously wrong. She stopped eating, she threw up 5-6 times a day. I took her to the vet for fluids and diagnosis, but he was cold "how long do you want to experiment". I didn't want to experiment, I just wanted Weasel to be ok. I called the House Call vet to come see her as soon as he could, Sunday May 4th 2008.

Friday and Saturday we gave her IV fluids but on Saturday afternoon she was obviously gravely sick. She even turned her head when offered bits of turkey. She hadn't eaten anything of substance since Monday morning. She even threw up water immediately and continued throwing up over and over again.

Sunday morning, she laid next to me in her usual position, tucked between my arm and my body with her front legs extended, kneading my bicep. She yelled at me and jumped onto the counter to drink water. I petted her boney back and her sweet head and she loved me back. When the vet came, he explained that she was very, very sick and after much description and discussion gently helped us come to the conclusion that she was in a downward spiral with more and more days like Saturday ahead of her. He helped us in our decision to help her out of her pain.

At 4:45 he gave our Weasel a sedative. I rocked her in my arms. I kissed her head and told her that I loved her. I thanked her for taking care of me for 16 loving years. She slowly licked her lips a few times and then she stopped. Then the vet gave her an injection that took the spirit of Weasel out of that tiny grey body, leaving only the shell.

No sad music played on a soundtrack for Weasel. There wasn't a list of her accomplishments in the paper. I told people about her, but she there was so much to her, I'll never remember everything. But some of it is here, so she won't be lost forever. I won't forget all the good.

She was the best cat, friendly to strangers, ornery and funny and extremely loving. I love you The Cheese. I still miss you. You are irreplaceable.

Hustling for my Blog

Hiya,

The truth has finally come out. I was indeed a model for Hustler.

Hustler Clothing that is, and the pictures were never published. Check out the whole story on my FaN Blog.

BTW, my eyes are up here.





(naturally sexy)

Turn and Face the Strange

I'm taking a break from the packing and sorting to talk to you fine folks today. It's been a few weeks since we've chatted and I'm feeling reflective.

We're moving. We're leaving the house and moving into an apartment. I am so flipping excited because we are moving out of the hot and smoggy valley into a lovely place that is approximately 2 blocks from the ocean. We'll be within walking distance from the beach and from lots of theatres, restraunts, bars and lots of other things to do. It's exactly where we want to live, in the middle of lots of stuff!

While packing up our life, I can't help but take stock of what I'll be happy to be rid of and what I'll miss. I already miss the BBQ grill that we sold at the Yard Sale 2 weeks ago. I'll miss the hot tub when the nice lady comes to pick it up on Monday. I will completely miss having a washer/dryer in my pantry. I know the cats will miss the show constantly on in our backyard. Just last night an adorable little posseum tight-walked the back fence when Seen and I were in the hot tub only 4 feet away. I'll miss sitting in the hammock with my hubby, drinking a beer at sunset while the crickets and the finches sing to us.

To the next owners of this house I gladly leave the giant, weed-filled yard. I am thrilled to walk away from the blowtorch oven that runs about twice as hot as it should. Good-riddance to the roots growing in the plumbing and the poor patch job that the roofers did to the one panel on the carport.

For the first 14 years of my relationship with Seen (just about my whole adult life) I've moved every single year. Then we bought this house, a purchase we stepped into earlier than we had planned to accomodate his mother moving in with us. We have lived here for 4 years. His mother moved away, we did some renovations, planted a few failed gardens, had a TV show do more renovations. We gained our Ling Ling when the neighbors tossed her into the yard and lost our beloved Weasel in the back room last year.

I have wanted to move, out of this neighborhood, out of this house for nearly 2 years. While I'm excited to get started in a new place, with fresher air and a busier neighborhood, we've built memories here. Memories travel well, but a part of me always stay in our little ranch house in the Valley.

Here I am now, entertain me.

Hello over by you,

I have sour belly from riding about in the car all day today. Urp.

I just wanted to alert you to my new blog (Seriously, how many blogs should one person have?? )
Apparently, I'm very fascinated by me.

Don't you judge me, just check out my blog about learning things from Ling Ling. It's entertaining to Seen, and honestly, that's all that really matters.

Ole Narcissus

Expired

Hi! I know it's been awhile and today will be a shortish post.

Today is my 3rd unemployed day, but really the first day I haven't been entirely stressed out. I'm starting to think straight! I will never post about work-stuff, just not my style. I will tell you what I did today that made me ponder 3 different odd things.

We keep some supplies on hand in case of earthquake or other emergencies. I decided to take a quick look at our stash, see if anything needed to be used or updated. Here are the 3 weird things:

1. The 2.5 gallon water jug was empty. The cabinet wasn't wet and the nozzle wasn't open. There was a small hole on the top of the jug. Could 2.5 gallons have evaporated? Weird.

2. Did you know that rice has an expiration date? Why exactly does rice have an expiration date?

3. Today is Wednesday, March 11, 2009. The peanut butter in our stash has an expiration date of March 11, 2009. That is a weird coincidence. I think I'm gonna make P-nut butter cookies!

Okay folkies, I've gotta get this house in order. (and make it smell like cookies...) In case you missed my FierceAndNerdy post about Watchmen, go here and make a comment, but DON'T tell me what happens, for the luva...

BURGLED! (The Musical)

Or - Things We Lost in the Break-In. (There is no music available, as my iTunes library was on my stolen laptop)

For those of you who hadn't guessed from my not-very-cryptic status posts on Facebook, our house was broken into on Friday the 13th. Seen came home early, he had a bad reaction to some nuts (tee hee) and wasn't feeling very well at work. At 2:23 pm, he called me and said "I have some really bad news..." The blood left my face, I feared that our old lady Munchy, 17 yr old tabby, who is in moderate health, had passed-on while we were at work.

"Somebody broke into the house, ransacked the place and stole a bunch of stuff...They got your laptop." He sounded stressed, I flipped out and said "I'll be right home" and proceeded to run about the office telling everyone I had to leave. I'm certain that I was moderately insane in my goodbyes.

The 45 minutes it took me to get home in the rain made for the longest commute in history. I got home, and was relieved to find Seen and all the cats in good shape. In the 5 hours we waited for the cops to show up and photograph the place and take our statements, we called our banks, credit cards and did an inventory of what had been taken. Of course the Wii that was all of 2 weeks old was gone, the PS3 we'd splurged on for our Xmas present was gone, Seen's birthday iPod Nano - gone, as was my 4 yr old iPod, all the cables to the old XBox were gone, but the XBox was still in residence. The biggest loss was my Mac Powerbook laptop.

Now, this laptop needed replacing, in the 4 years we've had it I'd knocked it on the floor one too many times. The power source was bent and needed seriously finagling to charge properly (which was probably a fire-hazard) The case was cracked slightly, so the CD/DVD drive no longer works. It was on it's last legs and we'd discussed getting a new laptop once we get out of our mortgage. It wasn't the loss of the physical laptop that is hard to bear, it's the loss of all the pictures and music and writing on the thing. And, of course, it hadn't been backed up for 6 months. Every couple of hours, it hits me again that I've lost captured memories.

Gone are the last pictures we ever took of Weasel, the day before she died. I managed to video her with my phone (we didn't have a video camera) 3 days before she passed. I had transferred all that info to the laptop when we changed phones and carriers over the holidays. Those videos are gone. So many pictures were in iPhoto, deemed unworthy for Flickr, but now completely lost to some punk-ass kids.

All my writing over the last 4 years was on there, luckily, I usually write long-hand before transferring over to the computer, so all that is lost is revisions and a few family stories that I can try to re-create.

The last thing we've lost is the iTunes library, on the laptop AND the iPod. We can rebuild that, but where am I going to find the Paul Moyers v. Ann Martin meltdown byte??

The thing that incensed me the most was seeing Weasels ashes, still in the bag, tossed onto the bed and her little clay footprint thrown down on the floor because they thought something valuable was in her cedar resting box. Douchebags.

Aside from the memories and the things, we've lost a sense of security. It's weird to see your dresser drawers all open and all your underpants pushed to one side. Somebody, other than me & Seen, was in our house, pushing through all our personal stuff, scaring out cats. But we're all safe now. After the fingerprint cop left Sat morning, we set the trauma aside and had a good weekend of tennis and a run in the park.

I refuse to let a couple of idiot kids have power over me (other than just irritating me because I have to listen to crappy sound system music at the gym now.) Bite my hiney burglars. You suck.


UPDATE!!! Just got off the phone with insurance company. Our losses total $2200 and we have a $2,500 deductible, which was chosen by our escrow company. So the theives f'd us in the A. We have to get out of this house...

Redundancy

Nowadays, life seems like an endless treadmill. I keep running but I'm not actually getting anywhere. So imagine my joy when I actually had a destination the last time I ran! Check out me letting the Sunshine in on my FierceAndNerdy blog this week. It's all about the Firecracker 5k.

Thanks to Elissa M. and her advice to run intervals, ie. run 3 minutes, walk 1, repeat (lather, rinse, etc...) my time was greatly improved. So after 4-5 weeks of hating running every day in the gym, after having a long discussion about not running anymore but cross training, hiking and playing tennis, after the super adrenaline rush of finishing a leetle race, Seen turned to me on the ride home and said "I think I am addicted to running 5k's".

This might be the start of something fun.

You Should Be Running

That title is not instructions for you, it's my favorite line from Hellboy, that I repeat, a lot

I'm sitting here in front of the nations football game, which is just super (Jennifer Hudson owns the National Anthem) and thought I'd update y'all on the progress of:

a. My TV rationing

2. My fatness

As for the TV rationing, it's going fairly well (aside from today - stupid football...) Seen had Rachel on when I got home Monday, but I worked on checking blogs, writing, brushing cats and other things. Tuesday, I was out at a networking event but still watched Fringe when I got home late. Weds, we played Wii for about an hour. Okay, that's kind of wasting time in front of the TV, but me and the hubby are interacting and moving around instead of couch potatoeing. Thursday I hit the hay at 8:30, read for like 10 minutes and passed out, jury duty is exhausting. Friday was Tivo of The Soup, Burn Notice (which is a modern day, one man A-team + Bruce Campbell) and then more Wii. On Saturday, exhausted from 90 min of tennis in the sun, we watched a movie and then surfed the channels for about 20 minutes before I was just bored with TV altogether. So, after my history of 3 hours of mind-numbing every night for 30+ years, this week I was ok at rationing the media input (about 5 hours for the week), therefore not a complete loser, just a mild one.

On the health front:
Me and Seen are in training for the Firecracker 5k, which is next Sunday. Yup, we are so outta shape that we are training for a 5k (that's 3.1 miles for those of you who, like me, don't convert the metrics so well.) I have been running at the gym 2-3x's a week since Jan 1 and upped it to 4x's this week. Even though I was on boring ole jury duty this week, I've managed to lose 2.5 lbs and am up to 2.77 miles in 1/2 hour. Today we ran around the park on the 5k route and managed a 35 min time. I find running kind of boring and my knees hurt a little. Did I mention the run is next week and it's uphill for the first mile? I'm a little anxious... After this 5k, I think we're going to cross train during the week and then on the weekends focus on hiking TO THE EXTREME!!!

I'm also eating healthier. Even enjoyed some brussel sprouts from the broiler the other night. We are going back to our cheat day one day a week plan. It's logic we learned back when we originally got health on Body For Life. Basically, you take all your cravings through out the week and shove all the indulgence into one day. If you eat healthy the rest of the week, it really doesn't mess with your system too much (other than the tummy ache). I think the promise of cheat day kept me from going on the ice cream run at work on the stressful Friday. We had Hots chicken nachos, beers and a 2/3 of a lemon bar from corner bakery. My body is so used to correct portions now, Seen and I could only finish 1/2 the nachos and I couldn't finish my lemon bar. Plus, apparently nachos are a kind of sleeping pill, cause we were knocked OUT!

So it was a week of 3 minor victories. I'm looking forward to focusing my free-will and discipline on TV, running and eating right next week!

Happy Super Day!

Superfreak

I gotta get outta here and do my civic duty (I was selected to be on a jury, try to disguise your envy.)

First though, today is the sharing between the Munchys. I've mentioned our Munchela before, but there is another Munchy in the world, same age, 17 yrs old and similar markings. The differences are; the other Munchy is a boy and has fluffy long fur. Oh and the boy Munchy doesn't live with an evil calico who has a tendency towards kitty leap-frog.

So, by request, here are some pix of our old lady Munch. She is a weirdo who yells alot, even when she's happy, so we have a LOT of pictures of her mouth open and eyes all squinty. She's been with us a long time and experienced many of life's changes. She's always been awesome. Always.

Chained Up Fool

Hi Guys...

You know I'm a lard-ass right... (I told you yesterday.) Now, I gotta admit that I'm addicted to TV. Check out the plea on my Fierce And Nerdy blog for you to help a sista out RIGHT NOW!! Put down that remote and give me addiction kicking suggestions.

I'm thinking, and have found many articles on the internets to support this, that my TV addiction could be contributing to my fat ass. (that's right, I said ass twice in one blog. If you wanna hurt me, take away my TV) As I was researching the addiction, I found a bunch of sites that delve into the scientific aspects of TV addition. Dudes, it's a real thing! Holy crapstada! I have all the "symptoms" So embarassing!

Scroll down on this page to check out this Kaufman Spectrum of Television Addiction chart

Here's more facts and things.

I may actually have to follow through on this kicking the habit thing. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Not the PHaT kind

Well hell. I'm fat again.

There was approximately 10 minutes of my life when I thought I was in moderately good shape. I was 5 lbs from reaching my goal weight (that's the weight I listed on my drivers license.) Now I'm 15 lbs away from the goal. Crap.

Okay, I was 25 lbs away from the goal for a time, but seriously, I am not happy. My ass has spread, I feel like my throat is fat. I'm ruining my health again, raising my blood sugar, eating things I have mild allergies to and making myself crankilicious. Urgh.

And who is responsible for this downfall? Who is responsible for making my wardrobe smaller? ME! I'm an idiot. I know how to eat healthy and make the right choices. I know how this crap makes me feel. I know I only have one body and one life to feel 100% me (which, at 100% I am so awesome I almost have to slap myself. ) Right now I'm about 25% me. I'm far from obese, but I'm REALLY unhappy with what I've done to myself. Honestly, I don't have body issues, I just want to eat healthy and feel better. Period.

I'm gonna stop bitching and go for a run, which is hard on my knees cause I'm fat again. Dangnabbit!!!

Get Thee to the FaN

Yo Peeps!

Oh, that makes me hungry for marshmellow birds covered with yellow sugar.

Back to the point!

Go read my blog at FaN. Please help me get Ms. Inspiration into my pants, er, house. Sorry. See! I have no good ideas when I'm here at my fantastical desk. Just bad jokes.

Forgive me if I offend (but read my FaN blog anyways.)

Cheep, cheep

Update with a slice o' pie

Just wanted to let ya know that Black Homeless Kitty found a home! The same night I sent my email, a former co-worker of mine wrote that he and his wife and kids needed a cat. The circumstances involved his cat passing away just before Christmas and his surviving cat needed a friend, which is terribly sad anyway you tell it. BUT now the black kitty has a home with good people that I absolutely trust and another kitty to keep her company! (He did change her name from Adora Bowles, which I thought was incredibly clever.) Looks like 2009 is starting out okay...wheee

As for the pie, I just whipped up a Chocolate Cream Pie for work tomorrow. Made the chocolate custard from scratch based on a recipe in Amy Sedaris' hilarious book "I Like You" I'm still getting a handle on crusts, working with store bought right now, but hope to move into handcrafted soon. I'll keep you updated.

Peace OUT

I just became one of "Those People"

Dear Lord! I just sent out an email to get a stray cat a home. Getting those emails always make me so sad, but I never adopt the poor creature. Trying to find a home for a cat is like trying to sell ice to Eskimos. Man, I hope this works and didn't peeve people too much. Here is the email:

Hiya,

If you are considering adopting an animal, please contact me about this cat. If you aren't a cat person, please forward this to friends of yours who are. This is one of the best cats I've ever met, she shouldn't be a victim of lack of space and bad timing. (I don't want to offend anyone with this email, I just want to find this cat a home and figured I'd contact everyone with a big heart for their help.)

I took a few days off around the New Years. I figured I'd catch up on my correspondence, get a head start on the ole resolutions, but I came home New Years Eve and found a little black cat on my back porch. She had a safety collar and a little shaved belly (obviously a recent spay) She was ridiculously affectionate, so I hung out with her for about an hour. When she was still on our back porch the next morning, we took a picture and put up "Found Cat" posters around the neighborhood and had her scanned for a micro-chip at the local pound. No chip, but 3 days later, one of our neighbors called with her story. She was a part of a feral colony that they feed. They had her fixed to avoid more kittens and let her in the house for "a few days" but put her out again. She still had a stitch left in her tummy. The guy said "We have 5, if you want her, keep her."

Though she is the sweetest cat ever, I can't keep her. Which is where you come in! I think she would be a great addition to anybodies home. She is spayed, (we had that last stitch removed) she has her shots (I can get the paperwork from the neighbor). She is extremely affectionate and loves being petted and scratched and rolling around on her back being adorable. She was part of a large colony of feral cats, so, once acclimated to any new roommates, she should be great with other cats. From her behavior here, it seems that all she wants to do is come inside and snuggle. She's been hanging out on the back porch pretty much all day and all night.

She has been on our back porch for 5 days now. I've put up a temporary shelter for her, but I can't bring her inside, though she keeps trying to sneak in. I would love to welcome her in, but Munchy, our 17 yr old cat, has a nervous problem with her bladder and urethra, so anytime she has ever a small amount of stress she gets really sick with a UTI. She only has one kidney, so we try to keep stress to a minimum around her. Also, our finances can't support another animal and our housing situation isn't entirely certain. If we have to look for an apartment, having 4 cats would certainly make it more difficult.

I would love to get her in a home quickly (of if you are a rescue person, let me know if you have a foster situation available). We have set up a little shelter to keep her warm at night, but it's not heated and the weather could turn colder. She is also a black cat, outside, next to a busy street.

Sorry to be the first "Give this cat a home" email of the year, but lets find this girl a place of her own! Thanks for your time, I hope all is well in your world.

A