a week away~

Mood: sleepy
Weather: 60's

Wow, a whole week! I blog in my head if that helps anyone.

We are back from traveling and there were funny moments but nothing really rocked the world. I ended up in a fairly bad mood by the end half because I could finally express the pent up stress of the weekend and then it got worse when my wedding cake (frozen in a box) became the bane of traveling. It wouldn't fit upright through the x-ray machine and the big fat guy in charge was trying to say he had to confiscate it, probably because he wanted to eat it since I said it was cake. We convinced them to turn it sideways and scan it and it worked finally but at the expense of my last thread of patience for traveling. The plane after that was just as 'fun' because the cake did not fit in any way shape or form and we had to battle the team of stewardesses to get it put somewhere safe.

As for highlights of the weekend;
mocking the ugly clothing people feel free to travel in - PJ's are for home
Seeing lots of friends and family
having my hair do turn out really well - first time I have ever tried to do something fancy with short hair
The pretty place the wedding was held - if I had time to relax the remainder of the wedding may have been fun
Swing Dancing wit Val
watching the 1 year old Easter egg hunt
and eating good pizza

Lowlights;
pukeing wedding guests
bridezilla
almost getting in multiple car accidents with bridezilla
random unnecessary drama from wedding guests that didn't like eachother
sleeping on the sofa bed (no offence to parents who read this) - it wasn't bad but really, can't Nade share a room with her own kid ;)
and the afore mentioned cake incident

Overall it was a good visit, we even got invited to a cool thing in FL but we can't go because we already have plans for that weekend. Work has been busy, catching up and trying to get new stuff done.

Short week - going to NJ

Mood: good
Weather: finally in the 40's most of the time

This week is a short week for work so I'm trying to get everything done in 4 days plus I'm off on Monday so I really have to be a bit ahead. I am going to Konrad and Heathers wedding this weekend. I'm a little worried that Heather will freak out at some point but I'm going to try and be calm for her. I always have the escape plan of running to Long Island to my parents. We are going to the parents for Easter where I will see my cute nephew and both my sisters. I have soooo much to get done tonight packing etc that I'm not going to touch my computer ~

Nothing rational comes to mind

Mood: fine
Weather: getting nicer

Wow, I didn't mean to take that much time off. Yesterday I had my first apt at a new OBGYN and the last three places I've gone in MN were absolutely horrible. This one was great (as great as a yearly exam can be) and the ladies were all very very nice and so now I can think about having a kid and not fear going to the dr. As an added bonus, they also do the general practice stuff like physicals and minor colds etc so I don't need to find yet another Dr.

I finished the last egg favor, with a whole 4 days to spare. I also made my bridesmaids dress fit me and I am 90% done with the curtains. I still want to add a stripe along the bottom and a valance but they function and make the room pleasantly dim even in full light. Lars really liked the monkeys too and he was pretty impressed at all the stuff I did while he was gone. I had a nice day on Sat at IKEA with my neighbor and picked up a few little things. We also went to see The Aviator - good movie, strange ending, and the whole time you sorta felt like they were leaving alot out. I'll have to find his biography... Sorry for the strangely written post, I'm trying to do it between issues at work and today is a super busy day. Maybe more from me later.

Pot Luck success!

Mood: ok
Weather: clear and cold, not a flake of snow

I was looking forward to some snow... Take the morning at home until the roads were plowed but not one single flake, all the snow is to the south. Yesterday I did manage to fill the hot tub and make it turn on. There was about an hour when I couldn't make the jets turn off, I left if for half an hour (according to the directions it will safety shut off after 30min) No dice. I went to the neighbors house to see if they remembered a trick or something they called the old owners (weren't home) and I decided to just turn off the breaker. When I got back and tried one more time it just worked. Today I am taking the water to the hot tub store to have it tested and get a chemical lesson. Probably a good idea because I know acid and base etc but I don't want to mix the wrong stuff together and make a hot vat of something gross.

I also took pictures of my roof but the address I sent them too is invalid so I have to try again tonight. I didn't do any sewing, fabric buying, or favor making but I did a super good work out. If I get fabric while I'm out with the water I can get it done tonight. Tomorrow I am going to go get the hardware for the drapery in the bedroom so by Sunday I'll be done (maybe).

Potluck - I assembled my bag of pre-made meatballs and a jar of pre-made sauce; mixed A with B in a crock pot and they were gone by 12:10. Overall there was lots of food, most of it tasty, only one thing was scary and this afternoon we are supposed to be packing/purging for our move to the new location. Since I have next to no stuff I don't need to purge and I'm not moving for 3 weeks so no need to pack so I have some time but nothing more to chat about so I'll go work.

List to do today

Mood:ok
Weather: fine now but they are threatening 10inches of snow (but I doubt we get it)

List to do.... This is getting long;

1. Take pictures of our roof - I need to send these to a roofer for a quote, hopefully he will quote a normal price. So far I have a quote of 4k and one for 5k.

2. Fill the hot tub and make it work - it has been idle and empty for months but I think it is time to make it work.

3. Buy lining fabric for curtains - didn't do that yesterday but I meant to

4. Make meatballs/sauce for the potluck at work tomorrow - unless there is a 10inch snow storm, then I'll be eating alot of meatballs.

5. Sewing list;
a. Bedroom curtains
b. Pillow cover
c. Valance (bought 2 and need to sew them together)
d. Sew down the pockets in my new pants - they pull oddly and are too small anyway
e. A dress for crown for me

6. Start our project for crown (tournament in the SCA) my original proposal was rejected so I have to think of something else.

7. Finish the favors for Heather's wedding - I have about 85% done, need to count and evaluate how many more to do because they are too much of a pain to make too many extras.

**I need to remember to bring my laptop home so if there is 10 inches of snow I can work from home. I have too much to do to not work so I am writing it on my hand right now

Do my cats want more attention?

Mood: fine
Weather: sunny but cold, got a dusting of snow in the morning but now its gone

I think I need to incorporate MPats idea of high and low of the day... Maybe I'll add it to my template. Today's High so far was handling 4 or 5 projects all at the same time and getting them done before it was time to go - Low; my non motivation to cook anything.

As for my title, my cats seem to follow me and if I sit for more then a second they sit on my lap. I feel bad getting up but I have things to do~ I discovered my monkey fabric does not block the light so sewing on hold til I can get some liner fabric. My super cool shower curtain arrived today, it is clear with maps all over it - I'm a tad disappointed that the maps need to be on the outside, they would be way more fun on the inside so I can be entertained/learning while showering.

ok, I'm going to continue to watch girlie tv and finish the favors for the wedding next week. These things are taking forever! I also need to alter my dress so I should go do rather then sit and type :)

ps. My friend just called and I think she is going to visit! she would be my first friend from home to see MN and I'm very excited.

Where I have been

Got this from Gone South... I counted places I stayed overnight and did not count drive throughs and airplane stops. If I did, I would add MI and IN. I attribute the majority of this travel to my parents and the SCA.

bold the states you've been to, underline the states you've lived in and italicize the state you're in now...

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C /

Go HERE to have a form generate the HTML for you.

Monkey curtains

Mood: fine
Weather: still cold

Yesterday I had the house all to myself all night so after work I voyaged down to the super SR Harris fabric store. It is a massive place absolutely full of 50% off fabric. I get overloaded if I don't go with something specific in mind to buy. I got slightly lost getting there but only ended up on a 10min detour and funny enough the turn I thought was wrong was actually right and the 'getting lost' part happened when I turned around and backtracked thinking the road I wanted was a few more exits south. Good think I can read a map in traffic and I found my way back. Anyway, I wandered around the store looking for inspiration, the room is an icy blue so no white, and since I share the room with a boy, no flowers, pink, or ruffles. I found a pretty cool printed upholstery fabric that has a monkeys and birds and trees all printed in a navy blue on a sand colored background. I found a few other more tame options but I think this will be fun and if we don't like them, the fabric wasn't expensive. I also got 2 awesome feather pillows for $15 each, very good deal.

I ordered Pizza and watched TiVo for the rest of the evening. I maxed out on girl shows, I saw 2 episodes of Sex in the City and 3 Gilmore Girls. I really like Gilmore girls and they are rerunning all the old ones on TBS so I ge 1 a day and 4 on Saturdays so that is alot to keep up with. The acting has improved alot since the first season and the characters have too - Luke was oddly chipper and wired in the first season. I have not seen Sex in the City before TiVo but the few I've watched now make me happy that I don't' have their lives. They all seem pretty sad but there is good writing and decent stories so I'll watch it if Tivo decides to tape it but I'm not signing up for a season pass.

Today I am testing out a pair of heels I want to wear to the wedding I'm in over Easter. So far so good but they are starting to hurt the side of my foot. Today I also seem to have errands all over the office so I am walking more then normal. I thought about going to IKEA tonight but I don't think the feet can take it...

quick quick

Mood: sorta blah mondayish
Weather: clear and cold

Not alot of time to post, this weekend was busy. I'm getting roofing quotes to redo the roof and I expected them to be around 2000 and they are more around 5000 and the guys I meet with don't believe I know anything about roofing but I read a bunch and I can compare them to eachother and so far they all suck.

I've become a reasonable fan of Galhad on FitTV he has a good 20min workout that is circuit training. I haven't seen a specific abdominal workout yet but his shoulders, legs and butt workouts are good.

I cleaned the majority of the house and it looks pretty good. I was looking for curtains for the bedroom at Jo-Anns and was totally uninspired but at Target I got awesome light yellow full length drapes on clearance for $5 each. The wired thing (and probably why they were on clearance) the two I bought appeared identical according to the picture and the color was the same (clear package) but when I opened them they had different style rod pockets. They still work but you can see an extra seam on one and not the other... I think I will journey down to the super fabric warehouse and see what I can get, we really need drapes because our bedroom is like a Florida beach every morning at 6 am.

Dear TiVo

Dear TiVo,

I know you are just a baby and we waited so long to get you but please stop recording stupid shows we never watch or want to watch. I didn't even know Spin City was still on the air and what made you think we would watch the Hugleys.... I gave you a whole list of shows we do like and I don't appreciated you recording some news show when I specifically asked you to record Gilmore Girls. We know that you will soon know what we like and what we don't. Thank you anyway

blogging about bloggin

Mood: fine
Weather: ok but cold again

I just read all my favorite reads (to the left) and on blog of the day I found a link to a few interesting Blogs. There is a guy who is studying blogs, there is a blog in the whitehouse (added the link) and there is apparently an A list of blogs but I can't find the list of A lists so I didn't read any to know if they are good or bad. I personally think of blogs as a never ending books and I get hooked on the story. My friends think I'm odd for liking to read about other peoples lives but I do so alllll the time when reading fiction but those stories end and then you miss the characters. My friends also wonder about the possibility of stalkers... I think that unless I blog about a winning million dollar lotto ticket I'm reasonably safe. To that point, how do the A list bloggers like so many people reading about them? I have a counter so I know there are about 6 or 7 people who read me and I think I know who everyone is, only one mystery from Kansas. I suppose that makes me an x list blogger :)

So I have a request, post a comment or send me an E-mail so I have a real number of who is reading and from where~

Smells funny

Mood: good
Weather: cold again but yesterday was 65 degrees

Someone burned something in a test area so the whole building has a smell today.

Yesterday was beautiful, we went for a walk and discovered a whole section of the neighborhood we didn't know existed. It is fun to see the gorgeous houses (million dollars at least) right next to a wreck of a shack or a house that is about 500 square feet. This area used to be lake houses just for vacations and some have been redone and others just got insulation. I'm sure over time they all will be bought for the land and rebuilt since it is on a nice lake.

Two house milestones;
1. I hung all our existing art and there are no more boxes or random junk in the livingroom. It actually looks really good. I need to be on the lookout for a love seat or chair or something because we only have seating for 3.
2. I set up the guest room. It is only an airmattress but it has a feather bed on top and the room is basically set for visitors now (so long as they don't need closet space because that is still full of garb).

last, in case anyone wondered, the baby I was supposed to sit for ended up not coming and they called kinda late so I just did home stuff rather then go out.

slow sunday

Mood: good
Weather: sunny and I don't know how cold

I ended up not doing much of anything yesterday. I cleaned a little, hung a bunch of art so now the living room looks much better, and I watched 8 episodes of project runway while making Heather's wedding favors. I am 100% done with 25% if that makes any sence... I half did (filled with candy, wrapped in 1 layer of tulle) all of them, then I put the second layer of tulle and the ribbon on 25%.

Josh and his girlfriend and we went out to dinner and we arrived 2 min after the place closed! Imagine a decent Italian restaurant closed at 9 pm on a Sat night... This is the Midwest. We went to another place we like and waited 8 or 9 min to be seated, not that there was a wait or a crowd, there just wasn't a hostess and the waitstaff was ignoring us. We started standing right in the way so they had to see us and finally Lars flagged one down and asked if we could sit. By the end of the meal we had all 4 waitresses buzzing around us trying to make us leave, if they didn't have such good food they would be docked a star for service quality.

Today I may or may not be babysitting my friend with a broken arms baby, they have changed the plan soooo many times I don't know anymore but I'll just stick around the house until 1 (when I was supposed to be done in all the plans) and then we need to desperately grocery shop and I think we need a trip to wally world ;)

The only thing that makes bill paying exciting

Mood: good
Weather: gray

I have been over paying our car loan by $10 or so for a while so since I was three coupons from the end I called and I only had 200 left so I just wrote my last car payment for the Saturn!

Talked my way into a Tivo

Mood: Ok
Weather: cold

So last month I tried to do this but I ended up getting disconnected and not calling back. I called Qwuest again and super nicely implied that my order must have been lost or something. They said it was no problem to give me the current promotion now so I'm getting a TiVo from the phone company for $45.

I wish I had it today though because I'm going to miss all the Thursday shows I like tonight. Lars needs to pants shop, we want to check out elliptical machines, and we need to grocery shop - Simon's delivers has been found unworthy for the moment because they don't have all the brands we like. Anyway, we also need to get a tux measurement for a friends wedding, they gave us the info on Monday and it needs to be done by the 11th so no room for procrastination.

I met with a Japanese vendor today and he was very nice but the entire time I kept wondering if I was offending him or saying something I didn't mean. He spoke English pretty well but I got the feeling that if he didn't understand he would just say 'ok'. He gave me a 5% price reduction so that was cool but by the end of the meeting my head hurt. I have 3 vendor meetings today, 2 down, 1 to go...

I must drive people away!

Mood: fine
Weather: cold again

So I just left a company where someone left every month or so now, at my new stable nice company, my boss (of a whole month) announced today that he is leaving the company! Now I know it's not me but it sure does get annoying that nobody can stay in the same job. Work is busy and fun, I'm thinking of going to China, I can't believe I have a job that wants me to randomly visit other countries...

House front - I've run out of little things that MUST get done, I sill have plenty to do but it actually looks like a house now. Maybe this weekend I'll get around to unpacking more decorative things...

MPat05

MPat05

English Test

I usually do well with English, I at least know the rules even if I choose to break them. Here is a fairly cute test but I think it is a bit biased toward the 'England' English rather then American... Anyway, the reason I scored low on beginner is probably because I don't like spelling but I'm still better then anyone else my age (I bet only 5 people my age have taken the test...)

http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=14457200288064322170

my score:
Inter-Advanced
You scored 75% Beginner, 80% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 61% Expert!
You have a good understanding of intermediate and advanced commonly confused English words, getting at least 75% of the intermediate and advanced level questions correct. The puzzling part of your test result is the fact that you only answered 75% or less correct in the beginner section. Fascinating.
Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

For answers to the Beginner section only (the first ten questions), visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/. I will post the answers to the other questions as soon as possible.


Test statistics:
Compared to users who took the test and are and in your age group:
100% had lower Beginner scores.
100% had lower Intermediate scores.
100% had lower Advanced scores.
100% had lower Expert scores.
With respect to Beginner, users aged 55 to 59 scored highest.
With respect to Intermediate, users aged 55 to 59 scored highest.
With respect to Advanced, users aged 55 to 59 scored highest.
With respect to Expert, users aged 55 to 59 scored highest.

Either shaking mad or cold

Well it is frigid in here but a friend is really screwing up on something with me and she is doing it for the second month in a row. I am literally shaking because I can't just yell back because it would only make things worse. Nothing else interesting comes to mind at the moment, maybe something will later.