MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2009

Epcot Center

I slept hard. I slept so very, very hard. By the time I got up this morning, I was very rested, but kind of muzzy. The first thing that happened as we were getting ready to go, was that I realized that the new clothes I had bought for the trip were too big. I thought I was following the size chart on the website I got them from correctly, but I bought everything a size too big! BOO! I had tried them on when they were mailed to me, and I realized that they were a bit big, but it didn't dawn on my how big they were till I tried to put on one of my whole outfits and I looked bizarre. I kind of figure you can wear a pair of shorts that are too big OR a shirt that is too big, however, it just looks silly if you wear both at the same time. Luckily, I had gotten some new shorts at the resort gift shop and had a chance to change into them before we left! We had a quick breakfast and jumped onto the bus going to Epcot Center. Epcot happens to be my favorite (as it goes) of all of the parks, so I was glad to get there and get started on our day. It was a bit confusing at first, because they had changed around a few things since the last time we were there, but we still enjoyed ourselves. We rode a couple of rides and looked around a bit and then got to the part I like, the little countries. I think it's because I like to travel and I'm fairly certain that I'm never going to get to go to the actual places, but I like to walk through the place and shop and see the buildings and decor. Disney, of course, makes them perfectly.

We had lunch reservations at the Mexican restaurant (EDIT:I checked. It was the San Angel Inn Restaurant.) that is inside a big Aztec temple.

Disney sacrificial altar?

I find it hilarious that the setting is an Aztec temple since they weren't known to be the friendliest of peoples. All that is missing at the top is Mickey Mouse with his heart ripped out. Oh well, I guess they donít want to get THAT authentic! :) The food there was wonderful, and let me just go ahead and say that if you can do the meal plan on your trip to Disney, please do. So far it has worked beautifully! After lunch, we walked on and shopped, shopped, shopped. We both enjoyed the different countries, and the crowds weren't terrible yet, so things went well until we got to France. Something was wrong with my left foot. I had apparently made an unfortunate footwear choice when getting ready this morning, because my feet were hurting really badly. It wasn't just the walking, something had to be wrong with my shoes. I couldn't figure out what was wrong because I was wearing my Chucks, which are sneakers, but they were doing something bad to my feet. We stopped at a cafe and got something to drink and I rested my feet, but as soon as I started walking again, they got worse. They kept on getting worse during the last few countries we walked through and by the time we had walked back to the main gift shop underneath Space Ship Earth, I thought my feet had to be bleeding because that was all I could think of to explain the level of pain I was feeling.

There was an international food and beer/wine festival going on at Epcot, so that drew in a huge amount of people that weren't there earlier. It got so bad that we couldn't even walk side by side anymore. I almost lost Steve once or twice in the crowd. We didn't eat at any of the special stands that were set up, but I did get some mint iced tea at the Morocco stand. It was yummy, even without sugar! I added sugar of course, but it was good without it too! :) I've never seen so many people walking around with beer before. I suppose it shouldn't have shocked me, but since I think of Disney World as mainly a place for kids, I think I was thrown off a bit. Oh, well.

On a funny note, as we were walking out, we overheard a lady on her cell phone telling someone "Well, right now I'm underneath the Apricot" or she might have said "the Ep-icot." Whichever one, it got us tickled. She was walking underneath the giant silver golf ball looking thing, which is technically a ride called Space Ship Earth, but is commonly thought to be THE Epcot Center since it's the most recognizable part of the park. I really, really hope she thought the park was the Apricot Center. :)

We finally got back on our bus and got to the resort again and I took off my shoes as soon as we got to our room. They weren't bleeding, thank goodness, but apparently my feet had gotten so swollen that I was literally stepping on my own toes. No, seriously, they were so swollen that they were curling under the soles of my feet. I was wearing tennis shoes, but they weren't good enough I guess, because not only had I been stepping on my own toes, I had two blisters on the bottoms of my feet. I have had blisters on my toes and on my heels before, but never on the bottom of my feet! It was truly bizarre. I should have been gellin' I guess. I have only been able to wear my flip-flops sense I took off my shoes. I can only hope my feet are better by tomorrow!

So, other than the foot thing, we had a pretty good day! :)

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2009

That’s right. You heard me. I’m at Disney World.

You’ll notice that I don’t end that sentence with an exclamation point, right? Well, that is because when it comes to Disney World, I’m not a big fan. For some reason, that makes a lot of people think I’m a Nazi or something, but I promise I’m not a gigantic humbug. (Why do I feel as if I need to cross myself whenever I admit this?) This will make my 4th trip to the house of the mouse, so I don’t feel that I’m not giving the place a chance or anything like that. I’m just not a big fan. I have several reasons for this, and we can talk about it later if you are interested, but I'll keep it simple for now. It follows along with my general feelings about any amusement park: I don’t like getting hot, I don’t like crowds, and I don’t like getting wet and walking around like that for hours. Well, it is going to be hot, and there are going to be crowds, but I have been assured that I won’t get wet. We shall see!

Anyways, so why am I here then? Well, Steve is a HUGE fan of Disney World. He came here quite a few times with his parents and family growing up, and it reminds him of good times. He has wanted to come back for quite a while now, so he talked me into it. Seriously, how could I refuse someone the right to relive good childhood memories? Also, he went to Savannah with me over the summer, so I kind of owed him! :)

We started off our day getting the dogs to the pet resort, and surprisingly that went really smoothly. I guess the dogs have finally realized that they can’t prevent us from dropping them off, so they might as well be resigned to things. After that we ran some errands and got ourselves to the airport.

At Huntsville International Airport.

***I have a sneaking suspicion that I might have singlehandedly raised the Department of Homeland Security Threat Level a notch by accident. I promise I wasn’t carrying anything even remotely lethal, but my boss, in an attempt to spread the word about the upcoming Star Wars exhibit next year, gave me a gigantic pouch full of buttons that advertise the exhibit. She wanted me to hand them out at the Disney World parks we went to, but I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do that. Number one, where would I stash them while I was there? Number two, that would just be bad form. I knew I wouldn’t actually pass them out at the parks, but I thought that maybe I could just seed some around in public areas and hope they were picked up! I started doing that at the Huntsville airport. I only had four buttons outside of my suitcase, so it wasn’t like I was peppering the place or anything. I left one on a table at a gate and another in the ladies room. Our airport is so small that I knew I couldn’t put a lot of them out, so I hung on to the others for our connecting flight in Atlanta. We hadn’t heard anything about the threat level while in Huntsville, but the minute we touched down in Atlanta, it was repeatedly being announced that the threat level had changed to Orange. I really, really hope it didn't have anything to do with me leaving small, black disks around an airport. My apologies to the Department of Homeland Security if any of that was my fault! ***

I’m glad that we decided to fly, simply because of the time it saved us. Of course, as usual, our first flight out to Atlanta was late.

Connecting flight airplanes are very tiny.

It wasn’t terribly late, but we ended up having to change our connection flight because we were cutting it close in the first place. No big deal, we had counted on the plane probably being late. When we finally got to Atlanta, I was starving. I hadn’t been hungry all morning, so when Steve got breakfast, I didn’t have anything. As soon as we got to Atlanta and found our gate, we set off in search for some food. I was jonesing some Cinnabon and Steve was going to pick us up a couple of burgers from BK. I hadn’t even got to take a bite before our plane started loading. Crap. Steve had already snarfed his food, but I was loaded down with bags of food and a soda as I got on the plane. We were not seated together on this flight, since it was a last minute change, but that wasn’t a problem. However, what was a problem was that I had a middle seat between two women I didn’t know and not enough room to do anything unless I wanted to jam my elbows into them the whole ride. Sadly, that meant that I wouldn’t be able to eat. I probably could have done it anyways, but I was afraid that the smell of my food might be bad for them and I didn’t want to be inconsiderate. I managed to get the food inside my backpack and just hold my soda on my knee. I was so hungry. The flight into Orlando was uneventful, except that we had an incredibly rude set of male flight attendants. I sat as still as possible, trying not to bother the two women sitting next to me. I had kind of dozed off right before we had taken off, but I was woken up by the lady on my left pulling a hamburger out of her bag and eating it. I was so hungry by this point that I wanted to snatch it out of her hand and cram it into my face. I didn’t dare try. She looked like she could take me. I suppose that meant that I could have gotten out my own food, but being the one in the middle, I just kept as still as possible and got out my iPod to watch a movie. At some point, I realized that the woman on my left was playing Sodoku and the woman on my right was reading a book for smart people about politics. Me? I was sitting there watching “Shaun of the Dead” for the elevendy billionth time and trying not to laugh aloud. I felt so gauche.

We finally landed and made our way to the Disney busses that would take us to our resort. I was still so hungry and so very, very tired. I had been up late the night before trying to do all of the last minute things a person has to do before a trip, so I had only slept for about 3.5 hours and that, plus the low blood sugar, was really catching up with me. We are staying at the Port Orleans resort, which is really beautiful, and as soon as we got to our room and got settled, we went to the gift shop to look around and then had dinner. I was literally almost about to faint by that point, so I had to grab my food and sit down way before Steve was through his line. I just barely made it.

This is the sandwich that saved my life.

By the time we ate and came back to our room, I was almost asleep on my feet. With few preambles, we sacked out. Thus endeth my first day of vacation.

More soon, I promise. For now, though, watch RIVERDANCE DOG!

I just wanted to applaud this article.

Word.

On another note, I guess I should apologize for not posting much lately. Granted, there are just a few of you who come to check frequently whether or not I've written anything, but I wish I had been more entertaining for you! Honestly, though, I haven't done much of anything of interest, and unless I want my blog to become a glorified Twitter feed, I figured that I should do more stuff before I talk about it.

I actually want to tell you about my adventures in learning how to make jelly, but I keep forgetting to upload my photos! Also, I keep forgetting to take pictures during the end part of the process. It's not easy to take pictures while super-sticky. Maybe I can get Steve to take some. Eh...don't hold my breath, right? :) I don't know how those foodie blogs take such nice pictures when they are elbow deep in butter and stuff, but I can already tell you that my pictures aren't nearly as nice. I just thought it was a fun thing to document and I'm passing that fun on to you! Well, as soon as the pictures are up. Please, live vicariously through my jelly making!

Oh, and my 15 year old nephew found out that I had a blog and he said "Aunt Kelly, you have no life." Oy, out of the mouth of babes! It made me wonder, are the number of blog entries one has directly proportional to the lack of life a person has? If so, I'd probably blog more I guess. I really don't have much to talk about! Heeheehee.

Anyways, so I've just posted a whole post about not posting. Wow. I'm going to seek out something interesting to do this weekend just so I can talk about it later. I just made myself kind of sad.

This site is too funny!

If this doesn't make you smile, you are probably dead inside. DEAD!

RANDOM ACTS OF PHOTOGRAPHY

1) This is Spot, the cat I told you about. She is a sweetie, but she is starting to get a bit too comfortable around here. She somehow keeps getting into the house, even when we are careful. If she wasn't so cute, I'd...well... OK, who am I kidding, I wouldn't do anything. I just wish the stinking cat would stay outside. Oh, and I'm fairly certain she has been barfing on our walkway just to spite us! If you look closely where she is laying, you can see the outline of what was once our welcome mat. We had to throw it away when she "gifted" us with the remains of a partially eaten bird. Wow, thanks, Spot!

2) This is Gary. You can tell by his face that he doesn't feel all of the cuteness and rubbing all over us is necessary. He just wants the food. I've tried petting him, and sometimes he'll let me, but mostly he's just all about the noms. Secretly, I think he's the one who told Spot to puke on our walkway.

3) These are the grapes I pickled the other day. As I've said, they are very yummy! The yellow things are mustard seeds. Mainly, I just really liked how the concord grapes looked in this photo and wanted to share!

4) Mr. Lee grows things. Lots of things. Mainly, he grows things that he can eat, and apparently this year his muscadines* and scuppernongs* were very fruitful (heh, pun). He asked me if I thought I could do something with some of his extra grapes, and since I've been interested in learning how to make and can jelly, I agreed. I was thinking he'd send me a couple of baggies of them, but he sent about 10 pounds or more of these suckers my way. I had no idea he was sending so many! I've been up to my armpits in these things this weekend, and I've been making jelly all darn day. That is another story though. They were beautiful. I know you can't tell from that photo, but the colors on these things were amazing. I think I spent an unusual amount of time just looking at them!

*I found out on Saturday night that these were not just regular grapes like I originally thought. Although they are a type of grape, apparently these are specific to the American Southeast and much better for you nutritionally. Go figure.

PS: Steve has been on a binge of watching Andromeda. I've come to hate this show with the heat of a thousand brilliantly shining suns. Just FYI.

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) Spot the cat is back and she brought a friend. I've named him Gary, after Spongebob's pet snail. Honestly, I think they must belong to someone in our neighborhood, but I wish I knew who so that I could take them back. We heard a little girl calling for her cat yesterday, so I think Spot's name is really "Callie" and she lives with one of the speed-bump kids down the street. No wonder she likes hanging out at our house. Anyways, I ended up buying a few cans of cat food, just in case, because feeding Spot my tuna fish was getting expensive (and leaving me sans tuna). She seems to like the cat food better than the fish, believe it or not, because NOW she's always around. She is getting on Steve's nerves. She managed to get into the house yesterday and he had to chase her down and get her out. If she wasn't so sweet, I'd probably ignore her, but she just meows and rubs all over us. I'm going to have to stop feeding her every time she comes over, because I don't want her thinking that I am her owner. I just have the niggling fear that she's hungry because she really doesn't have a home! Dangit, I'm just too soft hearted and the cat knows it! She knows!

2) The Sprocket currently has a company digitally mapping the place. I've heard different things about them, but I'm under the impression that they are mapping our building for Homeland Security in case of terrorist attack or something similar. The people have to map every room, where the furniture is in that room, and all of the exits. Maybe we are some kind of guinea-pig in this process, I don't know. At any rate, the mappers wonder about all day with lap-tops strapped to them while they build the digital blue prints. I've tried to be friendly, but to date, only one guy I've spoken to has really been that pleasant back to me. There was even one guy who walked into my office and sat down for 10 minutes without saying a word to me. The only reason I even knew he was there was that I saw someone out of the corner of my eye and turned around to see him sitting at my drafting table! Creepy, much? Jeez. I've heard from security that they aren't just building digital blue-prints, but more of a walk-through of the building itself (which makes me think of first person shooter games like "Doom") so that evacuation routs can be planned and no nook or cranny will be overlooked. One part of this process is a guy who takes photos of pretty much every square inch of the place so that they will be able to have those 360 views of each room and whatnot. For some reason I always end up walking through where that guy is taking pictures, so unless they photo-shop me out, I'm going to be in quite a few of them. I don't go out of my way to photo-jack the building or anything, but I'll turn a corner and walk right through a shot. I'm sure that guy is quite tired of me by now. Homeland security will probably make a game out of it. It'll be like "Where's Waldo" but with me!

3) I was very domestic this past weekend! I made pickled grapes and strawberries (which sound gross but are actually very delicious) and baked blueberry muffins from scratch! I also did dishes, laundry, and bought groceries! It was a very Martha weekend. :)

4) I have a nectarine the size of Steve's head as a snack today. Seriously, it's almost vulgar in size. I'm fairly certain if I had some insect friends, we could crawl inside it "James and the Giant Peach" style.

THERE'S ALWAYS ROOM!

This is part of my balanced breakfast this morning. I know, I know...but lookit: it's not just Jell-O, or even a store brand gelatin snack I made myself! This, my friends and neighbors, is something packaged under the name Finger Gelatin! That's right, Finger Gelatin. My best guess is that it's Target's version of Jell-O Jigglers (which just sounds kind of porny, but still makes me giggle.) You can eat it with your hands and I. Am. Loving. It.

You are probably thinking that I have lived a sad life if I get this excited over being able to eat Jell-O with my fingers, but I seriously think I have found my new favorite thing (for the moment.) It's already cut up and that doesn't even bother me! Why is that important? I have always liked jello, but I have a weird issue with it that is borderline OCD, I guess, but I have been this way all of my life. I'll eat jello if it's in a container that it was made in, i.e. a single serving container where the gelatin has set up. That's fine. If I have to dip it out of a bigger container, however, it just becomes gross to me. I realize intellectually that it is the same stuff, but it just...I don't know...becomes different. It doesn't make rational sense, I know, but let's face it, eating the extracted by-product of boiled hooves and bones isn't necessarily rational to begin with. Am I right?

Don't judge me.

Anyways, I also love the texture. I have an issue with food textures that I'm sure many other people deal with. If I don't like the texture of a food, I simply can't eat it. Seriously, I can't eat applesauce, even though I like it. Raw vegetables also make me gag. Well, I don't like the taste of a lot of them, but the ones I do like have to be cooked or I can't eat them. The opposite is also true, because sometimes even if I don't like the taste of something, but I like the texture, I'll eat it anyways. This stuff pictured above? It tastes a bit like Sucrets, but I'm loving it anyway. Also, they jiggle, and that makes me smile.

I wonder if I can make this stuff myself and not screw it up? It's got to be better for me than pita chips, and Lord knows I'll hoover those up when I want something to munch on. I'm going to try it!

EDIT: Wow, I went back and read this just now and I'm not sure what it says about me that jello gives me this much joy.

For those of you who, like me, enjoy making stuff, I give you "Just Something I Made."

I kind of stumbled onto it by accident and I've been perusing the archives today. This kind of site is very dangerous to me, because now I have the urge to create things. Lots of things.

I'm going to have to make more friends to give things to. :)

I had such a fun Saturday! Well, it didn't start out that fun. We sat around waiting for the bug man to come and spray the house for vermin. He was supposed to show up between 10am-12pm, but the time passed and no one showed up. I thought perhaps that bug guys are like cable repair guys and they just get there when they get there, but Steve finally had to call them and find out where they were. Apparently even though you can make an appointment with them for a Saturday, and no one from the office calls to tell you any differently, they don't actually do appointments for Saturday. No one was going to come. BLAST! Steve had to call and make another appointment for later this week, but he did lodge a complaint with them. SO THERE! :P I just hope the complaint doesn't cause a problem with our service. I found a giant roach in the garage (on it's back, but I'm convinced that it was just sleeping. I sprayed it with my own bottle of pesticide and saw it wiggle. Yuck.) and an absolutely enormous spider in a web it had built by the garage. I'm not kidding, the thing was huge. It was an orb spider, which are already big, but I think this one had recently eaten a cat or something because it was bigger than I thought was necessary. We also killed that one with the spray. I kind of felt bad for killing the orb spider because they don't bother people and they tend to move their webs from day to day, but the hastared thing was too big to be normal and it was also on my house. It had to go. I still get the shivers when I think about how big it was. Eeeeeeesh.

The fun part didn't start until we went to dinner with Sara and Ron. We met at Papou's, which is a Greek restaurant I'd never tried before. It was really good! I've only had Greek food once before, but I think I'll be having it again. Sara made fun of me because I got chicken instead of something with a Greek name, but I was being cautious. It was good, anyways! At least I didn't do like the lady at the table behind us. She ordered some kind of fish, and it came out to her head and all. She said 'Oh, God! I can't eat that, it's got its head! I'm from the south, we batter and fry fish out here! I'm sorry, I can't eat it! Oh, my God!" All I could think of was that scene from "A Christmas Story" when the Old Man says "It's...smiling at me..." about the duck at the Chinese restaurant! :) Anyways, I recommend Papou's. Good stuff.

Afterwards we went to watch the Dixie Derby Girls Roller-Derby. I'd never been to see one of these before, although Steve had. It was interesting, but I had no idea what was going on. Steve tried to explain, but I never fully understood it. It was girls on skates going around in a circle and knocking each other down. There were also points involved, but I didn't understand how they were scored. I had much more fun people watching. There were all kinds of people there, some of which I don't have names for. There were normal looking people, goth people, giant facial piercings people, strangely tattooed people, a guy who looked like he'd be kind of sticky if you accidentally touched him, the people with bad shoes, and there were an abundance of skankily dressed women there. Good times. There was also a group of people who did the "Thriller" dance during intermission, and it was one of the best jobs I'd seen anyone do since the real video. I was impressed. We didn't stay for the whole thing, so we ended our night talking at a Starbucks. It was lots of fun!

VERY RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) I wish that I could be neighbors with Neil Patrick Harris and his boyfriend. I want to have dinner parties with them and be godmother to their dog. I also want Mr. Rogers to be my neighbor on the other side. Of course, I think that he's technically already everyone's neighbor. Anyways, that's how I feel about things this morning.

2) Steve downloaded a bunch of TV theme songs and we listened to then while getting ready this morning. I realized that I must have watched a LOT of TV growing up because I knew most of the words to everything. I'm not sure how that makes me feel!

3) I found a use for some of my vodka last night! I made scones, and apparently alcohol keeps gluten from being able to form as easily in some baked goods, so I sprinkled some in. Worked like a charm! It was only a teaspoon, but at least it's not just sitting there anymore!

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) Had to go give blood to the lab vampires this morning. I do not enjoy needles, no sir. Actually, it wasn't that bad this time. They used the butterfly thingie and it didn't hurt much at all. The worst part was waiting to go in. I think I got there by 7:30 and didn't get to go in until after 8. They are usually not that slow, but it wasn't too bad. There were a couple of people in the waiting room who started complaining, but I just tuned them out after a while. I mean, what good does it do to complain about having to wait? It doesn't make the wait any shorter unless you piss someone off, and then they take it out on you in a painful, stabby way. Ugh. I don't want to piss off a phlebotomist . Heck, I'd bring them cookies if I thought it would make things go more smoothly.

2) Starting September 1st, I will be under contractual obligation to be nice about the place I work on all blogging and social networking sites. I will no longer be allowed to "disparage the organization, campers, their families, visitors or other employees." I will also have to curb my vulgar language and "be respectful in all communications and blogs relating to the SpRocket." I guess that means it's a free for all until September 1st! HELP! HELP! I'M BEING REPRESSED!

3) I spent Saturday evening at the American Cancer Society Summer Lights event. It was very posh. :) Steve's company bought a sponsor table and we were BIS (butts in seats) representatives for them. It was actually very enjoyable. Homer Hickam was there as one of the special guests, but once again I didn't get to say anything to him. Oh well, we have crossed paths before, and I'm sure we will again. We were there with Emily, Brandi and their spouses (hey, guys!) which is always a pleasure, and another couple who's name escapes me for the moment, but whom I also liked a lot. I promise. I'm just bad with names. While I was walking around, looking at all of the stuff for the silent auction, I saw our wedding photographer, who's husband died of the same kind of cancer that Steve's mom had. She said she didn't like to come to things like that, but someone had bought a table in his honor, so she felt she should be there. She was so sad that it made my heart hurt. I didn't really know what to say, but I told her I was glad to see her. I would have hugged her if I knew her better. She looked as if she needed a hug. :( Hugs help, even if they can't fix. After we parted ways I finished looking around at all of the stuff up for auction. It was too tempting to bid on stuff, even though I knew I wouldn't win anything. I was in a room full of people with money, and I figured that if nothing else, I'd drive up the prices on a couple of items! I'm glad I didn't do more than a couple, because apparently the ACS invited a lot of tightwads. A great deal of things got no bids at all and I actually won one of the items I bid on. It was a large bottle of Vodka 360, a kind of self-righteous, "eco-friendly," tree-hugger's alcohol. I've already gotten annoyed at their back patting just from reading the booklet that came with the package. I don't know what possessed me to bid on vodka, but I liked the bottle and package design. I'm kind of a sucker for good packaging. Anyways, now I have this big bottle of 80 proof fire water and I can't bring myself to drink it. I keep having flashbacks to New Years Day 2006, when I felt like I had spent the previous evening swallowing live matches and ipecac syrup. I'm not giving it away, though. I like the bottle too much. I've looked online at different things you can use vodka for other than drinking, and I think I'm going to try a few of them. If nothing else, I'm going to make my own vanilla extract, which sounds easy enough. Some of you may be getting a bottle of it if I do it right. :)

4) After the lab, I went to the Starbuck's drive through and got a frappacino and a scone. When I got to work, I looked up the calorie count so that I could enter it into my iPod program. I wish I hadn't checked. The drink wasn't that bad, considering, but the scone... Jeepers. I might as well have just gone ahead and taped it directly to my ass. Note to self: No more scones from Starbucks. Ever.

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) Good grief, I'm tired. I've been busy all week and I'm still not done with everything yet. Things at work have been kind of nuts because when the crowds die down after school starts, people begin to realize they need stuff from me! I don't mind, it makes the day go faster and all, but geez. I've also been busy with church stuff since the hostess committee has been working at lots of events this week. Well, I say "lots" but there will be a total of 3 after tonight. That's still a lot more than we usually do in a week. Yesterday I hit "kill me" mode and kind of just zoned out at my desk. Luckily I was able to finish a couple of things, but the blank spots in my day couldn't have been good for productivity! I have also frequently zoned out at home too. I have done dishes and a couple of loads of laundry, but other than that I've been useless. It's bad, though, because I have so much to do and I'm too tired to do it all. It's too much for one person, so I get discouraged. Eventually, I'll have to do it, though, or our house will be condemned.

2) The cat is back. Spot, as I call her (after Data's cat of course), has been showing up more and more often lately and I've been feeding her a little bit almost every time she's there. I know that's stupid, but I'm still not sure she has a home. I'm afraid she's probably lost, but because her owners didn't give her a tag I can't get her back home. I think she must've been someone's indoor cat, because she really, really wants to come inside our house when we open the door. She HAS gotten in a couple of times, but I have to put her out again. It makes me feel so bad. She isn't very old and she's so sweet. Last night I didn't have much time to mess with her when I got home, so I gave her a few bites of a leftover chicken finger and left her alone out on our stoop. She stayed out there for a long time, and when it started to storm, I wanted to bring her inside so badly, but I couldn't. Not only were the dogs in there, we don't have a litter box, and I didn't want to have to deal with that. I went out there and held her for a little bit and you could tell she was scared. When I started scratching her and petting her, she did that weird "kneading" thing with her front paws on my chest. What is that? Ugh, I can't afford another animal! As much as I like Spot, I want her to find her real home so that I don't have to worry about her anymore. She makes me so sad. :(

3) If you are the kind of person who uses those powdered drink mixes that you add to bottled water, let me recommend Welch's brand grape flavored drink mix. It actually tastes like grape juice, albeit a bit watered down. Good stuff!

4) Do you remember the cartoons from the 80's that had the really rocking-out theme songs? I never really thought much about it until Steve started watching old episodes of M.A.S.K and Pole Position (and if you aren't familiar with either of those, count yourself lucky.) The singers just sound so earnest. Do you think they kind of felt stupid when they were recording those songs? I mean, if you sing about Jesus, or love, or even Dr. Feelgood, I can understand really jamming out, but a cartoon theme song?

Observe:
Also:
and last but not least:

I actually just caught myself dancing to these, so I think I should stop here.

Urg. Busy, busy, busy. Everyone needs signs!
That about sums me up! :) Be back soon.

Do you want to know what I think is weird? Getting older.

I'm not talking about the actual passage of time or anything like that. I'm talking about what happens to us when we get older. I realize I'm only 31, so I'm sure I haven't encountered a large fraction of what will eventually happen to me as I age, but the stuff that has happened so far is just so strange.

I've started getting a lot of white hairs on my head. I love them and I think they are beautiful, but it's strange to be brushing my hair and see them because they are so OBVIOUS in my dark hair. I can't stay up late anymore. Well, at least not like I used to. I could stay up all night, pop a couple of No-Doze and make it through the day with little to no trouble. Now I am lucky if I'm not completely unconscious and drooling by 10:00 PM. I also creak. It's creepy and I hate it, but my knees make sound when I walk up stairs! SOUNDS, people! Knees should be seen and not heard! My eyesight is not as good as it was even a couple of years ago and my hearing isn't good at all (but to be fair, it's probably partially genetic and I always wear my iPod which isn't doing me any favors.)

I guess it's weird because I don't feel any older on the inside. I feel like I always have; kind of silly, just as dreamy, and not at all serious. That clashes mightily with the slow but steady degeneration of my physical self. Boo. It's too bad that we can't always be as young as we feel, isn't it?

Urg. Anyways, that is my philosophizing for today. Now get off my lawn.

Well, that does it. I've heard everything.

With all the art I was exposed to, I'm surprised I didn't kill you all.

At least I would have had a good defense!

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) Now that it's over, I can tell you about the Astronaut lunch last Friday! The time finally came where I had to go downstairs with my boss. He was going to be down there taking pictures as well as kind of helping me through the process. Everything started out just fine, I was given a clipboard with 6 names on it and told to check tickets and names. Not to difficult, right? Of course not! So I stood by the doorway and waited, checked tickets and answered questions. While I'm doing this, food service was getting the lunch ready (BBQ and Chicken Fingers) and everything seemed to be going smoothly. Hoot (HOOOOOOOOOT) Gibson came in, and it turned out he was a very nice man. Possibly THE nicest astronaut I'd ever had the chance to meet, and with working at the SpRocket, that is saying a lot. We had most, if not all, of the ticket purchasers already in the dining room by that point, but none of the Libyan kids were there yet. One of the S. Camp guys was there with me, waiting for things to get started, and he said that they were on their way! He also said that the ambassador was being brought down there too, so it would be a few minutes before we could really get started. I didn't really understand that, because we have people from the ambassador program here all of the time, but we don't ever really make a big deal out of them. They are usually just teachers or people from an exchange program overseas. Kind of a glorified chaperon. At any rate, we had to wait on him before things could get rolling. At this point, I was still nervous, but had made peace with the fact that I was going to have to do the thing, so I was as close to zen as I could be.
Suddenly the Libyan kids show up and we get them in line for the buffet. There was a lot of activity and noise, and the place began to fill up with people. We had people from the upper Administration of the SpRocket coming in, and there were a lot of other people that I didn't know walking around. There went my zen! It was at this point that someone said that the ambassador was coming, and there was a flutter about this. I still didn't understand why it was a big deal until someone told me he wasn't a S. Camp ambassador, he was the UN Ambassador from Libya who had come to see the kids graduate camp! An actual, foreign dignitary! Not only that, but there was a lady from the federal government working as his aide, a State Department guy, several other government people came along and the place was crazy full. I really must have looked panicked, because a lady who works in the Administration offered to do the astronaut introduction for me. I was more than happy to hand that over to her, let me tell you! So my job was downgraded to holding the clip board and telling people were the bathroom was, but I didn't mind. However, I have noticed that if you want to look important, hold a clip-board, because it makes you look official. As I was standing there the Ambassador came over and shook my hand and told me I had done a great job! I just said thank you, because I didn't want to have to explain why I was really there. :) After that, things went smoothly, and I stayed until all the pictures had been made and hands had been shaken. Oh, and in case you were wondering, I didn't yell out "HOOOOOOOOOOT!" when I met him. I said it very quietly while he was up giving his speech. I couldn't help myself!

2) The yard sale is over and it was very successful! We had a lot of stuff to get rid of, and we didn't get rid of a lot of it, but a man came and bought everything that was left for $40 and hauled it off. Well, almost everything that was left. We have a ton of clothes that will be donated to Purple Heart, and we had a few things we figure we could find homes for ourselves, but we made some cash and now we don't have to worry about all of that crap anymore! There are still a few things left in the house, and we'll figure out what to do with all of that later. I'm just glad it's over. :P Yard sales are very, very hard work.

3) I sang at church yesterday morning, and that went well. I was afraid I wouldn't get to sing at all because my allergies are killing me! I don't know what is in the air, or if it's because I've spent so much time outside, but the only thing keeping my sinuses from completely slamming shut is the spray my Dr. gave me. Bring on Autumn!!!! BRING IT!

Do you ever wish you could have a fall in the floor, kicking and screaming, flailing your arms tantrum like a 3 year old because of something you don't want to do at work? I'm feeling that way today.

It isn't a big deal or anything, but today it's my turn to introduce the guest astronaut speaker for the Astronaut Lunch we have on Fridays. I just simply don't want to do it! Contrary to popular belief, I don't always like to be up in front of people. Heck, I'm terribly shy, I am just very good at hiding it most of the time. I have this feeling that I'm going to get up there to do my very minimal job of reading his bio and introducing him and I'm going to embarrass myself in some way. I'm seriously dreading this!

Also, and even more silly, is the fact that I have a weird tic whenever I hear the man's name. Our speaker today is shuttle astronaut Robert "Hoot" Gibson. Whenever I hear his name, I say "HOOOOOOT!" I can't seem to stop! It's like I have Tourette Syndrome or something. If I don't say it, it builds up! Also, the Libyan delegation of Camp kids will be in attendance, and every time I hear someone say "Libyans" I hear the way Doc Brown said it on Back to the Future in my head and I start to giggle.

I'm going to wind up looking like a lunatic. :{

SPECIAL GUEST STAR FEET

I got this from Kenny and Lauren yesterday! They are attending a smart people conference in Boston! I believe they are on Boston's Freedom Trail!

I have a Britney Spears song in my head. If it doesn't go away soon, I'm flinging myself off of the roof of the SpRocket.

You have been informed.

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) This weekend was unusually non-productive and I'm sad about that. I don't know why, but I just didn't feel like doing anything at all. I did end up mowing the lawn before the flood came, and I think I might have done dishes (can't remember) but that was about it. I had a lot I needed to do, so now I just have to do it all sometime this week. :( Boo. Procrastination is nice until the bill falls due.

2) Steve and I made a run to Sams on Saturday. That place is dangerous. I don't know what it is about buying things in bulk, but it is addicting. I mean, you could go to a regular grocery store and buy a box of dog treats, but you can go to Sams and buy a 10 lb. box of dog treats! You can go to a convenience store and buy a bottle of Gatorade, or you can go to Sams and buy a flat of bottles! Somehow buying in bulk is always better. However, we don't have much storage space, so now we have large boxes of food and stuff stashed in strange places. Silver lining, though...we have enough food to last us through a short term quarantine or house arrest!

3) I just drank a bottled smoothie that I got at Target. It's something called "Tropical Mango Probiotic 100% Fruit Smoothie" and it comes from the Naked company. I was perusing the ingredients and I saw that this small bottle contains something called Fructooligosaccharides. The remnants of my biology class memories tell me that this is some kind of fruit derived sweetner, but it certainly doesn't sound natural. I'm scared. I just hope that I don't also get a big dose of gamma radiation or something. Those two might not mix well. KELLY SMASH!

4) The yard sale we were going to have this past Saturday was postponed due to rain, and now we will be having it this Saturday! That means more running (or driving, rather) back and forth to Athens to finish things up. Whee. However, on the plus side, I've found more stuff at home to get rid of! Go me!

5) Steve and I have been watching the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series lately. I didn't watch it very much when it was actually on air and he never watched it at all. Turns out we both like it a lot, even though it's a bit silly. I think most of it is because of Joss Whedon's writing. He's very clever. Anyways, one of the episodes we've recently watched was "Once More With Feeling" which was the musical. It has some very catchy songs on it, so I hope I don't forget myself and start singing any of them aloud today. My co-workers may not understand. :P

6) I finally had to break down and change out my purse this past weekend. I really liked the one that Mr. Lee got me for Christmas, but it was huge! I realized that I just kept putting things into it and not having to take anything out! I swear, once I was rooting around in there for something and I put my arm in almost all the way to my shoulder. Unless you are Mary Poppins, that is not normal. I was afraid that one day I'd wind up having to crawl all the way in to find something and end up in Narnia. I never thought I'd say this, but you can have too much purse.

Alores! I am a land owner!

Ok, so it's not like I'm landed gentry or anything, but as of Wednesday, I am the new owner of 13.28 acres of land in Limestone County! For those of you who ever visited me when I lived with my parents, you will remember this area as the big-ass, fenced-in backyard of the house I grew up in. The land has belonged to my family for many years and was the area where my father and his brother raised cattle until Papa died. It is still used to raise the cattle that belong to my uncle's brother-in-law, and I'm hoping to keep it that way for a while.

My mother decided that she would go ahead and pass on the land and house to my sister and I when she got remarried. She was going to move, and knew that Papa had wanted to will it to us one day anyways. My sister was deeded the house/plot and I was given the deed for the land. It could have gone either way, but I had no intentions of moving back to Athens, and Angie's family had talked about possibly moving into the house at one point. She has since decided that they are going to stay in Ardmore (why?) for the time being, and will be selling the house as soon as she can get it ready to go.

Me? I'm going to hang on to the land for a while if I can. Part of the reason is sentimental, because it meant so much to my father and maybe because I have a teeny bit more Scarlett in me than I thought I did. Part of it is because I may want to build a house on it one day and having land already makes that a lot easier, and the other part is that I hope I can hold onto it until property values go up and then maybe I can sell it to a developer for a lot more money than I could get for it right now! Of course, all of this depends on if the property taxes aren't too high for me to keep up with and if I don't have some kind of monetary emergency that necessitates its sale. I hope nothing like that happens, because I like the idea of having this land and keeping it for a while. I think my dad would like the idea of it still being in the family, at least for a little while longer. :)

On an unrelated note: My nephew, Seth, just turned 11! Happy Birthday, Seth! Guess what he wanted to do on his birthday?
I weep for the future.

Oy vey.

So far this has been the strangest morning! I ended up oversleeping after I had woken up, decided not to go to the gym, and gone back to sleep again. I had the weirdest series of dreams that had me all discombobulated as I was trying to actually wake up. When I finally managed to get out of bed I sat down at my computer to check the news and weather and managed to get caught up reading something stupid which made me late getting ready. After that I was late for work, whereupon I remembered that I had forgotten to finish a project my boss had given me to do, I missed our marketing meeting (and I just bet it will be the first one in a long time that had something important for me to hear) and I almost slammed myself into a wall while carrying a set of frames dowstairs. I am also dizzy and sniffy due to my allergies, I keep having hot flashes, and I think I may be breaking out in hives!

TA-DAH!

Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to my happy place for a while.

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) We managed to work on the yard sale stuff on Saturday with little to no spider activity! Yay! Actually, we didn't see any of the big bads in the house at all, but Steve got to murderize two brown recluses in the garage. He was so brave! :) He also went in and sprayed the house with the strong insect poison that we use at home. Only the bravest of the brave bugs will mess with that stuff! We have almost gotten everything done, except for some odds and ends in my old bedroom (turned into a storage room, no less) and the stuff in the attic. My dad loved to go and buy things at yard sales, and whatever he brought home he'd call his "treasury." :) We had a lot of "treasury" in the attic. We've also found quite a few antiques that I didn't know we had. I guess when you grow up around something, you stop thinking much about it. I know we priced them low enough to sell at a yard sale, but I hate that we couldn't find an antique dealer for some of it. Oh well, we can't keep the stuff, so hopefully someone will give it all a good home.

2) Yesterday was the first day that I got to run the sound board at the church! I was very nervous, because I didn't want to screw anything up. It's not a hard job or anything, but there is a lot to pay attention to. I did fairly well, I think. My only issues were that I turned on the wrong mic once and I accidentally turned the preacher's lapel mic up as far as it would go and he almost blasted the first row of people out the windows. :{ One other problem, that wasn't my fault, was that the program that we program to project the hymns bugged out on me. I still don't know what was going on, but the minister of music came back during the greeting time and helped me out! I also had to sing last night, so Steve and I did tag-team sound for the evening service. I think I'll do fine as long as there are few surprises!

3) While getting ready for church yesterday evening, I walked out into the garage and saw something move. I hollered (I don't scream) and ran back into the house. Since I wasn't sure what it was, I went back out and saw a very large, black snake slithering underneath the too-box. I don't like snakes, but they don't bother me as much as bugs do, so I ran and told Steve about it and then went back out to see it again. It was solid black, so I have no idea what kind it was. All I know is that it seemed very, very long! We didn't have time to do anything about it before we had to leave, but Steve's dad came back with us after church and helped Steve hunt it down. They found it behind the water heater and they killed it! Yay! I didn't see them get it because I was hiding in the house. Mr. Lee said it was about 3 feet long, which I guess isn't that big, but it seemed much bigger to me! I'm seriously tired of the wildlife getting into my houses! They are not welcome!

ARACHNID PARK

I can't even begin to explain the extent of the skin-crawlingness that I have been experiencing since last night.

As I've already told you, my sister and I have been getting ready to have a yard sale at my mother's old house. Part of the process has been to gather the things that my mom left in the house when she moved, price them, and gather it all together. There were a lot of clothes and chotchkies, mainly, and we've had to go through them all. The first day that Angie had gone over there to get started gathering things, she told me that she was changing clothes in my old bedroom when she picked up a t-shirt that had been in a storage box and a huge brown recluse spider ran out from under it. She said the back of it was as big as a grape! She was understandably freaked out about that, so much so that my mom had to kill it for her. Since then she's been much more careful. Of course, Tuesday night we found another really big brown recluse in a vase in the kitchen (the first one I'd ever seen in person) and that one had been giving me nightmares since I went back home that night! I don't like spiders at all, but I am more freaked out about brown recluses than most other breeds because they are not only seriously venomous, unlike most spiders they are also territorial, and they will come after you. If I had known what we would come across last night, I might have set the house on fire and just called it even. :{

Before I went over there, I stopped at Wal-Mart and bought some gloves and a can of Raid, just in case. We had started hanging up and pricing the clothes in the master bedroom last night, so we had things scattered hither and yon while we went through them. Most of the things were pulled out of the closet, so we weren't worried about them. While I was busy with mom's clothes, Angie picked up a jacket that had belonged to my mom's husband, Grant, and I heard her say "OH!" and the jacket dropped to the floor. She said "A big one of those frickers!" and she ran to get the Raid. I had been sitting on the floor, so of course, I jumped up and ran to the other side of the room! When she came back, she went over to the jacket and couldn't find the thing! We gently picked up one of the sleeves, and I kid you not, a spider the size of a half dollar skittered under a fold. At this point I was about to jump on her back and demand she carry me out of the house, but she reached over and flipped the jacket over again - and a nest of baby brown recluse spiders were crawling all over the coat!!!!! She sprayed the nest, the babies and finally sprayed the momma spider, but those hastareds are resilient! At least we slowed it down enough for me to gather what cajones I could muster and stomp the jacket. My skin tried to crawl off of my bones and run to the car, but I held on to it! I ran to get the gloves and made Angie put on a pair, too, and she ended up having to throw a whole pile of clothes completely away because of the nest in that jacket. If that wasn't enough, within two minutes of that, I reached over and picked up a bathrobe that had been sitting on the floor next to me, and ANOTHER one fell out of it! Angie did her Crocodile Hunter bit on it with the Raid, and we managed to finish cleaning out the room, but not without being seriously careful. I felt like a CSI agent looking for clues. We threw away anything that even looked like a spider was on it.

As we took the things out of the master bedroom and into the living room, Angie noticed another one that looked dead, curled up underneath a window. She didn't want to take any chances, so she sprayed it as well, and it came after her. I heard her screaming from the other side of the house! She did managed to kill it, though, and we decided then and there that we would bug bomb the place within and inch of it's life that night. We didn't see anymore for the rest of the night, but the whole rest of the time I was there, I kept imagining the baby ones crawling up my legs. *shudder* I still feel them.

I honestly believe we nipped a full blown infestation in the bud by killing the nest, but I have no idea how so many of them could have gotten into the house! My mom has always been a supreme housekeeper, so I know that there were no spiders there when she lived there, and they only moved out in May! It's like they were waiting on her to leave or something! Urg. Anyways, before we left last night, we set off a bug bomb and hopefully we have successfully neutralized the enemy invaders. Now Steve, of course, is completely wigging. He is honestly arachnophobic, and the main reason I set the bomb off was because I knew he wouldn't come to the house and help us if he thought that there was even a chance one of them could get on him. I'm not even making fun when I say that, he's not being a girl about spiders, he literally goes into vapor lock around them. Any other bug is no big deal, but spiders he can not handle. I think the only way I convinced him to come with me and help out was to tell him that the house is mostly empty rooms now, and he bug bomb combined with no hiding spots for the spiders, means little chance that one will come at him unawares. Of course, now he's probably afraid one will come flying out of a closet and attach itself to him Alien-Facehugger-Style, but I seriously doubt that's how even the worst spiders behave. *gulp* Right?

I know that over the past year or so, my life hasn't been all white bread and hummus. However, it is still possible for me to say that at least I'm in the half of my sister's family that is LEAST likely to end up on Jerry Springer.

Oy, I wish I could tell you the story I heard from her last night, but it isn't my place to tell personal stories about people I don't really know. All I can say, is that the whole time she was telling me about it, I kept hearing "JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!" in my head.

I spent the evening with Angie last night because we are trying to get ready for a garage sale. My mom's new house isn't as large as the old one, so she needs to get rid of a lot of stuff that she didn't have room to take, and Angie and I are adding in a few things we need to get rid of as well. I'm kind of surprised at the kind of really nice stuff that mom wants to sell, but she simply doesn't want it anymore. Some if it are things I made her when I was little, so that's kind of hurtful, but honestly, she can't keep everything and I understand. We had to clean out some old glassware and dishes from a cabinet, and Angie picked up a vase that had an enormous Brown Recluse in it. I almost wet myself, because I've never seen one of those in real life. That sucker was mean, too! I still have the heebs from that. She killed it, because I was too busy running across the room to do anyone any good. :P There is so much stuff! I had no idea that mom had so many things that she didn't use. I am taking a few things home with me, but the rest is going up for sale, and what doesn't sell will be taken to Goodwill or otherwise donated.

On a related note, I'm going to be getting my mom's console piano. My sister has always wanted that piano because she was the only one who stuck with lessons long enough to really play it, but her husband doesn't want it in their house. I still don't understand why he doesn't want it, but it is coming home with me. We have a place for it in the living room, so that's good. I feel kind of bad, though, because I fussed with Steve about getting rid of the old piano we used to have when we first got married until he finally did it and now I'm bringing another one in. I promise I'm not normally that irrational. I honestly never thought I'd have the option of having that piano. It's really nice and Steve is glad to keep it, I think. I just look at it this way, I'm keeping it for her until my brother-in-law changes his mind. Certainly he can't keep it from her forever.

Anyways, if you are in Athens on August 1st, come and buy our stuff! :)

RAoB REVISITED!

2) I don't know if 4,000 people were here yesterday, but it was close! It was crammed wall to wall with people. It would have been nice for the SpRocket if the majority of the visitors were PAYING guests, but that was a bit too much to ask for I guess. :P I didn't even get to hide up in my office like I wanted because I had two sign emergencies (and yes, apparently those actually exist). The worst one was that I misspelled the name of one of our guest astronauts! I was so embarrassed. To be fair, I'm fairly sure I just copied and pasted the text I got the request email, which means I didn't spell it wrong myself but still, I should've been more careful. I got a call asking for two replacement signs with his name spelled correctly. I asked when they needed to be done and the guy said "Um...now?" So I knew that even though they had these signs over the weekend, no one bothered to read it until they sat it next to the guy. I hope he wasn't offended, and I still feel really bad about spelling his name wrong. I did manage to fix, print and mount the signs in record time to replace the ones already at the book signing. I actually got cheered for when I replaced the old sign, and some lady from NASA hugged me, so it must've been embarrassing for everyone. *SHAME*

4) I did some checking, and I'm fairly certain that my moccasins are actually just slippers! No one noticed, though. It probably wouldn't have been a problem at all, but I had one mishap that has taught me that I should be smarter in my choice of footwear. My first sign emergency of the day yesterday was that they needed a sign with an arrow that pointed to the "Grassy Knoll" where MSFC had tents and free moon pies (haha) to give away. You'd think the big-assed tents and music would have made their location somewhat obvious, but alas, people still needed a sign to point the way. SIGN LADY TO THE RESCUE! Anyways, the sign is what we call a "real estate" sign, which means it is like the annoying signs you see on the side of the road during election time, and we have to stick a metal stand in the ground to hold it up. The stand is shaped like a capital H, and to plant the stand, you just step on the cross bar to push it down. Since my slippers didn't have any grip on the bottoms, I slipped while trying to push it down and almost impaled myself. Luckily I fell sideways and missed the pointy bits by a few inches. I live to fight another day!

--In an unrelated post: I learned to make Alfredo sauce from scratch yesterday! It was yummy, even if the cheese didn't melt all the way. It isn't for anyone wanting to watch their weight, but you don't have to eat much of it before it fills you up! Fear my culinary prowess. FEAR IT!

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) My random acts of blogging are becoming the norm around here! I think I must have Adult Blogging ADHD or something. Don't be alarmed, I'll remember to take my meds. :)

2) Happy 40th anniversary of the moon landing to NASA! If you're in the area, you should stop by the SpRocket and catch the new movie about Dr. von Braun. I don't know anything about it but it's title: "Rocket Man." It should be very cool. If I'm understanding things correctly today, a great many people from MSFC will be here celebrating. If I could be a part of the celebration, that would be cool, but all that means to me at this point is that I'm going to have to sequester myself in my office and not go downstairs for any reason unless I want to get trampled by engineers. They are expecting as many as 4,000 people here just due to the day. That isn't counting the regular public. I'm afraid! :P

3) Speaking of the moon landing celebration, I remembered yesterday that when I was 16, I was at the 25th anniversary celebration running a coke booth with people from my high school band. I had almost completely forgotten about the event. It was a lot of fun, and I got to see Grass Roots perform live and all kinds of fun stuff. It also occurred to me that I should feel old. I refuse.

4) I think I might be wearing house slippers to work today. I got a $20 gift certificate for Plow & Hearth the other day, and I used it online to buy a pair of wool lined moccasins that were on sale. I love shoes that are lined with soft stuff, and they are beautifully made and embroidered by a free trade business. I received them on Saturday and fell in love with them immediately. The only strange thing I noticed, though, is that they are true moccasins - meaning they are all leather and suede without a rubber or hard sole. I didn't think anything much about that though. Well, I slid them on this morning to wear to work, and it wasn't until Steve and I were almost to work that I mentioned something about the shoes and Steve said "Wait, aren't they just house slippers?" It never dawned on me that they might only be slippers! Now I'm plagued with the notion that I'm wearing house slippers at work on accident. If I was doing that on purpose, I wouldn't care, but doing it on accident is embarrassing.

5) I went to do some shopping the other day and realized on my way home that I had a big silver earring caught on the smaller earring I was wearing. It was obvious that it didn't match the other one and that it was completely different kind of earring just sort of dangling there, yet no one said a word to me. People, please, I'm begging you...don't let me go outside looking like that again!

6) I was sick all day yesterday because I was too stupid to remember to take my allergy medicine before I went out to mow the lawn Saturday morning. I didn't go anywhere or do anything. I was a slug. It is weird to me how something like an allergy can make you feel so terrible all over. Anyways, I'm hopped up on allergy medication today and I have plans of getting some of the good stuff from Target this evening. They should already have my DNA on file, so it shouldn't be much of a hassle.

7) It's official: the house I grew up in is going on sale very soon. I'm going to be so sad to see it sold, but I understand why it has to go. If anyone is looking for a house in North Alabama, it's a really nice house and it is a lovely place to live! Yes, OK, my dad died in it, but he wouldn't haunt you, I swear. Keep a lookout for the listings. I hope a nice family buys it and takes good care of it. So many good memories were made there.

STUPID KELLY TRICKS

OK, for some of you (those on Facebook) this isn't a new story. Bear with me! :)

Last week was completely crazy here at work. We had a lot going on, because as I've mentioned, the departments that were directing one of the two huge events this weekend had forgotten that they needed signs. I had people e-mailing me all day every day adding to or changing things that they needed. It's not really a big deal, usually, but when we have the kind of events that require table signs, name tags or anything that is very repetitive, it gets tedious and confusing. The two events we had over the weekend, The Apollo/Saturn Reunion and the SC Hall of Fame event, each required individual table signs. Making a table sign is easy, but making a lot of them becomes a pain after a while.

To make them you have to A) set up each sign in Photoshop B) print batches of 6 on a large sheet of sticky-back paper C) cut them out individually D) stick each one of them down to plain sheets of copy paper E) trim the edges of the copy paper F) score the fold with a blade G) spray glue on the backs of the pages H) fold and press the signs flat and I) trim all of the edges again to make them neat. See, easy-peasy.

OK, so I was working like crazy trying to get all of these table signs done so that I could move on to the other signs that needed to be made. I was told in school that you should NEVER-EVER spray glue indoors because it is nt good to breathe and it gets all over everything. Like many of the things I learned about production in school, I thought to myself "Screw it." I didn't have time to run outside every time I needed to glue a sign because it would have slowed me down too much. So I pulled my big garbage bin over to my side and held the sign down into it whenever I needed to apply the glue. Of course, the glue didn't just stay in the can, but as long as it wasn't getting on my other table signs and messing them up, I was OK with that. Well, at some point I realized that I had over sprayed the can and accidentally sprayed the handset of the phone sitting on the shelf next to the bin. Yes, it was sticky, but I didn't have time to worry about it or clean it off because I was too busy. I promptly forgot about it.

Cut to a few hours later. I had finished the table signs and had started working on the signs for the silent auction. My phone rang, and when I answered it, it was my friend and former co-worker Ed on the other end. He will sometimes call and chat with me when he is driving to or from work on his lunch break, and since I was busy with my hands, I put the phone between my shoulder and ear while I was working. It actually turned into a longer conversation than I thought it would be, so I sat like that for a good 15 or 20 minutes until he had to go. It wasn't until I tried to hang up the phone that I realized that I had managed to glue the phone to my head. It was stuck in my hair! I probably should have called for help, but it wasn't my first reaction, so I ended up ripping the handset out of my hair. OUCH! It made a horrible sound, too. It sounded like slowly ripping a piece of thick paper. My head was sore afterwards, but I did manage to escape giving myself a bald spot. :)

So lets add this to my list: I've fallen down our stairs twice, stabbed myself in the chest with my exacto knife, laminated my head onto a big sign and now I've glued my phone to my head.

I'm fairly surprised my boss doesn't make me wear hockey pads and a helmet every day!

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) I almost died at the gym this morning. OK, well, maybe not died, but it felt like it. I have been doing the same elliptical training for months now, and when it was getting too easy, I thought I'd kick it up a notch (BAM! Sorry.) I didn't want to go in and completely push everything up too high, so I basically just adjusted the resistance a little higher. About 7 minutes in, I took a breath and nothing happened. I mean, I didn't die, but it felt like I wasn't pulling in any oxygen. My lungs felt hot and stuffed with cotton and my heart was pounding really hard. I had to stop for a second, but I didn't want to quit altogether, so eventually I just kept going. Eventually the feeling went away, but it was scary! That is the second time in the past week that I've had to stop early on during my workout to keep from passing out. I didn't have this problem before, so I'm not sure why it's happening now. What makes it even more frustrating is the fact that working out doesn't seem to be doing me much good at all, from a weight loss standpoint. Part of that is because I haven't been using my iPod program to count calories like I was before, but even without that, I have tried to eat better and I'm exercising, so you'd think I'd notice something! Darn my slow metabolism! :(

2) I didn't watch the Michael Jackson memorial show that they broadcast last week (or whenever it was). I wasn't really a fan of his, or at least I haven't been since I was in the second grade. Thriller was the stuff back then. Watching the "making of" feature from the Thriller video was what made me want to do SFX Makeup for movies, and I still stand by the idea that I'd be AWESOME at that, but there isn't much call for that kind of thing in Alabama. Anyways, I digress. I didn't watch his memorial service, but I did catch a clip of it on some website and it shut me down for a few minutes. I think it was at the end, and his daughter, Paris (?), said that she just wanted to say that he was the best daddy in the world and that she loved him and that she was going to miss him. Then she cried. Then I cried. I'm sitting at my desk boo-hooing along with this little girl. It was so sad. What made it even worse is that I knew exactly how she felt. I don't care how old you are, when a parent that you love dies, you are automatically a little kid again. If I had gotten up during my dad's funeral and had to speak, I probably would have said exactly what she did. Stupid YouTube clip making me cry at work!

3) I want to learn how to tattoo people. I know that sounds insane to some of you, but I think it would be an amazing thing to be able to do. I understand the process behind it, but I wouldn't even begin to know how to actually give someone a tattoo, and I wouldn't want to be that person who gave bad prison-tats or anything like that. Even if I didn't do it for a living, I'd like to at least know I could do it if I want too! Some of you would let me ink you, wouldn't you? Right?

(crickets)

4) I saw this year's Torchwood mini series and it was really good! I like that show a lot, but I didn't like the ending of "Children of Earth." I don't want to talk about it too much, in case some of you are waiting for it to be aired on BBC America, but I will say this one thing: I just don't see how they will be able to keep going on with the series with the way they ended the mini-series. If they don't, I'll be sad. I heart Captain Jack!

There is more, but I'll have to wait until later. I have to start making up for some of the projects that got shoved aside last week as we prepared for the two big events that happened over the weekend. Fun.

A QUICKIE

I'm not dead or anything, just really busy. I had all kinds of stuff to write about, but haven't had time. Of course, I've forgotten most of it, but I'm sure I'll think of something else later on. We have two big events here at the SpRocket this weekend, and as usual, everyone who needs signs is calling me at the last possible moment. I think there is a bet between them all to see which one of them can cause my head to actually explode! It'll be a photo-finish, I can tell you that.

I'm currently listening to the audio novel of "Midnight In the Garden Of Good and Evil" while I'm working, and so far I'm loving it. It's fun to listen to the guy describe places I've actually been. I have noticed, however, that a lot of lines from the book sound familiar, and I think it's because the tour guide from our trip to Bonaventure cemetery was quoting from it. Granted, a lot of the info in the book may be common knowledge to the people out there, but I doubt that the stories would all be told in the same way. I should have read the book first and done the tour myself! It would have saved some money! :)

Anyways, just a short note while I've got a second to let you know I'm still around someplace. You know, in case you care and junk.

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) It's not even 8:30 on this lovely Monday morning, and I already want to murder two of my coworkers in the face! That's right, IN THE FACE! One of them is my boss, who I normally like a lot. I walked in this morning and my office was destroyed (again) because he's been using it to make banners for an upcoming event. I don't begrudge him using my office, but he moves things around and leaves stuff all over the place, so getting to my desk is like going through a boot camp obstacle course! The other is a lady who I am currently making a sign for. It is a sign that will have a list of all of the sponsors for an upcoming even on it. I told her last week that I wouldn't print anything until I was sure that we had a complete list of sponsors (because they are always forgetting someone or adding someone on at the last minute). She never responded to me. However, today, I was copied on an e-mail from her to my boss, who apparently told her the same thing, and she was all "GREAT IDEA!" I don't care that I didn't get credit for the idea, honestly, but I hate that she acted like she'd never even heard of the idea before he sent it to her. Boo.

EDIT: My boss is off the hook. He isn't the one who moved my office around. Apparently someone needed roof access this weekend and came through my office to get out there. They didn't clean up after themselves, though. :P

2) My holiday weekend was kind of a washout because I was sick pretty much the whole time. Friday wasn't bad, but I didn't do anything useful that day and it made me feel like I had wasted the whole day. I hate having a day off and feeling like the day flew by before I got a chance to do anything productive! Saturday I was OK until just after lunch, and I got really tired. I was going to take a quick nap, but I fell asleep on the couch for several hours. When I woke up I felt horrible, so I drug myself around until it was time to go to bed. I didn't even watch any fireworks, although I did hear some. There are a few big displays not far from where I live, but none I can see from the back yard or anything. I didn't really care. I wasn't feeling well, and quite honestly, all of the stuff that happened last year around this time has kind of taken away my taste for celebrating the glorious fourth. Sunday I went to church in a complete daze. I don't know what was wrong with me, but I overslept and missed Sunday school, and when I actually got to service, I felt like I had taken a huge dose of NyQuil or something. I had to bow out of lunch with Mr. Lee and everything. I think I slept most of Sunday away because I didn't go back to church that night and I went to bed again around 9:00. I'm feeling a little better this morning, but I'm still really tired. If I hadn't already had mono in the 8Th grade, I'd think that is what is wrong with me now! I'll just have to try very hard not to nap at work today!

3) I've been watching a new show lately that I really like. Well, it isn't a "new" show, but it's one I haven't watched before. It's another forensic procedural called "Bones" and it's really good! It drives Steve crazy that they have some kind of computer 3D viewing aparatus in their office that doesn't exist in real life, but I think it's funny. It's also kind of disgusting. Steve and I were eating Friday while it was on and even though stuff like that doesn't usually bother me, it almost put me off of my food! It probably wouldn't have been so bad if we hadn't been eating Chinese food that had sauce on it precisely the color of the liquefied human remains that were on the show. Bleh. I don't want to think about it.

4) I didn't go to the gym this morning and I'm feeling kind of guilty about it right now. Why is it that I feel guilty for not doing something unplesant that is completely self imposed? I can't really say that I like going to the gym, but I know it's good for me to. It's like eating vegetables you don't like when you really, really don't want to and then feeling bad when I find a dropped piece of broccoli. I don't understand myself sometimes.

5) The Harry Potter movie is almost out! I shouldn't be as excited as I am, but I don't care. I've been waiting months and months for it. I don't think we are going to show it this year at the SpRocket, so that means I have to pay to see it, and that stinks, but at this point I don't care! Don't worry, I won't dress up when I go and see it or anything. Maybe. ;)

I'm going to live in this one! Well, someday.

WHO'S YOUR CRAWDADDY?


This was part of the ill fated lunch I had a The Crab Shack. I named him Eric.

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) As I was getting the mail the other day, I found an envelope from the DOT of Savannah! Apparently, the sneaky traffic cameras caught me running a red light. Well, to be technical, the cameras caught Steve running a red light, but since the car is registered in my name, I'm the one who got the ticket. It had pictures of Lois completely blowing through an obvious red light, but I don't remember that happening at all. Sometimes Steve drives like a crazy person, but he doesn't do stupid things like run red lights on purpose! We must have, since there is proof, but I don't remember it. Sigh. Big Brother is watching us, indeed. He is also watching us more closely than we are watching ourselves!

2) My mosquito bites are almost gone, thank goodness. I don't get them very often anymore, since I don't go outside as much as I used to. I forget how much they itch! I had one on my ankle that looked like three or four bugs got together and shared a vein, it was about two inches in diameter! That one was the worst, but the others were just as ugly. Seriously, bug bites on a pale person look like measles!

3) I'm finally back at work and making signs again. I didn't think I'd miss it that much, but I'm glad to be back and doing something constructive. I mean, it's not that I didn't like the napping, catching up on the laundry or vacation, but I'm glad to be back!

More later. I've got work to do!

If you want to read about my adventures in Savannah in chronological order, scroll down a few entries. If not, read away! :) There are no pictures included because some have been saved on the laptop and the rest are still in my camera. I'll post a few of them as soon as I can!

BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: SAVANNAH, GEORGIA EDITION

JUNE 24, 2009 - Not much to talk about today. We got up, are packing and soon will be headed on our way! Thanks again to Kenny and Lauren for including me as their wedding guest so that I had a reason to come out this way!

I'm going to miss you Savannah, but if I possibly can, I promise to come back and see you again! :)

BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: SAVANNAH, GEORGIA EDITION

JUNE 23, 2009 - This morning I woke up early, determined not to waste our last full day in Savannah. I had a list of things I wanted to do, so as soon as we got ready, we left. The first place we went was the river walk. Most things ended up being closed because it was so early, but we did manage to get a few souvenirs. We left there and went to Broughton Street, where we visited the Savannah Bee Company Honey Shop. We tasted honey and bought several things! I actually wanted one of the signature bottles of honey, but they didn't have the kind I especially wanted in a bottle like that. We did, however, get several small bottles of honey and half of a mason jar of the Black Sage honey (my favorite). We are going to have a LOT of honey at our house for a while, I believe.

We left there and had lunch at the Moon River Brewery, which had really great food, but since we don't drink beer, we didn't get to try any of their specialties. We didn't care, though, because we just wanted the air conditioning, really. We had several other things on our list, but we didn't do them for one reason or another. I was really afraid we'd just end up wasting the rest of our time, but we didn't. One our way back to our room, we almost added a new ghost to the "Most Haunted City In America." Don't worry, it wasn't us who almost joined the astral plane, it was the dumbass bicyclist who thought that his Schwinn was a match for several automobiles. We had just made a turn to drive along the edge of Forsyth Park, and I saw a guy on a bicycle riding closely beside us. It scared me because I thought that we were going to hit him. When we didn't, I thought that he was going to get on the sidewalk and ride, so I didn't think much else about him until I saw him whip around the car from the driver's side and get in front of us. He was really booking, so I figured that he was out of harm's way, but I don't guess Lance Armstrong was being too careful because he wiped out in a major way right in front of the car! BAM, the guy hit the pavement. I'm glad Steve was driving, because he was able to slam on the breaks in time to not hit the guy. There was also a car in the other lane who was able to stop in time, but it was almost creamed by a truck that was speeding along behind it. We heard a squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel of breaks and tires, but no impact. Thank goodness! The guy grabbed his bike and hauled it off of the roadway, but we didn't see if he was hurt. We probably should have. Hmmmmmmm. I don't think we played the good Samaritans, but it's kind of hard to do that when you are screaming obscenities at someone. It comes across as disingenuous.

We had to come back and drop some things off in our hotel room, and since it was still early, I asked Steve what he wanted to do. He hemmed and hawed for a long time and asked what I wanted to do, but since I had already told him a thousand times that I didn't know, I finally told him to just PICK something so that we weren't just sitting in our room all day. He did a bit of looking on the web and said that he wanted to go back to Tybee Island and go to one of the bigger, more popular public beaches. I was all for that, and I actually wore my entire suit so that I could go swimming! I didn't like it, but I did it. When we got to the beach, the place was PACKED to the gills. Streets were blocked off and there was absolutely no places to park. I couldn't believe that there were so many people there on a Tuesday afternoon, so we kept driving to try and find a place to park. We couldn't even go to the shops along the beach, which is one of the things we wanted to do! We finally pulled down a street and saw that it was blocked off at one end! Boo! We were going to have to turn around and Steve noticed that there were cranes with lights all over the place. I had totally forgotten that Miley Cyrus is somewhere in Savannah this week filming something. She was at the beach, and that was why so many people were there! CURSE YOU, HANNAH MONTANA! We finally drove back a little ways and found a stretch of beach and a parking space that wasn't covered by squeeing tweens and curious teenage boys. It was nice and quiet, and the water was as warm as a bath. It was very nice. I didn't swim for long, but I spent the couple of hours we were there reading and relaxing. After we left there, we went to one of the cheesy beach souvenir shops and then came back to the hotel. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing, watching TV, and ordering room service. Sadly, this is our last day in Savannah and we have to go home tomorrow. :( I really like this place. I just feel very at home here. I've also decided I'm going to live here one day. I'm going to buy one of the houses along Forsyth Park and be old, sassy and southern among the Spanish moss. That's my goal.