Starting tomorrow my work is starting another wellness program. I did the first one, but did so horribly that I chose not to participate in the second one. But this next one, is just to maintain, not gain, from tomorrow to the end of the year. I think I can do that, since my weight seems to be dead-set no matter what I do. I am going to try and lose though - if you actually lose weight then you get a bigger prize. But it'll feel good just to lose.

This is the end of "gratitude week" too. I didn't do so hot at making a list at the end of every day, but I did make an effort to just think to myself some of the things I was grateful for that day. The most common recurring thing was my husband. But not just him, I mean I've been blessed with so much, even the little things. We watched a movie last night, Blood Diamond. It was very good. But I just kept thinking, "what would it be like to live in a place of such insecurity?" How does life just go on with the constant fear that you could be attacked at any minute, having your home and family, your way of life, taken from you. And here in the states we get all riled up when someone spanks their kid, in fact it's illegal in California I hear, but in some places the children are being taught how to use machine guns, how to kill and ravage, how to use heroine and other such things. Sure our country has it's own problems, but how many places in the world just don't have the security we have here? It's very humbling to think about. I am immensly grateful to live hear, to be able to work and earn sufficient $ to take care of our needs, to be able to go to school and secure the possibility of a better future? And to do it all knowing that I'll be home at the end of the day and my home and family will still be there. It just amazes me. And it makes me want to be able to do something about it - about all the horror that happens in other places, especially to the children. I have an old highschool friend who's majoring in some economics thing, who plans to take on world poverty. Not that he'll be able to cure it, but he'll do great things. I wish/wonder if I could ever do something like that.

Did anyone else see this?

I just read on Yahoo news that Santa Clause's in Australia are being told to say "ha ha ha" instead of "ho ho ho", because "ho ho ho" may be offensive to women. HA HA. Maybe they're just trying not to get sued (because people will sue for anything). Sad but hilarious.

DeAnna's portfolio

BTW- if you have time check out my friend's website: http://deannaleeshaw.blogspot.com/

She is amazingly talented and I love her work. I'm actually buying a copy of Lilies for our front room.

Surveys

I'm sick of thinking seriously about anything for today. I'm listening to the new Finger Eleven song, Paralyzer. I say while Finger Eleven is a perfectly horrid name for a band, as are most of the lyrics to this song, there is one line I love: "And if your body matches what your eyes can do, you'll probably move right through me on my way to you." ---HOT--- .

Speaking of HOT, I have two newbies to add to my list - Christian Bale and Billy Zane. (Don't worry my hubby is still in first place - he has his own list anyway).

I've been tagged by McKenna, So here goes:

This is a different tag, so here are the rules:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 little-known facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged.

1. I think like a bi-otch but keep my voice as sweet as sugar. (That was a chapter heading in a book I looked at once and agreed with it.) (I'm not really a bi-otch, but you get what I mean - the word "bitch" is edited here for any who may feel uncomfortable reading it.)

2. Anytime I work out or wear stilettos, the middle toe on my left foot goes numb.

3. I secretly wish to be a yuppy.

I'm quitting at three. I don't care if that's lame, but this is not a homework assignment. Posting surveys is lame to begin with anyway. Here's a different one. (My parents see these once in while when an email forward goes around)

Four places I've lived: A house, a basement apartment, a duplex, a condo.

Four jobs I've had: Office Cleaner, Video-store person, bookkeeper, payroll person

Four things I'd like to do before I die: Get a degree, have children, travel, live in the city

Four favorite desserts: Chocolate cookies, chocolate milkshakes w/whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles, sorbet, better than sex cake

Four interesting facts about me: See above

Four favorite movies: 28 Days, Eternal Sunshine, Emporer's New Groove, and still looking for the fourth

Okay, I tag... Sarah, Kenna, and Natalie.

Shmatitude

Our Monday morning meeting today was actually a good one. First we talked about some of the characteristics of successful, happy, and unhappy people. Then they said that studies show that the single best combatant of unhappiness in people is.......... duh duh duh... GRATITUDE. (Sort of old news to most of us but I guess to science it's a major breakthrough). So, my "action item" for the week is to make a gratitude list at the end of every day. Although I am a little skeptical I figure it can't really hurt, right? We'll just have to see what happens.

I love Geoff.

I had an economics exam tonight, after work and class. I had about a week to study for it and never did. I reviewed beforehand, but this test covered 4 chapters, more than the usual end-of-chapter quiz. I just decided to count on my half-absent memory (I've gotten in the mid-high 90's on all other tests and quizzes, but the stuff always drains from my brain like a cullender upon completion of the quiz.) It was 100 questions, and I ended up with a 78.1%, almost a B and pretty good considering I fully expected to fail. I know I should care more, but the whole time I sat there I kept thinking, "eh, I don't care if that's wrong just get me the h-ll out of here." I feel a little guilty now because I still want a good grade in the class. We'll have to see. I wonder if it's a sign of pending burn-out - or maybe I'm just overwhelmed with all the work coming up at end of semester time.

Anyway they say the only difference between an F student and an A student is that the F student forgets everything before the test, and an A student forgets everything after the test. That puts me in the right category, doesn't it?

I have gratitude that this day is OVER and now I can shower and go to bed.

Eric Clapton - Blue eyes blue

A Very Near-Miss

We very nearly missed a wreck on the freeway last night. We had been at Sears buying a new vacuum cleaner and had just come off the northbound University Ave. exit in Provo. We were right about up to freeway speed, and I looked ahead and notice a trailer off to the right of the road, and the cars in front of us were slowing down. Suddeny, the cars in front of us skidded around, and I heard the crashing sound and saw a fender go flying. One of the cars veered around and smacked into the guard rail on the right. I think I yelled at Geoff to slow down, and we came to a screeching halt right in-between the two wrecked cars, about three feet away from the fender that was now lying in the middle of the road. There was glass everywhere. We sat there in shock for a minute, then decided we better get off the road and pulled over. Luckily nobody was hurt. There was another girl there who had been a witness, so the three of us sat there and waited for the cops to come so we could give a statement.

I guess what had happened is that the trailer that had been sitting on the right side of the road had needed a tire change. So, the owner of the trailer had set the spare tire down on the road, at an angle that made it roll into the middle of the freeway. He chased it into the middle of the road - and I think the cars in front of us were probably trying not to hit him when they skidded around and crashed.

When we left I thought, "well, that's over now, let's go to the video store and get some movies." It didn't occur to me until later how close we were to being smashed. If we had been going just a little bit faster or had left Sears just a few seconds earlier, that would have been us in that wreck. Of course, if we had been in that spot, we might've been able to maneuver so that there was no wreck, OR it could've been much worse than it was. (On the way TO Sears, we were talking about how nice it was to have the cars paid off finally, and I had mentioned that we better not speak too soon, or we'd probably wreck. Ha. Strike one for Murphy's law.)

Today in church, someone was speaking about how they had lost a son a long time ago in a car accident, and she stressed, "Now is the time to prepare to meet God." I'm glad nothing happened to us because I am NOT ready to die. I also want to appreciate my family more while I have them with me and especially my sweet husband, because I love him so much. I can't imagine if I had to continue life without him.

The Light of Doom

So, after I got home from class tonight I grabbed a bowl of cereal and flipped on the TV, and caught the tail end of The Next Great American Band or something like that. A couple of mediocre bands played, then it cut to the pre-interview with the Light of Doom, a group of young boys. And the first thing I noticed was their long, shimmering, lustrous hair. (Even Hansen didn't use curling irons). I want hair like that! Because of the connotation I expected them to sound like Hansen, except worse. Then they played. And they kicked-A. They rocked harder than any of the other bands - and they were showmen too. (Or show-boys? But that doesn't sound very good).

I feel a little snowed with homework tonight. That's okay cuz I set this whole weekend aside for homework... starting tomorrow. :)

"Never-out" is a crappy name for toilet paper dispensers when there's never toilet paper in them.

There's a cute song by Jackie Green, called Falling Back. If you can look it up then do.

Big Hairy Scary

So, word is out that one of my co-workers actually went to the boss and made a complaint that some of us dress too nice. ??? I could MAYbe see a complaint about some people not dressing nice enOUGH, but too nice?? *sigh* This is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about when I say WORK DRAMA. It's all about tripping the prom queen. You work in an office full of women, there's always going to be the one or two who'll do anything to spread their misery. It's ridiculous.


On a better note, the woman I work with on "big hairy scary" (that's my name for our nastiest client - I'm her helper with this one), there's been more drama going on with her and this client.
I'll avoid going into all the gory detail, but she takes a lot of abuse from them, and the other day something happened that was just the last straw. As we talked about it, I think I went off about how if it were me, I'd be livid, and I'd be doing this and this, and she just kind of listened to me and nodded. The next day, she went in and had a talk with the boss, and came out with extremely positive results. She was so happy. She told me that if I hadn't encouraged her, she would've never stood up for herself. It was kind of cool for me to hear. We talk a lot about self-validation in my philosophy class, so when she said that it sort of made my day. :)

My friend came over last night and watched the Office with me too, that was fun.

And I love my husband more than anything. :)

I just watched an old episode of Who's the Boss. Tony Danza was pretty hot then, no?

Wow this is amazing

The left is an x-ray of the 2-year old girl they operated on. She was born with eight limbs. The most amazing part is that they were able to successfully remove the extra limbs and organs and re-build her pelvis. They said the people in her village regard her as a re-incarnation of the hindu goddess on the right - in fact she is even named after her. It's all just bizzare, but I'm glad they were able to operate successfully.

Backstreet bird.

This is hilarious. Turn up the volume and have a good laugh. I love birds.

Crack bust

So, you can tell I have nothing else to do tonight. I'm kind of trapped in the back room here cuz the carpet is wet out front and the kitchen is jammed with furniture. So, I am just perusing through the news and here's a couple things I found:

Mexican authorities have made the world's largest cocain bust - 26 tons - that's 52,000 lbs. of coke! They think it came from Columbia and belongs to the Pacific Cartel. The U.S., with their oh-so-good intentions, is talking about giving Mexico 1.4 BILLION dollars to help them in their fight against drugs. Meanwhile... Mexico is salivating. Don't you think if you give a country that much $$ to help with their drug problem, they're going to keep having a drug problem? hint hint? Maybe they should spend the dough on keeping the drugs out of OUR borders, at least then the demand for coke would decrease, and maybe by snuffing out a bunch of the customers the suppliers would also decrease their production, thereby decreasing the amount of drugs in circulation. With the decreased availability of drugs inside the U.S., their price would skyrocket, also decreasing the amount of users in our own system. Viola! It works for us and for them. Unless of course... unless the underground drug market is actually a facet to our economy, (just like it probably is for their economy - in Columbia), in that case this whole thing is just a big show for the people who think our government should be doing good things, and what a waste of money. (And perhaps I'm actually learning something in my economics class) :)

Here's another: "DANBURY, Conn. - A man is facing drug charges after he allegedly walked into the Danbury police station puffing on a marijuana-filled cigar.... Officers came out and smelled the distinctive odor of marijuana and arrested Snow." Duh? 'Nough said there.

I am so sick of hearing about referendum 1

I just talked to someone on the phone to invite them to hang out with me at Target (I gotta get out of the house while the carpet dries), and they replied that they were out on the street corner by the mall campaigning with signs for Referendum 1, for 30 bucks an hour.

Well, I always wondered how those political campaigners (the ones that picket) didn't have better things to do with their time, but I guess at 30 bucks an hour, they probably really don't. Personally, I don't think either campaign accurately or fully reflected all the facts, and that's kind of shady to pay a bunch of college kids $30/hr to picket for them as if they really believed in it, even if it is good for the college kids. (I guess for people without children the main thing we would care about is how either vote affects our taxes). Oh well, it sounded like a blast and an easy, much-needed buck, so sweet. It's gotta be better than hanging out at Target.

I bring home the bacon now

Well, I decided not to get a ticket to the Tori Amos concert for Christmas. I told Geoff thanks, but I would rather save the money. I am enjoying her CD that I bought, however. One of my favorites on there goes like this:

I wasn't thinking, my head was in the book
His hands were on her uh-e-uh-va-uh-re-uh-where
I saw his face, I dropped my coffee
He's cheating on me with a hoochie woman

Ooo hoo hoo, you keep your hoochie
ooo hoo hoo, and keep the house
ooo hoo hoo, I have the bank accounts
cuz' boys I bring home the bacon
I said boy I bring home the bacon now

It's so angry-girl, I love it. For the most part this album is a lot more laid back (The Beekeeper) - like vacation music. This one is kind of reggae-funk, keeping the piano at the forefront. It's not so dark and heavy, I really like it. I also like Cornflake Girl, which is older.

We had the front room carpet cleaned today. When I came home for lunch Geoff had moved all the furniture into the kitchen for the carpet guys to come, and we sat on the bare front-room floor and ate lunch. It had a real primitive feel, like before you move into a house and it's empty and your stuff is still packed up. Or when we got our first apt. right before we got married. It was fun. My baby's so cute.

Brilliant, simply brilliant

Monday morning meeting. Heeeyyyyyyyyy, that's brILLiaaaaaaaant!!! That's how our meeting-guy talks. This morning's meeting was about.... umm.... it was about..... shoot. I can't remember. However, I CAN remember the poem we were supposedly supposed to memorize and then never talked about again.

WILL

There is no chance, no destiny, no fate
Can circumvent or hinder or control
The firm resolve of a determined soul

Gifts count for nothing, will alone is great
All things give way before it soon or late
What obstacle can stay the mighty force
Of the sea-seeking river in it's course
Or cause the ascending orb of day to wait

Each well-born soul must win what it deserves
Let the fool prate of luck. The fortunate is he
whose earnest purpose never swerves, whose
slightest action or inaction serves the
one great aim. Why, even death stands still
and waits an hour sometimes for such a will.
--Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Living apart, together?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21369007/GT1=10547

Well I think this one may be the most interesting one yet - a married couple who loves each other and swears they are faithful and they have a "normal," happy relationship, with kids, yet they live in two different places on two different sides of town. That just doesn't make any sense to me. She does bring up some good points, but altogether I disagree. See what you think.

Tori Amos

Yesterday Geoff asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I said a vacuum cleaner. He said he had something else in mind - a ticket for the Tori Amos concert at the end of November. Hey, we could really use a good vacuum cleaner but I'll go for the ticket. ;) He won't actually come with me of course, so I guess I'll just go by myself. I don't know of anyone else that really likes her. (Maybe they do but they've never said anything to me - I don't mind going alone).

I really like Tori Amos because she's 100% GIRL, with just a touch of psycho. Her music is totally something only a girl would write. It's a little weird and unconventional sometimes, but that's what sets her apart, I guess. So now I am catching up on all the stuff I don't know of hers. Someone told me that he saw her in concert once, and she sang and played two instruments simultaneously. It'll be cool if she really does that.

We'll probably get a vacuum cleaner sometime next week.

From the night of the concert

At First Glance...

What do these look like?


They are actually candy. Every Halloween at my work, everyone brings in their kids, grandkids, neighbors kids, whoever - and they trick or treat to all of our cubicles. I wasn't exactly looking forward to this as it was a busy afternoon and I'm not very good at doing the "Ohhhh so cuuuuuute!" thing, especially if I have to do it several times in a row. So, it being Halloween and me having no candy for the little trick-or-treaters, I ran to the nearest Wal-Mart and grabbed the nearest, cheapest back of candy I could find... a bunch of "Candy Sticks" in boxes with Spiderman on the front. Well, come to find out, when you open the boxes, the candy looks like that. (They aren't even flavored, they're just pure sugar). Oh well I gave them away anyway, what else could I do? I just hope none of the parents saw them and wondered what moron at work gave all the kids fake cigarettes.


After work, I went to class, and after class, I went to register for next semester's classes. Geoff and I both have Saturday classes beginning January. We REALLY aren't going anywhere once it starts. We are celebrating our quickly-terminating "freedom" by getting away to Park City over Thanksgiving break. Yay!


Anyway, after registering I was going to go to a party in Spanish Fork, and stopped home only to shower real fast. My mind was so engrossed with classes that I totally forgot it was Halloween (again). The second I got in the house and turned all lights on, there was a knock at the door. I peeked out the hole and saw about ten kids and three moms outside, all dressed up holding their treat bags. I didn't have any candy at home. I slunk away quietly, hoping they would go away, but a few minutes later the doorbell rang again. They knew I was home - they weren't going anywhere until they got some candy.


I opened the door and was bombarded with little hands holding open bags up to me. I told them to hold on a second and ran to the kitchen to see what was there. Could I give them chocolate weight loss shakes? Probably not. Eggs? No. Aha! A box of dried fruit packages would work. I handed them their packages of dried fruit, and they took them with disappointed looks and walked away. "Hey," I wanted to say, "I just spend 15 bucks on you, you're welcome!" (Those boxes of dried fruit are not cheap). After they left I locked the door and turned off all the lights in the house and went to shower. Amazingly enough, I could still hear the doorbell ringing while showering. Whatever...

Sweet as Candy

I went to Grandma's a couple nights ago to have her help me with my coat, and stayed to watch the Jazz game. While there, I learned a few things about grandma's new husband, Donald.

-He likes to watch Dancing with the Stars
-He LOVES candy and sweets
-He makes amazing fudge - better than professional stuff and I'm not kidding
-He grew up on a farm, and when he was a little kid their pig had babies. Well, the babies disappeared and he overheard his parents speculating as to whether she ate them. Well, as a young boy, he was so mortified that the mom pig would eat her babies, that when she gave birth again sometime later, he stood by and then took all the baby pigs and put them on the other side of the fence away from the mom. (And then ran for his life as the mom wasn't very happy with him.)
-He takes wonderful care of my grandma and treats her like a princess

I have to admit, it was a little strange to have grandma get married again at first, but I'm so glad she has him.