happy halloween... circa 1985

Found this pic today. Chet (my older brother) as a gorilla, Tera (my little sis) as Raggedy Ann, and Me as ET.

digital camera

My digicam finally crapped out. So, I'm looking for a new one. Portable, cheap, durable (this is how my other one died - I carried it everywhere and something finally got stuck, so the lens doesn't open) and easy. I had a Sony Cybershot. I liked it a lot.

graduation gift

So, I answer the phone last night and this is what I hear: "What did I get you for graduation from college?" Uh. Luckily I checked the caller id before answering. "Hi Mom." Then I panic. I have no idea what she got me. It was probably something sentimental or expensive that I should never have forgotten about. Oh wait. It's Mom. "Nothing" I reply. "Oh, good, that's what I'll get Tera then." My sister graduates from college this weekend. WAY TO GO TERA! I'm getting you what Mom is.

sorry, tera, i had to...

My little sister, Tera, interviewed for a job as high school computer teacher. My mom called to relay this information after a funny convo (more on that later). So, I get off the phone with her and say to Kyle "Tera got a job as a computer teacher. Funny." Tera is good with a computer, but everyone in my family is always calling me with their computer problems. Then I say "I bet you a million dollars she'll call me and ask me to teach her something." I barely got the words out of my mouth when the phone rang. Literally. It was Tera: "Can you teach me how to make web pages?" Hilarous.

movie recommendations?

I'm going to rent movies for the weekend over my lunch break... any suggestions?

oh, i almost forgot

Kyle got pulled over for speeding on the way home from the airport Sunday night at about 1am. He was going 89 in a 75. The cop said he'd put it for 88, though, so our ticket was only $130. Then we got a $10 discount for wearing our seatbelts. $120. Sucks. I've been given the right to tease him about it for 2 weeks, so I better put a mention of it on here too. The worst part is, we were about 10 minutes from home (it's a two hour drive). Just thought that was funny. He's sworn off speeding (which will probably last about 2 weeks also).

Graves Disease

So, about two years ago, I was diagnosed with Graves Disease. Basically a form of hyperthyroidism (my thyroid was working too hard). My eyes were buggy (more than usual), I was really shaky, emotional, and tired. It was fun. I was on meds for a while, then my levels started to balance out. So, for about the past year, I haven't had to be on any form of medication. I just got my bloodwork done last week and got a call from my doctor yesterday. Turns out my thyroid is still having an identity crisis and has effectively burned itself out. My thyroid is now lazy and not producing enough. This is good and bad. Good - now I don't have to get any nuclear treatments or surgery and Bad - I will pretty much be on meds forever. Just an update, nothing to worry about.

vegas

Vegas was great. We had a nice, relaxing trip and lost lots of money. Seriously, is there anything better than throwing your money away?! Here are the highlights:

• In 'N Out Burgers. Yum.
• Hoover Dam (just 30 miles from Vegas) in our rental car - a cherry red mustang convertible. Fun.
• The fountains at the Bellagio. Choreographed to music. It was really neat.
• Mesa Grill - Bobby Flay's Vegas retaurant. It was SO good.
• Free drinks.
• Any color M&M you want.
• The Improv at Harrah's. Funny stand-up.
• Warm weather, especially considering Gillette got 14 inches of snow while we were gone.
• Free drinks.
• My new favorite game, craps.
• Winning and losing in the same 5 minutes

It was a fun trip. We'll go back again soon. Let me know if you want to come.

packing for vegas

So, I have a crazy busy day today - meeting with a potential web client at 11:15, lunch with the girls at noon (yes, that's a 2 hour lunch - hope no one will notice). After work - working out with tasha, company dinner, packing for vegas. I'm super excited for Vegas. I even called the hotel to make sure they have hair dryers and irons in the room and found out that the exercise facilities cost $20/day (Thanks, Natz, for the heads-up). Ridiculous. So, I guess be swimming laps in the pool or something. I can get 10 tanning sessions for that. Are you kidding?! Kyle has just started to get excited for the trip. He takes a little longer than most, I guess. I've gotten lots of great tips (the good buffets & great views) and looked for all the free entertainment online. Yes, we're cheap. But, once I win millions, maybe I'll get over that. Any one have any last minute tips or things I can't forget to pack? I have to remember to make reservations today for the one restaurant we're wanting to go to - Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. I'm a big fan of the food Network, so I've gotta try out one of America's Iron Chef's restaurant, right? Looks good, anyway, the menu is online. Ok, back to work. Only two more days of this until our VACATION!!

weekend update

This weekend was beautiful! We got up early Saturday and had breakfast with the in-laws, which ended up being a bribe to get us to help them rake their lawn. We did theirs and the grandparents' (they live on the same farm), and were so inspired, we went home and worked on our garden. I'll post a pic in the next couple of days. It's really cute. Kyle's parents gave us some landscaping edging (not sure exactly what it is called), so we took out the wood that was there and replaced it with those. It ended up really nice. I even got a little bit of a sunburn.

Saturday night we went over to Mike & Tasha's for some bbq and poker. They taught us how to play Texas Hold 'Em and I really suck. I was out at least three times before anyone else was out once. Kyle said I absolutely cannot play poker in Vegas. I will lose all of our money in a few hands. I was really bad. I don't know when to fold. I suck.

Sunday was another nice day - we watched Hotel Rwanda - if you haven't seen it, you really should. We worked a little more on our garden - some finishing touches, etc.

It was a really good weekend.

quick rant

Ok, I know I have a quiet voice. I consider it to be one of my many charms (ha!). And I know that people are always telling me I need to speak up on the phone (Kyle, Tera, anyone I talk to on the phone)... Today I was returning a phone call to someone who had inquired about web design. The lady that answered the phone was rude, loud- I can just imagine her in my head and she's chubby and lives in the 80's. So, I politely asked for the guy and she said he wasn't there. So, I asked if I could leave a message. She said "Yeah, go ahead." So, I started my schpeel and she just broke in, obviously not writing anything I was saying down (like a good message taker would) and yelled at me "You need to speak up, I can hardly hear you." I just mumbled the rest of my message in a much louder voice and hung up. I've worked in customer service. She wasn't good at it. It stressed me out once I was off the phone. I needed to rant. Thanks for listening (reading, whatever...).

no tv?!

We got a year of digital cable from Kyle's parents for a wedding gift. Well, the year officially runs out next month (May 15th) and we're trying to decide what to do. We thought we'd just cancel it completely. More time to spend together or doing something productive, one less bill to pay. So, today at lunch, I called Kyle to make sure it was ok for me to do that. After a minute of silence he said "Do you really think you can live without tv?" Yes, I do. I've done it before. I haven't been watching too much lately, anyway. Too many good books to read. It's almost summer, which means we'll be swimming after work or riding our bikes or something. Do we really need it? I didn't cancel today, but the more I think about it, the more I think that it's a good idea. Do you guys have cable or not? Could you live without it? Oh, and without cable, we could get one channel, so it's basically cable or nothing.

happy birthday ramona!

Yesterday was my mother-in-law's birthday. We got to go out with them (and Grandpa & Grandma Grams) to the Hong Kong restaurant. Kyle's mom didn't want to make a big deal of her birthday and all my attempts to make it one (bringing the gift inside to be opened, telling her "Happy Birthday" in front of the waitresses) were futile. But it was a fun dinner and I got a great fortune in my cookie: "You will have so much money you won't know what to do with it all." I can think of a lot of things to do with a lot of money, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to hit it REALLY big in Vegas (only 1 week away). So, start sucking up and I'll add you to my list of "People to Give Money To". :)

manic monday

last night our bible study had a little bbq - burgers, potato salad, etc. tasha is so into scrapbooking and she just had a lasting memories party (scrapbooking stuff) this weekend, so she got out a couple of her scrapbooks to show me. i've never really been into scrapbooking. i started one on my nyc adventure, but never finished it. i think i would really like it, but i'm rebelling against the scrapbooking fad or something. i'm almost over that, though. i'm on the verge of wanting to start again. i'm not sure why i have such strong feelings against scrapbooking. weird.

kyle worked all night. literally. he got called in at 6:30 last night and i met him for breakfast this morning at 7:00. poor guy. and he gets to work all day today. i couldn't do it. i need sleep. i don't care how much money i could make (i think he's in to double time or something), i still would rather sleep.

i'm obviously getting too used to having him home, i woke up every two hours hoping he would be home soon. i called him at 2 and he said it was going to be a long night. i'm going to have to call him all day to keep him awake. :)

illusination

I'm blogging tonight from the town of Wagner, South Dakota. My sister Tera and her hubby live here. We (my mom and my little sister Maggie) drove down here to watch my brother, Tanner, play basketball tomorrow.

As we drove into town (after a 6 hour trip), we made a bet on the time we would get into Tera's driveway. The losers had to get the winner's concessions all day at the baskeball tourney. Of course, I won (6:55 pm).

My mom is a riot. I love travelling with her. Tonight she made up a new word, which she likes to do often. Tonight's word is illusination. It's basically the same as illusion, but with the Bonnie twist. I wish I could remember some of the other words she's made up.

Tera and Mike made us spaghetti leftovers just to prove that they were better at warming things up than I am. They proved it - it was really good.

Tera has a wireless network in her house - LOVE IT!

grinding...

Kyle woke me up last night. I was griding my teeth. And doing it loud enough to wake him up. I'm pretty sure I don't usually do this. Does anyone have any ideas as to what would bring this on? My jaw is sore today - but it could just be psychological. I don't really have any stress right now and I was feeling sick last night. I'm perplexed.

a few of my favorite things...

Yesterday was a great day. After work, we went and picked up my bike from the bike shop. They had done a great job of getting it ready for some real riding - even installed the computer Tera (my pregnant little sister) gave me. Now I can keep track of my speed, distance, etc. So, of course, we had to go for a ride. I had gotten an email from the Library letting me know that The Bell Jar was in, so I took the two books I had finished reading and we rode to the library. There are lots of hills in the middle of this town, but we got there. Picked up my books (I had to grab another James Patterson book), then took off toward the fishing lake. We rode around the fishing lake and then headed back home. By this time, we were starving. A new Italian restaurant just opened up in town, so we decided to go have dinner there. We changed quick and headed over. It is such a fun restaurant. It's theme is the Roaring 20's/Gangsters, etc. The food was great, the atmosphere was fun. Basically, a perfect night: bikes, books, and pasta.

lilac time

When I lived in New York, they had posted poems randomly in the subway trains in an effort to "make bus and subway riding a more pleasurable and enlightening experience". My sweet friends Emily & Amy & I (or maybe just me) really liked one called Lilac Time. Whenever spring comes around and plants start to bud, I always think of that poem. And because my tulips are coming up, I thought I would post it for your reading pleasure:

Lilac Time
The winter was fierce, my dear,
Snowy and blowy and cold,
A heart-breaker and record-breaker,
And I am feeble and old.

But now it is lilac time.
Come out in the sweet warm air,
Come and I'll gather flowers
To put in your beautiful hair.

Let's make a bouquet of lilac
For our old bedside table.
Then the fragrance in the night
Will make me form-i-dable.

Hayden Carruth (b. 1921)
"Lilac Time" from Scrambled Eggs & Whiskey by Hayden Carruth. Copyright © 1996.

who needs a hybrid?

This weekend we got our bikes out and went for a few rides. I had so much fun, I thought I'd ride mine to work today. Kyle had the day off, so he could pick me up for a lunch date. Well, Kyle got called in to work, so I got to ride back home for lunch. So, after my ride home this afternoon, I'll have biked for an hour today. I think I might skip my workout tonight.....

google gets funny

http://www.google.com/googlegulp/

vegas anything

If you any vegas suggestions: restaurants, shopping, etc. you can add your comments here.

Vegas Shows

We're going to Vegas in a couple of weeks. I was looking at show tickets online and I have no idea which ones are good, look good, etc. Has anyone been to Vegas recently or heard of any "must-see" shows in Vegas?

leftovers...

Kyle told me last night that I suck at warming up leftovers. He would rather ask me to pick him something up at Wendy's than for me to warm up leftovers. (He was taking an exam, so I offered to get him some supper.) I never knew I sucked at this. Makes me wonder what other things I will discover I suck at.... And really, how can you suck at using a microwave???