4/17/07 A Must Read

I found a new blog. A good one. A funny one with lots of interesting posts about the mundane parts of everyday life. And judging by the Blogger's Choice Award Nomination for Best Blog of All Time icon (didn't even know that there was such a thing as a Blogger's Choice Award), everyone else has already found it and loves it too. But just in case you're like me and you missed it the first time around, go check out Antique Mommy. She's good...she's very good.

4/16/07 As seen on Quirky...

I've been doing a little template rearranging lately. I added this lovely little About Me section (please don't stalk me now) to give new visitors an idea of what they're getting into. I also added this neat little visitors map thingie from Clustrmaps to the side here. When you visit the blog, it will put a little red dot where you live! (See? Embrace your quirky side, and get your very own red dot ABSOLUTELY FREE! Valued at $29.99 plus s/h, we're giving away red dots FOR FREE during this very special limited time offer. Visit now, and you'll also receive these lovely link pages, AT NO COST TO YOU! Red dots AND favorite blog links, a $99 value, absolutely free! Visit now, operators are standing by).

4/13/07 Vending Machine Food

An unexpected bonus for a Friday the 13th...free vending machine food! Seems that Ye Ol' ImagePoint is thinking about changing our vending machine vendors for our kitchen, so a bidding hopeful brought in a lot of their sample foods for us to try. As expected in a place where it takes three days to read one day's worth of incoming email, the "Free Food!" message went out with supersonic speed. They didn't even formally announce it. They just snuck in, spread the free food out on a table and invited the first lucky sap who wanted into the kitchen by accident to try what they wished. At that exact moment, super-sensitive FOOD radars went off all over the company. (Remember that commercial where everybody's head pops up over the cubicle in perfect prairie dog style as they all scent food? We put those guys to shame. By the time their first head pops up, we've already assembled a hungry hoard of co-workers, and are racing through the hallways to converge on the unsuspecting vendors like lions over a kill). Fire alarm goes off? It takes us 10 minutes to evacuate, even with the ominous smell of smoke drifting thought the air. Free Food? We had that place cleared out in 2 minutes flat.

I was lucky enough to grab a tray labeled "Angus Cheeseburger" and a tiny "Turkey Bacon Ranch Wrap", both from Outtakes Quick Cuisine. I was a little scared of the cheeseburger, because really, how good can a vending machine cheeseburger be? Plus, while the package instructed me to keep it refrigerated, it didn't say anything about how to microwave it, or even if it needed microwaving. In the end, it was the fact that the package contained pickles (I love pickles!) that convinced me to eat it, and I microwaved the meat patty for a minute just to warm it up. And OH MY GOSH THIS BURGER IS FABULOUS! It's juicy, it's Angus-y, it tastes just like an $8 restaurant burger, sans fries. I'm sure that it contains no real food whatsoever, but this doesn't bother me. Preservatives just make me last longer. So two thumbs up now for vending machine burgers, and if any other vending machine food vendors are out there, I just want to make it known that I'm entertaining new vendor foods and my vote can be swayed with free samples.

4/10/07 Echo

I saw the neatest thing today! I got to watch my own heart beat! I had my echo appointment today, which is basically just an ultrasound of my heart. There it was, beating away, complete with whooshing sounds that were remarkably similar to my fish tank pump. (I guess a pump is a pump). Anyway, it was pretty cool. (I asked the technician if I could have a picture of it, like what they do with pregnant women, but she said no, they didn't do that. Oh well. If I didn't already know what it was supposed to be, I would have guessed that it was a picture of a hurricane anyway). My doctor will officially interpret the results, but I'm guessing that the ol' ticker is behaving itself, since the technician didn't run from the room or anything. She did, however, have some trouble getting my heart rate slowed down enough to get a clear reading on it. Seems that today my resting heart beat was about 115. (Quirk #346: I have the heart rate of a hummingbird). She spent quite a few minutes making me take deep breaths to slow it down, and right as she got it to about 93, someone knocked on the door and it shot my heart rate back up again. (Quirk # 347: Apparently I have an as yet undiscovered fear of knocking). The lube has a distinctive playdoh-ish odor, even after I wiped it off, but all in all, I rather enjoyed myself. Echocardiograms: two thumbs up on the neat-o scale.

4/8/07 Easter

This morning I woke up mad at Easter. I was mad that it was 30 degrees out instead of 70, like it was supposed to be. I was mad that I had to wear the same thing I wore to Christmas mass instead of my springy little sundress and white sandals, like I had wanted. I was mad that Tony had a cold. I was mad that instead of having the traditional Easter lunch with ham and deviled eggs and way too many deserts at Mom and Dad's, we were going to a regular restaurant for lunch. I was really mad that all of my tulips that had come up so nicely as a colorful backdrop for Easter pictures had all drooped over from the frost. I was mad that there were no Easter pictures. Where was the tradition? Where was the history? Where was my Easter basket full of candy?

And so, with bulky sweater and a good dose of mad, I went to Easter Mass. I managed to hang on to my mad right up til the second Alleluia song. That's about the time God sent angles down to smack me upside the head. Easter is not about the temperature outside, or what shoes I'm wearing, or whether we have deviled eggs for lunch. It's about Christ rising from the dead. That is WAAAAY bigger than droopy tulips or Easter candy. Properly chastised, I sang my Alleluias with the best of them. I went to lunch with my family, and even though there were no deviled eggs, there weren't any dishes to do either. And, as an added bonus that I totally didn't deserve, (what with missing the point earlier and all), my droopy tulips had revived in the sunshine by the time I got back home, and were standing tall and celebrating Easter the only way tulips can.

4/7/07 Trillium Gap

Today was the first time I've ever woken up and wished that there wasn't a hike scheduled. Tony's got a nasty cold, and I believe that I'm getting the start of it. It's just that general lack of energy and ability to breathe that lets you know that there's a cold on the way and not a thing you can do about it. At times like these, conventional wisdom says to stay in bed, eat some soup and try to stay warm. Of course, I'm not conventionally wise, so I went hiking anyway. The hike was to Trillium Gap by way of Grotto Falls, and despite the fact that it was BEYOND COLD, there seemed to be a lot of traffic there. (I figure it was due to the old, "In-laws came in for Easter...what to do with them to keep them occupied and out of your hair? Take them hiking!"). Grotto Falls was one of the first hikes I ever did with the group, so that trail is a particular reminder of how winded and out of shape I was. This time, however, I felt...winded and out of shape. (I blame it on the cold and my cold, but it was totally embarrassing to be lagging further and further behind...again). My group did an excellent job of effortlessly leaving me in their dust, realizing it, and stopping to take extended breaks and photo opportunities until I caught up. The fact that it was no warmer than mid-30s and windy didn't help much. But other than my cold, and the cold, and my embarrassment of being out-distanced by children related to the above mentioned in-laws, it was a really good hike. The waterfall was fantastic (even if it was surrounded by ice) and the views were pretty impressive too. I'm glad I went, even if I will suffer for it tomorrow.

4/5/07 Ode to Tony

Today is mine and Tony's 4 year anniversary. It's amazing how time flies. It's also amazing that it feels like we got married only yesterday and at the same time have known each other forever. Some people have okay marriages. Some people have good marriages. Some people even have great marriages. But I think very few of them are as lucky as I am, because I have managed to not only find my soul mate, the person who compliments my personality in every way, but I have managed to snatch him up and marry him before all the other women on earth could figure out exactly how wonderful he is. Annnnnd, (and this part shocks me to no end) he married me EVEN WHILE KNOWING all my little "quirks". He knows that I refuse to do dishes. He knows that I leave my dirty clothes on the bathroom floor. He knows that he's responsible for total kitty care because I do not contain any maternal instincts whatsoever. He, on the flip side, takes care of the bills, says "excuse me" after belching, takes out the trash, puts the toilet seat down, mows the yard, makes dinner, checks the house for bad guys in the middle of the night, does dishes, cleans the showers, attends to the litter boxes, and is generally attentive and supportive of me. So he's sweet, and thoughtful, and responsible, and clean. And he's mine, all mine!

Eat your heart out girls!

4/2/07 Marathon

Tony's sister ran in the Knoxville Marathon yesterday. (She does that. Run. I have no idea why). She came in third for the women, and only about 12 seconds later than the second place woman. It wasn't her best time, but was a good run all in all. I can be impressed because I don't stand in the rain, much less run in it. For 26.2 miles. Up and down hills. At 6am.

Congrats Jenny!

4/1/07 West Prong

Once again, we had awesome weather for our hike on Saturday. (We've been really lucky with the weather so far. Perfect weather every time!) We did the West Prong trail, which is a popular trail for overnight campers, since it has a campsite about halfway in. I've never been camping in a tent before and thought it sounded like fun, but Tony says that I probably wouldn't like it, what with not being able to lock the tent and all. (I have a thing about "intruders" coming in while I'm asleep. You have no idea how many times I make Tony get up and check the house at night because I heard a funny sound, which could have just been the cat, but come to think of it, it could also be a murderous-ax-welding-psychopath-who-has-just-gotten-into-the-house-and-is-at-this-very-moment-creeping-up-the-stairs-to-trap-us-in-the-bedroom-and-slice-us-into-tiny-bits! It always turns out to be the cat. Paranoia: another one of my wonderful quirks! But I digress). Anyway, the hike was shorter than our usual ones (5.4 miles), but with a much steeper elevation that had certain calf, thigh, and glut muscles really singing (and by singing, I mean threatening to revolt and leave my body altogether and hitchhike home without me). But the wild flowers are blooming, and the sun was shining, and the stream was gurgling, the cemetary was well kept, and we all made it to the top eventually. Check out Greg's site for some really fantastic pictures.

3/30/07 Doctor

For anybody who remembers the post about scaring the health fair lady with my slightly unusual pulse, you'll be happy to know that I had my doctor's appointment with a very good cardiologist yesterday, and he said that I'm healthy as a horse. He explained that Orthostatic Hypotension is a condition, not a disease, and that I'm doing a very good job of not letting it rule my life. I know how to handle it, and as long as I can keep myself from passing out, I'm fine. He said that there's no damage to my heart from having a racing pulse, and to continue to drink lots of water and eat all the salt I want. (How many doctors tell you THAT?) The hiking and the elliptical sessions were very good. He did do some tests just as a baseline, and I have an echo scheduled in a few weeks, but they're mostly just to establish a history for me. I'll probably check in with him every 10 years or so just so he can give me the thumbs up on how I'm doing. The $30 co-pay is worth it for the peace of mind that I've still got miles to go before I sleep.