April Reading

Shadow Game & Mind Game...Christine Feehan

Smart Mouth...Erin McCarthy

Actually started several other books as well but many didn't peak my interest long enough for me to finish them.

sheep farm

Went to breakfast with the gang Sat morning. I ended up going to the sheepfarm after all. I'd planned to bail after breakfast but they convinced me to go. So I went.

I had fun even though I didn't think I would. Even went on a scenic hay-ride...sat on bales of hay while being pulled along by a tractor. The tractor's wheels were huge - taller than my friend C who's 6'3(I asked and he humored me by going to stand next to the wheels for comparison :). I was very impressed. Cause I could say the wheels were bigger than me but at ~5', most people are taller than me. But saying that they're bigger than C, now that's pretty tall. I've always had a thing for tractors though I'm not quite sure why. I remember having a really cool yellow one as a kid. We also saw the sheep being sheered(sp?). The smell was pungent but after being in the sheering shed for a few minutes, you get used to it. Either that or the smell receptors in our noses must shut down after too much stimulation. The sheep kick and try to escape until they turn them over on their backs, then they just lie there with their legs every which way until the sheering's done. then when they've been turned back over on their legs, they were suddenly energized again and tried to make a run for it. Very funny.

We also saw lambs, some really tiny cute ones and some older ones. So cute you almost want to touch them. Well, my friends did pet them but I was just fine with watching them. Some were curious and came towrds us in their pens, others were napping. Napping lambs = adorable.

We also watched sheepdog trials - border collies had to get a small group of sheep to go through gates, into a pen, etc. Just like in the movie "Babe". Some of the sheep were very stubborn and seemed to be mocking the poor dogs. I kinda wanted to shout "that'll do pig, that'll do" just for fun. None of the dogs were able to get the sheep to perform as well as Babe did though :)

Today I was telling my Mum and sis about it. When I said that we went to a sheepfarm, they asked why? When you live near smalls towns like I do, why not right? Plus it is was free and it was farm day :)

I also tried some sheep cheese which was ok, almost good, once I got over the whole it being from sheep not cows. I would have bought some but it was too expensive - $8 for a small cream-cheese sized tub. If they had a smaller size for say $3-4 I'd have bought some. My friends bought ~$50 worth of sheep cheese, yogurt, etc.

When we got back, I smelled like animals. Seriously. My friends laughed at me when I told them this but it was true. I immediately showered/washed my hair as soon as I got home.

Then I went out jean shopping. Got a couple pairs so that should tide me over for a while. The older ones I have are mostly too big or too worn.

Then out to dinner and then over for party games and cake at MD. Lots of fun. Good cake.

is friday over yet?

Wednesday
R: did you not watch idol this week?
Me:Yeah I did, why?
R: well, I didn't hear you guys talking about it. I look forward to hearing all of your opinions.
Me: Oh, um...ok. Well, I have a presentation for class, no time to talk about idol today. maybe next week.

R sits a few cubicles away but is apparently entertained by our weekly idol discussions. Didn't know whether to be flattered or not? I always forget that people can hear us even though we can't see them. Not that we try to be extra quiet or secretive but it's just a little bit weird to find out that you provide entertainment for the masses without even realizing it. We get into some major debates/discussions about idol and stuff in general.

I was eating a microwave dinner for lunch yesterday. It was kind of nasty. With weird orzo pasta that I mistakenly thought was rice on the front of the box. I bought this before and thought it was rice then as well. Actually it was orzo pasta. At that time, I'd already thrown out the box so I just figured it was some kind of weird rice. I even had E and C check it out to see if they knew what the hell it was. E figured that it was some kind of pasta.

Anyhoo, once again I didn't pay enough attention while at the grocery and bought it again. This time the chicken, I think it was chicken, tasted funny. I couldn't tell if it was chicken or beef or other. Then a horrible thought entered my mind and it was a struggle for me to finish it - the meat suddenly seemed to look/taste like monkey brains. Not that I've ever eaten monkey brains before but I do have a vivid imagination. Not a great image to have when all you have for lunch is said monkey brains and weird rice(freakin orzo pasta). Ughh. Yeah well I finished it and drank a lot of water to wash it down. Had to keep telling myself - it's just chicken, just chicken, chicken. Then was searching for something to take away the taste of the mystery meat/monkey brains from my mouth. Unfortunately, no gummies or cookies or chocolate or gum in my food drawer. Note to self - replenish supplies. So I just had to settle for brushing my teeth.

Today, the stupid fire alarm went off just as I was having my lunch. Great timing. And it was a stupid drill. At least it was nice outside.

Went back to the doc today (throat still sore off and on and am hoarse off and on). Still negative for strep. She said it could be side effect from rhinocort and/or advair that I'm on. My doc thinks it more likely that I might have acid reflux. I don't get heartburn often but she said that other symtoms of acid reflux could be recurring sore thraot/hoarseness. I do sometimes get that nasty throw-up-a-little-in-your-mouth thing. Happens so fast all you can do is swallow. Very gross you may be thinking...but way more gross when it actually happens to you. She said to take zantac75 for a couple weeks to see if it helps and call her in 2 weeks either way.
If it helps, that'd be great. If not, then she said I should be seen by ENT specialist to have them check to make sure there were no polyps on my larynx. Gross and worrying possibility. Way more info that I wanted. But I'm not going to worry about that.

Feel like crap tonight. It's that TOTM. Feel nauseated and bilious. Didn't go for a curry today with guys since I had my doc appt soon after we'd have gotten back. I didn't want to be gone for that long. Got a good bit of work done today. Had to make up for yesterday I guess. Did very little work yesterday. I think I was just drained from Tues and Wed/presentation prep etc. Needed to regroup.

Those weird new ads for VW freak me out. 'Safe happens' - yeah that's going to sell cars. Sure you want a car that'd keep you safe but when people buy a new car the last thing you want to think about is having it totaled. Weird ad campaign.

Can finally breathe now. Presentation's over. I got in done as I wanted and thought it went well. Didn't get too many stump-the-speaker questions. There was one that I didn't quite know the answer to but I think it'd be hard to tell from my response that I had no idea (lots of hand-waving).

We actually got done with class right at 630 so I was glad cause I figured gym would be no problem and I could still be home in time for Alias. Well in my haste, after dropping E back at work, I forgot to take the laptop back in to work. So I had to lug it up my 2 flights tonight - didn't want to risk leaving it in my car overnight. Especially since I had to park in the boonies. Don't know how people lug them around with them all the time.

Went to the gym. It's so weird. I was thinking yesterday -5 days without going to the gym, I need to go. Then I was kind of stressing thinking that I wouldn't be able to go until Fri. then I thought, that'd be only 1 day this week, not good. I've come a long way from being satisfied with going in 2-3 times a month.

Got home at 815pm so decided to wait till 9 after my VCR has finished taping Alias to watch it from the beginning. Finally, it's 9pm, gotta go now.

idol spoilers

Katherine - Almost every week the idol judges praise her even when she's often 'pitchy'. Tonight was not her best ever. After all, she sang "I Have Nothing". Not quite Whitney Houston but no way near as awful as the judges made out. I thought she was good tonight though not as good as she was last week.

Elliot - was not a boring as he normally is. I'm voting for him tonight(if only to help secure my bet :)

The Pickler - sang Unchained Melody, why? No idea. She'd have been better off choosing a song that has not been remade over a dozen times.

Paris - was ok. Great voice but "Memories" is done by kids at every single talent show everywhere. Teen talent shows were one of the few shows we were allowed to watch (whether or not we wanted to) and everytime, everytime, some kid sang/butchered that song. However, my money's on her to leave next so no vote for her tonight.

Taylor - really boring start but picked up near the middle and end

Chris - can turn any song into a rock song :) good job

busy little bee

I was too tired for the gym last night. I wished I'd gone. Cause tonight I was at work until after 7pm working on my presentation. Yeah cause I (foolishly?) volunteered to give mine tomorrow. When I volunteered, I hadn't exactly started it yet. Anyhoo, normally I'd still go to the gym but I had to ahem, go, and I can't in public(like at the gym or work) so I had to come straight home. Sorry, TMI.

Well, my presention's mostly done. Still have to finsh a couple slides but I know what's going on them. Then proof-read, save to jump drive. Already requested and got laptop from work to use for it. Our prof uses Mac so we have to bring our own if we use PC. Might try to do a dry run of it before class.

Tomorrow got to be ready early to give C a lift to work. No going in like a bum and leaving home at 8am. Then class and gym, maybe. Class is scheduled for 1h later than usual so that means we prob won't get out until 645pm or 7.

one more pic

My attempt to take a picture of the sign saying that I was arriving in MA(as I was leaving the state - couldn't drive as slowly as I wanted cause there were other cars behind me. Not my best idea ever but it was ok.  
Mon
Was explaining this pic to E today. I thought it was funny. She thought it was funny too, more funny weird than funny ha-ha. I guess this doesn't happen to too many other people (trying to take pictures of signs behind you while driving). E was like, "no more driving to MA for you" :p

Roadtrippin Pics

Norman Rockwell Museum (NRM) 
Outside NRM 
Landscape surrounding NRM 
A very short bridge to nowhere - I crossed said bridge 4 times :)  

Roadtrippin

Drove to Stockbridge MA Fri. Got a later start than I'd intended, didn't leave until 1130am but it was fine. I printed out directions to/from each of the places I planned to visit. Got a little detoured...ok lost...but that was ok too.
I just thought that I'd keep driving for 5min and if that didn't get me close to where I needed then I'd just turn around and go back or pullover and recheck my maps. I did both these things a few times. I also drove past left turns and had to turn around later to get back on track. There were other people turning around the same as I was (with out-of-state plates so I wasn't the only one :) A navigator would have been handy and a picture taker(almost pic of entering MA).

Went to the Norman Rockwell Museum and that was good. I'm not a big fan of his work but it was one of the things I could find :) so I drove up the winding road to the museum. The setting for it is beautiful. His paintings are very good, very detailed but I wouldn't want to have them staring at me from my apt walls. Except for one painting called "Springtime in Stockbridge" From across the room, this painting looks lit from the inside. I had to get real close to it - it was amazing. Whenever I vist a gallery/museum I always look for a piece that I'd like to own if I had the money, etc. This painting was it for me. Worth the price of admission. There was a print of it available that was $125. Way more than I can afford at the moment. Plus not as good as the original, close but no cigar.

Also went to the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy(today's Divine Mercy Sunday). The Shrine was so detailed inside, so beautiful. I almost wanted to take pictures. Some people did but it just didn't feel right to me so I didn't take any inside. I got there just after Mass started so I stayed a while. It was great. Next year I may go for the actual Mass on Sunday. It rains every year and hundreds of people go there from all over the world. They have an outdoor Mass under tents. It's quite something to see and experience. I watched it on TV. Too cold and wet for me out there.

I also wanted to visit a few other places in West Stockbridge but they all seemed to be closed for renovations or just closed in general. But I had a good day. I packed a lunch and ate it in the car. Got back home around 6pm. Had to go to the grocery for a few things. By the time I got back to my apt I was pretty beat. So I didn't go to see Solas. Another time I guess. There is some sort of Celtic Festival next weekend which I'm going to try to go to instead.

Did laundry and cooked a bit on Sat and relaxed in between. It rained all day Sat. Then our power went out for about 2hrs. Sitting in the dark can drive you a little batty. Too dark to read. Did have the Ipod on but that was it. Talked to S and we decided to go see a movie around 9. Unfortunately we were both late(I was later) and the movie was sold out. The only other choices were movies we weren't prepared to see or to pay money to see. So we used the sudden-death quarter to decide if to leave the mall and do something else :) So we went bowling instead. Called our usual bowling compadre T and bowling a few games. Then we went for coffee and scrabble at local coffee shop. I always lose. And I did again. Not the end of the world I know. Still, it'd be nice not to lose. I make great words, open up the board. Unfortunately, my great board-opening-words weren't worth tons of points :( I get so caught in making great words that I forget that points matter. I don't think about the points first, it's all about the word to me. Oh well.

Guess what? I'm hoarse AGAIN.

So I'm off work tomorrow. Yay! After I got home tonight, I did a little happy dance-words cannot express how wonderful it is not to have to go to work tomorrow. I find joy in the little things :)

Almost time fo rmy car's oil's to be changed, I'll get it done Sat. I't not past 3000 miles yet. I usu try to get it done ~2800 or so. I usu only change my oil 2-3 times a year. I don't drive much and my commute to work is ~8mi. Since I got my car in Feb 2004, I have driven just under 10k miles. I wonder if that's worth a discount on my car ins. They always ask you to guesstimate how many miles/yr you will drive. The average they use for me is usu ~10k/yr. Might need to check that out.

So I'm going to West Stockbridge/Stockbridge MA tomorrrow. Have a few sights in mind to see and will play it by air for the rest of the time. Going to make a day of it. Got to clean the crap out of my car. I don't know where/how it all gets in there. Printed out my directions and laid out my digicam and I-pod. Oh and water, can't forget that. If I get cool pics I'll post them.

I also want to go to a concert tomorrow night to see Solas - a Celtic group whose music I love. I haven't had a chance to see them live before. I own several of their albums. Hopefully I won't be too tired when I get back from my day trip.

Need to find time this weekend to work on my final presentation for the chem clas I'm taking. Our prof has moved up the time-table for them. On the syllabus, they're not scheduled until the last couple days of class(near end of May). I don't know why he thinks we'll need so much time. We have one more day of class to get through. Plus only half of us (who are taking the class for credit)will have to present and he said to plan for 10min/6-8 slides. Plus 5-10min of questions. How long does he think it's going to take? Only 6 of us are presenting. Yeah it's a small class, only 12 people incl yours truly.
On Wed, he started the last section 5 min before class was supposed to end. I was a little outraged(quitely of course :) Well I did write a note to E about it. We kinda write notes to each other during class. Kind of like we do at work during seminars. He prob knows but it keeps us awake (mostly) and out of trouble. So where's the harm. sometimes it's hard not to giggle out loud though. Have had to do some throat clearing and coughing for cover. He kept an extra 18min supposedly so that we could free up more time for presentations. He got 2 volunteers to go on Mon. Yeah so since I haven't exactly finished mine yet...started mine yet would be more accurate. I do have a topic though prob b/c he wanted us to clear them with him a couple wks ago. So got to get that done cause on Mon he'll be looking for volunteers for Wed.

Better get to bed, don't want to wake up too late. Planning to have a hearty leisurely breakfast around 730am then hope to be on the road by 9.

Lately I'm been bidding on stuff on ebay. I even bid on things I actually might use. Other stuff I bid on just because. Luckily I've only won one thing so far :)

I was just in a mini bidding war over a gameboy advance sp. Do I need it? Of course not. I think it'd be cool to have though. I was just about to up the bid in the last min - diabolical? maybe a little. I should just get one on amazon or not at all. No point bidding on something on ebay and end up paying the same price it'd be on amazon.

Up late again. Should not be up now.

Watched Alias, finally back for the final eps. I kinda wanted to watch Bones tonight as well. I was trying to figure out how to watch/tape one and watch the other. I have a 2nd tv and finally decided that I was going to watch Bones and tape Alias on the TV hooked to my cable/VCR - then watch Alias later or tomorrow. But when it started I couldn't resist watching Alias live. So no Bones tonight. Oh well. Maybe they'll have a repeat of it in a few weeks. Alias was pretty good tonight. Sam's also an Alias fan. I wish I was brave enough/willing to face possible rejection. Then I'd just ask him out and not torture myself with this whole crush thing everyday.

My Mum told me to try gargling with peroxide diluted with water for my sore throat. It worked a treat. Today was the first day in over a week that my throat hasn't been sore. Have been gargling at night with peroxide/water the last couple days and in the morning with salt/water.

Went to the gym Mon and Tues. Did 30min of cardio on Mon. On Tues I did 30min on wieght machines and 50min on bike/treadmill. It felt good and I didn't feel like stopping so I just kept going. My legs were a bit sore today but not terribly so. Today was a rest day-may go tomorrow.

Thinking of taking Fri off from work. Was planning a little road trip to MA but with the high price of gas (over $3/gallon), I'm not sure if I want to now after all. Plus I need to get my oil changed and I should probably get it done before I take any long drives. I'll decide tomorrow. May take the day off in any case. So tired. Off to bed.

Got to bed early last night around 11:30. Unfortunately, I woke up at 4am, was coughing...so much fluid. Had to take my inhaler. When I was done - my chest hurt like I'd coughed up a lung. Couldn't get back to sleep so I just lay in bed until 630 then took some meds and felt ok so I went to work.

Around 3pm, I started coughing again. I was in one of the instrument rooms analysing a sample so I was trying to suppress the urge to cough. Big mistake. I had to run to the bathroom...tears started streaming down my face...really long fits of coughing. Guess most of the meds I took earlier were completely gone from my system. Took my inhaler and decongestant. Still felt kind of ill. That's when my voice started becoming hoarse again. It had gotten better since Sun even though my throat has been sore the whole time. So I left work just before 4pm-dead early for me, most fri I'm there till at least 5 or 530.

Couldn't sing tonight-too hoarse and when I talk/sing, I start coughing. Still went and just enjoyed the service. Depends on how I feel tomorrow night if I'll go to the vigil Mass. If not I'll just try for Easter Sun. It always feels kinda weird when I sit in the pews with the congregation since I'm so used to sitting with the choir (we have pews behind the altar). Plus it's like I learned all those pieces of music for nothing if I don't get to perform them. Most of the pieces we're doing Sat night are repeated on Sun so I won't miss too much if I only feel up to going on Sun.

Will most likely go to C&T's for Sun brunch. Have to do serious cleaning and laundry. Kitchen's a mess but I'm too tired to take care of it tonight. Tomorrow'll be here soon enough. Definitely going to bed in a little bit. Got to do the stupid gargling (which does actually relieve some of the irritation in my throat).

If I still have this stupid sore throat which seems to have progressed instead of going away then I'm calling the doc again. Don't think I really need antibiotics. Usually I have a feeling for whether or not I do. A couple people left work early today, one from my lab b/c they were coughing and had runny noses etc. Maybe I've just become reinfected with another virus. C was saying that maybe it was bird flu :)

I wouldn't wish whatever it is I've got on my worst enemy. It sucks.

Left work right on time @ 5pm. Driving out to the short highway I see tons of traffic all heading in the direction opposite to me. So I think-I am so not moving anywhere in that direction b/c I don't want to deal with that traffic every evening just to go home. So on my way, there's suddenly a traffic jam in front of me. And the guy next to me wouldn't let me in to change lanes so I was stuck in the far left lane, no escape through side road like I was planning to do. Oh crap. Anyhoo, took 10min to go about a mile then it started flowing again. Across the median was 2 police cars, 1 fire truck and 1 ambulance and on our side of the median a huge fire truck was blocking one lane. My lane. So I eventually moved over when some kind person let me. Looked like a bad accident. Looked like a few fire fighters or maybe they were EMTs were tending to people on the ground. Traffic past that was blocked up for miles behind all the emergency vehicles. There was a 2nd ambulance trying to make its way through the traffic - only 2 lanes, unpaved excuse for a shoulder. But the ambulance was not deterred, he kept the lights flashing and the siren going while driving down the middle of the lanes. Cars were diving into the shoulder to avoid it. I took a side street as soon as I could. I almost wanted to stop and tell the people I was driving past - you don't want to turn left, you'll be sorry.

All this means that it took 35min instead of 15 to get home. Barely time to get changed and eat before choir practice/Mass @ 6pm. Yeah so I had oatmeal for dinner. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Got back home at 830pm. Wasn't hungry. By 1030 I was starving though. Decided to have tostidos with melted colby jack and salsa. Separate -no salsa conqueso for me. Ever. I nuke the cheese for ~15sec and then it's jsut melted and yummy. Had to stop typing until I finished b/c I was getting grease all over the keyboard.

Started a painting tonight. Tried a couple different things. Doesn't look great. I got impatient and went too quickly but it seems salvageable. Will work on more tomorrow. Need to get to bed by 11:15. That's the goal for tonight :)

A few of us in the american idol pool email each other at work about who we think is leaving next on idol - today I said that I wished Katherine would leave next. To which J replied - you suck. Yeah well so does Katherine. He acts like I've committed blasphemy by even saying that I think she should go next. Whatever! Ok so she's not the worst singer, I know. I figured out why I don't like her - she reminds me of Katie Holmes. Nuf said.

Went to the doc today because I still have a bad sore throat. She thinks it's some form of viral pharyngitis (her words). Uh-huh.

Good news - negative strep test.
Bad news - no antibiotics.
Good news - can take 3 Motrin every 6hrs.
Not-so-good news - also have to gargle with warm salt water(not my fav thing in the world).

She also said I need to sleep more. Yeah, I know. Apparently, 5-6hrs is not enough sleep. What I actually get is more like 4-5hrs a night. For most of today, I've felt shattered. Still went to the gym tonight. Got Chinese take-out 'chicken in garlic sauce' for dinner. Very good. Ate it right from the box with my handy-dandy chopsticks. I bought several sets of chopsticks in Japantown whne I went to San Fran last year. They are really cool. I alternate between them. What's the use of having stuff if you don't use them right?

Really need to go to bed now. Nite all.

choir...idol

Went to choir practice tonight @ 730. This is a big week church-wise. We have choir call(start time for practice before service) Thurs thru Sun. I've got to get major sleep starting tonight so I can be awake for all the rehearsals/performances this week.

I was able to sing most of the notes on key tonight, a little rocky on the higher ones as I'm still a little hoarse but made the lower ones easily. During practice, we sit, stand, sit, stand, depending on the piece we're singing. We typically practice 12-15 different pieces of music. It can be a little tiring especially by 9pm.

On Idol tonight
Bucky was ok. Ace was disappointing - did he hit himself in the mouth with the mike? forget a couple words? or am I mistaken? Over my whole Ace-maina. Though it pains me to say it, Kellie was ok tonight, annoying yes (but she always is) did a fairly ok job with such a popular song(Bohemian Rhapsody). Tonight was rock night-music of Queen. I thought Chris did a good job but wish he'd done a song I know. I mean, he is the rock guy, you know(well you'd know if you watch idol and if you don't watch - now you know :). Had to fast-forward through Katherine McPhee. That girl strained on so many notes. She really needs to find a pitch and stick with it. They (the judges) are always praising her and though she can sing certain songs well, often I find that she hits many notes that are out of her range...thin nails on chalk board or styrofoam(drives my sis nuts ;). They compared her voice to celine Dion and Whitney -they never had those pitchy problems in their prime.

Anyhoo, I put my money on Elliot again to go out so we'll see. We have to submit our lists before they perform-makes it more interesting. I actually thought he did a good job tonight, better than he's done in a long time. Has anyone else noticed that they started working on his teeth? Good for him.

Ok so Taylor...what was he doing on the stage? Seriously. His vocal was pretty good though. He made a good decision to change his song from 'we are the champions' to 'crazy little thing called love'. I don't think that Paris is doing herself any favors by changing her hair so drastically each week-she looks like a different person every time. Have to agree with Simon tonight-it was all a little weird.

After seeing them all, I think I want Katherine to go out next instead. Either her or Paris, just never warmed to either of them.

Watching The One with Jet Li on FX. I first saw this movie when I was in college with my roomie. Good times. Nothing like a good kick-up(trini slang for martial arts movie), and it's even more entertaining b/c he's fighting with himself. I just love how with each fight, they assume a pose/stance and then their opponent either matches it or comes up with his own. So cool. Our fav part in this movie was at the end where Jet Li's alterego goes, "You're my bitch now". If you've not seen this movie and it sounds at all interesting to you, see it soon. On FX they show the DVD version of movies and they also show all the special features. Amazing.

Correction: what he says is - "I'm nobody's bitch...you are mine"

birthday fun

Got a pre-b'day call from my sis on Sat. Did some tidying up, a little cleaning.

Went out to dinner around 7p with several friends. Dinner was great.
Took my camera and as a party favor ;) had everyone take pics of themselves making funny faces. Mine and C's were the best/worst depending on your point of view. Very funny pics. Not ones I will ever publisize though :) Also got some nice group pics around the table.

Later met up with S & T and went downtown to a club for dancing. T said he's not much of a dancer but he still was interested in hanging out. Apparently cool guys don't dance. We did eventually get him out on the dance floor and I think he enjoyed himself.

They had a great live band which played covers all night. However most weren't danceable tunes. Between sets was better b/c the DJ then played stuff that was better for dancing. We were out quite late.

Our last call was Copacabana. Yeah, that's right. So S and I started dancing together just for fun, twirling each other and flinging our heads back 'cha-cha-cha' style as we worked our way acroos the floor. Half-way through, 2 guys intercepted and one danced with me and the other with S. Very smooth. The guy I danced with was a great mover. Close enough to follow each other's moves but not too close that it was uncomfortable. It was a great way to end the night. When the song was done, the guy I danced with gave me a hug and thanked me for the dance. Very cool. The guy dancing with S kept on dancing. S gave me a look then slipped out of his hands and started dancing with me again to get rid of him. Very smooth. We made a 330am pizza run. The placed was packed - apparently it's one of the few places that was still open at that hour. Pretty good pizza. Went to bed around 430am. My Mum called at 530am to leave me a b'day message. Missed the call but it was nice to have a message first thing (after I finally got up).

Plans for my brand new year:
arrive on time or early
paint more
keep exercising regularly
get more sleep
volunteer/join something where I can meet new people

Didn't do much today. Skipped choir b/c I was still really hoarse(was actually hoarse before I went to bed at 4ish-probably all the shouting to be heard above the music, and then the singing along with said music :). It still hurts to sing and talk. Did go to Mass though for Palm Sunday. I like it when my bday falls on a Sun and can go to church on the day. Got home, talked to the family, a few friends on the phone. That's about it.

iTunes

I bought my first iTune a couple weeks ago - Bad Day by Daniel Powter. I just love this song.

Tonight I bought myself a gift certificate for iTunes (that way I can control the spending :).

Tonight I bought:
Move Along & Dirty Little Secret...All-American Rejects
Unwritten...Natasha Bedingfield
The Image of the Invisible...Thrice
Savin' Me...Nickelback

I just love these songs.

My friend C recently burned me a copy of Flood...They Might Be Giants
Hadn't heard of them before. Both C & E said they loved them when they were in college. Had a quick listen from C's iPod at work.
The ones I like best are
1. Particle Man. 2. Istanbul(not Constantinople) 3. Someone Keeps Moving My Chair
They are so funny, catchy too :)

Got to go to bed. Went to this networking thing at a local community college (I volunteered, sorta). More tomorrow. Bed now.

an odd lot

We had monthly safety meeting today. The guy who was giving the talk = very boring. Did have some useful information though about potential hazards. The best part - video clips. Nothing like video clips of stuff fuming, smoking, spontaneously igniting, and exploding to wake you up at 830am. The best bit was when he said, "if you want to set a building on fire, you might want to use...Funny in a way b/c in that particular clip there was a delay after the reagents were combined before it exploded. So technically, you'd have time to run away. Chemists-we are an odd lot. I was not the only person who was amused by this.

My money was on Elliot to leave tonight on idol. Oh well.

The show Unanimous is weird but interesting. So one of them decides to leave -which cuts the money in half. As she's leaving she says,"money is the root of all evil...I don't want to be around that". Ok so you just realized that money is the root of all evil. One would think that she'd have that figured out since she's a minister. Plus if she really believed that, why did she willingly go on a reality show where she could potentially have won 1.5 milliion dollars. Kind of hypocritical to me.

My new fav phrase is, "that Richard is a whole bunch of cuckoo (pronounced koo-koo)". Yep, that gem is also from unanimous.

Ok one more, "crazy as a crap house rat".

Tomorrow I will find ways to incorporate my two new fav phrases into general conversation. May not be easy but I'm up for the challenge :)

random stuff

I feel good...knew that I would...I feeeell good...knew that I would....so good...so good...I've gotta you...bop bop bop bup. A little James Brown anyone?

Now listening to: Hey Mama - Black Eyed Peas. I like this song. Parts of it reminds me of the Dub music I used to listen to in high school.

You know your workouts are making a difference when the trainers at the gym notice. There's a trainer at my gym who quite friendly and always says hi to me. Last week he told me that I looked like I'd lost some weight and asked how much. I proudly told him "5 lbs". I'm thinking of trying the boxing class. Looks like it'd be fun. Also it doesn't look as dorky as most of the other classes look to me. Today I was using some free weights near the mirror (mirror's good so that i can keep my shoudlers level between reps). Anyhoo, he walks by and says, "you know you're pretty, you don't to be looking in the mirror to keep reminding yourself". Yeah, well, he made me laugh. But I kept on counting my reps. I'm into this whole gym thing now.

I missed my usual mon-gym-night. So I went tonight instead. If I feel like it, I'll go do some cardio tomorrow.

My b'day is this coming Sun. Last year for my big 30, my friends threw me a big party with food and cakes -yummy chocolate-ganache/mousse-goodness. It was great. This year though I don't want a big bash. I'm thinking of maybe going out to dinner with a few friends, then maybe sing some kareoke, then dancing. Haven't been out dancing in forever. It's time.

Something is seriously wrong with my pc. I've been getting the blue-screen-of-death almost every day now. It generates an error message when I turn the pc back on. The message says that it's hardware failure:replace failed component. It doesn't know which component, it thinks it may be the RAM or CPU or power supply or system board. Have to call Dell. My pc's still under warranty so that's something.

Got my hair done (relaxed) and cut last night. Went shorter than I have in a long time. Was trying to decide if to go shorter or stay closer to medium length. My hairdresser goes "it's just hair, it will grow back". So I decided not to be a baby and just go with the shorter do. I love it. When she was done, she sadi that it looked like Condoleeza Rice. A scary fact that I found to be true when I put my glasses back on. But I fixed it when I got home. So now it's more me, shorter but very cute. I think she cut about 3-4in off. I was trying not to wince openly with all the snipping going on. But it's great and it'll be much easier to blow dry/flat iron as it's shorter. Just in time for Spring/Summer.

payday Friday-best day of the week

Today it was about 65-70° outside with a slight breeze. Bright sun-shiny day. I only know this b/c the fire alarm went off at work today so I actually got to be outside before 5pm.

When the fire alarm first started going off, it startled me. I almost dropped the flask I was holding, I was just about to put it on the rotovap. Then I realized it was the fire alarm. Dropping that flask would have been bad. One of the chemicals in this flask has a label - possible carcinogen/ highly toxic/readily absorbed through skin/not fully tested. Yeah so they think it causes cancer, and God knows what else since it's not fully tested. It's one of the nastier chemicals that I have to use occasionally. Luckily, I didn't drop it. I always wear 2 pairs of gloves when dealing with it, heavy duty gloves on outside, regular gloves on the inside just in case. There wasn't a fire or any accident. Apparently there was a problem with the water pressure or some such thing and that set off the alarms. Bizarre, no?

Went to gym last night, did cardio only. Then went tonight and did my usu mix of cardio and weights. Felt energized when I got home tonight. Very unusual for me on a Fri night. Especially at that TOTM. So I went to see "Inside Man" with S and T tonight. Wasn't sure if I wanted to see it or not (just from the title). After the movie started I realized that it was a movie I wanted to see. I'd seen the trailer and thought it looked interesting. It was pretty good. Planning to go bowling tomorrow. I still haven't bought shoes yet. I really should. We've been going once or twice month. And I worry about all the foot fungi that live in the bowling alley shoes. They spary disifectant in them. Have you seen how they do this? They only spray the part where their hands have to pick up the shoes. The inner regions of the shoes(where nail/toe fungi are playing happily) get no spray at all. This concerns me. I've been taking an extra pair of socks with me whenever I go. Then I change into fresh socks before I put my feet back into my shoes. Probably doesn't make much difference but it makes me feel better about the shoes.

Really need to go to bed now. Still too keyed up, past the point of being sleepy. No matter, I'm just going to lie down and maybe I drift off soon. Night all.

irony?

looking online for the lowest calorie beer so that you have that when next you go out...while munching on chocolate sandwich cookies at midnight