Love Turns the Whole Thing Around

Mom told me earlier tonight that she's considering tomorrow -- the first day of the new year -- a "sampler" of what her 2007 is going to be like. (So, of course... if you know my mom you could guess this, but... she's planning to be majorly industrious tomorrow.) I told my sister about the conversation later in the evening and she wondered where in the heck mom would've picked up that idea (that the first day of the year could be indicative of the rest of the year). I figure it's just another Crackpot Yates theory! (Mom has several of those! Just kidding, Mom!!!)

Anyway, it doesn't seem like a bad theory at all. But, let's wait and see what tomorrow brings. If I feel like being lazy & get nothing done all day, it's definitely a crackpot theory. If I get some work done, do any of several creative things I would like to start, get some exercise, straighten up/organize around the house & office, talk with friends & family, write some good resolutions & get a start on 'em, etc., etc., etc., then it's the best idea I've ever heard!

For all y'all who knew we were traveling today, yep... we had a good trip back. Took up the whole darn day, but we're finally back in the Eastern time zone and bunking at Forsythe. Things are pretty good here... except for the partially-chewed mucho-'spensive leather couch. Well, you had to expect they'd get their teeth on it sooner or later.

Unfortunately, we're tired from the travel... and we feel guilty about leaving the young 'uns alone at all at the moment (after having left them for a week!)... and we don't really have anywhere to go (not completely true... thanks for the invite, Jody), so we're celebrating the New Year at home, probably with half-closed eyelids. But, for all y'all out 'n about, hope you're having a blast! Those of you bums like me sticking close to home (and, who are we kidding, probably not having nearly as much fun as those of us elsewhere!), hope the spirit moves you to get up & do something next year!

Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits. ~Author Unknown

So, which habits will we break this year and which will stick it out into 2007? Good, bad, indifferent? Either way, let's talk again tomorrow. At least we'll face 2007 together... like it or not! So, thanks for being a part of my 2006. You helped make it one heck of a year. I ♥ 2006. Really & truly. I'll miss it, but I'm looking forward to '07 as well. :)

An Answer? Who Needs a Stinkin' Answer?!

There are years that ask questions, and years that answer.
-Zora Neale Hurston

Because I Needed Help Resolving

Your New Year's Resolutions

1) Get a pet frog 2) Eat less stale popcorn 3) Travel to New Zealand 4) Study cannibal cultures 5) Get in shape with belly dancing

What Should Your New Year's Resolution Be?

There Once Was a Monk From Nantucket...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/12/20/greece.monks.ap/index.html

I May Not Be a Photographer... But By Gosh, I Sure Do Try

Yes, I just said... let me just post a few of these pics from today so I don't have to write anything tonight. If you don't WANT to write on a blog, you shouldn't have to. Right? Am I right?

Well... quick run-down from today & plan for tomorrow and I'm outie.
- 5am: hear from Sarah that Kona got in a fight last night & has bite wounds on her neck. Vet says she's okay, but geez, Kona!
- 7am: alarm (AGAIN) goes off to ensure we have enough time to get ready for the 8am departure
- 8:30am: Departure for the coast... drop off car at Beaverton office for my return afternoon-of-work
- 10:00-ish: Breakfast at Wayfarer in Cannon Beach, followed by walk on beach, and visit to Ecola Park
- 3:00pm: Back to Beaverton office for afternoon-of-work
- 6:30pm: Meet Jon @ Paul's, dinner, chat, etc. Return rental car
- 10:30pm: Back at the house... Man, I'm TIRED. And I'm soooo sleeping in in the morning. What, like 9am Pacific time, though? Oh well... at least I'm not planning another trip in to the office & I can work from here. This 3 hour time difference makes it hard to be available for East Coasters. After lunch, kids. After lunch. You just can't expect me to be at the office, plugged in and ready to go before 9:30, CAN YOU??? Look peeps, I'm doing good to be up & around & functional by 9:30. So, that's my plan again for tomorrow... hopefully, it'll happen. Lord knows I have enough work to do! If I can get started by 9:30, maybe I can actually finish before NEXT YEAR!

Anyway, enjoy the pics... talk soon.

Don't Bother Reading... Says the Cynic

What to say, what to say...?! I really don't have a lot to say. I'm really tired again tonight. Such is what happens when you switch time zones, then stay up late in the new zone, and get up for work. Ick. Who wants to do that?! Well, actually, I did. Last night was movie-time (after a ham dinner) - Pursuit of Happyness @ Cinetopia... well worth watching - then home for lots of conversing about politics, religion, and sex. No, we didn't get around to sex. We spent all our time arguing about politics and religion. Just kidding... no arguments here... just very enlightening, good-hearted, we're-gonna-change-the-world-never-mind-we're-a-bunch-of-cynics discussion. Then today, I also wanted to get up for work. Don't know what it is about going into an office... but those of you who have workplaces that you like should count your lucky stars. Don't get me wrong, I like my office @ home. But being around people @ the Beaverton office today really felt nice. I can get pretty down on myself (no!)... as most of you know... and feeling competent in the office really helps get me reinvigorated and confident. So, that was nice. Stayed till 6-ish then admired the lights of the city as I drove back across it on the return trip. I'll probably put in a half-day tomorrow... after a little escapade in the morning. We're headed to the coast in the AM for b'fast in Seaside. It should be a clear but cold day. Perfect Oregon coast weather. Right Mom?

You know... instead of just writing a bunch of crap right now, I'm going to bed. Sorry. I know how you frequent-checkers like to see new & different. But once again, it's same old same old. Bunch o' nothing all the time. I'll change it up soon... maybe... if I feel like it.

Thanks for getting all the way to the end... says the girl-who-just-needs-l.o.v.e.

Amen Brother

Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.
    -- Niels Bohr (1885-1962)

Have You Seen This?

Since it's been a topic of conversation several times over the last couple days (Brad)... did you see the pics? http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=332192373&size=l

Also, thanks for all the well-wishes and love today... family, family #2, friends, txt from JL?!?! (where'd you come from?!), etc. Thinking of all of you tonight... and always. Much love to you and one last Merry Christmas (since it's still the 25th out here on the left side of the country!) before bedtime. Hope you're all safe, happy & comfortable in your own homes & beds tonight. XO

Have a Blessed Christmas

From tonight's candlelight service... the hymn (and single verse) that touched me most:

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever and love me I pray
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care
And take us to heaven to live with Thee there

We arrived in Portland safely mid-day (Pacific time). Definitely recommend the direct flight. While it may seem like a long flight, it's soooo much nicer than long layovers! But leaving that early from ATL (9:40-something) made the alarm go off much too early (4:30 am)!!! Left the pups on the porch all day today (14 hours!). I'm SURE they were THRILLED when Sarah got there tonight! Yay, Southern Pet Sitters!!!

Anyway, I'm sleeeeepy... and I'm sure we'll talk later. For now, thanks for all the happy thoughts & Merry Christmases. :) Hope you are having your best Christmas ever!

Thanks For Being On My Side

So what if I see the sunshine
In the pouring rain
Some people think I'm crazy
But you say it's okay

They May Not Be Pretty... But They're Me

Keeping a journal, a blog, some kind of record of all the things you've done... something I consider (when looking back upon it) a very, very, very cool thing. Okay, so you know about the picture project. By this point, I have 3253 pics in the "album". Only 152 are un-tagged at the moment... and that's only because I took a little break to come write this post. By the end of the evening, all 3253 will be tagged (I think I told you before... that means place, event, people, etc.). I only have one more folder on the Desktop to add (these frosh-year pics had been scanned in from pages in a photo album... I cropped & saved each one individually earlier today... just haven't imported into the program) and one more folder on the Desktop to crop/save individually (the "this is my life" photo album that I scanned in a few months back for Me-maw's birthday???). I'm so almost finished with the big-computer pictures! So exciting!

Anyway, the point of my first sentence... as I tag each picture, I'm making a best-guess attempt at a date for it as well. Well, that's not true... best-guess isn't really good enough unless I know, at the very least, month & year. I can pinpoint a day (maybe a week) for just about every single photo! And that's really saying something... when the dates are all screwy because pics have been scanned in (thus, the "date picture was taken" is wrong b/c the computer recognizes the scan-in date) or the digicam's date wasn't set correctly. Anyway, there are lots of reasons why the dates are wrong upon import. And there are very few ways you can check a picture's date. Unless you're me... and you have the 268 blog postings going back 1 year (and 2 days), a 4.8-gig e-mail archive (of course, that's only the CCOR address... anything dating back to Carolina or Visto is long gone... SADLY) and 140 megs of current e-mail, a journal that was written in sporadically (although sometimes religiously) between 9/5/93 and 6/27/05 (there's only one page left before the whole book is full!), a Bible that became a this-is-my-life-in-tiny-snippets-as-I-do-my-daily-Bible-reading (dates/notes range from 1/24/97 to 12/8/05), and various notes, letters, ramblings, creations, reminders, and momentos for everything! When I do finally get around to making my scrapbook, I have quite the job organizing all the hard copies of the things I've kept.

So, anyway, some of you played integral parts in these events... just curious, can you identify what might've happened on each of these dates?

• January 26, 1996
• May 31, 1997
• June 6, 1997
• July 11, 1998
• November 7, 1998
• December 19, 1998
• December 20, 1998
• April 29, 2000
• August 17, 2002
• June 18, 2005
• November 6, 2005
• October 24, 2006

Okay, I'll give you a few hints...

• There are two graduations in there, one mine and one Haley's... not necessarily from the same school
• There are a couple of weddings and first dates (not necessarily mine!)
• There's a trip to a theme park... for the 2nd time
• There are a few football games... special for a few different reasons
• And probably more than a couple "oh my God, I'm THAT GIRL" moments!

Think you know any of them? Yeah, sure you do. Anywho, those are just a few that jumped out at me as I was scrolling through the massive database of pics just now. Thanks to each of you who've played a part in the fun events in my life... and thanks for letting me take lots of pictures in the process!

It's just another story caught up in another photograph I found.
and it seems like another person lived that life a great many years ago from now,
When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.
    -- Sweet Jamie

Happy Pawlidays ... From Me ... With Love

Do you realize how difficult it is to keep coming back here, night after night, giving out yet another little piece of nothing?! You wouldn't think coming up with original little pieces of nothing would be that hard. Rest assured, it is. Hmm... what should I tell you about tonight? Well, first I'll share with you my original Christmas card ... made especially for, what the heck, we'll say YOU. :)



Jon and I had a little bit of Christmas early tonight. We treated ourselves to Japanese, a quick trip to Lowe's, and ALL of the presents in the box that arrived today. Should we have waited? Well, let's see... we're leaving early on Sunday morning (Christmas Eve Day), so we could've held the gifts until Saturday (12/23) night... but WHY? Today's just as good for Christmas as 12/23. Don't ya think?! Anyway, M, D, & H sent some very sweet, pretty things. Too much, yet again. We agreed on a spending limit this year (which they didn't really stick to... and which H evidently(?) didn't hear about!) to try to limit the lavishness we usually endure. Plus, with the upcoming trip to Oregon, Jon & I really did not want to have to figure out how to get any extra gifts back to Georgia on the return flight. So, we begged for Mom to just hold our gifts on the east coast. And then Haley came into the picture, all I'm-sending-yours-anyway... and we got the big box o' presents via USPS today. :) Seriously... everything was awesome. You guys did too much... yet again. For everyone that I DIDN'T get a present this year, I suck. I know it. That's all I wanted to say.

Well... I'm going to go see if I can't finish this little book I've been reading. I'd like to get this first-one-I've-ever-read-by-this-author finished up so that I can move on to her 2nd one that's already waiting on my shelves. It is quite enjoyable. Can't wait to tell you more about it. Soon... I promise.

P.S. - These photos-from-just-the-right-angle brought a smile to my face tonight. Thought you might also enjoy: http://forum.cybernetnews.com/index.php/topic,117.0.html.

The Time's Been Too Long

What we remember lacks the hard edge of fact. To help us along we create little fictions, highly subtle and individual scenarios which clarify and shape our experience. The remembered event becomes a fiction, a structure made to accommodate certain feelings. This is obvious to me. If it weren't for these structures, art would be too personal for the artist to create, much less for the audience to grasp. Even film, the most literal of all the arts, is edited.
- Jerzy Kosinski

This beginning-of-a-chapter quote really stuck with me... for two reasons. 1) I've told you before about my memories. I feel like Jerzy hits the nail on the head re: the way I feel about my memories. They're there. I think a lot about my memories. But I truly do feel that my mind has morphed them into little remember-able snippets... "little fictions, highly subtle and individual scenarios which clarify and shape our experience." They're not fact, for sure. But they're very real to me. And 2) Art is very, very, very personal. I'm not so pretentious to really believe what I leave here for you guys is art... but I do... kinda. Sometimes it's hard for me to actually click on "Publish" at the end of my post. Every time I do, I'm sharing a little piece of myself with you. It is very personal. It's edited, often heavily censored, but a piece of me nonetheless. So, thanks for reading me. But please continue to be gentle with my feelings. And thanks for being there for me... in all the ways you have been (sanity and such).

So, what is it about my writing? I love doing it. It's a personal exercise for myself... to be creative (somewhat), share pieces of myself with you voyeurs out there, keep you up-to-date with what's going on with me, communicate with each of you... personally and in general...

Anyway, enough about that. I have two sweet bundles of furry sleepiness on my lap (which makes it hard to finish out this post), so I should wrap for the moment. We'll talk more soon, I'm sure.

*** Huh... interesting... Blogger changed their picture-upload process. Hope those come through A-OK. ***

*** 2nd Postscript... Kids... I love both of you. And I don't know what to say. You know I have no advice... just know that I'm thinking about you and praying that everything works out. ***

A Little Something Better

That previous post was bad. I don't like it at all. But it's part of the record now... and I'm not about to go erase it. It had so much promise in my head. Oh well... you know what they say about the best laid plans.

Anway, I really felt like I should leave a little something better for y'all so you wouldn't be as let down as I was. So, here you go, a little wisdom & beauty from David (the king... not another David) about one of my favorite parts of this little world we live in:

The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship.
Day after day, they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known.
They speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies;
yet their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world.
-- Psalms 19:1-4

Hold Onto Whatever You Find

I don't mean to be deep. I'm actually quite simple-minded. Wouldn't you agree? I'm not trying to be intellectual, sophisticated, coy, or obscure. I don't think I'm better than anyone. (Quite the contrary, actually!)

Why say all that? I don't know... just felt like it needed to be said.

Anyway, my simple-mindedness is often quite obvious to me. I was taking a bath tonight (yes, mom, I have adopted your little habit... why wouldn't I with this darn bathtub?!)... anyway, I was taking a bath tonight and my mind was just about completely blank. Some people have to work to clear their mind. I just have to sit there and not think about anything. Makes me laugh... but it's more than a little true. Eventually, though, I think to myself... you know, I really should take this opportunity to think about something. It's such a good opportunity, anyway. I did have the tunes on and a book in my hand... so maybe I'm not giving myself enough credit for 'being there' mentally. (I was loving the Continuum and my Erica Jong. And, truthfully, I was paying attention to both. The no-thinkingness was actually more of an after-I-put-the-book-down goodness.) Get to the point already, Heidi. OK... so I started thinking about the water. By just touching the surface (or breaking the plane with a fingertip from below), you disrupt the entire still body of water. There's not one ounce left untouched. And before you can even comprehend all the ripples, the center has returned to tranquility, happiness, peace.

But... as I said... I'm simple-minded. So, don't ask me what any of that means. I'm sure Jon or Jake or Lis (et al) could all come up with symbolism, the deeper meaning, all that psychoanalytical babble. I choose to simply know I was observing the water. Speaking of water... there was a game we used to play on road trips. Eh, never mind. Sorry, this free-association, simple-mindedness of mine sometimes leads me to just blurt things out.

This was a dumb post. Sorry for wasting your time. That's what you get when I try to multitask (Monday Night Football). Go figure. Talk to you soon... hopefully with better subjects and better writing. Happy Monday night!

Ahh... Madden

Usually, when you get a doink, you don't get a 3. You need a mini-doink. There you got a doink... It's an inside doink. You can get a square doink, an outside doink, or an inside doink. When you get an inside doink like that, you get 3 points. That's one way to do it. A normal guy wouldn't try it that way.

I Smile Just Because

According to the BBC ("100 things we didn't know this time last year"), one in 10 Europeans is conceived in an Ikea bed. Also, for Camille: If all the Smarties eaten in one year were laid end to end it would equal almost 63,380 miles, more than two-and-a-half times around the Earth's equator.

Finally, Ritz crackers... little edible plates. Why've we got to keep going in circles?

Yeah Dawg... I Mean Mountaineers!!!

I Know the World Is Black & White

Oops... I forgot to mention the 1,699 additional pics I had stored temporarily in folders on my desktop on the big PC. Go figure... just when I think I get one part of the project done, I find there's actually more to go. Anyway, yes, still working on pics. The inspiring part, though, is that of the 1,699 "new" pics I found, most of them are organized adequately into folders. Wow... one good thing I did as I went!

Anywho... I couldn't really get inspired to do a lot (read "any") work today during regular work hours. So, I find myself burning the midnight oil now. My work programs have been open... well, no, they haven't. I started to say they've been open since 8 am; but I'd be lying. I shut everything down around 7, went to grab dinner (take out from Zaxby's... don't judge), and plopped down in front of the TV for a 2nd night in a row to watch a movie. Tonight's flick of choice: Click. Last night's: The Constant Gardener. Both get lots 'o stars in my Blockbuster ratings system. Two thumbs up. Definitely.

Oh, and I meant to post these earlier today (bet you can't guess what I was busy doing instead!):
- http://www.mygamingspace.com/play/tilt
- http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/worldmap/worldmap.html

Both of those little time-wasting games came from Random Good Stuff. I decided I needed a little more "good stuff" in my life. :) Not that all this and all y'all aren't great; but you can never have too much good stuff!

Well, Coop wants to go to bed, so I should wrap it up for the evening. Believe me, you don't want a big dose of me today anyway. Take the mini version & be satisfied. More to say tomorrow, I'm sure. Always, always, always more to say tomorrow. Nightie night, silly readers. Xo.

Spend the Night Watching Earth Come Up

So, I came to leave a message here last night... several times, actually. But, our ISP elected to (again) leave us without service. No excuse as to why I didn't post something during the day today. Just got busy with meetings and the like, I guess. Well, that and I didn't really have anything to say.

I spent the evening last night (and tonight, actually) organizing the rest of the pics on my desktop... and jamming to some very-loud tunes. It must suck to be my neighbor. I play my music at a pretty high decibel level... especially late in the evening. I like it best that way. I can get lost in it... and really hear it too. I like the most melancholy ones at the highest volume. Well, not only those. I play my harder stuff loudly too. In case you care... or if we happen to have similar tastes in music... check out some of the tunes on my recently played list:

"Like A Star" - Corinne Bailey Rae
"Rest In Pieces" & "Always" - Saliva
"Money Maker" - Ludacris
"Here" - Hellogoodbye
"Hey Boy" - The Blow
"Invincible" - Crossfade
Some Phobia from Breaking Benjamin
Beyonce's best yet on her B'Day
All of the Songs to Live and Die By from 8mm (could this be my new fave?!)
And a little Akon thrown in for good measure
Etc., etc., but I'll keep a few secrets, thank you very much.

Anyway, I was talking about my pictures. It's been one of my ongoing (and taking forever) projects to get all the pics on my big computer organized, tagged (people, places, events, groups, schools, pets, etc.), and properly dated. There are only 2500 catalogued there. While that may sound like a lot, there are 3936 on my laptop (that have all been taken or saved here in the last year and a half). Anyway, my goal was to finish the first 2500 on the big computer before moving the "new" ones over there... because those first 2500 had all the hard-to-identify ones. Anyway, Haley helped me finish the last of 'em today (thanks, baby sister), so now I only need to scour the big computer for files I missed the first time, clean up some of the duplicates or scanned-in-too-small pixelated ones, then add the next 3936 from the laptop. Once I get all those worked in, it's on to scanning all the hard copies that don't already have an electronic copy made. Hey... at least no one can ever accuse me of not taking on big enough projects! Shoot, once I finish all that, it's my long-term goal to sit myself down in front of the wall-unit-desk-turned-junk-cabinet in M&D's formerly-very-orange-den to make copies of all Mom's this-is-your-life-in-print shots. Will I ever get it finished? Probably not... but when do I ever actually do what I say I'm going to do?

Well, I guess that's it for the evening. The program's being screwy; otherwise, I'd give you a taste of some of the oldie-but-goodie pics on the big PC. Alas, I'll save 'em for another day and instead leave you tonight with some words of wisdom from the Psalms:

Because of Your unfailing love, I can enter Your house; with deepest awe I will worship at Your temple.
Lead me in the right path, O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me. Tell me clearly what to do and show me which way to turn.
- Psalm 5:7-8

Love, love, love, love, love

Livin' and Learnin' to Man Up

I spent a little time tonight looking through an old book (1991) that had more than a little wisdom to impart. I thought I'd share a few of the Live and Learn and Pass It On 'isms. I'm sure you guys know all these... but sometimes it's important for me to remind myself. Bear with me... or don't. Y'know, whatever.

I've learned that...
... the great challenge of life is to decide what's important and to disregard everything else
... it doesn't cost anything to be nice.
... it's hard to argue with someone when they're right.
... no matter how you slice it, there are always two sides.
... kindness is more important than perfection.
... education, experience, and memories are three things no one can take away from you.
... singing "Amazing Grace" can lift my spirits for hours. [Or "Surely Goodness and Mercy", as the case may be at my house.]
... when bad times come, you can let them make you bitter or use them to make you better.
... if your life is free of failures, you're probably not taking enough risks.
... if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always gotten.
... no one can keep a secret.
... I don't make many mistakes with my mouth shut.
... honesty in little things is not a little thing.
... we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
... everyone can use a prayer.
... you can't please some people, no matter what you do.
... you always find time to do the things you really want to do.
... we grow only when we push ourselves beyond what we already know.
... sometimes life hands you situations when all you can do is put one foot in front of the other and live moment to moment.
... you shouldn't speak unless you can improve on the silence.

Sometimes you've just got to take a moment and consider the world from Cooper's point of view:


Finally, a few from the car @ Thanksgiving, from one of my favorite spots on 421:

I Wanna Hear You Laugh Like You Really Mean It

One alcoholic says to another alcoholic, let's quit drinking.

It sounds like it should be funny. It maybe could be funny given the right context or person telling the "joke". But is it REALLY funny? Probably not so much. I'm going to choose to laugh anyway. Otherwise, I make myself crazy.

Stupid Friendly Fire

Friendly fire will not be tolerated. Spellcheck engaged.

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

This is the day which the Lord hath made;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
-- Psalm 118:24

When Is It Too Late?

Will lemonade eat your stomach like Diet Coke probably does? I think... probably not. So, I'm switching... at least at Chick-fil-A... at least for today. I ♥ lemonade.

Are You Standing In My Room?

How many natural-born citizens actually wouldn't be citizens if they actually had to take the citizenship test? I was reading Time magazine today and ran across a tidbit about how the govt. is changing the citizenship test. Evidently, they want to get away from memorization and make sure test-takers actually understand the principles, theories, and ideas presented. Funny... even the memorization would probably be too much to ask of some of our already-here citizens. I think Jay Leno's "Man on the Street" bit proves that! (As if interacting on a daily basis with "men on the street" hadn't already proven it to all of us.)

Anyway... wanna know how you'd do? I'm sure these are still old-version questions (thus, their memorize-able quality), but they still probably sufficiently prove my point. (And, by the way, this is all from memory... in addition to being stupid, the American people are lazy... and I'm not walking all the way back upstairs to grab the article just so I can copy the questions into this post!)

• Who is the current chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court?


• What is the national minimum wage?


• Name one of the authors of the Federalist Papers.


• What are "inalienable rights"?


• What does it mean that the U.S. Constitution is a "limited powers" constitution?


• Which cabinet-level organization advises the U.S. president on foreign policy?


• What are the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution called?


• What territory did the U.S. purchase from France in 1803?


• How many members are there in the U.S. House of Representatives?


• Shoot... I forgot the last one. One freakin' more and I can't think of it. Oh well... I'm actually pretty proud that I remembered 9 out of 10. Insert your own should-be-easy-but-isn't-really question about the U.S. here.

So, I was watching quite a bit of Tivo (and a movie) tonight; and there were lots and lots of quotes that were worthy of being documented (and repeated). Unfortunately, none of them are appropriate for general conversation (or blog-posting) at this moment. So, I'll just say there were lots I liked... and none I'll be telling y'all. Oh... except for "slut in truck". Hales, you were right. John Tucker Must Die... definitely worth the watch. :) But for all y'all who don't like high school movies, don't bother. We don't want you watching our fun movies anyway! Speaking of watching lots of movies... no, never mind. I don't want to talk about that either.

Well... since I can't seem to catch any of my swirly thoughts (any ones I want to blog about anyway), I'll steal one of Callie's answers to a question in the survey-o'-the-day bulletin... and then I'll bid my adieu:

What are your plans for the future?
Live, laugh, love

Good for you, Cal. Great answer. Good luck with that. To the rest of y'all... here's hoping that your living, laughing, and loving is the best it can possibly be. Wishing you nothing but the best & much, much, much, much, much happiness. Xoooooooo.

Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are a warm hearted and open minded person. It's easy for you to forgive and forget. You are a grounded person, but you also leave room for imagination and dreams. Your feet may be on the ground, but your head is in the clouds. You see yourself with pretty objective eyes. How you view yourself is almost exactly how other people view you. Your near future is calm, relaxing, and pretty much what you want. And it's something you've been anticipating for a while now. For you, love is all about caring and comfort. You couldn't fall in love with someone you didn't trust.

Inside the Room of Your Soul

Also... I read lots of blogs, some more random than others. I usually delete them off the RSS feed list if the author doesn't say something that moves me over the course of a couple weeks. This one was close to being deleted, but today, she hooked me (for another couple of weeks, at least).

I have only one thing to say about today - everyday is better than the next.

No worries. It was just Mercury falling.

I'm back... WITH... A Few Quotes for Ya...

Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of happiness.
- Lao-tzu (604 BC - 531 BC)

We are able to laugh when we achieve detachment, if only for a moment.
- May Sarton

Happiness comes more from loving than being loved; and often when our affection seems wounded it is only our vanity bleeding. To love, and to be hurt often, and to love again - this is the brave and happy life.
- J. E. Buchrose

Consciously or unconsciously we all strive to make the kind of a world we like.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Whatever is at the center of our life will be the source of our security, guidance, wisdom, and power.
- Stephen Covey

Cable people suck. Sorry, sweets. But hope the red takes the edge off the day! Well, that and the boy. Meanwhile, my replacement friend Tivo is running out of entertainment. Stupid hiatusoxen. I'm gonna have to go find more shows to capture for later viewing pleasure.

Thanks to all y'all regular checkers out there for coming back again and again and again to this here nonsense. Sorry for the no-message last night. Our ISP decided to take us off the air for the evening (kind of like the Panthers at the end of the game last night) and didn't return to action until about 10:30 this morning. But I noticed y'all checking in repeatedly anyway. :) Hope you like re-runs.

About Having Brown Eyes...

My brown eyes are so boring... but the good thing about having them is I get to pretend every 'brown eyes' song is about me... or Cooper. I guess any 'brown eyes' song could theoretically be about Cooper.


Also... some things everyone should know: 18 Tricks to Teach Your Body.

Haven't You Had Enough of Me?

There's a sound in my house at this moment. As I sit here and try to decide what I can entertain you with tonight/tomorrow, I'm being entertained (conventional meaning stretched just a tad for what I'm really feeling about this sound) at the moment by a subtle, yet strong, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. What do you call an eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee? Is it a buzz... not really, a buzz definitely has more of a zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz quality. A beep? Again, don't think so. A beeeeeeeeeeep (even a long one has more of a hard beginning and end. This is just an eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. It starts softly, subtly... one might think to oneself, "is that really a noise I'm hearing or are my ears just ringing?"... but it doesn't stop & after a while, you're positive it's an eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee that will drive you to drink.

Oh wait! It's quite possible that it's stopped! Phew... now I can actually get back to what I was planning to say tonight. Oh shoot... stupid eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee... it took my post plan with it.

Just one more thought, then, and it's "scamper off to bed" time for me:
When it hurts to be out there,
Where no one will care,
I've got the solace of you;
Gotta go inside back where it started,
Back to the beginning,
'Cause that's where my heart is

Wishing you much solace this Thursday/Friday. If I don't see you again, have a phenomenal weekend. ♥

Pull It Over Your Skinny Self

First and foremost...

GO HEELS!!!!!

Thoroughly enjoyed that game tonight. Love this team! They're fun to watch when they're playing! I love this list I found on someone else's blog (to accurately give credit where credit is due: "http://www.heelsblog.com/blog/_archives/2006/11/20/2514977.html"):
Frasor: heady
Ellington: silky
Terry: mercurial
Wright: loooong
Hansbrough: beast
Green: secret
Ginyard: feisty (sic)
Miller: bullseye
Thompson: solid
Stepheson: strong
Thomas: erratic

From tonight's post on the same blog:
"Oh what fun it is to be a Carolina basketball fan." And he made me chuckle with: "Oh - apparently - and this is SUPER PREMIUM info - Ohio State has a player - I think his name is Craig Odum (sic) - that is a freshman, and is supposed to be really good but couldn't play tonight. It's too bad ESPN didn't mention him." My sarcasm sensor is beeping. Too funny. Also... Jon & I think Oden looks at least 35. No way that kid is 18.

Let's see, what else?! Well, I stepped up. Since I threw down the gauntlet to myself in last night's blog post, I decided to get with it and get back to running this AM. Ouch. It wasn't pretty. My time was... not good. It felt... not good. The whole experience was... well, not good. But I know it gets better. When the side stops hurting and the lungs get some real capacity back and the legs stop itching, it's pretty fun. Now, let's just see if I can get back to regular speed. Oh yeah, and by the way, I sold myself short in my post last night. The "odometer" on the treadmill proves that I've run 170 miles (not the weak 150 I posted last night). And now... ha ha ha... it's 173.

Finally, I stepped outside tonight with the primary purpose of chasing down the dogs (after their last-trip-of-the-night potty break). And although I looked hard for it (even walked around the side to make sure the new house next door wasn't blocking my view), my sweet bella luna was nowhere to be found. Funny, silly bella luna... hiding from me.

Speaking of the house next door... it's almost ready... anytime you wanna come buy it.

You Wouldn't Believe Me If I Told You

So, this YEAR is much too quickly drawing to a close. Who can believe it's going to be DECEMBER this week?! Especially with this weather!! It's been in the mid-70's down here all week. Dad says it's supposed to get cooler beginning tomorrow. I know he's always right, but me & my denial (conscious choice on grammatical error, grammar nazis among you) are choosing not to believe him this time. I love mid-70's. Better yet, I ♥ mid-70's!!! Anyway, yeah, mid-70's or not, we can't stop the calendar from flipping over to December. I'm going to MISS November. I also ♥ November... but mostly just because it contains my birthday... which I also ♥. Overuse? Okay, I'll stop. Anyway, December... the LAST month of the year. The thought that popped into my brain (along that same vein) earlier tonight? Dang, I only have one more month left to accomplish my 2006 New Year's Resolutions!

So, in an attempt to accomplish the goals I so thoughtfully established for myself nearly 11 months ago, I'm going to at least remind myself what they were! Luckily, that was one of the first posts on this here blog (does it seem possible that it's almost been a year of my random nothingness???)... if you're interested in the whole thing, it's way back on January 20 (http://pawpads1.blogspot.com/2006/01/new-year-resolutions.html).

• Be smarter about eating & exercising. Well, the pact for $2 or 20 minutes a day didn't last very long at all. But I did put 150 miles on my treadmill. I picked up a running habit for about 3 months there... and I fully intend to get back to it at some point. Every day now, as I turn the water in the shower on (just before lunchtime), I seriously consider turning it back off and lacing up the sneaks for a pre-shower 3 mile trot. So far, I haven't taken myself up on the offer... but I'm bound to one of these days. I miss my Mraz. As for the eating, well, I'm a complete and utter failure on that front. I've got one month to change my life & make my heart feel better. Ready, go.


• Train the dogs. Ha... well, they know how to sit, lay down, stand up, shake, jump (Coop), dance (Kona), come, high five, high ten, touch, and heel/walk (kinda). Of course, that's only if I can prove (with sight, smell, or touch) that I have snackage in my hand (or within very close reach). I still, for the life of me, can't get 'em to stop barking when they're riled (especially if I'm on the phone), come when they're barking, or stop attacking someone when they've decided it's time to eat them. We're still working... slowly but surely (more slowly than surely, of course).


• Reconnect with friends. IM is my best friend. I ♥ chatting. Oh shoot... sorry, I forgot I was supposed to stop doing that. Anyway, I've had a few reconnects over the course of the year... thanks to MySpace and Facebook... some more special than others, but all meaningful, nonetheless. And as for new friends, Fun Melanie comes to my immediate mind. :)


• Make a scrapbook. Yeah... well, I've got a month to get to work on this "just one" scrapbook I promised myself. I did undertake a huge project to organize all my computer-based pictures... so that's kind of in the same genre. But different. And still incomplete anyway. Regardless... I remain undaunted. I'll finish both the computer-pic project AND one scrapbook this year if I have to stay up all night every night to do it. I ♥ staying up all night. Seriously... who needs more than about 16 hours every 4 days anyway?!


• Be a better Christian. Well, I knew there was at least one I was failing miserably at... in addition to the scrapbook one. Must do better. Period.

Home stretch. I CAN make headway. I MUST make progress. Things WILL work out. Promise. Much love, my people.

One More Thing...

I ♥ college basketball

However, the problem with college basketball in my life is that now, all of a sudden, I don't have time to catch up on my Tivo-watching. Geez... I guess I'll just have to stay up later. But, dang it, then there are the West Coast games. The solution must be to quit my job & watch TV full-time. Awesome. Glad I figured that out.

Thin Crust, I Love You

It's amazing how the memory works. As I sit here on hold with Domino's, I decided to look online & see if they have any specials published. They don't. But what they do have is pictures of their various offerings. If you take a look at the menu and go to "view pizzas", you see... right there in the middle of the page... the crust choices. Gosh... I am CRAVING a pepperoni crunchy thin crust right now!!! And please, if possible, I'd like to eat it on the floor (or one of the teeny-tiny beds) at 2802 Granville South.

Don't Let Me Get Away

Do you think it's possible that by doing less (physically) during the day, I set myself up to stay up later than everyone else? I find myself wondering that very thing as I sit here fielding "good night's" from my rapidly diminishing Buddies list on Trillian. I think it's quite feasible that I eat the same number of calories, sit around dicouraging my body from burning those calories with any sort of physical activity, then sit here like the night owl I long to be just waiting for the just-sitting-around calorie-burning to finish for the day. Thank goodness my body likes to burn just as many calories in a day as the next guy.

Additional things to be thankful for tonight: winning one's fantasy football game.
Added bonus: beating one's competitive, I'm-not-a-very-good-loser husband in said fantasy football game... by 3 points... on a not-so-likely touchdown from Donald Driver.

Okay, evidently, I have nothing else to say at the moment. Note to self: plan better blog posts during day. Meanwhile, I have a few pics I've been wanting to share. First, to help get you into the Christmas spirit... Cooper & Kona begged me to put them in costume. Okay, maybe they didn't beg... but, no worries, they got many treats for (begrudgingly) cooperating.


Then on the trip to NC for Thanksgiving, they really, really, really wanted to do the ordering at the drive-thru. Funniest moment that was impossible to capture with still photography: when the worker asked to take our order, both pups jumped about 2 feet into the air.


It's been a few weeks, but on Halloween night (just before the trick-or-treaters started showing up, I spent hours laying down new pine straw. Every time I thought to take a picture, it was already too dark; so these pics are a little bit after-the-fact (like, a week or so)... but I still think they're pretty (and show off my sometimes-there physical ability/motivation):



Finally, I'm just still not over the amusement of the bread truck. Must post yet another picture of it. One a penny, two a penny... I got your hot cross buns right here!

Because I Can't Stop With the Haikus... and Because I'm Thinking of You

It is important
To have patience and love
With an open heart

With that being said
It's important too, you know,
To be true to self

For the Fam

♥   ♥   ♥

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream

♥   ♥   ♥

Move Along, Move Along Just to Make it Through

The past couple days have flown by. Sorry to leave ya hanging if you happened to check this little page and expected to see some "news". Jon & I traveled to les montagnes on Wednesday (ugh, traffic). Thursday morning started Thanksgiving-y enough, but Jon's day quickly went sour. The croup hit him around 11:30 and stuck with him until, well, about now. Unfortunately, he wasn't even able to make it to the Thanksgiving Day lunch table. He shivered and sweated through a few hours and finally had turkey and apple pie around 3:00-ish. Meanwhile (feeling a little scummy while Jon suffered), the rest of us had a great Thanksgiving Day lunch of turkey, ham, mac&cheese, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, peas, corn, rolls, cranberry sauce, pumpkin roll, pecan pie, and apple pie. At this point, after yesterday's lunch, yesterday's dinner, and today's miscellaneous meals, the leftovers are almost completely cleaned out!

After lunch, Dad, Haley, Mike & I jumped in and packed a load of Haley's stuff onto 'the bread truck'. Mike left to have Thanksgiving with his family, so Dad, Haley & I took the first load on up to Haley's new place. (She closed this past week on a cute townhouse about 15 minutes from Mom & Dad's.) One a penny, two a penny... two girls, a boy, and a bread truck... coming soon to a town near you.



Then, once we lost Dad to the bed, Haley, Mom & I continued working into the wee hours. (We had to sort through Haley's clothes since she's having to go from a nice big walk-in closet to one very small closet in her new place.) She got rid of a lot (too much of which is in my car to go with me back to the Boro), but her closet is still stuffed.

We jumped in again this morning, loaded another bread-truck-full (along with a couple pick-up truck loads (the Duramax & Mike's Frontier) to take along caravan-style), and took off to unload once again (leaving Jon for another less-than-fun-I'm-sure day in his sick-bed). I guess I just didn't even think about being gone ALL DAY since I left my computer & pocketPC at Mom & Dad's (I didn't check my e-mail all day!... which is sooooo RARE for me). But, it was an all-day affair. We unloaded and started setting up, then worked pretty much all day afterward. That was all the way up until dinner-time... when Mom & Dad came home to check on the dawgs & Jon and Haley, Mike & I went to dinner at Macado's. Fair? Probably not. Sorry, Jon, Mom & Dad!

Perfection

Your Life is 78% Perfect

Your life is pretty darn perfect. You don't have much to complain about. Of course, your life is occasionally less than perfect. But you're usually too happy to notice.

How Perfect is Your Life?

I Will Build a House Upon This Mountain

Today's Quote
Climb up on some hill at sunrise. Everybody needs perspective once in a while, and you'll find it there.
-Robb Sagendorph

I, once again, find myself falling asleep at the "wheel". So I don't lose it completely (and type something entirely inappropriate for general conversation), I'll take my leave of you. Of course, it's only temporary... as I'll see you from NC tomorrow night. Maybe I'll even use the 6-hour trip to compose something meaningful. Eh... meaningful or not at all... you always know I'm here! ;)

Happy Tuesday!

Is This Enough Detail For You?!?

What would you do with a few extra hours a night... provided you didn't HAVE to sleep? Can you imagine what life would be like?! There are definitely some positives... especially for night owls like me!! But who wants to give up SLEEP?!?! Isn't sleep-time some of the best time of the day? A drug named Modafinil may take away some of those sweet-as-sugar hours.

So... the rest of the story...
Let's see, I only got through Saturday of last weekend, right? ...Of the Girls' Sports Weekend?

Just to recap, Melanie & I left on Friday of last week (2 Fridays ago, at this point) for North Carolina planning to attend three sporting events and enjoy lots of hang-out time with some great friends. You saw a few of the pics from RAMPAGE (lol... the "nickname" given to UNC's 2006 homecoming). We enjoyed the football and basketball, but mostly the camaraderie! We sure put in our walking that day. After allowing Haley & Mike to drop Melanie & me off on Franklin (actually, Rosemary!), we walked to the Pit (where we met up with J & M)... back to Franklin (to meet up with H & M)... back to the Pit/main quad (where we happened upon Ken & Charlene and Rufus & Phillip)... on to the stadium for the game... to the Dean Dome for the next game... (insert extra trip across campus - to Franklin & back - for H & M as they doubted I would be able to get 'em in to the b-ball game)... back to Franklin & Ham's where we had dinner... and finally a run through the rain back to the car @ Ham's after hanging at He's Not for a few hours. Over the course of THIS day, we (Melanie & I) met up with (in order of appearance... my best guess, at least): Haley, Mike C., Mike D., Jess, Ron-Ron, Fuchsie, Mark/Beth/Izzy, Ken/Charlene, Rufus/Phillip, Brad, Andy, Phil, Bucky, Miranda, Dickran, and Clay. Were there more? Oh well... if I missed you, sorry. Anyway, a couple of classics from the evening that I didn't post in the previous entry (M+Hx2 looking mostly silly... and the group at He's Not, highlighted by Melanie's arm around Mike's shoulder and Clay's head on my shoulder?!):


Moving right along... after a long Saturday (marked by both Yates girls dropping off to sleep mid-conversation), we were ready for our day of rest. Melanie, Mike, Haley & I popped over to the Cheesecake Factory for that little slice of heaven Haley likes to call Godiva (and lunch before that). Then, Melanie & I hit the road for Charlotte. After having experienced my bad driving for the whole 6 hours from the Boro to CH (well, that coupled with her tendency to get carsick), Melanie accepted my offer to let her drive and she chauffeured me to Charlotte. We met up with Mike D., Jess, and Flip for dinner and turned in by about 1 am or so... the EARLIEST night of the whole trip, I believe! Monday's daytime hours brought a real honest-to-goodness vacation day for me (which I really haven't taken in AGES) and a good deal of shopping. Melanie, bless her planner's heart, had a Christmas list; whereas I was merely interested in doing some major just-for-Heidi damage at Banana Republic (which I did... very much of). Anyway, blah blah blah... saw Darin & his development, spent time looking for a Panthers sweatshirt, strolled into the grandstand at Lowe's Motor Speedway, etc. until it was tailgate time. Now, from the tailgate, there are many, many, many very fun pictures that I would love to share. But Darin has dropped off the face of the earth... taking his camera & digipics with him. So, we'll just have to mine that picture source later. Finally, it was game time and up, up, up we went to our seats. :) It really wasn't that bad... in fact, I loved the seats... and really only felt the pain of the climb on the way back up the two times I braved the concession stand/bathroom lines. Fun Heidi's MNF in visual:


And, of course, typical shot of the night:


I think that's about it... until I find more fun pics from Darin. Until then, though, I'm finished with this story. Memories are being filed away in the best-of-the-best folder. Thanks to all y'all who were a part of the uber-fun weekend o' sporting events! Sorry if anything didn't go exactly as planned or if I got on any of your nerves. :)

On Top of the Hill

Well, I feel like I owe you good peeps a real blog post... the first of the week, yes, I know. Not to make excuses, but I've been b-u-s-y! As many of you know, I've been traveling again this week. Let's see... first, I dragged my good buddy Melanie up to Chapel Hill for homecoming, then we hopped over to Charlotte for MNF Panthers vs. Bucs. Tuesday morning, we headed back to Statesboro, where I stayed for all of about 2 hours before I hit the pavement again for a 3-day business trip to Atlanta. Finally, tonight, I've made my way back to the Boro for a (hopefully) good night's sleep in my own bed.

Homecoming

Wouldn't it be GREAT if Carolina football was good again? I was just checking out a Carolina Yackety Yack from '97 the other day (on this trip, actually), and I noticed the football schedule/results. We had ONE loss that year... and that was to #2 FSU on Judgment Day in the Tar Pit! Anyway, homecoming these past few years has been interesting. Seems like Bunting always takes this opportunity (when the impress-me alumni are back in town) to get the one win that secures his job for the next year. This year, since he's already been canned, I guess he figured he could just let this one go. Nah... in truth, the game was pretty good... except for the two Dailey interceptions in the end zone. UGH. Football aside, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Got to catch up and hang out with some besties from back in the day. Love!!!!! Plus, with Haley, Melanie, Jess & Mike squared there, who could not have a blast?!




Huh... well, go figure; I'm going to have to pick this up tommorrow. I can't seem to keep my eyes open, and I'm even falling asleep on Bill (Maher) every 20 seconds. Thank goodness I only do that with TV and the computer. I'd hate to be in the middle of a conversation, listening to something important from a friend's perspective then... boom... knocked out cold. Um... can you please repeat that?! Yeah, good thing I don't have to do that. So... I've fallen asleep twelve times just writing this last paragraph. There was even a repeat dream about Noah & his tigers. Geez... Gonna have to come back to all y'all later.

Hope you had a wonderful, excitement & happiness-filled Friday. Peace, love, and Carolina!!!