Yes, Yes, YES!!!!!!!!!! Packers are in the playoffs, bay-bee!

Ah yes, the packers won a glorious game today, AND the Vikings lost. Ah, victory is sweet. More news on the English front: I went shopping today and bought groceries so I could cook dinner and not order take-out. I spent about £14 on everything, and that will be breakfast and dinner. However, people could tell I was a foreigner; I gave incorrect change at the grocers. I thought I was handing her a £1 coin and I really had a 20p coin. *sigh* I got the wierdest look, until I opened my mouth, then they could tell I wasn't a Pom. Oh and I couldn't figure out how to use the cart at the grocery; the dang thing had brakes on the wheel!!! I didn't know; I couldn't push it and was all frusterated and wondering why it was broken and Nick had no clue either, as he never shops for groceries, lol. Some girl helped me, but it was so embarrassing. The Poms here are going to think that Americans are complete idiots. And hey, no comments from the peanut gallery, there.

And I can't understand some of the people. I have to say "what" all the time, and its a great bother. Oh well. I'm getting the hang of this, I think living abroad could be fun. But back to the adventure of cooking dinner rahter than ordering take out, which was not neccessarily cheaper. Nick has NO groceries. That's okay, right, I just need to pick up a few things. As if. We get home and he chooses this time to inform me in and incredulous tone of voice that of course he doesn't have bowls to cook in. I had to use ceral bowls too cook the hamburger. What an adventure. Okay, so the food still turned out (we had stuffed green peppers), and he decided that maybe cooking dinner wasn't that bad after all and talked about making it himself sometime. (I had a microwave cookbook) :)

Well, next package he gets, there will be a great big pyrex bowl inside. Oh he had a nice glass bowl, lol, but used it to feed the dog. lol, he is truly a bachelor.

We went to the zoo today, and froze to death, but I did see a kokabura (yes, my spelling is wrong, I'm sure), an Australian bird, and we saw some marsupials, and lots of snakes at the reptile house. Including a lot of big, hairy tarantulas. Oh, there was this huge lion that roared, and a great fat sea lion, a red panda, and some snow leapords. There was a castle there as well, and although it wasn't as good as Warwick castle, it was cool. Very old and lovely.

Will update you more later. It's getting late here. :P

Does Santa get airsick?

And so my trip to England began quite early; we were up at 2:30, and got to the airport by 5. Dad was trying to park and so did not see me off. With all the dire warnings of Security being hiked, we thought I should get through the gates as soon as possible. Got on both planes without a hitch, except the ride from Chicago to London was a little... long. I got very hot and queasy at about the last hour, but survived without having to use the airsick bag. :P When I finally arrived at the airport, it was hot!!!! Walked round and round through lines to get first through customs, then through baggage pickup, and finally it was off. Had to stay at a hotel the first night; it was late and the next day we did some sightseeing of London.

Driving in London is a "bugger"...

There were no places to park, the roads were crazy and we drove round and round trying to find Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge. You don't even want to know how long we drove about trying to find these places, and we even had a map in front of us. Nick hates London with a passion, and I hate the roads but it would be lovely if one was taking a tour bus. Basically, the roads just go with no real direction, not like roads back in US, and the signs just end, and you have to find them again. And they drive on the wrong side of the road. Glad I wasn't driving!!!!! I had several scares when we turned into the "wrong" lane, and of course then I realized it was not the wrong side (for England, anyway).

Buckingham Palace, when we did find it, and found an open entrance, was lovely. I got quite a few pics and some guys offered to take my pic by the queens statue (Nick was still trying to find a parking spot, and was rather unsucessful). I got a treat when the Palace guards came marching by, all smart in their uniform. Got a pic of that, it was quite cool. :) Nick pulled over on the side of the street and I ran to get back in the car and had a bobby come up in the car with flashing blue lights and tell me to "move along" (add a heavy accent), which she had to repeat cuz I couldn't understand her at first. Then we moved along and Nick was glad to escape London finally.

England has lots of very old and fantastic buildings; they have lots of character, its very neat just to drive through town and see it all. I couldn't possibly get pictures of everything here; its all so fascinating. I will try to get some pics tho. :)

Then it was off to an old castle to tour and explore and I used up two rolls of film just there! It was tons of fun, and I really enjoyed myself. There was alot of walking tho.

Then we got home, and watched "Meet the Parents", and then I finally crashed and went to bed. I think I am used to London time now, but when I get back I'll have to get used to it all over again.

I've just had a pickle and cheese sandwhich, it was quite good actually, but not the pickles we have back in the US. Then Nick asked me what I wanted to drink and I said I'd have an iced tea, and he thought it was the strangest request. You don't ruin tea, by putting ice in it, I guess. :P I also had black pudding and it was edible but not all that impressive, since I know what its made from. Don't ask.

Nick's dog is huge; makes my puppy look like a mouse. She's bigger than I am, and probably weighs more, and I wouldn't want to incur her wrath. She's very sweet though, and alot like my old malamute, Loyal. :) Alot bigger though!!!!

Stourbridge is quite hilly, and the houses all quite close together. The roads are very interesting as well, and a foreigner navigating these streets would get quite lost. Not as bad as London, but confusing for a Yank. :P He's got a nice little house, and he's got it easy with the backyard; its a gravel lot, so he never has to mow. He's a very good housekeeper; which dispels forver the myth of bachelors. :D I am duly impressed.

We are going to attempt grocery shopping - I brought my microwave cookbook. So it shall be another adventure, I'm thinking - Nick doesn't like to cook. But take-out and going out to eat every night will be (would be) atrociously expensive, did you know that 2 bottles of pop here is £1.75, which, Nick informs me was a sale. In US dollars, that would be roughly $3.25, or so. Well, when I exchanged money in the ATM, I paid $107 for £60. So its about $175 - $1.85 exchange rate; it fluctuates.

Oh and I HAVE to rub this in; It was 50 degrees (yes farenheit) when my plane landed, and it was too hot for my coat. While it is a bit cooler today it still much warmer than at home, AND the grass is still green and that is unheard of in December at home. So I'm having fun. :)

Got to run, will catch you later.

Can I go to bed yet?

Today I managed to get all packed and wrap the family's gifts; I didn't wrap Nick's gifts because I was cheerfully informed that they would make me unwrap 'em all at the airport as a measure of added security. *sigh* This will be great fun.

But I'm not thinking about that. Monty had a blast today "helping" me wrap gifts. He kept jumping on the paper, and bouncing excitedly about. Then he ran off with the scissors. Then I grabbed those and he ran off with the tape. I rescued the tape, and he ran off with the scissors again. *sigh* He was a bit worn out though, by the time I had to go to work. I know I was... still am! :P

One more day!!!! Well okay, two more days, but... well, I leave so early it doesn't count. :P

Can't promise I'll keep this updated too well in England, but I'll try.

Everyone, have a Merry Christmas!!!

Rebecca, have a happy Birthday on the 28th if I don't talk to you sooner. :)

spreading christmas cheer

Went to a lovely Christmas program sunday night about celebrating the true meaning of Christmas and having love and kindness in our hearts, like the one who's birth we celebrate. It WAS wonderful, and I was convinced that I needed to be kinder and more compassionate to people.

Thinking and doing are two different things. My charitable thoughts were completely obliterated, and I don't know where they went today; they were lost in the cloud of exhuast from the traffic that I was stuck in today.

Somehow around the holidays, crazy drivers come out of the woodwork, and then go back into dormancy for the rest of the year. OF course everyone else is the idiot driver, right? So there I am, mumbling under my breath about the idiots that were cutting me off, and blocking intersections and slowing traffic to a snails pace. Looking very... angelic, I'm sure. lol.

First someone slams on their brakes in front of me and I'm forced to slam on mine. The bag of books behinds me slams into my seat and I think I've been hit, so I say something rather unangelic and then realize I'm fine. I'm actaully being safe and using the headset for my cell phone (unlike 98% of the other drivers), so Becky hears everything; and she is frantically calling my name and I'm not answering her, cuz the phone flew from my seat and the headset was ripped from my ear.

Since I'm stuck in a dead traffic anyway, I retrieve the phone and tell her I'm fine. It takes me 15 more mins to get about 1/4 of a mile and once I get OFF the exit, its worse. And Christmas cheer is NOT what's running through my mind. More like I'm creating my own internal heating device. I finally escape the mall, and have to head to Wal-mart and that's even worse. AFter I leave there, I have to go sell my books (or try to).

So I run downtown to find a used bookstore to buy my textbooks, and think i see one, so I pull over (and finally evade the guy who's tailgaiting me). Once I pull over, I've got to back into a parking space; it is then that I realize its not a BOOK store, but a CD store. *sigh* It's hard to read when someone is so close on your bumper that you can see what color eyes he has (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, but he was close).

So, I wait to pull out (into a busy street downtown). I see my chance and step on it - and shoot backwards. I realize I'm still in reverse. I don't hit the $20,000 truck behind me, thankfully, but my heart is now pounding wildly, and has dropped into my stomach.

This time, carefully, I pull out, driving like a granny. People are on my tail again, but I don't care. I want to stay in one peice so that I can go to England (without being in a body cast).

And I realize that the idiot drivers I am griping at includes me. It happens to all of us, we are all tired and stressed and in a hurry. Which is a lesson to me to be more understanding, a little more patient, and perhaps to sloooooow down.

Someone told me, with my high cheekbones, that I had an uncanny resemblence to Cruella Deville in a parcicularly memorable scene (101 Dalmations). In that lovely scene where she's barrelling down the road in her car, honking the horn wildly, yelling for people to get out of the way. Her eyes are wild, her hair is flying about her head, and she's hunched forward over the wheel with a gleam in her eye. Okay, I'm not that wild of a driver. I am a tad bit impatient tho. Perhaps one day, I'll reach that "wise" stage, where I'm calm and patient and people admire me. Stop laughing, it could happen. Okay, so right now, I'm more of a wise-crack. But I'm working on it, I really am. :P

4 more Days!!!

It's getting down to the wire!!! I've not had time to pack yet, and I still have to wrap Christmas presents as well. I am sooo exicted, though!!! Whoo-hoooo!!!

This morning was crazy as usual, and I am therefore amazed that I actually made it to church on time; and discovered that half my friends were not there. Rebecca, Jen and Terry were at another church, as Rebecca was playing the flute, and Diana was... sleeping in. When I called to apologize for not calling back sooner and that she hadn't gotten a ride, she was still sleeping. :P

Back to the crazy morning. Monty is not housebroken yet. And he won't go unless someone is with him. This dispels the myth that only females go to the bathroom in groups. Monty refuses to go alone. In fact, the only time he'll go when someone isn't watching him is in the HOUSE... which is not supposed to be an option. So I stood around in my pajamas and work boots (good combination, lol), and waited for him. Monty was more interested in eating snow. lol. So there I stand on the steps, saying "go potty!!" in a falsely cheerful voice, and my pajama pants are billowing in the wind like a sail on ship.

Finally I give up and bring him inside. Ten minutes later, there's a puppy sized present on the floor. So I run him BACK outside and plough through the living room which is covered with packages for christmas, and put him back outside. He is done, he doesn't want to go out now, lol.

Ah, the joys of having puppies. lol. :)

Do they sell puppy pull-ups? lol.

The Return of the Kids

IT gets even better... Amazingly, I got two papers written, and two study guides written yesterday and this morning. I am not lax in my duties, even though I appear to be somewhat of a rabid LOTR fan.

So we start with last night...

Seven o'clock rolls around and I race to Deanna's house to pick her up and her little brother and sister, Bryan and Tay. Tay is 11 and Bryan is 6. They were supposed to have taken naps and Tay was supposed to have gotten her homework done. We'll talk about that later. We leave in such a hurry that Bryan forgets to get his coat and we don't notice till we are at the mall. Grrrr. The kid hates coats, but he's got a cold right now, and his nose runs constantly. lol.

I'm stressing about finals and bring my backpack to the movies. We've gotten there early so we can get a good seat. The ticket kid is incredibly misinformed and won't let us in, even though the big flashing sign says "now seating" for the 9pm show (we got there at about 8pm). So we have to wait outside; he says hell let us in at 8:50. At 8:30, people are STREAMING in, and so I go up there again, because there's a different person now.

"Are you seating for the 9 o'clock show yet," I ask.

"Oh yes," she smiles, "we've been seating for awhile." Okay, so we scramble for seats, the theatre is 3/4 full already, and I'm mad at the stupid kid who wouldn't let us in. However, we do manage to find seats, that are acutally decent.

I'm sitting in the semi-darkness, frantically writing a study guide, which needed to be done the next day. But the kids wanted to go, and they promised that they would take a nap and not complain about being tired and they promised that of course they would get up for school the next day with no fuss. *sigh*

The movie was awesome, I could see it this time and I could hear it. I was very happy I went, the crap I went through up to that was worth it. lol. It was pretty amazing. Before you think I'M a fan... wait. There were about four people there totally dressed LOTR theme - long cloaks, swords, tunics, leggings - one girl even had on elf ears! Okay, so don't knock me. lol.

The kids loved the movie, were pretty wide eyed at the spider part, lol, but stayed awake. For that I'm impressed, especially with the 6 y/o, who, if you remember from the last entry, HAD to go.

So we are all tired but in a (I thought) good mood when we get back to their house. But we are hungry. I have a reason to be; all I'd eaten that day was bacon and eggs at breakfast and a carameled apple. So they want something to eat; I think we can make them a sandwhich. Their mom just wants to go to bed, thinks its ridiculous that they want to eat at 1am. lol. But you would think, since they begged for this, that they would be on extra good behavior, right? Um, nice wish...

Tay drops the bomb; she hasn't done her homework. Okay, her mom says, we'll get up early and do it in the morning. No problem, right? Instant tears.

"I don't waaaaaaannnna get up early, wahhhhhhhh..." - you get the picture. Meanwhile Bryan is throwing a fit because he wants to eat. His mom tells him to have a yogurt. He doesn't want yogurt or a sandwhich (which I offered to make him, since that's what Dee and I were having; he wants a regular supper. His mom tells him if he doesn't want something easy like yogurt to forget it, she is too tired to cook anything now, and informs him he's being ridiculous. Dang. So Bryan gets dramatic and storms down the hall (everyone in the house is very much awake now) and says (or yells, rather),

"FINE!!!! I'LL JUST HAVE TO GO TO BED HUNGRY THEN AND THEN I WON'T BE ABLE TO SLEEP..." (the whole poor me bit) So, he's throwing a tantrum because he wants a hot supper; their mom doesn't wanna deal with two upset children - she's still trying to handle the great Tay crisis (she's not a teenager yet, lol). *sigh* Me and Deanna hear her tired voice floating down the hall:

"WE ARE NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN!!! WHAT WAS I THINKING?! ONE AM, AND ONE KID IS STARVING AND WANTS SUPPER AND THE OTHER KID WAITS TIL NOW TO REMEMBER SHE HASN'T DONE HER HOMEWORK!!!"

(This kid hates school, so she procrastinates any thing related to it).

Deanna's mom asks her to please just throw something in the microwave and give it to Bry, so he can go to bed. Bryan, amazingly enough (after his little angry outburst), eats quietly and goes to bed - no tears or further dramatics from him.

I stayed over night because it was late and they have a computer, and I had finals the next day; less road time meant more study time. So we all crashed, at about 1:30.

So this morning, my alarm goes off at 7 a.m.; and I'm about to press snooze and go back to sleep when I hear the water works being turned on upstairs. Tay is being dramatic again, and now she's crying because she doesn't think she'll have time to take a shower. Who knows if the homework is done. Who cares? It reminds me that MINE isn't, and I force myself to get my tired carcass out of bed.

After I get up, I start the happy process of cramming. Bryan is up as well; amazingly enough, he's as cheerful as all get out and just as happy as can be. And he's the 6 y/o. IF any thing, I'd have thought that HE'D be the one crying and tired, not Tay. lol, She'd be a good actress; great at dramatics, that one.

I'm frantically writing my paper and Nick is texting me on the phone and I text him back to tell him I'm studying and that I'll talk later. I feel incredibly mean, but I had to get it done. I just managed to get the thing done before I had to go; Deanna was still sleeping when I left for classes at 9:30, lol, I think she needed to recover. However; I'm happy to report that I got all my stuff done, I'm pretty confident that I passed my finals and I'm still alive. Now I can relax!!!

After classes, I raced home and took a quick shower and took the dog out. HE must have gotten into something, because he smelled like gasoline (probably when my dad was working on cars, lol). So, after MY shower, I had to give him a bath, and then finish getting ready and then by that time it was time to go to work. Poor puppy; he had to go back in his cage til I get home, lol. But I don't know about him; I'm plumb tuckered out. Will sleep well tonight.

And I'll try to remember that in the future, when I have kids... I'll leave 'em at home and go to 9 o'clock show myself. Apparently, they're gonna scream and cry either way, lol. :P

lol, this whole adventure was around LOTR, I've just realized I had three parts to this lovely story. lol. Perhaps I should have title them, "The fellowship of the Moviegoers", "The Two Tickets", and "The Return of the Kids".

The Two Tickets

For those of you who are smirking at the idea of me standing in line for a stoopid movie, read on. Murphy's law went into effect last night, let me tell ya. I get done with work and I'm racing to Deanna's house to pick her up for the movie, and my car overheats, and I mean, overheats. Its all the way in the red, and it ain't cooling down. I have four EMPTY cartons of antifreeze in my trunk, but none that are full. So I stop at the gast station and buy some antifreeze and pour some in the coolant tank. At this point, I don't think it would be wise to open the radiator. *sigh* This doesn't help. Frusterated, I drive it to Deanna's anyway, and proceed to take the wrong street... and get lost. So I call her, and get directions and her mom takes us to the movies. I feel like a little kid again. lol.

WE get to the movies and its not even funny how many people are there. There are NO good seats, and we have to sit waaaay up front (we don't have a cinemax, either), and way to the side. The view is distorted and I can only hear half the movie. But that's okay, at least I'm seeing it; I can handle it. But then, ten minutes before the end of the show, the movie blips out. Nada - zilch - nothing. Some rather colorful language erupts out of the darkness, and we wait... and wait. So we wait for 20 mins or so and finally it comes back on.

So the movie ends and we are quite satisfied, except it is now 4am and... we have no ride home. Like there's anyone we can call at that time. So we start walking. And its cold out. Its like 23 F out, windy, and so I pull up my sweatshirt and wrap my scarf around my head. I look like a homeless person. After all, not too many people with homes to go to wander about at 4 am.

After walking for about a mile, some people (who were also at the movies) drive by and stop. They ask if we want a ride. At this point, I'm so cold I would have accepted a ride from the boogey man himself.

Cold, wet and tired and about an hour later, we arrive home, alive and unhurt from our hitchhiking experience (dont' tell my mother, then i would be very much unalive) and crashed. Except Deanna's sister Taylor decided it would be great fun to change the clocks so that we would get up; she sets them ahead a few hours and we think its much later.

THEN, we go back, get a refund for our show last night, since we missed half of it and couldn't hear the other half, lol. Taylor wants to go, and we get her ticket (stand in line for 10 mins), but have no money for Bryan, Deanna's younger brother. He's okay with it till he gets home and realizes his parents have no intention of taking him tonight. Then he says his sister is stupid and its unfair. Back to the car, race to the mall to get him his beloved ticket, since it WAS unfair, and he was right. even though he had a slightly bad attitude. lol.

We get the ticket... and race back home, so that I can race to work. When we get home, Bryan comes bounding out into the driveway, no coat, nose running from cold he's got already (sigh), and asks if we got a ticket. We tell him they are sold out and he says, oh, that's too bad (trying to be brave), then I burst out laughing and he gets this sly little smile on his face.

"YOU got it, didn't you", he says, eyes alight with hope.

Lol, you can't tease a face like that. He looked sooo hopeful. :P Of course your're going, kiddo. I dont' have to get ya up in the morning for school, lol.

So I raced to work, realized I hadn't eaten since breakfast and so had a dr. pepper and a caramel apple that someone at work gave me for Christmas. She'll be glad to know she kept me from starving to death. :P

And I have two finals tomrrow. NO time to study this morning. :P I need a vacation.

The Fellowship of the Moviegoers

It was just one of those days... This morning I was awoken out of a sound sleep by the grating sound of the alarm clock, and a puppy who wanted to go out, like NOW. The cat was crying to be fed, and while I was feeding him, the dog decided to pee on the floor. So I rush him outside, but of course by that time he's done, and doesn't want to go outside. But outside he goes, since I have to clean the carpet where he peed, and then rush to get ready. I get to the mall to get tickets for LOTR tonight (there's a special midnight show for the diehard fans, lol, that would be me), at about 9:15 or so, and discover the box office doesn't open until 12:30. I manage to get a paper for Psych written, and then I leave my backpack to save my spot and do some quick Christmas shopping for my mom. Yes, I actually waited in line for 3.25 hours, but I'm proud to report that I got the tickets. Before you think I'm a lost cause, one guy was there since last night, he slept in the entrance. Now that's dedication.

As I was leaving, I saw a coworker at the back of the line (a couple stores down, lol), and wish him luck. He tells me later, that he got all the way to the front and was told they only accepted cash. He only had a credit card, so had to get out of line, go to an ATM, and then go all the way back to the end of the stupid line. However, he was happy to report that he had his tickets as well. Unfortunately, I had somewhere to be at 1pm, and I don't like sweating things out. So I'd rather stand in line for 3 hours, lol.

But then today, I also got my airline tickets for my England trip, so that was exciting! :) So all, in all, its turning into a pretty cool day. After work I'll pick Dee up and we'll head to the 12 oclock show. Yes I'm crazy, but it will be worth it. Oh yes, and I'm definately sleeping in tomorrow. lol. Well, that is, if the puppy lets me...

speaking of tests...

Having finals this week reminded me of when I was in fourth grade. I was home-schooled, and every year we home-school kids would meet to have an "Iowa Basic Skills" test adminstered to us. I don't know if the puplic school kids had 'em, but this rated our progress in acedemics. Anyone else remember those things? Perhaps my fellow home-schooled readers do; I never asked my other friends if they had to take these.

But I loved these things; and so the day arrived for the test, and I was excited. I bolted down my breakfast. Like most families, it was a mad dash to be there on time; but we finally made it out the door, after everyone found shoes, coats, etc.

Apparently, bolting down your breakfast AND being excited, does not go together well. Neither does being lactose intolerant help, when you've eaten a huge bowl of Cheerios (with lots of milk). Does anyone know what's coming? Yes, the inevitable happend; right before we arrived at the testing center, I lost it, all over everywhere in the backseat, including my favorite pants. Those pants, I might add, were an 80's nightmare; they deserved to be puked on. They were these horrible pastelly flowered pants that looked like they had been taken right off of someone's couch. But they were in style (I think), and I liked them at the time.

(I was also reminded of this particular unpleasant incident when a church member was relaying the story of how his son had also gotten sick -- on the way to his piano recital. Bitter was his dissapointment at not being able to play. But piano recitals do that to you. I don't blame him for puking.)

Anyway, back to the story; I had a trememdous crush on this boy named, of all things, Nick. And to my great horror, when we arrived, he was there!!! I felt like puking again, but I think I just started crying. My sister is laughing at me, because she knows I have a crush on this kid, and of course that doesn't help matters any. But of course I can't go INSIDE, not like that; I don't even want to leave the car!

My mother, bless her soul, decided to clean me off right there in the parking lot. She comes back to the car, armed to the teeth with wet paper towels and instructs me to stand out side the car while she cleans off my pants. Great, so now I've got the puke off, but it looks like I've peed my pants. *sigh* This is going great. But, we can't go home, because its too far away, and I'd miss the test. And I can't re-take it. And so we stay. At this point, I don't care about the test, I want to find the nearest hole and dissapear.

Nick is outside the whole time and sees all of this, and I'm of course, completely mortified. So much for my impressing him. He's laughing, and I think I'm still crying. So you have this skinny knobby kneed kid with dorky pants, that are wet besides; and then add the whole crying bit -- runny nose, red eyes, tears streaming down her face, the whole wahhhhhh thing -- and you get a pretty unimpressive picture, but an accurate one. lol.

So now, not only do I skip breakfast, I also usually stay well away from milk (and cheerios). Just to be on the safe side. Ironically enough, I've managed to impress the current Nick (not the same one), lol, and I'm happy to report that I haven't managed to embarrass myself in front of him.

(I did pass the test with good grades, however, so I guess the whole day didn't go down the toilet, lol)

9 More Days!!!

Old man weather must have a sense of humor. Was driving to work today and saw a bank thermometer that read, 99 degrees (F). As if!! It didn't get that hot all summer, let alone now. But it was rather amusing.

Then I called my friend Staci, the one that had the baby (and who has the furnace troubles); who told me that her hot water came back, unexplainably, Saturday a.m. as she was going to fill the pots of water to heat for kids baths. Which was great!!! But we both wondered why it hadn't come back, say, like on Friday? lol. Or rather, why it went off in the first place, since its electric, and no one touched it. :P

Maybe their house is haunted, with a cranky spirit that lives in the basement and likes to annoy the people living in his house. Perhaps.. and perhaps I have a wild imagination.

Monty is giving me lots of fun; getting lots of excercise with that dog. Need a diet plan? Get a puppy!!! Wow, he keeps me on my toes. Is learning that its fun to run and and explore, and doesn't always come right now, so we have to really work on that! He ran out into the street today. :(

Survived Pshycology class. We were talking about death and dying, and different perspectives. And of course, I had to comment. Put my hand into the air; but everyone else had to comment too, and the teacher kept calling on everyone else. So I rolled my eyes after she called on like the 50th person, and sighed. Of course, it was way too audible, and it was right at a break in conversation, so the teacher noticed. *sigh* And I was like, oh, oh, oh, because she was insinuating that some people cling to the child like bliefes of and stay religious and still believe that people go to Heaven (or another place) when they die... So there I am with my little attitude, ready to give my great insights on the concept death and dying. What was it? About how for some, the concept of faith actually makes death more peaceful and less hopeless. Except little Miss Faith here had grumpiness written all over her face, so really shouldn't be talking about "peace" or anything else related to faith at the moment. lol. I don't think I came off as a saint, but do I ever? *sigh*

Saintly or not, it's cool how God works things out (lets NOT talk about freakish water heaters, lol). I was originally planning to return on the 2nd, but could only get a ticket for the 31st return... but it was cheaper. Turns out that works much better for me as I have to have some forms in for school by Jan 2nd, and that day is the only day that the form is accepted. Phew!!! Good thing I'll be home!!! Recovering from a grand trip, but I'll be home!

I can't believe I'm going to London!!! Whoo-hoo!!! Okay, enough hyper for one day, I'm outta here.

I need a vacation...

Good thing I'm going on one in eleven days. Yesterday was lovely. My friend just had a baby like 3 days ago, and the day she comes home, the hot water heater AND the stupid furnace break. This is great, especially since its like 7 below zero outside. Luckily they have an electric heater to keep the upstairs warm. But it was so cold downstairs that the toilet water froze. Ice fishing, anyone?

They get the furnace working again, but the repairman informs them that it is so ancient and shot that he doesn't think it will last through the winter. Nice. Why don't we live in California? So, the house is slowly thawing out, but they still have no hot water. So she calls me. She is NOT happy. Because of course, having no hot water can't be the only thing that goes wrong. Her two year old gets the flu and her three year old decides that she doesn't want to be potty trained any more and has a series of accidents. Which made me quite forget the ticking of that biological clock of mine...

So, anyway, I get my canning pot and big spaghetti pot and head over there. We boil tons of water and get the dishes done, give the baby a bath, and get the house clean. I force her to sit down and relax, and I start scrubbing away. I figure I didn't get her a baby gift, so I'll clean for her. :P Since I had to heat all my water on the stove, I must have gotten in the pioneer spirit, because she started laughing at me.

"I do have a mop, you know," she says.

I realize I'm scrubbing floor with a rag. I also realize my stupid pants are all wet on the knees, where I've been kneeling on the floor. *sigh*

Several cans of Dr. Pepper later, my feet are swollen, her house is clean, and the baby is sleeping and I wish I was. lol.

Today, of course, was another great adventure. I had to de-worm the cats; one of those pleasant routine things that you hate doing to your pets. Well, I had to try and catch the Siamese that doesn't let anyone touch him; let alone catch him. It took me 45 mins. to chase him through the house, up and down the stairs and all around. Finally, I got him cornered under the bed, and the only reason he didn't run was because the puppy was at the end of his only escape route. lol, I hadn't even tried that, but hey, whatever works. So I have the cat, and I have to spend the next ten minutes sweet talking him and petting him to get him happy, and calm, and then I squirt in the side of his mouth and hope he swallows it. He does, and he doesn't seem too offended, so I am happy.

Then I forget that I left the puppy upstairs (am running back and forth) and he tries to come down, and tumbles head over paws. I hear a could loud thumps and bumps and a little whining, and there he is, sitting at the bottom of the stairs, looking highly affronted.

Guess who's getting carried up and down the stairs from now on? lol.

The same little guy that is sleeping happily on my lap, something that I should be doing. Its time for me to crash, its been a LOOOOONG weekend. :P

No wonder the Yeti roars...

It's COOOOOOLD!!!! Checked the thermometer outside and its 3 below zero (F) outside, which is approx 20 below zero, in Celsius (I think). Okay, it feels like 20 below. I've just read a friends blog with great envy; as she is in California, where it is WARM. Ahhhhh... But we have a Frostbite... er... White Christmas, so she envies us. lol.

So it works out that I'll be in London on Christmas day, where no doubt it will be rainy and a sight warmer than it is here (my feet are still cold from the drive to work). This is exciting!!! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and will *try* to update my blog on the whole journey. We'll see though, that didn't happen when Nick was here, lol. I'm finally going to see Big Ben, London Bridge, and Buckingham Palace!!! Yay!!! And everyone will be able to tell I'm a stupid tourist, because I'll be clicking like mad with my camera and grinning cheesily at everything.

Monty is doing well, he loves the snow. Discovered that if he put his head up, he could see above the snow (we have about 6 - 8 inches here) and plows through it with his little body. All you can see is his head with his little ears flopping like Dumbo's and his stubby tail, wagging joyfully. Me, I'm not so crazy about the snow; was more fun when I was a kid. Was shoveling yesterday and was freezing; but then I worked up a sweat and remained warm enough to not need to be bundled up like and Eskimo. :P

Almost done with school!!!! I can't wait. It's getting down to the nitty gritty, tho, lots of studying to do for finals. Glad I have this weekend off!!! Won't get my 4.0, but I'm so tired, I don't care. Will be completely happy to pass with a B in both classes.

life is sweeet

I got a cool answer to prayer today! I was worried about money, cus I had to pay for ticket to England and pay for school and today was registration. Well, I didn't know what I was going to do, so I prayed about it, and found out we are not required to take the class anymore for our major; and so, not only do I not have to take the class, I'm done till I get in program. So I'll have a much needed break next semester. Which means I'll have loads of time to write my book.

Other highlites in my life include getting a new puppy, who I named Montana Skye, but we call him Monty. He's a sweetheart, and follows everyone in the house around everywhere. My dad already has a soft spot for the little guy, lol, he is just like a proud grandpa. :P Today, Dad was working on the porch and said that he thought the dog would want to be out with him while he worked. :P The puppy loved it; I think those two are bonding. It's cute.

Mont is a little schnuazer, and he's got salt and pepper coloring. Right now, we're working on housebreaking him; he's doing really good, and he sleeps through the whole night. :) He's getting totally spoiled, however; which is fun to do, cuz he's such a cutie. :) He's definately a baby; he cries when I leave for work or school, but he's got plenty of attention from my parents, who are getting quite attached to him. If i get this thing figured out, I'll try and post pics.

He loves to chase the cat, he's fascinated with the snow, and thinks that shoes are great chew-toys. Uh-oh. We're working on that. lol. I got him a few chew toys, and when I throw them and his food, and water, and bowl to eat from and doggie pick-up bags, he's got a regular diaper bag thing going on. But he's not spoiled. :P

Embracing my inner child...

See, I'm not immature; I'm just celebrating my youth. :P So if you read yesterday's entry and was disgusted with my childish antics, it was the child within. :P Life is too short to be serious all the time. hehehe

its "show your co-workers that you care" week...

No, not really, but I made a cake and brought it to work and by time I got to work the next day, it had become somewhat legendary. What's so special about the cake, you ask?

Well, it was "Kitty Litter Cake", and it was... well... it looked a little *too* realistic, and some of my co-workers were afraid to eat it. It was great!!! It's a mixture of crumbled up cookies, cake and pudding, to make it look like litter (the pudding holds it together); and then you add tootsie rolls to the ensemble to complete the lovely imitation. Of course, it is severd in an unused litter pan. :P It adds a nice touch, but the icing in the cake is the tootsie rolls.

When the tootsie rolls are melted down and formed just so... they are quite alarming to find in a cake, and a few people were speculating as to whether they were real or not.

Unfortunately, the co-worker I had left it for was sick yesterday, as a result of some powerful food sickness; and although he was at work today, he was still recovering, and the cake did not help his nausea any. At any rate, he endured it like a brave... superhero (perhaps there is one called, "The Incredible Hurler").

However, the others must have liked it; apparently they found it in the fridge and word got around. Well, its definately a conversation starter. Someone even asked for the recipie, which I found on the internet, but I have no idea where. lol.

So, here it is:

1 white cake mix
1 spice cake mix OR german chocolate cake mix
1 lrg box vanilla instant pudding
1 pkg of white sandwhich cookies
green food coloring
blue food coloring
12 small tootsie rolls
1 clean unused litter pan
1 clean unused litter scoop

Bake cakes according to pkg instructions; cool to room temperature. While cakes are cooling make pudding and chill. Crumble cookies (in small amounts) in a food processor or a blender, until they resemble sand-like crumbs.

Take cookie crumbs and put in large bowl, and then add several drops of blue and green food coloring. The food coloring will look like chloraphyll clumps in the litter.

When cakes are cooled, crumble them in large bowl, and add half the cookie crumbs. Mix together, then add the pudding until it is moist, but not soggy.

Melt the tootsie rolls, 3 at a time, in microwave for about 25 secs. Then shape the tootsie rolls so that they are no longer blunt at the edges, and place them strategically in the cake mixture. For an extra touch, drape one tootsie roll over side of litter pan. When you have three tootisie rolls left, sprinkle the rest of the cookie mixture on top of cake mixture and then drape the remaining tootsie rolls over each other.

Sprinkle a few bits of cookie crumb on the chocolate and then serve your cake on newspaper, with a few cookie crumbs scattered around.

relaxing, huh?

After work, my head was throbbing, so I decided to take some woman's mag advice and light a candle and take a nice bath. It's midnight, my parents are in bed, and thus, I have the whole house to myself. Heavenly... As I sank into the warm water, I waited for the tension to melt off my shoulders.... And waited.

First off, I realized that I had forgotten to turn off the light; so I had to get out and turn off the lights to have the perfect relaxed atmosphere.

Ah... That's better. The house is so quiet and peaceful. Well, sort of quiet... Next thing I know, a loud knocking on the bathroom door startles me before I can totally drift off into relaxation mode. Its my mom, and she got up at midnight because she can't sleep, and to tell me there's lefse in the refrigerator. And she knows I love lefse. It couldn't wait until morning, ya know? Can you tell we've got Norwegian in our blood? lol

My head is still throbbing. So, I decide that this isn't working, and get out and blow out my candle. My ponytail flies out of the makeshift bun I have it in, and I almost ignite my hair. However, the pencil that was supposed to hold it in place is still firmly lodged in my hair. *sigh* Luckily, I managed not to become Living Torch Girl, and went to get dressed. And realized, I had forgotten to get a change of clothes. Whereupon I have to race through the house, and find something to wear to bed.

I luck out with some pajama pants my mom wore when she was pregnant with me, and a Superman t-shirt. I remind myself NOT to go downstairs in this outfit tomorrow morning. Mom's preggy pajama pants wouldn't be so bad, except they have feet on 'em... and while they are warm, you don't want to answer the door in them, either. Which is what happened yesterday when the Schwan's man came to the door. I make my dad answer because I don't wanna be seen in these. Then I realize, belatedly, that the chair I'm sitting in is in plain sight of the door, and he can see my lovely footie pajama pants anyway. *sigh*

Ah well, at least I was warm.

Oh, and I think my headache is gone. lol, perhaps typing in my blog is stress-reducing. :P

one step at a time, huh?

I watched "Bruce Almighty" the other day, and thought it was pretty funny. In one part, he walks on water with God. This reminded me of a funny story when I was about 7 years old. I was still at the cognitive stage, according to Piaget, where abstract thinking was apparently not yet developed. And so I blame what happened next on that.

In the Bible, Jesus walked on the water; and so, when some people talk about an act of faith, they figuratively relate it to "walking on water" (like "going out on a limb"). And then, there was this song by these Christian barbershop singers called the Cathedrals, which went, "you can walk on the water, juuuuust take it, one step at a tiiiime..." (again, figuratively speaking).

So, I was a kid that was not afraid of anything, and I thought, if I had enough faith, I could do this. But, I thought I would help God out. So I put floaties on my feet (those ridiculous orange inflatable things that children wear on their arms), and proceeded to walk on the water at the local pool. Except it didn't work out that way. My feet stayed on top of the water, oh yes, they definitely did that; but the rest of me went under. And the lifeguard wasn't paying attention. And I didn't know how to float yet (at least not without the stupid orange things on my arms). Well, I sure learned too in a hurry. lol. By the time I reached the side of the pool, I concluded that no, you cannot walk on water, and that I'd leave any miracle working up to Jesus Himself.

I swear, I think I also lost about ten pounds trying to keep my torso and head above water and push my feet down. Maybe I should patent that; it could be a good weight loss program. Well, it would be, if it wasn't so dang scary. lol. Perhaps not, it interrupts your breathing technique when your head keeps bobbing up and down in the water; and you know how important correct breathing is during exercise...

At any rate, I'm happy to report that one does not have to literally walk on water to practice faith; and that I have no intention of ever "riding the waves", if you will, ever again. Unless its on a surfboard.

Which reminds me; a certain friend of mine who lives by the ocean said he was gonna teach me to do that some day...

hold that thought

While no children were harmed, remember one CRUCIAL line in my story - that there was "bon ami" all over the towels. Apparently, there was some on a white towel that I hadn't shaken off totally. Guess who got bon ami all over her skin? *sigh* And my mum always taught me it was rude to scratch in public. This is soooo crappy! I feel like I rolled in poison Ivy. :(

In other news today... I got a phone call this morning saying that Dusty had tagged a deer for me, so I got a doe without shooting one. :) I guess he had his deer, so he used his other tag for me. Apparently, your best friend's brother is not always a pain in the butt. :P