You've been in front of your computer way too long!
(via: The Presurfer)
Friday, July 31, 2009
You need a little exercise...
Thursday, July 30, 2009
A fairy tale
G* has four kids, two dogs and one significant other. Today she turned to me and said, "I feel like Snow White. I live with Angry, Mopey, Happy, Whiney, and Gropey. No wonder I'm bitchy!"
* G is my best pal, co-worker, confidante and amateur psychologist. Plus, she's funny as hell!
Thursday thirteen: 13 good things
I'm participating in Thurday thirteen!
"Sometimes, life is just good. Be sure to notice." ~ Debi Cates
I'm a complainer. A whiner. A moaner. A bitcher. I'm also a pessimist and a cynic. I can't help but notice everything that's wrong in life. Even if it's not out-and-out wrong, it'll still probably piss me off. That's just the way I roll.
I got to wondering, though, if I'm even capable of noticing the good things anymore. The things that are just ... right.
So I decided to pay attention and find 13 good things that happened this week, no matter how small or silly. And you know what? It felt kinda good. I may have to do this more often.
Here are my 13 good things, in no particular order:
1. They finally got rid of the nasty outhouse smell in the ladies' room at work.
2. The guru at work is going to fix the stupid glitch that's been bugging me ever since they did the system upgrade. Victory!
3. We tried a scrumptious new salad. We used a roast chicken from the grocery store and threw the whole thing together lickety-split. It was delicious. We'll definitely be making it again.
4. I can now bend my bad knee a little bit when I walk up stairs. I'm hopeful it'll keep improving so I won't walk like Lurch from The Addams Family anymore.
5. I downloaded a dumptruckload of new mp3s and I've been having a blast listening to awesome new (well, new to me anyway) music all week.
I'm totally in love with this song!
6. Husband and I started scanning & photographing Child's artwork on the weekend. We decided it's just not practical to keep it all anymore. We're running out of space! We've kept practically everything she's ever drawn, painted, colored or breathed on in her entire life. Child's only 11 and she's filled 5 of those giant Rubbermaid tubs already!
It's been very nostalgic for me doing the scanning. I rediscovered so many wonderful masterpieces I had forgotten about.
7. In January we made a pledge to healthy eating. I'm happy to report that we're still going strong. One of the major rewards is that I've notice my clothes are now fitting differently. Some things fit better, but some things are starting to feel downright loose!
8. Also possibly related to our improved diet, Husband and I have ... er ... umm ... been feeling a lot more ... amorous lately. 'Nuff said.
9. It looks like Apple fixed the issue I (and others, according to online forums) had with not being able to turn the volume down low enough on my iPod Touch. Yay, I won't go deaf!
10. I was bored one day, so I broke down and decided to read the book that came free with my iPod eReader — Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
I doubt I would have ever read it if I hadn't been bored. But guess what? I can't put it down now! It's a brutally savage, richly detailed story and it's absolutely gripping. Who'da thought?
11. A nice stranger smiled at me in the elevator and said hello. When he got out at his floor he told me to have a good day. He made me smile.
12. I bought an item on eBay way back in April to give to Husband for his end-of-May birthday. It didn't arrive in time, so I thought I'd give it to him for Father's Day. It still didn't come and I eventually wrote it off as an expensive lesson learned.
Surprise! Out of the blue, the package arrived yesterday!
13. Husband is thrilled with his belated Birthday/Father's Day gift! (He's a major geek, but I love him.)
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Thought for the day
In the year 3000, YouTube, Twitter & Facebook will merge into one super time wasting website called YouTwitFace. ~ Conan O'Brien
(thanks, G!)
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
I just might have to watch the show now
I made this swanky 60's version of me at MadMenYourself (that's me in the middle with the cute handbag and the swell curves)!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
I don't want to settle any more
Seth Godin's blog is fabulous. He gives all sorts of great marketing advice, but I find that a lot of it applies to way more than just marketing. Like this post:
Along the way, we settle.
We settle for something not quite right, or an outfit that isn't our best look, or a job that doesn't quite maximize our talents. We settle for relationships that don't give us joy, or a website that's, "good enough."
The only way to get mediocre is one step at a time.
You don't have to settle. It's a choice you get to make every day.
I need to make some changes. I can be so much more than simply mediocre.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Thursday thirteen: 13 "9 out of 10" things
I'm participating in Thurday thirteen!
This week I decided to do something kind of random. So I googled the phrase "9 out of 10" and here are 13 interesting things I learned:
one
9 out of 10 doctors have legible handwriting.
I find this one a little hard to believe. My doctor writes worse than a kindergartener!
two
More than nine out of 10 Americans, men and women alike, have had premarital sex.
I was surprised to read that the high rates extend even to women born in the 1940s, challenging perceptions that people were more chaste in the past. Hmmmm...my mother was born in the 40s...
three
A shop in the UK is forced to turn away 9 out of 10 job applicants because they are unable to do simple sums.
Hey, I don't know about you, but I'm not so great at math myself.
four
9 out of 10 American adults are are frustrated by others' etiquette or lack thereof when using mobile devices, including laptops, netbooks and smart phones.
I think the absolute worst is when people talk on the phone in the bathroom!!
five
9 out of 10 people say that losing their cell phone would be "devastating".
I guess I'm the 1 out of 10 that wouldn't find it devastating, because I use my phone just as a phone. If I lost it I wouldn't lose a bunch of important stuff like photos and videos. Losing my laptop would be pretty awful though.
six
9 out 10 Americans will be obese or overweight by the year 2030.
Eek! Can Canadians be far behind?
seven
9 out of 10 unintentional child poisonings occur in the home.
The word that sticks out for me here is "unintentional." Wouldn't every poisoning of a child be unintentional?
eight
9 out of 10 IT workers are willing to steal company data.
This distresses me a little, since I work in IT!
nine
9 out of 10 people in Scotland don’t know how much exercise they need to do each day.
I don't know how much I should be doing either. I guess it's safe to assume that it's likely more than the zero I usually do.
ten
Virgin Media claims that nine out of ten broadband speedtests are incapable of measuring its new high-speed services.
Soooo... Virgin can charge its customers for super-fast internet performance, but customers can't actually confirm that they're getting what they're paying for? Sounds reasonable to me.
eleven
9 out of 10 managers waste time.
I could've told you that. Next!
twelve
Almost 9 out of 10 adult Americans obtain weather forecasts regularly.
Well, duh. Otherwise, how would you know if you need to wear sandals or snow boots? Or, if you live in Calgary like I do, whether you need to wear sandals and bring along snow boots (just in case)?
thirteen
9 out of 10 children between the ages of 8 and 16 have viewed pornography on the internet.
Apparently, the average age of first internet exposure to pornography is 11 years old, which is a bit scary for me because that's how old Child is. It makes me sad that the wonderful, collaborative, educational internet can also be a dark, dirty, twisted place, full of depravity and exploitation. It's hard to know if we're sufficiently preparing Child for that.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
F in history
Child: You know, the French guy that freed the English from the Nazis!
What the heck have they been teaching her in school?!?!?
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
10 favorite places to eat
1. My house — because Husband's an awesome cook! He makes scrumptious meals like these.
2. Diner Deluxe (in Calgary, AB) — ecclectically retro with a menu full of incredible comfort foods, it's kind of like eating in your grandmother's kitchen!
3. Arnold's Classic Diner (in Rapid City, SD) — I know I've only been there once, but I was blown away by the awesome atmosphere, food and service.
4. The Bistro at Art Central (formerly the Siding Cafe in Calgary, AB) — this restaurant in Art Central is usually Child's first choice because she loves their terrific steak.
5. White Spot — Husband and I were excited when this legendary Vancouver restaurant opened in Calgary.
6. Panago Pizza — this is our #1 choice for take-out pizza.
7. Tim Horton's — best-known for fantastic donuts and coffee, Tim's also has some really delicious lunchtime sandwiches!
8. East Side Mario's - New York-style Italian food. Bada boom bada bing.
9. Olive Garden — it's hard not to overdo it on their yummy breadsticks!
10. Ricky's — a nice, reasonably-priced family restaurant.
Join in the fun at Ten on Tuesday!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Days 15 & 16: Rapid City, SD to home!
Sorry, I didn't mean to leave you hanging. Here's the scoop on the final 2 days of our vacation.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
We spent the morning at Mount Rushmore. This was why I originally wanted to visit South Dakota, and I wasn't disappointed. The weather was perfect, the live music performed by Vlasis was outstanding and the monument itself was ... awe-inspiring.
We took a gazillion photos. These are just a few of them (most of these were taken by Child as she hiked around the monument):
Overheard in the line-up to use the bathroom: They can blast a gigantic monument into the side of a mountain, but they can't build a decent-sized ladies' room.
In the afternoon we travelled to Wyoming.
Husband wanted to visit Devils Tower, the landmark that was featured so prominently in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
After visiting Mount Rushmore I figured nothing else could impress me that day, but I wasn't prepared for how amazing Devils Tower is! Humans can do unbelievable things, but sometimes Mother Nature just can't be outdone.
Devils Tower is also a national monument, but it was created 100% by nature — by corrosion, to be exact. Visiting there was a very spiritual experience.
Check out some of the pics we took.
If you look really closely you can see a couple of climbers! (click on the photo to enlarge it)
We even saw some wildlife while we were in Wyoming (the deer and antelope really do play!).
We spent the night in Billings, Montana.
I can't say that I was terribly impressed with Montana. There are casinos everywhere. Gas stations are attached to casinos. We even saw a McDonald's that was attached to a casino! I wouldn't have been surprised if the elementary schools were attached to casinos.
Child bought a Coke and some candy at a Conoco station that was (of course) attached to a casino. Back in the car she realized that the Coke bottle and the candy packaging smelled like smoke from the casino. Yuck!
Friday, July 10, 2009
On Friday we crossed the border back into Canada and went home, tired but happy. 4 provinces and 10 states in a little over two weeks — what a wonderful adventure!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Day 14: Sioux Falls, SD to Rapid City, SD
The final 3 days of our vacation were incredible! In hindsight, we wish we had spent less time in Niagara Falls (5 days was way too much for us) so we could have had more time at the end of the holiday to explore South Dakota (and Wyoming). South Dakota is an amazing state with tons to see and do and unfortunately we only got to see and do a fraction of what we would have liked to. Hopefully we'll get the chance to go back someday.
Anyway, here are some of the amazing things we DID see and do:
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
We started out the day by visiting Garretson, South Dakota, where Husband's grandfather was born over 100 years ago. It was kind of cool because some of the buildings looked like they might be old enough to have been around back then.
Garretson is also home to Devil's Gulch, the site where Jesse James escaped a posse after robbing the First National Bank in Northfield, Minnesota.
The rest of the day was filled with wonderful happenstances — places we just sort of stumbled upon.
First, we passed by an awesome sculpture park that was beside the Interstate.
Next, we stopped in Mitchell to see the Corn Palace. The Corn Palace is a building decorated with murals on the outside that are made completely from corn! It's something we just had to see for ourselves.
The next stop was Wall Drug. We had been seeing signs for Wall Drug starting in Minnesota and continuing all the way through South Dakota. Every so often there would be a sign along the side of the highway, boasting about Wall Drug's free ice water, 5 cent coffee, pie, homemade donuts, dinosaur, cowboy art, or some other fabulous thing (apparently there are similar signs in places as far away as France, Afghanistan, and even the South Pole!). We grew more curious with each sign, so of course we couldn't NOT stop to see what all the hubbub was about.
Wall Drug is unbelievably fun! It's an ecclectic mix of old-timey trading post, mall, gift shop, restaurant, gallery, chapel (yes, even a chapel!), and a whole bunch of other stuff. You can take pictures there, play in a fountain, ride a jackalope, see a T-Rex, and WAY MORE.
We tried the delicious homemade donuts (our healthy eating initiative was on vacation too). And Husband and Child tried panning for gold (we won't be retiring on their findings, I'm afraid). And yes, Wall Drug does have free ice water. :o)
That night we had dinner at Arnold's, a retro diner in Rapid City. Nothing caps off a perfect day quite like jukebox music and a chocolate milkshake.
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