Pit, Pinky, Pain, Pathology, Pct.

For the 2 of you who have been bugging me for a post, here I am finally. I know it's been ages. The desire to blog tends to wax and wane if you know what I mean... (ebb and flow, come and go, etc.) And it's not just the desire. I've had good intentions for a long time, but nothing has magically materialized. Firstly, can I just say that I feel like I can't keep myself healthy these days for anything. I've just been going from one ailment to the next. Had a nasty little stomach bug, got rid of that and was nearly immediately overtaken by a sore throat that felt like I was swallowing swords. Which has now settled nicely into a little head cold. I think I've already taken more sick time at this job than I did in the over 2 years I worked at the bank (which wouldn't take much - I think I only took one day off sick in that time, excluding having my wisdom teeth pulled). Anyway, that's been the main annoyance in my life right now.

Onto bigger and better things... let's see. This weekend has been very nice so far. Last night I went to a movie sort of late with a friend - not the smartest with the way I've been feeling, but by Friday, I just wanna have some fun, ya know? Then this morning, I was feeling even more faint of spirit. A friend called to see if I wanted to go out for breakfast and she ended up getting it to go and bringing it over here. We just sat around and talked for hours. It was wonderful.

Last weekend at some point, there were 5 of us here and we ended up playing Pit. If you don't know the game, this won't make much sense, but anyway, I just want to share a little story with you. This falls under the category of "where in the world do I get my luck??" The point of the game is to get lots of points - game ends at 500 points. You can get either -20, -40 (which would be really rare), or the person who wins the round gets more points - 60 - 100. There are 2 cards you don't want to have in your hand when someone gets Pit and if you have one you get -20. For some reason, invariably, I would get slipped one of these cards (Oh, everyone is yelling and trading cards at the same time and trying to get rid of the bad card) and then someone would yell "PIT!" (I don't know why I'm explaining the whole game, you probably all know how to play...) Happened over and over and over. At the end of the game when someone had 500 points and we could stop, my score was - 160. Safe to say that's never happened before.

Other news - Okay, this is for 24 lovers everywhere. I don't know how many of you are into the TV show 24, but I knew so many people who thought it was amazing. So awhile back my roommate and I rented the first 4 episodes of the first season. Oh my! It really does draw you in and the acting and plot are all superb, in my humble opinion. But then we have a problem - it will cost too much to rent all 24 episodes. So I looked around for awhile and found a good deal on ebay - much cheaper than we could have rented all of them. But I have come to the conclusion it is not good for me to watch shows like that. I felt like I was entering an alternate universe and would practically expect to hear the latest development on the evening news. We would barely be able to stop watching. Then came the evening when we finished the series. Oh the ending was just heartbreaking. I was so disturbed I wanted to go back in time and undo it all! ugh. So depressing. So now, several weeks later, I think I've sufficiently worked through my grief (it was rough there for awhile) but I still have the occasional dream about it. Yikes. Scary. So, in light of these events, I resorted to a different show that would cause me neither depression nor nightmares. (oh and by the way, I do more than sit around and watch TV shows on DVD - but all the recent sickness has occasionally lent itself to such a lifestyle) Anyone ever watch Pinky and the Brain? Doesn't it just sound like something an intelligent adult would watch? It's sort of a cartoon for adults about 2 lab rats involved in an intricate plan and diabolical scheme to take over the world. One is a genius, the other insane, as the song goes. In each show they try a new plan. My roommate brought a complete season on DVD from her parent's awhile back. If you ever need a break from the drab duties of every day life, you might want to tune into an episode - they can be quite hilarious at times, full of odd, random, and clean humor. Here's a few little quotes for you that probably won't be funny at all out of context, but here they are anyway, oh and by the way, this little post is making me feel like I really have no life at all! Oh, I did go on a glorious bike ride Monday night, in between illnesses and that was lovely. There's some really nice, recently paved trails around here. Anyway, here you go:

Pinky: Cheer up Brain, it could be worse.
Brain: HOW?
Pinky: We could be 2 cantaloupes that nobody bought, and be all rotten and smelly in the back of the market.
Brain: Funny how that doesn't cheer me up.

Brain: Scientifically speaking, it's because you are a spazy, beetle-headed doofus with the intellect of a mule hoof that I have yet to conquer the world.

Brain: Do you have any idea why we've been camping out in this wretched wall?
Pinky: To acquire a dank and musty smell?
Brain: Pinky, you have the reasoning skills of a burlap sack.

Female pilot talking to a dummy constructed by Pinky and the Brain: Don't talk much, do ya? Yeah, I had a boyfriend like you once. Always thinkin, real quiet. Turned out he was actually a propane tank, which explained a lot. (sigh) I miss him!

Okay, there's many more, but I'll leave it at that for now. Oh here's an additional couple quotes that have been overheard lately:
"What guy is going to want a girl with cardboard feet??"
"The problem with old movies is that no one is coming out with any new ones."

Okay, I apologize for the lameness of this post and hope it's not a reflection of my life.

Trying out the timer on my camera

...this provided hours of delightful entertainment (okay, not quite).

Sometimes you have to ask yourself...

At some point, I asked Bethany,"Do you ever get scared that we're less mature than other people our age?" She just nodded sadly.

in jail...

HELP! I'm being squiched by a monster.

A picture tour of our weekend...

Here's some random pics of town and the like - the guy out ice fishing - the ice didn't really seem safe to us, but what do we know?

Geneology, ancestory and the like

So, here's the long awaited post. I know you've been on pins and needles awaiting this day with baited breath. I've been meaning to post for over a week now but life was just nutty. So anyway, I'll try to give it a shot now. Last weekend my friend Bethany came to visit from Ohio. We had a grand old time hanging out and relaxing and chatting and getting all caught up. One fun little activity we did - and if you're Mennonite you appreciate this a bit more probably - there's this website where you can enter names of people (Mennonites) you know and it will figure out how you are related. And of course everyone is related somehow. Bethany and I are 6th cousins and I think I'm at least 3rd, 4th, or 5th (6th on occasion) cousins with all my growing up friends. But then you can really have fun with it and find out things such as my mom was 6th cousins with her step-sons so I am 7th cousins with my nieces and nephews, and an acquaintance I'm familiar with married her second cousin once removed, making her 3rd cousins with her grandchildren. And I'm also 4th cousins once removed with my brother through marriage... How we don't all have horns is beyond me. Here's to branching out a bit before the gene pool becomes entirely murky.

A few tips from Hilda the Homemaker

The other day I was making soup. I've made it before and it was turning out quite well. The idea was soup - I wanted chicken soup. Last time I but barley in it and it was good, but I thought I'd mix it up a bit (proverbially) and use some rice this time. A word to the wise... no a word to the airheads in the kitchen - the wise already know this... man, does that stuff swell to approximately 40 times its size!! I knew this in theory, but I dumped some in and it didn't seem like much, so I dumped some more in. Well, my lovely chicken and veggie soup turned into an hugenormous pot of rice with a few vegetables lodged here and there. (The picture doesn't really do it justice and does not capture how much rice I have to eat!) It tastes fine, but there's nothing soupy about it and I'm gong to be eating rice muck for weeks. But to redeem myself in the housekeeping department, last night I cleaned like a (to quote Jenni) squirrel on a caffeine IV. Oh my - it's probably some deep seated pride in my life that makes me want to give you an account of everything I accomplished, but I'm not 100% sure yet, so I'm going to do it quickly. Last night I swept and mopped the kitchen, mopped the computer room, thoroughly cleaned the bathroom, mopped the (rather ample) living room/dining room, vacuumed the back room, and vacuumed and mopped my room (not quite as thoroughly). I hope I didn't forget anything. And all this in under 2 hours I believe, after working all day and then working out after that. It was like I was in overdrive or something - I'm usually not that fast. So I was pleased with that. Tonight I'm not cleaning! Not at all... In fact, I'm going to not do anything this weekend but relax and hang out with the Ohio Bethany who's coming to see me. I'm looking forward to it - this week has been crazy. Well, hastalawagoamigos...

I'm going to Vegas...

Last night I won a rousing poker game and it made me so excited I can see why people gamble away their life savings. I basically won due to the last round where everyone knew it was the last round and didn't care so they bet high. But it was so fun raking in all those chips.... good grief... I might have a disease. Anyway, here I am, almost 2 days in a row - do I get a prize or something? Did everyone survive Monday? I nearly did not. I really really really did not want to go to work today. I mean, I know no one ever really wants to go to work on Monday, but today was exceptionally loathsome. I think it has something to do with gambling instead of sleeping on the weekend. Oh well..... with all the money I've won, I should be quitting my job soon anyway. Then I'm going to tour Europe till I'm 45. Anyone wanna come?

I miss my pants: The evils of household cleaners

Well, since the fans are clamouring for an update... yeah right. Actually, since it's after midnight, I was all set to go to bed, and then I remembered that I told a certain Madagascan that I would update tonight. I was tempted to ignore the nagging voice in my head, but decided that I should do what I say so as to lead an upright and trustworthy life, so here I am. With nothing to say. So I'll tell you a sad little tale of ruined pants. A few weeks ago I bought some highly discounted workout pants. They were so cheap, but expensive if you know what I mean - made well and originally cost a lot, but since they were about 90% off, I think I paid 7 bucks for them. Oh how I loved those pants. I wore them to work out all the time. They were so comfy and stretchy and inviting. Well, as luck would have it, I was cleaning the bathroom last week and used some high powered stuff on the shower. I was kneeling on the edge and then had this fleeting thought - I wonder how strong this stuff really is. I think what made me think that is that I was beginning to have trouble breathing. So I looked down and ohhhh, the sadness of it all - instead of the pretty blue color, both knees had turned a lovely, bleached white/pink. I can't just go back to the store because I didn't buy them in town. I really miss them a lot.

For something happy - this just in from my cashew butter - "East Wind Nut Butters are made by a worker-owned cooperative in the lovely Ozark hills of rural southern Missouri. As equal partners in our business we take pride in producing quality products at the most reasonable price. We also make East Wind Drums and Utopian Rope Sandals." How random is that? Good to know I guess.

I trust this post has proved invaluable in enriching your life through needed knowledge, exhortation, and merriment. I fear I have interrupted your solitary revelry with little and insufficient cause. g'night.