Halloween

Damn. I thought I had some Halloween pictures on the computer that I wanted to post tonight, but I don't. Now I need to dig them out and scan them. But it's not happening tonight. :-(

Heading To Bed

But before I do, I felt the need to write something here. I'm afraid it's just going to be another set of scattered thoughts.

My body is still (knock on wood) going along with me and I've been able to get out and go for hour long walks every day this week. That's two weeks in a row. I'm not feeling as good as I used to or wish I did, but the pain isn't really pain. It's more slight discomfort. So Monday through Thursday I pushed myself to walk home from work. Tonight I headed up to the office complex near the house to walk. I feel really good about it. My legs feel great and back in shape. I'm just hoping it's enough to kick start that last little bit of weight loss. I know, I know, I'm a broken record, but if you've read my blog for any length of time, you know I focus so tightly on things that I don't or can't see anything else. I have no plans to walk tomorrow. I want to give it a little bit of a rest before I head out for my last chance workout on Sunday morning before weigh in.

Ken surprised the shit out of me this week. As a "thank you" for all I do around here (namely EVERYTHING) among other things, he ordered me a huge stack of (mostly) Silver Age comics. I have a want list of things I'm looking for and he always has a copy of it, but usually doesn't look at it. Not unless he wants to surprise me. And did he. I got a bunch of Justice Leagues, some Adventure Comics with Supergirl, some Superman Family issues, World's Finest, Detective, DC Special, DC Special Series, DC Super Stars, Super DC Giant, Green Lantern, Flash..... I was really blown away by the sheer volume of books, about 65 or so. Now I need to find some time to read.

I listened to a lot of Barry Manilow this week. On purpose.

I came to the conclusion this week that I am a difficult friend to have. I probably won't be able to find the right words to explain why I think this, so bear with me. I've always considered myself a low maintenance person. I don't need a lot to make me happy. I don't need to go do things to make me happy. Just hanging out, either with friends or by myself, is enough. And often times, if that's not the plan, I'm just not interested. I don't know when this happened to me. I used to much more active, I used to go out all the time, I used to do a lot more things than I do now. To be honest, I don't know that I ever truly enjoyed going out as much as I did, or doing all the stuff I used to do. I did it to be with my friends. I'm wondering if this change in me is me trying to regain control of my life. It could very well be. I tend not to be the alpha in any situation. I don't make decisions if I don't have to. I like to lay that on someone else's shoulders. In my head it's because it's easier. If we're going to do something and I pick it and everyone's miserable, I feel guilty. If we're going to do something and someone else picks it, I know we're going to do something they enjoy and I feel no guilt. Does that make any sense? It didn't come out 100% right. Anyway, the older I get, the more I really only want to do the things I want to do. I've done what everyone else has wanted to for years and now it's my turn. And that's kind of unfair to my friends who may want to do this or that, but I don't. It makes me feel like a bad friend. So selfish.

I'm probably not making much sense at all. It's way past my bedtime and I'm babbling.

Because Stealing Is Easier

I stole the following meme from Kevin and I feel no shame. Stealing is so much easier than thinking. And this is a very fitting meme for me to do. Ken is constantly picking on me for the amount of time I spend tooling around with my iTunes. I spent a good portion of this weekend editing song titles, genres and all sorts of other crap. Yes, I have an addiction and I'm not ashamed to admit it. So without further ado...

How many total songs?
57,043 items in my library. That’s 151.4 days, and 240.51 GB of music.

Sort by song title – first and last…
First: “A” – Barenaked Ladies (Maybe You Should Drive)
Last: “$” – Prince (LOtUSFLOW3R)

Sort by time – shortest and longest…
Shortest: :02, “Bloop” – Hanna-Barbera (Hanna-Barbera's Pic-A-Nic Basket)
Longest: 1:19:57, “Better At Night” – DJ Bravehound (www.bravehound.com)

Sort by Album – first and last…
First: ABBA by ABBA
Last: 99.9 F° by Suzanne Vega

Sort by Artist – first and last…
First: The A's
Last: 999

Top five played songs**
24 - Watching Without Words - Alexander Schultz
23 – Complicated Disaster - Tina Turner
15 – No Guilt - The Waitresses
13 – Harper Valley P.T.A. - Syd Straw
12 – Do I Ever Cross Your Mind - Joan Osborne

Find the following words. How many songs show up?
Sex: 104 items
Death: 47 items
Love: 3647 items
You: 6251 items
Home: 472 items
Boy: 523 items
Girl: 705 items

First five songs that come up on Party Shuffle…
Cruel - The Human League
Sin Sin Sin - Robbie Williams
Engel Der Nacht - Nena
We Had It Right - Nellie McKay & k.d. lang
Secret Garden - Bruce Springsteen

More Natter

Again, I don't think I have anything to say, but I feel like saying something.

I've been doing a lot of walking again. I'm not sure my body is completely ready for what I've been doing to it, but it really feels good to get my blood pumping again. Last Friday night after dinner, I went to the mall to walk around. I lapped the mall five times, which is about 3 and a half miles. Sunday morning I went out again. I was off Monday and walked before my dentist appointment and again mid-afternoon. On both Tuesday and Wednesday, I walked home from work. I was kind of sore yesterday, so I didn't walk. Tonight after dinner, I went back to the mall to walk off what I ate. Each time I went out, I walked for an hour. Tonight might have been a mistake, but I'll know better tomorrow. I alternated between really hurting (fuck you, sciatic nerve!) and really feeling good. I've been home for a few hours and I mostly feel good, so hopefully that's a good sign. I realize I'm pushing myself a little harder than I should. I just hope I don't fuck myself up. With the weather changing for the colder, it'll be harder to get out and walk much anyway.

Tomorrow I'm letting Ken drag me to a home show. I find these things boring, but I'm going to go. I don't compromise nearly as much as I should. I plan on not whining, not complaining and not putting on a sour puss.

Yesterday at work, my work wife dragged me down to the store in the building. She needed a soda and I needed to stretch my legs. While there, I noticed a new scratch off ticket. I don't buy them very often, but every now and again I feel the need to. This new one was a $5 ticket. I never buy those, but I was drawn to it. And I haven't purchased any in a long time. Well, I won. Twenty-five bucks. Yay me. Instantly my thoughts turned to what I could buy at the comic shop. It was found money after all. Today I was talking to another co-worker. She bought the same game and she also won $25. And that started the wheels turning. Not in a good way, but in a greedy way. I went down to the store to cash in my ticket and traded it in for five more of these scratch offs. I know, I know, I'm stupid for doing it. Of the five I bought, I lost on four of them. Luckily, on the one I did win on, I won my $25 back. I've learned my lesson and I'm done. I'm still contemplating what I can buy with my mad money.

I've been listening to a lot of Rolling Stones this week. I've been in the mood for them. Don't know why.

Tonight I spent a good amount of time going through my email inboxes. I've really been neglecting email lately, but it turns out something positive has come out of it. I started sorting it all and updating my mail filters (I've got a bunch of sub folders set up to automatically sort things for my convenience), unsubscribing for mailing lists I somehow ended up on and all that bullshit. Most of my personal email, though, needs to be read and addressed. But I feel good about getting a little more organized.

My work wife is flying to Disney on Sunday. Bitch.

My second Wednesday free from the computer was a success. At first I was kind of going a little crazy since I was deviating from the norm. I had made a mental list of chores I could do instead, and while I didn't really get to everything I thought of, I felt really good about being semi-productive. I cleaned the kitchen, did some laundry, started cleaning the bedroom, but then got sidelined into two more episodes of Dynasty (season 3). Of course, I'm more than making up for the "lost" time tonight.

Whatever

I don't really have much to say, but I wanted to put something out there. It's been nearly a week.

Had my dentist appointment today. It was probably the smoothest cleaning I've ever had. I didn't get lectured on anything, my teeth seem to be in fine condition and there was no pain (well, except for when my lady lost her balance while attempting to floss my teeth. She jammed the floss way, way up between two of my teeth.) I got three different referral cards from my dentist for oral surgeons to get my wisdom teeth taken care of. I called one, made an appointment and asked how my insurance was going to work. I wasn't feeling totally confident with my choice because this surgeon is out of network. Luckily one of the three choices I was given is in network (in fact, there is only one in network oral surgeon in my area. One. WTF?) I have my appointment made for a consultation and then we'll set up the actual surgery. I was asked if I'd like the consultation and the surgery all on the same day, but that freaked me out. I think I'd feel better doing this in two steps.

My sciatic nerve issues is still there, but it's calmed down enough that I got a decent amount of walking in this weekend. Friday night I did just over an hour. Sunday morning I did another hour and a quarter. This morning before my appointment I got a hour and then this afternoon it warmed up enough outside for me to get out an do one last hour. I used the comic shop as an excuse to go walking (needed to pick up X-Men vs. The Agents Of Atlas.) I miss walking. With winter coming, the chances for me to get out and do more are getting more and more sparse. I feel good that I got to do something this weekend, though. It's been really getting me down that I can't seem to shake this vacation weight. I know it's less than ten pounds, but it's just over the range I feel comfortable at. But I'm working towards my goal.

I've been seriously thinking about my comic book addiction lately. It's getting to the point that I have to do something. I read dozens of series every month. The list (which I need to tweak) is in the sidebar to the right of this. It's hard for me to remember what's happening month-to-month in all the books I read. I don't know if it's a sign of my age or what, but it's kind of frustrating. While I still enjoy most of what I'm reading, I hate that I have to go back and look at the previous issues to remember where I left off. Before I make my next monthly order, I need to sit down with my list and decide which books I'm still going to follow on a monthly basis, which books will be better for me to read in trade paperback form and which books I can drop. Transitioning over from a monthly book to a trade paperback is going to be hard for me. Rather than getting twelve issues of a particular book a year, I'll be getting two. But an entire story will be collected in one of those two books, and that will help me tremendously. I do read a few series in trade format, but those are books that I came to well after the fact. I've never stopped picking up the monthly books in favor of a trade. It'll be interesting to see if I can do this.

I hate that this three day weekend is coming to a close. Again, I didn't get nearly as much accomplished as I should have, but I have no regrets.

An Experiment

Tonight I promised myself no computer time once I get home from work.
I have the insanely beautiful Laura Smith to thank for the idea. The
computer sucks way too much of my life away. I'm going to try one
night a week computer free. Wednesdays seem like a good enough day of
the week.

I'm on the bus home from work right now. I'm a little anxious already.
The computer is a big part of my nightly routine. And I'm BIG on
routines. There's a comfort and safety in them.

Here we go.....

Sent from Babs, my iPhone

A Short One

I'm trying to stick to my new self-imposed time limits on the computer and tonight's just expired two minutes ago. But I'll bend the rules to post a quick blog. At least I'm being productive and not being sucked into another Bejeweled Blitz hole. Again.

Next Monday I've got a dentist appointment. Routine cleaning. And I expect to be lectured on my wisdom teeth again. I get the talk every six months when I go in. My bottom wisdom teeth grew in sideways. The tops of them stick out of the back of my mouth, but they cause problems with food getting caught in between them and the teeth in front of them. Both teeth have cavities and my dentist keeps telling me I have to have them out. To be honest, I'm a little freaked out about it. In order to remove them, they'll need to be cut out. The thought of oral surgery isn't a happy thought. And I've talked to friends and co-workers who have had this done and the stories are a little on the scary side. But over the weekend, I woke up in the middle of the night with a toothache in one of those teeth. One of the reasons I haven't done anything about them is they haven't bothered me. Why deal with them if they aren't bothering me, right? (Don't answer that.) I need to do the big boy thing and finally get them taken care of.

Besides the wisdom teeth, I've got other problem teeth. My parents didn't really place much importance on dental hygiene when I was growing up and that's caused me a world of tooth issues. Currently, I need a root canal. I had a crack in one of my molars and my dentist said a crown will fix that without the need of a root canal. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred it solves the problem. So we did the crown only to find out I'm the one that does have a problem. That, too, I've been putting off because of the expense. I know I'm going to need to have that taken care of sooner than later, but I can only do one very uncomfortable thing at a time, and this time it's the wisdom teeth. I have one other molar that's starting to give me a little bit of trouble, but I don't know if that's just a filling that needs replacing (fingers crossed) or worse. I'll find out next week.

Go teeth!!

Post #689

Hurrah! It's a (fake) holiday weekend. Work is closed on Monday and I took today off, making it a glorious 4 day weekend. I deserve it. After all, I just worked two 5 day weeks. In a row. Seriously, I don't often take advantage of making a 3 day weekend a 4 day one, but I figured "why not?" The first of the four days is coming to a close and I can't say that I did anything with it. I watched a little tv, read a little, got sucked into a Bejeweled Blitz hole on Facebook and found a little time for some minor chores. I've got a bunch of small little things I hope to accomplish this weekend. We'll see how that goes.

The weekend has just hit it's first major snag, though. Part of what I was looking forward to was a quiet, solo weekend. Ken's nephew is flying in from Colorado this evening and he's taking him home to New Hampshire first thing in the morning. Or he was. Peter just called and he missed his flight. By minutes. Ken's on the phone with him right now getting the update. From what I can overhear, he's not going to make it tonight, but should be here tomorrow morning. We'll see. But this throws a wrench in my quiet time. Hopefully not too big of a wrench, though.

I was originally contemplating going to New Hampshire with the two of them, mostly so Ken wouldn't have to drive back here solo, but when I asked what the plans were for the weekend, I just didn't feel like dealing.

UPDATE: The flight situation has been resolved. Ken's nephew is flying from Colorado to Baltimore tonight (in about an hour.) Unfortunately, he's stranded at the airport until tomorrow morning, when he can catch a flight here. Ken's plan is go get him from the airport and then immediately hit the road. His nephew has other plans. He wants to stay here Saturday and then head out Sunday. I don't like this plan for two major reasons. One, it cuts into the solitude I was planning for myself in a big way and two, I'm not what you'd call fond of the guy. I liked it better when he was landing here late tonight better. So not only is this going to impact my admittedly selfish weekend plans, but it's also completely killing Ken's weekend. Because of this, he's going to try to convince his nephew that they are indeed going to New Hampshire tomorrow, but compromise and do it later in the day or early evening.

A Brief Vacation Recap In Photos

A photo of the hotel we stayed at. Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. I liked the hotel, though I had issues with the staff (see a previous post for details). It wasn't my favorite of Disney's hotels, but it was up there.


This is a typical view from the balcony in our room. For reals.

First stop, Magic Kingdom. It was all decked out for Halloween, as you can tell.

One of my 14,000 obligatory shots of me and the castle.

Day two was spent at the Animal Kingdom. Here I am in the queue line for It's Tough To Be A Bug. This is one of the carvings in the Tree of Life.

Dinner on Friday night was courtesy of Michael & Kevin. We got to check out their brand new house (I hate them!!!!!!!!!), feast on Kevin's cooking and spend a relaxing evening just hanging out.

Saturday we met up with Ryan Star Jones (he is a lawyah!) and did a tour of Epcot (after hitting the outlets. I needed new Chuck Taylors.) We insisted on getting the hot Norwegian guy in the picture. Keep in mind I'm 6' 4" when you look at this pic. Nord is even taller.

God forbid I see a character in any park. As long as the line isn't annoyingly long, I'm there!

I tried to make plans to see Ricky while I was in Florida and luckily at the last minute, plans were made. Sunday was spent with him, Nichole and Drew at Magic Kingdom. Ryan joined up for a little while until he had to go do work or some such bullshit.

Unfortunately, Ricky suffered a debilitating stroke while we were hanging out.

Fortunately, all he needed was a little loving to fully recover.

Monday was spent at Disney's Hollywood Studios (or MGM, as I will always refer to it.) In the queue line for Toy Story Midway Mania. I fucking love that ride. I just wish everyone else in the world didn't. We managed to beat the lines all but one of the times we rode it.

Monday night we met up with Ryan and Scott for dinner. I ate my weight in food that night. I think I'm still full from it.

Tuesday Ken needed a break, so I headed out to Epcot solo. Every once in a while I get to have a solo day in the park, but mostly Ken gets co-dependent and thinks I'm just saying that I want a solo day and I never get one. This year I lucked out. No one to hold me back. Go at my own pace. Do what I want to do. I had a blast!

And I found some characters.

And some more...

And more....

And more....

I told you I was a character whore!

Tuesday night Ken and I met up with Kevin & Michael again to do Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween. I didn't realize you can get all dressed up in costumes to attend. (If you can't tell, I went dressed as candy corn.) And we got to trick or treat. I came home with a ton of candy. So much we still have a lot left.

Kevin & I

Michael, me and our tonsils.

Proof that Ken actually was there.

Wednesday in Epcot

Walt, the character whore, strikes again.

Ken's cutting in on my character time, dammit.

My "Singin' In The Rain" moment on the crowded streets of England in Epcot.

Back to MGM for more Toy Story Midway Mania!

Last day at Disney. Ken stayed back at the hotel to pack and I hit the parks one last time. This time Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately, I hopped on the Animal Kingdom bus first and delayed my arrival by some time. I'm dumb.

Picture Spot!

I'll post some more pictures (hopefully) this weekend.