Wednesday, 3/31

So I was watching TV the other day and there was a commercial for Subway.  In addition to pimping their $5 footlong, they were advertising a meatball sub with pepperoni on it because, according to them, pepperoni is the new bacon.  I think that is wishful thinking on their part.  I don't think anything will ever replace bacon.  Is it just me or has bacon suddenly become more popular than fancy overpriced coffee drinks?  I mean seriously, there is no form that cannot find bacon in.  I found bacon air fresheners, lollipops, bandages and even toffee with bacon in at a fru-fru store at the capitol.  Aparently the low fat diet fad is over. 

Monday, March 29th

Today I would like to talk about the word lucky because I think people use it wrongly all the time and I would like to draw attention to the problem.

Here are some examples of the wrong way to use lucky:

"Oh, you are so lucky when you almost you cut your finger off with the bandsaw, you didn't actually lose your finger"  how is a person who nearly cut their finger off lucky?  they still probably have a million stitiches, pain, risk of infection and reduced use.

"Oh, you are so lucky that you got severance when you lost your job"  yeah, you're right because a couple weeks of pay will sustain me for the rest of the life and I can't wait to go interviews against 22 year olds with no life experience?

"Oh, you are so lucky that even though your car got totalled, you weren't hurt"  yeah. because who doesn't love dealing with the insurance companies and not having a car and being scared to drive?

"Oh , you are so lucky they caught ( fill in the blank here with any disease) early" yeah, because then it's like cancer-lite or some other lesser form of the disease it doesn't count.

Here are some proper uses of the word lucky:

"Oh, you are so lucky you won $2000 on a lottery ticket"  this is an actual unexpected event of good furtune
"Oh, you are so lucky you can lose weight on the birthday cake diet"  again, actual good fortune

"Oh, you are so lucky that you were able to buy that new (whatever you want) for $5"  again, actual good fortune


Please spread the word to others and lets get this problem licked.  Lucky is only for good, unexpected events of good fortune.

Sunday, March 28

So these days, the grade school kids have this thing called Flat Stanley.  It's a boy cut out of paper that they color up and send off with their people out into the world.  Their people then need to take pictures of "Stanley" in all kinds of places and then the kids report back to the class where their Stanley has been.  Well, a friend of mine, received a flay Kya ( a girl paper doll) from her niece and yesterday we spent the day trapsing all over photographing this thing.  My job was to take the pictures.  I've included just a few below for you to enjoy.  Needless to see, I saw more of Madison yesterday that I think I ever have.  We started the day at Clausens, then went to the mustard Museum, Sonic, the Orchid green house,  Camp Randall ( both outside and practically on the field), the fire station across the street from Camp Randall, the UW Police building, the State Capitol ( inside and out), the Veteran's Museum, The State Historical Museum, this store that smelt like bad cheese, the Zoo, Famous Dave's and finally the Home Depot for some toilet humor.  Just let me know if you would like to see more of the 83 pictures sent for printing.   Also - JH - the Vespa is just for you!

Wednesday, March 24

When I first lived in Madison, the Isthmus actually printed the personal ads on paper.  One of my favorite parts was the "I saw you" category.  I always held out this secret fantasy that someone was going to see me  at the grovery store or where ever and our eyes would meet and they would express my undying love for me in the Isthmus several days later.  Well, the Isthmus no longer prints these on paper and reading them on their website is not as exciting.  Besides, I feel like this has been replaced by the "Missed Connections" listings on Craigslist.  Have you ever looked at those?  They are nothing like the old day "I saw you" ads.  They sometimes teeter on creepy now, who am I trying to kid, a lot of stuff on Craigslist teeters on creepy.

Tuesday, March 23

Whatever happened to goodbye?

When I was younger, before we all communicated electronically, there was an art to the goodbye, the conversation ending.  There was "see you later alligator", "after while crocodile" and other friend specific closures.  But not anymore.  People just finish what they are saying and hang up without even so much as a bye.  Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I appreciate the good bye, the clear message the something is over.
This happens a lot in the instant messaging as well, you trade some information and then people just stop typing.  So I guess the question is, is IMing a conversation with a clear beginning and end or a continuing dialogue that might go on for days or even weeks?

I miss goodbyes.  There is no wondering if something is completed or if it's just on pause when you clearly end the conversation.  Maybe I'm just old fashioned.

Monday, March 22

So again today I'm going to steal the quote off a friend's popular social network sight page because I just really like it.

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. ~Anne Bradstreet\

I think it rings really true and is something for us all to think about.  It's the comparision of the bad with the good that makes it seems so much better.  I mean seriously.  If everyday were 50 degrees and windy with piles of mud, would it seem so glorious?  But no, we just had weather that was like 20 degrees and cold and gray and snow.

I also have some sad news to report.  Marvin was killed while I was gone yesterday.  I know that the 19 year old kid with the big hole in his ear at Pet Smart who was the "fish expert" warned me that this was likely since aparently the beta fish like to be the prettiest fish in the tank.   But they seemed be getting along ok.  So I get home last night to see his greying fish body jammed in the rocks.  The funniest part is, I can't bring myself to flush him.  I mean seriously, he could fit on a 50 cent piece.  It shouldn't be a big deal, so my goal for today is to get up the gumption to use the net, scoop him out and flush.  And then obviously buy some more since he did not get my tank as clean as I wanted.

I also have some news I'm excited about.  About 18 months ago, my mom got me a digital photo frame for my desk from a woman she worked with and I believe it may have involved the exchange of a high priced Starbucks gift card.  She was very excited to get this for me.  So I brought it home and tried for days to get pictures on it and I just couldn't get it to work.  I bought like 3 cables and just couldn't get the stuff to load.  So , I quietly put into the closet and decided to tackle it another day.  So then, the other day, it dawned on me.  I wonder if it would read one of the memory cards from the digital camera??  Sure enough, I inserted memory card, I saw pictures.  So now, on my desk, sits my digital photo frame with the memory card that came with the camera my mom gave me ( there is more than one card).  Seriously, would I have anything without the Foster hand me down program?  So, Mom, I really like the digital photo frame!  Thanks.

Wednesday, March 17th

So I was watching the news tonight and there was a story about this week of the year ( you know, the start of the March Madness), vasectomies quadruple because men plan them when they want to watch TV for the next 4 days.  Seriously??  Who would have thought that men would go to such lengths to be able to watch TV without a fight?

I am a little disappointed that no one in my office started a bracket pool.  Now that I get the paper everyday, I was really sure I could have placed high this year.  I am going to have to have a talk with my co-workers.  In Larry's defense though, he does lack opposible thumbs.

Tuesday, March 16th

I have been getting some bargains lately, that as I told my dad, that are the kind of stuff people blog about.  LOL

So it went like this:

Sunday morning - walked out my door to the car.  Found $1.  Total so far +$1.00
Went to Mounds Pet food Warehouse where I purchased some liquid cat nip.  Total - $5.26 - $5.00 coupon - money spent 26 cents - so I am still up $.74 for the day.
Next stop - Cost plus World market - purchased 4 ramekins and 2 glass storage containers.  Total $11.02  - $10.00 bithday coupon - money spent $1.02 - total expenditure for the day so far 28 cents.

Monday - went to CVS to score a sweet deal on some shampoo - Bought Aussie shampoo for $2.99, bought spray gel for $2.99 - used a coupon for $2.00 off. turned in my $3.00 in extra bucks, total purchase $1.31 but received back $1.00 extra buck ( good as cash at CVS) .

So for a bottle of liquid cat nip, 2 glass containers, 4 ramekins, shampoo and spray gel, my final out of pocket spending was -- wait for it --59 cents.  I'm saying, stuff you blog about!

I'm off to see what else I can score for next to nothing today.

Friday, March 12 part II

Life doesn't always go the way we plan.  Bad and scarey things happen when you least expect it and they at sometime happen to everyone.  You always hope that when these things happen, you will be handle it perfectly, not cry, make the correct joke, bring the right cookie and be what everyone needs, but that is not how life works, sometimes you get upset, sometimes people let you down.  All you can hope is you make it through without too much collateral damage. 



Just a note: I will never buy kleenx from Wal-Mart again.  It smells funny.

Friday, March 12

Well another week is over.  And the sun came out again this morning, just like always.
There are things that happen in life that hit you in the gut like a linebacker.  You go to sleep, you wake up the next morning, and there it is, the sun.  A whole new day.  It's not saying that yesterday doesn't matter, but instead it's a whole new chance for new oppurtunities and a reminder that what ever happened yesterday, doesn't stop the world.

I bought a new fish yesterday.  He is one of those that are supposed to help keep the tank clean.  He is really quite small.  I have named him Marvin.  I'm not expecting him to live long.  Aparently Beta fish like to the prettiest fish in the tank so they kill off the other fish, but having said that, I still something to clean up the rocks.  LOL.  I don't understand why they are called Beta fish.  That doesn't make sense, if they need to be kept alone because they have to be the prettiest fish, they should be called Alpha fish.  I mean, by defination, Beta implies number 2 in the pack, or at the very least, not number one.

Thursday, March 11

Well, it finally smells like spring out and the snow is beginning to melt.

It's always an adventure to see what is uncovered by the snow - you know - trash, single gloves, more dog poop than one person could have imagined.  I even had one friend find a set of long lost keys last spring in the thaw.  I know I should be, but I'm not a fan of the spring in the early stages.  Pollen gives me headaches, its windy and there is mud everywhere and everything is dirty.  I'm much more of a fan of late spring/early summer.  When it's light until 8:30, the lilac fill the air and all the grass and trees are green.

I'm turning 35 this weekend and I'm trying to figure out what season of my life I am in.  I know it's not early spring but am in summer, where everything is established and thriving or by some chance, is this still late spring where there is still time to plant and grow new things and you have the whole growing season ahead of you?

Sunday, March something

So it's official, I really have no idea what day today is.  It is only because of the TV that I know it is Sunday. 

I bought myself a copy of The Catcher in the Rye, which I have now taken down from my "what I am reading" area because one of my friends reminded me that the crazy character that Mel Gibson played in the Conspiracy Theory movie was obsessed with the book.  I'm not obsessed with it, I'm just trying to catch up on the classics.  As soon as I remember how I put it there in the first place,  I will replace it with the new the book I am reading, the Awakening, by Kate Chopin.  I have read it before, but it has been years and each time I get some thing new from it.  So you know who you are - let me know if that book is linked to crazies too- will you??  LOL

I have been house/dog sitting since Thursday.  I think my luck is returning.  I took the dog out for a walk today, which was a new adventure for us.  Normally he just runs around in the big fenced in back yard, but today, I thought a change of scenery was in order for both of us.  So I grabbed my iPod, 2 special poop bags and away we went.  I think my luck is turning around because we walked for a good 20 minutes and he did not poop.  I was so glad.  There is nothing grosser than having to pick up a fresh pile of warm dog poo and then have to carry it home like a prize.  This totally makes up for the dog waking me at 4:30 am to get fed each morning

My mom and I have the same conversation about 50 times a year.  It goes something like this.  "wow, it's x:30 and it's still light out, can you believe it?"  So today, I'm doing stuff and I look out the window and it's 6:15 and yeah, it's still light out, and I think, wow, it's 6:15 and it's still light out.  It's funny how without realizing it, we slowly morph into our parents.  I accept this, but please stage an intervention if I join a bird gang. 

Thursday, March 4

So at the not so subtle nudging of a friend, I realized that I had again forgotten to write anything for a few days.  I started to think about what really makes someone a friend.  It's so different now than when I was 6.  It's the person who reminds you that if you want to claim that you "work from home", you must actually do some work and hence write in your blog.  It's the person that makes you a mix tape ( ok, a CD) with the most amazing songs on it and you suspect she really wanted you to really here at least one of them.  It's the person who listens to your plea for time with other human beings that you actually know and suddenly has one night a week free for you.  It's the person that calls everyday just to make sure you're still there.  I don't think I will ever jump rope or play tag with any of those  people, so there in lies the difference between being a grown up friend and 6 years old.  You do things unconditionally and a little more seriously.

I went to superTarget this morning.  It seemed like every corner I turned, there was some person with a small child.  And every single one of those little ones did not want to be at super target today.  There was crying and screaming and fussing galore.  It was ridiculous.  Afterwards, I was at breakfast with a friend of mine and I was telling her about how these little people ruined my trip to one of the happiest places on earth.  She looks at me and very seriously says, "you need to go at 1.  They are all napping then" like I some how should have known this.  I mean, I know she was right, but I started to wonder,  did I miss the handbook about how to navigate through the world without children?

Monday, March 1

I realized this past weekend that today was going to be March 1st.  Inside my head it's still January 26th.  Where the hell did February go?  The up side of this is, winter is practically over.  Sure, it will still be cold, we may even see more snow, but really we're a lot closer to the end then beginning.

I visited my family over the weekend.  It become overtly obvious that my sisters have never read this.  Following about every 4th or 5th comment, one would say, "you should be blogging about this".   And the funny part was, it was about stupid stuff their dog would be doing or one of those things were you had to be there to know the back story etc.

There is one tidbit that I did manage to jot down in my blog log* though because I thought it was hilarious.  At one point Jamie looks at me says, "you know, Jessie's using the think method to finish a marathon"  She went on to explain how it works and how it has been sucessful in the past, you know, in the Music Man, where the kids think the notes and then the band plays them.  I got to say, I don't think the think method is going to be a good substition for actual training.

I'm terminally cleaning today as my sister calls it.  You know, the kind where you pull the bed out to vacuum under it, actually dust the picture frames etc.  I have also created an enourmous amount of trash.  I can't believe how I keep finding more things to throw out, but my logic is, if that pen has been hiding under the bed for God only knows how long, I think I can live without it.

* my official blog log is a small strawberry shortcake notepad I can't even remember buying, so if you're with me and I whip that out, you've been warned that you are fodder for this blog!