Random Ramblings -- on the cutting edge

I posted this yesterday.

Dave Barry posted this today.

Further proof that Random Ramblings is on the cutting edge of bloggy goodness. ;)

Chasing shiny objects...

I can't believe I got this on video. The reason is simple.

"Laser" is Fox's favorite thing. Besides eating. And sleeping. And hiking. And "playing" with the cats. And playing "get you."

Anyway.

Asbury likes laser, too. And she got to play it for once in her life. Score one for the cat.

Have a New Year's message for someone in NYC?

This Web site in this article may be just the ticket. :)

This is my message: "Stay safe, all."

What's your message? Leave a comment!

Diamond ring...

I HATE when I lose my diamond rings this way.

(It may not have been a picnic for the person who found it either. Crunch.)

This blog -- it is a changin'

So if you look around, you'll see some changes to this here blog.

I'm trying to boost my readership, so I've joined FeedBurner, Technorati, etc.

I'll still be doing my same old thing... I just hope to have more people reading. So tell your friends and neighbors. Sign up for my feed, sign up for my blog via e-mail, click various widgets. Have a blast.

And, if you don't mind, leave a comment from time to time. I love comments. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to know people are out there. And reading. Why just today, I've had folks from Asia and the United Kingdom, and even here at home read my blog. I love that.

Conversation Ed and I just had...

...while watching a Modern Marvels episode on Walt Disney World:

Me: The Dumbo ride is really fun.
Ed: You've been to Disney World.
Me: No, Disneyland.
Ed: How old were you?
Me ::: thinking ::: : Oh, about 29.

:)

PhotoHunt: Messy

(Originally photographed by me and posted here.)

In October, Ed and I went to Mammoth Cave. While there, we saw lots of graffiti, most of it from the 19th century.

Graffiti, no matter how old, is quite messy.

What's your "messy" picture? Join the PhotoHunt.

photohunt

Communing with the worms...

I love this idea. Maybe Ed and I'll commune with the worms together. :)

Francis at Christmas

Francis, playing with the Colorforms he got from his mom and dad for Christmas.

My sister called Christmas day to chat, and so Francis could thank us for the books we bought him. (We got him this, this, and this -- the latter a childhood favorite.) Ed was on the phone with his sister, so I had the extreme pleasure of hearing my nephew say things like "Thank you for the presents, Aunt Rebecca" and "Thank you for the books, Uncle Ed" and "Merry Christmas, Aunt Rebecca" and "I love you, Aunt Rebecca."

Not to mention "I'm eating cranberries." (What can I say? The kid loves dried fruit. Keeps him regular AND it's good for him.)

He'll be three on January 8. He's a genius, I tell you.

I wish they weren't so far away. (They're in Montana.) But hearing his sweet voice on Christmas day made it a little bit easier.

New York City

Good news for those who are New York City bound... such as Ed and me in about three weeks.

Curves: The Documentary

It's not perfect. (The editing software on the Flip is REALLY basic -- I need to get something a bit more advanced). That said, here is the video I've been promising. I know you've all been waiting with bated breath. :)



I'd forgotten how much fun editing can be. I've never edited digital footage before, though. And I've certainly never edited MYSELF. ;)

Christmas 2007

Manger ornament, originally uploaded by FlickrBugForever.

As promised, pictures from yesterday...

It was a very merry Christmas. I told Ed that it felt like our first Christmas, even though it's the third Christmas we've been together and the second we've been married.

It just "felt" new for some reason... and that seemed right.

I went to Curves!

See! My Curves-O-Meter has moved.

Video to come. :)

Christmas!

I gave Ed Silly Putty for Christmas. He's been playing with it and reading about it for the last 30 minutes or so. I think he likes it. :)

Santa Claus has been here...

Ed and I must have been really good this year, because Santa has already come to our house.

But Ed says it's too early to open presents. I don't see what the problem is. It's after midnight.

I would post the pictures of our stocking (and overflow "stocking"), but the sooner I go to sleep, the sooner Ed will let me look in my stocking in the morning.

(I am so excited, if you hadn't been able to tell.)

Merry Christmas!

Ed and I went to Stone Mountain last night, so I could take pictures using the tripod I got from Dad for an early Christmas present. Here are a few of the photos I took.

Merry Christmas!

Important note to self...

When making coffee for husband, always put coffee in the filter before starting coffee maker. The beverage will taste better that way.

This morning at 4 a.m....

About 3:15 a.m., a small brown-and-white dog named Toby needed to go out, but wouldn't do his business. After 45 minutes and three trips out, he finally did that which dogs must do. By then we were all WIDE awake.

This is what happened...



And then we went back to bed.

Overheard...

Ed in the kitchen singing "Spider-Fox, Spider-Fox"...

I love him so much...

"The Simpsons Movie" funny

Ed and I watched "The Simpsons Movie" tonight. Homer rescues a pig named Plopper. At one point, he decides Plopper should be Spider-Pig. Homer makes Plopper "walk" on the ceiling and sings "Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig. Does whatever a spider-pig does" (to the tune of the "Spider-Man" theme, of course).

Later, Homer says, "He's not Spider-Pig anymore, he's Harry Plopper." Ha!

This person's wish...

...is that all missing gloves will be reunited with its mate.

Here's the Web site discussed in the article. Pretty neat, actually.

PhotoHunt: Light

I couldn't tell you how I managed to get this shot, but it's not been retouched. Maybe it's not the typical "light" photo, but what does typical mean anyway?

Join the fun: PhotoHunt

Technorati: photohunt

Flip Video

I got a Flip Video Ultra Series camcorder today. Initially, I was an unhappy girl because the product didn't work. I could make videos, but I couldn't do anything else, like put it on my computer, edit. You know... all the stuff I GOT the device for. A few minutes after throwing up my hands in disgust and telling Ed to "fix it," I went to the company's Web site and discovered the product needed some new firmware, whatever that is. Ed and I (mainly Ed) installed the firmware. Then, it worked. Hooray!

For your viewing (dis)pleasure, I present the following:

The full-length video Ed took while I was trying to figure out what was wrong (I think he just wanted to take a video of me computing)...



...and the edited version...



Now, both are perfectly fine videos, but sometimes it's nice to get to the heart of the matter and be done with it.

Merry Christmas, happy birthday, happy anniversary (maybe there's some cotton in the carrying case it came with) to me.

It is finished!

I have a ton to do before the end of the day and the start of my vacation. (See the detritus around the calendar in the photo for just a small preview.) But I wanted to let everyone know that we are FINALLY done with the January issue.

The photo's primary focus is intended to be the calendar. This calendar served as my schedule for January issue "stuff." Not shown is the page for July, when we sent the first mailing of a brochure for an awards contest we organize every year. Not shown is the day in April when we started working on the brochure for that contest.

By the time we start producing pages for the actual issue (in late October/early November), I am already So. Over. It. This is because, as noted above, I start things churning in mid-July, with the occasional "preview" of things to come earlier in the year (i.e. the awards brochure). Thank God (and I say that reverently) for the temp who works with me for four or five weeks in September and October (and sometimes for a few days closer to shipping). Without him or her we'd never get it all done.

The January issue is a BIG ISSUE for all of us. We work more hours of overtime than we like to count. We lose sleep, having anxiety dreams about missing pages or whatnot. Or we just don't sleep.

But now, except for one or more coworkers checking the few changes to what we looked at yesterday, we're done for another year. We'll have the magazine in early January. We'll both want to look and be afraid to do so. (What if something's wrong?!?) Then comes the meeting and associated exposition -- the reason for all the work.

And, before I know it, it will be time for me to make a 2009 January issue calendar, and we'll start all over again. I both dread and look forward to it.

The squirrel is dead

Here is the obit for the squirrel.

I am pasting it here, with only minor editing (to remove my place of work, etc.). Thank you, Kim, for writing the obituary. I am too broken up to do so. ;)

CEILING TILE ABOVE FRED’S DESK-Stanley Q. Squirrel, the oldest vermin of Janet and Dwayne Squirrel, was found dead December 20, 2007, after a long and eventful vacation above the offices of XYZ, Inc. Stan, 7 months, was surprised and shocked when his life was cut short so close to the holidays. His plans to forage for candy from Fred's coworker's mother-in-law will be continued out by his close friends Amanda and Herbert who are now considered on the lam from the PETA-approved trap that took their friend’s life. Stan will be remembered as a bon vivant, who liked to lick his paws after visits to the trash cans outside of the elevators on P2. Fortunately for XYZ, Inc., many of the trade secrets and upcoming XYZ Journal article topics he wasn’t supposed to hear about are now safe from the prying ears of squirrels who would have shared this news with the editorial staff of journals similar to the one produced by XYZ, Inc. Stan leaves behind Loretta, his wife of six days and their unborn squirrel. Loretta is missing some fur, but is expected to have some regrowth once the XYZ, Inc., offices close for the holidays and she can narf around in desks looking for dark chocolate and biscotti with corn in it. Since there is no body, the funeral will be closed casket or in this case, closed empty box of nuggets from Chick-Fil-A. In lieu of flowers, please be kind to all squirrels you see at work. Who knows – the next time you see them, they may be in the jaws of the facility manager’s squirrel tongs.

Remember...

...the rodents I talked about in previous posts?

Well, one (or more) has died in the general vicinity of my boss's office. No one can FIND the remains of this creature of God, but there's definitely something dead up there.

We are all totally grossed out... and nauseous.

Good times.

Probably a good idea...

Lynne Spears' book about parenting delayed indefinitely

Just sayin'.

Bereft

I am bereft. My service advisor at the car dealership where I have my repairs done no longer works there. He took really good care of me, and I ALWAYS felt like he had my best interest (and that of my car) in mind.

Where did he go? Why did he leave? Why didn't he tell me?!?

::: heavy sigh :::

Life is hard...

...And then your car service advisor leaves you for another job.

:(

WFMW: Storing Christmas Lights

As mentioned here and here, we're not big decorators for Christmas. However, in years past I have been known to put up a tree. However, when it was time to undecorate, I couldn't afford to buy the "spools" designed to keep stored lights from getting tangled.

So this is what I do (when I actually decorate): loosely wrap the lights in a roughly 8-inch diameter circle. When you get to the end of the string of lights, "plug" the cords into each other. This way there is no doubt where the string begins and ends. I put each "plugged" strand in its own plastic bag, which further prevents tangling.

It worked for me. Hopefully, it will work for you, too. For more WFMW tips (Christmas and otherwise), click here. And leave a tip of your own. It's fun!

And now for something REALLY important

We have Christmas stockings!

Ed hung them by the chimney with much care.

This is the extent of our holiday decorating. It's just perfect.

Knowing too much, too soon

Before I Die, my current book on CD, is recommended for listeners from 14-17. The first part of the book describes, quite vividly, a 16-year-old's journey to her "first time" with a boy.

I read books with similar scenes when I was a teenager (and younger, truth be told). But I wish I hadn't. Books and t.v. shows (i.e. "Santa Barbara") and movies (i.e. "Dirty Dancing") that I watched during this time (generally without parental knowledge or approval, but through no fault of theirs) put "stuff" about sex in my head that I certainly wasn't ready for. So I had all this adult "stuff" in my brain that I had no use for, and that I wouldn't have a use for until after I got married more than two DECADES later. (I was 31 when I got married.)

Everything I really needed to know about getting ready for "married things" I could have learned in the books we purchased in the months leading up to our wedding, not in the books, t.v. shows and movies I watched starting when I was 10.

Odds and ends

• By the end of the work day, it warmed up to 68 degrees or so, at least in some parts of our office. Hopefully, tomorrow will start off warmer than today did -- and stay warmer.
• We're very, very close to finishing shipping all parts of the January magazine. Friday was The Big Ship (TBS), but little ships sail before and after TBS for the January issue. :)
• Is it a bad sign when you start watching an episode of My First Place, say to yourself "I think this is the one with the laundry chute," and it IS the one with the laundry chute?
• Just four more days until my vacation. After Friday, I don't work again until January 3. I cannot WAIT!
  

Bonfire, anyone?

The temperature in my part of our office building is only slightly warmer than the temperature at the Winter Dog Picnic on Friday (seriously). The difference? There we had a bonfire to help keep us warm. Here, not so much.

I have my winter jacket on. If it doesn't warm up soon, I'm putting my hood up.

Yikes.

I, of course, have NEVER done this...

...or at least I've not done it today.

What about you? Vote in my poll at the top of my sidebar.

And if you have a story about this, leave a comment.

Take Care!

(This entry contains medical talk. Nothing too "oogy," but fair warning.)

Today, I had the occasion to avail myself of yet another drugstore urgent care facility: Take Care Health Centers, run by Walgreens.

The reason? A bladder infection. I am SO SICK of bladder infections. This is one of those ailments that I wish could be cured with over the counter medications; after the first couple of diagnoses, you KNOW that 's what you have, no medical professional necessary.

To add insult to today's particular injury, I could not produce the necessary specimen to save my life. Twice, someone came to check on me. More than 48 ounces of fluid consumed in a very short period of time provided barely enough "results" to do the test. Oy.

So off I go once again to the land of antibiotics, full-strength cranberry juice, lots of water, and various other aids, including cuddles from Fox Dog, to make me feel better.

Winter dog picnic

Tree on top of Stone Mountain, originally uploaded by FlickrBugForever.

Last night was the winter dog picnic. Do you know it's HARD to take photos in very low light, even with a tripod?

I used a 30-second exposure to capture this image. More photos are here.

PhotoHunt: Small

My PhotoHunt photo: My husband Ed with a six-week-old puppy. (Well, the puppy is small. Ed is a normal-sized human.)


photohunt

Merry Christmas, 93 years late

And we think waiting a week to get something via the USPS is a long time. Merry Christmas, 93 years late.

The squirrel(s)/rat(s) is/are BACK!

Coworkers are "duck and covering" outside my office. :)

My boss said it sounds like reindeer feet. 'Tis the season...

"12 Days" with a twist

I found this over at Rachel's blog.

It's a riot. And very well sung. :)

Holiday Luncheon

Our company's holiday luncheon was today at The Cheesecake Factory. I ate some of this, Ceasar salad, and a few tortilla chips for appetizers. They were small portions, because we had very small plates.

For the main course, I had salmon, mashed potatoes and asparagus (but didn't eat all of the mashed potatoes and asparagus).

For dessert, I had a piece of this. (They don't call it The Cheesecake Factory for nothing.)

I didn't overeat, or at least not too badly. It was still too much food.

Maybe I should have eaten this instead. :)

The food was good, my lunch companions were delightful, and the gift card and travel mug we received were wonderful treats. It was a nice day.

Tomorrow is January Issue Ship Day (or The Big Ship, as Ed and I have been calling it.) That should make for an even NICER day. :)

Squirrel!

There is a squirrel scampering above the acoustic tile in my office. If he decides he wants a snack and chews on the tile, I may have a squirrel fall on my head. (That would wake me up, at least.)

This gives new meaning to the song "Dancing on the Ceiling." Just sayin'.

Sad news...

...for Terry Pratchett fans. :(

Works-for-Me Wednesday: Easy chocolate portion control

Like most women, I LOVE chocolate. The problem is that I love it a bit too much. So what works for me is for my dear husband to put a small number of wrapped chocolates in my lunch each day. This way, I get my "fix," but don't overindulge (most of the time).

Want to play along? Click here.

Answer: Alex Trebek

Question: Which game show host had a heart attack on Monday?

I hope he gets well quicker than you can say, "This is 'Jeopardy!'"

Toby update

The cardiologist examined Toby today and did the echocardiogram.

Good news!

He is in the very, very early stages of mitral valve disease. She does not recommend any further medication or other treatment for him at this time. In 12 months, he is to have another x-ray, and an echocardiogram in 24 months.

Our vet wants us to bring him by every three months or so, so he can listen to Toby's heart. That's just to be on the safe side, because you never know how fast the disease might progress.

I'm thankful that he's doing just fine for now.

(By the way, the cats produced the required urine. Ed didn't even need to leave them at the vet's. The cats were quite relieved I'm sure -- no pun intended.)

Glad I'M not the one who made this mistake!

I hate when this happens.

Oops.

Meow? Again? Meow?

Yes, again, sadly. The vet folks weren't able to get any urine from the girls on Saturday. And since Autumn has a history of "inappropriate urination," as they say, she really needs to be checked.

So I wrangled the cats again this morning and managed not to get peed on this time. Hooray!

The vet's not allowed to release the cats until he's been "peed on"... I mean until he's obtained urine samples from them... though. :)

(Prayers for Toby, too, please. He has his visit with the cardiologist and an echocardiogram today.)

Now, I gotta fly and get ready for work. :)

Christmas poll

Atlantic Station Christmas Lights, originally uploaded by HamWithCam.

I always enjoy seeing Christmas lights and decorations. However, I have a heck of a time getting the "oompf" to put up my OWN Christmas lights and decorations (even with Ed to help me).

Christmas lights:

I love 'em and can't put up enough

or

I love 'em but prefer to look at other peoples' lights and decorations

or

Christmas lights and decorations? I don't need no stinkin' lights and decorations.

Vote in the poll in the sidebar. Have fun!

Flower and Fox

The results of last week's poll are in:

100% of the six thousand (o.k. six) people who took the poll believe Flower and Fox were, indeed, separated at birth.

Thank you for participating. :)

Well, that decision is easier now

You all know I love my husband Ed more than anything.

But I also have a pretty big thing for Rick Reilly, at least literarily speaking. The "love affair" began in 1997 when I worked for CNN Sports Illustrated. One of the perks of the job was that we got free copies of Sports Illustrated. Rick Reilly wrote the "back page" column. It was the first thing I read most weeks. In fact, Rick's column is the main reason I started subscribing a few years ago.

So imagine my horror when I opened to the back page of this week's SI and didn't see Rick's column. Even worse, there was no "Rick Reilly is on vacation" notice.

A news search on Google confirmed my fears: Rick has left SI for ESPN. He starts there in June. This just added insult to injury, as another of my faves, Steve Rushin, left the magazine earlier this year.

My subscription expires in a couple of weeks. I'll probably subscribe again one day, maybe even next year, but this news makes resubscribing immediately seem not as urgent.

Snowflakes!

I found a snowflake-making site through Rocks in My Dryer.

Go. Make a snowflake. Or 60.

Then catch a few.

It will make you smile.

Sharing the crate

Sharing the crate, originally uploaded by FlickrBugForever.

This is how much Autumn hates the vet: she's willing to share a crate with a DOG.

For a delightful photo essay -- and some cute pictures -- click here. (I promise the rest of the pictures are better than this one.)

By the way, Autumn peed on me when I tried to crate her. I prayed that we'd be able to wrangle them, not that I wouldn't get peed on. Asbury tried hiding in a drawer, but that was the third place I looked. Prayer answered. :)

Further answer to prayer: the cats are healthy, as far as we can tell. Almost $250 in blood work will tell us the whole story. (The whole bill was just under $500. Older pets will do that to what used to be a "cheap" vet bill.) The vet doesn't expect any surprises from the blood work.

Hopefully, all will be well for the next year...

More about Poppy Joy

You can read more about the week since Poppy Joy was born and died here. The December 7 entry includes the video shown at her memorial service. It's beautiful. I'm also going to put it with Copeland's video in the sidebar of this blog, should you want to look at it later.

She lived only three hours, but she was so well loved. Now she's with Jesus, who loves her more than anyone ever could.

Dear God

Dear God,

This afternoon, Ed and I have to take Autumn and Asbury for their annual trip to the vet.

Please help us be able to wrangle them without too much trouble. And, God, a report of two healthy cats would be great. We've dealt with a lot of pet worry -- and expense -- recently.

Love,
Rebecca

Back-up cam!

Earlier in the year, Random Ramblings brought you Cat Cam.



Today, Random Ramblings offers the first installment in what I hope will be a regular feature.

I give you, my loyal readers, Back-Up Cam (courtesy our CR-V).

Today's subject? Ed.














Is this back-up camera on?














"Eye" see Ed!














Bye! (or should that be "Beye"?)

I hope you enjoyed Back-Up Cam. Stay tuned. Perhaps tomorrow, we'll feature the garage as seen from back-up cam. :) Oh the excitement.

I'm AWAKE!

Work is getting exciting, so I'm awake now, but in a very sleepy sort of way.

Stop this crazy thing...

WAKE ME UP!

It is WAY too quiet in our office today. As in, it's so quiet I could fall asleep. I fear I MAY fall asleep.

My next-door office neighbor is off. Two of my coworkers are off. Our publisher is off. (Maybe I could take a nap in one of their offices. Oh, nevermind.)

So do me a favor, will you?

If you stop by, leave me a comment. Say hello. Tell me how you found my blog. Tell me what you like, dislike, want more of, want less of, etc.

Although it won't really keep me awake, I'd like to see who's stopping by. (I've been getting a lot of traffic lately from persons unknown... which I LOVE!) Keep reading. And tell your friends!

Happy Friday!

Jazz and Toby

Jazz and Toby, originally uploaded by safjazz.

Back in the olden days, Sarah took this picture of Jazz and Toby when she was taking care of him while I was out of town.

But even longer ago than THAT (in July of 2000), Jazz adopted Sarah... I mean Sarah adopted Jazz.

In November of 2001, I adopted Toby.

Toby and Jazz are best dog friends. As his first act of friendship, Toby shared a nasty stomach virus with Jazz.

Now they share a mitral valve disease diagnosis. Toby got his on November 26. Two Mondays later (December 10) Jazz received the preliminary diagnosis, which was made official today.

Sharing is important in a friendship, but this is ridiculous. :)

So although it stinks that we both have a dog with mitral valve disease, it's nice that we have each other with whom to compare notes and commiserate.

And amid the Mitral Valve Adventure, we'll continue to enjoy living life with our wonderful dogs (Fox, too, of course). After all, almost everything is better with a dog.

I'll show you what you can do with your blog!

You can add it to BlogHer.com.

Like I did.

Especially if you're a woman.

Like I am.

See? (Scroll down. I'm the fourth blog called Random Ramblings -- as of this minute.)

I signed up last night and it "took" earlier today. For the time being, I'm even in the recent additions section.

WHOO HOO! :)

(Now, back to work I go.)

Protecting the love of his wife

As noted previously, Ed hates power outages. When I called about 6:30 to tell him I'd arrived at work safely, the power was out.

Yet he was strangely calm.

I choose to believe he was so calm because his beloved wife (me, for any newcomers) was on her way to work, safe from dangers the lack of electricity might bring. (Driving in Atlanta traffic is another danger entirely.)

Is it cold -- or warm -- enough for you?

We've been experiencing large swings in the temperature at our office. As a result, this blog entry from Dorky Dad CRACKED ME UP.

Works-For-Me-Wednesday

My friend over at Rocks in My Dryer hosts what she calls "Works-for-Me Wednesday." This week's topic? Super-quick dinners.

Here's my humble contribution:

Take your basic extra-wide egg noodles and cook 'em up as per the instructions on the bag. Drain. Toss with a little bit of butter (or a lot if you're my husband) and Parmesan cheese (you know, the kind that comes in the green cylinder).

Eat a cup of yogurt and a glass of milk, and you have dinner. :)

Easy enough.

Join the fun!

Now what?

Sinus infections are pesky boogers (no pun intended). This article confirms what I've experienced (it takes REALLY strong antibiotics to get rid of my infections). But if I don't take the antibiotics, I won't get better on my own.

What's a girl to do?

Asbury irony

This is a beer stein, purchased at Asbury College's bookstore.

The ironic thing? Asbury's community standards don't allow the consumption of alcohol.

I've been meaning to post about this irony since Ed and I found it in June. Yesterday, I wrote an entry that I've determined, after lots of thought and the wise counsel of a trusted friend, not to be what I wanted to project. Asbury is a wonderful college, a place I was proud to attend.

Perhaps next I'll get around to posting my actual reunion pictures. Better late than never, I suppose.

The darndest things...

Yellow, originally uploaded by FlickrBugForever.

Some "controversy" about a certain beverage container I gave to a friend got me thinking. Just how "visible" am I on the Web?

It turns out that I'm quite visible and getting more so by the day.

For example, I found the photo above using one of my commonly used "handles." The photo was on a Web site using the search term "drapes." Who on earth would be interested in a completely random (but pretty) photo I took of drapes? Go figure.

Some background: the ISP of the college I attended showed up in my blog stat report this morning as a result of the beverage container I blogged about previously (post has since been removed and replaced with the "tamer" version above). I doubt they were pleased to see the entry.

Frankly, I wasn't pleased they ran across it either, because it made me feel as if I were being watched more than a decade after graduation. (I know this isn't the case, that they were doing a routine search to see who is talking about the college and how.)

Like diamonds, the Internet is "forever." I am well aware that what I post today will be around decades -- if not millenia -- from now. But how much should I care?

I have heard horror stories about people not getting jobs after potential employers found unsavory "stuff" about job candidates on the Internet. However, I am careful not to post anything incriminating. (Not that there's much incriminating to post. I am one of the most "boring" people you'll ever meet.)

Let me put it another way. If anything I have blogged in the last five months, or will blog in the next 30 years (give or take a decade), is "bad" enough to prevent an employer from hiring me, I don't think that would be the kind of environment in which I'd like to work.

Who knows? Maybe this very post will get me "not hired" one day. That's a risk I'm willing to take.

Separated at birth?

"Flower" from "Meerkat Manor"...













and Fox from "Maty Manor"?














YOU be the judge and answer the poll at right.

(Top photo from a random Web site, but most likely courtesy The Discovery Channel/Animal Planet.)

Poppy Joy

Meet Poppy Joy and her parents Nathan and Angie.

Poppy Joy has trisomy-18. She was born today at 10:26 a.m. and lived for three hours.

I know of about 10 trisomy-18 families (all via the Internet, although I met Copeland's parents at her memorial service). Each family knew of their child's condition fairly early in the pregnancy. Each family chose to carry the baby to term and to trust God with the details.

What an amazing testimony. And what courage.

As I read about Poppy Joy's birth and death to my husband, I started to cry. I cannot imagine this kind of loss. And while they would have loved more time with their precious daughter, they were so grateful for the three hours they had.

And I'm glad for them. And so unspeakably sad, too, for them, and for all those who have their babies with them on earth for just a little while.

Give your loved ones an extra kiss. I'm going to go up now, get into bed next to my husband, and do the same.

Harry Potter funny...

As indicated before, I am reading a lot of old blog entries this weekend. (I've at least scanned roughly 500 so far. No, I am not capable of marking "all read," especially since I'm enjoying myself.)

In my blog travels, I ran across this gem about Harry Potter that I absolutely must share. :) Wonderful...

"You should blog this!" says my husband

Ed just took the picture above, after deciding the situation was blog-worthy. (Who am I to discourage blog inspiration?)

Above shows the basic position I've been in since Thursday, except most of my time has been spent in the bed, not on the sofa.

I haven't been out of the house in almost 48 hours. But I've gotten a lot of DVD watching, blog-reading, reading reading, and sleeping done. Time well spent, I say.

If I don't stay out too late tonight visiting Sam (I mean celebrating his dad Mike's birthday) AND I rest all day tomorrow, I just might have the energy to go to work on Monday. Won't that be nice?