Curves, Halloween, and blogging

I'm sitting in the garage, downloading photos and blogging, waiting for the last few trick-or-treaters to come by.

My Curves total for the month is 9. I wish I'd done better (12 workouts a month is the Curves Way). A few things kept me away: I was sick for a few days, Ed's been sick this week, and tonight I had birthday dinner plans with Sarah... oh, and Halloween. I fully intended to go to Curves after dinner with Sarah... and was on my way, but Ed wanted me to come home for trick-or-treaters. (I didn't even know we were DOING trick-or-treating.)

Anyway, I'll do better in November, hopefully. I'll update my goal tomorrow after I get back from Curves. (I don't know how long they're closed for Thanksgiving.)

Here's a picture of me blogging, courtesy of Ed (or Mr. RebeccaMaty, as I credit him on my Flickr page). Halloween pictures tomorrow or Friday.

(Ed keeps taking my photo over and over. Now I know how he feels when I won't stop taking his picture: self-conscious, a bit annoyed, maybe a touch flattered? Hmmm...)

Hook

We've been in our new (temporary) office space for almost two months.

I just noticed that there's a hook on the back of my office door. This will come in handy in the winter if it's ever warm enough in here for me to take off my coat. :)

In the spirit of Halloween...

I offer this article on "vampire" electronics. (Truly scary. No kidding.)

"Bambi" made the list...

Time's Top 25 Horror Movies

A suspect!

We think Ed has food poisoning. Our friend Irene and her friend Sarah also got sick within 36 hours of eating at an unnamed Chinese restaurant. Ed's may have come on a bit late because he ate leftovers last night.

Hmmm... we'll see what happens.

100.9

That's Ed's temperature as of about 30 minutes ago. I had no idea he was feeling bad when I left the house a little after six this morning. By the time I got to work (less than 35 minutes later), he was officially sick.

He has fever, chills, a headache and an upset stomach. He's sleeping in a sweatshirt, sweatpants and socks.

He even asked me to come straight home instead of going to Curves first. My Curves-O-Meter may not move past "9" this month, but he's more important than Curves, even for a goal-oriented person such as me.

I don't think he's been this sick in the two-plus years we've been together.

I hope he feels better soon. He's miserable. And when he doesn't feel well, my heart doesn't feel good either. :(

Toby, Abby, Bunkie

Toby, Abby, Bunkie, originally uploaded by RebeccaMaty.

Pictures from Irene's are here. My favorite photo of Ed EVER is here.

2007 Fall Electronics Recycling Day

Couldn't believe how much STUFF people were bringing, originally uploaded by RebeccaMaty.

Yesterday, Ed and I went to recycle some "dead" electronics in Decatur. Our friend Heather told all of us at work about it. We thought we'd be in and out in a hurry. Not so much. Traffic, traffic, traffic. Police officers directing traffic. Multiple lines for drop-off. Us bickering when the guy taking our recyclables couldn't get the back door of the car open. :)

Good times.

We felt good about keeping this stuff out of the landfill... and I'm sure we'll have more in the spring when they do this all over again.

"Grandma" Irene's

We’re on the way home from Irene’s house (9 p.m.). No, we don’t have Internet in the car. I’m just so tired I want to do this now, so I can cut, paste, and go to BED.

Ed and I took Toby to "Grandma" Irene's for the Annual Photographing of the Dogs. That done, we discovered that Irene had a major computer virus problem. After purchasing and installing Norton (or six hours later) her computer is in MUCH better shape. We still need to get the router she also purchased working correctly, but that’s for another visit to Irene’s.

Each year Irene asks if we can stay “a bit longer.” I bet she won’t do THAT again. :)

It was a nice day, but we’re exhausted.

Pics tomorrow, but I’ll bet you knew that already.

Night!

P.S. We DO have Internet in our driveway, so that's where I'm posting this from. :)

A different language

Sarah came over tonight to pick up her dog, who we'd been watching while Sarah was on a business trip. We invited her for dinner, and we had a lovely time.

But near the end of her visit, the strangest thing happened. They started speaking Geekinese. It started with her looking at Ed's collection of R2-D2s and went from there. They talked about this strange creature called a Tribble. I thought that must be a cousin of Tigger, but apparently it's from "Star Trek." I was completely lost.

I continue to be lost. Ed just asked me if I was blogging. I said yes, and he confirmed that I had spelled R2-D2 correctly. Then he told me, "I need to get a bender." I thought he was indicating an as-of-yet unseen desire to get drunk. Then he told me that Bender is a robot from the t.v. show "Futurama."

I am so confused.

What I see when I look at this photo: lots of R2-D2s, a C3PO, and bunch of other things.

What Ed sees when he looks at this photo: "I see my robot collection." More specifically, he sees R2-D2s, C3PO, Robby the Robot, Robot B9, and the TARDIS (whatever that is).

It's amazing with this critical difference in our interests that we ever got married. ;)

The dictionary strikes again

There I was, minding my own business, looking up a word a coworker had asked about when I discovered something. The word my 1st grade teacher used to describe my penchant for interrupting people is in the dictionary. (Somebody make me stop with the links already.)

Anyhoo, the word came into being in 1902, which is about the time my 1st grade teacher came into being. (Did I type that 'out loud'?)

By the way, if in the 'right' mood I can still be brought to tears when telling this story. (I was six. There are better ways to get a child to stop talking than to call her names... even if the name is apt.)

No e-mail

The only thing worse than coming to work and the network being down is coming to work and not having access to e-mail.

Actually, in my case the two are so interc0nnected that the lack of either makes it virtually impossible for me to do anything.

The IT manager hadn't even gotten properly settled in his chair before I started hovering just outside his office. He used to come to work before seven for the quiet. He's still getting to work before seven, but it's quiet no more.

Hmmm... just had a brain wave. I wonder if I can access my e-mail through the Web? Just tried it. No dice .

Off to find something to file... in actual file folders. Weird!

"My name is Jazz. What's yours?"

"My name is Jazz. What's yours?", originally uploaded by RebeccaMaty.

Toby, Jazz, Fox, Ed and I went to the dog park today. Great fun was had by all. More pictures here.

My mom's birthday

Today is my mom's birthday. I'm not going to tell you how old she is, but I'm 32, and she's 28 years older than I am. ;)

I remember when 32 years old plus 28 years old seemed ANCIENT.

Not so much anymore...

Happy birthday, Mom!

P.S. If my mom kills me for posting this, there's not a jury in the world that will convict her. Maybe she can share a cell with my husband, when in less than 7 years I post that he's 39 years old plus 21 years old. :)

Upside down Rebecca

Upside down Rebecca, originally uploaded by RebeccaMaty.

For more fascinating pictures (and information) about my trip, click here.

Free breakfast

Word of warning...

When traveling on business, if you forget notebook you'll have to use tiny hotel paper.

Hmm...

This seems like regular plastic.

Insert joke here...

I'm going to St. Louis today for work. I'll be back tomorrow. I keep trying to write a post about how nothing will have changed because Jazz, a female dog... from which springs the original meaning of the term "son of a bitch," will be here. But I just can't do it.

So insert your own joke here, if you want.

In the meantime, I've got to fly. I mean get ready to fly. The actual flying will come later. (And boy will my arms be tired.)

Speaking of tired...

(Thank you and good night! I'll be here all week. Tip your waiter. Drive safely.)

Trucks of Treats

Trucks of Treats, originally uploaded by RebeccaMaty.

Toby and me at "Trunks of Treats" at our church.

Happiness is...

Happiness is when you friend calls you from Borders to tell you that a book she knows you'd love is $2.99 on the Bargain Book table... even when you've already purchased that Bargain Book.

Gwinnett Reading Festival

Mad-Eye Moody, originally uploaded by RebeccaMaty.

For more pictures from the Gwinnett Reading Festival, click here.

And now for something a little more serious...

Parched Georgia declares drought emergency

This drought makes me want to take sponge baths for the rest of my life... Really scary stuff...

Breaking "Harry Potter" news...

Dumbledore is gay.

Never crossed my mind to wonder, but good to know I guess...

Paws

Paws, originally uploaded by RebeccaMaty.

Tomorrow is the Fall Festival at our church. We're going to give candy as part of the "Trucks of Treats" fun. Toby is going as Count Tobula, or maybe as Count Tobus Bellyrubus. Fox is staying home to guard the house.

I love this picture of Toby's paws. They look very big, when in actuality Toby is a very small dog.

I'm sure more pictures will be forthcoming tomorrow... and not all of them will be of animals. :)

Breastfeeding on "Sesame Street" 30 years ago

I found this clip from a 1977 episode of "Sesame Street" on one of the other message boards I read.

Seeing green...

The October 26, 2007, issue of Entertainment Weekly has a note on the table of contents (lower left of the picture) to recycle the magazine after removing inserts and samples. I think this is really cool. Has anyone else seen this?

2 minutes, 11 seconds

Fox and Ed were playing "get you." This doesn't do it justice, but it will give you an idea...

What a sweet puppy...

What a sweet puppy..., originally uploaded by RebeccaMaty.

Baby Jessica twenty years later

As of yesterday, it's been twenty years since Baby Jessica was pulled from a well in the backyard of a home in Midland, Texas.

I was babysitting the night of her rescue. I decided I would let the kids stay up past their bedtime to watch. The rescue was said to be "so close," it was a Friday, and the kids' parents would just have to understand. (Twelve-year-old babysitters can be so bold sometimes.) As it turns out, she was out of the well by 9:30 eastern and the kids went off to bed, not TOO much past their bedtime after all.

I wonder if they remember that Friday night in 1987?

Here is a just-published story about what the now-21-year-old is up to. Here is a link to an interview Jessica did with Matt Lauer in June of this year.

What do you remember about those days in October of 1987?

Head hurts

Badly.

May throw up.

Getting off computer and going to bed.

My greeting to my husband this morning...

"Cr*p! The alarm didn't go off!"

Realizing how rude an awakening that must have been, I said, "What I meant to say is, 'Good morning! Cr*p! The alarm didn't go off!'"

It was 5:44 a.m., 19 minutes after the alarm actually HAD started going off on my cell phone, which was safe inside my purse. On the kitchen counter. I'd forgotten to bring it upstairs and plug it in before bed.

Still got to work on time, though...

Sweet Asbury kitty

My favorite of the three, originally uploaded by RebeccaMaty.

Asbury was sitting in the window watching Ed and me (and the dogs) on the deck. When I came back in, I peeked in at her, called her name, and got this super-sweet expression.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Learn something(s) new every day

While looking up a word for work in my analog Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary Eleventh Edition, I learned something(s) new.

1. The word "gazillion" is actually a word.

2. The actual definition of the word.

Did you know this about the word "gazillion"?

Cherry Pop-Tarts!

Last week, a friend and I were bemoaning the fact that we can't find Cherry Pop-Tarts in the grocery store. After we talked, I checked the Kellogg's Web site. They do still make them, but they're VERY far down the list. Further evidence of their existence? I found them at my local Walgreens. (Sorry for the out-of-focus photo. I used my CrapCam -- camera phone -- as Dave Barry would call it.)

But why can't I find Cherry Pop-Tarts at my grocery store? Don't people want to go where shopping is a pleasure and buy Pop-Tarts, for goodness' sake?

Bedtime for Bonzo

Bonzo is going to bed. It's been a long day.

• 3.5 hours of work
• 30 minutes of Curves (I'm up to five workouts for the month, my total for September.)
  
• lunch
• reading
  
• 2.5 hour nap
• very much YNABing
  
• t.v. watching (while YNABing)
• dinner
• more t.v. watching and trying to figure it when it would be a "decent hour" to go to bed

I am exhausted.

Mr. Bonzo had a busy day, too.

• getting up at o'dark-thirty because I had to go to work
  
• preparing snacks for my trip to work
• dog walking
• breakfast eating
• straightening and vacuuming the living room
• brownie baking
• more dog walking
• dog entertaining (they went to the dog park and then to Stone Mountain while I took my nap)
• dinner cooking
• kitchen cleaning
• more dog walking
  

Not a bad day, but there doesn't seem to be much time for relaxing. (Says she who took a 2 1/2 hour nap. Maybe I just need more relaxing time than the average Bonzo?)

I'm so tired from work these days, I don't think Ed or the dogs think I'm ever going to join them on a "dog adventure" again.

"Is it Saturday?"

These words were uttered by my husband as I headed to the car -- at 6:24 a.m. -- to go to work this morning.

I'm here by choice (I need some uninterruped work time), but it surely does NOT seem like Saturday.

Off to work I go. As I told Ed, the sooner I get started, the sooner I get to go home. And to Curves. :)

Al Gore

Now, I know Al Gore started legislating on a national level when I was a toddler, but I am really proud of him. It's like our "little Al Gore" is all grown up.

Congratulations, Mr. Gore!

Time

Is it time to go home yet? Because I REALLY need it to be.

There is no correlation, I swear, but I found this article interesting.

For the record, I {heart} my coworkers. I do not {heart} show products, especially after the first 200.

Rebecca

Note to self

Note to self:

Make sure to be fully awake before dressing for work. Otherwise might find self dressed in sweater that is, quite frankly, really dirty.

Note to blog readers:

I knew I should have stayed in bed.

Mammoth Cave

This is one of the many photos I took at Mammoth Cave. This is an intentionally artsy (read "blurry") photo. The light was LOW in there, so photos were tough going. I did actually manage to take some photos that were in focus (more or less). You can see those photos here.

Opryland Hotel

This is one of my favorite pictures from the Opryland Hotel. For more pictures at the hotel (I only posted about 20 of the 200 shots -- I promise), click here. I'll be adding to my Flickr page often. There's a link in my sidebar.

Three pics

A picture of Ed taking a picture of me taking a picture (Opryland Hotel, Nashville).

Ed and me at Mammoth Cave.

Self-portrait with Flat Stanley at Mammoth Cave. (I took the photo. Flat Stanley's arms weren't long enough.)

More pictures tomorrow or the next day. So many pictures, so little time... or interest from blog readers. ;)

Lamp!

The Lamp Fairy came while I was on vacation. Isn't it great? I will eventually buy one myself, but it was nice of the Lamp Fairy to think of me, my eyes, and my mental health. :)

UPDATE (7:36 a.m.): The Lamp Fairy/Fairies picked this lamp out especially for me for me to have forever and ever. Now I don't have to go lamp shopping! Whoo hoo! ::: clapping wildly :::

Thank you, Lamp Fairy/Fairies.

Home

We got home about 6:30.

We had a good trip home, but we're exhausted.

More about the trip in upcoming days.

For now, we're off to bed.

Asbury Alumni 1, Asbury Varsity 0

Well, that was the score going to the bottom of the first inning. Nobody got hurt (despite one alum being hit in the jaw with a pitch) ,and they all seemed to have a good time. As far as I'm concerned that's a "win" for the alumni. (I bet there will be more than a few sore muscles in the morning, but that's to be expected.)

Lots of my buddies were there, which was great. It had been five years since the last alumni game (as best we can remember). Many more "baseball babies," all of whom are cuter than anything.

It was freakishly hot, but well worth the buckets of sweat.

I, of course, took scads of pictures. My friend Andrew is getting a hit in the first photo. My friend Randy is doing a fine job playing 2nd base in the second photo.

This has been a great trip. I'll be glad to be home, but not glad to not be on vacation anymore.

Pooped!

We are plum tuckered...

We walked about 5 miles at Mammoth Cave, as part of two tours. The cave is beautiful. The "scenery" in the cave on each tour was so different it was hard to realize that it is all the same cave. Mammoth Cave covers more than 350 miles, and some scientists think there's a ton of Cave yet to be discovered.

We were in the car about to leave when we remembered Flat Stanley. After finding suitable places to take photos of him -- and us -- we were on our way. Close to 150 miles later, we arrived safely in Wilmore. Unfortunately, I left my purse where we ate dinner, so Ed's on his way to get it now. Fortunately, it's less than a five-minute walk each way.

I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring. I'll not be making it to Curves, as Main Street is closed all day, and there's no way to get our car moving in the general direction of Curves without going onto Main Street. (We're staying at a bed and breakfast ON Main St.) Curves is in the next town.

The reason we planned this trip to begin with was the alumni baseball game at my college. I have no idea if any of my buddies will be there. For all I know, no one decided to come and it's been canceled. I don't care. Ed and I have had a fabulous time so far, and just being in Wilmore is a balm to my soul. In so many ways, Asbury is still home, even though it's been 10 years since I graduated from college, and even though I'm married with two cats and two dogs and have a home of my own. Asbury is a good thing.

Ed's back from retrieving my purse (yay for Ed!), so I think I'm going to head to bed. As I said, we're pooped.

Reasons Why Rebecca and Ed Like This Hotel

Add these items to the list:

• They serve organic, shade-grown, fair-trade coffee. O.k., the coffee cost more than $3, but I actually felt GOOD about spending $3 for a cup of coffee (with free refills).
• They recycle pretty much EVERYTHING, including kitchen grease and light ballasts.
  

In other news, Ed is exploring, with a side trip to pick up our tickets for the tour, which starts in an hour and a half. I am hotel room keyless, so here I sit, surfing away. Ed is like a kid waiting for Christmas. I hope the tour lives up to the hype. :)

Mammoth Cave National Park

We had a nice drive from Atlanta. We took a "detour" in Nashville to go to the Opryland Hotel, which has two beautiful atria, filled with all sorts of plants, flowers, and waterfalls. I took a ton of pictures. Ed took lots of pictures, too, most of them are of me taking pictures. :)

The Mammoth Cave Hotel is absolutely adorable. The first thing we noticed was the deer. We arrived just before nightfall, and there were tons of deer grazing. Very, very cool.

It's an "old-style" hotel. We have an actual key to our room, and we signed in using a paper register. It's clean and quiet. The dining room's food is yummy and inexpensive. The hotel is also very "green." In addition to the traditional "green" things hotels do these days, they use all natural cleaners. I'll take a picture of the "green products" display and post it later.

Actually, I'll post a lot of pictures later. Vacation shouldn't be spent doing nothing but blogging. :)

I can already tell I'm going to wish we had about a week to stay here, not just a night.

Oh, Ed just said we have "recycled toilet paper." I know what he meant, but my first reaction was "ewww!"

Road trip with my "boyfriends" and husband

Ed, the two Flat Stanleys, and I are on the road (again).

Can't wait.

But I have to. I have to work 4 hours this morning before my parole... I mean vacation... starts.

Update to "puppy" blog from yesterday

Scroll to the bottom of this to see the update to my blog entry from yesterday. Scary how this kind of thing "spreads." I'm often suspicious, but this didn't make me bat an eye, especially because the e-mail I received had a local area code as part of the contact information.

I've found the key to the perfect commute!

Commute time: 46 minutes.

The catch? I didn't leave work until 6:15 p.m. I got to work at 6:45 a.m.

If that's what it takes to have a 46-minute commute, I don't want that "short" a commute.

BUT I still went to Curves. I am very proud of myself. :)

The situation isn't funny...

...but the headline on the home page of CNN.com cracked me up -- and made me cringe.

The headline? "Ticker: Heart Condition Hospitalizes Senator." Heart condition. Ticker. Get it? (O.k. maybe only I find the sick humor in it as a byproduct of my time working in the news industry.)

The story is on the site's Political Ticker, and but perhaps they can remove the word "ticker" on the home page?

As for the Senator Warner, I hope he gets better soon.

Want to subscribe to my comments?

You're in luck!

It took forever to figure out how to make Blogger let people subscribe to my blog comments. I did everything "correctly" according to Blogger's help, but it wouldn't work the "traditional" way. Therefore, I "stole" a URL with the correct code and put the links in my sidebar. Right now, it's at the top, but I'll likely move it farther down the page in a few days.

Enjoy! :)

This...

...makes you want to adopt a puppy (or six), if you're anything like me. (The fifth puppy is barely visible, and the sixth must be hiding.)

I posted this picture largely for the "cute factor," but if anyone in the greater Georgia area is looking for a lab mix puppy, feel free to leave a comment, and I'll put you in touch with the person who has rescued them.

Blocked!

My office's firewall (or whatever) is blocking my Curves-O-Meter ticker. The reason? It falls under the "forbidden" category of "sex education." I am not making this up.

I think this happened because the Web site where I got the exercise ticker "specializes" in tickers for people who are pregnant, trying to conceive, etc.

I can access the Victoria's Secret Web site from work, but not my exercise ticker. Not that I WOULD access the Victoria's Secret site from work, but still... ;)