hmmm...

The ice cream flavor that Todd brought home is slang for a certain prominent male body part (wonder if the marketing folks at Purity are aware?)... I guess it makes sense, since eating ice cream is up there in the "favorite activities" category along with having sex, running, singing, and going to Panera Bread.

Can anybody guess what the flavor is??

PS. I'm looking increasingly more like Rudolph with each hour that passes. Fluffy is having a field day.

the healing powers of ice cream

So, apparently, when you have the common cold you should "get adequate rest, drink plenty of water, and eat good nutritious meals". What if I don't feel like eating "good nutritious meals"? What if I just feel like eating ice cream?

I personally think that ice cream is the best medicine for any illness be it physical or psychological (ok - except perhaps for stomach flu)... That's why I just had a big bowl. Thanks honey! :)

I do find wikipedia's suggestion of "Hot Beer" intriguing...

More sleep. Now.

i'm sick... again!!!

This is not right. I never get sick. I don't have time to get sick. I hate being sick!!!

You think my body is trying to tell me something?

PS. I love wireless. I love sitting in bed with my laptop. My head is swirling with medication. I'm going to sleep now.

i'm a working mom...

This morning I promised Rebecka that I would come eat lunch with her - no matter what... and I would bring McDonalds (that's what all the other parents do).

Of course, my boss schedules a meeting 45 minutes before I'm supposed to be seated in the cafeteria with above mentioned McDonalds lunch, and ready to eat. No problem - it won't last more than 30 minutes...

Lunch is at 11:45. At 11:35, I'm getting in my car and racing like a maniac to the nearest McDonalds where I know there is an ATM inside. The ATM is broken... so are the card readers at the counter.

"You don't take cards?" I pant, as I pour out the contents of my coin compartment.

"No," comes the cold answer.

"Do you need money?" asks a friendly voice. An angel is standing in line next to me.

"Yes!!!! Could I have a dollar?" He hands me a $5 bill. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll give you the change as soon as I order..."

The kind man pays for my child's lunch and I run to the car after grabbing a straw and two packets of ketchup on the way out. Ketchup is a very integral part of a Happy Meal.

For security reasons, parents must sign in at the front desk before entering the school. Today, I'm not a fan of security. The lady tries to make small talk - I don't have time... I dash through the hallway to the cafeteria... "Ms. Green! Rebecka's class is eating the the classroom today, but she still wants to eat on the stage." It's Mrs. Force - environmental nazi and cafeteria police. I rush to the classroom. Whew! Just ten minutes late... I mumble something about being stuck in a meeting. There is still time to eat on the stage... "Take your time!" says Mrs. Hughes.

We took our time and it was a great lunch. I need to do this more often - just with slightly more time and cash...

9.60

That's right kids... It's amazing how if one has a good movie to watch, long runs can be quite pleasant... Sometimes I even forget that I'm running.

Saw Raising Helen today - it was CUTE! I don't get to watch cute movies very often... ;) And I have to admit I would probably tire quickly if that's all I watched, but every now and then it is fun... and there was a hot Lutheran pastor in this one... Not quite as hot as the Presbyterian one I have at home tho...

Happy Sunday! :) I need to go find some fuel!!

music is all around

I'm surrounded by music... Overwhelmed almost. There's so much to hear - so much to play, sing, teach...

Went to hear some innovative music last night... It was the Fognode All Stars (friend Fog and his star friends). Thanks for that - I enjoy broadening my musical horizon (you've provided much there).

Miles away from that - I've been rediscovering the original Destiny's Child. Yes - all the songs sound pretty much the same... But some great harmonies in there. I'd forgotten how awesome the Gospel song at the end is. Melissa, can you work on getting that arrangement on paper?? We need to do that one somehow.

Also looking to do some recording down the road - starting to form thoughts and plans around that... Won't be until summer.

Hoping to go hear some awesome artists on Valentine's Day at the Belcourt. Just trying to find a babysitter... Any volunteers out there?!?! Heck, it may be sold out by now... Who knows?

Plans for tonight: Watch Star Wars on DVD with Todd... Now there's some swell music... ;)

today...

...i left work while there was still daylight outside - it was really cool! :)

so much to do...

...so little time.

Thankfully I managed barely to escape this highly irritating girl that has been following me around the dressing room the past couple of days and extending my time in there to almost an hour. Most irritating thing about her: She uses the locker RIGHT NEXT TO MINE when there are one million other lockers available.

Bottom line: If you're going to talk to me at the gym, limit it to one sentence... and don't use the locker on either side of me!!!

work, work, work...

Just got home from dinner with clients at Mirror - a hip, "fusion" restaurant in Nashville. Had perhaps the best meal I've ever had in my entire life. Man that place was awesome! Cute, little appetizers (that were real appetizers, not meals in themselves), fish of the day (baja) for the main course (light and tasty), and rum carrot cake with cream cheese & fruit/nut mixture plus a sinfully delicious chocolate dessert with a fancy name to satisfy the sweet cravings...

I don't mind that kind of work...

YMCA trauma

I had my morning perfectly planned out... I got to the gym right at 6 am, did my workout, and had 40 minutes to get ready and be at work by 8 am. This particular morning I really, really needed to be at work early b/c new and very important clients would be in the office and expecting a meeting to begin at 9 am. Before that, I needed to go over all the material that they had sent us and (most importantly) have breakfast.

I had picked out an outfit that would fit the occasion, which involved a shirt that needed to be ironed. No problem - there's an iron in the YMCA dressing room (at least for the women). However, when I started ironing... panic! It wasn't working... For some reason the iron wasn't getting warm enough to make the material non-crinkly and making it worse by leaking water everywhere...

I finally gave up and made the desicion to go home and shower and find another shirt. I was so mad and frustrated that I called Todd in tears on the way home... Then I thought: How spoiled am I that I'm crying because a damned iron isn't working and my morning isn't going to be quite as organized as I had planned?

I need to look at the bigger picture more often... And do my ironing at home.

8.75

That is how many miles I ran this morning. My Christmas Thorlos held up quite well - just a tiny blister on one toe... Can't wait for my new shoes to arrive. They already shipped! :)

OK, time to go put up some laundry and sing along to my playlist. Everybody have a great day out there!

getting back into fitness...

I had this thought today: It's almost worth getting a little out of shape to experience the thrill of "getting back in shape". It is so great!! I just ordered these $100 shoes for $59 to replace my current Glycerines that I'm sure have a lot more miles on them than the prescribed max of 500...

zappos.com is the coolest online store ever. they're cheap, they're fast, they have free shipping, and stock a gazillion shoes! just awesome.

PS. This story about SpongeBob and Focus on the Family makes me want to let Rebecka watch that show... I think Focus on the Family needs to start focusing on all types of families, not just the traditional "working dad, stay-at-home mom, two kids, golden retriever, and Volvo" family...

coming home...

How cool is it to come home to this!?!?!



Yesterday there was a book fair in the living room - including a reading contest that Fluffy won (because she cheated). Today, there was an animal shelter pet parade and show. I got to adopt a golden retriever named Maggie and a little bitty dog of questionable breed named Katherine.

They're sweet dogs.

morning feat

This morning, I managed to get myself and Rebecka ready, pack our lunches, do the dishes, throw a load of laundry in the washer (could you switch it over to the dryer (gentle cycle) when it's done, honey??), remember to bring more soymilk, extra shoes for my walking lunch date with Joanne, and saffransbröd for my pal Brian, AND scrape the ice off the car in time to take Rebecka up to the bus stop.

All this in one (1) short, teeny, little hour... I really impressed myself... It will probably never happen again. :)

I love getting to work early... More time for blogging...

PS. I find it interesting that in my last post, people were a lot more interested in my PS and PPS than the actual content of the post. Hmmm. Maybe I should always reverse the body and the PS and make the PS the post and the post the PS... Perhaps not today though... Perhaps not ever... Is "never" short for "not ever"?

socitety's rules are confusing...

This morning, as I was standing in the YMCA dressing room, innocently putting on makeup, one of the YMCA workers (or the "Nude Police" as we call them - long story) told me that I needed to move to another part of the room. Reason: There was a man coming to check the thermostat and I was wearing only panties (very cute with snowflakes) and a bra.

So, it's OK for men to see women with this amount of clothing (or less) if there is a pool nearby, but not in a dressing room? Who decides these things? And aren't there any women who can check thermostats?

PS. It makes me ill to watch Fox & Friends talk about Howard Dean as the possible new leader of the Democratic Party...

PPS. It makes me ill to think about that the Democratic Party cannot come up with a leader who will not go nuts under pressure...

what feels good...

going back to the gym after 8 days of exile and realizing that you can still run and do biceps curls with 20 lb weights...

do i look older?

movie talk

Watched back-to-back movies last night... without falling asleep - even once(!) For those of you who know me well, you know that this is a great feat indeed. I think it had something to do with the fact that I spent the better part of the week sleeping rather than working...?

Anyway, Shrek 2 was the first one. I've seen it several times, but not in a fully conscious state. Man, that movie is funny!! The family's favorite character is Puss in Boots... Especially when he turns cute to get his way. We always pause the movie and laugh our heads off at those parts. We frequently try the cute trick on each other with varying degrees of success.

After Rebecka was tucked into bed, Todd and I watched Wimbeldon for the first time. This British comedy did not let us down. It was fairly off-beat and had several funny moments. We have high hopes that Paul Bettany may be able to fill the void left by Hugh Grant (since he so stubbornly says he's done with acting).

PS. I haven't been to the gym in a week. And yet, I'm not freaking out. This is good. Looks sunny today. Perhaps I'll take Rebecka for a nice long walk later...

milking it...

I finally went to work today. Amazingly, the business had not collapsed in my absence. Spent lots of time testing software and logging lots of bugs. I enjoy logging bugs. The software engineers do not enjoy when I log lots of bugs.

Anyway, when I got home, Rebecka asked if she could keep doctoring me as she had the past three afternoons. Of course! I crawled into bed and enjoyed an evening of pampering.

The Cart Lady brought me water.

Doctor Green examined me using a veterinary medical kit (I had a 100.4 temperature).

The Story Book Lady read me the book "A Bad Case of Stripes". She also read me 3/4 of the poem "This is the House that Jack Built". I didn't get to find out how it ends, because the Story Book Lady got tired.

ergonomic break reminder

Rebecka borrowed this computer game, Roller Coaster Tycoon II, from her friend Brianna. It's something about creating and managing an amusement park (sounds kinda capitalistic, but that's not what this post is about)...

Anyway, after a certain amount of time of playing this game (I'm guessing 1 hour), it pops up an *Ergonomic Break Reminder*, and says: "It's time to take a break and do some stretches." Thereafter, it proceeds to guide the user through some stretches and other tips for healthy computer usage.

I think that is so awesome! Imagine if Dreamweaver or MS Word had something like that.

third movie...

Just finished watching Pippi Långstrump, the 1969 TV series, with Rebecka. I have a couple of connections to that movie...

First of all, I've actually been inside the house that they used for "Villa Villekulla", Pippi's wacky home. It's located on a beautiful island off the east coast of Sweden called Gottland.

Secondly, I've played in an orchestra with the composer, Georg Riedel, while performing some of his original (and very experimental) music. First (and last) time I ever played 13/16 time. If you like crazy music, you should check his stuff out.

PS. Why is the dosage for Ibuprofin behind some sticker that you have to peel back? Isn't this the most vital information?

PPS. Apparently, you can give Ibuprofin to your dog...

how do you sleep at night?

I'm sick. So sick, in fact, that I didn't even try to work today (except answering emails with '!' and related to my 2.0 release, which is in QA). I watched movies instead.

Both movies involved Hugh. Of course. The first was one of my favorites - Sense and Sensibility - for which I heard the audio commentary for the first time. Marvelous.

The second was Two Weeks Notice, which isn't quite up there with Four Weddings and a Funeral, About a Boy, or Love Actually, but also not quite down there with Nine Months or The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. It does have a few good points though. One, naturally, being that it stars Hugh. Also, it features the Counting Crows version of the song "Big Yellow Taxi" multiple times.

Finally, I have to share some great dialog between the Trump-like George Wade (Grant) and his liberal mother-in-law-to-be, Ruth Kelson (Dana Ivey):

George (talking about his latest building project): "...It is over $50 million in profits."

Ruth: "Nothing personal, but I think it's immoral that any human being should acquire that much wealth. I don't know how you sleep at night!"

George: "Well I have a machine that simulates the sound of the ocean..."

How do we sleep at night?

idea...

I had this idea while I was stirring my morning oatmeal and thinking about our YMCA membership and how I would go without cable before I terminated that membership. This led me to think about how in Middle Tennessee, the YMCA membership fee is calculated on a sliding scale based on the member's income.

Why is this not more wide-spread in society? What if all major services (like water, electricity, medical, childcare, etc) were charged based on the individual/family's income? Then people who could only afford to pay $20 for water could pay $20 and those who could afford to pay $100 could pay $100...

Does this make sense to anyone else?

and on the seventh day...

...Tabita got up too late (7:05), took a shower, ate breakfast, dried her hair, put on makeup, got dressed, drove to church, sang in the 8:15 service, went to Panera with her pal Melissa (who plays the guitar - heavenly) and drank steamed soy milk and ate a cranberry/walnut bagel, sang in the 11 o'clock service, drove home, gulped down leftovers (good leftovers) for lunch, planned the spring choir schedules while chatting with pal Steve, drove to church (while munching on dinner #1), conducted choir rehearsal #1, conducted choir rehearsal #2, drove home, ate dinner #2 while writing this post...

She is exhausted.

New Years YMCA

I went to the gym this morning to do my first long run in preparation for the half marathon coming up on March 19. I could barely find a parking spot OR a treadmill to run on...

My first instinct was to be all annoyed that it was so crowded, and why were all these people who never usually go here and taking up my spot..? Then I realized - so what if I have to walk for 60 seconds to get from my car to the front door..? And so what if I can't get a treadmill in the Cardio Cinema..? How cool is it that so many people want to be healthy and fit that they spend their Saturday morning at the gym??? I'm not complaining.

The first person on the neighboring treadmill was there with an oxygen tank. Talk about inspirational! Those times when I have trouble rolling out of bed for my morning run, I will think of him...

Managed to run close to half of the half marathon distance - not a bad start. It took 70 minutes - but I wasn't worrying about speed today. Next week will be 7 miles (at least).

today...

...was a great day.

Eddie Bauer emailed me to let me know that my order (bedroom makeover) is on its way!! Yes, I'm sure it was Eddie himself who sent it.

I got permission to leave for four - FOUR(!) - weeks this summer to go to Sweden. I have the best boss ever!!!!

On the way home, I saw the following bumper sticker:

Trust in God
She will Provide

And we solved the mysterious odor problem in our kitchen. There was a science project (very, very old onions) growing behind some boxes at the bottom of the pantry. Our guests this weekend should be really thankful...

joy!

As I was sitting in bad traffic (which drives me crazy!), going to work after having to drop Becka off at her school because the bus was late/not coming, I saw it:

They are building a Panera Bread AND a Cold Stone Creamery within walking distance of my house and within easy access of work!!!

My happiness is complete...

cool toothbrush

Rebecka has this toothbrush that blinks for a minute to make sure that she brushes her teeth for that long (isn't it supposed to be 3 minutes, btw?). Anyway, I think it's a really great idea.

I wish I had been a kid in the 21st century... Wait a second, no I don't... I got to roam freely and play outside from morning to night. Nothing beats that - not even blinking toothbrushes.

spouse manual

At dinner tonight, Todd and I started joking about what would go in manuals that we would write for potential new spouses for the other. I think it started with me not being able to smell some odor in our house and he said: "I need to write a manual for the next person who gets you..." Apparently, it would outline how I think I have an excellent nose, where I really can't smell any real odors, but only made up ones (like chemicals and such).

Thus began an interesting learning experience...

Todd: "And also how you would never know if there was a dangerous problem with your car until it blew up. So, if you're married to Tabita, you should drive her car every now and then to make sure that it is still OK.

Tabita: "And I would write about how she should never try to attempt to persuade you to get a different haircut. It will be the same until he dies."

Todd: "Watch out when you need to walk behind her in the kitchen, because she always sits at the edge of her seat with the chair pushed back all the way."

Tabita: "Don't ever put anything that has been on your plate on his plate..."

Todd/Tabita (in unison): "And definitely never drink out of his glass!"

Etc, etc, etc...

We had fun.

people...

Heard on the news today that a Swedish boy, who survived the tsunami (but lost both parents), is missing. They suspect that he was stolen - most likely for prostitution or pornography purposes...

Apparently this is not the only story of children being stolen or purchased for these purposes after the catastrophe.

So we have a big tragedy and people make it worse by committing these crimes - what kind of world do we live in??

what i learned...

How to scroll between the tabs in Mozilla!! (Ctrl + PgUp or Ctrl + PgDn)

This is going to change my life!

Thanks AnonD... ;)

walkie-talkie fun

Last night I was summoned to bed through a walkie-talkie... Talk about romantic!

Him: "Hey!"
Me: "What are you doing?"
Him: "Waiting for you to come up..."
Me: "Ok, let me just finish up this email!"
Him: "Roger that. Over."
Me: "Heh..."

Whew - what a guy... :)

what feels good...

going swimming after a full day of cleaning and organizing.

the upstairs bathroom had a makeover!

still waiting for the bedroom stuff...

vacation notes

Ok - so I guess I took vacation from the blog too... Not intentionally - just been away and I can't deal with dial-up. Is that the epitome of impatience (or perhaps of a Type A personality)?

Nevertheless, I (we) had a lovely and relaxing time in Mobile, home of the Green clan. There was much fudge, divinity, and Honey Baked Ham and very little to do (which was great!). We mostly slept, ate, watched TV, ran/walked in the neighborhood, went to Starbucks, and tried on old jackets from the attic:



The last evening, I did manage to get everyone to get together to play this fun-filled game called Apples to Apples (look - it's so fun that it sold out!). I lost miserably every round, but still managed to have fun (now that is a good game!) :



Rebecka and I also had a mother-daughter afternoon one day and went to see Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was action-packed (to me) and quite funny at times, but lacked the awesomeness of the books. Rebecka loved it tho, and that's all that matters. But I think she had even more fun playing with Apple David and Apple Mike:



Now we're back in Nashville and spent the better part of yesterday trying to find a comforter cover for our bed. I think we finally succeeded at eddiebauer.com. Check it out (it's the stripes - not the flowers...)! It will have Cardinal colored sheets to go with it. Now I have to figure out the bathroom! Guh - this is just taking way too long... ;)

Until next year then...

ahhhh...

Christmas Day rocks. I love waking up and seeing Rebecka's face when she sees all the presents that Santa brought her. Her favorite presents this year were a walking and barking "GoGo" dog, a pair of walkie-talkies (so that she doesn't have to come downstairs when she wants to talk to us - hmmm...), and a karaoke machine (hearing Todd sing Waterloo is swell!).

Pepparkakor are awesome!!

Victoria's Secret gifts are always welcome...

Todd with his very own Swedish soccer team home jersey.

We also went for a brisk and wonderful walk around our favorite lake. It was perfectly cold and not at all windy. Great for playing with the walkie-talkies. Now it's time to go watch Harry Potter movie #3 and eat some Ris-a-la-Malta!

God Jul Friends!

icy wonderland

An icy blanket covered Nashville and most of this part of the world the night before yesterday. The temperature was somewhere in the teens that morning. Being insane and addicted to running, I decided to go to the gym anyway and slid over there around 7 am.

The gym was dark as I entered and I wondered if it was even open. There, in the dark, stood the friendly man who scans my card in the mornings and calls me "Anna", because that is the name on my card. "Is the gym broken?", I asked. He responded something about it being an NES problem rather than a YMCA problem.

I sat around for a minute and decided to go to work instead. The power was out there as well... I went up to the office, chatted with Pete for a second (he was going to stay, but he has a window and 2 hours of laptop battery life), and decided to go back home (why did I ever leave??).

I made it up the hill (barely) to our house and opened the front door. It was dark. You guessed it - the power was out there too. It was great! I couldn't work, I couldn't watch TV, and I sure couldn't surf the internet... So I wrapped all my gifts, sang while Todd played the piano, and went outside for a winter walk and took lots of pictures of icicles.

It was a good day.

pepparkakor och saffransbröd

Today was the day of the annual pepparkaksbak at the Green house. The aroma of gingerbread and saffron filled the kitchen early in the morning when I first prepared the gingerbread dough and lingers still after the last gingerbread snowman has been laid to rest in the big rubbermaid container...

There were several mishaps - of course. First of all, I think my kitchen scale isn't really working too well... So I ended up with way too much flour in the gingerbread dough. So much flour, in fact, that I broke my 10+ year-old ladle as I was trying to stir it... Not good. But somehow they turned out just fine. Also, I assumed that the saffron that my mom sent me last year (it's so "cheap" in Sweden) was finely ground... Well, it wasn't - so the lussekatter (saffron bread) ended up with small specks of saffron in it. Again - taste just fine - so who cares!?!?

Rebecka was a great helper and even dried some dishes for me(!) She's trying to be good about chores so that we will let her have a dog after the summer. Hmmm... We're pretty much screwed. If we don't get her a dog, she'll probably cry for a year - and that would not be fun.

The little dog in "As Good As It Gets" is cute. I could probably handle one of those. Of course, it would have to be just as well-trained. That is a requirement for sure. They're called Brussels Griffons and apparently there were six of them in the movie... Why do you need six dogs to play one dog in a movie?? I can see using two - but six? Weird...

"It is affectionate, willful and high-strung, but charming." Sound like anyone you know?? :)

back among the living

Just wanted to announce that I am back among the living and will be an impressively better friend/wife/mother/blogger/etc going forward (at least for the next few weeks)...

Presented the big, big, big project that I've been slaving away on yesterday and it is such a relief!! Now I just need to catch up on all the other projects that I've been neglecting in the meantime and everything will be just dandy.

Lunch with the girls today - yay! It's been waaaaay tooooo looooong.

Well, I'm off to the gym in order to get a good start to another fun-filled day. Thankfully it's not freezing cold today... so hopefully no frost on the car. :)

it's snowing!!

Quite pathetically, but still snowing... And with any luck it will still be snowing by the time I finish up this post...

Rebecka is thrilled. She's upstairs putting on multiple layers of sweaters and sporting her newest headband/scarf combo in anticipation of running outside to try to catch some snowflakes on her tongue. Oh the joys of childhood.

Todd and I will remain by the kitchen table with our laptops and dream of a White Christmas.

It's warm in here.

green goblins

Rebecka's basketball team won their last game this morning by crushing the opposing team and reaching some massive score that they didn't even display, in order not to make the losing team too discouraged (max 20 point difference)...

But best of all - Rebecka scored her first goal of the season (thus ever)!!! It was thrilling - and the Green Goblin supporters in the stands gave her a lot of cheers. She's had a great time playing with a really awesome team of sweet and talented girls.

I'm taking her and her friend Katie to get ice cream later in celebration of this great event (I can make almost any event qualify for a trip to Baskin Robbins...). Pralines 'n Cream - mmmm.

Go Green Goblins!!

society for handheld hushing

ever get tired of listening to annoying cell phone conversations...?

check this out!

email

i have 117 in my inbox... i have 52 flagged for follow up... i'm scared to think about the number of emails that i will have when i get back from my vacation... maybe i shouldn't go on vacation...

what sucks...

... is getting to your car in the airport parking lot at night (after an 18 hour workday) and having to scrape frost off the windshield...

however, what doesn't suck is coming home and having some warm soymilk and a granola bar before crawling into bed - mmm - tasty...

god natt!

They live together in a big house.

Being able to write this sentence was the extent of the "language test" portion of my naturalization interview today... And I managed to pass the government/history questions as well (favorite question: "What is the color of the stars on the flag?").

Yay - I'll be able to add a vote for the democratic candidate in the next election!

I started off in Nashville at 7 am this morning, drove to Memphis for the interview (thanks Emi for coming with me!!!), back to Nashville. Now it's 11:30 pm and I'm in a Holiday Inn in Wilkesboro, N.C.

I'm tired.

ps - There's a lady on The Tonight Show right now who is eating a lot of meatballs in 30 seconds. Gross!!!

3 good things about running outside in the winter

It makes you feel alive!

It makes you appreciate the sunny spots...

And it makes coming back to a warm home even more exciting!!

this weekend...

...was fantastic!!! :)

Gone are the woes of previous posts. I'm tired, yes, but everything was just very swell this weekend.

My sweet friend Katie of Wisconsin was in town and I managed to see her every day she was here. Breakfast at Panera this morning was especially pleasant. :)

Went to company Christmas Party - and was thrilled to be at an event where I was not at all in charge of ANYTHING!! Forced relaxation rocks.

Some other very nice things occurred...

Got to talk to both of my parents!

Pulled off the Christmas Musical without any kids falling off the stage or setting fire to each others hair. Had so many terrific people help out with it (thanks M!). Our good friends Pete and Emi came to it, which was quite thrilling. As did my boss w family, which was also very cool.

Talked to my awesome friend Jennifer for the first time in months.

And now I'm chatting with my genius friend Steve.

Hmmm - I should probably be working, but - there's always time for that later! (Let's see how long this high lasts, shall we? I'm betting less than 24 hours.)

come see, listen, and eat

What: Christmas Musical "Light of the World" with my two choirs and other random musicians + potluck dinner following program (entree and dessert provided)

When: This Sunday, December 12, 2004 @ 5 pm

Where: Second Presbyterian Church, Nashville

Questions? Post a comment!

name of the day: anna

In Sweden, today's namesday is Anna. This is my first name (I go by my second name).

Today was the suckiest namesday ever.

However, I did get the movie Chocolat from Todd (thanks honey!). Rebecka made me a candy dispenser and a bookmark (very creative!!). And my mom left me a Happy Namesday message on my voice mail (it's her namesday today too...).

Still the suckiest ever...

I'm tired of working all the time. I'm tired of people looking at me and telling me how tired I look. And I'm definitely tired of being tired all the time.

Ok - bitching time is over. Back to work.

check it out!

Last week, Todd submitted comments to CBS’s Amazing Race website about personal experiences/observations concerning Stockholm. Each week, they publish some of these on their website. Guess who is now a published author on a major network’s website… (look at the 6th response):

Been There, Done That

Read more about The Vasa Museum.

it's all greek to me...

So Kevin (design team member) and I decide to order some take out Greek food from my favorite Kebab/Gyros place to bring back to the office in order to get through an evening of fun-filled work. I tell the guy on the phone I will pick up in five minutes. I get there and he hasn't even gotten started... "Oh, I didn't think you meant five minutes..."

Since when does "five minutes" not mean "five minutes"??

Anyway - on the upside... When you leave work at 5:30 pm to pick up dinner, you can get a really good parking spot when you get back to the office.

paradoxical morality

Today I received an email from my friend Emi which talked about how certain pharmacists are refusing to fill prescriptions for contraceptives based on 'moral grounds'. Apparently seven states have passed laws allowing for these kind of practices just this year.

I'm sure these are the same people who refuse to perform abortions and in worst case scenario go out to the clinics to harass (or kill) those who do based on the same 'moral grounds'.

Hello!?!??! Doesn't anyone see that refusing to provide birth control to women hurts the abortion cause rather than help it?? According to this email, half of all unwanted pregnancies in this country could have been avoided had the women been using birth control.

So first we refuse to give these women contraceptives and then we shun them when they get pregnant and want an abortion...? Does this make sense to anyone? Abortion is not a good thing. Not only is a human life ended prematurely, but this also causes emotional scars in the women and creates divides in families and relationships. If we can prevent this by providing birth control to those who need it the most, why shouldn't we?

To read more, click here.

i'm pooped

Thus endeth my first soccer season ever. Whew! Playoffs today with back-to-back games in the mud. I got kicked in the knee, fell on top of the other team's goalie (which was not all bad ;) - but it still hurts), and had a swell time in general.

Came home after the games and got some Swedish rice porridge started in the big pot, took a shower, started watching Shrek II with the family, and passed out on the couch.

It was a fine, fine day.

Btw - After my shower I decided to see what would happen if I just let my hair dry completely on its own... Disaster. I promise I will never subject any of you to this (poor Todd!!).

ps - I just noticed how in the picture above, half the team is holding their hands in front of them and the other half is holding their hands behind their backs (and then there's me). Wonder if this is linked to personality...?

positive thinking

Went to bed with a slightly sore throat.

Woke up with a much sorer throat.

This is not the time... Need to think happy thoughts:

"I'm not sick, I'm not sick. I feel fine, I feel fine..."

It's all mental.

it has been seen

I finally managed to clear an evening, hire a babysitter (thanks Sam!!), and get away with the hubby to see Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. We viewed it in a very empty theatre with a handful of other Friday night movie goers.

I don't care what the critics said - it was marvelous. Hugh was hot, Colin was hotter, and it was actually really funny. No substance whatsoever, but who cares!?!? It's Friday night and I've been overusing my brain for weeks.

Lovely evening.

don't fix it if it ain't broke...

In the spirit of trying something new, I decided to change up my workout a bit this morning. Instead of running for an hour and then lifting weights, I thought it might be fun to do elliptical machine for 30 minutes, then lift weights, and then run for 30 minutes. Well, the first two parts went fine - then when I got on the treadmill and started running, my legs felt like lead and after 15 minutes, my body said "NO MORE!!"

I think it was due to doing lunges right before the run while still sore from doing lunges on Tuesday... Lunges are awesome - they workout every lowerbody muscle - but if you skip them on even one workout it doesn't matter how much you stretch, you'll be sore...

So, I think I'll go back to my routine of running first next time. :)

Btw - If you live in Nashville, the Greek Orthodox Church is having its annual bake sale this weekend. I won't be going, because I've already put on my allotted holiday pounds and am in the process of running them off. A box full of baklavas at the house would not help the cause.

beware!

The Fox and Fridiots will be on the road next week and they're coming to Nashville... Don't know where - but stay away from downtown, I guess.

Btw - I worked 14 hours yesterday - just another day at the office...

finally!

The Amazing Race went to Stockholm, Sweden, where the contestants had to go to IKEA to perform a task (count 2304 items or put together a desk) and also search for clues in bales of hay in the Swedish countryside.

Quite thrilling!

Fox and Froooops

When E.D. and the rest of the Fox and Fridiots were interviewing Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake about the whole Oil for Food mishap this morning, the lovely desert background suddenly shut off and a nice blue DVD screen showed up instead. Funniest thing I've seen in a while on this horrible channel.

This is how lousy it is: I get more intellectual stimulation reading the random news ticker at the bottom than listening to their actual stories.

PS - The power went out at the gym today - it was kinda cozy - especially since I had moved on to non-electrical equipment by that time...

how i feel...

tired, mentally exhausted, worn out, hungry, anxious, ready to crash...

will it ever end?

camera fun

I have a relationship with my camera... Kinda like I have a relationship with my laptop and probably soon will with my phone (we're still in the exploring stage)...

It entertains me at various events such as games, concerts, parties, decorating the tree, etc... I actually like decorating the tree, but taking pictures of some of the ornaments (like "Drunk Santa" here) was really fun too...

My renaissance man friend Brian recommended this camera to me and I am forever grateful (thanks!). He takes lots of nifty pics with his Minolta and puts some of them in this nice little gallery.

Anyway - it has an amazing zoom, captures movement better than anything I've ever seen, and yeh - it just provides lots of good fun.

it's annoying...

...when people complain about your pizza suggestion, order half the pizza with some alternate disgusting topping (like pepperoni), and, when the pizza finally arrives, decide that your side looks tastier and eat it...

we did it!!!

It was cold, it was gruelling, but we pulled each other through the 1oK Habitrot and ended up under our goal time - 57:29:47 (unofficial)!

On the way home we stopped by the new Krispy Kreme to pick up donughts for the non-runners at home and received free, fresh-from-the-oven samples. Oh my - it was amazing.

Now the turkey is in the oven (it's much easier to get all the stuff out of it when it's fully thawed - this year was the best thawing job yet) and I am showered, dry, and ready to get started on the precise science that is getting all the parts of the Thanksgiving menu done at the same time.

I had a nightmare about cornbread making last night - I hope it's not a bad omen. However, the problem in the dream was that they confiscated my cast-iron skillet at the airport security checkpoint (I was on a business trip). So it should all be good.

happy things

I'm really tired of bitching about how tired I am and how much I have to work these days...

Soooo - I'm going to talk about two happy things that happened in the past 48 or so hours.

First of all - Todd spent Sunday afternoon putting together a "Just-for-Tabita" Christmas CD when he should've been reading boring church history books and surprised me with it. Hole-in-one for him... I love surprises, I love Christmas music, and I love "Just-for-Tabita" CDs. :)

My design team will be very tired of this lovely collection very soon, but I love it!

Secondly, today I found "filmjölk" in this country for the first time since emigration nearly 10 years ago. This is huge! I love filmjölk and didn't think I'd ever find it. Here it is called Kefir (cultured milk) and you can get it at Wild Oats (I should've known). It's kinda like drinkable yoghurt and has a very fresh taste. Todd hates it (his description is "sour cream used as milk"). Anyone who didn't grow up with it probably hates it. Kinda like salt licorice or pickled herring.

Anyway - I had some for dinner - and it was marvelous.

So a couple of things to be thankful for during this holiday season - more to come...

i'm so lucky...

The house is cleaner that it's been in a looooong time - and I didn't lift a finger (they're stuck to my laptop keyboard).

Thanks family - I love you!

intergender friendships

This morning I watched the first 90% of When Harry Met Sally in the cardio cinema while I ran my last intense run before the race on Thursday. What a great movie that is!!! Of course, when watching movies at the YMCA, one is forced to watch them through the editing lenses of "Clean Flicks" which in this case meant that the entire *faking it* scene was cut out. Bummer.

But I disagree with the main premise of the movie that men and women can't be *just friends*. What is the deal with that? Working in the software world, there's not a whole lot of female friend options, so basically I have two options:

1) Be friends with men
2) Have very few friends

I choose the first option. People can say what they want, but it's very possible to be *just friends* - I do it every day.

There you have it.

i love...

...how Rebecka still wears her *I wouldn't vote for Bush if I were you* t-shirt in public.

role reversal

This morning I found myself in the kitchen, still unconscious, being kindly lectured on how to get Rebecka ready for her field day, including what she should wear (red gecko t-shirt), bring for lunch (nothing - they're having a pizza party), and hairstyle (pull her hair back so it doesn't get in her face).

And it struck me - I am now officially the dad and Todd is the mom.
I kinda like being the dad...

ps - i'm going to listen to the music from love actually all day at work, because it makes me happy.

ps2 - i think i'm about as addicted to my morning post as i am to my morning oatmeal - scary.

coping

I luv my hubby - he bought me the soundtrack for our favorite movie, Love Actually, and it arrived today - yay!! It is helping me get through an evening/night of UI flow creations... I've designed 15 so far - approx 5 to go. Anyway - this soundtrack is to die for. Amazingly terrific. I think my favorite right now is Here With Me - but they're all awesome!

Simon and Garfunkel are helping out as well. I enjoy Scarborough Fair... Did a sweet arrangement of that with my choir, Common Souls, back in Texas.

Todd also went out to the Walmart Neighborhood Market for some Smart Ones Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sundaes to get me through this ordeal. He rocks.

Anyway - on a slightly related and happy note - looks like Colin is hoping to be the next 007.

Oh please God, let it be so!

i will never complain about my big buttocks again!

My dear bro-in-law "Anonymous David" sent me this interesting article about running. It describes how the human physique developed from the need for our body to support the act of running. Apparently we developed big buttocks (compared to apes) to keep from falling flat on our face with every running step.

I love the first part of the title: "Humans Were Born to Run" - indeed!

On another running note, Todd declared today that he is going to run the 10K Habitrot with me on Thanksgiving morning. This is an historic event in the life of the Greens in that it will be his first race and, hence, the first race we run together. Btw, we're shooting for a manageable sub-hour finish time honey... ;)

Finally, running on a treadmill while still under the influence of Benadryl is interesting. But boy is that stuff awesome! I slept 9 straight, wonderful hours last night. I'll be taking it again tonight, and the night after that, and...

hives galore

I went to lunch with my friends Pete and Emi at one of our favorite restaurants, Royal Thai, today. I had my usual Coconut Soup for starters and then the Pad Thai (no chicken, extra tofu).

When I got back to work I sat down and started catching up on emails that had found their way to my inbox during the 1 hour lunch break. As I was sitting there, I started feeling kind of itchy, especially around my ears, neck, and chest. I looked down at my chest as saw big bug bite type red blotches forming all over the place. At that point I got the attention of the other people in the room and asked: "Is it just me, or am I breaking out?"

"Oh my Gosh!" was the response. Yeh - basically all of me, from head to toe was starting to break out into these bizarre hives. I went to the restroom to check out the rest of the body... Not a pretty sight. My boss went out for benadryl (well, actually Wal-dryl) while the others told me I needed to go to the doctor. I gave in and drove down to the dr's office where they took one look at me and pretty much saw me right away. They couldn't really tell me anything, but armed me with Zyrtec and sent me on my way. Funny quote from the nurse: "If you start feeling your throat swell up, this is a medical emergency. That means you need to dial 911." Ok - yeh - got it...

On the way back to the office it all started going away and soon you'd never know that I'd even had this happen.

So now the question is - do I go back to Royal Thai? - do I have the Pad Thai again? Or is this just stress-related? Or what?!?!? Time will tell, I guess. I sure do love Pad Thai.

dry contacts...

The time is 7:57 am and my contacts are already telling me that I've been staring at a computer screen for too long...

It's going to be a looooooong day...

(But the Preacher's Wife soundtrack is playing in my headphones making life really happy... I'll just be blinking a lot.)

more awesome music

LOVE Fred Hammond - especially this album.

And Kirk Franklin is also swell.

Black gospel rocks.

do something different

This morning when I got to the gym, I could not find an empty locker that had two empty lockers next to it (I like to spread out) in my regular area. So I took a deep breath and ventured into the unknown vastness of the adjacent locker room space. Perfect - a whole row of empty lockers.

This little event spawned some thinking about how habitual we really are and how some little changes in how we do things can make an ordinary day turn into an adventure.

Here are just some of the things one can do to liven things up a bit:

Go somewhere new for lunch (yep -doing that today with my sweet friend Katherine - Puffy Muffin - doesn't that sound like a fun place?), take a different route to work, use a different perfume, park in a different place (Ok - maybe not, this could cause car finding issues...), wear those bright green socks that your mother-in-law stuffed in your stocking last year (if you wear boots nobody will notice, if you're wearing birkenstocks you'll get reprimanded by your daughter), try a new position (often), if you take the elevator - take the stairs (if you take the stairs - keep taking the stairs - it's better for you), listen to a different radio station or cd in the car (just watch out for those conservative talk shows - they'll make you throw up and you don't want to have to clean that mess up)...

See - the possibilities are endless...

music beyond the imagination

My good friend Brian introduced me to the music of Jonas Hellborg maybe a year ago and it has been playing in my laptop and car on and off ever since. Right now he's on in my car and - man - is he and his music amazing.

This music takes you to some place where all is well and thoughts are clear. The pieces are so long that you have time to get to some really deep place - unlike most music, which abruptly forces you to some other place every 3 1/2 minutes. Even the different pieces flow into each other, so it's more like a long, wonderful story.

Listen.

and on the seventh day God rested...

And on the seventh day Tabita went from task to task and from activity to activity from 6 am to 9 pm non-stop at which time she collapsed into bed and slept like a baby until 5:58 am the next morning...

I want a sabbath. Is one per month too much to ask?

publishing fun

Congrats to the husband for the Lutheran Quarterly publishing his book review on "A Church History of Denmark" in the Autumn, 2004 issue.

For all of you who have been dying to know more about the church history of Denmark (and especially Lutheranism in Denmark) - you're finally in luck, because:

"Any scholar interested in Lutheran history and theology will find this book to be a most helpful resource."

I'm happy because...

more publishing == a lesser likelyhood of ending up at some worthless college in the Deep South.

rambling

I took some time out this morning to treat myself to a 2+ hour workout. Yes, I realize that to some of you this would seem more like torture than a treat, but trust me - it was just what I needed!! Ran my first long run since the 1/2 marathon back in April (8.40 miles). My thighs and arms are shafed (you're not a real runner unless some part of your body is permanently shafed... ;) Doing the leg extension machine after that many miles is slightly horrific - but in a good kind of way...

Unfortunately, I had to watch Fox and Friends during the run.

75% was about the Peterson verdict - they held up a paper where the header said "Frey Him!" Why are we so thirsty for human blood?

15 % was about Fallujah - what a mess.

5% was about Blair's visit to the White House - I don't really care.

5% was about random stuff including a two-headed snapping turtle in England (that was my favorite part).

On the way home from the gym I noticed that Brentwood is being decked out for the Christmas Holidays... What the $^#%$?!? It's not even Thanksgiving yet!! Can we just do one holiday at a time - please?

ps - I'm just out of the shower, in fleece pants, eating oatmeal, and writing in my blog... Could life be any better??

i'm running out of everything...

hair spray, steam, trash bags, clothes that rebecka can fit into, expensive smoothing stuff for my crazy troll-like hair, soy milk, blended face powder, baked goods...

and i have no time to get more - i need a personal assistant!! (or a stay-at-home-dad... ;)

ps - i fixed my hair today - the husband will be thrilled.

ps2 - jackson 5 rocks - if that music doesn't make u happy - nothing can...

hugh hates acting

My husband and bro-in-law David both informed me of this tragedy... How am I to move on?

Well, I guess there's still Colin... :)

Can't wait to see the new Bridget Jones Diary movie - just have to get through this insane crunch at work... For those of you who get out there this weekend - lemme know what you think!

The Kerry voter: A blue night, a red-letter day

This is an awesome story on one of my favorite friends' mom. "Brianna" is one of Rebecka's best friends and the artist who drew the above poster that decorated our front door on election day.

On a personal note - I've worked 24 hours in the past 36 hours and am about to pass out... More later.

morning reflections

CNN was finally on in the Cardio Cinema today... Until towards the end when some guy on the elliptical machine asked one of the YMCA dudes if he could switch it to Fox... I didn't complain, because I was on my way out the door - thank God...

According to CNN there's some new/experimental *miracle* pill out that will help people stop eating, stop smoking, and thus help with cardiovascular health... I cannot stand these companies that come out with these different magical solutions. Eat and exercise in moderation and you're good. And please don't tell me you don't have time to work out, because if I have time, anyone has time...

Alright, step off the soap box... I have recently discovered a great way to add 15 more minutes to my day... No more hair styling! It's great. I mean, think about all the time that is saved. Over 11 8-hour days per year. Of course, I (or the people around me) will probably soon tire of me looking like a college student studying for finals every day, but for now it's working.

I just had a chocolate cupcake with a reeses peanutbutter cup in the center. It was fabulous. Our PM loves us.

one week later

still so much unrest

angst

and hoping that it's all just a bad dream - knowing that it's not.

part of me wants to keep dwelling on it all, but a bigger part of me wants to move on... this is our reality - make the best of the situation. be positive and appreciate the good things in life.

like having a warm home, family, friends - many good friends

a job - a challenging and rewarding job - intense, but good

music - i have a piano - how lucky is that? - and i have friends to make music with - anytime i want

running - i'm not fast - and i'm pretty sure watching me run is pure comedy - but my legs are strong and i can go and go until i run out of time

and a church that embraces all of God's children indiscriminate of their sexuality, race, theology, or socio-economic status - now this is rare

it'll still be hard. whenever i see a friend that i haven't seen since the election, we greet as if someone just died. "how are you?" "well, aside from still being in mourning..." or "well, except for our country going to shit..." or "well, except for being scared to death..."

it's nice to be surrounded by people who are also in this weird state of disbelief, to be able to share feelings, and be heard... let's keep talking, but at the same time try to be hopeful that everything's gonna be alright...

blue states are healthier...

A recent study ranks the 50 states by how healthy they are (sorry to point you dear readers to the Fox and Friends website, but that's where I heard it - can't help what's showing in the cardio cinema...).

The point of interest for me is that out of the top 10 healthiest states, 8 voted for Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. Out of the 15 un-healthiest states, 14 voted for Bush.

I would say this speaks for itself... ;)

I'm wondering if mental health is also part of this study...

electronic giving

Right now is Stewardship time at our church (and maybe in most churches - what do I know?). Anyway, for you people who don't visit churches very frequently, this is when the church asks you to pledge for the next year so that the session (or whatever the governing body is called) can estimate what kind of budget the church is going to have.

Today we received the pledge card in the mail along with a document describing how to sign up for Electronic Giving. I have been wondering for years when it would come to this... The way they try to sell it to you is that you don't have to worry about bringing checks or cash to church every week/month, you don't have to worry about forgetting about it, and it's safer than checks...

And true - this is totally convenient. Any business that offers electronic payment - I'm all over it. But for church? I mean, will we get to a point when the offering part of the service is erased from the order of worship? There is something spiritual about bringing gifts to share with one's community of faith.

I'd like to hear what you, my friends, have to say about this...

purse tragedy resolution

well, i threw it away. just now. sob. it was like throwing away your favorite pair of jeans, or selling a beloved car, or moving away from a homey home (ok - maybe not that bad...)

anyway - in the interim i am using my backup purse which my dear husband bought me when our child was small and i needed to be able to fit diapers, wipes, toys, snacks, juice, extra clothes, etc in my purse... it's humongous, but it works.

and one of these days i'll have time to shop for a new one and it will be great. :)

well, of to the grocery store... the fact that i'm buying groceries right now indicates that i am about 30 3/4 hours behind where i should be according to the typical weekend schedule.

oh well.

soccer

My team (Comfortably Numb) just won two games in one... :) Yes - the team for the second game didn't show... Sweet!

This is the first game where my foot hasn't been hurting horribly after the game... Very exciting. I feel like going running now... Maybe I will. Weather is gorgeous.

It seems criminal to stay inside when the weather outside is so lovely. Sometimes I want it to be ugly outside during the weekend so that I can stay inside guiltlessly and get some stuff done. But not this weekend. Maybe next??

purse tragedy

Today my purse of 13+ years broke. I purchased this purse at an outdoor market somewhere in England in the summer of 1991. It has been my steady companion ever since. It's not too big and not too small. It has the right number of compartments to avoid confusion and it is unique.

One friend suggested that I take it to a cobbler. Another friend suggested duck tape. I'm thinking it's shopping time... :)

love actually

just finished watching this movie for the umpteenth time...

it is so swell. i mean - hugh, colin, and my favorite - andrew

whew - awesome. and the music is terrific.

if you haven't seen this movie - please do. you will laugh and cry and laugh some more. and it's hilarious with the commentary turned on with hugh bashing colin every time he is in a scene...

ahhh...

i'm home - it's friday night - and rebecka just gave me a makeover...

life is good. :)

random thoughts

i'm really busy...

fall is back! bring on the corduroy, fleece, hot chocolate, soups, and boots. walking outside this morning was pure joy.

it's friday! amazing, but true...

still speechless - but this kinda sums it up.

i'm playing soccer on sunday - two games back to back... hope my foot doesn't break.

i want to go to sweden... right now. but i have to wait. patience is such a cool gift. i don't have it. i'm working on it.

i want to lay on the couch tonight and watch a good british movie - colin firth is hot.

no more field trips for three weeks. joy.

life is running away from me - i need to catch up, but slow down at the same time. how does that work?

ridiculous

So, I received the new Victorias Secret catalog in the mail the other day. It is fabulous... Possibly best selection ever.

But - ok - there's a bra in there that costs $10,000,000. I'm sorry... That's just absurd. It's not even that spectacular... And how uncomfortable would that be...? And how many third world countries could you feed with that amount of money...?

ps - honey, i really like the shirt on p. 153... ;)

on trial

Alright - this story has to be told:

Yesterday I came home from yet another field trip to N.C. around 7 pm. A stuffed dog greeted me at the door with a note that said: "Come to your room right now!" So I dropped everything and went straight up to my room.

Becka motioned me to sit down in a chair facing the bed that was covered with books and other random items to create a court room. The family was on the bed with Fluffy, a stuffed cat who hates my guts... ;) Fluffy was dressed up to be the judge with rollers strapped to her head to symbolize the wig.

As the trial unfolded it became apparent that I was on trial for at some point during the previous night throwing Fluffy on the floor. I honestly had no recollection of this and was wondering why she was in our bed in the first place. Also, I realized halfway through this event that the victim and judge was the same animal. That didn't seem fair.

In the end the court found me guilty even though I pleaded insanity and any other things that I'd heard people plead in the movies. However, there was no mercy... "We're in America - we don't show mercy here" were the final words...

My punishment was to clean up the mess created on our bed and some other things that I refused to do... :)

Ok - how bizarre is my life?

ps - Fluffy, if you're reading this... You should really consider a make-over, you're starting to look really shabby...

cute beer

I didn't know that Heineken came in these little 7 oz. bottles...! It's the cutest thing ever - and just my size... :)

I'm excited.

swedish colony

After the events of the last few days, I am seriously considering founding one... I've got several takers already and for those of you who are new to the concept:

http://expatsinsweden.com/

It'll be great! Good (highly taxed) beer, hot babes (doesn't help me much), lots of skiing, 5-6 weeks of vacation, 1 1/2 years of maternity leave (again, doesn't help me much - but it's not all about me ;), universal health care, blueberry picking in the woods, bicycle lanes everywhere, yummy chocolate, and cheap saffron.

Any questions? :)

i'm speechless

four more years... hmmm... well... guh... %@$#!!!!

how about those pistons, eh?

pessimist or realist?

There are two people very close to me who I consider to be pessimists (they call themselves *realists*).

Funny thing is that the democrat obviously thinks that Bush will win and the republican thinks that Kerry will win... So - they can't both be realists...

Let's hope the republican is the realist... :)

more to eminem than meets the eye...?

We've discovered at our house that there is actually some depth to this rapper... If you haven't already seen his new video, please check it out here.

An excerpt:

"No more blood for oil, we got our own battles to fight on our soil
No more psychological warfare to trick us to think that we ain't loyal
If we don't serve our own country we're patronizing a hero"

cardio cinema woes

Having to watch Fox and Friends on Election Day is like having to listen to the Norwegian commentators during an olympic cross-country skiing race.

If ya know what i mean...

...and if you don't - it SUX.

post halloween trauma

ok - so i'm supposed to be finding information about christopher columbus for becka right now, but i just had to mention this:

i have had more junk food in the past 48 hours than i usually have in a month! and it makes me feel GROSS!!! i hate halloween... ;)

basketball fun

So here she is - the next female Michael Jordan (or something)...