I'm a freak

The evidence is mounting. I've always felt like a bit of an outcast, but the fact that I am a freak has become a lot more obvious and undeniable lately. The things that sound perfectly normal and rational in my head become insane once I verbalize them, because it usually causes others to either roll their eyes or just burst out laughing at me. It happened twice yesterday.

Yesterday I was on the phone with my friend Tiffany and we were trying to figure out a time that we could grab our partners and get together for dinner sometime in December, and I mentioned that we already had plans on the 10th, but if we wanted to stick to Saturdays we could do it on the 3rd or the 17th. I guess Tiffany hadn't thought much about the December calendar because she asked how in the world I knew all those dates and I said, "Because they're football scores." It seemed perfectly logical to me. All of the Mondays in November were common football scores too--7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th. Today is a football score if a team gets three touchdowns and three field goals. Or four touchdowns and a safety. That's how my brain recalls dates. Angela's birthday is three field goals. Mine is two touchdowns and a field goal. Tiffany cracked up said I am officially a freak. I agree. I accept.

I was weird about the refrigerator repairman yesterday too. Not visibly weird, but it gave me the willies when he opened up our fridge and freezer and looked inside. The contents are so personal. I'm sure he wasn't looking at the chicken wings and individually wrapped oatmeal bars because he had to concentrate on the tube that went from the wall to the ice maker and figure out why that stopped working, but while he was fiddling with that I imagined him having all sorts of wildly uncontrollable thoughts about our skim milk and mayonnaise. Irrational? Yes. But that didn't stop me from wondering if he was enjoying the pumpkin bread peep show. Angela thinks I'm a total nut. She's right. But I'm a happy nut. :-) Word.

P.S. Tomorrow, the 1st, can't be a football score.

Inquiring minds want to know

I forgot to post one picture yesterday. I've always been fascinated by the drama that happens on NFL sidelines, and I've always been especially interested in the phones that quarterbacks use to call the those semi-invisible higher powers that tell them what they did wrong and what they can do better next time they're out there. They always look sorta funny talking on those little phones with those big shoulder pads on and buckets of sweat dripping from their brows. Can't the NFL afford speakerphones? Why don't they use cordless phones? I'm sure it has something to do with spies. Why are there four phones here? Offense, defense, special teams, and the water boy? Can I call information and get the number and start calling the sidelines during games? I have many questions. Anyway, these are the phones from the Broncos sidelines at Texas Stadium on Thanksgiving Day. And those are some random guy's legs in the background.

Colts are 11-0! We fell asleep during the game last night though. I relaxed after the eighty-yard touchdown pass on the first play, and there was nothing else that happened that built enough tension to keep my eyelids propped open. Angela's head has been clogged up she was wiped out too. I'm happy the Colts didn't need our full attention to play well and win. And I wish I had the number to Peyton Manning's sideline phone.

I'm waiting on the refrigerator repairman right now. Will the appliance drama ever end? It took almost a month to even get this silly refrigerator, and last week the ice maker just quit working for no particular reason. It was cold and tired I guess. So Kitchenaid is sending someone out to fix it. It's under warranty thank God. Just a pain. The repair place doesn't even give you a two-hour window--it's an all day appointment. What's up with that?! I told them I have to leave to go back to work at 3, but I doubt that will make a difference. At least my P's have been fixed. The glass is half full.

Cowboys vs. Broncos

Dan Campbell










Tyson Thompson










Roy Williams and friends










Drew Bledsoe










Keyshawn










Me









Angela's connection (Rex) came through and we were able to get onto the field before the game. It was incredible! Rex escorted us over to the tunnel where the Cowboys always enter the field and we hung out there most of the time. We got really close to all the players, plus Bill Parcells, Jerry Jones, and Pat Summerall. I love this close-up picture that Angela took of Keyshawn just as he's leaving the tunnel. I think I yelled, "Woooo, Keyshawn!" or something equally uncreative as he was running out. Overall I didn't flip out or start screaming or do anything else that would have caused embarassment, mostly because we didn't have field passes and I didn't want to draw attention to that. I just stood there in admiration. Then we went up to our seats and drank beer and screamed our heads off. It was a great game if you don't think about the final score. We're trying not to. It was a blast I tell ya.

We saw Dan Campbell and his brother (or some guy that looked like his brother) in Kroger on Saturday, so I guess the Cowboys had most of Thanksgiving weekend to hang out with their families. I was checking out turkeys (a little late I know) when Angela direct-connected me and said Dan Campbell was in the beer aisle. By the time we finished in the meat section he had moved on to the canned veggie aisle so we pretended to be looking for green beans and lingered there just long enough to determine that it was indeed him. I was too chicken to ask him to pose for a picture with me so I could spend the rest of my life telling people we were brother and sister, so we just moved along to the checkout and left without too much stalking. My blonde hair would stick out from underneath a helmet just like his does. We're practically identical. And I'm a great blocking tight end.

Anyway, we had a great time at the game. And I talked some trash with some mouthy Broncos fans as we were leaving the stadium. I told them to enjoy the euphoria while it lasts because they're going to get a rude awakening when they meet the Colts in the AFC Championship. PLEASE Colts, you must beat the Broncos. And then meet the Cowboys in the Super Bowl. Hey, miracles can happen.

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm excited for the Cowboys game tomorrow! Even more now than I was before. Angela met a guy this week who does security at Texas Stadium and he offered to let us on the field during warm ups. Eeeeee! If this really happens I will flip out! We're supposed to call his cell phone when we get there and he'll meet us at the door to some secret Star-adorned passageway and escort us onto the field. Eeeee I say! I can't imagine being within stalking distance of Roy Williams and Jason Witten. And Bill Parcells. He has such pretty blue eyes. And even though he will be an enemy Bronco on Thursday, I love me some John Lynch and I cannot be held responsible for how I might react in his presence. I loved him when he was with the Bucs and I love him now even though I'm not wild about the Broncos. John Lynch rocks. But I don't want to scare him. If I get up close and personal with any of these guys I just might drive them nuts with my talk of xxx's and ooo's and what exciting things they can do with the nickel package, and then I'll be escorted off by the same nice security guy that let us on the field and I'll have to watch the game from a stadium jail cell with no hope of the beer guy coming by. That wouldn't be good. I should rig up some type of restraint so I can be sure I won't jeopardize my ability to enjoy the game from our seats. I think they're on the 30 yard line.

We've only been to one other Cowboys game and that was when they lost to the Eagles 41 to 14 a few Septembers ago. It was bad. It was 175 degrees on the field. I swear to you. The real temperature was 115 and the hot players and the big crowd made it worse. The air just sat there and hovered instead of making a beeline for the hole in the roof. We dripped with sweat the whole game. I sat there with a wet towel on my head. This will be much more pleasant.

Even though we're not having a big family dinner this year we're still going to get up tomorrow morning and put a turkey in the oven just so we can have the smell in the house. It will be turkey pot pourri. We're not going to eat it because that would interfere with our plans to pig out on cheese-soaked goodness at Texas Stadium. But we'll have it for the weekend. Leftovers are the best part anyway and our whole Thanksgiving dinner will be one big leftover.

Go Cowboys! Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving ya all.

Healthy P's and cozy warm fun

I'm blogging only at work now instead of at home because my keyboard at work has healthy P's. Our laptop at the house is at Comp USA in the computer hospital and it will be there until the new keyboard arrives and a friendly man named Carl has time to properly install it. Carl didn't even laugh at me when I took my p-spazzing laptop to him last Friday. Dang Coke Zero. I haven't stopped drinking it because it's so darn delicious, but I don't trust myself with it around electronic equipment anymore. Maybe if I had been drinking out of a can rather than a bottle the flatter edges would have prevented the container from tipping over and splashing onto the keys. There's no point in reliving the trauma. The point is we have no computer right now. It's weird being at home without having the ability to check my email every five minutes, but I'm getting in good workouts and the house spotless. It's amazing what a girl can accomplish when there is no computer to get sucked into. Can't wait until our P's are fully healed though.

I'm trying not to eat much during the first part of this week so I can pig out this weekend. It's pre-mededitated pigging out. We cashed in some of our Nextel Direct-Connect rewards points and got a Macaroni Grill gift card a couple of weeks ago, and we want to use that to re-enact a great date night we had early in our relationship in Austin that started with Macaroni Grill and ended with egg nog and Trivial Pursuit. There are a lot of calories in there. And lots of cozy warm fun too. Cozy warm fun nearly always involves fat and calories I've found. It might be 75 degrees outside, but we're still going to light a fire and pretend like we're living in Vermont. I've heard that's a great place to live. Texas is okay too as long as we can have cozy warm fun once in awhile.

Hey, today's is my dog's 9th birthday. Happy Birthday Sophie!

I like short weeks

Angela and I had a great weekend. We met our friends Kim and Virginia for dinner Saturday night at Uncle Julio's and it's always great to connect with them. I mananged to wait until after dinner to take the bandaid off of my thumb and reveal the cheese slicer damage. It looks too much like salsa to show during dinner. I just let them glance, but that was enough to gross Kim out and get a "cool" out of Virginia. I still feels icky. But it's a great conversation piece.

Angela and I had lots of time this weekend to talk about things I had been worrying about lately, which always calms me down and helps me put things in perspective. I told Angela if my head is one of those big swirly gadgets at the home expo show that blows confetti around inside a clear plastic case, she is the calm of the off button that settles everything back down. I can't come up with a better analogy than that and everything relates to home and garden shows. Anyway, she calms my fears and keeps me sane. I would be such a mess without her. I'm going to buy her a long-sleeved brown Mossimo shirt from Target today just to show her how much I love and appreciate her. And because she needs one to wear tomorrow so she can look Thanksgivingy.

This week is the starting pistol for the average person's 5-7 pound holiday weight gain. I think I'm usually in the 2-4 pound range. That's because we just set things like peanut butter balls, oreo balls, and chex mix on the counter during family visits and we end up grazing all day long. So maybe it's a good thing Angela and I are going to be alone this Thanksgiving. We won't graze as much. Alone always sounds so pathetic, but we're actually looking forward to the quality time together. Not that we wouldn't love to be around our families. We miss our nieces Jada and Ciara like crazy. And it's always a blast cooking turkey and fixins and drinking wine and watching football with everybody. But this year it's not possible for our families to get together, so we're going to the Cowboys/Broncos game Thursday and we'll spend the rest of the weekend putting up a few Christmas decorations, going to a movie or two, and just enjoying the quality time. Maybe we'll have an eggnog and Trivial Pursuit night. Those are the best! Except I always lose. And eggnog contributes to the 2-4 pounds. Oh who cares. Yay for the holidays!

ppppp's suck

That's it. I must take my comppputer to the doctor. The ppp key is a total sppppaaaazzz case.

The Coke Zero incident is to blame. Crappppppppppppppppppppppppppppp.

Freezing can be cozy

I know the low was 34 last night, but we slept with the window open anyway. I slept in a long-sleeved thermal shirt, long pants, and a thin pair of socks and some big fuzzy fleece socks over those, and I had five layers of sheets and down blankets on top of me. Angela is always hot, but even she broke down and burrowed under some extra blankets. All that cottony warmth plus four warm-blooded schnauzers. Very cozy. And the pups were able to hop through the window at any point during the night and do their business outside. I guess I should mention that the bottom of the window is near the floor. It's not like they have to jump off of a springboard to reach it or anything. Although that would be highly entertaining. That window-based doggie door should be here in the next few days.

We can't be concerned about fashionable bedroom decor right now. Just coziness. Lil Bit Harry, Sophie, Marlee Bean, and Pierre (left to right) are good little heaters. We're ready for the new doggie door to arrive, but in the meantime we have all made a pact to tolerate the overnight lows together as a family. The only problem is, when I get out of the hot shower at 3:50am the shock nearly produces instant frostbite. I may lose some vital body parts in this process.

The Gap. Not the clothes place.

I've been thinking a lot lately about where my life is headed. I'm a goal-setter, and although I don't usually set timelines for myself I do have a vision for the future. When things happen that interfere with that vision I stress out first, then I start questioning my vision, and then I start questioning my ability. I try to be flexible and accept whatever it is that has thrown me off course because I know sometimes the coolest blessings are the ones we don't plan for, but it still makes me want to curl up in a ball and forget goals, visions, and hopes altogether. If only I could be ten again and curl up with my Cabbage Patch dolls and my Nerf football and watch Three's Company while sucking the chocolate off of a peanut butter Twix, all would be well. Those were some good days.

I've realized that the discontentment I feel....okay, discontentment is the wrong word. I'm always content because contentment runs deep and it's hard for circumstances to come along and ruin that. How about, I've realized the frustration that I feel is directly related to the size of the gap between the person that I want to become and the person that I am. I know the qualities that I like about myself, I know my capabilities, and I know what things I am passionate about, and I want all of those things to come together in the form of opportunities. I know I need to have more patience. Small opportunities do come up, they're just not big enough to satisfy me. And perhaps the time is just not right and I'm in training now. So much for an analytical gal to analyze. Anyway, the person that I am and the person I want to become are two different things and the size of the gap has a direct effect on my state of mind. I always feel rooted in contentment; just hopelessly driven I guess.

Enough deep thoughts for now. I just found the new XM radio channels on our satellite and the 90's channel rules! It's playing Dog's Eye View, Everything Falls Apart. All I remember about this video is that the lead singer smiled through the whole thing. That's rare and I love it.

Fingers and Cowboys

My cousin Kristi reminded me in an email this morning that stories about a chunk of finger mixed in with the sliced onions is gross. I agree. If I had read about that happening to someone else I would have been grossed out and upset that the visual had entered my brain, but since it actually happened to me just seemed like a blog-worthy detail. At least I could be certain this piece of finger belonged to me, unlike the finger-in-the-chili story at Wendy's. Who knows where that thing had been. Anyway, sorry if I grossed you out and made you light-headed with the details. At least I didn't tell you about the drops of blood that dried on the countertop while we were at the hospital. It's a good thing we sealed the grainte.

So I guess this is going to be the season that a pretty large percentage of Cowboy fans have heart attacks. It seems like every game this year (not counting the Cardinal game) is coming right down to the wire. I love the excitement, but it would help if the Cowboys moved the pins-n-needles part of Monday Night Football games to around 9:30pm. Then maybe I would be so jazzed I could stay awake until 10:30 and by that time the Cowboys would have a big lead and the game would be so out of hand I could just fall asleep in peace. It was 17-7 last night when I fell asleep, so it was a big shocker when I checked my cell phone and saw the 21-20 final score. Sweet! The Cowboys finally won a game in the last two minutes instead of letting one slip. Angela was still in bed when I checked the score, but I caught her in mid-rollover and told her the Cowboys came back and won on a Roy Williams interception return. She eaked out a "you're kidding" and an "awesome." And fell asleep again. She hides her Cowboys excitement well.

I hope the Cowboys beat the Lions this weekend. That will make them 7-3 by the time they play Denver Thanksgiving Day. That's going to be a huge game. We've never been to a Thanksgiving game, but we're going this year. Do they sell turkey legs at the stadium? If not, a beer and nachos will do just fine. Oh, and Sheryl Crow. Rock on.

Sticking out like a sore thumb. Gross.

I had an unfortunate encounter with the cheese slicer on Saturday. I'm an idiot. I remember cutting the top slice of cheddar a little bit too thin so I changed the angle of the slicer, and the next thing I knew I had taken a chunk out of my thumb. I'm not a big cusser, but that made me utter an expletive or two. Angela took one look at my mamed thumb and started squirming, but she still managed to help me find the chunk of missing skin on the counter. It was next to some onions I had been cutting earlier. It stood out because it was pink instead of white. (I told you it was gross.) Then Angela went upstairs to get her mom, who was staying with us for the weekend. Her mom came downstairs and stuck my hand under the kitchen faucet because washing the blood away was the only way to get a good view of the wound, and then she packed a ziploc bag full of ice and told me to stick my hand in it during the ride to the urgent care center. I started getting light-headed, and I was dripping with sweat and about to throw up by the time I got to the garage. I felt like a total wimp, but the nurses told me later that hand injuries usually make people the most light-headed, so then I didn't feel so bad. By the time Angela and I got to PrimaCare, the ziploc bag was half full of melted ice and blood. It was disgusting and embarassing carrying that mess into the waiting room, but when the receptionist saw the bloody bag she called a nurse and had Angela and me and my bloody bag escorted to the back right away. Yay! Since we didn't have to wait it was all worth it. I'm glad I didn't slice it just a little bit, cuz then we would have had to sit there and twiddle our thumbs (or thumb) for two hours.

I couldn't get stitches because there was no skin to close. There was just a chunk of skin gone, so the doctor had to cauterized it to stop the bleeding. He had no use for the chunk of skin that we had rescued from the onion pile on the counter. In order to cauterize my thumb (or give it a chemical burn and change the wound from a cut to a burn...ew) he had to give my thumb a shot to numb it. Dang that hurt! But I refrained from using expletives. The doctor made a comment about not liking my Texas Longhorns t-shirt a few minutes before that and he mentioned that he was an Aggie, so right after he had caused me all that extra pain with the shot I said, "The Aggies are getting killed by Oklahoma right now so take that." Ha! We were even. So he cauterized the wound, had me lay there for thirty minutes or so to make sure it wouldn't start gushing again, and sent us on our way.

The wound will heal, but I think I'm going to have a dent in my thumb for the rest of my life. It's a good thing I don't have aspirations of becoming a hand model. The Colts won and they're 9-0, so it was still a good weekend.

Angela's latest invention

We ordered a doggie door for our window yesterday, but it takes six days to manufacture and another few days to deliver, so it won't be here until the week of Thanksgiving. But Angela decided to rig up something to get us by in the interim, because Harry's every move is waking her up at night and she's quickly becoming watery-eyed and delirious from the lack of sleep. Something's gotta give. So basically she propped open one of the bedroom windows and blocked off half of the open space with a piece of plywood, and that leaves the other half for the pups to walk through. She even put some catalogs below the window and wrapped them in a huge towel so the spoiled-rotten pups have some traction and a boost to get out the window and onto the deck.

We can't have a screen on the window right now, so of course being the paranoid worry wart that I am, I'm envisioning the migration of all sorts of bugs and critters into the house and the subsequent popping up of holes, mounds, and nests. But Angela says not to worry. She's so worn out with getting up in the middle of the night to let the dogs out that she doesn't mind if we have to sleep in a forest. She likes camping anyway. I can't stand it. I went camping once with Angela and her whole family and I slept in the car. I thoroughly enjoy the outdoors when I'm walking from the mall to my car, or sitting on the patio grilling some pizzas, but I would rather not be immersed in it for extended periods of time. It's not like I'm unadventurous or anything. :-) I just think people went to a lot of trouble erecting houses and buildings and they should be used as much as possible. Good spin, huh.

I'm almost always cold, so if the low drops below fifty anytime in the next two weeks I'm going to be hurtin'. Believe me, there is nothing that will cause Angela to undo the propped-open window. We've finally realized how much easier our lives can become if we just put a hole in the house somewhere, and it would be silly to mess with that greatness. Last night I slept with a sheet, blanket, and comforter, and an extra blanket and down blanket. Five layers. I think Angela slept with a sheet and a blanket. She's a fireplace and I'm a freezer.

It's a beautiful day today! Does opening the moon roof count as fully enjoying it? Hope so.

Coke Zero drama

I've been having a whirlwind love affair with Coke Zero lately, but what was an uncontrollable infatuation a couple of days ago is now a source of much pain and stress. It's not really Coke Zero's fault, but it taints my view nonetheless.

I was writing another blog on my laptop at home yesterday and somehow I messed up the process of moving the Coke Zero bottle from my mouth to the table next to the laptop, and when the bottle hit the edge of the table some of the Zero splashed out and jumped right onto the O-P-L-Semi-colon section of the keyboard. I freaked! I dabbed it up immediately with a wet paper towel, but some of it got under the keys. I couldn't type the letter O for awhile, but it eventually came back. Some of the Zero spatter must have reached beyond what I thought was the original circumference because the Backspace key types a P sometimes. I'm stressed. I managed to finish the other blog despite this madness, but I will freak out if this is going to be a permanent problem. I'm going to take it to Best Buy today to see if they can fix it. I hate when I do stupid, preventable things like that. I just can't be trusted with Coke Zero anymore.

{I just got an email from my friend Douglas and he said it's probably fixable. I love you my wealth-of-info friend! I'm glad I could join you in the soda/keyboard sharing club.}

Angela and I have been trying to put the hammer down on our finances and not spend money on anything extra, and now we have to pay for computer repair and a doggie door. Pooey. But it will all be worth it. Thanks for the doggie door tips! We deciding which type to buy now, and then we'll order it and pray that it arrives within the hour. Stress schmess.

Going with the flow

We were watching Commander in Chief last night when the election results started coming in and we found out Proposition 2 had passed. It was odd because we were watching a futuristic show that flirts with progressive ideas and things that could revolutionize politics, and at the same time in real life it felt like we were being sucked back in time and forced to ride in a covered wagon and wear a corset. It's frustrating. And yet the truth remains. I'm glad nobody has power over that. We're still good people and Commander in Chief is a great show. Choose optimism!

I've renewed my efforts to choose optimism on a daily basis, no matter what the circumstances. I have a tendency to focus too much on myself and on what is happening to me me me, but moving forward I'm concentrating more on what this selfish B can contribute to the world and how I can go with the flow a little bit better. I'm a lot happier when my focus is outward rather than inward anyway. It's the control freak in me that wants to dictate circumstances and set up my life exactly the way I want it, and this only makes me nuts because circumstances are beyond my control more often than they are within my control. So shoo, control freak, shoo!

I wish I could control our new dog Harry's urges to go outside. He wakes up every two hours or so all night long and wants to go out. Angela gets up and goes with that flow. I'm oblivious and I feel bad that she has to deal with it herself, but I just don't wake up. Sometimes he's productive, and other times he just stands on the patio and stares at the roses. It's great that he wants to take the time to smell them, just not at 2am. Now we're wondering if it's possible to install some sort of doggie door contraption in the bedroom window so we can sleep through his urges. Surely someone has invented a way to raise the window and put some supplemental glass underneath with a doggie door in the middle. That way we could just take it out if we sell the house someday, no harm done. Angela is so crafty. If no one has invented this yet she'll just do it herself. She's a pioneer. She just doesn't ride in a covered wagon or wear the corset. Thank God!

Two things to be happy about

The Colts won huge over New England last night and they're 8-0 and halfway to the Super Bowl. I'm sure my photo with Peyton on Friday served as the inspiration for his 321-yard, 3 touchdown performance. I love him so.

And my L-word.com newsletter says Season 3 will start January 8th! I know of two gals who had never seen The L Word, until I drove them crazy with Bette talk and they finally caved over the weekend. They rented the first four episodes at Blockbuster and watched them all in one evening, and now they're hooked. It's about time I say. :-) The L Word trivia at the party we went to Saturday night was a blast, but it made me realize I need to go back and brush up on matters before we play again. I never would have remembered the name of Bette and Tina's donor, but thankfully I didn't have to because my teammate Diana ripped the pen out of my hand and had "Marcus Allenwood" written down before I could even eak out "it's M something." She's a wealth of L Word information, that girl. It's highly entertaining.

Please don't forget to vote today! With your help, love and goodness can prevail.

My new favorite picture

My friend Anna has been having way too much fun with Photoshop. I'm going to have it framed and cherish it for all time! I love you Peyton!!!!! May this be the good luck charm you need to beat those darn Patriots on Monday Night. I'll be watching over your shoulder...

This has been one crazy week...

...but here's what I'm going to take from it. Circumstances that are beyond my control shouldn't have an effect upon my happiness. I say they "shouldn't" have an effect because they almost always do, and then I end up getting frustrated that I'm not strong enough to go with my underlying peace, and that affects my happiness even more and before I know it I've gone borderline insane. It's not like the underlying peace isn't there. I've just become great at ignoring it. No more I say.

So last week was the week of renewed self-discipline. This week will be known as the week of renewed focus on my calm insides rather than my turbulent outsides. I'm stepping up the efforts to choose happiness no matter what. Or choose optimism as Kidd would say. Everyone always makes fun of him for that, but I'm right there with him.

Thanks for sticking with me during these fits of self-analysis. On to happy thoughts. Dinner and margaritas with friends tonight, and a gathering of girlfriends tomorrow night for food, fun, and L Word trivia. I heard The L Word is coming back to Showtime in January instead of February. Is that true? I can't wait. That's one outside stimulus that can have control over me and I won't care. :-) Have a great weekend everybody.

Help lines are no help

Our wireless internet connection went on the fritz yesterday so I spent a little over two hours on the phone with the technical support people. I can't think of anything that drives me any more insane. It might help if I understood computer jargon and the reasons behind the things they were telling me to do, but I don't and therefore the whole process makes me nervous. And then there's the language barrier thing. Sometimes as hard as I strain I just can't make out what they're saying. Pooey.

After two hours of repeatedly telling me to ping things and type in "ip config" and some other garbledy guck, I was still having problems so the rep told me to find the disc for the network adapter and reinstall that. She said she had reached the end of the help that she could offer me and with that she hung up. Dang it! But she gave me a case number and said to call back later if I was still having problems. So I waited four minutes and called back and got a different rep. She took me through some of the same steps, and then told me to unplug both the modem and the wireless router and wait thirty seconds, then plug the modem back in and wait thirty seconds, and then plug the wireless router back in. This simple unplug/plug process solved all of my problems. Aaaah! Why didn't we try this in the first place? The good thing is, I took notes on the specific order of things in the unplug/plug process so I'll be prepared for the next time this thing crashes.

I stressed out five pounds yesterday. The computer problems just added to a sick feeling that I already had over something else that will turn out okay in the long run, but for now has my stomach in knots. I'm sure I'll blog about it in the coming days. I love you all!

Pearly whites

Yes Douglas, the teeth-whitening process is a real hoot. :-) I'll probably have to do it regularly until I'm a hundred because my love for coffee, Diet Dr. Pepper, and Coke Zero just isn't conducive to maintaining clean, bright teeth. Speaking of Coke Zero...have you tried it? It's amazing! How do they get it to be calorie free, yet so sweet and savory? No one is paying me to say that. I'm just a huge fan. Goes great with Peanut M&M's. Guess I lied about the ban on chocolate blogging.

I did teeth-whitening once when we first moved to Dallas, but that started with a one-hour trip to the dentist's office to have my teeth lasered and then they sent me home with gel and dental trays so I could continue to whiten at home. That worked okay, but it was pre-braces so instead of crooked teeth I just had crooked white teeth. So I got braces. I don't care what anyone says...you can't have glue on your teeth for a year and a half and end up with sparkely white teeth. So whitening became necessary again. Especially since I'm SO pale and white anyway. One can't have darker teeth than skin. It just looks funny.

One of Angela's colleagues hooked us both up with some new turbo-powered teeth-whitening gel that we only have to leave on for fifteen minutes a day. But this gel has nuclear capabilities I tell ya. It's so strong it hurts while you have it on. And there is one spot in my mouth where some of it always leaks out and lands on my gumline no matter how small the dot that I squirt into the tray, and it burns like crazy. And the whole process leads to sensitive teeth, so now hot and cold liquids and even taking a deep breath with my mouth half open zings me and I jump. This will probably happen on the air at some point and I'll stop in mid-sentence and it will sound like there's something wrong with your radio. I'll just blame it on that.

I'll pay this price for pretty teeth. I won't pay for manicures or pedicures because I don't care that much about my cuticles, but I'll suffer for a purdy smile. I'll imbibe the hot coffee and the cold Coke Zero no matter how bad it hurts. That's sacrifice.

I blog about Peanut M&Ms too much

Angela had the day off work yesterday so we went to lunch and to vote. Early voting is the greatest! No lines, no waiting. In fact, we were the only two voters there and the ladies who checked our driver's licenses and gave us our ballots seemed like they were just happy to have something to do. I'm sure they went right back to their Harry Potter books after we left. It felt great to vote against silly amendments. :-)

We ran out of Plain M&Ms last night at 7:15, so we had to dig into the secret stash of Peanut M&Ms. Dang it! But today there are lots of delighted little goblins running around with chocolate covered peanuts in candy-coated shells, and I will just be glad we contributed to their happiness. It's not good karma to be stingy with Peanut M&Ms anyway.

One two year-old boy came to the door with a bunch of other kids and he squirmed his way up to the front babbling cute nonsense the whole way, and the next thing I knew he was babbling all the way through the foyer, past the staircase, and into the living room. I guess he was planning on parking his cute little butt in front of our TV and watching cartoons while he dug into his monstrous bag of chocolate and suckers. We could have had a good time watching Noggin and talking about the true meaning of All Hallows Eve, but before we knew it his mom was in the house fetching him. I guess she wanted to keep him.

One girl who was way too old to trick-or-treat came to the door in street clothes and it ticked me off that her sole purpose was to extort candy from pushovers like me, so I gave her a "dang you look" and tossed two bags of M&M Minis into her pillowcase and sent her on her way. At least she didn't get the Peanut ones.

I promise to stop blogging about chocolate now. Maybe tomorrow I'll write about the pain involved in the teeth-whitening process. Ooooo nice.