Mitt Romney

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid51324.asp

I should probably just quit reading the news :) I'm not sure which is worse, Mitt Romney's back-and-forth stances on just about everything in order to try to please everyone and get votes, or the fact that Peter LaBarbera, a so-called Christian leader and spokesman for "family values" sees the passage of laws like the hate crimes law and ENDA as bad things. Never mind gay marriage - opinions on that are all over the board. But every bible I've ever read would seem to lead me to believe that we shouldn't be committing crimes of hate against each other (as human beings!) and it seems not discriminating against each other in simple things like jobs would follow along those same lines.

Movies

Two posts in one day! But I was thinking of this one this morning when I woke up...tonight I am going to go see "Alien vs. Predator 2" which came out on Tuesday. This kind of movie brings up a lot of discussion, because you know it probably won't have much plot, as the first one demonstrated. However, my theory on movies has always been that, at least for the first time you watch a movie, your enjoyment is mostly based on your expectations - if your expectation level is in line with or lower than how the movie actually is, you will enjoy it (this is only for first-time viewings, re-watchability is much more based on other things like how good the movie actually is, and your feelings or memories about the first time you watched it). So, in this example, when I went to the first Alien vs. Predator, I expected lots of action, special effects, shooting, killing, etc. and that's exactly what I got - any plot or story was bonus. So that is what I'm expecting of this one, and I'll probably enjoy it too (and never watch it again).

SO...my challenge to you is to post your worst movie disappointment, best movie surprise, or both. For me, my worst disappointment was "Legally Blonde 2" - the first one is one of the funniest movies ever made IMHO, and I was expecting that and more with the next one, and it was total crap. "Star Wars Episode I" is a close second. My best surprise...probably "Terminator 2", that movie completely blew me away, even to this day I remember how amazing it was the first time I saw it. "Ghost" is probably second in that category.

Reading/Watching/Listening

I've had a little more free time over the last week to relax and read, watch TV, and listen to music. For reading, I'm finishing up a funny book called "Food Court Druids, Cherohonkees, and Other Creatures Unique to the Republic" by Robert Lanham - a humourous take on the different kinds of people you find in offices and companies. I also re-read parts of Kevin Trudeau's "More Natural Cures Revealed" - I don't take everything in his books seriously but he does make some good points about the health care system and food industry. I probably watch way too much TV, but this week I've been re-watching season 6 of "Star Trek: Deep Space 9" (the best season IMHO) and continue to wonder how Terry Farrel could leave the awesomeness that is Star Trek for "Becker". Also, watched the last episode of the Dallas "Dream Season" where Pam wakes up and finds Bobby, killed a year before, in the shower. Finally, I've stopped listening to Christmas music 24/7 and am back to salsa and podcasts - if any of you are podcasters, Dan Savage's "Savage Lovecast" is a fun one to listen to.

Christmas week!

I may be a little behind on my postings, but today have some time to catch up. So sorry if this is a little long....

Christmas....to me, one of the greatest times of the year. No other time during the year do we get 2 holidays back to back within one week, and for those of us not in the retail/services industry, a time to back off on work :) The festivities this year started early for me, going back to last Friday night when I was fortunate to get to have dinner and drinks with my friend Don visiting from Boston, and some other great friends. We all miss Don & Rob a lot, and it was fun to catch up (and have 4 or 7 Captain & Cokes at Newt's!)

Saturday I got up to go to 9AM handbell rehearsal (more on that later) and then coffee with my friend Shelley, where once again we solved all the worlds problems sitting at Starbucks. Saturday night was a lot of fun - my jazz band played at the Blue Moon Ballroom, one of the most fun places to play because everyone is dancing and having a good time - and with the Christmas atmosphere, it was even more fun. The impending snow didn't keep people away and there was a great turnout - and the age range was probably 14 to 74, great to see so many generations of people enjoying dancing and music.

Sunday at church we did the "Lessons & Carols" service, an abbreviated version of the one we did at St. Mary's the week before. A little more fun for me because the high school group that I direct got to play for this one. I love services that are mostly music (I'm probably a little biased) and I got the chance to visit with a lot of friends between services. After a relaxing afternoon, my salsa band "Fuego" had a practice, taking advantage of the time our piano player is home from college. (as a side note, "Fuego" will be playing at the Blue Moon on Friday, January 25th, we have new songs and it will be a great show). We're trying to get in a few more practices before January 3rd when our piano player leaves and people go back to school and work.


Monday I was fortunate to have the day off of work - it is doubtful there was much going on at IBM that day anyway - and so I had the morning to get ready to head up to my sister and her husband's house in North Branch for Christmas. As soon as Erin got done with work, we headed up, stopping on the way at my cousins in Roseville to say hi and have some apple cider. Friday night we had a nice dinner and stayed over at mom's. My niece Keagann was VERY excited to see more presents, even after 3 days of opening presents at other family gatherings. We came back over Tuesday morning, after a nice breakfast at mom's, and opened up presents (Keagann opened all hers quickly and then decided to "help" everyone else :) We had to get back to Rochester for the evening and for Erin to work the next morning, so at 2:30 as the snow was falling we headed out. It was a bit snowy all the way to Cannon Falls - the roads weren't great - but we made it ok. Erin and I did our own gifts later on (almost all mine were coffee-related - 1lb of Caribou Obsidian blend, 2 nice spill-proof mugs, and a big Caribou coffee card - I think Erin has me figured out!)






I decided I could work at home the rest of the week, mornings only. Wednesday night was another salsa band rehearsal, which went really well and was fun. Thursday, Erin and I went out to dinner with a bunch of his friends who are at home this week. Besides all that, we managed to go to get to the RAC most days of the past week, a habit I am glad to be getting back to.

This brings us to today, the eve of the eve of the eve of New Year's Eve :) OK that's kind of overkill but I am looking forward to a weekend of anticipation - and again getting to see friends and relax and celebrate.

For those of us out there political, it's also only a week to the Iowa caucus...and 11 months of political ads :) I hope everyone is enjoying this time with friends, family, refreshment, and rejuvination.

Not exactly high society, but...

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid51235.asp

Youtube really does change what all we see now - most of these we probably wouldn't have heard about if we still only had traditional TV and newspaper media.

a capella!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

This is one of the best/funniest musical performances I've ever seen (about 3 1/2 minutes)

Coffee, cookies, and beer

Sometimes in life you have one of those unexpected great days where everything just seems to fall into place even though you didn't plan any of it...I have to say that yesterday was one of those days. For starters, it was a sunny winter Minnesota day :) Being Saturday, I didn't have any pressure to get up quickly to do anything, so I decided to watch a documentary the DVR had recorded for me on Logo, called "The Celluloid Closet" - a very interesting take on Hollywood and cinema, and something I was waiting to watch for awhile.

At 11, I met up with Erin and one of his study partners at Caribou for some coffee, and reading (I was reading while they studied). The festive atmosphere at Caribou during the holidays is always fun to be around. After a nice large dose of caffeine, Erin and I went to Target and HyVee to pick up some food/ingredients for cookie dough (more on that later) and the 4 cheesecakes Erin was making for his work holiday party (and if you haven't had one of his cheesecakes, they are wonderful!)


The cookie dough was for an annual event that I love going to - my good friends Kris & Roger Harms host a cookie baking party around this time of year where everyone brings their own cookie dough, and we have a pipeline of baking going on all afternoon. Kris has 2 large 3-rack ovens, and even then it takes 3-4 hours to get through everything (we're talking 30-40 people at this party). We then have a large meal topped off with any cookie you can imagine (as well as some wine or beer :) While I always enjoy going and just hanging out with all the people there, this was the first year I brought cookie dough, and a boyfriend :) I think Erin liked it, being surrounded by all that baking. And then at the end you get to take an assortment home with you!


BUT...the day wasn't over! Just as soon as we got home, our friends Paul & Anne called and said that Paul's brother Andy was in town, and that they had a babysitter for LP (their son, "Lukas Paul") and that we needed to go drink and play pool somewhere. So after a dinner at Applebees, we headed down to Paul & Anne's favorite hangout, Shar's Country Palace, where you can relax, listen to mediocre DJs play 80s music, play pool, and drink (and now it's smoke-free so it's much more enjoyable). Erin and I beat Paul and Andy in pool 5 games out of 7 (I think) and we all had a fun time.


Nothing particularly spectacular or out of the ordinary, but just one of those great, unexpected days that come along every so often that make life fun. (I like to call these "Red Letter Days")

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season, and that you have some time to relax, reflect, and be with family and friends. Peace

Annual Lessons & Carols music service

http://www.zumbrolutheran.org/lessons_carols.html

Just an announcement to everyone that my church's annual music service of Nine Lessons and Carols is going on this sunday at St. Mary's chapel. The music starts at 6:30pm, lasting until about 8:30. This is always a highlight of the year for me, I am very involved in Zumbo's music program, and this is a chance to listen and see all of the music groups without the rest of the "service :) The groups that are participating are listed on the web page - for me, I am involved in both handbell groups, as well as other small things. Zumbro has been doing this for 26 years as a gift to the hospital and the community - it is shown on closed-circuit TV to every room in St. Mary's hospital for patients that can't attend in person.

If you like listening to great live Christmas music of all kinds (vocal, bells, horns, woodwinds, harp), I encourage you to come - it is free and open to the public (free-will donations go to St. Mary's hospital and other charities).

Another problem in our country

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071206/ap_on_bi_ge/mortgage_crisis

Certainly not in the same category as the Omaha shootings, but wow I can't believe this is going on. Our economy is in more serious trouble than I think most people realize. People were encouraged over the last several years to buy houses as part of Bush's "ownership society", by offering them things like low-rate ARMs and mortgage "deals" - basically deferring the problems of not actually being able to afford these houses until later. And now the government has to fix the problem. I'm all for markets being free and open and letting supply and demand determine the market, but there's so much government "interference" now to keep trying to stimulate the economy, it just gets out of control.

OK I'll step down from the soapbox now :)

Omaha shootings

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/us/05cnd-omaha.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5087&em&en=02267c5f0648fa2b&ex=1197003600

I don't even know how to process this one in my head - I grew up about 10 miles south of Omaha, and can't count the number of times I went to that mall. The problems of our world really are everywhere, being in the midwest certainly doesn't shield us from them.

It's hard to even imagine how hurt, angry, depressed, confused, etc. someone would have to be to start shooting random innocent people and then commit suicide. I feel great sympathy for the families of the people killed - and have to wonder if it was someone I knew. But it also hurts inside knowing that there are people out there like this gunman, that see no other option than to shoot innocent people and kill themself.

Bo is back!!!!!

http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=1&SPID=22&DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=1331515

Most of you probably aren't as attached to Nebraska or the Huskers as I am, but I'm pretty excited that they hired Bo Pelini - next season is going to be fun to watch :)

Hate crimes

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid50708.asp

This is not even in the same category as the article my friend Shelley discussed in her blog this, about the little girl in Texas murdered by her parents - I can't even wrap my mind around how someone does something like that. But the kind of (unfortunately) common occurrence in this article always saddens me. It's not even really because the incident was gay-related, but because this learned hatred keeps getting passed on from generation to generation. I know there are exceptions, but I really believe that most of our attitudes toward other cultures, races, groups, etc. are things we see, hear, experience, and learn from day one in life. I refuse to believe that hatred toward a certain group of people is something we're born with.

I don't really have a point to make, except maybe that we have the power to not pass these attitudes on to the next generation - or rather replace them with positive ones.

Who Shot J.R.

OK, so this is probably revealing parts of my personality best left unspoken...but I admit, I'm a (now-not-so)-closeted fan of the great 80s TV series "Dallas". It actually ran for 13 seasons from 1978-1991, and is now running again on the SOAP channel with two episodes a day. I happened to see it one day and when they started over on Season 1, I was hooked - and with the power of DVR, have been watching every episode since then and am on Season 8.

The show was EXTREMELY popular during the early 80s - I can remember people having "Dallas" parties that my parents would go to, and everyone was waiting on pins and needles to see "Who Shot J.R." in Season 3. Even though the show is incredibly cheesy now, I love watching - probably because of the memories it brings back, and laughing at the horrible acting and occasional slap from Sue Ellen or Pam.

BUT...the most interesting/comical thing about "Dallas" was the sequence from the end of season 7 through season 8 - the infamous "Dream Season" that ultimately killed the show's ratings. Patrick Duffy (who played Bobby Ewing) decided to leave the show at the end of Season 7, and the writers gave him a heroic, noble death, jumping in front of a car to save Pam the love of his life. He died in full view of everyone in a hospital bed, with a full funeral, and no mysterious circumstances - thus it was impossible to bring him back (on most soaps they usually leave an opening to bring a character back if necessary). Season 8 went on as usual without Bobby, with some great new characters, plot twists, storylines, etc. But apparently the show's ratings were falling, and the producers thought it was because of the loss of Bobby's character. So they convinced him to come back. There were many rumors of how they would bring him back (the standard soap opera "evil twin" theory came up a lot) but one far-fetched ridiculous theory was that all of Season 8 would be a dream by Pam Ewing. No one seriously believed they would do that - throw away a whole season? But the producers thought it was great idea, that it would boost ratings, and in the final scene of Season 8, Pam wakes up to find Bobby in the shower. In the first episode of Season 9, she tells Bobby that she had an awful dream...and that's the end of it. Everything picks up where it left off at the end of Season 7 - all the new characters, stories, etc. GONE. The fans hated this, and it eventually led to the show's demise.

So I'm now staring to watch the "Dream Season" and it's interesting to see all the inconsistencies and things that Pam "dreamed" that she couldn't have possibly dreamed (things going on with other characters and people she didn't even know). I'm repulsed and yet strangely drawn to watching this (maybe somehow this satisfies both my need for drama and sci-fi?)

If you really want to know all about the "Dream Season" these are good links:
http://www.ultimatedallas.com/episodeguide/dreamzone.htm
http://www.kevinmccorrytv.com/dallas.html

For the person who has everything...

Gifts for that person who has everything...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/holiday_picks_stupid_tech_dc

How can you go wrong with a Larry Craig action figure?

Not Shopping

I hope this finds everyone enjoying a nice Thanksgiving weekend with friends and family. Thursday was kind of cold and cloudy but Friday and today have been nice, sunny, almost-winter days! Erin and I were able to enjoy the holiday with my mom, who came down from North Branch to spend Thursday and Friday with us. As usual, Erin and mom did all of the cooking (I _did_ set the table and did a lot of the cleanup!) While not the huge meal that it is some years, we had a wonderful sweet potato casserole, cornish game hens the way mom always makes them, corn, lefse (thank you Shelley and Paul S. !) and pumpkin pie with real whipped cream. We then watched "Ugly Betty" which I found out mom actually likes too. Friday, I got up and had coffee with mom at Caribou, checked out a new phone for her at the Sprint store (hers is 6 years old), and then we came back to watch the annual Nebraska/Colorado football game (Nebraska lost 65-51, not surprising, and just as bad as it has been all season). After Erin got off of work, he made one of his wonderful salad creations and we had dinner before mom left to go back to North Branch.

One thing I avoided again this year was "Black Friday", "Buy-Everything Day", or as some people actually refer to it, "Buy Nothing Day", as a sort of counter-protest to the biggest shopping day of the year. I don't know that I'm specifically anti-shopping, but I don't feel the need to go out and fight through crowds to get a $29.99 DVD player (and would much rather be watching football games and eating pumpkin pie :) I recently read a book called "Not Buying It" by Judith Levine, which talks about American shopping and consumerism - I'd recommend the book no matter how you feel about shopping.

Huskers

As I mentioned, Friday the Huskers lost 65-51 to Colorado. So this season, they've lost by multiple touchdowns in 6 of the 7 games they lost, and gave up more points and yards than any Husker team since 1962. So it was no shock this morning when I got up and read the news that Coach Callahan was fired. It's too bad the "business" of football has to work this way, and I don't think he is a bad coach or a bad person, but I do think he probably wasn't a good fit for Nebraska. So now we see if Bo Pelini or Turner Gill will get the job - either one of them would be instant favorites with the players and fans.

Unhand My Gourd

On Thursday Erin and I headed up to Isanti, MN, to my sister's to see my dad who was in town visiting from South Dakota. We spent the early part of the afternoon on a shoe hunt (both of us needed new shoes) and then picking up my dad in Blaine, where he was spending time with an old friend of his. We stopped at another Kohl's on the way back from Blaine (and finally both found the shoes we wanted).

We got back to my sister's and were immediately greeted by my 3-year-old niece Keagann (I also have a 4-month-old niece Laynie). Keagann is the most energetic kid I have ever met, and is always a lot of fun to play with (she's always saying "C'mon Guys!" and grabbing your hand to go do whatever the next thing in her mind is). One of the big things she liked to play with this time was a basket full of "gourds" that were from the garden, and were of course supposed to be a centerpiece in the living room that you just look at. Well of course you tell a 3-year-old not to play with something and that's the only thing they want to play with. But the gourds are pretty durable and of course replaceable, and so all in all not a bad thing for her to be interested in.

Anyway, her and Erin get along really well, and Erin often likes to teach her funny phrases. She is a very good "actress" and will repeat whatever you say with accent and everything. In some previous meetings, Erin taught her to say "I survey my kingdom". Well this time, she was playing the game of handing you one of the gourds and then of course wanting it back. Even though she's supposed to say "please" and be polite, Erin thought it would be more fun if she said "Unhand my gourd!" in a British accent. Her British accent altered some of the words though and it sounded more like "Unhont my gold" but of course it is still cute. Being the "actress she is", she's not at all shy about performing on camera, so here is Keagann in "Unhand My Gourd":



We also finally came up with an "alternate" name for uncle Erin - his name is the same as my sister's and Keagann gets confused when we try to explain that to her. So her dad Chris decided to call him "Uncle Aloiscious", which she actually caught onto, although sometimes it comes out "Uncle 'wiscious" or even "Unclicious" :)

After we left Keagann and Co., we visited Erin's (and my) friend Caryn over in Eau Claire - we got to eat at the Northwoods Brewpub, one of my favorite places (I have been to Eau Claire twice and have now eaten at the Northwoods Brewpub twice). They have a beer called "Bumblin' Bubba's Buzzin' Brew" which is now one of my favs.

Voting Machines

http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2007/11/13/fifty-states-face-voting-machine-lawsuits-uncounted-documents-dre-issues/

Now I am the first person in line for advocating the use of technology to automate things, make things more efficient, etc...when it makes sense. Not for voting. I really can't believe that in the case of elections, which happen at most twice a year, that spending lots of money on voting machines to "automate" the process really saves any time or money anywhere - these machines get rolled out 1 or 2 days out of 365 and then get put away, probably to become obsolete after 4 or 5 uses. Plus, if a polling place gets busy, it's sure a lot easier to handle the additional volume if you can add a couple tables and put out a few more pens and ballots - you can't just produce additional voting machines on the spot.

And do we really NEED to know the elections results up to the minute/second? Personally I'd rather we not know until everything is done and everyone has voted - that way early results don't influence people voting (or possibly not bothering to vote) later in the day. The people elected don't even take office until 2 months later, what difference does it make whether we know Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Most importantly, to me, this seems like something where accuracy and trust is of primary importance. Period. It is worth the manpower it takes to accomplish this.

Hooray for short weeks

I realized this morning that I'm going to get two "short" work weeks in a row - this week to spend time with my dad who is visiting, and next week because of Thanksgiving. I don't know why that's so exciting but it feels like back in school getting half or full days off for teacher in-service days...anyway I'm looking forward to it!

It was a nice weekend, including the beautiful weather! Saturday morning I got to have coffee with my friend Shelley - and by coffee I mean "solve all of the worlds problems while sitting at Starbucks." We discussed a book we both recently read "Not Buying It" by Judith Levine, a commentary on American consumerism where the author goes a whole year without "shopping" (besides necessities like food). While I probably won't go that far, she brings up a lot of good points and makes you think. Saturday afternoon was fun because Nebraska finally won a game after 5 straight losses - and in grand fashion, 73-39 over Kansas State. The coach is still out but it's sure fun to watch them win for a change. Saturday evening Erin and I enjoyed a quiet evening and had one of our favorite salad "meals" (another of Erin's great creations) and continued to through Season 4 of Star Trek: Voyager which I'm so glad to say that he likes a lot! Sunday I was finally able to attend one of the Peer Ministry sessions at church, an activity I have been involved with for about 5 years, where 10th graders dedicate a few months of Sunday afternoons to enhance their interpersonal and communication skills. It is always a learning experience for me, and each group is different. Later on Sunday, I got the chance to stop over to my friends Michael and Cory's house and hang out and chat with them and see all of the remodeling they have been doing. This kind of weekend really makes me realize how blessed I am to have so many great people in my life. As we approach Thanksgiving I am certainly thankful for that.

Misc

Contra DS comes out tomorrow (Tuesday), should I be this excited about a video game that is probably going to be about the same as all the previous versions of "Contra"? Of course :) I am looking for a new book to start reading if anyone has suggestions. TV - "Ugly Betty" really is funny, and there actually is an ongoing storyline even if it is kind of random sometimes. Music - my salsa band is taking November off and hopefully going to find a new keyboard player, a position we've had a really hard time keeping someone in.

I have another "topic" that came up this weekend but it deserves a full blog entry so I'll save it for another day...

"Oh Oh" Mochas

I went to Caribou this morning before work to get my daily dose of freshly ground goodness, and as I was walking in, I noticed someone walking out with the "Christmas-time" cups which I knew could only mean one thing - Ho Ho Mochas were back. Now for those of you who haven't had a Ho Ho Mocha at Caribou, I'd describe it as liquid peppermint crack - ok maybe not that bad, but maybe that addictive! Mocha with mint shots and whipped cream, topped with crumbled peppermint candy cane. So as I was standing in line, I was fighting with myself on whether I should break with my low-sugar diet (which means only regular coffee), and have one of those. Well of course when I got to the counter I bought one...and as I drank it during the morning I really wasn't as excited as I remember being in previous years. Overhyped (in my head)? Maybe they changed the formula? Whatever the reason, maybe I'll be able to resist (most of the time) this year - the caffeine effect is the same as a cup of coffee, and the calorie effect is of course way worse.

Other Goings-on

Finally feeling better, post-cold. Had a wonderful band practice (Notochords - jazz band) last night, we added a few Christmas songs to our inventory and they are quite fun and sounded really good. We are slated to play at the Blue Moon Ballroom on Saturday, December 22nd, so we will be in full Christmas season mode that night! I'm looking forward to it.

My dad, for the first time I can remember in my whole life, has chosen to fly to Minneapolis to visit my sister and I next weekend. Dad loves the train (so much that he retired from his first career and took a job as a train engineer 13 years ago), and usually drives 100 miles north into Williston, ND from Rapid City, SD, to get onto Amtrack and ride another 8-10 hours to Minneapolis, JUST to take the train. I agree that trains are probably way more fun to ride and you see a lot more neat stuff, but you can't beat the plane for a 4-day long weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing him and my two nieces next weekend up at my sister's in Isanti.

Here we go...

OK, so blogging has been on my todo list for about 2 years now - my original intention was to set up my own blogging server, that being half the fun of doing this. Since I haven't made the time to do that in 2 years, I think I can safely give up on that part of the idea...and since I told my friend Shelley that THIS weekend was going to be the weekend I started my blog...well here I go.

I'm starting this in the midst of a lingering cold (read: sinus and/or ear infection now developing). By Monday it will have been 10 days of symptoms which means I can go to the doctor and not pretend it's been 10 days...as much as I hate taking any sort of antibiotics, I know from past history this isn't going to go away on its own.

Besides illness, here's what's going on this week...

The Huskers

I just finished watching them lose 76-39 to Kansas. No, that is not a misprint, 76-39!!!! They have not lost 5 straight games since....well we're talking pre-WW2 era. After last week I really thought they might be coming around...it's inevitable that the coach will get fired at the end of the season now, and we will lose a years worth of recruiting. Non-Nebraska natives probably can't fathom what this downfall means, in a state that really only has its football team to follow. I guess nothing lasts forever....

Deal or No Deal

I do NOT watch this show on a regular basis, in fact I've only even seen it twice and once was over at a friend's house...but last night it happened to be on when I turned on the TV. I admit that no matter how stupid these game shows are I still get sucked in...what is so bad though is that unless you're incredibly unlucky in your initial picks, you can almost always walk out of there with $100,000 by taking the early deal. Now, I don't know about you, but if I could be guaranteed $100,000 by quitting early, rather than wait around for a VERY remote chance of getting somthing a bit higher (even a million!) I'd do it in a heartbeat. I can only think of how debt-free and easy I'd have it with an extra $100,000...winning $200,000 or even $1,000,000 wouldn't make any more real impact except possibly being able to retire earlier. But then maybe I shouldn't have just dedicated a whole paragraph to such a bad show :)

Food

It is wonderful to have a boyfriend that knows how to cook, and especially that is willing to cook stuff that I like...last night we had one of our favorite salad creations, which when you break it down pretty much has everything I could possibly want in a meal (lettuce, apple slices, craisins, cashews, amazing poppyseed dressing, and sliced grilled chicken). I ate the leftover for lunch....yummy!

And now it's time to go re-install one of my computers as it has been slowly degrading over the past few months...more to come.

(There Shelley - I finally did it!)