Sunday, October 31, 2004

Happy Halloween!

I am shutting off the porch light here very soon. It's almost 7pm, we started getting trick-or-treaters at 5pm. I think that is kind of late, but that is just what they do in our small town. I had 28 kids tonight, which I think is pretty good. Last year we weren't around of Halloween, the year before I think it was 22 and the year before that was around 18.

Friday evening our friends Kendra & Tim arrived. They were visiting us from Philly. That night we went to a specialty beer tasting (although we have some drinks & wine before we left) and then add the beer on top of that. I found a beer that I really like: Barkley's Honey Almond Light (kinda of a sissy beer) and Andy found a couple new ones he likes: Gluek's Light & Gluek's Honey Bock. After the beer tasting we came home for some hottubbing and sauna sitting & more drinks. We had a very good time that night.

Saturday we noticed a leak coming through the ceiling from one of our bathrooms, and of course we couldn't see the leak up there. We thought it might be the toilet and so Andy removed the toilet and found out that it was not sealed properly (Figures!) and water was leaking through and going in the mortar lines beneath the tile. Dammit! And of course where there is water for a while, there will be mold. So, we started removing tile (which would only come out if we smashed it). We removed tile until the mold stopped. We treated the floor and now we have 2 options - we can try to find tile that matches our bathroom or finish pulling our all of the tile and retile the entire floor.

BTW - we were thinking of replacing our toilet, I read that you can save money on water if you have one that uses less water, and I am sure our toilet has been in this house for probably at least 20 years. Does anyone know if there is something about the toilet itself that saves on water, or is it just the guts (you know, all the stuff inside you use to flush it with)?

We were just going to retile, but the tile that was not wet & did not have mold underneath it was just shattering into thousands of pieces.

I spent Satuday cooking pumpkin, baking sugar cookies, & making cider. The 4 of us went out for Mexican food and then came home and watched 2 movies: "Manhunter" and the original "Halloween".

Today, after a big breakfast, Tim & Kendra left for the airport (we had a great time with them and will miss them until we go visit them this summer). We watched football (well, actually I did not watch football, I sat on the couch with my laptop surfing for Christmas presents) and then I watched this Scooby-Doo Halloween cartoon, "Halloween 5" and now am watching "Scream 2".

And I don't think any more kids are coming, so the porch light is going off.

Total: 28

Who is Right? Children or the NFL?

I guess we will find out on Tuesday night. If the children are right then Bush will be president, but if the Redskins prediction is right, then Kerry will be president.

So - The kids have been right for the last 11 elections and the Redskins equation has accurately predicted the outcome for over 15 elections.

One of these are not going to br right this year.

I am inclined to believe that either is possible - not just because the race is very close, but the Redskins equation has spanned more elections, but if the kids are voting they are probably voting for who they hear their parents support.

Now there is no clear indication - guess I'll just have to go make my vote and then wait.

Packers 28 - Redskins 14

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Guess I am not going to Russia

Check out this article.....

We can't drink on public transportation.....and not really in the streets (unless you are in New Orleans), but in parks? (what fun would sand volleyball if you couldn't bring something to drink) or stadiums (why else do you sit through 9 innings of baseball?) and what about the beer sale restrictions around universitities (they are just asking for people to have to drive further to get their beer - unless college students in Russia are different than in the US, but I doubt it.)

The good thing is that the fine is only 100 rubles, which is $3.33 - which is 4 times the price of the average bottle of beer.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

What the Hell Do Kids Know?

Check out the link.

Do you remember when you were a kid and did the Weekly Reader presidential vote? Apparently since 1956 they have accurately predicted the winner of the presidential election. I remember doing this in 1984. Well, when I voted I had no idea who Walter Mondale was. I only knew who Reagan was and that my parents were not voting for him, which as a kid, you generally model you parents. So, I voted against Reagan. And we all know who won. Both my class and all of the Weekly Readers had predicted that Reagan would win.

This year, Weekly Reader is predicting that Bush will win. Now, is there any other type of publication that has that type of accuracy record?

Maybe I should start my own poll. Who thinks that Weekly Reader will accurately predict this years election?

Also - do you think that 4 years ago Weekly Reader accurately predicted that Bush would become president because he received the majority of the electoral votes (271 vs. 266) and Gore recieved the majority of the general votes(48.38% vs. 47.87%)?

One other thing - did you know that write-in votes for president are not permitted. It says so on the bottom of this website: http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/2000presgeresults.htm

Oh Wonderful Sight!

WARNING - Long story that I could have easily summed up, but chose not to.

I think I take for granted my sight too much. The last week I have been having some troubles with contacts. I ordered some new ones off the Internet and threw away the old ones. But the first set I put in didn't feel quite right, so I switched them out one at a time (could have been inverted or ripped or something), but by this time I had several in the garbage. I could see, but it just didn't feel comfortable and my sight seemed a little off, but not too bad.

So, I called my eye doctor and got put on the cancellation list & managed to get in that same day (Monday). I got some new contacts and a full exam. The vision still felt a little off and one contact was just moving all around in my eye. The doctor said that the contacts tend to shrink a little to fit to the eye and after that happened then maybe it would stop moving around and I would see better (if it was just the moving around that caused the sight issues).

But then I had a conference to go to today an hour away and driving SUCKED. I thought for sure I was going to die on the roads today and kept telling myself I should not be going. My nearsightedness was great, it was things far that were problems, as well as glare from car lights in the morning. I called my eye doctor and told her that it just wasn't working. She told me to come in and pick up a different brand and try them out.

I picked them up with a little note that says that this brand fits different which is why the prescription on these is different. I put these in and they are no different, initially no better and no worse. But as the minutes and hours drag on it all gets bad and I consider ripping out my eyes while I am at the night class I teach, hoping that they have optical transplant surgery after-the-fact.

I go home and take out my contacts and put my glasses on to see is it just the contacts bothering me or if my glasses were bothering me too. So - the glasses went on and 30 minutes later came off. I hate not having peripheral vision and the prescription was just not right anymore. So, back to the contact drawing board.

I try on another set from the Internet company - and they just feel AWFUL! I can't take it and they come out. I try Monday's set again and that's no good the one contact still floats around. I try today's set and they do feel good in my eyes, but the prescription is just not right. So, I tried mixing & matching (& remembering which was which) and have come to the realization that my L eye has the wrong prescription. I went digging around to see if there were any older "new" contacts still left from when my prescription had changed previously. I found 1 contact and it happened to be the prescription that was just one level above my L eye and the expiration date on it is next month - SCORE!

In goes that L contact and things seem better, although I have not been out driving, so I don't know if it helps my farsightedness, but it feels better -- so much better. And much of my headache has gone away, I think what is left is just the residual affects of going a whole day with straining my eyes. I am sure my eye doctor is not going to like what I did, but I needed to do something and hopefully when I go in there next week I'll get some new boxes of contacts that are good for me. And hopefully I don't get yelled at too much.

Sunday, October 24, 2004


In Brandon, IA in the World's Largest Frying Pan Posted by Hello

Heidi & Jared in the World's Largest Frying Pan Posted by Hello

Andy in the ghetto bathroom/bedroom @ B&B stay this weekend. Posted by Hello

Larry's turn to guard the sack of potatoes. Anyone know if cats really like the smell of burlap or something? Posted by Hello

Lucy was going nuts over this burlap sack of potatoes Posted by Hello

Lucy in the sink, Larry in the toilet. See why we need so many bathrooms in our house. Posted by Hello

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Who is colder? Men? Women?

I had to look up this info after talking with Andy about this topic.

Apparently, the core temp of a woman is .4 degrees warmer than a man's. But the temp of a woman's hands .8 degrees colder than a man's.

Plus, a woman's menstrual cycle also lowers & raises her core temp.

And older woman (postmentrual) have lower temps than premenstrual woman.

So, guess it would be safe to say that a woman's body temperature changes more often than a man's and so we might notice a change in our body temp.

Catkins! A diet for Larry possibly?

Checkout this article. It's Atkins for cats. Should I try this on my 16 pound Larry?

Although right now I started to buy one brand of catfood that fits what we need for him. It's Purina One Hairball & Overweight formula. I had not seen any other brand that combined both of those in one package. Until thenI was having to buy 2 different bags and mix them: one for overweight cats and one for hairballs.

I think I might just try the Purina One for a while. Both cats like it, so it works so far. They are kinda picky. They just better keep making it. Maybe I should send them a letter knowing how much I like serving this to my cats.

That why in the US it is 9-1-1

Read the above article.

It makes sense that we have it be 9-1-1, rather that the Britain 9-9-9. I can just imagine how many calls they get from children just pressing down a number or pressing the same number over and over - and then you have your occasional romp that you keep your foot on the phone pressing the 9 button.

I wonder in Britain what number they typically dial to get an outside line when they are at a hotel or at work? Maybe they don't. Does anyone know? I've only had to dial 9. And I could see a problem with people calling my cell phone which starts with 99. Which would be 9-9-9 (plus the rest) if you were dialing an outside line.

Daytime Talk Shows

I am watching Montel right now - there are these adults on there that are talking about being held captive by a parent. Disgusting! I can't believe there are people out there like this.

This woman who was living in Saudi Arabia is talking about what it was like there and all these restrictions on women. It is infuriorating!

Ok – so now Maury is on and it is “Shocking Opposites in Love!” and right now there is this skinny 150-pound boy on there with his over 300 pound girlfriend. And she’s wearing this black bra and red vinyl mini. Yikes!
The next guy looks like an average guy (5’10) with Dockers & a denim shirt and then comes out Lacey who is this midget (4’0) (she very cute!) and she says she is a feature stripper.
I got to stop watching these daytime talk shows. I think I have a book I can be reading.

12 Hours of Sleep

I just got 12 hours of sleep and feel fan-freaking-tastic! I have today & tomorrow off from my job for fall break - a well deserved break.

Last night after work we had this happy hour that turned out including people from two different buildingsfrom within the school district - all bonded by our common dislike (which is a mild word for most) for Voldemort (in our case - she who must not be named who is an administrator within the district). The name Voldemort caught very quickly as a way to not use her name. Sometimes it got shortened to the "Big V" or just "V" and people started making V's out of their fingers and putting them up in the air. It was all too hilarious. As it turns out there was a group of other people from the district from a different building that were there too - probably talking bad about V as well, since it is common knowledge that at least one of them has filed a greivance against V and others in the groups have gotten their butt-chewed (just because V can) by V.

So, went home for about a half hour, changed clothes, checked email, and ran off to play volleyball. We Won! All 3 games with a score of 25-22. Isn't that weird that all 3 games were the same score. Then back to a happy hour with the volleyball team. The bar we play for has $12 for a pizza & picther of beer on Wednesday - so that is what Kate & I get -- a meateater's pizza & a pitcher of Leine's Honey Weiss. I don't normally drink beer, as I don't prefer it, but I do like Honey Weiss. I am not sure what that is all about.

So, came home after that, checked email, played with one of the cats, said good night to Andy, and went top bed and slept for 12 hours! Man that felt GREAT!

And the only plans I have today is to treat myself to a manicure with a paraffin dip & a pedicure this afternoon -- and that's it.

Tomorrow we are (Andy & I) getting our hair cut (just trims) and then the other couple we are going to the Amana Colonies with are coming to pick us up. And then we go to a bed & breakfast for the weekend and go check out all their wineries & brewery & do some shopping. It should be fun.


Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Kerry Support

I saw thia ad on TV last night. It was for this website: http://www.comparedecidevote.com/ . They presented an issue pertaining to college funding and demonstrate just how this website works -- which is to take this short survey picking which candidate you agree with most on that issue and then at the end they tell you who you picked the most and that is who you are supposed to vote for.

But after you do a few, you start to realize that probably every anwer is going to be Kerry as the best answer. I think it is a clever way to get young people to vote, by using technology. And if they are unsure of who to vote for, after they take this quiz it looks like you are a really big supporter of Kerry.

Now, no where on the site does it mention that they are supporting either candidate, let alone Kerry. But it's pretty obvious, and a very smart marketing move.

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

I Love My Job

So no one confuses any of my rantings & ravings about job frustrations and unhappiness I want to clarify that I do love my job. It's just that this is my blog and sometimes is my outlet for my frustrations & last week had a lot more frustrations than normal.

I am a Mental Health Therapist and I work with a population of adolescents that need the most services within the school system. They are great kids, but most people don't realize that because they can't get past the baggy pants, the black clothes, the body piercings, or the gang writings. Deep down, they are all still kids that want to be loved and need some attention. It is amazing how much you can help a kid just by taking a couple of minutes to ask them how they are doing.

Today I had this kid that was very upset and the f-en-heimer was flying and I just asked him to step out of the room to talk with me for a while, while other staff keep the classroom going on their discussion. I could physically see this kid calm himself. He just wanted someone to care enough to ask what was bothering him and actually listen to him.

The kids I work with know that I will let them know if I am disappointed in a decision they have made, but they are not going to get yelled at -- and that makes a HUGE difference to these kids. They have gotten yelled at so much in their lifetime that they just can't take anymore yelling and just completly check out when someone raises their voices.

People often ask if it is frustrating working with these kids because they don't believe that they really care about the staff, or they believe that I don't see any rewards and they show the least amount of progress. Well, let me say this - my job would be very boring and I would not like it as much if I my kids were getting all A's & B's and were never in the principal's office and had perfect families. Actually - there might not be the need for me and I would be out of a job, but that is not to say that those kids that fit those descriptions don't have issues - they do, I know they do. I do see change and get rewards from working with these kids. And sometimes these rewards are even sweeter when you are working with the most troubled kid.

I see these kids coming to our room when they are kicked out of other classrooms, asking to talk to us when their frustration is so high that they know they just can't make it at school that day, trusting us to tell us secrets they just can't tell anyone else, and still coming daily to check in with us even though they don't need our services anymore just because they feel welcome and our room is the place where they belong in a pretty big high school. So - don't tell me that I don't see rewards.

I am now in a position that I can see some of these kids I have been working with the last couple of years work through high school and graduate. Some of these kids it will be a very long bumpy road to get them there and that will make it even more of a joyous occasion when they graduate.

I don't like my job every day, but I do love it. I know not everyone can do my job. And I can't do everyone else's job. I think people spend their whole lives trying to figure out the meaning of their life. I am not sure what the meaning for your life is, but I believe that right now my life has meaning because I am needed by these kids. The gifts I was blessed with is what I have to offer. I still joke that I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. It's no joke though. I am young and I still have many years of "growing up" to do. I don't know what the future holds for me - none of us do. Someday I would like it to include motherhood, but that time is not right now. I am not sure which direction I would like to take my career in the future, but I like to keep exploring what my options are so that when I am ready for a change I can make an educated decision.

I do believe that their is a higher power that has given me a direction that my life should take. I choose to believe that sometimes decisions are made for us that we might not understand at the time, but through time we will become wiser as to what that path is. I also choose to do things in life that I enjoy. We are here for too short a time to be miserable, which is why I will not work as an evening janitor (did that for 3 weeks in college) or as a cook in a restaurant (did for 2 years in high school) or ever work in construction (never did this and have no desire to). I liked cooking at a restaurant when I was in school, but that is not something I would enjoy now. I did not enojy working evenings and working alone as a janitor was - just, well - lonely. For other people, these jobs may be what they enjoy and they might not like listening to people's problems.

I try to apply my desire to do things that I enjoy to all areas of my life. I refuse to let myself be convinced or bullied into volunteering or joining a club for something I don't have time for or are interested in. If I don't feel like going out, I generally don't - although there are times I don't but my desire to hang with that person is greater than my desire to just sit around. (If that makes sense.)

So - I chose my job (turned it down the first time it was offered to me, as I was not in that place at that time), I choose to enjoy my job, and I choose to be happy. And if I choose to be unhappy - then, dammit - let me be unhappy - but right now I still love my job.

Sunday, October 17, 2004

Food, fun, & alcohol

The title pretty much sums up our weekend.

Friday I was exhausted, so we just went out for some Mexican food (there are some really nice authentic Mexican restaurants in our area) and then came home and went to bed early.

Saturday, I helped to neighbors learn to find some info on the internet and then the hubby & I ran to Menards. After that we went to April & Jason's house warming party. They throw a nice party - good food & good company. After the party a group of us went to a haunted house & on a haunted hayride. Although, I am sure Andy did not have is much fun as I (or the others) as he was our DD. But after starting with wine, then a rum & coke, then shots of amaretto & apple pucker (separately) - I hit the hay and woke up with a slight headache. A tall glass of water, a multi-vitamin, and some eggs for breakfast seemed to do the trick and I was ready to go. For
some reason getting protein & a multi in me after a night of drinking is very helpful.

I was pretty much obnoxious to the people in costumes - actually it was not just me and not just our group either - but those things are not so much scary as they are amusing (especially when you are drinking.) Someone April is friends with was able to score us some free tickets for the haunted stuff, so that was nice.

Today - put up some Halloween decorations, Andy built shelves in the garage to put all our shit on, did house cleaning & laundry, and then made a shit load of food (3 small pans of lasagna {1 for tonight and 2 for the freezer} and chili, which will go on the slower cooker tomorrow while I am at work.)

Interesting Story Title

"Human Lie Detectors Almost Never Miss, Study Finds"

Why couldn't they have left off the Human part - are there lie detectors that are not for humans?

Saturday, October 16, 2004

Training the Dog to Shut Up! Help!

Ok - the hubby & I are sick of the dog always barking at night. If it needs food & water & is hungry, that is one thing - but when it barks in the middle of the night and is waking up the whole neighborhood because it is lonely - well, that is completly different. I am surpised that we have had no complaints, except our own.

We're considering using one of those collars to train the dog to shut it's piehole when we tell it to shut up. Our neighbor has one of those shock collars that it used on it's dog that we could borrow. He said it only take a couple shocks and the dog gets the point. I don't know if this hurts the dog though. I know as a kid I got shocked by the electric fence on the farm and that was all it took to make me be careful around them. I don't think I was ever shocked more than a couple times (because of my own clumsiness) - but I remember feeling very shook up for a while after that.

I've also seen those collars that send out some high pitch (that people can't hear, but annoy dogs). Do those really work? How do I know that it is really making a sound if I can't hear it. I'd hate to spend $50-$100 on something that might not work.

Let me know what you think.

Oh, poor baby.

My mandatory work hours are 8am-3pm, the school hours. I do get a half hour for lunch, but it is ALWAYS a working lunch, so that is 7 hours of straight work. Plus, school starts @ 8am, so I need to be there at least 10-15 minutes early. So, now we are at 7.25 hours. My husband - as well as most everyone else I know - have no sympathy for my work hours since they work 8 hours (& sometime more) and I only work 7.25 hours and have most of my summer off.

My work week this past week was awful. I started out Monday with my 7:45-3, then had a meeting from 3-4, then parent conferences from 4-7:30. So, we roughly have a 12 hour day there. Tuesday wasn't much better as it was 7:45-3, plus 3-5 for a meeting bringing me to about a 10 hour day AND then I taught my evening class for the college which was about an hour & a half there. Wednesday, thankfully, was only a normal workday (but played volleyball that night). Thursday started off with a 7am meeting - Damn, I hate those early meetings! - and I got out of there @ 3pm and got some co-workers to go for a drink afterwards. And then yesterday I went in for a 7:30 meeting, but the person didn't show (That pisses me off when I make accomodations for people that are an inconvenience for me and they don't show) and then worked until 3, but then had to go to an appt. for a client after that. I didn't know how long this appt. would last, it all depended upon how cooperative they were and if hospitalization was necessary. I left there @ 6pm, making that a 10.5 hour day. I put in a total of 49 hours of work this week.

I know that most people have no sympathy for me, but my job is very emotionally and mentally draining and those were 49 very hard hours! I had a drink or 2, 3 out of the 5 work days. If I have many more weeks like this one I could be well on my way to becoming an alcoholic.

Luckily, the school has a fall break this coming Thursday & Friday, so I only have to work 3 days. I'll have all day Thursday to get stuff sone around the house, and then Friday we are taking off to the Amana Colonies for the weekend to go to their wineries & brewery & stay @ a B&B.

Those are going to be 2 very well-deserved days. I know Monday doesn't start out any less stressful, as we have some intense meetings scheduled for crisis planning on specific clients and another one on Tuesday.

I still think we need longer weekends. What needs to occur to make that happen? Somebody should get on that!

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Work in Progress

I often think that someday I might like to write a book and sometimes the type of book varies, although I know I would want to write about something that I am interested in and would normally read myself. Some of my favorite books are memoirs or books written by a therapist or psychiatrist about their crazy-ass patients. I don't know that my life is necessarily interesting enough to write about, nor am I famous enough for someone to care about the little details of my life that has made me -- me. So - I guess that leaves me to write about crazy people.

Now - I am sorry if I offended people for using the word crazy, but this is my blog and sometimes I just get fed up with having to be all PC about things. But when I talk about crazy, I don't mean the average 'ole depressed person or the normally anxious individual or the ever-popular ADHD boy - I'm talking about the ones that see things you & I don't see.

My inspiration comes from a person I spent much of my day today with - we'll call him Keith, as I have never worked with a Keith and that way I can protect identity & keep confidentiality. Someone mentioned to me that he may make an interesting case study for someone. It could make for a very interesting story, but I need to wait until I move from the area just so people are protected. And who knows, sometimes the really interesting cases don't necessarily stay around long enough themselves to be a case study. So - for now he is a work in progess. And someday I will write my book and make millions and retire early & comfortably in Costa Rica.

So, until the release of my book, here are a couple that I have read & enjoyed:
* Welcome to My Country by Lauren Slater (working with schizophrenics)
* Invisible Masters by George Weinberg (working with obsessive-compulsive disorders)
* Love's Executioners by Irvin Yalom (10 different stories)
* Every Day Gets A Little Closer by Irvin Yalom & Ginny Elkin (accounts from doctor & schizophrenic patient)
* Letters to a Young Therapist by Mary Pipher (just what it sounds)
* Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel (memoir regarding her depression)
* I Never Told Anyone by Ellen Bass (stories from sexual abuse survivors)
* An Unquiet Mind by Kay Jamison (memoir of her bipolar illness)

And my recent purchases (have yet to read them) are:
* News from the Border by Jane McDonnell (about her own autistic son)
* Borderlines:A Memoir by Caroline Kraus (title explains it)
* Necessary Dreams: Ambition in Changing Women's Lives by Anna Fels (one psychiatrist's own study)

Sunday, October 10, 2004

Weird names/signs for places

Weird names/signs for places
Last night I went to this wedding recption for a high school friend in Egg Harbor (which is near Fish Creek). I didn't grow up in Door County, so these neames & signs were all new (& amusing to me.) And of course the sign entering the County read this: Door Co (no period, no spelling out county, just Door Co - which when you read it sounds like "dork-o".)

So, on our way to Egg Harbor, we drive through Dykesville. Now I don't know how it is supposed to be pronouced - but you know how I am pronouncing it. Then next we come across the Cherryland Airport. Here I just imagine all the stewardess looking like the plum fairy from the game Candyland.

On the way out we noticed a couple more signs. The first is a lonely sign with an arrow that says Institute. I think my husband a little worried that I was driving back and might decide to drop him off (I love you dear!) One for a town called Euren - please help me with pronouncing this one 'cuz I think it looks like it should be pronounced "urine". And then the last interesting sign was Sugar Bush Road.

Those were all interesting signs, and we plan to go back there sometme just to find more signs, but a majority of the signs lead us to believe that Door County is lesbian friendly (Egg Harbour, Fish Creek, Dykesville, Cherryland Airport, Sugarbush. I don't know - what do you think?

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Feathery Penis?

Man Mistakenly Cuts Off Penis, Dog Eats It:

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - A elderly Romanian man mistook his penis for a chicken's neck, cut it off and his dog rushed up and ate it, the state Rompres news agency said Monday.

It said 67 year-old Constantin Mocanu, from a village near the southeastern town of Galati, rushed out into his yard in his underwear to kill a noisy chicken keeping him awake at night.
"I confused it with the chicken's neck," Mocanu, who was admitted to the emergency hospital in Galati, was quoted as saying. "I cut it ... and the dog rushed and ate it."
Doctors said the man, who was brought in by an ambulance bleeding heavily, was now out of danger.
_____________________________________________________________

All I gotta say about this one is this man must some feathery penis? How the hell could could someone think that their penis was a live chicken neck? Some people just don't get it.

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

Authentic Happiness

So - "Authentic Happiness" is the book I am reading. I was reading about the author in Psychology Today and decided to order the book. There is a whole series of questionnaires that go along with it, that are all best executed online ( http://www.authentichappiness.org ).

I am taking the quizzes in line with where I am in reading the book. It's kind of interesting, although I am not sure it is providing any big revelations about myself, but am finding ways to use it in my practice. I was using some of the principles of it with a girl I met today (guess we'll see how that works out.)

Although, as I type this up I can't help think about what other topics I wanted to blog about - which ironically are all fused with negative feelings (my thoughts on Christmas lists and people never being satisfied with what they have & always wanting more.) Maybe I should just be happy about being happy for a while and not go on a tyrade about something.

Monday, October 04, 2004

A Decent Weekend

So - here's what I did this weekend.

Friday: It was homecoming at the school I work at, so we got out early and I went to a late lunch with some friends. Started doing the household chores of dishes, laundry, & picking up. Spent the evening home with Andy watching a movie on cable. We watched "In the Cut".

Saturday: Ran to the bank, checked out that bookstore (see previous post about Books), went to the Cabelas outlet store (Andy had never been there), did some canning (which took all afternoon), then went our for dinner & a movie. We went to Applebee's and saw the movie "Forgotten". There was a bunch of kids in the movie that would not shut their traps. We kept looking at them to shut up and finally Andy had to tell them to shut their piehole (he said it nicer than that). There were a couple parts in the movie that made me jump (but am not going to tell you about them, as I don't want to ruin that for you). And then we came home and watched another movie "Basic".

Sunday: Finally dyed my roots (yeah!). Went to the outlet mall to browse, but ended up buying A LOT of summer clothes. I went to Rue 21 and they had several racks fo clothes for $1/piece. I bought 18 pieces of clothes. I am all set to go on spring break now! I just gotta find that deal to go someplace (still wanna go to Costa Rica). Took a nap. Made (& ate) dinner. Worked out (which I had not lifted weights since school started back.)

That was my weekend.

My upcoming week will be really busy as this is what I got going on after work:
Mon: Dinner w/ a friend
Tues: Teach Walking/Jogging Class
Wed: Play Volleyball
Thurs: Happy Hour w/ a friend
Fri: Take off for a 5.5 hour drive - going back to the hometown to go Jill's wedding.

Busy week.


Saturday, October 02, 2004

Books

Books, book, and more books. I am in this online bookclub (see Roundtable Confessional on the sidebar) and we read Red Meat Cures Cancer for that. I don't really recommend that book, but if you want to give it a shot I have it to borrow. I just finished reading The Botox Diaries. Now that was an entertaining book. You could kind of guess the ending, but were still not quite sure ift he author would take it a different way. And now I just starting reading Authentic Happiness, which is a book about positive psychology. I like to read books on differnt theories; I might learn something that I can use in my own practice.

And today, Andy & I went to this book store that is not so much a book store as it is an exchange club with a fee. It is this place called Eaton Bookstore, a privately owned place. There are some new books there, but most are used (I would say about 98% are used). You can buy the books (for the cover price or for the sale price if they are a group on sale) or do this credit thing. So, you can bring in your own books and trade them in for credit (you get 75% of the coverprice as credit) and that is applied towards your book purchase. The downside is that you might now find a specific book you are looking for and they don't have a lot of newly released stuff. But the concept of their store is kind of neat. Andy bought a couple of books (by Dean Koontz & John Grisham) and I got this one called Life 101: Everything We Wish We Had Learned About Life In School -- But Didn't. It basically is a book that has a quote on one side and then the lesson on the next page. I counted 89 lessons (I would have thought they would be ironic and have 101 lessons.) But it should be a good book to use with my kids. The teacher I work with loves quotes and he has them hanging all over the place in the classroom. The basic idea for this book is a good one to use with my kids, because part of the main thing we are trying to help them learn is how to get along in life. So, I can see us using some of these lessons, as actual lessons in group therapy. So, there will be this small sub-group of people in the world that will have actually learned these things in school (novel concept - huh.)

Friday, October 01, 2004

Show on Aspberger Symdrome

I know this is late notice, but try to catch this if you can. I am planning on taping it if someone wants to see it.

Friday, October 1, 2004. The Jane Pauley Show They will air an hour long segment on Asperger Syndrome. Please visit their web site at thejanepauleyshow.com for listing times and stations. The description reads: ASPERGER'S SYNDROME: A WORLD APART

What is it like for parents who can’t connect with their child? Today on The Jane Pauley Show, we go inside the minds of children with Asperger's syndrome - a neurobiological disorder affecting as many as 1 in 300 children - in hopes of helping parents recognize the symptoms, and find solutions that can help their children lead full, productive lives.