The Big "S" Word

It's not as bad as it sounds. It's elective surgery - lasik. I had a bunch of pre-screening tests done and I am a candidate. I still have a couple more tests to do the day of the surgery and
I could still be turned away, but so far so good. My surgery is scheduled for December 15th.

Yesterday was my pre-screening exam and I had this eye dilation thingy. It was my second one in a month, although this one was a stronger solution. It was really weird having this stuff put in my eyes. I felt kinda woozy and kinda felt like I was drunk. My appointment was at 2:30, and my eyes were finally not dialted 24 hours later. The whole dilation thing was weird 'cuz I couldn't see things up close without extreme blurring. So - I spent the night sitting on the couch watching tv.

The Long Weekend

Well, it is the end of another weekend - but this one having started on Wednesday evening. It started out with a happy hour/party at 3pm (since that is when I am done with work.) Then progressed to karokee at a local hotel bar where I sang a couple of songs ("Baby Got Back" & "Goodbye Earl".) After not much to eat the entire day and mixing glasses of wine with hard liqour, I started Thanksgiving day with a bit of a headache.

Andy & I have retained Thanksgiving as "our" holiday and stayed home. So, it was up to us on when we actually wanted to celebrate & actually shower & change out of our pajamas. By about 3pm, we were eating a moist turkey breast, veggies, A LOT of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, stuffing, fruit, and pie. It was a very good dinner if I say so myself. It was also very calm and relaxed and we didn't have to leave the house.

Friday morning started early with shopping at Menards, Kmart, JC Penney, GAP, & Nike (also stops at Sears & Target - but didn't buy anything there.) Then I came home and wrapped presents. That evening we put up the tree and it is a mighty fine looking tree. I bought my last couple of presents online and I AM OFFICIALLY DONE SHOPPING (disclaimer: I am done with MY shopping, which does not mean that I will not get calls from my brother or father to pick up some xmas presents for them.)

Saturday was spent at home most of the day doing the traditional weekend things (laundry, dishes, etc.) Then I went with Kate & my neighbor Mary to see Casablanca Orchestra at Spike's & play some pool (I always manage to lose by putting the eight ball in or scratching when I was putting the 8-ball in). There was just too many people smoking awful cigarettes, so we didn't for the whole show.

Today - another day mostly at home. Spent quite a bit of time day dreaming about going to Costa Rica and started looking up some Costa Rican recipes (as well as Italian recipes for a friend's dinner party later this month). Then I just had to go shopping & buy groceries so that I could make us a dinner of traditional Costa Rican food which included: Black Bean Soup, Gallo Pinto, & Chicken in Mushroom Sauce. I also prepared some Ceviche which we will eat later. It was a very good dinner, with leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Yummy.

Just In Case

So - who is those marketed to? Is it the Do-It-Yourselfers? Or is for those that will need it in a pinch?

Additions to Andy's Xmas List

He sent me an email requesting that these items be added to his xmas list. Check them out for yourself:

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-9031602-8093442?asin=0823916839

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-9031602-8093442?asin=B00005661X

Bush Left His Fly Open 

Costa Rica Trip

Ok - got places booked. We are staying for 8 nights/ 9 days. I still have to rent the car yet. I am so pumped for this trip.

Here is where we are staying:

First 3 nights: (In Tilaren, on Lake Arenal)
http://www.hotel-tilawa.com/
We are staying in a suite here. With the suite we have a dining/kitchen area and both lake & garden views. The volcano (Arenal) is across the lake, so we should have a good view. Queen beds, which is nice. No food included in the rates, but there is a restaurant here, as well as a microbrewery. They rent stuff for windsurfing & kiteboarding, but we don't do that. Plus they also have a skate park there - but we don't do that either. But they do have a pool & Hot Spring Spa - and both of those we will do. We are really looking forward to staying here. While here we plan on going to the vlcano, as well as the rainforest.

Next 4 nights: (In Playa Grande, by Tamarindo)
http://www.hotelitosisisi.com
This seems like a nice, private place. They only have 4 rooms, with queen beds. I hate how when you travel and get stuck with 2 doubles in a room. Each room has a terrance & private entrance to the pool. That's a nice bonus. Gotta have the pool when we are on a warm weather trip. This place is on the Pacific Ocean, but not all places are on good swimming beaches, so you gotta make sure you have the pool. Plus a jacuzzi here too. A full breakfast is included which is nice, and there is s fridge in the room. I like th fridge 'cuz Andy & I like to go buy local fruits & pastries and whatever else we find and it's nice to have a place to keep it cold. And this place has a bar & beach club too.

Last Day: (In Liberia)
http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/productInfo.do?propertyCode=70606
This is a Best Western. We are only renting a car for a week, so we thought it wise to stay in the same town as the airport so the cab fair isn't too bad. Although cab fair is pretty cheap (compared to the US, and the bus is very cheap! You can take a 4.5 hour bus ride from San Jose to Tilaren for $5 WOW!) This place is a hotel & casino. They have a bar & restaurant, which is nice. 2 pools & exercise facility. A full breakfast & entertainment.

Here is a map of Costa Rica so that you can see where these places are.
http://centralamerica.com/cr/maps/mapcosta.htm

Build a Better Bush

Found this link through this blog: http://notnkansas.blogspot.com/2004/11/build-your-own-bush.html#comments

It's some great stuff. Lots of laughs.

Without Makeup, No Airbrushing, & Old

Some of these pics are just scary. Technology can make all these stars appear even more perfect and flawless than they really are, but it can also make them butt ugly & gross.

The one of Pamela Anderson is just great!

I think the one of a bruised Ben Affleck might be real!

Jennifer Aniston is truly scary in the pic of her.

Andy's Christmas List of What NOT to Get

Can you see my husband in these? It makes me laugh. I wish I could out his picture in these outfits. He would look like the Pimp Mac Daddy, or a circus clown. Whichever you prefer.

Some People Have Too Much Time on Their Hands

And obviously I have too much time if I am reading & posting this link.

Floating Bed?

So What happens when you are drunk and this the room is spinning and you REALLY ARE?

Plus - how can you ge in & out of bed to go to the bathroom or whatever and not wake up the other person. I think I will pass.

What Every Man Should Know

The article is out of Maxim. These are some of my favorites:

Why girth beats length
Most of the vagina’s nerve endings are in its outermost third. As long as you’re not lost in your own pubic hair, you’re probably long enough.

How to keep her pregnancy-free
A woman’s most fertile in the middle of her menstrual cycle, meaning she’s least likely to get pregnant if you bang her just before or just after her period. Particularly if there’s a condom or two on your johnson.

10 things we shouldn’t have to tell you
Dance lessons are for girls.
You can have long hair, you can have a mustache, and you can wear a pink shirt, but not all three at the same time.
Eggs, corned-beef hash, and Tabasco sauce is the breakfast of the gods.
The Godfather and The Godfather Part II were glorious and magnificent; The Godfather Part III reeked like a burning house made of chicken shit and stuffed with dead dogs.
The button on the fly of your boxer shorts is just for show.
When smashing a beer can on your forehead, don’t forget to pinch the sides before making contact. Otherwise you’ll end up with an embarrassing “reverse coaster” on your noggin that will outlast the hangover.
You flip a steak one time—and one time only.
Don’t help a woman knock your pals. Ever.
In reality, Godzilla would beat King Kong’s butt six ways to Sunday. No questions, no contest, just a brutal, one-sided hairy-ass-kicking.
Protect the testicles.

Book Swap - Online - Interesting Concept

So - on this site you list 5 books you are willing to swap and 5 books you want to receive.

Ok did that - next.

It gives you the matches for the books you listed that you are swapping away and you get the persons email address and are supposed to contact them to make a swap - although the book they are offering is not necessarily the ones you wanted (but they are ones that they had on their receive list).

So, you are giving them the book they want and you get something else from them in return and eventually when something is listed that is what you want - that person will get your email address.

Not sure how effecient this is or if I will ever receive the titles I wanted.

Let Them Sing It For You!

This is an intersting site. You type in the words you want sung & email it to someone and what the program for this site does is find these words in other songs and puts them together to make your own new song.

If you use a word that it does not recognize it puts in a bleep. I sent one to Andy and it was funny.

Free Wake-Up Call on Black Friday!

Linked Above. This is compliments of Target and you can choose to wake up to:
Ice T
Cheech
Heidi Klum
Lord Vader
Dennis (a chicken)
Woman w/ Cat
Mini Diva (little girl)
Heartbreaker (I think I'll pass on this one)
Crying Baby
Urban Thunder (construction worker)

Very interesting. I wonder how many people will use this just as a wake up and not to go shopping.

Wicked Small Games

Andy turned me on to this website linked above.

Although I have to admit that my favorite is Tower Blaster, although I have not played many of the other games, but they are always worth knowing about if you need to kill some time.

Here is a direct link to Tower Blaster (like the game Racko) if yo uwant to give it a shot.
http://www.grab.com/games/view.php?game=208

Once -- I was able to get to level 7, but alas did not pass it.

White Trash Recipes

That is the actual name of this of a section of this website linked above.

Here is one of my faves (really - I do like this!): Tater Tot Hotdish
http://yumfood.net/recipes/tatertothotdish.html

Here is one for a recipe called "White Trash", although I think this is the same thing as "Puppy Chow" http://yumfood.net/recipes/whitetrash.html .

I didn't realize that this was a white trash recipe - a recipe for Deep Fried Candy Bars. They sell these at the State Fair, although I have never had one, but I guess I could make them now.
http://yumfood.net/recipes/deepfriedmars.html

And Ambrosia Salad - that I eat too. It seems like someone at EVERY picnic I have ever attended has brought this. I think you can even buy this in the deli at the supermarket. http://yumfood.net/recipes/ambrosia.html

The Terra Grass Armchair 

WE'RE GOING TO COSTA RICA!

Woohoo! This news is very worthy of a title in all caps. I am so excited. I have been watching the prices of tickets and they had been steadily climbing and I thought we were going to have to end of paying A LOT more or were going to have to take a flight with 2 stops. We save about $500 by taking one-stop, and we would have only saved another $100 if we would have taken 2 stops. That extra stop is not worth the $100.

So, Costa Rica - here we come AGAIN! I am so giddy right now I can hardly contain myself.

We have just booked our flight. I have picked out a couple of places (one on the Pacific Coast, one by the rainforest & volcano, and one in Liberia for our final day). We plan on renting a car so that we can drive around and check out more of Costa Rica. Last time we were there (3 years ago) we stayed solely on the Pacific Coast.

I purchased the trip insurance because it was only $60 for the 2 of us and can be used if one of us gets sick and we have a doctors note. I thought for $60 I better be safe than sorry - plus if they change it for some reason or whatever. Anyone purchase trip insurance and actually use it? Anyone not purchase it and was screwed because they didn't?

Woohoo!

The Weekend Events

The weekend started out with a happy hour that ended at 10:45 (well, at least I left at 10:45 and it was still going.) It was at someone's house. Get a group of therapists together and we can get pretty crazy. I was the only one there that is contracted outside of the clinic, so it was nice to hang with them.

Drank a lot of beer. I am not usually a beer drinker, but I found something I like at this specialty beer tasting thing we went to a couple weeks ago. I was drinking Barkley's Sound Honey Almond Light. It's a chick beer. Has a nice Honey Almond flavor and light on the beer flavor. Turns out the beer is also low cal & low carb. Woohoo! I finished the night with a couple glasses of wine, but I think that is what gave me the headache the next morning.

Saturday - got up and went to hang out with Jessi. We had plans to go to this conference, but I just didn't feel like sitting & listening to people talk at us with my headache. So, we spent the morning at Dunn Bros. Coffee House, back to her apartment for lunch, then to the Landmark Theatre to see the movie "Sideways". The Landmark is kind of an artsy independent movie theatre. It was an ok movie. I wish they would have more ironic things happening in the beginning; it took a while to get me engaged in the movie.

Some of those artsy, independent movies are lost on me. I am more for watching the popular movies. I just don't appreciate cinematography enough, that it just seems like I should not watch the movie. I like comedies.

Then we walked around uptown, got an ice cream cone, bought some stuff, then went to Kowalski's & sampled all the food around the store. I had a good time hanging out with Jess. I don't get to see her all that much and always enjoy the time I spend with her. I love being around people that you can be real with, I mean -- really real.

Saturday night, Andy & I went over to the Holiday Inn where some friends were staying with their kids for the weekend. They had some extra arm bands to the Serengeti Waterpark there. It's a decent place (lots of kids) and got to sit in the hot tub and got down the 2 waterslides. All free to us. So, that was fun.

Sunday was a much lazier day. We went & picked up some gifts at the outlet mall and then bought the stuff we need to finish fixing the bathroom. Andy worked on the bathroom while I did laundry - didn't do it last week and Andy had a lot of stuff in a pile that needed folding and organizing. The benefit of owning so many clothes is that you can skip a week of laundry and still have plenty of choices.

Black Friday

It is soon going to be that time of the year again. I love to shop the Black Friday sales. I tried to convince myself that I should just stay in bed last year - but I couldn't do it knowing there were so many good deals for the people waiting in line @ 6am.

Please post any links you find out about.

Let the games begin!

UPDATED!!!!!!


Here's a link that has current sales:
http://shopforsales.com/sutra1213.html#1213

UPDATED AGAIN!!!!! 11/14/04

More links that I saw posted somewhere:
http://www.bf04.com/
http://blackfridaydeals.ebloggy.com/
http://www.blackfriday2004.com/

Here is a write up from bf04.com on the History of Black Friday:
"The day after Thanksgiving in the United States, is frequently referred to as Black Friday. One of the major U.S. holiday shopping days, it is the day many U.S. consumers begin Christmas shopping. The day is heavily promoted by retailers. The origin of Black Friday comes from the shift to profitability during the holiday season. Black Friday was when retailers went from being unprofitable, or "in the red," to being profitable, or "in the black", at a time when accounting records were kept by hand and red indicated loss and black profit.Last year, Black Friday was a huge day for internet retailers. Amazon.com received 2.5 times as many orders between midnight and noon as it did the same time a year ago, according to company spokesman Paul Capelli. Many other Internet retailers also saw a huge spike in sales as customers jumped online instead of into their cars. This year figures to be just as lucrative, if not more. "

Kendra in the Sunset 

Molly Really Close Up 

Lucy on My Shoulder 

Larry in the Window 

Me As A Young Child 

I Hate SPAM

Here's the article:
Spammers convicted; first felony case
By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY
A Virginia jury's conviction Wednesday of a brother and sister in the nation's first felony prosecution of spammers is a landmark victory in the war against unwanted junk e-mail, industry experts said.
Jeremy Jaynes, considered one of the nation's biggest spammers, and Jessica DeGroot were found guilty of masking their return Internet addresses last summer to send thousands of bulk e-mail peddling software and stock picks to customers of America Online and other Internet service providers.
The 12-member jury recommended Jaynes, 30, be sentenced to nine years in a Virginia prison, and DeGroot, 28, be fined $7,500. Judge Thomas Horne is expected to sentence them next year.

How About Madonna Instead?

Here's the title of the article:
Lil' Kim to visit college classroom
Syracuse University offers a class devoted to the hip-hop star's life

How does one propose teaching a class like this? I teach a 1 credit class for a Community College and sometimes think I might like to teach at college-level as a career and I could not imagine the loop holes this prof had to jump through to get this class offered. I know my sis Steph is a big fan of Lil' Kim, but I would much prefer a class about Madonna. I find her much more interesting, and you would have much more to work with.

Getting Old.

Last night I went out with some friends. We went out for a bite to eat, to a concert, and then for a drink afterwards. We had a lot of fun, but came to the realization that we are getting old, and this might be the last concert we go to (until we have children who are 12 and want to go see the hottest pop singer.) So - that is the short story, now comes the long story and explains getting old.

There were 4 of us (ages 25, 27, 29, & 30) -- so all in the mid-upper 20's, 1 in nursing school and the other 3 with professional careers. Most days I feel quite young, as my co-workers are all older than I am, but last night we ent to a concert at a smaller state university to see the Black Eyed Peas. It had been a few years since I have been to a concert.

We got together and went out to this Jazz/Martini Club to get some food and have a few drinks. Now, I can guarantee you that probably 97% of the people going to this concert were NOT having martinis before the concert. Most were probably doing shots of their favorite schnapps or any other alcohol that was sitting around in their apartment that they share with 3 other people, since they are probably not all old enough to be legally served in a bar.

So, we're drinking our martini's and now we need to order. I really wanted a burger or a sandwich, so that was what I ordered - but the dilemma came in what my side would be. I was inclined to order the fries that typically came with it, but thought to myself "I should really order a salad. My body could use the vitamins from the veggies, and salad is so much better for me than fries." So - I ordered the salad and am starting to feel old. The salad had nothing to do with losing weight; it had to do with making my body feel good.

Then, while we are there - this psycho chic who knows one of the other ladies just shows up and invited herself along & she bought a ticket to the concert that morning. WTF!?!?!?!?! So, we try losing her in the car on the way to the concert - but she is following us so closely that she can probably smell the mixture of pee & martini on one lady's pants (will tell that story next). We do manage to lose her as we try to find a parking spot, but guess who is waiting at the doors to the concert for us. We were parked pretty close and she had driven further away, so she must have run to get there.

So, we get to the concert - wearing our jeans, black shoes, and conservative tops - and try to get in as close as possible. I imagine that a lot of the people there were young college students - but man, I think college girls have gotten a helluva lot bitchier since I graduated. And the hootchie-mama skirts & tops there were wearing was pathetic. Many of them cold have been picked up for prostitution for how they looked. But what was even more pathetic was the girls who dressed just like the female lead. Of course, that style has passed and the female lead was dressed differently & also appropriately for 30/40 degree weather outside. This one girl had the whole emsemble - the hat, the strapless top, the tiny ruffled skirt, and lambskin boots.

We were dressed relatively conservative, but still a young classy look - but certainly did not have that young whore look going on with most of the girls at the concert. Some girls did not even look old enough to be in college and were booty dancing with these guys.

Back to the psycho chic - now, she didn't even know who the band was and while the rest of us were singing along she was standing their dancing like a stuffed sausage. I am not sure how a stuffed sausage dances, but I am pretty sure it would look like her. She also kept looking at the rest of us and trying to imitate how we dancing and frankly she just looked like she was mentally retarded (sorry this comment is not all PC & shit). She left to go to the bathroom and we tried to move around in the crowd as one last ditch effot - but she found us. As we were leaving the concert we found some water fountains and drank up the water, all the while complaining of the iron taste in the water and the person who was smoking (in a no smoking arena) and how hot we were.

We managed to ditch the psycho chic on the way out by saying we were going home. She went one way, we went another -- to the nearest bar. We all still were carded, so I guess we aren't that old yet. The 4 of us find a place to sit down - order drinks - and being the old person I now am, tried to order top shelf Amaretto, just to have them look at me stupidly and say "So, you want this Phillips Amaretto." Fine, I'll take whatever you got then. So, more complaining about iron tasting water, ringing in our ears, feet hurting, and being tired. Man! One round - that's all any of us could do. So, 12:30 and we are back at one lady's house (but we must be quiet because her husband, son, and another lady's daughter are all sleeping.) We talk for a little bit - and to bed by 1pm. We were so old.

********

The story about the pee/martini mixture: Have you ever heard of Hoovering? I guess I never heard the term used before - but it's where you squat over the toilet without letting your butt touch the seat. One of the ladies was hoovering, and it just didn't workout so well. She ended up peeing on her white pants and came out of the bathroom and told another lady about it & managed to dump over the martini (orange in color) of another lady - all over her lap. Funny stuff!

I Did It!

Woohoo! I finishd this crossword puzzle. I NEVER do crosswords, but I found one in a magazine that was decent enough looking and ripped it out, receyled the mag, and made copies for the kids at school to do. Although, I didn't think about ripping out the answer key as well. So - I had to figure it all out.

I have never been that good at crossword puzzles. Give me a wordfind and I am a searching master - make me have to think of synomyns for a lot of words and my brain starts to hurt.

I started working on it yesterday and finally finished it (with the help of a dictionary, a thesaurus. and the internet). Yea!

Online Training on Autism Spectrum Disorders

The link above is described as:

A first-of-its-kind internet web channel dedicated to autism and other neurological disorders. Childnett.tv is an internet access web channel that broadcasts interactive programming 24/7 via the internet. Our lineup includes streaming video related to autism and other neurological disorders
___________________________________________________________________

I watched only 1 of the bradcasts and it seemed very imformative.