Ramblings

Mostly Vegetable Lasagna

2010-01-28T08:36:00.000-08:00

I like to make this the night before. I usually put it together while dinner for the current night is cooking. It also helps the flavors blend more, at least I think so.

Mostly Vegetable Lasagna

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients
1/2 large onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup portabello mushrooms chopped
2/3 cup yellow or red bell pepper strips
1 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 tbsp butter
2/3 jar of low calorie marinara sauce
1 ounce prosciutto ham
5-6 no-boil lasagna noodles
1/2 container of low-fat ricotta cheese
1 ounce goat cheese
1/4 cup egg beaters
salt
pepper
Italian spice mix
1/4 cup low fat shredded mozzarella

Directions
1. Saute vegetables in the butter until onions start to caramelize
2. Drain the spinach and squeeze as much of the water out as possible
3. Mix the ricotta, goat cheese and egg substitute in a bowl, add a bit of Italian spice mix
4. Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste to the marinara sauce
5. In a small loaf pan, ladle enough marinara to cover the bottom of the pan
6. Place a lasagna noodle on top of the sauce
7. Spread a thin layer of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodle
8. sprinkle about 1/4 of the sauteed vegetables on
9. Add a thin layer of spinach
10. Ladle marinara over the layer
11. Repeat steps 6-10, 3 or 4 times, ending with a noodle on top. Layer marinara over the last noodle then top with the shredded mozzarella

Wrap the pan in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Baking
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove the plastic wrap and place aluminum foil over the pan, tenting it a bit so it does not stick to the cheese. Place the loaf pan on a middle rack and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Nutrition (approximate based on MY ingredients, yours may vary!)

Calories: 286
Calories from Fat: 134
Total Fat: 14.9g
Saturated Fat: 8.3g
Trans Fat: 0.0g
Cholesterol: 47mg
Sodium: 512mg
Total Carbohydrates: 22.5g
Dietary Fiber: 3.5g
Sugars: 6.3g
Protein: 16.7g

Memphis

2009-05-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

I've wanted to go to Memphis for a long time and finally this weekend we went. We left about 3pm on Friday afternoon (its about a 4 hour drive) and stopped at Lamberts Cafe in Sikeston, MO for some dinner and oh was it good!

We made it to Memphis about 7:30 and checked into our hotel, which was right on the main street trolley line and just across the street from a cute little park

After settling in we decided to walk down to Beale street, which was aobut 7 blocks away. The weather was nice, not too hot and only a little humid.

Beale street was packed!

We walked around for a bit and had a couple drinks then decided to take the trolley back to the hotel. We stood at the stop for about 20 minutes(seeing the lights of the trolley at the next stop)before someone told us there had been a trolley accident, so we walked back to the hotel, being quite out of shape we were both tired and sweaty when we got there and went to bed.

Saturday we got up and had planned on having breakfast at the hotel before we left for Graceland, well the room the breakfast was in had too few tables and too little food, we got very little breakfast then headed to Graceland. It was sprinkling rain when we arrived but never did more than that.

We didn't have to wait too long before we were shuttled up to the mansion.

(oh, and someone proposed on the steps)

I enjoyed the tour and I think Matthew did as well.

We went back to the hotel for a bit, then headed to Sun Studio. We took the Madison trolley over there but got there 45 minutes before the tour started so decided to go get some lunch instead.

We went to Gus's (fried chicken) (Madison trolley back up to Main St., Main St. trolley to Linden) which was packed! we decided to get our food to go, but that still took 25 minutes at least, then we went back to the trolley stop, where the first trolley passed us by without stopping. We had to wait 15 minutes for the next one and were hit up by a few panhandlers while we waited. We finally made it back to the hotel and ate and then decided to rest for a bit before doing anything else.

I wanted to see the Peabody ducks march at 5pm so we left the hotel about 3:30 and took the riverfront trolley loop and got off at Union and walked down to the Peabody thinking because we were over half an hour early I'd get a good spot to watch. WRONG! This is as close as I got to the ducks.

The place was packed (see a trend starting to occur here?). We left and went over to Rendezvous for dinner, which believe it or not was NOT packed and we got seated right away and had a nice dinner.

A little bit later we decide we want dessert and a drink so we head out to the Cooky Canuck, guess what....PACKED! So we wander around a bit and finally stop in a place called the Red Rooster. We have a couple drinks then wander back to the hotel to regroup. We did some research online and found this place called the Cheececake Corner, not wanting to walk anymore we got the car and drove there. Wow, amazing cheesecake and brownies.
. As we were leaving the fireworks on the riverfront (for memphis in may) started.

It's only 10pm but we call it a night.

Sunday morning we once again tried to have breakfast at the hotel, no luck. We went back to Sun Studio for the tour about 10am. We had a moonpie and a cup of coffee before the tour started. That is a great tour, highly recommended.

On our way out of town we drove by the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed.

On the way home we stopped at Perkins in Blythsville, Arkansas, one of Matthew's favorite restaurants and had lunch.

Even though it was incredibly crowded and we didn't get to do everything I wanted to do it was fun, but we've learned our lessons about going places on holiday weekends!

Survived

2008-11-18T13:04:00.001-08:00

Survived surgery. Hope to go home soon

-Kristi
I sent this from my blackberry.

VOTE

2008-10-30T11:52:00.001-07:00

11.07.06 - 27/365: VOTE
Originally uploaded by d.rex

Friends, I am writing you this today in an attempt at education, because that is what I do and what I believe in. I am not trying to change your mind or make any decision for you, I simply want to try to make sure that you have all the tools possible to make an informed decision. My goal here is not to offend anyone or upset anyone, just to help inform. You are all my friends because you are intelligent, caring individuals who will do the right thing, given the chance.

In just a few short days you have the opportunity go to cast your vote for president of the united states. Over the past year, and past several months in particular, we have been bombarded with "information" from both sides of the debates. A lot of this information may have come from your friends via email, much like this one, that they received from their friends. The trouble is that a lot of the information received in such emails is misleading or downright false.

Before I get into specifics I want to say this, regardless of who you vote for, make sure your vote gets counted.

* know where your polling place is
* take proper identification
* know the polling place hours
* listen to and read all direction on whatever voting mechanism is used
* make sure that the confirmation on the electronic voting machines says the right thing before you confirm your vote
* don't be afraid to ask the election officials for help if you don't understand the process or the machine
* know what other issues are on your ballot besides the presidential election before you go to vote, many important propositions are on state ballots on Tuesday. Here are two sites for states I know I am sending this to, for others, just do a google search or check out your state's board of election website
o North Carolina http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/
o Missouri http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/goVoteMissouri/Default.aspx
* be prepared to stand in line, bring a chair if standing is a problem, make sure you have the time off work if you need to,most states have laws requiring your employer to let you vote here are some of the laws for each state http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200611/employees.html

Okay, on to other things. There are a lot of rumors going around about both candidates, some of which are hate filled and completely wrong, others are based in fact but have been twisted.

According to a 10/09 article on ScrippsNews "Ninety-four percent of adult Americans have heard at least one of the ridiculous and false rumors chasing John McCain and Barack Obama on the campaign trail, according to a Scripps poll.

Have you heard that John McCain was brainwashed while a prisoner of war in Vietnam? Or that he's become senile, or fathered a black baby?

And how about that Barack Obama secretly is a Muslim? Or he is the anti-Christ from the Book of Revelation? Or that he refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance?

About 19 of every 20 adult Americans have heard at least one of these six obviously false rumors about the major presidential candidates, according to a first-of-its kind national survey of 1,015 adults conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University."

Obama Rumors
http://www.fightthesmears.com/

McCain Rumors
http://www.johnmccainrumors.com/

I'll let you read both of those sites for yourself, and I really hope you will read BOTH, get both sides of the story.

If you have already voted, then thank you for reading anyway.

You are all free to harass me now for spamming you. And yes, I'll tell you who I'm voting for if you ask.

Homeless problems

2008-10-27T18:25:00.001-07:00

Homeless problems
Originally uploaded by kmevans

I was recently in Portland, Oregon, staying downtown in the Hilton. Portland is a great city, very friendly. I had a couple of hours free and did some walking around, I was stunned by the sheer number of homeless people. It was quite chilly the day I was out walking, enough so that I stopped and bought a hat and gloves because I had only a sweatshirt on. I was ashamed of myself for doing this, because within a few blocks everything from children to the elderly were sleeping huddled in doorways, in the cold damp close the the river. The situation makes me sad on many levels, some of these people may have a choice about being on the street, others do not. It makes me sad that we as American's can sit around and let this happen. Sarah Palin or the RNC or whomever has spend $150,000 on CLOTHES in a few short months and there are children going to sleep hungry and cold on the streets of America right this very minute. This is not just a problem in Portland, it just happened to be the city I was in when my eyes were opened. I don't know what I can do about this problem, but I sure will be finding out. One thing is for sure, I will NOT be voting more of the same kind of people back in office. I want a president who was not raised with a silver spoon in his mouth, one who understands what its like no go without. I've been terribly irritated with the labels of "republican" and "democrat" lately, what they are supposed to stand for and what the candidates really stand for. Obama will raise your taxes, yeah if you make over $200k a year, or are a large corporation, damn straight, that's the way it should be. Take that money and put it into some "new deal" plans that's exactly what this country needs, not tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas. We need to look out for our own for a change.

Need I say more?

2008-10-23T09:09:00.001-07:00

Thanks to DottieboBottie for the image

our fragile bodies

2008-10-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

my body has always not quite worked the way it should. I am "double jointed" which really means that my connective tissues don't make things stay where they are supposed to stay. This has been an issue with a lot of joints in my body. I have significantly hurt my neck 3 times in my life. When I was around 13 or 14 I sprained my neck learning to roller skate (never did learn, later at age 20 broke my arm doing it). When I was 16 I dislocated my neck washing my car (long story in and of itself). Then when I was 18 I was in a car accident where I got side whiplash. All of these things later led to a herniated disc in my neck. C5/C6 for those of you who know anything about the body. I've lived with pain for years, and have done various things ranging from mild to quite extreme to help me live with that pain. I have decided, after some of my issues, including numbness and weakness in my hand, became worse, that its time for surgery. It's schedule for about 5 weeks from now and I'm am totally freaked out. My neck is hardly hurting at all lately, its kind of like when you schedule a haircut appointment and immediately your hair starts looking awesome. I will post more of my journey to this surgery and after as things occur. I'm going to be quite busing in the meantime, I am out of town 3 times within that 5 weeks.

THE SCREAM!

2008-10-06T17:08:00.001-07:00

THE SCREAM!
Originally uploaded by 7E55E-BRN

I sleep like a baby. Meaning I wake up screaming several times a night. I have what the medical community likes to refer to as "night terrors". Read more about night terrors here but basically it means that the person who suffers from this is dreaming, but thinks they are awake and usually sees/experiences something that is extremely frightening that will make them react in a variety of ways, from fighting, to thrashing about to screaming.

My particular version manifests as screams brought on by the terror some someone or something standing over my bed. Yep, about 2 out of 7 nights (sometimes more, sometimes less, this is an average) I "wake up" think in there is someone/something standing over my bed...looming over me, and I start screaming in reaction (wouldn't you if you woke up to some one/thing standing over your bed that you didn't recognize?)

I have had these night terrors since I was a kid, they have changed in nature however, and I'm not sure how common that is. When I was a kid it was spiders, on me, in my bed, ever where. I'd often find myself awake with the covers torn off the bed and in some cases the mattress on the floor (had to get all the spiders off). Sometime between my late teens and early 20's it changed over to the "looming figure". There was some conjecture at some time that the asthma medications I was on as a kid caused these issues, however, I have not been on any of those medications in well over 20 years.

My boyfriend of 11 years gets pissed off when I wake up up screaming, I would too to tell you the truth, its terrifying to be in the room when someone starts screaming for no apparent reason, and a logical reaction to fear is anger. I don't blame him, but he also knows there is nothing I can do about it. I'd love to not have these issues, its terrifying and my heart pounds and I am in a sweat, its very real fear I experience, just not to a real thing. Sleeping pills do not help, in fact the deeper I am sleeping the more likely I am to have an episode.

I also have a physical problem with my neck that causes me a lot of pain and numbness. I also have some fears of sleep deeply rooted in the asthma of my childhoold (if I go to sleep I won't be able to breath and I'll die, therefore I can't go to sleep (yeah, i know its fucked up, i'm sure you have some hangups from when you were a kidd too)). Due to these two things I don't sleep well, hardly ever that is, very occasionally I'll take a nap, or get to sleep in the wee hours of the morning and sleep deeply and dreamlessly. That is what I crave. I love to sleep despite all of my issues, or maybe because of them. Do we love most what we get so rarely?

Photo: THE SCREAM! by 7E55E-BRN

Hell, Damn, Shit

2008-10-01T18:41:00.000-07:00

I'm really annoyed and freaked out both right now. Some of this is really personal so if you are reading this (yeah right, I know no one reads this) and you don't want to know personal stuff, stop now.
So anyway, I was on depo-provera shot for like 8 years, then my doctors find out that I don't drink milk and that I am vitamin D deficient so they take me off of it and since then I have been on about 6 different birth control pills, all with some blah side effect that made me change.

Well, I started yet another new one a couple weeks ago, this one at my request, its a progestin only "mini-pill". I haven't been able to sleep, I am having off and on severe "groin pain" (told you it got personal), I am so jittery I have to move some part of me all the time, tap my fingers, move my foot, something. I have tingling almost all over my body. I feel like crap and it scares the hell out of me. I took one about 6pm today, I'm not going to take anymore and really really hope this goes away. If not then something bad is wrong and I don't want to think about what it could be. All of this is giving me panic attacks which is making all of the above worse.

There and Back Again

2008-09-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

Apparently this is turning into a travel blog, I only post when I travel, but I am not consistent even then. Oh well, no one reads it anyway. We left for Walnut Grove, Minnesota a little after 4pm on Wednesday to go camping for the weekend. Here we are crossing the Boone bridge, just getting started, its about a 10 hour drive.

It got dark pretty quickly, but the drive was not bad. We had planned to stay over in the Comfort Inn in Mason City, Iowa, but when I called about an hour out, they were completely booked. I called the Country Inn there and they said they had 6 rooms left. We arrived in Mason City about quarter til 12 right about the time a huge storm was getting ready to let loose, the lightning was streaking across the sky like crazy. There were 2 other people waiting to check in when we got in, and their computer was acting up, so it was 12:30 before we got to our room, just ahead of the rain. We slept well, got up about 9 and headed out again. .

It was a dreary day, but other than a heavy mist it didn't rain on us

It took another 3 hours to get to Walnut Grove, we got there just after 12:30 on Thursday. Matt dropped me off and picked up John and they went to get the camper we were borrowing for the weekend. I sat in the sun and got a bit of work done while waiting on them to come back. While waiting on them I heard a commotion at the campsite across from us, where Jim and Carol were staying. I went over, it was a baby mouse. This thing was TINY! barely had its eyes open. Carol wouldn't come near it, Lynn and I finally took it out in the woods, hoping it would find its nest. Matt and John came back with the camper and lunch
.

More nature at lunch, a chipmunk rushed Matt and he screamed like a little girl. Then I found a Cicada which hadn't come out of its shell yet.
It took us awhile but we finally got the camper setup.
by that time the Cicada had come out of its shell

It later got stepped on, I didn't take a picture of that.
Later that evening we sat around the campfire for awhile then headed off to bed.

A board was missing in the camper where one of the seats makes into a bed, so I slept on a smaller than twin size "bed". Every time I turned over during the night I felt like I was on a spit. It was also cold as a witches' tit! We froze our asses off all night. I actually enjoyed the push the button shower, at least it was hot!

Friday was relatively uneventful. We went into Tracy to get groceries and to the hardware store to get a board so I didn't have to play turkey on a spit again. Came back, attempted to make some pizza pudgie pies. Burned the first batch, Mark made his perfectly on the first try of course, we ate the burned ones anyway and made some more. Took a walk down to the lake with Charlotte, Amabelle was already down there swimming with Carol and some of the cousins.

Oh, I almost forgot all of my "injuries". I had smashed my finger trying to get a cast iron dutch oven out of the truck on Thursday evening. Friday, after getting the board for the bed, I was trying to get it in place ans cut my finger just above the cuticle, that hurt like hell. Then while building a fire for the pies, I shoved a splinter under my fingernail. That was the extent of my injuries, Ama burned her hand and fell once, a few of the other kids had minor falls but overall no major injuries to anyone. John and Ellen had to go to his 45th class reunion Friday night so we were left in charge of the dog. Friday night we sat around the fire, drinking beer and shooting the shit. It was not nearly as cold as the previous night.
Saturday I decided to cook breakfast over the campfire when I got up (well it was about 10:30 before I started cooking). It took me half an hour to get a fire started because the wood we had was green. Finally got it going, and cooked some sausage in a cast iron skillet. That was fine, other than the fact I almost died from the smoke inhalation. Then went to put the eggs in it, they were frozen. Well, only two frozen, the rest were just very....cold. finally got that made, and ate, along with quite a bit of ash. Jen and I then took some of the kids and the dog down to the lake for a walk
We saw some interesting 'artwork" on the benches.
Lucky Ama got a piggy back ride on the way back to camp.
Jen and I then went into Walnut to go to the liquor store. The lady there told us we smelled like camping. Got the booze (long island ice tea, Margarita, 3 kinds of beer and mike's hard lemonade). Came back, had lunch (don't remember what) and started drinking (yeah, it was about 2pm). None of us got really drunk but we pretty much drank solid the rest of the night.
Mark and Matt played some beanbag toss They won, Mark always wins at games.
Did some more campfire sitting Saturday night
Sunday we got up about 9 and started packing up. We left to take the camper back to Cottonwood about 12:30. We stopped at John and Ellens to work on their PS3 and computer, then headed back to the campground to say goodbye to everyone.
We got on the road a little after 3 heading back to St. Louis. 10 hours of corn fields
bean fields and wind farms later we got home about 1am. We didn't unload anything, we went directly to bed. It was nice to be home.

weird

2008-07-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

well didn't land until almost 9:20 mountain time (10:30 central), so almost an hour late, then the got my bag, the car rental guy was weird, and the car a long walk, they free upgraded me from a economy to a caravan (that's a VAN). then the weird car guy left his "lunchbox" in the car, he called me and i Had to turn around and bring it back to him. GPS sent me some weird way to the hotel, but then, you can't really call it a hotel. Its obviously old 70's (or earlier) apartments converted into "suite" hotels. dirty. smells. dark. scary back of building where my "room" is. one internet connection is wired and in the kitchen. bed has two small lumpy pillows. ick. So i called the Marriot and have a reservation for there for the rest of the week, too late to change tonight. so i'll get a few hours sleep and then check out of here tomorrow and go to training and checkin to the marriot after that. hopefully they won't give me any greif about checking out early.
ugh, its after midnight my time now so i'm going to get some sleep.
ttfn.
more tomorrow.

On the road again

2008-07-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

Sitting in the airport, waiting for a flight to salt lake city. Dinner was a jr whopper. I really need to find a way to get over this travel anxiety, its annoying to me and everyone else.
Training starts at 8:30 tomorrow morning, I really hope everything is not over my head.
My backpack is coming unsewn around the back zipper this makes me very sad, I love this backpack. Guess its from stuffing too much stuff in it to travel.
That's all for now, more later.
I sent this from my blackberry, so forgive my typos

-Kristi

St. Louis Flooding

2008-06-28T16:51:00.000-07:00

I drove downtown today to take a look at the flooding. The water is up to the bottom steps of the arch, and has covered the street along the river (lenore k. sullivan blvd).

Washington Avenue is partially flooded as well. (This is from the top of the 2nd street parking garage looking towards downtown)

The park ranger I talked to said he didn't see what the big deal was, that in '93 it was over halfway up the steps to the arch. This picture was taken standing about halfway down the arch steps looking towards the Poplar Street Bridge (downriver).

Apparently a muskrat burrowed under the levee in Winfield last night and caused it to break, the quickly built a second barrier but it broke as well, Winfield is now flooded. Many other towns upriver are flooded now or in danger.

Canada Recap

2008-06-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the blogging day by day while in Canada broke down when I actually prioritized sleep over blogging :)

So Monday was no Whales. Tuesday: went to sessions, some good, some not so good. Went to vendor fair and lunch, got some cool stuff. Left that early (saw everything already) and Pierre and I went walking around downtown for a bit, then drove over to the botanical garden. Turns out the garden is a 1.5 mile hike down a hill, we didn't go.

We did meet a nice young man, singing in the park, his name is Sean Wesley, he told us he made it to the top 60 on Canadian Idol this year before being kicked out (we agreed its rigged).

I then dropped Pierre off on campus and headed back to the hotel, but got distracted. Parked and walked up the pedestrian bridge over the river and took some pictures, then went to the hotel to pick up Christine. We then got stuck in traffic and were too late for the closing ceremony.

So we headed back to the hotel for an hour or so then went down to Officer's Square for the closing dinner. We were looking forward to the lobster, but turns out its COLD and is not as fresh as it should be. Christine was a little put off by the whole lobster thing. We ate, watched the changing of the guards then went off down to the Snooty Fox where we had a few drinks and called it a night.

The flight(s) back were not as bad as the ones to get there, at least I knew about the whole bag thing this time, which I had to do in Toronto. We had lunch at Tim Horton's in Montreal airport where the menu was all in french, but boy do they have good doughnuts. We had to do Toronto at a brisk walk to make it in 50 minutes but we did it without many issues. Got back to St. Louis about quarter til 5, got my back super fast and Matthew picked me up and headed home.

Overall it was a good trip, tiring, but we learned a lot. I'm home for a week then I head out to Salt Lake City for training.

canada, no whales

2008-06-23T18:42:00.000-07:00

had breakfast in the hotel, no weird pancakes
went to good session on wikis and another on downloading.
had a very quick lunch. got on the bus for whale watching, rode 2 hours to St. Andrews, got on the boat. it was VERY foggy.

Didn't see any whales, much of anthing actually, except for herring and salmon farms.

came back (2 hrs on the bus, i took a nap), had a snack and a drink and am now going to bed. Not going to edit photos tonight, too tired, so the ones I uploaded are SOOC.

Fredricton, Sunday

2008-06-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

Today was rather uneventful. Slept fairly well last night, considering. Went to breakfast (pancakes were weird), went to opening speech, which was great, the guy talked about all the things I was working on already and is a Flickr 365'er on top of it! ate fruit. went to a session. ate lunch. went to a session, came back to hotel for a nap (didn't get to sleep but did get to rest). went to the pub for drinks. ate dinner. did the t-shirt exchange (mine has a devil goat on it). went driving around with some others a bit, got caught in an infinite loop around/across the river. went to the pub for drinks and 2nd dinner (didn't eat much at the first one). There is a great beer, Rickards White, yummy. Don't worry, pub is in walking distance of the hotel, less than a block away actually :)
Going to make a couple phone calls and call it a night, try to get some more sleep.

Canada 2.0

2008-06-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

Well Montreal airport is now my least favorite. Tops Denver and Cincinnati and LAX for its horribleness.

The day started off early, up at 4am, at the airport at 5:15, flight left at 6:50. First leg was to Chicago, it was fine. We were a little worried because we had less than an hour to change planes, but we had plenty of time.

2nd leg was to Montreal. First off we de-plane in the middle of nowhere and have to walk a long ways to get to customs, where we stood in line not long then went through to "connection" to get our next flight. We were in good shape because we had 2 hours here, and were looking forward to getting some lunch. Well, at the "connections" gate the guy tells me that I have to go pickup my check back (that i had checked through to fredricton, btw), and re-check it through customs. Well, I go where he told me to go, had to wait about 15 minutes there for my bag, then the customs guy asked me 'why did you forget your bag'?!?!? Then we get the run-around from 4 different people on where I am supposed to take my bag to re-check it. Finallyget that done (thanks secuity guard stranger who finally helped me). By the time we got BACK through security (where they took my $3 water), we had only 20 minutes to get a somewhat stale sandwich and get the plane. (lovely little prop plane, but I did get a nap).

We finally got to Fredricton, and thank goodness it was a a very small airport. Got my bag (yeah!), got the car and go to the hotel, which is nice!

Checked in for the conference. Went to a short reception thing, then came back to the hotel.

I took a short walk along the river, then came back to the room, played a couple games of Fluxx with Matthew and now am getting ready for bed. The time zone (2 hrs ahead) is messing me up, my 6:30am wakeup call will be like 4:30am for me, and since I won't get to sleep til late (I know me in hotels), I will be tired tomororw. This is a pretty place though.

More tomorrow.

playing in a traveling band

2008-06-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

lots of traveling coming up soon.

I'm leaving for Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada on Saturday, coming back on the 25th

Then the family is coming down from MN for the week of the 4th (get to see the baby!)

After that I am leaving for Salt Lake City, Utah on the 7th of July until the 11th.

Then going down to Mom's sometime later in July.

Random Bits from my life 6/14 edition

2008-06-14T18:40:00.000-07:00

hope you are having a good weekend. here is some randomness from my life.

The squash and gourds I planted in those pots out back are starting to bloom, and I haven't touched them since I stuck them down in the dirt!

The stella's look a little worse for wear from all the storms, but are very pretty anyway.

The Yucca's look nice this year

And remember how I told you I wanted some poker plant? Well it seems I have some and didn't know it!

My rose out back bloomed, but only stayed pretty for a couple days and got rained off

There was a red-tailed hawk sitting up in a dead tree right outside my building the other day at work, I got some shots but they didn't turn out great

Flooding in Valley Park, MO

2008-03-20T17:11:00.001-07:00

Waters are rising about 2 miles south of me on the Meramac River at Valley Park

For all of my flooding pictures and more commentary please see my Flickr page

3/22 2pm The river crested at 37.8 feet just about noon today. The record is 39.7 feet.

3/22 12pm They have closed the 141 bridge over the Meramac, police are there turning people away. So I can't get my bridge shot today to add to my timeline :(

3/21 10pm NOAA has lowered the crest prediction to 39.5 feet sometime late Saturday/early Sunday.

3/21 3pm I went around the south on the way home from work to get some shots of the 141/44 intersection, I have to say I was stunned at the amount of water in the intersection, even though I've been watching this flood for days. Water has hit the RR bridge.

3/21 1pm There is "seepage" through the levee in VP according to the army corps of engineers but they say its still sound. Hopefully these are not the same guys that said the NO levee would hold. I don't think the water will over top the levee but I really hope it doesn't breech it.

3/21 8am Tried to go down to the Levee this morning on the way to work but it was blocked off, water was just under the RR bridge. 141 is closed just south of Marshall Road.

3/20 11am Had to leave work early as I was not feeling well, went to get my flood photos on the way home, decided to park and climb up the levee. Got muddy but got some good pics.

3/20 8am Tried to go down to Buder Park, its completely flooded, and closed of course. Sump hole waters are going down.

3/19 6pm Waters are rising but nothing crazy yet. Rain stopped this afternoon.

3/18 (all evening) Sump hole in the basement was full when we got home from work, started pumping it out, it filled back up as soon as we emptied it. Did this a few times, watched it all night , seems to be stable. Still Raining.

3/17 its raining. a lot.

More Sadness

2008-02-14T18:51:00.001-08:00

Love, True Love
Originally uploaded by kmevans

Well, Happy Valentine's Day, My sweetie got me the beautiful rose you see here (a dozen of them) along with a teddy bear, chocolates and a balloon.

My mom called me this evening to see if I had seen the news about the shootings at Northern Illinois University. I had heard it on the way home. She wanted me to reassure her that I was safe. You see, I work at a University myself and with all the school and college shootings lately she has become concerned. Well, I think she has a right to be. 32 at Virginia Tech, 2 in Louisiana last week, now 16 in Illinois, I wonder about safety myself. But as I told my mom there is not a lot we can do, it would be virtually impossible to secure every building on every campus from this type of attack. Its so damn random.

I work with college students everyday and I know how unstable they are, hell its the most traumatic time of their life for the most of them and they are not equipped to handle it. If I had a dollar for every college student that's cried in my office I'd be a bit closer to retirement. You never know what to expect from them from one day to the next.

One of my jobs is being the admin of our emergency text message system. The software that we put in place after Va.Tech so that if there is a shooter on campus we can send a text message out to anyone subscribed and tell them what to do. Its scary to have to think about this kind of thing on a regular basis, and not only think about it but plan for it. And most of all to know no matter how much you plan or how what systems you put in place that if something like this occurs, its never going to be enough.

My heart goes out to those at NIU.

School Shootings By State (data from Wikipedia)

Kirkwood

2008-02-09T21:27:00.001-08:00

Kirkwood
Originally uploaded by kmevans

Kirkwood, Missouri is a beautiful little place. I worked there for several years and now live about 5 miles west and work about 3 miles east. There are quaint little shops such as "The Bug Store", great restaurants and a farmers market in the summer. Last Thursday evening, 2/7/08, an irate citizen entered the council meeting at city hall and killed 5 people and wounded 2 more before he was gunned down by police. The stories are all over the news so I won't rehash it here.

I just wanted to comment on how disturbed I am by our country right now, and by people in general.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Ben Gordon, a black man from Webster Groves, said, "To me, Cookie Thornton is a hero. He was an athlete... He opened a business. He went to court, but the system failed him... We are sorry, we grieve, but (Kirkwood officials) share in this responsibility."

What??? Hero? How can someone possibly say that? How does killing innocent people make someone a hero? If I put away that logical part of my mind maybe these people think that he was defending his right to free speech. Okay, sure, you have a right to free speech, you don't have a right to kill someone if you don't think you got that right.

This man had managed to get himself banned from city council meetings for his behavior, then lost a lawsuit that he filed to be allowed back at the meetings. What is the next step? Go to the papers? File an appeal? No! Get your gun and SHOOT EVERYONE! Sure, that makes sense.

This is why it should be a hell of a lot more difficult to own a gun in this country.

2/8/08
Two women shot at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge, La

2/7/08
5 people killed at city council meeting in Kirkwood, Mo

2/7/08
5 people dead in a LA shootout

2/3/08
5 women killed in a Chicago Lane Bryant clothing store

That's less than one week, and 17 people are shot and killed across the country.

I'm sad and I'm scared. I believe in the principles on which this country was founded, freedom, of religion, of speech, of the pursuit of happiness. I don't believe that this gives anyone a right to harm anyone else or have the free means to harm anyone else so easily.

Some statistics:
"In the U.S. for 2001, there were 29,573 deaths from firearms, distributed as follows by mode of death: Suicide 16,869; Homicide 11,348; Accident 802; Legal Intervention 323; Undetermined 231.(CDC, 2004)"

"The number of non-fatal injuries is considerable--over 200,000 per year in the U.S. Many of these injuries require hospitalization and trauma care. A 1994 study revealed the cost per injury requiring admission to a trauma center was over $14,000. The cumulative lifetime cost in 1985 for gunshot wounds was estimated to be $911 million, with $13.4 billion in lost productivity. (Mock et al, 1994)"

I don't believe in keeping a gun in your home for any reason. I don't believe in the society that we live in today that there is a need for guns. Media, video games, movies and music all sensationalize guns and violence rather than vilifying them.

My dad was shot and killed by a "bad guy" for doing no more than being a friendly guy when I was five years old. Does that color my opinion of this subject? Of course it does. But I think it also underscores my point. For every gun death in this country there is a ripple effect that never stops. It does not have to be a Virginia Tech or a Columbine for it to make an impact, the impact is there you just have to open your eyes to it

Rock the vote

2008-02-05T20:11:00.000-08:00

So after much debating with myself and telling myself that I was basing my decision on the reality of who could actually get elected in this country, a black man or a woman, I went out and cast my vote for Hillary this morning. I, unlike many of my relatives and those I grew up with am NOT a racist. However, I am southern, born and raised. I once received a threat from the local KKK in the late 90's for dating a black man. Based on this I do not think that Obama has a snowball's chance in hell of actually getting elected in this country, and even if he did, I don't see it turning out well, this country is still to backwards for that. Does a woman have a much better chance? Unfortunately no. But if I'm being completely honest, and why not, because no one actually reads this, I voted for Hillary partly because she is a woman dammit, its damn hard being a powerful woman, lets give her our support when we can. What about the issues you ask? Well, Clinton and Obama are so close in my book on the important stuff that it cames down to other stuff for me. Right now, I care about getting the devil out of the office and not putting another warmonger in there. So we'll see what happens in a few months, it could be interesting.

----

On other notes, the weather here is typically weird. It snowed 6 inches on Thursday/Friday, was 70 by Monday, thunderstorms and tornado warnings today and snow again by morning. Gotta love St. Louis.

Still battling some sinus/ear/throat congestion that drives me crazy if I don't take large doses of decongestant every few hours. The prednisone I am taking for my asthma is depriving me of lots of sleep, and I want to eat everything I can get my hands on. Which reminds me, had my very first slice of king cake today and got the baby, apparently I am king for the day and will have good luck this year!

Travel Woes

2007-06-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

Here is how my day has gone so far

4am get out of bed
5am arrive at the airport
5:10am find a line for northwest checkin 100 people long
6:00am go through security
6:30am board flight
8:10am arrive minneapolis
8:10-8:25am run 3 concourses
8:30am board flight for san diego
10:50am (pacific time) arrive san diego
11:00am-11:30am wait for luggage
11:30am get shuttle to UCSD
12:00pm leave camera bag on shuttle, freak out
12:15pm checkin for conference
1:15pm get camera bag back
1:20-2:00pm get lost trying to find afternoon session
2:00pm give up, go to room
2:00pm-3:00pm freak out some more because its a sucky day and traveling gives me anxiety and I am in a dorm room and having college flashback (not the good kind)
3:30 now...not so freaked out, well I am but I figure not much I can do but deal,next thing is at 5:30, two hours, I think its too far to walk to the beach. I need caffeine. more later.

black friday

2006-11-24T12:34:00.000-08:00

Yes, I did black friday. Got up at 4am, got to Best Buy at 4:32. Was probably at least 300th in line. (see graphic below) The Best Buy staff were very helpful, they were handing out line tickets for the hot items and keeping us informed of how it was going to go, even after the doors opened.

Doors opened at 5am, I got in the door at 5:20, had my purchase and was back in the car at 5:40, back in bed by 6am. It was not terribly cold and the people in the line were very friendly. Except the two guys behind me were sick and having been battling a cold myself for several days I don't think I am feeling the better for this today.

I was the envy of the line for having gotten a PS3 and Wii without standing in line (well Matthew got them without standing in line)

I got for my troubles at 20" tv/dvd combo for $89.99. Merry Christmas. Oh and I got
an alien lighter when I stopped to get coffee. Woohoo!

recovered

2006-11-15T19:01:00.000-08:00

I think I am finally recovered from the trip, takes awhile to catch up on sleep. St. Louis is supposed to get its first snow of the season tonight, but I won't hold my breath.

Check out the pictures of my dwarf hamster Lola http://www.nocturnal.org/~kevans/lola/lola.html

Edmonton Wednesday

2006-11-08T21:28:00.000-08:00

Today was the last day of the conference and it was over at lunch time. I did some shopping then went to see Borat with a couple other people, very funny movie, totally offensive to every group! Then I packed then went and had dinner and hung out with Terri from Webster and Geoffry from Wayne State in Michigan.

We come back to St Louis tomorrow, here are todays pictures

November 8, 2006

Tuesday in Edmonton

2006-11-07T21:58:00.000-08:00

Today my focus was on student worker training and management, I had lunch with a great group of people who shared some great ideas, then after the session I talked with some other people and got more great ideas and shared some of our own information. Tonight was the conference gala at the Jubilations dinner theater. It was an interesting show and a nice dinner. Not a lot of pictures from today, but a few.

Tuesday, November 7

edmonton Monday

2006-11-06T23:16:00.000-08:00

It's late and its been a long day, but a good one, I learned a lot at the sessions today, stuff I plan on using soon. Outside the sessions talked with some great people about relevant topics such as illegal download, student employee management and retention and beer :)

Saw one of the theme rooms and hung out in the Sherlock Holmes bar where there was some interesting music http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E8sx6I8efs

There was more snow overnight but I haven't been outside today. Weird thing, at dinner I had a sandwich and fries, the waitress asked if I would like gravy with my fries. Yes, its real gravy, like beef gravy, served on the side, surprisingly good! I took a picture.

Overall a good day.

Pictures are updated

Saturday, November 4
Sunday, November 5
Monday, November 6

Edmonton Update (day 2)

2006-11-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a fun day. Terri and I did some sightseeing and shopping. Then we had a digital scavenger hunt for the conference. After that we had the opening event at the waterpark here in the mall. Terri and I both spent a lot of time in the huge wave pool but then we both braved the HUGE water slides! ) Yes, we both did, I don't think there are any pictures of that (thank goodness). That was pretty much the end of day two. Today starts the technical sessions where we learn lovely things! :)yesterdays pictures are up. More later!

Edmonton

2006-11-05T08:35:00.000-08:00

I arrived in Canada yesterday, Edmonton Alberta. My first time out of the country. It was a long day of traveling, got to the airport in St. Louis just before 7am, arrived in Edmonton around 5pm I think.

Terri and I got lost only once on the way to the hotel so we're doing better than usual. We are staying at the Fantasyland Hotel in the West Edmonton Mall, its fabulous! There is a waterpark which we will be going to) a sea lion show, 21 movie theaters and everything else you can think of! We didn't see much last night, we were too tired, we had dinner then crashed.

The conference starts this afternoon but we are going to get some sight seeing in before that.

I am going to try to post pictures at least one a day, they can be found here http://lenzfamily.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=46671

2006-09-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

how ironic is it that animal crackers and bacos are vegan?

shutup and hangup

2006-03-13T18:50:00.000-08:00

My first blues game

2006-03-12T19:23:00.000-08:00

Went to my first hockey game Friday night. It was fun, we won! no fights but two players crashed into the glass and knocked a peice out.

take your screaming kids outside

2006-02-03T19:51:00.000-08:00

I was in wal-mart today and almost from the moment I walked in the door I heard this kid screaming bloody murder. At first I thought that he must have gotten hurt, such was the volume of his cries. When the screaming went on for 5 minutes, then 10, then continued for the entire 45 minutes I was in the store, I was ready to harm the kid myself, and the adult in charge of him/her. You could hear this kid throughout the entire store, it took every ounce of willpower I posses to not follow those screams and tell the mother/father/guardian to shut the kid up or take him outside.
Back when I was a kid, we knew better than to make a scene in public. If we started to act up, and by this I mean the beginnings of a whine, we were asked "do you want to go outside?" the answer was no. We didn't want to go outside, because outside was a nice spanking. You behaved in public, you did not embarrass your parents by making a scene, whether it be in the grocery store, church or another adults house.
Now I don't think the parents are embarrassed, they will get pissy if you confront them about their misbehaving child, get indignant and angry.
Now given, I don't expect Wal-Mart to be a peaceful place, but damn, that was ridiculous.

These are the times that try men's souls

2005-09-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. --Thomas Paine
Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. -JFK
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country --???

These are patriotic quotes meant for wartime, I think they are appropriate in our time of crisis.

What are you doing to help?

Proud American?

2005-09-02T21:06:00.000-07:00

Throughout this Katrina disaster I am swinging back and forth between being disgusted with America with the violence, chaos and lack of response in NOLA and being proud of the mother who swims 30 minutes through floodwaters while in labor to get help for her sick son. Today, I am humbled. Countries that are still struggling to recover from the Tsunami in December are sending aid to the US.
Help started to come to NOLA today, and with the arrival of the calvalry its easy to say "yeah, look how we take care of our people, we rock." Let us not forget though, that many of the people there have been waiting on this help with NOTHING for 5 days now. 5 days may not seem like a long time, however, think about this, you are thirsty, you go get a drink. You are hungry, you grab a snack or get dinner. I grew up poor and I know others have as well, more so than I did. But I cannot even begin to grasp not having water to drink. Watching my baby scream from hunger and thirst and know there is nothing I can do about it.
Airlifts of supplies should have started on Monday as soon as the winds were safe for flying. National guard should have been on the streets as well. FEMA and Army Corps of Engineers should have been at the levies fixing them, reinforcing them BEFORE they broke.
Of course, I sit here, in my nice quite, safe home, full of the dinner I just ate, self righteous in my indignation with the response. What have I done? Little. I blog my rants, I have contacted the Red Cross to volunteer my time, I have organized information on resources and sent them to my colleagues and friends. I wish I could go and personally help each person find their way back to some degree of normalcy. I also wish I could bitchslap those who are shooting at the rescurers and taking police away from search and rescue because of their violence and greed.
So, am I proud to be an American? In general yes, I couldn't imagine being anything else. I am however, disappointed in the American government and some Americans.

Katrina Help

2005-08-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

I found out today one of my co-wokers family is in New Orleans and he has not been able to get in touch with them. I founds some sites for him and thought I might as well post them here as well. When I find out what area his family is in I'll post that and their names as well, just in case.

http://littlecoop.100megsfree5.com/katrina/
http://katrinahelp.info/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
http://www.nola.com/
http://www.hurricanekatrinasurvivors.com/

Other tips I've found online:

The Sun Herald is setting up an ÂIÂm OK LineÂ for folks who left the area to phone in and let their relatives know where they evacuated to. ItÂs a toll free number and the information will be printed in the paper and posted online. You can call (866) 453-1925.

People can also try amateur (ham) radio to send messages inquiring about loved ones into the areas. To find a local (to you) ham who can pass these messages, contact a club near you ( http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/club/clubsearch.phtml). You can also locate nearby hams by searching by city name or zipcode, at (http://www.qrz.com/i/names.html). Hams often have a lot of backup power (huge batteries, generators), so they can transmit during power outages.

I read several places that sending text messages to cell phones is working even when incoming and outgoing calls do not work.

Katrina

2005-08-29T18:16:00.000-07:00

I can't figure out my fascination with natural disasters and the destruction they cause. There is not enough detail or pictures of this hurricane to please me.

Desiderata

2005-08-27T18:11:00.000-07:00

If you have never read a poem by Max Ehrmann called, Desiderata, I feel that you must do so now, I have copied the text of the poem below.

This poem has special meaning to me, a line, near the end of this poem, is engraved on my father's tombstone. "Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you perceive him to be". As a child, when my father died, I did not know what this meant, only that it came from a poem my mother told me was my father's favorite. I have read the Desiderata many times over the year, in whole, and in part and feel that in some ways it has guided my life and gave me a greater insight into the father I barely knew. I grew up in the South, very Baptist south, the quote my mother had place on my father's tombstone, created somewhat of a scandal, but as in all things my mother stood her ground, saying it was what needed to be done. I rarely get the chance to visit my father's grave as I live several hundred miles away now, but everytime I do, I see this quote and feel a little bit better about the path I have taken in my life. I feel at once, sad, inspired and closer to my father when I read the Desiderata, I think I will hang it on my office wall now though, so it can be that beacon of light to guide me through my days. And perhaps, one day, it will watch over me in eternity as well.

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Apathy

2005-08-04T17:11:00.000-07:00

I got into a conversation today regarding how my generation is so apathetic. The conversation started about the war in Iraq, how it is so like Vietnam, the person I was having the talk with grew up during that time. I said, the only reason people are not out in the streets protesting and burning flags like they did then is because this generation, my generation, is so apathetic.

Generation X they call us, from my research we are born between 1965 and 1981, though I'd target the middle of that range more closely. Today we are ages 40-25, we are the heart of modern society. These however are the terms that come to mind when I think of my generation:
-apathy
-disinterest
-self-centered
-uninvolved

Back to the war in Iraq, is it that we don't care that our countrymen(and women) are being slaughtered? That innocent children are dying because of our occupation? No, we care, we just don't see how it directly effects our life, therefore we will do nothing about it.
If it is not right in front of our face, blocking the view of the TV or computer, its not relevant.

We are disgusted by society; its excesses and hypocrisy, yet we are avid consumers. We must have the best, the most, the fastest of everything. Screw the environment, we are not having kids anyway. The birthrate in the US has fallen almost 17% since 1990 and more than 44% since 1957, the height of the baby boomer generation.
(my goodness I'm a geek, using statistics in a blog, oh well, I've gone this far, I might as well cite my source. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005067.html)

I think the most motivated I've seen our generation, as a whole was this time last year (2004) as the election neared. We feared Bush and what he stood for, we rallied behind Kerry, but, once again, we failed to be committed enough to follow through, Bush won. The War in Iraq continues. We sit and blog.

2005-08-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

nothing to say.

you know you're a geek when...

2005-08-01T21:06:00.000-07:00

its 11pm and you are making database forms for fun. :)

and the world, will be a better place...

2005-07-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

naps are great. i love naps. work is stressful right now and busy. that's okay, looking forward to the weekend.

dog days

2005-07-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

heat index is 108 currently. wowzer. It's only 92 degrees out, humidity is 67%. High tomorrow is supposed to be 102. Guess I won't be doing any yard work this weekend.
Granny said that during dog days the snakes go blind and will bite anything they can.

being an adult

2005-07-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

being an adult. the responsible one. the one to give the lecutres instead of receiving them. weird.

Toliets

2005-07-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

You never realize how dirty your toliet is until you spend the day in front of it throwing up.

Puddles

2005-03-26T18:27:00.000-08:00

I learned something about myself recently. When faced with an obstacle that permits me from reaching my goal I will look for every oppurtunity through and around the obstacle before considering turning back to find an alternate route. I always want to be moving foward in the direction of my goal, detours are not acceptable to my logic.
All this because of a mud puddle.

Convoy

2005-03-22T16:49:00.000-08:00

It was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June...

This is why I'll never be cool.

Instructions

2005-03-21T11:35:00.000-08:00

I hate people that can't follow simple instructions. Reply back to the original post people, do not post a new topic, how hard is that????

2005-03-16T17:40:00.000-08:00

so, tai chi hurts my knees. It was fun though, very relaxing actually. I hate Microsoft's "features" that make it a pain in the ass to do my job.
blah

yawn

2005-03-14T12:26:00.000-08:00

2:30pm, feels like midnight. 4.5hrs sleep. I'm too old for this. I wish people would edit their own work before the "publish" it. I'm leaving soon, I was here at 6:30 this morning. Back on the diet today, I'm straving of course, two Luna bars, a frozen dinner and an apple. I could eat a moose. Or some mousse ;)
Supposed to snow tomorrow.

originzation

2005-03-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

So I started attempting to organize my files again. That's after I spent an hour cleaning up my corner of the computer room. I just knocked my wrist against the dang file cabinet right over my scar *ouch*. I have to be at work at 7am tomorrow, that going to suck. I need to remember to call and get an appointment to get my hair cut. Two people in different parking lots comment on my car today :)

another Saturday night...

2005-03-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

Matt made his "famous" burittos tonight and I baked cookies, then we watched X-Files (season 1 again) and then played video games. I cleaned house earlier. Another exciting day.

Lemmings

2005-03-11T09:26:00.000-08:00

So I have a blog that no one will read. I love to be a follower. Baa Baa Black Sheep.

My neck hurts so I took Darvocet so I'm a little....removed shall we say. It's Friday at least, no plans for the weekend. Need to wash my baby, my new 05 Cyber Green VW Beetle!