Mundane Monday McBlog #6

I don't know why I never usually get things done on Monday. Maybe because it's a day that I get to myself after sharing the house with a bunch of young men all weekend. I'm happy that today I actually accomplished a little something besides sleeping, although right now I could just close my eyes and be out. The birds are all chattering noisily and it's all I can do to stay awake all of a sudden.

I'm looking forward to my days off. I have a lot to accomplish. (what's new?) I want to get everything in the kitchen and living rooms situated so I know what else I need to complete the projects and get things decorated and back to the way I like them. I haven't had the house the way I really wanted it for a long, long time now. I already warned the boys that they need to be ready to do a lot of their entertaining in their own rooms. I am tired of living the 'frat' life. I want a real living room that looks like an adult lives there. I want pillows and rugs that stay clean. I want my belongings to stay where they belong. I want it to look like a magazine picture, even if it's only when I'm on my way to bed. I don't want to look at bottles, beer cans, drink cups from fast food, wrappers from fast food, can tabs, plastic bbs, game controllers (unless I'm using one), candy wrappers, lighters, dishes, or any other remains of a "boys' night out". I want to see fluffy pillows, decorated spaces, candles, pretties, things put away.

Jeren actually cleaned his room for real this time and it looks nice. I told him I wanted a new rug for the living room, so he took the old one into his room. It really made it look nice in there. He is working hard to keep the room clean. I am going to be doing a little nagging to help him out until he can get the habit to bring things out of his room daily. It's actually been clean for four or five days, which for him is a record. I aim to keep him on track. He is already determined, though, because he knows he has to keep it clean to use it as a gathering spot for his friends. He likes having the extra room he gained by keeping things picked up.

I want my house put back together, now, because I want to concentrate on some of my more artistic pursuits. Although decorating, painting and rearranging the furniture are artistic on some levels, I am ready to do more sewing, painting (in oils and water color) and some stained glass. I want my studio. It's been too long. So it's time to finish up as much of the stuff in the house that I can without spending tons of money and get busy on getting the garage insulated, cleaned up, wired and ready so I can build a couple of walls and have a studio, a playroom, and a video gaming room.

That's not too much to ask, is it? And I should be able to get things a little at a time and make it pretty affordable, too! I can't wait!

Blogging around

It's funny to me how different my header picture looks with the new background color. I took that picture last year while on a hunt for pictures for my LJ photochallenge. The blue really made the clouds look more brooding than the green does. I like the green for spring, though.

In case anyone actually READS my blog, haha, you may have noticed that I'm not blogging here everyday, anymore. I wanted to do the NaBloPoMo monthly challenge and I made a site just for that.It's also on blogger and it is "Fire and Ice".

World of Words was my site for the Blog 365 challenge. I'm still blogging daily, but dropped that community because I couldn't get even one email response from the founder about the glitches in my page even though I asked very politely. It wasn't a good fit. I continued to blog daily, however, and was happy when Eden decided to start the NaBloPoMo monthly challenge. I love the idea of the themes. I still use this blog for my Thursday Thirteens and my Wordless Wednesday blogs and any extra blogs I feel like writing in a day. (Because of course no matter how much other IMPORTANT stuff we have to do, we must blog, first and foremost! haha)

Speaking of which, I need to go make a list.
And maybe do a few things around the house if I have time!

Thursday Thirteen, Edition 10

Wow...it's my tenth Thursday Thirteen already! So, here are thirteen road trips I would like to take in the next ten years.

1. The Grand Canyon.
I would love to drive down to the Grand Canyon so I can see it with my own eyes. I'm terrified of edges and especially high edges, but I would still like to drive there and take a peek.

2. Across the states to the east coast.
I would love to drive across the United States. I took a drive across the states in 1977 through the northern states. I would like to take my next drive through some of the southern states.

3. San Francisco
I used to go to San Francisco three or more times a year. I would like to go and spend a few days visiting some of the things I haven't visited before when there.

4. Los Angeles area.
Ditto. I haven't been there since 1998. I would like to go explore some different aspects of the city. I would love to go back to Ventura. I really enjoyed that little town. Very quaint. Driving through the orange blossoms to get there was heavenly.

5. San Diego
I never got to San Diego the last time I went to Los Angeles and I would love to go to the San Diego zoo.

6. Montana
The big sky country. I would like to actually go to Montana with it as my destination. It always just seems to be a place to drive through. I would like to spend a couple of days and remember what it's like to see the Milky Way. We don't get a good view of it here. Too many lights.

7. Oklahoma
I would love to take a road trip down to Oklahoma. It's basically where I grew up. My Dad was in the Army and we were stationed there for seven years. I was 7 when we moved there and almost 14 when we left, which are the childhood years we tend to remember. I would like to see the Witchita Wildlife Refuge again and revisit Mount Scott.



(I thought it was a mountain when I was a kid. Then we moved here.)




8. Texas
I would like to drive to Texas and see where I was born, Fort Hood. I would also like to go to San Antonio and Austin. I would like to go to the coast of Texas. Maybe that would be a good trip for the fall, so it wouldn't be so hot.

9. Colorado
I would like to revisit "The Garden of the Gods". I would like to explore some of the areas around there and take a horseback ride through there.

10. Crater Lake, Oregon
I've seen it from the sky, but I'd like to drive down and see it and the National Park around it.

11. Mount Shasta, California
I've seen it from the highway. I used to tell my kids it was a "magic" mountain because it could change sides of the road. I used to tell them to watch it for me to see if they could see it move. I never got to see it because I was always driving. They would keep their eyes peeled to see if they could see it move. haha. I would like to go visit that area and Lake Shasta and spend some time exploring there.

12. Up and down the east coast.
I would like to fly to the east coast, rent a car and drive the entire coast, from one end to the other.

13. Down the west coast.
I've taken the west coast drive down Highway 101 before, but I would like to do it again. It's a beautiful drive and I would like to take some pictures now that I have digital. I would like to stop at some of the things I didn't stop at before.

Wordless Wednesday: Today's weather

March 26
Let it snow!

It was getting dark when I took these.

Thursday Thirteen, Edition 10

13 Photos I took for the photo challenge on LiveJournal and didn't use.
(For the community of 100_Snapshots)

Wordless Wednesday: Turkey, no holiday!

A day of turkey, riding horses, family fun and Wii bowling:

Thursday Thirteen, Edition 9

My Thursday 13, for this day which is Thursday the 13th is over at my other blog, today, because it is also a list.
Check it out:

13 Things About the Number 13 in this Thursday Thirteen on Thursday the 13th.

Wordless Wednesday: Kids and horses.

A day in the life of kids with horses:

I got an award!

I got this award from Christine! Thanks Christine! I think you ROCK, too! I appreciate your comments and support. I will pass it on, but I will have to do that tomorrow. I don't have time today!
Tomorrow starts my five days off and I'm excited to get some things done. Plus, maybe I can figure out how to add a blogroll to my blog, like you have done.
Thanks again!

Mundane Monday McBlog #5

I'm thinking I skipped one or two of my Monday blogs due to the fact that I'm also trying to keep up on all my other stuff. I got way behind on those all-important surveys on MySpace. I managed to catch up on those, but lost a few along the way.

I have been very involved with my Iowa Avenue blog because it is my biggest support group for my health goals. I enjoy the people there and sharing and blogging and commenting on the ways we are all trying to get healthier and lose some extra weight. Some days I find myself writing three or four blogs by the time I get done visiting my blog places. I have my Iowa Avenue, my pnotochallenge on LiveJournal, my tshirt surgeries community, which I love, even though I haven't personally posted there, yet, except as a commenter. I am doing the NaBloPoMo monthly challenge and even though I dropped out of the 365 group, I am still blogging for 365. Of course any of my other blogs will work for that, but sometimes I just want to add something besides a list. It's a lot of online stuff for a person with limited time, so I have days like today where I waste my day spending time online.

I don't feel good, anyway, and that makes it way easier to justify sitting here reading and writing. I'm way behind on reading blogs. I would like to visit a lot more of the TT regulars and the March list bloggers. Reading is the harder part of blogging because I fall asleep. Because I am highly involved on the Iowa Avenue site, I tend to concentrate my time there, reading and commenting as much as I can. Somedays that doesn't leave me with much time to go elsewhere. In addition to that I have joined both my Momentum group, at work, and the President's Challenge which require me to log progress. That also takes time and it is important to me, so I do that first. I didn't mean to start logging at the President's challenge until it officially begins on March 2oth, but last night I checked it out and went ahead and filled it in. It surprised me that I had an hour of activity, even though to me it was lighter activity. I didn't even do my weights yesterday. I'm going to get up here in a minute and start my stretches and try to get my weights in before I have to shower and get ready for work.

My week this week has not been one of staying on target. It's been difficult this week while fighting off the yuckies. I spent my time in bed resting today because I know I don't really get enough sleep and wanted to make sure I had enough rest to continue the fight against that flu. From what I can tell it's miserable and I DON'T want it. PERIOD.

So I better go do my list for today and get myself busy on my stretches and resistance stuff. I want time to take my time in the shower and let the steam clear my head.

It really is a mundane Monday today. Gray and cloudy.

Only one more day until my five days off. YAY!

Thursday Thirteen, Edition 8

13 Quotes About Food:

1. “Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant?? I'm halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my God....I could be eating a slow learner.”

Lynda Montgomery

2. "I went into a McDonald's yesterday and said, "I'd like some fries." The girl at the counter said, "Would you like some fries with that?"

Jay Leno

3. "Most vegetables are something God invented to let women get even with their children. A fruit is a vegetable with looks and money. Plus, if you let fruit rot, it turns into wine, something brussels sprouts never do." (The Bachelor Home Companion)

P. J. O'Rourke

4. "You can say this for ready-mixes - the next generation isn't going to have any trouble making pies exactly like mother used to make."

Earl Wilson

5. "My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four; unless there are three other people."

Orson Welles

6. "I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli."

George Bush

7. "Avoid fruits and nuts. You are what you eat."

Jim Davis

8. "I cook with wine. Sometimes I even add it to the food."

W. C. Fields

9. "Strength is the ability to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands~~and then eat just one of those pieces."

Judith Viorst

10. "The best way to lose weight is to close your mouth~~something very difficult for a politician. Or watch your food~~just watch it, don't eat it."

Edward Koch

11. "It is ludicrous to read the microwave direction on the boxes of food you buy, as each one will have a disclaimer: "THIS WILL VARY WITH YOUR MICROWAVE". Loosely translated, this means, "You're on your own, Bernice.""

Erma Bombeck

12. "Food is an important part of a balanced diet."

Fran Lebowitz

13. "Mosquitos remind us that we are not as high up on the food chain as we think."

Tom Wilson

Wordless Wednesday: My walk to the time clock.

I call this the EQC's fitness program, haha! We are required to park on the fourth floor. They do not provide transport for us. (I enjoy the walk.)


I start out on the fourth floor. I took this picture after walking about twenty feet from my car. Each floor is about a block long. The ramp is at the other end way down there by those cars.




I am at the top of the ramp, heading down to the third floor. Each ramp is the same length as the floors. The plastic is because they are painting. It keeps the paint from drifting down to where valet parks the cars that use valet.

I took this picture about twenty feet after turning onto the third floor from the ramp.

The ramp down to the second floor.

The second floor.

The ramp to the first floor. These are cars parked by valet.


The first floor with a car being driven by a valet driver. Make note of the red car behind the valet driver to the right. (Not the one in front of him on the left.) The one on the right is about halfway.

This picture shows the distance still left to walk after getting to that red car on the right that I mentioned above. That is the first floor entrance ahead.

Here I am just coming out of the parking garage. I still have to go around the construction fences and the building.

Right after turning the corner that you see in the above picture just past that telephone pole. That is another worker walking in ahead of me. She drove in behind me, but cheated and used the construction stairs to get down from the fourth floor. (We are not supposed to use them.) She blasted past me while I was taking the previous picture.


The final leg of the outside journey to our locker area and the time clock. We go in up there at the hotel entrance which is covered. It's hard to see, but there is a car parked up there in the shade of it. Then we still have to go down the hall, around through the part of the building ahead of her in the picture and through the casino to the back where our lockers are. It's a total of approximately 1340 steps or about 3/4 of a mile, give or take a few feet and depending on whether you go to the right or left off the ramps.

It wasn't totally wordless but there it is!