Blah Blah Blah

How is it that a post from a day ago is already in my nerves? Yet nothing has happened in the last 24 hours to make me want to blog, but I need to because I hate the previous post. Some times you have something you want to say, but it ends up coming out nothing like it sounded in your head. How does that happen? I've always thought I should take a class on how to transition my brain thoughts into public thoughts. But then again, I think I talk too much already, so it's probably not a good idea.

I think February is the blah month. We should change the name to Feblahary. I am a person who doesn't mind winter...but I think this year I am feeling the pull of warmer places. Not that a warm, tropical vacation, or a move to a warmer climate is in store....I just find myself daydreaming on kayak a lot more than usual. As soon as June rolls around I will be hating summer (I know it doesn't get THAT hot in MN, but 80 is my limit folks) and wishing for fall. It's just an evil cycle. I could never pull off a move to Florida or Texas or anywhere much more south than Chicago (and I don't want to live in Chicago) which sort of limits us. Mark would much rather live in the heat but he would much rather not have me whine and complain about the heat every day! Although if you asked him today, he'd probably disagree. Not that we're moving in the near future or anything. The way I see it, winter is on it's way out and spring should be here...by June at the latest. And those 2-3 months of spring/summer are great! :o)

The blahs make me want to do less than I normally do...coming up with a dinner idea is hurting my brain tonight. I can't even ponder what we will do tomorrow, that's just too much pressure! What do you do when you have the blahs? Is there a quick cure that doesn't involve a trip to the south of France? Or is that what I am going to have to do...because if it is, I'll make that sacrifice.

Who Are You?

What is the deal with all of the anonymous comments lately? They're not even from random people commenting on my rants, raves or ramblings. They're from crazy, unknown people trying to direct people to scary, cyber sites where who knows wait awaits them, or some other devious scheme.

Never mind the excitement it brings to see that someone has left a comment only to have the bubble burst to see it's just a cyber crazy. Oh well, I guess it's just part of this blogging world, isn't it? Even our blogs get junk mail. So now on top of the thousands of credit card applications, airline reward program applications, insurance companies trying to get me to switch...I now have blog junk mail. I'm thinking I'm going to strike it rich due to my vast Nigerian connections.

Looking Ahead

I wish I had something exciting to say kids, but I don't.

I've been trying to come up with something witty, thought provoking, even something mildly amusing, but I've had no luck. Many posts have been started and deleted...I just want to update my blog so I don't have to see that last post. So I guess I will just give you a here's to list:

Here's to:

new shows this week

25 days until Christmas

no snow in MN yet

shopping without the wee one in tow

family members to entertain said wee one

online shopping

Christmas candy

cookie exchanges

shortened upcoming church services

Costco

Christmas lights and wreaths up on my house

a hubby who puts them up for me

Nanaimo bars - oh how I can not wait for you!!!

appetizers on Christmas Eve

watching T on Christmas morning

Christmas tree shopping next week (yes Mark, next week)

no more work travel for Mark this year

holiday dresses

candy cane kisses (and mint and cherry cordial)

going to the 'Peg for the holidays this year

The Neverending Abyss

I'm at a loss for blogs. Nothing seems worthwhile to blog about. Or if it does, I've already blogged about it and no one wants to read me go off on my soapbox again (seriously, why does the fashion world insist on either size zeros or relegating "normal" sized women to plus size modeling?? Why not just have a lovely mixture of models of all sizes? It would be so much easier and so much more realistic.) Ok, I am done with that rant.

Other than my above mini rant....I am really at a loss. I could continue with odes to family members when I am having a mental block, but I'm not sure any of my family want their mugs up on my blog and the embarrassing stories that accompany them...oh the day the dog ran over my sister will forever live on in my mind, complete with a running laugh track. Still makes me laugh every time.

Perhaps my brain has finally given up on me now that it gets zero to no exercise anymore. Well, if you can call TV exercise, then it does get some. Someone in my family recently asked me what I wanted for Christmas, specifically if there were any books I wanted, and I sat there blankly, trying to think and all that went through my head was "books...books...books..." followed by a very loud silence. I don't even know the last book I read. Well, I do, but I think it's the only book I've read all year and it took me much longer than it should have for me to finish it, and I didn't care for it that much in the end.

Maybe I need to have some political debates with Mark, if only to get my brain going again. But who wants to read about my political thoughts?? If any of my readers are like Mark, than no one wants to hear/read/see them. Thank goodness for Entertainment Weekly and W...I can at least blog about celebrity crap and the absurd prices of designer clothing (oh if only I could afford them).

Oh well, at least the last post has been pushed down from immediate viewing.

Are You Guilty?

Here's a fun article I read on cnn.com;

"Facebook, for better or worse, is like being at a big party with all your friends, family, acquaintances and co-workers.

There are lots of fun, interesting people you're happy to talk to when they stroll up. Then there are the other people, the ones who make you cringe when you see them coming. This article is about those people.

Sure, Facebook can be a great tool for keeping up with folks who are important to you. Take the status update, the 160-character message that users post in response to the question, "What's on your mind?" An artful, witty or newsy status update is a pleasure -- a real-time, tiny window into a friend's life.

But far more posts read like navel-gazing diary entries, or worse, spam. A recent study categorized 40 percent of Twitter tweets as "pointless babble," and it wouldn't be surprising if updates on Facebook, still a fast-growing social network, break down in a similar way.

Combine dull status updates with shameless self-promoters, "friend-padders" and that friend of a friend who sends you quizzes every day, and Facebook becomes a daily reminder of why some people can get on your nerves.

Here are 12 of the most annoying types of Facebook users:

The Let-Me-Tell-You-Every-Detail-of-My-Day Bore. "I'm waking up." "I had Wheaties for breakfast." "I'm bored at work." "I'm stuck in traffic." You're kidding! How fascinating! No moment is too mundane for some people to broadcast unsolicited to the world. Just because you have 432 Facebook friends doesn't mean we all want to know when you're waiting for the bus.

The Self-Promoter. OK, so we've probably all posted at least once about some achievement. And sure, maybe your friends really do want to read the fascinating article you wrote about beet farming. But when almost EVERY update is a link to your blog, your poetry reading, your 10k results or your art show, you sound like a bragger or a self-centered careerist.

The Friend-Padder. The average Facebook user has 120 friends on the site. Schmoozers and social butterflies -- you know, the ones who make lifelong pals on the subway -- might reasonably have 300 or 400. But 1,000 "friends?" Unless you're George Clooney or just won the lottery, no one has that many. That's just showing off.

The Town Crier. "Michael Jackson is dead!!!" You heard it from me first! Me, and the 213,000 other people who all saw it on TMZ. These Matt Drudge wannabes are the reason many of us learn of breaking news not from TV or news sites but from online social networks. In their rush to trumpet the news, these people also spread rumors, half-truths and innuendo. No, Jeff Goldblum did not plunge to his death from a New Zealand cliff.

The TMIer. "Brad is heading to Walgreens to buy something for these pesky hemorrhoids." Boundaries of privacy and decorum don't seem to exist for these too-much-information updaters, who unabashedly offer up details about their sex lives, marital troubles and bodily functions. Thanks for sharing.

The Bad Grammarian. "So sad about Fara Fauset but Im so gladd its friday yippe". Yes, I know the punctuation rules are different in the digital world. And, no, no one likes a spelling-Nazi schoolmarm. But you sound like a moron.

The Sympathy-Baiter. "Barbara is feeling sad today." "Man, am I glad that's over." "Jim could really use some good news about now." Like anglers hunting for fish, these sad sacks cast out their hooks -- baited with vague tales of woe -- in the hopes of landing concerned responses. Genuine bad news is one thing, but these manipulative posts are just pleas for attention.

The Lurker. The Peeping Toms of Facebook, these voyeurs are too cautious, or maybe too lazy, to update their status or write on your wall. But once in a while, you'll be talking to them and they'll mention something you posted, so you know they're on your page, hiding in the shadows. It's just a little creepy.

The Crank. These curmudgeons, like the trolls who spew hate in blog comments, never met something they couldn't complain about. "Carl isn't really that impressed with idiots who don't realize how idiotic they are." [Actual status update.] Keep spreading the love.

The Paparazzo. Ever visit your Facebook page and discover that someone's posted a photo of you from last weekend's party -- a photo you didn't authorize and haven't even seen? You'd really rather not have to explain to your mom why you were leering like a drunken hyena and French-kissing a bottle of Jagermeister.

The Maddening Obscurist. "If not now then when?" "You'll see..." "Grist for the mill." "John is, small world." "Dave thought he was immune, but no. No, he is not." [Actual status updates, all.] Sorry, but you're not being mysterious -- just nonsensical.

The Chronic Inviter. "Support my cause. Sign my petition. Play Mafia Wars with me. Which 'Star Trek' character are you? Here are the 'Top 5 cars I have personally owned.' Here are '25 Things About Me.' Here's a drink. What drink are you? We're related! I took the 'What President Are You?' quiz and found out I'm Millard Fillmore! What president are you?"

You probably mean well, but stop. Just stop. I don't care what president I am -- can't we simply be friends? Now excuse me while I go post the link to this story on my Facebook page.

The Beat Goes On

So I told Mark he needed to post something on here because it's been far too long since he has offended anyone, but I'm not sure he'll have the time to find a way to offend everyone (he doesn't like to leave anyone out)....so I guess we're all stuck with my ramblings.

Since it seems the only way to keep myself on track is to post my weekly doings and assume everyone is on the edge of their seat waiting to find out how the week went, here I go!!

I got to the gym twice, only ate 1 cookie all week, drank lots of water and skim milk (I know, it's pretty much water anyway), danced around the house with T (Mark wouldn't join in), walked around at the outdoor shops nearby....and tried to limit my intake at Denny's. I am happy to say that I think I have parted ways with a pound or two over the last two weeks.

This week I have made it my goal to get to the gym 3 times and I think Mark's schedule may allow for it, now just to make myself get there!! There are still no treats in the house, although that might change this weekend for the little one - everyone needs a birthday cupcake or two, right?? (Anyone have any awesome cupcake recipes they want to share?) I may still reach 10 pounds by the middle of July, although it would be nice to hit 10 by the end of next week but since I don't live at the Biggest Loser ranch I am pretty sure that won't happen without losing a limb.

Now everyone just needs to stay on my butt to make sure I get to the gym and don't make a cake or two while we are stuck inside on a rainy day!

On a different note, anyone seen any super cure sandals I should buy? I stopped by the mecca this past week and saw a couple pairs, but without a coupon to use I had to pass...perhaps one will come in the mail today? That would brighten the gloomy skies and give me a reason to procrastinate cleaning the house even longer. Visitors don't really care if your house is clean, do they?

Until then...

Midnight Writings

Last night, after almost an hour of trying to get someone to go back to sleep at 1:30AM, I laid in bed writing blogs in my head. They were good too. Well written, funny, witty, almost certain to bring about my impending blogosphere celebridom. I contemplated going out to the computer to post them, but my responsible side won out and told me to stop thinking so much and just go to bed. and of course, once I woke up this morning, did I remember any of these wickedly awesome blogs? No. Well, sort of, but not well enough to jot them down. Dang it! It was like literary magic flowing from my brain....blogary magic anyway. Perhaps sometime during the day I will remember them, but I doubt it. In the meantime I'll be working on my "ode" to Adam Lambert.

What Brings You By?

When randomly checking the blog, I usually peruse the little counter at the bottom to see if I have made it to the celeb blogosphere level yet (I haven't) and also to see where traffic is coming from. Sometimes I recognize the traffic, most of the time I don't. Since the blog is listed on our facebook accounts, I realize any number of people can pop in and see what we're complaining about, but I wonder just what brings people by? With the exception of known blog readers (which seems to be dwindling... ahem!) who are probably checking in to see if we've relented and posted pics of T on here so they don't have to log in to the private blog, what brings someone from Vught, Noord-Brabant to our blog? (Where is Vught, Noord-Brabant anyway??)

I looked a little deeper, and it seems certain blog entries get much more google search results than others and it just makes me curious as to what these folks searching for and why my blog comes up as a result?

Here are a few that seem to get the most traffic:

• is it the bow? (this seems to get THE most traffic)
• such awesome times of the year?
• the logo? (this gets rank #2)
• their faces?

And here are a few of the places people are dropping in from:

• Miami
• Alberta
• California
• Alabama
• Tokyo
• Bethlehem
• Vinkovci, Vukovarsko-Srijemska
• Anoual, Nador
• Petaling Jaya, Wilayah Persekutuan
• Pennsylvania
• Oregon
• Portici, Campania
• Montesilvano, Abruzzi

...and a myriad of other places. What's interesting to me is that a lot of these very foreign (Bethlehem!!) searchers seem to be drawn to our blog all because of that blasted baby in a headband! Perhaps baby headbands are even more rampant outside North America!
I guess long after I'm gone I'll be remembered for my hatred of baby headbands, especially those larger than the baby itself, and for breaking crock pots.

Rainy Day Solution

How awesome is a place that plays Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself" as their hold music??

Makes me want to call every day and just have them place me on hold!

Mutterings

I wish I had more exciting rants to share, but staying indoors/near home every day kind of limits the amount of crazy I was exposed to with my daily bus rides and many hours spent at Target. No more crazy backing in stories, or weird-o bus riders to silently curse on my way home. One thing I did learn from being a bus rider is that I have an uncanny talent for knowing whether or not I like someone just from watching them in line or on the bus. It's quite amazing how much you can dislike someone that you have never talked to just because they chomp their gum in your ear for the entire 40 minutes bus ride.
What I have learned since being home is that there are some crazy disgusting people in the world. I have discovered a couple of shows on BBC America. The first is How Clean is Your House. I should start off by saying that I am not a clean freak, or remotely close to the world's best house cleaner, but I do clean my toilet when it needs it (ring around the bowl), and when we run out of forks, I'll do the dishes. However, this show makes me feel like the world's tidiest person EVER. I can understand not vacuuming for a couple of weeks, or even dusting (who likes to dust anyway?), but the people/families they have on this show have not cleaned their homes in over a decade or more. Now when my house is dirty, it's because the junk mail has piled up on the counter, or the pile of clothes I have tried on is on the floor...but for these folk when their house is dirty they have food on the floor, garbage spread throughout, toilets with poo caked on, dead animals (mice, rats, bugs) and piles upon piles of stuff everywhere - it has to be stepped on to walk through a room! The two hosts of the show go in and basically teach every day cleaning skills and also take samples of the grime and dirt to inform the homeowners just how dangerous it is to live in their house. Usually the lab finds e coli, salmonella, listeria and lots and lots of fecal matter (usually from the kitchen...how it gets there I don't know, and I don't want to know). So the hosts and their team of amazing people come in, clean the house and hope to high heaven they don't contract some awful illness. It always amazes me how they find people for this show, but apparently there are plenty of dirty people out there.
The second show is You Are What You Eat. This revolves around those with bad eating habits... not just the occasional ice cream cone or chocolate bar, but people who never eat a fruit or vegetable in a week (yes, I know, Mark would fall into this category if I didn't force him to cook veggies with dinner or take a banana for lunch). The host of this show will have someone keep track of what has been eaten in a week by the "star" of the show, and then they lay it out on a table for all to see. I always think it is so disgusting, and SO much food... but then I try to think about what I eat in a week and wonder what it would look like. I feel better because I know I eat fruit and veggies every day and I don't eat fast food 3 meals a day, so I think I would do alright. The best part of the show is that the host requires the star to give her a poo sample and she then analyzes it. The part I think is hilarious about this is that they blur out the poo!! Go ahead and show sex and violence on TV, but heaven forbid we see a chunk of poo. Anyway, the host puts the person on a very restrictive and colourful (fruits and veggies) diet for 8 weeks and requires them to do some sort of exercise and then at the end of the 8 weeks they tell how much weight they have lost and how much better they feel. It's always interesting to see the changes that can occur in just 8 weeks... kind of makes you think a little more about the food you eat, or at least how much and how often you eat it.
The one other random pet peeve I had this last week was why don't cities put sidewalks in everywhere. It seems so arbitrary. One block has a sidewalk and then it ends... and then 2 blocks later, it starts again. On one of our walks last week, I took a few wrong turns and realized how much easier it is to walk with a stroller on a sidewalk. Is it only newer subdivisions or streets that get sidewalks? Our street doesn't have a sidewalk, and the main street off of ours has a sidewalk for part of the street...but not all of the street? Did they run out of money? I think if I won a pile of money I would put sidewalks in everywhere.
I realize I am not up to par on my random rants (in my book anyway), hopefully I will get back into the swing of things soon... I was just tired of being reminded of Mark's hatred for pretty much everything. Maybe next time he can open up and not be so shy with how he really feels.

15 Minutes and Counting

In all of Mark's busy-ness (read: watching youtube videos instead of doing his actual work), why do I think it will be awhile before he actually posts one if his "blog ideas"? Perhaps these are all figments of his imagination playing around in his head when it is not overwhelmed with videos of monkeys, rabid Easter bunnies, police tasers and random Canadian comedy groups singing about Halifax.
I am sure he means well, but I don't think we'll be seeing anything from him in the near future (we better not unless he gets those calls made about getting Air Conditioning installed into my house - pronto - or he might not be heard from for a very long time indeed)!

Speaking of not hearing not hearing from someone for a long time...when exactly does someone's 15 minutes of fame end? I am guessing sooner than a lot of people want it to, so they do anything to keep it going, even if no one cares.

Example:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1513658317/bctid1513326391
(how funny is it that there is a Chicken Soup for the Soul - American Idol edition?? I thought it was a gag that www.ew.com was to be credited for- but boy was I wrong!)

AND

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695271435,00.html

I guess it's like all the other "reality" show "celebs" who just don't seem to go away (Flav, New York, Tia, Paris, I am talking to you!), they'll do anything to keep the public from forgetting them and extend their 15 minutes. I'm still waiting for my 15 minutes, so as soon as I achieve that, I will let you know how I plan on extending it!!

Slow Summer Days

Maybe it's the heat, maybe it's the new city, or maybe it's the lack of a job... but summer sure seems to go by slower than other seasons. TV shows take a break, or new craptastic reality shows, not worth watching (Age of Love anyone??), pop up... people take vacations, the world just decides it's time to take a break. Seems that break is applying itself to blogging. My blogging specifically. There's just nothing going on to blog about, so I am left to blog about nothing to blog about? Although, I have loved reading other people's blogs and their summer adventures!! Guess I need to either take a fantastic vacation, blog about my toddler, or be having a baby.... I vote for the fantastic vacation!! I'm thinking the upcoming long weekend trip to Winnipeg for a wedding and the Idaho trip for the school reunion won't count as FANTASTIC vacations right? It's always good and fun to go and visit family and friends, but it's not a trip to Prague or Reykjavik by any means!

Luckily the city seems to have some cures for the summer slowdown. There is a Jazz festival in St. Paul this weekend and again in Minneapolis the weekend after. There is also a Taste of Minnesota (or Minneapolis) in a week or two... who knew? Plus countless free outdoor concerts at many of the parks and lakes thoughout the area.

Minnesotans seem to love every minute of the summer they can get (perhaps to counter every minute of winter they get??). Every Friday about 3:00-4:00 the traffic rolls north to cottage country! Every truck pulling a boat, every SUV with jetskis on top... Minnesotans love the lake! Hard to imagine why.... close to a lake, trees everywhere, peace and quiet, relaxing... as long as the cabin is fully equipped with electricity, running water and a flushable toilet of course! Big surprise... who know I wasn't a "let's rough it" kind of girl, right?

A nice weekend day trip should suffice though, check out some Falls, have a picnic, take a nap under a tree maybe? I am guessing it wouldn't be too hard to convince Mark to spend a Saturday that way.

Days Gone By

So I have a little blogging to make up for since we have been out of service for awhile... and since pretty much most of the unpacking is done, I figured let's get blogging! So hopefully it's not too painful or dull for anyone who decides to read these!
I have noticed since moving that it is a little hard to get the NYC mentality out of your system when living somewhere new. We have a washer and dryer in our apartment here and I think it is fabulous... however for the first week I kept thinking "I need to do some laundry, but I should wait until I absoultely need to since we have to pay for it"... while it's true we still have to pay for it... I don't need to worry about having a $5, $10, or $20 handy to put on that pesky laundry card. Also, as much as I hated doing laundry and having to go down and get it when the 30 or 35 minutes were up... that time limit made me do it. Now I can get it whenever I want... which like right now means the whites are still sitting in the dry, and have been since yesterday morning. I'm not complaining... just discovering that maybe time limits/deadlines are good for me.

One other thing about the NYC mentality deals with Electricity. Any given winter you would find us sitting on the couch under a blanket or two shivering, with maybe a little icicle dripping off our noses... we never turned the heat on, it was way too expensive. We got our first electricity bill the other day, now mind you it was just for 3 weeks, and it was only Mark here... but it cost $18!!! The AC will blow freely this summer, and bring on the cold, I am not afraid to use my heater!!!

I know all of the NY crowd will be cursing me as I "complain" about this, but it's not meant to be a complaint or a rub-your-nose-in-it, just an observation that life in NY seeps in without you realizing!! You're all welcome to come live in the Twin Cities with us and share these wonderful things!!

Grocery shopping is different too... they have online grocery services similar to FreshDirect, but after going grocery shopping, I don't know why people would use them! In NYC you use them to save money, and for convenience... who wouldn't love to have things delivered to your door!! In Minneapolis I don't think I will ever use the online grocers again! We got Special K (4 different flavours) 2 for $5.00!! Gristede's would have charged me $5 for half a box! You forget what the regular world is like... a gallon of milk at one store was $2.09, is that legal?

So far life has been good here, not that I have ventured out too much. They supposedly have a great big Farmer's market downtown every Thursday, so Mark was going to check it out to see if it is true and where it is, and I may mosey down there next week and see what goodies I can find. However my next task for however long it takes whill be the job search... I wonder if I should give BK a try? Ok, so that won't happen... anyone have any suggestions on career paths I should look into? I am always open to suggestions!