Clean Your Room!

Ever heard that before? I have always been a messy person. Some would even say a slob. I just hated cleaning my room. As a kid I didn't care it was messy- I still knew where everything was. Any cleaning I did consisted mostly of "piling"- I would just put things into piles. It cleared the floor- then people would just have to navigate around mountains of stuff.

Now that I am older I do like things cleaner- I know, I guess we all grow up sometimes. But I still have to have something messy where I can pile things- I love the pile. Right now it is the top of my dresser. I throw a bunch of stuff on it. Then I get frustrated and clean it but really all I do is move everything into piles of stuff on top of the dresser. Is it still messy- most would say "yes." But for me it is livable and at least my floor is fairly clean- although right now I pulled out my laundry loads so they are on the floor.

Has there ever been anything that your parents would tell you to do but you didn't want to so you would fake it? I remember I used to do that. One was washing my hands. I didn't like to wash my hands before dinner so I would go so far as to go into the bathroom, turn on the faucet, drip a little water on the soap dispenser and the sink and wrinkle the towel- all so it would "look" like I washed my hands. I did the same thing with brushing my teeth- I would just brush the front teeth because that was all you could see even though I knew I was supposed to brush my whole mouth. There was just something special about the fake-out.

I don't know why I did these things- so much effort to avoid being caught I might as well have really brushed my teeth and washed my hands. Kids are just weird I guess.

Unfortunately this is not a pic of my room- I don't think any have survived. There is a point in my life when my room was probably worse. Ask my mom.

Chuck E. Cheese's

Does anyone go there anymore? I remember that was the place to go. You got to eat pizza, play video games, watch all those animitronic things do their little show- it was awesome! What was especially great was if you went to someone's birthday there, better yet, had your birthday there! I remember their balloon's weren't on string- it was this stick- like thing. Back then it was cool, now I realize it was because the balloons weren't filled with helium so they would of just skipped across the ground if they were on a string.

Now I realize that junior high is starting to get a little old to go to old Chuck E Cheese but it just doesn't seem to be as popular as it was in like the 80's. I remember playing Duck Hunt there- it was my favorite game. That was before I had a Nintendo, that wonderful piece of 8 bit technology. I got one later but in elementary school the only place to go was Chuck E. Cheese's to play that stuff.

Jim emailed me a thing reminiscing about CEC and that inspired me to write this blog. So to those of you who love and remember good old Chuck, Helen Henny, Mr. Munch and The King- you are probably a child of the 80's:)

Chuck E. Cheese's. . . Where a kid can be a kid!

Public Restrooms

Welcome back from Thanksgiving break! I hope everyone had a wonderful time with their families and stuffing their gut:)

I don't know how many people feel about this but I am very picky about public restrooms. I use that term to also include ones in restaurants, theaters, work, wherever- not just the ones that are provided by the city. I hate the one stall- the ones where it is just a room. You open door, hello potty, and that is it. I know that is the kind you have in homes but it is different in that you can usually tell when someone is in one. The ones out and about have big doors and you can't always tell when they are occupied. Like the one in the JH room- I never use it.

You know what it is- I'm afraid someone will barge in on me- weird I know. But I've had it happen and many times it has almost happened even more so I think my fears are validated.

I also don't like to touch the doorknobs leading out of the bathroom. Here's what I don't understand- why don't they make the way out the one you push and the way in the one you pull? That makes way more sense. Then people wouldn't open the door and hit the last person standing in line, in case of a fire everyone could exit quickly (you'd think it would be that way in the fire code actually- I might have to ask Tyler about that one) and people like me that don't want to touch the nastiness could easily push out the doors like surgeons do after the are prepped for surgery. It's not that I am a germaphobe- there are just way too many people that don't wash their hands- I don't understand why that is. Statistically men are worse at it then women but women do it too. Baffling.

So I will wait until I get home or walk further or whatever to find a bathroom I approve of. I have walked back out of a bathroom because I just couldn't go in there. One other thng that bothers me about bathrooms is when people have children that pop their heads under the stalls or the pinnacle of my restroom greivences, the person on the cell phone! Wow- that one drives me nuts. Its bad enough that they are talking on the phone while they are taking care of business, what I really can't stand is why they think that it wouldn't bother the person in the stall next to them to have their business blasted over the airwaves. Once I walked into the bathroom, walked into the stall, pulled out the little sheet thing and heard the person in the stall next to me answer their phone- aaahhhhh! I walked right out of there and I had to go really bad too but I waited at least a half an hour to make sure whomever it was had cleared out before I went back.

These pictures are real, by the way- they are a public restroom in some place like Amsterdam or something- I forget where. One is the view from the outside, the other from the inside. This one would definitely be on my list that I wouldn't use.

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Scroll to the bottom for the funny clip

Hi all. This is my last post of the week because I get the rest off for Thanksgiving which is super groovy:)

One thing that bothers me though- when people, places, things- I guess you could say "nouns", start pulling out the Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving is over. Hey Turkey day is an important Holiday- its a day of thanks. Its important to think about things that you are thankful for- its like counting your blessings.

And I'm not saying I don't like Christmas stuff- I love it! I love the reason for the season, all the fun decorations, Christmas music- you name it, oooh Charlie Brown Christmas- I just don't like that stuff before Thanksgiving. Some places bring it out before Halloween and I think that is absolutely insane-o, I mean who needs Christmas Stockings in October? No one!

So, I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving- remember no Christmas Caroles until after!

Copy and paste this into your web browser- it is a super funny Thanksgiving ecard. Make sure you turn up your speakers!
http://www.msn.americangreetings.com/view.pd?i=382219626&m=1652&rr=y&sou

Thanksgiving vacation

It is so crazy that everyone now gets the whole week of Thanksgiving off! You all are so lucky because that is pretty cool. I mean first you get this week and then Christmas vacation is not far behind! How awesome is that!

Back when I was in school (that statement made me feel really old) we only got the Thursday and Friday off. We might have had the Wednesday off too but I don't think so. I remember in my Algebra class in High School we had a full on Thanksgiving feast instead of doing algebra. It was great- we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, pies- everything. We had so much food that the class couldn't finish it all. So even though I didn't get the week off like you guys- it wasn't usually too bad.

Well I hope everyone is having an awesome time off so far. Don't forget to sign up on a team for Pioneering tomorrow night! You definitely don't want to miss out on that- we have been working on it for awhile especially today and it is going to be incredible!!!

In the meantime- enjoy your time off and this funny, goofy picture:) I have an even better one in the holiday spirit for tomorrow so make sure you check back- you do not want to miss it!

I know, I know- another Peanut Butter Blog!

I know you are thinking- "ok she is weird about peanut butter," but I was having some celery and peanut butter as my snack. While I am snacking I ponder things and think about stuff. SO while I was looking into the peanut butter jar I was thinking about how good it made celery taste- which is totally true because celery doesn't really taste like anything, just stringy water. But with peanut butter- ohh, it turns into a delectable treat!

So I started thinking about other things that are good with peanut butter. There are almost too many to count! But here are some: apples, M&M's (not peanut M&M's just plain mixed into PB), bananas, chocolate, pretzels, Oreo's- so many delicious options and that's not even including things that already have PB in them like Reese's PB cups, tagalong and do si do girl scout cookies, I could go on and on.

My latest discovery is Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey Ice Cream mixed with peanut butter. Its banana ice cream with chuncks of dark chocolate and walnuts I think. The only thing that would make that ice cream perfect is peanut butter! So I add some to my bowl when I eat it- ohhhh it's so tasty!!! You should try it!

The pic is of me and my new jar of chunky peanut butter- so much better then my last jar which was creamy (look in my November archives). Bit 'o trivia for you- creamy peanut butter is way more popular on the east coast and chunky is the favorite of west coasters. Just FYI- impress others with the accumulation of trivial bits of info, you'll be the life of the party.

randomness

Hi all. Today I didn't think of anything to write in my blog. So I decided to put up a funny picture:) Enjoy!

Ouch! I'm old!

Ok- So I know most of you are just entering the teen years so you got a little while before you experience this. You know you are starting to get old when your body falls apart at the dumbest things. Case in point: one of my roommates threw out her back bending over to pick up a CD, this morning I did the same to my neck rolling over to get out of my bed.

I don't know why but somehow things stop working doing the simplest little activites that you wouldn't think would hurt you. I mean I get out of bed every morning- usually without any problems but today wasn't my day. It really hurt and I couldn't move my head. I took a really hot shower to relax the muscles and I am going to the chiropractor in a bit to get myself cracked into shape, but its just weird sometimes how that happens.

I know the picture has absolutely nothing to do with this blog- I just thought it was funny. Look at how she put on her helmet- her face is poking out of the neck part! See it does relate- things happen, you get old, body parts break including your head. Just you wait jr highers- its coming for you too, give yourself about 10-15 years and you'll be like "Alison was right! How did she know?" I'm telling you, I just do.

Fire Engine: Red or Yellowish?

I was watching the news this morning and there was a fire in Miami. The Fire Engine that responded was the yellowish- green color kind. It got me thinking- why are some fire engines that funny neither yellow or green color when everyone knows fire engines to be red? That is the traditional color, red I mean. Even back in the day when they were drawn by horses and had a hand pump system for dispensing water they were red. Trust me- I looked it up. So why then are some of the engines yellowish green?

I thought I should ask someone who knew, so I asked Tyler. For those of you who don't know, Tyler wants to be a fireman someday, and he knows everything- start calling him a super-genius, he'd get a kick out of that. He had a lame answer though- he said it is different counties get to pick what color their engines were. So different counties have different colors. While I appreciated the effort- that was definitely not the answer I was looking for. I mean- who thought that yellow-ey color would be good anyway? And since traditionally they had been red, how did someone get anyone to follow them away from tradition?

So I went to the next best source for answers next to Tyler, ask Jeeves at www.ask.com. You type in a question and he gives you an answer- its just super. Well it turns out that lime-yellow fire engines are less likely to be involved in a visibility related auto-accidents. Here is a quote from the article, "If other factors are the same, the probability of a visibility-related accident for a red or red/white pumper is greater than the probability for a lime-yellow/white pumper. . . Lime-yellow/white fire pumpers are significantly statistically safer than red and red/white fire pumpers." In other words, they are safer for other drivers on the road. You can read the article if you like here: http://www.usroads.com/journals/aruj/9702/ru970203.htm

It is still up to the counties and cities to purchase their own vehicles so that is why not all fire engines have switched to the lime- yellow color, some stick with tradition.

And in his defense, Tyler's answer wasn't wrong, the counties do pick the colors- he just didn't know why.

Who thought this blog would turn out to be educational?

Veteran's Day

While I hope you all enjoyed your day off from school to celebrate Veteran's Day, I just want to take a moment to say thanks to all the Veteran's out there who have sacrificed so much for our freedom and I hope you do the same. Next time you see a serviceman or woman, current or former, make sure you shake their hand and thank them for being willing to do such an incredible service to our country. So a big THANK YOU to all our troops, past, present and future!

I am a "J"

We took this personality test at work that tells you about your preferences for a lot of things in life. I am an INTJ. If you want to look up the test we took it is called the Myers-Briggs. The I stands for introvert and its opposite would be the E. Anyway it is too confusing to explain in this blog so I leave it up to your own research.

I am a J. which means that I like to have deadlines and I like to plan and schedule things out. No! That does not make me a boring person- I can be spontaneous! But what I really want to talk about is all my calendars. Right now in my office I have 4, yup you read right, 4. One is my regular Gary Larson's the Far Side calendar. The pic is my current month's comic:) This calendar is for everything but what my other 3 are for.

3 of my calendars are in a row. From left to right is goes my deployment calendar- helps me keep track of the weeks and keep busy while Jim is gone, next to it is the far side one and to the right of that is the junior high calendar so I know what's going on for JH. Then my last calendar is on my computer on which I keep all of my work stuff- daily tasks, things to do, future events, meeting times and locations- work stuff.

Why so many you ask? How do I keep track of things if they are on more then one calendar? To tell you the truth, I don't know how I can keep track of things or why I have so many, I just do. Other then that I think we have already established that I am a crazy one. Get used to it!

Electromagnetic Personality Disorder

I have this problem. You see I kill watches. I can't help it, it just happens. There doesn't seem to be much I can do, something in me just zaps the life out of watch batteries.

Seriously- I have maybe 8 watches, only one works. I wore my working one yesterday. Don't get me wrong- I still wear all the non-working ones, I figure they are more like fashion accessories then time pieces. I don't know what the deal is- why do they die on me? Most people say their watch batteries last a couple of years, at least 5 sometimes. I have yet to own a watch that makes it past the 1 year mark. The one that is currently working is a free watch my grams gave to me last Christmas time- I think it might make it the full year on this one. I've tried cheap watches, expensive watches, silly watches, you name it- I still kill 'em.

The coolest watch I do have is a wind up watch. I don't count it as one of my working watches because it only works when I wind it up- otherwise it is like all the others. It's pretty neat though- they should make all watches that way, you know- wind up. When I told my mom that she was like "well they used to, duh." I got that watch from my Great Grandma- no it's not an heirloom piece, she got it in the 70's, but it's still pretty sweet. You can see it on one of my engagemnet pictures below- its the sparkly silver band that looks like a bracelet. Anyway, when I want to wear it I pull out the little stick on the side, set the time, push that back in then you twist it oh like 10 times and the watch starts ticking away. It lasts all day and it is one watch that I haven't killed because I can't- look ma, no batteries!

Going to the Chapel

This is a pic of me and my fiance Jim. We're getting married this next March. we are both kinda goofy so it is perfect! One thing I want all you young ladies to note: We got engaged in May of 2005 and are getting married in March of 2006. Now how old are you? 12? 13? How old am I? If you read my profile it says 25! I was 24 when I got engaged and 23 when we started dating! So gals- don't get caught up in the love bug. Hey- I'm not knocking it, Jim is one of the biggest blessings I have ever gotten but I just don't want you to let your heart get away from your head. Be young, have fun, drink Pepsi- no, I mean you have time for that stuff later. There is absolutely no need to get in a relationship right now. The right guy will come along eventually, but give it time! Just be friends and learn to love God first!

Bringing Weather to Life. . .

I have this very strange habit. I am addicted to the weather channel. I have to know what the weather is going to be like! Not only local weather but I like hearing about the weather all over the world. Did you know there is a severe weather watch in parts of Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania? I did. Did you know this is the last month in the hurricane season? And that the majority of hurricanes during the month of November usually fall off the coast of the Yucatan Pennisula or come up along the east side of Florida but stay out to sea? This is the average according to the last 100 years of records. At least that is what the weather channel tells me. This morning I learned that it is a comfortable temperature although rather hazy for this time of year in Budapest and I learned that a cold front in moving through the north to mid California. Oh the facinating things you can learn from the weather channel.

And it's not just about weather. Today I learned how and when to plant garlic and yesterday I found out how to tell the differences between seasonal allergy symptoms and flu symptoms. Its great stuff. My cable has it on channel 66 and they do the local forcasts on the 8's, so 7:38, 7:48, 7:58, etc. if you ever want to know what the weather is like before you go to school you should check it out. They also do traffic updates- just on the major freeways though, if your parents wanted to know. Then you could be like, "Mom, I heard that the southbound 15 is backed up from the 78 to the 52. Current speeds are only in the 40's and the average drive time is almost an hour." I think they would be really impressed especially when you start spouting off what the weather is like in Rome this time of year and how hotels are catering more to business travelers.

cool quote I saw

Hi all,

Saw this today in an email- thought I'd post it up because I really like it. Junior Highers let me know if you have any questions on absolute truth:)

"Wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it; right is right even if no one is doing it." - St. Augustine

Do you like Napoleon?

No I don't mean the little French dictator- I mean the movie Napoleon Dynamite. My finace sent me these pictures of 2 kiddos dressed up as Napoleon and Pedro for Halloween. They're pretty funny. It's weird when you think about how funny that movie really is. I mean there's this guy, who is kinda weird and has the randomest view of life. I think its the humor of the normal- we all can relate because at some point in our lives we have known each of the characters in the movie or we have been them ourselves and some of us have even been in the same kind of situations. The fantasy-loving, super draw-er, with the crazy hair and thick glasses, he sat next to me in science. The 'I coulda been a contender' older dude who wishes he were still in High School- I'm sure I'll see some at my high school reunion in a couple years. The shy girl next door who makes and sells little key chains, takes pictures, makes clothes- almost like she plays high school level make believe/ dress up- I think I am her sometimes. Anyway I definitely was one of the ones who in the theater was crying from laughing so hard when Napoleon dances in his friend Pedro's run for class president. It was flippin' hilarious! And yet there are good lessons to be learned from this movie- the value of friendship, the value of kindness and not judging others based on their apperance or "coolness" level, and lastly that the parents/adults in your little world can't ruin your life- but they can mess it up and make it seem miserable for you but somehow you'll be able to look back and laugh. Or at least make a movie out of it and make others laugh but then you'd make millions of dollars so I think you could laugh then.

cottage cheese

I realize that I have 2 blogs now relating to food but if you read my profile you see that I very much enjoy it. I have a blog draft that I am trying to figure out how to get this video clip on it so its not up yet but it has nothing to do with food unless you like to eat penguin.

I have started eating cottage cheese and I have found I like it as long as I don't really think about it. I don't eat it plain- tried that once and totally gagged, I mix it with yogurt and its not bad. Thing is cottage cheese doesn't really taste like anything but grossness. So the yogurt gives it a little fruity flavor. My favorite to mix it with so far is blueberry.

So when I do think about it I realize that it looks like white nasty chunks floating in thick milk- see I told you, gross. I started eating it because it is supposed to be healthy- and I discoved I do like it mixed with yogurt like I said.

Have you ever heard of the expression "cottage cheese thighs"? It truly would be a horrible thing to say to someone since we now have discussed that cottage cheese is such an unpleasant thing to look at. People should be nicer and just not say anything at all.

penguins are funny

If you think about it, penguins are funny creatures. They are birds that can't really get around on land not to mention in the air. God created them to be in the ocean- I don't get it. Not that I fully understand the mind of God but why create penguins? I feel the same way about the platypus but that's another subject. I never will get over the amazing creativity and imagination of our Lord. Back to penguins- birds that are kinda like fish, I got this email from a friend that had a little motion clip- I thought it was funny so I wanted to post it. Yup, that's all I wanted to do- that and mention that penguins are funny. Although I can't figure out how to post the clip. Here is a still from it- the penguin walks past the other penguin and the other penguin hits him and the first penguin falls in the water- its pretty funny, although it is a 'doctored' clip. Next time you see something about them on the discovery channel- watch it- you'll laugh- or you'll just think I'm psycho.

I pathetically love peanut butter

Today I was working on my computer and thought- umm, I think its time for a snack. I brought half an apple and the last remnants of peanut butter in the jar- just enough to eat with my apple, to work with me today. After I enjoyed my delicious (and nutricious) snack I thought I might as well scrape out the last of the PB and eat it- don't want to be wasteful ya know? I used the knife and scraped out the last bit and was about to toss the jar when I realized that I could probably get the rest of the PB out of the jar if I went and got a spoon. So here I sit with my practically empty jar of peanut butter and white plastic spoon, greedily trying to get every last sticky drop out of it. Thing is its not even my favorite kind! Its creamy and I am a big fan of chunky- but I just love it so much got get every bit! My new jar of chunky peanut butter is waiting for me at home in my pantry:)