I used to think my parents were crazy to keep the temperature in the house so cold in the winter so when I moved out I used to keep my house/apartment at 72 degrees. Only after having to pay the bills for many years did I actually start turning the heat down, a sweater or blanket is much cheaper.
I didn't realize how far I have turned it down until last night when I was freezing and went to adjust the temp, as I turned it up to 68 I thought "wow, this is very high, I'm going to be hot later".

I have recently gotten a facebook account. I thought it would be just a casual thing but I was wrong. I have connected with old friends, new friends and strangers who want to be my neighbor in games I play.

The games are perhaps the most insidious time wasters I have ever encountered. There are so many and they encourage you to keep playing more but it is fun to interact with other people anyway.

Someday I will go a whole day without facebook, just not anytime too soon. Now please excuse me, I have to harvest my crops in Farmville.

I went to Weight Watchers today and found I had lost 1.8 pounds. Yippee! All the denial of sugar and "bad stuff" might be worth it. I will definitely stick with the diet because it helps me feel better and and because it works.

The exercise part of the plan starts in earnest tomorrow, with my second day of class starting at 5:30am. Today wasn't too bad but we'll see.

I did take a 2 hour nap today, which was awesome and I am tired now so maybe that will work out too. I will have to go bed earlier but that's ok, I need to do it anyway.

Here is the view from my hotel room, nice huh? ;)

This week I have officially started my Body Shaping class (even though I am 2 hours away from it). It seems a little insane to me, the thought of getting up at 5 am to work out 5 days a week. Plus I am also on a nutrition regimen. So that means no sugar etc. The first few days of the eating part has been hard, I will not lie. I have been good though. Although I am on the road I have eaten a lot of salad etc. I even went to Pizza Hut with Katie(work colleague) and only got the salad bar instead of eating pizza. I also went through Taco Bell with her and got nothing. I'm so proud of myself.

Also this morning I worked out for an hour, including doing 2 miles on the treadmill. So far, so good.

It has been a week(possibly more) since Gen Con but I finally got my pictures cleaned up and in my photo gallery. I would post an example here but after the last 57 picture post I have learned my lesson (the lesson being that pointing people to my gallery is the best way). I made a special Gen Con gallery.

I started off with a self-defense class which was lots of fun, mostly because I got to hit and kick things (not people though this time). You can see a picture of the people who taught us, they were very nice and helpful. I got paired with a very pregnant woman for a time in the class and that was disturbing, it just doesn't seem right to do simulated vicious things to a pregnant woman.

I also took various dance classes including Latin dance and a 70's/80's Dance Fusion class. They were both cool. It turns out that I am not very good at latin dances but I had fun trying. The twirling was fun though.

In the 70's/80's Dance Fusion class we learned many moves but the most fun was learning the 70's moves. We learned the Hustle and the dance John Travolta did in Saturday Night Fever. It was so fun that I took the class twice, with varying results.

Their was even a Crafting room this year where I made two sets of earrings and two necklaces. There is a good chance I won't wear the stuff I made but you never know and I had fun doing it. People even brought their own supplies and even a spinning wheel.

Of course I played Redneck Life and Trailer Park Wars because they're fun (and it's a good way to meet new people). Check out my trailer park name and my winning pile of flamingos in my gallery. I heard next year they are coming out with a new game and I am looking forward to that too.

I also played a a lot of new games including, Hey! That's my Fish (which is sort of like chess with penguins, it's not a kids game despite the title), Alchemist (very fun, and I won despite not knowing what I was doing most of the time). I also got my first element ribbon (Wood) for playing a May Fair game. I plan on playing more games like that next year and getting lots of ribbons!

The best new game I played this Year was Sen So, otherwise known as Ninjas vs Aliens vs Pirate vs Zombies, etc. It was created by twin brothers who must have a creative streak a mile long because this game is awesome. It's kind of like Robo Rally but you never fall off the edge into a pit and die because you turned right instead of left. There was nefarious cat girl who played with me who cruelly took all of the sets we wanted to buy after the game was over, luckily there turned out to be more in stock. She was fun to play with though, and she attacked her boyfriend with glee, I can appreciate that.

I also got to photograph The Civil War monument by our hotel. I love going there and next year I am totally going up all 330 steps inside it. I posted only a few pictures that I took, hopefully the awesomeness of it comes through.

I did get to take a Photography while I was there too. It was a great class and I learned a lot. The Indy Photo Coach who taught us was very fun. If you look at the pictures you can see how we worshipped him.

And of course we got to hang out with Ranger Tom, who is awesome. Since we moved we don't get to see him much so we have to enjoy the time we get. This year Tom even got his own bed instead of sleeping on the floor. Okay, it was a roll away but it was step up from the floor. I even got a free T-shirt from the Champions online booth just for standing next to Tom. That is the power of Ranger Tom. He's also a champion skipper. If you're reading this Tom, MEOW!

Finally we had to go home though, very sad. But I'm sure next year will be even better.

I should be doing lots of things right now but I am not. Most importantly I should be doing dishes and cleaning, but since I hate both of these I am stalling.

I did manage to get to my workout class this morning so that is a plus and yesterday I did some laundry. I'd like to blame it on my job. I am usually tired when I have time off but I do know that I just need to stop stalling and do it.

So now I am going to just do what I need to do, maybe :).

	me, taking a photograph
	country view
	farm equipment 1
	flox
	farm equipment 2
	interesting flower
	water view
	swamp
	sun through trees
	sunlight dappled woods
	look, a deer!
	beautiful view at Lake MacBride
	stump
	St Mary's Church steeple
	a view from a family picnic
	Grandma and Luanne
	Adam
	Daniel and family
	Larry and Cailin
	Daniel, Larry, and Landon
	my uncle Michael
	a rare photographed smile
	my family trying to pose for the camera, unsuccssfully
	a better attempt at posing at least this time they all looked at the camera
	me and my hubby

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am competitive. Just a little though. For example, today I was swimming at my hotel and there was an older woman who was in the pool as well. I am sort of ashamed to admit was swimming faster than normal so that I could swim faster than her. I like to think of these things as a challenge, it motivates me to do better.

I'm this way in most aspects of my life. I think it stems from the fact that I wasn't good at much when I was younger and I get a kick out of being better at things than others sometimes. It's like I have discovered that I can be good at things and I want to continue having this feeling.

Really it started when I went back to school. I thought that I'd get C's but then I worked hard and got A's. It was the most satisfied feeling I have ever gotten in school so I kept working hard not only in the academic area but also in other aspects of my life. Confidence in your self is a wonderful thing.

So if you see me walking down the street and realize I am racing you to be faster, don't be alarmed. It's a compliment really, it means you inspire me to do the best I can.

I am starting to try new things. I have recently started jogging (only on the trail and only when people aren't looking but...). I have also joined a class called Fitness 180. It says it is a mixture of martial arts, core work, cardio work etc. I think it is most like a boot camp where there is lots of running.
I did pretty okay for the for the first class. I wasn't the slowest one all the time and I still have some of the strength I worked on for my Blackbelt so that was good. I hope to be able to do this class 3 times a week along with my new running routine. I am going to be fit, even if I have to embarrass myself to do it. So if you see me jogging please be kind :).

Today as I was out and about I was asked to take some pictures. I thought that I'd share them with you.

July 2009

I have noticed something very disturbing, my dog has a bigger fan club than me. He attracts people from all walks of life every time we walk. Once somebody made a U-Turn just to pet him.

It just doesn't seem right, my only source of comfort is the people at work who think I am sweet and innocent.

Summer is here. I wish it had skipped us for a little longer but hey, that's the beauty of having four seasons, right? If it is this bad in June I can only imagine what it'll be like in August (during Gen Con). I hope it gets a little better by then but I am not holding out any hope.

I have walked for 105 minutes this week already. It's very much like walking in a sauna though and I don't like it. The good news is that if you can walk when it's 90 degrees and humid then you can walk in any weather. That is the theory I am going by anyway, whatever keeps me walking.

Inigo doesn't seem to mind it as much as I do, which is weird considering he has all that fur. I do let him cool off though and maybe it helps. There is a stream by the walking path and I have been letting Inigo walk in it and drink to cool off. He seems to enjoy this part of the walk the best, it better by the water at least.

The sleep, it eludes me. I'm sure I will be regretting this tomorrow, staying up so late that is. I think part of the problem is that I am a night-owl by nature and the mainly second shift job doesn't help either.

I put some of my pictures in a Picasa web album. I plan on making more entries to this site. Making people look at your pictures is just the first step to world domination.

June 2009

I think that I am getting better at my job. This is good news to me and I can only hope that it keeps getting better. My sales average seems to be going in an upwardly mobile direction and people seem to like me, probably because I am nice at work all the time. I am nice at in my private life too, just not all the time. I seem to have these people fooled, they think I am sweet and innocent.

It feels like I am going to be out of town at least every other week that I work. While this is not the ideal situation it is something I am going to have to deal with.

This week I am two hours away again, but the hotel I am staying at is pretty ok. It has a nice pool area and the room is comfortable so I am happy. I don't mind traveling too much but I hope I am not away from home every week, especially since I have just moved back to Iowa to be with my husband and family and I would miss seeing them.

I guess I shouldn't rush to judgement though since I just started, so I will keep an open mind.

I am very confused today. In my new job I have periods where I am periodically laid off for approximately 1-3 weeks at a time so I am supposed to file for unemployment during these periods (and also if I don't make enough during the week). I have already encountered one such period so I began making my way through the system.

For anyone else, this is a supposedly very easy process but because I have been collecting unemployment for about a year from Illinois it makes collecting unemployment in Iowa very difficult. I did what they told me and filed my claim in Illinois. Then Illinois said I did not really qualify for that either but they might have some federal emergency money available, with no further instructions.

The next day I got a brochure on how to file every two weeks and a job hunting sheet which didn't help because there was no call-in schedule included on the previous correspondence.

I did receive a call from someone, asking questions, but then no further updates were made to me. So today I am attempting to work through the process. It has been...not helpful. The person I need to talk to is not in and has been working on my claim since May 27th (approximately 3 weeks), with no results as of yet. They haven't even determined if I am eligible for benefits and no one will call me back with any information either way (this is what I was told this morning). Also, no one can answer any of my questions. I did manage to get a hold of a different office and got some answers but they could not help me because the claim did not originate from their office.

I am particularly anxious as I am about to be laid off for 3 weeks at the end of this week. This unemployment claim thing is turning out to be more confusing and troubling by the second.

I had a great weekend. I actually had about a week and half off because I was not scheduled to work so I guess weekend is not accurate.

I spent the first part of the time off recovering from being sick, so that was not the best but I feel much better now. Amazing how actually resting will make you feel better sometimes.

Our friends, Evyl and Matty, came down for the weekend and that was a lot of fun. We played "The Red Dragon Inn" which was so much fun. It is about a party of adventurers who go to a tavern to drink and gamble. The last person standing wins. I did not win but I had fun tormenting the other players and isn't that what really counts? We also watched Bolt and everyone had a good time.

Evyl stayed on for the rest of the weekend and we proceeded to go to parks and get eaten by bugs. We both hate bugs but love parks so next time we are going to bring bug spray.

Unfortunately I think we have become a vacation spot for Evyl, and I think she may have staked her claim on our guest room. It'll be good though to have her over because she is such a great person.

Now I have to get stuff done around the house and get ready for work. I am looking forward to getting back to work though because, while staying home for a couple of days is good, I like my job too.

I hope you all had a great weekend too!

Today I have been married to my husband for nine years. It doesn't feel like that long but somehow it is. He is the best husband I've ever had and I am so happy that we have reached yet another year together. I am looking forward to the next forty-one years (we have a 50 year contract ;) ) with much anticipation.