Arrrrrrr

Well. That is a pirate-like title.

Actually it describes my state of mind at the moment.

I don't like it when I lose my temper. But sometimes it is absolutely unavoidable.
I honestly think that if I said what I felt even 50% of the time, a lot of people would really hate me.

It isn't that I expect too much or that I am really angry about anything most of the time. But damn, certain things just flip my switch!!!!!

And the scary part is that lately I just don't care. I really want to say what's on my mind. It's getting harder to keep my mouth shut.

But
One thing I have to say is that the above certainly fuels my running! I am one tough beeyotch when I put those shoes on. :-D

Alas, Poor Crocs..

Monster Head and Duckie have wreaked (wreaken? Wrocked? What exactly IS the past tense of "wreak"??) havoc again.

They got hold of L's new crocs and now he has teeth marks on both toes and both heels. Luckily they were caught before reducing L's birthday present to confetti, like they did his Tevas.

His other birthday presents arrived as well, but I am going to take one item back. I ordered what looked like the coolest pair of shorts for him online.. when they got here, they are man-pris... culottes for men.. and so HUGE that they look like a castoff from Biggest Loser, Week 0. Seriously, they are hideous. He likes the shirts tho...

Well Since I Haven't Been ON Here..

I've been spending most of my online time with Facebook these days, or else on the Pfitness site, posting workouts and complaining about my knee. ;-)

The lion's share of my time these days, though, is either work or school. I'll be really glad when I get these papers finished up and I can concentrate on something else. I've still got a long way to go, though. :-\ I definitely do need to spend some time in the library at Clemson.

Today I think I am going to see Trigger. His rain rot is going away and his summer coat is coming in much darker than usual. He is going to look really pretty this year, I think. :-)

Last night was Les's birthday party. We had fun.. I gave him a pair of fur lined crocs. LOL He has always said he would never wear crocs, but he has them on as I type this, so I guess they are comfortable enough to override any persistent style issues. ;-)

Onward!

Ok so I haven't posted here lately because I've been insanely busy and when I'm not running, studying, or working, I'm trying to squeeze in some snuggle time! :-)

A list, for those of you dying to read one:

1) I got invited to present at a professional conference about the big training project I did this past fall. It's kind of a big deal. I am very excited!!!

2) I have a $29 Million dollar grant proposal on my desk that is due Friday. I think that might be a record.

3) Running is addictive. I never thought it would be... but it is.

4) I can sprint at 7.2 mph for almost a minute. If I could do it for longer, that would be like a 9:40 mile or something. My fastest mile to date is 11:31. I would be ecstatic to get under 10.

5) Nike+ is really really cool!

And now... I have to go to work.

The Latest..

I finally got my latest roll of 35mm finished and processed.  It takes me a while to work my way through a roll of film now, considering how easy digital is.  :-)  Here's a pic from back in the fall of Lulu in her Cross Country uniform..  She looks cute.  :-)

I took this picture a few days ago in my backyard.  I love the frosties!
This is my new hair color.  I like it a lot.  :-)  It looks more like my natural color, and works a lot better with my skin tone than the blonde did.

Awesomeness

So much has happened that I can't even remember it all to post here!  But, a few highlights:

1)  We are running a marathon in Jan 2010!  Right now we have a 4-person Pfister team (not including L because he has no desire to run for 26.2 miles for any reason whatsoever!)  But we are off to a good start, and it will be great when we finish!

2)  Our low-key New Year's celebration was great.  The best part was after we got home from dinner.. schmoozing on the couch.  ;-)

3)  We have a lot to do around the house.  I will probably be working on that between workouts this weekend!

4)  Trigger scared the crap out of me yesterday!  He was asleep in the sun, with his mouth hanging open, everything.  I couldn't even see him breathing!  I walked almost all the way up on him with the bucket of grain before he even moved a muscle.  I seriously thought he was dead!

5)  I picked rain rot for about an hour after my ride yesterday.  Trigger didn't particularly enjoy it, but hopefully it will help him get rid of it.  I was disgusting by the end of it, and he was hairless in spots, but it should do some good.  Anyway I also had to wash my coat when I got home, because it was disgusting too.

Today:  To the bank with L, the shoe repair shop, a meeting with the photographer about S's senior pics, and then home to put Christmas stuff in the attic!

Pfantastic Christmas

Here we are playing cards..
Denver is relaxing in his pool..
Lulu had a blast opening all her presents..
Here I am with "Santa.."
This is what the living room looked like.. I think we needed a bigger tree. A bigger room wouldn't have hurt either.. LOL

At the Beach..

It doesn't look NEARLY as cold as it is.. :-)

Aeropuerto

So...

Here I am, sitting in the airport waiting to go to the beach, and as usual when I travel, I am feeling highly annoyed.

Why does airport security make you completely disrobe and dismantle everything you own, then move the line along as fast as they can, giving you no room to get dressed again or put everything back together.  They slam everyone else stuff into you as fast as they can, to make sure it is as uncomfortable as possible to get everything together and make sure you didn't forget anything.

Adding to my irritation is that L said there was an ATM in the airport, and there isn't, and then when I went to buy a drink at the newsstand, the sales girl told me to move out of the way so she could walk off somewhere. HELLO.  I AM TRYING TO MAKE A PURCHASE HERE!

Needless to say I do not have a drink right now, and I am not in a pleasant mood.

I don't really know why.  Normally I wouldn't be so very annoyed by any of this stuff.  I guess it's just that I got up early this morning and I'm PMSing and I just feel off.

Anyway...

Nobody is really interested in any of that, so I am going to go read the news or something.  :-P

More Thanksgiving Weekend-Here Comes Christmas!

Turkey Day Weekend!

Blogging from the Student Center..

There is no breakfast in our house. :-\ I had to come to the bagel shop on campus early this morning to get something for breakfast.. but they don't open for another 10 minutes. Luckily there is this nifty computer lab right outside, so here I am taking a few minutes to update my readers (if I still have any! lol).

There has been so much going on that there is nowhere to start. S is feeling sick this morning. I think she ate something that disagrees with her.. but she has already missed the max in unexcused absences for the semester because of her trip to Florida, so I sent her on to school. I will probably have to leave work early and go pick her up (unless her day gets better once she gets to school, which will probably happen) but at least she gets counted for being there today.

This close to graduation, she doesn't need to take any chances of a technicality keeping her from getting final grades at the end of the year... and my experience with SC schools supports my feeling that if they can cause a problem, over any thing, no matter how minor, they will gleefully do so. Just saying.

In other news, here's my to-do list for this week:
1) 4-5 grant proposal reviews
2) I have to take my new employee to meet the folks across campus.
3) 1 more test and 2 final exams for grad school
4) 2 major presentations in grad school
5) Shopping for Thanksgiving and the required cleaning of the house before the big event
6) Finalizing details for my last big event as HOA social committee chair (hallelujah) which is coming up in 2 weeks
7) Scheduling an appointment to get an estimate on fixing the dent in my new car :-[
8) Getting my old car sold! Aaagh!
9) Going to see Trigger.. I haven't been out there in 2 weeks! Aaaaaaagh!

And so much more...

Bleh. Just thinking about all that this morning makes me want to turn around and go back home. But it's too cold to do anything but get breakfast and run back to my office.

Well, I think they have opened the doors of the bagel shop, so I'm off to get my breakfast...

I think this is the longest post I have made without pictures in quite some time.

And so much more...

One last thing at Mom's...

What does this look like to YOU???

A testament to gay marriage, or what? We ROFL'd!

But...

It's beautiful, but...The situation here is unacceptable. But what's the point of saying anything? No one wants to actually make a change. I can't make it happen, so all I can do is buy groceries when I come to visit, take the screaming and meanness, and buy new knives and kitchen stuff. :-\


I ask you, where is the value in this??

Reality Check

Prepare to be depressed. I'm warning you.



At my mother's house.. here we see the slop bucket next to the chemicals and plant food next to the pineapple they are planning to eat. When is a good question to ask, because it was already almost overripe when I got there.

These are just a selection of the knives I removed from the kitchen. There isn't a single one of them that could actually be used to cut something. My mother threw a fit, after she asked me to get rid of them.. because I got rid of them. Ditto the rotten tomatoes.. though she didn't ask me to get rid of them.
If I hear "those are still good, i NEED those" one more time...

Meanwhile here's mom and one of the giganticats. This chair is her world pretty much.
Unless there's someone around to drive the golf cart (and push it, if you need to back up. We didn't find out we'd have to push to reverse until it was too late..)

Weird stuff from the past few days

1) My mother's house is the scariest and most depressing place I can think of. I swear to god I feel like a total basket case every time I come here. I guess that's how I always feel when there is NOTHING I can do to improve a situation.

2) Now that I finally got blogger.com to let me create a post tonight... now I can't think of what I wanted to say.

3) I am amazed that on one here has contracted botulism yet. Let me just get that out of the way. Oh, and don't even get me STARTED on the rusted, bent, dull, or otherwise unuseable utensils in this kitchen. Or the rusty stuff. Or yet the slop bucket.

4) S and I have decided that Jehovah ruins everything. :-\


akjdfhryubvvfdjk! I want to go home and I feel really bad for wanting to go home this much. I never get to see my mother.. but everytime I do, I feel...

...like this. :-[

Sooo Much Going On.

Too much going on, not enough time. So, some Halloween Pics..

And One More.

This one needed a post all its own. Oy.

Lulu's Birthday..

Yesterday was Lulu's birthday and GM&GF's 62nd wedding anniversary. In the morning we ate waffles with chocolate whipped cream, and called to wish GM&GF a happy anniversary. GM says that Lulu is still her favorite anniversary present ever!

The the present-opening commenced... Here is Lulu modeling her new coat (with thinsulate lining so she won't freeze this winter..)
Aaaand here she is with her new hair straightener (because she hates mine with a singleminded passion that defies description. So I want mine back. lol)
Here she is all ready to go out for dinner (this after we did the grocery shopping, picked up her cake, and went to Home Depot to buy s0me of the materials for her bedroom remodel..)

She looks very much like her mommy here..
Here's her cake.. yellow, her favorite.. but only on the outside. It's chocolate with strawberries on the inside!
The unit...

First Look at the New Car..