The haves and the have nots...

Borrowed (sounds so much nicer than "stolen") from Amy (see, Amy, at least THREE people read you!) I edited out some of the ones that were more personaly than I'd be willing to give an answer to either positive nor negative (don't assume they were all positive, they weren't - but if they WERE positive, I certainly wouldn't have said as much). Bold = been there, done that (don't have t-shirts for any of them *pout*) 01. Bought everyone in the pub a drink 02. Swam with wild dolphins 03. Climbed a mountain 04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive 05. Been inside the Great Pyramid 06. Held a tarantula. (ew ew ew) 07. 08. Said 'I love you' and meant it 09. Hugged a tree 10. 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14. Stayed up all night long, and watch the sun rise 15. Seen the Northern Lights 16. Gone to a huge sports game 17. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa 18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables (only bean sprouts) 19. Touched an iceberg 20. Slept under the stars 21. Changed a baby's diaper 22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon 23. Watched a meteor shower 24. Gotten drunk on champagne 25. Given more than you can afford to charity 26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope 27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment 28. Had a food fight 29. Bet on a winning horse 30. Taken a sick day when you're not ill (and really, who the hell hasn't done this?) 31. Asked out a stranger 32. Had a snowball fight 33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier 34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can 35. Held a lamb 36. 37. Taken a midnight skinny dip 38. Taken an ice cold bath 39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar 40. Seen a total eclipse 41. Ridden a roller coaster 42. Hit a home run 43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days 44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking 45. Adopted an accent for an entire day 46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment 48. Had two hard drives for your computer 49. Visited all 50 states 50. Loved your job for all accounts 51. Taken care of someone who was shit faced 52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 53. Had amazing friends 54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country 55. Watched wild whales 56. Stolen a sign 57. Backpacked in Europe 58. Taken a road-trip 59. Rock climbing 60. Lied to foreign government's official in that country to avoid notice 61. Midnight walk on the beach 62. Sky diving 63. Visited Ireland 64. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love 65. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them 66. Visited Japan 67. Benchpressed your own weight 68. Milked a cow 69. Alphabetized your records 70. Pretended to be a superhero 71. Sung karaoke 72. Lounged around in bed all day 73. 74. Scuba diving 75. 76. Kissed in the rain 77. Played in the mud 78. Played in the rain 79. Gone to a drive-in theater 80. Done something you should regret, but don't regret it 81. Visited the Great Wall of China 82. Discovered that someone who's not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog 83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better 84. Started a business 85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken 86. Toured ancient sites 87. Taken a martial arts class 88. Swordfought for the honor of a woman 89. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight 90. Gotten married 91. Been in a movie 92. Crashed a party 93. Loved someone you shouldn't have 94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy 95. Gotten divorced 96. 97. Gone without food for 5 days 98. Made cookies from scratch 99. Won first prize in a costume contest 100. Ridden a gondola in Venice 101. Gotten a tattoo 102. 103. Rafted the Snake River 104. Been on television news programs as an "expert" 105. Got flowers for no reason 106. 107. Got so drunk you don't remember anything 108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug 109. Performed on stage 110. Been to Las Vegas 111. Recorded music 112. Eaten shark 113. 114. Gone to Thailand 115. Seen Siouxsie live 116. Bought a house 117. Been in a combat zone 118. Buried one/both of your parents 119. 120. Been on a cruise ship 121. Spoken more than one language fluently 122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone 123. Bounced a check 124. Performed in Rocky Horror 125. Read - and understood - your credit report 126. Raised children 127. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy 128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour 129. Created and named your own constellation of stars 130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country 131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did 132. Called or written your Congress person 133. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over 134. ...more than once? - More than thrice? 135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge 136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking 137. 138. Had plastic surgery 139. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived. 140. Wrote articles for a large publication 141. Lost over 100 pounds 142. Held someone while they were having a flashback 143. Piloted an airplane 144. Petted a stingray 145. Broken someone's heart 146. Helped an animal give birth 147. Been fired or laid off from a job 148. Won money on a T.V. game show 149. Broken a bone 150. Killed a human being 151. Gone on an African photo safari 152. Ridden a motorcycle 153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100mph 154. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced 155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol 156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild 157. Ridden a horse 158. Had major surgery 159. 160. Had a snake as a pet 161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon 162. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing 163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours 164. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states 165. Visited all 7 continents 166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days 167. Eaten kangaroo meat 168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground 169. Been a sperm or egg donor (sort of, read the surrogacy journal) 170. Eaten sushi 171. Had your picture in the newspaper 172. Had 2 (or more) healthy romantic relationships for over a year in your lifetime 173. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about 174. Gotten someone fired for their actions 175. Gone back to school 176. Parasailed 177. Changed your name 178. Petted a cockroach 179. Eaten fried green tomatoes 180. Read The Iliad 181. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read, 182. Dined in a restaurant and stolen silverware, plates, cups because your apartment needed them 183. ...and gotten 86'ed from the restaurant because you did it so many times, they figured out it was you 184. Taught yourself an art from scratch 185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt 187. Skipped all your school reunions 188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language 189. Been elected to public office 190. Written your own computer language 191. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream 192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care 193. Built your own PC from parts 194. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you 195. Had a booth at a street fair 196: Dyed your hair 197: Been a DJ 198: Found out someone was going to dump you via LiveJournal 199: Written your own role playing game 200: Been arrested

Fascinatingly mundane

I am sure someday the most boring of details will be fascinating, and I feel an urge to write, so with no further ado, the minutiae of our recent days. Rowan switched to the Monday cheerleading team, so now we have Tuesdays and Wednesdays with nothing going in the evenings on a regular basis. This is SO nice. I need a good balance of actually doing things, and having time to recover. If left unprompted, I will revert to staying home alone all the time, but I have found that actually having SOME social action is a good thing (once I force myself to do it). Of course, for the past few weeks, even those nights that are generally "free" ended up being booked with typical back to September hoopla (back to school night, yet more Girl Scout training [they offer a special recognition pin if you've done a certain number of training hours, but to earn it you have to have been a leader already for a year. I'm thinking I'll be done with the hours well before that first year as a leader!], coordinating church stuff, etc. etc.). So, tonight, all that free time before us, and what did we do... Target! We went to see if we could purchase a cheap set of spoons without the rest of the silverware since for some reason, we lose spoons at a rate of about 10:1 for any other silverware (and I swear the knives just freaking breed in the drawer). Alas, at least at Target, you cannot purchase spoons without the rest of the silverware. But did THAT deter us from Target spending? Hell no! Actually, for Target, it was a pretty quick painless trip. $1 for a set of plastic measuring cups (spoons and 1/3 cup measuring cups must be related - they both run away before the rest of the sets). Wood cleaner recommended by the fantabulous Hessie (only after getting it home did I realize it's not for floors. Oh well, maybe the cabinets will be clean). Fall candy (I'd call it Halloween, but let's not kid ourselves, it will not last that long). Color-safe bleach because, you know, we're just so exciting, and I want to see if it really makes a difference in getting my brights bright. And, wow, that's it. Who'd have thunk we'd have hit Target and made it out with a load that could have gone through an express aisle! We have a million soda cans to return. No, really, I don't think I am exagerating. It's somewhat scary how quickly they accumulate (or how many places we find to hide them). I was saying to Gary the other days how I remember the poor, poor days of our early marriage when we'd only drink Kool Aid (with no sugar added), tea, or water because they were cheap, and buy soda as a rare, rare treat when it was on a good sale. Now he drinks Coke from the time he wakes until bed, and I drink Diet Sprite more than I should. Our stomachs are probably pickled. And we could buy a LOT of Kool Aid packets with the deposits from all those cans... A truck tipped and spilled hot tar all over a road during rush hour this morning. As I watched the footage on the news of the crews working to peel big rolls of it off the road, I couldn't help but wonder why they didn't just leave it there and save some money on road repair. I need new shoes in a major way, work shoes, casual shoes, winter boots. I have the widest stupid feet in the world, though, so finding a pair that fits comfortably is a pain in the foot. I swear my feet are square. And it makes it doubly difficult that I don't do leather. I had to resign from one of the committees I was on at our church. This was a big step for me, I said no to a request to help lead a class there this year, and now I left a whole committee! Whoo, progress. Of course, I know I'll still end up doing stuff for them, but really, it was such a load off my mind to not have to face another monthly meeting (I am one of the high school youth group advisors this year, so every other Sunday I'll be there with them from 7-9pm. I am on the Religious Education committee which involves monthly 8am meetings on Sundays. Adding another Sunday morning meeting just was making me shudder). I love Law & Order: SVU, but it would be much less predictable if just once the special famous guest star didn't end up either being the bad guy or being dead. But, hey, as long as they keep putting Christopher Meloni on the air, I'll forgive them that. It always freaks me out when someone finds our website searching on my name, then reads like 30 pages in one sitting. I end up wondering if it's someone I work with, ticked off at some point, went to school with, or just another person with my name trying to find out about their name doppleganger. We are considering letting Rowan audition for one of the childrens' roles in a local production of The Nutcracker. I need to figure out when the rehearsals would be. And then I need to figure out when the heck we'll fit THAT into the schedule. But she really wants to do it. I am leaning, though, to waiting until next year, since we know cheerleading is going to be a one-year thing. I think that was quite enough, don't you?

Small changes, big fun

If you look to the left, you'll see I've added a little toy that lets us post upcoming (and recently passed) events. I'm not putting in everything - 1. for fear of boring any readers who stumble upon here with the trivial, and 2. for fear of making it easier for any stalkers to find us. Besides, I like to maintain SOME mystery. I also added another toy, courtesy of Blogger, which allows you to email posts to someone if you want to share them. Actually, I think they only email the link if you click on it (the little envelope under the entries), but in any event, if you are absolutely awestruck by something I say and have to share it with everyone in your address book, now it's easier. And big fun! Yesterday, Gary, Rowan, and I went to Six Flags New England to visit their waterpark. In keeping with traditioin started during our family vacation in August, we only visit waterparks when it's too darn cold to swim. (Then we went to Water Wizz on a day when it struggled to be in the upper 60's, and it's right by the coast, so the wind was just freezing. We didn't even last 3 hours, which was painful to figure out how much we spent per minute... But ANYway.) So, we headed for Six Flags, knowing it was pretty cold (at least in the 70s this time) but armed with sweatshirts (warmer) and free passes (less painful). Six Flags New England used to be Riverside, an independent amusement park. It's funny, I remember reading about Six Flags when I was younger, being jealous of all the places that had them, and all their fancy rollercoasters (I was a 'coaster addict), then they took over Riverside and I was bitter. See, Riverside was the huge destination place when I was in high school - we took a class trip there, several camps/groups I was part of took special trips there. I don't think I ever went with my father (he and I used to go to Whalom Park, a much smaller amusement park, regularly. My mother wasn't one for amusement parks), just trips with friends. Maybe that's why in my head the park never made me think of a family destination - it's all tied up in the fun and stresses of going to an amusement park with friends (if stress seems odd, think about the pain of trying to figure out who'll sit with who if there is one more rider than room for riders to sit together, what happens when only one person wants to go on a certain ride, what happens when the cute boys/girls check out everyone but you, who will you sit with on the bus, etc. etc. etc.). I don't recall their being many kids rides when it was Six Flags - maybe there weren't, maybe I just never noticed them in my quest for the big fast flying rides. Anyhow, it was quite a pleasant surprise to find how many kid-friendly rides there were. The first thing we did when we entered was all go together on a flume ride which got us quite wet and in the spirit. Then we headed over to the kiddie section, and I was thrilled to find that Rowan loved the fast somewhat scary rides (kiddie roller coaster, the little thing that raises you into the air then drops you down, etc.). And, finally, the waterpark section ("Hurricane Harbor" - now, I have to admit, I felt a little guilty going in there yesterday to have fun during one of the most beautiful weather-wise Labor Day weekends we could have hoped for, knowing Florida was being pounded by yet another hurricane. But, I doubt they all stop having fun when we're digging out of mountains of snow...). I was quite impressed! There were plenty of rides for all levels. The miniature wave pool was a favorite for Rowan AND me - I took her in a full-size wave pool at Water Wiz, and it was quite stressful trying to hold onto her and keep myself upright (and keeping chlorinated water out of my contact lenses). They also had a full sized wave pool, though I managed to avoid that. I took Rowan on two water slides - one a multi-person tube ride (through a dark tunnel, totally stressed me out for fear we'd flip and I'd have to rescue her without being able to see anything. We made it through fine, though - obviusly). A good portion of our time there was spent at the kids' water slide complex, where there were lots of shorter slides Rowan could go on all by herself - a nice chance for me to relax with Gary (who doesn't do water parks... or rides in genral for the most part). Our final stop at the water portion of the day was going down side-by-side water slides which were pretty tall, twisty, and scary (no riding in inner tubes, feeling like you're going to pop over the sides). Yet again, I worried the whole time about Rowan, and we both got to the bottom just fine. And then we went to dry off and warm up! :) Then we went back out to the amusement park side of things, where Rowan and I rode the huge huge HUGE ferris wheel (150 feet up in the air). We ate insanely over priced dinner (funny when you add the gas to get there, the lunch in Subway before we arrived, the parking fee, the food in the park, the disposable waterproof camera... those free passes didn't seem so free ;-)), went on more kiddie area rides, took the sky ride (where I was reminded why Gary doesn't do rides, he was hurting Rowan squeezing her so hard because HE was afraid, sheesh!). Rowan fell asleep within about 10 minutes in the car. Funny moment on the way home - we get on Route 91, and I'm not sure whether we needed to be going north or south. We ended up going south while I was reading the map trying to figure out which way we needed to go. I said something like "I just want to check if we're going the right way" and Gary says, "we just entered Connecticut." Hmm. Maybe you had to be there, but it cracked us up. (Oh, there was also the funny ride story on the way there - in the distance, we see a man walking along the breakdown lane towards oncoming traffic. I said "what the hell is he doing walki.... oh" as we came up upon the piece of luggage laying on the side of the road. Sure enough, up around a bend, his vehicle was on the shoulder with other luggage on the roof. Which resulted in a hillarious rendition of what we imagined the conversation inside THAT minivan to be like ("Yes, Myrtle, I secured it properly, I'm not a moron." etc.) So, um, big fun. Yay! Back to work, oy. The move to the new office through all of last week off kilter, so now it's a matter of getting a routine down. (Plus getting used to the totally new phone system that's making my head spin.) Wish me lots and lots of luck.