I Need Some Help

I was watching National Geographic last night. It was a show about Black Sam Bellamy, a pirate whose ship went down in a storm off the coast of New England way back in the 1700s. As the story goes, Sam fell in love with a lady named Maria. Maria's folks thought he was nice enough but didn't think a sailor would make enough money to provide for Maria so Sam decided to go off to find his fortune. Before leaving for the Caribbean, Sam was given a teapot by Maria - it was a beloved family item. Sam goes off to the Caribbean and becomes a very successful pirate. He was also apparently a democratic leader of sorts and fair minded and didn't kill a bunch of people. When he seized the ship he ended up going down on, he traded his old ship to the newly uprooted crew and captain. That was nice of him. After capturing about 50 ships by the time he turned 29, Sam decided it was time to go home. Possibly to Maria. So, he and his crew makes the trip to New England and apparently ran into a storm which sank the ship and killed all but maybe two people of the crew.

Here's where I need help. I was watching this show and when it got to the point where they were going to talk about how he died, I decided I didn't want to get so depressed over it, so I went to bed. I have one question that never got answered. If anyone out there knows the answer to my question, please post a comment and let me know. My question is: Did they ever find the teapot?

As you know I read romance novels. And the romantic reader in me wants the finders of the wreck to have found Maria's teapot.

Ouch

I woke up at 4am this morning needing to go to the bathroom and found that my ankles hurt, my knees hurt, my arms hurt. I can't believe that all of that was due to the time I spent on the treadmill last night. On the off-chance that I might have been poisoning myself with the poison I had hanging up to kill the moths, I decided to throw the poison out. It's double-bagged in plastic and on its way to be safely disposed of.

We had solid ice on the roads this morning thanks to some snow that fell overnight. The road crews apparently wanted to sleep in or something. I slid a little pulling out onto the road but drove slow and didn't have any other trouble. I was driving the LaCrosse and it didn't have studded tires. My Lumina will be road ready when I get the rear view mirror glued back on the window. The glue I have says it needs to be used in temperatures of 50 degrees to 75. It's quite a bit colder than that right now.

I had a headache slowly getting worse all day today and I finally took some Theraflu around 7pm. I wanted to get rid of the headache.

It's supposed to be pretty cold tonight. I hope my water doesn't freeze. Dad usually stuffs towels and stuff under my garage door when it gets cold, but he hasn't done that.

Update

A quick internet search claims that the oldest known iguana lived 29 years.

Re-reading Merline Lovelace Books

This week I have re-read the Codename Danger Series written by Merline Lovelace. I'm missing the first two books of the series, but put them on my Christmas Wish List. Maybe I'll get lucky and get them for Christmas. Anyway, there are a couple of things that bother me about the series: 1. While the books mention Adam and Maggie often, virtually nothing is said about Paige and David after Maggie's book. I would like to know what happened to them and it would be nice to see them re-appear in another book. A big question is why didn't they have any children other than Nick? 2. I'm having a hard time reconciling the time difference in the books. Elizabeth was old when the books began but she's still the secretary more than 26 years later. And Nick's age doesn't really appear to add up when you try to figure out when Maggie's kids were born. I'm trying to suspend disbelief on that one because you can't let a little thing like that get in the way of a good story. I hope there's going to be more to this series. The latest book, Undercover Wife, suggests that Nick will step down as director of Omega. I hope that doesn't mean the end of the series.

And I need to research iguanas. Can they really live more than 26 years?

Yay it's Friday!!!!

I'm so glad it's Friday. These last couple of days I've been suffering with pulled muscles and I don't know how some of them got that way. The only ones I can account for are the neck muscle and my mouse/telephone elbow pain. The neck I hurt by sleeping wrong on my pillow and the mouse/telephone elbow pain comes from reaching for the computer mouse and holding the phone while I'm talking to mom. The rest of the muscle pain is a mystery. I hope it goes away though.

I have been doing well watching what I'm eating these last three days. I bought that half priced halloween candy on Friday I think and I still have most of my share. I haven't eaten it all yet. And Wednesday evening I even got on the treadmill despite the killer headache I had. I didn't work out last night or tonight because of these pulled muscles. Hopefully I can get back to the treadmill this weekend. My new mp3 player helps a bit.

As you all might know, I've been attempting to follow the I Can Make You Thin plan developed by Paul McKenna. His US website has been offering a message board free to everyone, but on December 1st, people will have to pay and join a club to read and post messages there. Some people who post on that board regularly are a bit upset by this change, but I can see why McKenna would want to start charging the fee. I received an email from his website today explaining what the fee would include and pointing out that some other weightloss websites charge higher fees. If you join Jenny Craig, you pay a fee, if you do the Nutrisystem thing you pay for the food. I think the $14.95 month by month fee isn't a bad deal if they can get the website programming all worked out. I think I read that some people are experience glitches. I don't think I would be joining the 'club' but that doesn't mean that I think it's a bad idea all around. Just not the right thing for me to spend money on.

The moth infestation is, hopefully, gone. I found one dead moth this morning on my dining room hutch. I haven't seen any living ones for a couple of days. I am very happy about that.

I haven't thought about what I might do with my weekend. I have three new books I haven't read yet and I'm re-reading Merline Lovelace books. We're going to start getting snow starting on Sunday. Yuck. I hope there's no accumulation. I don't want to have to start driving my Lumina again, although it's a good car.

Gas prices have fallen to $1.98 a gallon here in my part of WV. It's probably less in other states because WV likes to tax it a lot.

Spending Way Too Much Money

That's me. This Christmas. Actually, it doesn't have to be Christmas related. I just ordered some books from Harlequin for myself and then from Amazon for myself. The other Christmas orders I had planned for. All I wanted was the Johnny Miller autobiography but I ended up with two or three other books to get the free shipping at Amazon.

Mom and Dad made it back from Indiana today. They are tired.

I gave Winnie and PJ a bath today. I'm going to have to get one now that I smell like a wet dog. I have a headache right now that I would love to get rid of. I took some tylenol earlier but it didn't do any good.

I've put some music on my laptop and then downloaded it to my new mp3 player. I hate the time it takes to do that.

Another Day Off

This is the last of my four days off in a row for this week. Yep, I get Veterans Day off so I took Monday off too. I had to go out yesterday to go to the bank thanks to the bank reducing the hours its lobby is open. I finished up my Christmas shopping yesterday and ate too much while I was out. I bought another little MP3 player and I'm planning to put some music on the laptop so I can eventually put them on the MP3 player.

Mom and Dad went out to Indiana yesterday. My uncle Harold, dad's brother, is in the hospital and it isn't looking good for him. Whenever I go on a trip, I always call home to let them know I made it to my destination okay. Mom and Dad? No calls. I tried calling her cell phone and got voicemail. And she says she keeps her phone on. They are planning on coming back today.

Love, Love, Love the Days Off

Another day off today - that was five in a row in case anyone is counting. I need to find a way to keep this going for good.

What did I do today? I vacuumed a bit to get some dog hair out of here. I did some laundry. Dad came up and put the studded tires on my Lumina. He also found out that the rear view mirror fell off the window in the Lumina. I have to get some really strong glue for it. I did the Christmas Shopping for my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew. All of the gifts are going to be wrapped and shipped by the online merchant so I don't have to worry about wrapping anything or going to the post office. I also wrapped the presents I had bought for Mom and Dad. I have a couple more things to get for Dad.

Yesterday I read three romance novels. So, I'm almost caught up on those. I have a few that I bought a while ago and never did read. I might have to get them out of storage and read them.

I still haven't balanced my checkbook yet. It's amazing how I can always find something to do to put off the checkbook.

A Warm Sunday

Today has been very warm for a November day. Over 70 degrees. I went out and walked for about an hour I think. That was after I went to bed for an hour trying to get rid of a headache. I had taken two tylenol at Mom and Dad's then took two more a couple hours later along with otc sinus medication and a headache pill that had caffeine in it. I went to bed where it was dark and covered up my head. Keeping my head warm seems to help sometimes. So, within about an hour, I had gotten rid of the headache. Yay!!

I was thinking about getting an Ipod but only if I could put video on it - like golf that I record from tv. Well, I played around with my laptop and found out that I can't copy dvds on the laptop. So, there's no reason to get the Ipod now. I don't need to carry around music to listen to. In order to use my laptop I would have to get some kind of decoder or something and even if I get that, it still might not work. So, I'm not going to worry about it. I don't need to spend money on that stuff anyway.

I still have moths. I hope they aren't coming from inside the ceiling because there's no way I can get rid of them if they are. I would just have to keep killing them when I see them. I'm not calling an exterminator.

Dad put air in my car tires today. They are supposed to have 32 pounds in them and he filled them to about 36 to 37. The car drove a bit differently with all of that air in them. They did have about 25 to 26 in them.

It looks like it's going to be another warm day tomorrow. Hopefully, I will be able to spend some time outside. Hopefully I won't get another headache.

My Thumb Hurts

Dad and I put plastic over my house windows today to prepare for the cold winter temperatures. We use thumbtacks to tack the plastic up inside the family room. Well, my thumb really, really hurts now because of having to push the tacks into the walls. It's so bad that I can barely use my tv remote. It really sucks that something is interfering with my tv viewing.

I washed some of the walls and cabinets today with some spicNspan. I have a moth infestation in the house and I figured if I washed the walls and cabinets I might get rid of some of them. Hopefully that works because I'm really tired and sore now from all of that work. I also dusted my dining room chairs today. I was going to do the buffet and hutch but I quit. I walked down to the mailbox to get my mail and after that I was done. I think I might be done for the rest of my little vacation. Laundry and dishes might be the only other work I do.

I made some brownies this morning. I tried a box mix by that Ghirardelli Chocolate company. It's so rich it made me sick. I gave the rest of the brownies to Mom and Dad.

I'm being reminded everywhere to turn my clocks back. I hope I remember.

The dogs were very happy to see Dad today. They all climbed on him and kissed him. He needs to come up more often. They miss him.

Another Day of Shopping

I took today off from work, so I went shopping again. Boy am I tired. I started out at around 6:45am and didn't get home until 3pm. I did my grocery shopping first. Came home and put the groceries away and then went out to the bank to get some money and then went to P-burg to shop. I went to a pet store and bought a couple of toys for the puppies. Winnie has wanted the little piggy thing that my sister got me for my blue bag I take to work. Every day she gets in the chair and stares at it. So, I found a piggy toy at the pet store and figured it might work as a substitute. I gave it to her tonight and she played a lot with it. Then I went to K-Mart and spent a bunch of money. I bought two coats, a pair of shoes, a rug for my car, two packs of puppy pads, a bag of doggie treats and I think that might be it. The coats are men's coats. They seem to be thicker than women's coats. The shoes are brown which will match my brown pants. The puppy pads are cheaper there at K-Mart than they are here in my town. And the doggie treats were on sale. Oh, and I bought two more doggie toys for the puppies. After K-Mart I went to the Dollar Zone store and got a heck of a deal on a baby blanket I bought for the puppies. The price tag said $5.00 but the lady at the register charged me $1 for it. I also got the puppies a couple more toys there.

Time for lunch and I went to a Pizza Hut. I wanted some breadsticks. Unfortunately, these weren't very good. They were all dried out. The waitress was very good. She brought me a second drink without even asking if I wanted one. So, she got a $3.00 tip.

After lunch I went to Borders Bookstore. I had never been there before today. It's a nice store. The golf books were out of order and intermixed with other sports books. I didn't buy any books there but I did find these very, very cute little pink pigs that have magnets in them. I have the pigs on my fridge. Big Lots was next on the list of stores to visit and I didn't really find anything there I wanted. I ended up buying some orange smelling bathstuff.

After Big Lots I drove back to my home town and stopped at the Rite Aid to get a reload pack for my prepaid Mastercard. I was also looking for a certain type of Theraflu which apparently no store wants to sell. So, I got the Rite Aid version.

I went home after that and put some of my purchases away. I didn't finish the job because I had to wash my car. This might be the last good car-washing day I get until next April.

So, you can see I was on the go pretty much all day. I'm happy to finally sit down and do nothing.

Walmart and Krogers employees dressed up for Halloween today. It was interesting to walk in the stores and see the employees.

I think I'm done with the shopping trips. At least for a year or so. It's much easier to buy the stuff online and not leave the house.

I don't have to go back to work until Wednesday so I'm going to enjoy my nice long break.

I Don't Like the Cold

It's gotten pretty chilly around here lately. Earlier in the week, my employer held an Appreciation event in a park next to a river and we all had to attend. It was freezing. Barely 58 degrees by the end of the day and we had to be there at 11:30am - when it was much colder. I loaned a pair of gloves to a co-worker and wore a pair myself. That co-worker also brought a blanket and wrapped up in it during the event. This shows I work for a bunch of idiots. Managers claimed that the majority voted to have this outside. Hah! I doubt that. Oh and the most idiotic part - an egg toss game. They wanted us to pair up and toss unboiled eggs at each other until they broke. It was freezing cold and the only sink available to wash hands was in the very dirty park bathroom that only had toilet paper with which to dry your hands. Someone handed me an egg and when I figured out what they were doing, I said "oh no. I'm not doing that." and put the egg down on a table. I then made it look like I was busy doing other things so I couldn't be roped into participating. My boss won two awards at the event: King Macho and King Boss. Boy do they fit. If they had a King Ego award, he would have gotten that one too.

On a related note, I've had bad sinus problems all week. Killer headaches that just wouldn't go away, even when I took OTC cold/sinus medicine. Today after I took my nap, I stayed in bed and covered my head up, hoping that the warmth would move the sinus around. This sinus has worn me out. All week, I've been very tired. I think I fight the headaches at night in my sleep and I don't sleep that soundly. The last couple of days, I've been going to bed at about 8:30pm.

I'm looking forward to another round of shopping next Friday. I've got a five day weekend coming up and I can't wait. There were some stores I didn't get to visit the last time I went shopping and I'm hoping to get to them this time.

Today, I saved $9.44 buying food on sale at Krogers. Granted, most of it I didn't need and only bought because it was on sale, but I'll use it.

My sister emailed her family's Christmas Wish List to mom earlier this week. Mom forwarded it to me but I haven't had a chance to really look at it. I got it on a day when my headache was really bad and I just couldn't spend too much time looking at a computer screen. Mom has already picked out a few things on the list, so I plan to look at it tomorrow while I'm at mom's and check out what's left. I need to finish up my Wishlists and email them to Mom and my sister. If I'm feeling good I might do that this weekend.

I'm thinking I should drag out some vampire/werewolf/witch romance novels out of my storage boxes to read this coming week, in honor of Halloween. Right now I'm reading Diana Palmer books, although I did by a new book today at Walmart that isn't a Palmer book. It's a romantic suspense book.

A Very Short Weekend

I don't like these 2 day weekends. Maybe the Presidential candidates can promise me a 4 - 8 hour a day work day for the same pay I get now.

Yesterday I had to sew a pillow cover for the puppies' dog bed. They had torn a hole, well three holes, in the pillow and have been having fun for about a month pulling out the stuffing. So, I made a cover for it yesterday out of red and yellow fabric - the colors of the Spanish flag.

Today, the puppies went to their grandparents' house for their weekly visit. I made biscuits and peanut butter fudge, both of which are still in the kitchen. I haven't eaten it all yet - good for me. I took the puppies out when it got warm enough and hooked them up to the tie-out stake I have. I bought cords made for 10 pound dogs so it was easier for them to move around. I stayed out there with them and tried to get them to come to me when I called them. After they had their time out in the sun, I brought them in and gave them a bath. I managed to wrestle PJ down in the baby tub and cut the nails on two of her paws.

And I've been working on my Christmas Wish List. It's been very hard to find items under $10.00. As I've said before on the blog, I make two lists, one for mom and one for my sister and include items of varying prices so they have a choice and don't have to spend a lot of money to get me something I will like. Most of the lists so far include books and dvds. When I get them finalized I'll email them to mom and my sister. Different items on each list so there's no danger of getting two of something.

I also did a bit of Christmas shopping today. While I've been looking at Amazon.com for Christmas Wish List ideas, I found a book for me and a couple of things for Mom for Christmas. I'm having everything shipped to Mom's house because the mail carrier and the UPS/Fedex people never can find my house and my packages end up at the neighbors and I might never get them. I still think the neighbor would have kept my I Can Make You Thin cds if I hadn't made an effort to go look for them.

Archway Cookies Files for Bankruptcy

I was very surprised to see a sign at my local grocery store informing the customers that Archway Cookies has gone out of business. These cookies were one of those products that, as I was growing up, we could only afford as a special treat. Otherwise, we bought the generic brand of chocolate chip and the like. And even as an adult that spending habit continued. I don't think I bought more than a couple of packages of Archway cookies in the last 5 years. I bought a package tonight. It's sad that the company had to file for bankruptcy because the cookies are very, very good. I read that the company started in the 1930s as a mom and pop operation. A true American tale of success only to be undone by rising food and gas prices. Thanks Congress and the Executive branch for helping to create the global food and energy crisis that has contributed to the demise of this American company. The candidates for President talk about job creation here at home to help stimulate the economy. They make promises about what they will do if they are president. Well, judging by what they've done in Congress (or more to the point what they haven't done), I don't think either one of them will do anything but make things worse. I do think McCain will hurt the country less, but I don't have much hope for either one. It's a shame that the candidates talk about creating jobs when they are allowing the jobs we already have to disappear. Talk about being out of touch with the American people.

One More Day

I have one more day off and I'm going to enjoy it. It's been sunny and in the 80s here and I've been out in it. There won't be many of these good days left before winter gets here so I'm going outside as much as I can.

I cut up the cake and found some square gladware containers to put it in. I've been eating the cake according to the I Can Make You Thin rules and it's been going well.

Winnie and I were watching Animal Planet last night and they had some chihuahuas on there. Winnie paid close attention to them. That was cute.

Here's a diet tip for you: get a lapdog. Winnie lays on my lap all the time and keeps me from going anywhere, let alone to the kitchen to get something to eat or drink. And when I am out of my chair, she's in it, waiting for me.

There was a quote on my laptop's homepage the other day that I thought was interesting. Here it is:

We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet: and, amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog, has made an alliance with us. - Maurice Maeterlinck

A Week

I've been following the I Can Make You Thin plan for a week now! Instead of talking about it, I just did it. Yay for me! Today after work I had to stop at the store to get some milk. I had also been wanting chocolate chip cookies for a few days after reading in a romance novel about a housekeeper and a little girl making cookies. So, I bought some refrigerated cookie dough tonight as well. And I also bought orange sweet rolls in a Pilsbury can and a 2 layer 8 inch chocolate cake from the bakery section of the store - it was marked half off. I know you're thinking that I've blown the diet, but I haven't. I made the cookies, ate just 6 of them and got sick. So, now I don't want the rest of them. I just stuck them in the freezer. Usually I would eat them all and be sick too and then ask myself why I ate them all. So, this is progress. I don't know how to freeze the cake. I want to cut it up into pieces, but I don't have containers that will hold a slice of cake like that. I told my mom that I might just have to squish the cake in the round containers and forget about trying to keep it in picture perfect cake form. I haven't eaten any of the cake yet, which is also great for me. And the sweet rolls are still in the can.

I have Monday off for Columbus Day. I'm excited about my three day weekend. I hope to watch some golf this weekend. I recorded the European Tour event and I think I've mentioned on here that I never watch anything I record so I really want to make a special effort to watch this recording, otherwise it will just sit around collecting dust. And I don't want that to happen. PJ's honorary daddy, Jose Maria Olazabal, should be on the dvd somewhere.

Winnie and PJ got to go outside for a walk this evening. Winnie wanted to go yesterday but we had some rain on Wednesday and I didn't want to take the puppies out if it was still wet and soggy out.

A woman at work opened her home to a Boxer that her kids found and brought home. It's a well trained puppy and it's the 5th dog for this family. She said she was going to have to get a second job to feed him because he eats a lot. She thinks he's been without food for a while. I had several bags of dog food that the puppies would only eat a few bites out of and then never eat any again, so I took it all to work and gave it to my co-worker. I'm all for anyone keeping the pets they find instead of taking them to the pound. The pound told my co-worker that she could bring the dog to them, they would keep it for 5 days and if no one claimed it, they would put it up for adoption and she could adopt him (for a big fee). Well, she's got him now free and clear and if she wanted to find the owner, she could advertise for free on the local radio. And the pound told her that they preferred that the dog have his shots before she brought him to the pound. If she's going to pay to get his shots, she might as well keep him. Plus, a while back, when the pound was under different management, there was a letter to the editor in the local paper recounting a woman's experience with the pound. She too found a couple of dogs on the Interstate and took them to the pound. The pound told her too that she could adopt them after 5 days. Well she and her daughter went to the pound within two days to check on the dogs and the pound had killed them. They didn't even wait 5 days for anyone to inquire about them. I am 100% against our local shelter now because of this and I don't care that the woman who was in charge during this time is no longer there. I can't trust them anymore to do the right thing for those innocent little animals.

American Express Business Card Commercial

I have a bone to pick over this credit card commercial with the guy at the airport who has a credit card with cats on it. My point: If the guy's business was a pet-related one, then that credit card would fit right in with it.

First Two Days of my Little Vacation

Yesterday - went shopping. Bought some clothes, a Christmas present for Mom and Dad, and some odds and ends at KMart for me and the dogs. Today, I dyed my hair, took a nap, rolled up some pennies, sorted some books and put them into plastic storage containers, took the puppies outside for a walk - PJ has outgrown her harness. Luckily I have extras of different designs and sizes so she could still go out. I washed the clothes I bought yesterday and washed my dishes. And I read a book. I usually don't read the new books I buy because I usually read at work and in order to read at work, I have to be able to put the book down after my 15 minute breaks and lunch and get back to work. So, for that reason, I read books at work that I've already read before so I can put them down easier.

I like these days off. I need to take more of them.

AdAware

I downloaded Adaware onto my lap top since I didn't have a malware program other than whatever good my virus software does. I think it screwed up my Internet Explorer settings somehow. I deleted a bunch of crap on my laptop using adaware and then tonight I tried to come here to this create a post screen and couldn't get in because it said my cookies function had been disabled. I didn't do anything to IE and the only new thing I've done to the computer is the Adaware. Must be them. I had to reset my security settings to low to get to post to the blog.

I have four whole days off in a row starting tomorrow. I'm excited. I'm going shopping tomorrow. Usually when I go shopping I end up not buying a darn thing. But this time, I'm telling myself that I'm doing Christmas shopping for Mom and Dad so hopefully I will make the trip worthwhile and buy something.

I've finally turned the furnace on today. I picked up PJ and put her on my lap and her little paws were like ice cubes. So, I wiped off all of the vents, replaced the filters and turned the furnace on. At first, the furnace kicked on at 62 degrees. I left it there for a while but turned it up to about 68 later on. 62 is pretty cold. In the winter that would be freezing. The puppies got warm by laying on my lap when I talked to Mom tonight. They warmed me too.

We had a bake sale at work to benefit a co-worker's retirement party. I made peanut butter fudge and no bake cookies. Both sold out quickly. This one coworker liked the fudge so much she bought about half of the batch.

Announcement

Just so everyone knows, I subscribe to Dish Network because of the Golf Channel. NOT because of this crappy All Barack Obama Channel that has shown up on my program guide. I don't support Obama. I can see how the political spin doctors will claim that all Dish Network subscribers support him though since his channel is being sent out to everyone's tvs. Or at least to mine. I don't know what package it's been included in. Dish Network doesn't allow us an A la Carte option to pick only the channels we want. So we get stuck with whatever they give us.