My back has really been bothering me lately. I seriously try not to complain, or walk oddly, or even mention it... but holy Hannah!
I thought by not golfing as much, it would ease up, but the pain instead has gotten worse. Add to that the possibility of an issue with my left rotator cuff - I'm a hot walking mess at the ripe old age of 36.
Anyways, I've been helping out my mom the last few days and been pretty neglectful around here. One of the reasons I love Fridays is because it's the day I clean the house - a nice clean house to hang out in all week-end with my William. Ahhhh....
When I was a kid, I had a lot of household chores to do and my mom would always ask me to vacuum, because it 'hurt her back'. I'm not kidding when I say I used to think she was faking. Well, here I am with a sore back vacuuming.
Now, the following with either enlighten you or cause you to say, 'well, DUH!', but it's not the actual vacuuming that hurts ones back. It's the bending over.
I vacuumed only the carpets today (I swept the floors because of my back), and I bent over 31 times. Sometimes it was just to pick up a resilient feather, and other times it was hauling the machine around. That's a lot of bending over.
So now I'm off to the couch!
So, I took the plunge and joined Facebook. Some of you have already made me a "friend" and I thank you.
After only a short time, the appeal of the site is apparent to me. The "wall" allows for quick twitter-ish type posts. The ability to find friends of friends is great. Facebook allows for a user to stay in touch with a lot of people everywhere. It's vastly superior to MySpace and a overall great networking tool.
I am also surprised at how "buggy" the site is with it's friend functionality. The recent activity section seems to omit "activity" at certain times. Sometimes friends are missing, but will reappear the next time I logon.
I have experienced an issue with the site every time that i have logged on. This really surprises me, given that this website has been established for many years and has millions of users.
Anyway, I'm even monitoring my Facebook IM via pidgin. Contact me if you are so inclined.
Later
I have watched this clip from South Park over and over again. It just keeps getting funnier. So, I present to you Cartman singing Lady Gaga's Poker Face. It's South Park, so expect NSFW language.
I check Facebook generally in the morning, and maybe once more in the afternoon just about everyday. I have been engaged on this social site for over a year now (after realizing I can avoid Crazy) and I have noticed a definitive genre of status updates.
- The Debbie Downer. This is the person who is always complaining. "Debbie Downer didn't get enough sleep, and will be dragging all day at work today". I have about 3 people in my list (people I have not seen since high school) who post everyday something depressing... "Debbie Downer hopes the rain holds off long enough to attend her favorite aunt's funeral'...
- The Always Ill. This is the person who is either always sick or their family is. I have about 3 people in my network who only post about their illnesses... 'Always Ill is at home with a cold, I hope I don't spread it to everyone.'
- Woe Is Me Worker Bee. This is the person who always complains or talks about work. "Woe Is Me Worker Bee has 7 more hours of computer work to do.' Hating Mondays, happy hump-day and TGIF are reoccurring themes with the Worker Bee.
- The Quoter. This is the person who always has positive and inspiring quotes as their status update. 'The Quoter just loves waking up in the morning, clapping her hands and saying "today is going to be a great day!"'
- Drama Queen. The Drama Queen always has something exciting going on... from out of control teenagers, a bad marriage, a crazy boss, multiple hospital visits... the Drama Queen's status updates could be a reality TV script, but the updates are often not completely informing, prompting questions from friends... 'The Drama Queen just got back from the hospital with her youngest daughter' followed by Drama Queen's Friend, 'OMG, what happened? I'm praying for you and your daughter.'
- The Texter. This is the person who can't write in complete coherent sentences and is not concerned about good spelling. 'The Texter isss totoly syched abt thisss wk-end w BFF Crissssy!!!'
- The Party Girl. This is the person that lives for the week-end, and sometimes has a mid-week escapade worthy of sharing on Facebook. 'The Party Girl is completely hungover, we rocked the block! Thanks Ladies for an awesome night out!'
- The Mom. The Mom is a Mom and nothing but a Mom on Facebook. Every updates revolves around their most perfect precious offspring. 'The Mom is so happy to spend the day with her baby girl. When she is napping I'm just going to stare at her and thank Jesus for this most perfect being'.
The Bible Thumper. They are the person that quotes the bible and prays a lot. 'The Bible Thumper is praying for a safe Hallowe'en for all the kids out there.'
The Attention Seeker. This person always has a status update that is incomplete, and is posted for the express purpose of receiving comments. 'The Attention Seeker just can't believe what happened today!' They are also known to post continually while on vacation, 'The Attention Seeker is sitting poolside... it's 80*F and the beer is cold'
So who am I on Facebook? Mostly I just post what I'm going... running errands, watching football, or going golfing. I think I'm a 'Polly Positive', or 'Hey, Look At What I'm Doing'
LG is running errands and can't wait for the week-end!
Go forth and fill your libraries with media.
Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.
William is coming home tonight from TN. He's only been gone since Wednesday, but it seems like forever!
I've been trying to get a hold of MomG since about 9 to no avail. I need to switch back her Edge that I borrowed for the transport of my mom from the hospital. I have kept it this long thinking that my mom had therapy today, but her evaluation is tomorrow... then 5 days of therapy a week... at least it is in Tecumseh and not the west end. Whew.
So, in the meantime, I have been internet Christmas shopping (for MomG), booked (finally!) our hotel in Cleveland (and K&J's too), uploaded and edited pictures from the camera, done dishes, folded laundry, had breakfast, straightened up the house, checked email and facebook, checked on my mom, written a proposal for the board meeting this Thursday, and called MomG 5 times.
Now I can add 'posted on Vox' to that list.
Oh, and wow I blew it this week on the football pools!
I have no ambition to really get into defending my picks... here they are...
HOU @ BUF - Screwston, and they better not stick it to me again.
CLE @ CHI - Oh the pain! The agony! I'm taking CHI but of course cheering for the BROWNS. That team is such a hot mess right now! They are playing DET in week 11 (I'm going to the game) and the sports radio guys seem to think that that game won't be blacked out... A sell out against Cleveland? Well, there are a lot of Cleveland die hards (me included) who will trek the 3 hours for the away game plus - it's a game Lion fans are convinced is already won... Ugh.
SEA @ DAL - I don't trust Dallas. This is my upset pick as long as Hasselcrack can move the ball. I'll take the Seattle.
STL @ DET - Mr. Picklez says: Another game honoring Stirquilius, Roman god of Feces. Oh Mr. Picklez how you make me laugh! The fact of the matter is STL (Such Total Losers) can't manage to score. Wow, even their NFL website sucks. They have only scored 51 points this year! I don't think I've taken DET since week one last year against ATL... Well, it'll make sports radio buzz this week if they do win, so I'll take the Lions.
SF @ IND - Picklez... you took SF... I think you meant IND. I'm taking IND. Hope you didn't screw yourself on Yahoo.
MIA @ NYJ - Jets. Although I hope MIA wins, I don't see it happening in NY.
NYG @ PHI - Tough pick. NYG.
DEN @ BAL - I hate both these teams equally. I'll take BAL...
JAC @ TEN - I'm taking TEN. They need a win bad and are home against inconsistant Jags.
OAK @ SD - SD.
MIN @ GB - This should be a decent game. I think MIN will win on the road.
CAR @ ARI - ARI. Delhomme can't stop throwing interceptions.
ATL @ NO - Woo wee! I'll take NO at home. Could be an upset, but I think NO will squeak a win.
Couch here I come!
Occasionally I have too much on my mind, or I simply can't sleep. At times like that, I try to direct my mind to something mundane, but detailed to relax my brain.
Last night I was thinking of my childhood bedroom.
I was raised (next door and my mother still lives there) in an old cobblestone farmhouse (called something like a 'four on four' - plus a bathroom of course). The upstairs had (has) 4 bedrooms and a bathroom.
I had (have, I'm going to correct myself everytime... this is a memory thing) 2 brothers who shared a room, and a sister who is ten years older. I, for most of my earliest years, occupied a very small room (7 X 7), until my brothers' (who were about 13 and 15) fighting became too much and my mother decided that I would share a room with my sister, and the younger brother moved into my tiny room.
My sister was about 17 and the room was typical 1970's bubble gum pink. My mom built a trundle, so believe me, there was many a night when I was inadvertantly stepped on as my sister made her way through the darkness. This arrangement didn't last too long, because just when I turned 8, my sister moved to London (Ont) for college and I had this larger (10 X 10) room all to myself.
Not too long after that, my oldest brother moved into the basement, the other moved back into his old room (with a waterbed) and the tiny bedroom was empty.
I loved my room. Around the time I was in it alone, an access door was built in the eaves overhang on the north west side, and that was my playroom. An adult could hardly wiggle through the access door, nor stand up in it, being only about 5 feet high, 3 feet deep and 5 feet long. Inside, I had a lamp and of course a large selection of stuffed animals. I played in there all time until I brought in and left a bag of sunflower seeds and the next day discovered them eaten - discarded shells and mouse poop everywhere! It was soon after sealed up, built in shelves were created on that wall, and the room was painted sky blue.
I spent countless hours standing on my bed playing with cabbage patch figurines who 'lived' amoung the stuffed animals on the shelves. In my teens, there were more books than stuffed animals and it is still remains that way today (for the grandkids...). I had a long, short off white dresser (with gold trim and fancy handles) and an off white desk with a flip up top with a storage area and mirror inside. Even then, the desk was incredibly organized with school supplies and hair accessories. Eventually the desk and dresser were tossed, I was given a 'real' desk with 6 drawers which I loved.
I was lucky (okay, spoiled) enough to have a two deck 'ghetto blaster' and my own 13 inch black and white TV in my room. My friends thought that was so cool and often we watched 'Friday the 13th' TV series and 'Tales from the Crypt' during week-end sleep overs.
The room faced the road looking southwest and received the brunt of the Canadian weather. In the summer I always had the bed moved right up against the window to catch the breeze and in the winter I moved it to the other available wall. The window was a typical farmhouse style, extending nearly floor to ceiling, and was the original wood. When putting clear plastic over leaky windows became 'vogue' in the early 80's it helped greatly with the constant wind that blew through the cracks in the wood that were large enough for me to put my hand in. So many times that plastic strained against the winter wind. The plastic was much better than the alternative nothing. Once I woke up with a snowball to the face, a laughing brother in the doorway and a snowdrift which extended from the middle of the window to the floor in the centre of the room!
The only heat source in the upstairs was a box style gas heater in the middle of the hallway. Trust me when I say it was never enough. My mother refused to turn it on until late November and really the only thing it was good for was warming my clothes. Us kids always fought to sit on it, (me losing because I was so much younger...) but technically we weren't allowed to. A couple of times I slept on the hall floor just to be close to it. The old heating unit smelled of dust and always made a ticking noise.
When it was windy or rained hard, the vent from the hallway heater made a 'hooting' and a deep metallic 'tinging' sound. That sound along with the rain is one of the most soothing sounds I have ever heard.
I appreciated and loved my room, keeping it, for the most part, neat and clean, (except for clothes in my teens). I look back on those times fondly and am glad I have so many great memories from my childhood.
When planning for a little get together, be sure to consume water during the day, especially if you are serving prosciutto, salami, mortadella, smoked salmon, and Brie with a variety of breads.
Yeah, kinda makes ya thirsty. Kinda makes you want to chug 4 glasses of water at 12:30 am. Kinda makes your stomach painfully distended. Kinda makes it hard to sleep. Kinda makes you feel like crap the next day.
I was just told that the Amazon Conduit will be fixed by tomorrow. I will post here as soon as I get word that it's back up and running.
I know this has been frustrating and I am sorry there wasn't more I could do to make it less so. I really appreciate your patience though.
Cheers,
