Contributors

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Up with the times.

My stepmom has an email account!

I set it up for her of course, a shiny new gmail account :) I hope she likes it, and signs in once every 9 months to keep it from being dormant.

So what is new here.

I am looking forward to the long weekend, starting some time tomorrow when I can get out of work.

Plans for me... A Physical Training session, a non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner, a professional massage, followed by 2 days of nothing.

Ahhhh... Can you just hear my stress let go and my mind unwind?

I plan to spend at least one morning/afternoon with a flatbed scanner and a bunch of old photos, get those digitized, and I would like to get together a collection of photos with my Grandpa B in them. Make a collage or a slide show.

That's my plan, what is yours?

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Costumes costumes

Why do I love them so?

Costumes are so much fun for me, and I evangalize to everyone! Thanks to the collection I have I get to loan out my old pieces from previous years to get everyone in the party.

So I guess I will break my secret, if you wanted to know what our costumes would be...

Brandon is going as Indiana Jones, and I am going as his companion in "Temple of Doom" Willa Scott :) Its going to be hard to sell because no one will knowwho she is, but as long as I hang around my man and he calls me "sweetheart" every now and then they should have an idea ;)

Photo of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,  Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Busy Bee...

Well my Girl Scout plans are back in full swing and I have 3 new girls. Only one has made it to a meeting yet, but the second will start after October, and the third has a conflict with our regular meeting night so she will only be participating in things outside of that. I call her our "member at large".

I have also started a few other new things this year. I have joined some social and career networking groups. One is from my sorority affilition in college and another is the Society of Women Engineers. Both are kind of fledgeling groups in Rochester, starting up in recent years locally and trying to attract enough members to keep whatever charter agreements need to be kept with the national organization. That fact aside I am going to try not to take on any official roles even though both groups have been asking for officer volunteers.

In addition to that some women I know here at IBM Rochester get together for lunch once a month and I have been invited to attend that.

It might seem crazy to be adding these 3 things on top of an already busy schedule, but I feel I have been ignoring my career networking for far too long and even the sorority group offers opportunites for that. This basically adds 3 to 5 activities on my calendar a month and I can always choose to skip one if I am swamped at work or something.

Cheers to my career!

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Welp I had a bad day

Welp, I had a bad day yesterday.

I lost another girl from my Girl Scout troop, she dropped out, so we only have 4 registered scouts so far this year. There are a couple of prospects to recruit new members but they are not guarantees.

Every week for the last 2 months (or even more frequently) I end up discussing the job losses at work. I am a contract employee and they really give us almost no notice if they lay you off (48 hours notice you can consider yourself lucky). I am safe for this round, but it leaves a “sword hanging over my head by a thread” kind of atmosphere that permeates most work related conversations. Some days my job can be very disappointing, a lot of work for not any significant result, and yesterday was one of those.

I (along with 90% of women in America) have a struggle with my weight. I am up 15 lbs from my great weight loss from last year and my eating and exercise habits had taken a huge dive around March of this year. Yesterday I ate a healthy lunch, ordering a cucumber/tomato salad with a light vinaigrette sauce and a smaller portion of pasta. Unfortunately that left me so hungry in the afternoon (and I was already craving chocolate) that I ate 4 mini candy bars which a co-worker happens to have a supply of. Yesterday I was supposed to go to Jazzercise but I couldn’t get out of work in time (class is at 4:15 on Tuesdays) so I vowed to go home and work out. Instead I went home, ate more chocolate, and watched TV instead of working out!

So any normal day issues like these come up and I deal with them just fine, but yesterday was a convergence. I think in addition to the losing 2 girl scouts for this year which makes me very sad, another big component of my bad day yesterday was our lack of plans for our wedding. We have been going back and forth on a couple different issues and some talk last week finally got me on the warpath such that we have a specific wedding we are now trying to make happen. Getting advice on times of year that would be good and possible event planners local to our destination as well as a lot of online searching of our own on costs has been starting, but at a snails pace. It saddens me SO much that my wedding might be a financial burden to my friends and family, or worse yet that none of them will make it! Of all our ideas there was one that stood out to me as a great way to go, and Brandon agrees.

Today has gone much better by far, but my normally sunny disposition still has a bit of cloud cover.

Bright Smiles and Sunshine I pray are in my future.

Friday, September 08, 2006

That's it! This is the last straw...

No more chocolate for me! I just had a wicked case of hiccups which I can blame soley on an innocent looking kit kat bar!

I apologize to anyone who was within earshot of my 'hic 'hic.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Friday, August 25, 2006

Birthday Flowers


I just wanted to share my beautiful birthday flowers with you all. Thanks Ron, Laural, Mel and Robert! Posted by Picasa

Thursday, August 24, 2006

And the thunder rolls...

Its crazy around here right now!

For the first time in my life, lightning struck so close to me that I heard a dull sound (like a full oil drum being slapped) and was scared out of my mind.

I think we are out of the woods now for a tornado, but I am hanging out in the baement still ;)

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Yo! We Won!

Since my team was not really enthusiastic about our win last night I have to do a little online celebration here...

We were in the womens city sand volleyball league, and had a really great average, going into the final last night in the #1 spot. We played two matches last night and won all our games, 2 to win the first match, and 2 more to win the second!

Go Team!

Ok enough celebration. Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Here is the little man.. Brandons nephew Isaak!



 Posted by Picasa

So you think you can ....

DANCE!

I love this show :)

I'm watching the finale right now on Tivo. I wish I was a real dancer, they are having SO much fun! Every week they make me just want to get up and dance.

Heidi, Travis, Benji and Donyelle... I guess I voted for Heidi and Travis... so if I had to choose one.

I like Travis best. I'll post later and say if I was right.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

My Superhero Survey

I am Catwoman:

I have had a tough childhood,

I know how to be a thief and exploit others

but I stand up for society's cast-offs.

MEOW!

See below for further results...




















Catwoman
80%
Supergirl
67%
Superman
65%
The Flash
65%
Robin
62%
Wonder Woman
57%
Spider-Man
55%
Batman
55%
Green Lantern
50%
Iron Man
50%
Hulk
45%


Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Monday, June 26, 2006

Fitness Fluke

Well still working on the fitness front, but thought it would be very borring for you all if I just went on and on about all those successes or failures (as the case is right now).

So moving on to other things.

Big things in my life right now.

I called my mother yesterday. We chatted for a very short time and set up a time to meet up when I am in Anchorage this coming weekend.

Yup, in less than 1 week I will be back in the state I was born in! I started doing tourist research yesterday, but didn't spend enough time to actually narrow down anything. I think I'll consult with my cohorts about that.

Wish Me Luck!

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Renewed Effort

Renewed effort on the fitness front means I need a plan.

Some wrist issues recently made me drop Jazzercise for May, but the nice weather has brought some alternatives.
  • Walking with Kelly (and Abby in the stroller)
  • Hiking at Quarry Hill during the week
  • Treadmill in my basement
  • Workout DVD's
  • Jogging in my neighborhood
  • Bike rides on the bike trail near my house
So whats a good plan. For the week of May 22nd I will...
1) Pack a lunch 3 times a week (include a large salad)
2) Instead of my default breakfast of v8 juice and toast or cereal... have fruit
3) In addition to the items above which are more "activities" than workouts, strengthen my wrists by starting light weightlifing 3x a week
4) GO TO BED always by 11pm during the week

Those of you who know me are free and encouraged to ask me how I'm doing on my goals next week.

Mel, where you at? What are your goals!

Sunday, March 26, 2006

March Madness

No I'm not into basketball, or whatever sport that is that has March Madness. For me the last two years March has ment... Jazzercise water bottle contest!

I belive me and my 2 partners are just about to get enough points to earn it. I can't wait! I have stepped it back up to 2 times a week (having to go some Saturday mornings) and we are going to get enough points when I go to class tomorrow.

Monday 9-5 Work, 5:30-6:30 Jazzercise, 7-8 Girl Scout leader meeting, 8-9 Volleyball...

Dont ask me when I'm going to be grabbing a bite to eat or how I'm going to make the 15 min drive to Volleyball with 10 min to spare to get my shoes on etc.

This only happens once a month Volleyball and my GS Leader meeting on the same Monday night and if it were not for the Jazzercise contest I would just cut that part out of my evening and make it less "mad dash".

March news:
  • Taxes kinda suck, even when I actually get them filed I will have a nagging feeling that I missed some deduction or tax law that would make my refund more...
  • A good friend just got engaged, Congrats! I hope you invite me to this wedding :)
  • There is one last Girl Scout Cookie Booth sale to sell Cookies. It will be our last chance to make the money we will need to use for our 2 night camping trip at the end of the year.
  • I love my Sci Fi/ Fantasy Book club, I feel blessed to find people who like to discuss books and are always willing to read something new, even if its not what they voted as their first choice.
  • Ive been Ice Skating 3 times this month! It started as a Girl Scout thing (Winter Sports Badge) but both Brandon and I really want to make it back for open skate some nights in April.

Deadwood 2006 Mardi Gras!

 Posted by Picasa

Ice Skating for Scouts

My friend Kelly and I, she was helping me with my Girl Scouts on the ice. Some had never been skating before... kinda scary, but everyone tried hard and we had some good progress! Posted by Picasa

Thursday, March 02, 2006

2006... Is it really here already

Can't I just pretend that 2006 just started on March 1st... The last 2 months have been busy and fun... but not healthy or productive. I have had a lot of things going on.

Best of 2006 so far:

We are going to AK for a hiking trip. All planned out by REI Adventures and 2 of our great friends from Rochester will be on the same trip!

Girl Scout cookie sales are almost over :)

Celebrating Mel's birthday out on the town in Minneapolis.

My own Techno Dance night out on the town in Minneapolis in late January.

A 3 day weekend in Deadwood SD for the Mardi Gras Celebration.

Anyone else have best of 2006?

Friday, January 13, 2006

Aches and Pains

  • I have the memory of an 80 year old woman. (no offense grandma)
  • I have a right shoulder pain for 2 weeks with no apparent cause.
  • I had mild back pain for the last 2 weeks that I attribute to sporadic exercise (ab routines).
I'm beginning to think I am no spring chicken anymore! A friend was telling me about his plan to start going to a gymnastics gym on Saturdays during open Gym and practice falls and rolls... so he can start jumping out of tree's and leaping across the building-tops. Aside from the building tops and tree's that is always where I picture myself in my dreams... and somewhere I wanted to try to become in real life.

Returning from Christmas vacation has been a shock for my system physically. Before break I was sick, and during break I took a vacation from working out as well. This week I tried to get back and managed 3 workouts (M, T, R). Two of them were Slim in 6 BeachBody videos and the other my Jazzercise class.

'Cheers! Here is to hoping that the aches and pains of starting up my workouts again go away soon!

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Sign of a borring blog..

Its sad when you dont have any posts for a month and no one asks you "Whats been going on, post already"!

Means that I don't have a lot of readers :(

That is ok I guess. It is still a fun place for me to write about what has been going on.

I spent the first part of the holidays vising family in ND, and the second part hanging out in Rochester. While in Rochester we did a lot of sleeping in and bumming around the house. Got some much needed rest.

So much so in fact that trying to wake up for work this morning was a big shock to my system!

Hope everyone had a great holiday.