Sesame Seeds

I'm making sesame chicken tonight. Here's a grocery tip:

Sesame seeds are way cheaper from the bulk dispensers than in the little McCormick bottles.

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Clooney

My daughter went to a movie with some girlfriends last weekend, and there was a preview for a George Clooney movie. She told me she almost went "WOO!" (because she's used to me going "woo!" over George) but it occurred to her that she would never live down "woo"-ing for "an old guy." Ahahahaha!

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School supplies and stuff

Middle school supplies are impossible to get, because you don't get the list until the first day of school. By then, everything is gone. I'm still on the lookout for colored pencils, if anyone knows where I can find them. lol.

Senator Craig wants us all to know he's "never been gay." I wasn't aware one could change one's sexual orientation. Do we care if he considers himself to be gay? I consider him to be creepy. I just keep looking at his wife and wondering what is going through her head while she has to stand beside him.

I just heard about the two-year-old who was abandoned at WalMart. Talk about scarring someone for life. Poor kid.

I saw something called kite boarding today. It looks fun. Of any of the "-boarding" sports, that is probably the one I would try.

We're packing up for the reunion this weekend. I hope it's not too rainy to swim!

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Katrina 2 Years Later

Thank you Anderson Cooper and Oprah for at least pointing out the fact that state and local government have been at fault for much of what has happened in New Orleans. Heck, Mayor Nagin could have prevented much of what has come to be by getting his citizens out of town when he still had time.

Governor Blanco turned down the first offers of assistance from the feds back then. What a numbnuts. I have not one ounce of respect for her either.

Between those two losers, you can spot the biggest problems in New Orleans. ABC news said that Mississippi's comparative success in rebuilding is related to the state and local governments disbursing local and federal funds and running programs in a more timely and efficient manner.

Oprah was saying that people around the country are tired of hearing about New Orleans. She said they donated time and money and support for a while, then moved on, and that's how these things go. I think there is a perception that many people there are not helping themselves. How long are you willing to live for free in a crappy trailer before you move on? If there aren't jobs there, move to another town down the road. There isn't good health care. The crime rate is high. You do not have to live there and suffer to the point of suicide. It's plain crazy.

The lady moaning about her four kids' health problems due to the crappy FEMA trailers killed me. What mother would stay in a place where her children are sick?! Stop whining and get your kids out of there. Live in a tent if you have to.

People are complaining that their insurance didn't cover flooding. Nope. Homeowners insurance does not cover flooding. They make that pretty clear. Get flood insurance. If you didn't have it, I wish you the best in finding donations or grants to rebuild your house. I beg you not to rebuild in a flood zone, especially without flood insurance, so we all don't have to bail you out again.

And on that note, what is the point of having any insurance if the federal government is going to bail me out? Think of the money I could save on all those premiums. Some people's sense of entitlement bewilders me. The other night there was a very well-to-do woman on a news show passionately describing her disgust with FEMA (complete with tears) because she hasn't received her Road Home check. This lady had first floor damage only to her house, and has already received $190,000 from her insurance company. Cry me a river.

In the end, it's hard to be enthusiastic about rebuilding a place where half the people have left, and the risk of re-flooding is high. The people who want to stay, but are having trouble surviving there, have to find a leader to represent them in local government. Nothing will ever get done without some kind of leadership. Hopefully, someone there will take control and get things moving. Someone who is open to people of all races and backgrounds coming in to help. Someone who will keep national attention on New Orleans and let people know specifically what we can do to help.

Mayor Pitt, anyone? heh.

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Ten on Tuesday

10 Things I Like About My Job
Part 2 from last week's question... again considering my paid webmistressing...

1. Being in-the-know for a particular subject, and sharing that information with others.
2. The flexibility of working at home, and being able to drop everything if necessary.
3. Meeting people out-and-about who "know" me from my websites. That is always amusing.
4. Search engine optimization. Oooh, it never ends, and it is SO fun. Really!
5. Hearing from people who have success from their participation on the sites, especially organizers of charitable events.
6. Advertisers who know what they want, and are easy to work with. That would honestly be almost all of them. Many of them have invited me to events for free, which is very sweet.
7. Details. I love the detailed, organized work of creating web pages and content for the particular types of sites I do, which involve active calendars and directories.
8. Learning new web design tips and tricks.
9. Finding the perfect font for a graphic.
10. Choosing the color scheme for a new website or a revamp.

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The C Word

A reminder-
Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Cancer is on TLC Wednesday night at 9pm EST. There's also a book and a book tour that is coming through Round Rock in September.

Incidentally, Kris' website (above) led me to find the amazing Planet Cancer, which is for cancer patients age 18-25, and happens to be based here in Austin, but is nationwide. I would have killed for a group like this when I had cancer in college. SO awesome. I hope young adults know about this and other groups out there for them!

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Back to School

Back, back, back to school agaaaaaaain...

The kiddo has school and two teams worth of cheer practice two days a week, rendering her absolutely unavailable for other activities on those days. Luckily her band sectionals fall on another day or she wouldn't even have time to eat dinner!

As for me, I'll have to get used to this 6 a.m. wake-up schedule again. Blah. I need a nap already.

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Mission: Man Band

I want to like this show. I just feel like they aren't showing us the good footage. I like the outtakes. Maybe I just have the sense of humor of a 15-year-old boy.

Have they sung yet on the show? If so, I missed that episode. I keep getting repeats of the "learning the song" episode on my DVR.

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Wha?

Miss South Carolina's answer at the Miss Teen pageant
She got 4th place, too. Scary, ain't it? Poor Mario. He must have been cracking up inside.

In other craziness, Michael Vick pleads guilty to federal dogfighting charges, and outside stand crowds of fans chanting his name as he emerges from the courthouse. That is just messed up.

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Dragonflies

We are having a dragonfly invasion. So gross. They're so huge, and they like to run into people.

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More cooking

Last week was Bunco and the Adventure of the Mango Salsa.

This weekend is Game Night, which shall feature my new recipe for roasted onion guacamole. It's yummolicious. Really, I could just eat a bowl of the roasted onions. They're roasted in balsamic vinegar and olive oil. OMG. So good.

Next weekend is Family Reunion, with... oh! Nothing cooked by me! Whee!

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IKEA

First trip to IKEA today. I loooove the store.

One thing- they had a problem with the fire alarm. It kept going off and going off about every 2 minutes. It was truly ear-splitting.

After it stopped (half an hour or so later), they made an announcement that they had been testing the alarm. If you were testing, wouldn't you
a) test it after hours, and
b) announce the test before beginning?

I think it was broken, and they didn't want us to leave. Thing is- you can't leave. It's a maze. You know? It's got arrows directing you and everything. It would have taken us 30 minutes at a full-out run to get out of there. So yeah, it was most excellent that it wasn't a real fire.

My favorite stuff was the lighting. They have the coolest inexpensive lighting ever.

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CJ in PA school

Just heard from Cathy J. She's settled in to begin Physician's Assistant school at UTMB in Galveston. She has an apartment there and everything.

BEACH TRIIIIIIP!

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Ten on Tuesday

10 Things You Don't Like About Your Job

I'm a stay-at-home mom, but for purposes of this meme, I'll consider my non-Foundation websites as a job. Here goes:

1. Advertisers who try to get extra things for free.
2. Online info sources that become woefully out-of-date. If you're not going to keep your info current, your website is a waste of internet space.
3. Paying both halves of my social security. "Sole proprietorship" has its downsides.
4. The quarterly changing of the calendar on the sites. This is a somewhat tedious process. HTML may be a pain for calendars, but it gets you top rank on search engine results, so I suffer through it.
5. People who frequently change the dates of their events.
6. Tracking industry websites that are offline to see if they come back to life, which they usually do. Where do they go and why?
7. Working by myself. I like to be at an office, with lots of people around. Plus, there's no Happy Hour.
8. Selling advertising space. I am not a salesperson. Luckily the ads sell themselves most of the time.
9. Feeling obligated to be at everyone's service on nights and weekends, since I'm working from home.
10. Having to tweak an image to fit too much information into a specific amount of space.

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Have you ever...

Have you ever heard an Amber Alert on the radio? How about around midnight, alone in your car, on a dark road on a Friday night?

SCARY.

First, your favorite song simply stops mid-verse. Next, you get the annoying signal that "in case of a real emergency, would be followed by information and instructions..."

Then you wait.

For the instructions.

And you think... TERRORIST ATTACK!

Then the radio goes from stereo to mono, and a police officer starts talking in that crackly police radio voice.

*crackle crackle* "This is an Amber Alert." *crackle crackle*

Since you're a little freaked, you think, I know Orange and Red. I don't know all the alert levels, but Amber canNOT be good.

"We are looking for 1-year-old John Smith..."

Then you realize, Oh. AMBER Alert. Got it.

*crackle crackle* "He has been abducted by 26-year-old..."

I am telling you. This officer sounds like he is talking directly to you from his radio. Best idea ever for catching these fools. It's just a little creepy in the middle of the night.

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Going back to Vegas

Kathy and I will be going to Vegas, as soon as we can get our schedules organized. She's the world traveler for her company and I have that surgery in October, so it looks like it'll be late winter or spring before we can get away. I've never been there in any season but summer, so it sounds GREAT. Woo!

This time I'm staying on the strip. Staying off the strip is just fine, but I suppose you have to stay in the middle of the action at least once.

My family reunion is coming up in Dallas Labor Day weekend! Everyone seems to be ready and waiting. I just hope the teenagers don't get too bored. They'll be looking for internet access as soon as that happens. The hotel has a pool, and so does the venue we've arranged for the family activities, so hopefully that will be a big source of entertainment.

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Dunder Mifflin website

LOL.

Dunder Mifflin is committed to improving the environment. That's why we plant a tree for each and every metric ton of paper that we ship...

The new official DM website:
http://www.dundermifflinpaper.biz

With an 'intranet" section coming in September.

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It's Raining Again...

...oh-oh it's raaaaining again. I like the rain. We haven't had any flooding, so it's nice.

I'm scheduled for surgery in October. My doc says that she is always getting patients who request a hysterectomy because they just don't want to have a period anymore. Wow- that's really drastic!

I'm making mango salsa for Bunco tonight. We'll see how that goes. I've already made the mistake of buying the wrong jalapenos. You know how you always have to make 3 Home Depot trips to finish a house project? I'm that way with recipes and trips to the grocery store.

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Promotions

DH got promoted! He's now a manager at AMD. On his second day in that position, he had to get up early to be at a company event. What a welcome!

Kathy L has also been promoted! She is now the queen of marketing at her company.

Big congrats!

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Man Band

So I see on "The View" that some former boy-banders are in a new VH1 show called "Mission: Man Band" on Monday nights. And evidently I've missed the first two episodes. Bah. Anyway, Chris Kirkpatrick looks great. The show takes place in Chris' house. The other three guys are from L.F.O, 98 Degrees and Color Me Badd. In the show, they are working up to a group performance at an Orlando basketball game.

You have to watch the Extras from Episode 1 at VH1 here:
http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/mission_manband/series.jhtml

The "bathroom humor" one had me in TEARS. Aahahahahaaaa!!!

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Why men fear women

From one of the articles at Hyster Sisters:

Why men fear women --
You gotta be afraid of someone who can bleed for a whole week and still not die.

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Ten on Tuesday

10 Interesting Websites You'd Like to Share

1. El Surfo- Things to Do: local activities in the US and around the world
2. TV Rage: everything you want to know about any television show
3. Scrap Maps: scrapbooking layout sketches for the uninspired
4. Da Font: fonts
5. Give Anything: gift certificates to just about anywhere
6. Dining Out with Rob Balon: Austin restaurant openings, closings, reviews, etc.
7. ComingSoon.net: covers upcoming movies
8. Cruise Clues: a must for every cruise and cruiser
9. Google Gadgets: fun little things you can add to your blog or website
10. RxList: detailed info on prescription and non-prescription drugs

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Kathy's mom

Kathy L's mom had her kidney transplant last week! She's doing really well, and should be able to get back to her traveling retirement very soon. Very exciting!

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Random ramblings...

I saw the cutest baby blue VW Bug today! SO cute. Too bad it's a tiny deathmobile, just waiting to be run over by a big ol' SUV on the freeway.

Some of our Mothers Club babies have now found each other as teens on MySpace. Now THAT is social networking. Or a small world.

Cheer camp is in full force. Long days, but it gets the kiddo back to a normal bedtime before school starts.

I found out all the nitty gritty details of my hysterectomy from the OB/GYN today. Did you know that the uterus does NOT hold in your girl parts? The vagina is actually held in place by the cervical ligaments. So it doesn't just fall out or anything. I know you were wondering.

Every time I talk about OB/GYN's I think of David F. His dad is one, you know. Man, that's an old joke.

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Finished!

WOOOOOO!!!!! We took our Hawaii vacation in 2001, and this morning I have completed the scrapbook. The last three pages have been waiting to be finished for a few years now.

I have only one more unfinished scrapbook- DD's school one. I have to do 2nd-6th grades. After that, I'm back to albums with pockets and a little note area for each photo. Archivally-safe, of course, and much less time-consuming. I'll still do albums for other people, and some digital stuff.

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Derailed

Man, this is a blah movie. I remember reading a review back then that summed up my basic feelings on it. You just don't care about the characters at all. We don't get to know the guy much before he starts cheating on his wife, and we don't know Jennifer Aniston's character at all before she starts cheating on her husband. So pretty quickly, they are just a couple of cheaters. Eh.

Then about halfway through, things start getting really crazy and you think, Why on earth doesn't he just tell his wife he cheated and get some police help in dealing with these wackos?

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Saturday Six

1. What is your favorite flavor of chicken wings? How many do you generally order at a time?
Medium hot wings. I order 10, but could probably be content with 8.

2. How often do you check out a restaurant’s nutrition information before going there to have dinner?
Never. Who does that?

3. If you have ever done so, what was your biggest surprise in reading the calorie or fat counts?
I recently saw the McDonalds kids meals ads in my magazines. They point out that the McNuggets kids meal has less fat and calories than a grilled cheese sandwich. That was a shock. Of course, the sandwich probably has less beaks and feet.

4. Take the quiz: What does your pizza say about you?

What Your Pizza Reveals

People may tell you that you have a small appetite... but you aren't under-eating. You just aren't a pig. You consider pizza to be bread... very good bread. You fit in best in the Midwest part of the US. You like food that's traditional and well crafted. You aren't impressed with "gourmet" foods. You are dependable, loyal, and conservative with your choices. You have many conflicting and complementary layers to your personality. You should consider traveling to Australia. The stereotype that best fits you is emo. You think you're special... and you kind of are.

Ahahahahaa!!!! That is hilarious.

5. What style of food do you think is generally served at what you’d consider the most romantic of restaurants?
Italian

6. What type of food would you be likely to sample first: food that is hot and spicy or food that is more mellow but has a richer taste?
Mellow and rich.

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Double Teaming again

Well, the cheer teams are finally formed for 07-08, and DD is double-teaming on Junior Coed and Senior Coed. It's a lot of work learning two routines for each competition and all the practice time and stuff (along with things like... oh... band and school), but she's done it before, so I'm sure she'll do great.

We're going to watch the Derailed movie tonight. I'm hoping it's good!

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Favorite decor stores and a new sandwich shop

My favorite decor stores right now? Pier 1 and Z Gallerie.

Pier 1 is a little challenging, because a lot of the stuff is the "import" style, which doesn't match my decor in the slightest. I just love their furniture and accessories- the colors especially.

Z Gallerie is in Dallas, so I have to shop on Dallas trips or online. They also have the most amazing colors. Their stuff is more "transitional" style.

I have finally gone to a new restaurant that I actually liked. Yay! It's a chain sandwich place called Which 'Wich that just opened in Sunset Valley. They have you check off ingredients and condiments on a sandwich bag, which you just hand to the cashier. Very quick! No lines. All the sandwiches, from Reubens to shrimp po-boys to breakfast subs are one price (something like $4.25). They also serve real ice cream milkshakes and malts.

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Bush Press Conference

President Bush just called the Pakistanis "the Paks." Ahahahaa. I wonder what all the other countries' peoples' nicknames are in private conversation in Washington.

A reporter actually asked if the government is going to bail out people who have defaulted on their mortgages. Wow. Personal responsibility has just gone right out the window, hasn't it?

Speaking of mortgages, I've been thinking about the intricacies of private mortgage insurance. Why is the borrower paying insurance premiums that cover the lender on default? Shouldn't it cover the borrower? If it covers the lender, why isn't the mortgage company paying it? Hmm. It hurts my head.

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Chuzzle

Why can't any of you seem to keep me away from this game?!

(High score 371, 875.)

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Spam day! Whee!

My website email accounts, which have suckeriffic spam detection, are constantly filled with spam today. Every 5 minutes or so, I get a message about enlarging my *$^% or the dreaded ecard from a classmate. I set a filter for the ecards, postcards and greeting cards, but the rest are coming through. Wah.

In other news, DD is doing really well with her tumbling, and is working on her round-off back tuck. Woohoo!

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Predatory lending?

Some people are testifying before Congress about "predatory lending," where they claim mortgage companies loaned them money knowing they couldn't afford to make the payments.

In what universe would a company actually do that? Please. I don't buy it for one minute.

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Hysterectomy

Well, I'm finally doing it. I've talked about it for years, but I've finally had it with my out-of-control periods. TMI, but there you go. I guess that's why people always say they're having the surgery for "female problems."

I'm busy through September, so it'll be in October sometime. I'll get to prepare, so it shouldn't be too big a deal. I had an easy C-section, which evidently bodes well for this surgery.

I found a message board about it. (Don't I always?) I know a bunch of people who've had it. Any additional tips and tricks about pre-op/post-op would be appreciated. #1 on my list is a bell to summon my husband at my every post-op whim. Woo!

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Bourne Ultimatum

Whew! What a movie! I was on the edge of my seat almost the whole time. It was one of those where the audience clapped at the end. A must-see.

Incidentally, we saw Transformers, too. It was good. Not enough Josh Duhamel, but what can you do. I was surprised that I liked it at all, but it was really entertaining.

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Saturday Six

1. If you had to leave your job on Monday, how confident would you feel that you could get another job paying close to the same amount quickly?
Well, I'm not working now, but in the field I worked in before, it would be easy to find another job with similar pay in Austin.

2. How many different employers have you worked for over the years?
Gallagher's Steakhouse, some shoe store, A&M University, the CRO... Four.

3. Consider the employer you worked for the longest: how big of a factor was money in determining why you left or would consider leaving that employer?
I left to stay home with my daughter. Money was not an issue.

4. Take the quiz: How good are you with money?
You Are Great With Money
You know the value of a dollar - and you save and spend wisely.
By living below your means, you've set yourself up for a rich future.
And while it may hurt to sacrifice now, you'll probably have plenty of money later on.
You're on your way to riches - just keep it up.

5. When is the last time you actually were told what your credit score actually is?
I actually have never gotten my credit score.

6. Do you think that learning what your score would be would be likely to make you change anything you’re doing with money?
No.

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Immunizations

Got DD's tetanus booster today. She went to my doctor, instead of the pediatrician. She liked him so much, she's switching. I knew she would like him. I've really amassed a wonderful group of doctors over the years, I must say!

While we were there, we learned a lot about the Gardasil debate. It's become very ridiculous. The doc said that insurance companies are either not paying for it or only paying a low amount ($70 of the $110 price tag the docs must pay per shot). He said they always do it when a new vaccine comes out, as it can save them millions in just a year of denials. Crazy.

We also got into the "sexually transmitted disease" part of the debate. They give babies the Hepatitis B vaccine, and that is primarily a sexually transmitted disease. If you think 9-12 years old is too young to talk to your kids about sex, then don't talk about it. (Here's a clue though- they learn about it in school when they're 10 in Texas.) I don't know how diptheria is spread, but I know I want to be vaccinated against it. Don't get into the method of transmission if you don't want to. A vaccine for cancer. How can you pass it up. Anyway, he was awesome about explaining the moral debate part to her, while in the end, taking the question of morality out of the debate. As it should be.

The fear of a new vaccine? Three of our docs have said that there is no reason to fear Gardasil because it is new. The only thing they don't know yet is the possibility of needing a booster.

In the end, here's the deal. He said that right now, few doctors have the vaccine in-stock. They used to prescribe the vaccine and you would pay for it at the pharmacy and then bring it in for the shots. Now the pharmacists don't trust that people are storing it correctly before getting it to the doctor, so most pharmacies don't even carry it. Family practice doesn't give enough Gardasil shots to have it in-stock, but my OB/GYN has it on hand. So he said you can pay the full amount ($330) in cash and have the doc order it (or locate a doc that has it in-stock), or wait a year until the insurance companies start paying. I wonder how many people's daughters will needlessly get HPV in the year that they are making it difficult for everyone.

For all I know, my insurance already covers it. Must check!

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