Mutual Weirdness

So apparently I'm all about change right now. Or something. In addition to trying to lose weight I've decided to learn a new language. While going through the Yuku Support forums the other day I came across a link left by Arizona for duolingo. It is a language learning program much like Rosetta Stone only it is completely free. You can do it on the computer or via app on your phone or tablet. I've decided to start with German since I took a few years of it in high school, a semester in college and spent 18 days there one summer. With all of that I still only know a few words and phrases and not even very well. When I first started on it, I tried to test out of the first lesson. Half way through I realized that I needed to just start from the beginning because I wasn't getting very many of the questions right. So I am currently learning some new words, remembering ones I used to know and still trying to figure out how to spell all of it! The other neat thing about thi...

Over the last several years I've gained weight. A significant amount of weight. I realized that I was gaining but didn't pay attention to it. I was happy with my life so it didn't matter. I'm still happy with my life but I've realized that if I don't make some changes it won't always be happy. I've actually known this for quite some time now, but I've not found the motivation to actually do anything about it. Any reason that I could come up with to lose weight was always one that I could put off or shrug off as not really all that important. But now my parents have decided they are taking the entire family on a cruise next summer. That gives me a little less than one year to lose some weight. I don't really have to weight to go on the cruise but I know I'll be able to have a lot more fun and do more things if I do lose some weight. So I've made a commitment to myself to lose at least 50lbs before the cruise. My over all goal is much la...

A while back I decided that I needed something to set on the edge of the patio area of our apartment to keep people from using it as a short cut to their front doors. I decided that a long flower planter would do the trick and look really nice. Only problem is that I've had no money to buy anything of the sort. A few weeks ago I told my dad about it and what I would like. I didn't intent for him to make me anything but he then surprised me with this: He made it himself out of the the posts he removed from their deck railing. He was replacing them with metal ones so that it will be safer for the grandkids so the wood would have gone to waste if he hadn't made something out of it. I'm so glad he thought of me and went this route. Now I just have the job of trying to keep the plants alive. The one in the middle is a geranium while the others are rose moss. It stands about a foot tall and is about 2 feet long. The little pot you see on the ground beside it is what is cl...

The past week our town has been having its annual Riverfest celebration, basically just a big party along the river that goes through town. You have to buy a button to get in and then there are a lot of free things to do. There are some not free things also. I have a friend at work, Nikki, who told me before Riverfest started that she wanted to go paddle boating as it is her favorite thing. If you don't know what a paddle boat is, it is a small fiber glass or plastic boat that seats 2 people side by side. they have what is similar to bicycle pedals in front of each person that are used to turn a paddle to make the boat go with a small handle to steer it. When Nikki told me about her desire she told me that she normally ends up having to go alone as she never has anyone to go with her. I thought about offering to go at the time but I was just getting over being sick. After the weekend passed and we were back at work I asked her if she had gone to which she told me no and wasn...

So my husband and I have to do our laundry at the public laundry room at our apartment complex because our washing machine broke a good 2 years ago and we can't afford to replace it. Anyway we went down to do our weekly chore found this posted to the bulletin board... In case you can't read it, it says: --------- Dear A******, I hope you enjoy my jeans, running shorts, dress shirt, tan sock, and black sock. I hope you're wearing them when you are met with karma. DIE, Thanks! P.S. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES UNATTENDED, residents. --------- Now I don't know about anyone else but we always sit on the nice comfortable couch that is provided down there and wait for our laundry to be done rather than just leave it. Obviously we are in the minority since we always see other loads running down there but never anyone else hanging around. What we find even funnier about all of this is the randomness of the taken items. It makes me think that these items were not taken...

So yesterday was a bit scary. As you may or may not know, I work in a county government office that is housed inside of a courthouse. I do not work for the courts, I just work in the courthouse. Our building has security that every non-employee has to go through before being allowed into the building. Any guns, knives or other dangerous objects are confiscated. I work on the third floor of an 11 story building. My desk sits in the hallway so that I can help direct all the lost souls and make sure they get where they need to go. The main reason I get so many lost people on my floor is that the city courthouse across the street has courtrooms on the 3rd floor over there. So I'm very exposed to anything that might happen. Yesterday I was at my desk helping an employee set up a package for FedEx when all of a sudden a member of the Sheriff's office come dashing up to my desk from down the hallway. "We have word of a man with a gun in the courthouse. Everyone needs to ...

It's been nearly a year now since I last posted. I've been thinking about trying to get back into blogging, but I'm not quite sure what to write about. Life has been kinda busy yet boring all at the same time. I'm busy at work, but it isn't exactly anything that would be all that interesting to talk about. And then money is tight so we don't go out much. We'll see. Maybe I'll come up with something more interesting to do with this space.

...Where Science Meets Imagination I meant to make this post well over a month ago, but better late than never huh? Early in June the Hubby and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary. How did we do so? Well, we took a trip to Exploration Place to see the traveling exhibit, Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination. The exhibit opened Memorial Weekend in May and will be there until Labor Day Weekend in September. The exhibit hosts over 80 props from all six movies and includes many displays showing the development of robotic technology developed from the imagined technologies of the movies. It is a wonderful exhibit and if you are anywhere near Wichita, KS I recommend going to see it. If you are not near here, well, I'm sorry, you might check to see if it will be coming to a city near you. It will be traveling the world. And I don't want to disappoint, what would a blog post be with out some pictures? The Hubby Yours Truely Yoda!

Time for an update! I am finally once again a part of the workforce! I've officially been back to work for 3 and a half weeks now. I'm an Executive Secretary for the County Manager's Office and I'm really enjoying it. I'm making a bit less money than I did at my previous job, but considering we pay less in rent here it makes up for it. I have to dress and look a lot nicer for this job, but that isn't such a bad habit to get into. Though that means I have to actually spend money on clothes and makeup. And shoes...oh how I loath shoes. Never anything cute in the big foot section, at least not at the stores I go to. I refuse to pay more than $30 for a pair of shoes that are just going to wear out in 6 months anyways. Only time I've spent more was in high school/college when I'd buy Doc Martins. $100 for a pair of shoes seems silly, but I'd wear a pair of those for 3 years, and I'm talking every day! Bah, but enough about shoes. I think I need to g...

Contribution by Paula Gonzales   My daughter is taking an economics class in college and, while home one weekend, spent a good portion of a Saturday searching the internet. She had to present a comparative report on television and internet services and city infrastructure within three major cities across the United States. The first place she looked was http://www.tvbydirect.com/ . It sounds like a boring report to me but she really gets into economics and statistics and she had a great time compiling the information she gathered. She wants to be an economist and I can see her working in Washington or at the state or federal level elsewhere, solving issues in education, health and the environment. Or she might be hired by a large corporation, research firm, or think tank, so to speak. She definitely enjoys analyzing data, conducting surveys, and preparing reports and charts. What sounds boring to some of us is quite exciting to those who love to analyze and sol...

So this last week was spring break. That  being said it obviously rained most of the week. But that isn't what made this week interesting for us. On Monday we noticed that the carpet in the short hallway of our apartment. Now being that we are on the first floor of a two story building we knew it wasn't from the rain. We called in maintenance on Tuesday morning and they showed up quickly. Right away it was decided that our hot water heater had a leak in the bottom. So they spent a good part of the day taking the old one out and bringing in a new one. They left behind a fan to dry out the floor and since they tore out some of the padding under the carpet we were told to expect a visit from some people to come and replace it. They showed up on Thursday to replace the padding. Went quick and they were out of here in no time. We thought that would be the end of it. We were wrong. That night on the way to bed I decided to check to make sure that it was dry since the carpet in th...

Posted by Arden Wallace After eating dinner at our neighbor’s house the other day, we decided to compare cable companies . The reason I decided to look into it was because the neighbor’s told us how much they were paying for their service. It was a lot less expensive than our television price. After doing the comparison, I found a way to upgrade our service and actually save money by switching companies. So with the amount of money that I save every month now, I have started to put it away. I put it into a special account that I save money for Christmas gifts. It is not a ton of money every month, but each little bit adds up. I always find myself around the Christmas holidays with no money. I end up putting stuff on the credit card and end up taking almost an entire year to pay off. By the time Christmas rolls around this year, hopefully I will have a little chunk of change and I will not have to put everything on the credit card this year!

I've been a horrible slacker with posting here. Though really it probably has more to do with the fact that there really isn't much going on in my neck of the woods. Sadly I'm still unemployed though looking. I must say that I've been in a terrible funk. I don't have much to do each day other than fill out job applications. The games I play haven't been holding a lot of interest and I find myself sleeping quite a bit more than usual. I should try to get back into exercising but the problem is I don't find that fun or enjoyable either. My mind has a way of avoiding any activity that I find to be "boring". That being said, I really don't have much else to say. Well, if you hear of any great paying jobs that don't require a lot of talent/experience, please let me know! Personally I'd love a work from home job, but I'm not holding my breath. And just so that this post isn't completely dull and down here is a cute image for you. ...

Tomorrow is Valentines Day. Men, make sure you get your significant other something nice or this might happen...

Written by my friend Betty Walls My father and I enjoy watching golf together on Sunday afternoons. He can no longer play golf but he knows the game well and enjoys following the professionals from one tournament to the next. The great thing about expertsatellite is the many options for sports viewing. My dad and I talk about our favorite player, Phil Mickelson, and his family, as if we know him. A sports figure who comes into your home regularly through your television, just like any television show actor, becomes family to you. I feel as if I know Kathie Lee Gifford because she has been a part of my morning television viewing for years and years, first when she was on with Regis Philbin and now as the co-anchor with Hoda Kotbe on the fourth hour of the Today Show. Dad and I have a connection when we sit together and watch golf. I listen to him fuss about Tiger Woods and cheer on the underdog, even though his true loyalty lies with Phil. But the greatest resul...

Guest post written by Kenneth Peters I always loved watching the movie Grease. I remember that my older sister took me to the movies to see it when I was younger. I think that if our parents found out at the time, I might have gotten in trouble, actually both of us! But I loved it even more over the years. Then when I heard that there was a touring Grease play coming to town, I thought that it might be fun for me and my sister to go and see it just like old times! I looked onlien to see if I could find soem good discounted ticket prices and while I was doing that, I ran across some info on Miracle Ear . I actually passed it on to my sister because she kept talking about how she needed some hearing aids. So I listended to her and she actually got the hearing aids! I was even more excited that she got them before we went to the play. I didn't want to have to repeat evertyhing that they said during the play!

Just another image I found ages ago, but I'm pretty sure this what my cats dream of after they play with a laser pointer. I hate to think what they might manage to do should they ever figure out how to use any technology.

I found this image ages ago and just thought I'd share. It really is true though. One of my cats follows me in nearly every time I use the bathroom. She's just there to be pet and knows I'm a captive audience for at least a few moments.

I have finally received my wedding pictures and I've selected a few to share. Enjoy! Just the Two of us :) His parents, us and My parents The ceremony in front of my parents pool house. Everyone! The Cake! The Ham! No he didn't really get any of the bubbly.