Our first load of laundry is in the dryer. So far, so good. The washing machine didn't explode, burst into flames or leak water all over the floor, and the clothes came out clean. Can't ask for more than that. I'm anxious to see how well the "EVENHEAT™ with Auto Moisture Sensing Plus" thing works with the dryer. The drum has two moisture sensing strips on it and, supposedly, can tell when the clothes are dry. We'll see about that.

On a totally unrelated note, we've been robbed. Not inside, mind you, but outside in the vegetable garden. It would appear that some creature of the night has decided our corn stalks make for a nice appetizer. Several of them have been chewed down at the base and others have been just plain knocked over. After doing a bit of reading online, I'm fairly certain it's a raccoon looking for ears of corn, given the nature of how the stalks are knocked over and the fact that they're not really being eaten once they're down. Unfortunately for him/her, it's too early and there aren't any ears yet. Since we don't have that many stalks planted, we need to do something to stop these raids soon or we won't have any corn at all this year. I put in a call to Mr Moo's dad tonight. The electric fence charger is being dug out of storage as I write this and will be placed in our possession sometime this weekend. Now I just need to get Mr Moo to stop snickering and rubbing his hands together like Dr. Evil long enough to hook the thing up.

EDIT: Our clothes are dry! Dry, I tell you. DRY! And after just one cycle set to "normal". No more using the "most dry" setting and still having to run it an additional 20-30 minutes afterwards. Squeee!

I still haven't done a load of laundry with my new washer/dryer yet. Our old dryer used a foil vent hose, which the instructions for the new dryer specifically state not to use. I'm not too keen on burning my house to the ground so we're doing what the instructions say. Mr Moo bought some new pieces parts from Home Depot earlier in the week, but they didn't fit the space behind the dryer properly. He's since been on a quest to find some particular dryer vent parts called close elbows. They're elbow connectors that turn 90 degrees in less than 4.5 inches - exactly what we need. There is a place in Portland that carries them and today is the first day Mr Moo has time to get over there. Hopefully, by the end of this afternoon, I will be back in laundry business for the first time in nearly two weeks. If not, I'm going to be in trouble because I officially ran out of clean socks and underwear today. Eeep!

Moo's 10 Second Movie Review

I LOVED this movie. I adore Nathan Lane and he was fantabulous in this. I can't remember the last time a movie made me laugh out loud as hard or as often as I did with this film. Long live the classic Hollywood musical!

Wait a minute, my name's not "Alvin"... Someone else's life is flashing before my eyes. What the hell is that about?!?

TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (11.9 miles)

Today was the first day this week that I didn't get up, get dressed and run out the door, so I had no excuse to not workout. I did my 60 minutes and watched the first half of The Aviator. Can't say I'm all that impressed with the movie so far. I'll watch the rest of it either tonight or tomorrow. Let's hope the second half is better than the first.

Mr Moo's mobile phone has been dying a very slow and painful death for a while now. He sent me this email the other day and I had to laugh. I think he's finally hit the end of his rope.

Don't know... I tried turning it on last night when I was driving home to see if you still wanted me to go to the grocery store, and I couldn't turn it on.

Tonight, I try the hammer...

By request, Mr Moo's before and after weight loss photos:

He could be in an ad for a weight loss product, if he had used one. Just diet and exercise, my friends. Diet and exercise.

We have returned from our visit to the veterinarian without any loss of life or limb - much to the vet's delight. Josie has had a bath and is currently taking a nap.

Doctor was relieved to see that all of the infection in her eye is gone and there are no ulcerations present. The cloudiness is being caused by a slight inflammation underneath the outermost layer of her cornea. He sent us home with some anti-inflammatory eye drops that I have to give her once per day for two weeks. He said there is no danger of her losing her eye or going blind over this and it should clear up within a week. (Yeah, I've heard that before.) I'm just thrilled it's not anything more serious and my baby is going to be fine.

I stopped at the Hallmark store on the way home. Since it's so warm out, I wasn't going to leave Josie in the car, not even for a couple minutes. I took her in her carrier into the store and asked if I could just leave her by the door so she didn't die of heat stroke out in the car. Right on cue, Josie looked out the door of the carrier and did the sweetest little "Mew!" ever. The women working at the store didn't stand a chance with that one. They cooed over her the whole time I was there and were sorry to see her go when we left. She's such a sweet talker that cat.

We're heading back to the veterinarian's office again today for Josie's conjunctivitis (pink eye). The inflammation has been steadily improving to the point where it's just about 100% better. However, I noticed a day or so ago that her eye has started to become slightly cloudy. The vet wasn't very concerned about how long the conjunctiva are taking to heal, but he became very troubled when I told him about the cloudiness - to the point where he's moving some appointments around today to fit us into the schedule. I could tell that he was trying to stay as calm and light as possible so as to not worry me, but it didn't really work. I'm starting to get very concerned. Her eye is taking four times as long to heal as he thought it should and this cloudiness can't be a good thing. I have total faith in our veterinarian though, so I'm not a falling apart mess. Yet.

Guess who is having a birthday today...

Happy Birthday, Mr Moo!

I just spoke with my aunt and uncle. My uncle came home from the hospital today. He had two clogged arteries, one major and one minor. He had angioplasty over the weekend to clear the larger one, but not the smaller one. They said it was a minor vessel and he'll be alright with it as is. He's feeling a million times better now and is incredibly grateful to be home. Turns out, it's my aunt's birthday today, too. Her husband is healthy and home. What better present could anyone want?

Welcome home, UB!

I didn't get a chance to do laundry yesterday. ((sulk)) Mr Moo realized yesterday arvo that he had a meeting to attend today in California. He totally forgot about it and hadn't even purchased plane tickets. Oops. Needless to say, yesterday was a little bit frantic for him. He did stop by Home Depot for dryer parts on his way home, but what he bought didn't fit properly and he didn't have time to go back because he had to get to the airport. So, I'm still dryer-less. He won't be home until almost midnight tonight, which means he won't get a chance to work on the dryer again until after work tomorrow. Hope we don't run out of clean underwear before then.

I'm off to Helga's House of Pain in a few minutes to get my underarms deforested. Joy!

Out with the old...

In with the new...

I'm waiting on Mr Moo to get home with a new vent hose so I can do my first load of laundry with my new machines.

"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 063

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It's been a busy and crazy evening at the Moo House tonight. We started off by going to Sears to buy a new washer and dryer. We bought ours used over 10 years ago and it was time to upgrade. Since we have a truck, we passed on the delivery and brought them home ourselves. Mr Moo's parents met us here at the house right after we got home. Mr Moo and his dad got the w/d out of the truck, then we went to dinner at a nearby restaurant. As I mentioned in an earlier post, after dinner, we all went to Dairy Queen so Mr Moo could have a Butterfinger Blizzard to celebrate his 58lb weight loss. He said it was the best Blizzard he's ever had. Upon arriving home, we began working on the w/d. We took the old ones out, cleaned the floor (my word, it was disgusting) and moved the new ones into place. The washer is all ready to go and Mr Moo is working on getting the dryer level as I type this.

At some point during all of this appliance madness, I came upstairs and found a message from my sister informing me that our uncle (and my godfather) was rushed to the hospital this weekend with what he thought was heart attack. I don't have a whole lot of information just yet, but it's my understanding that it wasn't a heart attack. He does have a couple very clogged arteries that they need to deal with though. He's had one or two heart attacks before and bypass surgery as well so this is not a good thing. My aunt sent me an email later on to tell me that he's feeling much better now, but he's going to be in hospital for a while yet for some more procedures.

Needless to say, with all of the highs and lows of tonight, I'm quite drained.

And, on the eighth day, God created Dairy Queen. And it was good.

TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (11.9 miles)

I'm trying to take inspiration from Mr Moo's amazing weight loss. I've been sort of half-assed dieting and working out for a few months now and I've lost, according to the scale yesterday morning, 19 lbs so far. I'd really like to lose a few more before my sister's wedding in September. Maybe I should make a new page on my website with a graph to track my progress.

I don't know how many of you who check the MooCams regularly have noticed, but Mr Moo has lost a lot of weight recently. He had been steadily putting on weight for several years and reached a high of about 238 lbs, I think. It was right around Christmastime when he finally decided he couldn't stand it anymore and made up his mind to do something about it. For the past several months, he has been watching what he eats and exercising almost every day. Yes, folks, I know you don't like to hear it, but eating less and exercising regularly is the only safe and proven way to lose weight and keep it off. Well, he announced to me that, as of this morning, he has officially reached his goal weight of 180 lbs! Woot! As a reward, we are going to Dairy Queen after dinner tonight and he is going to get the largest Butterfinger Blizzard that they can make him. He has not been to Dairy Queen throughout all of this and has been using it as his reward/incentive.

Congratulations, Mr Moo! I'm very proud of you!

For anyone in or around Portland this weekend...

Flee! Flee for your lives!

Yes, I know there are many other places in the world that get much hotter and more miserable for longer periods than this, but, for Portland, this is extreme weather.

They give me the most horrific stomach aches...

...but, oh, how I do love them so.

I had a very nice day with my mother-in-law today. She didn't have too many early birds for her yard sale so we had a chance to get things moved around and organized. Here's a photo from early this morning:

I don't think she had as many customers as she would have liked, but there was a fairly steady stream of people and we sold quite a bit of stuff. She's still got a few more hours today and all day tomorrow to move the rest of it. Anything left over is being donated to either the library (books, cassettes and videos) or Goodwill (everything else).

I'm running on 2.5 hours of sleep at the moment. Time for a nap methinks!

My MIL is having a yard sale today and tomorrow. I told her I would go over and help whenever I could so I've forced my sorry self out of bed much too early this morning in order to do so. It's not supposed to start until 0900. Let's hope she's not overrun by the early birds yet. Later, fishies!

We tried a new recipe for dinner last night. We quartered it since, as is, it makes enough to feed a small army. To be honest, it wasn't all that lemon or ginger-y. Not sure if I screwed up the measurements when trying to quarter the recipe or if the marinade just isn't very strong.

LEMON GINGER BAKED CHICKEN

24 chicken quarters

Marinade:

1 1/4 cups lemon juice (may use reconstituted but fresh is better)
1/3 cup fresh ginger, finely minced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup peanut or olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated garlic (or one whole head fresh)
1 teaspoon Bell's Seasoning or rubbed sage
1/3 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika

To prepare marinade, combine all ingredients in a blender except chicken quarters.

Remove all excess skin and fat from chicken. Pour marinade over each of the chicken quarters to evenly coat until no marinade remains. Place in a large sized (2 1/2 gallon Hefty Zipper) plastic bag and marinate three to five hours under refrigeration.

When ready to prepare, pre-oven to 375°F (350° convection). Remove chicken from marinade and discard any remaining marinade. Bake chicken for 30 to 40 minutes or until chicken is browned well. (Internal temperature should read 165°F. When using an instant read thermometer be sure not to touch bone when taking temperature.)

I meant to post this a couple weeks ago. It's a photo of my sister in her wedding gown after we had done a majority of the alterations to it.

I wish we had taken a before photo so you could see how it enormous it was when we first started. I think it's safe to say it was close to four sizes too large on her. We took it in at almost every seam, including the back zipper, and ended up having to add some very odd seams on the bodice font to get the neckline to stop hanging open. Fortunately, the dress has a lot of lace appliques on the bodice and we were able to cover up those seams with some vine/flower things.

It looks a mess in the photo because it's in dire need of a pressing, the lining wasn't sewn back in properly yet and there's bits of orange thread hanging all over it, but you get the idea. Thank goodness for that lace!

Moo's 10 Second Movie Review

Most excellent movie. Lots of good action (warning: it gets a bit gory in spots). Compelling story. A little bit predictable ending, but that can be forgiven. Denzel stars. ((swoon)) Dakota Fanning isn't anywhere near as annoying as she is in War of the Worlds. And Christopher Walken is also in it. Who doesn't love Christopher Walken?

What are you looking at, pink skin?

"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 062

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One of the pressies we got Mr Moo's dad for Father's Day was this:

It's a Quick Release BBQ Skillet from Brookstone. It's a non-stick wok-shaped skillet that lets you stir fry shrimp and other goodies on the grill. Mr Moo liked it so much, he bought one for himself, too. I can't wait to try it out.

We're off to Mr Moo's parents' house for a Father's Day BBQ today. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday!

Mr Moo and I went shopping this evening at... the mall! ((GASP!)) I was looking for a pair of shoes for my sister's wedding and together we were looking for a Father's Day pressie for Mr Moo's dad. We had failure on the former and success on the latter. We were there quite a while actually, which was amazing. Mr Moo, who normally abhors shopping of any kind, did very well and didn't start to get really cranky until the very end. And, even then, I think it was only because it was way past dinner time and he was getting hungry. The highlight of our whole trip was finding a really nice washer and dryer that I liked at Sears. Yup, it's official. We're old.

I swear the ice cream man is doing loops around my block just to make me insane. I've been trying to get my diet kick started once again and ice cream certainly will not help. Curse you, ice cream man!

A cat's eye view of my sewing area.

It's like a whole new room from down there.

Taken yesterday.

It's Josie, sitting under my favorite Ikea chair, looking very pissed off about something. Maybe she's upset because I won't let her sit on the chair. You can see her right eye, while it's a lot better than it was a few weeks ago, is still not 100% yet. I have to call the vet again today for our weekly status report. Based on what he told me last week, I have a feeling he's going to want to see her again. He's pleased that it's 90% better, but concerned that the last 10% of it is taking so long to heal.

Moo's 10 Second Movie Review

Vampires? Werewolves? Bill Nighy? Squeee!!!

TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (12.4 miles)

Another day. Another workout. Yup. Yup.

I think Mr Moo has started drinking or something. Last night, while I was standing in the laundry room cleaning the dryer lint filter after having just put my third load of laundry of the night into the dryer, Mr Moo walked in, looked at me and said, "What are you doing?"

Gee, I don't know. Maybe the LAUNDRY?

TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (11.8 miles)

We received Underworld: Evolution from Netflix today and I watched the first half of it during my workout. That is, of course, after I got off the phone with G, who called from Edmonton squee-ing about the hockey game. :-) So far, it's a most excellent movie. It's hard to go wrong with vampires and werewolves in the same movie (unless you're the people who made A Sound of Thunder - they could screw up anything). I was going to watch the second half right after I get out of the shower, but Mr Moo is working out now and watching it himself. Guess I'll have to wait until later.

Moo's 10 Second Movie Review

What a complete disappointment this movie was. It had so much potential. The story concept was very interesting. It was based on a short story by Ray Bradbury. How can you go wrong with Ray Bradbury? They had a budget of $80 million. Yes, you read that right. EIGHT-TY meel-ee-on doll-ars. They should have been able to hire some pretty top-notch special effects people with that kind of money, no? And they even managed to get Ed Burns and Ben-freaking-Kingsley to star in it. Will someone please tell me how, then, did they manage to screw this movie up so badly? The script was awful. The plot had more holes than Swiss cheese. The acting was almost as bad. And, the special effects (which, at the very least, could and should have saved this movie) were... Well, let's just say "not so special" and leave it at that. If you spent 110 minutes clipping your toenails, it would be time better spent than watching this movie.

TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (11.6 miles)

My back felt a little bit twitchy so I didn't push myself very hard on the bike today. Since it's a recumbent bike, it has a tall sturdy back on it, but I'd still rather not chance it. I kept the target heart range low and rode relatively slowly. I'm still sweating like a slob though. Shower time!

I read this in one sitting last week:

I had read a few reviews which stated that it was "helpful" and "hysterical". Personally, I found it dumb and useless. Not sure if it was the absolutely foul mood I've been in lately or what, but I didn't find it even remotely amusing. I am married to a geek (well, actually, we refer to him as a "nerd" - I am the "geek" in this house) and, while there were a lot of traits that I did recognize in him, the writing style and points the author tries to make weren't insightful or funny. Fortunately, the book was only about 100 pages long and the font was so big that it averaged about 5 words per page so I didn't waste a whole lot of time on it. Apologies to my sister, who sent me the book in the first place because she thought it was funny. I gotta give this one two thumbs down. Sorry, sis!

TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (12.4 miles)

Back is still holding up well. It didn't bother me at all. Yay! I'm going to grab a quick shower then get my sorry self back to work again.

It's back to the real world for me today. My back is finally feeling something somewhat resembling "healed" and I have a lot of work to do today. I've got a small alteration to finish up for a client, then I have a metric ton of web work to do. I have a couple clients who have been more than patiently awaiting their updates for a couple weeks now and I really need to get cracking on their stuff. It's time to make the donunts!

Mr Moo and I are both having extremely restless nights tonight. We've both been tossing and turning for hours. It was rather warm yesterday and it's still just a bit too warm in the bedroom for me to sleep comfortably. Not sure why he's having trouble sleeping though. Since he has to get up and go to work before too long, I figured I'd get up and let him have the whole bed to himself for the rest of the night in the hopes that he can manage at least a few hours of restful sleep. I'll camp out in the guest room for now. Thank goodness for the spare bed.

Bedtime for Bonzo. Goodnight, fishies!

I'm in the process of replying to the 378 messages in my inbox. If you've left me a comment or sent me an email in the past couple months, look for a reply sometime (hopefully) soon. If you've sent me a lot of messages, prepare thyself! Your inbox will soon be full. :-)

EDIT: I got it down to 142. Making progress!

"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 061

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"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 060



Click here for the entry form.

Round 60 is still open!

ACK! I totally forgot to post this month's Cows in Shining Armor image (click to see full size):

Joan of Alfalfa
Known affectionately throughout France as the Milkmaid of Orleans, young Joan did rise from her peasant barnyard to lead the forces of chicken against the Burger Eaters. Her struggle was an act in the great drama known throughout the ages as the Hundred Years' Barbecue. She grazed the countryside looking for volunteers, and untold thousands flocked - actually, herded - to her moo. Fearless in battle, she was captured by the enemy at Cordon Bleu and was (literally) braded a Hereford.

Moo's 10 Second Movie Review

I was very pleasantly surprised by this movie. Based on what I recalled of the commercials, I thought it was going to be a ridiculous comedy with a lot of crude and unfunny jokes. Turns out, it wasn't all "I saw you naked. OMG! My eyes! My eyes!" after all. It was a study of a non-traditional relationship between two non-traditional romantic leads. People over the age of 25 can still find love and happiness?!? Imagine that, Hollywood! Two thumbs up from the Moo on this one.

Moo's 10 Second Movie Review

Cute movie. It wasn't as hysterical as Monsters, Inc or some of the other more popular animated movies, but it had some very funny moments. It was worth the rental, but I don't think we're going to buy a copy.

TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (11.3 miles)

Today is the first time I've worked out since I hurt my back. Since I didn't want to wrench it again or do any further damage, I took it very easy. I set the target heart to somewhere in the "corpse/zombie" range and told myself I would stop immediately if I felt even the slightest tinge in my back. Fortunately, my back was fine and I did the entire hour. Granted, I was pedaling so slowly had I been on a real bike I probably would have fallen over. It's a start though and it felt good to get some exercise in.

Taken several weeks ago.

In case anyone has been following the saga of Josie's pink eye... She's still not 100%, but she's continuing to improve. I stopped putting the ointment in her eyes several days ago because it seemed to be making her eye very irritated when I did and the vet said it was okay. We're just letting time run its course now and, hopefully, it will be completely better soon.

Don't you just love it when you go out to eat and someone at the next table over is coughing like they have tuberculosis and not covering their mouth? Yeah, I love it, too. ((groan))

Moo's 10 Second Movie Review

Artistically interesting. Great acting. Stories a little too violent and gory for my taste. Worth seeing just to see Mickey Rourke as Marv.

Since I've been practically bedridden with back pain this week, I've been attempting to get caught up on some movie watching. I now give you...

Moo's 10 Second Movie Review

Complete and utter crap.

Since I was up a wee bit too early this morning and felt completely shattered, I went back to bed for a nap a little while ago. Apparently, I fell immediately into deep sleep because I don't remember hearing the phone ringing (Mr Moo left a message even) and I had multiple dreams. Two of them involved me being a contestant on the television show Amazing Race. Do you think it's a sign that Mr Moo and I should apply? It's something we've talked about doing for a while now, but have never had to guts to do.

"I picked up a variety pack of band-aids the other day thinking that various sizes of band-aids would be helpful in covering various sizes of cuts. Opening the box, I couldn't believe the size of the largest models. They must have been 4"x4". If you're even considering using a band-aid that big, get to a hospital - either a canon ball has ripped through your abdomen or an escaped gorilla has torn your arms off. You're going to die, and a band-aid won't help you."

-- Adam Scott, The Last Angry Young Man (www.angryman.ca)

Today is the first day this week that I have been able to stand up straight without screaming. Progress!

I finished reading this book last night:

I was surprised to find that they actually stayed quite true to the novel when they made the movie. I was hoping to get a lot more detail and information from the book, after having seen the film, but there really wasn't much more to be had. It was still a good read though.

Looks like we survived 6/6/06 without any major incidents. Were you superstitious about the date yesterday? Did you do anything unusual because of the date?

My back is finally starting to feel better. It's still not 100%, but it's a lot better than it has been the past couple days. I've got a million and one things to do about the house and for work today so I'm going to be very berry busy. I will need to reminding myself to not overdo it or I'll end up right back where I was a couple days ago.

"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 060

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In case the fact that it's not yet 0600 and I'm already awake isn't clue enough, I had another night of terrible back pain and crap sleep. I also discovered this morning that I'm running a low-grade fever, too. Oh, joy. I finally gave in before bed last night and took a Vicodin, which helped quite a bit. My back didn't hurt nearly as bad as it did the night before and all day yesterday. It's still far from healed though. I shall be taking it very easy again today and sitting as still as possible. Thank goodness this didn't happen last week when my sister was here. It would have made working on her wedding dress impossible and her trip out here a waste.

Apparently, I did a lot more damage to my back yesterday than I thought. I don't think I managed to sleep for more than about 30 minutes at a time last night. Every time I moved or tried to roll over, it was excrutiating and I woke up. I can sit just fine, but I've noticed that standing up straight or anything that involves twisting my torso is bad. Very berry bad. Since it's muscular, I know there isn't anything to be done except baby it and wait. So much for my grand plan of going outside to do yardwork today.

I wrenched my back earlier today. Ugh. I had picked up Josie and was setting her back down on the floor. Stupid me forgot to bend at the knees and, when I bent over, my back went "Rrrrrrip!" 'Twas not pleasant. My back was sore already because of all the hunching over my sewing table I've been doing this past week while working on my sister's wedding dress. Guess it decided it had had just about enough of me today. I've since been stumbling about the house hunched over like the 100 year old woman that I am. Now where did I put my teeth?

My sister should be arriving at home any time now. I'm still waiting to hear from her. I managed to get a few hours sleep this morning. I was rudely awoken by a horrific calf muscle cramp at one point. Since I was still half asleep, I wasn't thinking clearly and mistakenly pointed my toe instead of flexing my foot. Can we say "OWWW!!!"?

EDIT: Turns out, my sister fell asleep on the couch when she got home and totally forgot about calling me. She did eventually call to let me know that she made it home okay.

We'll be leaving to bring my sister to the airport in just a few minutes. I will be going straight to bed upon my return since I've been up all night. If anyone needs me, well, I'll be sleeping. Later, peeps!

It's just gone 0330. Time to start waking everyone for our trip to the airport. This is going to be interesting because my sister is the grumpiest you-know-what in the world when she hasn't had enough sleep. She's even grumpier than I am, which is saying a lot. I just tried waking her up for the first time. She didn't want me to wake her until 0400, but I can already tell it's going to take 30 minutes to get her out of bed. Maybe I should pour a bucket of cold water on her. :-)

EDIT: It's alive! She's not exactly upright yet, but she is awake and making progress. We might actually get her to the airport on time.

"Senator Hillary Clinton is being criticized because she recently called today's college kids lazy and uninformed. A spokesperson for college kids said: 'Whatever... lady from TV.' "

-- Conan O'Brien, on Late Night

I just realized that I haven't posted yet today. Still working on my sister's wedding dress. The alterations are done. We're in the process of sewing the lace and beads back on. At some point this evening, we will mark the hem and figure out how she wants the train bustled. And that will pretty much be it for the rest of tonight. Her flight leaves at 0600 tomorrow. We have to be out the door no later than 0430. I'll probably just stay up all night and sleep when we get home after dropping her off at the airport. I can't believe she's leaving already. This week has gone by too quickly.

We've changed my sister's flight. She's now leaving on Sunday morning instead of tomorrow morning. I can use the extra day to get her dress done. And, besides, I like having her here. :-)

My sister and I went our for lunch yesterday then spent the remainder of the day, until the wee hours of the morning, working on her dress. I got a big portion of it completed before realizing that there was a problem with the lining. Grrr! I had to tear out a large chunk of what I had finished and do it again. Needless to say, I'm not nearly as far along as I would like to be at the point.

My sister is flying home tomorrow morning. The goal for today is to finish re-assembling the dress (not the lining), mark and take up the hem and bustle the skirt if she decides she wants to do that. Doesn't seem like it should take all that long, but it's going to be another very long day.

I've decided to not work out today because I'm tired, cranky and just don't feel like it. Bleh. In an attempt to cheer myself up a bit, my sister and I are going to the Tillamook Ice Creamery & Restaurant for lunch. Is there anything a tuna sammich and some ice cream can't cure?