Definitive proof

It nearly took an act of congress, but I got to the gym yesterday for half an hour of cardio. I really don't like cardio. I don't like to sweat. I do it for weight control and to help build bone density; at my age you almost can't be too dense.

There are other positive side effects that I didn't know about before because I always lost interest and stopped too soon. It really does reduce my stress level, and it seems to keep my body moving smoothly. I've noticed that if I skip a few days of gym time, my joints get stiff, particularly in my feet and legs. My lower back starts to ache.

It also takes the edge off a potential psychotic episode, as I discovered yesterday.

So today, I've already been to the gym and showered, and I'll be meeting friends for lunch in the local (very cute) tea room. I'm told the owner makes the best desserts. I may have to go back to the gym later!

One of THOSE days

It is one of those days when I feel like I'm wound tighter than a watchspring. I'm frustrated for no reason, by things that usually roll off my back. The tip of my tongue will be sore from biting by supper. (Yes, I do bite my tongue; it's sub-conscious now, I've been doing it that long.)

Maybe it's time to up my lithium again.

ABC meme

I don't usually do these, but this one looked fun. Pinched from Gemmak.


A is for Age: 38, but I don't look it ;^)

B is for Booze: Wine and occassionally a Jack and Coke.

C is for Career: Career? Singular? Ha! I write and homeschool my kids.

D is for Dad's Name: Bill

E is for Essential Item to Bring to a Party: I usually grab a bottle of wine from my rack as I'm dashing out the door, late as usual.

F is for Favorite Songs at the Moment: Wayfaring Stranger

G is for Goof-off Thing to Do: Log internet time when I should be cooking dinner.

H is for Hometown: Lapeer, MI

I is for Instrument You Play: Trombone (sometimes) and handbells

J is for Jam or Jelly You Like: Raspberry

K is for Kids: Two

L is for Living Arrangement: Married

M is for Mom's Name: Joy

N is for Names of Good Friends: Eric, The Boys, Kim, Beth, Laura, Brian and Rachel

O is for Overnight Hospital Stays: Only in conjunction with birthing

P is for Phobias: Anything with more than 4 legs

Q is for Quotes You Like: "Lord, keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth."

R is for Relationship That Lasted Longest: How's 17 years of marriage?

S is for Siblings: One of each, both younger

T is for Texas. Yep. Three years on the southern border.

U is for Unique Trait: Let's just say my friends don't call me Gracie for nothing!

V is for Vegetables You Love: Most of them

W is for Worst Traits: Procrastination

X is for X-rays You've Had: I think my feet are the only things that haven't been zapped.

Y is for Yummy Food You Make: I do a good Baked Ziti and the world's best brownies.

Z is for Zodiac Sign: Scorpio, for whatever it's worth

Leave me a comment if you post this in your blog and I'll come visit. (Me? Shamelessly fishing for comments? Never!)

Some people just don't get it

I can't say why I happened upon this, but I will say it took five minutes to Google Westboro Baptist Church and find this article.

The Westboro Baptist Church website* professes to adhere to the 'Old School Baptist beliefs' based on John Calvins doctrine. I don't see any evidence of this. This is a group of militants who give Christians a bad name. To any of my readers who are not Christian but are thinking about becoming one, these are people you need to run away from.

They are protesting at the funerals of military men and women killed in the line of duty. They picket with inflamatory signs because they believe that this war is God's punishment on the U.S. for condoning homosexuality.

Let me be clear. I'm not gay. Never have been, never will be. I am a Christian. I believe what the Bible says about everything, not just homosexuality. Having said that, I don't know of any cases where a person was saved by having his sin shoved in his face by a bunch of self-righteous, self-serving militant psuedo-Christians. We're supposed to love one another. If this is their way of showing love, I'd hate to see them angry.


*I purposely left the link off. The site was so offensive that I refuse to link with it. Google it if you want to see it, but don't do it on a full stomach.

Switching gears

I sat in front of my computer last night for over an hour, planning to write. I didn't know, going in, which story I was going to work on, just that I needed to write something.

It didn't work. I opened three documents, corrected a couple typos, and netted two words.

Two.

Today I printed Rogue Pawn. I'm going to edit it and query some publishers. I'm hoping that this will spark the writing again. It would also be nice to get this story to a publisher that doesn't require me to share the publication costs. Editting won't help my word count, which is abysmal right now, but at least I'll be doing something.

Stained

Yes, I am, a little bit, but more importantly, my new kitchen table and chairs are done. It's a very pretty oak color, and while it doesn't match the cupboards exactly, it's close enough. I'll have a table cloth on it soon anyway. Now I won't have to worry about water rings and spaghetti stains.

We've gotten pretty near a half inch of rain today from what's left of Dennis. It's been a fairly steady soaking rain since about 1:00 this afternoon. I literally pulled back into the driveway after the last airport run when it started to sprinkle. It's supposed to continue for the next two days or so, and I'm certainly not complaining. We need the rain, and it's a welcome break from the heat. More importantly, I'm more productive when it's raining and gloomy. What can I say? I'm a November baby.

Maybe, just maybe, I can see about getting the rest of the boxes unpacked...

Skateboarder Clears Great Wall

This is interesting on many levels.

-Danny Way is 31. To most skateboarders, he's bordering on ancient.

-When he cleared the wall, he was going 50 mph. I don't want to see him behind the wheel of a car.

-China has Ministers of Extreme Sports and Culture. OK, the culture I can understand. How does one choose a Minister of Extreme Sports? Has he participated in Extreme Sports and therefore an expert of sorts, or is he like Donald Rumsfeld, who is Secretary of Defense but not a member of the U.S. military? In the case of the latter, he's probably a round little Chinese man who could pass for Buddha in the dark.

In other bizarre news, Willie Nelson is releasing a reggae CD. Needless to say, the cover art features a marijuana leaf. Surprise, surprise! Willie is 72 now, which could explain why, during a recent concert with Bob Dylan, he forgot to sing anything from the new CD.

I've written some bizarre stuff, folks, but even I couldn't make this up!