Ouch!

I feel like I got run over by a bus today. Of course, all of my pain is self inflicted so you don't have to feel too sorry for me.

Despite the frigid temps, I have a sun burn. In an effort not to turn into a lobster on my first day of vacation, Mr. M and I have been frequenting the local tanning salon. There are parts of my body that are burnt that have never seen the light of day. To make matters worse, I worked out last night and so I have sore achy muscles to top everything else off.

So if you find me in a heap in the corner today, you will know why I can no longer move!

All about me

In order to keep my promise to take and post a self-portrait at least once a month, I had to act quickly yesterday.  Since Mr. Monkeygirl loves me and bought me some cool camera equipment for Christmas, I decided to put it to good use. I dug the tripod out from under the bed and located my remote trigger (one of the coolest presents ever!)  I found a spot with some decent natural light and started playing around with the camera.  It took a while to figure out the tricks of positioning the camera, how to get the remote to work, how to not look completely stupid in the photo, etc.

So here is an edited version of my results.  Mr. M also bought me the coolest editing software and I needed to learn how to use it before he clobbers me.  I'm starting to get the hang of it and thought this was kind of fun.  I promised a photo, no one said it had to be realistic!

Mindless fun

How do you keep a puppy entertained for hours?  Toss snowballs into the yard and watch 'em try to figure out where they went!  Yeah, I know it's kind of cruel, but it's highly entertaining and definitely passes the time.

Peace and quiet....

I don't live in a crazy house.  There are only 3 of us living here and with a college-aged teenager, usually it is only the Mr. and myself at home.  Tonight, everything is almost eerily quiet around here.

It wasn't so this morning.  Mr. M was up before the sun in order to make it work on time.  He is really quiet when he gets up early but because of the snow last night, he let me know he was leaving.  I nodded back off only to be rudely awakened by the most god-awful sound.  I wasn't sure what it was but I was convinced that something was horribly wrong with something in the house.  The walls of my bedroom were vibrating.  All I could think was "This is going to be expensive to fix - whatever this is."

I listened intently and I finally figured out what was making the horrible, earth shaking, screeching sound.  My neighbor, Dr. Evil, was using a snow blower to clean off his driveway.  Now I am all for using mechanical means to clear off snow - we own a monster truck sized blower ourselves.  But this thing sounded like a wounded creature from some other world.  Dr. Evil must have gotten tired on every pass and stopped to rest at the top of his driveway.  Which also happens to be about 5 feet from my once slumbering brain.  I tried to drown out the "wapa-wapa-wapa" sound that was beating a hole into my cerebral cortex, but it wasn't going to work, so I begrudgingly got out of bed.  The vibration, noise and the incredibly dry air have given me a killer headache that will not go away.

But tonight is a completely different story. Mr. Monkeygirl is off bowling with his league tonight and probably won't be home until after I go to bed. Skaterboy is off to check in on his mom who hasn't been feeling well lately. Coal is crashed on the floor in the middle of the room, snoring up a storm.  He gets up ever once in awhile and moves to a different spot, but for most of the night, he has been semi-comatose!

I almost don't know what to do with all of this quiet time.  Fortunately, a new episode of LOST is about to start so I can at least fill up the next hour. Then I might do something odd and go to bed before the evening news!  I am wiped out today.

Ziggies and the Kong

I think that Ziggies and Kong are the greatest inventions on the face of the planet.  I mean I love my iPhone and digital cameras are great.  The combustion engine has changed lives and electricity is nice to have.  But when you really get down to it, I have to give a big nod to the inventor of the Kong and Ziggie.

When you have a growing puppy who loves to chew on everything, especially your hands and feet and you are trying to work from home and get stuff done, you need something to distract them.  Wander around the house and find the Kong stuffed behind a door and insert a Ziggie and I can pretty much guarantee that I won't hear a peep out of the dog until he gets the Ziggie to a point where he can't reach it!  If you have a dog that likes to chew, these things are a must.  They are virtually indestructible (it is the only toy Coal has that hasn't been ripped apart) and it keeps him busy for hours!  Not only are they fun to chew on, but their snowman like shape makes them a fun fetch toy because the wobble across the floor in circles.  I need to remember to pull this one out when Coal gets bored being cooped up inside on these long snowy days!

I need your support!

I am starting a petition drive.  What we really need to stimulate the workforce is to institute adult snow days.  The weather here doesn't look promising for a good morning commute and many of the local schools have already cancelled classes for the morning.  

I am fortunate to be able to work from home and I will probably be exercising that option in the morning if white flaky stuff keeps falling from the sky.  But what I really want is a free day to lay around in my pj's watching stupid movies on TV or doing something crafty to kill time during the day.  So I am starting a petition drive to get people to lobby for adult snow days.  Kids get all excited and are more motivated after a unexpected day off so why not adults?  We deserve to have some fun too!

So feel free to add you vote by posting a comment.  The more the merrier!  And if you are the superstitious type, wear your pj's inside out and sleep with a spoon under your pillow.  It worked for Skaterboy last year and he isn't taking chances tonight and is praying for a day off tomorrow!

Men are crazy

I was just watching the local news and they aired a story about a group of guys who were playing softball today.  In the snow.  At a balmy 12 degrees.  And some crazy dude with really scrawny legs was wearing shorts!  I swear, some men are crazy!