Kingfisher Cove

Christmas Shopping

I'm feeling a bit smug, but please don't hate me for it! I've actually begun my Christmas shopping! (Actually, I picked up a couple of items over the summer, but I've recently added to the booty). I am one of those (likely) lunatics that really enjoys Christmas shopping. Guilt-free shopping! Woohoo!

When I say I enjoy it, I don't enjoy crowds during the hectic season, so I tend to get a headstart to avoid the masses (which also means I have more stuff to pick from). And... there are always one or two people I shop for who are extremely difficult, which causes a fair amount of angst. So it's not a slam-dunk pleasure, but I believe I curb a lot of the December stress.

Benefits of Early Christmas Shopping

I can order stuff online or by catalog and know with pretty good certainty that they will arrive in time

It spreads the expenditure out, instead of being hit with it all at once

No crowds!

Parking, when necessary, is usually attainable

Selection and size variety are more readily available

Christmas decorations are generally up by October anyway, so it's still possible to feel "festive" (ha)

Steak Dinner

Felt like T-bones tonight. We eat out a lot, so cooking isn't a high priority in our household. I try to keep the frig stocked with kid-stuff (Gatorade, milk, fruit, sandwich makings, plus frozen thingies that Da Kid likes). So tonight I stopped at the store and bought giant T-bones. Mmm. I do this now and then because I know how much the weenies love a bone. My favorite steak is actually a tenderloin, but they have no bones. Gotta have a T-bone to make the pups happy.

And they KNEW. When I placed the raw meat on the plate to season (and take a picture), they were at my feet. (Should have taken a picture of that!) They drive me nuts in the kitchen, and I'm not sure why because they never get any morsels in there. Not from me, anyway. It's amazing they don't get fatally stepped on.

Seasoning? Simply JDubny's Dock, garlic powder, and basil. Mmm. Sometimes I also include lemon pepper.

My goal was medium rare. (I actually prefer RARE, but JDub gets a bit twitchy about that). The whole time I was thinking about the Receptionista who I know likes her red meat mooing at her. It turned out pretty good, actually. I'm glad I didn't cook it any longer than I did -- at least it was pink and juicy. Since the steaks were so big, the only accompaniment was some nummy green beans drizzled in butter and chopped hazelnuts. (Jeesh. I sound almost like a "cook" here. NOT!)

What's so funny these days is Sam the Cat. He has decided he's a beggar cat. Or else, he thinks he's a dog. He actually gets quite aggressive in his begging duties, and gives those dogs a run for their money. I'm certain that we will hear his tidbits returned to Earth in an upchucked manner sometime, oh, around 2:00 in the morning.

Only two bones, and they were earmarked for the Real dogs. You can't tell very well in the picture, but whenever these dogs chew a bone, they keep their tails tucked. My dad says it's to keep anything from flying out that end, sort of a "protective thing". Sam sat at the glass slider and peered out at the deck at them while they chewed away. Made me sad! He hardly has any teeth left, so it's not like he could satisfactorily have his way with a bone of his own. And when it comes to the bones, the dogs rule. He wouldn't last a second before it was snatched under his kitty nose.

Too Much Water?

This is Good to Know

One glass of water shuts down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University study.

Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or

Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

Are you drinking the amount of water you should every day?

(No kidding, all of the above is true...)

Of course, too much water may have strange side effects (see picture below) ...

....via my mother!!!!!

Observations

Some really, er, lovely observations.

Ever had salad dressing not agree with you? (I mean majorly not agree with you). While you’re out & about? JDub wondered what in hell’s name had happened to me while I disappeared into the Starbucks restroom for a very
l-o-n-g time. Oiff.

‘Nuf said on that observation.

Sitting here at the computer with a stinky blob of goop on my head. Yup, it’s hair-dye time. Normally I do this on the weekend, but this morning on my way to work it hit me: This coming weekend is the class reunion! Yikes! I look like a skunk! Since I don’t look nearly as “hot” (read: skinny) as I did at the previous reunion 10 years ago, the least I can do is make sure my hair doesn't look like a skunk. (At the moment I certainly smell like one. Well, a “chemically enhanced” skunk).

Time to go hose off.

Does Anybody Know....?

Does anybody know…?

I’m wanting to print my blog. And, I want it to look good – page breaks in logical places, banner and side bar shown correctly, photos intact. I’ve tried several different approaches to this, including just simply printing from the blog site, copying and pasting into Word or Pagemaker, and PDFing the blog.

Simply printing from the blog site is lame because it doesn’t print the banner (and pagination sucks).

Copying and pasting into Pagemaker, which I thought would be the “answer” really sucks because it doesn’t import it as HTML – just a stream of unformatted text without any images. Word is better, but the photo placement is totally hosed, pagination is hosed, my banner will not import, and all the sidebar info is a big unformatted mess at the very bottom of the document.

The best result has been to create a PDF from the blog, but again, pagination is a problem. I hate when photos are cut in half, or are obliterated altogether, plus I want some control over when and where a new page begins & ends, and you don’t have that with a PDF document (unless, maybe, with the high-priced Acrobat Professional, which I don’t have).

What am I missing here? This seems like it should be a pretty easy and basic thing to achieve. I want to put the printed blog document in a notebook to save as a “journal”.

Anybody have any ideas?

H*ars*tine Kind of Day

It was a H*ars*tine Island kind of day, so we had a huge bonfire and burned amazing amounts of dreaded scotch broom. [Have I mentioned how much I hate scotch broom? ] Over the months, JDub and I have hacked down a ton of it, and today (as well as over Labor Day weekend) JDub hacked down another ton.

When the cut stalks start sprouting more greenery, (which they do, like overnight), I attack with Roundup. The goal: to be RID of scotch broom! We will win this battle!

Below is a before-and-after picture of the road that heads down into the property. At first, it was basically a path, or at least looked/felt like one because of the thick scotch broom forest all along the sides. We can't get over how improved the view is, and how "opened up" it looks and feels.

I thought this was pretty cool -- I found this aerial photo of the H*ars*tine Island bridge. The land in the foreground is the island.

TAP DANCE

From a previous life...

TAP DANCE

I still tap dance
around the oil spot in the driveway
which glistens like beads of black blood,
though nobody parks there
anymore.

I used to dance on broken eggshells
he spewed at my feet
and I was unaware of my slashed soles
because I never looked down.

He convinced me I had weak feet.
I convinced myself to keep dancing.

My stage was the swing of his moods;
I tapped around the discord of his wrath
and high-stepped to the melody of his charm.

Then he took the final bow.

I sometimes wonder
if she feels the need to dance.

I wonder if she will ever learn
the intricacies
of the steps.

I dance alone now,
watching the ground
to avoid oil slicks and slashed soles.

I'm taking lessons.

Soldering?

Part of me feels like finishing up my soldering on my stained glass address stake, but I'm afraid I may hurt myself by falling asleep and smashing my face into 700 deg. sizzling solder from weariness. Maybe not a good idea. It has been such a tiring week. Plus, we are coming into the season when I'm aware that I used to be a hibernating bear in a previous life.

I'm also wondering: Hmmm... should I be wearing gloves and a face mask while I'm doing this? I am working with LEAD, after all! I guess I'm not very careful. (I will even smoke a cigarette while I'm soldering, which I'm aware is a major NO-NO). I wash up good, though. And... it's not like I do this 24/7.

OK, so.... what are the symptoms of lead poisoning? If you say feeling like a bear desperate to hibernate, I'm in big trouble.

Suggested Reading

I present you with some links that I highly recommend. The first one is from Karen at Verbatim's post regarding Molly Ivins' excellent and thought-provoking article. My brother, whom I love dearly, wonders why anybody wouldn't vote for Bush. Well, this is why. And then, from Dooce. My God, this woman rolls me out of my chair in fits of laughter! It is time to "reconvene the procedure". Hee hee! And then another great article purloined from Verbatim, written by Michael Moore, whom I know is quite the "character". I pretty much take him with a grain of salt, but I thought this was extremely uplifting. I certainly needed to hear it!

And finally... I'll leave you with a picture that I find quite intriguing. It's a dome house that withstood Hurricane Ivan (as well as Frances, I believe). Apparently they did lose the stairs. A bunch of journalists waited out the storms in this house that was designed (and is owned) by the architect for the purpose of surviving hurricanes. I thought it was interesting looking. I'd love to see what the inside design looks like.

OK, I'll bet you're sick of me tonight! I believe this is the most I've ever posted in one day.

Also.... I've noticed that they must've fixed the annoying password pop-up problem. Whew!

I Like Typepad

Just received this from Typepad:

Thanks for reporting this. Many other TypePad members have reported the same problem. I have sent an emergency message to the TypePad geeks to have them start working on a fix for this as soon as possible. If you click "cancel" on the login box, you should be able to access your weblog OK. Again, we will be working to get this fixed as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience. -Laura

OK, sorry Nate! Here I was ready to blame it on you! (Yeah, like he reads my blog. He'll never know he was in the hot seat). Clicking "Cancel" is fine and good, but I'm sure weary of it popping up in EVERY FRICKIN' WINDOW. I even tense up when I see the screenshot I captured and stuck below. I keep trying to click "Cancel" on it!

But I really like Typepad. I like that you get a response from Laura, instead of an automated "Thank you for contacting Typepad. We shall address your issue at our convenience." It was also a very quick response.

Cell phone companies could learn a lot from Typepad, dontcha think?