MzSerena’s Garden

Is it bad that yesterday, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things and came home with -5- boxes of Duncan Hines cake mix? 3 of them are the same kind.. Red Velvet Cake. The other two are a strawberry supreme and the other is banana supreme. I’ve never seen Duncan Hines for under $1 box. Ever. So when I saw them for $.99 each, I grabbed a few. THEN I find out that the *other* store we shop at from time to time had them even cheaper this week! It’s alright though, since it would have been inconvenient to go to that store.

Yeah, I really need to stay out of stores.. I was NOT planning, nor was I needing cake mix!

I’m tired and ready for bed, and it’s not even 11 yet. Probably from reading about the intricacies of an rv warranty. Don’t ask, it’s for a friend of my mother. She’s got the idea that it’d be a good idea to buy one. I’m sure it’s a great idea for some people, but NOT her. She’s not responsible enough and has shit luck with vehicles.

Today was spent cooking, baking, chillin’ and sleeping. I had high hopes for the day but had to cut back.

I roasted off butternut squash and made soup.
I made monkey bread

I was going to make chicken cordon blue
I was going to make garlic cheese biscuits.

The soup is for me ‘n mom later in the week when hubby has to work late. He hates it, so whatever.
Chicken ‘n biscuits got put on hold until tomorrow.

Ironically, for all the cooking that was done – we had fast food for dinner.

Dinner for tomorrow will be a variation of chicken cordon blue.. Instead of ham, it’ll be bacon. Mmm smoked piggie.
I will also be making cheese ‘n garlic biscuits and baked taters.

Is it time for bed yet? No. Damn!

Ugh, I swear, I always have the best intentions, but then something happens and I forget to post. I keep wanting to. I even open up my client window and start typing. But then I get distracted by something. Lately it’s been looking at different home improvement ideas. Our bathroom sink has not been able to be used in years. The faucet drips when you use it. Plus there is a leak in the line somewhere. I would love to get a pretty Moen faucet to replace it, but I’m not that handy. Nor is my husband.

I get distracted by videos and games and music and other things. It’s sad, I have the attention span of a gnat. For instance, I started this, then got sidetracked by an idea for an article I want to write. So, I’m going to end this and go work on the article. Peace.

Sometimes, Insomnia pays off for people. Why do I say that? Because there is this blogger named Kat who suffers from bouts of insomnia that last days on end. It sucks to have insomnia, but today, it paid off for her in such an unimaginable and touching way. I follow Kat on Twitter and we are active on the same forum, which is where I first heard about what happened.

There was an amazing story on the today show about two co-workers who learned they were siblings. Can you imagine? Working somewhere and seeing someone who looks a lot like you? I can’t. Imagine finding out that you also have a sister, as well. The 3 reunited now. The video is amazing and touching.

What does this have to do with Kat? At the end of the video, they mention that they’re looking for a 4th sibling. She is the 4th sibling! How amazing is that for all 4 of them? Seriously. If she hadn’t had insomnia, she may have never found out about them. I wish her a safe journey as she heads out to be reunited with her family. Hopefully, this story will be inspiration to other states to follow in Maine’s lead to open up adoption records.

There are so many stories like this out there. So many unanswered questions. Hopefully, the future will bring more reunions for deserving people.

It’s after 1am and I’m incoherent. Why am I still awake? Because I said I was going to post here tonight. I was trying to make 7 days straight posting. I failed because it’s now the 21st and I didn’t post the 20th. Boo.

I feel like a boring blogger, since I rarely hear from my readers. That’s alright though, as long as you’re reading.

I went to see my sister today. It was kind of random and out of the blue, but it was nice to get out of the house since I won’t be able to again this week.

I want one of those walk in tubs for our bathroom. I know that’s a random comment, but I just saw a commercial. My mother has a hard time getting in the tub and I think shower chairs are dangerous. It’s hard for older people who don’t have a shower stall to be able to bathe and I think more homes should have the walk in tubs.

I wrote a long, rambly, sappy post on my livejournal tonight. It was about friendship. I’d post it here too, but I look at livejournal a bit differently than some do. It’s a blog, sure, but I use it more like a personal diary that I let certain people share in. A lot of things I’ll post here and there, but some things, I don’t feel comfortable sharing out in the open. I’m an odd creature.

I have some of the best friends in the world. That’s something that I can’t deny. I’d be lost without them.

I’m going to sleep now.

Okay, first things first – Dan Brown – The Lost Symbol is an absolute MUST READ if you even vaguely liked The DaVinci Code. Seriously, I am absolutely IN LOVE with this book. I don’t usually gush unless I really think the book is worth it.

Secondly, I’m getting real tired of infomercials. It’s either diet products or products to help you make food fast. It’s kind of odd, really. The other infomercials that I see a lot are for these music collections. Great collections, but the money they want is crazy. I could put together the collection for less money via itunes and not have to worry about songs you don’t like and/or want.

Football season has begun. My Bills lost by 1 point to New England. High School football is in full swing. I have been to 1 game. I’d like to go to more, but unless his schedule changes for next week, it’ll be Oct 9 before I get to go to a game again. Oh well, at least he’s working!

I’m tired, so I think it’s bedtime. *yawn*

So here’s a little known piece of trivia about me. I went to college for business administration, but I was also working towards a second degree. I wanted to earn a degree in computer science. I wanted to work in software development. The problem, however, is that I didn’t take to the modern languages. I took to the arcane COBOL language and blundered my way through Visual Basic. I failed miserably at learning C++ and those are the two important languages.

It’s crazy, right?

I’m a little bit tired, but not really. I have this weird aversion to sleeping lately it seems. I blame it on my bed. We made a huge mistake when we were looking for a new bed. I need to learn to test out mattresses before buying. Our bed is hard as hell. Even with a feather bed on it, it’s not comfortable to sleep on. I could put a billion feather beds on it and it still wouldn’t be comfortable.

I’d like to have a memory foam bed, but I’m afraid that they’re too hot. Not to mention the price. Ugh. I should get a memory foam topper when I get paid to see if that helps, put it under the feather bed. I guess we’ll see. The bed is crazy high, so anything added will make it worse. Meh.

I guess it’s time to go to bed. Another restless night, here I come.

I need to sit down and figure out how much money I need to save in order to pick up all the things that I need in order to be a completely successful writer. The first thing I need is a better laptop. I decided that ages ago. I’d thought about the Asus EEE or a Netbook, but I’m not sure I want something that small. I do want Windows 7 and Upgraded memory for sure, along with a decent hard drive and a card reader. These are not optional, they are required. I have an Acer, which is nice, but not quite what I need. I might get a Dell, because I have had no problems.

I need a better voice recorder. The one I have is alright, but it’s second hand and not that great. A hand held scanner wouldn’t be a bad idea either. That way when I’m doing interviews, I can scan in images and documents immediately, allowing them to be published with the article.

I have a few other things that I’m thinking about, but I’m done with my list for now.

Have you ever wondered just how ignorant some people are? I have. I live in the country and have neighbors who are typical country neighbors. They aren’t bad, don’t get me wrong. They just don’t think sometimes. For instance, there is a family with young children that ride bikes in the road. Our road has been the scene of 2 accidents this year. Both of which were caused by speeding. Now, we all know that there are safety products that are required by law for bike riders. The problem is, these children do not use them.

Some days I want to go out there and take a picture of those kids on their bike, then photoshop in a car barely missing them. I wonder if that kind of a freeze frame image would wake the parents up. Just like I wonder if the “don’t text and drive” commercials locally have woke anyone up.

I’m seriously unhappy about a lot of things. I got slagged all over twitter for having an opinion and posting my opinion in MY blog. If I post something in my own blog, it is my right to say whatever I want, whenever I want and if I don’t name names, who’s to say it’s about you? Oh, right, it’s not okay to have an opinion. I forgot that we’re all supposed to be mindless drones.

Well to hell with that! I’m going to say whatever I want, whenever I want. If I’m not naming you by name, then get over it! It may not even be about you! At this point, I’d like to take some people’s head and stuff them into stainless steel drums and beat on the side with a baseball bat. I’m fed up.

I’m not going to stop blogging, even though I’m sure people are going to wish I had.

This is a gratuitous happy fun post, just so that I can talk about frivolous ways I’d spend my money if I was independently wealthy.

First frivolous expense: A motor home. Sure, that means motorhome insurance, but how much fun would that be? Travel whenever and wherever you want. No need to pack your things, just hop behind the wheel and go!
Second frivolous expense: A brand new, top of the line laptop. I’d not be able to go without a computer, especially to blog my journey.
Third frivolous expense: An new cellphone with a great unlimited plan and the ability to have wireless for the laptop.

I could go for some nice frivolous fun. How about you?

I hate balancing my checkbook. I hate money. I hate not having any money. I need to be independently wealthy. If I was independently wealthy, I could go get Plano porcelain veneers. I hate my teeth. I never saw a dentist as a kid and I pay for it as an adult. I need to have some stuff done with my teeth, but I don’t have the money, nor the insurance.

There are a lot of other things that I’d do if I was independently wealthy, especially fun frivolous things. But that’s for a fun happy post.

I had a great day Saturday. I spend the hole day at the Van Etten Festival. Most of it, I spent bonding with my editor. It was really nice. I got to know her a lot better, which was something that I feel is quite important.

I got to see some people whom I don’t get to see often, which is nice. It still isn’t quite what it used to be years ago, but it probably never will be since it’s not being planned by the same people. It was definitely an improvement over last year.

Anyway, I need to go back to doing what needs to be done tonight. I need to find a barcode scanner or something similar so that I can inventory the books I own. I used to have one, but I’m not sure whatever happened to it.

Alright, that’s it for now.

Okay, guess what folks. I’m PISSED OFF. I’m goddamn sick and tired of people slagging on Laurell K Hamilton and/or Stephenie Meyer. Who died and gave you people the right to sit and slag on someone elses writing? NO ONE. If you don’t like their writing, DON’T READ IT. Plain and goddamn simple as that. If you’re going to slag on authors for their writing style, slag on J K Rowling while you’re fucking at it. Oh wait, that’d piss off too many people, wouldn’t it? If you want to sit in almighty judgement of one author, judge them all. Every single one of them has some sort of flaw in their writing.

I’m fucking tired of hearing how awful LKH is and how dreadful Twilight was. Guess what, sweetheart? Harry Potter wasn’t a great piece of literary treasure either. So come down off that fucking high horse and lay off these authors whom you think suck. If you dislike them, so be it. Not everyone shares that opinion, just like not everyone thinks that other authors are the best thing since sliced bread. Period.

It’s starting to get cold! I don’t like it when it starts to get cold. Time to see if I can find some travel deals for warm places! Seriously. I shouldn’t complain though, I have a roof over my head and a furnace that works. I’m blessed to not have to worry about where my next meal is coming from, either.

I dunno what random tangent that came from, but we’ll go with it, I guess. I know it could be a lot worse. I’m blessed in a lot of ways, so yeah.

Exercising while you’re expecting is important for a number of reasons. You’ll sleep better, avoid fatigue, and enjoy an easier pregnancy. There are many types of activities you can do to stay in shape as a mother-to-be. Among them, walking and swimming are ideal. Both are cardiovascular, which means they will improve your body’s use of oxygen; that’s good for both you and your little one. Plus, both are low-impact. You’ll enjoy developing muscle tone and keeping excess weight off while avoiding putting undue stress on your joints. Below, we’ll provide some tips that you can use to walk and swim to stay fit throughout your pregnancy.

The First Three Months

If you don’t normally exercise, start slowly. It’s less exerting to swim, so you can safely do so for a half hour each day. A lot of moms-to-be enjoy doing it in the morning because the weightless sensation of being in the water helps to curb nausea. Plus, working out in the morning gives you an energetic boost to get through the rest of the day.

When you walk during your first trimester, you’ll need to take more care, especially if you’re doing so in the sun. Use sunscreen, wear a hat, and have plenty of drinking water available. wear loose fitting maternity clothes or extra comfort. If your body suffers dehydration, it can trigger contractions. If you rarely exercised before getting pregnant, start with a 20-minute lazy stroll. Then, increase your speed as your body grows accustomed to the activity.

The Second Three Months

When month four arrives, you won’t need to make any modification to your workout in the pool (besides wearing a larger Maternity Swimsuit). Swimming is uniquely easy on your body. So, unless your normal swim from the first trimester is causing exhaustion, keep it up. Walking during your second trimester can be dangerous if you’re not careful. At this point, your balance and equilibrium will shift slightly. To counteract this change, walk with your back straight, tuck your hips to prevent unnecessary swaying, and swing your arms as balancing weights. Pay attention to where you’re walking. You may have been able to recover gracefully from a stumble before getting pregnant, but your lack of balance now can be dangerous.

The Final Three Months

Not only is swimming easy on your joints, but as you round the corner on your third trimester, it can also control your body heat. Breaststroke is particularly valuable because it lengthens the muscles in your chest. To alleviate the pressure from bobbing or turning to breathe, consider using a snorkel.

Because walking increases your body heat, you’ll need to be extra careful during the third trimester. Consider taking walks in an air-conditioned gym or nearby mall. Also, speak with your obstetrician to make sure your workout doesn’t pose a danger to your baby during the final lap of your pregnancy. Exercise should be considered a vital part of your daily routine from the beginning of your pregnancy through childbirth. Add swimming and walking to your workout to stay fit and energized.

Sunblock is generally a good idea when you’re going to be out in the sun. I know this. I’ve known this for years. However, the actual application of said sunblock seems to escape me every single time. Thusly, after over 3 hours out in the beating, boiling sun for a football game, I am now … LOBSTER GIRL! That’s right, my face is beet red. It doesn’t hurt, however. I’m really lucky in that respect. My ear hurts, I will say that much. Probably because I didn’t put lotion on it when I got home. I put moisture therapy lotion on my burn when I got home (I have no aloe, dammit) and it helped immensely.

The game was good, and fun. We lost, but it was the season opener, so it’s not surprising. This week is shaping up to be a semi-busy one. I’m looking forward to it. Tomorrow is Bowling, Monday might be “Old Home Days” if I feel up to it, Wednesday is “Remembering Van Etten”, Saturday is Van Etten Festival. I have a few other things on tap, but they’re later on. And for clarification, since I was asked, I’ll give a quickie guide to places I have mentioned or may mention.

Van Etten is the town where I grew up
Spencer is the next town over from Van Etten
Lockwood is where I currently live
Waverly, Sayre and Athens (aka The Valley) is where I spend quite a bit of time. It’s also where Rob works and some of my family lives
Other places I mention are Binghamton, Ithaca and Elmira – The 3 cities that are within driving distance.
Spencer-Van Etten was my high school and the school I root for.
Corning Community College (CCC) is the college I went to.

I’m exhausted. I am sunburnt beyond belief and it’s starting to bug me. I need to work on my website some. I’m tempted to set up a live chat on one of them, just for fun. I may also change my backend to joomla. I need to play around and see what I can do.

I can’t wait til Rob is gone to work so I can lay down. Hopefully, the burn won’t bug me too much. It hasn’t really hurt much so far.

Lets talk about something new! But what? I don’t really have anything new to talk about. We could talk about what my schedule for the foreseeable future looks like?

Sept 4 – Grocery shopping
Sept 5 – Football!!!!
Sept 6 – Bowling Party
Sept 9 – Van Etten Remembers
Sept 12 – Van Etten Festival
Sept 28 – Rob’s Dr Appointment

I also have one interview on tap that isn’t scheduled yet. I’m waiting until I get my voice recorder. I want to have a far better second interview than I did the first time around.

It’s funny, that’s only a week long schedule plus one other day. I could keep listing things, but I’m too damn lazy and tired to do it tonight. With as much as I’ve got going on lately, I don’t need any help with fat burning. I’m keeping busy enough to not need the extra help. I’m excited about being this busy. I am also excited to keep it going. I just hope that winter doesn’t ruin my busy schedule.

My mood has lifted immensely. I’m not quite sure why. I’m still annoyed by idiots who can’t pay attention or accept that they are wrong. It’d be like me telling someone that they need to go to an austin weight loss center when they live in Dallas and not listening when they tell me it’s too far away.

I get tired of ignorance quickly any more. I get tired of a lot of things quickly, actually. Must come with getting older.

So, my first article was published. Front Page. I’m kind of shocked by that. Sadly, the paper is not currently available online and I’ve yet to get permission to reprint my articles. I’ll ask my editor when I see her next week.

Right now, I’m currently annoyed by the Big Brother bloggers and tweeters. They seem to be under the mistaken impression that CBS and Big Brother can’t do whatever the hell they want, no matter the number of shows left.

I’m also kind of annoyed by a poll I saw on Facebook earlier. I must be PMSing or something. My fuse is super short today.

I keep looking at laptops on different sites. Today’s site is a Canadian site: www.thesource.ca. Apparently, they have stores all over the place in Canada. They are offering free Windows 7 Upgrades on new computer purchases. I want Windows 7. I like Vista, but it seems like 7 is a lot better over all. I played with it for a bit when the beta came out.

We’ll see what happens come spring. I might just buy a mini or something.