2000
To keep your marriage brimming
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you’re wrong — admit it,
Whenever you’re right — shut up.
2017
I don’t follow instructions that have more than 1 step very well, so I think I’ll go with the latter. Except the child is now old enough to feed himself, so I’m good.
A policeman knocked on my door this morning, but I just locked it and sat in complete silence. After 20 seconds he knocked again, but I continued to ignore it. The knocks got louder and more frequent, but I was determined not to move in the hope that he would go away.
Then he decided to look through the window. He shouted, “Do you think I’m stupid? I can see you in there, ma’am. Open the door.” I said, “You’re not coming in!”
He said, “I don’t want to come in, I just want you to step out of the car.”
*****
Last night, I sent James a text. Keep in mind, I’m sitting near/next to him the whole time, and he was totally engrossed in the NFL draft pick thing that was going on, so I’m not sure anything other than football was resonating with him. He fell for it and I had tears coming out of my eyes by the time he caught on.
(I’m super good at entertaining myself.) I tried it next on AJ, and he yelled from across the house, “No it doesn’t!!” Didn’t even send me a text. No sense of humor.
It’s Friday, and I’m in the mood to smile and laugh. If either of these little sillies didn’t make you giggle, go visit Tasha at Hit Below The Belt Hard. She’s an expert at Funny Fridays!
Have a fabulous weekend!! And don’t forget to…
The following conversation transpired between me and my husband earlier while we had the radio on and were catching up on stuff:
ME: I think I’ve heard this song about 5 times already tonight.
JAMES: At least. I actually kind of like it. Who sings it?
ME: Justin Bieber.
JAMES: I f***ing hate it.
Our son can’t stop laughing about the fact his Dad is a Bieber fan.
Michael Buble as Justin Bieber in “Hollywood” video
What time is it?!! It’s time for Jamesy’s Motivational Music Monday! It’s time to search those playlists and post what floats your boat!! One day James will actually create the linky link thing, but in the meantime, put your video link in the comment section on his site so we can all see what makes you happy, gets you running or walking, or just plain puts a spring in your step!
When James told me he was going to post a rap song (you have to visit his site to actually see what rapper gets that metal head out and running), there was one song that came to my mind instantly. Now, most of you know that Buble is my boy; however, back in the eighties, George Michael was above and beyond my favorite of favorites.
Like most American kids/tweens/teenagers, I watched American Bandstand and Soul Train every Saturday morning (after Bugs Bunny, of course), and this is where I first saw Wham! They performed this song (Wham Rap!), they were dressed exactly how they were dressed in the video, and they even danced the same way. Ahhh, such entertainment! 🙂
This song is full of energy and still gets my blood pumping and my legs moving! It’s nice that not everything changes. Watch the video. If you know the song, see if it doesn’t bring a smile to your face after all these years. And if you don’t know it, I would still bet the video puts a smile on your face… if for no other reason than how fabulous the clothes and hair were back then! (George is sporting a tail, hehe) Enjoy!!
Ramble… to talk or write at length in a confused or inconsequential way. It’s what I do best, so I’ll begin.
My running has been slim this week. In case you forgot, I hurt my knee running the Lake Sammamish Half Marathon (but I finished anyway, so yay). You can read about that here, here, and here (all 3 “here’s” take you to the same place, but if you want to read about it someplace else, try here). So I’ve been resting and healing.
I’m kind of sad that I’m not still streaking, but the races and the bling are way more important than the streaking. In all reality, I think I just like saying “streaking;” it sounds so indecorous (haha, I had to look that one up). Anyway, I’ve been out on a couple of runs this past week… well, actually, one was on the treadmill, one was running laps at the soccer park, and then a good old fashioned trail run happened Friday! By the end of my run on Friday, I felt I had worked all the nigglies out, but we shall see what Sunday’s long run brings.
Four weeks from today, I’ll be running the SLC Half-Marathon. I really don’t time for the nigglies right now.
New subject… know anyone who is passive aggressive? I liken being passive aggressive to being in junior high school… there’s not an ounce of maturity associated with passive aggressive tendencies, regardless if the person is 60 years old. I’m having the extreme displeasure of dealing with one of those right now. I have no choice but to completely ignore her responses and take what she says at face value, and only face value. I get the hidden meaning behind the things she says, but then if I acknowledged any of it, I would be feeding the beast. Not gonna do it. Unfortunately this is not a social relationship, so I can’t just put the good old block on her or “unfriend” her.
James and I just had this conversation (please re-read definition of rambling):
JAMES: I think I’ll go for a bike ride.
ME: How far are you going?
JAMES: Probably about 10 miles, maybe 20, but probably 10.
ME: (singing) Your ass is gonna hurrrrrrrt…
ME: And you’re going to run after that?
JAMES: Yes.
ME: I think I’ll go take a nap.
Jackie over at A Cooking Pot and Twisted Tales is hosting a weekend brunch link-up! Be sure to stop by and join the party. You’re bound to meet lots and lots of new and interesting bloggers over there! It’s a great way to grow your blog AND to help out other bloggers! Great friendships form here! Remember… we’re all in this together!
I’ll finish off my ramblings with some pictures I took the other morning on my way to work. It was so gorgeous… the sun was shining and there was frost on the ground. I just can’t get over the beauty of this place… it’s everywhere you look!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!
As I was pondering the plight of… (oooo, alliteration)…
As I was pondering the plight of my pained patella (hehe), I started thinking about the ’80s and ’90s when I was in the best shape of my life and how I never would have had such a ridiculous injury, or pain. (Don’t even go there with the age thing… even if it was 25 years ago). So, I was thinking to myself, hmmm, what was it I did differently back then that I don’t do now?! And then I realized… it has to be all those awesome VHS workout tapes I did religiously. (For the young ‘uns reading this, VHS tapes were what we… cultured… people used to watch movies on before DVDs or streaming).
So I went on a treasure hunt in my garage. Hey! Looky what I found! A whole slew of old tapes I used to work out to! Anyone care to take a trip down memory lane with me?
Kathy Smith’s Fat Burning Workout — I loved this one. I plopped it in the VCR no less than 3 times a week. This is probably one of the first HIIT workout tapes out there, which isn’t surprising as Kathy Smith is the fitness guru of the ’80s and ’90s (well, her and Jane Fonda, but we’re not talking about Jane right now). Lots of lunges and squats (see, focused on knee and hip strength… she knew what she was doing).
Then there was Donna Richardson. Boy was she ever spunky! Loved her too, and I did this one (which came out in 1994) whenever I needed a change up from Kathy.
For years, I combined my aerobics with lifting weights, so I would buy Muscle and Fitness Magazine. Anyone remember Cory Everson? She was a champion weightlifter (Ms. Olympia, Arnold’s female counterpart), and she even had a role in Jean-Claude Van Damme’s movie, Double Impact. Anyway, she was smart and got on the workout video bandwagon. I lifted weights so I had to get it (1992). I did this tape at least 3 times a week as well. Cory Everson – Get Hard… the title says it all.
I can’t leave out Victoria Johnson! Holy dancer Batman! I wanted to groove just like her! In her Technifunk tape, she made a fun go of all those fabulous ’90s dances… like the Cabbage Patch, the Running Man, Ho Hey, etc. Great practice for going out clubbing!
I have about 10 or 15 more tapes out in the garage, but I think I’m seeing a pattern here… I need to get back to basics with my ’80s and ’90s VHS workout tapes, get that knee back in shape, then see how far that gets me down the trail! Woo hoo! I’m excited!! Now then… anyone got a VCR I can borrow? Anyone? Anyone at all?
‘Tis the night before the Lake Sammamish Half-Marathon and I’m doing my normal… you know, freaking out. Actually, I’ve been doing that since I got the race instructions in my email on Wednesday. I tend to hit panic mode when that email comes.
It’s supposed to be 50 degrees with a 50% chance of rain… neat-o. The weather is notorious for raining on the day of the Lake Sammamish race, so this is not a surprise to me. Visors work to keep both the sun AND the rain out of the eyes. I’ll leave off the make-up though… don’t want any Tammy Faye Bakker mishaps!
Watch is charging, race gear is ready, alarm set for 4 a.m. Water has gone down nicely tonight, so no worries there. Pre-race dinner was chicken and pasta with olives and artichoke hearts, a light Greek dressing, so doing well there, too. No alcohol… I’m saving that for Saturday night celebrations with Jamesy. Don’t need any issues on the course from alcohol!
Okay then, I think this girl is all set! The next time I see you, I’ll be slightly hungover and one bling richer!
Oh, yeah, the Twitter thing… I get my feed on my watch while I’m running. If you’re around tomorrow morning (7:30 a.m. Pacific), I would love to hear from you, @neveradullbling! You know, stuff like, “Get that arse moving!” Or “Don’t let that walker pass you!” Or even, “Chimichanga!” (which is waiting for me at the finish line, :D)…
Have a fabulous weekend everyone!
I’m calling this Thursday’s Thoughts because I really just want to ramble and I suck at coming up with clever titles. I do have a pretty picture though…
Okay, well, I have prettier ones than that, but that one will have to do. Still, you have to admit, it’s really a different looking flower, special in its own little way.
The highlight of my week at work… the county came to put up “No Parking” signs along our street and jack-hammered right through our phone line. When the county worker was approached about it, he said, “Oops. I probably should have got a dig order before I did that. My bad.” We rescue injured wildlife. No one can get through to us to report an injured animal. “Oops, my bad” just doesn’t cut it. I’m super hoping the director goes medieval on the county.
So, for that reason, I came home and wanted to watch cute animal videos on YouTube to relax. Found tons of them. Probably spent an hour doing that, and then spent lots of time searching for something funny to put on my blog as I get so annoyed with all the doom and gloom of the everyday world and news. So, here you go:
And why is that so funny? Because I’ve totally been there. Maybe I didn’t get a mouse in my mouth, but I have been known to sleep with a few half-eaten lizards. A sign of pure love.
The Lake Sammamish Half-Marathon is a week from Saturday, just in case I haven’t mentioned it enough, ;). This particular race was Jamesy’s very first half-marathon ever in the history of ever. We all know I run for bling. This was James’s “bling” for that very first one:
I kid you not. It’s a cardboard shoe. I think that if they would’ve handed that to me after the race, I would have said, “Yeah, one and done.” But then again, the very first 5K I did, they didn’t hand out any finisher medals at all and gave us one super ugly tech shirt. And that was a difficult course we ran. Hmmm, no wonder it took me awhile to get my run groove.
Just for fun, see if you can solve these brain teasers. They were on the Linked In feed. They’re actually quite fun…
Let me know if you’d like the answers. I might be nice enough to put them in my next post, :D. Not really… put your answer in the comments, and I’ll let you know if you were right or wrong.
I’ve spent the entire week working on video from Hawaii. I’ve finished one from the run streak I did the day before the race. It was fun to do, although I seriously need to work on my editing skills and everything else related to filming and videoing and such. If you want to watch it, it’s here. Not a lot of good scenery footage, but you do get the idea of where I ran every single morning while in Maui (other than on race day).
Anyone got any fun plans this weekend? Hope it’s a great one!!
She made taking care of a betta look like such an easy thing to do, so I just had to get one for myself. We were all very excited to have a new member of the family! AJ joined in on the fun and got to name him… Bob (because eventually that is what he would do… you know… bob, :P). No official tank stuff needed, just a bowl and partial water changes once a week, feeding once a day… easy peasy. Bob lasted a mere 6 months.
Bob #1
Being a new fish owner, I had no idea how fragile these guys actually were. The plants I had put in his bowl were plastic, and he had a ragged treasure chest/castle thing to swim in and out of (fish enrichment, you know). The ragged edges of the plants and treasure chest shredded his fins and he died. Yes, I cried as he was flushed out to sea.
Bob #2 was going to have a better life. Jamesy got me a nice rectangular 10-gallon tank with a heater and filter system. I got rid of the plastic and went with more natural feeling, softer plants. I also eliminated the treasure chest and put in a fun circular log for enrichment.
Bob #2’s new tank
Bob #2
I think Bob #2 lasted about 6 months as well… if. I didn’t know you had to cycle a tank to bring the water up to standard, so he developed ich. And died. Again I cried.
Once Bob #2 died, I decided to move onto a different type of fish… something that was more hardy and wouldn’t die so easy. Enter a school of neon tetras. Cool looking, but pretty boring. A betta has tons of personality, but tetras have all the personality of a sardine. So James went to the fish store and bought me about $70 worth of cool fish as I wanted him to pick out the next batch.
Tragedy soon ensued when I forgot to wash my hands one time before reaching into the tank water. The lotion from my hands created a toxic environment for the fish, and I lost about 10 in a matter of 3 days. That little incident is now referred to as Armageddon. There was 1 lone survivor… James’s otocinclus, a sucker fish, aptly named Otto. Have you ever seen these things? Not at all attractive. But oh, what a survivor.
Not my oto or picture, but Otto looked just like this.
My neighbor felt quite sorry for me, so she decided to get me a swordtail, supposedly a more hardy fish, and actually quite pretty to look at.
Not my swordtail.
Eventually she gave me a male from her own tank to go with my female. The inevitable happened… no, they didn’t die… they had babies!! Swordtails give birth to live fry, so I had all these little things swimming around my tank! I promptly went to get some floating plants to give the babies some cover so they wouldn’t become dinner or get sucked up into the filter! One actually survived the whole ordeal! This is Little Guy:
The mother soon perished after giving birth (surprise, surprise), but the male survived and Little Guy survived, who grew up big and beautiful. Come to find out, Little Guy was actually Little Girl and soon had babies of her own! THREE of her fry survived to grow up big and beautiful as well!
Five swordtails and an oto in one 10-gallon tank wasn’t a good thing, so James found me a lovely 35-gallon tank to transfer the whole family over… all except for Otto… he wasn’t having it, and trying to catch an oto is near impossible, so I let him be. Unfortunately, once again, 6 months after I transferred them to their new home, all 5 of them perished in about a week of each other. However, this little tragedy was baffling because I actually did cycle the tank and the water before transferring them, and my water was pristine. I even added medicine to the water once I realized something was going wrong. And the catfish didn’t get sick at all.
You’d think I’d give up by now, don’t you…
Fast forward to today… I now have 3 angelfish, 2 in one tank, 1 in the other. Otto died a couple of months ago from old age (!), and I’ve had my angelfish for a couple of years. They’re the only ones who can survive my hands of death.
Moral of the story: While having a betta is great fun, don’t ever let anyone tell you it’s easy. Fish are hard work and temperamental little bastards. And once you start, you will never ever stop…
Who owns fish?! Have you been sucked into the bottomless abyss as well?
Never A Dull Bling 