Would you go to the ends of the Earth for your

spouse or significant other's job?

Where would you fall on the issue if your spouse or significant other was facing a possible transfer to a nation that doesn't embrace women's rights? For multiple years?

Would you be able to adjust to not being able to drive or go out of doors alone?

Would you be able to give up your pets and 99% of personal items?

Would you be able to give up freedoms...what to say, what to watch on Tv, what to read? What to wear?

Sometimes you just have to shake your head

Just some random thoughts...

How is it that 4 hours in an Er equals a bill of nearly 8000.00?? Thankfully, insurance has already paid this bill, but we're now awaiting the bills from the physician (who I didn't even SEE), the nurse practitioner, the lab assistants and the radiologist and MRI techs. My insurance co. said they expect at least 1500 more in these buills. Hopefully, they'll cover those too!

When did it become acceptible to call someone about a work matter at 2 am?? Yes, I kid you not...2 am! Mark is in NYC for a huggge meeting and someone from another of his jobs called him at 2 am on his cell phone for technical support. Oy!

If someone chooses not to get together with me when I'm living the next town over from them for three MONTHS, why am I then a snob for not deigning to get together with him when I kept suggesting ideas, meeting places, inviting him over, etc.???

How come high energy cats and children look so darn innocent when they're sleeping??

Home...and the great litter incident

We're hommmmeeee!

Thank goodness...we were SOOO ready to be in our native environment again! Of course, we have so much to do here...from sorting through 3 MONTHS of mail, to organizing the spare room as Mark's office, but still...home is home.

The trip home went pretty well...after the first hour or so. Mark wanted to head out on Thurs. aft. since he knew he'd be on a business trip by Monday. So, we decided we'd leave right after he got off work on Thurs. We were of two minds about the trip. I wanted to break our trip halfway and visit with a friend overnight while Mark wanted to press onward.

He came home from work at about 3 in the afternoon, we packed up the car, got the cat ready and prepared to leave an hour later.

I was all about making Moonlight comfortable...baaad idea! Her crate had a comfy blanket in it, a small litter pan and a little tray of food and water...which worked well until Mark hefted the crate and water spilled EVERYWHERE.

Moonlight and her blanket and litter looked dry...at first glance! We started negotiating traffic and all of a sudden, I felt some sort of material hitting my arm. Moonlight's litter had gotten saturated and she was flinging it at us in protest. Within maybe...ten minutes...we were coated in the stuff!

When we stopped at our first rest stop, we were shocked to find that our jeans were WHITE with clumping clay. Mark's jacket, our hair...you name it, Moonlight had expressed her annoyance with litter. Thankfully, it wasn't used for its primary purpose ;)

Thankfully, the trip went very smoothly otherwise. We stopped about 2/3 of the way through and got home Friday afternoon. Moonlight is loving the house and the dynamic between all the cats is interesting....they're all integrating well :)

Home by the weekend :)

Just heard official word that we're leaving IL on Friday and will be home Friday evening, Mark needs to duck out for some business meetings in another state shortly afterward and I'm sooo glad we'll be home before he goes away.

Homeward bound??

We've been temporary residents of IL now for almost 3 months and in the last week, we've been longing for home more than ever. Its just...time.

We're currently scheduled to leave this apt. next weekend and either move in to a hotel/store our stuff/bring the cat to temporary digs because she won't be allowed to be in a hotel, or go home. As you can imagine, I'm working realllly hard to go home.

Some issues have come up this morning with Mark's big project that could mean we'll be here quite a while longer...or we may be going home in the next 48 hours. The thought of being in a hotel room for 4-8 weeks just sounds like hell on earth at this juncture.

I'm so missing being home...

The notion of being on a working computer (my laptop is on life support at the moment), of being with the kitties, of sleeping on my pillow and using my blanket...it is absolute HEAVEN. And I won't even mention being around my books again LOL!

As much as we like this area and wouldn't mind relocating here some day...we've both just ready to be in our comfort zone again. Think good thoughts that we're on the road back to VA really soon!

the P&E poll

A lot of folks have weighed in on this poll and the debates have been interesting.

Angie (Brianna's Mommy) weighed in on the book Laser Kill here

Baen author John Ringo discusses his book as a romance finalist in this post here
After reading his post I simply had to vote for him. I'm hoping to win a 'red shirt' from him some day.

Some of the nominations just made me shake my head. Among many other questionable entries, the new Baen magazine (Baen's Universe)
was nominated as best magazine of 2005. The only problem is that the magazine doesn't even launch until mid 2006! I know it will be a phenomenal magazine, but...LOL! Can we let it launch before it is in the running for an award?

It is too bad that this poll only requires an email address in order for a person to vote. Until the voting restrictions are tightened, it will never be taken as more than a popularity contest.

I'm shrinking!

I've been working really hard on losing weight for the last 4 mos. Since then, I've lost...oh....approximately 25-30 pounds or so (Haven't weighed myself since Thanksgiving). Until yesterday that was mostly just a number.

Mark and I have a wedding to attend later this month and a dinner with his boss tomorrow night. Since we were only expecting to be here 6-8 wks. I only brought one pair of dress pants. I decided to try them on (as well as most of the clothes I brought out from VA) and lo and behold, NOTHING fits well. The pants? Are getting given away. They're a good 1.5 to 2 sizes too big and won't even stay up with a belt.

Ahhh progress!

I have like 3 shirts and 1 pair of pants that fit well but otherwise everything is too big :) YAY!

January is Tea month!

Amazing the things you absorb when the Tv is on for background noise!

I'm a huge tea lover...at home we have so many varieties of herbal and black/green/red teas but since being here in Chicago, I haven't had much tea at all. Earlier this week, a local TV station did a special on local tea shoppes and I took careful note. Yesterday, we went to Argo Tea in Chicago.

Argo Tea was touted as being a type of Starbucks for strictly tea lovers and I was pretty impressed both with the selections (bubble teas, tea lattes, etc) and the atmosphere. Unfortunately, we stumbled in when a tea seminar was going on, so it was super crowded. I had an incredible Vanilla Earl Gray latte and Mark had some concoction with black tea, honey and lemon. They were both sooo good. We also shared a Mojitea, which was lime juice and mint.

We're both working pretty heavily this weekend and may do another tea jaunt to break up the day. This time, I want to try a place called Chill Bubble Tea.
The selections look endless and since they have free WiFi, we could always drag our laptops down and work from there for a bit. It would be a nice change of pace.

Hmm...this place also seems to be about halfway from where I live and a friend's place. Must send her an email... ;)

I LOVE Bubble Tea and its so hard to find it at home...there are a few Mom and Pop Vietnamese stores that carry it, but those are few and far between and they usually only have taro, jackfruit, etc. which are really nice, but I'd love a mango or a watermelon, just for comparison purposes ;)

Its 4:50 am...why haven't I slept???

Read the rant to our upstairs neighbor.

It happened again! Thumping bass and loud music started at about 9 tonight. Then it went away....ahhh glorious silence.

I went to bed at about 1 and was jolted awake in a blind panic to hear people screaming and yelling, then that damn stereo started. I tried desperately to sleep for about 90 minutes, only to wake up totally panic stricken 3 or 4 times (I'm still shaking). I'm both an insomniac and have very bad panic attacks so to say I wasn't amused is an understatement.

I waited it out until almost 4 am. They were getting louder and louder so I finally called the police. Mark let three boys in blue in about an hour ago and there has been blessed silence since. The police asked Mark a few questions when he let them in but they didn't follow up with us which seems to me to be a good sign that nothing was disputed.

Of course I'm now wide eyed while Mark is snoring away :P Some people get all the luck!

Cursed!

Its official...My husband is cursed!

He never saw snow until he was 35 years old. The only place they get real snow is in the mountains back in Kanga Land. When he came over here, he was so cute....all little boy wonder about the snow. We had a couple of decent snowfalls in 2002, including 30+ inches in the President's Day storm.

Typically, the DC area doesn't get much snowfall, so these milder winters are par for the course. Still, Mark was sure he was being cruelly denied by fate.

When we learned we'd be in Chicago for a few months, he just knew he'd have his real American winter finally.

Ahh, famous last words!!!! The snow is HIDING. This year, DC got more snow than we have here!

Maybe I should rent Mark out to communities in need of a mild winter...this seems to be an interesting talent he has :)

Rant to our upstairs neighbor

Dear Punk...I mean...Sir

We all share this apartment building, yet, in the past few months, I've noticed that you don't really seem to give any consideration to your neighbors.

Case in point...last Saturday night.

You and your freak parade pounded on the floors, which if you didn't know, connect to my damn ceiling, to the point that my windows rattled. What were you doing? Playing pin the tail on the elephant? At 3 am?

I'm ever so happy that you have an active sex life and even more happy that someone wants to procreate with your punk a** but do I have to hear every moan, scream and whimper from you. Its not exactly masculine, is it? Its akin to torturing a gerbil. Do you think we get all aquiver listening to *bang bang* *Male yet feminine screech*, *Bored female voice*, etc. I may never have sex again after listening to that.

When you have your friends coming and going in the wee hours, do you think you could control them? People BANGING on my bedroom window to wave at my cat at 4 am can often be construed as a threat.

And be warned, Punk. If you try this party again, we WILL call the police.

Today's random thoughts

Apartment living is eviiiil! I'm plotting the torture and death of my loud upstairs neighbor....stay tuned for a rant.

Anticipation can be soooo sweet. I hope to have an update on this later today too. We'll see how everything shakes out.

The Chicago area libraries have a fantastic DVD rental service...wish we had this at home! We rented 4 movies for a week...two that Mark has been DYING to see.

Bra fittings are ever so necessary!

Computer programs that steal all but 2 mb of your hard disk space should be stopped....now!

Calling your husband an over the op pet name in front of his work mates can lead to looooots of fun threats and back and forth.

Line of the day (from hubby to to cat) "I love you, kitten. At least I don't get unexpected hickeys from you, just unexpected scratches."

The January TBR challenge

Angie (Brianna's Mommy) instituted a TBR challenge whereby interpid bloggers are supposed to read a specific type of book. This month it was a contemporary romance. I finished mine last evening and wanted to blog about it.

I read It Happened In South Beach by Jennie Klassel
which was a lighthearted contemporary romantic suspense. It was exactly what I needed to break up some rather grim fantasy reads that I had to set aside.

This WAS marketed as a contemporary romance though, Angie!!

Tilly Snapp is the executrix of her aunt's will. When her aunt dies in a tragic nude parasailing accident (the mind boggles!), Tilly becomes embroiled in her aunt's life and eccentric friends. Her life is further complicated by the fact that her dear aunt may have been in posession of a very valuable sexual artifact and that her aunt was murdered.

Tilly's attraction to a sexy Interpol agent and her growth as a character rounded out a read that kept me entertained. While it wasn't a keeper by far, and I found myself having to suspend belief at times and chuckling at the over the top antics, it held my attention.

Random thoughts of the day

Technophiles shouldn't browse the consumer electronic show Yahoo links unless they're prepared to set up a wish list and do a lot of drooling.

Romance skips a generation. My stepson is getting married in a Scottish castle . This is after he proposed in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower...my husband has a lot to learn ;)

Having said *that*, romance wears many faces and the comfort and protectiveness of a gentleman when you're at your worst is worth more than gold.

Happiness is a cuddly cat.

True colors can really hurt the eyes and incessant whining gets the silent treatment from me.

When very sick, don't be bullied by medical techs. If you have a serious issue, threaten to stop treatment until your concerns are addressed. This isn't being divalike behavior and could save your life.

Becoming a midwesterner might not be a bad option.

Any industry 'poll' that has people advertising ballot stuffing and has so much inaccurate information can't be taken seriously.

Being so sick you can't even read or watch TV STINKS!

The flu diet

Due to the flu diet, I'm 99% sure I'm under my college weight. Granted, this asn't the HEALTHIEST way to do so, but now that I'm upright again, I can be philosophical about the whole situation.

Back at Christmas, Mark and I were suffering from a cold. I shook mine off quickly while his lingered. Unfortunately, just after Christmas I also began to feel queasy. This quickly escalated to full-on flu and I went a period of almost two weeks where I couldn't eat solid food. I hit rock bottom last weekend when Mark rushed me to the ER. I was so dehydrated (all that Gatorade and ginger ale didn't make a positive difference) that it was getting to be crisis point.

Thankfully, I'm finally recovering...am still quite weak but I can finally eat again :)

An interesting fringe benefit is that none of my jeans fit any more. They're literally hanging on my body. They were getting big before I got sick but now...they're sooooo baggy. I'll take any weight loss I can get but this was *rough*.

Good for RI...they legalized the use of medicianal marijuana today!

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Rhode Island on Tuesday became the 11th state to legalize medical marijuana and the first since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that patients who use the drug can still be prosecuted under federal law.

The House overrode a veto by Gov. Don Carcieri, 59-13, allowing people with illnesses such as cancer and AIDS to grow up to 12 marijuana plants or buy 2.5 ounces of marijuana to relieve their symptoms. Those who do are required to register with the state and get an identification card.

Federal law prohibits any use of marijuana, but Maine, Vermont, Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington allow it to be grown and used for medicinal purposes.

The U.S. high court ruled June 6 that people who smoke marijuana because their doctors recommend it can still be prosecuted under federal drug laws, even if their states allow it.

Federal authorities, however, have conceded they are unlikely to prosecute many medicinal marijuana users.

"I'm sure everybody in this room knows at least one person who would have benefited from medical marijuana," Rep. Thomas Slater, who has cancer, told fellow lawmakers before the vote. Slater said he doesn't use marijuana now but it could become part of his treatment in the future.

---------

My comments:
Now, I was probably one of the only children of the '80s who never did a drug, marijuana included, but I had some experience with this issue.

My father passed away Jan 2, 1989, so I guess this is particularly resonating with me now, given that the anniversary of his death just passed yesterday.

My dad was diagnosed with multi-systemic cancer when I was in my mid-teens, orginating in the liver/pancreas/stomach. He had a terrible time of it (actually this is an understatement...that damn disease tortured him) and his diagnosis was terminal. Near the end, my grandmother was unable to care for him alone any longer (my mom and he had been divorced for many years, and I helped out as much as I could, but it was too hard on a woman in her mid seventies even with home health aides).

My dad was able to be placed in a nursing facility and lived out his last weeks there. My stepfather was the assistant admin there and my mom worked there as well. Fortunately for Dad, so did one of his home health aides. This gentleman brought my father marijuana which helped settle his stomach and give him some measure of peace. This home health aide showed Dad unending compassion even though his job and career could have been toast.

Even now, close to two decades later I see absolutely NO problem with the use of medicinal marijuana. It wasn't as if my father got PLEASURE out of this...the man literally starved to death as the cancer ate his body little by little. If this drug was able to hold off the cravings of a dying man I fail to see the issue. If he got some measure of peace, so be it!

Now, fortunately I never learned of this at the time (it wasn't as if my dad would have asked me to score some pot for him LOL!) and when I learned of it, the home health aide had changed careers and to this day, I'm not sure if Mom and Stepdad know, but it turns my stomach to think that this aide could have faced criinal charges when his goal was just to ease my dad's suffering.

Marijuana has been shown to help AIDS patients, cancer patients and I believe even folks with glaucoma. The registration guidelines make sense to me. Yeah, some people may buck the system, but don't the benefits to folks suffering with illness outweigh this?

I wish I'd stop dreaming books!

I write purely for pleasure and have gosh...since I was 7 maybe? In the last few years, I haven't been writing much. While I've had the inspiration for the basics of plot, my creative process stopped there. I've banged out a few short stories but other than that, I've been singularly unimpressed with my output and product.

Jump to Christmas week where I read more than I worked for the first time in over a year. This must have really pushed my creative juices because in the last two weeks I've dreamed four books.

Yep, I'm dreaming books. Sweeping fantasy books...which I LOVE to read but have never attempted to write.

At the moment, they're just groups of ideas I've jotted down on paper but they're so vivid and emotionally lush that I know I have to bring them to life. One in particular is screaming at me to get written...a projected 3 book fantasy series.

I'm torn between being very impressed at my subconscious and wanting to give it a gentle nudge to hush up until I flesh out earlier ideas LOL.

I guess another goal for '06 is to write more.

Strangely enough, my husband shares that goal. At lunch yesterday, we were discussing the new Baen publishing magazine--Baen's Universe
and he mentioned that he might try to bring some of his ideas to life on paper and submit them for potential publication. One of my dreams is to to-write with him. He has such an amazing eye for detail and imagination. He's also a really good writer. I'd love to see him get some of his fantastic ideas on paper :)

I've been blogging my book reading for 2005

Some interesting stats have cropped up.

I read 89 pleasure books this last year...the majority were probably fantasy. I guess it is safe to say that I'm on a fantasy reading jag LOL! This year I'm going to attempt to rate the books I've read for pleasure...my states for '06 should be similarly interesting ;)

Some of the books that stood out:

Days of Infamy Harry Turtledove/End of the Beginning by Harry Turtledove. This is an alternate history series set in a Pearl Harbor enduring a ground invasion in WW II. I love the way he presents so many POvs and makes me care about the 'good' and 'bad' guys.

The Kelley Armstrong Women of Otherworld books. What can I say?? Fabulous! I have no idea why I waited so long to try these.

Wen Spencer's Tinker. Wow. I've read and reread this book and I'm just in awe of how thoroughly the author pulls me in!

Rachel Caine's Weather Warden books. Again, what can I say beside fabulous and fantastic! The third book in this series saved me from a bout of insanity when my husband and I were stuck in the traffic jam from hell...we went some 70 miles (of 500) in 7 hours!

The Curious Incident Of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. This was a best-seller that I picked up. We suspect someone close has a type of autism and this book really helped me to understand her thought processes.

The Abbey Cooper mystery series by Victoria Laurie. Fantastic reads. I don't read much mystery but the character of Abbey Cooper

The story of my life : an Afghan girl on the other side of the sky /Farah Ahmedi with Tamim Ansary. This was the biographical story of a teen...very thought provoking.

Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner. Really enjoyed the spirt of this book :)

Eragon by Christopher Paolini. Sweeping fantasy that just pulled me in and didn't let me go!

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella. Best chick-litty read this year.

The Gergor Series by Suzanne Collins. YA fantasy...quite well done. A YA book that really focused on family...with giant loyal cockroches. How could I not enjoy these?

The Amber Room/Romanov Prophecy by Steve Berry. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed thrillers until I read these two books. The Romanov Prophecy helped me get through not one, not two, but THREE flights on 9/11.

If Angels Burn by Lynn Viehl. Phenomenal book!

Nylon Angel by Marianne dePierres. Yep, I read a cyberpunk novel and I LOVED it!

Children of the Shaman by Jessica Rydill. Intriguing fantasy! I 'm trying to locate the sequel!

The Necessary Beggar by Susan Palwick. Fabulous fantasy! Very lyrical and written with a very gentle hand.

Resurrection Day by Brandon Dubois. incredibly good alternate history about a world in which the Cuban Missle Crisis led to full-on nuclear war. The action takes place 10 years after the war. This was perhaps the finest alternate history I've read in years, though Harry Turtledove is a close runner up!

Dragon's Eye by James Hetley Fabulous modern fantasy. New author to me but I plan to devour his other books! This is a modern fantasy set in Maine that features shape-shifters and mob influences and two families who have ancient powers.

Touched by venom by Janine Cross. I picked this book up because of the online banter and read it in one sitting. I'm interested to see where the author goes with the sequels!

Confessions of a Super Mom by Melanie Lynne Hauser. Thoroughgly enchanting! I'm an unabashed fan of superhero books and this was just my cup of tea!

HAPPY 2006!!!!

I hope your 2006 is your best year yet!

Mark and I had a very quiet evening, but we tend not to do much special for NYE anyway.

For the first year in a great many, I have a few resolutions and I actually think I may keep them.

1)Get down to my goal weight. I'm over halfway there!
2)watch more classic movies and read more classic books. Since I was raised by folks at least in their sixties, the only classic movies I ever saw while growing up were Gone With The Wind and The Wizard of Oz. I'm going to rectify that this year as well as reading more of the classics.

3) Take one day a week completely away from work. This has been a huge sticking point with Mark and me and considering that he'll be working from home as well, we've both vowed this.

I saw this meme on PBW's blog and thought I'd jump in. I guess a lesser resolution is getting better about blogging.

Last Book Read: The Handy Bug Answer Book.

Last Live Music Show Seen: Duran Duran

Last CD Purchased: Bo Bice for a gift exchange

Last Thing Cooked:Cooking now. Salisbury steak and garlic mashed taters

Last New Thing Eaten:Jerk chicken. I've recently rediscovered things spicy.

Last Thing Bought: Groceries last night. A Candy Cane Freeze, yesterday afternoon

Last Gift Received: a really sweet email from a friend

Last Piece of Clothing Bought or Received as a Gift: thick slipper socks in shocking neon green (blame Walgreens(tm)). They only had green and orange left.

Last Embarrassing Experience: Finding that my shirt was on backwards after getting in the car. Yes, I scruched down and changed it in the car

Last Totally New Experience: learning how to walk a cat on a leash. It isn't a great success yet!

Last Foreign Country Visited, if any: Australia, 2001. Hopefully England late this year.

Last New Animal Seen: I got up close to some elk yesterday

Last Big Achievement: Hitting my college weight and slipping a pound or two below it :)

I'm being mean and tagging the bitches for this one ;)

Whew....what a week!

So, my aunt sailed through surgery but had a mild heart attack friday evening. They think the heart attack was directly due to an excess of fluid around her heart, which has been treated medically and the docs think she'll be fine. In the next week, health willing, she'll transition to a nursing facility where she'll rehab. She can't live alone any more, though, so decisions must be made.

In between all of this stress, Mark and I became quite ill with a flu/bronchitis thing that had us flat on our backs from Thursday-yesterday. As a result, we had a rather quiet NYE, but we enjoyed ourselves.

In other news, click here
for a picture of Moonlight, the newest addition to the family.