Trimming The Fat

I thought I had done such a good job weeding out bad television (and by bad, I mean shows I was still watching even though I no longer cared). Then, I looked at the updated list of shows I watch and am wondering if I have lost my mind - go ahead, insert your own joke here.

You probably don't like a lot of the shows I watch and I'm OK with that. Though I really wish some of you would get on board with them so I could talk to someone about it! I didn't even list the random reality shows I find myself watching when there's a marathon (um, "Real Housewives," I'm talking to you!).

I don't really have a point of this post. Just thought I was making progress on that whole TV thing. Oh, and I've whittled my Netflix queue to 480 movies. That's actual progress. I've been watching at least one movie a week - a MAJOR improvement from the six months those DVDs collected dust! The problem with that: I keep adding movies. Yes, it's a sickness. No, I don't need help.

Just maybe a good flu to give me some time to get caught up on things.

Sign I'm Getting Old?

This morning, I was trying to read the newspaper (I actually still do that most days). It was nice and quiet in my house. Then, something caught my eye. I saw something that was blue and red rise over the fence. I walked to the back door and saw it was one of those inflatable water slides. I thought it was strange, since I believe there's school this week and figured no one would use it. Imagine my surprise when ten minutes later, a group of teenage girls were on the slide, screeching like they were at a Jonas Brothers concert or something. It has been going on for two hours now (aren't they tired, sore or sunburned?). I took a picture on the sly - didn't want them to call the cops. This is what I see from one of my windows.
PLEASE tell me they won't start this on Saturday at 8AM! I'm kind of afraid I'm turning into Mr. Wilson from "Dennis the Menace!" I'm wondering if this is even allowed by my HOA? Darned kids!

Clumsiness Strikes - AGAIN!

Tuesday, I did something most people do every day - bump into something. While I'm used to these mystery bruises I get from hip checking myself on a sharp edge, or swinging my arm into a door frame, this one was different.

I was picking up something next to a chair in my living room, when I got too close to it. I accidentally kicked the leg of the chair. See the offending piece of furniture?
I'm sure you're surprised to know that I shouted a few expletives immediately after my toes met the wooden leg. Then, I wiggled my toes (some of which were numb), but figured it was no big deal. I've done that before. Then, I put on my sandals and took Charley for a walk. I was actually glad he is a slow walker. Every step hurt. If I had to walk fast, I don't know what I would have done. When we got home, I changed into my sneakers and went to work. Within two hours, the toe was throbbing, so I took off my shoe and sock and was surprised to see my middle toe turning purple. I hobbled through the day, came home, had some wine and went to sleep. When I woke up this morning, *this is what I saw:
That middle toe is a fine shape of reddish purple - merlot, maybe? It hurts. It may be broken, though I'm not going to waste my insurance money to get an x-ray since there's nothing you can do for a broken toe. I'll survive.

*Note: I know my toes are in need of a pedicure. The last thing I want to do right now is touch that toe! I'll tend to it when it returns to its normal color!

Recommended by Nicole

I love lip gloss! I'm actually quite picky about it. It can't be too sticky. It must keep my lips from getting dry or peeling (ick!). And it should taste good (it's on my lips, I'm gonna taste it). Why am I writing about this? Well, two reasons: (1) I'm not really doing much these days and (2) I recently came across some new lip gloss that I like so much I want you to know about it.

Last week, I had to go get makeup and I knew a birthday gift was waiting for me at Sephora. You see, when you're in their members club, you get a birthday gift every year and extra samples of things you probably can't afford. So imagine my excitement when one of my freebies was lip gloss!
It was three small tubes of Sephora brand lip gloss. Cute colors. But what's even better than that is that it's REALLY good lip gloss! My lips feel so soft, they're not sticky and this lip gloss tastes good, too! So the next time you're out looking for a new lip gloss, give it a try. I don't get any money from Sephora if you buy it, so go ahead. Do it. You'll thank me!

Must. Watch. Movies.

I love movies. The people at Netflix might not believe that, since I have only recently committed to watching at least one DVD per weekend (I will eventually get my queue below 200 - I think). Why am I talking about movies? Because Yahoo has come up with a list of 100 movies to see before you die. Oh, and I haven't blogged since my birthday! I'm such a slacker!

Well, maybe I'm not a total slacker. I have seen a lot of movies - or so I thought. Here's what's on the list and what I've seen (mock away in the comments section):

12 Angry Men (1957) - Yes
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - Yes
400 Blows (1959) - No. Sounds dirty ... or is it just me?
8 1/2 (1963) - No
The African Queen (1952) - No
Alien (1979) - Yes
All About Eve (1950) - Yes
Annie Hall (1977) - Yes
Apocalypse Now (1979) - Yes
The Battle of Algiers (1967) - No
The Bicycle Thief (1948) - No
Blade Runner (1982) - No
Blazing Saddles (1974) - Yes
Blow Up (1966) - No
Blue Velvet (1986) - No
Bonnie and Clyde (1967) - No
Breathless (1960) - No
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - Yes
Bringing Up Baby (1938) - No
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) - Yes
Casablanca (1942) - Yes
Chinatown (1974) - No
Citizen Kane (1941) - Yes
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) - No
Die Hard (1988) - Yes (really?)
Do the Right Thing (1989) - Yes
Double Indemnity (1944) - No
Dr. Strangelove (1964) - No
Duck Soup (1933) - No
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - Yes
Enter the Dragon (1973) - No
The Exorcist (1973) - Yes
Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982) - Yes (again, really?)
The French Connection (1971) - No
The Godfather (1972) - Yes
The Godfather, Part II (1974) - Yes
Goldfinger (1964) - No
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1968) - Yes
Goodfellas (1990) - Yes
The Graduate (1967) - Yes
Grand Illusion (1938) - No
Groundhog Day (1993) - Yes (huh?)
A Hard Day’s Night (1964) - Yes
In the Mood For Love (2001) - No
It Happened One Night (1934) - No
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) - Yes
Jaws (1975) - Yes
King Kong (1933) - No
The Lady Eve (1941) - No
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - No
The Lord of the Rings (2001) - No
M (1931) - No
M*A*S*H (1970) - Yes
The Maltese Falcon (1941) - No
The Matrix (1999) - No
Modern Times (1936) - No
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) - Yes
National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) - Yes (What tha???)
Network (1976) - Yes
Nosferatu (1922) - No
On the Waterfront (1954) - Yes
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) - Yes
Paths of Glory (1958) - No
Princess Mononoke (1999) - No
Psycho (1960) - Yes
Pulp Fiction (1994) - Yes
Raging Bull (1980) - Yes
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - No
Raise the Red Lantern (1992) - No
Rashomon (1951) - No
Rear Window (1954) - Yes
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) - Yes
Rocky (1976) - Yes
Roman Holiday (1953) - No
Saving Private Ryan (1998) - Yes
Schindler’s List (1993) - Yes
The Searchers (1956) - No
Seven Samurai (1954) - No
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - Yes
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - Yes
Singin’ in the Rain (1952) - Yes
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) - Yes
Some Like It Hot (1959) - Yes
The Sound of Music (1965) - Yes
Star Wars (1977) - Yes
Sunset Blvd. (1950) - Yes
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) - Yes
The Third Man (1949) - No
This is Spinal Tap (1984) - Yes
Titanic (1997) - Yes
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) - Yes
Toy Story (1995) - Yes
The Usual Suspects (1995) - Yes
Vertigo (1958) - Yes
When Harry Met Sally… (1989) - Yes
Wild Strawberries (1957) - No
Wings of Desire (1988) - No
The Wizard of Oz (1939) - Yes
Women On the Verge of Nervous Breakdown (1988) - No
The World of Apu (1959) - No

My Birthday

Yes. I am older today than I was a few days ago. Thursday was my birthday. I wish I could tell you I did something incredibly fun to celebrate. However, I spent the day at work. Let me back track a little.

I spent the early morning hours with my shivering dog leaning into my back. You see, Charley is afraid of stormy weather - even if it doesn't last long. He woke me at 6AM (better than the other night when he made me get up three times to let him out). I let him back in and then went back to sleep. My morning started with a few phone calls, some with songs, some with well wishes.

Then, I was greeted at work with another song and a present! If you've never been in a newsroom, there are a few things you should know:

1. It's noisy.
2. It can quickly become an HR person's nightmare (we have potty mouths and make inappropriate jokes/comments).
3. It can be very cold.

A few weeks ago, I said I wished I had a Snuggie because I was cold. So when I started reading the card and saw all these comments about staying warm, I had an idea that there would be a Snuggie in that box. Ta Da!
Me in the Snuggie! I have left it on my chair so others can use it when I'm not there. I kind of wished I didn't have a big sweater on so I could have worn it. Yes, it is technically a backwards robe, but still, if I took a robe to work to wear when I was cold people would think I was crazier than I am!

In case you're wondering, the Snuggie is toasty. It is long. It will make you wish you were on the sofa watching TV or taking a nap. I'm going to figure out how to work that into my day - perhaps on a holiday when the bosses aren't around.

One more thing: thanks to my family and friends for making my birthday a good one - and not necessarily a reminder that I'm getting old!

My Handy Grandpa

That's my grandpa in the yellow shirt. I wish the picture was a little closer so you could appreciate his long hair and goatee. Don't ask me why he's grown out the hair - I suppose it's because he can.

He's very handy. He can fix things. He also likes to build things. When he was visiting me a few months ago, I was saying I needed to get Chaplin one of those cat tree things - you know, the carpeted climbing thingys. My grandpa told me he could make one. At Christmastime, I saw what he had done so far. This weekend, he delivered it. It looked a little top heavy to me, but I figured it would be stable. Here it is:
Chaplin has climbed on it (not all the way to the top). He had knocked it over a few times. That concerns me. I've also noticed he's been pulling at the carpet and I see glue exposed. Now I'm worried he might eat the glue.

Now, I hate the idea of having to throw this thing out, but I don't want Chaplin to get hurt. Really - I don't! I like him when he's all cuddly! I don't want to hurt my grandpa's feelings. I know he spent a lot of time working on it. So, I don't know what to do with this. Any thoughts?

Charley's Big Weekend

DISCLAIMER: this was actually Valentine's Day weekend, but I'm blogging about it now. Not that Charley reads this.
Charley got a really short haircut - his first in a while. He was really shaggy and needed a trim. He looks like a whole new dog! When we got home, he got two special treats: a new tennis ball and a cookie. Not just any cookie. Take a look:
Bill and Shannon gave Charley a homemade cookie with his name on it! I told him it was a special treat and not to expect another one to pop out of the pantry. He absolutely LOVED it! Once he finished off the cookie, he chased around the tennis ball and called it a day.

I know he's pampered, but I can't help it. When I think of all the things he missed out on the first year and a half of his life, I want him to be a happy dog. He's a good companion and deserves good things!

Why I gave up on "The Road"

I really am trying to read books more often. Sometimes, the books work against me, like this one.

I started reading "The Road" many times. It was sad. I couldn't take it. Plus, I kept waiting for a natural break in the writing so I could feel comfortable putting it down, but that just never happened. Maybe I'm just not smart enough for a book like this, but no matter how many times I have picked it up, I just can't stick with it.