Home...Home... on the range...

You know ever vacation I go on I am so excited to go.  I get excited early too. I start planning, making lists, researching the new area, making a list of things to do, making a list of photos to shoot, and on and on.  Then when the big day comes and I'm off, I swear I almost immediately start counting down to home.

It's not that I don't love traveling. Cuz I do. But there's something about coming home.  Something about your own bed, your own sheets, your own bathroom and your own "ball of needy"* (aka Pookie).

*Stole "ball of needy" from Patron Saint. It adequately describes the feline when one has been gone longer than a work day. Thanks PS.

The work really begins for me now though. I've got thousands of photos to sort through and post for all the world to see. I'm trying to do very little manipulation of the photos in PSE because I can get a bit heavy handed on the manipulation.  So far, the majority of updates I've made has been to the exposure. Which I discovered something about my camera this past week.

My camera tends to over expose.

I'd blame the user, but I tested the theory out and discovered that indeed, regardless of what the meter says it should be my photos are slightly over exposed.  Then I got to thinking about where I meter a shot (if I meter a shot) and found that I may be metering incorrectly.  I meter to the ground or foreground.  Me thinks I might need to meter a few places.

Regardless, with the beauty that is Alaska, it's hard to not get a good photo!

I've posted the first round of photos on Flickr.

Food photos are here.

Scenery of Glacier Bay is here.

I'll be going through all the glacier photos tonight...and there are a ton.  Once that's done, I'll be posting them tomorrow or the next day!

It was cold and windy on the bow as we entered Glacier Bay. This is the opening to Icy Strait.

They were serving Pea Soup to keep everyone warm.  I stuck with hot chocolate as I'm not a fan of Pea Soup.

Its breath taking, isn't it?

In the last "arm" of Glacier Bay the sun came out.  It made the water such a beautiful shade of blue. If it wasn't 52F I would have thought we were in the Caribbean.

BEARS! We saw some bears. The tan-ish thing you see the front bear by is a whale. The whale carcass has been there since May - feeding the wildlife.  A perfect example of the circle of life.

What’s the Opposite of Bon Voyage?

Whatever it is, it’s about to be said to us. We are on our final push home. Tonight we docked in Victoria.  We decided to not get off the boat tonight. Primarily because of the cost to get to Victoria from the dock, but also because Mr. Volleyball, The Dane, Blueberry and I decided to do a nice dinner in one of the fancy restaurants.  For $20 we got a 5 course meal!  And this meal was to die for.  Mr. Volleyball and The Dane decided to splurge and buy champaigne to celebrate the ending of the cruise.

I’ve refrained from posting any food photos for fear of you all gaining weight. See how nice I am? But get your stretchy pants cuz I’m posting tonight’s dinner.

We started with a duck appetizer, which I didn’t get a photo of mostly because I’m not a duck fan.  But also because I forgot.

Second course for me was Spicy Chicken and Coconut soup.  Spicy being the key word there.  Also didn’t get a photo, but trust me you’d be drooling. Perhaps from the heat of it, but you’d be drooling.

I followed the soup with a Balsamic Beef Steak Tomato salad.  Flavorful is putting it mildly.

Dinner was Land and Sea. A 6 oz Filet Mignon and 2 VERY large prawns.  This plate was only part of the meal. Each entre you could select as many sides as you’d like. I had heard raves about the scalloped potatoes, so I had those and asparagus.  Delish.

Finally we finished the meal with coffee that was so thick my spoon melted.  It was so darn good though. Blueberry I think will be up for the next decade on the coffee.  I accompanied my coffee with Velvet Chocolate Souffle. 

I’m never eating again!

Tomorrow it’s back to reality – and Monday it’s REALLY back to reality and back to work.  I have to tell my boss I got a new job and will be moving on. Oh! Did I not tell you I got a new job? Well I did. I got a kick ass new job and a massive raise and I can hardly wait to start it.  It’s still a contract at HotelCaliforniaSoft, but I think it will be a fun and great job.

Ketch U if I Kan

Woke up this morning in sunny Ketchikan.  Well, sunny-ish.  It’s going to be a relatively nice day here in Ketchikan.

I stepped outside on our balcony to get a shot of the city and kept hearing all this belly flopping noise. I knew it couldn’t be waves breaking because it was so calm outside. So as I looked around I saw them. Flying fish! They are everywhere in the harbor. I stood, like a dufus, on the deck with me telephoto lens and waited and waited and waited.  Let’s just say I got a lot of shots of splashing water.  Only later did I learn these were not just fish, but salmon.  Who knew? Our salmon in Seattle don’t shoot straight out of the water.  Weird fish.

I spent, as with every port, the first 30 minutes or so waiting for Blueberry to go off and get her “free” jewelry stuff.  An event I just don’t understand. These jewelry stores are “owned” by the cruise lines and so provide passengers with “free” stuff hoping you’ll go in and buy their crap.

After the jewelry walk, Blueberry and I headed to Creek Street to walk around the other little shops. Creek Street was originally the “red light” district.  Not so much today, but it was fun to go through the little shops and spend a little money.

But the interesting part is on the way to Creek Street.  First some background for those of you who aren’t cruisers, each passenger is given a card that is their life or death on the cruise.  It’s your drink ticket, your “cash” for the boat. It’s how they know you are who you are. Well, here’s the story of the day.

Blueberry and I decided to take this little tram up to the top of the hill and have a view of Ketchikan. And finding no view we decided to take this little trail down called “Marrying Man trail” – the irony isn’t lost on me.  As we got to the bottom of the trail I decided I was warm and so was going to take my jacket off.  I was standing by a fence that overlooked a stream, with the sides of the stream being covered with these bushes with thorns. Not blackberry, but something similar.  Anyhow, as I pulled my jacket over my head, the lanyard that was holding my “card” flipped off and over the fence. I knew I was sunk.  I stood there dumbfounded and didn’t know what to do. This nice young man, attached to a nice young woman, said he’d climb down and get it. So he did.  As he was climbing down I was saying Thank you. He said, “Don’t thank me yet, I haven’t found it.”  Next thing I know he has it in his hands. My hero!

So after all that I was spent. We spent the rest of the day wandering around Ketchikan.

Once we were back on the ship we signed up for the On Deck for the Cure.  Blueberry, Mark and Vanessa did the actual 9 laps around the boat. I managed 2 before the footsies decided to say “enough”.  I was the photographer.

Back on the ship and tonight…tonight is the fun. Tonight the main chef is doing Dessert Extravaganza.  They are opening up the dessert extravaganza 20 minutes early for photographs. So guess who’s going to be there with her camera?  Moi!  I could careless about the desserts – already had my Flaming Alaska for dessert tonight…even though it wasn’t flaming. 

Tomorrow Victoria.  We’re trying to decide whether to get off the ship or not. We dock at 6pm and only stay until midnight…so who knows.

I'd say Greetings from Sitka in Russian

...but I don't speak Russian.

We were up early-ish and off to see the small, quaint, yet with its seedy parts town of Sitka.  With a map in hand we set out. Only getting lost once – which is actually very hard to do in Sitka. 

We saw the main totem park – as Blueberry commented, “Only one totem?”. Still, I’m a sucker for totem poles. We couldn’t get very many good shots because there were several people milling about so we just said, screw it and thought we’d get back. 
Sitka’s claim to fame is this is the Russian town in which the purchase of Alaska took place. That is to say, when the US purchased Alaska from the Russians the exchange took place here. The Russians, they said, were thrilled to off load the “waste land” as they called it.  Months after the off loading and when Alaska was in US hands, gold was found here. 

We managed to find out way to an old Russian cemetery too. Fascinating.  Many of the graves we saw were from the late 1800’s.  Poorly kept cemetery for the most part, yet it was still beautiful. 

Half way through the day we were looking for post cards when we discovered there’s a volcano quite close.  The clouds wouldn’t allow us to see said volcano, so we bought postcards to “prove” it. They must wait for the one clear day a year and shoot those post card photos. 

Tomorrow we’re off to Ketchikan.  We’re there a measly 5 hours so we’ll be getting off the boat early and heading in to see the sights.

Greetings from Juneau

We had a blast today. Turned out we had beautiful weather for our adventures today. All the locals we encountered said today’s weather was rare this time of year, but welcomed.

We started our adventures today by a bus ride out to Glacier Gardens. I originally wanted to go to the gardens to see these upside down trees being used as planters. And I gotta tell ya, I was so surprised just how beautiful these gardens were. We not only got to see the upside down planters, but then were whisked to the top of this mountain in golf carts (and I use the word “whisked” lightly) through the temperate rain forest. Gorgeous. At the top we got to walk out to this boardwalk ledge that overlooked the Mendenhall Valley. The valley was once covered in ice and as we stood there you find yourself amazed at the beauty and wonder that is Alaska. And we had sun, which made it way more beautiful.

From there we were put on a bus and off to Mendenhall Glacier. The glacier is part of the Alaska ice field which is ridiculously large. It was yet another beautiful glacier with the aqua blue showing through the crevasses. We learned today that the ice is so compact and that the white ice is absorbing all the light – thus making it white. And blue is the only color not absorbed, which is why you can see it.

The glacier area had a small creek running alongside where they’ve been having some serious bear sightings. We didn’t see any, but we saw their scat. Good times. We also got to see some Coho salmon making their way up the creek to spawn.

From the glacier we got back into downtown and since the sun was shining we decided to hop on the Mt. Robert’s Tram way and make our way to the top of Mt. Robert’s to see Juneau from above. The 7 minute tram ride was nice and offered a beautiful view of Juneau. At the top we got to meet Lady Baltimore. Lady Baltimore was a bald eagle who was shot from some dumbass and so is blind in one eye. Because of that they can’t release her back into the wild. So she’s well cared for by the park rangers and she loves the visitors who come to witness her beauty.

After taking the tram down we walked ourselves down the main road to a friend’s brother’s restaurant, Hanger on the Wharf. I had THE BEST halibut and chips I’ve ever had. It was so good. We got a chance to meet the chef (KA’s brother) and had a nice 15 minute chat with him about Juneau.

Following that Blueberry drug me through all these damn jewelry stores to get all this free stuff. Ugh. But while she was shopping I found a bear and a moose in Juneau!

Glacier Bay...wow...

Glacier Bay – OMG! That doesn’t even explain it. But Wow, just wow. I’ve seen some pretty amazing things in my life, and I gotta say Glacier Bay’s glaciers are in the top 5 by far.

We started the day with overcast skies and cold. The wind was whipping through the fjords and it was just flat out cold. The weather website said Glacier Bay would be 80 and sunny. I kept saying that all day hoping it would influence the weather gods to sunny. Turns out as we got to the most majestic glacier the sun came out. It was warmer too. The sun helped us see the beautiful glacial colors.

Blueberry and I staked out our spot around 11:30 and we suffered through wind, rain and sun until we were finally rewarded with the view of all views. The Margerie Glacier. It’s 250 years old and is losing 7 feet a day. It’s the most active of the glaciers with calving happening every 20 minutes or so. We were fortunate to see one helluva piece of ice fall off. I got photos and will share them when I’m back in free Internet at home.

Critter report today – is significant. We started the day by witnessing a breaching whale. Blueberry say the tail and before she could get out “It’s gonna breach” the beauty popped up right in front of us. It was surely a sight to see. Our excited exclamations had everyone from the other side of the boat coming to the port side and I swear the ship was going to tip to the side.

After the whale sighting we spotted several sea otters. I took photos of them but they turned out like little specs on the water. Then later in the day we were able to see two bears having dinner with on a whale carcass. So I guess we got to see another whale.

Tomorrow is Juneau.

Sea Sickness Roulette

Day one came and went without any real issues. We all found the boat, barely, and we all found our staterooms. These rooms are a lot bigger than the rooms on the Norwegian cruise in January.

The ship on the other hand is crap by comparison. We’re on the Holland American ship the Oosterdam. I’m not a fan of this ship, and I have to admit I only have one point of reference. However, even Blueberry who has 5 cruises under here nautical belt says this is, by far, the least impressive.

Why, you ask am I not a fan. Well, frankly it’s laid out funky. There are three different levels of restaurants, shops, bars, grills, observatories etc. And the layout seems weird to me, but whatever. I’m on vacation so I really don’t care. The ship has seen better days too. Stains on the rugs, and worn chairs has it looking aged…and it’s only 7 years old.

Regardless, as I said, we’re on vacation. We are all enjoying our day at sea. Everyone is kinda going their own way doing their own thing. As Julie McCoy I’ve set up “check in” times and places. See, Julie McCoy left the walkie talkies on her bed and so we’re without communication for now.

Today I’ve managed to get out of bed, have breakfast, sit and have coffee, read a little, do a tour through the kitchen, barely eat lunch because of some uneasy stomach issues…turns out the sea is a bit choppy (nothing like it was on the last cruise) but I’m having some issues. See my fancy bracelets I’m wearing. They’re supposed to help with this seasickness thing. We shall see, I just put them on and am hoping they start to do the trick. Isn't it sexy?

I did get a chance to sit through a lecture on the wildlife we’ll be seeing tomorrow in Glacier Bay. I’ll be freezing my butt off tomorrow I suspect as they said for budding photographers like me, the best view will be the bow. The bow is the front and therefore the wind. Now you can go indoors and watch, but what fun is that. Park rangers are coming on board to “talk” us through the bay. They’ll have hot coco and coffee throughout the boat too, so I suspect I’ll be fine. As long as I’m not sick.

And with that, I’m going to go put my head on a pillow and try to stop the rocking. I’m sitting out on our deck right now and the seas have calmed a lot. We went through one helluva rain storm about lunch time…and let me tell you…I was walking like a drunken sailor.

Cruisin...on Sunday afternoon.

And before you get all, “those aren’t the lyrics” on me, I know it should be Groovin…but I changed it to fit my blog title. See what I did there? I “changed it” – please put down your coffee/tea/beer/whiskey and air quote the “changed it” with me. Ready? “Changed it”. Nice. Well done.

Now back to me and my “cruisin”. 

You should know, if you don’t already, that Sunday I will be stepping onto another large ship and heading off to a land that is North, it is the Wild Wild West, it is cold, it has bears and men who wear flannel…or Alaska as some call it.  This is the cruise that Blueberry won last year at the Survivor Brunch and we are finally going. I can't wait.

I'm packed. Of course I'm packed. I am, after all, Julie McCoy your cruise director (of which Claudia -who needs a nick name - is forever calling me).  If there was ever a TV character that I wanted to be (besides Sabrina in Charlie Angels) Julie McCoy was her.  She and I - cut from the same cloth. Am I the only one singing the Love Boat theme again?

But I digress....

Right, back to packing.  My list is done, almost 100% of the items I need are in/around the suitcase. The cat has investigated and slept in the suitcase.  The laundry is ready to be done. The last minute shopping list is done. I'm all set. Mittens, scarf, hat, parka...all ready for this cruise.

It feels weird to pack "warmer" clothing for a cruise. When I hear/say the word cruise I think sunny, beautiful beaches, not the tundra.  I think tank tops, shorts, flip flops. Not pants, wool socks, mukluks, and parkas.

My goal for this cruise is to see a moose, a bear, an eagle, and a salmon.  I'm pretty sure the last two will be easy to see.  Eagle's are everywhere and salmon will be on my dinner plate.  The moose and bear may be more difficult. But I'm nothing if not determined. If it means making Blueberry wear honey scented perfume, then the sacrifice must be made.

I've been diligently watching the weather for the ports in Alaska too.  What? You're surprised? Hello, Julie McCoy here.  And of course I've been sending weather updates to my cruise mates (who most likely will be tossing me overboard at some point if I don't relax a little).  Here's the scoop:

First stop, Glacier Bay. We'll be there Tuesday and it appears to be 70 ish and sunny.

Next stop, Juneau.  Junuea will be 55 ish and showers. Goody.

Next stop, Sitka.  Sitka, like Juneau, will be 55 ish and showers.  Thank heavens I'm a Seattle-lite.

Next stop, Ketchikan.  Ketchikan will be, say it with me, 55 ish and showers.  

Last stop, Victoria BC.  We port in Victoria at 6pm at night and leave at midnight. Weird to even have a stop there, but whatever.  Most likely we'll get off the boat, find a pub and park ourselves with a beer and food.  The temperature in the pub will be sunny and 75F.

And that's the weather, now back to you.

My camera is tuned, ready to go. All the batteries are charged.  All the lens are cleaned and ready.  I'm hoping to get some great photos this trip. I've been studying up on photography, and photoshop elements so even if they're crap photos, I can make them cool with photoshop.   Oh so I've been told.

There are more exciting things on the horizon, but I can't discuss them yet.  So don't change this channel.

Sunday Dinners

I've started a new tradition.  Sunday Dinners.  But first some history.

There's something about traditions that always capture my heart and spirit.  Stories or actions passed down by generations. Each generation changing the tradition, perhaps, slightly to meet the new demands of the day. Still traditions are part of who we are. They are, in some cases, the very fiber of our woven heart. 

The act of passing down traditions is something I'll never do.  No children to pass any traditions down to. This, I've discovered, makes me sad.  I have a lot to give to the next generation, and I want to pass that gift down.  Not in the cards though, and that's okay.

So I got to thinking, why can't I start my own tradition and pass that tradition down to my friends and family?  And the idea of the Sunday dinners was born.

My initial thought was to have it every Sunday.  I quickly realized how ridiculous that would be, even for me.  So make a dedicated Sunday and stick to it.  Start "advertising" the second Sunday of every month as "Sunday Dinner at Jenn's." 

Sunday dinners are about laughter, getting caught up with loved ones, and of course food. All things I love.  Sunday dinners will be an opportunity for me to see people I see on a regular basis (and feed them), see people I see only occasionally, but want to see more, and to see people I haven't seen in forever and want to see more.  Its a win win for everyone.

Last night was my first Sunday dinner. 5 people in total, including myself, attended.  A good friend of mine - Heidi, her BF, Claudia, and of course Blueberry...and thank heavens they showed up hungry.

I made brisket for my first Sunday dinner meal. Brisket, mashed potatoes and gravy, glazed carrots and a layered salad.  Oh and we finished it off with Nutella cookies.  The brisket turned out perfectly and I was so proud of how good it tasted.  It's a must repeat recipe. 

The other new tradition that I must start, and I have missed the first dinner to do this, is some type of scrapbook or guest book to commemorate these events.  In PM world there's a Constraint triangle. It consists of Scope, schedule and cost. The idea is if any of the points shift or change, the the other two must shift and change as well. For example, if scope increases, so should schedule and cost. 

The same exists for me - I may call it the Triangle of Doom someday, but for now we'll just call it Jenn's Triangle of Fun - Cooking, Photography and Scrapbooking.  My three favorite things.  If one increases, the other two should.  Seems logical doesn't it? 

And so, back to my point of a guest book or something of the sort.  Imagine after a year of Sunday dinners, I could have a scrapbook/recipe book of my Sunday dinners. I could, perhaps, sale said recipe book for the 3day fund raising...see? It all fits together in a nice little package with a big pink bow!

So the invite is out there.  Second Sunday of every month. Come one! Come all!  Sunday Dinner's at Chez Jenn's. It's THE place to be.

The Promise, The Passion, The Pain.

My BigBro said something to me earlier this week that hit me as interesting. First, let me back up a bit.

It all started, for me, on a sunny spring day back in April 2003. Blueberry and I were making plans to move into separate apartments. We had been living together on and off for several years. And it was time, again, for me to move into my own place. I'm still not convinced it was something Blue wanted and I doubt I'll ever know. Still, I was ready to move on.

I was at work, jotting down notes of things to remember to do for the move when my phone rang. It was Blueberry. She was trying with all her might to compose herself and keep herself together. I knew instantly something was terribly wrong. She managed to blubber out, "It's ba...ba...bad." I knew then that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

To say my life changed that day means nothing compared to how Blueberry's life changed that day. Everything she loved about life, knew about life, etc was about to be tossed in the air with a strong breeze of hope. Nothing would be the same again.

I sat stunned and scared and worried in my office chair. I just didn't know what to do. All these questions formulated to the top of my mind, and just bounced around up there with no place to fall.

Somehow I made it home, I ran up to the apt we shared. Blue wanted so badly to not move now, but nothing could be done to stop the forward rolling ball that was a move in an apt complex. Comforting her as best I could we sat and discussed our options for moving or not. I knew full well that not moving wasn't an option, but I let her discuss it anyhow. The reality was we were moving to two different apartments in the same building, and I would be just a phone call away.

I find it somewhat amusing now thinking about how much energy we used that day on the apt move instead of discussing the large elephant in the room. Cancer was scary. Cancer was something that happened to older people. Cancer was not something either of us ever thought would enter our lives in our mid-thirties. It just didn't happen to people our age.

The next several months are a blur. I became the communication and planning hub for Blue's life. I coordinated visits, I coordinated who would be taking her to her dr. visits, I coordinated dinners, and everything I could think of to alleviate some of her stress. I knew then I'd have to push myself away if I were to survive this. Sounds selfish to say it out loud, but I knew if I couldn't keep it together then it would be worse for Blue.

I've had 7 years to reflect on that year. That horribly sad, exhausting year. I came to realize I harbored an anger toward Blue that I hadn't realized. I was mad at her for almost dying. Logically I knew it wasn't her fault...but still the feeling was there. And as I recounted how I felt through the process, I realized that co-survivors sometimes suffer just as much. I realized that I could be okay with my feelings of sadness, anger, frustration, fear, and grief. That dealing with a cancer diagnosis was a change, and dealing with change was often like dealing with grief. The same emotions one goes through when someone dies, we go through when a significant change is upon us.

It was about 4 years after that I knew I could make a difference. I knew I could take my experience as a co-survivor (side not: please don't think for one minute that I believe my experience was in any way, shape, or form worse than what Blue went through. God knows I couldn't even compare the two. ) and make this world a better place somehow.

So I started making Breast Cancer Awareness my passion. My goal in life was to help spread the word. I'd never be the Susan G. Komen story of promise, but I knew that my voice could be heard and sitting on the sidelines wasn't going to help. I hopped on board the Breast Cancer train and started blowing the whistle.

In my years that followed making pink my passion, I decided to participate in the Breast Cancer 3Day. That decision, turns out, would once again change my life.

I encountered some tremendous people being a part of this community. I've felt love from strangers like I've never felt love before. The warm opening arms of the 3Day breast cancer community is something I cannot even begin to explain.

Our family began to evangelize the breast cancer movement. Fund raising for a cause we all fully and whole heartedly believed in. And it was during this fund raising I encountered negativity. It took my breath away the first time one of my close friends said they wouldn't support us because there was already a cure for cancer. And that little gem we encountered on a regular basis. As much love and warmth I found from this group, we encountered the negative nancies.

What my brother said to me today, which prompted this post was, "Those Wraspir's are just talking breast cancer again.....blah blah blah.............." and it got me wondering if people really think that. Then I thought, who cares? I'm glad they’re saying it. That means we're making an impact somewhere. If us talking breast cancer so much can change just one Negative Nancy's feeling toward the killer, then it will be all worth it.

Truth be told, I don't want to EVER have to live through a diagnosis of breast cancer again. But the staggering statistic of 1 in 8 women means that I will. I know that all our hard work fund raising will pay off as I know they are making advancements in early detection and better treatments.

Summer Breeze..makes me feel...sick

How is it possible to get a cold in the summer?

Remember all those old wives tales our parents used to tell us about "catching a death of a cold". Things like,

"Don't go out side with wet hair, you'll catch a death of a cold."

Or

"You'd better wear a jacket or you'll catch a death of a cold."

Neither I believe are true. Colds are viruses. Mostly. I think.

Regardless, I have one. Its summer time and colds should NOT be allowed. When I'm President I'll deem it so. Until then I'll have to survive.

I went home yesterday around 11:30 in a sorta catatonic state. I don't really remember driving home, or changing into my "cold" clothes, yet somehow I managed.

ChickenLady stopped by about 2pm with Nyquil, SunnyD, and Chili Cheese Fritos. I have no idea why the Chili Cheese Fritos - other than she said something about comfort food. Turns out they came in handy when I woke up later that night and needed just a snack. Couldn't taste them, but I'm sure they gave me rank breath. They always do.

Anyhow, ChickenLady left at/around 2:30. I hit the bed. Actually, I hit the couch. I just laid there thinking about going up stairs. The prospect of dragging my sorry butt upstairs just seemed like too much at the time. So I laid on the couch. Sweating.

Finally at about 4:11 I hauled myself upstairs. Turned on the fan pointing right at me and fell asleep. The phone rang around 5:30 - it was mom. Once I found my phone, which I apparently was sleeping on and got off the phone with mom, I figured I'd wander down stairs for some water and a bite. Enter chili cheese fritos.

Decided to feed the cat early - he was thrilled. Went upstairs, chugged some Nyquil at about 7pm. Woke this morning at 6am feeling better. Not so much like death warmed over anymore...

The cold has graciously moved from the sinus' to my lungs. So instead of sniffling and making goose calls when I blow my nose, I'm hacking up a lung.

You'd think I'd lose like 10 lbs between the amount of snot that has left (snot has to weigh something) and the lung that has been hacked up.

I'm going to try to stay here all day today - I don't have sick leave you see, so I lose $$ when I go home sick. Turns out someone was nice enough to schedule a 5 hour meeting today starting at noon...if I survive that, I might have to kill that person.

Wish I would have brought the chili cheese fritos for a snack today during the meeting. My breath alone could end the meeting early!

If only...

My home computer is dead.

D-E-D dead (Name that movie)

It got some sort of nasty virus on Sunday and it tore through all my programs and disabled my entire computer. Ugh. Stupid virus! If only I could find the person who created that virus...I'd stick that virus right up his...

Live.Laugh.Love is going okay. I ventured out this weekend with my niece to practice poses and just to practice shooting people in general. Whole different animal than shooting objects. If only I could find a photographer...

I feel like I've been super busy, but can't exactly tell you what I've been doing. If only I could put my finger on what I've been up too...

Spend all day Saturday at a team garage sale. Overall the team did well raising funds for their respective fund raising goals. I raised a whole $10. If only I had made money...

Alaska cruise is getting closer. As in 14 days away! Woot Woot! I've been doing serious research about each of our ports. I just can't travel somewhere and not know about the area/region. If only I could retain that information in my noggin.

I think I'm coming down with a cold. I thought I got a vitamin lodged in my throat (you know when you swallow a large pill and it goes down horizontally instead of vertically). It turns out I may be getting a sore throat. If only I had sick leave...