Wednesday, March 25, 2009

That's our boy....

Fred has had a rough week at work and has ended up staying late these last three nights. I worked Tuesday at the library and tonight I taught class.

I tell you this, to explain why Fred, Owen and I are up at 10 pm finishing up the 3-D model of an animal cell.

While we are hot-glueing and cutting fun foam up in the living room, Dinner Impossible is on the background.

Tonight's challenge is to create an Irish-Asian fusion menu for a wedding. The bride is of Chinese/Japanese heritage and the groom Irish.

As the challenge draws to a close, the bride is walked down the aisle. Robert Irvine does a voice over saying "It's every fathers dream to walk his daughter down the aisle in a white dress!"

Without missing a beat Owen chimes in: "Well, that all depends on who she is walking down the aisle to..."

We are sooo proud!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Stupid Starbucks

Really? Is this what I need first thing in the morning?

starbucks mean

Stupid, mean Starbucks!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

The problem with Facebook part 1

I have recently been spending time with Facebook. I know, I know. You can't really blog on Facebook, so why am I there? Well, Facebook works for me. I am the sort of person that sends Christmas cards to people I knew in High School, even if they don't send me one in return. I don't like letting people go....so as you can imagine, Facebook has my number.

I have encountered problems with Facebook.

I was already unfriended! Can you imagine? Me! I offended someone!

I am really not all that sad about the event, more amused. The person was someone I knew from church about 10 years ago. She was very CAPITAL C "CHRISTIAN." I am not mocking, I consider myself a Christian, but also think that not everyone else in the world is wrong for not being one. Everyone is entitled to worship as they wish BUT, don't look down on me for not drinking the Kool-Aid.

Anyway...I blogged about this before but she posted her status as being stuck in traffic on a major highway near us. I commented back, quite wittily I thought: "Someone was probably updating their Facebook status while driving and got into a wreck. Hang Up!"

Delete.

Some people have no sense of humor. Doesn't she know Sarcasm is my Superpower? I even have flair to prove it!

I have "found" a lot of old friends...and some have found me as well!

Someone I knew from grade school found me recently. After we went through the usual "where are you, what are you doing" greeting some time went by. I looked at his status and would comment from time to time. Then I got an email from him.

Before I tell you about the email, I need to tell you about myself growing up. I was a social outcast in grade school....which in my case went up to grade 8. I left grade school and went to High School. Our family moved to the area when I was in 5th grade. People don't move much in Philadelphia, so all of the tight friendships had already been formed. I was a loose end. Add this to the fact that our family was on the low end of the socio-economic spectrum and things were not looking good. To add insult to injury, I hit puberty early. Trifecta! I was the perfect target! It didn't help that I was a very internal child. I read and lived in my head. No wonder, huh?

I will give my classmates credit though...they were very creative in their insults. I was called "hairless monkey," "monkey face" , "MVP" (most valuable pimple) and "girl in the plastic pimple" (ala 70s John Travolta Movie).

Well, this very sweet guy's email said "I know that people were really mean to you in school and I think I participated once or twice. I have always felt bad about that and wanted to say I am sorry."

Well...on one hand, how sweet! On the other hand...I had kind of forgotten (blocked out) this part of my life. Oh, but now I remember.

I guess what I am saying is two fold:

1) Not all trips down memory lane are good for all involved in the tour. It was sweet that he wanted to say sorry...and it does my heart a bit of good to know that someone thought of me and was empathetic, but I really didn't need to relive that.

2) People change. At the time our lives intersected we were each someone else. I am no longer that child, although part of her never leaves me. It gets my back up a bit that he still sees me in that role. But what other role could he see me in? That is all he knows of me.

I wrote the guy and told him that yes, it was a HIDEOUS time in my life, but that I got over it, had a great high school experience and a rockin good time in college. I gave him what he needed...and told him I had no memory of him ever being part of my torture. (and I don't)

So, while I like reconnecting with people, sometimes I wonder if we are reconnecting with old parts of ourselves, more than the people we "friend."

Poke.

Athletic Shorts*

Lately I have been spending more time at the gym and have a couple of stories for you.

Here is today's installment:

What is it with personal trainers? Our gym, 24 Hour Fitness, works with the Biggest Loser television show and promote it heavily. "Sign up now and be part of our biggest loser program!"

It must work, because I have noticed a trend lately. Bigger people at the gym. I think we can all agree that this is a good thing. I need to lose some weight but before returning to the gym, worried that I would be self conscious exercising among the super toned suburban women who work out and shop as a career.

I worried for nothing. Oh, the superfit are still there, but there are some very large people there as well.

I notice that people new to the gym tend to like working out with a trainer. What's not to like? One on one attention is a great thing...especially if you can afford it.

Fred's very good friend, Michael, and I had a conversation about trainers the other week. "What's up with gym newbies working with trainers doing weird things? That is more for the people like me, who have been working out forever and now need something new and different to put them over the edge...to break through a plateau...not for people just starting out. They should be on the treadmill and the Nautilus machines so they won't get hurt.

Prime example this morning: I watch as a trainer sets up the group exercise room. They arranged "steps" and hoops in a sort of obstacle course. As I continued my workout, the client arrived. She was a woman in her early 50s who needed to lose a good 100 lbs. The trainer had her run laps around the gym; followed by the obstacle course which consisted of 12 feet of "up and overs" on the steps (left foot up on the step, right foot up on the step, left foot down on the ground, right foot down on the ground...kind of a duck march); the next step was to do a vertical hop onto the step, followed by a hop down (x6); she then did deep knee lunges around the room, followed by running tippy-toed through little hoops that were placed on the floor.

Now, I am NOT a personal trainer...but I can tell you that I would know better than to have a woman whose weight is pushing 300 "jumping" and doing lunges. Can you imagine the impact her knees are sustaining with every leap? At the tippy toed thing? I would be willing to bet money that they woman is doubled over right now, crippled from shin splints and knee pain.

I need to find out what level of training these people have because this is not right.

The cynical side of me wonders if this is all part of the great gym conspiracy. Sign people up, give them impossible goals and then collect their monthly gym membership payments when they sheepishly don't return to further their workouts.

*I am stealing the title of my blog from a book by Chris Crutcher. He is a wonderful young adult author and has a great teen male voice. If you have male teenagers in your life, you may want to suggest this author. Oh. Mr. Crutcher tends to be edgy and many of his books have been challenged in libraries. This is one of the many reasons why I would recommend him. When people get pissed off at what you write, it usually means you have struck a nerve.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

What would your Album Cover be?

Got this from Facebook...but I thought it was entertaining, so I thought I would share...

Here's what you do:

1) Go to Wikipedia and click on Random Article, or you can just click "here." The first article you get to will be the name of your band.

2) Go to "this link" for random quotations. Use the last 3-5 words of the last quote on the page as the title of your album.

3) Finally, for your album cover art, got to "Flickr's Interesting in the last 7 days" link and use the third photo....no matter what it is!

4) Finally, use PhotoShop or Flick's Picnik etc to add text to you Album Cover.

This is what I got....

album cover