I am so not going to the theatre

Thanks to MCF for the link

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

I am so not going to the theatre

Books Of Late

I've read several books I picked up at my local library over the past couple of weeks.
Polar Shift by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos. Good book in the usual Clive Cussler oeuvre.

The Codex by Douglas Preston. Not bad. Not as good as the Pendergast novels, much better than Ice Limit.

Ice Limit by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Basic "techno-thriller", but not much techno, and not much thriller. I was disappointed considering how excellent are their Pendergast novels. I kept reading this book even though, throughout the book, I kept thinking to
myself "who cares? where's the good stuff?"

Riptide by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Again: not bad. Not as good as I was hoping but better than the Ice Limit.

Still Life with Crows by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Another Pendergast novel. Much better than Ice Limit, Riptide, and the Codex. I was actually expecting it to be kind of boring from the book-jacket description but I gave it a chance, and I'm glad I did. Much better than Codex/Ice Limit/Riptide. Pendergast is such a level-headed, annoying, know-it-all, mysterious
character. There's got to be more to his back story that what we know after the latest novel, Dance of Death.

I'm currently reading Thunderhead by Preston/Child.

I've also recently read the first two books in the new Star Wars paperback trilogy Dark Nest.
Star Wars: Dark Nest I: The Joiner King & Star Wars Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen. Not bad, picking up awhile after the end of the New Jedi Order series. The story isn't that hot - but the subplots and background events are still interesting - and there's a kick-butt fight scene between Leia and a Dark Jedi female Twilek towards the end of the second book.

I've got several other books on my to-be-read shelf that I've grabbed from the library lately, and two from Mind&Media that I need to Read&Review.

Gah! And I just remembered the latest Honor Harrington tome At All Costs by David Weber is finally out! I'll have to pick that one up at Barnes&Nobel!

TooManyBooksTooManyBooks!

heh... I used the word "oeuvre"!

But I don't think I used it correctly.

EDIT 10/31/05: I actually picked up the new Honorverse book from the library instead of dropping coin for it. I also picked up the newest Repairman Jack novel. And I requested 2 more books to reveiw from Mind&Media...

What am I thinking?!?

Books Of Late

Stupid Pre-Op jitters.

They hit me like a darned freight train tonight. I'm in an absolute panic over getting ready for Wednesday morning. I think about what I need to do, get overwhelmed, then freeze and wind up doing nothing.

I feel like if I could just get the house perfectly clean, I'd feel much better. Don't know why, but it seems that way. But it's a losing battle, what with the people living in it and all.

I've also worked myself into a frenzy over this darned open biopsy. I know that they'll be inserting a guidewire into the breast while I'm still awake so the doctor knows exactly where to work. For some reason, that terrifies me beyond anything else they're going to be doing to me. Probably because I'll be awake for the procedure. And the last time a medical professional came near that area, I was hurt so badly that I'm still sore over a week later. So now I've scared myself to death, having decided that this is going to be just as bad.

I need to pray, or have a good cry. One is what I SHOULD do, and one is the EASIER thing to do. Can you guess which is which?

Stupid Pre-Op jitters.

Things from the past week

Here's some Blind Surfing for your enjoyment! All the following links are safe for all-ages.

Want to see how my co-workers occasionally pass the time when we have some down time? By finding stuff like this (warning - it's kinda scary!). And a co-worker's husband forwarded us this informative link. And another co-worker's dog has his own "blog"!

I found this humorous link via a 9-1-1 listserve. Same with this news video link.

Several blogs seemed to have found these over the past week:

And I found this meme somewhere...
1. What is your favorite word?
"Heh."

2. What is your least favorite word?
debt

3. What turns you on?
My wife.

4. What turns you off?
Leaving for work

5. What is your favorite curse word?
Frell

6. What sound do you love?
my own snoring (usually, if I can hear myself snoring, it means I'm resting really well)

7. What sound do you hate?
The screaming Expressway Dodge advertisement guy.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Many (as long as I can stay at my current profession).

9. What profession would you not like to participate in?
Many

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
"Hey! What'd ya think of the Platypus? Wasn't that thing hilarious!"

Things from the past week

Hmmmm

Anne Rice: The Young Jesus Adventures

This will be interesting to read, if I can get through it.
I tried to read Interview With The Vampire, but didn't like her writing style.

Hmmmm

POP QUIZ, MCF Style

POP QUIZ, MCF Style

1) They're finally making the movie of your life and, after narrowing the role of YOU down to three actors, they've asked for your choice. Who are the three actors, and which person do you ultimately choose?
Danny Devito, Tom Arnold, or Sean Astin.
I'd choose Sean Astin (with some Hobbit-weight-gain). Devito's too old, and more of a caricature. Tom Arnold is too tall (and uses too much foul language - but he'd get the humor correct). I think Astin could pull it off; just geeky enough, can pull off the extra weight, isn't too tall.

2) You're at a fancy restaurant with your significant other, when your arch nemesis shows up with his gang to rob the place. You left your costume home tonight, and you wouldn't want to reveal your true identity unless there was no other choice. How do you handle this one?
I use my ability to mentally control computers and other electronic equipment to shut off the power in the restaurant and trigger the sprinkler system. Using my power to control and cast electricity and plasma energy, I send a charge of electricity through the water in the room, just strong enough to stun everyone, hopefully including my arch nemesis and his gang. If they remain conscious - well, all the civilians are stunned into unconsciousness - it's rumble time! Hopefully my tux won't get too banged up.

3) 4 +X/8=15Y-23Z; solve for each variable.
It was my understanding there would be no math.
The answer is 42.

4) They're turning my blog into a sitcom! Quick, who's playing me?
Duh: you!

5) What was the scariest moment of your life?
Do I have to get into that again? When I dropped my then 18-month old daughter Catherine on her head.

6) After much thought and deliberation, you realize the best thing you can do with your life is form your own team of superheroes. Keeping in mind that you don't actually possess any powers or a dual identity in this scenario, how do you go about selecting your team, what abilities do you look for in potential allies, and what do you call your group?
What I call the group is dependent on who joins and, to a lesser extent, what powers they have. If I already know some superheroes, forming this group becomes somewhat easier. If I don't know any superheroes... I'm thinking want-ads and message boards??
Oooh... we could be a tech- and mood-based superpowers group, and call ourselves the Emoticons. Except, that sounds like an evil team of female Transformers.

7) If a hypothetical train is traveling East at 70 MPH, and a hypothetical truck is traveling North at 55 MPH, then name 3 famous people you feel shouldn't be famous.
Is this a math question again?
Just three famous people who should not be famous? How about most of them? Paris Hilton being a the top of the list...

8) A freak accident caused by lightning or radiation or genetic engineering or whichever origin suits you, bestows upon you the ability to step INSIDE your television set and interact with the characters. Where do you go first, and why?
The "Philly steak sandwich" episode of Unwrapped. Mmmmm....

9) After winning a karaoke contest, you're awarded the grand prize from a local radio station: you get to perform ONE song alongside your favorite group! Who do you sing with and what song?
The Rhyming Song with the Muppets.

10) A blogger you read regularly posts a pop quiz. Do you take it? Please list your reasons either way.
Yes I take it, because I haven't enough lately. And it's a cool quiz.

11) The quiz goes all the way up to 11.
No it doesn't.

POP QUIZ, MCF Style

So Not Me

You scored as Simon Tam, the doctor (tied with Mal). You have a gift for healing that goes beyond education (wha-huh?!). You took an oath to do no harm, even when your patients have tried to kill you (eh, what?). You are out of place where you are, being used to refined society. However, if you take that stick out of your rear you should be fine. (What. Ever. That so does not describe me.)

Mal Reynolds 69%
Simon Tam 69%
Zoe 63%
The Operative 63%
Inara Serra 56%
River Tam 50%
Wash 50%
Kaylee Frye 44%
Shepherd Book 44%
Jayne Cobb 31%

Which Serenity character are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

Link found at Shade_of_Jeremy.

So Not Me

Guest Post: Val - A Day In The Life

Every now and again I'll get an interesting email from my darling distant sister, Val.
She has much more ...patience than either Rubi or I, and has taken on the valiant task of homeschooling her two children. As a result, she has some interesting war stories.
I received one of those earlier today:

A Day In The Life...

One day about 8 weeks ago, shortly after our school year had started, we found ourselves at a stopping place in all of our classes for the day, before lunchtime. Now, this never happens. But since it did, there seemed to be an excellent chance of my actually getting to sit down for a few minutes that day. As visions of propping my feet up, sipping a cup of tea, and leisurely perusing a magazine drifted through my brain, an extremely annoying sound broke through my consciousness - "Moooooomm, I'm booored!"

Uh oh. The sentence every Mother dreads. What to do with a bored 10 year old homeschooler?

"Go climb a tree", I said, with only a hint of a smile.
"Really?" asked Marissa, with her patented wide-eyed, crinkly-nosed smile. (I've always wondered how she does that. It's so cute.)
Now, normally, I do all I can to encourage my surprisingly-adept-at-ripping-her-pants-daughter to be a young lady, but desperate times call for desperate measures - sometimes Mom needs a break.

"Of course. Would I lie to you?" But she was already out the back door, up the driveway, and half-way up the 'bird-berry' tree in the right-of-way in front of the neighbor's yard.
I winced a little at the sound of her tearing up the bark to the top of the tree, but figured it was strong enough to survive her.

Two hours later, as I finished an extremely satisfying second cup of tea and a magazine, a little thought began to niggle at the back of my brain. It was sooo quiet. What was wrong? That's when I realized I hadn't seen her or heard her in two hours. (Hey, you've done it too. You know you have.) Just as I was beginning to panic, she came running in the back door, yelling,
"HeyMOM!GuesswhatIsawbabybirdsbeingborn!Theyhatchedrightinfrontofme!Itwasreallycool!"
As I effortlessly interpreted this breathless speech, I realized that Science class was back in session. "Cool! Why don’t you draw a sketch of them in your sketchbook?"
She did, and we began a surprisingly short study of baby birds.

When she wanted to know what kind of birds they were, she described them to me, and we looked them up on the internet. When one fell out of the tree two weeks later, we learned that the myth of a mama bird smelling human on their babies and not wanting them wasn't true - Dad put the baby bird back in it's nest, and mama bird fed it and loved it just the same. When she came back in one day with little red dots on her arms, we learned that mama birds don't like their babies to be petted, even when you've just kindly returned on her silly little I-think-I-can-fly-now babies to her. (Dr. said no big deal, as long as it didn't break the skin.) When they learned to fly at just under a month, we learned that babies grow up fast.

And I, Mom, also learned something that a few veteran homeschoolers have been saying for years - homeschooling teaches Moms and Dads as much as it teaches the kids.
If you're lucky.
(And it's fun too.)

Guest Post: Val - A Day In The Life

Rubi Update

Rubi Update
Rubi has a hysterectomy scheduled for November 2nd. Her doctors hope this will help with some health problems she's been having.
Anyway, she found a lump about a month ago, had a biopsy a couple of weeks ago, at which time they found what they thought was another lump and scheduled her for a biopsy on that lump this past Thursday.

The biopsy was a nightmare. The lump was in an odd place and they could only see it with one mammogram machine (they apparently have several). So the biopsy went like this: they strapped her face down on the machine for 4 hours, most of the time they were manhandling her into different positions to get a good view of the lump. They numbed the part of her breast where they thought the lump was and starting digging around with the needle to get the biopsy.  All the digging around made my wife quite queasy (she does not like needles, let alone pain.  They brought in extra people to try to keep her from vomiting all over herself (instead of letting her up to rest, or just stopping for a bit).  Then they discovered the lump was on the opposite side of the breast. So instead of stopping, and going in from that side, the doctor just pushed the needle in farther to reach the lump; except she hadn't been numbed on that side - so it really hurt.  After 4 hours, they decided to call it quits. Then they gave her 3 more mammograms to get better pictures of the lump.  They said they didn't think it was worth it to do an open/surgical biopsy, so they just scheduled her for another mammogram in 6 months to see if the lump had changed.

Rubi went home in pain and on painkillers and slept for a while.  

Once she woke up, she came to her senses and called her GP and asked him, if his wife was in the same situation what would he do.
He made some calls and she will most likely have the surgical biopsy at the same time she has her hysterectomy, so she doesn't have to go under twice.  They just have to get the hospital to approve having 2 surgeons in at the same time.

Rubi Update

How Much Is My Blog Worth

Found link at MCF.

My blog is worth $93,713.64.
How much is your blog worth?

How Much Is My Blog Worth

Internet. Love it.

I've been doing lots of hysterectomy research, and found a great resource. www.hystersisters.com is crammed with anything and everything I'd ever want to know. It has articles and resources covering a huge range of subjects related to the surgery, both pre and post-op.
There is a message board that I find to be the best resource there, as it contains info, ideas, and suggestions from ladies who have already been there. I just looked, and there are 80K members. That's a deep well of great suggestions. Oh, there is also a section for the hubbies, called MisterHysterSisters. Cute, huh?

The whole thing is presented charmingly too. Pre-op ladies are "Ladies In Waiting". When it's time for surgery, you head to the "Castle" to become a full-fledged "Princess". Cute, cute, cute! And, ooh, lookie: https://www.hystersisters.com/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=16158&cat=251&page=1

I'd love to have that to take to the Castle, but I'm not sure if I can convince Kev to drop that kind of money when I'm about to be off work for at least 2 weeks. Ah well... I'm satisfied having found such a great resource.

Internet. Love it.

RLTB, indeed.

Feh.

Well, Kev was right in that we've had a lot going on. Where to begin? I had a mammogram, which turned up two areas that needed to be biopsied. I had one last Thursday, and it was one of the most unpleasant experiences of my life. Gah. I was a wreck by the time it was over - all white and shaky. The nurse made me stay for a while, until I insisted on leaving. Kev was with me, so I wasn't exactly going to drive home myself. And I wanted to get the heck out of there.
We got the results back, and it was happy news. It turned out to be a fibroadenoma. Benign, and harmless enough to just stay where it is. So yay!

The next biopsy is this Thursday, on the second area. This one will be a "stereotactic" biopsy. That is...well, just read this: http://www.deaconess.com/body.cfm?id=571

And ooh, pretty picture of where I'll be undergoing this torture. I'm still pretty sore from the LAST biopsy, and have firm plans to demand stronger drugs Thursday morning.

Okay, next. I mentioned back in September that my blood count was bottoming out. Between my family Dr., my hematologist, and my OB/GYN, we figured out the problem, and a hysterectomy in about 2 weeks will solve it. (Can ya guess what it is?? Hee.)

So I'm frantically trying to prepare for my downtime after the surgery. My biggest concern is getting this house in shape. I can't bear the thought of being stuck on the sofa staring at the mess. But I'm so darned exhausted anyway, and all ouchy from the last biopsy, that even regular housework is a bit daunting. Let alone a good ol' fashioned top to bottom scrub. Meh.

Anyway, that's what's going on here. You'll forgive me for being MIA more often...please? And if I don't post before then, prayers on November 2nd, surgery day, would be greatly appreciated.

RLTB, indeed.

RLTB?

It's been almost a week since the last post, again.
We've been busy with some stuff I'll let Rubi post about whenever she's ready to do so (Real Life has definitely Trumped Blogging lately).

What's to come:
I saw a neat Google Images meme I might do.
I still have some reviews to post for Mind&Media.

I went to the library earlier this week and grabbed several Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child books to read. Finished one and started another. I really enjoyed the few Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast novels I've read by them, plus I've got a new Clive Cussler book from the library, and a few other books on my Waiting-To-Be-Read shelf. I'll try to remember to post comments or reviews of what I read. I've read many books lately and I keep forgetting to post about it.


Almost time for work to be over - more later.

RLTB?

Under Pressure

Found this "musical" meme at MCF.
The point is to answer the questions using the titles of songs from one particular musical group or artist.
I'll use Queen.

1.) Are you a male or female? The invisible man.
2.) Describe yourself: I'm going slightly mad. Or: Don't stop me now.
3.) How do you feel about yourself? I want it all.
4.) Describe your ex boyfriend / girlfriend: Radio Ga Ga
5.) Describe your current boy / girl situation: Crazy little thing called love. Or: The Wedding March.
6.) Describe your current location: Now I'm here.
7.) Describe where you want to be: Khashoggi's Ship.
8.) Your best friend is: Somebody to love.
9.) Your favorite color is: One Vision
10.) You know that: It's a kind of magic.
11.) What's the weather like? Rain must fall.
12.) If your life was a TV show, what would it be called? The show must go on. Or: Let me entertain you.
13.) What is life to you? It's a hard life.
14.) What is the best advice you have to give? Was it all worth it?
15.) If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Flash Gordon

Wow. It was hard narrowing down all the good song titles to answer these. There should be more questions!
Maybe, from now on, I'll answer all memes with Queen song titles. How cool would that be?!?

Under Pressure

Hi There

Our internet connection has been down all week; that's why we haven't updated since last Sunday. And I haven't had time to post from work.

Elizabeth had her last soccer game of the season today - in the "tournament". Her team finally won a game! 2-0! The other team had 3 players out for various reasons, and Elizabeth's team has been short 2 players since the beginning of the season, so they were pretty well evenly matched.

Starting Monday is the biggest annual event our city hosts: The West Side Nut Club Fall Festival. It's billed as the 2nd largest street festival in the country, 2nd only to Mardi Gras.
Basically, it's a bunch of fried food, amusement park rides, and large crowds - for the entire week.

That's all for now. More updates after Rubi and I recover from gorging ourselves at the Fall Festival.

Hi There