Puppy Love

Cute when they are asleep and cuter still when awake. Take a peek! Oh and if you are wondering, yes they are all spoken for when they come of age.

Time for a Change

Funny in a creepy can this really be happening sort of way:

Shame on Me

So how bad is it when a guy friend is let go from his job and your first thought is cool maybe he will move to within driving distance ... ;-p (too bad I haven't figured out how to get the cool emoticons to work in blogger)

She Does Math

From my friend Lynn:

"Whatever you give a woman will multiply. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.

So, fair warning... don't give her any crap."

On Mental Pin Ball

So the latest from Elder Byrd is that he's been singing again.

Got duped into singing “Zuud Noirondoo” by The Lemons in English class, but they have to sing “Mr. Lonely” by Akon. So that’ll be cool.

To my surprise my reaction to Akon's plight was amusement rather than the empathy. Let's face it, at some point in our lives many of us girls have harbored unspoken hopes that "he" will have a change of heart before it is too late. Then one day the song playing in my head morphed into "I'm so ronery" . . . at least now I know what I found funny. The empathy and melancholy finally came when I found an "enhanced" Akon video. Maybe it is time for Ginny to realize that he wouldn't be the first guy to use his wounded heart to gain the sympathy of another rather than meet you half way.

More Election Coverage

Peace in the Pieces

I decided to partake in some of the after hours opportunities on campus. I'm not sure what it says about me but my choices have been (1) a lecture on viral plagues, (2) a discussion by Norman Fischer on zen and the creative experience, and (3) Pieces of War. Maybe I should round out the week my attending some of the tailgating activities this weekend! One thing is certain, I won't be waiting around for someone who wants to tag along.

ONN Campaign Coverage

Try not to blink, you might miss the irony.


Portrayal Of Obama As Elitist Hailed As Step Forward For African Americans

Peaches

On the way back to Tuscaloosa, I stopped and bought a basket of peaches. I had forgotten how much I LOVE Chilton County peaches and that song! For the record, I have never been to the peach festival, maybe next year.

Anyway back when Elder Byrd was in elementary school we would listen to alternative music anytime his dad wasn't in the car (he insisted on a more enlightened fair) and this was one of our favorites. Since moving back to Tuscaloosa in 2005, I have realized that at some point he squishes a rotten peach and thinks of a love gone wrong (let's hope he's not a misogynist). So if one of my peaches goes bad before I eat them all, I may just have to squish it and smile ;-p

A-Day Fun

The plan was go to work early so I could get a parking spot before the fans arrived for the A-Day scrimmage game. Around 11:30 I decided I should take a break from grading and make a donation to the Theta Tau Charity Raffle. Then I thought, it was too nice of a day not to go check out the action on the Quad. The next thing you know I am in the nosebleed section of the northwest corner of Bryant Denny Stadium and it is already half-time and I really do have over 100 exams to grade.

So I go back to my office to find a voice mail informing me that I won!



Now the plan is to see how close they are to funding the dog and if necessary put the football back on the market to raise some more money. Why you ask? Because it is what I require of myself (darn do-gooder gene) . . . just like getting back to grading these exams.

50 ODD Things About Me

Something I found on a visit to Myspace.

1) Do you like blue cheese?
Of course

2) Have you ever smoked heroin?
No -yuk.

3) Do you own a gun?
Indeed

4) What flavor do you add to your drink at sonic?
Ice Cream (floats are yummy)

5) Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
Not really, but the doctor should.

6) What do you think of hot dogs?
Good ones are fun occasionally.

7) Favorite Christmas song?
100 way tie.

8) What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Hot chocolate

9) Can you do push-ups?
Yep

10) Can you do a chin-up?
Maybe half a regular chin up but I can do the girlie kind

11) What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
Not much into bling

12) Favorite hobby?
Martial arts

13) Ever been in a car wreck?
Several – “best” one was as a passenger in a 720 barrel roll.

14) Do you have A.D.D.
Perhaps if I were younger – they called it sassy or undisciplined back in the day

15) What's one trait that you love about yourself?
That gene that makes one run into a burning building to save people instead of running out to save oneself.

16) Middle name?
Irene

17) Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?
I need to go to bed.
I am glad tonight is “Email from Mongolia” night.
I need to finish the laundry.

18) Name 3 things you bought yesterday?
Zip, nada, zilch

19) Name 3 drinks you regularly drink?
Water, milk, and cranberry juice

20) Current worry:
Nothing major

21) Current hate right now?
Mean people

23) How did you bring in the New Year?
Don’t remember

24) Where would you like to go?
to bed

25) Name three people who will complete this?
I don't know

26) Do you own slippers?
Yes, awesome lamb sheerling ones

27) What shirt are you wearing?
a girlie brown & black spandex t-shirt

28) Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?
I like sleeping--sheets are a plus

29) Can you whistle?
yep

30) Favorite color?
Red

31) Would you be a pirate?
Only if I can run with Jack Sparrow or Cap’n Kirk Redgrave(Pirates of the Great Salt Lake) and NEVER the sort from Hook.

32) What songs do you sing in the shower?
I hum along to whatever is rolling around in my head, but don’t sing.

33) Favorite girl's name?
?????????????

34) Favorite boy's name?
Christopher

35)Whats in your pocket?
Air, I don’t like carrying things in my pockets.

36) Last thing that made you laugh?
A student

37) Best bed sheets as a child?
Clean ones.

38) Worst injury you've ever had?
Not sure – either back trauma from the 720 barrel roll or a broken heart.

39) Do you love where you live?
Town – most of the time . . . Apartment - not so much

40) How many TVs do you have in your house/apartment?
1

41) Who is your loudest friend?
Mary

42) How many dogs do you have?
No live ones, but I believe the dead ones are waiting on me.

43) Does someone have a crush on you?
I’m afraid so, how odd is that.

45) What is your favorite book?
Scriptures (followed closely by another 100 way tie).

46) What is your favorite candy?
Chocolate

47) Favorite Sports Team?
My nephew’s pony league baseball team

48) What song do you want played at your funeral?
Something y’all can dance too.

49) What were you doing 12 AM last night?
Working at my office.

50) What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
Why am I awake at 5:30 (I had set the clock to sleep in until 7)

On the Origin of Butterflies.

I will NEVER look at butterflies quite the same way!

Time Stands Still

The Excuse: This was the 'fridge calendar used so my youngest and I could have some idea where the other was. Therefore, I haven't needed it since he reported to the MTC.

The Reality: Complicated, but I had been so focused on his reaching that goal that I hadn't planned much beyond. Thankfully, one was forming in the background. Now all I have to do is bring it into the light.

Parting Comment: It's not I haven't been doing anything. I've taught an extra class each semester AND my tax refund was in the bank by February 19th. This has been a nice experiment but I really do prefer a concrete plan even now that I know that almost nothing goes as planned.

Old, New, Borrowed & Blue

Spent the afternoon making new memories at Tannehill State Park. Many of the historical aspects of the park have been updated since I first visited the park when my missionary was four. A major part of the new memories involved roaming around the Trading Days area for the first time, I forgot my camera so I guess I'll have to go back.

It had stormed Friday night and Saturday morning so the sky was clear and almost as blue as the tarp in the picture. However, the blue of which I speak is a sad little corner of my heart. First, I was hoping to get a glimpse of the deer. Tim informed me that someone had taken the buck's head and entered it in a trophy contest. After that a decision was made to remove the enclosure and let the deer roam. I guess the good news is that since the buck was a local legend, the moron was caught. I wish I could say that there was no sadness for either of us from sharing memories of our kids from this place with each other than with our former spouses, but at least we can take a hint from one of the T-shirt designs to "Put on Your Big Girl/Boy Undies and Deal with IT!" Without commitment, love the feeling can never grow into love the verb.

When love meets no return the result is suffering, and the greater the love the greater the suffering. There can be no greater suffering than to love purely and perfectly one who is ben upon evil and self-destruction. That was what God endured at the hand of men.
Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, April 1997

At least our sadness comes no where near that of Heavenly Father. More importantly, with commitment, love the verb can overcome all things; so there is always hope.

Dangerous Cupcake

So would you eat a cupcake baked by a stranger? A couple of students gave one of my colleagues a homemade chocolate cupcake. She said she was afraid to eat it and gave it to me. I ate it, it was yummy. If there are no more posts you'll know why.

Fly Like a Beagle

I LOVE this little guy's attitude.

Resume Padding

Do you ever wonder why someone would falsify academic credentials? Then if one banks on being trusted rather than being trustworthy, I can see several short term advantages. However, the Internet has made it easy to check. For example, I ran a verification search on my graduate degrees and had the following in less than 5 minutes.



Why? Why? Why? Paraphrasing John Candy in Cool Runnings -- a graduate degree is a wonderful thing, but if you're not enough without it, you'll never be enough with it -- it follows that you won't become enough by adding an illusion. Sad...sad...sad.

Spoon or Shovel

Some people eat frozen desserts in fancy stemmed crystal with petite spoons. Where I come from the size of the bowl is only limited by the trade-off between the speed of melting and the speed of eating. As for the utensil, the question is: Do you want a spoon or a shovel (aka soup spoon). We had a dusting of snow this morning, so Hila and I were good to go with big bowls and shovels!

In case you are wondering, we are eating Publix brand Black Jack Cherry Low Fat Frozen Yogurt. It's like Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia without the heart attack. While researching this post I discovered that they also make a Low Fat Frozen Yogurt version of Cherry Garcia. I've not seen it around here. That's ok, it would have to be pretty darn good to beat the value of the Publix brand.

I guess I could learn not to snack when I'm watching movies but where's the fun in that!

Four Things

Four things about me that you may, or may not have known.

A. Four jobs I have had in my lifetime.
1. Telephone operator
2. Shipbuilder
3. Aerospace pattern maker
4. Engineering Instructor

B. Four movies I would watch over and over (within reason)
1. LoTR
2. Star Wars
3. Matrix
4. Ong-Bak

C. Four TV shows that I watch. (when I get the chance)
1. SG-1
2. Myth Busters
3. Lost
4. Oprah

D. Four places I have been in the last year.
1. Mobile, AL
2. San Diego, CA
3. Salt Lake City, Utah
4. Atlanta, GA

E. Four people who email me regularly.
1. Elder Byrd
2. Hila
3. Joey
4. Lynn

F. Four of my favorite foods.
1. Tai
2. Chinese
3. Mexican
4. Italian

G. Four places I would rather be right now.
1. no where else - weird but true for the moment
2.
3.
4.
H. Four things I look forward to in 2008.
1. Mother's Day Phone Call from Elder Byrd
2. Christmas Phone Call from Elder Byrd
3. more personal discipline
4. moving on campus ROLL TIDE!

C. S. Lewis on Marriage

Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even to last at all. Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go. And in fact, whatever people say, the state called 'being in love' usually does not last . . . Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships? But, of course, ceasing to be 'in love' need not mean ceasing to love. Love in the second sense--love as distinct from 'being in love'--is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriages) the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God . . . 'Being in love' first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it.

Scattergories Part V

va va vavooom

V is for

1. Athletes: Vincent Thomas Lombardi
2. 4 letter word: Vile
3. Street names: Valley Road
4. Color: Violet
5. Gifts/presents: #'s 9, 13, 16, 18, 22, voucher, voyage, Volvo, videos, villa
6. Vehicles: VTOL Osprey, Volvo
7. Tropical Locations: Venezuela
8. College Majors: Vocal Performance
9. Dairy Product: Vla (Dutch custard pie)
10. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Venetian glass
11. Boy Name: Victor
12. Girl Name: Victoria
13. Movie Titles: V for Vendetta
14. Beers: Victoria Bitter
15. Occupations: Vaudevillian
16. Flowers: Venus flytrap
17. Celebrities: Viggo Mortesen
18. Magazines: Vibe
19. U.S. Cities: Vacaville California
20. Pro Sports Teams: Vikings
21. Alcoholic drink: Vodka
22. Something you wear: Vans
23. Food: #9 above
24. Something found in a bathroom: Vase (assuming a decorated one!)
25. Reason for Being Late: Vacuous
26. Cartoon Character: Veronica (Archies)
27. Something You Shout: "VICTORY!!"
28. Animal: Vole
29. Body part: Veins, vertebra, and ;-}
30. Word to describe you: Virtuous (I wish) Vicious (I fear)

Why I Still Believe

I want to provide a logical defense; however the truth of the matter is "Because I do." Everytime someone fails to live up to the standard, everytime despair seems to be winning the day, from the depths of my soul comes the whisper "It is true, now what will you do."

Learning

Defining Daily
Identity Synergy
Embracing the Void

An UnValentine for my Birthday

The following are from the WONDERFUL little book

The UnValentine
story by Sam Beeson
paintings by Jesse Draper

When I want
A box of chocolates
I buy it . . .
Then I eat it.
All of it.

Normon Mailer: Engineering a Relationship

So did you know Norman Mailer studied engineering at Harvard? At 16 no less.

More to the point, in The Man Who Studied Yoga that engineer turned writer clearly defined a problem which has eluded this engineer for decades.

She is too sharp-tongued, and she does not often give Sam what he needs most, a steady flow of uncritical encouragement to counteract the harshness with which he views himself.

Ok so maybe this engineer still isn't convinced that THE problem has been clearly defined BUT rather A situation. When someone abuses my inner child, I am told that I am responsible for feelings and that I am free to choose to act rather than react. Would this not also be true for Sam?

Well I think so, but if you read the rest of the story you'll find that they both need to work on their relationship skills. As Mailer pointed out, "Unhappily it is more complicated than that."

Dejavu All Over Again

Not even enough snow to cover the grass or bother with a photo of the vehicles... boring. Of course, when they predict a dusting I'll probably need that shovel.

Should I Grab My Shovel

So maybe I should have brought one of the snow shovels when I moved back to Alabama from Indiana. "They" say it shouldn't be as bad as '93 but "they" were predicting less than 6 inches before an "historic and major winter storm affected much of the Ohio Valley from the 22nd into the 23rd of December 2004. Two bursts of heavy snow, separated by a few hours, brought over two feet of snow across several counties north of the Ohio River in southern Indiana. Interstates 64 and 65 across southern Indiana were closed for a number of hours during this storm."  I had a bad feeling so I asked DesMerin to leave the end of semester LAN party with the nerd herd. We loaded up the dogs in the Bronco II and headed south for Christmas just ahead of the storm.  The photo below was taken after I had shoveled the drive a week or so later when we returned.

Of course, then I remembered "I'm with Stupid" . . . I can't remember if DesMerin and I listened to "Wisconsin Death Trip" on that road trip but we certainly did on many others.  So I'm listening to it now...

Myths & Reality

The following is "a 10-minute video originally produced for the large number of journalists visiting Salt Lake City for the 2002 Winter Olympics" which has been updated and was posted on the LDS Newsroom 4 January 2008 "to help counter persistent myths about the Church." Someday I may post more, but this sums it up quite nicely.