Endings and Beginnings

As the year is coming to a close, we've had and ending and a new beginning here in our home.  We finally had to put our 14.5 yr old yellow lab down.  It was time.  They did it with dignity at the vet (did it outside, in the grass under the trees).  My hubby took him, as I had to work.  He's taking it very hard.  All he can remember is the dog's final moments, and it saddens him.  I don't have those memories, only descriptions of them, so it's a bit easier for me.  Still, it's a tough time of year to have to do it.  Our son wanted the dog cremated, so we're doing that.  We haven't gotten his ashes back yet, but they'll be here soon.

In the mean time, the new beginning is here.  I'd mentioned that I wanted a beagle puppy, and while my spouse wasn't ready to move on, he wanted to surprise me.  So, I've got a new puppy.  He was born on Halloween, and we brought him home on Christmas Eve.  I figured Nightmare Before Christmas was an appropriate inspiration, due to the Halloween/Christmas connection, so I named him Jack.  He's little, and our black lab/chow isn't too fond of him.  The cat has just taken to hiding.  We'll see how it goes.  Hopefully it will get better.


The other new ending/beginning that has happened in my house has been the death of one computer and a new one.  I'm still setting things up, and need to install a piece of software or two.  But it's getting there.

So This is Christmas.....

..... and what have you done?


Me, I got a haircut, and dyed a blue streak in my hair....It will kill my  mom.  I always wanted blue hair as a teenager, but she wouldn't let me.  It will be interesting to see what other people think of it.  My hubby gets turned on by it, so that's kinda funny.  Since the blue is so new, it will leave marks on my pillow.  Oh joy.

Still need to do my shopping and such, but I've got my tree up, so that makes me happy.


Speaking of my hubby, he mentioned that I had posted on this blog in 2004 that my old dog wasn't long for this world.  He's still alive, but, again, really isn't long for this world.  Interesting how some things change and some things stay the same.

I've had a cold for a little while this week, and my nose got very chapped, and is now quite scabby.  It's kinda gross.  I used tissues with lotion when I was in my office, but I was out in the lab, and didn't have any lotion ones handy, and the regular ones just destroyed my nose.  I was so sad.

I got back from spending Thanksgiving with my family 'back home'.  My aunt was in town from Arkansas.  She drove me nuts.  Her son-in-law is the world's biggest hick (with accent), but is as nice as can be.  Spending time with my family made some of my old accent (as slight as it was) come back.  It didn't stick.  :)  The trip home is what gave me my cold, I think.  Some guy in front of me on the plane was hacking like mad.  Makes me wish that I had had some Airborne before taking my trip.

My pc was going nuts earlier last week.  It wasn't recognizing anything USB (keyboard, mouse) so it wouldn't respond.  I wonder if it was part of the 'black screen of death' issues that came around after a Windows update (XP).  It wasn't responding due to the hardware error, and had been a bit flaky for a while, so I broke down and bought one heck of a computer to replace it.  Of course, there was another windows update after the break and my ordering the pc, so now it works again.  Too late to cancel the new PC build.  Oh well.  I'll just get a new pc, I guess.  I'll have to transfer all my stuff, so that will take me a while.  Too bad I can't just wave a magic wand.

The funness of Christmas is all of the old movies and old musicals.  It's been fun watching them.  I realized that in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, at the end of the movie where Rudolph is getting to lead the sleigh during the snow storm, there are 2 missing reindeer.  There are only 7, (6+1) instead of 9 (8+1). 

During my Christmas decoring, I found that one of my deorations was broken.  I was attempting to glue it back together with superglue, and the glue wouldn't cure.  I tried blowing on it, with moist breath, but it wouldn't cure.  So, knowing that water is the curative of that reaction, I just turned on the faucet in the sink and stuck it under the stream.  It cured.  I'm guessing that it is VERY dry in the house.  Looking at the hygrometer, it's reading 22% humidity.  The house has so much static.  It's awful.

I think I figured it out

I think I know why my leg got infected after sliding.  My knee was a little cranky, too, but it seems to be fine now.  Since there isn't a whole lot of water here in the desert, the city parks and rec department was using non-potable water to water the fields.  The infield was watered between every game or two, to soften it up and keep the dust down.  So, yes, I guess I was sliding in poo laden dirt.  Now that I know, I'll have to scour my strawberries with hydrogen peroxide while at the ball park instead of waiting until I get home.

Accident Prone

Well, yes, I'm accident prone. It's kinda sad. It runs in the family, though, so it can't all be blamed on lack of attention to detail.

The slide strawberry got better. Left an interesting brown scar. It's flat, but it looks like it's dirty, even though it isn't. I started wearing long socks and softball pants to protect my leg while sliding. Seemed to work pretty well. Well, that is until this past weekend. I slid into third. I was called out, which was annoying. It was very close, so it makes sense that I got sent. The ground really needed to be broken up more than it was, so it was very hard. I somehow managed to get my knee a little too much under me, so I have a scrape just below my kneecap. Not looking too pretty at the moment, so I think it may be trying to get infected, too. Same ball field, so if it's infected, it's probably staph again. I'm treating it with the antibiotic ointment that I had leftover from the previous slide. Good thing I saved it, eh?

Lots of softball this summer. Played up in Mammoth at a tournament there. Had a lot of fun. Stayed in a condo with most of the ball team. Nice enough, and we played rock band every night, under the frozen stare of a stuffed chupacabra. Well, not really a chupacabra, but a stuffed bobcat. It's tail and legs seemed too long to be a bobcat. It was kinda creepy. One of the guys on the team wanted to take it down from its perch and leave it in front of people's bedside so it would scare the crap out of them in the morning. It would be hysterical, until someone beat the crap out of it and our coach would have to pay the $500 deposit on the stupid condo due to the damage to chupa. Alas, we behaved.

We didn't do well in that tournament, but we did take 3rd in the tournament from the past weekend, so it wasn't too horrible. The only other softball injuries that I currently have is a seriously sprained middle finger. It's currently swollen at the first joint (near the tip - is that distal?). Some of the swelling has gone down, but it doesn't bend at all in one direction, and not as much as it used to in the other. Not sure what I can do about it, though.


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On the hotwifing side of the house, I did get some playtime in a couple of weekends ago. Met some friends in Vegas and had a good time. Really enjoyed myself. We didn't get out much, and ended up staying in the hotel most of the weekend. We did try to come up with a version of strip football. We had to tailor the rules as we went, because it didn't quite go as smoothly as we would've liked. :) Still, we had a good time.

While there, picked up the new iPhone 3GS. I'm really liking it. My previous iPhone went to the hubby. He's liking it as well. I was sad that the AT&T dealer didn't have the 32 gig version, only the 16 (which is what I had before). I can't get the stupid thing in town, so it was going to require a trip out of town to get one. I decided I could live with the 16 gig instead of the 32, as sad as I might be about it. I do like the new iTunes/iPhone interface, though.


Last weekend I had a coworker as me (outside of work) point blank if my spouse and I were swingers. I told her that we were (although that isn't quite how we define it, but close enough for the 'normals'). We don't advertise it, but we won't deny it. Kinda can't, with the whole security clearance thing. Can't be put in a position to be blackmailed. Still, I'm curious to know if she heard rumors (she said she did), but she also said that she did some research over some pics that I had that she had seen online, and found my alternate identity on an internet forum. Oh well. I knew it would come out sooner or later. We'll see how it affects things.

Memory Woes

Man, I'm getting old. Just had a birthday. Getting closer to that 40 milestone. Not very long now. One of the girls I play softball with thought I was 10 years younger, so that's a plus. I guess she ignored the fact that the skin around my legs just isn't all that firm (and neither are my breasts, for that matter). Still, it made me feel better, right before my birthday.

However, I am getting older. My memory has gone to crap. Not sure if it's due to the perimenopause thing or not. I just can't remember the things that I used to remember, and should remember. It's getting more and more frustrating. Due to those memory gaps, I keep making an ass of myself. I keep confusing the names of music artists, which is doubly embarrassing, as I keep doing it in front of music people. They just look at me like I grew a second head. I always end up feeling like such a dumb ass.

I guess I just need to accept the fact that I'm getting old. It's starting to become an issue at work, though. I need to get into the habit of making to-do lists, or notes, or something, for myself at the office. I don't recall conversations from the day before. If I weren't younger than 40, I'd wonder if Alzheimers is starting to set in.

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In other news, I've slid *twice* now for softball. I was so proud of myself for actually getting my ass on the ground. I was proud until I got into the shower. Then I just wanted to curse, as it burned like a mother. Two days later, I wasn't so proud anymore, as bewildered and frustrated, since my scrapes decided to become infected. I'm now on Keflex. I guess it could be a staph infection, but they didn't culture it. All I know is that it becomes really painful when I stand on that leg after being off of it for a while, and becomes moderately painful if I stand on that leg for any length of time. It's perfectly fine when I keep it propped up on pillows. Wonder how long that's going to last....

Fortunately, I don't have another softball game for 11 days from now, so hopefully it will heal enough to not bother me. I'll be off of antibiotics by then. I plan on wearing a guard and socks over the damage. I gotta protect it somehow. I promise, though, that if it gets nasty gross looking, I'll post pictures. :)

Gadgets of All Shapes and Sizes

So, by the title of this particular post, you've got a pretty good idea that it's going to be about gadgets.

First and foremost - I need a new wireless mouse. I prefer the type that is rechargeable, as I don't want to have to change out batteries. It's annoying. I'm already having to recharge batteries for the Wii (my son seems to go through them at an amazing rate between himself and his friends). I'm going to have to find another plug in the house to have constantly recharging batteries for the mouse now. I love gadgets. You'd think that buying a new one would make me happy. For some reason, a computer mouse just doesn't give me the love that purchasing another gadget does. Maybe it's because the mice just don't seem to excite me. I was perfectly happy with the shape and design of my current mouse. Now, I have to learn a whole new one, with a different weight and shape. *sigh* Why does it have to be such work?


Second - still loving my iPhone. I've had it about 9 months now. Still enjoying it. I haven't gone app-happy, although I did download a few apps just for the heck of it. It's too fun stumping people with the Moron Test app. Cracks me up. Someone at a ball tournament showed me their iPhone - we were comparing apps during dinner. She had "cowbell" installed on hers. I almost want to install that app, just for the heck of it. I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy the moron test as much as I did, but it's been fun. There's been one app, though, that has saved my sanity. That is Kindle for the iPhone. Why? because.....

Third (last, but not least by any stretch of the imagination) - I killed my Kindle (K1) in the middle of a book. I've been on a mystery kick as of late. Mostly these lighthearted little mystery books. I've been enjoying them, though. Enough that when I accidentally broke the screen of my Kindle (had it a year) by fumbling it against the edge of my kitchen table, I went into IMMEDIATE withdrawls. It's all part of that book addiction. Once I realized that I wasn't going to be able to easily repair my Kindle, I bit the bullet and bought a new one within 30 minutes of breaking the old one. I had to wait 3 days (it was a weekend) for the new one to arrive. In the mean time, I was able to continue reading the book on my iPhone. Yes, I could've just switched to a printed book, but I would've had to switch stories. See, while I do enjoy the ability to switch off books if one isn't my particular cup of tea at the moment, I have a difficult time switching books if I'm really enjoying the one I'm reading. Hence the shakes. So, I've got the new K2 and like it, for the most part. There are some drawbacks to the new one that I haven't gotten used to, yet. I liked the wedge shape of the old one. It was easier to balance it in my left hand, allowing me to read one handed. I have a harder time balancing this one in one hand, comfortably. I've got to find a better way to hold it. In the mean time, I've already gotten a new case (since the new version doesn't come with one) and a new skin for it. I went a little more fru-fru with the skin (had a blue one that was a bit abstract). The new one is called Lilly. It's quite pretty. I got it mainly because it had many colors and it would match/complement the case. On top of that, I can pair it with many different cases, should I decide to get a new one in a different color/style.

Yes, I know. There's something wrong with me. You're just *now* figuring that out?


And while it's not electronic, I still kind of consider it a gadget. I got a new softball bat at the end of fall season. I wasn't able to use it until this year, but I like it a lot. Many people on my team seem to like it. One guy has purchased one, and a couple of others have thought about it. At a tournament last weekend, there were at least 5 people using the same bat. Well, not exactly the same bat, per se, as 3 of us had identical bats. Still, they were interchangeable (essentially - some might have been broken in better than the others). It was kinda funny.

Bleary, Blurry, Blurgh

So, to start off a wonderful week, I broke my nose on Sunday. At softball practice, no less. Didn't happen in a game, but I was trying to practice the way I'd play in a game, so I took a throw in from the outfield that was off target. I didn't come off the bag (I play 2nd), and played it on the hop for the 'tag'. Instead of it hopping up into my glove, or body, it hops up into my face, breaking my nose. My glasses cut the bridge of my nose, causing it to bleed. Fortunately, it didn't bleed from the inside, but it bled, nonetheless. I finished out practice, surprising a few of my teammates. I'm a tough girl, though, so it's what I do. Heck, I didn't even cry. The guy that threw the ball has a heck of an arm. He used to be a baseball pitcher for the local college a few years back. He also dislocated one of my fingers a few years ago, just warming up with me. He felt really guilty about smacking me in the face. :)

My nose ended up seriously off center. Hubby forced me to go to the ER. I was thinking there wasn't much they could do for me. It's not like you can put a cast on it. They did a CT scan of my head to make sure more wasn't damaged, since the guy has a strong arm. Nothing more was damaged, but my sinuses were full of blood (according to the x-ray tech - he let me look at the scan). The nurses teased me, mercilessly, especially the triage nurse. He gave me such a hard time. We laughed our butts off. They gave me good drugs (shot in the ass). Every time I put the ice pack on my nose, my left nostril caved in, keeping me from breathing. After that, the doc reset my nose. It let out an audible "pop" when he re-centered it. Impressed the hell out of the doc, though. He said that I didn't hesitate. I think it surprised him.

My nose is still a bit off center, and I have a black eye and a bruised nose, as well as a couple of scabs from the cut. I think my glasses dug a divot into the side of my nose, so that's where most of the discomfort is coming from - especially when I wear my glasses. I've got contacts, and could wear them, but I can't wear them at work. My regular glasses aren't that heavy, but my work glasses are, as they're safety lenses, and are quite thick (I have a coke bottle for a right lens). Those hurt more. Can't take my pain meds, as they're narcotics, and I can't play with explosives if I'm on narcotics. So, I'm toughing it out. At least I don't have work tomorrow.

I've already played 2 softball games since the smack (won one, lost one). I've got a tournament this weekend that I'm playing in. Still haven't gotten in to see the ENT to have her look at my nose. There's a part of my nose that seems to get a bit 'crunchy', but I just pinch it and smooth it back down, and all seems to be fine. Doesn't that just wig you out?

I'm supposed to sleep a bit more upright, keeping the swelling down, and it's working, for the most part. Most of the swelling is gone at this point. But I'm not getting to sleep, as hubby's work phone keeps calling in the middle of the night. It's sort of an on-call deal. However, he's out of town for work, so I have to acknowledge the call. Still, it called every 45 minutes last night. All. Night. Long. For the last 2 nights. So, now I'm very, very tired. I'm also trying to get over a cold/viral thing, so I NEED that rest. Oh well. Hopefully I'll get to rest tonight. Keeping my fingers crossed.