Posts (page 2)

Thanks again to everyone who gave me their wedding tips - I used them all!  I nearly missed the wedding because I took too long at the ranch (where the reception was) setting up power lines, drinks, and driving around.  We got lost 2x, losing about 30 minutes total, and we stopped for food, which took another 15 minutes.  Luckily, they held off the actual ceremony for us since my sister, my pseudo-sister (my sister's hs friend who stayed with my family for a while and calls my dad "Dad" since her own family is less than stellar in the whole "family" department), and I were running late.  We got there in time to see the exchange of vows and the smooch.  Awwww :)

It was hot - damn hot - real hot, so hot you could cook things in your shorts. A little crotch pot cooking!

103F in the shade ... hotter in the sun.  I got up at 5:30am (which, for those who know me, is nearly unheard of) to get going.  We had a 45 minute drive plus breakfast plus loading the truck plus driving another 20 minutes to the ranch -- all before 8am.  Needless to say, we were late. We got everything unloaded and set up as best we could that morning, then it was off for some more pick-ups and ice buying.  The problem with the heat was that any ice we bought would be melted by the time the reception started at 6pm, so we had to buy ice in shifts.

We headed back to the Octagon (my dad's house... which is octagonal) to cool off and relax for a bit.  We figured that it would take about an hour of finall set-up at the ranch, and we didn't want to get there too early or the ice would melt.  We also had to pick up the keg, and didn't want it to get warm.  So at about 12:30, we left the Octagon, went shopping for sodas, ice, and picked up the keg.  Somehow, we didn't get done at the ranch until 3:30.  Yet we still had to put up directional signs... and the signs needed to be up before the wedding since half of them were to get the guests to the church.  We finally arrived the church at 4:30 -- to put up the signs.  We were still covered in dirt and sweaty from the manual labor.  The church to the Octagon is 8 miles along more curvy back roads, about a 10-15 minute drive.  Plus showernig and changing.  Ugh.  Well, we made it back at 5:25, and they held off the ceremony long enough that we made it at the very end.  At least I wore a dress for an hour!

We had to stop for more ice for the reception, so we got to the reception at almost 6:30.  I think I ate some food.  I abandoned many a drink as I was pulled in numerous directions to make decisions about when and where "events" were to happen.  Yod was, of course, sloshed beyond all hope.  We left the reception with only a handful of guests remaining, then headed back to the Octagon to get our car.  Oh yeah, we were borrowing my dad's truck for this little adventure.  And we ended up spending another hour troubleshooting my dad's internet connection.  Finally gave up around 11:30, and ... I couldn't sleep until after 2am. 

But, the event was beautiful, so in the end, it was well worth all the hard work.  Yay!

Freshly showered, shaved, and primped - check!
Freshly manicured, pedicured, and waxed - check!
Freshly laundered and pressed clothing - check!

Going about town as an anosmic who forgot to put on deodorant this morning ... priceless.

Yeah, sorry for my BO world.  /sigh  /shootself

On Saturday, my dad is going to get married to his long-time girlfriend, whom I adore.  I'm so excited for them both!!

I get to be the Wedding Coordinator (ha!) and make sure it all runs smoothly.  I can't believe the Big Day is almost here.  Where oh where did the month of June go??

So, anyone have any advice for a neophyte wedding planner?  I feel like I have everything planned out and coordinated, but I'm sure there are day-of things that I'm going to forget.

DJ - ordered, planned... may have to prompt him when we're doing toasting and cake cutting.

Wedding chapel - taken care of

Flowers - taken care of

Reception - setup is taken care of, including food, cake, decorations, drinks, cups, etc.

I'm both excited that everything will go well and terrified that something will go very very wrong.  My dad isn't the easiest person to get along with when things go wrong, and I would hate to ruin his day by forgetting something easy.

I admit, I stole this from Jade

COUNTRY WESTERN SINGER NAME: (mother & father’s middle name)
Lee (My mom didn't have a middle name)

NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother’s dad, father’s dad)
Peter Robert ... Petey Bob?

STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name)
Mccjo . yeouch. that's bad!

DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Green Panther

SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Ellen Colorado

SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning)
The Blue Kamikaze

FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)
Jomc  ..wtf is a fly name?  like, cool-fly or like bzzz bzzz fly?

ROCK STAR NAME: (current companion critters' name, current street name)
Ebby Huntington

STRIPPER NAME: (name of your fav perfume/cologne/aroma, fav candy)
Pink Smartie (hahaha)

PORN NAME: (1st pet, 1st Car)
Gidget Nissan

AMERICAN GLADIATOR NAME: (model name of your current car)
Grand Am

Nintendo has made a bundle on games that are "daily improvements".  Brain Age, Brain Academy, Flash Focus, etc. promise gains in your mental acuity by doing these brain-stimulating exercises every day.

Honestly, I've been really bored with their offerings.  My Nintendo DS lays unused a lot of the time due to the boredom of the games I have: Brain Age 2, Nintendogs, and Classic Board Games.  There is only so much repetition that I can stand before I get bored.  In Brain Age 2, about the only exercises I do are the ones that change or I know will help, like sign finder (you're given the x _ y = z and you need to find the operator that fits) or change maker (counting back change from a given dollar amount and tender given), and, my favorite, piano player.  Hey, I rule at piano player.  But, of the 10 or so activities that this title has available, I find most to be tedious.  And don't get me started on Nintendogs...

The Wii Fit might get to that point.  There are 12 or 16 activities in 4 categories, and some of those are the "advanced" activity of a previous basic one.  For example, in aerobics, you have a 1p run (jogging in place), and the next level is a 2p run (so you and your bud can run in place together).  Basic step and advanced step.  Hula hoop and super hula hoop.  However, the variety of exercises, so far, has been interesting enough to have me coming back for more.  I'm not sure how long the life for this game will be once everything is unlocked.... but there is an added bonus.  You lose weight, you tone up, and you learn yoga stuff. 

My biggest complaint is that the activities aren't long enough.  It is nearly impossible to do sustained activities or to set up a work-out that will take you from one activity to another, so a 15-minute workout is broken up by a bunch of menu selections as you choose your next activity.  The longest single activity I've done is 5 minutes of running in place, followed by 3 minutes of intense hula hooping.  I'd love to see some functionality added to do workout planning.  Supposedly, as I gain higher ratings, I can choose longer length workouts, but I'm not there yet.  Many activities only take 1-2 minutes or, like with strength training, only do 10 reps in each set, and you always have to advance through their "welcome" dialog.  The male trainer is a little too ... festive, as well.  I quickly switched to the female trainer because he was so annoying.

I bought the Wii Fit last September, when Amazon first made pre-orders available. which means I got it at the $70 price point.  I would definitely buy it again, and I see the balance board having more applications than just in fitness.

Now, how does the board work?  Pretty well.  There are some annoying quirks, but overall the board is extremely sensitive and accurate to the shifts in your center of balance.  The balance games are very difficult for me, but I have noticed that I'm getting better as I do the activities.

Speaking of activities, my favorites are: hula hoop, step, yoga, and the tightrope walk.  I just unlocked a balance game that places you into a "bubble" and you have to lean your way through a river without touching the sides or various things in the river.

The voice programming is a little ... trite.  Advice like "sleep 7.5 hours per day" or "Your center of balance is off, which could lead to back issues" when my weight distribution is 49.8% L and 50.2% R, or, if you gain weight, you have to choose what you think is the problem, like "eat too much"... which this machine tells you .. uhh... cut  back on your eating.  Duh.

I do like the tracking features, though - don't get me wrong.  The Wii will track your BMI/weight, and allow you to set goals (up or down), then tell you how you're doing to meet those goals.

But seriously, if they let me plan a workout, I'd be extremely happy.  As it is, I'm giving the Wii Fit a 4 of 5 stars.  This rating may change in a month when I've done all the activites and am bored with the offerings.  Maybe by then, Wii Fit 2 will be out! 

Usually, short weeks are nice because, well, they're short.  Which is true if you have a 9 to 5 type job that is always shuffling papers from inbox to outbox, or you do set things every day, or, well, basically if you don't have my job.

See, a short week just means that the stuff I'm supposed to have done in 5 days gets crampaked into 4 days.

I know I'm not unique in this, but hey, it's my rant, so I get to personalize it, dammit!

I don't usually have solid days of work work work, but last week was non-stop working, and even some work that was well outside my defined scope that ended up robbing me of precious time and sleep. 

The sucky thing is that I came down with a cold-sort of thing and am stuffed up with a painfully searingly sore icky throat.  Blah.

In other news, the hula hoop game on wii fit rules.  :-D

You've heard of edutainment... now I coin the phrase: exertainment! Exercise + entertainment = Wii Fit.

The Wii Fit is finally in my hot little hands!  It's part annoying Japanese dialog and part silly fun.  Let's just say that these hips are made for hula! Wootay!

Yod and I spent a good hour and a half playing around with the different games after we did the initial setup.  Yes, you really do find out your weight and BMI and if your Mii isn't quite the right proportions, your Wii Fit will adjust it accordingly (within the Wii Fit program, at least). ;-) There are four types - an instructor-led yoga section, an instructor-led strength (calisthenics) section, balance games, and aerobic exercises.  I hula hooped, ran in place, walked a tightrope, did a ski jump, skied the slaloms, and tried valiantly to keep my balance through their wonky strength training exercises.  I will say that the most frustrating thing is the strength training... either I'm doing it wrong or the programming is wonky because if I achieve their balance and weight distribution goals, I can't do the exercise as presented.  Will have to look into that further!

I highly recommend the balance and aerobic activities, and the yoga looks fun (though I haven't tried that yet).

I know, it's only day one and the shiny new toy hasn't lost its polish, but I am looking forward to finishing up the rest of my Vox Fitness Challenge with a new goal: Wii Fit time!

Yod just ordered Mario Kart with an extra Wiil (get it, wheel.. Wii-L - and this is mine! I coined this phrase! Mine I tell you! MINE!!!!!!).

Aaaaaaaand...  I just got my confirmation for this:

Wii fit!

2 comments

What do you daydream about? Is it something far-fetched, or something that might actually happen?
Submitted by lost_in_eternity2207.

Hair!

In the shower today, I was pondering.  And, luckily for me, I remembered my pondering ALL DAY, so now I can blog about it!  My pondering was about hair.

If you have a weak stomach regarding shedding and collecting of hair, please read no further, though that is the basis for my post today.

See, I get compliments all the time on my hair.  I must admit that it is pretty fetching.  I've dyed it a delicious deep red that catches the light quite nicely.  It is just below shoulder length, about midway between my shoulder and my bra strap, and is curly and bouncy and thick.  I'm an insanely good producer of keratin-based body systems... my fingernails are gorgeous as well (not that I'm bragging, just stating the truth, as it is the premise of my post, remember).

Humans shed 50-100 hairs from their head per day.  Many people lose this hair down the drain, but the longer your hair, the more noticeable the shedding.  I brush my hair before showering, but then I also end up catching these sheds during conditioning as I pull my fingers through my hair.  Since I don't want to clog the drainage, I will stick the hair to the tiles, then collect it and throw it away at the end of the shower.

Herein lies my quandary.

Why is it that when the hair is attached to my head, it is this beautiful thing, yet when it is shed and collected in a ball, either in the shower, on the drain, or on my hairbrush, I am completely revolted by it?  I have had to fight my gag reflex when I've tossed hair into the trash.  I can't clean drains or I will actually become physically ill -- and not from any smell, I'm anosmic.  No, just from the sight of all that shed hair, all balled up.  It is disgusting, and I don't understand why I find it disgusting.  I mean, wigs aren't gross, and ponytails cut off for Locks of Love aren't.  But the messy ball of hair... *shudder* ew ew ew ew ew!

Maybe it has to do with how I was raised and the "ewwwww" factor.  Sometimes, you can be conditioned to find something gross simply because everyone around you thinks it is gross, like picking/eating buggers or scabs or whatnot.    Maybe it has to do with the hair being unkempt.  I don't know, but I wish I could get over it, because I hate that my own hair makes my stomach turn simply for the fact it is no longer attached to my head.