routine

I like routine. I need routine. I crave routine.

My routine was interrupted this week. I forgot to pay the gas bill and the gas was shut off. I couldn't fix the chicken nuggets in the oven and the boys wouldn't eat them cooked in the microwave. The boys couldn't take their baths and they felt icky, stinky & grumpy. I couldn't take my shower before bed so I felt grimey and icky. I couldn't shower in the morning so I felt even more grimey and icky and my head itched. I couldn't fix my oatmeal (I tried in the microwave but made a big mess.) so I fixed a large smoothie but that left me hungry later in the morning. I couldn't cook any salmon or chicken in the oven so I got even more grumpy.

Thursday, the gas was turned back on just before noon. I rewashed the towels left in the washer for 2 days. I took a nice hot shower and began to feel better. The boys got their chicken cooked the way they like it and enjoyed their baths. I got my shower last night and slept better.

Yesterday morning is where it really hit me. I got my routine back. I got to wake up, get some sweet tea (and down some pills), check the internets, take a shower, get breakfast for the boys and get my breakfast of steel cut oats and a small smoothie. Everything felt much better just knowing I could do what I wanted needed to do.

Now if I could just make myself follow a routine of paying my bills on time.

cards of the day

card of the day

Remember when I used to do Card of the Day? OK, it only last a few weeks a couple of years ago. But I am going to try again. Too many birthdays in January.

brr

back on the bandwagon

One of goals this year is to make Birthday cards and send them in a timely manner. OK, I was a little late with Megs but it was still sent before her birthday.

scientology and autism

Was Jett Travolta autistic? If you look for it, you will see the symptoms.

Does Scientology acknowledge autism?

Does it matter? It is the Travoltas perogative how they raise their children as long as they cause no harm. Because they are celebrities, we feel the right to pry amd judge their lives. But none of this brings Jett back.

The tradegy is that a 16 year old boy died and his family mourns their loss.

Secrets

Recently, my dad mentioned that my mom jad a savings account with over $40,000 in it. She had never told my dad about it and he didn't know the purpose. Dad split it up and gave it to the grandkids. (Later I remembered that mom had Nancy & me sign cards and said the account was in trust for us.)
This got me thinking about other things she kept from him. It taught me that it was OK to keepthings from your spouse. I wonder if dad kept secrets from mom. (I asked and the answer was no.) Did mom's parents keep secrets from each other?
Secrets are big. Post Secret shares anonymous secrets each Sunday with millions of people. Some of these secrets shock me, some make me laugh, some make me sad. Most the secrets make me think of my own secrets. Some of innocent and harmless. Some are self-denial. Some I wish I could take back.
What makes us keep secrets? Some secrets are for fun. We don't tell our family what we bought them for Christmas so they can be surprised when they open the gift. We don't tell people that we pick our noses because it's gross. We keep our PIN numbers secret to protect our personal records secure.
But should we keep secrets from our spouses/partners? Is it OK to keep a secret savings account just in case?

iTouch miSelf

I broke down & got an iPod Touch. I have named it iTouch miSelf. I have wanted one for some time but could not justify the cost. Then Christmas morning came and Andy got an iHome. I went to set it up only to realize that his iPod was dead. It made sense to give my iPod to Andy and for me to get a new. I did trade in the dead one for 10% off the purchase price which ended up paying for the case.

So far, I really like it. It is a challenge getting to used typing with my thumbs versus my stylus. Progress not perfection.

I have been catching up on my podcasts. I started listening to two new podcasts, You Look Nice Today & Stephen Fry. They are a nice juxtaposition from Yeast Radio.

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Chronicles of Narnia Boxed Set by C.S. Lewis

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really liked this series even with the strong correlation to God and Christianity. Though I don't know why the Calormenes had to be worshipping a demon. I think that many cultures can be worship their own god or even the same God in their own way and still be good. Why can't other cultures be good? I liked that each book was short but I could wait to get through them all. The ending was a bit sad and cool at the same time.



I am not sure about watching the movies. I will add them to my netflix but it will years before I get around to them.


View all my reviews.

gameworks @ ybor city

Ashlee & Brad came down for the Outback Bowl. We picked them up and went to Ybor City for lunch. Ybor City is an urban renewal project. It was originally a Cuban neighborhood and there were many cigar factories. Now Ybor City is a tourist hot spot and the place to take off your top during Gasparilla. Most of the wild behavior takes place after dark so we felt pretty safe during the day.

One problem is parking. Urban spaces just don't lend themselves to parking and most of the street parking was blocked off because of the parade that was to take place later that day. The few lots we found were owned by the community college and closed to us. We ended up in the parking garage blocks away but the day was beautiful and the walk was fine, and downhill.

Gameworks is owned by Sega and is filled with Sega video games to play. We got each boy a $10 card but they didn't seem to want to play. Andy was interested in what was upstairs and taking video of the elevator. Brad went with Ryan to play some games but Ryan couldn't settle on anything. At one point, Ryan did want to play the car simulator game but the card reader was touchy and it wouldn't take. We thought he was out of points and I went to get more, but he wanted nothing to do with the games or card after that. He continued to walk around and look on as others played the air hockey. Ashlee and Brad tried playing a game hoping to entice Ryan but he wouldn't play. He wouldn't even watch them.

Andy wandered about and played a few games. He liked the games where the seat would move around. And he took plenty of shaky, short and dark videos. He needs plenty of more practice before we can upload any to YouTube.

Dad, Ashlee, Brad and I got a chance to talk. I really hadn't talked to Brad as I usually saw him with a crowd, ie my family, and he seemed more subdued. Dad got a chance to talk to Brad about the FairTax Book. This book has really got him riled up and I am not one to talk politics and/or finances. I realized that I didn't even know where Ashlee was working. I know I don't keep up with family. I never think to ask questions.

We left about 2:00 pm and walked back to the car. The walk was all uphill and if you have been to Florida you would know that that means nothing. Florida is mostly flat and you would need a transit to see a grade change. But after eating a large-ish lunch and few beers (not me, I was driving), Dad was ready to rest at the half-way point. But he wouldn't stop. It might have been fun to take the street car but it wasn't cheap, something like $2.50 per person, one way!

Brad wanted a chocolate shake from Chick Fil A and Ryan wanted some chocolate milk. We had the GPS find the closest one (which wasn't really close) but was sort of one the way back to Brad's and Ashlee's hotel) but it kept wanting to take us on the interstate. So I named it Lois since she was always driving the freeways in Toledo. BTW, I had a Peppermint Chocolate Chip Shake and it was tasty. I was surprised that Ryan drank the milk!!

The boys must have done more walking that playing as Ryan was asleep before 8:00 pm and Andy was in bed and quiet before 8:30 pm. Which leaves me up typing this past 10 pm.