Category: LiveJournal

Mmmm, Strawberries

I spent the weekend at mom & dad’s place. Saturday was a day to swim in the pool and to have grilled burgers. (Earlier in the day, though, we had lunch at Taco Bell.) Sunday was our trip to the Troy Strawberry Festival.

We arrived shortly after it opened at 10am and walked to the levy from the high school parking lot. We started down one side of the levy checking out the crafts and deciding what we’d eat later when we’d gotten hungry. My first purchase, as usual, was a strawberry lemon shake-up. It’s tasty and gives me something to savor while perusing the festival.

An hour or so later, we had gotten to the far end and decided anything we saw at that point that we wanted, we should buy (so we wouldn’t have to go all the way back again). My second purchase was a strawberry empanada (basically a fried strawberry pie). We all agreed it was pretty tasty.

We saw folks we knew at some of the booths, and while the folks were talking to some of their friends at one booth, I bought a strawberry cupcake. Small and tasty with a nice icing (and a slice of strawberry on top).

I was hoping one of the vendors was doing the 1/2 bbq chicken that our firehouse does each Memorial Day Sunday. But since I always have my friends around, I never get to have it anymore. (Silly judiang and elsaf don’t care much for it. No accounting for taste! 😉 Heh.) Alas, none of the booths seemed to be selling it this year, so I went with the winner from last year – the grilled pork chop sandwich. I also bought another container of their rub since I’m running out of the one from last year. The booth was also selling strawberry smoothies, so I got one (the shake-up long since gone).

Mom and I ate our sandwiches (she’d ordered the same) and drank our smoothies while father waited in line for his bourbon street chicken, beans, and rice. When it did arrive, it turned out to be worth the wait. Next year, it’s going to be a harder decision if both the pork chops and the bourbon street chicken are back again. Our final strawberry treat of the festival was a strawberry pizza from Fox’s Pizza Den. A nice and tasty combo of cinnamon’ed pizza crust, fruit dip, and strawberries.

Having spent two hours at the festival, we waddled back to the car (actually, none of us actually felt stuffed, just full, so that was good) and returned to their home. Mom and I returned to the pool and I vegged there for awhile (reading my BeBook or swimming) before finally returning home.

My intention was to do laundry, but I was sleepy, so I had supper and then took a nap. When I later got up, I at least got my sheets and undies cleaned before bedtime. Heh.

If you ask me, this was a good (and tasty) start to my summer vacation. 🙂

It’s Summah! YAY!

Yeterday was the last day of school – YAY! Today I went swimming for the first time of the season – YAY! Tomorrow we go to the Strawberry Festival – YAY!

Things are full of YAY right now. My new ebook reader arrived on Friday. I got a BeBook and am loving it so far. My laptop and my BeBook are a great combo. (Thanks for the rec, redstarrobot!) I’ve got a library book on it already and have filled it with all of the eBooks I’ve found/bought over the years (except the ones I got from eReader.com which won’t work with it, alas). I bought a 16GB SD card for it today, too. Doubt if I’ll ever fill it (could get well over 5000 books on that card).

Just watched the half-series finale for Doctor Who and it was full of YAY too. One of the zillions of theories that I had about a certain someone was actually right, as well. YAY! (OK, that means the other zillions weren’t right, but there ya go.)

I was actually done with my classroom BEFORE our day was over. And then they let us leave half an hour early if we were checked out. YAY!

I was a bit bummed last night when I got home and was going to play with my new BeBook, but my Internet was down. So I ran off to McDonald’s in Milton and fininshed setting it up so that I could read it back home. (The Internet was back today, YAY!)

My hot water heater had been down since Thursday and the plumber was finally able to get here today. The water heater was actually OK, but the light went out. I then had him fix my side outdoor faucet, which turned out to be more of a pain than he had anticipated, but he was successful. I’m hoping the house hasn’t blown up – I’ve been at my folks’ place most of today.

So YAY – a great start to my summer break!

Memorial Day Weekend 2011

Whew! Must be late May. I keep coming up for air, only to get bogged down with stuff to be done. But this last weekend was a wonderful (quick) breath of air.

As we’ve done for several years (bar last year), judiang and elsaf came to stay with me at mom & dad’s cottage on Lake Loramie. This year, we REALLY roughed it since the folks decided not to get Internet (too expensive for as little as they’ve been using the place). Which is the main reason I never wrote anything & posted it over the weekend.

For the most part, we vegged at the Lake, not really missing the ‘net. Judi and I did have a Day Out on Saturday, however, which we spent in New Bremen. We visited the Bicycle Museum of America, which has become one of our favorite museums. Seriously, it was way cool. 3 floors of bikes from 1816 to the present day. As we were leaving the museum, the curator told us that just around the corner was Lock One of the Miami/Eerie Canal. Sure enough, it was! Nifty.

After the museum, we had lunch at a coffeehouse just down the block from the museum. They had Internet, so as we munched on our wraps (I had a BLT wrap and a vanilla Italian soda), we got caught up on our Internets. Well, mostly caught up. They closed before we were done, so we continued on to McDonald’s for ice cream and more geeking. (I had the Oreo McFlurry. Yum.)

We vegged more at the Lake and then headed off to Miami county for some cajun/creole grub at LeDoux’s. I had their shrimp pasta, which had a boozy cream sauce that was very yummy. We also split a tasty bread pudding. Then on to my house to download… something… and to work on Judi’s WordPress issue. My dabbling in PHP allowed me to help her and show her around phpmyadmin a bit. We also fixed the issue. Woot!

We got back to the Lake about 10:15pm and Elsa soon arrived as well. So yesterday we vegged and grilled meals and vegged more. And today I finally let Elsa cook (she made us pancakes – yay!) and for lunch we had leftovers. I had a very nice time with my girls! Thanks for the breath of fresh air, ladies! Gonna go under again, but I’ll resurface on Friday when we have our LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

My Internets goes up to 11!

Last year around March, I gave up cable TV. I realized I hadn’t actually watched TV since the Olympics and wondered why I was paying so much a month for it. Unfortunately, Internet without any bundling is a bit pricy around here. So I dropped down from the 12 Mbps I had been getting to 3 Mbps and paid $40 a month for it.

For the most part, the slower speed was unnoticeable. But there were times when it was noticeable. Still, I didn’t want to bother switching to anything else (heh, there is only 1 alternative around here). For one thing, silly ol’ me had been using my Road Runner account as my main spam-trap business/shopping/etc e-mail.

Then, as Time Warner always does, they increased the bill. I was now paying $42 a month. And the mailings from Windstream (my phone company) to switch to them seemed even more tempting. So I decided to go for it. I upgraded online, sticking, for the time being, with a 3Mbps program and going with the wired-only modem/router. Meanwhile, I started switching all my shopping etc e-mails over to a new pagefillers one. I’m mostly converted now.

Nothing happened. I received no packages. I got no e-mail response. And eventually another Time Warner bill showed up. A month had passed. So this time I phoned and got a very nice sales lady. And she was so good at her job, I wound up going with the 12Mbps service and getting their wired/wireless modem/router. And today, the modem/router showed up.

Speedtest.net confirmed it. With Time Warner Ripoff, I was getting 2Mbps (2?!?!?!?) download speeds. With Windstream, I’m getting more than 11! (12, even, as advertised). Rock on!

And instead of paying $35-40 a month for phone plus $42 a month for internet, I’ll be paying $70 for phone and internet AND FREE LONG DISTANCE – woot! Suck air, Time Warner! (I could drop down to 6Mbps for $5 less a month and 3Mbps for a further $5 less.)

I’ll be keeping an eye on Windstream and they’d better behave for awhile. They should be grateful that I don’t trust Time Warner with my phones (but if they start doing the price raising every few months, I’ll consider switching again).

Ah, my need for speed is sated!

New Laptop! (AKA, Trina has no will power)

Before I turn all geeky, however, I want to thank folks again for helping out with Relay for Life. I haven’t heard yet from our team leader on how much we raised overall, but I do know that our Miss Relay contestant (who, sadly, came in second) single-handedly raised $420 in one hour. He was dressed as Marilyn MANroe. (Last year he was Daisy Dude and took first place.) The first place Miss Relay wasn’t nearly as cute, but he was part of Team Honda. Car builders have deeper pockets than lab workers, I suspect. 🙂

So, what’s all this about a new laptop, you ask? Well, if you’ve been following via Twitter, you know the bulk of it. Basically, it goes like this.

A month or two ago I was looking hard at laptops to replace my poor ol’ Averatec laptop. I had a series of specs, including dual core and under $500. But nothing came close. So I decided it wasn’t the time.

Then for her birthday, Amy asks me to research a travel laptop for her and contribute (if I could/was willing) toward the purchase of said laptop. No problemo, I thought. So I did some searching and when I was doing Free Comic Book Day this Saturday, I stopped into Best Buy. And damn, there it was! The laptop I’d been looking for! 12″ screen or less? check! Dual core processor? check! Under $500? check!

But I didn’t buy it there. Instead, I got the specs and headed home to do some research. And discovered that Best Buy actually had a great price for it. I called Amy to let her know that this laptop would meet her specs and then some. She decided to check it out and wound up ordering it the next day from the website. Supposedly the price was going to go back up (and might have in store), but the online price was still $379.99. I kept sitting on it, but finally Monday I caved.

When I ordered it, it wasn’t going to come in until Friday at the earliest. But when I checked the tracking number today, it was OUT FOR DELIVERY! Woot! I basically ran to the door when the UPS guy showed up. (He faked me out & sped by the door originally. But must have u-turned and drove up to my door. Woo!)

So I charged it and have been installing software. Waiting until I hear from Amy before uninstalling shit. We can have an Uninstall Party over the phone. Heh. (Is there something wrong with me in that I downloaded Firefox before I downloaded the firewall/AV?)

Speaking of AV, I ran Comodo after installing and updating it. And it found two infected files! Brand new computer and it comes with viruses. They were both from a Wild Tangent game, which is one of the many reasons I NEVER install Wild Tangent willingly. (That program used to be a real PITA when I was the computer tech at school.)

Anyhoo, this laptop will become my WebDev machine. I’ll share my D drive on the main PC and install my Adobe WebDev Suite on here (after deactivating it on my main PC). Hopefully now it won’t dribble to a crawl when I’m running Skype, Dreamweaver, and Firefox at the same time like my poor Averatec did.

Booyah!

Total weight lost over the 12-week program? 12.8 lbs, baby! (My goal was 12 lbs, so I’ll be getting my moolah back! If we continue the program, I’ll use it toward the next payment. Heh.)

Probably ruined all that nice progress by going out to celebrate Cinco de Mayo (AKA, drive the folks off to drink margaritas). Still, it was a yummy dinner! 🙂

Hello May! What a surprise!

It’s already the third of May (with tomorrow being Star Wars Day – it’s too soon!) We have the last cafeteria calendar for the school year (with the three June dates stuffed on the bottom row). The senior countdown is less than 20 days (I think it’s 15). Time seems to be soaring at this point.

With that in mind, I’m running out of time to collect moolah for Relay for Life. If you’re interested and haven’t donated yet, check out my previous post for details. I’m just $25 shy of my goal. (Mom’s actually hit her goal, despite what her webpage says, but donations to her page are just as beneficial to the American Cancer Society as donations to mine.) Maybe next year I’ll be more on the ball and shoot for a higher goal. 🙂

Thank you so much to those of you who donated to the cause! Mom and I really appreciate the contributions. (Greg, if you didn’t notice, mom wrote a personal thanks to you on the previous entry. Since she was anonymous, it was originally screened, so I don’t know if it was forwarded on to your or not.)

With physics doing current electricity, chemistry making molecular models, and advanced problems in science doing the Mentos & Diet Coke reaction, things are exciting in science at school. Go science!

This Thursday will be my last weigh-in for our current session of WeightWatchers. Dunno if we’re doing it again. I’m just under 2 pounds shy of my 12-week goal. Maybe if I eat nothing until then, I’ll lose those last 2 and then get my money back. Yeah right, me not eat? Who’s kidding whom?

Anyway, hope things are a little less rushed for my flist. June’ll be here before I know it!

Relay for Life 2011

After my introduction to Relay for Life last year (well, beyond donations, which I’d done for several years already), I decided to “officially” join this year. On May 6&7 this year, my mom’s laboratory will be participating in Miami County’s Relay for Life. During this time, they will have someone always walking the relay route. Mom and I will be walking on Friday evening since she’s working Saturday (subbing for one of her friends recuperating from surgery). I could do the alnighter again, like I did last year, but it’s mom’s friends, not mine, who are there. I get on OK with them, but it won’t be the same without mom.

If you’ve been meaning to send some money along to the American Cancer Society or have been wondering where your next donation should go to, why not contribute to my Relay for Life goal? My page is available at the Relay for Life website.

If you’re feeling overly generous, mom could use some donors too.

Don’t feel bad if you’re not able to donate at this time. I always take my time to figure out which organizations will be getting my hard-earned money. I like what the American Cancer Society is doing for people fighting the long, hard battle, so ACS will continue to get my support. Each person has their own priorities and the ACS might not be one of yours at the moment. But if you can help out with our Relay team, we’d all appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

Secret Garden

We had a reprieve during the monsoon season today and I was able to get out and take a walk this afternoon. I decided to go see my “secret garden” which I discovered last year on my walks. It’s just someone’s very nicely planned backyard with lotsa flowers, but to me it was a pleasant surprise on a walk one day last year. I decided it was my secret garden and it’s something I like to treat myself with from time to time when walking.

I know, I should work on making my own backyard into a secret garden. But that sounds like work. Still, I am going to have someone come in and at least make my front yard purtier. (Heh heh, she said “purtier”!) I called Chaney’s nursery today and told them to “put me on the list” to do the landscaping job that Curt designed.

The only real thing I asked him to change was remove a buckthorn from the plan since it’s an invasive plant in Ohio. He swapped it out with a weigela that is grafted onto a tree. A mutant plant in my front yard! Booga booga boo! Here’s his vision of what my front will be:

Landscape plan for the house

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

Today marks the 43rd anniversary of my parents’ wedding. They’ve been sweethearts since junior high school, which is really quite nifty. To celebrate, I’m taking ’em out somewhere tonight for steak. Hopefully they’ll have picked a restaurant by the time I get there. 🙂

Anyhoo, feel free to join me in my virtual toast to the greatest parents a weird kid like me could have ever hoped for.

<toast>Thanks, mom & dad, for falling in love, getting married, and having me & Amy. It’s been a great ride thus far!</toast>