After inspecting the html on my post about Supersize Me, I will not attempt a daring fix to get rid of the weirdo spaces.  I will just blame the problem on McDonalds - fat spaces.

• Take a walk - the weather is so beautiful it would be a shame not to get outside
  
• Finish writing my next column
  
• Fight this promlematic head cold

I swear my brain is draining out my left nostril at a very high rate today.  To top that off, my head is thick.  Ugh.  And my throat is sore.  Argh.  I think when I was rundown after the stomach bug, the nasty little cold bugs swooped in and caught me unawares.  Drats.

Not much else is new here, so no doubt that's why I haven't written much.  Oh, but wait!!!  We watched a great movie last night.  The Yes Men.  I highly recommend it to anyone that doesn't care for big corporations and globalization.  It was hilarious to see what these guys got away with!!!  I would say more, but don't want to give it away.  Just watch it!!!

A gull on the lookout

A murder of crows doing whatever it is they do

Nolan plays WWII bunker grenade launch (biting the pin off here)

The grenade is launched!!!  (or is that a U.F.O. over the water?)

Mmmmmm.....pretty

Sweet!

You are Deb and you could drink whole milk if you
wanted.

Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thanks everyone for your kind words of better health and congratulations to Nolan.  I'm doing better today, though won't be going in to work.  I can use another day to rest and gather my strength together.  I had the good fortune to run into our local retired health food store godess Terri (we miss her store sooooooooo much!), and she said it sounded like a bug that's been going around.  Hits hard, stomach pain, and knocks you out real good.  Yup, that's the one.  Anyhow, the good news is she recommended echinacea tea and such to help get better.  The bad news is some of the people she knows got it again, and were even out for about two weeks!  Yikes.  I have the good fortune of a fairly strong immune system, but when I do get sick it can be bad.  I guess I'll just have to take good care of myself and make sure it doesn't strike again!!!  And I really hope Chris and Nolan don't get it.  It was no fun.

I'm eating some ramen noodles with an egg mixed in right now.  I notice my sense of taste seems a bit off too.  The egg will be good for some protein, and the noodles are nice and bland, and bulk for my stomach to work on.

Okay, I'm sure you're just all tired of hearing about this, so I'll stop now!

My task for the day is to write the draft of my next Subter column, so off I go!!!

Cheers, good health, and blessings to you all!

Nolan won all three of his chess matches yesterday!!!!  He had a great time, and will be getting a trophy for his efforts.

The rest of the day was spent mostly at home, with a short trip out for groceries and such.  Then back home, dinner, and.......

I got sick  :(  I was up a good deal of the night purging all the bad food in my tummy.  I'm pretty sure it was the food, but I suppose it could also have been a twelve-hour bug.  Needless to say, I am totally whooped today, and just finally got up off the futon on the floor (which is where I slept last night).  Chris slept out here with me, and is now napping as he didn't get a good night's rest either.  Nolan is enjoying a go at the PS2 King Arthur game, and doing quite well.  I don't think we'll be doing much else today.

We watched Napoleon Dynamite again this morning.  I love that movie. I want to move to Preston Idaho.  It would be a good idea, what with sea levels rising and all.  Plus I bet real estate is less expensive there than where I am now.  They appear to have a nice library there.  I wonder if they're hiring?

Gotta go.  Bye! 

Okay, so I've been neglecting this poor little blog lately.  I promise to be better!!!  I think I'm going through blogging doldrums.

Nolan has a chess tournament at school this morning, so we're heading off for that in a few minutes.  Should be fun, I'll report back how he does.

Other than that, not much is going on.  Maybe that explains the lack of blogging.  Or maybe no explanation is needed!

Hmmmph.

We have a winner to our contest - two in fact.  Good tidings are in order to:

ZEKELIND     and   &nbs p; AUBREYCARTER

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

The answer to the question (who's arm and hand are in the picture behind Nolan) is - BRUCE LEE!!!!

p.s. While not the right answer, Jet Li is also an awesome guy.

In the picture in the previous post, there is an arm and hand on the wall behind Nolan.  If you can name the owner of that hand and arm, you could win tBucks!!!  And lots of 'em.  The first person with the correct answer will get -

ONE MILLION TBUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ready, begin.

If I type very quickly, will they warm up?  There is only one way to find out.  Of course, my accuracy suffers then, but who cares!!!

Nolan and I headed out earlier today to the annual Rock & Gem show here in town.  It's always a fun diversion for the day.  It's held at the Senior Center, and we always see the same displays, the same vendors, and the same people there.  What I've noticed is that Nolan's interest level in various things changes as he gets older.  He's almost at the point where he might like to join the local rock club.  Last year it was a big "NO" but this year he saw a girl from his class that has just become a member.  I don't think he quite understands how fun it might be, that there could be field trips and interesting things to learn from the other members.  As is the norm, Nolan got two grab bags of polished rocks, and there were some very pretty rocks.  We're going to have to get a nice glass vase or bowl to display them with all the rocks he's got in the past as well.

I've essentially finished Nolan's afghan, except for the border.  We're going to have to hit Mal-wart to look for more yarn, as Nolan's first color choice has been unavailable.  Otherwise he'll have to wait while I order it online.  However, the blanket is now useable!!!  As you can see...

Frodo Blankets

Hey there, I'm sure you're all wondering what on earth we've been up to that's kept us away from the computer so much.  The truth is, we're all waiting for the scorpion to move.  It seems that after gorging on at least three crickets, he now finds it necessary to sit in the corner and scare us into thinking he's dead.  Well, I get worried about him anyhow.  He's such a swell little guy, I'd hate for anything to happen to him!!!  Fortunately for my sanity, he twitches now and then, and occassionally walks around.  I think he's just digesting.

Nolan has been spending time on the computer more too, playing on the Neopets site.  From a parents perspective, this is a pretty good site.  No icky popups, almost no advertising - just fun games and activities.  How novel!

I've been reading, and writing (which is something I have to get on with here soon).  My column, Bibliomancy, over at Subter.com is live now, and it's time to write another!!!!  I have lots of ideas, but getting it all going is the tricky part.  I think I'm on a path though, so have to run with it while the ideas are fresh in my mind.

Looking forward to the weekend - rock and gem show in town, and maybe a drive up into the mountains for the Bald Eagle Festival.  If the weather is good we might take the metal detector out too.

Gotta run!

Twice!  We all slept through a minor earthquake here this morning (3.0).  I heard the cat meowing, it may have been at that time.  Scorpion was also up in a defensive pose this morning, so I imagine he felt it.

Then one of my favorite coffee cups hs a big crack in it (I dropped it the other day).  It looked fine, but alas, the coffee seeped out the side this morning.  I'll have to use it for a pencil holder now.

Pooey.