Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Snow Daze...

Despite all the warnings, despite the fact that it took me an hour of careful driving to get home yesterday, despite the accumulation of snow that had already settled in by the time I got home, I did not think we would actually get a snow day. I figured all the snow had fallen and would be plowed and cleared by morning (although I was mentally preparing myself to leave extra early so I would arrive at school at a decent time).

This morning, when my alarm went off at 5 a.m., I did a quick check on one of our local weather stations to see if, by any chance, school was closed. No such luck. Still, I decided to snooze until 5:30... when I checked again, oh blessed day, school was cancelled!

A little later in the morning, I got a call telling me institute was also cancelled, and since I didn't fancy spending a long time in the car driving to the Music Man rehearsal we had agreed to have (snow day or not), I decided to ditch out (I'm pretty on top of things anyway)- meaning: A whole day of Freedom!!!!

A whole day to do oh so many things I have wanted time to do- very important, productive things. Yet, was I productive? Yeah, right. Here are the fruits of my labors of the day:


(Yes, I watched the whole thing and loved it!)




(I actually managed to defeat Diablo with one of my characters a couple of weeks ago, but I wasted a fair amount of time trying to beef up my other two characters...)




(Fun with my "Build a Castle" card set)




(And more fun with the "Hogwarts" set, made by the same company. In case you can't tell, the figurine is supposed to be Harry Potter...)


Lest you think I spent ALL my day indoors, here are some shots of the beautiful, glorious, pristine whiteness glittering behind our condo. I spent a delightful hour traipsing through the pseudo woods (the thin line of trees that separate our complex from the corporate developments springing up nearby). Sadly, I do not own a sled and do not know where there might be great hills for sledding nearby. (I may have to look into that for tomorrow). Still, I had a lot of fun (I even tried making a snow angel, but it didn't stay intact long enough for a photo)!


(An attempt to show how deep the snow got)







(Tonks' first time in the snow)



Happy Snow Day!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Stupid is as Stupid does...

Well, when you forget to pay attention to the car in front of you (especially as you are making a right turn), this is what can happen:



Yep. That's right. Yours truly, with her classic, scatter-brained idiocy, inadvertently banged into the back of a Chevy Tahoe last night. Good news: Air bags were not activated, no one was hurt--except poor Frankie (that's my car, for those of you who might be confused), I was still able to drive my car the rest of the way home (a mere few miles at that point). (Oh, good news for the Tahoe- only a relatively small dent in the back fender). Bad news: I have to get this fixed (who knows how much it will cost?), I will have to pay for a rental while my car is being fixed (who knows how long that will take?), my insurance rates will inevitably go up...
Alas. So, while I wait for the rest of the bad news to get here, get your morbid entertainment fix from these various shots of the damage:


(The exterior damage, from multiple sides)









(A couple of close-ups)








(Trying to get some shots of the interior (i.e. engine) damage)





Have a warm, safe week- may it start off better than mine ended!

Monday, January 5, 2009

Zip Gun Bop (Reloaded)

1. Put your iTunes (or Windows Media Player) on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!

(This could be interesting- I have a lot of instrumental music on my laptop, and the titles aren't ususually as funny/weird as vocal music... I guess we'll see what my WMP spits out!)

1.IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Happy Holiday (Still a rather appropriate response, I suppose)

2.WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Kathy's Song

3.WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Greensleeves (I do like the color green...)

4.HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Barbarian Horde (Well, after the craziness of the day, I could be feeling barbarically mutinous)

5.WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Cover Girl (Apparently, I'm more shallow than I thought)

6.WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
You Give Love a Bad Name

7.WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
The Call (Not sure what this could even mean...)

8.WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
What Shall We Give to the Babe in the Manger? (I should think about this more often than I do)

9.WHAT IS 2+2?
The Rain

10.WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Just Before Dawn

11.WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
In The Bleak Mid-Winter

12.WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Girl in the Valley (Ozark valley? I don't think Missouri really has any actual valleys)

13.WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
A Shade Tree (Ironically, this isn't too far from the truth...ask me later if you don't understand)

14.WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Only When I Sleep

15.WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
The Three Kings (Split personality?)

16.WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR WEDDING?
I'll Be Home For Christmas

17.WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Faces on a Fresco

18.WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Thanksgiving

19.WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Zion's Camp

20.WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Neverland (Well, if we're talking about Jacko here, that just might be true)

21.HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars

22.WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Reminiscing with Grandma (Sad... )

23.WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Shelob's Lair (weird)

24.WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Bach Bouree

25.WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Lothlorien (Yeah, I got nothing on this one)

26.WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Mame (Well, she is rather freaky...)

27.DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Ave Maria

28.IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
My Heart is Always Moving

29.WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
White Christmas (Or the LACK thereof...)

30.WHERE WILL YOU TRAVEL TO?
Once, As I Remember

31.WHAT IS THE BEST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
This is It

32.WHAT DO YOU OFTEN FIND YOURSELF WANTING TO YELL AT PEOPLE?
Ash and Smoke

33.WHAT DO YOU CALL YOURSELF?
The Battle (More like, The Battle Axe)

34. WHAT DOES THE PERSON YOU LIKE THINK OF YOU?
For the Love of a Princess

35. WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Zip Gun Bop (Reloaded)



Okay, so despite the potentially intriguing title, I am a little disappointed at what WMP gave me- with all the music I have loaded onto my computer (and the wide variety, too), I'm a little sad that this didn't turn out quite as quirky or funny as I had hoped. I guess the advantage of iTunes is that since downloading songs costs money, one is likely to be more selective of the music one chooses (and chances are, that music is likely to be more representative of that person's personality). Alas. Perhaps I will try this again and see if I get better results (or at least funnier answers).