1st Quarter Report

Looking back at March and I can't believe we're 25% done with the year. Or that I'm trying to do math under the influence of a celery migraine.

So how are my resolutions holding up?

• Be 17% nicer.
• Be 22% tougher when it comes to standing up for myself.

I did some of each. And starting yesterday, look for more of both. And also maybe 57% positiver. Which I just made up because I can. Try to stop me! Yeah, didn't think so.

• Continue making progress on anxiety issues.

I'm doing pretty well with this. A couple of panic attacks but they've been over issues that I think anyone would freak about. Depression has been an issue but I'm actively fighting that.

• Work towards better health.

So much failure. This needs a lot of attention starting immediately. Right after I finish this donut. Seriously, family beach vacation is in 2 months. HELP for so many reasons!

• Support Joe as he supports me.

I have nothing to say about this that I really want in print so I'm going to skip it.

• Consistent writing/blogging.

Here and there I suppose.

Word for 2009: FOCUS

• I'm recommitting to focus.  I found myself focusing on the wrong things last month.  

As for the blog, the only big change was the launch of Feast My Face, which I'm not pressuring myself to update on a daily basis at this point.  It would be nice to update it daily during the week but the world certainly won't end if I don't.  It's more about filling my time anyways.

And now, let's check Google Analytics for some search terms!

• angry neighbour where's my newspaper - Probably his dog ate it.
  
• celery migraine - Maybe I need to patent my term.
  
• easter bunny is a lie - But he's really good in stew!
  
• i have holes in my face how do i get rid of them? - Spackle?
  
• sick of my angry husband - I'm sick of your angry husband too!
  
• tijuana surfing monkey - I'm so going to make up a post about this one
  
• visiting my hot neighbor - wouldn't THAT be a nice change of pace?
  

Awesome.  Googlers rock. 

Coming in April?  A couple of blog swaps (first one will be tomorrow), First Fursday, an Earth Day event, a Kindle review, and other random stuff.  Hopefully of the entertaining kind and not the whining kind.  

On a slightly sappy note, thanks for bearing with me lately.  Reading your comments, your posts, your tweets, your emails...  You've all given me a lot of encouragement, a lot of distraction, and a lot of food for thought.  I really appreciate it.

My kind of holiday

A combination of recent events has brought me to realize that I'm kind of falling apart. And reading back over my last few posts, I recognize now that I've been doing a lot of whining and feeling bad for myself without taking any action.

That all ends now. And the timing could not be more fitting. You see, awhile back, Snarky posted about some oddball holidays. Following her lead, I dug up a few of my own. I always found this to be great fun in the past so I was excited that she sent me wandering off down that road again.

My point is that way back in January, her post led me to drop a bunch of random holidays on my calendar. Including today, March 30th, "I am in Control Day".

So this is the day I make a major effort to seize control of my life again. To focus on the things I can change and to let the others go. To have a more positive, less dwelling attitude about it all. And to aggressively seek solutions to some long-term issues.

Thanks for bearing with me and supporting me while I did the self-pity thing. I'm hoping that can all be behind me now. On to the fun!

P.S.: Also, I had another celery migraine on Sunday. I'm still having it as I write this. To Joe's credit, he did NOT roll his eyes when I demanded "Where's the thing, in the room, the lalala thing? I want it now!!!". Of course, he also didn't read my mind to realize I meant the XM radio receiver. After 10.5 years of marriage, you'd think he'd be better at this by now.

A very happy un-birthday

I have a confession... I really dislike birthdays. I'm not at all against other people celebrating birthdays, I'm just not really a big fan of my own.

I'm also not a big fan of surprises. Thankfully, Joe realizes that the surest way to earn a night on the sofa would be to kindly and lovingly plan a surprise party for me. Being the center of attention isn't something I'm particularly comfortable with.

It hasn't always been like this. I remember two childhood birthdays that were fun. The first was in kindergarten. A bunch of classmates went to McDonald's and then back to my house for games and cake. We flew our McDonald's kites in the field next to our house - mine had that stupid Birdie the Early Bird (what kind of lame name is that?) - and then Max Johns climbed on my bedspread with dirty shoes.

Another winner of a party was fifth grade. My mother told me I could invite "some friends" after school on Friday for pizza and then three could spend the night. All was well until that morning when she had to write out the little permission slip allowing these girls to come home with me. I had invited around twenty girls. I think she was planning for more like six. We had fun but of course with that many of us we staged a big dramatic argument (like girls that age are apt to do) and it all ended in a bloodbath crying. But no crying by me, so awesome.

That's the last party I really remember. I guess they'd had enough after that. Mostly what I remember of birthdays involved really lame gifts, not that this is unique to birthdays. It also applies to Christmas, weddings and graduations as well but I'll save that for another post. On my 16th birthday, I passed out in gym class. I arrived home that night after choir practice to find my family had already eaten dinner and my gifts were left on the table - a packet of Garfield stickers and a sweatshirt with dancing bears. In college, they mailed me a card with a check for $30 for "birthday, deodorant, shoes and things".

And on my most recent birthday, my mother emailed me that "I am not sure what we are doing tonight but if I remember we will call you." Hope it wasn't too much effort! The rest of my family (brother, sister, and grandmother) didn't acknowledge it at all. Nor did any co-workers. Or a couple of friends I kinda thought might remember. And what do you say to that when you'd really rather forget it yourself? "Oh, hey, look at me, even though I hate attention and I hate my birthday, but dammit, why didn't you remember?" Also, it wasn't really a stellar day in general.

Mostly, birthdays make me feel lonely and sad. I'm very grateful that Joe goes out of his way to celebrate however I want to that particular year. Which is usually just the two of us because there's nobody I'd rather spend my birthday with than Joe.

And no, today is not my birthday. It's already come and gone this year. I was just shopping for my nephew's birthday (my sister has demanded helpfully suggested purchasing him toys for the family beach vacation) and I was inspired to post about the topic.

But when it IS my birthday, I'm not the kind that announces it and runs around with a tiara (like my coworker last week), proclaiming that you all must love me and kiss my booty for the day. No, that shouldn't just be one day a year. That should be all the time.

And now I'm off to polish my own tiara - it's covered in fingerprints from last time I swapped it out with my halo.

Six Word Saturday

Simple concept: describe your life in six words. More info by clicking here.

Lost my way again, never changes

OR:

Life running amok, totally over it

Take your pick!

Please share your six words either in the comments or on your blog - be sure to use Mr. Linky below so we can all visit! And here's the code to link back with the shiny button if you like:

<a href="http://www.showmyface.com/search/label/6WS"><img src="http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp35/showmyface/guts/6wsButton.jpg" /></a>

More bits and pieces

A few random thoughts for this Friday...

_________________________

Know who loves me?

Naked Russians. Who happen to be SEO experts. With free laptops.

What else could a girl ask for? (Yeah, that's all about Twitter.)
_________________________

Today is Friday, pay day, and supposedly a good day. Heck, the boss is even out. Also, Joe is going to make me the most awesome dinner tonight.

I'm really hoping this turns out to mean awesomeness. Dare I ask for happiness? That's probably being greedy.
_________________________

Of course, Joe came home from his 24-hr business trip just for us to get in a fight last night. We don't often fight. This one was brought on by me freaking about some medical stress. And sponsored by Southern Comfort.
_________________________

Tonya was SUCH a spaz on Thursday morning. I was rushing to make it to work on time, even though the boss was out. I was doing great until it was time to feed the kitties. Tonya totally disappeared. I looked everywhere, thinking she was trapped in a closet. She's a fat beast and she always comes begging for her crunchies but I couldn't find her at all. Making me late. At least there was no boss. (I finally found her hiding under the bed in the guest room).

Just to clarify, Tonya is a cat. Not my kid, mother, or neighbor. Sorry about that Lisa!
________________________

Know who "friended" me on Facebook a week or so ago? One of my priests from church. Episcopal Church, which has no real rules, just lots of gray areas. Which Joe thinks solidifies his whole Catholic "no meat on Fridays" thing.

Anyways, if your priest is following you on Facebook, do you have to behave? Because I've still been running amok, sleeping in on Sundays, and drinking too much red wine.
______________________

TGIF, peeps. Have a fantastic weekend, check out my new blog, Feast My Face, for Fix-It-Fridays and please come back tomorrow for Six Word Saturday.

Home alone

Joe's work has once again dictated our evening. Only this time, more extreme than others.

With 24 hours notice, Joe had to fly to DC for a seminar. He'll be gone less than 24 hours and I'm fine with it.

So what do I do on a night alone? I run completely amuck (why isn't "amuck" recognized by spellcheck?). Totally crazy. Wild woman.

AKA: Three glasses of Chardonnay, a rogue quesadilla, and back episodes of The Mentalist.

This girl knows how to rebel, no? I bet you're all sad you weren't invited to my party.

P.S. Also, I watched Lost without him. And promised to save it for him. And out of habit, I watched it, reached the end, and hit "Stop and Delete". Crap.

Feast My Face

Bonus post - lucky you!!! And it's not even your birthday (most likely)!

Earlier today, I launched a new site, FeastMyFace. It's about all things food. Not so much recipes and glossy photos although I'm sure there will be a bunch of those. I'm hoping to discuss ingredients, methods, kitchen disasters, and anything else food or drink-related.

Anyway, check it out, or don't. I'm hoping it turns out to be a lot of fun and maybe even a collaborative effort.

Olden days

When I was younger, I read every book I could get my hands on. This is because I lived in the country and there was nothing else to do. My friends did not live nearby. My siblings were too young to be of any use. We didn't have cable. Books were my life.

I remember reading the Little House on the Prairie Books - our neighbor loved to buy me books and she bought the whole box set, which I still have. I read Little Women in fifth grade (though I didn't understand or appreciate it until many years later). I even read my fair share of Nancy Drew And then there was L.M. Montgomery - I started by devouring the entire Anne of Green Gables series before moving on to some of her other books.

My question is - do kids "these days" still read these books, which I consider to be classics? And, really, do they read at all? Or are they too busy with shiny games, interwebz, television.

I'm not much of a gamer but I definitely spend more time in front of the tv or on the computer than I should. I have to make a very conscious effort to read books even though I love reading and enjoy getting lost in the stories.

I like to fool myself that when I'm online, I'm writing. But, really, am I? Yeah, I puke up a post each day but how often am I actually "writing"?

My most recent "Cate's Book Club" selections have been great reads but also rather depressing. Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen, is the true story of a serial killer during the turn of the century Chicago World's Fair. My next two books were The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, both by Khaled Hosseini. Fascinating fictional accounts of life in Afghanistan. Horrifying and eye-opening and I'm so glad I read both books but they were not light fluffy reads.

The rest of my current library pile includes two books on Buddhism, a James Patterson book (#7 of the Women's Murder Club - I find his books to be great for travel or appointments because of the short chapters), and a David Sedaris book. I think I'll hit the rest of my borrowed books but then I'm very much considering revisiting the worlds of Laura Ingalls and Anne Shirley.

Oh, to be a kid again. Am I too old to be reading these books again? And am I too young for a midlife crisis?

Chef Cate

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  It was also Tuesday.

But not just any Tuesday.  This was National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day!

Blech, I'm not really a fan.  Raisins are weird and chewy.  Yet I don't have a problem with Craisins.  Go figure.

Good thing I don't have an issue with Craisins because yesterday (Monday), the spinach in my salad was not exactly edible.  This meant that instead of salad I had a nutritious lunch of Craisins and feta cheese.  Yum yum!  I am truly a culinary marvel. Wanna come over for dinner tonight?

P.S.: Obviously still working on getting my groove back.
P.P.S.: If you're one of the weirdos awesome people who blog the night before and set up for early morning publishing, do you get all confused with the today/yesterday/Monday/Tuesday stuff? Or is it just me. Like, do I break the 4th wall or not? Man behind the curtain and such.
P.P.P.S.: This made a lot more sense to me last night when I wrote it. Oh well, too late now!

Bits and bobbles

Turns out I have absolutely nothing of interest to say today.  My mind is so wrapped up on one particular topic that I can think of nothing else.  And since I'm not up for sharing about that topic right now, all I can do is stare at the blank screen.  I guess you're just going to get whatever random shiny bits pop into my mind.

• I have too many projects in the works.  I need to get back to my word and FOCUS.  
• My grocery store arranges their wine by type (Cabernet, Chardonnay, etc) and by region (France, Spain, Local).  Can anyone explain to me why there is an "Australia" section but then also a combined "South Africa/New Zealand" section?  Wouldn't it make more sense to group New Zealand with Australia?  Also, Argentinian Malbecs are for some reason shelved with the wines from South Africa/New Zealand.  Someone at that store seriously failed geography class.
• Taking a day off from the blogosphere was nice but results in a lot of "work" once I return.  I threw up a quick post yesterday and then did my best to ignore everything to do with that account.  This morning?  It took two hours to catch up on everything.  Still, I think I'm going to start pre-blogging for the weekends.  Then I can blog if I want to and read a bit if there's time but I don't have to feel obligated.  
  
• Is this what depression feels like?  It's not anxiety or panic.  I just don't seem to have the energy to care.
• Also, why is it that no matter how strongly a medication assures you it is non-drowsy, it completely knocks me out?  I took an OTC allergy pill this morning that swore up and down it was non-drowsy.  Whatever, I say it lies.  Maybe this is why I have no energy.  
  

Yep, that's all I've got I guess.  I can't seem to pull anything deeper out of the rocks in my head.  Please excuse me while I work out of this funk.  I'll try to be your warm fuzzy Cate soon.  I've been a downer too often lately.

Day of rest

Main Entry: Sun·day
Pronunciation: \ˈsən-(ˌ)dā, -dē\
Function: noun
1. the first day of the week
2. the day of the week between Saturday and Monday
3. Christian Sabbath, an extension of Jewish Shabbat, a day of rest

Main Entry: time–out
Pronunciation: \ˈtīm-ˈau̇t\
Function: noun
1: a brief suspension of activity : break ; especially : a suspension of play in an athletic game
2: a quiet period used especially as a disciplinary measure for children

I have a confession to make... No post today. Way too much on my mind.  I'm burnt out and I need a day off. SomeMonkey insists and I know better than to argue with her.

Probably back tomorrow with something. No idea what, but something.  

Six Word Saturday

Simple concept: describe your life in six words. More info by clicking here.

Flowers bloom, birds chirp, pollen ACHOO!

Please share your six words either in the comments or on your blog - be sure to use Mr. Linky below so we can all visit!  And here's the code to link back with the shiny button if you like:

<a href="http://www.showmyface.com/search/label/6WS"><img src="http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp35/showmyface/guts/6wsButton.jpg" /></a>

A small victory

Some couples fight about money. Or sex. Or family. Or paying their family for sex. (Ewww, that was just wrong of me, I'll punch me in the face.) Our annual debate is about "Fish IS TOO meat!!!". Ahh, the joys of Lent. Isn't it nice when religion brings people closer together? (Wow, I think I made myself barf twice in one paragraph.)

However, I finally made some progress in winning my argument about fish on Fridays during Lent. It was a couple of weeks ago and it went something like this:

me: Is lobster a fish?
Joe: No.
me: So is it meat?
Joe: No.
me: What about crabs? Or scallops? Are they allowed for Lent?
Joe: I say yes, they're acceptable for Lent because I group all things that come from the ocean into one category.
me: What about ducks?
Joe: Those don't belong in the ocean. So ducks are meat.
me: What about freshwater fish?
Joe (exasperated with me already): Ok, I group together all things that come from the water.
me: Dolphins? Frogs?
Joe: Yes, fine for Lent. Though dolphins may be somewhat illegal.
me: So now what about ducks? They come from freshwater!

See why I'm so much fun to live with and why he loves me so much? And do I even have to mention that conversation took place on a Friday night after dinner and wine?

With all of my circular reasoning, I did at least force trick lovingly help him to realize that while he may want to eat fish on Friday during Lent, he needs to refer to it as tradition and not sacrifice. Because he loves fish, buys not-cheap fish, and it is therefore not a sacrifice for him to eat it.

Yeah, petty of me I know. And he still won't admit that fish is meat. But at least I've brought him around to my way of thinking somewhat. I can't explain why that pleases me so.

Oh, and as for curbing my potty mouth? I think I've done well. But I'm still going to be making a sizable donation somewhere based on my agreement. I'm going to have to choose somewhere that will take installment payments.

TGIF folks and please come back tomorrow for Six Word Saturday!

Another day

Yesterday started out pretty rough but by mid-afternoon I had managed to drag myself out of my funk. It's amazing how the support of some bloggy friends (special mention to Andy for making an extra effort to find some sunshine for me) and a hot shower - complete with leg shaving! - can lift a girl's spirits.

Beautiful weather also helps. Yesterday, it was around 70° and once the workers finished up in our backyard for the afternoon, I was able to get out on our screened porch. Rocking chair, glass of wine, and a book. Once Joe arrived home, we grilled up some steaks and spent the rest of the evening outside together.

I love my porch. It's such a sanctuary for me. We live along a busy street so it's not always the most quiet place but there's nowhere I'd rather be most of the time.

Now, my thoughts are turning to the yard. I have horrible allergies so Joe is definitely the lead on our teensy yard. Also, I tend to kill everything I touch. I'm on very strict orders not to even water either of the inside plants (yes, there are only two because Tonya thinks they are salads provided for her enjoyment). But I'm ready to plant some nice flowering bushes of some sort and also to get some basil and tomatoes growing.

It's Spring and things are growing and I'm going to find some hope in that. Today, I am going to look at the positive instead of freaking out about things I can't control. And by tomorrow, I should be back to "normal", just in time for the weekend.

Nope, not under the sofa

Just a warning - not my usual sorta post today. I really tried and I just couldn't find it...

Today is a very anxious day for me. There's no particular reason. No appointments, no meetings. Heck, I'm working from home and still in my jammies!

But I didn't sleep well last night. There's been some on-going medical issues with me that are really weighing on my mind. Instead of discussing all of those worst-case scenarios and what-ifs in bed, I should really return to meditating. All of that talking resulted in dreams about my next appointment and the doctor being so concerned that there was immediate surgery. Not the best way to catch some zzzzz's.

Then I awake to find the workers are here to finish up a project in the backyard. Except, this isn't the usual team of workers. I <3 the usual guys but this team is loud. There's a lot of yelling in accents that make them sound harsh and angry. And they're pounding on my house. And scaring my cats.

All of which adds up to just not finding it within myself to be humorous. Or chipper. Instead, I'm going to fill out my basketball brackets, catch up on the dvr, and find something to clean. Hopefully I'll find some sunshine under the bed or in the dishwasher. Or maybe in one of your blogs, which I'm off to visit...

Kiss me, I'm Irish!

No, really I am!  Kinda sorta!

Joe's heritage is half English, half Irish.  Since the English half is his mother's side and he doesn't associate much with them anyways, he fully embraces his Irish roots.  We've actually been to visit some of his relatives in Western Ireland and saw the little cottage his grandfather was born in.  Then last year  he applied for and was granted his Irish citizenship.  So if you ask Joe, he's Irish.

And if you don't ask Joe, all you have to do is see how red his cheeks become when he's drunk, embarassed or angry.

My own heritage is a bit of a question mark.  On my father's side, I come from a long line of loose women.  Haha, no I did NOT just call my Grandmother a ho!  But if you go back to my dad's father, we're not exactly sure what his paternal situation might've been.  The supposed story is that his mother became pregnant by one guy, married another, and then her husband never officially adoped him but somehow we ended up with his crackpot Lithuanian last name anyways.  As for countries of origin?  I've been told English, Irish, Scottish, Polish, American Indian, French...  

Here's what I figure.  My family doesn't even speak to or about the living members (this despite the fact that they all live within twenty miles of each other).  Trying to find out the facts about the dearly departed?  It's just not going to happen.  I've tried.  This means I am free to choose the heritage I want so I'll go along with Joe and say I'm Irish.

Another reason I choose Ireland is because I really love it there.  We've visted twice - once to the extremely rural west near Knock and once to Dublin (with a day trip to Galway).  We even visited St. Patrick's Cathedral on that last trip.  And Ireland is so beautiful and so lively.  

Plus, hey, Guinness!  And Baileys!  Seriously, what's not to love?

So I choose to be Irish.  It's not a lie because I do believe it's in my background somewhere.  And it's not just "everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's Day" because it's my choice always.

I am not, however, wearing green.  Be advised - if you attempt to pinch me, I will succeed at punching you in the face.  The Irish are also known for being a bit quick-tempered.

Sorry, I don't buy it

Friday night, Joe and I sat down to watch Mirrors, a horror movie starring Kiefer Sutherland. This post isn't a movie review but I'm just going to go ahead and say it wasn't very good. It wasn't convincing enough to really scare me and the big action sequence at the end made me laugh. There was a final reveal that I'm sure was supposed to blow your mind but I kinda saw it coming.

What this post is about is actors who cannot overcome their better-known roles. And it's not through any fault of their own, necessarily. It's just that in my mind, they are stuck for me in that one character forever and ever.

Case in point, Kiefer. I think he's a talented actor. But he's Jack Bauer now. Watching Mirrors, all I could think is "Jack Bauer ain't scared of no ghosts!". And every time he'd yell "DAMMIT!", Joe and I would burst into a fit of giggles and wonder what tools Jack's man-purse might hold. There's one line where he hears a voice and he calls out "Where are you? I need to know where you are so I can help you!". I swear, it was 24 all over again.

Another actor I have this issue with is Dustin Hoffman. I have enjoyed him in so many roles. But he's Rain Man (one of my favorite movies ever even though it stars pre-crazy Tom Cruise). Playing some crazy smart scientist in Outbreak, I couldn't buy it because I expected him to tell me he bought his underwear at Kmart, Cincinnati, Ohio. (By the way, is it just me or does Cincinnati look like the dumbest word ever?) Oh, he's gonna save us from the monkeys? Better hope he doesn't have to take a Wapner break during the crisis!  Someone get him his fishsticks and lime green jello because it's Wednesday, people!!!

I'm not sure why Kiefer and Dustin (we're on a first name basis) are so stuck for me. Plenty of other actors have had memorable roles that don't interfere with my ability to see them as other characters.  Johnny Depp comes to mind - nobody throws themselves into outlandish roles with more abandon than him.  But I easily accept it and move on.  And Dustin plays a wide variety of roles (I'll give you the argument that Kiefer tends to play the same character most of the time) so it doesn't make sense to me.

Do you have this problem with anyone? How do you overcome it?

Confession: Not a rocket scientist

I have a confession - lately, nothing makes me feel as uneducated, incapable, and dumb as Blogger.

My B.S. degree (which means Bachelors of Science, not Bull Sheep even though my undergrad alma mater was and still is completely out of touch) is in Computer Science. My boring day job is "Webmaster". I've also earned decent money over the years as a web designer/consultant providing sites from the ground up (concept, design, coding, implementation) to people, organizations, and offices large and small.

Yet, somehow, Blogger baffles me. The problem may be that I know too much. That's not a brag. It's the truth. Certain HTML tags that I use every day are disabled in Blogger. Things that should work, nay, WOULD work on any other site, do not work here.

Hence, my code for my pretty button yesterday did not work for everyone. And I can't seem to get Feedburner to play nice, even though I've written my own custom RSS feed application in the past for other sites.

And I can't make my images have a border or not have a border (let's not talk about alignment!) based on how I code the img tag here, despite the fact that I am inputting valid HTML or CSS.

It's frustrating and the biggest reason I avoided Blogger for so long. I'm a control freak. And since I know things are technically possible, I want to do them. When Blogger doesn't cooperate, I want to have a hissy fit.

But the biggest reason I finally succumbed to Blogger was the sense of community. The tools for following and growing relationships is amazing. And with such a massive audience on Blogger, it would be silly to ignore this.

So here I am, coding and cursing all the way. And enjoying most of it. But also sometimes feeling like a complete idiot. For technical reasons, not just reasons relating to logic, silliness, inexperience, or my foot in my mouth.

Six Word Saturday

Happy Six Word Saturday, now with a shiny new button and a new extended description in the link above. But the short version is this: give a summary of your life in only six words.

Exhausted but happy for extended daylight.

I swear, this entire week has been me waking up cranky and dragging myself out of bed. I somehow survive work and come home excited for all the extra daylight in the evening. Then I can't fall asleep until midnight or later. Lather, rinse, repeat. I'm writing this post Friday night in hopes of sleeping in VERY late on Saturday morning. Please?

As always, please feel free to participate in the comments or by adding a link to your six words on your own blog by using Mr. Linky. And if you'd like, feel free to use the custom-designed (by moi) button - the actual code is listed in the entry above if you need it. Also, if you're the person who requested the button, umm, sorry it took so long that I forgot who you are. Not my best moment.

UPDATE: Apparently my button is not playing nice. Feel free to just upload it as a photo or link directly to it. I'll see if I can punch it in the face figure out the problem.

UPDATE #2: I put the code in a text box. I hope that helps the folks who had problems with the button today. Sorry! I swear, I have a Computer Science degree and on my super boring regular blog, I run all the code myself and I'm awesome. Here on Blogger, nothing is as it seems... Nothing makes me feel as dumb as Blogger. And child-proof tops.

Pass the popcorn

Muahahahaha, it's Friday the 13th. I'm not overly superstitious so I'm not sure that it matters much to me but I feel like I should at least acknowledge the day somehow.

My plan for this evening includes watching a scary movie after bludgeoning our project manager to death dancing around the graveyard in the backyard dinner. Specifically, we'll be watching Mirrors with Jack Bauer the Kiefer. (Yes, I'm aware reviews were bad but Jack said he'd torture me with a lamp if I didn't watch it.)

Which set off the hamster in my brain to spinning his wheel. Scary movies. Why do I watch them? They scare the hell out of me. I usually can't sleep afterwards. And I can't stand the sight of blood or gore. Some day I'll tell you about how one scary movie actually caused me to search my shower for chicken nuggets (true story!).

But I love these. Even the bad ones. Blair Witch, Saw, Forrest Gump, The Ring. I haven't seen many of the classics. Amityville (new and old), the first Friday the 13th, Poltergeist, a few Stephen King (Carrie, The Shining), Psycho. But no Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Beaches or Exorcist.

And so I keep watching, eyes peeking between my fingers, my nails dug into Joe's side, holding my breath and waiting for it to be over. Then we watch an episode of The Office or 30 Rock before going to bed or poor Joe knows he won't be sleeping that night.

So what about you? How do you feel about scary movies? Love 'em, hate 'em, favorites? Share! And don't break any mirrors or spill any milk today. Just in case.

Reason #257 why Joe and I are made for each other

Short and sweet today! You're welcome!

A recent conversation with SomeMonkey:

SomeMonkey: so guess what middle-monkey's latest project is.
me: crack dealer?
SomeMonkey: I'm going to pretend you didn't say that about my daughter.
She convinced me to buy her a simon and garfunkel cd
me: your kid has interesting musical tastes
SomeMonkey: so i pick up a used every-song-they've-ever-done box set
that came with a lyric book
she's memorizing as she walks around the house
me: that's awesome
she's gonna be SO popular at school
did they do... that whole get a new plan, stan?
nm, that's paul simon
SomeMonkey: lol
me: oh, wait, simon and garfunkel
SomeMonkey: yes
me: IS that paul simon?
lightbulb moment
paul simon was in simon and garfunkel!!!
holy crap!!!

Later that same evening:

me: been talking with Joe

me: you know paul simon?
Joe: uh huh
me: did you know he was in simon and garfunkel?
Joe: really? same person? cool! I had no idea!

SomeMonkey: omg
you two are made for each other

Am I the only one (besides Joe) that did not know this?

Some day I'll share some of the other 256ish reasons. But not today.

A brief affair

On Saturday, I finally set up Feedburner on this blog. I know next to nothing about it but since I'm mildly interested insanely obsessed with who is visiting, this seemed like the best way to measure people using RSS readers or other feeds. (As opposed to Google Analytics for actual site visitors, which is awesomeness).

Setup was simple and almost immediately it seemed to be responding. Except for one small thing - I don't subscribe to my own feed so I didn't really know what the messages looked like when they went out. Until I spotted my feed in Joe's reader. It looked like this:







Post title and an ad, no content. Great. Especially once it prompted this comment yesterday from Lora:

your feed is kinda effed up. in my google reader your feed is totally empty (not even partial) except for ads about jesus. it's happened for the past ten posts or so.

true story.

She claims to be amused by my Jesus ads. I'm just not amused at Feedburner.

My preference is to do the "short" feed. This probably annoys some people but I've noticed that for me personally, I'm way less likely to comment if I can read the whole post in my Google reader. Pure laziness on my part. So that's why I go with the short feed.

My preference is definitely not to send out an "advertisement only" feed. So I apologize for the nuttiness this week if anyone (besides Lora the Observant) noticed and I've broken up with Feedburner after less than 4 days. If someone can clue me in on what I'm doing wrong (or if it's their fault, maybe they can fix it or at least respond to the related messages in their Google group?), I may rekindle the old flame.

Or just sit around and make bad jokes. That's probably more my style anyways.

Some random Tuesday thoughts

My brain is running wild, trying to process way too many things at once which makes focusing on a single topic impossible. Instead I'm just going to share some of the random junk floating around in there.

- I hate going back to the doctor over and over again only to be told "huh, that didn't work, let's try this instead!". I feel like a science project. And I'm tired of being poked at like a lab specimen and made to feel like I'm deformed or something.

- Daylight Savings (aka one of the few things Bush did that I appreciate) - I suffer from night blindness so it's awesome to be able to do something after work instead of rushing home before I can't see anything. I still haven't mastered that "lose an hour of sleep" thing though.

- Feedburner is really messing with my blog feeds and I'm losing patience with it. My favorite tech problems are always the ones that other people also suffer from but nobody seems to have a solution.

- This new medicine tastes like the monkey cages smell at the zoo. No wonder you're supposed to drink 8 oz of water with it.

- My brain is on so much crack, I can't seem to process simple things. Like we're getting a new fridge because the old one sucks, runs all the time, is horribly inefficient, etc. Well, what do we do with all our food in between the emptying it out of the old fridge and waiting for the new one to get cold? They're taking the old one away to recycle so I doubt they're going to wait around and let us have them up simultaneously. These are the things that keep me up at night.

- I think I'm the odd duck that doesn't pee myself in excitement for blog giveaways. Don't get me wrong, I've thrown my name in for some great ones. But mostly, I've gone to great lengths to protect my identity - so what happens if I win? You want my name and address? PANIC ATTACK!!! So it's got to be really appealing (or a lot of fun) for me to put my name in, which means the SITS Spring Fling should be interesting today...

- Related to the former but can you buy a PO Box and register it to your real name, say Jane Smith, but receive mail there for a different name, say Cate Q. McFacePuncher?

Yeah, that's about all I've got. I'll try harder tomorrow.

Run, run! Save yourselves!!!

Today is "Panic Day". Am I the only person who finds it somewhat insulting that Panic Day follows International Women's Day?

First of all, International Women's Day happens to be the day we Spring forward so we already get ripped off by an hour. Oooh, let's honor women on the shortest day EVER!!! I mean, if you're sure it's completely necessary! Then! We follow it up with Panic Day.

I don't think this is a coincidence. Nor do I think it was the work of a woman. You just know men were behind this. They probably thought it was funny.

My point? Not really sure I have one today. Except that it's Panic Day and I have a rather un-fun doctor's appointment scheduled. So maybe I'm just whining.

Whatever, that's my random observation for the day. Sadly, it's all I've got.

By the way, it's also "Barbie Day" and "Napping Day". I don't know about that whole plastic perfection thing but the napping I'm totally down with. Maybe I'll do that instead of the doctor. Or maybe I can get the doctor to prescribe daily naps and working from home on my porch. That would be ten kinds of awesome.

Confession: Woman driver

I have a confession to make... Remember how I gave up swearing for Lent? Yeah, well, it lasted roughly a week. And to explain why, I have provided you with a handy diagram:



Do NOT laugh at my diagram or I will punch you in the face!

So, Thursday night, after an exhausting day of The Boss being completely on crack about this event we were hosting, it was time to drive over to the opening evening party (the majority of the conference happened on Friday during the day). Because of limited parking, we carpooled to the location. I offered to drive, with about half of my coworkers in the car with me.

Now, please refer to the lovely diagram. The green car lane was going left and the purple car lane going right. We are in the blue car, making a left into a narrow lane that is surrounded by construction barrels.

I waited for traffic to clear and then pulled across to turn into this teensy tiny (did I mention narrow?) lane, wanting to make sure I didn't do something stupid like hit anything with the front of the car in that far row of cones.

Instead, I cut it too tight and took out the barrel so helpfully labeled "HALP!!", scraping it against the front driver's side of the car.

It was at this point that I yelled out "F&%#!!!". With my car loaded up with coworkers. And this is how I failed at keeping my Lenten promise of giving up swears.

P.S. My car's ok. It's over 5 years old and has some minor scratches anyways. This just possibly caused some rubbing near the wheel that could probaby be buffed out. I'm not even certain that those marks weren't already there.

P.P.S. I'm not an all or nothing girl. I have redoubled my efforts to give up further swearing.

P.P.P.S. My coworkers are just going to add this to the list of things I shall never live down.

P.P.P.P.S. When I called Joe to confess that I had hit a barrel, he thought I said I hit an animal. He was quite concerned.

P.P.P.P.P.S. Speaking of Joe, I finally won the "fish is NOT a sacrifice" argument. More on that later!

P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Sorry about all those PS's. That was completely uncalled for.

Six Word Saturday

Time for Six Word Saturday! For more information, please check out the link above. But here's the basic concept - summarize your life (or whatever) in six words. Easy! And short! Which, after yesterday's novel I'm sure you'll all thank me for.

Week from Hell, didn't punch anyone!

And because I can't leave it alone with just one (especially a kinda aggressive one)...

Rocking chair, porch and wine - bliss.

To share your own six words, either leave a comment or use Mr. Linky below. A note/request if you link back to me though... I recently bought a domain name so if you could kindly link to www.showmyface.com instead of the old blogspot address, I would totally have your babies buy you a puppy appreciate it. Thanky!

Interview with Juliet Colors at Profoundly Inarticulate

After trading interviews with Lyndsay early last week, Juliet Colors from Profoundly Inarticulate took me up on the offer to trade interviews today. Then I promised her some questions and then somehow didn't send them until way later than I had intended... But I think she's forgiven me. You can read her answers to my questions at her blog. Please check it out if you haven't already. There are so many things she posts that leave me thinking "Wait, am I posting in my sleep on some other blog and I just don't remember it? Because that is SO me!".

This is going to be another long one, folks, so get comfy! I hope you have some popcorn, a glass of Malbec, and a slanket. Maybe even a purring kitty. I tried to trim down my answers but I refused to skimp too much.

And now, to keep this from being any longer, here's the interview!

1) In your interview with Lyndsay, you brought up a very significant day in your life: Cate Independence Day, July 22, 2004. I'm sure I'm not alone in wondering what made this day so special for you. What exactly happened on July 22, 2004 and what led up to the events of that day?

The day that set off CID (because I'm not typing that out every time) was actually one month prior. I've referenced the poor relationship with my mother a few times and this was the culmination of years of aggravation. We were chatting online on June 22, 2004 and she was relentless, hitting all the pressure points in one conversation. Bad-mouthing my grandmother (Dad's mom). Using my FIL (who has been in poor health forever) to make us feel guilty about not visiting. Whining about how they have no money for a reliable vehicle to come see us because they had to pay for my brother and sister's expenses (both were 18 at this point and not working by choice), even though I never got a dime from them. And on and on.

On this particular day, I snapped. I went completely off about everything and everyone and every bit of crap she's ever given me and every lie she's ever told. I was shaking like a leaf the whole time and when it was done, I threw up for an hour. This was all at work, by the way. My dad called that night when I got home and I refused to speak to her. Told him I wasn't talking to anyone until I had figured out what I wanted to do because I was tired of the lying and being hurt.

I spent the next 30 days reading a couple of books, talking with friends, and searching my soul. I realized my mother is a horrible narcissist. Always has been and likely always will be. Rather than cut her out of my life completely, on July 22 I sent her an email naming a bunch of people that were off-limits for discussion unless they were in the hospital or dead because she says and does hurtful things to me and people I care about . She replied, demanding examples. And I replied that she could either respect my wishes or we would not be having a relationship.

It was necessary and has made things a lot easier for me. She still brings them up occasionally and I ignore or change the subject. And there's no shortage of other topics for her to needle me about. But CID was a great day in that I finally stood up to her.

That's long - and I've cut it down three times already.

2) In a previous post, you confessed to using a webcam to spy on your cats (and others) when you are away from home. I can't imagine my cats do anything more than sleep all day when I'm gone, so I'd like to know, have you learned anything interesting or useful through your use of this device?

Ahh, the webcam. We bought it for general house-monitoring when we're away on trips. It has also come in quite handy spying on contractors that have done building projects outside. It's handy when they insist they were there working all day and we know they only showed up for two hours.

But the most interesting cat-related thing we've seen was last September. Tonya's routine at that point involved sleeping on our bed all day so that's where we directed the camera. One afternoon I happened to pull up the live feed when our cat sitter was there. The sweet Cat-Sitter gently reach towards Tonya, talking to her in a calm quiet voice. Tonya allowed Cat-Sitter to scratch her chin for a few minutes. It was encouraging to see that Tonya was getting along so well with a stranger! And then Tonya pulled her head back and swatted the hell out that poor woman. I mean, KAPOW!!! BLAMMO!!! Not that Cat-Sitter tattled but we knew Tonya had been a very naughty kitty.

3) You've featured your cats Tonya and Rusty several times in your blog. (The clever Tonya even wrote a blog post of her own!) How did you get them each to agree to take you and Joe on as their people (slaves for life)?

On one of my last days at work before moving out of the area, I mentioned to the ladies there that I was excited to get a kitten when we moved into our new place. The next day, they gave me Tonya as a going away present. One of the ladies had a neighbor that had moved away, leaving behind two pregnant cats. Tonya was one of the babies. The vet cleared her for travel (she was barely 4 weeks old) and we threw her in the car with us for a 14-hour drive. As a result, she's an excellent traveler!

Rusty was all Joe's doing. Joe hit PetSmart one night to pick up more food for Tonya and they were having an adoption event. He saw Rusty and fell in love with him. He told me about him that night and I said no. Seriously, Tonya's enough of a handful! But Joe was persistent - even though he's never claimed to be a cat person. Finally I gave in and went to meet Rusty and he was such a sweet little boy, he won me over.

And I have to include this from Juliet's email because it cracked me up:

(Are compound questions okay? You won't punch me in the face, will you? Because numbers 4 & 5...)

4) You've mentioned before having multiple blogs besides this one (16 total). Why so many blogs? How long have you been blogging overall, and what do you hope to get out of it? Fame, fortune, friendship, etc.?

I think that number (16) has possibly gone up since the last count. I have a lot of blogs that I registered mainly to snag the name for projects I had in mind at the time. I'm guilty of letting a lot of them sit empty at this point. And a few were used regularly for the duration of a project and now sit idle.

• I have a boring blog that's very tied to my real-life identity. Anyone that knows my name and Googles me will find that one so I'm very cautious and limited about the things I say.
• I have a blog where I just spout off angry things. If you're familiar with the concept of "unsaids", it's kinda like that. It's therapeutic sometimes to just type off a quick obnoxious post and be done with it so I can move on to something more positive.
• A few of you have noticed "Save My Face" attached to this profile but private. That's only open to me and contains all of the neuroses and whining too dark and boring to post here. You're welcome for that.
• This is the blog I use most regularly and enjoy the most. I'm most free and most honest here. It also has the largest readership.

I started my first blog late in 2004 but I've had my own website in some format or another since 1997.

As for what I hope to get out of it? World domination. I have a 5 year plan that includes merchandising, charity concerts, and a political coup. Don't believe me? Stick around. In the meantime, if I manage to make some friends, cause a few people to think, or even just provide myself with an outlet from the voices in my head, that's nice as well.

5) One thing I really enjoy about your blog is your sense of humor. We can all use more laughs. Do you deliberately set out to give your blog a humorous tone, or does it just come naturally to you? Do you have any tips for other bloggers out there that aspire to be as entertaining and funny as you?

Thank you! I do try to find humor in situations. And sometimes I feel like my blog is a real downer so I do my best to add something light and fluffy when I can. Also, Joe is awesome but his sense of humor doesn't always coincide with mine. I figure there must be someone out there as twisted as me that might get a kick out of this stuff!

I don't feel that qualified to give advice but I'd say the best pointer I can give is to threaten bodily harm. The more I promise to punch people in the face, the more they keep coming back. No, not really. But pay attention to which of your posts are best received - capitalize on those but also remember that it's your blog and you need to write it for you first. And be responsive to your commenters! They are awesome wonderful individuals and without feedback, blogging is sorta empty (at least it is for me)!

Thanks again to Juliet Colors for providing such great questions. And no, I didn't punch her in the face. I enjoy these interviews a lot so I hope you've enjoyed reading this. And if brevity is more your style, make sure you come back tomorrow for Six Word Saturday!

P.S. Holy crap this is long. Seriously.

First Fursday

Our humans won't let us have our own blog so we've reached a compromise. The long-haired human has agreed to let one of us blog on the First Fursday of each month and in return we don't pee in her shoes. Seems fair to us!

Since Tonya's sleeping, I decided it was my turn to use the computer. She's already had her chance.

Today, I think I'll tell you about some of the other kitties in my life. I spent some time on the streets and then at the kitty orphanage where I encountered a lot of other cats. I love making new friends! But then these fabulous humans brought me home from the orphanage and the only other cat I see on a regular basis is Tonya. And let's face it - she's not the friendliest feline in the world.

First, there's Vet Cat. He lives at the doctor's office so I don't see him all that often. Except for last year when I had scurvy - I visited him a lot then. He's pretty fat so they must feed him well. I think that would be a great place to live. Lots of new friends coming and going and excellent health benefits. Plus all the humans scratch his ears while they pay their bills. The only thing I wonder about is if they give him a lot of shots. I don't really like shots so it might not be worth it.

The other cats I see are on the other side of the glass. Most often it's Hungry Kitty. He's a scrawny little dude, kinda like me. Always picking around on the fire-making box where short-haired human puts the fishes before he eats them. I'm not quite sure why he does that - it's just as good cold. Anyways, Hungry Kitty once managed to swipe an entire tuna steak off the grill when short-haired human turned his back. He's one fast mover!

Ghost Cat only appears at night. My people say there's something called a "graveyard" behind our house. I think it's like a litter box but for dead people instead of poo? Long-haired human is easily spooked so she wasn't too excited when the short-haired human told her there was a Ghost Cat in the backyard. Me, I'm not scared. I'm big and tough. Especially since I'm behind that glass. Can't get me!

Probably the coolest cat out there is Cow Cat. He just sorta wanders around from time to time chasing squirrels. I wish I could sneak out there to chase some squirrels! One afternoon, I heard my people talking about the discovery of Cow Cat.

Short-haired human: I just saw a cat in the backyard.
Long-haired human: Hungry Cat again?
Short-haired human: No, it was a different cat.
Long-haired human: What color?
Short-haired human: Cow-colored.
Long-haired human: You'll have to explain what you mean by "cow-colored".

Only, he didn't explain. And then later long-haired human saw Cow Cat and understood.

And finally, the last cat I see is usually in the front of the house - Angry Neighbor Cat. It's a really strange breed of cat though. Big and drooly and makes really loud bizarre meows. Once, I saw that one jump up on short-haired human, causing him to bleed. When I make anyone bleed, they put me in my box but I don't think we have a box big enough for this weird cat. I heard them say he belongs to someone called Angry Neighbor. Glad I don't have to deal with that guy.

I think with the exception of Angry Neighbor Cat I'd be good pals with most of them. I'm very friendly and an expert cuddler. Too bad it's all wasted on Tonya. Maybe we can trade Tonya for Cow Cat? That would be awesome...

It's all a lie

Remember waaaaaaaaaaay back when you were little and you couldn't wait for the Easter Bunny to visit and hide your basket full of crack candy? And then, maybe at school one day, that obnoxious little Donnie Donaldson (oh, if only I were kidding about that name) broke the news to you that it was all a lie?

I mean, unless of course you still believe in the Easter Bunny. Easter Bunny is awesome! He's totally coming to visit you in about six weeks! Leave him some crack carrots!

Anyways, I hate it when illusions are shattered. You believe in something only to find out it's a fake. After dealing with some major disappointments during my lifetime (like, oh, I don't know, the fact that your mother is supposed to love you unconditionally instead of stealing from you and trashing your reputation?) I've had a few such letdowns recently.

The first involves a little old lady named Gladys on the Ellen Degeneres Show. Here's a funny clip from YouTube. Yes, funny elderly chick! Only... She's a ringer. I hate being fooled!

I won't even go into the stunt a coworker pulled recently, decimating the last bit of belief I had in the myth that he might be a decent human being.

And now, I find out a site that I thought was providing actual reviews/recommendations actually charges an advertising fee. And all of the recommendations are apparently paid ads. So much for truth in advertising. The worst part is that I think everyone else was in on it and just didn't tell me. Yay, it's fun to feel like a chump! I need to be more keen about these types of things if I'm going to succeed at my plan for world domination.

I shouldn't be surprised or disappointed I suppose. Yet, I am. And so yet another illusion is shattered. I'm not gonna punch anyone in the face about it though - because I don't want to risk Santa putting me on his naughty list. Yes, at least there's still Santa to bring me crack gifties.

An award for creativity - on a day when I feel uncreative

Debbi at DAISYHALOS has gifted me with an award!

Here are the rules:
1~ I share with you seven things that I love
2~ I nominate seven other bloggers for the honor

Thanks, Debbi. Oddly enough, you pick today, when I'm struggling to find ANYTHING to blog about, as the day to give me an award for being creative. No complaints - it gives me something to post.

So, let's get on to the seven things I love. And I'll challenge myself to skip the husband and cats.

1. My porch - I can't wait for the weather to cooperate so I can hang out on my porch again. It's screened, bright, comfy and awesome. But it's also currently cold and snowy.
   
2. Lilacs - I recently discovered that my favorite flower in the entire world may be able to grow in our area. I thought we were too far south. I'm so excited at the idea of growing lilacs!
3. Red wine - cabernet, pinot noir, red zinfandel, cotes du rhone, malbec... Lately I'm anti-merlot. But I love the taste of red wine.
4. Inspiration - whether it be for life in general, writing, or a project, I love feeling excited about the possibilities when I'm fired up.
   
5. Tomato, basil & mozzarella - salad, sandwich or pizza, this is one of my to-die-for flavor combinations.
6. Tunes - music was a big part of my life growing up but more from a performance angle. Now I'm primarily a listener but music still plays a vital role in my world.
7. Options - I've always felt it's not having a lot of money that makes you rich, it's having a lot of options. Yes, I realize sometimes money affords you the luxury of more options but my point still stands. Nothing robs me of hope quicker than telling me I have no choices. It makes me feel claustrophobic and very anxious. Know there are several alternatives puts the situation at least somewhat back in my control. Options make me happy.

And now the part where I always fail - passing the award on to other bloggers. I have all this freaking out in my head about leaving someone out which makes them sad or gifting someone with an award when they've either already received it or hate awards. So instead, I'm just going to link to no one. It seems like the laziest fairest thing to do.

Tomorrow, I am determined to post at what I consider to be my "regularly scheduled time" of 7:30am. Which means blogging tonight. An actual post with content. I can do it!!!

Home sweet home

What is it about coming home that's so fabulous? It can be the best trip to the best location with the best company but there's something about sliding between the sheets in my own bed that makes me feel so at peace.

Joe was amazing as always on this trip, supporting me and keeping my spazziness to a minimum. Especially once the weather turned sour for our trip home. In the end, our flight back was mostly uneventful. The pilot did ask the flight crew to end snack service rather abruptly/early and I spent the rest of the flight waiting for the crazy turbulence but it never really came. A little bumpiness on the landing but not even close to what I had anticipated.

And shortly after we arrived home, the snow began to fall. Yes, it's March and we don't typically see snow this time of year, but it was light and fluffy and accumulated just enough to reward me with a 2-hour work delay and a call from the boss telling me to work from home.

So here I am, snuggled in my Slanket with Rusty purring on my lap (my itty bitty kitty missed me). And even though it's cold and gloomy and I'm completely swamped with work (both for the office and personal projects), today I feel like life is good.

Speaking of kitties, our cat sitter left us a note as she always does. It went something like this:

Dear Joe & Cate:

Kitties were fine when I checked in Saturday around noon. Rusty gave me big cuddles. And Tonya ate a few treats when I tossed them to her. Hope you had a good trip!

That's my kitties! Rusty the snuggler and Tonya the... gimme food or I have no use for you.

Yes, there's truly no place like home.

February Progress Report

No confession today folks. Nothing good comes to mind so instead I'll give you the post I had planned for tomorrow - my monthly recap post. Total boredom for you, I'm certain. My apologies. Once (if) we get back from this trip I'm hoping posting will return to normal.

It's time to look back at February. First, how are my resolutions holding up?

• Be 17% nicer.
• Be 22% tougher when it comes to standing up for myself.

Tougher this month for sure but maybe a bit of failure on the nicer. These are really working against each other more than I thought they might.

• Continue making progress on anxiety issues.

We went out to dinner a few times with little issue. And I'm currently in Florida without too much spazzing. However, the weather is rapidly falling apart for our flight back tonight and I'm starting to feel some stress.

• Work towards better health.

Too much sick again but I did hit the WiiFit a lot more frequently. And I went running with Joe one morning so that's good.

• Support Joe as he supports me.

I'm going to go ahead and pat myself on the back because I think I did a great job of this last month.

• Consistent writing/blogging.

Until this past week? Yeah, it was going pretty well.

Word for 2009: FOCUS

• Once again, being sick hurt my ability to focus but I soldiered on and did alright. It was a conscious effort for sure and there's definitely room for improvement.

As for the blog, there's been a few changes. Starting today, I plan to change the banner on the first of each month. Also, I finally managed to buy my domain name, showmyface.com, a week or so ago. I'm still trying to figure out how to get showmyface.com to work with blogger (in addition to http://www.showmyface.com/, which is working). If anyone has an ideas on making the "naked domain" work, please drop me a line. I hate that I totally know how to do this "for real" but since Blogger has control I can't make it work.

Interesting search terms? Still many references to cat scurvy, fat ass soup and angry neighbor. In addition, I was amused by:

• what fits my face
• apologizing protects face
• how should someone react if a sister-in-law called my family sick and crazy
• fur pile groupies
• mmmm daniel craig
• reasons to skip out on family vacation

Sorry, it's hard to pick a favorite from that list. In fact, maybe I should turn a few of those into future posts when I'm hard-up for ideas.

So here's to March. And Spring. And many new bloggy adventures with all youse guys.