Thanksgiving

So, tonight was a very enjoyable family gathering. Just 10 of us. We have a pretty small family, but this is the group that gathers for all the major holidays. The food was yummy as usual. This was my first holiday since staring the diet, so I cheated just a little, but ate in moderation. I've lost 19 pounds in the first 6 weeks, so I don't want to blow it too bad. Tomorrow ends week 7, which means I weight myself again. With cheating tonight, I wouldn't be surprised if I lost nothing, but we shall see. Anyway... so dinner was nice tonight. The guys at one end of the table, the girls on the other. Their end had much chatter about cars and sports. While we chatted more about tv shows, movies, everyday life, etc. Always a fun time.

My cousin and his fiancee are going to Maui on their honeymoon. And they are staying at a resort I stayed at 20 years ago (geez... 20 years... blah). So I wanted to hunt down the photo album from when we went so they could see pictures. Then it turned into a walk down memory lane. I found the pictures from our family trip to Cancun and Chichen Itza, several of our Maui trips, a cruise we went on back in middle school that a friend tagged a long on, slumber parties, etc. I now gave my Mom the task of scanning a bunch of them for me so I have them, and to post on Facebook for all to see. It was fun reminiscing. Anyway, I hope everyone had a nice turkey day :-)

Busy week

I kind of realize that I don't blog too much anymore. And think it's mainly because of just commenting on FB and the like. Anyway... this is the latest...

"So... I have to take my Great Aunt to chemo tomorrow. Then Thursday is the typical Thanksgiving at my Moms. Then Friday heading to my Aunt's to help her decorate for Xmas. Her surgery if going to be on the 1st, so she wants to get some of it done while she is still able to help. Plus my Uncle just had unplanned hernia surgery last Friday... during which I went and dog sat for one of Danny and Savannah's dogs (Tanner) who was recovering from getting fixed the day before. Too much surgery stuff... ahhhhh!! :-) Then Sunday, my Mom, Savannah, Danielle (David's gf) and I will be going to my Aunts to make Xmas ornaments like these... http://www.ehow.com/how_5013336_decorate-glass-ornaments-paint.html"

Whew... that's this week.

Just help people out, and pay it forward...

So, I was just watching the video for Lady Antebellum's "I Run To You". Love the song, but never watched the video before. But it reminded me of a situation I witnessed maybe a month or 2 ago...

So, every week or so I have (don't mean that as a chore) to take my Great Aunt for the day to do something. It may be sitting with her through a 2-3 hour Chemo Appt, or just running errands with her like grocery shopping. Anyway... one day she and I had to go pick up one of her prescriptions from the medical office she normally visits. This was a prescription she couldn't fill before hand, so we had to come in, fill it and wait. They are often slow.

That being beside the point, there was an older woman who came in to ask about her prescription. I could hear this whole thing... The pharmacist said they checked with her insurance company and they were not able to cover her pain medication. She had her ankle wrapped up in ace bandages, but not sure if that was why she was there. The pharmacist asked if she wanted the meds anyway and said yes, as she rummaged through her wallet. He said it was going to be $17 for 10 pills. Seemed like they had a quiet exchange because they then discussed if she maybe wanted to buy 5 pills instead or something.

At the time, there was this other lady at the counter waiting for her prescription to be ready. Soon after she heard that last woman's exchange with the pharmacist, I heard her ask, "How much was that? $17?" and the pharmacist said "Yes". The woman pulled out a $20 and paid for the other woman's full prescription of 10 pills. The woman was very grateful and discreetly cried on her shoulder. It was a very moving experience, and I only regret that the idea hadn't come to me first.

Secret Santa

So this is the third year in a row that we are doing a Secret Santa on The NHL Arena. In 2007 I got a guy who lives in Calgary. I got him one of these green street signs that said Calgary Flames at the top and customized it with his name (I'd post a picture, but can't seem to find them online anymore). And I got the Hockey Night in Canada DVD game from... that's bad, I can't remember. In 2008 I got a Ducks fan a Ducks Mr Potato Head.

And I got a Saskatchewan Fire Fighter calendar (Yummy!), the same DVD game as the year before (Ooops) and a Team Canada jersey magnet.

I am a big fan of giving gifts, and even a bigger fan of finding something unique and personal, if possible. So this year what I came up with for my person was too cool, and very unique. So much so, that I hope someone didn't have the same mindset in the past and they already have it. I thought it was so cool that I got the same thing for myself. So I just hope all goes well with shipping and it goes off without a hitch. Of course I'll have to keep you all in suspense until after Xmas, since there is a decent chance that my person could read this :-)

Dream... about being in Iraq...

"I was in Iraq for some reason. And it was more forest like rather than desert. While I was there, there was some sort of uprising and a group of American's sided with the Iraqis and were against us. Myself and the people I was with were basically running for our lives. We had to sneak through forests, down strange paths, through marshes, etc, to try to avoid these people. All the while hearing gunfire and seeing people shot around us. We even ended up in some abandoned house with two abandoned dogs, until we were found out and had to run.

Then cut to me getting to some sort of refugee camp where they were evacuating people. The people were put in groups of people for each flight. One bus was leaving as I got there... and I kind of had an aerial view of their travel. The bus was going like a bat out of hell through the streets, avoiding cars and people, to get to the airport. Then two men with guns were running from a building taking about talking hostages. But, when they got to the airport, there was some sort of UN or Embassy escort and they were safe from there.

Back in my reality, I was sitting in the second group (to fill a plane and leave) at the airport. I saw someone get up and leave from the first group so went up to the front to see if I could get bumped up. And they checked my paperwork and said yes. At this point my Grandma was with me and she said she was feeling like she had low blood sugar, so went to a medic and thought she would miss the flight. I went up to the front to chat with the people about it in case she missed the flight, and Christian Slater (must be from watching 'The Forgotten' lately) was one of the guys working up front there now. But she was ok and back in time. Then my Mom and Aunt were there, and a couple of groups behind us, so chatted with them for a few.

My group ended up getting shuffled to the terminal and though security. I had to give up my 3 water bottles. I thought I was going to be able to buy one by the terminal but the shops were closed, and I only had US dollars too. When we got there, we received our boarding passes, and saw for the first time that we were flying from Iraq to Brazil to the States. And found out my Mom and Aunt were flying through Germany, and then home."

That's all I remember. I knew when I woke up for the first time I should have gotten up to write it down. By the time I got up, that's what I remember. And no, I didn't watch a war movie before bed. Strange how the mind works.

Time flies... and music is reborn...

Someone made me aware tonight that my MySpace headline was about 2 months old. You can see how much I update that page these days now that FB has come along, LOL. But I updated it anyway... layout, profile pic, playlist, etc. Especially playlist.

But that person reminded me of a genre of music I haven't listened to in a while... yet love. So it was fun to listen to some stuff I haven't heard in a while... Project Pitchfork, Wumpscut, Rammstein, Assemblage 23, VNV Nation, etc. Great stuff!!

LOVE!!!
Project Pitchfork - The longing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_tgNIJ0ymU

And these too...

Wumpscut - The Beast Sleeps Within You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04Hf55TWGi8

Rammstein - Du Hast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doTBT46wMvA

VNV Nation - Illusion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu-8wGbWMro
(I love this video someone did to the music)

And in honor of Halloween...

Marilyn Manson - This Is Halloween
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8focjiIDDrY

Fox Sports NHL Widget... and why I picked the teams I did...

So, this widget is Pretty cool!!

It asked me for my 6 teams to show up in the widget, and I'd never thought beyond my #1 and #2 before. They didn’t force me to choose a 1-6... but I at least have reasons for choosing a 1-6...

1 - Sharks... DUH!! They are my home team. The team name that entered my breath the same day as the word 'hockey'.

2 - Coyotes... I have a friend in Phoenix, so when I visited her early in my hockey days, I made her go to games with me when I visited. We even got tickets just 3-4 rows behinds the Sharks bench one game. And I have been there about another 4 times seeing the Yotes play teams other than the Sharks. I kind of adopted them as #2. And they have a great Arena.

3 - Senators - Well this one is different. I had no interest in the Sens a while back... there was no reason. Then my favorite player (Milan Michalek) got traded to them. Even then I didn't have it in my head to immediately follow them. But gradually I began curious of his progress and how he had been doing. So I started rooting for the Sens. He did well a couple of games, but regardless, I was at least keeping tabs on the team anyway.

4 - Flyers - Another random team. I don't really "follow" them per say, but am happy when they do well against none of my favorite teams. I became friends and/or acquaintances with a handful of Flyers fans over the last few years and they are so devoted that it was hard not to cheer them on... when there wasn't a conflict of interest.

5 – Capitals – I flew to D.C. (office in Maryland) for work in Oct ’06, and had my nights free. I had maybe seen a handful of games at that time. But I had the bug. My friend who was travelling with me and I, met up with a childhood friend of mine and her boyfriend for a game. It was really random since I was new to the sport and really the only one who gave a crap about the game ;-) But it was fun to see Verizon Center all the same.

6 – Kings – Another division rival… but I seem to think of things on a more personal level that just hockey rivalries. I have met (online and in person) a lot of Kings fans over the last couple of years and they are great. And I call them friends. In the effort of hanging with them and seeing hockey at the same time, I have seen a handful of games in L.A., which is great.

So as is the theme, familiarity comes into play. There is something personal and/or hockey related that draws me to each of these teams. That’s just the way it is ;-)

The Diet and stuff...

So my Aunt and I have been chatting the last couple of months about doing Atkins. She started watching what she was eating, but not really doing the numbers and stuff. But my cousin (her son) is getting married in Feb (mentioned that before) and she wants to shed a few pounds. So anyway, I finally jumped on the bandwagon 15 days ago. And full force. Like back when I was 25 or so, and was still biting my nails as I had all my life, so I decided to stop. And I did. And when I had made the decision to quit smoking 3 years ago (after 13 years), I picked a day and using the patch, the rest is history. So I'm hoping I can use the same will to do this too.

You are supposed to start out eating 20g net carbs a day for the first 2 weeks, then increase after that. Well, my goal is to keep it under that all the time, then if I go over on a certain day or something, I won't freak. Well, I lost 7lbs the first week, and 5 more this last week. That was exciting. I carry my little book withe the general nutritional stats for food with me everywhere I go. As well as an Atkins journal where I write down everything I've been eating. Works for me so far.

Today though, was my friend's daughter's Bday party that was happening at a Frozen Yogurt shop. For the last couple of months I've been craving frozen yogurt, so I already knew I was going to splurge and have a little today. So I did. Then that turned into eating pizza for dinner as well. My friend, being the awesome person she is, was actually looking in her fridge to find something carb friendly to make me so I didn't have to have pizza. But told her I was just going to splurge and have the pizza. Then had a root beer (not diet) with it, not even thinking. Let's just say my diet was screwed today big time. And as I was driving home a couple of hours ago, I realized I didn't feel so good. I think mentally and physically, what I did today didn't feel so hot. Back on track tomorrow, I hope. Some good friend's invited me over tomorrow night for dinner, and they are gourmet cooks. So think I just need to be mindful of what I choose to eat. It's a learning curve, but I think the results will be worth it.

Oh... and my awesome friend and her husband let me put on the Sharks game after we got back from the yogurt shop. Yay for a Sharks win :-)

Blogging, Social Networking sites, etc...

It's funny... back in the day of caring about MySpace, I used to blog all the time. Random crap that came to my head every day. Now I log onto my MySpace personal account maybe 2-3 times a month. It's really "out of site out of mind". Funny that one social networking site can just take over for another like that. I remember when I hated FB when it was new, and was so loyal to MS. LOL. Not anymore. Anyway, when that realization happened, I started this site to blog on instead of on MS. But now I just forget to do it. Not like I have anything of importance to say. But it used to be about my day, my feelings, what was going on, etc. Well, maybe I'll have to get back to that. It was a nice release back then just to get stuff out.

Hockey has finally arrived... and other stuff...

After a LONG off-season of trying to scour the internet for anything and everything Sharks, the season is finally here. And things with the team are finalized for the most part. A good handful of players are gone (including my favorite guy), and we have a bunch of new faces that I only know about by name. So this is a new season, and a new team. I'm anxious for them to get started tomorrow night and see what they can do. I purchased a couple of new Sharks items this summer, but done with the splurging for now. The shirt I found on eBay and thought it was cool, and the jersey I bought the day JR retired. Miss you already JR. Oh, and went to the Teal and White game (Thanks Sarah's co-worker!!), and that was a great way to start getting pumped for the season.






Other than that, not up to much. My cousin and his fiancee are getting married in February. So that has been the talk of the family lately. We went this last Saturday dress shopping for her, and she found the one. It is GORGEOUS!!! And she looks gorgeous in it. I happened to be poking around online looking for dresses for me to wear at the wedding, and I found one. It came in the mail a week or so ago, and I think it's a keeper. One less thing to worry about.

And it's been almost exactly 5 months since my Mom and Step-Dad left for their 5th annual summer jaunt up the coast of B.C. and Alaska. They will be getting the boat back to it's final resting place for the Winter, on Saturday. Then they will be home within the week after sometime. It'll be nice to have them back.

That's it for now... I haven't blogged in so long that I'm not sure of everything I wanted to say. But that's the download from my brain for now :-)