Resolution @ MindSay

Tonight's pretty crappy.  I'm still sick, I STILL can't eat real food after getting my wisdom teeth out, and I'm exhausted because I got up at 4 this morning to shovel a foot and a half of snow the plow spit into our driveway so my mom couldn't get to work, and then I worked for 3.5 hours with Carly who I love but is very draining.  We decided not to go Nance's house for New Year's.  Mom's already in bed, and Dad JUST caught the sickness last night, so he's going to bed in about half an hour, which means I am spending my New Year's Eve 100% alone.  I got nothing to do, nowhere to go, and will soon have no one to talk to.

 

Tonight, I am pathetic as fuck.

 

But since I can't get RENT songs out of my head right now,

 

 

IT'S GONNA BE A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

 

Bank on it.

Thank you, again, ketchupownz !  

 

I happened this morning upon the blog above.  It is not an easy read, but it touched me deeply.  Although I've been around the military a good portion of my adult life, I cannot say that I have had much contact with vets wounded in any of our country's battles.  A few, yes, but  ... Reading her blog brought the issue to heart. 

 

War is not just about winning and losing or numbers of deaths.  It's about people living and dying for something they believe in.  Thousands are coming home permanently changed.  It is not something we read about often.  Just in my few minutes of misc searching this morning, though, I have found some great efforts in support of our wounded servicewomen and men.  These are heroes - unwilling, perhaps, but still they have joined the ranks of those who have sacrificed themselves in support of our nation.  Beyond a doubt, they should receive the BEST medical and remedial care available.  Support also should be available for the families of those in rehab or recovering from their wounds.  Much of this support, comes in the way of volunteer organizations like the ones below.  Check them out.  It doesn't cost anything to read, and maybe your heart will be touched also.

 

Here are some  ... just a few ... of the organizations that help our wounded.

 

 

Thank you ... those who have served and those who share your loved ones for this noble purpose.

 

~ B

Well our plans changed up.  DeLaney threw a straight up PMSING fit over not seeing a certain film and Coltin was throwing a temper tantrum about not being able to hit the arcade AFTER the movie.  So we went to the mall theater. 

 

After those lil fits, we were good to go!  I dropped off the food I usually have left over from cooking when Randy isn't home to Father Mike, filled the van up, grabbed some cash and we got to the Mall in time to get tickets and go grab something to eat. 

 

We hit the arcade where Coltin managed to get himself 80 tickets to cash in before the movie and we walked into a VERY packed movie theater just in time to grab the last few seats for Alvin and The Chipmunks.  Coltin had already seen it with his Dad but was okay with seeing it again.  After the movie we hit the arcade again so DeLaney could finish spending her last tokens and cash in her tickets.  I cashed in mine too:P:D  You KNOW I had to get $5 bucks to play the games also didn't ya!:P

 

After the last stop at the arcade, the kdis and I wondered down to Barnes & Nobles.  I really didn't need anymore books, I have such a HUGE pile of to read books anyway.  But I look at it this way at times, my to GET list is even larger!:D  But I was a good girl, we walked out with 3 calanders.  One for each kid and another one for me.  DeLaney was "nice" enough to point out I already had a new Celtic Blessings calander what was I going to do with the new Celtic Mandala calender.  I promptly told her you can NEVER have too many calenders in the house and I could put it in my computer room.  She shut up then!  I swear she is like her Daddy more and more every day with her logical thinking!  I guess if she is the spitting image of her Daddy it is okay for her to think like him.  As long as she doesn't get to logical and to prissy she and I will get a long just fine as she gets older.  But her PMSing is going to get put to a stop FAST!  I dont' give a rats ass she hasn't started her cycle, she has the acne already (yes my baby girl has started gettin facial acne!), and the tude.  She was told point blank today after her lil fit, that there is only ONE BITCH in the family and that is ME!  I also picked up the book Little Women. 

 

My one and only New Year's Resoluation this year is for every 3 normal books (not counting smutt books-I can read an entire weeks publishing of those with out blinking in a day if you let me!) I read; I will read a "classical" book and then a "modern" book.  My sister, pointed out my libary collection of books is more along the line of a History, Anthropology, Religious, Philosphy College level collection NOT to mention soft core porn collection of the certain smutt book series I keep!  So if I want my kids to read other things, I have to show them Mommy can too.  Randy is NOT happy for every "Classical" and "Modern" Fiction or Non-Fiction book I have to read he has to do the same thing and then we swap if we choose different books!  He is saying he doesn't have time.  He is findign out that when he is home I can find him the time!:D  I can also find him time when he is on the road!  Read one or two chapters before you eat.  He eats then he sleeps, so he has to read before he eats!

 

After Barnes & Nobles and wenching a lil bit to the store manager about our store's crappy assortment of Address Books, we wondered down to Hallmark so I could pick up a new address book.  I got one.  I am not happy with it but at least Randy can figure it out if he needs to use it and I picked up extra inserts.  When you have a LARGE family with the majority of them being either R's, N's, and L's you run out of space easily!    I also wenched a bit to that store manager about their crappy assortment of address books also.  She at least explained that the majority of them went bye bye the day after Christ Mas.  Barnes & Noble's only comment was we have a HUGE selection of Journal type books! 

 

So we loaded up and started heading down the interstate to cross the river and go home.  And for some odd reason I said nope right at the first exit to So. Sioux!  I took it!  Coltin asked if we were going to stop and see Granny and I said nope that is tomorrow.  We went right by her nursing home and I pulled up right in front of the Pet /Grooming/Boarding Place!  Where DeLaney promptly reminded me of her father yet again! 

 

"MOM!  Your NOT allowed to go to any pet store or animal auction with out Daddy, because you have a bad habit of bringing home more animals!  Daddy said so!"

 

I ignored her and said if I walk out with something your Father will get over it! 

 

They had an adorable puppy selection and I was VERY tempted to get the one and only Male Sheltie they had left.  But I didn't.  See I am not a real big dog fan.  I love them but they are sooooooooooooooo much more needier then cats.  And if you leave for a weekend or a week you either A have to take them with you or B find someone to take care of them or C board them.    Plus I dont' really like small dogs.  They are so much more in need of care then bigger dogs.  I looked at the kitties they had.  They had two adorable fluffy orange tabby kittens about 6-7 months in age.  Of course DeLaney wnated one of those.  Coltin honed in on the 3 identical short haired orange tabby kittens about teh same age as our twin black kitties.  I said NO MORE CATS!  We have a female that will give us a litter or two don't worry about getting anymore cats.  Their fish selection was pretty crappy but they get cleaned out for the holidays since they are on of two pet stores in the tri state area that carry exotic fish.  Of course atticsmouse would have went for the rodent selection for her snakes:P:D  She can have them.  They carry a lot of feeder mice.  I guess a lot of folks in the area have snakes:P  Fromt here I wondered back to the front of the store where the birds where at.  DeLaney wanted me to get finches.  I hate those lil things.  Plus they drive my cats batty.  Not going to get anymore finches.  Parkettes I have two.  Don't want NO MORE! 

 

Then I honed in on the Cocketiels and Doves!  They had FANCY cocketeils!  Guess what we have in the house including a new bird cage!  I got myself a Fancy cockteil!  Yay me!  They were hand raised but like most pet stores even a smaller one they don't get to handle the birds like they should.  And our new addition to the family is really scared at the moment.  I made them clip his wings for me.  Usually I dont' clip my cockteil's wings but that is how I lost the first two!  One escaped from his cage while hanging outside and the other one escaped out the door thanks to DeLaney and Coltin's lil friends in TX!  So he was pretty pist when I got him home and pretty scared.  I took him out of his home cage, had his wings clipped, and put him in a brand new cage.  Then I introduced him to the dinning room on top of the sewing table before I clean a spot off for him in the computer room!  Shadow and Socks the two older cats could have cared less. Pisser, Brothers, and Grimm were extatic!  Another cage to climb on and bounce off of!  Sin Kitty is outside hoing around again so I can't wait to see his reactoin to another bird in the house.  Spud the dog is a jealous creature and is barking at the bird periodically!  Tweek and Tweeter the parakeets are happy over another bird in the hosue!  They are twittering a storm up and trying to get otu the side of their cage to go visit the new baby!

 

And yes, before atticsmouse can ask me, I told Randy.  My reasoning for buyin another animal is:  He is getting 150-250 dollar boots in January for work, plus I am paying a good chunk of our defeered payments on HIS truck off with his bonus in January so HIS truck is paid off on time this year!  My bird and cage is a LOT less expensive then his boots could ever be!:P:D  His comment was:

 

"So, do you have a place in the barn ready for me to sleep since you keep bringing in more animals?" 

 

Smart ass man I tell you!

 

I cooked dinner, worked on laundry ( I swear I am always working on laundry!), and the kids and I sat down and played dominoes.  They are in bed and I am rambling on and on and on again:D:P:D

 3: Digital Camcorders Here's what the experts say to look for when buying a digital camcorder: MiniDV is still the most flexible format. Although strides are being made among models that record to DVDs or media cards, DV is still easier to edit, and the tapes themselves are inexpensive and readily available. If all you want to do is shoot and view, however, miniDVD offers the simplest solution. Hybrid camcorders, which record to a hard drive or to SD cards, are smallest. However, some reviews say these can actually be too small to hold comfortably. Look for a 16:9 widescreen-shooting mode if you have a widescreen TV. This is an almost standard feature on new digital camcorders. Keep in mind that resolution isn't any higher. Shooting in widescreen mode merely means that your video will fill a widescreen television without black bars on the side of the screen. Note that some camcorders don't shoot in true 16:9. Instead, they simply crop the tops and bottoms of video produced by their 4:3 image sensor. Pixels are different for camcorders than for digital cameras. We're used to seeing digital cameras with 6 megapixels (that's 6,000,000 pixels) of resolution, but video needs less resolution than still photos. 690,000 pixels will give you about 500 lines of horizontal resolution. That's about the same resolution as a standard DVD. The first few high-definition camcorders are appearing, and these models record at about three times the resolution of DV. However, to get the full benefit of HD you'll need to use your camcorder as the playback device. Because high-definition DVD recorders aren't readily available, video you burn to a DVD won't benefit from the improved resolution. Microphone jacks let you position an external microphone for better sound. Many reviews lament the poor quality of the microphones in digital camcorders; if sound is important to you, look for a model with microphone inputs so you can position a quality mike closer to the action. A long optical zoom helps you compose your shot. Many models top out at 10X, but some cameras have zooms that extend to 20X or more. Digital zooms can extend things farther, but are of limited value as they tend to pixilate images (i.e., cause them to become blocky and lose detail), sometimes to unusable proportions. Camcorders with long zooms should have some kind of image stabilization, preferably optical, which helps counteract camera shake. Even so, using a tripod is a good idea for long-zoom shots. If you want to use your camcorder as a digital camera, look into models that can store high-resolution images on memory cards. Most reviewers agree that a digital camcorder is no substitute for a dedicated digital camera. Although we are seeing some higher resolution still images from some cameras, stills from a digital camcorder can rarely compete with even inexpensive digital cameras. You'll generally need a FireWire port on your computer for downloading digital video from your miniDV camcorder. If you have a Mac, FireWire ports are standard. For Windows users without a FireWire port, you can add one with a PC card. DVD camcorders and hybrid camcorders that use MPEG-2 compression use a USB 2.0 cable rather than FireWire. A relatively speedy computer will make the digital-video editing experience more enjoyable; be sure to check system requirements on any digital camcorder you buy. 4: Digital cameras Here's what experts say to look for in a digital camera: Megapixels matter less than overall camera quality. If you plan to print mainly 4 x 6 photos, 4 to 6 megapixels is plenty. If you want to make a lot of enlargements, or plan to crop and manipulate images with software, look for 6 to 8 megapixels or more. Within those ranges, optics quality, build, ergonomics and tested image quality matter more than the number of megapixels. Movie modes are important to some. Most digital cameras allow you to record video footage for playback on a TV or computer, and better digital cameras now feature very good movie modes. If this feature is important to you, be sure to check the camera's spec sheet. Higher-end digital cameras will allow you to record higher-resolution VGA movies at faster frame rates, so video quality is improved. Most cameras record sound as well. Image stabilization helps avoid the effects of camera shake. Once only available in expensive cameras, image stabilization helps counteract minor hand vibrations that are inevitable when you are not using a tripod, and it enhances the photographer's ability to capture sharp photos at slower shutter speeds or if following fast action. There are two types of image stabilization: digital and optical. Experts say both help, but optical image stabilization is often more effective. Consider weight and size. One of the best things about digital photography is its 'go-anywhere' possibilities. The best digital camera values for most users are compact cameras, such as many of those featured in this report. These cameras are small, but not generally small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. If you are interested in the smallest, lightest cameras, consider an ultra-compact camera, but keep in mind you'll pay more for similar features. See our report on ultra-compact digital cameras for more information. If you plan to work a lot with images in Adobe Photoshop, consider a compact camera that can shoot RAW images, an uncompressed format. Using the RAW format saves every speck of data without alteration. You need special software to edit RAW files, but enthusiasts may like to have the option FROM: www.consumersearch.com

It's been 24 days since I've had a soda.  Honestly, I don't even crave them any more.

What I was most worried about was my ability to stay awake and alert all day without the large amount of caffeine in my system.  Surprisingly, I'm sleeping less now without that caffeine in my body than I was with it.  Additionally, I don't notice myself being any less alert.

Maybe I'm a natural source of caffeine?