Bird Nerd

Yes, I'm rapidly becoming a Bird Nerd.

Kodak has two Peregrine Falcons nesting on our tower. Six years ago, kodak.com decided to set up a Birdcam sitelet, to watch the Peregrines nest, lay eggs, hatch eyases, then fly off for the winter... and it's been wildly popular. I've peripherally followed the birds, though not quite dedicated enough to go stand out on the bridge on my lunch hour to watch them. As a former docent at our local zoo, I am, however, a bunny hugger, and have great love for anything furry and cute (ok, not anything... Robin Williams doesn't quite make my list).

So now that I am part of the team, I can't tear my eyes away from these two beautiful birds - at least on the website. I'm still not trekking outside at lunch - not until Falcon Watch 2005, where I can yell into a walkie talkie "WE HAVE A BIRD DOWN, I REPEAT, BIRD DOWN" and save one of the fledglings lives. Then I will be a full-on Bird Nerd and proud of it!

And, as Lis spotted, I'm even showing up on the site here and there. Can't determine if that's a perk or a peril.

Jug Protectors

I got these milk and juice carton covers for Jenny for Christmas at a local store. They were deeply discounted and too funny to pass up. Then I saw them on shopintuiton.com for $10 each - are people really paying $10 each for these??!! Maybe they work wonders for keeping your milk and juice fresh.

Today is my Grandma's birthday. She is 85. She's in good shape, though she does suffer from CHS (can't hear shit). I called her to wish her a Happy Birthday today. Picture me at my desk, trying to be somewhat discreet...

[ring, ring]
GRM: Hello?
ME: Hi Gram!
GRM: Hello?
ME: Hi Gram, it's Tina.
GRM: Who?
ME: TEE NAH
GRM: Who?
ME: You're Grandaughter.
GRM: Dawne?
ME: No, Tina.
GRM: Sherri?
ME: NO, [near yelling] TEE NAH!
GRM: Tina?
ME: YES!!
GRM: Hi Honey.
ME: You can't hear me, can you?
GRM: What did you say, I can't hear you?
ME: Just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
GRM: ok
ME: I'll talk to you later, LOVE YOU!
GRM: LOVE YOU, BYE BYE.

Bless her heart.

Family Fun

Visiting with my Grandmother and Aunt Del - as I did on Monday night - without fail includes these three things:

1) definite insistance that I've lost weight

GRAM: you look like you've lost weight
ME: no, I definitely haven't
GRAM: [disgusted look of disbelief]
[10 minutes later]
GRAM: you look like you've lost weight honey
ME: no, actually I've gained 3 pounds since the last time I saw you, you can see it in my hips
GRAM: no, you've lost weight
[then I give up the debate, better her telling me I look thinner than I look "pouchy"]

2) insistance to eat more

GRAM: have a turkey sandwich honey
AD: what do you want to drink?
ME: I have water with my Crystal Light
AD: I have flavored seltzer water
ME: I have my drink
GRAM to AD: get Tina some of that soda
ME: I have my Crystal Light
GRAM: you need ice
ME: no, I used cold water
AD: have some Ambrosia Salad, I got regular and strawberry
ME: ok, I'll have a little
GRAM: are you going to have another sandwich Honey?
ME: I will Gram, just having a little ambrosia salad
[2 minutes go by]
GRAM: have another sandwich Honey
ME: I'm going to Gram [eat a second turkey sandwich]
AD: have some cheese and crackers Teen
ME: no thanks, I'm getting full
GRAM: have some cheese and crackers Honey
ME: no thanks Gram, getting full
GRAM: that's meunster cheese there
ME: oh
AD: I have Sugar Free Klondike Bars, want one?
ME: no thanks, having a sugar free klondike bar is like having [I stop myself before saying something gutterish to my Grandmother and very religious Aunt]

3) 20 compliments with 20 questions

AD: I love your coat, where did you get it?
ME: Banana Republic
AD: How much was it?
ME: About $79 - it was on sale.
AD: What was the original price?
ME: About $250
AD: Wow, that's a good deal.
[10 seconds or so]
AD: I love those boots, where did you get them?
ME: Kaufmanns
AD: How much were they?
ME: About $55 on sale

[To which I started rattling off info about all elements of my wardrobe, including my Hanky Panky underwear. I added that I am going to start showing up with those gigantic price tags attached to all my clothes like they do in the magazines.]

We had a good laugh.

iPodoke

I'm glad hubby loves his iPod Shuffle. I could do without the karaoke-with-no-background-music effect. Let's just say, he will NEVER quit his day job to become a singer.

$789 per Inch

A vicious cirlce I like the sounds of... spend more money on cosmetics and clothes --> earn more money to buy more cosmetics and clothes.

A study found that attractive people earn more money... But that "anyone can increase their attractiveness to others if they maintain good eye contact, act upbeat, dress well, and listen well." The researcher says to, "stand straight, tuck in your stomach, hold your head high, and smile at those you meet" and "you will begin to be treated with more warmth and respect." Sounds like Stepford Wife training rather than research.

and size matters, too...

another study found that "tall people earn considerably more money throughout their careers than their shorter coworkers, with each inch adding about $789 a year in pay".

Whoa, Aaron is in for a nice salary. Good thing, because what Jenny lacks in height, she far makes up for in beauty.

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth... I just haven't been too inspired.

I did have a great weekend.

Friday, hub & I and Jenny & Aaron went to see Bride and Prejudice, a Bollywood movie. It was dazzling with a little cheese sprinkled on top.

Saturday, Jenny, Aaron & I hit the slopes and went snowboarding. I litterally hit the slope... with my head... when I fell after getting off the lift. CRACK! My head bounced like a basketball. Today the tendons in my neck are sore, but otherwise it was alot of fun and worth a bit of pain.

Yesterday I visited my Sis and we took the little ones to Chuck E. Cheese. More like Chuck E. Birthcontrol. Holy Chaos Batman! I'm also going to just go ahead and say this and probably be unpopular for it, but little boys are nightmares with legs (though I'm sure they're adorable when they're sleeping =)

Yay for Jay

Yay to Jay McCarrol for winning Project Runway! Jay was catty and bitchy, but very funny, very honest and very talented. I love the skirt with the circles on it. I want one.

I was hooked on this show - the American Idol for fashion designers. It was great to watch them create something from scratch... and slightly amusing to hear Michael Kors rip their designs apart.

And in the finaly, Parker Posey looked Fab-u-lous with that crazy hair - you go Indy Girl!

My one rant for the show - I hated that the Producers manipulated the results to pick someone who they knew would add drama. Save that crap for the shows that need it, like Real World and Surreal Life. There was enough drama and suspense in Project Runway in watching the designs come together and seeing who won.

Paris Trumps National Security

The state of our culture today - Paris Hilton's sidekick getting hacked garners more law enforcement activity than a guy getting Secret Svc credentials for the Wht Hse with a fake name... which probably wouldn't even have made the news until they uncovered that he was a homosexual male escort who published nasty web sites. Then it becomes at least newsworthy.

I think it's all a PR stunt anyway. Paris' livelihood depends on her name being in the news. Helllooooo. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out. She probably seduced some 15 year old kid to "hack" into her stuff.

On that note, I now possess the phone# of the lead singer of Maroon 5. I wonder if he'd like to meet me for a spot of tea.

Pretzels + Chocolate = Yummy

Tomorrow is Cookiepalooza at work - our fifth annual cookie baking contest. I think I won "Best Looking Cookie" last year for my frosted sugar cookies in the shape of ice cream cones.

This year I made Chubby Hubby Cookies. Yes, the name got me (though my hubby is no longer chubby as he has lost almost 30 pounds since last year and is continually shrinking and will soon fit in to my pants at which time I might truly lose my already loose grip on sanity). But moreso, I'm all about mixing pretzels and chocolate.

It started with the White Trash Mix given to us at Christmas - pretzels, crispix, cheerios, nuts all coated in white chocolate. I didn't think I was even going to like it. I was SO WRONG. Now I find myself at home, whipping up a batch as if it's popcorn and I'm sitting down to Colin Firth Fest.

Then Aaron and Jenny introduced me to the Take 5 bar. It was yummy. And now I'm hooked on the idea of pretzels with chocolate.

So I found this cookie recipe that includes pretzels. They're not that attractive, but I'm hoping they are tasty. Funny thing is, after all that, I have no desire to eat one. Perhaps the cookie dough getting in the way of the pretzel truly meshing with the chocolate dampens my desire.

Boarding for Breast Cancer

Our good friend Tony is riding for the 2005 Boarding for Breast Cancer Board-A-Thon. Tony helped teach me how to board and look at me now, I cut up the slopes like Kelly Clark... ok, not so much... maybe more like Kelly Clarkson. But I have the cutest snowboard ever, with pandas on it, incase I actually get serious about it. If not, I can still hang the snowboard on my wall as an artistic centerpiece.

Go here to donate for Tony

iPod Me

Got hubby an iPod Shuffle for Valentine's Day. He's happier than a pig in, well, poop. It came in this adorable green box and just seemed to say, "I've been waiting for you my whoooooole life!"

After a few bouts of him singing along to the song that was playing only in his ear, I've started to wonder what I've gotten myself in to here. Though he has multiple talents, singing is NOT one of them. Let's just say, not only should he not quit his day job, he shouldn't subject the shower walls (much less me and the dog) to this spectacle.

But let's be honest here, I'm just jealous. These days, having a white cord flowing out of your ears definitely increases your hip quotient... so needless to say, I am feeling like the nerdy, out of the loop member of this union - a position I am not used to.

I want an iPod!

Maroon Me on a Desert Island

Yay for Maroon 5, they just won the Grammy for Best New Artist. After Los Lonely Repeat the Chorus Over and Over Again Boys won Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group, I wasn't hopeful that Maroon 5 would win, but they did. Thank Goodness it wasn't a Jethro Tull wins Best Metal Album moment!

They look pretty handsome in those suits too. Looks like suits are the new black. I don't think I could endure another thank me lucky charms I've turned from rapper to golfer outfit like Missy Elliott wore that one year, ugh!

photo: Wireimage

Chomp

At this point, scary, but there's not alot of food that would make me feel happy (usually I can rattle off a long list). My food fantasies are fizzling.

I was going to mail order a Giordano's Chicago Stuffed Pizza, which definitely has potential for momentary bliss, but it was going to cost $41.25 for a 12" pie and I may be desperate, but I'm not crazy.

Matt, coming home for a visit anytime soon? =)

Cat Killer

My favorite SuperBowl commercial was the Ameriquest one where the guy looks like he is murdering the cat. Sick but damn funny.

Neither team is a favorite of mine (I'm still partial to the Miami Dolphins), so I cheered for NE only because I had heard on NPR that the QB was a QT, but let's face facts, he's certainly no Steve Young.

Krispy Krack

I realized that my blog has strayed from what my title implies... my lust for food. I had contemplated telling my brother that I was going on a hunger strike, but I know he would know I was full of crap. I cannot, in fact, stop myself from eating. To the contrary, I am finding myself eating everything in site, assuming it will give me a moment of pleasure to distract me from the drama. And you know what, it does. Sound familiar? Like an addiction maybe? Because even something as seemingly harmless as Krispy Kremes can be dangerous if taken to the extreme. Let me elaborate...

Research says that if we take in 3500 calories more than we burn, we gain one pound.

According to this Calorie Needs Calculator, I burn about 2000 calories per day.

Each Krispy Kreme Original Glazed donut (my drug of choice) has 200 calories.

I'd need at least 3 dozen donuts per day to continually dull my pain (and, I assume that over time, I'd need more and more to get the same results).

That's 7200 calories in donuts.

Plus I'd need to wash them all down with soda, so that would easily bring me up to 8000 calories.

That means I'd gain almost two pounds per day.

So if I went on a Krispy Kreme "runner" for just two weeks, I'd gain over 25 pounds! I would definitely need a new wardrobe, but probably couldn't afford it because I'd be spending all my money on donuts. Any clothes that did still fit would probably have glaze stains on them.

Then things would turn really bad... I'll have gained so much weight that I'll be depressed... and even though I know how hard it will be to lose the weight, I won't be able to stop because I really love how the donuts make me feel and can't bear the thought of not eating them... then I'd think about how I've let my family and friends down because I don't want to go out anywhere, I just want to stay home and eat donuts, so to keep them from bugging me, I'd lie and say I was having "tummy troubles", then I could hide out in the bathroom with no one bothering me to stop eating my donuts and even if they did beg me to stop, I'd say "to hell with it, I've already gained ridiculous amounts of weight" and keep eating the donuts... and the vicious cycle would continue.

Amazing how frighteningly similar this is to actually being addicted to a narcotic substance! Only I don't think on the Krispy Kremes you'd bug out or pass out. Then again, I don't know for sure because I don't think I've ever had that much pure sugar flowing around in my bloodstream!

More Brazil Pix

Bas put up more pictures from Brazil...

EF

What a horrible week so far. Brother is not doing well at all. My back is about to give out. My hair, well, we won't even GO there...

The horrible thing about having a loved one who is destroying themselves is that you wonder why they don't love you enough to be able to stop. It's a silly thing to think because you know damn well they do love you and you know addiction is not rational, but you can't help but feel hurt.

I wish I had the money to hire a couple big guys to go and kidnap him and keep him in a bungalow at Chateau Marmont for a month and only allow room service and a Psychiatrist to visit. Alas, independently wealthy I am not, so I'll continue on the Prayer route (though since that didn't work for my Mom's situation, I'd also like to win the lottery and hire the thugs).

Couch Potatoette

Along the lines of the state-the-obvious-research that showed drinking alcohol makes others appear better looking, they've now proven that couch potatoes tend to be obese. Duh. The major scientific breakthrough - they surmised that the drive to sit or lounge is genetic, rather than caused by the fact that they are/become obese.

...undergarment readings confirmed that the obese participants sat or reclined an average 2.5 hours more per day than their skinny peers... Despite their newly svelte status, these participants continued to prefer lounging over being more active. "This drive seems very fixed," he said.

Bottom line, whether it's genetic or just lazy-ass syndrome (which I suffer from often), everyone still knows that you need to get off your ass to lose weight. I probably have a genetic predisposition to become addicted to drugs but I know it's bad (very bad) so I don't give myself the opportunity. Not to compare this to being a couch potato - because it's not as if I'm surrounded by chunks of crack that I just choose to pass up each day. The opportunity to sit on you butt and watch Scrubs or reruns of Friends is constant and unrelenting. I understand this. I just think that to spend money on this research is ridiculous when they could have donated some memberships to Weight Watchers and at least helped create thinner, healthier couch pototoes.

Snow Peeves

As you may or may not know, we got dumped on with snow last week. I've lived in snow almost my whole life (minus those three years I spent in Vegas learning to be superficial and morally bankrupt), but there are some things I just can't get used to.

For example, how can someone who, for the past 7 or so snow-free months, understood the appropriate parking distance thanks to the yellow lines, suddenly, when those lines are covered by snow, become devoid of any sensibility such that they park soooo far away from the next car that each could open their doors and not ding one another... yet just close enough that another car cannot fit between them, causing the parking lot to now only fit half the number of cars it could in the spring? I cannot comprehend the stupidity present when someone parks like this. They are someone I want to beat over the head with a mallet.

And then there are the morons who are too damn lazy to wipe off their cars. I kid you not, a guy drove by the other day... his windshield barely wiped clean, and the rest of his car - including the back window - covered with 5 inches of snow, which was blowing off his car and leaving everyone behind him to navigate through his home-made blizzard. Mallet please.

And of course, those that drive too fast or too close. I pity the soul who decides to ride my bumper, then as I have to break for a wayward chunk of snow, plows into the back of me. Hello road rage! I better get a nerf mallet to put in my car.