Insomnimusing: Allons-y!

The fact that I haven't blogged about my trip to see Man United in Kansas City on Sunday yet just goes to show you how severely overworked I've been lately. But here goes - How do I describe something that is beyond words? At work today, I kept being asked, "How was it?" I answered, "It was a religious experience," which always got a laugh. But it wasn't funny. It wasn't an exaggeration. It wasn't even adequate. I started out with my daughter in tow at 4 a.m. on Sunday. We drove 12 hours, and for a lot of it, I didn't know if I was going to make it. I'd only managed to get about 4 hours of sleep, so I was exhausted even as we began. We made it, with little time to spare, and since I couldn't get an early check-in to my room, my Twitter friend Dee said my daughter could hang out in her room during the match. Upon arriving at the hotel, I immediately got a burst of energy. There were people in the parking lot tailgating, and everywhere ...

I am a firm believer in fantasy fulfillment. I believe that life is made up of your memories, and if you have a chance to make a memory, you should go for it! We all live our day-to-day lives, and yes, there is purpose and meaning there, but what do you sit back and recall on quiet nights? What do you tell stories about when you're with your friends? What do you tell your kids and your grandkids about when you're old? What just makes you smile when you think about it? It's not going to work every day, doing housework, etc. It's those MOMENTS. Sometimes the moment is just a minute. Sometimes it's a night or a weekend or a once-in-a-lifetime or just a first-in-a-lifetime event. But it's all about the MOMENTS. I get to make another memory this weekend. I'll be hitting the road in just about 10 hours to drive to Kansas City to see Manchester United play live for the first time. It's not Old Trafford, and it's not the way my first Man United game was su...

I got to take two days off work Monday and Tuesday to "pay" me for the work I did before I got on payroll. (Corporate said they couldn't pay me for the last of my freelance work since I'm on payroll now, so the boss said take the time off as time worked to make up for it.) It's a good thing I took the time when I did, because it's getting busy for me now. We're in the midst of the big vacation blitz, so people are taking days off every day, and I'm in to pick up the slack for them across the board. I guess that's what happens when you've done everything in the department. My crunch is getting worse though, because the webmaster who replaced me when I left has gone off on maternity leave, so I'm left to fill in the web duties for my paper, in addition to my regular work... and filling in for vacationing people. I won't be able to breathe for a while. Yesterday was her first day off, so I started the web duties. I didn't get any slack...

After getting only five hours of sleep Friday night, I took the kids to the Cincinnati Zoo yesterday. We got to see Burned Jesus , formerly known as Touchdown Jesus or Big Butter Jesus, officially known as King of Kings, now known as The Monument to Our Robot Overlords , along the way. If we'd gone when I originally planned, we would have seen it intact. Funny sort of irony that it was thunderstorms that kept us from going then, and it was a thunderstorm that destroyed it. It was raining throughout the entire drive. As we got about halfway there, I started to feel a little odd. It was similar to a couple of weeks ago when I was driving Book home and my heart suddenly started racing and my head went a little dizzy. It wasn't as extreme this time, but since I was driving with all the kids on the interstate through a construction zone in the rain, I thought it a good idea to pull over and see what happened with my head. It eased up and I didn't experience anything else odd thr...

I've been wrapped up in So You Think You Can Dance for the past few weeks. I am every season, but I have extra motivation this time. One of the contestants is a boy from the county where I live. And as if that isn't cool enough, I interviewed him for the paper when he was 11 years old. And as if THAT isn't cool enough, he just happens to be one of the most beloved dancers of this season. That's right. I'm talking about Mr. Adorable himself - Kent Boyd. :) And you can see here, he was adorable then too. One clarification though - he's from BOTKINS. His address is Wapakoneta, but really he's a Botkins boy. The package on him during the show where he auditioned is all shots from Botkins, not Wapakoneta. Apparently, the whole Wapakoneta-pronunciation spin was too irresistible for the producers, so they don't plan to clarify it as it should be. My understanding is that the mayor of Botkins actually called the show to explain it, but they said they're stic...

Okay, I've been pretty busy, but not quite busy enough to really justify my absence here. I probably could have - should have, even - squeezed in a couple of posts here and there. But I didn't. Catching up: I helped my mom put up her new pool a couple of weeks ago. I spent four hours in the sun without sunscreen while doing it, so I got more than a little scorched. It stung for a couple of days, then itched, and it's been peeling ever since. I haven't actually gotten to swim in the pool yet. I cut off more of my hair,so it's actually only about an inch long all over now - and blonde. I'm hoping it doesn't turn green when I do take advantage of the swimming pool. It's pretty cool. I've gotten a lot of compliments - and one or two glares or raised eyebrows. So what? I'm still a rock star. ;) This weekend I picked some cherries, and I've started a batch of cherry liqueur. This is my first batch. I usually make wine. The liqueur will take much lo...

All day yesterday I kept thinking that I was forgetting something. The date kept repeating in my head. May 25. That means something. I should remember something. I thought it was something I was supposed to do. Maybe a bill to be paid or an assignment that was due or a meeting I was supposed to go to or something for the girls' school. May 25 was something. But I couldn't quite place it. This morning I remembered. It was two years ago. May 25 was the day of my son's graduation. That's not what made the day stick in my head though. On that day, P left me. He left me devastated. I won't bother to replay the situation. It's all be chronicled here before - too much. It was months and months of misery for me - so naturally the date stuck. I felt a little better when I remembered what it was. What felt particularly better was the fact that I HAD forgotten - that I'd managed to forget. No matter how I felt that day two years ago, the fact that I could ever forget t...

I'm going through the early stages of Man United withdrawal already, but it hasn't set in too hard just yet. I staved off a little of my symptoms by watching part of the Inter Milan match. I was quite happy to see them win the Serie A, but I have to admit I had a little hope for Roma as well, since of course my favorite player, Luca Toni, plays for them. Either way, I would not have been unhappy with the results from today's matches, I think. Roma did win their game, but much like United's final win, as far as the league title went, it was largely irrelevant. A bit sad, really. Now that Luca's no longer with Bayern (thank goodness), I won't have any conflicts at all for the Champions League final. I will be pulling for Inter all the way. Of course, I have been ever since Man United were knocked out of that one. By Bayern, no less. Kick their asses for me, Jose. :) After that's over, my footie fixes will depend on the World Cup. First match June 12 between th...

The girls returned from their trip to Illinois this evening. Both of them got sick while they were gone, and Gin's still feeling pretty lousy. When Jen returned the girls to me, she told me she was disgusted by my ex. Join the club. She said he slept the whole time - which I expected. He took Friday off work - even calling me at 7:30 a.m. to tell me that he was taking off and would be spending the whole day with the girls. Jen tells me that he slept the whole day. (Jen is married on one of his coworkers, btw.) She said they went to a family fun center, which is like a Chuck E. Cheese, and he even slept in the booth the whole time. Then, after having told her that he would split the bill with her, when she handed him the receipts, he asked her what the hell those were for. She even bought each of the girls a Webkinz toy and a pair of socks, and he told her he wasn't paying for it. She told me the girls were great and he was lucky to have them and was disgusted by his behavior. S...

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of USC . All opinions are 100% mine. If you're an educator - or an aspiring teacher - you know the importance of education. You also know that applies not only to your students but to yourself as well. Let's face it - the money in teaching isn't great, but the job is one of the most fulfilling you can have. Still, higher pay is a good thing, but the only way often to get that higher pay is by having advanced degrees. Problem - you're working in a career that takes up a lot of your time, and maybe you also have a family to take care of as well. (They probably want to see you sometimes too.) So how can you do both? Fortunately, these days, it's become a little easier. You can pursue your advanced degree while continuing to work and have time for your family too. The USC Rossier School of Education has been ranked #22 in the U.S. and #9 among all private universities by US News and World Report. And you can get your Mast...

I figured out who was lurking here, and finding their way via my full, unfortunate married name. It threw me when I saw the curious searcher was in Dundee, Ill., but apparently my stupid ex-husband doesn't know the difference between Wisconsin and Illinois. He told me he was in Wisconsin, but he said the girls would see Chicago this weekend. Stupid moron. He said I could come along and I told him no. When he asked why, I said, "Because I would have to be around you." When he asked why that was a problem, I said, "Because I don't like you." When he asked why not, I said, "Because you're a loathsome person." Then he asked what that meant. How about a list? (Feel free to skip the rest, if you're not the one this is directed to.) * You're stupid. Honestly, you're one of the most stupid people I've ever known. You don't read. You didn't finish high school. There is absolutely no topic in existence on which you can have an int...

Well, I certainly got an interesting start to my weekend. In fact, I'd planned to write this yesterday, but I was catching up on my sleep after being up all night Friday. I got home from work a little before 2 a.m. after doing the Friday night shift on the desk at work (that was interesting enough, but that's for another time). I got on my computer for my usual "wind-down" time before attempting to go to sleep. About 3 a.m., I hear a knock at the door, but in my room, I can't tell the difference between a knock at our door or the neighbor's (it's a townhouse with four units). The neighbors moved out a short time ago, but they were three college-age boys, so my thought was - it's a drunk friend of the neighbors who doesn't know/remember they moved, or it's a drunk friend of my son's who wants a place to sleep or to convince him to go out. I ignored it the first time, then it came again. I pulled on some pajama bottoms (I was just in a cami a...

What a hectic week! I thought I'd be able to manage it, but I seem to be slipping further and further behind! We've got a reporter on vacation, so I've had to pick up his court duties. I fear I'm failing miserably at it. I got all of two minutes of "training" on it, and it's the court that I've never done before, so I've got no experience at it. That's eating into my hours quite a lot and ensuring some long days. And of course, there's no overtime allowed, so since I haven't mastered the art of bending space and time, I'm falling behind rapidly. I also had a political banquet to cover last night. It was originally thought that it would take about two hours of my time, but then they had to rearrange the speaker schedule, so it took four. Four hours out of my 40 for the week. That's a pretty precious investment. And to top it off, I'm working the night desk tonight. That's always a longer-than-normal day, but I have to go ...

Gin had to get a little tough love tonight. I told her we needed to talk as soon as I got home this afternoon, but she avoided me after, even sneaking off to bed and then saying that she couldn't get up, she didn't want to talk, the OAT is tomorrow (Ohio Achievement Test). Too bad, I told her. You avoided me all day. We talk NOW. I had to stop by the store this afternoon after work, and on my way out, I ran into my friend Ang. She also happens to be the mother of both my daughters' best friends. Or was anyway. Her family's going through an extremely tough time right now. About six weeks ago, her marriage ended. It had been going down for a while, but this time was the end. (Although, he's now having second thoughts and asking her back. Isn't that always the way?) Anyway, he sent Ang and her two daughters, R and C, packing, and they've been staying in a little hotel room ever since. C is Munch's best friend. And R is (or was) Gin's best friend. Ang is...

So I got to have a little bit of excitement yesterday. Another "almost" brush with fame. My history with fame is fairly sweet, really, for a chick living in the middle of nowhere. I dated Sarah Jessica Parker's brother in college for nine months. (Well, dating might be a stretch of definition, but, ahem, I'll leave it at that). I got to party with the rock band Slaughter one night after a show back in my modeling days (was told even that the guitarist was planning to ask me out when he got back to Ohio, but unfortunately, he got married - then died). I even spent three years in a relationship with a bona fide television actor of some niche renown - that was the famous "P" of the early days of this blog (you know, the one who crushed my soul when he dumped me out of the blue) whose name I have not ever and will not ever post here. Yesterday, my boss came out of his office and asked if I'd have a little time to write a story - nothing major, he said. Oh by...

According to Wikipedia (sorry, I'm not researching any harder than that, but I'm going to assume I can take their word on this one) "The principal components of volcanic gases are water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur either as sulfur dioxide (SO2) (high-temperature volcanic gases) or hydrogen sulfide (H2S) (low-temperature volcanic gases), nitrogen, argon, helium, neon, methane, carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Other compounds detected in volcanic gases are oxygen (meteoric), hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen bromide, nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur hexafluoride, carbonyl sulfide, and organic compounds. Exotic trace compounds include methyl mercury, halocarbons (including CFCs), and halogen oxide radicals." This makes me wonder - where are the environmentalists protesting this beast in Iceland? Will the Icelanders be charged massive fines for this pollution? After all, it was quite recently that a per-cow tax was proposed on farmers for the methane g...

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Dermajuv Skin Care Products . All opinions are 100% mine. I'm at that awkward age. With an awkward skin type. Or awkward hormones. Or whatever it is, I get to deal with the beginnings of wrinkles (maybe a wee bit more than beginnings....) as well as acne (which decided to reemerge with a vengeance after giving me a decidedly easy time of it during adolescence). As a result of this brilliant joke by Mother Nature on me, the skin care products industry is reaping the rewards. I'm not completely random about it though. I try a lot of different products, but I generally refuse to shell out the big bucks if I haven't at least had the opportunity to try it. However, if I have had the opportunity to try something, and it seems to offer some improvement, I will absolutely lay out the cash for it. (Little tip to the marketers, those sample packs WORK for selling your product if your product WORKS). And if I find something I love, I...

It was another flashback for me, as I headed out to another newspaper office for a little refresher course on posting news stories to our websites. As it turns out, nothing has changed there, so even though I haven't done that job in a year, it was instantaneous for me to pick back up again. In fact, in posting the first story, I found my fingers automatically doing the things they needed to do without even thinking about them. After I got back to my office after "retraining," I immediately checked the schedule. It was a good thing I did, because I found out I had a meeting to attend just half an hour later. I had time to do no more than copy down my schedule for the week before I had to head out again. Once I sat through that meeting, I went back to the office again, entered my schedule into my Google calendar, wrote the story - and it was time to go home. I got to leave early because I've got another meeting to attend tonight. It should be dreadfully exciting - the ...

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of CryoCell International . All opinions are 100% mine. Science is continually finding new ways to help us stay healthy and new ways of treatment for those illnesses and injuries that befall us. The latest news is that menstrual blood can be used as a source of stem cells. We've all heard of stem cells and the controversy surrounding the harvesting of stem cells from human fetuses. This exciting development means that your moral issues are safe. If stem cells can be extracted from menstrual blood, imagine the possibilities in medical science! The April 2010 issue of Stem Cells and Development features cover story about stem cells from menstrual blood and its potential to help victims of stroke. In testing, scientists found that the stem cells significantly reduced cell death and significantly reduced behavioral and histological impairments. Read the 'Stem Cells and Development' article and find out more for yourself. Menstr...