omg it is soooooooooooooooooooo warm outside! the freaky thunder and rain storms have receded a bit, just a few grumbles and sprinkles now. I see the sun!!!!

open your windows! the air smells good! (where I am at) get outside!

play hookey! find a basketball court!

Its March and it really feels like spring. YAY!

After a few nights of insomnia, I finally crashed Thursday night and slept quite a bit. It felt good to catch up on sleep, until I found myself falling back asleep just a few short hours later. This would have been yesterday, the warm sun filled day. I dozed deeply until about 5 pm. My plans to explore an unknown destination were now derailed. I quickly jumped out of bed (again), threw on clothes and ran out the door to try to salvage the remaining daylight hours.

I hiked, I walked, I trudged through spring sludge, I breathed, I jogged, I climbed hills, chatted with strangers, laughed, observed nature, contemplated and soaked up the still brightly lit sky.

Met a dog named Guinness, haha. The little white ball of fluff tried to eat me.

A bench high up on a hill provided me with a few minutes of solitude to rest and look out at what appeared to be a screen of bright blue. The water and sky reflected the same color, making the view in front of me feel and look surreal. As always, I enjoyed the experience of it.

The sky had a few remaining streaks of light as I wrapped up my late afternoon romp.

and that would have been almost 8:00 pm! I love the longer days!!!!!

While I had originally planned on a day trek out somewhere else (close eyes, point to map, finger lands on destination of the day), this short 'journey' sufficed. Not bad for last minute damage control.

The desire to go out today was strong, although the persistent rain has been unappealing enough to keep me home. Sometimes I like walking in the rain, other times, such as today, it does not interest me at all. I'm pining for some more sunshine. I am however, figuring out my next few destinations and activities.

.. and figuring out a few other things out as well. All in time, all in time..

Right now though, I am making a cup of coffee and heading out into my attached garage, kitties in tow, to begin organizing, cleaning, purging the items contained within. Its been a super busy two years and this is pretty much the last of the purging process that I began several weeks ago. I wonder what kind of forgotten treasures I will find?

The weekend is half over... wonder what else there is to do. I hope to find something fun and interesting to do socially, yet I am not ambitious enough to make sure it happens. Default activity will be to finish reading my national geographic adventure magazine to further fill my head with ideas :)

lots of places to go, things to do..

wow, I should have begun using this well before today!

I received a juicer as a gift some time ago. I recall prior to ownership, pondering whether I would actually use one. Would I use it? The idea of having one intrigued me, but not enough to actually go buy one myself. I like veggie juice, but it is usually insanely loaded with salt, something I am not fond of. The low sodium variety is still too salty tasting to me (and usually more expensive). The cool new natural vegetable and fruit health juices, "Naked" (no salt!!) and other brands, are yummy, but at 4$ or more a bottle, I rarely purchase them.

I've also been cooking and baking a lot more- which always has veggies/fruits embedded within. It would be perfect to add the remaining pulp to just about anything. Mmmmm muffins, soups, chili, meatballs, etc. Soooooooo dusting off my unopened box containing a Hamilton Beach juicer, I bought some veggies today and began to beat them to a pulp.

The blade is scary.

It really does juice anything.

It is suggested to load the juicer completely to get the best juicingfriction and to slowly push the food down to get the most juice. I would love to be a technical writer for contraptions like these. I would push the limit on terminology. Suggestive innuendos, indeed. It scared me when I first turned it on. Loud and scary- but not any more so than a blender. Oh and it was quick.

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all the fresh veggies...

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its makes a lot of juice, quick.

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kinda freaky looking. Made me think of Fraggle Rocks, "Trash Heap"- where'd that come from???

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yummy!

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• pics aren't showing up. Perhaps too big? I'll check it later. Right now I am working on making a lentil soup with the remaining pulp. Should be yum yum yum!

In a mood for a movie, I turn to my friends for suggestions and reviews. I'm leaning more toward ridiculous comedy, but the only movie any of my friends have seen, seem to be, "300". I hadn't thought about it much until one of their reviews was so eloquently stated to me:

"300 six-packs running around in banana hammocks is reason enough. go, go now."

lol!

and msnbc chimes in with, "Zack Snyder's opulent eye-candy remake, "300," ... is one of 2007's most anticipated movies."



What I am waiting to see, is "Blades of Glory" a movie that indeed looks like ridiculous and brainless fun. or not. Previews have made me giggle and that is about all I need.




on another note.. is it normal to be able to walk into a hospital, go up to the patient floor, and walk into a room completely unnoticed? I mean, it just seems so.. accessible. I never visited anyone in the hospital before, and it seems that there would be a check in of some sort..

Recently, I heard Joey giving one of his toys a pretty fair beating. He is a busy cat and I swear he sleeps only at night. Well, ever curious as to what he found to amuse himself, I looked in on his playtime. And I grabbed the camera of course :)












I do believe he was making a bit of a political statement...




and I will spare you the other 500 pictures I took, haha

Just received my weekly ComputerWorld fix. I am linking the following article for those who are Firefox users- particularly those interested in extensions. I have a few add-ins to make my browsing experience more delightful- however there are so many, that I might be missing out on some really helpful ones. The article ferrets out the "20 Must-have Firefox extensions". I enjoyed going through what their opinion is of the add-ins--and what can be expected. The dirt on them may save me time with d/l. I had hoped for a review on Jet Packs.. alas I will just have to give it a try myself. enjoy!

Page 5 has goodies for coders/developers.

Weird.. daylight saving time occurs this weekend. I forgot it would be early this year. Three weeks early!

everything you ever wanted to know about DST but didn't care enough to ask:

:)

I'm not obsessed, I just wasn't sure exactly what flavor the coveted Shamrock Shakes actually are. (to answer (e:leetee) ) Shamrock? ;) Mint? Kinda, but not really.. So I decided to do a little research.

This article cracked me up. This guy was on the search for the shake, and his commentary of his adventures were humorous to read, along with the pictures and commercials of McDonalds ads from long ago.

Whatever happened to Grimace, the Fry Guys and that Hamburgler???

and so, I read on.. laughing.. and now sharing. The link to the site/article is below, if you have a few minutes.

I don't even like McDs. Other than the fries, an occasional shake, and the yearly Shamrock Shake- just because.

"There is a significant Irish population in my town. There is a significant number of McDonald's restaurants in my town. Yet, there are no Shamrock Shakes. Not even during March. It's a fact that haunts me year after year, and a fact that doesn't process as such because, year after year, I hit every McDonald's in the whole damn city...just to be safe. As you might guess, this whole thing has become more than a simple pining for a good milkshake. It's a war. It's a life goal. It isn't so much about finding and devouring a Shamrock Shake and it is about just finding a Shamrock Shake,..."

Florida is sounding really good to me right now and not just because of the arctic deep freeze we have been experiencing for the past month (brrrrrr!!); although it certainly bolsters my desire!!

I just keep hearing about Florida.. family.. friends..epeeps. travel.. all these things that have been planting a travel seed in my mind; of course, not just Florida, but for some reason I am feeling drawn to it. Been there, done that, but would certainly do it again. Perhaps a little trip to the Keys, hmmmm ?

pack my backpack of essentials (book, undies, lipgloss), pack my camera and I am off to explore.

Lets see what develops..

I'm working on getting my passport as well :)

and while all that figures itself out, I am doing some local day travels, camera in hand- cold ass weather and all. Simply heading wherever I feel drawn.. life is good!

PS- Shamrock Shake time!

a few shots taken while cross country skiing.

There are some water ones that I am holding off on, for now :)
































Wherever there is shadow, there is light..