Halloween

Halloween is cool. It is fun to get dressed up. Candy is yummy.

We are apparently all getting old enough to not want to party all night on a work-night. The party broke up at 9:30 tonight. Of course, it wasn't that big to begin with. Anyway, I had fun. My costume was cool. 'Nough said.

What's the Sitch?

It must be fall - daylight savings time is over. Even if it was 80 deg outside today. I don't think I'm ever going to get used to Houston weather.

I'm just now getting around to watching the DVDs I got for my birthday. First up: "Kim Possible - The Secret Files". If you've never seen this show, it's one of the best new cartoons on TV. It has monkey ninjas, spinning tops of doom, and a naked mole rat. It gave us such great quotes as:

"You don't deserve to be kissed by a naked mole rat."

"You mean my arch-nemesis is your old college friend?"
"Well, he didn't used to be blue, I can tell you that much."

"Dad, you're a rocket scientist. Can't you do something?"
"Well, I could put it in geosynchronous orbit, but I don't see how that would help."

Check it out on Disney Channel.

Nothing Much

Today is another one of those days where I open up my blog post window and sit there staring at it for a long time wondering what to write. Softball was fun, I'm still tired, yadda, yadda, yadda. Ah, the amazingly boring life of Jen.

On a different note:
I love dogs.

Sarah the Wonderwoman

Sarah had the best WS experience ever.

Here she posts while working for MLB photography.
Here she experiences a WS victory celebration from the field.
Here she gets the last word.

The End

Crap.

Actually, the end of the baseball season comes as almost a relief. The schedule was killing me. I feel like I've been hit by a bus today. Not enough sleep and way too much stress.

Getting to see 7 post-season games live and in person was incredible. Being at the World Series was byond incredible. I wish that Backe had gotten a win after pitching so well. I wish Bagwell had gotten a hit. I wish that Lidge had ended the season on a high note.

In the end, though, I'm just glad I was there.

Annoying

You know what I hate? When people say things like this...

"We are canceling all Softball, Volleyball, and Basketball games this week. If the Astros get swept in four games we will play softball and basketball on Thursday night!"

Shut thy mouth, thou bringer of evil thoughts!

Open it!

Stubborn

I just finished listening to 3 1/2 hours of USC kicking the Huskies' ass. I'm so damn stubborn about sports. It doesn't matter if the writing is on the wall, I have to listen to the whole damn thing anyway. All I have to say is, that better be the only losing a team I'm rooting for does today. And damn again.

Another thing I'm stubborn about is keeping promises, whether they be to someone else or just myself. It doesn't matter if anyone will ever know I kept it. The reason I bring this up is that I made a promise to myself (and to Amazon.com review readers) that I wouldn't buy Wheel of Time Book 11, Knife of Dreams, in hardback. I made this promise because I'm sick of fantasy authors that write 4-5 really good books and then wander lost forever in the worlds they themselves created. I've invested a lot of time in this story, however, and not reading it at all is hard. I managed to secure a copy of the new book from the library. 133 pages in, nothing has happened yet. Go figure. Damn.

Can't Wait

Funny kid story

Which Sci Fi Character Are You

Going to the Big Dance

I HAVE WORLD SERIES TICKETS!!!!!!!!!!!! Sarah's sister Katie is tied for the MOST WONDERFUL person in the world aside Sarah herself who loves me enough to pick me as a worthy recipient of these tickets.

It's gone! It's gone! It's gone!

Fast Forward

OK, yeah, I haven't written for a week. Sorry.

Synopsis: Baseball, family stuff, more baseball, Chicago the musical, more baseball, jury duty, more baseball.

I am VERY, VERY excited that the Astros are going to the World Series. I am disappointed that they didn't win it in Houston. That would have been such a party! Instead I watched from home, which just isn't the same. Oh, well, at least they're in.

WS tickets are impossible to get (except for Sarah, 'cause she's crazy-lucky). So, I'll have to settle for trying to find parties. Won't be hard. It's nice to be in a baseball-crazy city again. Last time I felt this much baseball excitement was '95 Mariners.

Jury duty sucks. It's either boring, or disturbing. There's not much in between. I do have some amusing stories, but I can't tell them. :P

Overheard

"Wait, I don't understand. Why would he call that guy a bitch? Was he drunk?"

Said by a man old enough to be my grandfather, who was very confused when he heard bitch applied to a male.

TGIF

I can't believe it's finally/already Friday. Do you know that feeling? This week sucked, but it went fast too. Next week should be not nearly as bad.

I realized yesterday that I have to leave the dogs at Becca's when we go to Conroe this weekend. We're going to the baseball game on the way home, so we can't really leave them in the car all afternoon. The dogs be disappointed, as will the in-laws and Gavin since he's been out of town, but it can't be helped.

Last night was good. We won our softball game handily thanks to great hitting. Then I joined the CK household for Mely's. Mely's is good.

I'm Tired

I don't like this schedule I'm keeping. I feel like I'm hanging on by my fingernails. And it's only Wednesday.

(Damn Cardinals!)

My sister got me Flight Controller Pete for my birthday. :) He's an action figure with a pocket protector and a coffee mug with the NASA meatball on it. I actually got a mug like that when I started working at NASA, but I broke it one morning on my way in from the parking lot.

Crazy Day

My life has suddenly become incredibly busy. I have 3 sims this week. 1.5 days of jury duty. A outing to Chicago the musical. Conroe for the weekend to see family. Two baseball games Sunday and Monday. 2 days of jury duty next week. And on, and on. My life seemed fairly simple a week ago.

My birthday was nice. It's always great when it happens to fall on Columbus Day and I get the day off for free. We went out to dinner in Kemah, although it was kind of last minute and lots of people couldn't come. It was a good time, though.

Good Things

Where to start?

Good thing #1) I finally figured out how to make Flickr accept photos from my phone AND how to create a badge for the blog. :)

Good thing #2) In 45 minutes, it will be my birthday.

Good thing #3) Having tickets for baseball playoff games ROCKS!

Good thing #4) 6 hours and 18 innings of post-season play.

Good thing #5) Astros to the NLCS baby!

I Am...

Annoyed.

That is all.

Climate Change

Tomorrow may actually feel sort of like fall. I am absurdly happy to see that the high temperature predicted for tomorrow is only 78 deg. But it is going to be very, very, VERY nice.

I was pretty tired when I got home yesterday, and I snoozed for about three hours - half the Astros game and an hour or so of friends. I love snoozing in front of a baseball game on TV. The only thing that would be nicer is to be able to snooze outside in front of a baseball game in my yard. I don't think that's going to happen, though, regardless of temperature. Hurricane Rita may not have blown Houston down or flooded us out, but the mosquitos that have arrived since the storm are making it miserable to be outside for any length of time.

That reminds me - I'd better bring bug spray to the softball game tonight.

Jury Duty

Today rather than going to work I drove to Galveston to report for a jury summons. I was a bit late leaving the house, and then when I got down there, the garage was full. So I had to drive around until I found a place that wasn't metered (I knew I'd be in the courthouse way longer than any meter allows), and then walk a few blocks back to the courthouse. I was about 15 minutes late, and nothing sucks more than walking into a courtroom late after everybody else has taken seats and quieted down.

With that start to the day, I bet you can guess what happened next. Yep! Second name called as selected for the jury was me. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that this summons was for a grand jury. Selection to this jury comes with a three-month commitment of 1-2 days per week.

Nooooooooo!

You know you want children when things like this just make you smile wistfully.

Orca Fat

I hate how American culture is so obsessed with being skinny. I was watching Friends re-runs last night, and I'm just struck with how painfully skinny any woman in the entertainment biz has to be. Seriously, girls. If you can see the shape of your collar bone YOU ARE TOO SKINNY! Then there's the embarrasment you are expected to feel about your weight. I was watching another TV show where a guy guessed a woman's weight as 140 lb and she got all mad at him. 140! OK, for the record: my current weight is 167. When I'm being very good, exercising, and eating right I can maintain something in the low-150's range. And, PS, I think I look OK.

What's ironic, though, is that although we're all supposed to be able to count our ribs most people seem to think that exercise is something that should be done only in secret and happens to other people. Everybody that runs or bikes on the roads around here has stories of people in cars throwing stuff at them, swerving toward them and then away, or in one case pulling a gun out and telling them to get off "their" road. (OK, I admit I heard that one third hand, but still.) Last year, a friend and I went to a parking garage once a week with our backpacks to attempt to train for our Long's Peak trip. You would think we'd sprouted some kind of massive, gross tumors from the looks.

Don't know why that bothers me more today than usual, but there you are.

I am Zoe!

Cool! Although Kaylee is and always will be my favorite, for myself I think I identify with Zoe more. Good quiz!

You scored as Zoe Alleyne Washburne. The Soldier. You are the second in command, and that is fine. You like a chain of command, but only when the one in charge has earnt your respect. Those who earn your love or loyalty will find no one better to guard their back. Zoe Alleyne Washburne 75% Capt. Mal Reynolds 69% Simon Tam 56% The Operative 56% Kaylee Frye 50% Shepherd Derrial Book 50% Inara Serra 44% River Tam 38% Hoban 'Wash' Washburne 38% Jayne Cobb 38% Which Serenity character are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Is it Fall Yet?

I got out all my fall and Halloween decorations this weekend. It really doesn’t feel like fall yet; the high was over 90 deg today. It’s October, though, and what can I say? I love Halloween. Plus, I was in Target tonight and I saw this cool costume. It was actually pretty nice and only $40. I may buy it. Or I may get ambitious and use my sewing machine again.

Sarah, Jason, Debbie, and I went to Minute Maid park this weekend and saw the Astros win the NL Wild Card. We have playoff tickets, too. :) I could get used to this post-season thing. I never got to see any post-season games in Seattle. It is soooo cool.