Practice Makes Perfect

Today was pretty uneventful for me. Just another work day. I did exercise, though (biking). And despite not feeling great yesterday, I did take a walk. The point is not to walk, but to MOVE. I sit around far too much.

I did work all day, which is why my post is so late. And I couldn’t think of any exciting photos to share. So I made one.

I’ve been working on my PhotoShop technique. I took an otherwise boring picture and made it look sort of interesting. I think so, anyway.

Because I have absolutely nothing to talk about, I’ll stop here. Besides, the Olympics is on. I am missing women’s synchronized diving!

Let me know if you enjoyed today’s attempt at “art” (the picture).

Hey There, Pussycat

This past weekend was relatively uneventful. Mike went to WV to retrieve some stuff he inadvertently left behind. I stayed home to do some stuff I never seem to have time to do. Mainly because we spend all of our weekends in WV and I just don’t have much spare time during the week.

Saturday morning, as I was contemplating where to begin (what errand to run first), I noticed Muffin, our youngest cat, curled up on the dog bed. I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures. This is one of them.

She does have pretty, green eyes. But not this green. I was experimenting with PhotoShop and thought the end result (the picture shown here) was sort of cool. So I decided to share it.

By the way, I haven’t walked yet today, but I will. So don’t call me a loser yet.

Have a happy Monday!

Cool in a Weird Way

My middle child — Amy — found a cool Web site yesterday. It’s WORDLE. It takes chunks of text, extracts the words, and arranges them into an image.

The words you use most are bigger than the words you use the least. It will work on any Web page with text (like a Blog page). Or you can cut and past any block of text into it.

My wordle for Friday is posted above. It sort of looks like a foot, doesn’t it? Apparently, I need to write about people more.

It is kind of fun. If you decide to try it and want to share your wordle, leave a comment with a link so all my loyal readers can see it, too.

A Boy and His Laundry

The “baby” of the family–Eric–is almost 19 and still living at home. He’s not a college boy, but he is working at a real job.

Eric was having a little difficulty waking up this morning. So he threw his laundry into the washing machine and went back to bed. After asking me to call him when it was finished, that is.

When the washer stopped, I decided to be nice and throw the wet clothes into the dryer for him. I’m nice like that SOMETIMES, but not very often.

Now, we did teach Eric how to do laundry. He’s been doing it for years. Yet the first thing I noticed was the mix of colors. As evidenced in the photo above, there were tan shorts, a dark-brown shirt, a black shirt, red flannel boxers, and white socks (not the entire contents of the washer, just a sampling).

I’m big on sorting stuff. I usually segregate the laundry into at least five piles: darks, lights, whites, denim and towels. I guess he doesn’t care if his whites aren’t all that white. No biggie. I just kept moving the wet clothes into the dryer.

Then I noticed the scissors. Laying at the bottom of the washer. Next to a metal rivet.

I thought to myself, “Well, that’s probably one of the oddest things I’ve seen in the washing machine.” My mind automatically began cataloging some of my past finds. Money, of course, both paper and coins, is found most often. Then there were nails, screws, binder clips, buttons, gum (Hubby HATES when that happens, especially if it makes it to the dryer). That’s all stuff one might expect to inadvertently leave in a pocket. But scissors?

When I asked, he said they are electrician’s scissors (a tool he needs for work) and that he’d been looking for them. I guess it isn’t that odd after all.

I wanted to take a picture of him before he left to post here on my Blog, but he was unshaven and half asleep. I asked if he’d shave for me, and told him I wanted to take a picture. I left out the “to post on my Blog” part.

He declined. Maybe next time…

P.S. – I decided to move the activity updates to the end of my Blog. And I decided that alternate forms of exercise count, too. So, I am still at it. In case anyone cares.

Speaking of caring, Eric never reads my Blog, so he’ll never know he was my main topic for the day.

Two for Two and Cute Doggie Lips

Yep, I walked again today. With Meg, who actually might need the walks just as much as I do. But for different reasons. Which I won’t go into because I spend far too much time talking about Meg.

She’s not our only dog, you know.

There’s also CeCe, our little princess, who was, after all, our first dog. I can’t take C along because she has issues. Lots of issues, actually, but the one that prevents me from taking her along is intestinal. The poor girl has had diarrhea off and on for a while now. We’re still trying to get to the bottom of it (yes, we’ve been to the vet).

When she has to go, she has to go. The end result is usually a puddle. So, if she goes on someone’s lawn, I can’t pick it up. Then my neighbors would consider me one of THOSE PEOPLE that don’t pick up after their pets!

When we left this morning, C was busy chewing her “chewy.” In this case, a bully stick. You don’t REALLY want to know what that is, so just think of it as a dog treat. Which it is, of course.

C loves them. Just look at the way she is focused. What I find interesting is how she uses her hands to hang on to it while she chews.

The girl is in dire need of a pedicure. Which she hates, by the way. Just another one of her many issues.

One of the things I love about C is her hairy lips. Looking at her hairy lips, that is. Aren’t they cute? Seriously.

This is one of the pictures her foster mom sent me when we were considering adoption. I just couldn’t say no to those lips. The rest of her body looked pretty pathetic (she was neglected and seriously underweight).

Could you say no to those lips? I mean, really. Aside from the hair, don’t they look painted on? And puckered into a kiss? Mike and I sure thought so. Especially since, at the time, Amy favored lipstick that was almost exactly that color (sorry, Amy, but it is true).

Here, have a closer look…

Lucky for us, C is not a kisser. But I still think she has really cute lips.

Making Changes, One Step at a Time

For a long time now, I’ve not been real happy with the fact that my girth keeps expanding with age. It isn’t just age, it is lack of activity.

It was bad enough when I worked in an office where I was up and down all day, getting stuff off the printer, chasing folks down, going to the lunchroom for drinks (uh…snacks, too), and even occasionally walking across the parking lot for lunch.

Now that I work as a “regional” employee (from my home office), my printer is within arm’s reach. I chase folks down via phone and e-mail. I hardly ever go to lunch and when I do, I drive. I do walk downstairs to the kitchen for drinks, but I tend to graze at the same time. On junk, of course.

No wonder my fat ass keeps getting fatter!

As you can see in this picture (the most-recent one I have), I’m not morbidly obese or anything. In fact, some people might not even call me fat. My girlfriend, Carol, says it is just that I am not used to having some meat on my bones.

That could be the case, but I feel fat. And I am tired of having to buy larger and larger sizes!

For some time, I’ve thought about walking in the morning. Well, I finally got off my lazy ass this morning and did it. And you know what? Aside from the humidity, it felt pretty good. I took Meg with me, too. She actually walked like a civilized dog. And it made her happy for a change!

I am determined to make this walking thing a habit. I figured if I told the world via this humble little Blog, the whole world would know I’m a loser if I stop. So, world, make sure you call me a loser regularly if I stop walking (or exercising in some alternate way if it rains/snows).

I guess that’s it for today. Now I need to hurry and grab that Twinkie and Frappuccino before I have to start working. I’m kidding, of course, though I do love my Java Chip Frappuccino once in a while.

Wish me luck on my quest for a slimmer, healthier me.