I'm buying myself a can of soda to go with lunch...

What are you splurging on? :)

Mexican Jumping Beans.

Discuss.

Or not.

Today on the radio, the D.J's read a letter from a guy worried about making an impression on a first date when he was financially strapped.

It got me to thinking about my first date with breimh. It was simple: Dinner at Red Robin (he didn't eat, he'd already eaten, the silly boy), and a movie (The Addam's Family). Not a really high-end date, and I was the one paying.

What would you consider your most successful date? Even if you didn't stay with the other person afterwards. Was it frugal? Pricey? Fun? Romantic? What REALLY worked for you?

I was musing, as I often do, on my way in to work today, and somehow my mind churned up the United States Pledge of Allegiance.

"I pledge allegiance
To the flag
Of the United States of America,
And to the Republic,
For which it stands,
One Nation,
Under God,
Indivisable,
With liberty and justice for all"

When I was a child, at least until fifth grade, we recited this every morning, first thing, standing with our hands over our hearts, facing the flag. There was one kid in class who didn't do it. His family were Jehovah's Witnesses, and once when I asked why he didn't do the pledge, he pointed out that his family didn't pledge to anything but God.

It was a curiosity to me, nothing more.

This morning, though, I got to thinking. Not about the whole "Under God" or even the Jehovah's Witness or any other religious choice not to do the pledge, but the fact that we were binding children to an oath when minors are not able to understand what it means.

Think about it. Citizenship is a right but it is also a choice. Any "American" has the right to leave the country and petition for citizenship elsewhere, no repercussions involved. At least not from the U.S. (though that may not be the case anymore, there may be suspicions). In addition, no minor can enter into a binding agreement by themselves (okay, the parents likely were presumed to give their consent, but as far as I know there was nothing signed, and if parents didn't want their children doing the pledge they had to record it with the school). And there we are, making them re-affirm this "allegiance" every school day.

I don't know if they still do this in schools, though the objections about "Under God" imply that they do, at least in most public schools.

I think, if I were In Charge of anything involving this, or really wanting to make waves, I'd be objecting that any child under the age of 13 be made, by implied permission or not, to recite the Pledge. When they are old enough to understand, after they've learned something about what they are really doing, yes, they can do it by choice. Thirteen is old enough for certain PG movies, so it should be old enough, in most cases, to take an oath.

Before that, wouldn't it be better to do a daily affirmation of self? Something promising to try to do their best to be the best person they can be?

Well, that's my thought of the day.

I've just been so busy this year, my LJ is suffering.

Anyhow, the current problem issue is a pinched nerve in my lower back, caused by a moderate case of arthritis. The result is excruciating pains shooting down my left leg, unless I'm heavily dosed in pain relievers. Right now I am hoping that I can get it to ease up, because I can't afford the chiropractor, or the physical therapy that may be needed to do something otherwise.

A lot has been going on with the USS Aurora, our STARFLEET International Fan Association chapter. We "deployed" as a full chapter at Norwescon 32 on April 11th, with a great ceremony. For several weeks before I was tearing my hair out over making a uniform jacket for breimh, which was my first major sewing project with my sewing machine... or at all, for that matter. It looks like a 12-year old made it... which is pretty good, actually. I still have tweaks to do on it to fix it... and several more to make when time/materials are available. I did complete one for Da'alrakken just last night... and he looks pretty good in it.

The primary thing that drew me to this post today was three memorable dreams I wanted to log today. Well, actually, just one. It's significant in that it ties in with a dream Breimh had some time ago... probably inspired by the cat he saw at the pet store: http://breimh.livejournal.com/2008/12/05/.

In the dream I kept seeing a stray smoke gray kitten. I would pet it when I saw it, and it was friendly. In the dream I was heading out somewhere, and found it curled up at the end of a grassy strip, in an area where the grass had been dug out, leaving a little hole. It purred when I scritched it's ears. As I walked down the street I saw a guy on a riding lawn mower start to mow the grass. I didn't at all feel alarmed, until the guy suddenly let out a yelp. I turned around, realizing as he did that he had run the mower over the kitten! I ran back, found the kitten unfazed with only the slightest graze across one eartip. I picked it up and decided I just couldn't leave it out in the wild anymore! It purred in my arms.

My other two dreams involved my boss and her husband and a very old prop airplane, and my parents trying to be helpful by cleaning out my car and mistakingly removing items that I want left in (like my cane).

Anyhow... that's enough for now. Someone remind Mother Nature that it's Spring please?

Hi.

It's been a while since I've posted anything intelligible. Or even public. This is mostly because I've been REALLY busy at work and wiped out when I'm at home, and also because I've been busy at home.

The last three weeks have been complicated by breimh having a pinched nerve in his neck causing him a great deal of pain. Plus I came down with a flu bug that had me achey and fevered for a week or so. I'm much better now.

What have I been up to?

So many things.

I'm still covering for nylima at work as she is still on medical leave. Yesterday she was able to give her return to work date, and that was good to hear. Some days it's good to have the extra work, some days I don't know whether to fish or cut bait.

The STARFLEET chapter, the USS Aurora has me busy right now with trying to get our uniform jackets STARTED, much less completed, so they will be ready by April 11th. That's the day our ship "deploys" officially, meaning we become a full-fledged chapter of STARFLEET, rather than a chapter-in-training. Lots of complications have arisen because of the jackets. First was finding a pattern that was close enough to change. Then getting the pattern into our hot little hands. Then tracing the patterns to distribute. Then figuring out how to adjust them. Then replacing a missing part on my sewing machine.

I have 2 patterns I need to enlarge, cut, sew and fit in four weeks. I've gotten nowhere.

However, in the process, I've had an Epiphany about how a person's measurements apply to patterns. I know how to adjust a pattern now. I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to do this. Once I get the tracing paper big enough to work on. It was a sudden correlation of "this measurement means that on a pattern" that had me so brain active while I was sick I couldn't get any rest.

It's my hope this coming weekend to not only get started on trying out the patterns, but to do most of the work on our ship flags. Here's hoping.

We've also been gathering coupons for one of our charities. I spent two nights this week cutting, sorting and tallying coupons. We'll be sending them out next week through our Charities Liaison Officer of our chapter.

Another distraction is our aquarium. Our two starter fish, a pair of green neon tetras, have survived for a month now, and have been joined by a pigmy cory and an algae eater which I just call an oto. The fish have names. The two tetras are "Scout" and "Trooper" and the cory is "Worf", while the oto is "Odo". The names are breimh's ideas.

Lastly, I haven't been spending much time online, though what time I do spend on there is for e-mail, webcomics, Neopets and games on Facebook. My current passion on the latter of those is Farm Town, which is almost zen-like in nature. You plant crops, harvest them, plant more crops... but it's interactive, as you are encouraged to "hire" people to harvest for you and there are chat areas. Your friends can also send you trees and animals to enhance your farm.

Next week I'm taking three days off from work. Next Tuesday, the 17th, breimh and I will be celebrating our 15th Wedding Anniversary. Traditionally that means Crystal gifts, modern is watches, or Roses. I don't want roses (allergies in the household), watches never last... but crystal is nice. ;) I actually plan on doing the aforementioned sewing, some web site work for our STARFLEET chapter, and maybe some other crafts. My "to do" list is pretty long.

So, that's it. That's why you haven't "seen" much of me. After April things MIGHT ease up a bit, but not highly likely. Today's been a rather slow work day, so that's why you got this. :)

I do keep reading LJ though... so I'm keepin' an eye on y'all if you post.

Oh, and eredien? Happy Early Birthday! I may not get a post in on time otherwise. ;)

I'm still here. I've just had so much going on at home and at work that I haven't found the time (or energy) to make proper updates. I'll be filling in blanks later.

breimh is struggling with a pinched nerve in his neck, which causes him a great deal of pain in his shoulder and left arm... and since he's a leftie that leaves him unable to do a lot of things. The pain seems to be reducing but only in tiny, tiny increments. His prescription medications have been used up, so he's over-the-counter drugging, as well as other therapies.

If you're reading his LJ, you know we have fish now. Our original 2 gallon tank had to be returned because the aerator/undergravel filter became quite violent suddenly, the same day we put our two starter fish into the tank. Two little green neon tetras... they were being terrorized by huge explosions of bubbles. We now have a 3 gallon tank and while they're still a bit skittish to neurotic, the two fish have survived the weekend, despite having been moved through three tanks in 48 hours.

We'll be adding more fish, but not for a couple weeks. A few more tetras, they're small, an algae eater, and a cory. We're watching the sizes to make sure we don't overwhelm the tank, but two little fish in a 3 gallon tank get lost!

If you haven't been following nylima's LJ, she's doing much better. She can now walk on her foot and will be able to drive as well, though she isn't quite ready to return to our storey and a half upward climb of stairs at work. I think when she does return, I'll likely be throwing a party... at least in my head!

In three weeks breimh and I will be celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary. I think he and his mother are conspiring to make sure we have something special going on, but I'm not being nosey. As long as I know where I'll be driving ;). The fish tank I bought was for this anniversary, as it's something breimh has wanted as long as I've been with him. :)

Not much else to report. I've avoided getting my annual birthday cold, though I think I'm coming down with a little something now. Hopefully it'll just blow over gently. I don't need to be sick right now, for so many reasons!

Thanks for testing the waters for me again!

I hope you find some bright shiney spots in this year!

Remember to have loads of fun playing with your dolls! ;)

Birthdays are good for you... the more you have, the longer you live. :)

As I expected, I got more Build a Bears yesterday. :)

At the store I had planned to get a Jack Russel terrier. Instead I picked up their first quarterly bear, which is pink with darker pink flowers and green stems. breimh picked up their allergy-friendly gray kitty. Then, stopping at Goodwill I found one of the Pigs, and a scruffy puppy of the new release, as well as a St Patricks' bear, which breimh wanted. After that we hit Value Village, where we found another Unicorn (wearing someone's home-made and rather cute pinafore), a frog, and a pink poodle, both in clothing. We also found a classic teddy in clothes. Clothes are a good find, even though Value Villiage tends to charge higher for those!

We were also able to dine out at my favorite Teppan Yaki restaurant... nums! It did snow a lot of the day, but it wasn't horrible. It melted on pavement, which is a perfect snowfall as far as I'm concerned. But my uncle didn't feel quite the same, as he rides his electric chair from his home to a restaurant a little ways away, and he was out in the snow that way. :)

I had a great party yesterday! So many friends showed up, and even folks I didn't expect! We had a really full house... and hopefully no one was horribly uncomfortable.

There was much good food, many great conversations, and a singalong of "So Long and Thanks For All The Fish" instead of the old "Happy Birthday" song. We were horribly off tune, and lovin' it!

In the fish theme we had 4 kinds of gummy fish (Swedish fish, gummy sharks, cherry gummy mini-sharks with liquid centers, and gummy see-through fish that you could peel away their abdomen (clear gummy with some color to make it look like you were seeing organs) so you just had the head, tail, and backbone), three different flavors of Goldfish Crackers, shrimpz (pretending to be reject babelfish), and salmon stew. We also had pizza and other snacks. It was great.

We also had about ten pounds of gently used towels donated for the local Animal Shelter. Some folks forgot their towels, so we'll be giving them time to donate before we take them in.

Today breimh and I are going out to spend my birthday money. Where? Build a Bear, of course. And a couple thrift stores. Betcha I come back with more than $100 worth of bears, for a lot less than that!

Oh... wow. It's snowing!

I turned the answer today.

Later today we have friends coming over. We have shrimpz, cakes, and other goodies waiting.

On a different note, the last couple of weeks have been rather odd for the weather. We had a high pressure lid cover the region, which seemed to trap this one, nasty, wandering fog. One day it would be heavy south, next north. And mixed in was awful, awful smog. Like an evil thing. breimh was having a terrible time, and even I started feeling the effects.

It's over now. Yay!

I go now. Am old.

I got off work early today, and breimh and I took advantage of some birthday gift money to go running around and finding stuff needed for my party tomorrow, and a few things for me. It's all about me, you know.

I hope the party will be fun for people. A number have promised to show up, but a lot are busy.

Some years ago miladyblue pointed out that January 24th is considered the "Worst Day" of the year. She laughed. I giggled, but it's close to true. All those financial reports start coming out, Christmas credit spending starts to come due. What a sucky day. ;)

New President Day Two: No change in economy. President = Fail.

Just kidding! IF things turn around, it's going to take years. Gotta tighten the belt and pray.

At least tomorrow I get a half day off. The morning is gonna be hectic, but I'll survive.

It's Penguin Awareness Day

That is all.

Though today is a National Holiday, it is one of the few that the staff for my office is paid holiday pay for, but expected to work. This is because a lot of businesses don't actually observe the day by closing. So, instead of a quiet holiday like Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years, it's actually pretty darned busy.

We had some mysterious programming issues on one client's account come up today, at the same time as one of our highest maintenance clients gave me an anxiety attack. I got through the issue, but I hope I don't have to deal with it again!

The best part about today was the nearly speed-limit drive home... I guess a few people did stay home.

Today breimh, Silverwolf, Plaztech, Saros, Saros' guest North and I all joyed the crew of the USS Thermopylae at their monthly ship meeting. As a "shuttle", or Chapter In Training, the USS Aurora was encouraged to attend a meeting of their "Mother Ship", but as the USS Black Hawk is way out in Indiana, and thus a bit difficult to visit, we chose the Thermopylae as a surrogate.

I tell you, never have I felt so welcomed amongst strangers. True, we had met our Regional Coordinator and her husband, who is also the XO of the Thermopylae, before, but it's still heartening to have hugs almost demanded even on just the second meeting. The other crew members, most in hand-made, if not self-made uniforms, were just as friendly. We had also met the CO and XO of the USS Daniel Soule before, and the CO and Silverwolf hit it off quite well.

It was educational to see how another ship conducts business. As it was a crew meeting rather than a Department Head meeting, it was more relaxed and casual, I think. And relatively short. They awarded rank certificates to their handful of cadets, and received reports from various departments.

The home we met in was definately a Trekkie's. He had a photograph of himself with several members of the various Star Trek series up on one wall, a wonderful graphic of the Enterprise on another wall (autographed), a number of toys and figures, three authentic uniforms (one having been worn by Walter Koenig!) on display, and a very authentic looking Captain's Chair from the Original Series (so authentic, they say, that the Sci Fi Museum had once seen it and freaked out, thinking it was theirs!).

We had a wonderful pot-luck nosh, and the whole experience left us reinvigorated as far as our hopes for our chapter. We were getting compliments for our work left, right and center. Really a great feeling!

Today we attended the monthly meeting for Norwescon 32, along with Silverwolf, Plaztech, Velvet_Paw, J.G. (my brother), and Lady D, all members of the USS Aurora. Everyone is set for their future training or meetings, and except for some paperwork I need to receive from my department head, I'm set to run games at the convention.

It was a much better evening... we didn't have oodles of snow. :)

We'll be putting out promotional posters and bookmarks in our area this week. If you are a Sci-Fi and Fantasy fan, a fan of R.A. Salvatore, and want to see breimh and I and our crew, come to the convention! It's Easter weekend, in Seatac, WA, which is about 40 miles south of where naAibhion Landing is. :) The hotel is sold out, but they have neighboring hotels with fairly decent rates.

Nothing like a pizza in a movie to inspire one to order delivery pizza.

Watching Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and having Kirk eating pizza drove breimh and I to splurge on delivery pizza.

Nomnomnomnom.

I finally had the chance to take care of my Christmas decorations at work today. We still have the office Christmas tree up, since we have yet to do our official Office Christmas Party, thanks to weather.

I've brought in another of my BABW, Bearemy, for Valentines decoration. Our decorating committee here at the office has put up hearty-things all over.

I've got the first of our tax documents, but I need to receive the documents from breimh's "employers", including the temporary service he worked one day for, and the Unemployment Insurance. Once I get those, I can do our taxes.