Cell-ibate

I hate cell phones!  They are so annoying!  I remember when cell phones were the size of a brick, now they are so small you can barely see them.  I also remember when people used them for business or emergencies only.  Now it seems that more and more people are using them as their only phone.  So now you can get a hold of them whenever you want.  And you can call people whenever you want, while you’re in the grocery store, while you’re walking down the street, while you’re at the movies or theater, WHILE YOU’RE AT CHURCH.  That is my biggest pet peeve.

It’s really sad that you have to announce to the world that they need to be courteous and turn OFF their cell phone.  We went to see a play a few weeks ago and before it started there was a recorded announcement (plus one printed in the program) telling people to turn off their phone, or at the very least put it on vibrate.  Despite this announcement, someone’s phone rang.  It has even gotten to the point where it needs to be announced in church.  What the heck!  The one place you don’t need a phone to communicate (it’s called PRAYER) and people gotta have the thing on.  One hour without the possibility of contact from the outside world shouldn’t be that hard.  Even during various CCM functions, people have to get up to answer their phones (you know who you are).  I mean come on, you are at a function that doesn’t require a phone.  You don’t have to be available all the time.  It drives me nuts, and that is just one reason I will never carry a cell phone. 

Yes we own one, but we don’t use it often.  It is one of those “for emergencies only” phones.  Of course some people don’t see it this way, even after they’ve been told we don’t use it.  My sister-in-law will often call the cell phone if she knows we aren’t home, BUT WE DON’T USE IT.  Fr. Jed seems to think that he can call it whenever he needs to as well.  On more than one occasion he has called our house and gotten a busy signal (because I don’t believe in call waiting either) and proceeded to call the cell phone to try to get a hold of Cat, BUT WE DON’T USE IT.  Apparently people think so highly of themselves that they must be in demand at all times, ready to assist anyone who might need to reach them for any mundane reason.

So what brings on this rant?  I was sitting at Mass this morning and a cell phone goes off, right in the middle of announcements.  Cat was up at the cantor stand giving announcements (because Jed’s out of town) and a parishioner was giving a brief talk.  Then a phone rings.  It smirked and thought evil thoughts about the stupid moron who left their phone on.  Then something struck me, that ring sounds familiar.  SHIT, that’s our phone.  What the heck is going on!  The phone is in Cat’s purse, so I try to calmly reach over and find it, but there is so much crap in there that I can’t.  Finally, after three rounds of Hava Negila I managed to find it and flip it open (no sense in pulling it out to turn it off, I’m just going to blind answer it) whoever is calling can listen to the rest of the announcements with us.  What the heck was the phone doing on in the first place!?  Well Cat used it to call me on Friday evening and tossed it into her purse without turning it off.  The worst part, IT WAS A WRONG NUMBER!  Through no fault of my own I have officially joined the ranks of morons who have to answer their cell phone at an inappropriate time and in an inappropriate place.  I could have just died!  Of course Cat just might (just kidding).

So may this be a warning and a lesson to all of you, TURN THE DAMN PHONE OFF ONCE AND A WHILE.  If you miss a call it won’t be the end of the world.  Give your full attention to the task or event at hand and let people leave you a message.  It won’t kill you, honest (but I might if that thing rings when I’m around!)

Who's up for a game?

Ok, so here’s the deal, Kaitlyn and I play racquetball almost every Saturday morning.  I am addicted to it (plus it’s the most exercise I get all week).  It is a fast-paced, intense, exciting, exhilarating game.  There is nothing like smashing a tiny rubber ball around a small enclosed room.  I have several dilemmas.

1)       I have to work this Saturday, so my regularly scheduled game is off.  But I still want to play.  So I am throwing out an invitation to anybody who wants to play sometime between 1pm and 6pm on Saturday (not for that whole time of course, I’d have a heart attack).  I have an extra racquet and I will teach you if you don’t know how to play.  And yes Kaitlyn, I would be happy to have a game with you too.  Just let me know before this weekend if any of you happen to be up for it (we can even play with 3 or 4 players (but I only have one extra racquet so you might have to rent one, for all of $1)

2)       Kaitlyn is leaving for the summer, so I need a substitute partner for a few months.  If you are going to be in town for the summer (and will have a peif pass, cuz who wants to pay $6 to play rb for an hour) and you would be interested in a regular Saturday morning game, let me know.  PLEASE.  I can’t go 4 months with no RB.

Ok, so those aren’t big dilemmas, but they could turn into my own personal tragedy and you don’t want to be responsible for my spiral into overindulgent self hatred, spawned by my inability to motivate my self to work out, leading to the gaining of 10 or more pounds and the subsequent health crisis that would put me in (nothing like a long winded guilt trip!).  Don’t think I don’t know who you RB capable people are that are staying in town.  I can lay down the guilt pretty thick if I have to, and nobody wants to see that!

Anyway, its late and I’ve ranted enough.  Goodnight.

CODE 3

Ok so this morning I got up and played racquetball with Katy (that’s Kaitlyn, don’t ask).  We had an awesome game! (we played two but the first was just a “warm up” so we won’t count that one).  There was one rally that went on forever and we both had to work for that point (I don’t remember who won that one).  I was behind, or we were tied almost the whole game.  Then at the very end I tied it up 14-14.  I took a few serves before I finally got a great cross court shot to win the game!  Not that it matter who wins and who doesn’t.

So that could have been my exercise for the day, but it was sooooooo nice out that I decide to go for a bike ride.  I went out to, and around, Presque Isle.  I found a way to hook my GPS to my bike (which will be easier next week after I get the handle bar mount I ordered) to see how far I went, and other interesting statistics.  Of course you know I’m going to give you all of those stats now, because I am just a geek like that.  I rode 6.1 miles.  It took me 46 minutes (6 of which were resting at scenic spots on the island).  My average traveling speed was 9 mph and my total average speed was 7 mph.  My max speed was 18.2 mph (believe it or not, this was not going down the big hill at the island).  Ok, enough boring stats. 

So now that I put in a good deal of exercise today (especially for me) I am pooped.  Cat came home (she was at work most of the morning) and suggested we go for a bike ride.  I said I was tired and maybe later.  At which point she began to patronize me saying “typical Saturday, you’re always tired!”  Never mind that I worked my ass off!  But the best part is now she wants to take a nap because she’s tired!  I’m not gonna take a nap, so I guess I win!  Not that it matters who wins and who loses. 

So my current condition is CODE 3.  I can rest and relax and look forward to a beautiful afternoon.

Ok, so I need to take a queue from Ryan and set my own conditions.  Unlike Ryan, mine are not about homework, but they are about motivating myself.  I need to get my butt in gear (literally) and lose some weight.  I always find an excuse not to, but now the weather is getting nicer and it is getting harder and harder to find an excuse.  So, I am evoking my own C.O.D.E (Condition Of Doing Exercise).

CODE 1:  I have to get my fat ass out of the chair and off the computer.  IM’ing, watching tv or crocheting do not constitute exercise in any way shape or form, they only add to the size of my butt!

CODE 2:  Exercise is planned.  I am feeling up to the challenge of a good workout, though I may need a little motivation.

CODE 3:  I have completed the necessary exercise and I am feeling good about myself!

So here’s to keeping the C.O.D.E. and losing that winter weight (that hasn’t come off in 5 years)!

Current CODE 2 (playing RB tomorrow morning!)

God Bless Them All

This has been a terrible 7 days.  Today’s shooting at Virginia Tech hits close to home.  I work with college students, heck I am a college student.  So the fact that something like this can happen anywhere really hits gets me in the gut.  We are a small school but it could still happen here.  I pray that we never have to experience first had what those in Virginia have. 

Even closer to home was the sudden death of one of my coworkers last week.  Vicki has been at the credit union for a few years.  I didn’t work directly with her, but with less than 40 employees we all have some kind of relationship with each other.  Vicki had spunk.  She had a quick retort to almost any situation.  You didn’t have to spend a lot of time with her to know that she was a great person.  While on vacation in Florida last week she died suddenly.  I’m not sure exactly how she died, but we were told that she began to cough blood and died shortly after.  The worst part is that her two small children were there when she died.  I can’t imagine what her family is going through (it’s hard enough just getting by at work).

Ok, now that I’m on the verge of tears I’m signing off.

It's just a bunch of knots!

Ok, so I’ve taken a little guff from some people for my new hobby (ok it’s not brand new, but I’ve only been doing it for about a year). Several folks have implied that it’s a girl’s hobby; other people have laughed or snickered at me. Through that I have gotten positive feedback too. What is this hobby you ask? Crochet. Yep, crochet.

One day in early spring last year some friends (Anne Marie and her husband Chris) went with Cat and I to Michael’s craft store. Chris makes letterbox scrapbooks of old family photos and mementos and he need some adhesive. Cat, being the Scrapbook Queen, told him she’d help him pick out some good stuff. Well, Anne Marie is not really into crafts and I couldn’t care less about tape and glue and other sticky stuff, so we decided to wander the store while our spouses bonded. I came across this “Teach Yourself Crochet” set that came with several hooks, some stitch markers, a instruction/pattern book and other various stuff for $10 (the hooks were worth at least that by themselves). I thought I’d buy it just for the heck of it. I had seen several of the students knitting and crocheting and it didn’t seem too hard. So, I taught myself. And I liked it!

I have made several shawls (which my mother can attest to the greatness of!) and a blanket. I got bored with squares and rectangles though, so I started making hats. Those we fun, but they only come out in the winter (though that does last more than half the year up here). So recently I decided to move on to a new variation on crochet – thread crochet. Instead of using yarn, you use thread. Ok, not like sewing thread, it’s too small (though you can use that for some projects). It’s more like little string. The hooks are mini too (1.5mm, yep millimeters).

You can make all sorts of cool stuff. And Cat totally approves. Why, you ask? Because the main thing you make with string crochet are doilies. Anybody who really knows my wife knows she loves doilies. She goes to garage sales in the summer just to look for them. Her sister and her went and found a whole box at a sale once and you would have thought she had found a million dollars. So now, she can get me to make her doilies (the “Easter Bunny” even brought me a pattern book chuck full of them). She already picked out the first one she wants me to make!

Anyway, the real reason I started this blog was because I finished my first “real” doily the other day. I had made one before. Technically it is a coaster and it was more of a “do I like doing this” test. But then I made the bigger one, and it turned out great. I’m actually quite proud of my accomplishments, so I thought I’d post pictures of them. So without any further ado…

The Coaster








And this is my first doily

Ribs are Back!

Ok, so I wrote a blog a few weeks ago about a restaurant with great ribs.  The last time I was there they ran out.  We went out there again yesterday and I FINALLY GOT MY RIBS!!!  They were awesome, so tender that they practically fell off the bone (but not so much so that they couldn’t be picked up!).  Did I mention that they were awesome?!  So anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that I had AWESOME ribs yesterday!  That’s all.