Scary movies and a nightmare

Okay, in the last 3 days I've seen the first disc of Princess Daisy (bet I don't get past disc 2.... I'm really just watching for Rupert Everett... I absolutely hate that he's gay, but I guess it's a good thing that I didn't know that when I saw him in Merlin and the Sword (dreadful movie, but there is that redeeming quality of a scene involving a naked Everett, water, and some furs after he rescues the kidnapped Guinevere). Okay, at least I can take comfort in the fact that this time, the eye candy I was swooning over is a lot older than me. LOL

So what is it about dark-haired men that makes me weak in the knees? Am I still pining over Christopher Reeve in that Superman costume? Well, I was 7 when that movie came out, I think, so maybe it's some kind of imprint thing. hahaha

I watched The Brothers Grimm from Netflix, and the disc was so horribly scratched that the whole movie jittered visually and auditorially. But Jennifer was right - I did enjoy the movie, especially with the twisted up fairy tales involved. Heath Ledger was pretty funny. :)

I need to stop riiiiight here and wonder what the hell is going on with my spelling. For about the past year, I haven't been able to remember how to spell stuff reliably, and when I type, sometimes homophones of the correct words come out instead. This makes me incredibly unhappy.... what is causing this? Did the Topamax cause permanent brain damage before I stopped taking it??? I'm glad it stopped working to prevent my migraines, because otherwise I might still be taking it.

Saw 1408 at the movies... once again, I'm amazed at what a great actor John Cusack is. He really did a great job, and the movie really scared me at times. I'll bet that's why I had the nightmare I woke up from a little while ago.

I dreamed I was at a teaching conference, and I was walking with two friends and saw I'd left my bag down near the edge of a lake. I went to go get it and the fog rolled in. I couldn't see them and they couldn't see me. Someone with a knife grabbed me and started trying to stab me repeatedly. From the positioning of his hands on the sides of my head (gloved, no less), it was like he was underneath me, and stabbing downward at me. I couldn't really move to get away - seems like he was holding onto me at the same time he was trying to stab me - and I definitely couldn't scream. I was trying, but it was like no sound was coming out. Since I couldn't get away, I made the dubiously genious decision to try to grab the blade of the knife and slow him down, and wound up with a ton of defensive cuts all over my hands. After running into one of the buildings to get away from him, I still couldn't make any real vocal sounds... all I could do was wave my cut up fingers in front of the people who were there, and cry soundlessly. It was creepy..

In that dream, I woke up in my old bedroom back home. I was in some kind of a trundle bed and someone else was sleeping in the big bed (an old high school teacher of mine, no less. LOL Seems I dreamed the attack, but I was still at the conference and this was the hotel room) across the room for me. Then this strange clicking noise started. The handle on a table's drawer was going crazy, flipping up and down without any reason. I thought maybe it was the air current in the room doing it, but when I held it down, the handle fought against me. I think it was a ghost or something. Now that HAD to have been the influence of 1408. I am too damn suggestible. Why couldn't someone suggest that I dream about an incredibly good looking and nice man falling in love with me instead?

Yep, definitely would have to be a dream, because they don't exist with both qualities.

By the way - I swam up out of the dream to hear the clicking sounds coming from my ceiling fan. LOL And I was all wrapped up in my sheets, completely dressed, so that's probably why I felt trapped. 3 am, and I'd left the door to my house open. Good thing I woke up. I had left an open invitation to a burglar.

Also saw Pirates of the Caribbean 3. It was pretty good, and had its funny moments. I'm just not into all the pirate stuff though.

Post-Gazelle condition

Last night I could feel the muscles in my arms working, but they're not sore today. My legs don't seem to be sore so far, but my hips feel like they got a bit of a workout. My butt is a little worked-feeling too. My stomach is slightly sore - the muscles have that post-workout tension. I slept really well last night though, and I did feel pretty good after my workout.

So... important muscle groups that need toning targeted - check.
areas that need major slimming targeted - check.
extended cardio workout - check.

Should I try to do 5 miles today? I could do two miles early in the day and the other three this evening.

Here's the reason I really like my Gazelle - I get to run without killing my knees and ankles. (It's the bouncing up and down and slamming my weight into the ground on my ankles that really causes me a lot of pain.) I know a lot of people get on one and just walk, but I don't feel like I'm doing any good unless I'm at least jogging. I usually keep my speed between 6.5 and 7 miles per hour, though I've checked to see just how fast I can go, and it's about 8 mph, tops.

I still don't feel guilty about not having worked out on it in about a year. However, I am horrified by what I see in the mirror, and my doctor yesterday said he's concerned about all the weight I've put on in the last 10 years.

3 Gazelle miles

3 miles in 28 minutes, 360 calories.....

It takes 5000 extra calories worked off to lose a pound... that means I might lose a half a pound a week if I kill myself exercising.

*sigh*

In two years I might have lost this weight, unless I get lucky and there's some fat loss acceleration when it starts going from fat to lean.

Do I have the strength?

I have witnessed a bathtub miracle!

I got some Mr. Clean Magic Erasers in desperation over my tub. I went and got Scrubbing Bubbles and saw them, so I bought both. The Bubbles didn't do anything about the stains around my old tub, even though I was scrubbing the stuff around like it said to. I figured it wouldn't be that much money wasted if I gave them a try.

Lo and behold, the first couple of swipes I took with the eraser was pulling the stain off! Right now, my tub is white again! Now I don't think that recaulking the tub would really be pointless.

Just really, really gross. LOL

Ah, Bath and Body Works Sale

Got many bottles of "Tranquil Mint" body wash, some pillow mist, and a couple of small bottles of Japanese Cherry Blossom and Sensual Amber perfumes, as well as some travel sizes of body wash and lotion in Tranquil Mint.

So far, the mint has been wonderful any time I've had a migraine, and it's wonderfully refreshing whenever I've scrubbed with it... I've just never wanted to take a bath in my icky tub. :(

Met the new puppy today. :)

I think he likes me. He seemed to like looking at me even though my nephew held him and played with him a little bit. :)

Names I'm bouncing around:

Hannibal
Quincy
Zeus
Sirius
Socrates
maybe a painter's name? Michelangelo? LOL Van Gogh?
Cupid? hehe
Merlin
Houdini
Zeke
Xavier
Killian
Casanova
Salem

Can't believe it, but out-of-date was better....

I've been struggling all day trying to make my computer print out those poster-sized graphic organizers that I printed. That didn't work, so I considered hand-painting them. It was all such a huge freaking pain!!!

For some reason, Paint Shop Pro doesn't print poster-sized anything, and neither does Photoshop Elements. It's like the poster printing companies paid them off so that everybody will have to pay $25+ to have a simple classroom poster printed. Why don't they allow a person to print, specifying that the final printout is 2x3 pages, instead of being limited to one measly page? (Unless you try to dupe the system by manually enlarging everything and then trying to print it a section at a time. By the time I finished doing it THAT way, I'd have wasted far more dollars in time than I would have just buying the damned book.)

Then I remembered - my old American Greetings Crafts program that I bought ten years ago printed posters that you could assemble. Yes, I found it, and no, there were no problems installing it on my pc. :) Major grins here when the scaled printing worked like a freaking charm! Just one simple print option that seems to have been eliminated entirely by the big boys in photo editing software. My poster sized 3 part Venn Diagram is just flying out of the printer with no problems whatsoever, including cutting and assembly lines.

Why can't it be this easy all the time? It's not like it's a Mickey Mouse program - it comes with some lovely features. (Heck, it cost me $30 ten years ago.)

Thanks American Greetings, for helping me out. :) Thanks for being there for me!

Neatest idea I've seen in a while

At a workshop the other day, one presenter showed us this very large format book filled with laminated poster sized graphic organizers. I can see me standing in the front of the classroom using that! I always hate doing graphic organizers on the board because I want my picture to be just SO and in my haste, they're always sloppy.

But do I need to spend $58 on that book? I don't think so... I believe I can create that particular book on my own. All I have to do is setup the organizers on my computer and then print them out really big for the posters. One on front, one on back, laminate, and hole punch the left side for binder rings. :)

(Okay, does that make me cheap or smart? Oh, I think I like the word "thrifty" better.)

My foot is still sore!

From where I rammed that needle into it. Sometimes I look down and think it's kinda pink and swollen, but I really can't tell for sure.

Sheesh, one little needle can do so much damage....

Theme Park travel tips :D

More personal reminders for stuff that worked and I'd like to remember, or it didn't, and I want to remember not to repeat it. Also for stuff I thought of that might be worth trying.

(Yes, the single-packs of gatorade and crystal light I made for our trip to Disneyworld years ago worked great. Of course, after I posted how I made them, it was only a couple years before... you guessed it... the manufacturers decided to make single packs.)

Yes, my family laughs at my compulsive planning (sometimes the planning gets you started on the enjoyment before you even get there! I was one of those kids who packed and repacked my school box the night before school started back, I was so thrilled.) but they always seem to be happy to benefit from it. I remember being laughed at for carrying my fanny pack, but they were all digging hungrily into it for the jerky and snack mix I'd brought along, while we were in line for 2 hours for Scooby Doo's Swampbusters ride.

• Sunglasses
• Water bottle (collapsible Platypus sport works best for me, because they squish up into your pocket when empty)
• Water bottle holder (o-ring on a strap or a carabiner)
• Cash
• Credit card
• cell phone (huge improvment over the two way radios we used back then! no roaming for me with nationwide long distance!)
• small washcloth or babywipes (tiny pack though - may or may not have been used)
• Snack mix - Cheez-it Twisters mixed with sesame oat sticks was VERY satisfying (what else to mix in? Pretzels? Nuts? Wasabe peas? LOL)
• Beef Jerky / Sticks (protein for lasting energy and salt for hydration)
• fruit chewy-gel thingees
• Big easy zip bag for tossing all important stuff into during a water ride
• disposable camera (not so sure about the wisdom of taking a digital camera yet)
• drink mix pouches (but last time the heat got me and I nearly passed out, so I had to get a soda to bring my blood sugar back up until I could eat. Plain water didn't help me, though it did go on my diet plan.)
• couple of bandaids (pretty sure all decent parks have a first aid station for more serious boo boos)
• tiny pack of tissues (somebody's always sneezing)
• Tylenol
• Sunscreen / lip balm

Now there is something to remember about some places. Seems like Six Flags always has some ridiculously expensive refillable cup that you can buy, but you get soda refills for the huge thing for $1. Sometimes you can even get them to listen when you beg them to go easy on the ice. (And then sometimes you get a smartass teenager who not only puts in as much ice as possible, doesn't fill the drink up.)

Travel tip: Zip bags

This month's Travelite tip comes from Cara H. in Ottawa, Canada, who suggests using a big self-sealing plastic bag (such as a Ziploc baggie) to prepack your in-flight things in, and to tuck the entire baggie into your seat back pocket.

Cara says, "I tend to be a bit of a fussbudget when I'm on a plane--constantly reaching for something from my carry-on or checking for my ticket or wallet. To make myself settle down, I pre-pack a large sized zip-bag with my in-flight things and tuck it into the seat back pocket. I can usually get in a book, my walkman, some hand cream, chapstick, hand sanitizer, a hair band, some gum, my ticket and a wallet etc. You are less likely to leave items behind because if you remove an item you put it back in the bag."

That's a great idea, Cara! Having everything in your seat back pocket means not having to reach up to reach your carry-on in the overhead bin, or having to double over to reach into your carry-on by your feet (which can be really tough in those small coach seats!). The only thing I might do differently would be to leave out valuables like my wallet, since I'll forget all about it when I get up to use the restroom.

It seems like such a common-sense idea, but one I've never thought of. This tip even works for car trips!

If the regular one-gallon size bags are too small, try the two-gallon Jumbo Storage or Freezer Bags by Ziploc. They can hold a ton of stuff. Ziploc's web site says they are generally available in grocery, drug, hardware and discount stores in the U.S. and Canada. If you can't find them in your area, you can order them through the SC Johnson Direct Mail Order Service at 1-800-848-2588. While we're at it, Ziploc sells half-gallon PLEATED baggies, too. The pleating makes them the best (and cheapest) little packables to store your lightweight socks, lingerie, toiletries, and other small items in your carry-on.

Best of all, most travelpacks have large front pockets so you can just plop your seat pocket baggie right into them!

Travel tips: paperclips, decoy wallet, clear tape, detergent, security undershirt

This one actually comes from www.readymade.com. It is definitely worth reading:

Don't Leave Home Without Them
Travel essentials that you'd never think to pack

If you can't stand the thought of your stuff getting lost, stolen, or ruined, you'd better not bring it. Forward-thinking nomads travel light, knowing they can survive with a T-shirt, jeans, some flip-flops, and the following surprisingly handy items: Heavy-duty paperclips The more clothes you bring, the more dirty ones you'll have to lug around. Instead, pack just one change of clothes and rediscover the ancient practice of hand washing:

• Plug the sink, or, if you're already using the sink stopper as an ashtray, fill a plastic bag with water and cover the drain. (Now there's a solution for the missing-stopper problem I never thought of.)
• Wear your socks in the shower for a thorough drubbing.
• Bring a clothesline and use pretzel-shaped paper clips to hang clothes on it. (Slipknots work best for tensioning cord. If that means nothing to you, it's time to refresh those Eagle Scout skills or make friends with a sailor. ) You can, of course, drape your clothes over the line, but take it from this former laundry kingpin: That's an inferior method, and they won't dry as fast. I still say binder clips are better for multipurpose use.
• Decoy Wallet. Although I stash my important stuff in homemade secret undershirts, I still carry a decoy wallet to misdirect thieves and maintain peace of mind. When my phony version was stolen on a streetcar in Quito, Ecuador (right after a kid threw up on my lap), my wad of traveler's checks was tucked safely out of sight. From my front pocket, by the way. That's how much attention I was paying. I have since sewn Velcro closures onto every pocket of my travel pants and shorts.
• Clear Packing Tape - One morning during a bike trip across Ireland, I was awakened by what sounded like a bucket of water sloshing all over my bivy bag. As it turned out, I had none-so-wisely chosen a cow pasture as a campsite. The heifer responded in kind by choosing my bedroll as a toilet. The next night, I played it safe and fenced myself in using sticks, trees, branches, and packing tape. Don't take a roll of tape in your suitcase—it's too bulky. Instead, remove the inner cardboard ring with a knife and then press the strip flat8. Bonus: The tape loaf can be carried in a back pocket and used to shim wobbly Internet cafe tables. Not the heavy-duty type. Buy the kind of packing tape that can be torn easily with one's fingers. Do the same with your toilet paper. Yes, you should always travel with your own TP.
• Bring a cup of laundry powder in a plastic bag. It may give pause to airport security officers, but it will come in handy when you tire of going commando.
• Remove the sleeves of a pocketed T-shirt or men's button-down and cut the collar into a V-neck so that it's invisible under other shirts. Stash your passport, cash, and ATM and credit cards in the pocket. If the wad bulges unnaturally, put a decoy in your outside breast pocket to disguise it (see next note).
• To con wily pickpockets, fill the fake wallet with someone else's family photos, old library cards, and supermarket coupons.
  

Travel tips - binder clips

Since my blog is often a place for me to make personal notes that I won't lose or forget about a hodgepodge of things, I might as well put in all the little neat travel tips I find.

Recently my fella (boyfriend? sort of?) was staying in a hotel room where he said he couldn't sleep. I sat on the bed myself - yummy and soft - perfect for sleeping, and didn't understand why he was having trouble - there were millions of pillows too.

He said that the sun comes up at 5:30 right through his window and wakes him up, but all he could do was build a barrier of pillows to hide his head behind. I said I'd try to figure something out - because I'm the family joke of over-preparedness. And I did. I told him that sometimes it's good to have a teacher around, because I had a binder clip in my stuff (yeah, I brought along a pile of papers to grade while he wasn't around - good thing too, because Warcraft was down most of the day after the patch and its resultant crashes). It was perfect to pull those heavy curtains together (though they aren't hung that way - they're just decorations on the side) just over my own height, and hold them together so that at least the sleeping area was completely sunrise-blocked. :) I think he was glad I was prepared.

So, the first tip is to bring a few binder clips - medium sized or better. (You could also use those butterfly-style large paper clips, but believe me, those things wouldn't hold that hundred pound velvet curtain together....) You could bring clothespins, but... most of the time around here, all you can find are plastic ones which crumble if you look cross-eyed at them. And wooden ones still have fragile springs in them... take up a lot of space... won't hold stuff that really needs a hard pinch.

Binder clip uses:

• pull heavy curtains together for privacy or late sleepers
• hang stuff on the clothesline (there was one installed over the bathtub, but no clips whatsoever)

Whew! Survived the end of the school year....

Even at the last minute, I lost my cool. Naturally, I had the worst possible class for the last exam period, and they were doing their best to resemble a whack-a-mole game while I was trying to grade their tests and tell many of them whether or not they needed summer school.....

(One teacher on our team made some decisions about that all on her own - I was never consulted - and called it a "team decision". I'm glad she won't be with us next year. I would have gone off on her about it - and I still might if she doesn't stay away from me.)

We all (our team) actually worked yesterday, Saturday, to make sure that there wouldn't be any last minute delays in signing out for the year. I'm glad I got that part done, and I'm glad she wasn't there. Yep, still mad at her.

I was at stress level red all of Friday, and I think that some of the smarter kids could see that my eyes were kinda more open than usual and I was close to flipping out. I hope I can forget that feeling in time to start making more fun plans for the upcoming year.