My Name is Rob, and I'm a Sugar-aholic

I love holidays! From Valentines Day (conversation hearts) to Christmas (homemade candies from Elise and my MIL), and everything in between!

Sure, there are candies that are available year round, like M&M's, but those get to be boring pretty quickly. So, here's my Reason for Each Season, in calendar order:

Valentines Day - Red Hots and Conversation Hearts have my heart.

Easter - Cadbury Eggs, Cadbury Mini Eggs, and Robins Eggs are the best from the bunny.

Halloween - Candy Corn and Any Miniaturized Candy Bar are what I hope the Great Pumpkin will put on sale by September 1!

Christmas - Though I prefer the homemade stuff, I am a sucker for a good candy cane. I'm also a mint fan, and a lot of candies come out with minty stuff this time of year!

Whoa. There is nothing between Easter and Halloween for my candy addiction? No wonder I get sick of M&M's during that span.

Whoa again. Why is it that during the winter months, i.e. the months that I don't regularly walk because of the weather, are the months that I have the best access to sugary goodness? That really doesn't make sense. Fruits and veggies are better during the summer, but those don't make me feel fat.

What is your favorite holiday-related candy?

A Little Scare - but All is Well

Apparently I ran myself so ragged over the past week that I came up lame on Tuesday afternoon. Here's how it went down...

BIG snow and ice storm last week had me out shoveling our driveway and helping our neighbors dig out for about 5 hours on Wednesday. Yes, that's how I spent my Valentines day.

A Holiday Weekend in our house typically means one thing: let's go to the beach house and do some shopping! On Saturday we drove out and I took a couple of my aunts friends out to all of the stores that they wanted to go to while Anny stayed back and worked on her National Board Certification stuff, and took a nap. On Sunday I went back to as many or more stores with Anny and my brother and sister-in-law. (She's a natural born shopper. She'll find a sale and make really good use of it!)

By Monday we had a new dilemma. We had an extra car sitting in front of the house, but since there had been so much melting and re-freezing I needed to get a space cleared out. Bring in the sledge hammer! It worked like magic. I just started to break the ice into smaller pieces, and then tossed them into my yard.

I didn't hurt at all on Monday, but on Tuesday I had such sharp pains in my back, directly under my kidneys, that we decided that I needed a visit to the doctor. Luckily, it turns out, that I have only a "Nicely Pulled Muscle" and not kidney stones, which was his first worry also. Better safe than sorry.

My biggest problem is not the pain, though that still lingers. My biggest problem is that I have worked out timing of getting things done in the Nursery, and this has set me back by at least three days. ARGH!

Quiz: What Age Do You Act?

You Are 26 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Almost Missed It....

Yesterday was my Blogiversary! One year online and still typing away!

(I'm honestly surprised that I've kept it up this long, since most things that I start are left unfinished! Maybe I still blog because there is no "finish" on the other end.)

I have a goal for the next year that has more to do with other blogs than mine, but my goal is to comment on at least one blog per day. People I know, people I don't. I want to branch out from my little corner of cyberspace.

Any recommendations as to where I should start reading?

Sign a Petition, Please.

MS is something that has been thrust into my life when my mom was diagnosed a few years ago. Her attitude is always good about the future, both hers and for treatment of MS overall. Please take a moment to sign this petition. It's a form that you fill out, and takes only a moment.

(the following is from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society website)
Petition Drive to Increase Federal Funding for MS Research

Federal funding for multiple sclerosis research is in serious decline. Tell your legislators today. It only takes a minute. Sign the petition below to increase funding for MS research. .

Without adequate funding, for example, we might not have the five existing MS treatments and several drugs in clinical testing for people with MS. The NIH paved the way for those discoveries, but funding for the NIH continues to decrease. Sign the petition today to tell lawmakers to support MS research.

The National MS Society is circulating this petition to collect at least 200,000 signatures from people who support additional federal funding for medical research for MS. If you know someone with MS or would like to help end its devastating effects, sign the petition by filling out the form below. Then forward it to someone you know.

MS is a chronic, often disabling disease in which the body attacks itself, resulting in damage to the nervous system. Symptoms can be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe with paralysis or loss of vision. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40, the prime years of their lives. The disease course is unpredictable for each person diagnosed with MS, but for every person with MS, the physical and emotional conditions of the disease also impact their families, their jobs, every part of their well-being. By making this commitment to medical research, we can help people with MS and their families.

Dog Toy Graveyard!

The picture below is Maggie sitting in the remnants of three toys that she was given earlier this afternoon. I'm just glad that we waited until the Christmas Dog Toys were $1 each, so we're really only out $3. She tears into each toy looking for the squeaker. She finds it, and then gets bored for a while.

Fun Dog.

Want to help with Confirmation Class?

Hey Folks! I'm in need of a current-ish, pop song that you would consider a "prayer of joy" type of song. I have a couple of things in mind, but am not confident of any of them. Argh.

Doesn't have to be a prayer-prayer, if that makes sense. We have something from the Black Eyed Peas lined up as a prayer of lament.

So - what song by a current artist would you consider a Song of Prayer?

Prayer to the Tivo

As heard on "How I Met Your Mother" from February 5 (The day after the Superbowl).

Almighty Tivo. We thank you for all of the gifts you have given us. The power to freeze live TV to pee is nothing short of God like. Let's not forget fast forwarding through commercials. It seems greedy to ask anything more from you, Oh Magic Box. But if you malfunction and miss the SuperBowl we will destroy you in the alley with baseball bats. Amen.

Just thought it was too funny not to pass on.

People Seem to be Missing This

Okay - GW Bush has done a good thing by showing up at the Democratic Retreat in Williamsburg this weekend. Nothing is going to get done in the next two years if both parties can come to terms with each other in some way.

But. With W there always seems to be a But.

The quote that I am seeing on different sources is this:
''I listened to many members here. I listened to members of my own party. I listened to the military and came up with a plan that I generally believe has the best of succeeding" (I even rewound to use the mute feature. He sure did say generally.)

GENERALLY believe? I found a source that quoted him as ".....that I genuinely believe has the best of succeeding" which I what I think, no, hope and pray that he meant to say. If he only generally has belief that there is a successful outcome, that is simply not good enough.

Argh. He had already made fun of his diction. (The article that I found good transcript of that is HERE)

Only 715 more days until the next Inauguration Day! (as of posting, that is. Click on the link for the official countdown)