Go IllinoiSkating!

We're off to Nashville for Mids. Out of the nine teams in the Collegiate division we have beat 7. Of the two we have not beat, we have never competed against one. Illinois skates second of the nine teams on Saturday at 6:46pm. The girls have been working very hard and so have the other teams. The program has been made more difficult in order to hopefully get a higher point score from the judges. So have the programs of the other schools. Should be an interesting competition. The top six teams will go to Nationals in Providence on Feb. 21. Let's hope Illinois is one of them.

P.S. Lauren is in the back row, far right. :)

Paper or Plastic?

Anyone who has ever been grocery shopping (this would not include Rick) has been asked this question. In the past few years most stores have gone to using only plastic bags but paper is always available upon request. I choose paper. Every single time. The plastic bags spill all over the back of my truck requiring me to rebag everything before I can unload. Plus, they are SUPER bad for the environment. So what is so difficult to understand about wanting paper bags? Why must the bagger always give me at least one plastic bag? No, I want fucking paper. End of story. It's not that hard. Yesterday, I actually spoke to the manager about this. I spend a ton of money in that store and I want paper, all paper, every fucking time. We'll see if that happens. Stay tuned.

I'm thinking my going off on the Jewel manager, a Home Goods employee and poor Alan Jones from Cingular (excuse me, the new AT&T) yesterday may have something to do with the nicotine withdrawal. Not sure. Only six cigs since January 15 and none since Monday morning. This is the longest I think I have ever gone without smoking, aside from the pregnancies. So far, so good. I haven't been on the 10 o'clock news yet. Bonus.

A Good Read

Check this out. http://southsidejournal.stltoday.com/articles/2008/01/15/sports/sj2tn20080115-0116fen_ubriaco1.ii1.txt

It's Time

I'm finally going to do it. That's right. I'm quitting that dirty, filthy, expensive habit that is also killing me. Today is Day One. One day at a time. I'm not going cold turkey. I got me some drugs. There's a concept, take drugs to quit drugs. Kind of crazy. There is a new drug called Chantix that has shown great results. But I must also do my part. I cannot expect to simply pop a pill and never want to smoke again. I know this will be the battle of my life but I am so ready. I refuse to let the cigs control my life any longer. And the money I will be saving in the coming year will be more than enough for a fabulous vacation. That's what I call incentive.

Last night Rick and I went to the casino. They have this neat little heated tent outside for the smokers since Illinois is now smoke free. As I stood in this smoke filled tent having my Marlboro, there was an older gentleman with a very gruff voice and a wicked cough complaining about having to be in this tent to smoke. He went on and on about his grandfather who smoked lived to be 105, how alcohol is more dangerous than smoking (I don't know the stats on that and I'm pretty sure this guy didn't either,) and all the additives they put in food that will kill you. In between his coughs he sounded utterly ridiculous. As much as I have enjoyed my smoking over the years I have never argued the medical facts that smoking kills. This guy was an idiot. I do not want to be an idiot. End of story. Wish me luck.

Today's Agenda

Since I finally got all of my Christmas decorations taken down and put away yesterday, I had planned on getting to a long list of menial chores today. No chance. I must start building my ark. It has been raining steadily since about 5pm yesterday and much more rain is in the forecast for today. Having the creek run through our woods is quite lovely most of the time, but when the heavy rains come the creek swells quite rapidly. While we have never had water in the house due to a storm, it does put us on edge each time. Thank God for our sloping land. The rains would have to come for 40 days and 40 nights before the flooding would ever make it to the house.

Ozzy is not too fond of the flooding. He almost always does his "business" in the woods. Very thoughtful of him since we don't pick up after him in the woods. On the rare occasion he does go in the yard, we don't pick up after him then either! Each time we walk him when there is flooding, he gets to the edge of the yard and stares longingly into the woods for a few moments. With the saddest face ever he then squats and does his business. Poor dog. Life is hard for him.

After ten long weeks...

...Bob is finally home. Still a long road ahead but I know he can do it. Debbie, Sophia and I went down to St. Louis to welcome him home on Thursday. We actually arrived at his house before Bob and Teresa made it home from the hospital. As we were sitting in the kitchen waiting for them, it occurred to Debbie and I that perhaps we should have stopped somewhere for a "Welcome Home" balloon, or something. Nah. Instead, I quickly took a piece of paper from the printer and improvised. Not quite the welcome he deserved but c'est la vie. We were fortunate to share his first meal at home with him and his family. Best damn meal I've had in a long time. As Debbie, Sophia and I headed downtown to our hotel for the night, I was pointing out the St. Louis Arch for Sophia to see. When we finally got close enough, Sophia asked, "What do you do with that?" I explained how you could take an elevator to the top of the Arch to get a view of the city. After a short moment of silence, my 4 year old niece said, "Excuse me. I'm not doing that!" Don't you just love kids? Especially when they're not yours?!

Happy Birthday to my brother Joe who turns 48 tomorrow. Damn, we're all getting old!