Two times in two days, I got a nice surprise at work.

Today I receieved URS-Austin's individual achievement award for January 2010. Basically, I'm the Employee of the Month.

They like me! They really really like me!

I just got an email from EMILY's List informing me that CBS is planning to allow Focus on the Family to run an ad condemning abortion during the Super Bowl. The ad features Heisman Trophy Winner Tim Tebow and his mother.

This wouldn't bother me (much), except for the fact that CBS is reversing its own policy to run this ad -- a policy that network executives claimed prohibited them from airing ads from the progressive group MoveOn.org and even the United Church of Christ because they were just "too controversial." (The UCC ad they rejected mentioned UCC's policy of welcoming gay congregants and others shunned by other churches -- how "controversial"!)

If you aren't going to run ads from one side of the political aisle, CBS, don't change your policy to allow the other side to speak. That is blatantly unfair. Everyone has access, or no one has access.

By the way.... I would prefer that CBS let EVERYONE have access. Free speech & all that.

I almost think they did it on purpose.

Anyway, hotpantsgalore updated her triathlon blog this evening with a completely unscientific & yet 100% accurate description of Cedar Fever. Head on over there to read it, & if you make a donation, chaosvizier will write you your very own personalized pun.

For the past 2 1/2 days, I have been utterly miserable. I feel tired & achy, & my nose is running constantly - except when it's so stuffed up that it can't run. I have horrific sinus pressure, which is giving me a gigantic headache.

Apparently, Austin is reknowned for horrible allergies; specifically when the juniper trees are pollinating. Sufferers call it "cedar fever" even though it is juniper trees causing the problem.

But I've never really had problems with allergies before, & I'm not sure that's what I have. So my question is: how do you tell the difference between a cold & allergies?

hotpantsgalore just got back from a bike ride with her Team in Training team, & she's clutching a handful of recommitment forms. For those of you who have done TnT, you know what recommitment is. Everyone else: recommitment is the time in the training program where you promise you will raise your minimum fundraising amount, or pay the difference yourself. It is a sobering moment, because in hotpantsgalore's case, the minimum fundraising amount is $3,500.



So I'm asking all my friends to take a minute today & consider donating to HPG's triathlon. I know economic times are tough, but there's no minimum donation amount. Donate $50, donate $5, but please consider making a tax-deductible donation. It will give hotpantsgalore the boost she needs right now, & I'll be grateful because I get a huge kick out of her going through the training. Go read her training blog to see why...

THANKS!

Yeah..... so I ran my cell phone through the washing machine last week. I tried to revive it, but every time I plugged it in to try to charge it, it made a squealing sound that sounded like 1) a tea kettle about to boil, or 2) an electronic device's death knell. RIP.

But AT&T gave me another phone, so now I need everyone's numbers. Please call me or text me so I don't have to type all the numbers in (angledge = lazy).

My new phone has a camera!

is out of coffee.

Riot commencing in 3... 2...

Go to this website & sign the petition. Thanks!

... my fiancée, the one-&-only hotpantsgalore, is the most fabulous woman I know. The latest proof of her amazing-ness?

On Saturday she attended her first practice with her Team in Training team! That's right, hotpantsgalore has signed up to train for the Olympic-distance Lone Star Triathlon, to be held in Galveston on April 24th. She is going to raise $5,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, so they can continue their stupendous work of eradicating cancer.

Isn't that an amazing goal? Ending cancer. Obviously, LLS focuses specifically on the blood cancers, but to my way of thinking, research that helps fight blood cancers surely helps in the fight against other kinds of cancer. I love the idea of a world where no-one dies of cancer. In such a wonderful world, I would not have to write posts like these:

for Grandpa
for Sarah
for Sydney
for Kurt

It's such a good system - Team in Training challenges & trains people to complete endurance events, in the process improving their health. And those people raise money for LLS, furthering their cancer-ending work.

But it only works if people like you & me donate the money to the athletes doing the training. I know it's been a rough year economically. But even $25.00 - or any amount you choose - will be very welcome. Please click on this link, read hotpantsgalore's blog entry about her first training day, & make a donation. Thank you so much.

I think for once that I'm glad I'm not living in Philadelphia.

This weekend:

1) On Saturday, Sunday, & Monday, the Phillies are hosting the Yankees at Citizens Bank Park for the next 3 games of the World Series;
2) On Sunday, the Eagles are hosting the Giants at Lincoln Financial Field for a battle for the top spot in the NFC-East;
3) The Flyers have a home game at the Wachovia Center on Saturday;
4) the last concert ever to be held at the Spectrum is tonight, & it's a little band named Pearl Jam;
5) oh yeah, it's a Saturday-night Halloween; AND -
3) SEPTA's union is considering a strike that would start at 12:01 AM tonight.

OH SNAP

The URS-Austin office has a Water of Life Society. I have found Paradise.

I am 36 years old today. 36 is a pretty fun number, divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, & 18. 6 x 6 has a particularly attractive symmetry, so let’s look back at my life on the sixes.

AGE 6 (1979)
Let’s see, we were living in Cherry Hill, New Jersey (the first house I ever lived in). We had a Giant Schnauzer named Greta (the First), a Siamese cat named Bach, & a really cool backyard with a tree swing & a giant vegetable garden. My best friend was Stephanie, & she lived right down the street (she still lives in that house today). I think I was in 1st grade this year, so my teacher was Mrs. Braungart. I wanted to be a paleontologist & I remember doing a huge chalk drawing of dinosaurs.

AGE 12 (1985)
I had just started 7th grade at Pine Hollow Intermediate. My two years at this school were among the most miserable of my life. The fashions of the time were long cable-knitted sweaters over leggings, with long strings of fake pearls which you wore in a knot. I was a bit obsessed with Duran Duran. My friends were Gina, Lynn, & Amy. I can’t remember exactly the count of the Ledgerwood menagerie at this time, but we had a Giant Schnauzer (Gabby), a Yorkie mix (Sliver), Bach, a second cat named Patches, possibly our Airedale Terrier Suzy, two rabbits (Carmel & Blacky) & I had two tanks of freshwater tropical fish.

AGE 18 (1991)
I was a freshman at Cornell. I was just starting to date Matt Tata, who was my first boyfriend, & I was crushed out on the boy. I was a chemical engineering major. I lived in a dorm room with two roommates, Ana Laura & Stacey. vulgarbarbarian, chaosvizier, saracendancer, hlw1970, karstyl, & oetam all lived in my dorm. This was one of the best years of my life.

AGE 24 (1997)
I was living in Wisconsin with Daaave. Our relationship was starting to fall apart, but we still had six or seven months of trying to make it work left ahead of us (what a waste of time that turned out to be). I was a recycling specialist for the Waukesha County Division of Solid Waste, taking my first turn as a hapless government bureaucrat - & hating it.

AGE 30 (2003)
I celebrated this milestone birthday at The Brass Monkey, my favorite pub in Edinburgh. I had just started my master’s degree program. katieledge & vulgarbarbarian had come up from London to celebrate, & we had a really great night. I was dating Stacy at this time, but since it was a long-distance relationship, she was in Delware. chaosvizier gave me a Trogdor T-shirt, & I still have it. This year turned out to be super-fantastic in many ways.

AGE 36 (2009)
Living & working in Austin, TX. Nursing a somewhat sore right shoulder after this morning’s swim practice. Completely in love with my fiancée hotpantsgalore. This year could end up being one of the best yet!

AGE 42 (2015)

Anyone care to guess?

By satyrblade, via etcet:

http://satyrblade.livejournal.com/277519.html

In an effort to 1) eat healthier; 2) save money, & 3) have fun, I have been cooking a lot lately. Sunday I made banana-walnut muffins that were devoured straight out of the muffin tin by hotpantsgalore & C*. Comments: "OM NOM NOM DOUBLE THE RECIPE NEXT TIME NOM." I also made a fritatta on Sunday. The muffins & the fritatta are both breakfast foods - I eat a muffin before swim practice, then heat up a slice of fritatta when I get to work. Healthy, inexpensive, & convenient.

Last night I made Moosewood's Pumpkin & Porcini Soup, which was OMG so good. hotpantsgalore doesn't agree; she found it bland. But I loved this soup's bright color, blend of herbs & spices, & heaping servings of healthy yellow vegetables. It's a little low on protein though.

hotpantsgalore has a 4-year-old Acer laptop that has recently developed some super-annoying features. In particular, it can't seem to run a word processor to save its life: he cursor jumps around between lines (in fact, it does that on webpages too - dammit, that's annoying), it seems really slow, & generally it just seems to be running poorly.

She says she's run some anti-virus software checks on it, & it hasn't helped (I think she ran Kapersky?). What else should she do? Can we take it somewhere & get everything wiped off of it? I know she just wants to buy a new computer, but we really don't have the money right now.

Here's a photo of the non-human members of our nursing corps. Mostly they provide moral support.


And some heating, I guess?


Hip-hip hooray! Some of the Lil' Lucy Woman's friends sent her delicious chocolate-covered strawberries as a get-well present. OM NOM NOM.

Sweden approves same-sex marriage.

Overriding governor's veto, Vermont legislature OKs gay marriage.

Iowa - wait, IOWA??

Best comment on that last development came from hotpantsgalore: "Who knew there were so many corn-fed brothers & sisters?"

And no, we're not planning to go to Iowa to get married. We're still hoping California will take their cue from more cutting-edge places (like Iowa) & re-legalize marriage out there.

OK, I sense that wedding planning is going to become a major new theme in my LJ. Starting now, I will put all wedding planning posts in a separate filter. If you want to read these posts, comment here & I'll add you.