Monthly Archives: April 2008

Apr 16 2008

my name is Ashley and I'm an internetaholic

So just HOW addicted to the internet has become more apparent in the past few days. Our wonderfully incompetent cable company decided to do some “upgrades” to the cable internet, which has brought our internet down. They of course are “confused” why we’re not getting internet, so they’re sending someone out tomorrow to come fix it hopefully. Right now, I am at the library taking advantage of our county’s free WiFi – hooray!

Let’s just say that not having internet put me in a VERY bad mood today. It was one of those days that I just got frustrated with every little thing, starting with the internet. Some people don’t understand why I feel cut off from the outside world, but I’ve decided I’m too addicted to the internet. How do I find out the hours to a store? How do I check our family calendar to see if we’re busy that day? How do I look up little bits of information that make my life that much more interesting?

Today was also the day I decided to get really depressed about the upcoming elections, and my fears about what the next four to eight years might bring. Also coupled with this was paying WAAY too much money in taxes (almost $2k in addition to everything we had taken out of our paychecks), and the realization that raising taxes seems to be one thing that those in the White House love to do.

So now that I’m finally on unfiltered internet, I’m not sure what to say! I haven’t been blogging much recently, and for that I apologize. Wow, like a week and a half without a real post! I’ve just been busy, you know, with working and watching HGTV. ;-) I also feel like everything is the same-old-same-old. We go to work, we come home, we hem and haw about dinner until we find anything (ice cream will do) or run to the store, I make promises (which I never keep) to go grocery shopping on Saturday, we watch TV or play on the computer or just sit and talk, and then we go to bed. That about sums up our lives. :-) I’ve decided not to write about any details about where I work on what I do on this blog, and since working takes up a good part of my day I feel that there isn’t much left to say. Oh well.

I’m sure this is just a phase. :-)

Oh and I’ve been reading a lot. I just finished Little Women and I’d forgotten how much I love that book! I’ve been keeping my booklist updated so check it out if you’re curious.

Okay as beautiful and warm as it is out here by the library, the sun is setting and it’s slightly chilly. So I’m going to finish up my email (oh! beautiful unfiltered internet! getting to go to any page I want without huge stop signs blocking my way!) and get out of here. Ta-ta for now!

Apr 14 2008

when insults had class

My mom sent these to me, and I thought they were clever. Enjoy. :-)

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“He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.”
- Winston Churchill

“He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.”
- Abraham Lincoln

“Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I’ll waste no time reading it.”
- Moses Hadas

“A modest little person, with much to be modest about.”
- Winston Churchill

“I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it.”
- Groucho Marx

“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.”
- Oscar Wilde

“I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend…. if you have one.”
- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
“Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second… if there is one.”
- Winston Churchill, in response

“I feel so miserable without you; it’s almost like having you here.”
- Stephen Bishop

“He is a self-made man and worships his creator.”
- John Bright

“He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others.”
- Samuel Johnson

“He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.”
- Paul Keating

“He had delusions of adequacy.”
- Walter Kerr

“There’s nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won’t cure.”
- Jack E. Leonard

“He has the attention span of a lightning bolt.”
- Robert Redford

“They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge. ”
- Thomas Brackett Reed

“He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them.”
- James Reston

“He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.”
- Forrest Tucker

“Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?”
- Mark Twain

“His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.”
- Mae West

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.”
- Oscar Wilde

“He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts… for support rather than illumination.”
- Andrew Lang

“He has Van Gogh’s ear for music.”
- Billy Wilder

Apr 6 2008

parties and new friends

Yesterday was our friend Alisha’s birthday party, so we went up to her house to hang out with her and a bunch of other people who came. It was fun! We both enjoyed ourselves; we knew enough of the people that we were able to circulate through the different crowds without finding ourselves stuck in a corner talking only to each other. We left around 11pm, and Paul remarked as we were driving away how much he enjoyed just hanging out. I agree. I wish I had more courage to have a hang-out party at our place! I need to get over that, though.

Paul and I at Alisha's party

Here is a picture of Paul and I at the party last night. As you can see, all the recent rain (almost every day this past week! yay for rain!) has made my hair REALLY frizzy.

We dragged ourselves to Sunday School today – there are only a few more weeks left before they break for the summer so we want to make sure we don’t miss any days. Afterwards, we went out to eat for lunch – this time with a different crowd. It was nice to hang out with everyone! One couple we met just moved here; they’ve only been married 4 weeks! We enjoyed lunch and hanging out again.

Paul was invited to go play basketball with the guys, and I am just as happy to stay home by myself after having a people-filled weekend. I have been trying to work on our apartment to make it a nice place to bring guests. I am dissatisfied with how it looks, and I’m trying to figure out what I can do to make it look better. :-) One thing I know I need to do is hang stuff on the walls; maybe once I do that it will look warm and inviting instead of eclectic and cluttered. I still have my eye on the Ikea sofa and loveseat, so maybe once we save the money for that it will help. :-) (I feel like our current couch covers really add to the clutter.)

Hmm maybe I’m too focused on the material? I can definitely see that. Does anyone else struggle with not wanting to invite people over because you feel your house is too shabby?

Okay back to organizing the “office” bookshelf. (It’s actually in our dining room.) I’m in need of someone good with construction to come and hang some shelves for us. Any takers? :-)

Apr 5 2008

Ashley the belly-dancer

So something kinda crazy and cool happened last weekend.

First, we had a horrible thunderstorm last Saturday. It knocked out our power and our cable for a few hours due to downed power lines. (I think Google manufactured the storm to force us to celebrate Earth Day.) When the cable finally came back on that night, I had to set up the TV channels again. We have cable internet and that includes the basic local channels – CBS, NBC, ABC, etc. However, when I set up the TV again I noticed that we suddenly had more channels! Discovery, History, HGTV, TLC, ESPN, etc! How exciting! We don’t have Animal Planet though. :-( Boo! But what can I say, for free?

Anyways, I have no idea how long it will last, but I’m excited for it right now.

I was flipping channels and saw one called FitTV. Basically, it’s full of healthy food cooking and exercise shows. They were currently showing a belly dancing exercise show. I was intrigued and immediately started doing the exercises too. It was simple enough for me to follow – I’m horribly uncoordinated. And, Paul was enjoying watching. ;-) It was fun. It seems that our library also has a DVD on the subject. I think I’ll check it out and practice. I think I would exercise more if it was fun like belly dancing!

I had to stop exercising this week due to my daily headaches/borderline migraines. (Okay I didn’t HAVE to, but I definitely wasn’t in the mood.) The pollen has gotten bad (welcome to spring!) and I think that’s contributing to my headaches. I didn’t have one today – the first day since last Sunday! Let’s pray that it lasts. I don’t want to be so miserable at work.

I guess I don’t have any more excuses not to be exercising. :-) Maybe they’ll have some other types of dancing exercises. Pole dancing perhaps? My husband probably loves the possibilities!