A former co-worker of Mr Mav's, and his softball teammate, Jeff Eberhart, was killed in a car accident yesterday morning. Frederick News Post

Jeff leaves behind 4 young children, all under the age of 9. I haven't spoken to his wife, Kathy - but as one would imagine, she must be devastated.

It made me wonder. Did Jeff kiss Kathy when he left for work yesterday morning?

How many times have I, being annoyed at Mr Mav for something, left the house annoyed? Upset? How many times have you left your loved ones like that?

You take for granted you'll see your loved ones again. It just might not be the case.

I keep dwelling on this. I can't get it out of my mind.

You'll be missed, Jeff.

Well...so much for buying things I don't need. A woman I know over at fff.net pointed me towards so actually very nice British lingerie (who woulda thunk it?) and I have about $140 in my shopping cart over there at the moment. *sigh*

My son turns 6 at the end of the month, and I've dragged my heels getting a birthday party together for him. Now it seems my first (ugh) choice of venues is booked - so I'm gonna have to get my ass in gear to find somewhere else to hold the party that isn't $$$. He's never had a birthday party (involving inviting kids his own age) before - We've always just had a party with our family. Our neighborhood has no kids his age...I hope kids from his school come to his party.

My new truck is really, really nice. I thought it would be awkward, but getting used to a new vehicle is actually easier than I thought. I've been driving my old truck for 13 years...Now the hard part. Dealing with the MVA, getting it inspected by the end of the month, and selling my old truck.

The organic deal comes and goes. One day the guys are onboard, saying how much "fresher" the food tastes...and the next my husband is whining for Pop-Tarts. Not that my Cheez-It fetish has abated...

Next to go...cigarettes. Will my husband go for it or not? Just last night he mentioned not being happy growing older. He may (after this softball season) agree to quit.

Where I'd like to be:

For the past few months, I've been consciously trying not to buy too much. To reduce the "stuff" in my life - to pare down, to save money, to unburden my life, my attic and my mind from too much excess.

I've been doing quite well, despite the fact Husband bought me a much coveted 30GB Ipod for my birthday...

So it was no surprise that an article in a magazine about "Going Organic" caught my eye.

I've always wondered exactly how much the hormone load is in the milk I serve my son. The pesticides on my food - I don't know that really bugs me.

So according to this article, the Environmental Working Group (whoever they are) says you can reduce your pesticide exposure by as much as 90% by eating organic varieties of the following veg:
(they call them the dirty dozen!)

apples
bell peppers
celery
cherries
imported grapes
nectarines
peaches
pears
potatoes
red raspberries
spinach
strawberries

I think I can do that. So when I went food shopping, and needed potatoes...I bought organic. Not too much more $$ than normal. All of the other produce I spotted that is organic certainly wasn't outrageously priced. It was more expensive overall.

Then I went to the Organic Milk. My son drinks a lot of milk. They recommended Horizons brand organic milk...The cost in the DC area of a gallon of regular milk is $3.89. a gallon of Horizons Organic milk is $6.50!!! I don't think so!!!! We're going to have to look at some other way.

The article indicated the best way to "go green" in the kitchen is to introduce new versions of old favorites gradually - not all at once. So that is what I did. I bought organic tomato sauce to put over regular pasta. They liked it - said it tasted more tomato-y. Okay-

I'm going to do further research to find out ways to reduce the cost of organic foods, because some of them would raise my grocery bill more than 30%. Apparently buying food online is very cost effective. We'll see, and I'll report back.

Happy Holidays to Browncoats Everywhere!

Corny Pic, Ain't it?

Special thanks to PhoenixRose of fff.net, who re 'shopped this pic I found on the Net to put Mal back in his Santa suit.

I haven't written in a while as I haven't had anything really to write about.

Do you ever find yourself tuning in to a tv show rerun at nearly the exact same place every time? Serenity was on HBO last night, and of course as soon as I turned it on, it was 3/4 the way through, in the cockpit, where Mal is telling River she's not a weapon and she whispers Miranda to him. Every Stinkin' time.
I can't tell you how many times I've seen Serenity from this moment on.
Of course I own the movie. I can see it anytime I want. That's not the point.

Anyhoo... How did the Operative negotiate his escape pod to Mr. Universe's house (for lack of a better word?) Without coordinates? I mean, we see him hurdling through the atmo towards the ground in his escape pod, and then suddenly he's popping through Mr Universe's ceiling. Wouldn't he be miles and miles off course? Does the escape pod have steering?

Its an incredibly blustery day here in Maryland. Sunny, and the leaves are swirling. I'm bored off my gourd and have been for the past few hours. I both love and hate my job.

I should be taking possession of the Element in the next month or so. Guess I'll be taking a road trip to Miami to pick it up. Yuck - a 22 hour drive back to MD.

I'm nearly at the point where I'll quit smoking for good. My coworker came inside from having a cig and when I went over to her desk she smelled hideous, like I had just licked an ashtray. Today may have been the clincher for me. Really, really gross.

Sitting in traffic this morning, I saw this on a bumpersticker:

It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.
-Mother Teresa


Now, I'm pro-choice. I always have been. Something about this phrase gave me pause. Maybe because I have a child of my own now?

Back in '92, I had to terminate a pregnancy when I found out I was gravely ill. I was 7 weeks pregnant, and the medicines I had to take to save my life would do untold damage to the child. I decided to wait and see if I miscarried on my own, or had to have an abortion. Well, I didn't miscarry. That pregnancy was with the man who would become my Husband 2 years later. I don't regret my actions. I'm more wistful than anything else. My son would have had an older brother or sister. I did the right thing, for me, for my unborn child.

This bumper sticker this morning rocked me back on my heels for a moment. Maybe more than a moment.

Funny, I would never admit being moved by a bumper sticker to anyone who actually HAD a bumper sticker like this on their car.

*It's a cold, wet day here in Maryland. A day where if I were home (by myself) instead of at work, Firefly would be on the tv, and I'd be curled up on the couch eating chips and dip.

How the frack did this country begin to equate homosexuality and pedophilia???

That stupid, stupid (Ex)Congressman Foley in Florida explains his untoward behavior towards House Pages by saying
1. I'm Gay
2. I was molested by a Catholic Priest.

Is this just an ignorant stock answer for any creepy deviant behavior these days???

*Personal note - I use the word deviant here very, very carefully. I personally couldn't care less what two consenting adults do to or with each other. As long as it doesn't involve animals or children, people can sh*t on each other for all I care. It's all about consent. Children and animals cannot consent to sex. That's where I draw the line.*

I understand that children who are molested are much, much more likely to molest themselves. But somehow, we've tied homosexuality as an explanation for all kinds of criminal activity- and here it is again.

I know oodles of gay men - there are many in the design business, and my furniture company works almost exclusively with designers and their clients - who are publically distancing themselves from this creep. As in, "he's not my kind of gay."
Direct quote from a man I was just speaking with: "Queer doesn't mean being attracted to the same sex anymore. It's back to meaning what it did in the 50's- something dirty, and gross and to be ashamed of."

How could we have let this happen?

Maybe, he's announcing he's gay to explain why the emails were to boys. But they were Boys, dammit. Not Men. Maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt, let him go out disgraced, and leave it at that. Something just doesn't sit right with me about this whole situation. I hope it doesn't with you, either.

It's interesting where a little googling can lead a person...

Last night, I innocently googled "Hot Wheels Sizzler Maintenance" looking for some advice for Husband on how to fix one of our son's Hot Wheels cars. (Sizzlers, by the way, are motorized Hot Wheels. Very very cool.) Somehow, I surfed around, and found a page for Tivo Hacks.

Tivo Hacks?

Husband and I are slavishly devoted to our Tivo. You've got to understand, we RARELY watch live tv. We Tivo everything and watch it at our leisure, and cut the commercials. We tape things on cable that are playing at 3 AM then watch it the next day, or when the mood strikes. You can watch a 1 hour show in about 40 minutes.
If you don't have a Tivo...get one.
Anyway...there is this whole culture out there that finds the Tivo equivalent of Easter Eggs so that you can do little tricks with your unit. Some aren't very useful, others are great. By just entering codes (Like thumbs up, thumbs down, enter, enter, record...just an example, not really a code) you can turn rarely used buttons into other things. There are also "shortcuts" to get to different screens.

Once our son went to bed, Husband and I played with the Tivo. What fun! Sad, really...the things that excite me.
Here's a link to said codes. Warning: some of these things are more advanced. I would recommend you only play with the codes and avoid those that tinker with how it actually works.
http://tivo.drosoph.com/

Have to say...it was a great weekend.

My son had his first soccer practice on Saturday. He has shown little interest in organized sports...but he LOVED the class! Watching him run around was touching in a way only his Mom could appreciate. I don't have a baby anymore!
*Gulp* Does that make me...a soccer Mom? Ack! Runaway! Runaway!

We got together w/ Bro-in-law as planned. We went to Dave & Buster's (big restaurant outside of DC that is like Chuckie Cheese for adults) and we had a great time. We won pounds of tickets and my son bought a soccer ball with them. Now, he's kicking the ball all over our small house. Hope he doesn't run over one of the cats with it.
Side note, Bro-in-law work at the Dept of Agriculture, not Interior. Didn't realize the Forest Service is in Agriculture. I had always assumed Interior...

*Personal Observation*
There have been some complete gits posting obnoxious crap over at fff.net lately. I think a herd of 13 year old boys have invaded. Makes me not want to be there...but the goodness over there outweighs any teenage stupidity. Gods, I hope they are teens.

*Personal Note*
I am seriously contemplating quitting smoking. It's just disgusting, and expensive. Why am I smoking at all? I really have NO good reason. Boredom, I guess. I've contemplated before. I just have to get to the point where I am ready not to do it again. I think, I am almost there.

*sigh of relief*
The container arrived with the load intact. Whew- very, very lucky. A sofa could have "fallen off" anywhere between Philadelphia and DC.

Softball was rained out last night; I didn't get my night alone. I guess I can look forward to make up games for my night of quiet...

It's another slow day in the neighborhood. No real work to do for the rest of the day, unless one of the designers gets their panties in a twist over something. Just blogging, reading threads over at fff.net, and general web surfing. While its nice to get paid to hang out, I'd much rather keep myself busy - but there really isn't anything to do.

My bro-in-law is in town from Denver, subbing in an admin post at Dept of Interior. He's the acting head of - well- animals over at the Park Service. He's in charge of all animals in National Parks. Bears and such at Yellowstone, Black footed ferrets in the Dakotas - if there's an animal program at a Park, its under him. I wonder if they'll offer him the job, and his family would move to DC from CO. It would be nice to have Husband's sister close, with their 3 kids. We're gonna meet up with him this weekend, maybe National Zoo, or go to Baltimore for the day. He's a good guy, and pretty homesick.

*Bad thing about living in Washington*
The tv and radio commercials around here are really, really annoying. Especially in an election year. They're geared for the DC "Movers and Shakers", the Inside the Beltway Crowd - and you can't avoid them. Special interest groups urging Congress to act on something, Government Procurement Officers offered special rates for routing procurement through such and such processer - They aren't meant for You and Me...they just are really grating after a while. I just heard another of these and realized how much they annoy me. If you don't live in the area, consider yourself lucky you don't need to deal!