I didn't do much at all this weekend. I bought a WoW card because I'm pathetically addicted. I do have to say the people I'm playing with are making the game more fun for me. I think this is the best I've felt about the game and the most I've enjoyed it. I'm at level 54 right now. :-)

I went out to the barn and worked with Strider. It was a TERRIBLE session and so wrong on so many levels. Karen, the owner of Dougie, told me I could use her beat up, old English saddle in the barn. She described it being on the far right under some saddle blankets. I found it and put it on Strider. He did okay with it when I led him. I let him go in the round pen and tried to lunge him (run him in circles). He went absolutely bonkers. He started bucking and behaving like a bronco. There was still some mud in the round pen and Strider slipped once as he ran around. I was slightly freaked out that he might hurt himself if he fell.

As I was trying to calm him, Kaitlin came over and asked why I was using her saddle. I had a crappy, old English saddle on him. (It was such a piece of junk, it had green mildew on it!) However... it was her's and not Karen's. I apologized to her a few times and told her when Strider was calm, I'd get it off him immediately.

"It's okay. No problems. He sure is pretty when he moves."

"Yeah... he's adorable."

When I told rudebehavior and clown_spawn about the session, they suggested that he is the Gir of horses. His behavior is just silly and I do consider myself like Zim.

Me: Submit to my will!!! Do as I say!!!"
Strider: *ooooOOOOoooo....butterfly!*

*sigh*

It was still muddy out there so no workout on Sunday. The new roommate came over and we talked. I told her some of the easy rules of the house and I do like her. I think she'll be a good roommate. I have to deposit her money in my savings so it does not get spent. Any money in my checking account gets spent so deposit money is NEVER in the checking account!

After my roommate left, I headed over to my sister's to see Harp (back from Austria - YAY!) and to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday. It was very relaxing and fun but I'm afraid I ruined it. Ron wanted to see a movie but I boo'd all his ideas. There were a couple I was willing to see and there was one he was thinking about but I really didn't want to see. I think to be nice to me, we just relaxed at the house, opened his gifts, and had cake and ice cream. I hope I didn't damper the day.

I kept an eye on Pippin this weekend. He had accidents in the house on Thursday and Friday. (EWWWW - SO GROSS TO CLEAN UP!) I think he ate something he shouldn't have and his stomach is so sensitive that he can't handle anything but dog food and dog treats. People food makes his behind explode! ;-D

I left the party a bit early on Sunday so I could make sure Pippin was okay. He was fine and... was not ... er.. on walkies... he had normal... er... he was normal! :-D First time in three days in all honesty. I'm glad that he's back to normal. I think he might have eaten ONE cheez-it and it caused three days of problems for him. NO MORE PEOPLE FOOD!! Greyhounds really do have such sensitive stomachs and explosive back ends! ;-D

I played quite a bit of WoW and read the Julia Child book - My Life in Paris. I'm getting ready to start on a Terry Pratchett novel that was a Christmas gift - Lords and Ladies! It's about how rotten elves are and it's the perfect gift for me! I'm already having a great Christmas with books and computer games.

Now... if I can just get Strider to not damage a saddle or kill himself trying to get it off! *sigh* Stupid Strider / Gir!

I do love Anime night. It was only rodant_kapoor and myself this time but I still had a blast. Rodant sent me a beef and broccoli recipe and I experimented with it. It wasn't bad. We ate all of it. I really enjoyed making a marinade, then a sauce, then the food. I felt a bit like Julia Child bustling about trying to make everything. Thank goodness Rodant was there to help. I thought it was a good but I was a bit disappointed with the sauce. It just didn't have as much flavor as I was hoping. I might have to experiment with it and bring it up to par. I think this may have been my first experiment with Chinese food not in a little pre-prepared bag. It was fun. I made chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

We watched an episode of Shaun the Sheep that I had ordered through Netflix. Shaun is my hero. I had a Shaun the Sheep backpack from Ireland but unfortunately, I wore it out. It did last about a year and I've found a Shaun the Sheep tote bag that I'm thinking about buying for the new year. I did like watching Shaun and the flock play soccer. We even cheered when goals were scored and we oh'd when a red penalty was given to a sheep for tripping Shaun. I think when Shaun and his flock Riverdanced that poor Rodant had put up with enough and we switched back to Anime. We also watched an episode of Invader Zim and I was laughing so hard, I was almost tearing up.

Zim: Computer!
Computer: WHAT?? (I want that on my computer somewhere. *grin*)

Zim: Prepare yourself, filthy beast of meat and hair. Your magical love adventure begins NOW!

Zim really knows what to say to a woman.... ;-D

After Zim, Rodant went home and I fell into bed after unloading the dishwasher. I woke up early and watched a few more minutes of Shaun the Sheep before heading into work.

I heard back from the director working in Mongolia. He recommended articles to read and encouraged me to apply in the future. He was very nice and it's nice of him to take the time to respond in person. Just to see, I checked out flights to Mongolia. There is nothing from Austin, Houston, Dallas, or New York! I might have to fly to Japan or possibly Beijing and get to Mongolia from there. I'll keep checking on it and see what I can find. It looks like it might be easier to fly to Japan and then on to Mongolia right now....

I'm going to forward his reading recommendations to the house and see if I can read some of the articles on the Mongolian bronze age over the break. I also want to read Rodant's book and work on some of my own writing. I'm also hoping to get some reading done for Staci. I don't know if I can cram everything in two weeks, but I'll try.

I asked my office manager if I can have Monday afternoon off. I haven't heard back yet. Hmmmm... Probably not but don't ask, don't get. :-) I'll wait until I hear from her. I will still have around 215 hours of vacation saved up if I take Monday afternoon off so I'll be okay.

I was thinking about telling my family that I might be going to Mongolia in 2012 to work on a dig. It's easier over time but my Mom has never liked me traveling to countries that don't have good communication systems set up or could be considered "back water" countries compared to the good o' USA.

I remember when I told my parents that I was heading to Belize to work on my first dig. Actually... I do think it happened on my brother-in-law's birthday (which is today! GO, RON!). We met at a very nice Italian restaurant to celebrate Ron's birthday. My application had been accepted and I would be preparing in the spring but leaving in the summer. I had already made an appointment in January to get shots and to pick up medication that would strengthen the immune system against malaria. (The year I went, Belize had the highest reported cases of malaria, even beating out African countries. Of course, this was not mentioned at the dinner.)

I wasn't sure how to tell my parents that I was going to a third world country to dig in the dirt for pottery sherds and rocks.

The pizza arrived and I stared at it. I cleared my throat, "I have something to say."

Everyone went on talking like I hadn't spoken at all. In my family... it can be volume that gets you your turn talking and I didn't have any volume. I couldn't figure out what to say and yelling it out was just too hard. Thank goodness Ron had heard me.

"Shell has something to say," he was trying not to laugh, "Go ahead, Shell."

To my surprise, the entire table had quieted down and everyone was looking at me. Family talking, yelling, and laughing are fairly common. Family announcements are rare.

"Uhm.... I'm going to Belize in Central America to work on a dig. I'm leaving this summer. Pass the pepperoni slice please?"

I think they thought I was kidding and my unwillingness to look anyone in the eye didn't really help. I was fully fixed on my pizza slice now.

The table exploded. It was the jungle! It was probably full of white slavers and drug dealers. It was a poor country and people would kill you for a dime.

I rolled my eyes and kept eating.

Actually... there is a drug problem in Belize but they stay away from dirt diggers. ;-) As for white slavers... I don't know. Didn't see any. Could be a problem, could be not. I think... I'm probably too old for that to be a worry. As for poverty... yes, it's there. And I think every high school student should be sent to a country like Belize so they can appreciate what they have. Maybe that's me being mean but... poverty doesn't mean... bad people. It means poor people and it doesn't mean they won't help you or be nice. In fact, people there have learned that helping someone means they will help you further down the road. It was an experience, I'll say that. I learned a great deal on my first dig.

It didn't stop my parents from being slightly freaked out. I think Dad spent a bit of time trying to talk me out of it.

I wonder... how they will handle Mongolia. True... I mentioned it on facebook and my Dad is on that but I don't think he spends a lot of time on facebook. It's not for a while and I have time to prepare....

Another family announcement, I guess.

Please come if you can! I'm hoping rodant_kapoor will bring the Doctor Who with the cat people on horseback. So cool! :-) I wonder how long I'd last with cat people hunting me down. SCARY!

My new roommate's references checked out. There were some minor complaints but... er... I can talk to her about any issues that come up. She's coming over on Sunday morning to drop off the deposit. Everyone I talked to said she was on time with the rent, clean and respectful. The minor complaints were doors left open accidentally and things of that nature. I think we'll have a chat on Sunday and I probably will be less moody about it. I THINK she'll be a good roommate. E was NOT a bad roommate but we were very different people. I think the new roommate and I have more stuff in common (gaming, Anime, general nerdiness, etc.).

I'm hoping over the Christmas holidays to talk Dad into supervising me touching up the paint job in the spare bedroom. Dad is REALLY good at this and the job he did looks professional. If I can get all the stuff together... I just need an extra pair of eyes and advice. He doesn't have to do any work. Sometimes... I think my eyesight is so bad that I can't really eyeball things as well as others can. I don't think Dad's eyesight is too much better than mine but he has more experience with this sort of thing. It's also a good time to discuss painting my room. With Harp coming back this Saturday (YAY!!!! My niece is back from Austria!!!), my sister and nieces can help me pick out paint for my room. They can match colors much better than i can.

I have started working on my vacation plans for the next three years. I usually do NOT plan so far ahead but I may have to just for financial and time constraints. I'd like to go to Austria and Germany this year to visit Harper at her school. I will probably fly to Munich and make my way over to St. Gilgen, Austria. I'm thinking of combining a bit of train travel with backpacking. I would love to see some castles in Germany and visit the Lipizzan stallions in Vienna. I wonder if Harp would be interested in a trip to Vienna with me. I'd like her to show me around St. Gilgen and Salzburg. This will happen in late June or early July of 2010.

Rodant and I have plans to go to Kyoto, Japan and surrounding area in July and August of 2011. Details are sketchy right now. I trust Rodant with this though. He's the speaker of the Japanese and has to make quite a bit of the travel arrangements. (It was just thrilling to listen to him talking on the phone last time!) I really am hoping that rudebehavior and clown_spawn will join us for some or all of it. It would be incredibly fun if they came along. We can go to the gionmatsuri (sp? - summer festivals) together. We have GOT to pick out a summer kimono for the Evil One! :-D

In June 2012, I'd like to go to Mongolia and work an archaeology site. Details are very sketchy on this too. However, I notified the director of my interest and he responded that they will be there in 2012. I'm going to open a dialogue with him and see how it goes. It sounds like he needs people and I would be interested in a horse culture that is still somewhat active. Fascinating, captain!

Here is the site and I think it's offered through University of Pittsburgh:
http://www.pitt.edu/~jeh48/

I just hope I can save up enough time. I have over 200 hours of vacation time and earn 11 hours of vacation a month. I think I can get the time together for the holidays. :-) With the new roommate... I might be able to put together even more money....

The last person you kissed says they love you, you say? I don't say anything. I don't want to ruin the moment.

How can I win your heart? I'm not sure. Winning implies there is something to lose. Maybe start with my mind and my heart will follow?

If you could have one thing right now, what would it be? Chocolate. :-) Or maybe an English saddle.

The boy/girl you truly care about needs you at 3 AM, would you go? Of course, I would. They need me.

Ever liked someone who treated you like crap? Yes. I can't seem to avoid that and it's kind of why I'm single right now.

How many letters in your middle name? Four.

Is your last name longer than 6 letters? Yes.

Last conversation consisted of? This database is crashing when I try to use it. Please fix.

Is there someone you will never forget? Yes.

Ever cried while you were on the phone with someone? Yes. Big ol' howling sobs. I probably scared them too.

Do you have an older brother? No.

What's really pissing you off? Cramps right now. :-D

Are you wearing sweatpants? No. Jeans.

Don't you hate when people don't text back? I don't think I get too upset about it. I'm terrible about texting back myself.

Would you have a baby with the last person you kissed? No. Not with anyone I've kissed in all honesty.

Do you find smoking unattractive? Actually, yes, I do. And it makes a person stink too.

Do you think the last person you kissed cares for you? Yes, I think so.

Within the next 4 months, what are you looking forward to? Christmas. :-)

Have you broken the law in the last 3 days? No.

Who were you last on the phone with? A student.

When is the last time you attended a church service? I actually don't remember.

If you could change your eye color, what would it be? I like my eye color. Hazel is nifty, I think. I wouldn't change my eye color but I wouldn't mind fixing all the eye problems, ya know? No more glasses ever! :-)

Do you ever wonder how other people see you? Yes.

Could you go out in public looking like you do now? Yes.

Can a boy and girl be friends without having feelings for each other? Yes.

Are any of your friends taller than you? Oh, yes.

Do you think anyone is jealous of you or anything you have? No, I don't think so.

If you could seek revenge on someone would you? I have done it before. I would LOVE to say... I wouldn't do that but... I honestly think I would if the temptation was strong enough and I was somehow able to do it.

Are you happy with the way things are going? Yes.

What plans do you have for tomorrow? Work.

What are you listening to right now? AOL Radio soundtracks - Beautiful Stranger by Madonna (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me)

Who was the last person to call you babe/baby? My brother-in-law Ron as a joke. :-)

Have you ever kissed the last person that texted you? No. Wait... My Mom? Yeah. No tongue! ;-D

Are you one of those people who are always cold? Yes. (Had to change my answer. I misread the question.)

Are your lips chapped at the moment? Yes.

Has someone ever called you at midnight on your birthday? No. Well... if they did... I didn't wake up for it.

What is the last non-alcoholic beverage you had? Root beer.

What are your plans for today? Meet a roommate potential at my house. Clean the stove top.

Are you a forgiving person? This is another one that I would like to say yes on but I'm not. I would still have some friends if I was but... I can't bring myself to forgive them. Once you hurt my feelings and my heart, I have such a HUGE problem with forgiveness. I will leave that to better people than myself....

Pippin let me once again sleep a little bit past 7am on Sunday. Good boy! We went for another long walkies together.

I got back and the weather started to clear. I started off lazy but as the day turned beautiful, I got restless. I couldn't stay indoors on such a pretty day. I headed out to the barn. It was still muddy but I had a good time with Strider. I brought him in, groomed him, and fed him a carrot. He didn't mind it. I have GOT to do something about that horse's tail. He has a hardened mud ball the size of a large golf ball at the end of his tail. Talk about a mace! ;-) I'm going to have to get that out before he hits me with it as I'm cleaning his hooves. He could knock me out with that thing!!!

I finished up and headed home. I think it was the beautiful day that motivated me to do more. I started cleaning the house. I swept and mopped the tile, did laundry, vacuumed the house, and really started to clean my room. I dusted off all my books on the floor and put them in the new bookcase. My room looks so much better! If I can get a new roommate, I would really like to start painting my room and replacing the carpet for 2010. :-)

I also went over and picked up a check for dog sitting. It was a bit more than I expected: $30. I'm so tempted to buy a WoW gift card and keep playing but I think I'll wait for the new year. A bit of extra money in the account will help me get by. :-) I'm going to TRY and be good!

This is the cleanest the house has been in a while. I still need to work on my room and the kitchen. The oven looks awful. I need to really scrub the top of the oven. I should clean it after I use it but I'm usually so lazy after I eat.... *sigh* I'll try and get to it tonight. I'd like to finish with my room too. It does look so much better. Maybe this will help me get a roommate.

I've had a few years (yes... it does take me that long...) and I've decided to remove a couple plants from the yard. I'm really going to try and do something with the yard this spring. Not sure what yet. I think I'm just going to think about it. I know what I want to remove but I'm not sure what will replace it. I would like to plant some berry plants. I love most berries! ;-)

Pippin let me sleep until 7:15am! Good dog! Good boy!! (That is the latest Pippin has let me sleep so far.)

I got up and took him for a long walk and got ready for my day. I decided to finish wrapping all my Christmas presents before I showered.

After my shower, I went out and bought stocking stuffers and food for dinner. I decided on chicken croissants in butter sauce. Yum. I took all my goodies back home. I dropped them off and went over to let Shu-Shu and Charlie out. They didn't really want to go outside in the cold so I let them back inside and went to visit Strider. It was SOOOO muddy out there! I walked out and fed him a carrot and decided that was it. I would just sink in the mud and be miserable. I do feel better just seeing Strider. Sometimes I still can't believe that I actually own a horse. :-)

I went back home, hung out and took care of Pippin, then I took care of Shu-Shu and Charlie, and now I've started on my dinner. Year One has shown up in the mail and I can't wait to eat dinner and watch Year One.

I can't believe I'm done with Christmas! All I have to do is wait for the day and relax on my vacation. I've finished all my cards, my gifts, and my wrapping. *whew* I plan to spend the holidays with friends, family, and my pets. :-)

Last night was fun but only the Rodant showed up. We watched some Doctor Who and i was pretty happy about it. We're watching the last episodes of the old series with Sylvestor McCoy (the Doctor) and Sophie Aldred (Ace). We just finished watching one episode but I can tell they ended the last few episodes with a bang. Cat people on horses transporting humans to their planet to hunt them down and eat them. And... the MASTER has reappeared! The MASTER!!! WOW!!!! Cool!!! I can't wait to see how it ends. I told the Rodant that for some reason, I LOVE cat people but I'm not a big fan of cats. I don't know why that is.

We also watched an episode of Slayers that I had the urge to see. While gathering information for a quest, they visit an all-girl city where men are STRICTLY forbidden. Men are executed on sight so the guys all dress up as women and sneak into the city. The guys hate it (mostly because I think they make very passable and sexy women). It's just funny all the way through and at the end Lina Inverse (a female) is accused by a couple of people of being a male. I can definitely understand the frustration there! ;-D I giggled through most of the episode. It's been a long time since I've seen this particular episode and i just wanted to see it.

It's very hard to stay busy at work right now. Everyone is in Christmas mode. There are no real pressing deadlines. Our office manager is a workaholic and I think she's even slowing down a bit. She has told me to hold off on alerting her to things that can wait until january. I'm working on applications, an assessment report, and fellowships. All of these very important-sounding things can wait until January. We still have six more days of work after today. I'm hoping to motivate myself to clean up my desk and get my projects in order for the next year.

I will finish up my Christmas cards today and I'm hoping to pay Strider a visit tonight. I'd like to do a light workout with him but i'd like to do the workout with a saddle on him the whole time. I think he can handle it. I thought if I feel brave enough, I might even try the sack of potatoes and couch potato exercises on him with a saddle on. He's actually fairly calm about things and I'm hoping the weather hasn't made him too high.

I do have to buy some stocking stuffers this weekend. My parents used to do all the stockings but Tracey pointed out (and rightly so) that it was an extra expense for them and we could help out a bit. It's really not that hard. Just little extra things: bookmarks, soft sponges for bathing, martial arts magazines, etc. I already bought the nieces stocking stuffers and will buy for everyone else this weekend. It'll wrap up all my Christmas things and I have no worries for the holidays.... OMG... WHEEEE!!!!!

And to continue with the OMG... WHEEEE!!!! - I signed on to my student loans to check the progress of paying them off. They have gone from the five digit mark to four! I'm making real progress to paying them off! I didn't even realize they had fallen below the four digit mark. My car is also at the four digit mark and I think will be paid off in under two years. If... I can get those paid off... I can really focus on the mortgage. The mortgage and utilities will be my ONLY bills. Wouldn't that be great???

I always check over my finances in the new year to see where I'm at. I'm looking forward to this year. I've made more progress than I thought. :-)