HRH

I was feeling a bit off so I went to check my blood sugar and as expected, it was low (not too badly though, it was only 50). So I decided to have ice cream since it would both raise my b/g quickly, and also be delicious lol


When I got back, the movie The Queen was on. I hadn't seen it yet so I figured I might as well watch it. It's only been on about 20 minutes now. Anyway, the part - Spoiler if you haven't seen it! - where Diana is announced dead has just happened. (I saw the accident scene a bit ago so I knew it was coming up soon.)


This brought up a memory I had about all this. I've had it several times over the years, particularly when the anniversary of her death comes up. The Paparazzi shown chasing Diana & Dodi in the car is what brought it up this time. Years ago, before Diana died, some group or other had photos of Diana with marks on her leg. I remember them making (their usual rude comments at that) comments about her having cellulite on her thigh and someone (whether it was official or not, I don't remember...I was still a kid at the time!) defending her saying that she'd been sitting on a stool and it was just marks on her leg. (Whatever! Who cares if it was cellulite or not?)


So the thought I've had over the years is this: How did those people feel after making comments like that? Did they even think about it? You made meaningless and nasty (although they could have been worse) remarks about someone and later you (not personally obviously but still  people of the 'press') are most likely at least partially responsible for her death.


I know if it had bee ME, I would think about that for the rest of my life. I would feel horrible. I know they are "just doing their job" but it is still a choice. I don't understand it really. I mean, I like hearing about this celeb or that doing things...but I like to hear about the good things. A charitable cause. A marriage. A baby.


Anyway, just one of those random thoughts I had/have. I'll be back sooner or later to catch up on everything else. I've just been kind of antisocial lately, at least online. It happens, but I'll definitely be back.

Birthday Party!

Next week is my niece Elliana Grace's 2nd birthday party! I'm excited. As I have mentioned before, I love that kid! (Plus, I like get-togethers! I don't care if they are children's birthday parties lol) Things have been tough this year, so I tried to help out some. I got all the plates, cups, napkins, etc today, as well as stuff to make brownies (yum!) and cupcakes (double yum!) I'm hoping to put my semi-baking skills to good use and get the cupcakes colored to match the party theme. If I fail, I have backup Yellow frosting lol Jenn (her mother) said she needed clothes in her current size so that was like a jackpot! I love buying clothes! For me or anyone else lol I only had time to go to one store though, so I had to make it count. I had to get her a toy too because, c'mon, it's a birthday! But I figured I would save that for Christmas since she really needs the warmer clothes now before it gets cold. I imagine there will be pictures to follow :-)

Relax

I seriously need to learn to relax. I don't understand it. I'm a pretty laid-back, chilled out individual, but physically, I am often tense. I'm even tense during things that shouldn't be. Example: I was lying down a week or so ago, hoping it wouldn't take me 900 years to get to sleep, and I realized my body was not completely relaxed. I had to force myself to melt lol Same thing when I was getting a little bit of massage one day. Even once I'm asleep I'm not fully un-tense. I clinch my jaws and grind my teeth! I've even been told it can sound kind of scary sometimes lol So how do you get un-tense if there is tension even while you are asleep?!

Today Was A Good Day

Today was a good day! Or I guess I should say that yesterday was. Saw the doctor for my 6 month check-up deal. Got some other medical things taken care of while I was there. Got my flu shot! Doc decided to draw some blood while I was there, so now both my arms are tender lol But after all that fun...


Mom and I had lunch at "The Birthday Sizzler" (which is actually a steak house called Western Sizzlin that does a special on birthdays so families often go, hence the name). They have this veggie soup that I just love. Had a big plate of salad, bowl of that delicious soup, some Italian meatballs and lots of veggies. Oh and some cheesecake hehe


Afterwards, we did a little shopping. Mostly window shopping, but it's still fun. I did pick up a few things: couple of things we needed for the house, couple of books, a few little Christmas gift items, a shirt and a dress (both on sale for $5...You can't beat $5!). I've been on a dress kick for awhile. It's cute. It's dotted swiss (aka swiss dots!) and cut in a way I like, so it was a win-win-win for me!


Came home and had mercy taken on me and my poor arms lol I didn't have to cook! BK may not be gourmet food, but man that burger was good! Sometimes a girl just needs a double cheeseburger! lol Bro stopped by to help cut down the tree. An on-going project/problem for Joe. Personally, I liked the tree, but whatever. It's nothing but a super short stump now.


And the strangest bit: We cleaned the bathroom. I know that doesn't sound like that much fun or something that would make a day "good" but it's nice to do things together. I don't think I've been so happy cleaning in awhile. I doubt the boy-wonder felt the same lol but that is ok.


Had a nap (always a plus!) did some internetting and just read a few chapters. Good end to a good day.


Next on the agenda: Girl's night out on Friday (assuming Angie doesn't cancel on me. It happens). And then Saturday, my brother's bff and long time friend of our family is getting married! I like weddings. It gives me a good excuse to get all dressed up and then socialize lol I'm wondering if thier son will be there / be in the wedding? He's young so IDK. I'm wondering mostly though, because I'm hoping my neice will be there. Forget being mommy or daddy's girl, I think Ellie should be Auntie's girl. I love that kid!


Unrelated Note: Watched Thor the other day. Gotta watch them all before The Avengers movie comes out. Anyway, ladies, if you like shirtless hunks, there's a scene you should definitely check out LOL Iron Man is still my favorite though :-)

h4x0rz

Movies about hackers and hacking are cool, but in the real world it can be bad news. Trust me, I know that not everyone that can and does hack is a baddie. Some of them do it just to show they can and then leave everything as is. But, there are always the guys on the other side of the line that like to cause chaos - or at least mischief.  If I get malware or a virus on my PC, it’s a nuisance more than anything else. I’m not happy about it, but it’s not life or death. However, the one piece of technology that I rely on that IS life or death is my insulin pump. At the recent Black Hat conference it was revealed that you can hack an insulin pump. I can't exactly picture this happening to me or to anyone else for that matter, but it still makes me thinkg WTF?!

http://www.slashgear.com/hacker-shows-how-to-hack-insulin-pumps-at-black-hat-conference-05169762/

Finally Fall

I am so happy that it is finally Fall! Although, it hasn't felt like it much the last few days. It was 84 the other day, which isn't too bad, but the humidity was back! Ugh! But you have to expect that in the South. Summer isn't over until it's ready to be over! Aside from those days (and all this rain which probably has a lot to do with the humidity!) I love this weather! Not just the cooler temps, but as mentioned, the dreaded humidity drops. Nothing like breathing soup when you walk out into a 90 or even 100+ degrees day! It's nice to be able to enjoy a warm day without that.


The world just *feels* different for me this time of year too. When I was a kid (even though we started school in August and not the actual fall) I felt it. So as I got older I just attirbuted the feelings to that (even though I wasn't in school anymore). But now I realize that it's something different. There are the things you can see and feel obviously: the sun's angle changes. the temp. and humidity drop. I don't know what it is. I can't explain it and I can't show it to you, but I only feel it when Autumn comes and no other season. Maybe because I was born in the Fall? (although not until November). I don't know what it is, but I welcome it every year. Happy Fall, everyone!

Remembering September 11th

I was going to make commerative post on September 11th, but as we learned on that horrible day, sometimes life changes your plans. Sometimes things change quickly. But the most important bit: Life goes on around us no matter what happenes or what we thought we were going to do.


So I am a bit late, but I truly believe this is a day worth thinking about. (I hate to use the word "remember" because of all the "slogans" about remembering 9/11. How could we ever, ever forget? But remembering is what we must do.) We should remember the lives that were lost. We should remember those that lost someone they loved. We should remember everyone that went to help. We should remember how we felt that day. We should think about the horrible things human beings can and will do to each other. We should remember how it affected us as a country, but more importantly how we came together and stood tall where the towers fell. We should remember those from other countries that reached out both physically and emotionally to support us.


The day started off unusually for me anyway. I was obviously much younger then. It was rare for me to be up early in those days, and if I was up early, it was very unlikely that I would be watching the news. Well, actually I was watching The Today Show. 

My dad was outside working on his car. Mom hadn't returned yet from taking my sister to school. I was standing in the living room in front of the tv. Matt Lauer was talking about something - I have no idea what now - when there was a typical interruption when "Breaking News" happens. Matt announced that a plane had hit one of the towers.


I remember thinking that was crazy and wondering if something happened to the pilot or in "the tower" or...I had no idea. I went outside to tell my dad about it. Went back inside to watch some more when they announced the 2nd plane hitting. By that time they had video to accomany the story and there was talk of terrorism.


Mom and I had already had plans that day to go shopping. It wasn't "fun" shopping or I believe we would have cancelled it. Once again, life moves on even when the worst things happen. But  there were things I needed to get, so we decided we'd go ahead and go. Stores were close to empty that day and the people that were there looked shell-shocked. A lot of almost vacant looks. No one really acknowledged each other or if they did speak, it was about the horrors we'd all seen or heard about that day. People were lost in their own thoughts. There was none of the usual energy you percieve in a store or place containing people. It was so still. Life slowed, but kept moving on.