and we will spend our celebration on Catalina Island. My only draw back on this trip is that Eric will not be with me and that makes me a bit sad. It will be the first time, since we've been married, that we will be apart by a couple of states. So sad.
PROS: play MORE computer games :D More sims, in other words, I guess. And play the games FASTER!
CONS: I already have one that plays pretty well so do I REALLY need to get a new one?
Kitchen Aid Mixer
PROS: I've always wanted one! I mean, mixing with the hand mixer is outrageous when you can use one of these babies. Just throw in your ingredients and watch it go. It's like "set it and forget it."
CONS: Not enough counter or storage space in my little old house. I don't bake very often, even less now that I'm supposed to be eating better. And again: do I really need a mixer?
Exercize Equipment
PROS: makes me feel like I have a gym in my house. Incentive to get off my butt and workout. And there'd be NO excuses not to workout! It's a MUST that I say: "I can workout anytime I want" but the question is:
CON: will I really workout or will it be, yet, another dust gathering peice of equipment until I get tired of looking at it and finally sell if for less than 1/2 what I paid for it?
The Wii
PROS: I want one. Period. I like it and have wanted it since it came out.
CONS: we have a gaming system (PS2) and I don't want to start buying games for another one. (weak, I know)
Upgrading the back yard (adding in the dog run, re-fencing the yard, tearing down some old shed items, etc)
PROS: when it's done, we can have parties and friends over without being all, "pardon the smell of dog poop but would you like to join us in the back yard? watch your step."
Instead we can be: "lets roast marshmallows and look at the stars. Isn't this so relaxing?"
CONS: We have to do it anyway, so can't we just use our measley income to do it so I can spend the money on a "want" and not a "need"?
Like, Oh my gosh, don't forget SHOPPING spree!
PRO: NEW CLOTHES! Look hot! Sizzle with hotness in a NEW WARDROBE!
CONS: gotta lose weight first....boooooo.
What I'm most likely to spend a chunk of the change on:
My trip to California NEXT WEEK!
PRO: time with my sisters, spending our money together on snorkeling and kayaking and whatever comes our way
CON: is there one when I'm spending time with my sisters?
So I know how bad this piddly concern is when there are 400 or so children taken from homes in Texas, thousands suffering in China, and all sorts of sad and discouraging disasters happening in the world - and I'm worried about what I'll spend $600 on. Maybe we all need a bit of perspective, eh? Who cares what $600 goes for - and is it really going to boost the economy - not likely. Will that stop me from spending it. Not a chance. Consider it spent.
Well that was this day. My dad and Richard were on poop duty and the hose they connected to the house boat, didn't quite connect properly. It took the two of them holding the hose in place in order for the sucking to happen. BUT little bitty poopage would squirt out through the broken seal and before long the hands of Richard and my dad were covered in sewage speckles. And the hands didn't want to be alone, so their shirts and faces and neck and hair got little free-flying squirts from time to time. Now imagine it! You can't wipe it off, because your hands are covered and making a sort of seal...removing your hands removes that so-called seal and more squirt action occurs. So are we on the same page, here?
It's a HOT summer day - and at Lake Powell, hot days are real scorchers. So those of us who weren't on poop duty went and shopped in the little "store" and talked amongst ourselves and purchased ice cream cones. Yummers! What a relief from the heat of the day.
My mom and my aunt Sherry (Gene's ex-wife), being the kind hearted thoughtful moms that they are, bought an ice cream cone for each Richard and my Dad.
So, Richard and my dad are still holding the poop hose in place and cursing under their breath but are afraid to out right yell the obsenities for the obvious reason: if the poop is flying anywhere near their mouth, they're liable to get some of it in there with those cursings and obsenities. So they keep it to a mumbling grumble.
My sweet aunt Sherry says, "here, Jay, we got you an ice cream cone."
Now my dad can lack a little tact at times, but I gotta say, I empathize with this situation.
He tells Aunt Sherry, "Not right now." Now does he really have to explain why taking the cone at THIS instant isn't a good idea?
He chooses not to explain.
"Well, here, we got it for you." She hands the cone in his direction.
"Not right now." grumble grumble....squirtage still flying.
"But it's for you," cone still out there for the taking.
Now my mom still gets angry about the sequence of events that followed that offer. Me, I always LMAO! It was funny! It's still funny after all these years! It makes me laugh just thinking about it!
My dad, in all his tactful glory, takes the cone and tosses it carelessly into the lake behind him. I can't remember if he even said, "thank you" or some other facetious comment. He places his hand back to continue the poop suckage.
I don't remember all that took place immediately following that action, but I think of it every time someone offers me some food I DON'T WANT. Whether or not I'm on a diet is beside the point.
Dude, I don't want your brownie...the end. Seriously, I don't care how good a cook you or your wife is, I don't want it. I always think, should I just take it and throw it in the garbage or should I stand my ground with courteous no thank you's. I usually say, "Coworker (place a name here), thank you, but I am not going to have one, okay? But I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Please don't keep pressuring me, okay?"
But I always feel I'm such a jerk, like their feelings are hurt for life. For the record, though, I don't take whatever they are offering just to make them feel better - frankly, it's not a good enough reason. Does that make me a bad person?
Anyway, so there's my dieting woes for the day. I cry: Saboteurs! BUT, and herein lies the biggest BUT, I move forward UNDETERRED! 
I was introduced to the Sims by my wonderful and amazing husband before we were married. It was the original game he introduced me to. I never had been a big video game player - what with no TV until I was 12 years old and certainly no video gaming system EVER, I never really got into that scene. I fell in love with the Sims the first time I saw them.
