Always Thought I'd be Rainbow Sprinkles...

These are too funny - here's a sampling of my 'me as a donut' scores, or whatever.

You Are a Caramel Crunch Donut

You're a complex creature, and you're guilty of complicating things for fun. (bwah ha ha ha! - evil gigging ensues...for FUN, yes!) You've been known to sit around pondering the meaning of life... (too much, all too often!) Or at times, pondering the meaning of your doughnut. (Mmmm... blueberry, bear claw or chocolate buttermilk? - ohhhh, wait! Mmm... pancakes!) To frost or not to frost? (Less is more) To fill or not to fill? (Raspberry, yes. Bavarian cream, yes.) These are your eternal questions. (Indeed!)

What Donut Are You?

You Are a Glazed Donut

Okay, you know that you're plain - and you're cool with that. (giggling - don't know why) You prefer not to let anything distract from your sweetness. (LMAOROTF) Your appeal is understated yet universal. Everyone digs you. (I'm just too nummy!) And in a pinch, you'll probably get eaten. (- did my honey-man write this one? Sounds like he wrote this one...)

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you. (Naah, I'm a big, overgrown marshmallow, really.) But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft. (see! Marshmallow!) You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily. (Hmmm... kinda true... depends...) You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out. (I do pout if the croissants are all gone, but only for a couple seconds and I'm over it.)

What Donut Are You?

The Dentist's Chair

This morning I had a follow-up appointment with my dentist @ 7AM for my nighttime mouth guard.

Get this - While waiting, sitting in the dentist/patient's reclining chair, donning my lovely periwinkle blue papery patient's bib, I totally dozed off! They had to wake me up, when she was ready for my re-fitting.

Plans for tonight: Sleep.

Online Unwind

Soooo - my paper - it's 'done' technically and it's been handed over for faculty review. It's crap, but it's done - for now. My defense will be next week. Most likely, I'll pass with contingencies and I'll graduate on May 13th. woo-hoo.
Please pardon my present lack of enthusiasm... Let me explain myself.

Tonight, I came home from work around 6:15-ish and almost immediately, I crutched over to the couch (yes, STILL using crutches) to turn on my laptop for some much wanted, much needed online unwind time. While my compooter powered on, I talked on the phone with a friend, catching up since my disappearance months ago from nearly all social contact. Once my compooter was up and running, I was happy to see each "wireless internet strength indicator bar" was bright limey green = excellent internet connection ready to go-go! ~ I click on my lil' Firefox QuickLaunch icon annnd - and? - and nuthin' - - I click again - double click - click - click, click - - and still zippo. I restart my compooter. Same thing again. So I give up momentarily to attend to my growling stomach, crawling on my hands and knees into the kitchen, and I finish my call, 20 minutes later. At that time, I call my honey-man, who asks what I've got planned for my evening - - "eat dinner, surf the web, veg a bit and go to bed," BUT my internet isn't working. He tells me to unplug both my modem and router, let them sit a couple minutes, power the modem back on, wait 5 minutes and then plug in the router... been there, done that - sounds easy enough. Will do.

I unplugged them both and quickly finished my dinner before returning to my bedroom to power the modem back on. With the modem back up and running, not wanting to crawl or crutch off to anywhere else, I then plopped on my bed with my boys to wait five minutes before turning the router on. I laid on my stomach with a fuzzy soft kitty neck within reach of each hand... Nearly two hours later - phone ringing - I woke up!

So why am I less than ecstatically enthused about my upcoming graduation? I. AM. TOO. EXHAUSTED. So for now, I'm off to bed - and tomorrow? Well, tomorrow, I'll - I'll - - Zzzzzzzz...

Behind by 245 Posts and Counting

Hi ya'll... I'm home today, plugging away at this monster of a 'paper' which is due next Monday (little fits of screaming escape from me on an hourly basis).

Moments ago, I took a peek at my Bloglines account and I've got about 245 unread blog posts sitting unopened, waiting to be read... BUHHHT, I must IGNORE those beckoning posts and plow forward, aiming to wrap up this damn thesis for good! Then I'll be back atcha!

Recent Easter Observations

1. I have NEVER seen someone use THAT MUCH powdered sugar on anything - - HUGE, LOADED, HEAPING SPOONFULS?!?
2. I really adore my honey-man's angel boy-O's 'deliriously happy' laugh
3. Cadbury Creme Eggs are the best - only once a year
4. PEEPS!!! Opened and left to become chewy hard!
5. Penzey's Spices = Dah Best!
6. It is almost freakish how many "my favorite" things Wendy and I share in common with one another.
7. I will ALWAYS love coloring Easter eggs - - even if it makes no sense - - I know, I know... it's actually based on pagan fertility iconography... Every Christian holiday relies upon pagan-based symbols!
8. I call 1st dibs to host next year's Easter Egg Coloring 'Dog Party'!
9. I still cannot voluntarily produce a burp, even if my life depended upon it
10. Farting stories are juhhst funny - PERIOD
11. In my book, gathering with Friends & Family is requisite for any good Easter celebration!
12. Using crutches either up or down stairs BITES either way!
13. I love the Easter Sunday Brunch Buffet at The Smoke House
14. Those green beans were fabulous, were they not!?!
15. EVERYTHING was fabulous!
16. Especially fresh strawberry crepes with Grand Marnier - Mmmmm....
17. Four cups of coffee in less than 2 hours is NEVER A GOOD THING!
18. Board games bring out the kid in everyone - especially those featuring 80s Trivia
19. I love to laugh so hard that my smiley muscles ache
20. I can't wait for next Easter!

And THANK YOU to those who should know who they are, for making this past Easter such a delight - those of you who make coming together as a 'non-traditional' family nothing but an uber fun, most pleasant, most genuine, most enjoyable breeze!

"Viva la Shaved!"

Okay, the title makes no sense, I know, but it's what I said outloud while in the tub this morning when, for the first time in nearly 2 weeks, I was finally able to shave the ankle area of my left foot ~ This means that right now, I have my first completely smooth, shaved pair of legs since Saturday, April 1st. VIVA LA SHAVED!

My Left Foot

Mmmkay - here's a brief update: I'm back in the office with an iffy back this week, bumming rides to and from, working the crutches (ooohhh my arms! what a workout!?!), generally couched most of the time with my still-can't-bear-any-weight-on-it, got-a-swollen-fat-seriously-deeply-bruised left foot, trying to wrap up my thesis, having been granted a 10-day due date extension (now May 24th - praise all that is holy!) since I was completely out of it all of last week. [deep intake of breath]

No, I still don't yet have any uploaded photos to share of the split pants or the fat left foot. BTW, last Thursday was when my foot looked its very worst, fully bloated, deep dark purple with a lovely dark olive green sheen, and man, I wished I'd had my digicam then!! It was absolutely gnarly lookin' (revealing my 80s roots)! And last Saturday night, my foot began this bizarre, freakish, inexplicable peeling/sloughing of dead skin like nothing else I've experienced - - and it hasn't yet stopped. VERY gross. I think it's due to the poor circulation of my foot, resulting from all the mashed blood vessels and the contusions, plus some genetics.

On a more positive note: Between online and cash/check donations given to support my participation in the 2006 Las Vegas MS Walk, although we didn't hit my $1,500 goal, nor did we meet my last year's total ($1429), $1250 ain't bad, eh? In just two weeks? Not what I had hoped for - BUUHHHT, not bad at all. THANKS to EVERYONE WHO CHIPPED IN! YER ALL AWESOME!

'Somewhat' Machiavellian - ???

You Are Somewhat Machiavellian

You're not going to mow over everyone to get ahead... But you're also powerful enough to make things happen for yourself. You understand how the world works, even when it's an ugly place. You just don't get ugly yourself - unless you have to!

How Machiavellian Are You?

Mwwah Ha ha ha Haaah!

I STOLE (see?!? see!!! there's some of that 24% of EVIL in me) this one from Kati-babes ~

I am 24% Evil

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well. In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

How Evil Are You?

NOT Too Late to DOUGH-NATE!

Well, counting online donations and checks/cash received, I'm now at $1040 - not quite $1500 (my fundraising goal), but not bad at all, eh?

Even still, it's not too late to donate ~ The 2006 MS Walk doesn't begin until tomorrow, ya know... LINK HERE! And although I won't be in a position to make it, not even to work the registration tables (still chillin' with a badly swollen foot and a mega-angry back) - -* sniff, sniff * - - Can I tell ya, I will be so proud to report that I was at least able to bring in a purty dang good wad of moolah! ya know? WOO-HOO!

Thanks again to all those who've donated ~ family and friends, and fellow bloggers -- and I gotta say, I'm particularly proud of my fellow bloggers -- people who've never met me in person, but want and feel the need to help out an awesome organization, helping people with MS! helping me, help my very own Popstar! It's just sooo awesome!

Another thing of important note is this: From my honey-man's former spouse's family, I received 4 donations - ?!? - I just opened a check from her mother - ?!? - Wendy, your family sooo rocks ~ thank you for sharing them with me!

It's ALLL about the LOVE, I tell you!
Love makes the world go 'round and 'round!

Back at... oh, ahhh, OUT!

Layin' around in bed for days may be a dream for some, but this ain't working for me. I have my hefty final MPA paper due next week, the 2006 MS Walk on Saturday and wah-lah, I threw my back out again! I am typing this right now with my left hand, turned on my right side, tears in my eyes... and Otis within 5 inches of my left ear, sniffing. BUT things could be worse, eh? This too shall pass. For now though? Next trip to the bathroom will be interesting.

3 More Days until the MS Walk! NEED your Moolah, People!

Things have kinda been set back in the last few days for the fact that last Sunday, I had a minor motorbike accident... No one was seriously hurt, but I've been at home for the last 3 days with my left foot up, occasionally daring to maneuver about the house on cruches, but generally restricted to either the couch or my bed. It's real fun (total lie). I don't yet have any pictures to share -- 'member, I don't have my digicam anymore, for now... But my honey-man took some pictures with his very antique digital camera the first day, when my lovely contusion was about the size of a plump plum. I took a few more pics on Monday, when my whole foot had swollen up, skin all tight, like a blown up surgical glove, except we're talking about my left foot here. Once my honey-man can upload the pics, I'll happily share.

I'm hoping to be back to work tomorrow -thank goodness for sick leave and job security - and hopefully then, I'll have my friend Daly take not only a picture of my lovely black n' blue foot, but a picture of the pants I had been wearing on Sunday. The pants are the best!

For now, if you haven't done so already, pretty please donate for this Saturday's upcoming 2006 MS Walk - - I'm no where near my fundraising goal right now! We're stuck around $590!?! I need your help, people! <-- Link here! I can't do this without you! Help me keep my Popstar and others like her around! Check out my earlier posts, telling my friend Poppy Johnston's story ~ THANK YOU!

ADDITIONAL LAST NOTE: No, I won't be walking in the MS Walk this year, with or without my purply, swollen foot, but it's okay because I've been working on the MS Walk Committee and will most likely be dealing with walk registration and behind the scenes stuff on Saturday. That doesn't mean though that I can't try to drum up some funds to support the cause!

Kill it, Kitty! Kill it!

This one's been sitting in my drafts for a couple months now... Thought I'd throw it up for kicks, just taking a break from the glorious grind of writing about textbook adoptions policy - it is such excitin' stuff ~ woooo hoo!
(sarcasm applied heavily)
I swear it's official - my bum has gone completely numb; I've lost all feeling in my bum cheeks, I've been sitting on this damn couch with my laptop for sooooo long.

Oh and DO NOT FORGET about my fundraising quest for the 2006 MS Walk coming up on April 8th - only EIGHT MORE DAYS left to collect donations, people!
PUHLEEZE SPONSOR ME???
Go see my personal MS webpage - - PRONTO - - and my two previous posts shown below this one, written about my very own Popstar, the lovely and super lovable Poppy Johnston, diagnosed in 2004 with MS at only age 26...
Come on! Help me keep her and others like her around! Help us find the cause of MS and a cure!

Owen loves to attack the lint brush and he gets all excited whenever I use it before leaving the house.

Very Grateful! Nonetheless...

The most-awesome Leslie and her honey of a daughter, Kati, have both contributed to my MS Walk fundraising quest... YAY ~~ woo-hoo!!! THANK YOU!!!

But the rest of you? What gives? Last year in the first 24 hrs of my fundraising announcement, we had $400 dollars in donations!?! I was hoping for a repeat = It's time to GIVE! But luckily, it's not too late to donate - it's never too late to give. Soooo, why not follow the wonderful, most wonderful examples that have been made by the lovely Leslie and the tre' cool Kati ~ and my darlin' honey-man! Help us raise funds to END the devastation caused by MS! And I'll be ever more eternally grateful for your generosity ~ See my earlier post for the story of my friend, Poppy Johnston, and links to my personal MS webpage, so you can make a will-totally-be-appreciated donation... purty please??? with sugar on top? plus some ooey gooey chocolate fudge with a cherry on top? please???

*UPDATE* Just scored another donation! Ooodles of thanks!!!

Time to Walk = Actions Always Speak Louder Than Words

One more thing, before I disappear into my gotta- graduate frenzy...

It's that time of year again, except for this year's event, I've been serving on the 2006 MS Walk Committee, so I'm WAY more involved this time around... Planning the walk, attending lots of meetings, makin' decisions...

Come April 8th, ONLY 11 DAYS AWAY, I'll be at the 2006 Annual Las Vegas Multiple Sclerosis Walk! And as before, I'll be doing it for my best girl, Poppy Johnston, a most wonderful and precious friend of mine, who was diagnosed with MS in November 2004, at age of 26. These are pictures of her and her precious, most precocious, most adorable 2 year old son, Matthew. Purty dang cute pictures, eh?

After last year's AWESOME fundraising success [$1,429 in Donations!!! ~ woo-hoo! ~ for a Poppy's Pal's Team TOTAL OF $4,908], I've raised my 2005 fundraising goal from $1,000 to $1,500!

Come next week, I'd LOOOVE to report that I've reached my individual fundraising goal! Even more so, it'd sooo totally rock if we could exceed my $1,500 goal ~

PUHLEEZE SPONSOR ME ~ please HELP me do it! Help us end the devastating effects of M.S.! Five dollars is NOT too little, nor is $50 too much; Every Single Dollar Counts! If you would please, please, please visit my personal MS webpage, hosted by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, you can make a donation online, easy as pie!

And this time around, if you do not want to submit your own email address online, please use mine; annejelynn at yahoo dot com ~ ~ and once I receive your donation receipt, I promise to forward it to you (and if I don't have your email address already, just let me know via email!) and then you won't be bothered by future Nat'l MS Society emailings... But I would hate to think the possibility of receiving emails in the future would deter anyone from donating!

And PLEASE don't hestitate to tell your friends about this! We all can help!
and Thank you so much for your support!!!

To make a donation, you may do so via my MS webpage, honoring the lovely Poppy Johnston, by selecting the LINK HERE ~ Patience please as the webpage loads...

And here's the long-hand for my personal MS webpage address: https://www.nationalmssociety.org/NVL/personal/
plus the next line --
default.asp?pa=51803973&pd=NVL0EWLK20060408LAS

P.S. Did I say please already?

The Final Countdown

My dear fellow bloggers, friends and fam ~ The final countdown has begun. I have until April 14th to complete and distribute hard copies of my "thesis" to my program's faculty, and I must then defend it before April 28th - and then? Then I need to kick my job search into high gear, while I finish a final for my last class ANNNNND then I'm gunna graduate on May 13th!!! (woo-hoo!) - and then? Then I have to move out of my apartment by the 20th of May and put all my crap in storage... Wait a secky...

Do you hear that?

Do you hear all that - - all of that screaming?

It's me! I'm about to loose my mind under all the pressure to finish my paper on time! And ya know, like everything else... that's all. Yup, I'm a bit overwhelmed (GARGANTUAN, MOST HUMONGOUS UNDERSTATEMENT).

Last week I had a fitting for a nighttime mouth guard, which I will now wear every night I go to bed to prevent "stress fractures" in my teeth from the habitual grinding and clenching of my lower jaw at night. NOTE: I've been clenching my jaw and grinding my teeth off and on for years now, since high school. My father has told me that he could sometimes hear me from down the hall, my grinding was so loud! For a few years, post-divorce, I'd been jaw-clenching free, but since my return to school for grad study in the MPA program, I've been back at it. Usually it comes and goes in relation to the level of stress I may be experiencing... The past year n' a half though has been stressful, apparently. Anyhow, the mouth guard will be good - oh, and it's way sexy, I tell ya!

*sigh*

But really, I'm okay; I'll be okay... I had a migrane this past Sunday for nearly 3 hours, but I am okay - REPEAT TO SELF: I. know. I. will. be. okay. This will allllll be over soon... [Inside my head: " TOO SOON! OH MY GOODNESS, IT'S GOING WAY TOO FAST - NOT ENOUGH TIME FOR IT ALL!!!! - OH MY GOSH - OH MY GOSH - OMG!!! " and she begins to hyperventalate...]

Must breathe.
Inhale..... Exhaaaale.... - 1 banana, 2 banana, 3 banana, 4...

Naah, I'm okay - I'm just kidding (kinda). As one could expect, my presence in the Bloggosphere will be purty non-existent for the next 2-3 weeks. Wish me luck! and loads of it!

Purrrrrr....

"If we treated everyone we meet with the same affection we bestow upon our favorite cat,
they, too, would purr."

- Martin Buxbaum -

For the Mommie in Leslie

Saw this and it made me think of you, Leslie.

A New Home for My Future Fortunes

Packages sent my way are often kept at the Post Office for that fact that nothing bigger than a bread loaf fits in my mailbox! So I found a package "pick-up" notification slip, ohhhh a couple weeks ago? And then I misplaced the package pick-up slip, but finally I found it last Thursday of last week. I then made my plan to finally visit my local Post Office come that coming Saturday.

Soooooo, come Saturday, although I hadn't gone to bed before 4AM, I got up by 8:30AM and met with my friend Ryan by 9:30AM, so we could drive across the friggin' Vegas valley to get rid of all our hoarded recycling donations - - [SEMI-RELATED TANGENT: Actually, Ryan makes the whole thing a pleasant experience and we have fun driving over together, but that doesn't mean it's not absolutely *?#@*!# ridiculous that we must drive across town to recycle!!! END OF TANGENT] After that, I had just enough time to run a couple errands and make it to the Post Office before I had to be at a baby birthday party by noonish, and thereafter, committed to an afternoon/evening of thesis and midterms homework. Blak. Given the kind of night I'd had (wearing thin on no sleep) and my inherently fragile state (it being March 18th - explanation here), I was trying hard to keep busy, nonetheless...

At the Post Office, my package was brought to me lickety-split and while paying for a cute, cheesy, retro "Greetings from Nevada" postcard for the angel boy-O, I glanced at the return address on my package = "Oh wow!" It was from Leslie!?! and I about crapped my pants, wondering what she had sent me. See, Leslie happens to be the lovely sister of Wendy (our chosen pseudonym for she who happens to be my honey-man's former wife). And so then? Then I saw the mailing date on the package = March 3rd!?! "Oh shit!" I began attacking the packing tape on that thing before I left the register - one hell of a taping job on that baby, Leslie!

I can't remember whether or not I had my honey-man on the phone while I finished opening my package in the car - I don't think I had called him yet, but when I did, he couldn't understand me through all the blurbering. It's a bit of an emotional blur. Anyhow, so I opened my package and waaahlaah! Instant tears! I was just thrilled and my eyes welled up and ran down my face, dripping off my chin ~ I was soooo stunned, so impressed, so very touched.

And the accompanying letter Leslie wrote for me? I had to hold it up in front of me so I would quit crying on it. What a sweet letter ~ ~ THANK YOU AGAIN, LESLIE! So, you wanna see what she gave me? (I know, it's right there already, but I'm playin' the little kid here! Come on!) Wanna see it? Wanna? Wanna know why she gave it to me? First - can I tell you, it's because Leslie's awesome! How awesome she is!?! Leslie is AHHHHESOME!~ Kati, your mother so rocks! Wendy, your sister is sooo wonderful, but I'm sure you know that already - and you too know it, Kati. Awesome.

It's Show & Tell time! Plus some explanation offered... Leslie is well known for her loving spirit and her very creative style. This AWESOME box is a testament to her very nature and her inventive, creative juices... I've heard so many stories about her whimsical, beautiful ideas and creations - plus, I so covet the scarf she made for Wendy ~ what a great color! so soft n' fuzzy! Trust me, it's yummy. As I was saying, the #1 Reason why this box is so ultra, mega awesome is that SHE MADE THIS BOX FOR ME ~ and #2 - no wait - the reasons cannot be ranked. Equally cool, another reason why this box is the utmost most-est is the purpose for which this box is intended... Anyone remember my collection of fortune cookie fortune papers shared in an earlier SPF post? Take a peek here, if not. My lil' O'Keefe Poppy stamp box in which I've kept my fortune cookie fortune papers, the lid won't close all the way anymore, and my more recently acquired fortune cookie fortune papers have been sadly, either loitering nearby in a snack-size ziploc bag or floundering in my purse.

This new box will now serve as the keeper of all my future fortunes!

NOTE: I had wanted to imme- diately share this last Saturday, but I was without a camera (imagine a super, super pouty face with tears welling in my eyes right now). Yesterday, I brought my lovely future fortunes box to work so I could use a friend's digicam...

How about that lil' dragon? eh? How cool is THAT!?!
See even the lil' fortune papers applied to the sides of the box? Ain't it so schweet!?!

I soooo love it (had to say it just in case I haven't made that clear) ~ I.LOVE.IT. ~
Hugs and kisses galore, Leslie!

Off to the Gym, I go-go home...

I just got home from the gym ~ long, deep sigh ~ Now, before you start thinking "oh good for you," let me tell the whole very short story...
So I got to the gym and went inside to change my clothes, proudly carrying my pre-packed gym bag ('proudly' for the fact that I knew it finally had in it everything I needed), complete with padlock, handtowel, an H2O bottle, extra deordorant, a pair of socks + one, a sports bra + one, a tank top, a t-shirt, one pair of workout pants and my gym shoes. [SIDENOTE: I can't count how many times I've made it to the gym without my gym shoes!] Before I could hit the stair climber, all I had left to don was two items in the whole annoying clothes-changing-switcheroo =my pants and shoes= and it was then I discovered that it was already time to go home and it wasn't because I had forgotten my shoes...

My choice of workout pants? a light pink color made of a thin, very comfortable stretchy cotton knit...

And my underwear?


Black!