Corona Red Roses

Weekend in a Nut Shell

My weekend was busy and my injuries were slowing me down. I did get some productive things done and relaxed a bit. Here's it all in a nut shell-

N - Needed to rest more. Went to a party one night, had friends over another night. My knees are killing me today.
U - Uncluttered the front yard. My roommate helped me a bit with the heavier work. I replanted two bushes, put in three new ones, and put in watermelon and pumpkin seed. Got all three trellises put in, including one that I painted blue on Saturday. We got all the bags of dirt to the curb and a new veggie bed outlined.
T - Took My Bike in for service from the accident. Need new rear tire and 1 new shifter -- $200 estimate.

S - Sat through Madadascar with newphew, niece and family's foster child. Pretty good flick.
H - Hosted a small BBQ for friends on Sunday night. Had margaritas, chicken, baked beans (with bacon on top), rosemary potatoes (rosemary from my garden), salad (with aragula from my garden), stars and stripes mini funnel cakes, and bok choy with asparagus.
E - Errands - Post Office (for stamps and a Victoria's Secrety refund), Michael's (for mosiac tile supplies), Lowe's (Dirt, bags, and trellis holders), Eye Doctor (got new lenses in my glasses), Goodwill (donated extras from yard sale)
L - Looked over some job announcements and found I needed the internet to complete all of them. Hit a dead end.
L - Lost time in multiple discussions with my family this weekend, including my brother. He and his wife are divorcing he announced over the weekend. So, the family is in an uproar over what to do. None of us really liked her that much anyway. But, he is hurting.

Thanks for checking in on the nut shell of events.

posted by Corona Red @ 2:03 PM 4 comments

Quick Update -- Weekend of 5/20

Sorry I have been off for a few days. I don't have e-mail access at home.

I was supposed to be in on Monday, May 23, but I had to call in sick.

Guess what? On Sunday, I had a bike accident. I now have a sprained left foot, a sprained right knee, contusions, and scrapes on my elbows. Needless to say, I spent the past two days laying on my couch, icing my foot and generally just taking it easy. And I was bored to death. That is long time to doing nothing. Basically, if I couldn't reach it, I just had to deal. And I couldn't get anything done. Gratefully, I had a productive weekend.

Friday - RDO (meaning Regular Day Off). Rained most of the day, so I did some cleaning and ran some errands. Met up with my grandparents at the mall for dinner. They are visiting the area with their church and wanted to meet up with my sister and I.

Saturday - Set up for yard sale. Started on putting in side flower bed, while roommate William watched the sale. I spent two hours digging in the dirt and basically got just one plant in. I had to rush to get cleaned up, so I could pick up my niece at 11:45 a.m. I took her to a Teddy Bear Picnic at a local park. I signed us up months ago. It was fun, but also a bit trying. She's not really a very good listener. I did try to look at some crafts in a store on park property, but she was just cranky by then, so I gave up. She was asleep within two minutes of getting into the car. Got her back to the house and she wouldn't lay back down. My sister ran to pick up my grandparents in D.C. and I started dinner. My niece helped and she actually was helpful. We had a nice dinner with the grandparents. I went for a walk after dinner with the niece. Then, we all went to my nephew's ball game. The boyfriend called just as the game was ending and he met me at my place. He got there about 10:30 p.m and I was beat. So, we just watched TV for a minute and then went to bed.

Sunday - Spent some lazy time with him in the early hours. Then, met the girls for brunch. B, Rose and I are planning a trip to the Galapagos islands, so we met to try to start figuring things out. We decided to invite B's cousin to be the fourth member of our group. (She has accepted.) We did decide on an 8 day cruise and I am glad to hear that we are all on agreement that we don't need to fanciest ship, but we don't want bugs either.

Did more yard work on Sunday afternoon. First, I had to do more cultivating. I moved an azalea from the shade to a sunnier place. I dug a 50-year old rose bush out the ground and moved it. What a nightmare. The roots were so long and I could get to them because of the location of the rose bush. I ended up chopping of some of the roots, splitting the plant into two bushes and transplanting them. I hope they survive. I still need to buy one more trellis. I had wanted to get more transplanting done. I still need to put more veggies in, but alas now I can't.

My friend Anne came over on Sunday evening to go for a bike ride. We had only gone about 1/2 mile when I fell. Somehow, I was trying to shift gears and transition from the street to the side walk, I ended up falling over. I messed up the bike pretty good - the back wheel is bent and now won't turn. I am not sure if the brakes are right or not. Something is definitely wrong with the shifters. I am going to take it in later this week when someone is over to help me. I am sure it's a couple hundred dollars in damage-- I hope not, but it looks bad in places. (Of course, I've only had the bike for a bit over a month and I have put less than 25 miles on it.)

I spent Monday morning in the emergency room. The x-ray on my foot wasn't quite normal, but they just diagnosed a sprain. The knee x-ray was normal, but definitely swollen. It seems to hurt mostly when I've been leaning on it too much. So, I iced both and laid on the couch when I got home. My sister spent most of the day with me, which I really did appreciate.

Annoyance of the weekend (beside obvious) -- When the sale ended, William just packed everything up and brought it back in the house. He knows where Goodwill is -- why he couldn't drop things off, I have no idea. Now, it's all in my living room. Yet, I really can't deal with it right now.

Better go. I'll keep you updated!

posted by Corona Red @ 11:33 AM 4 comments

Star Wars Opening Day

posted by Corona Red @ 9:28 AM 2 comments

Googlism-- Have You Seen This?

I got this from Maria. Although I don't use my real name on this site, I did the original search with my real first name, then I switched it when I moved it over here. Basically, it supposedly pulls together any comments made with your name in them. It was a bit jumbled, so I did clean it up. I also removed the more offensive parts as this is not a porn site. Hope you enjoy anyway!

Googlism for: Corona

Corona is ready and waiting for (what -- I don't know what I'm waiting for either?!?)
Corona is pretty or (thank you!)
Corona is awed by the fisher (hmmm...The fisher....The fisherman?)
Beautiful eyes of Corona is awesome (Thanks...I like them too. A good shade of blue!)
Corona is cool (I used to be, but not sure I qualify as much anymore.)
Corona is an outdated version (of what I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised)
Corona is the coolest photo (Thanks. I'd rather take the photo than be in it.)
Corona is lookin good (I hope so.)
Corona is currently having a small rebellion against the sheer (the sheer...What am I not getting my hair cut often enough? OR is this because I hate to wear pantyhose?)
Corona is a bad mother (Wouldn't know ... I don't have any kids, may never have them)
Corona is by vixen69 (okay, what does that get me?)
Corona is here (as in everywhere or just meaning in the moment)
Corona is going to wrestlemania (Not unless you paid me)
Corona is a vivacious young English diva girl (Not English, Not Young, Not a Diva, but I'll take the Vivacious!)
Corona is ready and waiting for your hard (For Jay's anyway!)
Corona is amazed (I like to think it's difficult to amaze me, but nature often does)
Corona is pretty or ugly? Unspecified from newsletter (I hope I get a vote)
Corona is pretty or ugly? (Please vote for pretty)
Corona is now hosted at sourceforge (I always enjoy being hosted.)
Corona is the sexiest (thanks, I try)
Corona is an outdated version & should be removed to
Corona is the coolest
Corona is the advanced Maryland automatic network disk archiver
Corona is available for (parties, enterntainment, a new job)
Corona is very clear (I try to be!)
Corona is currently having a small rebellion against the sheer amount of uni work she has to do and has decided that ficcing is the most effective form of (A rebellion - cool!)
Corona is so cool
Corona is really funny
Corona is the coolest and from mars (I thought I was from Venus?)
Corona is a great show (oh, no - who's watching?)
Corona is also part of the children’s clinic’s nutritional therapy outreach service which provides complementary medicine to residents of government
Corona is 5 stories tall and is one of the oldest buildings in my city (I'm tall, but not that tall!)
Corona is a chocolate point Siamese cat with stories (I wish - cats have it made)
Corona is an enthusiastic honor
Corona is seeded 7 at toronto (Yet another sports thing I don't understand)
Corona is to instrument a large volume of ice with photomultiplier tubes
Corona is in good company wearing her mini dress in purple (purple - I don't think so!)
Corona is designed to handle large numbers of clients and data
Corona is optimized to take advantage of tape drives
Corona is an array of devices for detecting muons and neutrinos
Corona is the most academically successful of her friends (thank you, I do have a master's degree)
Corona is completely unavailable (I am dating Jay!)
Corona is in good health
Corona is on long
Corona is also available for stimulating keynotes and workshops which bring a deepened state of awareness to the workplace (I could do that!)
Corona is running on freebsd and backing up to an overland 15
Corona is done? some versions
Corona is spunky
Corona is a detector being constructed at the south pole
Corona is a backup system designed to archive many computers on a network to a single large
Corona is a bright
Corona is to email her through the general much music email addressCorona is muchmusic's newest
Corona is a film about an extraordinary horse and a boy named biddle
Corona is ready and waiting for your hard cock
Corona is well mannered (Haven't been accused of that since I was little)
Corona is exactly 14 minutes old in this picture (wow - that was a long time ago)
Corona is a loving 13 (Still a long time ago)
Corona is an incredible example of what people with a hearing loss can accomplish with the right kind of support
Corona is pursuing her career as a jewel thief (if only, then I might have some really nice things)
Corona is sooo funny sometimes
Corona is 16 years old and lives in arizona and is quite used to the blazing heat (no - I 'm not and I don't and I'm not)
Corona is continuing to work with dr
Corona is a network backup utility
Corona is caught up in the American war of independence
Corona is our oldest child (True!)
Corona is still in a coma (I hope not! I would think I'd have a better dream life)
Corona is a 13 year old teenager
Corona is set up in a Georgetown mansion to entrap a fast (a fast what?)
Corona is a network
Corona is one of the more recent female pop idols that have been springing up ever since the spice girls hit it big (Me, I think I'm a little too tall, too smart, and too off tune!)
Corona is eating super blue green algae (I haven't tried that)
Corona is currently the largest operating detector for uhe muons
Corona is a new "angel" cheerleader great to have you on our team (Angel? Cheerleader? Neither have ever been me!)
Corona is furious at finding out the news about her father's remarriage from a complete stranger (Still have my original set!)
Corona is totally useless (I hope not!)
Corona is a little panda bear who lives in the forest (My nickname used to be Panda)
Corona is using a completely new technique to study the universe
Corona is presently a graduate student in education at lemoyne college in Syracuse (I do have a master's degree in education - but not Syracuse. )
Corona is good
Corona is very excited and surprised
Corona is a native las vegan (Nope - military brat!)
Corona is the only person in the room (I am right now!)
Corona is finally coming home to the doulton family estate; but is she really Corona? (A mystery for sure)
Corona is a recently deceased teenager who will come back to haunt you if you don't send her message out to as many people as you can (Really, I'm not. I promise!)
Corona is no exception
Corona is an awesome player (At what I have no idea)
Corona is dr
Corona is brain (I was teased about that as a child)
Corona is the story (Don't we all hope to be that interesting?)
Corona is trained and a formital opponent with the bat leth
Corona is released
Corona is going bye bye for a little while
Corona is the bachelor's two choices
Corona is ready and waiting for your hard cock trishaof alsscan
Corona is steve (As far as I know, I'm me - a woman)
Corona is a
Corona is cool
Corona is kreative
Corona is awed by the fisher
Corona is nude (not presently, but I have been)
Corona is pretty or
Corona is pretty or ugly?
Corona is awesome
Corona is naff
Corona is going to have her pullthrough (hmmm?)
Corona is the coolest photo
Corona is one great cookie (thanks!)
Corona is dr hibbert (I've thought about getting a doctorate!)
Corona is this you
Corona is §sexy
Corona is a retard (I hate that expression and that word.)
Corona is leaving
Corona is a beautiful girl
Corona is amazed
Corona is in need of a loving home in KS/MO (Not a big fan of either state)
Corona is a windows puzzle
Corona is queen of backups (Part of my job is to be sure these are occurring)
Corona is lookin good
Corona is ready and
Corona is back
Corona is the best
Corona is votzen celebrita nuda
Corona is blackporn japanese geisha
Corona is run
Corona is great
Corona is ready and waiting for
Corona is hiding at the pirate shop (Doesn't that just sound fun?)
Corona is snow sexx torture
Corona is pretty or
Corona is an outdated version
Corona is lookin good
Corona is amazed
Corona is cool
Corona is dead
Corona is the sexiest
Corona is the coolest
Corona is a sexy sweetheart
Corona is a person of broad and diverse interests and
Corona is available for
Corona is a graduate of rufus king high school where she was a 3 year varsity player for the generals
Corona is a mommy (not yet, maybe never)
Corona is a windows puzzle / arcade game
Corona is nasty
Corona is a chartered occupational psychologist
Corona is an enthusiastic honor
Corona is married and tells janey she most definitely can not come to dinner
Corona is a network
Corona is 2 good 2 miss and has awarded her album "angel" a 4 (Again - not an angel)
Corona is the dean of freshmen at samford university
Corona is an array of devices for detecting muons and neutrinos
Corona is a backup system designed to archive many computers on a network to a single largeCorona is designed to handle large numbers of clients and data
C orona is optimized to take advantage of tape drives
Corona is student of the year
Corona is now 11lbs 4oz (maybe at 2 months - I was 10 pounds, 3 oz. at birth!)
Corona is rather complex
Corona is the coolest photo
Corona is sam (I did want to be called Samantha for awhile as teenager)
Corona is the whole package (somehow, this just sounds like a nice thing to say!)
Corona is kreative
Corona is in love with her new neighbor (he is rather hot)
Corona is stoic in icy weather
Corona is perfect for the character of samantha
Corona is finally gone forever
Corona is a sexy sweetheart (Like this one, too)
Corona is the sexiest
Corona is ready
Corona is a person of broad and diverse interests and
Corona is ok
Corona is currently a midler studying communications at nu (Finished my degree years ago)
Corona is around (at least it's not "been around")
Corona is now 13lbs 9oz and 27 inches long
Corona is an enthusiastic honor
Corona is designed to handle large numbers of clients and data
Corona is playing a woman (I happen to be one, so it works)

Wasn't that weird? Just the strangest collection of stuff about me - some truths were found, but also a lot of junk. Hope you enjoyed!

posted by Corona Red @ 10:23 AM 2 comments

Weekend Events

Since I am so far behind, I am going to try to make up for it. Once a week or more of blogging -- I have so much to say and I never sit down to write it. So, now I am.

My weekend went like this...

Friday night -- I met the boyfriend and went to a graduate party for a friend's husband. It's strange how many people I know are graduating now (and they are all in their 30s like me). It's like a second wave. Had a good time at the party. All these FBI people who my friend works with and her husband's reserve friends, plus their neighbors and of course my friends' parents. So, a bit eclectic. Boyfriend, Jay, still seems to struggle with big crowds. I am not sure how to deal with him at parties yet. Since the party was closer to his house than mine, I could have stayed there. But, his place is frankly just not clean enough. I think I might catch something there.

Saturday - Girls Day with Anne (a newish friend from work). We went to the local spa for pedicures. She had never had one before. They had an opening for a manicure while we were there, so I took advantage of it. While I love the serenity of the spa, I don't think the staff removes as much dead skin as the places at the mall. I am thinking of alternating the two -- it would certainly save me some money. It was $90 for a manicure and pedicure (including the tips). It was a bit over the top. The highlight of the morning was Anne's consultation with Ralph, my hairdresser. He is fabulous. And I think his ideas for her hair will work well. She's going back in two weeks for the actual cut -- I can't wait to see it.

Anne and I then ran to the mall. I'm looking for slip covers and other things. No luck with the slip covers, but I did find a great Boulce jacket. On sale and in the right color. So very thrilled with that. I have been searching for one for several months now.

Back to my place around 4 p.m., I chatted with Rose (my best friend). She and I had plans for Sunday, so she was just calling to confirm. I laid down and took a luxurious 2 hour nap -- wow, it was nice to just doze on a warm afternoon.

B (my other best friend) stopped by around 6:15 and I was in the midst of putting up a new thermostat. Can you believe I actually did it? I was able to remove the old one, label the wires, and attach the new one. I am so proud of me. Now, it did take me a hour because I couldn't get the dang screws in. Anyway, B and I chatted for a few hours and I got all caught up on her life.

Then, I cleaned house - nothing too exciting. Just did all the floors -- put the kitchen and the bathroom rug in the washer. I tried to organize things. I cleared off some shelves. Fairly productive evening if I do say so myself.

The boyfriend Jay showed up around 10:30 p.m. Totally surprised to see him. Thought he was not coming by. He had gone out with a friend earlier and didn't know when he would be free. He was supposed to call. Since he doesn't have a cell phone, he said he didn't feel like stopping to call. I was actually thrilled to see him. I was a bit icky looking as I had been cleaning all evening, so I got him settled on the couch and took a quick shower. We watched TV for a bit and then went to bed. I love sleeping with this man -- there is just something about snuggling up with him at night. And we had a great night.

Sunday - I made breakfast for the two of us while he watched his Sunday morning talk shows. He loves those political shows. Then, I gave him a quick manicure. I love doing his nails -- getting them all cleaned up before I send him on his way. They look good and he loves having his hands rubbed. He then went home.

So, I quickly ran to Lowe's -- picked up some potting soil and other household items. I even picked up the final items for a craft project that I have wanted to do forever.

I got back just in the nick of time. Rose arrived with her blanket, junk food, and craft projects. I threw my "Sands of Tatuwan" (annikan's home planet) mini fluted pineapple upside down cakes into the oven and we settled down for "Sloth Day* - Star Wars 2005." We watched Star Wars I, II, and IV in preparation for the arrival of Star Wars III this week. We did some craft, ate junk and talked all afternoon. It was a great time. B came by later in the afternoon and caught the end of IV. I hadn't seen IV in years, so it was interesting to get caught up on what the gap was between the new and old. The old definitely felt much shorter -- Rose thought it was due to the change in how they direct the camera angles. Most scenes were shot as rooms. Whereas now, the scenes are shown from multiple angles with more focus on the individual. Really amazing. I am now ready for Star Wars III.

* Sloth Day is our term for this type of day. We basically pick a theme -- we've done Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Dr. Zhicago, and others. The foods is usually theme appropriate. Rose brought Wookie Chew (a combination of cashews and doritoes) to share.

So, that was the weekend in a nutshell. Overall, not to shabby. Not as productive as I would like in some ways, but it was good to relax.

posted by Corona Red @ 1:19 PM 5 comments

Update on New Exercise Program/Weight Loss

Sorry it has been so long since I last did an entry. I have had system problems galore -- my html editor finally works. My IT guy installed some new JAVA thing and it fixed it.

As some may recall in my blog entry last month, I am working on losing some serious weight and health issues this year.

Well, it's been over a month now and I'm not doing too shabby thus far. I haven't been losing much weight. I actually set up a formal tracking record on my computer today. I did this several years ago. It looks as if in the past three years, I've lost over 15 pounds and then put back on all of it plus 5 more. When I started this resolution last month, I was about 2 down from that 5 more I picked up the past two years. So, I know I can do -- I've done it before.

I am still consuming more chocolate and carbs than I would like. I also snack too much. I am a much healthier eater in general than I was three years ago. I am trying to increase my calcium intake by drinking milk and/or eating yogurt every day. I also eat more veggies than ever before.

As far as working out...

Week 1 - 4 times (Yoga, Gym-Elliptical, Biking)
Week 2 - 4 times (Yoga, Biking (2x), Gym-Elliptical) not counting the 1.25 hours of mowing the grass)
Week 3 - 2 times (Yoga, Gym-Treadmill), not counting the 20+ blocks of walking around NYC on Friday and Saturday
Week 4 - 3 times (Yoga, Gym-Elliptical, Bike-8 miles)

I have found it easier to not drink any soda except C2 since I recorded this in my blog.

So far, weight loss has been less than 3 pounds.

My friend at work is really helping to push me with the gym here. We are trying to go three times a week. This week it will probably be only twice since we will both be out on Friday.

I can do this. Just keep trying to remind myself why I am doing all this...

posted by Corona Red @ 10:51 AM 2 comments