So. It’s that time to clear out a few things that we don’t want anymore, for whatever reason. Too good to toss, but not good enough to keep. Or maybe we’re just bored of it. At any rate, here’s a list of DVDs that anyone can make a dibs on before I start listing them on eBay. They are all used but in decent condition. They are going for about $5 (some exceptions) and only $1.50 shipping. Let me know if you are interested!!
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So lately I’ve been completely into Veronica Mars. Mike and I bought the first two seasons and we sped through them in a few weeks. I can’t say enough about how awesome of a show this is … but there are rumours flying that it might be cancelled and not return in September. This is sort of upsetting, because it’s such a great show. There’s so much crap on TV nowadays, so it’s great to have something with a great story and awesome, witty dialogue. I’m sick of reality TV and all of that garbage, but for some reason the reality TV is what’s getting all the great ratings.

It made me think back on other shows that I’ve loved but were short-lived. Arrested Development. Wonderfalls. My So-Called Life. Why is it that all the great shows with awesome characters and stories just don’t last? It’s insane. The only two shows that have lasted for any significant time that I enjoy are Dawson’s Creek (6 seasons) and Desperate Housewives (going on 4 seasons). But drivel like Fear Factor has been going on since I was in high school. I just don’t understand it.

I think it says a lot about society in general as to what TV shows are highest in the ratings. According to the most recent Neilsen Ratings, American Idol is in the first two slots for broadcast TV. The WWE is highest on cable TV. Wheel of Fortune is highest in syndication. Nothing there is witty, intellectual, or even good. Not that I have anything against Wheel of Fortune, but number 1?? Come on… The television that we consume imprints itself on our character. It’s sort of crazy that we can be so influenced by a box. Commercials sell us things but so do programs. They sell us a lifestyle, an attitude. Catchphrases. It’s hard to detach from that, but it’s very important. I love TV just as much as anyone else, and I find myself wanting to buy into the cultures that are displayed on the screen.

I need to commit myself to enriching my life and not being so addicted to television. I never used to be a big TV person because I had a lot going on in my life. Right now since I can’t work or go to school, and I don’t have a lot of friends around here, the TV is sort of my friends during the time that Mike’s not around, and the the current Veronica Mars spiel that we’re on has meant that I’ve been watching a LOT of TV. I can’t wait until I’m back in school so I can have more of a life, but for now I guess I’ll have to find other ways to prevent myself from being a mindless drone. I won’t get worried until I start becoming obsessed with American Idol… or Wheel of Fortune.

So I guess it’s been awhile since I’ve blogged here. I haven’t been busy or anything, just nothing much to say I guess. Last week I was sort of bored and on auto-pilot. There just doesn’t seem to be very much going on. On Saturday I went to Jamie’s horse show and that was pretty fun. It turned out to be a nice warm sunny day, and although the show wasn’t non-stop action, it was neat to see the horses run around the arena. One of the horses thought it was quite warm that day – he was covered in sweat! It was pitiful! Jamie’s school won the show, so that’s awesome. In a couple days we’ll find out if they made nationals or not. I went up to Nacogdoches that day with Val and it was fun. We had a good drive there and back, all in the same day, and then we had dinner at Johnny Carino’s because I’d never eaten there before. It was really good food, I’ve still got leftovers that I’ve gotta eat up.

Yesterday Mike and I just hung around and watched Veronica Mars. We’re so addicted to that show (me more so than Mike) and we ended up watching one of the discs from the second season from Netflix, then just deciding to go out and buy the whole thing. We’ll probably end up finishing it tonight. I love TV on DVD – you don’t have to wait for a week to go by between episodes. And those darn hiatuses just drive me nuts – like Desperate Housewives is on right now. It’s been weeks and no new episodes! Oh well, I’ve got E! True Hollywood Story to tide me over.

Today I decided that I was going to be more committed to my working out and eating right. I’m determined to lose this last ten pounds and I’ve been completely unmotivated lately. I need to get back into my old schedule of working out between 30 minutes and an hour and watching my calories. I’ve logged into Spark People again and I’m going to start getting serious about it. Right now! No more excuses!

My last optimistic blog couldn’t have been more wrong. I was so miserable over the weekend I seriously wanted to beat my head in with a hammer. I’m so glad that I didn’t attempt to go to any gatherings over the weekend, I definitely wouldn’t have enjoyed myself and probably would have made myself even sicker. While I’ve made a vast improvement, I’m still not feeling 100%. My sinuses are still leaking backwards (which is actually something I deal with constantly as post-nasal drip, but when I’m sick it gets so much worse) and that’s making me cough a lot. I’ve tried the whole cough syrup thing but the only thing that seems to help the coughing is be asleep. I really don’t want to prolong this any more than is absolutely necessary, so I’m definitely going to take it easy over the next couple of days. I’m finally feeling good enough to do something besides stare blankly at the TV, which I have pretty much been doing for the past week. I’ve started some laundry and I might be adventurous enough to clean the kitchen! Today is the first day that I’ve put in my contacts since I got sick, so hopefully I keep improving until I’m all healthy again. I hate being sick, and it seems that with me it’s forever until I’m at 100% again. Colds just stick to me.

I’m still sick, but the illness has seemingly moved on to its next level: sinus congestion. Usually the most miserable part, but luckily the easiest to treat with over-the-counter meds. I went to lay down after my eyes started to prickle – you know how it is, your eyes get super heavy because of the sickness but when you close them they still hurt – but the sinus headache got the best of me so eventually I caved and reached for the Sinutab or whatever it is that I had. It was between that and the NyQuil, but I decided that I didn’t want to be a living bobble-head until I was ready for bed.

Anyways, thank goodness for sniffles, because at least I can get some relief from it. The coughing and headaches and sore throat was constant pain. Now I can talk and move and breathe without hacking up a lung. It’s not the ideal improvement, but an improvement none the less. I already cancelled all my plans for tomorrow so I’ll probably stick with that and stay focussed on getting better. I’d much rather get the heck out of this apartment but the last thing I want is to be out of commission even longer. My appetite has increased, and now that my throat isn’t killing me anymore, I’ll probably eat us out of house and home. There’s some chocolate in the fridge that’s been calling my name!

I don’t have much to talk about since I’ve pretty much been watching E! constantly since I got sick, only stopping long enough to finish up season 1 of Veronica Mars and re-watch Mean Girls. I added True Hollywood Story to my Tivo list, which is sort of sad, but I don’t want to miss the upcoming episodes that look interesting and I know I’m not dedicated enough to remember them. Namely, there’s one tomorrow about Mean Girls, so you know that I’m excited about that. I’m also excited about season 2 of Veronica Mars, which should be landing in our mailbox really soon. The finale for the first season has a juicy cliffhanger and everyone knows that my curious nature just can’t handle cliffhangers. Hope everyone else is having more fun than me, and not illin’!

So last night I had a weird cough that I just couldn’t shake, and it seems to have erupted into a mini-sickness. I wouldn’t say cold because right now it just seems to be affected my head and throat (and coughing mechanism) but I’m definitely feeling under the weather. I was supposed to volunteer this morning at the library in Pearland but when 8am rolled around I knew I was not getting out of bed. I’d really rather be in bed now, honestly, but I made myself get up. I hate it when I get sick when I had plans. It’s one thing to be sick and be like, “oh well, I hadn’t planned anything today anyways” but when I have to cancel things it gets to me. I have so little on my plate in a general week that cancelling anything pretty much means any extra social interaction is cut off. Yesterday was a fun evening though, we had Mike’s parents over for Shepherd’s Pie (one of my Heat N Eats) and then Jose stayed for a few hours and played the Wii with Mike, while I got some baking done.

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I don’t have time to comment on this right now (I will later) but I thought this article was quite interesting:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2007/03/05/the_secret/index1.html

If you’ve heard anything about the hullabaloo on “The Secret” lately, you’ll find this an interesting read.

A bunch of goings-on have been happening since I last blogged. My mom left on Saturday morning and her flight was apparently just perfect. She was worried about traveling along for nothing! She did get the Vim I wanted taken out of her luggage, I guess. Oh well, looks as though you can’t transport cleaning products. I know it seems like an odd request, but it seriously is the best stuff for cleaning countertops and nasty stoves. I did get a bunch of other goodies though, a pile of cookbooks, some Smarties, and a CD to replace the Madonna one I lost over the summer. Ooh, and some crab apple jelly. Man that stuff is tasty.

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Today I’m probably going to be out most of the day. In a little bit, I’m getting picked up to go to Spring, TX. Apparently it’s a shopping paradise. I’m not thrilled. I’m actually most looking forward to going to the tea room for lunch. I like tea rooms, they are nice and simple and they don’t give you huge plates of food. But anyways, it’s going to be super hard to keep the monster in me in check when mom is going to be splurging left right and center, like she has been since she landed. It’s actually getting a bit frustrating. I know that it’s not my business technically, but I don’t want to see her staying in the hole that she’s in, and eventually getting deeper into it. Mom has a personality where she turns to inanimate things for comfort and that’s what she’s been doing lately with food and … well, stuff. She actually said yesterday that nothing but shopping was any fun. There were so many things that I wanted to do over the weeks that just never got an opportunity. The way I see it, gatherings and parties and events create memories and those are worthwhile, but shopping generally just creates more junk. I really wanted to have a board game night or go away to San Antonio, but it just didn’t happen. I do know that I’m going to start a tradition in my own family, me and Mike and our future spawn, to spend one night a week having an inexpensive activity as a family. I never had family time growing up, and now it’s very precious. Sure I spent a lot of time playing with toys (and I certainly had a few) but those aren’t really great memories. I had a decent childhood as they go, I wasn’t abused, I got most things I wanted but not all, my parents loved me, and I had a couple friends at school. The only thing I really struggled with was relationships, and they may be a byproduct of all the time that I spent alone. Anyways, I’m getting onto a totally different tangent here, but what I’m trying to say is that shopping is boring. I usually enjoy it, but after awhile it’s all the same. How can people go out shopping every day? When do you get the chance to enjoy the stuff you bought? If you’re not taking the time to enjoy it, what’s the point? I’ve always wanted to live a comfortable life, but I think there’s a huge difference between comfortable and excessive.

At any rate, we’re going out to do the shopping thing, and then after this I’m so done for the next ten years. Shopping for the sake of shopping has lost it’s thrill for me. Yesterday mom wanted to go to the mall and I ended up just saying “NO!” I’m so tired of it. Hanging out with mom seriously drains me of all of my energy. I’ve been dead on my feet for the last two weeks. Last night, Mike and I skipped Bible Study because I literally couldn’t function. We ended up (well, I did anyways) taking a nap for a couple hours. And even now, I’m still exhausted. It doesn’t seem to matter how much sleep I get. This Saturday, Mike promised me cheesecake and a day of sitting home relaxing and I’m excited. I’ve been on supergo mode lately, and I’m just not used to it. Hopefully next week I’ll have the chance to relax and recuperate from all of this. I’m glad she doesn’t visit too often, I couldn’t handle it.