See You Next Tuesday?

 Now I am thinking about Ted "Theodore" Logan 

I have not written the blog for a few weeks. It is odd that life gets in the way of things like writing the blog when, without life, I would have nothing to write about in the blog. As a MATTer of fact, without life I guess I, literally, would have nothing to write about. Without life I could not even write at all.

Christmas is less than a week away. I don't suppose I celebrate Christmas for the main reason that most people celebrate this day; I celebrate the time with family. We all have such busy lives now and we live in different places and this week Splenda and Andy will come here from Chicago, my brother arrived here from Hawaii tomorrow (why weren't we not smart enough to go spend the day/week/month/eternity at his place in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. Some say that they would not appreciate Christmas as much without snow - I GUARANTEE I would appreciate just about everything more without snow and negative double-digit wind chills. I have shoveled snow five times already this season and it isn't even officially winter yet. How cold will winter be? We have a snow blower but I prefer to do it the snow removal the old-fashioned way to get the extra exercise. This last time my hands were really cold even with snowmobile gloves. My feet were cold too so I thought, "cold feet, cold hands and runny nose." I suppose I had a warm heart too but I left that one out for that frozen time. I have been listening to the Adam Ant station on Pandora while shoveling lately. If you don't have Bluetooth earbuds I highly recommend putting them on your list for Santa. Also, I recommend paying the charge for more songs you can skip and commercial-free listening on Pandora. The Adam Ant station reminds me a lot of the time when many of us first met: Alan Hunter, Nina Blackwood, J.J. Jackson, Martha Quinn and Mark Goodman. I was a senior in high school then. I am older than MTV (that is kind of a bummer). MTV was huge while I was in college; it has changed lots and lots and I am not sure they even play music on "Music Television" anymore.

While thawing out post-shoveling of the past week or so I have continued to re-watching episodes of Deadwood on HBO GO. I am on episode ten of season one so, as you can see, I am not in a tremendous hurry to get done with it. I suppose, if this were my first time seeing it, I would be watching episodes more rapidly. Or, if I weren't doing so many things all at the same time - like having a life with responsibilities. I really like that the show continually uses my two very favorite cuss words (not Pneumonia or Topography). They both begin with the letter C which I think makes them sound even harsher because the K sound of the C makes then very curt and sharp. They are both included in George Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" which makes them even better I suppose. Click that red link if you need a refresher on the list (don't play it loudly in a library or around children or prudes).

In case any of you has tried to reach Cha Cha (secret identity - Jill Helser) on Facebook she has been off of Facebook for, at least, two or three weeks / maybe months though she can still be tagged, oddly. She has not completely quit the social media time-suck (though she will eventually) but she suspended her account so she could live life in the real world rather than the virtual world. I like Facebook for many reasons: I am nosy, it is an easy place to promote the blog (and the podcast when we start that back up)... I am using Twitter more and more these days and she uses that almost exclusively for social things. It does seem more adult than Facebook which is probably another reason I am still on Facebook. I also like Pinterest, as does she, but that is a bit different that the others I mentioned.

Now it is about three hours from me writing that last paragraph. I stopped by my doctor's office to drop some papers off that need to be filled-out and faxed. I went to two supermarkets (why did they used to call them supermarkets rather than grocery stores?) to get supers groceries. I made my giant salad that I will use all week for my work lunches. I cleaned the kitchen. It is my turn to make dinner tonight and I was requested to make my mini meatloaves. If you have a pencil write down this very complicated recipe - mix ground meat of your choice (I use two pounds of ground turkey) and mix thoroughly with one jar of giardiniera. I, then, put the meat into cupcake and/or bundt cake pans and cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about and 45 minutes (I check it constantly until it is thoroughly cooked) and it changes depending on what kind of meat you use. I have also done it as one large, traditional meatloaf but I like the small loaves better as they are easy to portion and they crumble nicely on tortilla shells or on a salad... They are also easier for travel like in work or school lunches...

"Suffragette" is on HBO right now. What a sad time in our country's history when women and people, other than Caucasian men, were made to feel lesser than they were. I am so happy that I was raised to believe that ALL people are equal no matter their gender or race or pigment or religion... I have known people that have felt differently and I know there is still some of that in people I know and I even saw it in some previous generations of my own family. I am very proud that my children were raised to know that color or creed or religion sexual orientation or gender or political leanings are not reasons to dislike people. I allow people to believe what they want to believe but I do not choose to associate with people of prejudice based on gender or color or religion...

I have begun working on a new novel. Actually, I have been working on researching this one for several years and I believe I am about ready to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard more precisely). I think my previous paragraph made decide to mention that as my story will be based on my strong feelings / leaning that way. It will be a historical fiction based on fact (if that makes sense). I like to refer it to that way because I can base it on actual events and throw in my own prose (not flowery prose my any means).

I just got word from the boss that I am taking Jeff to Daisy Hill Puppy Farm at 16:00 for his annual checkup. It's not really called Daisy Hill Puppy Farm but that is what I call it. It is actually called Autumn Green Animal Hospital. He just took (was given) his last heart-worm pill and we need to get next year's supply. He also has a weird growth on one of his paws but it appears to be one of those weird toes so I do not really want to mess with it or cut it off not knowing exactly what it is. I am not a Veterinarian though I do play one (not on TV) on occasion. He loves riding in the car so this will be a nice ride to Geneva or Elburn or St. Charles or Wasco or whatever they consider that area.

Speaking of dogs - I wish the St. Bernard that lives behind us wore a keg of brandy around his neck. If Jeff were a St. Bernard I promise he would have a keg necklace but it would probably have scotch or tequila in it. Perhaps rum.

I have some other things I need to get done quickly now that this has been thrown into my mix. I also have to start the meatloaves. I begin my work-week again tomorrow. Ironically, there is the drier telling me that it is time to fold the clothes.

C U Next Time (to, sort of, paraphrase Deadwood).  MITM (out) TA!

Aces and Eights

It's 13:53 already. Time always goes so much faster on one's days off as opposed to the dragging days we have on doesn't it?

I just got done working-out. I noticed that I have not blogged since November 21st and have not worked-out since November 22nd; I am presuming that there is a correlation there. I rode the bike for 20 miles in just under an hour so, though I am no Lance Armstrong, I am happy with that time considering the break in time since the last riding. But, being a world-class cyclist is not worth having testicular cancer; all bikes should have banana seats (or banana hammock seats) I believe. I also worked with the weights and did 200 sit-ups before and after the ride. I weigh-in tomorrow and face the music no MATTer what the outcome. The last few times weighing-in were not my best weeks but I have to make-up for the slacking-off. I will ride another 20 miles tomorrow morning and will also probably do more sit-ups and such. I wanted to lose 100 pounds from December 29th, 2015 to the end of this year but I am probably going to fall short somewhere in the low-to-mid 80 pounds lost. I could have done it had I been a bit more diligent and dedicated but I am not too disappointed and will continue my descent. I will get there soon. I have only had two bananas, some grapes and water today and I will stay good between now and facing the scale.

 There has always been some controversy over what the fifth card was 

While riding today I began re-watching Deadwood on HBO GO again (the last time was just on HBO). I loved that series when I first watched it from around 2004 to 2006 and I love it just as much this second time around. I remember going to The Black Hills on vacation as a yute but I did not fully appreciate it as I believe I would today. Maybe Cha Cha and I will do a road trip there one day? I think I like the show so much because I like the old west and I like gambling and I like full-frontal nudity... I supposed I am into debauchery now that I type that there. How come nobody ever speaks about full "backal" nudity? Or would that be full "buttal" nudity?

There is a new series called The Young Pope starring Jude Law and Diane Keaton coming on HBO next month (January 15th I believe). I am not Catholic, though I was married in a Catholic church to a Catholic hottie, but the series looks really good. I like both Keaton and Law so I will watch that show. This blog was not meant to be an advertisement for HBO but it they wish to compensate me I am sure we could come to an agreement on terms.

I have been pretty busy over the past few weeks. I replaced our microwave, I replaced our stainless steel kitchen sink with a granite sink and a new faucet fixture, I worked my job (of course). I shoveled the driveway and sidewalk three times yesterday and salted once... I can really appreciate why plumbers make so much money though that has nothing to do with shoveling or the microwave. I had one teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy leak around the garbage disposal and I think I finally got that licked? Everyday I would think to myself, "self, a small leak sank the Titanic and a little stream that turned into the Colorado River was probably how The Grand Canyon began. I worked on that sink every day after work last week  - which included redoing the plumbing because the new sink is a couple of inches deeper than it's predecessor. I think I made about five trips back and forth from here and Menard's and Lowe's. I felt like the Norm Peterson of the do-it-yourself world! "MATT!!!!!" Now I still have some parts (with receipts) that I did not use and will return. I just have to figure-out which receipt goes with which pipes and hoses and clamps and adapters... Good thing that receipts list the product names these days rather than just the item numbers.

I knew it all along!

Hey, maybe I will donate some plasma tomorrow too while I am out. I have not done that for about three or four months.

It is almost 13:00 and I still want to get some bills paid today so I think I will wrap-up. I will try not to wait so long until I blog again as I know you just wait on the edge of your seat to see what nonsense I will write about next. I am usually just as surprised as you are when I finally get around to writing. I hope you have a great rest of your day and I sure do appreciate your hanging with me. TTTT (or whenever I get around to it again)...MITH (out) TA!