I had my very first guitar lesson last night, yay me! I learned about frets and strings and strumming and some tuning basics and I even learned an A chord.

I would really like to pick up a decent 2nd hand guitar to learn with. Last night I was just kind of messing around with a friends guitar. The one complication I had was that I'm kind of small with really small hands and the guitar is kind of big and there are some chords that really put my fingers to the test. In fact I can still feel it in the finger tips of my left hand this morning. I even have itty bitty sore spots. Plus the guitar was a little bulky sitting in my lap so I kept having to try and reposition.

Hehe, then he handed me the much smaller electric guitar - woo hoo, that was cool!

My homework is some music theory which I barely remember from my piano playing days waaaaaaaaaaay back in the day.

I am so jazzed. I just want to run out and buy a guitar so I can work some more when I get home. Watch out Os, before you know it I'll be rocking the Casbah. And yes, I will make you listen and help ;)

Hehe...

(click it to big it)

Okay kiddies, here is your chuckle for the day. ;) Have a good weekend and if you can't play nice then at least play dirty!

A week since the accident at the gym and I still hurt. I am so pissed and bummed and angry and sad.

When I moved here I left my home gym, the one I worked at and worked out at. I left behind boot camp and my Wednesday after work class that totally kicked my ass every week but I loved it.

When I left boot camp I stopped running and lifting several times a week. I ran when I first moved here but then it got cold and icy etc. It has taken almost a year but I've gained 10 pounds since I moved here. And not 10 necessary pounds in the "wow, you've added some weight and you really needed it, it looks good" kind of way. More like the "what the fuck am I going to wear?" kind of way - I absolutely hate, hate, hate it with an ever growing passion that makes me want to take a butcher knife and the vacuum cleaner nozzle and do a little home lyposuction.

I was so excited about getting back into boot camp, being back at the gym, working out, feeling good, getting my groove back in a way. Then this! This fucking accident, negligence, bullshit at the gym a week ago and I've been laid up ever since. I was ready. I was geared. I was looking forward to the pain and the ache in muscles after you know you've worked them hard.

Now I feel worse than when I started. I'm no where near to getting back into boot camp shape and to top it all off I can't work out now - my back won't let me.

This morning was spent in tears. Tears of pain, frustration and anger as I had really planned to go back to the gym this morning and start out slow. When my alarm went off at 5:00 this morning there was no way my body was going to allow me to hit the gym.

I am so frustrated and sick of taking Lortab every goram day!!!

First off....

Go sign the petition >>>>>> Click on the blinky link >>>>>>>>




Secondly, HAPPY STEAK AND BJ DAY!!! Have fun ;)

Boot Camp Log - Day 1

05:00 AM - Rise and Shine

05:30 - Report to Boot Camp

05:45 - Finish warm up

06:00 - Begin step ups with 40lb weight on shoulders

06:15 - Down on back on gym floor - severe back injury after fall from bench into wall

06:20 - Moved to low level bed/mat at gym

06:30 - Report to Emergency Room for X-Rays related to severe back injury incurred at 06:15

09:00 - Patient moved from Emergency Room to Home Base

09:30 - Prescription pain killers and muscle relaxers delivered from pharmacy and dispensed to patient

03:15 PM - Patient awake from drug induced sleep/coma

04:30 - Patient check, pizza, diet pepsi and card games provided

08:30 - Additional pain killers and muscle relaxers dispensed to patient. Patient retires for night of rest

~sigh~ :(

Bootcamp

Well, I'm back at bootcamp.

I haven't done bootcamp since I moved from Helena and I feel and look like a slug! I hate it!!

So, the K___ girl and I will be going to bootcamp at the gym a block from my house 4 mornings a week at 5:30 - uugghh, I am not looking forward to getting up for bootcamp again at 5:00 but it will feel good to get back into it, I know it will.

Plus K___ and I will really be able to motivate each other. She is determined to get into great shape for her September wedding and as the person who will be helping her with tons of wedding plans it was up to me to gut up and agree.

Plus it's going to feel really good to get back into it. It's going to feel really good to get back into it. IT'S GOING TO FEEL REALLY GOOD TO GET BACK INTO IT DAMNIT!!

;)

There is nothing like snowshoeing in Glacier National Park on a crisp winter day with sunshine glistening off the snow to force all the gunk out of your lungs and make your muscles feel fantastic.

I've been sick for a couple of days, just a cold I think but I felt pretty good yesterday (the cold medicine helped) and decided to get out and do a little snowshoeing. It felt amazing! My lungs weren't up to going a great distance but the trail we completed was wonderful: great snow, beautiful sunshine, awesome lake and a yummy lunch of homemade pizza as a reward.

My one lesson from yesterday, when you have an open blister on your heel, be careful how you hop into a hot shower - wow, that hurt like hell!

1970...

Was a memorable year:

• National Guardsmen opened fire on a group of students, wounding many, 4 fatally, on the campus of Kent State University
• First Earth Day took place
• ABC began it's long running Monday Night Football
• The World Trade Center was completed
• New York held it's first marathon
• The Beatles released their last album, anyone know what it was?
• Doonesbury cartoon goes national
• The floppy disk was invented
• Charles Manson was convicted of murdering Sharon Tate
• 18 year olds were given the right to vote in federal elections
• Our National Debt: $382 billion
• Richard Nixon was President
• and I was born!!

A Memorable Event Indeed!

Once in a while you just have to treat yourself.

For my birthday this year I decided to treat myself to a little bling. Not that 39 is necessarily a milestone but who cares. It will be my birthday on Friday and I can make a milestone out of it if I want to, right?. Of course right!

I'm not planning any kind of big ta-doo. I'm thinking maybe a little Almond Chicken at Alley Connection, some Huckleberry ice cream for dessert. Maybe catch a movie and something like this little gem on my finger.

(Moose, this isn't the actual ring but the closest I could find to the one I just bought)

It's Montana Jones birthday today!!

Do I dare tell you how old??? Let's see...

• The Mariner 6 Mars probe was launched
• the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment applies to public schools
• it was "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
• the average cost of a new house was $15,550.00
• the average cost of a new car was $3,270.00
• gas was 35 cents a gallon
• Richard Nixon became President of the United States
• 250,000 people marched on Washington in protest at the Vietnam War
• Senator Edward Kennedy drove a car into a pond and the body of a woman passenger was found in the car
• members of a cult led by Charles Manson murdered five people
• Wal-Mart incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc
• Woodstock attracted more than 350,000 rock-n-roll fans
• the US Supreme Court ruled on Stanley v. Georgia declaring "The State may not prohibit mere possession of obscene materials for personal use"
• the first transplant of a human eye took place
• the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, the epitome of the American muscle car, was introduced
• Sesame Street debuted on Public Television
• and Bell Bottom Jeans and tie-dye shirts became part of the teenage fashion scene...

Oh ok, it's his 40TH BIRTHDAY!!

Go wish Montana Jones a very Happy 40th Birthday!

Foster cat

I volunteer at the local animal shelter and am fostering a cat (I know Moose, who'd a thunk it). His name is Loki and he's a total lover cat. Traditionally I'm allergic to cats, well some cats. I don't know why but some cats make my eyes water and my face get all red and blow up like a balloon. Other cats I'm fine with. Maybe Moose can provide some explanation as to why.

In Norse mythology Loki is a Viking god and trickster. It was pointed out to me that animals sometimes take on the personalities of their names. Well, early this morning I found out that Loki discovered my Jade plant.

Rather than use his litter box he dug dirt out of the plant onto the floor and then used that dirt for his "litter". Smart little guy but not exactly what I was hoping he'd do.

The first night he stayed quiet most of the night. Last night he was up and down, checking things out, on my face, under the covers, moving about and basically letting me know he was there from about 3:30 on.

Hehe, little monster. I think I'm going to start calling him Felix.

"In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria."
~ Ben Franklin

In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 litre of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli (E coli) bacteria found in poop. In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop.

However, we do not run that risk when drinking wine and beer (or tequila, rum, whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.

Remember, water = poop, alcohol = health; therefore it is better to drink alcohol and talk stupid than drink water and be full of poop!

Thanks George...

For establishing a policy that a President can serve for a maximum of two terms (particularly useful last November)

For issuing the Proclamation of Neutrality

For leading the Patriot forces against the British

For participating in the Continental Congress that addressed the Declaration of Independence requesting our freedom

For joining the states together

For helping to establish the federal government (uh, on second thought)

For having a birthday in February so I can drink Scotch tonight and sleep in tomorrow.

He: So how important is this Valentine's Day thing?

Me: Ya know, it really isn't important. I'm perfectly happy with hanging out Saturday night. We'll make a heart-shaped pizza, watch a movie, maybe play a game and just hang. Sound okay?

He: Yep. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't screwing up or walking into a bad scene.

;)

Ladies don't ya just love it?

"We men love your bodies: your real bodies, not the bodies we see on TV or in movies. It's not just one thing that makes you the center of our universe — it's all of you. We'll deny that we ever bought a John Mayer album if you try to get us to admit it in public. But the guy was right about one thing — your body is a wonderland. Period."

Bitch

Don't call me just to tell me that you're sending me an email - especially when it doesn't require my immediate attention. Just send the goram email already!

"Some board members have commented that the office is a mess." I have about had it this week with kowtowing to board members. We are so busy right now we don't have time for this shit. If they don't like the condition of the office then tell them to either buy more storage options or come in here and clean the fucking office themselves.

"So you're saying that even though the product is under warranty and we've been instructed to NOT replace the bulb ourselves you won't fix it and now you want us to replace the bulb? Ok, how much is a bulb? $400? You want $400 for a light bulb? Let me ask you this, if I smash the projector against the wall will you fix it then?"

The pounding headache I've had all day has not helped my mood. Is it time to go home yet?

Email

"I hope this won't be too insulting to you …….. But do you mind if D__ and I go to church on our own? D__ is nervous, and I really want to make this be a couple thing that we do - as I am hoping to hook him into at least a couple Sundays a month…..and truth be told, I feel ridiculous only showing up when you come with me ------ do you mind?"




~gulp~

Uhm no, I guess I don't mind.

Steadfast

A difficult task at times.

My sister lost her husband two months ago and has not been dealing very well. Her text message to me this morning asked when I was coming home - "I just need you."

My friend Kimme had to put her beloved Golden Retriever down two weeks ago and yesterday they had to put their rescue dog down as well. She isn't dealing very well and I know that my presence would be a comfort to her. If you have never lost a beloved pet then you wouldn't understand but it can be like losing a child. Her heart is broken.

So...

I am planning a trip to Helena this weekend to try and be a rock for those that need me.

Plus there are the friends who write to complain that they never see me and want some time when I'm in Helena next.

Somehow I have to make time for everyone. There isn't going to be enough time in the two days that I'm there to fit everyone in. There never is it seems.

~sigh~ Going "home" is a difficult task at times.