Found at Kathryn's KnitTogether:

You are Dishcloth Cotton.
You are a very hard worker, most at home when
you're at home. You are thrifty and seemingly
born to clean. You are considered to be a Plain
Jane, but you are too practical to notice.


What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

NANOWRIMO.

It is soon to be upon us, that looked-for, planned-for, and dreaded project, National Novel Writing Month. This is the fourth year that I have participated. The premise: start and finish a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. Two years I failed. One year (2003) I succeeded. And I'm back again.

NANO gets pooh-poohed and tsked-tsked by some. That is their right. I have found the experience completely positive. I've met people on-line through NANO and attended a couple of group meetings here in town. One of my friends, upon hearing of my project, felt confident enough to start work on a screenplay. She has now completed three, has an agent, and is working on a fourth. She, in turn, told a friend of hers about the NANO project. That friend participated last year and her novel is now under consideration for purchase.

However, it is not "sales" that is the best benefit of NANO. It is being part of the positiveness, the validation, the spirit of creativity that whirls through the web in the month of November.

I'm ready for midnight to strike.

Happy Halloween!

A little Monday Madness to start the week off:

1. Name 1 comedy movie you've seen. In Her Shoes.
2. Name 2 black and white films you remember seeing. We watch B&W films every other Friday night at Mom's. Let's see. Shoot. I am so bad at names, imdb.com here I come. Borderline. As You Like It.
3. Name 3 dramas you thought were worth watching. Does this imply in the past? I think it does. Bonanza, Magnum, Rockford Files.
4. Name 4 television shows you watch on a regular (or semi-regular) basis. Survivor, Amazing Race, CSI (original) and NCIS.
5. Name 5 things that, in your opinion, are advertised on television too frequently. Feminine products, pharmaceuticals, politicians, cars, fast food.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

October 29th, and still the roses are blooming. Not all of them, but the hardy ones.

Still some flowers at the Children's 4-H Garden.

As I'm up and it is Sunday, let's Unconsciously Mutter!

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Unbreakable::Plastic
2. Have mercy::On me
3. Do it better::Next time
4. Settle scores::Revenge
5. Comments::Make me happy!
6. Craziest thing::Men do the . . .
7. Apple::Pie, dumpling
8. Halloween::Trick-or-Treat
9. Manageable::Un-
10. Trick::Treat

Hmmmm.

Perfect Football Weather! (and we won, also!)

Today my sister's family and I went to the Michigan State University-Indian University football game. Talk about perfect football weather! Temperatures in the low fifties, blue sky, no clouds. We actually ended up sunburning the left side of our faces. Who would think to put on tanning lotion THIS late in the season?

MSU won - YAY! We still look shaky, but we may be getting our feet back under us.

So:

Are you a singer, flinger, ringer, stringer, finger, or winger? Check here.

Oops! This is not good news for our computer upgrade!

Found at Cindy's:

D+

You know that you remembered to put on underwear today... But really, that's about it!

How Observant Are You?

Whew. I'm pooped.

We're in the process of a computer upgrade at work. Today was the culmination of a lot of preparing, planning, and training. This weekend the upgrade will take place, and Monday we'll begin to turn on the software switches. Today was a 14-hour day: it's been awhile since I've done THAT long of a session at work. I'm at that tired but happy stage, because now I can REALLY enjoy the weekend, and tomorrow is the first of the two football games I'll actually be attending. So let's hear it a mite early.

"GO GREEN!"

Note: corrected a couple of spelling errors at 5:15 p.m. 10/29/05. I guess I WAS tired!

Oh brother! It's already Thursday?!?!!
Anyone watching Survivor???

I've been tagged by Jennifer!

Five things you may not know about me.

1. I can't roll my tongue.
2. I can't trill my r's.
3. My left hand is larger than my right.
4. My first pet was a dog named Pal. I was always getting tangled up in his chain.
5. The first time I took trigonometry slide rules were still in use. I did much better the second time I took it (25 years later) when I could use a calculator. However, that was STILL the year before graphing calculators.

And I'm supposed to tag five more people so: Ack! I can never choose just five. If you would like to play, consider yourself IT!

Quiz Night

Swiped from Pandora:

You Are a Glam Rocker!

You put the "show" in rock show with your larger than life self. No doubt, you are all about making good music... But what really gets you going is having an over the top show. Glitter, costumes, and wild hair are your thing - with some rock thrown in!

What Kind of Rocker Are You?

and from LDH:

You Should Get a MFA (Masters of Fine Arts)

You're a blooming artistic talent, even if you aren't quite convinced. You'd make an incredible artist, photographer, or film maker.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

Empty Bowls

Tonight was the annual "Empty Bowls Dinner" at the Arts Center. The Potters Guild provides bowls. For a donation to the Red Cross, participants may pick out a bowl, and have a bowl of soup, a piece of bread, and water. My friend Dee and I have attended this for oh, I would guess eight years now. It does make one think.

Michigan State had a severe football loss last Saturday. How does the family cope? They have a big basketball game going in Mom's backyard. Players ranged from age 12 to 49. (Except for the five minutes a nutty 53-year-old filled in for a bathroom break. Yikes!)

Let's Do It!

One of my oldest and dearest blogging friends is Susan at Easy Bake Coven (EBC). Susan also has a personal blog at SusanJayne. We've gone through several years visiting via the internet. Susan brings us entertainment and political news at EBC, and shares the joys and sorrows of life at SusanJayne. We've laughed and cried through trips to Montana (mine, both real and imaginary), trips to Tennessee (hers, to visit family), weddings, school events, and so much more. She has shared her love for her sister Robin often through these years. Two years ago Christmas Robin was critically ill. It was a scary, bleak time, but Robin pulled through. Now Robin is facing another crisis, and I quote from October 9:

Just a quick note to say I'm still in Tennessee taking care of Robin. We came back from Vanderbilt University Medical Center with the diagnosis of liver cancer and it's also in her lymph nodes. Chemo alone won't help much, so she may decide on a surgery in conjunction with chemo. Doesn't look very good and we're all in the middle of just trying to deal with the news. She already had cirrhosis and HepC.

Robin is in a lot of pain, and could use some cheering up. Susan has given us the following information:

Robin's Email - We can use her Yahoo email which is mzdobber@yahoo.com

Home Address

Robin Swinks
501 Golf Course Drive
Elizabethton, TN 37643

Check out Robin's blog here to get a sense of the indomitable spirit of the lady, and let's see what we can do to give her a smile or two! All right? All right!

Ah, good news! Karen, one of the bubbliest bloggers around, had some complications from surgery and was in the Critical Care Unit. She's out of there now, and should be heading home Wednesday if all goes well. Yay! Karen has had someone updating her blog, so we've been able to track her progress. If you haven't already, stop by and give her a shout out!

What Your Sleeping Position Says

You are calm and rational. You are also giving and kind - a great friend. You are easy going and trusting. However, you are too sensible to fall for mind games.

What Does Your Sleeping Position Say About You?

Spotted at Lynn's.

Hurricane Wilma is headed towards Southern Florida. Keep us posted, Sheryl!

Let's have a little Monday Madness to start the week.

How about one more week of 'this or that?' Have fun! And thank you for playing!

1. diamonds or pearls? diamonds
2. paperback or hardcover books? either
3. carpet or hardwood floors? hardwood
4. dogs or cats? cats
5. fluffy or firm pillow? firm
6. fine point or medium point pens? medium
7. clocks a little fast or on time? little fast
8. mahjong or spider solitaire (or other)? spider solitaire
9. wall calendar or desk calendar? wall/desk/AND mousepad at work
10. 'Survivor' or 'The Amazing Race?' Survivor
Comments (2)

Conked out at 11:00 but I'm awake now so we'll Unconsciously Mutter:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Infiltration::Spy
2. Nice person::Good person
3. Debt::Owe
4. Settle down::for the night
5. Thomas::Doubting
6. Unforgivable::Unpardonable
7. Medicine::Ball, spoonful
8. A year from now::2006
9. Neighbors::Nosy
10. Dripping::Wet

Go Green!

It will be a "radio game" as I don't have cable but that's all right! MSU's homecoming today, against Northwestern.

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Boxes from mandarin meg, who wasn't blogging because she had more visitors when she didn't, but now she has decided that it's her blog and she'll blog if she wants to.

F A L L

Whoa! Thursday again. That was fast.

Survivors Ready? Who will get the boot?

So we take our color wherever we can find it.

Desktop.

Swiped from Jennifer:

Gummy Bears

You may be smooshie and taste unnatural, but you're so darn cute.

What Kind of Candy Are You?

Good Morning!

Washing hands in vinegar reduces the effects of fruit stains. I was still glad that the crop I went to Friday night wasn't a sell-out: I could stay in my little corner where my hands weren't too obvious.

First day back to work wasn't too bad. We'll see how today goes.

There are actually other colleges and universities in Michigan besides the big Green one. My niece Violet attends Grand Valley State University. (I couldn't convert her.) Sunday my sister and her husband and son tall Paul, my mother, and I drove over to hear Violet's Chorale concert. Violet's folks couldn't make it, so my sister and I got to play the doting auntees, Grandma brought cookies, and tall Paul (who is at MSU) teased his cousin about the size of her campus. It was great fun.

Autumn color is goofy this year. Some trees are gorgeous, many are still a rusty-green. So I'll backtrack a year. Picture below is from the little park next to Hemingway's Walloon Lake home.

It's Happy Birthday Time!

If you have a moment, stop by over at Sheryl's and congratulate her on her double-nickel birthday! And take a peek at her bird pictures. Nobody does it better! Sheryl is one of my oldest friends. No, not age-wise, lengthwise! Getting close to 40 years now. The last 18 she's taken the sunny Florida route while I've stuck with the cold Michigan plan. Thanks to the internet we can keep tabs on each other here in the new millenium.

Happy Birthday, kiddo!

*sigh* All good things must come to an end. It's back to work today.
To start things off on the right foot, here is otto's Monday Madness:

I thought we'd do a little 'this or that' this week! Enjoy!

Which one?
1. Lemonade or Iced Tea? Lemonade
2. DVD or VHS? VHS
3. Gold or Silver? Gold
4. Baseball or Tennis? Baseball
5. Spring or Autumn? Spring
6. Diet or Regular? Regular
7. Hearts or Stars? Hearts
8. Snail Mail or Email? Yes
9. Shop: Online or In-Store? In-Store
10. Credit Card or Check? Yes

Whew! Back in time to mutter! From first last week to almost didn't make it this week!

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. On the verge::of a great discovery
2. Tempestuous::relationship
3. Coherent::thought
4. Near death::experience
5. Illiterate::X
6. Why not?::Why?
7. Period::End of sentence
8. Long lost::Love
9. Torrid::Sex
10. Nail::it on the head

It's about to start, so all together now!

Go Green!


At the half:
It should have been 20-7. There was a ghastly coaching mistake with the special teams. It is now MSU 17 - Ohio State 14. Eww.

Help! My hands are turning purple!

Day two of vacation. If you've stopped here at the Other Side frequently you know that I enjoy tramping around in our neighborhood arboretum chasing deer, butterflies, and bees. Last year I joined the "Friends of" group that helps support the arboretum. They have two annual fundraisers, a Maple Syrup Festival in February and an Apple Butter Festival in October. There was a call for volunteers to help peel apples October 14 in the newsletter, and so, with the day off, I thought it was time I gave back.

It was actually great fun. Eventually eight women were peeling and coring and slicing around a table. The menfolk were out by the fire, stirring the big copper pot. Four groups of school children passed through, and each stopped by our station, watched the process, and received an "apple smile".

The kids then went outside, taking with them a bucket of peels and cores. These went into a pile that would be snacks for . . . deer and bees. The cycle completed.

Except now, how to I get my hands back to a natural color? They had mentioned that sometimes hands get discolored from the apple juice. And how do I do it fast enough so I look decent for the scrapbook crop tonight? Yikes!

Whoa! And the nice thing about relaxing, I can remember what day it is!! Survivors Ready???? Who shall get the boot?

I need to collect scrapbooking links, so they are going here.
K.I. Memories.
Creating Keepsakes.
EK Success.
Daisy D's.
K & Company.
Creative Memories.
My Daughter's Wish.
I'm just going to keep adding to this as I find them.

There is something deliciously wonderful about having a Wednesday night that is followed by FOUR days off! YAY!

Happy Hump Day! *smile* I have a three-day week going here, and I am soooo happy. Of course, yesterday was the Monday from heck, but even that was easier to take knowing there are only TWO more days of work!

How are you this fine morning?

Let's END a mad mad Monday with some Monday Madness!

Thanks to everyone for playing Monday Madness. Here's this week's questions...

1. Name one productive thing you accomplished this past weekend.





2. Name two things that you look forward to doing. Walking and reading
3. Name three things that gross you out. snails, brussell sprouts, organ meat
4. Name four things that you normally do on a daily basis. Brush my teeth, read the newspaper, blog/read blogs, bathe.
5. Name five things that you own that you think you could get rid of and not miss. Now THAT'S a toughie. I'm a collector. Not miss? ummmm. old make-up. some beanie babies, but not the bears. this is toooooo hard.

The same as LDH, where I found this.

I'm a Lifer!

To you, a job is what pays the bills. You put in your hours, follow the rules, and then go home. Occasionally, you consider quitting, but then you think of how bad the job market is and you reconsider. Whatever happiness you get, you get from your life outside the workplace. Relationships, family, hobbies, and outside creative pursuits are what really matter to you. You're probably taking this test at work because you don't have anything better to do.

Talent: 41%
Lifer: 67%
Mandarin: 41%

Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.

Found at Lynn's:

I am: a rolodex Somehow this perennial data organizing device never quite succumbs to the digital age.

Which office supply are you?

well goodness. Maybe I can be the first up with the Unconscious Mutterings!

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Quirk::y
2. Crystal::Ball
3. Pet Peeve::people who always say "nobody told me"
4. Cuban::Cigar
5. Breasts::Mammogram. Mine came back normal.
6. Whispers::Pillow talk
7. Complicated::Knotty
8. Promise me::only what is true.
9. Murder::She Wrote
10. Filament::Thread

Did I make it?

Autumn color is coming . . . leaf by leaf.

So Happy It's Thursday!*

I hate weeks that seem like they're all Mondays! Fortunately, tomorrow really is Friday.

I'm not surprised! Found this at susan's.

Your Inner Child Is Surprised

You see many things through the eyes of a child. Meaning, you're rarely cynical or jaded. You cherish all of the details in life. Easily fascinated, you enjoy experiencing new things.

How Is Your Inner Child?

Survey: Evening meal: supper or dinner?

*E.B.C.

I can't keep up with this week. Just half-an-hour to Survivor. Do you have a bootee choice?

I never blog at work. Today, I have to take the risk because . . . It's Susan's at EBC's birthday!!! And I've known that for the last 365 day, and was going to blog it this morning, and then I forgot what day it was this morning. Let's all hurry over there and wish her mighty big blogger birthday wishes!

I never blog at work. Today, I have to take the risk because . . . It's Susan's at EBC's birthday!!! And I've known that for the last 365 day, and was going to blog it this morning, and then I forgot what day it was this morning. Let's all hurry over there and wish her mighty big blogger birthday wishes!

Ali let us know in comments: NANOWRIMO is back up. I'm in. Are you?

I found a new hide-out of the deer. Note, still pretty green, but there are tinges of color.

Okay, playing with the flickr toys at fd's.

Good Tuesday morning!
I have awakened to a 67F morning. That is amazing, up here in Michigan. We haven't had our first frost yet.

How is your weather?

This one is for susan, as this is how we met.

Waking up with a little Monday Madness:

I once ran a meme called What's On ... Right Now? It's been a while since that site has been closed, but thinking about it has inspired me to ask the following 3 questions...

1. What's on your computer desk? Ack. It's a table. Computer/printer/scanner/and a "junk" basket
2. What does your computer desktop background look like? It's a picture of Rising Wolf Mountain and Two Medicine Lake from Montana
3. What's on your agenda for the upcoming week? This week, we're continuing training for our computer upgrade which is coming at the end of the month. It's also the first of the month, so we'll be running all of our monthly routines at work. I'm in mourning for MSU's loss to UofM. Prep for NANO. (By the way, their servers crashed this weekend. Don't know what the status is right now.) Need to call the Arboretum and volunteer to peel apples for the Apple Festival. (See, Sheryl, I'm really going to try.) Also, need to make reservations for another crop a week from Friday.) All in all, I would say this week is basically about work and getting prepared for some fun times in the next week.

Swiped from LDH, who is Sight.


Sound. You are most connected to your sense of
hearing. You pay attention to coincidences in
life, which will come in handy in the future.
You probably love listening to music on the
radio, on your IPod, or on Launch... That's
great! I like to do that too! All you want is a
stable life... either you have moved around
alot in your lifetime, or are just fed up with
the way your life takes its course (don't
worry, most of us are like that too) You think
before you speak most likely, which is a good
quality to have. But you are not content with
life, and have many things in mind that you
would have liked to change. But, things will
get better in the future, trust me.

~Which of the 5 senses are you most connected to?~ (with... you guessed it! Anime pics.)
brought to you by Quizilla

Well, I'm up, so I might as well Unconsciously Mutter:

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Quaint::Grandma Bea (she wasn't, but there's a long family story revolving around the word "quaint" and her, and so, that's who comes to mind)
2. Rind::Pork
3. Disease::Illness
4. Queer::Eye
5. Pork::and Beans
6. Soaked::Drenched
7. Skeleton::Halloween, and Roscoe *smile*
8. Mold::mildew
9. Finished::Completed
10. Buffalo::Tatonka, South Dakota, Kevin Costner, Danny in the back of the station wagon, Lewis and Clark, nickels

UofM upsets MSU.

Drat!

Go Green!


It's an interesting turn of events up here in Spartan Football Country. For the first time since 1968, MSU is going into a football game with UofM ranked, while UofM is not. We hardly know how to handle ourselves. We're so used to being the punk, brash, trash-talking younger sibling that having the upper-hand has made us quieter than usual. hmm.

My interest in MSU football started a dozen years ago, when the boss started sharing his season tickets with us. On my weekends, I took my young (then) nephew tall Paul with me to the games. He was seven that first game, so little, and George Perles was the coach. The game was with Indiana, if I remember right. We sat way up in the end-zone, two rows from the scoreboard. He would ask me about the game, and I could explain most of the calls and rules of the game. Each year he was my football buddy, and each year he learned a bit more. He watches the games on television with his father, and at about age 12. . . he could tell me what the call would be before it came over the loudspeaker.

Now tall Paul is an MSU freshman. On his application to the university, he wrote of how he had come to the university since he was a young boy, for the football games and for activities from his elementary school, and how it had always been his desire to attend MSU. That made me happy.

This year the boss didn't get season tickets. We switched radio stations, and they were part of the previous package. That's okay though. It was great while it lasted!

Last night I took a walk through campus, to pick up some shots of the stadium and check out how Sparty was faring. After I took that portion of the walk, I circled back to the older part of the campus. MSU is celebrating its sesquicentennial this year, and I enjoyed REALLY looking at some of the old buildings. I'll post some of those tonight.

And in the meantime. . . Go Green!