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Sunday, December 19, 2010

Huge Nerds

I am not afraid to admit that I am a huge nerd.  I married a huge nerd, my family is a family of nerds, and most of my friends are afflicted with nerdiness in one way or another.

And so it should come as no surprise that tonight we engaged in that most nerdly of pursuits: Dungeons and Dragons.  Er...technically, we played Pathfinder (a new system that is essentially an improvement on D&D 3.5...some just call it 3.75).  Not sure if that makes it less nerdy, or more so.

In any case, Andrew was our fearless leader and managed to whip up a quick adventure for us in very short order while we spent waaayy too long updating our characters from the last adventure (or making a new one in my case- I wanted to try a ranger).

I won't do a play by play, but I WILL say that we somehow managed to avoid some hurdles set up by Andrew almost entirely, and that we kicked the crap out of some monsters far more easily than a party of our size and level should have managed.  Mostly through blind luck.  We even killed one of the most dangerous, evil, and ancient beings on the planet through judicious use of fire, dolphins, and gravity.

But let's face it, this entire blog post is merely an excuse to post a picture of one of the monsters from tonight. Who we walloped in good order.  Keep in mind that he may LOOK cute and cuddly, but he reduced my Badger (Booger) to 0 hit points in one blow.
(Actually an Earth Elemental.  Big and scary.)

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Ghost Adventures

When I am bored and feeling lazy (for instance, when I am fighting a head cold and am sitting on the couch trying not to die) I will sometimes watch a show called "Ghost Adventures."  This is a show on the Travel Channel that is, frankly, embarrassingly stupid.  Andrew mocks me mercilessly every time he finds me huddled under a blanket on the couch with this show on the TV.

The host is a frat boy who wears black, appears to fake tan, and styles his hair into a ridiculous looking Faux-hawk.  He spends a lot of time yelling at the ghosts saying things like:
"DID THE WHITE MAN HURT YOU HERE?  ARE YOU ANGRY?"
"DID YOU GET TORTURED BEFORE YOU WERE KILLED?"
"WHY ARE YOU PUSHING OLD LADIES DOWN THE STAIRS??  HOW ABOUT HURTING ME INSTEAD!"
DID IT HURT WHEN THE ROPE WENT AROUND YOUR THROAT?!
And then some mutterings: "Woah.  Dude.  I just felt something."  "We are now entering hell..."  "*bleep bleep* dude.  It just got freezing here."

Much of the show focuses on EVPs- being able to hear ghosts speaking through white noise on digital recorders.  You can hear things that sound like "FUZZ FUZZ FUZZ."  Which somehow ends up being "I KILLED SIX KIDS."

I have decided that if I were a ghost and this dude was yelling things at me in the house I was haunting, I would pour all of my energy into getting the following to him: "Your Hair Is Stupid!"
Of course, they would probably interpret it as "I KILLED PUPPIES."

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Alone and Pathetic

So tonight I am hanging out alone. I was supposed to watch some TV with friends but they all ended up being busy with patient care or not feeling well so I am reading blogs like an obsessed crazy person.

Upshot: my house is now much cleaner because people coming over sends Andrew and I into a fury of cleaning in order to avoid being seen for the disgusting cavemen that we actually are.

Extra upshot: I am sort of feeling like a recluse tonight so sitting on my butt on the couch alone is actually an excellent sounding evening.

Additional upshot: the kitchen never finished getting clean so now I don't have to feel like a dirty hobo when someone looks in my sink.

Here is an actual transcript of a texted conversation with my husband (at work at the movie theater- he does not get health insurance, but he DOES get free popcorn and we can watch movies for free. So it is pretty much awesome.):

Andrea: It is official. Dinner will be bagel bites and vodka while reading blogs and doing nothing worthwhile.

Andrew: Oh, come see a movie.

Andrea: But then I am alone and pathetic in PUBLIC instead of alone on my couch.

Andrew: Do it......

UPDATE: Further conversation:

Andrea: I haven't eaten yet.  Bagel Bites are calling to me from the freezer.  How many pounds would I gain if I ate all 20?

Andrew: At least a thousand.

(My conclusion: start with 10 bagel bites and go from there.  I am reasonable!)

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

HFCS

An interesting post from a blog I've recently been following:
http://alifelesssweet.blogspot.com/2010/10/corn-sugars-coming-soon-to-ingredient.html

First of all, the pro-HFCS commercials crack me up. The danger of HFCS lies not in the fact that it is somehow worse for you than sugar (the argument the commercial implies), but that it is a) ridiculously processed from a product that our nation is relying too heavily upon, and b) that it is found EVERYWHERE. In things you would never expect (like bread crumbs).

I am not the healthiest eater in the world, and I am not necessarily trying to cut out HFCS from my life as this blogger is, but I am trying to be more aware of what I eat and I look at ingredient lists more. I like putting my money behind products with short ingredient lists that I might find in a recipe rather than a text book. I don't think all processed ingredients are necessarily evil, and I am a proponent of science improving our lives. But I am not so sure about "better eating through chemistry."

One of my new food obsessions is an oatmeal brand called "Better Oats." They have lots of different styles and flavors of oatmeal (dark chocolate and maple and brown sugar are my two favorites right now) and there ingredient list reads just as you would want in oatmeal: whole grain rolled oats, sugar, flaxseed, natural and artificial flavors (not something I am mega concerned with), guar gum (for texture and thickening according to wikipedia), caramel color. So it is clearly still a manufactured product rather than something you would make in your kitchen, but it seems closer to home (in addition to being DELICIOUS).

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!

Wow- I have been all crappy about my blog. No posts in how long??

I must say, the last semester was a little nuts. Fun, lots of great learning, but crazy-making all the same. But I got through it with sanity (mostly) intact and I am looking forward to the coming semester.

And it is a new year. A new decade. Time to review what the past year has been. I have:
*taken 17 tests and 10 finals
*spayed a dog and did not pass out or kill my patient
*thrown up on a road trip to Disney Land
*seen some havalenas in Arizona
*watched my brother-in-law graduate from law school
*was matron of honor at my maid of honor's wedding
*discovered Jasper gets car sick too
*spent a lot of time with very good friends- old and new
*went to the AVMA convention in Seattle where I attended some lectures and got a crap-load of free pens
*spent not enough time with my husband

I can't even summarize the past decade. I have gone from 16 to 26. Met and started dating Andrew, got a driver's license, graduated high school AND college, watched Andrew go through several surgeries, watched him lose his father, got married, moved out, got my first real job, got into vet school and moved to Pullman, adopted two cats and a dog...lots of fairly major events in the past decade.

I am not so great at resolutions. I prefer "goals." My goals for the upcoming year are:
*don't be such a fatty-fat
*be a better wife
*continue to get through vet school without going crazy and running down pedestrians on campus

Happy New Year everyone!