Ten Tentacles - So many arms, so little time.

I started eating rice today. It gave me a stomach ache. This, however, was considered an improvement over yesterday. Yeah, I’ve been sick.

Sick is an understatement, really. I haven’t been this ill, stomach-wise, in a really long time. It began on Saturday evening with just chills and aches. This signals a fever and sure enough, the beepy ear thingy Corrie Ann shoved at me read 99º F. This is a fever for me. My normal running temperature is around 97.5º F. Before I went to bed that night it had hit 101º F (yes, I really like using the masculine ordinal indicator instead of the degree sign … shut up).

On Sunday the stomach issues began. Since then this has been the primary front upon which the battle, between the forces of evil and my immune system, has been waged. I won’t go into all the gory details, but there are generally two exits by which these respective forces evacuate their dead. In many cases both are used. I guess I’m lucky that I haven’t been throwing up. I’ve subsisted on naught but soda crackers, plain toast, water, and Pedialyte until today, when I tried some rice cooked in equal parts water and beef stock. Things are still far from normal in my tract region, but today was a small victory, I think. Go, white blood cells!

On the upside, I’ve lost ten pounds. On the downside losing ten pounds in three days is never good. Maybe tomorrow I’ll try Jell-O®, if the rice doesn’t kill me.

Ganked from vaspider.

A: Area Code You Are In Right Now: 276
B: Birthday: 01/26/1971
C: Current Crush: Fluctuates wildly. Currently Kari Byron from MythBusters.
D: Favorite Drink: Ale, darks and tans. Sweet Tea.
E: Eating Currently: Yes. Pizza.
F: Favorite Food: It would be easier to list what I don’t like. The list is much shorter. I’m a foodie.
G: Who Do You Go To For Advice: My wife and my closest friends.
H: Happy or Sad: I’m pretty much always happy. I’m goofy like that.
I: I think: Way more than I should.
J: Job: Analyst Level III, Cingular Wireless
K: Any Kids: One. Devo.
L: I Love: My life.
M: Favorite Movie: Of all time? The Nightmare Before Christmas.
N: Your Phone Number: I have several. If you want one and don’t already have one, ask.
O: Over or Under: Please? K, thanks.
P: Favorite Perfume or Cologne: On me, Axe Phoenix. On Corrie Ann, pretty much just her skin.
Q: A Little Quirk About Yourself: I have an irrational fear of injury to my eyes. I cannot watch anything where contact is made with someone’s eye. I can never wear contacts.
R: Last Road Trip: Clearcase Administration Class, Washington, D.C., a couple of months ago.
S: Tell Us One Secret: I like girl toes. A lot.
T: Favorite TV Show: Good Eats
U: Color of your Underwear: Black with a gray waistband.
V: Last Time You Were in Vegas: Before my son was born, so over five years ago.
W: Wishful Thinking: I’ve made a life of it.
X: X-Rays Taken This Year: None.
Y: Your Favorite Year of your Life: All the ones since my son was born.
Z: Zodiac Sign: Aquarius.

More meaningful post later in which all the Thanksgiving goodness will be detailed.

Dang, our first snow of the year happened and I didn’t get any. Yeah, yeah, I know. If the grass is poking through it’s not really snow. You shoosh, Jenni. This is how it starts around here. This shot was taken by my buddy Cory on his commute through the hills to work. The higher elevations always get the snow first, of course, and they always get more than we do. Still, I can’t help but feel a little bummed that we were left out of the first snow this year. Bleah. I want snow!

I meant to post this earlier, but didn’t get around to it. Not a terribly monumental event to photograph, really, until you understand that David (the one on the far right and sixteen years old) was umwittingly pinned in there by the little ones. I put in two quarters and snapped the shot. You’re welcome, David.

So, this weekend was great fun. Saturday was our big, family date with our friends, The Bryants. We went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and then had dinner at Ruby Tuesday. The evening was capped off, as these evenings almost always are, with a trip to Wal-Mart. Hey, we both have busy families to feed and clothe. We have to consolidate our outings. The movie was very good, dinner was yummy, shopping is always good, but the company was best. We always look forward to our monthly family dates with them.

Sunday I spent helping my cousin and her husband empty a trailer of the furniture they, wisely, decided not to let the Navy move for them. She’s going to be staying with us for a couple of months while her husband wraps up things at their last duty station in preparation for their new one. Ah, the joys of the nomadic, military life. But, it’s all for The Corps. Ooo-rah!

While I was doing that, Devin and Corrie Ann played in the leaves in the orchard. That’s the picture above. Apparently the boy requested that it be posted to, as he calls it, “the innernet“. So there it is! Isn’t he adorable? He had a big ol’time and dragged me out to the orchard to tell me all about it when I got home.

The rest of Sunday was spent catching up on Medium with the wifey, all cuddled on the couch. It was a very good weekend.

Today it feels like winter, finally. It was a crispy 28º F when I got home last night. Yeah, yeah, I know. For all you folks in The Great White North, that ain’t nuthin’, but around here that’s crispity-cold.

This morning when I woke up the sheets were that perfect warm that tells you the air outside of them is chilly and that the hardwood floors are freezing. I lingered for quite some time, but eventually got up to fresh baked muffins. When Corrie Ann bakes, it’s a sure sign winter is here. I got myself cleaned up and dressed for work, got my jacket and mittens out of mothballs, wrapped a couple of muffins up for the commute to work, and headed out the door.

There was frost on the ground and the water bottle I keep in the car was frozen. The grass was crunchy and glistening with that silvery-green haze. There was a low fog in the lower pasture. It was very lovely. All through the drive to work I spotted chimneys going and drove through clouds of wood smoke. I love that smell. Even the shores of the lake near work were ringed with thin layers of ice and all the puddles of water along the side of the road had that sharp sheen that tells you they’re frozen over. I love everything about winter. Forecast says there’s even a slight chance of snow next week. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

I’ve been a little bummed lately because it was looking more and more like this winter was going to be a very mild one. This area cycles and I know we’re probably due for a snowless winter sometime soon. I’m hoping this year isn’t the year. I hope this morning is a sign it’s not.

Finally, I spotted this meme over on revjim’s blog and thought I’d give it a shot. The results are interesting:

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free. In love, you feel the most alive when everything is uncertain, one moment heaven… the next moment hell. You’d like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy. You would be forced to break up with someone who was ruthless, cold-blooded, and sarcastic. Your ideal relationship is open. Both of you can talk about everything… no secrets. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something that will confine you. You are afraid of marriage. In this moment, you think of love as something you don’t need. You just feel like flirting around and playing right now.

A few links I thought I’d share:

• Big buzz over iBuzz
• Welcome to Idiot America
• Squirrel Fishing

In other news, um yeah. Not much else. Bleah, I say.

I love cooking. I love eating what I cook even more. I especially love, though, the smiling faces of other people when they eat what I cooked: made from scratch, fresh from the oven, soft yeast rolls, curried pumpkin soup, and stuffed mushrooms. Yeah, that’s dinner.

Well, the move is officially done. Yesterday morning saw the end of an era as I shutdown my server. I have had a server of my very own on the internet for over seven years now. Today marks the first twenty-four hours in a long time where I haven’t had to check log files, or cron reports, or answer user email concerning my machine. It’s nice to have all that pressure moved off to someone else, but also a little sad. I should have my machine back in a couple of weeks. Then I get to decide what to do with it. Maybe I’ll set up a media server in the house or something.

This move has been eating up a lot of time, but other things have been getting done as well. I just haven’t been talking about them, or much of anything else really, because the medium for talking about them has been in flux. For instance, take the shot below. That’s some new fencing gear I bought myself about a week ago. The blades are inside some traveling scabbards I built myself out of PVC and rubberized black paint, with some nice black, braided, nylon rope for shoulder straps. Also pictured is my new foil mask. Fencing isn’t as expensive to get into as say, golf, but it does have its equipment needs. I’m slowly piecing my gear together.

The saber pictured was put together for me at Triplette Competition Arms while I waited. I got to pick out the blade, grip and guard and the armorer put the whole thing together for me and even tested the electronics before I left. I love that place. I took Devin with me when I went and we made a day of it since the place is a good hour-and-a-half from my house. A good time was had by all.

Corrie Ann and I have been doing a lot more cooking. In doing so we have found much of our kitchen hardware, most of which we have had since we got married fourteen years ago, sorely lacking. In an attempt to remedy this situation we recently bought some new pots and pans, big heavy ones that are both oven and dishwasher safe, and a nine cup Kitchen Aid food processor. Our next big kitchen purchase is going to be this. I’m even going to paint flames on it like Alton’s. Except I’m going with blue flames. My kingdom for a bread hook.

I signed up for NaNoWriMo this year. I’m not nearly where I should be. In fact, I’m ashamed to say how few words I’ve managed. In my defense this was probably the worst year for me to attempt it. Real Life has been a bitch lately. But, I haven’t given up. I still have the better part of the month left and even if I don’t finish I do intend to get some serious wordage down on paper.

I think that’s about all that’s happened in the last two weeks. Look for regular updates to resume now that the site and machine moves are done and settled in.

Ok, this is the funniest danged thing I’ve seen in a long time. Thank you, walkingtheblog! This video is even made funnier by the fact that it’s the enemy. Yes, I’m looking at you, revjim. Click on the image above and enjoy the laughy goodness.

Warning. Not particularly safe for work due to strong language.