The little brown boy seems to be doing better tonight...he's not bloated like he was early this morning. Keep him (and us!) in your thoughts! He's such a cute little guy! Here's a picture of him, and his brother...I guess his brother wanted to show the potential family jewels:

I took another picture of the Christmas tree, and the fiber optic angel on the fireplace mantle. Alongside that is another angel doll that sings Silent Night. I really detest that doll...the song is so high pitched! She's a pretty doll when she's not singing, though:

And lastly....here's a couple of pictures of the lights on the real Christmas tree outside, and of the lights on the entryway:

We're still struggling to keep the little brown puppy with us. He's not growing very much. The parti-colors are three times as big as he is. It really wouldn't surprise me to lose him. But we're not giving up. I just don't want the little guy to suffer.

Tomorrow is December 1....geez, where is the time going??

If someone can help me with converting the Quicktime .mov file of the skating that I uploaded to a faster loading format, I'd truly appreciate it! I'd never used my camera for that before, so I am clueless as to how to convert to a different format.

And now it's time to go mix up a batch of Kool-Aid for my fellow "Cult" members. *roll eyes* What flavors shall I mix up, ladies?? LOL!!!!

World Class Figures competitor

The figure being skated is called a Paragraph 3 figure. The skater does "3" turns at the 10 and 2 positions, and must skate around both circles on the same foot. NOT as easy as it looks!

And it was a good day to stay indoors and do just that, too! It was rainy, and COLD for most of the day. People drive like frickin' idiots here when it rains. And especially when it's Christmas shopping season. I had two parking spaces stolen from right under my nose yesterday. I could have done some bodily harm had I been that type of person, because my blood was BOILING after the second space was stolen. Jerks!

© Kim, 2004

I promised pictures from the World Championships. I had a good time, watching the ladies compete in my former discipline. It's really something to see World Class skaters in a World Championship!

What do the judges look for, you are asking? Speaking as a former judge myself, what the judges look for in Compulsory Figures are:

A. If the skater is staying on the painted line...ideally, judges look for skaters who "split" the line, meaning the line is always in the center of their skate. Any deviations inside or outside the line is a deduction.

B. Placement of various turns. There are 3-turns, bracket turns, counter turns, rocker turns. Each turn is done in a specified spot on the circle, depending on the figure being skated.

C. The turn itself. Each turn has a specific cusp. Any dragging of the turning skate, any 'jumping' of the turn, an incorrect cusp are all deductions.

D. Steadiness of the skate. Any rocking motion while doing an edge is considered a deduction.

Here are some of the photos that I took...most came out rather blurry, so I was quite disappointed in my photographic skills. This first photo is of warm ups. You can see what I mean about staying on the line. The figure being done here is a serpentine figure, meaning the skater skates around 1 and 1/2 circles on one foot:

Here's another warm-up photo...this skater was representing Japan....and as you can see, she is inside of the line...NOT good:

The next two photos are of skaters under the watchful eye of the judges:

As you can see, Compulsory Figures are not flashy like Singles, or Dance....but they are very taxing on the mind! But I wouldn't trade the years for anything in the world!

On the agenda for Friday? SHOPPING!!!!

I am Girl Next Door Click on the picture below to read more: Take the 'What Kind of Girl Are You?' quiz at CookingToHookup.com

We're having to supplement the little brown puppy...he's the runt of the bunch, and he's not really getting his share of his momma, so we're making sure he gets to have his share from Mindy, along with periodic bottle feedings. I sure hope the little guy makes it.

I'm heading downtown this morning to watch the competition in Senior World Class Figures at the World Roller Skating Championships. The best way to describe figures is: When you go to a roller rink, and you see the sets of 3 circles scattered in various places on the skating surface, that is what we skate on. Here's a good description of Compulsory Figures: FIGURE SKATING - COMPULSORY FIGURES IN ARTISIC ROLLER SKATING. It's a very tedious, repetitive, somewhat boring, and often hated part of roller skating, but it's great for those of us who never did freestyle or dance! I'll post some of the pictures that I'll take later.

Oh, and for the person who seems to think that our circle of friends is a 'cult', I only have this to say:

Care for a rose? I've got a garden growing.

Today's Thought For The Day:

***UPDATE***

We have 2 new little boys....with maybe one more on the way. It's been a hell of a morning, let me tell you! I'll post some pictures in the next couple of days.

I picked up three items for Mom for Christmas yesterday at Penneys. They are having a good sale this weekend....I may go back for more!

For those of you who love turbulent storms, and storm photos like I do, check out Extreme Instability. There are some FREAKING AWESOME storm chase photos on this site!

Have a good Saturday!

I'm feeling MUCH better today...my ears are finally open, and the head congestion is almost gone. I hate being sick!

I hope everyone has a great weekend, and I'll leave you with this funny that I received from a friend this morning. You may have already received it also... I know that I've received it from one of my other blog buddies before...Rhonda perhaps? I plan on being just like this woman....and I'm already working on it! Enjoy!

The preacher's, Sunday sermon was, "Forgive Your Enemies."
He asked how many of the congregation has forgiven their enemies.
About half held up their hands.
He then repeated his question.
Now about 80 percent held up their hands.
He then repeated his question.
All responded, except one elderly lady. "Mrs. Jones, are you not willing
to forgive your Enemies?"
"I don't have any." she said.
"Mrs. Jones, that is very unusual.  How old are you?"
"Ninety-three." she replied.
"Mrs. Jones, please come down in front and tell the congregation how a
person cannot have an enemy in the world?"
The little sweetheart of a lady tottered down the aisle, and said, "I
outlived those bitches."

Only 32% E*V*I*L, huh?? Damn it! I must redeem myself, so please excuse this little tirade:

Now, why do I have to have a friggin' moron as my backup for my desk when I'm on vacation??? The idiot comes to me yesterday, asking me to find a clerk that Loomis Fargo incorrectly idenitified on their report. I felt like saying, "FIND IT YOURSELF, YOU F*CKING MORON!" This guy doesn't even try to find mistakes. He expects ME to find them for him. This dickweed did the same thing when he was the deposit clerk. He would make a mistake, and he'd call me to find where he made the mistake. WRONG ANSWER, DUMBASS!! YOU MADE THE MISTAKE, NOW YOU FIND IT!!

He asked me to find out why he wasn't balancing a couple of weeks ago...he was short $999.00. I came over to look at the figures he entered, and there it was, staring him right in the face. I pointed it out to him, and all he could say was, "Ok, you win." WIN WHAT, ASSHOLE???? And this is a man who supposedly has an accounting degree from his country, Laos. Yeah, right.

Ok...hopefully that little rant brought my E*V*I*L factor up a few points.

And I see that I will have lovely driving conditions to drive to work in...our wonderful fog has returned, with visibility of approximately 200 feet. Friggin' lovely.

One day down, 4 to go before vacation. Looks like it will be a quiet Thanksgiving for us. My brother came to see mom and dad yesterday while I was at work, and said he will be having Thanksgiving at his house, since his daughter and her 3 boys will be coming down from Modesto, so the three of us will probably go up to Table Mountain for a few hours to gamble, and have an early dinner. And I'm glad.

And with that, I leave you with this thought:

"Lying is done with words and also with silence."

Adrienne Rich

And my damn Niners blew a 17-0 lead in the first half, and lost by 10 to the Carolina Panthers. We're taking aim at the #1 pick in the 2005 NFL Draft....too bad the owners are cheapskate bastards, and will probably trade down for more picks in later rounds. Speaking of our tightwad owner, there is a website dedicated to dumping John York called Dumpyork.com. This doorknob is going to run the once proud 49er organization into the ground.

And with that, I hope your Monday will be a good one, and I'll leave you with this:

It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of Karma to burn off.

I'm so excited, though! The World Roller Skating Championships are beginning this week here, and will run through the 28th. I won't get to catch any action this week, but next week, I'll be on vacation for the week, so I plan on going for at least one day of the competition. I'll post pictures of some of the action. Skating was such a huge part of my life for years, and it's so exciting to have a World Championship event in your own backyard!

And with that, I'll leave you with this Thought For The Day:

A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.
--Robert A. Heinlein

The dental appointment went okay...but she convinced me to get both of the crowns I would be needing, instead of just doing one now, and the other next year. The cost will exceed my benefit allotment of 1K, but I figured I may as well get it done now, since it was two teeth side by side that needed crowns. I'll probably have a balance of about $300, but I can do payments on that. In January, my benefits start all over again, so I receive another 1K in benefits, which will go toward getting that wisdom tooth with the cavity removed. There's NO WAY IN HELL I'm going to get all 4 pulled.

I really like my dentist....she's very gentle. She was also amazed that I'm not feeling ANY pain from my teeth. My jaw didn't completely wake up until Kathy and I headed out for the Fresno State game. The dentist kept giving me more Novacaine, even though I wasn't complaining. She must have poked me about 4 times! But I'm glad I had both crowns taken care of. Now I have to wait until Dec. 12 to receive the permanent crowns.

As I was leaving the parking lot at work to head for the dentist, I noticed the leaves are all beginning to fall to the ground:

It was fun at the game, but it got COLD!!! The temp at halftime was down to 45 degrees. It was quite nippy, let me tell you! We went to get some hot chocolate at halftime, but it was mildly lukewarm hot chocolate. We told the guy that it wasn't even hot, and he was nice enough to give us our $2 back.

But the Bulldogs defeated the Hawaii 'Bows quite soundly 70-14!!! I hope some of you saw the action on ESPN! I took a couple of pictures at the game...the first is when we were about ready to score in the first quarter, and the second is of the rocket fireworks that go off each time we score:

And, oh yeah.....I can't forget to show off my off-center Xmas tree that I put up at work....I need to find a better tree for next year....this one is just too small, and sideways:

* My dad used to be an artist; he would stay up till wee hours of the morning, painting with oil paints. What's so funny about that, you ask? He actually fell off his stool more than once falling asleep while painting.

* My mom tripped on one of the small steps leading out of the Circus Circus casino in Reno. She twisted her ankle badly, and it was black and blue for about a month. Where's the humor? She was carrying a FULL, tall bucket of quarters, and when the bucket landed on the floor, it landed upright, and only 3 or 4 quarters fell out.

* During that same Reno visit, we received use of a wheelchair for Mom during the duration of our vacation. We were heading down the street to the Comstock Hotel/Casino, with dad pushing mom in the chair. Humor? Dad almost spilled Mom out of the chair into the snow when the wheels of the chair got stuck on the railroad tracks we had to cross, .

* On another trip to Reno, it was Thanksgiving time, and we were trying to beat a snowstorm looming ahead. My brother and sister in law were traveling with us, driving their own car. We stopped for breakfast, deciding what to do. My brother boasted, "Just follow my tracks." Humor in this? About 20 miles up the road, my brother wanted us to lead....all we saw as we passed his car, was him looking dead ahead, meekly pointing "Go ahead". Uh-huh...follow your tracks.

* One time in Tahoe, my dad and I went to play side-by-side nickel poker machines after breakfast. The humor, you ask? My dad kept falling asleep between hands, yawning every friggin' time he pushed the bet button.

* I didn't see this actually happen, but Mom and my brother saw it....we were in Reno again (yes, we spent ALOT of time in Reno), and we were at the Club Cal-Neva casino. Mom came to find me, laughing, saying that Dad had just fallen off his stool while playing a slot machine....he fell asleep.

And with that, I'll leave you with another cell phone picture I took on Tuesday afternoon....I kind of like this shot better than the other....Happy Friday everyone! I might do an audio blog from the Fresno State game tonight...check it out on ESPN tonight!!

Happy Veterans Day....take a moment to say a thank you to those who have served for our country in previous wars, and the current war in Iraq. Two local families will be saying goodbye to their 22-year-old sons today. Their sons were killed last week in Iraq. The men were best friends in life, and in death. They were serving together in Iraq, and they died together last week. They will both be buried side by side this afternoon at the Clovis Cemetary. Please say a prayer for the families today, and for the families of those who have loved ones risking their lives today.

I'll leave you with this photo that I took with my cell camera on Tuesday afternoon, as I was leaving the office to head for the dentist...quite appropriate to end this post with, I think:

Today, I had a different hygienist...and as soon as she started talking when I took my seat in the dental chair....I remembered her from my last cleaning a couple of years ago. I bled like a stuck pig the last time she cleaned my teeth. That's one reason why I hadn't gone back in so long!

This woman today started yakking away while scraping the hell out of my upper teeth. She yakked about her kids, her husband...everything under the sun. All I really wanted her to do was SHUT UP AND CLEAN! Why is it that dentists and hygienists want to carry on a conversation with you while they have their hands, and drills in your mouth???? Can't you see that I'm rather speechless at the moment???

She said that I must have a very high pain threshold, because one of my teeth should be causing all sorts of problems, but I don't feel a thing. She showed me the xray from my visit a couple of weeks ago how close the decay in that particular tooth is to the nerve. She was amazed that I don't have any pain.

For that reason, I get to 'enjoy' another visit on Friday afternoon...only this time with my dentist for a crown on that tooth. Jolly.........

I ordered yet another Barbie Collectible....this is one of the Lounge Kitties Barbies:

And here's yet another 'colors' picture, taken Sunday....I submitted this one to Wunderground.com, also. You can also see more of my photos listed there, as well.

We had some light rain come through this afternoon, and once the rain stopped, this gorgeous sunset happened....these photos are not manipulated in any way...this is how it really looked:

Pretty cool, huh?! It was sure pretty to look at!

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."

-Edmund Burke

Ok, Debs....you asked for it, you got it!! More of the fall colors that I snapped today....I really have to stop taking pictures, and driving at the same time.

The last two are of the majestic Sierra Nevada Mountains. We used to have this view almost every day....now, with all of the smog, it's a rare sight to see the mountains in all of their glory, with fresh snow hugging the mountain tops (sorry for the utility poles in the second shot...I was at the stoplight getting ready to turn onto my street and didn't have much time to get a better shot):

I've been in such a picture taking mood lately....I've brought my camera along for most of this week. I've refrained from inundating you all with more fall pictures... maybe some think "You've seen one tree, you've seen 'em all!" But I simply love the changing colors, and the blossoms in the spring. So maybe I'll post some more pictures this evening.

Fred Beasley, the 49ers' fullback, is angry with the attitude of select players. He says that there is 'no fire' burning within team, and that the younger players are more interested in how many balls they catch, or how much bling-bling they can buy. This attitude seems to be the 'in' thing these days with professional sports. What happened to the "TEAM" concept?? There is no "I" in TEAM. I agree with Beasley....I've noticed absolutely NO fire burning within the newer 49ers. Bryant Young, bless his heart, played like a madman against the Bears. The '49er Way' used to consist of the veteran players molding the younger players into the winning ways of the Niners of old. Now, with free agency, team cohesiveness no longer exists. It's all about "Show Me The Money." You never see a player stay with one team for the life of his career anymore.

Ah, well.....so it goes.

Looks like there's a doozie of a storm blowing in....it was rather windy when I went out at lunch, and I just looked out the front glass doors here at work, and it's looking rather fugly outside....I hope it doesn't start raining until I'm home.

And here I am still wearing my Easy Spirit open toed shoes. I *REALLY* need to get a warmer pair of shoes! Maybe I should just wear my leppard print Isotoner slippers I found at Penney's last week. I snagged those babies up, since there were only three pairs left!

Almost time to shove off, so have a good evening all!

How in the hell can someone declare themselves the winner when all of the votes haven't been counted yet??? What about the philosophy that 'every vote counts?' Ugh...I'm disgusted. And I'm PMS'ing. So WATCH OUT!!!

On another note, I'd like to welcome Lisa, and her new blog, "The Sidekick Speaks." Welcome to the blogging family, Lisa!!

How cool is it to hear from someone you haven't talked to in years?! I received an email from a friend of mine that I haven't seen in at least 10-15 years this morning. He remembered me from Fresno City College. We always used to pull into the parking lot at about the same time on certain days, and we always seemed to park next to each other. We got acquainted, and we became friends. We have run into one another at various times through the years, but it's been awhile since we've crossed paths, but it was good to hear from him again.

And if anyone caught Sportscenter this morning....the T-shirt Terrell Owens was wearing during his interview pretty much says it all about him: "I T.O." Get over yourself, dude....you make me sick.

Here's a couple more pics of the colors...enjoy!

My car, with the neighborhood trees in the background:

My damn Niners lost AGAIN. This time to the Chicago Bears. One good thing about the game is that former Fresno State Bulldog Bernard Berrian caught a touchdown for the Bears. But, I can laugh because the Chokeland Faiders are right down there in the cellar with us. They lost to the San Diego Chargers BIG TIME.

Mom wanted to get out for awhile yesterday so we headed up to Table Mountain for a couple of hours. I only lost about $30.00. I cashed out $50 on the nickel Swingin' Green, and $62 on the nickel Wheel Of Fortune. Some guy sitting next to me hit 5000 credits on the WOF, lining up 3 diamond rings and 2 Wheel Of Fortune double symbols. Lucky bastard.

I took my camera along for the 15 minute drive up the hill, and took these shots of the scenery. The foilage is really coming out now everywhere. So beautiful! These were taken just before arriving at Table Mountain, while passing by the Brighton Crest Golf Course. Million dollar homes are also located here. This is also where I hitched rides on golf carts when Steve Young had his first golf tournament here in 1993. WHAT A BLAST!!!