its warm out
bailey ran around off leash
down behind the building
best day ever

Its been a busy week – I am taking a 2 week boot camp – two weeks of 6am workouts, alternating between circuit training and strength training. This morning’s workout was the hardest yet, but I survived it. I though getting up at 5:30 would be difficult; while its not easy, it isn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

The last 2 weeks of March 2008 hubby and I spent camping at Fort Wilderness Campgrounds (owned by Disney) in Kissimmee Florida. It was fun. Weather was great – mid 70s most days, low 60s most nights. One day was upper 70’s – we went to Typhoon Lagoon. Camping was good. The campgrounds are really nice, we went rollerblading several mornings. Saw lots of deer, ducks, and a few alligators at the campgrounds. Disney transportation can be slow. Monorails rock, buses are boring. Food was awesome – from grilled burgers at campsite to English pub at Epcot we ate well. Memorial was huge – 8 congregations met together at a convention center, attendance over 2500.

Quick Overview:

Favorite ride: Rock-n-Rollin’ Rollercoaster at Hollywood Studios (MGM) just slightly beat out Everest at Animal Kingdom
Favorite park:Epcot, but I really enjoyed all of them.
Latest night: We made it until 2:30 AM at Magic Kingdom.
Earliest morning: got to Hollywood studios before they opened (early day for Disney guests)
Favorite Dinner: Tamarind Chicken at Yak and Yeti in Animal Kingdom
Best dessert: Mickey ice cream cones at the park (I think I had 3 of them)
Best souvenir: 4 small dinosaurs I won in a carnival game at Animal Kingdom.
Best thing about camping: saving money! and fresh air.
Worst thing about camping: having to walk a couple hundred yards in the middle of the night when you have to go to the bathroom.

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This is a first hand account of an armed robbery at Cub on Lake Street. Not really the reason I don’t shop at Cub (cuz I actually do shop at Cub sometimes) but a really good article, with good reminders:

My advice is pretty simple, forego carrying purses if possible. Take only what you need and stay aware of who and what is around you. Don’t leave anything in view in your car. Lock your doors as a habit when getting into or out of your car.

Its been a long time. (the kid isn’t me - its my brother Marty. It is the best picture I have today.)

I finally gave in and switched over to using WordPress for my site. Over the years I have used several “blogging” platforms - I started with flat files, then used Blogger, then MoveableType, then settled into my own custom code (a bizarre combo of JSP, XML, XSL and AJAX). But never finding time to really do what I wanted with my system I figured it was time to just go with something easier. I played around with Joomla a bit, but it is too heavy for what I need. WordPress set up was fast, I found a template I liked, and now I am in the process of tweaking it and bringing over all my old content (sherzy.com goes back to 2001!).

Do you ever get those surveys attached to your receipt where you get a coupon if you call the 1-800 number and give them your opinion? I get them every so often from Petsmart and Petco. Since I regularly shop at both stores, and $2-3 off my purchase helps I call the number. The surveys tend to be long and boring: “Press 5 if you were completely satisfied, press 4 if you were somewhat satisfied”, etc… But the last few I have called I go to press 4 or 5 in answer to the first question and bam! the mechanical voice gives me my validation code. Score! 2 dollars off my next purchase without spending 5 minutes pressing buttons on the phone. I feel a bit like I cheated the system, but really there is nothing I could do different.

Last night hubby and I went to the Minneapolis - St. Paul International Film Festival Opening Night event. Hubby’s work is a sponsor of the film festival so we had free tickets. It was not the sort of thing we usually do (we rarely get to the theater to see blockbusters, much less independent films), so it was a fun change. The night started at Block E to see the featured film, “The Visitor” – which is a very good film. If I was the sort of person to recommend films I would recommend it highly. Great cinematography, great acting, touching story. After the movie there was a Q&A session with the writer/director, which was very interesting, it really added a lot of depth to the movie. (more…)

Right now Cariann is in the lunchroom cooking bacon (she is filling in for Office MOM this week - who is out sick. And Cariann is Office Daughter after all) to go on our grilled cheese for lunch. It is a warm inviting smell on such a yucky day as today. The coworkers and I came up with a great idea - bacon candles (inspired by “Bonfire” candles - last night’s The Office) but it looks like its already been done, BLT candles. Love the description:

You may want to light them in your kitchen, office or bedroom or wherever you seek sensual pleasure and enlightenment; by yourself or with someone special.

Actually, its not “real” bacon - its turkey bacon. But it still smells great, and its better for us anyway.

Each day we get to hear the wonderful voice of our Director of First Impressions at work as she beckons us to the lunchroom, “Lunch is hot and ready!”. Today is deli day (sandwiches, soup, pasta salad and cookies), so, “Lunch is hot and cold and ready!”

Last week was a tasty week! And a special week, since we were able to have pork (usually we don’t have pork products due to an employee’s dietary restrictions) April first (Tuesday) was great, MOM made a carrot cake that was to die for – I was eating the leftovers all week.

You can see the comments and doodles that people add to the lunch menu as they walk by. This week isn’t as bad as some…