Valerie's Page

01/09/03

Well, one of my New Years Resolutions is to update this page more regularly. Motivation tends to be my major problem, more than forgetfulness. I hope everyone had a good holiday and New Year's.

Christmas was good for us this year. Steph came back to visit for a few days. We haven't seen her in 2 years, so it was great to see her. Check out a few pictures in the Photo Gallery.

For Christmas, Mike got me the An Evening with Kevin Smith DVD, which was really funny. It basically tapes of Q&A sessions that he did at several college campuses last year. You wouldn't believe some of the questions these people asked! If you thinks Kevin's movies are funny, you'll love this disc. (The View Askew website lists how to find the Easter Eggs on the disc.)

I've been on the Zone Diet for a little over a month now. Although I don't have a scale, I can tell that I am definitely starting to lose some weight. I guess I really shouldn't call it a diet, as it really is the way I should be eating all the time, not just when I want to lose weight. It is basically a low carb diet, which recommends that the calories in your meals come 40% from carbs and 30% each from protein and fat. At first glance I thought there would be no way I could cut as much carbs as I needed to. (It pretty much cut out all breads and pastas from my diet.) But, after a few weeks, I no longer craved carbs like I used to. I don't feel as tired as I used to, either. I am still learning how to make meals that taste good and meet the requirements. Along with that, Mike tends not to like a lot of the foods I am eating, so I usually have to make different stuff for him for dinner. It may sound like a lot of work, but I am hoping it will pay off. I am still working myself up to exercising regularly (one of my other New Year's Resolutions).

I am starting to plan out my garden for this year. All of the seed catalogs are piling up and I am starting to get the bug. I plan to work with a lot more perennials this year, which will hopefully cut down on my work in future years.

Come back soon - I promise more updates!

12/05/02

Sorry for my delinquency. I guess with a day off from work due to snow, I have no excuse for not updating my page. I have been posting most of the "major" happenings on our homepage, in the interest of time.

I was pretty busy in November planning (and shopping) for Thanksgiving. I got a new set of flatware, new tablecloths (for the new dining room table), and a new platter and serving bowl set. Feeney's was running a special on Charming Tails figurines (buy 2 get 1 free), so I got two that were sort of a Fall/Thanksgiving theme. Most of the other ones I have are Christmas ones, so I only get to see them for a few weeks out of the year. Below are pictures of the two I picked out.

Below is a listing of the figurines I have:
     Christmas:
     Baby's 1st Year
     Maxine Making Snow Angels
     Binkey Snowshoeing
     Oh Mackenzie Tree
     Merry Xmas from our House to You
     Skating Party
     All Wrapped Up (ornament)
     Other:
     Building Castles
     I'm Under Your Spell

9/27/02
Last weekend Mike rented a really good independent film called Kissing Jessica Stein. It's the first movie I have seen in a while that I really liked. It might be hard to find since it's an independent, (although our Blockbuster carried it), but it's definitely worth renting.

I got sick of MTV Radio locking up my computer at work, so I am now using Launch, Yahoo's Music site. You can listen to preset stations, or you can create your own. You rate songs as they play so that songs you don't like get eliminated from your playlist and those you like are played more often.

09/20/02
Thank God it's Friday! It was a long week for me, but I did find something to make my day a little more enjoyable. I took a set of old computer speakers from home and hooked them up a work,
so I could listen to music during the day. I haven't had a lot of time to find any good internet radio sites, so I have been listening to MTV Radio. They have a fairly decent assortment of stations, with a good variety of songs, so you don't hear the same songs over and over again lke you do on regular radio.

Last weekend I rented Vulgar, a movie written and directed by Bryan Johnson and executive produced by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier. I liked it, but I do have a penchant for out of the ordinary and/or violent movies. I like stories about karma. I like to think that people do get what they deserve in the end, even if I'm not there to see it happen.

09/10/02
I was able to get general admission tickets to the Korn show for Mike, Eric, Stephen and I. (We are taking Stephen for his birthday - October 1st.) Looking at a few websites, it seems
there are going to be a lot of shows worth seeing this fall. Earshot is playing tonight at the TLA. They are a cool band that sound a lot like Tool. Filter is coming back to Philly to the Electric Factory on October 10th. Tool is going to be at the Spectrum on October 29th. I think Mike and I might go see Tool, but I'm not sure about the others. The concerts are all during the week and us old folks might not be able to make it through the "day after".

On a more serious note...
It's hard to believe that tomorrow is the 11th. It doesn't feel like a year has gone by already. My parents always told me that once you get to a certain age that time flys by. I guess they were
right. I've been trying to avoid the "remembrance" coverage this week, but I think tomorrow will certainly be a somber day for most of us. There is going to be a citywide moment of silence from 10:00 to 10:03. I recommend we all take the day to think of what we are thankful for in our lives - as you never know what each day will bring.

09/05/02
Well, summer is winding down, but there's still time to have some fun before winter hits. Tickets go on sale Saturday for the Y100 Pop Sux show on October 15th, featuring Korn, Disturbed and
Trust Company. I will be getting tickets tomorrow (hopefully), as Y100 Instant Access Members, like myself, can partcipate in the pre-sale starting tomorrow at 10:00 am. Check it out - it should be a great show. Our homepage has a link to Disturbed's "outlawed" video.

I got a tip today, from a very reliable source (Steph), that there is a great new book for any metalheads out there who want to reminisce about the good old days. Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota is available through Amazon and the reviews offered on their site make the book sound pretty good.

08/29/02
I can't believe the summer is almost over, but thank God. The weather was unbelievable hot his year. I can't wait for the fall. We have some family birthdays coming up in October, so check out the calendar I set up (never mind - it no longer exists). I will be adding more months and important dates as I have the time.