Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Super Bowl Smack Talk

posted by Missy @ 11:12 AM 0 Comments

Chatty Girls Crop


Last Saturday (04/26/2008), we had our Chatty Girls Crop - which we manage to finish maybe one project per night... I think I was able to finish cutting most of the images for the ATCs, and I know I did a project earlier - I just can't remember what it was!!! We were too busy chatting up a storm and making everyone else laugh - even Jenifer had a few tears from laughing too much.

Top Row: Cassie, Sheila
Middle Row: Missy, Jens, LisaD
Bottom Row: Patti, Jenifer

The next crop for the Chatty Girls will be May 3rd, and we're gonna be celebrating National Scrapbooking Month. Jenifer's got a project lined up for us - can't wait to get started on it!

posted by Missy @ 10:54 AM 0 Comments

My AIM wont work for the 2nd straight day in a row! I cant keep checking my pager every so often while Im at work, so this email has to be used in communication…*smh*

I finally got my ass going and started working on my ATCs again. It’s been a long time, probably more than a year, since I did any ATCs. That’s how bad it got for me – the pain, the seasonal affective disorder, the legarthy. I’m just hoping I continue to improve little by little every day, although I still have a problem staying on track – the SAD did its big time number on me. However, I’ve re-committed myself to getting back on track and using this quote in my signature on my tmail – “My success tomorrow depends on my choices today.”

posted by Missy @ 10:50 AM 0 Comments

Terlingua, Storm Cat's dam

Terlingua, Storm Cat's Dam, Dead
Last Updated: April 29, 2008

Terlingua, who made a name for herself as one of the fastest fillies of her generation and as the dam of leading sire Storm Cat, was euthanized April 29 because of complications from the infirmities of old age at the Young family’s Overbrook Farm near Lexington. The 32-year-old mare was from the second crop of Secretariat.

Bred in Kentucky by Tom Gentry, Terlingua didn’t waste any time showing how fast she was under the care of trainer D. Wayne Lukas. She won the Nursery Stakes at 5 ½ furlongs in 1:03 3/5 at Hollywood Park at 2 in her first start, and then won the Hollywood Lassie Stakes (gr. II) and the Hollywood Juvenile Championship Stakes (gr. II) over males, both at six furlongs and both in 1:08 4/5. She made it four straight with a score in the Del Mar Debutante Stakes (gr. II) at a mile.

Terlingua also proved fast the next two years. She captured the Las Flores Handicap in 1:08 2/5 and the Santa Ynez Stakes at seven furlongs in 1:21 1/5 at 3. The next year, she took the La Brea Stakes in 1:20 4/5.
Terlingua raced throughout her career for Barry Beal and L.R. French Jr. She retired with seven wins and four runner-up efforts from 17 races and earnings of $423,896.

Although Terlingua was a successful race filly, her greatest fame came as the dam of Storm Cat. Bred by Overbrook founder William T. Young in the name W. T. Young Storage, Storm Cat developed into a grade I winner and one of the best sires in recent memory. The son of Storm Bird twice has topped the year-end leading sires list and is represented by dozens of sons at stud. His former fee, $500,000, was the highest for years. His current fee at Overbrook is $300,000.

Terlingua produced 11 foals, including additional graded stakes winner Chapel of Dreams. Another of her offspring, Pioneering, stands at stud at Overbrook. Terlingua’s last foal, 8-year-old Final Legacy, is a broodmare at Overbrook.

Terlingua, out of the Crimson Satan mare Crimson Saint, will be buried at Overbrook.

http://breeding.bloodhorse.com/article/44937.htm

posted by Missy @ 10:48 AM 0 Comments

Storm Cat's dam, Terlingua

Storm Cat’s dam, Terlingua, euthanized at Overbrook
by Ed DeRosa

Terlingua, the dam of leading sire Storm Cat, was euthanized on Wednesday at the Young family’s Overbrook Farm in Lexington due to the infirmities of old age. She was 32.

Terlingua, a multiple Grade 2 winner by Secretariat, was one of the first broodmare prospects Overbrook founder W.T. Young purchased when he began his operation. Young owned several breeding seasons to Storm Bird, and he bred his mare to the Northern Dancer stallion after she produced a Lyphard filly in 1982. The resulting colt was Storm Cat.

“She meant a lot because she was one of the first mares Mr. Young bought. He wanted to breed her to Storm Bird, and thus the franchise of the farm [Storm Cat] was born,” said Ric Waldman, manager of stallion operations for Overbrook, which stands Storm Cat. “She meant a lot being the dam of Storm Cat, but she meant a lot, too, as one of the first mares Mr. Young bought.”

Terlingua’s first foal, Lyphard’s Dancer, went on to produce a stakes winner and a stakes producer. Her third foal, the Northern Dancer filly Chapel of Dreams, won two Grade 2 races, produced two stakes producers, and is the great grandam of Grade 1 winner Ticker Tape (GB).

Terlingua also produced sires Wheaton, by Alydar, and Pioneering, by Mr. Prospector. Her last foal, the Boston Harbor filly Final Legacy, just produced a Strong Hope filly and will be bred back to El Corredor.

Terlingua won seven of 17 starts and earned $423,896. Tom Gentry bred her in Kentucky out of the Grade 3-winning Crimson Satan mare Crimson Saint, dam of Group 1 winner and sire Royal Academy and Grade 2 winner and sire Pancho Villa.

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/breeding-news/2008/April/29/Storm-Cat-dam-Terlingua-euthanized-at-Overbrook.aspx

posted by Missy @ 10:47 AM 0 Comments

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

War Emblem

The rumors have been around for years about 2002 Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem, given his disinterest in mares. The NYT explores the topic but concludes that War Emblem just has "finicky taste." Others call him quirky or temperamental.

"He is isolated from the other studs at Shadai Stallion Station in the hope that he will feel safe and more confident in his sexuality. Mares surround him in an effort to revive a long-dormant libido. In nearly five and a half years of contact with hundreds of mares, War Emblem, now 9, has managed to mate with only 70 of them, which is half of most stallions’ yearly output. He has not produced a live foal since 2005, and the last time it was confirmed that he ejaculated in the company of a mare was in 2006. He did it once. 'We know he is fertile, but he has no interest in mares,' said Dr. Nobuo Tsunoda, the director of the farm."

Said Anne Peters, the matings adviser at Three Chimneys in Midway, Ky: "It’s very abnormal to have no sexual interest in mares."

Unless, of course...

http://www.towleroad.com/2008/04/experts-refuse.html

posted by Missy @ 12:16 PM 0 Comments

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Splashy Mullings

I just got an email from a good friend of mine ~ she had shown a picture of her husband and herself on their new Harley ... (insert envious thought here) ... on her blog, and this morning, she had a comment. The comment read as her being described as 15 years old, and her husband as her daddy... (whoops) ... or was she one of those FLDS people in Texas? I thought it was kinda funny, cuz she's in her mid 30's, mother to three rambitious boys, and only a few years younger than her husband!

However, that made me think about the situation actually happeneing in Texas, and ashamed that my church allowed that sect to happen. I know they split off in the 1880's, after the LDS church said that a man should be married to one woman. However, there must have been something we could have done...

I also feel bad for those young girls forced to marry in their teens to men much older, 20 to 30 years older. Being forced to bear children so early, when they should have been worrying about what shoes should go with their prom dresses, is just plain robbing them of their childhoods.

Now many of those mothers will lose their children ~ when it was their husbands that controlled them and the lives they had. The state of Texas had ordered this.

Just how much education have they had? Do they know how to read and write, are they able to live productive lives on their own?

It must be a strange, frightening world that they've been thrust into.

posted by Missy @ 7:50 AM 0 Comments

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Black Fox

Black Fox, or "Foxie," as we call him, has a very distinct personality - he has his quirks and loves that are so endearing.

Foxie LOVES the cat tower in the living room, and is always in the top "nest" - He will often assume strange positions, as evident by these two photographs.















Foxie also like to pull on hair - especially mine when it's in a ponytail. Jens so graciously offered his head so that Foxie could pull his hair for these pictures, to show you what it looks like...















And he loves laying on or next to me on the sofa - no matter what time or what we are doing!!!
















You can see how beautiful he looks!!! Foxie is MY cat through and through!


posted by Missy @ 4:06 PM 1 Comments

Goober from Mayberry

I remember watching the Mayberry show a few times... and while this show is not one of my favorites, I did see it once in a while while surfing channels. One day, we were fooling around in the living room, taking pictures and all that, I put on Leon's hat and made a goofy face... and when I saw the picture, I realzed that I had been channeling Goober from Mayberry!!!







posted by Missy @ 3:56 PM 0 Comments

Tit for Tat

If you remember in an earlier post, I had written about Jenifer's dogs - about how Metz had taken over Roxie's bed and how BIG Metz looked in Roxie's tiny bed... well, now here is the same situation reversed!

Here are two absolutely adorable pictures of tiny Roxie snoozing in Metz's new BIG bed!


posted by Missy @ 3:53 PM 0 Comments

Easter Surprise

I finally found the pictures. Now I can do this post.

On Easter, Jens and I had gone to his aunt's home to join up with her family for lunch - and I can tell you, her family are all good cooks! No matter what they tell me, I know for a fact, they are good!

Then we had gone to my parents' home to drop off the Easter basket and Dad's birthday gifts (of course, what else? PEEPS!)

For those who do not know what PEEPS are, here is a picture... heh.
Anyway, on our way home on Lindbergh, I had a strange view... which I have never seen before, and I've lived in St. Louis since I was five years old!

This is at the crossroad of Lindbergh and Clayton looking north -


Approaching the "missing piece" -

The bridge is totally gone, and you have a clear view of northbound Lindbergh!!!

I just had a beautiful, clear view... which I know I will never see again after the bridge is rebuilt. It was... well, strange. You get so used to seeing the same thing over and over, that when it's gone, it's very startling to see a completely different view.

posted by Missy @ 2:55 PM 0 Comments

Building For Sale

On the way to my doctor appointment Monday afternoon (4-14-08), I was surprised to see a FOR SALE sign in front of the pastry shop on Clayton Road, near Hanley... and I was surprised. I didn't even know they had closed.
I had always been fascinated with the building itself as it's all multi-level and I would LOVE to live in one of those... if I could take all those stairs.
It's sad, though, as it might be leveled in order to make a cookie-cutter store. You know, the kind that looks like every other store. All one level and totally bland. This has always been a special building to me - big time. Very different from other stores, very unusual in these times.

posted by Missy @ 2:41 PM 0 Comments

10-Year Anniversary

URS-Washington Division (formerly Washington Group International) has celebrated its 10-year anniversary at Monsanto - that's how long we have been working here! Hard to imagine, huh? And our contract won't even expire until 2016... with 5 one-year increments if needed. I wonder if I'll even be here THAT long...?

Yeppers, I got one of these 10-year awards. It's on top of my desk. Now, I gotta wait until next year to actually celebrate MY 1o years with URS-Washington Div.

posted by Missy @ 2:36 PM 1 Comments

Administrative Professionals Day

I'm at the Macaroni Grill for lunch ~ with Dawn, Mike, Dave, Gwen, Jewel, Judy and Cody. Gonna have my fav ~ angel hair pasta with tomato basil, and roasted garlic cloves, with fresh mozzarella sprinkled all over... sounds yummy, huh?

Already have had two fresh bread ends, one tomato bruschetta and 1/2 of a mozzarella fritta. Yes, I've been drinking water steadily!

Ooohhhh ~ looks good, doesnt it?

Oh boy...am I full. Had two glasses of water with lemon in it...and was only able to eat a bit less than 1/2 of this. Yeah, I'm taking the rest home tonight, along with a whole loaf of bread...YUMMY.

And one good thing... I resisted the temptation to dip my bread in the oil! The dipping oil at the Macaroni Grill is so... GOOD!

posted by Missy @ 11:49 AM 0 Comments

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Daily Thoughts

NSV ~ did not get a Big Mac combo meal at McDonald's, only opted for a cheeseburger combo meal.

Blessing ~ Lisa McD is here, safe and sound.

posted by Missy @ 10:58 PM 1 Comments

Monday, April 21, 2008

Humm....Now What?

We had been in Kansas City for the ASL Expo last February, and we had gone to the Cracker Barrel for lunch. As we were leaving, I saw this on the back of a pickup truck window... I just couldn't resist the chance to take a picture!

posted by Missy @ 4:45 PM 0 Comments

Jen's Elk

Jens took these pictures quite a while ago - probably last year. The elk was being transported in a trailer, and it was a great opportunity to stop and get a couple pictures! The elk looks so calm... probably an every day thing to it?

posted by Missy @ 4:43 PM 0 Comments

Basement Jinks


The basement is one big unholy mess - but the good news is that we have finally gotten rid of the highback chairs and long sofa!!! We are in the process of cleaning out boxes, reorganizing all the storage and getting rid of stuff that are no longer useful to us, wanted or even necessary. And yes, 'tis the season to be cleaning! It's springtime, ain't it??

posted by Missy @ 4:41 PM 1 Comments

Poor Jens!



I'm still not sure what happened - either Foxie scared Blackie as Blackie was preparing to jump, or Blackie jumped a bit too hard, and the table moved underneath him... but as you can see by the results, Blackie did scratch Jens' leg pretty badly. Don't worry, Jens is just fine - just complaining about how it looks ... *grins*

posted by Missy @ 4:35 PM 1 Comments

Home Security

video

posted by Missy @ 2:42 PM 2 Comments

Friday, April 18, 2008

*snore*

Well, well, looks like I slept through some excitement. We had a minor earthquake coming from Illinois early this morning. Figures. My chance to get some excitement in my life, and I sleep right through it, but it sure explains why lights were flickering now and then.

posted by Missy @ 7:42 AM 1 Comments

Monday, April 07, 2008

Yay!

Kansas wins the NCAA championship in overtime, 75 to 68!

posted by Missy @ 10:50 PM 3 Comments

Urgh...time.

Got an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon today at 11 am, and I plan to go to Quest to get some blood drawn for my primary doctor before I go on.

I'm gonna be asking a few questions today ~ all related to my health.

Wish me luck!

Now I'm back home - tired. Waited in the waiting room for about a hour, then got to see the doctor, which took maybe 15 minutes... sheesh. He gave me a cortoise shot, deep into the muscles around the joint. Hope it works.

Now I gotta call my primary physican... for a new appointment, concerning some things that came up in the consultation. Ugh.

posted by Missy @ 8:41 AM 2 Comments

Sunday, April 06, 2008

NCAA

Kansas is gonna play in the championship round! They beat North Carolina (a shocker) 84-66, and they'll be going up against Memphis, who routed the mighty UCLA team, 78-63!

Go, Kansas, Go!

Jayhawks!

posted by Missy @ 12:07 AM 0 Comments

Theft Problem

IMPORTANT MESSAGE:

You've heard about people who have been abducted and had their kidneys removed by black-market organ thieves.

My thighs were stolen from me during the night a few years ago. I went to sleep and woke up with someone else's thighs. It was just that quick.

The replacements had the texture of cooked oatmeal. Whose thighs were these and what happened to mine?

I spent the entire summer looking for my thighs. Finally, hurt and angry, I resigned myself to living out my life in jeans. And then the thieves struck again.

My butt was next. I knew it was the same gang, because they took pains to match my new rear-end to the thighs they had stuck me with earlier. But my new butt was attached at least three inches lower than my original! I realized I'd have to give up my jeans in favor of long
skirts.

Two years ago I realized my arms had been switched. One morning I was fixing my hair and was horrified to see the flesh of my upper arm swing to and fro with the motion of the hairbrush. This was really getting scary - my body was being replaced one section at a time. What could they do to me next?

When my poor neck suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a turkey neck, I decided to tell my story. Women of the world, wake up and smell the coffee! Those 'plastic' surgeons are using REAL replacement body parts -stolen from you and me!

The next time someone you know has something 'lifted', look again - was it lifted from you?

THIS IS NOT A HOAX. This is happening to women everywhere every night.

WARN YOUR FRIENDS!

P. S. Last year I thought someone had stolen my Boobs. I was lying in bed and they were gone! But when I jumped out of bed, I was relieved to see that they had just been hiding in my armpits as I slept. Now I keep them hidden in my waistband.

posted by Missy @ 12:00 AM 0 Comments

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Looking In...

Again with the bathtub musings...of course, where else?

Anyway, looking over the past several weeks, I can see I've been turned inside-outside and all topsy~turvsy. It has been very difficult, and my feelings are a bit raw.

I know I'm gonna show a significant weight gain, so I haven't tried to weigh myself today ~ just don't want to have to face it and get depressed all over again. I have to start all over again, and get back to working on it again.

At least I'm doing better on the water ~ I just need to drink more before eating. I'm still not doing good on the journaling, and haven't even started the ATC projects. I do hope things will improve after the 2nd of April, though.

Today is April Fool's Day, and also PeeWee's birthday ~ she's now 11 years old and still as feisty as ever, as the queen of the household.


I have noticed that I'm getting short of breath lately, and I know I need to see the doctor. I am afraid, however, and just don't want to call the office. Yeah, I got a yellow streak on my back, a mile wide. That's who I am, brave in the face of oppression, but afraid of what could happen when it comes to myself. Cluck, cluck.

Also, my knee has started hurting constanly, and I just don't want to admit anything yet, but sheesh... the pain gets unbearable sometimes. I've started limping constantly when I walk, and my left knee has started locking up due to the added stress on it. Only hot baths seems to alleviate the pain nowadays. Yep, even the medicine isn't working, anymore. My body has finally built up a tolerance to the meds now. I really, really do hate this situation I'm in.

My weight loss is stalled right now ~ I have been going yo~yo on my eating habits and I'm figuring it's the stress I'm under and the anger and fear that I'm feeling right now. Im also very frustrated with myself, and that doesn't help, either. One of the weigh loss suggestions was to think positive, and it's been a bit hard to do so lately.

Also, I'm also afraid of what could happen when I finally lose weight ~ I do not know what the future would hold for me, besides being healthy again.

What a cycle I'm in... gotta figure what to do.

posted by Missy @ 7:55 AM 1 Comments