Do you know anyone with a funny name? Here are three names of actual people I’ve known. I’m not sure of the spelling but here goes: W. Buttkist, T. Hurlbutte and Harry Weiner. The last one was a vendor at work and the first time I spoke with him on the phone I thought he was being facetious. I wanted to tell him off but then I realized that he was serious. He probably gets that a lot and I think he may enjoy the shock he hears from people when he tells them his name. He sounds so proud of it over the phone. I’ve also had some odd first names like Charm, Summer, and Sunshine. I wonder why parents think its okay to give their kids weird names. I can understand wanting something different, but let’s not scar the kid for life.

I'd like to know what names you’ve heard or been named with. I promise not to laugh….too much.

I want to be more active. I remember as a kid I was always outside riding my bike, roller skating / skateboarding, and hiking with my dad. Now, I’m not very active at all. I think I want to start roller skating again. I grew up on skates. My parents were big skaters and we spent a lot of time at the roller rinks. As soon as I started walking they put skates on me. I miss it. I never got into the roller blade thing. I did it once and it was easy; a lot more like ice skating. I fell on my ass really hard too.

There’s a roller rink not too far from me. All I need is someone who wants to join me. I need more friends in my area, my only friends are the people I work with and my dance partner. He’s too busy right now but he said he would like to go sometime. I asked Hubby but he’s not interested which is fine. I know it's not his thing.

Speaking of Hubby; you should check out his post today. It’s pretty funny.

I don’t follow the news much. A few things here and there will catch my attention and I will read up on it. I like Google’s news page over MSN so that is where I get most of my news info from. When the issue over the cartoons of Muhammad came up a few weeks ago I really didn’t pay much attention to it. Since then, there have been riots and people have actually died as a result of the chaos surrounding this issue. This morning as I was checking out the news I saw the story about the cleric that is offering $1 million for the death of the Danish cartoonists that started this whole debacle. That caught my attention. It made me think about how ridiculous people can be when it comes to religion. I’ve got nothing against most religions as long as they keep to themselves, but it seems to me that this has gotten a bit out of hand.

I come from a Christian background. I used to be very involved in the church so I know how easy it is to get fired up when it comes to protecting your religious beliefs. I think though that when it comes down to saying that people should be killed because they've offended your beliefs that that is taking it much too far. Come on people, it's time to crawl out of the dark ages don't you think?

A few months ago I made the decision to go back to school and last night was my first class. I decided to take Spanish first because I think that it will help me the most on my job right now. This will be my fourth attempt to learn the language. I know the basics, how to pronounce the vowels and consonants. I know some words too and can usually follow a conversation if I listen well enough. My husband is from Mexico so I’ve listened to 17 years of Spanish conversations at family gatherings.

My instructor is Korean but he speaks Spanish fluently. He’s amazing. The man knows nine languages. He said his goal was ten but he didn’t feel that four years of hard study was worth it just to learn Arabic for the bragging rights. Jeez. Anyways, he seems cool enough and I like his approach to teaching the grammar. I’ve not seen it taught in such a comprehensive manner before. I feel confident that this time I will learn the language and be able to actually speak it. Oh yeah, the best part is that last night was the first and only class he’s going to teach in English. When I told my husband that last night he laughed!

Yeah, laugh it up honey, but soon I’ll know what you’re always mumbling under your breath about.

Is it just me, or are department store mirrors more like those twisted fun-house mirrors you see at the carnival?

I’ve noticed that when I go into a dressing room to try clothes on, my image in the mirror looks more like a hideous ogre than the normal looking person I see in my mirror at home. It's like all of my proportions are distorted. Why is that? You would think that the department stores would want you to look your best so that you’ll buy more clothes, but not so mister. I’ve experienced this phenomenon in almost every dressing room I’ve ever been in. I'm sooo hoping I'm not alone in this.

Good news folks, today I am feeling better. Physically I am still dealing with symptoms like coughing up stuff but my attitude is much better this morning. I am smiling again which is a good indicator of how I feel. No smile, not feeling so good. Big smile and all is well with me. Thanks again for all of your encouraging words and support. It’s nice to have people that know what you are going through and who care. I always look forward to hearing from you.

I’ve been sick for 11 days now with a respiratory bug that seems to be hanging on for dear life. I’ve had the coughing, congestion, and sore throat. The sore throat has lasted for the entire time with no relief. I finally went to the doctor yesterday to see what could be done. My doctor is of the belief that you should let things run their course, so I don’t usually bother going in. He wasn’t in so I saw another doctor instead. She gave me antibiotics and took a swab of my throat. I guess they’re going to check it for strep. She said that since I’ve had the sore throat for 10 days antibiotics would be a good idea because if it is strep it could end up in my kidneys. I’ve never heard of that before, but I don’t mind. I’d rather just take the antibiotics and be done with it. This bug has really screwed up my social life. I haven’t been dancing in two weeks. My dance partner was sick before me and then I got sick. Hopefully this Saturday I will be able to resume my dancing and get back to my normal routine. My mood has been affected too. Right now, for whatever reason, I feel very down about myself. I know I shouldn’t but I do. Yesterday after my appointment I just had this strong sense of self-loathing. I can’t explain it. I just hated myself for no apparent reason. My whole focus was on the way I look and my weight. I hate that I’m so heavy, that I don’t look the way I think I should and that my clothes never seem to fit right. I had to talk myself out of it, tell myself what a great person I am and all that. It wasn’t easy and I’m still not entirely out of it yet. I think that once I’m feeling better my state of mind will get better too.

I asked my husband for a subject to write about last night and he says "why don't you write about your snoring". What??? Why on earth would I write about that? I don't snore. He just rolls his eyes at me, then threatens to do an audio post of my snoring using his cell phone. Great. I'm pretty sure I don't snore, but how would I know if I did? It's not like I can hear myself when I'm sleeping. Besides, women don't snore. Just like we don't sweat or fart. It's not in our makeup. That's a man thing to do. So, I'm sure he's just making it up to tease me and if you ever do find an audio post on his blog it's not me, it's the cat. He snores.