Some random ramblings on a rainy Monday afternoon...

My home 'puter was acting up BIGtime yesterday; may hafta finally bite the bullet and get a new one. I really can't complain, as it's been almost trouble-free. But maybe it's getting near time to retire it...

Well, I got skunked on my NCAA picks this year. Hey, a lotta folks did, and I really didn't give them the attention I usually do, and there WERE a lotta upsets. But still; if I had been more of a betting gal this year, I'd have lost my shirt (some of you might've liked that, huh?! :)...

Had a really nice Easter dinner @ my mom's yesterday; yummy lamb, asparagus, and for dessert dee-lish strawberry shortcake (with fresh-made whipped cream!)...

But with that, I HAFTA start eating better again. I didn't put on any weight over the Thanksgiving-to-New Years holidays this past year, but since around my birthday or so back in January until, well, now, all that weight I didn't put on then I've put on now. Yes, part of it was the lousy weather and the fair amount of snow we got that kept me from keeping up my outdoor running (I canNOT run indoors on a treadmill!) as well as just walking more often, and yes I did miss a solid week+ of workouts back in February when I hurt my back. But I've also been eating poorly...I generally maintain a high protein-low carb eating regimen. I began that several years ago, back when I weighed, ahem, significantly more than I do even now. For me it works- I like the foods I can eat, it gives me energy to burn/keeps my metabolism at a higher rate, and many of the foods I eat on it (when I'm good!) serve to lift/keep my mood, my emotions raised. But over the last month+ I've been eating WAY too many carbs, "bad" carbs, too often. The weight gain I've experienced has been bad enough, but moreso the sluggish feeling, the lethargy, and the crankier, b*tchier moodiness have all served to keep me in, and exacerbate, a funk I've been in for, well, probably going back to mid/late January (coinciding w/ my birthday, feeling older, and not all that much wiser.) so that, as well as the dark days of January and February, and the cold and snow we've had and the general rut/grind I've been in...ack, I hafta shake out of it, and eating better, and, with the weather beginning to break a bit, getting back out running, and just outside more often, should help....

The cold...I was out running the other day, Saturday, it was sunny, albeit still cold and a bit windy (only got up to 39 degrees or so for the high.) So I'm out there in my sweatshirt, windjacket, sweatpants and a pair of light gloves I wear, and I was still sorta chilly. Yet there were people out running, women and men, in shorts!!! Sweatshirts, hats, gloves even, but shorts! And it wasn't just college kids either. I was sooooooooo jealous! Why did I feel so cold, and these folks didn't?! I used to be one of these people who would wear shorts year-round; the middle of winter, I'd wear a pair of walking shorts out to the store, etc...I'd wear my shorts to the gym, and of course out running. But I've noticed the last few years now I get colder than I used to. I don't know why...(maybe I finally need to move to those warm desert climes I've always fantasized about :)

"What good is the dawn, that grows into day?/The sunset at night, or living this way?/For I have the warmth of the sun, within me at night..."

HAPPY EASTER! :)

"Here comes Peter Cottontail/Hopping down the bunny trail/Hippity, hoppity/Easter's on it's way..."

On a more serious topic...

The Terri Schiavo dilemma. Truly a tragedy; often lost in the current furor is the simple fact that a young woman has been in a vegetative state since 1990, existing in a not-here, not-there netherworld. The biggest victim here is not the husband, not the parents, but Terri. But they too have suffered, seeing a loved one wither away so. The dilemma is what to do. Terri left no clear-cut instructions as to how she would wish to be treated should something like this have befallen her (who amongst us has?) The current means keeping her alive, the feeding tube, is not necessarily an extraordinary measure, but seemingly standard procedure in a case such as this. From what I've read, she is not on artificial respiration or other more extreme measures. But there are legitimate and humane cases to be made both for continuing her treatment as well as ending it.

The distressing factor is that this tragedy has become politicized. Yes, the disagreement over how to treat Terri would eventually make it's way to Florida, and if need be, federal courts (and while this is still being determined, the appeals process and such, Terri should still be fed, IMO.) But while tragic, this is NOT a case, nor a cause, for the US Congress, nor the White House. It is a situation that rightly falls under Florida law, with the only measures beyond that, again, falling to federal appeals courts. Anyone who believes in our Federal system, in the seperation of powers, between executive, legislative, and judicial, federal, state, and local, can come to no other conclusion about where this tragedy should be decided.

I consider myself pro-life, in that I oppose abortion as a method of birth control to end an "unwanted" pregnancy the result of consensual sex; I find it morally abhorrent, not because of any desire to hinder the rights of women, but to protect the rights of the most innocent of lives to be born. In this day and age of multiple forms and methods of contraception (which I support) that shouldn't be considered radical, or hateful, or reactionary. And the support by many in the "Right-to-Life" community for Terri Schiavo should put to rest the erroneous assertion made by some that all right-to-life folks are only concerned about the unborn, and don't care about life once it is born. But I also support the right of competent adults to decide the fate of their own lives. If Terri had indicated that she did not wish to have artificial measures used to prolong her existance should something such as this have befallen her, that should be a decision between her, her family, her doctors, and her God. Ideally, government would not be involved. In this case, there is no conclusive, legally-binding evidence Terri did make such a request. And as such, this is what is being decided in Florida. But that is where the case should remain- in Florida (or again, if brought that far in the federal courts.) Neither the US Congress, nor the White House, should have any say over what happens in this tragic case.

Just a quick hitter (as yet another winter storm is impending...it IS spring...isn't it?!) But I digress...

Is there a BIGGER whiner on the face of the Earth than Barry Bonds?! Did anyone see his recent interview?! Oooooooh, the big, bad media finally got to you, huh Barry? There's no longer any joy in your Mudville? Boohoo...And how repugnant- using his son as a prop. Disgusting!

I admit- I have no problem with athletes, no matter the sport, using "performance enhancing" substances. It's nothing new- athletes back in the 50's and 60's were gobbling amphetamines like they were candy. Were steroids and the like around back in Babe Ruth's day, I imagine many of the players then might've taken advantage of them as well. I'm a HUGE sports fan, but I do recognize that sport, professional sport especially, is entertainment. And it is very BIG business. If an adult, be it an athlete or whomever, wishes to ingest a substance for whatever reasons, knowing the possible risks inherent in ingesting that substance, there should be no problem with it. It should not be an issue for law enforcment, the courts, Congress (and hey, Congress? Don't you have more pressing issues to address than steriods in baseball, hmmmm?) etc... It's called personal choice, it's what freedom is all about.

But I'd almost take ALL of the above back NOT to have seen the repellant Barry Bonds whine like he did! :)

"We've got a five dollar fine for whining/We'll tell you before you come in/If it ain't on your mind to have a good time/Y'all come back, and see us again!"

A little humor...

"The Brothel"
Two Irishmen were sitting at a pub having beer and watching the brothel across the street. They saw a Baptist minister walk into the brothel, and one of them said,"Aye, 'tis a shame to see a man of the cloth goin' bad."Then they saw a rabbi enter the brothel, and the other Irishman said,"Aye, 'tis a shame to see that the Jews are fallin' victim to temptation as well."Then they see a Catholic priest enter the brothel, and one of the Irishmen said, "What a terrible pity...one of the girls must be dyin'!"

"Irish Predicament"
Drunken Ole Mulvihill (From the Northern Irish Clan) staggers into a Catholic Church, enters a confessional box, sits down but says nothing. The Priest coughs a few times to get his attention but Ole Mulvihill just sits there. Finally, the Priest pounds three times on the wall. The drunk mumbles, "ain't no use knockin, there's no paper on this side either!"

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!

"If you're Irish come into the parlor,There's a welcome there for you/If your name is Timothy or Pat, So long as you come from Ireland, There's a welcome on the mat..."

A quick one...

Completed my "for entertainment purposes only" NCAA picks. Not my best job this year, and no teams going far that I really care to root for, but...

My Final Four:
Illinois
Georgia Tech
UConn (ugh)
Duke
with Georgia Tech beating UConn (ugh...again) for the championship.
(I have my entire bracket in Yahoo's Tournament Pick 'Em , ID is kcd021.)

"Well when you're sitting there, In your silk upholstered chair, Talking to some rich folks that you know/Well I hope you won't see me, In my ragged company, You know I could never be alone..."

Just a quickie...First, my apologies for not being better at keeping up on my email of late. I know I have quite a bit that I've been tardy in replying to, it is NOT a reflection on any of you whatsoever. I WILL catch up soon, I promise. Lately I've just had little energy, feel as if I'm running on fumes, stretching back over a month now, to my birthday. Between that, and hurting my back earlier last month (all better now) and the weather- WAY too much snow, WAY too below-normal temps, WAY too windy- not being able to run as often as I usually do, even in the winter (poor road conditons, as well as the sh*tty weather) not even hitting the gym nearly as consistently as I should, and almost always do (again, the back thing set me off for a solid week, and I've just been a tired and lazy gal lately) eating poorly (WAY too many bad carbs!) sleeping even less well than I usually do, and the usual social inactivity I've been afflicted with/afflicted myself with I've just put myself in a sorry rut of late, and have been feelin' a bit b*tchy and moody. I keep looking at the 10 Day forecast on Weather.com looking for some relief, some warmth, some light at the end of this wintry tunnel, and every day into the future it's windy, and/or snow showers, and/or temps a good 10 degrees below average for this time of year- ack.

I'll be my "perky" self again soon! ;)

"Running on empty/Running on, running blind/Running on, running into the sun/But I'm running behind..."