Shots of Grape Pop and Flu Vaccine Go Well Together.

I'm drinking grape pop today + I got a flu shot (regular, not swine), so that means I'm going to tell people that my teeth turning purple is a side effect from the vaccine.

It's so shiny! And it was on sale!

I have a new TV. I am now ready to hibernate for the winter.

Manic Monday: maybe if I stopped eating so much sugar, it wouldn't seem so manic.

Candy corn consumption began this weekend. Although that may sound like a fall disease that will only be resolved by drinking a pumpkin spice latte, it's not. But I'll probably drink one of those soon, just to be on the safe side.
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Last week my physical therapist gave up on me. She said, "I'm not really giving up on you...well, I kinda am." She's sending me to a chiropractor. I go on Thursday. I have never been to a chiropractor before. In the first place, I thought chiropractors only worked on backs. Apparently I'm mistaken. Let's hope the good doctor snap-crackles-and-pops me back into normalcy. 'Cause right now? My ankle and foot are snapping, crackling and popping in ways that are not normal: I can feel and hear a ligament snap into place when I do a certain strengthening exercise, and then on another stretch, I can feel the bad bone that won't do what we want it to kinda pop and then grind to a halt. (And not in a really cool music video kind of way.) Plus, I have a lot of scar tissue building up because my body apparently wants me to never play tennis - or move normally - ever again.
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I still have mixed feelings about Brett Favre and his role with the Vikings. But whatever the case, he sure is entertaining. Also: he does a great job on the 2 minute drill...er, 2 second drill, I mean. Also: never knew that Greg Lewis was even on the team until that play. "Lewis? Who's Lewis?"
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Oh, it only gets worse, people. Here, here and here. And here. And you might as well go here, too.

Winning Ways with Sir Thomas Lipton

OK, a little overdue, but better late than never (both pictures and the celebration).

MBC celebrates winning the Lipton Cup, Friday, September 18, 2009.

Amanda, rocking it out, as she usually does, but rarely with both the dress and the racing tank together.

Aw, the mentor and the mentee. (Calling myself a mentee is strange...only one short slip-up from "mental" or "manatee.")

Forget about the swine flu: 'Cause you gotta do this at least once in your life.

Coach Miriam going after the Mpls-themed pinata with a St. Paul-themed stick. Go MBC!

A Cello Rondo: One Song, One Cello, 37 Parts

This is a pretty neat video of Ethan Winer playing 37 separate cello parts to create one song. He even plays the percussion parts on his cello. It was recorded on 23 tracks using 37 plug-in effects. He spent hundreds of hours on this project so it's worth a listen (even if some of the graphics used while he's playing crack me up).

TGIF

The new roommate is an elementary school teacher at a private school. Every day when she is getting ready for work, saying, "What should I wear to school today?" I always think it'd be kind of fun to go back to grade school each fall. Maybe it would help a person to not feel like such a grown-up. It could be fun and all nostalgic or something (well, minus the hard work she puts into it). But then, she still has to have school pictures taken each year, and I think, "Nah. Not worth it."
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Last night, it was my turn to take treats to Bible study ('cause what study would be complete without sugar involved?). For two weeks, I'd completely forgotten about the fact that last night was my night, until I was eating a day-old brownie at 5:10pm and thought, "Oh, these would be perfect if I ever had to take something to work or Bible study or...oh, no!" I managed to whip up a German chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting in less than an hour. Not gonna lie: totally cheated with a box of cake mix I'd randomly picked up at the store last week. (A miracle - I don't have any real food in my refrigerator...and about three items in the cupboard. And that cake mix was one of them.) I've also never cooled a cake in the refrigerator before, trying to get it chilled enough to throw frosting on top of it, but hey! Seemed to work just fine. Also, never substituted olive oil for canola oil, but that seemed to work just fine, too. Everyone commented on how fluffy and moist it was! I'm going with the EVOO as the cause of extreme fluffiness, and a combo of EVOO and refrigeration-cooling as the cause of extreme moistness.
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Finally, my office is so cold...I'd seriously consider some of these. But only if they came with an elephant theme. (I mean, I love the mousepad warmer, but really? Everyone around here already thinks of me as a lawyer: I don't want to reinforce the shark image.)

Victory @ Victor's (and how Pizza! Pizza! is now Hot-n-Ready?!?)

I went to a Cuban joint on Sunday that I've wanted to try for a while: Victor's 1959 Cafe. I'm all about finding a Cubano sandwich like the ones I used to eat when I lived in Florida. This one tasted great, but the bread was sliced too thinly. Otherwise, heaven! It makes me want to get out my George Foreman grill and start attempting to replicate it. But that bread is so hard to reproduce! It's sweet and delicious, and mmmm. I think I'm drooling.

I can say with certainty Sunday at Victor's was the first time I've eaten potato chips with a fork (way faster to eat "potato sticks" that way, and we all know I'm all about expending minimum amount of effort getting food into my mouth. Also, I don't like dirty, greasy fingers that much, either).

And on to other food news. Do you remember Little Caesars slogan Pizza! Pizza!? (Do you even remember Little Caesars? I didn't even know they still existed in the U.S. until about a month ago, but I do remember seeing one in Prague about a year ago.) Now they're Hot-n-Ready, and they pretty much taste the same (confirmed yesterday). I remember when I was a kid, getting pizza was a Big Deal, and we always seemed to get it from the Little Caesars a couple blocks away. (Now pizza is a regular part of my diet...and rightfully so! Or something like that.)

Oy. Kids these days.

1. Whatever happened to the day and age when teen pregnancy was taboo?

2. If this is your idea of releasing your inner Martha Stewart, put the glue gun down.

3. Ruining the one part about baby showers I actually like. (And here, too. Or here. And plenty of other places on that website if you want to waste a few hours looking at all the pictures on it.)

4. Novelty cakes are not always fun and games. (If the original looks like yarn and hairballs, what makes you think I'd eat the poorly-crafted replica, especially if I'm eating my dog? I love cake, but there are limits.)

5. Reasons I'm glad I'm not a podiatrist who will retire one day, upon whom someone may bestow one of these atrocities.

Happy Birthday to my Big Brother!

Because it had to happen at some point during the yAARRR.

And today's it.

Quote of the Moment: Tolerance does not mean what it used to mean.

"Tolerance is the virtue of a man without convictions." -G.K. Chesterton

I heart, therefore I hurt.

Despite great worry and consternation, last evening I took to the water in a single and rowed five miles. I ♥ rowing. It was so peaceful out there in a boat all by myself that it was worth every moment. I can't wait for those late afternoon fall days when the sun shines just right on multi-colored trees. It's a thing (and moment) of beauty.

Today, I hurt. But I've come a long way - my problem now isn't so much about carrying my boat up and down the steep, cheese-grater ramp; it's getting in and out of the boat that is toughest.