Frivolous Wish List

Everyone has things that they wish for. Some are attainable, some are not. Some are within our control, and some are dependent upon other entities. Here is a list of just some of the more frivolous things that I wish for.

• I wish At&t U-verse would hurry up and debut here, in Northwest Arkansas because I’m more than ready to kick Cox Cable to the curbside. I’m ready to get many more channels plus HD and DVR and DSL for what we pay just for expanded basic cable and internet.
• I wish iTunes would start selling episodes of “Pushing Daisies” and “90210.”
• I want a steammop and sweepvac. I hate sweeping and sweeping but never getting all the dirt off the floor. Also, I think that a steammop would be ever so helpful in cleaning and disinfecting the floors.

The previous two were more attainable. The rest, well maybe in time, or not.

• I want either a high-end Macbook, a low-end Macbook Pro, or a Macbook Air to replace my computer at home. We’re seriously thinking of ways to condense the two upstairs rooms into one, so hopefully if we ever do get pregnant, the baby can have a room. This can be done by eliminating my computer desk and shelve, combing the contents of the bookshelf with those in our bedroom, and moving at least the spare bed into the computer room for now. I’ve been down on laptops for the most part in recent years as Bart and I have had laptops that died earlier than a desktop would. However, we’ve never had a Mac, my time spent on the computer at home has dwindled to where I stay downstairs and just surf the Net via my iPod Touch, I want a Mac, and we’re planning on getting a TB external drive to contain our files anyway. I’m often more inspired to write downstairs, away from Bart and whatever he’s doing upstairs because we don’t agree on music
• On my list of things I would like would be an iPhone. I love my iPod Touch and wish that more places offered free wifi hotspots. At least I know that when we switch to U-verse ( hopefully next month ) I’ll be able to access At&t hotspots for free. I will have to do without the iPhone though because we refuse to pay the ridiculous fees for the At&t data plan. Not that I wouldn’t love to be able to use ALL of the cool new iPhone / iPod Touch applications, but sometimes the price it too high.
• I want a Toyota Highlander. I know I have a great car that I love, but again with the thought of hopefully expanding our family in the near future, the Highlander with third row seating and a back where Lucy and future pups can have ample room.

That’s just about all of my wish list that I can think of for right now. Well, there are always those other, wholly unattainable wishes:

• Win the big Powerball lottery.
• Hire that guy in Cave Springs to build our dream house.

Random Thoughts and Observations: September 9, 2008 Edition

• I think that I’m getting to the point where I don’t actually need as much sleep as I would like to get. Hardly a night goes by when something or many things don’t wake me up throughout the night. Take two recent nights as an example:Over Labor Day weekend, my nieces, Emma and Kelsey spent Sunday Night with us. I was up off an on with them most of the night, including when Emma woke up at 4AM, and needed to know where I was. I probably woke her up, letting Lucy out to play like she sometimes enjoys doing in the very early morning hours. Somehow, I made it through that night, none the worse for wear, apparently. Last night, Bart woke me up, gnashing his teeth in my ear. Then I had to go to the bathroom and wrap my wrist because it was bugging me. When I went back to bed, Lucy was then awake and needed to potty. She then couldn’t go back to sleep, so I put her in the back yard. Just as I was finally getting to sleep I heard angry barking. Lucy must’ve found her possum friend again, so I had to let her back in the house to keep from angering the neighbors. I then got the hiccups. I never have hiccups in the middle of the night, but then my body has been all sorts of odd lately. Anyway, Lucy came back to bed with us and tried to get comfortable on me, but couldn’t due to my hiccups. So, I put her in the living room and closed the bedroom door. Finally I sort of fell asleep for a few hours. When next I awoke I checked on Lucy (because the last time I locked her out of the bedroom she ate a pen that leaked all over our carpet). She awoke again and joined us in our room, but in the floor. Somehow, I’m more awake than the dog, who stayed inside for her morning nap today, in our bed according to Bart. I don’t entirely understand it, but I’m managing, even though I feel like a nap usually in the afternoon.
• I am such a gadget whore that I’ve spent the past hour hitting the “refresh” button on endgadget.com so I can keep up with the latest Apple Event. New iPod nanos. I want one. I don’t need one, but I want one. I just hope to be able to update the firmware on my iPod Touch again. Genius looks intriguing.
• I don’t like that Facebook is going to force us to use “The New Facebook.” It’s all buggy and doesn’t work correctly. It’s too Myspaceish.
• I’ve decided to boycott all channels owned by Viacom due to the appalling way Russell Brand hosted the VMA;s on MTV this weekend. This includes the channels :Comedy Central, Logo, BET, Spike, TV Land, Nick at Nite, Nickelodeon, Noggin, The N, Nick Jr., TEENick, MTV, VH1, MTV2, CMT, and Palladia.
• I think that Arkansas is going to have their rear ends handed to them this weekend by Texas unless they play well all game and not just the fourth quarter.  I think that Oklahoma will prevail over Washington, unless the PAC 10 officials give the Huskies the game.

Random Thoughts and Observations – July 31, 2008 Edition

I’ve been reminded lately, as I am every year when the temperatures hover around a certain point, that I suffer from insomnia in the summer.  Even though we keep the air conditioner set to a relatively low setting and have the ceiling fan running, it’s just uncomfortable.  When I’m hot, my legs ache and become restless, my arms become very restless, and I often have a headache.  The mold spore count hasn’t been below 20,000 in ages, and that always causes dry, scratchy eyes, ticklish throat, and major sinus pressure.  Sadly, it’s not just me having these problems, Bart and Lucy both had their own insomnia issues.  We make each other miserable and keep the others awake.  We’re all just as much to blame as the others.  Of course the icing to the cake is that Lucy has started waking up growling and barking at random times of the night after the incident earlier in the week.

Oh, I’ve not posted about that yet, have I?  Well, it’s pretty funny, if you don’t mind that it’s keeping us from sleeping.  Bart had to go take pictures and lighting measurements at a parking garage that the local city government says is too bright.  This had to be done after dark, so he was gone from like 8 PM until midnight one night this week.  Well, Lucy and I didn’t wait up for him and went to bed around 10:30, like we try to do most nights.  Both of us were asleep in the bed when Bart started opening the front door.  Lucy jumped up, with fierce growls and barks from deep within, she went to go take care of the intruder.  Well, Bart was carrying his tripod, so he looked especially menacing, even though we both by that point were assuring her that all was well.  She ended up in the living room, on her spot on the couch, still growling and barking.  It was then that we noticed that her little, puppy eyes couldn’t stay open despite her perceived need to protect the house.  A while later, the three of us were in bed, just getting to sleep when suddenly Lucy started barking and growling.  She was obviously reliving the excitement in her dreams.  This happened again last night.  I’m hoping that it won’t be a recurring event every night.

On other thoughts, I love having a stat-counter for this blog.  It’s fun seeing who reads this blog, what parts they read, and such.  The use of tags and categories makes this a fun, invaluable, and interesting tool to have.  I couldn’t imagine having a blog where I can’t keep up with whom has been reading it and what posts attract the most viewers.  As always, please leave any and all comments.  I love feedback from everyone.

Now, just for fun, here’s a list of things I’ve been particularly enjoying of late:

• As always, my iPod Touch, thought with the 2.0 software, it’s even better.  I’m making great use of the new applications.
• Last.fm and Pandora.  I’ve lately become addicted to these.
• The book, “Fallen Founder,” a biography of Aaron Burr.
• WordPress.  I’m enjoying this much more than Vox or Blogger.
• The knowledge that football season is drawing near.  I can’t wait.
• Working with awesome people.  I know that I’m ready to be a mom and stay at home, but it’s not because I don’t like the people I work with.