KimNovak.me — I am not an actress

My Mid day was busy.

• I sang the national anthem at a pre-Super Bowl party. [The key to singing the national anthem is to start low.]
• Then I drove home to eat the lunch I packed last night, but forgot to take to work. [Pork roast and roasted cabbage with bacon]
• Then I bought a ticket to see Eddie Vedder in April. [$90 for one ticket - sheesh. I remember when tickets cost a quarter of that. Uphill, both ways.]
• Then I stopped at a coffee shop on the way back to work, giving in to a craving for a mocha latte. [NOT on my diet]
• Then I took some ibuprofen for the headache that was getting worse by the minute. [A couple hours later, I felt on top of the world. I don't know if I was back to healthy good, or just high on caffeine, sugar and OTC painkillers.]

In the evening, I tried Duck Duck Go search engine. I like it so far. One baby step toward reducing my Google consumption.

Something I Saw At Work

This table's shoe lace was untied.

My spontaneous, planned-to-be-quick trip to Mary Moore Searight Park for hiking today turned into a 1:15 hour, almost 3 mile hike. Thank goodness for the GPS app on my iPhone, or it would have been longer.

I discovered some nice trails along Slaughter Creek. The water is low, and at one point, I crossed the creek. After crossing, I think I was on private land because there was barbed wire. I was expecting someone to show up with a shotgun and call me a tresspasser, but the worst that happened is some little dogs at an apartment complex perched on a cliff barked at me.

There were horse shoe tracks on the trail, and I saw a couple of mountain bikers. People were walking their dogs and pushing strollers, too.

My only complaint is that the trails aren't marked, and it's very easy to get turned around. You can see on the map of my route below where I crossed the creek and walked one way and then the other only to go back the way I came. And even then, I found myself on a different route around the perimeter of the park. I looked at GPS several times to find my way.

The exercise was beneficial and something I still don't do regularly. I've lost 35 pounds since I started following the Primal Blueprint and hiking out in the sun is a perfect fit for that lifestyle.

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I am the lucky owner of a custom Bird of the Rings (BotR) drawing from That's A Girl's Car blogger and my friend, Sarah. She offered readers a drawing in return for a donation to Small Chance Rescue.

A BotR drawing includes a bird and a quote from Lord of the Rings. She let me choose the bird and the quote, so I chose a female cardinal to which she replied, "you know the female cardinals are brown, right? Just making double sure." Oh yes... the lesser colored gender was perfect for my favorite quote from the books (not the movies). Eowyn said, "But no living man am I! You look upon a woman." just before she proved to the The Lord of the Nazgûl that prophecies should not be too specific.

Behold, for she is a beauty.

The cats who occupy my house have three litter boxes. They don't usually mix pee and poop in the same box. They used to use one for poop and two for pee, but lately, it's been two for poop and one for pee. Every once in a while, though, they'll mix it up in one box.

I can only imagine the discussions they have about this. Does Mr. Orion get upset when he finds pee in the poop box? Maybe take it personally as pay back for some other slight? Or does Mr. Ripley constantly remind Mr. Orion which boxes are for which? And what precipitated the change from 1 poop/2 pee boxes to 2 poop/1 pee box?

A few months ago, I switched from Scoop Away (clumping litter) to Yesterday's News (made from recycled newspaper). The vet recommended this because Mr. Ripley has asthma and the Scoop Away produces a lot of dust. The boys made the switch without a problem and the lack of litter dust is a great improvement for me as well as Rip. My only complaint is that I have to scoop a lot more to ensure I get all the pee pee out. Consequently, I have to buy more than I used to.

Something I Watched Today

New video log (vlog) from my friend Shannon. She's cute and she used one of my songs.

Two people told me "Happy New Year's!" Isn't it "Happy New Year" without the 's?

Today is the last day of the year to make donations and claim them on your income taxes. Goodwill got a box full of stuff from me including two Yoga DVDs. That'll be good for someone's New Year's resolutions.

Merlin: New Year's resolutions. People do these. Dan, do you know about New Year's resolutions?
Dan: This is the thing where you say "This year, I am going to do this thing." And then, for some reason, saying that at the start of the year makes it less likely for you to actually do it than if you just started doing it.

Back to Work 47: Utter Failure and Hotel Steak

Something I Gazed Upon Yesterday

Colorado River Bridge as seen from Fisherman's Park in Bastrop, Texas.