this is no joke. yesterday at work i received an email that stated that we would each be getting a purple bracelet. each time you complain about something, you are supposed to switch the bracelet to the other wrist. of course, this was “voluntary” and we could return the bracelets if we didn’t want to participate. i’m sure no one would be angry about that.

honestly, i didn’t really complain all that much at work. i kept quiet for the most part. now all i want to do is complain about the complaint bracelets. the only acceptable use i can think of for my bracelet is to shoot it at anyone who says something i don’t want to hear.

i knew oprah would be associated with this

i’ve been a little lax on posting lately, as i was reminded by michael at dinner last night. rest assured, i’ve not gone away. i’ve delved into the world of ramping up my freelance work as well as training for a 10k that’s coming up in a few weeks. so really, i just don’t have anything interesting to report. unless you consider the following items “interesting”:

• i bought a hydration pack to use on my long runs. i realized that with the weather getting warmer and my runs exceeding an hour, perhaps some sort of hydration might be necessary. i have to say, it annoys the heck out of me for about the first 2 miles. sometimes the bottle falls out. it looks like a fanny pack. it kind of makes your shorts fall down. but for some reason, i’m seriously considering keeping it. i mean, really, is there a better method for hands-free water bottle carrying? if you have any suggestions let me know, but i think this might be the best solution.
• i also got the deal of the century yesterday, this jacket (that has thumb holes!) on sale for $25. now that i’m looking at it online, i’ve realized that my color choice is called “french kiss/dynasty” and frankly, i’m feeling a little uncomfortable about it.
• our curiosity got the best of us and we tried to stop at grandpa’s cheese barn in mid-ohio on the way back from our recent trip to PA, after seeing it from the interstate every time we drove by. unfortunately, grandpa doesn’t open his barn on sunday mornings. however, our stop was not fruitless- it did allow us to discover that its not just grandpa’s cheese barn. its grandpa’s cheese barn AND VILLAGE. that’s right, 4 suites in a trailer-like building that you can rent out if you think the cheese barn exploration might take more than one day. i am pretty sure i know what we’re doing for our anniversary this year.
• google has been offering personalized search results (a little creepy…) for a while now, which means that over time, based on your behavior, they’ll cater search results to you personally. but what if you want to see where a site ranks without taking your personal behavior into account? just add &pws=0 to the end of the search URL that comes up after you search.
• i’m really afraid of what’s going to happen to me by the time the tennessee state fair rolls around. the addition of competition to some of my hobbies may prove to be a frightening combination. you can enter homemade items in categories like: sewing, needlecraft, breads, pies, fudge, cakes, cookies for cash prizes. i’ve always wanted to enter the state fair here (its the one shred of 65-year old redneck lady DNA that i have)…this might be the year.
• someone vandalized the richland creek greenway where i like to run several times a week. sad.
• and finally, i was lying when i said i wanted to go to grandpa’s cheese barn for our anniversary. however, video games live? now that’s how you celebrate an anniversary in style. we saw the billboard in louisville and agreed it would indeed be the perfect anniversary event. mario, donkey kong, halo, and tetris - yes, i said TETRIS. are you kidding me? wipe a tear from my eye…

so, with all of that being said, you are now painfully aware that there really isn’t anything to report.

Originally uploaded by xetark.

great sunset tonight in PA. this pic was taken about 3 miles down the road from my parents’ house. we managed to show up on one of the approximately five days per year that aren’t terribly cloudy. it was in the 50s and we could see our breath. now that’s what june is all about.