Blog de Beth

the Spice Girls

Quite a while ago Maureen had the brilliant idea of making our own spice racks. She'd seen some cool magnetic ones, but they were obnoxiously expensive and she figured "hey, how hard can it be to make them?" So we got all the supplies and spent an afternoon gluing magnets onto tins. She got hers up lickety-split, but I never got around to it (for various and sundry reasons). That all changed over the past couple of days! Maureen came over to help me put it up. Once up and I went to fill the tins, I realized that the majority of my spices were woefully old. After a trip to Sprouts, I was ready to go. Next thing you know... Voila! A really super freakin cool spice rack! I wish I'd done it much sooner. ;-)

Pigtail day at the 459

It was pigtail day today for some of the ladies of the grand jury. From left to right: Paulette, Ronda, Ashley, Beth (me). We just have way too much fun in there!

Hiking

Since the weather is finally cooling off a little, the hiking season has begun here in Arizona!

At the beginning of this month we went and hiked the Go John Trail. The trail is in the hills around Cave Creek and is about 6 miles long. I've posted pictures from the trip. It was a nice hike, but I hear it's much better in the spring when the hills are covered with wildflowers. Unfortunately, we picked a long and "moderate" hike for our first of the season and it just about killed us (not to mention it was pretty darn hot out). Once I get into better hiking shape I'd like to try it again in the spring. On the plus side, we went to the Horny Toad for lunch and beers after.

This past weekend we went up to South Mountain. We started at the Buena Vista trailhead and hiked along the National Trail, looped through Fat Man's Pass and Hidden Valley, and headed back the way we came for a total of about 3.5 miles. I've posted pictures from the trip. The hike started out with Lise getting stung by a bee on the tip of her finger. Then about halfway through I twisted my left ankle and scraped up my right knee from the fall. Luckily it was just a light sprain and I continued on (my knee actually hurt more than my ankle). Then, about three quarters of the way through, as I was stepping up a bunch of rocks, my left calf totally seized up. I had to stop and massage it out a little before I could even move. I managed to hobble the rest of the way back. Injuries aside, it was a nice hike and I'd willingly do it again some time! Again, in hiking tradition, we had to stop for lunch and alcohol afterwards. We went to Poncho's and indulged in great Mexican food and margaritas.

I'm not sure when or where our next hike will be, but I'll try to post pictures from them, too. I'm hoping to do some hiking around Sedona and further north in the pine country. In the meantime, I really need to get some decent hiking boots!

Eleventh Hour

I've been watching Eleventh Hour from the get go. It's an interesting show. Because it's based on the British version, I decided to check those out, too. That was a HUGE mistake. The UK version is so much better, there's really no comparison (but I'm going to anyway).

First, the leading man: Rufus Sewell vs Patrick Stewart. The winner is unequivocally Patrick Stewart. If I need to explain why, you can stop reading now because you just don't get it. Next, the leading lady: Marley Shelton vs Ashley Jensen. This is more of a toss up, but I think I like Ms. Jensen better. Lastly, the writing. IMDB lists Stephen Gallagher as a writer for both versions; however, I've found that the UK version is much better. It's more informative, makes more sense, and isn't as...hokey. Even the opening credits are way better in the UK version.

The pilot ("Resurrection") for the US version was ridiculously imitative of the UK version. The same lines were used a lot of the time, even some of the same gestures. I saw the US version first, so you might believe that I'd think the UK version was worse. Not at all. The UK version was WAY better. They filled in some story bits that helped things make more sense. After the first episode, the US version went its own way for a bit. I just watched another US episode ("Containment") mimicking the UK version. Again, the UK version was so much better!

Having seen the UK version...I'm really not sure I can continue watching the US version. I'm sad they halted the UK version to bring it here. Maybe if they got rid of that tool Sewell and brought in Stewart... Ahhh, but it's good to have dreams, right? heh

wow

It's hailing right now. We JUST (as in about an hour ago) finished planting those trees, too. Crazy!

A new strategy

Once again, I'm tired of how I look and feel. Instead of doing the "diet" thing, I'm going to try something new. The only thing I'm going to do (for now) is go to the gym. That's it. The plan is to either take a class or use the treadmill Monday thru Friday, just an hour a day. I'm not going to change any of my eating, I'm not going to track what I eat, and I'm not going to weigh myself or take any measurements. My theory is that if I can make it a regular practice of working out, then eating well/healthy will just naturally follow.

For me, I think this will work. If I put too much pressure on myself to stick to a strict routine, then all I'll want to do is what I'm not supposed to. I'm pretty sure that's why the typical diet plan doesn't work for me. If I feel cornered in any way, I want out. I think this plan is definitely not that restrictive, hence I should be able to do it.

Theoretically.

Ugh

This is my kitchen. Kill me now!

Could this be the end?

I just got this screen after a reboot. I'm thinking it's not a good thing...

Quotation marks

I'm going to start this by making sure everyone knows I'm not an English major nor do I write for a living. I do, however, think I've got a decent grasp on the English language and punctuation. That said, let the rant begin.

People that don't use quotation marks correctly irritate the hell out of me. The other day, while driving to school, I saw a truck with company information listed on the tailgate. I don't remember the exact address, but then it had SUITE "1". What's with the quotes?! And the City of Glendale needs to seriously fire the person that came up with a bunch of their safety-related street signs. These signs can be found all over the place, but typically they're on the curb of left-hand turn lanes, so you see them as you're waiting to make a left-hand turn. A couple of these gems: "FASTER" CRASHES "HARDER" and "RED" MEANS "STOP". Seriously. WTF?! What were they thinking? "We don't actually mean 'faster' or 'harder'...and something like 'red' means something like 'stop', but not exactly." I want to poke my eyes out every time I see them.

Packing black hole

I just got my iPhone replacement plug. Talk about overkill on the packaging!