Hey, nature...

There is this thing I really like. It's called SPRING. It comes in between winter and summer. It's a pleasant time of year where the unrelenting rains of the Washington winter fade into some sunny days, some breezy, pleasant days. The trees and flowers start to bloom, and the birds come out. Sometimes it's in the 60's and maybe the low to mid 70s. Do you know what I don't appreciate? SKIPPING SPRING! What is the deal? It was snowing practically into May and then suddenly we have a severe weather warning because it's going to be in the HIGH 80s today. TOO HOT! TOO SUDDEN! I don't like it. Also because I realized our new house doesn't have great circulation. Oh well, at least we have screen doors and can open the front door and bring a fan in to circulate the air a little, and two ceiling fans. If it's getting up to 87 or 88 degrees and it's not even June yet, I'm scared of what it's going to be like this summer. I would prefer it be about 77 degrees every day with a light breeze. That would be nice. Oh well.

The Time Traveler's Wife

I finally finished "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Nifenegger. If you haven't read this, you should go out and buy it. I only got about 1/10 of the way into it before I knew that it would be one of the best books I've read, and a new favorite. It is a poingaint love story, with a longing spoken of that is as old as time, yet told in a completely new way. Henry is a time traveller. But unlike other science fiction stories, he is neither in control of his time travel, nor does he choose to make his frequent trips to the fast and future. Clare, his future wife, first meets Henry when she is six. Henry first meets Clare when he is 28. Amazingly told, heartwrenching and beautiful, the book brought me to tears several times. The story is told both from Henry's point of view and from Clare's, and the love they share transcends space and time. I can't wait to see her next novel, whenever it may come.

PS My husband just cracked up at the name W.W. Wordsworth, which I thought was pretty funny.

Fall Up Fronts are OUT!

Yes, I am an insane person. I love to go and read the news at TV.com, and all of the networks have been making announcements about lineups and cancellations and what is going to happen in the fall. And being the TV freak that I am, I am already looking, compiling, thinking...

Rachael's Renewed Shows (Happy!)

• 24
• 30 Rock
• America's Next Top Model
• American Dad
• Bones
• Boston Legal
• Breaking Bad
• Chuck
• Cold Case (Mostly Justin likes this one)
• Criminal Minds
• CSI
• CSI: NY
• Desperate Housewives
• Dirty Sexy Money
• Eli Stone
• ER
• Family Guy
• Ghost Hunters
• The Ghost Whisperer
• Grey's Anatomy
• Heroes
• House
• King of the Hill
• Law & Order
• Law & Order: SVU
• Medium
• My Name is Earl
• Numbers
• The Office
• Private Practice
• Pushing Daisies
• Reaper
• Samantha Who?
• The Simpsons
• Supernatural
• Ugly Betty
• Without a Trace (Another Justin show)

Rachael's Cancelled Shows (Sad...)

• Aliens in America
• Big Shots (Okay, I'm not that sad about this one, but it was kinda amusing)
• Bionic Woman
  Battlestar Galactica (Sad even though we knew it was the end)
• Jericho
  Journeyman
• Moonlight (Argh... why do all the good Vampire shows get cancelled??)
• Shark

Just for fun... other shows I like that I don't know when they'll be back (cable):

• Nip/Tuck
• Psych
• Monk
• Top Chef
• Project Runway
• Eureka
• Shear Genius
• Ghost Hunters International

Yes... I AM obsessed and watch way too much TV.... what of it? There are some new shows coming out that sound sort of interesting (definitely watching Dollhouse (Joss Whedon-Fox) and Fringe (JJ Abrams)). WOO!

My "Office"

I work part time as an HR Administrator for a company whose office is about 1.5 hours from where I live. I work a lot when Sam naps, or after he goes to bed. Once a week, I work in the office, and twice a week I have "Home Office Hours" - two hour blocks which I set aside to be online for work and available to anyone who needs me (usually no one). I get to get out of the house and try to concentrate. Normally, I head over to my favorite LOCAL coffee shop. Today I came to Giant-Ass Coffee Chain because I had to make a phone call, and I feel weird at my favorite local coffee shop talking on a cell phone because I don't want to annoy people, because the people there are actually nice.

Things I have realized I hate about working at Giant-Ass Coffee Chain:

1. There are NEVER enough freaking outlets. I realize that it's not a computer store, but they have the T-Mobile hotspot in every location I go to, but only maybe two available outlets? WTH? Local coffee shop has like 5 outlets with two spots each which are easily accessible and SHARABLE by more than one customer.

2. Giant-Ass Coffee Chain is expensive and their coffee actually doesn't taste that good... Good think I like barely-coffee blended chocolatey type beverages.

3. Giant-Ass Coffee Chain always has too many huge windows, and I have to bob my head around like a chicken trying to see my screen.

4. Local coffee shop has FREE Wi-Fi. Giant-Ass Coffee Chain has T-Mobile hotspot, which I couldn't get to log me in today (perhaps we forgot to change the direct debit to our new bank account), so I had to pay $10 to log in for 24 flippin' hours because I did not have time to get back in my car and drive somewhere else, or be on the phone for a million hours trying to troubleshoot it.

5. Giant-Ass Coffee Chain is... well, a Giant-Ass Coffee Chain. People don't talk to each other unless they already know each other. I like Local coffee shop where people talk about comic book movies and Firefly and art and how they roast their own coffee right down the block.

I am going to go escape from Giant-Ass Coffee Chain now because I have a meeting tonight regarding planning for my 10 year HS Reunion (ARGH!) and must make myself presentable.

New Look & Thoughts on Blogging

So, today I decided that I really wanted a three column template for my blog, and was disappointed to find that I could not manipulate my normal blogger template to do what I wanted... grr... Anyhow, I managed to look through the blogger help topics and find myself a website with a template for me. I like the new look and feel a little more organized, although it always bothers me that most of the templates don't take up the whole window when it's maximized. Oh well! I hope anyone out there reading finds it easier to navigate. I also went through and added labels to all of my entries.

I've been reading a bit about blogging on the internet, it all started with the Five Essential Pieces of Advice for the New Blogger over at Seattle Mom Blogs. Then I start to wonder, should I be changing everyone's names? Is it bad that a picture might link over to my flickr site? Should I not ever talk about where I work or the town I live in? Is it really that bad to use a blogger template and reveal my age? Obviously I'm no big time blogger. I don't know if anyone even actually reads my blog other than my actual friends and family who already know me! Anyhow, it's just all so crazy. I don't think I'll change anything right now, but the longer I go using proper names etc., the harder it will be to change it if I ever decide I want to. Who knows? Of course I'd like it if people read my blog, but I don't see myself as being as interesting, witty, or funny as the other Moms I read online. And it's in no way something I'm trying to advertise or make money off of or anything like that. I just need to write! Anyway, I will stop my random blogging thoughts for the day there.

Merging Blogs

For the past couple of months since I started posting again here at SNOTW, I have also been blogging at my other blog (Adventures of the Heiner Family). I originally decided to start posting here because I was looking for an outlet to be JUST ME, not a Mom or a wife necessarily - to talk about issues that are important to me, be creative, talk about the books and movies I've loved recently etc., and not focus on other people for a few minutes a day. In the past few months though, I have come to realize it's all intertwined. I'm not keeping up on my AHF entries as much - partly because Sam is two now, and I'm busy actually doing things instead of writing about what he ate that day etc. like I was when he was small. I've also realized that it's almost impossible to be able to blog about my life, my days, my likes and dislikes honestly without talking about my child, my husband, and my family. Everything is intertwined and it's all a part of who I am. So, I have decided that I am going to post almost exclusively here on SNOTW from now on. I'm going to start using labels, so if people want to only find the posts about Sam, they can do that. So, no more seperation - this is me in all my tarnished glory. :-)

Merging Blogs

I have decided that I'm going to merge my blogs - Adventures of the Heiner Family and Scientific Nature of the Whammy. I originally started SNOTW as a place to post about things that were more about me, and not my family or my child. I was reaching out for a place to be just me, and not a Mom all the time. But in the past couple of months I've found that I am both, and it's almost impossible to post there without ever talking about my family or my little boy. So, I've decided that I'm going to do it all in one place. For those of you who have only been checking in for family updates, they'll still be there, but you'll have to read them amongst other random blogs about whatever I may have been thinking about that day. You have most definitely noticed that I have not been posting here as much as Sam's gotten older. I'm busier now, taking him places, doing things with him, and living life. I will most likely not post here any more, although I will keep all of my entries up. I might post once in a while with little updates, but for the quirky stories about things Sam did that day, or for information on his development etc, you can come visit us at my other blog:

Scientific Nature of the Whammy