She had to ice it during the Oscars!

I watched yesterday's Ellen last night, too. That was fun, and awww, so sweet. I need to Tivo her more often.

I was in bed at what was, for me, a reasonable time (midnight). The cat decided that it was time for me to pet her, however, so she paced around the bed trying to get comfortable and then finally gave up when she couldn't. So, I finally fell asleep before 1:00. Again, a decent time for me. However, the cat then decided that she needed to yowl at me starting at 3:15, then again at 5:00. She proceeded to hide under the bed when I yelled at her, but by then I couldn't get back to sleep. Oh, well, at least I was able to get my laundry all done and still get into work an hour early!

Cool thing happened yesterday afternoon here at work--I was in the bathroom washing my hands, and a friend/co-worker was doing the same at the next sink. When I bent over to get the paper towel, I could tell she was giving me a once-over, like she was trying to figure out what was different. That's when I told her about the weight loss and exercise (she knew I've been dieting). She said, "I thought so! You can really start to tell!!" and gave me a big hug. Made me feel really good, so much so that when I went to Target to pick up some things later that afternoon, I completely blew past the Easter candy aisle and skipped past all the food displays.

Cop computers yell "D'oh!" when they spot uninsured drivers

Some Thames Valley, UK cops claim it helps reaction times to have their onboard computer yell out Homer's "D'oh!" when it picks up on uninsured drivers, Jack Nicholson's "Here's Johnny" from The Shining when a stolen car zips by, and Dan Aykroyd's "People like this are a menace to decent society" for crime-linked cars. No word if this newfound reaction time is negated by an ensuing Simpsons-laced quote fest, punctuated with SNL reminiscence.

juliana is safe , right?

[link]

Jesse, can you get at your phonemail records from online?

Hahahaha. Uh, no. But the office manager did finally get in, and he had some secret code, so all is well. The message wasn't who I thought it was from, anyway.

Desperately trying to avoid a donut joke...

Cooking last night turned out to be an unqualified success. I slow roasted everything for 3 hours to make the meat more tender for my dad's sake, and the plum juice ended up making a kind of glaze over the roast that tastes vaguely of cinnamon-spiced cranberry sauce. This throw-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-into-the-pot approach to cooking seems to work well for me.

juliana is safe , right?

The HELL?? Yeah, I'm fine - that's on the other side of the hill from me. I just hope Helmand's and the Crow Bar were spared - that's exactly where they are.

Photos from the killer kite katastrophe in Pakistan: [link]

ita had Botox injections for her migraines, right? Is this the same thing? or a step beyond?

Migraines treatment combines Botox, surgery

The technique – performed by a handful of plastic surgeons in the U.S. – includes using the anti-wrinkle drug Botox to pinpoint which of several specific muscles in the forehead, back of the head or temple areas may be serving as "trigger points" to compress, irritate or entrap nerves that could be causing the migraine. Because Botox temporarily paralyzes muscles, usually for about three months, it can be used as a "litmus test" or "marker" to see if headaches go away or become less intense while the Botox's effects last, said Dr. Jeffrey Janis, assistant professor of plastic surgery.

If the Botox is successful in preventing migraines or lessening their severity, then surgery to remove the targeted muscle is likely to accomplish the same result, but on a more long-term and possibly permanent basis, he said.

It's one step further. And a weird step, since it's more invasive.