11.01.08
Posted in Crafty Stuff, Activities at 6:11 pm by Sydnie
Here is Miss Maddie as Snow White! I finished making it last minute, of course. And once again, we picked a pattern that was so much more complex than it looked like it would. But she came out cute, don’t you think? Tina took these pictures of her - Maddie thinks she is quite the super-model, can’t you tell? My favorite part is the detachable stand-up collar! And the FOUR-LAYER skirt.
On another note - I’m off to Amsterdam tomorrow to speak at another conference. Wish me luck!
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10.25.08
Posted in Activities at 11:49 pm by Sydnie
Okay, I’m about to admit (yet again) to what a big dork I am.
A while ago (a year and half ago, to be exact), I realized that I had about 9000 songs on my iPod, and I didn’t know/hadn’t ever listened to a huge portion of those songs. I decided that I would make it my mission to listen to everything on my iPod, and get rid of whatever I didn’t like. I started this project on April 25, 2007!!! I know the date because of that handy “last played” feature in iTunes. I started out listening to everything in alphabetical order by artist. But - that got a little dull at times, especially when I landed on artists that I had 6 albums worth of tunes. So, I built myself a playlist, of things that hadn’t been played since I started the project (April 25, 2007!!!), which I updated every few days by moving stuff I’d listened to out of the playlist.
As of today (October 25, 2007!), cheers! I have listened to every song (all 9 thousand some of them) at least once! And it only took a year and half. Now I can start over.
Yea, I’m a dork.
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Posted in Activities at 5:16 pm by Sydnie
I got my very first flu shot yesterday! Or - maybe just the first one I’m aware of - I don’t know if I got them when I was little. I’d never gotten one before - I haven’t gotten the flu in years (knock wood!), and I figured that if it wasn’t broken, I didn’t need to fix it! But - because of the super awesome Humira injections I’ve been taking for RA, my rheumatologist recommended that I get one this year, since the meds suppress my immune system.
The Humira injections HURT! A lot. And I’m such an incredible weenie about them. I mean, other people get shots every day! Several times a day! I only have to do this every 2 weeks! I should be tougher! Anyway… after a few months of these, I’ve convinced myself that all shots are going to HURT, so I was pretty scared of the flu shot. In comparison? Piece of cake! My arm’s a tiny bit sore, but wow - it was SO easy!
The bonus of me being immunosuppressed is that everyone else in my house had to get a flu shot too this year, to help protect me! Special, huh? Tina & Jimmy seem to get the flu every year, so hopefully my being on crazy drugs will help them stay healthy through the winter. Keep your fingers crossed.
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10.22.08
Posted in Crafty Stuff, Activities at 9:53 pm by Sydnie
I’d planned on posting pictures of some baby gifts (bibs and a hooded towel) that I made for a friend’s baby shower. But… I brilliantly forgot to take pictures before I gifted them! So, no pictures.
I’m working right now (well, not right this second) on a Halloween costume for Miss Maddie. She is going to be Snow White, and her daddy is going to be her Two Dorks. He was going to be Seven Dorks, but it turned into two in her 4-year-old head. It is quite the involved pattern! Next year - ghost. She’s short enough we wouldn’t even need a sheet - a pillowcase should do it, with two holes for eyes! I’m sure I could probably figure out a way to make that overly complicated too.
I just realized I need to do some additional updating on my blog! I haven’t touched “About Me”, my blogroll, things to read - anything, really - in months. I also need to upgrade, change my theme, update all of my little “social networking” profiles. I’m even worse at those than I am at keeping up with a blog. Ah, my work just never ends… 
Love to all!
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10.06.08
Posted in Pets at 3:35 pm by Sydnie
I don’t know how easy this is to read, but I learned something new, fascinating, and rather terrifying today from my Get Fuzzy calendar:
“The oldest dog reliably recorded was Bluey, an Australian Cattle Dog who lived for 29 years and 5 months - almost 20 of those years spent at work.“
Miss Tillie is an Australian Cattle Dog. Do you know how old I’ll be if SHE lives that long?! (Let’s pretend and say I’d be 50.) Do you think they’ll let me take her to the retirement home?
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09.29.08
Posted in Pets, New Stuff! at 3:39 pm by Sydnie
Tina bought Lady a new bed the other day - one of these cute little $10.00 deals from Wal-Greens. The theory was that the hardwood floors are tough on such a big dog’s joints, and having her own bed would keep her from sleeping on the sofa (after everyone else is in bed - oh yes, she thinks she is sneaky). She put it in the hall by her room, since Lady does sometimes like to hang out there. Instead of Lady using it at night, we have this:
At least they’re sharing, I suppose! Instead of hanging out with the people in the living room (or in their happy spot under the piano bench), Grover & Tillie spent the whole evening yesterday sleeping on their new-found treasure.
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09.14.08
Posted in Food, Events, Activities at 3:25 pm by Sydnie
Here’s a picture of Mom recovering from her Breckenridge Oktoberfest adventures. I didn’t get a pic of her carrying the liter-size mugs, 5 in each hand, though…
Thanks to Josh (Tina’s nephew) for picking up the apron. Dad wanted a picture of one of these, and this way I didn’t have to stop a random stranger in the street to see if I could take a picture of her (or his!) cleavage. Mom was quite a big hit at the other shops in town, though. I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard someone tell my mom “Nice cleavage, lady!” :)
Fortunately, the weather the last couple of days has been GORGEOUS. Unlike the first day, when Tina & Josh had to (oh yes, HAD TO) golf in “hail, wind, rain, snow, and sun,” all in the space of 9 holes. Gotta love Colorado weather. Especially in the mountains. In the fall. “If you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes. It’ll change!” Don’t they say that about Wyoming, too? Anyway - it has been fun wandering the street party they have going on here - the people watching (and listening!) has been entertaining!
In other news, I’m “twittering” now. More ways for me to update people on the truly fascinating adventures of my life. So far, I think I’ve posted three things. Pretty exciting stuff. We’ll see if get any more active with that game. Most of what I would ever post is… “At work.” “Driving home from work.” “Driving to work. Stop at Starbucks or McDonald’s?” “Mmmm, Starbucks…..” In theory, I’d update that more often than the blog here, since I can even do it from my phone. We’ll see.
Love to all!!
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08.26.08
Posted in Pets, New Stuff! at 7:46 pm by Sydnie
I was sitting in my cubicle today when my friend Linda came in to tell me about her walk back from another building. Someone stopped her, FLIPPED OUT over something she’d seen on the other side of the pond - too scared, in fact, to even cross the bridge. The frightening thing she saw?
Read the rest of this entry »
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08.04.08
Posted in Pets, Activities at 2:14 pm by Sydnie
Hi all! I’ve been called out twice recently for being a blogging slacker (slacking blogger?), so I thought I’d post some stuff. I don’t have cute babies to show off like Shannon does, but… I do have pictures and videos!
At sydnieann.shutterfly.com, you can see pictures of the McConnell family reunion camping trip. Yes, there are lots of pictures of the toy-chasing-cattle-dog. But I really did edit before I uploaded these! I was trying to get some good shots of her leaping to catch the toy - thank goodness for digital - I can take thousands of pics and only show off 10 or so. There’s also an album of Kylah’s recent visit to Greeley - I didn’t edit these, even the picture of me after having my hair done by Miss Kylah - so you get the full glory of kids, pups, and trampolines. Hopefully I can have the same fun with Rhiannon & Allison before the end of the summer!
And at YouTube, you can see videos of the camping trip. Yes, more kids & dogs. And a campfire video, so that Kelly can prove to everyone what a great campfire builder she is. There are a couple of videos with little dogs barking… when I was going through these the other night, Lady (the super smart St. Bernard) had a fit trying to figure out where they were… and barking back at them… her hair even stood up… Grover and Tillie just kept sleeping on my shoes, though.
The Schnauzers were a bit camera shy! How would they know to run and hide whenever I had the camera out?! They are such cute boys!
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08.05.07
Posted in Pets, Activities at 2:38 pm by Sydnie
Courtesy of a very patient St. Bernard and a computer guy with super smart photo mash-up skills and an affection for big goofy pups.
Here are lots more pup pics - one album from when my folks and Reggie came to visit, and one album of Lady patiently wearing dollar store aviator shades.
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