A shopping list

So... I am thinking about going shopping. I'm getting a rather sizable tax refund this year, so I have been having the most fun thinking about what all I could get.

I could put it all into getting my car all fixed. I could actually get the a/c fixed. I mean, it's been a couple few years since it worked, and now that my sister's kids ride in my car, I feel bad for them.

Or...

new jeans
new shoes
new skirts and clothes for church
new clothes for work (if I ever get a job again)
a new phone
a camera
more quilting fabric
LEGO Indiana Jones 2
LEGO Harry Potter
the entire run of Scrubs
contacts (it took me this long to remember that!)
a haircut
find all those movies online that I just can't find in the store
books
music

hmmm, what have I left out?

a new Diamondbacks jersey
other baseball souveniers, like shirts from other teams i like
another wii remote

or...
i could save it for a little while and enjoy the thrill of looking at my bank account with such a big amount of money in it.

or...
I could hold on to it and take one of my nieces to Disneyland. She's already suggested that she and I go.

or...
I could spend money on my family, take them out to dinner, buy things for the nieces and nephews.

or...
I could take a trip. Fly back east and see people. Drive to Utah and visit family. Drive to the beach and just sit and watch the ocean for a couple of days.

What fun things would you guys buy and/or do if you could?

Baseball Ups and Downs

(Note: This is a very baseball-geeky entry. Just so if you don't want to read about baseball, stop here.)

John Smoltz is going to play for the Red Sox this season. That makes me sad.

Tim Lincecum is on Hot Stove tonight, and is just adorable. He has no problem talking about the game, and his awards, and his pitching. But he got uncomfortable when it was mentioned that he does impersonations of voices from a tv show, Family Guy I think. He didn't want to give a demonstration of that, but he has no problem getting on the mound in the studio and breaking down his pitching. Shows that ballplayers are used to dissecting the game, but also know how to seperate their private self from their public self. Also, he speaks very well. Knows his mechanics, and how his motion works. Very self-possessed for a 24-year-old.

Also, he is just cute. And is slightly star-struck about being teammates with Randy Johnson.

Which Randy pitching for SF also makes me sad, but not as sad as if he had gone to the Dodgers.

Made the 4th of 5 payments for my tickets today. I am so looking forwards to the season and our new seats.

I love love love the MLB Network. It's now the default channel I turn to when I'm watching tv. It's not offered by qwest at our new place just yet. I'll have to request it.

Bob Melvin is in an interview now. It's really nice to hear about my team in a nice extended and relaxed way.

I love baseball.

While stalking the blogosphere...

The ex non-boyfriend. I saw that phrase while blog-stalking Thursday (the 18th) morning. The phrase as well as the description of the relationship that went along with that title is quite like my relationship with a guy that has occasionally been known as the Bozo. Well, I don't like calling him a bozo, that was just President Shannon's name for him. But it fits, cause really, he didn't always treat me that well. But that's a nice phrase that I can use for him, when I have to talk about him, which is happily not much anymore. But the next time I mention him, maybe I'll toss that term out.

Friday (the 19th) I found this very funny place: Overheard in the Ward. Apparently people send in funny things that they hear in church. I was going back through some of the older posts and found this gem:

Teacher: So the Brother of Jared saw the finger of the Lord.
Boy #1: Did he pull it?
Boy #2 pensively: That would have, like, destroyed a mountain.

I nearly fell off my chair laughing. Here's another one, and very appropriate for the time of year:

Child: I’ve been praying to Santa that he would bring me a pony for Christmas.
Mom: You can’t pray to Santa. He only accepts letters.
Child: If I pray to Heavenly Father, will he make Santa give me one?

There's more, but I recommend you visit and see for yourself.

And now on Monday the 22nd: An article at NYTimes.com, about the actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. It's a really interesting article, and rather long. But what caught my interest was a quote on the last page of the article. He's talking about why he works so much and so hard, and why he takes such diverse parts. "I try to live my life in such a way that I don’t have profound regrets. That’s probably why I work so much. I don’t want to feel I missed something important." That's just something we should all strive for, to live in a way that we don't end up with those major regrets. Hmm, I have thoughts about regrets, but that needs its own post.

Anyways, that's some of the fun things I've found in the last week or so.

Christmas Wish List

There are so many geeky things that I want that I can't afford to buy myself. Maybe one of my friends wants an idea for a gift? Heh, well, I wanted to put this out there, just for fun. (And if I really wanted these things from my friends, I seriously should have posted this list earlier, but in my defense, the first item on the list was only announced yesterday.)

This is the annual ornament offered by the author of one of my favorite webcomics. Only $13.99, and it's only available until the end of the year. Here is where you can go to order it. There are also t-shirts, several of which I do like, but the ornament is the only time-limited thing on there.

This is a cd, compiling the first season of the podcast Writing Excuses. This order page lists all the episodes and bonus features that are on it. I'm not much of a writer, but there are things that as a reader are very interesting to me.

And here is Volume 3 of Schlock Mercenary. There's a bunch of stuff here that I like. Under New Management and The Blackness Between are the 2 volumes I don't have yet. Also in this store is the book Hold on to Your Horses (and the poster), a set of magnets, and other random stuff.

Finally this is one of the offerings from the Sam and Fuzzy store. This is Ninja Showdown, but I also like Conscience Cat, My Skills Are as Varied as They Are Impractical, Cowbell Advisory, and Obtuse Reference. (All shirts are shown in the store link above.)

Let's see, have I forgotten anything? Oh! That's right, one more store.

This is from Brandon Sanderson's store. It's a necklace with a symbol from his book Elantris. It's $49, and comes with several different symbols and colors. I just think they're really pretty. (Info on this is the Silver with Enamel, with the Emerald color background.)

Other stuff in the store include signed hardcover copies of his first books and a couple of random shirts.

Anyways, that's some of the random things I like. Not that I'm expecting any of it, but it was fun to go poke around and find some of this stuff again.

Thumb Watch

So I'm at Claire's last night, buying some jewelry to help my Halloween costume. And on the rack were rings and watches and bracelets. Some of the bracelets were watches. Even some of the rings were watches. I haven't worn a watch in years, but I still look at my empty wrist as if there's a timepiece there. So I decided that until I replace the battery in my watch, I'll wear a ring.





The smiley face is the second hand. Isn't this so awesome?!? I just love it.