Happy Turkey Day

I just want to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone (but judging from who leaves comments for me here at my blog, I think I am solely wishing Happy Thanksgiving to Matt, and that's OK because you are one of my favorite people). Anyway, it will be a day of feasting, but for me this year it will be a day of feasting in moderation. I will be having a slice of pie, for sure. However, to bring a balance to the day so that I don't fall off the South Beach wagon, I am going to forgo the mashed potatoes (opt for the yams instead 'cause believe it or not they are more kosher to the diet than regular potatoes), and I won't be having any rolls (maybe just one bite, but definitely not an entire roll). I need to remember to launch a preemptive strike against the temptation to over-indulge/over-eat. I need to take along to my parent's house some mixed nuts and a cheese stick or two. They satisfy me, and help me to not over-eat. At Thanksgivings of yore, my plan would be to skip breakfast so that I would be primed for the big meal. But after 4 1/2 months on this diet I know that when I eat a nice size breakfast I can avoid temptation throughout the rest of the day. There are many things to be thankful for on that famous day, but this year I can add that I am thankful for the 30 lbs. I have shed since the beginning of July.

Ethan's time machine

Ethan has a big, inquisitive, and philosophical brain. Sometimes he can't remember to close the door behind him, and other times he floors us with a thought he has. This morning he got out a pencil and a notebook, and he told me the notebook would henceforth contain his inventions. Invention number one is a time machine. He drew a crude sketch, and then wrote out very specific instructions as to whom the time machine would be handed over to -"to the army for emergency uses only". Maybe a little naive, but he knows he doesn't want any "bad guys" getting a hold of it. So, the time machine has a power source, a generator, some knobs, and a few other things, and I said to him, "Well, bud, you know you need a mechanism that actually makes time travel possible (I was thinking of the "flux capacitor" from "Back to the Future")."
I told him that he will need to study lots of math and physics in order to one day see his plans for a time machine come to fruition. He said to me, "I believe someone can make anything they want to if they want it enough, even if everyone else says it's impossible." I said, "I think you are right." The we talked a little more about the specifics of what would be needed to make his time machine work. He said that in order to go back in time in his machine you would have to take with you an object that was from the time period to which you wanted to travel. I said something like, "So, if you wanted to go back to 5 Christmas's ago you would need, for example, a Christmas ornament that we used on our tree that year." He said that was correct. I said that it wouldn't work if I tried to use something that had just been made because it wasn't around from that time, and he said I was right. We were on the same page. Then, he said he hadn't yet figured out how to travel to the future, because if you needed an object from the past to travel there, how do you acquire an object from the future to travel there? I was standing at the kitchen sink thinking about his statement when, after a pause, he answered his own question. This is the part where I was just very impressed by my 8 year old's mind..He said, "You would need to use something that would grow in the future, like a plant." I was taken aback at his logic. He had reasoned it out way before I did. I said, a wee bit excitedly, "Yeah, so if you had a sapling, and of course one day it would probably grown into a big tree, you could use part of it to place in the time machine to take you to a future point in time!" See, I probably know only a fraction more about time travel than Ethan does, and what I know has to do with some of the theoretical problems associated with it; ie, can you kill your own grandfather if you travel to the past (without undoing your own future); can you travel back further than the time when your time machine was created; and can you travel back in time before you were born, and what happens if you die in the past? Anyway, so here is my eight year old child figuring that you need an object to actually link you to a point of time in the past, and then figuring out that the reciprocal of that is needing an object from the future, and solving it in a matter of seconds with the possibility of using something organic like a plant that is sure to grow in the future. Never mind that a person is technically an object that can be from a certain point in the past or future, he knows that some objects have been around for a long time, and some objects will exist into the future for quite some time. See, he didn't just have an idea and see it as boundless, he saw possible problems and came up with solutions to those problems. I don't care how rudimentary his notions may be, I see a real genius in it. I could be biased, and I am sure I am, but I believe if anyone is going to grow up and finally solve the problem of space/time travel, and successfully build a time machine it is going to be Ethan. Perhaps it is my belief in his potential that is also a necessary component to making his time machine work.

My myspace page

I have spent my free-time over the past few days customizing and tweaking my new myspace page. It has been kind of fun. I have run into a few technical problems, but I worked them out. I think navigating the set-up here on blogspot was easier, but it's no biggie. I am interested to see who I may reconnect with by having a page on there. Maybe no one will find me, maybe it will take a while or maybe I'll hear from someone quickly. Who knows? Anyway, I originally put my name in as "Becky McFadden-Cantrell", but I soon realized that you can't do a search and find me if you use just my first and maiden name. It appears it would have to be the entire "Becky McFadden-Cantrell". So, since anyone who knows me now knows my married name and my maiden name, I am switching to just Becky McFadden because old acquaintances will only know to search for me under Becky McFadden.
Not too much new to report. I had a store meeting at 7:00 am this morning, which required me to get up at 5:00 am in order to look good and be there on time. After that I met Dave and the boys at Ethan's hockey practice and then the 4 of us went to Bob Evans for breakfast. Well, that was a lapse in judgement on my and Dave's part 'cause Owen was ill mannered most of the time. I sometimes feel as if he is never going to mature.
Well, I have a few more things to do on myspace and then I am going to call it a day. Btw, I am going to keep my blog on here, and not myspace. I like what I've got here.

Being sick and life's goals

Being sick is no fun. I haven't had a sinus infection in a couple of years, and now I have one that is showing no mercy. It teased me with a headache for a couple of weeks until finally it stopped dicking around and kicked in last Wednesday. Now it is in my chest as well, and I feel like a big steaming pile of crap. Now, the burning question is whether or not to go to work tonight. I do not like calling off, and I am very reluctant to do so with my new job. I better wait and see how well the Advil Cold and Sinus works for me, and then decide.
Christmas keeps getting closer and closer, and I am feeling the slight panic of needing to have all of the cash necessary to purchase everything. Yet another reason not to call off of work tonight. I have at least already made a dent in the Christmas shopping.
I talked to Matt last night, and he said something that I had been thinking of earlier in the day. He remarked that he doesn't have enough time to do all of the things he would like to do as well as all of the tasks that he is required to do. Just that very afternoon, while cleaning the ashes out of the fireplace, I was thinking about how short life is and of all the things I would still like to learn how to do/experience/accomplish. Here are some of them (if I think of any more in the future I may put them in a post):
1) Learn to play the guitar (or piano)
2) Take a pottery class
3) Finish the really big cross-stitch project I started months ago
4) Learn Spanish with Owen (he seems to have an ear for Spanish, and I figure I should learn it with him so he can have someone with whom he can converse)
5) Try Pilates (not sure if I spelled that correctly)
6) Volunteer at a literacy program (I want to remember this so that when Owen goes off to Kindergarten I can see if I can make it happen)
7) Travel (this would require vast sums of money, and since one never knows what life has in store for one, it is not impossible that I could one day find myself flush with cash, and therefor have the means to travel)
8) Write something really great and be published (hence the money and the opportunity that would make number 7 possible).
9) Finish my Bachelor's degree
10) Discover my Personal Legend and fulfill it. If you haven't read the book The Alchemist you may not know what this means.
Anyway, my head is really foggy right now, and I should really leave off here. Let me know what your ambitions are.

Just what's new

It has been quite a while since my last post (Matt tried to assure me that I was not the only one reading this blog, but the gig is up and I really think that I am the only one to look at it by now-and so I don't feel bad about how long it has been since I wrote something). We have been so busy. Dave and I have been like two ships passing in the night. He has been working overtime, and I have been working some late nights. But tomorrow we are both off and the four of us can spend some time together.
Work is awesome. I am really fortunate to have a job that I like going to. Mom and I cleaned-up today doing some Christmas shopping at Bed Bath & Beyond. They are giving the associates an extra discount this week that can even be used for a family member if they accompany the associate to the store. We saved a ton.
Got two new Cd's recently that I feel are worth commenting on. The Amy Winehouse "Back to Black" is just so cool. Her voice...that big voice coming out of that gin soaked tiny body is just so amazing. Also, a really beautiful album is the A Fine Frenzy "One Cell in the Sea". I am listening to this one a lot. Favorite tracks are "Almost Lover" and "The Minnow and the Trout". I almost just got some selections from the iTunes store, but I instead figured the entire Cd's were going to be worth the purchase, and I was right.
Tori Amos was in concert this passed Tuesday in Pittsburgh, and I didn't find out until it was too late to try and go. I missed seeing her again. Perhaps someday.
51 days till Christmas.
That's all I can think of right now. I am very tired because I closed the store last night and then had to be up at 6:00 am in order to get Ethan ready and off to Hockey. We will set the clocks back tonight, and so I'll gain an hour of sleep. I'll write more when I am struck with the notion.
Oh before I forget...the Ye Old Alpha has Greek Wings made with feta cheese and they are really tastey.