You'll kick your computer in frustration... then you'll thank me for helping make you smarter

Can you name all the countries in the world? Do you even know how many there are? There are 195 and I can name 150 of them in 15 minutes.

You have to go to Sporcle.com and get addicted to the quizzes, like I did (work has been a bit slow lately). There's a ton of different ones you can take (naming the U.S. presidents, naming the U.S. states in alphabetical order, naming four-letter movies, etc.) but I challenge you on the countries of the world one.

The first time I took the quiz, I think I named about 60 countries. Then I decided that was shameful and have been working at it ever since, taking the quiz every few days and then studying the ones I missed. Now I can even spell "Djibouti" (a country in Africa), "Uzbekistan" and "Bosnia and Herzegovina" (that's a tricky one because it won't accept just "Bosnia")

Here's your challenge: go take the quiz, report your score in the comments and then assure me I'm now not the only one totally addicted to that site.

Thank goodness we got tagged because I was fresh out of funny.

We were lovingly tagged by the adorable Geiger Girl.

If you've never checked out her blog, you should. She's so amusing, she's radioactive. Get how I did that there? Radioactive? Geiger?

Sorry. Am tired. No excuse I realize. Am also batshit crazy this week, however.

8 Things I am looking forward to:

1. Am dressing up like a pirate this weekend and singing sea songs. Jealous?
   
2. Leaving for Los Cabos
   
3. ... in Mexico
4. .... laying on the beach
   
5. .... drinking margaritas.
   
6. ... acting as trophy wife.
7. ... living for a week in flip flops.
   
8. .... and sundresses.
   

8 Things I did yesterday:

1. Showered. Lucky coworkers.
   
2. Worked up a storm.
   
3. Ate a turkey and brie panini.
   
4. Did some more working.
   
5. Thought briefly about the things that I still need to do before going to Mexico.
   
6. Had a very brief electronic conversation with my sister.
   
7. Met my friend Jeff for happy hour and to celebrate his a) turning 40 b) getting a new job c) leaving CT.
8. Rocked out to Fiona Apple.
   

8 Things I wish I could do:

1. Fly. Seriously. Would make my fear of heights completely dissipate. Also would make travel so much easier, and my commute so much better... really, flying is the answer to it all.
   
2. Quit my job so I could spend more time with family and friends.
   
3. Go on a European tour.
4. Write a book (started... like 3. Someday...)
   
5. Stop and/or rewind time.
   
6. Use a remote control on other people to mute them, rewind them, fast forward them and pause them.
   
7. Be more tolerant of others. And by others, this week I mean people who speak in a combination of initials and letters.
   
8. Plant a money tree. How awesome would that be?
   

8 Shows I watch:
Not sure that I can come up with 8... but will include channel flipping.

1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Bones
   
3. Iron Chef America
   
4. Masterpiece Theater
   
5. Family Guy
   
6. The Daily Show
   
7. Colbert Report
   
8. The Simpsons

I am going to say, instead of tagging specifics, that if you, like me, need something to blog this week -- here you go. Consider this my gift to you.

Hugs and kisses,
sj

10 Things I Believe

i got this little writing prompt from one of our favorite bloggers. Kathy comes up with these phenomenal prompts each week - and this is the first time I have my act together enough to actually follow along.

it may be true that i believe in more than 10 things, but these are just the thoughts that came to me as i lay awake this morning trying to get the ambition to get out of bed and ready for work, and then some more that came to me in my ridiculously long commute.

1) i believe that you will fall in love more than once in your lifetime, and likely, at one point, you will fall in love with someone who is completely wrong for you -- but that doesn't make it wrong.

2) i believe life is short and you should never skip homemade desserts for exactly that reason.

3) i believe in the formidable power of a sexy black lace bra and matching panties under a well-tailored suit. i've rarely felt more confident and powerful than in my old favorites-- even if no one else could see what was underneath.

4) i believe that you are never too old for the comfort of a teddy bear.

5) i believe in a woman's right to choose, which coincides with:

6) i believe that everyone is entitled to an opinion, but they are not entitled to belittle others about their choices and opinions. i believe in a healthy debate, but only among willing participants. not everyone likes to share, and that's okay. unless you have a homemade dessert. then all bets are off. you had better share.

7) i believe in the healing power of a child's smile. whenever i'm feeling particularly angry, upset or bitter over something, all it takes is some time with my nephews before i feel fully restored.

8) i believe you should always read the book first.

9) i believe you should always use spf 45 and wear a hat in the sun but you should not freak out about the little lines that form around your eyes and mouth. there's a reason they got there, and likely it's from the good times (and bad) that got you to where you are.

10) i believe in having no regrets.

current itunes song: "let's hear it for the boy" by deniece williams

Welcome to the club, srg!

Whoo hoo! srg, one of the original and most frequent readers of Funny Gals, has started her own blog. It's called Two Black Cats and it's in our sidebar, but you can visit it by clicking right here.

I can't help but think SJ and I were part of the inspiration for srg to take the plunge into the blogging pool. I mean, we make sharing intimate details, talking about our most embarrassing moments and moaning about having nothing to write sound so glamorous, don't we? There's nothing like the pressure of knowing your blog hasn't been updated in a week and staring at the keyboard while your mind tries to come up with ways to make a weekend of staring at a television and cleaning the house sound entertaining.

And then there are all those great stories we have about, for example, KAT's grooming habits or SJ's lack of coordination, that we would never dare write about in fear our readers would lose respect for us (oh wait, we did... and you probably did).

And yet, we keep writing. And we know there are a few people out there who keep reading (and sometimes commenting). And the first time something mortifying happens and instead of letting it get to you, you think, "Oooh, this is a great story for the blog"? It makes it all worth it.

Funny Gals we like to read...

Ok, now that I've been promising this for more than a year, I think it's about time to direct you to some other sites written by some very funny gals (not the Funny Gals of course, because we have effectively taken control of that blog name, but still pretty funny gals... and guys). And, um, the timing of this post has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that I have nothing else to write about. Purely coincidental.

Personally, I have put a lot of research into this, spending hours (usually when I'm supposed to be doing something else) going through dozens of blogs to find the perfect ones.

Not that we don't want you as readers, of course. In fact, we hope that you will still use Funny Gals as your home page and refresh it every few minutes on the off chance KAT had something exciting happen to her or gasp! SJ decides to deign us with her presence and actually post.

Anyway, check out these funny gals:
We've been pointing you toward our Internet friend Molly for awhile now, especially since she's the one who, without even knowing what fabulous people we are in real life, helped us get our blog designed. We drink martinis in her honor on a regular basis.

Damomma is also a very fun blog to read. And she's a published author now so, you know, she's kind of living the life we hope to lead someday (although hopefully with less vomit).

My new favorite blog is Oh, the Joys, written by one funny mom. It's the kind of blog that you visit once and get so fixated one, you're likely to spend all your time at work going through the archives and may possibly forget to lay out the paper. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.

One that doesn't get updated as frequently as it should (not that we're ones to talk) is Bill Zam. In the interest of disclosure, we should say that both SJ and I know Bill Zam in real life. If his blog is half as funny as he is in real life, you're in for a wild ride. Luckily, it's twice as funny so you may actually die from laughing too hard and forgetting to breathe. You've been warned.

Another completely random find is 123 I Love You, which isn't half as lame as the title suggests. It's written by an English teacher who may or may not be Canadian, but is definitely unlucky in love and in life. And what other reason is there to read blogs other than to feel like maybe your life isn't so bad?

I'm sure I'll have some more suggestions as my "research" continues. In the meantime, happy reading. And don't forget where you came from (www.funnygals.blogspot.com). Y'all come back now, ya hear?