I <3 Mail!

This has been a tough week. Imagine how happy I was to see that I had not one but TWO packages in the mail today!

Some of you remember a few weeks back when I won the TravHell contest hosted by Laurel Sonia and Hotfessional with this entry. Today my prize arrived.

Ta Da!

My custom made shirt courtesy Sonia at Sunshine's Designs. Thank you so much, I absolutely LOVE it! It fits perfectly, and thanks for the heads up regarding the sizing.

Some of you also remember that I recently hit 100 posts and celebrated by posting 100 Things About Me. Number 71 on that list was "I am on an endless quest for Blistex Lip Tone Lip Balm". Melissa of Part of Everything had a few helpful suggestions and lookie what also came in the mail today!
Yes folks, that is FIVE tubes of my oh so favorite lip balm on my messy as hell desk. It's so perfect because its slightly pink. I mean the ever so slightest pink. Also? I have been out of this for over two years and finally have more. AHHH, lip nirvana! Melissa? Since I'm not having kids, I can't offer up my firstborn, but if you'd like cookies, just let me know. I can do peanut butter, oatmeal or snickerdoodle.

Nothing like an awesome package or two to lift your spirits for the day. Thank you mail guy!

It's a miracle...

The S.O. just came to find me in the living room. I put it on "delicate and cold and small" is the proud proclamation.

Oh dear GAWD! I am afraid to ask.

Huge sigh.

"Ummm, sweets, what exactly did you put on delicate and small and cold?"

"You'll be very happy!"

Hmmm, something tells me I won't actually be "very happy".

"Well, what is it exactly?" I ask.

"I'm WASHING something and you'll be very happy!"

Not likely I think with the delicate, small and cold in mind and remembering the new bras recently purchased.

"What, exactly, are you washing?" I ask meekly.

"The placemats!" comes the proud response.

Whew! Not only do miracles happen, but they can reduce my workload around the house!

Go ahead, be reckless, its not like anyone could DIE…

Who needs driving lessons? I only ask this because there are a few I suspect were left out of the Driver’s Ed class in their time. Who might you ask? Well, how about the person I encountered on the way home tonight for starters. I am particularly sensitive to driving habits, but a car accident that results in the near amputation of your leg has a tendency to do that.

Observe:

As you turn off the main, six lane plus a center turn lane road onto a side street, it rounds to a circle. Not a full circle as in 360 degrees mind you, but the people who named the street called it a circle. ______ Circle. But you already know this. And I digress.

So I turn from the main road onto this smaller side CIRCLE and round the gently curving street to see a car, in reverse, doing (I’m guessing) about 30mph. I maintain speed of 20-25mph while I honk and flash my brights, but the car is still headed straight for me, in reverse. I dodge to the left, into on-coming traffic and somehow land against the curb into the parallel-parked cars (me facing the wrong way) without hitting a single one.

The car never saw me. While I did hit the curb, my Audi is fine.

They stop reversing and make their turn. As luck would have it, I need to turn on that same street.

I ease out of the parallel-parked cars and make the turn. I am staying about 50 car lengths back. It’s not long before I see the car crashing through construction barricades at the intersection in the neighborhood. The orange cones and a sawhorse-style sign went flying into the air onto someone’s front lawn. (we had a water issue during a heavy rain and the water bubbled up from the concrete creating a sinkhole of sorts) Again, throws it in reverse, and manages to make the turn.

Crackheads, I mutter to myself. Who drives like that?

At the next four way stop in the neighborhood, they cut the turn short and crunch the back fender panel of what I can now see is a brand new, paper-plated Lexus on the pole of the stop sign.

Ok, they’re drunk. Or on crack. Or drugs.

Do I call the police? What if the car is stolen? It is a brand new Lexus. Surely no one would treat a new Lexus like this!

I am only two streets from home.

If they live here, they are even closer to home.

I went home, called no one and hugged my kids (dogs).

Did I do the right thing?

Hair-Part two

After the great response I received last week after a new hair cut, I decided (for once in my life) to follow advice and get it colored as suggested. Thank you my readers, I have to say... I love it! Suzan at Wane Salon in Las Colinas did a fabulous job! We, meaning she, did an all over red, with butterscotch highlights and caramel lowlights. "You're making my hair all candy like," I told her somewhat pouting. "Just wait, you'll see," was her cheerful response. And WOW! I love it!


A side view:
But again, Geisha-like skin in photos! What the heck? My skin is very pale in real life, but does not look like this. This looks like I did a face plant in the flour! Do I need some sort of skin consultation?

A bit of brain lint

EDIT: It seems I may have been the only one included in this fad, which would make it something other than a fad, although I'm not quite sure what. I have included the link to Garanimals so you can have a look for yourself. Now please tell me someone else wore these? Please???



Has anyone else seen that Garanimals are coming back? They are advertised on TV here lately. I am suddenly reminiscent of a time in my life when I was too young to care how I dress and thus LOVED my Garanimals. I was a monkey and frog girl all the way! Am I the only one to remember these crazy clothes?

Yet another reason I won't be a parent

I will likely never be a parent. And I’m really good with that. I truly enjoy my dogs and treat them like my children. They get all kinds of mothering energy so it works well for the three of us.

***anyone with a weak stomach should leave now and come back tomorrow***

There are all sorts of reasons I should not be a parent. I like sleep and get cranky without it. I never had a great model of a parent and will likely repeat many bad mistakes. I don’t eat meals on a regular schedule and any children would probably starve if left in my care. Every once in a while I think the universe thinks I have somehow forgotten these things and sends me a little sign that reiterates the message: I am not fit to be a parent.

Today that sign came in the form of my ridiculously strong gag reflex. I was cleaning. (Yes, yes, I know. But we can all surprise ourselves once in a while, right?) Anyway, cleaning. Drug the Dyson downstairs and everything. Used the Dyson (I find myself more and more brand oriented. Like I Dyson my floor instead of vacuum. I Sonicare my teeth instead of brushing them. And seriously? Isn’t that the longest two minutes ever?) I’m veering dangerously away from the topic at hand, aren’t I? Ahem. Ok, I Dysoned the rug in the bedroom. I take the little compartment outside to empty because apparently I have a lot of fuzz around my house and it gets full in a mere 3 minutes on average. As I come back in, I hear the God-awful HHHHRRRRRRRCHHHTTT noise coming from the bedroom. And we all know that means only one thing…that you have a much bigger mess to deal with than you did a few seconds ago.

I make my way into the bedroom to find Morgan standing in puddles of vomit. Now you should know that I am very big into the nutrition of my dogs. They eat something called BARF, which stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food and includes bones, raw meat, vegetables, tendons; all the stuff dogs would eat naturally if they found a carcass in the woods. Ironically or rather luckily, this is the first time BARF has equated to the first meaning that comes to mind. She is standing there IN barf that IS regurgitated BARF complete with all items listed above.

For whatever reason, this just hit me really wrong. I lost my cookies right there on the floor on top of hers.

Terrific.

She’s looking up at me sympathetically, “Awww, you too Mom? Sucks, huh?”

Can I tell you how much I love this mess? Normally I am really good when they get sick. I have even cupped my hands a time or two so they won’t get it on the rug. Because, really? I’m more easily washable than the rug. If time allows, I normally grab the heaving offender and bolt to the nearest sink that is not my kitchen sink. (EWWW people, that’s just gross!) Today, I had the most visceral reflex and thus caused myself a lot of work.

And, truthfully, “a ton of work” is the first thought in my head, but my stomach said otherwise. I rolled up the area rug, took it to the backyard, and sprayed it down with the hose. It wasn’t long before I figured out this wasn’t exactly the best plan. Because apparently this is the type of rug that gets mad when you put that much water on it. It curled up and is shriveling in the sun as I type.

“That’s ok”, I decided. It was $40 at Ikea and I’ll just get another. Normally I’m not a fan of treating household items as disposable, but I’m making an exception this time. Because really? I don’t need the universe to try and reiterate this lesson.

Got it.

A to B.

Duly noted.

No kids.

Make a Difference Monday

dragging soapbox to center stage, carefully climbing up, tapping microphone, TEST! TEST! Deep breath.

I'd like to thank everyone for having me here today. Oh wait, I live in here. Ummmm, (papers shuffling) Oh yes, here it is....

As we all know, or most of us anyway, today is President's Day. Who doesn't love a long weekend? In a subtle or not so subtle message, I ask you to really think about your values, goals and ideas of what you would like our country to look like in the future. Do you value affordable healthcare for everyone? Is the budget a greater concern for you? Whatever matters to you, vote with that in mind. Granted, it takes more time to research candidates to make a truly informed vote, but wouldn't you like to know you did your part? Our country is looking a little shaky right now, but we are powerful beyond belief. We are capable of turning this around. We CAN make a difference. How can we make a difference? Vote! If you haven't registered to vote, do so now! Ok, thanks.

Stepping off box, dragging it away. Everyone mumbles, then starts speaking excitedly. Action is taken, people vote, America becomes an even greater country than it is now. Rays of sunlight beam across the land.

Because I'm a Dork (and / or) Pay it Forward Day

I totally forgot what day it was, until I remembered (funny how it works that way) that today is the drawing for Pay It Forward! Yes, clearly I am running at not quite half throttle. This probably should have been included with this post from earlier, but I'm not going to edit. I promise it was a random drawing; here are a few pictures.

The entries:

The winners:


Because you can't quite tell, at least I couldn't by the picture, the winners are:
Readsalot with her entry of Jem or He Man
Laura B with her entry of Beatrice
Sarah with her entry of John George Peppers or Misty Peppers

The three lovely winners will each receive a one year subscription to GOOD Magazine, a handmade item from Etsy, and the choice of a starbucks gift card or homemade cookies. I'm going to request that the two winners that have more than one suggestion choose one name. While I love animals, I really need to limit this to three new fish since this addition makes three new cages to clean each week.

Congratulations to all the winners! Thanks to everyone for playing!

Admin Day

I know this week has been somewhat sparse on content. I'd like to say I'm about to make up for that but, well, that would be a lie. No, I'm just going to catch up a few things and wish everyone a fabulous weekend. I'm feeling that winter funk and think today may be a great day to curl up with a book, especially since its 40 degrees and pouring rain.

Earlier this week the lovely Melissa at Part of Everything gave me this award. Many thanks to her, it made my day just to receive it!



Ok, the poll. Yes, I realize I am a full two days behind on posting results. I also realize you still can't actually read the results since they display in silver which doesn't show up against my new layout. This week's question was "What is your favorite media lie?" with a total of 38 responses; below is the breakdown.
Material things bring happiness! 10 votes

Your government really cares about you! 12 votes

A new car/truck/minivan sure would make life easier! 1 vote

Wal-Mart sells quality stuff! 9 votes

Take your kids to McDonald's and they won't hate you! 6 votes

I normally stay away from political talk in my blog, but I'll briefly say readers, you hit the nail on the head with "your government really cares about you." I just keep telling myself, less than a year.

Moving on, I was tagged for two MEMEs. Dodi and Laura, I haven't forgotten! I am also participating in Citizen of the Month's Great Interview Experiment. If you haven't signed up, go! Go now!

Have a great weekend!

Hair

So instead of boring you with what I'm doing today, which started at 4am with the little dog puking on me, necessitating a complete pajama and full sheet change. (looking to Morgan, possibly we can eat LESS mulch? Or is the yard pretty well devoid of any and all mulch by this point?) Since this seems to be the high point of the day, lets move on, or rather, back.

Let's talk about what I did yesterday. No, it's not all sugary sappy, it really was something just for me, by me. Well, really by Suzan who is the best hair stylist in Dallas. My SO can be unpredictable, so I decided to make my own fun for Valentines Day just in case it was an off day, (because really, you never know). After several strong suggestions from the SO, as in you might be prettier if you grew your hair out, more of the same from my Mother and several months of nightmarish hair days, I got my hair cut. For me. Because really? I LIKE it short! It makes me feel spunky and smart. Ok, smart may be pushing it a little, but I really do like it. What do you think?
And another view:

I think a fun color might be next!

And on a sidenote? Does anyone know how to reduce the stark white under your eyes special effect in photographs? This always seems to happen to me! Does entering your thirties make the need for a concealer automatic? Help!

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's to surprise hugs, chocolate, pedicures, sweet gentle kisses, champagne, special dinners, hearts, flowers, ribbons, puppy breath, kitten whiskers, guinea pig 'wheeeeets', sprinkles, sparkles, fresh dew on the grass, clean cars, someone else doing the laundry, strong coffee, great hair days, perfectly pressed shirts, fabulous shoes and whatever else makes you feel happy and loved. Kiss your pets, hug your significant others, and in general enjoy the day everyone!

**No, I have not been drinking for breakfast. It is possible that I have had entirely too much coffee though. And just because I can? I will be wearing my Reefs today instead of real shoes.

Pay It Forward

Earlier in the week I received this box of surprises from Small Town Mom. She included wonderful Valentine Day themed goodies including super soft socks, a growing boyfriend (she has no idea how much I need this right now; does he talk too?) a cell phone charm, heart shaped candle and these adorable little bottles of chocolate liquor. When you bite into them they really taste like the liquor on the label. I had no idea these things existed!
A heartfelt thanks goes out to Small Town Mom for my pay it forward box. In keeping with the tradition, it’s now my turn to pay it forward. I would love to pay it forward to each and every one of you because you, dear readers, have no idea how much I appreciate you. The comments you leave, the emails you send, the awards I have been given, and it brings me such pleasure and absolutely makes my day to know that you are there. I feel like I have this little bloggy family and it’s fabulous! However, because it is also important to honor my budget, I will select three readers to pay it forward. If you are chosen, you must also pay it forward in whatever manner feels right to you. The readers selected will get a subscription to Good Magazine, a handmade item from Etsy and your choice of homemade cookies baked by yours truly or a Starbucks gift card. I will put everyone’s name into a hat and randomly choose three names. If I am brilliant enough, I will use the video camera on my computer or my camera to record this and post it. (General FYI, I wouldn’t count on this part; I’ve had the camera for almost 3 years and the computer since May and still don’t have ‘video’ on either figured out.) (Also, we may not want me to figure that out because from that point forward you would see quite a few videos until the novelty wears off)

Just to make things fun, suggest a name for my new fish as your entry by Friday of this week. (the S.O. will be thrilled at the prospect of another pet (or three), but he doesn’t know yet, so let’s just keep that part under wraps) The only name I prefer not be suggested is Sylvester. I lost a Sylvester and that name is kind of special to me.

Just to recap here… Pay It Forward Contest

-three winners chosen on Saturday morning
-enter by suggesting a name for a beta fish
-each winner gets Good Magazine subscription, handmade item from Etsy and homemade cookies or Starbucks gift card.
-no entries of the name Sylvester
-you can enter your own name for the fish name if you like

Have fun everyone!

QuirkyAlone Day is coming! No, its not anti-Valentines Day

Below is an announcement of the QuirkyAlone parties celebrating International QuirkyAlone Day, otherwise known as IQD, which coincides with Valentines Day. It’s a fabulous movement for open-minded individuals who are not afraid to be themselves, regardless of societal pressures to follow the 'norm' (whatever that is!).

Dear friends. . .

Everywhere you look, it's hearts and cupids, but don't forget that another important
holiday is also approaching.  INTERNATIONAL QUiRKYALONE DAY. It's not anti-Valentine's
Day, it just happens to fall on the same day. It's a celebration of all forms of love, and
it's available to everyone--single and coupled.

For the sixth year, we in San Francisco will be celebrating with a party. Come for the
bookstore list mixer portion of the evening, then continue to party with us next door at
Stray Bar with quirky cocktails. Here are the deets.

SAN FRANCICSO IQD PARTY
When: Thursday, February 14 (IQD!), 7 pm
Where: Red Hill Books, 401 Cortland Avenue
After-party: next door at Stray Bar, 309 Cortland, at 9 pm

Bring a to-do list to see if it's compatible with someone else's. (It's also a To-Do List
Mixer. . . )

Miranda Culp of The Mirandaband will be lighting up torch songs.

Can you bring friends? Yes! Can couples come? Yes again. Couples are not only
welcome—they are encouraged to attend. There is no ban on a quirkyalone being in a
relationship. International Quirkyalone Day is for everyone: single, partnered, married,
divorced, celibate, or polyamorous.

IQD IN OTHER CITIES

People are currently making plans for IQD in London; Madison; Philadelphia; Bainbridge,
Washington, Los Angeles; and North Adams, Massachusetts.

Check out the forums for information from local party planners: http://quirkyalone.net/php
BB2/viewforum.php?f=3&sid=d802b86f20e31fe194c37c68a08b80a6

You can also get your own quirkyalone party pack at http://quirkyalone.net/qa/iqd.php?c=pa
rtypack
TEN WAYS TO CELEBRATE

Not in SF or in one of these other cities? Feeling like you'd prefer some alone time to a
party? No worries, there are many ways to celebrate Quirkyalone Day! Choose from the list
below, and let us know how you will be celebrate by posting a comment on the
Quirkyalone.net blog!

1. Explore a new part of town — be a tourist in your own city.
2. Get yourself a lovely aqua Singelringen — Swedish for “the Single Ring” — as a
visible reminder that you’re complete whether you’re in a relationship or not.
3. Buy yourself new underwear (throw out all the old ones from the 90s.)
4. Rearrange your furniture.
5. Be creative, doing whatever it is you like to do (write, paint, sew, upholster
furniture, surf, make art of out dryer lint).
6. Be creative with friends. Have an arts and crafts party or cook a meal together.
7. Buy yourself or a friend a bunch of daisies. Daisies are the official flower of the
quirkyalone movement.
9. Volunteer for a cause you believe in.
9. Get cozy in bed with a book. Quirkyalone: A Manifesto for Uncompromising Romantics
would of course be a good choice.
10. Come to or host a quirkyalone party!

Yours in anticipation,
Sasha Cagen
Quirkyalone: A Manifesto for Uncompromising Romantics
http://www.quirkyalone.net

Thank a Teacher

It’s that time again, Make a Difference Monday. Hey, this is three weeks in a row; maybe this really will become a weekly feature around here? Of course now that I say that, I’m sure I’ll forget next Monday.

Almost all of us have a memory of a teacher that made a huge difference in our life. Sometimes this was a teacher at school. Maybe a piano teacher or gymnastics coach or just someone that was a mentor to us. I hate to think about how different my life would have been without the influence of Mrs. Arts, my first grade teacher. She gave me confidence like no other teacher and I love her for that. This Make a Difference Monday is focusing on teachers, specifically thanking them.

Did you know?
There are 3.8 million teachers and 2.6 million of those teach grades K-12.
Almost 50% of teachers leave the profession by the fifth year.
In 37 states the teacher’s salaries do not keep pace with inflation.

What you can do:
Identify a teacher you want to thank and do so by writing a thank you note.
Other ideas include volunteering in the classroom, making a class appreciation jar and stuff it with thank you notes from the students in the class, bringing a gift card for the teacher’s favorite restaurant or bookstore.

Anyone care to share about their favorite teacher?

Does this look like condoms?

Ok, now that I have your attention, we’ll get to that part in a minute. Hang tight.

Tonight at the store (yes Saturday night. Yes, store. Trust me, I’m loads of fun) a group of barely tweens was buying an extraordinarily large amount of toilet paper. We could safely say over 200 rolls were purchased. I know this because I buy 48 rolls at a time and they had at least 5 times as much as I normally purchase.

The cashier was good naturedly giving them a hard time, “Whatcha gonna do with all this, hmmm?” The boisterous one of the group proudly declares, “WE are having a burrito and prune juice eating contest!” They had obviously practiced this line and been waiting and hoping to be asked. The entire group breaks out in a fit of giggles. I break out in the giggles; the cashier does as well.

This was really pretty cute until it made me feel so old.

Watching this group brought back memories of my tween years and doing silly stunts like TPing someone’s house. Growing up, there was someone in my neighborhood that loved to TP my house. My father loved to make me clean it up. Even in later years, when it was my brother’s friends that had done the deed, I was cleaning up TP. This always angered me.

Maybe I have an exceptional hidden talent? Executive TP Maintenance Professional. Good title? Me thinks not.

Watching this group of boys made me want to follow them to see the house after they had finished with their handiwork. My guess is this was going to be one Charmin padded house!



In other news…does this look like condoms?


Yeah, it’s my new gum. I was having lunch today and after finishing my meal, pulled it out to have a stick of gum. Before I had it opened, my dining companion, not feeling at all subtle, practically screams “IS THAT CONDOMS?!?!?” Of course the entire restaurant has to turn around and look at me.

Two questions. Does this really look like condoms? What did you do as a tween to entertain yourself?

100 Things About Me

This is my 100th post so I thought I would do the “100 things about me” list. It has taken me a while to put this one together and as a result my blogging has been slower as I approach the 100th post. I grossly underestimated the difficulty of this list. And in some bizarre twist of fate, within thirty minutes of finishing this, I was tagged for a MEME. (looking skyward) Karma? What did I do? I will save the MEME for later, but without further delay, here is my list of 100 things about me:

1. I love dogs.
2. I have two mini schnauzers. I call them the miniature terrorists. You can view their profiles on the sidebar under “Meet the Kids”
3. Coffee is my best friend in the mornings and it must have sugar free hazelnut creamer.
4. I have visited all but 13 of the states in the US.
5. Visiting all of them is on my life list.
6. I have lived in Texas, Nevada, Washington, New York and Iowa.
7. I think I might like to live in Denver, perfect mix of a mountain backdrop and sunshine, no?
8. I love to cook.
9. Trying a new recipe is almost like a science experiment to me. Some of this, some of that, add heat, viola! Dinner! Or sometimes, NOT.
10. I HATE doing dishes.
11. I once threw them away one by one when I didn’t have a dishwasher in Seattle. I also ate a lot less.
12. Friends often make the best therapists.
13. I play hide and seek with my dogs.
14. They think I am just as crazy as everyone else does.
15. I LOVE the mail.
16. Sometimes I order things so I know something good is coming and I can look forward to it.
17. This is why I do all my movies by Netflix and Blockbuster.
18. I get car sick when I ride in the backseat.
19. I pick up the neighbors trash cans when they zoom down the alley propelled by the wind.
20. I like having short hair but insist on making myself crazy every year or two and deciding I should grow it out only to cut it off a few months later.
21. Sometimes fabulous styling products help with this process.
22. I don’t know how I ever functioned without my Google reader.
23. I feel an enormous sense of accomplishment when it’s back to zero. Sad, I know.
24. I’m a very good parallel parker.
25. This skill was perfected living in Seattle.
26. It has not been so useful anywhere else I have lived.
27. Guys with long fingernails are gross to me.
28. I celebrate my dogs’ birthdays.
29. Since I don’t know when my boy was born, I gave him the birthdate of April 1 and call him my April Fools Day boy.
30. I love to purge my house. I clean closets and donate everything I can. Move it out and pay it forward I say.
31. I miss Seattle and seeing the mountains and Puget Sound at the same time.
32. I have moved 26 times.
33. I want to buy a house and stop moving.
34. But not here in Dallas.
35. I want to start doing yoga 4 times a week again like when I lived in Seattle.
36. I belonged to the best gym there.
37. I never went to prom but always wish I had been able to go.
38. I am finally learning to play the piano and have a beautiful black Baldwin.
39. I love to bake cookies and give them away.
40. I usually don’t measure with tools when I cook, I just eye it.
41. It always comes out great.
42. When I make cheesecakes, I measure practically to the grain.
43. I am remarkably adaptable.
44. I have been known to play drums (with drumsticks) on the steering wheel of my car.
45. I love board games and am the Tiddly Wink champion. (of my house anyway)
46. I’m shy around new people.
47. While people often take me to be innocent and meek from appearances, they find they are wrong once they know me.
48. I have been skydiving.
49. And scuba diving.
50. Definitely not in the same day though.
51. I have a lucky pencil and prefer to take all scan tron tests with it.
52. I will sun sneeze when I leave a dimly lit building almost every time.
53. They don’t happen in threes, thank goodness.
54. My favorite color is purple.
55. I think my dogs are color blind.
56. I absolutely ADORE Volvos.
57. I don’t think I can ever own one because of the crappy gas mileage though.
58. My favorite restaurant in Dallas in Terrili’s.
59. In New York City it’s Ciro’s.
60. Seattle favorite restaurant is Jai Thai.
61. After 9-11 I carried my passport in my purse in case I had to make a quick run for the border.
62. That border would have been Canada.
63. Had I actually gone, I likely would not have come back.
64. And not be living in Gluttonous TX today.
65. I like refrigerator magnets.
66. And neatly organized tool boxes.
67. I believe in Karma.
68. I was once on an airplane where the engine blew up.
69. I have learned its ok to be angry.
70. But being angry is never justification for being cruel.
71. I am on an endless quest for Blistex lip tone lip balm. If anyone knows where to find this, please email me NOW! I will pay dearly for this information.
72. This list is much harder than I thought!
73. I was in a very bad car accident and my leg was crushed. The doctors wanted to amputate at the knee.
74. I wouldn’t let them and 6 years later I can finally walk without a limp (that anyone notices)
75. It still hurts sometimes, especially in the cold.
76. Its important to me to honor the fact that everyone is in their own place in life.
77. And we will all move through our journey at our own pace, not someone else’s.
78. Because that’s how we really learn our lessons of life.
79. And our spirit grows.
80. I love great conversation with new people.
81. Especially when that conversation is about ideas, thoughts and dreams.
82. Not gossip or material items.
83. I have a water bottle I carry with me I call Blue. Whenever I need a drink I ask, “Where’s Blue?” and people know what I’m talking about.
84. I’m afraid of getting cancer.
85. Working for a group of Neurosurgeons can do that to a person.
86. I’m adopted.
87. I love cheese like no one should.
88. I will share almost anything, except my pillows.
89. I like giving to things that contribute to the greater good especially for animals or children.
90. It makes me feel like I’m helping the world become a better place.
91. And I always envision the smile on the recipient’s face.
92. I tend to startle easily.
93. Sometimes people laugh because of this.
94. I hate being laughed AT…
95. But love being laughed WITH.
96. People that can’t understand the difference frustrate me.
97. (That was five items!)
98. I have learned that you cannot make someone love you no matter how much you may want it. All you can do is be the best, most lovable person you can. The rest is up to them.
99. This was a very painful lesson
100. But I believe I am a better person because of it.

New Poll

We all love the media, right? Tell me which of these you love MOST about the media and how they shamelessly lie to us.

*I am working on the font. I know its hard to see and have a call into the designer of the new template. Thanks again for patience!

Poll Results

The poll ended today with some surprising results. I'll let you see for yourself:

The speech about the high-tech intricacies of the seat belt. 5 votes

Those absurd made-up words used by the flight attendant like "deplane" and "preboard" 1 vote

The person next to you whose elbows are in your dinner. 17 votes

The person on your other side who must have bathed in perfume this morning. 6 votes

The exploding engine that causes everyone to panic. 3 VOTES???

While the top pick for "what you hate most about air travel" was "the person next to you with their elbows in your dinner" which brought in 17 votes, the one that surprised me most was "the exploding engine that causes everyone to panic" had 3 votes!?! Am I not the only one who has experienced this? If so two questions. One, why did you not also enter the TravHell contest hosted by Sonia, Laurel and Hotfessional? Two, please delurk! I want to hear your stories too!

Thanks for playing everyone, I will have a new poll up soon.

Just like Mom said…I’m a winner!

Ok, well, truthfully my mother never said those words, but that’s another story for another day. But if you look here, here or here you will see that I won the TravHell contest hosted by Hotfessional, Sonia and Laurel. I even won first place? Could that be right? (Double checked), yes in fact, it is right! Wow, that was a really crappy time in my life. I’m glad it initiated some kind of good. My prize is a custom Lost My Luggage shirt (or as I will call it, Badge of Honor) by Sonia. Thank you everyone for reading my story. If you missed it, you can find that story HERE. Thanks to Sonia, Laurel and Hotfessional for the awesome contest!

Grocery Friends

I know I know…another shopping story. It’s my magical power to attract the crazies like bees on pollen. It has taken me years to perfect this skill, so don’t try and imitate.

Observe:
At the grocery store, checking out with my two items. Time? Approximately 6:30pm.

I go to the shortest line with my items hoping for a quick escape. As I am standing in line, I realize why this one is shortest. IT’S NOT MOVING! At all! The customer currently in front of the cashier is arguing, if we can call it that, because really it was more like waffling, passive aggressive style. We’ll just call this person Waffler.

Waffler: But I need someone to tell me what I’m buying.
Cashier: Its lettuce.
Waffler: But what if its not?
Cashier: I assure you it is lettuce.
Waffler: Ok, so maybe it really is lettuce. Maybe you really believe that. But I need someone to tell me what kind of lettuce I am buying. Is it green or red?

*side note- Waffler is not blind or otherwise impaired in any noticeable way except for vegetable choosing abilities.

Cashier: This lettuce is green.
Waffler: Maybe I need red?
Cashier (obviously frustrated by this time, as is everyone in line) (yet patiently says): I can wait while you go get another one.
Waffler: Maybe I don’t want to get both lettuces.
Cashier: Then you can choose one and I’ll ring it up.
Waffler: What if I take home the wrong lettuce? Will I have to come back?
Cashier: I hope not.
Waffler: Are you saying you don’t want me to come back and shop at your store?
Cashier: Yes.
Waffler: You are?
Cashier: Yes. I am.
Waffler (shouting): Well you should be glad this is the best job you can get because then I will never have to buy lettuce from you again!

At this point the Waffler storms off in a huff saying the lettuce is neither red nor green, its WHITE!

Life lesson number 1,640,164,164: It doesn’t matter where I live or shop, they will find me.

Aww, gee, now you're making me blush!

A few weeks ago I received this:


from Maxie at This is Not My Life. Thank you Maxie (and I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post this!) When things like this are given to me I don't quite know what to do. Should I post immediately? Do I just quietly acknowledge and graciously accept this? Am I really that good? It doesn't take long for the questions to swirl in my head. GAHHHH!

This blog started small and every day I am amazed by how many read me and care what I have to say. What started as a sort of 'writing experiment' has quickly grown into a group of friends, supporters and confidants; all of whom I hope to meet some day.

So I ask this...why do you blog? Has your blog morphed into something beyond your original vision?

How many trees fit in your mailbox?

Its that time again, Make a Difference Monday. This week I'm talking about something I hate, junk mail. Its wasteful and time consuming. Did you know:
the number of junk mail deliveries is greater than USPS First class mail?
100 million trees are needed to produce the annual supply of junk mail?
Paper will take up 48% of our landfills by 2010?

What you can do to help:
Contact major credit bureaus and have your name removed from the mailing list for credit card offers. This aids in identity theft protection as well.
Remove your name from many national mailing lists by contacting Direct Marketing Associations Mail Preference Service.

Every little bit makes a difference and just not having to deal with junk mail would make my life easier!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Everyone knows and says this, but oh my gosh, they grow up so fast! I can hardly believe she is one today.

I remember the first time I saw you, only nine days old and too small for me to even touch you. Only the family you lived with could get their scent on you.
The first time I held you, you were so tiny and just 18 ounces. My hand looks enormous cradling your tiny body.
The day I brought you home was wonderful. You were so excited. We were afraid you didn't know how to go to pee because it took so long, little did I know what was in store for the weeks to come!

Then we had your welcome home party and dressed you in a little party dress. You slept through most of it, but were the hit of the party.
There are too many other firsts to list here, but it has been a great year my precious girl. Thank you for a wonderful year bonding with you. I love you with all my heart!

Exxon posts record profits?

Things like this really burn me up. This is a news story describing how Exxon posts record profits on oil prices. I know the economy is in the toilet and we are all feeling the pinch. But is it really necessary for Exxon to post outrageous profit like this? To make a whopping net income of $11.7 billion with a "B" for the last 3 months of 2007? A total yearly PROFIT of $40.6 billion for 2007, that's profit, not total income. This set a record in the United States for largest quarterly profit on record. Its a number so large, its hard to wrap your head around. There are people out there choosing between groceries and gas or medicine and gas. Am I the only one who thinks this is a little out of line?

Visions

One night earlier this week I went to a visioning class. Visioning works on the principle that you can create the life you want by having crystal clear images in your mind. Essentially, if you can see in your mind what you want in your life, it will come to you. Many teachers talk about this in slightly different forms but really its all the same idea. If anyone has read The Secret or seen What the Bleep Do We Know?, it's that same theme of we can create what we want for ourselves just by being very clear about what we want. This is the part where things would always get a little blurry for me. In class we were instructed to have "ideas" in this case. For example, I really want a great job. Then you would think about all the things that job would entail. I see myself working from home, I see myself having an abundant life, I see myself happy and fulfilled with my work, etc. Our thoughts determine our words, our words determine our actions and our actions determine our life. It was a great class for me and helped me to formulate a great vision of what I want my life to look like six months from now, and it's going to be pretty darn wonderful!