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 |   My thoughts/experiences/feelings/beliefs, depending on my mood. Blah, blah, blog. |
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** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only **  Winner of "Best Blog of 2011" for "The Quills"  . Previous winner of "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Round 1. A big, heartfelt thank-you to all of my fans and supporters!  Welcome to the randomness, silliness, craziness, and all-around tomfoolery – what a great word that isn't used nearly enough – that is my blog. Don't get me wrong, it isn't always silly and crazy. Sometimes it's serious or sad but, more often than not, it's comical. Nonetheless, it is always entertaining. I try to see the fun in life. I'll add to it as much as I can so make sure you check back often.  Feel free to leave a comment or review to let me know you stopped by.  DISCLAIMER: If you are someone who gets offended easily, then you shouldn't go any further. I'm up-front, to-the-point, sarcastic and honest (sometimes brutally so). I tell it like it is, or the way I think it is. If you don't get offended very easily, then you've come to the right blog. All are welcome. The fun is free! My life is an open book blog. Hilarity and chaos ensue... ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| I got this from one of my co-workers. What is wrong with people? http://www.dlisted.com/node/24525 |
| I just finished making my famous, homemade Irish Cream. I have to take it in to work for a St. Patrick's Day party we are having. My Irish Cream was a special request from many of my co-workers. I thought I'd share the recipe in case any of you would like to make this for any St. Patrick's Day parties you'll be attending. Daly's Irish Cream 1 1/4 cups whiskey (I always use Jameson) 2 14 oz cans of sweetened condensed milk 1 1/4 cups of heavy cream 4 eggs 2 tbsp chocolate syrup 1 tbsp caramel syrup 1 tsp instant coffee granules 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp almond extract 1 tbsp Godiva white chocolate liqueur Mix all ingredients in a blender. Keep refrigerated and shake well before serving. This will keep in the fridge for 1 month.  Just a little warning for you. This should be done as a shot and not as a full drink. It's very good and you can't really taste the alcohol so I've seen people try to drink this as a drink instead of a shot. They end up regretting that because it'll knock you on your ass!  |
| My husband has been away on business the last two days (he'll be home later tonight). I did cook for myself last night but, tonight, I just didn't feel like it. I stopped and got myself a salad on my way home from work. I love salad and I am trying to eat better and take better care of myself. It's one of my New Year's resolutions. I'm having my salad with a delectable glass of red wine. Is it me or is red wine one of the best things ever?! That makes me sound like an alcoholic, doesn't it? Just to clarify, I'm not an alcoholic. Not that there's anything wrong with that. So I was talking to the girls, via e-mail, about our "Girls Night 'In'" that we had on Saturday night. Here's what they had to say, just some highlights of the conversation... From Theresa (she hosted this time & Greg is her husband; he is always saying that I'm his "favorite" of all of Theresa's friends): "Oh, and Julie. Greg fell in love with you all over again. I believe the exact terminology was “Julie has a kickin’ little figure” – I heard that for most of the day yesterday. I almost sent him over to your house. LOL! He LOVED that you had Smack That across your butt. Ha ha" From Tonia: "Yeah, Jules – I am going to starve myself for a month & then we can hang out again. . . OR, just don’t stand next to me when we get together. . . I felt like a giant barber pole next to you! You look great!" Maybe my New Year's resolution of taking better care of myself and eating right is working. Or it could just be good friends making me feel better when I was down. I love my friends so much. I really don't know what I'd do without them. |
| Something tells me it's not as bad as this... http://glumbert.com/wii/view.php?name=baddayoffice How funny is that? |
Is it me or does it seem like this is the longest Winter in history? I'm sure it is just me. I say this every year. I'm not a cold weather person at all so I definitely live in the wrong part of the country. I do see light at the end of the tunnel though. Spring is just a few weeks away and since we turned the clocks ahead yesterday, the days are getting a little longer each day. I can't wait for the cold and dreariness of Winter to exit stage left. I'm a summer baby at heart and can't wait to bask in the sun and swim in my pool. The highlights on the news said we're going to get snow flurries tonight. Great.  |
Girl's Night (aka "Best Date Night Ever") was a lot of fun last night, except for the minor incident I had where one of my friends made me laugh while I was taking a sip of wine. The wine ended up coming out of my nose.  Tonia, Theresa, Lisa & I had a blast! We really need to do that more often. I took "loaded dice" with me. I found them when I was in the mall yesterday afternoon and they looked like fun. There are 4 dice, all in varying shades of brown, with different "instructions" on each side. You roll all 4 dice together and then follow the directions from the darkest to the lightest shade of brown. For example, you could end up with this: last player to touch their nose, take a swig, in slow motion, then do a dance. Or you could get: player of your choice, slurp, on your knees, after giving a toast. Those are just a few of the many, hilarious combinations. Obviously, the more we drank, the more fun we had with this game. I think that game was the best $4.99 I ever spent! We had way too much food, TONS of wine (not a bad thing at all) and spent the evening casual (sweat pants/sweat shirts are the required dress code for these events) and spent the evening making great conversation and sharing many laughs. Theresa hosted and once her husband Greg came home and saw the sweat pants I had on (they said "smack that" on the butt) he, of course, felt obliged to do just that. LOL A good time was had by all. I know that, after the stressful week I've had (see my blog entry "Invalid Entry" ), I really needed last night. There is nothing more therapuetic than good times with great friends! Thanks girls!! |
| Don't you just love weekends? They are the greatest! I look forward to them all week long. Even though it's a rainy, dreary, blah day (and it's been that way since yesterday), I'm still so glad it's the weekend. Last night I went to happy hour with some co-workers (friends). We usually do that on Friday nights, or most days that end in "y". We have a typical place we go to, where "everybody knows our names". We dominate the foosball table while we're there too. It's always a good time and a great way to end the work week. No one could stay very long last night. We all had other obligations. I had to leave by 6:30 to head to the school where my niece & nephew go to watch them perform in their annual "Irish Night" show. It was so adorable! She's in third grade, he's in first grade. Now today I've got some things to do around the house, food shopping to do and then tonight...are you ready for this? Tonight is the "Best Date Night Ever" with my friends Tonia and Theresa. We try to do this every so often. Theresa is hosting this time. We basically just "veg" out for the night - hang out in our sweats, drink wine, eat great food and talk about anything and everything that comes to mind. That's right folks, the men are on their own this evening! It's going to be so much fun tonight. I can't wait. Have a great weekend! |
| I will try to keep this short but it's been a rough day and I just need to get this out. If you've looked at the work I've posted on here so far, you know that my father passed away. Well, my mother did too, almost 3 years ago. After my mother died, I was appointed as the administrator of her estate so I handled selling her house, selling her car, all of her final expenses, etc. The year before she died, she was in a car accident. The accident was her fault. Fortunately, injuries were minimal. It turns out that the worthless piece of garbage that she hit is now suing. He waited until the very last day (he had 2 years from the date of the accident to sue). She had been dead for 1 year and 2 months at the time he decided to sue. When they tried serving her, they found out she had passed away. It took them a few months to locate her death certificate and the short certificate (it's all public record) and find out that I was the administrator of her estate. Then I was served. Where is the justice in this? This has been an on-going battle. Meetings with lawyers, taking time off work for these meetings, depositions, etc. I had to take the day off today to go to court for an arbitration hearing. The arbitrators determined that most of his injuries were NOT legitimate. The only one they found to be credible from the accident was so minor, they came up with a dollar amount for settlement. It wasn't a big dollar amount. I know it certainly was a heck of a lot less than he was looking for but the arbitrators all but said that they think he's a phony. He has 30 days to accept or reject the amount. If he rejects it, then we go to trial and this gets dragged out even further. When will this end? When will I finally be through with doing things for my mom's estate? And, I suppose, the most important question, is when will my mother be able to rest in peace? |
| Today is a huge day in politics, with primaries in Vermont, Rhode Island, Ohio and Texas. Some are referring to it as "Junior" Super Tuesday. After today's polls close and the votes are counted, the Democratic and Republican nominees could be decided. No matter what your party affliation is, or even if you're an independent, any way you look at it, this will be an historic election, with the potential to have either our first female president or our first African American president. I think it will be interesting to see the outcome. I'm not going to rant about one particular party or candidate. I am registered to a party but that doesn't mean I only vote for that party. I like to stay educated on the issues each candidate takes a stand on. I watch debates, the news, read articles, etc. I'd like to think I'm quite a savvy voter but my problem is this: we live in the greatest country on Earth, yet I feel that, whenever I vote, I'm not necessarily voting for the best person. I'm voting for the lesser of two evils. I'm essentially voting against the candidate I dislike the most. How sad is that? |
| What is it about comfort food that's so...comforting? Last night for dinner I made Thanksgiving Dinner. No, my calendar isn't 3+ months off. I just mean I made turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, gravy and cranberry sauce for dinner. There was no special occasion and it was only my husband and I for dinner. The dinner was fabulous, if I do say so myself. My husband enjoyed it also. It wasn't just good food, it was good conversation too. Which brings me back to my question: why is comfort food so comforting? Last night's dinner, reminded us of the many Thanksgiving Dinner's we've hosted. All the wonderful memories of friends and family. I suppose that's part of it. Tonight I made homemade chicken soup for dinner. My hubby came down with a cold so I thought it would be "comforting" for him. Growing up, mom always fed us chicken soup when we were sick, right? He said it definitely made him feel better. So is it the food that comforts, or the memories we associate with those foods that make us feel all warm and fuzzy? |
It's Sunday morning and I'm exhausted. I should be feeling refreshed. Weekends are for relaxing, aren't they? The work week is hectic enough, trying to balance work, home, family, friends and anything else that might pop up unexpectedly. That's what life is all about, I suppose. It's random. We never know what's coming. There's always something to do...whether it's something we want to do or something we have to do is irrelevant. So, again, it's Sunday morning. I wanted to sleep in but couldn't. It was a busy weekend, running from here to there with errands, etc. Don't get me wrong, Friday and Saturday nights were spent having fun with friends & family, something I wanted to do, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm tired after two very late nights. I'm not complaining. I'm just trying to make my point. How do we keep up with the craziness, yet manage to stay grounded, well-rested and still maintain enough "me" time to keep ourselves sane? If you Google the phrase "work/life balance" you'll get hundreds of hits from people giving advice on how to deal with it.  I think I can sum it up very simply by saying that this is life, actually. And I wouldn't want it any other way. |
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