%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |   My thoughts/experiences/feelings/beliefs, depending on my mood. Blah, blah, blog. |
|
** 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 ** |
This entry is brought to you by, "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Blogging Challenge Day 3 Prompt: Today’s prompt is courtesy of our blog challenge host, 30DBC Creator/Founder  ."When you are writing, do you prefer to use a pen or a computer?" Today’s prompt totally made me think of “is the pen mightier than the sword?” Of course, once that popped into my head, it was inevitable that the Geico commercial came to mind. If you’re not familiar with that commercial, here’s a link. It makes me laugh every time I see it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcZd-ql7t1I This prompt was more difficult than you might think. In this computer age, you would assume that the easy answer is the computer. That’s not really the case with me. Don’t get me wrong, I love my laptop immensely, especially since I got a new one from Santa.  There are times, though, that my muse “speaks” and I’m not near a computer. I have my iPhone that I use to jot things down as well, but sometimes that’s not handy either. Case in point, at night when I’m trying to sleep. I don’t know about you guys, but that’s when my muse usually likes to pay me a visit. I always keep a journal and pen on my night table so that I can write down ideas that come up during the night. Plus, there’s just something about actually writing rather than typing. Am I alone here?I will caveat this by saying that the majority of my writing is still done on the computer or on my iPhone. That’s mostly due to convenience. I guess you could say that while I prefer the pen, I typically use my computer for writing. Did any of you think I’d actually have an easy answer?   In Other News  Well, today was the first day back to work after the long, 4-day holiday weekend. I only worked 3 days last week, and 4 days the week before (between vacation days and the company holidays). Luckily, since yesterday was our official company holiday, it’s only a 4-day week this week also. Next week though, is going to be a bitch working 5-days.  It was a productive day at work, as usual. I got my flights, hotel and travel arrangements made. For those of you that don’t already know this, I have to travel to Chicago for a client meeting. Nothing beats having to travel to an exotic getaway like Chicago in the middle of January.   I fly out on January 16th, have dinner with the client that night, a 3-hour meeting at their offices the next day and fly back the night of the 17th. Initially, it was looking like I wasn’t going to be able to get a flight back here until the morning of the 18th, but our corporate travel company was able to find me something so I don’t have to spend that extra night in the “windy city”. Sporting News  Well, the Flyers did what Philly teams always do when nationally televised. They lost yesterday’s NHL Winter Classic, 3-2. It was a good game though and so awesome seeing them play outdoors. It even started to snow during the game. I hate snow, but that was really cool to see. I don’t care what Fivesixer  says about the best Winter Classic being the first one in his hometown. The one yesterday was pretty f-n’ cool! I just wish the Flyers had won. Music, Music, Music  It’s a short entry today, folks. I’m about to leave work and meet one of my best friends for dinner. I’m looking forward to it. She works in retail so you can imagine what her work schedule has been like because of the holidays. This is the first time in I don’t even know how long that we’ve been able to hang out. I’ve missed her! I will leave you with the song the Flyers love. They play this in their locker room when they win. If you’ve been watching HBO's 24/7, you’ll be familiar with it. That show is phenomenal, by the way. I’m sad that this Thursday will be the last episode now that the Winter Classic is over. Even though the FlyGuys lost yesterday, they still deserve this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bMmhKz6KXg Have a great night, and I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow! By the way, I apologize for any spelling/grammar errors or weird formatting in this entry. No time to proofread, so I hope you can forgive me.    Happy New Year!   |
This entry is brought to you by, "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Blogging Challenge Day 2 Prompt: Today’s prompt is courtesy of our chief, 30DBC Creator/Founder ."2012 to others is a tragic year since it is associated with end of days. Express your sentiments on this." Well, it sure didn't take long for this prompt to pop up. Why do I get the whole "been there, done that" feeling? Oh, that's right, I have been there. Twice. You may remember these two entries of mine:"Invalid Entry" - written in July during Round 1 of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" "Invalid Entry" - written in May, the last time the world was supposed to end.I encourage you to read both of those entries, and the comments, especially on that May entry. If I do say so myself, it's quite hilarious, including the comments. I do have some news for all of you. The world is going to end.  However, we're probably several billion years away from that happening. All of these 'end of days' prophecies are total horse shit, in my opinion. We're all going to be right here on December 22, 2012.On the winter solstice, December 21, 2012, the noonday Sun exactly conjuncts the crossing point of the sun's ecliptic with the galactic plane, while also closely conjuncting the exact the center of the galaxy. You guys all know I'm a nerd and I love astronomy. What does all of that mean in lamen's terms? The Sun will be at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. That's it, folks. As far as it being the end of the Mayan calendar, all that means is that their calendar starts all over again. Much like we change our calendars every year. They weren't predicting the end, literally. It's just their way of flipping the calendar over, like we all do on January 1. SO STOP DRINKING THE KOOL AID, PEOPLE! All of the nuts out there that are preaching that day to be our "doomsday" are just that: fucking crazy. If you haven't been able to tell, I'm a bit sick of hearing about (and having to talk about) this particular subject.Sorry, Earl, I love ya dearly, buddy - you know that - and I totally get why you chose this prompt. It gets people fired up so it is a good prompt, simply for that reason. When writers get fired up about something (whether they are for it or against it), they write. I will say that I'm really looking forward to the first "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" after December 21, 2012. At least then I'll know that this will not be one of the damn prompts! I will end the prompt-based portion of today's entry with this, if the world does happen to end on December 21, 2012 (or at anytime during our lifetime), we'll all be dead so what the Hell do we care? If, and that's a big IF, it's going to happen, there is nothing we can do about it. If you're too busy stressing out/worrying/preparing for the end of the world, you're going to miss out on living your life to the fullest. That is my 2 cents on the matter. You can keep the change. Here is an article that may calm some fears for those that do believe the world will end on 12/21/2012. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html Random Crap Here are a few pictures from a New Year's Eve party we went to. The first one is a pic of my husband and I. He would murder me if he knew I posted it. He gave me shit for posting it on Facebook. The hat he's wearing does sort of look like a dunce cap, doesn't it? Hahahaha! The other pic is with me and few of my friends. Shayne is on the left. The party was at her house. My very pregnant friend, Donna, is in the middle.    Sporting News The NHL Winter Classic is today, and it's here in Philly. WOOHOO!!! Game time was changed from 1PM to 3PM because they felt that the weather conditions would be better at 3. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it is for the people who have to regulate that ice outside. That has to be one Hell of a daunting task, but it's so cool to see hockey played outside.  There was also some big news last night. Flyers head coach, Peter Laviolette, has benched goalie Ilya Bryzgalov for the Winter Classic. Bryzgalov hasn't been doing so well lately so there has been a lot of speculation in recent weeks that he wouldn't start the Winter Classic. It's not surprising news, but it is, if that makes sense. That means that Sergei Bobrovsky, affectionately known as "Bob", will be our starting goalie today. We'll have to wait and see how this pans out. Let's go Flyers! Music, Music, Music I will leave you all with the songs I had in the two entries I linked to at the beginning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzU9OrZlKb8 - if Mike~Dolphins Fan 4 Life  is reading this, his head may explode with this song. I have a sneaky suspicion he's not a fan of hers, although, she is a cute girl so he might like the video...on mute. I have a feeling that these next 3 songs are more Mike-approved. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA-bP5fZwR0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7xv8ruOUDs Happy New Year! |
This entry is brought to you by, "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Blogging Challenge Day 1 Prompt: Today’s prompt is courtesy of our fearless leader, 30DBC Creator/Founder ."What makes you happy this New Year?" First and foremost, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  I hope you have a safe, happy and healthy new year. I also wish you lots of inspiration for all your endeavors in 2012, especially when it comes to writing. And now, back to our regularly scheduled program... I could have taken the easy way out with this prompt (no offense to those who take that route), but I'm not going to do that. You guys know me too well for me to tackle today's prompt by saying, "my family, my friends, my health, my job...blah, blah, blah". In my opinion those things are a given. Of course they make me happy. Not listing them as part of this prompt in no way means that I take any of them for granted, especially family and friends. Believe me, they know how much I love them, and how thankful I am for them. I tell them every day. So what makes me happy this New Year? Those who inspire us to be better people through their courage, their beliefs, their strengths and even their weaknesses. The people who teach us a very valuable lesson without even realizing they're doing it. These individuals unite us and inspire simply because they believe that there is more to life than meets the eye. They make us believe. I was inspired by one such individual earlier this week. Perhaps you heard about him as well because his story has been all over the news. His name was Ben Breedlove. He was an 18-year-old kid from Texas, and he was a bit of an internet sensation. He did blogs (actually vlogs) on YouTube. His vlogs dealt with everyday life. He would answer questions and dispense advice for anything and everything, including dating and relationships. This kid was wise beyond his years. You may be thinking, so what? Well, to say that his vlogs were popular is quite the understatement. He had 3 separate vlogs. One had about 60,000 subscribers, one had around 20,000 subscribers, and the third one was just created on December 18, 2011. One week before he died. He passed away on Christmas night. This larger than life 18-year-old suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a muscle heart disease which made it difficult for his heart to pump blood, ultimately leading to cardiac issues. His doctor believed that he would not survive past his early teenage years. His third vlog channel, entitled TotalRandomness512, houses 2 videos which he created on December 18th, exactly one week before his death. The 2-part video is titled, "This is my story". They are both silent with only music playing in the background. The remarkable thing about these videos is that he uses flash cards to tell his story of cheating death 3 times. Unfortunately, the 4th time he faced death, just one week after making the 2-part video, he was not able to cheat it. As I mentioned above, he passed away on Christmas night at the home he shared with his parents and siblings, where family and friends were gathering for Christmas dinner. When the news of his death hit, his 2 videos that tell his story went viral. And, by "viral", I mean that they have become an international sensation with over 2.3 million views worldwide. Why? Because this amazing 18-year-old kid gives us hope, and something to believe in. As someone who has also cheated death, I can absolutely relate to, and I wholeheartedly agree with, his videos. If you have not watched them, I hope you'll take a few minutes to do so now. The first one is 3 minutes and 59 seconds. Part 2 is 3 minutes and 17 seconds. I can assure you that it's 7 minutes and 16 seconds of your life that is worth spending. Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmlTHfVaU9o Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4LSEXsvRAI Thank you, Ben, for sharing your incredible story. I do believe in God and angels, and I know you are now happy, and at peace, as you walk among them. In Other News Apparently, it's a holiday or something. I hope everyone enjoyed safely ringing in the New Year. We had a very low-key New Year's Eve, and that was just what we wanted. Initially, we were just going to go out for a nice dinner, and come back home to ring in the New Year with our doggie and some champagne, but my girlfriend Shayne and her husband decided on Friday that they wanted to have a few people over. They invited us so we went there. It was still very low-key, maybe about 10 of us there. It was perfect. It seems like no one really wanted to go "all out" for the celebration this year. Maybe it's the economy, maybe it's the fact that we're all getting older , or maybe it just isn't that much of a big deal anymore. I don't know, but I'm totally OK with keeping it low key.Well, I'm doing it again. That's right, boys and girls, today is Day 1 of Round 3 of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" . I'm either overly ambitious or out of my mind. It's a toss-up. I will say that I'm not going to be as anal as I was about Round 1 (in July). For starters, it's just a busy time of year. Work is still a bit nuts, although it's slowing down and not nearly as nuts as October and November, there's still a lot going on. It's the holidays, too, and even though they're technically over, there will still be some family/friend gatherings in addition to the massive undertaking of taking down all of the Christmas decorations. I love Christmas so it's very sad for me to take them down.  I also found out a little over a week ago that I'll be traveling mid-month. I have to go to Chicago for a client meeting from January 16-18. How does that pertain to this challenge? Well, I'll most likely miss entries while I'm away. It is what it is, you know. Hopefully my other entries are good enough to make up for any entries I might miss. Sporting News There's no hockey emoticon and that annoys me.  There's a lot of hockey news around these here parts. The NHL Winter Classic is being held here in Philadelphia this year. They turned our baseball stadium, Citizens Bank Park, into an outdoor hockey arena. Yesterday was the alumni game, and it was awesome. It was amazing to see the hockey heroes, that I grew up worshipping, out there on the ice together. My all-time favorite Flyer was Eric Lindros. I loved him! I wanted to marry him (he's only a few years older than me). I met his dad once and told him I wanted to marry his son. He laughed and said, "That would be wonderful. Eric needs a nice girl." Obviously, that never panned out, but I digress. I never thought I'd see him wearing the orange and black again, but he did yesterday, and he did a fine job doing so. The Flyers alumni beat the Rangers alumni, of course. Tomorrow is the Winter Classic game, where I hope, my current Fly Guys will beat up on the Rangers.  Obituaries Since I used his story for my prompt today, how could I not mention Ben Breedlove here? He was born on August 8, 1993, and he died of cardiac arrest on the night of December 25, 2011, at the age of 18. He was a senior at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. His memorial service the other day, drew quite a crowd. Here's an article, if you'd like to read about it. http://abcnews.go.com/US/ben-breedlove-1500-attend-memorial-service/story?id=152... There was also a death here in the WDC community. On Friday morning, Sticktalker  passed away. Lyle was a great man who has had such a positive influence on our wonderful community. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. Thank you for everything, Lyle. You will be missed. Plugs, Props & Other Things Worth Mentioning You may have noticed some new artwork in my blog intro. Yep, I was awarded a 2011 Founders Award from Rising Stars. Not only am I honored to receive the award, I'm a bit humbled as well. I'm not sure what it is that I did to deserve it, but I'm grateful to receive it and be part of such an awesome group. My blog has also been nominated (several times over) for "The Quills" . Thank you very much to all those who have nominated me. Not only has my blog been nominated a number of times, but I have several other items that have been nominated. You guys ROCK! It's nice to know that people enjoy my writing. If you'd like to see the complete list of nominees in all categories, head on over to "Invalid Item" . You can nominate until mid-January. We need to get a few more blogs nominated or else no prize will be awarded so get nominating people! To nominate a blog (or anything else) drop a message in the forum, "The Quills" . Make sure that whatever you nominate meets the rules/guidelines outlined there.There is also a fun, little activity supporting a great cause. It's "Snowball Fight for R.A.O.K.! " . I've been relentlessly pursued and pelted with snowballs for several days now...and you guys know that I hate winter and snow! It's OK though, because it's raising GPs for R.A.O.K. so I don't mind. Go on over there and throw some snowballs at your friends.  Music, Music, Music I was trying to think of the perfect song to leave you with today. I wanted something with a good message that would properly kick off 2012. I decided on the song below for that very reason. It gives some great advice. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI&playnext=1&list=PLDEEE513672B9A69E Again, I wish you all a very Happy New Year. May your muse guide you in the write direction in 2012. Happy New Year! |
| Even though my ex-boyfriend was a total shithead (after all, an ex is an ex for a reason), he was always saying, “you have to pick and choose your battles.” Those are definitely words to live by. Every workplace has some difficult personalities to deal with. For the most part, I adore my co-workers. This is the best group of people I have ever worked with in my entire life. That’s not to say that we don’t have our disagreements now and then. The co-worker relationship is just like any other relationship we have in life. You don’t always get along. Whether it’s personality conflicts or someone is having a bad day and taking it out on everyone, it happens. On my team, we have an analyst that is quite the drama queen…and that is putting it mildly. She throws temper tantrums. No, I am not kidding. I can’t remember if I’ve given the breakdown of how our team structure works but, if I haven’t, you need to know it to really grasp this story. Each team here has the following: A manager – that’s my boss A Senior Analyst – yours truly 7 to 8 Analysts – the aforementioned drama queen is part of this crew An Associate Analyst As you’ve probably guessed, everyone reports up to the manager. Basically, the Senior role (me) is the go-between. My job is to be the Senior level resource for any questions, problems, technical assistance, etc. It feels like I'm 25% analyst, 25% technical support, 25% teacher/trainer (I do internal & external [client] training for all of our clients & analysts) and 25% guidance counselor/therapist/camp counselor/babysitter. I'm kidding, of course, but that's how it feels sometimes. Our manager is awesome, but she’s only 1 person and can’t be everywhere at once. Especially since all of the clients on my team (21 total) are going through open enrollment OE right now. I go to her with stuff that needs to be addressed by someone above my paygrade. Are ya with me so far? The drama queen had a tantrum yesterday because something didn't work the way she wanted it to. She's had this issue for the last 2 open enrollments. You'd think she'd remember since I told her to put in her OE documentation the last 2 years so that she'd have it. Of course she didn't do that because she's terrible when it comes to documentation. I'm the one that came up with the work-around for her to use and I've had to remind her of it each year. It takes an additional 2 minutes to do this work-around so she can do what she needs to do. Two effin' minutes. That's it. I even offered to help, or do it for her if she was too busy. Instead, I got a rant about how our system sucks and nothing works and no one's doing anything about it. Blah, blah, fucking blah. I don't care what system you're using, there will be bugs. That's a pretty basic law of programming. There is no way to code for every possible scenario. Look at all the issues with Windows and that's Bill Gates for cryin' out loud! Even this site that we all love so much...uhhh, The StoryMaster  , if you happen to be reading this, earmuffs blindfold , please...has some bugs. Eventually things get fixed. The bottom line is that her issue wasn't actually anything wrong. It has to do with her client's goofy ass logic. They are the only client that has the issue. That's why it hasn't been fixed...and won't be. For starters, my work-around is easy and it works. Plus, if the code is changed, it'll be broken for the other 60-some clients on our system.She didn't like my answer (more like "reminder" of what she needed to do). She told me she wasn't going to do it and that Tech Ops was just going to have to fix it and then she'd take care of what she needed to take care of for the client. I told her she'd be waiting for a long time and that she'd miss a major OE deliverable if she did that. I also reminded her that this client has performance guarantees and that her name is tied to this deliverable, so if she refuses to do this, it's on her. Mean? Maybe, but she pulls this crap all the time. It really isn't a big deal, especially when someone (me) offered to do it for her!  The moral of the story is that she has a job and it's a pretty damn good one. In this economy, that's really saying something. There are so many people either unemployed or underemployed that would love to have her job. She needs to put things into perspective. Sometimes you just have to pick and choose your battles. Sporting News How about that $250 million 10-year deal Albert Pujols signed with the Angels? Damn! The Angels? They came out of nowhere with this contract! I'm just glad he didn't sign with the Marlins. They've made some good moves in the off-season. They're in our division so it's going to make things difficult for my Phillies.As much as I disagree with how much athletes get paid, I'm glad it's him. He seems like a decent human being. Take a look at this blog entry that I wrote about him in April, "Invalid Entry" . At least some of his ENORMOUS paycheck will be put to good use. You know, it's like that blog entry I wrote was some kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. I wrote it in April. The Cardinals went on to win the World Series and now Pujols was just signed to that HUGE contract. Hey Albert, you're welcome! Jerry Sandusky was arrested again yesterday because another one of his victims came forward. He was wearing a Penn State jacket when they arrested him! Can you believe that? He's out on bail now. I was hoping they'd let him rot, after letting the other inmates torture him for a long, long time. What a piece of shit! Obituaries Harry Morgan died yesterday. Um, did anyone else think he was already dead?  We heard about it at work yesterday. I was like, "Isn't he already dead?" My co-worker was like, "No, he died today." I said, "Doesn't that make him, like 187 years old?!" She cracked up laughing. RIP Colonel Potter. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/arts/television/harry-morgan-mash-and-dragnet-...Dobie Gray also died yesterday. If you don't know who he is, this will help. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIuyDWzctgY&feature=fvsr Plugs, Props & Other Things Worth Mentioning Plug  Check out this awesome auction by Brooklyn  !
Props Special thanks to Andy (aka Jakrebs ) for "The Quills" nominations! You ROCK! We need to get some more blogs nominated. So far it's just me and Fivesixer . I think there needs to be at least 5 items nominated in each category.Other Things Worth Mentioning I got an e-mail from PatrickB . In the e-mail he has a survey to fill out for my profile as part of "Invalid Item" . The e-mail went to all of the project alumni. Anyway, one of the survey questions is the following:"Please select for us (1) static item you are most proud of as a showcase of your writing talent. This item can be any normal-sized static item under 5000 words. Flash fiction, short stories, novel chapters, essays, or poems all qualify. Please do not include interactives, contests, groups, surveys, or activities. This item will appear in your profile and pushed for review, so make sure it is the one you want. Also, please select an item that is stable in your portfolio and that is not likely to go invalid or private. There will be an opportunity at a later date to change this item to another." That's a lot of pressure, huh? I guess I need to go through my handy dandy table of contents, "Invalid Item" , & pick something. I hate having to pick something of my own. What do you guys think? Of the things I've written, do you have a favorite? There could be a merit badge in it for you if I decide to go with the item you suggest.Other Things Worth Mentioning This is a little bit of advice for my friend, Fivesixer . You should know better than to trash talk during a game. Before a game is OK. After a game is even better, if it's your team that won. During a game is not a good idea, as you found out last night in your entry, "This one's about my personal space, yo." . Didn't you learn anything from our bet during the playoffs? Tsk tsk! I have 2 words for you. Claude Giroux. Or simply Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!! as we like to call him here in the City of Brotherly Love. Those are just some words of advice for you. You know I'm always trying to help a brotha out. My thoughts & prayers go out to everyone at Virginia Tech. I can't believe they had another shooting spree there. It's so very sad & it broke my heart to hear about it. I'm going to leave you all with a 2 songs and 2 quotes. The quotes are for Christmas. Clark: "Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny fucking Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse." Ellen: "Clark, I think it'd be best if everyone went home... before things get worse." Clark: "WORSE?! How could things get any worse? Take a look around here, Ellen. We're at the threshold of Hell!" Clark [as an entourage of suits - lead by Clark's boss (Frank Shirley) - passes by single file]: "Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, kiss my ass. Kiss his ass. Kiss your ass. Happy Hanukkah." Both quotes are from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It's not only one of the greatest Christmas movies ever, it's one of the greatest movies ever. Period. That's some funny shit! Here's a non-Christmas song. It's one that I can't get out of my head right now. I love these guys. This song has special meaning. If you listen to the lyrics, you'll get it, especially if you know anything about what I've been through. Plus, the video is friggin' hilarious! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PkcfQtibmU Here is a Christmas song for you. It’s Bing Crosby minus the tap-dancing with Danny fucking Kaye part. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXcNfA4qebQ    Happy Holidays!!    |
 "You find beauty in ordinary things. Do not lose this ability." Â That was the fortune I got in a fortune cookie with my lunch yesterday. Is it true? Yes. Is it a fortune? Umm, not so much. What’s the weirdest/most ridiculous fortune you’ve ever received? The strangest I’ve received was actually a few months ago. I got a fortune cookie with no fortune. I guess that was someone’s way of telling me I’m unfortunate. Â I know I just wrote an entry on Sunday. You guys are probably wondering why I’m writing entries so close together, aren’t you? I mean, this hasn’t happened since July when I was participating in the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" . Well, folks, if (and that’s a big IF} I decided to sign up for Round 3, which begins on January 1, I figured I should start practicing. Â There are some rather annoying things going on that I figured I’d vent about. The Eagles…well, that goes without saying so I won’t because it’ll only get me fired up. They are a sorry excuse for a football team. Do you want to know what’s more annoying than that? Kidney stones. I have a feeling there’s something brewin’ there. For those of you that don’t know, I have kidney stones. Apparently, they are genetic. My dad had horrible problems with them when I was growing up. I inherited that problem from him. Thanks dad! I love you and miss you, but I would rather have inherited something other than kidney stones from you. It’s been 14 months since I have passed any stones. Every time I do, I end up getting a horrible kidney infection. There are lots and lots of stones taking up residence in my kidneys. You should see the films from the CAT scan and MRI I had 14 months ago during the last “attack”. I had to have those done because that attack was only a month and a half after another attack. Having them that close together is a bit of a concern so my urologist ordered the CAT scan and MRI to check out my kidneys. My kidneys look like snow globes (his words, not mine). He said it’s not unusual to have a lot of them and, in fact, most people do and don’t even realize it because nothing ever happens with them. See that, you may have kidney stones and not even know it! Anyway, there are some that are HUGE and my urologist said that if any of those ever decide to “move” they would have to go in and get them or break them up, depending on where they are. A few days ago I started having some pain in my lower back on the left. I really, really, REALLY hope it is not kidney related. I’m hoping maybe I just pulled something lifting heavy boxes of Christmas decorations. *fingers crossed*Â Late last week we got a “save the date” e-mail that our office Christmas party is December 15th. It’s nice that they do something, but it would have been nice to give us more than 2 weeks notice during the busiest time of the year. I actually had that day and the day before as scheduled days off. I’m trying to use up my time so I don’t lose it. I was going to keep both days off and just not go to the party. I go every year and it’s nice, but it’s nothing all that special. They typically buy us one drink and then we have to pay for anything else. It’s pretty much a happy hour where you get a free round. I didn’t think it would be a big deal if I didn’t attend. Like I said, I go every year and there are lots of people that don’t attend because they are either off (like I was supposed to be) or they have other plans. It’s never been a big deal. My boss asked me if I would either consider keeping the day off but still coming in for the party or switching my day off because they “would really like for me to be there”. I’m not sure what that is all about because I’m nothing special, that’s for sure. I changed my day off because there is no way in Hell I’d come into the city on my day off just to go to a work happy hour. I like my co-workers a lot, but like I said, our Christmas party isn’t really anything special. I’m still baffled as to why they’re so concerned about me being there. Â Here is something that I know you can all relate to. This poem Â
 Received honorable mention in the Traditional Poetry Contest for November. Last week, it was one of the featured items for review for Simply Positive. It had a quite a few reviews before that, but it got a lot because of that. Let me preface this by saying that I know I’m not a great writer. Believe me I know that. Here is what I don’t understand. That poem had 23 reviews before yesterday. Of those 23 reviews, 7 of them were 4.5 Stars and 16 of them were 5 Stars. That had the overall rating on the poem (when you look at the item) at an even 5 Stars. That’s nice to see, isn’t it? Well, I got a review on it yesterday. It was a short review and there’s nothing wrong with those. It basically said that the poem was short but meaningful and must have been written for my special someone. That was it, literally less than 100 characters. He even sent GPs along with his review. Would anyone like to guess what the rating was that came along with this stellar review? A 3.5 which, knocked my overall rating down to a 4.5. Again, I’m not saying that I’m this spectacular writer. I know I am not. I don’t care if you give me a 2 but tell me why you’re doing so! A good review points out what works and what doesn’t work in a piece. It just angers me when I get reviews like that. How are we to improve as writers if we don’t have an audience to tell us what they liked and what they didn’t like. Tell me it sucked, I don’t care, just have a valid reason to offer me as to why it sucked so bad. Grrrr, can you tell this really annoys the shit out of me? OK, I'll quit complaining now. It's annoying and not like me (usually). As I mentioned in Sunday's entry, we put up our Christmas tree over the weekend! Here it is!  Isn't it pretty? I love my tree! I could look at it for hours. Yes, I know, I'm a sentimental sap. I apologize for any typos, formatting issues or broken links. I'm at work, which blocks pretty much every internet site imaginable, including WDC so I'm doing this on my CrackBerry BlackBerry. The reason I needed a break is partially due to my crazy-ass cube neighbor. This is him, http://www.newwaveinstruments.com/humor/misc/computer_grief.htm . How funny is that? It actually fits him to a T! This guy is insane! He's very entertaining though. We laugh at him (he knows it) & he laughs at himself, too. Sometimes, though, it gets old and I get a little sick of hearing it. Well, break is over. I really should get back to work. I'll leave you with this holiday song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz14kiY4vPY&feature=related Happy Holidays!! |
| Hey all, how is everyone? I'm dropping by with a quick entry because, unfortunately, that's all I have time for. I just wanted you guys to know I'm still alive. It was (another) hectic week at work. That's not really a surprise since it's still our busy season and I had a 5-day weekend for the holiday last weekend. I paid for it for this week! I did, however, find the time to squeeze in a Dyeing Winos ("dye" as in hair dye, not "die" as in dead). For those of you that are new around these here parts, Dyeing Winos is awesome. Several of my girlfriends and I are friends with our hairdresser. In fact, said hairdresser lives 2 streets over from my best friend, Theresa. Our hairdresser, Tara, does our cut/color at home because it's cheaper...and it's wayyyyyy more fun. Yup, this is where the "winos" part comes in to play. You guessed it - food, alcohol, friends, gossip and we get our hair 'did'. It's always a fun night. And I needed it! My roots were so bad I think I was starting to scare small children.I got a call from my uncle in California the other day. He settled my grandmom's estate. He has some things I need to look over and sign. I'm acting on behalf of my mom, since I was the administrator of my mom's estate when she passed away. He said I'll also be getting a check. It's not much of anything. She was in a home for the last 2 years of her life. If you know anything about those places, you pretty much have to sign everything over to them to pay for it because nursing homes are not covered by insurance. So anyway there isn't much, but it will help with our Christmas shopping. I feel bad about it. I don't feel that I'm entitled to anything, but it is what it is. What else is there? Oh, our dishwasher died this weekend WHILE IT WAS RUNNING!!! That was one Hell of a mess to clean up. Just my friggin' luck! If it wasn't for bad luck, I swear I'd have no luck at all. Well, we're now in the process of shopping for a damn dishwasher. It's just in time for Christmas, too. So, have any of you bought a dishwasher recently? We think we have it narrowed down to either a Whirlpool or a Bosch, but it would be nice to know someone that recently purchased one they could recommend.We got the Christmas tree up today - YAY!!! I love Christmas...and I really love my tree. It's older than I am and some of the ornaments are as well. I got the tree and ornaments we had growing up. My parents always said it would go to me after they were gone. Plus, I had a lot of my own ornaments anyway. My godparents started buying me a Christmas tree ornament as part of my Christmas present every year since I was born. I think that's a very nice tradition, don't you? I now do the same thing for my godchildren. Plugs, Props & Other Things Worth Mentioning Stop on by the Advent Calendar for a chance to win some great prizes. All you have to do is write a post in the forum every day. Winners are determined by a roll of the virtual dice. Check it out, read the rules and then leave a note in the forum. It really can't get any easier to try to win prizes (mainly GPs)!
Why not help out everyone's favorite, jolly old elf by becoming a Secret Santa? If you sign up, you'll be given someone that you'll anonymously give things to and you'll also get a Secret Santa yourself! It's a win-win! Check it out and sign up. You have until December 11 to sign up. I have already signed up. If you do, too, you never know, I could end up being your Secret Santa.
Nominate, nominate, nominate!!! Do you have a favorite author, favorite contest/activity, and/or a favorite piece of writing? If so, why not nominate them? You have until mid-January to make nominations.
While you’re at it, check out some of the nominations so far. I think you guys will be pleased when you see that some of the nominations are YOU!
Guess what else? It looks like our buddy 30DBC Creator/Founder is firing up the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" again. It starts January 1. Who’s in? I think I may participate again.Well, folks, I'm beat so I'm going to end it here. This entry is longer than I thought it was going to be. You will note that I did not mention the Eagles and that is because THEY FUCKING SUCK! Season over. Here’s a little holiday diddy for ya. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEvGKUXW0iI Is anyone else now thinking about the pool dream sequence in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation? Happy Holidays!! |
Hey all! How was everyone’s Thanksgiving (for those of you that celebrate it)? Mine was fabulous...or tryptophabulous, as my title says! Isn't the tryptophan-induced turkey coma awesome? I was quite busy (I host) for days before and, of course, the day of. Here is a picture of my dessert table. Two pies, 2 batches of cinnamon buns, Guinness gingerbread, pumpkin bread pudding, Irish Cream and vanilla ice cream. All of it was homemade, including the Irish Cream and ice cream. So yeah, I may have gone a little overboard, but I love doing it. Here’s a picture of my dining room tables before they were set. They were missing some chairs, too. We had to bring up folding chairs from the basement to accommodate everyone. I wanted to get a picture of the table before it got destroyed.  I should have taken a picture after dinner also, but I forgot. Yesterday, we started our Christmas decorating. We finished the outside.  It looks pretty nice, huh? I love this time of year! Can you tell? Today we’ll be starting on the indoor decorations. Yay! What can I say, I’m a kid at heart. Speaking of Christmas, I need to start my Christmas shopping. I’m trying to figure out what to get for my husband. There’s nothing he needs so I’m trying to come up with a good idea(s), something unique, something cool…something he’ll like. I did a Google search earlier and came across a website that has some weird shit. There are some funny things, such as… http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/f-bomb-paperweight Who doesn’t drop the occasional f-bomb? http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/writers-block This would be an ideal gift for those of us who are writers. Of course, my husband isn’t, but I thought I’d share this since I found it humorous. I think writer’s block is something we can all sympathize with. http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/matchbox-toilet-paper-dispenser Who doesn’t enjoy a little potty humor? But, seriously, is anyone actually buying this crap? Needless to say, I will not be purchasing any of these. I got a chuckle out of them so I thought I’d pass along the fun. What do you guys do for the difficult gifts? Do you try to get creative or do you take the easy way out and simply get a gift card? While we’re at it, does anyone have ideas/suggestions for what I can get my husband for Christmas? If you come up with something good, and I end up buying it for him, there’s a merit badge in it for you. To get you all in the holiday spirit, I'll leave you with one of my favorite Christmas songs ever. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lQZ_7dgEa8 Happy Holidays!! |
| Is anyone else completely fed up with this whole Occupy thing? I get it. I really, really do. The protests have focused on social and economic inequality, high unemployment, greed, as well as corruption, and the undue influence of corporations—particularly that of the financial services sector—on government. Believe me, I am one of the 99%. I agree with everything they stand for, but enough is enough! The Occupiers here in Philly have accomplished the following: 1. Put a halt to a multi-million dollar scheduled construction because they won't move out of their camp. Doesn't this sort of go against what they're protesting? Since the construction can't start, there are TONS of construction workers currently unemployed. 2. Like most cities, Philly is feeling the wrath of a bad economy also. There have been lay-offs to police officers and firefighters due to budget cuts. With the thousands of Occupiers camping out, there has been a lot of overtime by law and fire officials who need to protect them. What do you think all of that overtime pay is going to cause? I'm sure we'll be seeing more lay-offs in the near future. Again, sort of goes against their beliefs now doesn't it? 3. They have wreaked havoc on traffic in Center City Philly. Now, only those that live here know how awful that traffic already is without their protests blocking it further. 4. You can smell them from blocks away. It is DISGUSTING!  After all, these people are living in tents. There are no showers, no toilets, no running water of any kind. They are "doing their business" right out in the open leaving their campsite a sesspool of sewage and their own filth. I'm sure there are a number of other complaints that I either haven't thought of or don't know about. I'm lucky because my office is a bit removed from their campsite, but some of them have ventured down to the area I'm in for food. I'm not kidding when I say you can smell them, even when they walk by. Bleh. Wouldn't their protest be much more effective if they used their influence some other way? Surely there has to be a lot of creative genius among these protestors. How about putting their heads together and starting up an organization that would compete with those financial institutions that they're protesting? Hit 'em where it hurts, you know? Maybe occupying a desk would do something to help the greater good. Creating jobs would certainly help diminish their anguish over a big chunk of their grievances. Maybe while they're at it, they could occupy a damn shower, too! Plugs and Props Major huge ENORMOUS props go out to Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. They both kept their promises by attending the Marine Corps Ball. This started over the summer when a Marine stationed in Afghanistan made a YouTube video to invite Mila Kunis. Justin Timberlake told his "Friends with Benefits" co-star she needed to support our military and do it. Shortly after that, a female Marine made Justin put his money where his month is when she invited him to another ball. I think it is absolutely fucking phenomenal that these celebrities are able to take a step back, do what's right and show their support of our country and the troops who fight to protect it. Their selflessness should be an example to the selfish celebrities out there who don't give a damn about anyone but themselves. Mila and Justin, thank you for showing us that there are still good people in Hollywood. If you'd like to read a little more about it, here's an article, http://movies.yahoo.com/news/mila-kunis-attends-marine-corps-ball-n-c-190513368.... Mila Kunis, of course, looked stunning. She really is a pretty girl.Well, folks, that's about all I've got. I'll be watching my Eagles tonight on Sunday Night Football. I'm hoping for another Miracle at the Meadowlands, but I doubt it's going to happen. There's always hope though. It is the holidays, after all. A time for dreams, wishes and miracles to come true. Speaking of the holidays, this is going to be a busy week so, just in case I'm not able to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving (for those of you that celebrate it), HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!  I host Thanksgiving every year so this is going to be a chaotic week for me because work is still nuts also. Oh well...I'm going to leave you with an awesome song that I just can't seem to get out of my head right now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU5o6M7S5nQ&ob=av2e And, like that song says... "Boy we go together like peanuts and paydays and Marley and reggae And everybody needs to get a chance to say Oh, this is how it starts, lightning strikes the heart It goes off like a gun, brighter than the sun Oh, we could be the stars, falling from the sky Shining how we want, brighter than the sun" Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are stars that shine brighter than the sun.  |
| The Eagles officially suck. So much for Vince Young's "Dream Team". Nightmare Team maybe, but definitely not a dream team! To add insult to injury, Andy Reid benched DeSean Jackson for today's game. Why, you ask? Because the asshole was late for a team meeting yesterday. His alarm didn't go off. Come oooooon, really DeSean? Is anyone else reminded of this Jean-Paul Jean-Paul episode of Seinfeld? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA_UfZnqBco Weak, DeSean...really, really weak! The Eagles are falling apart at the seams. Horrible penalties, terrible offense and a lackluster defense. At this point, I just want the season over because it's simply too painful to watch the games. Ugh... Philly has, unfortunately, made national headlines this week for another football team, Penn State. The child sex abuse charges brought against a former coach, and the subsequent cover-up by just about everyone else at Penn State is sickening. It has completely consumed the news here. What is really pissing me off is that the focus seems to be on everyone but the victims. It was sad that Joe Paterno was fired after coaching for 46 years, but he was involved in the cover-up. He needed to go, just like the rest of them. I think my Facebook status the other night, said it all: "A brilliant 46-year career ends, all achievements now sullied by what happened. Penn State will be great once again. They'll be OK, but these victims won't be. Their lives were forever altered by a predator. Then, they were victimized again by the adults who knew it was happening & did nothing to stop it. It's all very sad, but the focus should be on the victims & getting justice for them." A Penn State student wrote an awesome note on Facebook the other day. One of my friends came across it and posted it on her Facebook page. The thing has been making the rounds. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you read it. Seriously. Here's a link, http://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/amanda-flanagan/whats-next/10150941892040595. You'll need to log in to your own Facebook account to read it. In non-sporting news, I decided to take this weekend off. Well, I worked a few hours, but nowhere near as many hours as I did last weekend. Plus, this week, I worked almost around the clock. Yeah, you read that right. Every year I say that Open Enrollment (our crazy busy season) can't possibly get any worse. Every year, I'm proven wrong.  The craziness at work reached new levels and, to make matters worse, my boss got hit by a car the other night! Fortunately, she's fine, no broken bones or anything, but she's banged up pretty bad. Talk about something that really puts things into perspective, you know? Obviously, she has been out since then and I'm next in charge so, that means I've had to put in even more hours. By the time I finished working on Tuesday, I had already workd 39 hours for the week! I'm physically and mentally drained.  By the way, my "regular" hours are 40 hours a week. I'm salaried so I don't get overtime for any hours over 40 that I've worked.Oddly enough, I still love my job. The hours put in during this time of year suck...and I'm definitely getting too old for this shit, but it is what it is. Everyone steps up and puts in a TON of extra hours this time of year. It's the nature of the business. There's only a handful that have worked as many hours as I have though, but it has been duly noted over and over again by the higher ups. At least they know, even if certain asshole clients (there's really only 1 client that's an asshole) don't appreciate it. I won't even get into what said asshole client did to me earlier this week. It's (1) hard to explain and (2) I'm trying really hard to block it from my memory. They take care of us in their own way. The company doesn't give bonuses so the bosses at my office do what they can to show their appreciation. On Fridays during OE (open enrollment), they bring in pizza for lunch for the entire office, which is about 80 people. Once a week, the VP and Director of my office, make breakfast for the entire office. This week it was French toast and it was quite good, too! During the summer (our slowest time of year), we have 3:00 Fridays. It's nice getting out a few hours early on Fridays when the weather is nice. They know that everyone more than makes up for it in the Fall.Well, folks, as I mentioned, I'm drained so I'm going to hit the hay. I will leave you with an upbeat song, though. Have a good week. 'Night 'night!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-dvTjK_07c |
| I haven’t talked about the Phillies recently because, quite frankly, there hasn’t been much to talk about without going into a rant about how their season ended. It’s only going to depress me so I will not comment on it here either...BUT, did you hear the other Phillies news? For those of you that haven’t heard or aren’t baseball fans, my Phillies re-signed Jim Thome yesterday. Thome was a fan favorite. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-phillies-thome I have always been a fan of Jim Thome and I was sad to see him go, especially considering the reason he went bye-bye before was to make room for that fat-ass, good for nothing, piece of shit, Ryan Howard, also known as “The Strike Out King”. The same one who ended the Phillies season the last two years with a strike out during the playoffs. As much as I would like to, I can’t blame it all on Ryan Howard. The rest of the team could have stepped up and scored a friggin’ run. I mean, seriously. They won 102 games and had the best record in baseball all season and they got knocked out of the first round of the playoffs, losing the game 1-0? They couldn’t score ONE RUN????!!!!! REALLY?!!!! It makes me sick just thinking about it. And I just did exactly what I said I wasn’t going to do. Oh well, it was very therapeutic getting that out of my system. In other news… Have you heard about the asteroid that is hurtling toward Earth? Yep, if you’re out and about on Tuesday, ummm…duck. I’m just kidding. It’s not going to hit Earth, but it will pass between the Earth and the moon. I really wish I had a telescope. Damn! I love this kind of stuff so it’s kind of surprising that I don’t have one. Hmmm…If you would like to read more about it, here’s a link for you, http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/close-encounter-asteroid-kind-232121465.html.... Andy Rooney passed away at the age of 92. 60 Minutes will never be the same. I’m one of those nerds that likes that show and I always got a chuckle over Andy Rooney’s segments at the end. RIP Andy. Heaven’s commentary just got a whole lot more fun. Plugs and Props Isn’t it funny how this makes a reappearance every so often? I should have done this in my last entry, so I apologize for the major oversight by me. Round 2 of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" took place in September and I was one of the judges. I would like to congratulate (again) the winners. Drum roll, please…First Place
Second Place
Third Place
Honorable Mention
Good job, guys! I had a blast reading the entries from all of the participants and there were a lot of good ones. It made the task of judging extremely difficult. You all made us proud! Wasn't it a great feeling to finish and have a "Blue September"? I remember how proud of myself I was when I competed in Round 1 and had a "Blue July". That alone is quite an accomplishment so all of the challengers should be very proud of themselves. I’d also like to plug, and give props to…
Why not show your favorite author(s) some love by nominating something they’ve written or done in 2011? You can nominate groups, contests, activities, poems, stories, blogs, you name it. All of the rules are listed and you can nominate right from the forum at the bottom of the main page, "The Quills" . If you’d like to see a list of items that have been nominated up until now, you can go to "Invalid Item" . Have fun and go make some nominations!Guess who was a bit of a Rock Star for Rising Stars during the month of September? Me! My poem...
…won first place in "Rising Stars Shining Brighter" and also received honorable mention in "Invalid Item" .Rising Stars members also have to complete 3 reviews for other Rising Stars each month as part of "Random Thoughts and Cares" . I won the award for Best Poetry Reviewer for the month of September. I got some stuff, including the sig below. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Well, that’s all I’ve got for today, boys and girls. Have a fabulous weekend! I need to go to work…not physically go into the office (thank God for the company-issued laptop), but work nonetheless. Here’s a song just for Jim Thome. I LOVED this show when I was a kid. It was hilarious!! I’m totally showing my age by saying that too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPaed8I3V1A |
| My poor blog has been grossly neglected lately. After finishing up Round 1 of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" , I took a much-needed break. I was definitely entitled to it! Before I knew it, Round 2 started and I was one of the judges. I also supplied a bunch of the prompts. Then my grandmom passed away, right before I left for my 10-day European vacation. I returned from vacation and was thrown right into the crazy, busy season at work. Yesterday was my 6th wedding anniversary. What I'm trying to say is, life got in the way and the result was some serious blog neglect. Sorry about that folks! The busy season at work won't ease up until January/February so I may not be able to blog as often as I'd like to, but I promise I'll throw in an entry as often as time allows. I also plan on writing about my trip to Switzerland and Germany at some point. It's so beautiful there. I had plenty of inspiration! In case you missed it, here are some pictures from my trip.
Those are just a few of the pictures. There were a total of about 300 or so! I wasn't kidding when I said it was beautiful there. It's unlike anything I've ever seen or experienced before in my life. Pictures certainly don't do it justice. Hopefully, when I am finally able to write about it, my words will paint a clear picture of the breathtaking splendor they seem to have an abundance of.It seems like everyone is super busy right now. There are quite a few people on hiatus and others that are just going through a difficult time. My thoughts are with all of you always, even though we may not have the time/opportunity to speak every day. Well, this is going to be a short entry. I hope you all are doing well. I've missed you guys terribly! Like I said, I'll write entries as often as I can so please bear with me. Take care everyone and have a safe and Happy Halloween!    Here is a song to get you in the spirit!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA |
| First and foremost, I would like to take a moment to thank you for your kindness after the passing of my grandmother on Wednesday evening. I appreciate your thoughts, prayers and kind words very much. I am so thankful. You guys are the best. Although I am not participating (I'm judging instead) in this round of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" today’s prompt is something I wanted to write about. It’s something I needed to write about.The Prompt: "Today marks the 10-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, this tragedy touched us all. It changed the course of history and altered our lives forever. Today is a day to reflect on those events and remember all of the innocent victims that were lost. The human spirit is always enduring and perseveres even through a horrible tragedy such as this. Write about your feelings, thoughts, emotions, anything that comes to mind, both then and now." I came up with today's prompt. Day #11 of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" fell on September 11 and it is the 10-year anniversary of that awful day. It is something that needed to be acknowledged in some way. I spoke to 30DBC Creator/Founder to get his take on whether or not this prompt should be used. He really liked the idea. Not all of you are Americans. We know that. However, over 90 countries lost citizens during the September 11th attacks. That means that every one of you reading this lost someone from your country that day. No one can say that they were not impacted by the events that took place. The attacks may have been on American soil, but the entire world was affected. Each of you had innocent victims from your country that never returned home because of the evil we endured that day. Terrorist acts have occurred in almost every country. Even if this event did not touch you on a personal level, one of those most likely did. So, this prompt was not just for Americans, it was for everyone.The war on terror is not just an American war, it is a global war. Like it or not, America leads that war, but there are soldiers from every country fighting in it. They fight for our freedom. They fight for our safety. They are protecting us from the soulless cowards who hate us for being who and what we are. Our soldiers are fighting for our right to exist in peace. Please take a moment to say a silent prayer for them and thank them for their service and sacrifice. On September 11, 2001, I was at work when the terrorist attack began. The guy I was going out with then was a police officer. He was on the overnight shift and had just gotten off duty at 8AM. He was on his way home when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. He and some of his fellow officers had decided to drive up to NYC (we're less than 2 hours away) to offer assistance in any way they could. I don't know about the rest of you, but I felt that the attacks were not over. My first thoughts (and I had told him this) were, "They did this to us in broad daylight. What are they going to do to us when the sun goes down?" I did not think the attacks were over. In all honesty, he didn't either. His response to me was, "I know, babe, but I can't not go. I love you and I'll call you later." I really thought that was going to be one of the last conversations I ever had with him. By the time they got there, though, New York had already sealed off all borders and they were turned away. I was actually thankful that he was not able to get in to NYC. I was scared to death at the thought of something happening to him. Even though he ended up being a major shithead (after all, an ex is an ex for a reason), it still gives me chills thinking about this 10 years later. As I mentioned, I live pretty close to NYC. I have friends that live and work there. Communication failed us that day. Most phones were down for hours, if not days. It was 48 hours later before the last of my friends living and working there were able to reach any of us to let us know that they were physically unharmed. My grandmom (my dad's mom) passed away on 9/11/01. She was not on one of the planes. She was not at the World Trade Center. She was not at the Pentagon. She was at her nursing home here in New Jersey. I got the phone call at 11:46 PM that night to let me know she had passed away just a few moments before. When my phone rang, I was expecting the call to be about one of my friends from NYC saying they were OK, or a call from someone telling me one of them was not OK. I did not expect the call about my grandmother. Her funeral was delayed by almost 2 weeks because all of the Funeral Directors and Medical Examiners in New Jersey were assisting New York. Here we are 10 years later and my other grandmom (my mom's mom) passed away the other day. Her funeral has also been delayed by a few days. It's not until Thursday. All of the rain/flooding we have had over the last few days have caused major flight delays so some of my family that is trying to get here for the services haven't been able to do so. My aunt and uncle decided to delay the funeral until everyone is able to get here. It's so eerie that both of my grandmothers passed away almost exactly 10 years apart and both of them had their funerals delayed, but for very different reasons. About 2 weeks after 9/11, we went to New York to see my friends. We could see the smoke from Ground Zero from miles away. It was heartbreaking and surreal. Emotions were still so raw from that horrible day. From that trip came the poem below.
When you think about the almost 3,000 innocent lives that were lost that day, the sadness hits you all over again. I have always been one to try to think on the bright side in a "glass is half full" kind of way. On any given day, the World Trade Center alone had over 40,000 people in the 2 buildings. Think about that for a minute. Thanks to countless heroes, lives were also saved that day. Remember that. We now find ourselves thinking in terms of Pre-9/11 and Post-9/11. Pre-9/11 We thought we were safe. Post-9/11 We know we're not. Pre-9/11 Traveling was easy. Post-9/11 We find ourselves being thoroughly checked and searched before we're even allowed to travel. Pre-9/11 Terroristic violence was something we watched in movies. Post-9/11 It is real life where we're all cast in roles none of us ever thought we would have to play out. Here are a few links for you: http://www.911memorial.org/ - for details on the memorial at the World Trade Center. My friends that live/work in NYC were invited to see it prior to today's opening. They said it's too beautiful, amazing and emotional to put into words. You can go to this site to purchase tickets. I plan on going at some point, but it probably won't be until sometime next year. Tickets are already sold out for months in advance. http://projectrebirth.org/ - a quote from this site: "A feature-length documentary combining time-lapse photography with the stories of individuals shaped by September 11." The movie Rebirth aired tonight at 9PM EDT on SHOWTIME. *********************************************************************************************************************************************** For those of you that chose not to write about the prompt and/or were offended by it, I apologize but, the beauty of the world we live in is that we all have the right to our own opinions. The reason that we have that right is thanks to those who fight for our freedom and protect us from the terrorists responsible for these heinous acts. Remember that, too. To the terrorists who are still out to get us: We will hunt you down and make you pay. We will not go quietly into the night without fighting to remain the land of the free and the home of the brave. We will not let you win. We will rise again. You will rue the day you ever decided to mess with us. I can assure you of that. On the evening of September 10, 2001, thousands of people went to bed that night without saying "I love you" to the important people in their lives. They took for granted that they would have another opportunity to do so. They had no idea they would lose that loved one the very next day. Life is too short. If you love someone, tell them...and tell them often. You never know when it could be the last time. Here is a piece that I wrote today in remembrance. All of the memorial services today were so profound and very well done. I cried again, probably as much as I did that day 10 years ago. I also felt so proud to be an American.
I will leave you all with a song and a quote. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oOW-1OwtCA “There is certain enthusiasm in liberty that makes human nature rise above itself in acts of bravery and heroism.” ~ Alexander Hamilton God bless America and the world! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| Pretty much the entire Eastern seaboard of the United States. For all my peeps that felt that earthquake today, how weird was that shit? I must say that working in a highrise building in the city can have its disadvantages. That earthquake today was one of them. Again, they're not the "norm" around here so we're not prepared for them and our buildings are certainly not built to survive them. I'm pretty sure people in California and Alaska are laughing their asses off at us right now. My building was evacuated, along with pretty much every other building in Philadelphia...and many other cities along the East Coast. We saw emergency personnel everywhere, news helicopters flying all around and tons and TONS of people out on the street. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse than it actually was. I'm glad there were no injuries and no serious damage around here. Hopefully that is the case with everyone that felt today's tremors. It's been a pretty busy week. Here's a list of some of the happenings. 1. The BlackBerry I've had since last Tuesday is still working.  YAY!! 2. A few of my co-workers and I met our newest Philadelphia Phillie, Hunter Pence last Tuesday. That's one of the greatest things about working in the city. We run in to our hometown heroes and other celebrites quite a bit. Hunter is quite a cutie patootie. He's very, very shy, too. He's so sweet. He's doing an awesome job for the Phillies and we told him so! We had our picture taken with him, but it didn't really turn out. By the time we realized it, we were back in the office. Oh well...3. I heard from the Brewers about the story I wrote for the Sports Authority contest. Several of the reviews I received and some friends/family off-site that read it kept telling me I should send it to them. I didn't really think my entry was anything special, but I figured "what the Hell?" and sent it to them last Sunday. I heard from them on Thursday. They LOVED it! They're going to include it in their news clips. They also said they are going to make sure Randy sees it. Pretty cool, huh? If you're interested in reading it, it's
4. I've had two poems finish in 1st place in contests in the last few days:
And one finish in 2nd place
5. Brooke (aka Brooklyn ) asked me to be one of the group leaders of
I am so honored and, of course, I said yes. If you're not a member, stop by, check out the group and become one! There's lots of great things to do over there, including...for all my blogging friends, the thing that I am now running for "The Talent Pond" :
I hope you'll all consider joining us at the pond. If you're a blogger, after you become a member, you can fill out "Mooring Instructions" to have your blog docked in the harbor.6. Speaking of blogging, don't forget to sign up for Round 2 of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ! The 1st place winner of Round 1 (that would be me in case you forgot ) is one of the judges for Round 2. 30DBC Creator/Founder and I are working on prompts now. Once I got started, I was on a roll and came up with a lot of them. I doubt we'll use them all, but I surprised myself with how many I was able to come up with. Soooooooo, get your asses over there and sign up for Round 2! 7. I'm also proud to say that we, the group leaders of "Invalid Item" are working in coordination with the group leaders of "The WDC Angel Army" are coming up with an awesome activity for WDC's birthday celebration. Be on the lookout for that. The communication on all the site activities for the birthday celebration should be sent out by The StoryMaster and The StoryMistress  very soon! Well boys and girls, that's all I've got for today. I'm exhausted so I think I'll be heading to bed soon. I hope you guys are all doing well and I hope you're having a great week so far! With the earthquake today, I felt that it was appropriate to leave you with this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yRdDnrB5kM |
BlackBerry Curve 8530, age ?, died August 12, 2011, with its family owner, Julie D - PUBLISHED! , by its side. It took its last call in New Jersey.BlackBerry Curve 8530 was born in the labs of Research in Motion. It eventually made its way to Verizon Wireless where it remained, lonely and unloved until Julie D - PUBLISHED! came along.BlackBerry Curve 8530 had a fulfilling life of phone calls, e-mails, text messages, BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) and Facebooking. It was a master at all kinds of mobile web accessing. When it couldn’t access a particular site, it found an app for that instead. BlackBerry Curve 8530 is survived by its owner, Julie D - PUBLISHED! . It was preceded in death by Julie D - PUBLISHED! ’s previous BlackBerry Curve 8530.A memorial service will be held Tuesday at Verizon Wireless. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the What the Fuck is Wrong with BlackBerry Curves? Foundation. For those of you keeping score at home, this is my third BlackBerry in less than 2 months. Never in my life, have I had such problems with a cell phone. I don’t understand it either. The first one I had for just over a year with no issues whatsoever. To say I'm annoyed is an understatement. I have insurance so they sent me a new one. Again. FedEx dropped it off today. I need to stop in the local Verizon Wireless store after work tomorrow to have them switch everything over and to hand in the one that died...or else they'll charge me for it. This song is for my beloved BlackBerry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Xrlf3taEo |
| Answer: Monica Lewinsky. Today was...I don't even have one particular word to describe it so I'll let all of you decide. Reason #1 that today sucked: For starters, I did not win the Powerball jackpot on Saturday night. I knew I didn't win for any of the tickets I bought myself, but I wasn't sure if I won with my co-workers or not. Whenever the jackpot is up like this, we all throw in $5 each and buy a bunch of tickets. We didn't win either. Actually, no one did so it's up to over $220 million for Wednesday night's drawing. We'll be buying more tickets tomorrow. Here's hoping we'll actually get a winner!  Reason #2 that today sucked: Traffic is always worse than usual on Summer Mondays. That's because of all the idiots that feel they're getting extra time in at the shore by waiting to head back on Monday morning rather than Sunday. Idiots. I have one thing to say to these people, "Hey dumbasses, you're not buying yourself more time at the beach. The only thing you're doing is f-n' up traffic even more for the rest of us." Reason #3 that today sucked: I made this awesome dinner last night. Homemade stuffed shells and homemade garlic bread made with all fresh ingredients from the Italian market nearby. I had leftovers that I was going to take to work today so I could have them for lunch. Guess who left the house this morning without it? Fortunately (or unfortunately) I was too busy at work today and not hungry so I never even had lunch today. I didn't actually miss it, but it sure would have been nice to have the option. Reason #4 that today sucked: Something happened to our network today and we were unable to do anything for most of the morning. Obviously, that set us back quite a bit. It's never a good time for that to happen, but happening on a Monday is just downright cruel. Reason #5 that today sucked: To make today really awesome (can you sense the sarcasm?), while I was out running errands yesterday, I forgot to pick up my hair gel and I was completely out. Yeah, um, I have really long, curly hair. Do you know what long, curly hair without hair gel in this heat and humidity looks like by the end of the day? I look like Diana Ross' love child. Needless to say, I made a stop on my way home from work tonight to get my hair gel so there will not be a repeat of this tomorrow. So today was just "off" for lack of a better way to put it. I'm not even going to talk about how much of my retirement I've lost with the stock market plunging like it is. I came to the conclusion long ago that I won't be able to retire until I'm dead. By the way, I saw the movie Cowboys & Aliens on Saturday night. Do not waste your time or your money on it! I had such high hopes for this movie ever since I first saw a preview for it during the Superbowl. They had the resources, the cast and the money to knock this movie out of the park but, instead, it was a big epic fail. I walked out of the theater thinking, "that's it?!"Did everyone read the e-mail that The StoryMaster sent out today titled, "[NEWS] GPs To Benefit Angel Groups Thru 8/15/11"? Did you happen to see which Angel Groups will benefit? I would like to also take a moment to offer condolences for the families and friends of the 30 American servicemen that were killed this weekend in Afghanistan. I hate the fact that we're at war, but I support our troops wholeheartedly. It breaks my heart every time I hear that we've lost another brave soldier, let alone 30 at one shot. It's a terrible tragedy. Their families and friends are in my thoughts and prayers. I know firsthand what it feels like. My friend Marc was a Marine that was killed in Iraq in November 2004. Here's a little more info on this weekend's tragedy. I hope you'll take a moment to read about it and say a silent prayer for all of them.http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/troops-killed-afghan-copter-crash-remembered... Well boys and girls, that's all I've got for today. I'm going to finish watching the season premiere of Bachelor Pad 2. These people are NUTS! I feel so much better about myself when I watch these shows. This song comes from a movie that I really want to see. The movie is One Day with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. It opens on August 19...and I know all of my male readers are currently rolling their eyes thinking, "not another chick flick." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZhQOvvV45w&ob=av2e |
| ...I'd also like to thank God, my family, my friends and all of you, my adoring fans! Oh wait, wrong speech. Who came in 1st PLACE in Round 1 of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ? This girl!   When I got the e-mail this morning, I was stunned/shocked/excited/happy/you-name-it. Obviously whenever any of us enter a contest, we enter hoping to win, but how often does that really happen? Not very.When you break it down and do the math, there were 20 challengers. 20 challengers X 30 entries (each) = 600 entries our buddy, 30DBC Creator/Founder and the "secret judge", April Sunday , had to go through. That's a lot of reading and judging! I still don't know how or why I won, but I'm extremely thankful to Earl and his awesome contest, to Paula for helping him judge, to all of my fellow competitors for the fierce competition and making this a wonderful challenge, and all of you for supporting me along the way. You're all awesome and I can't possibly thank you enough. You really are the best and I don't know what I'd do without you. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. It's a very short entry today. I'm not feeling all that great. I was sent home from work Wednesday and stayed home yesterday. Fortunately, when I left Wednesday, I was able to get a doctor's appointment. I had (have) a bad sinus infection, along with a migraine headache from the infection and I had a 102 temp too. Stupid sinuses! My doctor gave me an antibiotic and some kind of migraine medicine. Fortunately, my fever broke so I went back to work today. I will say that that migraine medicine packed one Hell of a punch. Holy shit that stuff was potent, but it got rid of my migraine (and knocked me on my ass)! That's a really long way of saying that, although I feel better, I'm still not feeling great so this entry is short. I just wanted to write something really quick to say thank you.Thank you! I thought I'd leave you with this song. I'm not an all-star or a rockstar but I think the song fits otherwise...maybe? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_jWHffIx5E Happy weekend all! |
| You’re getting a bonus entry. Even though I completed all 30 entries for the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" , I was planning to write an entry today also. And, as Fivesixer commented on yesterday’s entry, I should do it to have a truly “Blue July”. That reminds me HAPPY BIRTHDAY Fivesixer !! Have a great day today and, of course, stay thirsty, my friend. This toast is for you, http://staythirstymyfriends.com/. You should totally submit one of your own! I think my favorite of all the Dos Equis commercials is the one that says, “His mom has a tattoo that says ‘son’.” Those people at Dos Equis are brilliant! ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Philly is now the hottest sports town in the country thanks to some huge trades and free agency pick-ups. Fivesixer suggested that I write about what the Eagles did. Now, I love football, but it’s not my favorite sport. My favorite sport is baseball, hockey is a close second and, my third favorite, is football. So, I will talk about what the Eagles have done BUT FIRST I will talk about the awesome addition to the Phillies line-up, since baseball is my favorite sport.The Fightin’ Phils picked up Hunter Pence from the Houston Astros on Friday night…just in the nick of time as today is the trade deadline. This trade was a steal, in my opinion. They got him for 4 minor leaguers, which was a fantastic deal by Ruben Amaro and the Phillies. Good job, boys…and welcome to the City of Brotherly Love, Hunter. Or maybe I should say, welcome to “Pence”-sylvania! The fans here will love you unless you give us a reason not to. Now on to the phenomenal moves by the Eagles. Once the NFL lockout ended, they got busy making some huge moves. As much as it pains me to have to root for that piece of shit Michael Vick on the field (I am a dog lover so he better hope he never runs in to me because I will give him a piece of my mind…and possibly a kick in the nuts), he is the Eagles starting quarterback. He gets my support when he’s playing and that’s the end of it. Our back-up QB, Kevin Kolb, wasn’t the greatest #2 so I’m glad he was shipped off to Arizona. Good luck with that, Cardinals. And thank you for sending us Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie for Kevin Kolb. We definitely got the better end of the deal!Here’s a little bit of what the Birds have done in the last few days, in addition to the Kolb/Rodgers-Cromartie trade I mention above. They landed Nnamdi Asomugha, who just so happens to be the best cornerback in the NFL. They got Vince Young to be Michael Vick’s back-up quarterback. And what is Mr. Young calling his new team? The “dream team”. They’ve also signed Cullen Jenkins.Here is a breakdown of the veteran moves the Eagles have made so far: Birds flyin' in: DT Cullen Jenkins – 5-year deal CB Nnamdi Asomugha – 5-year deal DE Jason Babin – 5-year deal QB Vince Young – 1-year deal CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie – acquired from Arizona WR Johnnie Lee Higgins – 1-year deal TE Donald Lee – 1-year deal Birds that have flown the coop: QB Kevin Kolb – traded to Arizona K David Akers – signed with San Francisco (  I’m really sad to see him go )S Quintin Mikell – signed with St. Louis DT Broderick Bunkley – traded to Cleveland LB Stewart Bradley – signed with Arizona FB Leonard Weaver – released DT Jeff Owens – released DT Jeremy Clark – released CB Gerard Lawson – released WR Jeremy Williams – released Returning to the Birds’ Nest: LB Akeem Jordan – 1-year deal I have a sneaky suspicion that Andy Reid and the Eagles are not done with their wheeling and dealing. More on this to come… Speaking of sports, here is my entry for the "Invalid Item" contest.
Thanks to Andy (Jakrebs ) for pointing out this contest to me. You guys will have to let me know what you think of the story. Even if you’re not a sports fan, I think the story is something you’ll appreciate. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Many of you have probably noticed my handle stating that I'm thinking of Joy. There's a good chance you've seen the handles of many others around here that say something about Joy and/or her handle AJ Lyle. It's for a dear member of this amazing community, Joy Campbell (~A.J. Lyle~ ). Her mother passed away unexpectedly on Thursday. Even if you don't know Joy personally, I have no doubt that she has touched each of you in some way. Whether it's through the many groups she's involved in like "Invalid Item" , Rising Stars or through her leadership at "Invalid Item" . She's also one of the instructors at "Invalid Item" . Even if you have not received one of her excellent reviews, I have no doubt you've received a review of someone she's taught at the academy or in "Invalid Item" . I hope you'll consider dropping her a note of sympathy in this forum that was created by the amazing warriormom.
Joy, our thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time. Know that your WDC family will be here for you always. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Well, folks, my blog now has over 2,000 views! WOOHOO!!! I had a feeling it would happen during the blogging challenge and it did, so thank you for clicking my blog…and for your support and comments! Since I’m from the Philadelphia area, how could I not throw in some cheesy Rocky references (in reference to my completion of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" )? Cheesy Rocky Reference #1 is the quote, “Yo Adrian, I did it!” It’s the title of today’s entry and came from this scene in Rocky II, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgScBiXkO9Y. Cheesy Rocky Reference #2 is this famous picture of Rocky at the top of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Cheesy Rocky Reference #3 is this song, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgSMxY6asoE. I’m out. I’m going to take a break for a few days to re-group and relax. Have no fear, this blog will continue to go strong…and that is thanks to each and every one of you. Keep coming back and I’ll keep writing! |
This entry is brought to you by, "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Meet the challengers  "Invalid Entry" Blogging Challenge Day 30 Prompt: Today’s prompt is courtesy of our (not-so-secret ) "secret judge" April Sunday ."Write a story, poem, essay, composition including: Love at first sight & an ideal or an impromptu vacation" Technically, the poem I wrote for yesterday’s prompt fits this prompt also. We got both prompts at the same time and I knew which way I wanted to go with each one. You get a bonus today - 2 poems and each one includes a picture of the vacation spot. I’ve never been to either place, but they are places I will go…someday! I'm not really sure how I feel about either one of these, but that's what came out, so that's what you get. Love in the Emerald Isle ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** The lush, green countryside of the Emerald Isle always reminds me of your captivating smile. Rolling hills, clear skies, crisp air and a sea of green. Ireland’s landscape is the most stunning I’ve ever seen. Who would have thought that my spontaneous vacation would lead to love at first sight, beginning my salvation? Irish luck on my side, as I toured the hilly terrain, my excitement over the scenery was hard to contain. When I turned to go back, you were there in my sight. Our eyes met and held, while my heart took flight. Prosperity and good fortune, surely I’ve won! Perhaps with the help of a cute leprechaun. For you are the one I want to have and to hold. A windfall far greater than any pot of gold. Vineyard of Love ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Under the Tuscan sun, the vines blossom and grow. These grapes will be used to make the finest of wines. Our tour guide tells us other “things we should know”, as he speaks of the harvest of these enchanted vines. The vineyard is magnificent, we’re told privately-owned. Its history is lengthy; so full of tragedy and despair. The shocking story of its past and how it was disowned, until an unknown investor stepped in to take care. Little did I know the Vintner and I would be a perfect match. Late one night when I could not sleep, I walked the grounds and bumped into him, oh my what a catch! I’m lost in your eyes, my heart how it pounds. Love at first sight was just the beginning. Some say it doesn’t happen, but we are proof that it can. One look from you and I just can’t stop grinning! You’re the love of my life, my true Renaissance man. My last-minute vacation became a whole new life. Inseparable from the start, each day something new. At the end of my stay you implored, “Please be my wife. I can’t live without you. Can’t you see how I love you?” ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************* Well, I did it. I crossed the finish line. And, in the words of my friend, Fivesixer , I have a "Blue July". Has anyone else noticed that the calendar to the left only goes to July 30? What happened to tomorrow? Does July 31 not exist? ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Where exactly I end up finishing in this challenge is yet to be determined. Will it be the thrill of victory or agony of defeat? Only time will tell. I’m just glad I did it. I wrote for 30 days straight and I'm proud of myself for that alone. If I end up placing in the contest, that would be the icing on the cake. Special thanks to 30DBC Creator/Founder for a great contest and to April Sunday . They have the difficult task of judging ahead of them. Good luck with that guys!I would also like to thank each and every one of you, my blog followers, again. I couldn't have done this without your support, guidance, comments and humor. You guys are the best and I'm humbled by your friendship, support and presence here in blogville. Thank you! ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************* I had some help with tonight’s entry ( sarcasm).** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Yes, that’s my dog, Jameson (we usually just call her Jamee). She’s 85 pounds and still thinks she’s a lapdog. She’s quite the cuddle bug too. Anyway, you can see that she’s laying on my arm and has her head resting my laptop.  That makes typing a bit difficult. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************* Just a few things to end this entry. I'd like to say, "Welcome to Philadelphia, Hunter Pence!" My Phillies traded for him last night. He was pulled from his game last night against the Brewers and arrived in Philadelphia earlier today. He's playing in right field tonight. The fans gave him a very warm welcome (a standing ovation). He looks good in red and white pinstripes! I thought this song was appropriate for the final entry for the blogging challenge. Enjoy! I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend! I am, fortunately, feeling better today. I got a few nosebleeds in the middle of the night that relieved the sinus migraine I had yesterday. Now I'm just tired...actually exhausted. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGytDsqkQY8 |
This entry is brought to you by, "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Meet the challengers "Invalid Entry" Blogging Challenge Day 29 Prompt: Today’s prompt is courtesy of our (no-longer-secret ) “secret judge” April Sunday ."Write a story, poem, essay, composition including: Summer & Mysterious Stranger" Crowded spaces so many faces mysterious strangers meet in far off places... An impromptu trip made my heart flip~ my defenses, walls go up... Get a grip! Through cloudy haze a lustful gaze passions ignite and are set ablaze... Second chance? Or happenstance? You sought me out, “May I have this dance?” Tropical bliss hot, steamy kiss~ now familiar strangers Feelings we can't dismiss... On the beach we stroll~ you’ve captured my soul walking hand in hand... You make me feel whole. Much more than a fling such happiness you bring... You get down on your knee, and give me a ring. To each other we’re bound~ so thankful we found a love to cherish... So deep and profound. This sweet, summer romance just happened by chance, and to our surprise, our souls recognized. I love summer, mystery and romance so this was the perfect prompt for me. When I got today's prompt, I thought it over for a few minutes and the words above just sort of came out. I hope it doesn't suck too bad. I still haven't decided if I even like it. I'm not sure if I want to turn it into a separate item or not. It doesn't even have a name yet. I'm thinking either "Passion Ignited", "It Happened By Chance", "Familiar (or Mysterious) Strangers" or something else entirely. I'm quite indecisive, aren't I? What do you guys think? Does it suck? What should I call it (if I decide to turn it into an item in my port)? Sorry for the short entry today. I'm not feeling well at all. I have major sinus/allergy/asthma issues. Every so often I get these severe sinus migraine headaches. They're awful. I woke up with one today. When I get these, nothing helps. They're so bad they affect my vision. They don't go away until I get a massive nosebleed, which finally relieves the pressure. I got a nosebleed at work this afternoon but it wasn't that bad so I still have the headache. I know what you're thinking. I've had this checked and nothing can be done. These sinus things run in my family. My oldest brother had sinus surgery years ago to help him with his problems. He said the surgery was brutal and a few years later the problems came back. There's no way I'd put myself through that so I deal with it when it happens. It should (hopefully) be gone by tomorrow...as long as I get that major nosebleed. Ugh. I actually think I'm going to go lay down. Not exactly how I planned to spend my Friday night. I hope everyone had a good day. Here's a song for everyone that "just got paid, it's Friday night...". Ouch, it hurts to laugh!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl1mQASHc48&ob=av2e |
This entry is brought to you by, "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Meet the challengers "Invalid Entry" Blogging Challenge Day 28 Prompt: Today’s prompt is courtesy of 30DBC Creator/Founder .“Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson As far as I’m concerned, intellect will only get you so far in life. In order to get the rest of the way there, you have to have good character also. Character is not only our morals and ethics, it’s what defines us as individuals. We’re all unique in our own way because of certain traits, or aspects of our personalities, that set us a part from everyone else in the room. I work in HR and, although I haven’t been on the personnel side of HR for a while, it’s something that always stayed with me. Think in terms of a job interview, especially in a bad economy like we have now. You could have hundreds of people applying for the same position. Intellect and credentials are what get them in the door for an interview (as long as they have a good résumé) . What is it that sets them apart from everyone else? What sticks with you the most and makes you want to offer one person a job over the hundreds of others you’ve interviewed? Character. Being beautiful on the outside is one thing, but guess what? Looks fade. A truly beautiful person is someone who is beautiful inside. A beautiful soul is not something that you can acquire, it’s inherent. It’s what defines us, makes us who we are and it’s something to cherish and be proud of. I believe every one of you (and me, too) are great souls with excellent character. Oh, and you’re all a bunch of characters, too. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************** Today was a really weird day, for lack of a better way to put it. My problem client drove me crazy again today. The main contact is nuts. Literally. She’s certifiable. She was hounding me about something that was wrong, but it was wrong because of the information they passed to us. She kept at it and it was really annoying the crap out of me. I finally typed up this really long, detailed e-mail, explaining exactly what occurred and why. Typically I “dumb it down” when speaking to clients because they don’t understand the technical stuff. I didn’t do that this time because the first 5 replies to her e-mails about the issue clearly weren’t enough for her. So, I sent the long ass e-mail and cc’d everyone she had on the e-mail. A few minutes later, I got a call from one of the managers saying, “Damn, you’re good.” We laughed it off.About a half hour later, he came over to my cube with the Client Relationship Manager (CRM) that works on this client. They were both laughing. The CRM said he just got off the phone with the crazy client. She called him just to tell him “how awesome Julie is and we just love her so much”. How phony! We all laughed it off and went about our day.During the course of the day, I had helped another one of my clients with something that they messed up badly. The difference with this client is that they are the nicest, sweetest people in the world. One of them called my boss directly (who had already been told about the call from the crazy client) to say what a wonderful job I always do for them and they love working with me. My boss came over to tell me and she said, “Boy, there sure are a lot of phone calls about you today!” It’s always nice to hear the good stuff. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************** When I ran out at lunch today to grab something to eat, I was walking back to my office and passed my construction crew “fans”. You know the guys that propose to me at least once a week. There are always people on the street because I’m right in the historic district. Most of the people walking around are tourons (tourist + morons = tourons). I walked by the construction guys and there were two guys walking down the street towards me. As they walked past me, one said to the other (really loud), “Man, I’d love to suck her pussy and her asshole.” Now, I hate the “p” word, but what he said was just so ridiculous, I couldn’t help but laugh. The construction workers took offense (on my behalf). The one who proposes to me the most said to those guys, “Hey, don’t speak like that about a lady! What the fuck is wrong with you?!” The two guys and the construction workers started yelling back and forth. I thought there was going to be a fight. I told them that I appreciated them defending my honor but they really didn’t need to do that. I don’t pay attention to what idiots like that say.It’s always an adventure. Weird shit happening all around today. I just don’t get it. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************** I couldn't pick just one song so you're getting two tonight. This video is f-n’ hilarious! The traffic he’s sitting in at the beginning reminds me of my commute to work (unfortunately). It really is a great video...and a great song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PkcfQtibmU&feature=grec_index This song reminds me of my clubbing days. This always used to be the last song of the night even though it’s not your “typical” club song. When this song came on, that’s when the dancing in the club got pretty raunchy. Not me, of course. I’ve always been a good girl. That doesn’t mean I can’t (or don’t) dance, I’m just not as raunchy as most. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccY25Cb3im0 I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday! Just 2 more days to go in the blogging challenge. We already got the last 2 prompts. I really need to put my game face on. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
