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 |   My thoughts/experiences/feelings/beliefs, depending on my mood. Blah, blah, blog. |
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** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only **  Winner of "Best Blog of 2011" for "The Quills"  . Previous winner of "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Round 1. A big, heartfelt thank-you to all of my fans and supporters!  Welcome to the randomness, silliness, craziness, and all-around tomfoolery – what a great word that isn't used nearly enough – that is my blog. Don't get me wrong, it isn't always silly and crazy. Sometimes it's serious or sad but, more often than not, it's comical. Nonetheless, it is always entertaining. I try to see the fun in life. I'll add to it as much as I can so make sure you check back often.  Feel free to leave a comment or review to let me know you stopped by.  DISCLAIMER: If you are someone who gets offended easily, then you shouldn't go any further. I'm up-front, to-the-point, sarcastic and honest (sometimes brutally so). I tell it like it is, or the way I think it is. If you don't get offended very easily, then you've come to the right blog. All are welcome. The fun is free! My life is an open book blog. Hilarity and chaos ensue... ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
This entry is brought to you by, "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Meet the challengers  "Invalid Entry" Blogging Challenge Day 7 Prompt: Today’s prompt is courtesy of challenger, LdyPhoenix  .“Music can be inspirational. Has music ever inspired you to write or to create? If so, what music inspires you the most? Any particular song(s) or artist(s)? If not, what inspires you to write?” This one is just way too easy!  I love music! It’s always been a big part of my life and I know it always will be. Nothing beats hearing your favorite song, whether you’re listening to the radio in your car or relaxing (or working out) with your iPod.I typically include at least one song in every blog entry. Sometimes you get a bonus and you’ll get more than one. I’ve even used song titles and/or lyrics as titles of entries. Just look at my first 6 entries for this challenge!  Day 1 Entry - "Invalid Entry" includes a link to “Glory Days” by Bruce SpringsteenDay 2 Entry - "Invalid Entry" includes a link to “Instant Karma” by John Lennon. The title of this entry came from the lyrics of the song.Day 3 Entry - "Invalid Entry" includes a link to “Times Like These” by the Foo Fighters. Again, the title of the entry came from the song.Day 4 Entry - "Invalid Entry" this entry has a trifecta. For my US friends there are links to “Born in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen and “Firework” by Katy Perry. For my non-US friends there’s a link to “Manic Monday” by the Bangles. Day 5 Entry - "Invalid Entry" includes a link to “Losing My Religion” by REM. Yet another title that came from the song. Hmmmm, I guess I need to get a little more creative with my entry titles. Day 6 Entry - "Invalid Entry" includes a link to “Hot in the City” by Billy IdolThe only non-blog thing I’ve written that has to do with music is
It uses a lot of song titles from one of my favorite groups. It was for the first "Invalid Item" newsletter. We made a contest out of it. The first person that correctly guessed the answer received a music merit badge. She was very excited about it too! I think it’s pretty safe to say that music inspires me.  I don’t really have a type of music that inspires me the most. I really do have a very diverse taste in music and it tends to vary based on my mood. It doesn't necessarily inspire me to write anything other than my blog. The majority of my "other" writing is based on/inspired by personal experiences, not music.Here's a fun musical thing you guys should check out. My very good friend, Fivesixer  occasionally does his famous iPod Shuffle Quiz in his blog, "Who Do I Think I Am??" . He just did it in a recent entry, "This one's about music and hey, it's my 25th entry!" . Definitely check it out because it’s hilarious!That was a good prompt today. I think music is something we can all relate to. Speaking of prompts, anyone have any thoughts on the prompt I’ll be providing for July 18th? As I mentioned in yesterday’s entry, there could be a merit badge in it for you, so put your thinking cap on. *********************************************************************** So, I’ve been avoiding talking about this because it really pisses me off, but after today’s news, I need to vent a little. How many of you have been following the Casey Anthony trial? I think it’s an absolute disgrace that she got away with murdering her daughter. The announcement today that she’s being released next week really set me off. It’s a good thing I was not on that jury. The prosecution may not have proved her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but I still don’t think I would have been able to acquit her. There’s just no way I could put my personal feelings aside and let her walk free after murdering her beautiful, little girl. She should rot for what she did. If that makes me a bad person, so be it. If she didn’t want to be a mom, she could have taken precautionary measures to avoid getting pregnant. She could have gotten an abortion or should could have put her up for adoption. There are plenty of people out there (like me) who can’t have kids, but would love to be a parent. How do you guys feel about all of this? Do you think she murdered Caylee? How do you feel about the verdict and how would you have ruled if you were on the jury? *********************************************************************** I will leave you all with this song. It has nothing to do with this entry. It’s just a damn good song! Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYPoMjR6-Ao ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
This entry is brought to you by, "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Meet the challengers "Invalid Entry" Blogging Challenge Day 6 Prompt: Today’s prompt is courtesy of challenger, aralls. “If life had a "redo" or "rewind" button would you use it? If so, what situation comes to mind? If not, why?” I have a redo and a rewind. Are any of you surprised that I have both? "Redo" I’m looking at “redo”, in this instance, as a “change” and “to make or become different”. I have an entire year of my life that I’d like to redo and have a different outcome. The timeframe is the summer of 2001 to the summer of 2002. Most, if not all, of you know that my dad passed away 10 years ago. He died on June 21, 2001. I had just turned 25. He was both parents to me. My mom was around, but she wasn’t much of a mother. He was not only my dad, he was my best friend and the greatest man I’ve ever known. I have a few poems about him if you’d like to check them out.
Just under 3 months later, our nation (and the world) witnessed the most heinous, unspeakable act of terrorism imaginable. The devastation and horror of September 11, 2001 are something none of us will ever forget…and, hopefully, something we will never, ever have to experience again. I’m only 2 hours from New York City. I have friends that live and work there. I was frantic that day. It was impossible to get through to anyone because so many phone lines were either down or tied up. Thankfully all of them were physically OK. I’m in a central location because I’m within driving distance of all 3 places that were impacted that day. Two hours from New York City and about 2 ½ -3 hours from Washington, DC. It’s about 4 hours to Shanksville, PA from where I live. That’s the site where Flight 93 went down in a field. The people on that flight gave their lives so that others could live. They died heroes and prevented that plane from reaching it’s target. Our nation was rocked to its core that day. The aftermath is something we’re all still dealing with, almost 10 years later. It was a horrifying reality check that none of us are as safe as we imagined. Just a few short weeks after 9/11, my boyfriend at the time (this was before I met my husband) and I drove up to New York City to see some of my friends. Ground Zero was still burning and we could see it from miles away. The Twin Towers were gone. Seeing it on the news was terribly upsetting, but nothing compared to seeing it firsthand. I wrote the poem below after that trip.
As if September 11, 2001 wasn’t horrible enough, that same day, my grandmom (my dad’s mom) died. She wasn’t on any of the planes. She wasn’t at the World Trade Center. She wasn’t in the Pentagon. She was in her nursing home in NJ. Her funeral was delayed because funeral homes, morticians and medical examiners here in NJ were assisting New York City with the insurmountable task of identifying and burying all of their dead. So many innocent lives lost that day. It makes me cry just thinking about it.  Just 9 months later, July 4, 2002, we celebrated our first Independence Day after 9/11. It should have been a day to reflect and remember those that were lost. It should have been a day of celebrating our country’s birthday. It should have been a day to celebrate our freedom and show those terrorists that we were still standing proud. Instead, it was a day marred by tragedy. It’s something I wrote about in Monday’s entry, "Invalid Entry" . My best friend’s brother was a fireman. He died that day, along with 2 other firemen, trying to save 3 little girls. I wrote the poem below about it.
So, yeah, I’d like to redo that year, but it would be completely different this time. If I could have my way, my dad would still be alive, 9/11 would have never happened, my grandmom wouldn’t have died and Tommy wouldn’t have died either. We are but the sum of our lives as a whole. All of our thoughts, experiences, feelings, beliefs, relationships, and mistakes are part of us. They’ve helped to shape us into who we are. Would I still be the same person I am today if I had not experienced any of those tragedies? I don’t know, but I sure wish I had the chance to find out. "Rewind" I’m looking at “rewind” as something I’d like to do all over again because it was so much damn fun! Any guesses here? It’s sports-related. I love sports and support my home teams. My favorite sport is baseball and boy do I love my Philadelphia Phillies! I would love to rewind and experience the 2008 World Series win and the parade all over again. Here’s a fun, little fact for you. The Phillies won the World Series on my 3rd wedding anniversary. Two of the greatest days of my life are (1) the day they won the World Series and (2) the parade 2 days later to celebrate our World Champions. My wedding is a close 3rd on that list of greatest days of my life. Yes, my husband is aware of this…and his list is the same as mine. I was able to get some amazing pictures that day. Like this ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** And this ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I got some good shots of some of the players too - Jamie Moyer, Shane Victorino, Pat Burrell. I have some pictures of the crowd. It was a sea of red. It was so amazing! How did I get such excellent pictures, you ask? Well, I lost my husband and our friends that day. We all took public transportation over. We had taken the day off from work. While on the train, I got a call from work, asking me if I could stop in for an hour. I believe my exact words were, “are you kidding me?!” That time of year is our busiest time of year. My conscience wouldn’t let me say no. I got off the train at the stop for my office and told my husband and our friends that I’d meet up with them. They kept me posted on their location. I went to the office, helped a few people with some stuff and then was out of there within an hour. I walked down to the intersection where my husband and our friends were.Ummm, yeah, does anyone remember seeing this on the news? ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** There were over 2 million people at the parade and ceremony! My cell phone worked, but no one else’s did. I’m the only one that has Verizon. I couldn’t get through to my husband or any of our friends. It was crowded as hell. I was trying to get through the crowd and look around. I’m short so that was a pretty big task. Some guy saw me trying to look over people’s heads. He asked if he could help me find someone. I was leery because I’m a girl and I was “alone” in a crowd of 2 million + people. There were police everywhere and one of them overheard me and this guy talking. He came over and offered to help also. The police officer got us up close and personal to all the action on Broad Street. I was still having a hard time seeing over some heads and stuff. The police officer said, “I’d put you on my shoulders, but I’m on duty so I’m not allowed.” The other guy said, “I’ll do it.” They could tell by the look on my face that I wasn’t too sure about that. The police officer said, “I’m right here. This guy seems harmless and I won’t let anything happen to you anyway.” So, the dude put me up on his shoulders. I got some fantastic pictures of the parade going by. I never did find my husband and our friends until afterwards. They were so far back they could hardly see a thing. They were all so jealous when they saw the pictures I took! I’d like a rewind of the 2008 World Series and the parade.  I had so much fun, I’d love to be able to do that all over again! ****************************************************************************** I’ll apologize again for last night’s blog entry. Drunk blogging is just like drunk dialing and drunk texting; a really, really bad idea. Actually, it turns out that my entry wasn’t terrible. It actually makes some sense too. Who would have thought? Yesterday was a bad day at work. After work, I went to my friend Theresa’s house. Our friend Tara is a hairdresser. She lives 2 streets over from Theresa and she does our hair. We call it “Dyeing Winos” because we drink lots and lots and lots of wine while we get our hair cut and colored (dyed). It’s always a great time. I love those girls! Starting today, and through July 25th, the daily prompts will be provided by the challengers. My turn to provide the prompt is July 18th. I have a few ideas that I’m tossing around, but I thought it would be cool to get your input also. What do you guys think? Is there something you’d like to see me and the other challengers write about on July 18th? Keep it nice, please! Remember there are about 20 of us participating so it won’t be just me writing about it. I’m going to make this a little challenge to make it interesting. If I end up using your idea, or if your idea is the same as one of mine, I’ll give you a merit badge. The type of merit badge will depend on the subject of the entry. If there is a winner, I will notify them via my blog entry on July 18th and we’ll figure out which badge I’ll send. If multiple people post the same idea and I end up using it, whoever posted the idea first will be deemed the winner. I’m going to leave you with this song. It has absolutely nothing to do with this blog entry. It’s Africa hot here today…and quite humid, too. It’s damn “hot in the city” so that’s your song for tonight, folks!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PinBVYKQGeM Hope you’re all having a good week! I can’t thank you guys enough for your support during this challenge…and always! |
This entry is brought to you by, "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Meet the challengers "Invalid Entry" Blogging Challenge Day 5 Prompt: “When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion." ~ Abraham Lincoln It's going to be a short entry tonight. Not only has today been a crazy day, but this one is a pretty easy prompt. We all have things we've done that make us feel good and things we've done that we're not so proud of. A few weeks ago I wrote an editorial to (hopefully) help save my niece and nephew's school. They're not really my niece and nephew. It's my best friend's kids. They've always called me "Aunt Julie". The catholic elementary school they've been going to all their lives said they'd be closing June 30th unless enough funds were raised. I wrote an editorial and sent it out to local media hoping maybe one of them would pick it up. I had no idea they would all pick it up. It was a good feeling to know that I wrote something that impacted, and maybe even helped, others. The June 30th deadline has come and gone and the Diocese still has yet to decide whether or not they're going to close the school.  It still felt good knowing that something I created had any kind of influence. The response from the media was overwhelming...in a good way! My cell phone and e-mail blew up to the point that I needed to get a new BlackBerry! I'm the type of person that loves to help others whether it's through my writing or a simple act of kindness. I'm the one that will help an elderly person with their bags at the grocery store, will stop to assist if I see an accident on the road and will try to locate the parents of a child lost in the mall. That's just me. It's how I was raised and part of who I am. I'm a religious person, but I don't try to pawn my religion, or my beliefs, off on anyone else. I know right from wrong and I'm not about to preach it to others. For the most part, I believe I'm a good person. We all have our faults but, for me, I hope the good outweighs the bad. That's my religion...take it or leave it. It's been a really long, and not very good, day. I'm off to bed. I'm going to leave you with this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if-UzXIQ5vw |
This entry is brought to you by, "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Meet the challengers "Invalid Entry" Blogging Challenge Day 4 Prompt: “This is a bit controversial... Some countries legalize same sex marriage. Which is your stand, Just go with it or go against?” Our buddy, 30DBC Creator/Founder  , threw us a little curve ball today. This portion of my blog entry is going to be very short. Personally, I am for same sex marriage. Who the hell are we to tell anyone who they can or cannot marry? Love is love. Period.I find it ironic that a country that has a divorce rate of 51% feels they have the right to decide whether or not same sex marriage should be allowed. Really? I commend New York for passing a law recently that allows same sex marriage. I hope more states adopt the same/similar laws. In my opinion, I feel that our politicians should be more focused on things like ending the war, fixing the economy, creating more jobs, lowering taxes (before the middle class is completely obliterated) and actually reforming the sad state of healthcare (the Healthcare Reform Act is a joke!) than telling people how to live their lives. They may also want to keep an eye on their…ahem…counterparts like John Edwards and Anthony Weiner, not to mention the countless other politicians with questionable ethics and backgrounds. So, yeah, my vote is to go with it. “It’s very dear to me, the issue of gay marriage. Or as I like to call it: ‘marriage.’ You know, because I had lunch this afternoon, not gay lunch. I parked my car; I didn’t gay park it.” ~ Liz Feldman ****************************************************************************************************************** Happy 4th of July to all of my American readers! I hope you have fun as we celebrate our nation’s Independence Day. For my non-US readers, yeah, it’s just Monday for you. Sorry about that. In my entry yesterday I mentioned that I’m a very patriotic person and enjoy this holiday even though I suffered a horrible tragedy. The tragedy happened 9 years ago today. My best friend’s brother was killed. My friend’s name is Ryan. He and I have been best friends since 5th grade. Ryan’s dad was a fireman (he’s retired) and Ryan’s older brother, Tommy, was a fireman. Tommy and I had a history. No, not like you’re all thinking. For one thing, I was never interested in him “that way”. Plus, Ryan had always told his big bro that I was completely off limits. Tommy was like another brother to me. We looked out for each other and shared a love of an amazing person, Ryan. Tommy and I would joke around with each other…and we loved to play jokes on Ryan. In March 2002, Ryan was offered his dream job. The problem was that the job was in California. He took the job and moved all the way across the country. Tommy and I cried together.On the night of July 3, 2002, the town I grew up in had it’s annual 4th of July parade and fireworks display. Tommy climbed to the top of a ladder truck with a megaphone in hand and publicly proposed to his girlfriend, Danielle. It was awesome and so incredibly romantic. Just a few hours later, Tommy was dead.At 1:36 AM on July 4, 2002, a call went out. There was a house fire where 3 small children were trapped. Tommy was one of the first firefighters to arrive on the scene because the fire was only 2 blocks from his parent‘s home. Everyone was still there celebrating the engagement of Tommy and Danielle. There were so many of us on the street to see if we could help in any way. This fire was so intense it went to multiple alarms and fire departments from all over came to assist. There were hundreds of firemen and women battling this blaze. As soon as they heard that there were still children trapped in the house, there was no holding them back. Eight firemen went in to the burning home in search of those 3 little girls (all under the age of 5). From that point on, things seemed to become a blur because there was so much happening all around us. The smoke burned our eyes, the intensity of the flames melted the siding off buildings across the street from the house and also melted a red light on the corner down to the ground. The next thing we knew, there were shouts all around…and then a deafening sound, followed by an eerie silence. The house had collapsed on top of the 8 firemen and 3 little girls inside. Have you ever felt your stomach and heart drop to your feet and, when it did, you knew with absolute certainty that someone you love was dead? I can’t explain it but, at that moment, I knew Tommy wasn’t coming out of that house alive. Five of the 8 firemen were rescued, suffering only minor injuries. Tommy and 2 others were not as lucky. The collapse of the house killed them. We later found out that the 3 little girls they went in to rescue were dead before the firefighters had even entered the house. My first thought was Ryan. He had just moved to California 3 months before. We were still as close as ever, talking on the phone and e-mailing every single day. I had to get to him. I went to his parent’s house. They were obviously devastated over the loss of their oldest son. The story of this fire made national, even international, news. They wanted to wait until 11 AM our time (8 AM in California) before calling Ryan. They asked me if I would stay and wanted me to be on the phone with them when they called Ryan because, in his mom’s words, “he’s going to need his best friend more than ever.” I, of course, did as they asked. To this day, I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like for Ryan to receive a phone call like that. He was a lot calmer than I would have been. He told his parents he loved them and would be home soon. He then asked them to drop off the line so he could talk to me. He thanked me for being there with his parents and told me he’d be calling me back on my cell phone after he booked his flight. I wanted to drive straight to the airport, fly out there and fly back with him. He wouldn’t let me do it. He told me he’d call me back in about 10 minutes. He did return home that day. The next week was like something out of a movie only, unfortunately for us, it was real life. There was Tommy's funeral, the funerals for the 2 other firemen from a neighboring town as well as the funeral for the 3 little girls. The media was relentless in their pursuit of all of us, trying to get some kind of inside scoop. It was horrible. Ryan remained stoic throughout, often consoling the rest of us. He gave the eulogy at church and I couldn’t have been prouder of anyone ever in my life. He held it together until the very end. He looked up, saw me and his voice cracked. Then he held out his hand for me to join him up there. The two of us pretty much held each other up. After all of the funerals, Ryan returned to California to pack up everything he owned and move back here. He’s an amazing uncle (and father figure) to Tommy and Danielle’s son, Nicolas. He’s still one of my best friends and I know he always will be. I wanted to share this story with all of you because today is about celebrating our independence and honoring those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Whether they’re military, police, firefighters, etc., take a moment today to say thank you. I wrote the poem below shortly after the fire. It was published in an anthology in 2002. The Discovery Channel recently did a documentary on this fire. It’s used to train new firefighters to, hopefully, prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again. I have a link to the video at the bottom of the poem.
Below is a link to a short write up about the 3 heroes that died that fateful night. http://www.firefightinglinks.com/gloucestercollapse.html This photo gallery starts with a picture of the statue of Tommy when the sculptor was working on it. I remember the dedication ceremony and how I looked at it and just burst into tears. It looks so much like him. There are a lot of photos (80) in the gallery below, but they are absolutely worth looking through. Each one will give you pause. I ask you to look through all of them because, too often, we get so caught up in our own lives that we forget about those that put their lives on the line for us every single day. http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=BZ&Dato=20070702&Kat... As we celebrate our Independence Day, let’s not forget those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice protecting us and fighting for our freedom. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Here is a letter to a soldier that I wrote recently. I also have a blog entry written when Osama bin Laden died. You may enjoy reading that as well, "Invalid Entry" .
For those of you that were “born in the USA“, I hope you have a safe and Happy 4th of July and I hope you get to see some awesome “fireworks” tonight. I have those in quotes because they’re song titles. I’m going to leave you with both of those songs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZD4ezDbbu4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGJuMBdaqIw And, for those of you outside the US, it’s just another “manic Monday”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAZgLcK5LzI ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Have a great day everyone! |
This entry is brought to you by, "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Meet the challengers "Invalid Entry" Blogging Challenge Day 3 Prompt: "Good Traditions Every country has its prestigious traditions. Some of those are our favorites. In the community you live now enumerate the good traditions you and your family are anxious to celebrate." Well, I know people are at least looking at my blog. That’s always good, right? Here are the stats on my blog for the last four days:Thursday, June 30th - 15 views Friday, July 1st - 11 views Saturday, July 2nd - 14 views Sunday, July 3rd - 4 views so far (as of 12:40 PM WDC time) Not too shabby, huh? Boy is Fivesixer going to be pissed when he logs back in and finds that he has 4 blog entries to catch up on! I’m counting Thursday’s entry too, even though it wasn’t part of the blogging challenge. It was written in preparation of the challenge. As far as good traditions go, I have quite a few. Well, tomorrow is a holiday, Fourth of July (for all of my non-US blog followers, it’s just Monday for you ). I’m quite a patriotic girl and, although I experienced a horrible tragedy on the Fourth of July (9 years ago tomorrow), I do still like the holiday. I will probably write a little about that tragedy in tomorrow’s entry. Just a little something I'll write in remembrance of those that were lost. Anyway, every year, our town has put on an amazing parade and fireworks display to celebrate the Fourth of July. The whole family would go and it was always a blast. Unfortunately, due to the bad economy and subsequent budget cuts, our town isn’t doing it this year.  I do have some other traditions to look forward to. Some of my girlfriends and I have a birthday brunch tradition. We all take turns hosting the brunch. I’ll be hosting the next one in a few weeks. This one will be for my birthday and for my friends Donna and Mary’s birthdays also. Our birthdays are all a few days apart so we combine the celebration for our birthdays every year. Unfortunately, because we all have such busy schedules, the brunch itself will be about 6 weeks after our birthdays, but it doesn’t matter. It’ll still be fun. Typically, the “birthday girl” doesn’t host her own brunch, but I put my foot down on this one. I’m the one with the pool so why not have everyone here for brunch and a day of swimming? Below are some pictures from a brunch that we did 2 weeks before Christmas. It was for my friend Shayne’s birthday. Meggie hosted this one. This particular brunch lasted 16 hours! Yes, we tend to party like rock stars. I apologize that the pictures are a little blurry, but they were taken with my cell phone. And, well, it was a lonnnnggggg day of drinking. Yep, we had a surprise visit from Santa at this brunch. I’m at the bottom left corner. Next to me are Amanda and Donna. Standing (from left to right) are Tonia, Meggie, Santa and Shayne. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** From left to right: Shayne, me, Tonia, Meggie, Donna and Amanda. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Santa is actually Amanda’s mom. Yes folks, I hate to break it to you, but Santa is, in fact, a woman.  C’mon, do you really think a man could pull off a job this big that requires such amazing time management? Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Another fun tradition with friends is something we refer to as “Adult Swim Day” or simply ASD. Do you remember (as a kid) being in a public pool and, every so often, the lifeguard would blow the whistle and yell “Adult Swim!”? And all the kids had to grudgingly (amidst a bunch of groaning and but I don't wannas ) get out of the pool so the adults could swim for about 20 minutes. That’s where the name came from…and it was coined by guess who? Yours truly. This tradition started a number of years ago with my friends Tonia and Theresa along with myself, of course. I always hosted several of these each summer. It’s basically a day of sun, fun, lounging in the pool, drinking and eating. We have so much fun together that the laughter just never stops. It has grown quite a bit and there are others that join us when they can. We’re trying to plan the first one for 2011 but, again, schedules are crazy. My friend Theresa said she wants to host the first one this year. She and her husband just had an awesome pool put in. Can’t wait until our first 2011 ASD! By the way, whenever Tonia, Theresa and I get together, you never know what kind of crazy will happen. I mean, just look at this picture. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** That’s the 3 of us doing our “Charlie’s Angels” pose (left to right: me, Tonia and Theresa). Theresa’s husband, Greg, always refers to us as his angels so we’re actually “Greg’s Angels”. It’s pretty funny. We always say that when the 3 of us are out together, it’s like some kind of joke. You know, “a blonde (Theresa), a brunette (Tonia) and a redhead (me) walk into a bar”…we have yet to come up with the punchline though. So those are some of my traditions. I’d like to hear about some of your traditions. If you care to share. I’m going to leave you all with this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhzmNRtIp8k because, when speaking of good traditions… “It’s times like these you learn to live again It’s times like these you give and give again It’s times like these you learn to love again It’s times like these time and time again” And who doesn’t love the Foo Fighters? |
This entry is brought to you by, "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Meet the challengers "Invalid Entry" Blogging Challenge Day 2 Prompt: “Star Connections Ponder the spectre of yourself as one human being in the over six billion people on Earth. We are so minute as to be nonexistent. And yet, we have the power to visualize, to imagine the entirety of the cosmos. In your journal, write about the paradox of being both microscopic and immense.” “If we long to believe that the stars rise and set for us, that we are the reason there is a Universe, does science do us a disservice in deflating our conceits?” ~ Carl Sagan For day #2, 30DBC Creator/Founder has once again challenged us with a prompt that can be taken in so many different directions. He wasn’t kidding when he called this a 30-Day Blogging Challenge! And here I thought the “challenge” would be having the gumption to write for 30 days straight! Once again, I find myself putting this into segments.Segment #1: Being Microscopic I love astronomy. To me, there is nothing more fascinating than stargazing on a warm, clear, beautiful night. I try to imagine all of the possibilities life here on Earth has to offer. I even imagine the possibility of life elsewhere in the Universe. I wholeheartedly believe that we are not alone. Wouldn’t that be a colossal waste of space if we are? I should probably define what I mean by that. I’m not exactly envisioning little green men roaming around. Life elsewhere could be something microscopic, completely invisible to the naked eye. It could also be other intelligent life, but I highly doubt we’ll find conclusive evidence in our lifetime that proves this. I’m going to get a little scientific on you for a moment. Forget Earth and let’s talk about our solar system as a whole. The ratio of volumes of our solar system to the Milky Way Galaxy is roughly 0.0000000000107%. I got that from an astronomy website. What does that mean? If you round that number, we take up 0% of the galaxy. We’re not just tiny. We’re microscopic. Infinitesimal. In the grand scheme of things, we’re nothing! And that's just our galaxy. We have no idea how many other galaxies exist. Do I have you wondering yet? For the sake of argument (and for the sake of this blog entry), what if there is intelligent life out there? What if, while I’m stargazing and imagining all of those possibilities, there’s someone (or something) billions and billions of miles away, doing the very same thing…wondering what if? Sort of makes for a cool, yet scary, thought, doesn’t it? Segment #2: Being Immense We may not be immense to the world/universe/galaxy, but we are immense to someone…and, hopefully, more than one person. Think of the people you love and how much they mean to you. You can’t imagine your life without them, can you? That’s because your feelings for them are so immense, losing them would be devastating. Unfortunately, none of us are immune to losing someone we love. It’s something we all face, at some point. It sucks. I try not to focus on that. Instead, I focus on loving the important people in my life with reckless abandon. My feelings for them are so immense, how could I not? Hopefully, I’m loved that much, too.And, hell, around these parts, I’m a Rising Star. Doesn’t that count for something? "To the world you might be only one person, but to one person, you just might be the world.” ~ Unknown Speaking of immense love, my niece was born at 3:40 yesterday afternoon. Her name is Bryce Elizabeth. She weighs 5 lbs 1 oz. Isn't she cute? ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** It was brought to my attention that people might like to “see” me. I know I always like to put a face with a name. I added a few pictures above, in the body of my blog, right before my disclaimer. If you're new to my blog, welcome! It's nice to meet you. I will leave you all with this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqP3wT5lpa4 because we do all shine on... like the moon...  and the stars... and the sun.  |
This entry is brought to you by, "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Meet the challengers "Invalid Entry" Open this (it’s only 6 seconds) first: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE1huPYerp0  Now you can fully appreciate this ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** On your mark… Get set… GO!!!! Blogging Challenge Day 1 Prompt: “Glory Days We are now in the mid year of 2011. Look back from the start of this year to present and share your glory days.” I couldn’t decide where I wanted to go with this, at first. After thinking it over, I decided to break out my 2011 Glory Days into segments. Segment #1: Life This segment will be a little spiritual, a little philosophical…and probably even tearful, but it needs to be said written. This year didn’t get off to a very good start for me. How does this have anything to do with “glory days”? Well, in order to truly appreciate the glory of the good days, you have to make it through the bad days. I started off my year by having surgery on January 14th. Why? I almost died. It’s not necessary for me to go into all the details. This blog entry is going to be long enough already! If you really want to know, I’ll tell you…or you can go through the items in my port. There are several pieces in there about it.As a result of this surgery, I can’t have kids. Actually, even before that, I knew I couldn’t have kids, but the surgery sealed the deal. It was a hysterectomy. At the time of my surgery, I was 34. My husband and I don’t have kids. Knowing you can’t have kids and then going through the finality of this surgery are two completely different things. It hit us both pretty hard. I’m sure you’re all still wondering, what the hell does this have to do with glory days? I’m alive. That’s my glory. Does it royally suck that this happened? Absolutely. Is it hard to know with absolute certainty that I’ll never be able to carry a child? You bet it does. But, you know what? If I hadn’t had the operation, I wouldn’t be here. Period. The problems in January were the second time this had happened. My doctor’s exact words to me were, “This has almost killed you twice. You might not be so lucky a third time. We have to do this. Now.” So, how can I be angry or upset about surviving? I can’t. I believe that there is a reason each and every one of us are here. Our lives serve some kind of purpose for the greater good. My work here isn’t done. I really hope it won’t be for a long, long time. My glory days have all been since January 14th because I fought back…and lived to tell all of you about it. Segment #2: Writing I took an almost 3 year break from writing and WDC. About 90% had to do with what I spoke about above. The other 10% was because there were a lot of other things going on in my life, too. I had no inspiration, nothing to write about. I returned to WDC on April 2nd. I was welcomed back with open arms. I’ve reconnected with old friends that I made here years ago and made so many incredible new friends. This site not only allows me to be creative, but it also shows me just how amazing people can be. I am reminded daily of the kindness and generosity of others and it blows me away every time I see it. There are so many talented writers here, but more importantly, there are so many amazing people here! You guys are all awesome! Since my return, I’ve written the items I have listed below. It’s not much, but at least I’m writing again! Those with a have received an awardicon. Those with a  have placed in a contest."Invalid Item" "Invalid Item" "Invalid Item" "Invalid Item" "Invalid Item" "Invalid Item" "Invalid Item" "Invalid Item" My very first attempt at writing a short story. It’s…ummmm…not so good, but not terrible (I guess). "Invalid Item" "Invalid Item" An editorial I wrote in the hopes of saving my niece & nephew’s school. I sent it out to all of the local media. I was absolutely overwhelmed by the response. It was amazing!"Invalid Item" Featured in "For Authors Newsletter (April 20, 2011)" ! "Invalid Item" Written last week for my dad on the 10th anniversary of his passing. "Invalid Item" "Invalid Item" A fun, little bio written using song titles. It was featured in the very first "Invalid Item" newsletter."Invalid Item" Just a little tribute to this site and it’s wonderful creators, The StoryMaster  and The StoryMistress  .I’ve also created a table of contents "Invalid Item" and a guestbook "Invalid Item" . I started up this blog again when I returned. Thanks again to Riot for the beautiful plaque she gave it! There have been some interesting and rather entertaining entries. I have a lot of fun with my blog. I hope you guys do, too. One particular entry that stands out most in my mind is this one, "Invalid Entry" . It was the start of the famous (or infamous ) bet between me and Fivesixer . My Philadelphia Flyers took on his Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals of the NHL playoffs. Fivesixer , ear muffs…errr, eye muffs blindfold, for a minute. Psssst, the Flyers won. OK, Fivesixer , you can remove your blindfold now…and start razzing me about the Flyers getting their asses handed to them in the next round of the playoffs. I became a group leader of an amazing new group, "Invalid Item" . It’s a fantastic group with some wonderful people! I got promoted to a preferred author on May 31st! Yay!! Here’s hoping that my glory days of writing will continue! Segment #3: Family/Friends My family and friends have always been very important to me. They’re one of the things we sometimes take for granted because we tend to assume that they’ll always be there. They may not be. Nothing in this world can show you how precious (and short) life is until you come face-to-face with death. I can relish in the glory days I have left (and I hope there are a lot of them) with my friends and family. I tell them every day how much I love them and how thankful I am to have them in my life. They helped me get through those bad times. If it hadn’t been for them, I may not have had such a will to live. To all of you, my friends and family reading this, thank you. Speaking of family, my sister-in-law was induced this morning. She’s having a baby girl so we’ll have another member of the family to love and cherish. After today, we’ll have 2 nieces on my side and 3 nieces and 2 nephews on my husband’s side. Bring on the glory days ahead! I’m from New Jersey so, with today’s prompt, how could I not include this song? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vQpW9XRiyM Does anyone else feel really old seeing how young Bruce Springsteen is in that video? Holy crap! I also have to pay tribute to an incredible member of his E Street Band, rest in peace, Clarence Clemons. I hope you’re now gracing the halls of Heaven with your amazing musical talent.This entry turned out to be longer than I intended. They won’t all be this long, because time won’t allow it. I hope I haven’t bored you with this one.  Since you’re here, you may as well check out yesterday’s blog entry. I have no doubt you’ll find it amusing. Click on “leave a comment” and do what it says, damn it! |
| Before I even start this blog entry, I’d like to take a moment to thank my dear friend, Riot . I’m still in shock over the beautiful plaque she awarded my humble ramblings the other day. Justine, you’re not only an incredibly talented writer, you’re also one of the kindest, most generous people I’ve ever met. Love ya, girlfriend! It’s been a while since I’ve talked sports in blog, hasn’t it? I can almost hear the groans from all of you non-sports fans. Knock it off! This will be quick and painless...and fun, too! The Boston Red Sox have been in town the last few days to take on the Phillies. The third and final game of the series was this afternoon. It was a businessperson’s special. It’ll make for a very interesting drive home from work today. I’ll have to fight traffic from the game letting out and the craziness of the mad rush to the Jersey shore for those getting an early start on the long, holiday weekend. The BoSox won this one 5-2, but the Phils won last night 2-1. What happened in Game 1 on Tuesday night, you ask? Hey Boston, how do you like them apples? ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** That’s right, folks. Cliff Lee happened. He pitched for the Fightin’ Phils on Tuesday night. He took Josh Beckett and the rest of the Red Sox to school. The Phillies won 5-0 and my boy Cliff pitched a complete game shutout. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s his third consecutive shutout. This guy is a friggin’ machine! And guess who got a Cliff Lee jersey for her birthday? In other Philly sporting news (I know I’m going to get shit for this from Fivesixer ), the Flyers made some big moves last week. I didn’t mention it in my last entry because, quite frankly, the wound was still a little too fresh. I know they needed to free up some spare change because of the salary cap. I’ll be the first one to admit they needed to spend some money on a goalie after the playoff debacle with 3 goaltenders, but how can you trade Mike Richards and Jeff Carter? Both are great players. Mike Richards was the team captain. He could be a whiney-assed little bitch sometimes, but he’s a good player. Jeff Carter is not only an awesome hockey player, but he’s also realllllly nice to look at! See? Look how pretty he is. Jeff Carter is the one on the left. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I’ve got no eye candy now. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Nada. They’d better pick up someone hot in the off season. This week has been pretty crazy, yet again. My client from hell is crazier than ever. I need a vacation, but that’s still a few months away. Oh well, I’ll settle for the nice 3-day holiday weekend ahead. I had a doctor’s appointment Tuesday. It was a follow-up. The appointment was scheduled in December. Thank God for those reminder phone calls they do or I would have completely forgotten about my appointment.  I’m not sure if I told you guys this or not. In addition to all the fun ( sarcasm) I’ve had with endometriosis, I also have kidney stones. I found out about those last fall. Apparently, they are hereditary. My dad had a horrible time with them when I was growing up. Anyway, I passed a few kidney stones last fall and ended up in ER with a major kidney infection as a result. After that whole mess, the urologist sent me for an MRI and a CAT scan. Guess what they showed? Yep, lots and lots and lots of kidney stones hanging out in both of my kidneys. The best course of action was to take the “wait and see” approach. So, my last appointment in December, he said he wanted to see me back in 6 months, unless I had a problem. My appointment Tuesday showed a problem with my urine (sorry if that’s too graphic). He said it could be an indicator that I’m about to pass more stone(s). Awesome ( sarcasm…again). I now need to go to a lab (twice) for a series of tests. This does not make for a happy Julie. Here’s hoping that there will be no kidding stone passing in the near future…or ever.On a good note, I’m going to be an aunt again!  Yay!  My sister-in-law (my husband’s sister) is being induced tomorrow. She’s high risk and her doctor has been telling her all along that they were not going to let her get to her due date. She’s having a girl. She and her husband have been arguing over names. I’ll provide details and maybe even a picture when I have them. There’s a ton of stuff going on around the halls of WDC, too. As you know, I’m one of the group leaders of "Invalid Item" , along with Riot , MumstheWord and Brooklyn  . It’s a nice group with some fun activities. The conversations in our "Invalid Item" are always entertaining! I know some of you are already members. If you aren’t, why the hell not? We’ve kicked off our first raffle, "Invalid Item" . It’s open for donations until July 8th. Ticket sales and game play will begin on July 9th. Thank you MumstheWord for all of the hard work you put into it! Check out the group, join if you’re not already a member and participate in the raffle. It’s all for a good cause. I’m happy to report that the poem (written for my dad), which I mentioned in my last entry, came in 3rd Place in the "Invalid Item" . I found out this morning. That choked me up a little…sort of makes it an even nicer tribute to my dad, you know?I’m also being enshrined in PatrickB ’s "Invalid Item" . I just need to fill out his interview questions and get that back to him. Then my enshrinement will be complete. I hate trying to come up with creative answers to questions about myself. Anyone want to take a stab at filling this out for me? Just kidding. It still amazes me that he does this. I don’t how he has the time and I can’t even begin to imagine how much he spends in GPs for this. Wow!Now, that I’m yellow, I’m able to sponsor a Rising Star. Please stop by and check out the very first Rising Star I’ve sponsored, glo-stick. She’s a talented kid. She wants to be an architect someday!Last, but certainly not least, I’ve come to a decision. I signed up for the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" that starts tomorrow. Yep, I’ve officially lost my damn mind. There are 18 people signed up as of this blog entry. The competition will be fierce! I have a favor to ask all of you, my faithful blog followers. There will be daily prompts posted that we have to write an entry about. We are allowed to include other stuff in the entries as well. I asked about that. I’m sure the prompts will be entertaining…at least, I hope they are. You guys are all awesome and your support is incredible. I appreciate it so much. I’m really going to need it for this blogging challenge. The favor I’m going to ask of you is to keep doing what you’re doing. Pretty please. I’m going to need the support to keep me motivated, honest and, let’s face it, the comments you all make on my entries are usually more entertaining than what I’ve written! I will leave you all with this song. Sorry, no trivia this time around. The title of this entry came from the song. I’ll be doing something every day for 30 days that scares the hell out of me! All kidding aside, the song is full of some great advice. Enjoy!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI&playnext=1&list=PLDEEE513672B9A69E |
| How do you know that it's officially summer? Don't go look at your calendar. I know that Tuesday was the Summer Solstice. I was asking in reference to the world according to me. Yes, you can tell it's summer because I have been neglecting my blog...and all of you, as a result. Sorry about that, folks! Let's face it, though, this seems to be the busiest time of year for most of us. Truth be told, the blog neglect will probably happen a few times this summer. Sooooooo, June is probably the busiest month for me. There are a total of 15 friend & family birthdays in the month of June, including my birthday & my husband's. We have 7 friend/family wedding anniversaries during the month, too. Plus there are always a number of communions, confirmations, graduations, baby showers, bridal showers, you-name-it during the month of June. Let's not forget Father's Day. That's always a sad day for me, but I do have a father-in-law and other important "fathers" in my life that I like to acknowledge that day. It sucks that Father's Day falls so close to the anniversary of my dad's death. The 10 year anniversary of his passing was Tuesday. Yes, the first day of summer and the longest day of the year (in more ways than one for me). My dad loved summer as much as I do. It's somewhat fitting that that's the day he passed away. I think about him, love him and miss him every day, but birthdays, holidays and the anniversary are the hardest days for me. I was a bit of a mess earlier this week because of it. This one hit me really hard. I guess because it was a "big" one. It's weird to think we've lived a decade without him. I wrote this poem on Tuesday night about it, "Invalid Item" .But I digress...I've cried enough about it earlier this week. And those of you that know me know that I'm not really a crier. For some reason I never have been. I'm back to my happy, jovial self. Since I wandered way off topic, let's get back to it, shall we? Why is it that the summer, especially June, seem so much busier than the rest of the year? With the exception of the holidays, that is. I think it's the weather. How can you not be out and about when the weather is awesome? Is this time of year crazy busy for all of you, too?One thing I particularly enjoy are 3:00 Fridays we have at work during the summer. Shhhhhh, don't tell our corporate office (or any of our other offices) about this! Every Friday from Memorial Day to Labor Day we're allowed to leave at 3:00. It's our slowest time of year right now and we absolutely make up for it. Once the fall and early winter get here, we're almost a 24-hour operation. I'll be scarce around these here parts during that time, too. Even getting out early on Fridays, the traffic home through the mad rush to the Jersey shore is absolutely ridiculous! I do whatever I can to take backroads, if I can, to avoid the madness and chaos of the mad dash to the shore. On this evening's drive home, I came across a rather interesting sign. I had to pull over, stop the car and snap a picture with my cell phone because otherwise no one would believe me! Those of you that are living in other countries may not be familiar with this holiday, but I think you'll still find this amusing. For my fellow Americans, did you know that they have changed the Fourth of July? Apparently, it is now the "Forth" of July where we honor our "veterams". ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Yes, that's a VFW (i.e., Veterans of Foreign Wars) that can't spell the word "veterans" nor can they spell the word "fourth" when used in reference to the Fourth of July...a national holiday! Didn't I tell you it was unbelievable? Needless to say, I laughed for the rest of my drive home. Wow. I'm tempted to send this to Jay Leno for his "headlines" segment that he does on Tuesday nights. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go to http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/photos/categories/headlines/1537/. Some of them are pretty damn hilarious. I came home and cracked open one of these. They are awesome and I highly recommend them. They taste like black cherry Jell-o, but with alcohol in them. They get two HUGE from me! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** For my blogging friends out there, have any of you seen this?
I'm tempted to sign up for it but, as I mentioned above, my blog will probably be a little neglected this summer. I'm not sure if I can commit to blogging every day for an entire month. I don't know...maybe I can be persuaded. Anyone going to do this? I know our dear friend Brooke (aka Brooklyn ) has mentioned some kind of blogging challenge for those of us that are members of "The Talent Pond" 's "Talent Pond Blog Harbor MOVED TO 1700829" . I don't want to have any conflicts of interest. I guess we'll find out as soon as Brookie is done with her kidnapping ways. Well, that's about all I've got right now. My husband is golfing with some buddies. "The wives" are meeting them when they're done for dinner and drinks at the country club where they're playing. I need to leave in a half hour or so. I'll be by to check blogs as soon as I can. Hopefully sometime this weekend. I will leave you all with a little song. Any guesses? Same deal as before, the first one to correctly guess will get a music merit badge from me. I'm really making this way too easy, guys. Don't let me down! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr0tTbTbmVA I hope you all have a FABULOUS weekend! |
| "Teamwork is the ability to work as a group toward a common vision, even if that vision becomes extremely blurry." ~Author Unknown I love when people come together and work as a team trying to accomplish what seems like an insurmountable task. About two and a half weeks ago we found out that my niece and nephew’s school will be closed at the end of this month, unless we’re able to raise at least $250,000 by June 30th. They are not really my niece and nephew. They are my best friend’s kids but they call me “Aunt Julie” and have always referred to me as their favorite aunt. That’s probably because I’m awesome. Everyone was shocked and devastated to hear the news about the school closing. The school is in the town I grew up in. I haven’t lived there in about 10 years. I never went to this school because I went through the public school system but a lot of my friends went there. Many of them still live there and now have children attending the school. This school was founded 153 years ago. It was the first Catholic school in this area. For those of you doing the math at home (and if you’re a history geek like me), this school was up and running for 3 years before President Lincoln even became president of this great nation. It has survived World Wars, the Great Depression, the “Dirty Thirties” and it’s going to fold now? NOW?!! Really? Uh-uh… There is a massive effort underway to try to raise the funds to save this school. A Facebook page has been created (don’t you just love social media?), there was a candlelight prayer vigil at the school on Monday night, there was a planning meeting held tonight, a fund is being set up for donations and there is a beef & beer planned for June 18th. How is all of this being done? Teamwork. This school is important to a lot of people that are important to me. It’s also part of my hometown and it’s a piece of history. I want to do whatever I can to help save it. On Friday, I wrote an editorial and fired it off to the local media in an attempt to get the word out. The response has been overwhelming. Two newspapers have run it, a very popular Philadelphia radio station has posted it and other info to the community page on their website and all 4 Philadelphia news affiliates have picked up the story. Needless to say, my phone has been ringing off the hook and my e-mail has practically been blowing up the last few days. Don’t get me wrong, it will take nothing short of a miracle to raise that much money in such a short amount of time. Even if we do raise it, what’s to say we won’t be in the same place this time next year? I’ve had this conversation with myself, my husband, friends, co-workers, relatives, you-name-it. The bottom line is we have to try. I, for one, can’t sit around and do nothing but watch this school, this historical institution, crumble before my eyes. I can’t take seeing the tears in my niece and nephew’s (or any of these kid’s) eyes. One of the conversations I had about this was via an e-mail chain yesterday with one of my best friends. His name is Ryan. Bear with me for a minute while my ADHD kicks in (Brooklyn will appreciate that). Ryan and I have been best friends since 5th grade. I’m going to be ((gulp)) 35 on Friday so, yeah, that’s a really long time to be friends with someone. I have a lot of friends like that. Ryan and I are two extremely like-minded individuals. Our families and our group of friends always thought the two of us would someday get married. Obviously that didn’t happen since I’m married to someone else. Our timing was always off…WAY off. But I digress…Ryan and I are still the best of friends. He went to this school growing up but he’s torn as to whether or not he wants to make a donation. His concerns were the same ones I had (actually, have) about whether the effort can be sustained so that we do not find ourselves in this same situation again next year. This is what I told him (copy/pasted from my e-mail reply to him): “Personally (and I wouldn't say this to anyone other than you), nothing short of a miracle is going to save this school. $250k is a TON of money to raise in a very short period of time (if that's even enough to actually save it). Why am I involved? Because doing nothing certainly won't help either. I truly believe that if something isn't worth fighting for then it isn't worth having in the first place. This school is important to a lot of people that are important to me. That makes the school important to me as well. It also has historical value and an economical value to Gloucester. I feel it's something worth fighting for and, if we're successful, it's now on everyone's radar & there are enough people involved to (hopefully) prevent this from ever happening again. I know what you're thinking but, what can I say? You know I've always been one to dream BIG. :) Gloucester is a “working class” town. I have that in quotes because you and I both know we grew up in a really poor town. You know what? We all turned out pretty damn good. Actually, I’d say we all turned out pretty damned fantastic. I think it made us better people because we’re more aware of, and more thankful for, what we have. There’s something about growing up in “small town America” regardless of whether that town is rich, poor or middle class. With the economic downturn, Gloucester has been hit extremely hard in the last few years. The whole country has felt it but, let’s face it, the poorest towns have been hit the hardest. If St. Mary’s closes, what’s next? The rumors about moving Gloucester Catholic High School out of Gloucester have been going around for years. If that happens, you know St. Mary’s Church won’t stick around. Then what? The City of Gloucester turns out all the lights and puts up the “closed” sign? But that's just my 2 cents, for what it's worth. You can keep the change. ;)” He replied saying that he agreed completely and loved what I said about fighting for something worth having. I’m curious about what you guys think and feel?? There’s no wrong answer here. By the way (ADHD kicks in again), the poem below was written about Ryan’s brother, if you’re interested.
Here is a link to my original editorial that ran in a newspaper on Sunday. I know it has my full name and location but, you guys aren’t stalkers, right? http://www.gloucestercitynews.net/clearysnotebook/2011/06/saving-saint-marys.htm... Another paper, that was a little slower responding, ran it today. They were short on space and we were short on time (we wanted to get the word out about tonight’s planning meeting). The chief editor at this paper wanted to run the full editorial but just didn’t have the “room” for it. He asked if I could edit (i.e., cut it in half) so he could run it as a letter to the editor instead so it could get into today’s paper. I revised it and he revised it a little more. It still gets the point across though (I hope) and there was a decent turnout at the meeting tonight. http://www.nj.com/gloucester/voices/index.ssf/2011/06/time_short_to_save_st_mary... Here is the story one of the local news stations did Monday night. http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news%2Flocal&id=8173928 Here’s a YouTube video a friend of mine did. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V69EdFTZr-A I’ll leave you all with this song. It’s a good one and, at the beginning, they say “Get ‘em, Jay”. People say that to me all the time, especially if I’m fired up about something…or someone. I think it sums up the last few days with the attention my editorial has received. It’s a really good thing. We need all the help we can get if we’re going to save this school.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T-Xh_C1VyQ I hope you’re all having a good week. I’m off to savor my last 25 and a half hours as a 34-year-old. |
I’m going to write this entry as quickly as I can. All of New Jersey and Pennsylvania are under a tornado watch until 8PM. What the holy effin’ hell is going on with the weather around the world lately? It looks like Armageddon out. There was just a tornado around 5PM in Springfield, Mass. Again I ask, what the fuck is up with the weather? It’s been Africa hot here for the last week. It’s our first heat wave already. It’s been 90+ for the last week. Hence the impending doom of severe thunderstorms and possible tornados tonight. Speaking of the heat and humidity, it is not conducive to good hair days. Especially when you have curly hair like me.  Despite the endless bad hair days, I still love summer. It’s my favorite time of year. Perhaps because I am a summer baby…with a birthday next week.I just got home from the dentist. I’m one of those weird people that loves to go to the dentist. This should not surprise any of you. Have I ever claimed to be normal? I made the appointment 6 months ago when I was there for my last check-up. I forgot all about it until the reminder call yesterday. Thank God they do those! I really do love my dentist. My mom worked for him when I was a kid. No, that’s not the reason I’m anal about my teeth. That is due to 5+ years of braces as a teenager. It scarred me for life. I’m happy to say, though, that I have not had a cavity since I was 9 years old. My dentist loves me. Every time I’m there, he tells me that I’m a walking advertisement for his practice. I said to him tonight, “If you want to negotiate salary and compensation, I’ll quit my job and work for you as your ‘smile girl’, walking around smiling all day.” Can you tell I work in HR since I wanted to negotiate salary and comp? He laughed and so did the hygienist. The conversation always turns to “remember when” stories about my parents, especially my mom since she’s the one that worked there. It’s fun but sad. Then there’s always the questions about my brothers and what they’re up to. That makes me sad, too. My oldest brother wants nothing to do with the family. It’s because of his witch…I mean, wife…sorry, Freudian slip. She’s the world’s biggest bitch. My other brother, the middle child, recently moved his family to Germany. He and I are very, very close. His wife is originally from Germany. They have 2 girls. Their oldest, Payton, was 5 in December. She’s mini-me. Literally. People swear she is my child. She not only looks just like me but she’s smart, funny and sarcastic like me too. She's going to make their lives extremely difficult when she's a teenager. Here is a picture of Payton and I the night before they left for Germany. I took it with my cell phone so it’s dark but you can (sort of) tell that we have the same coloring…skin, eyes and hair. She has my curly hair too. We’re the only ones in the family that ever had curly hair. Not sure where it came from. Yes, in the picture I’m wearing my Phillies jersey and she’s wearing a Phillies t-shirt. Didn’t I tell you she was mini-me? ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Their other daughter, Ella, was a year old in March. They moved over there in October so I doubt Ella even remembers us. Anyway, my sister-in-law is originally from Germany. All of her family is there. Here it was pretty much just me. It was a good opportunity for them. They’re happy and I’m happy for them but I miss them terribly. For all intents and purposes, they’re my only family. I am fortunate that my in-laws are awesome. Maybe that’s divine intervention…a way of making up for losing my parents in my 20s, having one a-hole brother and another brother now living in Europe. Wow, this whole conversation started because I was telling you about my dentist appointment. I swear I must have ADHD. Anyway, the last 15 minutes or so of my appointment tonight were spent reminiscing about “old times”. It’s nice to remember but it pulls at my heartstrings. Plugs and Props It’s been a while since I’ve done this, huh? You’ve probably noticed my shiny, new yellow case. As of Monday night, I am a “Preferred Author”. How about that? A promotion and hitting 100 blog entries within the same week!  I would like to congratulate everyone that was recently promoted, including my dear friend, Riot . She’s the founder of a new group around here. I’m one of the group leaders and so is our good friend, Brooklyn . You should stop by and check out the group "Invalid Item" and/or drop into our "Invalid Item" for some good conversation. It’s a fun group with some great people.I’d also like to give a little shout-out to another awesome friend, and the co-founder of "Invalid Item" , MumstheWord . Kaylee’s emotional short story,
Came in 1st place in the May "Rising Stars Shining Brighter" contest.  Congratulations Kaylee!  My entry was good but your entry was way better and deserved the 1st place win! Kaylee is also a newly promoted "Preferred Author" as of a few hours ago!I had also entered my entry in the May "Invalid Item" . It came in 3rd place. If you’d like to check it out, it’s "Invalid Item" .I’d also like to take a moment to introduce you to someone. His name is Andy (aka Jakrebs ). He’s been my #1 fan and cheerleader, even while I suffered from a bit of writer’s block recently while trying to write the poem below for the "Invalid Item" :
I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about that poem but Andy was there with praise for it. So, I thank you, my friend. I hope all of you will consider dropping by his port. He has quite a sense of humor, much like the rest of us! Two of his items that had me laughing until I was crying are the following:
If you’re looking for a good laugh, I highly recommend them. Well, I think I’m going to take the dog and my wine and go hunker down in the basement until the threat of tornados passes. Wish me luck! I will leave you all with this song. Can you guess what it is? Let’s make this interesting. The first person that guesses before looking at the YouTube link, will get a music merit badge from me. We’re going on the honor system here, folks, so I’m trusting all of you to be honest. My money is on Fivesixer guessing before he opens the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MwjX4dG72s I hope you're all having a great week! |
| Well, I’m glad we’re all still here. Saturday wasn’t “Judgment Day”. Do you think Harold Camping and all of his followers/believers/whatever-you-want-to-call-them all feel like a bunch of dumbasses right now? This week has been crazy so far…and it’s only Wednesday! Ugh. My allergies have been kicking my ass the last few days. I hate allergies. I’ve had more sneezing attacks and nosebleeds in the last two days than I’ve had in my life. Obviously, that’s an exaggeration but you get the idea. A friend of mine was laid off on Monday. She’s one of my best friends and has been since we were teenagers. She loved her job and she was let go for a total bullshit reason. They’ve done some reorganization at her company and, a few months ago, her role changed slightly. She didn’t mind at all. She’s a very hard worker and always has been. Anyway, when her role changed she got a “new” boss. It was a woman who had been with her company for a while but my friend had never really worked with her. Well, this chick had a bug up her ass. My theory is that it’s because she feels threatened by my friend. She’s young, cute, smart as hell, funny and an extremely hard worker. She’s very well respected in her field. About a month ago, she called her into her office and her boss went on a rant. She said that she was difficult to work with and that no one liked her so she was constantly getting complaints from people saying they didn’t want to work with her. Real professional, huh? My friend has been with that company for 5 years. No one has ever said that. Don’t you think that’s something that would have come up by now? Fast forward to Monday. She gets called into the bitch’s office…again. There’s someone from Human Resources there too. She was told that things just weren’t working out. She was given a nice severance package and they made her sign a confidentiality agreement stating that she’s not allowed to discuss the reason she was let go. Does that sound like a bunch of BS to anyone else? She’s taking it really well. I’d be a basket case. I told her I’d help her with her resume but she said she’s OK with it. I have some connections that I’ve put “feelers” out to for her also. They told me to send over her resume as soon as she has it updated. Hopefully something will turn up. I’m stunned that it even happened and I SO want to kick that bitch’s ass! No one messes with the people I love. I can only hope that karma pays her a nice visit soon.  In other news of the seriously demented and deranged, the client that I was asked to help “clean up” when I went back to work after my disability ended, has been driving me nuts this week! They’ve been a handful from the beginning but some of the idiotic, insane and weird things they do have me asking (more and more lately), “did they really just do that?” On a serious note… My heart goes out to all of those affected by the devastating tornadoes the last few days in the Midwest. The pictures, videos and stories are shocking and absolutely heartwrenching. There are so many tragic stories coming out of this but this one had me crying my eyes out when I saw it on the news tonight. I had tears in my eyes but was holding it together until she started talking about the dog. That's when I lost it. This woman's husband was a hero. http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/surviving-wife-what-if-i-never-wake-up-fr... This video of a tornado ripping a tractor trailer to shreds is unbelievable! Turn the volume down on this because the noise from the helicopter is annoying but you have to see this (if you haven’t already). By the way, the guy that was driving the tractor trailer survived. The tornado missed the cabin of the truck somehow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfHlFQj-jcI Again, my heart goes out to all those impacted by these horrifying tornadoes. All of the victims are in my thoughts and prayers. I’ll leave you all with this song. I apologize if you don’t like this type of music. I have a very diverse taste in music so every so often there may be a song you don’t like. In case you’re wondering, the title of tonight’s blog entry is a line from this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpzYLM7PWakAnd…ummm….no, the video makes no sense to me either but the song is very “catchy” and it reminds me of my clubbing days. Yes, I was a club rat back in the day. I hope everyone’s having a good week. Feel good, be good and do good. |
| I'm sure you've all heard this crazy nonsense about tomorrow being "Judgment Day". Well, on my 5 mile hike into work this morning (note: it's not really 5 miles but, sometimes, it seems like it is), I had a strange encounter. I was walking along, minding my own business when some nutjob approached me. When I say "walking along, minding my own business" what I really mean is that I was walking and looking at my Blackberry. I was reading a text message I had just received. When I say "nutjob", what I really mean is crazy ass moron. But I digress... So I'm minding my own business, walking down the street to my office and this guy with a bible in his hand walks up to me. He tells me that he needs to "save my soul" because tomorrow is "Judgment Day". He said a few other things but I didn't quite catch it all because my brain was working fast on an exit strategy. Since I had my phone in my hand I said, "I just got a text from God. He said I'm good." I had totally thrown the guy off. I had the upper hand. Since we were on the sidewalk in a major city, there were people all around. Some poor schmuck was walking toward us, so crazy's back was to him. I said, "You may want to talk to that guy though" and I pointed to the poor dude. Crazy turned to look and, when he did, I made my escape. I darted across the street and practically ran until I got to my office. My co-workers and I have been throwing around jokes about this all week because it's been on the news every night (I'm sure it is where you are, too). I shared this with my co-workers. It turned into quite an entertaining conversation. I also posted the abbrevated version of this as a status update on Facebook. The result? 11 likes and 17 comments. Some of the comments are pretty damn hilarious too. It seems like just about everyone is posting something about this madness on Facebook today.Now, just so we're clear, I'm not knocking religion. I'm a christian and proud of it. I just have a problem with all of this end of the world bullshit. Will the world end? Yes, absolutely. Will it be tomorrow? I doubt it. We all have an expiration date. It could be tomorrow, next week or 60 years from now. We don't know. I don't know about you but I don't want to know! It could be from a disease, an accident or some kind of global event. We may go alone or with others. The bottom line is that we have no control over it. If tomorrow truly is the end of the world, there's not a damn thing any of us can do about it. Our number is up when it's up. Period. The thing that really kills me are the freaks like the one I encountered this morning. The news has been interviewing some of these people who are "spreading the word" about tomorrow. These people have quit their jobs. There's one guy who has spent his entire life savings on billboards and advertisements. He's driving around the country in an RV, going from city to city to share the message about "Judgment Day". Really? Come Monday, we'll all be supporting these dumbasses because the world will still be here and they'll be jobless. What do you think about this insanity? I have a few songs to leave you with tonight. I'm sure you can guess what they're about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA-bP5fZwR0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7xv8ruOUDs I will close with this. I am a christian. I believe in God. I pray. I love the important people in my life with all my heart. I may not be a saint but I'm a good person. I don't need some nut on the street to "save my soul". IF tomorrow is the end of the world, it's been good knowing all of you. I'll see you on the flip side! |
Words to live by: ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Most of you know (I think) that I work in the city. I have about a 6 block walk from the lot I park in to my office (so 12 city blocks everyday). My office is in the historic district of Philadelphia. We’re near the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the Constitution Center, etc. There are also a TON of restaurants and bars nearby. I walk past a lot of them on my way to and from my car everyday. Last night, walking to my car, I saw that one of the bars had written that on their window. I laughed…hysterically. I snapped the picture above today. It’s just too good to not share with all of you. Who doesn’t appreciate truth in advertising and, hey, we could all use a laugh, right? I also noticed, when I uploaded the pic, that you can see me taking the picture (in the reflection)! LOL This particular bar/restaurant tends to push the envelope a little with some of their advertising. I find it funny as hell but, apparently, they got in trouble a few weeks ago. They had a sign advertising some new “southern” items on their menu. Their tag line was, “Go south with your mouth!” Ummmmm??? Now, I found it hilarious! Apparently, I have a dirty mind. Go figure! I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. Unfortunately, I was laughing so hard, I didn’t even think to take a picture of it until after I was in my car and on my way home. Damn!I was hoping to snap a pic the next day but, when I walked by, it wasn’t there. The owner was outside. I asked him about it. He said he had to take it down because “too many people complained”. Since the place is a restaurant also, a lot of families go there for lunch and dinner. He said he had a lot of complaints from people bringing their kids in. They said it was inappropriate. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. In my opinion, most kids wouldn’t even think anything of it because they wouldn’t make the correlation between that and anything else. Young kids wouldn’t “get it” and older kids who do are, most likely, hearing MUCH worse everyday in the halls at school. So, this brings me to my question . Are we too uptight? By “we”, I mean society in general. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world. That’s all I have for today. For Brooklyn , I hope I made you ! You need it. Actually, I hope I made all of you smile. While I was driving home tonight, this song came on the radio. It’s a blast from the past but it’s a great song. I believe it’s circa 1987 (’88). Boy does that make me feel old! Enjoy, folks, I hope you’re all having a great Wednesday! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOYK7sG5c2Q&feature=fvsr |
| Why do Mondays almost always suck? The weekend flies by so fast and then Monday just drags on…and on…and on! God, it was like the never ending day today! The weekend was good. We went out to dinner Friday night and had a great meal. My husband had an “Arrogant Bastard Ale” beer with his dinner. His phone was dead so he asked me to take a picture of it and send it to him. I, of course, posted it to Facebook and tagged him. Some of the comments were HILARIOUS! I told him, “You knew you left yourself wide open with that one!” He just laughed. Saturday, I got my first pedicure of the year. I don’t do it until the weather breaks. I mean, why spend all that money when you’re just going to have your feet hidden in the fall and winter, you know? It was soooo nice to take that hour+ Saturday afternoon for some quality “me” time. The place I went to does the full spa pedicure and it is phenomenal. You even get a chair massage and everything! Speaking of massages, I am in desperate need of a “real” massage. My birthday is in a few weeks. Can you guys start dropping some hints to the hubs for me telling him he should get me a gift card for a massage? Sunday, was my sister-in-law’s (my husband’s sister) baby shower. After my pedicure on Saturday afternoon, I spent the rest of the day and Saturday night running around doing stuff the shower. Then Sunday was the shower itself so I was gone ALL day yesterday. I’m exhausted! It was a great shower and they got a lot of adorable “little girl” stuff. That brings us to today. Boo Monday! It’s been rainy, dreary and nasty all damn day. Yuck! Mondays are always pretty crazy at work anyway but, there was a release to our system over the weekend and there are ALWAYS problems to deal with after that. Ugh. I felt like I spent the day putting out “fires”.About mid-morning, I decided to take a break from the “real world” stuff and log in to WDC to see what was going on in the “writing world”. I probably shouldn’t have done that. Let me backtrack a little for you. I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that I wrote a letter to a soldier a few weeks ago for the “Letters from Home” contest. My letter, "Invalid Item" , is one of the items up for review this week in the "Simply Positive Review Forum " . Each week there are 5 items posted that we are supposed to review to get credit, etc. It’s a nice thing and I was shocked (and honored) that they picked my letter as one of the items to review. This particular piece is extremely personal to me and the more exposure it gets, the more (I hope) people will want to write a letter of their own. The contest goes through Memorial Day (hint, hint - get writing guys! ).It has over 100 views and has received more than a dozen reviews. The reviews were all awesome. All 5 stars and one 4.5 star rating…until today. This letter got a HORRIBLE review and rating from someone this morning. This person (I won’t even call them an author…I’ll get into that more in a minute) ripped it to shreds. Now, in the "Simply Positive Review Forum " under the items up for review, it clearly states “If something is not to your taste to review, simply select another item as substitute.” It’s in bold, red lettering. You can’t possibly miss it. The person who gave it this bad review is from another country. If they had a problem reviewing the letter because they are not an American citizen, I have no problem with that. Pick something else to review instead and you’ll still get your group credits. Don’t purposely berate someone’s work because it’s not something you believe in or something you agree with. I will say that I did have 1 other review from someone in another country who loved the letter and gave it a 5 star rating. She went on to say that no matter where you are in the world or what country you’re a citizen of, the military is the highest honored profession. See, now there’s someone who gets it. The idiot that reviewed it today, is just that…an idiot.At first I got angry. I’m human. We don’t always respond to critics well. It’s one thing to provide constructive, professional criticism. It’s something else entirely to make fun of and basically tell someone their work is garbage (in so many words). It’s completely unnecessary! I would never, ever do that! I know none of you would either. After a little while, I calmed down and started wondering how this person rated the other 4 items up for review. So I looked. What do you know? This person did the same exact thing to the other 4 items. Regardless of what they felt about my letter, those other 4 items were pretty damn good. I did all my reviews a few days ago. I think someone needs to explain to this person what “Simply Positive” means. Clearly, they don’t understand it. When I get reviews of my items, I try to return the favor with a review (or two). I went over to this person’s port. I wanted to see if there was something I could review and I wanted to see their writing style. Looking at the writing style, I figured would tell me whether or not I could take their review to heart. If they were some big-time published writer, maybe I should take a step back and see if their review was accurate. I went into their port. Oh boy… Garbage. Literally. It was filled with such worthless drivel, I couldn’t believe it. I opened about 10 different items. I couldn’t finish any of them. They were that bad. And this person thinks they’re an “author” and able to provide criticism on the work that real writers do? I don’t think so! I know you all feel my pain. We get a lot of good reviews that really do offer some great suggestions on things to consider updating. Why is it so hard to remember those, especially when the 1% of total BS, worthless reviews come in? I hope all is well with you guys. I’ll be by to check blogs later tonight (or possibly tomorrow). I’m beat so I may fall asleep if I try tonight.  I will leave you all with this song tonight, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAt9QTmVc7Q. Since there are no songs about “Gray Mondays” this will have to do. |
I had to make 2 stops on my way home from work tonight. The first stop was Sephora. My other stop was Home Depot. I needed some necessities from Sephora. I that store!  I had to pick up a few necessities from Home Depot, too. You see, my dad always wanted me to be independent and not have to "rely on a man" for anything. He was extremely handy so he taught me well. It's a good thing, too, because my husband is absolutely clueless. He is, by far, the least handy person I have ever met in my life. He had no tools. When we got engaged and moved in together, I brought all of my tools with me. Yes, I had a bunch of them. My dad made sure of that. My husband didn't have the first clue as to what any of them did. All of our friends and family find this absolutely hilarious. Even though I'm "girly" (i.e., my love of Sephora), I can still be somewhat "manly" and fix things around the house. That kinda blows the whole "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" thing out of the water. I get along quite nicely with myself. But I do still need my husband for the important things...like killing spiders, or any bug, for that matter. I will scream and cry like a girl at the first sight of a bug. Eeeeeeewwwwwwwww!Short blog entry tonight folks. I'm about to start dinner. It's a little late tonight. The hubs had soccer practice (he coaches) and a brief soccer board meeting. What's on the menu, you ask? I am making asparagus and bacon-wrapped filet mignon (in my own special marinade) on the grill. I've also got some baked potatoes and crescent rolls in the oven. YUMMMMMMMM!!! Fivesixer , that beats the hell out of your fried bologna sandwiches -- I'm still trying to figure out what that is -- any day of the week! I hope everyone is having a great Tuesday! |
| Actually, it's been a little more than a week that's been weird. Let's do a little run-down, shall we? Last Saturday was the 6 year anniversary of my mom's death. We didn't have the best relationship but she was my mom and I loved her. Period. To add insult to injury, I was the one that found my mom when she died. It's something I think about every day but the anniversary makes it worse. The fact that it's so close to Mother's Day makes it a nightmare. I wrote something about my mom today...actually it's something I sort of wrote to her. It covers her, our relationship and her death. It's something that I really, really needed to write. It's been a long time coming. I'll post the link to the letter I wrote at the end of this entry so you can read it, if you're interested.Last Sunday, well, I think that's a day we'll all remember for the rest of our lives. Public Enemy #1, Osama bin Laden, was taken out by a team of Navy Seals. That day should now be a holiday. They could call it Osama been Deadened Day. Wednesday was Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you!). Yes, I just showed you my inner nerd. Don't judge me! Thursday was not only Cinco de Mayo, it was also Cinco de Jamee. My little girl, Jamee, turned 2 years old. I can't believe it! This is a picture we took of her Thursday morning. The Birthday Princess is posing in her "Birthday Girl" tiara...and you can see some remnants of the cookie we gave her on the carpet around her. We used it to bribe her. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** What can I say? She's an only child so we spoil her rotten. Friday was just a regular kind of day. They let us out of work at 3:00, which was nice. Our corporate office is in Louisville and pretty much shuts down for the entire week leading up to the Kentucky Derby. Upper management in my office was like, "If they can shut down for a week, we should be able to let you guys leave 2 hours early". It was nice to get an early start to the weekend. The hubs and I went to the bar, had a couple of beers with friends and then went to dinner. I'm not even going to mention the Flyers game last night. Go ahead, Fivesixer , fire away with the jokes, jibes and whatnot. It's OK. I'm ready and I can take it. But, I told you before that they weren't going to win the Stanley Cup this year.I was supposed to be going to my best friend's house tonight. Her birthday is Monday so her husband sent me a text the other day saying he was thinking of having a get together for her after she got done work. I told him that sounded like a good idea and asked what I could bring. Last night, he sent me another text saying it wasn't going to happen. I got another text from him this afternoon saying it was back on again but that she's working until 10:00 tonight so it wouldn't start until then. Ummm, I love her dearly and all but no. I haven't been feeling very well this week so I think the last thing I need to be doing is going out at 10 at night and drinking until God only knows when. I'll text her tomorrow to see when we can actually get together to celebrate her birthday. Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I already know it's going to suck for me for two reasons. First, I'm not a mother and I never will be. Second, I no longer have a mother. Speaking of that, here is what I wrote earlier today. It's gotten 61 views in the 3 hours since I've posted it. No comments or reviews so I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I hope you guys will take a minute to read it. It explains a lot.
Regardless of my issues with Mother's Day, I would still like to wish all of you fantastic mom's out there a great day tomorrow! Even if you're not a mom, if you have a special 'mom' in your life, make sure you tell her how much she means to you. Remember, "the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world." Happy Mother's Day to my mom in Heaven. I couldn't really find a good mom song I wanted to post here but here's a song that I think (sort of) fits my situation...different kind of love but you get the idea. The title of the song is the part that I think fits, if that makes sense. I think it's a really pretty song too. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnVUHWCynig |
| What started off as a really shitty weekend ended wonderfully with the news of the death of Osama bin Laden. I'm not one to wish death on another human being but, that's just the thing, he was not a human being. He was evil incarnate. He was responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people. He is to blame for the grief felt by millions over those that were lost and the horrible acts that will forever be etched into our minds. On September 10, 2001, most of us didn't know who he was. If we had heard of him, it was only in passing and, though, we may have heard the name, we probably wouldn't have been able to tell you who or what he was. Just 24 hours later, we knew exactly what he was. We knew that he was a monster capable of the most heinous acts imaginable. This is a great day for all of us, not just Americans, but everyone around the world. The world is a safer place without him in it. I know that there are other terrorists out there. They will always be a threat. Our troops will be protecting us from them until the end of time. That is not what today is about. Today is about getting justice for the victims and those who loved them. It's about reflection and remembrance. Today is about moving forward because we now have just a little bit of closure. We can take a deep breath and know that this piece of shit is no longer drawing breath from this Earth. He will now spend all of eternity in the fiery depths of Hell. There will be no rest for him. There will be no peace for him. He does not deserve either. The impromptu parades and celebrations that erupted when this news hit tell me I am not alone in my beliefs. We were watching the Phillies game last night when this news broke (you didn't think I'd write an entire blog entry without mentioning one of my teams, did you?). It was absolutely amazing to see the sold-out crowd explode into the chant of "USA! USA! USA!" I actually got chills. At that point, it wasn't about the game anymore. It was about Americans uniting and celebrating a victory of epic proportions. If you missed it, here is a link (it's only about 30 seconds but you get the idea) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35pfllMiLag. In my "day job" I am a Senior Analyst. This is what I do. I analyze. Here is my analysis. The announcement of Osama bin Laden's death came during the ESPN Sunday Night Game of the Week. That game happened to be America's favorite pastime. It was being played in the city that is the birthplace of America. Who were my Fightin' Phils playing? The Mets. That's right, a team from New York City. The city that saw the most destruction and devastation on 9/11. Of all those that died that day, most of them were in New York City. Did you happen to notice the inning and the score? It was the 9th inning and the game was tied 1-1. 9-1-1. Creepy, huh? So if you want to take those 30 seconds and go watch that clip again, go ahead. I'll wait. When you take all of that into consideration, what do you think? Is it some kind of message? I'd like to think so. Personally, I think that message is we're all going to be OK. We've endured atrocities that none of us ever thought we'd see in our lifetime. We survived. As a nation, we came together and persevered. Justice was served and, even though, our battle is not won, we're still standing tall and proud. President Obama ended his announcement with words we speak and hear every day, "One nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all." I think that says it all.Despite the seriousness of this, there are, of course, the jokes. I don't know about you guys but my sense of humor has always carried me through the tough times. I thought I'd share some of the funny things I saw today. I mean no offense to the victims of the horrific acts (had to have a disclaimer). I got this picture via text message from my best friend: ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Two of the funniest Facebook status updates I saw were the following: #1 - "I hope all of bin Laden's virgins are big, hairy men." #2 - "Do you think that Navy Seal said, 'Checkmate, bitch!'?" Plugs and Props Major props to Navy Seal Team Six! You guys are heroes, the best of the best and the very reason Navy Seals are "elite operatives". Although we may never know your names or see your faces, we'll be forever grateful to you. Regardless of how you feel about President Obama, our government leaders or even politics in general, this was a well-orchestrated plan. It required a calculated effort and took a lot of guts to make the decision to order the kill shot. Props to all those involved in devising the plan, mapping it out and following through on a promise that was made to all of us. Now on to some WDC-ville props... As I mentioned above, one thing we should all be doing today is reflecting and remembering. One way to do that is to go to
, is listed there. Stop by, leave a message but, most importantly, remember.There's also a great new contest that started over the weekend. Pretty crazy timing but purely coincidental. The contest is,
And last, but certainly not least, there's a great new group around these parts. It's called,
) and co-founded by MumstheWord . I'm one of the "veteran helpers" of the group. Whether you're a "veteran" or a "newcomer", I hope you'll consider joining! Given what the majority of this blog entry is about, I wanted to leave you with this song. I'm feeling quite patriotic today. It's a good song and it gets me a little choked up every time I hear it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E&feature=fvsr God Bless the USA and the world! God Bless our troops! May they all be brought home safely...and soon. God Bless the souls of those we lost to the heinous acts of terrorism. And, may God continue to bless the families and friends they've left behind. We will never forget! |
| I'm writing this blog entry to clear something up. Philadelphia sports fans are not as bad as you might think we are. I wanted to avoid blogging in my blog comments (again) of my entry, "Invalid Entry" , so I'm writing a new entry instead. I’m not mad -- far from it -- but, as a lifelong Philadelphia sports fan, I feel the need to correct the perceived notion that Philly fans are the worst fans in sports. I’m not saying that we don’t have our fair share of idiot fans. We absolutely do but they are the minority. Unfortunately, these dumbasses give the rest of us a bad rap. The media perpetuates this with their sensationalism because the douchebag fans are the only ones they tell you about. The snowball incident happened in 1968. That’s over 40 years ago. Several generations of fans have come and gone and, yet, we present day fans are being judged by that. I’m not condoning the snowball scandal. It was wrong. I wish it had never happened but it did. It was almost a decade before I was even born. I’ve been to games in other major cities like Boston, New Orleans, New York (several different games in different venues in NYC), Baltimore, Miami, etc. The bottom line? Asshole fans are everywhere. They are not defined by geographic location. Look at what happened in LA on Opening Day this year. A Giants fan was critically beaten by Dodgers fans. He has likely suffered permanent brain damage and I think he’s still in a coma. During the playoffs last year, the Rangers were playing the Yankees. Cliff Lee was pitching for Texas. His wife and kids were in the stands. Yankees fans were cursing at them and threw beer at them…his wife and kids. Really?!! Did you hear about that in the news? Probably not. There’s a little boy in our area. His name is Trey Love. He’s 4 and has a rare, incurable form of cancer. He’s adorable and fighting a good fight in a losing battle. The doctors have only given him a few months to live. Our local media picked up on his story. The Phillies organization heard about it and mentioned it during a recent home game. Do you want to know what happened? The response from Phillies fans was remarkable. They donated tons of money. It’s enough money to cover his daily medical expenses (which are overwhelming) as well as a trip for him and his family. They’re going to Disney World in May...one last time. These are the Philadelphia sports fans that you do not hear about in the news. Again, I’m not mad because, after all, your perception is your reality. Since that’s how we’re shown to be, that’s how you perceive us to be. I think it’s about time the media finds another city to pick on…and maybe show the City of Brotherly Love some love. Can you tell I’m not a big fan of the media? I had a very unpleasant encounter with a media crew almost 9 years ago. It’s a story for another day, in another blog entry, IF I’m even able to write about it. It has to do with the death of my best friend’s brother. After he was killed, I wrote about him in my poem, "Tommy" . The media were ruthless vultures after this happened. That’s all I’ll say about it…for now.Happy Friday to you. I hope you all enjoy the weekend!! And, I really do hope that this blog entry will alter your perception of us. We're good peeps! Well, most of us, anyway. |
| Even though I won “the bet” between myself and Fivesixer because my Flyers beat his Sabres in Game 7 last night, I’m still devoting this blog entry (a portion of it, anyway) to the Sabres. You don’t have to re-read that. You read it correctly the first time. I can give credit where it’s due (unless it’s the Yankees, Devils or Cowboys) and, believe me, it’s due. First, let’s do a breakdown of all 7 games. I know how painful this is for you right now, Fivesixer , so you may want to skip over this part and start reading at the next paragraph. Recap of the Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Quarterfinals and “the bet” between me & Fivesixer :Game 1 – Thursday, April 14th: Sabres 1 – Flyers 0 Game 2 – Saturday, April 16th: Flyers 5 – Sabres 4 Game 3 – Monday, April 18th: Flyers 4 – Sabres 2 Game 4 – Wednesday, April 20th: Sabres 1 – Flyers 0 Game 5 – Friday, April 22nd: Sabres 4 – Flyers 3 Game 6 – Sunday, April 24th: Flyers 5 – Sabres 4 Game 7 – Tuesday, April 26th: Flyers 5 – Sabres 2 The Flyers won the series but it took them 7 games to do it. That says a lot about the Sabres as a team. As a Flyers fan, there were many times that I doubted my Flyguys could win the series. Again, that’s really saying something about the Sabres. They were the underdog in the series and they gave us a hell of a run. If there was a “Cinderella story” of the Stanley Cup playoffs this year, it would have to be the Buffalo Sabres. Scratch that. If there was a “Cinderella story” of this entire NHL season, it’s the Buffalo Sabres. The Cinderella Sabres were seeded 7th (out of 8 teams) in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers were the 2nd seed. That is so misleading. When you take into account that the Sabres finished the regular season 8-1-1 (in their last 10 regular season games), which was the best finish in the NHL. The Flyers had one of the worst finishes. Considering that the Sabres had quite a bit of internal turmoil, like being taken over by a new billionaire owner in February, that’s a pretty damn impressive finish. I have to be honest. If they were playing anyone other than the Flyers in that first round, I’d have been rooting for them. I love Cinderella stories and I like rooting for the underdog. The exception being the Yankees, Devils and Cowboys. I can't stress my hatred of those teams enough. You’re probably wondering where I’m going with all of this, aren’t you? Well, part of it has to do with what I said at the beginning. I’m giving credit where it’s due. Another part of it is that I’m trying to cheer up a friend. I'm looking at you, Fivesixer . I’ve been there and it sucks. The Flyers have not won a Stanley Cup in my lifetime. Unless they get their goaltending situation straightened out, they’re not going to this year, either.As much as I love hockey and my Flyers, hockey is not my favorite sport. It’s a close second, though. Baseball is my absolute favorite sport, hands down. As you all know, I love the Phillies. I was 2 months old when I went to my first Phillies game so that should tell you right there, I’m a diehard fan. My dad and I watched pretty much every game together when I was growing up. He and I were very close. We’d go to games as often as possible. In those days, the Phillies were a much different team than what they’ve been the last few years. They sucked. Year after year, they were bringing up the bottom of the standings, not just in the National League East either. There were a number of years where they finished the season with the worst record in baseball! Yet, there we were rooting for our Phils. Always. That's what true fans do. Before the 2008 season, the last World Series the Phillies won was in 1980. I was 4. Although I remember the excitement of my dad and my brothers, I was too young to really understand it. My ultimate dream was for my dad and I to see the Phillies win a World Series. That day never came. My dad died in June 2001. The Phillies won the World Series in Game 5 part 2 in 2008 (they had to stop Game 5 part 1 because of a really bad thunderstorm). My husband and I were at the local bar with some friends and his family, watching the game. When they won that game, it was the greatest moment of my life...and also one of the saddest. It’s something I’ll never forget as long as I live. After all of the celebratory hugs/kisses/high fives with friends and family, I had to take a moment. I stepped outside the bar, looked up at the sky and said, “They did it, Daddy. They finally did it.” And then I burst into tears. I know my dad was watching the game from the best seat in the house. I'm sure he was doing some trash talking to some Yankees and Mets fans up there in Heaven (if there are any Yankees or Mets fans in Heaven ). And I know that he had a HUGE smile on his face because our Fightin' Phils finally did it. They won a World Series...and they were the best team in baseball. I would have given anything to have been able to share that moment with him. I still get choked up thinking about it. I know I always will.When you’re a diehard fan, you take pride in your team’s wins and you feel the dread of defeat in their losses. The moral of the story is that, in order to celebrate that ultimate win, you’ll have to suffer through some tough losses. The Sabres have a good team that they can build on and, eventually, someday, they’ll raise Lord Stanley’s Cup over their heads and take that celebratory skate around the ice. And, in that moment, you’ll have that feeling of triumph and pride, knowing that your team is the best in the world. You’ll share it with those you love and you’ll remember it for the rest of your life. That is my wish for you, as your friend. See that? Philly sports fans aren’t as bad as the media would have you believe. Plugs and Props If you’ve stopped by my port sometime over the last few days, you’ll notice I’ve spruced it up a little. I did some “spring cleaning” and moved everything into folders. I created the Table of Contents below to make it easier for my "guests" to find what they're looking for in my portfolio.
I've also created a guestbook. Please drop by, leave a message and show some love. Make me feel like less of a loser since no one has signed it yet. Although, I did just create it an hour or two ago.
I hope everyone is having a good week. I will leave you all with this. Fivesixer , earmuffs...I mean, blindfold...ummm...whatever. You get the idea. After the Flyers big Game 7 win last night, we're partying in the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z2DtNW79sQ (fill in the song name here). I know the song doesn't "fit" the occasion but (1) it's a good song and (2) the song title finishes my sentence nicely. |
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