Pet Sitting – September 2008

Just in case their Mommy and Daddy are checking the Blogesphere.

Hi Mommy and Daddy! – Happy Birthday! Mrs. Lili has strings on her sweater that she lets me play with, and she talks to me a lot so I talk a lot back to her and roll on the kitchen floor to show her my belly. It’s FUN!!! I miss you! See you soon!

Hey there - Jack here - Nice people you’ve sent to take care of us. Good food… Good water… I’m keeping everything safe, don’t you worry about a thing. See you in a few days.
P.S. I forgot, where do you keep my toys so that Mrs. Lili can play with me?

Till next time,
Bon Voyage!

Seriously!!!??? – September 2008

Friday brought to a close one of the most stressful weeks I’ve had in some time. I want to make a point to say that it wasn’t the bad kind of stress, but rather the driving kind that causes you to do really good work. All of that to say I had decided early on in the afternoon that I would be making a stop off on the way home at our local grocery store for a take and bake pizza and our beverages of choice. I hit the door at as close to 5:00pm as possible (which was actually closer to 6:00pm). Anyhow, I got to the grocery with a goal of record time and I was successful. I was in and out in about five minutes.

Back in the parking lot, I am in route to little Annie (My red, 14 year old ford) when I am stopped in my tracks. Parked next to my car is THIS!!! I honestly laughed out loud.

Note to Reader: I do work for the largest after market automotive parts retailer, but by no means am I what you would call a “Car Girl”. Don‘t get me wrong, I like cars, and I know the basics… but… well… beyond basic stuff I rely on my husband, and friends, or I just leave it to the experts. All of this to say, even with the little car knowledge that I have, I am almost positive that there isn’t a practical reason to do this to your car.

Additional Note to Reader: Did you notice that this car is actually taller than the SUV beside it. HA!!!

Note to the owner of this car: Please pardon me for making fun of your ride, but SERIOUSLY!!!??? What on earth were you thinking!!!??? I bet you are paying at least twice what I am on your weekly gas bill? And don’t even try to say this is a “hybrid”. When they said “Go Green” this was not what they were talking about. Even if you are totally cool with, or can just deal with the color, what the heck possessed you to jack your pea green town car up onto monster truck tires? Thanks for the laugh!

Till next time,
Bon Voyage!

Cash in the Closet!!! - September 2008

I’ve started somewhat of a tradition that on both Labor Day and Memorial Day, if I am home, I will use one of the days of that three day weekend to clean out my closet. This means a complete overhaul of its contents.

Note to reader: For some reason (which I don’t mind at all) when people clean out their closets, I am the person to which they deliver their hand-me-downs. It has ALWAYS been that way. On top of that I have a difficult time giving away clothing that is either just a little bit big or a little bit small, because I think that one day I may need it. I offer these not as excuses, but just present them as explanations as to the abundance of clothing I have that I may have never worn due to size and/or style.

So each spring and fall I challenge myself to fill at least one garbage bag full of clothing to give away to Good Will. This Labor Day was no exception. After sending my husband off at 6:00 a.m. for a “long call” day at the hospital, I tackled some general house work mixed with a few selections from my DVR box till about 10:00.

Please Note: This isn’t the most efficient way to clean, but at least you enjoy yourself in the process.

After about three hours at the pool (don’t you love my work ethic), I resigned myself to the fact that I HAD to get this project started. So with a CD full of assorted music about cars pumping through the stereo (I was screening songs for dirty lyrics for work… no really!), I set myself to the task at hand, and I was able to step back from my hard work at about 7pm to reveal a beautifully organized closet and $26!!!.

(I know, there's only $21 in this picture. I took $5 and played BUNCO!)

I exceeded my goal and ended up with 2 boxes (about 8 pairs of shoes) and 2 trash bags full of stuff to take to Good Will. On top of that I threw away a bag and a half of trash. I still feel like I could have done more, but with that having been said, maybe I will take my $21 to TJ Max because my closet is seriously naked!!!

Till Next Time,
Bon Voyage!

The Best Political move All Week!!! - Washington, DC - August 2008

Note to Reader: I try to keep my political feelings out of the public arena so as not to offend, but this morning there is cause to say a little something.

This morning John McCain announced his running mate in the 2008 presidential election as Sarah Palin, current Gov. of Alaska. To date, outside of my political opinion, I think that this is the strongest and best political move of this election season, and possibly, it remains to be seen, one of the greatest moves in political history. Here are two that are good profile articles about her, one from BBC News and one from My Fox. These are about both her as a person and where she stands. But some of her highlights are that she’s a Hunter, she loves sports, she’s a mother of 5, she’s a former beauty queen, she has fought corruption all of her political career (details in the above articles), she’s a fierce debater, and her nick name is “Sarah Barracuda”! LOVE IT!!! LOVE IT!!! LOVE IT!!!

Regardless of where you stand politically, one thing can me said… There is change in the air, and one day, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this is the election that changed the face of politics.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

Till next time,
Bon Voyage!

Encore – August 2008

I consider myself to be a reasonably tech savvy person. I like computers and electronics, but this afternoon at about 3:00pm Central Daylight savings time, I met my match. The CS3 Adobe Production Premium Suite masks it’s self as a mild mannered suite of software that can do anything from take out the red eye on your family photos to… hummmmm… lets see… I don’t know… maybe… AUTHOR THE DVD’s FOR YOUR NATIONAL SALES MEETING (which happens to be in 5 weeks and they still have to go to duplication) with the stroke of a few keys.

Note to Self: I do love my job! I do love my job! I do love my job! I do love my job! I do love my job!

All was going smoothly, (well as smoothly as can be expected without any formal training on the software) when I open my project in Adobe Encore and began placing menus, slides, and end actions. I was trucking right along when all of the sudden, while attempting to add a song called Spare Parts by a band called BluesPower, my progress came to a screeching halt.

Note to Reader: I know, catchy car songs for Automotive training is cheesy, but hey what are you gonna do. We call it the “cool aide”.

An hour later, after much internal (and some external) huffing and puffing, I had tried every tutorial and still had gotten nowhere. I called or personally went to see three of my most valued Adobe experts, two of which had never even herd of Encore and the third was just as perplexed as I was. I called my dear husband, who on the rare occasion was off work and he immediately began downloading a free trial version on our home computer so that he could try to help me. I took a walk with squeezable stress balls in each hand to avoid throwing my computer into the trash, (because out the window wasn’t an option). If I were a smoker, well… you get the picture!

Additional Note to Reader: In all seriousness, if you know and can teach this program there is a pretty penny in it for you!

After my internal temper tantrum and my external separation from the said offending computer, I returned with a resolve to make this dang thing work… and I did. I don’t know what I did, or how I did it, but I made my DVD and even better, it has a soundtrack!

So regardless of the fact that I have a TON of stuff to do, I decided that I was going to end the day on a good note. So I headed home, leaving the rest of my battles to fight tomorrow.

Till next time,
Bon Voyage!

Beijing 2008 - A look back at the sports I just don’t get… – August 2008

Note to Reader: I want to preface this blog by saying I LOVE sports!!! Even more so I LOVE the Olympics!!! I love the intensity and the passion I love the sap stories on the athletes that make me cry (the ones the Jeremy tries to fast forward through!). I love the Joy of winning and I love watching how gracefully the athletes accept a less than perfect performance. (This does not include the Cuban Taekwando fighter, Angel Matos, that kicked the Ref in the face because he got disqualified. It also doesn’t include the Swedish weightlifter that acted like a big baby because he got a bronze medal and not gold.)

As I watched the closing ceremonies with a bit of a tear in my eye, I mentally, (and with my completely to capacity 100 hr DVR box) took a look back at the last two weeks of competition. As a country we did an awesome job. It is noteworthy that just under 1/4th of our medals were earned by one, Michael Phelps, who the USA basketball team (“The Redeem Team” I think is what they called themselves) swears sleeps under water.

But looking back as the events as a whole, there were some that I began to question. I mean should some of these really be on the Olympic stage.

Additional Note to Reader: If you participate in any of the following sports… well… I’m sorry! Please remember that these are MY opinions. It doesn’t make them correct.

First and foremost, Olympic Synchronized Trampoline Jumping – Okay I love jumping on a Trampoline just as much as the next person, but really. I think the object is to stay in the box, (which hardly anyone does) and jump as high as you can and do as many flips and twists as you can together with your partner. I can totally live with the gymnastics with the gigantic ribbon and hula hoop and even that baton thing they throw up really really high, but jumping on a trampoline… I know its hard work because they are sweating like a pig when they’re done, but, it’s just not screaming OLYMPIC GAMES. Ya know.

Second on my list is Women’s Sabre Fencing. We did sweep the medals in this event. So I must say that the reason I don’t understand this one, is because it is really scary to me. For example, take the gold medal bout (that’s what they call a match) between Zagunis and Jacobson. They start with their sward things and one girl pretty much runs at the other and pokes her in her electrically charged super sensitive suit that has a GIGANTIC battery pack on it. Then when the girl that is doing the poking gets the point, she turns around, rips off her helmet, and screams at the top of her lungs, like she was the one that got poked. THAT'S SCARY!!!

Third is badminton. I think people look silly enough playing this when it’s not on the Olympics. Why put them on a national stage. To me it’s like walking up to someone and asking them if they want to be on the Olympic Beer Pong team. I mean really!!! Plus the US didn’t get any medals in badminton so I am all for taking it away all together.

OK I know this has already gone on too long, so I’ll open up the floor. Please tell me, what do you think are the best and worst Olympic summer games sports?

Till Next time,
Bon Voyage!

Gone Baby Gone! - Tallahassee, FL - August 2008

My sweet sweet baby sister started a new chapter in her life last week! She moved to a land far far away called Florida to go to nursing school. YAHOO!!! to her, but boo for me! She is now like four gazillion miles away and that's equal to like 7 or 8 states!!!

Note to Reader: This part may get a little mushy!

So it goes without saying that I'm sad that she is gone, but it must be said that I am SUPER proud of her! She is, I think, one of the bravest people I know.

FOR EXAMPLE: If you had told her 6 months ago "Suze - in 6 months you will be starting nursing school and just two short years after that you will be poking people and cleaning up poop and wiping slobber and cleaning up pee pee and all that jazz, I honestly think she would have thrown up on your shoes.

You see, my baby sister is STRONG in heart and mind, but was more than slightly weak of stomach! I love referring to her as a "DO GOODER" who is most happy when helping people and making them laugh. So the choice to become a nurse really was just a matter of time.

So even with this fear of blood and guts she took a job as a tech in Vampire heaven... i.e. THE BLOOD BANK!!! (What were you thinking!!!) Throughout her time there she convinced the people there to help her overcome her fears and get her on her way to the career that she'd set her heart and mind upon.

Now I don't know the exact details of the path to the destruction of the fear, but if I know my sister, there was a lot of crying, and shaking, and eye closing, and changing of the mind, and then changing it back, but finally, as I understand it, the people at that blood bank yanked that fear right out of her. She was doing blood draws left and right. Now I don't know about the guts and poop and other stuff, but DUDE!!! To overcome a fear of blood... just talking about it makes me light headed... WOW!!! I am SOOOO proud to say she is mine!

Now, aside from a rockin' job she's going to get at the end of these two LONG years, the good part about her being gone is that she has started BLOGGING on a regular basis!!! YAHOO!!! SO here's where you come in. Every new blogger needs encouragement, sooooo...

THE CHARGE!!!! - Please please please READ HER BLOG!!! And leave comments. You know how good you feel when people comment on yours.

Her Blog is http://inresponsetotheeverydaymundane.blogspot.com/

Check it out!! And a BIG thank you in advance!!!

Till Next Time,
Bon Voyage!