I got creative today!

I am happy at myself! I created not one, but two digital layouts of the pictures I took of my niece and nephews last weekend. I was reading my scrapbooking magazines and felt the urge to come do some digi-scrapping, and here's the result. I'm pretty happy with it - especially considering that this is only my second ever digital layout.

In other news, I am NOT ready for Christmas yet, but I'm getting closer. Unfortunately, the fates are conspiring against me - the husband of one of my fellow choir members passed away and his funeral is tomorrow, and the choir has been asked to sing, so that will take some time out of the day. I'm just hoping I can sing - I've been coughing pretty badly the last couple of days, but so far, so good - I haven't lost my voice.

Here's wishing everyone out there a very merry Christmas!

Good news...

In the past couple of weeks, we've gotten some pretty good news from several different people. First of all, we found out that my mother-in-law is coming up from Arkansas to visit for Christmas. This is good news because it's probably the only Christmas for a long time that all of her kids will be in the same general area for Christmas, since Brian's brother and his family just moved to Saginaw temporarily while he looks for a church and Brian's sister and her family will be moving to Boston after the new year (which isn't all that great of news, because we'll miss them, but is good news because Bill will enjoy his new job). Secondly, we found out that both of my sisters-in-law are pregnant and due sometime this summer, so I'll be an aunt twice over again next year. That's good news - more kids to spoil! :) And Christmas is just a couple of days away - also good news, because it means the nerve-wracking part of preparing bell solos and knowing that by the time Christmas Eve is over my brain will be fried will be over soon, not to mention that we get to spend time with both of our families.

Anyway, while I was thinking about all of the good news we've gotten lately, it made me think about Christmas, too. Lately I've been kind of bah humbug-ish - tired and kind of crabby, and just not in the Christmas spirit. I didn't really care if we put up a tree or made cookies, or any of that stuff. I was (well, still am) sick of the traffic in town and the way people get really crazy with their driving and cranky in line behind you (like the lady behind me in the self-checkout at Wal-Mart who counted my items and made a huge deal out of the fact that I had more than 10). But then I stopped, and had a blinding flash of inspiration (it's a good thing I can touch-type, eh?). I realized that I was acting more like the Grinch than anything, and that I need to focus on the real reason that we celebrate Christmas. It's not about Santa, or shopping, or slapping stuff on the tree so you can win the best decoration prize. It's not about the inflatables, or the blinking lights, or the presents. It's about love, and about compassion, and about being a better person, even if I don't remember that all the time. It's about what out department at work is doing - adopting a family and making sure that they have a good Christmas, but even then it's not about the "stuff" - it's about being able to help someone who needs it. I'm amazed at what we've been able to do for our Christmas family - a single mother with four kids under ten years old. And it makes me feel good to know what a great bunch of people I work with, because I know that none of us are doing it just to mark it off on a checklist as something you "have to do" at Christmas time. That's what Christmas is about - taking the time to help those who need it. It's also about letting the people you know know that they are loved and important to you. So here's to my friends and my family. I love you all and cherish the fact that you are in my life. Have a merry Christmas, and may Santa bring you everything you want!

Bad to the bone...

I know, I know - I've been a very bad girl - no posts for 11 days! It's just been a little crazy around here trying to get ready for the holidays (and prepare two bell solos) while still going back and forth out of town. I'll make it through, though, and I'll be sure to post again soon. Until then, stay warm and cozy - and out of the winter storm we're experiencing right now. Yuck!

C is for cookie, that's good enough for me...

Since I need to get back to my encyclopedia before I totally forget about it, here goes....

C

Cookie Monster: I just had to add him because of my title for this post. I'm so glad the rumors about him changing into the Veggie Monster were just that - rumors.

Cool Websites: I love to find cool new sites, usually from other people. My current fave - freerice.com. You can improve your vocabulary and donate food for people who need it at the same time. Who wouldn't love that?

Commas: Very important things, but it's also possible to have too many of them. Many, many written passages are ruined because of comma overusage. It's a sad thing when people get comma-happy.

Cole: My youngest nephew. He has been through so much in his short two years, it's amazing. I can't imagine going through everything that my sister- and brother-in-law have been through with him. He was born with kidney problems - one didn't function at all, and the other one functioned at only about 25% capacity. He had a kidney transplant last year, and is doing very well, but it was pretty scary for the first few months of his life.

Cooking: I didn't know how much I would enjoy cooking until I moved out of my parents' house. The chance to do more than just the basics was exactly what I needed - I've branched out, and cook a lot of different things that were never served at our house when I was growing up. And you know what - it's fun!

Comments: I love to see them! Please don't be shy! :)

Things that are just plain wrong...

Right there at the top of my list of things that are just plain wrong: Burger King Ketchup
and Fries Flavored Potato Snacks. I just can't imagine them tasting the least bit good. If
you're interested in them, they're probably still in our vending machine - just give me a call...

Commit me now!

Well, I did it again. The thing I swore never to do again. That's right - I went shopping on Black Friday. It's official - I'm certifiably insane and should now be sent posthaste to a mental institution. It's all Mom's fault. I was quite happily ignoring the ads, secure in the knowledge that I would be sleeping in, tucked snugly in my nice, warm, comfortable bed, my husband snoring gently by my side, when she pointed out that Circuit City had a laptop for $299.00. I knew what that meant - it was the death-knell tolling for my plans to hide out under the covers away from all the crazy people that thrive on that kind of stuff. So, we got up - I picked her up at 4:50 so we could get to Circuit City by the ungodly hour of 5:00am. When we arrived, it wasn't quite 5 yet, and the parking lot was packed. Seriously packed. Cars as far as the eye could see. And the line! I don't think Ellis Island ever had such a teeming mass of humanity, waiting to enter the land of milk and honey (and electronics), hoping for that magical moment when the gates would open and they could rush forth into a shopper's paradise, abounding with deals galore. Needless to say, we did not wait in line. Instead, we found a parking spot and sat for a minute, then joined the throng as the end of the line passed our position. Amazingly enough, we also ran into my friend Scott, which, if it hadn't been 5:00 in the morning, would have made the trip worthwhile. When we finally got into the store, we made a beeline for the computer area, where we milled about with other hopeful shoppers, until a lady informed us that they had given out vouchers in line earlier, and if you didn't have a voucher, you weren't getting a laptop. Seeing that we didn't have a voucher, yep, that's right - we got up at the butt-crack of dawn for no earthly reason. I made a feeble attempt to get over to the DVDs that had been advertised, hoping to snag a James Bond set, but I couldn't even push my way through to the containers they were in, and gave it up as a bad job. Besides, from the state of the lines, we weren't getting to a cash register any time soon, anyway. So, we left and headed to the next stop on the list.

Since JoAnn's is in the same plaza, and they had beads for 40% off, plus a coupon for 20% off our entire purchase, I thought we should check it out. The problem was that they didn't open until 6:00, and it was now 5:15. We decided to stay the course, and waited in the car for the remainder of the time, while we watched a line form there, too. By this time, I was seriously wondering what everyone was in line for, since I couldn't see anything, other than a 7.5 foot tree for 29.99, that should be garnering that amount of interest. Finally, the clock struck 6, and we raced back to the bead area. We were pretty much the only ones back there, so there wasn't the pushing, shoving, and general chaos that there was at Circuit City. We waited in a relatively manageable line, and made it out of there by 6:30. Since Mom wanted to pick up some milk at Walgreen's, we decided to make that our last stop. By the time we got there, it was about 6:45, and we found out that they didn't open until 7:00. Of course, there was the ubiquitous line. I never knew that even Walgreen's would have a line. Unbelieveable.

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving, and isn't too stuffed with good food to move. If you're one of the people who actually likes the whole Black Friday thing, I commend you. I'm getting too old for this stuff...

Spam not of the Monty Python variety...

No, we're talking e-mail spam, baby! Even though gmail filters out the spam, I still go in and check - partly because the ever-increasing number of messages in the folder makes me nervous, partly because I'm afraid something I really want might get lost in there, and partly because I think some of the message titles (I never open any of them) are hilarious. I've been noticing in about the last week I keep getting titles like "SOLD OUT - Limited Time Offer." Um, excuse me? If it's sold out, why exactly are you offering it to me? I would certainly say that would be a limited time - NO TIME! Run that one past me again, please?? Too funny!

B is for...

Welcome to another edition of my encyclopedia - the things that matter to me. Today's post is brought to you by the letter "B".

B

Brian: This was totally a gimme. My husband of not-quite two years, and the love of my life. Working in Jackson has helped me realize just how very much I love him, even when he's driving me nuts sometimes. It's hard to get to sleep in the hotel some nights, because I know that no one's going to be cuddling up with me in a few hours (I always go to bed first - he's the one who gets to sleep in - no fair!), and there's no one to give me a good night kiss. When I'm away, we talk on the phone at least twice each night - generally more. I couldn't imagine life without him - it's like trying to imagine your life without one of your senses - they're such integral parts of you that you can't imagine losing them. How this could happen so quickly I'll never know.

Books: The other totally integral part of my life. I seriously read all the time. I mean, if I'm awake and not at work or doing something else, I have a book in my hand. These books are about 93 percent science fiction/fantasy, and I may or may not have read them before - I don't have any problems re-reading. My best guess is that I probably read between 400 and 500 books on average in a year. I know it sounds like a lot, but consider this. The first week I came to Jackson, I read 2.5 books in the hotel that night. What can I say - I'm a fast reader...

Beads: My new craft obsession. I took a class in January, and by July I had a booth at the Bay City Fireworks Festival selling all the goodies I'd made. Crazy, huh? I'm having a blast with it, and it's nice because Dad has found that he likes to bead, too, so that gives us a chance to bond. Dad, Heather, and I are the designers of Gems by Jen, and Mom is our lackey. It's her fault - she says she doesn't want to design, so I don't make her, but Dad can't string his stuff, so she does that, plus helps keep me organized.

Burda: My best friend for the past 26 years. It seems like just yesterday we were carpooling to third grade at Handley, but now we're all grown up, with grown up responsibilities, and jobs, and lives. She lives down in Berkley (another "B") now, and I don't get to see her as often as I would like to, but every time we do manage to get together, it's just as wild and crazy as sleepovers at Aunt Rose's, watching MTV rock blocks and drinking warm pop. As of August 8th, 2008, she'll have a new last name, but she'll always be Burda to me.

Burda's Berkley Hide-A-Way: "Where you've always got a place to stay!" What I christened Kate's house the first time I saw it about five years ago. It just fits. Excuse me, I've got to go book a room for December now...

Encyclopedia of Your Ordinary Life...

Ok, so this was the album track I took at CKU this spring, and I really enjoyed it. The track was based on the book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and I thought it was just such an awesome idea that I had to do it. Of course, I also promised myself that I would finish my wedding album first, and since that's not done, only the first few letters of the scrapbook are done. Anyway, I am going to try to adapt the concept for my blog. So, here goes:

A

Apple Cider: Love it!

Airplanes: I'd never been in an airplane until I was 20, but sometimes I think I've made up for lost time. I'm not one of those people who is afraid of planes, so I really enjoy flying.

Aunt Rose: My "little old lady." At times infuriating and stubborn, but I love her anyway. She enjoys the casino, so Brian and I always make time to take her over there, as well as watching Tigers games with her and playing cards/dominoes/other games with her and Phyllis, her friend. She turned 87 this year, and we took her to the Tigers game vs. the New York Yankees (turned out to be the only game in the 4-game series that they lost), and had her name put on the scoreboard during the birthdays. She didn't say it in so many words, but I think she secretly loved it - I know she enjoyed the trip to Detroit, especially since we went to Greektown beforehand!

A: The only grade I was happy with when I was in school.

Aimee Mann: Great musician with a gorgeous voice and intelligent lyrics (which totally gets me interested in the music - I can forgive a lot for a little intelligence in my music).

This week's blog posts brought to you by the letter "A". Stay tuned for "B"...

Of Hotels and hotel rooms...

As my loyal reader well knows, this is my fourth week of traveling for work. I'm enjoying the work - testing the new computer system we'll be getting very soon - but the hotel part - well, let's just say not so much. I'm staying at a Holiday Inn that has seen better days, but is in the process of being renovated. The staff is excellent - everyone I've dealt with has been super nice and very friendly. But the rooms seem to have gone downhill as my stays have progressed. It's somewhat to be expected - at first I was booked into executive rooms - very nice - king-sized beds, a nice desk, couch, roomy bathroom, refrigerator and microwave, and popcorn and bottled water left for me. Wow. Very comfy, except for the room the second week, which had a leak in the bathroom ceiling that went drip, drip, drip all night the first night. No big deal, though - I put towels down to muffle the dripping noises and left a note for the housekeeper to have maintenance look at it, and by the next night I was good to go. So I can accept that after this, I might be a bit spoiled. The third week, I was in just a regular king-sized room - no couch, but it still had a decently comfortable chair and a fridge and microwave. However, the bathroom had gone from roomy to one you couldn't swing even a very small kitten in and no popcorn or water (which I didn't need or use in the executive room anyway). Oh yeah, and it's an outside entrance, making it a little harder to go swimming in the pool or relax in the hot tub which isn't currently operational. OK - I can deal with this - not too bad. When I checked into my room this week, I officially hit rock bottom. The room has two double beds - not a problem, since that's what we have at home, but they're basically not very comfortable for actually sleeping in - two straight-backed chairs more appropriate for a torture chamber, and a slightly smaller bathroom than the previous week's. Oh, and by the way, the bathtub doesn't drain well when you're showering. There is also no refrigerator, which is kind of a problem for me, since I've been bringing my water and storing it in the fridge, which gives me something cold to imbibe at night. I did check with the travel arrangers at our company today, and they've changed my reservations for the remaining time to rooms with refrigerators. Hey - a girl's gotta have some comfort, right? All in all, I'm happy with my traveling and with the hotel - especially since I'm earning triple points for my stays, which should give us some nice free nights for the next vacation we go on. Yay!!

The plus side of traveling is that I get to visit places and people that I've never seen/don't get to see often. For example, last week I discovered a paint-your-own-pottery place and painted a mask for myself, which I picked up today and am very pleased with. Last night I trekked up to Novi and had dinner with Kate and Kevin, got updated on the wedding plans, such as they are, and had a generally great time. We ate at BW3s, then sat around and talked for another two hours. A good time was definitely had by all!

Things I think about while driving...

Anyone who knows me knows that I can be pretty silly/punchy/goofy/whatever you want to call it, especially when I am tired. This is often the case when I wake up at the butt-crack of dawn, jump in the car, and drive hell-for-leather to Jackson for work. So it should come as no surprise that I think of very strange things at six-something in the morning. This week, I decided that it would be very, very cool to live in a subdivision where the streets were named after the characters from Clue. Just think - wouldn't it be great to be able to say, "Yeah, turn right onto Colonel Peacock - we're the fourth house on the left - you can't miss it." Even better, the cross streets could be named after the characters from Scooby Doo. "Yeah, we're right on the corner of Fred and Miss Scarlet - it's the green house with the pink awnings." Think about it. I'd buy a house in that sub. Yeah...

I've been tagged....

Here are the rules which must be posted on your blog if you are tagged.
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Since I don't know 7 other people with blogs, I'll have to end it here, but here are my 7 facts:

1. I am a self-professed "bell geek", and have arranged two handbell pieces, one of which was played at my wedding.

2. My favorite restaurant is Mongolian Barbecue, my least favorite is Denny's.

3. Like Jayne, I'm constantly checking my e-mail, and if I don't have something new I'm disappointed. I also like to get snail mail even if it's junk mail.

4. I take it as a compliment when someone tells me that I'm weird.

5. My dream job would be to own my own photo studio.

6. I have a good memory for numbers and remember my last four license plate numbers.

7. My favorite Christmas songs are "O Come, O Come Emmanuel", "O Holy Night", and "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas".

Sweets for the Sweet

Well, today was an absolutely beautiful day. It was the kind of day that makes you want to go out and take tons of pictures. Unfortunately, it was the day I was stuck inside at a craft show. Not that that would have been a bad thing, but in six hours, we only had about three customers that actually bought anything, which was discouraging, but not as much as if everyone around us had been selling a lot of stuff while we sat there. We were at the Midland Armory craft show, and there just was NO traffic. Not even a little bit. None. My theory is that it was so nasty and rainy the last few days that everyone was doing yard work and cleaning up storm damage while they had a nice day. No one was thinking about doing any Christmas/craft-type shopping. Bummer.

So, today is Sweetest Day. Happy Hallmark holiday, everyone. I've always wondered why we really need Sweetest Day. Isn't Valentine's Day enough? What is the purpose of having Valentine's Day, part II? Or is it just that we need something to get people buying cards again after the long drought from Easter till now? I mean, really, you don't go around buying Memorial Day cards. Fourth of July cards? Nah. Labor Day? Nope. And forget about Veteran's Day and Columbus Day. They're not hardly holidays (unless you work for the USPS or a bank or something like that). So I'm thinking that Sweetest Day is meant to slide you into the card-buying mood again. Think about it. While you're in the store, picking out the perfect card for your honey, you see the Halloween cards. You think about the kids that you know who would just love to get a card from you for Halloween. Oh, yeah, and that reminds you that you should probably send a Thanksgiving card to your kids' teacher and your grandmother in Nebraska. She'd probably get a kick out of that. And then there are the Christmas cards. Multitudes of them. You've got to send those out with the obligatory annual update that everyone writes and very few people read. It's a must. Then after Christmas, just when you thought it was safe, boom - here comes V-Day again. Oh yeah, Hallmark knows what they're doing. You think you're off the hook, but they're just giving you rope to hang yourself with.

The other reason Sweetest Day was invented was to give all the single and lonely people out there a second chance to reflect on life and try to figure out just what's wrong with them. I mean, come on, when you're single and these lovey-dovey days come around, you might as well just lock yourself in a closet somewhere. You can't go anywhere without seeing the happy couples all around you. Every flower shop, candy store, and jeweler has to remind you that people will be getting flowers, candy, and jewelry in the near future - you're just not one of them. And the card aisles at the stores are full of thousands of people, looking for the perfect card that you're not going to get. When you're single on Sweetest Day, it can be depressing. Trust me - I went through it for 10+ years. I know whereof I speak.

So Happy Sweetest Day to all those out there. And get out there and enjoy the fall weather and the beautiful colors while you can - they won't be here for long!

TGI (almost) M?!?

Yes, you read it right - Thank God it's (almost) Monday. This weekend was crazy busy for me, but in
the end, everything worked out very well. It all started a few weeks ago when I was talking to Mom and we decided we really should do something for Dad's 70th birthday. You know, like a party or something. After deciding that, we decided that we should do it while my cousin Christine was in town from California. That meant we had to do it yesterday (October 13th). We decided we should have it at our church, since none of us have a house big enough. We put our names on the calendar, which was empty at the time, and went on ahead with the preparations. Later that week, we found out that the church, rather than being empty that day, was booked for the women's rally, and I had to play two handbell solos that day. So, we changed the time of the party (which ended up working out very well), and I began to prepare the solos. After much sneaking around, which included telling Dad that Mom and I had to serve dinner to the ladies before they left to return home, we got everything arranged. So my weekend schedule so far looks like this: Saturday 1:00 - 1:45: play solos; 4:00 - 5:00: get party ready; 5:00 - 8:00: party; 8:00 - ?: clean up church. Sunday 8:00 service: play solo (yeah, that's right, I got coerced into playing a solo for church this morning, since I was already doing them for the rally, I might as well play in church as well, right? I goofed it up, by the way); 10:45 service: choir sings; 1:00 - ??: clean at Shelly's house (more on that later).


So, here I am - a pretty full weekend, but do-able, right? I just started going to Jackson to help with our big software conversion project this past week. I was there Tuesday and Wednesday this week, and when I returned on Thursday, I got some rather unwelcome news concerning the rejected cash report, which our area cleans up. Turns out they want us to clean it up as of yesterday, when under normal circumstances we would keep it current to within three months. Oh, and by the way, see how much you can get done by Friday. Compounding this problem is the fact that we are in the middle of our United Way drive right now, and we had a bake sale that we had to help man on Thursday and a couple of hours on Friday. Add to that a meeting Friday morning, and we had a recipe for near-certain disaster. So, long story short, I ended up staying at work until 6:45 Friday night. Then, Brian and I had to go to Midland for ice cream. Actually, we had to go to pick up a birthday cake for Shelly, whose birthday (and the reason we were cleaning today) is today. She had been saying since this spring that she wanted a cake from Coldstone Creamery, so off we went to pick it up, with Heather in tow. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful - we watched some TV, I read for a while, we went to bed - the usual stuff. At about 4:00 I woke up and heard my phone alerting me that I had a voicemail. When I listened to it, I found that Aunt Rose had fallen down in her living room and couldn't get back up. So at 4 in the morning I'm driving to her house, blurry-eyed and tired as all get-out to get her off the floor. When I got back home I was wide awake, so I stayed up and read for about an hour and a half. I had planned to go over to church early and practice my solos, since I wouldn't have a chance to warm up Saturday afternoon, but that all went out the window rather quickly. I slept in instead. The other thing I added was taking homecoming pictures for two of my softball players, Allison (Elizabeth's daughter), and Emily (Georgie). It was their first homecoming, which was super exciting for them. They both had gorgeous dresses, and I made their jewelry for them, which means it must have been pretty (ha!). Even though it meant I was a bit pressed for time, I wouldn't have traded this opportunity for the world - we had a bunch of fun with the pictures, and I think they turned out great! As for Dad's party, we had a really nice time, and totally surprised him. The picture below is of my friends Rodney and Erlinda's baby, Evelyn, and our friends Becky and Rayden's baby, Gatlen. The joke was that they now have a boyfriend/girlfriend. I don't know, though - she's an older woman - a whole month older! People might say she's robbing the cradle. :)

After church today, I took the cake over to Shelly's house, and along with Michelle and her husband Jeff and Becky, we cleaned out the half of her basement that could just be thrown away without having to sort anything. It actually took less time than we thought it might. After we had cake, Brian came over and jacked up Shelly's steps, which had settled into the ground on one side and needed a boost, and the three of us came back to our house for a dinner of leftovers. Even though it was a nice weekend, I'm glad it's over! I need rest and relaxation. It doesn't look like I'll get too much of it, though - for the next few weeks I'll be in Jackson three days a week, which means even more work for me when I'm here in Saginaw. Ah well, I'm having fun on the project, and it's great to get to play with the system before anyone else.

Colors of the wind (or the trees)

Today started out kind of crappy - I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, then when I managed to fall asleep, I slept through my alarm and got to work about two hours later than I was planning on. So when Brian asked me what I wanted to do today, all I really wanted to say was "Nothing." I'm really glad I controlled that urge, though, since we had a great day out. He suggested going for a drive, and we decided to go up North to see if we could find any colors yet. We thought maybe we'd ask Aunt Rose if she wanted to join us, but as it turned out, she was on a color tour of her own with her old people (senior citizen tour group). More on that later... Anyway, we headed out (in my car this time) toward Grayling. No particular reason why - just that it's North and we could get to it within the time we had, since we left Saginaw at 2:00. Around West Branch we started to see some really great colors - rich, vibrant reds, bright yellows, and technicolor oranges. We stopped at the rest area there - it's on a hillside and actually quite scenic for a rest area, and it also had some very pretty trees - so I could take some pictures. I was amazed to see that I only took 37 pictures today - I thought it would be more. The top three pictures here are from that rest area. I loved the coloring on the middle tree. It was so unusual that my eye kept going right to it.

After leaving the rest area, we continued North until we got to 55, then cut over to 127 by way of Houghton Lake. Unfortunately, it was kind of overcast up there, so the pictures I took of the lake weren't as nice as they could have been. When we got to 127, we headed back home. The bottom picture was taken from the car on the way to Clare from Houghton Lake.

On the surface, Aunt Rose's color tour would seem to have been more exciting than our improptu one. For starters, they were taking a train from Kawkalin to Gaylord, so there should have been lots of opportunity to see colors. Then they were supposed to visit a museum that had more colors and things to see. Unfortunately, she didn't get to see much color until they were practically in Gaylord, and there was a lot of walking to do, so between the two, she was already pretty unhappy. Mom and I were supposed to pick her up at 8:45 - that is, until Dad called and said she'd be two hours later than scheduled since the train broke down. She was not a happy camper when Brian and I picked her up at 10:45.

One last thing before I go to bed. Please take a miunute to click here and donate a mammogram to someone who can't afford one. It literally takes about 2 seconds, and could save a life. http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

Lack of profound thoughts...

I had a really profound thought the other night as Brian and I were driving to the casino. I remember that I told him I should write about it in my blog, but... I forgot it. So nothing profound from me tonight. Oh well.

I love my iPod! I cannot say it enough. I loaded more music last night, so I have a better variety once again. Let me just say it again - just one more time. I love my iPod!

That makes me think... we talk about things we hate all the time. In fact, we use the word so loosely that it has become severely devalued. I think the word hate should be used exclusively for extremely vile things/acts/people. People (and I'm as guilty as the rest of them) say things like "I hate peanuts," or "I hate rap music," or "I hate licking envelopes." Dictionary.com gives this definition of 'hate": to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest. So, when you see peanuts do you feel extreme aversion to them? Probably not, unless you're one of the unlucky people who are allergic to them. When I say "I hate driving a car with a stick shift," I don't really hate it - I just really, really dislike it. It's still better than having nothing to drive and it's more because I don't know what I'm doing and I'm scared. But when I say "I hate bigotry and prejudice," I really mean it. The problem lies when the word is so overused in your vocabulary that hating bigotry and hating peanuts become equal in the eyes of your listeners. So here's a challenge for the whole one person who reads this. Try choosing your words carefully. Don't use the knee-jerk reaction first word that comes to your mind when you're talking about things you dislike. Especially think about what you're saying if you're talking about a person. There are lots of people I don't particularly like, but I don't think there's a person that I would say I hate. Except maybe evil dictators like Hitler or Saddam. That kind of person I can get behind hating.

Scaring myself...

I'm creeping myself out right now. The girls from work and I went to see 1408 at the cheap shows, then I went back into work. No problem, right? Well... not exactly. Between my rather fertile imagination and the fact that I was there all by myself, it was kind of interesting... Anyway, all of this is compounded by the fact that Brian is roofing at his uncle's house this weekend, which is about 45 minutes away, so he's spending the night out at his dad's house tonight. So... I came home to an empty house. I'm going to watch some CSI and call it a night, but I'll probably creep myself out some more before I fall asleep. Tomorrow Shelly and I are going to the Renaissance Festival. I can't wait - I haven't been for two years, and I've missed it. Watch for the pics - it's all about the pics...

Sleepless in Saginaw

Yuck!! I think I got about one hour of sleep last night. I didn't really think I was going to make it through work today, but I did it. Yay! Go me! Anyway, today was Michelle's birthday, so we got to go to Genji's for lunch, which is totally worth it any day! Can you say "Yum"?

So anyway, I've been thinking about how summer is very nearly gone. The days are still warm, but the nights get pretty cool right now (except for last night - I walked out the door this morning and the muggy heat pretty much slapped me in the face, daring me to say it's been cool lately). I actually think we may have set some records for heat the past couple of days - it's been close to 90 degrees, which is just crazy for Michigan this time of year - but, since it's Michigan, it's not totally outside the realm of possibility. We had what will probably be our last campfire of the year out at Brian's dad's house this weekend, and I had to wear jeans! I've been so used to capris or shorts this summer it was a difficult transition, to say the least.

Introspective moment: I'm listening to my iPod (which I love!), and the song currently playing is Andy Partridge - "Aren't You Glad You Did Something Good With Your Life". So here's the question: What good have you done with your life? I try to be a decent person, and a good friend, but I don't know that I've done any acts of great good for anyone. Would you necessarily know if you had? What if just by doing something you would do anyway, you make someone's life just a bit better, and that spurs them to do something nice for someone else, and it snowballs from there? The theme of the song is more about just doing something with your life, not sitting at home waiting for that nebulous someday, but it got me thinking... Hmmm.... And we cut from that song to "Bring on the Men" from Jekyll and Hyde. Interesting...

A Long Day's Night

After driving for what seemed like three and a half days, and nearly leaving the transmission somewhere in Ohio (I still don't do well with stick shifts...), we arrived in Alexandria, VA around 5:00. Since our room was provided by the Fairfield Resorts as a gift for listening to a timeshare presentation on our last big trip, we had to check in with them and resist being convinced to go to another presentation (read: high-pressure sales opportunity) in exchange for more freebies. After a short time where we said we might attend the following evening's presentation, we got our hotel information and directions and headed uptown to check in. We were at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Alexandria, and our room was very nice. I don't know what our original room would have been like - they had a king-size reserved for us, but it was a smoking room, so we opted for the non-smoking, two double room instead. The beds were very comfortable, and everyone at the hotel was extremely helpful and friendly. After getting our stuff to the room, we planned to go into Washington to see some of the monuments at night. When we inquired at the desk for the nearest Metro station, we were informed that the hotel had a shuttle that would drop us at Ronald Reagan National Airport, where we could catch the Metro into DC proper. Since we thought that sounded like a plan, away we went. The Metro ride was fairly short (about 15 minutes), and after disembarking at the Smithsonian stop (our home sweet home for three days), we were on our way.


The first thing I learned about Washington is that even though everything is relatively
close to everything else, it's still quite a hike. We started at the Washington Monument (the first picture), and made our way around it to the World War II memorial (the fountains were beautiful) and the Lincoln Memorial (good ol' Abe down there). The walk down the Mall to the Washington Monument wasn't too bad, and the WWII memorial is pretty close to it, but between the WWII memorial and the Lincoln Memorial is the reflecting pool (immortalized in Forrest Gump), which is very nearly half a mile long. All together, I think we must have walked about four miles that night. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were tired and hungry. We scrambled around looking for someplace to eat dinner, and ended up at a restaurant around the corner called Stardust. We ate our dinners and went back to the hotel and crashed.

Ya Win Some, Ya Lose Some...

Vacation, part one:
We left Saginaw on Tuesday, 9/11/07 for our vacation. Since we had passes for four tickets to weekday Tigers games (long story), we decided to go to the day/night double-header that the Tigers were playing against the Texas Rangers, then stay with Kate in Detroit before heading off to Washington on Wednesday. The first game was... how do I put this nicely... a debacle, a fiasco, a disaster... all of the above. In the sixth inning, the Tigers were down 10 to 0, and we knew this wasn't going anywhere good, so we headed to Greektown for dinner and some gambling before the next game. Hey - at least that way we had a chance to see someone win who wasn't a Ranger...


As we started to ride the People Mover back to the stadium, it was raining. Not really hard, but steadily, and enough to make us think that maybe there wasn't going to be a game after all. However, by the time we got to Comerica Park, the rain had cleared up, and as we got to our seats, there was a beautiful rainbow. The second game was much better, too, as the Tigers ended up winning it 4 to 1. This was also the first game in which I got to see my favorite Tiger, Pudge Rodriguez play.




After the games, we headed to Kate's house to admire her engagement ring, catch up on all the news, and get some sleep before our long drive to Washington.

I've been tagged!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Mimi Kia
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Triple Chocolate Overload Chocolate Chip
3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) J Lou
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Blue Cat
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)Lynn Saginaw
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) LouJe
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put "The") Purple the Martini
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Eddie Clarence
9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy) Lovespell Special Dark
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names ) Rose Clarence

Ok, J Fab - that's for you... Now tagging - Nancy

Woo hoo!! (At last)

I'm so excited - after the better part of two years, my best friend of 26 years and her boyfriend got
engaged. Congratulations, you two crazy kids... :)

We've arrived back from our vacation - lots to share, but not right now, since it's after midnight and
I'm pooped! All the scoopage (and pictures) will follow soon.

Here we go again...

Ok, here we go again. I'm going to make an effort to post here more often and get the creative juices flowing. I'm inspired by my friend Jayne, who just started blogging, which made me think that since I have the blog, I may as well use the blog. I'm really excited - we're getting ready to leave for Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. I've never been there, and I can't wait to visit. We'll also be hitting two Tigers games on our way there, and Williamsburg, VA, and Gettysburg, PA after Washington. It should be a blast! Pictures will follow (of course).

Anyway, since my last post a lot has happened. On November 25th, 2005 Brian and I got married and have been happily coexisting for almost two years. We've had four or five weddings in the time since my last post (one of them ours, of course), several babies, and some sad parts as well as happy times. My little old lady, Aunt Rose, turned 87 on August 25th, and we took her to the Tigers - Yankees game on her birthday and had her name put on the scoreboard during the birthday listings. She was very surprised, to say the least. After we got back, I took some of the best pictures from that day and had them made into a photo book for her, which she absolutely loved. She was showing it off at the family reunion this weekend. I'm glad she enjoyed her birthday and the book - I was a little worried that it would be too much for her and she would get tired and/or crabby, but she hung in there and we all had a good time. I'll throw some pictures at this post later, but for now, have a great day!