Thursday, July 31, 2003

 

I need help. (yeah, not THAT kind!) I'm almost ready to share my smilies and I am not quite sure how to do it. Any suggestions?? I'm serious; please, if you know how I can do this, leave a comment here. Thank you. I gotta go now, but I'll be back!

Countdown: 4 more days!

I'm back! Here's the little story I wanted to share with you a few days ago but I kept leaving it at work. Enjoy..............

Two American soldiers on leave in Germany went to church one Sunday. Not knowing the language, they imitated everything the congregation did. When peoople stood, they stood; when people sat, they sat. when, after a question asked by the pastor, the man in front of them stood up, they stood up. The whole congregation burst into laughter. A baby was about to be baptized and the minister had asked the father to please stand up.

And now I leave you with another quote.........."Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different. Life would undergo a change of appearance because we ourselves had undergone a change in attitude." ~Katherine Mansfield

Wednesday, July 30, 2003

 

It's less than a week now; we're off to California! Yippeeee! I talked to my sister last night online because she has the internet now!!! Yay!! She'll be finally able to update her blog again; looking forward to it Jan!! Thanks to my Mom, we are just one big happy bloggin' family! Let's see.......there's Windy, Shar, Jan, and me. I have two other sisters; one of whom doesn't do the blog thing, and the other does, but prefers to remain anonymous. New quote for the day; "A family that blogs together, stays together!" Welcome back to the bloggin' world, Jan!

Tuesday, July 29, 2003

 

Have you gone to Cetta's meme yet? Well, I'm doin' it!
If you could be a "star" of a fairy tale, which would you choose and why?
Gosh, I never really thought about it. Let's see; not Cinderella or Snow White or Sleeping Beauty. Maybe Alice from 'Alice in Wonderland.' I think at first I'd be a bit scared, but it would be rather interesting; yeah, that's who I'm going with.

For the last 24 hours or so, I've had to sign into Yahoo twice in order to get to my homepage. Anybody else having this problem? I don't know what's going on, but it's a tad bit frustrating. My minutes are precious!! Not much going on here except wrapping up the '26 Things' project. I have just a few more photos to take. Procrastination........that's my middle name! But I'll have it done; I even got creative with a couple of the photos I took. I'll be sure to share the url with you when I have them posted. AND my smilie project is coming along nicely. Be patient.......I'll share those too. Don't get your hopes up too high; you'll be let down! I will 'let you go' now. Have a great evening! Oh, and don't forget to check out What's On ..... Right Now?, a Wednesday meme. K?

For those of you who are participating in 26 Things; I was just there and it clearly stated that there is no need to worry if your photos are not up by August 1. They are accepting submissions for the whole month. Of course, I plan to have mine up at LEAST by August 2! Just thought I'd share that info.

 

It's time for me to answer yesterday's Random Question for the day. Here 'tis.................
What time saving cleaning tips do you have? Please share!
I think you have ulterior motives here, Windy. HMMM?? Let's see. I clean houses 'on the side' and the only time-saving tip I have is to FOCUS, WORK AS FAST AS YOU CAN while still being thorough and don't stop to say hi to the cat or look at a magazine or talk on the phone. See, when I clean MY house, I always get distracted; my computer is there just hollering out at me, "Did ya forget about me????" Or I decide I need to rearrange something that doesn't really need to be rearranged; and of course, without fail, the phone will ring. Oh, then there's the shelves and the closets and the computer desks that just NEED to be tidied up. DON'T do it!!! Just CLEAN! Dust and vacuum. Put the clothes that belong to the kids in the kids' rooms; neaten up the piles of junk and be on your merry way. Do not stop to rearrange or throw papers out. And NEVER open a closet while you're cleaning your own house. You will regret it. Did I make my point?? Now, let's see if I can follow my own advice. It's funny that I can clean someone else's house, twice the size of mine, in 4 hours, but it takes me all weekend to do mine. Oh, and be sure your television is off. Music helps me to move but tv? No. The bottom line is NO DISTRACTIONS. no distractions..........

Aren't you glad you asked that question Windy????

I'm in the process of trying to complete my "26 Things" project.......it's been a challenge, but a fun one! I'll be posting my photos in the very near future. I'll be sure to leave a link for your viewing pleasure!

Monday, July 28, 2003

 

Hey people! Get your picture in for Photo Time!! The theme ain't changin' until tomorrow!! The theme for this week is 'weather.' Everyone has a picture of some type of weather........right? (uh oh, my Mom is gonna yell at me for my improper grammar; Mom, if you're reading this, just know that you guys did teach us howta talk right. I just wanna be a little bit rebellious (sp?) right now.) he, he. I think I'm changing the way my smilies look; and I may not make them all different colors; I don't know. I made about 2 dozen so far, and I didn't copy anyone else's smilies but it's really hard to come up with different looks. Hmmmm. Maybe I'll post them and let YOU decide. Would ya be honest but nice??? I had something really cool to share with you today but I left it at work. Ok, I know what I'm gonna do now. I'm making two different kinds of smilies and I'll use them both. But your opinion would still be nice (I think.) Tomorrow I will post this cute little story that I put in this week's church bulletin.....for now, I'm done! Wait! I'm not done! I just went to Bryn's blog and HAD to direct you to read her entry for July 28 called "EXPRESSIONS FOR WOMEN ON HIGH STRESS." Go read!! I think I have to use some of those one day! Have a great one!!

Sunday, July 27, 2003

 

Oh my gosh. I'm onto a new project now. Yeah, I'm crazy, and I'm glad I have a job because if I didn't, my big 'ol butt would be on this chair making stuff on the computer more often than it is already! I'm making my own smilies; they're mood smilies. I'm going to add them to my 'mood stuff' over there soon; as soon as I get more made. I'm making them in different colors too in case you want to use them on your site.........you know how I like things to match! I'll be putting them on a page of their own as soon as I have enough to make it worth while. Then you can 'steal' them and show your mood off one more way! I made buttons for all my stuff; finally! I really must get a life..........what I REALLY need to do is clean my house. I was going to do it yesterday, but one thing led to another and well, I got a little bit done, but nothing I can brag about.

I hope everyone is enjoying your weekend. I have a very busy week coming up; but I'm enjoying today!! For now, I'm leaving you with yet another quote; one my boss said her father used to tell her when she would work like a madwoman to get things done before she left for vacation..........."The cemeteries are full of indispensible people." ~Sr. Honora's father

Friday, July 25, 2003

 

This question comes from Random Questions; Random Days...........
Seems to me like there have been many holidays "made up" just to sell cards, flowers, and gifts. Also to promote sales in retail stores. Currently we are hearing a lot about "Christmas in July" sales. How do you feel about these holidays (Sweetest Day, Grand parents Day, etc.) Do you participate?
I used to do the Sweetest Day thing (not any more) and I think Grandparent's Day is a great way to say something nice to your grandparents (but shouldn't we just do that every chance we get?) but as far as 'Christmas in July?' I think it's crazy. I only can afford one Christmas per year! Some of these holidays are definitely a ploy to make money for the businesses that participate in advertising them. I say, 'to each his own!'

I just took a little break from our 'movie marathon' we're having here at my house. The kid has a friend over and we've decided to watch movies tonight! We're currently watching "How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days." It's quite entertaining! Back to the featured-film!

 

Oh my! What we will do to get a vacation once in a while! I'm going to be gone out of the office for exactly 5 working days; count them, FIVE!! I can't believe how much work I've been doing to prepare for this upcoming vacation! I'm a secretary for God's sake, not a BOSS!!! I should count my blessings that my co-workers seem to be unable to function without my presence, eh? Maybe it's my charm (he, he). Rest assured, before I leave this state, everything that needs to be done at work will be done. I'm confident about that now, and feeling quite good about it I might add. So, I have 5 more work days to go before we fly off to California! I plan to keep a journal (well, maybe more like brief illegible notes) on our trip so when I get back I don't forget where we were when.......whoo! Talk about illegible!! See how easy it will be for me?? I plan to take TONS of pictures too! I signed up with fotopages already, so I can post all the good ones there. I'll post some at my image station place too. I'll just give ya the password so you can see all my photos. By the way, if you want to know more about Image Station, go visit bloggerzine. Bryn wrote an article about it, and you can go there to read it. One of these days I'm going to put up a whole list of places where you can store photos online. They're out there; ya just gotta find them! Ok, I would win the 'rambling blog' award for this entry if there ever was one..........I've gone from vacations, to work, to online image storing. I pity the poor souls that come here to read this and leave wondering, "Why?" Hey, it's all good though! It's past my bedtime anyway, so I'll leave you with another quote..........."We're still not where we're going, but we're not where we were." ~Natash Jasefowitz

Wednesday, July 23, 2003

 

Just wanted to share something with you real quick. I'm sure we can all relate to THIS at some time or another; in my case, always!! (It's taken from my desk calendar about Gemini's.) "Organize yourself. For someone who knows as well as you do that there are only twenty-four hours in a day, it's astounding that you still try to cram in so many things." Like I said, we can ALL relate to that, can't we? I look at it as trying to get the most out of my day! And this is a good example of someone's horoscope pertaining to a much wider group of people than just those whose signs are Gemini. Here's another good one: "The more you struggle to do something because you think others expect it of you, the less success you will have. Follow your creativity, your bliss, and your path. Only then can you live up to your potential." Very interesting. I recently told someone that I realized I spent a good portion of my life doing what I thought others wanted me to do; trying to make everyone happy. You know what happens when we do that? Usually no one is as happy as if you just did what you really wanted to do! I've been working on this and I am not worried about ever coming off as selfish or not caring because I'm just not that type of person. We are given a very short time in this world and our time is much too prescious to spend trying to please everyone but ourselves. "Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it!" Have a great one! (Oh, did I say 'real quick?' Sorry!)

While I'm at it, update on my 'illness.' My sore throat continues to bother me; my muscles ache and I'm a bit more tired than usual. BUT I think I'll live!! Ooh, goody for you!!

Tuesday, July 22, 2003

 

I'm going to make some blinkies but first, I wanted to share something with you. Please don't be offended. I thought it was so cute. (I hope my Mom doesn't care that I share this, but I told her about it when I first saw it and she laughed, so I figured it was safe to put on here.) I found this at medicmom's blog. Oh, before I put it up, another thing I'm sharing with you is this: If you like taking pictures and sharing them, why not join a photo meme or two? One that I participate in regularly is Photo Time. There's a couple more too; you can find them on my very own photo blog. Oh yeah, why not go visit bryn and give her a big hand for participating in 50+ memes last week!! I think that's great! Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Monday, July 21, 2003

 

It's time for Monday Madness!!
1. Do you remember what you dream about; and if so, have you had any recurring dreams?
I rarely remember my dreams; it seems the only ones I remember are the scarey ones. The only recurring dream that I can think of is one where I'm levitating in the air. Weird, huh?

2. What is the weirdest dream you ever had?
Probably one that I had just a few weeks ago; one of my sisters and my daughter and I were on our way to somewhere (don't have a clue where); I was driving, and all of the sudden I missed the curve in the road and we went off the road. We just landed straight up on the ground below the road. It was quite a drop but we were all ok. Then, my sister and daughter decided to go get help and for some reason, I walked the other way. All of the sudden it was dark and I was in another car driving down the road and found myself in gravel that was too deep to drive in so I went to turn around and before I could turn around, all these guys came up to my care and pulled me out. They held me up in the air and told me they were going to put me in a garbage can and put me in the ditch that was filled with nasty water. There were other people already in the ditch in garbage cans. For some reason, one of the guys' mothers came by and was telling her son to stop what he was doing; he didn't listen to her, but when she left, I snuck out with her. Then all of a sudden I ended up finding my sister and daughter and they were in this outdoor cafe having lunch with one of my former bosses and my Mom and Dad. Really strange. That's when I woke up.

3. Do you think your dreams have anything to do with what food you eat, what mood you're in, or something that's been bothering you at the time?
I think our mood and what's going on in our lives probably have something to do with what we dream about. Food; I don't know. It seems like some of the weirdest dreams I've had have been after eating something I don't normally eat or eating at an odd hour. Maybe just my imagination?

4. Have you ever been interested in knowing what your dreams mean, to the point of visiting a dream analyst or reading a book about dreams?
I've been very interested in knowing what my dreams mean, but never have considered having any of them analyzed. I did recently buy a book titled "Dreamers' Dictionary" only because it was $5.00. I haven't really looked anything up in it yet.

I think I don't feel good. My throat is starting to hurt and I feel kinda dizzy (and I'm NOT normally a dizzy person!) I took some over-the-counter medicine; hopefully it will kick in soon. I HATE being sick! My kid is just getting over something similar so maybe she gave it to me..............oh well, life goes on.

Sunday, July 20, 2003

 

We had a great weekend! The weather was gorgeous for the most part; we had a bit of rain this morning but it cleared up shortly after that. We went on my sister and brother-in-law's boat and some of us went tubing. I was going to try it today but because of the weather, I never got a chance. That's ok cuz there will be another opportunity. We built a fire both nights and I always like that because we just sit around and talk about anything that pops into our heads; it's amazing where some of our conversation took us! It was fun! SO good to get away!!

That's about all for now; hey, if you're looking for a meme to do on Monday........try Monday Madness! Gotta go!

Friday, July 18, 2003

 

We're going away in a bit but first I wanted to catch up on the Random Questions for the past few days.....

This quote is from my daily calendar, "Thoughts of You". "Delight yourself in the sruprises of today." What are some of the little surprises of the days?
Little surprises: A phone call from a family member that lives far away, or from a family member that DOESN'T live far away and has something really nice to say! My daughter deciding to make cookies or do the dishes for me! (just to name a couple)

What is something that you think is beautiful but others may not agree? Why do you feel that way?
I think beauty IS in the eyes of the beholder. I can't really think of anything specific, but I'm sure I've thought something was beautiful when others didn't.

Do you have a collection? What do you collect and how did you decide?
I do have a collection; actually a couple. First, I have a stamp collection; I've been collecting them since 6th grade. I haven't purchased any in a long time, but it's something I can always add to anytime. I started it because we had a stamp club when I was in the 6th grade and I guess a couple of my friends were interested in joining and I was always fascinated by old stamps........I even had a watch with a real 5 cent stamp in it! I recently (meaning in my adult life) started collecting old coins. I collect the pennies with the 'wheat back' on them and I have a few pure silver quarters and dimes too. Whenever I find an old coin, I just add it to my collection. Maybe my kid will be able to continue these collections and pass them on to her kids.

Now I gotta get my stuff ready to go for the weekend. I'm not quite as efficient as my daughter, who was all packed last night! Enjoy your weekend everyone! Wish us good weather!!

AND one more thing: thanks to CJ for the code!!! Finally got it up!! (You may not know what I'm talking about; look at my site; do you notice anything different or 'missing?')

 

You can tell how much a person travels by the way they pack; or should I say how MUCH they pack. We're not big 'world travelers' so we would fit into the "people who tend to overpack" category. I have friends (and family) who travel on a regular basis and their advice to me about packing is, "Pack light!" I try; I really do! I guess I don't want to forget anything; plus you never know what the weather is really going to be like (despite what the weather men say), so I always over-pack. (whoopee.) Can ya tell I have nothing to talk about? SO we'll talk about the weather again. It just POURED rain over here this evening. I lit every candle I could find (which is a LOT) just in case we were to lose our power because it was thundering and lightening like you wouldn't believe. We never did lose our power (thank goodness!) I think I'll call it a day on the bloggin' thing and leave you with a little quote........."The way in which we think of ourselves has everything to do with how the world sees us." ~Arlene Raven
Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, July 15, 2003

 

You gotta go check out this site; found it at dreaming in color. I thought it was kind of cool; what do YOU think?

And I found this place at bryn's. I am supposed to be the webmaster for my church but I quit updating it about 2 months ago. I know, I hate when organizations have websites that are not kept up to date, but it was really discouraging because the counter would go up one number every day (due to my daily visit!) But I've been thinking of going there and getting it going again. I think this would be a nice link to share with my fellow parishioners. IF I get it updated and decide to keep it that way, I'll share the site with you one day. Until then, you just got me and my blog.

UPDATE! UPDATE! I suddenly got motivated to start updating the church site again. AND I was talking to granni today about blogs and stuff; she mentioned something about creating a blog for one of her other sites and I thought that would be a great thing to incorporate into my church site!! This way the parishioners can interact! (First they have to GO there!) I also checked the email because my pastor doesn't tend to do that himself (even though I've mentioned to him several times that these people are NOT EMAILING ME!!!) Anyhow, someone left a really encouraging comment about the site; that was one of my motivating factors. Oh, you wanna go check it out? Keep in mind, it needs a lot of work yet, but go ahead and check it out! And I lied when I said it wasn't updated for a couple of months..........it's been since the 4th week of Lent. OOOPSIES!!! (where IS everyone? Everyone???) *smiling*

 

I gotta go back to work in less than an hour; I spent 5 HOURS doing payroll and checks for the 'other place' today. I had to set up all the compensation, deduction, and tax information for each employee first because it's the first time doing the payroll in this new software program. But now that it's done, it'll be much quicker from here on out. I think that's why I had a headache for a while the last couple of days. I've been thinking about that a lot and I was nervous because if there was any information not entered correctly, it would mean having to undo and do it all over again. It's all so new to me, but I'm learning a lot! We never had the payroll module in the last accounting software that I just learned so I'm not only learning a new program, I'm learning a whole new module too. (I'm not complaining; just stating facts.) I'm really glad that's over with, and tonight when I go back I'm going to attempt to close out the fiscal year and make sure the books are all balanced. Cross your fingers for me! Well, I'm gonna try to take a short nap before going back (yeah, I'm old I guess.) Have a great evening!!

Monday, July 14, 2003

 

I'm going to post my meme answers here again today........just feel like it! I have 3 that I'm participating in.

IF; and the question is, "If you could have any view in the world visible from your bed, what would it be?"
The sunrise; don't know how many days I'd actually see it, but depending on the time of year, I'm sure I'd catch it often enough!

Random Questions.....; and the question is, "How many memes do you participate in on a regular basis? What are some of your favorites?"
Hmmmm; I like THIS one of course! I also NEVER miss Monday Madness or Photo Time, a photo meme; I also participate in Unconscious Mutterings quite regularly and last but not least, What's On ..... Right Now?. Oh, and the newest one; IF!!!

Monday Madness; and the questions are,
1. Have you ever attended a concert? If so, who; and how old were you when you attended your first concert?
I have attended concerts. When we were kids, the Saginaw Symphony Orchestra (think that's what they were called) but my first concert from a popular group was Commodores when I was in college. I barely knew my roommates, but they had an extra ticket, asked me to go, and I loved that group so much that I said yes! It was great!

2. What is the biggest ride or rollercoaster that you've ever been on? Were you frightened to go on it?
I am SUCH a wimp when it comes to rides. I've never had any real desire to go on big rides; are ya sitting down?? The biggest ride that I was ever on was the ferris wheel at the local fair! I was scared and I don't care for the feeling I had in my stomach when we started going down. Told ya! WIMP!!

3. Is there an annual 'festival' that you make sure you never miss? If so, please tell about it; if not, is there any annual event that you like to attend?
No annual festival on my "must do" list at the present time; none I'd really like to attend either. Maybe it's an age thing, but I really don't like crowds.........(I'm blaming that trait on my MOM:) )and there are always crowds of people at festivals.

That's about it for today. I have a massive headache; don't know why but I'm WILLING it away!! Maybe more bloggin' later!

Sunday, July 13, 2003

 

So I'm doing my memes (at 1:20 a.m.) I just had to do these before I go to bed. Here's the last couple of days' questions at Random Questions...........
What if you could fly? What would be the advantages? The disadvantages?
Hmmmmm. If I could fly, I would be able to get to where I want to go a heck of a lot faster! That would be an advantage. A disadvantage? I can't really think of one right now. I think it would be great to be able to fly!

How do you balance work and play? Do you get enough down time in your schedule?
I balance work and play by keeping my job AT MY JOB and leaving it there (well, I try anyway; and getting better.) Most of the time this is not difficult to do but if I plan on taking time off, I usually end up having to do some of my work here at home. I don't mind; it's worth it! Do I get enough down time? At times I feel I take too much down time; at other times, not enough. As I get older though, it seems to come easier to me to balance my time. I used to come home from work and worry about what my house looked like every day. Now I just do the 'bare necessities' and save the big cleanin' for the weekend. AND if all goes well, it doesn't take a whole lot of time to clean. Lately I've been spending a lot of time on the computer; but that's what I love to do right now, so I do it! In that respect, I'm happy.

Now for a bit of Unconscious Mutterings and guess what? I was really shocked when I saw the first word on the list! It's my name!! (oooops! Maybe one day I'll tell you why I use the name "otto" but not today; but I'm keeping both names so.........) Anyway, here's this week's...........
Natalie:: ME!
Concrete:: wall
AIDS:: ill
Rubber hose:: green
Paper clip:: work
Route 66:: sign
Summer camp:: kid
Coin purse:: small
Orion:: tears (I thought that word was onion; really, I'm not that dumb!) Ok, here's my new word:: motion picture
Instigate:: argument

That's all folks!! Have a great Sunday!!!

 

And yet another complaint!!!! I have my blinkies over at Bravenet (ooops! no link!) and I just clicked on my link and I got a message saying, "You have exceeded your bandwidth of 20 MG per day." Now how many people are gonna keep visiting my site if they get that message??? AND another thing (as long as I'm in the mood to complain), I had several counters at zcounter (another linkless name), and now they are all gone. I tried to log in with my username and password and I got a message saying, "Invalid username." WHAT is going on here??? I just may be able to buy my own domain pretty soon, but it really wasn't in my plans in the near future. I'm not happy. Anybody care to share???

Saturday, July 12, 2003

 

Ok, I caved and took the quiz that I found at shirl's, who I think found it at bryn's, I think! It may be the other way around...........oh yeah, gotta do some memes later!

Here's my quiz results:

Rainy


What type of weather element are you? (With pictures)
brought to you by Quizilla

 

Look for new stuff added here soon. I like lots of stuff on my blog; clutter; busy; lively; well, you get the picture. But you'll have to be willing to scroll down to catch all the latest finds! Ok, let's talk about the weather; what's up with it? I think the high temp here was 65 degrees! Don't get me wrong; if you know me, you know I prefer cool weather, but I'm not a selfish person either. Let's have some summer temps here!!! There are people all over the world taking vacations and trying to enjoy the little bit of hot weather we DO get! Speaking of which, less than a month and we'll be in California! I bought a new purse and a new pair of shoes (currently wearing a cheap 12.99 pair of tennis shoes from ******* and carrying a purse that's around 5 years old.) I'm one of those people that carries a purse until it almost falls apart; until my kid tells me I need a new one, and you know kids; they NEVER tell their parents they need anything new! I got the purse and the shoes on sale so I'm really happy about that. (who cares? right?) Think I'll make some blinkies! I haven't made any in a while. Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite. (whoever thought of that saying??)

Thursday, July 10, 2003

 

A new meme; and guess what? I'm going to play it cuz, well, I know what it's like to try and get a meme going and it's not easy to get your site out there for the world to see. The meme is called IF and the question for this week is, If you could have invented anything in history, what would you choose?
I would like to have invented cameras; digital cameras. I know that's not too far back in history, but it's still history! Why? Because I think they're way better and more convenient than the other kind. Actually, mine can be kind of a pain in the you-know-what because of the battery but I think they've improved tremendously since I purchased mine over 3 years ago. I expect that I'll be buying a new one within the next year; I hope!

Oh, and I took a quiz, made by Thushara. Here's my results:

Yay, you're a Leucocyte - A white blood cell!
You're a Life saver! You help out those who
need you the most by fighting those bad
bullies!


Which Blood Cell are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

About that Bravenet thing: There is one thing I like about it; you can view your stats per day, week, hour, etc. I think that's kind of cool but I must say, I agree with Granni about the advertising on our counters and that they no longer look attractive. It kind of takes from the look, don't you think? It messes up my world! Oh, but I just found this link at June's blog! I may have to check it out! Any others that you know of???

 

What's up with our counters Bravenet???? Is it temporary do you think? It's pouring rain here right now. It could have waited 20 minutes so I would already be at work; but no! Now I gotta bring my umbrella. Oh well. We DO need the rain. Hey, did you see our bloggerseeds friends page?? It's changed! Add your link if you haven't already! It's really easy!

 

I've got 17 links for my 'featured site of the day' so far! I'll admit, some of them are links to my sites, but I would be more than happy to change them to links to YOUR sites! Gotta let me know though!

We went to the zoo today with my parents and one of my sisters and her son. It was fun. Oh yeah, I took a BUNCH of pictures! But you'll have to check my photo blog to see them. Not yet! I don't have them up yet!! My goodness! BUT, I also was keeping in mind this week's theme at Photo Time. I will be adding my entry for that tomorrow. I took my kid over to a friend's house, came home and watched some tv. I always miss her when she's gone; I'm sure WAY more than she misses me when I'm gone! But I used to be a kid her age and I try not to forget how it was. Sometimes that is easier said than done; but ya know that already. On another note: WHY do people have to do fireworks all summer long!?!??? I'm sitting watching tv when all of the sudden this big loud "BANG" comes! I just about jumped out of my skin!! It was going on 10:30 p.m. and no, that's really not late for me, but I sure wasn't expecting fireworks tonight! Isn't there a law against those things in the city? I may sound like a prude but I don't care. Ya wanna do those things out in the country where no one can hear them from miles around? OK! But not in a residential area. And I'm talking 'the real thing' here; they leave the ground and go way up in the air and look like real fireworks. Not to mention the danger................I guess the cops got better things to do. Actually, a friend of mine has a son who is a police officer and I asked him what the laws were on fireworks. He told me that usually the cops have more important things to worry about than who's doing fireworks; plus the paperwork, etc. etc. Sounds like a 'cop-OUT' to me. No more to say tonight; just one thing: Don't forget to check my 'featured site of the day' over there to the left. You never know when YOUR site might be the one! AND, while you're at it, leave the person a nice comment! Wish them a nice day! Thanks!

Wednesday, July 09, 2003

 

Oh my gosh! I just found this coolest link!!! But I'm not sharing it with you yet! Ya gotta wait and see when I put it up (which will probably be real soon) so be patient! But I will give you a hint: Would you like your site to be one of 31 random sites that are featured here? If so, leave me a comment!! Leave your url and I'll add ya to my list! It's gonna be so cool! (Oh, I think I gave it away........too late now.) Gosh, did I ask ya if ya liked cheese sandwiches or something?? (inside joke; and you will only know what I mean if you read my last entry........what a way to get people to read, eh?) I know what you're thinking; "what a geek!" Am I right? Oh yeah, I wanted to share something with you *goes to open a new window to find it* (by the way, whoever decided that things in asterisks means that's an action, kudos to you.) Ok, go here and email this girl with your answer. I did. She doesn't want you to leave a comment on her site; she wants you to email her, ok? Alrighty, I'm going to see what I can do with this new thing I plan on adding. Wish me luck! AND remember, add your url to my comments if you would like to be included!! Really!!

Just felt like sharing this with you: (from my little desktop calendar); "Stick to the here and now, and let the later take care of itself. The chances of your being in the exact same economic position in five years as you are this minute are remote. Stop assuming the worst. You've got better things to do with your intellect." Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

P.S. Stole this link from Beverly. Ok, ok, I'm done; I don't want to give you brain overload!

Update! Update! I've already add the cool thingy. AND I've got 10 urls so far; I only need 21 more. I could fill them up, but wanted to give you a chance to get your's in! Don't be shy! I guess 'today's featured site' will be for a whole 24-hour period. Now I'll tell you where I found this little 'snippet' at: Go here to get your own!

Tuesday, July 08, 2003

 

I wonder what makes one blog better than another. Why am I thinking this? I was just doing some blog surfing (yeah, my latest pasttime) and I came across this place and well, just go there and read the writing on that bread. See if you wonder, "Do I ever sound like that?" But hey, I found a couple of other neat sites too! Here, let me share them with you; oh, and when I'm done here, I'm adding them to Blogger Seeds so you don't have to bookmark them if you don't want to. Just bookmark Bloggerseeds! We have links to all kinds of cool stuff and even some blog ideas! I've been a part of the team on that site since it began and I've recently added quite a few cool things so go check it out! PLUS, Granni and Windy make up the other 2/3 of the team. Actually, Granni started it and decided it'd be nice to have us 'on board.' Windy posts a question just about every day that you can answer if your mood strikes you; oh yeah! Almost forgot what I was blogging about!! I do tend to jump from topic to topic..........hmmmmm, make a mental note of that (because I just organized all my paper notes; oh, but don't stop reading! I'm getting there!) Ok, ya just gotta go see these sites, and one of them I'm gonna ask you about........

Pepy's Project, weblogs from around the world; Aortal, promote the independent Web. Provide a link to another independent site every day; Ageless, sending the message that the personal, creative side of the web is diverse and ageless; and BlogTrack, not sure; that's the one I need you to help me understand........maybe I missed something. (I really must get a life!)

Monday, July 07, 2003

 

I can get so easily distracted sometimes! I started cleaning my house at about noon. (Yeah, I know I said I was going to do it Saturday, but never did.) I decided I should take my empty pop cans back to the store; did that then decided we better eat something for lunch; did that, found my sister online so chatted a bit with her, and now here I am blogging. Maybe my house will clean itself (?) or maybe not. Oh, plus my other sister stopped by this mornign cuz she was in town. I've had quite a good day so far! I thought it would be fun to take today off so I could have a really long weekend. Oh, I also got distracted organizing some of my info on scrap paper. You know, every password and color code that I think I will ever need again. Notes about this and that.....stuff you just KNOW if you throw it out, you'll wish you hadn't. I'll have to do my meme later today; gonna go try to finish cleaning. Later!

Sunday, July 06, 2003

 

I just updated my photo blog (added some recent photo meme pics) and I went to view my page; it showed me some nasty page that was NOT MINE!! I got a bit scared. It did it twice! I even clicked on my link over there in the right-hand sidebar and it showed me that nasty site. Just in case that happens again, be aware that my photo blog is called "Otto's Photos." If you don't see a big huge banner with that title, it's not mine!! Plus I don't put pictures of women's butts on my sites! Oh my goodness..........blogger don't let me down now!! That reminds me; I better copy and paste my codes to notepad. Take my advice; (originally my Mom's advice. SAVE YOUR CODES!!! You never know when something might happen and wipe out all your hard work!!! Oh, and a little tidbit of info for y'all! I don't know what prompted me to want to move my photo blog to Blogger, but I'm sure glad I did! Can't get to any of the editing stuff on the old one the last couple of days. Isn't it ironic?? All that complaining I've done about Blogger and here I am; 'back home.' I know you all warned me and tried to tell me not to give up. Did I listen? NO! I made new sites at different places and put a lot of work into them too. Oh well, I've come to my senses. I'm back to stay. Have a great day!

 

I haven't done Unconscious Mutterings in a while, so here goes.....
Fashion show:: Models
Boundaries:: Limits
Roadkill:: Splat
Narcissistic:: Conceited
Authority:: Law
Martini:: Olive
Personality:: Character
Comfortable:: Relaxing
Symptom:: Ill
Dating:: Game

Not much happening today; I guess most people have a LIFE!!! There hasn't been much activity around here the last couple of days (understandably so.) I added some blogs to my blogroll yesterday. I couldn't believe how fast the day flew by! Of course I didn't 'drag' myself out of bed until 10:00! I spent a good portion of the day creating my new photo blog. I still have a lot I want to add to it but it's coming along. Hey, have a great Sunday!!

Saturday, July 05, 2003

 

It was a great day, the 4th!! Went over to one of my sisters' houses, where one of my other sisters (and family) and my parents also were. It was very hot outside and they have a pool; a heated pool no less! About an hour before we were planning to leave from home, we got this huge thunderstorm and our power went out at my house. My daughter and I were both on the computer at the time and no, we don't have the battery back-up for our computers........not yet anyway! We will be looking for a couple in the very near future. IF our power goes out again when we're on the computer, we will have at least 10 minutes to save what we were doing and turn the computers off the right way! (You'd think I would learn; we once lost a computer from a lightening storm!) ANYWAY, we got to my sisters' and didn't even have our bathing suits with us (they're still packed away in the back of one of our closets) but thanks to sister #4, who has several extra bathing suits in her closet, we were able to find one that worked for us, and hop in the pool! We played volleyball, pool ping-pong, and just had an all-around great visit!! We had hamburgs (off the grill) and potato salad (made by my mom; it was de-lish!!) and all the other fixings too! We left a bit earlier than I would have liked; anxious to see if our power had come back on; and yes, by the time we got home, it had been on for about an hour and a half. Wish we would have just stayed longer now, but we may go back tomorrow. Hope you're still enjoying the long holiday weekend! It's a bit rainy today, but it gives me an 'excuse' to clean my house!

Friday, July 04, 2003

 

Sending flowers your way today! It's officially July 4th! For all you who live in the U.S., Happy 4th of July! I went blog-surfing again and I came across two blogs in the same night that talked of the same subject: Who do you blog for? I started thinking about that myself. I always thought I blogged because there was something on my mind OR because I wanted to share with my readers. What's wrong with blogging for your audience if that's what you choose to do? On the other hand, what's wrong with blogging for yourself; to get things off your mind or just to speak your mind? Yeah, I'm not gonna lie to you and say that I could care less if anyone reads what I have to say; I love coming here and seeing comments! Which brings up another issue: should people be allowed to leave any ole kind of comment they want? Or should they be allowed only to leave "nice" ones? Personally, if I go to someone's site and I don't have any plans of going back, or if I think their content is a bit risque, or if it just isn't my "cup of tea," I don't leave a comment at all. You will never see a nasty comment from me. Two reasons: 1)Everyone IS entitled to their own opinion and to talk any way they want to (not saying I like it), and 2) Some things are better left unsaid. You know the old saying, " If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." See, that just happened to be on my mind; actually I was going to blog last night, but I looked at the clock and decided if I wanted to function today at work, I better save it. I don't have to get up early tomorrow (but probably will anyway) because it's a day off! Well, even if it wasn't the 4th of July, it would be a day off for me but I still appreciate them! Speaking of work, I had my annual evaluation today and it went real well. I always dread that I have to evaluate myself though. I had to laugh because my part of the evaluation looked like an essay test and on the first page were two questions. One being: "What areas do you feel are your strong areas?" (or something like that) and the second one: "What areas do you feel there is room for improvement?" There was WAY more room for the second question, so I asked my boss why. She didn't really give me an answer; just chuckled. ANYWAY, I 'passed." I also found out that I get a few more paid days off this year than what I've been getting. Yippeee! Whoo Hooo! I've bent your ear long enough; have a great day everyone! (p.s. the blinkie offer still stands.....)

Oh, one more thing! I was at La Diosa's site earlier today and found this cute place! Go check it out! (note to self: gotta add that link!)

Wednesday, July 02, 2003

 

What to blog about? I have so much on my mind; so much to say, but when I sit down here to write it, suddenly I draw a blank. You know; the "oh, I don't want to sound stupid" fear? Or the "I don't want to always complain" thing? Didja see what I added to the bottom of each of my entries? I impress myself sometimes.............kidding!!! You can have one of those cool little things too if you go to jenny's page and follow one of the many tutorials she has on her site. I must admit; it helps if you have some knowledge of Paint Shop Pro because there are definitely things you just 'have to know' in order to make the tutorial work. BUT, I will also admit that it is the very easiest way to do this: . I like sharing the cool stuff I find and I especially like it when others' share their ideas for us all to use! As you can see, mine is a bit subtle; it IS blinking, believe me. But you can do it in any color combination you want to. You know what? I'm going to do something I have thought about doing for a while now...........if you want one of those things with your name on it, let me know! Just tell me the colors you want the text to be, and the colors you want the original background and the changing background to be. I would love to make one for you!

Gonna go check out a couple of memes; maybe answer a few; of course I'm looking for the 'perfect digital photo' (my dad's famous quote) for this week's Photo Time! Oh, the theme for this week is "faces." It's cool! Get in on it! You don't have to be a professional photographer; just have to enjoy taking pictures; and no, you don't need to have a digital camera. Go through your photos (yeah, the ones you've already developed) and find a picture that fits this theme, scan it, upload it to your favorite site (pbase is just one of many), and leave a comment on the site!

I think my times are way off on this thing; yes, I know what time zone I'm in but I can't seem to make it say the correct time! Probably something really dumb that I'm not doing, eh? I'll figure it out. Meanwhile, YOU have a great Wednesday!!!

Tuesday, July 01, 2003

 

I updated my calendar to July! (Just a little reminder to everyone: change your calendars.) I was having a bit of a problem with my meme answers place. But it seems to be working ok now. I answered a couple of memes and when I clicked on 'post and publish' I got a message asking me if I wanted to publish this entry. DUH!! That's why I clicked on 'post and publish!' So I clicked on 'yes' or 'ok' or whatever the logical option was. Nothing happened; I lost my entry; got frustrated; didn't retype anything; wasn't in the mood anymore; you know the story....blah, blah, blah, wah, wah, wah.

On to brighter things; I did a lot of 'blog-surfing' today because I like to visit all my participants from Monday Madness and leave a nice comment. I came across some pretty good blogs. Do you think I saved any of their urls in my notepad?? NO! So I will revisit some of them and find the sites and share them with you here. Of course, that's what my blogroll list is for!

I really must get some sleep tonight. I think I'm going in to work early tomorrow. Got lots to do! Until next time.....