Sunday, November 30, 2003

 

The long weekend is coming to an end; we had a great time though! Thursday we spent some quality time with part of the family, had a great dinner and enjoyed each others' company. Friday we stayed at home; best place to be on the biggest shopping day of the year in the USA!! Yesterday we gathered up all our Creative Memories supplies, photo albums, photos, and anything else we could think of that we might need and went over to my sister's house to enjoy a day of scrapbooking. You'll never guess what I forgot! Yup, my pictures! Well I had to bring my daughter back this way anyway so I stopped home and grabbed them and headed back out to my sister's. We had a great time. (We really should do that more often.) After working on my scrapbook a bit after getting home, I decided I was going to try my hand at a major drawing project. I started drawing my desk. Guess what? I finished it!! It's way cleaner than my desk usually is but it's pretty close to the real thing. I added a few things to it that I don't really have on my desk and I took a couple things off that I really DO have on my desk, but for the most part, that's it! So I added it to my homepage. Today I spent part of the day cleaning my house and the rest of the time I spent finishing my drawing.

Oh my gosh. You gotta try this game I found over at medicmom's blog. She wasn't lying when she said it was addicting!! I always run the stop lights. Go check it out! See if you can beat that other car.....

You'll never believe this story. I just found the link over at *2 flower* 2 you's blog. Go read! So much for cats, eh?

Well, back to housework; gotta get it clean so I can think about putting my Christmas decorations up. You enjoy your Sunday!

Update: I've added 2 new moods to otto's mood faces. Any other suggestions??? (Come on while I'm still in the 'mood' to make them!)

Friday, November 28, 2003

 

The Christmas shopping has officially begun! Were you out there this morning shopping? Not me!!

Well my daughter's high school football team didn't win today....*sigh*

Speaking of my daughter (and for those of you who 'know' her, you'll really get a kick out of this), last night I thought I'd make a blinkie or two that says 'I love my kid!' and meanwhile my daughter is sitting at her computer going through all my sites. She starts laughing hysterically and I had no idea why. She says, "Mom, a little blog never hurt nobody? That means that a little blog DID hurt someone." (Oh, that's one of the sayings on my blog signs.) I call her 'Miss Technicality' because she's forever correcting me on something I said or how I said it. (Yeah I know; that's a good thing, right?) So she goes to check out all my other pages and the girl had a comment for each and every one of them. "Flowers matter too???" (that's a blinkie I made.) I asked her not to keep criticizing my work because she'll give me a complex and she said, "Oh Mom. I'm not criticizing. I'm giving you constructive criticism." (Oh, I couldn't tell there was a difference!!) Anyway, we just started laughing together and it was so much fun. Of course the statement of the night was, "Mom, a little blog hurt me! I'm glad it wasn't a big blog!" (Maybe you had to be there........these are just some of the moments that I cherish with my kid.) Gotta love her!!

Thursday, November 27, 2003

 

I'm thankful for ~my family ~my health ~that I have a job ~my friends ~for all the little things we take for granted sometimes ~for life!

gobble, gobble

Wednesday, November 26, 2003

 

Good grief! I just logged into Blogger and I got an 'unexpected error.' Well THAT makes me feel better; unexpected, ummm what kind of error is usually expected?? Anyway, I'm in now so no more whining.............

Just wanted to do a quick post before 'Survivor' starts and wish all a Happy Thanksgiving Day tomorrow!!! I'm so excited that I have a 4-day weekend coming up!! I worked my butt off today to get things done but it's all worth it for a 4-day weekend. My kid even went in today after school and helped out with a bunch of stuff. (Well she also earned herself some service hours, but she would have done it anyway.) Ok, so enjoy your weekend for those of you also celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow. I think I'm going to come on later and list a few of the many things I'm thankful for; hey it's tradition right? Here's a little turkey I drew for you to laugh at enjoy! So enjoy!

Tuesday, November 25, 2003

 

It's winter in Michigan. Yesterday we enjoyed 60+ degrees and today it snowed over an inch. Our first snowfall...........it was bound to happen sooner or later. Blogger wasn't working earlier tonight; I tried to update and it wouldn't publish. And you know what I always think when that happens? I really had something good to say! (yeah, right!) Well my kid will be going to the Silverdome this weekend to watch her high school football team win the state champs title! (I hope!) I'm not as excited as she is, but I don't let on to her.........it's a big deal you know? I couldn't even tell you what my high school football team was ranked at even though I went to every game. I was in the marching band and of course we were on the field during half-time at all the games. I really enjoyed that. Sports really seems to take priority at schools nowadays. It bothers me...........they make more of a big deal about a team winning than they do about a kid getting a good grade. My kid tries to reassure me that her school is very concerned about academics; the classes aren't easy and it's not easy to get good grades. But I wonder if the kids playing sports somehow get good grades to be allowed to stay on the team. It makes me wonder..............Well, one thing I DO know is that my kid isn't getting good grades because she's a jock! She's not! But I want the same criteria for her as for all the athletes.

Did you watch 'The Next Joe Millionaire?' I did. I'm so glad that David picked Linda and that she came back to him at the ranch after he left Italy. She didn't show up that final evening and we were led to believe that he was going to go home alone. They sent him to a ranch, with his own horse waiting for him and he thought he was just going to relax for a few days but then Mr. Paul came out and read a letter from Linda and she came out of the house. It was a great reunion. I can't believe I got so involved with that show but I did. I'm glad the two of them got together. I think something will actually come of their relationship. They seemed to be inseparable. I love happy endings!! And now I leave you with another quote.
"Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible." ~Anonymous

Sunday, November 23, 2003

 

Good Sunday Morning! It's 60 degrees outside and I just opened up my windows! This may very well be the last warm day we get until next spring so I'm enjoying the fresh air! What makes today even better is that I don't have anything I HAVE to do; I can do whatever I want, so on that note, here are the last few days' worth of Random Questions......................
What makes you angry?
People who are out there driving on the roads and not paying the least bit of attention to what's going on around them. No wonder there are so many car accidents. I believe that if more people were paying attention to what others are doing (or NOT doing) it would cut down the accident rate about 50%. I never assume someone is going to stop at a stop light or a stop sign. I never assume the drive is really going to turn if their blinker is on. I've seen too many people ignore the rules of the road and I see at least a dozen people run red lights every single morning when taking my kid to school. That's just one thing that makes me angry. I shall stop there..............

Do you have any furniture that qualifies as art? If so, describe it. If not, can you think of something you'd like to have and why?
I don't believe any of my furniture could qualify as art, but I do have this beautiful mirror set hanging on one of my walls that has a design on it and that's probably one of my favorite things I own. I like my furniture to look nice but to be something I feel comfortable sitting in. I guess if I felt it was art I wouldn't want to sit and relax in it, so no I can't think of anything I'd like to have as far as artistic furniture goes...

Describe a place where you feel safe and tell why.
I feel safe at my home. I also feel safe at my families' homes. I guess anywhere I feel familiarity, comfortable, and with people who care about me is a safe feeling for me.

So there you have it. Enjoy your Sunday. Rest; don't work!

Friday, November 21, 2003

 

It's Friday night........yippeee! But more importantly, I think I'm finally really feeling better. It was hard to tell, since when I started feeling better I jumped right into the old routine, only twice as hard. It was a big house-cleaning week for me but now I've got 3 down; 1 to go. Tonight I'm relaxing; maybe watch a movie or two. I made a new blinkie rack. It was time consuming but fun. My next challenge is going to be finishing up my adoptable birthstone angels. Then I think I'm going to try to draw some different things........it's my latest obsession! Oh, I really should make some holiday blinkies too! Time to do some blog surfing. Maybe I'll have something more interesting to say later.

Here's something interesting; go visit Later Granni!! She's got a new look and it's really cool!! Lots of good links there too! Tag her while you're at it!!

Warning! Warning! DON'T read below if you haven't viewed the November 20 episode of 'Survivor' yet!
If you watch 'Survivor' what did you think about who got voted off? I was disappointed! I just hope Crysta and Sandra can convince the other 3 women that Jon and Burton have no intentions of keeping them on; they just used them to get Rupert off. I was bummed that Lil voted for him, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway because the three who didn't vote for him didn't even vote for the same person. I still want Jon off. I can't believe he's still on there. Well enough said about that. Enjoy your Friday evening and your weekend!

Wednesday, November 19, 2003

 

Thanks to everyone who sent well wishes my way!! I so appreciate it!

I got up this morning and showered, got dressed (dragging, but task accomplished) and took my daughter to school. She had to be there early this morning so I was home about 20 minutes to 8 from dropping her off. (Normally I have just enough time to drop her off then go right to work.) My phone rang about 2 minutes after I walked into the door; it's my boss. "Natalie, I want you to stay home today." "NO! I have too much work to do," I said. "What has to be done? You need to rest; get better." So I start naming off all the things I have to finish before the end of the week (which for me is Thursday; at the office anyway) and believe me, they are not all going to get done in one day. "Well some of those things can wait until next week. Don't go to work today. Stay home and rest." Ok, so being the 'obedient' employee I am, I agreed. I really did feel quite crappy yet this morning so I laid down on the couch. I rested; I slept; rested some more; took some medicine; got up and ate some toast. (Don't eat peanut butter when you don't feel well; yuck!) Now it's 2:20 p.m. and I'm feeling much better than I have in 2 days. I believe I will be going to work tomorrow and I thank my lucky stars that I don't have one of those uptight bosses who can't bend and make do with whatever situation arises.....otherwise I'm sure I would be at work right now. It's funny how we put work before our health; human nature??? Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good; my muscles still ache somewhat but I'm not planning to do any strenuous work in the next 36 hours so I should be fine.

Hey, I found this in my email from our wonderful friends at Bravenet;

Search Engine Tricks:

Any tip that can increase your ranking on the search engines is a good investment of your time, since the majority of all traffic on the Web still eminates from search engine queries. Here are a few tricks to help you optimize your search engine placements.

- Use titles in your HREF tags that utilize keywords. For example: < A HREF=" my_link " Title= "some keywords here " >More keywords as link text< /A > (minus the spaces of course)(This will display the keywords on hover in IE.)

- Put keywords in your image ALT tags. Search engines obviously can't read images, but if you have ALT text coded as keywords, they will. For example: < IMG SRC = " my_image " ALT=" Some keywords here " border=" 0 " height=" 10 " width=" 120 " > (minus the spaces)

- Try placing keywords in comment tags; these won't display but will be read by many search engines. For example: -- some keywords here --

- Try using variations on words, or use synonyms to gain more exposure. For example, if you're site is about dogs, instead of always saying "dog" as a keyword, try "canine" or "pets" etc.

- Be sure to use lower case letters for your page's Meta Tags. Curiously, search engines won't respond to keywords that have capital letters (upper case) if a search is entered in lower case. It does work the other way around, however, so the best practice is to use all lower case.

Pretty interesting, eh? I think I'm going to try them myself!!

Tuesday, November 18, 2003

 

Ok, who gave me this nasty flu?? I would have given anything to stay home from work today, but I went. As the day progressed I thought I was feeling a bit better. I went to visit my parents tonight, had a wonderful meal with them, had to get some pictures taken (thanks Dad!) for the pictorial directory for the church I work at, and spent a little time with my Mom and one of the programs she's been wanting to try out. As the evening progressed, I felt worse....weak legs, achy neck, etc. Got home, took my temp; yup a slight one. That's no big deal; just the achy muscles that really annoy me the most. I just don't feel good!! I HATE not feeling good and it REALLY interferes with my life, you know?? I don't know if I'll be going to work tomorrow or not. One thing I DO know is that I have a ton of stuff to do and I don't relish the thought of having to go back to work any of the evenings this week, or working either of the days this weekend. We shall see.............send some positive energy my way!!! Please??? Yeah, I should be in bed right now but I'm not tired and because I just took some medicine, I'm feeling quite warm; sweaty actually. But I'm not tired so here I sit. Lucky you, eh?

On a different note: I taped 'The Next Joe Millionaire' (yup, I admit it!) tonight and laid down to watch that (commercial-free I might add!) Gotta love those vcr's. Next week is the final episode and I'll be sitting right there watching that one too. After this 'Survivor' series is over, no more reality shows for me for a while. But there's one that I'm interested in watching (just have to find out when it's on) and that's 'Trading Spaces.' I've heard a lot about it and one of my sisters (who doesn't watch any reality tv so to speak) watches that one. It's gotta be good so Shar, if you're reading this, let me know once again what channel that show is on, please? And which night? Well, enough rambling for the night; I shall force myself to go lay down and sleep. Until next time..........I leave you with another quote. "The wise don't expect to find life worth living; they make it that way." ~Anonymous

Saturday, November 15, 2003

 

So yeah, days go by without a post from Otto, but now I just must make a second post all in the same day! I found a couple of things I thought were interesting enough to check out and here they are.........

Found this at Tre's blog, who found it at Cornelia's...
You pick your birth month, and then cross out everything that's not applicable. Here's mine:

May:
Stubborn and hard-hearted (???? Not really stubborn or hard-hearted) Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally (you know, I don't look at myself that way; but I don't look at others' outward beauty much either; it's on the inside that counts!!). Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling (I have fun once I get there; but the getting there I dislike). Dislike being at home (soooo not true! I LOVE being home!). Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift (NOT true; I feel I'm very careful with my money).

That was fun. Now for this one; found it at Bryn's.....



15% are more weird,
4% are just as weird, and
80% are more normal than you!

 

The enneagram workshop was very interesting. If you're familiar with the enneagram, you know there are nine different personality patterns. Enneagram theory proposes that each of us has developed, from an early age, one of the nine personality patterns. The last time I participated in something like this I went away without a number. No one at the workshop was willing to venture a guess as to which 'number' I was either. That was about 14 years ago. Well yesterday, after answering several groups of questions to narrow it down, I found out I was a 4: the individualist. Here's what it says about the 4 (keep in mind that every number has its 'down side') ....... "The romantic, introspective type. Self-aware, sensitive, intuitive, and gentle. Self-revealing, emotionally honest, and personal, but can also be moody and self-conscious. They dwell in their fantasies, feeling different, melancholy, and exempt from ordinary ways of living. Become impractical, self-indulgent, and self-pitying. At their best: inspired and highly creative, they are able to renew themselves and transform their experiences." Now keep in mind that it is a series of questions that leads us to narrow the possibilities down as to which number we fall into. I thought it was quite interesting, and from what I understand, anyone who has taken this more than once has fallen into the same category every time. I'm glad I went; it was a good day. More later; got some work to do!

Ooooh! Just found this css code generator at Bryn's. Gotta go check that out in more detail!

Wednesday, November 12, 2003

 

Oh, such a busy week! (not 'good' busy either.......) Thought I'd come and throw a short post here before I'm off to clean a house. It is just pouring rain here and the winds must be about 30 mph or so. I hear they're getting snow tonight up north. I'm just not ready for it; the driving makes me soooooooo nervous!

Friday our staff will be attending an 'enneagram workshop' so we can better understand one another, hopefully leading to better communication in our office. I usually don't work at the office on Fridays, and seeing how this is more or less required, my boss has told me to either add the hours to my next paycheck or to take an extra day off........I gotta admit, I have a good boss! I hope to be back on here before Friday but if not, I'll be back sometime after our workshop to let you know my results. I've been drawing in PSP 7 and I came up with a new look for my blinkie racks; which, by the way, I now have 8 for you to choose from. Have an enjoyable evening; stay warm!

Monday, November 10, 2003

 

Time for Monday Madness; before it's not Monday anymore!

1. How many 'meals a day' do you eat?
I eat two, sometimes three meals a day. Depends on what day it is. Usually during the week I have my toast at work when I get there, but on the weekends I don't eat until lunch.

2. Do you enjoy cooking? Why or why not?
Not usually. I don't think I'm all that great of a cook. But most of all, it seems like it takes so long to cook a meal, a few minutes to enjoy it (well, probably more), and so long to clean up!

3. Who cooks most of the meals in your home?
Me. My daughter has shown some interest in cooking so I try to instruct her as to what to do and she does a fine job. But I do still do most of the cooking.
. . . . . and one more (optional) for good measure;

4. Share a favorite recipe with us.
I'll be adding my recipe to Recipe Swap later this week....

And now for today's Random Question;
Printer Ink! Do you use your printer a lot? Are you one of those who replace your whole cartridge, or do you refill them?
I use my printer quite a bit. It prints great photos! No, I don't refill it. I buy a whole cartridge. I wish I had a printer that had different cartridges for each color, but I don't so I run out of one color and buy a whole new one (what a waste, huh?) Matter of fact, I have to print some photos for our parish pictorial directory tonight so I can bring them to work tomorrow. Hey, they're paying me for my supplies; how could I say no?

My Blinkie Tut I and Blinkie Tut II are now on my own domain. No more bandwidth problems there folks! If you have any questions while attempting one of my tutorials, please don't hesitate to email me at: otto602002@yahoo.com. Busy, busy week coming up from tomorrow on.........enjoy yours!!!

Sunday, November 09, 2003

 

Did you see the lunar eclipse tonight? I took a bunch of pictures and the two I've posted below are the best ones....it's hard to take a good picture of the moon, but I think you can tell there was an eclipse. Here they are!

Saturday, November 08, 2003

 

As I was out taking pictures earlier today I noticed quite a few little cemeteries just sitting there in the middle of nowhere. Although some of the little cemeteries were sitting in between houses; either in the front of the house or in back, or just between. This one was the most unique. Sorry it's not closer but if you look real hard you can see how few tombstones are in it. It was just sitting in the middle of nowhere! Just wanted to share.........Oh and you can see the photo I submitted for Photo Time here.

 

Alright, it's a beautiful day outside (sunny and 28 degrees) and I'm off to get my photo for Photo Time; this week's theme is 'rural.' I just dropped the kid off at school. Her team is going to Harbor Beach for a play-off game (or whatever you call it.) Go Panthers!! After I take some pictures I'm coming home and ironing (eeewww!) and I'm staying OFF the computer! I can't get anything done when I come sit down here. Then I gotta get ready to go to church, pick up my kid afterwards and I plan to have a quiet evening at home. I really love weekends.......let's see; how many more years do I have to work? 25 or so? I guess I will now make a positive statement to counteract that negative thought; "I am grateful to have a job; one that I enjoy." Ok my friends, have a wonderful Saturday!! I'm off..............

Friday, November 07, 2003

 

I'm such a geek. I just found out how you can change what your comments section says depending on if you have zero comments, 1 comment, or more than one...........I'm excited! Now you will see "gotta comment?" or "1 talkative friend" or "I feel BEARY special" in place of "comments (0)" or "comments 7" or whatever.................yippeeee!!

I have a 'no-work' weekend coming up and I'm so excited about that too! I get to play on my computer and do whatever work I feel like doing at home. Did you watch 'Survivor' tonight? What's your thoughts? Well, I must be going now.....until tomorrow.............Oh, don't go! Check out my entry below and go give Granni a visit. For those of you who may not know, she's my Mom and if it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't have started blogging, which led me to all the other stuff I do on the computer too. With that I will bid you a goodnight!

Thursday, November 06, 2003

 

I was just visiting Granni and guess what I found? This: "When God made you, he was having a very good day." So, let's think about that for a minute. I know I don't always feel good about myself and I don't always think that God was having a good day when he made me, BUT deep inside my heart I know that I'm just as valuable as anyone else here on earth. We all have special qualities. (Take a moment to think of 5 things you like about yourself; quick! How long did it take you?) We should remember this quote always and feel GOOD about ourselves more often. You know it's true what they say; "Smile and the world will smile back." When you look at yourself in the mirror tomorrow morning, smile at yourself and say something POSITIVE to you ABOUT you! THIS is the way to start a day my friends. Mark my words; you will have a good day because you started with a positive attitude about yourself. And remember.....................

Thanks Granni!!!

Wednesday, November 05, 2003

 

Are you a Mom? Do you know someone who IS a Mom? Do you want to smile? Go read Kim's blog. I thought it was cute.

Tuesday, November 04, 2003

 

You just can never tell what kind of questions are going to be popular. Thanks to all who participated in this week's Monday Madness........and here are my answers;
1. What is your most artistic accomplishment?
In my lifetime? If I had to span all the years, probably playing the flute. At one time I think I played quite well. Matter of fact, when I was taking private lessons (had a wonderful instructor), I was learning to play some really challenging stuff. Currently, it's hard to say; maybe making graphics on the computer.

2. What is your favorite method of artistic expression?
I like digital photography, but I think I haven't been using my camera as much as I should because I plan to buy a new one soon. The one I currently own is a good one, but I'm ready to upgrade. I also enjoy making graphics with PSP 7. I spend a good portion of my free time doing that.

3. Name one form of art that you haven't yet tried but would like to.
I really have to think about this one! There are a lot of things I wish I could do; I really wish I could draw free-hand. I wish I could play the piano. I wish I could sing. I don't know if I'll ever attempt any of these things but I know I'm happy even not knowing how to do them. Well the singing, you either can carry a tune or you can't. I can't so that one is out. The others, who knows? Maybe one day.............

What a rainy cold dreary day it was. Tomorrow is supposed to be 70 degrees (yup, fahrenheit; what happened to the rule, 'i before e, except after c?') By Friday the high temp will be 38 degrees. Go figure.

Cats are funny 'people.' I have one who loves to climb on the back of my computer chair and then rub up against my back and sometimes nuzzles in my hair. Of course the other one appears out of nowhere when she sees this happening. Such jealousy! She's also the same cat who will walk up to people who come over to visit and then bite their hand off when they go to pet her. And did you ever notice how cats just have to wash their paws after you touch them? Yeah, I got your paw dirty cat; you better wash my cooties off! Ya gotta love 'em though!

A quote for you to ponder my friends..............
"When you rise in the morning, form a resolution to make the day a happy one for a fellow creature."

Sunday, November 02, 2003

 

I've been busy playing again today. Well, I DID go to Wal-Mart and buy a vacuum cleaner.......oh, don't go thinking I haven't vacuumed since you read my entry about my broken vacuum cleaner. I borrowed someone's but it's a pain to cart a vacuum cleaner up and down the road (yeah, even in a car!) I got a pretty good vacuum cleaner for a pretty good price too! Then I couldn't wait to get home and try it out; what a geek, eh? It's a 'Dirt Devil' with "50% more suction power than most leading vacuum cleaners." It was only 8 bucks more than the one that was on sale. I'm happy! I also bought a step stool. I couldn't reach the trim in my daughter's room to paint it; now I have no excuse for not finishing. Step stools come in handy anyway, so I'm glad I bought it. Ok, this will get more interesting; promise!

I've been bound and determined to learn how to pixel draw cute stuff, like teddy bears and cats and different animals. I drew a teddy bear laying down; just had to put him on a blinkie rack dontcha know?? (My kid told me it look deformed; what does she know?) Well if it does, please don't let me know. I'll get discouraged from drawing things; I'm just like that. Oh yeah, you can find all 4 of my blinkie racks here.

I was having some fun blog-surfing today and I found some pretty neat stuff..........here ya are:
Found at 2flower's blog; a different kind of horoscope
Found at nothing to do's blog; the automatic link swapper
Found at medicomom's blog; alexa toolbar
AND last but not least, I wanted to let you all know that the form generator is working like a charm over at sherle's recipe swap. So go add a recipe or two! Just click on 'post article' and the rest is self-explanatory. Have a great evening everyone. I'm going to watch a movie but on a commercial I'll have to post this week's questions at monday madness.

Saturday, November 01, 2003

 

Hey, did you know there is another 26 Things starting today? (I think it's starting today!) I think I may just have to join in the fun! How about you?? I've got the list and I'm ready to go!! (I think!)