Live with richness, joy and true fulfillment. Live beyond yourself.





Favorite Five













Blogroll Me!



~ who links here ~







www.flickr.com
This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from enjaees. Make your own badge here.

















The current mood of ottosite at www.imood.com


cold


lovable



My Bloginality is INFP!!!


My blogger code: B8 dt++ k+ s+ u-- fio++ e- lc- (decode it!)



~blinkie links~






tittabawassee river voice





Click here
for today's featured site!





~ graphics and design ~

otto © 2003

~ thanks go to ~
nothin2do
for sharing code info with me!




~haloscan~
~flooble~
~blogrolling~
~truefresco~

Powered By Blogger TM



~email me~



Saturday, January 31, 2004

 

There they go again. My pictures are gone! Somehow it just doesn't have the same effect with all those little red x's. BUT the sun is shining brightly outside this morning; ya GOTTA love that! I think it's getting up into the 20's sometime soon too! In the local news: Apparently someone dressed in a uniform from our cable company is going around trying to collect money from people, telling them they are late on their bill. Since when do companies go door to door collecting past due balances??? If I saw someone from the cable company walking up to my door and I had NO idea they were coming, I wouldn't even answer the door. That's just how I am. Well, I'm off to get my first cup of coffee for the day.........more later!

said    at 9:01 AM

Thursday, January 29, 2004

 

Can it be so? Can we really be getting another snow storm in a few days??? For all you kind people that don't have the opportunity to 'enjoy' snow, take a vacation to the north.......for about a month.......in January. This will cure you, I promise. Enough about the weather; you're probably as sick of hearing me talk about it as I am driving in it.

Here's a few quotes I came across as I was cleaning up one of my piles of 'must keep' stuff; I like them all!

"Every act of love is a work of peace no matter how small." ~Mother Teresa
"There is nothing like a dream to create the future." ~Victor Hugo
"You have to be careful about being too careful." ~Beryl Pfizer
"We are what we think. With our thoughts we make our world." ~Buddha
"If you find it in your heart to care for someone else, you will have succeeded." ~Maya Angelou
"She didn't know it couldn't be done so she went ahead and did it." ~Mary's Almanac
"The person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused." ~Shirley MacLaine
"Keep your eyes wide open before marriage and half shut afterwards." ~Benjamin Franklin
"We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can fly only by embracing each other." ~Luciano De Crescenzo

Because I was off the day before yesterday due to snow, and yesterday I only worked for a little while, I kept thinking today was Monday. What a nice feeling to know it's already Thursday! I know we should not wish our lives away like this and I often tell myself just that. I do enjoy the weekends so much, but believe me, I make the most of each day I am here. I enjoy my job, I enjoy being home, I enjoy my family, my friends, and my alone time.......I enjoy life!

Update: I just have to share this! I just created my own webring! If you haven't noticed, I now have a stamp shop, where I offer stamps for you to swap and I add stamps from other stamp collectors. SO, rather than joining a group or creating a group for others to join, I thought I'd create my own webring. I'm excited........but it's bedtime. Goodnight!! =)

said    at 9:39 PM

Wednesday, January 28, 2004

 

I have nothing to say......nothing. (Well, I do have something to say to all my family and friends who take the time to come visit me here. I say THANK YOU! I do appreciate you!) SO, I think I'll just pick some random blogs from my lists and feature them! Take a peek at these....... (maybe I'll do this on a regular basis and YOU may be next!)

windchimeswaffling

life on whidbey

dreamin' and talkin'

grumbleeze

daisy petals

return of the ghost of ferro lad

*2flower* to you

jan's introspection

yay! blog!

Have a great evening everyone!

said    at 11:46 PM

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

 

It's snowing buckets out there right now! So we're home enjoying the indoors. If the snow is good for packing, we will be out there to build a snowman. My daughter is trying to resist, but I know she wants to! Kids these days.......When we were kids we were always outside sledding down the hill and building snowmen and even making snow angels. Do you remember those? I'm sure by the time we came inside we were covered with snow and probably wet from head to toe! What's wrong with kids these days? Oh speaking of which, Brenda did a great post called 'The Way It Was.' It's a 'must read!' Well, I'm going to see what else I can get into today.....be safe!!

said    at 12:35 PM

Monday, January 26, 2004

 

Where did all my pictures go?? (sung to the tune of 'Where Did All the Flowers Go?") Speaking of flowers, wild fl0w3r has a wonderful review on the movie "Alex & Emma." Go check out her review. My daughter and I just finished watching "Uptown Girls" and we really enjoyed it. If you get a free evening and a couple extra bucks, go rent it! Back to my pictures and where are they? I thought maybe my pbase account was due to expire but no, that's not the reason you see all these red x's. I have no idea why.......I don't like it!!

Weather forecast for our area: Winter Storm Warning through Tuesday night! Let's see....the last time they predicted 6-10 inches of snow they were right; they were just off by a few hours. This time they're predicting sleet and freezing rain mixed with the snow tonight, and by mid-morning tomorrow it will turn to all snow. Expected accumulation: 6-10 inches; 12 inches in some areas. Maybe I'll get my kid out there to build a snowman with me if we have a snow day. You'll know because you can bet I'll take pictures of it!

Now for a little 'memey' stuff!
Monday Madness....
1. The one kitchen appliance I just could not live without is my coffee pot.
2. My desk always looks like I might be more organinzed than I am because I'm good at piling up papers.
3. The clocks in my house are always 1 to 6 minutes fast. (They used to be 20 minutes fast but when daylight savings time came around I changed them. Didn't have anything to do with Windy's teasing though!!) *smile*
4. The one television program I just can't stand is 'Scrubs.' (I only tried to watch it once but after about 5 minutes I changed it.)
5. The one television program I try to never miss is 'Survivor.' Woo Hoo! All-Star series starts this Sunday!!
6. When it comes to housework, I really hate cleaning my bathtub.
7. If I could re-design my living room, the first thing I would do is tear the existing ceiling tiles off and put something else up.
8. I wish I had bigger bedrooms in my house.
9. When someone points a camera at me and says 'Smile!' I usually smile; but I still hate having my picture taken.
10. I expect I'll have my income tax done by mid-February at the latest.

Random Questions...
Thursday, January 22: Do you know what your name means, or why you received the name you did? Please share.
Natalie ~ Female ~ French ~ Born at Christmas. Hmmm. I wasn't born at Christmas. I don't know why my parents named me Natalie. Mom???? Of course y'all know my internet name is Otto so call me Otto. Don't get me wrong; I like my name, really! I just started using Otto (another day...) and it kind of stuck so I will continue to use it.

Monday, January 26: On this day in 1926, television is introduced to the public for the first time. Share some pros and cons of this invention.
Pros: Good way to communicate information to the world ~ Good form of entertainment
Cons: Some people use the television as a babysitter ~ It seems anything goes nowadays. I wish they had more shows similar to ones we used to watch when we were kids; no sex, no bad language, families with good morals, etc.


So there you have it. I'll let ya know if we get all that snow they've predicted........meanwhile, enjoy the rest of your evening and stay warm!! (Or if you live in the warm parts of the world, stay cool!!)




said    at 10:35 PM

Sunday, January 25, 2004

 

Hmmmm. Too much pink do ya think? Now I wonder...Maybe I'll replace some of the pink with ivory; something soft but easy on the eyes. I definitely have to do something with the pink in my comments box; talk about clashing colors! Well now you know what I spent most of the day Saturday doing; it all started when I drew a new doll and I started thinking about a new look for Valentine's Day; all this is a result of that. I'd like to hear some feedback about the colors here; don't be kind; be honest! It won't be a big deal to change some of the background.

It was so nice and sunny outside yesterday that I got this sudden urge to go out and get some pictures. There's only so much you can take pictures of when all you do is leave your house to go to work. SO, I got bundled up, grabbed my camera, and off I went. I took a drive down to the Saginaw River, walked out on the ice and here's what I found. (What prompted me to do this, you might ask? Have you been to Photo Time? It's a great way to challenge your photography skills!) Some of these pictures were not taken on the ice as you can probably tell. I remember when we were kids, we used to spend HOURS (or what seemed like hours then) outside sledding down a little hill we had on the side of our house. I don't see kids playing outside in the snow much anymore. They don't know what they're missing.......and snowmen...how many snowmen do you see in people's yards nowadays? Next time I leave my house I'm going to count them. I guess there's too many 'inside' things for our kids to do where they only think of how cold they'll be if they go outdoors and play in the snow. What a shame.

Today I must get some work done around this house. I still have my Christmas lights hanging around my ceiling! I thought I'd leave them up for awhile but no, they're coming down. So you have a great Sunday! I'm off! But first, got a minute? Go check out Bryn's 'You think you know everything?' entry. More interesting info!

(A few minutes later: I'm trying the ivory. I just don't know....)

(An hour later: I've already changed some of it. I just thought there was too much pink. So ivory will be the 'accent' color!) You can still tell me what you think if you want.

said    at 10:27 AM

Saturday, January 24, 2004

 

For the next few hours (if you're here during that time) you may see some weird-looking stuff that doesn't match. I'm working on something; please bear with me. I must be crazy but I am so sick of snow and cold and I want my snowmen off here! I'll offer them up for adoption if anyone's interested. Look for that later in the day. I also want to get my photo submitted for Photo Time; the theme is 'cabin fever.' I took a photo last night but I'm not too sure I want to use it. You know what? I just got this urge to go out and get some pics! I'll be back! =)

said    at 1:27 PM

Thursday, January 22, 2004

 

I know a good night's sleep is very important to our health; both physical and mental. I also know that I have trouble going to bed before 12:30 or 1:00 a.m. I can't explain it; I just know I do. On the other hand, every so often (like every 4 days or so (or so)) I tend to get real tired by midnight (or earlier) and end up laying down and falling asleep; only to find myself just as tired in the morning as any other. This definitely makes me go 'hmmmmmm.' Now to the point of this whole entry; I was blog-wandering today; thanks to Blogger Seeds Friends, where you can add your own link to the site, when I came upon Tinnocking's blog. Go take a peek! 'Napping Makes You Smarter' is the title of the article and I found it quite interesting indeed!! (I took a nap today! Did you?)

said    at 10:57 PM

Tuesday, January 20, 2004

 

I've been neglecting Random Questions lately. Nothing personal, Windy! As you may have noticed, I don't even answer my own meme until close to midnight the day of. Anyway, I'm going to answer a few questions in a minute.

I beat the deadline for having W-2's out to the employees by exactly 11 days!! Contribution statements are ready too! All the tax reports are done and now I can get back to my other duties...what a great feeling! Even though bookkeeping is an ongoing job, the end of the calendar year and the end of the fiscal year are busy times. I'm so glad I was offered the job! I really do like it.

Now on to other matters.....
Random Questions; Random Days:

Tuesday, January 20: What's your job? Are you doing what you thought you'd be doing at this point in your life? Explain.Hey, I just answered that up there! As far as thinking about doing this, yes, at times I thought I'd be a secretary and way back in college I had this 'dream' (or something) of being a bookkeeper or even better, an accountant, but I'm very happy doing what I do.

Monday, January 19: This week is pizza week! What's your favorite?
I LOVE my Mom's pizza! I remember when we were kids, we used to make a whole bunch of them. We'd use that frozen bread dough and flatten it out in all these different pans, and my Mom would have all the goodies (toppings) cut up and ready for us to add to the pizzas. My Dad even added cornflakes on top of his pizza once. Good memories...

Thursday, January 15: The first Super Bowl game was played on this day in 1967. Are you a big Super Bowl fan? Why or why not?
Nope! Not a Super Bowl fan. Why? I don't really like sports. I DID buy 2 squares on a board though today for a buck apiece.

Now for a little Tuesday Iffers:
If you had to select only one flower to remain on the face of the planet, which one would you choose and why?
I was going to say carnations, but no, I think I'd choose geraniums. I love the way they look; all the different colors and when they're in bloom, they are so pretty. Some people even bring them in during the winter so they can enjoy their beauty all year 'round.

My wheels are turning (in my head) and I've got new ideas. My daughter and I were talking about it tonight and I am motivated! Stay tuned!




said    at 11:37 PM

Monday, January 19, 2004

 

I'm drinking a glass of grapefruit juice. Every time it seems my throat is feeling a little funny, I grab the grapefruit juice; it gets better. All in the head?? Who cares! It works. Now on to more important matters; Shar and Jan, if you're reading this, just know that I tried to leave comments at both your blogs; no luck. I'll try again later. Shar, I like your answers to Monday Madness, and by they way, you have a great disposition; Jan, I hope you have a moment later to answer this week's questions....which brings me to doing just that. So here is my answers to Monday Madness (link up there). After this I think it's going to be movie time! I have a couple to choose from; 'Uptown Girls' and 'S.W.A.T.' I heard two women talking about this movie in the video store one day and they said good things about it. They looked like intelligent women so I thought, 'Why not rent it? For a buck? Ya can't beat it!' By the way, 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and 'Seabiscuit' were good movies. I recommend them. Ooops; getting off subject.

Monday Madness:
1. I often wake up before my alarm clock goes off. False! I JUST can't seem to wake up without some annoying sound waking me up.

2. I love to drive; in any kind of weather! False! I hate to drive in the snow or ice or when it's raining at night. To be honest with you, I don't really like to drive at all, but especially in those conditions.

3. I'd rather have to worry about staying warm than staying cool. True. I love wearing sweatshirts and big bulky sweaters. In the winter I always, always have a shirt, sweatshirt, sweatpants, socks and slippers on when I'm at home. (Well, unless I have company coming over. I lose the sweats and put real pants on.) And I have lots of blankets and afghans and I love to wrap myself in them when I lay down to watch tv or read a book.

4. I wish I lived in another state. False. Even though I've often thought that it'd be nice to live somewhere where the weather isn't so extremely cold in the winter, I do like our seasons.

5. Multi-tasking is what I do best! False. I don't do it best. I do a pretty good job of it though. And of course it depends on what I'm trying to multi-task at; when I'm trying to figure something out on the computer and talk on the phone at the same time, I don't have good luck.

6. Flying is the only way to go! Neither. I flew for the first time last summer to California and it was the only way to go I'm sure. It was a 6-hour flight from Detroit to San Diego; can't imagine driving that distance, BUT if I had a lot of time to vacation, I would LOVE to drive across the country and SEE it; you know, make a vacation out of the drive there and back too!

7. Budgeting my money is one of my downfalls. False. I don't buy what I can't afford and my bills get paid first.

8. I wish there was 8 days in the week! True. IF it was a day in between Saturday and Sunday!

9. I get at least 7 hours of sleep a night. False. I average about 5 hours a night but I take at least a half-hour nap during the day after I get home from work; sometimes an hour.

10. I'm a night owl. TRUE! Probably the only thing that keeps me from staying up later than I do is the fact that I have to crawl out of bed at 6:15 every morning.




said    at 10:29 PM

Sunday, January 18, 2004

 

Here is my post for today! I found this set of questions at Bryn's and I decided to answer them. Of course you know me; you won't find out anything more about me than what I want you to know!! So go have a look and consider answering them yourself!

Here's a quesion for you; Have you ever fallen asleep early in the evening (or late afternoon) and woke up an hour later thinking it was the next day?? What an odd feeling!!

said    at 10:44 PM

Saturday, January 17, 2004

 

We had a great time at foggy's last night! We enjoyed a great meal at Applebee's first; then went back to their house to play games. Before we knew it, it was midnight and we decided we'd better get going. If you ever eat at a restaurant with 8 people or more at your table, take notice of your bill before you go to pay it and include a tip. Unbeknownst to us, the tip was already included in our bill! Thank goodness I took a second look at mine! (Shows you how much I go out!) So the poor waiter was giving us money back. Sorry, but I wasn't going to give him a $10 tip on a $30 dollar meal (for 3 of us)! Truly, I think they ought to be required to point this out to you when they hand you your bill. No wonder the guy had such a big smile on his face when we all handed him our tips! I'm sure it gave him something to talk about after he got home, but I don't care. Justice, my friend, justice!!!

More snow today...what to do? Stay home and have fun!!! So, here's what I've been working on today; I created a new gallery for the first pics I've taken with my new toy; yup! I have a new toy! I've been eyeing this camera up since I first heard about it last summer. You know all those housecleaning jobs I had before Christmas? (and the ongoing ones too); Well, I must tell you, all that hard work pays off! I've earned myself a brand new digital camera; a Sony F828! When I bought it last week, it was my plan to just 'try it out.' I asked the salesperson (just to be sure) exactly what their return policy was. He told me in no uncertain terms that I had 30 days to try the camera out and if I wasn't happy with it, I could return it, no questions asked. So guess what I've been doing? Here's one of the pictures I've taken in the past few days with it; if you click on the picture, it will take you to my pbase gallery, where I've uploaded a few more. So far, I'm leaning toward keeping the camera! (No big surprise to those who know me, I'm sure.) Here you go.....



said    at 12:56 PM

Friday, January 16, 2004

 

I just had to blog this before it leaves my mind. I was thinking the other day about New Year's resolutions and thought, 'Hmmm. What kinds of things do I want to make an effort to live up to?' Here's what I came up with; a bit non-traditional as far as resolutions go, but things that are very important to me.....(and in no particular order, by the way)
~spend at least one hour a day reading
~spend at least one night a week playing games with my daughter
~spend at least two hours a week cross stitching
~spend at least two days a month working on my scrapbook
~make a serious attempt to challenge myself in digital photography
~watch one movie a week with my daughter
~keep in better contact with my family

I hope I'm not being too unrealistic. I'll keep you posted on my progress.



said    at 12:42 AM

Thursday, January 15, 2004

 

Ok, did I hear correctly that it costs 25 million dollars for a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl???? IF so, I am just disgusted. Do you really think any of those businesses who advertise during the Super Bowl NEED to advertise to get people to buy their product?? I don't! Do you think there could be something a little MORE WORTH WHILE they could do with that 25 mil??? I do! If I had 25 million dollars I would go out and hand deliver money to every person that I know who needs financial help; not a million here and a million there, no. I'm talkin' giving the poor girl who works her butt off every day at McDonald's to make ends meet and feed her children, the guy that has to work 3 jobs just so he can put food on the table for his family, the SO many people in this world who try SO hard and work SO many hours just to make ends meet! THOSE are the people I would be helping. I'd set up some kind of college fund for the poor kids that haven't even put a second thought into furthering their education because they just don't see how they (OR their parents) can ever afford it. And these multi-billion dollar businesses are throwing money away. It saddens me. Don't they realize that one of the reasons our crime level is so high is because of LACK of education? What about making sure every kid in this country has a fair chance to go to college; what about making sure these poor souls who worked most of their lives and are now retired and spending most of their pension (or ss checks) on prescriptions that they need to take, just to stay alive? Why can't we throw our money THEIR way?? 25 million dollars would educate a whole lot of people; pay for a lot of prescriptions; maybe get a lot of people off the streets.........It's the way of the world; the rich keep getting richer and the poor stay poor...

On a totally DIFFERENT subject: I'm such a dummy. I didn't realize there was 29 days in February this year until yesterday. DON'T laugh! The only reason I figured it out was because I decided to make a new calendar and looked at the 'real' calendar JUST to be sure I had the month starting on the right day of the week. Well guess what??? First of all, I had the month of February starting on a Thursday and second of all, I only had 28 days in the month. SO, I had to re-do the whole thing. Wait! It gets better (depending on if you're you or me...) Because I only had 28 days in February, this means all of the calendars I've made after that are one day off. Let's see; that's March, April, May and June. Oh, I guess it could be worse, right? Anyhow, I'm off to remove the wrong ones and get busy replacing them with RIGHT ones! Heh! Good goin' Otto!!!

We got slammed with 8.2 inches of snow today. I came home from work early but I suspect I'll be going in tomorrow and making up for lost time. I was really happy when my friend down the street (who drives a 4 wheel drive vehicle) called me today and offered to take my daughter to school tomorrow morning. I think I'll be taking her up on that offer. If you're driving in the snow or ice, please be careful. S-L-O-W DOWN!! Better to get there late than not get there. Have a wonderful sleep! Now that I've vented, I know I will; heck, I always sleep well. It's getting up I have trouble doing. Goodnight and thanks for 'listening' to me! =)

(Please don't judge me for my thoughts...and I won't judge you for yours.)

said    at 12:36 AM

Wednesday, January 14, 2004

 

Found this at Colleen's, who found it at Bryn's........I'm not going for any of this anyway; personally, I think it's more of a popularity contest; never been popular and the only time in my life that I can remember wishing I was, was in high school.......but it was fun to see what my results were. (That sounded kind of negative, didn't it? Not intended to.) It's late; I'm going to bed; gotta get up early in the morning........Oh my! I just realized February has 29 days this year; just gotta make a correction on something.

30%
There's a 30% chance that I'll win a Bloggie™.
What's Your Chance to Win a Bloggie™?


said    at 12:55 AM

Tuesday, January 13, 2004

 

Since my daughter doesn't have to be to school until 8:30 this week, my boss told me just to come in at 9:00. SO, here I am; at home blogging. Anyway, I just feel the need to vent right now. As you probably already know, I offer blinkie calendars for you all to grab and add to your site if you wish. Apparently there are quite a few others out there offering them as well. Fine. But at least COME UP WITH YOUR OWN DESIGN!!!! Someone (I won't mention any names.....) decided to grab one of my calendars, import it into PSP and just change colors and pictures. They have the same outer-bevel effect on the Month banner thingy at the top, the same exact font, the same exact size; well, I suppose I should be flattered, eh? I mean that's what people tell you when others copy from you.....I think it stinks! There's no copyright on this stuff and I understand when you offer graphics on the internet you're taking the chance that people will steal from you.......personally, I wouldn't do it. You can be rest-assured that all my stuff I offer for your taking is of my own original design and a lot of it pixel-drawn by me as well. It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round!


said    at 8:52 AM

 

Time for a little Monday Madness! Have YOU participated?
1. When I sing, I sound like a... your worst nightmare.
2. May is my favorite month of the year.
3. I've always wanted to improve my cooking skills.
4. It's Monday morning, and the first thing that goes through my mind is "Where DID the weekend go???".
5. My favorite day of the week is Friday because most weeks, my weekend officially starts.
6. I used to collect dolls; I currently collect snowmen and I also have an 'angel corner' and a 'teddy bear corner' in my house.
7. At the end of a work day/school day, the first thing I want to do is take a nap.
8. I really look forward to Christmas because it's my favorite holiday.
9. When I need some down-time, I usually do some blog-surfing, create stuff in PSP, or get comfy and watch a movie.
10. I plan to travel to Mexico with my Mom and Dad someday. (because that's where she said she'd love to go and I really have never thought about a far-away place I really want to go. (I'm such a home-body.) I've been to San Diego and I would LOVE to go back there someday soon!)

It's exam week at my kid's school and she's been in her room studying ever since I got home from work. And I KNOW she's studying because I go in there randomly to ask her how things are going and if there's anything I can do to help. Well, she's in bed now, but she did spend most of the afternoon and evening studying; no tv, no computer, no phone. Hmmmm. Do you think she's normal?? Actually, at this day and age, what's considered 'normal' scares me just a bit. I love my kid!

"Visualize, 'prayerize,' 'actionize,' and your wishes will come true." ~Charles L. Allen



said    at 12:21 AM

Monday, January 12, 2004

 

The weekend is officially over and I am officially tired. If nothing else, it was very productive. Next weekend I plan to have a very non-productive one! I hope you do too.

I found this quite amusing today; here's my daily horoscope from my little desktop calendar...."Your designs for a family arrangement or even a change of residence are not all that far-fetched. Moreover, while money may be something of a sticking point, it is not the obstacle it has been in the past." Now THERE'S something that makes me go hmmmmmmmmmm.

said    at 12:01 AM

Sunday, January 11, 2004

 

Thanks for the movie suggestions!! As it turns out, we didn't go rent any movies this weekend (but I'm keeping those suggested in mind for when we do); instead we (well, actually it was my daughter's idea) decided to rearrange some things here. BIG rearranging! This little project involved 3 rooms and you all know what THAT means. We were really fooling ourselves thinking we could get it all done by the time we went to bed Friday. Of course, my Mom told me 'It's ok to go to bed with your house messy.' Hmmmmm. Ok Mom, I took your advice! We decided to leave the mess and watch a movie. It was one my daughter had seen before but she wanted to see it again so we got all comfy and settled down to watch 'Chicago.' That was Friday night. I woke up early Saturday morning with good intentions to finish the project we'd started the night before but it took most of the day to get things back in place because of course I had to go through every single piece of paper that I had stashed away and decide what I 'needed' to keep and what I could throw away. Then we decided to take a break and go to a couple of stores. I had purchased a hair iron for my kid at 'Bed, Bath, and Beyond' right after Christmas but at the time, couldn't find my '20% off one item' coupon. So the lady at the counter told me if I found it, to bring it back to the store along with my receipt and they would refund me the 20%. Well, in the process of cleaning, I found one! Gotta love that store! When we got there, they knew exactly what I was there for, refunded my money and then told me not to ever throw my coupons out because even though there's an expiration date on them, they really never expire. I just love saving money!! So 2 hours later, we returned from our shopping expedition........time to finish cleaning. It was well worth the work we put into it but not something we want to do too often.

So it's Sunday and I slept in until 10:00! It could have something to do with the fact that I was up until 2:30 updating my Friendship Wall. My oldest sis, Windy, had her site ready to go and I just had to add her to the members page and adopt her patches! She is our newest member; Welcome, Windy!!

More updates later; have a great Sunday everyone!!!

said    at 11:30 AM

Friday, January 09, 2004

 

Oh my! Almost Friday, and I see the last post was on Tuesday.....ooops! It's been one heck of a week! I really can't believe how fast it's gone by. I think I did two weeks' worth of work in one week; that could be one reason it flew by so fast! I would be workin' away and before I knew it, I'd look at the clock and it would be 3:00; almost time to go home! I even went back today to finish up some details and a few other things that needed to be done before the weekend. I love going home on Thursday feeling accomplished! But the good news is I got to skip out of tonight's Parish Council meeting! AND the better news is that I don't have to attend another one; ever! They're going to appoint a member to be the secretary; seems only right anyway.

Anyone see any good movies lately? (on dvd...) Let me know. I think I may rent some this weekend. I want to see 'Uptown Girl.' I think it comes out next week or it came out already. Of course finding a copy at the video store will be a task. If there's no more copies on the shelf of a movie I want to see I always ask at the desk if anyone just turned one back in and about half the time, if not more, I get lucky. Hey, can't hurt to ask, right? Gotta love 'Hollywood Video!' All movie rentals are 99 cents and you get them for 5 days. Can't beat that!

I think I'll be calling it a night; maybe go watch a bit of tv before I close my eyes..........g'night!!

said    at 12:03 AM

Tuesday, January 06, 2004

 

It's Tuesday, so it's time for my first Tuesday Iffers!!

If you had to choose, would you rather be forced to laugh in the most inappropriate situations or have to say everything that is on your mind; and why?
Well, I would have to choose the latter of the two. I pretty much say what's on my mind anyway; of course within reason and with as much tact as I can possibly muster (which isn't always easy.) Why? Because I've witnessed people laughing at inapproriate situations.........I'll say no more. (Good question!)

Now on to some Random Questions

Tuesday, January 6: January is also "Oatmeal Month." Are you a fan of oatmeal? What is your favorite way to start your day?
Oh no! I never liked oatmeal. Don't ask me why. Well, I think I know why; it reminds me of soggy cereal (oh, it IS soggy cereal!!) I know, I know; it's good for you. At least I can say I've gotten out of the habit of grabbing a pop tart for my morning meal; I usually eat 2 slices of toast, which reminds me, I don't have any bread. I don't know what I'll have tomorrow morning...

Monday, January 5: January is "Hobby Month." What are some of your hobbies?
Oh I have so many I can't keep up with them all! Let's see........I enjoy cross stitching (probably one of my oldest hobbies), scrapbooking, digital photography (but it seems I don't do that as much as I used to either), web design, pixel-drawing (my latest obsession!), making other web graphics, reading (which I know I don't do enough of; darn computer!), various miscellaneous crafts (I've done so many different ones...), and I used to write a poem now and again; well, I still do...

Tuesday, December 30: Are you the type of person that makes New Year's Resolutions? If so, please share, if not, why?
I'd love to say I make resolutions, but I would probably be lying. Plus, if I make a new year's resolution then break it, I get so disappointed, so in my mind I have ideas of what I'd like to do differently and I try to stick to them, but I don't limit it to just the beginning of the year...

(Great questions, Windy!!)

Winter is definitely here and I think it's around to stay for awhile this time. No more rain in our forecast; just freezing cold temps and blowing wind and snow. I wish I could fly.......


said    at 10:19 PM

 

Before I answer the questions to my meme, I wanted to share this with you; it's a pretty neat idea I think. I don't know if I can complete it but I think I'll challenge myself to. smash, who participates regularly in monday madness, put this list together; 204 for 2004; what an amazing accomplishment! Just to get that list compiled would be a great challenge for me; heck, I don't even have a '100 things about me' list! Ok, now on to Monday Madness.....
1. Do you use any slang words on a regular basis?
Yeah, I'm sure I do. (See? I just did!) (Sorry Shar! I know you hate that one, but I do use it.) I hate to admit it, but I probably use ain't more than I should, but I always know I'm saying it. I usually say it to get a reaction from my kid because she is SO critical of me...I know; that's cruel, huh?
2. Is there any one slang word that really bothers you when you hear others use it?
The one I think bothers me the most is 'witchu' which I guess means 'with you.' Say WITH YOU!!!! I don't like hearing that word.
3. Do you have a favorite slang word?
I don't think I have a favorite. I say dang cuz I don't want to say the 'd word' and as you can see, I say 'cuz' instead of because but actually I think I write it more than I say it.
4. What are your thoughts on adding slang words to the dictionary?
I think if they are marked as slang, it's ok. Otherwise, I'm against it. I know that sounds harsh, but come on; let's challenge ourselves to use proper English (or whatever is your native language)!!

Before I retire for the evening, I wanted to share a couple of places with you. These are Tuesday memes; the one, Photo Time, managed by sherle, I participate in every week, without fail. Another one, Tuesday Iffers, managed by wild fl0w3r, I plan to start participating in. And yet another meme, random questions; random days, (a daily meme) managed by 3 people, but windy thinks up all the questions for that one, unless of course you have any suggestions, she'd be more than happy to feature you, (hint, hint!), I really must catch up on. I've been a bit busy around here drawing graphics, and working on the friendship wall (I am happy to announce we have 31 members now!!!!), and work, and taking down Christmas decorations, which leads to cleaning the house (yes, my house), and basically just getting back into the old routine, but that won't stop me from keeping up with my blog and my favorite memes and visiting my family and friends here! Ok, I really have to get some sleep! Until tomorrow.....

said    at 1:22 AM

Monday, January 05, 2004

 

This week's Monday Madness questions are all about slang. I posted them earlier this evening and I just checked to see if anyone had answered them yet. Well, it turns out that my Mom was the first one up. Cool, Mom!!! Ok, that's not the end of my story though; you see my previous post where I said 'I HATE when that happens!'??? Turns out it is one phrase that bothers my mother when she hears people use it.......gosh, why didn't I know that???? I really oughta pay better attention, eh? So what's your viewpoint on using slang?

I have all my Christmas decorations down and put away. It's kind of sad to see them gone; it never seems like they're up long enough. Aside from some of my snowmen that I left up, my house looks like 'normal' again. It's even clean!! Well, we were supposed to get a bunch of snow here tonight; currently it is not snowing. I'd say we MAY have gotten an inch so far, but according to the local news (and we all now how accurate THAT is!), we could get 3-5 inches throughout the night. If it's too horrible to drive tomorrow I'm calling my kid in late. Oh she'll be thrilled about that one; she hates to be late. But hey, is it worth risking our lives when everyone in the world needs to be somewhere at the exact same time so everyone is driving like fools to get where they need to go, cuz it's totally against the rules to leave your house a few minutes early you know; it might mean interfering with your 'morning routine!' I especially like the way people with 4-wheel drive vehicles drive. Most of them that I see driving in the crappy weather act like their trucks can get through anything; and at everyone else's expense! They're usually the ones sliding around on the roads because they take off too fast or turn too fast or try to stop on a dime. Anyway, it's not going to do me any good to worry about it now.....what will be will be. Had enough of me? Heh! G'night!!!

said    at 12:15 AM

Saturday, January 03, 2004

 

As promised, my 'Day In the Life ~ New Year's Eve 2003'; BORING!! But hey, better than going out there drinking and driving; or just drinking for that matter! No hang-over for me!! Plus I made pretty good money cleaning that place! Also, I've added a couple adoptables and one blinkie rack. I'm on a roll!! And if you'd like any of the adoptables in a different color, just email me to let me know. I'll do my best! I hope I don't have any work to do around here today cuz it looks like I'll be at my computer for a few more hours.......oh yeah, I exploded a pop in the freezer yesterday so I guess I better clean that out. I HATE when that happens!

Note to my seeester, Jan; thank you so much for the tea, girl!! I will try it today!

Note to my Mom, Granni; thanks for all your help in getting my gallery up to the internet!

Oh yeah, and I'm going to add a 'gifties' page so I can store all my goodies there! That way when the season comes around again I can always add them back to my blog or wherever.

Oh yeah, one more thing! Our friend Shirl is celebrating today! Go see why!!

I'm going to have fun today! Are you???

said    at 11:47 AM

 

I know I promised you my 'Day in the Life...' photos by today; well, I seem to be missing two files that need to be ftp'd along with the images and the thumbnails. For some reason I can't find them when I do a search either. Mom?? My album isn't anything great so you're not missing anything, believe me! On another note; does anybody know what happened to Blogpatrol? My counter isn't working and hasn't for the last several days.........guess I have to grab one from somewhere else. I'm working on some new adoptables; those you'll be able to see sometime this weekend over at my otto's adoptables page. I guess while I'm at it I better get rid of the little snowmen up there with the Christmas lights, eh? Not much happening with me...but the weather; that's a different story! It's 46 degrees right now and it poured rain here this evening. By Sunday it's supposed to be in the 20's and we might get 3 to 6 inches of snow. Hmmmmm. Well, I'm calling it a night.....sweet dreams!

said    at 12:33 AM

Friday, January 02, 2004

 

Happy New Year, everyone!! Thanks for all the well wishes too! pbase seems to be working fine; although someone suggested it may have been a blogger thing; could be since it seems most of the images that weren't showing up were toward the bottom of my page. Whatever the problem, it's fixed now; yay!

My very next project is to upload my images for A Day In The Life New Year's Eve 2003. But you can view my Mom's 'Day In the Life 2003' here. Nice photos by the way, Mom! You'll have to see what I did from noon New Year's Eve till noon New Year's Day tomorrow. I'll post the link when I have my gallery done. Until then.........

said    at 12:51 AM









~javascript clocks~

~mood blinkies~

...you're invited to join...

the friendship wall





* my home *

* my clocks *

* ottos adoptables *

* my stamp shop *

* stamp adoptables *

* my blinkies I *

* my blinkies II *

* my mini blinkies *

* my mood blinkies *

* my blinkie calendars *

* my blinkie racks *

* my moody bears *

* my mug collection *

* my friendship wall *

* blogalicous buttons *

* my photo blog *

* photo blog II *

* monday madness *

* ottos blinkie tut I *

* ottos blinkie tut II *

* my blog signs *

* mood faces by otto *

* my 26 things III *


















BDI Member in Good Standing!
from my friend, friday!
thank you!





cassie-b
heart of rachel
kia & zeno
lady starlight
life on whidbey






~ recipe swap ~

~ quiz your friends ~

~ fight spam! click here! ~





20Q.net



~ tiny url ~

~ games ~

~ typogenerator ~

















dafont
simplythebest
1001freefonts
coolarchive




bloggerseeds

add YOUR link!




widexl.com



fast online users









The Lily of The Valley means:
return of happiness, sweetness,
and humility.




























online




~ archives ~