Thursday, April 29, 2004

 

Found this at Bev's, who found it at Shirl's, who found it at Susan's.......

If you had one word...
Sum up your opinion or impression of me in one word, leave it as a comment in this posting, and then post this sentence in your own journal/blog.

Come on! Don't be shy! =)

Wednesday, April 28, 2004

 

With the exception of Photo Time, I haven't answered any memes yet this week (mine included).......perhaps I'll do them tomorrow.

I found this little brain teaser last night at Lori's blog; I've seen this before and it works every time. I don't know why but it does.......I thought it was cool so I asked her if I could share it on my blog. Try it! (Yes Wanda, you too! *smile*)

1. First of all, pick any a number from (1-9).

2. Multiply this number by 2.

3. Add 5.

4. Multiply it by 50 (where's the calculator?)

5. If you have already had your birthday this year (2004) add 1754. If you haven't had your birthday in 2004 yet, add 1753.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should now have a three digit number:

The first digit of this is your original number

(remember....the number you picked at the beginning from 1-9).

The second two are your age.

Pretty cool, eh?

I see that truefresco.org is up and running 'better than ever' so I decided to put it back on my left-hand column....The day after I added the code the first time, they said they weren't able to accept anyone new and I ended up with nothing where my referrers should have been. I hope I'm not a jinx! We shall see........

I've started a new webring for people who make, collect, or swap blinkies. It's called 'Hooked on Blinkies.' If you're ever interested in joining, just click here. I'm the only member so far so I'd love some company!! (hint, hint)

I also have a webring for people who make, collect, and swap stamps and if you're interested in joining that one, go here.

I want to start one more webring and I think it'll be some type of bloggers' webring........I'll let you know when it's ready.

And last, since May is fast approaching, I've got 4 new blinkie calendars so far to choose from; I'm sure I'll make more before May 1st.

For now, I must turn off my computer and get some sleep.......morning comes awfully early!! =)

Monday, April 26, 2004

 

I thought it would be a good day to go to 'Dow Gardens' today; thinking the butterflies would still be around, but they weren't. That's ok though because I got some good photos anyway. I just finished cropping them and adding some little effects and if you're interested in viewing them, just click here. When you get there, click on the first image and if you want to view my whole gallery, click 'next' over to the top right of the page and it will take you through all the pictures. Let me explain a couple to you before you get there........I just had to get a shot of my Mom's friend, the piggy. I believe she posed with him one day. You'll see a couple of flowers that look exactly the same except one is closer up than the other; I was experimenting with my close-up filter. There's also two pictures of the same tree. The first one is from a distance and the second one I took with my macro on. I thought the bark was different. Anyway, that's the best selection from the photos I took today....

We have a new blog addict in blogosphere! Go check out Laz's Blog; you won't regret it! Welcome, Laz! And welcome back to one of my blog buds, Ressa! Glad to see you back, Reesa! If you're looking for a great photo challenge, please take a moment to visit Photo Time. The new theme will be posted tonight but you have a whole week to get your picture up, so if you're busy, don't fret; take your time. It's a great way to challenge your photographic creativity!

On that note, I bid you goodnight! Enjoy the rest of your evening! =)

Saturday, April 24, 2004

 

What WAS I thinking??? . . . . . or wasn't I?

I never title my blog entries; don't know why I did this one, but let me tell you what I did (or shall I say didn't do). I got my cable bill in the mail the other day and set it on my microwave where all my bills go until I pay them (which is usually within days of receiving them). I had several bills to pay at once this week so Thursday night I decided I'd better start writing checks.....I opened up my cable bill and the amount due was double what I usually pay! Right away, I searched through my checkbook to see when it was the last time I paid it; sure enough, I made a payment in March so I thought somehow the bill must have gotten lost in the mail. Yesterday afternoon I called the cable company (and why can't I ever get an intelligent person on the phone???), asked the woman why my bill was for 2 months, told her when my last payment was mailed out, the check number, etc. and she tod me this bill was for April 29 through May 28....so what?? WHY, if I pay my bill every month am I being charged for 2 months? Again, she gave me the dates that this bill was to cover, and that you always pay in advance for cable (yeah, yeah, I know that.) But why am I being charged for 2 months??? As I'm talking to her (or listening to her try to explain things to me) I looked on my microwave through some papers and guess what I found? An upopened cable bill.......oooops!! Did I tell her I realized I didn't pay my bill this month? No. But I did ask her when my next bill would be due if I were to pay the amount on my current bill and she told me June 12....so I paid the full amount. But I'm not done yet; I thought I'd better check to see if I forgot any other bills and guess what I found? An unopened car insurance bill that was due April 9.......oooops! HOW did I forget to pay these bills? I'm never late on my bills. So I got right on the phone and called my insurance company and confessed to them that I hadn't paid this month's insurance. They told me to go ahead and mail the payment today and my insurance wouldn't lapse.....I have no idea how I could have forgotten about these two bills; bills I pay every single month. I can assure you this won't happen again (I hope!)

Have a relaxing weekend! =)

Friday, April 23, 2004

 

I'm still trying to get all my 'to do' list done from last night, so here's a couple of memes and I will complete my photo project for Photo Time this afternoon/evening.

First of all, Random Questions...
Are you a spring cleaner? Why or why not?
YES! I'm a spring cleaner.....why? Because I feel it's a great opportunity to do all the things around the house that get 'left out' all winter; for instance, last weekend I took all my window blinds down and washed them. What a job! I washed most of my windows on the inside, so maybe this weekend I'll tackle the outside of the windows.

And now for Lulu's Lines...
I did not enjoy...... the thought of going back to work this week after enjoying a good portion of last just relaxing, cleaning MY house, and just whatever I wanted to do. I knew that when I returned from a week off, my first week back would be double work and lots of houses to clean, but after today, I will have gotten through it and I guess it wasn't all that bad afterall. It seems I always have to mentally prepare myself for what the week ahead is going to bring........

Yesterday I figured out how many vacation days I have to take before July 1st and I came up with 11; plus 2 personal days. With working only 4 days a week at my office job, I wasn't sure how I was ever going to fit them in; because if I don't use them I lose them. I told my boss the only thing I could figure on doing was to take every Monday off from now until July 1st, which would use up 9 of them, then take a week off in June to use up 3 more. I'm not quite sure I can get all my work done in 3-day weeks but I'm certainly going to try! If not, I'll have to go in some Mondays; we'll see how it works.

Ok, gotta go clean a couple of houses; take care and enjoy YOUR Friday!! =)

Oh, and about that list in my previous entry; this is what I've accomplished so far...
~updated my Monday Madness participants list
~answered a couple of memes
~updated my What's On... participants list
~watched Survivor
~started a page for my new blinkies

Now I really gotta go! =)

Thursday, April 22, 2004

 

Busy, busy, busy! What a week so far! I have lots planned for tonight though.....My goals to accomplish before I go to bed tonight include.......
~update Monday Madness participants list
~answer a couple of emails
~make a couple stamps and friendship wall patches
~update What's On... participants list
~answer a couple of memes
~create (or at least start to create) a page for my new style of blinkies
~watch Survivor
.....but first I must take my nap!

Later! (How much of this stuff do you think I'll actually get done?)

If you're looking for cool scripts, try this place out! (I've just added them to my 'useful things' section too.)

Wednesday, April 21, 2004

 

Seems 'stress' is the word of the week....it's been one of those kind of weeks for me too; and I only started my work week yesterday! Can't wait until Friday afternoon!! Gotta go to work now! Oh, Happy Secretary's Day to all those working in an office....I hope your bosses acknowledge all the hard work you do!! =)

Monday, April 19, 2004

 

I had to answer Monday Madness before I read too many other answers.......so here you go!

I've chosen the letter D (which just happened to be the first letter that came to mind when I wrote the questions.)

1. If you were limited to 3 things to pack for an overnight trip, what would you pack?
deodorant ~ dark blue jeans ~ ducky jammies

2. What 3 things would you pack in your picnic basket?
doritos ~ dasani water ~ dessert

3. What are 3 things you'd rather do than go to work?
dream ~ draw graphics ~ dine out

4. Name 1 song.
Don't Speak by: No Doubt

5. Name 1 movie.
Dennis the Menace

That was NOT easy! Plus I had to look through our movie collection for #5; is that cheating?? AND I really don't like to dine out that much, but it's all I could think of because driving would certainly not be something I'd rather do that go to work. If you're up to a challenge, feel free to give it a try! =)

 

Thanks to all who support me and use my graphics...that's why I make them; for your use. One thing you can count on me not to do is to make any of my sites private or to quit offering things for free; I like to share and it makes me feel good to see my stuff on someone else's site. (If you've no idea where this is coming from, feel free to read the previous entry.) Enough said about that.......

I went on a bus trip with my church today; to MotorCity Casino. I don't normally gamble and I think this is the 4th time I've ever walked into a casino; for one thing I'm too cheap to gamble, for another I work too hard for my money to throw it away at a casino, and for another, I have better things to do with it. But I went and I had a good time and I came home with a little bit of extra money in my pocket. I knew when to walk away. Tomorrow is back to work as normal; the vacation is over. It's ok with me; I do like my job, but 6:15 came awfully early this morning!! Such is life........I'll be back later to post my meme; until then, enjoy your Monday evening!

Sunday, April 18, 2004

 

Now you tell ME if there is a striking resemblence in these two calendars.....
MINE
and
the person who COPIED MINE

Notice the 'copyrighted material' statement on this person's site........hah!!! They STOLE it from me. Can't people come up with their OWN ideas??????? (and I hope this person comes here and sees this too.)

Please don't use one of their calendars; use mine ~ MINE are original and I didn't put some stupid 'copyright' (which is usually a load of bull anyway...) on mine. I ask that you link back to me but I don't require it and I NEVER claim someone else's work as mine. Thank you.

Oh, and one more thing this person did; check out these two blinkies....I drew the cat; it was one of my first attempts at pixel drawing and one of my first blinkies.....here's mine

and here is theirs....

....they didn't give me credit for using the ugly thing either.........sorry, just have to vent!

Now I have some windows and blinds to clean........well at least my energy level is up.

Saturday, April 17, 2004

 

I'm going to start making mini blinkies now.

 

We're back from visiting one of the siblings; we had a great time, but once the evening started moving along, it seemed to move so fast! We played 'Loaded Questions' and that's always a fun game to play. Thanks Windy and Dave for being so hospitable!

It looked like it was going to be a dreary, rainy day today but the sun is shining brightly and it just makes me want to take all my blinds down and go outside to wash them, and then tackle the windows. But I think I'm going to do that tomorrow. I do have my windows open so I'm enjoying the fresh air, but it's really too late in the day to get started on a major project like that (lame excuse eh?) so yeah, it'll have to wait until tomorrow. Now my refrigerator; that's a different story. I've been meaning to clean it for weeks; maybe today is the day it'll finally get done. Anybody willing to help??? =)

Someone has asked me to write a tutorial on how to make stamps, so I think I'll oblige. It'll be a breeze compared to the one I just finished! Also, I've been playing around with my homepage a bit and I want to do a lot more to it; change my desk around some (oh, and maybe draw a computer to add to it; I have no computer anywhere near the desk; just a monitor...) and add more links. So my friends, that is where I'll be at.......oh yeah, and cleaning my refrigerator too. Hope ya all have a wonderful weekend!! =)

Friday, April 16, 2004

 

It's up! I've finished my blinkie calendar tutorial!!! Obviously I didn't get it done last night, but I got up this morning, made my coffee and started right in on it; my goal: not to stop until I was finished. It's only 2 pages now; I hope the pages don't take too long to load. If you're feeling helpful today, click on the link above and let me know if it takes forever to load. Also, if you're feeling adventurous, try it out and let me know how your calendar comes out. I will have a permanent link to this tutorial in my right-hand column here so don't fret if you don't get to it by the time this entry disappears. Have a fabulous Friday, my friends!! =)

P.S. Bryn.....are you out there??? Where did your blog go?
Also, I got an error message when trying visit Medicmom, but it looks like she'll be back up later today.

 

Now I just have to get rid of all the extra 'crap' that Microsoft Word adds to the html code, ftp all my images to a folder, and my tut will be done and ready for its first 'victim.' (It is 10 pages long by the way...) I think I'll go see how long it'll take me and maybe I can get it up tonight before I go to bed! Wish me luck!! (If I do, I'll be back to edit this post and let y'all know!) =)

Thursday, April 15, 2004

 

The tutorial is coming along; a few more steps and it will be done!! For this one though, I am asking for a link back to my tutorial if you use it to make calendars because, well, just because. I certainly don't mind sharing what I know, but there are some things dear to me and my idea for blinkie calendars is one of them. I know others have similar things to offer, but I don't know that anyone else has offered a tutorial in how to make them. Ok, I think you get the point....

I'm just about done with this new layout, and one good thing is that it's not holiday-related so there will be no pressure to change it at a specific time; um, maybe that's NOT a good thing. Anyway, I'll be leaving this up for a few months so I hope the gold etc. colors don't blind you...I'm not even sure I'm getting an accurate representation of the colors; my monitor seems to have a green tint to it when I turn it on, but I know there's a way to change the color settings somehow.

It's Thursday and I'm doing Lulu's Lines...
It's usually..........my habit when I've got a week off to fill it up with lots of things to do. Don't get me wrong; this is nice, but then the end of the week is here and I look back wondering why I didn't leave any time for myself. This past week I've been off has been very slow and relaxing; of course it's still going by too fast! Isn't that just the way it seems? I'm not complaining; just stating my opinion, and yes, I'm enjoying my time off!

I've added a little trivia thing over there to the left. I got it from one of the Bravenet newsletters. I tried to create a little weather thingy but it won't recognize Saginaw; the closest city to me that it will show the temps for is Detroit, or maybe Lansing (I didn't try that one.) If I can't have Saginaw on it then I'm not putting it up. SO, if you're at all interested in either of these, or the many other things they offer at Bravenet, click on the link! AND enjoy YOUR Thursday!!! =)

P.S. And just for the sake of ranting.....WHY when I log off the internet lately am I getting a pop-up window; sometimes blank, sometimes with some stupid message on it?????? It's very irritating! Is anybody else having this problem? and if so, have you found a way to solve it?

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

 

Please be patient as I change things around here.....thank you! =)

 

Time for Monday Madness on a Tuesday evening!
Each question will begin with 'What color is your favorite.......'

1. Vegetable ~ green (asparagus; yum!)
2. Beverage ~ clear (water! I drink more water than anything else)
3. Room ~ eggshell white (my computer room)
4. Outfit ~ black of course! (slims ya down, ya know?)
5. Mood ~ bright yellow and orange (use your imagination)
6. Season ~ green and blue (for now cuz I'm sick of winter!)
7. Fruit ~ raspberry red (raspberries)
8. Dessert ~ brown (I guess; don't really have a fave)
9. Pair of shoes ~ white (my tennies)
10. Color???? ~ blue, green, purple

Now for some Tuesday Iffers and on Tuesday!!

If the one person you hate most in the world needs a kidney transplant, and you are the only person with a healthy kidney who is a perfect match for that person, would you give up your organ?
Oh oh. This is not easy. I don't think I'd deny that person their life. If I could save someone's life, no matter how I felt about them, yes, I would donate my organ. I'm sure I couldn't live with myself if I didn't.

And it's also TV Tuesday time!

1. Is there a game show (past or present) you think you would do really well on, as a contestant?
Oh yeah; Family Feud. Remember that show?

2. Is there a game show you think is the stupidest thing you've ever seen?
Wheel of Fortune! I just don't like the people on that show and the contestants must have flunked all the other game show tests..... 'Can I buy a vowel???' (irks me!)

3. Is there a game show you watch, but don't like to admit to watching? (A guilty pleasure!)
I used to watch 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' but I don't miss it. Currently there are none.

~Bonus~ Who is your favorite game show host? Who is your least favorite?
Even though he's been around for 100 years, probably Bob Barker is my fave; least fave would have to be Pat Sajack (sp?) along with Vanna White.

And for today's Random Question...
Write about a person who has greatly influenced your life.
Oh, so many people have influenced my life; of course my parents being on top of that list. They taught us how to be responsible, caring, considerate, and productive people, with good morals. I love them for it and I hope I'm following in their footsteps when it comes to my daughter.

That's all for tonight. It's now 12:02 a.m. on Wednesday, but when I started this post it was Tuesday, really!!! =) Oh yeah; I gotta get that bunny off here, don't I? I will try to make the time to change things today (Wednesday!!)

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

 

Easter was fun; good company, good food and good fun. Now the weather; that was a different story; it snowed!! As a matter of fact, there was snow on the ground when I woke up, but even though it continued to snow until about mid-afternoon, nothing stuck.

The tutorial I'm working on right now is taking so much longer than I expected. I'm about 2/3 of the way done; the hardest part is explaining in words how to do something (and I mean so you don't have to fill in any blanks for yourself; no guessing you know?) My goal is to have someone totally unfamiliar with the program be able to follow my tutorial with ease. We shall see.....

I will be doing my own Monday Madness tomorrow evening. It is the only day I'm planning to work this week and it will definitely be a full day for me, but well worth having the rest of the week off! Oh, and I finally posted my 'hometown' pic for Photo Time about an hour ago. Nothing like waiting until last minute, eh? But the new theme is already up for this week and it is 'self portrait.' I'll be getting that one up sooner than the last one.

I cleaned my house today because I thought we were going to have my sister and her friend over later tonight, but we decided to meet them for dinner instead. Well my house probably needed to be cleaned anyway so no big loss there. We had a nice time at dinner; hopefully we will be making a trip to CA again this summer, so we'll be seeing them again within the next couple of months. I have some vacation time to use before July 1st and if I don't use it I lose it, so yeah, I'm gonna use it.

Have a terrific Tuesday!! I'll be back later to post my memes! =)

Saturday, April 10, 2004

 

I started my tutorial on blinkie calendars about 2 weeks ago; I never intended it to take this long, but I'm going to work on it some more right now and see how much I can get done. SO, for anyone waiting for it, please be patient with me....

Tomorrow we will be at my parents' house enjoying dinner with family. I always look forward to these times. Any special plans for Easter?

Friday, April 09, 2004

 

I forgot to tape 'Survivor' last night. I walked out of my house without even putting a tape in the vcr. I sure hope SOMEBODY (hint, hint Mom...) taped it so I can watch it today (or soon). I didn't even turn my tv on this morning because I didn't want to hear who got voted off. I know some of you would just as soon not hear about anyone hooked on a reality show, but hey, I consider it my time to just forget about MY life for an hour a week and be entertained by others'. I don't watch any other reality shows and I think we're all entitled to be hooked on one dumb show a week, don't you?

Well one of my cats just scared the other one right out of the litter box! She left a trail too. Great, now I have a mess to clean up before I leave this morning.

All for now.......A Good Friday to you all.

Thursday, April 08, 2004

 

Lulu's Lines...
I know for sure......... that I am going to enjoy this upcoming week! I have no plans; I like it that way. I do have to go into the office on Tuesday but that's only because I'm taking a bus trip with our church on the following Monday, so rather than taking a vacation day, I asked if I could just work a day next week to make up for it. I will be spending more time on my computer and I hope the weather is good so I can enjoy some time outside too. Can you tell I'm really looking forward to my week off? I like my job; I like it a lot. I am fortunate enough to work for a very good woman, who really cares about her employees, and believe it or not, I really like what I do, but time off is always welcome!!

Random Questions; Random Days...
Tuesday, April 6: April is also "Math Education Month." As a teacher I used to hear lots of kids say, "Why do we need to learn math facts? We have computers and calculators to do the work?" What are some good answers to the question?
Oh my! Because it requires THINKING!! I'm all for 'throw the calculators out the window!' Let's rely on our own brains, eh?

Happy Thursday to you! Enjoy! =)

Wednesday, April 07, 2004

 

Yay! It's Wednesday.......2 more days of work and I'm off! I'm not going anywhere; I just plan to enjoy my week off here at home. The couple of weeks before Easter is always a busy time at churches, and then add to that the death of our Bishop and the two funerals we've had this week; it's not been 'normal' around the office lately. I did a bit of blog-surfing last night and I thought I'd share a few I visited.....

Zero talks about manicures, pedicures, and compliments...
Cassie-b had snow this week where she lives...and this is spring??
Phyllis shares a delightful story of a prank she pulled on a co-worker.
Kim is in the process of setting up a site to display all the state capitols she's visited. What a great idea!

That's all I have time for or I'll be late for work! Have a great Wednesday!! =)

Monday, April 05, 2004

 

You really must check out One Voice... And grab this logo while you're at it. Consider putting a link on your site; you don't have to be from Michigan. Let's help Granni promote her worthwhile endeavors!!

Sunday, April 04, 2004

 

I put a movie in my dvd player, it started playing fine, then about 15 minutes into the movie it freeze-framed. I tried to fast-forward it; nothing. I tried stopping it so I could eject it; nothing. I couldn't open the tray, or even turn the dvd player off! I unplugged it, hoping the thing would reset itself; nothing.......until I turned it upside down. I was able to get the movie out and turn it off, but as soon as I turned it back on, I couldn't get the tray open or turn it off again. Can a dvd mess up a dvd player? It might be time to buy a new one; we shall see. Seems to me these things oughta last longer than a few years, dontcha think???

If anyone is interested, I've posted this week's Monday Madness questions, and I want to thank Bryn for coming up with them.

This week will be very busy (again) but starting on Holy Saturday, I am going to enjoy myself for a full 10 days!! Well, I have to go into work one day the week after Easter, but aside from that, no work!! I am SO looking forward to it. Oh, my sister Jan and a friend are coming to Michigan on Easter Day. I'm going to read for a bit........good evening to you all. Have a lovely week! =)

P.S. Before this day is over, I just had to share this; thanks Shirl, for bringing it to my attention! Today is 04-04-04. Hmmmm, how often does something like this happen??

Saturday, April 03, 2004

 

I had to run out to my credit union this morning and while I was there, I spotted something that looked very interesting. I'm guessing that each state is offering their own because I asked the woman if they were available for each state (not that I was planning on purchasing every one) and she said 'No, we're only offering Michigan's.' SO, if you're interested in purchasing the 'U.S. Mint Quarter Dollar' for your state, go here. Ours is listed for $4.00 on the website; I paid $3.50 for it.

I've been meaning to participate in Lulu's Lines since I received the email notifying us that the trigger was up (on Tuesday evening); no good excuse for not doing it sooner except this week was unusually busy for me. I even ended up taking work home on Thursday afternoon after working at the office all day (wah, wah) while everyone was at Bishop Ken's funeral. My boss declared our office officially closed that day due to the funeral (and the diocese was closed; all Catholic schools were closed), but hey, I had work that needed to be done; what was I to do? This week being Holy Week, will be another busy one for me, but I will certainly enjoy my whole week after Easter off! Anyway, here is my answer to this trigger.........

THERE IS A REASON.... for everything that happens. I have trouble believing that statement at times, but we are told that we are not to question why.....God has a master plan. What do you think?

Another meme I am participating in this week is Photo Time; theme this week is 'discarded'. I apologize Mom, for not getting my picture up sooner than this; I had good intentions, but you know what they say about good intentions. Anyway, I will get my photo up within the hour; promise!!

Enjoy your weekend!! =)

Thursday, April 01, 2004

 

It's April Fool's Day! I'm going into work today, even though my boss told me I didn't have to. Well, there's work to be done so I don't have much choice. But I can come home as soon as I'm done with everything. Don't forget to change your calendars on your blogs. If you're looking for one, you might want to check out my blinkie calendars. I've got 6 different April calendars to choose from so far; I'll probably make a couple more before the day's out.

Enjoy your day and don't play too many April Fool's pranks on your friends!! =)