Sunday, January 30, 2005

 

Can we start spring early this year???
(click on koala to adopt one!)

Saturday, January 29, 2005

 

Just a quick post; we're celebrating my dad's 70th birthday today. His birthday is actually on the 30th but because some of the family is coming from out of town, we thought it would be better to celebrate it today. I'm happy that the weather is good all over Michigan this weekend! No snow in the forecast; unbelievable! =)

I found this little quiz at Bryn's and I HAD to take it myself. I think it's rather amusing...

"Look through eyes of hope and see a butterfly inside the caterpillar; hope knows that beauty is waiting to be born in the unlikliest places."

feeling...

Friday, January 28, 2005

 

Since I had planned on participating in Toni's Saturday Special last week, and I failed to take the time to do it, I am doing this week's. Here 'tis:

Closet Full Of...
1. Boots or Shoes...How Many? I'd have to say about 5 pairs of dress shoes, 2 pairs of tennis shoes, and 7 pairs of 'other.' SO, that makes 14 total.
2. Dresses or Pants..How Many? Dresses: 0 Pants: 7 that go with suits, and 6 that I wear to work most of the time.
3. Skirts or Jeans..How Many? Skirts: 3 Jeans: 4
4. Tops or Shirts..How Many? Oh gosh, dress tops: probably about a dozen, and other types of tops (i.e. sweaters, pullover tops, etc.), a ton. I can't count them all. As you can see, I'm a pretty casual dresser. I usually only dress up for church and for special ocassions.

Now for a bit of Monday Madness on a Friday!!

What do you think of when you see the following colors? (You may write as many words as you like.)

1. White: Snow, Cotton Balls, Sugar, Pure
2. Yellow: Lemons, Post-It Notes
3. Blue: Sky, Water, Serene
4. Black: Tunnel, My Car, Darkness
5. Green: Plants, Grass, Nature
6. Red: Love, Hearts, Bright
7. Purple: Flowers, Cheery
8. Pink: Lemonade, Soft
9. Brown: Ground, Bears
10. Gray: Gloomy Days, Rain

So that's all, folks! I might come back later and blog again. We'll see how the mood strikes me...until then, have a fantastic Friday!! =)

"Don't seek peace and tranquility from outside sources;
they are hidden inside your own heart."

feeling...

Thursday, January 27, 2005

 

I have nothing to blog about; I just woke up at 11:30 from a 3-hour nap *sigh* and now I'm wide awake. I'm sick of winter; give me SPRING!!! =)

Maybe you read about what I did to my car a couple of weeks ago (I ran right over a whole curb). It was put up on the rack a few days ago and the only thing wrong with it is some cover thing is loose and the bottom of my car is scraped. I also need a wheel alignment again. I just got my wheels aligned not too long ago; I guess we're going to wait until after the dead of winter to get them done.

I just did a bit (a very little bit) of blog-surfing and look what I found over at Becky's....Who Links to Me?; pretty cool, don't you think? I'm going to give it a try and add it to my blog tomorrow. Thanks, Becky!! =)

I was just going to put my current mood up here and I realized I don't have one to illustrate "wide awake" so I have to put that on my to-do list for tomorrow. AND on my not-to-do list: take a nap! =)

"Think of each day as a special gift and unwrap it gratefully."

Sunday, January 23, 2005

 

Anybody have an idea why my clock doesn't change the time as the time changes??? You have to refresh the page in order for the thing to change times... *sigh* Please, if you know what I might be doing wrong with my code, leave me a message here. Thank you! =)

 

Wintery Weather

The past two days has brought us 5.5 inches of snow, winds gusting up to 40 mph, and lots of drifts. It's sunny outside right now but still very cold. -3 degrees is what the news shows; windchill -17. DO NOT go outside unless you are bundled up and dressed in layers! It's a good day to spend some quality time on my computer. (We didn't even go to church this morning because of the roads out here. God will understand, I'm sure.) =)

In other news: My daughter just created a webpage using Dreamweaver, without using tutorials or anything! It's really a beautiful site and she says the program is very simple to use. (She's really quite brilliant!) I might just have to try it myself.

Even though I've got my own domain where I can upload images and direct link to them for my blog, I thought maybe it'd be interesting to see what kind of sites out there offer free image storage and also allow you to direct link to the images you upload to their site. I found PhotoBucket; it gives you 25 MB of space to store your images, and 1,500 MB of bandwidth per month. I decided to use my free space there to upload images that I'll be putting here on my blog. If I start having problems with images loading, then I'll reconsider my decision... Anyone use 'PhotoBucket?'

One more thing I want to learn more about is RSS Feeds. My mom recently explained a bit about how it works and she gave me a link to a place (don't have it right now), so I'll be spending some time on that today as well.

The only other thing I want to do is re-vamp one of my photo blogs (that I've been seriously neglecting). I have an idea of what I want to do with it, so if I've got enough time, I'll be working on that today too. Oh yeah, I have to get some February blinkie calendars done. It's going to be here before we know it!

Wanna see what our weather here in mid-Michigan is like? Check this out! Brrrrrrr! =)

I will leave you with the following quote I found on my desk calendar; I thought it was quite interesting...

"A positive attitude helps bridge the gap between ability and expectations."

feeling...

Friday, January 21, 2005

 

Where IS everyone??? =(

Ok, here's just a few things I found while blog-surfing this fine afternoon...thought I'd share:

deviantART

picasa2

flickr

blogclicker

I'll add these to bloggerseeds as well. Are you having a lovely Friday?? We're going to get more snow tonight; enough to issue a snow advisory and it will be blowing and drifting! SO glad tomorrow is Saturday!! =)

feeling...

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

 

Maybe some of you have participated in Blogger Seeds at one time or another. My mom originally started the site to be a portal for all things blog; ideas to blog about, free things to add to your blog, etc. Then she invited my sister and I to help her with the site so whenever one of us thought of something to add, we could. I believe it was my mom who had the original idea of making it into a meme (not sure now), and my sister Windy volunteered to post a question a day (or so) for those who wanted to participate. This went on for awhile until Windy had trouble thinking of a question to ask every day (understandably so).......ok, my point? Well we've totally neglected the site since somewhere around July. This past weekend I thought it was time to update some of the material on it. You'll find on the second page, titled More Blogger Seeds, a list of free things to add to your blog, blog ideas, and all kinds of quotes, etc. I'm in the process of checking every link, and adding new links. For instance, tonight I'm adding 3 places you can get free tagboards. There's a bunch of free stuff out there on the www; we may as well use it! So please, take a moment to visit; maybe you'll find something you've been looking for. Also, I may just post a question periodically for anyone interested in answering. But I think the main focus will be on blog tools and ideas. Any thoughts?

I know I promised to do a couple memes on Monday.....it's now Wednesday. I will get to them tomorrow; promise!! =)

feeling...

Monday, January 17, 2005

 

I was checking my email just a moment ago and I received an email from Amy, notifying me that while trying to post a comment to my Monday Madness meme, she got this weird error message saying something about being on a blacklist and would not be allowed to post a message. I emailed her, reassuring her that even if I HAD a blacklist, she certainly would not be on it. So, if you ever get an error message similar to that, please know that it's just some strange thing going on with the commenting system (I'm guessing) and let me know by email. Sorry, Amy!

Also, another faithful participant, Toni, has invited me (and anyone else interested) to try her meme, Saturday Special. I will do just that on Monday afternoon/evening.

While writing this post, I had a little brainstorm; not only will I feature the first 3 players at Monday Madness, I will also feature one participant's site each week here on my blog. The featured site will be chosen randomly.

Our church celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. today with a special Mass. We do this annually and we always fill the church with people from around the area. TV-5 always comes out with their cameras and does a short piece on the evening news about the Mass. I thought maybe I'd be on since I did the first reading today, but no, I didn't get any air time.... Darn!! =)

It's back to work for me tomorrow, even though I believe Martin Luther King Day has been declared a federal holiday. (Is it also a national holiday? Not sure.) Some schools are closed, all post offices are closed, and all banks are closed. I used to get it off with pay, but a few years ago my boss decided that we get enough paid holidays so she took it away from us. Oh well, I shall report to work as expected. And I will ENJOY my day!! =)

Hope you all had a great weekend. I've got another busy week ahead, so I may be sporadic about posting; we shall see. Until next time, take care and keep smiling! =)

feeling...

Saturday, January 15, 2005

 

Bryn is going to be a grandma! I may have missed the news if it was being announced around the beginning of December; I just wanted to congratulate her! SO, congratulations Mz. Bryn!

Just in case you were wondering if we have a ton of birthdays in our family this month, no, we don't. Apparently, my Mom and my sister Jan have decided to make it the 'greeting of the month!' (Don't ask...) (Love you guys!) =) I know it sounds like simple fun, but my sister and I have thought up some odd things before, and usually it leaves people quite confused and looking at us as if we're weird. So, just to set the record straight for my blog friends, my birthday is in May. I'm sure I'll be blogging about it then so no need to mention the date now.

Well, this is it, folks! The only thing I need to create is a little 'otto' button for the end of my posts, then I think I'm done. I've been sitting at this computer for the better portion of my day, so it may wait until tomorrow afternoon. (or maybe not...)

It's freezing cold here in Michigan today! What's the temp where you live??

I'll close this post with another quote from my desk calendar, and I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend!

"Pleasing ourselves with honesty makes
pleasing others that much more fulfilling."

feeling...

Friday, January 14, 2005

 

I'm on my laptop right now so I can sit in the living room where it's warmer, and I keep getting knocked off the internet. It's not Speednet this time either. Just last night I installed all the Windows updates that were available, thinking maybe that would help, but no such luck. Any suggestions?? I'm saving all my files to cd-r's so JUST in case I decide to reformat this hard drive. I've not had this problem with my laptop before...I'm confused. =(

Have yourselves a super weekend!!! I'll be working on a new look for this place. I have colors in mind; now I just need to figure out what else I'm going to do with it. This will make for an excellent weekend project! =)

Thursday, January 13, 2005

 

Is it FRIDAY, the 13th???

You are not going to believe what I did today. I can barely believe it myself. I left work a half hour early this afternoon so I could take my daughter to the furniture store to pick out a dresser. It was snowing like crazy and the traffic was heavy. And of course there were (as always) stupid people driving on one of the busiest roads in our city, rushing to get wherever it was they were going, not paying attention, etc. You know the type. Anyway, I'm driving down the road, there's a guy in a truck in the left turn lane trying to get into the regular lane, I'm right there in the lane he was trying to get into, he starts pulling into my lane and I honk my horn at him because he had NO idea I was there. He didn't hit me but I'm sure he would have had I not notified him of my presence! So I was a bit upset after that happened; no excuse for what I did though. I pulled into the left turn lane to go to the store, and my daughter tells me to pull up some. I'm watching traffic, pulling up a bit, and I find my chance to turn into the store parking lot. WELL, I pulled too far up, totally missed the entrance to the parking lot of the store, and drove RIGHT over the whole curb that separates the parking lot from the road... My daughter is yelling at me to stop, I'm wondering what she's thinking, I mean there are cars coming and if I stop, we're definitely getting hit. I drove right over the thing and into the parking lot. I'm not sure if I was still upset from almost getting hit by that truck or what, but I have NEVER done anything like that before. I mean, try driving a little Ford Escort over a whole curb. The whole bottom of the car scraped the cement. It sounded awful. I no sooner got all the way past the curb, and I stopped my car. I parked it right there where I was; I'm really surprised someone didn't hit my parked car. I walk into the store, my husband is in there waiting for me, and I tell him what I did. I was just SURE I wouldn't be driving my car home. Well, we looked through the store, found a dresser and a bed for my daughter, got outside, took a look at the car, started it up, drove it around the parking lot, and everything seemed to be fine. I ended up driving my car home. We WILL be putting it up on the rack soon to find out exactly what kind of damage I did though. If I'm lucky, the only damage I did was scrape the CRAP out of the bottom of my car. This is one thing I won't soon hear the end of. I will admit it's one of the dumbest things I've done while driving a car, but no need to tease!! =)

Other than that, my day was good. I'm almost done with the end-of-the-year stuff at work and I worked most of the week by myself. One of my co-workers is on vacation and the other one was sick all week. Makes for a very efficient week for me! My boss was in and out all week, but we didn't cross paths much either.

Nothing much else to share today; aren't you glad??? Just this, taken from my desk calendar.....

"One candle, like a single word of praise, may not light a dark room, but it can kindle the candle next to it, and the next and the next until the room, like the heart, is bright."

feeling...

Monday, January 10, 2005

 

Warning: Long Post!

You know, when I started this post, I had intended on answering last week's Monday Madness questions, BUT as I was thinking about how to answer them, I decided against it. I know, I came up with most of those questions myself; you'd think I'd want to answer them. Too complicated and possibly too much info that I'm not willing to share. SO, with that, I will leave you hanging, my dear friends. It's all good though; no need to worry.

I wanted to share this little thing I found in our local newspaper this weekend; I thought it quite interesting...

Miserable? Try These Tips
~Realize that enduring happiness doesn't come from financial success.
~Take control of your time.
~Act happy.
~Seek work and leisure activities that engage your skills.
~Get regular aerobic exercise.
~Give your body the sleep it wants.
~Give priority to close relationships.
~Focus beyond self.
~Be grateful.
~Nurture your spiritual self.

Now, believe it or not, I will answer this week's Monday Madness ... on a Monday!

1. My lucky number is 44.
2. My favorite day of the week is Friday because usually I am done working for the week.
3. I spend about 1.5 to 2 hours on the phone a week, and sometimes a few minutes of those are long distance.
4. My favorite cereal is Golden Crisp.
5. One hobby of mine is drawing in PSP.
6. I wish I could spend more time having fun.
7. I wish I could spend less time worrying.
8. I am really proud of my my daughter.

So we've had a couple of snow-free days here in mid-Michigan; you know what that means! More snow and possibly sleet and freezing rain on the way... I don't like winter weather. I DO like the change of seasons though, so I will put up with the few months of cold and snow we have to enjoy the other three seasons.

Anybody else complete the 26 Things Christmas challenge?? If so, let it be known so we can come visit you! I've seen some really great photo galleries so far. Just a few I've seen are:
~Tine
~Andrea
~Lady Starlight
~Roscoe
~Sherle
~Windy
~Otto

That's just to name a few! It's never too late to join in, you know. I love these kinds of projects; it really challenges my digital photography skills.

I'm going to watch a movie now; I thought I'd come blog early tonight because last night I started to post something, got distracted, and by the time I wasn't distracted anymore, it was too late for me (because my eyes couldn't stay open.) Alrighty, I'm outta here; have a peaceful evening!! =)

Just one more thing before I go...I found it at Susan's, who found it at Shirl's:



Ok, just ONE more thing I just found at Sherle's:

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you awy from this world So much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all... But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you. Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses. Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others. Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life. Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

...and just a note to self: I need to get rid of all those little red x's and replace them with real images!! Pbase has finally gotten around to clearing out my stuff. Oh well, I haven't had an account with them in a while so I expected that sooner or later. If you're looking for a fairly reasonably-priced place to host images, and you can direct link to them (since you're paying for the space), Pbase offers 200 MB of space for just $23.00 per year. Not bad really. I believe it used to be 100 MB of space for $26.00 per year. Go figure.... =)

feeling...

Friday, January 07, 2005

 

The 'Gas War' at the two nearby gas stations is over. Both have raised their price per gallon to $1.89. Darn! Well we knew it wasn't going to last too long.

Because of the snow we got the night before last, and yesterday morning, most of the schools were closed in our area. The school that is just across the street from where I work though (and when they are closed, so are we), was NOT closed; which meant I was supposed to go to work as scheduled. Well, my daughter didn't have school, and since we live out in the 'boondox' now, I called my boss and informed her that even though I may be a bit late, I would be there. I ended up going in at 8:45 and working until 11:45. Not bad hours, eh?

I haven't really got much to say, except this weekend I plan to redo a few things on some of my blogs, including this one. I'm really ready for a different look but I've got no idea what I want it to look like yet. Of course it'll be simple; mostly I'm thinking of a color scheme. Also, I have a couple of new moods in mind for my little mood bears. They're always fun to draw... We'll see how much I get accomplished, right?

I'll be seeing you around! =)

feeling...

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

 

I have finally posted my 26 Things Christmas!! Thanks to my Mom for suggesting how to put these photos together. (Go check out her '26 Things' too!) I was grateful that Blogger was cooperating!

I will plan to go blog-hopping tomorrow, and if we don't have school/work due to weather, I'll be able to spend more time visiting!! =)

Have a peaceful evening!

feeling...

Monday, January 03, 2005

 

Since I didn't answer last week's Monday Madness, I'll do that first....all questions compliments of my sister Jan.

1) Which holiday do you celebrate this time of year? (If necessary, modify the following questions to suit your holiday.) I celebrate Christmas!
2) Do you begin shopping for gifts earlier than Thanksgiving, looking for the perfect gift? If not, when do you begin? Usually I start shopping in December, but I still try to always find the perfect gift.
3) Do you only purchase gifts that you know are perfect for the recipient and if you don't find that gift, do you just get anything? I TRY only to buy the perfect gift, and if I don't find it, I do end up getting something for them, but no, I don't just get anything. I get them something I know they can use (like shower gel or candles or hand soap, etc. I know that may sound lame but I think it works.)
4) Did you receive or give any "obligatory" gifts this year? I do believe I received at least one obligatory gift this year; from a co-worker. Did I GIVE any? No. I give to those I love to give to (and I didn't even give to all I wanted to give to this year.....yet!) =) I am not a fan of giving out of obligation OR receiving those type of gifts.
5) Do you decorate your tree as evenly as possible or do you skip the areas that are not visible? Oh my. Have you seen my tree??? Our tree is in a corner of our living room and rather than wrapping the lights all around the tree, I go back and forth and I'm sure some of the back gets neglected. Ornaments are positioned in such a way that no matter where you're sitting in the room, you can see some.
6) Do you like multi-colors on your tree or do you prefer monochrome? I've always used multi-colored lights and ornaments, but I have seen some beautiful trees that are decorated with white lights and gold and clear ornaments. It looks very elegant.
7) Did you bake "traditional" cookies, frost them and decorate them? or did you cheat and buy the ready to bake kind? (like I tried) I DID!!! I baked (from scratch!) traditional cut-out cookies this year for the first time in several years. The first question I was asked by almost all those I talked to was "What kind of cookie dough are you using?" Hmmmmmmm. I really CAN bake when I feel like it. And they turned out great (in my opinion.) I did have to call my Mom for instructions on how to make the perfect cookie frosting. That turned out great too. This will definitely become an annual tradition in our household again.
8) Are you the host of a holiday gathering? which one? family, work, friends? I host NO holiday parties or gatherings.
9) With whom do you spend the holiday? My immediate family on Christmas day and my parents and siblings (and extended families) at our family party (which could be anywhere between a day or a week afterward.) I enjoy that party every year.
10) How did the holiday turn out? Perfectly? funny mishaps? miss anyone? The holidays were great. Aside from my "Charlie Brown" tree (that I picked out) that my daughter and other half claimed it to be, everything was perfect. (I've been informed that my daughter will be choosing the tree next year....YAY!!) Did I miss anyone??? Of course! I missed my younger sister, Susan, and one of my sisters-in-law that passed away almost 3 years ago. I hope to see Jan and Susan during the summer!! =)

Now I have to tell you something that's making us people out here really happy lately. A new gas station just opened up on the 29th of December and it happens to be right off the highway (pretty close to our house) and there's another gas station that's right off the highway too, only in the other direction and on the other side of the road. Gas has been selling for about $1.77 pretty consistently just about anywhere you go in this area. Well, the first day the new gas station opened, gas there was $1.65. So guess what the other gas station did?? They lowered their price to $1.64. This little 'war' has been going on ever since and you can get a gallon of gas for a mere $1.56 tonight! That's 20 cents cheaper than most anywhere else in mid-Michigan! I'm lovin' this! I'm sure this won't go on for too long, but in the meantime, we're taking advantage of it! How much is gas going for where you live?

We took our Christmas tree down tonight; what a job! I went back to work today and I'll be very busy this week making up for being off last week, but it's still worth the time off. And I AM thankful that I have a job, and that I actually enjoy my job. So, I'm off to see what else I can come up with in PSP now....Goodnight, all!! =)

feeling... ... not really!

Saturday, January 01, 2005

 

If you've been reading my blog on a regular basis, you're aware that my internet connection has been iffy, at best. I finally got ahold of a real person the other night and requested that a technician come out to our house to see if everything was hooked up correctly, etc. Yesterday morning a technician called me back and explained to me that everyone who has one of their new modems has had the same problem. (And this has been going on since Thanksgiving!) They are working on the software and it should be fixed "shortly." He asked me to please be patient and we should have a reliable connection "soon." He also told me that I would be credited for my down time. I sure hope he's not pulling my leg because I'm really getting frustrated. BUT, I shall keep a positive attitude (one of my newest resolutions) and be patient. I did take some time to draw in PSP last night and this morning. If you're ever interested in checking out my blinkie calendars, I've made a couple more for you. AND, I drew this just this morning. I'm having so much fun!! =)

feeling...