Wordy Wednesday

They say practice makes perfect so I've been practicing a lot with my el cheapo camera.  The majority of my pictures still don't come out but at least I'm getting a little bit better!  Most of my subjects (my boys) seem to always be in the corner of the picture, no matter how hard I try to center it.  I hate not having a viewfinder!  Actually, I do have one but what I see through it isn't what the picture will be of so I don't even bother using it anymore really.

These are the most recent pictures of my babies, taken a few days ago:

Chico

Shiver

Not the greatest quality obviously, but you get what you pay for, I guess...

I'd Like To Thank The Academy...

Before I start dispersing the awards, I wanted to ask about blog designs. 

Over the weekend, I went to Scrappin' Blogs to look for a new background.  The floating PhotoBucket image annoys me and I'm ready for a change anyways.  I really liked a lot of the designs they had previously so I thought I'd use them again.  They have a message on their homepage now saying that they were getting too many hits and that PhotoBucket wanted them to convert their current account into a business account where they'd have to pay a rather hefty monthly service fee. Fortunately, they were able to find another server to use.  They'll still have to pay (but probably not nearly as much, I'm guessing) and instead of charging for designs, you can leave a donation via PayPal should you choose to do so.  They're busy re-uploading and coding each design one by one.  In the mean time, I have a white blog background.  While that might appeal to some, I don't particularly care for it.   I've found from experience that not all of the Blogger templates work like they're supposed to.  I wouldn't mind paying for someone to design one for me  but I'm not in a position to do that right now.  So ~ what other sites offer free backgrounds?  I suppose I could google it but I wanted to see what your suggestions would be first!

And now, onto the awards!

Katie @ Life with the Dietrich's was kind enough to give me an award last week.  I already have this one but I'm going to post it again because I like the pretty flower!  And actually, the award wasn't given to me last time, it was given to my dog, Chico.  This one is all mine, baby!

The rules are simple.  The first one is to thank the person who gave it to you.  Thanks, Katie!

The second is to pass it on to 12 other bloggers. 

I have mixed feelings about giving awards.  I love to give and receive them but I've noticed that when I let someone know that I've given them one, some people either ignore it completely or they'll thank me for it but I never see it posted.  I know some people like to save them up and post them together when they've gotten several more and that's wonderful.  I'm always afraid that I'll forget by then so I tend to post them when I get them. I even once saw a comment on someone else's blog that they were going to forgo the particular award they'd just been given because they'd just gotten a different one a day or two earlier and had posted it on their blog.  Why does that make a difference, exactly?  I'm always honored that someone would want to give me an award and am sad that others apparently don't feel the same way.  But alas, I'm going to follow the rules so here goes...

Fiesty Three     Booker Man     Meg     Avery Jack     P     Coreen
Honey     Life With Dogs     Hero     Wilf     Riley     Draco

Sorry if you've already received this award, I was too lazy to check and see.

Way back in February, I was looking for a new avatar.  Because I go by "sprinkles", I thought it would be fun to use a cupcake with sprinkles on top.  I didn't find quite what I was looking for, but I did find something else:     

I don't exactly have mad computer skillz (what, you couldn't tell?)  so I wouldn't have the knowledge or probably even the program(s) necessary to create an award on my own so when I stumbled across this on bing, I knew it would be perfect!  I don't know if it's original intent was to be an award or not but decided to use it as one.  I've gained a lot more followers since February so I wanted to post this again and say if you're a follower and don't already have it, please grab it! 

I'm pretty sure this is an all-inclusive list of who wouldn't have had it from the first posting.  If I've missed you but you want it, by all means, take it if your're a follower!  Or maybe you forgot to pick it up from last time...  I do have a couple of followers that I couldn't find blogs for that have never commented.  So if you're reading and don't see you're name, that's why. 

Amber     Avery Jack     Booker Man     Chewy & Lilibell     Coreen   Draco     Katie     Hero    

little princess Luna     Lucy's Human     Mango     Meg   Meeko Fabulous     Mr. Pip     Mommy Lisa     Olive     Pibble     Piappies World   Scout 'n Freyja     Summer   

Just a little thanks from me to you because you truly are like the sprinkles on my cupcake!

Half Full Friday and Blog of the Week

It's Friday which means it's time for Half Full Friday!  Eyegirl hosts this and as of this posting, she hasn't posted hers yet today but I'm still doing it, just because I can.

I'm happy I got my gas cap back after I left it at the gas station! 

I'm happy I avoided hitting the dog in the middle of the road after coming home from my parent's house late Wednesday night!

I'm happy I had a job interview this week!

I'm happy I got a blog award from Miss Katie!  I'll be posting it on Monday.

I'm happy that I was Miss Katie's very first Featured Blogger!

I'm happy I got the new Eminem cd!

I did a short telephone interview on Tuesday with the company that left me a voice mail on Friday.  Bascially the woman asked why I wanted to work for the company and a couple of other questions.  She told me she would be reviewing my pre-employment tests and if I passed, she may be calling me back later in the week.  I've not heard a peep all week so I'm guessing I didn't pass the math part.  I wanted to ask her why they had fractions and algebra equasions on there.  I mean, would it be likely that I'd be using them in the job?  I highly doubt it.  The position was something I already have experience in and I'd NEVER come across that in any of my work.  So what would be the point of having it on the test?  But I didn't want to jeopardize my chances so I didn't say anything.  I don't think I realized it when I applied but the position is only part-time, 20 hours a week. 

On Monday, I applied for a different job with another company.  Got a call on Tuesday and did an interview on Wednesday.  The interview was really short.  I don't know, I didn't get a good feeling from it.  I felt so stupid - they asked what my strength was and I usually I say my customer service skills.  This time though, I think I said something like, "Making sure everything is done correctly."  WTF?!  But -- a little later on, I was asked how I would handle an angry customer.  I was able to say that a company I used to work for was big on customer service training so I felt that it was one of my strengths.  So hopefully that worked in my favor.  Who knows?!  Once they were done asking questions, the interview was over.  They didn't really give me any chance to ask anything which seemed kind of weird.  Every other interview I've ever been to, the company WANTS you to ask questions and even asks you if you have any.  But nope, at the end of this one, they just said, "Ok, well thank you for coming in.  It was nice to get to meet you.  We'll get back to you next week." 

This week's Blog of the Week is my good bloggy buddy Katie!  She was kind enough to use my blog as very first Featured Blogger which was a huge shock and honor so I wanted to surprise her this week!  :)

Life with the Dietrich's 

I first became aware of her blog through my annual Doggone Dog Swap.  I'm wondering if she joined in last year too, I'll have to check my emails to be sure but her name sounded familiar when she joined in this year.  Anyways, we became bloggy friends this year and I've really enjoyed stopping  by regularly and seeing what new things are going on in her world.  She updates almost daily and sometimes several times a day.  This girl is one dedicated blogger!

As the name suggests, her blog is all about daily life with husband, Scott, and chihuahua/yorkie mix, Oscar.  She enters a LOT of giveaways and posts regularly about them.  She has excellent luck though, so if she's entered, you know she's going to win!  She's currently hosting her own giveaway which you can read about here. 

She has two other blogs, one is of various yummy sounding recipes, the other is her photography. 

Edit:  I have a question for everyone.  The last couple of days when I've come to my blog, I've gotten a floating message saying, "This image or video has been moved or deleted."  At the bottom of that message is the Photobucket logo.  I thought it was odd but I didn't know what it was referring to.  Today, I noticed it again and realized that no matter how often I refreshed the screen, the background wouldn't load.  I'm thinking that the design I had as my background must have been deleted from Scrapping Blogs Photo Bucket account.  Is my background design coming up for anyone else?  If not, I'll change it.

Wordless Wednesday

I Could Use A Nap

Friday, I left the house to run a few errands in the late afternoon.  I got home and there was a message on my answering machine.  I thought it was probably from one of my friends but it was actually from someone calling about a resume I'd submitted earlier in the week!  It was too late by that time to call back but she did say in the message that she was going to be sending me a link to a pre-employment test via email and asked if I could complete it and call her back so that we could "visit." 

I completed the test that evening.  There were two sections - the first part was basically just asking questions about if it was ok to sell illegal drugs or to steal from my employer or to get into a physical fight with a coworker if we were to have a disagreement.  That was easy enough!  The second part basically asked the same questions, only in a different way.  But then it also had some math problems too.  And I suck at math!  The instructions were to complete them as quickly as possible with no outside help, including the use of a calculator.  The first few problems were fairly easy but became more difficult as the test progressed.  Some of the problems included division of fractions and algrebra equasions.  Fortunately, they were mulitple choice so I just picked an answer at random for those and will just hope for the best!  My mom told me I should've used a calculator anyways.  Well, that wouldn't have helped - I have no idea how to convert the majority of fractions into whole numbers.  And don't even get me started on how to solve an algebra equasion!

My parents came home from their camping trip this past Saturday.  My mom asked if I could bring Sunshine and her beta fish (who I've dubbed Henry while they were away) when I came over on Sunday.  She said if I didn't want to, to let her know and she'd come get them that evening if I wanted to be rid of them sooner.  I didn't mind having them another day so I told her I'd bring them when I came for dinner on Sunday.

That same day, I got to looking at the plants I'd gotten from the Garden Tour last weekend.  The one I'd won had tiny little flies all around it.  The cone flower had a little bug wandering around in the dirt.  This just wouldn't do so I took them from the counter and put them outside.  I decided then and there to give them to my mom.  She'd know what to do with them.

Sunday evening I got the plants, fish and bird all loaded up and headed to my mom's house.  My parents don't live all that far from me, maybe 5 miles.  There aren't a lot of twists and turns and there isn't a speedway between here and there.  For some reason, I cannot ever seem to keep the water in Henry's tank!  No matter what I put his little tank in, it swishes everywhere and gets everything all wet.  I covered my seat with a plastic garbage bag thinking this might help keep it dry but it didn't. 

I got the bird and fish settled in the house and came back out to the car for the plants.  I knocked one of the plants down off the seat and made a huge mess on the floor.  I cleaned it up the best I could but all I could think of is that all those flies would be flying around in my car all night!  Because of where my car was parked, I couldn't bring a vacuum out to clean it up. 

When I got home, I immediately brought out the vacuum.  Forgot about the seat being wet and sat down in it for a moment.  I got the dirt cleaned up and vacuumed the rest of the car up too while I was at it.  There's big stain on the floor mat which I'm not happy about.

Our firework display got cancelled at the last minute.  The fireman had been preparing them the night before when a bunch of them suddenly went off all at once, injuring three fireman.  I watched the Macy's fireworks on TV since I couldn't see them in person.  It was nice but just not the same as seeing them in person. 

Other than those minor things, my day wasn't too bad overall, I guess.  Hope everyone else had a great holiday weekend!

Yesterday I had asked my dad if he could come over and start my lawnmower for me today.  I can't start it by myself for some reason so I always have to ask him for help.  He showed up this morning with my mom and her mower.  She and I both mowed together while he ran some errands.  I was really surprised that my mom showed up to help and was really grateful as I hate yardwork.  My dad wasn't back yet by the time we'd finished so we went inside and visited.  She gave me her usual motherly advice which I pervceived as criticism but once she was done with that, we had a nice visit.

Meanwhile, my chi's are having a blast over at Fiesty Three's luau. 

They're having such a good time that they've threatened not to come back home.  I may just have to fly over to Hawaii and drag them back, kicking and barking all the way!  I got a couple of pictures of them from when they'd just arrived, they're looking around for their friends here: 

Shiver

Chico

They've informed me they are MUCH too busy partying to stop and take better pictures!  I tried to tell them that half the fun of a good party is to take pictures with your friends and to share them with everyone afterwards!  They said I didn't know what I was talking about.  Silly boys!  I'm glad they're having such a wonderful time but I really miss them!

Happy Independence Day!

What's more American than apple pie?  I haven't made this recipe but it sounds good so I thought I'd share it 'cause I'm cool like that.  You're welcome!  Source:  allrecipes.com

Easy Apple Pie

Ingredients:

6 cups thinly sliced apples

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 9"  single crust pie

Directions:

Prepare your pastry for a two crust pie.  Wipe, quarter, core, peel, and slice apples; measure to 6 cups.

Combine sugar and cinnamon.  The amount of sugar used depends on how tart your apples are.

Arrange apples in layers in pastry lined pie plate.  Sprinkle each layer with sugar and cinnamon.  Dot top layer with small pieces of butter or margarine.  Cover with top crust.

Place on lowest rack in oven preheated to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).  Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes longer.  Serve warm or cold.

Half Full Friday and Blog of the Week

It's been one very hot week here!  I shower and 10 minutes later, I feel like I need another one!  I'm not complaining though, I'm just thrilled that summer has finally decided to stay for more than a few days at a time.

It's time for another installment of Half Full Friday!  As always, if you want to join the fun, head over to Eyegirl's and kick it with Mr. Linky.

I'm happy I got to go on the Garden Tour this year!

I'm happy I won a plant at the Garden Tour social!

I'm happy I got to spend the week with Sunshine!  She's really been a lot of fun and I'm sad that she'll be going home tomorrow.  I'm going to miss her.

I'm happy my boys got a bath this week!  They really needed it, especially Shiver!

I'm happy excited that I won a goodie bag from KS's bloggy birthday party!

I'm happy it's almost Reveal Day on CDAN!

Earlier this week, Shiver rolled onto his back for a good tummy scratching.  I was busy patting away and not paying much attention while I watched tv but then I looked down and discovered just how dirty he was.  He's a big chihuahua so you'd think that Chico would be the dirty one.  Chico is much smaller and hence, much closer to the ground.  Chico is considerably cleaner though, for some reason.

Chico was first.  He shivered the whole time.  Shiver knew what he was in for because he watched Chico getting his.  Shiver clung to me for dear life the whole time he was in the tub.  I thought it would be easier to get to his belly since he was standing up (I sat on the side of the tub and had my feet in the bathtub with him).  I added a ton of shampoo to him and scrubbed away but I didn't see a very big difference afterwards.  He did smell better though! 

After their baths, the two dogs ran zoomies all over the house to dry off.  Normally, Chico only tolerates Shiver when they're inside but will play with him outside.  That day though, they were both very playful and Chico even whined after Shiver sat down to rest for a moment.

I found this week's Blog of the Week on another blog's sidebar.  It's one that pretty much anyone who has ever had a job can relate to.

Annoying Coworker

I really, really, really hated my last job.  Like R-E-A-L-L-Y hated it.  I had very little work to do while everyone else seemed to have more than their fair share.  I'd ask if I could help and usually got stuck with the menial jobs like making photocopies and sending faxes.  At least it gave me something to do though so I never stopped asking.  And then there were my co-workers!  I had a boss who was rarely interested in anything I had to say, an asst. manager who was incredibly rude to anyone and everyone she possibly could be and one of the girl's there was likely a bully in school as she went out of her way to be nasty to only me.  And then there were the people I sat next to.  One was a religious freak who liked to share her views on everything.  When I first met her, she was also nasty to me but over time, she chilled out considerably.  We will never be best friends but she became much more tolerable.  The other girl I shared a cubicle area with sniffed all day long and refused to blow her nose.  She spent a good portion of her day on the phone and whenever she was on the phone, she liked to eat.  She ate during business and personal calls.  Often times, people would have to ask her to repeat herself because her mouth was too full and they couldn't understand her.  Yeah, that's professional!  There were really only two people that I liked working with there.  One was the receptionist and the other was a girl who worked on the insurance side of things.  Because she and I had two completely different jobs, we didn't always see much of each other. Once in awhile I'd hang out with some of the girls outside of work and I actually liked them for the most part during those times.  Well, except for the asst. manager whom I have absolutely NO respect for.

Why am I telling you all this?  Because this website allows you to send an anonymous email to a coworker telling them just how annoying you think they are!  I actually considered sending my ex boss an email to tell her she wasn't a very good boss and that I don't understand why she would ever in a million years think that the person she hired as asst. manager would do a good job.  That person should never be in a management position.  EVER!  Ultimately, I didn't send it as even though it's supposed to be anonymous, I knew my boss would figure it out and know immediately that it was from me.  

If you just absolutely love and adore all of your coworkers, past and present, then I'm thrilled for you.  I really am!  But you might still enjoy perusing this website.  If you don't want to send an anonymous email, you can also read stories others have posted about their annoying coworkers.  You can also read messages sent from the site.  Personally, I prefer the posts rather than the emails.  Some of the comments to the posts are just as funny as the post itself! 

Just wanted to share a fun one this week since the holiday weekend is almost here!

    

Wordless Wednesday

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

I've officially had my beta fish for two years as of today!  Yes, I realize that no one but me cares about that but it's my blog so I'm gonna post about it anyways!

Source:  bing

I wasn't even gonna try and get a picture of my fishy, he's an active guy at times and somehow, I just don't think he'd be very cooperative.  Shortly after I got him, his long, flowing tail came off.  I'm not sure what happened; it was there one day and gone the next!  Totally freaked me out but it didn't seem to phase him  and it eventually grew back.

I'd had another blue fish before him named Midnight and somehow, I'd forgotten his name the last six or so months of his life.  I didn't remember it again until he passed.  So...  I eventually got another fish after probably nine months or so and to avoid the same situation happening again, I called him Red.  Because he's red.  Yes, I am oh so original! 

My other beta's have never lived much past 2 to 2 1/2 years so I suspect that Red won't be around for too much longer.  I just wanted to take some time today to pay tribute to his special "gotcha" day.

Mary Mary Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow?

Saturday I went on the annual Garden Tour.  I haven't been able to go for the last several years for one reason or another so I was excited that it worked out this year!  I scrounged up the change in my couch cushions (ok, not really but close!), managed to cough up the $5 fee and away we went!

I am shocked and amazed my friend actually showed up on time!  She's easily distracted by shiny things so she's not always the most punctual.  I was so proud of her too, she stayed on track for almost the whole day!  Last time we went on the tour, she wanted to stop at all of the yard sales along the way.  This time, she just drove right by them!

There were a total of 9 gardens this year.  It seems like there were more this time than in the past, I think there's usually an average of about 6.  The first place we went to even gave away potted plants!  I took one called a "cone flower."  I had no clue what they'd look like once they bloomed so I checked online and came up with these images.  They appear to come in a variety of different colors but most of the ones pictured were pink and purple.

Source:  bing

My favorite garden was one I could've spent literally hours and hours in!  There was so much to look at and if you looked one way, you'd miss everything on the other side.  There were 13 fountains, a pond with fish, waterfalls, grottos, cottages, statues, plants and flowers of every kind imaginable - all under a canopy of large shade trees!  I've been to this home a few times before on the tour and each time they seem to add more and more to it.  It's absolutely beautiful and so easy to get lost in.  Not lost physically but lost in your thoughts.  I imagine they spend many peaceful summer nights out there!  It's beautiful but I just can't even begin to fathom all the hard work and long hours that must go into it.  They used to have a hot tub too but I don't remember seeing it this time around. 

Afterwards, we went to the social to celebrate the fun day.  They had a silent auction and raffled off a few prizes.  Normally I don't have much luck winning giveaways but I won a plant!  My number was called almost at the very end.  I wasn't even really listening anymore and my friend had to tell me what I'd won.  I don't know what kind of plant it is, I only know that some kids planted it.  My friend won a 10 day pass for the local swimming pool.  She didn't seem very excited by it so I'm wondering if maybe she doesn't swim.

The very best part of the day has to be that my hip didn't bother me at all until the very end!  My hip was never fully formed in utero apparently and I was supposed to go back for an MRI for further studies but the insurance at my last job wouldn't pay for it.  (Shitty insurance from a shitty job.  Reason #1,379 that I'm glad I don't work there anymore!)  It didn't really bother me at all and I wasn't even aware of it until about the last 5 years or so and since then, I have to be careful how far and how long I walk.  Some days it's worse than others but Saturday it was feeling great and I didn't have to take any pain pills!

I brought my camera with me and tried to take pictures at several of the gardens to share with you. I feel like such an idiot though! I couldn't figure out why in the heck it wasn't taking any pictures and cussed at it several times. I got home and realized that I never cleared the old pictures out so there was no room for new ones. Grrrrrr!!! It didn't occur to me until I got home and changed the battery, thinking maybe that was the problem. That's when it finally hit me!  My friend got some though and said she'd send them to me, hopefully she'll remember.

I can't share any of the beautiful gardens with you that I saw on Saturday but I found some that are every bit as pretty and of similar styles.

Source:  bing

My little town really surprises me.  There's some gorgeous homes and then there's the slums!  And they aren't all that far apart from each other either.  The street I live on starts out with the el cheapo, welfare type houses and waaaaaay down at the other end are the gorgeous homes where people who make the BIG money live. 

The rest of the weekend was relatively quiet.  Well, except for Sunshine!  She likes to sing along to the radio.  Sometimes I hear her chirping early in the morning too, before I've gotten up.  My chi's are awfully curious about her.  They can't reach her cage but they like to stand on their hind legs, get as close as they can to her (which isn't very close at all!) and sniff 'til their noses about fall off.  She just ignores them and goes about her business.  My little boys get so jealous anytime they see her getting any extra attention, even if it's just  to change her water!

I hope everyone had as nice of a weekend as I did!

Half Full Friday and Blog of the Week

Yet another week has passed me by.  This has been a pretty uneventful week for the most part.  After being so busy the prior 2 weeks, I'm actually quite happy about that!

In keeping with that theme, it's Half Full Friday!  If you want to play along, go to Eyegirl's and spend some quality time with Mr. Linky.

I'm happy that my community project is over with until next year!

I'm happy I've already been accepted back to the project for next year!

I'm happy that my leg and hip are starting to feel better!  They've really been bothering me a lot for the last couple of days and I'm not sure why.

I'm happy that I have my mom's parakeet, Sunshine, for a few days!  She's a lot of fun, even if she is a bit messy! 

I'm happy I followed up on my schooling and found out things will be a little easier than I expected!

I'm happy that Chico hasn't been as bad about "marking" things lately as he has been in the past.

My mom and dad have gone camping for a few days so I'm caring for their beta fish and parakeet.  I tried to get a picture of Sunshine but so far haven't had much luck.  The bars on her cage are fairly close together and the quality of my camera isn't wonderful so any pictures that I've managed to get of her haven't turned out very well.  I still need the practice though so I'll keep trying.  I'm not sure how much longer I'll have her.

Once my leg and hip are fully up to par, I want to take my boys out walking on a trail near my house and try to get some pictures there.  It's a beautiful trail and will be a good place to practice my camera skills.  I hate that I can't look through the viewfinder and have what I see be what I'm taking a picture of!  Grrrrrr!!!

I'm all registered for school and wondered why I haven't heard anything back from them so I called them on Monday.  Turns out they're still waiting on my high school transcripts.  I asked that they be sent weeks ago so this really shocked me!  They told me I could get around this by taking their Compass tests which I'm going to have to take anyways.  I guess they're like placement tests kind of, which is how they were described to me, just to show that I have an understanding of the work and can actually do it.  I'll have to do them for writing, reading and math.  I'm not concerned about the reading and writing but totally freaked out about the math.  Yes, my career is in banking but the vast majority of the work is all done completely on computers so I never needed to worry about it.  But ~ I found a website that teaches you all about math from the very basics on up so I've been practicing with that.  I'm still nervous about it but it can only help.

Also, I found this phone number for help with studying for GED's.  I called it and explained that I've graduated from high school already and asked if they could help me study for the Compass test and they said yes!  So between the two, hopefully I can pass that test and the basic math class I'll have to take to graduate from the school.

I'm not sure how I found this particular Blog of the Week.  It reminds me of PostSecret only it's not quite as creative in that there aren't any decorated postcards to go with it.

Secret Regrets

The premise of this website is basically the same as PostSecret, posting a secret regret anonymously.  Should you choose to do so, you only include your age and gender but not your name.  You're encouraged to check back daily to see if your regret was posted.  This site also allows comments which PostSecret does not and was originated in 2007.

The two sites are difficult not to compare.  Honestly, I'm not sure which one I prefer.  I kind of like PostSecret a little more because of the postcards.  It's only updated once a week but it's updated with 20 postcards and more often than that on twitter.  This particular site is updated on a daily basis with only one secret regret.  With that said, it allows the person enough room to say exactly what they want to say and not have to worry about whether it'll all fit on a postcard.  Plus they can clarify something if needed in the comment section or respond to a question should they choose to do so.  I don't check the site daily but when I do check it, there is always at least one regret (and usually more) that I can relate to.

You can become a follower on facebook and twitter and even buy the book.  The book is currently in the works containing favorites from the site and never before featured entries.  I'm not sure when it'll be published.    

There's links in the sidebar to a couple of places to help anyone who might be having issues dealing with their regrets.  I haven't checked out the links so I don't know how helpful they are but I like that they're there.  Plus, even if I may didn't find it helpful, that doesn't mean that someone else might not!

Wordless Wednesday

Monday Musings

My project has come to a close for the year and I must say I have mixed feelings about it.  It's a relief to have a break from it for awhile but it was also nice to have something to else to focus on besides the lack of a job/interviews. 

Overall it went well, I think.  I was a little pissed because the music for my ceremony from beginning to end was totally screwed up.  They didn't play the correct songs where they were supposed to and missed a couple of songs completely.  I got virtually no feedback from anyone on what they thought of it but hopefully everyone else liked it.  And if they didn't, oh well...too late now!

I brought my camera with me to take pictures but seemed to have forgotten all about it.  Can you believe I did not get a single picture?!  I can actually, because that's what usually happens.

After the ceremony, one of my friend helped me put together some of the prizes.  The ones we worked on were all food related.  Once we got done, there were always a couple of leftovers which my friend quickly asked if she could have.  I just wanted to say, "You do realize this is all for charity, right?  And that charity is NOT you?"  But I didn't, I kept my mouth shut!

Last week, the lovely Zuzana did a meme that she was tagged for.  I liked it so I snagged it.  But it's ok, she said that if anyone wanted to play along, they could.  So I didn't totally steal it from her.  Feel free to play along if you'd like to!

1)  What is your philosophy?
At an old job I had, there was a saying posted to the training door that I think is pretty true.  "Life is a journey, not a destination."  Life truly is what you make of it.

2)  If you could be any age again for one week, what age would you be?

Honestly, this is a difficult one to answer.  Life has always seemed to be a struggle for me.  Maybe the week I decided to go to beauty school.  I would change that into going to college instead and maybe make a more lucrative life for myself.  I was probably 17 then.

3)  Who is your fashion icon?
Don't have one.  I've never been very fashionable.  I would've liked to have been in high school because I thought maybe I'd fit in a little more but my family didn't have an endless supply of disposable income so I had to make due with what I had.  Then, when I got to be an adult, I realized that how you look doesn't matter so much.

4)  What was the best moment of your life?

Probably when I bought my current car.  I'd never had a brand new car before and never thought I'd be able to afford one.  While the credit I did have was good, I had very little of it so I had a hard time finding a lender initially and got a higher than normal interest rate on the loan which I was able to refinance down at a later date.  I remember driving it to work and showing it off and being so proud of my new car!  And because I'd bought the car and built up more credit history, I was later able to buy a house.  Somehow, though, buying the car seemed to be a little more of a highlight.

5)  Do you enjoy spending hours shopping or do you try to get over with it as fast as possible?

When I had a job, I LLLOOOVVVEEEDDD to go shopping!!!  I would take a portion of my tax refund and spend it foolishly on a day at the mall.  I'd buy things that I didn't need but wanted because it was pretty or smelled nice.  I'd literally spend hours there and if I didn't spend all my $ there, I'd go shop elsewhere and make the day last a little longer. 

These days, I shop very quickly and try not to look at anything beyond whatever is on my shopping list because otherwise I'll become very depressed that I can barely afford the bare essentials.

6)  Something you can't get to throw out of your wardrobe is...

Shoes!!!  I have over 50 pairs.  Some of them I never wear and some of them are incredibly uncomfortable.  And yet...  I love them all and can't bring myself to get rid of them.

7)  What is your least favorite household chore?

I really hate dusting and cleaning the bathroom about the same amount.  I will scrub toilets before dusting though which is strange, considering I hate them equally.  I did some heavy dusting last week as part of my spring cleaning so I won't have to worry about that for awhile. 

8)  A movie that you could never forget.

There are so many but I'm going to go with St. Elmo's Fire.  I didn't really understand it to the full extent the first time I watched it but then again, I was still in high school so struggling with adulthood wouldn't have been something I'd have any experience with yet.  It's still one of my favorite movies, even to this day.

9)  One person who influenced your life.

I had an old boss at a job that I just hated.  She and I were friendly but never really talked much beyond the boss/employee realm.  One day I told her I was thinking of applying to another department within the same company.  She made a few phone calls, got some information on the position and what kind of experience they were looking for and tried to work with me to figure out a way to get that experience.  I got the job with her help.  On one of my last few days there in her department, I asked her why she did all that for me.  She told me it was because she always wanted me to know that I could do better.  She didn't want me to think that working in a call center was the best job I could hope for.  I found out later that she did this for many other employees too.  It influenced me because I realized that if someone else believed in me, it was ok to believe in myself.

10)  What is your favorite part of a day?

I don't currently have one, every part of each day is exactly the same.  When I was working though, my favorite part of the day was right when I first got home from work.  It was "my" time and I had the whole evening before me to spend it doing whatever I liked!

-Optional-  Which cartoon character do you resemble?

Hmm...  I'd like to think that I look like Snow White but in reality, I'm probably more like Barney Rubble.  LOL

***Edit:  The spacing for this post was normal when I typed it out but was all funky when it posted.  I tried to fix it and fought with blogger but for some unknown reason, it wants to stay as is. 

Half Full Friday and Blog of the Week

It's been a busy week and today will be even busier from about 3:30 PM this afternoon until about 9:30 AM tomorrow morning.  It'll be fun but exhausting and then it'll be all over until next year.  Whew!

Thankfully, I still have time for Half Full Friday!  Yay!  If you want to join, head over to Eyegirl's and spend some time getting intimate with Mr. Linky.

I'm happy I got a free cappuccino this past weekend!

I'm happy we've had beautiful weather for most of the week!

I'm happy I got some new followers this week!  Welcome!

I'm happy my mom mowed my lawn for me this week!  She got a new lawnmower and wanted to try it out.

I'm happy I packed most of the stuff I'll need today well in advance!

I'm happy I'm going to get to enjoy smore's tonight! 

I haven't had a lot of free time to look for new blogs or do research on ones I've already found this week.  But I didn't want to disappoint so I do still have a Blog of the Week for you!  It's not a full review so I reserve the right to reuse this particular blog again sometime if I decide to do so.

I first became aware of MaxMom from a post by Cocorue when she asked for prayers for sweet Max, a beautiful golden retreiver who was very, very ill.  She linked to his blog so I clicked over to it to leave a few well wishes.  It could have easily have ended there but I kept thinking about Max throughout the day and kept going back for more news.  Sadly, Max passed away earlier this year and I dedicated a Wordless Wednesday to him.  It just seemed to be the right thing to do.

Living Life To The Max

This is MaxMom's personal blog.  It was called Bric-A-Brac and she renamed it after her dog.  The reason I'm recommending this particular blog as the Blog of the Week is simply because of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Now, I'm not into soccer or any other sport.  I don't understand the majority of sports and don't really care to.  However, MaxMom lives in South Africa and has shared her excitement for the games in a unique way.  She doesn't watch the game and post the winning scores while giving commentary about what happened.  Nope, she's done something very different!  She calls it Unity in Diversity.

She asked for volunteers to type up a post about a team that happens to be playing that day.  It doesn't have to necessarily be a post about soccer, although it can be.  It can simply just be about the country itself or even a recipe that originated there.  She links back to those posts and keeps the links in her sidebar so that you can go back and check them out later if you've missed them.  I haven't been able to read them all but have found some wonderful blogs from this!

She's also posted various recipes she's found in the newspaper and around from all the various countries participating in the SWC.

I'm excited that she's done this.  We may be different in race, culture, religion, political beliefs, cuisine, etc.  But Unity in Diversity is a celebration of these differences!  As much as my ego may want everyone to feel the same way I do on certain issues, the world would be a very different and very boring place if we were all  the same. 

She didn't think she'd get to attend any of the games and was very disappointed.  Her husband, however, was able to score some tickets at the last minute and surprised her.  She had a wonderful time!   

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Chico

Shiver and Chico

I've come to the conclusion that close-ups are just not gonna happen.  The quality of the camera doesn't allow for it.  Boo!