Tanya's Mood Ring

100 Times

2012-01-24T21:43:00.004-06:00

There are some songs that are so amazing. They touch you on an emotional level and you can listen to them 50 times in a row and you just have to hit "play" one more time.

Coldplay does a great job with the original, but I like this cover. The harmonies send shivers down my spine.

There are so many covers of this Lenard Cohn song, but Jeff Buckley's version is classic to me.

So what are your favorites? The songs you just can't get enough of hearing.

Judging a Book by its Cover

2012-01-23T22:02:00.002-06:00

I joined a website called Goodreads.com, where you can keep track of what you have read and share your book reviews with friends. It reminds me of what I used to do with Blogging for Books, back when I wrote a lot more than I do now.

It will be interesting to discover how many books I read in a year. Its never crossed my mind to keep track in the past. My goal is 50 books for 2012, but its only January 23rd and I'm 16% of the way to the finish line. I may have to adjust that.

They also do giveaways and I entered to win some of them. There are hundreds you could try and win, but I don't want to get a book that I wouldn't be at least halfway enjoy reading. Many of the authors are new to me. To figure out what contests I want to enter, I'm doing it. I'm judging books by their cover.

I know, its not the "right" thing to do. Time should be spent discovering what the book contains on the inside. But, when you don't have a lot of time, or can't realistically make the effort (reading the book before entering the contest to win it, is kind of silly) what else should you do?

This can be true for people, too. I realize you should try and get to know people before you judge them. But sometimes its not realistic and you have to decide in a short amount of time how you feel. Take a job interview, you have 30 minutes to judge if this person will be a good fit for a company. Why is it okay for an organization to look at how a person is dressed along with a few minutes of conversation, but if an individual were to do the same thing, they would be "judgmental"?

Just like authors work hard to pick books that will attract you, people do the same everyday.

Delight

2012-01-01T10:48:00.002-06:00

For some reason, I never get invited to big New Years Eve Bashes. Sometimes my husband and I will try to host a party and while our parties are fun, we typically only get two or three "yes" responses. This year we decided to have our own two person party. We made little smokes and chicken wings, and watched some Pirates of the Caribbean.

Can you believe, we have never seen the movies before now? I got the Lego game for Christmas, so we decided it was time to see the movies also.

The best part was just after midnight. There were several people in our neighborhood who decided to set up fireworks. I LOVE fireworks so much! There is something magical and beautiful about them that just makes me happy. I was standing outside in the surprisingly warm night air breathing in the faint scent of explosives, while watching the fire light up the sky. This year I want to remember to take delight in things. I want to enjoy every minute.

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

New Bedroom

2011-03-31T23:23:00.006-05:00

So I'm going to redecorate or maybe original decorate our bedroom this summer. I saw a room that is exactly what I like and I want to duplicate it. Anyone know where to find these wall decals or something similiar?

1 Shepherd

2010-11-06T23:06:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time my husband went into the woods and got into a firefight with some other guys. He had a great time and started going to events like this more and more often. He would come home be dirty and exhausted, but would talk about how much fun he had. He worked and got this cool jacket for being a part of this organization. Finally, I got curious and decided to go with him, it was the hardest thing I had ever done.

But it was rewarding (and I got an awesome jacket of my own).

I didn't go to any other 1 Shepherd events that semester. But after the bruises faded and I forgot just how sore my muscles were I went to more events. Being a part of this organization has really taught me a lot about myself. I've learned just how strong I can be.

http://www.1shepherd.com/

Financial Management

2010-11-03T21:18:00.004-05:00

Don't worry I'm not going to start telling you how to manage your finances. I'll leave that to the experts (or maybe a post later this month). Since the beginning of this year, I've been working on my MBA. Its been a really good experience. I registered for school on a lark last December and its been a really good decision. I've always been pretty good at school, so most classes have been pretty easy. But my last class was so hard. It was Financial Management. I spent so much time doing homework for that class, but I feel like I learned a lot.

Growing up I hated Math. In high school, 3 years were required so 3 years is what I took. When I picked a major in college, part of my reason for choosing Public Communications was the fact that it didn't require any additional Math classes beyond college algebra.

But now that I'm a little older (and possibly a little more mature) I see the value of math. After the midterm I actually started enjoying the math type problems. They had an answer that was right or wrong. You could go back and check your work. That was pretty nice.

I wonder what other things in life I am missing out on, because I've held a level of prejudice towards them. Pickles? ...no still don't like them.

Social Network

2010-11-02T22:32:00.002-05:00

I had some friends invite Matt and I to go see The Social Network this evening. Basically its the semi-true Hollywood embellished story of the founder of Facebook. It was a pretty good movie, I liked it. I find it interesting though how much our lives have changed over the past 5 years or so.

Its like the creation of social networking has somehow made people less social in real life. I can learn all about your religions beliefs, relationship status and work history from your profile, but is that block of information really tell me who you are? I'm sure the things you post on your wall and the comments on your pictures can give me some insight, but really there is nothing that can replace a face to face conversation. It creates this weird dynamic of knowing all about someone, yet not having any idea of who they are.

Is it bad? Is it good? I don't really have any answers, I guess we will find out as more time goes by, but I do think that Facebook and really any type of social networking has completely changed the way we live.

NaBloPoMo

2010-11-01T20:57:00.003-05:00

Guess What! I am taking a break this November from NaNoWriMo to participate in NaBloPoMo this year. Try saying that out loud. It doesn't really roll off your tongue. At all. But its fun. I think it will be good for me. Old blog, I've neglected you for way to long, but for the next 30 days I'm here.

Value Fiction

2010-02-27T17:24:00.006-06:00

For this blog tour I received two books. Secrets by Robin Jones Gunn and The Golden Cross by Angela Elwell Hunt.

I had read Secrets a long time ago, but didn't really remember the story. What I love about this book and Robin Jones Gunn in general is how all her characters are related. It makes me happy when I get to see what happens in the life of a friend of Christy Miller many years into the future. I feel like I get to invest in her world and that I will hear little updates of characters that I have grown to love.

The Golden Cross is the second in a series. I reviewed the first book, The Silver Sword a last summer. It is somewhat of a standalone story, but is woven together by the girl who tells it. She is a descendant of Cahira O'Connor and tells the story of courageous woman in her family line. Aiden, the star of this story, is an artist, who gets a chance to learn, but it comes at a price.

The best part of the books in this tour are that they are only $5.99 each. Its a great price for a good book.

Secrets
by Robin Jones Gunn - Jessica has moved to a new town to start a new life. But a friendly fire-fighter and a suspicious boss both want to know what she’s hiding.

The Golden Cross
by Angela Elwell Hunt – Aidan O’Connor may be a poor barmaid but she’s also a gifted artists. When a famous cartographer takes her on as a student, Aidan is swept into an adventure that will bring her back to her heavenly Father, and into marriage with the love of her life.

Beneath a Southern Sky
by Deborah Raney – Daria Camfield is expecting her first child when her husband Nate is reported dead on the mission field. Devastated, she returns to the States and soon marries again. But two years later Nate is found alive in the jungle. How can Daria possibly choose between he two men who love her?

Deep Harbor
by Lisa Tawn Bergren – Tora, Elsa, Kaatje, and Karl face trouble, tragedy, and treachery across the Wast, Hawaii, Japan, and the high seas. These four immigrants from Bergen, Norway, each grow closer to God and learn afresh the value of faith, family, and coming alongside each other in times of need.

Faithful Heart
by Al and Joanna Lacy – The adventures of certified medical nurse and dedicated Christian Breanna Baylor continue as she travels by wagon train to visit her sister, Dottie, in California. Little does she know that her most dangerous encounter might be with Jerrod, her brother-in-law, who’s suffering from dementia caused by combat fatigue.

Yesterday’s Promise
by Linda Lee Chaikin – Rogan Chantry faces danger from tribesmen, ruthless politicians, and his own family as he searches for gold in South Africa. In England, his beloved Evy is injured by a mysterious assailant. The greed and intrigue surrounding the diamond mines could very well drive them irrevocably apart.

Office Wars - The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon (Part 2)

2010-02-03T09:35:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, I told the tale of the Missing Forks. Today a small plate will be featured.

Sometime after the missing forks had been returned and all was happy in dishland, I noticed something. One of my plates was sitting on the desk of a lady who sits on the other side of my cube wall. (For reference our walls are about 5 feet tall, but the top 18 inches are plexiglass, so you can see through them.) I thought she must have needed it and hasn't gotten around to returning this plate. No big deal. But day after day this plate sat on her desk. Sometimes it had items on it, sometimes it was just there as decoration. I could have asked for it back, but I don't ever have an opportunity to interact with this lady, who steals plates.

The longer it sat, the more it bothered me. "Who takes something and doesn't return it? Doesn't she care that we can see she has it?" I considered putting up a "Lost Plate" sign like I did with the forks, but decided against it. The first time it was cute, the second sign would have made me look crazy. I finally devised a plan. I would arrive extra early one morning and take it back, without saying a word to her. The plate would be returned to me, just as it was taken.

The plan worked perfectly. My small plate has been reunited with the rest of the dish family. I thought all was well until today. I looked over the wall and saw it. I'm so ashamed..... she has a full set of dishes with the same pattern as me. She piled them up in a modern art sculpture just to taunt me. Her big plate, bowl, and mug are placed boldly on top of the cabinet where I cannot miss seeing them.

It looks like its time for me to apologize because as it turns out. I am the plate thief!

Office Wars - The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon (Part 1)

2010-02-02T09:28:00.000-06:00

The Plate saga officially began way back in the fall. What happened is I had a spare set of dishes and old silverware in my cabinet at home. I thought, "Why have this stuff sitting around gathering dust? I'll bring it to work for my department to use."

So I brought the set of dishes and silverware into work. They always come in handy when someone unexpededly brings in a treat or even when you just need a fork for lunch. Things were going pretty well until one day we realized all the forks were missing! I send out an e-mail asking people to return them, but no luck. I put up a "Lost Fork" sign thinking that perhaps someone else had borrowed them.

Jackpot! The cleaning lady ratted out our neighbors saying they had used them a while back when working late and ordering chineese. They put the silverware in the kitchen, but they never were washed and returned. After much prodding they replaced the forks and eventually a few of the originals turned up back in the kitchen.

All is well in the cutlery world.

MBA

2010-01-07T15:43:00.002-06:00

I did it. I signed up for classes back in December on the LAST day possible. I am now officially a college student again. This time, I am getting my MBA. I have to write an essay on why I want to get my degree as part of the application process.

I'm sure that I will come up with something that sounds good. But want to know the real reasons?

My company gives good tuition reimbusement.
I'm so bored with my current job.
All the people in management here are working on their MBA.
It's a good distraction.
I want to put MBA after my name to look more impressive.
You can only play so much Farmville.

So far its actually been a lot of fun. The first class I am taking is in marketing. I like marketing, its really just a bunch of common sense type stuff. Hopefully the next two years will go as well as this first class.

Blood Donation

2010-01-02T11:13:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year!

I don't make resolutions at New Year because I think its silly to wait for a particular day on the calendar to make a change. You can make a resolution at any time.

This year I am resolving today, January 2nd that I will donate a pint of blood for Manic Mommy's 3rd Annual blood drive. Each pint saves 3 lives, and all it costs you is a little bit of time. Its a good cause, and donating blood makes you eligible for her raffle!

For more details visit her website.

NaNo WriMo Winner!!

2009-11-29T21:08:00.003-06:00

I DID IT!!!!

NaNo 2009

2009-11-12T10:23:00.003-06:00

It's here. Actually its been here for 12 Days, but I am just now getting around to sharing. This year I am going to win the NaNoWriMo challenge. I have been attempting to write a Novel each November for the last four years. Each year I get a little bit closer than the prior year, but I have never really gotten close. Today I am just a day's worth of writing behind (1,667 words), which I will hopefully catch up this weekend.

My story is about a group of friends, who decide to give their way through the Gospel for Asia Christmas Catalog. I think GFA is a great missions organization and I am happy to support them each year. I always get excited to look through the catalog. Last year, Matt and I were able to give someone a cow! I like to be able to give people things that make a difference in their life, not just things that will end up in a closet.

For those of you who have not heard about NaNo, its a non-profit that encourages people to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. The goal is attainable, but still challenging. I love to participate, because sometimes in life you have to do something hard to make yourself grow. There is a word count widget here on my blog, so you can see how far I am. If you are also participating in Nano you can view my profile here.

Fun Fall Fiction

2009-11-06T19:41:00.007-06:00

Leaving Carolina
by Tamara Leigh

I really liked this book and shared it with my mom. It was about a girl, who left the town she grew up in ready to shake the dust from her feet. When circumstances compel her to return to Pickwick, she plans to stay for just a day or two, which turns into much longer. However, Pickwick isn't the same town she left and not only does she learn that people change, she learns she can change, too.

Limelight
by Melody Carlson

I thought this book was a lot of fun. Claudette was a lady who was "past her prime" and she just wanted to give up. She even tried to end it all, but God was at work. Claudette learns a big life lesson that there is more to life than what she sees.

Diary of a Teenage Girl: What Matters Most
by Melody Carlson

What Matters Most is Book 3 is the Diary of a Teenage Girl series about Maya. She is a girl who has a less than idea life, she can live the dream or she can deal with her mother who has spent time in prison. It's an important decision and she has to figure out what is right. The series is good. I find this book, but I know my 14 year old sister has read the whole series.

Back to School Fiction

2009-08-28T12:08:00.013-05:00

vent I hate blogger when you somehow delete your whole post when you just wanted to go back and fix one sentence and there is no way to get it back. /vent

These next books I have to tell you about are part of the Back to School Fiction Blog Tour. What? you aren't going back to school? That's okay because really it’s just three really good stories that hopefully you will have time to read now that your kids are back to school. So you don't have kids, nor do you even know anyone headed back to school? I'm tired of the excuses, they're good stories.

I'm currently reading Knit for Love, by Beth Pattillo. It's part of The Sweetgum Ladies Series. It features 6 women in all stages of life that do not have very much in common (kind of like the Yada-Yada books), except for a desire to read and knit. They are a Knit-Lit Club. This round they are focusing on Love stories, everything from Romeo and Julie to The Song of Solomon. For each book they read, they complete a knitting project that somehow relates to the story. I makes me feel like finding that scarf I started last winter and finishing it. My only concern is that I have not yet found a way to read and knit at the same time.

The next book in the Blog Tour is The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper written by Kathleen Y'Barbo. I like this girl. She is part of New York's Society, but she has this thirst of adventure. She just once wants to shrug of the demands of proper society to do the things she only reads about. She has an opportunity to go west into Colorado Territory, which she seizes, but what happens there is something she did not expect. I also want to mention how I love this cover. You can just see the mischief in her eyes.

The last book in the tour is called Rose House by Tina Ann Forkner. It’s a story of great loss and the search for hope. Lillian lost her family and she is grieving when she visits the Rose House and finds a painting of her in a moment when she thought she was alone in her misery. It is through this painting that she is forced to confront what happened and works through her pain to find beauty.

NORTH! or Be Eaten

2009-08-18T18:34:00.004-05:00

I've been so excited for this day. First, because its my 2 year Wedding Anniversary! The other exciting thing about today is the arrival of Andrew Peterson's new book. North! or be Eaten. Its the second book in the Wingfeather Saga. I even have a guest blogger for you today. My little sister Danielle, has been waiting forever for it to come out. Since she really wanted to read the book as soon as apossible, and I received a review copy early, we struck a deal. She could read the book first, but she had to write a review.

So here is what Danielle a 13 year-old girl from the midwest thinks about N!OBE.

North! or Be Eaten is definitely one of the most thrilling books I have ever read! Its is fun to read with its unpredictable plot and original characters. They seem so real, despite the uncommon problems they face. I like Janner and Peet the Sock Man the most, because Janner is easy to relate to and Peet the Sock Man, is well, by far the most intriguing.
Andrew Peterson is a brillian writer with a unique imagination. He grabs my attention and keeps it; not many other authors are able to do that so well. I absolutely love all the dangerous and facinating creatures. now, when I eat fruit, I think fo Ridge Runners. Perhaps the Gargan Rockroachs are the most deadly, though nearly all the animals in Aerwiar pose at least some threat to humans.
North! or Be Eaten seems to have no climax; the entire book is full of awesome adventure. The characters have very interesting stories. Podo's for example, you would never guess.
One thing North! or Be Eaten is not lacking in is humor. Just one of the many amusing occurances is when Oskar decides to quote someone. The quotes are often so mediocre they're funny. In the words of Moriah the Mud Pup discoverer (1), "North! or Be Eaten is exceedingly squishy, and that is a Squishly awesome thing."

(1) Moriah the Mud Pup discoverer is the younger sibling of Danielle and uses the word "squishy" at every opportunity.

Summer Reading

2009-07-19T20:07:00.005-05:00

Colorado Springs, CO— Fiction lovers don’t need to budget to travel this summer with Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group’s eight full-length, historical novels by beloved Christian authors (WaterBrook, June 2, 2009). At the low cost of only $5.99, these well-read “get-aways” provide quality entertainment at a price that any reader can afford.

Full-length historical novels offered include:
The Captain’s Bride(ISBN-13: 978-0-307-45806-3) by Lisa Tawn Bergren, book one in Northern Lights series. Experience an epic saga of perseverance and passion, faith and fidelity in a sea adventure from the gentle hills of Bergen, Norway, to rocky coast of Camden, Maine.

Tommorrow’s Treasure(ISBN-13: 978-0-307-45808-7)by Linda Lee Chaikin, book one in East of the Sun series. Family secrets and a passion for a man of a higher social class draw Evy Varley into a dangerous mystery and disturbing questions about her past.

The Silver Sword(ISBN-13: 978-0-307-45809-4)by Angela Elwell Hunt, book one in The Heirs of Cahira O’ Connor series. The auburn-haired O’Conner women push against social limits. Their tale is one of peril, courage, vengeance, love and sacrifice.

The Veil (ISBN-13: 978-0-307-45807-0) by Diane Noble. Hannah McClary dares to question the truth behind the shroud of secrecy that cloaks a nineteenth-century sect known as the Saints. Soon she and Lucas Knight, the young man she loves, find themselves fighting for their lives.
Under the Distant Sky (ISBN-13: 978-1-60142-245-3) by Al and Joanna Lacy, book one in Hannah of Fort Bridger. Join Hannah and Solomon Cooper as they journey by wagon train to a new life on the frontier. Will they overcome tragedy and great opposition as they strive to live their dream?
A Promise for Breanna (ISBN-13: 978-1-60142-244-6) by Al & Joanna Lacy, book one in Angel of Mercy series. Suspense, danger, romance and spiritual truth each play a part in this heroine’s life as she faces the man who once broke her heart and led her to mistrust men.

Maire (ISBN-13: 978-1-60142-256-0) by Linda Windsor, book one in Fires of Gleannmara. Maire, Warrior Queen of Gleannmara, finds her fierce heart gentled by a reformed mercenary, a Christian, who’s taken hostage during a raid.

A Gathering of Finches (ISBN-13: 978-1-60142-247-7) by Jane Kirkpatrick. A turn-of-the-century Oregon coastal couples’ life is seen through the eyes of the wife, her sister, and her Indian maid who discover reasons why money and possessions can’t buy happiness, forgiveness or relieve consequences of choices.

Waterbrook summer release of value line books will also include a 99 Ways (July 2009) and Non-fiction series (September 2009).

I had the opportunity to read a couple of these books. I just finished The Silver Sword and have started A Gathering of Finches. Once I opened The Silver Sword, I couldn't put it down. This book came to work with me, I read it while cooking dinner, in the evening while my husband was watching TV. It tells the story of a woman, Anika, who becomes a Knight and works to help a Reformer, Jan Hus in the 1400s. It wove bits of history into the story. Fortunately the rest of the series is also out and you can follow this family's interesting linage.

Office Wars -The Out of Office Notice

2009-07-06T14:27:00.003-05:00

It’s been a while since my last Office Wars post. Mostly that is due to work going well and people not doing silly thing, but today I found something that just made me giggle. Due to us office workers getting an extra day off on Friday (for Independence Day on Saturday), many people decided to extend their 3 day weekend into a 4 or 5 day weekend. That was smart planning on their part, maybe next summer I will try that.

However, one thing these people did not consider is their "Out of Office" notice. It is immediately fired back to anyone who dares send them an e-mail while they are gone. At our company it is standard practice to put your backup's name in the notice in case anyone has something urgent.

In our department each morning we send out a Daily Progress Report. Since my supervisor is out today I send the e-mail. I immediately received 4 out of office replies. As I clicked on them I noticed a trend...

"Hi, this is Kara*, I will be out of the office July 1-10, Please contact Danny for any urgent issues..."

Next it is Danny's Out of Office Notice: "Greetings, I will be traveling from July 6 - July 10, please contact Jerry for any immediate needs."

And Jerry's Out of Office Notice. "I will be gone on July 6th and 7th, for assistance please contact Danny (Really? Did you not know he was going to be gone?) or Jennifer."

Thankfully, Jennifer is in the office, but I really, really want to send a e-mail to Kara, then forward it to Danny, then to Jerry, and finally to Jennifer. Whew, I think by the time I finished forwarding it would no longer be urgent. It would be next week.

*Names have been changed to protect my privacy. I don't want you e-mailing my boss.

Never the Bride

2009-06-19T11:35:00.001-05:00

So I recently read Never the Bride by Cheryl McKay and Rene Gutteridge. I thought this book sounded interesting. Its about a girl named Jessie Stone, who is in love with the idea of love and romance, despite having her heart broken in the past. She has tried dating, but never is successful. Until one day, God shows up in the form of a cute guy.

Only Jessie can see and hear him, but he tells her that he has a plan for her, but she has to surrender her ideas and trust Him. Reluctantly she does, and she follows his leading. Well, most of the time. Because well some of what he says doesn't make sense to her or she sees a better way.

I really liked this story and finished the book in a Saturday. Which goes to show that its an intriguing story. If your the first person to send me an e-mail tanya.for.president @ gmail.com or leave a comment on my blog, I'll send you a copy. If you are the second person, you can purcahse it here.

Komen Race Team

2009-06-16T07:56:00.003-05:00

Sisterchicks

2009-06-12T08:32:00.004-05:00

Oh how I love the Sisterchicks series. The most recent book is Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes by Robin Jones Gunn. It tells the story of Summer and Noelle, who have been pen pals since 4th grade, but have never met in real life. Summer gets some bad news concerning her health, which prompts her to go visit her friend Noelle who lives in the land of tulips and wooden shoes -- Holland!

Even though they have never met in person, these ladies are close friends. They both have things they need to deal with and they help eachother along in the journey.

If you want to purchase a copy of the book, please follow this link.

If you would like to win a free copy of the book, please e-mail me or leave a comment telling me about your best friend or sisterchick!

Amish Love

2009-05-29T21:29:00.001-05:00

What’s all the hubbub about Amish fiction? Major media outlets like Time and ABC Nightline are covering it, and authors like Cindy Woodsmall are making the New York Times bestseller list regularly. What makes these books so interesting?

Check out the recent ABC Nightline piece here http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=7676659&page=1 about Cindy and her titles When the Heart Cries, When the Morning Comes, and When the Soul Mends. It’s an intriguing look at Amish culture and the time Cindy has spent with Amish friends.

And don’t forget that Cindy’s new book The Hope of Refuge hits store shelves August 11, and is available for preorder now.

My Twin

2009-05-11T22:43:00.005-05:00

So a while back, Matt was going through this catalog they had at his work. It was full of promotional items. He ran across this picture....

Apparently I have a twin.... who likes to model crab hats.

and for reference this is what I look like ...without a crab hat.

Fun Book Friday - A Flickering Light

2009-05-01T09:28:00.009-05:00

The latest book I read is called A Flickering Light by Jane Kirkpatrick. It was a great story. It focus on a young girl, Jessie Gaebele, just after the turn of the century. She had a love of photography and found a position along with her best friend, Voe, as an apprentice in a local studio with FJ Bauer. As she learns from Mr. Bauer how to edit the photographs and do touch up work, they begin to have feelings for eachother that are beyond teacher / apprentice.

Mr. Bauer is stuck in an unhappy marriage. His wife, coincidently also named Jessie is suffering from a mental illness caused in part by the death of their child. He finds comfort in his work with Jessie Gaebele.

What I really liked about this book is that its not you typical coming of age, falling in love for the first time, story. It explores the feelings that both parties know are wrong, yet they feel them all the same.

I would definately recommend this as a good summer read. Here's the link to purchase the book online.

The Second Jane Kirkpatrick book I read was Aurora. The thing that stood out most to me is the beautiful pictures of quits. I've always loved them and found them facinating. Quilts have so much beauty and history built into them. So much work goes into a quit - everything from the fabrics used, to the way they are matched and stitched into patters, then there is the stitching that holds it all together. The woman who made these quits are true artists.

Link to purchase Aurora.

April Fools - Big Orange Cat

2009-04-06T18:55:00.002-05:00

It's arrived! My B.O.C. I was so excited and I got some good stuff. For all you nerdy types who understand here is the picture.

I heart April 1

2009-04-01T19:30:00.000-05:00

This is my favorite day of the year to be online. Here are the best April Fools Pranks I've found so far.
Feel free to add to the list with fun stuff you come across.
Google - Artificial Intelligence AKA CADIE - I <3 Panda Bears
http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/cadie/index.html
Woot - Million Dollar Shipping - Coupon Code is SNAIL
http://www.woot.com/
Expedia - Trip to Mars for $99 - A 3 Trillion dollar discount!
http://www.expedia.com/daily/mars/flights-to-mars/?mcicid=Mars_home_us
Google Chrome - Web Browsing in 3D
http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/chrome/cadie/
You Tube - Upside down - However some of the the videos seem right side up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICuqGPlY4r0&flip=1

Work pranks, included tape to the bottom of the mouse, a fake engagement, and a shreadded compaion cube plush. Overall a good day for the April Pranksters.

Outlaw Marshal

2009-02-20T21:03:00.002-06:00

I have a book to give away! It's a western called Outlaw Marshal, written by Al and Joanna Lacy. They're a husband wife team, who have written several books together. I read some of their Mail Order Bride Series a few years back.

Outlaw Marshal is the story of Whip Langford. He's an outlaw in the wild west. John Brockman (who starred in previous series' written by Al and Joanna) arrested him for a crime. Whip is thrown into jail. All along the way John is preaching salvation to him and eventually Whip decides he does need Jesus in his life.

You can purchase a copy of the book using this link or e-mail me if you're interested in receiving a free copy of this book. No fancy contest this time. The first person to ask for it wins.

Rudy

2009-01-20T21:13:00.000-06:00

For Christmas this year, I got the thing that has been at the top of my list for a long time. A puppy! We named him Rudy. He's definitely made our lives more interesting.

A New Post for the New Year.

2009-01-06T21:06:00.001-06:00

The last couple months have been busy; I've had lots of things to blog about, but not so much time. Then when I had time, I had no so much motivation. For some reason my best blog posts are composed when I'm warm in bed, when I'm in the shower, and when I'm driving my car. They never make it to my computer. Such a shame.

I did not hit my goal for NANOWRIMO. I'm disappointed in myself. I had two full weeks of overtime at work (when I was only expecting one), which put me so far behind; I didn't have the energy to catch up. Maybe next year.

December was an exciting month. Matt graduated!!! He now has a piece of paper (well he will have it once the school mails it) that says he accomplished something great. I'm really proud of him. He's worked really hard and even had a 4.0 Semester this fall. There ceremony itself was a little disappointing to him. It was supposed to be in the swanky new fine arts building, but due to space they moved it to the gym last minute. The same gym his high school rented for graduation.

We got a new puppy, but he deserves his own post. Let me just say he is adorable, and I am one happy puppy mama.

For the first year ever I managed to send out Christmas cards. I hate what Christmas has become. When I was picking out cards, I had a choice of about 4 that mentioned Jesus. The rest were snow men and Santa Claus, reindeer and holly. That is not what Christmas is about. This website however made me very very happy. http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

That’s all for now.

This is so Wrong.

2008-11-04T22:28:00.002-06:00

The majority of votes aren't even in yet and he is conceding?!?

NaNo Story

2008-10-29T16:06:00.003-05:00

So a few Mondays ago, well actually back in September, the Fun Monday assignment was to write the first paragraph of an "unusual love story". I liked my opening paragarah, which made me wonder what else is going to happen with these characters. I've decided to participate in NaNoWriMo. I've done it the past few years, but have never won.

Since I am not allowed to write the story before November (technically, I'm not even supposed to have the opening paragraph, so that may get re-written), but I can have an outline, I want to start gathering some ideas of situations for Daton (the attractive stranger) & my yet-to-be named leading lady. Since I have such good supporters of my blog, I'm asking for some ideas. I may or may not use it, but this year I really want to hit the NaNoWriMo 50,000 word mark.

Thanks for all your help. Here's the excerpt from my story.

I wanted to run and hide due to embarrassment, but I'm afraid the smell
coming from my shirt, would give me away. My best friends Jolie and Marie talked
me into going on the Cyclone, against my better judgment. When it came our turn
to get on the ride Jolie and Marie climbed into one seat leaving me to sit in
the row behind them next to a stranger. A very attractive stranger, with bright
green eyes, a huge smile, and my barf covering his shirt.

Churched

2008-10-17T20:30:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week I mentioned that I had reviewed a second book. this one is called "Churched" and its written by Matthew Paul Turner. I thought I would really enjoy the book since one blog I like to read is Stuff Christians Like. There were several things, that made me giggle. Page 191, talks about worrying that Jesus will come back before you get to have sex, when you're a teen. They talk about having contests to "win people for Christ" where the winner gets some sea monkeys. As a child Matthew felt like he needed to "save a seat on the bus for Jesus". Most of his stories are funny, a few are very sad. The people at his church were very well intentioned, but somehow they seemed to scare people into salvation, instead of loving them.

I found his story very relatable, having grown up in the church myself and because I attended a skirt wearing, long hair, no makeup school when I was jr high age. Still, when I reached the end of the book I was kind of disappointed. I felt like, he didn't resolve his story, but he is still a young guy and perhaps he has more for us to read.

If you want to purchase the book, you can find it here or you can leave a comment on my blog and I will mail you a copy. I only have one to give away though, so you'd bette be quick.

The Shape of Mercy

2008-10-14T21:43:00.003-05:00

I got to review two books this week. The first one I’ll tell you about was my favorite. It’s called The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner. That title is clever in so many ways, that will hit you during the book. Susan Meissner did a wonderful job of creating the intertwining stories. There are two primary girls, but really you hear the lives of 3 woman. First you have Lauren who narrates the story. She is a freshman at college who is just beginning to figure out who she is. She was raised in a life of privilege, but doesn't want that to be defined by that. Then you have Mercy, whose story you learn about through a diary that Lauren is transcribing. Mercy lived in Salem during the Witch Trials. You see her feelings and thoughts about what happens when hysteria takes over a town. The final lady in this story is Abigail. She is the owner of the diary and hires Lauren to transcribe it. Through that employer/employee relationship you see these woman grow close.

Susan Meissner does a wonderful job of intertwining these stories into one lovely book. It’s the best book I’ve read in a long time. Click here to purchase this book and here to learn more about Susan Meissner.

Come back later this week for my review of “Churched” by Matthew Paul Turner. If you would like to win a copy of “Churched” leave a comment on this post.

Fun Monday - Doodle

2008-10-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

This fun Monday is being hosted by Tracey at Nine Acres. The assignment is to make a doodle, which includes the number "9" in red. You can view the creation of mine here, but the picture itself is below. This was kinda fun, because I never consider myself an artist, but perhaps I am a decent doodle-ist.

Fun Monday - Closet

2008-09-29T07:29:00.000-05:00

This Fun Monday is being hosted by Alison at RDH Mom

The Assignment:
I want to see the inside of your closet!! I want to see if your closet is as messy as mine!!! You can't organize it before you take the picture!!

Here you go! You can also read a post I wrote about it back in March.

Fun Monday - Sports

2008-09-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

This week's Fun Monday is sponsored by Heater at Heather's Recipes

The topic: Sports. More specifically, the sports team that you are rabid about. Maybe you love the Dallas Cowboys. Maybe you never miss a Cincinnati Reds game. Perhaps you follow every goal of the Fighting Illini Water Polo team. I want to hear about whatever sports team(s) that make you cry tears of joy when they win and tears of sorrow when they lose.

And on the flip side, I also want to hear about the teams you love to hate and why you hate them so much. You know what I mean. Like when you meet a new friend who is really cool and fun, and then you find out they root for your most hated rival team and you actually consider for a moment that you can't be friends anymore. Those teams.

Well, I don't know very much about sports. I don't understand football and I have no desire to learn. I mostly get basket ball, put the ball in the basket, and you can do it from different spots for different points. Baseball makes sense and I cheer for the Cubs. Because I'm from Chicago and that's what you do. Plus, I'm waiting for them to win the World Series so they can make a Disney movie about it.

My favorite sport is Gymnastics in the Olympics. Its the only one that inspires me to do cartwheels in the yard and attempt the splits.

The Road to Lost Innocense

2008-09-19T10:50:00.001-05:00

This past week I've been reading a book called "The Road to Lost Innocence" by Somaly Mam. Its the story of a girl who grow up in Cambodia, during an awful time. She was sold by her "grandfather" into prostitution to pay for a debt he owed. Now she helps other girls in that situation. while reading the book I was amazed by her strength. She could have left brothels and never returned, but instead she worked hard to help other girls, becuase she had true empathy. It didn't matter to Somaly if they had AIDs or if they were dirty or hurt. She loved these girls, even though she herself had not been loved very much. For each book bought a donation is made to her fund to help other girls. I am amazed that this stuff still goes on in the world today. It really has opened my eyes and made me look beyond the American Bubble in which I live.

Fun Monday

2008-09-08T06:04:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to do a Fun Monday forever, but never think of it until its over. This week I finally did a little pre planning and am ready. Today's Fun Monday is hosted by Woodlandmama at A Monkey in the Wrong Tree.

Here's the Assignment:
Write the beginning of an unusual love story (not a real one). I only want the first paragraph. You can add an illustration or a picture to spice it up if you are really daring.

I wanted to run and hide due to embarrassment, but I'm afraid the smell coming from my shirt, would give me away. My best friends Jolie and Marie talked me into going on the Cyclone, against my better judgment. When it came our turn to get on the ride Jolie and Marie climbed into one seat leaving me to sit in the row behind them next to a stranger. A very attractive stranger, with bright green eyes, a huge smile, and my barf covering his shirt.

Sunday's Best: Introduction

2008-08-31T10:26:00.001-05:00

I want to start a new series. Since I have retired from the Restaurant Business Matt and I can now go to Sunday Morning Church. The Sunday night church we had been attending is geared towards college age kids and we just don't fit in there any more. I'm going to document our search for a new church. As a reference I'll probably be linking to some posts from Stuff Christians Like. Be expecting a few updates in the next few days.

Here's one of my favorite posts from that blog, just because its funny and I love Indiana Jones.

Wild Goose Chase

2008-08-29T22:00:00.003-05:00

I'm currently reading "Wild Goose Chase" by Mark Batterson. He's pastor of a church in Washington DC. So far its pretty good, I'm reading it in small doses so what he says can really sink in. The book is about pursuing God and how its an exciting thing to do. Many Christians however don't do this because of things that get in the way such as responsibility, routine, assumptions, guilt, failure and fear. So far I am enjoying it and it really makes me think. He gives lots of examples from the Bible and makes stories fresh that I have heard many times before.

You can buy it here at Amazon, or if you are Becky from Stuck in Frump, Striving for Fab, you can e-mail me and I'll send you a free copy of the book.

I hate geese

2008-08-22T22:31:00.000-05:00

but so far I like what I've read in Wild Goose Chase Reclaim the Adventure of Pursing God by Mark Batterson. I will be giving away a copy of it on my blog next week, when I post my review of the book. If you're interested leave a comment and if you have a goose story that's even better.

And here is my completely unrelated to the book goose story.

Once upon a time I was a nice sweet 11 year old. I was with my mom and dad while they were at some meeting, I think it was to sign paperwork when they were buying a house. I was waiting in the van and my mom had come out with me. There was a big field next to where we were parked and being the active kid I was, I went out into the field to do some cartwheels. There was this big Canadian Goose that was also in the field. I ran towards it a little bit, so it would get scared run away from me, but that isn't what happened. That goose started running towards me. As soon as I realized it I changed directions hurrying to the safety of the van. Before I reached it the goose jumped up, put both its feet on my back and pushed me down to the ground. After that, I'm sure I broke a an Olympic record racing to the van. My mom said she has never seen me move so fast. I was inside before she even had her door open. The evil demon, I mean goose, left me alone after that, but I now have a deep seated dislike for those animals.

Indian Thriller

2008-08-06T22:01:00.000-05:00

I don't have any good words for this other than, its my new favorite video.

End of an Era

2008-07-22T10:39:00.001-05:00

So Sunday I officially retired from the Restaurant industry. Its been a good decade, but I am
tired. For the 2.5 years, I've been working 6 days a week. Bob Evans was my "fun job" I
enjoyed meeting new people all the time and getting some physical exercise.
I started working at Bob Evans when I was a 16 year old senior in high school. I was
homeschooled so I would work the day shift as a hostess. The next year, when I was in
community college, sometimes I would work on homework during the slow afternoons. When
the area director was in town, he would help me with my algebra.

After begging to become a server, one day my manager handed me an apron and a ticket book
and told me to wait on the counter. Considering I had not yet had any training as a server, it
was a bit overwhelming, but lots of fun. A couple weeks later, they finally got around to
"officially" training me. It was a few months after this that I met a customer, who helped me get
a job at the airport. I took a leave of absence from Bob Evans and worked there during the
school year.

I couldn't stay away too long and next summer I was back in my blue apron. I still preferred the
morning shift, but would work an occasional evening. I was going to MoBap at this time in my
life, so I would adjust my schedule around school. That was one thing I loved about the
managers. They were so flexible with me. I would tell them what days I could work, and they
would let me work those days.

When I graduated college I waitressed almost full time. It was a great shift, it seemed like most
days I wanted to work, someone else wanted a day off, which was a perfect arrangement.
Since I only was obligated to work a couple days, I was free to job hunt when I needed. When I
was hired for an office job, I only worked the weekends for a couple months, then dropped to
one day a week.

Working at Bob Evans only Sunday mornings was so nice. I made just enough cash to never
have to use an ATM. I had my own regulars who would always ask for my section. I moved up
in seniority and got the early shift, getting out of bed was rough, but seeing the sun rise was
always worth it.

This summer I reached my "official" five year anniversary (really its been 8, but the leave of
absence messed with my employment history). It was my goal to reach 5 years, and you get a
5 year present. So once I reached my goal, it was only a matter of time before I decided to
retire.

Meebo Chat

2008-06-12T23:15:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I wonder. I realize most people who land on my blog aren't actually looking for it. This person messaged me in my little box on the right. Since they "pretended" that they knew me, (which is completely untrue) I decided to mess with them. FYI I'm madamepresident.

[22:48] meeboguest151506: i am your old friend but anyways i need ur help....
[22:49] madamepresident: what do you want
[22:49] madamepresident: what is your name?
[22:49] meeboguest151506: Well i need to know if a guy likes me or not
[22:50] madamepresident: who are you? I don't think I know you
[22:50] meeboguest151506: fine i was your bff dont help me theen
[22:50] meeboguest151506: bye
[22:50] madamepresident: amanda?
[22:51] meeboguest151506: Yea
[22:51] madamepresident: cool!! I didn't know you started liking guys now? last I heard you had a girlfriend
[22:52] meeboguest151506: yea i know
[22:52] madamepresident: so whats the story?
[22:53] meeboguest151506: well i met this guy at the resturant and he said hey and im like hi and he is like soo wanna hang out i am like sure so what ya think?
[22:53] madamepresident: I think he is definately sending out vibes.
[22:54] meeboguest151506: yea i am going to see him tomarrow night and hang out'
[22:54] madamepresident: is he really hott?
[22:54] meeboguest151506: yea
[22:55] madamepresident: lucky
[22:55] meeboguest151506: he is so hot i could make coockies on him
[22:55] madamepresident: yum yum
[22:55] meeboguest151506: yea and id eat those coockies
[22:55] madamepresident: does he have a hairy chest? remember how we used to like burt reynolds so much?
[22:56] meeboguest151506: oh yea and he does
[22:56] madamepresident: sext
[22:56] meeboguest151506: he so yummm
[22:57] madamepresident: I'll bet
[22:57] madamepresident: think he likes to eat a lot of cookies too?
[22:57] meeboguest151506: bet
[22:57] madamepresident: I know how you like some meat on those bones
[22:58] meeboguest151506: yea and muscle
[22:58] madamepresident: does he lift?
[22:58] meeboguest151506: yea
[22:58] madamepresident: awesome.
[22:59] meeboguest151506: hes calling me right now hold on
[22:59] madamepresident: So are you still in school or have you graduated?
[22:59] meeboguest151506: still in
[22:59] meeboguest151506: omg he wants to come over right now
[23:00] madamepresident: right now
[23:00] meeboguest151506: yea
[23:00] madamepresident: you should get him to bring you some dinner
[23:00] meeboguest151506: yea
[23:00] madamepresident: pie is good
[23:00] madamepresident: for dessert
[23:01] meeboguest151506: He wants 2 watch a movie IN BED
[23:01] meeboguest151506: What u think of that?
[23:02] madamepresident: but your cot was so small. I mean didn't you complain about how your doom room was smaller than your closet at home
[23:02] meeboguest151506: yea
[23:02] meeboguest151506: oh well we'll be closer
[23:02] madamepresident: yeah, but its so hot
[23:03] madamepresident: I couldn't sit with a hairy man blanket on me
[23:03] meeboguest151506: YEA I KNOW
[23:03] meeboguest151506: OH HES HERE
[23:04] madamepresident: wow hes got to live close to you
[23:04] madamepresident: where are you living now?
[23:04] meeboguest151506: yea he is only 2 blocks down from me
[23:04] madamepresident: thats close. so where are you living these days?
[23:04] meeboguest151506: well not much diff from my home town
[23:05] madamepresident: yeah, those tiny country towns
[23:05] meeboguest151506: yea
[23:05] madamepresident: everyone all up in your business all the time
[23:05] madamepresident: more goats than people
[23:05] meeboguest151506: brb
[23:07] meeboguest151506: k back he kissed me on my cheek
[23:07] madamepresident: when you're back you need to tell me what his name is
[23:07] madamepresident: he kissed you already? and you just met him like yesterday
[23:07] meeboguest151506: ok
[23:08] meeboguest151506: ill be on in like well at 10:15
[23:08] madamepresident: the cheek is a lot sweeter than sticking his tongue down your throat
[23:08] meeboguest151506: yea
[23:08] meeboguest151506: gtg
[23:08] madamepresident: well amanda you have to give me a call one of htese days
[23:09] meeboguest151506: ill try if not buyzy
[23:09] madamepresident: i need to hear more about this hairy chubby guy
[23:09] meeboguest151506: well gtg
[23:09] meeboguest151506: bye
[23:09] madamepresident: so one mre thing
[23:09] madamepresident: how did we meet?
[23:09] madamepresident: cause I'm pretty sure your from
[23:10] madamepresident: wheaton, IL
[23:10] meeboguest151506: oh gtg srryz bye
[23:10] meeboguest151506: b on at 10:15
[23:11] madamepresident: why won
[23:11] madamepresident: will you not answer my question
[23:11] meeboguest151506: gtg srryz byez
[23:11] madamepresident: you already said that
[23:11] madamepresident: but you are coming back in 4 minutes
[23:11] meeboguest151506: yea
[23:12] meeboguest151506: byez
[23:12] madamepresident: you must be really bored, searching for meebo talk blogs and all
[23:17] meeboguest246523: u there?
[23:17] meeboguest246523: its Amanda
[23:18] madamepresident: sorry, I was shaving my back hair
[23:18] meeboguest246523: oh
[23:19] meeboguest246523: Well he kissed me and its was on my lips he and i fell down on my bed and makedout a little then he left so yeah
[23:20] madamepresident: woah
[23:20] madamepresident: he moves fast
[23:21] meeboguest246523: yea
[23:21] meeboguest246523: but i liked it so :}
[23:22] madamepresident: does he literally move fast? like walks very quickly.
[23:22] madamepresident: i bet he is a runner
[23:22] meeboguest246523: no he loves football
[23:22] madamepresident: how old is he?
[23:23] meeboguest246523: he is 22
[23:23] madamepresident: 10 years younger than you?
[23:23] meeboguest246523: er um rong age
[23:23] meeboguest246523: like 15 i think
[23:24] madamepresident: younger guys are all the rage these days
[23:24] meeboguest246523: yea
[23:25] madamepresident: tell me everything you know about him
[23:26] madamepresident: I'm so excited for you
[23:26] madamepresident: he sounds like a guy you could marry
[23:27] meeboguest209583: he has blond hair blue eyes 15 sweet smart funny cute hot spicey
[23:27] meeboguest209583: yea
[23:27] madamepresident: cute hot and spicey sounds like a coffee drink
[23:27] meeboguest209583: yea i know
[23:28] madamepresident: but you'd better be careful. remember the time we ordered coffee at ihop and you broke out into hives from it?
[23:28] meeboguest209583: yea
[23:29] meeboguest209583: wells i have to get off the computer srryz bye
[23:29] madamepresident: but the hives were so much better than the warts you caught
[23:29] meeboguest209583: yea
[23:29] meeboguest209583: well gotta goes bye
[23:29] madamepresident: oh its fun to talk about old times
[23:29] madamepresident: what do you remember?
[23:30] meeboguest209583: yea but thats the past this is the future
[23:30] meeboguest209583: when we first became friends good times good times :}
[23:30] madamepresident: Very good.
[23:31] meeboguest209583: yea well i have to go bye
[23:31] madamepresident: I mean I never expected to make a friend at mascot camp
[23:31] meeboguest209583: yea but
[23:31] madamepresident: but what? don't you like me anymore?
[23:31] Meebo Message: meeboguest209583 has left your page

With Endless Sight

2008-06-11T20:50:00.002-05:00

When I received With Endless Sight so that I could review it for the blog tour, I thought I might be a bit lost. Its book 3 in the Crossroads of Grace series. Its a very good story of redemption, grace and forgiveness. Growing up I always loved pioneer stories, I thought it was amazing how people could survive such an amazing feat, like walking across the whole country.

This story centers around Belinda a young girl from Belleville, IL. She came from a well-off family who decided to head west on a stage coach. Their adventure does not go as planned and Belinda finds herself with people she would have never known growing up as a child of privilege. She reminds me a little bit of Anne of Green Gables in the way she is able to bring a little bit of light to everyone she encounters.

After reading this book, I decided to see what the first two books in the series were about. I found that Belinda encounters both of the girls, whose stories are told in Books one and two. They are now on my to read list. Allison Pittman tells great stories.

Fatal Deduction

2008-06-06T17:47:00.001-05:00

I've always thought it would be fun to have a twin. We could switch places, and play tricks on our teachers. We could be the bestest of friends and always have fun together. Unfortunately, thats not always how things are with twins. Sometimes there is sibling rivalry. Sometimes twins are such different people who chose very different life decisions. The sisters in Gayle Roper's book Fatal Deduction are the second type of sisters. They are forced to live together in their aunt's house, so that they may receive their inheritance. The time they live together is a great learning experience for them both. They learn about each other and more about themselves.

I thought it was a fun mystery read and the fact that located in the book are crossworld puzzles that play a part in the story are there for you to solve on your own.

Now to announce the winner of the book..... Nici at Mrz Dinkela's Inner Thoughts.

Congrats, I hope you'll find time to read it between all the business at your new job.

Restaurant Wars - Why I like to Waitress

2008-06-01T16:47:00.000-05:00

So I've been working at the same restaurant since I was 16. Its my "fun job" I enjoy the people, and I don't mind the work. "When I work out, I lift plates not weights." For the past couple years, I've only been working the Sunday Morning shift, which is the busiest of the week, since its a breakfast restaurant. We get a lot of the after church crowd. My favorite people are our "regulars" most of which are retired people who come here to eat every day. Those are my favorite. I even invited a few of them to my wedding last summer. Now for my list of the best things about being a waitress.

10. You get a pocket full of money every shift, so you always have "change for a $5."
9. You get used to people mis-prounouncing your name or even forgetting it and will answer to most anything - Ma'am, Miss, You, Honey, etc.
8. Seeing the Sun Rise on my way to work at 6am.
7. Getting large amounts of good coffee to drink for free.
6. Not having to pick an outfit for when you work, since a uniform is required.
5. You don't have the temptation to catch up on reading blogs instead of working, since you are not sitting in front of a computer.
4. Every day is different and fun. I always come home with good stories.
3. Networking. I got my first "non-food related job" from a contact I made at the restaurant.
2. Its a good workout. "I lift plates, not weights".
1. When you really miss something up badly, that group of people leaves in a short amount of time and you never have to see them again.

Bloggy Stuff

2008-05-22T11:39:00.004-05:00

So very soon I will be writing a review of Gayle Roper's new book Fatal Deduction. Its a mystery that incorporates crossword puzzles. I'll also be giving away a copy or two, so if you are interested in winning, leave a comment with your favorite puzzle game. My addiction is Sudoku. I spend way too much time playing. I even have a special "Sudoku stance" where I hunch over my laptop with 100% concentration, my husband knows better than to talk to me when I'm in the middle of a puzzle.

I was at the DMV yesterday and I think it would be a fun place to people watch. I was there for my license. The kid in front of me was a newly 21 year old, and the guy behind me was a hispanic person, who had brought along his boss to translate. I find it amusing that no one seemed to smile for their picture. Don't they realize if they ever get kidnapped or commit a crime, thats going to be the picture on the news? I refuse to look like a criminal, but I guess a lot of people just don't care.

Work has been so busy and draining the past few weeks. I get home and I just want to crash. This week should hopefully be the end of crunch time. I have a good new friend there, that makes time go by faster. Plus, I have been volunteering to help in the fundraising for the St. Louis Race for the Cure. Things are winding down, registration ends today. Then we have just a couple more things to do and we are done! I really do think its a good cause, but its just been sapping up all my time and volunteering at work while learning a new job has been a challenge.

Random Wal-mart picture

2008-05-21T22:04:00.003-05:00

I have like 10 different things to blog about, but just haven't been in a writing mood lately. I'll get around to it soon.

Office Wars - Overtime

2008-05-07T18:01:00.001-05:00

So when I took my new job we were told that we would have overtime on occasion. At the end of the quarter we have a lot to do and a limited amount of time to get it done. This means that I have been here almost 11 hours today. After being here that long, I am so tired of my desk. So this is my top eight (I'm too tired for a full 10) list of positive things about working overtime. Hopefully it will prevent me from jumping out a window or something equally as crazy.

8. I will attend the monthly "here is stuff that you don't care about" quarterly meeting just long enough to snag a bagel tomorrow morning before leaving and no one will tell me I need to be there.

7. I have the entire row to myself, so people don't bother me very much. My boss affectionately refers to my desk as "Siberia".

6. I can listen to music all day. I now have time to listen to all the music I have neglected. Now I need to find some new bands or maybe a book.

5. After spending this much time in front of a computer screen surely I will need glasses. Perhaps they will make me look more intelligent. That will lead to a different job that does not require uncompensated overtime.

4. Since we are to put our initials by the things we complete, I will never forget my new ones, now that I am married.

3. I arrived early enough to trade my chair, with a newer one at a different cube. Unfortunately it is not the magic chair I hoped it was that would cure all my aches. Why is it so hard to make a comfortable work chair and desk?

2. By arriving so early and leaving so late, I completely avoid rush hours.

1. The best thing about working overtime is Matt makes dinner!

New Job

2008-04-21T20:46:00.004-05:00

So I'm sure everyone is wondering "Where has Tanya been?" "Does she hate me?" "Has she quit reading my blog?" "I haven't gotten a comment from her in forever!" None of those are true. I just got a new job. I'm still at the same company, but in a different department.

Last week, was my first week, and it was pretty crazy. I spend the mornings at my old job, while one of my co-workers was on vacation. Then I spend the afternoon training in the new department. It meant I was working some pretty long days. If that wasn't enough, I'm involved in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, here in St. Louis and I'm in charge of keeping things organized in my building.

So far things are going okay. They use so much jargon and have so many acronyms that half the time, I have no idea what they are talking about. I'm sure that will get better with time, but for now, I'm guessing at what they mean. I'm sure in a couple weeks things will get better and I won't walk around with a lost look on my face.

As far as my blog reading / commenting goes, I'll get there. Because I really don't want to miss out on everyone's fun posts.

Earthquake

2008-04-18T08:39:00.003-05:00

Last night, I woke up startled and a grabbed my husband's arm. It woke him up too. The house was shaking, but it was strange. Our first thought was that it was the wind, but it didn't sound like the wind. I got up and looked out the window and things were very peaceful. Nope, no storms. We laid in bed a while longer, then I said, I'm going to look out back. Our garage is in the back of our house. I thought maybe someone hit their garage (we live in a townhouse). Nothing strange out there.

Then we turned on the tv flipped through the channels. Nothing. We really started thinking we had imagined it and were going crazy. I mean the shaking was little enough that nothing in our house was knocked over. We tried googling, hoping the local news might have something online. Then Matt says, "lets check www.ar15.com". Sure enough someone had posted about the earthquake.

I just had to laugh, that the first place people go is the internet. Before the news, came on at 5 am, we were talking about the earthquake with other people online.

EDIT: 10:30 and we had an aftershock. I have decided I do not like earthquakes.

My First Blog Award

2008-04-07T13:05:00.006-05:00

Melissa over at Hope for the Hopeless, was so kind and gave me a blog award. I'm so excited, its the first award I've gotten and the best one ever.

How did she know that tomorrow is my birthday? and that I will be wearing a tiara? My mom gave me one when I turned 21 and now its a tradition. Its also the only day I feel like I can get away with wearing one now that I am an adult, who is about to be a quarter of a century.

You get to make up your own rules for passing it on, since you're the one in the tiara.

I'm going to pass this award out to 3 fellow bloggers.

Jenster at Jenster's Musings
She's a cool Christian Lady and a cancer survivor, which makes her tiara worthy.
Nici at Mrz Dinkela's Inner Thoughts
She's new to blogging and I hope she keeps it up. Also, she loves tiara's almost as much as I do. Almost.
Becky at Stuck in Frump, Striving for Fab
She always makes me laugh and hopefully this tiara will help her in her quest for fabulous-ness.

My Family Calendar

2008-04-02T09:36:00.005-05:00

So last weekend I mentioned I was going to visit some family. Each year in the Spring we get together to celebrate the Holidays. Until this year it was just the girls in the family, but since I got married and my aunt had a baby boy, we decided to include everyone.
We made good time on our trip and my husband and I decided to make a visit to Hollywood Blvd. Its a neat movie theater that has a restaurant you sit in comfy chairs with a small table in front of you. They deliver your food while you are watching the movie. It was good food. The theater itself is decorated with old movie posters and random movie pictures. Some of the decorations make me wonder if they also purchased some of their decorations from a Chinese restaurant that was going out of business. Its the only place I know where you can go and see a picture of Marilyn Monroe, next to a large oriental-style cement horse.

After our little side trip we made the trip to my Aunt's house for Christmas. The tree was gone, but we all had presents. We exchanged our gifts, wrapped in Christmas paper. I gave my sisters and cousin glow sticks, which meant they spend the rest of the evening hiding out in closets and dark bathrooms (so they could see their reflection in the mirror). Following tradition, each of us girls got something matching. This year its short sleeved zippered hoodies. We looked so cute in our matching shirts.

After a late night we headed back to my other Aunt's house, where we were staying. We spent the night in the Slither guest room. (Yes, they have a small snake, and no, I didn't freak out.)

Sunday Morning it was Easter! We headed back to my Aunt's house for Easter Brunch. She made an egg bake that was delicious. Even though it was cold we held an Easter Egg hunt. Us grown-ups had lots of fun hiding the eggs and laughing when the kids couldn't find them. Eventually we used the hot / cold method to ensure all the eggs were found. Well, all but one. Someone where in the yard there is still a naturally green hard boiled egg.

Because many of us have birthdays in the spring, it was necessary to add another celebration to our weekend extravaganza. Everyone who had a birthday in the surrounding couple months got a cupcake with a candle. Yum yum.

Our yearly Christmas/Easter/Birthday Celebration is the best!

Vacation

2008-03-28T23:24:00.002-05:00

I'm going on vacation to the greater Chicagoland area Saturday 3/29 and Sunday. Its our yearly family reunion. We're celebrating Christmas in March, cause thats how we roll.

As a side trip the husband and I are going to see Vantage Point at the Hollywood theater at 4pm. Just in case there are any blog stalkers in the area.

Jericho on CBS

2008-03-24T09:47:00.002-05:00

My favorite show is Jericho, on CBS. If you remember last year it was canceled after one season, because according to CBS the ratings were not high enough. Fans of the show, worked very hard to bring it back. They sent mountains of nuts to CBS urging them to reconsider. They did and gave us 7 more episodes for a season 2. They brought it back on Tuesday Nights at 9pm central time.

Unfortunately the "Nielsen ratings" weren't good enough for CBS. We all know that Nielson ratings are the ultimate authority. Never mind that
"'Jericho' is unique because the fans saved it -- watching it on the Internet and streaming and iTunes downloads, all those things that are not being counted," said executive producer Carol Barbee in a recent interview.
Thats a stupid move on CBS' part to ignore that. I bought Season 1, I'll buy Season 2, I'd even buy Season 6 (if they'd have let the show go that long). I watch it online. I watched all of Season 1 online, and rewatched some of Season 2 online. I've blogged about how much I like this show, because it makes you think.

People don't play "what if" often enough. Most tv shows are purely 42 minutes of entertainment. Jericho is different. When its over you wonder, what if something happened to the United States? Could I survive? Maybe I should keep more canned food in the house. Maybe I should learn more about wilderness survival. Season 1 made you think about how to become a smarter person, a more prepared person.

Season 2 makes you ask questions. This new government is in place, but who gave them their authority? Its no longer the United States, its now the Allied States. Small name change, but change in meaning, in leadership, in authority. Not many in the town are questioning the new authority. They blindly follow. A few people are different. They ask questions like "who gave these people the authority to govern? Are they even good people?"

CBS brought Jericho back for seven episodes. I have enjoyed each one of them. I am somewhat disappointed in the time slot. They put a show on at 9pm, which I assume is 10 pm eastern. That's bed time for a lot of people and I wonder why the ratings aren't as high as CBS may wish. Why don't they count online viewings and fan support? Have they already forgotten about the nuts? Have they ignored the e-mails sent by me? Even my Mother, who is not very web savvy, took the time and effort to figure out how to send an e-mail to CBS about how much she enjoys Jericho. Is my purchasing power not as great? I guess my fan support of the show doesn't count, because I watched the show online for season one. We all know what little influence the internet has. People who watch stuff online really aren't important. They don't buy things online, they don't have opinions or ways to express them. Its such a shame that my voice doesn't count. I guess it won't matter to CBS that I no longer want to watch shows on their network. I did like Survivor, I've seen almost every episode, but that is 43 minutes of entertainment. I can spend those 43 minutes doing something else. Maybe I'll go surf the web.

The Longest Book Title aka On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness

2008-03-18T09:44:00.008-05:00

Last week I talked a little bit about Andrew Peterson's new book On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. I'll start by saying it has a blue cover with gold lettering on the front. Below the title is an oval which gives you a small glimpse of a sea dragon... just kidding. Well not about the book's physical description, but I'll give you a picture to tell you what it looks like on the outside.

Now to tell you about what really matters, whats on the inside. The first few pages give you a "Brief Introduction to the World of Aerwiar", followed by a "Slightly Less Brief Introduction to the Land of Skee". Finally he has an "Introduction to the Igby Cottage (Very Brief)". Already you can get a taste of Andy's sense of humor. (and yes I call him Andy or AP for short)

When the story begins we meet a small family called the Igbys. You have an ex-pirate grandfather, Podo, who battles creatures invading his small garden, and plays jokes on his rival. You have a mother, Nia, who works hard to take care of her children- Janner, Tink, and Leeli. Leeli is the youngest and a great musician (song). She walks with a crutch and has an adorable dog named Nugget, he's as loyal as they come. Tink, is an artist (form) with a very curious stubborn streak. Janner is the oldest, who excels at writing(word). 1 He helps take care of his younger siblings and tries hard to keep them out of trouble, though it doesn't seem to work.

We find them living an an oppressed town run by Fangs.2 Everyone in the town is fearful of the fangs, which is smart. The fangs are ruthless and mean, no weapons are allowed Podo must even fill out all kinds of forms, just to get a hoe to work in the garden. 3 Glipwood is a very sad place that has very little joy, because the King and been defeated and the land is run by Gnag the Nameless.

On the day of the Dragon festival, Nugget tried to bite a fang. Leeli fights for her little dog, along with her brothers. This starts a major conflict between the Fangs of Dang and the Igby family. Their somewhat happy life in the cottage has been ruined. Fortunately, they have people on their side to protect them. The fangs believe that the Igby family has some knowledge about the Jewels of Anniera (and maybe they do)4, but this family won't give it up, until the time is right.

I loved this book. The characters are amusing, the land is delightful. You have creatures like "toothy cows" and "sea dragons" to watch out for. Each chapter has footnotes that enrich the story. Its a book that you could read several times and find something new each time.

Sometimes when an actor makes an album or a singer tries to tell jokes, you cringe at the results. This is not true of Andrew Peterson. He is a great author, an amazing song writer, and an great guy. I've met him a few times, and he appreciates his fans. He's one of the most down to earth people I know. I encourage you to read his book, and listen to his albums.

A few days ago I had a contest. For those of you who entered the answers are
1. Aedan, Asher and Skye (two boys and a girl. hmm...)
2. Walk is his first album, but Carried Along was his first major release.
3. This one is purely subjective. So I will tell you mine. My favorite album is Love and Thunder. I love it because its a journey. Each song is a part of the whole, and each song has meant something special to me at one time or another.

The winner of the Contest is Jenny. I'll be sending you the book in the mail soon. Thanks to everyone who entered.

1 Word, Form and Song are each one of the T.H.A.G.S. for more information about the T.H.A.G.S. see page 78 of OtEotDSoD
2 Fangs are terrible creatures like lizards who are mean and love to eat any type of food that is spoiled or rotten. Refer to page 164 of OtEotDSoD for a recipe of Maggot Meatloaf.
3 see page 42 and Appendices for more information about these forms.
4 Do not read page 168 of OtEofDSoD until you read all 167 pages previously. No spoiling the story allowed.

Contest Update

2008-03-17T16:13:00.003-05:00

The contest for the Andrew Peterson book On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness ends tomorrow at Midnight central time. Which means you get an extra day than I originally stated. If your response isn't e-mailed to me by midnight Tuesday 1/18/08 (which I won't be awake, so if you sneak in a response before roughly 8am Wednesday Morning, I might let that slide). Don't miss out. If I get enough responses, I could possibly add to the prize.

Contest Time

2008-03-13T13:27:00.007-05:00

Are you ready?
You'd better be ready!
*drum roll please*

Its time for me to officially announce my very first contest! You will have three chances to win. I'm going to give you three questions, for each one you get right, you'll get a chance to win! I'll be picking the winner next Tuesday by drawing names.

Now to answer the most important question for any contest. What do I win? You win a copy of Andrew Peterson's new book On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness.

I started reading this book last week and its very good, I get mad when I have to put it down. I will be posting a full review next week, because I'm part of his blog tour, so be watching for that.

Here are you questions.
1. What are the names of Andrew Peterson's kids? (This novel began as bedtime stories for his children)

2. What was the name of Andrew Peterson's first album? (He was first a musician, then an author)

3. What is your favorite Andrew Peterson song / lyric and what you like about that song / lyric?

Now, I do realize that some of you may not have ever even heard of Andrew Peterson. He is a singer/songwriter/novelist/storyteller/silly song writer, who lives in Nashville. He writes songs that make you think, he has lyrics that you can listen to over again and discover something new each time. You can find some of his songs on his website, there are also some You Tube videos up.
A while back I went to his Christmas Concert. It was such a great experience. I dare you to check out his stuff and remember each question you answer will get you a chance to win his new book.

E-mail your answers to tanya.for.president@gmail.com.

My Closet (or should I say closets)

2008-03-07T12:10:00.011-06:00

Over at Jen's blog we were talking about closets. She talked about how hers was kind of small and how she would like to redo her floor plan so she could have more room.

This is one area I have been blessed! My 2 bedroom, 2 and a half bathroom home has a small pantry (sort of a closet) in the kitchen, a coat closet on the main floor, and a full size closet in the basement. Then you walk upstairs. We have a walk-in closet in the hall, with shelves and bars for storage. Our spare bedroom has a large closet along one wall. Now you get to the master bedroom. We have two closets in there. The smaller one (first picture) belongs to my husband and the large, lighted, beautiful one complete with organizers, shelves, poles at various heights, belongs to me and only me.

The Latest and the Greatest

2008-03-05T09:24:00.003-06:00

Greatest - If you guys aren't watching Jericho on CBS, you really have to start. Every Tuesday night my husband and I are glued to the tv. Its a show about the "end of the world as we know it." Season one starts with the news that several US cities were bombed. This small town called Jericho, now has to find out how they will survive this crisis. National government is gone along with the usually supply routes. Its one of those shows that make you think. If you're interested CBS allows you to watch them all online. The greatest thing about this is if you are a nerd who is into the whole conspiracy around a show. There are a lot of companion sites to Jericho. I'd give you more information about them, but I've only discovered a couple. Great great show.

Even if you don't watch will you click on the links? I want CBS to keep this show around. If you remember this was the show that they showed the first half, took a 3 month break then wondered why the ratings weren't as high the second half. It got canceled, but then fans did this wonderful thing. They convinced CBS that they needed to bring this show back. They sent tons of peanuts and CBS gave us 7 more episodes. So far no one knows if there will be a Season 3, but I hope they will keep it around. We do not have enough shows that make you think.

Latest - Soon I will be holding my very first contest. I just got an e-mail about it yesterday. I'm not yet sure how I will pick a winner, but the prize will be a new book coming out March 18. Its called "On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness" and is written by Andrew Peterson. More to come.

Snow Storm in STL

2008-03-04T10:26:00.007-06:00

So the weather people say we're supposed to get mountains of snow today. I expected to wake up to a winter wonderland, instead I saw streets that had dustings of whiteness, which I assume was salt. Now its picked up a bit. I rely on a building that is across the river to judge how good visibility is and there fore how much snow is coming down. When I can see it, its good. When I can't, the snow, rain, or fog is really thick.

People in St. Louis are funny. When you look out into the parking lot you see all these cars with their wiper blades sticking straight out. I assume it is so they don't stick to the windshield, but really when have they stuck so much you couldn't unstick them? Then you have the people who decide to cover the windshield with a blanket or a piece of cardboard. In theory that seems like a good idea. Then you don't have to scrape your window. Unfortunately it seems like the wind will blow their stuff off, or even when it stays in place, you still have to deal with a big wet something. Do you put it in your car so that everything gets all wet and snowy? I just don't know.
Then the people here are such wimps when it comes to snow. Even though the ground was dry at 9:00am, schools were still cancelled. People didn't come into work. I mean its just some wet water, they sky is not falling, the world is not ending. Maybe I'm just sad, because work never gets cancelled because of snow. I want to spend a day at home roasting marshmallows in the fireplace with a good book and some hot chocolate.

Food

2008-02-29T11:05:00.002-06:00

To help beat the winter blues, we decided here at the office to have food days once a week. We have a team of 5 and each Friday one person is responsible for bringing lunch for everyone. Its been working really well and it sure beats having to come up with something to bring every week.

We've had salad, chili, clam chowder, pasta alfredo, and sub sandwiches. Now its time for round 2.

So what are you doing to beat the winter blues?

Fun with Silkie Chicks

2008-02-27T11:11:00.004-06:00

My sisters really like them. They like to play house....

....or should I say horse?

Lacy likes to watch them play.

Lacy will even nap with a silkie chick

but, she has to keep one eye open. Just in case.

How I Almost Met Phyllis from The Office

2008-02-23T22:53:00.008-06:00

So this story begins back in early June. My husband (who was my fiance at the time) and I were at the hotel, where we decided to have our wedding reception. We were meeting with the wedding coordinator to sign papers and make plans. Our meeting went well and we were on our way out the door. Thats when it happened.

I saw a woman that looked exactly like Phyllis Lapin from The Office. I really thought it was her, but my husband wasn't so sure. I took my MP3 / Video player out of my purse. Luckily, I had a few episodes of the show stored there (Yes, I'm a super fan). We started watching an episode fast forwarding, scanning for scenes with her in it. When we found one, we paused, looked at the screen, then looked at the lady in the lobby. I thought we had a match. I mean she looked just like the Phyllis in the episode, except perhaps a little bit thinner in real life. My husband disagreed and stated it wasn't her. Since he didn't think it was her and I was too shy to go up and ask without his support; we left without making contact.

Fast Forward to February. We were getting ready to make a fire in the fire place. He pulls out some old newspaper and guess who is on the cover section.
Phyllis. The paper is from June when they had a special about people from Missouri and the influence their Fathers had on their lives. Turns out she's from Missouri. Her father still lives in the St. Louis area. She had her picture taken for the paper with her dad for an article that was published in June. We saw a lady at a hotel, in early June that looked like Phyllis.

I bet it was her. Next time, I'm getting a picture.

Silkie Chicks

2008-02-19T11:43:00.008-06:00

We just hatched 4 new chicks and I wanted to show them off. They're so tiny, you can hold it in just one hand. Each one weighs a little less than an ounce.

You can see that they have to go all the way around the egg, so they can break it open. This is called Zipping.

Hatching is hard work and requires many naps.

The sponges kept in the incubator to keep up the humidity level, make great pillows.

This is what the Blue Splash chick looks like when its all dried and fluffed.

Here you can see the Buff Silkie Chick.

These are the two blacks.

Here are all four of our new chicks together. Don't they make a cute family?

Blog Tagged

2008-02-11T17:51:00.000-06:00

It finally happened. I got blog-tagged by Ron. Here it goes. At least he didn't threaten me with 10 years of bad luck if I don't do it.

The Rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

1. I must have my windows open in a certain order.
Work - Left to right. For work it is Compass, XiPay for refund (they are side by side), next is XiPay for research, Personal e-mail, then any other work-related windows. If Compass gets closed, I will close everything to reopen in the right order.
Home I have firefox with tabs. Tab 1 Meebo, Tab 2 Gmail, Tab 3 Facebook, any remaining tabs are for browsing.

2. I have never used an ATM.
I don't like them, I waitress, so I always have cash. When I do manage to go to the bank, I go see a teller. Usually I mention that I waitress, so nobody questions why I have a big stack of $1 dollar bills.

3. I have almost 200 hours of Paid Time Off.
Yet I will probably drive to work on icy roads tomorrow morning, because I feel guilty calling in. I have only called into work for bad weather one time in my entire life. Plus, I like to use my time off for something fun.

4. I hate Debit cards.
I am constantly dealing with the problems that arise when people put their debit card on file, then get mad when we charge it for their order and it causes overdraft charges. Then people want my company to pay for the charges.
Debit cards also don't offer much protection when it comes to fraud. If someone were going to steal it, they could clean out your account. Credit cards are so much safer.

5. I don't use bookmarks.
I could be reading the longest book in the world and I still would not feel it necessary to mark my page. I don't bend the corner either. I just open the book and flip until I reach the spot I left off.

6. My biggest pet peeve is when people misspell my name.
I can be understanding if people do not see it written out and have to guess. It really bothers me at work, when my first and last name are spelled out, that people write TanJa or TOnya.

I'm not tagging anyone. If you want to do it pretend I told you to.

Shootings

2008-02-08T17:38:00.000-06:00

I don't often get very political or comment on un-happy world events. Its not that I don't care about them, its just that I'd rather focus on the happy things in life.

Last night I was watching the newest season of Survivor (yay for Fans vs. Favorites) when the news interrupted to state there was a shooting at city hall of a local town. I was a bit annoyed, because that was all the information they gave at the time. Later it came out that they had a town hall meeting that night. One angry businessman decided to "war" with the city council and ended up murdering 5 people before cops killed him. (Note there is a different between murder and kill). Its a sad story. One of the people in the room said they tried to stop the murderer by throwing chairs at him. What an uneven battle, chair vs. pistol.

I was online on Fox News today. Several of the stories were about shootings- a college, city hall. One was about a man who was going to cause havoc at the super bowl (he changed his mind). Recently, I can remember a couple other school shootings and church shootings. Its sad that this keeps happening in our country. The places may seem random, but if you think about it, most of them are places you are not allowed to carry a concealed weapon. No law-abiding citizen is allowed to take a gun into city hall or their school. Its a shame, because police can't be everywhere all the time.

Most people probably think we should have tighter laws on gun ownership, becuase of this. I think the opposite is true. Criminals are criminals they don't follow the law. It doesn't matter to them if they can't purchase one legally, they will find one in illegal ways. I think we should level the playing field a bit.

In Missouri, citizens are allowed to get a license (after taking a class and spending time at the shooting range) to carry a concealed weapon. The people who chose to do this are being responsible. They are the people who follow safety procedures, they are willing to obey the law. I wish more responsible people would feel a duty to serve the general public as protectors. People who go on murdering sprees might be stopped sooner if more people were able to stop them, before they ruined many many lives.

Super

2008-02-06T09:23:00.000-06:00

Since this week started with Super-bowl Sunday then a Super Tuesday, I can't wait for what other super things are in store.

Sunday, I had to work and since we have to wear our hair up, I do a ponytail with hair ribbons. I try to match them to whatever is going on. Example: At Christmas time I wear red and green. I looked up the team colors so I could cheer for "my favorite sports team" (which was the Giants for that day. I wanted the underdogs to win, because thats what us Americans do). Both teams use red, blue and white. That didn't work so well.
We went to a super bowl party at church, had a keg of root beer, laughed at a couple commercials and that was about it.

Super Tuesday was fun. I L-O-V-E to vote. I've voted in every election since I turned 18 except for one. Cause I vote, I can gripe about the state of our country all I want. If you don't vote, you aren't allowed to whine. I am not so happy with the MO results. Supposedly Missouri is a state where whoever wins tends to be the one to win the election in November

State of the Tanya

2008-01-29T10:56:00.000-06:00

So after hearing Bush's State of the Union, I started thinking. I have told a lot of stores, but haven't written an in general "This is how I'm Doing" blog in quite some time.

Work - As often as I write about "Office Wars" really I have a great job. My boss is great he listens to our concerns and does not micromanage. The hours are good and flexible, which means some mornings I can spend the extra 20 minutes in bed. The work is not hard, nor is there too much of it. People like me and consider me an expert in my area, which makes me feel good about myself. The drive is about 12 minutes and if I hear of an accident on the highway I have a great alternate route. The only change I would be would a raise, but really who doesn't want that?

Church - We are still attending Mosaic, but are not as happy there as we used to be. We volunteer in the Tech booth (sound, lights, the projector). It fees like we are there all the time, and spend most of our time trying to get things working properly. It means we don't get so much out of the service.

Marriage - Things are great. We have adjusted to living together. He's finally learned to push me over to my side of the bed. Its amazing how much room lil ole me can take up. We are happy. No plans to have kids for a couple more years. (Since everyone likes to ask that.

Home - The house is starting to look more like a hope, we have curtains on most of our windows. The walls are still somewhat blank, I figure eventually I will find something to hang up. The kitchen is decorated with coffee cups. My favorite theme.

Friends - Our closest "couple friends" moved to VA, which is sad for us, but great for them. We are trying to find new couple friends to hang out with, as well as maintain those friendships we already have. No we don't feel like we always have to hang out with others in groups of two. I just don't like making people always feel like a 3rd wheel.

School - I myself don't go (not unless I'm being a fake student), but my husband does. He is in the final stretch though. About a year left and then he will be free!! I can't wait for that day.

More Adventures of a Fake Student

2008-01-24T14:58:00.000-06:00

So I went to class again last night with my husband. Last week was pretty fun. This time I decided that instead of hanging out in the hall with my laptop and a engineering ethics book (stolen from my husband) I would explore the school. The university I attended had 5 buildings including the library and the gym. His school, however, has five buildings committed to one area of study. I decided to start at the building on the left.

Since it was so late at night, the halls were mostly deserted. I went through the first building and saw nothing too exciting. I did run into an Asian kid. I must have looked rather lost. He asked "Are you looking for something?"
"No, just wandering around." I replied. He seemed like he didn't quite understand that, so he asked me again if I was lost. I knew it was engineering, but perhaps he could sense that I did not like math.
Finally I said, "Can you tell me where the normal people are? Where is the English building?" He did not like my joke.
He said, "This is en-ju-neering." I finally let him tell me how to leave the building.

I walked into the next building, it must have been chemistry. there were signs on the doors that said radioactive. I quickly left and walked across the courtyard, I did not want to turn into some kind of mutant Tanya.

I walked up to another imposing fortress and noticed that it connected to the next building on the second and third floors. I walked up three flights of stairs, could not find the walkway, went down two flights and found a door to go outside. The place is like a funhouse. A maze to navigate and changing levels to freak you out. That place must be haunted or something. It does look pretty from the outside.

I Gave Blood

2008-01-18T08:55:00.000-06:00

Due to extreme peer pressure from Manic Mommy I made a trip to the mall which is the closest blood donation center. I walked in and was immediately greeted by an old man who asked "Are you ready?" Of course I was, I took two iron pills (which are gross) and ate really healthy today. I did not want a repeat of this.

I gave them all my info. Answered all the questions. No, I have never visited Africa or had relations with someone who was born there. They have updated their system and you watch this presentation on a computer. The pictures for each question was great.

Here you can see me in the chair. The nurses there thought I was a little strange for asking them to snap a photo, but at least they did it.

After they bandaged me up and I had my snack of Oreos and Juice, I decided that as a reward, I should do some shopping and get some coffee. Here you can see me with my delicious white chcolate latte. The general manager of Gloria Jeans wanted me to let you know that he was the one who took this picture.

I also rewarded myself with a new green t-shirt for $4 and a cozy warm sweater $5 to keep me warm due to my being a pint short of blood.

Now its your turn.

Fake Student

2008-01-17T10:57:00.000-06:00

So the crazy university my husband attends decided to schedule a class they say he has to take at 9pm on Wednesday nights. Who can concentrate at 9pm at night? Thats sit on the couch and be a bum time. Its wear your pajama's time. Not go to class time!

Anyways, the one advantage of him having class late, was that I could go with him. I didn't sit in his class, I'm not that much of a tag along (besides Engineering FE Review would be super boring). I did my best to dress like a student. I put on my khaki pants with a cargo pocket, my white "Wish You Were Here" t-shirt, with my brown track jacket and my red tennis shoes. I packed up my laptop and off to school I went. It was fun being a fake student. No real class, no homework.

It did bring me back to my college days. I had so much fun! I was blessed with an awesome roommate. I did not have too much homework and even the homework I had was cool. In one class my final was making a music video. Almost makes me want to go back to school. Almost.

Office Wars - Ice Cold

2008-01-15T13:28:00.000-06:00

So the weather outside is frightful, but inside it's not delightful. Unless you are a polar bear.

I don't know why, but the maintenance people like to play freeze out with us. Our office is so cold that several people were wearing their winter coats. I have learned to layer, but sometimes I feel a bit silly in two sweaters.

I always go warm up my coffee cup with hot water, before putting coffee into it. I'm not such a big fan of coffee Popsicles. I guess it saves me the time it takes to walk to the fridge to put my lunch up. The cold does give me good inspiration of what music to listen to while working.

These are the albums that are cold and sympathetic to my plight.
Songs for Polar Bears - Snow Patrol
Planet of Ice - Minus the Bear
Rabbit Fur Coat - Jenny Lewis
The Earth is not a Cold Dead Place - Explosions in the Sky

This category is to get my mind on things that are warm.
A Sun Came - Sufjan Stevens
Fever to Tell - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Ganging up on the Sun - Guster
What it is to Burn - Finch
Hot Fuss - The Killers

2007 A Year in Review

2008-01-11T09:46:00.001-06:00

Note: Pretend this was posted 1/1/08 instead of 1/11/08.

As far as years go I would rate 2007 very highly. I didn't set any New Years resolutions. I welcomed in the year with Matt, and I remember this feeling I had of excitement on how this year would be great. It met and exceeded all my expectations.

I started the year with the decision that I would not drink anymore, and I have stuck to it all year long.

I finally bought a house and moved out of my parents home. It only took me two years after graduating from college.

I got engaged on a wonderful sunny springtime afternoon.

I got to welcome some new babies of friends into the world.

I almost stole a car but fortunately did not get any prison time.

I got married to the most amazing man.

I got to visit my old hometown as a tourist and attend my little cousin's first birthday party.

I attempted to write a Novel in a month, and while I didn't reach the 50,000 word goal, I did write 14,165, which is 4,165 more than last year.

After wanting to go for years I finally made it to Nashville to see Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God Christmas Concert.

Restaurant Wars - The Booth

2008-01-10T15:30:00.000-06:00

What is it about booths that people enjoy so much? Is it the cushion seats, because at Bob's the chairs are cushioned. Is it the privacy? Going out to a public place, you shouldn't really expect privacy. Maybe its the fact that if you have to go to the bathroom you get to make the person next to you move. Do people like to be an annoyance to their tablemates?

Last Sunday at work, I had a lady almost in tears because she had to sit at a table instead of a booth. A grown woman. I really wondered what else in her life was so awful, to make her so upset about a place to put her butt.

I remember when I worked a hostess in highschool, I would get frustrated, because everyone wanted a booth. Which meant that some days all the tables would go to whichever server had that section leaving the rest with nothing to do. It still happens a lot, except now I'm the bored server. At least until 8am, when I get to move to a section with some booths.

Visiting the Vampires

2008-01-07T13:05:00.000-06:00

Manic Mom recently posted about how she donated blood and encouraged others to go do the same. January is Donate your Blood month.

I have not given blood in quite some time. I used to do it at school blood drives, but now I'm not at school. (I realize that's an excuse). I feel motivated to do it now thanks to Manic, but I make no promises. Even though I eat very healthy, sometimes my iron is too low and they won't let me. Now its story time.

The first or maybe it was the second time I gave blood. I did it at school. Spanish class got canceled so I had some extra time before I had to go to work. We were having a blood drive, so I signed up. When they finally called my name I went and laid down in the chair. They put the needle in, which is my least favorite part. I'm not scared of needles in general, but something about this one grosses me out. I sat in the chair leaking out into that bag for-ev-er. I must not have the veins and blood flow of some people.

When I finally finished, it was getting kind of late and I still had to get to work. Against the advise of the nurse, I grabbed some pretzels and a juice and left. I made it to work on time barely after stopping on the way to do an errand. I sat down at my desk and was fine for a while.

A couple hours later I started feeling sick. The smell of the iodine they used to clean my arm, was making me nauseous. I walked down the short hall to the ladies room to wash my arm. Cleaning it only helped a little. I started feeling super dizzy and light headed. I decided that fainting in the ladies room was not very wise. I worked in a FBO and at that time of the day, it was me and the line service guys. They would never find me. I tried to make it to the hallway, but no luck. I woke up right next to the door with a throbbing. Note: bathroom tiles are hard.

I got up, walked quickly to my desk and sat down afraid to move much more than that. A while later the line service manager came in. One look at me and he knew something was wrong. I told him what happened. He carried me to the lobby with the soft leather couches. They gave me food and ice for the bump on my head. I was treated like a princess for the rest of the day.

Office Wars - Food Day

2007-12-21T13:18:00.001-06:00

So this year we had a department Holiday Party, but usually our section does its own food day. The people who usually organized that thing are not with the company, so this year it kind of feel through the cracks. Individual teams are all doing their own thing. I don't know that I have ever seen so many cookies / donuts / food here in one day.

Its interesting to see the group dynamics of the different teams. Some are very cliquish. If you are not in that group. "No soup for you!" Others, are more generous. They come and invite you to eat with them. I like the generous people. My team is smaller, so sometimes its harder to do food days, because you only end up with 3 things. :)

I try to be a sharer. My group gets first dibs, but if someone else comes by, I'll invite them to join in. I really don't want to eat all the cookies on my desk by myself.

Jericho

2007-12-20T11:50:00.000-06:00

I really enjoy Jericho, it comes on CBS. It got canceled at the end of Season 1, but fans sent in many tons of peanuts and CBS decided to make 7 more episodes. Those episodes start February 12th. I'm so excited. They showed a preview for Season 2 during the Survivor Season finale. I think this time they have someone smart scheduling the show. It comes on right after The Unit, which I imagine would interest the same type of people. I know where I'll be spending my Tuesday Nights.

The story is about a small town in Kansas. Several major cities United States were attacked with nukes. Washington DC is gone, Chicago is gone, Denver destroyed. These people are somewhat isolated from the outside world. They send out scouts to visit other towns and learn what has happened. They lose electricity, then an EMP comes along, which means that anything with a computer chip is fried.

They have to survive without Wal-mart. They have to go hunting for meat, they have to ration their grain through out the winter to have enough to plant in the spring. They have to survive each other and other groups who may want what they have.

After I watch the show I always want to go grocery shopping and my husband wants to get more ammo. It makes you think

Restaurant Wars - Christmas Party

2007-12-19T13:57:00.000-06:00

So last night was the yearly Christmas party for Bob Evans. This is the work Christmas party I look forward to the most. The Christmas Party at my office job consists of food (finger foods), a gift exchange (sometimes fun), games designed to make fun of senior management (nice in theory, except I don't know who any of them are), and your co-workers (I like most of mine). This party is okay. Its nice that they pay us to be there.

The Bob Evans Christmas Party is just so much better. Everyone gets to come in with their family, which I think is the best part. I like getting to see people's spouses and kids. Then I can put faces to the names I always hear. The GM always goes and gets presents for each of the children who are coming. Its a potluck, which I think is fun. Donna makes great fudge, Chrissy is well-known for her salsa.

Then we have door prizes. The managers always make sure they are good ones and that we have a lot of them. Just about everyone will walk out the door with something. This year he gave away a tv, a dvd recorder, and two people got a nights stay at a local hotel with movie tickets and restaurant gift cards. Plus, all the other gift cards and small gifts.

I like going and seeing everyone in "street clothes". Since we wear a uniform, I think its fun to see how people dress in regular life. One girl came in an halter top and a short jean skirt, with snowboots. *rolls eyes* Its 30 degrees outside! What was she thinking? I also, really like seeing everyone. We had two of our old managers stop by just to catch up with everyone. I think thats really neat. Out of the 53 employees in that restaurant all but 10 came to the party, and they didn't even have to pay us to be there.

Concert Review

2007-12-14T14:07:00.000-06:00

The Andrew Peterson concert was so much fun. We were on the floor of the Ryman to the far left of the stage. Not the best seats in the house, but we were just happy to be there. The first half of the concert all the musicians sang a song or two of their own. It was neat. I had heard of many of the musicians, but not actually heard them play.

The second half was my favorite by far. Everything went so smoothly, each person brought something special Behold the Lamb of God songs. People would come on stage, sing or play their part then leave. It all flowed together so well.

I had hoped that I would get the opportunity to meet some of the other people from Andyland (the Andrew Peterson message board), but we didn't have a good plan for finding each other. We had arrived in downtown Nashville early and spent some time walking on the strip. I tried singing AP songs out loud while walking down the street, because I knew some of the other Andylanders would be there. I thought it would be a good way to find each other, but no one started singing along. :(

Maybe next year.

BTLOG

2007-12-12T10:18:00.000-06:00

For the last several years I have been a big fan of Andrew Peterson I really enjoy his music. His albums are the type you can listen to 100 times and on the 101st listen you will discover something new in his lyrics.

Each year he has his big Christmas show at the Ryman Theater in Nashville. I've wanted to go for the last several years, but I always had finals when I was in college and last year I had no one to go with. This year, however, there are no excuses. I'm going with my husband!

For those of you who aren't familiar with Behold the Lamb of God, I'm putting a video up from the 2004 show. I really recommend this album. It tells the story of Jesus' coming starting with the Old Testament. Its amazing. I listen to it year round. It will be such a great experience to see it live!!

Restaurant Wars - Coffee Edition

2007-12-10T09:25:00.000-06:00

I had the worst day at work yesterday. I got there at my usual 6:30 am start time. The weather looked bad so we didn't have many people come in early. I got my first table at 7:30 and it was a single guy. Table # 2 was at 8:15 another single guy. It was just so slow. Churches were canceled and so people slept in. I guess a comfy bed won over yummy breakfast food.

My regulars didn't come in, which was disappointing. I had baked them some Cranberry Walnut bread for Christmas the day before. I did start getting tables later in the day, but then I got a table of 8. Who sat for 2 hours during the busiest part of the breakfast rush. They left a decent tip, but since they sat so long looking at logos of deer heads and discussing fonts, I missed out on making a lot more than they left me.

The worst part of the day was Coffee Related. Bob Evans Corporate decided to redo our coffee system. They replaced our pots with insulated carafes to keep the coffee fresher longer. Thats a great idea, it keeps it hot and tasting sweet like it is supposed to when it is fresh brewed. But part of this coffee makeover included changing the brand of coffee. They went from Maxwell House Regular Blend to Wallingford. The new coffee is stronger and gross. I am so disappointed. I do not understand why they wanted to change that. They had the best coffee around. So I am encouraging you guys to go out and taste it. If you don't like it either you can visit Bob Evans' website and comment. Please, so I can continue my happy coffee drinking. The people at corporate are the ones who get to make changes or un-make them.

Spice up Your Life

2007-12-05T09:17:00.000-06:00

Last night we were watching TV, there wasn't much on. The Unit, which is our usual Tuesday Night show was replaced by Frosty the Snowman. I guess we're done with that show until the strike is over.

We ended up watching a fashion show. Guess who were the musical guests. The Spice Girls! * They did one of their old songs -- "Stop right now, thank you very much, I need some body with a human touch, hey you always on the run, got to slow it down baby got to have some fun." No, I didn't Google that. All from memory. When I was a kid, three of my friends (I won't list names, but if they want to fess up they can.) and I would pretend to be the Spice Girls. We'd do our dances and even record them. (I hope those videos have all been destroyed). I usually got to be Posh, which means I was the pretty one, not the scary one, or gingery one, or baby one, or sporty one. Until last night I had forgotten about our crazy sleepovers. Maybe us girls should have a "spice girls wannabe reunion night".

*disclaimer, when you are a young uninfluencable teenager you cannot be held responsible for your musical tastes.

Office Wars - Printing

2007-12-03T11:11:00.000-06:00

We got a fancy new printer. It is the BMW of office machines. It prints, it faxes, it e-mails, it copies, it slices and dices. It is also located right in front of my desk. I hate the location. Now I have to have awkward 20 second conversations while people look through the paper, searching for their documents or else I have to just pretend they aren't there and hope they don't perceive me as rude.

People try to be helpful when they leaf through the papers. If I happen to have something in the stack they hand it to me, which is nice in theory. Usually I will print several items before going to pick them up, in a certain order, so I don't have to sort when I get to my desk. People always hand me page 3 and 7 out of the 10 I printed, which just made me more work. Thanks.

I also am the tech support for the printer. Every other day someone new comes up. "I heard that this is our new fax machine, do you know how it works?" I of course do, because I'm already the unofficial IT person in my area. I wonder if I can move desks?

I'm not a fast writer

2007-11-30T23:03:00.000-06:00

I ended the month with only 14,165 words. Its more than I ever wrote for anything. Next year I think I will do more planning. I'm still debating whether or not to finish my novel. I know a lot of you guys are writers. What do you do if your book seems boring? If you just can't come up with something that would be "really exciting" for them to do next. Do you just start on a new idea or keep pushing?

Part of me just wants to finish and get to the 50k mark just so I can prove to myself that I can. The other side would rather scrub the bathtub. I don't know which one will win.

November is Really

2007-11-19T11:14:00.000-06:00

Not just National Novel Writing Month, but I think it should also be
• National Clean your Keyboard Month
• National Catch up with Friends Month
• National Play Lego Star Wars Month
• National Think about Finishing Thank You Notes from your Wedding Month
• National Watch TV Month
• National Play on Facebook / Myspace Month
• National make Extravagant Dinner Month (I haven't done this one, but thought about it)
• National Comment on other People's Blogs Month
• National Do Anything but Write your Novel Month

I am very behind in my words. I'm considering taking a vacation day from work and chaining myself to the computer with no internet, just so I can hit that 50,000 word mark by the 30th.

Grocery Shopping

2007-11-16T09:38:00.000-06:00

I went to the grocery store for like the first time in 3 weeks. Is that bad? We got a Mom casserole that we ate for a while. Then I been sick with a cold so we got another Mom casserole. I've been such a slacker wife, but last night I finally made it to the grocery store.

As a teen, I always hated when my mom would make me go with her. I love shopping and I love my mom, I even love shopping with my mom. Just not for food. Now I have to go. Its either that or die of starvation. It really hasn't been too bad. I stand in front of the meat section and consider (for a good 5 minutes) if I have any idea of how to make it into something edible. If I can come up with something, into the cart it goes. If not, it remains on the shelf.

So I went to the store last night, list and coupons in hand, all ready to do a fabulous job of stocking the frige and pantry. I managed to get a decent parking spot, but as soon as I walked into the store and had to walk all the way to the back of the cart room, I knew I might be in trouble. The store was so crowded and I do not like being in crowds. It would take a me good 5 minutes to navigate through an aisle. I was good and did not run over anyone or ram into their cart. If you managed to find what you needed and there was no one standing directly in front of it, you were quite lucky. I think that everyone must have been at the store rather than watching the Thursday night must see TV.

Note to self: If the grocery store runs a "spend $50 get $10 off your purchase" deal the week before Thanksgiving. Go super early or super late or visit Mom.

The Return of Jet Black

2007-11-14T12:54:00.001-06:00

I got my car back. I have really missed him. Wednesday of last week, he got his tires adjusted, so I can once again drive in a straight line. Then Friday we dropped him off, so he could get his heater fixed. It wasn't working last winter and I was freezing. I kept some gloves in the car, just because the steering wheel was always so cold. He was supposed to be ready for me on Saturday, but he needed an extra part. So he stayed at the mechanic shop.

I drove the red car to work on Sunday. It took a while to get things adjusted to fit me. Levi is a lot bigger and I can never reach the pedals when I first get into his car. I made it to and from work without any problems. Monday however the car decided it missed Levi and didn't want to spend any more time with me behind its wheel.

I got into the car and tried to turn the key, but it would not turn. I tried every trick I could think of. I jiggled it. I took it out and flipped it over and it still would not turn. 10 minutes later I seriously considered not going to work. The car hates me. when I was just about to give up, the key finally turned and I started the car.

I am so glad to have own car back. Jet Black always starts, he even has heat now. Plus, since he came back from the shop the radio is working again. Woot!!

Silence

2007-11-08T08:48:00.000-06:00

I am not a music killer. I know I do not sing well, but it is really fair of my car to silence yet another radio to quiet my singing? This morning I climbed into my car and when I reached over to tune on some tunes, I saw no light on the radio. Not even the clock was shining on the screen. I called my husband. He had been the last to drive my car last night. We got the tires aligned. Now I no longer have to feel like a drunk person driving down the highway, because my car did not want to go straight. Anyways, he doesn't remember it not working. I know it worked yesterday afternoon, because I was really excited when my new favorite song came on the radio.

I really need to practice my cello, so I can play this song. So pretty.

NaNoWriMo 2007

2007-11-02T12:09:00.000-05:00

Guess what? Is that time again, where I get to pretend like I am an author. I'm writing a book called "Playing the Game". At least, thats what it is called right now. It could change. We will see.

I'm going to post the first part, feel free to give me feedback. If you think its boring, let me know. If you have any ideas comment. I am open to suggestion. Since I am a "pantser" (No outline, no planning, writing by the seat of my pants). The characters themselves are telling me whats going to happen as I write.

Ben

As he signed his name to the paper, he had no idea how much this was going to change him. When he first ran across this website, he was a bit skeptical. But the idea intrigued him. He spent some time on the message boards, getting to know other people in the game. They told him of their adventures of how much fun it was. He was hooked.

As a little boy Ben loved adventure movies. You would always see him out in the back yard playing. After he saw his first John Wayne movie he was a cowboy. He chased Indians, he chased bank robbers and he always rescued the lady. When his class studied the civil war at school he decided he would be a soldier. He would dash through the confederate lines to capture the fort or sneak people into his house as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Men like Indian Jones, John Wayne, and even Jason Bourne were his heroes. Ben loved adventure and he loved his adventure moves. He could quote them forward and backward. His dream job was to be an undercover agent for whatever three letter organization would hire him. Unfortunately, he felt trapped in an average life, working an average job in an average town. All his fierce fantasies of being manly and stopping the bad guys were only in his head.

This was his motivation for signing up. This Game allowed people to become something more than Joe Ordinary. They gave you a chance to be something special. Ben wanted to find the treasure and go undercover to save the princess. He wasn’t entirely sure how this game would work. Even after talking to others that participated, no one gave him an exact answer. He knew he would get assignments, with instructions on how to complete them. What these assignments were he had yet to figure out. One person compared it to geo-catching. Another said it was more like a murder mystery weekend. You never know what kind of game you will be given.

While at the main office, they took his fingerprints, mug shots, and had him answer many questions about his personal life. He had to give them his weekly schedule. They wanted to know his best friends, his favorite movies, his fears. He felt almost like a criminal. Why did they need to know whether he liked dogs or cats? When they asked if he had a girlfriend or any crushes, he almost left. He’s had feelings for Megan for years, but no way did he want to tell them. It was not any of their business, but of course he told them. They said, none of his personal information would be given out, but they needed to know him. How else could they make his game the best it could be?

He was issued an ID card and told that, he would be contacted soon with instructions. After such an intense session with the group, he expected more definite instructions. On the drive home, he started imagining what his first assignment would be. Maybe he would get to wander through the forest hunting for clues to the hideout of the criminal Robby Robber. First, he’d get some good hiking boots. Then he would read up on Indian trail secrets. Next, he would plan his attack…

Little Things

2007-10-31T10:41:00.000-05:00

I think I need a new job or a vacation or something. Lately I feel like everything is annoying me. I am no longer a duck who lets everything slide off their back. I am like syrup, where everything sticks.

Take yesterday for example. Tuesday night at 4:54 someone sent an e-mail request to me. (I usually leave around 4:30ish) Wednesday Morning at 8:39 someone wanted to know when it would be completed. Come on. It was not an urgent matter. I wrote a mean e-mail back, but I was good and did not send it.

I disagreed with someone over whether you use this id number or that id number. I got annoyed at someone for picking my stuff off the printer for me, but stopping to talk along the way. When I went to get my stuff, it wasn't there. I reprinted, then she brings it to me. I know it wasn't intentional. I don't know why this stuff is bothering me so much. I know it shouldn't.

I think it is related to the fact that we have a new person. In trying to teach her things, I say to do it one way, when another person tells her different. Neither is really wrong, but sometimes our methods conflict. Things that we didn't notice before are now becoming mini-issues. Its strange. We like our new team member. She is nice and socially she fits, but I just don't like this tension.

Chicago

2007-10-25T09:34:00.000-05:00

Our trip was so much fun. We got up early and I ended up driving the whole way there. We hit Portillos for lunch where Levi got to have is first Italian Combo Sandwich. He liked it. I think he's hooked.

Then we headed downtown to the Museum of Science and Industry. It was pretty interesting. I liked it. Levi really liked the U-505. I think he could have spent a couple more hours there. I thought that was pretty cool, too. They built the whole room, just for the submarine.

We grabbed some dinner then went to my Aunts house. She has a fish tank full of Nemo fish. I saw a Dory and a Marlin and a Flo and a Its been a while since I last saw the movie.

Sunday we experienced the River walk. It's a really nice park. No wonder the town is rated the best place to live in the US. We went to a Pirate-themed Birthday Party for my baby cousin. He was so cute! He happily wore his pirate hat the whole time. On our way home I felt like making all the rude drivers walk the plank.

Chicago is nice, but I realized on this trip its no longer home. I don't think I would ever move back. I like it better here, we have a free zoo, free museums, free parking many places downtown. $12 to park your car for 4 hours? No thanks. You don't have to pay beyond what is collected in taxes to drive on a road. You can get through the city in a reasonable amount of time. Its just a little less crowded here.

Turn up Your Stereo-o

2007-10-22T11:16:00.000-05:00

"Can you feel it? It makes you feel so good."
--Apples In Stereo

So in preparation for out long voyage of many hours to the Windy City. We decided it was time to get a new music player for Jet Black ~the mystery car~. This decision was made after dinner at about 7:30 on Friday night. We got out the tools and started taking things apart.

We finally got the old one out, went to the store and bought a new cd player. This one is even better than my old one was, because it has a jack for my mp3 player. Woot! Fortunately it wasn't to hard to do the installation. When I bought the car, I had my cd player put in, so all the pieces were already there, it was just a matter of switching the old and new.

I have radio! I can play cds! I can play MP3s! Now I can sing, in my car, at the top of my lungs, and no one can hear! :D

Going to the Windy City

2007-10-19T09:06:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow we are traveling to the city of my birth. The place where you can find neighborhoods where you don't have to speak English. The place where you can say "you guys" to a group of girls and no one gets offended. The place where you can find Italian Beefs. Its also where hotdogs dressed as a cave man and a women are completely normal.

I'm looking forward to it. I lived there when I was young, so of course every school field trip was downtown. Shedd's Aquarium, the Planetarium, the Field Museum, Sears Tower, Art Museum. When I was little my mom would even take me to these places for fun. She's a good Mom like that.

Now that we have moved away, we only go back every so often to visit family. We never hit the touristy spots anymore. So this weekend, that is what we are going to do. We're going to the museum and whatever else happens to strike our fancy. Plus, we get to go see family. Hurray for 1st Birthday Parties.

If you know of any must hit spots, comment please. Later guys.

Autumn Times

2007-10-18T14:58:00.000-05:00

The season of pretty leave colors is going to be a bust this year. Instead of 20 shades of rust, brown, auburn, and sage, the trees outside my window are turning old brown. Icky brown. I'm so disappointed. I like the leaves.
At my parents house I used to like raking the yard, I'd make a huge pile. It was perfect for throwing my sisters into or even jumping myself. Good times. Well mostly. There was the time my little sister decided to take my car keys with her into the leaf pile. That wasn't so fun.

Once when I was a kid, we were in the Smokey Mountains during autumn on a family vacation. I made a friendship bracelet with all the colors on the mountains. It was more than just icky brown. I think I used 20 different colors. Maybe I should wear it to show the trees what they are supposed to be doing.

I saw a picture of one of my childhood friends who lives in Utah. She took her kids to a pumpkin patch, where they had something that looked like a corn maze. It wasn't corn though, it was a sunflower field, post sunflowers. Isn't that neat? I really need to get out west one day.

Spying

2007-10-17T14:59:00.000-05:00

Last night my husband and I were in our bedroom when we heard a lot of loud talking outside. We looked into the courtyard area, but didn't see anyone. Since it is one of our dreams to star in a spy movie, we quickly turned off the bedroom light. We raised the blinds just a little and every so slowly opened the window. It sounded so loud in our quiet house, but the people below were too involved to notice us.

Our window opening was well worth it. It was our mystery neighbor. This is the same neighbor that if the daughter arrives home the same time as us, will risk carbon monoxide poisoning by closing the garage before she turns off her car, rather than letting actually meet her. All we know is that an alleged father lives there with his alleged daughter.

We listened and Father didn't want to go home, he wouldn't tell random blond lady which house was his. Eventually she convinced him. Daughter opened the door and they spend the next 10 minutes convincing Father to walk in. Finally he went, a little while later a paramedic came and took him to the hospital. Father walked to the gurney and climbed on. I hope he's okay. We never did figure out exactly what his problem was, but my suspicions make me think he spent too much time at the neighborhood bar. Its really sad, we prayed for him.

During this confrontation, Levi and I stood in the shadows peering out the window on the second floor looking down on the action. At one point random blond looked up at the window, but I don't think she caught us. We became masters of staying in the shadow. We spied from the bedroom window, we spied from the living room window. Levi convinced me I need to let him get night vision, in case it happened again.

A Broken Car

2007-10-09T13:34:00.000-05:00

We have awesome friends. We were at church Sunday night when Levi's car died. It wouldn't turn on, instead it made this choking sound. So after trying unsuccessfully to revive the car via cables. We did the only other thing we could thing of. We went to Dairy Queen and got some Ice Cream.

Our friends were so cool, they even volunteered to let us use their car for the day, until we could fix ours. Instead we both took the day off work. Let me tell you the weather was so perfect, I was almost glad it broke (note: almost does not mean I was truly glad, I just like to be outside). So after some flying wrenches, grunting, and angry remarks about car engineers. (One bolt is 15mm and the next is a 1/2 inch. Why can't they just use one system? Its not a hard concept.) Levi managed to fix the car. He went to school, I went to go see my family. It was so nice to get the break from the cube world.