The fun of the season

The fun of jib jab!

Non-Crappy Starring You! eCards on JibJab

The gift of warmth

If you know me or have read my blog, you have learned that I am usually FREEZING all the time. In the winter months I get extremely cold. Even at work the new maintenance guys have been to my office to try to figure out just how to keep me warm. I have a great way to keep me warm at work.. (evil grin) it's called a personal heater. Now, according to the building maintenance guys, my heater is not "allowed" in the office due to a fire hazard. They quickly learned that no matter WHAT they say, they are not going to take that heater away from me. But now I find that I am faced with another hurdle. Apparently the sensor for our part of the office is located in MY office. So, when I turn on my heater to warm up my office, it thinks the entire office is that warm and kicks on the air. One of the air vents just happens to be .... yes folks.... right above my desk. You actually can't miss it when you walk into my office because I have purple paper taped over it to keep it from blowing on me. So when I turn on my heater, I freeze the rest of the office. What to do, what to do. I really do try to not turn on my personal heater and instead wrap my legs up in my blanket that I have in there and put on my sweater. Yes, use your imagination...Tammy MUST look like a grandma... but hey, I AM a grandma. However, sometimes I just need that warmth on my feet so I just tell everyone in the office to bundle up because I am turning my heater on and freezing them out! :) Well, you can only imagine that if I am that cold all day, what I must be like at night and if you can't, I will tell you....it is worse. I guess Ken got tired of hearing me always saying I was cold or maybe he was tired of watching me walk around with sweats and socks and a sweater on every night. One day while we were at the store, he saw an electric blanket and he bought it for me. Now every night I am snuggled up in it instead of the sweater/sweats combo. Before I crawl in bed each night, I put it between the sheets and turn it on high. When I crawl in bed, my sheets are toasty warm and once again, Tammy is happy and warm. This blanket is truly the gift of warmth.

Technology

Isn't technology great? I am the first to admit that I am not all up on the hip stuff however, I find that it's the simple things in life that make me smile. :) Just recently, Ken and I purchased a Garmin Nuvi 650. Ok, it was yesterday! I have been playing with all the features trying to figure everything out. As I was loading MP3's onto it I started thinking..... (yes, I know that is a surprise for some of you) I have an FM transmitter that I purchased for my portable DVD player so I could listen to movies through my car stereo. I wondered if it would work for playing these MP3's through my stereo too. So I went searching high and low for it. Those of you that know me should KNOW that is a lie. I knew exactly where it was. lol (Gosh I am so anal sometimes) I plugged it into the GPS and then tuned the radio to the correct frequency and voila.... it worked!!! How fantastic is that? You would think I would be satisfied with just that, right? WRONG!!! My brain wheels started spinning again and I thought to myself (good thing I don't think out loud or people would have me committed) I wonder if this will also work with my iTunes songs that I have loaded onto my iPhone. I had purchased a $10 headset adapter from Radio Shack a couple of weeks ago in preparation of buying some really nice earbuds (which I also purchased recently). This adapter is supposed to let you plug in any type of headset/headphones and use it with your iPhone. So this morning on my drive into work, I decided to try it. Guess What?!? It worked! I could now play my iTunes songs through my car stereo speakers But was I satisfied yet? Well, yes and no but why not try to shoot for the stars! I then attempted to make a phone call on my iPhone. Now how awesome is this....it faded out the music and made the call. Not only that, the person's voice on the other end of the call was going through my stereo speakers! Talk about being totally hands free now! SWEET!!! At that point, I decided that I was finally satisfied. Like I said, isn't technology great?

Black Friday - Tradition or Hype?

Here we are approaching the end of the weekend that began with Black Friday. As I was sitting here going over the gifts I purchased this weekend, I began to wonder if Black Friday for me is all about the Hype or is it more of a tradition. On Thursday, Ken purchased us a newspaper. I spent a good portion of turkey day going through the ads and wondering if there was anything that was such a good sale that I just couldn't pass it up. Well, after looking through the ads about a dozen times, I came to the conclusion that there was no need for me to pull myself out of my warm cozy bed and go wait out in the cold. However, as the day ticked by and Friday morning crept closer, I found myself going through the ads over and over again like a woman possessed. There just HAD to be SOMETHING that I needed. As I wondered what was wrong with me for feeling this way, I remembered that when I lived back in Utah with all of my sisters, we would browse the ads every Thanksgiving night and then we would decide which sister was going to which store and we would compile a list of everything that person was to try to grab in the rush. So I jumped on the phone with one of my sisters and asked her if she had a chance to go through the ads. They were looking through them as we talked on the phone. She kept telling me that she was getting too old for this. (She is NOT too old) After hanging up the phone with her, I talked to Ken and convinced him that there were a couple of items that I wouldn't mind trying to get. He told me that there was NO WAY he was going to be in the big rush to get through the door but when we both awakened, he would take me shopping to the stores and we would just HOPE that we found what we were shopping for. I agreed and off to sleep I went..... well, I TRIED to sleep. I was SO excited about this day that I tossed and turned. Finally at 3:00 am I just lay there wide awake wondering why time was passing so slowly. There was no way I could wake Ken up this early. So I continue to lay there in the dark, my mind racing a million miles a minute. Finally at 4:45 I couldn't take it any longer. I crawled out of bed and thought to myself, maybe I will let Ken sleep and I will quickly run to one of the stores. Well, apparently I was not too quiet as he awoke and decided to get up and go with me. We missed the mad rush of the crowds in all 3 of the stores we went to and believe it or not, we were 100% successful in still getting everything we had hoped to get. By the time we were done, I called my sis who was just getting ready to run into the store to grab the items on her list. (see, she wasn't TOO old). One of my other sisteres even took her older girls with her to join in on the fun. So to answer the question if Black Friday is tradition or hype, I think I will have to say it is a combination of both. Thanks sis for including me in the fun even though I was 2 hours ahead of you and THANK YOU KEN for going with me!! Hugs to all!

What I am thankful for

With Thanksgiving being tomorrow, I want to talk about what I am thankful for. I am so thankful for my family and my friends. My family is so important to me. I love each and every one of them and always cherish the moments I get to spend with them. They always make anyone feel welcomed. They have stood by my side during some rough times (thanks dad and sisters). My kids are the greatest kids. They don't get irritated that I call them constantly and sometimes that can be a LOT. I am sure at times they think I am a pesky mom but I know that they know I love them.

My little granddaughter is the most special person and makes me excited to become a Nana many more times over (hear that kids????). I want to send out a special Thank You to Ken who has taken me in and has shown me love. I want to say Thank You to his family that has treated me as if I were a part of it. I love all of you. I also want to say Thank You to my friends both in my life and online that have listened to me during good times and bad. Lets face it, I am thankful for everything...... with the exception of the stupid idiot drivers that don't know how to read a speed limit sign or don't know that red actually means STOP....and with the exception of the solicitors who like to call in the middle of dinner.....and all the people that don't watch the Bachelor! And the dog that thinks my mailbox is his personal toilet... and .... and.... and.... ;)

Surprise Visit

This past weekend I had planned to make a surprise visit to my family in Utah. I was supposed to leave Thursday night. I got off work early and rushed to the airport to be there 2 hours before my flight. When the time approached for the plane to be departing, we were still sitting in the lobby. Apparently our "crew" was stuck in NY. The attendants were trying to reschedule all the frantic passengers. Unfortunately the attendant I got was not in a very good mood. She told me that I was still supposed to wait and catch a later flight and still try to catch my connecting flight in Cincinnati. However, there was no way I would have even landed in time. Her suggestion to me was to sleep in the Ohio airport and try to get on a flight heading to SLC first thing in the morning. Ummm Hello!!! Would SHE be willing to do that? Luckily, she was able to find me a flight into SLC that left the next morning. So Friday I had Ken take me to the airport again (thanks baby) and by mid-morning I finally landed in Salt Lake. Neither of my kids knew I was coming in town and I had arranged with my sister to plan a "birthday party" for my father. After many weeks of coaxing, I finally convinced my kids they needed to be there. When they first arrived to this party, they were indeed surprised to see me. I think the person that was the most surprised to see me was my niece. She walked into the room, saw me and screamed! She brought her dog that looked more like a small horse. Ok, maybe exaggerated a little but my goodness he is a big dog. It was so great to see everyone. My sister did a wonderful job in organizing this surprise. My weekend was a whirlwind of events and I got to see a lot of friends and spend some quality time with my family and even meet my 2nd nephew for the first time. (I think that is what he is.... he is my nephew's son).

During all this, I even managed to take lots of pictures. They can be seen if you click on the Picasa Web album on this page. It was nice to be able to do that so everyone that was involved in the planning and executing of this visit, here is a BIG hug to you. I love you all!

Riding A Bike

There is a saying that goes, “it’s like riding a bike, once you learn how to you never forget”. I am going to put my own spin on this. I am going to say “it’s as easy as riding a bike” however today’s blog is going to explain one reason WHY riding a bike is not always so easy. When one first learns how to ride a bike, you just don’t jump on it and off you go. There are training wheels to help hold you steady until you get the balance and the wheels are removed. Then there is the parent hanging onto the back and running down the street holding the bike steady until they can’t run anymore and they let you go. You go a few feet, wobble and then fall. Eventually, you get to the point where you become a master at balancing on the two wheels and away you go. Seems pretty simple, but what happens when the bike or the road present obstacles? I am here to tell you about one of my stories when riding a bike didn’t seem so easy. One day my sisters and some neighbor kids decided to go to the local swimming pool. Back when I was young, we had to ride our bikes everywhere we wanted to go. So we all went and had a great time. On the way home we had to go down the rather steep Butler Hill. This hill was on a main road with cars going both directions. Now if your parents taught you the correct rules of the road, you ride your bike with the flow of traffic. We were law abiding kids so we were doing just that. The neighbor boy was in the very front with my sister right behind him. I was behind that but there was a gap between them and myself. Then there were three others behind me. Now here I am, scared to death to go down this hill but I am SURE that had no bearing on my mind while trying to negotiate the pebble pile that presented itself in front of my tire. My front wheel started to wobble and down I went. I did not just fall, I did a face plant on the asphalt and my body kept going. Yes, my face on the asphalt skidding down this hill. The three bikes behind me along with their riders fell on top of my bike. My sister’s towel rolled out into the street with her chasing behind it. From what I could hear, she almost got hit. As for me, I got up and decided to RUN down the hill. I ran straight past my sister and to the neighbor boy, Mike. Mike just peddled as fast as he could to a gas station where the attendant tried to clean me up with a drinking fountain and his dirty shop towel. I was told that it appeared that my head had split in half right down the center from there being so much blood. Luckily by the time I got home and got all cleaned up, all that had happened is I split my gum open and had some cuts and scrapes on my face. I know they don’t read this but I want to tell Mike and my sisters thank you for helping me that day. Riding a bike is not always THAT easy and I still have the scars to prove it.

Me? Loquacious? Nah!!

Some of you that know me have discovered that I love to talk. I don't know why it is I like to talk. It is not like I love the sound of my own voice or anything. I just think that talk is friendly and I always try to be friendly (unless I am driving but that is another story). I also have my tongue pierced. I have had that done for about 7 years now and I just love it. Well, I am guessing that the other day the boyfriend was tired of listening to me babble so he offered to get me a slice of pie. Not only that, he wanted to warm it up for me. What a nice gesture! I was feeling like a queen being waited on. After he microwaved it, he put some ice cream on the top. Now ice cream is one of my favorite desserts so I figured he really wanted to keep my mouth busy for a while (ok, get your minds out of the gutter...haha). When he served me that piece of pie, the ice cream was already melting on the top of it. But did I even think that maybe it was too hot to eat? NO!!! It didn't hit until the 3rd bite. The apple filling was so hot it burned my taste buds. So I did the normal thing any person would do. I refused to spit it out but rather continue to eat it but tried to cool it off while it was still IN my mouth. You know what I am talking about where you open your mouth and puff air onto the hot food. Finally I managed to get that bite down and grabbed a drink of water. For some strange reason, the stud in my tongue must have decided it had enough. The top ball disappeared and the bottom rod fell out. Now where in the heck did the top ball go? It was just gone. Could the pie be so hot that it melted it? (ok, that is an exaggeration) So, I ended up having to put the only stud through it that I had left and that was the one that they pierced it with. If anyone has had a body piercing, you know that sometimes the area pierced swells up....especially the tongue. So here I am with a normal size tongue minus taste buds now and a huge rod sticking through it. I freaking couldn't talk with it in my mouth it was so big! (ok again... mind out of the gutter please...lol) I guess I should explain to Ken that if he really wants me to stop being so talkative, that there are easier ways without secretly heating up the pie too much and forgetting to put the "contents may be too hot" label on it. ;) I don't think it worked however, I was still talkative...just now I had something to talk about instead of just rambling. So you tell me, am I loquacious? :)

Disingenuous

As I was shopping the other day with Ken, he saw a calendar that was a “learn a word a day” calendar. We started discussing how when you are in school, you are given your vocabulary words and need to learn what they mean and how to spell them each week. Once we are out of school, there is really nothing that keeps us learning words on a regular basis. So the word I decided to discuss is disingenuous. I already know what it means but figured that some of you might not. Disingenuous is another word for insincere, untruthful, deceitful, devious, or hypocritical. Some people can be very disingenuous. They can be people that you trusted at one time or another or perhaps that you still trust, or they could be your enemy. I think we would expect for an enemy to be deceitful but when a trusted friend becomes insincere, that is when one becomes hurt. I just finished reading a book where in the end, it turned out that one of the characters that you thought was disingenuous really wasn’t a bad person but did what he felt was right in his situation. I think at times we have all been untruthful. Some of us have been that way without meaning any harm to loved ones. Others may not be able to help it as they do not know right from wrong.

I hope that I have given you a simple explanation of this word without being too loquacious. Speaking of that, boy to I have a story to tell you!

ITunes Upgrade?

This past week I went to launch my iTunes and sync my iPhone. When it opened up, it had a pop up window indicating that a newer version was available and asked me if I wanted to download it. Knowing that my iPhone updates are done through iTunes, I said yes. Never did I expect what happened next. (Am I keeping you on pins and needles now? lol) Well, as it was installing the newest version of iTunes, I get an error. It states that it can not start iTunes as some of the files are missing. How can that be? I just had it open. So thinking that it is dumb user error, I uninstall iTunes and try to reinstall it again. Guess What?!? It happened again. The NERVE of this program. So this time I think I am going to be smarter than the program. I uninstall it yet again but this time I uninstall QuickTime along with it. I go back to the website and once again, try to re-install iTunes. I am thinking to myself.... Fool me once, shame on you..Fool me twice, shame on me... what happens when you fool me over and over again? Can you be a fool more than once? Well to my dismay, the same error occured. So I did what any absolutely sane person would do. I hit the side of my monitor as hard as I could. After all, it is what is displaying the error message. haha Frustrated I turned off my computer and refused to work on it anymore that night. Oh and it was after 11:00pm so it was also time to go to bed. The next day I thought to myself, Ok, this computer has had an entire day to think of how to get iTunes to install properly because computers are smarter than people. If I can't figure it out, maybe it could fix itself. Right?!? Wrong-o!!!!! So now I decide to go to Apple's website and try to search support. Not finding anything and feeling I am at the end of my iTunes sanity, I come across a discussion thread. The first thread included just 4 entries. All of them saying they had the same problem. No one had a solution. Not satisfied with this, I continued to search more of the discussions. Low and behold, I discovered that HUNDREDS of people were having the same exact problem. Thank God I was not the only user out there with this problem. There was a group of us. Maybe we could rally together and force someone to fix it. As I read this thread, there were lots of suggestions on how to fix it but they didn't seem to work. Then finally I found an entry from a user named "Rob". He discovered that if you delete QuickTime from your computer and then re-installed it, that your iTunes would work. I figured...what the heck (yes, I am from Utah and they say what the heck there). I did as instructed and voila, iTunes is back to normal. I don't know who this "Rob" person is but I am sure that I am one of hundreds of people that want to thank him. THANK YOU ROB my new computer hero! I can once again rest easy knowing my iTunes and iPhone are in good shape. And to my computer monitor, I still love you! Mwah!

I really do try not to take things too seriously or get extremely opinionated. I do have an opinion on a lot of issues but most of them I don’t care to discuss. However, being that tomorrow we vote, I figured I would express my opinion on that. I have never really been a person that was interested in politics. I think that the ads that run are just backstabbing allowing one to feel better about him/her self by cutting others down. Why would a person that is running for an office want to place an opponents name in their ad? In my opinion, I would rather hear more about how they plan on improving the issues that need to be addressed and less about how they are so much better than the other person. The smear campaign just puts a sour taste in my mouth. A candidate should want to get their GOOD name in front of the public and not keep advertising their opponent’s name. Since I do not follow politics closely but I do vote, I go there knowing who I don’t want to cast my vote for by what I have heard them say about others through ads. I think there is a proper way to promote ones self and that is not it.

In the presidential campaigns, I would be more inclined to listen to a candidate that would address the issue of illegal immigrants in the United States. I think we need to make the laws stricter where this is concerned. We need to find a way to make them earn their right to live in this great country and stop crossing the border illegally. They need to learn how to speak OUR language (ENGLISH). I am so irritated when I go into a store and feel like I am in a foreign country because I can not read the labels. Right here, in MY country! I am not being hateful towards them but I do think they need to earn the right to live here. Why are we bending over backwards to please these illegal’s? Why do we worry about making sure they are cared for? I saw an email today stating the one of the reasons was “cheap labor”. I disagree with this 100%. I believe that in the long run they end up wasting OUR tax dollars. This is my stand on it: if you want to live here, learn to speak our language and learn about our country and come into the United States legally!

GOD BLESS AMERICA - LAND THAT I LOVE!!

The Lost Gum

I don't know if any of you chew gum but most of the time you will find me with a piece in my mouth. Don't take that wrong. I am not the kind of person that constantly chomps or blows bubbles. I think I just do it to give my mouth something to do so that I don't talk someone's ear off. I do so love to talk. Who knew that gum would have such a benefit to those surrounding me? Well, sometimes while I am chewing it, it loses its flavor or I just get tired of chewing it. I get to the point where I just can't stand it anymore. I need to get that piece of gum out of my mouth right there and then without regard to where I am! The other day I was driving home from work and chewing a piece of gum. Wait...come to think of it, I was talking on the phone, too. So much for gum chewing being such a benefit to the other person. lol Anyway, the gum started to reach that point where it was driving me crazy to have it in my mouth. Keeping in mind the way I am, I was desperately searching for a place to spit it out. I can promise you, when it gets to this point, I am NOT ladylike. I can take a piece of gum and project it from my mouth with speed and force. I am, however, very considerate not to spit it out in a spot that it may get stepped on. So as I am driving down the road, I spot an area on the right hand side that is just a wooded area. I couldn't believe I was so lucky to find this spot. So as I approached it, I rolled down the passenger side window. Knowing that I had to make it past the passenger side of my car, out the window to the wooded area, I prepared by taking in a deep breath. As I past the area, I blew out of my mouth, forcing the gum between my teeth with my tonge making that pffftttttttt noise. The gum FLEW across the seat, and missed the window opening. I saw it hit the top rubber and drop down into my car. Yes folks, I missed that huge opening. As soon as I got home, I searched the passenger side of my vehicle. I could not find a thing. So, I asked others to look to see if they could see it. They couldn't find it either. I KNOW I saw it fall in my car but I be ding dang doggity if I can find that blasted piece of gum (no pun intended). I suppose one day it may show up. I just hope it is sooner rather than later.

A Warm Welcome Home

I think that at one time or another everyone feels that they are loved and wanted. We don't get to choose how or when that happens but should learn to embrace that special moment when it occurs. Tonight was my lucky night for just that. As I got out of my car from a long day's work, I was greeted with just about the warmest welcome anyone could ask for. The moment I stepped out of my car, Brew (the neighbors dog) came bouncing over to greet me. His tail was wagging as he ran across the street. When he reached me, he started jumping up and down and whining. He obviously wanted to play as he had his ball in his mouth. So, I started kicking his ball for him. He would run off and fetch it and bring it back just so I could do it again.....and again......and again. As I was doing this, the little boy that lives across the street who is almost two, comes running towards me just a babbling along the way. Of course I couldn't understand a word he was saying as he had a lollipop in his mouth. Once he reached me, he started talking up a storm. Meanwhile, Brew is still retrieving the ball that I am kicking for him as I now talk to Colby. Then I look up and here comes another little boy. He is in 1st grade. He comes running over and stops right in front of me with a HUGE smile on his face. He came over to show me his new shoes. He even demonstrated how nice they were by kicking that ball for Brew a few times! I was thinking, now isn't this a nice welcome home? As I was standing there, I felt something rubbing up against my leg. Looking down I spotted the neighbors cat. I guess this cat wanted some attention too. So I took a moment between listening to Colby babble, Collin tell me about his new shoes and kicking the ball for Brew to reach down and pet the cat. It just so happens that Sadie (another neighbors dog) decided that she too wanted some of my attention so she started to softly bark to get my attention. Now I couldn't give all these other people and animals my attention and not Sadie so even she got a rub behind the ears. Now this might not be the welcome home that you all expected but it is one that definitely made a lot of people happy. I will take that ANY day of the week. Happy Friday!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Happy Halloween to all the goblins and ghouls

And adults that dress up and act like fools

May you enjoy everything that you do

And don't forget to shout out a "BOO!!"

Cheers!

Cycle of Life

Late last night a very good friend of mine had a baby girl. This experience is truly a miracle. For those of you that have had children, you will know exactly what I mean. My friend sent me phone picture messages of his new arrival to his family. She is absolutely adorable. Of course with any parent or relative, you think that your child is the cutest. I am here to tell you that you are wrong. MINE are the cutest. lol As I thought about him and his family today, my mind drifted off to the new television series called Pushing Daisies. I don't know if any of you have seen this but it is a rather different show. There is a character that can bring someone that is dead back to life by touching them. If he touches them again, they die immediately. He also discovered that with this unique power, if he fails to touch them again within 1 minute, something else dies in that person's place. Thus creating a cycle of life. As each day passes I find myself looking back on life and how quickly it passes by. I am sure most of you think to yourself, "I remember when" or "I used to think that 40 was old". When you reach 40, you think to yourself "heck, I feel like I am 20. 40 isn't so old. " So my advice to all of you is this.... Enjoy the day! Take time to feel like a kid again. Do something wild and crazy. Act as young as you want (ok within reason). At the same time, cherish those little one's as they begin their journey into childhood and don't forget to sing and laugh. This is a picture of my granddaughter. She is a year old in this picture. Just as I told you, SHE is the cutest!! AT least in Nana's eyes. ;)

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday Ken and I decided to head to the pumpkin patch. For those of you that are not familiar with the pumpkin patch, it is located on a farm known as the Chesterfield Berry Farm. This place has a LOT of pumpkins to choose from. You jump on a wagon filled with hay seats and a tractor pulls you out to where the pumpkin patch is. You are then released from the wagon to go WILD looking for a pumpkin that fits your liking. Ken noticed that the pumpkins had grown right on top of the mounds, stem up and detached from their vines just for us (Now those are some smart pumpkins). Seriously though, can you just imagine how much work that would be to arrange all the pumpkins like this? Somebody's back HAS to be hurting!!!

It just so happens that after looking and looking, searching mound to mound that I found two "perfect" pumpkins "perfectly" sized. Actually, Ken found one and I found the other so I won't take ALL the credit. However, now I have an idea of just how Pamela Anderson must feel every day. (I know...I'm bad) I just felt lucky that I found these especially since it is so close to Halloween?





After that, Ken tried some of the BBQ (I am not a big fan of BBQ so I passed on this part of the visit) They also had hot dogs (not a fan of the hot dog either) that you could roast yourself over a big firepit. The BEST thing about that firepit was that it heated up my backside nice and toasty warm. (Hey here is a BIG surprise....I was cold...lol) But don't worry, I didn't go without. They also sold nachos there. I was thinking...oh could this be real? They actually have JUNK food? So I stood in line, hoping to get some tasty nachos instead of that gross BBQ or hot dog (can you tell I REALLY don't like those two?). They ended up being the kind of nachos that you can get from a gas station but without the chili. Thank goodness I thought to pack a few crackers in my coat. :)
The pumpkin patch normally has a store that is filled with all types of jams that you could imagine but I think we were too late in the season to get any as the shelves were pretty bare. Like what you would see in Old Mother Hubbard's Cupboard. The patch also has an 8 acre corn maze. EIGHT acres? If I walked that in my high heel boots, they would have to send a search team in to find me. The pumpkin patch is great for kids and even though we didn't have any with us, we still had a good time.


The rest of my day was spent switching out my winter/summer clothes. You know you have too many clothes when this task takes you three hours to complete and you still didn't have time to do the shoes. I decided that it was a good time to clean out the clothes that I haven't worn in ..... a year.... yeah a year (that is my story and I am sticking to it). You know the clothes I am talking about (especially the ladies). Those are the clothes that you hope that you will one day fit back into so you keep holding on to them from year to year but then you finally have to face the truth that it is just not going to happen. So, I have bagged them up and am going to take them to the Goodwill where hopefully someone won't think they are too outdated. Or maybe by now the style is back in. I am happy to say that I have minimized the number of articles in my closet and now you can actually walk into it and see what is hanging on the hanger. Whew!

I think I will end this by saying..... WHO SAID FALL WAS NICE WEATHER?? lol It is FREEZING!! brrrrrr

Welcome Fall

Most people that know me know that I just LOVE summer. I have really enjoyed the pool this past year as I lay out browning in the sun. I am always cold so the warm weather is always welcome. I am constantly being told that my internal thermostat is off. It seems the only time I am NOT cold is in the middle of the night and for the first couple hours that I am awake. With that being said, I can also admit that I just love when the weather cools off just enough that I can open my windows at night and let the breeze flow through. You can always smell that fall is fast approaching in the air. The leaves on the trees turn a vibrate red, yellow or orange making the roadways appear to be on fire. It really is a beautiful sight. I have never really minded getting out and raking up those leaves that fall from the trees. I think in the past 5 years, I have raked more leaves here in Virginia than I have in my entire lifetime. I remember seeing a picture of a small boy jumping into a pile of leaves and remember thinking, that is going to hurt. With the amount of leaves we have fall on the ground here, I can see how he could never even come close to hitting the ground. How fun! Another reason I welcome fall is that it marks the beginning of the holiday season starting with Halloween. I love Halloween. This season tends to bring families together. So for those of you that dread fall as it marks the end of summer and the world seems to die off til Spring, try looking at it from a different point of view. Welcome and embrace it for all it's worth.

Phraseology

Not all of my posts will be of this nature.... this is meant for adults, so to my nieces, please do not read this particular post. Thank you.

I was playing around with my profile tonight and wondering if there was anything interesting I could write about tonight. I am sure you are all expecting many great and wonderful words of wisdom to appear miraculously since it is after all, my blog. :) I was forwared this email and thought this was a great phrase for the day so that is what you get to read. Enjoy.

Have you ever wondered where the Phrase "You GottaBe Shittin' Me" came from?
Well, it just so happens to have originated throughthe Father of Our Country way back when, George Washingtonwas crossing the Delaware River with his troops.There were 33 [remember this number] in Washington's boat. It was extremely dark and storming furiously and the water was tossing them about. Finally, Washington grabbed Corporal Peters[remember this name]and stationed him at the front of the boat with a lantern. He ordered him to keep swinging it, so they could see where they were heading. Corporal Peters, through driving rain and cold, continued swinging the lantern back and forth, back and forth.Then a big gust of wind and a wave hit and threw Corporal Peters and his lantern into the Delaware . Washington and his troops searched for nearly an hour trying to find Corporal Peters, but to no avail. All of them felt terrible, for the Corporal had been one of their favorites. Sometime later, Washington and his troops landed on the other side, wet and totally exhausted. He rallied the troops and told them that they must go on. Another hour later, one of his men said, "General, I see lights ahead."They trudged toward the lights and came upon a huge house. What they didn't know, was that this was a house of ill repute hidden in the forest to serve all who came. General Washington pounded on the door, his men crowding around him. The door swung open, and much to his surprise stood a beautiful woman. A huge smile came across her face, to see so many men standing there. Washington was the first to speak, "Madam, I am General George Washington and these are my men. We are tired, wet, exhausted, and desperately need warmth and comfort." Again, the Madam looked at all the men standing there, and with a broad smile on her face, said, "Well, General, you have come to the right place. We can surely give you warmth and comfort. How many men do you have?" Washington replied, "Well, madam, there are 32 of us without Peters." And the Madam said, "You gotta be shittin' me"

Have you ever?

Today was just one of those days. It started off fine with a 4 hour meeting. Oh joy! Afterwards, a group of co-workers and I were taken out to lunch. As we were leaving the place, my high heel shoes slipped on the ceramic floor and down I went. Yes folks, in the middle of the restaurant. It was one of those moments that when you are describing it to someone, you ask them.... have you ever? I am here to tell you that I can now say "yes I have". I had my 1 second of fame as my dress flew up and my butt hit the ground. It was also one of those moments that you hope that no one actually saw you fall but you know in reality that they did. I extend my thank you to the one co-worker that ran over to help try to catch me and for the rest of you that didn't jump..... what the heck??? lol Needless to say, I exited that place as fast as my slippery shoes would carry me. So now I ask you.... Have you ever???