Just what the name says....just think of it as a potpourri of my thoughts, ideas and little tidbits that I share with everyone!! A special thanks to all my friends who read and comment in my blog on a regular basis!!
For all of you that know me, I am the type of person that stays very positive and upbeat most of the time. There are times though that I just wish I could scream out and get all my frustrations out about this horrible disease.
The mother of one of my daughter's good friends passed away today.....she lost her battle with cancer. She was younger than me and fought so hard and they really thought they had gotten it under control but unfortunately it won!!
It just seems SOOOOO wrong that this horrible disease can kill someone in the prime of their life. She had so much life left to live and so much to look forward to. Now she will never get to see her daughter grow up, never get to be there for her when she has her first date, goes to the prom, gets engaged, gets married, has her own children.....because of this horrible disease she will miss out on all those special things that you are supposed to be around for in your life!!
I believe in God but since being diagnosed with cancer and seeing other people die from this horrible disease, I often wonder WHY....why would God do such a terrible thing? Why would he leave a little 10 year old girl without her mother? Why would he let this disease take a woman in the prime of her life?
It's so frustrating and so hard to even know what to do or how to feel.....Am I destined for the same fate eventually or did I truly kick this horrible disease in the butt? And what makes me survive while someone like her has to lose her battle? So many times a day I wish I could go back to life "pre-cancer" when life seemed so much easier and I didn't have the worries that it now brings.....I try to look at the positive and realize that everything happens for a reason and I am now a stronger person because of everything I've been through but it is SOOOO hard to stay positive when you see other people losing their battle and wondering WHY?????
You know I always know that these times are coming but for the most part I don't let them bother me until it is practically right on top of me....I just got called today and my CT Scan is scheduled for next Tuesday morning.....so now I get to spend the next two weeks with knots in my stomach (waiting for the exam and then waiting another 4 days for the results)....and as much as I tell myself not to do that, it just doesn't help.....every 6 months I battle with staying positive and wondering if they will find something this time.....not a fun situation to be in to say the least.
With all that being said, if I am a bit out of sorts for the next couple of weeks, that's the reason. The littlest things will bother me and I most definitely will be a bit more sensitive.....par for the course I guess....don't you just hate emotions????
I'll keep you all updated on how things go....please keep your fingers crossed for me!!
Feb 17, 2008 11:07 am Mood: Let's Go Racing!, 789 Views
It's February 17th and the start of another Nascar season with the annual racing of the Daytona 500. I will admit, I, of all people, never thought I could enjoy car racing but my husband turned me on to it in 2001 by bringing me to a race. That was all it took.
I have been a Jeff Gordon fan since I went to that first race in 2001 (I have taken plenty of razzing for that over the years so nothing you say here will shock me if you are not a fan of his)....It is actually rather comical that most people tend to hate the most talented drivers.
I have also been a Jimmie Johnson fan since he came onto the scene but even I'm getting a bit bored with ALL his success. It just seems to be coming easily to him the last couple of years and I'd like to see him have to work just a bit harder for it.
Three years ago however I went up to New Hampshire for the September race and got to meet Casey Mears (the photo incuded with this post is from that race). I really hadn't paid much attention to him in the past, although I did know he was part of the famous Mears racing family. I was extremely excited when he came over to the Hendrick camp last year so decided to start watching him a bit more closely. He won his first Nascar race last year and had many great finishes. He finished 14th in the points and showed that he can indeed compete with the "big boys".
Casey will be driving the No. 5 Kelloggs car this year and I have decided he is my racer of choice for 2008. Can he win the championship this year? Probably not but I am rooting for him to get into the Top 12.....we'll see how it goes!
With that being said, do you plan on sending flowers to that someone special in your life? Flowers can brighten up anyone's day, but Valentine's Day adds some special meaning to the exchange. The secret code of color plays an important role in sharing meaning; each type of rose, carnation, or exotic petal represents a distinct message and purpose. Here's a basic guide to help you decide just what type and color flower is best:
Pale or light pink rose: the best pick for a dear friend or platonic relationship
Red rose: no doubt about it, this one says 'I love you'!
Dark pink rose: this one says 'Thank you' gracefully and eloquently
White rose: a symbol of purity and innocence; it adds a touch of mystery for a secret admirer or can also mean 'I miss you'
Lilac rose: perfect for your crush, this one offers its mystical properties for the ideal surprise
Coral rose: these exotic beautifies exemplify desire
Peach rose: these are often used for sympathy, but can also be a nice way to say 'thank you'
Yellow rose: perfect for friends, cheering up, and celebrations
Orange rose: a symbol of desire and enthusiasm, a great way to create some sparks!
So roses are too cliche for Valentine's Day? There are plenty of other flowers out there to choose from. Carnations, camellias, poppies, tulips, and orchids are other choices which also have significant meaning: Daisy: Innocence, romance, and loyal love; this one's perfect for the best friend
Pink carnation: long-lasting love
Red carnation: admiration
Yellow carnation: rejection (be careful with this one!)
White carnation: pure love, adoration Blue Camellia: heart ache and yearning
Pink Camellia: longing
Red Poppy: pleasure
Yellow tulips: hopeless love
Orchid: magnificence, beauty
So what's it going to be? What are you sending that someone special in your life today?
A popular motivational speaker was entertaining his audience one day. He said, "The best years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman who wasn't my wife!"
The audience was in silence and in shock.
The speaker then added, "And that woman was my mother!" Laughter and applause ensued.
A week later, a top manager trained by the motivational speaker tried to crack this very effective joke at home. He was a bit foggy though from having had several drinks.
He said loudly, "The greatest years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman who was not my wife!" Of course the wife went white with shock and rage.
Standing there for 20 seconds trying to recall the second half of the joke, the manager finally blurted out "....and I can't remember who she was!"
Moral of the Story: Don't copy if you can't paste!!
Feb 2, 2008 9:06 am Mood: Remembering Childhood, 761 Views
Most of you probably played it as a child. I know I did. We'd all sit around in a circle. The first person would whisper a few short sentences in the ear of the next person. They would have to repeat it to the person next to them, and so on around the circle. When it got to the last person, they would announce what they heard. It never, ever, came close to the original message, and was usually so distorted that it would evoke belly laughs from all the players.
Funny kids game...right?
And of course, it never happens in the real adult world... does it?
Well guess what folks? It happens all the time! Every single message, every attempt at communication between any two beings suffers from the same problems and gets degraded in one way or another. Yet, we like to believe that it doesn't.
At this point you're probably thinking, "Oh yeah, I remember that game. But why on earth is she mentioning it in her blog?" I only mention it to make a point.
Information is communicated daily in A*F*F through GROUP POSTS, blogs, advice columns and magazine articles. As adults we need to remember the telephone game and realize that the information communicated could potentially be conveyed incorrectly.
So, what does all this mean? The next time you are reading group posts, etc. remember that oh so funny childhood game and realize that what you are reading could very well be very different than what was originally communicated.
Well we're almost into the second month of the new year and I figured it was about time to change the look of my blog. I'd like to thank danaman4u for his beautiful twinkle bling...I've admired them for quite some time so figured I needed to grab them and use them.....also a HUGE thanks goes out to discretion4sur for the bling I used to create the border and for taking the time to walk me through step by step on creating a border using only bling......67 bling in total to be exact.
Also with the new year comes my active participation in Bling Nation. Hope you'll check it out and join. The Bling Galleries are beyond compare!! There is also a "Bling Request" thread where you can ask our bling artists to make that special bling for you.
In addition, we are incorporating informational threads on making bling and using bling in your signatures, blogs, group posts and profiles. As if that weren't enough there will also be bling related contests and games for the bling maker and COLLECTOR alike.
Look forward to seeing you there and once again thanks to the above-mentioned individuals for their bling and help!
If anyone is interested in Cancer Awareness Ribbon Bling, please visit Cancer Ribbon Bling for a description of the color designation and two bling options for each color.
I was browsing around online this morning and saw an interesting list of the Caribbean's Sexiest Beaches, so if your desire is to go somewhere nice and warm this winter then here's a great list to choose from:
1. Macaroni Beach, Mustique 2. Aquarium Beach, Curacao 3. Pigeon Point, Antigua 4. Crane Beach, Barbados 5. Baie Longue, St. Martin 6. Playa Esmeralda, Cuba 7. Young Island Beach, St. Vincent 8. Grace Bay, Turks and Caicos (I can vouch for this one.....absolutely beautiful!!) 9. Pirate's Bay, Tobago 10. Plage Malendure, Guadaloupe 11. Eleuthera, The Bahamas 12. Pinney's Beach, Nevis (small island next to St. Kitts) 13. Punta Cana, Dominican Republican (Deb isn't this where you and the hubby vacationed last year??) 14. Saline Beach, St. Barts 15. Placencia, Belize 16. Shoal Bay, Anguilla
Okay I guess I am done dreaming for the morning. I can definitely say I'd rather be at any one of the above listed beaches rather than here right now....LOL
Jan 8, 2008 8:29 am Mood: Enjoying the Weather, 890 Views
Okay this is absolutely crazy!! Last week I'm writing in my blog complaining about how darn cold it is...that January marched in like a lion. So what it is like outside today.....60s and sunny as anything!! I can't keep up with this darn weather in the least....
Mind you now I am not complaining about 60s...heck I'd take this weather any day over last week....that's for sure. This isn't the only place that is having crazy weather though...I have a very good friend from here who is in Texas and she was saying how warm it was there as well....heck I was jealous when she told me she was sitting out by her pool sipping on a Sangria!!
Hey now there's an idea.....I don't have a pool I can go and sit by but I could go out on the back deck, enjoy the sunshine and sip on a Sangria....of course it's too early for me to drink (funny how when I was in college this was a great time to get started...funny how things change when we get older hehehehehe)
Anyway, here's crossing my fingers and my toes (and anything else I can cross) hoping that the weather stays warm.....but we all know this is New England so it will never last
Hope others of you are able to enjoy the nice day!! Until next time....
This weekend, my husband and I brought the girls to play Monster Mini Golf. So you ask, "What is Monster Mini Golf?" It is an indoor, 18-hole glow-in-the-dark mini golf course with a monster theme. Great concept, right? Unfortunately, this great concept was not executed well at all.
The place is quite large (it has as much or more room than your traditional 18-hole mini golf courses) and is painted almost entirely with flourescent paint and uses many black lights to get the glow in the dark effect. When you first walk in, it actually does look rather neat...there are many large monster statues, etc.
The problem begins when you go to play mini golf. First, there is no coat room so you are forced to drag your winter coat around with you through the whole course. Second, the course was designed as one large continuous rectangle with nothing more than a bunch of L-shaped and U-shaped "mazes" with only the occassional gravestone to bump your ball off of. Whatever happened to all the fun obstacles that you find in mini golf courses. They could have very well stayed with the monster theme and created some very unique obstacles.
In addition to all this, the golf course was DEFINITELY designed by a right handed person. I know, I know....we live in a society that is geared toward right-handed individuals, however give us south paws a break here. The plate that is supposed to be used to place your ball to initiate the shot at each hole was so close to the edges and/or walls created for the hole that it was impossible for a left-handed individual to make any shot off those plates. The holes were also placed in locations up against walls or edges that prevented a left-handed person from getting in there to make any sort of shot.
Once we were done with the course, the individual working the desk to collect the clubs asked if we enjoyed ourselves. I mentioned to them that the course was definitely designed for a right-handed person and their response was "Well you should have just compensated and played right-handed". I don't play golf right handed so why should I have to compromise and play mini golf right-handed?
Needless to say it was our first and last time that we will be visiting this mini golf course. We have several others in the area that are much more fun to play even if they are only open in the summer. Of course, we would have never known what Monster Mini Golf was like unless we had tried is so at least we can say we did it and we won't go back.
This is a follow-up to my previous blog post Informative Post Concerning Bling which was written by me after receiving an accusation made about "stealing" bling. I have been very concerned over this issue and have discussed it in detail with several of the other bling makers within the A*F*F community.
Through my disccusions, I learned some very disheartening information. It appears that the individual who contacted me accusing me of "stealing" several of their bling from another A*F*F site was knowingly reproducing bling on this site from several other of the well known bling makers here. This individual was reported to A*F*F several times and eventually became non-active here and began doing bling on another A*F*F site. This occurred approximately a year ago. This individual recently returned after "hearing" that someone was "stealing" bling from them. They took it upon themselves to write me several times, threatening to "plaster" my name throughout A*F*F and blocked me so that I could not even respond to any of their emails.
I am in no way trying to condone or excuse the fact that I re-created bling through a member request after ensuring that the bling was not available on A*F*F. I do feel however that the actions of this individual is a blatant case of the pot calling the kettle black and is very hypocritical of them.
I very rarely air dirty laundry in a public forum or speak of other members in a negative fashion, however I wrote a sincere blog post about what I was accused of and the reason behind how it potentially happened. I then find out that this individual was accusing me of something that they obviously saw no problem in doing themselves. Furthermore, this individual had the audacity to threaten me. My intentions were harmless and I was merely re-creating some bling for a member since she could not find it here on this site. This individual, however knowingly and willingly reproduced numerous bling from several prominent bling makers here on A*F*F.
I stand by everything I stated in my previous blog post, however I will admit I no longer have respect for the individual. They accused me of something without allowing me the means to provide an explanation and I subsequently found out that they were maliciously reproducing bling and felt there was nothing wrong with it yet they felt the need to threaten me for what they now refer to as "stealing".
Perhaps this individual lives under the motto of "Do as I say, not as I do."
