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So, the other day I went to the store and got a zucchini and a yellow crookneck squash, along with some turkey pepperoni and some shredded mozzarella cheese. I'd had a bit of pizza sauce in the freezer, so that was one thing I didn't need to buy. Much to my chagrin,the zucchini got a bit too cold in my fridge (oops) and got squishy (which was my turn to say "Ew."), so I had to toss it into the trash. The crookneck was fine, though. Even though I posted the link, I'll also post the recipe here for you, below the picture. I also made the peanut butter bars, but didn't have a chance to take a picture of them. I'll have to make them again soon. They were YUMMY!
( Now for the pizzas! )
- Location:Home
- Mood:
full - Music:Runaround Sue, Dion and the Belmonts
When I was a small child, I used to sit and watch my mom crochet, knit, sew, and embroider. At the age of three, she taught me how to crochet. At first, it was just pot holders and such, but it was fine with me. I enjoyed sitting with my mom, both of us with our yarn. From there, embroidery and sewing followed. When I was nine, she decided that I had to learn to knit as well. (I have yet to finish a knitting project, more than twenty years later).
I didn't do as much as my mom, it seemed. Every year, she would knit socks for the entire family. That was something we all looked forward to every year. Imagine my confusion as a teenager when I stopped getting my socks. This went on for years and I never got up the nerve to ask her. Imagine my surprise when she asked me one winter day why I didn't like the knitted socks. It was a total case of miscommunication. The typical mother-daughter argument followed. "I DO like the socks! YOU quit making them for me!" "No! You never wore them!" "I wore them all the time! I still have the LAST pair you made for me!" The silence that followed was deafening. My mom didn't say another word about the subject. My poor husband looked worried that he'd have to step in, as he had many times before.
At least six months passed and I had since forgotten about the sock incident. My birthday came around that spring and my mom called me to say that she had a present for me. I went over, expecting the doily that she'd been working on and I knew I'd be getting at some point. She smiled at me in such a way that made me think the worst – was it going to be a purse or a nightgown? (These were things that I accepted graciously, but then relegated to the closet or my daughter – not really my thing). I opened the package to find nearly a dozen pairs of knitted socks. I think my mom must have used up most of her yarn stash in making those for me. When I asked her why she made so many, she said that she wanted to make up for all of the years when I hadn't gotten socks. It was just about one pair for each year.
Now that my mom is older, she is finally teaching me how to make those socks. The delay is all on my part. I have always preferred crocheting to knitting, but a part of me realized that once my mom is gone, the socks will stop coming. There isn't a pattern written anywhere that I can find. It was just something passed down from mother to daughter for as long as I can remember. One day, I hope that I will be the one showing my little girl the same stitches.
- Location:home
- Mood:creative
To all of my wonderful, sweet friends and family:
In this world there are many things I enjoy, from a nice cup of tea or coffee on a windy morning to reading a good book, playing with my daughter, or a nice, intelligent conversation with a good person.
I enjoy funny pictures, emails, and quotes, as well as good music and movies. I do believe in having faith in whatever you believe in and set out to do.
I like a picture or story with a touching idea or something that will just make you smile and am even willing to pass it on to others, post it on my profile, etc.
I understand that we all have our opinions, views, and beliefs and that yours may not be the same as mine. I respect that.
What am I getting at with all of this?
Just this: in this lovely world of technology – email, Facebook, and other forms of social media – all it takes is a simple click of a button to tell people what you believe in and hope that they just might believe the same.
Here's the thing that I don't believe a lot of people think about: what if those that you are so eagerly forwarding those posts to don't want to see them?
Really, I'm all about free speech, freedom of the press, etc. There are days when I don't honestly give a rat's hairy ass about offending people – if you don't like it, don't read it.
But even I have a limit.
I stay out of politics and religion for a reason, people. You make one tiny mention of either of those topics and the calmest, smartest, level-headed person becomes a RANTING IDIOT who only believes that their view is correct.
It really doesn't matter who you voted for – there is always going to be "the other guy" that someone else voted for and doesn't like your choice. Hell, even the person that you DID vote for isn't perfect. We're all human – we have flaws.
The status you just posted saying "re-post if you agree" about something political or religious? If I don't agree, do I get to block your posts?
The email you sent about someone who was dying and talked to Jesus and were miraculously cured, telling you that you MUST forward to so many people just so you can see something cool on your desktop or you'll get your wish/see your true love/get rich?
Seriously?
If I want to see a miracle, I'll look at my daughter. That's all it takes. Forwarding an email isn't going to make something miraculous happen, other than causing me to possibly piss a bunch of people off, which isn't really a miracle at all – it's a given.
Remember the song called "Heaven" by Live?
I don't need no one to tell me about heaven
I look at my daughter, and I believe.
I don't need no proof when it comes to God and truth
I can see the sunset and I perceive
I think this makes more than a bit of sense.
If forwarding an email were all it took to make me a millionaire, you can be damn sure that I'd forward multiple copies of everything in my bloody inbox! (And I have multiple email addresses, people – how easy would that be? I'd never have to work again!)
Why would I want to forward an email to "meet my true love" when I'm already happily married?
If I want to forward an email, the only thing that I really hope for is to make someone smile. If I can make them laugh, even better!
Now, like I said, I do like some of the emails. The email about the store owner who sold food for marbles to poor kids is one of my favorites and I enjoy reading it, as well as the teacher who had her kids write about their students.
I'm not saying that I don't like getting emails – I just DON'T LIKE PREACHY OR POLITICAL EMAILS!
Don't like Obama or Palin? That's fine. You can't like everyone in this world – that would just be boring.
Have a strong faith in your church or whatever god you happen to believe in (or don't believe in, for that matter)? Again, that's fine. We all choose to believe or not. That's called free will, people.
When you forward me that crap (and yes, most of it is crap in my eyes), I just roll my eyes and hit delete without even reading it.
By sending me that garbage, it feels like you're forcing your beliefs down my throat by way of my eyes and I come one step closer to just blocking your email altogether.
Think about that before you hit forward, okay?
- Location:home
- Mood:
irritated
I’m sitting here at work once again, with nothing work-related to do.
That’s one of the love-hate things I deal with every day here at work. I love my job, I really do. For the most part, I work with good people. (There are a couple of people that make me twitch, but not nearly as bad as where I was before.) Most of the time we get along, so that’s good.
It’s just so different from where I was for so long. I went from always being busy and relishing the rare times where I didn’t have anything to do to the other end of the spectrum. Most of my days here are spent trying to find things to do. I manage, though. Hell, look at this post, for instance. I would never have had time to think about something like this before. I also can get caught up on schoolwork – I actually STARTED school again, for that matter. I can sit and write if I’m able to think of anything post-worthy. (Heck, even if it’s not, it’s still writing!)
There are times when we’ve had a potluck and the entire company (well, our store, anyway) goes down into the shop for an hour and eats, talks and has a good time. That’s something that NEVER happened at CU1. There was always just too much going on. The MSC, especially, could never even have a staff meeting with everyone present. It was always done in groups. Strange…
I have to wonder how long it’ll take me to get used to this. I mean, I’ve been here almost a year already (!) and there are still some things that make me go O.o?
Bobby was right about one thing: I’ve got a good thing here. For the most part, I’m left to my own devices, which is nice. I’m not chained to a desk or a phone like I was before. I don’t have to deal with cranky people all day long (and the idiots that seem to follow them like lemmings). I’m learning all kinds of things. I never thought I’d be doing Accounting and I do Accounts Receivable and Payables almost on a daily basis. I inspect survival kits, write up certificates for marine rafts, do some grunt work now and then, (which doesn’t bother me a bit) and even help in the store. If I need to leave early for an appointment, I don’t get the stink eye from my boss (from the Sales department, I do sometimes). If I’m feeling like crap, but still come in to work, I’ve gotten sent home because they feel that it’s more important for me to get well. (That and they don’t want me to infect the company. Lol.)
It’s all so strange, compared to where I was before. Yes, I still miss always having something to do and I still miss some of the people, but overall I’m glad I’m here.
I just need to look back on this post the next time I get pissed off and start looking for a new job. ;)
- Location:Eagle Enterprises
- Mood:
bored - Music:I Feel Fine, The Beatles
Ah, sports. Sports are a staple in American life. Whether you’re out playing sports and getting much needed exercise, or exercising your right to be a couch potato, chances are you’re one of the many Americans that are avid sports fans. Either way, it can be said that you still love to watch sports, either as a spectator or participant. How awesome is it to actually be at a game, whether it’s basketball, baseball, or football?
I got to thinking about this the other day and realized that we don’t have many venues here in Alaska for actually watching a professional sports game. (Actually, I’ve never seen a professional game up here, unless you count the Harlem Globetrotters.) So, I decided to put my curiosity to good use and came across Ticket America. This website is an amazing resource for just about any event you can think of. Granted, I haven’t really been a sports fan since junior high, but I still like to check out the occasional game. The rush of adrenaline that comes from the arena and the excited crowd is better than any drug.
Now, I’ve always been a fan of basketball, thanks to my older brother. That said, the first thing I looked for when I checked out the sports section of this website was basketball tickets. I wasn’t disappointed. It reminded me of the “pick a card, any card” magic trick. Looking for Chicago Bulls tickets? Ticket America has them. How about tickets to the next Phoenix Suns game? Yep. Ticket America has them. You can literally go from one side of the United States to the other on this website in your search for tickets. I was able to find tickets for several of my favorite teams. From the LA Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs to the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers, it was just a matter of deciding which one I would like to see the most.
Unfortunately, I didn’t see any upcoming events for Anchorage, but they have a form that you can fill out to be notified via email when something that you’re interested in does come up. I found this website to be very helpful and user-friendly. I am honestly wishing that I’d known about it last year, when I was in the Phoenix area. Seeing a Suns game live would be incredible.
You can be assured that the next time I leave the great state of Alaska for the Lower 48, Ticket America is going to be on my list of things to do for the trip, right next to packing. ;)
- Mood: impressed
Lately, I've been looking around for ways to earn some pocket money. Inbox dollars is an awesome way to do that, just by reading email, playing games and doing quick surveys. So far, I've earned enough for three lattes. That might not seem like much, but for simply reading email, it's not too shabby.
You can also get a toolbar that shows you how much you've earned and it's free. (That's the best part). You can get emails sent to you and get paid just for clicking on them. You won't get rich doing this, but it's fun, doesn't take long and it's FREE.
Check it out!
- Location:home
- Mood: amused
Recently, I got to thinking about the issues that my little Hyundai Accent has been having. Looking around for information, I came across http://repairpal.com and, just for grins, put in my car information. I have to admit, I wasn’t really holding my breath. Sites like these are usually annoying, where you’re expected to jump through hoops and don’t ever get any relevant information.
This site was the exception to the rule.
It doesn’t matter where you live, from Alaska to Arizona, repairpal will find estimates on whatever you need to have fixed on your car. When I clicked on the “service type” link, it brought up an extensive list of services and maintenance issues. Score! Once you do that, you’ll get asked to input your zip code and it’ll bring up an estimate of how much you’ll be charged. You can also find a shop near you.
While I was on the site, I decided to look around a bit more and put in information on other cars and the problems they might have. For instance, my first car was a Ford Escort. Granted, my car was an older model (a 1990), but I decided to look at different years, ranging from 1990-2001. Since I know practically nothing about cars, I just poked around and picked a couple of issues that looked like they might happen. I did this for both my Accent and the Escort that I no longer have.
The two I chose were timing belt replacement and water pump replacement. Quite honestly, I had no idea what either of these things really does in a vehicle. Usually, if I have car problems, I call up my father-in-law. After looking at this site, I don't need to.
I am now hooked and plan to bookmark this site as soon as I can. What I found really helpful was that it actually lists known recalls and has an incredible “helpful hints” section.
So, for all of you who have car issues (you know who you are) I would definitely say “Check this out!” before you just run to a repair shop. It might just save you some time and money.
Now, if I could just find the money to get my little car fixed, I’ll be golden.
Look around! You just might learn something. =)
- Location:Eagle Enterprises
- Mood: chipper
- Music:I Keep Looking - Sara Evans
That's what I thought until I came across the Jewelry Bra Straps. Just another way to adorn your beautiful shoulders! What a unique idea!
Buy Now
- Location:Eagle Enterprises
- Mood: amused
- Music:The Remedy (I Won't Worry) - Jason Mraz
That said, finding stationery for myself isn't that much of an issue, being a girl. What about the guys I know? I have a brother in Michigan who, growing up, wouldn't use a toothbrush if it was pink. Think I could get him to write on flowery note cards? Not a chance. What about my male friends? They may not be as uptight about that sort of thing as my brother, but what guy would want to be seen writing on something with rainbows, flowers, or anything else feminine for that matter?
I've looked all around Anchorage and even online for stationery that was more masculine. Until today, I've had no luck. That's when I found Thoughtful Gent note cards! Sweet! Finally, note cards that a guy wouldn't be ashamed to be seen writing on!
Now maybe I'll get more letters. ;)
Buy Now
- Location:Eagle Enterprises
- Mood: ecstatic
- Music:Anything But Mine - Kenny Chesney
