Blue Dog Art & Design

Time for a Reality Check

2006-10-16T20:56:00.000-04:00

Wow, it has been a few weeks since I last posted. I have to say that for the last year, I was pretty addicted to this blogging thing and have had fun posting and reading other blogs. Bottomline is that this blog has mostly been drivel with not much point. I was never even sure why I started it. I have tried to get at least a post in weekly, but as you may have noticed, I have not had the time to post lately. Mostly because my old job was easy and I was able to spend time posting and reading on the job.

My new job is great, but I have no extra time to play at work. I thought that I would be able to keep going inspite of that fact. However, spending time on the computer has seriously cut into my jewelry making time.

So...since I was able to go two weeks and not feel as guilty about not posting, I seem to have crossed a threshold that allows me to give myself a break and be okay with it. Since most of what I have written has been pointless anyway, I think I'll take a hiatus for a while. I might come back, but I might not.

That said, you won't get rid of me that easily. I'll still be around and comment here and there if you don't mind.

Thank you my dear readers.

Just A Quick Update

2006-09-27T08:41:00.000-04:00

I'm still here, I've just been super busy. The new job is going great! I just have a heavier work load and not so much time to play during the work day. The work is challenging, which is what I was looking for in this new job. Bottomline, I was bored at my old job. The new job will not allow for boredom.

Other things going on include my husband coaching my five-year-old's soccer team and having the opposing coach come after him during the game on Saturday. Needless to say, that was interesting. I was very proud of my husband for not losing his cool with this bonehead and really disfusing the situation. Nevermind the fact that at least two other father's on our team's side had his back.

Anyway, I hope you all are doing well and I hope to have more for you soon.

HA! Hey Braintrust...See YA!!!

2006-09-18T21:05:00.000-04:00

Let's get right to it! Last Wednesday was my last day at my old job and DAMN did it feel good. I did find myself a little sad, but after sitting and listening to her crack her chewing gum and talk all day to her idiot husband, it was great to walk out the door. She even offered to help carry some stuff to my car (I'll give a smidge of credit for that).

Anyway, I took Thursday and Friday as vacation and we packed the boys and the dog up and headed off to PA for the weekend. We took the boys to their first Penn State game and they had a blast. I have to say the game got off to a slow start, but the Nittany Lions found their way on the field to defeat Youngstown State. In reality, I think we should have dominated them more than we did, but I'll take the win even if it wasn't the waxing it should have been. It sure was better than the mess that ocurred in South Bend the week before.

Today was my first day at the new job and it turns out I was nervous, which was a surprise to me. I guess I just really want to do a good job and was worried about disappointing my friend. It has also been a hellva long time since I have experienced a "first day" at a new job. I did have to stop by the old office to approve a proof on the magazine and the director asked if he could help me bring my things back to my office. I guess he's in a bit of denial. It has been nice to know how much they have appreciated me and my work. Even if they had counter-offered, I don't think I would have wanted to stay. Besides, I would have only stayed if they threw a ridiculous amount of money and fired my braintrust girl, which probably wouldn't have happened.

My Steelers are playing now so I'm going to watch more of the game and go to bed.

I Remember…

2006-09-11T10:03:00.000-04:00

…pulling into the parking lot at work as the radio reported the first airplane had hit the first tower.

…calling my husband to tell him about the airplane and getting his voicemail.

…hearing that another airplane had hit the second tower.

…calling my husband and getting his voicemail again.

…thinking two planes hitting the WTC was not an accident.

…talking to my boss about how easy it would be to do the same thing here.

…hearing that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon.

…calling my husband (his office was a stone’s throw from the Pentagon) and getting his voicemail again.

…sitting in a co-worker’s office waiting and praying that our Federal employee husbands were okay.

…hearing that there were unaccounted planes in the air.

…my sister-in-law in Philly emailing (because she couldn’t get through on the phone) to find out if we were okay and me having to tell her that I didn’t know where her brother was.

…my brother in Baltimore e-mailing to check on us.

…my best friend in Florida calling (somehow she got through on the phone) to check on us and me losing it on her because I didn’t yet know if my husband was safe.

…being six miles too far away from our newborn son.

…seeing the smoke from the Pentagon from my office window.

…my husband finally calling me and telling me to get the baby and meet him at home. He’d been in a meeting in a different building, which they had evacuated. He hadn’t even listened to my messages.

…walking into our director’s office and telling him that I was going home and hoped he didn’t have a problem with it. He told me to drive safely.

…my brother calling on my cell phone to find out if I’d heard from my husband and me asking him to call my sister-in-law in Philly to tell her we were all okay.

…getting on the beltway and driving 90 m.p.h. to get to the daycare and thinking that law enforcement probably had more important shit to do than bust me for speeding.

…driving and watching the sky for planes.

…finally getting the baby and getting home and sitting and holding him and rocking him more so for my benefit than his.

…waiting for my husband to get home…an hour and a half later from a normally 15 minute commute.

…watching the carnage on TV.

…finally feeling relief when my husband walked in the house.

…laughing when he told me that he thought people were packing up and leaving town because as he was leaving his office, he’d seen people walking all over the place with suitcases. I told him that they had evacuated the airport (DCA), which is across the parkway from his office.

…HELL YES I’m going to work the next day because I will not give in to the FUCKING terrorist bastards.

…driving past the Pentagon a few days later and the smoke still billowing from the gaping hole.

…hearing helicopters flying at night when there was a no-fly zone for miles. I presume they were running between Quantico and the Pentagon or DCA.

…hearing the fighter jets above my house constantly and feeling a sense of comfort.

…taping American flags to the window of our cars.

…seeing signs everywhere that said “God Bless America”

…being profoundly sad for months.

…feeling guilty about how badly I felt even though I didn’t know anyone that died and my husband came home.

…the six-month anniversary and yelling at my mother on the phone. She had called to see if I was watching the memorial stuff on TV. My reply was that I hadn’t watched TV or listened to the radio all day because I still remembered. She then went into a narrative about what was going on in NY and me yelling at her that if I wanted to watch and know what they were doing I’d have turned the TV on myself. I still remembered as if it was that day.

…applying for a special “Fight Terrorism” license plate for my car.

…hearing the fighter jets above my house and feeling unnerved.

…the year anniversary and me taking the day off work to spend it with my son and a friend with her kids. We spent the day together and took our kids to a park and out to lunch. I did not watch any TV or listen to the radio.

…why I have to wait for security to check under my car with long-handled mirrors before I am allowed to enter certain parking garages.

…why I have to take my shoes off at the airport and why I can’t carry on my shampoo.

…being more scared than anything I have ever known.

I remember everything as if it was today. I saw 3 planes flying up the Potomac driving in to work this morning and still to this day am reminded. I do not need the media to remind me so I haven’t watched the news or listened to the radio since Friday. I do not need my mother to call and see if I’m okay today because she knows this was rough on me. I’m not EVER going to be okay on this anniversary and it pisses me off that she feels the need to call me and bring it up.

My heart goes out to those that lost loved ones five years ago today.

I will NEVER forget September 11, 2001.

UNITED WE STAND you fucking terrorist bastards!

Back to School

2006-09-05T09:38:00.000-04:00

Let's get right to it. My oldest son started kindergarten this morning. He was just fine and was very patient as I snapped photos before we left the house and again, when I took a picture of him with his teacher at school. I kissed him goodbye, told him that I love him and walked down the hall with tears in my eyes. He is such a wonderful, funny and smart little boy and I am so proud of him it makes my heart swell.

Oh, and the weather is horrible here for the start of school today. Just pouring down rain like crazy. I felt bad for all the kids that had to wait for the bus in the rain this morning.

Sorry that I was MIA last week. Since I resigned, I have a ton of work to get done before my last day, which will be Sept. 13th. I also have to get my "cube" packed up. I have 7 working days left here and then I'll start the new position Monday Sept. 18th.

I'm behind on reading your blogs, so hopefully I'll be able to catch up more with you this week.

Quick Update

2006-08-24T20:19:00.000-04:00

First let me say that you all have been great today. Thank you all so much for your kind and supportive thoughts.

I was uneasy going in to work. I was up at 4:30 a.m. thinking about how I was going to do it and what I could possibly say. I ended up googling "resignation letter" and found some good samples to modify for my needs. I printed two copies and waited for them to show up and get their coffee. I was nervous going into my boss' office. I still didn't know what to say, so I said, "I've thought about it and there's no easy way to do this and handed them both my letter. My diredt boss was surprised but not completely shocked. I guess it is a sign of a good manager when he knows you aren't exactly in the right place with things. He knew that I was feeling like I'm in a creative rut. He's pleased that I stayed as long as I did and I'm sure he's sorry to see me go. They are happy that I've found a good opportunity and want me to do what's best for me, which I guess is all I could ask from them. The first thing the director asked was if my personality conflicts [brain trust]was the reason I was leaving. My reply was "No that's not the main reason, but it didn't help the situation." Ha! For once the right thing to say came to me on cue instead of in hindsight!

So my dear cyber friends, my last day is slated for Sept. 15th, but I might take a few of the last days as vacation if I can get enough work finished. I am slated to start the new job on Sept. 18th. The new job is going to be a higher volume of work and more deadline sensitive, which will cut into my blogging time, but I'm excited to do different work and ready for the challenge.

Alright, I've got Grey's Anatomy on pause, so I'm off to indulge in some mind wasting TV. I'm off with the boys to Philly for our niece's birthday party this weekend. The boys are excited to go to a pool party. Have a great weekend everyone and THANKS AGAIN!!!

Technically I'm Holding Down Two Jobs

2006-08-23T21:33:00.000-04:00

Things have been quite busy with me. I received an official offer from my friend to work for him starting in mid-September, which I formally accepted today.

We have been going back and forth the last few weeks talking and working out the details of what the best arrangement for both of us will be. I'm really excited about the new position. I will gain more variety in my work in a more challenging atmosphere. Where I work now they tend to be happy with whatever design I throw together. This has pluses and minuses and lately I've been bored and in a rut. My friend is a software sponge and I will learn SO much from him. The job also gets me working with other creative people again. In my current position, I've been a one woman graphics department. Not only will I have my friend to bounce ideas around with, but also the other designers that work where he sublets his space. Oh, did I mention that the new job is literally one block from the old job? No change in the commute and I'm still in Old Town Alexandria, which is really my favorite place in the Metro DC area.

The hard part is going to be puting in my notice tomorrow. My boss returns from a conference tomorrow and I didn't really want to hit him with this his first day back, the exec. director will be out Friday and I don't want to have to think about it all weekend. The office has been through so much this year, some I've talked about here, some I haven't. At any rate, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be blindsiding them. The office has been very good to me over the nearly ten years I've been employed there and I really like most of my coworkers, so it is hard to walk away from something so comfortable. I know that I do need the change. The timing is just right for me. I didn't go looking for a new job, the new job came looking for me, which is a nice feeling.

I'm scared of what my boss' reaction is going to be. Hopefully he won't freak out too much. Then in a few short weeks I'll also have the extra added bonus of being rid of the remainder of the brain trust. (She was chewing gum again today and popping and cracking it. I had to break out the noise cancelling headphones and jam out to Prince.) Yeah, I know old school, but a girl needs a little funkiness now and then and Prince is good for that.

So, wish me luck Thursday morning. I'll try to let you know how it goes sometime tomorrow.

Today in History

2006-08-16T09:19:00.000-04:00

48 years ago today Madonna was born.
46 years ago today Timothy Hutton was born.
39 years ago today I was born.
29 years ago today Elvis died. (Fox 5 News did not let me down this morning in reminding me of this fact.)

Enjoy your day. I'll be enjoying mine.

Photo is from the Graceland webcam at Elvis.com

Well, where do I start?

2006-08-08T20:43:00.000-04:00

I have been off the radar for the last week, mainly because my littlest one came down with chicken pox. Yes, chicken pox and yes, he had a vaccination. The vaccination doesn't guarantee that he won't get it, but it does minimize the effects. He's only had about 8 spots and it has not slowed him down at all. In fact he's been his usual self.

We thought that we would have to cancel our trip to PA for a family reunion last weekend, but the family rallied and called everyone and decided that we should still go, so we did. I still took last Wednesday off because We didn't find out about the chicken pox until Wed. night. We had been slated to leave for PA Thursday morning, but had at that point decided not to go. I decided to go to work on Thursday and my husband stayed home with the poor poxed one. We made the last minute decision to go Thursday night. I'm glad we ended up going to the reunion in PA after all. I met many of my husbands relative for the first time and it was pretty fun. We also surprised my mother and father-in-law with a cake for their 40th wedding anniversary. All in all it was a nice weekend.

Monday morning however, I still didn' t like the looks of a few of the remaining spots and decided to keep the little one home yesterday and then again today. I am wiped out! He's three years-old and was not slowed down at all by the chicken pox.

Also, today, my hubby left for a fishing trip in Wyoming that has been planned for months. My dear sick coworker was to have gone along, but as you know he's going through his cancer treatment. I'm proud of my husband for deciding to go ahead with the trip and even to go alone. He'll be back Friday.

Still no sign of the pox on the oldest. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he won't get it too. The gestation is around 14 days, so if he's going to get it, we should start seeing the rash come this weekend.

I am so slammed at work it isn't even funny. I brought work home with me, but just can't do anything with a three-year-old running around.

I have been talking more with my friend who wants me to come work for him and the deal is looking very appealing. Nothing set in stone yet, but I'm actually pretty excited about the prospect of working for him. I have been at my current job for just shy of 10 years and I'm kind of just over it. It doesn't help with all the other crap going on there, but I've thought about it plenty and the idiot next to me is not the reason I want to change jobs. If I take this new position, the work will be more challenging and higher quality. It would be a bit of a risk to leave the cushiness of my current position, but in the long run a good move career-wise.

I am going to spend a few minutes catching up on your blogs and then I'm headed to bed. Hopefully, I'm going to be able to take the little one to school and be able to go back to work tomorrow.

A Tuesday Night List

2006-08-01T22:14:00.000-04:00

1. Last week I seriously wanted to strangle "F.I" (the remainder of the brain trust).

2. My boss left for vacation.

3. Last week I snapped and told the director about every freakin issue that I have with "F.I." What will be interesting will be to see what and if he does anything about it.

4. Friday I went with my son on a field trip to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and we checked out the dinosaurs. They also have what looks to be a swell exhibit about Lewis & Clark that I want to go back to see.

5. After the field trip, I blew off the rest of the day and did not go back to work. (Yes, it is that effing bad at work).

6. Friday, I also called and talked to my dear sick coworker. What a relief to finally talk to him.

7. I am taking the rest of this week off work. (Yes, it is that effing bad.)

8. Today I went to visit a friend who has started working a block from my office. He wants me to come work with him. I have my long weekend to talk to my husband and decide if it is the right move for me.

9. My dear sick coworker had his first of six chemo treatments today.

It's Official!

2006-07-27T13:27:00.000-04:00

The "Diaper Champ" went out with the trash on Monday! I'm selling my stock in Pampers. My son is fully potty trained! WAHOO!

The whole process took about 4 months start to finish. My first-born took well over a year start to finish, mainly because it took FOREVER to get him out of pull-ups at night. This time around, no pull-ups and it seems to have done the trick.

Hmm...how much glass and beads can I buy with the money we'll save?

P.S. Oh yeah, yesterday marks a year for me blogging. I still have no idea what I'm doing.

Interesting Fun for Your Monday

2006-07-24T10:03:00.000-04:00

While I have heard of this film, I have never seen it. I guess I am going to have to watch it now. I found this from Pobble. (thanks, I think these are becoming a thing for me too!) Happy Monday and enjoy!

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

We took the boys to see "Cars" over the weekend. It was a great movie, definitely has value for the older crowd in addition to the kiddies. I recommend it even if you don't have little ones.

Because I Need a Laugh These Days

2006-07-19T08:24:00.000-04:00

"Dear Lord," the preacher began with arms extended and a rapturous look on his upturned face, "without you we are but dust..."

He would have continued, but at that moment one very obedient little girl (who was listening carefully) leaned over to her mother and asked quite audibly in her shrill little girl voice, "Mommy, WHAT is butt dust?"

Church was pretty much over at that point...

Blue Monday

2006-07-18T09:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I lost it twice at work as well as while driving home in the car. My coworker has small cell lung cancer that has metastisized in his brain, throat, lymph nodes and liver. They will treat him with radiation and then chemo. Being in the office and walking past his office is creepy. I need to call him or at least his wife, but I'm afraid I'll lose it on the phone and I don't want that to happen. I'm trying to muster up all my courage to be supportive. That is all I have for now. Sorry for being a downer today.

Today in History

2006-07-17T10:57:00.000-04:00

Photo: Exclusively Weddings

On July 17, 1999, it was 103°. We threw a big party here. Happy Anniversary my love.

A Quick Getaway

2006-07-13T14:21:00.000-04:00

We are headed here for the weekend! See you next week. Have a great weekend!

The Blue Dog Days of Summer

2006-07-10T14:54:00.000-04:00

It appears that we are back in the thick of summer here in DC. After a deluge of rain, we had a few mild days of temps in the low 80s for the weekend and as of today, the humidity has returned. Anyone else having a bad hair day, raise your hand?

Work is downright creepy. We are down to only four people in the office today. There seems to be this “what’s going to happen next” vibe here and it’s just downright unsettling. The receptionist got fired last week, two coworkers are out for illness (one serious, one pink eye), the boss is on vacation and I’m left with the remaining brain trust member coming to me for conversation. Enough said.

I made a fantastic new necklace Saturday night, which I may or may not actually be able to upload a photo to show you. (Cursed Blogger). Yes, that’s right a most exciting night at the Blue Dog House. Actually, I enjoyed the night. The hubby went for a rare night out with friends and after the kids went to bed, I had a nice evening to myself. The fused piece that I used in the necklace had been bothering me for a while. As a focal point, the fused piece is quite striking, but I was having trouble coming up with the best color and bead selections to accentuate it. Finally after a visit to the local bead shop, I found the right selection of beads and when I sat down at my table the design just came together. I really like it a lot.

Sunday morning was a bit interesting. The elderly neighbor two houses over died a few weeks ago and one of his sons has been at his house doing what I’m not sure. At any rate for unknown reasons, he decided to mow the lawn at 6:15 a.m. As I mentioned above, the weather was mild over the weekend so we had the windows open at night, so hearing the mower that early was a rude awakening. The hubby was up at 7 to go canoeing, which meant the kids were up right about that time too. I had them climb into bed with me to watch toddler TV while I tried to get a few extra Zs. No such luck and around 8 the psycho lawn-mowing neighbor lets out a string of expletives--again for unknown reasons. My five year-old then wants to know what he was saying. Nice. I moved the kids to the living room, while I made the bed and sorted laundry. Around 9 the psycho starts peeling out of his driveway in his deceased dad’s minivan and tears up the hill in front of our house only to slam on the brakes in front of my next door neighbor’s house (they grew up together 30 years ago). He then goes to the end of the street turns around and tears back to his house. This scenario repeats at least two more times over the course of almost an hour. Now, I understand this guy just lost his dad and yes trust me, I know that it is an unpleasant experience, but come on! I only met the dad a couple of times mostly because he was on oxygen and spent his time inside. I have never met the son, but the next-door neighbor who grew up with him, said the son is a bit of a loose cannon and a drunk. Really? That was pretty much proven yesterday morning. I was trying to cut him some slack under the circumstances, but next time I’ll be calling the police.

Moving along...

Fortunately, since I was almost developing a twitch from lack of original “Grey’s Anatomy” episodes, I have discovered that they are running reruns not only on Sunday nights, but also Thursday nights. Last Thursday night was even a double-header. I know, I need to get a life, but it is a really good show. I can’t wait for it to start up again in the fall, even as the show moves to Thursdays.

I’ve been beating myself up about not posting as often as I’d like. I do enjoy reading others’ frequent postings, but often think that I just don’t have stimulating enough material to warrant more posting. I also often have a blog idea (usually in the car) and then it inevitably escapes me by the time I get to the computer. So, rather than bore you, I’ll try to be okay with whatever rate that I post.

P.S. It seems this is my 100th post so I thought I'd share that milestone.

“Working” on July 3rd*

2006-07-03T15:13:00.000-04:00

Why the hell did I not take today off work? The answer to the question is this. I have a pile of work to do. The reality is that I have my work done and it is sitting on everyone elses’ desks waiting for them to approve or provide changes, etc. I’m caught up and waiting for everyone to get stuff back to me. It will all come back to me at the same time and I'll be slammed again. Such is the life.

We’ve had an interesting go of it with weather lately. Last Sunday, the lovely tiny stream that runs through the back of our property suddenly became a raging river and came within 15 feet of flooding the house. We received over 6 inches of rain in 2-1/2 hours in our rain gauge. We were lucky, however, as several neighbors were flooded. We endured two more consecutive days of rain and every time I heard the rain beating on the roof it made me nervous. Fortunately, we stayed dry. Many people in the area lost their homes and many others were evacuated as concerns of rising rivers and failing damns loomed with every passing shower last week.

We got hit with nasty storms again last night. The stream came up to the top of the banks again, but not into the yard this time. The ground is totally saturated and with the wind in the storms last night we were lucky that trees did not fall. Others were not so lucky in that respect. There were at least 4 trees down at the school my kids attend and debris was everywhere. Much of Alexandria is also without power. Somehow my office has power and so does my house, so I’m not going to complain.

The elder half of the brain trust had her last day on Friday. We had a lovely retirement lunch for her and sent her off with her husband. At least I got an excellent meal out of the deal. The other half of the trust took today off and it has been pleasantly quiet.

As for my other coworker, we have not received an update lately. He was having several tests last week to find the extent of the cancer and to determine the stage. We have not heard from him since they were to meet with the doctor to get the test results. I spoke with our director this morning and he said that since he hasn’t heard anything at all, and he’s beginning to dread calling.

It has been a really strange year in so many different aspects between things happening to people here at work and then bad things happening to friends as well. Hopefully the second half of 2006 will be better than the first.

I have had lots of things to blog about, but no time to post. For now, I guess this is all I have. In the meantime, take care of you and yours and have a great Fourth of July!

*For some freakin' reason, I can't get photos to post. Had I been able to post the photo it would have been a lovely fireworks display. You'll have to use your imagination.

More Than You Probably Need to Know About Me:

2006-06-23T16:07:00.000-04:00

For lack of something better to post, I give you my Top 25 List from my iPod (June 22, 2006).

“Crush” Jennifer Paige*
“Miss Independent” Kelly Clarkson*
“Can’t Get You Out of My Head” Kylie Minogue*
“Bittersweet Symphony” The Verve*
“Another White Dash” Butterfly Boucher*
“Transatlanticism” Death Cab for Cutie #
“Constant Craving” k.d. Lang*
“You Get What You Give” New Radicals*
“Maybe Tomorrow” Sterophonics*
“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” The Caesars
“Politik” Coldplay
“How To Save A Life” The Fray
“This the Last Time” Keane
“Cold Wind” The Arcade Fire #
“Barely Breathing” Duncan Sheik
“Time is On My Side” Irma Thomas#
“Girl Next Door” Saving Jane*
“Aganju” Bebel Gilberto #
“Only Love” The Bodeans
“Yeats Grave” The Cranberries
“She Is” The Fray
“Over My Head (Cable Car)” The Fray
“Somewhere Only We Know” Keane
“Your Misfortune” Mike Doughty
“A Good Thing” Saint Etienne

* Single downloaded from iTunes. For some reason, several songs that I downloaded seem to have stuck in this list

# From the “Six Feet Under, Vol. 2” Soundtrack. A fantastic compilation.

I’m sure I’ve lost any shred of respect I may have had with Maki for some of the selections. Obviously my music taste is all over the place.

Some thoughts on the list:

1. “Politik” is my absolute favorite Coldplay song. I first heard it performed on the Grammy’s (I think). I was blown away by the passion displayed by Chris Martin as he wailed on the piano. I find myself drawn to artists that you can “see” the music exuding from them.

2. “Only Love” speaks to my single days and my dating woes. I wouldn’t want to go back there for all the money in the world, but that song was my theme song for so long I can’t abandon it. It was my “That’s fine ‘cause I didn’t want to date you anymore anyway” song.

3. “Girl Next Door” I liked before it really went mainstream thanks to obscure XM radio channels.

4. “Aganju” tops the alphabet of my library and always seems to get played.

5. I bought the CD for The Fray and love every song. Not surprising that there are three songs on this list.

6. Noticeably absent on this list is any U2.

7. “Your Misfortune” is from the solo album of Mike Doughty. Mike Doughty is/was the lead singer for Soul Coughing, which gave us another of my favorite songs “Super Bon Bon”. “Super Bon Bon” was featured in one of the greatest under-watched TV shows ever: “Homicide: Life on the Street”. The song was played during a powerful scene as notorious drug dealer Luther Mahoney was murdered by a homicide detective. The series was filmed in Baltimore where my brother and many of our friends live. One of our friends was even an occasional extra in the show, usually playing a uniformed officer in the background at a crime scene.

8. A few selections by Keane show up on the list. I thought their first release was great. I saw them live with The Killers last summer and they rocked. Keane released a new album on Tuesday, which I really need to buy. Maybe I will do so on my way home tonight.

9. The Saint Etienne song is from their latest release entitled “Tales from the Turnpike House”. I first heard the group on XM Café. You should definitely check out the band.

10. Not on the list, but totally stuck in my head today is Blue October’s “Hate Me”, which I think I will need to acquire as well.

It has been another shitty day in a particularly shitty week. I’m going to bail out of work early and try to enjoy the weekend and re-adjust my current shitty attitude. Nothing a little alcohol can’t help. Have a good weekend!

A Quick Update

2006-06-22T12:06:00.000-04:00

I feel that I have left you hanging from Monday's post, so here is an update. My coworker was admitted to the hospital for tests and a biopsy. The biopsy was Tuesday. I went to see him in the hospital Tuesday night and he was feeling better, was upbeat and in a good mood. The results of the biopsy came back yesterday afternoon. I wanted to wait to post until I knew more, but all I know is that he's been diagnosed with cancer* and is to start chemo treatments next week. The news came from our executive director. I don't know exactly what kind of cancer he has, just that they biopsied enlarged lymph nodes in his neck. He was released from the hospital yesterday and is back at home. I know I need to call him. My plan is to wait until tonight or maybe tomorrow to call. The news probably needs to sink in with him a little. I'm a little scared to talk to him. What do you say to someone who has just been diagnosed with cancer? I'm sure the words will come to me, but the thought of it all is daunting nonetheless.

*The diagnosis was not entirely unexpected. He has smoked for 40 years. I decided to spare you my soapbox about smoking. I will say to you my dear readers, that if you smoke, my wish is that you consider quitting. I know it is a lot to ask and not easy to accomplish, but it is an important wish. Not coming from me necessarily, but I speak for those around you that love and care about you. Do it for them.

Not Such a Good Monday

2006-06-19T15:00:00.000-04:00

So, I guess I’m going to stop bitching about my co-workers. As much as certain ones annoy the living crap out of me, I wish them no harm. My dear coworker (not a member of the brain trust) who had the heart attacks is not doing so well.

He came back to work last week for a couple of hours a day. He’s had a rough throat since being in the hospital, which he had thought was a result of the medications that he now needs.

He left early on Friday and went to see a doctor about his throat.

This morning as I was on my way out of the house, his wife called me on my cell phone. She called to tell me that they found polyps in his throat and that he was having trouble breathing and wasn’t going t be at work for a few days. The doctor(s) wants to biopsy the polyps Tuesday, but needs approval from the cardiologist because of the blood thinners he is taking.

I just got word that he ended up going to the hospital this morning because his breathing was getting worse and that he will be admitted to the hospital today.

I don’t have a good feeling about this at all.

The week is not starting out very well and I’m going to go ahead and officially declare that this year is just not going well. 2006 did not start well and it has not improved much for the people around me.

It’s So Easy to Be Stupid*

2006-06-13T11:07:00.000-04:00

A few years back my brother coined the phrase “too stupid to play football”. At the time he was referring to a couple of Penn State players who got themselves into trouble with the NCAA.

Yesterday, as you probably have heard by now, the star quarterback for my favorite pro football team wrecked his motorcycle. He wasn’t wearing a helmet.

This blows my mind. Maybe I’m jaded though. My husband owns a motorcycle. He used to ride it in the HOV lanes everyday to work. While it is law to wear a helmet in the Commonwealth of Virginia—a law with which my husband disagrees—he would wear his helmet even if it weren’t the law. He also wears a reinforced full riding suit and boots even in the summer. Countless times driving on the highways and even in the city, we see people riding motorcycles in t-shirts, shorts and sneakers. Since we’ve had kids, the motorcycle has mostly been collecting dust in the garage.

Until recently, I didn’t think it was necessary to wear a helmet while riding a bicycle. Then a colleague was hit by a car while riding his bike and thrown over 100 feet. What saved his life was that he landed in a grassy marsh and that he was wearing a helmet. Even though he was wearing a helmet, he still spent a couple of weeks in the hospital and needed surgery to relieve pressure as a result of swelling in his head. It was at that point that I became an advocate of bicycle helmets.

First, I’m thankful that the quarterback was not killed. It sounds from nature of his injuries that he took the impact of the windshield with his face, which I suppose may have saved him from serious brain damage. While I do hope he can return to the team, whether or not he plays football again is not so much my concern. My hope is that if he chooses to get on a motorcycle again, he will wear a helmet.

*Points will be given for identifying the band. Extra points for the movie soundtrack where the song can be found.

Around and Around We Go

2006-06-08T09:28:00.000-04:00

Having lived here in the DC area for over 16 years, I have always thought that at some point, I would drive the entire way around the beltway in one session. Obviously, I have lived here long enough to have been the entire way around the beltway, but only in pieces—one exit to another—never the entire way in one session of driving. (I do know of people that have done it accidentally, but that’s just because they were tourists and missed their exit and were too afraid to get off at another exit.)

To me the idea of driving the 64 miles at one time would be very therapeutic. Now mind you, I have not had visions of doing this at anytime during the daylight hours, the traffic in DC is entirely too bad and I’m not a masochist. I’ve always thought that 3 a.m. would be a good time to drive it. I find driving to be a good time to collect my thoughts, work things through my head, and to be alone. (When you have kids, you are rarely alone.) I always thought I would do it after some major fight or break up with someone. I’ve had my share of break ups, but never one that lead me to drive the entire beltway. I suppose I am fortunate in that respect.

When my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a year and a half ago, I made several trips back to my hometown to attend to my mother. Those five-hour drives were the first significant drives that I had made by myself since my children were born. It was liberating and lonely all at the same time. The first trip was to take my mother for her biopsy and it was while driving across the PA Turnpike that I first had time to think about the reality of my mother having cancer. I ended up calling a friend of mine who lost her mother to breast cancer. (Yes, I used the headset for my phone). She was kind and understanding and provided me with frank advice, which I really needed and valued. I still had a few hours of the drive to digest everything and really was able to be in the right place with everything in order to support my mother. The drive back to DC from the biopsy was also therapeutic in that although the cancer had been confirmed, I had that time in the car to get my head in the right place again before I returned to my husband and sons.

This post went in another direction than originally intended, but I think my point is still there somewhere. While I haven’t driven the beltway the whole way around, it’s good to know it’s there if I need it (and hopefully with very little overnight construction).

I Do Not Have A Good Title Today

2006-06-05T10:53:00.001-04:00

Sorry for being MIA again. A coworker went into the hospital last Tuesday after having a series of heart attacks. Yes, this is actually a coworker that I like and we usually have lunch together every day. He’s doing okay, but is still in the hospital while they figure out the best course of treatment, which may or may not involve bypass surgery. So, the news threw me for a bit of a loop.

The brain trust has been drilling me for information about the coworker and I’ve had to fend them off quite a bit as well. I’ve been trying to kick out work quickly so that I can stop by the hospital here and there as much as possible. He and his wife have kids my age but they live far away and do not have any family in this area.

So what’s new with you?

I made two new necklaces over the weekend. One is pictured above. *

We mostly hung around the house and did yard work over the weekend. We joined the neighborhood pool for the summer, but only made it to the family barbeque on Sunday night. We spent a fair amount of time yesterday trying to move a couple of azaleas that had grown too big for where they are planted. After much digging and tugging they weren’t budging. We sat the boys safely on the front step and backed my car up and tied a rope around the bush to try to pull it out with the car. After much entertainment to the kids and breaking the rope not once, but twice, we gave up trying to pull them out and just hacked them back into submission.

This week stands to be pretty busy. We have a wedding Thursday night along with a pre-wedding party on Wednesday night. I’m taking Friday off and then this weekend, we are having a birthday party for my youngest son. That reminds me, I have to order a cake!

I might just be MIA again this week. Things should settle down by next week.

Gotta go!

*Blogger for whatever reason will not upload my photo so in the interest of getting this posted, I'll have to try to get a picture up later.

Random Thoughts on a Tuesday*

2006-05-30T15:04:00.000-04:00

1. Do not scan an inkjet print of a photo and expect me to reproduce it in a magazine with any amount of quality.

2. No matter how hot it is outside, please do not think that it is acceptable to appear anywhere in public without a shirt. This includes driving in your car.

3. If you are a member of the brain trust, please do not compliment my new super cute shoes. I will begin to question my style in shoes.

4. For God’s sake, please put sunscreen on your child before spending the entire day at the pool.

5. There are CDs that I used to live and die by that I’m just not interested in listening to anymore.

6. My husband is AWESOME! He helped me hand paint a sign I volunteered to create for a friend’s wedding.

7. Please do not wear a long dangly charm bracelet and bang it on your desk all day—it might annoy the person who has the misfortune to sit in the next cube over from you.

8. Please do not outbid me literally at the last possible second on Ebay. It’s just not nice and I had my heart set on that rockin’ piece of glass.

10. Please do not forward an e-mail to me that is embedded in 10 e-mails especially if it is a “funny” photo of a man’s naked ass and you are sending it to my work e-mail address. Nasty!

11. How effed-up do you obviously have to be to manage this and then try to get away on a bus?

12. Adobe Software: You have officially designed your Web site to be completely useless to me.

13. If someone is nice enough to send you a baby gift from across the country it is common courtesy to send a thank you note.

14. Please take a walk with me on a beautiful day to get a cookie.

15. I'm listening to this today. Check it out if you have time.

* In no particular order.

Sure Happy It's Thursday

2006-05-25T11:26:00.000-04:00

First, I really need to try to come up with better titles for posts.

Second, To follow up on my last post, I hypothetically encouraged the hypothetical source to talk to the hypothetical director and hypothetically she did. We hypothetically decided not to talk to our hypothetical direct boss as the information would have just been hurtful. Hypothetically we think the director sees right through the brain trust. We'll see if anything hypothetically comes of it all. That's eight (now nine) hypotheticals.

Third, for lack of something better to write about, I give you a really interesting Web site.

Photo is from the Web site and is possibly copyrighted by someone, but I'll take the risk.

Hypothetical*

2006-05-22T14:19:00.000-04:00

So, let's say, hypothetically of course, I found out about a pretty bad act of insubordination against my hypothetical boss. Bad enough that I may have lost hypothetical sleep over it. Let's say the information came from a third party who asked that I not say anything. Let's say hypothetically it involves the Brain Trust. The boss returns hypothetically to the office from Florida on Wednesday. What should I do? Hypothetically of course.

*Google search for "hypothetical" and "insubordinate" related images yielded nothing so you get a completely unrelated photo of the necklace I'm wearing today.

Miscellaneous Monday

2006-05-15T08:59:00.000-04:00

1. Did anyone see "Grey's Anatomy" last night? Holy crap! Anyone want to take a guess at who will survive through to next season? All I have to say is that Bushie better make his little immigration speech short and quick so that it doesn't run past nine into the second part 2-hour "Grey's Anatomy" finale tonight. (yes, shallow I know...) I'm thinking if he goes past nine his ratings will drop even further from the "Grey's Anatomy" viewers as well as those that watch "24".

2. I'm leaving for Orlando tomorrow morning. We have a conference at Disney starting Thursday and I have to fly down for some mandatory "staff event" on Wednesday. Normally, I do not get to go to our conference, but since it is at Disney the boss has decided to fly all of us down pre-conference. Yeah, a team building thing. (read dripping with sarcasm). So I don't actually get to stay for the conference (I fly home Thursday), but I do get to stay in a nice hotel for two nights and a co-worker (one who shares my disdain with the brain trust) and I are headed to the House of Blues Wednesday night, so hopefully it won't be so bad. The goal is to avoid the intolerable co-workers as much as possible and enjoy some time to myself, which I rarely get anymore.

3. My Mother's Day was great! My boys both made me beautiful keepsakes and brought me flowers. This was the first year that my oldest was into Mother's Day and all by himself, he asked his daddy to take him to the grocery store so that he could get some flowers to hold behind his back and surprise me with them. How cute is that? We had a nice breakfast of French Toast and later they took me out for dinner. Very nice.

4. I spent some time last night downloading the pilot episode of "Lost" since I've never seen it. My intention was to have it on the iPod for the trip to Florida. Later last night I decided it might not be such a good idea to watch the pilot while I'm actually on an airplane. Yeah, maybe not. Oh and by the way, it took two hours to download one episode. I have Verizon Fios, which is supposed to be super fast. At that rate I might only have time to download the second part of the pilot tonight. I need to download the first five episodes since it took me a few weeks to get sucked into the show last year.

5. I really do have more of a life than TV. I strung a new necklace last night, but did not remember to bring it in today to scan.

6. Have a good week.

While You Were Out Today

2006-05-11T16:25:00.000-04:00

To: The Boss
From: Blue Dog Art

RE: A Day in the Life of the Brain Trust

9:30 Bother to show up for "work".
9:30-10:45 B.S. With each other
10:45 Make nail appointment for 11:15
10:50 Leave for nail appt.
12:15-1:00 Return from nail appt. (I went to lunch and she was back when I returned at 1.)
1:00-1:10 Return personal phone call.
1:10-1:20 Disappear somewhere in office.
1:20-2:45 Go to lunch
2:45-3:00 B.S. some more
3:00-3:05 Call someone to explain fuck-up that will cost us money to fix.
3:05 I get sick of the B.S. and put on noise cancelling headphones because I am to pissed to think about it anymore.
4:30 I'm going home.

I SO wish I was kidding, but I'm not. This was her actual fucking day today. I actually took notes today. I wish I could give this list to my boss, but at this point I just make myself look bad for bitching about it so much.

My Dear Friend

2006-05-08T20:57:00.000-04:00

A very close friend is pregnant with twins. She is only 22 weeks along and is in pre-term labor. I just finished talking to her and she's so scared. She had several contractions today and the medication to stop the contractions is not working so well. She was put on bed rest in the hospital as of Friday and is to remain in the hospital for the duration. She did well over the weekend, but hasn't had so good of a day. She has a two year-old at home. Please keep her and the babies and her husband and young son in your thoughts and prayers. I know you, my readers are all good folks. Thank you.

Five Years Ago Today…

2006-05-08T09:45:00.000-04:00

…a beautiful, healthy 8 lb. 4 oz., 20" long, baby boy was born at 3:58 a.m.

Happy Birthday to my first Blue Dog Pup!

Something Fun and Cool

2006-05-04T09:18:00.000-04:00

I recently received a gift certificate from a vendor to use at this really cool online t-shirt seller. They have a ton of cool designs and you can also submit your own designs to be printed.

If you click the link below you can view and order something cool for yourself and if you order through my link I get points toward a free shirt. AND if you sign up you too can tell your friends and get points for yourself.

http://www.threadless.com/?streetteam=Blue_Dog_Art

I ordered "A Room With A View", "Canada Owes Me", and "Lulu".

Enjoy!

P.S. They are having a sale until Monday. T-shirts are on sale for $10. Wahoo!

What I did Friday

2006-05-01T09:26:00.000-04:00

I took Friday off to volunteer for the 2006 Avon Walk for Breast Cancer here in DC.

In 2000 I participated as a walker in what was then known as the Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day. Back then, I had been hearing the radio ads for the walk and was thinking about doing the walk. Then I found out that one of my childhood friends had just been diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 32. I signed up to do the walk immediately. I trained for three months. My biggest fear in doing the walk was the fund-raising that was required to participate. I had to raise $1800 in order to walk. I figured that the walking would be the easy part. I was wrong. My fund-raising totalled $32 just shy of $5000. I joined 3000 other walkers in Frederick, Maryland and over the course of a 3-day weekend walked 60 miles from Frederick to the Mall in downtown Washington, DC. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. My friend is now a six-year survivor.

Every year since 2000 when I walked, I have volunteered with the walk. Last year's volunteering was poignant as my mother was just finishing up her treatment for breast cancer. I'm pleased to say that she is doing very well. Friday was my sixth year for volunteering. For the past few years I have volunteered in the walker check-in area. The walkers and crew members come through and we check them in on computers, verify their medical info is on file, update any additional fund-raising, and pass out registration packets, etc. I have worked this area enough that repeat walkers even recognize me as they check in.

This Friday was a little different. Two people stuck with me this year like no others. First, I checked in a woman who was participating as a crew member. (The crew supports the walkers along the way in multiple ways including, rest stops, traffic control, meals, you name it, the crew does it in an amazing way.) She sat down in front of my computer and was bubbling with excitement. As I began to check her in she told me that today was her 20-year anniversary for beating her breast cancer. I congratulated her and she started passing out stickers that said "Special Person". As a crew member there is not a fund-raising requirement, it is optional. As I continued to check her in I came to the fund-raising screen and thought there was an error in the screen. There was not a typo. This dear woman who had beat cancer 20 years ago had raised over $24,000 for the cause. Amazing! We all got up and applauded her accomplishment.

The second person that stuck with me was a young woman who was a first time walker. She seemed a bit stressed when she sat down. She asked about stickers that were available to write a name on and wear in honor or memory of someone. I told her where to find what she was looking for and asked who she was walking for and she said her mom and began to cry. I asked how her mom was doing and she replied that her mom had died in February. I almost lost it right there. I stood up and reached over the table to hug her. I told her as I hugged her that her mom was proud of her for doing the walk. I felt pretty bad that she cried, but knowing the walk and the experience, I'm sure then wasn't going to be the only time.

That's what this walk is about. The amazing stories that go along with it. It is hard not to cry when you hear the stories and meet all the amazing people. Walkers, survivors, supporters, mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons. All walking because so many people are affected by breast cancer.

NEWS FLASH !!

2006-04-25T08:52:00.000-04:00

Half of the "brain trust" announced retirement on Monday. Too bad it isn't the half that sits next to me, but it is progress nonetheless.

Manic Monday

2006-04-24T08:43:00.000-04:00

Things are still crazy with me, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm almost through our busy time at work. I have been lax in posting because I have not had any downtime at work and because my husband has messed with the security level of our wireless network at home and my laptop has been shut out of the internet connection, so I haven't been able to post here or at home. Anyway...

My son finally got in two soccer games this weekend despite more rain on Saturday morning. His team won both games and he scored at least one goal in each game.

After the game, we stopped at a garden center and bought some more plants for the yard including Gerber Daisies, which are my favorite.

I managed to sneak out of here for the day on Friday and took a day trip to Philly for a bead show. I got a bunch of little goodies to string with my fused pieces. We've been reorganizing our office at home and my jewelry workspace and the project is almost completed so I'll be able to get back into stringing soon. I took a bunch of new pieces to my hair salon last Thursday, so hopefully they will sell.

Bear with me another week and I'll be back to my usually beading and blogging.

Quick Update

2006-04-14T09:39:00.000-04:00

Yes, I am still slammed here at work, but I managed to play hooky from work yesterday. The hubby and I dropped the kids at school and headed to Great Falls for some hiking. We had a great hike. We saw tons of blooming Virginia Bluebells, several lizards and skinks, turtles sunning themselves on logs and a small herd of deer, all of which we got some cool photos. After lunch in Glen Echo, we went to Ikea in College Park and picked up bookcases for our home office. All in all the weather was beautiful and it was nice to have a day together with just the two of us.

The soccer game last weekend was in fact rained out and the game this week is cancelled because the other team doesn't have enough players. I thought it was rather ambitious to schedule a game on Easter weekend. Hopefully, they will finally get to play an actual game next weekend.

Happy Easter everyone!

Fabulous Friday

2006-04-07T08:50:00.000-04:00

My week has been insane. We have our annual National Leadership Conference coming up next month at Disney and I've been busy getting all our printed materials prepared, approved by Disney and off to press. Plus, I have a magazine in production right now and let me just tell you that the "brain trust" is in its full glory. (One is off today through Tuesday, then the other one leaves next Wed. to go to Hawaii for a week.) OK, if this is the busiest time of the year, should you be taking your vacation in the middle of it? I think not. But they don't think and that's why I call them the brain trust so why am I surprised. Whatever.

My oldest son has his very first soccer game scheduled for tomorrow morning. Unfortunately it seems there is a good chance it will be rained out. You have no idea how heartbreaking this is to a four- (almost) five-year-old (and his parents). As much as we need the rain, I hope it allows for the games in the morning. Another bit of kid news for you is that he also had his first Karate belt test yesterday and he passed. He's very excited to have his new gold stripe belt.

In honor of Friday, I am posting one of my latest creations and personally my new favorite piece. I made the fused piece and then created a triple strand necklace. I am having too much fun with the fusing. Buying glass can be addicting and expensive. I have made a serious effort to avoid eBay lately. Anyway, I hope you like the piece and that you have a great weekend.

Four Things

2006-04-03T11:15:00.000-04:00

Today's post is brought to you by the number 4. I'm slammed at work with our annual conference coming up in May and busy at home too. I've had things to say, but no time to post. Yes, I'm slacking in the blogging department. My apologies. So, for lack of a better post, here's something that I started a while ago. A small glimpse into more about the Blue Dog.

If Dooce Does it, it MUST Be Cool.

Four jobs I’ve had
1. Professional Ice Cream Scooper
2. Restaurant Hostess
3. Retail Art Supply sales
4. Graphic Designer

Four movies I can watch over and over
1. Big
2. The Breakfast Club
3. Ordinary People
4. Singles

Four places I have lived
1. Alexandria, Virginia
2. Bethesda, Maryland
3. Gaithersburg, Maryland
4. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Four TV shows I love
1. “Grey’s Anatomy”
2. “Lost”
3. “CSI” (only the Vegas show)
4. “What Not to Wear” (a guilty pleasure)

Four places I’ve vacationed
1. South Florida (both coasts)
2. North Carolina (beaches and mountains)
3. California (San Diego to San Francisco)
4. Las Vegas (what happens there, stays there)

Four of my favorite dishes
1. Chicken Marsala
2. Pad Thai
3. Grilled Skirt Steak Burrito
4. Shrimp Alfredo

Four sites I visit daily
1. WTOPnews.com
2. Washington Post
3. Fire Mountain Gems
4. eBay

Four places I would rather be right now
1. Outer Banks of North Carolina
2. Paris, France (I have always wanted to go there)
3. Home in bed asleep
4. New York City

Four people I am tagging
1. Not tagging anyone, but feel free to do it if you like.

On the Band Wagon! GO MASON!

2006-03-28T09:39:00.001-05:00

George Mason University is until recently relatively unknown small school in the 'burbs of Washington, DC. I think it is great that their basketball team has shocked the world and themselves to make it to the Final Four. So as a resident of the city that George Mason helped to found, I'm jumping on the band wagon. Here is a little history from the school's Web site. GO MASON! (I must also add a congrats to the lady turtles for making the final four as well!)

GMU Documentary History: George Mason 1725-1792

George Mason was a prominent American patriot, born (1725) and died (October 7, 1792) in Fairfax County, Virginia. He was a statesman who insisted on the protection of individual liberties in the composition of both the Virginia and United States Constitutions (1776, 1787). And he was ahead of his time in opposing slavery and in rejecting the constitution compromise that perpetuated it.

As a landowner and near neighbour of George Washington, Mason took a leading part in local affairs. He also became deeply interested in Western expansion and was active in the Ohio Company, organized in 1749 to develop trade and sell land on the upper Ohio River. At about the same time, Mason helped to found the town of Alexandria, Virginia. Because of ill health and family problems, he generally eschewed public office, though he accepted election to the House of Burgesses in 1759. Except for his membership in the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia, this was the highest office he ever held -- yet few men did more to shape United States political institutions.

A leader of the Virginia patriots on the eve of the American Revolution (1775-'83), Mason served on the Committee of Safety and in 1776 drafted the state constitution, his declaration of rights being the first authoritative formulation of the doctrine of inalienable rights. Mason's work was known to Thomas Jefferson and influenced his drafting of the Declaration of Independence. The model was soon followed by most of the states and was also incorporated in diluted form in the federal Constitution. He served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1776 to 1788.

As a member of the Constitution Convention, Mason strenuously opposed the compromise permitting the continuation of the slave trade until 1808. Although he was a Southerner, Mason castigated the trade as "disgraceful to mankind"; he favoured manumission and education for bondsmen and supported a system of free labor. Because he also objected to the large and indefinite powers vested in the new government, he joined several other Virginians in opposing adoption of the new document. A Jeffersonian Republican, he believed that local government should be kept strong and centeral government weak. His criticism helped bring about the adoption of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution.

Soon after the Convention, Mason retired to his home, Gunston Hall, always a favorite and satisfying retreat in the midst of a large and affectionate family.

Okey Dokey

2006-03-23T12:36:00.000-05:00

Today’s post is from my “Forgotten English” calendar*. Each page contains a word with a definition and then also includes a lifestyle snippet. Today’s word is "square dinkham," which according to the Soldier and Sailor Glossary, 1925, means true, straightforward, and correct. However, that’s not why I’m posting.

The snippet for today, Thursday, March 23, 2006 is titled “Okey Dokey” and I now share it with you my dear readers:

Okey Dokey

On this date in 1839, the coinage O.K. made what may have been its first appearance in print. The Boston Morning Post used it—facetiously to mean “all correct”—in a report on the locally based Anti-Bell-Ringing Society, whose mission was to halt the clanging of dinner bells. That year, waggish newspapermen began using it and other slightly off-kilter initial-formed terms, such as K.Y. for “no use” and, later, K.O. for “commanding officer”. In 1840 O.K. became a catchword during President Martin Van Buren’s unsuccessful reelection campaign. Van Buren was popularly known as “Old Kinderhook,” after his hometown in New York’s Hudson River Valley, and a group of his advocates created the O.K. Club. But another U.S. president, Woodrow Wilson, was apparently so sure that O.K. stemmed from the Choctaw word okeh (meaning “it is so”) that he would write it as such. O.K. became the best known of all Americanisms, formally adopted as both a noun and a verb, and became part of many languages worldwide.

Fascinating stuff. First, I’ve been spelling okey dokey wrong (okie dokie). Second, I had no idea of the origin of O.K. I have learned something new today.

*You have no idea how many hits I have received from people doing searches for this word.

Wednesday Eye Candy

2006-03-22T09:49:00.000-05:00

Today I shall post about jewelry. I haven't posted lately because quite honestly I'm tired of posting about my iPod and potty training my kid and that's really all that has been going on with me lately. Enough.

So, today I give you a necklace that I made over a year ago. It is made of snowflake obsidian and since it snowed here in Northern Virginia last night (a dusting on the grass) I thought this piece appropriate. The drops are made with hand done wire work spirals and accented with stardust silver round beads. This is still one of my favorite designs.

Last night I made eight more fused pieces that I hope to string into necklaces rather than just hanging them as pendants on plain silver chains. Another pendant sold at my hair salon, so I placed an order for more chains to replenish my display at the salon. I might try to sell a strung necklace at the salon just to see if there is any interest beyond the fused pendants.

Have a good day everyone!

Calling All of You Cool iPod Kids

2006-03-15T09:53:00.000-05:00

I am interested in knowing what type of playlists you have set up and what your favorite playlists contain. If you don't care to type an entire list, just give me a few of your choicest selections. I'm open to any and all suggestions that you might have.

Weekend Reflections

2006-03-12T20:17:00.000-05:00

1. The weather here in Washington, DC was absolutely fantastic this weekend. Our crocuses and irises are in full bloom. We were outside almost the whole weekend. We got a bunch of yardwork done and washed my car, which sorely need it.

2. I'm SO ready for daylight savings time to start. The sun is up at 6 a.m. and so are my kids. They are way more likely to stay in bed when it is dark. The earlier it gets light out, the earlier they get up. 6:20 a.m. Saturday morning and 6:38 Sunday morning.

3. Potty training SUCKS on many levels, but our little one did much better this time around. Less accidents and he really tried hard. My hands are dry from washing them a million times first from helping him potty and then from rinsing out the big thick training underwear. His incentive to stay dry is big boy underwear with the Madagascar characters on them. (Sidebar: The movie Madagascar is freakin' hilarious even if you aren't two years old.) When I get desperate to get him to poop in the potty, the incentive ups to candy for breakfast, which may or may not actually work.

4. There is nothing better than watching my kids and husband running around in the yard playing baseball and soccer. It is so amazing to see my husband teach them to catch and hit the ball. We also started a new round of swimming lessons. This session is the two-year-old's first lesson. The toddler & me class is first followed by the pre-school and me class. This allows the parents to work with their children in the pool. Hubby and I tag-teamed. Next week will prove to be interesting as hubby is timing a canoe race and I have had to recruit a friend to help. Impossible for me to be in the pool with one and keep the other from getting into trouble.

5. Only an hour and a half until Grey's Anatomy. I know, it's sickening and pathetic, but I love this show and it wasn't on last week because the Oscars were televised instead. If you watch the show regularly you understand the addiction. I don't even wait to watch it on TiVo. I have to watch it right when it starts, commercials and all. Again, sick and pathetic.

I hope you all had as good of a weekend as we did at the Blue Dog House!

Per Maki’s Request: A Tag

2006-03-09T15:30:00.000-05:00

Ten years ago, March 1996:
I was living in Gaithersburg, Maryland working in Bethesda, Maryland at a job that I hated. I had worked as a graphic designer as well as production manager, but had been promoted to being the Training and Development manager. I developed tests to assess the graphics software knowledge of designers applying for temp jobs. I had a wicked commute down I-270 and spent WAY too much time in traffic. (Sadly, that commute is even worse now than it was ten years ago.) I was 28, miserably single, and pretty much hating life.

Five years ago, March 2001:
(Wow. A lot can happen in the span of five years. Between 1996 and 2001 I changed jobs, moved twice, and met and married my husband.) OK, at this time five years ago, I was married, living in Alexandria, VA, and was seven months pregnant with our first son, which means I was tired and working (different job) like a crazy woman to make sure my work was covered while I took 3 months of maternity leave.

One year ago, March 2005:
Same job, which I still mostly like. Working on tiling the shower in a rather intricate mosaic that I had the bright idea to create in our remodeled master bathroom. I have had people ask me if I would come to their house and tile for them the same way. No effing way is my standard reply. It took us three months to tile the shower. There’s no tub, just the shower and it took freakin’ forEVER. I wouldn’t even do it again for myself.

Yesterday, March 8, 2006:
I worked. Went home and made dinner, started laundry. Got the kids bathed and put the youngest in bed. The oldest helped me fold laundry from two days ago while we watched American Idol. Put him in bed, switched the laundry over to the dryer and started another load. Sat at the computer and ripped more CDs while pricing out a bracelet for Jaded. Downloaded U2’s “Beautiful Day” video from iTunes. Husband came home. I finished ripping CDs for the evening, put the load of laundry in the dryer and went to bed. Exciting day. (I cracked 3 gigs on the iPod last night, yet I am still stressed that I will fill all 30 gigs of it.)

Tomorrow, March 10, 2006:
Hmm…Friday. I’ll come to work (if I don’t have to take my youngest to the doctor—he’s got a wicked cough that PediaCare does not seem to be helping). One of my co-workers that I actually like returns to the office after having been in London all week so we’ll probably go here for lunch and have margarita’s. (That’s right kids--I can drink at lunch.) Go home and make dinner or convince husband that we should eat out. Get the boys in the bathtub and into their beds and maybe watch a movie.

Yes, it is an exciting life I lead these days. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

People I will tag although you are under no obligation:

Fictional Rockstar
Mass
Jaded
Pobble
Washington Cube

(Graphic borrowed from Interstate Label Company.)

XM Radio + iPod = Bliss

2006-03-08T13:45:00.000-05:00

Alright kids. Blogger or perhaps my workplace has been giving me trouble and I haven't been able to post and in some instances comment. It's probably only a matter of time until I'm busted for blogging from my office. Trust me you have to "eff-up" far worse around here to get canned. Two words: Brain Trust. But I digress…

XM has added a new channel "Big Tracks". This channel is hilarious. I was listening driving the kids to daycare this morning and David Bowie "Rebel Rebel" came on the channel. I crank the volume and proceed to rock out. My kids are just looking at me from the back seat wondering what the hell was wrong with me. I guess I have not played enough Bowie for them yet. The two-year-old loves AC/DC "Back in Black". Watching kids try to immitate mommy head banging while strapped into their car seats is great entertainment. Arms and legs flying everywhere as much as a five-point harness will allow. After I dropped them off I heard Eddy Money "Shakin'" and Quarterflash "Take Me To Heart". They have dubbed the channel "Classic Rock for Our Generation". The station is seriously bringing back memories from high school and college. Yeah, I know to some of you I'm wicked old. I'm OK with that. Lita Ford w/Ozzy Osbourne "Close My Eyes Forever" is on the channel now. LOL!

Now, I finally got an iPod and am currently obsessed with ripping my CD collection and figuring out what playlists to create.* I downloaded some wonderful songs from Fictional Rockstar today and found the songs to be quite wonderful. Kudos to you MA! I have yet to actually purchase anything from iTunes, but have started a list for that too. I have a 20 song iTunes gift certificate from one of my vendors and I'm hoping to use it soon. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to have to at least download a U2 video just because I can. I seriously have to get the AC adapter because I'm burning up the battery listening during the day. Thank you to everyone for your helpful accessory suggestions.

Right now I have to head into a meeting, you know so I don't get fired for blogging. Oh yeah, one more thing...between the XM and the iPod and my swell noise cancelling headphones, the Brain Trust is almost non-existent. Ha!

*Jaded, although it may seem that way, I have not forgotten about my task.

What's Your Politik?

2006-03-03T09:08:00.000-05:00

Last night I went to see Coldplay and Fiona Apple in concert. I was somewhat disappointed in the performance by Fiona Apple, who I was really looking forward to seeing. I think she is a great artist, but maybe she was off her game last night because she just didn't sound that great. She may have a had a throat thing going on as she kept clearing her throat and she sounded hoarse. I was really expecting her to be great live, but not so last night.

Moving along, Coldplay put on an excellent show. For the first time I could see how the band could be compared to U2. Chris Martin actually sounded a lot like Bono in his singing, which I had not really picked up from the CDs. They put on a great high energy show. To me a good artist exudes the music and makes you just feel it coming out of them with a sense of passion. I get this from Chris Martin. I was not really sold on Coldplay when they first hit the U.S. It took me until the release of "Clocks" to really begin to like them. I became sold on them when the played the Grammy's and I saw Martin banging out "Politik" on the piano. You could see the music and passion coming out of him in that performance.

Our seats were low in the arena, but pretty far back from the stage and I need new contacts so I couldn't see that well. Every now and then they projected on a screen behind them. This was the kind of show that it was OK that you couldn't see that well because they just rocked the house. They did a really great acoustic set and at one point Martin ran from the stage down the aisle all the way to the back so those of us far from the stage could see him. Towards the end of the show people on the floor raised signs wishing Martin a Happy Birthday as he turned 29 yesterday. They did one encore and ended with "Fix You". It was a great show and I would definitely see them again.

I think I am finally getting an iPod this weekend. I might sneak off to Best Buy at lunch and get it then. Any recommended accessories or quirks I should know about to get started?

Have a good weekend everyone!

Is It Just Me...

2006-03-02T15:35:00.000-05:00

Or is this just a heinous looking outfit? This lovely get-up is available through this well-known catalog retailer and was the lead image in an e-mail that I just received. The rolled down waist, the elastic at the knees, the criss-cross high heels...ugh! Maybe I'm just totally out of it fashion-wise, but I wouldn't be caught dead in this look. What do you think?

(For those of you counting...this makes two posts in one day. HA!)

Finally...I can post!

2006-03-02T13:43:00.000-05:00

Sheesh! Blogger went squirrely on me the past two days and I haven't been able to post or comment here or at home. I finally get time and can't get in to the system. Argh!

I've almost gotten my magazine off to the printer. Hopefully tomorrow or Monday at the lastest. Just in time to start on the next issue.

I am going to see Coldplay and Fiona Apple tonight and am really looking forward to the show. My friend and I are having dinner before the show to which I'm also looking forward. It is not often I get a night out to myself.

My littlest pup took a bad fall coming into the house last night and spent four hours in the emergency room. He fell and hit his head on the edge of the cement step coming into our house. The cement has pea gravel mixed in it and is rather rough. Poor little thing got a puncture wound right in the middle of his forehead and bumps and scraps all over his forehead and nose. He needed two stitches. Not fun at all. He came home from the hospital just fine though. No concussion, just all banged up. This makes the second time he's needed stitches in his head. He fell at daycare a little over a year ago and needed four stitches that time. This makes two times he's had stitches and he doesn't turn three until June. This can't be a good omen for the future. Yikes! The first time I had stitches was because of a c-section when my first child was born.

That's all for now. I'll try to post a review of the show tomorrow.

Personally, I'm Tired of Looking at My Week-old Post

2006-02-27T09:33:00.000-05:00

If I'm tired of the last post, you probably are as well. I haven't had much to say worth posting lately. Sorry about that. I'm trying to get my magazine off to the printers and for some reason I have been mostly uninspired with this issue and it doesn't help when the words just aren't fitting well with the pictures. Hopefully I'll get the kinks worked out today and at least get a proof to my boss.

Anyway, I wanted to at least knock the potty post down a notch. Hope you all had a nice weekend and I promise more than just this lame post this week.

This is just a BAD idea.

2006-02-21T11:02:00.000-05:00

I try to stay out of the political debating game, but this just seems like a bad idea. If in the state of Maryland, the Republican governor and the Democrat mayor of Baltimore (soon to be governor candidate) agree on something, you know it must be a bad idea.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-te.bz.ports21feb21,0,6812337.story?coll=bal-home-headlines

In other news, I'm coming back to work after a 4-day weekend. Gotta love that. Friday I took a precious metal clay jewelry class, which was quite fun. I'll post some pictures of my creations as soon as I can. I'm hoping to use the metal clay to create silver settings for my fused glass.

Saturday was day one of the "going cold-turkey" potty training method of my two-year-old. It did not go as well as I'd hoped. Let me just tell you that potty training sucks on many levels. When training my oldest son, we used pull-ups and it took forever to get him out of the pull-ups, especially at night. For that reason, we're not going to use pull-ups the second time around. Poor little one must have had 6-7 accidents in his new football underwear Saturday. For as bad as the day went, we decided not to try the underwear overnight. Yeah, I know, inconsistency, yadda yadda, whatever. I was tired of changing his clothes and didn't feel like changing sheets all night.

Sunday was day two and only lasted about an hour as we discovered our refrigerator had died. Little One had an accident as I was trying to move the contents of the kitchen refrigerator to the basement refrigerator. We decided given the need to go shop for a replacement refrigerator and not wanting to deal with accidents in Sears or Home Depot to bag the potty training for the day and put him back in a diaper. Yeah, again I know inconsistency. The new refrigerator will deliver on Thursday and in the meantime, I'm getting some exercise going up and down stairs for food.

Day three, Monday. President's Day. Holiday from work. Try the underwear again in the morning. Not even 5 minutes in the underwear and he pees in them. Bag the potty training again. I know. I know! The in-laws will be in town this coming weekend and since we'll probably want to go out and do things while they are visiting, we'll wait two weeks to try again.

Since we bagged the potty training, I packed the Little One up and we went to the mall. We went to the Apple store and I drooled over the 30gb iPod. I want one so bad. I will have to hold off on purchasing for a bit longer since the new refrigerator will be eating our tax refund. It is always something.

This Just In…

2006-02-15T11:20:00.000-05:00

Understand that it is seriously not my intention to “toot” my own horn here, but I just got an e-mail and wanted to share part of it with you.

My organization is having a conference this year at Disney in Florida and I have been busy designing our promotional materials for the conference. Disney is understandably very brand conscious and in designing our materials, I have had to follow incredibly detailed guidelines provided by Disney. I have also had to submit my designs to Disney for their approval, which is to say the least daunting to a small time designer such as myself. To me, Disney is a big-time design powerhouse.

Last week one of my big projects was our registration brochure for the conference. Luckily I got very favorable feedback from Disney upon their review and surprisingly from my printer as well. Yesterday before I left the office, I submitted two magazine ads promoting the conference to Disney for their approval, which I just received. This is the excerpt of the e-mail from Disney:

“Both of your ads are absolutely fabulous! You've done an exceptional job creating two very appealing ads that are within our guidelines.”

This has made my day! Thanks for humoring me. I now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging.

For the Record I do NOT Watch "The O.C.". I Swiped this from PlayfulinDC

2006-02-14T10:44:00.000-05:00

Your Celebrity Style Twin is Mischa Barton

Funky, bohemian, and girly.

Who's" Your Celebrity Style Twin?

I'm not good at HTML, so here's the link to PlayfulinDC. Ms. Barton is a good-looking girl so I'll take the results, although I think she needs to eat a steak.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Alrighty Then

2006-02-13T15:44:00.000-05:00

Hi kids. Sorry to abandon you all last week. [sorry Cube] I did in fact survive the Super Bowl, although I WISH I could have been in Pittsburgh for the victory parade. Friends have said that it was unbelievable. Things got a little busy and I had to do actual work rather than spend time on the Internet. Imagine that. Anyway, things are a little more under control this week, so I have a minute or two to post.

I got a major project off to the printer and then had to be in an all-day meeting on Friday. Not a fun meeting, but supposedly necessary. Our receptionist resigned this morning. She had almost attained “brain trust” status, so I’m not that sorry to see her go. Yeah, I know, nice attitude. Whatever.

I was able to find time—for the first time in months—to string some necklaces over the weekend. I have included a photo above for your enjoyment. Unfortunately the scan isn’t showing the dragonflies in all their glory. They seem to fade out, so you’ll have to trust me that they are there in full force. I think I’m going to have to start taking digital pictures rather than just laying the necklaces out on my scanner.

My dear little boys had a TON of fun in the snow yesterday. We have a slight hill in our front yard that is just the right size for little ones to enjoy sledding. My hubby helped them pack down a sled run and they had a blast sliding down and running back up to do it again. We got about 8” at the Blue Dog House and it was great packing snow. We made two giant snowmen, which the kids had a good time decorating with sticks. The snowmen ended up looking a little voodoo with all the sticks. I have to tell you that it is times like these that make this parenting thing SO worth it.

We lost power Sunday morning at 8:30 in the morning. The radio said that the power might be off until Monday or Tuesday at which point I started stressing about missing the conclusion of the best show on TV. Fortunately, our power came back in the afternoon and the crisis was averted. I know, I know, it’s just a TV show, but it’s a really good TV show and they left us hanging after the Super Bowl and I needed to see it last night. Holy crap what an ending it was too. The teaser for next week has me craving to watch again. Yes, I know there are still people without power and trust me I totally feel for them. Just so we are clear, I was worried about more than the TV. We had a fridge full of food and two small kids to keep warm.

I’m looking forward to Valentine’s Day tomorrow. I was actually able to get a babysitter and the hubby and I are going out for a nice dinner just the two of us. My Valentine best wishes to you all!

I should have more to say after a week. I had ideas for posts last week, just no time to post them. Hopefully, I’ll have more time this week.

The Picture Says it All !!!!!

2006-02-06T09:20:00.000-05:00

Today I wish I was back in the 'Burgh instead of half asleep here at my office. Victory is SWEET!

Photo credit: Peter Diana, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

In Honor of Groundhog Day

2006-02-02T08:57:00.000-05:00

I’m not hugely in to poetry, but Reya has put together a Groundhog Day (silent) poetry reading and I thought it would be fun to contribute. The poem that I have chosen is “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allen Poe. We studied Poe in my A.P. English class in high school. The boys in my class were assigned “The Raven” and the girls were assigned “Annabel Lee”. We not only studied the poems but also were required to memorize and recite the selections in class. I do not, unfortunately, remember much of what we studied and I certainly could not recite this from memory, but this poem has stuck with me since high school. I share it with you below.

Annabel Lee
By Edgar Allan Poe

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love –
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulcher
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me
Yes! that was the reason
(as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we
Of many far wiser than we
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride,
In the sepulcher there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Haiku Tuesday

2006-01-31T10:54:00.000-05:00

After reading Momentary Academic's haiku today, I thought I'd try my hand at it.

Day Not Going Well
New Necklace Broken Pieces
Dammit all to Hell.

There you have it. My day went to crap by 10 a.m. I stayed up late last night and strung a new necklace with one of my fused pieces. Sitting at my desk this morning, the necklace pulled out of the clasp. Fortunately, the fused piece did not break and I can re-string it again. Argh!

My favorite half of the "braintrust" has been on a personal phone call for the last HOUR! I shall end here and spare you the rant.

Hopefully, my day will turn around soon.

T.G.I.F.

2006-01-27T10:26:00.000-05:00

In honor of Friday and the weekend, I thought I'd show you one of my latest fused glass creations. I have been having quite a bit of fun creating things in the kiln lately. I've even sold a few pieces with the help of a display in the salon where I get my hair cut.

Next weekend I'm taking a knotted bracelet class at Arts Afire here in lovely Old Town Alexandria. I'm really excited about this class. It is taught by Stephanie Sersich who is a well-known bead artist and jewelry designer. Follow the link in her name to see some of her really cool jewelry.

This weekend we might pack up the kiddies and head to the U.S. Botanic Gardens and its annual Orchid show. My husband has become quite successful at growing orchids much to the curiosity of our neighbor who once asked if we were growing pot because of the lighting set-up he'd seen through our window. (I think he may have wanted some if that was the case.) To complete the day, we might also check out the Washington Auto Show.

Sunday, I'm headed to the Dulles Expo Center for the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival. The Sugarloaf shows are some of the best in the country! They have very talented artisans with a great variety of work to offer. If you are local, I highly recommend going. The Dulles show runs today, Saturday, and Sunday. You can print out discount admission coupons from the Web site.

Have good weekend everyone!

Curmurring*

2006-01-26T10:14:00.000-05:00

OK, so I’m a little grumpy today. After abnormal mild temps, it is windy and cold. I have a borderline cold with a potentially nasty sore throat.

Half of the “braintrust” for some reason, decided yesterday that it would be acceptable in an “open” office format to use hairspray in her cube, which is unfortunately right next to mine. It happened twice. At first, I wasn’t sure what was going on over there and let it slide, but the second time I decided to get up and see what she was doing. I asked her what she was spraying and she told me hairspray. I gave her my most convincing “you are a fucking idiot” look and told her that it was going everywhere in the office. She replied “Oh, sorry. I guess I’ll use it in the bathroom then.”

Brilliant!!!!

*A low rumbling sound; hence, the motion of the bowels, produced by flatulence, attended by such a sound; borborygmus; Scotch. (This calendar is hilarious!.)

Yeah Baby! The Steelers are Going to the Super Bowl!!

2006-01-25T09:39:00.000-05:00

Yes, I’m pretty excited that the Steelers are headed to the big game. I might have to try to score a babysitter and find a party to attend.

It was sixteen years ago that I left Pittsburgh to come to DC. I was in love and that is what brought me to the nation’s capital. The love didn’t work out, but I decided to stay in DC anyway. I will always love Pittsburgh, but I’m no longer certain that I would ever go back.

I have a love/hate relationship with DC. There are certain aspects of living here that are great. The history, monuments and museums are superb. I have had many great opportunities to do things here that many Americans might not ever have a chance to do. There’s nothing like freezing your butt off in the middle of January to witness a Presidential Inauguration. The nation’s capital throws a 4th of July bash like no other. I would have gone to the Reagan funeral procession, but stayed with the kids and let my husband go to see it. I have been to an official Election Night party, had a private tour of the White House, and had dinner at the Supreme Court.

DC is a very competitive city. Mostly I’ve found it is about whom you know and what they can do for you. I’m not by nature a competitive person. I tend to stand back and watch what goes on around me. For me it isn’t about the politics, but more so the opportunity to have experiences that I might otherwise not have. Every time I fly out of National Airport or drive across the Woodrow Wilson bridge it is a privilege to see the Washington Monument.

The politics and the competitiveness can be a drag. I spent 10 years in dating hell in this city—more of the who you know and what can that get me. I have met plenty of people, but have a small core group of friends, very few of which are involved in politics. There is a lot of superficiality here. Living here is often like living in a bubble. It seems people sometimes get so wrapped up in themselves here they forget what life is like beyond the beltway. The stress level is high in this city. Hard-working people that are fighting for what they believe. It can wear you out over time.

The reasons why I wanted out of western Pennsylvania, however, have turned around and seem to be the reasons why I would leave DC now.

Can You Still Be Friends With Someone 20 Years Later?—Part 2

2006-01-19T20:41:00.000-05:00

I first asked this question back in November. My reasons for asking the question had to do with a particular situation with someone I knew long ago.

I received sage advice from Jaded and Pobble, which I sincerely appreciate and for me, hit the nail on the head.

In thinking about this long-lost friend I have pretty much determined that resurecting a friendship 20 years later is no easy task. In this particular instance I have come to the conclusion that the answer is no, we are not going to pick-up where we left off over 20 years ago and resume our friendship. This is through no fault of my own, which until recently I did not accept.

She and I have essentially an e-mail relationship. She sends me innane forwarded e-mails almost on a daily basis. Other than forwarding crap to me, I do not get personal e-mails from her unless I reply to something that she has sent me. I have made a sincere effort to regain her friendship and so far this is all that I have received in return. When I was back home for our class reunion, I made an effort to see her, which she ignored. At first I was annoyed and then after a while, I decided that I have been doing all the work to reconnect and getting not so much in return, so I’m done .

It boils down to the fact that our lives have gone in completely different directions and we no longer have anything in common except that when we were little girls we were best friends.

I’m at the point where after many years, I have, as far as I am concerned, made my amends with her and I can finally be at peace with the situation. We are both in different places in our lives and I no longer harbor regrets about the friendship. We may or may not remain in touch with each other, but whatever happens I feel confident that can accept it.

I’m still not sure what motivates me to dig up people from my past. She is not the first person from my past who I have found/contacted. I have also had people find me through similar circumstances.

There are two guys from college that contacted me through our alumni organization. I am in regular contact with one of them and we were able to easily reconnect. We haven’t seen each other face-to-face since he graduated school and left Pittsburgh.

The other guy who contacted me told me that he loved me the night of our college graduation to which I replied “I know.” Classic! He was engaged to someone else at the time. To this day, I’m still not sure why once every five years or so he contacts me.

There are many people that have come and gone in my life. Some friends, some past loves. Sometimes I wonder where they are and what they are doing. I think that this experience, with this particular friend, has taught me that I should just let the past go and cherish the memories.

It doesn’t do much good to dwell on past relationships. I no longer feel the need to wonder “what if”. anymore. I have many good friends and relationships here in the present. Some older and some in their infancy. I am happy with where I am in my life and I can let things go more easily these days. It has taken me a very long time to get here.

On a More Positive Note...

2006-01-18T09:23:00.000-05:00

Thanks to you all for your kind words and support. I'm much better this week. Things are settling down here in the office as much as possible. I thought I'd list some good things.

1. XM Radio--Just got it and I love it. Makes the demise of Z104 easier.

2. Noise-cancelling Headphones--Allows me to block out the "braintrust" without going deaf.

3. Rain and Warmer than Normal Temperatures--While probably not a good thing in the long run, I'll take the rain over snow and ice any day of the week.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers Are Still in the Playoffs--Scroggins!* Even though it was by the skin of our teeth, the Colts went down!

5. Subway Fresh Resolutions--I won a free soda in Subway's scratch-off game.

*Today's calendar word is Scroggins: Interjection used to express astonishment.

OK, So Far 2006 is Just Not Going Well

2006-01-12T20:26:00.000-05:00

So, aside from Penn State winning the Orange Bowl in triple overtime on January 3rd, 2006 just isn't going all that well.

I can't remember a time when so many bad things have happened seemingly all at the same time.

I posted about some of the things earlier this week, but ended up for certain reasons, removing the post.

Basically, bad things are happening all around me to people that I really care about. A friend has lost her job. A baby was born with potential brain damage. Someone I know was viciously attacked and almost killed. This morning I found out that a dear former co-worker has been diagnosed with Alzheimers. My elderly neighbor was just taken out of his house by ambulance.

I talked with a college friend today with whom I used to work. I called to tell her about our former co-worker with the Alzheimers only to learn that my friends 2006 has been going about as well as mine. Her neighbor's brother was killed. Her aunt died yesterday and today she found out that her dog has cancer.

We are only 12 days into 2006. What the hell is going on here?

Scurryfunge

2006-01-10T11:30:00.000-05:00

Each year I get a Page-A-Day style desk calendar. Last year’s was an instructive calligraphy model complete with a felt-tip calligraphy pen. Yes, I’m quite practiced in calligraphy now my friends.

This year, Santa neglected to bring me a new calendar so I had to pick my own. The pop-up calendar store at the mall had a mostly uninspiring collection of Page-A-Days. One did catch my eye and I ended up purchasing the “Jeffrey Kacirk’s Forgotten English calendar of Vanishing Vocabulary and Folklore.” I’m not an academic type like some of my dear readers so I don’t have a clue who Jeffrey Kacirk is, but I’m pretty sure this calendar is going to be interesting.

The first word of the year is “Scurryfunge”. Forget the meaning. I just like saying “scurryfunge”. Scurryfunge! Scurryfunge! The meaning of scurryfunge is cited from John Gould’s Maine Lingo: Boiled Owls, Billdads, and Wazzats, 1975:

Scurryfunge--A hasty tidying of the house between the time you see a neighbor and the time she knocks on the door.

I can’t tell you how many times I have scurryfunged. I just never knew doing so had such a hilarious word to describe it.

Today’s word is “aftertale”, which according to Herbert Coolidge’s Dictionary of the Oldest Words in the English Language, 1863, means postscript.

Oh the Beauty of it All*

2006-01-09T10:23:00.000-05:00

*WARNING: This post mentions vomit

The boys traveled surprisingly well for the two-day drive to Florida.

There was a minor projectile vomiting incident in Jacksonville, FL, but we asked for it when we let Pup #2 eat Denny’s pancakes and finish the large quantity of chocolate milk the waitress served him. It is quite amazing what you can accomplish with a roll of paper towels and a container of “Wet Ones”. We were able to get him and the car cleaned up and continue on to Miami without too much trouble.

The visit with my friend was great. All the kids got along great and played and became fast friends, just like their mommas did over 20 years ago. We went to the beach on New Year’s Eve and hung around their pool on New Year’s Day. I know…I suck. The weather was great and it was SO nice to just get away from the craziness of our life for a few days.

Now let’s get down to Orange Bowl business. As you may or may not already know, the game was absolutely incredible. I can’t even begin to describe to you what it was like to attend this game. Penn State was ranked 3rd and Florida State ranked 22nd going into the game. Deep down, I think we PSU fans were hoping for a blowout given the rankings and Florida State’s cake schedule. Penn State hasn’t taken any games this season for granted though and the Seminoles gave our Lions a run for the money.

Penn State fans literally infiltrated south Florida for the game. We were everywhere. We saw fans at the beach, in every restaurant we went to and walking around in general. It was like a Penn State home game.

Our seats at the game were excellent thanks to my friends. They were however smack in the middle of the Florida State section. This was OK, because there were plenty of other PSU around us in the same predicament.

From the sound of the FSU fans you would have thought they were leading the game, but aside from a brief moment, Penn State led most of the game. The Penn State crowd was great but reserved even though we were leading because we knew we didn’t have enough points ahead in the game to be getting all silly and obnoxious. Florida State kept up the stupid annoying tomahawk chop thing even though they were behind, but we persevered, we would not be swayed. The FSU fans finally shut up and even a few started to leave just as Penn State missed a field goal for the win at the end of the 4th quarter.

The missed kick left the game tied and into the first of three overtimes. From there on into the third overtime it was neck and neck, point for point. I have never been to a more stressful game in my life. The FSU people settled down and none of us could believe that both teams kept missing kicks. The last FSU field goal attempt actually bounced off the goal post. The last PSU kick was however, GOOD and the Nittany Lions were victorious!!! What a win!

The drive home was fun in that we were on the road with a ton of Penn State vehicles headed back north. Everyone was honking and giving “thumbs up” going up I-95.

All in all a great experience for which we definitely got our money’s worth! Here’s to the 2006 season when half of the top DC area high school football players join Penn State.

Happy New Year!

2005-12-27T12:49:00.000-05:00

I had all intentions of leaving a nice "Wishing You a Merry Christmas" post last week, but I got caught up in work and preparations for having a full house of family for Christmas. So, with that in mind I hope you all had a great Christmas.

Since I basically busted ass at work last week I don't have to go in this week, in fact I'm off work until January 6th--yeah me! Today I took the kids to daycare and am currently working on packing up the Christmas stuff. We leave on Thursday morning for the drive to Miami. It will be a good test for us all to see how the boys do for two days in the car. We are stocked up on DVDs and toys that travel well, so hopefully it won't be too bad. It looks like the weather will be decent for the drive down and I hope it stays that way for the return trip as well.

I more than likely will not be posting again until I'm back from Florida. I hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year. Personally, I hate New Year's Eve, but at least this year mine should be decent. Don't forget to watch the Orange Bowl next Tuesday night. [smile] I'll be the one in the Penn State t-shirt.

GO PENN STATE!!!!!!!

Today I'm Confused

2005-12-20T09:40:00.000-05:00

I drove by the young girl again today. She was wearing only the black sweatshirt. She was sitting on a cement block with the sweatshirt pulled down over her knees and her hands tucked into the sleeves. The coat, gloves, scarf, and hat were no where to be seen. I'm at a loss. Did someone take them from her? Her problems are obviously deeper than not having a warm coat. My friend's co-worker is the one who took the coat, etc. outside to her. The girl doesn't know that I had anything to do with the coat, etc. Should I pull over and try to talk to her? Would that freak her out? Do I call the school system and hope that they know who gets a bus on that corner? We still don't know for sure that she comes from the shelter. Do I call social services? Should I just let it go? I ask you, my cyber friends, for your thoughts.

Today She Was Wearing a Down Coat

2005-12-16T14:08:00.000-05:00

I thought I would update you on Tuesday's post. My friend and her co-workers across the street, have been keeping an eye on the young girl at the bus stop. One of the co-workers has a 13-year-old daughter for which she had bought a down coat. The daughter didn't like the coat, so the co-worker brought the coat to work for the young girl. Each day the co-worker attempted to take the coat to the girl, but just as she got outside the school bus came. She did not want to embarrass the girl in front of the other kids on the bus, so she turned back inside.

This morning the roads were icy, so I didn't rush to get to work and therefore missed seeing the girl at the bus stop. When I finally made it in to work, I had an e-mail waiting from my friend saying that they had given her a new coat. I called her and she told me that this morning the girl was back to just the black sweatshirt, but that they had taken the down coat out to her before the bus came. She accepted the coat and immediately put on the coat. The girl thanked them and was very appreciative.

Today, after lunch, I bought her a hat, scarf and gloves to match the coat. My husband had lunch with me so on his way home he dropped the gloves etc., at my friends office and hopefully they will be able to see her coming off the bus this afternoon and get them to her before the weekend.

I don't know why this girl has struck such a chord with me--and continues to do so--but at least she'll be warm now.

A Proud Parent Moment

2005-12-13T21:25:00.000-05:00

Boy, I am tearing up with posts this week. This might be the most I've posted in one week ever. Anyway...

Tonight my darling 4-1/2 year-old son sang in his first Christmas show. The preschool that he attends put on a fantastic little show. My brother even battled rush-hour traffic and came down from Baltimore to see his nephew's show. The kids have been practicing for weeks and he has been singing "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" constantly. It was cute to hear him singing the songs around the house. It was overwhelmingly emotional to see him stand on stage with his classmates while they sang their little hearts out at the top of their lungs. This mom is all choked up with pride tonight.

Today She Was Wearing a Coat

2005-12-13T09:02:00.000-05:00

Every day for the last couple of weeks while driving to work, I have passed a young girl waiting for a school bus. She has only been wearing a black sweatshirt. Yesterday, when I came around the corner I saw her as usual and she again only had on this black sweatshirt. It was 32 degrees. I resolved to do something. I talked to a co-worker and also called a friend who works in the building across the street from where this girl waits for the bus. My friend said that she had not noticed the girl before, but that she would watch for the bus to return in the afternoon. There is a community shelter around the corner, which might be where she is staying. The bus stop isn't in a residential area. We talked about the right way to go about getting this girl a coat.

Today when I came around the corner, she was sitting there as usual, but today she was wearing a coat. Granted it wasn't zipped up and she still had the sweatshirt on under the coat, but at least she was wearing a coat. It was 24 degrees this morning. She didn't have a hat, scarf or gloves. I called my friend when I arrived at my office thinking that she called social services or the school system.

My friend hadn't called anyone, but she and some of her co-workers will be keeping an eye on her. She said that the girl wasn't there when she arrived at work at 7:35, but at 7:45 she noticed the girl outside. I drive through between 8 and 8:15, so we've determined that she's waiting a long time for her bus. My friend will watch more closely tomorrow morning to see if she is coming from the shelter.

Anyway, I was awake at 11:30 last night thinking about the girl without a coat. If she hadn't had a coat on this morning, I was headed to Target at lunch time to get her a coat. I might still go to the store and get her some gloves, scarf and a hat.

Last night awake in my warm bed, I wondered if she was in the shelter down the street. What is her story? Where is her mother? Why is she waiting outside so long? Why doesn't she have a coat? Why didn't I go buy a coat for her yesterday? I prayed for God to take care of her. Today she was wearing a coat.

What She Said

2005-12-12T13:11:00.000-05:00

Read it. Learn it. Live it. For the safety of the rest of us on the road.

P.S. Watch the freaking pedestrians while you are at it. I walked a mere two blocks to get a sandwich and almost got taken out by a car in two separate instances.

Working list of What Needs to Happen Before Dec. 24th.

2005-12-12T11:20:00.000-05:00

Christmas photo of the boys √
Order photo cards √
Order stamps by mail √
Address and mail cards
Buy Christmas tree √
Decorate tree
Finish Shopping
Wrap gifts
Make cookies
Clean House
Sleep (yeah right!)

Thank you God for Wal-Mart! I took the Christmas photo of my sons on Wednesday and uploaded it to Wal-Mart.com that night. My cards were ready for pick-up on Saturday morning. My stamps-by-mail should come in today’s mail. Now I just need to find time to address the envelopes.

My husband has been studying for his final exam for the last two weeks. I cannot wait for him to be done. This is hopefully his last grad school class and he will have his Master’s from Johns Hopkins completed. Woohoo! He started grad school when I was pregnant with Blue Dog Pup #1 who is now 4-1/2 years old. He has aced all his classes, but this last class has been his toughest. As long as he pulls this one out, he’s done. If not he has to take two more to complete his Masters. He stumbled a bit with his mid-term but has really turned the class around and I know he’ll kick ass on his final.

I still have a fair amount of shopping to complete, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. For Christmas we will have at least my mom coming from PA and my brother will come down from Baltimore. My in-laws will make an appearance too, but they aren’t sure when they are coming.

Blue Dog Pup#1 has a Christmas show at his school tomorrow night, which we are looking forward to seeing. He’s been walking around for weeks singing “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” My brother might even make it down for the show. Blue Dog Pup #2 has a party for which I need to remember to wrap his gift exchange and buy chips.

Oh yeah and work. I have a magazine and a poster to get to the printer and I need to start designing a conference registration brochure before Christmas.

The jewelry designing and glass fusing is on hiatus until things settle down after the holidays. I still have not used gift certificates for beads that I received for my birthday back in August.

Alright, I just won some new glass for fusing on E-Bay. I’ve never actually purchased anything on E-Bay so now I have to figure out how to pay for it.

I hope your Christmas preparations are coming along. I know this is a stressful time for varying reasons for people. I hope you can all take a minute or two during the season to enjoy it at least a little. I know that even as busy as I am, I am blessed to have the pleasure of seeing Christmas through the eyes of my little boys and I can’t begin to tell you the warmth, peace and love it gives me.

NEWS FLASH !! We Are Going to the Orange Bowl

2005-12-07T11:07:00.000-05:00

We've got our tickets! We are going to Miami to see JoePa and the rest of the Penn State Nittany Lions pound Florida State in the Orange Bowl. Can you say margaritas on the beach for New Year's Eve? Nah, I'm not excited or anything.

I'm slammed again this week. I started a new post, but haven't finished it. Christmas is creeping up on me. Blue Dog Pup #1 needs new dress shoes before his Christmas show next week and I have yet to even take the photo for our Christmas cards. Hopefully I'll get a decent photo tonight and be able to upload it to Wal-Mart.com and order the cards. Crap! I need stamps too...I gotta go...

Something for the Eyes

2005-12-02T11:14:00.000-05:00

Since I have been a bit M.I.A. this week, I thought that I would provide you with something to look at while I compose my next post.

Work has been a bit busy and my husband has been out of town this week, which means I’ve been on my own with the kids. Rest assured that I have not forgotten you, I have just not had a moment to myself this week.

The Monday After!

2005-11-28T16:01:00.000-05:00

Welcome back everyone! I hope your Thanksgiving was enjoyable. Mine was interesting—mostly in a good way. As noted in my previous post, we headed to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving and my high school class reunion.

We decided to try and avoid traffic by leaving early Thursday morning. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t so much traffic that was a problem, but the weather for the drive north. I caught a traffic report at 5:30 a.m., just before getting on to the Capital Beltway. It started with “We thought this would be an easy morning for traffic”--never a good way for a traffic report to start. A fairly large section of I-495 in Virginia was closed in both directions while road crews sanded because of ice. I lost count of the accidents we passed on southbound I-270 as we headed north. The highway was a skating rink and in DC, we like to drive fast. Ice and speed were not a good combination Thursday. Oddly enough, once we were north of Frederick, Maryland the roads improved. We crossed through the mountains in heavy snow on the PA Turnpike, but the roads were still pretty much OK. Things turned to the worse heading up I-79 just before our exit as cars were sliding off the road all around us. We narrowly missed being rear-ended by a Volvo station wagon, which veered over to the shoulder to miss us and slammed into the guardrail. Needless to say, we were glad to get to my mother’s in one piece.

Thanksgiving was fine. My mother managed to roast the turkey without drying it out, which was a bonus. There was plenty of football and the kids were good so all in all the holiday was decent.

Friday, I argued with my mother and brother, which is always a good time, and as a result my brother got up and left the house. My mother and I continued to “talk/argue” and I think we mostly cleared the air on a few issues. My brother eventually came back to the house, but I’m not sure if he’s speaking to me. Whatever. I’d like to know the discussion he and my mother had after I left Friday evening for the family night part of the reunion.

Friday night and Saturday nights were the reunion events. Friday was a family event and Saturday was a dinner. Both events were fun and even my husband had a good time. I recognized pretty much everyone. (The class was small—only 102 graduates) The attendees were mostly the regulars that have been coming to all the reunions anyway, so no major shockers. The guys are losing their hair and what’s left is turning gray. The women, myself included, all had freshly dyed hair to hide/mask the gray. Some had lost weight; some had gained more than a few pounds. The highlight (lowlight) of the evening had to be the drunks trying their hands/voices at the Karaoke machine. Good Lord it was painful. I would just like to state here that I have never tried Karaoke and have no plans to do so in the future. Just thank me now. The drunks tried to have a Karaoke contest and they put my name on the list, but I keenly ditched out to the ladies room. Karaoke and me—just not going to happen.

The drive home yesterday was mostly uneventful. Traffic was a little sticky here and there, but not as bad as I had expected.

When I started this post, I thought it would be more interesting and witty, reading back now maybe not so much--sorry.

Stay tuned for Part II of “Can you Still Be Friends 20 Years Later”

Two Kids, a Dog and a “Five-Hour” Drive

2005-11-22T11:15:00.000-05:00

We are packing up and heading to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving and my 20-year high school reunion. Driving through the mountains is looking interesting as the weather folks are calling for snow. As if the holiday traffic on the PA Turnpike isn’t bad enough, we will also be punished with not so stellar weather for the drive. (Thank the Lord for DVD players in cars.) I actually can’t remember how many years it has been since I made this drive for Thanksgiving. I do remember that the last time I did make the drive, it took nine hours rather than the 4-1/2 hours that it should have taken.

I’m quite sure that the drive, four days with my mother, and the class reunion will provide plenty of material for blogging next week.

Here is a preview:

1. Traffic will suck on colossal levels.
2. I will be taking the dog for many long walks to escape my mother.
3. Why am I putting myself and my family through this to see people that I have not seen in 20 years?

The answer and more next week.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

More on Album Art

2005-11-21T09:24:00.000-05:00

My polling of two co-workers for the best album cover sparked quite a conversation here at Blue Dog Art. One co-worker even put together a list--alphabetically no less. I'm familiar with some of the list, but not all of his choices. Knowing him, they are quality picks, so I'm posting his list for your enjoyment and/or research.

Allman Brothers - Eat a Peach
Allman Brothers - Live at Fillmore East
The Band - The Band
The Beatles - Help
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Blind Faith - Blind Faith
Buffalo Springfield - Last Time Around
The Byrds - Byrdmaniax
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
Doors- L. A. Woman
Joe Jackson - Look Sharp
Janes Addiction - Nothings Shocking
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother
Small Faces - Ogden's Nut Gone Flake
Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
Rolling Stones - Some Girls
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
Traffic - Low Spark of High Heeled Boys
Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground & Nico
Tom Waits - Small Change
The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
The Who - Who's Next

The Answers

2005-11-17T14:41:00.000-05:00

OK, well, I got a whopping zero comments on my little survey, but I guess I'll answer the questions as promised:

What is the best logo/identity of the past 40 years?
Nike--simple yet timeless and completely recognizable

Worst?
Too many to single out just one bad logo.

What is the best advertising campaign of the past 40 years?
Eat N' Park, a restaurant chain in Western Pennsylvania has a Christmas commercial that I have always loved. It's not really a campaign, but the ad has stayed with me over the years. (In answering the next part I remembered the Budweiser Toad commercials and that campaign was really good.)

Worst?
Budweiser's "Real Men of Genius" campaign. That has got to be one of the dumbest campaigns ever.

What is the best package design of the past 40 years?
I know this is kind of hokie, but I have to go with the plastic containers for L'Eggs pantyhose.

Best CD or album cover of the past 40 years?
Too hard to pick just one: Styx-Paradise Theater; Journey-Escape; Led Zeppelin-Houses of the Holy; David Bowie-Best of Bowie--This cover takes photos of Bowie's face at all phases of his career and combines them all together in a collage to form one portrait. To me that is great design for a "Best of..." album.

What is the best movie title of the past 40 years?
Again, hard to pick just one: Band of Brothers comes to mind. The roughness of the type really conveys the roughness of the film.

What technological innovation can you not live without?
Cell phone

What hardware or software can you not live without?
Adobe InDesign

What is your favorite website?
I know this is kind of cheesy, but I still love Amazon.com. They have everything. Their customer service sucks and they kill you on the shipping anymore.

Who is your favorite Author?
I don't think I have a favorite anymore. There are too many to name and with little kids I just can't stay awake to read much lately.

Favorite Band?
U2--DUH!

Favorite Pop Icon?
Madonna--I know, but I admire her sense of business and discipline to succeed. And we share a birthday--she's older than me.

How many hours is your average workday?
8 hours (Generally unheard of in my profession--I have a really good gig.)

What is your favorite thing to do outside of work?
Spend time with my family and design/make jewelry.

How Would You Answer?

2005-11-16T08:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I received a survey from a graphic design publication to which I subscribe and I thought I'd share a few of the more interesting questions and see how you would answer the same questions. Have a look and let me know your answers. I'll post my answers tomorrow.

What is the best logo/identity of the past 40 years?

Worst?

What is the best advertising campaign of the past 40 years?

Worst?

What is the best package design of the past 40 years?

Best CD or album cover of the past 40 years?

What is the best movie title of the past 40 years?

What technological innovation can you not live without?

What hardware or software can you not live without?

What is your favorite website?

Who is your favorite Author?

Favorite Band?

Favorite Pop Icon?

How many hours is your average workday?

What is your favorite thing to do outside of work?

The Times that We Live In

2005-11-10T13:28:00.000-05:00

Today as I was walking back from lunch, at least two if not more fighter jets scrambled overhead from east to west, most likely coming from Andrews AFB. Then we saw a helicopter and the jets turned around. I have no clue what is going on, nothing anywhere on the radio or internet, but the jets are still circling above me as I type.

Directly after 9/11 the jets flying constantly overhead were somewhat comforting. Then after a while hearing/seeing them became creepy. The constant flights eventually subsided. Now when they are flying above, especially for a prolonged period of time, you wonder and just know that something is happening. Sometimes it makes the news, mostly it doesn't and those of us that live in the more obvious targets just deal with it.

[The jets just made the news at 1:50 p.m. They were scrambled because of something suspicious showing up on radar. Apparently, it was a flock of geese. That's right, geese. I now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging.]

I Voted

2005-11-08T10:26:00.000-05:00

That's what the lovely sticker says that I was handed leaving the polling place this morning. We are electing a new governor, lt. governor, attorney general and state delegates in Virginia. I feel only slightly less nauseous than I did leaving the polls a year ago.

Can You Still Be Friends 20 Years Later?

2005-11-03T15:51:00.000-05:00

Seriously, this is a question that has been nagging me lately.

There is a friend who I grew up with long ago. We were best friends at the time. We went to elementary school together, we played Barbies together, we did everything together. Then in sixth grade she moved away. Not so far that we couldn’t have the occasional weekend sleep-overs, but far enough that she attended another school. We kept in touch as much as possible. We went to different junior high schools and then after our sophomore year in high school, my family moved to her school district.

She and I did not instantly reconnect. We moved at the beginning of the summer, so I had three months in a new town with no close friends. My friend lived a half hour’s drive away and we weren’t old enough to drive yet. I spent the first part of the summer in the new house not doing much of anything. My mom was worried about me and wanted me to get out of the house, so she encouraged me to go to the local pool. I had nothing better to do so I went. The first day that I went to the pool, I actually met 3 kids my age. As it worked out, we became friends and all spent the summer together.

It’s a small college town in western Pennsylvania and everyone knows each other. Therefore, I knew a good amount of people by the time school started in the fall. I was the new girl in school and in a small town this is huge. All of a sudden, people were interested in me and who I was. Of the people that I had gotten to know over the summer, some were friends with my old friend and others not so much. Couple this with the other people at school that I was getting to know and my old friend was somewhat lost in the shuffle.

I became good friends with another girl at our school who for whatever reason, my old friend did not like and we drifted further apart. She was involved with other things than I. She played sports and I did not. My summer friends talked me in to joining the Drama Club and she was not a member. (I am not an actor by any stretch—I ended up working behind the scenes and painting sets, which is more in line with my talents than acting.) I also somehow got elected to Student Council—I’m pretty sure it was a result of my novelty factor. Also adding to the situation was that all of a sudden boys started asking me out on dates. (This NEVER happened at my old school—I was quite the wallflower then). Looking back now, I think that I tried to include my old friend in my new activities, but she was not interested.

I think the four years apart at different schools changed us. While she started 7th grade at a much smaller school, I started 7th grade at a much bigger school and did not fit in at all. Junior high and my sophomore year of high school were a nightmare. I had it bad for a boyor two who did not feel the same way about me. I made a new friend in 7th grade and we spent a good amount of time together retreating from the teen angst all around us. In her new school, my friend was the new girl and it was her time to blossom. By the time we were in the same school again, we were not the same grade school girls.

We were still friends through the rest of high school, but we did not run in the same circles anymore. I think she probably resented the attention that I received when school started. I can’t say that I blame her. It is so much easier to look back on the time and see it differently now.

Graduation came and we went our separate ways to college. She stayed local and I went to school in Pittsburgh. She married a guy who she met in college and I went to her wedding. I was glad to be there, but felt very disconnected from her.

Over the years since high school, we have barely kept in touch. I moved to the DC area and once she was married we lost touch with each other. Through other contacts, I would hear snippets of news about her. She divorced and went back to school. I got married and had kids.

In the 20 years since high school, I have always thought of her and considered getting in touch with her, but never really made the effort. I could have easily called her parents to find her, but I didn’t. At one point I “Googled” her and found an e-mail address and sent her a message. She replied, but the e-mail address was terminating with the receipt of her graduate degree. I heard through the grapevine where she landed after grad school, but did not attempt to contact her.

A year and a half ago her father died suddenly. I called her mother’s house and spoke to her mother briefly and expressed my sympathy. I was unable to attend the funeral back home, but sent flowers.

About two months ago, I “Googled” her again and came up with another e-mail address. I sent her a message and she replied. A few days later, I called her on the phone and we talked quite a bit. She moved home to be with her mother after her father died. She’s working in Pittsburgh and has an hour commute each way. It seems in talking to her that she’s happy to keep her mother company, but that in some ways she misses being on her own.

We have continued to reconnect by e-mail. I even invited her to come to DC for a visit, which she initially accepted, but then declined. At the time, I just accepted the declination without question. Later I did ask her why she changed her mind. She replied that after talking it over (I assume with her mother) that it might be better to get reacquainted through e-mail and over the phone first. I went on to tell her that I understood and that it was OK. I also brought up the distance that seemed to come between us years ago and told her that it was probably mostly my fault, etc. She didn’t reply. Although I didn’t get a reply, I got a couple other unrelated e-mails from her, so I sent a message and asked if she was going to reply. She replied that she had intended to reply, but got busy with work. I haven’t pushed the subject since then.

We have continued our contact through e-mail. She forwards crap to me and I usually reply with a hello, how are you doing kind of message. Sometimes, I’ll just send her a hello and we’ll go back and forth chatting, etc.

We have our 20-year high school reunion over Thanksgiving weekend—that’s right kids, Class of 1985…ah the 80s. I’m going to make the trek home and attend the reunion. She is not going to the reunion. I have been to the 10 and 15-year reunion and she’s never been to any of the reunions. I have mentioned getting together with her while I’m in town for the reunion, which she seems to have some interest in doing, but has been rather non-committal.

She’s single and living at home with her mom. I’m five hours away and married with kids. She’s in dating hell. I’m in wedded bliss. Again, we are not on the same page in our lives.

So…where does that leave our friendship? I’m not really sure, hence the reason for this post. In communication with her, she has said a few things that have surprised me a bit and not necessarily in a positive way. I don’t care to write about it, because ultimately that’s not the issue. I think it is a very fragile relationship and I’m kind of going with the flow and not trying to pressure her into talking about any underlying issues. I’m making a serious effort to prove myself to her, but why? We are on different pages and we both accept that about each other. The question remains for me though…

Can we resurrect any semblance of a friendship given our past and present. Is there a future for us?

Comments are welcome and encouraged.

What Kind of Candy Are You?

2005-11-01T10:15:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of too much Halloween candy, I swiped this from Heather...

Butterfinger

They call you sticky fingers for a reason!

What Kind of Candy Are You?

Butterfinger happens to be one of my favorites, so it was interesting that Butterfinger came up for me. My kids got plenty of them last night. Yum! Hope you all had a great Halloween.

Happy Halloween Monday

2005-10-31T09:33:00.000-05:00

OK, I know, I know. I've been slow to blog lately. I've been trying to stay on top of my work in order to be ahead for the holidays. I've been getting the kiddies ready for Halloween and I made a bracelet for Jaded. We have been away most weekends lately and that means, I'm behind on laundry, etc. at home too. There just are not enough hours in the day...

Above are some recent fused glass pieces. The two long skinny pendants are my favorite and the great thing about some of the glass and the way that it comes out of the kiln is how it looks different on different colors. Above they are obviously on a white background. I also scanned the two long pendants on black so you can see the difference it makes:

Now you can see more of the dichroic color and pattern. Very fun! I fired nine, that's right, nine more pieces last Tuesday and I'm looking forward to seeing how they come out when I go to class tomorrow night.

What else to update you about? The U2 concert was awesome as usual. This was my seventh time seeing U2. Yes, I love those Irish boys! Bono had a bit of a cold, but still managed to give a great show. My husband doesn't share my love for all things U2, so my friend Jenni went to the show with me. We met downtown for dinner and then headed over to the MCI Center for the show. Damien Marley was the opening act. For as much as I love U2, I have never cared for their opening acts and Marley was true to the trend. Reggae is just not my scene. I had really hoped that Keane would be the opening act for DC, but no such luck. Anyway, Jenni scored floor tickets from her radio station, so we entered through general admission. Unfortunately, our tickets did not get randomly selected to go to the inner circle of the stage. We hung out on the floor for a while, but once U2 took the stage, we couldn't see a thing, so we headed upstairs to my reserved seats in section 417. We were up fairly high, but close to the stage and I could see my man Bono, so I was much happier. All in all, in spite of Bono having a cold, the show was great and U2 did not disappoint. They even had the audience sing "Happy Birthday" to Pavarotti, who the band originally recorded "Miss Sarajevo" with several years ago. Bono said that he would send a tape of it to Pavarotti and he hoped that he wouldn't blow the Italian portion of "Miss Sarajevo", since Pavarotti would give him a hard time about it.

We were again out of town this past weekend. While the in-laws took care of our boys, the hubby and I spent Saturday wandering around State College and then watched Penn State beat Purdue! It was a great game and it is SO exciting to be at a game when Penn State is doing so well this year. The stadium was literally hopping! GO STATE!!!!

We have a birthday here today at the office and then we are taking the boys "trick or treating" this evening. It will be a first for both of them. The craziness continues...

Tonight!

2005-10-20T10:01:00.000-04:00

I have climbed the highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you.

I have run, I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you. ...

I so LOVE U2 and I am there with Bono and several thousand of my close personal friends at MCI Center. Work can not go fast enough for me today.

My Job is Interfering With My Personal Life

2005-10-18T09:20:00.000-04:00

After a very busy weekend in PA, yesterday was my oldest’s class trip to the pumpkin patch. These trips are a blast. I think the adults have as much fun as the little ones do. Tomorrow brings my youngest’s first class trip to the pumpkin patch. He’s my no fear guy so we’ll see how he does on the trip.

It is working out to be a very busy week. Hubby is studying for his mid-term on Wednesday night and I have tickets to see my man Bono and U2 at MCI Center Thursday night.

So to sum that up, I’m late to work Monday and Wednesday and I leave work early on Thursday—oh yeah and I have a doctor’s appointment in the middle of the day Thursday. Nice.

The full “brain trust” will be in effect very shortly as they both have returned from their trips overseas. Ugh!

Alright, a boring post. Sorry. I leave you with a picture of one of the bracelets I designed for breast cancer awareness—since October is breast cancer awareness month. Enjoy!

A Pocketful of Sparkles

2005-10-14T08:53:00.000-04:00

Here is a quick report about my adventures at Bead Fest last weekend. The drive from DC to Philly was worse than I anticipated. Way worse. It is a 150 mile drive and it took me 5-1/2 hours to get there in the rain. I'll spare you the details, it was bad! My four year-old had Monsters Inc. watched before I even made it north of the DC beltway.

Anyway, despite the rainy driving conditions all weekend, the show was great. I didn't buy as much as I thought I would and my hubby was quite impressed with my restraint. I mainly bought seed beads. I also got the above sparkly blue beads, which are just itching to be made into a necklace and earrings. I bought another kit from Maria Rypan. Her work is SO beautiful and she is just the nicest person. I had a chance to speak with her for a while and thanked her for being so nice and helpful last year. Last year was my first show and it was so incredibly overwhelming. She took the time to talk to me about her work and convinced me that I too could make her pieces even though I was just a beginner. She was right. I got two of her kits last year and had a blast doing them. This year she had a ton of new things and I got one new kit. I can't wait to get started on it.

The other purchase that I made was two pieces of glass for fusing. I cut some pieces and fused them Tuesday night. I will get them this coming Tuesday and hopefully have something cool to show you afterwards.

I was more prepared for the show this year. I knew more of what to expect as well as more of what I was interested in seeing this year. I had a better idea of which vendors I wanted to see and what I was looking for as far as products are concerned. I had the opportunity to talk to a really nice woman from Fire Mountain Gems, which is just bead supply heaven! I met and talked to a lot of the artists and craftspeople. It was just a great group of people to be with and everyone was so nice and eager to share their art.

This is weekend two of three weekends spent traveling to PA in October. My husband paddles canoe competitively and he has a race in Bellefonte, PA this weekend. I'll be freezing my butt off along a creek in the middle of PA. My inlaws will keep the kids on Saturday and then bring them to the race on Sunday. Saturday, I will have some down time to myself while the hub is practicing on the water. I'll bundle up with a book along the water. Hope you have a great weekend!

Tagged

2005-10-13T13:38:00.000-04:00

I'm It. Pobble has tagged me. Here are the rules:

1. Go into your archives.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the 5th sentence (or close to it.)
4. Post that, along with these rules, in your blog.
5. Tag 5 people.

And the 5th sentence of my 23rd posting was:

"All that you need to do to help is click on a link from the homepage."

I was surprised to find that I actually have had 23 + posts. The sentence is from my post about The Breast Cancer Site. So while I’m at it, I’ll plug the site again. Go here now and click it.

I have seen this several times, so I’ll take a chance with a few of you.

1. Hadley
2. Playful in DC
3. ERL
4. Jaded was already tagged by Pobble as well, so nevermind.
5. Do I have any other readers?

Please Pray for Our Soldiers

2005-10-12T21:38:00.000-04:00

I was going to post tonight about my Bead Fest adventures from this past weekend. I will do so hopefully tomorrow. In the meantime I'd like to talk about an e-mail I received today.

As some of you know, my 20-year high school reunion is coming up in November. Being the token graphic designer of the class, I am in charge of preparing a booklet updating the whereabouts of our classmates. In the process of doing so, e-mails have been going back and forth and classmates have been sending me their updates.

In mid-September I received an e-mail from a guy that I was friends with in high school, but haven't really been in close contact with over the years. He was at the last reunion and we chatted and got caught up with each other. We kept in touch a bit afterwards by e-mail, but lost track of each other again. Anyway, I digress. I get this e-mail from him in September and come to find out he's in Tikrit, Iraq with his Army reserve unit. He's been in Iraq since last December. His first child was born a month before he was deployed. They had a girl.

We exchanged a couple more e-mails. He sent me photos of his baby girl and I sent him photos of my boys. Then I didn't hear back from him until tonight. I think it's been 2 or 3 weeks. The e-mail that he sent to me and several other people contained a link to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle. A staff reporter is reporting from Iraq along with a photographer. My friend referenced a soldier mentioned in the article as being the gunner on his truck. In the article the soldier talks about counting the days until he can go home. He has been keeping track of the days by using the usual group of four slash marks with a fifth slash through the four on their Humvee. On Oct. 4th, there is an arrow pointing to the corresponding slash mark. The arrow memorializes the IED (improvised explosive device) that hit their truck. The truck was not damaged and everyone is OK. Please pray for our soldiers.

My friend is one of those guys that is just the sweetest guy you could know. He is at war far from home. He misses his wife. He's missed most of the first year of his daughter's life. I have no concept whatsoever of what that is like. All I know is that the men and women of our military are making sacrifices that none of us can ever come close to understanding unless we have been there ourselves. Please pray for our soldiers.

Every night before I go to bed, when I check on my beautiful, sweet, innocent little boys and kiss their sleeping heads, I say a prayer to God that they may always be safe.

Please pray for our soldiers. They are not safe.

What I have to Look Forward To

2005-10-07T10:06:00.000-04:00

How's this picture for a lovely drive up I-95 from DC to Philly. My dead lawn needs the rain, so I'm only slightly complaining. It hasn't rained a measurable amount here in over a month. Nonetheless, driving I-95 in the rain, on a Friday is going to be awful. I'm done bitching now and return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

My Last Half Day of Bliss

2005-10-07T09:20:00.000-04:00

I'm only working until noon today. The most annoying half of the "brain trust" returns from London on Tuesday. (We are off for Columbus Day). It has been so nice and peaceful here this week.

Anyway, I'm headed to Philly today for a HUGE bead show. My oldest is coming along with me since the hubby has Penn State tickets, which of course conflicts with my bead show. He's taking the youngest with him and dropping him with his parents. My charge and I will be spending the night at my sister-in-law's and she'll take care of E. while I head to Ft. Washington for a day of looking for beading treasures. If all goes well, I'll find some great stuff, not do too much damage to my credit card, and be able to make something fabulous to show you all. Have a great weekend!

The Downside of TiVo

2005-10-06T09:35:00.000-04:00

If you TiVo "Lost" and the radio people start talking about the episode the next morning, which you have not yet watched, you must jam your fingers in your ears so as not to hear the radio people discuss what happened. This can be difficult when driving.

Sorry that I have been a little M.I.A. lately. I have been busy and haven't really had anything to say worth posting. I am however, enjoying the silence here in the office while both members of the "brain trust" are out of the country. More soon...I promise.

NEWS FLASH !!

2005-09-28T09:30:00.000-04:00

I am rid of one half of the "brain trust" until Oct. 11th. The other half of the trust leaves Saturday and won't return until Oct. 17th. I might actually be able to concentrate and get some work done. Just thought I'd share.

From a Design Perspective

2005-09-27T14:28:00.000-04:00

I am a graphic designer by day (the jewelry thing is one of many side projects). For those of you that are not graphic designers, you may not be aware of a long-standing design software rivalry between Adobe InDesign and Quark Xpress. A little over a year ago I made the jump after 15 years of using Quark Xpress to using Adobe's InDesign. I have not once looked back on the decision.

Quark's customer service has been notoriously awful. I was once solicited with two different upgrade offers for their software that had two different prices with a difference of $50. I own two registered copies of the software, one at work and one for my computer at home, which is why I got two offers. It took major amounts of negotiations to get the lower price. If that wasn't bad enough, about two weeks after I bought the upgrades at the negotiated price, I received another offer to upgrade for $100 less than the price I paid. I did everything but write the president of Quark a letter. Note to Quark: if you solicit for upgrades and someone buys said upgrade, do not slap your customers in the face by sending them another e-mail two weeks later offering the same upgrade at a lower cost. Delete said customer from the secondary list. Morons.

Anywho, I'll spare you the rest of the reasons why a year ago I switched to InDesign. I only use Xpress when I need to open my legacy documents to convert them to InDesign. Recently, Quark unveiled a highly publicized new logo. Personally, I'm not impressed with the design and, given my history and dismay with the company, I haven't been "moved" by the new logo. Today, I received an electronic newsletter to which I subscribe that had the following article about Quark's new logo. Hilarious!

"Sometimes a Logo Is Just a Logo" by Gene Gable (Creativepro.com)

Quark's new logo is strikingly similar to several others. Is it theft? A global conspiracy? Or a failure to follow basic design principles? Gene Gable gives you the dirt, including ways you can sidestep the same type of predicament.

"You might think that if observant designers around the world can post several similar logos within hours of Quark's public debut of the new logo, it should have been just as easy for Quark to have identified the same conflicts. Not necessarily so."

Here's a link to the complete story: http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/23415.html?cprose=6-39

Something Easy to Do

2005-09-27T09:07:00.000-04:00

On October 1, 2004 my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is 75 and had never had a mammogram until last year when she found her lump. She's stubborn that way. This website helps to fund mammograms. All that you need to do to help is click on a link from the homepage. So, in anticipation of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness month, please click the link and share it with others. Maybe some day, there will be a cure. Thanks.

Just a Quick Post to Let You Know I'm Still Here

2005-09-22T16:15:00.000-04:00

I have been pretty busy at work this week and haven't had time to play. Here is a picture of some more fused glass pendants. A friend from the studio says that they look like barnacles. The pieces were made with millefiore.

I'm keeping the folks in the path of Hurricane Rita in my thoughts. Hopefully she'll weaken before making landfall.

Tomorrow I am off work to attend Bridezilla's wedding. I found out that my brother is not invited to the wedding even though everyone else in our group of friends is invited. They briefly dated, but everyone including the groom has all hung out together and is cool with each other so I'm not sure what that is all about. My brother does not seem to care that he wasn't invited. Anyway, the wedding is tomorrow (that's right...Friday) at 6 p.m. in downtown Baltimore. Now won't that be fun during rush hour?

Feeling Adventurous Today

2005-09-17T16:00:00.000-04:00

As it turns out, I woke up feeling adventurous today, so I packed up the boys and made it to the free showing of Madagascar at 9:15 AM. They had a great time. The movie thing went so well that I felt adventurous enough to take them to lunch afterwards. We had pizza at California Pizza Kitchen then did some shopping at the mall. They both fell asleep in the car on the way home, which presented its own problem. How to get both of them out of the car and into the house calmly enough for them to continue napping? Obviously, this is easily accomplished when the hub is here to help, but I'm flying solo today. When I turned off the car the youngest woke up and the oldest was still asleep. Had it been the other way around it would have been easy enough for the oldest to walk while I carried the sleeping youngest in the house to his crib. No such luck.

OK, so leaving one in the car while carrying the other into the house just doesn't seem like a good option. Even if I lock the car, I don't like the idea of having one of them in the car while I'm in the house even for just a few seconds. I'm paranoid like that. So, I bite the bullet. Get the youngest out of his carseat and walk around to the other side of the car and wake the oldest up so that we can all go into the house together. I get everyone inside, get the youngest to lie down on the couch with the premise of watching Dora all the while hoping that he'd fall back to sleep. Again, no such luck.

I take the baby in to his room, get his sandals off and hope that he'll go back to sleep in his crib without a fuss. Jackpot! Three times a charm. He lies right down and goes back to sleep.

The oldest is happy to watch Dora on TiVo and I have time to post. I LOVE TiVo.

Above is a necklace strung with five lampworked beads (I did not make the beads), black seed beads and Swarovski glass pearls.

Happy Friday

2005-09-16T09:05:00.000-04:00

Today, I will hopefully get a MAJOR project off to the printer. Nothing exciting to say, just thought I send out a quick hello before the weekend.

Tomorrow the hub and the brother are off to State College for the Penn State game. If I'm feeling adventurous, I'll take the boys to a free showing of Madagascar tomorrow, sponsored by our friendly realtor. Other than that, not much else going on for the weekend.

I have more jewelry pieces to show you, so I'll try to get something posted soon. Sorry for the boring post today.

Disturbing News Today

2005-09-13T15:51:00.000-04:00

I know this is going to be kind of a weird post. We picked up our new Subaru B9 Tribeca at our dealership Friday. The car is great. The kids have lots of room and are excited to be able to watch movies in the car. The hubby is having too much fun with the navigation system.

To get the new car we traded in my perfectly good Outback. At the beginning of the summer I began to have some problems with the Outback. I had it in to the dealership several times for a week or so at a time. They were having trouble replicating the problem and asked if I could come in and take the mechanic for a drive and see if I could get the car to replicate the problem since they couldn't. The mechanic was really nice and we talked casually while I drove him all over Northern Virginia in my car. He talked about surviving a bout with cancer and he talked about his kids. Finally we talked more about my car and determined a possible solution to the problem. I took him back to the dealership and thanked him for his attention to my car. It was nice talking to him. I did what he told me to do and the problem was resolved. A week later he called me on the phone to make sure the car was still running fine--it was.

Today as I was driving my swell new car I got a warning message on the navigation screen. I couldn't find a solution in the manual so I called the service department. My service guy, which I got to know pretty well during the problems with the Outback, didn't know the answer, so I happened to sort of jokingly ask if he thought my trusty mechanic might be able to answer the question. It was then that he said the mechanic was no longer there. I said you're kidding...he was great. The service guy said yes that he was great, but that he had died. He committed suicide two weeks ago. I only spent an hour or so with him, but feel sad about the news of his death.

Suicide makes you wonder if there is something, some sort of signal that you missed. Something that you should have noticed to make you help the person. I talked with the service guy about this. He agreed. He said that the mechanic had his good days and bad days like everyone does. He said that there were no indicators to make them think hmm...we need to keep an eye on him. They were just as shocked to hear the news.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family even though I didn't really know him.

Blog Homework

2005-09-13T13:33:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess I have arrived in the blog world as I have been "tagged" for the first time by Jaded.

7 things I plan to do before I die:
1. Raise my sons to be wonderful young men
2. Own a Mercedes convertible
3. Visit the Louvre in Paris
4. Get organized
5. Build our dream house
6. Grow old with my husband
7. Cuddle my grand babies

7 things I can do:
1. Draw
2. Cook
3. Beat anyone at 80s music trivia
4. Graphic Design
5. Measure without a ruler
6. Help a friend in need
7. Calligraphy

7 things I cannot do:
1. Math
2. Lie to save my life
3. Tolerate stupidity
4. Web Design
5. Gymnastics
6. Shut my mouth when I really should (But, I’m working on this)
7. Ski

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex:
1. Sense of humor
2. Intelligence
3. Honesty
4. Smile
5. Legs
6. Eyes
7. Warmth

7 things that I say most often:
1. No!
2. Stop that!
3. Ajax! Stop licking the floor
4. I went to Art school so I didn’t have to take Math
5. Be nice to your brother.
6. Did you flush the potty and wash your hands?
7. Are you kidding me?

7 celebrity crushes:
1. Christian Slater
2. Keanu Reeves
3. Patrick Dempsey
4. Campbell Scott
5. Bono
6. Matthew Perry
7. Brad Pitt (Cheater! I tried to put a strike through his name, but it didn't work. I just saw part of Troy and he is HOT in this film, but still a cheater.)

Here are People That are Helping

2005-09-07T13:34:00.000-04:00

http://www.displaceddesigner.com/offer-a-desk/