Today is election day...and it's an interesting day. Honestly, I'm ready for this to be over. I'm tired of every single channel talking about it non-stop.
Let's be honest, the media has changed the way we decide who we'll elect. Polls are put up way ahead of time, but depending on the channel you're watching (left or right) the polls are slanted. They'll take the same poll and spin it for their view.
I will be happy, happy, happy when this is all over with.
Man, what a day...seriously, if it could go wrong, it did go wrong. (online that is)...I came to find a few of my websites were down...well, I guess I wouldn't call FIFTEEEN a few...
Either way, all fifteen are back up and running okay, so I'm happy that's resolved. I had set aside today to do a large project, but then ended up having to a a different large maintenance project instead! By around 6pm, I finally got around to the original project I intended to do.
I did take a 2 hour break to watch a little TV with my husband, but I'm back at my desk for a little while longer. I'm sure tomorrow will be a little brighter.
I need to remember to put on a watch tomorrow. I lose track of time, but I have somewhere to be later in the day. I'm taking my son to see a special event at a theater. Now, I just have to not lose track of time. Of course, he'll remind me eighty times.
I have a selection of watches. I have my Timex Expedition, a Movado watches that my husband got me, and then another watch with a fun pink band. I find now that I work from home, I rarely wear a watch. I used to wear it daily, like "clockwork"...get it?
Either way, with clocks around me, watch on, I'm still known to lose track of time. I'm a master at it! It's just once I get into a project, in my mind, it takes 15 or 20 minutes, but in reality 90 minutes have gone by.
I started school on Wednesday. I was done on Thursday. What?
It turns out if I get my master license, due to paperwork technicalities, I'd lose my other 2 licenses which are 3 and 4 years old! I'd lose my experienced license status, as well as one license that is particularly important to me!
It's a matter of choice. Get one master license, or keep the two I have. I chose to keep my current two. The master covers the other two, but then you get one new license. In this field, when your license is over 3 years old, you've reached EPL, and is needed for opening a shop. I'm not in a hurry to open a shop, but I understand the value in that right now.
Oh well...back to my websites and such! I dont' mind being home in my jammies with my dogs.
Do you remember when people used to send out things like birthday invitations and party invites? These days, it seems with email, people skip that formality and just send somebody a quick email. I don't know, I like the formal invitation. I think it's a nice touch to still get something in the mail like that. Look at wedding invitations; you don't see those being done online as much as others. I guess it's because weddings are more formal, so people want something special.
Birthday and party invitations can be special too. It's just finding nice cards, and taking the time to write them out. I just did a large mailing project for a site I own, and handwrote about 100 envelopes. I think it's a nice touch to take the time to handwrite something out. It shows people you took out more than one moment of time for them.
If you're looking for a nice selection of invitations, try ThePartyStartsHere.com.
My husband was thinking of seeing the movie "Traitor" today. I hope I spelled that right, since I don't know which movie he's talking about. I was actually surprised to see there are so many movies in September I want to see! I don't have extra time in September, so that's not working for me!
I'm sure my son will want to see "Disaster Movie", since he's a big fan of spoofs, so we'll probably see that this weekend. It's not my first choice, but I'll take him, since he likes them a lot. Don't get me wrong, I love spoofs, but some of them are getting downright bad. I did like "Superhero Movie" though, so maybe there's hope for this one.
"The Women" looks good, along with a few others. Funny thing is, now I can't remember what I wanted to see. I think there's another that's due out September 12 that looked good. Bad timing for me, but whatcha gonna do?
I'm 41. I've had two children. Let me just say now, I pretty much know where every bathroom is on the East coast, because my bladder has made that an important part of my life these days.
I'm a little nervous about doing Yoga in the Park next week! I mean, what if there are no toilets nearby! Okay, okay, so it's only an hour, and I should be okay, but I think of those things!
Sure, sure you laugh! Go ahead, but wait until you've had kids, hit your 40's and drink too many liquids. You're day will come! Then all you'll be able to do is remember you read this post years ago!
That's right, my bladder and yoga post will haunt you in the future, as you suddenly start looking around for a place to go!
Indiana Jones, Wanted, Hancock, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Mama Mia, and we'll be catching Batman this week....
That's a lot of movies! I didn't realize just how many movies we saw at first. I have to say, I liked all 5 of them! Let's hope I like Batman too, which I expect to.
Swing Vote looks like it could go either way...ahahah, no pun intended. I'll wait for the reviews on that one. Step Brothers, I saw the preview with my son at a movie, and it looked funny. WAIT! It's rated R, and when I saw that same preview at a rated R movie with my husband, suddenly it was LOADED with the F bomb, ya know? Seriously, what looked like it could be a fun idea, turned into non-stop cursing. That movie is out, and a shame...could have been fun.
I guess with school coming up, and my husband's schedule changing, we won't be seeing many more for awhile. I guess our next run will be around the holidays when the big movies are coming out again.
Man, my skin is doing swell! I have Rosacea, as I've mentioned before, and during July I had to take two doses of antibiotics to clear up a sinus infection and a bad cough that wouldn't go away. After twenty days of antibiotics, my Rosacea was looking great! They've put me on tetracyclene in the past, but that just kills my stomach.
Anyway, it was a lovely side effect for me. There was no blackhead removal, no break-outs, no thickened, red skin on my cheeks or anything. It was just clear sailing baby!
Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. It's August now, and the Rosacea is flairing up again! I guess you just have to enjoy it while you can.
I considered getting laser treatments for the Rosacea, but I haven't made any final decisions on that quite yet.
Happy 4th of July
There were roses of all different varieties, shapes, colors and sizes. This was one of the rose areas in the conservatory section of Longwood Gardens. The roses were gorgeous and perfectly formed. Nature can be so beautiful. When was the last time you stopped to smell the flowers?
There are so many varieties of daffodils and jonquils, but these are my favorite. In fact the daffodil is my all time favorite flower. I love to see large groups of them together, but they fade too quickly!
Now you know my secret...my favorite flower. Sure roses are pretty, carnations last a long time, hyacinth is pretty, as are so many others. It's the bright burst of yellow that steals my heart.
In person, these were a vibrant, fire orange. They were gorgeous, and had a beautiful effect in a large group. In the picture below, it was one of the few areas that had more than one or two different colors together. It was splendid!
I'll be adding more pictures through the week. This is just to add a splash of more color to your day!
Here's another shot of the pink and yellow flowers together. There were so many neat combinations. I know I'm showing you a lot of flowers, but this was actually just from the Idea Garden area! There are a lot of great sections. I have more of the conservatory, and of the other grounds. I took one of this cool tree. It was so massive, so I took a shot of it looking up from the ground. I'll hope to crop, resize and fix them up later this week. I've been distracted the last 2 days with other things I've had to take care of. I can't wait to post more though, because they are just stunning pieces of beauty.
It's splendid how many colors flowers come in. Some I have seen before, but there were some really fabulous, bold and bright colors that I didn't expect. The picture above is of some of the more popular, softer hues. This block of flowers just looked gentle and calm. I loved looking at it, but then next to it, you would see this fire red orange, that was zesty and strong. I loved seeing them side by side. I couldn't decide which flowers I liked the best. I just loved seeing them in huge clusters like they were.
I haven't tried a colon cleanse recently. I did take something about 15 years ago, and it did help me regulate my body. I guess it's not something I think about too often, but lately, I'm thinking about all different options, since I'm having so much trouble of late.
Have you heard about the Colon Cleanser from DualActionCleanseNow.com? It helps remove toxins from your body, and helps your body get a healthy balance. I have a friend who is a flight attendant, and she's a huge fan of colon cleansing. One of my other friends went to a person she recommended to do a colonic, but I opted out at that time.
I have been reading about different bacteria that lives in your digestive tract. While many of the bacteria serve a purpose, other bacteria causes problems, and by using a cleanser, you can alleviate issues. I think First magazine did a few stories on this particular topic. I found it to be of interest, but still haven't tried it yet.
I guess I'll have to see how this new medication I'll be taking works for me. Maybe colon cleasing will be the next thing to try. Have you used this process, and what did you think of it? If you'd like more information on Colon cleansing, they have a lot of it over at DualActionCleanseNow.com. Maybe it's time to detox.
I loved the stunning color combinations. They would put contrasting colors together, or do a full block of purple, with only one white fower one mixed it. It become colorful and powerful to see that one lone white flower, poking above the field of lavender.
Blocks of tulips, daffodils, snapdraggons and more made for a stunning visual. Every once in awhile, they'd do something like above. Groups of 2 flowers, in a large block....just gorgeous.
Here's another beautiful image from Longwood Gardens. I took 40 pics, and I'll slowly be adding them a few at a time to my blog. I uploaded a few more to another blog I write to. There are so many pretty images, but I don't want to put them all together. I'd rather space them out a bit, and enjoy a little bit of beauty each day!
I went to the doctor's office today, and I'll be starting a new medication this week. I'll need to return in a month for more bloodwork to see how this is working, along with possibly increasing my thyroid meds as well. One of the things I may look into is an online pharmacy. My mom used to do mailorder for her meds, and ended up saving money. I happen to be on a couple of medications, and it can be costly keeping up with maintenance meds.
I've been reading about the side effects of the new medication I'll be taking, and it looks like I should expect a little GI discomfort for a few days, but then it tends to subside. It's good to know these things before starting something, so that you don't think something is wrong.
If you're looking to order online prescriptions, you may want to consider eDrugstore.md, which I'll be doing, so I can do some comparisons in cost. I'm all about saving money and finding convenience. I do so much other shopping online, maybe it's time for me to consider this option as well.
I need to tell my mom about this site, so she can see how much it would save her on her medications too.
Longwood Gardens Information can be found at LongwoodGardens.com
Are you kidding me? Yesterday we have sweatshirt weather, and today they're calling for snow showers? Yikes, I'm so ready for spring, doesn't any body realize that? Come on, let's get on with the warm weather all ready!
Okay, okay, at least it isn't severe weather. Did you see the blanket of snow they out out midwest? The flooding in Missouri is scary. The pictures are just heartbreaking. I guess I can't complain when we're just getting snow showers, and others are being pounded. I'm just itching for spring so badly.
It's time to organize my office. My papers and organizers, along with sticky notes are spread out all around me, and what was once a nice tidy rectangle area of sort, is turning into an ever expanding circle. I have shelf and drawer space, but because I work on multiple projects at once, I tend to keep things out so I can see them.
Do I need more room? It's not like I need office space Connecticut sized, but maybe a little more office space in my New Jersey living room, where my office sits. I think if I take the time to find a better organization system, I won't keep expanding.
I did see small offices open in Lebanon, but my living room is working just fine for now.
We're going to see Drillbit Taylor today. I'm taking a teenager, so it's the perfect kind of movie. Of course in the write up, it got a D, which isn't promising, but that means it didn't appeal to the movie critic. It will probably appeal in just the right way to a 13 year old.
Do you follow reviews, and at what point do you decide not to see a movie based on a review? I really prefer user reviews over critic reviews, because there have been many times we enjoyed a movie that got panned. A recent example was "Fool's Gold". We really liked that, but it also got a D.
What could I be talking about? Pollen! It's going to be in the air heavy again soon. If you have allergies, you sense the impending allergy time of the year. I'm on Flonase, so I'm sailing through allergy season now, but my son has a heck of a time. Not only do we have allergy issues in our family, but our cars sit under a tree.
Go ahead, say it..."OH!" Yes, my black car can literally by a yellow green some days when I go outside from all the pollen. I've thought about getting car covers, but haven't followed through yet. I guess because the pollen mostly blows off when you drive.
I grew up with a car under a maple tree, and sap used to get on the windshield. That was awful, and a pain to get off! We could of used covers then!
Regardless of the pollen heading our way, I'm so ready for spring. Bring it on, I'm ready for warmer weather.
I'm sitting in the sun room minding my own business. The dogs were happily slumbering in the sunshine, and I was sitting on a recliner with my vegetable soup and some clean chips. It was a soothing experience, and I was enjoying the warmer temps in the sunroom today...
until I blindly reached down in my bowl and grabbed a few chip pieces. Only something started to taste weird, like really nasty. I spit out the chips and looked down at a bug. :( A big ole stinky stink bug found his way into my chips. I was so grossed out. Those stupid bugs are going to be back int the spring, and I guess a few of them are here a little early. How he got in there, I don't know, but it was sooooooooo gross!
I got his yuckiness on my tongue, and ran to the sink scraping my tongue, trying to get any residue off of me! Ewwww. I chewed on a stinkin' stink bug. :( Not a happy moment.
I'm itching for a good spring cleaning. I think next week I'm going to start going through room by room and set things aside for a yardsale, and pass on some things we're not using. It always comes down to things like extra appliances, engraved plaques or books I've been holding onto that I'm not sure what to do with. Hold on to them just in case, or purge and finish it the right way. Honestly, will I go back and read those book? Are they collecting dust, or do I just like the way my bookshelves look loaded with books?
When it comes to clothes, I've got my work cut out for me. Each year I go through things, but right now being between sizes, I'm still holding on. Don't get me wrong, I don't intend on needing my larger sizes much longer, but I don't want to wear tight clothes, so those will have to go once I'm solidly in the smaller sizes.
My son's room is going to challenge. If I let him help, he'll keep everything, and if I don't let him help, he'll be frustrated! He's at that age that he's just getting ready to let go of some of his stuff since he's a teen, but he has a hard time parting with things. Maybe I'll give him the choice if he wants to help or not.
Did you read the report? 1 in 4 teenaged girls has an STD? Yikes, what's wrong with this picture. Sexually active girls and I'm sure a good LACK of protection.
The numbers are astounding, and downright scary. The study was based on over 800 people. What I find interesting is that there's no story written about boys. Is it the same, different, are the numbers drastically different, and how does race and age play into their profiles, they way it does in the female version of the study.
Man, reach out to your kids, and make them understand they need to protect themselves. Even if you're preaching abstinence, you need to let them know that if they should decide to become sexually active, even if you don't condone it, that they should know that there are ways to protect themselves. Knowledge is power people...turning a blind eye, and thinking because you "told your kid" to not be active will be enough, well...just shaking my head.
We teach abstinence, but we also realize that reality says kids will make their own decisions when they reach a certain point. Do you want to hope they learned it somewhere along the way that they can protect themselves? Teach your children...it's important.
Sad, sad study results.
Look, there are times we get busy in our lives, and we forget to get the car inspected by the end of the month it's due. It's rare, but it happens. It's not our primary job or concern, but we usually get it done.
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES however, you know the company who revolves around transportation had to ground 40+ jets, because oops, they....well, let me tell you what the article says...ready for a jaw dropper..."recent admission that it had missed required inspections of some planes for structural cracks".
Here's the kicker, after they were told they missed inspection, they kept flying the planes...with people on them. Nice.
I have stainless appliances in my kitchen. We got them when we redid it a few years ago. I was talking to my sister about them, as they were thinking about getting stainless appliances when they redid their kitchen this past summer.
Do you get fingerprints? Oh yeah, and most the time it doesn't bother me, because it has a brushed look of stianless, but everyonce in awhile, you get a glance, and there are tons! Who's not using the handle? There's only a few of us, so I can tell by the size of the handprint, and ahem, my son's footprint who's leaving them! She opted for black appliances instead, since she thought the fingerprints would drive her nuts.
Now imagine if you had chrome door handles, like on your truck I'd be wiping those bad boys down all the time! Of course, they sure do look nice when they are all shined up though! I love a little extra chrome on a motorcycle too, just don't leave those fingerprints behind!
I'm not even going to start on people touching my computer monitor! Oy, step back from the computer screen.
Glad I decided not to go to the beach yesterday. After a phone call last night, looks like I'll have to take a 2 hour drive on Thursday. Mind you, I took one Friday and Sunday that just passed. Now on Thursday, I get to do a 2 hour drive, and on Friday I have a 1 hour drive also, only to turn around and do another 1 hour drive home. Yep, gets tiring after awhile. Just the way it goes....
And you wondered why I contemplated taking that long drive yesterday? Had it been the only one I'd be taking for awhile, no problem....but not a reality for me. Last week, I took two 2 hour drives too..and with gas prices racking up, its costly!
Next week I have to drive 2 hours on Thursday, 2 hours on Friday and 2 hours on Monday. :\
Think I'm ready to trade that SUV for better fuel efficiency. :(
I picked up Lamb a few months ago, and never got around to reading it...until today. I knew what I was in for, since I'd all ready enjoyed Christopher Moore's "A Dirty Job".
I had been working all day, and decided to take a break. I went out to the sun room to read for an hour. One hour turned into two, and with blurry eyes, I had to close the book for awhile. Getting older sucks sometimes. I was too lazy to go in and get my glasses for eye strain!
Anyway, this is a riot. There's no way to really describe a book that talks about Jesus and his early childhood friend Biff, just know that if you're easily offended, this isn't for you. If you aren't, the book will have you laughing from early into it, and keep you smiling chapter after chapter. I had to stop at Chapter 7, or my eyes weren't going to work for me anymore! I'll get back into it tonight after a breather, but this is one book, I didn't want to put down.
Did you ever just stop what you were doing, and take a look at it. What is your daily routine?
I've been relooking at what's working for me and what isn't. One of my problems is I get bored easily, so my interests are always shifting. Anyway, I've been looking at my day to day habits, and I'm trying to cut out the stuff that "isn't working for me anymore". I retired two blogs, and there's probably a third I'll play with a little differently.
I want to create a couple more stores, and continue building the three large sites I've been working on. Sometimes I can waste an entire day by being distracted with nonsense. When I have purpose, I find it's easier to feel like I'm accomplishing something.
What do you do in your daily routine that takes you off track?
True Story: I knew this guy who got a moving van, and he was heading from the suburbs up to New York City. First off, I can't imagine driving a truck in NYC, but he had to get his stuff up there. So anyway, about 5 miles from his house, he didn't realize that a bridge was lower than the truck and he ripped off the top of the truck! Yikes, he ended up moving back home, because he owed the truck company money! How crazy is that.
I'd get a mover NYC to do my moving for me if I was going up to the city anyway. Have you ever driven in New York City? It's crazy enough in a car. I'll hire someone thank you very much. Maybe taxi and limo drivers understand the craziness there, but I certainly don't! I've driven up there once, and it was more than enough. Even now if we drive to the city, we'll park in Hoboken and take the path train over, or we hire a driver. We could take the train in too, but I"m not risking my car!
I was reading the news this morning and it amuses me how the headlines of importance are that a stealth bomber (1.2 billion dollars) crashed (pilots are okay), and Britney Spears gets to visit her children. Hmmmm, kind of odd co-headlines.
That's like mixing plumbing fixtures with a recipe for how to bake a cake. Seriously, here's how you remodel your bathroom, and then add in some flour, and voila!
I guess Britney sells papers and gets the attention. The question becomes, which did I read first? I read about the stealth plane first, to make sure no one got injured. It was taking off out of Guam with a couple of other planes. They returned to Guam.
As for Britney, guess her dad being around her has been a good thing.
My aunt has always been into exercise and fitness. She's 20 years older than me, and looks 20 years younger than me! I remember when she first got fitness equipment from NordicTrack.com. She was using this machine, and she made it look so easy. I tried and wondered how she kept up! I guess I wasn't ready to have the right mindset yet.
I have a treadmill in my dining room and finally started using it a few years ago. I started running to try to lose weight. Only, it was cold out, so I'd jog around a big circle that went through my family room and dining room. I was also embarrassed to be seen trying! I started with part walk and jog, until I was running 40 minutes in a row. We finally got me a nice treadmill, but even after running for awhile, I didn't lose any weight. I didn't change my eating habits, and thought I could just run stuff off.
Now that I'm finally eating better, it's making a difference. My trainer says that 80% of the equation is what you put in your mouth. She's right, it's making a big difference for me. I'll have to check out Nordic Track again, and see if it would be easier for me now to use the equipment! Now I work with lots of machines and free weights at the gym. It's been an evolving experience!
I've heard of a colon cleanse, but a liver cleanse? Did you know that to remove toxins from your system, that you should also do a liver cleanse? This is interesting reading, you clean the colon, then you do a liver cleanse, and then you do one more colon cleanse. I've been reading a lot of stuff about toxins and stuff lately, especially now that I'm following a clean diet as part of my nutritional guidelines. I'm working with a trainer and dietitian. (For me, clean eating means no preservatives or chemicals, or sugar)
Anyway, it's all over the internet, you can find fascinating stuff about the plaque and toxins that are in your body from all the chemicals and things we put on our food. I'd heard of a colon cleanse, but nt a liver cleanse. I'll have to ask my trainer's and doctor's advice. If you're interested in using a product you haven't used before, always consult with a professional first.
Have you caught "Parking Wars" on A&E yet? It's based out of Philly, so we thought, hey, why not see what it is. It's hysterical watching this thing. The people just crack us up. Anyway, this one guy, young kid from Delaware was trying to get his custom truck out of lock-up. It wasn't legal, since it was all customized, but he just drove it and paid the tickets anyway!
You can customize any part of your car these days, from the wheels to the bumpers, the dash to the led tail lights! I'm not big on custom styling, but I do like those rims that keep spinning when the car is stopped. Is that ghetto of me?
Anyway, if you haven't watched the show yet, give it a try, because the people they come across, man, it's just worth it. Since we're not too far from Philly, and I grew up in Lower Bucks, I get a kick out of seeing it. Of course, if it was a bad show, I wouldn't keep watching it. Maybe sometimes real life is better than written scripts.
I hate the pressure that Valentine's Day puts on people. I hate that there's supposed to be one day of the year that's more special than others for love. I love my husband 365 days of the year, and I want him to feel that every day. I don't need a stinkin' day in February to state my case.
I hate how people get their expectations up, and if their partner doesn't get them what they hoped for, it makes people frustrated. She wants a ring, he gets her flowers. He wants some wicked lingerie and fun, she makes a romantic dinner. Seriously, why do we need one day in February for this.
I know, I know, I'm a girl, and I'll still gush when I'm remembered. Heck, we just love to tell our friends how great our guy is. Guess what he did!??? Ya know?
Man, one year I was working in an office, and my husband, then boyfriend sent me this freaking huge bouquet of 2 dozen long stem roses. It looked like a damn bush that took up half of my desk. I loved it. Who wouldn't want to get the biggest, best, and coolest flowers sent to the office ? Yeah, well after the thrill wore off, I had this bush I was pruning just so I could claim my desk back! It was awesome though, because I felt acknowledged. I guess that's the thing, I want to be acknowledged, but I want to be acknowledged in January and May, and April and October just as much as February.
We usually just agree that we'll go out to dinner one night that week...which we do every week! We're secure enough in our relationship to know that one day doesn't make a marriage.
....but on that note, honey, there's this gorgeous diamond eternity ring I like. No wait for me, because I want to pick it out. Oh yeah, and our anniversary is i the spring, then there's my birthday in the summer.....ha, kidding.
I'm starting a 12 week body challenge. What's cool is that tomorrow I'm going on a grocery store tour with my trainer Danielle, which will literally go aisle by aisle and point out clean and healthy choices. It's the choice factor which is important. You can pick this product up, it's a choice that works. I'll always have to turn packages over and read the ingredients, but now I'll know what products to hone in on.
Most people think they have an idea of what they can and can't eat. I'm going to learn what I can eat, that I didn't realize! I know I can have fruit and vegetables, but I'm planning on getting new ideas of things I hadn't thought of before.
It's a new process to me still, so I'm still learning. I went to Whole Foods twice now, even though it's an hour away, and one day I was there for a long time, because I personally flipped over tons of packages, boxes and more to read and learn what I could eat. I'm excited to see what I may have overlooked.
This is what my desk is looking like right now. I have some things I want to do, things I want to rewrite for a website, dates I need to remember, plug-ins I wanted to add to a few places, and the Advil is always in site!
What does your week look like?
My trainer Danielle has been a blessing for me. Not only is she helping me with one-on-one training, she's also a dietitian, and I'm now up to eating clean 5 days a week. The turn around within me is amazing. I've still got a long way to go, but thanks to the help of Danielle over at Metamorphosis Studio, I'm able to see my future in a way I couldn't before.
I believe I found her in particular for a reason. I'm very overweight, and the thought of working out at a gym with other people wasn't something I looked forward to. I started looking at trainers, and the moment I walked in her studio and spoke with her, I knew we'd be a good match.
She makes me feel like I'm part of a team, and that means a lot to me. When I start to feel overwhelmed with the large task at hand, I remind myself, that while I haven't been able to do it alone all these years, she knows exactly wha