Facebook

I've become addicted to facebook, the social networking site. I'm not just addicted to the updates posted by my friends, but to the games they have connected to the site. Word Twist, Scramble, Mafia Wars; I have to play them all, for hours at a time, trying to beat my high scores or to reach the next level. I've become the target of many a "hit" on Mafia Wars, I've got my "family" to defend and I must take my revenge!
Hubby is amazed how it has captured my attention. I think it is because each game I play takes a maximum of 3 minutes and the challenge to find more words is a welcome brain break.

Bits and Pieces

I went to my follow-up appointment with my doctor; she confirmed that I have endometriosis and the tissue removed was just that. I'm healing nicely, although I must remember not to be lifting anything over 10 pounds still. This is very difficult for me to do, since I work with books all day long and I can think of several titles that 8 pounds each.

Jman has joined the creative writing club at school and he is a success at it. In fact, he's placed first in their writing contest they had. This is the boy who in the past has refused to write anything for his benchmark tests.

The weather is changing quickly here in Texas and it is time to think about the yard. Do I want to start a container vegetable garden this year? Or should I just focus on my front yard flower garden? What color scheme should I do?

Looks good

Well, my surgery is over and it looks good. They found some tissue that was not supposed to be there and removed it, my "pain buddy" has all but gone away (woohoo), and the incision sites are not too bad, as long as I do not overexert myself. I've got to make a follow-up visit for two weeks from now to make sure all has healed, that any tissue biopsies done have come back clean; but for now I am very optimistic. It is amazing how not having that pain in my life has made me so much more positive. I did not realize how much it was effecting my mental status until it was removed.
Plus, it is a lovely day out, perfect day to open the windows and air out the house.

"Exploratory surgery"

I've got "exploratory outpatient surgery" in the morning. Can you say nervous? Hopefully the doctor will figure out what is really wrong with me and stop the pain that has been plaguing me for the past year and a half. Wish me luck.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
That is a question we all get/got asked at some point in our lives and one we ask our children as well. It's fun to hear how the answers change (or for that matter don't change) over the year.
I wanted to be a doctor or an archaeologist or a writer when I grew up. I did become an archaeologist, and have been both an EMT and a medical assistant, and do this for writing, so I did follow my dreams somewhat.
When I was younger, my parents told me we could be whatever we wanted to be when we grew up, to follow our dreams. Hindsight being what it is, I wish they had not done that. When I worked as an archaeologist, I held two jobs, since payday did not always come through with archaeology since grants were slow to be processed at times. I wish my parents had told me to be a doctor, and to follow archaeology as a hobby only.
Now my son tells me he wants to be an archaeologist or an artist or a writer. And I, well I want to tell him "no, don't go for those dreams". My brother tried life as an artist - he ended up frustrated and angry. Jobs as an archaeologist are few and far between, with cuts to state budgets, those jobs go first.
So what do I tell him - to go for his dreams or to go for reality?

Would you hear the " I need you"

I was watching a repeat of "Sex and the City" last night, the episode where Miranda's mother dies of a heart attack, and the girls and ex boyfriends all go to the funeral, because they know Miranda need them, but she does not ask for them to come. It is very touching and moving to see Miranda's relief when Carrie steps up to give her a shoulder to lean on at the funeral procession. The episode started me wondering...
As human beings, we have subconscious ability to recognize when our fellow humans are in need; sometimes they ask for help, sometimes they don't. The question is, would you know if someone was asking you for help?
Think about it, how many times have you looked back on a situation and thought to yourself, I should have offered that person a ride, I should have had that neighbor over for a dinner, I should have called that friend up a month ago, etc. Or you thought, "jeez, I wish I could do something for , but s/he said s/he was o.k....."
I know when my coworker's dad died, I didn't know what to do, what to offer, especially since I am not an overtly emotional person. Giving her a hug of support felt like an awkward thing to do at the time, but a few months later when my dear uncle passed, I knew that was what I desperately needed from someone and that she probably did as well.
What about that young mother with her 4 kids who seems to never get out of the house with out at least 3 of them with her - how about offering to watch ALL of them for 2 hours so she can go to the store alone? It's not much to you, but to her, it is.
I remember when hubby went away for 4 months. My neighbors all said they would give me a hand, I just had to give them a call. Sad thing was, I never called any of them. I needed a hand, desperately, but I was too proud (?) to ask. Now if someone had come to my door and said, "hey leave Jman with my son and my hubby, we're going to the movies", I would have had tears of appreciation in my eyes as I handed over my child and went out the door.
So, one of my resolutions for my life is to be more aware of my fellow human beings, to appreciate what I have and to share with my fellow human beings. Case in point, my dear friend whose husband got laid off, we were shopping at Target for household stuff. Instead of asking her if she wanted to stop for a coffee at the Starbucks kiosk, I told her I was getting coffee and wanted to treat her. I know she would have said "no" to getting the coffee since it is an expense she can not afford right now, but I also know it is a treat that she did appreciate having.
It's a little thing, but it brought some happiness, and that was what I was hoping to achieve.

My first blog award....

thanks Envoyette!

Inauguration Day

President Obama,

You have taken on quite a task, one that may soon seem overwhelming if it does not already. Our country needs a lot of help to get back on its feet. On this day, the Dow dropped more than 330 points. Lay-offs have become a daily occurrence and many of our citizens already had their budgets stretched before the loss of their jobs. What are you going to do to turn our economy around?
In the last 8 years, we've lost the respect of many countries around the world. How are we going to earn it back?
Yes, people cheered today, some even cried in their joy at seeing you take office and it is a momentous occasion; but you have a job ahead of you and you will be judged by your successes and your failures. It seems that many will have open arms for you, please don't disappoint them and us. You're name is already is already going into the history books, hopefully it will be with more than just "1st African-American president of the United States".

I need you

As human beings, we have subconscious ability to recognize when our fellow humans are in need; sometimes they ask for help, sometimes they don't. The question is, would you know if someone was asking you for help?
Think about it, how many times have you looked back...

Jobs..

Yet another friend got a pink slip today...I'm so thankful that both my husband and I have jobs and they are secure (knock on wood). Of course, my friend today had no warning that his job was in jeopardy either....

What I did for New Year's Day

Hello, I have not completely abandoned this blog, as some might suspect, since my writing is so sporadic. No, it is because I want to upload some pictures to the blog, but I seem to have misplaced my camera in all the holiday hoopla. Instead of waiting any longer, I'll just tell you about my new year's vacation and upload the pictures later when I find the camera...if I find the camera.

It has been a desire of mine to go to Oklahoma City to see the site of the 1995 bombing of the the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, or I should say the memorial site and museum dedicated to the memory of it. Why I had this desire, I do not know, although part of it could be because my dear hubby could be in a situation like that at any time due to his job, and the loss of my husband in the line of duty s a deep-rooted fear of mine that I wanted to confront head-on.

First off, if you have never been to the site, you should go. As far as I am concerned, the 7 hour drive was worth it. Although I did none of the driving, so my view may be skewed a bit. :)
The site is composed of the footprint of where the building was and its adjacent parking lot. There is a large black upright rectangular slab of rock (granite?) on one end of the site with "9:01" engraved on it, then a huge reflecting pool, rectangular shaped again, the length of the original building, then another slab with "9:03" engraved on it. The pool is a symbol of that final minute of so many lives before they were irrevocably changed forever.
Then there are the chairs, 168 chairs composed of a metal backing and a frosted square base. Each chair represents one of the people that died that day. They are of two sizes - the smaller size represents the children who perished.

The museum itself is wonderfully done. It gives the visitor an ability to step into that day, from the minutes before the explosion, to the explosion and its aftermath that day, all the way through to years after it is all done. There are video clips of the news coverage, interviews of the victims and survivors, artifacts (IE. bits of the car that was involved in the explosion, an actual room persevered so you can see the damage, clothing, crime scene pictures, etc.), and a memorial to each victim. Watching the video clips of the parents rushing to the scene, asking where is my child, and then seeing their commentary of their feelings and emotions from that moment was heart-rending. (There was a daycare in the building. Only 4 children survived.)

You are able to view what the relatives of the victims have to say about how their how lives were impacted, some moved on in positive way, others have barely clung to day-to-day reality. There also are after effects that were more positive such as how laws were changed to benefit victims of crimes like this, and you get to see that side too.

Christmas eve tradition

We made our traditional gingerbread cookies. Jman insists that each of us have our own type of each cookie, so there is always three of each kind, with a few extra for Santa.
Every year I seem to forget to get icing or cookie decorations, so we make due with what is in the cupboard - black sprinkles left over from Halloween, multicolored dots that were from some other project. Hey, we worked with what we've got and they turned out just fine.

Packages mailed

Whew, as of this morning all our holiday packages have been mailed (which is 90% of the gifts we give). All that is left to do is to get stocking stuffers and do some holiday baking (the fun stuff)...which is good since the creeping crud has crept into our house, infecting Jman and me.
The poor little guy is laying on the couch, all bundled up, mouth half open (stuffy nose), fevered eyes, and drool coming out of his mouth. If it had to hit, at least this was a semi-good time for it to happen. It struck Saturday afternoon, which is lucky, since his Arrow of Light ceremony was Friday night and popcorn delivery for scouts was Saturday morning. So he got most of everything he needed done done before the germs knocked him for a loop.
I'm fairing better, which a lower fever, sore throat and stuffy nose. It is not unexpected that we become sick this time of year. This is a busy time of year for me at work and I am literally in close personal contact and exposed to about 100 more people per day than normal. My immune system has built up some defense to it, but I think I may have brought it home to Jman. Poor baby. I'm just hoping it is not strep throat. I really don't want to go to the doctor's office.

Artist in residence

Jman's artwork was displayed at our local Barnes and Noble this past week. Out of the 1000+ students in his school, about 2 dozen students had their artwork chosen to show. We are so proud of him, especially since last year at this time we were getting notes home from the art teacher telling us that Jman was going to fail art because he was not doing the work. Now, he talks excitedly about it, discussing the medium he is using (watercolors for those who are interested), what each art project is attempting to demonstrate (ie. depth, dimensions, etc). His art teacher is passionate about his love for art and it is contagious.

(The theme for the picture was summer fun - Jman visited Washington, D.C. and this is his version of the Washington Monument. Notice the reflection pool in the foreground.)

Thanksgiving thanks

I'm thankful for...

the love of my family and friends,
that our health scare with J this past year was just that and that he is relatively healthy,
that even if I do get laid off at work, my family will survive,
that I can turn to my blog family to vent, to share, to have support.

Happy Thanksgiving folks. Eat, share, and take the time to reflect on all that you have, rather than what is missing from your life.

Lay-offs

Work has had some interesting news today, mainly that there will be large layoffs within my company, with hiring freezes across the board. They are waiting until after Thanksgiving to announce them, so for now we just have to guess who is getting the axe. I believe I am safe, although my hours will be cut, how much I do not know. I hope I don't get laid off - I'm not fully vested in my company until February. It'll probably be the middle management folks who get laid off first, since they are considered more "redundant" than other positions. The sad thing is that my company has made a profit this year; they are just cutting costs to cover themselves for the future.
Bit off the topic - while we were discussing the possible ramifications these cuts would have on our jobs, one of our employees asked "does this mean we don't get our bonuses this year?" I think it is a safe guess, that yes, we don't get bonuses this year.

Update: We are getting bonuses..if we're still around to receive them.

New recipe for dinner

In my house, we hate coming up with ideas for dinner. When we do come up with an idea, there is always someone who does not like that dish (not that they get anything else for dinner, they just suffer in silence). However, last night, hubby made a dish both easy and tasty. We had jalapeno cheese encrusted pollack. It had a creamy cheesy flavor with a kick of jalapeno and a bit of crunch to keep your mouth entertained.
Sounds complex doesn't it? Not if you use the secret ingredient he used...crushed jalapeno flavored Cheeze-its. It may sound odd, but it was good.
For 2 large fillets of white fish (ie. cod, scrod, pollack, etc.) you will need about 2 tbls melted margarine or butter and about 2 cups crushed jalapeno Cheeze-its. Drizzle the fish with the margarine, then coat it with the crushed Cheeze-its. Extra coating can be added on top of the fish to give it more crunch. Cook in a 35o F degree oven for 15 -20 minutes (we needed 2o min. because our fish was still frozen in the middle when it got put in the oven) until fish is tender and flaky. If you are smart, you will line your baking pan with aluminum foil first so there will be minimal clean-up when you are done. Everyone had seconds at our house, so you may want to double the recipe.

To continue or not to continue

Jman has reached the end of his cub scouting career and is considering going on to boy scouts. I say considering since two weeks ago he told us that he wants to quit scouting, wants to quit it now. This is after he has done all the work to qualify for the Arrow of Light ceremony (the highest privilege in cub scouts), and has done all the work for super achiever as well. Also, this is after he sold over 500 dollars worth of popcorn for which we are waiting on delivery.
Why does he want to quit? He will not say other than "the meeting stop me from doing things I want to do, like read". We told him he has to at least finish cub scouts, since he has done all the work and should at least get the awards that go with it. We want him to continue on since scouting has helped him grow as a person. He has already learned so many skills (first aid, how to change a tire, fishing, woodworking, etc.) and has developed into responsible individual (many, many community service projects have helped him do this).
I think he may be having a change of heart - last night at our den meeting, as he was decorating his arrow for the ceremony, the scout leader asked if he was considering going on to boy scouts. He said, "I'll give it a try". Yay!

The dress

I have something that is trivial to discuss. I should be discussing what I believe the ramifications of our new president-elect will have on our country; but I can't. I have to discuss it...Michelle Obama's dress. She looked very pregnant in it. One might say it looked like a left-over Halloween costume - the almost black widow hourglass design was very distracting to me.
As I was listening to Obama's speech my eyes and mind would wander over to Michelle's dress and all concentration would go out the window as I would start to think "what was she thinking, this is for the history books and she chose that..."
I am so superficial.

Vote

Go vote.
Even if it is just for one candidate, vote and skip the others.
Your vote does count - ask Al Gore.
Waiting for 2 hours in line is not a sacrifice; it is a privilege. Our men and women in uniform have already made the sacrifice for you.
Vote.