Back again....travel preparations!

Yes, believe it or not, I am back again after a loooong time of no posts! I have no real reason for not posting except that I couldn't think of anything to post that might be interesting to anyone.

I'm in the middle of preparations for a 3 week trip to India starting mid-March. I've been to 5 or 6 other countries (or trips with multiple countries), and I don't remember having to do as many preparatory things as I have this time. Not even when going to China. Strange. Maybe it's because I booked this trip last May, and I've been looking forward to it for so long.

In any case, I went into Reno a couple of days ago, and got my travel vaccinations. Tetanus booster, Typhoid, and Japanese Encephalitis. It seems most illnesses in India are either related to contaminated food or water, or mosquito/insect bites. And would you believe that these three vaccinations cost me more than $500.00? I couldn't either, and I still need to get another J.E. vaccine in a month! I also have to visit my primary MD before I leave to get prescriptions for possible "Delhi Belly" (traveler's diarrhea), and malaria prevention. Did you know that you have to take your malaria prophylaxis two days before you leave, all during your trip, and for a MONTH afterwards? I sure didn't. Then you have to get prepared for the yeast infection sure to occur while on the malaria prophylaxis. Yay. Can't wait for that! I sure hope my health insurance covers prescriptions for travel.  Today I ordered the suggested DEET containing bug lotion, and Permethrin containing spray to apply to clothing and bedding. Hmm, there's another $25.00 to add to the tally. With all this preparation, those pesky mosquitos shouldn't be able to get within a mile of me! Rabies vaccines? No, I think I'll just plan on staying away from bats, monkeys, and any dogs that have a crazy look in their eyes, thanks. It's a good thing I've already had my flu shot and TB test at work, for free. Also no need for a pneumonia vaccine since my immune system is healthy. One of the advantages to working in a hospital: I'm exposed to so many various germs I think my immune system could kill almost anything.

Also recommended are water purification tablets and/or self filtering water bottle. Sorry, I'm going to stick with sealed bottled water on this one. $70-100.00 for a special bottle seems a little paranoid. I'm willing to make sure the seals are good.

Then there's the clothing. You don't live with me, but I pretty much live in my pajamas when I'm home. When it's hot, I stay inside with the air conditioning on, and when it's cold I stay inside with the furnace on. Easy, right? India in March/April will be hot; in the 80's to 90's. I can deal with that; it gets up to the 100's here in the summer. However, India is much more conservative regarding women's clothing. No short shorts, no low necklines, and no bare arms. But, I also don't want to look like a typical sloppy American tourist in jeans and tee shirts. So off I go (to Sam's Club. I have to conserve money somewhere) and I spend probably $150.00 on knee length shorts, 3/4 sleeve tops, and a bathing suit that hopefully covers all my embarrassing parts. Oh, and half a dozen new pairs of undies. I AM going to be gone for three weeks. I'm not sure what I think about some poor person having to pound my underwear on a rock to wash them if I don't have enough to get through the trip.

Today, I went to Costco for a much needed eye exam and new glasses. (Again, trying to save money) I'm definitely in that middle-age period where your eyes change AGAIN. Like my eyes weren't bad enough to start with, right? Turns out I can get back into contacts, but I still need to get new lenses and frames for use in case I lose the contacts and also while they're having the heavy-duty weekly cleaning. Oh, and don't forget the sunglasses to wear with the contacts because my eyes become more light sensitive. There's another $500.00. (Ugh.) And I thought the trip itself was the expensive part. Sheesh.

I also decided to purchase a worldwide cell phone in case of emergency or death. Because of course US phones don't work anywhere else in the world.  Basic bones pay-as-you-go cell phone and GSM card: $29.95. Charge for incoming calls or texts: Free. Cool! However the phone has a UK number, so the person calling will probably be charged like crazy. Outgoing calls: $3.75 per minute. Yikes. I guess I won't be calling home except to make sure the phone works. But at least if someone is in a car crash or dies I'll find out right away.  It will still take me three days to get home. Oh well.

Boy, I'm glad I have an understanding spouse. However, I think this will be my last trip abroad for several years. Stay tuned for more adventures in travel!

B1G Mascots "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae

Another great referral from Twitter! According to the Detroit Free Press, USA Today ranked this the best sports video of it's kind! Sparty was singled out as the STAR, due to his over-the-top dance moves!
"We Are Spartans! Woof, Woof, Woof!!!"

Kids Do The Darndest Things

Watch "11 Month Old Twins Dancing to Daddy's Guitar" on YouTube

It's Burning Man time again!

This area isn't known for much (unless you count Reno, and even that is getting pretty sad), but arguably the biggest thing we're known for is.....BURNING MAN!!!

I have to admit I don't actually know anyone personally that has gone to this, but evidently it always draws a huge crowd. You can always tell it's getting close to Burning Man time because of the odd assortment of people, RV's, clothing, and STUFF you see going through town and stopping at WalMart! I'm afraid I may have posted this video last year, but if so, enjoy it again.  If you ever get out here for Burning Man, drop me a line ahead of time, and we'll get together! (You may need a break from the desert heat!)

We interrupt this program....

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I'm having to put PEDIA on hold for the tkme being. I'm having technical problems trying to upload photos using Android's Blogger app. In other words, the app sucks, so don't buy it. Although it was a free app, so maybe iy was worth what I paid for it. My laptop is now about six years old, so I can't transfer photos from my phone to the laptop. Now the plan is to buy a tablet that will hopefully do all of these things with much less hassle. In the meantime, I hope you all have some good days and I'll get back to the photos as soon as I can!

PEDIA Day 4-- I be Stylin'!

How do you like my new shoes? You can oolder them from Converse.com!

PEDIA Day 3

This is the third time I''ve tried to post this....blogger is not my friend today!

Anyhow, This was the view that greeted me today as I left wwork. Smoke from a fire in California!

PEDIA Day 2

Hi! It's day 2! Here's the view from backyard. We live on a golf course, and neither of us golf. Irony!.

PEDIA day 1

Hey everyone! What does PEDIA mean?  Well, it means Picture Every Day In August! So I'm going to try my best to send out a picture to you in August! Simple, right? Hmmm. That has yet to be seen.
Celebrating "The dog days of summer" here's Cappy!


             

Okay, well obviously I haven't quite grasped the mechanics of taking photos and then transferring them to blogger. :-(.  Hopefully as the month goes on, I'll get the hang of this!

Simple Pleasures

1. Summertime 2. A brand new book to read 3. Having air conditioning, so you can sleep under the blanket even in the summer 4. That first sip of ice cold soda 5. Laughing 6. Tulips & daffodils 7. A taste, sound, or aroma that brings back memories 8. Waking up and knowing you can go back to sleep if you want 9. Being around positive people 10. Family Do YOU have any simple pleasures?

Books, Crafts, and Back to Work

I thought I'd get one more entry in before I have to go back to work again tomorrow night. It's been a busy week for me. I'm doing lots of reading, like usual. I've been working on scrapbook/journal for one of my nieces who is getting married in September, and I think it's about done. I've also been watching YouTube a lot to see what kind of books/scrapbooks/journals other people are coming up with. Some of the things people make are just amazing to me! I don't know where they get the ideas for the things they create, much like I don't know how authors come up with the ideas for stories. I'll have to see if I can take some pictures of what I'm doing, although I'll warn you now that I'm not nearly as artistic as most of these folks on YouTube! By the way, if there are no paragraph breaks in this entry, it's not because I'm THAT ignorant about English and the rules of writing. My last entry posted as though it were one long paragraph even though I HAD put in paragraph breaks. It must be some secret of computers that I'm not doing something right. Books, books, and more books! I'm pretty much reading at my usual pace. I've got the opportunity to write a book review for the blog "Joyfully Jay", and I'm very excited about that! In my little mind, it's almost as good as being published. I'm reading my assigned book right now, and hopefully I'll be able to write the review tomorrow or the next day. I work every day for a week starting tomorrow, except for Sunday. After that, I'm going to visit my Father for a few days. Depending on time, I may not have another post until after I get back, which will be on the 19th of June. Don't give up on me; I'm just not sure if I'll have the opportunity to write an entry while I'm at my Dad's. Take care, and I'll talk to you soon!

Updates

Hi Everyone! (All one of you!) I haven't thought of anything witty or intriguing to post about. Even Twitter has been somewhat lacking on new info lately. So I'll give a couple of general updates. I'M GOING TO INDIA!! I've finally taken the plunge, and have booked a trip to India which will be from March 14 - April 5, 2013. Yep, that's a long time away, but I have to feel like I'm earning enough money to pay for it as well as have spending money! The trip itself is to Southern India. This is a little different from the typical tourist trip, as most people go to Northern India, which is where the Taj Mahal and other big tourist draws are. I chose the Southern India trip because the reviews I've read say that the people are nicer, the pace is slower, and the traffic isn't QUITE so wild. Not that I'm going to be driving; I'm going on a tour through Overseas Adventure Travel, which is the company I used when I went to Costa Rica in February 2011. They are a sister company of Grand Circle Travel, and I've taken a couple of European River Cruises with them. Needless to say, I'm REALLY excited about this trip, and have started counting the days already. I think it's something like 267 days from today. (Silly, much?) I'm going to visit my Dad in about 10 days. I didn't actually plan it this way, but I'll be with him over Father's Day, which will be nice. I need to call my sister and see if anyone is planning anything for that weekend. I got a new camera recently in anticipation of the trip to India, but I think I'll take it with me to Michigan as well. It's by Polaroid, called a POGO. It's a digital camera, and a printer in one! The prints aren't the greatest quality, but for having the prints within a minute, it's pretty cool! It'll be nice on the trip to be able to take photos and have them right away to remember exactly what we did and where we went on each day. I've also been back to working on my crafts again lately. I've made a scrapbook/journal for one of my nieces who is getting married soon. I've also got 2 more nieces getting married in the next 2 years, so I think I'll make one for each of them. If any of you are reading this, FORGET ABOUT THIS!! Anyway, it's been fun to get back into the hands-on stuff, even though I'm really not the least bit artistic. This post turned out longer than I thought it would! But at least it hasn't been 4 months since the last one!

Boxford police: Bovine brewski lovers crash party, leave trail of evidence you wouldn’t want to step in

Boxford police: Bovine brewski lovers crash party, leave trail of evidence you wouldn’t want to step in

Wasted by ACLS

This will be a short post, as I'm about ready to hit the sack. I spent most of the day in ACLS today. For those of you lucky enough not to be in the healthcare field, ACLS is "Advanced Cardiac Life Support". Many hospitals and emergency services require staff to be certified in ACLS in order to be qualified to perform procedures necessary to saving a life while hospitalized. I.E. administering correct medications in correct dosages, identifying cardiac rhythms in order to decide what drugs to give at when, and what steps to take to 'hopefully' prolong cardiac function long enough to have some high tech procedure done by the folks who make the big money. The only drawback to all this educating and certifying is that unless you're employed in some very specific areas, you may only have occasion to use this info once or twice a year. In many cases, you cram all this info into your brain, only to forget it again before you use it! This is the time when I'm glad to NOT be a doctor, because generally they are in charge and telling the rest of us what to do. Prior to the class, you're required to take the "Pre-test" to determine your current level of knowledge and what areas you may need to review. My score was 62%. Uh-oh.(Did I mention that I have to have this certification in order to actually work and earn money?) Hmmm, guess I better hurry up and start cramming! Two more tries at the pre-test and my score was up to 95%. Okay, well that's better. (I hope). Anyway, through divine intervention and a lot of finger crossing, I managed to squeak through. It's safe for me to go back into work next week. (Too bad. I would have liked to take early retirement!) I'm safe for another two years (or until someone codes on my shift). Time to go to bed.

MSNBC - The Last Word - Sean Harris gives 'punch gay kids' sermon

Another video going viral on Twitter that just made my chin drop. Speechless.

Amendment 1, Oh Lord

Hi All, It's been a looonnnggg time since I last posted. Let's call it a combination of Winter Blahs, lack of ideas, and too many "to be read" books on Kindle. But one thing in particular made me pick up my pen (or laptop)again. Yesterday in North Carolina, Amendment 1 was passed into law. Contrary to popular belief, this amendment is NOT just about gay marriage. It has the potential to affect many more people than just the LGBT people of North Carolina. My fear is that it has the potential to affect ALL people in ALL states if a movement of this sort were to pick up in other areas. Please view the video below. it's something I wish I and all the people of North Carolina had seen before voting for this amendment. Doesn't that video give you a lot to think about? I don't consider myself a political person in any sense of the word. I'm embarrassed and ashamed to say that at my age (almost 50) I have never voted in an election of any sort. Strangely enough, Twitter, of all things, has brought things to my attention that I probably would never have been aware of. It probably sounds crazy to you, but I rarely watch television, and when I do it's not the news that I watch. We don't subscribe to any newspapers or magazines. Occasionally I may see bits of a newspaper online, but political news is not something that I would normally gravitate to. The people I follow on Twitter have introduced me to issues and ideas that I haven't known about. I encourage all of you (few that you may be) to become informed. Learn about the issues, the people, and consider the future of this country that we live in. It's scary to think about sometimes. We have people who call themselves "christians" who seem to have an awful lot of hate inside. We have politicians running on "family values" platforms who seem to have a lack of them in their personal lives. (Didn't John Edwards run on this, as well as playing on the sympathies of the American people with his poor, sick, cancer-stricken wife? Now he's in the news for using campaign funds to pay off his mistress and support his illegitimate child. Hello...hypocritical much?) Everyone seems to feel free to play with semantics; using their own definitions of 'family values', 'christian', and 'equal rights'. Amendment 1 in North Carolina has the potential to limit and/or revoke rights of ALL persons in the state, unless they are "one man & one woman" who are "married". To be honest, I'm saddened and afraid. I don't want to see ANYONE'S child with any fewer rights that anyone else, just because he or she chooses not to get married, or loves someone of the same sex. It INFURIATES me to hear people say that gay marriage threatens the sanctity of marriage, when more than 50% of heterosexual marriages end in divorce. It seems like "marriage" is really just a contract between two persons. What makes it "sanctified" is the deep commitment involved if it's a TRUE marriage. The ability to make that commitment depends on the values, morals, and beliefs of the people involved; NOT their physical sexual characteristics. Ah, well. I guess I've had my rant for today. Thus is the value of the blog. I feel much better now, having gotten all that off my chest! Stay tuned for the next rant of the day, sponsored by Twitter!

Vacation Plans

I'm leaving tomorrow for a blissful week in Hawaii with my millionaire lover. We'll be spending time eating at all the best restaurants and mixing with all the upper crust of society, of course. Oh, and flying first class, as well.








NOT!! I know, I really didn't have you fooled at all, did I? I'm actually leaving tomorrow to go visit my father in Michigan. Not quiiittte as good as a week in Hawaii, but close. Since it is the middle of winter, I'm going into this expecting flight delays and weather issues. Meaning, I won't be terribly disappointed if I get delayed enough that I miss work next week and get fired. (Kidding, DH.)

Anyway...I made it to the David Garrett concert in Reno last week, and it was outstanding. Turned out my tickets were in the 3rd row; unfortunately on the wrong side of the auditorium, so most of the show had him with his back to our side of the place. But the music was great, and a good time was had by all. At least until the end of the show and we had to go outside. THEN, it was pouring rain and windy.But that took care of the wild-fire south of Reno, which ended up destroying some 20 homes. Talk about weird...I've lived here about six years, and to have two major fires in two months is kind of strange.

It's also been strange because we haven't had any snow yet. (Now that I've said it, I'll probably jinx myself and tomorrow will wake up to a foot of snow) The ski resorts around Lake Tahoe are having problems, of course. As I'm not a skier, I can't empathize a whole lot, but I'm sure they're losing money like crazy.

In any case, I need to do laundry before I can head out of here tomorrow. I hope everyone (anyone?) reading this is safe, warm, and happy. :-)

The Bark Side

I was browsing YouTube today (you see how motivated I am when I'm not working!)and ran across this cute video. I'm not endorsing Volkswagen (even though I've had a couple), but this made me laugh out loud. In addition, Goofy Dog heard all the barking and had to come over and investigate it. He then added his own touch to the finale, giving a good old howl at the end! (I really like the one on the right hand side dressed as an Ewok, and the one who comes across the front as one of those 'walker' thingies) :P

Pontiac, Michigan (yesterdays)

An old friend of mine, Peggy, posted this to her Facebook profile today. Because most of my relatives who are from this area probably don't get her feed, I thought I'd add this here myself. It's amazing how many old places I had forgotten about. When you go back to Pontiac now, it's really sad to see what's become of it.

For those of you who haven't a clue...sorry, but I thought my family and others originally from the area would enjoy this!

Who's Your Favourite?

I'm well beyond the 'having babies' stage in my life, but I stumbled on this video on YouTube today and thought it was worth a share. Some of my younger family members who are still having babies might find it pretty funny!

And completely on a different subject:

Did you know there's a new $1 coin out in the world? Remember the old Susan B Anthony dollars that failed so miserably 10 years ago or so? Now, there's a gold colored dollar coin that has...wait for it....Andrew Johnson on it! Okay, I think this guy was a president quite some time ago in the 19th century, but does anyone remember anything about him? How did he end up with a coin in his honor? Anyway, somehow I ended up with one of these in my change. I have no clue where I got it, but when I went to get a soda at work last night, there it was. It's just a tad bigger than a quarter, so it's a good thing they made it gold colored. I don't know if it will go over any better than Susan did, but wanted to let you know about it.
Considering how NOT up to date I am with the news, all of you are probably aware of these things, and they've been out there for a year or something!

This Friday I'm going to the David Garrett concert in Reno. If you look back, you can find a video of him that I posted. I'm really looking forward to it, but now DH doesn't want to go after all! So now I'm trying to decide if I'll go alone or take MIL (Mom in Law) along with me so the other ticket won't go to waste. Anyone out there want to make a quick trip to Reno? LOL!

Another of my favorites, Adam Lambert, made an appearance on the Jay Leno show last night. If you didn't see it, you can (I think) see video of the appearance on YouTube and probably other places. It seems that Mr Lambert is changing his look with this new album. He's not so glitter/glam with the leather gloves, spiked suits, and over-the-top makeup now. I can't be sure, of course, but it appeared he had on some kind of designer suit, along with a bright white collarless (?) shirt. (Obviously fashion is another area where I know nothing...I spend all my time in scrubs or in my pajamas!)

I hope everyone's having a great day, and I'll be sure to come by and let you know how the concert is!

Why Is It.......?

Why is it.....

.....whenever you're late for work or for an appointment, you hit every red light along the way?

.....no matter what line you get in at the grocery store, your line seems to move the slowest?

.....the more you sleep, the more tired you get?

.....when you're wearing new clothes you always manage to spill something on yourself?

I'm sure there's lots more of these questions out there; I just haven't run across them yet!

I know it's been a while since I posted; I apologize. It's a combination of too much time at work and then being too tired to post, and not having anything interesting to post! Sometimes it seems like my mind is too tired to do anything that requires mental effort! Although depending on who you speak to, that could describe me almost any day!

Anyway, I haven't given up on the blog yet...if anyone has any ideas of what I might write about, let me know!

The Power of Words

A thought-provoking video that shows us how words can affect others.

Oy, It's 2012! The Year I've Been Dreading!

Sorry for only the one post in the last couple of weeks. The holidays have my schedule completely screwed up. Anyone that works in health care can tell you that the holidays are a bitch. Chances are you have to work them, and if you don't, someone else will call in sick so you'll get asked to work anyway! But enough about that. If I start ranting about work I may not stop. Don't ask why. I'm glad I'm not in health care management, because clearly I'm not rude enough. STOP ME!!!! AAAGGHHH!!

Anyway, the reason I've been dreading 2012 is because this year I turn 50. Yes, FIFTY!! As you probably figured out from my previous posts about 'How you can tell you're getting old', I don't want to get old, and am trying my hardest to deny that it's happening. People always say that getting 30 is the bad year. That wasn't bad at all for me. For some reason, 50 is hitting me like a 2 x 4 upside the head. Turning 50 makes me feel like death is just around the corner. I have a feeling that I'll be giving my anti-depressants a workout this year.

A lot of the other blogs I've been reading have been covering goals, resolutions, plans for the new year, etc. I think my goal, plan, and resolution is just to survive till 2013! Not that having goals and making resolutions isn't a good thing. Many of these writers are young and just going into the best years of their lives. I can't help feeling like I'm kind of on the downhill side of my life. Geez, now I'm depressing myself.

Okay, so what are some GOOD things to look forward to? I'm going to see David Garrett in concert in just a couple of weeks; that will be fun! It remains to be seen whether DH will go with me, but I'll have fun either way. The next week after that, I'll be traveling back to Michigan to see how my Dad is doing. Hey, if work calls me that week, I'll be able to say "NO" without feeling guilty! February means our wedding anniversary and Valentine's day...lots of chocolate, yum! Has anyone else heard that chocolate is good for depression? Some chemical in it works on the brain like serotonin & nor-epinephrine, I think. Any excuse for chocolate works for me!

By the way, our holidays were very quiet. As mentioned above, I worked Christmas Eve, New Years Eve, and New Years Day.(among others) I was so tired on Christmas, I ended up sleeping the whole day instead of going to the in-laws for dinner. I felt bad about that, but I guess it's better than falling asleep in my mashed w/ gravy. In case you couldn't tell, my DH and I are not overly-social people. We never go out for New Years Eve, so I didn't miss anything by working that night. DH did buy me a beautiful bracelet for Christmas, which I was totally not expecting. I had just bought myself a new Kindle the week before, so I was counting that as my gift. Many thanks to DH!

What would we do without social networking? I've found that I'm more able to keep up with family stuff since I installed Twitter and Facebook on my phone, lol! For years I've lived in the West of the US and felt like I was a million miles away. Who knew all I had to do was install a couple of apps? I'm also able to keep up with my favorite blogs and YouTube through my phone as well, so I'm all set!

Okay, so maybe I wouldn't want to go back to the 80's or 90's just to be younger. We didn't have all this fun technology (even tho I hate it sometimes) back then! To keep up with family and friends we had to go to bars and use the phone! I bet by the time I die we won't even have to have any personal touch at all. Remember that movie with Sly Stallone & Sandra Bullock? It took place in the future, and sex didn't involve any contact between the two people, they just put on these funny caps and were 'stimulated'? We wouldn't want any bodily fluids getting in the way of things, would we? (That movie also starred Wesley Snipes, and I can't for the life of me remember what the name of it was. Old age, you know?)

Happy New Year!

Just a quick note to say Happy New Year to all my vast number of followers! *smile* I have to work the Eve and the Day itself, but then have a few days off. Will hopefully be back with something interesting by then. Take care everyone! A little fun isn't worth an extended stay in the hospital!

Adam Lambert - Better Than I Know Myself (Audio)

Thought I'd share this new song from Adam Lambert. I think this is supposed to be the first single from his new album that releases in March 2012. Yes, I like music that isn't necessarily in accordance with my age!

Christmas Memories

DH and I did our weekly shopping at Wally World yesterday. As we were wandering through the 'seasonal items'/'toilet paper' aisle (weird combo, I know), I noticed that there sure is a lot of 'stuff' out there for parents to put in their kids stockings. There was almost as much candy as at Easter or Halloween! Then there were the little games, toys, and other treats for the little monsters. And here I thought it was just the excitement of tearing into paper and boxes that made kids hyper on Christmas. No, it's all the junk they find in their stockings!

At the risk of turning into one of those old people that are continually reminiscing about how things were when they were young, I thought I'd share a bit about how things were when I was young! Keep in mind that it was the late 60's or early 70's that comprise most of my childhood memories. But maybe that will be entertaining for some of you younger whippersnappers. (where are my dentures, anyway?)

My parents formative years were also the depression years. My dad's family lived in rural Arkansas, and he was (I think) the oldest boy of a total of 9 children. So their family didn't have a whole lot of money to begin with. You can imagine, then, that I grew up under folks who didn't have much when they were children, and so weren't the type to squander money or spoil their children!

In our Christmas stocking each year, we'd find an orange, maybe an apple, some nuts, and maybe a candy cane. Once I think I remember receiving some McDonald's gift certificates, which were amazing. I don't remember ever going to McDonald's or other fast food places as a child. It seems like there must have been other stuff in our stockings, but for the life of me, I can't remember what. Socks, maybe?
I guess you would describe my parents as people who gave gifts of things you needed; not necessarily things you wanted. This is not to say that we didn't get some fun things, but our Christmases were not about toys or the newest fads that came along.

One thing we ALWAYS got for Christmas was a new pair of pajamas, and usually a new pair of slippers as well. There were things like underwear, a sweater, and maybe a dress for us girls. We did get some games: Tinker Toys, Yahtzee, Monopoly, and Life to name a few. (The Tinker Toys were actually made of wood back then, and Monopoly had metal game pieces) As I got older, books were always towards the top of my Christmas list. I remember we were always warned that just because we put it on our list didn't mean we were going to get it! Mom was always VERY practical! Someone in my family, though, has a picture of my sister and I in front of a Christmas tree. One of us is holding a gun and another a stuffed skunk, if I remember right. I still find it hard to believe that one of us (had to have been one of my brothers) had been given a gun of some sort. Mom was very non-violent and was very much the type to say things about not pointing things at other people because "you could put someone's eye out"!

Christmas was a pretty exciting holiday; probably for all kids. Once, I must have been told by my parents that we weren't to get up too early; I remember going into my brother's room, waking one of them up and asking if it was time to go downstairs yet! We used to go to my grandparent's house to pick them up for church every Sunday. I remember one year I was sure I saw reindeer prints on their roof. They were probably more likely just bird prints, but I was SURE that this proved Santa Claus was real and had been to their house!

As we grow older Christmas changes, of course. DH put up our Christmas tree this year for the first time since we moved here six years ago. Don't know why we haven't bothered till now. Probably because I often have to work Christmas, and we don't make a big deal about gifts. It's kind of hard to buy a surprise gift for DH when he looks at the bank account on line every day, you know? We'll be going to my inlaws house this Christmas. They always put on a spread of waaay to much food for just the four of us! But then we get leftovers, too...bwahahaha!

In any case, I hope you've enjoyed my little entry about my Christmas memories. Tell me some of yours!

Oh, Those High School Days!

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned high school in passing so I thought I'd go back to that and tell you what my high school was like. It was probably a fairly unique experience, so maybe you'll get a laugh out of it.

I went to a very small Catholic high school. My graduating class was all of 72 (yes, seventy-two) students. At the time I went there, it was nearing the bottom of a long slide into death...I bet the whole school (7th thru 12th grades) didn't have more than 300 students. The school actually IS still alive and churning out grads, but only because it was taken over by a larger, obviously more successful organization.

The school was so small that not only did the teachers and principal know everyone by name, they also knew your family history, older brothers and sisters, younger brothers and sisters, pets, and sins you brought up in confession. (okay, I'm joking about that; they really didn't know your pets.)

You know how every class/school has cliques? Jocks, stoners, band geeks, brainiacs, etc? We didn't have so many cliques, mainly because we were too small to have so many things to do. We did have sports teams (football & basketball; there may have been track and softball.) Obviously I didn't belong to the "jock" group! Back in the day there was no money for most extra-curricular activities, so we didn't have a music department, let alone a band. (No band geeks or glee kids) There was no drama department. (When my older brother and sister went there, there was I think one play per year. By the time I got there, even that much had petered out) I think we actually did have a couple of stoners, although the worst drugs we knew of back then were beer and marijuana. Maybe that's just me; obviously I wasn't a stoner, either!

Even the teachers were characters. Seeing as it was a catholic school, there were a few catholic nuns still teaching at that time. Biology was taught by Sr. Pius, who was about as round as she was tall. Math classes were taught by Sr Mercia, who would say a prayer before each class. There was also a man (Mr. Nolan) who taught history (I think) who was famous at our house because he was the first person (as far as we knew) to ever predict that California was going to fall into the ocean. (Obviously THAT prediction hasn't come to pass yet!)

You know, looking back my school wasn't very exciting at all. Compared to the city's public high school that looked like a maximum security prison, our school was pretty tame! We got a pretty good education, didn't learn a lot of bad habits, and a good number of us went on to college. I still can't believe that it's been 30+ years since I graduated. In many ways, I'd hate to go back to that age again, but in others it would be nice to get to redo things that I screwed up the first time!

I hope this hasn't been too boring for you. This entry didn't turn out to be quite as entertaining as I thought it would! Oh well, I'll keep trying! I may never be an author after all since I couldn't even make high school more fun!

Hi All

No real post today. Just wanted to let everyone know (all 4 of you, lol) that I've survived another week of work. I think I slept 24 hours out of 36 this time. DH doesn't understand how I can sleep so much, but I think I'm making up for all the sleep I don't get on the days when I work. I drive an hour each way to and from work, then it takes me a couple of hours to wind down enough to sleep when I get home. And that's even with the help of Benadryl to get to sleep in the first place! So if I'm lucky, I get to sleep by 11 am, then have to get up again at 4pm in order to have time to bathe and eat something before I leave the house again at 5:15pm. Have you ever tried to eat dinner within an hour of waking up? Not easy for me!

Anyway, enough whining for now. I'll try to come up with some kind of interesting, amusing, or otherwise readable post for tomorrow!

Can Anybody Help Me?

Okay, yes, I know...no one can help me. Old joke, but somebody was going to say it, so I thought I'd say it first. So there! *sticking my tongue out at you*

I've been doing this blogging thing for a few months now, and I've looked at quite a few blogs done by other people. One thing I've noticed is that nearly all of them look a lot more professional than mine! This could be related to a number of different things. First of all, I'm not trying to sell or promote anything. I'm not trying to make money off this blog, so I don't really have to impress or appear businesslike. Another reason is that I'm old. I don't like to admit that to just anyone, you know! When I was in high school, technology meant using an electric typewriter. I could do another whole post on my high school but, I digress. We didn't have classes in web design, html, dos, or any of that other 'techie' type stuff. Another problem is that I'm a nurse. As my DH has come to find since he started working in a hospital, medical/nursing type folks are generally NOT computer/electronically savvy people. Need someone to stop some bleeding or give an enema, I'm your guy (or girl. whatever). Need someone to hopelessly mess up a computer program; just call a nurse or doctor over the age of 30.

When I do something on the computer, I want it to be simple, one or two steps, and DONE. I don't know anything about writing code. Cutting and pasting is about the extent of my computer knowledge. (Unless you need something purchased. I CAN do that really well!) The point that I'm circling around (and around, and around) is that I need HELP!! I've seen several doohickeys (isn't that a techie word?) on several blogs...I think they're called 'badges'. Like a little emblem, right? And underneath this nifty little badge is a line that says something like "grab a badge" or "get a follow button" or similar. My question is HOW do I do this?? Is it like cut and paste, or different? How do I get it from another place to here, and then when I do, how do I tell it where to go on my screen (template?) and stay there? I feel like I'm trying to herd cats. sheesh.

Oh, you young folks are so lucky...sigh...(Lord, don't let me start talking about how I walked 5 miles to school in the winter...) ahem...anyway...
I know, I should just ask my lovely technically GENIUS DH to do some of this stuff for me, but I'd like to know how to do it myself, you know? If I can be responsible for someone's LIFE at work, I ought to be able to do more than buy things and email people! I've mastered Facebook and Twitter (unless all those tweets have been going to siberia...hmmm....)

After this post, there will probably be absolutely no question whatsoever that I am, undoubtedly, an old, straight, white woman. No one else under the age of 40 would be having these problems, right? LMAO. The reason I say that is because recently on blogs, web sites, and twitter there has been some controversy recently about whether or not people are being honest about who they are. This is actually kind of funny, because that's been happening since the beginning of the computer age! Hello!?! Remember chat rooms, where you could be anyone, anywhere, or be a completely different person? So now we know I am absolutely who I say I am. As much as I might like to be, I'm NOT a 25 year old Victoria's Secret model. I'm a going-on-fifty year old woman who lives in her pajamas (except when I play a nurse at work), who is hopelessly computer-stupid when it comes to real life. But I DO know how to work a mean Kindle!

Oh, and I did figure out how to put a cow mooing as my phone's ring tone last week!

New Definition of Homophobia

As a public service, I'm providing this new, improved, definition of homophobia. I give authorship to the tweeter @coyotetoo, and was then re-tweeted by author Chris Owen (@chris_owen).

Homophobia: The fear that gay men will treat you the way you treat women.

Isn't that just SO accurate?? 'Nuff said.

Can Teddy Bears Fly?

I ran across this video on you tube after getting seeing a forwarded tweet. Evidently, this has become popular with some of the NHL teams in order to donate the bears to charity.

Bear (bad pun, I know) with the first 15-20 seconds of video. The good stuff comes after that!

David Garrett - Child`s Anthem - London 01.12.11

Hey, I figured out how to do it! Can you believe it? LOL

Let's Get This Party Started!

DH is going off to SanFran today to some computer class which lasts all week, thus the title above! *Just kidding, dear!*

But seriously, now it's all up to me to remember to feed the dog (and walk it), pick up the mail, and all those other chores that DH has spoiled me into not having to do. And I REALLY appreciate it!!

To get today off to a great start, said dog just about knocked me over in the hall this morning, he was so excited to see me(or, maybe it was just the fact that he was happy he wasn't alone. *hmm*). Saturday, DH left early in he morning to take his mom to an appointment. DOG, (now to be known as GD, goofy dog) whined and cried at the door for at least an HOUR, before going outside to bark at the front gate. Needless to say, he was upset that DH wasn't spending their special weekend time together! I had to finally get out of bed to drag GD back inside the house before he annoyed the entire neighborhood! (You know, GD could also stand for G*D D**M dog, couldn't it?) GD actually is a nice dog, considering he's a pit bull. Not vicious, just big and slobbery. Oh, and he farts, too.

I talked DH into attending a concert with me in January! I was SHOCKED! This is not to say that we're a couple of sticks-in-the-mud, but we're not exactly social. For instance, we've lived in this house for going on six years, and we've never had anyone over for dinner! But anyway, we'll be going to see a performer named David Garrett. Go check him out on You Tube! (If I knew more about this blogging stuff, I'd post a video myself. Anyone out there that knows how to do this....HELP!)
He's a gentleman that is trained in classical violin, but manages to makeover classical pieces into rock, and plays rock music with a full orchestra! All while wearing long hair, jeans, and army boots. Assuming I can get someone at work to trade shifts with me, we'll be doing an actual date night with dinner and a show included! I'll try to remember to post again in January about the date night AND the show to let you know how it was.

Hmmm, #FunFactAboutMe is trending on twitter...My favorite ice cream in the world is Chocolate Caramel Crunch from Baskin Robbins! Which, I haven't had in years, because there aren't any BRs around here! *she sobs*

What can you tell me about you??

Hi, :) I'm Jonah

Click the title above or the link below to view a video that was tweeted to me by several different people in the last few days. Please watch it and remember that people with smiling faces are not always happy.


The Sensual World of Stephani Hecht: Hi, :) I'm Jonah:

European Vacation

Okay, now to the post I was planning on before I got sidetracked by that lovely scientific study I referenced below.....

In the summer of 2009 I took a river cruise from Amsterdam to Vienna. I'm not getting paid anything to say this (obviously) but I took the cruise through a company called Grand Circle Travel. They do a number of European trips of all kinds, but I liked the idea of a cruise because most everything is included. I should mention that this caters mainly to the 'over 50' crowd, (which I'm NOT yet) but it was still a lot of fun. Some of those older folks can really party! LOL, just kidding!

I took this picture somewhere in Germany (I really need to make notes on the pictures as I'm taking them). You'll notice there is a hand on the right hand side of the picture. Here's the situation in it's entirety:

I'm pretty sure that's Dad's hand in the first picture, but it was such a cute setting, I couldn't help but take the pictures. In my experience, I've always found that ducks, geese, chickens, and birds in general are pretty aggressive, so I was surprised to see these get so close. But I guess food in the hand....
Yes, that was a really bad joke!

What the F**k??

As I muddle my way through learning how to do this blogging stuff, I attempt another experiment in this post.

If you click on the title above, you will jump to a story about a supposed 'study' in Saudi Arabia that links women drivers with prostitution, pornography, homosexuality, and divorce. Oh, and the increasing loss of virgins in that country.

As I said, "WHAT THE F**K???

Assuming that this story is not a joke, the only conclusion a person can come to after reading this is that a large number of people in Saudi Arabia are amazingly ignorant. But perhaps it is a case of the power of religion that has (or is) attempting to subvert the minds of its believers.

I don't want to get into any deep philosophical or political discussions here, mainly because the last thing I am is well acquainted with either philosophy or politics. I can't help but think I'm glad I don't live in Saudi or in some other country in which religion has a strangle hold over the citizens. The US isn't perfect by any means, but at least we're not being told ridiculous sh*t like this!