Thankful Thursday

I have decided to call this day "Thankful Thursday". If I can remember to keep it up, I will continue my Thankful Thursdays in the future. My memory isnt very good these days. SO... without further delay, my first Thankful Thursday entry.

Today, I am thankful for:

my family

my health

Frankie and Max, our houndie boys who make my days brighter than ever

sunshine, and living in a climate with lots of it. even though it is 100 degrees outside right now it is still 100% better than the rain of PA.

diet pepsi nectar of the Gods

chocolate

Ben and Jerry (I bow to their greatness)

my online friends and blogging buddies- you know who you are, you guys rock!!

http://www.paperbackswap.com/ one of my favorite websites, for filling my mailbox with goodies on a regular basis.

The brave men and women who lay their lives on the line to secure our freedom. I am forever grateful to each and every one of them. May God bless them all.

I would like to challenge all of my blogging friends to take one day of the week, ( Thursday is good, hint hint) and be thankful. We are blessed more than we know.

Grinding Gears!

Do you want to know what really grinds my gears? I have a few things that I would like to share with you, many of these are grinding my gears today so I thought I should share. These are not necessarily in the order in which they bug me.

1. People who do not return their grocery carts to the corral. Instead the leave them in another parking place or between cars, talk about LAZY!! Come on morons, walk the extra 10 feet to put your cart in the cart corral, you probably need the exercise anyway.

2. Parents who do not take their crying children out of the restaurant when they are throwing a fit. I am not talking about a walk in fast food place, I am talking about a restaurant, where the waiter comes and takes your order. I enjoy having a nice leisurely dinner, when Breanna was little I marched her outside until she could behave, surely that practice isnt obselete, or is it? (at this very second Breanna is watching Family Guy and Peter just said the same thing! LOLOLOL too funny)

3. Incompetant employees. If I have to do the bookkeeping for our payroll dept or for Verizon wireless one more time, I will scream!

4. People who use the environment as their ash tray. I dont care if you smoke, just dont throw your butts out of the car window into MY environment!! I dont throw my empty pepsi cans into your car!

5. Telemarketers. 'nuff said!

I have many many more, but these are a few that have come to mind today. Whew! I feel much better now! LOL

My New Toy!

Dana and I have been XM radio subscribers since we lived in PA. I originally bough XM when I had to drive a distance to work and back.

About 3 or 4 months before I traded off my Jeep my XM went wacko. I think the wiring between the receiver and the antenna broke so I did not have reception.

Today we bought a fancy schmancy new XM receiver! And it has been installed, very professional installation thanks to our local Best Buy installation dept.

We got home and tried to activate it, and XM's system was down! GRRR

Hopefully tomorrow it will be back up.

News on the horizon..

Its a little early to say what, but one thing I can say, it doesnt involve the Navy. Breanna has done a lot of soul searching lately and she has come to a conclusion.

She isnt joining the Navy. She just isnt Navy material. They have been great to her and made arrangements to waive her in, but she doesnt feel right about going to the Navy. I am not sure this makes much sense to anyone except for those of you out there who have kids in the military, but they dedicate their heart, life and soul to a branch and it is very very difficult to wear another uniform.

She decided that it wasnt wise to just join the Navy for the basic reason of being in a branch of the military, thats not why you join. You join because you want to serve and you want to BE in that branch.

She will always be an airman in her heart.

SO.. future plans are a'changing. I will update you on this more later on in the week.

I am off to bed, I think I have been hit by a large truck, or maybe a UPS van, repeatedly over the last 4 days.

Final count..... hours worked = 53 in 4 days. holy shit.

Blogging frustration!

Hi everyone, I am still working... trying to drag my butt in for one more night. I have missed reading everyones blogs so much, I feel like I am missing out!

I dont think my job realizes just how important blogging is, and that when I have to work this many days in a row, it is seriously cramping my style!! How dare they!

So, hopefully I will be back tomorrow to post, I have SO much to catch up on!

Peace, y'all.

Skywatch Friday!

I am stuck working a marathon week (50 hours in 4 days) so I didnt want to miss skywatch Friday. Here is my entry taken in the inlet outside of Fairfield CT at sunrise.

I hope you enjoy.

The 36 Rules of Life

There are rules.. at least 36 of them to help us through life. Please enjoy, we should all swear by them.


The 36 Rules of Life

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often.

3. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.

4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

5. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.

6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

8. A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter is not a nice person.

9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.

10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.

11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.

12. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.

13. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.

14. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.

15. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.

16. A balanced diet is a muffin in each hand.

17. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.

18. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

19. Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.

20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

21. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

22. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

23. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.

24. Someone who thinks logically provides nice contrast to the real world.

25. It ain't the jeans that make your butt look fat.

26. If you had to identify in one word the reason why the human race has not achieved its full potential, that word would be meetings.

27. There is a very fine line between hobby and mental illness.

28. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

29. You should not confuse your career with your life.

30. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

31. Never lick a steak knife.

32. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

33. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time (and thats because they werent ever farmers that also had to have daytime jobs to make a living).

34. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

35. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that deep down inside we ALL believe we are good drivers.

36. Your (real) friends love you anyway

Thankful Tuesday

I have been thinking of a topic to blog about all day today, nothing really jumped out at me, so I have been perusing other blogs to try to get some motivation.

What I found is that I need to hit my knees and be thankful for what I have. So many people have so many problems, heartaches, illnesses and hard times that I feel my life is blessed. And I am thankful.

So, I decided to list a few things that I am thankful for:

1. My family. Dana, my best friend, the love of my life. The man who changed my mind when I swore off of marraige after a horrible divorce from a horrible man who had me trapped in a horrible marraige for 21 years. Breanna, the light of my life, who has never given me (or us) one single bit of trouble all through her teenage years, who has endured heartache, disappointment, pain, having her dreams destroyed and who still needs moms hugs and who still calls me when she is off of work and coming home. I love them both immensely.

2. My job, even though I whine and complain and yap about the crap that I have to put up with at work, at least I HAVE a job, and it pays the bills and helps to keep a roof over our head.

3. The roof over our head, we are so fortunate that we made the decision to buy this house last year instead of an overpriced track home that would eventually put us in the poor house with rising interest rates and repair costs.

4. Having the blessing to be living in a place that I love, near my sisters and essentially, "back home again".

5. My parents and my sisters. That everyone is healthy and happy and that we all get along.

6. diet pepsi and "drumstick" triple chocolate ice cream cones. just because....

Thank you God, for the numerous gifts that you have given us.

And one more thing, I want to send out a huge hug and prayer for my friend Hallie, she knows why and thats enough. Hang in there girl, the RAAT's are here for you!

Laughter IS the best medicine!

Pronunciation laf-ter, lahf-ter- noun
1.
the action or sound of laughing.
2.
an inner quality, mood, disposition, etc., suggestive of laughter; mirthfulness: a man of laughter and goodwill.
3.
an expression or appearance of merriment or amusement.
4.
Archaic. an object of laughter; subject or matter for amusement.

Research has shown health benefits of laughter ranging from strengthening the immune system to reducing food cravings to increasing one's threshold for pain. There's even an emerging therapeutic field known as humor therapy to help people heal more quickly, among other things. Humor also has several important stress relieving benefits.
Stress Management Benefits of Laughter:
Hormones: Laughter reduces the level of stress hormones like cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline), dopamine and growth hormone. It also increases the level of health-enhancing hormones like endorphins, and neurotransmitters. Laughter increases the number of antibody-producing cells and enhances the effectiveness of T cells. All this means a stronger immune system, as well as fewer physical effects of stress.
Physical Release: Have you ever felt like you "have to laugh or I'll cry"? Have you experienced the cleansed feeling after a good laugh? Laughter provides a physical and emotional release.
Internal Workout: A good belly laugh exercises the diaphragm, contracts the abs and even works out the shoulders, leaving muscles more relaxed afterward. It even provides a good workout for the heart.
Distraction: Laughter brings the focus away from anger, guilt, stress and negative emotions in a more beneficial way than other mere distractions.
Perspective: Studies show that our response to stressful events can be altered by whether we view something as a 'threat' or a 'challenge'. Humor can give us a more lighthearted perspective and help us view events as 'challenges', thereby making them less threatening and more positive.
Social Benefits of Laughter: Laughter connects us with others. Also, laughter is contagious, so if you bring more laughter into your life, you can most likely help others around you to laugh more.

SO... in following my blog theme of laughter, I invite you to view the following video clip on Jib Jab .

In fact, enjoy the entire website, it is a hoot!

Why??

Have you ever looked at something at just asked Why?? I have run across some pictures that just makes me wonder. Here they are..

I am a big proponent of expressing ones indivduality, but this looks painful. It is just wrong..

And is this guy coming or going???

I have had hundreds of people tell me that they are afraid of needles, apparantly this guy isnt.. I wonder if he would pass out when getting an IV??

Is this freedom of expression???

I think I will just take my un-tattooed, pierced only on the earlobe self and be thankful! peace, y'all

You think you are having a bad day??

Maybe something to put a smile on your face.. An internet story.


Just another note from your bottom-dwelling brother.

Last week I had a bad day at the office.
I know you've been feeling down lately at work, so thought I would share my dilemma with you to make you realize it's not so bad after all.

Before I can tell you what happened to me, I first must bore you with a few technicalities of my job. As you know, my office lies at the bottom of the sea. I wear a suit to the office. It's a wet suit. This time of year the water is quite cool.

So what we do to keep warm is this: We have a diesel powered industrial water heater. This 20,000# piece of equipment sucks the water out of the sea. It heats it to a delightful temperature. It then pumps it down to the diver through a hose, like a garden hose, which is taped to the air hose.

Now this sounds like a darn good plan, and I've used it several times with no complaints.

What I do, when I get to the bottom and start working, is take the hose and stuff it down the back of my wet suit. This floods my whole suit with warm water. It's like working in a Jacuzzi. Everything was going well until all of sudden, my butt started to itch. So, of course, I scratched it. This only made things worse.

Within a few seconds my butt started to burn. I pulled the hose out from my back, but the damage was done.

In agony I realized what had happened. The hot water machine had sucked up a jellyfish and pumped it into my suit. Now, since I don't have any hair on my back, the jellyfish couldn't stick to it. However, the crack of my ass was not as fortunate.

When I scratched what I thought was an itch, I was actually grinding the jellyfish into the crack of my ass!

I informed the dive supervisor of my dilemma over the communicator. His instructions were unclear due to the fact that he, along with five other divers, were all laughing hysterically. Needless to say I aborted the dive.

I was instructed to make three agonizing in-water decompression stops totalling thirty-five minutes before I could reach the surface to begin my chamber dry decompression.

When I arrived at the surface, I was wearing nothing but my brass helmet. As I climbed out of the water, the medic, with tears of laughter running down his face, handed me a tube of cream and told me to rub it on my ass as soon as I got in the chamber. The cream put the fire out, but I couldn't poop for two days because my asshole was swollen shut!!

So, next time you're having a bad day at work, think about how much worse it would be if you had a jellyfish shoved up your backside.

Now repeat to yourself, "I love my job, I love my job, I love my job."

I love my job... I love my job... I love my job... LOLOLOL

Our very own Lifeguard!!

Breanna has been having a ball at the pool this summer. Surprisingly enough they have had several rescues, she has had 3 or more of her own. We are very proud of her!

I want to take this opportunity to introduce to you our lifeguard modeling her new lifeguard apparal! This is her new sweatshirt, the lightning bolt is paying homage to the lightening gods. Lightening= closing the pool and going home early!

Trinity is Breannas nickname..

Last but not least, please keep one of our Air Force families in your prayers, they are going through some life changing events and need our good thoughts. So for Hallie, John, CJ, and Conner we are here for you and pray for you at this time...

Now on to one more thing, the following is a clip of a cadet from the US Air Force academy playing Wheel of Fortune.... yes folks this is your tax money (and the USAF) at its best...... dont forget to turn off my music player first! Did she really choose the letter "K"????






She is enjoying her summer!!

Internet Relationships... Real or imaginary??

Can you make true friends, or meet lovers who will end up in a relationship online? I am a tiny bit experienced in this topic. I met my husband online. :-) We met way back in the 90's when it wasnt the "thing" to do, and neither one of us was looking for a mate, it just worked out that way. (And I am glad it did).

How serious can "internet friendships" be? I have a group of close friends online that are like members of my family. My WW girls and I have known each other for almost 4 years now. Some of us have met in person, and some of us plan to meet up in Chicago when Breanna has her PIR from the Navy. What an awesome group of girls. We started out supporting each other in our journey to lose weight on Weight Watchers, but it has evolved into so much more.

We have been there for each other through surgeries, cancer, weddings, relationship ups and downs, sick children, moves across the country, you name it we are there for each other. I am so blessed to know these ladies..

SO.. are internet relationships real? My answer YES!

This is my shout out to Linda, MJ, Sandi, Necia, KJ, Gina, Chrissie, Chris, Lalonnie, Shannon, Pat, Amy, Viv and Tina!! I Love you guys!!!!

The Warm Fuzzies... Christians story

This story is about Christian the Lion. It was sent to me by Frankies breeder in an email. My heart is in my throat right now. Here is Christians Story. Please turn off my music player before watching the video. And now on to Christians story.

I’ll bet you’ve never seen a pet like the one in this Video of the Day. In 1969, two friends, John Rendall and Ace Berg, purchased a lion. At the time, Christian the lion was a 35-pound cub. He had been born in a zoo. The friends raised Christian in their London home. All three hung out in a friend’s furniture shop on the weekends.
Within a year, Christian had grown to 185 lbs. Rendall and Berg realized they couldn’t keep him much longer. But they didn’t know what to do with him. A chance encounter changed that. Two actors from the film Born Free walked into the furniture store.
The actors recommended a conservationist, George Adamson, living in Kenya. Christian was soon in Africa. There he was rehabilitated and released into the wild.
In 1974, Rendall and Berg decided to visit Christian one last time. He was now a wild animal. Adamson told them it was doubtful that Christian could be found. No one had seen him in nine months.
The two flew to Kenya, anyway. On the day they landed, Christian appeared outside Adamson’s camp. Somehow, he knew. He waited outside the camp until Rendall and Berg arrived.
This video was taken during their reunion with Christian. What a story! What a video!

Beach Envy!

My niece, her husband and baby are in Hawaii as we speak. I am anxiously awaiting some cool beach pictures from her on her blog so I can live vicariously.

We have a tropical paradise too, but we arent going to visit this year. We are too far away, and have had to spend $$ on car repairs (remember when the asshole hit my BRAND new Escape and then drove away), car tags and other unexpected expenses that have been sucking at our bank account for the last 3 months.

Anyway, I digress. Our personal paradise is our Condo in Ocean City MD. It is a time share that we have owned for about 6 years. We have a set time condo (same unit, same time every year) and have missed visiting only twice in the last 6 years. Once wasnt actually a miss, but he had to evacuate due to a rapidly approaching category 5 hurricane. (Hello Isabel!!)

Anyway, this year my sister, BIL, neice and her baby are going to use our condo. At least someone gets to use it!

Here are some pics:

This is the view from our balcony, we are whats considered "canal front" which is actually on the bay

This is the beach and Ocean City, our time is in mid September after all kiddos have gone back to school, it is heavenly

And last but not least, the boardwalk... The OC boardwalk has just been voted #5 in all of the boardwalks in the US.

And the boardwalk at Rehoboth beach, (down the road)

There you have it, our little piece of paradise. I hope you enjoyed!

Dogs dont care if you're ugly..

Short blog today, here is something to put a smile on your face. ... I am a dog lover, through and through. My dogs give me great joy. For all of you dog lovers out there... this video is for you! Dont forget to turn my playlist player off before watching!

Skywatch Friday, late entry.

I took this picture while standing in the side yard of our home in PA.

Rainbows hold a special meaning for me, as basset hound rescuers, our family believes in the "Rainbow Bridge".

Simply put, we believe that when one of our beloved 4 leggers pass away, they go to one side of the rainbow bridge, where they will wait, free from pain, aging and illness, until we pass on, at which time they will meet us and we will walk across the bridge together.

So, this picture reminds me that our Harley and Reggie are both at the bridge, running free, waiting for our arrival. We miss you boys...

One of my favorite websites

I am feeling pretty lazy today, when it comes to posting to my blog. We are still sitting here watching the mountain burn.... I fear that the fire is getting bigger, the BLM is not the brightest bulb in the lamp when it comes to managing forest fires, so who knows when they will get it out.

I have decided to share one of my favorite websites with you guys, it is called I Has a hot dog and it is full of cute dog pics. here are a few. Cute doxies, huh?

FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!

Or maybe I should say, FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN!! These pictures are of a wildfire that originated as a published burn on the mountains at the eastern end of our valley. It started out small, then got bigger.

Word has it that the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) who owns a lot of the land around here, started a burn in order to get rid of some dry brush in the watershed area. The fire got out of control.

I was originally going to use these pictures as skywatch Friday photos, but I am thinking I might end up with more later in the week, so here they are. It should make for a light show after dark too...

By the way, my new header pic at the top of the blog is of McDonald Lake at sunset. Located in Glacier National Park, MT. Looks like heaven on earth doesnt it? I was born in Kalispell, MT just a stones throw from Glacier. It is a gorgeous paradise.

If I Had My Life To Live Over..

One of my favorites from Erma Bombeck.

In memory of Erma Bombeck who lost her fight with cancer(written after she found out she was dying from cancer.)

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER....
I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."

There would have been more "I love you's," and more "I'm sorry's."

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it ... live it ..and never give it back. Stop Sweating the small stuff.

Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what. Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.

Let's think about what God HAS blessed us with. And what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally, as we only get one shot at this and then it's gone. I hope you all have a blessed day.

Thank you Erma, carpe diem y'all.

Slacker Alert!!

I am alive folks, really I am! I have been running in circles over the last 4 days just trying not to fall down. LOL

Work was busy, on Wednesday and thursday night was atrocious. I didnt get to pee until 5:00am. Is that too much information? LOLOL We were all dragging butt by morning. Friday night wasnt as bad, we only had one firework related injury, a guy got shot in the eye by a roman candle. He was injured but it didnt take his eye. He had facial burns and some 1st degree burns on his globe. ouch!

We didnt even have obnoxious drunks! the bars were closed so I guess everyone partied at home. The drunks we did have were nice and funny, thats a change.

Bre and her friend Kaylynn came over after work, (and after watching the city firework display) and shot off their fireworks in the street next to the ER. Our security guard had a ball watching them, and since he provided the lighter he felt part of the party. Yes, these 2 non smoking girls didnt even have a source of fire to light their FIREworks... LOLOLOL

They had fun, we all came to the door and saw their "grand finale"!

I am glad the 4th is over, our dogs fared pretty well. I dont think either of them knew it was a holiday, so they must have slept through everything.

And so readers, the summer is half over! can you believe it?? Our school here starts August 20, (in 6 weeks) so its ON TO LABOR DAY!!! WOO HOO!!!!

Oh one more thing... a true advantage of joining the Navy... Ladies and Gentlemen, The US NAVY SEALS!!

Happy 4th of July! Am I missing something???

For as far back as I can remember, 4th of July has been my least favorite holiday. Maybe Its because I was raised in an area that didnt often promote the use of fireworks, (high desert, usually super dry conditions by the time the 4th of July came around) and so we didnt usually buy them to shoot off.

Or maybe because my ex was a maniac when it came to fireworks. He thought the bigger the better and has blown limbs off of trees, set buildings on fire, nearly blown of fingers, terrified our animals and been in contact with law enforcement over his use of fireworks more times than I can count..

In the last 15 years, this day has become just another nightmare to work. And believe me, it IS a nightmare.

I know I must be missing out on something. I just took Breanna to work and there were countless cars full of people driving way too fast, people packed into the back of pickup trucks waving beer cans around, flipping other people off, yelling, screaming, etc..

What am I missing out on? A celebration of our nations freedom or an excuse to get shitfaced and act like a fool? Sometimes it just makes me go hmmmmmm.....

I would like to salute our soldiers all over the world, who are not able to spend this holiday with their families, those soldiers who are fighting to allow us to remain free, and to have the ability to celebrate this holiday. May God bless them all.

I am so lucky!

I dont know if I have said this enough lately. I am so proud and so lucky to have Breanna as my daughter. We have been through a lot together, and she has always been a rock. She shared the heartache and fear and everything that went with our divorce from her dad with me, and it only made her stronger. Sometimes when I thought I would crumble, she was there to pick me back up.

She worked harder than anyone I know to get into the Air Force and then worked as hard as she could to stay there.

She came home, got a job and is now working hard to get into the Navy. She works sometimes 7 days a week watching other people having fun, in the heat and the sun, performing a thankless job, comes home exhausted and goes right back to do it again the next day.

As she was growing up, we have never had to worry about her getting into trouble or having "undesirable friends" or going places she wasnt supposed to go. God blessed me with a child that I could handle, in spite of her strong will.

Breanna has created a new blog, called In My Eyes . Please go visit and leave her a comment. I think you will like what you see!

I salute you, my daughter, my hero! You never cease to amaze me!