Mar 9, 2012
A neat little trick I’ve picked up from other blogs is, when you don’t have much to say, say EVERYTHING. These posts come in the forms of Stream of Consciousness, ABC Characteristics, musings on other people’s writings, and linking up to other blogs to share their topic.
I was inspired by several blogs recently to list 25 fun facts about myself, which you may or may not already know. And since I’ve got a lot on my plate today and don’t have a lot of time to concentrate on a deep, thoughtful, inspired post… you get this instead! Lucky you!
Ready? Here’s the Real Me:
1. I eat peanut-butter-and-pickle sandwiches, and on toast.
2. I love popcorn. I eat it atleast 3 times a week, and for months on end can eat it every day.
3. I’ve only been without a cat for the first seven years of my life, and a short five years when my daughter was first born.
4. My favorite TV shows are “Flashpoint”, “West Wing”, “NCIS” and “Riptide”. From the 80’s. Don’t ask me why. I just love it.
5. I’m a great writer, but I often stumble, stutter, or just talk like an idiot when I open my mouth.
6. When Dot was young, I had her convinced that I had married the Harrison Ford when she was away on a vacation. It helped that an old friend actually had seen him around town, which made my story more plausible.
7. When I get really sick, I absolutely crave mashed potatoes and gravy from KFC.
8. Before I get really sick, I get really emotional.
9. In high school, I really wanted to marry into the Italian Mafia.
10. I have a really hard time keeping houseplants alive. Except cactus. But that’s ‘cuz those are my daughter’s and she cares for them.
11. My favorite color to look at is green.
12. My favorite color to wear is red.
13. I’ve never baked a cake in my life. Cookies, yes. Cupcakes, yes. Treats, candies, chocolates: yes, yes, and yes. But never a cake.
14. I have a poor memory. So much so that I should make notes of things like “Buy milk” and “Brother’s in a meeting today, don’t call.”
15. As much as I love writing, I don’t make memos. So I forget to buy milk, and I often interrupt my brother at work.
16. I never liked dolls.
17. I love stuffed animals. In particular, cats, frogs, bears, otters, and Eeyore.
18. I was published in Highlights Magazine in sixth grade.
19. I like writing and speaking in “Old English” and with great introductions.
20. I buy a lottery ticket every week.
21. If you hold a book up to a mirror, I can read it with little difficulty.
22. I can write backwards – from right to left.
23. I’ve met several famous people just by being in the right place at the right time. I once literally ran into Andre Rieu in Las Vegas, but didn’t know who he was until I saw his televised PBS special a year later. I felt like an idiot for complaining about “that man with the long hair”.
24. I have really good karma/luck most of the time. I win things a lot. Except the lottery. So far.
25. I’ve been in 10 car accidents (never my fault!), and also hit once as a pedestrian while walking home from high school.
And that is my useless list of 25 Friday Fun Facts. How about you?
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Mar 8, 2012
I went job hunting last Thursday and Friday. Usually I only manage to go out once a week, if at that, but I always check online everywhere: Craigslist, classified ads/Monster, county, court, company website… that list goes on and on.
I was taken aback last week when I found not one, not two, but three advertised job openings. Around here, nobody advertises because there’s so many people looking for work that their office would get inundated. Our unemployment level is one of the highest in the nation. So seeing three jobs advertised for applications, that says a lot. That tells me that the economy is getting better. That people aren’t afraid of putting money into ads or time into interviews.
The really exciting turn of events came when I applied for an office position at one of the local hospitals. Turns out I’m qualified for three, possibly four, positions that are currently open! How exciting is that?! And when I asked for other leads, they referred me to the employment service they sometimes use.
So I went to the staffing agency and dropped a resume there as well. Guess what: they loved my resume and will contact me this coming week. Looks like they might have an opportunity or two for me.
That makes me happy. I rediscovered that I actually having a day-work routine. I like getting up, in the shower, and dressed up before I drive Dot to school, instead of just tumbling into jeans and a sweatshirt. I like wearing nice clothes and meeting people and just getting out.
Don’t get me wrong, I have plenty at home to keep me busy. But I also have distractions. I’m looking forward to a paycheck while waiting for New Inklings Press to start paying off.
In the meantime, I’m still doing menu planning which is really turning into a fun thing. I’m working on freelance projects as well as the next book for my company. I’m taking care of those once-a-year cleaning matters. And I love having extra time with Dot.
I know there’s been a reason for me to be unemployed this long; and I really believe it was so I could get all my ducks in a row with regards to my writing career: what to write, how to write, how to schedule, set up my tiny office-in-a-box, and start my company.
But now that those are done, I’ve no doubt that God will now provide the income we so desperately need. And how amazing is it that after eight months of no offers whatsoever, there are six or more opportunities in the last three days. That says it all.
In the words of my favorite Pastor, “It’s time to work.” And I wholeheartedly agree.
Colossians 3:23, 24 [NIV] “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Mar 7, 2012
Around the blogosphere orbits Wordless Wednesdays: promoting the picture without the thousand words. Well, I’m a writer, not a photographer, so that’s sort of out of the question for me. Let alone, I just really like explaining details of things.
So here’s my semi-wordless contribution of the things that have made me smile recently:
1. This gorgeous photo of Lizzie Cat. In full screen, it’s absolutely stunning. This sized-down version doesn’t begin to show how cuddly and affectionate she is with me.
2. My attempt at making ganache. So I didn’t get the measurements of cream to cocoa just right, and it didn’t set properly. But the flavors… ohmagosh, the flavors! Can’t wait to try it again soon.
3. My post, Davy Jones is Dead, was featured on BlogHer.com. The death of Davy brought back so many wonderful memories and conversations with old friends that it’s a bittersweet experience. 
4. My Meal Memo in a Jar post has been a great way of planning meals this month. It’s taken a lot of stress off us, and added fun to our eating endeavors. 
5. The first meal we made as a result of the Meal Memo Jar.
6. Grape Hyacinth that mysteriously appeared in my front yard. Last week I saw a few grassy patches. Three days ago I saw the first bloom. Today, there are patches and blooms abundant, so beautiful to look at!
7. Spring has started! Look at the tiny leaf buds on my Fruitless Mulberry tree. They sprouted overnight, and I can’t wait to see them bloom into vibrant green leaves!
There have been so many more great moments but I don’t have photos, just memories. My best ones are when Julie called me last night just to tell me her husband asked the family to join hands and pray for me and Dot and for me to get a job. We pray for each other’s families daily; but for her to make a special call just to let me know… it was really touching.
Morning coffee at Mom’s has become a staple, and that is one thing I will really deeply miss when I start working again. My mom is my other best friend.
I loved Andrea’s email this morning to let me know she was having trouble commenting on my blog. I love her daily blogs (Quiet MOM-ents and (MOM-enclature). If she lived down the street, I just know we’d be true friends in real life.
These are but a few of my favorite moments of late. What’s yours?
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Mar 6, 2012
Rush Limbaugh is in a world of hurt right now based on slanderous, base comments he made and then refused to apologize for until his radio talk show sponsors began to drop their support. And I’m glad.
And I’m furious.
I’m a Conservative Christian Woman, and I’m getting a bad rap all around. First of all, for anyone in government who really cares to listen, then listen to this:
STOP FLIPPING THE COIN: You want a separation of Church and State? Then stop mandating what religious organizations can and cannot do. If a secular person gets a job at a religious organization, that person SHOULD NOT request the organization to change it’s belief. But since the squeaky wheel gets the grease, I guess that’s exactly what you’re after. Little by little, your “separation of Church and State” is being hacked away. Or built up. Depending on what this week’s political agenda is.
EMPLOYEES/STUDENTS: Just as employers are banned from discriminating against employees, said employees should not look for ways to interfere with the daily duties of the employer. If a pro-choice woman wants to have sex before marriage, and that is in direct conflict with the character beliefs of a religious organization, why, oh why! would she apply to work or attend classes or otherwise be publicly involved there? If you don’t like certain standards, why put yourself in a position where you’d have to adhere to them? Don’t tell me you want to study or work for such a great group that has ethics and morals and a “safe environment” if you’re only there for a paycheck. Just don’t. Either believe in the organization enough to support them while you’re there, or go somewhere else.
I’m a Conservative Christian Woman. I would never ever expect my Church to compromise our mission statement or beliefs by freely offering contraceptives to its employees. And I would be disappointed if the staff asked for it.
If you are taking such a stance as working at a Church which inherently is pro-marriage, and then you demand health coverage for sex-related conduct, there’s a dichotomy there that’s hard to reconcile. Rather, wouldn’t it be less expensive and less stressful for you to find work elsewhere?
Now that’s my opinion: you want contraceptive health coverage, find a job that offers it. But don’t demand that the government force it through religious institutions.
I respect Sandra Fluke. I may not agree with her beliefs. We have a difference of opinion. But that does not make her a slut or a prostitute. That just makes us two individual women navigating our way through America today. She presented herself in a much more professional manner than Rush did.
And Rush… you are so out of line. I know what my choice is. I know what I believe and what I teach my daughter. But calling another woman names for speaking up for her beliefs… what you did, makes real Christian Conservatives look bad.
You do not speak for this Conservative Christian Female. Because if you did, you would speak softly, with love and patience and a sense of compassion. Instead, you have labelled all of us as arrogant, unmoving, unsympathetic left-wing Bible thumping intolerants.
What you did, was to draw national attention to a matter that is far less significant than our economy, the battles of Syria, the cold winters in Russia where people are drinking so much just to stay warm that they’re actually dying!, and honest-to-goodness real oppression of females and Christians worldwide.
Because you’re a big shot “conservative” on the radio and people listen to you, you think you are immune. You think everyone else is wrong and you are right.
You are the pot-stirrer, Rush. You are the one making headlines today, not Sandra. To single her out as your decrepit example is disgusting and cruel.
You are the reason that people shy away from me and my real Conservative beliefs.
You owe an apology to me, my daughter, my mother, Sandra Fluke, and every other woman and man who is just trying to get through life without intentionally causing conflict.
You didn’t even care to apologize until you started to lose financial support. You dug in your heels and refused to even consider that you crossed a line. But once your bills weren’t gonna get paid, you changed your convictions.
And so I ask you: Who’s really the whore?
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Mar 5, 2012
Just a side note posting, but does anyone else feel the same way?
It seems that last week was just crazy. Personally, I was busier that usual with the extra job searching (NOT complaining, just crossing fingers and praying!); we had seriously bitter cold winds for days; and all the tragic news that kept me glued to the television: TJ Lane, the constant tornadoes and heavy storms, and the death of Davy Jones. There were very few moments when I wasn’t watching news or The Weather Channel.
And to top it off, there’s a stray cat that loves to come around. At night. And instigate some window lashing from our Sparkles cat who has personally appointed herself to be our Sentry. If it wasn’t so consistent and sleep-depriving, it’d be adorable the way she softly cries then growls then tries to crash through the window in her efforts to ward off the outsider. If it wasn’t so consistent and sleep-depriving.
The Meal Memo is really working out; we’re eating better, and having more fun doing it! And scheduling the meal has worked out great so far, allowing us more time to just be together as a family.
So while the world is in upheaval, my home life is stabilizing.
But still… I’m glad last week is over.
Mostly because it means a new one is beginning, and so far, it’s a blank slate.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
