Maybe I can start again?

Hello, Blogosphere!

It has been a tremendously long time since last I posted. A million things have happened since then, perhaps the most significant being OUR WEDDING! :)

But seriously. I will make an attempt to get this up and running again.

the (now former!) Miss President :)

(maybe I should get a new name?)

George in Italy

When I worked at the bank (during what seems like a lifetime ago!) I became a really big fan of "Where's George?" a website devoted to tagging and tracking currency. I saw lots of "Georges" come through the bank and would input them into the system as I got them, often exchanging bills that I had for those so that I could send them back into circulation myself.

It's not often that you get an email that informs you of another person inputting your bill.... but I got one this weekend. Take a look and see where it's been! I must say that I'm a bit jealous of Mr. Jackson (it was a twenty, of course!)

Where did George go?

I smelled a stuffed animal in line at the bank, because that's how I roll.

So I found this over on that little cultural phenomena called Facebook and decided to post it here instead. Basically, you take the fragments that correspond with different things and piece them together to make an exceptionally random sentence.

Pick the month you were born:
January-------I kicked
February------I loved
March--------I karate chopped
April----------I licked
May----------I jumped on
June----------I smelled
July-----------I did the Macarena With
August--------I had lunch with
September----I danced with
October-------I sang to
November-----I yelled at
December-----I ran over

Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a snowman
6-------a gangster
7-------my mobile phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbour
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19------ - a smurf
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an iPod
29-------a surfer
30-------a homeless guy
31-------a llama

What is the last number of the year you were born:
1--------- In my car
2 --------- On your car
3 ----------- In a hole
4 ----------- Under your bed
5 ----------- Riding a Motorcycle
6 --------- sliding down a hill
7 --------- in an elevator
8---------- at the dinner table
9 -------- In line at the bank
0 -------- in your bathroom

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White---------because I'm cool like that
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink-----------because I'm NOT crazy.
Red-----------because the voices told me to.
Blue-----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want
Green---------because I think I need some serious help.
Purple---------because I'm AWESOME!
Gray----------because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars
Orange--------because my family thinks I'm stupid anyway.
Brown---------because I can.
Other----------because I'm a Ninja!
None----------because I can't control myself!

I smelled a stuffed animal in line at the bank, because that's how I roll.

I'd be curious to see what you get stuck with!




In other news... this is my SIX HUNDREDTH POST. Woah. I have had an awful lot of nothing to say!

Matt's class pet

Meet Horacio. He's a bearded dragon that Matt has "adopted" as his classroom pet. To be honest, I didn't think I'd like him very much, but as a girl in one of Matt's classes mentioned, "He's cuddly!" He likes warm things and will snuggle into your hand when you hold him, and is very alert. I just hope he doesn't get big and ugly like the bearded dragon I saw at the Travel Show a few weeks ago (oh - need to post about that sometime... tres fun!) He is only 21 cm right now but will probably grow to be about 24 inches or so when he's full grown. Yikes! But at least he seems friendly and very laid back... good things for a classroom pet! :)

Why is he named Horacio? Well, two reasons... Matt chose this because of both Hamlet and CSI: Miami. Horacio in CSI was named after Horacio in Hamlet, who was the first CSI! (See if you can't figure it out!) Since Matt teaches Forensic Science, he thought it was a good choice. Let's just hope that Horacio doesn't turn out to be a girl!! :) (It's to hard to tell just yet!)

I guess I'm pretty needy!

I just did one of those Internet search things where you put in your first name and the word "needs" into a Google search to see what you come up with. You're supposed to choose ten of those responses. They are especiallyamusing, given the fact that several major Hollywood players have my name!! Here we go... and with my own commentary, to boot! (oh, the procrastination!)

I need a smack daddy. (!!!)

I need to play by the rules. (And whose rules might that be?)

I need to give birth in the next week. (um.... NO??!?!? But maybe Becky does!)

I need to accept that [I've] gained what looks like some major pounds. (Ouch!)

I need a shave. (perhaps I need TO shave?)

I need to take out the trash, but doesn't know where it is. (yes, I do!)

I need 2 1/2 cups of sugar to make cookies for 15 people. (or just one fiance???)

I need a muzzle. (Maybe some of you think so!)

I need your prayers for my Dad. (This one is sad, thank God mine isn't sick!!)

I need to date men [my] age. (um... no. I'm taken, thank you very much!)

What haven't I done?

I saw this on Facebook and decided to post it here. It's a good list of "life" things and you're supposed to comment on whether or not you've done something. The things I HAVE done I'll put in BOLD. The rest.... well, they go on my list of things I'll have to try to accomplish in life! Some are really good. I've a lot of work to do! :)

1. Started your own blog (DUH!! Where are you reading this???)
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (nope... but I have been to WDW!)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables (do herbs count?)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept in an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (unfortunately I don't remember it too much - I was two!)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (indoor)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (I think so - I've read a lot of it, anyway!)
86. Visited the White House (It was closed the day I was there - a Sunday!)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury (well, I sat in the box but the case got dismissed)
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

I want them all.

Some of you may remember that three (eek!) years ago at this time my sweetheart took me to the Chocolate Show in NYC. It was an amazing and overwhelming experience of chocolatey goodness.
This past weekend, my aunt was in Manhattan and my mom went in to have some sister-time with her. They actually took my suggestion and went to the chocolate show as well! Being fellow chocoholics they too enjoyed it thoroughly.

Anyway, one of the brochures that my mom brought home was for a chocolatier in Salem, Massachusetts... so very near my old stomping grounds! Bloomsberry & Co. makes an amazingly fun array of chocolate bars - I could buy a specific one for each person on my Christmas list!

Here are a few of my favorites....





So so funny. When I am next in Massachusetts, I will most definitely be stopping by. :)
Mmmmmmm.

Miss President and the Presidental Election

Did you go out and vote today? As a President myself, I certainly hope so!

From Misc Fall 2008

My Dad found this quarter on his way to the polls today. I love his little comment!!
From his lips to God's ears, I say - even if it's a quarter at a time! :)

From Misc Fall 2008

Always interesting to go back and vote at my old elementary school. Good times!

From Misc Fall 2008

Props to Starbucks for giving out free coffee today if you voted. Awesome!

From Misc Fall 2008

Gotta love the free coffee! Wooo!

Too bad the line for the free scoop at Ben & Jerry's was so long.
I had to go to rehearsal so I didn't have time to wait. Oh well! :(

Nelson Mandela, Dali Lama, Ghandi and Me???

I just took The Political Compass Test. I did it on a curious whim. I found the results interesting.

Economic Left/Right: -4.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.46

I'm supposedly "near" the men listed above. Interesting. Comments??

Food for thought for a Tuesday

Words that are running through my head at the moment... and with which I agree. Often the people who think they are the most important really aren't, and we need to remember that!!

Many a truest word
has been spoken by the Jester
Standing against the tide
Is the noblest of gestures
It’s the little pearls of wisdom
That tumble from the light
That makes us laugh until we cry
Because we know that they are right!

"Company of Fools" from Fortune's Favour
written by Alan Doyle and Russell Crowe (Yes, that Russell Crowe! I was surprised by it when I looked it up!)

I am a tortoise?

Do you remember the story of the tortoise and the hare?

Slow and steady wins the race.

I wonder who I am. I have more behaviors like the hare... easily distracted, wanting to take a nap, impatient. But I do (eventually!) get things done, albeit often through stubbornness or with help. Does that make me more like the tortoise, then? Since things do get done slowly?

Hmmm.

Very soggy musings

I am in Florida at the moment, visiting my grandmother. This in itself is hard - to see her so frail and so unlike herself is heartbreaking, and the awful thought of "Is this the last time?" is a heavy weight. And to add to that, it hasn't stopped raining the ENTIRE time we've been here. I mean it. Tropical Storm Fay has set up residence over Florida, so there has been nothing but awful, awful weather. Soggy and gloomy and sad.

Due to all of this, I've had far more time to think than perhaps I should. I have seen happy things happening to several friends lately - not the types of things that are just magical coincidences, but rather things that have been worked on and planned for, but I just didn't know about until it has come to be. I am happy for them, of course, and celebrate with them, as it should be.

Things like this have strangely made me sad, because they are showing me that I still haven't accomplished the things I want to do (or at least try to do). Why haven't I done these things? Fear. Laziness. Fear. Tiredness. Uncertainty. Fear. I realize that I am just too afraid. Afraid of something that might be hard, or expensive. Afraid of failure. That's a big one. I'm too used to being Miss Perfect, which I am trying to escape from... with some help. But it's a very long and windy road.

Thoughts in my brain...

Tiredness, frustration, disgust, fear, anxiety, self loathing.

There is always time for shoes...

...even when you're supposed to be doing schoolwork. ;)

These are my new sandals... they are Birki's Tahiti Paisley Rose. My first pair of Birkenstocks ever. They came home with me from the Windmill in upstate New York. Yay.

Meh

I am feeling very.... Meh. And I should really go to bed. This weekend will be a busy one, and HOT and HUMID too. I'm not a fan of that. Maybe sleep will improve my mood.

Meh.

A trainwreck.... er, boatwreck.

My mom showed me this gem. Enjoy.

Previous Post....

Can you see the picture in the post below? Please let me know if you can or can't by leaving a comment. Thanks!

ROAR!!

Next year I will bite the bullet and PAY someone to do my taxes. I hate it. Who needs this extra stress? It's really frustrating to get to the end of a software program and find that even if you want to print out the dumb thing and mail it in yourself it will cost you money.

And it doesn't help that I have to write both the IRS and the state checks this year. GRUMBLE! (I mean, for a good reason, as I made more money, but still. Grr.)

I heart love chocolate

I needed some chocolate today. So I bought some on my way home from my doctor's appointment. I got this:


I'd seen this at the Chocolate Show that I went to in New York a few years go. It's a very nice chocolate that has both traditional and unusual flavors... and I love the fact that it has a love poem inside! Check it out - Chocolove!

Shopping Victory

I went to a big outlet place this weekend... yes, in the bitterest of cold!
However, there were great bargains to be found.

Pants, fully lined, made really well.
Original price $89.00 - then outlet price, then markdown to $39.95.

Cashmere sweater. Amazingly soft and very luxurious.
Original price $139.00 (I think?) - then outlet price, then markdown to $39.95.
(which on its own is an amazing, amazing steal.)

Then the MLK weekend promotion.... buy one item, get one 50% off.

...so it came to $60 for both. (plus tax)

WOO HOOOOOO!!