Life is Not a Test

Your Saturday Scavenger Shots have arrived!  In that it is Saturday, and I have scavenged up a shot or two or three to post up this morning.  Thank you  AlienCG @ Swamp Gas & Moonlit Reflections for choosing this week's word - HURDLE.  Let's see how this goes...

I have to say that the most difficult moments of the day usually happen to me in the parking lot as I approach the building to begin work.  As I walk away from my car and towards the library, that is when the little voice in my head will say to me - I just can't do it today.  I can't.  But as I walk in the door and head down the long back hallway I feel myself jumping the HURDLE from 'I can't' to 'Of course I will'...and my day begins.

As we hurtle towards summer and our Summer Reading Program, there are many HURDLEs to leap.  It requires a lot of preparation and a lot of organization.  This year feels a little disjointed, as we are moving forward for a least another month with no Department Head.  We are all taking care of the things we normally take care of, but there seems to be a feeling of unease, as though there is no connecting line between us.  This is a photo of all the projects we have going on in the back room.  It is a HURDLE we will pass over eventually and SRP will be happening one way or another :-)

For me and DR this last year has been one big HURDLE.  But we are doing the best we can, he's still the one, and within the next couple of months we may be past what I hope is one of the biggest HURDLEs in our life together.

Thanks for looking at some of my HURDLEs.  I'd like to see yours as well, so post away!  And watch for who AlienCG tags for next week.  Thx!

Feeling Nostalgic

I haven't had a Blogthings quiz on here in forever and I was feeling nostalgic today.  So...

You Are a Blue M&M

You are an affable and likable person. You are a natural people-pleaser. You change your mind constantly. Everything ends up sounding good to you. You like to keep your options open, but your mind isn't muddled. You're a very clear thinker. You love people, and you're an optimist about everyone you meet. Friendship is important to you.

What Color M&M Are You?

Blogthings: Free Quizzes for Everyone

See the Brand New Day

It.  Is.  Choose and Defend.  Wednesday!  Welcome to you and welcome to what may actually be spring weather, at last.  Spring means different things to different people, so of course I wanted to find out what it means to YOU.  What is your favorite spring activity? 

Gardening

OR

Spring Cleaning

Don't forget that either of these activities can be as widely interpreted as you want.   (Extra flowers around the apartment might equal gardening!  Mental and emotional clean ups could be your spring cleaning...)  So, tell me....what is YOUR spring activity!  Choose and Defend!

Easter Beasts

This is a picture of most of us together on Easter.  I'm not sure why it was taken from so far back...maybe that is for the best :-)   Kick Back Dude is doing a weird Dr. Evil thing,  Little Prince is kind of hidden, and Social Animal is standing on a rock or something to be the tallest brother.  It was a fun day, though.   As I've mentioned many times, it can be very hard to get most of us in one place at one time, so I am always pleased when it works out.  My dad and stepmom hosted an Easter lunch, plus an egg hunt for the little ones.   We are secular people, so this holiday is pretty much an excuse to have a nice meal together.

The high points of the day were probably the drive up and back, because car talk is fun.  Also, of course, watching the grands hunt their plastic eggs.  So cute :-)

The low point of the day was when my dad cried showing us where he recently buried their beloved cat Muffy.  They had her for 19 years.  I've never seen he and his wife as upset over anything.  However, it was somehow reassuring to know they are capable of deep feeling. 

The kids would say another low point was the video from my aunt's 80th birthday that they showed.  I thought it was kind of cute though. 

I am looking at my schedule for this week and it is looking weird.  Next week, I am scheduled for jury duty.  The last two times I've been scheduled I never even had to go in.  Fingers crossed that my luck holds! 

Hope you all had a good Easter, if you celebrate or just a good weekend in any event.  How is your week looking?  Weird?  Or is that just me? 

This Musical Message is For Holding On to What I Haven't Got

And There's No Reply At All

Normally, today would be a day to post Saturday Scavenger Shots.  Since we received no word from Headquarters, there will be none of that today.  As revenge, I am posting the following shot:

 The Laundry Room

That's right...the laundry room of my apartment building.  THAT is what you get to look at when you don't give me a theme.  Next time, who knows what awfulness I will post up.  Beware.

Hey!  Hope you are having a great weekend so far!  I'm looking forward to celebrating Easter with my whole family tomorrow.  

Choose and Defend, if you haven't yet...and have yourself a merry little Easter.  xx

EDIT:  Please note that AlienCG has chosen the word HURDLE for next week.  Thanks Alien!

Is It Cool to Go to Sleep On the Floor?

It is Wednesday, which means it is your chance to Choose and Defend.  This week, it is all about being stuck...as Tom Petty would say, "The waiting is the hardest part."  He may be right.  So here are this week's choices -

Would you rather be trapped for five hours:

In an Elevator

OR

On Top of a Ferris Wheel

Okay, I understand that your impulse is to say - Neither, thank you.  But what if that isn't one of your choices?  What if it is one or the other?  And since this is Choose and Defend, of course it is one or the other!  So let's hear it.  Choose and Defend!

Movie Hat Trick

Hey all.  I haven't seen so many movies lately, but this weekend I somehow managed to see three!  You know I am not a movie reviewer, so I will just tell you what I saw.  Because I'm pretty sure you want this information.

Friday afternoon, Handsome Lad and I saw Scream 4 (or written more stylishly Scre4m).  I am not a big fan of horror or scary movies in general.   But I've seen all the Screams and this was right up there with the first one.  It was good and I liked seeing the three survivors from the first Screams doing their things.  So, thumbs (not severed!) up!

Sunday afternoon, Girlie Girl, Handsome Lad and I went and saw Arthur.  The new one with Russell Brand, obvs.  I know it hasn't been too well received.  Maybe particularly by those who remember the original version with Dudley Moore.  While I did see that movie, back in the day, it has been years since I saw it.  Frankly, I just don't remember it that well.  So going in to this one, I wasn't comparing it to anything else.  I thought it was quite sweet and funny.  Also, there really is something charming about Russell Brand.   Two snaps and a twist!

Sunday evening, DR and I had another long distance movie date.  Neither one of us had seen Scott Pilgrim vs the World, so he got a copy at his nearby Blockbuster Box and I got a copy at my nearest Redbox and we watched it together, sort of.  Handsome Lad watched it also.  I liked it...thought it was very clever and fun.  I like the name Sex Bob Om for a band...and the name Knives Chao for a girl :-)  Awarded an additional life!

So, there you go.  Made good use of my weekend.  Hope you did too!!! 

This Musical Message is For Lonely Times Indeed

I Rehearsed Excuses Late Last Week

It is Saturday and that means it is time for Saturday Scavenger Shots.  This week NoRegrets @ Woman With No Regrets chose the word PROCRASTINATION.  She does like to challenge us!  I honestly, once again, did not know what to put up.  So of course, I put off choosing something...uh, yeah, PROCRASTINATION in action!

I apologize.  I know you have seen enough photos of my wacky desk.  I just thought this would be the most concise way of showing you my methods of PROCRASTINATION.   The internet, reading, coffee, stuff around me just waiting for attention.  My phone woulda been in the photo too, but she was busy taking the photo!

Well.  I hope you all get through the rest of today without too much PROCRASTINATION.  However, since it is Saturday, it is actually a very good day to partake of some PROCRASTINATION.  So go ahead and enjoy!  Thanks for stopping in to waste some time with me :-)

Friday 5 - Unwanted Attention

Hey!  How about a little Unwanted Attention on this gorgeous Friday?  Here is this week's Friday 5 meme.  Do play along in comments or on your blog if you feel inclined.  Now...let's see...

1. Among people you know, who seems to be most attractive to mosquitoes?  Probably me.  Mosquitoes love me.  Which, yeah, is not that flattering.

2. Among people you know, who seems to be most attractive to illness-causing viruses and bacteria?  Princess Diva, the babies' mama, seems to get hit hard by anything going around.  Also, one of my coworkers, ironically a germaphobe, seems very prone to illness.  (Which came first there?  A rather chicken or egg situation, right?)

3. Among people you know, who seems to be most attractive to rip-off artists?  My sister, for sure.  She gets involved with pyramid schemes over and over again, wanting so badly to find that independent wealth. 

4. In what way were you recently the object of unwanted attention?  I thought and thought about this!  I'm sure I've probably done something recently to humiliate myself and invite unwanted attention, but I honestly can't think of anything right now.  If it were mosquito season, I could go with that...  Since I'm feeling a bit needy, I keep thinking I would appreciate ANY attention, but of course that is NOT true. Weirdo.

5. When you go out with friends, which of you is most likely to be flirted with?  haha!  Well, this one is easy...whoever I am with is much more likely to be flirted with.  I am the awkward sidekick friend or whatever, smiling uneasily at the ground while the flirtation is going on :-)  Weirdo.


Thanks for visiting with me...your attention is valued!  Please go one post down and play Choose and Defend, if you haven't yet.  Seeing your answers is always one of the highlights of my week.  Tomorrow, I will see what I can do for Saturday Scavenger Shots and PROCRASTINATION.  :-)

Have a great weekend.  xx

Getting By

Whew!  It has been a crazy day here at the dude ranch.  By dude ranch I mean library.  Which is nothing like a dude ranch...not even that many dudes around. Okay.  Moving on.  Choose and Defend Wednesday!  I wasn't too sure what to ask for today, but I came across this one and thought it sounded pretty challenging. 

Would you rather...

Be Able to Hear Any Conversation

OR

Be Able to Take Back Anything You Said

Which?  Which?  Choose!  Then tell us why you made that choice.  Defend!  Don't be afraid to get tough.  We can take it.  We're cowboys after all.  Or wait, no....this is NOT a dude ranch...

Choose and Defend :-)

Tuesday Tidbits

I don't know what to talk about today...a few little things come to mind, so I will just do a listy-list, yo.

- Had a four day weekend recently...last Thursday - Sunday.  It was nice to have the time off, but I scheduled it around my kids' week off from school for Spring break.  I guess I still imagine they are small and are going to hang out with me while they're not at school.  Girlie Girl is 18, so is sleeping  or out.  And Handsome Lad is apparently "just not that into me" at the moment.  He was at his uncle's on Thursday and Friday.  I did take him to his 5K on Saturday, but Sunday he was off doing something.  I know it is somewhat normal, but I also see from other people's blogs that their teenage children are a lot more into spending time together.  Makes me feel bad about myself when my kids don't...makes me wonder what I've done wrong. 

- On the good news side, I feel like I am getting a lot of positive recognition at work...mostly due to the fact that I am pretty accommodating and yeah, after nine years I have the job pretty wired.  I also sometimes get snarky in my own mind and think, "fewer cake parties, more money, please"...but that is NOT going to happen  in the foreseeable future.

- In other work related news, sort of, lately I have been noticing that when I look in the mirrors in the restrooms here at work I look sort of sickly and grey.  It was making me feel sort of sickly and grey.  Then last night I had an epiphany when I looked in the mirror at home and saw that I looked perfectly normal.  It somehow hadn't occured to me that it could just be really bad lighting.  I don't look at myself that much and haven't really learned how to figure out just what I'm seeing.  But anyway, I am going to take the work mirrors with a grain of salt...or something like that.

- I have a countdown clock on my iGoogle homepage for The Return of DR.  Today it is at 42 days.  I know he won't be back in 42 days, but I am keeping the clock as it is anyway, so I can see when that year officially ends.  I know he wants to come back and right now my mind still believes that he will come back.  But it is for sure not going to be in six weeks.  Frankly, I couldn't hazard a guess.   Right now, it doesn't affect how I feel for him or us.  And maybe it won't need to.  Maybe this will be resolved and all will be well.  Right now, I just do not have a clue, aside from the fact that everything is going to take more time.  Damn. 

Aw.  laura b.'s Bummer List, sorta.  I wasn't really planning for that, but you know how these things slip out of control.  Tomorrow will be better :-\

This Musical Message is For My Heart Inside of Your Hands

I Know You're Out There

It is Saturday and I sure did have to Scavenge for these Shots!  Okay, it's a bit stretchy, but I think that is okay.  Today's word is EON and it comes to us courtesy of the divine Tara @ Eclectic Spaghetti.  Here is how I decided to play this one:

A few weeks ago, a car ran through the front window of a Baskin Robbins on a corner.  Fortunately, the store was not yet open for business.  There was so much damage that the owner knew he'd have to shut down for some time and he decided to give away all of the ice cream in the display cases.  Of course they heard about it at the high school and tons of them showed up (and missed 3rd period) to collect their glorious bounty.  Note Girlie Girl second from left.  Ice cream will not last an EON and must be eaten!  See how I did that?  Smoooove.

Here is a picture of Handsome Lad finishing the Santa Anita Derby Days 5K just this morning.  It is a fun street run and they get to do the last 200 yards or so on the horse track.  His time was 37:16, which is not even close to an EON.  Huh? Huh?  

You like that one?  

I know this doesn't seem to be much of a picture.  It is actually the night sky.  I don't have a nice camera and night skies are hard to shoot and well...this is what I got...the moon and black.  But it is more a feeling that I wanted to convey.  When I look up at the night sky it feels so infinite.  I feel like I am seeing EONs past and future out there.  Also, yeah, been taking bad pictures for an EON.  It is more or less second nature now, thank you very much.

Thank you for joining me for these Saturday Scavenger Shots.  I hope another post or two goes up...we'll see!  And we'll also see who Tara tags next :-) 

Friday 5 - A Certain Song

This comes to us from my favorite meme blog, Friday 5.

The author of that blog said:  A certain song from the 1980s has bounced around in my head all evening, so this week’s questions are all inspired by that song! Surely you can tell what it is!

Let's explore, shall we?

1. At what age did you realize you are no longer young? Alternate question: At what age do you think you will no longer be young?   The sensation or perception of being young or old is definitely not static.  Sometimes, believe it or not, I still feel young!  However, I think my first real intimation of leaving youth behind was when I had my first child at 22.  Now that seems very young to me, of course, but at the time I was only aware of being in charge of someone else, so much younger and so dependent on me for everything.
 
2. What was the longest line you ever had to stand in?  I can't pin it down in my mind to one, but I'm sure it must have been a ride at Disneyland.  Even though with some extra investment you can avoid some of the lines now, the lines are still often crazy long in amusement parks. 

3. In what way are you especially strong?  I don't generally think of myself as a particularly strong person.  I guess I mostly think that my real attempts at remaining optimistic and open are what give me the most strength in my life.

4. Who was the last person to inform you that you were wrong?  Yesterday, I posted the wrong date on something on my Facebook page.  One of my friends told me that even though the date and count were off, he still liked the song I chose.

5. When did you last have to bid someone so long?  A little less than an hour ago, I bid my daughter "so long" as she went off to babysit Love Bug and Little Prince, so that Princess Diva could go on a field trip with Miss Personality.  What a nice auntie!

I hope that some of you will play along in comments or on your blog.  Or, as always, I completely welcome random comments...Blogger takes care of the spam for me :-)

Have a wonderful weekend!  If you feel inspired, post a picture that conveys the word EON for Saturday Scavenger Shots tomorrow.  I am still thinking about it!  Also, if you haven't, go down a post and play Choose and Defend Wednesday with me.  Do it!  Um, please.  Thank you :-)  xx

Release Them So Your Eyes Can Clear

My last post had me thinking about feeling safe and reassured that things are as they should be.  That led me to today's Choose and Defend Wednesday, which is about security objects.  Many of us had one as a child.   Even many adults have some sort of security object.  I think lately, my cell phone kind of serves that purpose!  But for today, let's go more traditional.  What sort of security object did you have?

Security Blanket

OR

Stuffed Animal

If yours was not one of these, what was it? If you didn't have one, what's that all about?  I hope you'll elaborate in comments about this Choose and Defend!  And thanks for playing :-)

SSS Wooord

The word for this Saturday, chosen by Tara @ Eclectic Spaghetti is EON.  My head is spinning!

Safe Words

This was the quote of the day on my iGoogle page and reading it made me feel so reassured -

...do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.  Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.  Beyond a wholesome discipline be gentle with yourself.  You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.  - Max Ehremann (excerpt from the poem "Desiderata")   

Actually, the entire poem is quite lovely and makes me feel good, but when I read that little quote I just went YES.

This Musical Message is For the Film I've Never Made

In One Ear and Right Out the Other

Saturday and time to place photo(s) on your blog reflecting an idea chosen by a kind volunteer.  It is a game and we call is Saturday Scavenger Shots...or sometimes Saturday Scavenger Hunt.  Something like that.  Um, so this week AlienCG chose the word - DISK.  I somehow first transcribed it as DISC.  Then I decided it didn't mattter, either way, cause that's how I roll. 

I know you won't be completely shocked to learn that I didn't come up with anything terribly unusual.  Also, you will note yet again that I am a very poor photographer.  I like the think I have other skills...but they haven't yet made themselves known to me :-) 

Here's what I have -

This is a digital video DISC of "There's Something About Mary" reclining in the tray of my digital video DISC player.  I watch streaming media as well, but sometimes go for what now seems to be the old school digital video DISC.  By the way, this movie is always hilarious.  Always.

Talk about old school!  Look what I fond lingering at my desk...the now obsolete, yet once tres chic, floppy DISK.   I don't have any kind of computer now that has a place to insert a floppy DISK.  I suppose I will probably hold on to this one, just as a little souvenier of times gone by in the DISK world. 

Thanks for joining me for this look at some DISC / DISK world wonders.  Now, the Alien is entreated to tag someone for next week.  DISCuss among yourselves....