Tick Tock

Do you guys see my countdown clock? In about a week, DR will be back in the land of earthquakes and love :)  I'm happy,  excited, and nervous. We are planning for him to move in, which I am also happy, excited, and nervous about.

One of the first pictures I ever got of DR, from about 7 or 8 years ago!

He is planning to make the trip back by car. He and his mom will head this direction, setting out either Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning. It isn't quite clear how long the drive will take, but probably they will arrive Sunday or Monday (the 18th or 19th).  The plan is for them to come to my place for a couple of days and then go on to his sister's place and be based there during the holidays. I think that will give us a good little transition period. I admit, however, that when he brought up having his mom with us for the first couple days of our reunion, it certainly changed my mental image of that reunion! Still, it makes the most sense, and I am glad to get to meet his mom finally. After all, he has had the dubious pleasure of meeting my parents already.

Anyway, I expect to have these butterflies in my stomach for the next few days. I have some things to do to get ready for guests...and for a new roommate, so to speak. But honestly, when I try to think of what to do, my mind goes kind of blank. That's how I roll.

What are you looking forward to most this holiday season?

Revved Up Like a Deuce

After slaving away in the darkness for the past four of my work days, I was super excited to see the lights on when I came to work today. We pulled ourselves together and opened to the relieved public by noon.

In honor of this glorious day, I dedicate this week's Choose and Defend Wednesday to LIGHT!  And, you know, might as well get specific and festive too, right?  When you are out oohing and aahing at the holiday displays, which ones really light your fire?

Muli-Color Displays

OR

Single Color Displays

Multi-color is multi-color, but for Single color feel free to imagine any one color that you like! Tell us which you prefer and why. Choose and Defend! You don't have to celebrate Christmas or decorate yourself to have an opinion either...so there is no getting out of this. Choose and Defend!

Our Weather Event

abcnewsradioonline.com

It has been an odd few days.  On Wednesday night, we had what is being referred to as a "weather event". Some very high winds came through, like 80-90 mph, all during the night. I could hear the palm trees rattling, but it didn't disturb me unduly. When I got up Thursday morning, it was clear that the winds had created some major consequences. Many, many trees had been torn apart limb from limb or uprooted altogether. Transformers had been knocked out, power lines were down. The whole San Gabriel Valley was quite a mess. 

I never lost power, but all over the place schools were closed. I have had kids in school for over 20 years and we've never had school cancelled unexpectedly. We don't have snow days here! Anyway, no school for Handsome Lad. I hadn't heard anything from work, so I headed in. It took me 70 minutes to drive the 12 miles. There was so much debris in the street and most of the traffic lights were not functional. When I got to work, I found that there was no power. 

We sat around for a couple of hours, and finally the decision was made to send everyone home.  Those of us scheduled to work the next day (Friday) were told not to come in unless we were called. Keeping up on Nixle, I knew power hadn't been restored.  So...I ended up with two extra days off, paid!  Plus, of course, the weekend.  Handsome Lad and his family spent Friday night with me, as they had lost power too. Fortunately for them, theirs was restored early Saturday.  My mom had lost power too, but the property owners had a generator! She was fortunate and was able to stay home snug.

When I went in to work this morning, I knew that there was still no electricity in the library.  I was hoping they'd send us home quick. However, they were probably sick of paying us for not working. We were told if we wanted to leave, we could take vacation time, otherwise we should find some sort of little project to work on...and maybe the power would come back on at some point.  Bah.  So we worked in the cold, dark building...mostly shifting books and straightening shelves. Always stuff that needs to be done, but tedious in the dark! They did finally let us go about 4:00, when it started to be become too dark even to work near windows.  Towards the end of the day, they also brought by a HUGE generator.  So, by the time I go in at noon tomorrow, maybe we will have some sort of power.

They have told us we cannot open to the public until we are fully functional. Meaning we have to have enough to juice, not only for lights, but the servers and such must all be up and running. I hope we can return to business as usual. The old people that come every day were lingering around the door this morning, probably unsure of where they'd spend their long day. After school the kids were all around the building...because the library is where they go! I loved having extra time off, I can't deny it. But since now they are going to make us linger in the building no matter what, I really, really hope they can get us functional.

Whew.

This Musical Message is For Y'All's Baddest Behavior

I'd Rather Drive a Truck

Here we are, creeping through the week, and we've made it all the way to Wednesday! Cheers, cheers! Let's reward ourselves with a little Wednesday Choose and Defend.  Today I thought I'd ask you about your taste in landscaping. Not anything weird...actual landscaping!  So, say you had some land, and I know some of you do, and you were forced to come up with a plan...what do you prefer? Choose and Defend from these two choices...

Formal Garden

OR

Informal Garden

What do you say?  Thought I'd get this one out here before everyone forgot what flowers look like for the winter :) Can't wait to see how you Choose and Defend! Thx.

Unscheduled Sick Day

I'm not gonna lie. I've definitely felt better than I do today.  I'm not sure what has gotten to me...something stomache-y. At first I thought maybe it was some Chinese food I ate yesterday, but no one else who ate it feels bad. So I imagine it is just my body telling me to halt for a bit. I have a big problem actually recognizing that I am unwell, though. Yesterday, when this started, I was weepy and felt uneasy...as though I was somehow in the middle of a big mistake. I couldn't go to sleep, I was uncomfortable, yet somehow it never occurs to me that I might be ill.  Eventually I had my ah ha moment when I realized I wasn't in a mood, I was not well! So. Not sure what I am going to do. I am at work at the moment and am meant to be until 9 tonight. Hoping I can maybe get out of here at 7 instead. If I go right to bed, I could feel better by tomorrow.

Since I'm sitting here I thought I'd just write a little.  Here's my stuff -

On Saturday morning, one of my friends and co-workers, AG suffered a stroke.  He's a young man of just 35 or so, I believe.  He had a gastric bypass last year and lost a great deal of weight, but he is still affected with hypertension.  The doctors said he had a pulmonary embollism that moved to his left cerebellum. He seems out of immediate danger, but his right side is paralyzed and he's unable to speak. I can only imagine how frightening this is for he and his family. He has a wife and three children of about 10, 8, and 5. I am not a person who prays, but I had an appreciation for a phrase his wife used, asking people to continue "lifting AG up in prayer". I like the idea of our thoughts helping him to rise above his injury and move toward recovery. It's all very sobering and upsetting.

Here is AG receiving an award from the Arcadia PD for his part in helping to stop
a series of thefts in the library.

In less dire news, my family members have all gotten themselves relocated after WTG lost the house.  WTG himself has gotten a little mobile home and has put it into a small park very nearby.  It is not quite habitable yet, but hopefully by tomorrow? He's been staying with his mom (except for one night with me, which was not all that comfortable for me).  The grown up boys he had living with him are situated. Although Kick Back Dude and Princess Diva are no longer a couple, he has had to move back in to their family home. They will just have to work it out for awhile, while she finishes school. When they are both working, perhaps they can afford two places.  Secret Agent Man got a 2 bedroom apartment with a friend just a street over from me and Social Animal got a little studio on his own just a few blocks away.  I feel, in truth, a lot of relief that those little birds were put in a position that made it unquestionably time to leave the nest. It was time.  Me and Girlie Girl are sitting tight, with Handsome Lad expected to continue roaming back and forth between mine and WTG's places.  So, all should be well.

Here are mah behbehs running around after their Thanksgiving meal. There were bubbles involved.
In their game, not the meal :)

I even less dire news, Dancing with the Stars has completed it's 13th season. (It has been on since 2005 and I guess runs two seasons per year.) I had a lot of fun watching it, as I'm sure you all know from reading my DWTS 2011 page.  haha! Just kidding :-)  But I did. And I can't wait to see who the contestants will be in the spring.  Sorry to report that there were no winners amongst my bloggers.  3GirlKnight came closest with his pick, Hope Solo, finishing 3rd.  But no one bet on war hero and soap actor JR Martinez, who won. You'll get 'em next time, guys!

Dancing with the Stars winner JR Martinez and his professional partner Karina Smirnoff. Yay!

 Guess that is it for the time being. Writing is very soothing at the moment, so I thank you for reading.  Feeling hopeful that the rest of the week will find me feeling more like myself. THAT should shut me right up :)

This Musical Message is For You Did

Friday 5 on Saturday - Leftovers

Hello and welcome to the moody hangover that is the weekend after Thanksgiving :) So much food!  So much family! Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...which for me means work today (Saturday). I thought I'd go check out this week's Friday 5. I thought it was particularly clever with some leftover questions from other Friday 5s getting their big chance.  So even though it is Saturday, I decided to participate. Please feel free to join in! Have I mentioned that I ♥ comments?

1. Leftover from April 17, 2009: What’s a creature comfort (practically unnecessary) you must take with you on an overnight trip in the great outdoors? Please consider a phone something that has practical necessity!  Let me start by saying I couldn't quite tell you when my last overnight trip in the great outdoors even occured. However, were that to come up, I know I would want to have a book or two with me. Practically necessary? No. But for me, reading material feel necessary on every level! It's an addiction.

2. Leftover from August 31, 2007: What did yesterday cost you? <– Thanksgiving in the U.S., but answer it for wherever you are and whatever you did! If I stick with the idea of what did Thanksgiving cost me, the answer would be nothing! I didn't provide anything except my company.  It took maybe $10 in gas to drive to my dad and stepmom's...but they gave me $40 and a roll of quarters for laundry! So, I actually made $40 on Thanksgiving.

Love don't cost a thing...

3. Leftover from January 25, 2008: What was your excuse the last time you were REALLY late for something? I'm usually not REALLY late for things. But I am sometimes a BIT late. Last time I came in to work late, my excuse was multifaceted. It included Handsome Lad having been difficult to get out the door and off to school, exceptionally horrific traffic, and the understandable need to arrive with some coffee.  And it was fine :)

4. Leftover from February 18, 2011: What was your first online purchase? I can't say, in all honesty, that I remember my first online purchase. Given what I tend to purchase though, I imagine it was either a book or a CD. Maybe it was naughty lingerie. I went through a brief flirtation with naughty lingerie that might have coincided with the beginning of online purchasing. So maybe.

5. Leftover from December 25, 2009: Which of your gifts do you think you do not put to its best, fullest use? I think I have been given the gift of empathy. I have to say though, it can be difficult and painful to use it fully. So I don't think that I do. I mute it or I'm not sure how I'd live.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving...or a wonderful past couple of days...and a good weekend as well! Now, if I can get through Xmas in one piece I can call this year a relative success.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I don't practice gratitude as often as I should. Today is a good day to remember all that we have and all that we may potentially have.  Have a great day everyone!

You Say Potato

I feel like I haven't been a really good blogger lately and I apologize. I think a lot of it has to do with having more anxiety at work for the past few months, since my new weird boss came on board. There has also recently been a lot of upheaval for my family with them losing their house and everyone scrambling to find other accommodations. Anxiety, apparently, is not this blogger's friend when it comes to writing. I am hopeful that things will be better soon. I really enjoy blogging and miss it when I can't get to it or feel unable to put my thoughts together.

Now...on to a simple Choose and Defend Wednesday. I thought since it is the day before Thanksgiving I would go with a food choice.  We all like food, right?  So here you go...Choose and Defend!  Do you prefer -

Potatoes

OR

Sweet Potatoes

As usual lately, not exactly a deep thinker...but still, I'd love to read your answers and the rousing defense of your choice!!!  Choose and Defend strikes again!

If I don't see you before....Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends and Happy Thursday to you other fine folks :)

This Musical Message is For a Face Like an Angel

Friday 5 - Moving

Had a bit of downtime, so I decided to check in at Friday 5. They've moved, but are still in bidnez :)  As you can see, this Friday 5 is all about moving, which is super relevant to my life at the moment.  Let's explore.  I hope you'll participate, on your blog or in comments!

1. When did you last move residences? I guess it was just over two years ago. And my last move was just from one apartment to another in the same building. Very simple :) A bunch of my family members are in the process of moving as we speak. Not simple at all!

2. What song leaves you completely unmoved even though it seems everyone else is moved by it?  Lately, I don't know. Things that come to mind...people saying they teared up when they heard Susan Boyle singing back whenever that was? Didn't get it. Also, Circle of Life doesn't make me cry.  And I am not some hardened heart! So whatevs.

3. On what kinds of mornings is it easiest for you to jump out of bed and get moving? Mornings when I've slept long enough that it is light out and I have something in particular to look forward to that day. Then I'm all bright eyed and bushy tailed, so to speak. Truthfully, I seldom linger in bed. Once my alarm goes off, it might not be easy, but I get on up and get going.

4. What object do you get most annoyed about when people move it without letting you know? My keys. Please. Do not make me look for my keys. Don't do it.

5. In what way are you waiting on someone else to make a move? Aw, I think most of you know the move I am waiting for. The clock is ticking! My sweetheart is making a move...and I am waiting, waiting, waiting....

Hope you all have a weekend that moves you in some good way!  Peace!

I Love Them All, One By One

Welcome to Choose and Defend Wednesday. We are deep in the middle of the Silly Season. [Note: officially Silly Season begins with Halloween and ends with New Year's Eve]  I thought it would be a good time to compare the two major Autumn holidays and pit them against one another in a brutal fight to the finish! Or, you know, we could just Choose and Defend...  Which of these two holidays is your favorite (Choose) and why (Defend)?

Halloween

OR

Thanksgiving

I know you will all tell it like it is...so tell!

PS- If you are not American, perhaps you have a similar sort of harvest festival type holiday you could use?

Thanks for participating in Choose and Defend Wednesday!!!

I'm Social. Let's Network.

There are simply too many options now! I am a big fan of social networking. I really do believe that while all of my online interactions have not been positive, the overwhelming majority have been. I have gotten to know people whom I never would have met without the benefit of the webz.  The fact that I even feel compelled to talk about it is probably partly just a condition of my age. I didn't grow up with all of this.  I called my friends from the phone in my mom's kitchen or the den. If they weren't home, the phone would ring and ring and I would call back another time.  Now, no one is every truly unreachable...well, not NO one...but most people. There are so many ways to get ahold of them.  But I'm kind of getting off track with what I started to say.  Social networking sites.  Ways to post content and receive reactions, either immediate or sometime in the future when someone stumbles across it.  I'm aware too, that there is a lot more out there that I am not even participating in, but I feel close to overwhelmed by what I'm doing now.  Let's break it down -

Yahoo Groups - Anyone remember those? I still have a couple of active ones sending somewhat regular emails (remember those?) I have a great sentimental feeling for these groups because one of them is where I met DR. Pop culture talk and my soulmate! Nice.

Blogger - Obviously. I blog here. I have met some amazing people through reading their blogs and commenting...or they came here and commented. Of the particular people I started out with, a number of them have either given up blogging or put in on hold.  But there are new bloggers all the time it seems.  As for me, I love blogging. I love a forum where it is perfectly justified that I'd be talking about myself non-stop. It's MY blog :-D But seriously, I do get great feedback when I have questions or issues or just want to have some fun. Hard to imagine giving it up.

Facebook -  Facebook came after a brief foray into Friendster and a longer stay at MySpace.  I used to play games there, but gave all that up when it became too time consuming and felt jobbish.  Now I just check in to see what people are up to.  I have my family on there, friends from high school and from work, as well as people I met at other place online, but haven't met in real life. I know the shine is kind of wearing off Facebook, but I still enjoy visiting there and engaging in a bit of back and forth with people in comments about posts...and who doesn't love looking through people's photos? (That could be just me...but I don't think so!)  Also, if you ever post a YouTube video on there because it made you think of me, my heart will melt and I will love you forever ;-) Um, unless it is, like, a monkey peeing in it's own mouth or something...don't send me that.

Twitter - Twitter has turned out to be a lot of fun for me. Some people don't like the 140 character format, but I love that part of it! Just say what you are going to say and walk away, so to speak. I get to read jokes, opinions, and just random observations from sooo many different kinds of people. I am endlessly fascinated. And when I post something and get some talk back, or a star, or a retweet, I admit it feels pretty good! The danger there is getting too caught up in the sort of competitive aspect of it. But I am a pretty laid back person in some ways, so that part doesn't bother me all that much. I just like the one liners :)

Tumblr - Just recently started participating there.  Mostly because a lot of people on Twitter are also on Tumblr and are always sending links to their posts. A lot of them I just ignore, but sometimes I want to read. Of course you can read without signing up, but I thought, why not? Now, I mostly use it to reblog things other people have posted...mostly cool images that I like. So it is kind of like a virtual scrapbook of stuff other people created or found that I like.  Can't really think of much original content to post...because I have so many other forums already!

I've also signed up at Google +, which hasn't really added anything to my life. I might have a profile or started a profile at Linked In...but I didn't follow through. Didn't seem like something I needed.  I do check my Klout every now and then. Not sure exactly what it means, but everyone likes to feel influential, right?
 
I am guessing a lot of people have lots more going on online than I do. But for me, I think I'm fully saturated! But each piece of the puzzle feels like it fits for now. Can't wait to see what's next!  I'd love to hear more about what you guys are doing. (This is participation-y part of blogging that I like) Thanks for reading and thanks for being part of my life here. It means the world to me.

This Musical Message is For Would You Like a Present Too?

A Happy Birthday

Just wanted to post a little Happy Birthday post for my Richard DR.  I am so happy and excited that by Christmas we will be able to celebrate holidays together! 

Happy Birthday to my best friend, always.

Dreams of You All Through My Head

It was a kooky day today, so here is a very quick Choose and Defend Wednesday post for you!  Had a quick brainstorm and just decided to offer up a couple of iconic cartoon critters for you to peruse.

Scooby Doo

OR

Snoopy

All you have to do is Choose who you'd prefer as your own loyal canine companion. Then tell us why.  Choose and Defend!

Not too deep...but I bet you can bring some depth to it.  Thanks for participating.  It is one of the high points of my week, seeing what you have to say.

The Long Road to Patience

Today's post was inspired by a post that 3 Girl Knight wrote over at his blog By God's Good Grace about patience.  I was almost going to write a rather political post, but that is really not my forte. I have some fairly strong feelings about some of the issues surrounding prospective Presidential candidates, but I think I will leave them alone for now.  But, I think an argument I recently engaged in about one of these issues was what made 3GK's post hit home for me.

Me and patience. It's not simple. I can't just say that I am a patient person or an impatient person.  This particular post made me think about how my capacity for patience functions though and here is what I came up with.  In the short term, I would say that I tend to be rather impatient. I sometimes react without thinking when I feel like someone doesn't or won't understand a point I am trying to make. How well I'm actually making that point is totally not the point. Whatever kind of job I'm doing, I'm not thinking of that when I get to that point of eyes tearing up and teeth / fist clenching.  It is about the other person not GETTING IT. I am also impatient, as most people are, about the bureaucratic elements that delay simple things.  I work for a city, so I am used to being thwarted on acting quickly, yet I still find myself impatient and frustrated when the expected obstacles are put up.

But there is also the big picture and the long term.  That is where I think I am able to pull it together and become one of the most patient people in the world.  It is the me with the cooler head that operates in this dimension.  Sure, I can stay married to a person who is in no way good for me for 15 years.  There is work to be done and my time will come.  Yes, I can struggle for the next 10 years and counting on my own, because, again, there is work to be done and my time will come.  I can be patient with the people in my life, not always moment to moment, but certainly year to year. I am patient like a dog who will always be there. The patience of loyalty and the patience of the conviction that I'm doing the right thing in the long run. 

Reading this over, I'm not sure how much sense it will make to anyone outside of my head :) But still. I appreciate you reading. Go ahead, try my patience. Just make sure you are planning to stick around to see the big picture.

This Musical Message is For a Wet World Aches

I Came to This Strange World

Ready for some Choose and Defend? It is Wednesday, so I hope so!  It's what we do here. 

I think I've brought this topic up in the past, but not on Choose and Defend.  I've had it on my mind, so I thought I'd invite you to join me in thinking this over.  Although, during the course of our lives we all fill many different roles...in general, do you tend to find yourself acting as....

A Giver

Or

A Taker

Again, no one is always one or the other.  But I do think we tend to fall into one category or another.  Sometimes because of who we are and as a correlating factor...who we surround ourselves with. 

Go ahead - Choose!  Then, in comments, Defend as enthusiastically as you can manage :) Looking forward to your responses!  Choose and Defend.