Fictional Crush(es)

Ah, my friends, you *are* in luck today!  As I am “snowed” in (Arkansas standards=2″) I am bored out of my mind.  Since I have already eaten 2 bowls of white rice (made in my FAB rice cooker!) I will now pen yet ANOTHER blog for your reading pleasure, as I am sure that you are as bored as I am!

As I have mentioned in the past, I am a ferocious reader.  Even more so, I read on Amazon’s Kindle.  I adore it and insist that you go look at it and watch the videos about how it works.

OK, so, now, back on topic.  I read a lot and in my boredom, I have been contimplating the fictional “crushes” that I have developed.  Quite disturbing (ok- and yes, a bit sad)

Crush #1: One of my first fictional crushes, from Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books: Ranger.  Ah, Ranger.  The quiet, fierce, mysterious, hunka-hunka burning love.  I realize that Stephanie could probably never make a “real” relationship with him work…what with the fact that he is an unlawful bounty hunter-type and all…but when he shows up and hits her with “Babe.”  I melt a little inside.  And book #7?  OH YEAH!  Best Stephanie book by far!  I highly recommend this series.  Especially if you have a fondness for New Jersey, as I have. 

Crush#2: When I stumbled on the fact that the HBO series “True Blood” is based on a series of books, by an Arkansan author, no less…I jumped on that!  The Sookie Stackhouse series is the FIRST books I read on my Kindle and will always hold a special place in my heart.  Now, as far as my fictional crush, you must read at least to book #4 to understand.  And if you watch the series, you have no idea, but I *love* Eric!  Oh Eric the viking vampire with his long, blonde locks and body of steel.  How his commanding presence demands attention from a room.  And oh, how the shower scene in book #4 is highlighted in my Kindle for quick reference…wait.  What did I just say??  Ignore that….

Crush #3: Thanks to my Cyber-BFF Love4BRATS, I found the JD Robb “In Death” series.  JD Robb is also known as Nora Roberts.  Yup.  Same person.  Anyhoo, in the In Death series, we are introduced to Eve Dallas, who is a remarkable heroine with her bad ass cop self and tortured past….yet what I admire most about her is her uber rich, gazillionaire, ultra hunky Irish hubby: Roarke.  Roarke who is as handsome as he is rich- also with his bad boy turned good background.  His love for Eve is unmistakable and the lovemaking between these two married lovebirds gives hope to all wives everywhere: steamy!!! 

<sigh> How sad is it that on my cabin fever days, I think about fictional men?  Sadness, I know! 

If you have a fictional crush, I would love to know who it is.  Perhaps I will need to pick up a new book to see if I need to expand my list!!!  Maybe you agree with me on mine, then please let me know!  The best thing that you can do for me is to assure me that I am not alone in my fictional crushes.  (Please?)

Snow Day….

What a fun, do nothing kind of day!  I awoke to sleeting and a forecast of more as the day wore on.  I immediately started calling my works weather line, even though it wasn’t due to be updated for 30 minutes.  Hey I could hope, right??  Well, it wasn’t updated….and it never did update until 30 minutes LATE!  Luckily, I sat in my PJ’s doing nothing in hope that there was no way we would be open.  I don’t know what I would have done if we were…

I was correct and got the word that we were closed along with the rest of the state of Arkansas.  I immediately went back to bed for 3 hours.  Heh, heh.

The rest of the day was spent restoring my laptop back to workable condition from the factory reset I had to do to get rid of the fatal trojan/worm virus that made it’s way into it.  It was sad.  But it is kind of nice to start from scratch, you know?  My big hurdle was iTunes and getting my music to play on the “new” computer.  Ugh!  Most of my songs I bought were when iTunes still had DRM on it.  Long story short, it is 4 hours later and I have it all back to the way I love it.  The only thing that I am missing is Microsoft Money.  My sister had let me use her disk when I visited her years ago and now that she lives in WV, I am going to need to break down and buy it but GEEZ!  It is $50!!!  Ew.  I hate spending that kind of money on something like that.  I will sit on it a day or two before making a decision on what to do.

Well, the snow will be continuing all night but alas, tomorrow is Saturday.  Saturday’s I really need to get out and about to the food store.  Oh well.  We shall see how it all pans out.

Happy Snow Day wherever you are!!!

I OWNED it!

What a day!  Went to work on day #2 in the new department I cross trained for last week.  This was done to make me a more valuable/versatile employee.  Officially, I still have my official leadership position but with 2 employees in the other department going on maternity leave back to back starting in late April and the other in early June, guess who gets to cover for them??  That’s ok.  I was worried about it all but after today, I think that I will be OK.  Between now and then I am supposed to work and “get comfortable” with this department so that it will be seamless when the first lady goes out on leave.  I can do it!  In fact, I am enjoying it WAY more than I thought that I would.  That’s good, I guess!  But I sure miss “my” department and my “family” of employees there.  But growth is necessary and important, so we shall see how this all plays out….. Should be an interesting couple of months!!

By the way, read an excellent book in my newly discovered genre last night.  Maybe that is why it was such a good day today? 

What’s new with you?  What are you living and learning about to better yourself this week?

Lazy Sunday….

I love Sunday’s.  Hubs and I always watch Sunday Morning on CBS and drink coffee while eating breakfast.  We kinda lounge around.  We are both Christians but are currently not attending a church actively.  (Please don’t ask.)  We usually do laundry and some light cleaning if neither of us has plans.  Sometimes we watch a DVD of our favorites TV shows.  Today was Scrubs season 8, disc 3 (makes me cry, every time.) and The Office Season 2, disc 2.  I used to wonder about those TV show DVD’s, until I started getting them for my favorite shows.  It is SO nice to watch a whole season back to back with no commercials anytime I want!  I get it now!

We own all 8 seasons of Scrubs, the first 3 season’s of The Office, 3rd Rock from the Sun, That 70’s show, Newsradio (the Phil Hartman years) and for Christmas I got Glee!!  (Love that stupid show)

Anyhoo, January 1, I started reading a one year Bible.  I chose “Grace for the Moment One Year Bible” by Max Lucado.  I am really enjoying it!  although I love Genesis and Exodus and the Gospels and that I what I am in.  Each day is an Old Testament reading, a Psalm, a Proverb, and a New Testament reading.  There is also a short devotional in the beginning by Max Lucado.  I have read a whole lot of the Bible, but not consecutively and I am praying that I make it through this time.  I have tried this before.  So far, it is January 24, and I am on schedule!  Course, I have it on my Kindle and my Kindle for iPhone app and between the two, one is with me at all times.  That is helping.

Well, I am mentally preparing for another work week.  Many challenges lie ahead.  I only hope that I can meet them one at a time with a smile and laughter.  We shall see.  Have a super week!

Happy Wandering….

Do you read?

If you are lucky enough to be my friend on Facebook (or real life) what I am about to say will be no surprise to you. (so quit rolling your eyes at me!!)

I love a good book. I read. A LOT! I become totally engrossed in books when I read them and have a hard time putting them down until they are done. If a book like that is in a series, you can imagine the trouble I get myself into. Sitting for HOURS reading only to finish one book and immediately pick up the next in the series. Back in the day, when I was reading the Twilight series, I finished one book only to put it on the end table next to me and pick up the next book which was stacked and waiting.  My hubs said “How many of those ARE there?”  Luckily for him, there were only 4 in that series.  He wasn’t so lucky when I was reading the In Death series by JD Robb (aka Nora Roberts) But when I read that series, I wasn’t reading DTB (Dead Tree Books).  By then, I had moved on to one of my greatest obsessions….Which brings me to my next proclamation:

If you love to read, you absolutely, positively MUST get an Amazon Kindle (6" screen)

I got the original Kindle in January 2009. Oh, how I loved it!!! I read, and read, and read some more! The thing that separates the Kindle from other e-readers is the free wireless capability to download books to it and browse from the Amazon Kindle store. All other e-books must have books transferred from a computer to the reader by USB hook up. Not to mention that Amazon has THE BEST selection of e-books out there at THE BEST prices. Me? I usually only spend no more than $6.49 for an e-book but have been known to spend the cap of $9.99 Amazon has for NY Times Bestsellers for a book that I know I absolutely have to have. But that is rare. Better yet? I frequent http://www.Kindleboards.com where they have a thread for the free books available, among a gazillion other cool Kindle info. I have found loads of excellent freebies out there which are the beginnings of a series so, yeah, then I buy the rest. Good marketing.

So anyway, in July 2009, the newer version of the Kindle dropped in price and I was able to sell my beloved Kindle 1 (known as Sookie to me) and buy the newest version without any additional expense (well, except for the cover and skin!) And the K2 is even better in so many ways, even though it does not have an SD card slot like K1 had. Now there is talk of a K3 next month. Uh oh. Hubs will get mad at me but since I am a gadget junkie, if the rumor is true, then a K3 may be in my future if the new features are worth it.

So anyway, if you have any questions about the Kindle or want to ask WHY it is so superior to every other e-reader out there, feel free to ask away. Or better yet, visit Amazon and watch the videos, read the reviews…believe me, I am NOT the only one on the planet with this obsession of all things Kindle.

Course, you have to like to read. Otherwise, it would be useless to you.

So now you know. I suppose now I can feel free to discuss books I read. Hrmm, that may need to wait for another blog, as I have discovered a new genre….

Amazon Kindle

Happy Reading   Wandering….

Miracles…

Have you ever stopped to think about the miracle of life?

If you have children, I am sure you have at one point or another, but maybe your children are older and you haven’t taken the time lately to stop and realize.

I was lucky enough today to have a miracle moment. I dear friend of mine from my work (she actually works in another location but we talk often) came to my location for a monthly meeting. This friend is pregnant with her 2nd child, a boy, and is due in 5 days. She has a high risk pregnancy and today at the meeting she was saying that she went to the obstatrician yesterday and her blood pressure was elevated. She went on to say that she felt badly today as well.

When the meeting was over she, another coworker and I went to lunch. (We went to Mexico!) We had a lovely chat while eating our nachos and cheese dip and entrees. When we left I gave her a hug and wished her luck as I probably wouldn’t see her before she has her bundle.

About 4 hours later, as I was leaving work, I checked Facebook on my iPhone and saw this same friend was at the hospital awaiting an operating room to deliver her baby (via c-section)!! Four hours go we were eating, laughing and talking….4 hours later she will have a new human in her arms! It is a breathtaking thought.

This is not the first miracle moment that I have had in the last 3 weeks, either. A girl who works for me was pregnant with her first baby, a daughter. This strong lady stayed at work until the last minute. She was at work in the morning, left at noon for her obstration appointment, then I got a text at 2am stating that she was heading to the hospital cause her water broke (in her hubbys truck on the way to the hospital!) By 7am, her baby girl was here. At noon, I went to see her at lunch. As I held that 4 hour old baby, I thought, this is the little thing that I felt kicking her mommys tummy so hard yesterday morning!!!

How cool is that? One minute there is a baby bump, the next minute there is a living, breathing, beautiful human being.

At my place of employment, there have been 4 babies born since December, then the one today will make 5. In the coming months, two more will be born to ladies at my location (late April and early June) then more at another location over the summer. 3 others at my location are actively trying to get pregnant. You can bet that I do not drink the water at my company!! Babies, babies everywhere, plenty to hold and coo at. I am done having babies but I can be present and supportive for my friends and love on their sweet babies all I want!!!

Life. It is a miracle!! Think about it.

Happy Wandering…

Wednesday, Wednesday

What a fun day! This week has been a wonderful one for me. I am still in training at work and I am enjoying it soooo much! This time around I am with my absolutely, most favoritist trainer and I am happy to be there. I really am learning a lot!

I discovered that should a position open up in our HR department, I really think that I will apply. I would enjoy teaching others our companies policies and procedures. Huh. Who knew?

Today’s blog would not be complete without a mention of last nights amazing election results in Massachusetts! It is mind boggling to me that Senator Ted Kennedy’s seat has been taken over by a Republican! I mean, he held that seat for 40 years and, let’s face it: Massachusetts is kinda known for their liberal stance, you know? And they elected a REPUBLICAN!!! This news is restoring my faith in this country. Sometimes it is too easy to think that you can’t make a difference. Well, the voters of Massachusetts made a HUGE difference. One election has tipped the scales of the Senate. Now, Republicans can fillibuster. They can have their say. (Can you tell my sweet hubs is a loyal Glen Beck watcher? Of ourse some of it will filter down to me!)

Remember that each day is a gift. A chance to learn something new about your world…about yourself…

Happy Wandering…

Take Time…

Today has been one of growth and learning for me. I am in some continuing education for my job. Some may not be as excited to continue their education no matter what it may be. Me? I like it! Any opportunity that you have to learn something new you should embrace with enthusiasm! I have been at my current job for 2 years now. Today I am learning another facet of our company so that I can better assist our members and be a more valuable asset to my team. How can that be bad?

One of our main focuses in life should be to assist others. Being an active human being participating in life’s adventures to the fullest should be on everyone’s “to do” list each day. Why is it that so many do not? I know of so many people who do not care to learn new things, to expand their knowledge base or relish in the opportunity to assist someone each day. Why is that, do you think? I wonder if they are just sad/depressed about life? Maybe they don’t have the self-esteem that so many do?

I am enjoying my training today as I am sure that I will continue to enjoy it for the next 2 days and after that, as I implement what I have learned with my team, I will be grateful that I am better able to guide those who interact with my chosen company.

Life is what you make it. Make it a great one!

Happy Wandering!

Hello world!

Hello gentle readers! Welcome to my first attempt at a blog of my life. Not sure exactly what I am doing but we will learn as we go, shall we?

I appreciate you stopping by and hope that you will visit often as I present new and hopefully fun, thought provoking topics as we go through this world together.

However should I start? I guess at the beginning. Why? Why do I feel the urge to tell random people my thoughts and feelings? Well, my New Years resolution for 2010 was to read more and write a review on each book read. I started out really good and then started in on a genre of books that I didn’t feel *quite* comfortable writing about just yet. In an effort to rectify this, I decided to start in with a blog to get my writing skills fired up. I have always enjoyed writing when presented with the option for writing what I want, when I want. I can be quite creative, when I am motivated to be. Unfortunately, high school English and Composition did not motivate me the way I needed. So here I am: 30-something years old, finally taking the plunge to better myself by writing and reading more.

Now, I am an avid reader. Always have been. I got away from it during my son’s younger years but now as he approaches his teen years, I am avidly back into it after getting a Kindle ( www.amazon.com/kindle ) in February 2009. It changed my life! I am cumpulsive and buy e-books like mad storing them on my precious Kindle. (I do have limits for what I will spend on eBooks. Usually $4-6 is all I will spend, but if I really, REALLY want to read something, I will break mold and just 1-click it before I think too hard about it. Kindles WhisperNet and 1-Click abilities are attributes that make it a FAR superior reading device.) As much as I adored my beloved Kindle 1st generation, Sookie, when the price dropped in July 2009 on the 2nd generation, I sold her to a good home, a friends mother, and I bought the newest version who I named Roarke.

He and I are still together. I love him. (YES! I know he is an inanimate object!)

So. Here we are. I am glad that you stopped by as I embark on this journey and I hope that you will drop by again often and leave many comments as I appreciate feeback and insights on my musings.

Happy Wandering!