Looking Back at 2007

As I look back at 2007 I really can say that this year was a good year. Not a great year, but on a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give it a seven. I mean there were a lot of things that I would have done differently, but other things were better than I would have imagined.

January was exciting and new. I had a new job and was learning all the ins and outs of my new job and the responsibilities that came with it. February brought a lot of snow and ice, and with that came sickness, it seemed the entire month I was feeling under the weather. March brought the better weather, and it also brought a few more bucks into our pockets. Dan went into the hospital and it brought a realization to me just how fast everything could be gone. He healed and came back home to me, and a whole new appreciation for the love we have. April was full of a lot of rain, and I became addicted to American Idol! Other than that April was quiet and nothing really exciting happened. May came and went without fanfare, June was much of the same. July DJ and i went camping, the first time in a couple years, and a much needed vacation. We had a great time, and of course I became a year older. DJ's grandmother passed in July, and I got the news that I am going to be a grandfather again. August brought a lot of changes in my life. I found out in August that I was diabetic. Everyday I was going to have to take medication to keep it under control, and change the way I eat. Silver's father passed in August. August was not a good month. September marked the end of a very hot, dry summer. It also brought the end of us living in the basement as we made the step to move out of DJ's mother's house and move back into our own place. We moved out officially in October and the entire month was full of changes and moves. DJ also started his new job. October was a plus month. November brought in the holidays and family, and December so far has been a great month.

So another year is coming to a close and a new year is right around the corner. No resolutions, as I can never keep them anyway, but I look forward to what the New Year is going to bring. It will be 2008, and I'm sure it's going to be great!

Thursday Thirteen #12

Thirteen New Years Resolutions That I Didn't Keep:

1. Quit Smoking.

2. I will never have sex again.

3. Eat less chocolate

4. Give up Coffee

5. Loose 15 pounds and keep it off

6. Put $$ into savings

7. Quit Smoking

8. Become a vegatarian

9. Go back to school

10. Publish my book this year

11. Learn a new language

12. Become debt free

13. Quit Smoking

The First Day After Christmas

The First day after Christmas and all through the office, the peers were all quiet for those that had not already asked off. The head was hurting and the stomach was churning, all I could think about was the Captain Morgan I felt in my stomach still burning. The night before I had too much, now today I feel the effects and all I want is something greazy for lunch.

Christmas 2007

Thursday Thirteen #11

13 Thoughts about Christmas

1. Just how does Santa get his fat ass down that chimney?

2. Do Atheists celebrate Christmas?

3. Why do we celebrate Christmas in December?

4. How does Santa get all those damn toys in that little bitty bag?

5. And what about going worldwide giving gifts in one night?

6. When you don't get what you want for Christmas, does Santa have a return policy?

7. Wouldn't it be better to leave Santa peanut butter and celery sticks instead of cookies and milk, I mean he is a little overweight...

8. Speaking of weight, just how do eight reindeer pull his fat ass on that sled full of gifts?

9. Remember those Norelco commercials at Christmas? Why? Santa has a full beard, why would he be a spokesperson for electric shavers?

10. If Christ was born on Christmas, wouldn't it have been cold out in the barn where he was born in the manger?

11. Who created egg nog? And why is it only on sale during the Christmas season?

12. If you stay up all night Christmas Eve, will you still get gifts under the tree?

13. If you buy the gifts in the twelve days of Christmas, just how much money would you have to spend?

Opportunity Knocking

A year ago I began a new job. In a career that I had been employed before, I was happy to just be working again, and working in something I was both familiar with and comfortable. Not only did I find a great job, I really think I found a great employer. Yes, there are days, but overall I can honestly say that I really LOVE my job!. How many people can actually say that and mean it? After my yearly review last week, I realize just how fortunate I am.

Now another possible opportunity has rose. A position has come available within my department. It will probably pay more, and my responsibilities will increase. However, I will not be in what I call, the "trenches". Everyday something new arises and I feel accomplished at the end of the week, or when a case settles. In the position that has become available it will be more of a group effort, and I will be overlooking several cases, and making sure our team completes tasks within time frames that we have been given. So, the question is...am I at a point in my life where job comfort is more important than the financial benefits? Or am I willing to step into a challenge and maybe reap more benefits down the road. I may not even get the position that has become available, but the choice of even wanting to apply is something that I have already put a lot of effort into.

Not only do I have a possible opportunity, but DJ has also been given a possible opportunity. With being employed at his newest job for only two months, he has been offered the opportunity to move into a middle management position. He would travel all over the continental US and train employees in new stores that open. He would be gone two weeks at a time who knows how many weeks a year. He would move from a serving position being paid minimum wage+ tips, to a salaried position. He has shown great interest in this position, and I also think it is a great opportunity not only for him, but our household. But do I want to give him up for two weeks at a time?

Doors open all the time for us, however sometimes we need to walk through them, and other times we have to just stand at the doorway and look in. How will it change us if we walk through? Will it be for the good, or not so good. Either way DJ and I decide, we will still have our jobs, that in itself is a blessing for us. But do we take these opportunities, or are the opportunities something that we will regret down the road.

Thirteen Thursday #10

Thirteen Things to Do to Survive the Christmas Holidays...

1- Tell everyone you lost your job and you have no $$, so that way they don't expect and gifts from you.

2- Go to Aruba

3- Ignore it. No tree, no cards, no shopping.

4- Take off all your clothes and run around in the snow, that way you get the flu and have to miss all the parties and festivities.

5- Stay drunk from Thanksgiving to New Years.

6- Fake it. Hey women do it all the time!

7- Win the lottery in October

8- Bake cookies, decorate your home to make it look like Santa threw up in it, have a Christmas party every Saturday inviting the same guests.

9- Watch Surviving Christmas over and over and over until you go into a coma.

10- Change your phone number

11- Go on a crash diet from September to November loosing 25 pounds, that way you can enjoy the holidays without guilt.

12- Therapy

13- Just let it happen, it's going to anyway. Enjoy it, they only come once a year...

Another Goodbye

Today my cousins said goodbye to their mother. The glue that held them together. My Aunt Joyce was always a small little lady, but a strong one. She was the epitome of strong. One of the strongest women I was ever blessed to have in my life. She married my uncle, a young service man, just starting out in the Airforce. She left her home and family to travel with him across the country as he served in Korea and Vietnam. She mothered five children, each one grew up and gained some of her strength. During those years she remained strong, being a mother and wife, but enjoying life. That she did. She enjoyed her life, she loved her life and dearly loved her family.

She lost her mother at a young age, but remained strong. Later in life, a few years ago she lost a son. Something a mother nor any parent should have to do, bury a child. But even in this she continued to remain strong. Through her own brain surgery in her 40's, through the illness that plagued and finally took her husband, and then to her own struggle over the past few years with the cancer that finally took it's toll. She fought every one of those battles with a determination and strength that others only wished they had.

Many of the women in my life have been strong women, but Aunt Joyce was truly one of the strongest. I thank God for the blessing of her in my life. The strength she showed me, the love she gave me and the compassion she shared with me.

I can not even to begin to imagine how her family must feel today, but I know if they learnt anything from their mother, they are being strong. Showing their strength... no her strength, in a time of pain.

All I Want For Christmas

With Christmas right around the corner I began thinking last night not what I really want for Christmas, but what I really NEED for Christmas. I pondered this question for a while and realized there is not really anything that I really need.

I have a great partner that I love more with each day that passes, and he loves me in return. I have four great kids and two great grandkids and a family that loves me. I have a great job that I enjoy going to... at least three days out the week. I have both my parents, still healthy and happily married. I am alive, and somewhat healthy with both my MS and diabetes under control. I have a great new apartment that keeps me warm and cozy. I have food in my fridge and plenty of water. So many things I have that I take for granted.

So, do I really need that 42" plasma screen TV, a new cell phone, more clothes, or a new upgrade on my computer? No, not really. Do I need any of those things? Well not really do I need them, but that 42" Plasma TV would look really great in my great, new and Cozy apartment!!

Thirteen Thursday #9

Thirteen Things that Have Never been Said to Me...

1) You are a very quiet person.

2) Do you always smell that way?

3) How's your elephant?

4) Hey, what about those Bengals!?

5) Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?

6) You have the right to remain silent,...

7) Your the winner of the 36 Million Powerball!

8) Do you use tampons or pads?

9) Hey Brother, can you spare a dime?

10) Is there a reason you had your nose pierced?

11) Remember that time at band camp...?

12) Hey! Watch that thing!!

13) Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.

A Classic Revisted

I am a freak fan of the Wizard of Oz. I have a collection of dolls, plates and other memorabilia relating to this ultimate classic film. Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, and Bert Lahr are totally brilliant, and Victor Fleming (among others) did a fantastic job at directing this timeless film. So when I heard, way back in October that the SciFi Channel was doing a new mini-series based on the famous L. Frank Baum novel, I was full of anticipation, to say the least.

TINMAN, is a whole new look at the story, and after two nights of watching it, I am enthralled in the story. The acting leaves a lot to be desired, but then who can compare the greats from the original? But this is not the story that we all know and love. At first I thought it was just a retelling of the same story, but now I am beginning to think that this is possibly a continuation of the original. A young woman named DG is drawn to this magical world known as the Outer Zone (OZ) through her dreams. She then is pulled into this world through a magical tornado. Sound familiar?, well guess again. At this point in the series, without giving away too much of the plot, I think that DG's mother is Glinda, the Good Witch years later after Dorothy left and went back to Kansas. She has named one of her daughters DG in Dorothy's memory. Who is her father? Well, my guess is the Wizard of OZ, who came back to OZ after leaving in his balloon. Now this is all just my own assumptions, but I will find out tonight in the final airing of the three part mini-series.

The Tin Man is actually a former police officer that was placed in a metal suit and forced to watch the holographic images of his family's torture over and over until DG comes along and releases him. Glitch (the Scarecrow type character) was actually an adviser to the Queen (who is now in exile), who had part of his brain removed to extract information that only he was privy to. Raw (the Lion) is half man and half lion who has the ability to read minds. And Toto? Oh, he is actually a shape shifter. A very imaginative story... and it has me hooked.

But regardless of how entertaining this show is, it will never take the place of the classic. But then again can anything take the place of the classics?

Where has it Gone?

It's December 1, 2007!! The last month of the year. Where has 2007 gone? It is so hard to believe that it is almost Christmas and that this year is almost over. Tonight I will be attending my first Christmas party of the season. The first of many.

Time flies when your having fun I suppose.

On the 12th of this month I will celebrate my first year at my new job, that too is hard to believe. So many hours of of time have been spent this year preparing documents, taking phone calls and preparing for hearings and amending complaints. It just seems so unreal to think I've been there a year already.

So officially tonight begins the slide to the end. The end of the year. Most of the month it will be spent in oblivion, as the parties, and holiday festivities will just go by me and very little attention will be paid to them. Make my stops, share my gifts and before I know it, Christmas will also be over and I will begin to make the move into 2008.

So before all the chaos, excitement, festivities and over-eating begins, if I happen to forget Happy Holidays!