| Short & Sweet |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|02:25 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  good | ] |
The shortest sentence is "I am".
The longest is "I do".
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| Differences |
[Jun. 30th, 2009|11:18 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  blah | ] |
Recently I got a Facebook account. Not because I really wanted it, but more to find out what social media was all about and more importantly, to keep an eye on my 2 kids who have FB accounts. No I don't have Twitter, or MySpace, or post pics to Flicker etc I would need way more do-nothing time than I have now (or more accurately, don't have).
Turns out most of the people on my friends list are my co-workers. For the most part, they are a nice bunch of people - though those with FB are some 20 years younger than I am. I can't say I'm comfortable sharing certain things with them. Even my boss wondered why I didn't 'friend' him. ?? Gaawdd. That would just be too weird.
I can't really declare certain things to that group. For instance if I wanted to vent because my in-laws are arriving Friday, staying with us for 2.5 weeks and never bothered asking us if this was a good time or not - that would be giving them a glimpse into the real me (and I'd rather not have to give everyone an explanation as to why years later the out-laws still rub me wrong). With LJ, I can say what I want, but still be 'hidden' so to speak.
LJ serves it's purpose. I vent, no one really hears me, and I'm still safe. FB carries on tiny little conversations keeping me connected to my immediate surroundings. I just really don't have the time for either. |
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| Sucks |
[Jun. 25th, 2009|10:34 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  sad | ] |
Though I'm not a fan of either, the passing of both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson today is rather sad. Both are part of my childhood (so to speak).
Something about that just isn't right, like death is too close in my back yard. Yes I know, it's the fact I'm aging and they are symbols of my youth gone by.
Maybe it's something in the way when my 13 year son heard about MJ, he said he was glad he was dead. I was taken aback and asked him why he'd think that, the passing of a life is never good, no matter what the circumstances. When he replied MJ is a child molester, he hurts children, I realize his generation will only know him for those news stories and not as an icon artist my generation remembers him as.
Maybe it's because the MJ story seems to be bigger news item than the Farrah story - how can that be? Weren't all the girls crazy about her hair? Spending countless hours trying to replicate her style (my hair would never cooperate). Didn't all the boys have her poster? Didn't they all want her?
Sigh - It's just not right, it irks me that she's being over-shadowed by him. |
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| This may be the best Living Will I've Seen |
[May. 27th, 2009|02:18 pm] |
I,__________ ________, being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means.
Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of pinhead politicians who couldn't pass ninth grade biology if their lives depended on it, or lawyers/doctors interested in simply running up the bills.
If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to ask for at least one of the following:
Glass of wine
Chocolate
Margarita
Sex
Martini
Cold Beer
Chocolate
Chicken fried steak
Cream gravy
Sex
Mexican food
Chocolate
French fries
Chocolate
Pizza
Sex
Ice cream
Cup of tea
Chocolate
Sex
Chocolate
It should be presumed that I won't ever get better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my appointed person and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes, let the 'fat lady sing,' and call it a day |
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| Happy Mother's Day |
[May. 8th, 2009|02:11 pm] |
I was sent this at work today.
Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby..
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her/him down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body..
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child..
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.
Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom .
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| Won't You Help? |
[Mar. 26th, 2007|08:50 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  pleased | ] |
I often get emails that ask you to forward it on to all your friends. If you do so, you see a cartoon at the end, you get good luck on the 4th day, you get bad luck if you don't etc. I just usually chuck them. Sometimes, I'll search the net and see if it's on Urban Legends. Most times it is, and it's a hoax.
But not today. Today I received an email about an Ottawa area boy with leukemia, who wishes to break the Guinness World record for most birthday cards received. Shane Bernier is turning 8 years young on May 30th, 2007. Even the local Ottawa radio station is advertising on their website (inserted below).
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Have you ever wished that something you did could make a major difference in someone's life? Well here's your chance! KISS FM wants you to know about Shane, a soon to be 8 year old - battling Leukemia at CHEO. You can join Shane's battle with a simple Birthday Card. It may seem like an overly-simplistic gesture, but to Shane, it would mean the world.
Simply mail (or drop off) a birthday card to:
SHANE
C/O KISS FM
2001 Thurston Dr.
Ottawa ON, K1G6C9
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Urban Legends and Folklore had this to say about it:
Circulating since: January 2007 Status: Authentic
Email example :
HELP TO MAKE HIS DREAMS COME TRUE
Seven year old Shane Bernier of Lancaster, Ontario is a patient receiving treatment for Leukemia at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
On May 30th, Shane will be turning 8 years old.
HE HAS A DREAM.... to receive the largest amount of birthday cards so that he can be entered into the Guinness Book of Records.
Let's help make his dream come true.
SEND SHANE A BIRTHDAY CARD TO:
SHANE BERNIER
P.O. BOX 484
LANCASTER, ONTARIO
K0C 1N0
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Last year, with the help of his family, Shane launched his bid to be the Guinness World Record holder for the most birthday cards received by an individual. He will turn 8 years old on May 30, 2007. At last report he had accumulated over 10,000 cards and was receiving new ones at the rate of a thousand a day.
Craig Shergold, a cautionary tale
The only obstacle in Shane Bernier's way, ironically, is the fact that the previous record holder for greeting cards, Craig Shergold, had such a successful run that Guinness retired the category. Shergold, an urban legend in his own right because chain letters soliciting get well cards are still circulating in his name a decade-and-a-half after he won the record, began his own quest in 1989 after he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Surgery cured his disease in 1991, at which point he had already received 33 million cards and the permanent world record, but that wasn't the end of the story. Now in his late twenties, Shergold is still receiving get well cards, the latest total topping 350 million. It is a cautionary tale Shane Bernier might do well to heed.
A February 3, 2007 article in the Ottawa Citizen reported that the Guinness folks are "considering" adding a new category -- birthday cards -- so Shane Bernier will have a real shot at a World Record.
My card is in the mail already, won't you send one as well? Thanks.
Feel free to copy to your blog.
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| TOP 13 Buzz Words from 2006 |
[Jan. 19th, 2007|08:56 am] |
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The best: 1. blamestorming: A group process where participants analyze a failed project and look for scapegoats other than themselves.2. Death by Tweakage: When a product or project fails due to unnecessary tinkering or too many last-minute revisions.3. BMWs: Bitchers, Moaners and Whiners.4. clockroaches: Employees who spend most of their day watching the clock - instead of doing their jobs5. plutoed: To be unceremoniously dumped or relegated to a lower position without an adequate reason or explanation.6. prairie dogging: A modern office phenomenon. Occurs when workers simultaneously pop their heads up out of their cubicles to see what's going on.7. carbon-based error: Error caused by a human, not a computer (which we assume would be a silicon-based error).8. menoporsche: Male menopause. Symptoms include a sudden lack of energy, crankiness and the overpowering urge to buy a Porsche.9. adminisphere: The upper levels of management where big, impractical, and counterproductive decisions are made.10. deja poo: The feeling that you've stepped in this bull before.11. bobbleheading: The mass nod of agreement by participants in a meeting to comments made by the boss even though most have no idea what he/she just said.12. ringtone rage: The violent response by cube mates after hearing your annoying cell phone ringtone for the 15th time.13. muffin top: The unsightly roll of flesh that spills over the waist of a pair of too-tight low-hanging pants, much like a muffin bursting out of the pan.
And the worst: 1. leveraging our assets: The ultimate DUH in business. Every company attempts to leverage its assets. It only makes sense that companies put their resources, whether it's money, location or talent, to best use in order to make a profit?2. mission-critical: Another sign that too many people in today's business world have read too many Tom Clancy books. What's wrong with the word "essential"?3. conversate: To have a conversation. Created by those who (for some bizarre reason) don't think "converse" or "talk" are adequate.4. information touchpoint: Any contact in which information is shared or transferred. Yes, meetings are information touchpoints. 5. synopsize: To condense the details of a boring, two-hour meeting into a briefer - yet still as boring - version.6. electronify: The process of turning paper-based data into electronic or digital form.7. price-optimized: Something sold as cheap as possible, particularly a stripped-down version of a previously successful, but expensive product. However, the price-optimized version is likely to have more flash and less substance.8. targeted completion date: A comforting term that gives the impression a project will be finished by a certain date (but everyone involved knows there's no chance in hell of it happening). 9. surgerize: To have surgery. "Her face had been surgerized." 10. relanguage: Term used by $300-an-hour consultants when $1 words, such as reword, rephrase or rewrite, would work just as well. "I think we can relanguage that to be more effective."11. computerate: Computer literate. To understand how a computer works. "Are you computerate? Or do you need me to do it for you?" 12. critical path: A list of tasks necessary to complete a project. In project management, it's the ultimate alibi. If there's even one delay in the "critical path," the project will not be completed on time.13. Professional Learning Community: A school faculty. |
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| Just Unloading |
[Jan. 17th, 2007|01:22 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  annoyed | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Nickelback - Savin' Me | ] |
I work in an open office environment. Open pods, even worse, a quad pod - 4 people cohabiting, backs facing each other. It wasn't always like this, about two years ago, under the guise of needing more space, they moved us into a building minutes away from where we were originally housed.
Kind of hard to warm up to the concept. Whereas previously you might hear 3-4 people nearby, now the whole floor is open concept. Managers too lost their walls. Only 2 people have offices, the VP Sales and the HR group. The rest of us have single pods or lovely quads. (please do read sarcasm between the lines).
This summer, a newbie started working directly across me, a partition wall dividing us but nothing else. Boy was/is she loud. She was spoken to, and somewhat lowered her voice. With time though, I've grown to hate the sound of her voice. Her mere giggle is chalk on a board tormenting me. I've been trying to ignore it, but she's on the phone 50% of her time, hard to ignore.
I finally broke down, and bought an iPod for my quad. Every time she starts up, on goes the music. Normally this works, except when I need to write/ proof my reports. Then the music words interfere with the writing. If I turn off the music, then she interferes with my reading. Then I walk up to an empty conference room (few and far between and hard to find) and use it. What a way to make a living! |
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| In Honour of the Santa Claus Parade this Weekend... |
[Nov. 17th, 2006|12:43 pm] |
 Dear Santa...
Dear Santa,
This year I've been busy!
Last Thursday I pulled ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) anam_moon's hair (-5 points). Last Sunday savageknight and I robbed a bank (-50 points). In March I pushed chrisisiddall in the mud (-17 points). In May I stole jaxita's purse (-30 points). Last Friday I punched budgie_uk in the arm (-10 points).
Overall, I've been naughty (-112 points). For Christmas I deserve a lump of coal!
Sincerely,
purringkittycat |
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| Creepy Buzzing Things |
[Oct. 14th, 2006|03:13 pm] |
I used to be afraid of wasps, bees and all related stinging creatures. As a child, I would shriek and run away (ok, maybe as an adult too). Odd thing is, I was never stung, just had an irrational fear of them.
Then I had children, and not wanting them to pick up my fears, I had to re-adjust. Yes they know I'm afraid of those things, but I no longer run, I merely keep an eye on it, unless it's coming too close and then I swat at it and/or move away.
Two years ago, we moved into our current home and had a most unwelcoming gift. Wasps had invaded our chimney, making their way inside. Some dozen or so at a time, until we figured out what had happened and sealed up the chimney.
Meanwhile, how to deal with it? Hubby was on shift work, so when I came home with the the kids after school, it was just us and them. There they were hanging out, buzzing around the ceiling. Let me tell you, not my cup of tea. My first reaction, was to run outside (yes with the children). Then I thought, 'This is stupid' (at least I didn't yelp), 'I'm not going to spend the whole night out here'. So I went in and tried capturing them with a cup against the window pane. Didn't really work that well (when you only have one, it's okay). So I got some newspaper, rolled it up, and went swinging. Do this a few nights in a row, and the irrational fear part melts away.
Flash forward to this afternoon, I'm folding the laundry in the mudroom. My daughter is staring intently at the window pane in the door. "Mom, don't look now but there's a wasp". Okay, no problem, I can take care of it (why is it that the husband is never around for this?). I used the cup against the window method with some paper behind it, caught it, opened the door, and placed the cup on the floor outside. Then I pelted a shoe at it, to knock the cup free, and came in. I figured I'd go back outside later when the little bugger had left the area and wasn't hanging around looking for someone to bite.
Came in, started reading LJ, in walks hubby, cup and shoe in hand. "What's this for?" and so my daughter enlightens him. He laughs at my methods (hey it works !!) and looks in the cup as he's about to put it in the sink. Wouldn't you know it? The stupid wasp is still in the cup and he's brought it back in the house!
That was such a classic moment. Had I had the video camera on, it would have been recorded for posterity. As such, I'm writing it here instead, to laugh at again, the next time I re-read this.
P.S. Yes the wasp is back outside again!! No animals were harmed in the making of this journal entry. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 10th, 2006|07:01 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  hopeful | ] |
WOW!! I feel humbled reading this. Someone sent it to me at work, and I have to try to remember that I too CAN!!
Read the article first and get your tissues ready.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
[From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly]
I try to be a good father.
And the video is below....
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| The Death of Cursive Writing? |
[Oct. 4th, 2006|07:35 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  curious | ] |
Last week I was at Curriculum Night, where teachers tell the parents what they'll be teaching our children throughout the year. I asked the Grade 6 teacher why the kids (mine is definitely not the only one) were still printing instead of using cursive writing for essays, homework, journal work etc.
Her response? Paraphrasing - If they hadn't learned it by then, it wasn't her job to do so. As long as it was legible, she would mark the papers.
This rather upset me at first, as it seems there is a lot of 'extra work' as a parent that I already do with my children, and this was but another item to work on.
Then I got to thinking, where do I use cursive writing? At work, I'm on a computer all day long. At school, most teachers want papers typed out. I don't keep a journal. Signing cheques and writing my grocery list or to-do list is about the only time I seem to put pen to paper. So what if these are printed?
Really, what is its use in modern times? Is it such a loss? |
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| Honouring Private Mark Anthony Graham |
[Sep. 6th, 2006|07:32 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | sad | ] |
I wish I hadn't read it. For now my eyes are brimming over with tears for a man I never knew, but through mere pictures. He seemed like a solid man, a good man, so I read the article
detailing his life. His life had so much more promise.
Why do they always call it friendly fire when there is nothing friendly about a gun, about holding a gun, about aiming and firing that gun, about killing someone with that gun? The whole reason for a gun's purpose is to kill. Period. KILL!!!!
Do they (the media, the government) think labeling it "friendly" takes the sting away, the grief away, makes it feel any better? "Oh that''s ok, he was killed by friendly fire, the other side didn't mean to do it". BS the other side was scared, the other side was trying to defend itself, the other side sensed (rightly or wrongly) that danger was imminent and wanted someone else to die, not themselves, so they fired, but this time on the "wrong" team.
Stop whitewashing it and call it what it was, the other guy made a god-damn mistake, a stupid mistake, that cost someone innocent their life. What a waste.
My heart felt condolences to the Graham family. |
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| Part III - Not Quite as Unique |
[Aug. 23rd, 2006|10:05 am] |
Funny how when you start to talk to people, about what happens to you (in this case, my keys) they pipe up and say "Oh, I know someone that happened to too". Had 2 ladies tell me the exact same thing happened to friends of theirs, as well as a man who had keys in his pant pockets and when he stood up...
Warm and fuzzy feelings knowing I have company. |
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| Part II - The Keys |
[Aug. 17th, 2006|04:24 pm] |
Thank goodness for maintenance crews!!
When I asked the building facility guy to check the trap for my keys this AM, he looked at me strangely. He couldn't figured out why I had done that to my keys.
He went to work on it and less than 10 minutes later, bless his little soul, I had the full set back. Other than a little wear and tear from the snake he ran through to get them, they look ok. Am definitely soaking them in Javex tonight. ICK!!! |
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| What a Doozy!! |
[Aug. 16th, 2006|09:48 pm] |
5 o'clock, rushing out of my cubicle-ville, trying to get to my kids bus stop, to pick them up after camp. Need to go to the bathroom, haven't moved out of my 4x4 ft prison walls in hours. Okay, I figure 2 extra minutes, I can do this and still be there on time for when the bus arrives.
Hang up my purse on the back of the door, perch my keys on top. Flush, take my purse down as I open the door, and 'clink, clink, clink'. Disbelief as my brain is registering the sound, metal clanging on its way down, my keys!!! God, let them be on the floor. Frantically search all around, and realize they're no where to be found. Looking in the bowl, can't see a thing, they've already been sucked away - what the??? OMG!!!
No key to my car, to get to my waiting children, no way to contact them. Tears start to well up, but no time for those either. Not as urgent, but am thinking no key to get in the house, no key to my desk, damn and I just changed my key-chain ring after having bought it over a year ago and not using it.
Thinking I'm the world's biggest dunce, I head back to my prison walls, where inmates haven't yet sprung themselves for the day. Hitch a ride to the kiddies with a co-worker and await hubby to rescue the stranded waif and children. SIGH!!!!
Have you ever had one of those days.... |
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