Great Weekend....

I have had a great weekend!

Friday evening was spent at home......After a one hour deliberation with the Tax Dept and the Assessor's Office about my property taxes.....ALL $270 of it! (They misquoted me....original quote was $136 - over the phone....Then, in person on Friday, when I went to pay it, it was $270. Then, they said that they had misquoted it and it should be nearly $350, but since they misquoted me at the $270 amount, that is what they will charge me. I'll have to go in tomorrow AM to give them the check. ARGHHH!!! $270!!!!!)

Saturday was spent with my friend, Annette, and her parents. They are so nice! I went with Annette and her parents for a quick tour of Charleston. We went through Kanawha State Forest. We made a wrong turn and even though we thought that we would come out on Rt. 119 in Corridor G, we actually came out in Hernshaw (right outside of Boone County). Nothin' like a Saturday adventure!!!! Plus, Annette's dad is afraid of heights and he was a little concerned winding around a curvy dirt road with NO guard rails! :) It was a trip to WV that I doubt they soon forget!!!!! Anthony and I met up with them for dinner and had a great chat and some great food! Annette's mom paid the bill before I even had a chance! So, we will return the favor next time. It was such a great visit! I also got to talk with Michael Ann and Libby on the phone. It was a great day!

Sunday was spent with my family. I hadn't seen mom, dad, and the boys for a few weeks. I had a great visit. I didn't get to spend much time with dad though. He got off work after 4 and I thought he got off work at 3. :( I hope to spend more time with him soon.

It's back to work tomorrow....a good week ahead, I think. I am always excited to get back to work after a great weekend. Good times with friends and families recharge me for work!

Talk to you guys soon! Have a great MONDAY!

It's almost Friday....YIPPEEE!

I love my job, but man, I am so glad tomorrow's Friday. It's been a busy and long week. I'll be glad to see quitting time tomorrow. Heck, I may see about getting off early and taking some of the vacation time I need to take!!!! :) One good thing about tomorrow is that I have a lunch meeting at my favorite restaurant downtown, Blossom Deli. So, that means some awesome chicken salad on mixed greens and a fountain cherry coke. MMMMM MMMMM (I could eat there every day and not get tired of it. I LLLLLOOOOVVVVEEE that place!)

I have a great weekend ahead, too. I think Anthony and I are going out to dinner again sometime this weekend. WOW Twice in one month...can you believe it? :) Annette's parents are coming in for a visit this weekend and I am going to visit with them on Saturday. I am looking forward to meeting them! Then, on Sunday, I will be at my mom and dad's visiting with them. My mom's birthday is today and I will get to visit with her on Sunday and I am really looking forward to it.

I just read through the two prior paragraphs and realized that this post is pretty lame, but I this is what is going on and I don't know what else to write about....heeeeeeeee

So, you'll just have to take it for what it's worth! :)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :)

Dreams and Thoughts....

DREAMS...
I have had crazy dreams lately, and from my conversation with my friend, Charlie, I'm not the only one. It seems as though it has been common lately. They just don't make sense!!!!

I dreamed one night this weekend that I was trying to save puppies from a cage. The puppies were in a cage with snakes and I couldn't get the puppies out without getting bitten. But, if I left the puppies in the cage, they would be eaten by the snake. (In my dream, I believed this.) So, I tried and tried. All the while, I was in an empty office space with realty signs all around me. I understand that part, though. We have been looking for new office space at work and there are three coworkers selling/buying houses right now. One of them has a dog who just had pups, so that might explain it. Who knows? It is all a little crazy for me, but most of my dreams are.

THOUGHTS....
I have been thinking a lot about people lately. Some people who I haven't thought of for a long time. A few of them are people who I was close friends with during high school. One girl in particular, has come up in conversations three times in the last few months. First, I heard that she was working in an office where my aunt used to work. Then, she is in women's club or group with a lady who called and registered for one of our workshops at work. (Coming from a small county, people always ask if you know 'so in so' and I usually do.) Then, today, another friend contacted me and asked me if I knew this girl (since she knew that the girl had went to the same high school.) My friend today had my high school friend's phone number. I think I might call her this weekend. It is a little strange, but I feel like there is a reason for me thinking so much about her and hearing so much about her. So, I figure it's worth a phone call. Besides, I would love to hear what she has been up to.

I have also been thinking about people that I continually think about. More so than usual, though. I always pray for my friends and family before I go to sleep at night. I pray for their health and safety. These are people that I think about at least each night. But, I have been thinking about them even more. I think about times that I spent growing up at my grandmother, aunt, papaw, mother and my best friend, Tamara, and her family. Then, I think about the wonderful times I spent with my brothers, my dad, my mom, my nana and granddad. I also think about all of my other family members and friends that I have such great memories with. I don't know why. Every little thing is triggering a memory......Maybe it is to help me appreciate things and not take things for granted. There are moments during the day when I still go down the hallway at work and for a split second, I forget that Michael Ann isn't in the office next to me anymore. And, now that our office manager is moving, it will be weird dealing with that too. I'm glad we are moving office space because maybe this won't happen anymore. Then, there are certain things that remind me of Tamara and the times that we spent every waking moment together. We are both married and have jobs and lives that we have to lead, but no matter what, we are still best friends. But I would love sometimes to just go back to the days when we played Barbies, swam in the neighbor's pool, and ate without care that it would go to our waistline. Just one day of being little carefree girls again. It's not that I don't want to be with my husband or have my current life...I am lucky to have the life I have. But, who doesn't want to go back to the carefree days of childhood?

And then, there is the times that I spent with my great friend, Lib, chatting on her couch and talking about our lives and enjoying each other's company. Even going to Walmart was fun with her. She and I are going to start grad school together, so I hope to get to see her more soon.

A friend who I have become close with at work, Annette, is our VISTA. She has a one year 'committment' to our organization and then she is probably moving back home to Ohio. I don't want her to leave and I have already told her that she moved to WV and we aren't letting her leave! HAHA Her one year project will be finished in October, so we've got some time. I'm trying to make the most of it. But, I know that she will be leaving when fall comes. I just hope it's one long summer.

Basically, this post is tributed to all of my friends and family.... from childhood buddies to career colleagues. A special thanks to the friends and family who have supported me for as long as I can remember. A special thanks to my friends from college, work and professional life that have supported me and pushed me to grow and learn. I can't believe how many people who have helped me get where I am. It truly takes a village to raise a child. I am still being 'raised' and still learning.....AND I am so grateful to my village.

Back on the wagon.....I think.....????

I started back on Weight Watchers today. (I actually started yesterday, but didn't count my points.) Anyway, I'm already feeling better and I'm eating MUCH better.

I even resisted temptation when I made dinner tonight. I made hamburgers and homemade onion rings for Anthony and his dad. I didn't eat them. I had one bit of an onion ring to make sure that they were done, but no more. I had a huge salad and Chicken Enchiladas Suiza from Weight Watchers. I'll finish off with a Healthy Choice Chocolate Ice Cream Bar.

YUMMY!

I made a wonderful BBQ Chicken Pizza last night and homemade Cinnamon Rolls (all weight watcher friendly, I might add....) And tomorrow is Mexican Lasagna. YUMM-O!!!!

Keep your fingers crossed that I stick with it! :)

Cooking and eating are therapeutic for me!

I am feeling much better. I got up off the couch and went to the grocery store this afternoon.

Cooking and eating are therapeutic for me!

My father in law and I were watching Food Network (our favorite Saturday past time) and it was a day dedicated to Italian cooking. So, with that inspiration, I planned on making stuffed shells florentine with homemade marinara, salad, and dessert.

I got to the store and they didn't carry the jumbo shells! ARGHH!!! I hate planning a meal and then not being able to get everything to make it. It was bad enough that they didn't have shells (because that is a common item), but when I decided to make a prosciutto marinara with linguine instead, I went to the deli and they didn't have any prosciutto! So, I decided to make baked penne with an italian sausage and meat sauce. It turned out really well. Not stuffed shells, but good.

Anthony got me chocolate dipped strawberries from Godiva for Valentine's Day. So, I got some strawberries, cherries, and grapes to dip for dessert tonight. I've made them before, but they were especially good tonight. I also dipped some banana slices b/c I had some extra dipping chocolate left over. I will freeze the bananas next time before I dip them...it will make it a little easier! :)

The grapes are my favorite.....tart and sweet in the same bite. YUMMO! (I watch Rachel Ray, can you tell?)

A good dinner and a good evening.

Anthony rented SAW II and we are watching it. I'm trying to watch as little of it as possible b/c I'm a scaredy cat! HAHA

Let's hope it's a great evening.....and I win the Powerball Jackpot! :)

Even if I don't win the powerball, tomorrow morning will be good. The menu for breakfast is homemade scones with a brandied raspberry and cherry preserve. I bought the preserves at the store today. It is actually marketed as a "fruit caviar" and seems to be a very high quality preserve/ice cream topping. (And it could be that I am a sucker for good marketing!) It looks divine and I can't wait to try it with my homemade scones! YUMMMMMMY!

(I just read that last paragraph.....I actually compared eating breakfast to winning the powerball. Man, I've got a problem. I love food more than money....there's something wrong with that or is there????)

Finally getting over my cold....

I caught the cold bug that has been going around earlier this week. It came down hard on me Thursday night. I woke up before the sun rose with a horrible headache. I managed to get the energy and motivation to go downstairs and get some medicine. I know from experience that if I wake up in the middle of the night or early morning with a headache, I have to take something. The concept of "Oh, I'll sleep it off" never works. So, I took some medicine and went back to bed. Then I went back to sleep after much tossing and turning. Then, before I knew it, it was time to get up. I kept thinking, "Just five more minutes", as I did when I was a kid. I finally rolled out of bed....late, but I did finally get up. I showered and began getting ready. I felt better after my shower, but by the time that I put my makeup on and dried my hair, I was wore out. It's sad when getting ready for work wears you out....I knew I was sick.

I had a press conference on Friday, so I couldn't miss work. Of course, if you ask my coworkers, I wouldn't have missed work anyway. One coworker told me after coming in about 1/2 hour late on Friday, "I told the other girls that Jen takes off early sometimes or comes in late, but Jen never takes a day off." She's telling the truth. I really don't take time off of work very much. I enjoy my job very much. I love doing what I do! Actually, my Executive Director told me that I have to take some time off soon or I'm going to lose it b/c I can't carry all of the hours over to next year. So, I guess I'll take some time off soon. I don't know what I'll do, but I figure out something. I'd rather take it off for a vacation or a day out with the girls rather than a day on the couch with a snotty nose! ;)

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What I've been up to.....

Hye, i'ave had so much going on, but I jus thavne't been able to get it down into a post. So, here's a bulleted list of what I've been up to:

1. First, I've been working on our training sessions for work. I've been bringing work home with me almost every evening for the past couple weeks so that I can get everything done. We are doing a "trial run" of some of our trainings with our staff this week (to make sure that everything we want to cover is included in the presentations). So, I have to make sure that my presentations are finished and ready to go by Wednesday. :) Wish me luck!
2. I went to hear my friend Charlie (read his blog) and the band that he performs in, The Carpenter Ants, with another friend last weekend. I had a blast. They are SO talented. I love their music! It is a great blend of all different sounds and I truly enjoy their music. Many of their songs speak to me deep down....and a few others are songs that I listen to for a smile or laugh. If you ever get the opportunity to see the Carpenter Ants perform, DO IT! I had never seen them live, but I had heard two of their CD's. They are even better live! Because you get to see the joy and enjoyment on their face, but even on their CD, you can hear their joy and smiles. Check them out at http://www.carpenterants.wvmusichalloffame.com/. A BIG SMILE AND ROUND OF APPLAUSE TO THE ANTS for their wonderful performance at Vandalia Lounge last Friday night. I had a blast!!!!!
3. I've decided to pursue my Master's Degree through WVU's Integrated Marketing and Communications program. I will go back into debt, but it will a wise investment. I am applying for some scholorships too, so I hope that will help. The program is an intensive program that takes less than 2 years to complete. Semesters are 9 weeks long and I will be taking two courses per semester. Man, I will be a crazy woman this fall!!!!! (I'm excited about this because my friend, Lib, is going to be in the program too. We'll be study buddies!!!! YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!)
4. Anthony took me out to dinner at a great new restaurant downtown on Friday. The food was great and we got to spend quality time together. I couldn't tell you the last time we went on a "date" together. It was so nice. When we went out all the time before we got married, I took it for granted. Now, I truly appreciate him taking me out for a nice quiet evening....and not complaining when I ordered the Shrimp Scampi (that was a little expensive). We had a wonderful evening! I felt so bad though when Anthony was up all night vomiting. (I don't think it was the food...he was coming down with something last week and I think that it finally hit him hard Friday night.) I know that he said that it will be a while before he eats spicy food again....I take it that it wasn't as tasty coming back up! (Okay, that was gross and probably TMI, but I felt compelled to share....for some twisted reason.)
5. As in my other post, we have had problems with email at work over the past couple weeks and it has driven me crazy!

I think that's all....Just workin', livin', and preparin' for grad school.

I'll keep you guys up to date! :)

Life without email....

Okay, so we live in the 21st century.....We depend on our state of the art forms of communication to survive.....cell phones, blackberry devices, PDAs, email, instant messaging, text messaging...the list goes on and on.

But what happens when you are without these things? PURE CHAOS! We have been having major difficulties with our email server for over two weeks now. Each morning, we pray and cross our fingers and click "Send and Receive" and hope that it will be a day when we are looked upon favorably by the "email gods". Today was a good day....most of us had email, but there were many days recently when we weren't so lucky. And, some employees are luckier than others....because some of our employees haven't been able to access their email in over a week.

My point to this post is that who knew how dependent we are on these forms of communications? These days were very nerve-wracking for me. I caught myself pacing back and forth from the copy machine to my office (which is about a 3 minute walk). Wondering around like I didn't know where I was going or where I should be was common during these days. I was physically and mentally lost.... When my email is working, I am a compulsive 'send and receiver'. Every few minutes, I click on my Outlook and hit the S&R. Then, I return back to whatever else I was doing. When I can't hit S&R constantly, it messes with my schedule and throws a wrench into my day.

Adding the fact that my cell phone has been on the fritz lately (it won't hold a charge and doesn't notify me of all calls....until it is a 'missed call'), it has been a hard couple of weeks.

So, am I the only one that is so dependent on technology? I don't think so because there were many of my coworkers who were frazzled by the lack of email access. It does feel strange that I rely on it so much, though. There were days when I jokingly told our executive director that he needed to order us straight jackets. Another employee and I joked that if he saw us rocking back and forth in a doubled over position, not to be alarmed....it was just email withdrawl.

So, the question that I pose to you is: What thing are you dependent upon? Did you realize that you were dependent when you had to go without it or did one day did you just have some other form of epiphany? I'd like to know....I'm generally interested in what you have to say AND I'm searching for someone who is in the same boat! :)

FUNNY NOTE: When I attempted to publish this post. An error message on blogger that I needed to repost it in 10 minutes b/c updates were being made to blogger. HAHAHA I just can't win with technology lately!!!!

I love the Super Bowl! And the commercials!

Okay, call me crazy, but I have always looked forward to the commercials on Super Bowl Sunday. I haven't always been a football fan, but I have always been a fan of a good commercial. I guess I was 'destined' for my career.....

I have always appreciated advertising and the "power of suggestion".

So, here are my favorite commercials so far (considering it is only the third quarter).

• Dove - True Beauty: Okay, so I got teary-eyed. I can't help it. What girl hasn't felt like that? I have been a huge supporter of Dove's Beauty campaign from the beginning. Now, they are bringing our youth into it, which is awesome. This commerical had all of the elements....tugging on the heart strings, relating to personal experience of viewers (people relate to the young girls in the ad - at least I did), a great product to advertise, and a catchy tune to remember the ad. I have always loved Cindy Lauper, especially that song. It is definitely an ad that I will remember. (And as a consumer, I will remember it when I go to the store. I am already a Dove consumer, but I will look at their other products to help support their campaign.)

Here are a few cute ones that I enjoyed:

• FedEx "Cave Man"
• AmeriQuest Mortgage "Medical Misunderstandings" and "Turbulence" (both were great!)
• Careerbuilder.com "Chimps"
• Michelob Ultra Amber "Touch Football" I loved the end --- "That was a 'late hit'." HAHA
• NFL Network "Connected by the Game" (My favorite part was the little girl who had on the shirt that said 'Anyone but the Cowboys'. I LOVED THAT!)
• Sprint "Theft Deterrent" This had a surprise element. Very funny! ("The Music Downloads" commercial for Sprint was cute, too.)
• Hummer H3 "Little Monster" (not extremely funny, but it was cute and unique)
• DisneyWorld "I'm Going to Disney World" (It's amazing how many people relate Disney World to the Super Bowl. Everyone knows that the saying is, "You've just won the Super Bowl, now what? 'I'm going to Disney World!')

Since this is just the third quarter, I'm sure that there will be more. I wanted to post my favorites though before I got too nervous about the game to post. HAHA

I really want Pittsburgh to win and they are only up by 4. Anthony and I have bet against each other. I brought up the idea in a way to bribe him to take me out to dinner sometime soon. (We haven't been on a date in a long time!) Then, it turned into me wanting to go to New York. So, if I win, we go to NYC (which I doubt will happen anyway), and if he wins, he picks this year's vacation spot. I don't even know how it got changed to this, but I think I had a better shot at getting dinner with my husband than a weekend in the Big Apple. (Especially since he knows that if I got to NY, I want to go to see a play on Broadway. Shyeah, like that will happen!) But, we'll see!

The line before the game started was Pittsburgh -4. (Seahawks are getting 4 points.)

I want Pittsburgh to win so bad (even before we placed the bet) and Anthony has been cheering for the Seahawks for some unknown reason ???!!!!!! So, the Steelers has to win by more than 4 in order for me to win the bet. Steelers are up by 4 now and if things don't change, neither one of us win. I'd still be happy, though.

We'll see.

I'm going to go back to the game......

GO STEELERS!!!!!!!

So - here's what I want to know.....Who did you cheer for during the BIG GAME? And what were your favorite commercials??????

State of the Union.....

Okay, so I know that I am late posting this, but I was so fired up last night, I knew better than to post then.

So, here is my attempt to be calm.....

1. First, I would like to commend the President on his moment of rememberance for Mrs. Coretta Scott King. It was the honorable thing to do. It's nice to know that he would take the time to remember someone who is something that he will never be. (A strong AND compassionate visionary.)
2. He wants to reform health care. Okay, so I give him credit. I just hope he doesn't screw it up and make it more complicated like he has Medicare.
3. One main deficit of the speech - Very little mention of Katrina and no mention of the mining accidents AT ALL. This has been in the national news and has received attention by all levels of government....well, except our President.
4. We're oil addicts. Okay, so while it may be true, our nation has been that way for a long time. I was just shocked that he worded it that way, considering his VP's company.
5. His attempt to "recover" from the overwhelming response by the democrats in the audience after he stated that his social security bill didn't pass. He stuttered so much in his attempt to regain the attention of the room that no one could understand what he said.
6. I'm not going to even touch the "War on Terror" discussions. Don't even want to go there. I do understand that we can't pull out now this far in the game. I just feel he's giving us the run around.
7. No Child Left Behind - This program has not worked, is not working, and will never work. We need programs that help children achieve in school, not discourage them. (School test scores are combined and there are no considerations made to children with learning disabilties or those in special classes and therefore affects the entire school's test average.)
8. He spoke about "working towards" a balanced budget. So, he's going to try to achieve something that he was given when he took office???? So, he's basically he's telling me he's going to try to fix what he screwed up.
9. Bush wants to stop the divide between party lines. As one commentor said, 'It would be difficult for Bush to do so. You need respect from both parties to achieve this and Bush does not have support or respect from both parties.'
10. I will be brief on this topic because you all know how I feel. He spoke about "morals" and "values". I don't agree with him. He states that he believes in family values. Are nontraditional and blended families not families? I believe that his "value" is lacking compassion and tolerance.
11. He spoke for a few seconds about federal funding to nonprofit organizations to assist in community needs, focusing on AIDS support. I was pleased with this comment and shocked that he would even utter the letters A-I-D-S. I was so proud that for about 30 seconds, he seemed to show some concern and compassion for a problem that has been plaguing the world for years.

Okay, so there is my synopsis. I've condensed it down. I could have went on for days. I was so fired up last night, fire was coming out of my ears.

Then, this morning, on the local morning radio program, they were discussing Cindy Sheehan's arrest. I tried like hell to get through to the show this morning. I know that they had a ton of callers with varying opinions. For those of you who don't know, Cindy Sheehan, mother of fallen solider, wore a shirt to the Union Address last night with "2,245 Dead. How many more?" on it. She was escorted out of the building. Another woman wearing a tshirt with "support the troops" on it, was escorted out of the building. There are two differences between these two women. One woman is the wife of a republican senator and supports Bush. The other is not. Now, you tell me which one was arrested and charged with unlawful conduct?

I agree, in a way, with one of the radio show hosts. There is a time and a place for everything. There is tact and class. But, she wasn't holding a sign, obstructing someone's view. She wasn't "overly distracting". She was just there to hear what the President had to say and maybe by wearing the shirt, she was hoping that it would remind him of all the fallen soldiers....and their families.

I guess Hillary's obvious knod of disgust and disagreement should be considered "unlawful" too. Maybe the extended cheering and clapping of the democrats after Bush's statement about his SS bill rejection last night could be considered "unlawful conduct". After all, it did catch the President off guard....it was something he wouldn't agree with or approve of. AND it did reflect badly on the President. So, are all of those things "unlawful acts"? I guess most of the acts that the President does himself would be considered "unlawful acts" then. Afterall, he does a darn good job at making himself look bad.