Category: Monday Stuff

Today… was busy. Jazz started summer school today; he’s taking TWO classes. The first one (PE) starts at 11:30 and runs until 2:30. The second one (Band) starts at 5:00 and runs until 9:00 p.m. So, I’m tired, but not NEARLY as tired as Jazz is going to be when he gets home tonight.

And just think, we have FOUR more weeks of this. *sigh*

Outside my window: The day started out overcast and a bit scary looking. We had a pretty good-sized blob hit us and though it didn’t really storm, we heard thunder in the distance thereby causing the worst of it to miss us, apparently.

The blob is moving past us now and the temps are rising, along with the humidity. I love living in Missouri, but I could definitely do without the humidity.

I am reading: … nothing at the moment. So much has happened this past eight weeks that I haven’t had the time, or the energy, TO read anything.

However, I started to read, and intend to get back to reading, “F is for Fugitive” by Sue Grafton. The alphabet murders are a bit simplistic, but that’s not why I read them, I like the main character, Kinsey Millhone. Though to be honest, she’s almost a bit too masculine for my taste.

Right now, I’m thinking about: … Kevin, of course. My husband hasn’t been out of my mind for very long periods of time since his accident on April 16th. He was in a lot of pain yesterday, so much so, in fact, that he had to go back to bed and take a nap. When he succumbs to bed and a nap, then I know it’s bad.

He’s been overdoing it. He’s been in his chair all day, every day, this past week and I think it’s caught up with him. But what can I do? I nag. I complain. I bribe. I get angry, but the man is stubborn. He thinks his body should already be back to normal and the fact that it’s not really annoys him.

I wonder: … if I’ll ever get back to writing. I want to, I sit down to start, but then my brain sort of shuts itself off and my creativity goes out the window. I have ideas, but ideas don’t write a story.

I’m going to try my darnedest to set myself a schedule and stick to it. I’ve been distracted and I wish I could say it’s been solely because of Kevin, or because the boys are home, but I’ll be honest – it’s because I’ve been haunting Twitter again.

I have got to seriously cut the Twitter umbilical cord – again. It’s almost sick how addicted I get when I jump on there.

Anyway, my goal is to sit down and pound out a 250-word Flash Fiction piece for tomorrow. I mean, it’s 250 words, SURELY I can write that much.

Right?

Right??

In the kitchen:

* Monday: Fried Chicken
* Tuesday: Breakfast
* Wednesday: Chicken/Pepperoni Spaghetti
* Thursday: Pot Roast
* Friday: Go git (I take Friday and Saturday off from cooking. Kevin cooks on Sunday, with help 🙂 ).

I’m cooking fried chicken right now and I have to tell you, it feels weird to cook again. I didn’t have to cook for four weeks and then two weeks after Kevin came home, we had family constantly bringing us food. Though I would have loved to continue that trend, we started feeling guilty and put a stop to it.

Which means, it’s up to me.

To feed my family.

Which means I have to cook.

Have I mentioned I LOATHE cooking??

I’m sure I’ve mentioned it a time or two (or a hundred).

I am really excited about: … going to the doctor tomorrow. Not for ME, oh good Lord no, but for Kevin. Finally, finally, we get to go see his orthopedic doctor tomorrow. They plan on taking more x-rays so they can see if his fractures are healing, or God willing, ARE healed. We’re hoping the doctor will tell us that he won’t have to wear his braces anymore.

This whole doctor thing is a bit squirrely. Since they actually worked on him in Columbia, this doctor down here in Springfield was sort of pushed onto his case. So I wonder if he truly knows what’s going on. Plus, since they couldn’t work on him here and had to send us to Columbia, I wonder just how good the orthopedic doctors are here in Springfield.

I hate to say that, but I do wonder. In fact, tomorrow will be the first time I’ll get a chance to meet his orthopedic doctor. Every time he came to visit Kevin at the hospital, I wasn’t there. We’ve been warned that he doesn’t offer very much information other than what is absolutely necessary, so we have about 17 questions (no really, we wrote them down!) to go over with him. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles our questions.

One last thing I want to tell you about before I go:

Have you seen this Nike commercial?

I love stuff like this! Soooo inspiring. I love how it depicts how someone can be on top of the world one minute and then not the next minute. The world is fickle, isn’t it? All the more reason to just be yourself.

Or just do it.

Either way, it works for me. 🙂

Let me tell you the story behind that picture up there:

I had gotten Burger King for my guys one night and I don’t know, Dude stuck the bag on his head, which caused Kevin to stick the bag on his head and then Jazz had to get in on the act.

Sometimes, being surrounded by testosterone is difficult. (But entertaining).

Today…

Outside my window: It’s overcast, though not gloomy. Rather, it looks like the sky is trying to decide whether to go ahead and cloud up all the way and give us rain or clear up and allow the sun to shine through. The wishy-washiness of the whole thing drives me nuts. Make a decision already! This looks like rain, then dazzling sunshine indecision is hard to keep up with.

It’s been warm. In fact, we’re supposed to get all the way up to 82 today, which is unusual for this time of year – the record is 83.

I am reading: Morning Comes Softly by Debbie Macomber. I haven’t started it yet and I suspect it might be slow going. I like Macomber, but I sort of have to be in the mood for her.

In the kitchen:

* Monday: Nachos Supreme
* Tuesday: Pork Tenderloin
* Wednesday: Chicken Enchiladas
* Thursday: Spaghetti
* Friday: Go git (I take Friday and Saturday off from cooking. Kevin cooks on Sunday).

I am really excited about: Cooking potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner. I know. How random is that, but ever since we discovered The Pioneer Woman’s method for cooking mashed potatoes, we’ve sort of been obsessed. I won’t tell you her secret ingredient(s), you’ll have to buy her cookbook, but I WILL tell you that we also add a dash of garlic powder and YOWSA, it really adds some zip.

I’m also really excited about: our new back splash!! The tile guy (the same tile guy who did our kitchen floor tile – don’t worry, Kevin is overseeing everything so there is really no way it’s going to get messed up) got here at 9;30 this morning and is still working on it. (It’s now almost 2:00). I sneaked a peek and YOWSA, it REALLY adds a whole new element to the overall look. I’ll take pictures and post them later.

I’m also excited about finding a bench for our utility room. We went to an import furniture store at lunch today (me and Kevin) and found a really cool, distressed wood bench (the wood was imported from India and was actually part of a building in India) that I think might look really cool in that space. The problem is, it was too long. So though we didn’t buy it, we now have a pretty good idea what we want and can keep an eye out for it.

We had originally gone there hoping to find a corner cabinet. My mom and sister both found one for their kitchens and Kevin and I just love the whole corner cabinet concept. We’re looking for a TV corner cabinet to put in our dining room to use when we do Bible study every week. The import place had a corner cabinet we could order from their catalog, but it was pine and I don’t think that kind of wood would look good in a room that is predominantly oak. However, again, we now have a pretty good idea what we want, it’s just a question of finding it. I love when we have concrete ideas – it’s the not knowing that drives me nuts. (But really, you can’t be surprised by that).

This weekend we: were busy, as was everyone, I’m sure. Saturday, my folks came over and since my nephews were already over here to spend some time with our boys, we all got together and had our Easter together. I bought a Honey-Baked ham, we made The Pioneer Woman’s mashed potatoes (my dad had three helpings so I think he liked them!), some mixed veggies and I made my “famous” butt rolls. It always tickles me whenever anyone compliments me on these rolls. You can buy the yeast rolls at Wal-Mart (they come in little balls) and all you have to do is place two balls per muffin cup, wait for them to rise and then stick them in the oven for about 17 minutes. That’s it. And yet, everyone always makes such a big deal out of “my” rolls. HA! I don’t correct them. (Okay, I do).

I also bought a cake from Wal-Mart. Only, this cake had three slices of chocolate, three slices of strawberry, three slices of carrot, and three slices of lemon pieces to make up a whole cake and I was impressed! It tasted fantastic! I’m definitely buying that variety-type cake again.

It was really good to see my folks. I haven’t seen them since Christmas and we spent several pleasant hours together catching up. (Mom, dad, we need to get together more often!)

We also: went over to Kevin’s parents’ house on Sunday. His mom prepared brisket, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, potato salad, (yes, I had both!), some asparagus, and salad. The brisket was so tender I couldn’t even spear it with a fork! (I’ll have to ask her how she got it so tender). She also made a chocolate and zucchini cake, but I couldn’t quite make myself have a piece of that.

We also got to visit with one of my nieces who has been on a mission in Scotland. She came back home for a break, she’ll go back next month and finish out her two-year commitment. I really admire her strength and determination to give her life to God like that. She’s a delightful young woman and I really enjoyed talking with her (and everyone! We talked politics, and since we’re all on the same page with that, it was a VERY enjoyable discussion. In fact, my brother-in-law told me I should run for office because he was impressed with the way I expressed myself. HA! As if).

One last thing I want to tell you about before I go: I also can’t wait for the Ultimate Blog Party!!! It begins this Friday and I’m determined to try and visit as many blogs as I can possibly fit in. I plan on giving prizes away, but I have no idea what those will be at this point. I guess you’ll just have to come back and see. 😀

Oh …

And the Spring photo contest begins April 16th. You can find more information here.

Kevin and I watched “Word Wars“. It’s a documentary about the world’s best Scrabble players.

Warning: If you’re not feeling too good about yourself, then don’t watch this because these dudes? Are freaking smart!! It’s really quite amazing.

And impressive.

But mainly intimidating. I only thought I was halfway decent at the game – um, no, I’m like a new-born babe compared to these dudes.

But if you’re a word nerd and you like this sort of stuff, it’s a really interesting watch. (If foul language offends you, then you might not want to watch it).

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I thought this was an interesting article:

When the Best Rx Is No Rx
In Treating Ear Infections, a Push to Avoid Antibiotics; Persuading Parents to Wait and Watch

Apparently, more and more doctors are trying to persuade parents with children who have ear infections to try the “wait and see” method before resorting to antibiotics. The doctors say that a lot of times, the body will heal itself and the ear infection will heal on it’s own.

A growing number of studies have shown that most children with ear infections recover well without antibiotics, with little risk of more serious complications. Research in the journal BMJ in June even suggested that children who got antibiotics might be more likely to have recurrent infections.

If, after a few days, the child is not feeling better, the parent can call the doctor’s office and they will prescribe an antibiotic over the phone.

My first reaction, when reading this, was WOOT! ‘BOUT TIME! I mean, our bodies are pretty amazing machines – they’re equipped to fight off things like this.

Allan S. Lieberthal, a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles who is chairman of the current guidelines-writing effort, tells parents that the chance of a child getting better within a few days without an antibiotic is about 80%, while with the drug it is around 90%.

However, thinking back to the time period when MY boys were little and suffering from an ear infection? I’m not sure I would have gone for this option. It’s hard enough to watch your child suffer from something, it would be DOUBLY hard to allow them to suffer.

Some parents say that once a bacterial infection has been diagnosed, they’re not comfortable leaving it untreated. Some also push for the quickest possible recovery so their children can return to school or day care. In a survey of primary-care doctors published in 2007, 65% said parents’ demand for antibiotics was the most important barrier to holding off on prescriptions.

So, are parents relying on drugs to heal their children so they can hurry up and resume life? Probably. Who has time for a sick kid?

Anyway, I found this article interesting because in a day and age where there is a pill for everything, and people have sort of expected to be prescribed a pill every time they go to the doctor (whether it’s truly justified or not), I thought this approach was rather “radical.”

I wonder if parents will go for it?

Would you?

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Here’s another interesting article I stumbled upon this past week:

Eliminate senior year of high school? Utah lawmaker says the move would save money

Would students miss much if the state eliminated grade 12 to save money?

State Sen. Chris Butters, a Republican representing an area just west of Salt Lake City, is getting some national attention for a plan that would provide incentives for students to get the necessary graduation requirements completed by the end of their junior year.

“There are some [students] that really have a great 12th grade, but you talk to 100 kids and their parents, and I believe the majority of them will say, ‘Well, my kid didn’t do much in the 12th grade,’” Buttars told Schencker. “Everybody wants to talk about change … But to tell you the truth, they’re scared to death of it.”

About half the state’s high school seniors would have to leave early for the state to save the $60 million.

Wow. I’m honestly not sure how I feel about this – even a week later. My very first reaction was like, “Are you kidding me?! No way!”

But then I thought, “Well. The only required course Dude has to take his senior year is an English class – everything is else is cheese.”

Granted, important and interesting cheese, but cheese, none the less.

I can see why Utah would consider eliminating 12th grade. And it would save them a lot of money.

But at the same time, are kids mature enough to hit the real world running at 17? I’m pretty sure Dude’s not ready, but then again, if he had been mentally prepared for it to happen, he probably would be.

I just don’t know how I feel about this proposal.

What say you? Were you ready to graduate when you were 17?

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Yet another article …

The $555,000 Student-Loan Burden

Holy. Freaking. Bank. Balance. Batman.

Can you imagine, I mean, really imagine, owing half a million dollars JUST in student loans?!?

I honestly can’t fathom it. Let’s be real, will this woman EVER get this loan paid off?

Truly?

Granted, she didn’t have to keep deferring her loans, (which is really what got her into trouble), but let’s say she hadn’t …

should it really cost $250,000 to go to med school?!

THAT right there is where our education system fails us, I think: the cost. That’s insane. And it discourages people to go into the field, or to further one’s education – who wants to graduate from school owing that much money? Oh sure, you can get a job paying the big bucks (which is really the reason anyone goes into medicine – the crazy salary. Yes, some go into the business because they truly want to help people, but let’s get real – the money doesn’t hurt), but think how long it would take for a loan that size to get paid off.

Years.

Decades.

If we want more people to pursue an education then we honestly need to do something about the COST of said education.

Don’t you agree?

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It is so refreshing to read a POSITIVE story about weight gain and athleticism for a change.

Ice dancer Belbin has put on weight, and she couldn’t be happier

It’s about time and kudos to Belbin.

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And speaking of weight …

The Cost of Being Fat : $100,000 Over a Lifetime

The Council on Size & Weight Discrimination cites several studies in the last decade that show the financial affects of weight discrimination in the workplace. Here are some of the more shocking figures:

* Heavier workers earn $1.25 an hour less than their average-weight peers, adding up to a $100,000 difference in a 40-year career.
* Additional weight hurts women even more—slightly overweight women can expect a 6% pay discrepancy, whereas more obese women make 24% less.
* A survey of people 50% over their ideal weight showed that 17% were fired or pressured to resign because of their weight.

A 2009 Weight Bias Study from Yale (PDF) showed that a job applicant or employee’s weight had a considerable effect on employment decisions such as hiring, placement, and coworker evaluations. According the study, “it was demonstrated that overweight job applicants and employees were evaluated more negatively and had more negative employment outcomes compared to non-overweight applicants and employees.” []

Perhaps the most shocking fact of all is that weight discrimination is almost perfectly legal. Only one state (Michigan) features legislation against weight discrimination. There have been individual cases where employers’ policies have been ruled against, but the standards that protect individuals’ rights against age, race, religious, and gender discrimination offer no such shelter to the obese. Obviously, we have to ask . . . should they?

Comments?

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And one last thing …

You know what I don’t get? How this administration rallies against the elite & yet they ooze elitism. How ironic.

Seriously. Click over and tell me what you think.

It REALLY makes my blood boil.

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I have many more links / articles to share with you, but I think I’ll save them for another time.

I’ve posted these, and so many more, on my Twitter account if you want to keep track.

Here are a few things that caught my attention this past weekend.

(WARNING: These topics are controversial and a bit *ahem* top heavy, but these are the sorts of things I think about – a lot. Thanks for stopping by).

Remember all the hoopla over the Pro-Life commercial that was scheduled to air during the Super Bowl? Have you seen it??

I KNOW! Are you shocked?! Can you believe they would promote family?!? What is wrong with these people.

Pfft.

Isn’t it crazy what people get so bent out of shape over? I thought this commercial was sweet and touching and only reinforced the need for women to make a wise and informed decision about something as precious as a life.

But hold on – I’m pro-choice. And by that I mean pro-choice. I believe women have the right to say what happens to their body. I believe that as soon as that right, or any similar right that affects an individual, is taken away, then we have serious problems.

Can you imagine being a victim of incest or rape and then having someone tell you that you MUST have the baby anyway? That you don’t have a choice. Yes, it was a terrible and bad thing that happened to you but TOUGH. That decision is no longer yours to make.

BUT …. BUT … before you go off and start lecturing me about the importance of life let me just say …

I agree with you. Please understand, I think a woman should retain her right to choose what is done to her body, I just pray that she chooses life over death.

It sickens, and disgusts me, how callous society has become when it comes to children. Both in the womb and out. Abortion should never, ever, EVER be used as a form of birth control and I think too often, it is. I think society, as a whole, does not value life in general and is alarmingly flippant and blasé about it. It’s life. It’s precious. And I believe that if a woman finds herself pregnant, she should CHOOSE to either keep it or give it up for adoption. Abortion should only, and I stress ONLY, be the last resort.

I think too often, pro-choice people are actually pro-abortion. Because if they were truly pro-choice, wouldn’t they be grateful that the women who contemplated abortion chose life instead? I see too many people get bent out of shape when other alternatives are offered to women in that situation and I just don’t understand WHY pro-choice people would have a problem with that. Don’t you find it ironic that to be truly pro-choice other options should be given and yet when they’re given, and taken, people get upset? Why would anyone get upset over a woman’s CHOICE to give birth to the baby and then give it up for adoption? Or CHOOSE to keep the baby and raise it herself? That’s what this commercial is all about. It’s about the choice this woman made to keep her baby, even though she was having a difficult pregnancy and even though the experts were telling her the baby might die.

And yet, people have a problem with it. Why? Because it promotes life? Because it highlights this woman’s decision to have her baby despite the danger? Because it promotes strong family values? Because it was scheduled to air during a time slot reserved for inane, asinine, fluffy commercials about casual Fridays? I truly don’t understand the opposition.

In the meantime, you can read more about the story behind this commercial here. (Please watch it – it’s inspiring and brought tears to my eyes). If you want to comment, go ahead. But I reserve the right to delete anything that is less than respectful or inflammatory in any way.

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Speaking of Super Bowl commercials, here’s another one that irked me:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Danica Patrick. *SIGH* I just can’t like her because of these stupid, sexist Go-Daddy commercials.

I mean, here’s a woman, making headway in a predominately male sport, who has the opportunity to be great, to do something substantial, to make history and inspire future generations of women and yet, she succumbs to the ole stand-by of “let’s flash some boob to get attention” stint.

I mean, COME ON, Ms. Patrick, have some freaking pride, why don’t you? I understand the whole sponsor thing, I get that it’s really hard, if not impossible, to get anyone to go out on a limb and fork over millions of dollars for a racing team in this economy, but couldn’t you have put your foot down and said something like “NO! I won’t allow you to market me into yet another lame, sexist attempt to broaden your audience.”

Here’s a thought, what ever happened to showing what a kick-ass driver you are? Instead, we’re once again focused on your looks and the fact that *GASP* you have breasts.

Big whoop.

I’m excited about more women getting into NASCAR, but geez louise, can we have a little respect for our gender, and for the other female drivers in the meantime? Which are just as pretty and probably just as talented as Ms. Patrick, only we don’t know about because the media is so focused on Patrick’s lame attempts to market herself and tease the public with boob shots.

Gah.

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Here is an interesting local story I thought I would comment on:

Religious symbol on jewelry puts woman crossways with employer

Vodpod videos no longer available.

In essence, this woman works (worked?) for FedEx and refused to take off her cross necklace citing religious reasons. Only, the company specifically has a policy about anyone wearing any sort of jewelery with their uniform – they can’t even wear any sort of pins. This is a company policy and I’m assuming this woman signed a form stating that she agreed to those terms.

I think it was wise on FedEx’s part to make this policy specific and known because in order to allow one individual to wear a symbol of Christianity, then to be fair, they then would also be forced to allow others to wear their religious symbols and quite honestly? It’s hard enough not to offend anyone in business, let alone when a company is willing to open the door to symbols that will surely offend someone at some point; eliminating all sorts of jewelry and garment paraphernalia nips a potential problem in the bud.

Now granted, I can appreciate this woman’s willingness to stand up for her religion, a religion that I happen to also believe in, but this is a company policy, that she was made aware of multiple times and is a condition of her working there. Not to sound cold-hearted, but if she wants to wear her cross, she will need to look for a job that will allow her the luxury of wearing said jewelry.

However, given these last few sentences in the story:

“Her administrative leave is attributed to being out of uniform for multiple months. There are personal insignia limitations in the dress code but religious exceptions are given when requested and validated.”

Graves says she didn’t know and wasn’t told she could apply for a religious exemption. She says she would have done so if given the opportunity.

It sounds to me like the company will give in to her “religious exemption.” Which isn’t right, though again, I can appreciate this woman’s refusal to conform and compromise her beliefs, because if the company gives in to her, then they have to give in to the next person and the next and where exactly do they draw the line?

Why even have a policy to begin with if they’re going to eventually waffle and cite “religious exemption” for the people who refuse to follow company rules?

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Did you hear?! Sarah Palin wrote on her hand!! Oh my gosh!! The gall of the woman! Has she never heard of a teleprompter??

And can you believe this was actually news? And the left was trying to somehow spin this into something about cheating?!

Unbelievable. Yes, the woman wrote down some key points she wanted to cover in the speech she gave at the annual Tea Party convention in Nashville over the weekend. And I daresay she wrote those key points down because she didn’t have teleprompters to guide her when she spoke – from her heart.

Unlike another prominent public SERVANT in the White House.

Let’s not forget that our Commander in Chief can’t even address children without his trusty teleprompter, people.

I mean seriously. How pathetic.

THAT pretty much trumps any notes that Palin scribbled on her hand, don’t you think?

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And lastly, because this post is steeped in negativity, let’s end on a positive, and funny, note.

Betty White’s appearance in this Snickers commercial:

She’s a class act, isn’t she? 🙂

Monday Mentions is an easy way to share any and all of the fun things you’ve discovered recently, online or otherwise. For more information read this post by the mastermind behind this whole thing, Jen @ Daily Mish Mash. Here’s what I’ve discovered this week…

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1. So the Amazon book store thing is going well …

I’ve sold eight books so far – not bad for only being “in business” a little over a week.

Though I don’t have any illusions of getting rich off this book store, it IS nice to be able to sell my books to people who actually want them. This whole book store thing is still an experiment, but if I continue selling books, then I’m definitely going to start getting pro-active about adding more books to my inventory. And if that means hitting yard sales, and of COURSE the bi-annual library book sales, then I will do it.

It’s all for a good cause, after all. 🙂

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2. I just had the weirdest thing happen.

Well, weird and creepy.

Dude’s ’99 Cavalier is parked in our backyard. We want to build a garage but right now, we don’t have the funds to build that garage. So, there she sits all by her lonesome.

And here I sit, writing to you all, waiting to go pick up the boys from school, when the doorbell rings.

I ignore it. I always ignore the doorbell, one, because if you didn’t call first? All bets are off as far as me stopping what I’m doing and talking to you. And two, I’m by myself and HELLO creepy person confronting a woman, by herself, at home.

I’m pretty dense, but even I know that can be a stupid move.

After some time passed, I went to the door, expecting to see a delivery. Because most of the time, that’s who is ringing our doorbell – the UPS/FedEx guy.

I open the door – no package. But there is a sticky note stuck to my front door. The guy wrote something about if we wanted to sell the Cavalier, regardless of whether it was working or not, to give him a call.

Um … no. That’s our son’s car and it’s not going anywhere. But I can understand why he might have thought we wanted to sell it – it’s parked in our backyard and DOES look like we’re trying to sell it.

But here’s the really creepy part. I get up from my desk and I see the back door ALSO has a sticky note on it. Same message, same guy. But um … the back door. Which means he had to walk all the way around our house and stick it there. Front door. Okay. Back door? Dude, you’re trespassing. And the part that irritates/embarrasses me? He HAD to have seen me sitting at my desk because I’m right there, in plain sight.

He must have thought I was so rude.

Well, I AM rude. But still … awkward!

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3. I was updating school websites this morning … because that’s my day job, and I was trying to locate a graphic for a pair of jeans (don’t ask), when I stumbled onto this picture.

I’d post it here, but honestly? It offends me so much that I can’t bring myself to actually do it.

And here I go, back on my soapbox again …

Look. Ladies. I get pretty sick and tired of listening to ya’ll bitch and moan about how men need to stop oogling and staring and treating you like a sex object when you CLEARLY want that to happen.

Why would I say that? Why would anyone wear something like this and think it WON’T happen??

If you want to be taken seriously, if you want men to respect you and stop looking at you like a sex object, then for the love of God, don’t wear slutty clothes like this.

Sheesh. Am I the only one who understands this concept? Because I’m beginning to think so!

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4. My laptop crashed, which meant my iTunes library went *POOF*, and disappeared. I don’t know about you? But AARGGH!! This is like twice this has happened to me. The first time, I spent an entire day putting all of my CD’s back into my iTunes library AND dummy me, I didn’t keep a backup of the songs I purchased through Apple, so in essence, I lost those songs. (I could have contacted Apple about that, and I’m sure they would have allowed me to get copies of those songs, but Ugh. There were only a few and quiet honestly? I didn’t feel like jumping through hoops, which you sometimes have to do when you deal with big, controlling corporations like that).

But this time, THIS TIME, I got smart. I have nearly 1,100 songs on my iPod and OMG, I did not relish the thought of having to put all of those songs back on, so I started doing a little research.

If you have anything BUT an iPod Touch or Phone, you can plug your iPod into your computer and it will recognize it as a hard drive. You can then manually copy folders onto your computer, and then import them back into iTunes and SNAP, your songs are back into your iTunes. But this is only if you’re comfortable with file management. And if you’re not, or, like me, you have an iTouch or an iPhone, you can use programs like Copy Trans. (If you want to know more about the file management option, this is a good place to start reading about it).

Copy Trans will take the songs off your iPod, put them on your computer, and then turn around and import them into your iTunes with one click of a button. They offer a free download, so you can try it, but it’s only good up to 100 songs. If you want to import any more than that, you have to pay $20 for a full license.

So, I thought I’d give them a shot. I mean, time is money and it’s worth it to me not to have to blow a whole day just to put my music back on … so, I tried it.

I downloaded the program, installed it, plugged in my iPod and it recognized my Touch immediately. All I had to do was click one button and it did it’s job.

Seamless and incredibly easy. The whole process took about 25 minutes. Which beats the HOURS I would have spent doing the same thing manually.

You can also customize what you want transferred and there are various other functions available, but I since that’s all I wanted from the program, that’s all it gave me.

I recommend using the program. You won’t find an option to transfer your music FROM your iPod TO your computer from Apple, you’ll have to use a third party. And if you’re needing something like that done, I recommend Copy Trans.

(Remember. I don’t do sponsored posts – I was not compensated to talk about Copy Trans in any way).

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5. Snuggies for Geeks.

Seriously. Click on the link. You will laugh. Then come back here and tell me which one you liked the most.

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6. If you dropped it on the floor, should you eat it?

Here’s a flow chart to help you decide.

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7. This photo made me laugh.

We’re totally doing this the next time we’re on a beach.

In about five years. 😀