Quote

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, it's just possible you haven't grasped the situation.

Jean Kerr

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New Year's Resolutions

Well, its the day after Christmas, a day of options. Typically, I take this day off of work, as I've also done this year, with the intent of getting a lot of stuff done around the house, namely, finding room for the things I received for Christmas. But then, even though I got up before the sun, I end up on my computer, wasting away and convince myself I need a day to just do nothing. Maybe if I focus on the future and begin to organize my New Year's Resolutions, I won't feel like this day is a total waste. Who came up with New Year's Resolutions, anyway? I personally don't "believe" in them because every year I make them and every year I break them - sometimes within just a day of starting. So, what's the point? Why do I put myself through this?

After much thought and consideration, I realize that the purpose of New Year's Resolutions is to provide hope and excitement for the new year; something to look forward to instead of dwelling on the past.

In light of this, I resolve to:

- care for my husband and be as patient and understanding as possible and spend as much time with him as possible.
- become even more charitable than this year and inspire others to be charitable.
- work hard and try to keep us financially stable.
- be thankful for what we have instead of dwelling on what we have not.
- create some awesome blogs.
- and, of course, lose weight and become more organized.

I love receiving comments. Please feel free to post your resolutions in the comments area.

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Funny Christmas Pictures

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Approach

Nearly every day for I don't know how many years, I have driven past a woman on my way to work. She "lives" outside of the library downtown. Every morning she goes through all of her possessions, stuffed into two very large trashbags. Over time the trashbags have become worn and she began patching them with duct tape (I don't know where she got that). Every day I'd think to myself 'I should give her some new trashbags', but then I'd forget by the time I got to work. I felt uneasy about approaching her; I'd never spoken to a homeless person before, and I often wonder 'what happened?' Finally, one of her bags became unrepairable and her belongings were lying on the sidewalk, so I realized that either I remember the bags, or her few possessions were going to end up stolen or thrown away. I grabbed the trashbags I had left, some change (I don't pay for things with cash, so I rarely have any money around the house) and some bananas. I drove towards work and saw her standing there trying to tape up the remaining bag. I pulled up to the sidewalk, took a deep breath and got out of the car. I didn't know what I was going to say. She didn't look up until I spoke. I held out the bag of items and said, "I noticed you needed new bags." She smiled, "Oh gosh, thank you so much!" I nodded and went on my way. It was no big deal and I wished I had stopped before.

This is yet another challenge to myself, and this time also to you: do something you wouldn't normally do, something you keep meaning to do. Tomorrow never comes, there is only today.

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Brainstorming

I have so much I want to do, but it seems like the more things I think of, the less I get done. It must be a proportional-karma-universe thing; kinda like Murphy's Law.

I bought a calendar that fits in my purse and made a to-do list. I've brainstormed tons of ideas for crafts, blog topics, art pieces, etc, and picked out a blog template that would give me more columns. So, really, that's a pretty good start. However, once you see my calendar (I hope to post a picture tonight...so it will probably be in 2 weeks) you'll understand why I'm just spinning my wheels.

Christmas is fast approaching and I'm going to miss the entire shopping season as far as posting things on Etsy, Amazon and Ebay. I had monumental, albeit futile, plans for making extra money this month. If you'll remember my post from a couple months ago, my goal was to find a way to make an extra $100/day online. I'm nowhere near that, but will probably try to work in advertising in the near future, even though I don't like blogs that are overrun with ads. I'm hoping to be able to do it so it fits in with the (future) look of my blog. After all, the initial purpose of this blog was for me to carry on about anything and everything and to kind of be an anonymous, secret place for me to be myself and to say whatever I wanted without worrying about hurting anyone's feelings, or stepping on any toes as I deal with a very difficult and painful time in my husband's shortened life, as well as "perimenopause", getting older and the day to day trials and tribulations that we all face.

Happy Holidays everyone - I'll be back later :)

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Fat Jeans

Ugh! The after Thanksgiving blues. Having to return to work after four days of lounging around doing nothing, relaxing, having a good time was made even worse when I had to trade in my pajama pants for jeans, AND, on top of that - I had to get out my FAT jeans! I gained 5 pounds in 4 days! 5 pounds that took me like 2 months to lose in the first place. Oh well, back to it I guess. Starting today, no more pumpkin pie with whipped creme for breakfast and dinner. Starting today I'll have eggbeaters for breakfast, write down everything I eat, drink more water and get on the treadmill, ugh! Wish me luck! BUT - no matter what - I'm having pumpkin pie on Christmas :)

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Staycation

I have had a wonderful, relaxing "stay-cation" these past few days! I think I needed some time to do nothing, relax, not watch the clock, etc.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and my dear sweet giving mother had it at her house again. She doesn't want any help until I get there then its 'well, I could've used some help hours ago!' So, I had a couple of glasses of wine and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Friday we had to go to the doctor so my husband could have some blood work done, then we went out for lunch, which was nice. Afterwards, I just putzed around the house and fiddled with some crafts and that night we watched a dvd - I'm too embarrassed to say which one because it was just too stupid.

Saturday, I went to see Julie & Julia with my parents and one of my daughters. It was such a good movie! I'm inspired to blog a lot more from watching it - so watch out. You can look forward to a lot more posts about nothing, lol.

Today - I should get some stuff done but just wanted to let everyone know that no matter what you have going on - take time for yourself. If you're caring for someone, get some help, even if just for a day. You'll feel better and be a better caretaker for having done it.

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A Thanksgiving Prayer

Lord, so often times, as any other day
When we sit down to our meal and pray

We hurry along and make fast the blessing
Thanks, amen. Now please pass the dressing

We're slaves to the olfactory overload
We must rush our prayer before the food gets cold

But Lord, I'd like to take a few minute more
To really give thanks to what I'm thankful for

For my family, my health, a nice soft bed
My friends, my freedom, a roof over my head

I'm thankful right now to be surrounded by those
Whose lives touch me more than they'll ever possibly know

Thankful Lord, that You've blessed me beyond measure
Thankful that in my heart lives life's greatest treasure

That You, dear Jesus, reside in that place
And I'm ever so grateful for Your unending grace

So please, heavenly Father, bless this food You've provided
And bless each and every person invited

Amen!

by Scott Wesemann

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Catch up

Wow! I can't believe I've been away from this for over 6 weeks. Great way to build traffic, huh?! So much has been going on its just overwhelming. I'll try to come back and go more in depth later so that people who are going through the same trials and tribulations as us can maybe benefit from our experiences.

My husband had the RFA (radio frequency ablation). It went great! This is truly a miracle of modern medicine! Then, he returned to the hospital a couple of days later to have his port installed. Anyone who is going to be receiving chemotherapy really should see about getting one of these. It is so much better than not having one. Then, a couple of weeks later, he took an ambulance ride to the emergency room. It turns out he had a gallstone. The pain was horrendous. They removed the stone and then 2 days later removed his gallbladder. THEN, a week after that, he came down with pneumonia!

Like I said, things have been crazy. He started chemo last week but still has the pneumonia. We have to wait 4 weeks before they'll do a bronchoscopy to verify the pneumonia. This Wednesday he goes in to have a stint removed that was inserted after the gallstone was removed.

I'll be updated my blog header, background, etc. for a whole new look within the week.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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The Sneeze

The procedure went smoothly! It is such a massive relief!

We were in the doctor's office a few days ago and my husband sneezed. It was kind of funny because he immediately put his hand to his face, then quickly remembered 'no, you're suppose to sneeze (and cough) into your sleeve, wait, no, now you're suppose to sneeze/cough into the inside of your elbow. I saw his arm go from his hand, wrist, then inside elbow past his nose all in the course of one sneeze. It was so funny - you'd probably have to have been there. I joked, "next they'll tell us to sneeze into our armpits" :)

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Hospital Trip - What to pack

Today we're going to the hospital. My husband is having a RFA (I forget what that stands for, but I'll post it later) to remove a nodule on his lung. He has stage 4 colon cancer which is stressful and scary in and of itself, but this procedure is adding to the stress because its fairly new. They do this on other organs all the time, but not the lung. I'll let you know how it goes.

Anyway, I started "packing" for our trip hours ago (or at least it feels that way). We've spent a lot of time there so I'm getting good at packing for it. Being at the hospital is mostly a waiting game. Some things you want to take:

book or something to do
reading glasses (if needed)
change for the vending machines
cash for the parking garage - ours takes debit cards now, but they didn't last year
protein snacks
sweater
water (the hospital is very dry)

Wow - that's a lot shorter list than I thought. Why did it take me so long to pack then???

If its your first trip, make sure you ask where the cafeteria is. I didn't eat anything except vending machine food the first time we went and ended up becoming very ill.

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Thank you for voting!

Thank you for voting! Sasha won the contest and she's so very happy!!!

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This Week In Review

I had a fairly boring, insignificant week but had a lot I wanted to post about and just didn't get around to it. So, I hope to follow up on those topics later. They were/are all very important topics such as grocery shopping, weather, bad hair days, etc. and I'm sure you'll be sitting on pins and needles until I get them posted, but you'll have to wait.

I hope to get caught up this weekend on everyone's blog suggestions and do a lot more writing.

As far as my "challenge" goes,... so far, I've made $4.32 online this week. Yay! A far cry from the $100/day goal, but still, a step in the right direction. More on this later, too. A lot of the retail stores around here are beginning to hire part-time help for the holidays, so I need to follow through on that, also. Man, I've got A LOT to do! I better get busy, and fast!

I just wanted to leave you with this email that I received, because I know you all deserve to receive it, too (it was titled "Hey Gorgeous):

.... This is for you gorgeous ...

Today is National 'HOLY SHIT, YOU'RE HOT' Day!

Send this to someone gorgeous,

but don't send it back to me,

I've been getting this message all freakin' day!

******************************************************************

P.S. Vote for Sasha.

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Please Vote for My Friend's Dog

My friend has her puppy in a Pet Photo contest. If you have a minute, please vote for her by going to the contest here: http://petsjubilee-furbabies.blogspot.com/2009/09/contestant-12.html#comments

Leave a comment and a name, like "what a cute puppy. George"

You get the idea. Sasha would really appreciate it.

Thank you!

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Link Referral

I had so much that I wanted to write about this morning, but I'm running very late. So, the least of what I wanted to say was thank you to all of the great input from my link referral visitors! I value your opinion and will be making the improvements that everyone has suggested to date.

Its bothersome that the "follow" section of blogger isn't working right now, but I hope you'll come back and add me later. I'll follow you in return.

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Delta Dawn

The chorus to the song:

Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on
Could it be a faded rose from days gone by
And did I hear you say he was a-meeting you here today
To take you to his mansion in the sky

Artist: Tucker Tanya
Song: Delta Dawn
Album: Delta Dawn

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Change is Good - #2

Today's change:

Choose a new wallpaper for your desktop. Its funny how many people will comment, "you changed your background!", in an astonished tone.

Let me know how it goes.

For an explanation of the "Change is Good" series, click here.

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Challenge - Day 1

I've been trying to get organized today, mostly mentally, since I've been running around like a crazy woman trying to catch up with everything that's been ignored since I was sick and on vacation. But, here are my thoughts to get started:

- list my strengths, weaknesses, money making ideas, things I've already tried, things I want to try, fast ways to make money, slower but more effective ways to make money.
-research all of the above.
-create an effective, efficient, organized workspace at home.
-build an online presence.
-continue to brainstorm throughout the process and re-evaluate where I need to be and what I need to do.

I'm constantly reminded of the Bill Murray movie, "What About Bob?" The "baby steps" message in that movie really hit home for me. I'm sometimes prone to panic attacks due to my stressful day job, my family needs, and a variety of other things, so the baby steps method really appeals to me.

So, this is where I'll begin. Tune in tomorrow.

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Challenge

My intent was to blog everyday, but of course, that only lasted a few days, then I went on vacation, then I was sick, etc., etc., but it gave me time to think. Because of my husband's illness, I'm going to need to get a second job to help pay the medical bills. There are really no part time jobs around here.

I decided to try to challenge myself to make an average of $100 a day online, while I look for a "real" part time job. None of my friends, family, online buddies knows about this blog because I wanted to be able to say whatever I wanted which would make the challenge even more difficult because I don't have that circle of contacts to pull from.

So I hope you'll follow along as I document what I attempt, what works, what's a scam, etc. If you have any ideas, please add them. I'm really kind of excited about this even though I know it won't work.

Follow me on twitter, too.

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Quote of the Day

I just came across this on someone's Facebook page:

I can please only one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow, isn't looking good either.

Anonymous

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Change is Good - #1

I thought I would start a series of "Change is good" ideas. Life is so very short and it can be taken away so abruptly. What if today was your last day? What would you have done differently?

In the past, I've always shied away from change. Its unpredictable, sometimes scary, but then again, sometimes even the smallest change can lead to something spectacular!

So, if you want to play along, today's change is:

Take a different route home tonight. Maybe one that will take longer, but that could be more scenic, less traveled and less stressful.

Take a minute to answer the following question. Hopefully, the change will do you good :)

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Customer Service - Hah!

First, I want to thank everyone for all of the wonderful birthday wishes. I'll back to write on those and comments later.

The thing that's really starting to get to me is the lack of customer service. Back in the old days, there was an overwhelming belief that "the customer is always right." Companies and their employees bent over backwards to make sure the customer's experience was a wonderful one and that they would return. If you went to a department store, a sales person would accompany you. They would wrap, carry and even deliver your packages.

Then, something happened. A discount store opened (I really do forget which one). If you're willing to give up some of that pampering, if you can push a shopping cart, and put your packages in your car all by yourself, then you can shop here for less money. As you know, that caught on like a wild fire.

Then, over time changes have snowballed. You could call customer service if you needed help with something. Then, they (corporations) sent the customer support jobs overseas to people who don't speak English as a first language. This was frustrating, so we started emailing customer service. That could take days to get a response, and the response never really answers our questions. Then came on the online LIVE help. But, you have to register and wait by your computer and they just send you to a link that doesn't answer your specific question either.

But, NOW, here's the ultimate demise of customer service, the latest trend ... post your question to a forum where someone may or may not answer you. If they don't answer you, what can you do?...Post another question. Oh, I almost forgot, AND you have to register with the site in order to post your question. So, you're handing out your name, phone number and address to some big company who can sell your information and make money on you just because their service or product isn't working.

Here is actual text from Hotmail's new "Windows Live Solution Center" (that's an optimistic title):
Q: Why did Microsoft change Windows Live Hotmail’s support offering?
A: Microsoft understands that users don’t want to email a support agent unless they absolutely have to. Users want the ability to solve their own problem – and solve it quickly. Windows Live Hotmail Online Solutions Center brings together the expertise of skilled moderators, Windows Live Hotmail employees, and knowledgeable Hotmail customers. Customers will be closer to the latest information than ever before.

WLHSC deepens customer relationship by offering timely and relevant solutions along with educational resources; reinforcing the Microsoft brand values and fostering loyalty and earning customer trust.

Q: I don’t want to use the Solution Center? How do I contact someone at Microsoft directly?
A: We don’t offer any direct phone or email support for Windows Live Hotmail. Our moderators and ambassadors are always available so posting through the WLHSC is your best way to contact us directly.

I didn't mean for this to be so long, but I'm irritated, lol.

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Birthday

Today's my birthday. I turn 46. If the first 15 minutes of today are any indication, I'm pretty sure its going to be a crappy day. We'll see.

No one ever talks about a woman's "mid-life crisis." Why is that?

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Grasping Blogging

When blogging first came about, I couldn't really get into the swing (or really the understanding of) posting information on top of information. What I wanted to say needed to stay on top. Whenever I had additional information, I just edited the posts. It was like trying to make a webpage on a blog and it wasn't fitting into my scheme of things, so I made one blog after another. Each one basically had one thing to say. Of course, no one ever visited those blogs, and I quickly got bored with them, so they sank further and deeper into obscurity. Now, three years later (at least), I find myself with a whole new set of blogs. This time, while I still made a new blog for each "theme", I'm slowly getting into posting correctly, allowing old information to hide away in the archives. I spend a lot of time going from tab to tab posting what I want to say and still, never really saying anything of any importance. Its more of a series of announcements. Kind of a longer version of Twitter, but not as many options as Facebook.

My mind wonders often and I think about blogging about this, that or the other, so I make a note to make a new blog for that category. It takes me forever to get around to it so I end up with a stack of little notes on the edge of my desk, full of great ideas, I'm sure, but buried forever in my real-world archive.

Thinking maybe I would make one all encompassing blog to voice my thoughts, feelings, experiences and other miscellaneous boring information that no one else will find interesting, I started trying to come up with a name that I liked. Every single one was taken. Then, out of curiosity, I decided to try one from three years ago that I had abandoned, and lo and behold it was still here. "A Faded Rose" is taken from an old song, "Delta Dawn" that was playing in my head one night out of nowhere but from a simpler, less stressful time in my life; so I thought it completely appropriate to use that for my newest blog.

So, here it is. This is my intro. More about me later. If you like what you read, tell a friend. Spread the love, share the craziness, laugh and cry at the wonders of life.

Thank you.

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