Happy Birthday Dad!!

I just wanted to take the time to wish my dad, Leroy, a very happy birthday today! He's really not one for celebrating his birthday, but TOO BAD! Mom, sis and my bro-in-law are taking him out bowling and just have some fun together with the family. Things have been hard on him since my brother's passing, but he's got a great wife in my mom, and they've been together for 33 years, and my sister, all their grandkids, and of course ME!!!

Celebrate life today Paps! I love you!!

National Cat Day!

Yes, that's right! Today, Thursday, October 29th, is National Cat Day! I had to post this pic because it reminded me of my own lil puss-puss Shamrock.

As always, have a wonderful day and give that special lil kitten, or any pet of yours that extra attention and luvin' that they so demand from you!

Things are looking up!

Well, it's been a hectic week, but a good one. My husband has been offered a temp job with UPS that's twice what he's been bringing home with UC, but it's good that we'll have the extra money for the holidays. I'm determined to make it "home for the holidays" and travel to my folks in Illinois so I can see my baby boy and family. The job is only through the holiday season, but it gets his foot in the door, and hopefully in the driver pool come their annual hiring in March.

Along with that, I was offered a DJ/Karaoke hosting job for Halloween night at a local pub, which should turn out to be fun as hell, as well as bring in some extra cash. If you already didn't know, I'm the karaoke queen, and have loved singing in front of people since I was little. My proudest, yet most nerve-racking moment was being able to sing the National Anthem at the Blair County Ballpark for an Altoona Curve baseball game. As far as the pub is concerned, I've never been inside this place, but I'm told it's small, but so with the friends and family that are saying they'll come out, as well as the regular patrons, I'm sure the house will be packed! It should be a total blast, and I'm really excited, and hope it goes well enough for a regular "gig".

Today we head out to the athletic club, because the hubby has finally decided he's had enough with being overweight, and wants to do something about it. I've always tried to encourage him to go with me, but never wanted to actually add him to my membership, because I wasn't going to pay for him to slack off. I really think working out will do wonders for his self esteem, as well as his health and wellbeing. We all have to make the choice for ourselves. People can try to motivate us all they want, but it's up to US to actually make the commitment to OURSELVES!! I just hope that he sticks with it. We have an appointment at 6pm tonight so we can go over everything at the club. I have to find the time to hit it as much as possible too, because although I've lost 10 of the 20 lbs I gained after giong back on insulin, I still have 20 lbs to go to where my doc wants me at and another 10 to get to where I would like to be personally. Sometimes I wish I would have just joined the 24 hr gym here by our house, but I'm locked into a 2 yr contract at the athletic club, but between the hours I work and the hours they are open, it's difficult to make it out there.

Things are going ok with both my full time and part time jobs. Crazy hectic at the day job, and with the holidays around the corner, I have a feeling it's going to get that way at the night/weekend job too. Sleep has been screwed up, but hopefully I can get on a schedule that doesn't hurt my health. Last night I got a good night sleep (for me, anyway) which was about 6 hours straight. Usually it's 2-4 hrs here, 2-4 hrs there, up and down all night. This morning, I got up ran a bath in the jacuzzi, and did a lil pampering this morning, and now it's almost time to get ready for work. If my life wasn't so crazy, I'd probably be bored out of my skull, so I'm thankful to have so many things to do to keep me busy and entertained.

Hope everyone's week is going great! I'm still not sure what I'm going to dress up as for Halloween, and probably won't know until that day! I have a wedding before my gig, so it will have to be something that's a quick-change thing, so I don't have to have too much time to prep. It should be fun! Anyone going out and dressing up for Halloween? What are you going as? I'd love to know!! Or better yet.. send me pics!! LOL Have a great hump day folks!!

I <3 Jillian!!

I'm so excited! Just found out that Jillian has been given her own tv show, a companion show to TBL. "The network has picked up eight episodes of “Losing It With Jillian” from Reveille in association with Empowered Media. Michaels will travel the country showing weight-challenged Americans that they can get the same results as contestants on “The Biggest Loser” without attending the show’s immersive fitness boot camp." - read full article here.

They are also doing a casting call for the show. Click the picture for more details!!! Can't wait!!

Dead Snow & Other Flicks

Well, with the weather drastically changing this week, and getting snow right before Halloween, I find it a great time to introduce you to a horror movie that is sure to tickle your horror fancy. The Norwegian film "Dead Snow". A group of eight friends drives to a cabin in northern Norway where German troops where slaughtered by angry locals living there in 1945. Now the undead zombie Nazi soldiers feast on whoever comes there way. Yes.. that's right. ZOMBIE NAZIS!!! LOL. This movie was a favorite at the Sundance Festival, and if you're a fan of movies like The Evil Dead, or Shaun of the Dead, this is right up your alley. The film has everything, horror, suspense, drama, comedy and even about 30 seconds of sex. Course, we all know if you fornicate in a horror movie, you're as good as dead. Besides the barely visible sex scene, there are some extreme moments of gore and blood and violence, but on the whole, if your teen likes horror flicks, I'd say it should be a PG-13, borderlining on R because of the violence and a set of boobs. It comes out on DVD this Tuesday, October 20th (got to see it early, my job has it's lil perks)and, yes, it's a Norwegian film, but you can go to the options, turn off the subtitles and set the audio to English. I was impressed with the dubbing, because it really doesn't distract you or is as bad as some Chinese or Japanese films. Definitely one to check out!!!



Other horror movie to check out is "Drag Me To Hell", by director Sam Raimi (Spiderman and The Evil Dead trilogy). Again, it has everything. Loved it. Slasher movies are ok, but I like this formula. They are all "far out there" anyway, so why not tackle the comical side to it and make it outrageous anyway. I really enjoyed this, and the story was pretty good too. Nothing can ruin your day like a good ole fashioned gypsy curse!

I wasn't too impressed with "Trick r Treat", although there were some I talked to that enjoyed it, so guess it wouldn't hurt to check it out.

In the comedy department, "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds was a pleasant surprise. I'll admit, I went into thinking it was going to be dry and boring, but I actually enjoyed it. These movies aren't made for Oscar nominations anyway, but to just entertain, and that it did. That's already out on disc.

Well, time for me to get cleaning. Fun fun!! Hope ya'll have a great weekend!! *hugs*

Kinky is NOT a Diagnosis

Action Alert - DSM Petition 10/15/09
Action Alert

Kinky is NOT a Diagnosis

Help make history by signing the DSM Revision Petition now! The diagnoses in the DSM-IV-TR still subject people who practice BDSM, fetishes and cross-dressing to bias, discrimination and social sanctions without any scientific basis.

We need 3,000 signatures, but we only have 2,200 now. If you don't speak up and call on the American Psychiatric Association to adhere to empirical research when revising the diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM V), then the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group won't make a meaningful change.

To sign, go to: www.thepetitionsite.com/1/DSMrevisionpetition

You can make your signature anonymous on this secure petition site so it doesn't appear on the Internet or when the petition is delivered to the APA.

Petition:
"We, the undersigned, support the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) own goal of making
its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) a scientific document, based on empirical research and devoid of cultural bias. A diagnosis of a mental disorder can have a severe adverse impact on employment opportunities, child custody determinations, an individual's well-being, and other areas of functioning.

Therefore we urge the APA to remove all diagnoses that are not based upon peer-reviewed, empirical research, demonstrating distress or dysfunction, from the DSM. The APA specifically should not promote current social norms or values as a basis for clinical judgments."

To find out more about the DSM and the Paraphilias section, read the NCSF & ITCR: The Foundation for NCSF's "White Paper on the DSM Revision" at www.ncsfreedom.org

For more information, email: susanw@ncsfreedom.org

Help spread the word - please distribute this call for signatures!

October 15, 2009

Bitch Rant: Texting

Since when did texting become such a life necessity to some people? I, myself, dread texting on my cell phone. I'm sorry, but I enjoy human interaction whether getting together with friends, or talking and hearing/seeing the joy, laughter, sadness, expressions of the other party's voice. Sure I use chat programs online, but that's while multitasking, and not taking away my attention from something like DRIVING! Conversations for me on a cell phone if they take longer than one text to me and one return text, it's a phone call. I don't mind the silly pics or jokes, but I'd much rather talk on the phone to make plans for the weekend, or get directions to someone's house, because if I have questions, I'll be damned if I'm going to squeeze them into 10 different 150 character text messages.

Yes, I've fallen into the category on occasion of texting while at a stop light in my, but I just don't see anything that pressing or important that you have to diddle on a 10-key or qwerty pad the size of a deck of cards while actually IN motion on the road! It's insane!

Besides, the "text etiquette" of today is just plain awful. While out with friends, you're trying to have a conversation with someone that is texting away, not looking you in the eye, as they nod "uh huh". How friggin' rude is that? Hello? I'm standing right here thank you very much! If your conversation with that person is so important, than maybe that's where you should be, or they should be HERE! I just think it's inconsiderate to those that have chosen to spent their time with you and are there and present.

All I'm saying it, I'm not opposed to all this new technology, but somewhere along the lines people have lost common courtesy, respect and have somehow made this into some type of acceptable rudeness. Sorry, I just find it all just plain rude!

Thanks for letting this bitch rant! LOL Have a great hump day!

Happy 54th Birthday Mom!

Just a quick entry to wish my mom a very happy birthday! She's an amazing woman and someone to look up to. I know it can be hard to celebrate 3 days after what would have been my brother's, her son's, birthday on Friday, but she's strong and beautiful, and I'm so proud and lucky to have her as a mom! Love you!! Hoping you have a great day off, and enjoy that shrimp dinner tonight! LOL

Thursday Chuckle

A cowboy named Bud was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture in California. When suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced toward him out of a cloud
of dust.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and YSL tie, leaned out the window and asked the cowboy, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, Will you Give me a calf?"

Bud looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, Why not?"

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg , Germany

Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses an MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer, turns to the cowboy and says, "You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves."

"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says Bud.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on with amusement as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then Bud says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?"

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?"

"You're a Congressman for the U.S. Government", says Bud.

"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required." answered the cowboy. "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You used millions of dollars worth of equipment trying to show me how much smarter than me you are; and You don't know a thing about how working people make a living - or about cows, for that matter.

and THIS is a herd of sheep.

Now give me back my dog."

Give 'Em Hell! LOL

Facebook has all sorts of silly/crazy quizzes, but today's lil one I took on a break cracked me up. There's a certain someone that this is TOTALLY dedicated too... kinda like my "Stronger" song last week :)

Cher took the What 2009 Song are you? quiz and got the result: Gives You Hell by All American Rejects..

It seems like you are kind of upset at the moment. Something happened to you where you just want to & "Give someone hell". You can overcome this issue, but for now you just want to be left alone!

Sometimes those lil quizzes are right on the money! Freaky huh?

Last night we went to see "Paranormal Activity" in State College. OMFG! It rocked!! It's been a long time since a horror movie plagued my mind and made me jump in my seat. It was totally worth the drive. If you get the chance to see it.. do it! There's only midnight showings.

This weekend should be fun. I'm heading out to Monroeville for training, and then on to meet a good Friend for a late lunch. Back home, and I'm heading out with the boys, since Scott will be heading back to Idaho soon. Last few weekends have been a blast. Have I said lately how much my friends rock!?!?

Sadly our friend Stacy's dad passed away yesterday. My heart goes out to him and his family for their loss. Love you man!! *big CherBear hugs*

Have a great weekend everyone, and if you're not working out.. WORK IT OUT!! cheers!!

Reach For Your Star...

Do not take anything as being forever,
because forever is only as long as today.

Know that the people who are the richest are not those who have the most,
but those who need the least.

That we are at our strongest when life is at its worst,
and at our weakest when life no longer offers a challenge.

That it is wiser not to expect, but to hope,
for in expecting you ask for disappointment,
whereas in hoping you invite surprise.

That unhappiness doesn’t come from not having something you want,
but from the lack of something inside that you need.

That there are things to hold and things to let go,
and letting go doesn’t mean you lose,
but that you acquire that which has been waiting around the corner.

Most of all…
Remember to use your dreams as a way of knowing yourself better,
and as an inspiration to reach for your star.

~ Nancy Sims