I've moved!

I've packed up the Bloggy U-Haul and moved.

Click here to go to my new blog. :)

See you there!

So excited I could burst!

I'm going to unveil my new blog tonight. I am so excited I could burst!

Come back later for all the info.

WHOO HOO!

Thursday Thirteen: Edition 5

Thirteen Things I Found While Cleaning My Desk at Work Today

1. Encouraging Post-it note from a coworker. (Thanks, Jeri!)
2. Overtime approval form from the end of October.
3. Two Christmas cards from coworkers. Both had been opened and read.
4. A potential article with the topic of “rejection.” The note from my boss was to “reject” it. Ironic.
5. Two e-mails from Oct. 8. (This shows how long it’s been since I’ve given my desk a really thorough cleaning. I had taken care of the query contained in the e-mails.)
6. My long-lost staple remover. (How I’d missed it!)
7. An envelope that had been returned to sender (me). A note inside said the recipient hadn’t worked for the company since 1985. (It’s been awhile since I’ve cleaned my desk, but it hasn’t been THAT long.)
8. A note pad that’s been buried since just before Christmas.
9. Multiple copies of various items I refer to often. Apparently, I needed to refer to one of them, couldn’t find it, and printed a new one.
10. Labels that were to be put on boxes when our office moved – in September.
11. A million now-unnecessary Post-it notes.
12. My calculator.
13. The surface of my desk. It’s walnut-colored. I hadn’t remembered.

Sadly, I have multiple surfaces still to clean off. Today’s effort was the area where my keyboard, monitor, etc., live.
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Wordless Wednesday: What My Husband Bought Me During His Vacation in NYC (I was working, after all.) Isn't it purty?

Happy birthday, Leslie! And a story.

Happy birthday to my dear friend Leslie.

She and I have been friends since 1994. We knew each other (kind of) our freshman year of college, but became best buddies during summer school in 1994 (the summer after our freshman year).

She also met her future husband that summer. I met Bryan before she did, but can't take any credit for their getting together. I can, however, claim -- with most of the other people at summer school that year -- knowing he liked her. She was oblivious.

Eleven summers later, I took Ed with me to visit them at the camp they attend for 10 days each year. They loved Ed. As we left, Leslie hugged me and whispered, "I'm so happy for you!" Sarah, their youngest child at the time, lovingly stroked Ed's beard. We'd been dating for four weeks.

We didn't make anything "official" for a couple of months, but I, at least, was pretty sure we'd be getting married after our visit with Leslie and her family at camp.

The following summer, 10 months after Ed and I started dating, Leslie was matron of honor at our wedding. (Leslie also spent the night before the wedding with me, another wonderful gift.

Their three children (along with my nephew) were Children of Honor. Bryan said an absolutely amazing prayer. What a blessing it is to have friends you love SO MUCH that you simply must include each family member in your ceremony of marriage!

Another fun aside... When Ed and I got out of the car at the rehearsal (the day before the wedding), Sarah ran to Ed and wrapped her 2 1/2-year-old arms around his legs in a big hug. They hadn't seen each other since camp almost a year earlier.

Leslie refered to her crew as our non-family family in this year's Christmas card. We're not related by blood, but we're family.

I love you, Leslie, and I miss you. Happy birthday.

Chocolate

It's 8:27 a.m. I've already started eating chocolate.

It seems like I've been here FOREVER, but it's been less than two hours.

The day is going o.k., but chocolate helps everything be better.

Except for my waistline.

(Oh well...)

Rebecca's fairly terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day

Well, today started off o.k. Got up fairly easily, went to work. It was so NICE not to have to do "getting ready for meeting" stuff and just be able to WORK.

As the day progressed, I started feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of STUFF I have to do. I could work 50+ hour weeks for the next several weeks, and I'm still not sure I'd be caught up. It just. never. stops. And yes, I've put in for overtime for the next month. (Others in my area have similar workloads, so I feel bad complaining. But my feelings are my feelings, and it is my blog, so I guess it's o.k. to express them.)

Some days are just like this, and there's nothing you can do but hope for better things the next day. (It's days like today I wish we played -- and won -- the lottery, if you get my drift.)

I came home to my beloved husband, which was lovely. (Poor thing had to listen to my Tale of Woe when he made the mistake of calling me when I was still about five miles from home.) Right after dinner something funny happened with the dogs, which we took pictures of. Then I realized that the upgrade I did of my budget software must have a bug in it -- or I did something REALLY stupid in my data entry. Either way, my budget is now all screwed up, and I've lost the will to post the Funny Dog Story. Maybe tomorrow.

And I'm sad (perhaps I should have started with this), because Tristan, another T-18 baby, died yesterday. He was born on Dec. 3, 2007 and had been doing so well, relatively speaking. I thank God for the 56 incredible days he had with his family... so many T-18 babies live for just a few hours, if they're born alive. Since Poppy Joy was born on Dec. 1, there are two additional Trisomy-18 babies our little corner of the Internet has been following via their parents' blogs. Mary Grace lived for 7 hours. Maddox lived for just a few seconds.

Each of these babies is such a gift, and their parents are grateful for every second they had with their precious sons or daughters. But think about it. We've talked about "how long" Tristan lived. He would have been eight weeks old today. Their son's "long" life didn't get him to his two-month birthday.

Makes my crappy day at work (and the uncertainty of what tomorrow -- or any other day will bring) seem rather unimportant, doesn't it?

Return of the cats?

In September, I wrote about our cats and the bed. Poor kitties: they never get to sleep in the bed with us.

Well, while Ed and I (and the dogs) were gone this week, the cats had the run of the place. I'm sure many hours were spent curled up on our bed.

Apparently, they've remembered how lovely it is to sleep in the bed with a human, especially on cold nights.

So... Thursday night (before the dogs returned) the cats slept in the bed with us. Ed, so surprised at the sight, said, "Is that a cat?" Friday night, Asbury slept with us for a little while, until Fox ran her off.

Last night, Fox ran Asbury off, but they both came BACK! Maybe Fox knew they were there. Maybe he didn't. But the cats were in the bed with us off and on all night.

Truthfully, 2 humans and 2 dogs in one bed is a bit crowded.

But I'm still rooting for the cats.

Photo Hunt: Old-Fashioned

I took this photo at the main branch of the New York Public Library while I was on my business trip. This old library is full of old-fashioned things. An unabridged dictionary on a wooden stand with a reading lamp is one of them. (Pay no attention to the "new-fashioned" light bulbs in the reading lamp. :) )

What's your take on old-fashioned? Join the PhotoHunt.

photohunt

First family photo!

Tricia and Gwyneth meet!

Hooray!

Now this is depressing...

My husband and I are watching a show called "Life After People" that talks about what would happen to Earth if all of the people went away all at once -- as in "poof," no more people.

Everything was o.k. until they started talking about what would happen to the animals. They started with the dogs. Waaaaaaah!

Home

We're home. And exhausted.

Goodnight, all!

Rebecca

Homeward bound...

We're at the airport. It was a good trip, but I missed covering one thing because I didn't learn the pertinant details until I was on the way to the airport. This disappointed me. I'll try to track it down when I get back to the office Monday. I'll probably feel alot better once I've had some sleep. I may travel for work again this year, but most likely not on this scale until next January. Stay tuned.

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A lonely glove

At Javits Center, NYC

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Feet!

Each year, I forget how bad my feet hurt after the fourth (or so) day of my business trip.

But I swear they didn't hurt this much last year. They were almost numb a few times today.

EEK!

It will be over soon. HooRAH!

Thursday Thirteen Edition 4




Thirteen Things I've Seen on my Business Trip to New York (most of it from a cab) 1. The Ed Sullivan Theater, where "The Late Show with David Letterman" is taped. 2. The Hello Deli around the corner from "Letterman." David does a lot of comedy "bits" with the owner of the deli. 3. About a million yellow taxis. When I was with Ed, he asked if each one was the Cash Cab. 4. Chelsea Piers. 5. The neighborhood of TriBeCa. (I had a business dinner in this neighborhood.) 6. The Statue of Liberty when we were flying into New York. 7. The New York Public Library. (We actually went in here.) 8. Times Square. (We actually went here>0 9. The studio where "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" is taped. (There was a huge billboard on the building that said, more or less, "If you're looking for Larry Flint's gentleman's club, go down one block and turn right." The sign cracked me up.) 10. The Empire State Building. 12. The Chrysler Building. 13. My wonderful husband at the end of each workday. This was the best thing I saw in New York.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Wordless Wednesday: Seen at M&M's World in Times Square

POOP!

Gwyneth, the baby I've mentioned in previous posts, has finally pooped.

Now, we all know that poop happens, but this baby, born at 24 weeks 5 days (if memory serves), hadn't pooped since she was born two weeks ago. Until this morning.

We've all been praying for poop, because "poop" means that her digestive tract is working. This is good news. It also means they can really start feeding her now.

She's not had any major complications, which is quite amazing for a baby born as early as she was.

Head over to Gwyneth's daddy's blog for more information. Also check out his wife Tricia's incredible progress.

And keep praying.

Please.

The streets of New York

Last night after work (which went just fine, by the way), Ed, two friends and I went and explored. We walked around Times Square for a bit, went to dinner, and were leaving a store on our way back to the hotel when we were approached my a middle-aged, well-dressed African American woman. She chatted with us for awhile, asked where we were from, what we were doing in town, the usual.

Then she told us she was homeless. She said she was going through a divorce and had been homeless for three months. After a few more moments of talk, she asked if we’d buy her a piece of pizza. The fact that she asked if we wanted to go with her to buy the pizza made us believe she actually was GOING to buy pizza with the money. We needed to continue with our walk, so Ed gave her $5 and she went on her way.

I was a little shaken up by the situation, but not for the reason you might think. I thought it was slightly “odd” that a native New Yorker was being so friendly (old stereotypes die hard), but I NEVER would have suspected she was homeless.

She didn’t appear to be drunk, on drugs, or suffering from any of the other ailments people often associate with the homeless. As I said earlier, she was dressed like most of the others walking the streets on this cold night.

But homeless she is.

I truly believe that she is someone who has just fallen into some bad luck. I don’t know that she’ll still be homeless in a year.

But it IS possible, through a similar stroke of back luck, that any of those reading this blog might be homeless in a year. You just never know.

So the evening didn’t end quite the way I thought it might, but maybe that’s what New York had to teach me this year.

Monday!

It's Monday morning. I've been up about 30 minutes (or awake anyway), and I need a nap. :)

My friend Sarah sent me this Mutts comic strip this morning, and it pretty much sums up the way I feel about things at the moment. Hopefully, I'll be able to come home and get to bed EARLY tonight. Well, that's kind of hibernating, right?!

Have a good one, all. :)

Made it!

I made it to New York. I also decided, at least for today, that paying $14.95/day for Internet access in my room is worth it. Makes the hotel room feel a little like "home," and this blog gives me the opportunity to "chill" and to spill some of my wacky thoughts into cyberspace. Somehow, "blogging" offline and uploading when I get home just isn't the same. Tomorrow, I may decide $14.95/per day for Internet access isn't worth it and blog offline. But today, not so much.

Anyway...

Some come to New York to see the sites, to see a show (or 6, if you're me), to people watch (sometimes also known as "seeing the sites," but that's another story). Me? At least this time, I came to work.

I woke up right as the plane was passing the Statue of Liberty. That was pretty exciting. The left side of the plane had a wonderful view of the city. I've been here a few times, but it's always exciting to me. In the taxi, I pointed out some landmarks (Madison Avenue, approximately 17 CVS Drugstores) to my coworker and taxi-mate, who has never been here. Tomorrow after work, we're going to walk over to Times Square and grab a bite for dinner. Besides that, we'll spend most of our time sleeping and working (but not in that order).

For a little while, back in the late 1990s, I wanted to move here. Now I'm a little older and wiser and know that New York IS a great place, but as the saying goes, I would not want to live here.

However, I must make it a point to visit more often... and next time I'll come when I don't have to work.

61 minutes and counting...

I think we'll make it.

If I get off the computer and take a shower.

Etc.

I don't know what form my blogging will take while I'm gone, but blog I will.

See youze guyze soon. Y'all.

"If we can maaaake it there..."

"...it will be a miracle."

This going to New York on my business trip isn't going so well. I feel like crap, so my husband's doing all the laundry, errand-running, etc. He's doing a fine job at all of that, so that's not the problem.

But it just seems like it's taking FOREVER to do anything, in large part because I have to lay on the couch every 15 minutes for 45 minutes.

During one of my 15-minute bursts of energy, I look for Ed's long underwear. I can't find it, so Ed goes out to get some. And discovers when he gets back that he's bought two pairs of long underwear PANTS, not a pair of pants and a shirt. So back he goes.

When he gets back from there, he needs to get gas for my car. There are approximately 0.02 gallons in the tank. I hope he makes it the 1.2 miles to the gas station.

So it's 7:10, we've barely started packing.

And I'm blogging. This isn't helping.

Oh, and the big irony? There's been bad weather here and up the eastern seaboard. This means we may sit at the airport for seven million hours because of weather backups. After all this rushing around. Or should I say "rushing around," at least on my part.

So if we get to New York, we'll consider ourselves blessed. Wish us luck.

I've created a monster

After rereading my post from last night, Ed can't stop playing clips of "Gilmore Girls" off YouTube.

This from a man who initially scoffed at my love of "Gilmore Girls." We now own the box set. :)

Oy with the poodles already!

The title of this post comes from an episode of "The Gilmore Girls." Basically it's turned into a phrase that can mean "Enough!" or "I can't believe this is happening" or "What a Day!" It's kind of like the Hebrew word "Shalom," or "Aloha" -- "Oy with the poodles already" (or OWTPA) is a multipurpose phrase.

Anyway, it's almost time for The Big Business Trip. Once I get to the airport, I'm fine, but the "getting there" about kills me. Every year. Today I had so many last-minute things to do that I almost couldn't do anything. Seriously, I was nearly paralyzed by all the details.

And my nose is still crusty from my sinus infection. And my head hurts. And I'm exhausted.

Tomorrow is a day of laundry, packing, and, yes, finishing up those last-minute things I didn't get done at work today.

STOP THIS CRAZY THING! And get me to the airport. I think "Oy with the poodles already!" pretty much sums it up. Don't you?

PhotoHunt: Important

(Originally photographed by me and posted here .)

My husband Ed pretty much sums up "important" to me. :)

What's your important picture? Join the PhotoHunt.

photohunt

Utterz...

Does this work?

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(Edited to add: Why, yes, it does work. Cool. This way I can annoy... I mean blog... next week when I'm on my business trip.)

Snow!

It wasn't much, and it's already melted, but Ed and the dogs had fun playing in it last night. (I enjoyed them having fun, but as I was standing more-or-less still taking pictures, I was a wee bit cold.) For more snow pictures, as well as lots of other photos, click here. (I like "movement" in my photos. Can you tell?)

Thursday Thirteen Edition 3

(even though it's Wednesday) Thirteen Things I have to do before leaving for my business trip (in no particular order) 1. Make a list of things I need to do before I leave for my business trip. :) I'm sure there are more than 13. 2. Get money for expenses. 3. Wash laundry. 4. Gather freakish amount of stuff from work that I'll need on trip (business cards, flight info, schedules, etc.) and take it home. 5. Change outgoing message on work phone. 6. Put "out of office" message on work e-mail. 7. Pack. 8. Gather DVDs, portable DVD player, Flip, little camera. (These are important.) 9. Check to make sure I have appropriate cords, chargers, batteries for all my electronic stuff. (This is almost as important as having the electronics themselves.) 10. Get as much sleep as possible -- it will be in short supply while I'm gone. (O.k., this is the most important. Forget the importance of the electronics, etc.) 11. Give cats and dogs extra cuddles. (The dog in the crate is Jazz, Fox and Toby's best dog friend.) 12. Send parents (at far end of table) my itinerary. (They worry, you know...) 13. Keep reminding self that everything will get done both prior to and during the business trip. Can you think of anything else I should do prior to my business trip?

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Wordless Wednesday -- cheerful yellow flowers

(This is my first Wordless Wednesday.)

Works for Me or Wordless Wednesday?

For the last several weeks, I've participated in Works for Me Wednesday over at Rocks in My Dryer. It is a lot of fun, and I've enjoyed it mightily.

The truth is I have fairly few things that "work for me."

Nor am I good at being wordless. aHEM.

I do, however, take a few photos, many of them pretty good.

And photos is the point of Wordless Wednesday.

So from now on I'll either be Wordless or Working, depending on what mood strikes.

Tomorrow? My lips are sealed. ;)

A WordPress blog via a Shadow

A guy named "Shadow" did the install of WordPress. It's magic. We don't know how he did it. This could cause problems in the future, but we were stuck. And I was anxious.

Here is a screen shot of my little blog. It will be fancified and unleashed on the blogosphere in the upcoming weeks.


Isn't it cute in its unfancified, hot-off-the-WordPress state?

Thank you to my dear husband for all his work. And thank you to the mysterious "Shadow," one of the people who does WordPress installs for free when we common folk can't figure how how to do it ourselves.

Sinus infection

I went to the doctor this afternoon. I have a sinus infection, as I suspected.

I've been given an antibiotic, but I can't start taking it until the morning. The medicine has insomnia as a "rare" side effect. I experienced this "rare" side effect the last time it. The antibiotic is a once-a-day medication, so this will help... but having to wait means that many more hours until I can start getting better. ::: big sigh :::

I am going to head on to bed now. I need sleep as much as anything, I think.

Wasn't this post fascinating?

Monday, Monday, Monday

Well, here we go again.

It's going to be another insanely busy week in advance of many of us leaving this weekend for a business trip to NYC.

I am not feeling well -- sinus stuff. I don't expect I WILL feel well until we get back. I don't think I have a full-blown sinus infection, so I'm treating this with over-the-counter stuff. I am so tired of getting sick right before the meeting. And sinus stuff is the worst, because it makes me feel tired all the time. This is not a helpful feeling. Ugh.

Yes, all of my "restedness" from my vacation officially wore off... about a week and a half ago.

Oh, well.

It will all be better once we get to NYC. The hard part, believe it or not, is the getting ready. In comparison, the meeting is easy. It's exhausting, and we work REALLY hard, but at least we're DOING it, rather than planning it, thinking about it and, at least in my case, worrying about it.

I rarely whine on this blog, but this morning I felt the need. So thank you for reading.

There is more work on my desk than I'll ever be able to complete this week. But try to complete it I must. Off I go.

Wish us all luck.

Still having WordPress problems

Thanks to all who have offered WordPress installation suggestions.

Unfortunately, we're (and by "we're," I mean my husband) still having trouble.

My husband has uploaded all the files to the host. He's changed the wp-config.php file with the appropriate data. When he runs the wp-install.php script, it doesn't work. It says it can't find the wp-config.php file.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks again.

Bowman the Showman

This story makes me so sad...

I loved watching Christopher Bowman skate.

Zzzzzz...

WordPressing, napping, and dog-parking really take it out of a person.

I'm going to bed. I don't think Ed will be far behind me.

It's just after 7:30 p.m.

No worries... This coming week at work will be insane, so I need all the sleep I can get NOW. (Oh, and have I mentioned I have to go to New York City for a business trip next Sunday? Ugh...)

Installing WordPress

I. Can't. Do. It.

I used the "one click" installation that Bluehost.com provides, but learned that's not the most recent version of WordPress. I can't figure out how to install the newest version. (I can download it, but things go downhill from here.) I'm not disparaging either organization. It's me, not them. I am "Web site hosting/building/whatevering challenged."

Anyway...

Now, I can't even remember how to get to the "one click" installation version, so I can see how that works.

Argh...

I am going to take a nap.

Any suggestions are welcome. My husband will be waiting for your comments. It's his "job" to work on this while I'm napping. Or for the rest of his life. Whatever it takes.

Seriously, I'm going to nap now. I've been saying that for 2 hours, but I'm not kidding this time.

Really.

Technology is great... when it works.

(Do you think I need to purchase "WordPress for Dummies"?)

O.k., here I go. Up the stairs. To the bed.

See you in a couple of hours.

O.k., I had to come back down to fix a typo Ed found.

GOOD NIGHT!

Friday, Friday, Friday

Thank goodness. That's about all I have the energy to say at the moment.

PhotoHunt: Skinny

(Originally photographed by me and posted here.)

The theme of "skinny" was hard for me. Then I thought of the trunks on many of these trees, photographed, once again, during our trip to Panther Creek.

What's your skinny picture? Join the PhotoHunt.

photohunt

WFMW "Backwards Edition": Changing blogging sites

O.k., I'm thinking seriously of changing blogging sites. Blogger is great, truly, but I'm wanting to do "more."

So I'm looking for feedback -- mainly on reader retention.

• How hard was it to get your readers to "follow" you to your new blog? (I'm not even at 1,500 visitors since early December... which isn't shabby, but I'm starting to get some "regulars," and I don't want to lose them...)
• What do you recommend I do to tell people I'm moving?

Any other advice?

I'm excited! Thanks so much!

Check out Rocks in My Dryer for more tip getting and giving. :)

Gwyneth Rose

This is Gwyneth Rose, the baby I told you about earlier in the week. Isn't she beautiful?!

She is doing well. Her mama is doing o.k., too. But they both have a LONG road ahead. Get updates on them both here. (Proud father Nate is updating fairly frequently, as are various parents, uncles, and sisters-in-law -- scroll down the blog for links to the other blogs.) Thanks for your prayers. Keep praying.

Blog365 infraction?

This occured to me this morning...

Both items I posted yesterday I'd written earlier. I am the one who actually "pulled the trigger" on the post appearing (as opposed to auto-posting), but I didn't WRITE either of them yesterday (except to check for typos, etc.).

I'm not going to sweat it. I'd posted 22 posts as of January 9. But I wish I'd actually WRITTEN something yesterday. ::: sigh :::

But if I don't feel well the rest of today (and "don't feel well" is my current status, as was the case yesterday when I got home from work), I'm covered. :)

On to work!

Thursday Thirteen Edition 2

(Even though it's still Wednesday)

Thirteen Things about Rebecca's childhood

1. My father is a Methodist pastor, so we moved every three to five years.
2. When I was in preschool my teacher changed my panties after I had an accident. Even though she took me off to the side, it really embarrassed me.
3. When I was in 1st grade, my teacher called me a buttinsky. It was true. However, the memory can still bring me to tears in the right circumstances -- 25 years later.
4. I felt like no one liked me, which I'm now learning is a common perception among young people, no matter how popular others perceive a person to be.
5. I stopped growing when I was in 7th grade.
6. I went to private school from 6th through 8th grade. Otherwise, I was in public schools.
7. My junior year of high school I decided to go to college in the town we lived in for 5 years when I was a kid. One of the best decisions I ever made.
8. I organized a surprise party for my fourth-grade teacher. She was surprised.
9. I was in the gifted program in fourth grade. That was the best year of elementary school.
10. I had guinea pigs for two or three years when I was a teenager. I was completely responsible for their care.
11. I was able to BE completely responsible for said guinea pigs' care because I started a paper route when I was 11. I had it until we moved away when I was fifteen. We had to find a new home for the guinea pigs. :(
12. My junior year of high school I went on two dates with a guy as a result of a misunderstanding. (Two people who didn't like me -- or the guy -- wrote a note to each of us "from" the other one, indicating interest. Lovely.)
13. My senior year of high school, someone in my American history class asked if I "masticated in front of my parents." I told them I wouldn't answer because I didn't know what "masticate" meant. Turns out I DO masticate in front of my parents. :)



Want to play along? Leave the link to your Thursday Thirteen in my comments.



Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

WFMW Backwards Day: Organizing food

A few weeks ago, my husband found a can of mushrooms to put in the spaghetti he was making for dinner. The problem? The mushrooms were expired.

Very expired.

See?

At the top of the can?

On the right?


That's December 1988. Just over 19 years ago.

Help!

So how do you organize your food to prevent things like canned mushrooms from languishing in the cabinet for 19 years?

To ask for helpful hints for the things that have you stumped... and to offer hints to some other stumped folks, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer. Have fun!

It's a girl... please keep praying

Here's more information about Tricia, Nate and Gwyneth Rose (from Nate's dad's blog).

Both Tricia and Gwyneth made it through an emergency C-section, but survival for Tricia is considered "iffy" at this time. The baby is tiny, of course, but apparently stable. They're waiting to hear more from a doctor in the NICU.

Please keep praying.

Pray NOW!

The family I told you about yesterday continues to need prayer. As I type this, Tricia is being anesthetized, intubated, and ventilated. If she handles the vent well, they'll perform a tracheotomy, leave her on the vent for a few days and deliver their baby girl, Gwyneth Rose, later this week. (Every day counts when a baby is this little. Also, the time will allow Tricia to regain some strength, which is also important.) If she doesn't handle the vent well, they will do an emergency C-section ASAP.

I know they covet your prayers. Their Web site is getting THOUSANDS of hits. Practically each hour. Even if you don't comment, I know your taking a peek at the blog would be an encouragement to them.

Thank you for taking the time to "love on" a family you, like I, don't even know.

August 2007 bowl game projections -- ha!

At the end of August, I posted that Sports Illustrated was "projecting" matchups for this year's college football bowl games.

These were the projections.

This is how everything turned out.

The projections really didn't "project" into reality, did they? A quick look indicates no "exact" matchups, although they did get a couple of teams playing in the "right" bowl game (LSU playing in the BCS Championship game, for example).

I guess this is the reason, they actually PLAY the games, huh?!?

Please pray

Please pray for this family. They really need it.

Long story short, the mom has cystic fibrosis. She is 24 weeks pregnant with their first child. Her health is failing, and the baby's could fail at any moment.

They are taking the baby via C-section this afternoon or tomorrow.

I know they'd appreciate any words of encouragement you can provide.

Thank you.

Question I've not been asked before

At work, I just got an e-mail from a person whose company I recognize. (We work in related fields.) The person's name is not familiar.

This is what the e-mail said:

"Your last name looks familiar to me, are you Macedonian?"

I've never been asked that before.

(And no, I'm not from Macedonia.)

The fruit of our labor

My husband helped me "beat" the coupon inserts into submission. It took almost two hours with both of us doing it.

It was well-worth the effort.

At one drug store and one grocery store, we spent a total of $79.06. Our savings was $99.16. $73.42 of that savings was at the grocery store. (The photo above is our cart just before we checked out.) We used $33.25 in manufacturers coupons.

My math isn't very good. The newspapers we bought this morning actually cost about $9, not $7 like I said earlier.

No matter... The papers will pay for themselves MANY times over.

I am basking in the after-glow of a fantastic shopping trip. :)

Copious coupons!

These are the 42 coupon inserts from the seven copies of the paper we bought this morning. I'll be getting two more complete sets (12 inserts) from my mom in a couple of days. I am in The Grocery Game heaven.

Why seven newspapers (with more inserts to come)? There are SO many good coupons, and SUCH good deals this week! I spent less than $7 on all these papers, and I'll save WAY over $7 just today, all on stuff we need or that I don't buy unless I have coupons.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to sort, clip, and file coupons. I'll see you in a week or so. ;)

They're baaaack!

You'll all be pleased to know that my stats are back.

Tomorrow, a more interesting post.

I hope.

SiteMeter ate 100 of my visitors!

Yesterday afternoon, I hit 1000 visitors. This afternoon (as of 3:25 p.m.), I'm back down to 996 visitors. I lost stats for at least 100 visitors.

Has this happened to anyone else out there who uses SiteMeter?

Blogging for Dummies

And I'm the dummy. :)

I read on one of the Blog365 posts about a blog training course... As you know, I've been doing a lot of "sprucing up" around here. But I don't know the best way to attract more readers, etc. I'm not sure how I feel about writing "sponsored" posts, but I need to learn more about a lot of things, that included.

So...

I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

EEK!

74%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

I found this horribly depressing information at this wonderful blog. :)

PhotoHunt: Delicious

(Originally photographed by my husband and posted here.)

Today's PhotoHunt topic is deli cious.

I wish I could take credit for this photo, but I can't. My husband took it.

We were on a hike at Panther Creek and had stopped for lunch. We didn't bring lunch for Fox and Toby. Therefore, we shared our lunch with the dogs.

Toby LOVED the sandwich. If I hadn't taken it out of his mouth, he would have eaten the whole thing. He thought it was delicious.

Go to Technorati to see more PhotoHunt photos: photohunt

1,000th blog visitor

Sometime today, I will hit the thousand-visitor mark on my SiteMeter-tracked blog. (I installed SiteMeter in early December. I've been blogging since mid-July, but until recently traffic was very. slow. indeed.)

Who will this milestone blog visitor be? Will it be a friend? Will it be a new blog friend? A complete stranger?

I can't wait to find out.

Thursday Thirteen Edition #1



Thirteen Things about Rebecca



1. I am married.
2. I am 32.
3. My husband's name is Ed.
4. My husband is 21 years older than I am.
5. We have two cats, Autumn and Asbury.
6. We have two dogs, Fox and Toby.
7. We do not have any children.
8. I graduated from college in 1997.
9. I've had only two jobs since college: one for 3 1/2 years, one for the other 7ish years.
10. My parents have been married almost 40 years. To each other.
11. I have one sister. She is married.
12. I have one nephew, who will be three next week.
13. This is my second "crack" at blogging. I started this time in July of 2007. This time will stick.
13b. This is my first Thursday Thirteen.



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Work 2008: The Extended Edition

I'm here.

Getting up at 5:25 a.m. did NOT kill me. In fact, I managed to get right up, something I was having a difficult time with in the weeks before my vacation.

Getting to SLEEP last night proved to be a bit more of a challenge. But I was asleep by 11 or so, so I consider it all good, all things considered.

So while I'm not as rested TODAY as I would like, I did get rested during my vacation which is a good thing. I feel like I had just the right amount of time off.

Bets, anyone, on how long this "rested" feeling will last?

:)

Toby the Barkeologist

Fox's barking (and barking and barking) has been previously documented.

Not to be outdone, here's a video of Toby using his "outside bark." Inside.

As an added bonus, he's wearing, for the first time, his hand-me-down Barkeologist t-shirt. :)



Isn't he cute?

Barkalarm

At 6:53 a.m., the Barkalarm, also known as Toby, needed to go out.

I asked Ed if he'd take Toby out.

He said, "It's too early."

I reminded him that the next day I'd be a WORK at 6:53 a.m. (give or take 10 minutes).

He groaned.

The 5:25 a.m. alarm tomorrow is going to hurt after 12 days of vacation.

I groan. (But I'm SO thankful to have had the time off, and I am NOT complaining.)

WFMW: Remembering to take medicine

I take medication at various times of the day.

Or I should say I'm SUPPOSED to take medication at various times of the day.

So this is what works for me (at least most of the time): At work, a "take medicine" reminder pops up on my computer calendar at the appointed hours. Sometimes I can't take the medicine right when the reminder goes off, so I don't "dismiss" it until the medication is down the hatch.

It's not foolproof, but it works much more often than it doesn't. :)

Also. one of our dogs has to take medicine once a day. He has a "pill minder" of his own. When Ed feeds Toby his breakfast, he also gives him his meds.

What works for you? Head over to Rocks in My Dryer and play along. I'll see you there!

Blog 365 and a bit of (additional) fun

O.k., I've decided to participate in this thing called Blog 365. Considering that I posted 284 times last year from mid-July through December, I think this is doable. A big objective is to get people to write. Every. Single. Day. So if I'm without a computer (the horror), I can "blog" offline and post when I get back.

Moving right along.

When I was looking through some of the blogs from other participants, I found a blog from Snarkwife.com that caught my eye.

All I have to do is look at the archives from each month last year (in my case the last five-and-a-half months) and post the first sentence of the first post from each month.

Let the games begin:

July: Today, Ed and I started trapping a mother cat and her kittens.

August: O.k., I couldn't figure out a way to ask this SPOILERIFIC question without posting my question on a message board of some sort...

September: To the right, you'll find a thingamabob through which you can sign up to have an e-mail sent to you when I update my blog. (Rebecca's note: I've since removed the "thingamabob.)

October: My office's firewall (or whatever) is blocking my Curves-O-Meter ticker.

November: Someone once said that I thought my dog could do no wrong (which isn't the case, by the way).

December: Ed just took the picture above, after deciding the situation was blog-worthy.

Ah... what a sentimental journey...

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2008, friends...

Ed and I celebrated at home with a our once-yearly bottle of sparkling wine (I don't think what we have is technically champagne) and various and sundry other distractions... T.V., computer, shrimp dip. Real wild-and-crazy stuff, I tell you. :)

Best wishes to you and yours in 2008 and always. Happy New Year...