Taking a Sick Day :(

I am not feeling well today....slight fever, headache, achey body......ugghh! So, today's blog is short and sweet. I am taking the day off!

Time For Rest

I am so tired, and not even really in the blogging mood, but here goes anyway. I am including a pic I took a couple of weeks ago at a local park.

I'm tired today, on a Saturday of all days, because I have been going at it non-stop, and it's time for a break. I hung curtains in my bedroom today, after buying some and returning the first ones I got because I didn't like the color. Now that I am satisfied with that, I decided to wash my van. Uggh, I usually go to the carwash and spend $3 and do it the lazy way. Anyhow, now I know why I don't do it myself, it's a big job, not to mention, the heatwave going on out there.

Well, I think it is just about time for a nice bath and a relaxing movie..... :)

Friday

I am usually quite happy and excited for Friday to get here, but this week is a different story....my spring break is over :( Oh well, I got so much accomplished, and I feel so much better now with a freshly cleaned house. The girls are home, and I missed them a lot, we have plans to watch some videos and stuff tonight.

I have been searching all over (the internet and my computer) trying to figure out how to put video onto my computer. I know it's possible, what with all the youtube stuff out there. If anyone knows or could give me any clue on how to upload a video, either thru my camcorder, or just how to rip it directly from a dvd onto my hard drive, I would very much appreciate it.

I've already started writing down a couple of ideas of what I want to do in the way of LETTER themed blogs. As they come to me, I decided to jot them down so I don't forget. I don't want to have any excuses for skipping one.....yeah right :)

Restaurants

I thought of a list. Wow! I can't believe it, like it was so hard. Sitting here, bored, hungry, tired.... *sigh*...ok here goes.

A list of my favorite places to eat. A friend and I are going out to eat tonight at a Mexican place in a town about 15 minutes from here. We need a girls night out, it's been too long. So, I am making this up as I go along....... in no particular order:

1. Olive Garden
2. Chili's
3. Don't remember the name of the particular one we are going to tonite, but it's Mexican :)
4. Outback Steakhouse
5. Chinese.....any one is fine....buffets are awesome
6. Golden Corral/Ryans....pretty much the same thing...again, buffet style
7. Seafood...nothing like any cajun seafood place....I love crawfish!!

There may be more, but I'm drooling on my keyboard now, so I'll stop. :)

I Was So Busy....

I completely forgot to blog yesterday. When I realized the time and the fact that I was so tired, I just said to heck with it. Anyway, I am here today and I am including a pic of the beach in Florida that I took last year. I am soooo ready to go back there again!

A Blog A Day, Keeps Boredom Away

I finally had a moment today, in the midst of all my spring cleaning and everything, to finally post. I only got off on a good start by posting every day, but following the 'theme' of lists is not working out. I haven't had much time to think about any. I figure since I started this blog thing in mid-March, I missed half the month, so hopefully I can start fresh in April with my Letter blogs.

I believe I mentioned in a previous blog that I was going to be transferring old VHS home videos on to DVD's. It has been really fun looking back at so many things my children have done and realize how they've grown up so much since then. The really hard part was seeing them as babies and missing that. Many of the clips brought tears to my eyes. I was really glad to find that I had lots of video of my mom on there, so now my girls can watch these home videos and remember their 'Gramma' when she was well.

Tomorrow will be another cleaning day....uughh! I only got part of the girls bedroom done, the closets and stuff. Now it's on to the toys and figuring out what stays and what goes...FUN FUN!

Spring Is In The Air

I really wanted to blog earlier today, but I was busy doing my spring cleaning. Plus, I vowed to not sit here this week and waste all my precious time on the computer. Although I love doing anything computer-wise, I get carried away and before I know it I've killed a few hours.

Anyhow, it's spring, but chilly still. I wanted to share a pic I took last year. So far this year, these flowers of mine still have not bloomed as of yet. I am still waiting......

Better Late Than Never

Well, Happy Easter out there.......the day is just about gone, but I made it! I blogged today...hee hee! Spring is officially here, but you can't tell by walking outside, it's rather chilly today! I am so ready for some warm weather. Especially because of the fact that I almost made it through the cold weather without catching a cold, but it's here. That's right, I woke up this morning with a stuffy nose, sneezing and a slight cough. Oh well, I will be ok, nothing a good sinus pill can't cure. (I Hope!!)

Blog Away From Home

I am gone for the weekend! Blogging about 100 miles from home, and on another computer, but I didn't forget about my 'place' here.

The drive here was ok, traffic was about average despite it being a holiday weekend. Thankfully I got an earlier start than usual since there was no school. Girls delivered to their dad around noon and then I was on my way.

I do have to say that the weather here in Louisiana is absolutely gorgeous!! Sunny and about 75ish in degrees. I just wish we had a long spring, by the beginninf of May, it will be in the upper 90's already and the humidity will be killer.

No pics to share today since I am not on my own computer, but I will have some more up later.

Have a great weekend!!

Jibberish

I guess you could say I am just in a blogging mood today, because here I am again, and the day is barely half gone.

I went ahead and subscribed to Picnik.com for the $24.95 a year. What did I have to lose? I have 30 days to decide if I like it and then after that, I can still get a pro-rated refund if I am still not happy with it. So far so good, and this photo I've included on this blog is the first one I tried out. Pretty cool, huh? Not much of a major difference in the way of how many things I have to work with from what I had on the 'free' side of it. There are more effects and shapes to choose from and the fonts available are plentiful. Anyway, just in case anyone is wondering, this is a photo of my boyfriend and I. Honestly it wasn't that great of a pic because it was taken in my bathroom mirror, my eyes looked like they were about to close from the flash, etc. but I 'cleaned it up' quite well :)

I just got an email from NaBloPoMo and I am excited about the next months theme : LETTERS

This seems like it will be very interesting, and I can't wait to do that one. This blogging thing has really gotten to be a great 'escape' for me.

Well, today is the first day of spring and its rather chilly here for a spring day. Thankfully the wind that has overcome this place has left.....hopefully for a while. Windy days are not my thing.

My youngest daughter is having an Easter Egg Hunt at school today, so I will be heading there in a few minutes to watch the festivities. A beautiful day for it, that's for sure.

Next week I may be a blogging and photo taking/editing fool. It's spring break here, and the girls will be with their dad for the week! Soooo, I hope to get much spring cleaning done, some VHS to DVD transferring of old home videos, and spending some time on this 'puter of mine, of course. I will be gone tomorrow until Sunday as I will be spending time at my boyfriend's house. I hope to get a lot accomplished in the following week!

Last Years Airshow Pics

Last year we attended an airshow in New Orleans, LA and I took some photos. I just got around to editing them, so I thought I'd share here for my daily blog. I just realized that I put the date as '08 but they were actually taken in '07.

Animoto

I found this site on someone elses blog and I tried it out. I used the Jonas Brothers concert pics. The only thing I didn't care for was how short it is (only 30 seconds) but it still came out pretty good. Go to animoto.com to try it out!

Shutterbug

I have a list today! Well, I will create it as I go along with this blog. Todays list consists of things that I like to take pictures of. This picture that I am including today is of some flowers on a bush that is in one of my neighbors yards. These flowers always remind me of when I was very young, because we had a few of these flower bushes in our yard and I always thought they were so pretty. Ok, so here is my list of things I like to photograph:

1. People.....especially my kids. I love to dress them and pose them and get some nice shots of them to enlarge and frame. I haven't done so in quite a while, so it's on my 'to do' list.

2. Animals ~ I love to go to the zoo and take photos there. This time of year would actually be perfect, before it gets too hot and they are lazy and hidden away from sight.

3. Flowers~ This is an easy one (most times) because they don't move and are easy to focus in on. Unless, of course, the wind is blowing like it was this past Sunday when I was trying to get a close-up shot of some and they kept swaying out of focus. I finally gave up!

4. Action shots ~ This could be anything (people, cars, sports, etc) but can be very tricky.

5. Nature ~ Birds, squirrels, trees, clouds......anything like that. It seems they look totally different when you look at them through a camera lense.

6. Holiday events and Birthdays~ My dad always fusses at me on Christmas when I get out the camera and start snapping....his exact words are "Don't you have enough pictures? You probably have 10,000 by now!" LOL!

7. Silly shots ~ Anything that is unplanned, out of the ordinary, and otherwise very amusing.

It's not a long list, but I think it pretty much covers it. Have a great humpday!

Monster Trucks

Like I said in previous posts, we went to the Monster Truck show Saturday nite, and I took just a few photos there. We didn't have the greatest of seats, but I did have a personal fave :) Donkey Kong is the new truck out and it was pretty cool. The big fan fave, Gravedigger was there and I had to get a pic for the kids. All in all, it was the same show we had seen a few years ago, but for the kids sakes, it was something to do.

Try, Try Again

Yesteday I posted a pic (first try) and it came up too small (in my opinion) and then it really wasn't on here like I wanted, so I will just have to play around with this thing until I get it right. Whew! Ok, so today may be a multiple post day, not a promise, but maybe.

As I did promise, I have more photos to share and here it is. I am still working on them. I love the picnik.com site I found and even though I was so excited it was free, I am so curious to see what more I can get for the $24.95 for a whole year. I may just have to give in and try it out.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Monday's are usually a crazy day and today was no exception. I worked on pics all afternoon and this blog is done in a rush now, so lets hope I can post anything without too much drama.

Today is also my baby's 8th birthday. I remember the day like it was yesterday. I actually went in to the hospital to have my labor induced early in the morning of the 16th, but for some reason, my stubborn baby girl did NOT want to get here until St. Paddy's Day.

No list again today, I haven't had time to even begin to THINK about one today, but I blogged, so I guess that is all that really matters. I still have to cook and get lots of housework done, so here is a pic that I took over the weekend. I took more, but I thought I would just post one or two a day so that I could have SOMEthing to blog about for sure. :)

The Weekend is Over!

This is just another spur of the moment, quick blog that I didn't even expect to write, but it just hit me to do one real quick! No list, nothing spectacular, just your ordinary blog post.

Today was a beautiful day! We headed out to a local park and I took some more pictures. Those are to come this week some time. I commented to someone earlier today that you couldn't get a more perfect day for weather. It was sunny, and breezy (but not too bad) and the temp was perfect....not hot or cool, just right! Anyway, we enjoyed a good 2 hours or more out there, and now I am a little sun-burned, but not too bad. I needed the fresh air and relaxation after a hectic kid-filled weekend. :)

Now, its off to get some rest before we start the week. I hope everybody has a great one!

So I Am Here!

It's Saturday and I am blogging, not to be a regular thing, but it just so happened to work out this time. I actually had a few minutes to myself, what with a man and 4 kids to keep me occupied.

It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The sun is shining, it's warm and everyone is either outside or gone off to run an errand, so where do I head? My faithful buddy the computer, that's where! Ahhh, the sound of, well, nothing! Just the computer humming, the ceiling fan whirring overhead and pure peace. We had a busy, loud, stressful morning trying to take the kids all to eat breakfast at McDonalds on our way out of town to do a little shopping. Now that we are back, the kids are all working off some of that built up energy that I have none of. Climbing the tree on the side of my house keeps them very occupied these days, and I am thankful for that. I just hope no one falls out and breaks and arm or a leg.

Yesterday evening we headed to a local park here where I live, and I took some pics. I am very anxious to download them to my computer, but since we are heading to the Monster Truck show tonite, I will wait until tomorrow to work on that. I am hoping to get some more shots here and there this evening, between the show and some maybe at home.

Just Blabbin' and Bloggin'

Yes, I have met my blog quota for the day (once a day, except for the weekends) but I just wanted to blab about a few things before my weekend gets underway, and I have a little spare time.

My boyfriend and his kids will be here this weekend and I have mine, so it looks to be very interesting. Saturday we are taking them all to the Monster Jam monster truck show. I have been to one of these several times, and they are fun to watch . The kids all love it! I am hoping to take some pics and post them sometime next week.

Speaking of pics, I found this really neat site that lets you edit your pics and the BEST thing about it is it's FREE!! The site is picnik.com and I found it by accident. I actually searched for photo editing under blogs and I found one that talked about it, so of course I had to check it out. The only thing about it is it has lots of ads running on the page, but for a fee you can upgrade to a premium account and lose the ads. I can deal with those and keep my dough, thanks!

I can't believe that March is already half gone! We are already just about 1/4 of the way thru the year....YIKES! Time sure does fly. Monday is St. Patrick's Day and my youngest daughters 8th birthday. Seems like just yesterday she was born and now she will be making her first communion in a few weeks.

Have a great weekend! Until next time....

A List of Places....

I've been lots of places in my life (some interesting, some not so exciting). Keeping up with the theme of 'lists' here are a few of the most memorable destinations I have visited:

1* ASTROWORLD ~ My mom and her friend took us there when I was very young....my dad wasn't into that sort of thing, so he encouraged someone else to take us :)

2* SIX FLAGS OVER GEORGIA ~ I went there in high school on one of our band trips.

3* OKLAHOMA ~ This wasn't a vacation, and I don't remember exactly where we were or anything, but my younger sister won a local hoop shoot contest and she went all the way to the finals, so the whole family got to go. That was 5th grade, I believe.

4* MEMPHIS, TN ~ Graceland......not much of an Elvis fan, but loved it anyway.

5* CHEROKEE, NC~ Family vacation, same time as the Memphis trip.

6* PENSACOLA, FL~ My boyfriend took me here last summer, and it was beautiful, looking forward to going back.

7* NEW ORLEANS, LA ~ I live in Louisiana, and this is only like 3 hours from me, but it's always interesting and fun to go. I have been there several times over the years.

8* BATON ROUGE, LA ~ Louisiana's state capital, this is where my boyfriend lives, so I am there usually every other weekend :) Years ago we actually took a vacation here going to the zoo.

9* SMOKEY MOUNTAINS ~ I loved this place, we went in July and it was so cool on top of these mountains (not to mention, very high up...YIKES!)

10* GATLINBURG, TN ~ This place was awesome....lots of places to shop and cool things to see.

Ok, I am done, and there are probably other places I have been, but these are all of the ones that come to mind....I was struggling there towards the end :)

Just For Fun

Here are 50 facts about me that I wanted to share. Thanks to a fellow blogger friend for the idea and for introducing me to NaBloPoMo which put up this 'theme' of blogging for the month.

1. My name is Amy
2. I am 38 years old
3. I was born and raised in Louisiana
4. I am divorced.
5. My marriage lasted for 11 years.
6. Worked for Winn Dixie supermarket for 11 years before the store closed
11 is obviously not my number :(
7. I graduated in 1988
8. I have two daughters age 11 and 8 (well, she will be on Monday)
9. I babysit during the week for a teacher (great hours)
10. I sell Avon.....love it!
11. I am addicted to my computer
12. I have a great boyfriend who treats me like a queen!
13. I enjoy photography although I don't do it as much as I'd like
14. I love to read
15. I worked for a bank for almost 5 years.
16. I love music, can't get enough of it
17. Routine is my thing, don't get me out of it, or I freak
18. Change is also not a good thing for me, unless it's something extremely wonderful
19. I hate slow drivers, have a touch of road rage
20. Procrastination is my weak point.
21. Funny enough, I hate others who procrastinate....go figure!
22. I have one younger sister
23. I hated water when I was younger, never drank it. Now I love it!
24. Dr. Pepper is my drink of choice.
25. I love CHOCOLATE!!
26. Whiney kids drive me nuts....haha
27. I love to talk.
28. Meaningful converstations are a blast
29. I love liver.....if it's cooked right
30. Myspace is an addiction for me
31. I check my email many times a day
32. When I am doing something, I always think of what other thing I could be doing instead.
33. I keep a small notebook with all of my login passwords and ID's
34. I can be overly sensitive at times.
35. I drive a 2002 Dodge Caravan
36. My hair is naturally curly but I straighten it with a flatiron everyday.
37. I wear contacts.
38. I am somewhat shy until I get to know someone.
39. My favorite color is red.
40. I love organization, yet my house is very unorganized at times.
41. Seafood is my favorite when eating out.
42. I have only flown on a plane once when I was in the 5th. grade
43. I am afraid of cockroaches
44. I am not afraid of spiders unless they are huge!
45. I love shoes
46. Shopping is my sport
47. I have to make a list before I go grocery shopping.
48. I use my debit card instead of writing checks.
49. I love to pay bills online.
50. This list was the hardest one I ever did!

McDreamy Contributes

I found this article very interesting and I wanted to post it here. The subject of cancer always catches my eye since it was something that my own mother suffered from for many years. Add that to the fact that one of my favorite actors is giving to the cause, I was very intrigued. Here is the article:


Dr. McDreamy is making a real-life contribution to health care.
Patrick Dempsey was in his home state of Maine Monday to announce the opening of a new center to benefit cancer patients at Central Maine Medical Center.
The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing is slated to open Mar. 31 and will provide education and support programs for cancer patients and their families.
Dempsey, 42, put up a seed grant for the center, which he created in honor of his mother, Amanda, who was successfully treated for ovarian cancer at the hospital and is now in remission.
The Grey's Anatomy star said he remembered not knowing where to turn when his mother was diagnosed with cancer 10 years ago.
"For a family to get a cancer diagnosis is devastating, and all the information out there can be overwhelming," Dempsey said at a press conference Monday. "A lot of the websites I went to just didn't have enough information.
"So, I talked to my sister about a place where people could go for all this type of information and help. Knowledge is power."
Dempsey's sister, Mary, works at the hospital and will serve as coordinator of the new center, while Dempsey also plans to take part in the center's public education campaign about cancer prevention and detection.
The actor said he worked out plans for his involvement with the center during the recent writers' strike, which shut down production on his hit ABC medical drama. Now that the strike has over, however, he said he's pleased to be back on the set.
"I'm just happy to be working, and I think after having some success early in my career and then having to really work at it, I appreciate it more now," he said.

Hmm, Is This Thing On??

I have searched and I have looked, clicking here and there, and still not much luck. I am just not sure how to 'find' some peeps on here and get some blog-reading done. Maybe this could just become a diary of sorts to write and get out my thoughts and certain daily venting. Ha!
What I really and truly would like to do is hook up with fellow bloggers and share, so I am off to do yet more investigating and send out some emails to a few peeps I know who do blog.

While I am here, I would like to add that one of my favorite shows is underway and now we are getting down to the nitty gritty. Thats right, American Idol is now down to the 12 semi-finalists and this years singers are all pretty good. My fave guy singer is Michael Johns and I hope he goes far in the competition, but I guess we will have to see!

Until next time.....

Catching Up....

The weekend is over, it's Monday, time to get with it here. Daylight Savings Time is upon us once again, and I am glad....not so glad about the time change in the morning, but the extra hours of daylight at the end of the day are wonderful.

A little about me, now that I have decided to keep up with a blog. Hopefully I will figure all of this out soon, and how to get 'readers' and find other blogs to read. Well, I am a 38 year old divorced mother of 2 girls. My oldest is 11 years old and my baby will be 8 next week. For now, I do some stay at home things so that I can be here for my children daily. I babysit and I sell Avon. I really enjoy what I do, but a part of me can not wait to get back into the daily grind of a 'real' job. I have a wonderful man in my life who I have been with for almost a year now (wow) and we have a great relationship. To begin with, I never thought that I would find myself divorced and then when I did, finding another person to have in my life seemed like an impossible feat. However, I met a person who has a lot of the same interests and dreams as I do and we get along just fine.

Many of my interests include: Music......especially 80's and Rock. Photography...I don't get to do as much in this hobby as I would love to, but I enjoy it anyhow. TV and movies are something in which I try to keep up with, but I am not a fanatic about either, unlike some.

I have one younger sister who is like a best friend to me and we are closer than some siblings but not quite as close as I would like us to be. My mother passed away this past December after a lengthy battle with cancer and other horrible illnesses and my dad is still here taking it one day at a time.

One of my dreams has always been to write a book. I am not sure if a childrens book would be my thing or not, but maybe a pre-teen series for girls would be something I would enjoy. I have so many things that I would like to do and it just never seems like there is enough time in the day to do them all. Writing these blogs is going to be interesting, as I would love to get some of the 'writer desire' out of my system.

The thought of going back to school or taking online classes has also been something I have considered. I am really just in a 'slump' right now as to what exactly I would like to do and hopefully I can figure that out soon.

I do know one thing for sure.....nobody can make decisions for you, you have to live your life for 'you'.

Until next time......

An Everyday Occurance

I am hoping to post a blog daily, or as often as possible. At some points, it may be more than one post a day, depending on what I am doing or what is going on in the world or in my head. Weekend blogs are very unlikely, since I am usually out of town, or otherwise occupied. However, this is something that I would like to keep up with and not procrastinate about....which I am very famous for. Funny, because it is a quality that drives me nuts about other people, yet I do it myself.

One thing I wanted to write about was my love for TV. At one point in my life, everything I did on a daily basis revolved around my television shows and my soap. What is really interesting, is that when I worked a full time job away from home, I watched the soap All My Children with the utmost dedication...for years!! I either taped it daily, or watched it that evening on Soapnet. Then, one day I quit my job to be a stay at home mom, and I never watched it again. I dont' know if it was because I lost interest, or I just didn't have the time or desire to keep up anymore.

Primetime television is my main focus now, when it comes to TV. With the writers strike taking so long to come to an end, it seems like we will never see the gals from Desperate Houswives or McDreamy again! I am anxiously awaiting the return of my two fave shows, that is for sure.

Until next time......

To Blog... or Not

I love to read and I love to read blogs. So after many thoughts on what I should do or not do about it, I decided to 'open' my own blog account. I love to write and my computer is my best friend, so why not combine the two and use it for something I enjoy. I am not sure who, if anyone, will read them, but I plan to blog about random things. News related topics, personal issues, things that make me mad and hopefully most things that make me happy!

Blogging has become very popular these days and I have done it before. I have a myspace account in which I became hooked (okay, obsessed) with and I have done many a blog there. However, after many new friends have moved into my 'space', I dont' feel quite as comfy voicing my opinions about any and all topics that I would like to. So, hopefully this will be a place that I will frequent and use to create an escape, if you will, that I can get away from the world and just be ME.