Newest Cake

The below cake was made for Gabe (turning 30) and Aubrey (turning 1) for a luau party. Everything on it is edible, including the white chocolate shells. I also made 15 cupcakes for the little ones complete with cocktail umbrella. Enjoy!

Memories.

My cousin Emily brought this picture over to my house a while ago. Apparently, when I was in elementary school, my Mom brought her to visit me and eat lunch with me. I think it's hilarious how thrilled we both looked to be sharing that special moment with each other.

Time Waster

If you are a fan of point and click puzzle games, this is a great site. Beware - only click if you have an hour or two to kill, these are addicting.

Ten Rules to Live By to Achieve ENTJ Success

1. Feed Your Strengths! Give yourself every opportunity to show others your appreciation of a situation and how you could see it through to a good outcome. Take charge where you can make it count.

2. Face Your Weaknesses! Understand you have limits too. Your careful world view is not the whole deal. How things look and feel may not concern you, but they concern many others. Try and allow such things to be and learn from them.

3. Talk Time to Find Out How Others Really Think. You need to drive past your thoughts with others and let their appreciations of a situation reach you at a deeper level. It will then be possible for you to take account of their needs as real world objectives which if included in your ideas will bring greater harmony and quality to life and relationships.

4. Take Time Out To Let The Whole Situation Speak To You. Don't dismiss those abstract and seemingly hard to understand or bothersome aesthetic and feeling judgments coming from others or from inside yourself. Drop everything for a while, stop thinking and worrying and just relax into those ideas and let them speak to you. Perhaps they can be accommodated, perhaps something is hiding in there which offers a new way

5. When You Get Upset, You Lose. Your energy and rational understandings are strong assets, but can be very harmful if they turn against you and leave you with nothing but emotions you cannot deal with. Remember that others cannot always be expected to fall into your ways of seeing, and when your drive to make them do so fails you will suffer feelings of resentment and even abandonment. You cannot deal with the world like this. Moderate your ideas, allow others their spaces, and you will grow.

6. Respect your Need for Intellectual Compatibility Don't expect yourself to be a "touchy-feely" or "warm-fuzzy" person. Realize that your most ardent bonds with others will start with the head, rather than the heart. Be aware of other's emotional needs, and express your genuine love and respect for them in terms that are real to YOU. Be yourself.

7. Be Accountable for Yourself. Don't blame the problems in your life on other people. Look inwardly for solutions. No one has more control over your life than you have.

8. Be Humble. Judge yourself at least as harshly as you judge others.

9. Take a Positive Approach to Differences in People. Don't distress yourself and others by dwelling on what seem to be their limitations. They need you to guide them and you need them to see things through. Try and recognize who can perform the most ably within certain fields outside your own competence. Let the feelings of others become a strength rather than a hindrance to you.

10. Don't Get Obsessed! Recognize the value that personal world has to you, your friends, your family, your own inner sense of self worth and life. Take pride in just being a good person and don’t allow external situations to control you. Try to relax and let the moment belong to the best things you can find in others and yourself. Nothing out there is more important than your own happiness.

Un-Meet Arleigh

Fortunately, with dogs (unlike children), you can always give them back if it doesn't work out the way you expected. John and I spoke about it for about 2 hours tonight and came to the realization that two dogs just wasn't in the cards for us right now in our lives. Arleigh is a handful and is not nearly as intelligent as Bailey. It's very hard to train a dog that has no concept of listening skills or consequences. In fact, every time we'd tell him "no", Bailey would run over and bark to enforce what we were telling him... it was almost as if Bailey knew we weren't getting through to him!

At any rate, the shelter has been very supportive and we'll be bringing him back tomorrow.

It just wasn't meant to be, I guess.

Meet Arleigh

Well, as all of our friends are now entering the phase in their lives where they are having 2 children, John and I decided to get on the bandwagon and adopt our second "child" as well. Meet Arleigh. He arrived home today, 8 months, 39 pounds, 0 ounces.

3rd Grade Racism

I'm sure a lot of you have heard of this widely known 3rd grade experiment conducted by a teacher in the 1970s to help her class learn what it feels like to be discriminated against. I was very pleased to recently find out that Frontline is posting more and more of its episodes online, to include this famous airing.

If you have an extra 45 minutes, I highly recommend watching it.

The Dog and The Bounty Hunter

So I was walking Bailey this morning when a guy in a GTO drove up to me and asked me for directions. (Poor guy -- he had no clue that I am direction challenged). He was trying to get to one of the millions of South Riding streets and I had no idea how to help him. I finally asked him if he had a cell phone so he could call the person he was trying to meet. He then explained that he was a bounty hunter and was looking for a fugitive and giving the guy advanced warning wasn't the best of ideas.

I'm not sure why, but that made my day (although it should have skeeved me out that there was a fugitive in my neighborhood).

First Veggie of the Summer

I planted yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers and pumpkins this year in my backyard. This was the first zucchini I picked the other day -- not a bad size!

Congrats Em and Jim!

Cogitate

While getting ready for work this morning, I was watching Fox News and they were showing the unveiling of the new White House Press Room. President Bush was there for the ribbon cutting and was joking around with the press about various things. During the briefing, he used the word, "cogitate". I had never heard this word before so I decided to look it up on dictionary.com to see if it was a real word or a "Bushism". Lo and behold, it's a real word! I didn't realize Bush used those!

I wonder if the press will say anything about it...

From the Mouths of Babes...

My Mom just sent me this email regarding my 8 year old nephew:

Riding to Mass yesterday Jacob wanted to know if when we go back home if he could invite Aunt Michelle over to the house. I told him you are a working woman and have only two days off and it was so generous of you to take them to her house for games, McDonalds and a visit with friends. I told him you have chores to do, clean your house, weed, take care of Bailey, and help Uncle John.

He said NO, he had spent the night at your house and you don't have a lot to do . "After you eat breakfast you load the dish washer then you play video games!"

He said he saw you with his own eyes!

Love mom

The July 4th Cheese Fry Challenge -- Documented

John and I spent our July 4th at Outback watching our friends single handedly* eat a plate of layered cheese fries. Then we went to the parking lot and watched the Vienna fireworks.

Here are timelines of the two finishers:

MIKEY

JOE

*With the exception that Joe did share one or two fries with Laura and Maggie

Back From Reno

I just got in from Reno last night and am pretty darn tired. I will post more later, but in the meantime, here are a few shots I grabbed visiting Lake Tahoe with Jen.

I thought this little boy was too cute trying to drag this heavy cooler (probably full of his Dad's beer).

This is Jen doing her best to not kill me for making her pose on a really large tree stump.

Jen snapped this of me at the state park where we were taking in the scenery.


This is the view going down the 10,000 foot mountain on our way back from Tahoe to Reno.



This Virginian couldn't resist taking this picture of the Virginian in downtown Reno. Reno itself was not that exciting -- it resembled the old parts of Vegas... full of check cashing places, wedding chapels, XXX movie houses and pawn shops. Jennifer and I felt a little unsafe as everywhere we went the store clerks told us to watch our purses and to be careful. Needless to say, we mainly stayed inside the Nugget surrounded by several security friends from the conference.

This sign is unfortunately the best part of Reno.

Oscar would be VERY grouchy

Take a gander at this computer map of all of the space trash around our earth. Apparently, NASA tracks all space trash greater than 10 centimeters so they know when and where to launch satellites, space shuttles, rockets, and more importantly, people.

Now you can die how you lived...

With Costco!

Slum Crew 20th

Had another great Slum Crew this year -- I think this picture of Joe from Saturday morning sums up how tired I am right now, though...

I also managed to grab a shot of the Slum Crew Museum...

Hot dogs, Soprano Style

YUM!

50 States

How well do you know your state geography?

I got a 92.5 score, with an average error of 12 miles in 179 seconds.

Bodies is Here!

Who wants to go?!

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Some people knew that I was running for the National Board of Directors spot with my non-profit security organization that I belong to. 6 people were running for 5 spots, so my odds were pretty good. Unfortunately, I lost the election. Bummer. Although I am fairly well recognized in my field in the DC area where I am the chapter Secretary, I am not so much recognized on a National level. Apparently, this is what hurt me in the election. It took me a few days to recover from the loss, as I am now not sure what I am going to do with my professional life for the next 2 years (it would have been a two year term). Some have suggested that I run for the Chapter Chair position of my chapter this year, others have suggested that I run for BOD next year. Whatever it is, I need to do some thinking. Staying active in the organization is a great way to network and give back to the security community. We are a very small group (probably less than 10,000 of us nationwide), so positive networking is a really good way to move up in the profession.

On the other hand, this may be an opportunity for me to focus more on the rest of my life -- perhaps do some charity work or get back into my hobbies. All I know is whatever I am meant to do these next two years, does not include being on the Board.

Back From Seattle

We had a blast! Here's a few interesting photos from the trip.

Success!

AURGH!

If anyone can figure out how to get the 3rd tile, let me know!

http://www.kotarogame.com/archives/53702998.html

The Delicate Art of Life

I received a post on this blog early this morning that made me take pause. It was from a woman that used to date my late uncle. Apparently, she was searching for him and came across my grandfather's obituary that I had posted last year. She said she had been looking for him for a while, and this was the closest she had come to finding him. I responded to her explaining that my uncle passed away in a car accident 17 years ago, and also explained that he was able to save several lives by being an organ donor. I was glad that I was able to help her get some closure.

Writing her tonight made me think about how short life is and how delicate relationships can be. I have often wondered if I have told everything I need to everyone that I care about... that if I were to die today, if I have said it all. But what never occurred to me, is has everyone else told me everything they need to? Or are there even people out there at all that would care enough about me to search me out 17 years after my death?

I hope that my life will make a difference. It's my job to find out how.

The Art of Friendship

Best friends require one-on-one contact to survive. Telephone calls and getting together are musts for best friends to continue.

In fact, probably the quickest way to end a friendship is to neglect it and sever contact.

Yet it is hard to make time in a busy day and busy life to maintain our friends. But you don't have to have hours to spare to maintain a friendship.

Instead try the following to keep from neglecting your friends:

• Send frequent email. Email is a boon for a quick note.
• Call once a week. Telephone calls do not take long.
• Keep in touch through brief messages left on answering machines.
• Send an occasional card. Funny and/or appropriate cards take minutes to choose and address.
• Exercise together. We all have to exercise. It is more fun with a friend, plus, there is no better place for talking than a walk in the park.
• Clean house together. This is another must do and two makes cleaning fun instead of boring.
• Send pictures. A picture is still worth a thousand words.
• Go to lunch at least once a month. More often would be better.

Follow the advice of Victoria Rayner, author of The Survival Guide for Today's Career Woman:

• Be a good listener; refrain from offering advice or moralizing.
• Respect your friend's point of view. Different personalities can complement each other; it isn't always necessary to see eye to eye.
• Never betray a trust. Trust, when violated, can ruin even the best friendship.
• Support and praise your friends; ignore their failures and imperfections.
• Never resent a friend's success. Instead, strive to admire her achievements.

Flexibility is always important for maintaining friendships. Be understanding when your friend has a last minute change in plans. Learn to accept "I'm sorry to cancel, but we will have another time together Sunday."

When paths begin to separate (you are married; he isn't or you have a baby; she is still childless) at forks in the road of life, that is the most important time of all to stay in touch with friends.

When there is conflict, it must be resolved for friendship to continue. Confrontation is one way to resolve conflict. Talking it out is another.

A cooling-off period is sometimes necessary when conflict has occurred. Once you reinitiate conflict, it may not even be necessary to discuss the conflict.

By Joy Stevens

Poems

I wrote this February 9, 1998. I believe this was for a creative writing exercise in college. At the time, I was happily in a relationship so I don't think I had a muse for this, but was trying to do some play on words and see if I could pull it off. Although a bit cheesy, I kind of like the 4th stanza:

The Four Elements of Love

How I dream to be the mighty wind,
To carry the wings of your love,
To whisk you away to far off places,
And anywhere else I dare dream of.

And Oh, to be the placid water,
That from your cup you sip,
To be brought to your glorious mouth,
Feeling the sticky sweet touch of your lips.

Oh, to be the trembling earth,
That lay beneath your feet,
To be the stable ground you rely on,
To have your trust be mine to keep.

But oh! I beg the Lord above,
To let me be a ravishing fire,
For there is nothing that I’d rather be,
Than your very own burning desire.

This one was written in 1997 for an English project:

A is for Apple

Apples fall
briskly from the
careless tree
drizzling an
enormous amount of
fruit in one
gigantic
heap of
indecision.
Just then, a zestful
kite flies
lightly across the sky into the
mass of branches
now no longer bearing apples. The
odious tree, that
plummeted red gems,
quietly imprisons the kite in
revenge and
secures it in a
teasing,
ultra apathetic and
violent
way. Then-- the anti-
xenial plant releases the
young aerodynamic
zestless aircraft to join the heap of victims below.

I wrote the below poem in 10th grade when my best friend and boyfriend started dating. That was a traumatic year for a 15 year old. Although the poetry is dreadful, I really like the clever use of shapes to describe what happened that year:

Shapes

There were four of us,
Two happy couples,
We were thrilled to see,
Our love in doubles.

It was her and him,
And me and you,
Our square was wonderful,
As it was brand new.

Then her and him split,
Yet we still remained,
The three of us were friends,
In happiness uncontained.

Soon we had a triangle,
I had yet to perceive,
Because you and her,
Began to deceive--me.

The triangle formed a nasty circle,
With fighting, and yelling,
What would happen next,
There was no telling.

So now the circle,
Became a single line,
Connecting two points,
And neither point was mine.

You and her connected,
Ignoring the square,
You acted so happy,
Without so much as a care.

Then she cut the line,
You two had to part,
And all of us involved,
Were back at the start.

Now we're all points,
Just floating around,
None are connected,
No shape can be found.

All I ask,
As if you even care,
Is for me, you, her, and him,
To again just be square.

New Look

I thought I'd change things around a bit and gave my blog a new look, with the help of google's new interfaces. I also like the green theme -- a little more serene than my old blog.

Enjoy!

Don't Have Room For a Compost Heap?

Compost in your kitchen!

Whateva

I was walking Bailey tonight in my 'hood when I found a CD on the ground labeled "Whateva - February 23, 2007". I popped it into my computer and the following tracks were found:

• Wouldn't Get Far -- Kanye West
• That's That Dirty -- Snoop Dogg
• Go Getta -- Young Jeezy
• I Luv It Dirty -- Young Jeezy
• Soul Surv -- Young Jeezy & Akon
• Locked Up Remix Dirty -- Akon
• Don't Matter -- Akon
• This is Why I'm Hot -- MIMS
• Throw Some Ds -- Rich Boy
• Oh Yeah -- Lil' Scrappy
• Money In the Bank -- Lil' Scrappy
• Want You -- Young Lloyd & Lil Wayne
• What Goes Around Comes Around -- Justin Timberlake
• Runaway Love -- Ludacris
• Affirmative Action -- Nas
• You Never Know -- Immortal Technique
• Dance With the Devil -- Immortal Technique

I don't really have anything to say about it, but I may submit the CD to FOUND.

From Dictionary.com...

tic·ky-tack·y
–adjective

1.	shoddy and unimaginatively designed; flimsy and dull: a row of new, ticky-tacky bungalows.

Little Boxes

There's a fairly new show on Showtime called Weeds. The premise of the show is pretty interesting -- it's about a suburban housewife whose husband dies and she's left with no money. In order to keep the lifestyle that her and her children are accustomed to, she decides to become a drug dealer.

The theme song of the show is called "Little Boxes" which describes South Riding and all the other neighborhoods like it perfectly:

Little Boxes

by Malvina Reynolds

Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of tickytacky
Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes all the same
There's a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses all went to the university
Where they were put in boxes and they came out all the same,
And there's doctors and there's lawyers, and business executives
And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf course and drink their martinis dry,
And they all have pretty children and the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp and then to the university
Where they are put in boxes and they come out all the same.

And the boys go into business and marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

I often wonder how much longer I am going to be able to continue to live in my "box made of ticky tacky" and still be a unique, functioning member of society.

Religious Persecution A-OK, Gay Bashing? Not so Much...

From the front page of msn.com today:

When a few classmates razzed Rebekah Rice about her Mormon upbringing with questions such as, "Do you have 10 moms?" she shot back: "That's so gay."

After Rice got a warning and a notation in her file, her parents sued, claiming officials at Santa Rosa's Maria Carillo High violated their daughter's First Amendment rights when they disciplined her for uttering a phrase "which enjoys widespread currency in youth culture," according to court documents.

But school officials say they took a strict stand against the put down after two boys were paid to beat up a gay student the year before.

"The district has a statutory duty to protect gay students from harassment," the district's lawyers argued in a legal brief. "In furtherance of this goal, prohibition of the phrase 'That's so gay' ... was a reasonable regulation."

Rice's parents, Elden and Katherine Rice, also claim the public high school employed a double-standard because, they say, administrators never sought to shield Rebekah from teasing based on Mormon stereotypes.

Ok, granted... the suing of the school may have been a little much, and the expression "that's so gay" is not the most PC term in the world, but seriously -- giving a child a warning for saying "that's so gay" but turning a blind eye to the kids that were making fun of her religion?

Digging for Graves

A week ago, I started delving into my genealogy projects some more. My newest discovery was that I was able to determine that Lord Calvert of Baltimore was my 10th- great grandfather... pretty cool stuff. At any rate, while digging up my past, I came across a website called findagrave.com. Apparently, there are people that go around to cemeteries all over the world and document graves. Findagrave has even listed its top posters -- some people submitting over 50,000 graves to this site!

There's also a neat feature on the site where if you really want a picture of a grave, and you are not able to travel there, you can request that a grave hunter go and photograph it for you. Cool!

I was able to find my grandmother on this site who passed away in 2005 and some of my ancestors as well. You can also do searches for famous people and leave "virtual flowers" at the graves.

My Makeover

For my birthday, my mother-in-law purchased an "Excitation" for me -- basically it was a gift certificate for an experience of my choice. I chose to have a one-on-one makeup consultation with celebrity makeup artist Erwin Gomez in Georgetown.

The whole experience lasted about an hour and a half, and was a lot of fun. I learned a lot of great makeup tips like dont use your fingers to put on foundation, never put concealer on your pimples (go figure) and dont use brown mascara on a fair complexion. After my "free" experience, he promptly asked me if I wanted to take home some of the "product" he used on me. "Sure," I replied.

Before I knew it, he loaded everything he used on me into a bag and handed it to the cashier. "That will be $400 dollars please." GULP!!!!!!!!! So much for my celebrity experience.

Erwin was great -- apparently he does the Bush twins' eyebrows and after some googling, I found out they attended his wedding in 2004. Wonder what W thought about that one?

First Honeybees, now Frogs?

I think humans are next...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,251365,00.html?sPage=fnc.science/naturalscience

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,252215,00.html

Even Drug Smugglers Have Rights in America!

Not sure if any of you have heard about this one. Apparently, a while back, there were two border patrol agents that caught a Mexican citizen trying to smuggle 725 pounds of marijuana into the country. The guy decided to run, so the agents shot at him, hitting him in the butt. Not only are the two border patrol agents in jail serving 11 and 12 year terms, but the drug smuggler has been granted amnesty and is suing the US Government for 5 million dollars.

There's a million articles swirling about on this one, but here's one of them:
http://www.startribune.com/484/story/995662.html

Blast from the Past

I was reading a bunch of my saved documents from college, and happened across this letter that I posted on our school cafeteria's comment board. The board was designed for note card sized comments, but I took it a bit further by posting this...

Dear Wood Company:

I have just read the article in the student newspaper about your services. Although I am not fully satisfied with everything you have to offer, I believe that the letter was not fair to your company because it did a lot of complaining and didn’t list any solutions. Therefore, I would like to tell you a little about what I have observed my 3 semesters here at Mary Washington.

First of all, I am very pleased with your comment board. You always respond promptly to students ideas and if an idea is not feasible, you list the reasons why. This tells us that you actually do care about our concerns. Also, I understand that it is very difficult to provide for a large amount of students. You either please most the students some of the time or some of the students most of the time. It is a no win situation, and I congratulate you on putting forth your best efforts. With that said, I would like to list a variety of concerns that I have and possible solutions to remedy these problems.

The first thing I would like to point out, is your cakes. These cakes taste so good when they’re fresh! However, when you cut them up in individual slices, they quickly get stale because all four sides are exposed to the air. Why don’t you place the entire cake out uncut and let students cut the cake themselves? That way, you don’t have to worry about cutting the cakes, and we don’t have to worry about them getting stale!

The second thing, is the sodas. This seems like a very simple solution to a very frequent problem. A day doesn’t go by when all the syrup is gone from the soda machines leaving us with a glass of club soda. This past week, all the sodas but Dr. Pepper were out of syrup in the North Room. This leaves students with little options when the milk is frequently sour and the juices are just as watery as the sodas. If you could check the syrup on the machines more often, I do believe this could be solved.

Another thing I’m sure you have noticed is the ice cream. Have you noticed that after a while, the only thing that is left in the freezers are popsicles? This is because none of the students will eat them because of the thick coating of slime covering each one. If you could either order less popsicles and more ice cream, or find a way to regulate the freezers so the slime doesn’t appear, you’d have a lot more students eating the frozen treats.

Also, college students are scared of “gourmet” foods. I wanted to give you an example of a name of one of these foods but when I asked my friends, they all said, “I don’t remember… I don’t eat those.” And it’s true! The food in the South Room is unappealing mainly because of its “exotic” names. Instead of oranges and zucchini, serve things like mashed potatoes and gravy! Give us old fashioned foods that our mothers make like fried chicken and stuffing and corn instead of eggplant and rutabaga. I’m sure you’ll get a much larger response if the foods we are given are familiar to us.

Another concern we tend to have is that of “recycled food.” This means that one day, you’ll serve sweet potatoes and the next day, you’ll serve sweet potato soup. I understand your need to conserve, but it automatically triggers a red flag in our minds and we tend to steer clear of foods served the day before. A large concern of students is food poisoning and “recycled food” poses a huge threat to our weak tummies.

I hope that these suggestions were of a help to you and I thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Michelle Lambiasi

New Game

It's pretty easy, but fun for a few minutes.

Global Warming

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17042993/?GT1=9033

Dog DNA -- Email

Hello Michelle

Thank you for your interest in the MMI Genomics Canine Heritage™ test product. Canine Heritage™ test kits will be available at the end of February. We will send you information to request a sampling kit at that time. Please watch your mailbox for further Canine Heritage™ news over the next few weeks. The cost of the test will be $65 per dog.

Currently, these 38 breeds (listed below) are included in the Canine Heritage™ test.

If you have any more questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Paul

Afghan Hound
Akita
Basenji
Basset Hound
Beagle
Belgian Tervuren
Bernese Mountain Dog
Border Collie
Borzoi
Boxer
Bulldogs
Chihuahua
Chinese Shar-Pei
Chow chow
Cocker Spaniel
Collie
Dachshund
Doberman Pinscher
English Setter
German Shepherd Dog
German Shorthaired Pointer
Golden Retriever
Greyhounds
Italian Greyhound
Labrador Retriever
Mastiff
Miniature Schnauzer
Poodle
Pug
Rottweiler
Saluki
Samoyed
Shetland Sheepdog
Shih Tzu
Siberian Husky
St Bernard
Whippet
Yorkshire Terrier

Dog DNA

Ok, so I've tested myself, my next step is to test Bailey. Once the kit becomes available at the end of the month, poor ol' Bailey is gettin the cheek swab!

http://www.metamorphixinc.com/products3.html

In the News

I subscribe to Popular Science and in reading some of the recent issues today, I found some cool things going on in our technology world...

• Open Source Textbooks: At www.curriki.org, you can register to start reading free, online textbooks. Although it is in its infancy now, this tool may be just the key to saving our schools hundreds of millions of dollars.
• Growing Bladders from DNA: A scientist was able to build a bio-degradable scaffold of a bladder, spray a patient's bladder cells onto the scaffold and presto! A new bladder.
  
• Cure for Asthma: By sticking a tube down a patient's throat and into their lungs, radio frequency signals blast the walls of the lungs to get rid of asthma attacks.
• Katrina-Stopping Nails: By re-engineering the nail, inventors were able to create a nail so strong that the roofs of houses no longer will sheer off in hurricane winds.
• Periodic Table: One of the editors of PopSci spent four years assembling a collection of elements for a real-life periodic table and photographing them. It's kinda cool to look at -- you can even order a poster of the table for your home or office enjoyment!
  
• Censored Hammer: Although not necessary revolutionary, I also read an article about a new hammer called the "FUBAR" which was designed for demolition work. Now tell me, how in the world did Stanley get away with that? I can picture 5 years olds watching their Dads hard at work and asking if they can have a try at the FUBAR.
  

Best Wiitie Ever.

My pet name for John is "Weetie" -- short for "Sweetie". That's not public knowledge, and he'll probably kill me for posting that here, but it's important that everyone know he is now "Wii-tie". This morning he told me he was getting up early to work on a car. So I sort of just grumbled a goodbye and went back to bed. When he got home around 11:30, he proceeded to tell me he had lied to me about where he was going and then produced a newly acquired Wii!

Apparently, he had to wait in line in the 20 degree weather for 3 hours for this thing. Now that's true love! So today will be spent learning how to play in between watching football with friends.

What a great Sunday!

Recent Cake.

Where I've Been...

I realize it's been a while since I've written something substantial on this thing. So I better fess up to what I've been doing for the past month or so.

December was fairly hectic. John and I hosted several parties and attended several parties. I was able to get together with the old HR Gang from Integic -- which was so incredibly awesome. We swapped stories and presents and had a grand time at my house. Bailey enjoyed being spoiled by them as he licked their plates clean. We attended the American Systems Christmas party which was a total joke compared to the Integic days, but had a moderately fun time. My brothers were able to come home for Christmas from Japan and Florida, and we had a great time hanging out. John's family came up from South Carolina for a while so we had a full house for about a week. After they left, I was suckered into having the Underwood Christmas party at my house. My Mom's 6 siblings, their spouses, and children came for food, fun and gift exchanges.

John and I exchanged gifts this year. Items of note would be a Pabst Blue Ribbon light up sign from the 1970s that I got off of eBay and a hydroponic herb garden for the kitchen.

For New's Years Eve, we went to Maryland to see Rob's band play. We were able to convince our neighbors, my brother, my cousin Emily and her boyfriend and Tommy to come with us. If it wasn't for Rob, I wouldn't have voluntarily stepped foot in Maryland, but I ended up having a good time all the same. Probably too good, because apparently there is video footage somewhere of me jumping on a trampoline with Rob's girlfriend after having about 8 drinks. Hm.

For the past few months, Rob and Jen and I have been holding a "Dawson's Creek/Wonder Years" night on Wednesdays. It usually consists of a bunch of dogs running around the house, cooking good food, and then us watching DC/WY and making fun of every other line in the show. So far, we have finished the first 2 seasons of both shows. It's a great break from real life in the middle of the week, so anyone who is interested, feel free to join us!

Other than that, work has been kicking my butt. I've been pretty swamped trying to take a department that has had 20 years of neglect and try and make it a fully functional environment where we are able to help grow the corporation into a billion dollar company. I have some awesome employees, so the good news is, I will not have to go it alone.

That's it for now. I must sign off so I can bake a cake for a 5 year old. It's a pony theme, but she doesn't want My Little Pony stuff. So I have to try and make a girlie pony that doesn't resemble a My Little Pony. Fun stuff.

Hapland, Part Three

http://www.foon.co.uk/farcade/hapland3/

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

I had no time to do Christmas cards this year, so this is my Christmas card to everyone. I hope everyone is doing well and is in good health and good spirits. Below is a pathetic picture of Bailey for your enjoyment.

Spare Me My Life -- New York Style!

This is really really bad, but kinda funny if you're not sensitive to this type of thing.

Who Really Cares

There is a new book out called, "Who Really Cares". I haven't read it yet, but just watched a 20/20 special on it. What the book has in it, was quite intriguing. The book compiles hundreds of statistics about charitable giving in the United States and who gives the most. What was surprising to many, is that conservatives give the most (most in money, their time, and even in giving blood) -- even though liberals make an average of 6% more than conservatives. Of the 25 states that give the most, 24 of them voted Republican. How odd that is, considering the richest states were not among the top 25. 20/20 suggested this was the case because liberals believe the government should be responsible for giving aid, and conservatives feel it should be the citizens' responsibility.

The 20/20 show went on to say that our government gives the most foreign aid of any other country in dollars. However, it is very low ranked when it comes to percentage of worth. But when you talk about citizens giving percentages of income to charity, Americans give a much higher percentage of their income than any other nation. During the tsunami, the US gave 900 million in aid -- however, Americans independently gave 2 billion. Why should our government always be responsible for giving? Don't we as Americans have an obligation to help our fellow man? I would much rather see our government cut foreign aid altogether, but then lower taxes so that Americans can give MORE.

So -- how much do you give? At my church, our priest recommends that each family give 1 hour of their salary to charity each week and that they volunteer their time in at least one charity. I have always thought that was a good starting point and have found it very easy over the years to automatically increase my donations each time myself or John gets a raise. We are so very fortunate to live the lives we do here in America. Isn't it time we started giving more?

Spare Me My Life!

My brother Jim sent me this YouTube video the other day. It's a Japanese TV show from the 80s that attempted to teach English using "real life" situations and aerobics. Apparently, this one tells you just what to do in a mugging. I am not sure why the second mugger has a handkerchief tied under his nose, but it adds to the humor.

Birthday Recap.

Turns out, turning 28 aint all that bad. I had a great birthday weekend. Events were:

• On Friday, we had donuts and coffee in the break room with my department in honor of my big day. Got to chat with employees I have not yet met and hear stories of the "good ol' days" from employees that had been there 20+ years.
• Had lunch with John and two of my coworkers at Blue Water Grille.
• Had dinner with friends at Damon's in Chantilly that night. Rob gave me a 40 and beef jerky -- his gift of choice. Also in attendance were Julie, Delvaux, Gill, Jennifer, and Karsten came with his beautiful daughter Maggie.
• Saturday was spent at my parents where my mother gave me a beautiful skirt and the keys to the Corvette for a joyride through Middleburg. John and I left Bailey with her and toured my High School grounds and the Purcellville area. It had been years since I was on Snickersville Turnpike.
• Saturday night we went to Gabe and Shelly's to pick up the futon they were giving away. As we were leaving, Genevieve starting having a cow and screaming that she "wanted to go home with John." I told them that I was making chili and they were welcome to come over. An hour later we were breaking bread with the Butler family and their newest addition, Aubrey. We ended the night watching Tech win and trying to get the girls to sleep at a decent hour.
• Sunday morning was spent Wii hunting -- with no luck.
• Sunday night we went to Houlihans in Centreville (GREAT food) with my in-laws. They gave me an Excitation as a gift. If you haven't heard of it, you MUST take a peak on the website (www.excitations.com). Basically, you get a gift card and the option to choose one of many adventures in your local area. My package was the blue package which included hang gliding, a hot air balloon ride, racing, learning polo, and much more. Although I would love to take a hot air balloon ride, it is for 1 person only, and that is the type of thing I'd love to do with John. I am leaning more towards a one-on-one session with a famous makeup artist since all my friends tell me I always look like I never wear makeup (which I do!!)

In summary, it was a great 28. I'm looking forward to what this year will bring.

Wii Wii Wii all the way home...

Armed with the assurance from my husband that "the manufacturing process" allowed for a large distribution of Nintendo Wiis to the states, I went against my gut (and every article I've been reading) and decided not to pre-order one. So this morning wii got up at 8:00 and drove to Target to ensure that just in case there may be a line, I would be at the front.

We walked in to see a flurry of activity, with many people standing in line, holding tickets. But surely I didn't need a ticket??? So I asked a kid standing in line and he promptly told me that the tickets were given to the 69 people that camped out last night and there were no more left. "Good luck," he called after me as John and I walked out the door.

So we drove to Fair Lakes to check out the Toys R Us. Yup. About 100 people in line in front of the store. Across the street? About 100 people in line at Best Buy. So we went to Kmart in Chantilly as one last try. Although there was no line, there was a sign on the door that read, "No Wiis Available."

So, alas. My wait for the Wii must continue a little longer. And finally, I will be able to tell my husband, "I told you so" for once in my life.

Deep Thoughts

My boss came into my office today and said to me, "Do you know what I like about this job?"

"What?" I asked.

He responded, "Nothing!"

I thought that was pretty funny.

In Remembrance of Steve Cavanaugh

You'll be missed by all.

Remembrance

by Ray Bradbury

And this is where we went, I thought,
Now here, now there, upon the grass
Some forty years ago.
I had returned and walked along the streets
And saw the house where I was born
And grown and had my endless days.
The days being short now, simply I had come
To gaze and look and stare upon
The thought of that once endless maze of afternoons.
But most of all I wished to find the places where I ran
As dogs do run before or after boys,
The paths put down by Indians or brothers wise and swift
Pretending at a tribe.
I came to the ravine.
I half slid down the path
A man with graying hair but seeming supple thoughts
And saw the place was empty.
Fools! I thought. O, boys of this new year,
Why don’t you know the Abyss waits you here?
Ravines are special fine and lovely green
And secretive and wandering with apes and thugs
And bandit bees that steal from flowers to give to trees.
Caves echo here and creeks for wading after loot:
A water-strider, crayfish, precious stone
Or long-lost rubber boot --
It is a natural treasure-house, so why the silent place?
What’s happened to our boys that they no longer race
And stand them still to contemplate Christ’s handiwork:
His clear blood bled in syrups from the lovely wounded trees?
Why only bees and blackbird winds and bending grass?
No matter. Walk. Walk, look, and sweet recall.

I came upon an oak where once when I was twelve
I had climbed up and screamed for my brother to get me down.
It was a thousand miles to earth. I shut my eyes and yelled.
My brother, richly compelled to mirth, gave shouts of laughter
And scaled up to rescue me.
"What were you doing there?" he said.
I did not tell. Rather drop me dead.
But I was there to place a note within a squirrel nest
On which I’d written some old secret thing now long forgot.
Now in the green ravine of middle years I stood
Beneath that tree. Why, why, I thought, my God,
It’s not so high. Why did I shriek?
It can’t be more than fifteen feet above. I’ll climb it handily.
And did.
And squatted like an aging ape alone and thanking God
That no one saw this ancient man at antics
Clutched grotesquely to the bole.
But then, ah God, what awe.
The squirrel’s hole and long-lost nest were there.

I lay upon the limb a long while, thinking.
I drank in all the leaves and clouds and weathers
Going by as mindless
As the days.
What, what, what if? I thought. But no. Some forty years beyond!
The note I’d put? It’s surely stolen off by now.
A boy or screech-owl’s pilfered, read, and tattered it.
It’s scattered to the lake like pollen, chestnut leaf
Or smoke of dandelion that breaks along the wind of time...

No. No.

I put my hand into the nest. I dug my fingers deep.
Nothing. And still more nothing. Yet digging further
I brought forth:
The note.
Like moth wings neatly powdered on themselves, and folded close
It had survived. No rains had touched, no sunlight bleached
Its stuff. It lay upon my palm. I knew its look:
Ruled paper from an old Sioux Indian Head scribble writing book.
What, what, oh, what had I put there in words
So many years ago?
I opened it. For now I had to know.
I opened it, and wept. I clung then to the tree
And let the tears flow out and down my chin.
Dear boy, strange child, who must have known the years
And reckoned time and smelled sweet death from flowers
In the far churchyard.
It was a message to the future, to myself.
Knowing one day I must arrive, come, seek, return.
From the young one to the old. From the me that was small
And fresh to the me that was large and no longer new.
What did it say that made me weep?

I remember you.
I remember you.

November 17th, 2006

In order to celebrate the anticipated wedding of TomKat on November 17th*, I figured we should gather at Damon's in Chantilly at 6:30 for ribs, beer and trivia. Anyone that wants to come is welcome -- hope to see you there!





* or my birthday

Only in America...

People in countries around the world are literally dying in order to get the right to vote. Here in America, apparently we have to PAY people in order to get them to vote:

Arizona | Proposition 200: $1 Million Voter Reward

Would establish a "voter reward" random drawing every two years with a first prize of $1 million or more in an effort to increase voter participation. Voters who cast ballots in primary or general elections would be eligible to win. The money would come from the Arizona Lottery and private donations.

More Addicting Fun.

A couple of these I got right away, others I am still trying to figure out.

http://www.freeonlinegames.com/play/8370.html

Good News for Delvaux, Bad News for the Rest of Us

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15532333/?GT1=8717

Halloween 2006

Thanks for all the help Delvaux!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoHRYKiGAD8

One Man's Take on Revelations

Robert Conte, Jr. is a Catholic philosopher that (supposedly) figures out future events by interpreting the Bible. Some would say he's genus -- some would say he's crazy. Even if you don't believe what he has to say, it is still some interesting material. He correctly predicted in 2004 that the next Pope would be named Benedict. I guess only time will tell if he's right about the rest of this timeline...

2009/2010 to 2039/2040: the first part of the tribulation, including the first Six Seals and the first Six Trumpets.
2009: U.S. President Hillary Clinton becomes Prolife.
2009: Pope Benedict XVI suggests building a Church, a Temple, and a Mosque in Jerusalem.
2009: A small war among the Arab/Muslim nations consolidates power with extremist leaders. Iran and Iraq lead them.
2009/2010: Pope Benedict XVI dies. The next Pope, Peter the Roman, enforces true doctrine and practice.
The First Seal and First Horseman of the Apocalypse: World War 3
2010: New York City is struck by a nuclear bomb, sometime between June 1 and December 31.
2012: The Pope, Peter the Roman, is captured during the war, tried, convicted, blinded, and imprisoned.
July of 2013: Rome and Vatican City are struck by a nuclear missile, because the Arab forces could not hold the city.
2010 to 2018/19: World War 3. The Arab forces conquer Europe, Scandinavia, parts of Eastern Europe, northern Africa.
The Second Seal and Second Horseman of the Apocalypse: Worldwide Civil Unrest and Violence
2010/2011 to 2018/2019: the civil unrest is more widespread than World War 3, including rioting, street crimes, etc.
The Third Seal and Third Horseman of the Apocalypse: The Great Famine of the 21st Century
2013 to 2020 or so: Most severe in Europe, the great famine affects developed nations more than poor nations.
2013 to 2019: During the Famine, like the Prodigal Son, the Protestant Churches repent and seek unity with Catholicism.
The Fourth Seal and Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse: Death from a Variety of Causes
2014 to 2020 or so: Many others die from a variety of other causes (not directly from war, civil violence, and famine).
The Inter-war Period between World Wars 3 and 4
2020 to early 2030's: The Arab forces occupy and oppress a vast territory.
2020 to 2023: All Christian Churches are united in one holy Catholic Church with seven parts.
The Fifth Seal: The Great Martyrdom
early 2030's: Christians are massacred in the occupied territories. It will be more severe than the Jewish Holocaust.
The Sixth Seal: World War 4 - an all-out nuclear war
about 2033 to 2037: Spurred by the great massacre of Christians, with approval from the Angelic Shepherd, the U.S. and its Allies, and the great Catholic monarch, attack the occupied territories. The Allies call upon the help of Almighty God, and they win the war, but at great cost. Both sides use many nuclear weapons. Millions upon millions are killed.
about 2037: The most faithful Servants of God are given a visible Seal on their foreheads. They are protected by God.
The Seveth Seal is divided into Seven Trumpets - only Six of the Seven Trumpets are for this generation
First Trumpet (2038) Pieces of broken Comet Tempel 1 fall to earth and burn up 1/3 of the land.
Second Trumpet (2038) One large piece of the same comet falls into the ocean causing great destruction.
Third Trumpet (2038/2039) Nuclear fallout from the war, and ash from the fires of the comet, contaminate the waters.
Fourth Trumpet (2038/2039) Nuclear Winter, due to World War and the effects of the comet pieces.
Fifth Trumpet (5 months in 2039) Something like locusts, but not natural, afflicts anyone without the Seal.
Sixth Trumpet (late 2039 or early 2040) Three Days of Darkness kills 1/3 of humanity, then the planet is healed by God.
2040's and 2050's: the reign of the great monarch and the Angelic Shepherd; a time of relative peace and holiness.
last part of the 21st century: the great monarch's kingdom is divided into four less holy kingdoms.
22nd century: The world continues to become more sinful. Russia becomes the dominent world power.
23rd century: Africa, India, and China become allies and the dominent world power, causing much harm.
24th century: The reign of the ten kings begins. Nine of the ten kingdoms reject Christianity very thoroughly. The one that includes Israel tolerates Christianity. There is very much sin in the world, and even in the Church.
25th century - the 2420's: The Antichrist rises to power in the kingdom of the North (Europe). He fights within that kingdom to increase his power to the point of dictatorship.
2430: The Antichrist defeats the Christian king of the South (Israel, Middle East, Northern Africa). The Pope of that time, the last true Pope before the return of Christ, is killed.
2430/2431: The Antichrist defeats the kings of Africa and of the East; he now controls two more kingdoms.
2431: The other six kingdoms submit to him. The symbolic beast with ten horns and seven heads is the ten kingdoms led by these seven leaders: the Antichrist plus the six remaining kings.
2431 to 2437: The nearly seven years of the reign of the Antichrist.
the first half of his reign: the Antichrist consolidates power worldwide by military force; he greatly exalts himself.
the second half of his reign: the Antichrist loses a battle to Christians. He then tries to destroy the Church by giving power and approval to apostates and heretics. The false prophet is a woman who is an antipope. The two prophets of Rev. 11 preach the truth. They are killed, raised from the dead, and assumed into Heaven.
2437: The Antichrist attempts a fake ascension into the sky. The Archangel Michael throws him down; he is broken but not dead. His reign ends. Faithful Christians go out and preach the Gospel, seeking repentant sinners.
2437: Jesus Christ returns with the Virgin Mary. More time for preaching and repentence is given.
2438/2439: The Seven Bowls of God's Wrath (i.e. the Seventh Trumpet) is given to the unrepentent wicked of the world.
about 2439/2440: The first Resurrection, for those who died as martyrs (and perhaps some Saints who lived as marytrs)
Thereafter: Then Jesus ascends to Heaven (Second Ascension) and Mary is assumed into Heaven (Second Assumption).
Next: Jesus sends the Holy Spirit (Second Pentecost), this time on the whole world.
Then, beginning in the 2440's: The Millennium of peace and holiness, when Christ reigns, not in the flesh, but in the Eucharist, and through the other Sacraments, and through Tradition, Scripture, Magisterium.
* * * * * * * * * * * * The Millennium continues for well over a thousand years * * * * * * * * * * * *
And then: The events of Revelation 20:7-9 occur: a rebellion against all that is holy; but the rebels are destroyed by God.
And sometime after that: The General Resurrection of the just and unjust.
And at that time: God takes away Heaven and Purgatory and Earth and Hell. And God makes a new Heaven and a new Earth and a new Hell. But Purgatory is no longer needed "...and death shall be no more." (Rev. 21:4).

Saving the world, one laptop at a time

What a phenominal idea... OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) is a non-profit project that seeks to create a $100 laptop in order to educate the world's poorest children. With money saving ideas like a crank (for power) and no harddrive (USB ports instead), this could not only revolutionize technology, but how we educate.

More here: http://laptop.org/

My next purchase.

https://www.aerogrow.com/store/step1a.php

Thanks, guys -- I'll miss you too.

Movin' On

I just resigned yesterday. I am not a quitter and I do not give up easily, but the conditions at my job were so bad, I really had no choice. I will be starting at American Systems on October 16th as an FSO. They offered me a pretty nice raise and a lot of great benefits, so I'm making the move. Is it the right decision? Only time will tell.

This Nation Has Secrets -- Big Whoop!

I am so sick and tired of the media and their "earth shattering" news stories about how this nation has secret this and secret that. Those secrets are called classified information and millions of cleared citizens have access to those secrets everyday. Those secrets are what is keeping this country safe and what are keeping the bad guys out. I personally don't WANT to know what our government is doing behind those SCIF walls. There are some things we're better off not knowing. Can you imagine if we tried to orchestrate D-Day in this day and age? The plot would be leaked to the media so fast that our soldiers would be killed before they were even halfway there.

In my job, it is my responsibility to make sure that this country remains safe. I brief hundreds of people a year about what could happen to them if they divulged classified information. What a slap in the face to the security community for one Geraldo or Katie Couric to blast all over the news the whereabouts of our secret bases or the intricacies of our spying missions. I could be thrown in jail for divulging such things and even given the death penalty. What do they get? An Emmy.

The Solution for Everything!

I was talking to a good friend of mine yesterday about a decision that I may have to make in the not too distant future. I was quite confused about it, and didn't really know what to do. She gave me some great advice that I thought I'd pass on.

When you cant decide, flip a coin. The coin flip isn't supposed to make your decision, but it's supposed to tell you how you'd react to a decision. So if you act really upset when it lands on your "heads" decision, you'll know that the right decision is "tails".

I think I know what I need to do for this one. Thanks, Bobbe.

More Family Photos...

After my grandparents passed away, my family started to divide up the items. My aunt got all of the family slides and negatives. She had no where to keep them, and asked me if I could store them for her. I have about 2500 slides from the 1950s to the 1980s and about a hundred black and white negatives from the 40s. I've started scanning the black and white negatives and have found quite a few lost family treasures. The below pictures are some of my favorites.

Ode to Dawson's Creek (thanks, Rob)

Withering, torrid, tormented soul floating through life just

waiting for the moment

when clarity

will be obtained. Craning neck trying to peek around the next corner knowing that

whatever is next must be better than

what is.

With each step into the future, tears are shed for the past as

whatever is now can never be as good as

what was, and yet

what has not become is

what is

wanted most. Each new discovery is an adventure to be conquered and

with each heartbreak, the end of the

world. Sappy music to cry to as a soundtrack to off balance hormones,

whispers to ignore in a hallway of divas

while trying to master seven subjects in an eight hour day. And still,

what I

wouldn’t give to be fifteen again.

What are you when you're in the bathroom?

European! At least that's what I paid National Geographic $100 to tell me.

Apparently, my DNA results are back and my maternal lineage is from Europe, a part of hapologroup "W". This group makes up 10% of the world's population. I would post more, but I'm late for work. In the meantime, let this graphic representation of my maternal lineage satiate you.

One step closer...

Well, my DNA kit is in the final stages of being evaluated by National Geographic's third party lab. In a week or so, I should be able to find out where my mother's ancestors originally lived thousands of years ago. I will not be able to track my Dad's side unless I have a "Y" chromosome to test, so I may have to sucker my brothers or my Dad into giving up some cheek skin in the name of science.

I'll be sure to post my results when I get them!

Small Mishap.

For the Bibliophile.

http://www.librarything.com

Conference

I just got back from Atlanta, GA on Thursday. I went down there for a security conference. It's basically an organization that promotes security awareness and education. Once I got back from the conference, I decided to spice up our chapter's site a little bit and have spent the majority of the day working on it.

Free Dog!

So uh -- anyone want a dog? I've got this really cute one that I'll give up for free. He's perfect in everyway except he barks at EVERY GOSH DARN THING IN THE WORLD WHEN YOU TRY TO WALK HIM. We've tried choke collars, "gentle leaders", trainers, treats, psychology, and I've read 2 books. So far, NOTHING WORKS.

I know they turn bad horses into dog food -- can they turn bad dogs into horse food?

Meet Bailey

This weekend, John and I picked up our new pooch, Bailey. We rescued him from Howard County Animal Shelter, in the depths of scary Maryland. So far, he's been really good with a few minor issues. He knows "sit", "down", "come", "stay" (sometimes), "out" (to drop a toy) and he's pretty good on leash. He's housebroken, crate trained (with coaxing), is great with kids, and doesn't bark. Sounds like a dream come true eh?

He is very HYPER. If we do not walk him and play with him a lot to tire him out, I can forsee him being a handful. But we've been doing pretty well with it so far (granted, it's only day 3). He has an interest in our cat, Dawn, but doesn't chase her or bark when he sees her. Our big task will be getting her to tolerate him.

He also goes ballistic around other dogs. I am enrolling him in a behavior class, so hopefully that will get better. Because we have so many friends with dogs, I want them to be able to play and get along.

New Addition.

If all goes well with the approval, John and I will be adopting this cute little guy sometime this week! We went up to Columbia, Maryland tonight to meet him and we really fell in love at first sight. He's cute, smart, sweet and just all around lovable. We're trying to think of a name, so any suggestions are welcomed! The shelter has dubbed him "Rudy" but we're looking for something with more piazzas.