The Lesson Learned

Typical

So, I'm surfing the Internet just fine one minute and the next I'm having a flaky computer problem where I can't see the graphics on any of my favorite sites. I can't see your wonderful site design, the pictures of your family, or any graphics at all.

But an annoying pop-up ad? Yeah, I can see every last fudging one of those.

Go figure.

About X-Mas

Just a little holiday fun, since I finally got the spirit. Please don't pay attention to the font.  Typepad is giving me fits.

When is the best time to open presents? As soon as possible. I’m not fond of surprises and it absolutely kills me to wait to open presents. I’m also anxious to see my family members open their presents. In fact, we usually open one present on Christmas Eve. The hubby would rather we wait until Christmas morning but we usually talk him into opening one early.

Have you been naughty or nice this year? Mostly nice, I think. But I’m sure there’s room for improvement. There’s always room for improvement.

Real tree or imitation tree? Real trees are too much work. I had a hard enough time taking the time to put the fake tree up this year. I can’t imagine going to the trouble of having a real tree.

Favorite Christmas cartoon character? Rudolf

Did you ever write Santa a letter? Oh yeah!

Buy any Christmas presents online? Yep

Save the ribbon and paper or rip right through it? Rip it up.

Sharing Christmas with family this year? Yes

Ever ride in a one horse open sleigh? Not yet.

Ever roast a chestnut on an open fire? No. And for some reason that terms makes me laugh.

Favorite Christmas pie? Caramel Apple.

Favorite Christmas movie? The Grinch.

Favorite Christmas song? Christmas (Baby please come home) by U2

People on your Christmas list: more or less than ten? More

Will you have a white Christmas this year? I certainly hope not.

Do you believe in Santa Claus? Yes.

Who would you like to kiss under the mistletoe? The Hubby, of course!

What color best represents Christmas? Red and green, of course. Although, our Christmas decorations are all silver.

Giving a present to a pet? Probably not as they really don’t seem to care.

Your shopping; All done, half-way done, just started, not yet started? Half-way done, though it’s no credit of mine. The hubby has been a busy guy! 

Who gives the best gifts? The Hubby is great about selecting the perfect gift. Sometimes it’s something that’s not even on the list yet it always ends up on target. On the flip side, it’s really tough to find the perfect gift for him because he always gets the things he wants or  needs throughout the year.

Do you send Christmas cards? Yes, though I haven’t yet this year.

Do you own any Christmas music? Some. I’m kind of picky.

How many Christmas parties will you attend this year? 3

Does the postal worker get a gift this year? Yes, of course! He’s a friend of the Hubby’s.

It's Been a While

(And to add insult to injury, this is my second attempt at writing this entry. I'm sure the first attempt was better, but what can I do?)

I knew that it's been a while since I've posted an entry on this site--I just didn't realize just how long it's been. And, while I haven't been posting here, I have been blabbing a lot on my other site.

What have I been blabbing about?

Well, I'll try to bring you up to speed with the short story of my life.

The family--The immediate family, those of us located in the Midwest, are doing well. My step-father; however, has been in the hospital for the last three weeks. He had some kind of growth in his stomach and was unable to keep anything down. He's had surgery and is doing better. My Mom; however, is not doing so well. I'm not sure if it's the stress or what, but it's definitly a long story for another day.

The soccer--I've come to accept the fact that I have become the proverbial Soccer Mom. I accept that fact as I schlepp the YS from game to game week in and week out. He began playing indoor soccer when the fall season ended. And I realized that there are only two months out of the year in which soccer does not consume my life. I'm not complaining, I'm just calling it like I see it.

The job--I accepted a new job in a different career field. I now get to focus on my favorite aspect of my old job. I absolutely love my new job. There's a lot to do, but I really enjoy doing it. I can't believe they actually pay me to have that much fun every day. I have a lot to learn, of course, but I think I will enjoy that aspect of it too. Finally, I am what I want to be when I grow up. I know, it's about time! =)

The hobby--Oh yeah, I've been knitting like a fiend. And I've been posting entries to my hobby site. The knitting really provides a release for when I'm tired and stressed out. And the knitting serves as constant fodder for the site. It really makes posting a no brainer for the most part.

This site--Will I continue posting to this site? I don't know. It really doesn't make sense to have two blogs. It's not very realistic as I have a hard enough time posting to one site. It's next to impossible to expect me to post to two; however, I have toyed with the idea of combining the two sites into one. I'll keep you posted on that idea.

And with that, I'm out of here for the night.

P.S. I've missed you guys. You find that hard to believe? Believe it!! I've been lurking around your site and will continue to do so as much as I can.

Believe it!

Twenty-One Reasons Not to Blog

You may think these are excuses, but they're actually legitimate reasons for not posting entries to a blog. And most of these have happened for real. Some of them have happened anyway.

I give you the list:

The dog ate my blog.
The cat ate my blog.
I broke my arm.
Cat got my tongue fingers.
I have brain freeze.
I'm too busy with work.
I'm too busy at home.
I have writer's block.
I'm too busy knitting.
The yarn ate my blog.
I'm at the yarn store.
The Internet is down.
The Internet is up and I must read other sites.
Typepad ate my entry.
My computer crashed.
I can't blog tonight; I have a headache.
I can't blog tonight; my allergies are acting up.
I forgot what I was going to write about.
I'm too busy taking pictures of my knitting projects.
I'm too busy making To Do lists.
I've gone fishing.

Copycats

Do you wonder if someone is stealing your words? Is your blog being compromised? Is someone helping himself or herself to your thoughts and ideas and posting them as his or her own? Find out at www.copyscape.com. (Link found at This Fish.)

BTW- - If you don’t read Fish’s site, you should. That girl can write.

Nothing Lame About This

My blog, lame as it is, belongs entirely to me. I own my words, lame as they are. The entries, ideas, and topics here, lame as they may be, are the property of one Ms. Lesson Learned. And if I have nothing to say, that is exactly what you get.

What more could you want? And why would you post anything less than what you own? Lame or not.

Why bother to steal from others? Why have a blog if you don't have your own story to tell?

Because plagiarism is as lame as it gets.

Not Me

Have you ever felt that the life you lead is really not your life? It’s just not the life you were intended to have. You know and expect better. You expect to have more fun. More opportunity. More everything.

Me too. But that’s just not the case. I actually lead the kind of life where the highpoint of the day is doing the wave at the local Japanese restaurant.

That’s me.

Early Up

I can’t sleep. I can; however, think too much about things that I can control too little. I tried not to think. I really tried to silence all thoughts from the internal soundtrack of my mind to no avail. So, I finally gave in to the thoughts and reached for Lucy, my trusty laptop. If I’m going to be awake, I may as well do something… useful meaningful constructive I may as well write something on my blog.

I can’t really explain my sudden insomnia. As a rule, I’m usually a sound sleeper. The exception to that rule is when there are problems kicking around my mind. But that’s just it, the thoughts on my mind tonight are not really all that important—the problems not all that critical. I’ve definitely pondered worse thoughts or problems.

I can’t sleep when I’m pondering anything whether it’s critical or not. I need total silence in order to fall asleep. And while the house is quiet, except for the sound of crickets chirping, the occasional car driving by, and the central air kicking on now and then to cool the house, my mind won’t shut up.

I found myself thinking about a meeting that occurred on Friday. I started analyzing one of the issues and I actually made a mental list supporting my stance on said issue. The thing is that the issue is not important. It wasn’t the main focus of the meeting and I dismissed it at the time. But now it’s keeping me awake. WTF?

I was also thinking about our plans for today. On the last Sunday before Labor Day (for the US), the entire family gets together and heads off to the local amusement park for one last day of fun. We go early and stay late. It’s a tradition of sorts and one that I find myself enjoying less and less with each passing year. I find that my ride-tolerance has significantly decreased during the last couple of years. I can’t handle the roughness of the roller coasters or the dizziness of some of the spinning rides. And, of course, the boys drag me onto these rides without a second thought.

But I think my real apprehension over this little tradition is the addition of my newfound dietary needs. A diet is not something that mixes well with amusement park food. I’m also concerned about my allergies this year. They’ve been so bad this summer. Or maybe I’m just looking for excuses to stay home. In any event, I don’t think it’s going to work. I don’t think the hubby will let me mess with tradition.

I guess I better try to get a little more sleep before they drag me off for a day of pure hell fun. I’m going to need all the energy I can muster.

Randomness

I’m sorry I haven’t posted much this week. It’s not a reflection of my thoughts or lack thereof, because I’ve actually had many thoughts. Some are completely random and some have been almost blog-worthy. I just haven’t taken the time to wrap my brain around my ideas long enough to find the appropriate words to express them.

Warning: The randomness that defines this entry is going in the extended entry. Enter at your own risk!

Issues

I'm home due to a wardrobe malfunction. Nothing like Janet Jackson's--a broken zipper, but no reveal--thank goodness! Blogging has been on my mind a lot lately, so I will be back later with a real entry.