Wednesday Randoms

Last WRs of 2011!

I'd have to verify it for sure, but I believe the birth of your favorite weekly blog post was sometime last April or May.  I tried my best not to miss one since then and I don't think I did (is anyone really going to check me on this?)

• I don't think I've ever witnessed anyone complain at Wawa. It must be the land of happiness, or the most perfect retail concept ever designed. I've been to one location or another thousands of times, and not once have I ever heard anyone complain. You know why? It's probably because their logo is a Canada goose. This is coming from a huge bird lover, mind you. But really, Wawa is amazing. Their hoagies can't touch Lee's or Primo, but that chocolate milk is soooo good.
• Christmas... was great! Got a few new toys, some that are fun, some that are functional, some that sparkle and have such important meaning. I loved them all. I was just as pleased, if not more, at the gifts I gave. I put a good amount of thought into picking the right things, and it's pretty rewarding to see someone appreciate your thought and effort. So sad it's over though... and again we begin the countdown until next year so I can my yearly fix of 'It's a Wonderful Life'.
• I DLed this app called 'My Horse', where you have a virtual horse you care for and feed and enter in competitions and muck the stall. It's absolutely ridiculous, but I've been playing it for a few minutes and when it's grazing out in the pasture, there are birds in the background, meanwhile my birds are going crazzzy listening ot them. (Should I mention there's clean dishes that need putting away and here I am uploading a pic of a virtual horse to my random blog)

Here's my horse! Quite an affordable alternative to regular equestrian activities (but not even close to the same. Do you think I'm nuts yet?)

• A well deserved break from Job2 for a little. Ended 2011 with an easy Bailey's promo at an Irish bar in Philly. January tends to be slow, the weather is unpredictable, and midway through the fiscal year means budgets are still getting sorted out. Then Guinness hits hard in February and rolls right into March... and the cycle begins again...
• Olive Garden needs to get served for their joke of a performance the other night. We went there based solely on convenience of location and long story short, they dropped the ball on the food, took forever, and the server tried to buy our happiness at the end by giving us a cup full of those Andes mints they stick in the leather thing that holds the bill. (It worked, we didn't take it out on his tip) I was writing my masterpiece, expressing my displeasure via OGs website when my PC suddenly had to perform a random 'restart' and I lost the entire thing! ugh! Maybe after this entry I'll give it another shot.
• I laid on an $11,000 mattress set this week and it was incredible! Makes my junko bed feel like a rock covered with spikes.
• I'm praying the gym isn't going to be packed with workout wannabes after January 1. Hurry up and get over with winter, I need to run outside again!

WRs will see you next year... 2012 might be the year we go big time! (Probably not)

Merry Christmas!

Last night I watched my favorite Christmas movie 'It's a Wonderful Life' and after one last dinner today, Christmas will be nearly over. I thoroughly enjoyed the holidays this year, and the entire month of December. The live tree is still looking good in my house, the cookies I baked are long gone, and plenty of wrapping paper was used to wrap all my special gifts (instead of my past 'wrapping' jobs which included throwing everything in gift bags #lazy)

Love everything I got, and so happy for those who came into my life in 2011. I really can't wait for 2012!

Since it's not PC for all of us to say this at our jobs (unfortunately, I fall into this category) ... I'll say it a few extra times here:

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!



Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!


Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!


Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!


Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!


Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!


Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!


Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!

Wednesday Randoms (Merry Christmas!)

Bet you thought I forgot.... well....I didn't. The chaos of the holidays gets to me as well, but I can't leave my randoms hangin now, can I?

• Two nights in a row, out drinking on a school night. My running "program" is definitely gonna be struggling once I get back on a treadmill. Broad Street again this year, and a goal of running a half some time after that. Mid January is when I started getting my act together last year. I think that sounds like a plan for 2012.
• This overly-PC culture we live in is getting real old. About 20 years ago you could say Merry Christmas and not have people cringe like you were committing a crime. Can we rewind the clock on that issue? I don't care really what you celebrate, but don't lessen the meaning of my Merry Christmas.
• My mattress sucks
• Super duper excited for this weekend. I have some gifts to give that I'm really excited about. Sometimes it really is more fun to give than receive.
• Cocoa Pebbles > Cocoa Krispies
•  It's Dec 21, the Winter Solstice and pretty positive I hear a mild thunderstorm happening outside
• Travel Zoo is where it's at for vacations. Check them out- some crazy deals.
• If you don't agree that 'It's a Wonderful Life' is the greatest Christmas movie ever made (besides Home Alone), then you're...... just....... wrong.
• I've seen some crazy displays of Christmas lights, decoration, and inflatable animals on people's lawns this season. Come on now! When your Christmas polar bear is deflated both during the day AND night....it's time to call it on you and your misguided idea of holiday decor.

That's all I got for tonight. If I don't post before Saturday... Merry Christmas!!

Wednesday Randoms ~I| |I~

What a perfect time for Wednesday Randoms as I wait for the cookie dough to chill in the fridge for an hour.

• Yes, it's Christmas cookie time! The cookie factory is up and running and I have all the icing, crystals, sprinkles, and cookie cutters to make some fabulous goodies. I don't want to do too good of a job decorating... then I'll feel bad scarfing down all my hard work. Keeping it simple with just sugar cookies. That's about all my facility can handle!
• Next year I want to put the Christmas tree on wheels, so I can enjoy it at night in my room. Fortunately, my 2 feathered friends get to enjoy it 8hrs a day while I'm at work. On another side note- always make sure your tree is straight in the stand, or you'll come downstairs in the morning to a toppled tree and stuff spilled all over the floor... like a certain sister of mine did this week. I laughed when she texted me the pic. I guess that was rather Grinchy of me, wasn't it?
• Does anyone's else town have to put a plastic enclosure around the baby Jesus for the nativity outside of their church? There's some bad people out there with sticky fingers who steal Jesus and expect that karma isn't going to come back and bite them. I'll have to consult my pal @Jesus_M_Christ on Twitter, but I'm pretty sure a move like that comes with some seriously bad juju.
• I really realllly want one of those glossy, jewel-colored LG front loading washers!
• Not sure how I feel about Amber Rose fronting the Smirnoff Whipped/Fluffed advertising campaign. The other (celeb-free) adverts I've seen on signs and buses are impressive. I still think Pinnacle is running away with all the whipped cream vodka sales because they were the first to carry the flavor. You can't deny that after burn though theirs has. Yuck.
• I had an idea recently. One that I really liked and seemed feasible to carry out. It involved food, and the idea I could author a small cookbook on one particular topic. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I only pull cookbooks out every now and then- if I'm making a special dinner for someone or a group. The internet is definitely the way to go, and from what little research I've done, I could buy the website (with a creative name chosen by yours truly) and create a site based solely on this particular food; something manageable and easily searchable. I have no idea about complex web design, so that would be a pain to sort out. I always like to think of stuff that would be a fun side project. I have a really fun side job now that pays, but that's not a forever thing. I would love to sit and make some $$ without leaving my house... but don't think I'm gonna spill my secret on the blog!
• Can't think of anyone famous who deserves to make the SYAD list this week. Those who received the honor this week are mostly coworkers and random jerks I encountered on the street. I know, don't be so disappointed. Someone is bound to do something stupid and the list will be alive!
• Haven't done a Twitter shout out in a while. Join up people. The only ones missing out on the hundreds of funny follows is... you!

One more WR and then it's Christmas!

No Thanks, Dragon

My morning routine is like a song on repeat. A pretty mediocre song. Same thing every day. And because this pre-6am hour certainly isn't my favorite time of day, I find going through the same mindless motions and cross referencing the clock to make sure I'm on track keeps me in line and on time.

{it's 6:30am.... I should be half finished drying my hair by now... it's 7am... Matt Lauer is doing the Today Show intro... I better be dressed and my teeth brushed}

Yeah, it's a little much. I'm not like that with everything in my life. Just the getting ready for work part. It does make this dark and depressing time when I'm forced to leave the warm cloud of my bed a little more manageable.

Anyway

Because of this total type A personality strict routine, I see many of the same commercials every day. One I've seen nearly every morning, and I'm sure this directly relates to Christmas coming up, is that one for the Dragon speech recognition software. Some elementary age kid is sitting there with his headset, all pumped up with enthusiasm as he tells the tale of some pirate, and it shows the verbal corrections you can make to edit your words, which are then typed right on your PC as you speak...

I think it's cheating

Anyone can tell a story, but not everyone can write one. It's a whole different game to get your point across, a story told, humor properly conveyed- while using only words, and no body language or changes in tone to help you. It takes away the need to review and analyze what you wrote. I'm no English major (Oh, you look shocked!), but some kid who needs to write a paper will sit there with the mic on and just ramble on with some kind of story. I doubt they'll go back and review it to make sure the word placement is correct, or to see if they could have used a more powerful adjective in a certain sentence.

Part of the reason I enjoying blogging (obviously not for my huge following of subscribers) is the fact it helps you write better. Of course, my need to express all my thoughts, opinions, rants, and raves is the #1 reason, but I wouldn't mind getting better at the writing thing too. There's nothing that irritates me more than a never ending chain of simple sentences- all written by an adult! No wonder I always enjoyed getting out the red pen and proofreading my co worker's memos or presentations. It's so frustrating trying to find the perfect word or closing sentence, but when you do- it's thrilling! Well... perhaps thrilling is exaggerating a little, but it feels in a way like you've solved the puzzle. (Only, it's not Wheel of Fortune, and there's no prize, no cheesy hosts who look like they've only aged 5yrs in the past 20...okay, okay I'll stop)

I'm sure there will be plenty of Dragon software sales this Christmas, but if it were up to me... I'd rather write the story myself, no matter how many drafts it takes :)

Wednesday Randoms

• The Christmas tree is up, the branches have settled, and I'm happy to see my ornaments again. Such a shame they spend 11months hidden away in a dark closet. Then again, they wouldn't be special if they were on display all year.
• Alec Baldwin gets kicked off a flight after refusing to stop playing Words With Friends before takeoff. Hmmm... Can't say I blame him. He could've have a TL/TW combo on deck ready to drop hard on someone. He's too much of a wild card. For the comedic talent he possesses, he should really amp up the common sense at his age. He's genius on 30 Rock, but the next time he pulls something, he'll be first on my SYAD list!
• Capitalized on an early morning wake up by hitting the dreadtreadmill. It's not often I naturally wake up at 4:45am, full of energy.
• Am I the only one wary of leaving the house with the dishwasher running, for fear of coming home to a flooded, gigantic mountain of bubbles? I hear things like this happen.
• Less than a month until 2012. I've never really had a list of 'resolutions'. I prefer to set and achieve my goals year round, instead of waiting for a big glass ball in NYC to drop and tell me it's okay to start. In my mind, when I think ahead 1, 3, or 6 months, it's like this big circular track graphic, divided into 12 pieces, pops into my head. Every time. This might sound nuts, so I'm going to include a drawing so the random readers of the world can see just what I mean. (This post isn't called Wednesday Randoms for nothing folks)

________________________________________________________________________________



That's about it for the randomness. Today has a much bigger meaning, something fairly personal, and although I'm reluctant to get personal on my... um... personal blog... I'm going to.

16 years ago today, my best friend Amy was tragically killed in a car crash on the way to school. She was less than 1/4mi from our high school on a narrow back road, and I was about 2min behind her. For whatever reason, I didn't get out and see what was holding up the backed up line of cars down the hill at 7:30am that day like I usually would. I can only imagine I'd be horrifed at what I saw . Instead, I turned around, took a side road, and as I walked into school I watched under an overcast, gray, cold December sky as 5 ambulances raced past us towards that back road.

"Must have been a bad accident" I thought to myself.

It was. She was driving and they hit a tree at 50mph. Her boyfriend walked away with scratches. She didn't make it.

I was fortunate during my early years of life to have never looked real devastation in the face. I have a small family, and no one was ever sick, nothing tragic occurred, and those who died were in their 90s, and I barely ever knew them. I never dreamed the shocking and painful first experience with a sudden death (and a funeral) would be that of my best friend at 16yrs old. I saw her the day before... and then she was gone. Forever.

Personally, I didn't know how to process grief at that age. I never remember feeling completely numb like that in my entire life, and I haven't felt that since that very day 16yrs ago. Her family was obviously devastated, and I'll never forget that feeling of walking up to her house and her brother opening the door, and me just standing there, frozen, and not being able to find any words. It still saddens me to think she never had the chance to graduate, or go to college, or travel, or skydive, or buy her own house; all the things I've done in the past 16yrs. Knowing her enriched my life for sure, and I've yet to meet anyone else like her.

Here's a pic of us from the first day of school in 10th grade, taken outside my house. Her brother drove us to school in the convertible, and my dad insisted on taking a picture despite my begging him not to, that we were "too old for that". Amy, of course, made some funny remark which had me laughing and looking at her when the (non-digital) pic was taken. She would give me props right now for posting a terrible old pic of myself online... and then rip me like crazy for all this blogging :)

Kids Today...

So I figured I'd get in some treadmill time before Operation Laundry commences tonight. Why go all the way to LA Fitness when there's a treadmill in the basement workout room? It's not like their automatically debiting $ from my checking acount every month. And going up the road several miles on a rainy night during rush hour is just... plain... irritating.

I step in the elevator and begin to browse the latest tweets on the timeline. Down goes the elevator and it stops at the next floor. The door opens and there stands your typical short, rather round woman in her late 70s who resembles about 80% of the residents here. 
What happens next plays out like a well rehearsed script:

(Woman steps in elevator... woman stands to my left and I feel her stare as I'm continuing to look down at my phone.)

I glance up for a second, give a half smile (and I don't mean it) and she does exactly what I predicted she'd do in the 5 seconds since she stepped in. I take pause; fully aware I only have to endure whatever she's going to throw at me for no more than 28 seconds (the exact time it takes to get from Floor 8 to Floor 1). And then she goes (verbatim):

"You know... those things... let me tell you, I was in the hospital recently, and the woman on the other side of the room from me, lovely black woman she was, had her grandchildren come to visit her. All four of them. They walked in, said Hello, and then their faces were down in those things for the rest of the time! [shaking head] Kids today..."

It's important to note this elevator statement of hers was expressed in the most objective way; no hints of condescension or judgement, just a huge failure in understanding what could be so fascinating about a little hand held device that could divert your attention from any human interaction in your immediate surroundings instantaneously.

"It's called Twitter, Grandma!"I thought it... but didn't say it.


Ahh! This was a huge missed opportunity on my part. Gigantic. I so dropped the ball. Dropped it, then watched it roll away.
She opened the door (figuratively) by throwing in her two sense about my smartphone usage while in an elevator by myself, and I passed up the chance to sell her on all that is wonderful, funny, constantly updated, and jam packed full of trending topics... the awesomeness otherwise known as: Twitter! She could have followed @AARP and @BettyCrocker!

Yes. Yes I did.

She wouldn't understand. She wouldn't appreciate the # or @. I wasn't going to share something so amazing with her, and open her eyes to the beauty of social media in a random elevator meeting.

No. She was not worthy.

I gave her the other half of that initial smile (still didn't mean it) and probably fanned the flames of her inner smartphone-hating fire by saying:

"Well... I put it on silent during dinner"
(Keep in mind I'm still looking down, browsing Twitter during all of this.)

She gives a half exasperated "Hmmpf", and with an indifferent expression, walks out.

Then I smiled. And I meant it.

Yes I am

'Yes I am' what, you ask?

Smiling. Like I mean it. Just like the name of this blog I borrowed from a most fantastic Killers song.

No real reason for this post. No randoms or rants. While I'm on the topic of randoms though, it seems I need to put a closer eye on the spell check to the WRs and all blog posts in general. Apparently I've gotten sloppy on some spelling and typos (this paragraph will be checked 34 times) and some other general info (thank you astute reader, for pointing out that liar on TV campaigning (I told to SYAD) is indeed named Herman Cain, not Howard.)

Anywaaaay

I was delighted with some cooking I did this weekend. Refer to early 2011 post re: spicy shrimp angel hair recipe. I made it this weekend and it was fabulous. I really enjoy cooking and baking, and especially when I'm making it for someone special, it's even more important I get it just right. Just a tad obsessive :)

Totally excited for Christmas. Hoping to get my tree tomorrow, and get the shopping started and completed soon. I always loved the holidays. Last year was good, but this year my excitement is palpable. What a difference a year makes. You never know who or what will appear and turn that pretty convincing happy smile into one where you really, really mean it.  So... recognize what's good, who's important, and live each moment fully in the present. Whoever or whatever this may be, which allows you to truly smile like you mean it, be sure to keep them in your life.