I have been harboring a lot of nostalgia for 1995 since, well, 1996. I do not want to go back and repeat all the teen angst, and otherwise general awkwardness of being in junior high school, but then again, that was one of the themes of the year. There's a lot more I could add, but then it wouldn't be the Tuesday Ten anymore.
1. CKone
2. Grunge (music) - Pearl Jam, Nirvana
3. Angst - "My So-Called Life" (yes, I own the complete, one-season series), Alanis Morissette ("You Oughtta Know" 'Nuf said."
4. Clueless
5. Hard Candy nail polish
6. Plaid, flannel shirts (so cozy)
7. Ross and Rachel
8. Chunky shoes - Mary Janes, Doc Martens
9. Belly chains
10. Baby doll dresses
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Happy Monday: Motivation
Mondays can really suck, right? In all this new business planning, I've thought about what my working hours would be. I feel like I need to set a schedule, just so I can have something to hold me accountable to the job. I'm a sucker for long weekends - travel out on Thursday, come back in on Monday. It's funny that when I do the math, it only leaves me Tuesday and Wednesday to work. Talk about a two day workweek and five day weekend. I don't think that will work too well. Exact working hours will soon be determined, as I should be about to officially go public with the business. Yay!
So, for those of us who have to do this thing called work (whatever kind it may be) on Mondays, I'm going to try to post a little something to motivate me through the week. These little happies will vary - anything from a small something I actually get to a big something I hope to one day get.
You know how us Southerners like things big. Big hair. Big trucks. Big dreams. Here's my big dream:
Ever since the good ol' days of Beverly Hills, 90210, I've wanted a Porsche. Dylan was my dream man, and he had a dream car. Then, I got my beloved Ava. People started telling me about German cars, German engineers, German everything, and how awesome it is. I've got to tell you: you can't beat the reliability of a Honda, but there really is something about driving a German car that make my heart smile. Maybe it's my engineer's brain? The controls in the car just make sense to me. (Sorry, Allie the Acura, but I still get confused about how to unlock the doors.)
When Black Velveteen got totaled, I seriously considered buying a Porsche. I found the Cayman, which was around $50,000 for the base model. Definitely more than I wanted to spend on a car, but I also had a hefty down payment from my insurance money and I was working three jobs. Also, the Acura I was looking at was going to be close to that price. I didn't go so far as to test drive, as building and pricing were all I needed to do to realize that beauty was going to cost way more than $50K!
Since one of my jobs was a bartender, I did not want to be driving a Porsche to work, and have my customers realize it was my car. And, I figured people would think I was a real asshole for buying one. So, I didn't. And I decided to wait until later for my dream car.
When I started massage school, one of our homework assignments was to make a collage of things that motivated us to follow through with the program and career. I never got that far in the course due to other reasons that even a Porsche couldn't cure, but that collage was going to have this car front and center on it.
I know it's frivolous, and I could be spending that amount of money on much more important things, but what can I say? I have a thing for pretty, black, German, cars.
So, for those of us who have to do this thing called work (whatever kind it may be) on Mondays, I'm going to try to post a little something to motivate me through the week. These little happies will vary - anything from a small something I actually get to a big something I hope to one day get.
You know how us Southerners like things big. Big hair. Big trucks. Big dreams. Here's my big dream:
Ever since the good ol' days of Beverly Hills, 90210, I've wanted a Porsche. Dylan was my dream man, and he had a dream car. Then, I got my beloved Ava. People started telling me about German cars, German engineers, German everything, and how awesome it is. I've got to tell you: you can't beat the reliability of a Honda, but there really is something about driving a German car that make my heart smile. Maybe it's my engineer's brain? The controls in the car just make sense to me. (Sorry, Allie the Acura, but I still get confused about how to unlock the doors.)
When Black Velveteen got totaled, I seriously considered buying a Porsche. I found the Cayman, which was around $50,000 for the base model. Definitely more than I wanted to spend on a car, but I also had a hefty down payment from my insurance money and I was working three jobs. Also, the Acura I was looking at was going to be close to that price. I didn't go so far as to test drive, as building and pricing were all I needed to do to realize that beauty was going to cost way more than $50K!
Since one of my jobs was a bartender, I did not want to be driving a Porsche to work, and have my customers realize it was my car. And, I figured people would think I was a real asshole for buying one. So, I didn't. And I decided to wait until later for my dream car.
When I started massage school, one of our homework assignments was to make a collage of things that motivated us to follow through with the program and career. I never got that far in the course due to other reasons that even a Porsche couldn't cure, but that collage was going to have this car front and center on it.
I know it's frivolous, and I could be spending that amount of money on much more important things, but what can I say? I have a thing for pretty, black, German, cars.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
More healthcare diatribe-ing
I'm sure you've seen on Facebook the letter written by a Mississippi ER doctor stating his opinion of healthcare reform, using one of his patients as an example of why the healthcare bill should not pass. (This was written in August 2009.)
Here is the snopes.com link:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/starner.asp
I posted a status update about my thoughts of re-posting this letter in agreement, but a status update only allows for so many characters, and I felt the need to rip the letter apart.
First, I will say that I do not think those who spend excessive amounts of money on non-essential things for themselves should be allowed to receive government aid.
However, this doctor based his letter on one person. Albeit, one person who seems to be like the others who appear to not deserve said aid.
Dr. Starner Jones points out some of his observations of the patient's materialistic possessions - a gold tooth, tattoos, tennis shoes, and a cell phone with a special ringtone. He also mentions her heavy smoking habit and alcohol use.
In the patient's defense, she may not have always been on Medicaid, and she could have gotten the tattoos done before that. They also could have been done for free, by a friend, perhaps. The tennis shoes could have been gotten at a thrift store or from even a clothing bank, and the cell phone, well, she could have gotten it for free and it came with the ringtone. It's possible.
While I believe Dr. Jones' letter is in accordance with HIPPA (there is nothing identifying who the patient is and what she was treated for), I have to wonder if it really is, based on the Labor and Delivery nurses' blogs I read - they are no longer allowed to post stories about births without changing nearly everything about the story, so that the story ends up being fictional. Keeping with that logic, is Dr. Jones' story even true? If not, and simply based on truth, he has created a fictional character with characteristics that annoy even the most tenderhearted people about who is benefitting from government assistance. So, I guess my point is this story Dr. Jones relayed could be fictional. And it could also be violating HIPPA. (Could being the operative word, as I am not a 100% expert on HIPPA.)
Also what bothers me is I caught a person (or people) who has (have) been "that patient," reposting in agreement with the Facebook version of the letter. Can you say hypocrite?
I know people like "that patient." Yes, I am embarassed by their irresponsible actions. But I know that for some of them, even if they didn't spend any extra money on their material desires, they would still need government assistance.
It's so easy to say, "If they would just ...," but the reality is until you have been there, you don't know how hard it is to work two jobs, hardly ever have free time, and still not have enough money for healthcare at the end of the month. To those of you who know me, you know I haven't been there personally. But I have seen people who have been there. And I know that if I was not blessed with supportive, future thinking family, I could very easily be there, and possibly worse.
I thought of a solution for this problem, though. When organizations want to spend public money, they have to provide receipts for how the money was spent, and they have to spend according to strict guidelines. I propose we make anyone or anything who receives government money to do the same.
This could be beneficial in so many ways. First, the recipient would be aided in budgeting resources. Second, the government could use the statistics on how money was spent, budgeted, and what was still needed (or leftover) to study ways to make necessary things affordable, where more or less money should be allocated, and where to put shopping, housing, and public education so that it best benefits those in need of it.
This patient of Dr. Jones is one, not all, of the faces of those receiving government aid. It is not fair to those who truly need it to be denied because some people abuse it.
Here is the snopes.com link:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/starner.asp
I posted a status update about my thoughts of re-posting this letter in agreement, but a status update only allows for so many characters, and I felt the need to rip the letter apart.
First, I will say that I do not think those who spend excessive amounts of money on non-essential things for themselves should be allowed to receive government aid.
However, this doctor based his letter on one person. Albeit, one person who seems to be like the others who appear to not deserve said aid.
Dr. Starner Jones points out some of his observations of the patient's materialistic possessions - a gold tooth, tattoos, tennis shoes, and a cell phone with a special ringtone. He also mentions her heavy smoking habit and alcohol use.
In the patient's defense, she may not have always been on Medicaid, and she could have gotten the tattoos done before that. They also could have been done for free, by a friend, perhaps. The tennis shoes could have been gotten at a thrift store or from even a clothing bank, and the cell phone, well, she could have gotten it for free and it came with the ringtone. It's possible.
While I believe Dr. Jones' letter is in accordance with HIPPA (there is nothing identifying who the patient is and what she was treated for), I have to wonder if it really is, based on the Labor and Delivery nurses' blogs I read - they are no longer allowed to post stories about births without changing nearly everything about the story, so that the story ends up being fictional. Keeping with that logic, is Dr. Jones' story even true? If not, and simply based on truth, he has created a fictional character with characteristics that annoy even the most tenderhearted people about who is benefitting from government assistance. So, I guess my point is this story Dr. Jones relayed could be fictional. And it could also be violating HIPPA. (Could being the operative word, as I am not a 100% expert on HIPPA.)
Also what bothers me is I caught a person (or people) who has (have) been "that patient," reposting in agreement with the Facebook version of the letter. Can you say hypocrite?
I know people like "that patient." Yes, I am embarassed by their irresponsible actions. But I know that for some of them, even if they didn't spend any extra money on their material desires, they would still need government assistance.
It's so easy to say, "If they would just ...," but the reality is until you have been there, you don't know how hard it is to work two jobs, hardly ever have free time, and still not have enough money for healthcare at the end of the month. To those of you who know me, you know I haven't been there personally. But I have seen people who have been there. And I know that if I was not blessed with supportive, future thinking family, I could very easily be there, and possibly worse.
I thought of a solution for this problem, though. When organizations want to spend public money, they have to provide receipts for how the money was spent, and they have to spend according to strict guidelines. I propose we make anyone or anything who receives government money to do the same.
This could be beneficial in so many ways. First, the recipient would be aided in budgeting resources. Second, the government could use the statistics on how money was spent, budgeted, and what was still needed (or leftover) to study ways to make necessary things affordable, where more or less money should be allocated, and where to put shopping, housing, and public education so that it best benefits those in need of it.
This patient of Dr. Jones is one, not all, of the faces of those receiving government aid. It is not fair to those who truly need it to be denied because some people abuse it.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Living it up
I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner for "Show us your Life Fridays". This week is living rooms. I'm doing my Auburn one, since it's where I live now (but stay on the lookout for my Birmingham mantle!). Keep in mind the room is mostly finished, but I still have a little more to do.
The Auburn condo is really small, and considering I love to entertain, I have to make the best of my space.
People ask me all the time about my furniture and "things" around the place. So, I'm going to fill in some of my decorating tips and where I got the things, as much as I can remember.
I think the best way to describe the theme of this room is "things I LOVE." I originally wanted to do an animal print theme, but it turned into a room that defines me. (By the way, I am going to have to SEARCH to see if I have anything from Pottery Barn in here. I haven't noticed it yet, and you all know how much Girl Sunday loves her Pottery Barn!)
This is the living room from the front door. My "studio" (not quite complete) is to the left, my bedroom to the right, and, duh!, the "kitchen" (te-niny!) is in the back. Also in this picture, in the bottom left, is the rabbit cage.
This is the view from my "studio". To the right is the entertainment center.
Here is the view from my bedroom. Obviously, the entertainment center has some work to be done on it. I got it at Lowes, but you can find wire shelves almost anywhere - Lowe's, Home Depot, Target, KMart, Wal-Mart, etc. Be sure the shelves can hold at least 350 pounds each, and that it is wide enough for your TV. (Back when TVs were square we didn't have to worry about that!)
To the left of the sofa are my beloved books. I found the "Peace" and "Dream" wall art at Target this summer. The bookcase is from Pier One, about six years ago. It's their "Dakota" bookcase, back when "Dakota" was black iron with copper undertones.
This is the detail on the table and chairs under the pink flower (from Ross). I LOVE this furniture set. The copper color is beautiful and really helps tie the room together (I broke a rule and mixed metals, as well as black and brown). The result is actually better than I ever would have thought. I think the key is using tonal browns, so the colors blend and complement with the black.
Also in this picture is the best glimpse at the sofa's color and texture. As with most things in this room, I also love my sofa. It's brown velvet, but it has gray undertones, which help tie the brown into the black accents the developers used. I got the sofa last year at Auburn Furniture and I think it's by Broyhill.
Here is my favorite chair. I got it last year from Pier One. On clearance! And I saved a good bit extra by opening a credit card with them. The chair is purple velvet, and when I got the picture of the pink flower, I had originally intended to put it in my bedroom, but I saw it sitting in the den, next to the chair, and realized it went really well in the room. The chair pulls out the purple used in the painting, so it's not so intense in the room.
I mentioned earlier about using browns that are tonal. The best example of that is this trunk (in the bottom of the picture) I got from Target. It was originally a bedroom linen trunk in Birmingham, but now it is my "coffee table". Notice how some of the "reeds" (is that what they are?) are black and some brown and there are varying shades in between? That's what I mean by tonal.
Onto my console. I got the shelves at Hobby Lobby on clearance, and the table at Target. The glass candle holders are from TJ Maxx, and I put coffee beans and tea lights in them. I ALWAYS keep fresh flowers. Just because :) The turquoise/blue/teal vase in the back has dried roses from my old resident manager. (The vase is also from Pier One, about six years ago and I believe is called the "Peacock Vase". Again, it has some copper in it to help tie the room together.) I used to have a bulletin board covering the fuse box, but it fell and I need to work on that some more. :( The peace sign is a Girl Sunday original. It can be found at my upcoming craft business' website.
When I have parties, I clear the console table and use it to display food or paperwares.
"There was an old bunny who lived in a cage under the TV ..."
Yea! Feffer is back in Auburn! Sweet Bunny Boy is almost eight years old (i.e. really old for a rabbit).
Thank you for visiting! I look forward to seeing what everyone else has done with their living areas. And, thank you, Kelly, for hosting!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
I bet they're not having this much fun in Mississippi
Disclaimer: I think the fact that a large snake on the loose is very serious, and I am concerned for those who have been harmed by it and have the possibility to be harmed by it. That is not what I am laughing about.
Only in Alabama do we have such intriguing news. Mom told me about seeing the news story of the snake on the loose in Sumiton (Walker County), Alabama. She told me to check it out, and y'all, this is my latest obsession. The first link is the story with the video in the upper right hand corner. The last two links are just stories, but the second link is much more elaborated than the other stories I have read.
Aggressive 'python-like' on the loose in Sumiton - ABC 33/40 - Birmingham News, Weather, Sports
http://www.mountaineagle.com/view/full_story/9402430/article-Aggressive-snake-missing-in-Sumiton?
http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=13115333
Now that y'all have had a chance to get caught up with the story, let's review the highlights. I love the plethora of cars in the background. The rusted broken down tractor (or as us Southerners like to say "broke down"). I love how the newscasters were SO SERIOUS while reporting the story. But, my favorite part has to be the part about how the woman had to literally bite the snake to get it to go away. I think she deserves a picture in the dictionary next to the word hardcore.
Also, what puzzles me is this is Walker County, y'all. Where are the guns? Or machetes? How can one have so many forms of vehicles laying around and no weapon? (And in Alabama, tractors count as vehicles.)
Only in Alabama do we have such intriguing news. Mom told me about seeing the news story of the snake on the loose in Sumiton (Walker County), Alabama. She told me to check it out, and y'all, this is my latest obsession. The first link is the story with the video in the upper right hand corner. The last two links are just stories, but the second link is much more elaborated than the other stories I have read.
Aggressive 'python-like' on the loose in Sumiton - ABC 33/40 - Birmingham News, Weather, Sports
http://www.mountaineagle.com/view/full_story/9402430/article-Aggressive-snake-missing-in-Sumiton?
http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=13115333
Now that y'all have had a chance to get caught up with the story, let's review the highlights. I love the plethora of cars in the background. The rusted broken down tractor (or as us Southerners like to say "broke down"). I love how the newscasters were SO SERIOUS while reporting the story. But, my favorite part has to be the part about how the woman had to literally bite the snake to get it to go away. I think she deserves a picture in the dictionary next to the word hardcore.
Also, what puzzles me is this is Walker County, y'all. Where are the guns? Or machetes? How can one have so many forms of vehicles laying around and no weapon? (And in Alabama, tractors count as vehicles.)
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Suck that, Thyroid!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Busy B
I've been working a lot on the arts and crafts business this week. Lawyers, accountants, organizing, you know - the not so fun stuff. So, to balance it, I did some prep work for the fun stuff - painting canvas backgrounds. My manicure can prove it!
And with chipped nails, I hosted a Friday evening tailgate for my Auburn condos. It was rather succesful, I believe. It was fun meeting neighbors and I even made some new friends that drug me out with them. Yes, I, Girl Sunday, went out. In Auburn. At 10:30. On a Friday night. As I put on my Facebook, suck that, Thyroid!
Which brings me to two tangents - first, it was HOT Friday night. And when I woke up and saw one of my friends talking about 50 degree temps, I asked her to send some of that my way. And you know what? IT ACTUALLY WORKED!!! How often does that happen? LOL.
Second tangent - it looks like my thyroid is going to go. I know this is really superficial, but I'm not married yet and I'm not even close to dating anyone right now. I don't want a scar on my neck when I get married. I also have a 10 year high school reunion in the next year, and I am not looking forward to explaining it. The gall bladder scars are always covered up, so I'm not as self conscious about those. (Two of them are keloids, one rather painful.) I'm anxious I will get keloids on my neck, which is way worse than a simple straight line scar. I'm also anxious about surgery again - the anesthesia, the recovery. And what about all I have to be responsible for? Yeah, I'm a bundle of nerves already.
Finally, with that cool weather, I felt like I needed some vegetable soup and cornbread. And that's what's going on now. If my dinner guests would just arrive ...
And with chipped nails, I hosted a Friday evening tailgate for my Auburn condos. It was rather succesful, I believe. It was fun meeting neighbors and I even made some new friends that drug me out with them. Yes, I, Girl Sunday, went out. In Auburn. At 10:30. On a Friday night. As I put on my Facebook, suck that, Thyroid!
Which brings me to two tangents - first, it was HOT Friday night. And when I woke up and saw one of my friends talking about 50 degree temps, I asked her to send some of that my way. And you know what? IT ACTUALLY WORKED!!! How often does that happen? LOL.
Second tangent - it looks like my thyroid is going to go. I know this is really superficial, but I'm not married yet and I'm not even close to dating anyone right now. I don't want a scar on my neck when I get married. I also have a 10 year high school reunion in the next year, and I am not looking forward to explaining it. The gall bladder scars are always covered up, so I'm not as self conscious about those. (Two of them are keloids, one rather painful.) I'm anxious I will get keloids on my neck, which is way worse than a simple straight line scar. I'm also anxious about surgery again - the anesthesia, the recovery. And what about all I have to be responsible for? Yeah, I'm a bundle of nerves already.
Finally, with that cool weather, I felt like I needed some vegetable soup and cornbread. And that's what's going on now. If my dinner guests would just arrive ...
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