Ourselves

No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
-- Buddha

Amazing!!

Last night I went to an amazing concert with my mom, sister-in-law and a friend. It was Celtic Thunder. Celtic Thunder is 5 men from Ireland and Scotland. This group was put together by the legendary Phil Coulter. My dad use to listen to Phil Coulter a lot when I was a kid. This past September, my dad introduced me to Celtic Thunder. They are amazing. The live show was even better than the DVD. The songs made me miss Ireland and Scotland; invoke memories of my Irish and Scottish ancestors and well up my Irish/Scottish pride. Here are a couple of samples. I hope you enjoy.

The next three days...

1. Spend it with family and a friend
2. Rip out 388 sq ft of carpet
3. Rip out 12 sq ft of tile
4. Install 400 sq ft of laminate
5. Install 9 doorway transitions

Hmmm....maybe I will find my new career.

Give Thanks

One of my favorite movies is A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. It reminds me of a lot of things so I reminisce a lot and think of past gatherings.

To my family and friends, I am thankful you are in my life and as we ride the stream of change may we laugh, smile and take care of each other.

Hooray for Rain

It is always interesting when it is winter and it is raining instead of snowing. I am still in love with snow. Why? Well because it blankets the landscape giving it a new view. Odd but true. However I enjoy the smell of rain. It is fresh and clean. Ahhhh...

Customer Service

So today I worked from home in the afternoon because I was expecting a delivery. It was suppose to arrive between 1PM and 4PM. So I got home at 1PM only to find out they tried BEFORE I got home. So what part of between 1PM and 4PM did they miss? The best part was when I called to have them try again (at 1:30PM) I was told they were done for the day. No I was not amused. Now with money off and the first delivery slot on Monday, things will be good.

Smile

It's a short week!

Belated Birthday

Jacob!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Love, Aunt!

(It was Thursday and I did remember. I just forgot to post)

International Relations -- My Way.

Today I made a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner for our Chinese visiting faculty and a few of my friends. This is the third year that I have prepared it. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, Waldorf salad, rolls and of course pumpkin and apple pies. It was a feast. My Chinese teacher and two of her colleagues came in the morning to help me prepare. It was a blast. Everyone else came at 1:oop.m. . It is amazing what you can talk about over a good meal. Everyone left full and happy. Maybe world leaders should try this style of relations.

A much better movie

So last Friday night I saw "No Reservations" and pretty much regretted it. There were times that I turned off the sound. I had heard I would but decided on my own. The flow of the movie was just not there. So in all fairness to the original "Mostly Martha" I got it for tonight.
This movie was great. The main character had emotion and feeling which is something I did not get in the remake. "Mostly Martha" flowed and the stories were a little different. So if you get a chance, leave "No Reservations" on the rack and rent "Mostly Martha" instead. You will enjoy it. The food in it is amazing.

Where to be...

Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.
-- A. Lincoln

When life is crazy...

For tonight

A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.
-- Jane Austen (1775 - 1817), Mansfield Park

In that mood...

I am in a that mood where I just want to chuck my job, buy a 1912 Edwardian house in the Midwest and turn it into a B&B. Why? Simple. Lack of respect. Tired of the B.S. and needing change and a few other things in my life.

The ever battle...

On the continuum of exercise, I am always trying to find ways that I will want to do it and enjoy it. I already have some aspects of exercise built into my daily life but I need more. So I finally broke down and bought the Wii by Nintendo. Before I went out and purchased one, I tried one on Halloween. Some of my students came over and brought one. It was fun and I worked up a good sweat. My Wii arrived on Thursday and Friday night I hooked it up. I am working on a routine of 15 minutes playing tennis and 15 minutes of boxing and then will mix it up. Hopefully this will nudge my body off its plateau and start dropping again even with the holidays.

My version of team building

Tonight I took my students to Prescott to a minor league hockey game. I grabbed a suburban and off we went. All of us together allowed for discussion and camaraderie. We had In-N-Out Burger which was awesome. The game was great. Lots of goals and a fight mixed in. Although the Arizona Sundogs lost, it was a lot of fun.

An interesting day...

Today was definitely a Friday. The application that was broken earlier this week was fixed thanks to the vendor breaking it. I guess they figured their technical support branch didn't have enough to do and they they also needed to frustrate the crap out of their customers. Yep their name is mud with me. Also today was the end of a path. My direct supervisor got a new job and today was her last day. Our team is being merged with another team. That will be cool because it will be with people I already like. Yep that is a plus. But it again is change.
Change is a popular theme in my life. Things change for good and things change for bad. Thing change because people get their shorts in a knot because they misinterpret things. Oh well...life goes on. I am not sure how much more change I am willing to embrace. However, there are some areas that I am looking forward to changing.
Tonight is me time. Watching my chick flick and getting some sleep for work comes at me again tomorrow.

I am tired...

Up at 3:15am
To Work by 4am
Work for many hours
Chinese
Lunch (not the same thing as Chinese)
Work for many more hours
Put my body back into some sort of alignment
Bunko
Computer repair

....sleep....midnight...life is priceless

Isn't today....not a Monday?

My thought for today was it was going to be a quiet one with not many issues. Just resolving the ones I had at the end of my work week...last week. Friday was just horrible....horrible and unfortunately today was as well. Things are broken that shouldn't be broken and neither I nor the vendor know why.

Well it will only get better...soon...maybe...eventually...*sigh*...I have to be in at 4am tomorrow...

Rememberance Day

Today is is 90th anniversary of World War I. In it's honor, I am posting a poem by a Canadian physician, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. It was written after he saw his friend killed in the first World War.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
-- John McCrae

We do remember.

It is pleasant...

...to have been to a place the way a river went.
-- Thoreau

Do you ever?

Just wonder why? I mean it can be any subject or thought. Why this and not that. I have a lot of whys right now. I just need not to wonder. Or actually maybe I should to put forth things to get the answers. I will get the answers I am seeking and in the way I want.

Bubbles...bubbles...bubbles...

Anyone who knows me understands that my sanctuary is my bath tub. I go there to unwind, find peace, think and sometimes reboot. In order to enjoy my sanctuary, I must have a couple of required items: candles, fluffy towels and a plethora of bath products. My enjoyment of salts, soaps and bubble bath is bound to keep several companies in business. My favorite bubble bath of all time is no longer made...Gloom Away by Origins. I only have one bottle left and I use that only for special occasions (sounds like a good bottle of scotch). My now second favorite is Midnight Pomegranate from Bath & Body Works. The description from their site states that the red pomegranate has been rounded out with anise, patchouli, blackberry and cassis. The aroma invokes the visions of fall and winter. Ahhhh.

Ahhhh

In my quest to actually get caught up with movies I have missed in the last few years, I decided to sign up for Netflix. Mostly because I don't always remember what I wanted to see or by the time I think about getting a movie, I am already home and don't want to head out.

Tonight I finally got to see Shopgirl. It was a wonderful movie and now I want to read the novella written by Steve Martin. It was an interesting composition on life. I really enjoyed the character interactions and their use of color to convey the mood. If you get the chance, check it out.

Now to the other 50+ movies on my list...

Today

It's hard to believe it has been two years. I am lost in my thoughts and memories today. Time does heal.

Windows 3.x

In a bygone era there was Windows 3.x. What memories that brings up... Dr. Watson's , nasty viruses and a time of little bloatware. Just a few days ago, November 1st actually, Microsoft stopped selling licenses to the 18 year old product. It hasn't aged like a good bottle of scotch but there are machines out there in cyberland still running it.

It makes me smile to realize that when the operating system came out the people I work with or those who work for me were either in elementary school or in diapers. I wonder if they even knew about it.

So a toast to the aged OS and thank you for the memories.

Whew!

At long last it is election day. Today we use our right to either re-elect the old or try something new. I am making my choices and others will be making theirs. It is an interesting election with fear being very rampant. Many are afraid of change. Many are afraid of race and gender.

Personally I don't like either candidate or any party. They (individually) don't represent my views on the environment, women's rights and that religion should be left out of politics.

Tonight we find out and tomorrow...no more YouTube videos or news stories. We can get back to work instead of seeing/hearing about what came out of this or that candidate's mouth. Families will still be divided because of individual choices but eventually, we'll get over it.

Another of my rules...

Yep, this about sums it up...

Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.
-- Buddha

Taking care of myself

Today was a great relaxing day. For me, that consists of a nice drive off the beaten path. This one took us from Wickenburg to Prescott across 89. The windy switchbacks were just what the doctor orders. Lunch at Murphy's in Prescott...Awesome.

A great way to end a great weekend.

Saturday night....

My equation for a great Saturday night is as follows:

1 Hockey Game + 4 friends + 1 of them a Kid who loves to yell + Beer = a great night out.

Thanks K, P, K, P. It was a blast!