July « 2011 « Accidentally Angela

RSS

Archive for July, 2011

Fun Fact Friday 7/29/2011

29 Jul

It’s Friday! Time to check out some odd-ball news, quotes I like, a few strange facts and some things that might make you pause and go “hmmmmm.”

Strange News:

Will Ford be able to plant a seed and grow a car one day? Well probably not, but…..What do mushrooms, dandelion root, wheat, soy and corn have in common? They may comprise key components of your car one day. At the Forward with Ford futuring and trends conference in Dearborn, Mich., sustainable materials guru Deborah Molesky explained to a group of bloggers, journalists and media personalities that the automaker’s goal is to not only manufacture, but grow, its parts in the U.S. Molesky joked that her group was “not very popular” when they started in 2000 – and oil prices were only $50-$60 per barrel. But the team kept working, and by 2008 when oil prices moved above $100 per barrel, their products like soy-based foam for seats were developed. “In a way, we were sort of neglected and left alone in the laboratory to develop this… Now, I’m proud to say that every vehicle built in North America has soy foam in the cushions and backs,” she said.

The opportunity to make a significant reduction in a car’s environmental footprint is significant. For example, Molesky’s group worked with wheat straw, a byprodcut of growing wheat, and added the material to plastics to reinforce them. The hybrid materials are part of the third row in the 2010 Ford Flex. Using the wheat straw reduces petroleum consumption by about 20,000 pounds and carbon dioxide by about 30,000 pounds per year. Among a number of materials, sugars made from corn, beet and cane are under consideration for biodegradable plastic parts, while engineers are also researching wood technology for interior trim. Wood has been used before in other vehicles, such as the Woodie, first seen in the ’30′s and 40′s.

Using these products is especially challenging, seeing they need to last 10 to 15 years in each car. Ford is currently using recycled materials in its cars, such as cotton from recycled jeans in the 2012 Focus as part of the carpet backing and sound absorption material.

Tats For Grades -For parents and teachers, it can be an uphill battle to get kids to do well in school. First it was cash for grades, now its … tats for grades? That’s what one San Francisco teacher promised his students if they improved their performance: a tattoo. Not for them, but for him. Stanley Richards, a science teacher at City Arts and Technology High School, vowed he would get a tattoo of their vice principal if students raised the school’s academic performance score by 50 points.

And not just any tattoo: Mr. Vice Principal would be portrayed as a sumo wrestler, holding a medallion of test scores and slaying a dragon. (Hope Mr. Richards has the number of a good tattoo-removal doctor.)

The students hit the books, and true to his word, Mr. R showed up on the last day of class with the vice principal’s mug on his calf.

Quotables:

When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned in 7 years. ~ Mark Twain

If the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body…then only left-handed people are in their right minds. ~ Anonymous

I can resist everything except temptation. ~ Oscar Wilde

Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia. ~ Charles Schultz

You must learn from the mistakes of others. you can’t possible live long enough to make them all yourself. ~ Sam Levenson

Fact Finders:

Blueberry juice boosts memory.

The world’s oldest known recipe is for beer.

The number one selling snack in the US is potato chips.

The United Kingdom eats more cans of baked beans than the rest of the world combined.

The average coach airline meal costs the airline $4.00. The average first class meal: $50.

Think About It…

Baskin Robbins once made ketchup ice cream.

If you toss a penny 10,000 times, it will not be heads 5,000 times, but more like 4,950. The heads picture weighs more, so it ends up on the bottom.

Ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stone! Ouch!

A broken clock is always right twice a day.

99% of people cannot lick their elbow. . . .and there you go tryin’…..

2 Comments

Posted in humor, Pure Silliness

Fun Fact Friday 7/22/2011

22 Jul

It’s Friday! Girls just wanna have fun, so that is what I am sharing today, the FUN! The following post has become a weekly post of some odd-ball news, quotes I like, a few strange facts and some things that might make you pause and go “hmmmmm.”

Strange News:

CARMAGEDDON! In what was touted as being a disaster for unsuspecting vacationers and locals alike, LA closed the excessively used HWY 405 for construction last weekend, July 16th and 17th. The 405 you say? Why yes, I answer. You know, the one that had the OJ car chase once upon a time? Yep, you got it. That is the 405. The infamous highway will be shut down for construction. Over 280, 000 cars A DAY travel this road. This is a major traffic artery in the LA road system. Did LA survive the shutdown? Will Carmageddon be worse than Godzilla defeating King Kong in Tokyo? Tune in next season as we again investigate Californians disastrous closings as construction will inevitably continue, cause when can the work crews ever get a job finished in 2 days? Truth be told they did finish ahead of time, and most everyone avoided the area until this past Monday. More construction is planned for October. Maybe Godzilla will show up then.

From the New York Times: Worker dead at desk for five days. Bosses of a publishing firm are trying to work out why no one noticed that one of their employees had been sitting dead at his desk for five days before anyone asked if he was feeling ok. George Turklebaum, 51, who had been employed as a proof reader at a New York firm for 30 years, had a heart attack in the open-plan office he shared with 23 other workers, per a post mortem exam revealed that he had been dead for five days after suffering the coronary. George was ironically proofreading manuscripts of medical textbooks when he died.

He quietly passed away on Monday, but nobody noticed until Saturday morning when an office cleaner asked why he was working on the weekend.

His boss, Elliot Wachiaski, said: “George was always the first guy in each morning and the last to leave at night, so no one found it unusual that he was in the same position all that time and didn’t say anthing. He was always absorbed in his work and kept much to himself.

You may want to give your co-workers a nudge occasionally. The moral of the story: Don’t work too hard. Nobody notices anyway.

Use Your Bikini to Charge Your IPod! A pretty crazy idea: Clothing (in this case, a bikini) that charges your gadgets. Would you don a wearable charger on the beach? Nope, those aren’t metallic sequins you’re looking at on this swimsuit. They’re thin-film photovoltaic panels, and they do more than just cover up your unmentionables. In my case it would take more than a bikini to cover my unmentionables.

Designed by Andrew Schneider, the Solar Bikini is made up of small photovoltaic film strips that produce a 5-volt charge into a USB connection. You can plug in your iPod (or iPhone for that matter) and get endless music playtime on a sunny day at the beach. The bikini is able to withstand water, so you can take a dip while wearing it. Yeah, well. Probably not. I don’t want to go for that new hair do like weird Al Yankovich. As Schneider sums it up, “You’ve got tunes, you’ve got beer, you’ve got sun, and you’ve got each other in swimwear. The rest is up to you.” The male version will also be available soon and will have a higher voltage output. Hmmmmm……

Quotables:

Success is easy, but so is neglect. Jim Rohn

Who is more foolish, the child afraid of the dark or the man afraid of the light? ~Maurice Freehill

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. ~Maori Proverb

Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light. ~Norman B. Rice

Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won’t come in. ~Alan Alda

Fact Finders:

Keys Can Be Recycled: We all have a drawer full of miscellaneous keys, but you don’t have to toss them in the trash. They’re made of valuable metal, after all. Keys For Kindness is a small, family-run program designed to raise money through metal key recycling for the Multiple Sclerosis society. The donor pays for shipping, but we’re sure karma points are said donor’s future.

Greenest city in the US? In a study of 27 major cities in the U.S. and Canada, San Francisco was named the greenest, ranking strongly in its performance and policies in energy, buildings, transportation, water, waste management and air quality.

Recycle Those Surfboards! ReSurf Recycling recycles all surfboards and surfboard manufacturing waste materials into numerous products including asphalt and concrete for paving city roads. Additionally, the company developed a method to produce 100 percent recycled yoga mats using neoprene scraps from wetsuit production.

Think About It…

The chances of you dying on the way to get your lottery tickets is greater than your chances of winning.

The can opener was invented 48 years after the can.

You are about 1 centimeter taller in the morning than in the evening.

If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days, you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.

Humor:

A 70 year old man asks his wife: “Do you feel sad when you see me running after young girls?” Wife replied: “No, not at all. Even dogs chase cars they can’t drive!”

If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn?

What do you call a male ladybug?

Why doesn’t the glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

A Loan for Kermit

A frog goes into a bank and approaches the teller. He can see from her nameplate that her name is Patricia Whack. “Miss Whack, I’d like to get a $30,000 loan to take a holiday.” Patty looks at the frog in disbelief and asks his name. The frog says his name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it’s okay, he knows the bank manager.

Patty explains that he will need to secure the loan with some collateral. The frog says, “Sure. I have this,” and produces a tiny porcelain elephant, about an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed. Very confused, Patty explains that she’ll have to consult with the bank manager and disappears into a back office.

She finds the manager and says, “There’s a frog called Kermit Jagger out there who claims to know you and wants to borrow $30,000, and he wants to use this as collateral.” She holds up the tiny pink elephant. “I mean, what in the world is this?”

(You’re going to love this)

(A masterpiece)

(Wait for it)

The bank manager looks back at her and says…”It’s a knickknack, Patty Whack. Give the frog a loan. His old man’s a Rolling Stone.”

No Comments

Posted in humor, Pure Silliness

Plans. I. Have. A. Plan

20 Jul

I wanted to explain a little more about what brought me to the point that I felt using a life/career coach would be beneficial for me. I work with the public daily, and what I see are a lot of confused people. Their lives have not turned out the way they were told they would. “If you get an education, you will have a good paying job. If you are great at what you do and hardworking, you will succeed and get ahead in life.” These things aren’t always true anymore. We can often become disillusioned and lose our focus and drive in life. It’s easy to become frustrated and lose hope. I had.

I went to Alan Melton for help. I needed to be able to sift through my information and the information around me to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and with my career. Through that 4 page questionnaire, Alan was able to help me do just that. The questionnaire helped me with the things I mentioned in the last post, and also helped me identify stressors and energy drainers that were causing me to lose focus and motivation. I also learned one very encouraging fact: if nothing improves for me in my current situation, I will still reach my goals in 10 years. Wow. I have been headed down the right path, but because of my confusion I couldn’t see it. Clarity is a wonderful thing.

Personally I’ve seen a strong improvement in my day to day routine. Before working with Alan I was struggling just to put my day together, whether it was a day at work or a day at home. Now I’ve become much more productive and I am able to organize myself much more efficiently. I use to have really strong abilities in personal organization, but problems in my work environment (mostly the fact that we can’t control what situation walks in or calls in being in the insurance industry) caused me to struggle putting my day together. This meant that many times my days were happening to me instead of me being the leader of my time. Now I’ve become much more productive, I’m able to organize and work through my day, having a strong emphasis on my goals.

I have a plan. I am working the plan. The day and its problems are not working me. My frustrations have been replaced with clear goals. I am already seeing results. If you would be interested in completing Alan’s questionnaire to help yourself, you can contact him at: amelton (at) smallbusinesscoach (dot) org. I highly recommend it to help get you back on course. Alan is a hired coach, so there is a fee for his help, however I will not receive any compensation for this recommendation, I am simply offering it to help you.

Now, below are the things the questionnaire helped me see to be my values and vision. I will share them today along with my basic goals. I shared the 101 goals in the last post.

Vision – In 2016 I will be helping others build a better life for themselves. No matter what my chosen profession, I will make a positive impact on those I encounter. I like helping others improve their life and learn better ways to do things. I like to help build people up emotionally, to improve their financial picture and/or improve their relationships. I will help people improve their lives. I love the old adage “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” I want to help others learn to sustain their lives as well as live it.

I will start a ministry that helps people in the US pay off their homes and manage their budget so that they may keep their homes. I will help with Samaritans Purse and other ministries that help the poor, especially children. I will be known as a loving person that helps others enjoy being a part of my life as well. I want to be known as someone who is fun to be with.

Values

I treat people honestly, educate customers, and do my best to solve problems for them and friends. I am supportive to friends when they are going through problems. Sometimes it is just standing back and encouraging them to keep going; not doing anything physically. I give others the benefit of the doubt in a problem situation and work through things instead of just jumping to conclusions and mandating solutions.

I like being a Christian and I have a good relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I don’t look at Him/Them as a religion, They are my friends. I like serving/helping others in a variety of ways: physically, emotionally and to try to help others learn responsibility for their actions. I get the principal of sowing and reaping. I know that it is a physical principal that works, whether I am a gardener in dirt or a gardener in soul, whether I am faithful with stuff or a slacker with stuff. It all produces seeds that reproduce, good and bad.

Goal: Develop $75,000 in annual income. This will allow me to be debt free and own my home in two years and to accumulate $500,000 in net worth by 2021.

Plan A: Out of debt by 2013 and $500,000 net worth by 2021

Plan B: Out of debt by 2021 and $130,000 net worth by 2021 (this is the one where if nothing changes I will still be debt free in 10 years)

Action

These action are to help me develop additional streams of income to help me reach my goals.

Explore the following career options: Writer, life coach, ministry Dec 2011
making things with my hands i.e. sewing, Juice Plus consultant, Etsy Sept 2011
Owning an insurance office Plan A (I am able to get my income up to $75,000) Feb 2015
Plan B (nothing changes from my current situation) Feb 2019
sales ( this is more my personality than a job, but I use this skill in my current job as well as in the new careers I am developing)

So, look like I’m gonna be a busy girl for the next few years. I can continue with my current financial situation and still reach my goal in 10 years, or I can figure out new streams of income to supplement my current income and get out of debt earlier. I have a plan and I will work my plan. Hope this finds you doing well in your plans as well. Angela

2 Comments

Posted in My Plan

Plans. I. Have. Plans

19 Jul

As I mentioned in one of my grateful posts, I have sought out the services of a business/life coach, Alan Melton. I spent several weeks working on a questionnaire that helped me pinpoint several things I knew I could do as a career. It also helped me identify several things I now know for sure that I don’t want to do with my life/career. It also helped me formulate a vision as well as write out my values more succinctly. I am going to be working on a mission statement for my life and my career as well, but I have not started that one yet.

Another thing listed in the questionnaire was for me to make a list of 101 goals for my life. I am up to 70 or so and have 1 accomplished so far. I also have these things listed with an approximate date of completion. The great thing is that this is a living plan. The ideas are concrete, but my dates can be flexible. If I am not able to accomplish my goals by the time I have estimated, I don’t have to bypass them, I will just have to move my dates forward.

The only real problem I am having so far is that I am suppose to have 5 accountability partners. The 4 I have approached so far have said yes, but only 1 has been able to find time to meet with me. So, I have decided to use my blog as a sort of accountability too. I wanted to share this with you as a post anyway, and now I would also like for any of you interested in helping me stay focused to volunteer as a partner. If you are interested in this, just let me know in the comments. Maybe you have something you are working on that you would like some encouragement and accountability with. Let me know.

This is the beginning of my 101 goals thanks to the questionnaire that the coach had me use. I will share my values and vision along with my basic goals in a separate post.

1. Review my plan with accountability partners quarterly Quarterly

2. Read and share my values and vision with someone weekly or more Ongoing

3. Visit Hatcher Garden for stress reduction Ongoing

4. Eat my veggies (5 alive- 5 servings of raw fruits and/or veggies a day) Ongoing

5. Keep meeting new people through Chamber, PNC, etc Monthly/ongoing

6. Reduce “white death”- white sugar, white flour, bleached foods

7. Join a church for support group Ongoing

8. Keep meeting new people Ongoing

9. Read Philippians 4:8 frequently: “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

10. Try recipes I have been collecting in a notebook Monthly

11. Get passport together December 2011

12. Get Callenetics recorded to DVD July 2011

13. Begin regular self development for career and income.
Audio, books, seminars ongoing

14. Transfer my “vacation mentality” into weekly/daily breaks ongoing

15. Find ways to be a servant leader ongoing

16. Clean and straighten all my bookshelves December 2011

17. Read lots of positive thinking books and listen to tapes ongoing

18. Consider using positive affirmations July 2011

19. Redesign my sewing area (Yay! My first list accomplishment) July 2011

20. Take regular vacations to the beach May 2012

21. Begin exercise program- walking in morning (while praying)? Nov 2011

22. Develop daily/regular blog posts Oct 2011

23. Clean/reorganize dresser area Dec 2011

24. Develop Juice Plus business: set income goal for business Nov 2011

25. Develop a business plan for Juice Plus Jan 2011

26. Share my plan with five other people: Boyfriend, 4 others Sept 2011

27. Learn how to tweet Nov 2011

28. Sell my stuff on Etsy Dec 2011

29. Make curtains and tablecloth for Boyfriend Feb 2012

30. Recover chairs for Boyfriend Feb 2012

31. Daily blog entries/Facebook/Twitter/Linkedin Dec 2011

32. Check out TweetDeck to enter a post once to multiple social media Dec 2011

33. Set up Linkedin acct for blog Dec 2011

34. Make Raggedy Ann dolls for my grands Dec 2011

35. Make decision(s) about career(s) Dec 2011

36. Develop other sources of income: blogging, business ventures above Dec 2011

37. Create my mission statement Jan 2012

38. Design a garden for my yard. Jan 2012

39. Write a blog that makes money. Jan 2012

40. Finish this list. Feb 2012

41. Make my own clothes again. Feb 2012

42. Finish organizing my closet – tear it apart and redo it. Mar 2012

43. See the Statue of Liberty May 2012

44. Get in shape and retain it June 2012

45. Lose 30 pounds June 2012

46. Develop 30 hour workweek July 2012

47. Fly in a hot air balloon Aug 2012

48. Skydive Aug 2012

49. Refresh French Aug 2012

50. Go hang gliding Sept 2012

51. Learn Spanish Jan 2013

52. Learn to swing dance Jan 2013

53. Learn Free motion sewing techniques Mar 2013

54. Publish a book Sept 2013

55. Visit Alaska 2013

56. See Northern Lights. 2013

57. Meet the girl and her family I am supporting through Compassion in Guatemala 2013

58. Develop $75,000 in total income from businesses and salary Dec 2013

59. Save $100,000 Dec 2013

60. Pay off my Discover debt. Dec 2014

61. Begin paying extra (Discover payment) on home mortgage Jan 2015

62. Buy a Harley Davidson Soft Tail Deuce Dec 2015

63. Buy 1 brand new Mustang. Dec 2015

64. Visit the Australian Outback 2016

65. Visit Hawaii 2016

66. To start ministry that helps people own their homes Dec 2016

67. See the Grand Canyon. May 2017

68. Travel to outer space, experience weightlessness 2019 or as soon as it’s publicly available

69. Pay off my mortgage Dec 2021

70. Retire at Folly Beach. Dec 2021

That’s my list of goals to date. As I said, I am still working on it. I will update as I create new items too.

The following are a list of the things I have accomplished in my life in the last 5 years. I will be adding to it as things on the goal list are completed.

Accomplishments

Divorce (if you knew my situation you would understand why this is an accomplishment. )

Started new career

Bought a house

Grown closer to family

New circle of friends

Many missions trips

Paid off VISA Card and I no longer use this card

Hired a business coach to develop life plan

Took vacation in 2011

Sewing area organized July 2011 #19

Creating regular blog posts as of Aug 2011 #22

Shared my plan with more than 5 people, and continue to share it Sept 2011 #26

Learned how to Tweet, Nov 2011 #27

Daily entries on Facebook and Twitter, regular blog posts, Nov 2011 #31

Well, that’s the end of what I am sharing today. This is being shared for 2 reasons. First, to help me be accountable to the things I would like to accomplish. Secondly, to hopefully encourage some of you to try this for yourself. It is very similar to what some people call a bucket list. If you start your own, please let me know and I will be glad to share a link of your ideas and plans as well. In the meantime, excuse me please. I’ve got work to do. Thanks, Angela

4 Comments

Posted in lists, My Plan

A prayer from the Holocaust – Grateful Monday 7/18/2011

18 Jul

Anne Frank and friends

I am sharing a very touching little prayer that was reported to have been found in a Jewish concentration camp after World War II. When I was in school, the Holocaust was a part of history we studied off and on in several grades. I was always deeply touched by so many of the stories of the heroism during that war, World War II. Until I started studying the history of it, I didn’t realize how many people the Nazi’s interned in their death camps, not only Jewish people, but also Polish people, gypsies, homosexuals, Russians and even Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was a dark and shocking period in the history of humanity. I hate war, but I am so glad our country stood up in this time and joined the war effort and stopped the atrocities that were taking place. The Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC is a strong reminder and testament to the suffering and victories of this war.

This little prayer is a tender reminder that it’s up to us whether we bear good fruit or bitter fruit in hard times. I can’t imagine living through life in a death camp. Yet this prayer is not angry or bitter, but an encouragement to look for good in any situation.

O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will.
But, do not remember all of the suffering they have inflicted on us;
remember the fruits we have borne thanks to this suffering —
our fellowship, our loyalty to one another, our humility, our courage,
our generosity, the greatness of heart that has grown from this trouble.
When our persecutors come to judgment, let all of these fruits
which we have borne be their forgiveness. – Author Unknown

Forgiveness is not an easy thing. We want vengeance, we want revenge. We want retribution. But the truth is that unforgiveness and bitterness don’t help you, they hurt you. Physically, your heart can develop problems, your blood pressure will eventually rise too. Your body will eventually gain weight from the emotional baggage you are carrying. Care about yourself enough to forgive and let go. There are many stories of forgiveness and heroism available from that period if you search for them.

Corrie Ten Boom

This list of gratitude is pretty simple today:

1. I am grateful for heroes of service.
2. I am grateful for heroes of suffering, not that they suffered but that they have endured and overcome.
3. I am grateful for the history lessons I learned in school.
4. I am grateful for forgiveness.
5. I am grateful for the many men and women who have shared their personal stories over the years.
6. I am grateful for Corrie Ten Boom, and Anne Frank and her diary.
7. I am grateful for the things I have learned personally from studying these heroes of the past.
8. I am grateful for prayer.
9. I am grateful for the many sites on the internet now that pop up when you look for ‘Heroes of the Holocaust.’
10. I am grateful for God’s plan for my life, and the lives of others. His plan is full of love for us, even in our darkest hour.

Unfortunately, the choices of others often affect us. The choices Hitler made affected millions of people in his time, and a rippling effect remains today. History is doomed to repeat itself unless we remember it, and remember it correctly. Remembering is also a way to honor those events as well.

Is there a part of humanity’s history that touches you? Please share in the comments, I would love to hear from you. Until next time, Angela

4 Comments

Posted in gratitude, Holocaust, memories

Fun Fact Friday 7/15/2011

15 Jul

Strange News:

Score! The Stout Ale House in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had two surprise visitors charge through the door at just the appropriate time. About 30 customers inside were watching a Milwaukee Bucks basketball game on television when two real bucks – of the four legged variety – showed up. One deer was hurt and patrons were able to subdue it, but the other deer headed into another room. Luckily, there were no injuries, as a staff person aided that deer. “The restaurant is next to a golf course which attracts lots of deer, but this was the first time any decided to drop in,” said David Burg, a spokesperson for the restaurant.

Laughter, the best medicine! Two women in Zimbabwe are establishing laugh clubs in their country to help people release their stress and better cope with life. Shilpa Shah and Celina Stockill are laugh therapists who say you don’t have to have a reason to laugh, but that laughing for 10 minutes a day is good for your emotional, physical and mental health. Shah says laughing changes a person: “…and when you change, the world changes. Zimbabwe has one of the world’s most devastated economies, so it’s important that people learn to laugh as a way to deal with it.” Outgoing, genuine and wanting to make the country a better place, the two laughter trainers plan to start a network of clubs around Zimbabwe and spread the “happy-demic”.

30 years ago this month, Nintendo released Donkey Kong — an iconic arcade machine that put the company on the video game map and introduced Mario. Technologizer’s Benj Edwards celebrated the anniversary by rounding up some of the game’s odder sidelights. For instance, it was originally going to be a game about Popeye, Bluto, and Olive Oyl — and among its stranger offshoots was a pocket-sized game in which Donkey Kong and Mario faced off in hockey. Slashdot news for nerds

Quotables:

The philosophy of an ant is great – never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can. That is the philosophy of an ant. Jim Rohn

We are energetic beings. As we enter every room, mix with any group or converse with any other living being, we are either bringing enlightenment or we are darkening the world around us. Darren Hardy

Do what you feel in your heart. For you’ll be criticized anyway. Eleanor Roosevelt

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. William Morris

Fact Finders:

A sneeze travels out of your mouth at over 100 mph.

Alaska has over 5,000 earthquakes a year.

The human brain has the capacity to store everything that you experience.

Women have a better sense of smell than men.

Hippo milk is pink.

More than ten people a year are killed by vending machines.

Think About It…

A short neurological test

1. Find the C below. Please do not use any cursor help.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

2. If you already found the C, now find the 6 below.

99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
69999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

3. Now find the N below. It’s a little more difficult.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

This is NOT a joke. If you were able to pass these three tests, you can cancel your annual visit to your neurologist. Your brain is great and you’re far from having a close relationship with Alzheimer.

Humor:

Life is like a hot bath. The longer you stay in it, the more wrinkled you get.

A public school teacher was arrested today at JFK International airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possission of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, a slide-rule and a calculator. At a morning press conference, Attorney Gerneral Eric Holder said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI for carrying weapons of math instruction.

Acknowledgements: Slashdot.org

9 Comments

Posted in humor, Pure Silliness

Where Have I Been?

13 Jul

What have I seen? Hope this post finds all is well with you and yours! I have been wandering down the yellow-brick road of the internet checking out a variety of websites again, and thought I would share some of the cute and crafty, unusual and fun things I have found.

1. Now this one is just too freakin’ cute! Tea duck infuser . Really. Use that rubber ducky much? Well here is a crafty little idea for you from Dollar Store Crafts. The ducky makes it easy to get your infuser out of your tea cup. I will be trying this one!

2. I use to love to send cards and notes to friends and family for all sorts of things, including the normal birthdays and holidays. I would buy cute and sometimes random cards for future use and store them. I have a basket now that I am using, but I don’t seem to be remembering to go there and find the card. So I was very excited when I stumbled upon this little item from CTpubBlog.com, a snail mail portfolio. I actually made something like this when I was about 12, so I can take a trip down memory lane when I work on this one. This blog has lots of free tutorials and projects. Let me know if you find something you wanna make!

3. I love bags, any shape or size. Here is a really easy and super cute tutorial for a little zippered bag from Cindy of Skip To My Lou. She also has 10 Free Tote Bag Patterns, which I also use a bunch, bet some of you do too! Her blog has bunches of ideas and things to make and several free printables as well, so head on over and check her out and make one of these bags too while you’re at it!

4. This is a catalog I tripped into somehow, House8810. Some super cute stuff in here to purchase, some of the prices are really good too. This is my kinda shopping as well, no mall walking for me please! So open up their catalog and just enjoy the scenery. If you decide on something to buy, I would love to hear about it too! I am not saying this because I will make anything, I just want to see what fun stuff you get…. but if you wanna buy me a gift, the Alice in Wonderland puzzle would suit me just fine!

5. Now here’s a blast from the past: mini Polaroids! They look fun and fairly simple to make. I use to have a Polaroid camera so making these will be another walk down memory lane I’m sure.

6. Here is one for those of you more industrially minded from you-have-broken-the-internet: a handmade coat rack. Got any extra pipe and T’s laying around? Then this is the project for you. Makes a really interesting looking coat rack too. Check it out and let me know how it goes.

7. Want to learn how to make a button for your blog? I did too, the one in the top of my sidebar is what I made. I followed the instructions from Randomosity. Sadie was very helpful and very responsive to my questions. Pop on over there and have a go at making a button for your blog. If you get stuck, just ask for help like me.

8. no big dill shares a yummy beverage. It’s an Avocado Smoothie made with tapioca pearls. You can get these at Asian grocery stores, and her story of her creation is very entertaining. She was even able to find the JUMBO STRAWS to facilitate drinking the pearls. Love me some avocados!

9. Michelle L in LA has been making all kinds of goodies! The link I’m sharing here will take you to a bunch of them that require no special tools. How cool is that? I really enjoy reading her blog too. I think her style is fresh and fun.

10. Number 10. My last share for this post. What will it be? Will it be fun, useful or practical? How about all 3? I used this pic resizer to help me with a little problem I have. This is a super easy resizer that helps me not to consume so much space in my hosting account. I think it’s easy to use, just be sure to change the pixels not the percent for the best picture and space saving. If you have another handy tip or idea for resizing, please share in your comment. I love your comments!

Alrighty then! Guess that sums it up for now. Hope you have as much fun on this yellow brick road as I have. Let me know if you spot any munchkins on your travels. I could use a couple of sets of those to go in my collection. Angela

2 Comments

Posted in lists

My First Anniversary!

12 Jul

You & Me

So, I’ve been doing this blog thing for a year now….can’t believe it’s been this long! Time flies, right? I have really enjoyed flexing my writing skills, and I also like that I write on a variety of things. I’m so easily distracted it helps to be, oh look! There’s a squirrel! Sparkle! Yeah, uh, where was I? Oh yeah, variety. Let’s hop in my blog time machine, created just for this special event, and take a look at the month of July 2010 for this blog. All aboard? Ok then, let’s go!

July 12, 2010 – Holding on, Letting Go – This was my very first post! I poured a lot into that first one. I have never meant to hold on to so many things that were either bad for me or just plain not useful. I’ve been working on this along with other things this year. Resentment and hurt are costly baggage to carry around. I’m happy to report it’s better for me now than then, but I’m just till a work in progress. How about you?

July 15th – In Overdrive, Overwhelmed and Frustrated - A post to remind me what I need to do when I am overwhelmed. List making works for me, learning and remembering to be nice to myself is a fine idea too. I tend to be very hard on myself. I see a few of you do too, hmmmm…. I also introduced you to Heartmath and Bonnie Tollison. I have since hired a life/career coach to help me too though. I didn’t think I needed one last year.

July 19th was Where Has All the Weekend Gone? It was just a short note, and mainly I wanted to share a pretty picture of my iris that had bloomed. I still usually wonder where has all the weekend gone? Some things never change!

July 20th I wrote Our Lists….. I was part of 31 Days to a Better Blog challenge hosted by TheBlogFrog. Our assignment for that day was to write a list post. So, I decided to write a list post of lists. It was fun to do, and I have been working on some of my ideas from that post. I now have a movie page here that I review and list the movies we’ve seen, plus has a few oldies that I love mentioned on it. I haven’t gotten around to my Johnny Depp list yet, but I will one day! I have also started my 101 goals list mentioned in number 8 and that will be a whole post or two by itself one day soon! I really liked this post. It helped me create what my blog is today.

July 22nd – The Walking Wounded. This post was an introduction to Ann Voskamp and her blog, A Holy Experience. We all experience pain, and her posts were helping me walk through some of mine. This was one of my posts just sharing my heart. Her posts are also where I got the idea recently to have the Grateful Monday posts I have written. She has a l-o-o-o-ong list that has now become a book, and lots of what she shares is very tender and inspiring.

July 26th – Lightning, Thunder, RAIN! -A personal look at some of my storm experiences and my love of them as well. I love to watch a storm! As a child storms usually frightened me a lot, but for about 25 or so years I have loved them. I love watching lightning in the distance and hearing thunder. I have been at home when it has struck my house, as I shared in last year’s post, so I know the damage they inflict. But the calm afterwards is so peaceful and serene. And who doesn’t love the smell of fresh rain hitting warm earth? I love them and am fascinated by them. Go figure.

July 28th – Yard Sales Anyone? -This was the tale with pics of my latest adventure with said yard sales. Always love to go, don’t always find the time. We’ve only been able to go twice this year. Love me some yard sales though, the only kind of physical shopping I enjoy. Well, that and a great thrift store. Otherwise, take me to the internet please. I so don’t want to go to the mall!

July 31st – Excuse Me While I Vent – My venting tale of stealth bombers. No, not the flying kind. The driven kind. People who drive around in heavy rain with no lights on and their vehicle is gray, black, dark blue, dark green, and even sometimes white.. You cannot!!! see them! It was a heavy rain day and we had lots of trouble driving. So last post in July 2010 was me fussing about all of them! And a little about menopause…. If you’ve been around all year you know the fun I’m having with that too. Good times, good times!

So, time to hop back into that time machine and move us back to 2011. Hope you enjoyed the trip! I certainly love having all of you along for it! Until next episode, Angela

6 Comments

Posted in Deep Deppness, lists, memories

Grateful Mondays…7/11/2011

11 Jul

Busy week, busy life! Busy-ness can be both a blessing and a curse, especially if we let being busy rob us of the joy of remembering the wonderful things we discover in our lives. Being busy this week has meant I have not been jotting down things to share in this post, but I will now sit with my coffee and contemplate my week and the things that were blessings for me.I am always grateful for coffee, it has been something I really enjoy. I also love juice, many different kinds. Another love is a great big glass of cold sweetened green tea, or a fragrant cup of almost any other kind of tea, especially cinnamon. So why don’t you go ahead and grab your favorite cup of something and join me!

1. I am grateful for new understanding in hard situations. We all have hard places in our lives, and often times we feel stuck and overwhelmed in them. A parent falling ill that has lived on their own and now faces dependence on others; a child having problems in school, struggling with grades or social issues; financial crisis with loss of job. There are lots of hard situations. I have felt stuck in some of mine lately, but I just woke up one day and knew what my job to do was: to hang on to my belief that everything was going to work out to the good. That’s a biblical promise. Books like The Secret and The Law of Attraction also emphasize this. It is what you are convinced will happen that you draw to yourself. I need better things to be drawn to me in my current situation, so I will believe for something better. I’m so tired of attracting difficult situations to myself. I choose to believe my situations are going to get better.

2. I’m so grateful for peaceful days. When you’ve had a frantically busy week or two, a peaceful and quiet day becomes even more precious. Time to recharge!

3. I love butterflies and hummingbirds, eagles and hawks. I love giraffes and tigers, lions, penguins and sea turtles. I am very grateful we have these wonderful creatures and more sharing our planet with us. This lovely picture I’m sharing is from Giraffe Manor in Nairobi. Giraffe Manor is set in 12 acres of private land within 140 acres of indigenous forest and is only 20 kilometers from Nairobi city center. Built in the 1930s, it has maintained all the charm of the era and is now famous for its resident herd of Rothschild Giraffe. I’m grateful for places like this too. I really love this picture.

4. It’s been so very hot this week, upper 90′s to 100+ degrees. This makes me very grateful for something I usually hate: ICE! I never get ice in any of my drinks, it makes my teeth hurt and makes me too cold. This is true even in the summer normally because of air conditioning (which I am also grateful for this week). But with the heat and humidity so high this week ice and frozen drinks have become my new best buddy! So, fresh berry slushie, anyone?

5. I am thankful for the goals and plans I now have written out since completing my time with the business/life coach I mentioned a few weeks ago. I like that I have a tangible list to look at, use and share with others to help keep me motivated to reach goals for my life that I would like to accomplish. These goals aren’t vague things I just think about anymore, but real things with numbers I want to accomplish. I will share my list soon and some of the plans I have.

6. I’m grateful for food, lots of types and different varieties. At the moment I am very grateful for a new wonderful place to eat Boyfriend discovered. They have sashimi grade fish in all of their food. Sashimi grade salmon is my new personal favorite. It melts in my mouth, I don’t even have to chew. It tastes fantastic too. I am grateful for sashimi grade salmon.

7. I’m grateful for daughter-in-laws coming through surgery well, and for capable surgeons, nurses and staff taking care of her. She did so well she got to go home quickly, and being in your own bed is always a good thing.

8. I am grateful for the fun, Fun, FUN we had traipsing through a few thrift stores this weekend. Most of the yard sales we have been visiting have been busts. One guy wanted $10 for a painting that had paint splashed on it. Really. It wasn’t even a great painting, I just wanted to play with it and see if I could do some collage on it. So, nope! No sale. But….we got a whole vintage Samsonite suitcase full of odds and ends of things we can actually use and only paid $7 bucks for all of it. Score! There is also a thrift store I have scored some great sewing odds and ends at 2 different times we have gone, and the people there are super nice. Yay! Double score!

9. I’m thankful for the fun and inspiration I find hopping around blog world. I find tons of fun things I want to create, and lots of ideas I can incorporate into my writing too. It’s so much fun to pop into your blogs to see what you’ve been up to. I’m so glad we have each other.

10. I’m thankful for my blog and the avenue I have to write. I forgot how much I enjoyed writing until I started doing this. I also really love hearing from you. It makes my day to have a comment waiting for me. I bet those of you who blog feel the same way too.

Hope you will take the time to stop and think about what you are grateful for in life. It is a very encouraging exercise, and I’m glad I’m doing it. My friend Maureen has been doing it for years, and she is one of the happiest people I know! If you would like to check out other lists of gratitude, check out the button at the bottom of this post. We’ll chat again soon! Always, Angela

No Comments

Posted in gratitude, lists

Fun Fact Friday 7/8/2011

08 Jul

It’s Friday! Girls just wanna have fun, so I thought we’d have some today! The following post has some odd-ball news, quotes I like, a few strange facts and some things that might make you pause and go “hmmmmm.”

Strange News:

New Preacher in Town: When Tomohiro Shibata and Satoko Inoue decided to get married in Tokyo, one thing they needed was a preacher. It turned out that this factor would make theirs a very unique ceremony. The preacher was a robot. No, really. A robot. The “preacher” is an I-Fairy model made by the company the bride works for. The humanoid (I use this term loosely…humanoid because it has a head and arms I guess) robot, who wore a wreath of flowers on its head, was manufactured by the company Kokoro. Inoue said that in Japan, people in the robot industry see robots as their friends, though others simply see them as a device that can serve some purpose. Her employer said it was the first wedding performed by a robot. Hmmmmm, really? You can ordain a robot now? I have to say I have heard a few mechanical preachers, but never thought about there actually being a real robot one.

I like this story! In Adelaide, Australia, Spider-Man literally stopped a thief from running off with a $140 X-Men comic book. People dressed as their fave super heroes gathered at a comic store to celebrate International Free Comic Day. “Spidey” noticed someone swiping the X-Men comic during the festivities. A group of Jedi knights blocked the exit of the would-be thief, while The Flash watched. Michael Baulderstone, aka Spider-Man, said at the time it was a serious attempt, but now he has to laugh at what must have looked like a comic book movie come to life when the police arrived at the scene. The caper was foiled! The hero’s prevailed, and another crime was averted. Tune in next year, same Free Book Time, same Free Book Channel!

Quotables:

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” Harriet Tubman

“Whatever you do, or dream, begin it now. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.” Goethe

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” Elbert Hubbard

“All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.” T.E. Lawrence

Fact Finders:

In 1391 Chinese emperors were the first to use mass-produced sheets of toilet paper. Each sheet measured 2 feet by 3 feet in size.

Sticky animals: suction cups are a very natural thing. Octopus, bats, and sea stars use them to stick their bodies onto things. Leeches also use them to adhere to a host, human or otherwise.

Sesamoid anyone? The human foot contains 26 bones, according to Ask.com There are also 5 types of bones in human body: long, short, flat, irregular and sesamoid.

Zygomatic bones are more commonly referred to as cheek bones.

Hockey isn’t the only sport you play on ice. Broomball anyone?

What appears to be the remains of cheese have been found in Egyptian tombs over 4,000 years old. The earliest archaeological evidence of cheesemaking has been found in Egyptian tomb murals, dating to about 2000 BCE. The earliest cheeses were likely to have been quite sour and salty, similar in texture to rustic cottage cheese or feta, a crumbly, flavorful Greek cheese.

Think About It…

What does it mean to pre-board? Do you get on before you get on?

Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear, but forgetting where you heard it.

Cheese, milk’s leap toward immortality. Those Egyptian remnants and the mold that has grown on some of mine is a testament to that.

No Comments

Posted in humor, Pure Silliness