What if I Stumble...

So I have started taking guitar lessons. A little something to check off of my "bucket list". I have a super great teacher and we have a blast! I actually think I am doing pretty well. Learned my first chord change yesterday (and it is only my second lesson so...) Anyways, Laurie (my teacher) and I were talking about all of the Christian bands we listened to back in the last '90s. Jars of Clay, DC Talk, Third Day....it started to bring back a flood of memories. One of my favorites is "What if I Stumble" by DC Talk. I started to think about stumbling with this whole guitar lesson thing. What if I am not getting it. What if I stink at it. And then it hit me....I doesn't matter. It isn't like taking a class in school - where if you do bad, you fail and you have to take it again. This is just for me ... the good, the bad, the ugly...and I can continue or stop at anytime without any pressure or consequence. And that make me love learning to play even more!

I guess this makes me a nerd...

So no real surprise there -- I've always known that I tend to lean towards the Geek side of the spectrum. But after looking at this site and seeing how many of the items I love I'm thinking that the scale just shifted a bit.

I LOVE these Pantone phone covers.

check out Nerd Valentine for more awesome items.

Re-Invention of the same 'ol wheel.

Okay...so my life over the last um ...8 months has been wildly crazy. I had a baby in February (yes - that means she is almost 1 now) and went back to work full-time at the beginning of May. By the end of May I was on a wildwind journey to figure out why I had this annoying cough that wouldn't got away. August 13, 2010 - diagnosis - Nodular Sclerosing Hodgkin's Lymphoma. You can read more about that whole journey here. Needless to say I spent a lot of my time and focus on beating that. BUT -- no I am back!! I am FINALLY starting to feel like the old me again (the old, not pregnant, not-chemo ridden, not radiation whooped ME). And I have developed a new look on things. I have challenged to do things that prior to this I would have just kept putting off. Little things like playing on the floor with my kids more, sending thank you cards and handwritten notes, focusing more on being a blessing in someones life each and every day. So you're gonna hear more and more about stuff like that on here now. But no worries -- you'll get to enjoy the same random crap from me that brought you here in the first place.

Jocelyn's 101

I have a friend, Jocelyn, who I met thru connections at work. Honestly - we have never met in person, but rather keep in touch via the virtual worlds in which we live (Facebook, Twitter, and our Blogs). She recently created a whole new blog devoted to a mission she is on - to do 101 new things in 1,001 days. I've often found my self trying to learn new things each day (I follow a site called Learn Something New Every Day) and since I have lived down the same road for over 25 years I challenge myself regularly to find something new on the way home - a barn in the distance that I never saw before, a name on a mailbox, stuff like that - either I am a really unobservant person or my surroundings change often b/c I am always finding stuff. But Jocelyn is taking it one step further and actually DOING stuff. I can't wait to see what she comes up with - and who knows - maybe I'll get the bug to DO something too.

Dang iPhone

So I held off on getting an iphone until about 4 weeks ago when my Blackjack crapped out. My husband had an iphone, my sister had an iphone, my in-laws had iphones .. so I thought I may as well jump on the band wagon. Well let me just say that the stupids apps that you can get are addicting. Between Words with Friends, High School Heroes, Tap Resort and a slew of other games I spend my day constantly "checking in" to see who I need to fight, what I need to build, or who to add as a friend. Granted the ability to uploads pics to my Facebook and send them via text has been great. The grandparents love that I can send pics of the girls almost instantaneously. I fear that live will never be the same though. The fact that I can multi-task, and by that I mean feed a baby with one hand and play Solitaire with the other, is not something I intend to boast about (at least not too often).

Fidorka

I have a friend who introduced me to this wonderful Czech chocolate. Actually it is a milk waffer (think inside of a kit-Kat). This delicious creation is called Fidorka. I was treated to this candy about 3 years ago and frantically searched to see if it was available in the states. Unfortunately, it can only be bought online and it has to be bought by the case. Although it would be no problem for me to finish of a case of the stuff my conscience just wouldn't let me order it. And so it went by the wayside. Then a few weeks ago my friend returned from a two week trip to Prague with Fidroka in hand. AND he brought me several different flavors (milk chocolate, dark chocolate, hazelnut and a few others). The only dilemma now is that I feel like hoarding them because I don't know if or when I will ever get more. So I will have to ration them sparingly.

Thanks Hondo!!

Re-INSPIRED

So it has apparently been WAY too long since I put up a post. Unfortunately life got in the way for a bit ... but now, thanks to a friend's blog (Thanks Abby) I've been re-inspired to pick up and let the insanity continue. And BOY do I have a bunch of stuff to talk about.

Buckyballs - Part Two

We had a gift exchange at our office Christmas party last night and one of my bestest co-worker friends had my name. Being the thoughtful ( and wacky) friend that she is - she got me BUCKYBALLS - wheehee!!! I did get one or two strange looks from some people as they asked what the heck they were - but once I opened the package and let people play with them I started to win the crowd over - they were a hit (I wouldn't be surprised if one or two more folks added them to their xmas list).

Now I will say that the "masterpieces" that I created last night were no where near the caliber of what you would see on the video - but I figure that just gives me an excuse to "practice" with them.

"Tis the season....

So I can totally tell it is the holiday season due to the overwhelming number of emails I have in my inbox. Seems that every retailer that I subscribe to feels the need to email me at least once or twice a day about the WONDERFUL deals they have. Now any other time of the year I'd be happy to know about free shipping or how to 15 % off my next purchase -- but I am starting to feel a bit bombarded with all of the attention I am getting from them. I mean - I know I am a loyal customer and I am glad that they appreciate my business -- but seriously people - I don't need to know that at 2:30 in the morning and then be reminded again at noon. Of course I don't dare remove my name from the mailing list - because come January I will once again want to know about all of the sales (although I have a slight feeling that I may not hear from some of these folks again until May or June and their offers won't be near as enticing as they are now). So for now I guess I will just continue about my day and repeatedly check my box to delete the 20 or 30 messages that are waiting for me to sort thru. Fa la la la la - la la la la.

Buckyballs...

I so want some of these. maybe if i am a good girl Santa will bring me some for Christmas. I figure this would be a good "creative tool" for my desk at work (who am I kidding - I get these things and I will never get any work done.)

Makes me smile....

I just found this to be very amusing. I am trying to talk my office into doing one.

Improve Everywhere...

This group is so interesting. Improv Everywhere is a group devoted to doing improv out in the streets in mass numbers. I've watched a couple of their videos and always think to myself afterwards..."Wow - how cool and fun is that." I'd highly recommend you look at the "Surprise Wedding Reception" episode and "the MP3 Experiment."

I'll leave you with one of the most recent and one of my favorite episodes "The Invisible Dog"..(note how some of these people really get into it and have very active dogs).