Learn and donate rice

Are you sitting there bored at work? Well, if you are, do me a favor and check out FreeRice.com. FreeRice is a sister site of the world poverty site, Poverty.com.

FreeRice has two goals:
Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free

Would you snitch on your neighbor?

I was watching the Today Show this morning and they had an interesting segment on cybersnitching your neighbor. There is a website called RottenNeighbor.com where you can go and complain about your existing neighbors. They say that this is a wonderful thing when you are house hunting because finding out about your "neighbors-to-be" can be difficult. While watching this, in the back of my mind, I kept thinking about my crazy neighbors. When we moved in, we really loved the location. It's about one mile from Historic Downtown and we sacrificed some other things to live in this spot. Well, about three months later, our neighbor decided to let her GROWN son move a full size trailer into the front of their driveway, which blocks the whole view up the street. Yes, he actually lives out there. It's pretty clear when he hooks up his satellite TV and the lights are on all the time. It doesn't EVER move except for stupid Nascar races either. I've been that pesky neighbor and have called the city codes department about it, but they seem to not care. They say that it's against the rules for him to be out there, but maybe he sweet talks his way out of it...that is, if they have ever looked into it. My husband and I did a lot of work on the exterior of our house so that is why it bugs us so much. We love curb appeal so we painted the brick of our house, did some landscaping and even more. We can't help but feel that this situation just shoots our efforts down and lowers the property value. We have tried explaining to them our side, but it doesn't help either. So, we just continue to be stuck.

This RottenNeighbor.com wouldn't have done us any good anyways when we were buying. I haven't mentioned it yet, but I live in Grandpavillle. I am sure that maybe only three to four people on my street even own a computer. So, there wouldn't be any complaints on there to have researched. I talk trash in this blog, but I think that I am taking the advice from the creators and won't snitch on the site. They say that it can also hurt your own home's value if you complain, especially if you are trying to sell, which we might do maybe in the near future.

Just as a disclaimer, I'm sure the website is getting a lot of hits because I've had trouble with the page loading today.

Campaign research...check.

I've been meaning to do this, but it's time consuming, overwhelming and maybe a little boring. Today I researched the '08 Presidential Nominee Candidates. I went through their websites, read up on each individual issue and even took some comparison quizzes. To be honest, there is a lot I still don't understand and I will have to get somebody to explain some things. I do believe that I am making progress and have most likely have narrowed it down to a specific candidate. Typically, I am not really one to force my political opinions onto others and I don't really care for the conflict that can come with doing that. I'm usually the quiet voter that makes my way into the booth, presses the VOTE NOW button and goes on with my day. I might put up a banner or sticker at some point, but I will make sure that I am confident in my choice before doing so. Some people need an excuse to complain and elections are the perfect chance to do so. Ugh, if you do that, there is a 95% I will tune you out. No offense. I do stand firm that voting is important and don't complain if you don't plan on voting to help make a change. It will be a surprise to myself if I become passionate about the upcoming election, but there are issues like healthcare and etc. that were important to me before, but now that I am jobless and on cobra for a limited time, healthcare is even more important. Thinking about the future and keeping in mind; maternity, pre-existing conditions, and prescriptions, some things makes more sense now. Anyways, if you are still researching too, this is a good catch-all page for a brief glimpse.

Hockey game firsts...

So, I went to my first Predator's hockey game last night. My friend Kristen got the opportunity to ride the zamboni after the first quarter, so we went and cheered her on. Unfortunately with the iPhone, I could not get a close up picture, but I that is her on the machine. (squint really hard) I've also included a picture of Holland (another friend's kid), which was too cute to not post. He was introduced to cotton candy at the game. Hmm....I wonder how he slept? Being with friends and their babies last night, I couldn't help but long for the day when I could be a part of that group, the mommies and the daddies. It will come some day, but I guess I really need to get a lot of things in order first. Once I get a job, I need to sit tight for a while so that I can be efficient and establish myself and then we also have to figure out the house situation. We barely have enough space for the two of us, with what we've got now. But then you can never, ever be fully prepared, right?

I met Isabeau!

Oh my goodness...I just met Isabeau from The Biggest Loser. I was in such a bad mood today about going to the gym. You know it's one of those "I hate my body" days. So...I knew in order to solve the problem I had to go, but I did not have the best attitude. This is why I have a personal trainer and set appointments to go, otherwise I would have wimped out and not gone. Thank goodness I went because I got to meet Isabeau. Go Black Team!!! You don't understand, The Biggest Loser was my favorite show last season. I would literally schedule my workouts the day after so I could still be inspired and to tell my trainer what happened on the show. I even got to ask her about the time Jillian made her do a speed of 14 on the treadmill. I remember going to the gym and attempting it and I could only run around 7 speed. So, WOW! Anyways, just wanted to share my starstruck moment of the day. It sort of motivated me out of my workout slump and I'm eager to hit the gym again tomorrow for spin class.

Ugh...American Idol

Oh geez, American Idol starts back up tonight. Even as they are going into Season 7 of the show, I have yet to jump on the band wagon and watch a full episode of the show. I just don't like it, I get bored and change the channel. There have been numerous times that I wished that I could be a part of the "water cooler" discussion about the show, but I just hate it. To top it off, the show comes on like, what, three times a week? So, it's not just a weekly discussion, but almost a daily conversation. Ugh. I do admit that I like Kelly Clarkson and I think Carrie Underwood is pretty good. It might have been interesting to have watched them make it big on the show, but I'm sure there was some other show that was a bigger priority. Yep, I'm certain. But to all you fans out there, I hope it's a good season and hopefully a winner will come out of this season that I will appreciate. Fingers crossed.

I am an ISFJ, what are you?

I was catching up on the Brazen Careerist blog and one post called "Are You A Strategist?" captured my attention. Penelope goes into a bit about jobs and taking a personality test. I figured I would give her the benefit of the doubt and go for it and apparently, I am an ISFJ (Introvert, Sensor, Feeler, Judger)

People of this type tend to be: cautious, gentle, and thoughtful; hesitant until they know people well then affectionate and caring; very literal and aware of the physical world; uncompromising about personal standards and easily offended; diligent and conscientious, organized and decisive. The most important thing to ISFJs is living a stable, predictable life and helping people in real ways. Does this sound like me? When answering the questions, I found myself being very honest and not clicking what I would hope or want my answers to be. It surprised me that it came really easy and I felt confident in answers. It even directly asks you if you are confident.

Take the test, what are you?

Job interview and more

I had a good job interview yesterday. "YES!" I felt confident in my answers and walked away feeling like I could really bring something to the table. I didn't feel like I was stretching for answers and if the discussion goes to the next step, I think I would really like it. Would I want to make the daily commute to Nashville again? It might be worth it. Unlike the offer I had last week, I think that I could naturally fit into the company, the job position and take it on full force. Now, it's just that awful "waiting" period. The dreaded time where you wait anxiously to find out if they think you are the perfect fit. The dreaded time where they interview other candidates and you feel nervous being compared to others. You all know the feeling I'm talking about!

Anyways, never did I think that while being unemployed that I would find myself with little free time. It's surprising. I made the vow to myself that while I didn't have a job, I would be the perfect homemaker. There is no reason why the laundry shouldn't be caught up, the dishes always clean and everything picked up. I did really well at first. I even reorganized the pantry and cleaned out the fridge. Now, it's getting harder. I was telling this to a friend yesterday and she made me realize that when everyone is working, the house doesn't get "lived in." Therefore, you aren't making a mess or moving things around on an hourly basis. Think about it, it makes sense. You say, maybe I should be cleaning rather than blogging at this moment? Hmm.. I haven't cleaned the oven yet and it needs it. But the catch is that I like writing on here. It makes me feel connected to the outside world, still, and not feeling cramped up in my 1050 sq.foot home.

I also made the resolution earlier this year to hit the gym at least 5x a week and I'm doing pretty good so far. I've been twice already this week. This isn't a hard thing for me to aim for since I was already going about that much. It's really a maintence resolution. Monday I had to hold back because I felt the most excruciating back pain ever. I've been sore since I went to Hilton Head the week of Christmas. It might have started from a previous work-out, the long car ride, the awful guest bed...but after two weeks of discomfort, it just wasn't gettting better. I was still going to the gym though. (hint hint, I'm kind of hard-core. In fact, I have a friend who likes to call me a gym rat. Boo.) I did a leg workout, which combined with the back, put me out of order. I was laid up all weekend watching Season 3 of The Office. So, now that the back doctor has given me an anti-inflammatory we are now back in business. Spin class was good and challenging this morning and I'm looking forward to strength training tomorrow. Part of my enthusiasm comes from encouraging news I got yesterday. My personal trainer has a measure day every 8 weeks. We go over everything with a tape measure, do the skin pinchers and the hop on the scale to see the progress. Ever since I started training, the tape measure stuff remained consistent, the skinfolds have decreased, but what?? Why does weight keeps going up? I know there are myths about gaining muscle...blah blah...but still it hurts the ego. You feel like you are doing everything right, but seeing no progress. It's just my body and it's not working the way it should. Anyways, we did the measurements yesterday and I actually saw a decrease in numbers all around. FINALLY! It made me feel great about not giving up. I plowed through the frustrations and kept moving forward. It was also nice to know that I lost weight over the holiday season, rather than gaining. I've got a refreshed attitude about the gym now and am hopeful about things. I know that getting my blood sugar under control has been a big part of this too. I'm eating better and am working on the "eat more vegetables" resolution.

New 2008 Party Dress

Okay, so it's a little late, but I finally got around to updating the look of the site. Nothing drastic, but a new party dress was definitely called for, right?...Hello? Christmas was over like two weeks ago and that header was becoming vintage! Hopefully this blog in 2008 will lead to new and encouraging things. I look forward to your visits and, as always, love to hear your comments.

As many of you guys know, right now I am jobless (take a bow, Leslie). Right now, I feel that I am at this major crossroads. I am taking the time to really, REALLY analyze the things I have done previously and what I am willing to do in the future. I am no longer the recent college graduate desperate for that job. I feel like I am interviewing these companies as much as they are interviewing me. I want to respect an employer's time as much as I want them to respect mine, so I want to make sure that my next gig is the perfect thing...at least for this next stage in my life. (I hit 30 in 27 days and counting). I don't have kids yet, so I have the luxury, for at least a little while, of collecting my unemployment check and finding out what makes me happy. I think I have narrowed it down quite a bit. I did have an interview last week and did get the offer. After walking out the door, I pretty much knew my answer. I took the weekend to fully think about it and made the call today to respectfully decline. I didn't want to rush the decision because I do have a mortgage... and cobra insurance will eventually become too expensive. I felt nervous all weekend about having to let them down. "I don't want to make this call today! I really don't want to give them bad news." It definitely helped boost my confidence a little though. I have another interview tomorrow that I feel might fit better with what I am looking for. Wish me luck.

Thank You Writer's Strike

I might be able to say "Thank you Writer's Strike." Due to the need of reality TV to fill the gaps, The Biggest Loser: Couples has hit the airwaves. This has grown to be one of my favorite shows (previously posted in December). This week, the new season premiered and so far I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I'm excited it's on, but I just don't feel like starting at the beginning again. As the show moves along, you become fans of certain contestants and now I have to start from scratch. Right now, I have no favorites. This season it's all about couples, so they are paired off and have to work off each other's successes and failures. The first week, a father/daughter couple got kicked off because she wanted to be there and he wanted to go home. I felt terrible for her.

This week I've started back at the gym, along with the rest of America. I haven't done my weight training for about two weeks which made me feel awful yesterday. It really does make a difference when you keep it up. I am used to doing an hour, twice a week with cardio filling in the gaps. Due to vacation schedules, I haven't been able to keep up with the routine. So, I started back yesterday and felt wiped out. I was feeling low blood sugar, it was crowded and I was starting a new upper body regiment. I felt paranoid. There were lots of people there staring at everyone and I felt I was going too slow on the machines. I guess you just have to remember that everyone there is unhappy with some part of their body, otherwise they wouldn't be there. I went to spin class today and successfully got through it, so there is hope. I managed to get a little bit of confidence back. Since I don't have a job right now, there is no reason why I can't really work on resolution #5 (see below). I just want my gym back. I don't want to get there an hour early just to reserve a bike and I don't want to have a reason to gripe anymore

My top 5 resolutions.

Here they are In no particular order:
1. EAT MORE VEGETABLES AND GREENS. Now if you know me, you will definitely know and at sometime probably mocked and kid me about hating vegetables. Yes, I am a picky eater. I don't deny it. Over the past few years, I have been slowly making the transition to eat more vegetables. I've started eating green beans, spinach and maybe a few carrots here or there. I have friends that sneak in zucchini into my hamburgers. But this year, I'm going to try. I've got to change my diet to reflect one of a diabetic anyways, so keep your fingers crossed.
2. FINISH A 5K. Last year I walked/ran the Country Music Marathon and thought that was an accomplishment. I might decide to try it again in April, but I am setting a realistic goal too. I want to finishing running at least a 5K.
3. FIND A JOB. Now that I am starting the year off unemployed, I want to make sure that my next job is something that embraces my spirit and personality. No more dreading to go to work. The next thing I pick will be the right thing and I will be able to walk in everyday with a smile on my face.
4. READ MY BIBLE EVERY DAY. Yes, I am a slacker. I love to read. I don't have a hard time finishing other books, but I never really take the opportunity to sit with my Bible and digest it. So, for at least 5 minutes a day (I'm being realistic again) I am going to read The Word.
5. GET TO THE GYM AT LEAST 5X A WEEK. Yeah, yeah, lose weight right? Everyone includes this one. Well, I have to. One reason, I am now pre-diabetic. I can't let this take over me and go to the next level. Also, I want to look great for Susannah's wedding in June. I am determined to be a size smaller for the wedding, at least. I just in general want to feel better too. When I work out, it feels good and I feel like I have accomplished something when I walk out of that spin class. "The hardest part is getting there." I'm not sure if it is a full on resolution, since I already do this, but it also didn't feel right to leave it off the list.